Felty Devault Massengill (1815-1894)

Portrait from "The Massengills Massengales and Variants, 1472-1931".

   The Strangest Names in American Political History continues its trek through Tennessee to highlight the life of another obscure Volunteer State representative, Felty Devault Massengill of Sullivan County. Like Whitthorne Bell and Skipwith T. Foote before him, minimal information could be located on Massengill, except a brief mention of his being a state representative, farmer, and mill owner. The son of Henry and Elizabeth (Emmert) Massengill, Felty Devault Massengill was born in Tennessee on April 30, 1815.

   Acknowledged as having "received the usual country advantages" in regards to schooling, Felty Massengill married in May 1836 to Deborah Webb (1811-1874), to whom he was wed until her death. This marriage would produce eight children, and a year following his wife's passing remarried to Martha Latture Mauk/Mauck (1844-1890), a union that would produce a further three children, Mary Porter (born 1877), Martha Ema (born 1880) and Walter Clark (born 1882). 

   A farmer for a good majority of his life, Massengill also "boated down the Tennessee and Holston rivers" and owned a mill on the Weaver Branch of the Holston River, operating it until his death. In 1854 he was elected as Sullivan County's representative to the Tennessee General Assembly and during the 1855-57 session served on the committee on New Counties and County Lines. 

  Little else could be found on Massengill's life following his term, except notice of his death in Sullivan County on March 30, 1894, at age 78. He was later interred alongside his wives at the Massengill Cemetery in Piney Flats, Tennessee. One should also note that Massengill's last name has a few variations in spelling, being given as both Masengill and Massengale.

Skipwith Taylor Foote (1869-1938)

Portrait from the 1933 Tennessee General Assembly composite.

   Tennessee state representative Skipwith Taylor Foote received a brief mention in the October 21 write-up on Whitthorne Levi Bell and is one of several oddly named assemblymen to have served in the legislative session of 1933-35. Equally as obscure as the man who preceded him here, Skipwith T. Foote was born in Hardeman County, Tennessee on December 29, 1869, one of several children born to John Luther and Sarah Anne (Thomas) Foote. Like Whitthorne Bell, the dearth of resources in regard to Mr. Foote has left most of his life a mystery, including his early life and education.

   Foote married in August 1903 to Margaret Luther (1870-1962), to whom he was wed until his death. The couple would have at least six children, Sarah Emerson (1904-2001), Virginia (1906-1994), Luther (1908-1979), Mildred (born 1910), Margaret (1913-2001), and John Thomas (born 1918). 

  Sources denote Foote as a farmer in Hardeman County and in 1932 he was elected as a Democrat to the Tennessee General Assembly. During the 1933-35 session, Foote introduced house bills #484 and 485 to "regulate work on roads" and "regulate division of road funds" for Hardeman County. Little else could be found on Foote's life after his term concluded in 1935, except notice of his death in Bolivar, Tennessee on July 23, 1938, at age 68. He was survived by his wife Margaret and both were interred at the Perrans Chapel Baptist Church Cemetery in Bolivar.

Whitthorne Levi Bell (1880-1961)

Portrait from the 1933 Tennessee Assembly composite.

   A recent cull through the archives of the Tennessee General Assembly has yielded a host of new names, and the 1933 session of the assembly has proven to be a veritable goldmine. Serving in that session were Ditzler Billoat Brown, Watterson Grady Sidwell, Thepher Jerard White, Skipwith Taylor Foote, and today's"honoree" Whitthorne Levi Bell. Unfortunately, details on Bell's life remain difficult to come by, hence why his article here will be on the short side.

  The son of William Levi and Martha Caroline (Whitaker) Bell, Whitthorne Levi "Whit" Bell was born in Waynesboro, Tennessee on August 16, 1880. Nothing could be found in regards to Bell's schooling or early life, except notice of his marriage in the early 1900s to Izora (Downing) Bell (1880-1963). The couple's lengthy union produced seven children, James Paul (1903-1943), Whitney Louise (1905-1938), Hazel K. (1908-1979), Aaron Burwell (1911-1981), William Howard (1913-1973), Delphia Elizabeth (1915-1988) and an infant daughter who died in 1907. 

   A former vice president of the First National Bank of Hohenwald, Tennessee, Whit Bell also served as Wayne County commissioner of highways and accounts in 1931. In the following year, Bell was elected as a Democrat to the Tennessee General Assembly. Representing the 17th district (comprising the counties of Wayne, Lewis, Maury, and Giles), Bell served during the 1933-35 session and during that term introduced House Bill #780 to "protect deer and turkeys, certain county", which would later be signed into law by the Governor. 

  Following his term Bell was a campaign manager in Wayne County for Prentice Cooper's successful 1940 run for Governor. A Mason and member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Whit Bell died on November 10, 1961 at age 81. His wife Izora survived him by two years and following her death in September 1963 was interred alongside him at the Bell Cemetery in Wayne County.

Watterson Grady Sidwell (1893-1967)

Portrait from the 1933 Tennessee legislative composite.

    A three-term member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, Watterson Grady Sidwell would also serve as a bank president, Democratic National Convention delegate, and judge of the Clay County General Sessions Court. The son of John Epison and Mattie Ann (Bennett) Sidwell, W. Grady Sidwell was born in Lillydale, Tennessee on May 13, 1893. A student in the public schools of Celina, Tennessee, Sidwell would graduate from Burritt College in 1915 and three years later was admitted to the Tennessee bar. Sources also denote Sidwell as a veteran of World War I, but aside from noting the duration of his enlistment (four months), little else could be found on his military service. 

   Sidwell continued his legal education at Vanderbilt University, earning his bachelor of laws degree in the class of 1919. Within a short period following his graduation Sidwell had established his law practice in Celina, Tennessee, and in 1928 was elected to his first political office, that of trustee for Clay County. He served in that capacity until 1931 and in the following year was elected to the Tennessee General Assembly from the 12th floterial district. During the 1933-35 session, Sidwell sat on the committee on Military Affairs and in 1934 was elected to a second term. Sidwell's two terms in the assembly were subsequently acknowledged in the 1938 edition of Prominent Tennesseans, which remarked that

"In this position he made a creditable record for himself and a satisfactory service to his constituents."

   At the conclusion of his second term in 1937, Sidwell returned to Celina, where in the coming years he would serve on the city council as well as city attorney. In 1940 he served as part of the Tennessee delegation to the Democratic National Convention held in Chicago and in 1949 returned to political life when he was named as judge of the Clay County Court of General Sessions, a post he would hold only a year. Also in 1949, Sidwell began a twelve-year tenure as President of the Bank of Celina, succeeding to that post upon the death of sitting bank president E.P. Fowler.

                                                      From the 1935 Tennessee General Assembly composite.

  Active in several fraternal groups in Clay County, Sidwell was a member of the Celina Lions Club, Shriners, the Canton Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, and the American Legion. In 1953 he was a Clay County delegate to the Tennessee Constitutional Convention and in November 1956 won election to a third term in the state assembly. W. Grady Sidwell died on April 8, 1967, at age 73, succumbing to a heart attack at a Clay County hospital. He was survived by his wife Mary Sue (Maxwell) Sidwell, who, following her death in 1985, was interred alongside her husband at the Fitzgerald Cemetery in Celina.

From the 1957 Tennessee Assembly composite.

Orceneth Asbury Fly (1894-1976)

Portrait from the Hondo Anvil Herald, April 6, 1955.

   A longtime civic leader and prominent citizen in Hondo, Texas, Orceneth Asbury Fly can rightfully be called the oddest named mayor this Medina County city ever produced, and in addition to his two terms as mayor was a druggist in that city for over five decades. Born in Utopia, Texas on February 16, 1894, Orceneth Asbury "O.A." Fly was the son of John Sidney and Annalee (Fisher) Fly. Bestowed the unusual name Orceneth Asbury upon his birth, Fly's unusual name may have a connection to Orceneth Asbury Fisher (1803-1880), a widely known Methodist minister who spent a good portion of his later life in Texas.

  O.A. Fly attended school in Hondo and following graduation from that city's high school continued study at the Coronel Institute in San Marcos and the University of Texas' Pharmacy School at Galveston. Following his graduation in January 1917 Fly began his career as a pharmacist, briefly residing in Laredo and San Antonio before returning to Hondo. He married in May 1917 to Willie LeRoy Barton (1894-1967), to whom he was wed for fifty years. The couple's union would produce four children, Orceneth Asbury Jr. (1918-1972), Frances Ruth (1921-2004), William Sidney (born 1925), and the Rev. Richard Fly (1930-1959).

  In January 1919 Fly returned to Hondo and shortly after his return "purchased a half interest" in the Martin Drug Store. Following the purchase, the store underwent a name change to the Fly Drug Co. He would remain connected with this business for over fifty years (retiring in January 1970) and was later joined by his sons William Sidney and Orceneth Asbury Jr., the latter also being a surgeon based in Houston. During its existence, the Fly Drug Co. would carry not only medical supplies and pharmaceuticals but also "sundries, candy, tobacco, gift items, school supplies and the like", as well as sporting goods.

   While prominent in Hondo business circles, O.A. Fly also stood tall in city civic affairs, being a past president of the Chamber of Commerce and Hondo Lions Club, a past master of the local Masonic lodge, as well as a Shriner. Fly also was a longstanding member of the Southwest Texas Pharmaceutical Association and the National Association of Retail Druggists.

   O.A. Fly entered Hondo's political life in the late 1940s when he was elected to the city council. In February 1953 Fly announced his candidacy for mayor of Hondo, following incumbent mayor Bob Kollman's announcement that he wouldn't be seeking reelection. In April of that year, Fly won the mayoralty and would serve two terms in that post. Upon entering the mayor's office, Fly envisioned a bright future for Hondo, remarking

"I want many things for Hondo but especially I would like to see all our streets paved, curbs and sidewalks laid, a federal building, a city hall,  a city library, a large park and city playground. Also, I would like for Hondo to have a zoning ordinance, a standard building code, improved traffic regulations, a stricter enforcement on vaccinating and tagging dogs, a cleaner city and a continuation of the friendly hospitality with which Hondoans make visitors and newcomers feel at home in Hondo."

O.A. Fly at work, from the February 17, 1967 Hondo Anvil Herald.

   Fly's second term as mayor concluded in April 1957 and was succeeded by Dr. Thomas Knopp. In 1967 Fly celebrated not only the five-decade anniversary of his entering the druggist trade but also his fiftieth wedding anniversary. He and his wife were subsequently feted with a large party at their home in June of that year, which was attended by over 150 guests from all across the country. Sadly, just two months following their anniversary, Willie Barton Fly died at age 72. In the year following his wife's passing O.A. Fly remarried to Emilia "Millie" Eckhart, to whom he was wed until her death in April 1974. 
  In January 1970 the Fly Drug Co. was purchased from Fly and his son William by Dan B. Conoly Jr., with the business continuing under the name Dan's Drug Inc. Following his retirement O.A. Fly continued prominence in Hondo, being a member of the Board of Stewards for the Hondo Methodist Church. He died in that city on February 3, 1976, just two weeks shy of his 82nd birthday. He was later interred alongside his wife Willie at the Oakwood Cemetery in the Hondo cemetery complex.

Orba Ollie McCurdy (1895-1964)

Portrait from the "Calyx", Washington and Lee Yearbook, 1917.

  Vernon, Texas attorney Orba Ollie McCurdy was a veteran of World War I who would become active in Wilbarger County politics following his return from service, winning election as county prosecuting attorney and county judge. The son of L.E. and Minta Virginia (McDonald) McCurdy, Orba Ollie "O.O." McCurdy was born on November 29, 1895, in Harrold, Texas. Early in his life, his family relocated to Vernon, Texas, where he would attend public schools. Deciding upon a career in law, McCurdy studied at both Valparaiso University in Indiana and Washington and Lee University in Virginia, earning his degree from the latter in 1917. 

  Following American entry into World War I McCurdy enlisted in the Marines, and he would subsequently be stationed at a barracks in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic beginning in 1918. He would hold the rank of sergeant at the time of his discharge and after returning stateside married in 1921 to Josephine Wardlaw (1899-1985), to whom he was wed until his death. The couple is believed to have been childless.

   In 1924 McCurdy won election as County Attorney for Wilbarger County and served two terms in that post (1925-1929). In the early 1940s McCurdy held the presidency of the Vernon Bar Association and in 1945 was elected as its secretary-treasurer. In 1942 he had won election to the first of three terms as Judge of Wilbarger County, and after serving six years on the bench stepped down in early 1949 and returned to practicing law, opening his office at the Herring Bank Building in Vernon. 

  Active in the American Legion, Rotary Club, Lions Club and the Masons, McCurdy continued to reside in Vernon until his death at home on June 4, 1964, at age 69. He was survived by his wife Josephine, and a burial location for both he and his wife remains unknown at this time.

Blucher Haynes Erskine (1849-1929)

Portrait from Personnel of the Texas State Government, 1889.

    After several weeks of profiling a number of unusually named New England political figures, we journey south to Frio County, Texas, and Blucher Haynes Erskine. A farmer and stockraiser, Erskine represented Frio County in the Texas House of Representatives for three terms beginning in 1889. A lifelong Texas resident, Blucher H. Erskine was born in Guadalupe County on August 10, 1849, the eldest son of Andrew Nelson (1826-1862) and Annie T. Erskine (1826-1914). 

   Erskine attended schools local to Guadalupe County and was left fatherless at just thirteen years of age, with Andrew Erskine losing his life at the Battle of Antietam. Blucher Erskine married in May 1872 to Ada Cotton (1850-1939) and would have four sons, Andrew Nelson (1873-1954), John P. (born 1875), Blucher Haynes Jr. (1880-1963) and Fredrick Paul (1885-1958). 

  After entering young adulthood Erskine began a career in milling and stock-raising, first in Guadalupe County and later in Frio County. Following his removal to the latter county, he became one of that area's leading cattlemen, and in 1884 journeyed to St. Louis to take part in the First National Convention of Cattle Growers of the United States. A representative from the Frio County Stock Association to that meeting, Erskine served on the committees on Credentials, Permanent Organization, and Resolutions during the convention proceedings.

  In November 1888 Erskine was elected to represent Frio County (and the rest of the 21st district) in the Texas House of Representatives. Taking his seat at the start of the 1889-91 session, Erskine was named to committees on Finance, Internal Improvements, Lands and Land Office, Public Debt, Stocks and Stock Raising, and Roads, Bridges and Ferries. He would also chair the committee on Irrigation. Erskine won his second term in the house in November 1890 and during that legislative session held a number of new committee assignments, including Finance, State Asylums, and chairing the committee on Claims and Accounts.

  Erskine's third win at the ballot box occurred in November 1892, and during his final stint in the legislature chaired the committee on Public Lands and the Land Offices, as well as serving on the Finance and Military affairs committees. Following his time in government Erskine returned to raising shorthorn cattle and was acknowledged as a "liberal contributor to stock journals of the country." Sadly, Erskine encountered financial hardship in his later years, and in July 1919 wrote the following letter to the Shorthorn World cattle journal:

"Years of drouth [sic] and financial misfortune forced me completely out of the cattle business and I reluctantly parted with my Shorthorns in 1918 after over forty years--1875-1918 as a Shorthorn breeder. I felt like a man suddenly jerked from near the top of the ladder. I had to rub my bruises awhile before trying to mount again. Although nearly 70 years old, I am going to try in a small way, as my little money left will allow me to enter the ''ranks" again and when the final call comes, die a Shorthorn breeder."

   Erskine's last years were spent in Cometa, Crystal City, Texas and during this time was an avid researcher of his family's history, work that would see him author a piece on his father's exploits (published in the June 1927 issue of the Frontier Times Magazine) as well as compiling a 116-page biography entitled "Life of Andrew Nelson Erskine, 1826-1862". Blucher Haynes Erskine died at age 80 on December 20, 1929, with burial occurring at his ranch in Crystal City, Texas.

From the Personnel of the Texas State Government, 1892.

Parsons Brainard Cogswell (1828-1895)

Portrait from the Proceedings of the New Hampshire Historical Society, Vol. 3.

"Always a plain man of the people, he recognized no cliques or classes as an editor or public man. He greeted the poor and rich alike, and in the days of his prosperity never failed to remember the companions of his hours of toil at the compositor's case or the printing press. This characteristic made warm friends of all who knew him,  but he had others which were only known to his nearer and more intimate associates."

   Such was the memorial given to Parsons Brainard Cogswell, one of New Hampshire's preeminent newspaper publishers and editors during the 19th century. In addition to success in his chosen field, Cogswell also made an impact in Granite State political life, being a two-term state representative, New Hampshire state printer and Mayor of Concord. The fifth born son of David and Hannah (Haskell) Cogswell, Parsons Brainard Cogswell was born in Henniker, New Hampshire on January 22, 1828. 

  Cogswell's formative years were spent on the farm and his education was centered during the winter months at district schools. For an eight-month period Cogswell attended an academy in Clinton Grove, where, under the tutelage of principal Moses Cartland, he first became "strongly attached to anti-slavery tenets and temperance." At the age of just 19 Cogswell was called to enter the printing trade, and in 1847 joined the staff of the Independent Democrat in Concord. During his two years in their offices Cogswell gained wide knowledge of the printer's daily activities and by 1849 had moved on to the New Hampshire Patriot, also located in Concord. His three-year tenure on the Patriot staff also saw him employed for several weeks in Massachusetts, working with the Cape Ann Light and Gloucester Telegraph newspapers.

  In 1852 Cogswell left the New Hampshire Patriot to join the print firm of Tripp and Osgood, where he was engaged in "book and job work." In March 1854 he and Abraham Gates Jones (a future Mayor of Concord) pooled resources and together purchased the aforementioned business, which they operated until 1858, after which Cogswell "assumed whole control of the business." He continued along this route until 1863 when he took on George Sturtevant as a partner, and in May of the following year, they launched the Concord Daily Monitor, notable for being the first daily newspaper to be issued in the city. While being one of the paper's founders, Cogswell had a hand in nearly every aspect of the paper's production, serving

"In every editorial department, as local, associate and managing editor, and as an editorial writer, wielding a vigorous pen, and contributing with strength to every department of the paper." 

   Several years after its founding the Daily Monitor was consolidated with two other papers, those being the Independent Democrat and the New Hampshire Statesman. Cogswell (as a member of the Republican Press Association, the guiding light behind the consolidation) maintained a large presence in the Monitor's continued production, being at various times managing editor and editor in chief.
   Parsons B. Cogswell first entered the political life of Concord in 1858, when he won a seat on the Union school district's school committee. In the following year, he began a lengthy tenure on the Concord city board of education, continuing to serve until he died in 1895. Cogswell also held the presidency of that board for several years and for nearly two decades was its financial agent.

From a bookplate in the collection of the Concord Public Library.

   In 1871 Parsons Cogswell was elected as one of Merrimack County's representatives to the New Hampshire General Court, and in 1872 won a second term. His terms in the legislature saw him sit on the committees on the Asylum For the Insane and Bills in the Second Reading. During these terms, Cogswell also served as president of the New Hampshire Press Association (1872-75) and in 1876 was its recording secretary. 

   1877 saw Cogswell embark on an extended journey through California, Oregon, and several other states, whilst later visiting Canada. He would continue his travels into 1878 and 1879, venturing across the Atlantic Ocean to traverse "Europe, the Holy Land and Egypt". During his travels overseas Cogswell documented his journey through letters published in the Daily Monitor and the Independent Statesman. Due to a growing interest from those paper's subscribers, Cogswell's travelogues were later published in book form following his return stateside in 1880, under the title Glints From Over the Water. 

   Cogswell returned to Granite State political life in June 1881 when he entered into the post of New Hampshire State Printer, an office he'd continue to hold until 1885. During his term, Cogswell oversaw the publishing of numerous works relating to early New Hampshire history, including documents related to the state constitutional conventions of 1778-79 and 1781-83, rolls of New Hampshire soldiers during the Revolutionary War, and census statistics for the state. 

   Active in several non-political areas in Concord, Cogswell was for many years a trustee of the state library and a past president of both the Concord Commercial Club and the New Hampshire Historical Society. On September 22, 1888, Cogswell married to Helen Buffam Pillsbury (1843-1929), the daughter of noted New Hampshire abolitionist and reformer Parker Pillsbury (1809-1898). Despite marrying late in life (as well as a fifteen-year age difference between them) Cogswell and his wife's family had been extremely close for a number of years prior, as he had boarded with the family beginning in 1848. Parker Pillsbury would, in turn, have a large effect on Cogswell, who early in his life embraced many of Pillsbury's ideas in regards to social activism, women's rights and the abolition of slavery. Cogswell would put much of what he learned from his future father-in-law into action during his time as director of the Lyceum in Concord, inviting reform-minded speakers to lecture on a broad range of topics, including prohibition and equal rights.

   In 1892 Cogswell returned to government service when he was appointed by then-President Benjamin Harrison as U.S. Inspector of Immigrants at Concord, holding that post until his resignation in January of the following year. In the same year as his appointment as immigrant inspector, Cogswell was elected as Mayor of Concord and entered into his duties in January 1893. During his term, he spoke at the dedication of the new state library building and was "interested in all measures tending to improve Concord." 

   Parsons Cogswell's term as mayor concluded in January 1895 and on October 28th of that year died of pneumonia at his home in Concord. News of his passing made the pages of the New York Sun within a day of his death, and he was subsequently memorialized as a

"Faithful and painstaking servant of the people, seeking with perseverance the ends he believed to be good, and striving with the utmost success to perform his whole duty in whatever station he found himself."

  Helen Pillsbury Cogswell survived her husband by three decades, dying at age 86 on October 29, 1929, one day after the thirty-fourth anniversary of Cogswell's passing. Following her death, she was interred alongside him in the Cogswell-Pillsbury family plot at the Blossom Hill Cemetery in Concord. 

From the New York Sun, October 29, 1895.

Portrait from the History of the Eleventh New Hampshire Regiment, Volunteer Infantry.

  While the Cogswell family could boast of one oddly named politician in Parsons B. Cogswell, attention must also be given to his older brother Leander Winslow Cogswell, who, while not having as unusual a name, left a lasting mark in Granite State politics. A veteran of the Civil War, Cogswell attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in Co. D. of the Eleventh Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry.

  In 1865 he was elected to the first of four terms as Henniker's representative to the New Hampshire General Court (serving from 1866, 1867 and 1870, 1871) and from 1871-72 served as state treasurer. Cogswell later served five years as one of New Hampshire's savings bank commissioners from 1876-81 and died in Henniker on January 21, 1906, at age 80.

Dauphin White Wilson (1810-1892), Dauphin White Buckminster (1822-1880)

Portrait from the History of the town of Sullivan, New Hampshire, 1777-1917, Vol II.

   Our theme of oddly named New England political figures continues with the addition of Dauphin White Wilson, a two-term member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from the town of Sullivan. The son of John and Betsy (Nims) Wilson, Dauphin White Wilson was born in Sullivan on August 18, 1810. Bestowed the names Dauphin White upon his birth, Wilson's unusual name honored Dauphin White (1788-1810), a rising young citizen of Sullivan who died in December 1810, and was acknowledged "as one of the most brilliant young men of the town, possessed of remarkable intelligence. Nearly a dozen boys of the town and vicinity were named for him."

   A member of the local militia during his youth, Dauphin Wilson married on November 3, 1836, to Ruth Mason, to whom he was wed for fifty-six years. The couple would have one son who died in infancy in 1837. Through the succeeding years, Wilson rose to become a prominent figure in Sullivan, being a farmer, schoolteacher, carpenter and a man of verse. Remarked as being a "fair poet" and "true balladest", Wilson is noted as having had 

"The true spirit of poetry in his nature, but had never given any attention to the laws of meter, and the metrical arraignment of many of his poems is seriously defective. His poem, printed on page 70 of this book [the History of the town of Sullivan] sounds like an old time ballad and is of that nature.....He had a sentimental turn of mind and was particularly attached to his native town. Every object of interest which ever existed in the town was treasured by him in memory."

  Active in the political affairs of Sullivan, Wilson held several town offices, including Justice of the Peace, school board clerk, hog-reeve, juror, and treasurer (serving in the latter in 1838.) In 1850 he was elected as one of Sullivan County's representatives to the New Hampshire legislature and during the 1851 session held no committee assignments. In 1860 Wilson won a second term in the legislature and, as was the case in his previous term, held no committee assignments. 
  1886 proved to be an important year for Wilson and his wife, as they not only celebrated their golden wedding anniversary (an event that was celebrated in the photograph below) but also removed from Sullivan to the neighboring town of Keene. Wilson returned to politics that year when he served on the Keene Common Council from Ward 1, and continued to reside in that city until his death at age 81 on March 17, 1892. His wife Ruth survived him by six years, and following her death in 1898 was interred alongside her husband at the Sullivan Center Cemetery in Sullivan.

Dauphin Wilson and his wife are seated in the above photo. 

From the 1857 New Hampshire legislative journal.

  Another New Hampshire-based "Dauphin" that entered the political life of his state was Cheshire County resident Dauphin White Buckminster, who, like the man that preceded him here, received his first and middle names in honor of Dauphin White (1788-1810). Unfortunately, information has proven to be scant in regards to Buckminster, and no photo of him could be found to post here. A one-term member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, Buckminster was born in that state on September 20, 1822, the son of Peter and Abigail Buckminster. 

   For a good majority of his life, Buckminster resided in Keene, New Hampshire, coincidentally the same town that Dauphin W. Wilson moved to in the late 1880s. During his residency here Buckminster was a member of a local militia unit called the Keene Light Infantry, serving from 1849-51. Buckminster would later marry to Harriet Irene Mason 

and in 1856 was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, serving in the 1857 session.

  Following his legislative service, Buckminster operated a gun shop and in 1871 entered into the post of Register of Probate for Cheshire County, continuing in that office until his death on January 27, 1880. He was later interred at the Woodland Cemetery in Keene.

Liba Conant Morrison (1828-1900)

Portrait from the History of Northfield, New Hampshire, 1780-1905.

   An obscure resident of the town of Northfield in New Hampshire, Liba Conant Morrison represented that town in his state's legislature for one term in the mid-1870s. A son of Ebenezer and Elizabeth (Lyford) Morrison, Liba Conant Morrison was born in Northfield on May 13, 1828. Named in honor of the Rev. Liba Conant (1793-1881), a prominent Congregationalist minister in Northfield, Liba Morrison married in May 1859 to Mary Chase Hill (1835-1898). The couple's near four-decade marriage is believed to have been childless.

  A tanner for the majority of his life, Morrison and his brother Ebenezer (along with their father) are recorded as building a steam mill for their work near Sanbornton Bridge, and that the mill was "destroyed by fire after the business declined." Following this Morrison followed farming and in 1875 was elected as one of Merrimack County's representatives to the New Hampshire legislature.  Serving in the session of 1876-77, Morrison was named to the committee on Fisheries. Little else is known of Morrison's life after his term in state government, except notice of his death at the home of his niece on July 11, 1900. A burial location for both he and his wife remains unknown at this time.

A  New Hampshire legislative roster from 1876.