Gov. Samuel Dinsmoor

About

SAMUEL DINSMOOR, the twenty-second governor of New Hampshire and father of New Hampshire Governor Samuel Jr., was born in Windham, New Hampshire on July 1, 1766. His education was attained at Dartmouth College, where he graduated in 1789. After working as a teacher, Dinsmoor studied law, and then established his legal career in Keene, New Hampshire. He first entered politics as postmaster of Keene, a position he was appointed to in 1808. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1811 to 1813; was an 1820 presidential elector; and served as the state councilor in 1821. He also was probate judge of Cheshire County from 1823 to 1831, and was a commission member that negotiated the boundary issue between Massachusetts and New Hampshire in 1825. Dinsmoor next secured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, and was elected governor by a popular vote in 1831. He was reelected to a second term in 1832, and to a third term in 1833. During his tenure, several new manufacturing businesses were incorporated; railroads were advanced; banks flourished; and the first free public library in the U.S. was established in Peterborough. After leaving the governorship, Dinsmoor retired from political life. He then entered the private sector, serving as the president of the Ashuelot Bank in Keene. Governor Samuel Dinsmoor passed away on March 15, 1835, and was buried in the Washington Street Cemetery in Keene, New Hampshire.

Source

Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 3, Westport, Conn.; Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.

• Father of New Hampshire  Governor Samuel Dinsmoor