USA > Maine > Piscataquis County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 29
USA > Maine > Aroostook County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 29
USA > Maine > Hancock County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 29
USA > Maine > Washington County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 29
USA > Maine > Somerset County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 29
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him, the firm name being Henry F. Eaton & Co. ; and this firm had also a third-interest in the firm of James Murchie & Co.
Mr. Henry F. Eaton subsequently carried on his extensive operations in lumbering, manufacturing, and shipping alone, continuing thus until the spring of 1873, when two of his sons, George H. and Henry B., were admitted into partnership under the present firm name. He was uniformly successful in his labors, but accumulated the larger part of his wealth while conducting his affairs him- self, his success being entirely due to a steady progression up the ladder of prosperity rather than by any sudden leap across the rounds, his gains being the natural result of persistent toil, judicious management, prudent expenditures, and wise investments. During the threescore years of his active labor his most disastrous loss was by the great fire in Calais, August 27, 1870. The kindly spirit ever existing between him and his employees was especially noticeable; and, though at times from three hundred to four hundred men were required to carry on his work, the utmost harmony prevailed in every department.
He was a man of fine physique, a lover of Nature in her every mood; and to the end of his life he remained true to the religious faith in which he was reared. On removing to Milltown he united with the Orthodox Church of St. Stephens, and in 1873 was elected Dea- con, an office which he held until his decease, March 21, 1895, in Calais, whither he re- moved in 1889. A man of sterling integrity, true to the highest principles, he led a life
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above reproach, and was deservedly honored and esteemed by all. Though never an active politician, he was always a strong Republican in his preferences and deeply interested in his native land. In 1842 he was united in marriage with Miss Anna L. Boardman; and, after travelling life's pathway together for nearly or quite half a century, they were not long separated by death, Mrs. Eaton being called to the great beyond just one week before her husband, on March 14, 1895. They had six children, as follows: George Howard, Henrietta May, Henry Boardman, Annie Kimball, Franklin Maynard, and Wil- fred L. Eaton.
George H. Eaton, after attending the public schools of Milltown, entered Phillips Acad- emy at Andover, Mass., where he was grad- uated in 1866. Four years later he received from Amherst College the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and the next two years he was em- ployed in his father's office. Having then be- come somewhat acquainted with the details of the business, he and his brother, Henry B., were admitted as equal partners with their father; and from that time until the present the business has been carried on under the name of Henry F. Eaton & Sons. At the mills, which are located on the St. Croix River in Maine and New Brunswick, from two hundred to four hundred men are usually employed; and the twenty million feet of lumber annually manufactured is disposed of at markets along the coast between Calais and New York.
Mr. Eaton is a president and director of the
Calais National Bank, one of the incorporators of the Calais Savings Bank, a director in the Frontier Steamboat Company, president of the Calais Tug Boat Company, and also president of the Calais Tanning Company. He was one of the organizers of the St. Croix Shoe Company, of which he has been a director since its incorporation and the most of the time the president, a position which he now holds. He is a trustee of the Bangor Semi- nary, one of the corporate members of the American Board of Foreign Missions, one of the vice-presidents of the American Sunday- school Union, a trustee and director of the Calais Academy, and a trustee of the Public Library. He has no political aspirations, but uniformly supports the principles of the Re- publican party.
Mr. Eaton married August 22, 1871, Miss Elizabeth W., daughter of James Boyden. Her father was born in Beverly, Mass., and was graduated from the Harvard College Law School. He subsequently practised law in Amherst for a time, but removed to Chicago, where until his death, in February, 1892, he was a well-known attorney. Mr. and Mrs. Eaton have eight children; namely, George D., Elizabeth B., John B., Harris D., Anna L., Miriam B., Alice M., Louis W. John and Harris are pursuing their studies at Brown University, Providence, R.I. George D. is surveying in the woods of New Brunswick. The other children are all at home.
Wilfred Lynde Eaton, the youngest son of Henry F. and Anna L. (Boardman) Eaton, was born September 5, 1863, in Milltown,
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N. B., and was there bred and educated. On reaching man's estate he began working for his father as manager of a dry-goods and grocery store, a position which he held for some years; but at present he is not engaged in any linc of business. Hc married Miss Alice P., daughter of Jesse Prescott, of Penn- field, N. B., and a niece of John Prescott, in whose sketch, which appears on another page of this volume, further ancestral history of the Prescott family may be found. One child has been born of their union, a son, who was named in honor of his grandfather, Henry Franklin Eaton.
EWIS B. JOHNSON, the president of the Farmers' Bank at Houlton, Aroos- took County, was born June 29, 1827, in Readfield, Kennebec County, son of Martin and Louisa (Blake) Johnson. Martin Johnson, born and bred in Massachusetts, re- moved in early manhood to Readfield, Me., where he was engaged in tilling the soil throughout the larger part of his active life. Having spent his last days in Littleton, Aroos- took County, of which he was a pioneer set- tler, he died at the age of fifty-three years. To him and his good wife three children were born, namely: Henry, who died in 1844; Lewis B., the subject of this sketch; and Hiram, a resident of Colorado.
Lewis B. Johnson left school at the age of thirteen years to assist his father on the farm. In March, 1843, he removed with his parents to Littleton, which was then an almost un-
broken wilderness. This was two years after the first tree was felled, and when the build- ings in Presque Isle comprised a hotel, a drug store, and a grist-mill. After the death of his father, which occurred in 1847, hc began farming and lumbcring in company with his brother, Hiram. Two years later he pur- chased his brother's interest in the land, and thenceforward conducted a substantial busi- ness alone for twenty-five years. He cleared a large tract of land. Also, in addition to tilling the soil and operating a saw-mill, he did a great deal of teaming between Bangor and Presque Isle for twenty years, employing three teams on the route, which he owned. Each year, however, much wood was cut, and new settlements were formed; and, before two decades had passed, he had witnessed many wonderful transformations in the face of the country. In 1871, having by thrift and good management acquired a competency, he removed to Houlton, where he has since been a useful and respected citizen. He has dealt largely in real estate, making a specialty of old houses, which he thoroughly repaired and fitted up for tenements. The latter business, besides being remunerative to him, has also effected palpable improvements in the town. On January 2, 1890, assisted by Mr. A. B. Page, he organized the Farmers' Bank, of which he has since been the president.
Mr. Johnson has served Littleton in most of its town offices. He was its First Selectman from its incorporation until after the close of the Civil War; and he was County Treasurer for four years and Sheriff for six years,
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serving in the latter office during the agitation of the liquor question. A strong Republican, he is active in politics. Having united with the Congregational church many years ago, he is one of its most faithful sup- porters. By his marriage with Miss Sarah Stackpole, he became the father of three chil- dren. Of these the only survivor is Alice B., the wife of George W. Pray, of Gardiner, Me. The mother died in 1876. A second mar- riage on May 21, 1878, united Mr. Johnson with Miss Emily M. Stackpole, a cousin of his first wife and a daughter of Dr. Isaac S. Stackpole, of Albion, Me.
ORATIO KNOWLES, ex-Postmaster of Shirley, Piscataquis County, was born in Corinna, Penobscot County, November 7, 1838, son of John and Mary P.
(Palmer) Knowles. The Knowles family sprung from four brothers, Englishmen, two of whom settled in Maine and two in New Hampshire. John Knowles, Sr., the grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was an energetic, progressive farmer of Corinna. He had five sons and three daughters, who at- tained maturity ; namely, John, Robert, Will- iam, Charles, James, Susan, Lydia, and Louisa. These have all passed away.
John Knowles, Jr., who was born in 1808, was a hard - working and enterprising man. While engaged in agriculture, he also fol- lowed other kinds of business. Much of his life was passed in Corinna. In politics he was a Whig and a Republican, in religious
belief a Universalist. He died at the age of seventy-seven. His first wife, the mother of the subject of this sketch, died at the age of forty-seven. A second marriage united him with Miss Maria Fletcher, of Troy, Me. His children were: George Henry, deceased ; Charles, a farmer of Corinna; Horatio, de- ceased; Horatio (second), the subject of this sketch; John, deceased; Preston, a farmer of Corinna; James, residing in Foxcroft, now a Deputy Sheriff ; Fred, son of the second wife, a merchant of Portland; Susan, deceased ; Mary, residing in Corinna; and Sarah, in Pittsfield, Me. All the sons except Fred were children of his first wife.
Horatio Knowles was reared and educated in Corinna. In October, 1861, he enlisted in Company K, Eleventh Maine Regiment, and afterward participated in the battles of Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, and in the Seven Days' Fight. Honorably discharged on account of physical disability in December, 1862, he enlisted again in October, 1863, in the Second Maine Cavalry. During his last term of service he was in several skirmishes, but no important engagements. While in the army he suffered all the hardships incident to a soldier's life, and his health was so seri- ously undermined that he never recovered. When finally discharged in December, 1865, he returned home and was engaged in farming in his native town for a while. Then for some time he worked in factories in Massa- chusetts. In November, 1875, he took charge of the Shirley House in this town, which was under his management for the following ten
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years. In 1884 he opened a general store here, and in 1885 be sold the Shirley House. He is now the oldest merchant in the town. A Republican in politics, he was Postmaster of Shirley for twelve years. He is an active, brainy man, who has achieved success by his own efforts.
On January 1, 1861, Mr. Knowles was married to Susan F., daughter of Calvin and Susan (Gregory) Sweet, born in Levant, Penobscot County. Two children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Knowles: Leslie M., who died at the age of twenty-five; and Charles H., a clothier and tailor residing in Foxcroft. Mr. Knowles is a member of Gerry Post, No. 5, G. A. R., of Monson.
HEODORE H. WYMAN, the proprie- tor of the oldest general store in Sebec and an ex-member of the legislature, was born in this town, April 13, 1852, son of Theodore and Caroline (Ford) Wyman. The paternal grandfather, Major Abraham Wyman, a stone mason and contractor, erected many buildings in this State and in the Province of New Brunswick during his business career.
Theodore Wyman, born in Bloomfield, Somerset County, January 25, 1810, was edu- cated at the Bloomfield Academy. For a short time after the completion of his studies he was employed in his father's building oper- ations. In 1832 he came to Sebec, where he formed a partnership with J. W. Jewett in a general mercantile business, firm of Jewett & Wyman, which continued for seven years.
Subsequently he was associated with William P. Lamson. From 1847 to 1874 he conducted business alone. Then. his son, Theodore II., was admitted to partnership, under the firm name of T. Wyman & Son. The senior part- ner was actively connected with the business , until 1880. A man of sound judgment and good business ability, he was relied on by his neighbors for advice and assistance in case of emergency ; and he was universally esteemed for his nobility of character and gentle dis- position. He was Town Clerk for thirty-four years and the Postmaster for thirty- years, and for a period he represented his district in the legislature. In politics he supported the Whigs until their dissolution, when he joined the Republican movement, and thereafter firmly upheld the principles of that party without sacrificing the respect and good will of those who differed from him. While he never affiliated with any religious organiza- tion, he was a stanch Universalist in belief. At the same time he entertained the most profound respect and sympathy for the Church in general, and contributed liberally toward its support. He died at his home in this town, March 14, 1895, aged eighty-five years, and was buried with Masonic rites. In 1858 he was made a Mason in Piscataquis Lodge, Milo, over which he was later called upon to preside as Worshipful Master. Caroline Wyman, his wife, a daughter of Captain Abner Ford, of Sebec, born May 11, 1822, whom he married in 1842, became the mother of seven children. Of these, five are living, namely : Mrs. John W. Freese, who resides
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in Cambridge, Mass. ; Mrs. Eugene Barry and Lizzie M .; Edward Wyman, who resides in Lynn, Mass. ; and Theodore H., the subject of this sketch. Mrs. Caroline Wyman died in 1877, aged fifty-five years and twenty-nine days.
Having received his education in the com- mon schools and at the Foxcroft Academy, Theodore H. Wyman entered his father's store as a clerk. He was later admitted to partner- ship, and since 1880 he has been sole proprie- tor of the establishment. He carries a large stock of general merchandise, including every- thing usually kept in a first-class country store; and his reputation for honesty and fair dealing enables him to maintain a numerous patronage. He possesses considerable me- chanical ingenuity, which he has applied to the improvement of the steam-boiler, and as a result has invented and patented what is known as "Wyman's Safety Water Tube Boiler." He has been Town Clerk for six- teen years, and is now serving his seventeenth year in that capacity. In 1891 he was a mern- ber of the legislature. He received his first appointment as Postmaster from President Harrison, and has been reappointed by the present administration. Politically, he is a Republican.
On May 31, 1877, Mr. Wyman was united in marriage with Alice M. Snow, a daughter of E. P. Snow, M.D., of Atkinson. Mrs. Wyman is the mother of three children, namely : Eugene B., born April 4, 1882; and Edwin T. and Caroline H., twins, born Octo- ber 9, 1886. Mr. Wyman has been a member
of Piscataquis Lodge, No. 44, F. & A. M., since October, 1873. In religious belief he is liberal.
APTAIN NATHAN D. KING, a representative of one of the origi- nal families of Lamoine, Hancock County, and formerly a master mariner for many years, was born December 3, 1842, in the part of Trenton now called Lamoine, son of the late Nathan King. The paternal grandfather, John King, came here from Saco, York County, at a very early day. In the trying years that followed, besides clearing his land, he helped to lay out highways between Trenton and Ellsworth. Among the children born to him and his wife, whose maiden name was Betsey Lord, were: Nathan, the father of Nathan D. ; and John, who preached at the Lamoine Baptist church during his career as a minister, and who was the father of Eben H. King, of whom a brief biography appears on another page of this work.
Nathan King, born on the old King home- stead at Trenton Point, was there brought up to farming. Tilling the soil at intervals, he also followed the sea for a large part of his life, engaged in the coasting trade. He mar- ried Flora Deloney. Their children were : Sarah F., who died in 1874; Cordelia, who died at Eureka, Nev .; William R., who is a resident of Tremont, Hancock County ; Nathan D., the subject of this sketch ; Thomas I., who died in the West Indies at the age of twenty-one years; and George E., who owns and occupies the old homestead.
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After completing the district-school cur- riculum Nathan D. King followed the bent of his natural inclinations by becoming a sailor. At all times fearless and faithful, he grad- ually worked his way up from the lowest posi- tion on board ship until he became the cap- tain of a vessel at the age of twenty-four years. While actively engaged in commerce, Captain King visited nearly all the important ports of the world. Though he has not been to sea for the past ten years, he is still inter- ested in vessels engaged in South American and European trade.
Captain King has devoted much of his leis- ure to looking after the material interests of the town, giving good service as Selectman and secretary of the Board of Health. In politics he affiliates with the Republican party. On August 5, 1871, he was united in marriage with Laura F., daughter of Edward and Margaret (Berry) Huckins, natives of Trenton.
J OSEPH A. LEE, for many years presi- dent and cashier of the Calais (Me.) Bank, was born in Bucksport, Me., on July 19, 1808, son of Joseph and Priscilla (Sparhawk) Lee. He was a representative of the sixth generation of the family founded by John Lee, who was born in England about 1600, and who became one of the twelve men who under the leadership of John Winthrop, Jr., settled Agawam, or Ipswich, Mass. John Lee was a man of means, and, as the inventory of his estate includes a buff coat, pistols, musket, sword, and belt, is believed to have
been an officer in the English army before coming to this country. He married Anne Hungerford, also from England, and had a family of six children. His son Joseph, who was born at Ipswich in 1643 and died in 1716 in Concord, Mass., married Mary Woodis, whose father, Henry Woodis, Esq., had been a friend and neighbor of John Lee while in England. Mr. Woodis had settled on a fine tract of land in Concord, and at his earnest request Joseph Lee went to that town and took charge of the farm. This estate remained in the Lee family until 1815. By his first mar- riage Joseph Lee had eight children. His second wife was the widow Mary Niles Wig- ley, and the third was the widow Mary Fox.
Dr. Joseph Lee, son of Joseph, first, above named, was born in Ipswich in 1680, and died at Concord in 1736. He was a physician, and served during several expeditions in the Queen's navy. He occupied the Lee house on the Woodis farm, and increased the area of the estate to three hundred and seventy-five acres. He married Ruth Goodnow, of Sud- bury, who bore him twelve children.
Of these, Joseph, third, who was born at Concord in 1716 and died there in 1797, was educated as a physician and surgeon. He in- herited a large part of his father's estate, and . made large additions to it. He appears to have been a man of decided opinions and of great force of character, and was among those who opposed the settlement of the Rev. Will- iam Emerson over the First Parish Church in Concord. Remonstrances proving of no avail, Dr. Lee with others formed a new organiza-
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tion, called in derision the "Black Horse Church," as it held its meetings in a tavern in front of which hung the sign of a black horse. When the war broke out the Doctor upheld the royalists, and for a brief time was imprisoned for his efforts to give information to the English officers. His wife, Lucy Jones, bore him seven children.
The fourth Joseph Lee, son of the above Joseph and grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1742 or 1743, and died in 1819. He was ordained in 1768 over the church at Royalston, and continued in charge of it until his death. The first of his three wives, whose maiden name was Sarah Barrett, bore him seven children; the second, Lucy Jones, bore him three. His third marriage was contracted with Mrs. Hannah Farrar.
Joseph Lee, fifth of the name, who was born at Royalston in 1773 and died in 1861, was a merchant, and traded in different towns in Maine. He married in the year 1800 Pris- cilla, daughter of the Rev. Ebenezer and Naomi Hill Sparhawk, of Templeton. Eight children were the fruit of this union; namely, Sarah Howard, Mercy Abigail, Priscilla Naomi, Joseph Apollos, Eliza Sparhawk, Elizabeth Sparhawk, Martha Laurens, and Ellen Maria.
Joseph Apollos Lee, the subject of this sketch, spent his early life in Maine. This section of the country was devastated by the British in the War of 1812, and so great was the poverty of the people of the region that Mr. Lee never saw wheat bread until he was nine years of age. When quite a young man
he went to New Orleans on a coasting-vessel, and for the few succeeding years remained in the South, trading with the Indians on the Gulf shore. Returning to Calais in 1832, he settled here, and for three years was clerk in a store. When the Calais Bank was organized, Mr. Lee became its cashier; and this respon- sible position he held for forty years, or until within a year before his death. To the duties of cashier he added in 1866 those of presi- dent; and this office also he held until the time of his death. In 1850 he started an in- surance business, which he carried on as long as his health permitted. He was one of the most indefatigable business men in Calais. He was president for a number of years of the Gas Company, for a number of terms was in the city government, and also served as a member of the legislature. Politically, he was a Whig in the beginning of his career, but later joined the Republican party. He was a prominent Odd Fellow. Mr. Lee died on January 4, 1880. He was twice married. His first wife, who was before her marriage Mary L. Sawyer, of Calais, was born in Win- chendon, Mass., on January 16, 1814, and died on September 29, 1849. She was the mother of the following-named children : Phobe Sawyer, now deceased, who was the wife of Willard King, of Calais; Elizabeth Sparhawk, who is the widow of Charles New- ton, of Calais; Mary Ellen, now deceased, who was the wife of Charles Ladd, of Minne- apolis, Minn. ; Joseph Wood, an Episcopalian clergyman at Bristol; Pa .; William Howard, who resides in Augusta; Almedia Townsend,
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who is now deceased; and Clara Greenleaf, who is the wife of Frederick Smythe, of Napa, Cal. The maiden name of Mr. Lee's second wife, whom he married on August 28, 1856, and who survives him, was Isabella Theobald. She is the daughter of Dr. Philip Ernst Theobald, of Wiscasset, Me., and a grand-daughter of a Dr. Theobald who came with the Hessian troops from Frankfort on the Main and was a surgeon in Burgoyne's army. At the battle of Saratoga, Dr. Theo- bald was taken prisoner; but he was paroled, and he subsequently settled in Lincoln County, Maine, where he became preacher and physician to the Germans. Mrs. Isabella T. Lee is a member of the Congregational church.
Mr. Lee's only child by his second mar- riage, Ernst Theobald Lee, was born in Calais on September 20, 1861, and was killed by the explosion of a fire extinguisher, Au- gust 22, 1898. He was educated in the pub- lic schools of Calais, at a private academy here, and at a preparatory school in New Haven, where he remained a year. Upon the death of his father he succeeded to the busi- ness, having previously been an assistant in his father's office. He was for five years Captain of Company K of the Second Regi- ment of State militia, and at the time of his death was ex-Lieutenant Colonel of the regi- ment. He was well known in this section of Maine, where he had made a number of im- portant insurance adjustments. He was also a member of St. Croix Lodge, I. O. O. F. In this he was a Past Grand, and was Past
Grand Master of the Grand Lodge and Past Grand Representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge. In politics he was a Republican. From 1890 to 1896 he served on the Board of Aldermen. Mr. Ernst T. Lee married Anne L., daughter of Charles F. Washburn, of Calais.
R EV. EUGENE GAUTHIER, pastor of the Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary at Caribou, Aroostook County, Me., is a Canadian. He was born on April 3, 1866, in Manitoba, where his par- ents, Azarie and Philomena (Bourboniere) Gauthier, went from Montreal, their native city. In Manitoba they settled upon a farm, and also kept a boarding-house.
Azarie Gauthier's first wife died November 13, 1866, and he married for his second wife Sophronia Cote, of Montreal. Of his first union were born four children; namely, An- drew, Arthur, Philomena, and Eugene. An- drew Gauthier is a trader in Manitoba, Arthur is a conductor on the Canadian Pacific Railway, and Philomena resides with her younger brother in Caribou. The two surviv- ing children of the second union, Tancrède and Annie, reside at home with their parents in Manitoba.
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