USA > Maine > Biographical encyclopedia of Maine of the nineteenth century > Part 17
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On the 5th of October, 1870, he passed away from the earth. There was a stately gathering in his own house for the last offices of respect and the last rites of religion. But the tribute paid him was as simple as it was sincere. The form which men had loved to look upon was laid at first among its kindred. Now it lies at rest in the beautiful hillside oppo- site his home, with the river flowing between. When the men of this day wait with their children beside the stone which bears his name, they will think of him and tell of him as one who made the land stronger and the world better by being in it. More tender and
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more sacred, needing no memorial, will be the loving recollection of those who knew him best ; and, knowing him, have treasured up the riches of his character and the benediction of his life.
In regard to the family of Governor Cony, it remains to be added that he was married October 17, 1833, to Mercy H. Sewall of Farmington, who died April 9, 1847. He was married November 22, 1849, to Lucy W. Brooks of Augusta. He left six children-two sons and a daughter by his first marriage, and two daughters and a son by his second mar- riage.
W ILLIAMS, JOSEPH HARTWELL, was born in Augusta, Maine, February 15, 1814, being the only son of Reuel Williams and Sarah Lowell Cony, daughter of Hon. Daniel Cony, who came to Maine from Massachusetts in the year 1778, and settled in that part of Hallowell which is now Augusta. Like his father before him, Mr. Williams has resided in his native town from his birth. He was named after a notable farmer in Massachusetts, whose remarkable industry, intelligence, probity, and thrift were regarded by appreciative. friends as constituting elements of character worthy of imitation, and they were early and often eulogized by the father with a view to stimulate like excellence in the son.
Young Williams enjoyed the best advantages for acquiring an education. At the age of twelve years he was sent from home to a boarding-school for boys, in the family of Rev. Hezekiah Packard, S.T.D., of Wiscasset, Maine [H. U. 1787], and later became a student at the Gardiner Lyceum, then at the height of its prosperity. In 1829 he entered the Classical Institute at Mount Pleasant, in Amherst, Massachusetts, a school of like grade and excellence as the celebrated Round Hill School, in the adjoining town of Northampton. Mount Pleasant Institute was highly recommended by Rev. Dr. Tap- pan of Augusta, whose son, Rev. Benjamin Tappan, D.D., of Norridgewock, Maine, accompanied Williams to Amherst and became his chum and fellow-student. Williams remained at Mount Pleasant until the summer of 1830, when he entered the Freshman Class of Harvard College. From the outset he became a diligent and exemplary student, and to the end of his college career maintained a high rank among the best scholars in his class. In his Senior year he was honored by his classmates as their choice for class orator, and delivered the valedictory oration at the class ceremonies which closed the academic year.
Upon leaving college in 1834 he entered Dane Law School at Cambridge, where he enjoyed and highly prized the instruction of Professors Joseph Story and Simon
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Greenleaf for the greater part of two years, and then returned to Augusta to complete his law studies. He was admitted to the bar in 1837, and immediately succeeded to the lucrative practice of his father, who retired from the profession on being elected that year to a seat in the U. S. Senate. From that period. young Williams was busily occupied in the practice of law until July, 1862, when the decease of his father, and the consequent cares of settling his estate, made it necessary for him to withdraw from a pro- fession well suited to his taste, and to the attainment of whose honors and emoluments he had devoted the prime of his life and the ripe years of middle age. It was in the early part of the year 1862 that he received, at the hands of Governor Washburn, the compli- ment of a nomination to a seat upon the bench of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine ; but, in view of the increasing age and infirmities of his father, then close upon his eightieth year, and the consequent necessity of giving his undivided attention to family interests, he put aside the tempting offer and declined a position which, under other circumstances, would have been regarded by him as the crowning honor of his life.
It was in the year 1857 that Mr. Williams was first called to take part in public affairs. Before attaining to the voting age he had become imbued with the doctrines of the Democratic Party of that period, and he supported the policy and candidates of that organization until 1854, when, as a member of the Democratic State Convention of that year, and chairman of the Committee on Resolutions, he felt compelled to dissent from expressing approval of the administration of President Pierce, who had forfeited, in his opinion, all claim to further allegiance by an approval of the bill to repeal the Missouri Compromise. From that time Mr. Williams ceased to vote with the Democratic Party, so long as the interests of slavery continued to shape political issues.
In 1856 he took an active part in the Presidential election, and entered the canvass as a volunteer speaker in support of the Fremont ticket, doing yeoman's service wherever called, but with no thought of being recognized for promotion at the end of the campaign. On returning home, however, from a week's absence just before the State election, he found his name had been put upon the Republican ticket for Kennebec Senators by a county convention, which had met, acted, and adjourned without previous public intima- tion of such a purpose. The result was an election of the ticket bearing his name; which afterward proved to be a call not merely to a sphere of public duty in the State Senate, but after six weeks of service as president of that body, it became his constitutional preroga- tive to enter upon the discharge of Executive functions, in place of Governor Hamlin, who vacated, his office upon being elected a Senator of the United States. These important duties Mr. Williams performed, to the evident satisfaction of the people of the State, for the remainder of that political year. The vantage-ground of this position might have justified an aspiration to continue in it by courting an election by the people ; but the proffered influence of friends to compass that elevation was promptly and firmly
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repressed by him. Although a temperate man from his youth up, he well knew that so long as he did not regard " Prohibition" as the final word in the science of political as well as social ethics, he could not look for support from those who answered to no other rallying-cry, and whose active co-operation was generally regarded as essential to Republican success. At the close of the year 1857, therefore, Mr. Williams returned to the congenial pursuits of his profession.
When the fratricidal war between the States broke out, Mr. Williams at once gave his hearty support to all measures-State and National-to sustain the Union ; and in the autumn of 1863, at the desire of his kinsman and neighbor Governor Cony, he consented to accept a nomination for Representative in the Legislature of 1864, and he was chosen for that year, and afterward for the two following years. During these several periods of legislative service he was placed upon the Committee of Finance, being chairman of it in 1865 and 1866; and also served on one or another of the several committees on the Judi- ciary, Railroads, and the Insane Hospital during the same periods.
He earnestly seconded the financial suggestions of Governor Cony in his messages to the Legislature, and in the session of 1865 he reported from the Finance Committee and advocated the heroic measure of taxation by which the annual State assessment was raised that year to the startling amount (for Maine) of two millions and a half of dollars ; believing that the burden, great as it was, could be more easily borne in that form at that time, than by an increase of loans, already large, to be paid at a later day, with the risk of unfavorable changes in commercial values when their maturity should arrive.
He also heartily labored for the creation and establishment of a sinking fund to provide for the payment of the State debt, and drafted the bill for that purpose which became a law January 28, 1865. The text of this law was afterward adopted by the Legislature of 1868 when they came to deal with the subject of a loan for the "equali- zation of municipal war debts," and its wisdom as a measure of finance received the sanc- tion of the people of Maine when they voted to amend their constitution so that the inchoate act of March 7, 1868, could take effect.
He regarded himself fortunate that it fell to his lot to share the felicitations extended to the Legislature of that year on ratifying the proposed amendment of the Constitution of the United States whereby slavery was abolished.
Mr. Williams was at a later period returned to the Legislature at the election in September, 1873, by those who voted an independent ticket for Representatives; but the canvass was made during his absence on a journey, without consulting his wishes, and his service at the session of 1874 was reluctantly entered upon.
His inability to resist successfully the legislation of that year, touching the govern- ment of the Insane Hospital, was a source of chagrin to him at the time, and subsequent events affecting the administration of that institution have only confirmed his regret. The
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original law for its government steered clear of the exigencies of contending parties in the State,-which are inevitable under our republican system,-and kept the superintendent and employés of the Hospital safe from the caprices which often govern the bestowal of political patronage ; and he looked upon its repeal and the substituted legislation respect- ing appointments not only as unwise, but mischievous, in its tendency to undermine public confidence-so essential to the attainment of the legitimate objects of any hospital for the insane. Among the more private trusts committed to his hands was the agreeable duty of fostering the interests and objects of the Cony Female Academy in Augusta, as one of its board of trustees; having been elected a member of the board in 1851, and serving as its treasurer to the present time. The commodious and substantial academy erected in 1880, and now transferred, by the action of the trustees, to the uses of a Free High School for the city of Augusta, will stand not only as a monument to the generous founder of the institution, but as evidence of Mr. Williams' personal devotion, in connection with his associate trustees, to the cause of good learning and the highest welfare of his native city. Mr. Williams was married, September 26, 1842, to Apphia Putnam Judd, daughter of the distinguished antiquarian and genealogist, Sylvester Judd of Northampton, Massa- chusetts, who was also the father of Rev. Sylvester Judd, formerly pastor of the Unitarian Church in Augusta, whose brilliant pastorate is well remembered, and whose published works in the field of polite literature still attest his genius and scholarly attainments.
Mr. Williams' only child, Arthur Lowell, was born August 3, 1844, and died Decem- ber 15, 1846.
OBURN, ABNER, of Skowhegan, ex-Governor of Maine. Born in that portion of the town of Canaan, now called Skowhegan, on the 22d of March, 1803. His father, Eleazar Coburn, was a native of Dracut, Massachusetts, and in 1792, at the age of fifteen, removed with his father's family from that town to Canaan. Eleazar Coburn became one of the most con- spicuous and influential citizens of the new section, and in forty years of public life filled almost every official position. In 1811 he represented his fellow-citizens in the General Court of Massachusetts, and subsequently served during several terms as Representative or Senator in the Legislatures of Massachusetts and Maine. His last period of legislative action was in 1830. Dying in 1845, he left behind him a name synonymous with public spirit and extensive usefulness.
Governor Coburn's mother, née Mary Weston, was the descendant of sturdy ancestors, who only lacked wider sphere of action in order to the achievement of high distinction. Locally they were famous. Her grandfather, Joseph Weston, emigrated from Massachu-
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setts to Somerset County, Maine, in 1772, and there established himself among the first settlers. The guide of Benedict Arnold's expedition through the trackless primitive forests to Quebec, he suffered so much from fatigue and exposure that he lost his life. Her father, Squire Weston, was a vigorous and active man ; prominent in all the affairs of his neighborhood, the incumbent of many official positions, and very popular with his con- stituents. From each side of the house Governor Coburn inherited the best qualities of the Puritanic character-its public spirit, aggressive energy, and God-fearing piety ; its frugal- ity, self-reliant intelligence, and that constructive genius which delights in the creation of municipal institutions and of bodies politic.
Trained to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors, and emulous of their pro- nounced and positive excellences, Abner Coburn was early habituated to hard and earnest toil. In tender youth he made himself actively useful on the paternal farm. Clear-headed, intense, and resolute, he appropriated whatever educational facilities had to offer. Passing through the district school, he next studied for a few terms in the Bloomfield' Academy. Agricultural pursuits alternated with those of science and literature. True to the instincts of his race, he accepted the responsibilities of an educator, and before he had reached his twentieth year, had taught a winter school at the moderate salary of ten dollars per month, and experienced the pains and pleasures of " boarding around." Already his future success had been presaged by his thriftiness, foresight, energy, and shrewdness. When only four- teen years of age, he was sent by his father, as one of the drovers in charge of a herd of cattle, to the Brighton market, and traversed the distance between Skowhegan and Boston on foot. His father followed, and found but languid demand for his live-stock. To secure himself against loss, Squire Coburn hired pasturage a few miles from the city, and then dis- posed of his animals at retail. Abner had a pair of steers, which he drove in yoke, among the number. These attracted the notice of a farmer, who offered a suitable price for the handy team, and the transfer was effected. The hint was not lost upon the discerning boy. Selecting a fresh pair from the herd, he so skilfully trained them as to draw attention, and soon accomplished another sale. This operation was repeated until in about fourteen days he had sold the entire stock.
Not in cattle-dealing, however, but in other and different departments of activity, the great work of his life was to lie. His father, Eleazar Coburn, was a trusted and excellent land-surveyor. Abner became one of his principal assistants, and acquired thorough knowledge of his art, and also of the timbered lands on which it was exercised. An acknowledged expert, he began surveying on his own account in the year 1825. Five years afterward, Eleazar Coburn and his two sons, Abner and Philander, under the style and title of E. Coburn & Sons, purchased lands and commenced the lumbering business on the Kennebec. The new firm prospered until 1845, when the senior member died, and the surviving partners organized the firm of A. & P. Coburn. Prosperous, dealing extensively,
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and widely known, no company or individual excelled them in sagacity, perseverance, or sturdy uprightness. For more than fifty years the Coburn brothers were leaders of men, from the head-waters to the mouth of the Kennebec. Hundreds of stalwart foresters were in their pay, and loyally served them from youth to age. Hardy, intelligent, and independent, these bronzed and grizzled toilers held their chiefs in critical but reverent and constant esteem. None had firmer hold on their affections. None could win them, by force of personal excellency, from their chosen political allegiance so readily as the Coburns. Imitative of example, many of them became independent business men, and acquired comparatively large properties. In seasons of financial distress they invariably found relief and assistance from the beneficent brothers, who thus rendered great service to the commonwealth as well as to individuals, and who themselves were always equal to any stress of circumstance, and never failed to weather storms which strewed the shores with the wreck of other contemporaries.
Messrs. A. & P. Coburn had faith in the future, and faith in themselves. They unerringly selected the best lands in the market, bought most largely in seasons of panic, held them judiciously for sale or use, and thus obtained the largest landed property in the State. Four hundred and fifty thousand acres-more than seven hundred square miles- were at one epoch in their possession In 1872 the greater part of these lands were sold for the sum of $1,400,000 ; but the buyer failed to fulfil his contract, and the enormous . tracts fell back into possession of the sellers. Nor have their operations in unimproved real estate been confined to the State of Maine. Sixty thousand acres of valuable lands situated in the West were at one time in their possession. Within late years Governor Coburn himself acquired fifty thousand acres through his connection with the Northern Pacific Railroad.
In 1854 Governor Coburn and his brother prominently identified themselves with the railroad enterprises of the country. The line of the Kennebec and Portland Railroad Company had been extended to Augusta. The Somerset and Kennebec Railroad Com- pany then undertook its further extension to Skowhegan. But the work was beyond their power. The system of raising funds by bonding towns and counties, and by the sale of mortgage bonds, had not then been inaugurated. Success was dependent upon private subscription. This single resource was exhausted before the new thoroughfare was half finished. In this emergency the Coburns sprang to the rescue, helped to raise the neces- sary means, and thus established closer and more advantageous relations between the several parts of the country. One of the brothers was always a member of the directorate.
Governor Coburn was president of the corporation for several years prior to the lease of its property to the Portland and Kennebec Railroad Company, and was afterward a director of the consolidated organization. The Portland and Kennebec, by virtue of superior management, grew to be stronger than the Maine Central. But in the Legisla-
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ture-and particularly in the third department of that body known as the lobby-the latter held the ascendancy, and debarred the former from completing its extension to Somerset. Years of litigation ensued. · Causes so diverse as unfriendly legislation and inefficient con- duction of affairs at length brought about consolidation of rival companies under the old title of the Maine Central Railroad Company. Of this Governor Coburn was chosen director. The debts of the two consolidated roads were funded, mainly through the action of the Coburns, and the new undertaking started on the high-road to success. But with this progress certain intrigues of the Eastern Railroad Company interfered. By securing control of the majority of the Maine Central stock, it virtually dictated the election of directors. It also elected Governor Coburn to the presidency, in order to avert any pos- sible local opposition, and with the idea of utilizing him to prevent the foreseen failure of their own road. The results did not correspond to the expectations of the intriguers. The president was inflexibly faithful to the interests of the stockholders, and antagonized all attempts to divert the Maine Central from its proper uses. The Eastern Railroad became insolvent ; but the Maine Central, though with diminishing income-occasioned by general commercial depression-was admirably served, received permanent improvements, reduced operating expenses, and exhibited increase of net earnings. The administrative genius of the president, as one of the great captains of modern industry, was brilliantly apparent throughout this prolonged crisis. His hard, clear good sense, his perfect mastery of detail, his judicious vigilance in regard to expenditure, his persistent energy and impulsiveness, were all factors of this grand accomplishment. In 1878, after three years of service, he declined to occupy longer the presidential position. Western railroads also have felt the fostering power of the Coburn brothers, and among them the Northern Pacific, whose unwritten history is full of the marvels of genius, faith, and persistency.
Finance is so intimately connected with commerce and transportation, that leaders in the latter naturally become foremost in the former. Abner Coburn was President of the Skowhegan Savings Bank, and also President of the Skowhegan Bank, of which he had previously been one of the directors. When the latter was chartered as the First National Bank of Skowhegan, under the provisions of the National Banking Act, he was elected to the presidency, and still holds that office.
In politics, both State and National, Governor Coburn has always illustrated an en- lightened and patriotic interest. When twenty-one years of age he cast his first vote as a Federalist, for John Quincy Adams, in the Presidential election of 1824. Subsequently, in the disintegration of the old and the formation of new political parties, he cast in his lot with the Whigs. These were ever in the minority in his native State, but always in- cluded a majority of the ablest men who have adorned its history by their eminent talents and noble character. In 1838 he was elected to the House of Representatives in the Maine Legislature, and found himself in the majority of members. Again elected in 1840
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and in 1844, he had for his associates such distinguished statesmen as William Pitt Fessen- den and Hannibal Hamlin. The Northeastern Boundary question was then one of the perplexing and exciting topics of debate. Mr. Coburn's services were demanded and ren- dered in Committees on Finance, the Northeastern Boundary, Banks and Banking, State Lands, and State Valuation. In 1852 he was a candidate for the position of Presidential elector, and was disappointed by the non-election of General Scott. In the second disin- tegration of the party with which he had acted, and in the recrystallization of its best ele- ments into the Republican Party, Mr. Coburn was personally effective. His is the honor of being one of the founders of that great political organization, whose glory and boast it is to have saved the American Republic from disruption and ruin. In 1855 he was one of the Councillors of Governor A. P. Morrill. In 1857 he was also a member of the Council of Governors Hamlin and Williams. In 1860 he was one of the Presidential electors whose suffrages elevated Abraham Lincoln to the Chief Magistracy. In 1862 he was himself the Republican candidate for the Chief Magistracy of Maine. At the State election he re- ceived 42,744 votes against 32,108 cast for Bion Bradbury, his Democratic competitor, and 6,764 cast for the War Democrat General Jameson. His year of office (1863) was one of the most trying and eventful in the history of the struggle for the preservation of free institutions. Many were tired of the conflict. The "peace-at-any-price " party was clam- orous and mischievous. Several Northern States fell under Democratic control. The hearts of many failed for fear. Not so with Governor Coburn. His duties were difficult and delicate, but his abilities were fully equal to them. He was an independent and self-contained executive officer. His extensive business knowledge, his keen insight, his accurate judgment, untiring industry, and indomitable courage, all united to make him one of the most efficient of War Governors. His comprehensive mind took in the whole situation with all its relations; his disciplined wisdom enabled him to adapt the best means to attain desired ends; and his incorruptible integrity inspired entire confidence into all who knew him best. Of the tricks, deceits, and subterfuges of pseudo- politicians he was incapable. Public business was conducted on the soundest ethical prin- ciples. He never wavered in his devotion to the national welfare, nor in his allegiance to party as promotive of that welfare. The destinies of the nation trembled in the balance. It was the crisis of the battle for human rights. Whoever might falter, he would not. He toiled as' ardently-and more-for the election of his successor than for his own. The fall of Vicksburg, followed by that of Port Hudson, and the opening of the Mississippi, the battle of Gettysburg, and the emancipation of the slaves, initiated a new order of things, and assured patriot hearts-and among them that of the stout and valiant Coburn-of the · ultimate victory of the National Government. Never was State administration cleaner or more efficient than that of Maine under his direction.
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