USA > Maine > Piscataquis County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 40
USA > Maine > Aroostook County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 40
USA > Maine > Hancock County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 40
USA > Maine > Washington County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 40
USA > Maine > Somerset County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 40
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OHN BARKER, a member of the well- known hardware firm of Chase, Barker & Co., of Calais, Me., was born in this city, April 19, 1834, son of Samuel Foss and Anne (Deming) Barker. He is of English origin, his great-grandfather Barker having come from England, and settled in York County, Maine. Timothy Barker, his pater- nal grandfather, was born either in Buxton or in Wells, Me., January 4, 1774, and at an early date settled in Calais. He married Susan Bowen, born February 15, 1774, and their children were: John B., born January 18, 1799, who died March 16, 1827; Miranda, born December 1, 1800, who died January 9, 1862; Samuel Foss, born February 20, 1803, . died October 10, 1849; Eliza, born June 18, 1805, died September 29, 1891; Susan B., born September 6, 1807, died July 29, 1873; Sewell, born September 18, 1809, died January 1, 1881; Ransellaer, born April 6, 1812, died November 10, 1872; and Timothy, Jr., who was born Mareh 13, 1816, and died September 24, 1817. Of these children, Samuel Foss
Barker deserves special and more extended mention.
Among the forces that contribute to make a town what it is and to form its distinctive atmosphere, none is more potent than the character of its early citizens. It is most im- portant for the well-being of communities, as well as of individuals, that they start right; for the aims and ideals of the founders are very apt to dominate the lives of their sucees- sors. The city of Calais was very fortunate in having among its early citizens a few men whose upright Christian eharaeter and publie spirit did mueh for its future honor and pros- perity. It is fitting that the memory of such leaders of a town should be perpetuated by those who are now reaping the benefits of their labors. When the history of Calais is written, the name of Deacon Samuel F. Barker will be found among those who did the most to promote the moral and religious in- terests of the community.
Born in Buxton, Me., February 20, 1803, he received his education in the common schools. When the War of 1812 broke out, he was living with his parents in Calais, and during the course of the war he performed mil- itary service in Captain Abijah Gregory's company, Colonel Ulster's regiment, United States Volunteers, 1812-13, for which he re- ceived a land grant from the United States government. After the war he followed the sea for a year or two. Then he became clerk in the store of Jeremiah Fowler in Lubee, where he received the business training that was the foundation of his successful career.
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About 1826 he removed to Calais, and in partnership with William Deming, under the firm name of Barker & Deming, kept a store at the foot of North Street, where the railroad now runs, and engaged in the sale of a general line of merchandise, they becoming the lead- ing merchants in this section. In 1833 Mr. Barker withdrew from the firm, and engaged in business for himself for a short time. But on account of failing health he subsequently retired from mercantile life to a farm com- prising all the land between South and Swan Streets to the Milltown line, where he spent the remainder of his days, dying October 10, 1849.
His life, although short in years and com- paratively quiet and uneventful, was long in beneficent activities and in the good and wholesome influence that he exerted. Elected the first Deacon in the Congregational church, he served from 1833 until his death. He was a Free Mason, a member of St. Croix Lodge. Previous to his conversion he took an active part in military and social matters. He was without political aspirations. One who was for many years his fellow-citizen and personal friend says of him: "His industry and integ- rity as a business man, his urbanity as a gentleman, his kindness as a neighbor, his loyalty to good order as a citizen, and his un- ostentatious piety as a Christian, commended him to the kindly regard of all who knew him. He saw the lax state of morals in the com- munity, and united his efforts with those of other kindred spirits for a reform; and, though not favored with a liberal education,
his was a warm heart, a consistent character for goodness, and a benevolent regard for all who came under his influence, that made him a power for good in the community. He was an ardent advocate of temperance, and, uniting example with precept, was among the first few who labored untiringly for its promotion. Every cause, indeed, of moral reform found in him a friend and helper. He did much, therefore, to give tone to the moral character of his early adopted home. He early con- nected himself with the church of his choice, and for more than twenty years so held the office of its first Deacon that he purchased to himself a good report."
He was married April 2, 1826, to Lurena Kilburn, who died January 9, 1829. Their only child, Samuel Fowler Barker, was born July 23, 1827. Deacon Barker married for his second wife, January 31, 1830, Anne Deming, who was born in Needham, Mass., February 17, 1798, daughter of Charles Dem- ing, of that town. She survived her husband twenty-seven years, dying November 21, 1876. A woman of more than ordinary intellectual culture and high Christian character, she was one of the first members of the Congregational church in Calais, to which town she came in 1827, and during her entire life one of its most active workers. While her husband lived she labored earnestly with him for the moral and spiritual welfare of the community. She
taught school in Calais for three years. She was one of the earliest members, and was for many years first directress of the Calais Female Benevolent Society. The children of
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Deacon Samuel F. and Anne D. Barker were: Emily Lurena, born October 18, 1830; Eliza- beth, born in 1832, died in 1835; John, above named, born April 19, 1834; Stephen, born April 19, 1836; Anne Deming, born March 12, 1839; and William Sewell, born in 1841, died in 1842.
The Demings, Fullers, and Treats, from whom through different lines Mrs. Anne D. Barker was descended, were among the earli- est families of New England. Richard Treat and his wife, Joan, with their two sons, two daughters, and a nephew, accompanied Winthrop, Saltonstall, and others to Massa- chusetts Bay in 1630, and were among the founders of Watertown. In 1635 the Treats joined the party of colonists that made its way through the wilderness to Connecticut, and were among the first settlers in Wethers- field.
The first American progenitor of this branch of the Fuller family was the Hon. Thomas Fuller, an Englishman, who was a resident of Dedham, Mass., in 1635. On November 22, 1643, he married Hannah Flower, a native of England. He died Sep- tember 25, 1690, his wife having passed away April 11, 1673. John Fuller, son of Thomas, was born in Dedham, December 28, 1645, and died in Needham, January 15, 1719. On January 18, 1672, he married Judith Gay. His son, Captain Robert Fuller, was born August 11, 1685, and died March 3, 1769. The first wife of Captain Robert died in 1718; and on July 6, 1721, he married Sarah Mills. Lieutenant Robert Fuller, the next in line of
descent, who was born June 6, 1714, settled in Needham, Mass., where he died in 1788. He married Sarah Eaton, who was born in 1713, and died in 1797. Moses Fuller, son of Lieutenant Robert and Sarah (Eaton) Fuller, was born in Needham, April 29, 1750. On April 14, 1774, he married Elizabeth Newell, born February 22, 1754. On July 29, 1793, their daughter, Mehitable, married Charles Deming, Mrs. Anne D. Barker's father.
The Deming family was founded by the Hon. John Deming, who settled at Wethers- field in 1635. He was a member of the Colo- nial legislature in 1649, and his name appears upon the charter of Connecticut dated 1662. In 1637 he married Honor, daughter of Rich- ard Treat, and his son, Jonathan, was born in 1639. Charles Deming, son of Jonathan, was born in Wethersfield, January 14, 1681, and married Ann Wickham, September 5, 1706. His son, Jonathan, second, born January 29, 1723, married Esther Edes. Charles Deming, son of Jonathan and Esther (Edes) Deming, born March 6, 1774, was a resident of Need- ham, where he died December 27, 1817. In 1793 he married Mehitable, daughter of Moses and Elizabeth (Newell) Fuller. He had thirteen children, the record being as follows: Jonathan Edes, born November II, 1793, died November 7, 1815; Esther, born June 29, 1795, died April 25, 1879; Charles, born August 21, 1796, died August 27, 1796; Anne, born February 17, 1798, married Sam- uel Foss Barker, and died November 21, 1876; Charles (second), born June 13, 1799, died
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June 18, 1857; Mary, born December IS, 1800, died in June, 1883; Elizabeth Fuller, born May 23, 1802, died September 15, 1831 ; William, born February 21, 1804, died March 3, 1882; Isaac, born September 2, 1805, died August 2, 1890; Adeline, born April 14, 1808, died August 3, 1809; Adeline Town- send, born July 5, 1810, died March 7, 1883; Sarah Fuller, born August 24, 1812, died May 23, 1889; Francis, born April 20, 1814, died March 5, 1858, at Naples, Italy. The mother, Mrs. Mehitable Fuller Deming, died September 5, 1867, aged ninety years and eight months.
John Barker, the eldest son of Deacon Sam- uel F. Barker by his second wife, was edu- cated in the public schools of Calais. Upon reaching the age of seventeen he began to serve an apprenticeship to the machinist's trade, and continued in that occupation as apprentice and journeyman until he was twenty-three. In 1857 he entered the store of D. K. Chase as clerk, and in 1863 was ad- mitted as partner, the firm name becoming Chase & Barker. Two years later, on the ad- mission of Prescott M. Purrington as a mem- ber of the firm, its style was changed to Chase, Barker & Co., which it still remains, notwithstanding the demise of Mr. Chase sev- eral years ago. The concern, which occupies centrally located quarters at the foot of North Street, and deals in paints, oils, and all kinds of builders' supplies, is the largest as well as the oldest establishment of its kind in the city.
August 31, 1868, Mr. Barker married Annie
M. Andrews, daughter of John Andrews, of Milltown, N.B. He has had three children, namely: William Deming, who was born September 17, 1869, and died in February, 1870; Ralph Andrews, born December 2, 1873, who was graduated at Yale College, class of 1897; and Daniel K. Chase Barker, born June 14, 1876.
Mr. Barker occupies an important place among the leading business men of Calais, and is a trustee of the Calais Savings Bank. An active member of the Congregational church and a promoter of the moral and relig- ious welfare of the community, he has ably continued the good work carried on so effec- tively by his father, especially in the cause of temperance and prohibition. He was at one time connected with the Law and Order League.
ON. ALEXANDER M. ROBIN- SON, the president of the Piscata- quis Savings Bank in Dover and an ex-member of the Maine Senate and House of Representatives, was born in Bangor, April 25, 1814, son of William and Hannah (Hutchins) Robinson. By both parents he is of English extraction. The father, a native of Boston, who was a merchant in that city, after losing his property through the embargo during the War of 1812, came to Maine. He taught school, and was engaged in other occu- pations in Bangor previous to its incorpora- tion as a city. Afterward, entering mercan- tile business once more, he carried on a general store in Corinna until his death,
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which occurred at an advanced age. He was the father of four children, of whom the only survivor is Alexander M. The others were: Francis G., Mary, and Eliza, each of whom married and had a family. William Robinson was a Baptist, while in politics he was a Fed- eralist. Mrs. Hannah Robinson, who was a native of Hermon, Penobscot County, Mc., died in 1818.
Bereft of a mother's care at the age of four years, Alexander M. Robinson was sent to re- side with an aunt in the vicinity of Charles- ton, Me., where he remained until he was fourteen. Up to this time he had attended the district school. After returning to his father he worked out during the summer sea- son, resuming his studies in the winter. Later he taught school himself. At length he was able to enter the Foxcroft Academy, from which he was graduated in 1834. Then he studied law, and was duly admitted to the Penobscot County bar in 1837. Locating for practice in Sebec, this county, he remained there until the autumn of 1854. Since then he has conducted a large general law business in Dover, and resided upon a farm of sixty acres in close proximity to the village. He has aided in introducing many public im- provements, and subscribed liberally to the stock of the Bangor & Piscataquis Railway, of which he was formerly a director, and has been its attorney for many years. He was the president of the Piscataquis Agricultural So- ciety for twenty years in succession, has been the president of the Piscataquis Savings Bank for the past ten years, a trustee of the Fox-
croft Academy since 1850, at the present time its president, and is president of the Central Hall Association. His labors in behalf of the town, county, and State have been both varied and useful, covering a long period and including many different branches of the pub- lic service. While residing in Sebec he was County Commissioner and the chairman of the board for the years 1839, 1840, and 1841 ; and he was a member of what was known as the "Dead-lock Senate" in 1854. He held the position of County Attorney, was a member of the State Board of Agriculture, and a trustee and member of the Executive Committee of the Agricultural College at Orono for seven years each. Under the bankrupt law of 1840 he was appointed General Assignee. In the legislature of 1868 he was assigned to the Committees on Railroads and Banking, and in the State militia he has served as Captain, Major, and Colonel.
In 1839 Mr. Robinson was united in mar- riage with Mary A. Chase, who was born in Sebec, January 23, 1819, daughter of Joseph and Comfort (Livermore) Chase, both of whom were natives of this State. Mrs. Robinson's father was a prosperous farmer of Sebec. A man of more than ordinary ability, he served as Representative to the legislature, and was High Sheriff of Piscataquis County for four terms. He lived to be eighty-two years old. His wife died at about fifty. They were the parents of seven children, of whom Mrs. Robinson, who was the first-born, is the only survivor. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson have had nine children, two of whom died in
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infancy. Five sons are living, namely: Jo- seph W., a railway station agent in Dover ; John F., an attorney-at-law in Bangor; Alex- ander M., Jr., a druggist of that city; Frank, who is the foreman of the Eastern Division of the Maine Central Railroad, with headquarters in Bangor; and Oscar, a druggist in Colusa, Cal. Two of the others attained maturity : Andrew J., who served for three years and three months with Company A, Sixth Regi- ment, Maine Volunteer Infantry, in the Civil War, and died at the age of twenty-one; and Mary E. Robinson, who died at the age of forty-one years. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson have twelve grandchildren and two great- grandchildren. Politically, Mr. Robinson is a Democrat of the Jeffersonian type.
HARLES L. HOLBROOK, an en- terprising and skilful agriculturist of Stark, Somerset County, son of John and Esther (Childs) Holbrook, was born in this township, April 28, 1842. The father was born and reared in Stark; and here, with the exception of a few years spent in Fair- field, Me., his active period was passed, chiefly engaged in farming. He is now liv- ing with his son, Charles L., having aban- doned laborious occupation. His first wife, Esther Childs Holbrook, died in 1843. Sub- sequently he married Mrs. Lydia Hall, of Norridgewock, who died in 1874; and then, Mrs. Penial Mayo, whose death occurred on December 25, 1896. By his first wife there were two children: Charles L., the subject of
this sketch; and one that died in infancy. Of the four children born of his second mar- riage, the three eldest - Selden, Leroy, and Venelia - are deceased. The youngest child, George W., a carpenter and joiner, lives in South Dakota. The third wife had no chil- dren.
Having received his rudimentary education in the district schools, Charles L. Holbrook attended the Westbrook Seminary and the Skowhegan Academy, completing his studies in the latter institution. He remained on the home farm until the breaking out of the Civil War, when he quickly responded to the call for volunteers. He enlisted for three months on April 26, 1861, in the Portland Light In- fantry, under Captain George W. Tukey and Colonel N. J. Jackson, and was employed in guard duty for the greater part of his term. On August 3, 1861, he was honorably dis- charged from the service at Portland. He spent the next six months in farming near East Raynham, Mass., and then taught school for eighteen years in Stark and adjoining towns, besides conducting a farm. In 1864 he bought the farm on which he now resides, and which he has managed according to the most improved methods, devoting it to gen- eral farming and the raising of small fruits. Besides the hundred acres it contains, he owns an equally large tract of woodland, the whole forming a handsome estate.
On August 6, 1864, Mr. Holbrook married Miss Eliza F. Fowler, who was born Decem- ber 19, 1840, in Athens, Me. Her parents, Charles and Eunice (Emery) Fowler, died in
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Skowhegan. Mr. Fowler was a farmer by oc- cupation, and he lived in various townships of this vicinity, including Bloomfield and Skow- hegan. Mr. and Mrs. Holbrook are the par- ents of seven children, namely: Don C., who died at the age of sixteen; Clair L., who died in May, 1897, aged twenty-nine years; Lin- wood M., formerly a manufacturer, who mar- ried Kate C. Fletcher, of Skowhegan ; Emma M. and William Parker, both clerks in Skow- hegan ; and Addie L. and Enid B. Mr. Hol- brook has rendered efficient service to the town as Selectman and as a member of the School Committee for several terms. He also represented his district in the State legislat- ure in 1888 and 1889. In politics he is a sound Republican and one of the most active members of his party. Fraternally, he be- longs to the grange at Norridgewock. Mrs. Holbrook attends the Baptist church at Nor- ridgewock, with which she united several .years ago.
OHN M. SAFFORD, a prosperous farmer of Lexington, Somerset County, and a veteran of the Civil War, was born in Livermore, Me., November 11, 1838, son of Nathan and Clarinda (Robinson) Saf- ford. The father in 1842 moved from Turner, his native town, to Concord, this county, where he remained about four years. Subse- quently he settled upon a farm in West Lex- ington. He carried on general farming for the rest of his active period, and his last years were spent with his children. He died in April, 1893. Clarinda, his wife, who was a
native of Livermore, became the mother of seven children, namely: Angela, who is no longer living; Nathan Weston, a resident of North New Portland; Alphonso, of New Port- land; Ellen C., the wife of Benjamin Taylor, of Lexington; Eliza A., who is now Mrs. Edgecomb, and resides in Brockton, Mass .; Emily F., the wife of Leonard Knowlton, of New Portland; and John M., the subject of this sketch. The mother died in 1849.
John M. Safford received his education in the district schools. At the age of seventeen he went to Turner, where he worked upon a farm until he was twenty-three. On Septem- ber 7, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Com- pany E, Eighth Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Strickland and Cap- tain Thomas Hutchins. He was subsequently in the engagement at Hilton Head and at the reduction of Fort Pulaski. When his first term of service expired, he re-enlisted with his regiment, joined the Army of the James, and participated in the battles of Bermuda Hun- dred, Drewry's Bluff, Cold Harbor, Chapin's Farm, the siege of Petersburg, and the second battle of Fair Oaks. At Fair Oaks he re- ceived a wound in the right arm of such a serious nature as to cause its immediate ampu- tation. He spent eight months in the hospi- tals of Fortress Monroe and New York, and was honorably discharged in June, 1865. After his return he resumed farming; and, al- though crippled by the loss of an arm, his natural energy has made him prosperous. At the present time he and his brother-in-law, Benjamin Taylor, another disabled veteran,
JOHN M. SAFFORD.
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own conjointly over four hundred acres of land, thirty acres of which is under cultivation, and the rest under timber. They raise consider- able hay and grain, besides stock, and are in- terested in dairying to some extent.
Mr. Safford has served with ability in some of the town offices, and in politics he is a Re- publican. He is a comrade of Isaac Penal Post, No. 94, G. A. R., of North New Port- land, and is highly respected both as a citizen and a veteran.
1 VORY P. TASH, M.D., a well-known physician of Fairfield village, Somerset County, was born in Exeter, this State, June II, 1849, son of John and Esther (Ma- thews) Tash. His father, born in Orneville, resided there and in Penobscot County, fol- lowing the occupation of farmer. He died in 1861. His mother, Esther, who was born in Penobscot County, died in 1870. They were the parents of nine children, three of whom are living, namely: Albert, who is a farmer and grain merchant at Lewiston, Me. ; Maria, who is.the wife of Hooper Avery, and resides at Exeter; and Ivory P., the subject of this sketch.
The early education of Ivory P. Tash was received at the celebrated Kent's Hill School in which many well-known Maine men have been educated. Subsequently he graduated at the Maine Central Institute, class of 1875, and then attended medical lectures at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me., for a year. Going from there to the University of New York, he
graduated from that institution in 1879 after two years' study, and received his diploma. He then practised medicine in Corinna, Me., for a year and in Clinton for about five years. After that he came to Fairfield, where he has since resided. His present practice embraces Canaan, Clinton, Fairfield, and the other neighboring towns. Office patients, of whom he has a large number, consult him in the morning on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and in the afternoon on the other days of the week.
Dr. Tash was married in 1880 to Lizzie Crooker, daughter of Hiram Crooker, a ship- builder of Stockton. Both of her parents are deceased. Mrs. Tash has had no children. The Doctor has never held political office, and has never cared to do so. He is a Republi- can in politics, and always votes the Repub- lican ticket. An esteemed Mason, he is a member of Corinna Lodge and Ticonic Chap- ter of Waterville. In religion both he and Mrs. Tash favor Universalist teachings.
OHN S. HAMOR, who lost his life in defending the Union during the third year of the Civil War, was born Octo- ber 7, 1832, at Hull's Cove, in the town of Eden on Mount Desert Island, Hancock County, Me. He was a son of Captain Ezra and Eliza (Higgins) Hamor, and great-grand- son of John Hamor, who moved from Avon- dale, Me. (now Kennebunkport), to Mount Desert in 1768, settling as a squatter at the head of Hull's Cove.
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A year after his arrival here with his fam- ily John Hamor departed upon a prospecting tour westward, from which he never returned. He left a widow and five children, the eldest of whom, David, John S. Hamor's grand- father, was but twelve years old. The propri- etor of the land, recognizing the squatter's claim of John Hamor, gave David Hamor a title to the farm when he became of age. A further account of the family ancestry will be found in a sketch of Eben M. Hamor, which appears elsewhere in the REVIEW. Captain Ezra Hamor, son of David, father of John S. Hamor, was for many years of his active life a ship-master, but his last days were spent upon the home farm. He reared a family of nine children, and six are living.
John S. Hamor was educated in the town school, and, like most of the youths of this section, at an early age he went to sea in the coasting trade. In 1862 he enlisted as a pri- vate in Company E, Twenty-sixth Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infantry; and at the battle of Irish Bend, April 14, 1863, he received a severe gunshot wound, from the effects of which he died the following day.
Mr. Hamor married Angelia T. Hamor, daughter of Captain Edward and Elemenia (Thomas) Hamor, of Eden. Mrs. Angelia T. Hamor's father, Captain Edward Hamor, who was a successful ship-master engaged in the foreign trade, built the handsome brick dwell- ing at Hull's Cove now occupied by his daughter. It is the only residence on the island built wholly of that material. Captain Edward Hamor died at Port au Prince of
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