Medal
- Object Name:
- Medal
- Object ID:
- 2016.003.01
- Creator:
- Herrick, Henry W. (1824-1906); Barber, William (1807-1879)
- Place of Origin:
- Philadelphia, PA
- Date:
- 1869
- Description:
- Presentation medal. Silver. Obverse: "NEW HAMPSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY" in band around edge over standing female figure in gown holding a wreath in right hand and balancing the seal of the state of New Hampshire with her left hand; vegetables, sheaf of wheat, and plow on her left side; wheel, anvil, and hammer on right side; "HERRICK D." stamped on right side under scene; "BARBER F." stamped on left side under scene. Reverse: "AWARDED TO / J. Q. A. Sargent. / for / Invalid Bedstead / 1869" engraved in center beneath an arm and hammer and encircled by a wreath of fruit and vegetables.
- Material:
- Metal
Silver - Dimensions:
- D-0.2 Dia-2.3 inches
- Provenance:
- Acquired by donor at a garage sale in Salt
Lake City, UT, c. 1985.
The New Hampshire State Agricultural Society was founded at a public meeting in Manchester on December 12, 1849. The organization was incorporated by the state legislature on June 26, 1850, with "the object of the Society being to improve the condition of agriculture, horticulture, mechanism, domestic arts, and manufactures" in the state. Each year the Society sponsored a state fair held in a different city around New Hampshire, providing awards for the best examples of animals, produce, machines, products, domestic textiles, etc. made in the state.
John Q. A. Sargent (1825-1897) was born in Shapleigh, Maine, and had moved to Manchester, NH, by the early 1850s, where he worked as a gas fitter, eventually becoming a merchant manufacturing and selling heating systems. Successful in business, Sargent was an Assistant Engineer in the Manchester city fire department, a member of the Amoskeag Veterans, and joined the Adoniram Council No. 3, Masonic Lodge. In 1869 he won a silver medal at the New Hampshire State Fair in Manchester for a bed designed for invalids. In 1873 in conjunction with the New Hampshire State Fair, the Manchester Art Association organized an exhibition at the Manchester Music Hall under the guidance of artist Henry W. Herrick. J. Q. A. Sargent received a silver medal from the New Hampshire Agricultural Society for a display of 30 bronze sculptures from his collection. - Credit Line:
- Gift of Jeffery O. Johnson
- People:
- Sargent, John Q. A. (1825-1897)
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