BIOGRAPHY OF PHINEHAS ADAMS of MANCHESTER NH ---------------------------- Information located at http://www.nh.searchroots.com/Manchester On a web site about GENEALOGY AND HISTORY OF MANCHESTER NEW HAMPSHIRE TRANSCRIBED BY JANICE BROWN Please see the web site for my email contact. ---------------------------------- The original source of this information is in the public domain, however use of this text file, other than for personal use, is restricted without written permission from the transcriber (who has edited, compiled and added new copyrighted text to same). ======================================================== SOURCE: Manchester, A Brief Record of its Past and A Picture of Its Present, including an account of is settlement and its growth as town and city; a history of its schools, churches, societies, banks, post-offices, newspapers and manufactures; a description of its government, police and fire department, public buildings, library, water-works, cemeteries, streets, streams, railways and bridges; a complete list of the selectmen, moderators and clerks of the town and members of the councils, marshals and engineers of the city, with the state of the cote for mayor at each election; the story of its part in the war of the rebellion with a complete list of its soldiers who went ot the war; and sketches of its representative citizens; Manchester N.H.; John B. Clark; 1875 ------------------- REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS page 372-373 **** COLONEL PHINEHAS ADAMS *** Phinehas Adams was born in Medway, Mass., June 20, 1814, and is thus about sixty-one years old. He is the son of Phinehas and Sarah W. (Barber) Adams. He was one of a family of eleven, four sons and seven daughters, of whom but three besides himself survive--Sarah A., the wife of Dr. E.B. Hammond of Nashua, Mary J., the widow of the late James Buncher, and Eliza P., the widow of the late Ira Stone, both of Manchester. His father was a manufacturer and started the first power-loom in this country at Waltham, Mass., in the year of Mr. Adam's birth. His father moved to Waltham, when he was but a few years old, then to Cambridge, Mass., and subsequently to Nashua, N.H., where he kept hotels, and at length to Walpole, Mass., where he became the agent of a mill of which Dr. Oliver Dean and others, as well as himself, were owners. Mr. Adams learned manufacturing with his father in his early years and then went to the academy at Wrentham, Mass. While he was there his father became financially embarrassed and in 1829, when he was a little over fifteen years old, he was obliged to leave school and go to work in the Merrimack Manufacturing Company's mills at Lowell, Mass., and soon rose to be overseer. In December, 1833, he went to Hooksett, N.H. , to be an overseer in the Hooksett Manufacturing Company's mills of which his father was then agent. Not long afterwards he became an overseer in mills of the Pittsfield Manufacturing Company at Pittsfield, N.H., and then he returned to his former place at Lowell. In five years from the time he first went there he was promoted to be a clerk in the counting-room and left Lowell finally in December 1846, and succeeded William P. Newell as agent of the old mills of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company on the west side of the river at Amoskeag Falls. In November, 1847, he was appointed agent of the Stark Mills, which position he has ever since held. Mr. Adams was a director in the Merrimack River Branch from 1857 to 1860, a director in the Manchester Bank from 1864 till it ceased to do business; and has been a trustee in the Manchester Savings Bank from 1846 till the present time and a director in the Manchester National Bank since it began business in 1865. He as been a director of the New England Cotton Manufacturer's Association, and was one of the Presidential electors from New Hampshire in 1872. He acquired the title of colonel by service as the chief of Gov. Straw's staff in 1872 and 1873. Col. Adams married, September 24, 1839, Miss Elizabeth P. Simpson of Deerfield, N.H. by whom he has had two children, who are now living--Elizabeth, wife of Daniel C. Gould of this city, paymaster at the Stark mills, and Phinehas Jr., in partnership with E.C. Bigelow of Boston in the cotton business. Mr. Adams is a man whose life is based upon the highest ideas of right and wrong. Extremely conscientious, of the strictest integrity, he has a character beyond all question. Kindly and affable, of remarkable generosity, he is highly respected by all his fellow-citizens and his personal popularity would have ensured his election to any office in their gift, if he could have been induced to accept it. ----------------------- SOURCE: History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1885 page 123 PHINEHAS ADAMS The first of the name of Adams to come to this country was Henry, who left Devonshire, England, about 1630, and settled in Braintree, Mass. He brought with him his eight sons, one of whom, Joseph, was the ancestor of that branch of this illustrious family, which has been so prominently connected with the civil and political history of this country. The line of descent of the subject of this sketch was through Edward-2, John-3, Eleazer-4, John-5, Phinehas-6, Phinehas-7 to Phinehas-8 who was born in Medway, Mass, June 20, 1814. His grandfather and great-grandfather participated in the battle of Bunker Hill, and served through the Revolutionary War He had three brothers and seven sisters. Three siters only are now living--Sarah Ann (born in 1816, the wife of E.B. Hammond, M.D. of Nashua), Eliza P., (born in 1820, widow of the late Ira Stone) and Mary Jane (born in 1822, widow of the late James Buncher),--the others having died prior to 1831. Phinehas-7 married Sarah W. Barber of Holliston, Mass., in 1811. Her father was an Englishman, and came to America during the Revolutionary War, and married a lady who came from Edinburgh. Phinehas-7 was a farmer and a mechanic, and became an extensive manufacturer. At an early date he manufactured hand-looms, and at Walthan, Mass, in 1848, started up successfully the first power-loom in this country. In 1827 he became agent of the Neponset Manufacturing Company, at Walpole, in which he was also one of the principal owners. Phinehas-8 passed his boyhoold in Medway and Walpole and attended the common schools, but showed little fondness for books. At the earnest request of his father, however, he applied himself more closely to his studies, and, attending the academy at Wrentham, Mass, for a year and a half, made rapid and success progress in his studies. At this time, owing to the failure of the company of which his father was agent, he was obliged to leave the academy, relinquishing the hope of a thorough education, and commence work. Circumstances seemed to direct him to the manufacturing business, and, with the determination to master the business in all its details, he, at the age of fifteen years, entered the large mills of the Merrimack Company, at Lowell, Mass., a bobbin-boy. Mr. Adams was early possessed of an ambition to become an overseer, and to this end labored hard and faithfully, never thinking, however, that he would become agent of a large mill. By this intelligent performance of the duties of this humble position he drew the attention of his employers, and was promoted in a short time to the position of second overseer in the weaving department, a position he filled until 1831, when he went to fill a similiar position at the Methuen Company's mill, of which his uncle was agent. Here he remained two years, when he was called to take the position of overseer in the mills of the Hooksett Manufacturing Company, of which his father was then the agent. From Hooksett he went to Pittsfield as overseer in the mills of the Pittsfield Manufacturing Company where he remained until March 7, 1835, when he returned to Lowell as overseer in the mills where he began his career as manufacturer, and there remained until 1846,, when he came to Manchester. In 1841, John Clark, the agent of the Merrimack Mills, in Lowell, proposed to Mr. Adams that he should enter the office as a clerk, in order ot acquaint himself with the book-keeping and general business of the mills preparatory to filling a higher postion, which Mr. Clark then predicted he would some day be called upon to fill. After some hestitation he did so, and for a period of five years filled this responsible position, which in those days was equivalent to the present position of paymaster. Upon his arrival in Manchester he was given the position of agent of the Old Amoskeag Mills, then located on the present site of the P.C. Cheney Paper Company. The building of the Amoskeag Mills was the beginning of Manchester's wonderful career of prosperity. Mr. Adams remained with the Amoskeag corporation until November 17, 1847, when he became the agent of the Stark Mills. Of the great manufactories of Manchester, that of the Stark Mills Company ranks third in magnitude and second in age, having been organized September 26, 1838. Under the management of Mr. Adams, large success has been achieved by the Stark Mills, which success has been largely due to his sagacity and business integrity, and while, requiring faithful performance of duty on the part of each employee, he also had the confidence and esteem of each of them in an unusual degree. Mr. Adams traveled extensively through England, Scotland, Ireland, and France, securing for the benefit of the Stark Mills information relating to the manufacture of linen goods and the securing of machinery necessary for that manufacture. In politics Mr. Adams was a Republican, but was not an active participant in political contest, nor was he from choice a candidate for political office, having only served as ward clerk, when a young man, in Lowell, and later as a Presidential elector for General Grant, and was also chief-of-staff for Governor E.A. Straw. He was four years a director in the Concord Railroad, was chosen one of the assistant engineers of the Manchester Fire Deparmtnet, in which capacity he served with peculiar fidelity for twelve years, invariably acting for the best interests of the city. Mr. Adams was for many years closely identified with the financial institutions of Manchester, having served as a director in the Merrimack River Bank from 1857 to 1860, and in the Manchester National Bank from 1865 to 1883, and was also one of the board of trustees of the Manchester Savings-Bank and one of its committee on loans. He was one of the directors of the Gas-Light Company, a trustee of the Public Library, and in 1865 was elected one of the original directors of the New England Cotton Manufacturers' Association. In numismatics Mr. Adams was quite an authority, and made a fine and very complete collection of coins and medals, some of which are of great value, being very rare. During the administration of Colonel Adams, which covered a long series of years, many changes took place. In what may be called, more particularly, the manufacturing world, was this true. Hand-power and crude methods of business gave place to water and steam-power and progressive, wide-reaching business connections. Colonel Adams was the oldest agent, and held that position for a longer period than did any man in the Merrimack Valley, and of those holding similiar positions thirty-five years ago, nearly all have passed away. September 24, 1839, Colonel Adams married Elizabeth, daughter of the late Deacon Samuel Simpson, of Deerfield, a veteran in the War of 1812. From this union there were two children,--Elizabeth-9 born June 15, 1842 and Phinehas-9 born December 26, 1844, both in Lowell, Mass. September 10, 1868 Elizabeth-9 married to Colonel David C. Gould, of Manchester, N.H. October 8, 1873, Phinehas-9 married Anna P. Morrison of Belfast, Me., and resides in Manchester, N.H. In religion Colonel Adams was a Congregationalist, and a member of the First Congregational Church in Lowell, Mass,, as was also his wife. On removing to Manchester, they transferred their church relations to the Franklin Street Church of that city. Colonel Adams received many evidences of affectionate regard at the hands of the citizens of the places where he had lived, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his business associates to an extent rarely attained. On the thirty-second anniversary of his connection with the Stark Mills as agent, he was presented by the directors of this corporation with an elegant gold watch, appropriately engraved, and a chain and seal, as an expression of great respect for his character and a high appreciation of the service rendered the corporation during a third of a century. Colonel Adams was a total abstinence man; he could truthfully say that never in all his life had he made us of liquor or tobacco. Of a commanding presence and dignified bearing, he was at all times a gentleman. His life was a successful one, and his example a good one. He died at his home in Manchester, July 25, 1883, beloved and respected. His wife died June 23, 1884. THey had lived together nearly forty-five years. -------- COL. PHINEHAS ADAMS Phinehas Adams was born in Medway, Mass. June 20, 1814. He was the son of Phinehas and Sarah W. (Barber) Adams. He was one of a family of eleven, four sons and seven daughters, of whom but three besides himself survived by 1875--Sarah A., the wife of Dr. E.B. Hammond of Nashua, Mary J., the widow of James Buncher, and Eliza P., the widow of Ira Stone, both of Manchester. His father was a manufacturer and started the first power-loom in this country at Waltham, Mass., in the year of Mr. Adam's birth. His father moved to Waltham, when he was but a few years old, then to Cambridge, Mass., and subsequently to Nashua, N.H., where he kept hotels, and at length to Walpole, Mass., where he became the agent of a mill of which Dr. Oliver Dean and others, as well as himself, were owners. Mr. Adams learned manufacturing with his father in his early years and then went to the academy at Wrentham, Mass. While he was there his father became financially embarrassed, and in 1829, when he was a little over fifteen years old, he was obliged to leave school and go to work in the Merrimack Manufacturing Company's mills as Lowell, Mass., and soon rose to be overseer. In December, 1833, he went to Hooksett, N.H. to be an overseer in the Hooksett Manufacturing Company's mills of which his father was then an agent. Not long afterwards he became an overseer in the Mills of the Pittsfield Manufacturing Company at Pittsfield, N.H., and then returned to his former place at Lowell. In five years from the time he first went there he was promoted to be a clerk in the counting-room and left Lowell finally in December, 1846, and succeeded William P. Newell as agent of the old mills of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company on the west side of the river at Amoskeag Falls. In November, 1847 he was appointed agent of the Stark Mills, which position he has ever since held.Mr. Adams was a director in the Merrimack River Bank from 1857 to 1860, a director in the Manchester Bank from 1864 till it ceased to do business; and he has been a trustee in the Manchester Savings Bank from 1846 till the present time and a director in the Manchester National Bank since it began business in 1865. He has been a director of the New England Cotton Manufacturer's Association, and was one of the Presidential electors from New Hampshire in 1872. He acquired the title of colonel by service as chief of Gov. Straw's staff in 1872 and 1873. Col. Adams married, September 24, 1839, Miss Elizabeth P. Simpson of Deerfield, N.H., by whom he has had two children--Elizabeth, wife of Daniel C. Gould of Manchester, paymaster at the Stark mills, and Phinehas, Jr., in partnership with E.C. Bigelow of Boston in the cotton business. SOURCE: "Manchester, a brief record of its past and a picture of its present : including an account of its settlement and of its growth as a town and city, a history of its schools, churches, societies, banks, post-offices, newspapers and manufactures : a description of its government, police and fire department, public buildings, library, water-works, cemeteries, streets, streams, railways and bridges : a complete list of the selectmen, moderators and clerks of the town and members of the councils, marshals and engineers of the city, with the state of the vote for mayor at each election : the story of its part in the War of the Rebellion : with a complete list of all its soldiers who went to the war and sketches of its representative citizens." by Maurice D. Clarke; Manchester, N.H.: J.B. Clarke, 1875, 521 pgs. (end)