George H. Haines, a well-known resident of Chichester, Merrimack County, N.H., for quite a number of years engaged as a carriage and sleigh manufacturer, also as an extensive lumber dealer, now partially retired from his former activities, was born in this town, January 27, 1845, son of George P. and Sarah F. (Towle) Haines.
The family is of Colonial origin; and the first ancestor of whom there is any exact knowledge was Robert Haines, who settled in Falmouth, Me., and remained there eight or nine years, or until the Indian outbreak in 1688. He married Rachel Davis, who was born in Falmouth in 1663, daughter of Lawrence Davis. His son Thomas was a member of Captain Gilmore’s company, which pursued the Indians after they had murdered Colonel Hilton at Exeter, N.H., on June 23, 1710. He served at Fort William and Mary, New Castle, N.H., in 1708, and was Captain of a scouting expedition in 1723. He was a weaver, and is known to have been following his trade at Hampton, N.H., in 1733. His first wife, whom he married January 7, 1712, was Abigail Philbrick, born in 1692. She died January 26, 1716; and he married for his second wife Abigail Cole. Thomas Haines was the father of seven children; and his son, Thomas, Jr., born October 7, 1726, was a resident of Hampton in 1776. Malachi Haines, Jr., son of Malachi, Sr., and grandson of Thomas Haines, Jr., was a prosperous farmer in Chichester throughout the active period of his life, and he died in this town. By his union with Sally Fife, his first wife, who was a native of Pembroke, N.H., he had two sons; and by his second wife also, Mrs. Sarah Peverly, née Sherburne, a native of Canterbury, N.H., he had two children, George P., father of the subject of this sketch, being the elder.
George P. Haines was born in Chichester. When a young man he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and carried on business for some time in Concord, N.H. He later became proprietor of a general store and Postmaster in his native town, and was a leading merchant here for fifty years. He was also a shoe manufacturer for several years; and he was the first to manufacture friction matches in this locality, being actively interested in that business for many years. He was originally a Whig, but later voted with the Republican party, and served for a number of years as Town Clerk. His wife, Sarah F. Towle, was born in Chichester, daughter of Jonathan Towle. They reared six children, five of whom are living, namely: Sarah J.; George H., the subject of this sketch; Annie M.; Albert H.; and Alvin M. Annie M. Haines is the widow of John B. Currier, late of Boston, Mass., and has one daughter, Josephine Haines Currier. Alvin M. married Jennie Greenley, of Haverhill, Mass., and has one daughter, Sarah C. Greenley. John P. Haines, eldest son of George P., enlisted as a private in the First Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers, and later re-enlisted in the Thirteenth Regiment. He was mustered out as a Lieutenant at the close of the war, and died at his home in Cambridge, Mass., from the effects of disease contracted while in the service. He married Nellie Leighton, of Farmington, N.H., and left three children: Ignatius, a graduate of the Harvard University Medical School; Beatrice; and Brenda, a student at Radcliffe College, class of 1900. George P. Haines passed his last days in Chichester, and died at the age of seventy-six on January 14, 1888. His wife survived him nine years, residing at the homestead in this town, where she died at the age of seventy-six, March 28, 1897. She was a member of the Baptist church, of which her husband was an attendant.
George H. Haines was educated in the schools of his native town; and when his studies were completed he went to Boston, where he was employed for two years. He then enlisted in the First New Hampshire Heavy Artillery, and served with his regiment as a non-commissioned officer until mustered out at the close of the war, when he once more took up his residence in Boston. In 1867 he returned to Chichester, and, establishing himself in the manufacture of carriages and 1889, being also engaged in the lumber trade. Since 1889, on account of failing health, he has retired from manufacturing.
On November 13, 1876, Mr. Haines was united in marriage with Mary F. Sanborn, daughter of Deacon Jacob S. and Elvira (Leavitt) Sanborn, of Chichester. Mrs. Haines has two brothers and two sisters, namely: Jacintha M., of Manchester, who married Edward Langmaid; Ellen A., who married Charles A. Langmaid; Jeremy L., who married Emma Cofran, of Pembroke; and Augustus L., who married Bertha W. Edmunds. One son, George Smith, born to Mr. and Mrs. Haines in 1877, died in infancy.
In politics Mr. Haines is a Republican. He has served in town offices and many years as Justice of the Peace. In 1869 he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church of Chichester, and until the present time has been an official member of the same. Much interested in the New Hampshire State militia, he was actively engaged in maintaining one of the first companies raised after the war, the Merrimack Guards, and served as Lieutenant and as Commander until compelled to resign on account of ill health.
He is a comrade of George H. Hoyt Post, No. 66, G. A. R., of Epsom, N.H. Mr. Haines is a man of excellent business ability, and is one of the most esteemed and influential residents of Chichester.