USA > Maine > Piscataquis County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 41
USA > Maine > Aroostook County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 41
USA > Maine > Hancock County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 41
USA > Maine > Washington County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 41
USA > Maine > Somerset County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine > Part 41
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yellow fever, a comparatively young man. His daughter was then but seven years old. He left a son also, George B. Hamor, who re- sides in South Boston. Mrs. Hamor has two children - Calvert G. and Hattie E. Calvert G. Hamor married Lena Campbell. They reside in this place. They have one daughter, Leota. Hattie E. lives at home with her mother.
UDSON WINSLOW CURRIER, a Civil War veteran, living retired in Hartland, Somerset County, son of Oren and Patience (Hanson) Currier, was born in Dover, Me., August 4, 1842. The father, born in Anson, Me., November 27, 1816, who followed the trade of a wool carder for many years in Dover, died April 17, 1864. He was twice married. Patience, his first wife, who was born in North Berwick, Me., June 15, 1813, died December 24, 1856. His second wife, Lucinda N. Chisholm Cur- rier, born in Jefferson, Me., January 4, 1822, died August 22, 1864. By his first union he was the father of eight children, namely : Pa- melia, born November 10, 1838, who married Eben Hall, and died in January, 1896, leaving one daughter, Lizzie Hall; Melvina, born July 30, 1840, who is now the wife of Gran- ville Shackford, of Old Orchard, Me., having one daughter, Jessie M. Shackford; Judson W., the subject of this sketch; Maria, born in St. Albans, Me., March 14, 1844, who died at the age of twenty years; Levi Wood, born February 5, 1846, who was drowned at the age of four years; Elizabeth Ellen, born Septem-
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ber 5, 1847, who died at the age of four years ; Ella, born April 9, 1851, who married Alfred Hicks, and has two children - Grace and Ar- thur; and Levi Currier, second, born Decem- ber 31, 1853, who died at the age of ten years. Born of the second wife were two children, namely : Samuel C., on August 27, 1858, who died August 19, 1879; and Oren W. Currier, May 19, 1861, who married Mary E. Richard- son, of Lincolnville, and is now a farmer in Appleton, Me.
Judson Winslow Currier acquired a common- school education. In his youth he worked upon a farm. He enlisted as a private in Company H, Sixth Regiment, Maine Volun- teer Infantry, successively on May 13, 1861, and January 5, 1863, participated in several decisive battles of the Civil War, was wounded in the right hand at Spottsylvania Court House by the bursting of a gun, was confined in Belle Isle Prison eight weeks, and lay se- riously ill at College Green Hospital for some time. After his discharge at Augusta, June I, 1865, he located upon a farm in Garland, Me., where he resided until 1879. Then, coming to Hartland, he was employed as engi- neer at the Linn Woollen Mills for seventeen years, at the end of which time he retired.
On January 22, 1863, Mr. Currier first mar- ried Sarah J. Atkins, daughter of John Atkins, of Garland. They reared three children, namely : Lillia M., who married Harry Pier- pont, resides with him in Madison, Me., and has one child, Royden H. ; Rosa L., who re- sides in Freeport, Me. ; and Maud, who mar- ried Earl Cooke, and resides in California.
The mother died April 14, 1875. Mr. Currier contracted a second marriage on March 22, 1876, with Nellie A. Woodbury, of St. Al- bans, who died March 14, 1893; and on Sep- tember 16 of that year he entered a third mar- riage with Mrs. Ora Ham Starbird, the widow of Arthur Starbird, late of Hartland. The third Mrs. Currier is a daughter of John and Abigail Ham, the former of whom was a na- tive of Hartland, and is no longer living; while the latter, who was born in Waterville, is now residing with her daughter. Since he relinquished his regular employment, Mr. Currier has devoted his time to the cultivation of a farm, on which he resides. He is a com- rade of Stephen Davis Post, G. A. R., of Pittsfield, and is much esteemed in the town.
ENRY WHITING, one of the leading merchants of Ellsworth, Hancock County, was born in this city, Feb- ruary 17, 1855. A son of Henry and Susan (Jarvis) Whiting, he is a descendant in the ninth generation of the Rev. William Whit- ing, who previous to his departure for Amer- ica was the rector of Lynn Regis, or the King's Lynn, in the County of Norfolk, Eng- land. This ancestor was the first settled pas- tor in Lynn, Mass., which he was instrumental in naming when it was set off from Saugus. The record of the court on the incorporation of the town in November, 1637, is in these four words, "Saugust is called Lin." The Rev. Samuel Whiting, son of the Rev. William, while a native of England, was one of the early
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graduates of Harvard College. He, his son Oliver, and his grandson Samuel resided in Billerica, Mass. Timothy Whiting, first, son of the last Samuel, served in the French and Indian War, and held a Major's commission in the war for independence. At the age of six- teen Captain Timothy Whiting, the great- grandfather of the subject of this sketch, together with a brother aged fourteen, par- ticipated in the memorable fight at Concord. Captain Whiting afterward served throughout the siege of Boston, accompanied General Benedict Arnold upon his march to Quebec, and was later Commissary-general of the American army in Massachusetts. Thomas J. Whiting, the grandfather, who was born in Massachusetts in 1796, settled in Ellsworth about the year 1815.
Henry Whiting, Sr., second son of Thomas J., was born here in 1820. In 1846 he and his brother, Samuel K., founded the mercan- tile business now carried on by his sons, who were admitted to the concern in 1876. In 1854 the elder Whitings built the large brick block bearing their name. Henry Whiting, Sr., died October 22, 1892. He was an able business man and a prominent factor in public affairs, serving upon the Board of Aldermen for a number of years. Susan Jarvis Whiting, his wife, who was a native of Castine, Me., became the mother of six children - Susan E., Mary F., Thomas J., Samuel K., Henry, and George W. Whiting. Mary F. married O. M. Drake, M.D., and resides in Boston. Susan E. is now Mrs. Cushing, of Ellsworth. Thomas J. lives in Boston, Mass. Samuel K.,
the fourth named, married Carrie Hathaway, of North Dighton, Mass., and has two chil- dren - William and Ray. George W. mar- ried for his first wife Mary Cousins, of La- moine, Me., who died within the following year. Ile married for his second wife Grace, daughter of H. B. Saunders, of Ellsworth, and by her has one daughter, Dorothy.
Henry Whiting acquired a practical educa- tion, which with his natural ability admira- bly fitted him for a business life. That he has made good use of his opportunities is amply attested by his present prosperity. He takes a lively interest in the various institu- tions of the city, is vice-president of the Board of Trade, has served with credit upon the Board of Aldermen, and is chairman of the City and County Republican Committees. On July 1, 1898, he was appointed Collector of Customs, district of Frenchman's Bay, taking the office August 1, 1898. He married Mary Campbell, of Cherryfield, Me., and was re- cently called upon to mourn her loss, in which he has the sympathy of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Mr. Whiting is a member of the Masonic order and of the Sons of the American Revolution.
IBEN H. KING, a retired business man of Lamoine, Hancock County, son of the Rev. John and Mary (Googins) King, was born October 21, 1831, in the part of Tren- ton now called Lamoine. The paternal grand- father, also named John King, was born in Saco, York County, Me., and there spent the
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first years of his life. Coming from Saco to Trenton, he purchased land about one mile south of that now occupied by his grandson, Eben H., and at once began the improvement of a homestead. There were no roads across the country at that time, and the nearest mar- ket was Ellsworth, whither he carried his sur- plus grain, and where he bought the needed supplies for his household. Here he subse- quently battled successfully with nature in his struggle for a living. It was of such as he and his good wife, Betsey Lord King, that Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "There was never an opening made in the forest that did not let in the light on heroes and heroines." He died while yet in the prime of life from lockjaw, leaving his widow with a large fam- ily of children.
The Rev. John King, who spent his entire life of fifty-four years in Trenton, upward of half a century ago built the house in which his son now resides. Ordained as a minister of the Baptist denomination, he preached in the Lamoine Baptist church throughout the remainder of his life. He also represented the town in the State legislature for one or more terms. With his wife, Mary, a daughter of Benjamin Googins, of Lamoine, he reared five children, namely: Warren, who married Mary Gilpatrick, and died at the age of fifty- eight years, leaving four children - Matilda, Ella, Clifford, and Arno W .; Nathan, who was lost at sea in 1841, when sixteen years old; Lewis E., the Postmaster of Lamoine, who successively married Mary Ann King and Adelaide Downs, and has a son by each wife,
respectively John L. and Elwood M .; Ellen M., who is the wife of George Whittaker, of Lamoine, and has had two children - Eben K. and Susie May; and Eben H., the subject of this sketch.
Eben H. King was educated in the district schools. In early life he worked at the car- penter's trade for ten years. Then in com- pany with his brothers he established himself in business as a ship-builder, and assisted in the construction of eight different vessels that were built in their yard. During the subse- quent ten years he was employed in fitting out vessels for the fisheries on the Grand Banks and in curing fish for the markets, a profitable business at that time. Of recent years he has devoted himself entirely to the care of his cosey little farm of thirty acres. Always inter- ested in advancing the welfare of his town, he has taken an active part in its affairs. He was Town Clerk for ten years, Town Treasurer eight years, and Selectman for three years. He is a Democrat in politics, and he cast his first Presidential vote in 1852 for Franklin Pierce. Mr. King married Hannah H., daughter of Stephen and Betsey (McFarland) Young. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. King, Susie B., an adopted daughter, died at the age of twenty-six years. Both attend the Baptist church.
AMES R. HILTON, one of the most prosperous and prominent farmers of Somerset County, has a large and well- improved estate in Starks township, where he
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has lived since his birth on December 22, 1835. He comes of excellent pioneer ances- try, being a grandson of Benjamin Hilton, one of the original settlers of the neighboring town of Anson, and a great-grandson, on the maternal side, of Colonel James Waugh, who married Bathsheba Fairfield. According to the deed in the possession of his lineal de-' scendant, James R. Hilton, the present owner, Colonel Waugh purchased this farm in 1774. Here he reared his family, residing on it for the remainder of his life. At his death his son, John, succeeded to the homestead.
James M. Hilton, the father of James R., was born on the old Hilton homestead in Anson, and there lived until he attained his majority. He chose farming as his life occu- pation, although he had learned the black- smith's trade, at which he worked more or less during his life. After his marriage with Mary Waugh, a daughter of John Waugh, he settled on the Waugh homestead in Starks, of which, after the death of his father-in-law, he had charge until 1861. In that year he re- moved to Norridgewock, whence he went to the village of Madison. A few months later he returned to Norridgewock, where the rest of his life was spent in retirement. He died September 15, 1868. Of his union with Miss Waugh eight children were born, namely : John, who died in infancy; John, second, who died in California in 1894; Betsey, who is the wife of Ira Doolittle, the proprietor of a hotel in San Francisco; Lydia, who makes her home in San Francisco with Mrs. Doolittle; Fi- delia, who died at the age of two years; Caro-
line, who was the wife of George Seaman, and died December 23, 1896, in California; James R., the subject of this biography ; and Abbie, who is the wife of Augustus Getchell, a farmer in Benton, Me. Except two who re- ceived their education in an academy, all the children were educated in the public schools. After his first wife died in 1847, the father married Mrs. Lois Bartlett Pierce, the widow of John Pierce, and who was born in New Portland, Somerset County, a daughter of John Bartlett. She is now living with one of her sons by her first husband in Buffalo, N. Y.
James R. Hilton was educated in the dis- trict schools of his neighborhood, and after- ward taught school for a time. He worked on the farm with his father in the earlier years of his life; and when he married he brought his young wife to the homestead, in which he had a half-interest. A few months later his brother-in-law purchased the remaining half of the property. The two proprietors had car- ried on the farm together for a time when Mr. Hilton bought the entire estate. The farm, which is called Ox Bow farm, contains five hundred acres of land. Its most important improvements were made by the present pro- prietor and his father. In addition to the crops common to this section of New Eng- land, Mr. Hilton raises on it each year some four hundred sheep of a superior breed, a fact for which he is noted throughout the county.
Mr. Hilton was married October 7, 1860, to Miss Maria E. Boardman, who was born January 3, 1843, in Skowhegan, Me. She was the adopted daughter of James and Eliza
DAVID R. BROWN.
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(Lawrence) Boardman, the former of whom was a shoemaker and the Postmaster at Nor- ridgewock for a number of years, where he and his wife spent their last days. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Hilton were: Ira B., born July 28, 1861, who owns an interest in the home farm, and resides with his parents; James B., who died in very early childhood; the third-born, unnamed, who died in infancy ; and James M., born March 21, 1884. Mr. Hilton has never been an aspirant for political honors; but he has ever taken an active and intelligent interest in local matters, and has earnestly supported the principles of the Dem- ocratic party. He is a member of Starks Grange, and his eldest son is an Odd Fellow. Mrs. Hilton, who shares with her husband the esteem of the entire community, is an active member of the Unitarian church.
AVID R. BROWN, M.D., who is successfully following his profes- sion in Hartland, Somerset County, was born in Paisley, Scotland, September 26, 1832. His parents, David and Catherine (Ferguson) Brown, the former of whom was a cabinet-maker by trade, died in Scotland at an advanced age. They had four children.
David R. Brown was educated in Paisley, and there learned the business of a dyer, at which he worked for a short time. Later he pursued a course of medical study, and gradu- ated in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1853. Having emigrated to the United States in February, 1880, he practised his profession for a short
time in Philadelphia. He came to Hartland in the latter part of the same year, and was the head dyer in the woollen-mills here for sixteen years. This position he resigned in 1897 in order to devote his whole time to his profession. In Hartland heretofore he had practised medicine to the extent his duties at the mills permitted. Now, free from other demands upon his time, he may be found daily at his office and residence on Academy Street. Having confined himself to business for so many years, he felt that a change would be beneficial to his health; and he accordingly took a trip to Wisconsin during the past sum- mer, and returned to his professional duties with renewed vigor.
In 1852 Dr. Brown married Margaret Guy, a native of Glasgow, whose parents died when she was an infant. She became the mother of seven children, namely: Maggie, who married Henry Smith, a weaver of Hartland, and has two children - Ethel and Jean; James, who married Jennie Jackson, and is a dyer in New- burg, N. Y., having two children - Norman and Maggie; David Guy, who married Kate Brent, and is a dyer in North Dexter, having two children - David and Thelma; John F., a physician at Soldiers' Grove, Wis .; Myra, the wife of Charles Moore, a book-keeper for the Linn Woollen Company; Charles, who died at the age of three years; and a child that died in infancy. Dr. John F. Brown successively married Lizzie York, now de- ceased, and Florence Buel, of Milwaukee, Wis. Mrs. Margaret Brown died February 3, 1894. Politically, the Doctor is indepen-
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dent, and believes in filling the elective offices with candidates best fitted for the public service. He is a member of Hart- land Lodge, No. 101, I. O. O. F.
UMNER W. ELLIOTT, the pro- prietor of one of the largest gen- eral stores in New Portland, Somer- set County, was born in this town, April 6, 1851. His parents were Nathaniel and Han- nah (Wellman) Elliott. Nathaniel Elliott, after living for some time in Hebron and Dover, eventually settled on a farm in New Portland. He died in 1889. His wife passed away a few years later. They reared three children, namely : Samuel B., who died in the army in 1862; Mary R., now deceased; and Sumner W. Mary R. was the wife of Mar- shall Emery, a store clerk in Lewiston, Me.
Sumner W. Elliott was educated in the common schools of New Portland. Having remained on his father's farm until of age, he spent two years in learning the harness- maker's trade in the village of New Portland. Then he learned the blacksmith's trade, and worked at it from 1872 to 1886, excepting a few months spent in prospecting and other work in Leadville, Col. After that he was engaged by B. B. Blaisdell, of Skowhegan, to manage the latter's store in this town. A short time after, Mr. Elliott purchased the store, and has since conducted it. His stock includes groceries, flour, country produce, confectionery, crockery, hardware, glassware, dry goods, ready-made clothing, hats, caps,
boots, shoes, and rubbers. As a business man he is quite successful. As a private citizen he is highly esteemed and has many friends.
Mr. Elliott was married November 9, 1879, to Nellie F., daughter of Jeremiah W. and Martha R. (Clark) Spear, of this town. Mr. Spear was in trade here at one time, but has been in retirement since the war, having been crippled by disease contracted in the army. Mrs. Spear died in July, 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Elliott have two children: Edna Ger- trude, born in November, 1880; and Gwendo- line Beatrice, born February 23, 1889. Mr. Elliott is a loyal Republican in politics. He is a member of Lemon Stream Lodge, No. 55, I. O. O. F., of this town, and belongs to the order of the Golden Cross. Both he and Mrs. Elliott are members of the Free Baptist Church of New Portland.
HARLES N. WOOD, a farmer of prominence residing in Mercer town- ship and a son of Nathan Wood, Jr., was born in Norridgewock, Me., March 8, 1836. His paternal grandfather, also named Nathan Wood, was a pioneer of Somer- set County and one of the early settlers of Starks, where he cleared a farm from the un- broken wilderness, and spent his last days, dying there at an advanced age.
Nathan Wood, Jr., born on the old home- stead in Starks, following in the footsteps of his forefathers, became a hewer of wood and a tiller of the soil. In his early life he carried on farming in Kingfield, Franklin County,
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for five years, after which for a long time he occupied the Old Point farm in Norridge- wock. From there he removed to Mercer, purchased a farm near the village, and resided here until his demise, on July 10, 1889, at the age of ninety-nine years and ten days. He was twice married. His second wife is Mrs. Ann Tobey Waugh. Her first hus- band was Levi Holway, of Fairfield, Me. After his death she became the wife of Daniel Waugh, of Starks, and, being left a widow the second time, married Nathan Wood, whom she preceded to the better world, dying in Oc- tober, 1876. Of this last union there was but one child, Charles N. Wood, the subject of this biography. There were nine children born of the first marriage, namely: Nancy R., now deceased; Sabrina, now the wife of Stephen Savage, of Fairfield; Susan, living in Norridgewock, who is the widow of David Sylvester; James, a lumber dealer in Lewis- ton, Me .; Ann and Betsey, deceased; Olive, the widow of the late Benjamin Dunton, of Mercer village; John, a coal dealer in Lewis- ton, who has been a resident of that city for a quarter of a century; and William, a_black- smith in Lewiston.
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Charles N. Wood received his education in the common schools of Mercer, and from his youth up worked on the farm. As his father became enfeebled by age, he gradually as- sumed the entire charge of the place, and ten- derly cared for his parents in their declining days. He now owns one hundred and twenty acres of land, well improved and suitably equipped with buildings and machinery
adapted to the purposes of general farming and dairying, which he carries on in connec- tion with teaming. Mr. Wood has always been actively identified with the Republican party, and has served in various offices, in- cluding that of Selectman, which he has held for eight years.
In 1862 Mr. Wood married Miss Elvira Swift, who was born. in June, 1840, in Wayne, Me., a daughter of Alwin and Mary (Ridley) Swift, who died on their homestead farm when she was a young girl. Mr. and Mrs. Wood have had four children, namely: Hattie, who died at the age of nineteen years; Cora, a typewriter and stenographer in Boston; George M., residing with his par- ents and assisting in the care of the farm, who married Etta M. Norton, of Farmington, Me .; and Josephine, the wife of B. L. Fred- erick, who is engaged in the grocery business in Boston, Mass. Mrs. Wood is a member of the Free Baptist Church of Mercer and an ac- tive laborer in the denominational work of this locality.
R ICHMOND I. WOOSTER, Collector of the Port at Hancock, Hancock County, was born here, September 15, 1840. Hancock was also the birthplace of his father, Leonard Wooster, and of his grandfather, Summers Wooster. His emi- grant ancestor, William Wooster, located in Massachusetts at an early day. The founder of the Wooster family in this part of Maine was Richmond's great-grandfather, Oliver Wooster, who came here from Salisbury,
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Mass., his native town, and was one of the original settlers of the county. Oliver's son, Summers Wooster, was an industrious, hard- working man of versatile capacities, who, in addition to being a fisherman, was a shoe- maker, a farmer, and the foreman of an old tide mill owned by his brother William, at which he did a large milling business. He took up new land not far from the shore, and, in the log house that he built, installed his bride, whose maiden name was Hannah Bow- den. On the homestead that he improved he and his wife spent their long lives, which lasted respectively ninety-seven and ninety-six years.
Leonard Wooster was a lifelong and promi- nent resident of Hancock. He engaged in fishing and coasting in his younger days, and at a later period was a master mariner and then a ship-builder. On his retirement from the sea he turned his attention to the manage- ment of his farm. In July, 1892, he was accidentally killed by falling from a hay-rick and breaking his neck. He was influential in town affairs, and for seven years was Town Clerk. He was a leading Free Mason in this locality and the promoter of the Hancock Grange, of which he was an active member. His wife, Phoebe Crabtree Wooster, was a direct descendant of one of the first settlers of Hancock; and her paternal grandfather, George Crabtree, was the first Collector of this port. She and her husband reared six children, namely: Richmond I., the subject of this sketch; Mary L., the widow of George H. Proctor, of Susquehanna, Pa., who has one
son and three daughters; Roxana W., who is the wife of Nahum Grant, of Hancock; Eu- gene J., a master mariner, who married Delia Graves, and has two children - Leonard and Edward; Charles HI., the manager of the grange store, who married Isadore Graves, and has one child, Grace; and Martha P., the wife of John Walker, of Hancock.
Richmond I. Wooster completed his educa- tion at the Corinth Academy, after which he taught school for six years. Then, having already become familiar with seafaring, he engaged in that calling, following it for some twenty years, and making nineteen trips to the Grand Banks as captain of a vessel, a position which he attained when a youth of nineteen. In 1883 he returned to his farm in Hancock. Two years later he was appointed Collector of the Port, which office he held for five years. Soon after the re-election of President Cleve- land he was reappointed to the same position, the duties of which he has efficiently and con- scientiously discharged for the past four years.
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