History of Concord, (Merrimack County) New Hampshire United States of America

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Biographies:

Joseph Albree Gilmore, governor of New Hampshire, was born in Weston, Vt., June 10, 1811; son of Asa and Lacy (Dodge) Gilmore; grandson of Joseph Gilmore who fought at Bunker Hill and Bennington; and a descendant of Robert Gilmore of Londonderry, N.H. His educational advantages were limited and while yet a mere boy he earned the money that enabled him to make the journey to Boston where he obtained work in a store. On reaching his majority he was in business for himself and was married to Ann, daughter of Samuel Whipple of Dunbarton, N.H. In 1842 he removed to Concord, N.H., where he established a wholesale grocery business. In 1848 he engaged in the railroad business as construction agent of the Concord & Claremont railroad, and was subsequently superintendent of that line, the Manchester & Lawrence, the Contoocook valley, the Concord and the Concord & Portsmouth railroads. In 1858 he was elected by the Republicans a state senator from the 4th district. He was re-elected in 1859 and was president of the senate. In 1863 he was one of three candidates for governor of New Hampshire, and as there was no choice by the people, the state legislature in June, 1863, gave him the chair. In 1864 he was elected by the people by over 5000 majority. He added to the volunteer army of 15,500 men sent into the field by Governors Goodwin and Berry, 17,708 men, 1814 in excess of the quota demanded. He retired from office in 1865 and died at Concord, N.H., April 17, 1867.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

John Bell Bouton, author, was born at Concord, N. H., March 15, 1830; son of Nathaniel and Mary Ann P. (Bell) Bouton, and a grandson of Gov. John Bell of New Hampshire. He was graduated at Dartmouth college in 1849, and qualified himself for the legal profession, but before admission to the bar, became associate editor of the Plaindealer, Cleveland, Ohio, and was a contributor to Godey's, Peterson's and other American magazines. Removing to New York in 1856 he was editorially attached to the New Yorker, American Times, and Momus, and finally joined the staff of the N.Y. Journal of Commerce, with which he remained connected, as editor, owner, and director until 1889. For many years he was scientific editor of "Appleton's Annual Cyclop?dia." He retired from active journalism in 1889. Among his published works are: "Life of George Lippard" (1856); "Loved and Lost" (1857); "Round the Block" (1864, 5th ed. 1868); "Treasury of Travel and Adventure," a "Memoir of Gen. Louis Bell" (1865); "Roundabout to Moscow; a European Journey" and "The Enchanted, an Authentic Record of the New Psychical Club" (1891). He died in Cambridge, Mass., Nov. 18 1902.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Frank Pierce Hill, librarian, was born in Concord, N.H., Aug. 22, 1855; son of Cyrus and Nancy (Walker) Hill, and grandson of Levi and Lydia (Wiggin) Hill. He was prepared for college in the schools of Concord, was graduated at Dartmouth in 1876, and engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1880. He was librarian at Lowell, Mass., 1881-85; at Paterson, N.J., 1885-86, and 1888; at Salem, Mass., 1888-89, and in 1889 was made librarian at the Free Public Library, Newark, N.J. He was married, May 17, 1880, to Annie Maria, daughter of Dr. Robert Wood, of Lowell, Mass. He was secretary of the American Library association, 1891-95. He wrote Lowell, Mass., Illustrated (1882) and numerous articles on library economy for periodicals.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Charles Hale Hoyt, playwright, was born in Concord, N.H., July 26, 1860. He acquired his education at the Boston Latin school, did some newspaper work, studied law for a time in Charlestown, N.H., and was dramatic and musical editor of the Boston Post for five years. He was for two terms a Democratic representative in the New Hampshire legislature. His first production as a playwright was "Gifford's Luck," a serious piece, which was well received. He then devoted himself to writing plays and later became a theatrical manager, leasing the Garrick and Madison Square theatres in New York city. He was married in 1887 to Flora Walsh, an actress, who died in 1893; and in 1894 he was married to Caroline Scales Miskel, also an actress, and noted as one of the most beautiful women on the stage. She died in 1898. Mr. Hoyt's plays were remarkably successful, and the profits from "A Trip to Chinatown" alone had amounted to $500,000 up to 1895. In 1000 his health broke down from overwork and the shock of his wife's death. His plays are as follows: Gifford's Luck; Gozelia; A Bunch of Keys; A Parlor Match; A Rag Baby; A Tin Soldier; A Hole in the Ground; A Midnight Bell; A Brass Monkey; A Texas Steer; A Temperance Town; A Black Sheep; A Trip to Chinatown; A Milk-White Flag; A Contented Woman; A Stranger in New York; A Day and a Night in New York; A Dog in the Manger. He died in Charlestown, N.H., Nov. 22, 1900.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor