Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Cumberland County, Maine, Part 57

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

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In 1883 Mr. Seiders was appointed Assist- ant United States Counsel in the Alabama Claims Court, in which capacity he continued to act during the continuance of that court. In 1885 he was elected County Attorney in Cumberland County for a term of two years, and was re-elected to a second term in 1887.

While serving as County Attorney, among the important cases of which he had charge were two murder cases, in both of which con- victions were secured. In January, 1894, the firm of Seiders & Chase, associated with George H. Allan, Esq., as counsel for the ac- cused, defended in the case of the State v. Prawda, who was indicted for murder; and also again in January, 1895, the firm of Seiders & Chase defended James Lewis, ac- cused and indicted for murder. These two cases attracted a great deal of public attention, and particularly the attention of the best legal talent of the State, on account of the circum- stances surrounding the cases and the atrocity of the crime in each instance. In both of

these cases the State secured a conviction of the accused before the jury. In the case of Lewis, the State, not being able to hold the conviction it had secured, finally nol. prossed the case, and Lewis was set at liberty.

Mr. Seiders resided in North Yarmouth from July, 1876, until November, 1880, be- coming while there identified with the inter- ests of the place, and taking an active part in town matters. He was elected Representative to the State legislature in 1878 on the Re- publican ticket from the classed towns of North Yarmouth and Yarmouth. In the leg- islature he served on several committees, the most important being the Judiciary Commit- tee, although at that time he had not been admitted to the practice of law. In 1880 he removed his residence to Portland, his home being now on Thomas Street. In the fall of 1892 Mr. Seiders was elected on the Republi- can ticket to the Maine Senate, of which he became a member in January, 1893. He was appointed on various prominent committees, and from the first took a strong position in legislative matters. He was re-elected to that body in 1894, and by a unanimous vote was elected President of the Senate, over which he presided with marked ability. He has always been a Republican.

Mr. Seiders has been located in his present office on Exchange Street near a score of years, and has enjoyed a steadily growing practice. He has been attorney for and a Di- rector of the Mechanics' Loan and Building Association since its organization, and is en- gaged largely in corporation business. So- cially, Mr. Seiders is a member of the Bram- hall Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and also of Bosworth Post, Grand Army of the Repub- lic, and the Portland Club. He has been an active member in the Congregationalist church for many years.

November 24, 1874, he was united in mar- riage with Clarice S., daughter of the late Isaac S. Hayes, of North Yarmouth, who was a descendant of one of the oldest families in that town, and was an active business man, and influential in the affairs of the town. Three children have been born to them; namely, Grace R., Mary A., and Philip Reed Seiders, all of whom are now living.

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EWIS SMITH, a furniture dealer and a manufacturer of house-furnishing supplies at Bridgton, was born in Harrison, this county, June 10,

1829, son of Lewis and Jemima (Packard)

Smith. Lewis Smith, Sr., was born and bred in the town of Waterford, Oxford County. Being a mechanic by nature, he worked for many years at the wheelwright's trade in Waterford, although he had never served an apprenticeship. He likewise engaged to some extent in painting, and for some time kept a tavern in Harrison. He married Jemima Packard, a native of Greenwood, Oxford County, whither her father, James Packard, a soldier of the Revolution, removed from Bridgewater, Mass., in the latter part of the eighteenth century. They reared five chil- dren - Lewis, Harriet, Aaron, Ezra, and Emily. The mother died at the age of sixty- nine years. The father subsequently came to Bridgton, spending his last years at the home of his son Lewis, and dying here aged seventy- five years.

Lewis Smith concluded his school life at the North Bridgton Academy prematurely, that he might assist in supporting the family. At first he received but fourpence a day. In- heriting the mechanical genius of his father, he was able to execute various kinds of work requiring special skill, and occasionally made a trip on the canal as a helper on the boat. When about eighteen years of age, Mr. Smith secured employment in a cabinet shop. Here he worked as a painter for a year, and the fol- lowing three years at the bench. Going from Harrison to Massachusetts, he worked in Johnson's organ factory a few months, after- ward spending a time in North Bridgton, whence he went to Lancaster, N. H.I., to engage in cabinet-making. From there Mr. Smith returned to North Bridgton, but soon afterward went to Portland, where he was employed for three years with the firm of Walter Corey & Co. He next established himself in business in Lancaster, N. H., where he staid but a few months, coming back then to this State. He established a cabinet shop in Harrison, where he carried on cabinet business in a small way, doing hand-made custom work. He continued at this until 1868, when he settled in Bridg-

ton. Here he built a mill, entered the furni- ture business, and engaged in the manufacture of staves. Meeting with good success, he has since fitted his mill so that he can manufacture all kinds of house-furnishing material, in which he has a profitable and extensive trade. In 1887 Mr. Smith, in order to meet the de- mands of his increasing business, erected a large double store, which has a frontage of forty feet and extends back to the depth of seventy feet. In this he carries a large and varied stock of furniture, his assortment being one of the best-selected and most complete of any in this vicinity.

Mr. Smith has been twice married. His first wife, whose maiden name was Susan Brigkett, died leaving him two daughters; namely, Lelia A. and Celia A. The latter is the wife of William Thaxter, of Portland. After the death of his first wife Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Lydia J. Smith, a native of Bridgton. In politics Mr. Smith, who has ever been a warm advocate of the temperance cause, was formerly a Republican, but of late years has been identified with the Prohibitionists. He is a member of the Cum- berland Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows; and of Oriental Lodge, No. 13, A. F. & A. M. Both he and his wife are conscien- tious members of the Congregational church.

APTAIN WILLIAM W. SNOW- MAN, senior captain of the line of the Portland Steamship Company and master of the elegant new steamer "Bay State " since she went into com- mission, was born at Penobscot, Me., Septem- ber 21, 1830, son of Captain Thomas and Sarah (White) Snowman.

Captain Thomas Snowman was likewise a native of Penobscot, and was a seafaring man, being engaged in the coasting trade during his active life, sailing first from Castine, then from Newburyport, and later from Portland. He was interested in the politics of his day, and voted the Whig ticket. He died in Port- land about 1856. His wife died in 1894. She was a member of the Baptist church. They reared four sons and two daughters, namely: John, who resides in Portland;

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Thomas, of Everett, Mass .; Merrill P. (de- ceased); Hannah, wife of William Snowman, of Portland; Abbie (deceased), who married Henry M. Holmes, of Wilton, Me .; and William W., whose name heads this article.

William W. Snowman was four years old when his parents removed to Newburyport ; and there he received his education, graduating from the high school at the age of sixteen. He was associated with his father in the coast- ing trade for three years, and when twenty- one years of age was master of a coasting- vessel himself. He was engaged in coasting for twelve years, sailing chiefly between New England ports and never going south of Nor- folk, Va. ; and the last three years of his con- nection with sailing-vessels he was master of a packet between Boston and Portland. In 1865 he entered the service of the Portland Steam- ship Company as pilot, a position for which he was well qualified, knowing every turn and shoal of the New England coast. His first trip as pilot was on the "Forest City." He was soon appointed Captain ; and he has had charge, at different times, of every boat of the line except the "Tremont," among them being the "Portland," which is one of the largest side-wheelers this side of Fall River. When the " Bay State" was added to the line, Captain Snowman was made master of that beautiful steamer.

He is the oldest Captain in point of service in the employ of the Steamship Company, and during these thirty years has been off duty only six weeks, two weeks for a vacation and four weeks when he was ill. He averages six passages a week between Boston and Portland, and in the summer time often makes seven. His trips are usually made after dark ; and, as fogs and storms are frequent, the responsibil- ity of safely conducting the vessel is very great. Only an experienced pilot can under- stand what it is to bring a steamer into Boston Harbor in a fog, to steer clear of the passing vessels, and to keep in the narrow channel, which can be followed only by reckoning. At such times Captain Snowman is always in the pilot-house, following every calculation and ready for any emergency. Decisions are made on the instant, and once made cannot be revoked. He has never had a serious accident

to account for, and his long record has been a remarkably clear one.

When he was twenty-five years old, Captain Snowman was united in marriage with Miss Henrietta Purbeck, of Salem, Mass., who died twenty years ago. He has one daughter, Alice, who resides in Boston; and with her he has made his home for the past six years, his residence prior to that time having been in Portland.

Captain Snowman is a member of Ancient Brothers Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, although he has had time to attend but six meetings in twenty years; and he is also a member of the Masters' and Pilots' Association of Boston. A faithful follower of the sea, he has but two or three times in all his life been more than ten miles inland from the shore, a day's trip to the White Moun- tains marking the extent of his acquaintance with alpine scenery. He is a good reader and a fine conversationalist, having a rare fund of anecdote and illustration; and he handles a jack-knife with the expertness of a true Yankee, finer tools also, as specimens of his skill in wood-carving attest. He has a large circle of friends and acquaintances.

J OHN N. STINSON, a prominent mem- ber of the fishing and farming commu- nity of East Harpswell, Me., was born on Swan's Island, Hancock County, Me., January 14, 1840, son of John and Lucy (Smith) Stinson. His great-grandfather, William Stinson, was a native of the western part of Maine. He spent the greater part of his life on Deer Isle, engaged in fishing and farming. His son Benjamin was born on Deer Isle, and was content to follow the same occu- pations, cultivating the soil and drawing finny treasures from the well-stocked sea. As old age approached, he retired from the hazardous business of fishing, and devoted all his time to the work of his farm. He died at the ad- vanced age of eighty-three, his wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Smith, living to the age of eighty-one years. They reared a family of ten children.

John Stinson, son of Benjamin, was reared on Deer Isle, and early took part in the prin-

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cipal industries of the place, farming and fish- ing. When he attained his majority, he purchased a farm near the place of his birth, but was hardly allowed to establish a home for himself, an attack of typhoid fever ending his life when he was but thirty-three years of age. His wife was a daughter of David Smith, a farmer of Swan's Island. Her father left his fields and herds at the breaking out of the Revolution, and served with distinction throughout the war. His last days were spent on Swan's Island, where he died at the age of eighty-four. Mrs. Lucy Smith Stinson, who lived to be seventy-two years of age, was again married some years subsequent to Mr. Stinson's death. By her first marriage she had four children - Meltiah J., who died at the age of thirty-two; Deborah, who married James L. Smith, of Swan's Island; Helen C., who married Francis J. Gott, of Swan's Island; and John N., the subject of this sketch, who was the first-born. Mr. and Mrs. John Stinson were members of the Methodist church.

John N. Stinson was but twelve years of age when his father died. He acquired a good common-school education, making marked progress in music, for which he has a natural talent and which he taught to some extent in after years. He being the eldest son, the greater part of the responsibility of the farm devolved upon him until his mother's second marriage took place; and he remained with her until he attained his majority. He then bought a farm near his childhood's home, and successfully engaged in farming and fishing until 1875, when he sold that property and purchased his present place in Harpswell. This is a fine estate of one hundred and sixty acres, a large part of which is devoted to gar- den produce and small grain, the remainder affording ample pasture ground for a large number of sheep and about a dozen head of cattle. There are also within its limits some productive cranberry meadows, from which Mr. Stinson gathered in 1895 sixty bushels of berries. From 1878 to 1881 he was engaged in manufacturing menhaden oil, which he shipped in large quantities to Boston; but he now gives his attention almost wholly to the work of his farm.

Mr. Stinson was married January 23, 1863, to Mary E. Reed, daughter of Jacob S. Reed, of Swan's Island. Her father was a "fore- handed" man, who worked as a farmer and blacksmith, and built and successfully man- aged a mill on the island. Mrs. Stinson was born in Sedgwick, Me., and was educated at the Maine Wesleyan Seminary and Bucksport Seminary. She taught for twenty-five terms before her marriage. She is the mother of three children -- Adelbert N., Mary Eva, and Weston R. Adelbert N. Stinson, who works with equal skill and success at shoemaking and farming, and is also a fisherman, married Miss Lucy Hook, of Harpswell, and has three children - Anna, Ralph, and Henrietta. Mary .Eva Stinson was graduated from the Normal School of Gorham, Me., and studied instrumental music under Professor Sumner, of Boston, Mass. She has been a public school teacher for some years, and is an ac- complished musician. Weston R. has been a student at the Maine Wesleyan Seminary and at the Normal School at Gorham. He is now assisting his father.

Politically, Mr. Stinson favors the Republi- can party. He has been Collector of Taxes for some years; and he was offered the office of Selectman, but refused to serve, his time being fully occupied with various dutics. He is a member of Tremont Lodge, No. 77, A. F. & A. M., of Tremont. Mr. and Mrs. Stinson have been members of the Free Will Baptist church for nearly twenty years. Ile has led the singing in the church for many years and been superintendent of the Sunday-school. His daughter has been organist for some time, and his wife and daughter rank among the most efficient teachers in the Sunday- school. A cultured and remarkably accom- plished family, the Stinsons occupy a leading place in Harpswell society; and their house is famcd for its generous and unfailing hospi- tality.

RA M. SMITH, of Naples, Me., a veteran of the Civil War, who lost his sight while fighting in defence of the Union, was born in Otisfield, this county, Feb- ruary 14, 1826, son of Jonathan and Catherine

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(Weston) Smith. Jonathan Smith was a well- to-do farmer of Otisfield. He reared six sons and four daughters, and furnished his quota for the suppression of the Rebellion, two of his sons, James and the subject of this sketch, joining the Federal ranks. James Smith was a private in the Thirtieth Regiment of Maine Volunteers.

Ira M. Smith spent his boyhood in Otis- field, attending the district school and work- ing about the home farm. At the age of fifteen he began to learn the trade of shoe- making with his brother. After finishing his apprenticeship, he worked at his trade for some time. On August 6, 1863, he enlisted in Company F, Seventeenth Regiment, Maine Infantry, and was mustered in at Portland. Soon after he was on the way to the national capital to, join the troops concentrating there. He faced the guns of the enemy first at Au- burn, and was afterward in many hard-fought battles, including Locust Grove, Mine Run, the stubborn struggle of the Wilderness, and Petersburg. While on picket duty, October 14, 1864, he was wounded by a rebel sharp- shooter, the ball entering a little in front of the left ear and coming out over the eye. Weeks of intense suffering followed, during which he was under the care of surgeons in the Emery Hospital at Washington. When convalescent he went home on furlough, and received his final discharge June 6, 1865, at Augusta. He had left home a strong and well- favored young man, and returned with his sight destroyed, and his face marked with the scars of battle, eloquent witnesses to his faith- ful service. Mr. Smith lived in Otisfield till 1889, when he moved to Naples; and during his stay in the latter town he has made many friends.

January 1, 1855, he was united in marriage with Elmira H. Winslow, who was born in Otisfield, July 12, 1836, daughter of Gilbert and Rachel (Edwards) Winslow. Six chil- dren have blessed their union. They were: Harold, Leona F. (deceased), Ellen M. (de- ceased), Lillian, Alice, and Kendall C. Mr. Smith votes the Republican ticket. He is a Grand Army man, belonging to Charles S. Bickmore Post, No. 115, of Naples, of which he was a charter member.

OBEY S. JONES, one of the New Eng- land heroes of the Civil War, who suffered the horrors of a rebel prison, and finally died within its gloomy walls, was born in Sefort, N. H., August II, 1834, son of Benjamin S. and Paulina (Heath) Jones. IIe learned the shoemaker's trade, and worked at it for some time. In 1861 he enlisted in Company E, Ninth Regiment of New Hampshire Infantry, and started for the South, knowing that it was possible that he would never return to home and friends, but little dreaming of the lingering tortures in store for him. He was in many engagements, including the battle of the Wilderness, where so many thousands of the bravest and best of both armies fell. In the engagement at North Anna River he was wounded in the hip by a minie ball. This was on May 24, 1864. In his helpless condition he was taken prisoner and carried first to Richmond, then to Jordan, S.C., and finally to Andersonville. The horrors of

that charnel-house have been painted too often to need repetition. It is a well-known fact that, in the merciful course taken by the North in settling the "great trouble," only five persons were legally exe- cuted. These were the four implicated in the assassination of President Lincoln and Captain Wirz, the Confederate keeper of the military prison at Andersonville. The latter was guilty of so many brutalities in his treatment of Northern prisoners it was declared that "hanging was too good for him," when he mounted the scaffold, November 10, 1865. In Andersonville during the administration of this man Mr. Jones suffered a lingering death from starvation, and on October 8, 1864, his soul departed for the bourne "where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest."

On May 2, 1857, he was united in marriage with Ellen M., daughter of Gilbert and Rachel (Edwards) Winslow, of Otisfield, Me., and sister of Mrs. Ira M. Smith, of Naples, whose husband was rendered permanently blind by a wound received in the war. At the time of her husband's death Mrs. Jones was left with three young children - Otis S., Ida S., and George W. She resided in Salisbury, Mass., until November 3, 1892, when she removed

JONAS HAMILTON.

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to Fair Haven, Vt .; and there her daughter died. She then went to Edes Falls, Me., and is now living with Mr. and Mrs. Smith, in Naples, the two sisters, so sadly afflicted, find- ing comfort in mutual companionship.

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ONAS HAMILTON, Superintendent of the Mountain Division of the Maine Central Railway, was born November 19, 1827, at Paris, Me., son of Jonas Abigail (Bradbury) Hamilton. His father was a native of North Yarmouth, born in 1788, being a son of William Hamilton, one of the pioneer settlers of that place and a soldier of the Revolutionary War.

Jonas Hamilton, Sr., was reared to farming pursuits, and lived in North Yarmouth until after his marriage with Mrs. Mitchell (born Bradbury), of Buxton, Me. He subse- quently removed to Paris, Oxford County, where he carried on an extensive business in freighting goods to and from Portland, that being prior to the days of railroads. He

finally retired from active pursuits on account of age; and after the death of his wife, which occurred in 1870, he removed to Turner's Island, where he passed his declining years, dying in 1875. He was a prominent member of the Congregational church, of which he was Deacon for many years. To him and his wife four daughters and two sons were born, Jonas being the only son now living.

After leaving the district schools of Paris, Jonas Hamilton went to Boston to learn the machinist's trade, spending some two years in the Hinkley and Drury locomotive shops. Coming to Portland in 1847, he entered the Portland company's shops, and, after work- ing faithfully for eighteen months, was pro- moted to the position of locomotive engineer on the Atlantic & St. Lawrence Railroad, now known as the Grand Trunk, but which was then completed to Mechanic Falls only. After five years of engine-driving, Mr. Hamil- ton was made master mechanic in the Portland shops of the Grand Trunk Railway, continu- ing until 1870, a period of sixteen years, which, with his previous time, gave him twenty-one years of consecutive service with that road. Mr. Hamilton then became con-

nected with the Portland & Ogdensburg Rail- way, being appointed superintendent on July 1, 1870, an office which he held until the road was leased in 1888 to the Maine Central Rail- way Company. During that time the entire road was built, Mr. Hamilton having charge of the work, and buying the first rolling-stock. Since the lease of the road he has occupied his present responsible position, for which he seems to be especially adapted. Great im- provement in civil engineering has been made within the time he has been connected with railway traffic, but still more progress in mc- chanical engineering is apparent. At the time he worked at his trade in Boston the locomotives weighed from seventeen to twenty tons, which was three times as much as the earlier ones. They now weigh from fifty to eighty tons, and are able to draw on a level a correspondingly larger weight.

Socially, Mr. Hamilton is a member of the well-known club, the Bramhall League, and is an active member of the local Masonic organizations, belonging to Atlantic Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; to the Mount Vernon Chap- ter; and to the Portland Commandery, Knights Templars.

In 1851 Mr. Hamilton was married to Miss Harriet J. White, who passed to the life im- mortal after a brief period of wedlock, leaving one son, Henry L., who is now a locomotive engineer on the Mountain Division of the Maine Central Railway. On November 4, 1857, Mr. Hamilton was united in marriage with Angie Sawyer, daughter of William Sawyer, an old and respected resident of Portland. This union has been blessed by the birth of two children, namely: Frederick W., who was educated at the Portland High School and Tufts College, and is now pastor of the First Universalist Church at Roxbury, Mass. ; and George F., who was graduated from the West Point Military Academy with the class of 1894, and is now a Lieutenant in the Ninth Cavalry, United States Army, being stationed at Fort Robinson, Neb. Mr. Hamilton is a man of broad and liberal views in all things, and is a Universalist in religious faith, attending and contributing toward the support of the Congress Square Church.

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ON. ALBERT F. NUTTING, one of the leading farmers of Otisfield, is well known throughout the county as an enterprising business man, and is a worthy example for young men starting in life who have to depend upon their own resources. He was born in this town August 2, 1835, and is a son of Lyman and Charlotte (Chadbourne) Nutting. Nathan Nutting, his paternal grandfather, was a na- tive of Massachusetts. He was the first of this family to settle in this county, coming here in 1795, a full century ago. Here he took up the life of an agriculturist, and was successfully engaged in that vocation until his death.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Cumberland County, Maine, Part 57

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