Biography:  JOHN AIKEN RIDDLE, Hillsborough  Co., NH

Granite State Magazine An Illustrated Monthly Devoted to the History,
Story, Scenery, Industry and Interest of New Hampshire 
Edited By George Waldo Browne 
Volume I. January to June, 1906 
Manchester, N.H.:
Granite State Publishing Company 1906

page 307

JOHN AIKEN RIDDLE, a native of Bedford, was born in that town
September 3, 1826, and died in that town February 3, 1906, in the
house in which he was born nearly eighty years before. He was educated
in the town schools and at Pembroke and Phillips Exeter Academies, and
became a civil engineer. In 1858 he went to California with others who
had caught the gold fever. Returning home he became imbued with the
spirit that gold could be successfully mined here, and it is claimed
that he extracted the first ounce taken from the rocks of New England.
Left with ample means, he devoted his life to its care, adding
considerable to its amount. He represented his town in the
legislature, in 1882, and held various town offices.  He was a member
of the committee to publish a history of Bedford, and his clear memory
made him a valuable assistant. He was never married.

Courtesy of Tina Vickery
March 2000


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