USA > Maine > Biographical encyclopedia of Maine of the nineteenth century > Part 11
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said the Governor in one of his Messages, 'that my convictions are strong that Maine has been wronged by a foreign Government and neglected by her own, and I do not understand the diplomatic art of softening the expression of unpalatable truths.'"
In 1842 the discussion of this topic led to a convention between the British Minister, Lord Ashburton, and Daniel Webster, the American Secretary of State under President Tyler. Mr. Kent was appointed a commissioner by the Legislature to confer with the Secretary in regard to the interests of Maine. In the negotiation he urged the main- tenance of the territorial integrity of the State, but without success. The surrender of a portion of this territory in the settlement, against his protests, was the occasion of much feeling in the State.
Governor Kent resumed the practice of his profession in connection with Mr. Cutting at Bangor, continuing in it until his appointment to the American Consulate at Rio Janeiro, by President Taylor, in 1849. The duties of this office were performed with his wonted skill and efficiency for four years, at the end of which time he was relieved by President Pierce. Returning to Bangor, he recommenced practice, associated his brother George with himself, and thus continued until the year 1859, when he was appointed by Governor Lot M. Morrill to a seat upon the bench of the Supreme Court. His former law-partner, Cutting, appointed in 1854, was among his associates. Judge Kent was reappointed in 1866 by Governor Cony, and held the office until 1873. He was in the full vigor of his powers when his term expired, and in the opinion of many ought to have been reappointed, but he made it a matter of no personal interest. His ability was unquestioned, and the performance of his judicial duties eminently satisfactory. After leaving the bench, Judge Kent travelled for twelve months in Europe, accompanied by his family. He visited Great Britain and the Continent, and was particularly interested in Italy and Greece. The tour was one of great pleasure and satisfaction.
In 1874 he once more returned to professional duty at Bangor, and was engaged in several important cases during the three remaining years of his life. The last public posi- tion held by him was (vide Collections of the Maine Historical Society, vol. viii., p. 460) that of President of the Convention for the Amendment of the Constitution of the State, in 1875. The same authority adds, "At the time of his death he was a member of the Maine Historical Society, to which he was elected in 1831."
Judge Kent was twice married. His first wife was Sarah, daughter of Nathaniel Johnston, Esq., of Hillsborough, New Hampshire, who died in 1853. Of their children, Charlotte married an English gentleman in Rio, and died there of yellow-fever. James died in Rio, also of the fever. Kitty returned with her parents to the United States, and survived her mother four years. Mr. Kent was overwhelmed with grief by his successive afflictions. But neither his philosophy nor his faith succumbed to them, though to those most intimately associated with him in after-years it was apparent that "the world unseen
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was very real to him." His chief happiness had been in domestic ties and the friendships that clustered about his life. His subsequent marriage occurred in 1855 to Miss Abby Anne Rockwood, daughter of Rev. Otis Rockwood of Lynn, Massachusetts, a lady in every way fitted to make him a congenial and charming wife. Their only son and child, now in Harvard University, bears his father's name, and promises well to sustain his father's reputation.
After a very short period of apparent illness, Judge Kent's death occurred on the 19th May, 1877. The members of the Penobscot County bar paid sincerely eulogistic respect to his memory. Their utterances are recorded in vol. Ixvi. of the Maine Reports. A. W. Paine, Esq., who presented the resolutions, made the following observations :
"As a politician, though firm and decided in his preferences, he knew no party prejudices: no man was his enemy or even undervalued because of them; and on the other hand, none lost confidence in him because of any difference of political creed or party alliance. As in all other departments of life, so in politics, people gave him credit for honesty and trusted him accordingly. 'In religious matters he was deeply imbued with the doctrines of liberal Christianity, in the best meaning of the term-free from all sectarianism. He respected all religious creeds and convictions in others, when seen to be honestly entertained and carried into life; but no man more thoroughly despised all cant, hypocrisy, and bigotry. He held that faith alone had no saving efficacy, except as its genuineness was supported by the evidence of good works.
" As a lawyer, he was kind, affable, faithful, and reliable. . . .
"As a judge, Mr. Kent was by general consent regarded as signally fitted to the place. By nature he was eminently endowed with the personal qualifications which the place demands. Of commanding form, his very presence inspired respect, his habits of life seconded the impression, and his calm and deliberate manner fitted him for a patient hearer. Well read in the profession, familiar with the princi- ples of the law and with the authorities, he added to all these traits a warm devotion for the place, an integrity which knew no faltering, and a rigid impartiality. To these he united a bland and winning dignity, free from all superciliousness, which commanded the acquiescence and the confidence of every one.".
" As a jurist," said Chief Justice Appleton, "his written judgments will ever command the respect of the profession. While respecting authority, he respected more the great principles on which authority rests. His mind was singularly free from bias and prejudice. His great purpose was to rightly apply legal principles to existent facts. He spared neither time nor labor in liis legal investiga- tions. He discussed legal questions with a clearness of illustration, a strength of argument, a fulness and variety of learning, rarely equalled and still more rarely surpassed. Occasionally he was fond of enlivening the somewhat arid discussions of legal principles with flashes of wit and humor, in which his genial nature so much delighted.
"In social life he was eminently popular. Cheerful and happy himself, he radiated happiness upon those around him. Calmly, with no disturbing fear, with his intellectual vigor neither dimmed by age nor weakened by disease, trusting in the loving-kindness of God, he met the fate predestined from the beginning for us all; and we cannot doubt that to him there was the joyful greeting, 'Well done, good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.'"
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No truer tribute could be paid to the memory of Edward Kent than that he paid to Judge Cutting, his long-time associate, in the following words (vide Maine Reports, vol. lxv. p. 600) :
"There is one word that better than any other characterizes tlie man, the magistrate, and the lawyer-integrity ! I do not say honesty, for that word to most minds carries only the idea of pecuniary faithfulness-the performance of contracts and the fulfilment of express obligations. Integrity covers and includes the whole man-his heart, liis intellect, his judgment, liis ruling motives and his control- ling principles. . . . This integrity was in his nature, and it always seemed to me that he not only acted uprightly, but that he never debated with himself when, if ever, a sliglit deviation promised ample and tempting remuneration. This inwoven integrity, resting never on the selfish and narrow maxim that ' honesty is the best policy,' but on the pure sense of duty and justice and absolute right, was ever with him through his long life of work and responsibilities; and when at last the summons came that called him away from earth, its cares and duties and trials, lie went calmly to his grave, without a stain upon his honor and without a cloud upon his reputation."
"In estimating aright the character of Judge Kent," wrote one who knew him intimately all luis life, "certain salient points should not be overlooked. The most prominent of these traits were the openness of his nature, the amenity and kindness of his disposition from his youth up, and his capacity for and appreciation of wit and humor. It may be truly said, without detracting from the weightier points of his character, that he 'was not only witty himself, but the cause of wit in others.' It was perhaps humor rather than wit that he indulged in himself and appreciated the most in others-liumor of a chastened kind, rather than that boisterous wit which would 'set the table in a roar.' A quaint conceit or happy turn of expression, a play upon words or verbal pun, would go farther with him, dwell in his memory longer, and be recalled with more satisfactory enjoyment than the ribald jest or the coarse and vulgar anecdote."
The same friend continues :
" If the life of Judge Kent was marked by any one distinctive trait above his other estimable quali- ties, it was that of perfect integrity of heart and life. To do wrong to another in thought, word, or deed would have been to have wronged the deeper his own soul. To be and not to seem was eminently characteristic of him-and to have lived the life of one not open as the day would have been abhorrent to his very nature."
Among many personal recollections of the subject of this sketch, the following from the Hon. George F. Talbot, given at Portland at a meeting of the Maine Historical Society, in May, 1879, will be read with interest :
"I first became personally acquainted with Judge Kent when, soon after his appointment to the bench, he came to hold a term of the Supreme Court at Machias, where I resided. He brought with him to the judicial office a considerable prestige, gained in a very successful political career. He was the only candidate of the Whigs wlio had been able to break the ascendancy the Democrats had held in Maine since 1830. Once in 1837, and again in 1840, he had been elected Governor. In the famous campaign of the latter year-famous for the wild and somewhat fantastic popular enthusiasm that accompanied it, and whose memory is perpetuated in song better fitted to inspire a mass-meeting gathered about a stump, or for the march of a torch-light procession, than for volumes to ornament a centre-table-Judge Kent found a conspicuous place along with ' Tippecanoe and Tyler too,'
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"When he came to Washington County, under these circumstances, he was everywhere warmly welcomed. In no country is the judicial office more honored than in New England. People flocked to the court-house, who had heard of him as a popular chief magistrate and an eminent lawyer, to look upon his imposing figure and handsome, majestic face. At that time liis resemblance to the best por- traits of Washington was very generally remarked. The citizens vied with each other in extending toward him their courtesies and hospitalities. At a private liouse one evening tableaux vivants were improvised for the entertainment of the company. Judge Kent, whose fine powers of conversation, ready wit, and copious repertory of anecdotes made him everywhere, out of as well as in the State, a most desirable table companion, entered genially into the amusement. He consented to sit behind a large picture-frame draped in fine lace, as a portrait of the father of his country, and the resemblance, patent to the casual observer, was brought out with marked effect through the adjuncts of scenery, drapery, and light.
"The only other time that I came personally in association with him was when, full of years and honors, retired from the bench, he came to Augusta as one of the commissioners to consider and recom- mend amendments to the State constitution. His associates gladly availed themselves of his political and judicial experience, and while he presided over their councils, they felt that his presence gave dig- . nity to their assembly and weight to their recommendations. While he was ready to acquiesce in all proposed changes that would give strength and symmetry to the constitution, he shrunk with a conserv- ative feeling, due alike to his age and his political training, from every innovation that threatened to disturb existing institutions, or to weaken the sanctions of established usages, and that popular loyalty that, among law-abiding races like the English and the Americans, clings to wonted. methods of admin- istration and long-established magistracies. I think that this was the last of his public services, and closed a career as full of service to the State as honor to himself ; and when soon after he passed away from among the living, he left a reputation for integrity, amiability, and public usefulness which it is the duty as well as the pleasure of this Society to commemorate and perpetuate in history."
At the above meeting of the Historical Society, ex-Governor Washburn presented the memoir of Judge Kent prepared by Hon. John E. Godfrey of Bangor, and added his own tribute, which is so characteristic in its earnest, affectionate, and exalted appreciation of his friend, to the many that were called forth by his death, that it is appended in closing this extended sketch:
"In submitting to the Society for Judge Godfrey this interesting paper, I am unwilling to forego the opportunity to add a word of my own in memory of an old, a valued, and a very dear friend. It was my privilege to enjoy the friendship of Judge Kent from a period as early as 1835 to the time of his deatlı; and such were the force and dignity of his character, the evenness of his temper, his uniform charity for others, the purity of his life, and the delightfulness of his discourse, that my respect and regard for him were never, that I can remember, abated for a single moment. If he had limitations or faults, they were so purely human, so inherent in the best types of manhood, that one could scarcely notice them without thinking the more poorly of himself for doing so. If it should be thoughit that our friend has dwelt at unnecessary length on the love of humor in Judge Kent, those who knew the latter best will understand how much the sketch would have wanted in completeness if he had said less on this characteristic of the subject of his notice. In the unflagging good-nature of Judge Kent, in his broad sympathies, in his wit, overborne only by a humor as genial and unaffected as that of Thomas
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Hood or Charles Lamb, there was a perennial charm. What Hood said of Allan Cunningham might with equal truth have been applied to him-' he would rise to a joke like a trout to a fly.'
"There were at the Penobscot bar, during the mature years of Judge Kent, two gentlemen in whose society he found unfailing pleasure. They were like him in liberal culture, in love of anecdote and facetia, and in wearing always and without abuse the 'grand old name of gentleman.' I refer to Thornton Mclan, a friend of Daniel Webster, and a prized companion of Louis Gaylord Clarke, to whose Knickerbocker Magazine he contributed, in its best days, many of the rare things which appeared in the editor's inimitable gossip; and to Elijah L. Hamlin, the soul of truth and honor, and the humanest of men, in whose memory was garnered up tales and humors of his native county (Oxford), of its origi- nal and ecccentric characters at the most picturesque period of its history, which never flagged, and to the listener never seemed to fail in portraying country human nature in its most genuine moods and aspects.
" What gave to this intercourse an especial value was the proof it furnished to others that the brightest fun and the most enjoyable humor are not incompatible with the absence of envy, ill-nature, or coarseness. But after all, the permanent and essential reputation of Judge Kent will depend upon his character and career as a lawyer and judge, as a statesman and a citizen. Want of time and prepa- ration will prevent my speaking of him at length in these relations. I remember him as a lawyer, rather indolent perhaps in the early preparation of his cases, but when fairly engaged in them, earnest, forcible comprehensive, and sometimes, when the occasion had aroused him to the exercise of his fullest powers, surpassingly eloquent. His earnestness and candor, the obvious sincerity of his opinions, in which there was a power of moral pathos, with the weight of his great character, secured to his addresses, whether to court or jury, the most friendly and careful consideration. These qualities, when transferred to the bench, added strength, steadiness, and acceptance to its deliberations and judgments.
"Judge Kent was, however, in his studies and tastes eminently a statesman; his true place would have been in the Senate of the United States, and he would have shed an added and unfading lustre upon that august body. His breadth of thought, his grasp of great questions, his habit of judging them by the reasons upon which they stood, and not by their trifling or personal relations, or accidents, supported by his noble and manly presence, would have made him a distinguished and honored member of that body.
" His administration as Governor was dignified, faithful, and honest, and irradiated by a love for his adopted State which showed how deeply it had become to him an object of affection and pride. His interest in the question of the Northeastern Boundary was intelligent and absorbing, and since the time of Enoch Lincoln it may not be too much to say that it had scarcely been upheld by any other hand with equal devotion and chivalry.
" But where he lived so long and was so well known,-in the Penobscot valley,-his memory will be clierished with the most profound respect and the deepest affection as a citizen and as a man. Upon another occasion I have spoken of him before this Society as the foremost citizen of this State. We shall long remember him, and those who knew him well will not hesitate to say, borrowing (with a slight change) the language of Thomas Carlyle in his memorable paper upon Sir Walter Scott, 'No sounder piece of manhood has been put together in this nineteenth century of time.'"
[The present sketch is compiled largely from " Memoir of Hon. Edward Kent, LL.D., by Hon. John E. Godfrey," reprinted from the Collections of the Maine Historical Society, vol. viii.]
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UBBARD, JOHN, ex-Governor of Maine. Prominent among those who have descrved well of their fellow-citizens and the State is John Hubbard. Eminent in his profession and untiring in its generous exercise, he had the good-fortune, through a long life, to render as a citizen unusual service to the community in which he lived. Warmly attached to the principle of government by the people, and well equipped for their service, he was permitted in public office to contribute much to that moral and material development of his own State which has made her influence felt in strengthening and perpetuating the Republic. His life well illustrates the beneficent results of our republican government, which, by opening every career to all her sons, inspires their ambition, and impels them to qualify themselves for all careers ; and which, to requite her generosity, has always hosts of her sons well qualified to serve her in times of crises or in times of routine.
John Hubbard was born in the town of Readfield, in the State of Maine, on the 22d of March, 1794. His parents moved to that town from their native State of New Hampshire in 1784. Maine was then a province of Massachusetts, and they were among the pioneers in the district of their adoption.
His mother, Olive Wilson, was born in Brentwood, New Hampshire, in 1761, and was a woman of marked individuality of character. Her removal to Maine was soon after her marriage. She died October 20, 1847, at the advanced age of eighty-six years.
His father, John Hubbard, whose name he bore, was born in Kingston, New Hamp- shire, in 1759, and, like his father, was a physician. On removing to Maine he took with him his widowed mother, Joanna Hubbard, who died there in 1807, in the seventy-fifth year of her age. His death occurred April 22, 1838. His life was the laborious one of a country doctor in a new and sparsely settled country, where journeys are long and receipts small, and often the thanks of the patient are the only reward for services. In such a community almost every man adds the occupation of farmer to his other pursuits, and Doctor Hubbard was no exception to this rule. For the greater part of his life he carried on a farm, which, as his sons grew to be young men, was committed to their care. He was esteemed in his profession as a practitioner of skill and sound judgment. He occupied also a prominent position in the community where he lived, and at one time represented his district in the Legislature or General Court of Massachusetts. But his health failed near middle-life ; his accumulations of property were lost or spent, and he was unable to give his large family much aid in obtaining education more complete than that afforded by the common-schools.
There had been twelve children in this family-eight daughters and four sons. Of these, two died in childhood.
Metropolitan Publishing & Engraving Co Boston.
John Hubbard
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John, named for his father, was the eldest son. As a boy he was remarkable for extra- ordinary physical strength and activity. These qualities were often tested in the wrestling matches and rough athletic sports that served as recreation for the boys of that day, and on several occasions availed to rescue from drowning his less powerful or expert com- panions. Above all, he was conspicuous then, as always, for independence and frankness of character, and for absolute sincerity. His physical activity was early turned to account in the cultivation of his father's farm, which was put under his management when he was a mere boy. This labor, however, encroached upon the time which he felt could more profitably be given to the cultivation of his mind. At sixteen years of age the only in struction he had received was at the district schools in the winter months, and during an attendance of ten months at an academy. But already he had marked out for himself a life in which his talents might be turned to better account than in the course which seemed to lie before him. He had considered with appreciative thought the opportunities for usefulness afforded by a government that knows no privileged class. He had also discovered that where the only obstacle to success is competition, he who would attain suc- cess must be equipped to compete. And he had rightly decided that the best equipment is good mental training and a thorough education. So when, at the age of sixteen, his father, unable to aid him in obtaining a liberal education at any of the centres of learning, pro- posed that he should divide his time between the work on the farm and the study of medi- cine at home with his father, he declined the proposal, for the reason that he needed a more thorough education as the foundation for a professional superstructure, and that until the foundation was determined he could not decide what the edifice should be.
Following the course on which he had resolved, he devoted such time as he could obtain in the intervals of labor to the study of mathematics and the languages, without aid or instruction, and thus continued for three years longer to carry on the farm.
In the fall of 1813, then in his twentieth year, having decided that duty to himself as well as his family required the step, he left home. His equipment for making his own way in the world was an abundant force of mind and character, robust health, and ample hope. His property was limited to fifteen dollars, and a horse given him by his father, who could afford no ampler outfit.
Thus furnished, he rode across the country to Hanover, New Hampshire; resolved first to know the requirements for entering Dartmouth College, and then to set about the work of complying with them.
From Dartmouth he rode to Albany, New York, where he made an engagement as instructor in a private family residing near the city. Here he continued until the following summer, and used his time so well that, besides discharging his duties as instructor, to the eminent satisfaction of his pupils and their parents, he had completed the preparatory studies, and those of the first and second college years, so far that he was then able to
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enter Dartmouth in 1814 as a member of the Class of 1816, in the third term of the sophomore year.
He graduated with his class in 1816, maintaining a front rank, and especially distin- guishing himself in the department of mathematics.
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