History of Exeter, (Rockingham County) New Hampshire United States of America

Our database does not include an historic photo for Exeter, (Rockingham County) New Hampshire, do you have one you would like to contribute? Contact Us!

Biographies:

John Taylor Gilman, governor of New Hampshire, was born in Exeter, N.H., Dec. 19, 1753; son of Nicholas and Ann (Taylor) Gilman; and fourth in descent from the Hon. John Gilman (1624-1708), royal councillor of New Hampshire, 1680-83. He served in the provincial army in 1775, marching with one hundred men to Cambridge, Mass., when the news of the fight at Concord and Lexington reached Exeter. He was assistant receiver-general of the state under his father; representative in the New Hampshire legislature, 1779-80; a member of the committee of safety; a delegate to the defence convention at Hartford in 1780; delegate to the continental congress, 1782-83; treasurer of the state, 1783-94; one of the three commissioners to settle the war claims of the states; and governor of New Hampshire, 1794-1805, and again 1813-15, in the meantime serving as a representative in the state legislature, 1810-11. He was a trustee of Dartmouth, 1807-19, and received the honorary degrees of A.M. and LL.D. from that institution in 1799. He died in Exeter, N.H., Aug. 31, 1828.

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

Nicholas Gilman, senator, was born in Exeter, N.H., Aug. 3, 1755; son of Nicholas and Ann (Taylor) Gilman. His father was receiver-general of the colony and state treasurer. 1775-1820. Being a leading politician he did much to shape the policy of New Hampshire in relation to the impending disruption with the mother country. He imbued his sons, to whose early education he gave his personal supervision, with the spirit of patriotism that soon showed itself in personal sacrifice in the war for American independence and even attracted the notice and secured the friendship of the commander-in-chief of the American army and of Gen. Benedict Arnold. Nicholas, Jr., joined the patriot army at the first intelligence that came from Boston of the clash of arms at Concord and Lexington and he did effective service as an officer in the American army during the greater period of the Revolution, being in the service six years and three months. He was at one time on the staff of Washington and as deputy adjutant-general received from Cornwallis the roll of 7050 British prisoners surrendered at Yorktown. He declined a position on the staff of General Arnold and after the war was a delegate to the continental congress, 1786-88, a member of the Federal constitutional convention at Philadelphia in 1787; a representative in the 1st-4th congresses, 1789-97; a presidential elector in 1793 and 1797; and U.S. senator, 1805-14, having been elected as successor to Senator Simeon Olcott in 1805 and re-elected in 1811. He died in Philadelphla, Pa., May 2, 1814.

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

William Ladd, philanthropist, was born at Exeter, N.H., May 10, 1778. He was graduated from Harvard, in 1797, and shipped on one of his father's vessels as a common seaman and soon became one of the most successful of his father's captains, subsequently commanding vessels owned jointly by himself and brothers. In 1801 he made a trip to Florida, having conceived the idea of undermining slavery by the introduction of free white laborers. This experiment was encouraged by the Spanish governor of the province, who offered a piece of land to every laborer introduced. Mr. Ladd transported a number of Dutch immigrants, who were redemptioners, from Philadelphia, but the project failed and was abandoned in 1806. He returned to Portsmouth, and once more followed the sea with much success, until the business was stopped by the war of 1812, when he retired to Minot, Maine, and devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. He was instrumental in the organization of the American Peace society in 1828, and for several years sustained it, almost alone. Finding it difficult to collect an audience during the week, he obtained from an association of Congregational ministers in Maine a commission as a preacher of the gospel, for the purpose of facilitating his labors in the cause of peace. He edited the Friend of Peace established by Dr. Noah Worcester, and the Harbinger of Peace which succeeded it as the official organ of the society. He published an Address to the Peace Society of Maine (1824); Address to the Peace Society of Massachusetts (1825); An Essay on the Congress of Nations (1840). He died in Portsmouth, N.H., April 9, 1841.

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

William Perry Fogg, author, was born in Exeter, N.H., July 27, 1826; son of Josiah Fogg; grandson of Josiah Fogg; and in the seventh generation from Samuel Fogg, who came from near Exeter, England, in 1636, and was one of the founders of the town of Exeter, N.H. His grandfather was lieutenant-colonel of a regiment under General Sullivan in the Revolutionary army. His father was an officer in the war of 1812. He attended Phillips Exeter academy and Harvard university, but ill health prevented his graduation. He held a position in the department of the interior at Washington, D.C., 1849-51, and then removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where he established himself in business, held office in the city government, and was a member of the military committee in 1861. In 1863 he was commissioned colonel and assisted in quelling the threatened draft riots in Cleveland. In 1868 he retired from business to travel, visiting every state in the Union, as well as Canada, the West Indies and the old world, corresponding with the Cleveland Herald and Leader. He was one of the first foreigners permitted to travel in Japan in 1869. He returned to America in 1871, having made the circuit of the globe in a little over two years. He spent the years 1873-75 in Egypt, Persia and Arabia, and in 1876 went to Greece and to Constantinople, where as a traveller and author, he was given a special pass to visit Bulgaria and the seat of the war between Russia and Turkey. He received from Lady Strangford the badge of the Red Crescent of the Geneva convention, was enrolled as one of her English surgeons and thus gained admission to all the hospitals. He was one of the editors and proprietors of the Cleveland Herald, 1870-80. He was corresponding member of the New Hampshire historical society; a life member and for sixteen years vice-president of the Western reserve historical society of Ohio, and one of the founders of the Ohio society of New York city. In 1872 he was married to Mary Anna, daughter of John G. Gould of Boston, Mass. They removed to Roselle, N.J., in 1880, and Mr. Fogg became the president of the Caxton book company, New York city. He is the author of: Westward Round the World (1871); Arabistan; or The Land of the Arabian Nights (1875), and contributions to periodicals.

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