USA > Maine > Piscataquis County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 18
USA > Maine > Aroostook County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 18
USA > Maine > Hancock County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 18
USA > Maine > Washington County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 18
USA > Maine > Somerset County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 18
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John O. Burgess passed his youth in attend- ing school and assisting his father upon the homestead farm. Since he succeeded to the property he has made various improvements in order to keep the place in first-class condition ; and, though he now has the assistance of his son, he is still actively engaged in attending to his regular duties. As an earnest supporter of the Democratic party, he served with abil- ity upon the Board of Selectmen for eight years, during five of which he was the chair- man; and in 1878 he was elected to the legislature.
On December 14, 1852, Mr. Burgess was united in marriage with Betsey A. Merrill, who was born in Dover, February 14, 1833. She is a daughter of True and Sarah C.
(Lowe) Merrill, well-known residents of this town in their day. True Merrill, who was a native of Brunswick, Me., died September 7, 1848, which was his birthday, at the age of forty-two years; and his wife, who was born in Bangor, July 25, 1805, died October 10, 1880. Mrs. Burgess is the mother of five children : Louisa A., born December 19, 1853; Frank E., born January 15, 1857; Mary E., born July 27, 1860; Minnie E., born August 30, 1862; and Walter H., born January II, 1867. Louisa A. is the wife of Edwin M. Demeritt, of Dover, and has two children - George E. and Harry E. Frank E. married Mary E. Hazeltine, and lives in Dexter, Me. Mary E. is the wife of Leslie O. Demeritt, of Sanger- ville, and has two children - Eva L. and John L. Minnie E. married Gilman P. Bailey, of Sangerville, and has five children - Frank E., Effie M., Harold A., Bessie M., and Carl D. Walter H. married Eva L. Pratt, and has three children - Herbert N., Lizzie M., and Carroll S. Mr. and Mrs. Burgess are mem- bers of the Central Grange, Patrons of Hus- bandry, in Foxcroft.
LLIS T. HATCH, a thriving agricult- urist and one of the leading citizens of Mercer, Somerset County, has been one of the Selectmen of the township for the past twelve years, serving six years at a time. He was born April 6, 1844, on the homestead where he now lives, son of Francis Hatch. His grandfather, Reuben Hatch, settled on this place in 1812, taking up a tract of one
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hundred and forty acres of heavily timbered land, from which he cleared a good farm.
Francis Hatch, born in 1804, spent the first nine years of his existence in New Sharon, Franklin County, Me. Afterward he grew to manhood in Mercer, and assisted his parents in the pionecr labor of clearing off timber and cstablishing a homestead. Likewise for a time in his earlier days he worked in a stone quarry at Hallowell, Me., and learned the blacksmith's trade in Mercer. Having suc- ceeded to the ownership of the home farm, be- sides following his trade he was employed successfully in cultivating the soil. He died on the homestead, November 20, 1869. His wife, whose maiden name was Maria B. Ellis, was born in Franklin, Mass., and passed away under the same roof on Feb- ruary 2, 1894. They were the parents of three children, as follows: Abby, born De- cember 26, 1825, who was the wife of Henry Harris, a farmer and shoemaker of Mercer, and died January 5, 1858; Frank T .; and Ellis T. Frank T. Hatch, born July 4, 1837, was working in Lowell, Mass., when the tocsin of war resounded through the land, rousing the patriotic ardor of every true lover of freedom, and he soon responded to his coun- try's call for volunteers. On October 8, 1861, hc enlisted in the Thirtieth Massachu- setts Volunteer Infantry, which was stationed on the Gulf of Mexico. After the expiration of his term of service he remained in Louisi- ana, employed in the capacity of clerk, first in the post-office of New Orleans and later in the custom-house of that city. He also re-
sided for a while in Shreveport, being clerk of the court while there. Subsequently he was returning to Mereer, when he was taken ill, and died July 20, 1874, at the early age of thirty-scven ycars.
Ellis T. Hatch was rearcd and educated in Mercer. When a lad he worked for some time in the mills of this locality. Shortly after the death of his father he assumed the charge of the ancestral estate, which had be- come his by inheritance. Besides the one hundred and sixty-two and one-half acres of land in his home farm, he owns a tract of thirty-eight acres in New Sharon, Me. He conducts a profitable business in general farm- ing, dairying, and stock-growing, keeping steers, oxen, cows, horses, etc. His farm is well equipped with new and admirably ar- ranged buildings, machinery of the most modern pattern; and his work is carried on after the most approved methods, his property being one of the finest in its appointments of any in this part of the county. On it are two trees of which he takes especial care, one being an elm planted by his grandfather in 1814, and the other an apple-tree, still in a bearing condition, set out by his father in 1825, and known as "father's trce."
In politics Mr. Hatch is a stanch Republi- can. On June 13, 1872, he was united in marriage with Miss Etta L. Gage, a daughter of Daniel and Hannah (Works) Gage, for- merly residents of New Sharon, Me., but later of Mercer, Somerset County, where both spent their declining days, the former dying December 16, 1880, and the latter January II,
NEWELL B. COOLIDGE.
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1862. Mr. and Mrs. Hatch have three chil- dren, namely : Frank E., born November 21, 1874, who died December 16, 1878; Fred E., born May 2, 1880; and Eva M., born August 19, 1883.
EWELL B. COOLIDGE, one of the leading men of Lamoine, Hancock County, son of Josiah Coolidge, was born in this town, then called Trenton, July 21, 1826. His grandfather, Silas Cool- idge, who came from England to America in Colonial times, was a soldier in the Continen- tal army. At the close of the war of inde- pendence Silas came to Hancock County, and, taking up a tract of unbroken land in Trenton, cleared the present Coolidge home- stead. There he resided for the rest of his life, attaining an advanced age. To him and his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Freeman, seven children were born.
Josiah Coolidge, eldest son of Silas, was a sailor from his boyhood. For many years he was engaged in fishing in the Bay of Fundy. Stricken with palsy, he was then obliged to give up active business, and thereafter lived on the farm until his death at the age of sixty-two years. He was quite prominent in public matters, his advice and counsel being much sought ; and he was well worthy of the high esteem accorded him. He married Sally Googins, who was a member of an old Tren- ton family. They became the parents of nine children, namely: Newell B., the sub- ject of this sketch; Josiah B., who resides on the land first taken up by his grandfather ;
Jane, who died young ; Abden K., Ferdinand, Caroline, Mary, and Julia, deceased; and Jane, who is the wife of Gideon Joy, of Han- cock.
After leaving the district school Newell B. Coolidge followed the fishing business in the Bay of Fundy for twenty-one consecutive years, having the command of a vessel, and marketing his fish in Boston or New York. Thereafter for many years he restricted him- self to drying and curing fish in Lamoine for the markets and to caring for his farm. In 1852 he erected his present comfortable and well-arranged residence. For sixteen years he was a trustee of the Hancock County Savings Bank at Ellsworth, of which he was chosen president in 1897; and for a number of years he has been one of the directorate of the Bur- rill National Bank of Ellsworth. Possessing in an unusual degree the qualities most desir- able in a public servant, he was many times elected to responsible offices. He was Select- man, Assessor, and Overscer of the Poor for twenty-three consecutive years and County Commissioner for nine years. In addition he represented the district in the State legislat- ure, and for nineteen years was Justice of the Peace. An esteemed Free Mason, he belongs to Ligona Lodge and to the R. A. Chapter of Ellsworth. He cast his first Presidential vote in 1848 for the Democratic candidate, but since the birth of the Republican party he has been one of its heartiest supporters. Firm in his religious convictions, he is an active mem- ber of the First Baptist Church.
Mr. Coolidge first married Miss Ellen Cog-
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gins, of Lubec, Me., who bore him four chil- dren. By his second marriage, which was made with Mrs. Martha J. Berry, of Hancock, there are no children. Of the four just men- tioncd, Harry L., who resides on the home- stcad with his parents, is the only survivor. Carrie B., the eldest, after her marriage with Alden S. Berry, died in July, 1897, leaving two children - Ellen S. and Vera W. Willis died at the age of twenty-five years; and George W., who married Phebe Anderson, also passed away at the age of twenty-five.
SHLEY ST. CLAIR, of Calais, Wash- ington County, a member of the well- known law firm Hanson & St. Clair and a veteran of the Civil War, was born in Camden, Me., March 22, 1847, son of Guilford Dudley and Leonora Helen (Payson) St. Clair. He comes of Scotch origin. His great-grandparents, both natives of New Hampshire, were pioneers of Knox County, Me. James St. Clair, the grandfather, rc- sided in Warren, and followed the cooper's trade in connection with farming.
Guilford Dudley St. Clair, who was born in Warren in 1825, worked with his father at coopcring and farming when he was a young man. Later he learned the ship-carpenter's trade in Camden, and worked at it in the ship- yards of Rockland for a number of years. Eventually he bought a farm in Camden, where he is still engaged in agriculture. In politics he is a Republican, and he has ably filled various town offices. He is a Master
Mason and a member of Aurora Lodge of Rockland. Leonora Helen St. Clair, his wife, who is a daughter of Asa Payson, of Hopc, Mc., has been the mother of seven children, namcly: Ashley, the subject of this sketch; George, who dicd in infancy; Lauris- ton Fenno, a resident of Rockland; Eda Florentine, the wife of Frank Oxton, of Cam- den; Eva Leonora, the wife of Edward L. Cleveland, of Houlton, Me .; Grace D., the wife of Rockland T. Jones, of Rockland; and Elmer C. St. Clair, a resident of Camden. Both parents are members of the Baptist church.
From the common schools of Rockland, Ashley St. Clair went to the Normal School in Farmington. Upon leaving the latter in- stitution he became a teacher in the Rockland public schools. In 1867 he was engaged by the School Board of Calais as principal of one of the grammar schools in this city, the duties of which position he ably discharged for the ensuing twenty-five years. His law studies began with the Hon. William J. Fowler, were completed in the office of the Hon. George M. Hanson, and he was admitted to the Washington County bar in October, 1893. In the following June he entered into his present relations with the Hon. George M. Hanson. While attending to its legal prac- tice, the firm is also engaged in the fire insur- ance business. Outside the firm Mr. St. Clair is interested in the International Cream- ery Company of Calais, of which he is the treasurer. He has served with ability in the city government, and in politics he supports
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the Republican party. On November 10, 1863, he enlisted in Company E, Second Maine Cavalry, which was sent to New Or- leans and later to Florida, where he remained until the close of the Civil War. He is a member of the United Order of the Golden Cross and a comrade of Joel A. Haycock Post, G. A. R.
Mr. St. Clair first married Sarah Evelyn Tarbox, a daughter of Benjamin Tarbox, of Phillips, Me. Born of this union were three children - Louise Evelyn, Eda Estelle, and Alice Winnifred. Alice died at the age of twenty-two months. The mother's death oc- curred in 1887. A second marriage in 1890 united Mr. St. Clair with Mary Louise Han- son, a daughter of Isaac Hanson, of this city. She is the mother of three children - Mary Phyllis, George Ashley, and Guilford Payson St. Clair. The family attend the Baptist church.
AMES R. THURLOUGH, Commis- sioner of Aroostook County and a prominent and prosperous agriculturist of Fort Fairfield, was born March 6, 1846, in Monroe, Waldo County, son of Frederick and Elsie (Whitney) Thurlough. The grand- father, James Thurlough, born and reared in York County, Me., was a descendant of an English family that settled there. at an early day. While a farmer by occupation, he was also something of a mechanic, and helped to build the first factory at Great Falls, N. H., besides executing other work of the same class, thereby earning many a dollar.
Frederick Thurlough, born in the town of Berwick, York County, lived there until he was thirteen years old. This was his age when he assisted his parents to remove to Waldo County by driving an ox team through the intervening country of almost unbroken land, the hamlets on the way being few and far between. He was for many years a suc- cessful farmer, an extensive stock-raiser, and a lumber dealer in Monroe. His last days were spent at Fort Fairfield with his son, James R. During his early manhood he was identified with the Democrats, but on the birth of the Republican party he became one of its strong supporters. His children were: Fairfield, Melissa, Mary, Mary M., and Agnes, deceased; Reuben F., a resident of Fort Fairfield, now carrying on a substantial business as a farmer and a dealer in potatoes ; James R., the subject of this brief sketch; Fred A. and John M., also residents of Fort Fairfield and in business together as farmers, potato dealers, and starch manufacturers; Rose, deceased; Nellie, the wife of Charles A. Morse, living at Fort Madison, Ia .; and Charles, deceased.
James R. Thurlough attended the district schools of Monroe in his youth. Afterward he was engaged in farming and lumbering on the paternal homestead until he attained his majority. Coming then to Fort Fairfield, he purchased, in company with his brother Fred. the estate known as the Stevens place, a val- uable farm of two hundred and twenty-four acres, which they carried on in partnership a few years. Mr. Thurlough, who is now alone
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in business, is the owner of at least one thou - sand acres of land, much of it woodland. He deals extensively in timber, often selling from the stump, and has furnished sleepers in large quantities to the railway companies of the county. In 1894 he became a stock- holder and the president of the Aroostook Valley Starch Company, which through his influence and wise management has largely increased its operations, and is now carrying on business on a substantial basis. Thor- oughly versed in the various branches of agri- culture, he has made a success of farming, his homestead being known as one of the best in its appointments and improvements of any in this section of the county.
In addition to being an active member of the Republican party, Mr. Thurlough is a strong, though not an aggressive, worker in the temperance cause. He believes in educat- ing the people to treat the liquor question in- telligently, and in the necessity of impressing upon the minds of children a thorough sense of the degrading results of the use of liquor in any form. In 1891 he was elected County Commissioner, and in 1893 he was chairman of the County Commissioners. In 1896, not- withstanding the opposition of the machine element, he was re-elected to the same posi- tion, truth, integrity, and uprightness of pur- pose prevailing in the contest. Fraternally, he is a Mason, belonging to the Blue Lodge. On April 11, 1869, he was married to Olive Marshall, one of the nine children of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Marshall. Of his two children, Nellie E. Thurlough is living. Mr. and Mrs.
Thurlough are liberal in their religious opinions, while active members of the Free Baptist church.
OHN H. WHITTIER, a venerable and highly respected farmer of Cornville township, was born in Brighton, Me., January 29, 1814, son of John Whittier. He is the representative of one of the early fami- lies of this section of Maine, his paternal grandfather, Joseph Whittier, having settled in Somerset County in the last century. Jo- seph bought a tract of land in the town of Brighton, which was then in its primitive wildness, cleared a farm, and resided there for the remainder of his life. He was born and reared in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, and there married Miss Lydia Chandler, a sister of General John Chandler, of Revolutionary fame.
John Whittier, who was born in New Hampshire, spent the greater part of his early life in Brighton, Me., engaged in agricultural pursuits. He subsequently bought a farm in Cornville, and continued in his chosen voca- tion until his demise, at the age of eighty-two years. His first wife, Abigail Titus Whit- tier, born in Monmouth, Me., died on the old homestead in Brighton sixty years ago. She had cleven children, namely: Mary, Hiram, and Sarah, deceased; John H., the subject of this sketch; Charles, a farmer, residing in Athens, Me .; Martha, deceased; Hannah, who first married Isaac Fellows, and after his death became the wife of Benjamin Tilton, a
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farmer of Athens township; Abbie, Octavia, and Warren, deceased; and Olive, who died at an early age. After the death of his first wife the father married Mrs. Wadleigh, who has long since passed away.
John H. Whittier began the battle of life on his own account as soon as he attained his majority, for several years thereafter working in various saw-mills along the Penobscot River. After his marriage he settled down to domestic life on a farm in Brighton township, where he lived until 1866. In that year he disposed of his interests in the locality, and, coming to Cornville, bought the one hundred and thirty-five acres of land comprising his present homestead. He has since been en- gaged in the branches of agriculture common to this part of the country, and by close at- tention to his business has developed one of the best appointed farms of this locality. Another farm, containing thirty-five acres, is also his property. He is a stanch Republican in his political views, but has never been an aspirant to public office. Fraternally, he is a member of the grange at East Madison Mills.
Mr. Whittier was married November 25, 1839, to Miss Mary C. Hall, who was born in Athens township, Me., June 6, 1813. Her father, Andrew Hall, a native of Dover, N. H., removed to Somerset County at an early day, residing first in Athens and then in Brighton, where both he and his wife spent their . declining years. Mrs. Hall, whose maiden name was Dolly Collins, was born and bred in Sandwich, Vt. Mr. and Mrs. Whit- tier are the parents of six children, of whom
the following is the record: George H., born June 15, 1840, assists in the management of the homestead; Albert, a farmer in Cornville, born December 25, 1842, successively mar- ried Emma Green and Miss Emma Flanders; Abbie Helen, born December 22, 1844, is the wife of Harlow Russell, a farmer, living in Madison township; Andrew, born October I, 1847, died at the age of three years; Fred- erick W., born August 17, 1852, married for his first wife Mary Longley and for his sec- ond Rettie Nichols, with whom he is living on a farm in Topeka, Kan .; and May, born February 26, 1854, died February 8, 1857.
HARLES L. ADAMS, an enterpris- ing farmer and lumberman of Abbot, Piscataquis County, was born in Mayfield, Me., March 16, 1863, son of John Quincy and Betsey H. (Whitting) Adams. The father was born in Freedom, Me., May 2, 1816; and the mother was born in Hartland, Me., April 26, 1817. The immigrant ances- tor was John Quincy Adams, who came from England or Wales, and was an early settler in Gorham, Me. Joshua Adams, son of the first John Quincy and the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, accompanied his par- ents to Gorham, where he followed farming and shoemaking; and he died in Winthrop, Me., at the advanced age of ninety-eight years. Benjamin Adams, Charles L. Adams's grandfather, was born in Gorham in 1794, and served as a soldier in the War of 1812. He learned the shoemaker's trade, which he fol-
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lowed in connection with farming; but he seems to have preferred the life of a pioneer, as he settled upon and improved wild land in the towns of Freedom, Unity, and Pittsfield, Me. His last years were spent in Pittsfield. In politics he was a Democrat. He served as first Selectman in Unity and Pittsfield, be- sides holding other town offices, was Post- master for a number of years at West Pitts- field, and he held a Captain's commission in the State militia. Originally a Methodist in belief, he later became a Universalist. He married Margaret Clark, who was born in Freeport, Me., in 1798. She was the mother of eleven children, two of whom are living, namely : John Q., of Abbot; and Benjamin Adams, a resident of Bingham, Me. Ben- jamin Adams, Sr., died at the age of fifty-six years, and his wife died at fifty-three.
John Quincy Adams, Charles L. Adams's father, attended school in Unity. Since reaching manhood he has followed various lines of business, including shoemaking, farming, mining, and lumbering. In 1852 he went to California, where he worked in the "diggings" and also as lumberman until 1856, when he returned to Maine, and bought land in Mayfield. He was engaged in farm- ing in that town until 1870, when he moved to a farm in Abbot, where he continued to till the soil with energy until he retired in favor of his son, who now carries on the farm. Betsey H. Adams, his wife, whom he married about the year 1839, is a daughter of John and Margaret (Fairweather) Whitting. Her father, who in earlier years resided in
Billerica, Mass., served as General Wash - ington's body-guard during the Revolu- tionary War. He was one of the first settlers in Hartland, Me., where he died at ninety- eight. His wife also lived to an advanced age. Betsey H. Adams became the mother of eleven children, of whom four are living: Miriam S., born August 25, 1840; Samuel C., born July 23, 1842, who served in Com- pany A, Sixteenth Regiment, Maine Volun - teers, during the Civil War; Jane C., born July 9, 1844; and Charles L., the subject of this sketch. All are residing in Abbot ex- cept Jane, who married Asa L. Foss, and lives in Wellington, Me. John Q. Adams is a Republican in politics. In 1870 he was a Representative to the legislature from Somer- set County. Since retiring he has passed his time in rest and recreation. He still pos- sesses his accustomed mental and physical ac- tivity. His wife died in September, 1895. She was a Universalist in religious belief. Her husband attends the same church.
Charles L. Adams began his education in the common schools, and completed his studies at the Abbot High School. Since reaching his majority he has given his atten- tion to general farming and lumbering opera- tions. Besides the homestead property he owns some valuable timber land. One of the stirring young men of Abbott, he has already become closely identified with political affairs. He was Collector for five years, Town Agent for two years, and for one year he was third Selectman. In 1888 he married Ada H. Farnham, a daughter of William
SAMUEL D. LEAVITT.
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Farnham, of Sangerville, Me. Mrs. Adams is the mother of five children; namely, Lewis S., Oscar J., George S., Charles L. Adams, Jr., and Vera J. Adams. The father is con- nected with Good Cheer Lodge, No. 37, I. O. O. F., of Guilford. He attends the Universalist church.
ENERAL SAMUEL D. LEAVITT one of the most prominent and sub- stantial citizens of Eastport, Washington County, was born in this city, August 12, 1838, son of Benjamin B. and Harriet (Lamprey) Leavitt. He comes of English stock. Jonathan Leavitt, the General's grand- father, considered as a man of more than ordi- nary ability, was a native of Hampton, N. H., born in the year 1756. In 1787, when thirty- one years old, he came to Eastport and engaged successfully in trade, being one of the first merchants here as well as one of the earliest settlers. He had also the distinction of being Moderator of the first town meeting. In poli- tics he was an anti-Federalist, and his relig- ious opinions brought him into affiliation with the Congregational church. He fought for American independence in the Revolutionary War, enlisting first as a private in Captain Samuel Gilman's company. He was a mem- ber of Colonel Enos Poor's regiment in Au- gust, 1775. Subsequently serving in other companies, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and later to that of Captain Lieu- tenant by the New Hampshire House of Rep- resentatives. He married Mary Perkins, who,
like himself, was a native of Hampton, N. H. They had three children, all of whom became octogenarians, namely : Benjamin B., father of the subject of this sketch; Esther T., who married Gilman Lamprey, a pioneer merchant of Eastport ; and Abigail P., who became the wife of Newell Brown, of Seabrook, N. H.
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