USA > Maine > Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the state of Maine > Part 15
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The Winthrop Mills Company employ from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five hands, the plant being equipped with the most modern machinery-namely, two pairs Hercules water wheels. Mr. Mc- Ilroy has proved himself a worthy successor to his father, and under his wise direction the concern has continued to increase in prosperity.
Having come into possession with his brothers of the Annabessacook Mills before referred to, they were corporated, and he was treas- urer of the corporation for about a year and a half. He then sold his interest to his brother. John H., who is now treasurer and agent of that concern, James E. Mellroy being the president.
John McIlroy was a native of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, and was an expert mill man. After coming to America, he settled first in Rochester, N.H., where he became connected with the Norway Plains Company, manufacturers. He subsequently removed to Hyde Park, Mass., where he and his brother Mr. Mellroy is a thirty-second degree Mason, belonging to Temple Lodge, No. 25, F. & A. M., of Winthrop, Me., Winthrop Royal Arch Chap- ter, No. 37, of Winthrop, Me., Alpha Council of Hallowell, Me., Trinity Commandery K. T., No. 7, of Augusta, Me., and Maine Consistory of Port- land, Me. He is a member of Kora Temple, M. S., of Lewiston, Me. He is a member also of Crystal Lodge, I. O. O. F., Winthrop, Me., and served as second Noble Grand of the lodge. Robert together developed the large woollen mill in that town. Afterwards he returned to Rochester, N.H., and again became connected with the Norway Plains Company. In the year 1871 he removed to Winthrop, Me., and was for twenty years agent of the Winthrop Mills Com- pany, which he built up from a comparatively small concern to one having three times the output. For some years also before his death, which occurred July 18, 1891, he owned and | He belongs to the Abnaki Club of Augusta, Me.
JOHN MCILROY.
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In politics he is a Republican. He married in 1877 Luella F. Marston, daughter of Colo- nel Marston, of Monmouth, Me. .
EWALL JACOBS HAWES late a prominent representative of the agri- cultural community of Readfield, Kennebec County, was a native and life-long resident of the town. Born November 10, 1842, he died April 11, 1901. His parents were Gilman and Eliza A (Richardson) Hawes. Readfield was his mother's birthplace; Hook- set, N.H, his father's. Gilman Hawes was a son of Stephen Hawes, who with his wife and family came to Maine from Hookset, N.H. Gilman Hawes removed to Readfield in 1841.
Sewall Jacobs Hawes was educated in the public schools of Readfield and the Maine Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's Hill. Brought up from his early youth to the independent, if laborious, life of a farmer, he made agri- culture his regular occupation, and succeeded in attaining a comfortable prosperity. A man of progressive views and broad sympathies, he was not contented with working solely for his own personal interests, but was always ready to lend a hand in any enterprise calcu- lated to advance the welfare of the community. He served for three years as Selectman, being chairman of the board for a part of the time. For a number of years he held the responsible office of Town Collector and Treasurer; and for twelve years he served as a Deputy Sheriff of Kennebec County. He belonged to the local lodge of the A. O. U. W. and to La- fayette Lodge, F &.A. M., which he served as Master. He also belongs to the Patrons of Husbandry.
Mr. Hawes married October 29, 186S, Carrie M. Fletcher, a native of New Sharon, Me., and daughter of Rufus and Mary Snelling (Atkins) Fletcher. Mr. Hawes is survived by his wife and five children, namely. Sadie P., who now resides in Denver, Col .; Llewellyn G., also a resident of Denver; and Alice F., Isadore M., and Lawrence B., who are all students at the Maine Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's Hill.
Mrs. Hawes's father, Rufus Fletcher, was born in Lyndon, Vt. Her mother, a native of
Bucksport, Me., whose maiden name was Mary Snelling Atkins, is still living in Mount Vernon, being now in her ninetieth year. Mrs. Hawes has one sister, Mrs. A. O. Lane, who resides in the neighboring town of Mount Vernon. They can boast of Revolutionary ancestry, their mother's grandfather Atkins having fought for American independence.
PRANK REDINGTON, one of the lead- ing business men of Waterville, was born in this town December 19, 185S, son of Charles Harris and Sophronia (Day) Reding- ton. He is a direct descendant in the eighth generation of Abraham1 Redington and wife Margaret, who were early residents of Box- ford, Mass. (Frank,8 Charles H., Samuel,6 Asa," Abrahanı,+ Deacon Thomas,3 Thomas,2 Abraham1).
Margaret Redington was dismissed from the church in Salem Village to the church in Tops- field in 1664. She was connected with the famous witchcraft delusion, being an accuser of Mary Esty, of Topsfield. Abraham1 Red- ington was " undoubtedly," to borrow the words of the historian, Mr. Perley, "the first settler of the present town of Boxford," his name first appearing in connection with the record
of the birth of his first child, 1645. He was the wealthiest among the early settlers of the place, and seems to have been held in high esteem by the townspeople. His children, all born in Boxford, were-Elizabeth, Abra- ham, Jr., Thomas, Sarah, Isaac, and Benjamin. The last-named two died when young.
Thomas2 Redington married Mary, daughter of Thomas? Kimball (Richard1) of Bradford, and resided in Boxford. He was made a free- man March 22, 1689-90, and died in Boxford January 7, 1702-3. His widow died June 7, 1705. He was a corporal in the militia. His six children were all born in Boxford, namely- Sarah, Rebecca, Hannah, Thomas, Mary, and Margaret.
Deacon Thomas3 Redington, born April 1, 1693, married Hepsibah Perley, who was born August 4, 1699, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Osgood) Perley, of Boxford. He is called a miller in 1723, and after that a yeoman. He
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was town treasurer in 1746. In 1752 he sold out, and they removed from the town. His children were-Mary, Saralı, Thomas, Abra- ham, Benjamin, Isaac, Elijah, Thomas, and Hepsibah, all born in Boxford.
Abraham+ Redington, born February 10, 1728-9, married August 9, 1757, Sarah, daugh- ter of Deacon Aaron and Sarah (Wood) Kim- ball, of Boxford. He had seven children, whose nanies were respectively-Thomas, Sarah, Asa, Aaron, Samuel, Chloe, and Hepsibah.
Asa5 Redington, born in Boxford in 1761, married September 2, 1787, Mary, daughter of Captain Nehemiah and Hannah (Bragg) Getchell, of Vassalboro, Me. He was a Revo- lutionary soldier, enlisting at the age of seven- teen from New Hampshire, and being dis- charged at West Point in 1783. His children were-Asa, .Samuel, Silas, William, Harriet, Mary, George, Isaac, and Emily. The fol- lowing is his military record :-
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New Hampshire Revolutionary Rolls, vol. ii .: Asa Redington, at one time body guard to General Washington, in 1778, served six months and eighteen days in Captain Samuel Dearborn's Company, Colonel Stephen Pea- body's Regiment, raised by the State of New Hampshire for the Continental service in Rhode Island. Enlisted June 18, discharged December 30, 1778, in Rhode Island. His name is on the muster roll of the men raised in the Fifth Regiment of militia commanded by Colonel Moses Nichols in the State of New Hampshire to fill up the Third New Hamp- shire Battalion in the Continental service. Enlisted for one year, July 21, 1779, from the town of Wilton, N.H., Moses Nichols, M.M. (Muster Master). In the Revolutionary Rolls of New Hampshire, vol. iii. p. 44, Asa Red- ington's name is found on the return of the men who served in the Third New Hamp- shire Regiment for the months of June and July, 1779, to June and July, 1780, and re- ceived their pay at five pounds per month in Continental money. On p. 235 of the same volume his name appears in the account of State bounties of Continental soldiers who enlisted in the year 1781 for three years or during the war. Again on p. 522 it is found in the record of returns from Wilton, under
date of February 27, 1781, of men furnished for the war, he being one of seven men who enlisted from Wilton in that year for the war. On p. SSO of the same volume we read that he received one year's bounty, sixty pourIs. from the town of Wilton.
Samuel Redington, born probably in Vas- salboro, resided in Waterville. Besides car- rying on farming, he was engaged in business as a lumberman and miller. He was a promi- nent citizen, and by general consent was given the title of "Squire." His wife was Nazer Parker. They had one child, Charles Harris. born in Waterville, Me., January 24. 1:30.
Charles Harris Redington married Sophronia Day, who was born in Damariscotta. Me .. in 1831, a daughter of Daniel M. and Mary His- cock) Day. Of their seven children one died in infancy; another left home at the age of twenty-three years and has not since been heard from. The five who are now living are Frank, Annie Myra, Helen Isabel. Charles A .. and Mary E., all born in Waterville. The daughters are unmarried.
Frank Redington was educated in the pub- lic schools of his native town and at Water- ville Academy (now Coburn Institute. He began industrial life in 1875 as a clerk in his father's furniture store. In ISSO, in company with Thomas W. Kimball, he purchased the business, and it was carried on as a partner- ship concern for about a year. At the end of that time Mr. Kimball, on account of fail- ing health, sold out his interest to Charles H. Redington, and the style of the firm then be- came Redington & Co. The business has grown until it is now one of the largest in the State. The fine block on Silver Street built by Mr. Redington in 1893, in a few years proved too small for his rapidly growing trade. and additional accommodations had to be sought in an adjoining block.
Mr. Redington has been actively connected with other lines of business and various public enterprises, his services as a practical director and adviser having a high and widely recog- nized value. From 1895 to 1901 he was presi- dent of the Waterville Board of Trade, and dur- ing that tinie he was largely instrumental in advancing the success of some notable under-
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takings, among them the erection of the fine new city hall and the construction of the Wis- casset, Waterville & Farmington Railroad, of which for two years he was president. He has been president of the Whittemore Furni- ture Company since its organization in 1899. For two years he served as a director of the Waterville Trust Company, and he is now a trustee of the public library. He was a char- ter member of Havelock Lodge, K. of P., which he served for two terms as Chancellor Commander. He is a member of the Water- ville Lodge F. & A. M .; also of the local lodges of the I. O. O. F. and of the A. O. U. W. For several years he served on the prudential committee of the Unitarian church, and since 1885 he has been a member of the committee having charge of Pine Grove Cemetery.
October 14, 1890, Mr. Redington was mar- ried to Miss Carrie M. Foster, daughter of Moses C. and Francina (Smith) Foster, of Waterville. They reside at S Park Place, and are prominent members of Waterville society.
EORGE WASHINGTON WALTON, of Wayne, Kennebec County, was born in this town, August 16, 1835, son of Nathaniel and Caroline (Fish) Walton. The founder of that branch of the Walton family in America to which he belongs was the Rev. William Walton, a graduate of Eman- uel College, Cambridge, England, later a clergyman in Seaton, Devonshire, who came to America in 1635, and for a time made his home in Hingham, Mass. Thence he soon re- moved to Lynn, and in 1638 became the first minister in Marblehead, where he served with great efficiency until his death in 1668.
William Walton, a lineal descendant of the Rev. William Walton, was a pioneer settler in what is now Wayne, Me., and was the progen- itor of the Wayne Waltons. His son John, who married Lucy Blackwell, was the father of Nathaniel Walton, who was born in Wayne, February 21, 1798, "and who married Caro- line Fish, of Leeds, Me., September 26, 1824. Nathaniel Walton died September 12, 1881, at the age of eighty-three years. His wife Caroline died December 30, 1886, at the same
age. They had four children, George W. being the youngest born. The following is a brief record of the three elder children: Lucy A., born February 10, 1826, married John M. Campbell in 1846, and died December 28, 1886; Jeremiah D., born October 20, 1830, married in 1856 Beulah P. Norris, and is a successful farmer in Wayne; Martha M., born March 14, 1833, married in 1852 Elias N. Remick, and resides in Winthrop, Me.
George W. Walton, whose birth date is given above, acquired his education in the common schools and high school of his native town and at the Maine Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's Hill, Me. Thorough in all branches of study, he especially excelled in mathematics. At the age of eighteen he became a teacher, and for more than thirty years subsequently he taught from one to three terms of common or high school almost every year. So suc- cessful was he in this vocation that it was no uncommon thing for terms of school to be postponed in order that the committee might secure liis services. He has been a school officer of his native town by far the larger portion of the time since he was first elected in 1858, serving continuously from 1881 to 1899, when he declined a re-election. As Town Supervisor of Schools, he was elected nine times, and was appointed once to fill a vacancy. He served as town Superintend- ent of Schools in 1895 and 1896. As plainly and simply stated by one who is familiar with his career, and from whom we shall again quote freely, "he always had the confidence of the townsmen as a careful and faithful school officer who had at heart the best interests of the schools." At the annual town meeting in 1891 a unanimous vote of thanks was ex- tended to G. W. Walton "for his interest mani- fested in the schools of the town and his able manner of conducting the same."
Mr. Walton was Representative from .his district in the Maine State Legislature in 1867. Ever since the death of the Hon. J. S. Berry, in 1SSS, he has been chairman of the Repub- lican Town Committee, and his influence has been widely felt in the political affairs of the town, county, and State. In 1SSO he received the appointment of Deputy United States
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Marshal to take the census in Wayne, and in 1890 was again appointed to that office. He has been elected on the Board of Selectmen, but declined serving. He was chosen chair- man of the committee to make arrangements for the centennial celebration of the town, and also to compile the history of Wayne. These po- sitions he filled to the satisfaction of the towns- men and with credit to himself. He is a mem- ber of the Wayne Baptist Church, a trustee of the ministerial fund, and was for many years superintendent of its Sunday-school. He has been auditor of the accounts of the town for twelve years, holding that position at the present time (1903). A practical, progressive farmer, he has also been a correspondent for several agricultural papers.
In 1866 Mr. Walton married Sarah E., daugh- ter of the late Deacon Francis Dexter, of Wayne, Me. Of this union have been born two chil- dren: Carrie May, October 21, 1867; and Win- fred W., May 6, 1872. Carrie May, who was graduated from Hebron Academy in 1891, was for several years a most excellent teacher. She was married January 11, 1894, to Dr. H. S. Sleeper, of Washburn, Me. She died August 18, 1895. Speaking of her, Principal Sargent says: "To a gentle and winning man- ner Miss Walton added a firm, strong, Chris- tian character, which invited and never dis- appointed the confidence of her companions. A maturity and marked sincerity of sympathy, rare in one of her years, won for her in an un- usual degree the interest and sympathy of her teachers. Miss Walton possessed far more than the average mental and intellectual powers, and was considered one of Hebron's brightest and most promising graduates." Winfred W. Walton was graduated from Kent's Hill Seminary in 1894. He married Winnie A. Warren, May 2, 1897. He is a teacher of merit, has been a member of the School Com- mittee of his native town, and Superintendent of Schools for two years.
Mr. and Mrs. Walton have a pleasantly sit- uated residence, which to them and their chil- dren has ever been a happy home. Instead of leaving the place of his birth and seeking a fortune in far-off lands or distant parts of his own country, Mr. Walton has seen fit to
stay at home and win popularity and pros- perity in the town of his nativity. A man of strict integrity, his word has ever been as good as his bond. He has always been ilen- tified with the best interests of his town. and aided in all its improvements. With him the good name of the town and the waters of his people are ever uppermost in his thoughts and endeavors.
" Such is the patriot's boast. where'er we roam. His first, best country ever is at home."
CON. GREENLIEF THURLOW STE- VENS, of Augusta, Judge of the Kez- nebec County Court of Probate ani Insolvency, was born in Belgrade. Me., August 20, 1831, a son of Daniel and Mahala (Smith) Stevens.
He comes from patriotic New England stock. His paternal grandfather, William Stevens. was a Revolutionary soldier, came from Les- anon, York County, in the year 1796. az: settled in Kennebec County, on the lot, then a wilderness, where Judge Stevens was bez. His father, Daniel Stevens, was a soldier in the War of 1812 against Great Britain, and was stationed with his regiment for a time at Cas- tine, Me.
The Judge's maternal grandmother. Mrs. Chloa Clark Smith, was the first white female child born on the territory which was after- ward ancient Hallowell, including the present cities of Hallowell and Augusta.
Judge Stevens was educated in the putle schools of his native town, at Titcomb Belgrade Academy, and at Litchfield (Me.) Liberal Ix- stitute. He taught school several years with marked success, and later read law with the Hon. Samuel Titcomb, of Augusta, and was admitted to the bar in Cumberland County. Subsequently he entered the Senior class of the law department of Harvard University? from which he was graduated in 1861, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. At Harvard he was a pupil of the eminent jurists. Emory Washburn, Joel Parker, and Theophilus Par- sons.
After graduation he returned to Maine. and on the 14th of December, 1861, was commis-
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sioned First Lieutenant in the Fifth Battery of Mounted Artillery, Maine Volunteers. In May, 1862, he took the field, having spent the previous winter in drill and the study of military tactics. He served successively under Generals McDowell, Pope, Mcclellan, Burnside, Hooker, Meade, Grant, and Sheridan. He commanded the battery at Fredericksburg in the absence of Captain George F. Leppien, acting Chief of Artillery of the division, and at the battle of Chancellorsville, on May 3, 1863, was wounded by the fragment of a shell. On June 21 of that year he was promoted Captain of the battery, to succeed Captain Leppien, an ac- complished officer who had been promoted Lieutenant Colonel of the First Regiment of Maine Mounted Artillery.
At Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, Captain Stevens was again wounded, a musket ball passing through both legs below the knees. In the fall of 1863 he returned to his command, before his wounds had fully healed, and participated in the operations of the Army of the Potomac at Mine Run. In 1864 he was under General Grant in the battles of the Wilderness, Spott- sylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, and Peters- burg.
On July 10, 1863, he was detached with his battery from the Army of the Potomac, with the Sixth Corps under General Wright, and proceeded to Washington, by transports, for its defence, that city being threatened by the Confederate army under Early. February 14, 1865, he was commissioned Major by brevet, "for gallant and meritorious conduct" at the battles of Cold Harbor on June 3, Winchester, or Opequan, September 19, and Cedar Creek October 19, to take rank from October 19, 1864.
A little knoll, a spur of Culps Hill, on the battlefield of Gettysburg, where Captain Stevens posted his battery by direction of General Hancock in person, on July 1, 1863, after the repulse of the First and Eleventh Corps, and which was so gallantly held by Captain Stevens and the officers and men of his command, pre- venting the enemy's further approach in that direction, has been christened and is known in history and on the maps as Stevens's Knoll, or Hill. (See Plate XCV, Atlas to accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confed-
erate Armies.) The Cannoneer, in giving an ac- count of the battle of Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864, under Sheridan, said: " At the time when Getty's division was fighting in its second posi- tion, Stevens, who apparently had been retiring in the interval between the right of Getty and the left of Wheaton, formed his battery on the knoll opposite the right flank of Warner. These must have been Kershaw's troops, but there was another rebel division coming up, still beyond Kershaw, over the ground vacated by the First Division.
"This, according to Early's account, was Gor- don's division, and one brigade of it started to charge Stevens's battery. According to the best information, immediately after the battle or since, there was no infantry of the First Division within supporting distance of Stevens at that moment, as that division was then form- ing at from one-third to one-half a mile in his rear. But he stood his ground and repulsed the charge of Gordon's troops, who did not get more than half-way up the acclivity of the knoll he was holding, and who, according to General Early's account, recoiled in considerable confusion."
Upon a recommendation for promotion written without Captain Stevens's knowledge, General Wright, commanding the Sixth Corps, indorsed: "The gallant and important services rendered by Captain Stevens, of which I was personally cognizant, make it my duty to bring his merits before the authorities of his State and to ask for him at their hands such aeknowl- edgment in the way of promotion as it is in their power to bestow." General Sheridan in- dorsed on the recommendation of General Wright, "Highly approved, P. H. Sheridan." Describing the great crisis in the battle of Win- chester, or Opequan, under Sheridan, the New York World's field correspondent said: "The moment was a fearful one. Such a sight rarely occurs more than once in any battle as was presented on the open space between two pieces of woodland into which the cheering enemy poured. The whole line, reckless of bullets, even of the shells, of our batteries, con- stantly advanced. Captain Stevens's battery, the Fifth Maine, posted immediately in their front, poured its fire unflinchingly in their
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columns to the last. A staff officer, riding up, warned it to the rear to save it from capture. It did not move, the men of the battery loading and firing with the regularity of a field day. The enemy advanced to a point within two hundred yards of the muzzles of Captain Stevens's guns."
General George W. Getty, commanding the Second Division, Sixth Corps, in describing this affair in his official report said: " At this moment the unexpected giving way of a portion of the troops on my right checked the further advance of the [his] division. The enemy pressed for- ward into the gap thus formed, obtained a flank and reverse fire on the Second and First Bri- gades, which compelled a partial change in their front. This was promptly and handsomely ex- ecuted under the direction of General Wheaton, commanding the First Brigade. The success of the enemy, however, was but momentary. He was promptly met, held in check, and finally repulsed by several batteries, prominent among which was Stevens's (Maine) battery of light twelve-pounders, of the corps and troop of the First Division." In describing the closing hour in this engagement, after the enemy had been repulsed in the earlier part of the day, General Wheaton reported :-
"With little difficulty we advanced to the brick house on the north side of the pike and at the foot of the slope east of Winchester. A severe artillery fire was here encountered, and here some of the enemy's infantry seemed in- clined to delay for a short time our advance.
"Sending to General Getty for a battery to confront the one that was giving us so destruc- tive a fire, I soon had Captain Stevens's (Fifth Maine) battery trotting up to our support. From the moment it opened, our forward move- ment was without opposition, and the enemy could be seen in the distance, running routed to the rear in the direction of the Winchester and Strasburg pike. Our men were wild with delight at this evidence of their glorious success, and could be hardly restrained and kept in the ranks."
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