Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Cumberland County, Maine, Part 2

Author:
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 722

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Mr. James Deering was singularly exact, conscientious, prompt, and methodical in all his transactions, and required the like quali- ties from those with whom he dealt. He was at the same time a generous man, and freely and largely contributed to all objects which received his approbation; but he neither be- stowed his charities nor performed any other act of his life from ostentatious motives or with desire for popular favor. This he never courted. No man ever avoided notoriety more sincerely than he did; and his benefac- tions to meritorious persons, which were fre- quent and liberal, were privately conveyed, the recipients never knowing their source. In the domestic and social relations of life he was kind, affectionate, and courteous. In no house were friends or strangers received more freely or entertained with more generous hos- pitality. In the street his acquaintances were always greeted with a smile. Forms and cere- mony and all the artificial rules of society were to him as distasteful as they usually are

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to guests. Many distinguished men were en- tertained at his cheerful mansion, and his manner of receiving them was most cordial and unceremonious. He was of a bright and happy temperament; and it is to the cheerful views which he took of life, and his moderation, that we may attribute the long period he was permitted to enjoy its pleasures. Nor was he insensible in his last sickness to the numerous blessings which had surrounded him, or the source from which they came; but he laid them down in perfect calmness and resigna- tion.

The death of a man of so many good quali- ties was a severe bereavement, not only to the family, but to the community in which he lived. The poor lost a friend always ready to relieve, and society an example of honorable and successful effort, of cheerful, generous sympathy. An obituary notice in the Portland Advertiser concludes as follows : -

"He was one whom great wealth could not intoxicate, and whose best sympathies, feel- ings, and affections it could not dry up or wither. In his intercourse with his fellow- citizens of every class he was always, in real- ity as well as in manner, the same genuine republican, one of nature's gentlemen, al- ways cheerful, interesting, and unaffected. There was nothing about him to remind the most humble that he was conversing with a rich man. It was a matter unthought of in his presence. As a consequence he was sin- cerely respected and beloved to an extent that but few wealthy men are."

After his death the name of the town of Westbrook was changed to that of Deering in his honor. He died at the Deering mansion on September 21, 1850, aged eighty-four years, leaving a widow, a son, Nathaniel Deering, and five daughters - Harriet and Mary L. Deering, Mrs. Thomas Amory Du- blois, Mrs. Henry Merrill, and Mrs. William Pitt Fessenden. Harriet and Mary Deering lived for many years at the family mansion, carrying on the large farm left them by their father with a reverential regard for his mem- ory. Possessed of large wealth, they were en- abled to do many deeds of private and public charity. Never was a deaf ear turned by them to any worthy appeal, and their names are

connected by generous contributions with nearly every great and good work in the com- munities of Portland and Deering.

ATHANIEL DEERING, author, son of James Deering, was born in Port- land, June 25, 1791. At the time of his birth his father resided on the corner of Middle and Exchange Streets, on the site of the First National Bank, the lot upon which the house stood having been part of the garden of Deacon James Milk, his great- grandfather. In early boyhood Nathaniel Deering attended the school of Mr. Patten; and from there he went to Phillips Exeter Academy, then under the charge of the well- known and beloved preceptor, Benjamin Ab- bot, for whom Mr. Deering always enter- tained the highest respect, and to whom he subsequently dedicated his first play. After finishing his preparatory studies at Exeter he entered Harvard College, and was graduated there in 1810, standing fourteenth in a class of sixty-three, and leaving with a reputation of being a great wit and one of the best clas- sical scholars in the college. Intending at first to become a merchant, he spent some time in the counting-room; but, as his father was anxious that he should adopt the law as a profession, and as that was more congenial to his tastes, he entered the law office of Judge Ezekiel Whitman, Congressman, and one of the most distinguished members of the bar in the district of Maine.

Mr. Deering was one of the foremost in the band of talented young men of the town, in- cluding William Willis, Bellamy Storer, Charles S. Daveis, and William P. Fessenden, and others, who established a club for literary and social purposes, and published in manu- script an exceedingly bright and witty paper called the Torpedo. Mr. Deering was the edi- tor of this paper and one of its most constant contributors. His services were also in de- mand for Fourth of July orations and various other public occasions, and as early as 1813, at the dinner given by the citizens of Portland to the officers of the United States brig "En- terprise," he sang an ode composed by himself for the occasion, of which the battle between

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the "Enterprise " and the "Boxer " was the theme. He was admitted to the bar in 1815, and began the practice of his profession in the Kennebec valley, where he resided for some years in the town of Skowhegan.

In 1824 he married Anna Margaret Hol- well, the daughter of Major John Z. Holwell of the British army, whose father, James Hol- well, was a Lieutenant Colonel of the famous Ninety-third Regiment of Foot, known as the "Scots Grays," and whose great-grandfather was John Z. Holwell, Governor of Bengal, who commanded the English garrison at Cal- cutta at the time of its capture by Surrajah Dowlah in June, 1756, and with one hundred and forty-five others was confined in the terrible Black Hole of Calcutta, of whom only twenty-three, including their commander, Governor Holwell, came out alive.

Mr. Deering returned to Portland in 1836, and gradually relinquished the law for the more congenial pursuit of literature. He be- came for a short time the editor of a political paper called the Statesman, published in the interests of Henry Clay; and during his life he was a constant contributor to the daily papers, nearly all of his articles appearing anonymously. William Cullen Bryant, im- pressed with his ability in this field, urged his acceptance of a place upon the New York Evening Post ; but Mr. Deering, preferring to remain in his native town, declined the flatter- ing offer. In 1830 he published "Carra- basset," a tragedy in five acts, founded upon the story of the massacre of Father Rasle and the Norridgewock Indians by the British in 1720, a theme suggested to him during his residence in the vicinity of Norridgewock. This was followed by the "Clairvoyants," a comedy. Both these plays have been several times produced upon the stage in Portland and Boston. In 1851 he published his tragedy of "Bozzaris," which is the most carefully written of all his productions, the characters being finely conceived and well sustained throughout. The critics of the day all spoke in the highest praise of the work.

As a humorous writer he became quite popu- lar at one time; and some of his stories, as "The Donation Visit," "Mrs. Sikes," and "Tableaux Vivants," appearing originally in

the old Portland Gascette, Portland Transcript, and Coleman's Magasinc, were extensively copied by newspapers in different parts of the country. His brilliant wit, sparkling repar- tee, and striking bon-mots will long be re- membered in his native town and vicinity. His native humor was also manifested in sev- eral ballads, political songs, and epigrams, published in the periodicals of the day. But it is in such beautiful poems as "The Grave," "The Harp, "and "The Solitary," that Mr. Deering showed the true poetic quality of his mind, and indicated what he might have written in a more serious vein. He was ex- ceedingly musical in his tastes, and composed a number of hymns and anthems, which ap- peared in various collections of sacred music, and are still in use.

In 1858 Mr. Deering lost his eldest son, Edward Deering, a young man of brilliant promise. For some years he had been en- gaged in business in Boston, and later came back to Portland, and entered into mercantile business. Generous by nature, endowed with those qualities of person and manner that win general favor, he was the idol of a large circle of devoted family friends, and he was equally at home in the ranks of business men and in society.

His second son, James Deering, at the be- ginning of the Rebellion entered the navy, and was on blockade duty on the frigate "Santee" and other vessels for over two years. He was then transferred to the Mis- sissippi squadron, commanded by Admiral David D. Porter, and in 1864 received his commission as Acting Ensign in the navy. He was executive officer of the iron-clad gun- boat "Ozark " during the Red River expedi- tion, and was repeatedly complimented in the reports of his superior officers for his gallant and meritorious conduct at that time. He remained on duty till the close of the war, when he resigned his position in the navy to accept one in the Quartermaster's department in the army, and was stationed on various posts in the West. He died in 1876. Up- right, generous, and open-hearted, no one had fewer enemies or warmer friends.

In 1878, on the death of his last surviving sister at the ancestral homestead in Deering,

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Nathaniel Deering, with his family, moved out to the family mansion, and resided there in an exceedingly peaceful and happy old age till his death, which took place on March 25, 1881. He left one son, Henry Deering, and three daughters - Harriet H. Deering, Mar- garet D. Gilman, and Marion D. Noyes.

He was a man of sterling character, uniting the strictest integrity with the sensitive ten- derness of a woman. Possessed of great talents, he was prevented by extreme modesty and self-distrust from taking the position in the community that was clearly his, and which men of far less ability did take. No man was more charitably disposed or more ready to re- lieve the unfortunate, and no one more unpre- tending in his daily walk. Singularly happy in his home life, he was content that others should strive for the brilliant prizes that might easily have been his. We cannot find a more fitting word with which to close this notice than the following lines from his own poem of "The Solitary ": -

" And in his matchless features one might trace The march of thought, the majesty of mind. And his was one that learning had refin'd, And it was full of high imaginings.

No more the joys of time and sense could bind Him down to earth. On Fancy's fairy wings He loved aloft to soar and muse on heavenly things."

ON. WILLIAM W. CUTTER, Mayor of the city of Westbrook, Me., a leader in mercantile as well as po- litical circles, was born at Cape Elizabeth, Me., January 11, 1851. His par- ents, Ephraim P. and Ardelia M. (Warren) Cutter, were both natives of Cumberland County, Maine.

Richard Cutter, his first progenitor in this country, emigrated from the north of England and settled in Cambridge, Mass., about the middle of the seventeenth century; and in Cambridge several generations of the family lived and died. They were an energetic and long-lived race, and reared large families. Ammi Cutter, the great-grandfather of Mayor Cutter, fought in the battle of Lexington; and his death occurred on April 19, 1795, the twentieth anniversary of that fateful engage-

ment. He was three times married, and was the father of twenty-one children.

His son Simon, the father of Ephraim P. Cutter, was born in Cambridge, Mass., in the latter part of the eighteenth century. He was educated at Ipswich Academy, graduating therefrom, being especially proficient in math- ematics. He taught navigation and survey- ing for several years, both in Cambridge and in Westbrook, Me., whither he moved in 1806; but in the latter part of his life he was engaged in the manufacture of lum- ber. Injured by an accident in one of his mills, he died about 1842, when fifty-four years of age. Simon Cutter was a member of the Commissary Department during the War of 1812, and later was Colonel of the State militia. He married Mrs. Christiana (Dyer) Simonton, daughter of Captain John Dyer, of Steuben, Me., a Revolutionary patriot who raised and commanded a company of Conti- nentals. Mrs. Christiana Cutter died in Westbrook in 1852.

Ephraim P. Cutter was born in 1822 in Westbrook, opening his eyes to the light in a house which stood where now stands the hand- some structure known as Odd Fellows Block, in which is his son's place of business. Reared to manhood in Westbrook, he there learned the trade of a millwright, but subse- quently worked in a number of different

places. In 1858 he went to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and obtained em- ployment in the ship yards on Mare's Island. In 1862 he returned home, and after a short stay made another visit to California, travel- ling overland. He died in 1876. His wife, Mrs. Ardelia M. Cutter, who was born in 1822, became the mother of four sons. She now makes her home with her youngest son, William W., enjoying the peaceful sunset of a useful life. She is a member of the Univer- salist church. Her other sons, who are all married and living in Minnesota, are: Charles P., a practical painter; Oscar L., a bank cashier at Anoka; and Cassimer W., a retired merchant. Soon after the birth of William W. Cutter in Cape Elizabeth his parents re- moved to Portland; and from there they went to Lovell, from which town in the fall of 1854 they came to Westbrook. He attended the

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common schools of the town and Gorham Academy, and taught school for a while after completing his studies. Possessed, however, of a natural taste for mercantile life, Mr. Cutter embraced the first opportunity to enter the world of trade, obtaining employment in the store of Mr. L. W. Edwards, a dry-goods merchant, who is still in business in West- brook; and he was subsequently employed as clerk for one year in the large store of East- man Brothers & Bancroft in Portland. Re- turning to Westbrook, Mr. Cutter started in business in a comparatively small way in 1882, putting in a stock of dry goods, boots, and shoes. His enterprise prospered to such an extent that he was soon obliged to seek more commodious quarters, and he moved into the large store which he now occupies in Odd Fellows Block. This is situated in the very heart of the thriving city of Westbrook, and is the centre of an ever-increasing trade.

Mr. Cutter is man of inherent business abil- ity, and has attained his present eminence through his own unaided efforts. As a Repub- lican of some local prominence, he has taken an active part in public affairs. He was a member of the School Board for two years, held the office of Treasurer of the town for several years, and in 1892, one year after Westbrook was granted a city charter, was elected to the Common Council. The follow- ing year he was re-elected, and chosen Presi- dent of that body; and in the spring of 1895 he was clected Mayor of the city, being re- elected in 1896. His administration has been of the progressive order, and his integrity and tact have won for him a warm place in the hearts of his fellow-citizens.

Mr. Cutter was married in Westbrook in 1875 to Miss Addie S. Hazleton, a native of Westbrook, daughter of Ivory and Jane R. Hazleton. One child has blessed their union, a daughter, Elizabeth E., a young lady of many gifts and accomplishments, who is still pursuing her studies at the academy at Brad- ford, Mass.

Mayor Cutter has been a member of Sac- carappa Lodge, No. 11, Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Westbrook for twenty years, and has held all the principal offices. He is also a member of Temple Lodge, No. 86,

A. F. & A. M., of Westbrook, and a charter member of Wawenock Tribe, No. 35, Im- proved Order of Red Men of Westbrook, in which organization he has held the most important positions. Through his great- grandfathers, Captain John Dyer and Ammi Cutter, he is eligible to membership in the Sons of the Revolution.

ILLIAM GORE, who at his late re- tirement from active business life, was the oldest merchant of Freeport, was born in Roxbury, Mass. (now a part of Boston), on November 23, 1810, son of Paul and Mary (Davis) Gore, both his parents being natives of that place. His father, who was born January 7, 1767, was a hatter, and worked at his trade during the greater part of his active life. He owned a small farm in what is now Jamaica Plain, Mass., which he cultivated for family needs, and was an indus- trious and prudent man, one of the most pros- perous citizens of old Roxbury. In politics a Whig, he took an active part in public affairs, and represented his district in the legislature for a number of years. In religious belief he was a Unitarian. He died at the age of eighty-five. Paul Gore Street, Jamaica Plain, to-day perpetuates his name. His wife, Mary Davis, was one of fifteen children, thirteen of whom married and established homes. She was called to rest in her eighty-fourth year. They were the parents of eight children, all of whom reached maturity, but only one of whom is now living - William, the subject of this sketch.

William Gore was educated in the common schools of Roxbury and at Newburyport (Mass.) Academy. In 1826 he went to work as clerk for his brother, Martin Gore, a dealer in hats and furs in Portland. In the fall of 1827 he engaged with Dana & Smith, with whom he remained nearly four years. In 1831 he removed to Freeport, and, forming a part- nership with Samuel Holbrook, opened a gen- eral store. This connection lasted five years, at the end of which time Mr. Holbrook's son, Samuel A., purchased his father's in- terest ; and the firm of Holbrook & Gore con- ducted a successful and growing trade for

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thirty years. Mr. Gore then became sole pro- prietor of the establishment, which he con- ducted alone for fifteen years, subsequently taking William A. Davis as his partner, which connection lasted fourteen years. At the end of that time Mr. Gore sold his stock to E. B. Mallett, Jr., and retired from active business, having been engaged in trade for sixty-two years, an unusual and gratifying record. He looked well to the essentials of success in his line, keeping first-class goods, promptly meet- ing the demands of his customers, and dealing courteously with all.

On August 5, 1835, Mr. Gore was married to Helen Louisa Nye, who was born in Free- port, October 11, 1816, and is a daughter of Nathan and Susan (Lazeel) Nye, her father being a representative of one of the oldest families of Freeport. Three children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Gore, of whom but one is living - Clara W., wife of C. C. Luce, of Boston, Mass. Helen Louisa, who was born October 11, 1836, died August 5, 1894; and William P., who was born September 8, 1844, died December 9, 1861. Mr. Gore is one of the most respected citizens of Freeport, well known on account of his long and honor- able mercantile career, and active and ener- getic to-day, though the frosts of eighty-five years have silvered his hair. He votes the Republican ticket, and is a member of the Unitarian church, to which his wife also be- longs. Among the oldest residents of this place, they have witnessed many changes during the growth of the town, and have made friends among the representatives of three generations.

ON. FREDERICK ROBIE, Presi- dent of the First National Bank of Portland and ex-Governor of the State of Maine, is a native resident of Gorham, Cumberland County. He was born on August 12, 1822, son of Toppan and Sarah Thaxter (Lincoln) Robie, and is a de- scendant of Henry Robie (or Roby), who is supposed to have been born at Castle Dunning- ton, Yorkshire, England, February 12, 1618. Henry Robie had at least two brothers, Thomas and Samuel, the former living and

dying at Castle Dunnington. Of Samuel it is recorded that he left home for America, but his arrival was never heard of. Thomas Ro- bie's son William emigrated to America, and, settling in Boston, married Elizabeth Green- ough; and tradition says they reared fifteen children. . Their descendants still live in New York, Illinois, and Michigan.

The exact date of the arrival in America of Henry Robie, the far-off ancestor of ex-Gov- ernor Robie, is not known. The first we hear of him is that he was at Dorchester, Mass., early in 1639. He went to Exeter, N. H., in that year; and his name is appended to a pe- tition signed by a number of the inhabitants of Exeter, dated May 4, 1639, addressed to King Charles I., declaring their allegiance to him and their obedience to such laws as he should make for the government of the colony and to such wholesome regulations as they should make for themselves. His name also appears on a similar petition addressed to the Governor of the colony asking that the town be laid out. In 1653-54 Henry Robie went to Hampton, and was Constable there in 1662. October 18, 1669, he was an attorney in a matter before the court of Boston ; and on July 13, 1680, he was foreman of the grand jury. In 1683 he, with other residents of Hampton, petitioned the Colonial Governor to be freed from head money. The same year he was elected a mem- ber of the Council from Hampton, and the year following he was made a Justice of the Peace. He died in 1688, leaving a wife, Sarah, and the following children: Thomas, Samuel, Ichabod, Mary, John, Judith, and Ruth.

John Robie, the next in line, was a soldier in King Philip's War, under Captain Joseph Syll, and was credited on the books of Haver- ell (Haverhill) Town, November 30, 1675, as having earned one pound, sixteen shillings. Part of the time he served in the garrison at Chelmsford; and, for like services the next year under Lieutenant Benjamin Swett, on

June 14, 1676, he was further credited with eight shillings, sixpence. In 1675 or 1676 he built himself a house at Haverhill, Mass., in that part of the town now known as Atkin- son, N. H. ; and there he inet his death on June 16, 1691, being killed by the Indians. His

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wife had died a few days before, leaving seven children, the oldest not quite eleven years old. Warned of impending danger from the Indians, Mr. Robie had taken his family from his home to a place of safety, and was returning with his cart and oxen about two hours before sun- set, when he was shot down. His son Ichabod, who was with him, was taken prisoner and carried to Canada, where he was kept about a year, then ransomed, and returned home.

Ichabod Robie, the great-great-grandfather of ex-Governor Robie, was born in Haverhill, Mass., in 1680, and worked as a tanner and surveyor. An entry in the Provincial Records of New Hampshire, dated July 3, 1697, states that he is entitled to two pounds and two shil- lings for seven days' work on the fort erected for protection against the French and Indians. He appears to have been an enterprising man, and was a prominent member of the society for settling the "Chestnut Country " (or Chester, N. H.), organized in October, 1719; a mem- ber of the committee to manage the affairs of the society, and chairman of the committee to lay out lots ; one of the petitioners to the Gov- ernor of the colony asking that they might have a grant of said lands; and one of the pro- prietors of the town of Chester, N. H., named in the grant from King George, dated May 8, 1722. He was a member of the Assembly from Hampton in the Provincial House of Repre- sentatives for the years 1735, 1736, 1741, and 1742, on May 8 of the last-named year being appointed by the House one of the committee to address his majesty the King upon matters relating to the colony, and was also elected to another committee to answer the speech of the Colonial Governor and present it to the House for approval. In the proceedings of the House in many instances he is called Captain. On January 13, 1706, he married Mary Cass, who became the mother of the following children : John, born in 1712; Henry, born in 1714; and Samuel, born in 1717.

Samuel Robie settled on his father's lot, No. 116, March 1, 1744. He was a Lieuten- ant in the New Hampshire regiment of which Samuel Moore was Colonel; and in January, 1775, he was chosen a deputy to nominate del- egates to the Congress of May 10 following. In 1777 he was one of the Committee of Safety

for Chester. He married a Miss Perkins; and their son Edward married Sarah Smith, daugh- ter of John and Sarah (Toppan) Smith. Ed- ward and Sarah (Smith) Robie were the parents of the Hon. Toppan Robie, of Gorham, Me., who had three brothers and two sisters.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Cumberland County, Maine, Part 2

Author: Publication date: 1896 Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review Publishing Company Number of Pages: 722

Author:
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 722