USA > Maine > Biographical encyclopedia of Maine of the nineteenth century > Part 46
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Duly received into the ranks of the legal fraternity, he began the practice of law at Orono, Penobscot County, Maine, in 1826. Five years later he removed to Bangor, and contracted a law-partnership with Judge Edward Kent. The firm thus organized stood at the forefront of the profession in Maine, and continued for a period of seventeen years. Between the partners themselves a singularly strong and durable attachment was estab- lished. Equally estimable and eminent, their subsequent association for fourteen years as Judges of the Supreme Judicial Court only cemented more strongly that remarkable friendship. Their terms of judicial service expired simultaneously. Nearly of the same age, they died within a few months of each other.
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Judge Cutting, as a member of the bar, was noted for his shrewdness, sagacity, and directness. Less distinguished as an advocate in jury-trials than by the ability and force of his arguments before the law-courts, he was regarded as one of the principal technical lawyers in the State. In 1854 he received the appointment of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court ; was reappointed twice, and served for three terms-each of seven years- upon the bench. This lengthened period of judicial ministration closed on the 24th of April, 1875. His retirement from office was rendered memorable by the exercises then held in the Supreme Court.
Politically, Judge Cutting began life as a Whig. Subsequently he acted with the Republican Party, but took no prominent part in partisan struggles. In 1858 Dartmouth College honored itself by conferring upon him the honorary degree of LL.D.
Jonas Cutting was married twice. Only one of his four children survives in the per- son of his daughter Helen, wife of Dr. A. C. Hamlin.
ODFREY, JOHN, of Bangor, Maine, Chief Justice of the Court of Ses- sions. Born in Taunton, Massachusetts, May 27, 1781. He was the son of John Godfrey of Taunton, and was of the sixth generation in line of direct descent from the primitive ancestor in America.
Richard Godfrey, the first of the name in this country, belonged to the "ancient family of Godfrey," which, agreeably to Burke's Commoners, " is supposed to de- rive from Godfrey le Fauconer, lord of the manor of Hurst, in Kent, as early as the reign of Henry II." Richard Godfrey was an emigrant from England in 1652. He settled in Taunton, Massachusetts, and brought with him his infant son Richard, who was born in the mother-country in 1651. Richard Godfrey, Jr., was the father of John, the grand- father of George, the great-grandfather of John, and the great-great-grandfather of Judge John Godfrey. All of these forefathers were agriculturists, and remarkable for con- servatism, decision of character, and longevity. John Godfrey, the first, was a military man, and bore the commission of captain under George II. George Godfrey, his son, in- herited his father's militant aptitudes, and held the commission of brigadier-general from the new American Republic. Both of them, and also the second John Godfrey, were notable men in the management of town affairs, and also represented their local con- stituencies in the State Legislature. George Godfrey was a colleague and friend of Robert Treat Paine in 1779.
Judge John Godfrey, in the days of boyhood and youth, labored diligently on the paternal farm, and absorbed all the learning that the schools of the town were able to im-
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part. About the age of eighteen or nineteen his shoulder was seriously injured while wrestling with a companion, at the raising of his father's house. This was a pivotal point in the young man's life, and turned his energies into channels other than those originally intended. It was decided that he should be liberally educated. Assiduous devotion to appropriate study enabled him to enter Brown University, at Providence, Rhode Island, a year in advance. Graduating with the customary degree of literary proficiency, he chose the profession of law, and began the necessary reading under the direction of Mr. Sproat, one of the ablest lawyers of the Commonwealth, and the only one resident in Taunton, except Judge Padelford, who undertook the tutelage of students. Admitted to practice in due course, Mr. Godfrey established himself at Hampden in 1805 or 1806. Not con- tented with the meagre income from professional labors, he also undertook the cultivation of a small farm. The love of agriculture, and the fixed determination to succeed in what- soever he undertook, were ancestral bequests of immense value.
Mr. Godfrey resided in Hampden for the space of fifteen years. During that period he suffered much from the effects of the British victories. As a prisoner of war, he was locked up in the cabin of a war-vessel, and almost died of thirst during his single night's . detention. His house was converted into a hospital, his library into a bonfire, and his horse was stolen by American thieves.
Utter prostration of business followed this destructive raid of the enemy, and obliged him to return to Taunton, where he continued for some time in the practice of his profes- sion. Returning to Hampden in 1815, he remained there until 1820, when he formed a business copartnership with Samuel E. Dutton in Bangor, to which place he removed with his family in 1821. The new association was only of brief duration. In 1823 Mr. God- frey, was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Sessions. Ephraim Goodale of Orring- ton and Seba French of Dexter were his associates. In 1825 he was appointed county attorney, and officiated as such until 1832.
Both in Hampden and in Bangor important municipal trusts were confided to the care of Judge Godfrey. His connection with the business of the latter place and of the county was for many years more or less intimate. Intelligent and faithful in the discharge of all his duties, he was not only a hard-working lawyer, but a busy and effective man at his own home. His garden afforded him sufficient recreation. Unassuming, decided, and con- servative, he was also strictly orthodox in his religious beliefs. The rage for novelty left him untouched. Grave and reticent, he was also remarkable for his fund of dry humor.
Judge Godfrey was not an enthusiastic politician, but his political opinions were of settled and definite character. Office sought him, because of his sterling abilities and solid worth. He died on the 28th of May, 1862, aged eighty-one years. The members of the bar passed the usual complimentary resolutions, and offered some sincerely eulogistic re- marks. Chief Justice Tenney said :
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" He has always been distinguished for his respect for the courts, and courtesy to his professional associates; for his unbending integrity and his fidelity to his clients, who, having once employed h i seldom sought the aid of other counsel; and in some instances he has been a standing agent of munici- pal corporations for a series of years together, to take charge of their business in court. The first time I was ever in court in this place, many years since, Mr. Godfrey was the attorney for the county, and I was struck with the discretion and ability with which he conducted the criminal business. His conduc as a citizen was regulated by an elevated moral standard which all acknowledged and felt. In his domestic relations, of which I had some knowledge, he took the deepest interest; and in the discharge of the duties therein he evidently found his great happiness."
Judge Godfrey was married to Sophia, daughter of Colonel Samuel Dutton of Bangor. Of their numerous family, James Godfrey, the second son and ninth child, was born at Bangor, October 8, 1822, prepared for college at Bangor, entered Waterville, and graduated at Bowdoin in 1844. After teaching for two years in Alabama, he studied law in his father's office, was admitted to the bar, and settled first at Wellsborough and then at Houlton. He died at the premature age of twenty-eight, on the 30th of August, 1850, leaving behind him the memory of a kind, upright, useful, and promising life.
ANSON, SAMUEL, of Portland, Maine. Born in Windham, Maine, No- vember 14, 1789. His grandfather, Samuel Hanson, removed to Windham from the neighborhood of Dover. The latter place is the spot where this branch of the Hansons was first rooted in the State, and where it flourished for many years.
The genealogy of the Hanson family is of remarkably interesting character. Watson, in his " History of Halifax," states that the name originated about the year 1337. Prior to the Norman Conquest, surnames were not used by the English people. In 1251 the historical progenitor of the Hansons was known as Roger de Rastricke, or Roger of Rastricke-the name of the little village in which he was then living, and from which his progeny have spread over Yorkshire, and to many foreign parts of the world. The De Ras- tricke family increased and multiplied, and in the fourteenth century two descendants of Roger, named Ellen and Henry, had each a son named John. Considerable confusion and embarrassment were created by this identity of name. The annoyance occasioned by it may be conjectured from the fact that the son of Henry distinguished himself from the son of Ellen by calling himself Henry's son, from which by euphonic abbreviation came Hanson. This became the regular patronymic of his descendants, and with him the his- tory of the Hansons properly begins.
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Early in the seventeenth century Thomas Hanson quitted his rural Yorkshire home to seek his fortune in London. Being the youngest son in a family of six, his worldly prospects under the laws of primogeniture and entail were not particularly brilliant. Nor does the outlook appear to have materially improved in the metropolis. Just at this junc- ture the Puritans established themselves in New England. Their compatriots were par- ticularly numerous at Austerfeld (Huddersfield ?), the native home of Thomas Hanson. Accounts received from the enterprising emigrants probably stimulated the desire to follow in their track. His aunt, Alice Hanson, had married William Bradford, and become the mother of a son, who was afterward the renowned Governor Bradford. In resolving to emigrate, he was encouraged by the assurance that in the New World he would find influ- ential relatives and friends, from whom assistance, if required, might readily be had. The dates of departure from England and of arrival in America are unknown ; but it is certainly known that in 1640 Thomas Hanson was resident at Salmon Falls, Massachusetts.
In 1658 he received a grant of one hundred acres of land, on which he settled, and surrounded himself with a family of four sons and two daughters. The vicissitudes of colonial life were strange and striking. Those of the Hansons were comparatively com- mon to all New-Englanders, and are easily imagined in view of the familiar records of the Eastern States. Tobias Hanson was killed by the Indians in 1693. Elizabeth Hanson was carried off into captivity by the savages, and the narrative of her experiences is a most interesting portion of early colonial history.
William Hanson was born at Windham, January 18, 1762. His father, Samuel Han- son, had removed to that place from Dover, in company with his two brothers, when all of them were quite young men. William was one of the leading men of the Windham com- munity, was the owner of farms, a local merchant, and the hotel-keeper of the village. At his death he left what in those days and in that neighborhood was looked upon as a large fortune.
Samuel Hanson, son of William, was reared to maturity under the eye of his father. Natural tastes and aptitudes for business were cultivated in the paternal store, in which he was a constant and active attendant on customers. Independent and pushing, he struck out for himself, when he had attained his majority, and established a new store at the Corners, about three miles from home. Business proved to be prosperous. At the end of four years he found himself in condition to gratify a wider mercantile ambition by removal to Portland, which afforded a more promising field for his activities. In Portland he rented a store on Midder Street, near its junction with Free Street. This property he subse- quently purchased, and built a block of buildings thereon. In 1866 it was destroyed by the memorable conflagration at Portland, and was subsequently replaced by a beautiful and commodious block of stone buildings, erected by his son. Mr. Hanson was extensively
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engaged in the Cuba trade. He was also pecuniarily interested in navigation to a great extent, and imported his cargoes of molasses in his own vessels.
His official life was limited to a directorship in one of the banks. His independent spirit disliked the entanglements of public office and corporate association ; and preferred the untrammelled management of his own private affairs. Retiring from active business at a comparatively early age, he devoted himself to family and other immediate interests. In social as well as commercial circles his standing was of the highest. In the knowledge obtained from books, and in the more precise and vivid information derived from travel, he found constant delight. With current events he was also thoroughly familiar. His personal friends were found in the class of men to whom William Pitt Fessenden, Thomas De Blois, Nathan Cummings, and J. S. Little belonged. These were in the inner circle of his associates up to the date of his death, in 1862.
Samuel Hanson was married to Persis Elizabeth, daughter of Philip Greely of Portland.
B ODWELL, JOSEPH ROBINSON, of Hallowell, Maine. Born June 18, 1818, in that part of the town of Methuen, Massachusetts, now called Law- rence. His father, Joseph Bodwell, owned the homestead farm at the mouth of the Spigot River, and resided there nearly all his life. His family was among the most worthy and respected in his community, and he himself was distinguished by his generous hospitality and kindness to those who needed it, and possessed the respect and good-will of all who knew him. His wife was of the Howe family-to this day prominent in society, its members having held very prominent offices in the town. She was a lady of culture and refinement, and of most exemplary character.
Mr. Bodwell is a lineal descendant of Henry Bodwell, his first known American ancestor, who bore a brave and conspicuous part in the war with King Philip, the distin- guished chief of the Wampanoags. Driven to the necessity of defensive warfare, those in command on the Connecticut River "determined to establish a magazine and garrison at Hadley. Captain Lathrop," continues the historian Hildreth, "who had been dispatched from the eastward to the assistance of the river towns, was sent with eighty men, the flower of the youth of Essex County, to guard the wagons intended to convey to Hadley a large quantity of unthreshed wheat, the produce of the fertile Deerfield meadows. Just before arriving at Deerfield, near a small stream still known as Bloody Brook, under the shadow of the abrupt conical Sugar Loaf, the southern termination of the Deerfield mountain, Lathrop fell into an ambush, and, after a brave resistance, perished there with all his com-
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pany," September 18, 1675. "Captain Moseley, stationed at Deerfield, marched to his assistance, but arrived too late to help him." He did arrive in time, however, to help Henry Bodwell, who, though severely wounded, had not "perished" with the rest of his compatriots ; but after the loss of nearly all his companions, being a brave and powerful man, clubbed his gun and, sweeping the Indians from his path, cut his way through them and escaped, lying concealed until Captain Moseley came to his rescue. He lived to do good service to his country in following years.
Hardy, daring, aggressive blood flowed vigorously in the veins of Joseph R. Bodwell when thrown upon his own resources, to a great extent, at the tender age of eight years ; his father having through unavoidable misfortune lost his property, and being persuaded by a brother-in-law to commit Joseph R. to his care. In the person of this brother-in-law, Patrick Flemming of Methuen, he opportunely found a friend, with whom he resided and upon whose farm he labored until he had reached the age of sixteen. The school of manual labor in which he passed those formative years was precisely the onc best fitted to qualify him for the peculiar successes he has since so triumphantly achievcd. During thic year 1834 this rough practical education was continued in his experience as a farm- laborer, with the wages of six dollars per month. In 1835 he began to acquire the art of shoemaking. But in connection with his toils as an apprentice of St. Crispin, he pur- sued other occupations which gave promise of an ultimate and different sphere of useful activity. He attended school during the day, and on his return home, taking with him the materials for making shoes, spent his evenings and the early part of his mornings in their fabrication. There was evidently the sterling material out of which men are made in the sturdy and industrious youth. This mode of life and labor lasted until 1838. He then, in connection with his father, purchased a farm in West Methuen, and with filial fidelity aided in its cultivation until the death of the elder Mr. Bodwell in 1848.
While thus occupied, he took the first steps in that special business career in which hc has since been so prominent, and by means of which he has done so much to develop the natural resources of his adopted State. When the Lawrences of Boston began to utilize the water-power of the Merrimac at Lawrence, Massachusetts, Mr. Bodwell was employed to haul granite from Pelham, New Hampshire, for the construction of a dam. This in turn made him acquainted with all the processes involved in quarrying and work- ing granite.
Another decade passed, and in 1852 Mr. Bodwell, in company with Hon. Moses Webster, commenced to work the granite quarries on Fox Island, at the mouth of Penob- scot Bay. Up to that period, the granite islands and headlands of the coast of Maine were for the most part practically worthless. Since then, under the hands of Mr. Bod- well and of others endowed with his spirit and characteristics, they have been converted into scenes of busy activity, and compelled to yield material for the construction of many of our most magnificent national, civic, and private edifices.
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Mr. Bodwell commenced operations on Fox Island, at Vinal Haven, with one yoke of oxen, which he drove himself, and shod with his own hands. But from this humble beginning sprang results of such magnitude, that a company of capitalists was organized to utilize the quarries there discovered. This corporation, known as the Bodwell Granite Company, elected the hardy pioneer to its presidency. The office then entrusted he holds at the present time. Under his energetic and prudent management it has attained the status of the leading granite corporation in the United States.
In 1866 Mr. Bodwell removed with his family to Hallowell, in Maine. He had fore- seen that granite of lighter color and more delicate texture than that which had been so extensively used would be required in the future. This granite he found in the neighbor- hood of Hallowell. It was precisely the kind and quality of material demanded for monu- mental and artistic purposes. Securing the control of these extensive deposits, he organ- ized the Hallowell Granite Company in 1870, and has himself been at its head, as president, from that time until now. The products of this association have been sent into almost every State in the Union. Its colossal statuary, rivalling white marble in its beauty, is to be found in all the great cities of the United States from Portland to New Orleans. For building work it is also in great and widely extended demand.
Mr. Bodwell never lost his early love for agricultural pursuits. With largely aug- mented means of gratifying bucolic tastes, he purchased a large farm in Hallowell, and cultivated it with success, and also with much self-satisfaction. His accurate judgment of the different kinds of live-stock necessary to meet the various demands of the country led him to import a herd of thoroughbred Hereford cattle in 1879. From this undertak- ing he had not anticipated very remunerative returns ; but so agreeably was he disappointed, that he has since continued to import both the Hereford, the Black-yolled, Angus, and Sussex breeds. He is now one of the largest importers of these special stocks.
Versatile, and equally efficient in diversified business departments, Mr. Bodwell is also president of the Bodwell Water-power Company at Oldtown, Maine-a corporation which holds the largest water-power in New England. He carries on lumbering operations on the head-waters of the Kennebec River, and is a promoter and stockholder in several important railroad enterprises.
In public political life he does not deem himself preeminently qualified to excel. His is the sterling good sense and sound wisdom that recognizes its best opportunities, and seizes them without a moment's hesitation. He has twice represented his fellow-citizens in the lower House of the Maine Legislature. For two terms he consented to serve as the Mayor of Hallowell, and was delegate-at-large to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1880, which nominated General Garfield for President. Friends have warmly pressed him to accept nomination for higher offices. But this he has declined, under the abiding conviction that his particular aptitudes and qualifications are for business pursuits
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rather than political positions ; and that his own peace and welfare are best consulted and secured by steady adherence to active business.
Mr. Bodwell's abilities to project, plan, and execute large enterprises are remarkable. Equal success could not be expected to attend and crown each and all of them ; yet uni- form and unusual success has been and still is the rule, and not the exception. His mental and physical energies are singularly forceful and enduring. For long weeks in suc- cession, each following day is wholly devoted to business. Very rarely does he seek rest or recreation. The variety and contrasts of his undertakings are such as to afford that recreative rest which is usually yielded by entire change in the direction of energy. Many of them have little or no connection or relation with each other, and yet he turns with all the disciplined powers of his strong nature from one to another with entire ease ; giving to its details an attention as full and absorbed as though the matter immediately in hand were the only one that claimed his notice. In one word, he is a first-class man of business.
But Mr. Bodwell is more than a mere business man. He is an unforgetting philan- thropist. With the memory of his own early struggles ever fresh in his mind, he is quick to sympathize with those who are wrestling with adverse circumstances, and prompt to aid the fainting toiler in his attempts to climb the hill of fortune. Broad-brained and large-hearted, those who know him best say that the worthy poor never appeal to him in vain ; and that many promising young men, assisted by his patronage, have entered upon business careers, whose utility and success are in some measure modelled after that of his own. A lover of knowledge, and a generous friend of popular education, his contributions to many literary institutions have been very liberal. By them he will doubtless be admir- ingly and lovingly remembered when the splendid granite structures he has helped to rear shall have crumbled into ruins.
Joseph Robinson Bodwell was married in 1848 to Eunice, daughter of Josiah Fox. She died in 1857, leaving one daughter, named Persis M., who is now the widow of the late J. M. Paine of Hallowell, Maine. In 1859 Mr. Bodwell married the second time. Han- nah C. Fox, sister of his former wife, then became his spouse. Their only son, Joseph F., is still living. These ladies-the wives of Mr. Bodwell-were of high standing and culture, and were both successful teachers in earlier life.
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AMLIN, ELIJAH LIVERMORE, of Bangor, Maine. Born on the 7th of March, 1800, in the town of Livermore, Maine. Dr. Cyrus and Anna Livermore Hamlin were his parents. In early life he exhibited decided taste for scientific and literary pursuits. After due preparation, he matricu- lated at Brown University, from which he honorably graduated. The profession of law first attracted his mature preferences, and for its practice he pursued the necessary studies under the tuition of Governor Lincoln. Subsequent to his admission to the bar, he established himself in the town of Waterford, which became his residence for some years. Removing from thence to Columbia, in Washington County, his brilliant abilities attracted still more marked public attention. By the citizens he was elected to represent them in the Legislature, and served as Senator for the county during several terms.
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