WILLIAM P. RIDDLE.
The lives men live and the character of communities lived in are retroactive. Written or unwritten, the good and ill of them swell the tide of human progress, which ebbs and flows by force of individual influences. Time and place are accidental to birth, but often determine conditions that shape fortune. In New England, in the last century, men achieved and wore the iron crown, and their descendants inherited traits of mental and moral character that make material for biography.
The subject of this sketch was of the third generation of his family in the town of Bedford, N. H., the place of his nativity. In origin the family Was of Anglo-Norman extraction. The name of Riddle appears in the English and Scotch genealogies, and is traceable back into the ninth century. Gaen Riddle, of Scotch descent, the head of his branch of the family in this country, came over and settled in Bedford, N. H., about the year 1737, and was one of the original settlers of that town. William P. Riddle, of whom is the present memoir, was the grandson of Gaen Riddle, and the son of Isaac,—a man of prominence in the affairs and events of his time and locality. William P. inherited in a marked degree his father's characteristics. Born on the 6th day of April, 1789, during the period of the formation of our constitutional government, he became early imbued with the ideas of nationality. His youth was passed at the district school, upon the farm, and about his father's business, in which he displayed aptness and activity. At the old Atkinson Academy, in New Hampshire, he ultimately acquired what education it was his privilege to obtain, and for a short time taught school in his native town.
In 1811, Mr. Riddle located in Piscataquog, a village in Bedford, situated on the Merrimack river, and now apart of the city of Manchester. There he took charge of his father's mercantile affairs. Business soon increased in importance, which led to the formation of the partnership of Isaac Riddle & Sons, in 1817. This firm eventually extended its business operations throughout central New England. They owned and carried on stores, warehouses, lumber-yards, saw and grain mills at Bedford and Piscataquog, and also operated cotton and nail factories, and lumber and grain mills, on the Souhegan at Merrimack. At the latter place they erected dwelling-houses, stores, and a hotel, whence it came to be known as Riddle's Village, and was an active and thriving place.
During this time the project of constructing the "Union Locks and Canals," on the Merrimack river, was inaugurated,—an enterprise which rendered that river navigable for boats and barges to the capital of the state of New Hampshire, and opened up water communication with Boston. With this achievement Mr. Riddle became identified, manifesting energy and foresight. Taking advantage of the facilities thus afforded for inland navigation, the firm of Isaac Riddle & Sons established a warehouse in Boston, together with a line of canal-boats, and in connection with their other extensive business entered actively into the carrying-trade. This water transportation was continued by Mr. Riddle after the dissolution of his firm in 1830, and until the opening of the Nashua & Concord Railroad.
At the decease of his father, the old firm was dissolved, and Mr. Riddle assumed and carried on the business in his own name, both at Merrimack and Bedford. He supplied the region round about with merchandise, and furnished lumber largely for the cities of Nashua, Lowell, Newburyport, Boston, and Providence, supplying the navy-yard at Charlestown with spars and ship-timber, Boston, and Lowell, and other large cities with lumber for public buildings and bridges, and the railways of New England with ties and contract lumber, and shipped railroad sleepers to the West Indies. The old "yellow store" at Piscataquog Bridge was the scene of many of these transactions. It was a busy mart. Here were bought and bartered domestic products, wood, timber and lumber from all the outlying country, in exchange for groceries and merchandise, which in turn were transported down the Merrimack to the markets of Massachusetts.
During this latter period of his business activity, Mr. Riddle also dealt extensively in hops, buying them throughout New Hampshire, Vermont, and Canada, and shipping and marketing them in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, and in some instances exporting them. In 1846 he was appointed inspector-general of hops for New Hampshire, the culture of which having become of important concern to the farmers of the state. In this capacity he was favorably known and respected among hop-growers and merchants of New England. In 1848 the Piscataquog steam-mills were erected by him, and successfully operated for several years. Thus were continued and carried on mercantile pursuits and business enterprises until his retirement, about the year 1860, filling up a busy life of upwards of half a century.
Early in life Mr. Riddle evinced a taste for military affairs. At the age of twenty-five years he organized a company known as the Bedford Grenadiers, and was chosen its first captain. Five years afterwards he was promoted to the rank of major of the "Old Ninth Regiment." The next year he became lieutenant-colonel, and on June 15, 1824, was promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment, and was in command for seven years. The "Old Ninth" was then composed of ten full infantry companies, two rifle companies, one artillery company, and one cavalry company, and for discipline and efficiency ranked first in the state. In June, 1831, Col. Riddle was promoted brigadier-general; and on the 25th of June, 1833, was further promoted to the rank of major-general of the division, which military office he held till his resignation. Thus he had filled all the offices of military rank within the state.
Mr. Riddle married, in 1824, Miss Sarah Ferguson, daughter of Capt. John Ferguson, of Dunbarton,—a soldier of the Revolution who fought at Bunker's Hill. Of this union there were seven children. After his marriage he continued to reside in Piscataquog, living on the present homestead till his death.