The Governor’s Son
John Badger was born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, in 1804. His father was William Badger, who would go on to become the fifteenth governor of New Hampshire in 1834. He was the oldest child of William’s first wife Martha, and had a younger sister, also named Martha. His family was among the most important in New Hampshire, owing to his father’s political success. Badger’s mother passed away from tuberculosis when he was six and his father remarried a woman named Hannah P. Atkinson four years later. This union gave John two half-brothers, Joseph Badger and William Badger Jr. Badger’s father was also a trustee of Gilmanton Academy, and it is very possible that Badger attended here before college, especially since his younger brothers were also Gilmanton students.
Badger matriculated at Bowdoin in 1821, at the age of 17. He spent his freshman and sophomore years boarding at the home of the Honorable B. Orr’s. Alfred Upham was his only housemate his first year and the next they were joined by nine additional members of the Class of 1825. Badger was a member of the Peucinian society. He was occasionally fined by the Executive Government for unexcused absences from the college or neglecting his work, but for the most part he seemed to be a cooperative student.
However, Badger, along with a number of Bowdoin students, struggled with major health issues. In late February 1823, Badger’s classmate George Cheever characterized the dire situation to his mother: “Some of our number have so lately gone down to the grave, and others are expected so soon to follow, that whenever these circumstances are adverted to, it always excites a peculiar interest in our minds. My classmate John Badger, whom you will probably recollect, was here a few days ago, but he only came to take up his [?]. His health is such that it is absolutely impossible for him to attend any longer to his studies.”
The Fall of his junior year, Badger was assigned a room at Winthrop Hall, but he did not return to Bowdoin in the spring of 1824 or ever after. He died of tuberculosis on January 3, 1826, a disease had taken his mother in 1810 and would also claim his sister.