Blaylock Atherton

Blaylock Atherton (1900–1963)[1] was an American politician from Nashua, New Hampshire. He was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1937 and 1939. He then served as a state senator for the twelfth district in the New Hampshire Senate, returning to the House of Representatives for two more terms.[2]

Early life

Atherton was born on October 6, 1900, in Nashua, the son of Captain Henry B. Atherton (1835-1906) and Ella Blaylock Atherton M.D. (1860-1933.[3][4] He is a direct descendant of James Atherton,[5][6] one of the First Settlers of New England; who arrived in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in the 1630s.

His father was 65 years old at the time of his birth, and had been severely wounded in the Peninsula campaign of the American Civil War. Although his father was an attorney, he was also editor-in-chief of The Telegraph of Nashua. His father died when Blaylock was just six years old.

He had one full sibling, Ives Atherton,[7] and four half siblings, including Henry F. Atherton. He grew up in the Atherton family home on Fairmount Street in Nashua.[8]

Atherton was educated in Nashua public schools. He attended Dartmouth College (class of 1922), as did his father.[9][10][11] He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1924 with a degree in engineering administration.[12]

Career

Atherton was a Republican politician who served as a member of New Hampshire State House of Representatives, representing Nashua's 1st Ward, between 1937 and 1943. He served an additional term from 1945 to 1948. Between those two terms he was a member of New Hampshire's state senate. He was chairman of the house appropriations committee in 1949.[13], and a member of the senate ways and means committee.[14]

In 1949 Atherton was a candidate for the 1950 senate for New Hampshire's 12th State Senate district.[15] He went on to serve as president of the state senate from 1951 to 1952; and as acting governor for New Hampshire for several months during that same term in office, whilst Governor Sherman Adams campaigned for Dwight D. Eisenhower across the country in a leave of absence, following a successful Eisenhower campaign in the New Hampshire primary. He had been a GOP candidate during 1951 for the gubernatorial race,[16][17] but withdrew in July the following year.[18] During his time as Acting Governor, he implemented a ban on smoking in woodland.[19]

Atherton also served on the Public Utilities Commission[20] and Nashua Board of Education.[21]

Atherton owned and operated an insurance agency at 142 Main Street, Nashua, from 1926 until his death in 1963.[22][23] He had been inspired by his father's legacy of legislating insurance in New Hampshire.[24]

Memberships

He was a member of the Scottish Rite masons,[25] the Nashua Country Club, and a former president and Vice President of the NH State Society and the Sons of the American Revolution.[26]

Personal

He married Katherine E. Bremner (1901-1980) in Wilton, New Hampshire, on September 6, 1924.[27] His wife was a graduate of Gibbs College of Boston and became a director of the Women's Insurance League.[28] They had three daughters.[29]

He was a Mason and a past commander in Nashua, New Hampshire[30] and a director of the Nashua Rotary Club.

Atherton died on March 16, 1963, and is buried in Edgewood Cemetery, Nashua.[31][32]

Further reading
  • Dartmouth college biography

References
  1. "Blaylock Atherton". Atherton One-Name Study. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  2. "Blaylock Atherton". politicalgraveyard.com.
  3. Stearns, E.S. (1908). Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire. pp. 896–898. ISBN 9785876846679.
  4. Shepard, Florence (November 23, 1991). "Men had no monopoly on Nashua medical profession of the 1800s". The Telegraph (Nashua). Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  5. "James Atherton". Atherton One-Name Study. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  6. Farmer, John (1829). A Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New England. Lancaster, Mass.: Carter, Andrews & Co. p. 20.
  7. Cavendish Historical Society (2008). Families of Cavendish: Families of Cavendish, Vt. p. 97. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  8. "Present Atherton Home Last Moved Thru Main St". The Telegraph (Nashua). August 4, 1949. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  9. "Blaylock Atherton papers - Folder: 48, Box: 4". Dartmouth College.
  10. "Blaylock Atherton papers - Folder: 49, Box: 4". Dartmouth College.
  11. "Blaylock Atherton papers - Folder: 50, Box: 4". Dartmouth College.
  12. Squires, James D. (1956). "The Granite State of the United States: A History of New Hampshire from 1623 to the Present, Volume 3". American Historical Company.
  13. "Debate rages in house on timber tax bill". Nashua Telegraph, July 14. 1949. p. 1.
  14. "Atherton appears against change". Nashua Telegraph,May 13. 1949. pp. 1, 3.
  15. "Atherton to be Senate Candidate". Nashua Telegraph , July 14. 1949. p. 3.
  16. "Blaylock Atherton GOP candidate in Gubernatorial race". Portsmouth Herald, October 11. 1951. p. 1.
  17. "Blaylock Atherton GOP candidate in Gubernatorial race". Portsmouth Herald, October 11. 1951. p. 3.
  18. "Atherton quits race for N.H. Governorship". Pittsfield Berkshire Evening Eagle, July 23. 1952. p. 1.
  19. "Acting Governor orders smoking ban". Pittsfield Berkshire Evening Eagle, Oct 25. 1952. p. 1.
  20. "Blaylock Atherton Appointed to PUC by Governor Gregg". Portsmouth Herald, March 12. 1954. p. 1.
  21. "Ex-Senate Head, Atherton, Dies Saturday At Home". Nashua Telegraph. March 18, 1963. p. 2. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  22. "For all your insurance needs, Blaylock Atherton". Nashua Telegraph, July 14. 1949. p. 1.
  23. The Insurance Almanac, an Annual of Insurance Facts. 1957. p. 138. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  24. Journals of the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the State of New Hampshire: June Session, 1885. Manchester, N. H.: John B. Clarke, Public Printer. 1885. p. 476.
  25. "Scottish Rite Masons". Nashua Telegraph, December 12. 1949.
  26. "SAR decorates Thornton monument". Nashua Telegraph, July 5. 1957. p. 14.
  27. "Legal Notice". Nashua Telegraph. December 28, 1965. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  28. "Nashuans Named At Meeting Of Insurance Groups". Nashua Telegraph. November 1, 1946. p. 3. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  29. "Deborah Atherton, daughter of Blaylock Atherton marries". Nashua Telegraph, December 17. 1955. p. 2.
  30. "Nashuan's among those named at consistory meet". Nashua Telegraph, June 3. 1961. p. 16.
  31. "Blaylock Atherton obituary". Nashua Telegraph, March 19. 1963.
  32. "Ex-Senate Head, Atherton, Dies Saturday at Home" Telegraph (March 18, 1963): 2.
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