USA > Maine > Piscataquis County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 17
USA > Maine > Aroostook County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 17
USA > Maine > Hancock County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 17
USA > Maine > Washington County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 17
USA > Maine > Somerset County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 17
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WILLARD B. KING.
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can. His connection with several fraternal organizations includes membership in the Ancient Order of United Workmen, which he served in 1889 in the capacity of Grand Mas- ter Workman of the Grand Lodge of Massa- chusetts.
OLONEL WILLARD BANCROFT KING, who was a member of Gov- ernor Robie's staff and the vice- president of the National Bank of Calais, Washington County, was born in Baring, N.B., March 27, 1830, son of Gilman D. and Hannah (Haycock) King. His father, who was a relative of the Hon. William King, the first Governor of Maine, was for many years a prosperous merchant of Calais. After receiv- ing his education in the public schools Will- ard B. King graduated from the Yarmouth (Me.) Academy, taking the prize for excel- lence in mathematics. On leaving school he became associated with his father in the firm Gilman D. King & Son, importers and whole- sale dealers in general merchandise and the leading mercantile house in the city for a number of years. The elder King was suc- ceeded by his three sons - George G., Will- ard B., and William T. King, who retained the old firm name, and conducted the business together until the withdrawal of William T. Willard B. King's connection with the estab- lishment continued until the year 1887, when, in company with Clement B. Eaton, he founded an importing house in St. Stephens under the style of King & Eaton. Other
partners were subsequently received; but, be- fore its founder retired, he had been the sole proprietor for some years. He was a director and the vice-president of the Calais National Bank. He was also vice-president of the St. Croix Club and a member of the St. Croix Lodge, F. & A. M. He attended the Baptist church. Politically, he was an earnest advo- cate of Republican principles, without per- sonal aspirations. While he could not be induced to enter the field as a candidate for any elective office, he accepted a position upon the staff of Governor Robie, who was for years his close personal friend. His kindness of heart is more easily underrated than overrated. It is a well-known fact that no man who sought him for aid was turned away. He was "the poor man's friend." At the time of the Eastport fire he was the first to see the necessity of furnishing immediate relief to the unfortunate victims, and early on the morning following the disaster he started with a load of provisions.
Colonel King contracted the first of his three marriages with Elizabeth Veazie, who died, leaving one daughter, Helen Greenwood. The latter married Charles D. Hill, of the firm Hill, Pike & Co., of this city. Mr. Hill died April 30, 1898. The maiden name of Colonel King's second wife was Phœbe Lee. His third marriage united him with Mrs. Fanny E. Hayden Talbot, the widow of Edward Jerome Talbot, who was a son of the Hon. Samuel Hammond Talbot, of East Machias. Mrs. King is a daughter of Charles H. Hay- den, a prominent business man of Washington
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County, who died at his home in Eastport, April 18, 1884. Charles H. Hayden was born in Hopkinton, Mass., July 31, 1812. About the year 1828 he came to Eastport to enter the employ of his brother-in-law, Gcn- eral Ezekiel Foster, as a clerk in the latter's store and the salt works. In 1833 he pur- chased the iron works store in Pembroke, and in 1837 he became associated with Nathan P. Page in the lumber business and the building of mills. Two years after the death of Mr. Page, which occurred in 1844, Mr. Hayden formed a partnership with Stephen C. Foster. He went to California in 1849, but returned in 1850; and in 1853 he and William R. Pattangall purchased Mr. Foster's mills, ship- yards, dwelling-houses, and adjoining land in Pembroke, and were engaged in ship-building in that town and Robbinston until 1865. A few years later he removed to Eastport, where he resided for the rest of his life, carrying on business in Campobello, N.B., until his re- tirement. In politics he was a Whig until the formation of the Republican party, which he vigorously supported from that time for- ward; and for some years he was Inspector of Customs at Pembroke. His memory was richly stored with interesting facts and remin- iscences. Although he held decided views upon subjects in which he was personally con- cerned, he was tolerant of the opinions of others. His social qualities were greatly ad- mired. Even while suffering from the disease that ultimately proved fatal, he was the same genial companion as in the days of his health and activity. He was always ready to aid a
worthy object. His daughter, Mrs. King, who has inherited his benevolence, has often exercised it to advantage when the occasion demanded. At one time, in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, she was county organizer and State vicc-president. At the present time she is the secretary of the Calais Benevolent Society. She attends the Uni- tarian church.
Colonel King died April 2, 1897. Besides the condolences of many friends and the St. Croix Club, the family received the following from the officials of the Calais National Bank : "At a meeting of the directors of the Calais National Bank, held April 12, 1897, the fol- lowing resolutions were adopted relative to the decease of Willard B. King: Whereas the heavenly Father has seen fit in his infinite wisdom to remove from us the vice-president of our bank, and whereas the directors of the bank by his death have sustained a loss keenly felt by us, not only because it deprives us of his wise counsel and sound judgment, but also because it fills us with a personal sorrow; therefore Resolved, That we place on record our appreciation of the valuable services which our late vice-president rendered the bank during the seventeen years of his direc- torship and one year as its vice-president, and our deep sorrow at his removal from the activ- ities of life, and also our heartfelt sympathies for his bereaved family. Further Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be placed on the records of the bank, and that a copy of the same be sent to the bereaved family, and also published in the city paper."
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AMUEL W. TINKHAM, a highly respected and well-to-do farmer of Anson, was born in this town, May 31, 1816. From his earliest boyhood he has watched with pride the transformation of Anson from a small hamlet to the populous and thriving town it now is. In his youthful days the woods of this locality were inhabited by wild beasts of various kinds; and he has a very vivid recollection of one day seeing a bear and her two cubs take away a cow, kill, and eat her. In the many changes that have been made he has had a part, doing, mayhap, as much as any man now living toward develop- ing and improving this section of Somerset County.
Ariel Tinkham, the father of Samuel W., was born and reared in Middlebury, Mass., coming from there to Somerset County in 1800. He located on the land now owned and occupied by his son, and which was then in its primeval wildness, making the jour- ney hither across the intervening country on foot, with a pack on his back, and following a path marked by blazed trees. Having taken up two hundred acres of land, he soon made an opening in the forest, and erected a small house, presumably of logs, after which he cleared a patch of land for cultivation, and thereafter kept on making improvements each year. As fast as his funds accumulated he in- vested in other land, so that at the time of his death he was the owner of a thousand acres in Somerset County. He died on the homestead in April, 1838. His wife, whose maiden- name was Susan Bray, a native of New
Gloucester, Me., bore him ten children, namely: Mary, deceased; Samuel W., the subject of this sketch; Josiah, a farmer, resid- ing near the old home farm; Anna, Marinda, and Emily, deceased ; John, a wealthy farmer, living retired in the village of Anson, who first married Miss Carturah Houghton and after her death Mrs. Ann Hilton; Paulina, who is the wife of Azel Heald, of Madison village; Susan, living in Anson, who is the widow of the late Andrew Daggett; and Jo- seph, a farmer in Oregon.
Samuel W. Tinkham spent his early years at home, and was scarce twenty-two years old when his father died. Being the eldest son of a large family of children, it devolved upon him to settle the paternal estate. On receiv- ing his portion of the land, he built the house in which he has since resided. He has profit- ably devoted his attention to general farming, sheep-raising, and dairying, including the manufacture of butter and cheese. For some years he was interested especially in military matters, and was Lieutenant Colonel of a local company of militia.
On November 28, 1838, Mr. Tinkham mar- ried Miss Catherine H. Dinsmore, who was born in Anson, August 29, 1817, daughter of Samuel and Susan (Houghton) Dinsmore. Her father, the first of the Dinsmores to come to Somerset County, removed from Exeter, N.H., to Anson township in 1793, and lo- cated on a farm near Mr. Tinkham's, where he and his wife spent their remaining years, laboring with persistent energy to clear and improve a homestead from the wilderness.
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She died March 6, 1833; and in 1855 he passed to the life beyond, full of years and honors. Mr. and Mrs. Tinkham have had eleven children, namely: Amanda, who died in infancy; Amenzer, who died at the age of thirty-two years; Amantha, who is the wife of B. H. Luce, a neighboring farmer; Ariel, a salesman and a janitor in Boston, who married Ida Atkinson; Annis, who is the wife of Jo- seph M. Luce, a farmer and fruit-grower in California; Clara, who married J. A. Filcher, the president of the State Board of Trade in San Francisco, Cal. ; S. Perham, a farmer, living in Bingham, Me .; Luther D., who is engaged in farming in Anson; Dolly, born in 1854, who is the wife of Edwin Heald, and who, together with her husband and two chil- dren - Emmons and Paulina - lives with her parents; Ida, who died in infancy; and Sher- man G., who is the Postmaster in Anson. Mr. Tinkham was formerly identified with the Democratic party, and in 1875 he represented the town in the State legislature. Now he is a stanch Republican. He is a member of the North Star Lodge, No. 28, F. & A. M., of Anson, and for the past forty years has belonged to the local grange. Both he and Mrs. Tinkham are faithful members of the Congregational church.
DDISON HARVEY, the Postmaster of Atkinson and a general merchant and lumber manufacturer, was born in this town June 29, 1845, son of Sargent and Marian (Bartlett) Harvey. His grandfather,
Jonathan Harvey, came from Nottingham, N. H., about the year 1800, and was one of the first settlers in Atkinson. Jonathan, who lo- cated upon an elevation in the vicinity of At- kinson Mills, after passing through the many hardships of a pioneer, succeeded in establish- ing for himself and family a good home and a valuable farm. He was one of the founders and first Deacons of the Free Will Baptist church, took a leading part in the religious and political affairs of his day, and died when about ninety years old. As he had never missed voting at an election since the town was organized, he insisted on being taken to the polls on the day preceding that of his death, although very feeble at the time. In politics he was a Republican. He married Betsey Burnham, whose children by him were Dorcas, Sargent, Sarah, and Betsey. Dorcas married for her first husband a Mr. Rowe, by whom she had one son, Jonathan. By her sec- ond husband, Elder Hathaway, she had four children. Sarah married a Mr. Burgess, and had four children; and Betsey became Mrs. Sawyer, and had two sons.
Sargent Harvey, Addison Harvey's father, was the second white child born in Atkinson. He was reared to farm life at the homestead, outside of which he was not known to have done a single day's labor. A sturdy, indus- trious, and thrifty farmer, he was able to add to the farm much adjoining land. He was noted for his hospitality, and always enter- tained visiting ministers and other strangers. Like his father, he was one of the main pillars of the Free Will Baptist church, and contrib-
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uted liberally toward its support. Politically, he was a Republican. Sargent Harvey died at the age of eighty-one years. Marian Bartlett Harvey, his first wife, was a daughter of Jo- siah Bartlett, of Garland, Me., whose ances- tors came from New Hampshire. She became the mother of four sons; namely, Charles, Addison, Josiah, and George W. Born of his second marriage, which was contracted with Ruth Thomas, were two daughters - Melissa and Betsey. Charles enlisted on his twenty- first birthday as a private in the First Maine Cavalry, and died in Washington, D.C. Jo- siah resides in Seattle, Wash. George W., who is a prominent business man of Atkinson, married Isabel Tewksbury, a daughter of Dan- iel Tewksbury, of this town. Sargent Har- vey's second wife is still living, and resides at the old homestead.
Addison Harvey was educated in the com- mon schools of Atkinson. When twenty-one years old he went to Western Pennsylvania, where he was engaged in lumbering for some five years. Upon his return home he and his brother-in-law, Leroy Barney, bought the old mill property, which had been idle for a num- ber of years. Some time later George W. Harvey bought Mr. Barney's interest, and became associated with Addison in the manu- facture of shingles and other building mate- rials and the grinding of grain. They carried on a profitable business under the firm name of Harvey Brothers until 1894, when George W. withdrew. The brothers own jointly about seven hundred acres of real estate. They erected Harvey Block in Dover. Addison
Harvey is still carrying on the mill, and is also the proprietor of a general store. The post-office is located in the store, and he is the Postmaster. He has served as Town Clerk and Treasurer. With his brother he built the new town hall, which through their influence was located at the Centre. He is a Mason and a member of Olive Lodge, of Charleston. By his marriage with Elizabeth Barney, daughter of Hanson Barney, of Atkin- son, he is the father of five children - Ger- trude, Hattie, Susie, Harold, and Nellie.
IZRA C. TOWN, a highly esteemed resi- dent of Madison, Somerset County, and the Town Treasurer for the past five years, was born April 18, 1826, in Winslow, Kennebec County, the birthplace also of his parents, John and Abigail (Wyman) Town. John Town, born October 3, 1793, lived in Winslow until he came of age, when he settled on a farm in Pittsfield, Somerset County. He had previously learned the trade of a ship builder and carpenter, and worked at that more or less in different places for a score of years. However, farming and gardening were his principal occupations throughout his years of activity. He lived to a good old age, spend- ing his last days with his son Ezra in Madi- son. His wife, who was born in 1794, bore him five children, as follows: Martha A., now the widow of the late Lewis Batchelder, of Burnham, Me. ; James W., a farmer, now de- ceased, who married Olive Chalmers; Ezra C., the subject of this sketch; Mary, who was
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the wife of William G. Foster, of Pittsfield, and died August 24, 1850; and Ilenry A., who died in California, December 24, 1868.
Ezra C. Town received a limited education in the pioneer schools of his day, remaining on the parental homestead during the first twenty years of his existence. Going then to Gardi- ner, Me., he was there engaged as a ship carpenter and builder for five years, after which he worked in a shipyard at Belfast, Me., for a while. Removing then with his family to Pittsfield, he purchased a farm, which he carried on successfully until 1870, at the same time being employed in a saw- mill. In December of that year he settled in the village of Madison, and, buying a saw- mill, was here engaged in manufacturing long and short lumber for twelve years. During the following five years he had a store of gen- eral merchandise, and for eight years he was station agent at Madison. Since coming to this village he has held many important public positions of trust, having been chairman of the Board of Selectmen for eight years, chairman of the Board of Village Assessors five years, and Town Treasurer for five years, besides holding minor offices. He is a stanch sup- porter of the principles of the Republican party and a regular attendant of the Congrega- tional church.
On March 16, 1851, Mr. Town married Miss Harriet S. Runnells, who was born in Pittsfield, Me., a daughter of Daniel and Sybill (McDarrold) Runnells. Her father died in 1876, and her mother in the following year. They had six children; namely, Julia
A., Walter, George, Harriet S. (now Mrs. Town), Daniel, and Margaret. Mr. and Mrs. Town are the parents of seven children, the following being their record : Abbie L., born May 18, 1853, who died August 30, 1888, was the wife of Ezra M. Fletcher, of Madison, who survives her; Walter V., born January 24, 1855, died May 23, 1879; Flora L., born Oc- tober 25, 1857, died in childhood; Cora L., who died February 27, 1887, was twice mar- ried, her first husband having been J. B. Jacobs, by whom she had one child, Lena, and her second husband, Frank V. Gilman, by whom she had one child, Emmogene; Ada S., born February 27, 1861, is the wife of W. W. Johnson, a stone-mason, formerly of Norridge- wock, but now a resident of Madison; Elmer E., born January 12, 1864, a well-known cor- netist and music teacher of Boston, Mass., married Nellie Moore, and has one child, Donald, born in January, 1890; and Charles E., born October 15, 1870, an electrician, but now employed as a weaver in the Madison Woollen Mills, married Nellie M. Parlin, and has two children : Beatrice E., born May 7, 1893; and Leland Charles, born June 15, 1897.
"OSEA B. WARDWELL, who owns and occupies one of the oldest farms in Penobscot, Hancock County, son of Robert and Sylvia (Wardwell) Wardwell, was born in this town, June 5, 1830. His first ancestor in this country was Thomas Wardwell, who arrived in Boston from Eng- land in 1633. Samuel Wardwell, son of
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Thomas, born in Boston, May 16, 1643, mar- ried Sarah Hawkes, and was hanged for witch- craft at Salem, on September 22, 1692. Eli- akim Wardwell, son of Samuel, born in An- dover, Mass., August 17, 1687, became an early settler in York, Me. He married Ruth Bragdon, who was a victim of the religious bigotry of her time. For refusing to attend the Established Church she, with other mem- bers of her family, was repeatedly fined, until rendered destitute of the actual necessities of life. It is related that on a Sabbath day, while so reduced, she entered the church dur- ing service in a nude state; and, after telling the congregation that her sorrowful condition was the result of the frequent fines imposed upon her, she solemnly invoked the curse of God upon the entire assembly. For this offence she was publicly whipped to the extent of thirty-five lashes upon her bare back.
Daniel Wardwell, son of Eliakim and the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in York, April 17, 1734. In 1774 he moved his family to Penobscot, and, set- tling upon a tract of wild land, made the first clearing upon the farm which is now owned by his great-grandson. Indians were then nu- merous, though not troublesome; and wild game was abundant in the immediate neigh- borhood. Daniel Wardwell married Sarah
Staples. The grandfather, Jeremiah Ward- well, son of Daniel and a native of York, accompanied his parents to Penobscot. Be- sides the homestead, to which he succeeded, he acquired large tracts of adjoining land, owning at one time a fourth part of the town-
ship, the original survey of which was made by him, being an assistant to John Peters. He also built the first frame house in the town. A painting of the old place, as it appeared in his day, is now in the possession of his grand- son. He served as Captain of the First Com- pany, Second Regiment, Second Brigade; and his commission, signed by Governor Hancock, is another of the family heirlooms. Also active in civil affairs, he served as Represent- ative to the General Court of Massachusetts in the years 1803 and 1804. His diary, contain- ing a record of current events, is also pre- served. The following entry taken from it, dated February 16, 1773, will serve to show the opinion of good men in his day concerning an article of merchandise now looked upon as a social evil: "Frozen in the ice between Long Island and Bagaduce Point. Out of pro- visions, out of patience, out of tobacco, and, worst of all, out of rum." Jeremiah Wardwell married Elizabeth Banks, a daughter of Aaron and Mary (Perkins) Banks. They were the parents of twelve children, the majority of whom reared large families.
Robert Wardwell, the father, was born in the same room wherein took place the birth of his son, Hosea B. In his young days he taught school. Eventually he returned to the homestead, which was given to him with the understanding that he should provide a home for his mother during her life, an agree- ment that was scrupulously kept. He and his son, Hosea B., built the present house ; and he afterward resided in it until his death, which occurred in the eighty-first year of his
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age and on the sixtieth anniversary of his wedding. He was a prominent figure in local affairs, and served with ability in all of the principal town offices. His wife, Sylvia, also a native of Penobscot, was a daughter of Dan- iel Wardwell, second, and therefore his cousin. She survived him about eleven years. Of their eleven children, Hosea B., Virginia, Sylvia, and Annette are living. Annette is a resident of Brockton, Mass. The others died as follows: Sarah at the age of thirty-seven, Addison at forty-two, Ezra at seventy-three, Robert at seventy-six, Mary at forty-five, Augusta at sixty-nine, and Mercy at fifty- one.
Hosea B. Wardwell began his education in the district schools of Penobscot, and com- pleted it at the high school in Castine. Af- terward he taught school for various lengths of time in ten different towns of Hancock and Knox Counties. Since relinquishing that occupation he has devoted his energies to the cultivation of the home farm, which he in- herited. He has rendered valuable services to the town as a Selectman and a member of the School Board, and he still displays an active interest in public education.
Mr. Wardwell is unmarried. He cast his first Presidential vote for Franklin Pierce, and supported the Democratic party until the nom- ination of Horace Greeley in 1872. Since that time he has acted independently. He was made a Mason twenty-seven years ago, and has been a Representative to the Grand Lodge of Maine. In religious belief he is a Spirit- ualist.
OHN O. BURGESS, one of the repre- sentative farmers of Dover, Piscataquis County, and an ex-member of the Maine legislature, was born upon the farm he now owns and cultivates, April 5, 1831, son of William and Mary E. (Knowlton) Burgess. His father was a native of the town of Penob- scot, Hancock County, born October 10, 1802 ; and his mother's birth took place in Sherborn, Mass., March 1, 1808. The grandfather, Captain John Burgess, was a native of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and a shipmaster. He lived in Penobscot after marriage, until he settled upon a farm in Belfast, Me., in 1810. Having retained his shipping interests, he was engaged in the West India trade for some years after locating there. He died in Belfast, December 13, 1843, aged eighty- four years. On December 20, 1784, he mar- ried Hannah Moore, a native of Maine, who died April 1, 1841, aged seventy-four years. She gave birth to fifteen children, all of whom are now deceased, namely: Eleanor and Amey, twins, on July 21, 1785 ; Betsey, De- cember 14, 1786; John, November 24, 1788; Hannah, April 15, 1790; James, September I, 1794; Ebenezer, April 16, 1796; Ezekiel, January 6, 1797; Amey (second), April 27, 1799; David, February 12, 1801; William, October 10, 1802; Sarah, November 24, 1804; Harriet, April 9, 1807; George W. and Thomas J., twins, December 2, 1810.
William Burgess, having grown to manhood in Belfast, in 1823 or 1824 came to Dover as a pioneer. He proceeded to clear the farm which his son now owns, dwelling in a log
0
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cabin until ready to erect a frame house. By perseverance and industry he succeeded in bringing his tract of one hundred acres to a good state of cultivation. He was energetic and prosperous, and never neglected an oppor- tunity which gave promise of advancing his interests. In politics he was a Democrat. He died May 29, 1883. His wife, Mary E. Burgess, whom he married May 2, 1830, be- came the mother of eight children, namely : John O., the subject of this sketch; Hannah M., born November 14, 1833; Mina S., born August 9, 1835; Mary E., born September 14, 1837, who died July 6, 1892; William, born June 19, 1839; Harriet A., born April 7, 1843, who died December 20, 1869; Charles A., born August 5, 1847; and Susan M., born December 8, 1848, who died June I, 1873. The mother died August 30, 1887.
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