A history of the town of Industry, Franklin County, Maine, Part 74

Author: Hatch, William Collins. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Farmington, Me., Press of Knowlton, McLeary & co.
Number of Pages: 938


USA > Maine > Franklin County > Industry > A history of the town of Industry, Franklin County, Maine > Part 74


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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98


782


HISTORY OF INDUSTRY.


iv. FRED WARREN, b. in Industry, Dec. 28, 1878.


V. ANNIE MERRV, b. in Industry, Sept. 13, ISSO.


vi. EDITHI BELLE, b. in Industry, Aug. 19, 1882.


vii. IDA MAY, b. in Industry, Aug. 28, 1884.


OBED NORTON, who came to Industry when a young man, was born in Edgartown. Mass., March 20, 1787. He was a son of Obed and Mehitable ( Pease) Norton, a grandson of Timothy, and a great grand- son of Bayes Norton. His father was drowned in 1788 in attempting to cross a creek on the ice. He came to Industry soon after reaching his majority and married, April 7, 1813, Sarah, daughter of Daniel and Thankful (Ashley) Collins. He purchased the Jabez Norton farm soon after this, and here his whole life was spent. He was a carpenter by trade, having learned his trade of Uriel Hillman, of Farmington. Soldier in the 1812 War, and selectman. He acquired a good property, and died Aug. 15, 1860, aged 73 years, 4 months and 25 days. His widow died Nov. 8, 1875, aged 87 years, 11 months and I day.


Children.


i. ABIGAIL PEASE, b. in Industry, March 29, 1815; m. June 20, 1837, Reuel Packard (b. in Readfied, July 13, 1813), son of Caleb and Lydia ( Ford) Packard. Farmer; d. at Kent's Hill, Sept. 12, 1883. She d. Dec. 28, 1891. Children : i. JOSEPHINE AURELIA, b. July 15, 1838; d. Aug. 25, 1862.


ii. RINALDO WELLINGTON, b. Oct. 3, 1841; m. June 23, 1879, Sylvia Ann Smith, dau. of Ephraim S. and Marietta (('umner) Smith, of Wayne. Farmer; resides at Kent's Hill. One son.


ii. JOHN WESLEY, b. in Industry, Jan. 2, 1818; m. Jan. 1, 1863, Augusta V. Gray, dau. of Obed W. and Deborah (Smith) Gray. Settled on the homestead, but went to Bangor about 1870, where he d. Dec. 22, 1876. She was a successful dressmaker in Bangor: d. Sept. 8, 1887.


iii. MANIALA, b. in Industry, Aug. 29, 1819: unmd. Resides in Industry.


iv. TIMIRZA MARIA, b. in Industry, Nov. 9, 1822; m. Feb. 21, 1843, Philip A. Storer (b. in Vassalborough), son of Andrew and Mary (Keazer) Storer. Farmer; has resided in Farmington, New Vineyard, New Sharon, and Industry, his present residence. One child, Eva Adelaide, b. April 27, 1845; d. of diphtheria, Nov. 13, 1860.


V.


OBED WILSON, b. in Industry, July 25, IS24; d. June 12, 1826.


vi. SARAH COLLINS, b. in Industry, March 30, 1826; m. Oct. - , 1848, Simeon Perkins Keith (b. in Minot, Oct. 28, 1816), son of Joseph and Rebecca ( Perkins) Keith. Mr. Keith is a blacksmith, has resided in Industry. Now resides in Auburn, where his wife d. Jan. 11, 1879. Their dau., Julia Ann, was b. May 3, 1846, and d. Jan. 15, 1878.


vii.


OBED WILSON, b. in Industry, Feb. 27, 1828; m. May 10, 1857, Maria L., dau. of Isachar and Mary ( Leaver ) Whitten, of Industry. Farmer; resided on the homestead, where he d. March 5, 1867. Children :


i. MARIA LORENA, b. in Industry, Aug. 12, 1858; m. George R., son of George Jackson. Resides in Industry. Three chil- dren.


ii. SADIE ABBIE, b. in Industry, March 23, 1860; m. Walter Keazer, of Salem, Mass. One dau.


viii. FLAVILLA ELIZABETH, b. in Industry, May 2, 1830; m. Jan. 13, 1857, Reuben Hatch, son of Reuben and Thankful (Collins) Hatch, q. v.


783


GENEALOGICAL NOTES.


OLIVER.


HIRAM OLIVER, son of Dea. John and Huldah ( Robinson) Oliver, was born in Stark, Me., July 24, 1829. He married, July 7, 1850, Nancy A. Nichols, daughter of George and Nancy (Fish) Nichols, of Stark. Carpenter and millwright. Resides at West's Mills.


Children.


i. GEORGE CLINTON, b. in Stark, May 24, 1851; m. Dec. 24, 1890, Mrs. Lottie E. Lunt, relict of William Arthur Lunt, and dau. of William J. and Elizabeth (Sutherland ) Forsyth, of Newburyport, Mass. She was b. in St. Johnsbury, Vt. He left Industry, which for many years had been his home, in the fall of 1885, and went to Newburyport, Mass. In May, 1886, he engaged with the Towle Manufacturing Company of that place and with whom he has remained up to the present time. This company employs, constantly, about two hundred hands and uses $5000 worth of sterling silver per week in the manufacture of solid table ware, which is but one branch of their extensive business. Mr. Oliver is a member of the New Sharon Lodge of F. and A. Masons.


ii. ELi S., b. in Stark, Sept. 21, 1855; m. Aug. 2, 1879, May B. Jeffers, dau. of George and Elizabeth (Crocker) Jeffers, of Industry. Inheriting decided mechanical talents he eventually became a skillful mechanic, and now (1890) has a fine position as head machinist in Morrill & Stinehfield's spool-factory at Farmington Falls, s. p.


iii. EDDIE, b. in Stark, Aug. 7, 185 -; d. June 2, 1863.


iv. IDA MAY, b. in Anson, May 2, 1862; m. Aug. 31, ISSI, David W. Merry, son of William B. and Caroline A. (West) Merry, q. v.


V. MINNIE E., b. in Anson, May 18, 1864; m. July 3, 1887, Barlow D. Nichols, son of Aholiab and Almeda G. (Messer) Nichols. Mr. Nichols is a farmer and resides in Industry.


vi. CHARLES EDWARD, b. in Industry, June 6, 1866; m. Annie Morse. Carpenter; resides in Norridgewock.


ELI NOYES OLIVER, son of Dea. John and Huldah ( Robinson) Oliver, was born in Stark, Me., June 8, 1836. He married, Nov. 3, 1856, Diantha H. Nichols (born Oct. 2, 1832), daughter of John and Sarah (Skillings) Nichols, of Stark. Carpenter and farmer. Resides in In- dustry.


Children.


i. GEORGE, b. in Stark, Aug. 4, 1860; m. May 27, ISS4, Mary Janette Stan- clift, of Sheridan, Cal. She was b. in Erie, Penn., Nov. 5, 1860, and was the dau. of Hiram and Sarah ( Ward) Stanelift, of Brookfield, Mo. Mr. Oliver went to California about the time of attaining his majority. Here by dint of industry and steady habits he rose until he now com- mands a handsome salary as superintendent of a wholesale commission store in San Francisco. Children :


i. CHARLES EVERETT, b. in Sheridan, Cal., June 20, 1885.


ii. RAYMOND HOLMES, b. in Chico, Cal., July 22, 1886; d. May 20, ISS7.


iii. RALPH EMERSON, b. in Sheridan, Cal., Nov. S. ISSS.


iv. VIRGIL STANCLIFT, b. in Sheridan, Cal., Jan. 22, 1890.


V. -, son, b. in Industry, March S, 1892.


ii. CHARLES FREMONT, b. in Stark, Dec. 4, 1862; m. Aug. 23, 1884, Ida B.


784


HISTORY OF INDUSTRY.


Merry, dau. of Peter W. and Ellen M. (Greenwood) Merry, of Indus- try. q. v. Mr. Oliver is a farmer and resides in Industry. He has served as supervisor of schools for several years. Two children.


iii. SARAH ROBINSON, b. in Stark, Feb. 28, 1867; m. April 18, 1885, Charles E. Merry, son of Wm. Oscar and Caroline A. (Greenwood) Merry, of Anson, q. v.


iv. ARTHUR II., b. in Industry, July 2, 1870; he is a student in the Dirigo Business College, Augusta.


PATTERSON.


JOHN PATTERSON, who came to Industry, was born in Damariscotta, Me., Jan. 25, 1763. Regarding his ancestry it is related that a vessel sailed from Glasgow, Scotland, with a party of emigrants, its destination being the American continent. From some unaccountable reason the vessel ran a more northerly course than her commander intended, and was wrecked off the coast of Maine. Among the survivors of the wreck was the mother of the above named John Patterson, then a child of three summers, her mother, and an infant sister. Winter was near at hand, and to protect themselves from the inclemency of the weather. the passengers constructed rude cabins from the wreckage which had floated ashore. There was also a great scarcity of food, and the party was obliged to subsist almost wholly on clams. Hunger and exposure caused great mortality among the younger children, and the babe of Mrs. - soon sickened and died. To save her life the older sister was put to the breast. The shipwrecked emigrants remained at this place, which was eventually incorporated as the town of Damariscotta. It is supposed that the father of John Patterson was among the emigrant party. When of a suitable age, he engaged in nautical pursuits, and in time became a commander of vessels. Nothing is known of this family aside from the Industry immigrant. This son married Susan Starbird, of Brunswick, Me., whose father was a native of England. She was born Jan. 11. 1761, and died at the residence of her son-in-law, James Thompson, in Stark, April 13, 1842. Mr. Patterson came first to Farm- ington, where he lived for some years prior to his removal to Industry. At one time he owned the mills there at what is now called Fairbanks. These were destroyed by fire in the winter of 1801. He came to this town in 1806, and settled on lot No. 32, on which Ephraim Moody had previously made some improvements. This he afterward sold to Sylva- nus Allen, and is now ( 1892) owned and occupied by Horatio A. B. Kyes. He then settled on the Joseph Moody lot, No. 37, adjoining, which eventually passed into the possession of Jacob Hayes. Mr. Pat- terson's business enterprises were not attended with any marked degree


785


GENEALOGICAL NOTES.


of pecuniary success, and he failed to acquire a competency for his declining years. His wife, however, was a woman of more than ordinary intellectual ability, and from her the children inherited good business qualifications and were more prosperous in life than their father had been. He died in 1844, aged 81 years .*


Children.


i. NANCY, b. in Damariscotta, Nov. 20, 1785; m. (pub. Feb. 20, 1SOS), Luke Withee, son of Luke and Margaret (Thompson) Withee, of Norridgewock.


ii. JOHN, b. in Damariscotta, Ang. 31, 1788; d. in Madison, 1875; unmd.


iii. SAMUEL, b. in Damariscotta; d. in infancy.


iv. SUSAN, b. in Damariscotta, July 22, 1790; m. Feb. 1, 1813, James Thompson, son of Capt. John and Betsey ( Winslow ) Thompson, q. v. SAMUEL, b. in Damariscotta, April 16, 1792; m. (pub. Aug. 15, IS15), Susan Thompson, dau. of Capt. John and Betsey ( Winslow) Thomp son, q. ? '.


I. V.


2. vi. DAVID HUNTER, b. in Farmington, Oct. 28, 1793; m. (pub. May 16. ISII), his cousin, Mary Fitch, of Bristol, Me. She was b. Oct. 3. 1792, and d. Jan. 17. 1S12, leaving one child. He m. June 1, 1813, for his second wife, Margaret Withee, dau. of Luke and Margaret ( Thompson ) Withee. of Norridgewock.


vii. BETSEY, b. in Farmington, Sept. 5, 1795; m. (pub. Feb. 2, 1816), Joshua Thompson, son of James and Isabel ( Bean ) Thompson, y. z'.


3. viii. THOMAS, b. in Farmington, May 1, 1797; m. Ann A. Colby.


ix. JAMES, D. in Farmington, Sept. 1, 1799. He was an excellent penman for his day and executed some very fine specimens of ornamental work. Died very suddenly when a young man; unmd.


4. \. MARY, b. in Farmington, June 20, ISOI; m. James Phillips.


5. xi.


CALEB S., b. in Farmington. Feb. 11, ISO6; m. April 25, 1836, Caroline Manter, dau. of Henry and Mary ( West ) Manter, q. 7.


I. SAMUEL PATTERSON, son of John and Susan (Starbird ) Patterson, married Susan Thompson. He died in Ohio City, now a part of the City of Cleveland, Ohio, Oct. 9. 1846. His wife died in Industry. Jan. 17, 1877-


Children.


i. JOHN THOMPSON, b. in Industry, Oct. 10, 1815; m. Veronica U. M. Roche, of Boston, Mass.


ii. BETSEY, b. in Industry, May 25, ISIS; d. Sept. 1, 1819.


iii.


7. SAMUEL, b. in Industry, Ang. 3, 1820; m. Elvira S. Latham, b. in St. Johns- bury, Vt., Oct. 24, 1824), dau. of Rev. Harry W. and Sophia (Jenkins) Latham.


iv.


S. CORDELIA E., b. in Industry, May 2, 1822; m. Feb. 4, 1847, George W. Pattison, son of Aaron R. and Cornelia (-) Pattison.


V. WILLIAM THOMPSON, b. in Industry, April 1, 1824; in. 1866, Annie McDonald, of San Francisco, Cal. He d. Sept. 28, 1879, s. p.


9. vi. WESLEY THOMPSON, b. in Industry, Feb. 21, 1826; m. Irene, dau. of Christopher Thompson.


vii. SUSAN THOMPSON, b. in Industry, Nov. 29, 1827; d. May 30, 1873.


viii. THOMAS P., b. in Industry, March 30, 1830; m. Eleanor, dau. of Walton Withee. Resides in California. Several children.


* From some source the writer has the memorandum that John Patterson was once a resi- dent of New Vineyard, but can learn nothing definite as to time or place. Possibly the New Vineyard John may have been the husband of Hannah, daughter of Abner Norton, q. v.


786


HISTORY OF INDUSTRY.


ix. JANE ATKINSON. b. in Industry, Oct. 23, 1831; d. Nov. 10, 1851.


10. xi.


.x. JAMES THOMPSON, b. in Industry, July 2, 1833; d. Jan. 16, 1867; unmd. FRANKLIN WITHER, b. in Industry, June 20, 1835; m. Jan. 15, 1870, Sarah Frances Stone, dau. of Franklin and Betsey W. ( Hobbs) Stone,


xii. AAvy Hesrox, b. in Industry, Nov. 4, 1836: m. April 11, 1868, John (). Rackliff, son of Benjamin R. and Rachel (Oliver) Rackliff, of Industry, 9.2. She d. March 13, 1878.


xiii. ASA HIRATH, b. in Industry, Aug. 1, 1838; m. Jan. 1, 1870, Ellen Alvena Stone, dau. of Franklin and Betsey W. ( Hobbs) Stone, q. v .* When a young man he went to California and was very successful in acquiring property while there. AAfter spending some years in the Golden State he returned to his native lown and purchased the well-known Issachar Whitten farm, of Elias H. Yeaton, on which he lived for several years. He has also owned several other farms in town for a longer or shorter period. He was in trade at West's Mills a short time about 1876. His wife d. April 5, 1882, and his home was broken up. Completely overwhelmed by his bereavement he went West and d. in Dunbar, Otto Co .. Neb., Nov. - , 1889. One son, George Wallace, b. in In dustry, Dec. 10, 1872.


2. DAVID HUNTER PATTERSON, son of John and Susan (Starbird) Patterson, married his cousin, Mary Fitch, who died Jan. 17, 1812. He married second, Margaret Withee, who was born Oct. 6, 1792, and died Aug. 22, 1844. He died in Solon, Me., Ang. 28, 1836.1


Child by first marriage.


i. MARY, b. in Damariscotta, Me., Sept. 16, ISHI; m. Jonathan Blake.


Children by second marriage.


ii. OLIVE, b. in Bingham, Oct. 9, 1814;} m. Simeon Watson, son of Joseph and Abigail ( Hilton) Watson, q. v. She d. Nov. 13, 1852.


iii. SERENA, b. in Bingham, April 9, 1817; m, Joel Fletcher.


II. iv. DAVID, b. in Madison, Feb. 15, 1819; m. May 17, 1848, Harrict K. Chaney, dau. of Luther and Sally ( Pierce) Chaney, of Solon. She was b. in Solon, Me .. March 14, 1827.


3. THOMAS PATTERSON, son of John and Susan (Starbird) Patterson, married Anna Colby. He settled in Madison, where his whole life was spent.


Children.


1. AURILI. 1.


ii. HORTENSE.


BENZULA. Farmer; resides on the homestead.


* See ltobbs notes.


t This date was furnished the author by his son David, in 1891. The writer also has it noted that he died July 29, 1838, but cannot now recollect the source of this information.


# Record furnished by a younger brother, David Patterson, of Solon. MARY, b. Sept. 16, 1810. OLIVE, b. Oct. 28, 1S1.4.


787


GENEALOGICAL NOTES.


4. JAMES PHILLIPS married Mary Patterson. Lived in Bangor. Me. Children.


i. SUSAN T.


ii. JAMES, d. young.


iii. CHARLES, d. young.


iv. ANGELINE.


v. URSULA.


vi. EDMOND.


5. CALEB S. PATTERSON, son of John and Susan (Starbird) Patter- son, married Caroline Manter. He died in 1883. She died in Madison, Jan. 31, 1889, aged 74 years, 6 months.


Children.


i. GEORGE.


ii. MELVIN 1.


iii. MELVIN.


iv. JOIIN W.


v. IHENRY M.


vi. ABBIE.


6. JOHN THOMPSON PATTERSON, son of Samuel and Susan (Thomp- son) Patterson, married Veronica U. M. Roche. She died in Mt. Vernon, Ind., Jan. 29, 1841, aged 22 years. He married a second wife, who also died. He married for his third wife Angeline James. of Mt. Vernon, Ind. Five daughters and one son by last marriage.


Child by first marriage.


i. VERONICA U. M.


7. SAMUEL PATTERSON, son of Samuel and Susan (Thompson) Pat- terson, married Elvira Susan Latham. Mr. Patterson is a carriage-maker by trade, and now ( 1891) resides in Lynnfield, Mass.


Children.


i. ELLEN MARIA, b. in Avon, May 23, 1848; m. in Manchester, N. II., Dec. 24, 1868, Harrison Henry Cole, son of Elijah and Lucinda ( Holt) Cole. He was b. in Dorchester, N. H., Aug. 15, 1845, and is a car- penter by trade. Resides in Manchester, N. II. Their children are : i. ALICE MAY, b. in Manchester, Aug. 6, IS71.


ii. FRANK HERBERT, b. in Manchester, Feb. 17, 1874. iii. HARRY EUGENE, b. in Manchester, Feb. 19, 1876. iv. ETHEL MARION, b. in Manchester, Oct. 25, 1886.


ii. GEORGE WILBER, b. in Phillips, April 27, 1851. Resides at Lake View, Worcester, Mass.


iii. HARRY WILBER, b. in Phillips, March 17, 1853; m. Mary Weaver. Resides in Wenatchie, Wash.


iv. FRED NORMAN, b. in Phillips, Nov. 27, 1859. Resides in Wenatchie, Wash.


V. BELLE MAY, b. in Phillips, Dec. 22, 1862; m. March 16, 1881, Orrin Bigelow, of Worcester, son of Fernando C. and Lucinda ( Wheeler) Bigelow. Mr. Bigelow was an electrician and at the time of his death was located in Rutland, Mass. Ile d. Feb. 20, 1891, s. p.


788


HISTORY OF INDUSTRY.


8. GEORGE W. PATTISON married Cordelia E. Patterson, daughter of Samuel and Susan (Thompson) Patterson. He died in Cleveland, Ohio.


Children


i. MARY A., m. May 8, 1867, James E. Lewis, son of Edward and Ilarriet Lewis, of Cleveland, Ohio. Their children are: George Edward, llarriet M., and Alice.


ii. JENNIE A.


iii. CORNELIA A., m. Aug. 1, 1878, Charles W. Fish, son of Charles 1 .. and Susan M. Fish, of Cleveland, Ohio. They have one child, Julia Cornelia.


9. WESLEY THOMPSON PATTERSON married Irene Thompson.


Children.


ANNA MARIA, b. in Industry, Sept. - , 1857: d. of diphtheria, June 5, 1 864.


CHARLES .A., b. in Anson, 1855; d. of diphtheria, Sept. 7, 1864.


IO. FRANKLIN WITHEE PATTERSON, son of Samuel and Susan Thomp- son Patterson, was born in Industry, June 20, 1835. Of a family of thir- teen children, he was the eleventh child. When he arrived at a suitable age, he was sent to school at West's Mills, where he attended both pub- lic and private schools until he was ten years of age. At that time his father moved to Belvidere, Ill., where he remained but a short time. and afterward removed to Ohio City, now a part of the City of Cleve- land, Ohio. After living in the Western country about a year his father died, and the mother. with her children, returned to Maine. The fam- ily then separated, and the subject of this sketch went to live in Avon with his brother Samuel, who was a carriage-maker by trade. After living in that town a short time, his brother removed to Phillips, and he attended the village school during the winter. He then went to live in Embden with another brother. Here, when only fifteen years of age, he cared for a large stock of cattle, cut the fire-wood for the family, and regularly attended the district school through the winter, while his brother was away at work in the logging-swamp. Leaving his brother the following spring, he worked for his cousin, David Patterson, until about the first of September, when, in company with an elder brother, he started for Bangor, where he hoped to be able to ship on some of the numerous vessels sailing from that port. Here he took passage for Boston on board a small schooner, from which place he shipped on board the brig Benjamin Carver, of Searsport, Me., for Pensacola, Fla., loaded with granite for the United States Navy Yard. The voyage proved a very rough and stormy one, and on his return to Boston he


Yours Respectfully J. M. Patterson.


Engraved by JOHNSON & THOMPSON, Boston. From a photograph made in 1891 by J. S. Hendee, Augusta, Me.


GENEALOGICAL NOTES. 789


gave up the business with little reluctance. He next went to Lawrence, Mass., and engaged to work in a saw-mill, where he remained until the spring of 1852. He then apprenticed to A. N. Whittaker, a mason, with whom he worked until the approach of cold weather. During the winter of 1852-3 he cooked for a crew of lumbermen in the woods of Northern Maine, at twelve dollars per month. After leaving the logging- swamp he returned to Lawrence and again worked with Mr. Whittaker at masoning. At the close of the season, there being an urgent demand for masons on the Print Works at Manchester, N. H., Mr. Patterson went there to work, and remained until January, 1854. Returning to Maine after completing his work at Manchester, he remained until the following spring. On the fifth day of May, 1854, Mr. Patterson started for California in company with his brother, William, to try his fortunes in the mining regions of that State. Walking as far as Waterville, they took the cars for Boston, and from thence they went to Fall River and took passage for New York on the new steamer Bay State, then making its first regular trip. Reaching New York, they embarked on the steamship North Star, of the Vanderbilt line, for the Isthmus of Panama. The voyage. as well as the trip across the Isthmus, was pleasant but uneventful. Landing at San Francisco, after a voyage of twenty-five days from New York, they stopped there a few days and then embarked on a steamer bound for Crescent City, a seaport town three hundred miles farther up the coast. Landing there, they began a pedestrian journey to the mining settlement at Althouse Creek, a dis- tance of sixty miles. After a weary tramp their first night was spent at the forks of Smith River in a rude log-cabin, bearing the pretentious name of hotel. This was Mr. Patterson's first experience in what " Mark Twain " styles " roughing it," and tired as he was, the thought that his bed was nothing but a rough plank split from the trunk of some forest tree, with no mattress or covering save his own blanket, was sufficient to drive sleep from his eyelids for a time. Crossing Twenty-four-mile Mountain, the second day's travel brought them to their destination. Here he purchased a claim in company with his brother, and at once commenced operations. After mining here a few months, they disposed of their clain, and went to Yreka in Siskiyou County, where they spent the winter in the mines at Canal Gulch. The following spring he joined a prospecting party, and spent the summer of 1855 in Oregon Territory.


It would be a difficult matter within the compass of this brief sketch to follow Mr. Patterson in all his fourteen-years' wanderings in the mining regions of California and its adjacent territories. Now visiting Australia to inspect its mines and then return. Then building a boat for a jour-


99


790


HISTORY OF INDUSTRY.


ney up the Frazier River, into British Columbia, and guiding it over the river's tumultuous waters through gorge and canyon, where, but for the quick eye and steady hand of its skillful navigator, the seething torrent would have swallowed up the frail craft and borne its intrepid pilot down to a watery grave. Now, in company with others, buying an immense stock of goods to take to the mining settlement at Dalles, Oregon, a dis- tance of eight hundred miles, and selling out at a large profit on reach- ing his destination. Then with a heavy load of provisions on his back, tramping to the diggings on Canal River, a tributary of the Frazier in British Columbia. Here, during the summer months of 1861 he planned and superintended the construction of extensive mining improvements. Returning to San Francisco late in the fall he purchased another stock of goods, and the following spring started for Centerville, in Idaho Ter- ritory. Trade was very good this season, and on one occasion his sales amounted to two thousand dollars in a single day. From this date up to 1867 he was engaged in freighting and trading at various mining set- tlements remote from business centres. Sometimes he was obliged to build a store of logs in which to sell his goods, but more frequently some rude structure could be purchased. Selling out his business early in the autumn of 1867, he left California and arrived in his native town in Maine, Dec. 16, 1867.


On the fifteenth day of January, 1870, he married Frances Stone, a lady of culture and refinement, by whom he had three children, a son and two daughters, all of whom are now dead. Shortly after his mar- riage he settled at West's Mills, where he still resides. He was elected town treasurer in 1876 and re-elected to the same office three times in succession. In 1879 he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners for Franklin County. and after serving three years was re-elected for an additional term of six years. Among the more impor- tant transactions of the board since he came into office may be men- tioned the indexing of the records in the County Registry of Deeds and the erection of a new County Building in 1885. He was elected chair- man of the board of selectmen in 1881 and held that office continuously for nine years. He was commissioned a justice of the peace in Febru- ary, 1879, and has transacted much business in that capacity. He also represented his town and district in the State Legislature in 1891. Although he ceased to attend school before he had completed his six- teenth year, by studious habits he has acquired a good business educa- tion. Of the numerous responsibilities which have devolved upon him as a public officer. none can truthfully say that these duties have not been well and faithfully performed. On the thirty-first day of Decem-


791


GENEALOGICAL NOTES.


ber, 1885, he was bereft of a loving and faithful wife. For her he ten- derly cared during a long and painful illness, and the loss he sustained in her death nearly overwhelmed him with grief. She lies buried in Riverside Cemetery, at Farmington, where her devoted husband has erected a tasteful monument to her memory.




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