U.VUSHA1X, riNCKNEY WILDEK. 



jiftiT coiisidoraMe doliboration between incrcantilc business anil aiji'ietiltiiro, lie cliose 

 tho latter. 15ut ho liail not been long oeciipied therein, when his i'atlier's business 

 (KMnanded his sen-ices in the store; and he reversed his decision, and resolved to be a 

 nn'rehant. His father assiifiied him the ])h'ee of the youniji'st apprentice, with tlie 

 ])r<)inise of advancement as ho grew in age and wisdom. This was a severe trial to his 

 youthful ambition. lUit it was necessary, in order to give him a thorough knowledge 

 of business, to form in him a habit of endurance and j)erseverance, to qualify him to take 

 a leading part in a large mercantile establishment, and to make him the arbiter of his 

 own fortune. Humiliating as this assignment may have been to his pride, yet it exjilo- 

 ded his boyish and anti-republican theories of distinction by birth and ancestry of inher- 

 iting rather tlian earning a fortune, and of accitlental and favorable turns of fortune 

 which have no enduring subjective basis, and which therefore the storms and the flood 

 carry away. 



Having served liis apprenticeship under the watchful eye and the approving smile of 

 liis father, fonned a good character, tlie best part of a young man's ca,pital, and obtained 

 his majority. In 1820 he was admitted junior partner in tlie finn, which was denomi- 

 nated "Samuel L. Wilder & Son," and which from that time to 1825 transacted an 

 extensive and prolitable business. Duiing a part of that period, he acted as post mas- 

 ter in the town. 



On the last evening of the year 1820, he married Miss Tkyi'HOSO Jewett, daughter 

 of Dr. Stephen Jewett, of that place, an amiable and intelligent lady, by whom he had 

 six children, and who died suddenly, August 1, 1831.* By a second inaiTiage, August 

 29, 18:33, he was united to Miss Abby Baker, of Franklin, Mass., daughter of Captain 

 David ]5aker, an accomplished and devoted lady, by whom he had six children, and 

 who died of consumption April 4th, 1854. Of his twelve children, seven still survive 

 to mourn with him over the afflictions which have so often interrupted the family circle 

 and overwhelmed them with sorrow. 



Colonel Wilder naturally partakes of that military passion which distinguished his 

 ancestors. This was early developed. When he was but eighteen years of age, lie 

 received an appointment in the staff of the twelfth regiment of N. H. Militia. ^Vhen 

 he was twenty-one, he received a commission as Adjutant in the same body, an office 

 which he soon resigned to take the command of tlie Kindge Light Infantry. This 

 company he did much toward raising and equiping in the best military style. After 

 two years, he was elected Lieutenant Colonel ; and the next year, at the age of twenty- 

 five. Colonel of the regiment. The latter of these offices he resigned at the close of 

 the year on account of his removal to Boston, being then in the line of rapid promo- 

 tion. In the city of his adoption, he joined tlie ancient and honorable Artillery Com- 

 pany, which consists of commissioned officere either in actual service, or whose term has 

 expired, and of which he is still a member. 



, Mr. Wilder's business and militar\- offices in his native State made him favorably and 

 extensively known there, and secured him a large number of valuable customers in lies- 

 ton, where he transferred his business and family in 1825. At present his firm is Parker, 



er &, Co., one of the most active, responsible, and respectable commission houses < ^ 



* Book of the Lockes, pp. 108, 19S. 



