USA > Maine > Piscataquis County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 31
USA > Maine > Aroostook County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 31
USA > Maine > Hancock County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 31
USA > Maine > Washington County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 31
USA > Maine > Somerset County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 31
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1813. Samuel Nelson, Sr., son of Captain Gershom and grandfather of Frank Nelson, was born September 21, 1760. He served in the Revolutionary War, where he acquired the title of Colonel. He married Sally Torrey, and resided in Milford, Mass. His children were: Newell, born March 20, 1784; Emily, born July 18, 1786; Samuel, born in Milford, October 17, 1789; Joseph, born December 29, 1791 ; Stephen Torrey, who was born October 31, 1796, and died September 18, 1798; and Nathaniel Torrey, born November 15, 1799.
Samuel Nelson, son of Colonel Samuel and Sally (Torrey) Nelson, lived in his native town until 1815, when he went to Hallowell, Me., where he was engaged in trade until 1836. Going then to Bangor, he was for some years a merchant in that city. From Bangor he removed to Portland, where he en- tered politics, and held various civic offices, including that of City Marshal. His last days were passed in Texas with his son Al- bert. He died June 22, 1863. Samuel Nel- son was a member of the Masonic fraternity.
On December 6, 1812, he married Cynthia Aldrich, daughter of George and Mary (Bowen) Aldrich. On the paternal side she was a descendant of George and Catherine Aldrich (or Aldridge), the former of whom was made a freeman at Dorchester, Mass., in 1636. He died March 1, 1682. Jacob Aldrich, son of George, was born February 28, 1658, and died October 22, 1695. Moses Aldrich, the next ancestor in this line, son of Jacob and his wife, Huldah, was born April I, 1690, and died September 9, 1761. He
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married Hannah White on April 23, 1711. George, second, son of Moses and Hannah Aldrich, born January 15, 1715, married Abi- gail Keith, and died July 14, 1797. George, third of the name in the ancestral line, son of George, second, and Abigail, was born Octo- ber 17, 1763, and died October 19, 1845. His wife was Mary Bowen. Their daughter, Cynthia, Mrs. Nelson, was born on January 21, 1794. She died January 5, 1885. Sam- uel and Cynthia (Aldrich) Nelson were the parents of nine children, eight of whom lived to maturity, namely: Albert A., who was born May 15, 1814, and died September 24, 1892; Charles Henry, who was born October 13, 1815, and died September 8, 1845; Caro- line A., born December 9, 1817, now the widow of Joshua F. Richards, and residing in Portland; Horatio, born October 16, 1819, died April 28, 1852; Samuel N., born Feb- ruary 19, 1822, died in December, 1835; Mary B., born March 13, 1825, died Novem- ber 4, 1827; Mary Louisa, born December 26, 1828, now the wife of Edwin A. Marrett, of Portland; George, born January 26, 1831, died October 21, 1848; and Frank, the sub- ject of this sketch.
Frank Nelson attended the public schools of Bangor until 1847, when his parents re- . moved to Portland ; and he completed his edu- cation at the high school in that city. Enter- ing the telegraph service as a messenger in January, 1851, while still a youth he became competent to receive and transmit messages. He was stationed successively in the offices in Portland, Boston, and New York, until 1854,
when he was placed in charge of the Calais office. In that capacity he continued until severing his connection with the company some two and a half years later. He next went to Boston, where he was employed for a time as book-keeper for a large grocery house, and in 1860 he returned to Calais for the pur- pose of engaging in business in partnership with Gilbert H. Foster. The firm of Foster & Nelson here carried on an extensive general store until 1866, when Mr. Nelson withdrew in order to accept the treasurership of the St. Croix & Penobscot Railroad Company, to which he had been elected, at the same time entering the Calais National Bank as a clerk. Since January 1, 1869, he has occupied the responsible position of cashier of the bank. He has been a member of the Board of Direc- tors most of the time, was for a number of years president of the Calais Savings Bank, a director of the St. Croix Shoe Company, and trustee and treasurer of the Calais Academy. In politics he is a Republican, and is quite active in local affairs. He served in the Common Council in 1875, was elected to the Board of Aldermen in 1876, and subsequently re-elected four years. He is a Notary Public.
Mr. Nelson and Henrietta Brewer Foster, daughter of Gilbert Foster, of Calais, were united in marriage on August 30, 1859. They have had six children. Two of them died in infancy, one being a daughter named Mary Louise, born May 4, 1868, who was taken from their home August 23, 1869. The four now living are: Frank Aldrich, born January 13, 1861, residing in Boston; Eleanor Foster,
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born February 18, 1863 ; Kate Winthrop, born June 26, 1874; and Edwin Marrett Nelson, born December 12, 1876, who is a student at Bowdoin College, class of 1899.
Mr. Nelson has been president of the St. Croix Club since its organization. He is a liberal contributor to the support of the Con- gregational church, and the family are regu- lar attendants.
OLNEY A. GRAY, an extensive fruit- grower of Dover, Piscataquis County, and a Civil War veteran, son of Levi and Betsey (Harlow) Gray, was born in Sanger- ville, Me., May 13, 1842. The father, a na- tive of Paris, Oxford County, was for a num- ber of years engaged in trade in Bucksfield. From that town he moved to East Sangerville, and was a pioneer in this section. He cleared and improved a farm of one hundred and fifty acres, upon which he erected substantial buildings and successfully conducted general farming. Originally a Democrat, in his later years he differed from some of that party's principles, and joined the Republican party. His religious belief was the Univer- salist creed. He died in Sangerville when about ninety years old, and his wife, who was born in Bucksport, passed away at the age of ninety-three. They were the parents of nine children, five of whom are living, namely: Albert Gray, of Newport, Me .; Britiana, who resides in Guilford and is the widow of Aaron Jackson; Frank, also a resident of Guilford; Emily, the widow of Cyrus Brockway, late of
Dexter, Me .; and Volney A., the subject of this sketch. The others were: Diantha, Albion, William, and Amity.
After completing his education at the Fox- croft Academy, Volney A. Gray was engaged in teaching school and assisting his father upon the farm until the breaking out of the Rebellion. In 1861 and again at the expira- tion of his first term he enlisted in Company I, Ninth Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infan- try, under Captain Baker, of Bangor. He participated in twenty-five different engage- ments, including those at Strawberry Plain and Cold Harbor; the assaults on Fort Wag- ner, S.C .; Glen Plain, Drury's Bluff, Hatcher's Run, Va .; Deep Bottom, Chapin's Bluff, and Petersburg. He was a Sergeant during his first term. After re-enlisting he was promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant, and he had command of Company E from Oc- tober 18, 1864, until the close of the war. He was wounded at Fort Wagner and Cold Harbor, and was finally discharged in July, 1865. While upon a furlough home in 1864, he bought his present farm of two hundred and twenty-five acres. Since his return to civil life he has resided in Dover. Besides carrying on general farming, he cultivates an orchard of one thousand trees, comprising sev- eral choice varieties of winter fruit, and he is said to be the largest fruit-grower in Piscata- quis County. He was formerly engaged in the milk business, and supplied a large num- ber of regular customers in the two villages. Since relinquishing his route he has reduced the number of his stock to about ten head.
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On August 25, 1869, Mr. Gray was joined in marriage with Melissa J. Brockway, a na- tive of Sangerville, born July 13, 1844. He has now three children : Elton W., born July 6, 1870; Ralph V., born April 9, 1874; and Lena M., born April 15, 1882. A Republi- can in politics, he has been a member of the Board of Selectmen for five years, and he was a County Commissioner for three years. He has occupied the principal chairs of Kineo Lodge, No. 64, and Eldorado Encampment, No. 20, I. O. O. F .; is connected with the Lodge of Rebecca; is a comrade of Doughty Post, G. A. R. ; and was for two years Master of the Foxcroft Grange, Patrons of Husban- dry. Religious services are attended by him at the Universalist church.
OHN FRANCIS SPRAGUE, attorney- at-law, Town Agent of Monson, Me., and a prominent member of the Piscat- aquis County bar, was born in Sangerville, Me., July 16, 1848, son of Elbridge Gerry and Sarah (Parsons) Sprague. He is a de- scendant in the seventh generation of William Sprague, who was born in England in 1609, arrived at Salem in 1629, lived a few years at Charlestown, Mass., and about 1636 settled at Hingham, Mass., and died in 1675.
John Sprague, son of William, was born at Hingham, Mass., in 1638, removed to Men- don, that State, and died in 1683. William Sprague, second, son of John, was born in 1679; and William Sprague, third, born at Mendon in 1719, was an early settler in
Greene, Me. James Sprague, son of Will- iam, third, and grandfather of John F. Sprague, was born at Mendon in 1750. He accompanied his parents to Greene, where he followed general farming for the rest of his life. He served as a soldier in the Continen- tal army during the Revolutionary War. He married Mary Bartlett, of Newton, Mass., and had a family of eight children.
Elbridge Gerry Sprague, the father above named, son of James, was born in Greene in 1793. When a young man he entered mer- cantile business in Bath, Me., being later en- gaged in the same pursuit in Georgia. He finally settled upon a farm in Sangerville. Politically, he supported the Republican party, and in his religious opinion he favored the Second Advent doctrine. Sarah Parsons, whom he married October 22, 1847, was a na- tive of Jay, Me., and at that time a resident of Sangerville. They had one son, John F., the subject of this sketch. Elbridge Gerry Sprague died December 2, 1867, at the age of seventy-four years. Mrs. Sarah P. Sprague afterward married Benjamin Walton, of Paris, Me., and died in Abbot, Me., in 1877. She was a member of the Congregational church.
John Francis Sprague received a public- school education, and in 1872 began the study of law with Alvah Black, of Paris Hill, Ox- ford County, Me. After his admission to the Piscataquis County bar in February, 1874, he located in the town of Abbot, this county, where he remained four years; and since 1879 he has conducted a profitable general law business in Monson. He took an active in-
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terest in securing the construction of the Monson Railway, and he has been a director as well as clerk and attorney of this corpora- tion ever since it was organized.
Mr. Sprague's public services have been varied and marked by an earnest desire to sup- port only such measures as seemed best calcu- lated to protect and forward the general inter- ests of the people. He has at different times served with ability as Selectman, Town Clerk, and member of the School Board, and is now serving his nineteenth successive year as Town Agent or law officer of the town. He was elected to the legislature for the years 1885- 86, being a member of the Legal Affairs and the Fish and Game Committees. In 1888 he was appointed by Acting Governor Marble a member of the committee to audit the state treasurer's accounts, and was again a mem- ber of the House of Representatives in 1893- 94, serving on the Judiciary Committee. In politics he has always been an active Repub- lican, and was a member of the Republican State Committee for four years.
For the past fifteen years he has been con- nected with the Maine Historical Society, for which he has written some interesting papers pertaining to the early history of Pis- cataquis County, and he is the author of biog- raphies of several local celebrities, including James Stuart Holmes, "the pioneer lawyer of Piscataquis County "; Augustus G. Lebroke; Louise Annance; Alexander Greenwood; and Thomas Davee. He prefers above all other pastimes fishing and hunting. He has as- sisted in framing some of the most important
of the game laws of this State, is a charter member and officially connected with the Maine Sportsmen's Fish and Game Protective Association, and has contributed timely arti- cles to Forest and Stream, the Maine Sports- man, and other periodicals. In 1896 he was prominently mentioned as a candidate for chairman of the Maine Fish and Game Com- mission, and received a strong support from all parts of the State for this position. Mr. Sprague is also interested in agricultural pur- suits, being quite an extensive farmer.
He is a member of Doric Lodge, F. & A. M., a history of which he has written and published. He is a charter member of Ono- way Lodge, I. O. O. F, of Monson; and was a charter member of Good Cheer Lodge, of Guilford; and is also a charter member of Moosehead Encampment, of Guilford. He has recently been appointed by the United States District Court of Maine Referee in Bankruptcy for the District of Piscataquis. Mr. Sprague has never married.
m & J. HUDSON, Guilford, Me. -- The well-known and enterprising firm which carries on an exten- sive business under the above named style is composed of Micajah and James Hudson, natives of this town. They started in trade in 1880 in a building erected the previous year. Owing to their large patronage their varied stock of merchandise is frequently replenished. They are heavy buyers of country produce, handle large quantities of hay, straw, grain,
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and feed, and are interested in manufacturing industries. The Hudson Brothers are the sons of the late Henry Hudson, a prominent lawyer of Piscataquis County and a wealthy citizen of Guilford, who died June 24, 1877. An account of their parents will be found in a sketch of their brother Henry, which appears elsewhere in the REVIEW.
Micajah Hudson was born November 23, 1855. He acquired his education in Guilford, and began his business career at an early age. Aside from his connection with the Guilford concern he is treasurer of the Dews Woollen Mill at North Dexter. On January 22, 1876, he married Mabel M. Packard, daughter of Levi Packard, of Parkman. Of this union has been born one daughter, Lettie E. Micajah Hudson has served as a Selectman in Guil- ford and in Abbot, and has been treasurer of the last named town. He is a liberal contrib- utor toward the support of the Methodist Epis- copal church.
James Hudson was born October 22, 1857. He attended the Foxcroft Academy and East- man's Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and has been in business since 1878. He has rendered much valuable assistance to the firm in building up its trade. He is a director of the Dews Woollen Mill at North Dexter, is connected with the mills in this town, and was interested in the Guilford Novelty Works dur- ing the existence of that enterprise. He was Postmaster eight years and Assistant Postmas- ter four years. He has been Town Clerk fif- teen years in succession, and served as Con- stable two years. On February 5, 1878,
James Hudson married Ida M. Bennett, daugh- ter of C. B. Bennett, M. D., one of the first settled physicians in Guilford. Mr. and Mrs. James Hudson have three children, one son and two daughters; namely, Cary M., Martha M., and Lura B. Hudson.
. The Hudson brothers are Democrats in pol- itics. They are both members of Mount Kineo Lodge, F. & A. M .; and James Hudson is connected with the chapter in Dover, St. John's Commandery, Knights Templar, Ban- gor, and Kora Temple of the Mystic Shrine, Lewiston.
ALEN KINCAID, a prominent farmer in Madison township and a worthy representative of one of its early families, was born November 5, 1832, on the farm he now owns and occupies, and which was formerly the home of both his father and grandfather, each of whom bore the name of Reuben Kin- caid. The grandfather, a native of Wiscasset, Me., removed to Somerset County when a young man, settling first in Skowhegan and a short time later in Madison, where he bought the land now included in the farm of his grandson, Galen Kincaid.
Reuben Kincaid, Jr., who was born in Mad- ison, November 14, 1801, having become the possessor of the ancestral home, resided there until his demise on July 31, 1883. He was a prominent Mason. He learned the trade of a stone-cutter in his early days, and among the important buildings he assisted in erecting were four jails in this State, - one in Paris, one in St. Johns, one in Augusta, and the fourth
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in Farmington. He married Hannah Hamlet, a native of Solon, Me., born March 2, 1810, a woman of unusual energy, who, having lived to a good old age, passed away August 4, 1880. Their children were: Caroline, born June 24, 1828, who is the widow of John Parker, and lives in Madison, not far from the old homestead; John H., born August 12, 1830, who married Helen Savage, resided near the home farm, and died September 25, 1897; Galen; Seth, born April 8, 1835, who married Ella Decker, of Brighton, Me., and is a retired carpenter and contractor in Lawrence, Mass. ; Benjamin F., born February 7, 1838, now a carpenter at Derry, N. H., who married Lucy Smith ; Phoebe J., born June 27, 1841, who married Edmund Bradbury, a teamster in Benton, Me., and died in Madison, August 9, 1884; William Dexter, born August 13, 1847, who died at the age of four years; William Dexter (second), born August 12, 1851, who married Mamie Kittredge, and is now a ma- chinist at Derry, N. H. ; Cora M., born March 2, 1854, who married the late Fred Burgess, of Methuen, Mass., and died September 20, 1895 ; and Reuben, who died in infancy.
Galen Kincaid acquired his first knowledge of books in the district school, and on the homestead his first lessons in agriculture. Since the death of his father he has had the charge of the home farm, which now contains two hundred acres of land, much improved by the sturdy efforts of his grandfather, father, and himself. Keeping a small dairy in con- nection with general farming, he has met with a fair share of prosperity. Among his heir-
looms is a family clock, made at least one hundred and twenty-five years ago, and which has been on the present homestead for a full century. It was formerly owned by his grand- father, who gave it to his son Reuben, from whom Galen received it.
On January 1, 1872, Mr. Kincaid married Miss Nettie Rowell, a native of Solon, Me., born June 23, 1844. Her father, Zebedee Rowell, was a native of Solon, where he im- proved a good farm, on which he resided until his death. His father was one of the early settlers of this section. Mrs. Kincaid's mother, in maidenhood Sarah Ayer, was a na- tive of Bethel, Me. Mrs. Kincaid is well ed- ucated, and in her younger days was a most successful teacher of Somerset County, having had charge of schools in various towns in this vicinity. She and her husband have one child, Bertha May, an accomplished young lady, born August 11, 1877.
EORGE DOWNES, a prominent young attorney of Calais and a mem- ber of the firm of Downes & Curran, insurance agents, was born in Machias, Me., December 23, 1868, son of the Hon. Lemuel Grosvenor and Augusta Hale (Wadsworth) Downes. His father was a son of the Hon. George Downes, and his mother was the daughter of Lewis L. Wadsworth, of Pembroke, Me., a distant kinsman of Henry Wadsworth Long- fellow, the poet, both being descendants of Christopher Wadsworth, an early settler of Duxbury, Mass.
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The Ilon. George Downes, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a son of Shubael Downes, who was one of the original proprie- tors of Township No. 5, the site of the present city of Calais.
From the Bangs Genealogy, by Dean Dud- ley, we learn that Shubael Downes, born in 1741, son of Samuel and Temperance Downes, married in 1775 Lydia Bangs, daughter of Benjamin and Desire (Dillingham) Bangs, her father being of the fifth generation in descent from Edward Bangs, who came over in the "Ann," one of the "forefather ships," in 1623, and who is said to have married a daugh- ter of Robert Hicks, one of the passengers in the "Fortune " in 1621.
George Downes, son of Shubael, was born in Walpole, Mass., August 29, 1793. He was left an orphan at an early age, but not be- fore he had begun to feel the moulding influ- ence of affectionate parental solicitude, and especially that of a pious mother, to whose prayers and moral instruction he always de- lighted in attributing whatever there was in his nature worthy of being considered good and noble. Through self-denial, coupled with his own exertions, he fitted for college at Phillips Andover Academy, and was graduated from Harvard University with credit. Choosing the legal profession, he completed his prepara- tions, and, having inherited a large tract of wild land in Maine, including a portion of the then rising town of Calais, he determined to settle among the pioneers of this locality ; and, arriving here in 1816, he was the first regularly established lawyer. He later formed
a partnership with James S. Cooper, under the firm name of Downes & Cooper, which eventu- ally acquired an extensive practice, including a large share of patronage from Boston specu- lators, and, being successful in business as well as fortunate in his real estate interests, which increased in value owing to the rapid growth of the town, he became one of Calais's most wealthy citizens. Ile was the first presi- dent of the Calais Bank, serving in that capac- ity from the time of its organization in 1832 until the approach of old age compelled him to relinquish the heavier business responsibilities which he had ably and faithfully borne for so many years ; and he was succeeded by his son, Lemuel G. Downes.
In his younger days the Hon. George Downes took an active part in public affairs, serving as Representative and State Senator ; and, when Calais was incorporated as a city in 1850, he was chosen its first Mayor. Politi- cally, he was previous to 1856 a stanch Whig, which accounted for his failure of election to the National House of Representatives, his party being in the minority when he was a candidate for that office; and, when the Repub- lican movement absorbed the Whig element, he rallied to its support. He was one of the first advocates of temperance, and approved of prohibition, but his sound judgment as to the means of obtaining the most beneficial results led him to entertain conservative opinions in regard to its enforcement. On May 28, 1828, he united with the Congregational church, of which he was principal Deacon for a period of thirty years; and for nearly a generation he
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was superintendent of the Sunday-school. He gave liberally of his means to the support of religious and charitable objects, giving for years the compensation he received as presi- dent of the bank toward paying his pastor's salary. Nor was his generosity confined to his own denomination, as he frequently contrib- uted to the assistance of other churches. Ed- ucational affairs were to him an object of par- ticular interest, especially the growth and prosperity of Bowdoin College, of which he was for some years an overseer ; and as a trus- tee of the Bangor Theological Seminary he ex- tended considerable financial aid toward its support. In pecuniary matters he was neither a hoarder or a spendthrift, but exercised a ju- dicious discrimination in the distribution of his beneficence, which enabled him to place it where it would accomplish the most good. Above all, he dearly loved the place of his adoption, sparing neither time nor money nor personal effort to promote the prosperity and intelligence of the community; and to his praiseworthy example the citizens of Calais are mainly indebted for the reputation they now enjoy as a thrifty, public-spirited, and benevolent people. The Hon. George Downes died October 4, 1869, aged seventy-six years. He was married in 1821 to Betsey L. Danford, of Wiscasset, Me., and was the father of thir- teen children.
The Hon. Lemuel Grosvenor Downes, A. M., father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Calais, October 26, 1839. He was graduated at Bowdoin College in 1860, and after his admission to the bar in 1863 he set-
tled for practice in Machias. In 1871 he re- turned to Calais, where he rapidly acquired a large and lucrative general law business, and, associating himself with George A. Curran in 1880, established the insurance agency of Downes & Curran, in which his son is now a partner. He was successful in this venture, building up one of the largest agencies in Eastern Maine; and he was also financially in- terested in other enterprises. He was presi- dent of the Calais National Bank; president of the Maine Water Company, which was organ- ized to furnish cities and towns with water- works; president of the St. Croix Shoe Com- pany ; and director and solicitor of the St. Croix & Penobscot Railroad Company. In politics he was a Republican, and, being an active and able business man, was naturally an eligible candidate for public office. He served as a member of the Executive Council for eight years; was elected Mayor in 1876; and in 1889 he accepted the City Treasurer - ship, which he held until his death. He was a member of St. Croix Lodge, F. & A. M., and of the Chi Psi and Phi Beta Kappa Socie- ties of Bowdoin College. He attended the Congregational church. The Hon. Lemuel G. Downes died December 5, 1895, having survived his wife, Mrs. Augusta Hale Downes, who died in May, 1888, a little more than seven years. They had two children : Maria Augusta, wife of John Hodgins, of Ottawa, Canada; and George, the subject of this sketch.
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