[3][4] He is a direct descendant of James Atherton,[5][6] one of the First Settlers of New England; who arrived in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in the 1630s.
His father was 65 years old at the time of his birth, and had been severely wounded in the Peninsula campaign of the American Civil War.
[16] He went on to serve as president of the state senate from 1951 to 1952; and as acting governor for New Hampshire for several months during that same term in office, whilst Governor Sherman Adams campaigned for Dwight D. Eisenhower across the country in a leave of absence, following a successful Eisenhower campaign in the New Hampshire primary.
[20] Atherton also served on the Public Utilities Commission[21] and Nashua Board of Education.
[22] Atherton owned and operated an insurance agency at 142 Main Street, Nashua, from 1926 until his death in 1963.
[28] His wife was a graduate of Gibbs College of Boston and became a director of the Women's Insurance League.