USA > Maine > Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the state of Maine > Part 36
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among their fellows. Vol. vii. of "American Ancestry," 1892, gives his lineage as follows :-
Richard1 Godfrey, the immigrant, born in England, settled in Taunton, Mass., in 1652, bringing with him his son, Richard, Jr. He married in 1655 a daughter of John Turner. He died in Taunton, 1725.
Richard2 Godfrey, born in England in 1651, died in Taunton, Mass., in 1732. He was a farmer. He married January 1, 1679, Mary Richmond, a native of Bridgewater, born in 1654.
John3 Godfrey, born in Taunton, Mass., October 31, 1691, died there March 9, 1765. A farmer by occupation, he served as a magis- trate, and was a Captain of colonial troops under George II. He married February 2, 1716, Joanna Goodwin.
George+ Godfrey, born in Taunton, Mass., died there January 27, 1786. He was a farmer, Brigadier-general, and a Representative in the Legislature.
John5 Godfrey, born in Taunton, Mass., February 26, 1754, son of George+ by his second wife, Bethia Hodges, died there August 3, 1829. He was a farmer, prominent in town affairs, and served as a Representative in the Legis- lature. He married June 3, 1779, Jerusha, daughter of Abijah Hodges.
John6 Godfrey was born in Taunton, Mass., May 27, 1781. After graduating at Brown University in Providence, R.I., in 1802, he studied law with James Sproat, of Taunton, and was admitted to the bar at Castine, Me., in August, 1805. In the same year he settled at Hampden, Me., where he began the practice of his profession. During the War of 1812 he resided for a while at Taunton, but in 1815 returned to Hampden. Removing to Bangor in 1820, he there practised law successfully for many years, and for seven years he was County Attorney, assuming that office February 9, 1829, having previously (in 1823) been Chief Justice of the Court of Sessions. He was ac- tive in municipal and county affairs, and as an able lawyer, loyal citizen, and Christian gentleman exerted a wide and beneficial influ- ence in the community. He died May 28, 1862. His first wife, the mother of all his children, was Sophia Dutton, a daughter of Colonel
Samuel and Ruth (Edwards) Dutton, their marriage taking place in May, 1807. She died June 14, 1836; and on April 24, 1838, he mar- ried for his second wife, at Searsport, Me., Mehitable, daughter of David Thurston, of Sedgwick. His children were: Sophia, John Edwards, Charlotte, Ann Sophia, Emeline, Mary Dudley, Caroline, Julia, James, George, and Arthur.
Sophia, born February 18, 1808, died May 28, 1811. Charlotte, born March 25, 1811, married the Rev. Alpha Morton, who was graduated at the Bangor Theological Seminary in 1842. She died at Auburn, Mc., September 4, 1871. Ann Sophia, born December 24, 1812, married April 14, 1843, the Rev. John Dodge, of Wal- doboro, Me. He was minister at Sharon, Mass., and at Bridgewater, where he died June 19, 1872, at the age of sixty years. They had a daughter Ellen, who married the Rev. Minot J. Savage, the well-known Unitarian minister, formerly of Boston, now of New York. Eme- line, born November 11, 1814, married the Rev. William W. Whipple, a graduate of Ban- gor Theological Seminary, class of 1845. They removed to Iowa. Mary Dudley, born March 12, 1817, became the wife of Samuel F. Stone, of Harvard, Mass. Caroline, born August 15, 1819, died four days later. Julia, born August 20, 1820, was twice married, first to Robert Dutton, of Bangor, and second to A. C. Walt- man, of La Grange, Mo. James, born October 8, 1822, was graduated at Bowdoin College in 1844. He studied law, and settled in Waldo- boro and afterward in Houlton, where he died August 30, 1850. He married in 1848 Mary C., daughter of George Wheelwright, of Bangor. After his death she became the wife of Charles P. Felch, of Chicago. George, born October 22, 1824, died December 31, 1834. Arthur, born February 18, 1828, died at Virginia City, Nev., July 5, 1873.
John Edwards Godfrey, eldest son of John6 Godfrey, born in Hampden, Me., September 6, 1809, died in Bangor, February 20, 1884. He was a lawyer of ability and a man of broad and advanced views, possessing a well-cultivated mind. He was judge of the Probate Court of Penobscot County for twenty-four years, was prominent in the city councils and in educa-
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tional matters, taking a deep and active inter- est in the schools. An early abolitionist, he was editor at one time of the Free Soil Gazette. He possessed a large and well-selected library, was interested in literature, and contributed to the collections of the Maine Historical Society. He was orator at the Bangor Centennial of 1869. was president of the Bangor Historical Society and the Penobscot Musical Association.
On May 16, 1837, he married Elizabeth An- gela, daughter of David and Judith (Hatch) Stackpole. She was a grand-daughter of John and Elizabeth Stackpole and also of Captain Walter Hatch, a Revolutionary soldier, and a descendant of William Hateli, who settled in Scituate in 1634. Of this marriage there were two children : Colonel John Franklin, born June 23, 1839, a lawyer, who died in California June 30, 1885; and George Frederick, whose name begins this article. Mrs. Elizabeth Angela God- frey died May 27, 1868; and John E. Godfrey married for his second wife September 19, 1876, Laura J., daughter of Michael Schwartz, of Bangor. Of this second union there was born one child, Ethel, September 26, 1878, who is a graduate of Smith College.
Colonel John F. Godfrey, mentioned in the preceding paragraph, was notable for courage, strength, principle and wit, sweetness and re- finement, amid the wildest experiences on sea and land, mountain and plain, in peace and in war, in cabin, camp, and town. An instance of his humanity and ready wit is the manner in which he once dispersed a mob in Los Angeles, who had dragged a man from prison, and were about to lynch him. He got to a high place, and voiced a motion to take up a subscription for the widow and orphans that they were about to make, proposing to head the list himself with five dollars. This timely action saved the pris- oner. He married in Bangor, September, 1869, Abbie Chase Bartlett, by whom he had one son, John Harold, who was born January 24, 1871, and died August 2, 1899. She died in 1872, and he married in 1874 Mary Bartlett, who died in 1876. In Los Angeles, Cal., 187 -- , Colonel Godfrey married Helen, daughter of Webster Treat. There four daughters were born: Ruth Treat, December, 1878; Marion Bartlett, June 15, 1880; Eleanor Parker, March
25, 1SS4; and Helen Stackpole, March 16, 1886,-the last, eight and a half months after the death of the father. The eldest daughter, Ruth Treat Godfrey, married George Booth Root, Jr., of Oakland, Cal., and has two chil- dren: Marion, born June -, 1901; and 'nn Katherine, born July 18, 1903. Colonel God- frey's widow, Mrs. Helen Treat Godfrey, died in Concord, Cal., in 1902.
George Frederick Godfrey, whose birth date is above recorded, in early life spent five years on the pampas of Buenos Ayres, South America. Returning home, he was a commercial traveller in the United States for three years. In 186S he journeyed with his wife in South America from the Amazon to the Rio de la Plata and in 1874 in Europe. In 1885 he established, with B. H. and T. B. Ticknor, the firm of Tieknor & Co., publishers in Boston, succeeding J. R. Osgood & Co., and he remained a member of this firm for four years, retiring in 1SS9. He resided in Bangor continuously from 1868 up to the time of his death, February 12, 1897, his business interests here being chiefly in lumber and ti nber lands.
On March 19, 1868, he married Abbie Raw- son, a daughter of Henry E. and Abigail Adams (Rawson) Prentiss. Their children were as follows: Henry Prentiss, born November S, 1869, who died January 30, 1890; Angela, born October 9, 1871, who married Milton S. Clifford, of Bangor. Me .: George Herbert, born January 21, 1876, who died February 23, 1891; and Edward Rawson, born December 27, 1877, who is engaged in the cultivation of rice in the State of Louisiana. He has an irrigating plant for his own use and that of others.
Mr. and Mrs. Clifford have two children liv- ing: Beatrice, born May 4, 1897; and Eleanor, born January 6, 1900. A daughter Phyllis, born February 27, 1896, died January 4, 1897.
The Prentiss family of which Mrs. Godfrey is a representative was founded in New Eng- land by Henry! Prentice, who was in Cambridge, Mass., before 1610. He was a member of the First Church of Cambridge, and was made freeman May 22, 1653. He was twice married, and died June 9, 1654 (O. S.).
Solomon2 Prentice, born in Cambridge, Sep- tember 23, 1646, son of Henry by his second
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wife Joan, married twice, his first wife's given name being Elizabeth. His second wife, Hep- zibah Dunn (or Dunton), died January 15, 1741, aged eighty-nine years.
Deacon Henry3 Prentice, born in 1693, son of Solomon,2 was a brickmaker. He married, first. Elizabeth, daughter of Willian Rand, of Milk Row, Charlestown, Mass. She died March 13, 1748-9, aged fifty-two; and he mar- ried November S, 1749, Elizabeth Hayley, of Boston. She died April 7, 1775, aged seventy- eight.
Caleb+ Prentice, born February 21, 1721-2, married September 17, 1744, Lydia, daughter of Deacon Samuel Whittemore, of Cambridge. He married second, December 20, 1768, the widow Rebecca Rockwell (born Kent), of Somerville, Mass. He resided in Cambridge, owning land in Harvard Square. He died November 19, 1772.
The Rev. Caleb5 Prentiss, son of Caleb+ above named, was born November 14, 1746. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1765. Jan- uary 1, 1771, he married Pamela, daughter of the Rev. John Mellen, of Lancaster, Mass., a grand-daughter of the Rev. John Prentiss, of Lancaster. After his graduation he was for several years librarian of the college library. Ile was ordained October 25, 1769, pastor of the First Parish Church of Reading (now Wake- field), Mass., and so remained until his death, which took place, from consumption, in 1803. His widow survived him for twenty years, dying in July, 1823.
Henry6 Prentiss, born December 10, 1779, married February 13, 1804, Mary, daughter of Dr. Jolin Hart. of Reading, Mass., where she was born February 13, 1779. He resided for many years on a farm in Paris, Me., was a prom- inent Whig, and is described as a "witty, sharp, political writer." In 1822 and 1823 he was a Representative to the State Legislature, and for a number of years he was a justice of the peace. He died November 2, 1843. His wife died in 1857.
The Hon. Henry Epaminondas Prentiss, father of Mrs. George Frederick Godfrey, was born in Paris, Me., February 12, 1809. He was educated at West Point Military Academy, graduating fourth in the class of 1831, and for
two years subsequently he was assistant teacher of mathematics there. He received a commis- sion in the United States army, and was sent with the troops to Fort Morgan, Ala. Sub- sequently deciding to study law, he resigned from the ariny, and began reading law with Kent & Cutting, of Bangor, making his resi- dence in Oldtown, Me. In 1836 he was a law partner with Israel Washburn (afterward Gov- ernor of Maine) in Orono, and in 1839 was cap- tain of the engineers appointed to settle the north-eastern boundary at the time of the Aroos- took disturbances. Returning to Bangor in 1839, he practised law here for several years, or until gradually drawn from it by the greater financial rewards connected with the lumber business. He was a man of few personal wants and of untiring energy and strength. His military education and knowledge of topo- graphical engineering enabled him to be his own surveyor and explorer; and he travelled the wilds of Maine with a pack on his back, climbing tall trees to get a better survey of the timber lands, often by himself, saying it was pleasanter to be alone with God in the forest than to have his mind loaded and oppressed with other men's quarrels in the law. At the age of eighteen he joined a temperance society, to the principles of which he ever afterward strictly adhered. He was frugal, yet liberal, and fond of books. He gave three public libra- ries to towns where he owned land and one to his native place, and in his will he made a handsome donation to the principal library in Bangor, bequeathing his own library to his wife. Though political life was not to his taste, from motives of duty and in response to an urgent call from the temperance element he twice accepted public office, from 1857 to 1859 rep- resenting the city of Bangor in the Legislature and in 1870-71 serving it as Mayor. He died suddenly July 1, 1873.
His wife, in maidenhood Abigail Adams Rawson, to whom he was married September 30, 1836, was born in Paris, Me., February 5, 1811, a daughter of Captain Samuel and Polly (Freeland) Rawson. She bore hini five chil- dren, namely: John Hart, Henry Mellen, Abbie Rawson, Mary Freeland, and Samuel Rawson. The following is their record in brief :-
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John Hart& Prentiss, born November 26, 1837, died July 3, 1859. Educated at Union Col- lege, New York, he studied medicine in Bruns- wick, Me., and early in 1859 at the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, Pa. At the time of his death he was assistant physician in the Hospital for the Insane at Augusta, Me.
Henry Mellen$ Prentiss, born in Bangor, July 20, 1840, graduated at Harvard College, and settled in Bangor, where he continued his father's business. He married November 30, 1865, Julia A., daughter of Calvin Dwinel, and had two children: Elsie,9 born November 21, 1869; and Henry,9 born August 18, 1872. Eisie married October 25, 1902, Nathaniel Lord, of Bangor, Me.
Abbie Rawson,8 born June 25, 1842, married George F. Godfrey, as already noted in this article.
Mary Freeland,8 born September 1, 1846, in Bangor, married October 15, 1879, James Murray Kay, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, born March 30, 1842. They have five chil- dren: Winifred Prentiss, born August 21, 1880; Jean Katherine Murray, born August 8, 1882; Abbie Rawson Prentiss, born October 30, 1883; Mary Murray, born May 31, 1885; and James Murray, Jr., August 11, 1886.
Samuel8 Rawson Prentiss, born August 26, 1849, was a student at Harvard Law School. He was interested in timber land, and was from 1872 to 1882 a resident of California. He is now a resident of Bangor. He married Novem- bei 3, 1874, Maria Louise, daughter of Aaron A. Wing, of Bangor. Their children are: John W., born August 15, 1875; Margaret Montgomery Rawson, born June 6, 1884.
Mrs. Abigail Adams Rawson Prentiss was a descendant of Edward' Rawson, of Newbury, in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, and of Boston.
William2 Rawson, third son of Edward,1 was married to Ann Glover, daughter of Na- thaniel and Mary (Smith) Glover, of Dorches- ter, Mass. Their son David,3 born December 13, 1683. married Mary, daughter of Captain John Gulliver, of Milton.
and settled in Sutton, Mass. He died June 11, 1814.
Captain Samuel5 Rawson, son of Ebenezer4 and father of Mrs. Henry E. Prentiss, was born September 4, 1771. He married in May, 1802, Polly Freeland. She was born September 17, 1778. He was a saddler and upholsterer, and first settled in Grafton, Mass. In 1814 he was called into the United States service in defence of Portland, Me., he being at that time a Lieu- tenant of artillery.
RANCISCO COLBURN, of Windsor, Ken- nebec County, was born in Pittston, Me., February 10, 1839, son of Horace and Almena (Wilson) Colburn. His paternal grand- father was Benjamin Colburn, an early settler of Pittston, who, it is said, was of English ex- traction. Horace Colburn, who was born in Pittston, and died in Windsor in April, 1887, was a farmer, teacher, and lumberman. A man of strong character and devotion to the public interests, he not only served in town offices, including that of Selectman, but also represented his district in the Legislature. By his wife Almena, also a native of Pittston, he had ten children-Delphena, Genevra, Fran- cisco, Joseph, Caleb, Sanford, Minerva, Almena, Horace, and Frank.
Reared to man's estate in the town of Wind- sor, to which he accompanied his parents when an infant a year old, the subject of this sketch attended the public schools as opportunity was afforded him, and out of school hours acquired a practical knowledge of farm life and labor. His subsequent years have been largely taken up with agricultural pursuits, and he now owns a good farm of two hundred acres, on which he carries on general farming. Since early manhood he has taken an active part in local politics, and his sound judgment in public in- terests, and activity in the cause of progress, has led to his holding a number of offices, in all of which he has rendered capable service. He was Selectman for several years, Treasurer for two years, and in 1899 he represented the towns of Windsor and Vassalboro in the lower house of the State Legislature. He is also a
Ebenezer,+ born May 31, 1734, married in 1756 Sarah Chase, daughter of the Hon. Samuel Chase, of Cornish, N.H. He was a farmer, 1 member of the Republican Town Committee.
GEORGE H. NEWHALL.
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In September, 1861, Mr. Colburn enlisted as a private in Company C, First Maine Cavalry, with which regiment he saw active service in the Army of the Potomac. Among the more important battles in which he took part were those of Fredericksburg, Antietam, Gettysburg, Brandy Station, and the Wilderness. He was honorably discharged in November, 1864. Dur- ing most of his period of service he acted as Sergeant in his company. He is a charter member of Vining Post, No. 107, G. A. R., of Windsor, which he served as Commander for several years.
Mr. Colburn married in 1860 Sarah E. Chap- man, a native of China, Me., and a daughter of Andrew D. and Hannah (Bryant) Chapman, of that town. He and his wife have had five children, of whom there are three now living: George A., who resides in Augusta, Me .; Horace C., also a resident of Augusta; and Raymond, who lives in Windsor. The two who died were Charles and Francisco, Jr. .
EORGE HENRY NEWHALL, for sev- cral years a member of the firm of Lawrence, Phillips & Company, lum- ber manufacturers of Shawmut, Me., died at his home in Fairfield, Me., May 2, 1890. Born in the town of Canaan, Somerset County, March 18, 1838, son of Henry C. and Lydia H. (Getchell) Newhall, he came to Fairfield in 1852, his par- ents removing from Canaan with their whole family. He was then in his fifteenth year. He grew to manhood in Fairfield. Equipped with a common school education, he devoted his energies from his youth upward to the lumber industry, being associated for some time with his father, who was a member of the lumber manufacturing firm of Newhall & Gibson. At a later period, after his father's death, he was for several years a member of the firm of Lawrence, Phillips & Company, actively engaged in the lumber business up to the close of his earthly life.
Mr. Newhall's first wife, Mary Tobey, whom he married August 7, 1860, died January 9, 1873, in early womanhood. She was the mother of one child, a son, Edward F., who was born October 5, 1861, and died August 9, 186S. He
married secondly, March 30, 1874, Louise E. Page, daughter of Eben S. Page and his wife, Melinda B. Lawrence Page.
Mr. Newhall's surviving children-namely, Mary L., born July 21, 1876; and Henry C., born February 14, 1882-reside with their mother at the family homestead in Fairfield. Mary L. Newhall is a graduate of Wellesley College, class of 1899. Henry C. Newhall is interested in the lumber business.
Mr. Newhall was a Universalist in religious faith, and with his family attended the church of that denomination in Fairfield. In politics a Democrat like his father, he was public spir- ited, and interested in the general welfare, but not ambitious for official honors. He was a successful business man, and highly respected as a citizen.
AVID W. POTTER, a widely-known and much respected citizen of Ban- gor, was engaged for many years in the East India trade as commander of a vessel, and while thus employed he circum- navigated the globe several times, sailing away toward the east and returning from the west. He was born in St. George, N.B., January 26, 1823. He is a descendant in the seventh gen- eration of Anthony Potter, of Ipswich, Mass., the line being Anthony,1 Samuel,2 David,3 Wil- liam,+ Joseph, David," David W .?
Anthony1 Potter was born in England in 1628. Immigrating to the Massachusetts Bay Colony when a young man, and settling in Ipswich, he married Elizabeth Whipple, daugh- ter of Deacon John and Sarah Whipple. She was born in 1629, and died in 1712. He died in 1690. Samuel- Potter died in 1714. The maiden name of his wife was Joanna Wood. David3 Potter, born in Ipswich, Mass., March 27, 1685, died after 1714. In 1710 or 1711 he married Mary Merriam, daughter of Joseph Merriam, of Lynn. William+ Potter married Catherine Mustard ("tradition says"), and died March 9, 1747.
Joseph5 Potter, a native of Topsham, Me., was a pioneer settler of Bangor, and he erected on the hill back of the present residence of David W. Potter, on the north side of Mont-
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gomery Street, the seventh log house built within its limits. He was a millwright by trade. With the assistance of his oldest son, he built at Lover's Leap the first saw-mill erected on Kenduskeag stream, its site being now occupied by a box factory. On March 26, 1767, he mar- ried Margaret Stinson, daughter of William and Elizabeth Stinson.
David6 Potter was born in Bangor, Me., July 15, 1782, and died November 27, 1853. During his earlier life he followed the sea, being engaged in coasting along the Maine shore. He settled permanently in Bangor, where the greater part of his life was spent. On January 17, 1812, he married Mary A. Trooke, daughter of George and Mary Trooke. They became the parents of seven children, two of whom survive, namely -Mark L. and David W.
Mark L. Potter was born in Machias, Me., January 1, 1820. On June 5, 1860, he married Mary L. Plummer, who was born in 1838, a daughter of Benjamin Plummer. They have two children, Winifred8 and Mary Louise,8 both married.
David W. Potter came with his parents to Bangor when a young child. At the age of eleven years he began his seafaring career, going as cook on a coaster plying between Bangor and Boston, a position. that he retained six years. At the age of seventeen he made a voy- age to the West Indies, and the following year was second mate of the "Josephine," a vessel engaged in the East India trade, sailing between New York and Calcutta. He continued in that position until 1850. Assuming then the com- mand of the brig "Elmer," of Bangor, he took charge of her first trip to Europe and the West Indies, and remained master of that vessel until 1854. In that year, with others, Mr. Potter built the stanch ship "Littlefield," in Bangor. Of this vessel he was captain for eight years, and during this time he made many voyages, visiting all the more important ports of the world, on most of his voyages being accom- panied by his wife. Mr. Potter was in the gov- ermnent service in 1863 and until the close of the Civil War. While thus employed, he had charge of several transport steamers, including the "Tillie," the "Dudley Buck," and the "Metropolitan." After the war he made two
extended voyages to foreign ports, as com- mander of the bark "Templar" went to South America, and as commander of the bark "Iron- sides" and other vessels he made many trips to the Mediterranean.
Since 1876 Mr. Potter has lived retired. He has not, however, shirked the responsibilities of citizenship, but has served continuously since 1877 as an Overseer of the Poor. He is a Re- publican in his political affiliations. He is very prominent in Masonic circles, being a Knight Templar, a member of St. John's Commandery, and for the last twenty years chairman of the board of managers of Masonic property. He attends the Third Parish Church of Bangor.
On May 21, 1851, Mr. Potter married Ann Louisa Evans, who was born in Portsmouth, N.H., a daughter of Nathaniel and Hannah M. (Pratt) Evans. Mr. and Mrs. Potter have had four children-George, Emma, Frank, and Ina Louisa. Georges Potter, born in Bangor, Oc- tober 2, 1852, died December 9, 1864. Emma8 Potter was born in Calcutta, India, September 30, 1855. Franks Potter, born at sea, not far from the coast of Australia, September 16, 1861, died August 5, 1862. Ina Louisas Potter, born at Bangor, Me., October 29, 1865, is the wife of Edward M. Blanding, of Bangor. She has no children.
OSEPH TRAFTON, a Civil War veteran, residing in West Gardiner, his native place, was born September 24, 1838, a son of Thomas and Rosetta (Oliver) Trafton. He is a descendant of Jotham Traf- ton, Sr., who came from York, Me., at an early date, and settled in Georgetown, Sagadahoc County, where he died in January, 1857, aged ninety-eight years, five months. His wife, Hannah Spinney, died in 1849, aged eighty-five years. Thomas Trafton, perhaps the first bearer of this surname in New England, was an - inhabitant of York, Me., as early as 1681. Mr. Joseph Trafton's parents were natives of Georgetown. His father, who served as a sol- dier in the War of 1812, died in 1864.
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