USA > Maine > Oxford County > Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Oxford and Franklin counties, Maine > Part 28
USA > Maine > Franklin County > Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Oxford and Franklin counties, Maine > Part 28
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Sheriff eight years, as Deputy Sheriff eighteen years, and as Chairman of the Board of Select- men for twelve years, in all of which capaci- ties he established an honorable record as a capable and upright public official. In poli- tics he has been a firm supporter of Republi- can principles ever since the formation of that party.
In November, 1852, Mr. Miller married Martha A. Lord, his first wife, who was born in New Sharon, October 20, 1830. She died May 2, 1868, lcaving seven children, as fol- lows: Frank G., who was born September 3, 1853, and died September 2, 1872; Ida M., who was born June 30, 1855, and marricd Lester P. Hiscock, a prosperous merchant of East Brookfield, Mass .; Horace, who was born December 1, 1856, and died at the age of twenty years; Clarence A., a successful livery stable keeper of Wilton, who was born Sep- tember 5, 1860, married Emma Wilkins, and has two children -N. Maud and Clifford G. ; Nathan R., who was born November 29, 1862, married Lillian Lake, and is now assisting his father in business; Carrie N., who was born April 11, 1864, and is now the wife of Milton Holmes; and Lydia E., who was born October 1, 1865, and married Fred Young, an ener- getic miller of New Sharon. Mr. Miller's present wife was before marriage Nellie M. Woodbury. She is a daughter of the Rev. J. M. Woodbury. By this union there is one son, Frank G., who was born July 19, 1879.
Mr. Miller is still engaged in attending to his business affairs, and goes about with the activity of a much younger man. He takes a liberal view of religious matters, and is a member of Williamson Lodge, No. 20, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows.
ILLIAM EDWARD SARGENT, Principal of Hebron Academy, in Oxford County, was born in San- ford, York County, Me., on May 23, 1856.
His father, the late Rev. Walter Taylor Sargent, was born in Methuen, Mass., in 1809; and his mother, Mrs. Joan G. Quint Sargent, was born in Bowdoinham, Me., in 1829. The Rev. Walter Taylor Sargent was a well-known divine in his day, his life being
WILLIAM E. SARGENT.
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devoted to preaching the gospel in many dif- ferent localities. He died at Freeport, Me., in 1886, his wife having gone before him in 1885. They were the parents of nine chil- dren, eight of whom are yet living; namely, Mary Ellen, . Maria Frances, Susan Jane, Sarah Elizabeth, Anna Louise, Emma Caro- line, William Edward, and Alice Crosby Sargent.
An only son, William E. Sargent passed his boyhood in many different towns of Maine, as his father moved from one place to another in attending to ministerial duties, principally staying in the towns of Greene, Dexter, Rich- mond, and Freeport. Young Sargent received his early education in the public schools of the towns in which he resided, and prepared him- self for college under the supervision of the Rev. J. J. Bulfinch, of Freeport, who was a friend of his father.
He entered Bowdoin College in 1874, and was graduated in the class of 1878. In April of that year he accepted the position of princi- pal of the high school of Topsham, which he held for a period of two years, at the expira- tion of which time he went to Freeport, where he had charge of the high school until 1885, when he was called to Hebron Academy. Here he has remained ever since.
What Professor Sargent has done for the academy in these years must be seen to be thoroughly understood and appreciated, but it might be well to say a few disinterested words on the subject. He has from the very first given his strict attention to building up the school in every desirable way. To-day Hebron Academy is universally acknowledged as one of the best fitting schools in all New England. Its high standing is in a great measure due to the utter devotion and strenu- ous labor that Professor Sargent has spent upon the work for over a decade; and liberal support has been accorded the dear old school by its numerous and generous friends, who were influenced by the stirring appeals and un- tiring efforts made by Professor Sargent in its behalf and by his example of devotion and self- sacrifice.
William E. Sargent was married on August 20, 1883, to Ella C. M. Hale, of Mystic, Conn. They have no children. Mr. and
Mrs. Sargent are earnest as well as active members of the Baptist church. In politics the Professor is a stanch Republican. He is a member of Freeport Lodge, No. 23, A. F. & A. M., at Freeport, Me., also a member of Harraseeket Lodge, No. 30, of the Knights of Pythias at Freeport, and of Pejepscot Lodge, No. 13, Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Brunswick.
Hebron Academy was founded in 1804 by two God-fearing, strong-hearted men - Elder John Tripp and Deacon William Barrows. John Tripp perhaps was the more instrumental of the two in the actual conception and foun- dation of the school.
John Tripp was born in Dartmouth, now Fairhaven, on March 25, 1761, the son of Jesse Tripp. In his early youth even he began to show that he was destined to be a grave and serious man, deeply religious in thought and feeling. In 1774, before he was fourteen years of age, he voluntarily connected himself with the Second Baptist Church of Middleboro, Mass. A short time later he went into the ranks of the Continental army, showing decisively that he could not only pray, but fight. He conducted himself throughout the war with the greatest heroism and honor.
In 1787, some time after the war, he re- ceived a license to preach the gospel. After twelve years of wandering from place to place, twelve years of exhausting work, both men- tally and physically, twelve years of earnest endeavor to do good, not one time and then another time, but all the time - in fine, twelve years of the life of an old-fashioned Christian `preacher, bringing the gospel on foot or on horseback through a sparsely populated coun- try, with long distances to traverse and no time to stay except to exhort and attempt to convert, he finally settled down in Hebron, arriving here on July 5, 1798. The journey from Portland was made with a horse and cart - John Tripp, his wife, and one child in arms on the horse, and the rest of the children with the household goods in the wagon. He settled on the farm where his descendants still live. He had married shortly after or during the war a lady of French descent named Expe- rience Deland. She bore him ten children,
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all of whom are now dead. When he came to Hebron the whole place was new and wild. There were no roads, only narrow bridle paths. The woods were full of bear, deer, foxes, and other game. His first house was built of rough-hewn square logs.
Always interested in educational matters and expecting to spend the rest of his life here, he with a friend, Deacon William Bar- rows, conceived a plan for instituting a school, as had been done long before in Plymouth, and as quaintly expressed there "for the better education of the youthe of the towne and the better employement of their time." This scheme, planned by the two worthies in 1804, was carried into effect in the next year, 1805 ; and the first academy was erected. The first church, which was organized with a member- ship of thirteen persons on August 23, 1791, was finally established in a substantial build- ing in 1820. Of this church Elder Tripp was a devoted supporter. His wife died on May 20, 1835. John Tripp himself died on Sep- tember 16, 1847, after a long and useful life. The school thus established for the benefit of the generations that were to follow him has done remarkably well in every way that he himself would have desired.
The academy itself is very advantageously situated on high land among the picturesque hills of Oxford County, Maine. All con- nected with the place, the scenery, the care exerted, the instruction, the amusement pro- vided, all tend to give the Hebron students, as their well-beloved principal says of them, "a spirit that identifies them wherever you find them. They have the qualities of strong, earnest men and women. They know how to use the shovel and hold the plough, know how to economize."
How the friends and benefactors of Hebron Academy feel toward the old institution, and what they do for it, as well as how their gifts are received and in what spirit, is also best shown by a few words from the address made by Professor Sargent on the day the class of 1896, composed of thirty strong-minded, ear- nest boys and girls, graduated. He says of the late Mr. Sturtevant, a dear friend of Hebron Academy, among other things (chief among these things being an expression of the
great thanks and the just praise due Mr. Stur- tevant) : "I went and saw him. Mr. Sturte- vant in his mild way told a story or two, just to collect his thoughts and get them down into a crystallized form. When he got down to business he said, 'I have made up my mind to give you ten thousand dollars to start with.' But that was not all." And Professor Sargent goes on to tell how he had helped them in every way, how he had asked their plans, sug- gested, formed new ones, and done everything to help the school to raise all the money it needed for improvements. At length, owing to the generosity and efforts of Mr. Sturtevant, and the energy and devotion displayed by Pro- fessor Sargent, the requisite sum, and more than that, has been raised, a sum that no great university need be ashamed to accept as a gift -fifty thousand dollars.
The academy, which is in truth what Pro- fessor Sargent has set forth in his modest but attractive circular, a splendidly endowed fit- ting school for Colby University, makes an ideal place for study. It was founded as we know "by praying patriots of the Revolution." Among the great names that have been in- scribed, in the youth of their distinguished bearers, on the roll of honor of the old acad- emy, are those of Hannibal Hamlin, John D. Long, ex-Governor of Massachusetts, William Pitt Fessenden, and Senator Eugene Hale. The academy offers fine advantages in every line, three courses of study, college, classi- cal, and English, together with year-in and year-out departments in music and painting, and a fine gymnasium, being a few of them.
Professor Sargent is known and admired as a most successful teacher ; and his friends hope he will remain at the head of Hebron Acad- emy for many years to come, continuing, as he has always done, to increase the prosperity and renown of this ancient and revered insti- tution.
J OHN WARD, senior member of the firm John Ward & Co., Fryeburg, Oxford County, manufacturers of and dealers in carriages and sleighs, was born in this town, August 26, 1838, son of Jonathan Hale and Harriet (Durgin) Ward.
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His grandfather, Jonathan Ward, was a clock - maker by trade; and many of the old and re- liable time-pieces now doing service in Frye- burg are the work of his hands. Jonathan married Rachel Abbott, a native of Concord, N. H .; and both died in this town.
Jonathan Hale Ward, who was born in Frye- burg, entered the lumber business in his early manhood, and subsequently became an exten- sive speculator in timber lands. He was also the proprietor of the Oxford Hotel in Frye- burg village for several years. Leaving the reputation of an able business man, he died in 1841, being then in the prime of life. The interment of his remains was the first made in the present town cemetery. His wife, Har- riet, was a native of Fryeburg and a daughter of Joshua Durgin, an early settler of this town. Her father, a native of Massachusetts, who was a tanner and currier, and followed those trades in connection with farming, passed his last days in Fryeburg. Jonathan Hale Ward and his wife were the parents of four children, as follows: Fanny L., who be- came the wife of James F. Webster, a pros- perous farmer of Conway, N. H., both now de- ceased; Henry D., who is a machinist by trade, and resides in Worcester, Mass .; John, the subject of this sketch; and Harriet D., the wife of Henry Putnam, a well-to-do farmer of Worcester, Mass. The mother lived to the age of seventy-six years.
John Ward was left fatherless when a mere child. At the age of eleven he went to Bridg- ton, Cumberland County, where he lived in the family of Henry Smith for four years. During the succeeding five years he resided with Augustus Carsley upon a farm in that town. His education was acquired in the common schools and at the Bridgton Academy. When at the age of twenty, he began to learn the carriage-maker's trade with William F. Perry, now the proprietor of a large factory in Bridgton. After remaining with Mr. Perry for six months he engaged with Thomas E. Mead, under whose direction he finished his apprenticeship. He then worked as a journeyman for Burnham & Mead in Bethel, Me., for two years. Coming to Fryeburg in 1860, he, in company with his uncle, com- menced the manufacture of carriages under
the firm name of A. C. & John Ward. Three years later Thomas E. Mead bought an interest in the business, and the firm became known as Mead & Ward. A flourishing trade was carried on for four years, and B. M. Glines then became a partner under the pres- ent title of John Ward & Co. This firm man- ufactures all kinds of carriages and other vehicles, carries a varied stock of carriages and sleighs of other manufacture, also does general repairing and mill work.
In January, 1871, Mr. Ward was united in marriage to Augusta L. Mead, who was born in North Bridgton, daughter of Thomas H. Mead. Mr. Mead was a successful merchant, was very prominent in political affairs, and served as Treasurer of Cumberland County for several years. Mr. and Mrs. Ward are the parents of two children, namely: Augustus H., who works in his father's factory, and is an able machinist; and Thomas Hale, who re- sides with his parents. In politics Mr. Ward is an earnest supporter of Republican prin- ciples, but has never aspired to prominence in public affairs. He has always applied him- self to his calling with industry, and as a re- sult has worked his way forward to his present business success. He has many friends both in business and social circles, and is a mem- ber of Pequaket Lodge, No. 34, Knights of Pythias.
LONZO B. ADAMS, M.D., of Wil- ton, a member of the United States `Board of Examiners in pension cases, a veteran of the Civil War, is one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Franklin County. He was born in Wilton, July 8, 1843, son of Charles K. and Julia A. (Miller) Adams. His grandparents were Moses and Martha (Kinney) Adams, the former of whom was a prosperous farmer and a well-known resident of Wilton in his day; and the paternal and maternal ancestry of Dr. Adams were representatives of highly repu- table families.
Charles K. Adams, son of Moses and Martha Adams, continued to reside with his parents after attaining his majority, caring for them in their declining years, and finally suc-
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ceeding to the ownership of the homestead of one hundred and fifty acres. Ile was success- ful both as a general farmer and a live stock dealer, buying large numbers of cattle and sheep, which he shipped and drove to Reading and Brighton. Able, industrious, and pro- gressive, he remodelled his residence, erected new barns, and made other notable improve- ments in his property. Being stricken with typhoid fever, from which he was unable to rally, he died at the age of fifty-four years. In public affairs he was prominent and in- fluential, having followed the majority of the Whig clement into the ranks of the Republi- can party at its formation; and, as a member of the Board of Selectmen and as a Represent- ative to the legislature, he displayed such marked ability in sustaining and forwarding the principles of good government as to re- ceive the hearty commendation and approval of the voters in general, as well as his con- stituents. His wife, who was before marriage Julia A. Miller, became the mother of ten children, namely: Charles N .; Josephine; Alonzo B., the subject of this sketch; a child who died in infancy; Abbie; Madeline; Irandus; Ella F .; another who died in in- fancy; and Frank W. Mrs. Julia A. Adams died of consumption at the age of forty-six years. She and her husband attended the Free Will Baptist church, and were generous contributors toward its support.
Alonzo B. Adams, the second son, the date of whose birth is given above, acquired his early education in the public schools, where he labored diligently with the view of subse- quently pursuing the higher branches of study; but at the age of nineteen his patriot- ism overweighed his desire in this direction, and on August 4, 1862, he enlisted as a pri- vate in Company C, Sixteenth Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infantry, for service in the Civil War. On December 13 of the same year, while participating in the battle of Fredericksburg, he received a serious wound just above the left ankle, which made amputa- tion necessary ; and, after passing through one operation at Alexandria, he was in 1865 obliged to suffer the inconvenience of another amputation. When sufficiently recovered to resume his
studies he entered the Maine
Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's Hill, where he was graduated in 1866, and, after reading medicine with Dr. Russell, of Farmington, he matriculated at the Bowdoin College Med- ical School, where he was graduated with the class of 1869. Locating for practice in Strong, Me., he remained there three and one- half years, at the expiration of which time he returned to Wilton, where he bought the prac- tice of Dr. Peaslee, and has since resided here. As a skilful and reliable physician and surgeon, he has not only acquired a high repu- tation throughout the wide section included within his circuit, but he is frequently called to distant parts, either to personally treat diffi- cult cases or in consultation with other prac- titioners; and his professional success has been upward and onward from the commence- ment. Soon after his establishment in Wil- ton he bought the Hall residence on High Street, which he has greatly improved; and in 1893 he erected upon the premises a hand- some office and operating-room, which is fur- nished and equipped with all modern conven- iences.
On July 12, 1870, Dr. Adams was united in marriage with Mary C. Fletcher, daughter of David and Sarah (Stickney) Fletcher, of this town. Earl Adams, one of the two children born of this union, died at the age of twenty- one months; and the other, Lynne F. Adams, who was born March 7, 1877, is now a student at Colby University.
In the Masonic fraternity Dr. Adams is well advanced, being a Past Master of Wilton Lodge; a member of Franklin Chapter, Jephthah Council, Pilgrim Commandery, Knights Templars; and the Maine Consistory. He is Past Grand of Williamson Lodge, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and Past Chief Patriarch of the encampment; is connected with the Foresters and the Order of the Golden Cross; and as a comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic he has held all of the important offices of R. C. Woodman Post, No. 18, has been Junior Vice-Commander and Sur- geon of the department, and a delegate to the national encampment. He holds an appoint- ment upon the Board of United States Pension Examiners, and he acted in an important ca- pacity in the United States census enumera -
JOHN M. STEVENS.
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tion of 1870. In politics he acts with the Republican party, and he ably filled the office of Town Treasurer for three years. Dr. and Mrs. Adams are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
OHN M. STEVENS, one of the oldest practical farmers of Canton, Oxford County, Me., who is about to retire from the toil of the fields, was born in this town, November 25, 1826, son of Aaron and Susan (Conant) Stevens. The farm upon which Mr. Stevens has spent his life up to the present time, the autumn of 1896, was cleared from the wilderness by his grandfather, Jere- miah Stevens; and it has been held by the family until quite recently.
Jeremiah Stevens was a native of Massachu- setts, and served in the Revolutionary War. In 1805 he came to Canton as a pioneer, and lived in a log house until he had cleared his farm and erected frame buildings. With un- abated energy he continued to till the soil until the time of his death, which took place when he was sixty years old. He was a Dem- ocrat in politics and a strict Baptist in his religious views. He was the father of six children, three sons and three daughters, of whom Aaron, Mr. J. M. Stevens's father, was the youngest. None are now living.
Aaron Stevens was born in Methuen, Mass. He was a small boy when he accompanied his parents to Canton, where he eventually suc- ceeded to the possession of the homestead. A strong, able-bodied man, he was an indus- trious farmer and a useful citizen. He died in 1880, at the age of eighty-two years. In politics he supported the Republican party dur- ing the later years of his life, and in his relig- ious belief he was a Universalist. He and his wife, formerly Susan Conant, who was a na- tive of Bridgewater, Mass., reared two chil- dren, namely : John M., the subject of this sketch; and Susan, who is now Mrs. Stubbs, and resides in Canton. Mr. Stevens's mother lived to reach the age of eighty-four years, and died in 1885.
An only son, John M. Stevens was educated in the district schools of Canton, and grew to manhood as a farmer. He has followed that
occupation at the homestead, which he in- herited from his father, and has made a good record for himself as an energetic and exceed- ingly successful agriculturist. He has also dealt in stock and horses to a considerable ex- tent, and has acquired a high reputation throughout this section for his honesty and re- liability. With the intention of retiring from active labor, he has recently sold his landed property, consisting of over three hundred acres, to the Portland & Rumford Railroad Company; and the purchasers are to take pos- session as soon as he has harvested his crops.
Mr. Stevens has never married. He is lib- eral in his ideas concerning religious matters, and in politics he acts with the Republican party. He is connected with the lodge of In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows in Canton, and is highly respected by the entire commu- nity as an upright, conscientious man and a worthy citizen.
HARLES P. BARTLETT, a wealthy farmer and influential citizen of Han- over, Oxford County, was born in this town, August 18, 1842, son of
Stephen and Martha (Stearns) Bartlett. Peregrin Bartlett, the father of Stephen, was a native of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, whence he came to Oxford County, Maine, about the year 1793, accompanied by several of his brothers. He purchased about three hundred acres of land, and spent the re- mainder of his life in clearing and cultivating it. He died at sixty-six years of age. His son, Stephen, who was born here, became a stirring, progressive farmer and stock raiser. In politics he was a Democrat, and he served in nearly all the town offices. He died at fifty-two years of age. His wife, Martha Stearns Bartlett, was a native of Bethel, this county, where she resided until her marriage. She died in Hanover when seventy-six years old, leaving three children - Sarah, widow of Charles Ivons, residing in Lowell, Mass. ; Charles P. ; and Solon, a physician in Lowell, Mass.
Charles P. Bartlett was educated in the common schools. He has always resided on the old homestead farm, the one purchased by
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his grandfather in 1793, located near Newry on the Androscoggin River. He also owns about twenty thousand acres of wild timber land, the greater part of which is in Oxford County. He is one of the leading lumbermen in the county, and until recently was exten- sively engaged in stock raising. On April 23, 1891, Mr. Bartlett was married to Miss Martha E. Bartlett, of Hanover. They have two sons - Alton F. and Charles P. In poli- tics Mr. Bartlett is a Democrat, and, though declining office, exerts no small influence in local matters, his social position and natural ability qualifying him as a lcader.
LINTON V. STARBIRD, an exten- sive lumber manufacturer of the town of Strong, and Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, was born in Freeman, Me., August 14, 1868. He- is a son of Amos D. and Mary J. (Gilkey) Star- bird, natives of Freeman, now residing in Florida, and grandson of Moses Starbird, who moved to Freeman from Gorham, Me., and was a prosperous farmer through life.
Amos D. Starbird was for several years en- gaged in agricultural pursuits and lumbering in the town of Freeman ; but he removed later to Orange County, Florida, where he is now residing, and is identified with the lumber interests of that region. His wife, Mary J. Gilkey, is a daughter of Captain John Gilkey, who moved from Lisbon to this county when a young man, and became a well-to-do farmer
in Freeman. Mr. and Mrs. Amos D. Starbird have had eight children, as follows: Edwin R., who wedded Mattie Thompson, and is now a photographer of Brunswick, Me .; Albert W., who married Leola Weymouth, and is now a photographer in Florida; Rose I., wife of W. T. Hinds, a lumber operator and manu- facturer of Phillips, Me .; Clinton V., of Strong, to be further mentioned in the next paragraph; Lionel F., who died at the age of twenty-three years; Austin C., who married Cora Love, and is now in the lumber business with his father in Florida; Adelbert M. and Percivilla L., both of whom are residing in Florida, engaged in the lumber business.
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