Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1892-02-25


AS a proof that even the commercial
traveller is public benefactor we have
penned this very crude article and
have been permitted to cite as illustrative
of the idea we wish to convey the career
of veteran salesman of New Hampshire
who is one of the Oldest If not the Oldt st
now on the road in New England. His
initial duties commenced In the fall Of
1857 with j. N. Dean of ClsremOnt, N.
ii and continued through term Of four
or five years. At the conclusion of SER
vice with Mr.. Dean, Mr.. Fletcher en-
tered the employ Of a grocery firm In
Boston and following that was employed
by Joseph Briggs Of Charlestown, N. H.,
manufacturer of boots and shoes, with
whom he continued four or five Yeas.
During some of his business trips, es pee
tally while acting as agent for the Bos-
ton grocery firm, he travelled extensively
in the west, his run extending through
Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wis
consin and Iowa.. If | mistake not he
was acquainted with some interesting
Incidents concerning the civil war and
was west at the time Of the capture of
one of the rebel cities and witnessed the
wild ecstasy and perfectly exultant
jubilee of the inhabitants, thing un-
known to us in the north and of which
we with all our interest had no adequate
conception. During this period he was
selling almost exclusively to the jobbing
trade.
Mr.. Fletcher has been connected with
several Boston firms, among them that
of EbeneZer Hivkson. The sales made
by these parties were unusually large,
sometimes $40, 900 or $4,000 worth of
goods during a trip. At the present
time Mr.. Fletcher is engaged with
Haynes, Spared & Co., of Boston, man.
ufacturers and wholesale dealers in
boots, shoes and rubbers. Although II
years of age, Mr.. Fletcher travels con-
stantly, save few weeks vacation
hich is taken during the months of
service requires constant travel, many
hundred miles of rail are traversed by
him from year to year, and he has been
so fortunate as to escape anything like
serious accident; although his extensive
travel in the west, fastened upon him for
time that disagreeable scourge, fever
and ague. The territory he covers at
the present time on his business trip is in
southern New Hampshire and Vermont,
and he assures one that nowhere is the
land more rich in mineral resources, than
the glorious hills of these beautiful
states, and nowhere is the scenery more
beautiful or pleasing. Aside from his
efficient duties as salesman, he has twice
been appointed postmaster in Charlt s.
town, serving under the administration
of Willard Fillmore and again under
Chester A. Arthur, filling the position
acceptably to the public on each occa-
sion. More than this, Mr.. Fl ,tcher has
found time to acquaint himself with the
science of geology and mineralogy and
is thoroughly read in each, possessing all
the standard works respecting them. For
more than 40 years he has made them a
study and has procured an extensive and
valuable collection of specimens, in
which effort he has been supplemented
by his wife whose interest in these
sciences is equal to his own. Mr..
Fletcher, in addition to his own beauti-
full collection, has had the satisfaction
of contributing many valuable specimens
to the State Antiquarian society. of
which he is an interested member.
Nearly every portion of the globe is
represented in the extensive collection
which he owns and also many curiosities
from the sea. Wonders of land and
ocean are mingled in the choice cabinet
which his pleasant home contains. Mr..
Fletcher is interested in all things peril
nent to the times, enjoys books and the
news of the day and takes time to enjoy
the poets of whom Lowell was one of
his favorites. OF a representative class
Mr.. Fletcher is representative man and
we do not hesitate to say that the COM
mercial traveller as found in New Eng
land is a public benefactor as we'll as
r,yvh1 in .rrI,o g.,
private interests financially.
1t may be interesting to state in con-
nection that among the very first men of
was Reuben Ober whose line of goods
was glass, britannia and plated ware.
He was, think, the oldest both as to
age and time on the road. His death
occurred in tragic manner in an inter-
ior New Hampshire town by taking
through mistake dose of tincture Of
aconite instead of a stomach
cordial. He had scarcely time to be
assisted from his carriage ere he breathed
his last. He will be remembered by
many in New England as an old school
gentleman.
Another was A. B. Gibson of Leomins-
ter, Mass, who could be readily classed
as of those defined as the ''noblest work
of God," an honest man. Thirty years
ago he started with supply of combs
manufactured in Leominster, Mass, and
afterward added buttons and in time
took on Yankee notions and in later years
added other varieties. He always trav-
eled with his own team and was in
every sense Christian gentleman and
everywhere welcome. He died in his
home at Leominster some six years ago.
| Another was Amos Dodge who at one
time was trader / think in the town of
Lempster, Sullivan county, N. H., a
dealer in teas and coffees. And one OF
the most unique was Dan Gale, native
of Lempster in the same county, who
dealt solely in fur goods making extern
sive tours into the north and through
New York and the west. He had become
such an expert as to be able to tell in the
darkness or blindfolded the different
kinds of fur and could not be deceived.
His death occurred some six years ago
this winter and the widow and daughter
are living in the same town. The exper-
fences of these pioneer statesmen are in
teresting in the extreme and their his
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