USA > Maine > Piscataquis County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 23
USA > Maine > Aroostook County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 23
USA > Maine > Hancock County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 23
USA > Maine > Washington County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 23
USA > Maine > Somerset County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 23
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68
William Thompson, born in Eden, near Hull's Cove, while yet a boy became as famil- iar with the sea as with the land. While serving on board of a privateer in the War of 1812, he was captured at an early stage of the struggle, and taken first to Halifax, N. S., thence to a prison ship in one of the English ports, from which he was transferred to Dart- moor Prison, and confined until the close of the war. Resuming his former occupation as soon as he was released, he sailed to various foreign ports within the next four years. After this he established himself as a ship- builder on the island on which he was reared, continuing thereafter in that business until his demise, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. Through his petition Thompson's Isl- and has been set off from Eden, and is now a part of the town of Trenton, with which it is connected by a toll bridge built by him. He was much interested in everything relating to the welfare of his native town, and served for one term as Selectman. His wife, in maiden- hood Almena Kittredge, who was a resident of Mount Desert, bore him nine children, namely : Daniel S., deceased, who married Julia Somes, and had an only child, Frederick S., now a resident of Chicago; Kendall K., the subject of this biography; Henrietta K., who is the widow of Captain J. C. Nichols, and resides in Searsport, Me. ; Sarah F., who is unmarried, and lives in Trenton ; Annie, residing in Richmond, Va., who is the widow of the late Robert G. Scott, and has two chil- dren - Madison and Kitty; George W., who enlisted in the Thirty-first Maine Volunteer
2.12
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
Infantry, and was killed at the battle of Petersburg, while acting as Captain of his company ; John L., a resident of Bar Harbor, who married Mrs. Hattie Small, of Mill- bridge, Me .; Virginia C., unmarried, who lives in Trenton ; and Grace, the wife of Ben- jamin Plummer, of Philadelphia, who has four children - William S., George C., Grace, and Henrietta.
After completing his education at the Brownville Academy, Kendall K. Thompson taught school for one year. Prior to that time, however, having begun when he was twelve years old, he had made several voyages. He subsequently worked on the farm some, and for about one year was captain of one of his father's vessels. In his early life he operated a large saw-mill in Georgia for a time. Since his return to the scenes of his childhood he served as Postmaster for thirty- eight years, having begun under the Buchanan administration; and since the death of his father he has been toll collector at the bridge, which he has entirely rebuilt.
Mr. Thompson is an uncompromising Re- publican in politics. In 1871 he represented his district in the State legislature, and for ten years he was Town Treasurer. Prior to the division of the town he was Selectman, and served as Collector for ten years. Now he is second Selectman. He is a member of the local lodge of Free Masons. On Febru- ary 15, 1854, he married Amanda C. Clark, of St. Mary's, Ga. Their union has been blessed by the birth of three children - Will- iam T., Almena, and Clifford N. William
T., now engaged in seafaring, married Miss Bertha Joy, of Ellsworth, Me. ; and Clifford N., a resident of Cambridge, Mass., married Miss Annie Alexander, a native of England.
SAAC MORSE, a well-known farmer of Norridgewock, Somerset County, Me., was born in Lincolnville, Waldo County, this State, April 10, 1820, son of Simeon and Mary (Pendleton) Morse. His paternal grand- father, Charles Morse, who was born March 20, 1754, was a privateersman during the Rev- olutionary War. Charles Morse came to Maine from Marblehead, Mass., and was one of the first settlers at Camden Harbor. He married Sarah Gay, who was born December 23, 1753. They reared four children.
Simeon Morse, son of Charles and father of Isaac, was born July 9, 1785 .. He was a farmer during his active years, and was a Dea- con of the Baptist church. He died April 14, I 860. His wife, Mary Pendleton, daughter of Jonathan Pendleton, of Long Island, Me., was the mother of twelve children, of whom two sons and two daughters still survive.
Isaac Morse removed with his parents front Lincolnville to Skowhegan when he was four years old. Upon the completion of his educa- tion at the Bloomfield Academy he worked as a farm assistant for eight months, and for the next four years he was engaged in cutting and driving logs. He then went to Woburn, Mass., where he was employed as a section hand on the branch railroad until succeeding to the ownership of a farm of two hundred
ISAAC MORSE.
245
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
acres in Norridgewock. He has since been engaged in the management and cultivation of his property, with good results. He has also acted as agent for various lumbering com- panies. He was formerly a Democrat in poli- tics, but joined the Republican party at its formation. His first Presidential vote was cast for James K. Polk in 1844.
On July 10, 1851, Mr. Morse was joined in marriage with Sarah A. Hathorne, daughter of Zenas Hathorn, of Solon, Me. He has six children living, namely: Edwin, treasurer of a mining company in Colorado; Angie L., who married Horace Williamson, and resides in Madison, S. Dak. ; Albion H., who lives at the parental home; Frank S., a travelling agent for a firm in Chicago, where he resides ; Carrie C., who lives in Lynn, Mass .; and Lelia B. Morse, who is agent for the Maine Bible Society.
RANK J. ROBINSON, M.D., an able and successful physician of Fairfield, Me., was born in St. Albans, Me., in the same county, Somerset, January 23, 1850. He is a son of John and Mary (Nutter) Robin- son. His father was born in Lisbon, Me., June 30, 1810; and his mother is a native of Dixmont, Me., and was born July 5, 1812.
John Robinson has resided in St. Albans since 1834. In his youth and early manhood he was a shoemaker. The greater part of his life, however, has been devoted to general farming. Although now eighty-eight years old, he is still in full control of his faculties and exceedingly active for one of his age.
His wife is also a remarkably well-preserved woman. John and Mary Robinson have had six children, namely : Orlando M., of Dexter, Me., who is proprietor of a patent medicine; Lorinda S., who is residing in Dover, Me., and is the widow of Daniel E. Genthner, a minister and a farmer; Rebecca, who died at the age of forty-two years; William, who is no longer living; Frank J., the subject of this sketch ; and Charles M. Robinson, formerly a teacher in a business college and now manu- facturer of the celebrated Robinson Thermal Bath Cabinet, in Toledo, Ohio.
Frank J. Robinson in his youth attended the St. Albans High School and the Corinna Union Academy. His medical studies were inaugurated at the Maine Medical School, Brunswick. They were continued in New York City and at the Long Island College Hospital, from which he was graduated with the class of 1875. Since August 2, 1876, he has been located in Fairfield, where his ability has become recognized and appreciated by a large number of his fellow-townsmen, who have been benefited by his skill; and his practice is both extensive and lucrative. Mindful of the constant progress of medical science, Dr. Robinson pursued a post-graduate course in the winter of 1890 and another in the spring of 1897.
He contracted his first marriage on Novem- ber 21, 1878, with Louisa J. Hall, of Fair- field, daughter of Randall R. and Mary A. (Sawtelle) Hall. Her father, who was a lum- berman, died in 1888; and her mother died in 1889. Dr. Robinson's first wife died May 7,
2.16
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
1892 ; and on June 4, 1896, he married for his second wife Mrs. Elizabeth Bartlett, born Cayford, widow of Otis Bartlett, late of North Attleboro, Mass. Mrs. Robinson is a daugh- ter of Napoleon Cayford, formerly of this town and now of Oakland, Me. Her mother, who was before marriage a Miss Hunnewell, of Solon, Me., is no longer living.
Dr. Robinson is a Republican in politics. From 1888 to 1896 he served upon the local Board of Health. He is a member of several medical bodies, including the Maine Medical Association; the Academy of Medical Sci- ence, Portland; the Waterville Chemical So- ciety ; and the American Medical Society. He contributes to various medical journals. He has been a member of Fairfield Lodge, No. 68, I. O. O. F., since 1876. Dr. and Mrs. Robinson attend the Universalist church.
HARLES S. HASSELL, second Se- lectman of Sebec, Me., was born in this town, October 28, 1869, a son of Jason and Martha E. (McClure) Hassell. His paternal grandparents were Jason, Sr., and Mary (Boynton) Hassell, natives of New Hampshire.
Jason Hassell, Sr., who was born in the town of Merrimac, N.H., settled on new land in Sebec about 1811 or 1812, building a log cabin for a home. Here he spent the rest of his life, keeping pace with the progress of the growing town. An active and influential citizen, he served on the Board of Selectmen, and filled other offices; and much of the town
business was intrusted to him. He was pop- ularly known as Squire Hassell. In politics he was a Whig, in religious belief a Congre- gationalist. He died in 1841, and his wife died in 1867. Five of their children attained maturity ; namely, Eliza, Francis B., Jason, Mary, and Almira A.
Jason Hassell, the younger, father of Charles S. Hassell, was born in Sebec, Au- gust 13, 1823, and was educated in the dis- trict school. He lived on his father's farm, and managed it until 1858. He then removed to the Captain Joseph Cha e farm, on which his son, the subject of this sketch, now re- sides. He erected the present farm build- ings, and made many improvements on the estate. He engaged in general farming and stock trading, managing a large business. To his original farm he added considerably, till it covered over two hundred acres. In poli- tics a Republican, he held all the offices within the gift of the town; and he was in the State legislature in 1861-62 and in the Sen- ate in 1878. He was a Mason, belonging to Piscataquis Lodge, No. 44, of Milo, and was a member of Piscataquis Grange, No. 123, Pa- trons of Husbandry, of Sebec. He was mar- ried January 1, 1847, to Elizabeth Towne, who was born in Sebec, January 26, 1827. She died on January 18, 1857, leaving three children - Francis B., Anna C., and Mary L. Francis B., born December 24, 1847, is now residing in Sebec. He married Miss Emma F. Elliott, and has two children - Jason E. and Carrie B. Anna C., born June 16, 1851, married David P. Hager, of Sebec. She died
.
247
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
July 7, 1896, leaving two children - Helen E. and Grace L. Mary L. also lives in this town. She is the wife of Frank C. Chase, and has five children - Wilbur H., Martha L., Ina May, Owen A., and Stanley J. Martha E. McClure, the Hon. Jason Hassell's second wife, whom he married on November 2, 1862, was born in this town, February 2, 1826, being a daughter of James N. and Susan (Kenney) McClure. James McClure, who was born in Acworth, N. H., settled on new land in Sebec in 1817. A carpenter by trade, he was also a good farmer. He died on the homestead in 1855, aged seventy-four years. Mr. McClure was a Democrat. His wife, a native of Hollis, N. H., died in 1857, aged seventy-four. Both were connected with the Christian church. They had a family of nine children, namely : James, George, Susan, Charles, and Elias - all deceased; Philena, Mary E., Nancy, and Martha E. (mother of the subject of this sketch). Mrs. Martha E. Hassell has been a member of the Christian church since 1850. She has one child living, Charles S. Her husband, the Hon. Jason Hassell, died November 9, 1895.
Charles S. Hassell has succeeded his father as manager of the farm, and is prosperously engaged in general farming, stock dealing, and butchering. Energetic and capable, one of the brightest young men of the town, he has shown himself amply qualified to fill the position of second Selectman. He is a prom- inent Republican, and has recently (in the fall of 1898) been elected Representative to the State legislature. He is a Mason, be-
longing to Piscataquis Lodge, No. 44, of Milo. On religious subjects he holds liberal views.
He married Miss Allie M. Ireland, daugh- ter of Edwin S. and Christina (Glidden) Ire- land, of this town. Mr. and Mrs. Hassell have two children - Pauline C. and an infant daughter. Mr. Hassell's mother makes her home with him.
RANKLIN W. MORGAN, Postmaster of Surry, Hancock County, was born in this town, April 18, 1841. A son of Will- iam Morgan, he is a grandson of Benjamin Morgan, from whom Morgan Bay derived its name. The grandfather came here on a sloop from Manchester, Mass., when white men were scarce. With him came his family, and they ate their first dinner after landing on an old rock, which still lies on the beach. Ben- jamin also brought his cattle, which he made swim ashore. Having taken up a tract of wild land, he converted it into a good farm by persistent labor. There being no roads in the district, he was forced to travel on horseback along trails marked by blazed trees. Yet he saw the town of Surry develop and on a fair way to prosperity before his death, which oc- curred at the age of eighty-four years. His first dwelling, a log house, was destroyed by fire, and he replaced it by another log struct- ure. He served in the Revolution, as did his father, and he was at one time taken prisoner by the British.
William Morgan, son of Benjamin, born in
248
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
Manchester, Mass., was but a boy when he came with his parents to Surry. In his younger days, while assisting in clearing the land, he managed to acquire a fair education, and was subsequently engaged as a minister of the gospel. For many years he preached in various parts of Hancock County, supply- ing the pulpits of the Methodist churches, a Christian labor in which he was engaged until his death, at the age of forty-four years. He married Mary Staten, of Virginia, whose chil- dren by him were: Mary E., now living in Surry; Charles and William E., deceased; Algernon S., who served in the Civil War with the Eighteenth Maine Volunteer Infan- try, and was killed in battle; Nathan E., now a resident of Surry; Franklin W., the subject of this sketch; Augusta V., who is now the wife of S. N. Lord, of Surry; Eunice A., who is the wife of E. M. Rich, of Framing- ham, Mass .; and Caroline W., who married L. B. Gregson, of Framingham, Mass., and has two children - Grace E. and William M.
Leaving school at the age of fifteen, Frank- lin W. Morgan became a sailor, and after- ward for a number of years followed the sea. On the breaking out of the Civil War he en- listed in Company G, Eighteenth Maine Vol- unteer Infantry, and at Bangor was assigned to the Bucksport company. Having served for twenty-one months with his regiment, he was then transferred to the navy, in which he remained until June 17, 1864. On that day during the engagement at Fort Clifton on the Appomattox River he lost a leg and was con- veyed to the hospital at Portsmouth, Va.
Here he spent four months before he was able to come home. For the past fifteen years he has been Postmaster of Surry, having been recently reappointed by President Mckinley. A stanch Republican in politics, he cast his first Presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. Fraternally, he is an Odd Fellow and a comrade of W. H. H. Rice Post, No. 55, G. A. R., of Ellsworth. Never swerving from the religious faith in which he was reared, he is a faithful member of the Meth- odist Church of Surry.
APTAIN JOSEPH W. SAWYER, late a retired ship-master of Millbridge, Washington County, Me., was born in this town, November 26, 1818, and died January II, 1898. He was a son of George B. and Mary (Roberts) Sawyer. His pater- nal grandfather, Josiah Sawyer, came to Mill- bridge from Portland previous to the Revo- lutionary War, in which he served, being second in command of a fort at Machiasport. He cleared new land, and followed general farming until his death, which occurred when he was seventy-eight years old. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Brown, died at the age of about seventy five years They had a family of eight children - Josiah, William, George B., John D., Lydia, Sally, James, and Hannah. The parents were Uni- versalists in religion.
George B. Sawyer, father of the subject of this sketch, was a lifelong resident of Mill- bridge, where he followed the trade of ship-
249
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
carpenter besides farming. In politics, origi- nally a Democrat, he became a convert to abolitionism, and joined the Republican party on its formation. In religious belief he was a Universalist. His wife, Mary, who was a native of Cape Elizabeth, became the mother of twelve children; namely, Catharine, Joseph
W., William R., Stillman, Emery D., George, Mary A., Josiah, Frank, David, Mary Ann, and Phobe. Of these children, Catha- rine, Mary Ann, and Phoebe are now the only survivors. The father died at the age of sixty-four years. The mother lived to the venerable age of ninety-one years. She was a Methodist in religion.
Joseph W. Sawyer acquired his elementary education in the common schools. At the age of fourteen he went to sea as cook of a coasting-vessel. Ambitious and quick to learn, he rose gradually to the position of master mariner, at the age of twenty years taking command of the schooner "Liberty." After following the sea as a ship captain for seventeen years, during which time he com- manded some of the best barks afloat, he de- cided to engage in business ashore, and in 1861 became associated with his brother in ship-building at Millbridge. Together they constructed sixty-five vessels of various kinds, having an aggregate of more tonnage than that floated by any other ship-building firm in this town; and they gave employment to a large number of men. Subsequently retiring, Cap- tain Sawyer was succeeded in business by his sons. His death occurred, as above men- tioned, January 1I, 1898. Politically, he
was a Democrat of the Jeffersonian type. He served the town of Millbridge as Selectman, Assessor, and Treasurer; and in 1861 he ably represented his district in the State legisla- ture. As a business man he achieved success by close application to the work in hand, per- sonally supervising every detail. His relig- ious opinions led him to attend the Universal- ist church.
Captain Sawyer was married October 6, 1844, to Mary Jane Wallace, who was born in Millbridge, November 26, 1822. Of this union were born nine children, namely: Ma- tilda J .; Warren; Janette; Augustus, who died in 1856; Emma G., who died in 1882; Martina N., who died in 1877; Arthur; Elmer E .; and Alonzo. Mrs. Sawyer died January 7, 1883.
ENRY J. MILLIKEN, a prominent and prosperous farmer and lumber dealer of Surry, Hancock County, son of James Milliken, was born here, Novem- ber 17, 1830. His paternal grandfather, Jo- seph Milliken, born and bred in England, was a loyalist. After Joseph emigrated to New England, he settled in Surry, where he lived to a good old age.
James Milliken was born in that portion of Ellsworth, Me., that is now included within the limits of Surry. When a young man he bought wild land two miles north of the vil- lage, at the little hamlet called North Bend. This he converted into an excellent farm, which has since passed out of the family.
250
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
His death occurred when he was fifty-seven years old. He married Nancy Jarvis, a de- scendant of a pioneer family. They became the parents of ten children, of whom Philip J., Horatio, Sarah, and Jane H. are deceased. The others are: James A., a resident of Surry; Ann; Elizabeth; Emeline P .; Henry J. ; and Martin V. B.
Henry J. Milliken received a practical edu- cation in the common schools of Surry. In 1849, at the age of nineteen, he went with the gold-seekers to California on the bark "Glen- coe," of Ellsworth, by the way of Cape Horn. He remained five years in that State, meeting with a fair success in mining for gold. In 1854 he returned to Surry, where he opened a store, and for five years was engaged in the sale of general merchandise. During the en- suing ten years he carried on a substantial trade along the coast of Maine, Massachusetts, and New York as captain of his own vessels. He gave up his commercial pursuits some time ago, and has since devoted his time to farming and lumbering on the old Jarvis homestead in Surry, which he now owns. Since his first journey to California he has made two overland trips to that State, without making an extended stay there either time. A man of intelligence and good judgment, he has often been called upon to serve his fellow- townsmen in offices of trust and responsibil- ity, and has always performed the duties de- volving upon him to the satisfaction of his constituents. He has been Selectman and a Superintending School Committee; Town Clerk for thirteen successive years; and he is
now a member of the Board of Health. He has also been a Representative to the State legislature and for twenty-five years a Jus- tice of the Peace. In 1852 he cast his first Presidential vote for General Winfield Scott, and is now a loyal Republican. He is a gen- erous contributor toward the support of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is an active member.
Mr. Milliken first married Miss Estella Holt, who died in 1882, leaving two children - Lizzie E. and Willie. The latter died in infancy. Lizzie E. married Edward Gallison, of New York, and has one child, James W. A second marriage united Mr. Milliken with Mrs. Almira A. Allen Eldredge, a daughter of the late Captain Daniel Allen and the widow of the late Edgar E. Eldredge.
IRAM M. WAUGH, a practical and progressive farmer of the town of Starks, Me., was born October 19, 1839, at the Waugh homestead, where he has since resided. He is a son of the late Judge James G. Waugh and a great-grandson of James Waugh, Sr., who was a pioneer on the banks of Sandy River. Colonel James Waugh, Jr., father of James G. Waugh, is said to have been the first male child born of English parents in this vicinity. He took up land in Starks, and, partly clearing the farm, resided here until his death.
James G. Waugh was reared and educated in his native town, but went to Waterville when a young man to learn the blacksmith's
JAMES G. WAUGH.
253
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
trade, which he subsequently followed in con- nection with tilling the soil on the home farm. He was very prominent in town and county matters, serving in all local offices, also as County Commissioner and Judge of Probate, and from April, 1871, till July 30, 1879, as Collector of Customs. He was a strong Re- publican from the time of the organization of the party, and was one of the most active and earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church, his hospitable home being the Mecca for all ministers of that denomination. He was an invalid for some years prior to his death, April 16, 1889, but bore his sufferings with cheerful patience and Christian fortitude. He married Miss Olive Waugh, and they reared five children; namely, Mary, Hiram M., Annie, James H., and Bertha. Mary, the the widow of James Snell, resides in Starks; Annie is the wife of George Greenleaf, a mail carrier in Portland, Me .; James H., a mer- chant in Portland, was formerly engaged in mercantile pursuits in Farmington, this State; and Bertha lives with her mother in Starks. Mrs. Waugh united with the Methodist Epis- copal church many years ago, and in common with her husband worked faithfully for the ad- vancement of that denomination. From the time of her birth, now eighty years since, she has made her home in Starks.
Hiram M. Waugh was the eldest son of the parental household, and always remained at home, assisting in the farm labors. As his father's health became impaired, much of the responsibility fell upon his shoulders; and he at length assumed the entire management of
the homestead property, which has since be- come his own. He has one hundred and sixty-five acres in this estate, and he also possesses another farm of equal size in Starks. In the prosecution of his chosen calling he has been uniformly successful, prosperity smiling upon him from the outset, as it usually does upon the industrious, capable, and energetic. He carries on general farm- ing and stock-raising, and has a small dairy.
In politics he affiliates with the Republican party, having never swerved from the prin- ciples to which he was reared, but has never held any public office excepting that of Dep- uty Sheriff, which he is now filling. He is a member of Euclid Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 194, of Madison; and also of the local grange at Starks village.
Mr. Waugh was first married October 20, 1863, to Miss Deborah E., a daughter of the late Levi and Deborah (Felker) Sawyer. Her father was a skilled carpenter and a prosperous farmer of Starks for many years. Mrs. Deb- orah E. Waugh died May 7, 1880, having borne her husband two children, namely : Minnie F., who formerly taught school in Somerset County, and is now a teacher in Brockton, Mass .; and Clifford M., who died in childhood. On March 6, 1886, Mr. Waugh was united in marriage with Miss Jennie E. Greenleaf, who was born at Starks, June 21, 1853. She is a daughter of the late Stephen D. Greenleaf. Her mother still occupies the old Greenleaf homestead.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.