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Up for sale a RARE! "28th Governor of New Hampshire" Nathaniel Berry Hand Signed 2X3 Card.
1, 1796 – April 27, 1894) served as the 28th governor of New Hampshire during
the American Civil War. N. S.
Berry was born on September 1, 1796, in Bath (in modern-day Maine,
then a part of Massachusetts). His father
died when Berry six years old, and after his mother's remarriage the family
relocated to Bath, New Hampshire, where
Berry attended the local schools. At age 16 Berry became an apprentice in a
leather goods manufacturing factory, where he learned the tanning, currier and saddle making trades. After completing his apprenticeship
at age 21, Berry relocated to Bristol, New Hampshire,
where he purchased a tannery. In the 1820s and 1830s Berry was active in
the New Hampshire Militia.
He received a commission as a second lieutenant in
the 34th Regiment, and advanced through the ranks to become regimental
commander with the rank of colonel. Berry later
relocated to Hebron, New Hampshire,
where he continued to operate a successful leather goods business until it was
destroyed in an 1857 fire. A Democrat, Berry
served in the New
Hampshire House of Representatives in 1828, 1833, and 1834. He
served in the New Hampshire State Senate in
1835 and 1836. Berry was also a delegate to the 1840
Democratic National Convention. Unhappy with the Democratic Party's
support for slavery, and also interested in other reform became involved in the movement which led to the creation of the Free Soil Party. He ran unsuccessfully for Governor as a Free
Soil Democratic candidate in every annual election from 1846 to 1850, enabling
the election of Whig nominee Anthony Colby by splitting the Democratic vote in 1846.
In some elections Berry's candidacy prevented the "regular"
Democratic nominee from receiving the majority of the popular vote required by
New Hampshire's constitution, and the state legislature had to choose the winner.
Berry served as a Judge of the Grafton County Court
of Common Pleas from June 1841 to June 1850. He was a Judge of Grafton County's
Probate Court from 1856 to 1861. He became a Republican when
the party was created in the mid-1850s. In March 1861 Berry was the successful
Republican nominee for Governor. He was reelected in March 1862, and served
from June 1861 to June 1863. Serving during the American Civil War, Berry
was a strong supporter of the Union. During his
governorship New Hampshire provided to the Union Army fifteen infantry regiments, three companies of
sharpshooters, four companies of cavalry and one company of heavy artillery. In
June 1862, Abraham Lincoln desired
to issue a call for more recruits to join the Union Army, but hesitated because
he wanted to demonstrate that the war effort still had popular support,
following a perceived ebb in Union state morale as the result of several
battlefield reverses. Berry was one of the organizers of an effort to send
Lincoln a letter from the state governors to inform him that the states would
respond positively if he issued a call for additional troops. Now able to
demonstrate popular support for continuing the war effort, Lincoln requested
the states to provide additional soldiers. Berry was also an active participant
in the September 1862 War Governors' Conference.
During this meeting Union state governors indicated their continued support for
Lincoln's wartime policies, including the Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln
indicated he intended to issue at an opportune moment. Berry did not run for
reelection in 1863. He resided first with his wife's family in Andover, Massachusetts,
and later with his daughter in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He
later returned to Hebron, where he lived until moving to Bristol in 1888 to
reside with his son.