Blaylock Atherton

Blaylock Atherton (1900-1963)[1] was an American politician from Nashua, New Hampshire. He was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1937 and 1939. He then served as a state senator for the twelfth district in the New Hampshire Senate, returning to the House of Representatives for two more terms.

Early life

Atherton was born on October 6, 1900, in Nashua, the son of Captain Henry B. Atherton (1835-1906) and Ella Blaylock Atherton M.D. (1860-1933).[2] His father was 65 years old at the time of his birth, and had been severely wounded in the Peninsula campaign of the American Civil War. Although his father was an attorney, he was also editor-in-chief of The Telegraph of Nashua. His father died when Blaylock was just six years old.

He had one full sibling, Ives Atherton,[3] and four half siblings, including Henry F. Atherton. He grew up in the Atherton family home on Fairmount Street in Nashua.[4]

Education

Atherton was educated in Nashua public schools. He attended Dartmouth College (class of 1922), as did his father. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1924 with a degree in engineering administration.[5]

Career

Atherton was a Republican politician who served as a member of New Hampshire State House of Representatives, representing Nashua's 1st Ward, between 1937 and 1943. He served an additional term from 1945 to 1948. Between those two terms he was a member of New Hampshire's state senate.

Atherton served as president of the state senate from 1951 to 1952 and as acting governor for New Hampshire for several months during that term in office.

He also served on the Nashua Board of Education.[6]

Atherton owned and operated an insurance agency at 142 Main Street, Nashua, from 1926 until his death in 1963.[7] He had been inspired by his father's legacy of legislating insurance in New Hampshire.[8]

Memberships

He was a member of the Nashua Country Club, and a former president of the NH State Society and the Sons of the American Revolution.

Personal

He married Katherine E. Bremner (1901-1980) in Wilton, New Hampshire, on September 6, 1924.[9] His wife was a graduate of Gibbs College of Boston and became a director of the Women's Insurance League.[10] They had three daughters.

Death

Atherton died on March 16, 1963, and is buried in Edgewood Cemetery, Nashua.[11]

Ancestry

He is a direct descendant of James Atherton,[12][13] one of the First Settlers of New England; who arrived in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1630s.

References
  1. "Blaylock Atherton". Atherton One-Name Study. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  2. Shepard, Florence (November 23, 1991). "Men had no monopoly on Nashua medical profession of the 1800s". The Telegraph (Nashua). Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  3. Cavendish Historical Society. Families of Cavendish: Families of Cavendish, Vt. p. 97. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  4. "Present Atherton Home Last Moved Thru Main St". The Telegraph (Nashua). August 4, 1949. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  5. Squires, James D. (1956). "The Granite State of the United States: A History of New Hampshire from 1623 to the Present, Volume 3". American Historical Company.
  6. "Ex-Senate Head, Atherton, Dies Saturday At Home". Nashua Telegraph. March 18, 1963. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  7. The Insurance Almanac, an Annual of Insurance Facts. 1957. p. 138. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  8. Journals of the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the State of New Hampshire: June Session, 1885. Manchester, N. H.: John B. Clarke, Public Printer. p. 476.
  9. "Legal Notice". Nashua Telegraph. December 28, 1965. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  10. "Nashuans Named At Meeting Of Insurance Groups". Nashua Telegraph. November 1, 1946. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  11. "Blaylock Atherton (1900-1963)". Find a Grave. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  12. "James Atherton". Atherton One-Name Study. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  13. Farmer, John (1829). "A Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New England". Lancaster, Mass.: Carter, Andrews & Co. p. 20.
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