Charles Humphrey Atherton

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Charles Humphrey Atherton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New Hampshire's At-large Congressional district
In office
March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1817
Preceded bySamuel Smith
Succeeded byNathaniel Upham
Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
In office
1823–1839
Personal details
Born(1773-08-14)August 14, 1773
Amherst, Province of New Hampshire, British America
DiedJanuary 8, 1853(1853-01-08) (aged 79)
Amherst, New Hampshire
Resting placeOld Cemetery
Amherst, New Hampshire
CitizenshipU.S.
Political partyFederalist
SpouseMary Ann Toppan Atherton
RelationsWilliam Gordon
ChildrenCharles G. Atherton
Alma materHarvard University
ProfessionLawyer
Politician
Farmer
Banker
Historian

Charles Humphrey Atherton (August 14, 1773 – January 8, 1853),[1] an American Federalist politician, banker and a distinguished attorney from New Hampshire.[2][3]

Atherton served once as a United States Representative from New Hampshire from 1815 to 1817, but did not seek re-election.[4] He was thrice elected to the state legislature and was a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1823, 1838 and 1839.[5][6]

Early life[edit]

He was the son of Joshua Atherton and Abigail (Goss) Atherton.[7] His grandfather was Colonel Peter Atherton, and a direct descendant of James Atherton,[8][9] one of the First Settlers of New England; who arrived in Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1630s. He studied alongside Elijah Dunbar, the son of Revered Samuel Dunbar at Harvard University.[10][11] He graduated from Harvard in 1794,[12] and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.[13]

Career[edit]

Atherton had a law practice in Amherst, New Hampshire, having been admitted to the bar in 1797.[14]

He served as register of probate for Hillsborough County from 1798 to 1807.[15] During this period he delivered a eulogy on George Washington, who died on December 14, 1799; at Amherst. He sent a copy to Martha Washington on Mar 23, 1800.[16][17]

Atherton was elected as a Federalist candidate to the United States House of Representatives in the Fourteenth United States Congress, he served in Congress from March 4, 1815 to March 3, 1817.[18] He declined to run for reelection in 1816 and instead served as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1823 to 1839.[19]

After leaving the State House, he resumed the practice of law and was one of the founders of the Hillsborough County Agricultural Society in 1819.[20]

He was president of the board of directors of the Farmers' Bank when it was formed in 1825 and served during the existence of the corporation.

Other interests[edit]

Atherton was a prominent figure in the local Unitarian movement, he later helped establish The Christian Society in Amherst.[21]

He gave an oration on the anniversary of American independence in 1798 at his local church in Amherst.[22]

He was a member of the New Hampshire Historical Society,[23] and was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1815.[24] He prepared various papers for the New Hampshire Historical Society.[5] He delivered an address in Concord at their annual meeting on June 8, 1831.[25]

Atherton also wrote about Wiseman Clagett, who had moved to his substantial estates to Litchfield, New Hampshire shortly before the Revolution, and was involved in the temporary government serving as the only Solicitor General, the post being abolished shortly before Clagett's death in 1784.[26]

In his final years, Atherton published his father's memoirs titled "Memoir of the Hon Joshua Atherton", published in 1852, by Crosby, Nichol and Company of Boston.[27]

Memoir of the Hon. Joshua Atherton

Personal life[edit]

On October 30, 1803, Atherton married Mary Ann Toppan.[28] They had seven children, and their son Charles G. Atherton was a United States Senator.[29][30] Atherton's brother-in-law William Gordon was also a U.S. Representative from New Hampshire.[7]

He became a widow after the passing of his wife Mary, who died on October 15, 1817, just five months after childbirth and left four surviving children: James (aged 4), Mary (aged 7), George (aged 9) and Charles (aged 13).

Atherton who had not sought re-election in 1816, is likely to have focused on his family's needs. He was painted by Raphaelle Peale in 1819.[31] He returned to politics, albeit at State level in 1823. That same year he was painted by another renowned artist; Gilbert Stuart in Boston.[32][33]

Charles H. Atherton by Gilbert Stuart

In 1837, his recently deceased son, James was painted from memory by the acclaimed artist and historian, John Trumbull who had up until the year prior had served as president of the American Academy of the Fine Arts. The artists painting skills in his senior ages had declined, and the perceived likeness of his son was not appreciated by his eldest daughter Mary.[34]

Death[edit]

Atherton died in Amherst, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, on January 8, 1853 (age 79 years, 147 days).[35] He is interred at the Old Cemetery in Amherst, New Hampshire, along with his wife Mary (died on October 15, 1817) and five of their children. He had accumulated one of the largest estates ever left in Amherst.[36][37]

Descendants[edit]

The following five children died young:

  • Mary Anne Atherton (July 11, 1806 - September 24, 1807, aged 14 months).
  • Christopher Atherton (Aug 6, 1815 - May 3, 1816, aged nine months).
  • Henry Atherton (May 19, 1817 - May 19, 1817, aged 1 day).
  • George Atherton (September 25, 1808 - April 10, 1825, aged 16). He was a member of the Junior Class of Harvard College.

All 4 were laid to rest in the family grave at Old Cemetery, Amherst, NH.[38]

  • James Humphrey Atherton (1813-1837, a broker, died in New York, aged 24)[39] He was painted by memory by John Trumbull.

The following children died after the death of Charles Humphrey Atherton:

  • Mary Ann Toppan Atherton (December 18, 1810 - January 26, 1853, aged 42). She survived her father by just 18 days.
  • Charles Gordon Atherton (July 4, 1804 – November 15, 1853, aged 49)

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Boston Athenaeum: Picture of Charles H. Atherton".
  2. ^ "Atherton One Name Study - Entry for Charles Humphrey Atherton".
  3. ^ "Charles H. Atherton biography". United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives.
  4. ^ Herringshaw, Thomas William (1909). Herringshaw's National Library of American Biography. p. 165.
  5. ^ a b Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John (1888). "Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 1".
  6. ^ "Charles Humphrey Atherton". politicalgraveyard.com.
  7. ^ a b Bell, Charles Henry (1893). The bench and bar of New Hampshire: including biographical notices of deceased judges of the highest court, and lawyers of the province and state, and a list of names of those now living. Houghton, Mifflin and company. p. 147.
  8. ^ "James Atherton entry on the Atherton ONS".
  9. ^ James Atherton of Dorchester settled in Lancaster Massachusetts in 1654. Carter, Andrews & co. 1829.
  10. ^ "The order of the exercises of commencement. July 16". Harvard University. 1794.
  11. ^ C H Atherton (Class of 1794) (1794). "Algebraic Solutions of Problems". Harvard University.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Harvard University (1915). Quinquennial Catalogue of the Officers and Graduates of Harvard University, 1636-1915. Harvard University Press. p. 158.
  13. ^ Phi Beta Kappa. Mass. Alpha, Harvard university (1839). A Catalogue of the Fraternity of # B K, Alpha of Massachusetts... Harvard University, Cambridge, 1839. Folsom, Wells, and Thurston. p. 10.
  14. ^ Poore, Benjamin Perley (1878). The Political Register and Congressional Directory: A Statistical Record of the Federal Officials, Legislative, Executive, and Judicial, of the United States of America, 1776-1878. Houghton, Osgood. p. 264.
  15. ^ Palmer, Joseph (1864). MECROLOGY OF ALUMNI OF HARVARD COLLEGE. Joseph Palmer. p. 12. ISBN 9781425560201.
  16. ^ "Charles Humphrey Atherton letter to the widow of George Washington". The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington / RM-1186, Peter family papers / Series 4. Papers of Martha Washington.
  17. ^ Eulogy on Gen. George Washington, Late President of the United States, Who Died December 14, 1799; Delivered at Amherst, N. H. Before the Inhabitants of the Town of Amherst. Creative Media Partners, LLC. April 25, 2018. ISBN 9781385813256.
  18. ^ O. Everett (1852). The Christian Examiner, Volumes 53-54. O. Everett. p. 349.
  19. ^ Secomb, Daniel Franklin (1883). "History of the Town of Amherst, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire".
  20. ^ "Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Journal, Volumes 5-6". 1819.
  21. ^ "Charles Humphrey Atherton". The Cabinet © 2013. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  22. ^ Charles H. Atherton (1798). "An oration, pronounced in the First Parish at Amherst, N.H. on the anniversary of American independence, July 4". University of Oxford.
  23. ^ J. T. White Company (1901). The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time, Volume 11. J. T. White Company. p. 460.
  24. ^ "American Antiquarian Society Members Directory". Americanantiquarian.org. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  25. ^ An address delivered at Concord, New Hampshire before the New-Hampshire historical society, at their annual meeting, June 8, 1831 by the Hon. Charles H. Atherton.
  26. ^ "Memoir of Clagett; Catalogue of the Library of the Long Island Historical Society, 1863-1893". Long Island Historical Society. Library. 1893. p. 145.
  27. ^ "Memoir of the Hon. Joshua Atherton. - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library | HathiTrust Digital Library". Babel.hathitrust.org. March 14, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  28. ^ Means, Anne Middleton (1921). Amherst and Our Family Tree. Priv. print. p. 66.
  29. ^ "Charles Gordon Atherton". 2014 Geni.com. 1773. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  30. ^ "ATHERTON, Charles Gordon, (1804 - 1853)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  31. ^ "Charles H. Atherton was painted by Raphaelle Peale c.1819". Philadelphia Museum of Art.
  32. ^ "Charles H. Atherton was painted by Gilbert Stuart c.1823". Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.
  33. ^ "Painting by S Gilbert". Historical Society of Amherst, New Hampshire.
  34. ^ Means, Anne Middleton (1921). "Amherst and Our Family Tree". Priv. print. p. 133.
  35. ^ "Charles H. Atherton Obituary". 1853.
  36. ^ Spencer, Thomas E. (1998). Where They're Buried: A Directory Containing More Than Twenty Thousand Names of Notable Persons Buried in American Cemeteries, with Listings of Many Prominent People who Were Cremated. Genealogical Publishing Com. p. 221. ISBN 9780806348230.
  37. ^ "Obituary of Charles H. Atherton". pro-quest. New York Times. ProQuest 95816297.
  38. ^ Secomb, Daniel Franklin (1883). "History of the Town of Amherst, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire". p. 486.
  39. ^ "James H. Atherton travels to the south, writes to his father C H Atherton in 1831" (PDF). Filson Historical Society.
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External links[edit]


U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by United States House of Representatives Seat 2 Of New Hampshire's At-large congressional district
1815—1817 		Succeeded by
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