Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Cumberland County, Maine, Part 5

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

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Henry J. Davis received his education in Westport, graduating from the high school. He followed the sea for twenty years, ship- ping first before the mast, and rising gradually to the position of chief mate. He saw a great deal of the world while on the high seas, and about the time of the Franco-Prussian War, being then first mate of the bark "J. S. Winslow," was in harbor in Belgium for a while. On the return of his vessel to America he accepted the position of engineer for the Portland Steam Packet Company, running be- tween Portland and Boston, and was first on the steamer "Forest City" and then on the "John Brooks," alternating between the two. He worked in this way for nine years, and then left the sea, taking charge of stationary en- gines in different localities for some years. Finally he engaged in floriculture in Deering Centre, starting in a small way, and now has a large trade in several States, the bulk of his business being in Maine. His establishment at 37 Central Avenue is well worth a visit, not only for the sake of the beautiful plants, but also for the pleasure of meeting the genial proprietor, who is a man of diversified knowl- edge and courteous manners.

In 1872 Mr. Davis was united in marriage with Harriet L. Morse, daughter of John R. and Harriet A. (Murch) Morse; and they have

one daughter, Adele S. Davis. Mr. Davis is prominent in local politics, and in 1893 was elected to the Board of Aldermen of the city of Deering on the Republican ticket, as a mem- ber from Ward 3. He was subsequently twice re-elected, and is to hold office till 1897. He is an Odd Fellow, belonging to Ancient - Brothers' Lodge of Portland, and is also a member of Munjoy Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. In religion he is of the liberal type of believers, attending with his family All Souls' Universalist Church of Deering.

OSEPH WESCOTT PETERS, an es- teemed resident of Portland and super- intendent of the Portland & Rochester Railroad, was born at Blue Hill, Me., December 31, 1854, son of Joseph P. and Nancy A. (Wescott) Peters, both natives of Blue Hill. Mr. Peters traces his descent to Andrew Peters, who was a distiller in Ipswich, Mass., in 1659. His great-great-grandfather, John Peters, was a resident of Andover, Mass. John Peters's son, John (second), who was born in that town, was a farmer and surveyor. He removed from Andover to Penobscot, Me., where he was employed in surveying by the State, and was one of the pioneer settlers of that locality. Lemuel Peters, grandfather of Joseph W. Peters, was a farmer and ship-builder at Blue Hill. His son Joseph, the father of Joseph W., was a ship-master, spending much of his life on the sea. He was lost with his ship, which foundered during one of the Feb- ruary storms in the winter of 1863. His wife, Nancy, was a daughter of Archibald Wescott, a merchant of Penobscot, who was also engaged in farming to some extent. He was one of the old residents of Penobscot, and was well known and popular. Mrs. Peters died in 1867, four years after her husband's tragic death. John P. Peters, uncle of Joseph W., was a sailor residing in Boston, and died in 1876.

Joseph Wescott Peters was educated at Blue Hill, attending the common schools and after- ward studying at Blue Hill Academy. He was eight years old when he lost his father, and at fifteen he went to work as a cash boy in a store in Boston. In 1866 he returned to Blue Hill and finished his education, working

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JAMES P. BAXTER.

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as a clerk in a grocery store during vacation time. In May, 1870, he obtained a position as clerk in the office of the treasurer of the Portland & Rochester Railroad. When the road to Worcester was opened, in 1874, he was made paymaster and general ticket agent, be- ing then but twenty years of age. When he took his position at Portland, the road extended only to Alfred, Me. In addition to his duties as general ticket agent, he performed those of train despatcher from 1880 to 1882. In 1882 he was made superintendent of the road, and was acting general freight agent from 1885 to 1890, so that he was superintendent, general freight agent, and general passenger agent at one time. From October, 1890, to July, 1893, he was superintendent ; and he was then again appointed general ticket agent, and, as a result, has practically full charge of the busi- ness of the road. The management of railroad traffic demands a quick eye and a cool head, rapidity in mathematical calculation and in the systematic arrangement of details. These qual- ities Mr. Peters possesses in an eminent degree.

Politically, Mr. Peters favors the Democratic party. He has served on the Democratic City Council, and is now a member of the County and the District Committee. He was elected Alderman from Ward Four in 1894, and served during his term, of office on the Committee on Streets, on the Sanitary Commission, and on the Committee on Estimates for Appropria- tions. He was again elected Alderman in March, 1895, and is now on the Sanitary Com- mission and the Committees on Judicial Pro- ceedings, Claims, and Public Works. He is also one of the Back Bay and Fore River Com- missioners, taking a leading part in the pro- ceedings for the improvement of that locality. Mr. Peters belongs to the fraternal order of Elks, being a member of B. P. O. E. of Port- land, and a Trustee of the organization.

ON. JAMES PHINNEY BAXTER, the present Mayor of Portland, was born in Gorham, Me., March 23, 1831, and was about nine years old when, in 1840, his father, Dr. Elihu Baxter, removed from Gorham to this city, where he engaged in the practice of medicine.

In 1859 Mr. Baxter formed business rela- tions with William G. Davis; and subsequently the two partners united with the firm of Ru- mery & Burnham, under the style of the Port- land Packing Company. The provision pack- ing business was then in its infancy, but under the efficient management of the firm the business increased so rapidly that it gained a national reputation. Other enterprises have claimed the attention of Mr. Baxter, in each of which he has been uniformly successful, having acquired a large fortune. His marked skill in money matters has commended him to several of the leading financial institutions of Portland. He is Trustee of the Portland Savings Bank; Vice-President of the Mer- chants' National Bank and of the Portland Provident Association ; Vice-President of the Portland Trust Company, being one of the original Directors of this company, which is capitalized at one hundred thousand dollars.

He is also Director of the Maine Industrial School and the Portland Benevolent Society, and President of the Maine Historical Society and of the Public Library, and is besides a working member of the American Historical Society of Washington, D.C. ; the New Eng- land Historic Genealogical Society of Boston ; the Old Colony Historical Society of Taun- ton, Mass. ; the Rhode Island Historical So- ciety ; the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester, Mass. ; and the Portland Society of Natural History. He has prepared and read a number of papers on historical and other sub- jects before most of the above-named societies.

In 1893 Mr. Baxter was elected Mayor of Portland, and early in his first term he gave his salary of two thousand dollars to the School Board to maintain the Manual Training School for Boys. He was re-elected in 1894 and again in 1895, and in the Mayoralty as elsewhere his business efficiency has accom- plished the most gratifying results. His pub- lic-spirited generosity is shown by his frequent and bountiful gifts to the city of Portland, among which may be named the elegant public library building on Congress Street, a monu- ment to his artistic and literary tastes. As an outgrowth of his interest in the Home for Little Wanderers in Boston, he founded the Portland Associated Charities.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

While Mr. Baxter's varied ability and power of adaptation have rendered him a most efficient functionary in city and State, his favorite field is literature; and his labors with the pen for the last twenty years have been constant and valuable. He was an early contributor to the New York Home Journal, Shillaber's Carpet Bag, and Godey's Ladies' Book. His annual addresses to the City Council during his period of office as Mayor are models of a clear, incisive style, placing before the city fathers in terse and forcible English the condition of the municipal departments and calling atten- tion to the city's most urgent needs. Of late years Mr. Baxter has given much attention to historical research, having in 1885 made a prolonged visit to Europe, where he procured valuable historical data. The "English Col- onization of the New World " was the result of careful and discriminating study, as was also his work entitled "Western Civilization, " the two being among the most important of his publications. "Idyls of the Year" is full of grace and possesses an interest for all true lovers of poetry.

The following list of the printed works of Mr. Baxter is taken from the Bibliography of the American Historical Association : "Laus Laureati," a poem delivered before the Maine Historical Society on the celebration of Long- fellow's seventy-fifth birthday, Portland, 1882. "A Greeting to the Mentor," a poem deliv- ered on the eightieth birthday of Professor Packard, Longfellow's tutor, Portland, 1883. "The Great Seal of New England," Cam- bridge, 1884. "Idyls of the Year," poems, Portland, Hoyt, Fogg & Donham, 1884. "The Trelawny Papers," Portland, Fogg & Donham, 1884. "George Cleeve and his Times," Portland, Gorges Society, 1885. "The British Invasion from the North," Albany, Munsell (Historical Series), 1887. "Documentary History of Maine," vol. iv., Portland, Maine Historical Society, 1889. "Early Voyages to America," Providence, Rhode Island, Historical Society, 1889. Ibid., Old Colony Historical Society's Collections, No. 4, Taunton, Mass., 1889. "Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine," Boston, Prince Society, 1890. "The Abanakis," New England Magasine, Boston, September, 1890.

"Reminiscences of a Great Enterprise," Portland, 1890. "The Campaign against the Pequakets : Its Cause and its Results," Port- land, 1890. "The Beginnings of Maine," Portland, 1891. "A Lost Manuscript," Port -

land, 1891. "Isaac Jogues, A. D. 1636,"

New York, 1891. "The Abanakis and their

Ethnic Relations," Portland, 1892. "A Period of Peril," address delivered at City Hall, Portland, on the Centennial Celebration of the Adoption of the Constitution of the United States, April 30, 1889. "Three Suggestive Maps," Maine Historical Quar- terly, January, 1893. "The Observatory,"' an illustrated poem, The Stevens & Jones Company, Portland, 1893. "Christopher Levett, the First Owner of the Soil of Port- land," Maine Historical Quarterly, April and July, 1893. "Christopher Levett, the Pioneer Colonist in Casco Bay," Portland, Gorges Society, 1893. "Pioneers of New France in New England," Albany, Munsell (Historical Series), 1894. "Raleigh's Lost Colony," illustrated, New England Magasine, January, 1895.

In politics Mr. Baxter is Republican. He is a man of liberal ideas; and his political, commercial, and literary career has ever been characterized by honor,

" The finest sense

Of Justice which the human mind can frame."

HARLES HANSON NELSON, of New Gloucester, who occupies a place of prominence among the enterpris- ing young farmers of Cumberland County, was born in this town, August 5,

1862. He is a son of the Hon. Otis C. and Julie B. (Bailey) Nelson, his father being an extensive farmer and fruit grower here. (A sketch of the Hon. Otis C. Nelson may be found on another page of this volume.)

Charles Hanson Nelson was the second child born to his parents. His elementary education, obtained in the common schools of his native town, was supplemented by a course of study at Greely Institute, Cumberland, and North Bridgton Academy. On leaving school Mr. Nelson taught two terms in the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

district schools of New Gloucester, and at the close of his second winter term was united in marriage with Abbie Stevens Jordan, their nuptials being celebrated May 5, 1885. Mrs. Nelson is a daughter of John W. and Arabella (Lunt) Jordan, well-known farmers of this town. A month after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Nelson removed to their present home, which he then purchased. This valuable es- tate, which was formerly known as the Cush- man farm, contains two hundred and fifty acres of land, on which Mr. Nelson has made many and valuable improvements, placing a large part of it in an excellent state of tillage. Here Mr. Nelson carries on general farming, including the raising of fruit, sweet corn, and small grains, one of his most profitable indus- tries at this time being his dairy of twenty- three cows, the product of which he ships to Portland, Me., which is the headquarters for milk raised in this section of the State. In his agricultural pursuits Mr. Nelson has shown sound judgment and skill, and has met with deserved success. In politics he is a stanch member of the Democratic party. The happy union of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson has been bright- ened by the birth of seven children, namely : Lilian Frances, born April 19, 1886, died September 17, 1886; Julia Bell, born August 25, 1887; John, Otis, born December 5, 1888 ; Edwin Wilbur, born November 29, 1890; Ida Wheeler, born March 17, 1893; George Howard, born April 12, 1894, died December 1, 1894; Harold Crosby, born November 4, 1 895.

ENRY SARGENT TRICKEY, City Marshal of Portland, was born there, October 14, 1842, son of Henry and Abigail C. (Larrabee) Trickey. His grandfather was Daniel Trickey, of West -. brook, Me. Daniel was also born in the county. On leaving the parental home he settled in the town of Westbrook, where he spent his life in clearing and improving a fine farm.

Henry Trickey, son of Daniel, was born on the homestead, and there spent his boyhood days, usefully employed in occupations per- taining to farm life. When the time came for

him to select a regular calling, he went to Portland and learned the trade of a ship car- penter. He was successfully engaged in this business for a number of years, during which he worked on contracts, employing many as- sistants, and became one of the best-known ship-building contractors of the city. He was a Democrat in his political views until 1856, when he became a Republican, and thereafter continued to hold the views of the latter party. During the Civil War he served in the City Council. Among the fraternal orders with which he was affiliated were the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association, and the Aged Brother- hood. His wife was a daughter of Benjamin Larrabee, of Westbrook, a highly respected agriculturist and a large land-owner. They were the parents of four children, as follows : Sarah J., the wife of John Gilkey, of Port- land; Mary I., who died in 1887; Benjamin Larrabee Trickey, of Portland; and Henry Sargent Trickey. The father, who was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, died at his home on Paris Street in Jan- uary, 1878. The mother's death occurred about twenty years previously, on April 1, 1858.

Henry Sargent Trickey, having obtained his education in the public and private schools of Portland, was engaged as a clerk by R. I. Rob- inson. He had been employed here but a brief time when the civil strife broke out, and he enlisted in Company B of the Seventeenth Maine Volunteer Infantry. His regiment was at once ordered to Washington to assist in the fortification of that place, and later to the Army of the Potomac. A short time after he was severely injured and incapacitated for all except special detail service. He, however, continued in the service for the full term of his enlistment, and was honorably dis- charged July 27, 1865. On his return to Portland he was employed by Jonathan Smith & Co. in their belt manufactory, and worked for them and their successor, H. M. Brewer, for nine years. Hc next engaged in the re- tail grocery business on Cumberland Street, and during the succeeding seven years carried on a successful trade. In 1881 he was ap- pointed Inspector of Customs by Lot M.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Morrell, the Collector of the Port, and re- mained in the custom service until after the appointment of Samuel J. Anderson as Col- lector, by whom he was discharged October 31, 1886, as alleged, solely on political grounds. In September, 1887, he engaged in the manufacture of shoemakers' supplies, such as heels, counters, and stiffenings, employing several hands. He continued in that business until May, 1890, when he was elected by the city government as agent for the sale of intoxicating liquors in the city of Portland, and held that office until May, 1892. Following that he took up the real estate busi- ness until the spring of 1893. He was then appointed Chief of Police by the Mayor, James P. Baxter, and was reappointed to the same office in 1894 and 1895 and 1896 by the same chief magistrate. The department has been enlarged and improved since he entered it; and he now has sixty-two men under his super- vision, including forty regular patrol men, two deputies, twelve specials, and two patrol wagon drivers.

Mr. Trickey is one of the most active workers in the Republican ranks, and for a number of years has served as both Treasurer and Chairman of the Republican City Com- mittee and as a delegate to State and other conventions. He is a member of Lincoln Club of Beacon Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Eastern Star Encamp- ment, having filled all the chairs in both, and is a member of the Grand Lodge of Maine. He was one of the first to become a member of Bosworth Post, No. 2, Grand Army of the Republic, joining in 1867, and has served ac- ceptably in several of the offices. He is also a member of the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association. Mr. Trickey is a communicant of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, in which he holds the office of Vestryman, and has been Treasurer for twelve years. His mar- riage with Miss Sarah Emma Chandler, a daughter of D. H. Chandler, the leader of the old Portland band, was celebrated on Septem- ber 1, 1869. They have one daughter, Edith, who is still at home. For the past eight years his home has been at 122 Emery Street. Prior to that he resided at the old homestead, which he still owns.

HARLES H. OSBORNE, a native of Portland, was one of triplets, two boys and a girl, born December 23, 1832, to the Rev. Charles F. and Susan (Leavis) Osborne. An account of his ancestral history may be found in the sketch of Mr. Osborne's brother, Woodbridge G. Os- borne, published on another page of this volume. Mr. Osborne acquired a practical eduation in the schools of Scarboro and Lim- ington, and began life for himself as a clerk in a grocery store. He subsequently clerked in a clothing store in Portland, going from there to Dover, N. H., where he was employed for three years in the drug store of John B. Wheeler. Returning to his native city, Mr. Osborne worked for three years in the retail grocery store of Dunn & Osborne. He then went into the clothing business with I. P. Farrington, carrying it on two years. In 1855, in company with his brother, John A. Osborne, he bought seventy acres of land in the town of Gorham ; and, after managing it a while in partnership, Mr. Osborne bought out his brother's interest, and has since been prosperously engaged in general farming. He is a skilled and prac- tical agriculturist, and his property is well improved and in excellent condition.

On February 9, 1866, Mr. Osborne was united in wedlock with Mrs. Sarah Hayward, née Holmes. They are the parents of three children, as follows: Sumner L., born June 20, 1867, was married in October, 1894, to Isabelle Durell, of Hyde Park, Mass. ; Irving, born June 6, 1869, was graduated from Bow- doin College, and is now a teacher in the high school at Winthrop, Mass .; and Lillie Emily, born July 26, 1874, lives in Boston. Mr. Osborne supports the principles of the Democratic party : and, religiously, he and all of his family are members of the Congrega- tional church. He is a Knight of Pythias, belonging to Gorham Lodge, No. 24.

ILLIAM YORKE, engineer of the Portland Gas Light Company, whose office is at 40 West Commercial Street, Portland, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., July 14, 1820, son of William and Ann (Price) Yorke. His father, who was an archi-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

tect. in Philadelphia, dicd in 1830; and his mother's death occurred in 1856. There were six children; namely, Charles, Albert, Will- iam, John S., Mary F., and Anna.

William Yorke received a good education, attending first a private school and later the public schools of his native city. He worked for a short time as errand boy in a dry-goods store. At the age of fifteen he was appren- ticed for six years to a pattern-maker and ma- chinist. The two following years he worked at pattern-making in Savannah, and subse- quently started an iron foundry and machine- shop in Augusta, Ga. " He had not sufficient capital to make a success of this last enter- prise; and within two years he abandoned it, and turned his attention to mill building. Maintaining his headquarters at Macon, he cs- tablished mills in different parts of the State of Georgia. He was engaged in this way for seven years ; and subsequently, until the break- ing out of the war, he was in the lumber busi- ness near Macon. In 1861 Mr. Yorke was the owner of a large amount of property in pine forests, mills, and lumber; and, instead of taking advantage of the offers of the Confeder- ate government to allow every one so disposed to leave for the North, he remained to look after his interests, thinking, as did many others, that the war would last but a fcw months. Then his troubles began. Conscrip- tion officers were sent through the different districts to press men for the Confederate ser- vicc, and for two years Mr. Yorke kept out of the army by bribing these men, paying out in all some fifteen thousand dollars in Confeder- ate scrip, as the men were changed every few months. At length, his patience and money ncarly exhausted, he appealed to Mr. Adams, also a Philadelphian, who was superintendent of the South-western Railroad, and through his influence procured a situation in the ma- chine-shops of the road. Here for two years he was secure from persecution, as all railroad men were exempted from service. But a de- termination to get out of the South had now taken strong possession of him; and, in com- pany with another Philadelphian, George A. McIlhenny, superintendent of the Macon Gas Works, who shared his desire, he planned a way of escapc.

It was arranged that Mr. Yorke should go to Savannah, ostensibly to buy salt; and, the way being clear, he should telegraph to Mr. Mc- Ilhenny for one hundred empty sacks -the signal for him to join him. The day that Sherman and his army left Atlanta Mr. Yorke left Macon for Savannah, provided with a pass from Mr. Adams. On reaching Savannah he purchased the salt, telegraphed Mr. Mc- Ilhenny, and made arrangements with a Con- federate officer then on furlough, who owned a plantation several miles outside of Savannah, for effecting their escape to St. Catharinc's Island. This island is twelve or fifteen miles from the coast ; and the officer agreed for three thousand dollars in Confederate money to row the two Philadelphians to St. Catharine's in his own boat - the only row-boat in the sec- tion, as the Confederate government had de- stroyed all they could find. On Mr. Mc- Ilhenny's arrival the two men lay conccaled one night, hiring the following night a car- riage to drive to the plantation. The driver of the carriage knew the cxact time when he could pass the rebel picket lines safely, and within a few hours "thrce men in a boat" were en voyage for St. Catharine's. But a storm came up; and they werc compelled to land a few miles from shore, on a desolate island covered with oyster shells. Here Mr. McIlhenny and the Confederate fell asleep; and Mr. Yorke, who, providentially, was un- able to close his eyes, rescued their frail craft just in the nick of time, as the incoming tide was sweeping it away, and thereafter watched it vigilantly till morning. At daybreak they continued on their way, and arrived at St. Catherine's safely, dismissing their boatman with his promised fce. The island was in- habited by seven or eight old negroes, who had been left there by their owners as useless. From them they learned that the Unitcd States blockade vessel "Fernandina," a brig in command of Captain Williams, lay about four or five miles off, and some of the crew were then on the island hunting the wild cattle for food. The negroes introduced them to these men, informing them that the Philadelphians wished to secured passage on the vessel; but the sailors suspected they were spies, and re- fused to accede to their request. At length,

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Cumberland County, Maine, Part 5

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