Ezekiel A. Straw

Ezekiel A. Straw
Ezekiel A. Straw in 1875
34th Governor of New Hampshire
In office June 6, 1872 – June 3, 1874
Preceded by	James A. Weston
Succeeded by	James A. Weston
Member of the New Hampshire Senate
In office 1864-1866
Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
In office 1859-1864
Personal details
Born	December 30, 1819 Salisbury, New Hampshire
Died	October 23, 1882(1882-10-23) (aged 62) Manchester, New Hampshire

Ezekiel Albert Straw (December 30, 1819 – October 23, 1882) was an American engineer, businessman, and politician from

Upon leaving Phillips Andover, Straw was hired in the spring of 1838 as an assistant civil engineer at the Nashua & Lowell Railway, then under construction. On July 4, 1838, he arrived in Manchester, New Hampshire, sent to substitute for a civil engineer at the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company who had become ill. The position soon became permanent. One of his first duties was laying out lots and streets for the new industrial city as envisioned by Amoskeag's cultured treasurer (president), William Amory. He also assisted with the construction of the dam and canal. In 1842, he founded the community's first Unitarian Society. Straw was sent by the mills to England and Scotland in November 1844 to gather information and machinery for manufacturing and printing muslin delaines, which the Manchester Print Works introduced to the United States. In July 1851, he was appointed agent (manager) of Amoskeag.

Straw was a

On April 6, 1842, he married Charlotte Smith Webster, who bore him 4 children before dying on March 15, 1852. Their son, Herman F. Straw, would become agent of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company from 1885 until 1919. Ezekiel A. Straw was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from Dartmouth College in 1860. He died in 1882 at Manchester and is buried in Valley Cemetery.

References

• April, 2005 Newsletter of Friends of the Valley Cemetery
• Biography of the Hon. Ezekiel Straw of Manchester, New Hampshire