Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 1.djvu/109

 COL. HENRY O. KENT.

��101

��by Gov. Berry, from the Secretary of War, to consolidate the Seventeenth and Second Regiments, under such regula- tions as he might prescribe. On the 16th of April, 1863, this order was carried into effect, the officers and non-commissioned officers of the regiment mustered out, and the enlisted men transferred. The or- der effecting this expressed in emphatic terms the approbation of the civil and military authorities of the soldierly de- portment of the regiment from the time of its organization, and the excellent dis- cipline and deportment that had uniform- ly characterized the command, was re- marked on every hand. The failure to fill and forward the Seventeenth Regi- ment was in no way attributable to its officers, and the circumstances which seemed to make the consolidation advi- sable were regretted alike by officers and men."

Though not brought by the fortunes of war into active duty at the front, few if any men in the State did more than Col. Kent to promote the efficiency of the ser- vice, and to maintain the reputation of New Hampshire for prompt and patriotic eftort in the Union cause.

Col. Kent was an active member of the organization known as the "Governor's Horse Guards," which was formed for parade on the occasion of the annual in- auguration of the Governor, and for so- cial enjoyment. He held the office of Ma- jor in this organization in 1860, and rode as Colonel in the same in 1863-4-5. He has long been prominent in the Masonic order, having been made a Mason in North Star Lodge, No 8. of Lancaster in 1855, in which he passed the chair, and has frequently been District Deputy Grand Master. In 1868 and 1869 he was Grand Commander of the order of Knights Templar, and appendant orders for the jurisdiction of New Hampshire.

In his association with, and labor for the success of the Republican party, Col. Kent was actuated by his opposition to slavery, which institution and its exten- sion he regarded as prejudicial to the re- public. He maintained his convictions in his paper and on the stump, earnestly and yet candidly. After the war, his connection with which has been alluded

��to, and the downfall of slavery, he favor- ed the burial of past issues and sectional bitterness, believing that a restored Union in the full sense of the word, renewed fraternal relations and a general revival of business, were absolutely essential to our prosperity, if not to our existence as a people. Regarding the policy of Pres- ident Grant and the supporters of his ad- ministration, as inimical to such results, he found himself unable to sustain the measures of the administration party. He therefore disposed of his paper, which, as a party organ he could not con- scientiously turn over to the other side, and engaged in the development and or- ganization of the Liberal movement, which resulted in the Cincinnati Conven- tion and the nomination of Horace Gree- ley for the Presidency in 1872. He par- ticipated in that Convention, and was a member of the National and Chairman of the State Liberal Republican Committee in 1872 and 1873, acting in conjunction with Hon. John G. Sinclair, Chairman of the Democratic State Committee, in the management of the Presidential cam- paign of 1872, in this State. In 1873 the Liberal Republicans ran an independent State ticket, but in IS 74 coalesced and formally united with the Democratic par- ty. The resolutions of the Liberal Com- mittee, announcing such purpose of the organization, were presented in the Dem- ocratic State Convention by Col. Kent, whose appearance and announcement eli- cited vociferous and prolonged demon- strations of enthusiasm in that body.

The campaign thus opened ended in the election of a Democratic Governor and Legislature, a result to which the earnest labors of Col. Kent contributed in no small degree. In recognition of his efficient services, as well as acknowledg- ed ability, the Democracy of the upper portion of the Third District, with some in other sections, presented his name in the Convention at Charlestovvn in Janu- ary, 1875, for the Congressional nomina- tion in that District. Two other able and popular candidates, George F. Putnam, of Warren, and Horatio Colony, of Keene, were also before the Convention. Three ballotings were had, the third resulting in the nomination of Col. Kent. The

�� �