Carter, Solon Augustus, Colonel

The following data is extracted from Merrimack and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire Biographies.

Colonel Solon Augustus Carter, Treasurer of New Hampshire, is one of the busiest citizens of Concord; for, in addition to the duties of his responsible position in the executive department of the State government, he is actively concerned in a number of financial enterprises, and holds high office in several social organizations. He was born in Leominster, Mass., June 22, 1837. His parents, Solon and Lucretia (Joslin) Carter, were natives of the town of Leominster. Colonel Carter is seventh in descent from Thomas Carter, who left St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England, for this country in 1635, and was ordained and settled in 1642 as the first minister in Woburn, Mass. The Colonel's father was a farmer of Leominster.

Solon Augustus Carter attended the public schools of Leominster, graduating in 1855, when he was eighteen years old. For four years after leaving school, he divided his time between farm work and teaching, making his home in Leominster. In 1859 he removed to Keene, N.H.; and in September, 1862, he was appointed Captain of Company G, Fourteenth New Hampshire Volunteers. He was in command of this company until July, 1863, when he was assigned to recruiting duty in Concord, N.H., acting as Assistant Adjutant-general on the staff of Brigadier-general Hincks; and in April, 1864, he was made acting Assistant Adjutant-general of the Third Division, Eighteenth Army Corps (colored). This body of troops was organized at Fortress Monroe by General Hincks. In July, 1864, Mr. Carter was commissioned Assistant Adjutant-general with the rank of Captain; but he continued to serve with the colored division from the time of its organization till the close of the war. He was in the campaign before Petersburg and Richmond during the summer and autumn of 1864, in both expeditions to Fort Fisher, and in the campaign from Fort Fisher to Raleigh. Receiving his discharge July 7, 1865, he returned to Keene, N.H., and was employed there as a clerk until June, 1872. In 1885, on the organization of the Union Guarantee Savings Bank of Concord, he was elected President. He still holds that office, and he is a Director of the First National Bank of this city. Colonel Carter has been a prominent figure among the Republicans of this district since the close of the war.

In June, 1872, he was elected State Treasurer; and so efficiently has he discharged his duties that he has been retained in office twenty-three years, losing but one year since 1872, from June, 1874, to June, 1875. He was nominated by ballot in 1872, and each

He was married December 13, 1860, to Emily A. Conant, of Leominster, Mass., and has two children: Edith Hincks; and Florence Gertrude, wife of Edward P. Comins, of Concord. As a Grand Army man Colonel Carter is a member of E. E. Sturtevant Post, No. 2, of Concord, N.H.; and he is a member of the Massachusetts Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. As a Mason he belongs to Social Friends Lodge, No. 42, of Keene, N.H.; is Past High Priest of Cheshire Royal Arch Chapter; is a member of St. John's Council; is Past Eminent Commander of Hugh de Payens Commandery, K. T., of Keene; belongs to Edward A. Raymond Consistory, of Nashua; is Past Master of the Blue Lodge; Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire; and Past Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery. He is very popular as a society man, and has a multitude of friends.

Source: Merrimack and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire Biographies

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