USA > Maine > Oxford County > Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Oxford and Franklin counties, Maine > Part 18
USA > Maine > Franklin County > Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Oxford and Franklin counties, Maine > Part 18
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tics, he was actively interested in party meas- ures until the close of his life. Stephen Cummings married Fanny, a daughter of Will- iam C. Whitney; and their union was blessed by seven children -- William C. W., Sumner, Frances E., Stephen H., Charles B., John M., and Harriet. The father died of apoplexy on April 11, 1863, at sixty years of age; and the mother lived to the age of seventy, her death occurring on January 10, 1873.
Charles B. Cummings, the fourth of the five brothers in this family, received his education in Bethel, but in 1854 returned with his par- ents to Norway, where without means, but with plenty of energy, grit, and application, he has pushed his way from the smallest be- ginnings to his present commercial prosperity. He was for some time in the employ of his maternal grandfather, William C. Whitney, and later learned the trade of cabinet-maker, beginning business for himself in a small shed adjoining Squire Whitman's stable, where he manufactured the furniture with which he went to housekeeping, also making by hand articles of furniture, which he sold to the neighbors. Step by step, by industry, frugal- ity, and perseverance, Mr. Cummings was enabled to enlarge his business until he at- tained prominence in various industries. In 1861 he moved his workshop to a small room in the Hathaway Block, keeping house in the tenement over the store. Here his trade in- creased steadily, so that in 1865, in order to meet its requirements, he erected the commo- dious building now occupied by his son and successor to that branch of the business.
Previous to his retirement therefrom, in 1877, he had embarked in various enterprises, including the manufacture of clothes-pins on a large scale at Steep Falls, besides furniture. He carries on saw-mills at the head of the vil- lage, manufacturing long and short lumber, and also utilizes the same water privilege for grist-mills. Below, on the site of the old foundry, he has erected a commodious struct- ure, the lower part of which is used for the manufacture of short lumber, boxes, and staves. The second story is used for the ex- tensive manufacture of shoe findings, and in this department alone Mr. Cummings employs from sixty to seventy skilled operatives. From
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twenty to twenty-five men are usually needed in the lumber department, and for manufactur- ing and storage he uses twenty-five buildings.
Although Mr. Cummings owns large tracts of growing timber in this town, Oxford, Paris, and Greenwood, he purchases large quantities of lumber on the stump to supply his various mills and factories. He is extensively inter- ested in real estate, being the owner of many valuable building lots and water privileges in the village limits. In 1894 Mr. Cummings was burned out; but such was his ability to overcome difficulties that in thirty days he was again on his commercial feet, doing busi- ness with several men. As fast as possible he rebuilt, putting in an eighty-horse-power boiler, heating several blocks three stories high from his plant. He also built a large grist-mill and grain house, sixty-four by one hundred feet, at the railway station, so that freight cars can be run in and emptied.
In January, 1861, he was united in marriage with Frances E., daughter of Moses and Ex- perience (Powers) Staples, of Bethel. Mr. and Mrs. Cummings have six representa- tives to the family name and fortune, who will have to make tall strides in the march of life if they keep pace with their father's speed on the commercial highway. These children are: Charles S., who was born on January 26, 1862, and married Ella H. Haskell, she being now deceased; Stephen B., born April 27, 1863, who married Mattie M. Jordan on February 12, 1887, and has one child, Ruth; Frederick H., born September 24, 1865, who is a dry- goods clerk; George I., born March 30, 1869; Edwin S., born October 7, 1873; and Fanny W., who was born on May 19, 1878. Four of the five sons, or all except Frederick, are asso- ciated with their father in business. Mr. Cummings owns and occupies with his family one of the finest dwellings in Norway. In politics he is a Republican, and in religion he holds to the liberal form of faith.
A® LBERT H. ADAMS, a progressive and successful farmer, who owns and conducts a model dairy farm in Wilton, Franklin County, Me., was born in this town, September 6, 1857, son of
Elbridge G. and Abby H. (Thomas) Adams. His great-grandparents were Moses and Martha (Kinney) Adams; and his grandpar- ents were John and Phebe (Chase) Adams, of Wilton.
Elbridge G. Adams, Mr. Adams's father, was a native of Wilton, where he grew to man- hood as a farmer. At the age of thirty years he bought his father's farm, which he carried on for three years; and then, selling the prop- erty, he removed to a farm in the town of Jay, where he resided for some length of time. In 188 I he purchased the estate where his son now resides, and erected new buildings to re- place those which were burned. In connec- tion with agricultural pursuits he engaged in the corn and apple canning business, building a factory with a capacity for packing one hun- dred and fifty thousand cans per year. Retir- ing from business two years later, having accumulated a comfortable competency as the result of his labor, he passed the remainder of his days upon his farm in the town of Jay, where he died at the age of sixty-two years. His industrious and ambitious nature had prompted him to work far beyond his physical ability, thereby undermining his constitution ; and this was the direct cause of his death. In politics he supported the Republican party, and in his religious views he was a Universal- ist. His wife, who was before marriage Abby H. Thomas, was a daughter of Spencer Thomas. She became the mother of seven children, namely: Albert H., the subject of this sketch; Loreda M .; Clara, who died in infancy ; Henry J. ; Cora, who did not live to grow up; Gideon C .; and Fred L. Mrs. Abby H. Adams is still living, and is now seventy-two years old.
Albert H. Adams was educated in the pub- lic schools and at the Wilton Academy. His boyhood and youth were passed upon the home farm, acquiring practical knowledge and ex- perience that has been of great value to him in his chosen occupation. At the age of twenty-five he entered into partnership with his father in the canning business, the firm having bought of George Eastman a piece of land near East Wilton, upon which they erected a large factory ; and for two years they packed upon an extensive scale the E. G.
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Adams brand of apples and sweet corn, which acquired a high reputation in the metropolitan markets. Two years later he purchased from his father the farm of one hundred acres where he now resides, to which he has since devoted his attention; and, as the property lies within a valley, thus making it excced- ingly well adapted for dairy purposes, he makes a specialty of this branch of agricult- ure. He cuts from seventy-five to eighty tons of hay annually, has excellent pasturing facili- ties, keeps twenty-one head of high-bred Jersey stock, which is said to be the finest herd of dairy cows in town, and he owns six horses. Mr. Adams has also been engaged in selling the McCormick mowing machine. In politics he acts with the Republican party. In religious views he is a stanch Universalist. He is connected officially with Williamson Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is likewise a member of the Foresters and the Patrons of Husbandry, and is recognized as one of the leading farmers and enterprising citizens of Wilton.
Mr. Adams married Persis Adams, daughter of John W. and Dorcas (Adams) Adams, rep- resentatives of entirely different families. Mrs. Albert H. Adams is a descendant of Elisha Adams, an early resident of Bethel, Me., who moved from that town to a farm in Temple, where he passed the rest of his life. His children were: Elias, John, Silas, Persis, Polly, Dorcas, and Loren. Loren Adams, Mrs. Adams's paternal grandfather, was born in Bethel, February 18, 1803. He bought his first real estate in Wilton when a young man, later removing to the farm where his son John W. now resides; and this property, which was formerly owned by John Ditson, he improved by erecting new buildings through- out, increasing the fertility of the land, and setting out a large orchard, making it one of the best farms in this section. He married for his first wife Ruth Libby, who was born in 1799, daughter of Abraham Libby, and by this union he had two children; namely, John W. and Mary. Mrs. Ruth L. Adams died in 1837, and for his second wife Loren Adams wedded Eliza Adkins. He died February 6, 1892.
John W. Adams, Mrs. Adams's father, was
born in Wilton, March 5, 1835. He resided at home, assisting his father in carrying on the farm, later taking charge of the property, which he now owns. He has a fine dairy, and may be considered a model farmer. On Janu- ary 1, 1857, he married for his first wife Ellen, adopted daughter of J. C. Phillips, of Wilton. She died at the age of eightcen, leaving a daughter, Ellen, who was born De- cember 20, 1859, and married Leroy Brown. On January 27, 1861, John W. Adams wedded for his second wife Dorcas, daughter of Jephthah Adams; and she died at the age of sixty-four years, leaving three children, as follows: Charles W., who was born April 20, 1863, and resides at home; Persis, who is now Mrs. Albert H. Adams; and Charlena R., who was born May 29, 1874, and is now en- gaged in teaching.
Mr. and Mrs. Albert H. Adams have four children, namely: Bernard L., born October 2, 1886; Jennie M., born November 6, 1889; Vera L., born January 13, 1892; Merle R., born July 4, 1894.
ENRY SAWIN, Second Selectman of Waterford, Oxford County, Me., has been active in the town government for nearly twenty years. He was born in Waterford, May 13, 1837, the son of Thomas and Sallie (Johnson) Sawin, the for- mer a native of old Marlboro, Mass., the latter of Waterford, Me.
His grandfather, General Benjamin Sawin, who came from Marlboro, was the first of the Sawins to locate in Oxford County, Maine. About 1805 he settled in what is now known as Lynchville, in the town of Albany, where he managed a saw-mill some three years, mov- ing then to Waterford. He cleared the farm on which his grandson is now living, and de- voted the rest of his life to the pursuit of agriculture, dying in Waterford, February 9, 1817, at the age of sixty-eight years.
Thomas, second son of General Benjamin and Martha (Howe) Sawin, succeeded his father as manager of the home farm in Water- ford, and took a prominent part in town affairs, serving on the Board of Selectmen for many years. He died May 29, 1870. His wife
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survived him a little more than eight years, passing away October 19, 1878. They were the parents of the following children: Mi- randa, born October 18, 1825, who was the wife of Captain Moses Rand, and is now de- ceased; Lewis H. (deceased), born August 16, 1827, who married Lydia Abbott, of Albany, now a resident of her native town; George, born May 29, 1830, who died at the age of five years; Sarah Ann, deceased, born August 18, 1832, wife of James Miller, who is now in the West; Thomas Hubbard, born November 27, 1835, a retired trader, living in the village of Norway, Me., who married Lizzie Sampson; and Henry, the subject of this sketch.
Henry Sawin received a common-school education, and, while acquiring a knowledge of the rudiments of learning, was also becom- ing accustomed to farm labor. He was en- gaged in agricultural pursuits in Norway, Me., for a year, and with that exception has spent the time since 1859 on his present valu- able farm near North Waterford village. With an estate of seventy acres of land, he is engaged in general husbandry, dairying, and stock raising, and has made many improve- ments on his property. He is one of the lead- ing farmers of the locality, and is agent in Waterford for the McCormick mowers.
Mr. Sawin was married October 12, 1859, to Maria C. Upton, who was born in Albany, Me., and grew to womanhood in Norway, this State. She was the daughter of Micah and Ruth (Abbott) Upton, formerly respected members of the farming community of Albany, both of whom have departed this life. Mrs. Maria C. Upton Sawin died February 26, 1883. She was the mother of four children, namely: Etta A., born September 8, 1860, who died May 20, 1895, the wife of George Cummings, a farmer in Albany; Lillian J., born October 13, 1864, who died March 22, 1865; Harry T., born February 13, 1867, who was married May 5, 1896, to Cora Bean, of Albany, Me., and now lives in Windsor, Vt .; Agnes E., born November 28, 1871, who re- sides with her father on the homestead. Mr. Sawin was married September 22, 1895, to Mrs. Rowena J. Bird Holt, of Bethel, Me., the daughter of Lyman and Eliza (Young)
Bird. This lady was born July 6, 1843. Her father was a farmer of Bethel, and later of Paris, Me., where he died. Her first hus- band, Arthur D. Holt, a farmer of Bethel, died August 21, 1893, leaving four children - Etta Mabel, wife of Eugene C. Holt, of Hanover, Me .; Llewellyn B., residing in Andover, Me., who married Miss Adeline Proctor; Winona L., wife of Burton Patter- son, of Hanover, Me .; and Herman E., who is with his mother and step-father on the Sawin homestead.
Mr. Sawin has long been prominent among the Democrats of Waterford. He was first elected to the office of Second Selectman in 1878, and his efficiency as a member of the town government is such that he has been re- elected several times. He belongs to Oxford Lodge, No. 61, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of North Waterford; also to Ever- green Lodge, No. 15, Daughters of Rebecca, of the same place; and he is a very popular member of society. Mrs. Sawin is an es- teemed member of the Baptist Church of Bethel, Me.
ORATIO WOODBURY, M.D., a successful physician of South Paris, Oxford County, was born in Dan- ville, Me., July 12, 1852, son of William and Hannah (Sturgis) Woodbury. His paternal grandfather, True Woodbury, who was a native of Cape Elizabeth, this State, in early life settled upon Vine Hill in Danville. A farmer by occupation, the grandfather be- came a prominent man in that town, and re- sided there for the rest of his life. Both he and his wife lived to be over eighty years old.
William Woodbury, Dr. Woodbury's father, was born in Danville, Me., in March, 1795. He adopted agriculture as his life occupation, and purchased a farm in his native town. Subsequently he became the proprietor of a store, which he also carried on for some thirty years. His last years were spent in retire- ment, and he died in 1864. A stanch Demo- crat, he took a leading part in local politics. He was a member of the Board of Selectmen for ten years and Town Treasurer for twenty- three years. His religious belief was that
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of the Universalists. By his wife, Hannah (Sturgis) Woodbury, he became the father of four children - George William, Nathaniel, Adelaide, and Horatio. The mother died in 1876.
Horatio Woodbury acquired his elementary education in the schools of Danville and at the Auburn High School, graduating from the latter in 1872. He afterward entered Bates College at Lewiston, Me., where he graduated with the class of 1876. He taught school for the next three years, and then began the study of medicine with Dr. Isaac Rounds, of South Paris. Later he entered the Maine Medical School, and, after pursuing the usual course of study, took his degree at Brunswick. In 1882 he began practice at Wiscassett, Lincoln County; but a short time after, desiring a wider field, he came to South Paris, locating at 5 Market Square, where he was welcomed by many old friends of his student days. Be- ginning practice here under such favoring cir- cumstances, he was soon able to give ample proof of his skill and professional . knowledge. He now enjoys a wide patronage as a physi - cian, and at the same time he occupies a prominent place among the leading men of the town. While he is a Republican in politics, his interest in public affairs is broad, and not narrowed by mere party exigency. He is in- terested in educational matters, and he helps all practical measures and movements designed for the moral and physical welfare of the com- munity. He has served his fellow-townsmen for. six years as School Committeeman and for two years as Secretary of the Board of Health. He is connected with Androscoggin Lodge, No. 24, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, at Auburn ; with Hamlin Lodge, No. 31, Knights of Pythias, at South Paris; with the order of the Golden Cross, and the New Eng- land Order of Protection ; and at present he is Secretary of Paris Lodge, No. 94, A. F. & A. M., and a member of its Board of Trustees.
TEPHEN CHARLES, manufacturer of monuments, headstones, and all kinds of marble and granite work, whose place of business is in North Fryeburg, Oxford County, Me., was born in
Lovell, Me., April 10, 1838, son of Stephen and Sarah (Bemis) Charles.
The family is an old and highly respected one in Oxford County ; and John Charles, grand- father of the special subject of this sketch, was a pioneer farmer of Lovell. John Charles was born in Fryeburg, in April, 1772, and died in Lovell, March 17, 1831. He married, in Fryeburg, Hannah Carlton, who was born in 1777, and died January 22, 1869. They had eleven children, as follows: Stephen, first, who married Sarah Bemis; John, who married Charlotte Chandler, of Lovell; Isaac, who married Sarah Knight, of Sweden, Me. ; Caleb, who married Sally Charles, of Lovell; Carl - ton, who married Betsy Kilgore, of Lovell; Jonathan, who married Rowena Bannister, of New York; Warren, who married Abbie Page ; Seth, who married Hannah Andrews, of Lovell; Hannah, who married James Merrill, of Lovell; Ruth, who married Elbridge G. Kimball, of Lovell; and James, who married a lady in New York.
Stephen Charles, first, son of John and father of the present Stephen, was born in Lovell, June 7, 1798. He was a farmer, and he also carried on the lumbering business for twenty winters. He resided in Lovell till 1847, when he removed to Fryeburg, where he was prosperously engaged in farming until his death, which occurred on September 5, 1855. His wife, Sarah Bemis, was born in Fryeburg, October 26, 1798, daughter of Thaddeus Bemis, an early speculator in real estate and an extensive agriculturist of this town. Mr. Bemis was born in Billerica, Mass., in 1760, and died in Fryeburg, Me., in 1843. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. His wife, Judith Day, was born in Fryeburg in 1767, the first female child born in this town. She died here in 1843. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Bemis were: Han- nah, who married John Swain; Betsy, who married Amos Andrews; Joseph, who married Mehitabel Kilgore; Thaddeus, who married Nabby Eastman; Amos, who married a Miss Whiting; Mary, who married Issachar An- drews; Sarah, who married Stephen Charles ; Benjamin, who married Esther Webb; Judith, who married Mason Hastings; and Isaac, un- married.
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Stephen and Sarah (Bemis) Charles were the parents of eight children, as follows : Albion, who was born June 30, 1820, and died Septem- ber 4, 1824; Alsina, who was born July 13, 1823, and is now the widow of Elbridge Evans, late of Stow, Me .; Judith B., who was born August 25, 1825, married Lorenzo Walker, of Fryeburg, and died September 13, 1855; Sarah, who was born December 10, 1827, and is now the wife of Joseph Pitman, a surveyor and farmer of Bartlett, N.H .; Ursula, who was born March 8, 1831, and died March 20, 1834; Diana, who was born January 12, 1835, married Randall Hastings, of Fryeburg, and died March 4, 1883; Stephen, the subject of this sketch; and Lyman R., who was born August 6, 1840, married for his first wife Joan M. Putnam, daughter of G. W. M. Putnam, of Bartlett, N. H., and married second Orra Drew, of Richmond, Me., and is now a car- penter of Fryeburg. Mrs. Sarah B. Charles lived to reach the advanced age of nearly ninety-two years, and died June 4, 1890. She and her husband were members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church.
Six of these children were living when the parents removed with their family to Fryeburg, Stephen, the younger of the two sons, being then a lad of nine years. In the public schools he obtained a knowledge of the common Eng- lish branches, and at home he was trained to habits of useful industry. As his father began to feel the infirmities of age, he grad- ually relieved him from all cares in the man- agement of the farm. Succeeding eventually to the possession of the homestead, Mr. Charles resided there until 1866, when he engaged in the marble-cutting business in Frye- burg, where he has since carried on a profit- able enterprise. He employs two skilled as- sistants, besides working at the bench himself ; and he receives many orders from different parts of this county, as well as from some of the adjacent towns in New Hampshire. He also owns and cultivates a valuable farm.
Though frequently tendered the nomination for important offices, Mr. Charles, who is a firm supporter of the Republican party, has invariably declined the honor of candidacy. He has always made it a point to attend strictly to business; and, as he travels through
the county a great deal, he is widely and fa- vorably known by the leading residents, who regard him as an honorable, upright, and pro- gressive citizen.
EWIS B. ANDREWS, a member of the firm Noyes & Andrews of Norway, was born in Otisfield, Me., January 23, 1856, son of Solomon L. and Sarah (Frost) Andrews. His grandfather, Samuel Andrews, was a native of Wiscasset, Lincoln County, born February 8, 1771. When a young man Samuel came to Norway, and settled on Frost Hill, where he purchased a good farm and was successfully engaged in agriculture during the remainder of his life. He married Miss Eunice Frost, of Gorham, Me., and by her became the father of nine sons and a daughter, respectively named - John, David, Samuel, Asa, Molly, Nathaniel, Robert, Solomon L., Moses D., and Ebenezer.
Solomon L. Andrews, who was born in Nor- way, August 17, 1821, and reared to a farm life, chose farming for his life occupation. He first purchased a place in Harrison, and later owned and lived on one in Otisfield, Me. In addition to his farming he followed to some extent the business of a drover. He married for his first wife Miss Sarah Frost. She died aged thirty-three years, having given birth to two sons and two daughters; namely, Lucy J., Isabelle, Bertrand M., and Lewis B. Isabelle and Bertrand M. are deceased. The maiden name of Mr. Andrews's second wife was Nancy W. Frost.
When sixteen years of age, Lewis B. An- drews, the youngest child of his parents, began his business career as a commercial traveller, and followed that occupation until 1876. Then he commenced clerking for S. B. Locke & Co., who conducted a general store at West Paris. Two and a half years later he purchased the business of Locke & Co., and, with A. J. Curts, under the firm name of An- drews & Curts, carried it on for five years. Buying out his partner at the end of that time, Mr. Andrews conducted the store alone for two and one-half years. After this he sold out to Mr. Curts, and embarked in the manufacture of chairs, establishing the Pioneer Chair Com-
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pany, which did an extensive business for three years, giving employment to fifty hands. Mr. Andrews next went to Lynn, Mass., and en- gaged in the manufacture of shoe machinery, becoming a member of the firm of C. P. Stan- bourn & Co. At the end of a year he sold his interest and returned to Norway, where, in company with F. H. Noyes, he opened a dry- goods store, and the present firm of Noyes & Andrews was established. In 1894 the firm bought the blue store and added to its stock gentlemen's furnishings and a custom depart- ment. They are now among the largest deal- ers in this part of the State, employing from eight to ten clerks.
On June 17, 1891, Mr. Andrews was mar- ried to Miss Clara C. Cole. In politics he is a Republican, in religious belief a Uni- tarian. His name is enrolled with the follow- ing fraternal organizations : Granite Lodge, No 83, A. F. & A. M., in which he is a Past Master; Union Chapter of Norway, Royal Arch Masons; St. Auburn Commandery, Knights Templars, of Portland; and Norway Lodge, No. 16, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
ORATIO STEARNS, a model farmer, who has a valuable farm and a very pleasant residence at Lovell's Pond, was born in the town of Lovell, Ox- ford County, Me., July 25, 1829. His father and mother, David and Sarah (Andrews) Stearns, were small children when they came to this town with their respective parents from Billerica, Middlesex County, Mass., not far from Boston.
John Stearns, father of David, was the first of the Stearns family to locate in Lovell, where he was one of the pioneer settlers. He devoted the latter part of his life to clearing and cultivating a farm in this town. David Stearns here grew to manhood, and spent his life engaged in the pursuit of agriculture. He died about 1856, his wife surviving till 1861. They were the parents of eleven children, three of whom died in infancy. Of the others the following is recorded : Stephen (deceased) married Miss Mary Russell, and after her death Miss Mary Gordon (deceased), of Lovell,
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