Women of Strafford County
From the book "New Hampshire Women" A collection of portraits and biographical sketches of daughters and residents of the granite state, who are worthy representatives of their sex in the various walks and conditions of life. Published by The New Hampshire Publishing Co., Concord, NH, J.G. Patterson, Jr. President, ©1895
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Mrs. Charles H. Sawyer |
Susan Ellen, daughter of Dr. James Wellington and Elizabeth (Hodgdon)
Cowan, descended from Peter Coffin who came to Dover in 1636, and Major Caleb
Hodgdon of Revolutionary fame, was born in Dover August 13, 1839, educated
in the public schools of her native city, and at Abbot Academy, Andover,
Mass. She was married February 8, 1865, to Charles Henry Sawyer, governor of
New Hampshire 1887-89. Their children are William Davis, married
Gertrude, daughter of Hon. Joshua G. Hall of Dover; Charles Francis, married
Gertrude, daughter of Hon. Henry W. Severance, of San Francisco; James Cowan;
Edward; Elizabeth Coffin. The three elder sons are alumni of Yale
University. William and Charles are associated in business with their
father. James is taking post-graduated studies at Harvard, Edward is an
under-graduate at Yale, and Elizabeth is a member of Mrs. Stearns's School at
Amherst, Mass. Few women have been so blessed and happy in their domestic
life as Mrs. Sawyer. She is a generous and delightful hostess, welcoming
many guests in her home in Dover, and during the summer months she is the
center of happy companies in the cottage on the beautiful heights at York.
She is a devoted member of the First Church, president of the Woman's
Auxiliary to the Y.M.C.A., in which position she has been remarkably efficient
and helpful; Regent for the Dover Chapter of the Society of the
Daughters of the American Revolution, and a member of the Colonial Dames.
Mrs. Sawyer has traveled widely, and is happily conversant on topics of home
and foreign interest. She combines great strength of character with rare
womanly sensibilities. She reminds one of the saying of Ruskin: "The best
women are indeed necessarily the most difficult to know: they are
recognized chiefly in the happiness of their husbands and the nobleness of
their children: they are only to be divined, not discerned by strangers."
This wonderful file, a rare find, was submitted by Michelle McKenzie who at some personal cost donates them to share with you. Pictures scanned by Michelle McKenzie;
text transcribed by C. ParzialeBack to Main Page