Part 22

The following is the genealogical order:--

1. Gen. Jonathan Moulton, born in Hampton, N. H., June 30, 1726. Jan. 7, 1749, he married Abigail Smith. He died in 1788.

2. Benning Moulton, son of Jonathan Moulton and Abigail (Smith) Moulton, born May 21, 1761. He married Sally Lovett, Nov. 7, 1782. He settled in Center Harbor in 1783, and there died Dec. 23, 1834.

3. Jonathan Smith Moulton, son of Benning Moulton and Sally (Lovett) Moulton, born at Center Harbor, Dec. 14, 1785. He married Deborah Neal. He died Nov. 15, 1855.

4. JOHN CARROLL MOULTON, son of Jonathan Smith Moulton and Deborah (Neal) Moulton, born in Center Harbor, Dec. 24, 1810. In addition to the ordinary opportunities of the district school, in his native town, he attended Holmes Academy at Plymouth, N. H., where for several terms he pursued his studies under the instruction of the late Samuel Burns, who ranked among the foremost teachers of his time. To perfect himself in mathematical studies, for which he showed an early and natural aptitude, he placed himself under the tuition of Master Dudley Leavitt, the noted "almanac-maker," who, for many years, opened an annual term of high school in Meredith, where he taught all the advanced branches of mathematics to pupils, who in that day flocked from every part of the country to place themselves at the feet of this great mathematical Gamaliel. These studies he ardently pursued far beyond the limits of the ordinary academical course, and they seem to have impressed upon him a permanent proficiency often called for and manifested in the various large business transactions with which he has been connected for so many years. During the intervals of schools he assisted his father--who was in trade and a large farmer--as clerk and general assistant in his extensive business. In 1831, at about the age twenty, he opened a store and commenced trade at Sandwich. N. H., where he remained about a year, when he returned, and resumed the same business at Center Harbor.

July 15, 1833, he married Nellie B. Senter. He then opened a hotel in what has since grown to be one of the famous boarding-houses at Center Harbor, and, with the aid of his brilliant and accomplished wife, united the duties of landlord and merchant, which employments he continued there for several years. In 1836, Lake Village, N. H., began to attract attention as a place of large prospective business, and Mr. Moulton left Center Harbor, and opened a store at that place. He also engaged in manufacturing, and continued in these employments for several years.

In 1841 he removed to Laconia, then known the world over as Meredith Bridge, and took charge of the Belknap Hotel. This being the only stage house of that lively place, it was usually inundated with the stream of public travel peculiar to those times. He continued this business about two years, when he opened a bookstore and an apothecary-shop in a building which stood on the site now occupied by the post-office and the national bank. He was soon after appointed postmaster,--in the latter part of Tyler's administration; was re-appointed by President Polk, through whose term he held the office, which he continued to do a short time during the term of President Taylor, when, being a life-long Democrat, he was removed. He was re-appointed by President Pierce, and also by President Buchanan, during whose terms he held the office, which he continued to do a short time under President Lincoln, when he was superseded by the appointment of a Republican. Thus he held the office of postmaster during part of the terms of three Republican, and the full terms of three Democratic administrations, making his term of office about sixteen years in all. The duties of his long term of service were performed in a manner universally acceptable and satisfactory to the public.

In 1848 the Boston, Concord, & Montreal Railroad was built and completed from Concord to Plymouth. In anticipation of this event the firm of Charles Ranlet & Co. built large and extensive car-works at Laconia, which they designed particularly for the construction of freight-cars. The firm commenced and carried on the business until the decease of the senior partner, in 1860, when the works were suspended. In 1861, Mr. Moulton became a partner, and by his great energy and business capacity has developed a large business, which employs some two hundred men, most of whom are skilled workmen. The monthly pay-roll is about eight thousand dollars. The works have been repeatedly enlarged, and several extensive buildings erected, to accommodate the increase of business. For several years, passenger-cars of the finest style and finish, as well as freight-cars, have been built at their works, and their annual gross earnings are to be reckoned at several hundred thousand dollars. In February, 1881, these car-shops, with most of their machinery and contents, were burned to the ground, only some of the out-buildings being saved. Before the ruins were done smoking, lumber began to be hauled upon the ground, and in thirty days from the fire cars were being built in new shops which had been erected on the old foundations. Mr. Moulton was then over seventy years of age, and was well able to retire from business, with an ample competence, to the quiet repose which most men desire as the closing blessing of an active and arduous life.

In 1871 and 1872 he was chosen senator from district number six, and performed his official duties with his accustomed promptness and fidelity, and to the satisfaction of his constituents. He was also elected councilor for district number two in 1874. In 1876 he was one of the delegates to the Democratic national convention held at St. Louis, which nominated Samuel J. Tilden for the presidency, and in the ensuing presidential campaign was one of the candidates on the Democratic ticket for elector.

In 1865, rapid growth of the manufacturing, commercial, and other business interests at Laconia and Lake Village suggested to him the great need of added financial facilities. To meet these demands, it was necessary to procure a charter from the government to establish a national bank at Laconia. Almost insurmountable obstacles to success in this enterprise were encountered, and finally overcome. The charter was procured, and the bank established, largely by the active and persistent labor of the subject of this sketch. Upon the organization of the Laconia National Bank, he was chosen its first president, and has continuously and acceptably held the position to the present time. It may well be said, that the impartiality with which the accommodations of this bank have been extended to promote all hopeful enterprises has done much to advance the growth and prosperity of the place.

For several years, Mr. Moulton was a stockholder in the Gilford Hosiery Corporation at Laconia. In 1868 he became sole owner of the entire stock and property. He has steadily continued its successful operation, with an annual product of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars, until now. The factory employs about one hundred and fifty hands, mostly females, at the mill, and gives employment to many households in the surrounding country. Mr. Moulton and Benjamin K. Thurston are joint owners of the extensive flouring and grain mill of Laconia. He is also a large owner of the stock in the Laconia Gas-light Company, and has done much to place this important pioneer enterprise upon the solid basis it now holds among the public improvements of this growing town.

Mr. Moulton is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is one of the charter members of Winnipisseogee Lodge No. 7, which was established at Laconia in 1842, and is now one of the Uniformed Patriarchs of the order.

His domestic and family relations are as follows:--

July 15, 1833, he married Nellie B. Senter, of Center Harbor, who was the daughter of Samuel M. Senter. Her ancestor, Col. Joseph Senter, and Ebenezer Chamberlain were the first settlers in that town in 1765 and 1767. She died Nov. 18, 1860, at Laconia. Five children were born to them, of whom three survive.

Edwin Carroll Moulton was born May 25, 1834, and died Nov. 13, 1867. He married Augusta Ranlet, of Laconia, daughter of Charles Ranlet; and their only child, Nelly Augusta Moulton, still survives. He was an active business man, full of promise, and many friends still cherish his memory.

Samuel Moore Senter Moulton was born Aug. 1, 1837, and resides at Laconia. May 2, 1861, he enlisted, and served in the New Hampshire volunteers. July 26, 1861, he enlisted in the regular army of the United States, and served three years during the rebellion, with the mounted troops. Since the war he is employed as book-keeper, clerk, and paymaster in the car factories above referred to. He was one of the selectmen of Laconia for the years 1868 and 1869; and was representative of the town to the legislature for the years 1876 and 1877. He married Martha B. Thurston, daughter of Benjamin E. Thurston, who is well known. He served as representative to the legislature from the town of Moultonborough in Carroll county, for the years 1867 and 1868, after which he removed to, and now resides in, Laconia, which town he represented in the legislature in 1881. He was also high sheriff of Belknap county in the years 1874 and 1875.

William Hale Moulton was born July 20, 1844, died March 10, 1849.

Horatio Francis Moulton was born Jan. 24, 1848. During the war he was three years in the United States navy. He was one of the naval cadets, and intended to pass his life in the United States service, but was prevented by pulmonary disease. He married Ella S. Melcher, of Springfield, Mass., daughter of William Melcher, and has a family of three young children. He is superintendent of the Gilford Hosiery Company, and has been so for many years.

Ida Lettice Moulton, was born June 4, 1850. She married Joshua B. Holden, of Boston, Mass., and they have a young family of four children.

Mr. Moulton married his second wife, Sarah A. McDougal, Aug. 18, 1866. Her many virtues and useful charities have endeared her to a large circle of warm friends.

The lives of men who are absorbed in the exacting duties of many diversified and burdensome pursuits are not crowded with incidents which interest remote posterity; but the successful and many-sided enterprises of such men exert a wide and beneficial influence in their day and generation. Such a man is Mr. Moulton. He has always been an open-handed, public-spirited citizen. To him, and to two or three others, we owe the building of the finest church in Laconia and the support of a liberal ministry. Long after he has passed away, the town of his adoption will continue to exhibit many evidences of his liberal contributions to whatever tended to promote the growth of the town, the prosperity of its business, or the public welfare.

HON. ALVAH W. SULLOWAY.

By H. H. Metcalf.

From an industrial, as well as a political standpoint, the town of Franklin has long occupied a prominent position in the state. Highly favored by nature with the facilities most conducive to the development of manufacturing industry, there has grown up within its limits, or been attracted thereto from other localities, a large class of citizens possessing the enterprise, energy, and sagacity requisite to the most advantageous use of those facilities. There are, indeed, few among our New England towns of corresponding size, which include among their inhabitants a larger number of active and successful business men, or whose progress has been signalized during the last quarter of a century by a more substantial industrial development.

ALVAH W. SULLOWAY is one of the best-known, most practical, energetic, and public-spirited among the enterprising business men of this prosperous and progressive town. While the state of Massachusetts has drawn from our midst a large proportion of the men whose labors have brought the prosperity and distinction which that proud old commonwealth enjoys, she has given New Hampshire in return some of her own sons, whose efforts have contributed in no small degree to advance the honor and welfare of the state of their adoption. Among these is the subject of this sketch. Born in Framingham, Mass., Dec. 25, 1838, Mr. Sulloway is now in his forty-fourth year. He is the only son and eldest child of Israel W. and Adeline (Richardson) Sulloway, to whom three daughters were also born, two of whom are living, one unmarried, and the other the wife of Herbert Bailey, Esq., a prominent manufacturer of the town of Claremont. Israel W. Sulloway is a native of Boston, and sprang from revolutionary ancestry on both the paternal and the maternal side, his mother being a Woodbury of Salem, daughter of Capt. Israel Woodbury, who served in the patriot army throughout the war for independence. He engaged in manufacturing service in youth, and was for some time an overseer in the Saxonville woolen mill. When his son Alvah was about ten years of age, he removed to the town of Enfield in this state, where he engaged in the manufacture of yarn hosiery. Here he introduced the process of manufacturing the celebrated Shaker socks by machinery, being the first manufacturer to engage in the enterprise, where he established a prosperous business, which he carried on about sixteen years, when he sold out to his son-in-law, Mr. Bailey, and retired from active life, locating at Waltham, Mass., where he still resides. In his father's mill at Enfield, Alvah W. Sulloway gained that practical knowledge of the business in which he has since been engaged, which constituted the sure foundation of the success he has attained therein. He secured a good academical education at Canaan, Barre, Vt., and the Green Mountain Liberal Institute at South Woodstock; but spent a considerable portion of his time between the age of ten and twenty-one years in active labor in the mill, thoroughly familiarizing himself with the various processes in hosiery manufacture, and the general conduct of business in that important line of industry.

Upon attaining his majority, with that ambitious and independent spirit which so generally characterizes the youth of New England, and to which the development and prosperity of all sections of our country are so largely due, Mr. Sulloway determined to go into business for himself. His purpose received the ready sanction and encouragement of his father, and after due deliberation he formed a partnership with Walter Aiken of Franklin, in the manufacture of hosiery. The partnership continued for about four years, when it was dissolved by mutual consent, and another firm was organized, which put in operation a new mill. This firm consisted of Mr. Sulloway and Frank H. Daniell of Franklin, who carried on business together until 1869, when Mr. Daniell withdrew, and Mr. Sulloway has since been sole proprietor. The mill is situated upon the lower power of the Winnipesaukee, opposite the mills of the Winnipiseogee Paper Company, the power being used in common by the two establishments. The building is of brick, three stories high, with basement, contains four sets of woolen machinery, with about seventy-five knitting-machines, and furnishes employment for about ninety operatives, besides a large number of women in the vicinity, and surrounding towns, whose labor is required in finishing the work which the machines leave incomplete. The goods manufactured are the Shaker socks, or half-hose, of which about three hundred dozen pairs are produced daily, giving an annual product of about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The monthly pay-roll averages about two thousand five hundred dollars, aside from the amount paid for outside labor.

Mr. Sulloway is a business man in the true sense of the term, and as such he has been thus far eminently successful. But while devoting his energies and ability to the development of his own business interests, and thereby indirectly conferring large benefit upon the community in which he moves, he has never failed to contribute, by direct personal effort, to the advancement of all measures of public utility and material progress; and to his labor and encouragement, personally and pecuniarily, as much as to any other among its many enterprising and public-spirited citizens, the town of Franklin is indebted for the advanced position which it holds, when regarded from a business, social, or educational standpoint. He was a prime mover in the organization of the Franklin National Bank, which went into operation in November, 1879, and has been president of the institution from the start. He has also been a trustee of the Franklin Savings Bank ever since its establishment, and for several years past a member of the committee of investment. In 1880 he was chosen a member of the board of directors of the Northern Railroad, which position he still holds.

In politics, Mr. Sulloway is an ardent Democrat, an earnest and enthusiastic worker in the party cause; and his labors in this direction have been largely instrumental in bringing his party into ascendency in Franklin, which was for many years one of the hardest-contested political battle grounds in the state, numbering, as it does, among its citizens several of the most active leaders of the two great parties. In 1871, although the town was then decidedly Republican, he was chosen a member of the state legislature from Franklin, and was re-elected the following year. In 1874, and again in 1875, he was elected to the same position. In the legislature, as everywhere else, he proved himself a thoroughly practical man, devoting himself actively to business, and leaving speech-making to those inclined to talk rather than work. In 1871, he served on the committee on elections; in 1872, upon railroads; in 1874 was chairman of the committee on manufactures, where his close acquaintance with manufacturing interests fitted him for most efficient service; and in 1875 was again a member of the elections committee. In 1874, when the Democratic party managers set to work systematically to win a victory in the state, Mr. Sulloway was nominated for railroad commissioner upon the ticket headed by James A. Weston for governor. Although there was no choice by the people in the election that year, the Democracy won a substantial victory, in that they secured a majority in the legislature, and the election of their candidates for governor and railroad commissioner followed at the hands of that body. To this triumph of his party in the state, the energetic labor of Mr. Sulloway in the general conduct of the campaign contributed in no small degree. As a member of the board of railroad commissioners for the term of three years, the last year as chairman of the board, he rendered the state efficient service, carrying into his official labors, so far as they extended, the same practical sagacity and judgment exercised in his own private business.