When a biographer encounters the duty of describing, in the abstract, a character which demands greater elaboration in order to do it reasonable justice, he must be excused for the roughness of the outlines, which, with the proper shadings thrown in, would give his descriptive picture more satisfactory approximation to its required fidelity. In the present instance limitation of space, and partial opportunity to glean matters of fact and incident suitable for biographical record, justify the claim on the reader for such excuse. In so far as details are given, however, they will be found correct. John Hatch George, son of John George, Esq., and Mary Hatch, his wife by a second marriage, was born in the house in Concord, N. H., now the Colonel’s residence in that city, on the twentieth day of November, 1824, and is now, therefore, in his fifty-fifth year. The native place of his father was Hopkinton, but from his early manhood until the period of his death he was a resident in Concord, where he held the common respect of the citizens as a man of great energy and of unalloyed integrity. He died in 1843. Mary Hatch, mother of the subject of this sketch, survived her husband four years. She was a daughter of Samuel 195Hatch, Esq., of Greenland. Of the same family were the father of Hon. Albert R. Hatch of Portsmouth, and the mother of John S. H. Frink, Esq., both of whom stand high in professional and political relations in New Hampshire—worthy descendants of a worthy ancestry, noted for great native abilities, honesty, industry and perseverance.
The boyhood of Col. George, as contemporaries say, was unmarked by any special indication of that decided description which sometimes heralds a boy’s preference for a life pursuit. He was slow neither at learning or at play. If he had a prevailing passion it was for the possession and care of domestic animals, on which he lavished great wealth of kindness, a quality which has grown with his growth and strengthened with his strength. His farm manager is authority for the opinion that “he would kill his animals with kindness were they so unfortunate as to have his constant personal attendance.” His love for rural pursuits was a hereditament, and also clings to him with increasing vigor unto this day.
He was educated at the public schools in Concord, and was fitted for college at the Old Academy in that city. He entered as a student at 196Dartmouth college in 1840, without having any special profession in future view, and deported himself with credit while there. When his father died, some three years afterward, he had to resign his college course, but his graduating degree, and that of Master of Arts, was subsequently conferred on him by the Faculty of Dartmouth.
It was fortunate for him, and largely also due to the promising character of young George, at this most important period of his life, that his family enjoyed the friendship of Ex-President Franklin Pierce. All who were privileged with the personal acquaintance of that eminent man knew the peculiar skill he had in the discovery of latent merit among the youth whom he honored with his friendship, and the more than kindly interest he took in many, who, only for his encouragement, would have lacked the spirit to aspire. Without previous consultation concerning his inclination towards the study of law, Gen. Pierce invited young George to enter his office and prepare for admission to the bar. That the youth had what is called “a legal mind” had been a quiet discovery made by his friend and patron, who was then at the head of the law-firm, in Concord, of Pierce & Fowler. Here, for three years, Col. George applied himself diligently to his studies, passed a reputable examination, and was admitted to the bar in 1846, and at once entered into partnership with Gen. Peaslee, and on the practice of law under the firm-name of Peaslee and George, which united interest continued until 1851, when he formed a copartnership with Sidney Webster, Esq.
Prior to his majority Col. George had been hovering round the verge of politics, and, at every circuit of the whirlpool he was drawn nearer to its vortex. For many years, and with but few interruptions, the Democracy had guided the politics of New Hampshire up to 1847, when the Colonel held his first public office as clerk of the State Senate. This office he filled in 1848, and again in 1850. In 1849 he was appointed Solicitor for the county of Merrimack, re-appointed in 1854, and removed by address, solely for political reasons, in 1856.
The same year in which he was made Solicitor for Merrimack county he was married to Miss Susan Ann Brigham, daughter of Levi Brigham, Esq., of Boston. Mrs. George died in 1863, leaving five children—three sons and two daughters. In 1865 he was again married to Miss Salvadora Meade Graham, daughter of Col. James D. Graham, of the United States Engineers. He has had one daughter by this marriage. His eldest son, John Paul, graduated last year at Dartmouth college, and is now studying at Harvard Law School. His eldest daughter, Jane Pierce, is married to Mr. H. E. Bacon, of Portland, Maine, and his second son, Charles Peaslee, is at the United States Naval School at Annapolis, Md. A son and daughter—Benjamin Pierce and Ann Brigham—are at home.
Famous as the bar of New Hampshire has been for its eminent men, few of their number gained, so early in their legal career as did Col. George, such reputation for skill and devotion to the interests of clients. His success was remarkable, and yet it was simply the meet reward of the most devoted study and perseverance in professional duty. Gifted with a powerful physical organization he accomplished miracles of labor in the legal and political fields. He was fortunate in the sympathy and aid he received in both relations from his partners, Gen. Peaslee and Sidney Webster, Esq., and until the latter gentleman, in 1852, became the private Secretary of President Franklin Pierce, when the brief copartnery was dissolved. In 1853 he formed another partnership with Judge William L. Foster, with which Hon. Charles P. Sanborn, ex-Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, subsequently became associate. The firms thus severally constituted held high reputation in the locality and state, and managed, with admirable skill, and great success, many of the prominent civil and criminal cases in Merrimack, 197Grafton, and other counties in the state. Our gleanings are defective in their record of the leading cases—civil and criminal—in which Col. George had prominence as leading counsel, as public prosecutor, or otherwise. He was prosecutor in the case of State v. Haskell, a negro man, and wife, in 1855, when sentence of death passed on Haskell for murder, which doom was commuted to imprisonment for life. Being officially engaged on this trial the memory of the writer enables him to state that the conduct of this case by the prosecutor was managed with great skill, and without that redundancy of immaterial testimony, and surplusage of words in argument, which very often render trial proceedings, which ought to be of grave and dignified character, almost ludicrous. Other capital cases, defended by Col. George, and followed by acquittals, were those of State v. Scammel, tried in Grafton county; State v. Young, tried in Rockingham county, and State v. Sawyer, decided in Grafton county. Among Col. George’s more memorable civil cases were those of Smith v. the Boston, Concord and Montreal railroad; Concord railroad v. Clough; Frost v. the city of Concord; Tufts’ Brick Company v. Boston and Lowell railroad, and, recently, and still unfinished, the suit Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the pier accident case at Salem.
In 1851 and during the two succeeding years, and again in 1856, he was chairman of the Democratic state committee, during which he did much active service. He was especially prominent in organizing the Presidential campaign which resulted in the election of his intimate personal friend—Gen. Franklin Pierce. From 1852 until 1860 he was a member of the national Democratic committee; and, from 1853 until 1858, he was United States Attorney for New Hampshire. In 1853 he was elected a member of the state legislature, but he resigned his seat on accepting the appointment of U. S. Attorney.
It may properly be mentioned here that Col. George had a narrow escape from becoming Secretary for the territory of Minnesota. That appointment was offered him and accepted, and all arrangements were made to enable him to go to the north-west. On going to Washington he was informed by President Pierce that he need not hasten his departure for a couple of weeks, nor until the President and he should have an opportunity to talk over old home matters; but some business having been left undone in New Hampshire by the colonel, he sought permission to return and complete it, for which he had leave. On arriving at home such was the pressure brought to bear on him by his old clients, and such the importance and value of new encouragements presented him, as to induce him to give up the Minnesota appointment and resume his profession in Concord, greatly to the satisfaction of his friends in social, political and business relations.
Although primarily, in his military career, he was a member of that numerous body which hold colonelcies by a merely ornamental tenure, it cannot be said of him that he “never set a squadron in the field;” for, besides being aid-de-camp and chief of staff of Gov. Dinsmore during three years, up to 1850, for several years from the organization he commanded company A. of the “Governor’s Horse Guards,” one of the finest, best equipped and most thoroughly drilled cavalry corps in New England, and one in which the people of the state had just pride.
From 1847 until 1866, Col. George was clerk and counsel for the Concord railroad. In 1867 he moved his office to Boston, he having accepted the position of Solicitor for the Boston and Lowell and associate railroads—a position he now holds. He has a peculiar fitness for this office, through his being thoroughly conversant with railroads, their laws and modes of their management. In February, 1870, at the special request of the leading citizens of Concord, he delivered a public address on “Railroads and their Management,” which was exhaustive of the subject and created great local as well as wide national interest. It was reported by a shorthand 198expert, published and extensively circulated, and is held as reliable authority regarding the theory of railroad management. His connection with railroads has been intimate and extended. He is director of the Mount Washington, the Profile and Franconia, and also of the Peterborough railways. He was one of the originators and earliest advocates of the Concord and Claremont and Contoocook Valley roads, and has aided largely in the construction of the various lines which have conserved to Concord its centrality. There are ways and means whereby men receive much popular reputation and credit for services as hollow and objectless as those of Col. George were substantial and valuable; yet it is but just to say in behalf of the wise and discriminating among our people that they put the genuine patriotic value on his efforts and esteem the man accordingly as a people’s friend.
Last year Col. George was appointed a Trustee for the N. H. Asylum for the Insane. He has largely and influentially participated in local affairs in Concord. For many years he labored earnestly in the improvement of the public schools, and took deep interest in the elevation of the standard of education taught therein. He invariably upheld that the perfection of the school buildings was essential, as a precursor of the required improvement in the educational course. Because of this sentiment, he was employed on building committees chosen to manage the erection of several of our school buildings, which, for completeness and adaptability to their uses, Concord is so justly noted. In 1877 he was chosen a member of the Board of Education of the union District. In course of his very active service in these relations, he has never made pecuniary charge on his fellow citizens for his labors, whether rendered as a lawyer or as a citizen. If the city records bear any evidence of such charge having been recognized, whatever it may be, the amount was never received by the colonel, but went back to the city schools in some shape or another, useful and necessary. When the effort to remove the State Capitol was made, he exerted every energy in his power to prevent the success of this design, and labored with great diligence and self sacrifice in that direction.
As previously stated, Col. George entered the arena of politics almost at the outset of his active life. Nature and mental acquirements combined to give him prominence in politics while yet almost a youth. His recognized energy and executive skill gave him the chairmanship of the committee appointed to receive President Franklin Pierce on his visit to his native State and home in 1854, and many will recollect the success attending that great event. In 1859 he was the Democratic nominee as candidate to represent the Second District in the House of Representatives of the United States, but failed of an election. In 1863 he was again nominated for that office, and made a vigorous canvass of the district—making twelve addresses per week during a month or more—but was again defeated after a very close vote. In 1866 he was the nominee of the Democratic members of the legislature of that year as candidate for the United States Senate. His fellow Democrats gave him the full strength of their vote, but the Republicans were largely in the majority against him.
A man may be mistaken in his notions, and be very earnest and persistent in their assertion, but he will be always respected when his views are believed to be honestly entertained and pronounced. The people only hold in contempt a man who has convictions, and who is afraid to express them when circumstances demand their explanation. Col. George is no such man. He is credited with thinking profoundly of what he says, and saying firmly what he has thought. He may offend men’s opinions or prejudices by what he says, but he seldom or ever loses their respect, because of their conviction of his rigid honesty of argument or purpose. Socially speaking, and notwithstanding his variance in political opinion with the majority of his fellow citizens of 199Concord, no public man can count more devoted personal friends and admirers amid his political opponents than he. His experiences have proved the falsity of the poet’s contrary assertion, and that honesty is not a ragged virtue, but a covering which no good and patriotic man, and worthy citizen, can reputably refuse or decline to wear. In all respects, aside from politics or matters of public dispute, Col. George’s social character stands high among his fellow citizens.
The “brethren of the mystic tie” have in him an exalted member of their most worthy fraternity. He exists among their number as a “Sovereign Grand Inspector” of the 33d and final degree in Masonry, and as an active member of the “Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States,” and has taken all the lower degrees. He is a member of the Blazing Star Lodge, and of the Mount Horeb Commandery of Concord, and was, for several years, Commander of the latter organization. Of most of our local charities, he is a quiet but liberal supporter; and the incidental demands of benevolence find him always a ready friend.
Notwithstanding the great pressure of professional and other duties, much attention is given by Col. George to agriculture, and those improvements connected therewith, sanctioned alike by modern science and experience. He owns a fine farm just over the western boundary of Concord, in the town of Hopkinton, where the improvement and enrichment of the soil, and the breeding and raising of horses and Jersey cattle form part of his summer pursuits. It is not certain that he will add largely to his fortune by his efforts as a “gentleman farmer;” but the external aspects of his management are such as to make those efforts valuable, at least, as examples. His rules providing for cleanliness, comfort and kindness towards his farm animals are seen in their fine condition, and reported to be profitably justified by their superior produce. No better proof of a man’s nobility in the ranks of humanity can be found than in his kindness towards his dumb animals.
And now, in conclusion, a few words as to Col. George’s status as a politician and a lawyer. As has already been shown he is a Democrat. Keeping always in view the foundation principles on which that policy rests, he is what may be properly called a progressionist. He recognizes—what many cannot do—the fact that the science of politics advances, as does every other, and that, while fundamental principles never vary, circumstances occur to change the rigid rule of their application, though not to materially vitiate its force or shut it out of due consideration. The political influences of today may not be fit to govern in what those of tomorrow may demand; and he can only be a narrow-minded man who can think otherwise and act accordingly. He certainly can have no pure element of statesmanship within him. But associated with this progressiveness there is no feature of vacillation or radical change and departure from the organic principles of his party in Col. George. He is as true as steel to both, and no man among the Democracy of New Hampshire has a larger share of the confidence and respect of his compatriots. His public addresses are held by his admirers as models of honest, terse, pertinent and well-judged and founded argument; and he certainly carries an audience along with him, not by the use of clap-trap and sensationalism, but by the bold, acutely analytical, and forcible representation of sound logical facts. He is held to be one of the most solid, as well as most influential, stump speakers in New Hampshire, and his political opponents do not deny this. His memory acts as an encyclopedia of political history, state and national, and this always gives him wonderful advantage as an impromptu orator—a duty he has invariably to attend to when many or few are met together for political deliberation.
When his reputation and character as a lawyer comes up the writer confesses that the task of describing the 200latter puzzles him somewhat. There is no room for hesitation in saying that, in eminence of ability, determination in arranging the means of success, preparation to meet and confute opposing arguments, and unwavering general devotion to what he deems the just interests of his clients, no professional man in New England is more than his peer. To gainsay this fact would be to controvert the opinions of the best men on the bench and at the bar, and to attribute solely to friendly admiration what is assuredly a well recognized truth. So much for reputation; but what can, or should, be said as to Col. George’s manner as a lawyer? It is confident, aggressive, bold and independent of every consideration but directness; it shows no aspect of favor for aught but the purpose in issue. Something has been here recorded of the qualities of his political addresses. The same bold fearlessness of men, and of opposing opinions, the same integrity of sentiment and expression, the same disregard of what offence the truth, as he views it, may give to the opposition, are characteristic of him as a pleader at law. Here, also, what may, and does seem to sound harshly from his lips is materially reconciled to the listener’s favorable judgment by the pleader’s manifest earnestness, honesty and unadulterated devotion to the truth, and the interest of his client, founded on his views thereof. There is no surplusage of words in Col. George’s legal prelections. He is a very Gradgrind for facts, and uses them always with direct and sledge-hammer force, cultivating catapult pith rather than the pelting of his opposition with roses. Every energy is directed towards power and conquering effect. To use the expression of one who thoroughly knows the subject of this imperfect sketch: “the man in trouble who has Col. George for his friend and advocate is lucky indeed: he who is in legal difficulty, and has him to oppose him is assuredly to be pitied.”
Col. George is of robust build, about five feet ten inches in height, approximates two hundred pounds weight, is of strong constitution, enjoys excellent health, has immense working power of mind and body; and, if all reports are true, it is not likely that he will live a long and active life and go “over the hill to the poor-house” at its close.