American politician

Nathaniel Folsom (September 28, 1726 – May 26, 1790) was an American merchant and statesman. He was a delegate for New Hampshire in the Continental Congress in 1774 and 1777 to 1780, signing the Continental *ociation. He served as major general of the New Hampshire Militia during the American Revolutionary War and is a Founding Father of the United States.

Contents

• 1 Private life
• 2 Military career
• 3 Political career
• 4 Notes
• 5 References

Private life

Folsom was born into a large family in Exeter, New Hampshire. His ancestors were among Exeter's earliest settlers, having arrived with the Gilman family, to whom they were related, from Hingham, M*achusetts, where both families settled for a time before moving on to New Hampshire. (The original spelling of the family name was Foulsham. The Folsoms continued to hold land outside Hingham, Norfolk, England, many years after leaving for the M*achusetts Bay Colony. In 1673, John Folsom of Exeter gave his son Peter 50 acres (200,000:m2) of land in Norfolk County, England, which he had inherited from his family.) Nathaniel Folsom's father Jonathan (c. 1685–1740) married Ann Ladd (1691–1742), and she gave birth to Anna, Sarah, Lydia, Elizabeth, Abigail, John, Mary, Nathaniel, Jonathan, Samuel, Josiah and Trueworthy (named for Folsom's Treworgy ancestors).

When Folsom's father died in January 1740, the thirteen-year-old Nathaniel went to work for a merchant. He invested in timber and opened a sawmill. Then in 1761, he went into business with some distant cousins, Joseph and Josiah Gilman. They became Folsom, Gilman & Gilman and opened a general store, built ships, and carried on an import/export business. The firm operated in Exeter and Portsmouth. Though the partners separated in 1768, Folsom continued in foreign commerce, timber, and lumber operations for the rest of his life.

Folsom married twice, first to Dorothy Smith (1726–1776). Their children included: Nathaniel, Dorothy, Jonathan, Anna, Arthur, Mary, and Deborah. Deborah was New Hampshire Governor John Taylor Gilman's first wife, and Mary was his second). Folsom married again to Mary Fisher, and they had one daughter, Ruth Weare.

Military career

Folsom joined the militia as did most young men. During the French and Indian War he was captain of a company in the New Hampshire Provincial Regiment during the Crown Point expedition led by Sir William Johnson in 1755. At the Battle of Lake George, his company, supported by artillery from M*achusetts, surprised and captured Baron Dieskau, the French commander-in-chief. Besides capturing the Baron, they dispersed the French troops, took the French baggage train and seized a critical m* of supplies, with the loss of only six men.

Folsom went on to become a colonel of the Fourth Regiment of New Hampshire Militia. His formal commission was revoked by Governor John Wentworth after the raid on Fort William and Mary in December 1774. Disregarding this, Colonel Folsom marched his regiment to Portsmouth and escorted the captured cannons safely back to Durham.

Near the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the Provincial Congress named him brigadier general in command of New Hampshire's forces. This created some confusion, as the M*achusetts provisional government had named John Stark to the same position. At the time, Colonel Stark was the senior commander of the New Hampshire men who had marched to the Siege of Boston. The confusion was resolved in June 1775, when the Continental Congress named John Sullivan general of those New Hampshire forces in service with the Continental Army. Folsom was the senior officer for militia forces within the state. He was later named a major general, and continued recruiting, training, and supply efforts throughout the war.

Political career

Folsom had served several years as moderator of the town meetings at Exeter. When the revolutionary Provincial Congress first met on July 21, 1774, he was a delegate. The Provincial Congress named him their delegate to the First Continental Congress that met in Philadelphia, during which he was a signatory to the Continental *ociation.

Folsom was a member when everything relating to the success of the Revolution wore a dubious aspect. At this period too, when there were so many scattered and dispersed throughout the country who sympathized with the mother country and who were denominated Tories, it became necessary to adopt some method, or to ins*ute some measure, by which it could be known who were friends and who were enemies of the cause of Independence. Accordingly, the Continental Congress made a provision whereby all persons friendly to the cause of liberty and independence were required to *ociate and sign an obligation to oppose, by arms and money, the hostilities of the British. This obligation was denominated the *ociation Test. All who refused to sign it were disarmed and watched with jealous care, and every hostile demonstration noted and reported to the Committee of Safety, which was composed of a body of men appointed by the General *embly. Their order and recommendations had all the force and effect and was considered equally binding as the acts and resolves of the General *embly.

In 1775, Folsom continued his service in the provincial congress, as he would do until 1783. He became a close political ally of Meshech Weare and Josiah Bartlett, as he was named to the New Hampshire Committee of Safety. In January 1776, he also became a justice in the Rockingham County court of common pleas. In 1777 and 1779 he was returned as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress.

In 1783, he became the chief judge in the common pleas court. That same year he went to, and presided over, the state's cons*utional convention. When a cons*ution was adopted, as president of the convention, he wrote a cover letter, then forwarded it to the towns for ratification. Ironically, one problem addressed by the cons*ution was to limit the number of offices held by one man. Folsom thus resigned from the *embly, as head of the militia, and from the Governor's Council. He held the position of chief judge in Rockingham County until his death in Exeter on May 26, 1790. He is buried in Exeter's Winter Street Cemetery.

Notes

References

• Ammerman, David. In the Common Cause: American Response to the Coercive Acts of 1774. New York: Norton, 1974.
• Chapman, Jacob, "A Genealogy of the Folsom Family: John Folsom and His Descendants, 1615-1882," The Republican Press *ociation, Concord, New Hampshire, 1882.
• Folsom, Nathaniel Smith, "Descendants of the First John Folsom, through Deac. John Folsom, Lieut. Peter, and Ephraim Folsom, Nathaniel Smith Folsom," 1876.
• Prescott, William (1870). The Prescott Memorial: Or, A Genealogical Memoir of the Prescott Families in America. In Two Parts. Boston: H. W. Dutton & son. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
• Willey, George Franklyn, ed. "State Builders: An Illustrated Historical and Biographical Record of the State of New Hampshire," State Builders Publishing Manchester, New Hampshire 1903.
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress