[NEW HAMPSHIRE] Hon. Alvah Woodbury Sulloway (1838- ) Sulloway was one of the best known, most practical, energetic and public-spirited among the enterprising business men of the prosperous and progressive town of Franklin, New Hampshire. In his father's mill at Enfield, N.H., Alvah gained the practical knowledge of the business in which he was to be engaged, which constituted the sure foundation of the success he attained. He secured a good academical education at Canaan and Barre, Vt., and the Green Mountain Liberal Institute, at South Woodstock; but spent a considerable portion of his time, between the ages of ten and twenty-one years, in active labor in the mill, thoroughly familiarizing himself with the various processes in hosiery manufacture and the general conduct of business in that important line of industry. Upon attaining his majority, with that ambitious and independent spirit which so generally characterizes the youth of New England, and to which the development and prosperity of all sections of our country are so largely due, Mr. Sulloway determined to go into business for himself. His purpose received the ready encouragement and sanction of his father, and, after due deliberation, he formed a partnership with Walter Aiken, of Franklin, in the manufactureof hosiery. The partnership continued for about four years, when it was dissolved by mutual consent, and another firm was organized which put in operation a new mill. This firm consisted of Mr. Sulloway and Frank H. Daniell, of Franklin, who carried on business together until 1869, when Mr. Daniell withdrew, and Mr. Sulloway became sole proprietor. The mill was situated upon the lower power of the Winnipiseogee, opposite the mills of the paper company, the power being used in common by the two establishments. The building of brick, three stories high, with basement, contained four sets of woolen machinery, with about seventy-five knitting machines, and furnished employment for about ninety operatives, besides a large number of women in the vicinity and surrounding towns, whose labor was required in finishing the work which the machines leave incomplete. The goods manufactured were the Shaker socks, or half-hose, of which more than three hundred dozen pairs are produced daily, giving an annual product of about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The monthly payroll averaged about two thousand five hundred dollars, aside from the amount paid for outside labor. Mr. Sulloway was a business man in the true sense of the term, and as such he became eminently successful. But while devoting his energies and ability to the development of his own business interests, and thereby indirectly conferring large benefit upon the community in which he moved, he never failed to contribute by direct personal effort to the advancement of all measures of public utility and material progress, and to his labor and encouragement, personally and peculiarly, as much as to any other among its many enterprising and public-spirited citizens, the town of Franklin is indebted for the advanced position which it holds when regarde from a business, social or educational stand-point. He was a prime mover in the organization of the Franklin National Bank, which went into operation in November, 1879, and has been president of the institution from the start. He has also been a trustee of the Franklin Savings-Bank ever since its establishment, and for several years past a member of the committee of investment. In 1880 he was chosen a member of the board of directors of the Northern Railroad, and in March, 1885, he was appointed president of the same corporation. In politics Mr. Sulloway is an ardent Democrat, an earnest and enthusiastic worker in the party cause, and his labors in this direction have been largely instrumental in bringing his party into ascendancy in Franklin, which was for many years one of the hardest-contested political battle-grounds in the State, numbering, as it does, among its citizens several of the most active leaders of the two great parties. In 1871, although the town was then decidedly Republican, he was chosen a member of the State Legislature from Franklin, and was re-elected the following year. In 1874, and again in 1875, he was elected to the same position. In January, 1877, Mr. Sulloway was nominated by the Democracy of the Second District as their candidate for Congress against Major James F. Briggs, of Manchester, the Republican nominee. The district was strongly Republican, and that party had a popular candidate in the field; yet Mr. Sulloway, with no expectation of an election, made a vigorous canvass and ran largely ahead of his ticket. He was also the candidate for his party in the district at the next election, and again in 1880, making lively work for his successful opponent, Major Briggs, on each occasion. He has been an active member of the Democratic State Committee for a number of years past, and for the greater portion of the time a member of the executive committee of that body, having direct charge of the campaign work. He was a member of the New Hampshire delegation in the National Convention at St. Louis, in 1876, which nominated Samuel J. Tilden for the Presidency, and was an enthusiastic supporter of Mr. Tilden, not only in convention, but also in the subsequent campaign, in which he was actively engaged as a member of the Democratic National Committee from this State. In 1880 he was again a delegate to the National Convention of his party at Cincinnati, where General Hancock was nominated; and in 1884, at Chicago, he was a zealous supporter of Governor Cleveland. [Copied from "The History of Merrimack and Belknap Counties, New Hampshire". Edited by D. Hamilton Hurd and Published in 1885.]. Four ALSs, 1899-1900, total 9 pages, all to E.W. Heath.Business matters. VG.

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