USA > Maine > Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the state of Maine > Part 42
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Augustus Freedom Moulton was graduated at Westbrook Seminary in 1869 and at Bowdoin College in 1873, standing at the head of his class and being class orator at commencement. In 1874 he was a tutor in Bowdoin College. The following year he began his law studies in the office of William I. Putnam, now Judge of the
United States Court of Appeals, and remained with him until admitted to the bar of Cumber- land County in October, 1876. In 1878 and 1879 Mr. Moulton represented Scarboro in the State Legislature, being a member of the Judi- ciary Committee both years. Beginning the practice of his profession in Portland, Me .. he retained his residence in Scarboro until 1896, when he removed to Deering. He was elected Mayor of Deering in 1898. Upon the annexa- tion of Deering to Portland he was for two years Alderman, and was president of the board. He is somewhat prominent as a Free Mason, and has been Eminent Commander of Portland Com- miandery of Knights Templar.
In politics he was a Democrat until 1896, and rendered his party good service on the stump, being an effective speaker. Since 1896 he has been a straight Republican, and has taken con- siderable part in politics. He is a member of the Maine Historical Society and of the Society of the Colonial Wars, and has been president of the Maine Society, Sons of the American Revo- lution. He is one of the trustees of Westbrook Seminary. His time is given closely to the practice of his profession, in which he holds a leading position, and does a large business both as counsellor for individuals and corporations and in the trial of important causes in the Fed- eral and State Courts.
EANDER A. DASCOMBE, M.D., one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Skowhegan, has been engaged in practice here since 1884. He was born in the town of Wilton, Franklin County, Me., March 28, 1853, a son of Henry A. and Cynthia (Perry) Dascombe. Both his parents were natives of Franklin County, the father, who is now deceased, being in his day a well-known agriculturist of Wilton. His wife, the doctor's mother, is still living, being now (1903) in her seventy-ninth year. Henry was a son of Alexander Dascombe, and grandson of Thomas Dascombe, an early settler of Jay, Me., in which town Alexander was born. The children of Henry A. and Cynthia Dascombe were five in number, and four of them are still living.
Leander A. Dascombe acquired his formal
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education in the public schools of his native town and at Wilton Academy. He subsequently attended the Maine Medical School, where he took two courses of lectures, and in 1877, after the usual course of study, he was graduated at Bellevue Medical College, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Beginning the practice of his profession in Kingfield, Me., he removed after a short time to Phillips, remaining there for several years. Thence he came in 1SS4 to Skowhegan, where he has since by force of ability built up a successful and lucrative prac- tice, his reputation extending far beyond the limits of the town. He is a member of the Maine Medical Association. A Free Mason, he has advanced in that order as far as the Knights Templar degree. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he is a Republican.
Dr. Dascombe was married August 5, 1877, to Ada Russell, of Wilton, Me., daughter of Ephraim and Elvira (Tuck) Russell. He has one child living, May E. A daughter, Alice C., died in 1SS7 at the age of one year. The doctor and his family are prominent members of Skowhegan society.
AMES PRESTON HILL, Deputy Sheriff, Waterville, was born in Waterville, August 20, 1827, son of Purmot and Lydia R. (Smith) Hill. His grand- father, Jonathan Hill, who was a farmer of Exeter, N.H., served in the Revolutionary War as a private in the New Hampshire Con- tinental line. He was placed on the United States Pension Roll in February, 1819, com- mencement of pension April 3, 1818, his age being seventy. He died October 31, 1821. It is said that at one time, early in the war, he successfully accomplished the hazardous task of conveying an important despatch from General Washington. then in Cambridge, Mass., to Philadelphia.
Purmot Hill was born in Exeter, March 14, 1797. Having learned the wheelwright's trade in his native town, he moved to Water- ville shortly after his marriage, and, establish- ing himself as a carriage manufacturer, he con-
tinued in that business for many years, becom- ing widely and favorably known throughout the State as a builder of excellent carriages and sleighs. At the outbreak of the Civil War he declared his intention of entering the army; but, being at length convinced by his son that he was too far beyond the age limit for ser- vice in the field, he made use of his calling as a means of manifesting his loyalty to the Union. Going to the front, he rendered valuable ser- viees to the medieal department in the field as a repairer of ambulances until the close of the war. Purmot Hill died in Waterville, August 19, 1871. He was married February 13, 1830, to Lydia R. Smith, whose birth took place in Dover, N.H., September 30, 1797. She died in Waterville, May 7, 1879. They were the parents of nine children, four of whom are no longer living, namely: Arianna S .; Sam- uel H .; Charlotte S .; and Cordelia, who was the first wife of Dr. Henry Adams. The five survivors are: Lydia F., born in Exeter, De- cember 5, 1821, who was married November 26, 1840, to Simeon Keith, an account of whom appears elsewhere in this work; Augusta M., wife of Hurrutt Dresser, of Castine, Me .; James P., an outline of whose personal history appears farther on; Julia A., widow of the late Larkin Dunton, of Allston, Mass .; and Charlotte E., wife of Dr. Henry Adams.
James Preston Hill learned the blacksmith's trade in his father's workshops. He was for some time a Constable in Waterville, and at the breaking out of the Rebellion he was ap- pointed a special agent under Provost Marshal A. P. Davis, with headquarters at Augusta. In this capacity he served until the termina- tion of hostilities, his duties calling him to various parts of the State. He was subse- quently employed as a blacksmith in the con- struction of the first cotton factory erected at the dam in Waterville, also in the construc- tion of the Lockwood Mills, and for some time he carried on the blacksmithing business on his own account. From 1883 to the present time he has held the appointment of Deputy Sheriff.
In 1849 Mr. Hill married Emeline P. Simp- son, born in Winslow, Me., daughter of Ezekiel and Roxanna (Simpson) Simpson. Her parents
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went from Boston, Mass., to Augusta, Me., on a packet about the year 1795, and paddled up the Kennebec River to Winslow in a canoe. Ezekiel Simpson was in his day a well-known horseman in this locality. Mr. and Mrs. Hill are the parents of six children, two of whom died at an early age. Those now living are: Anna L., wife of Albert M. Kane, of Wool- wich, Me., and mother of two children, William and Blanche; Charles A., a hotel-keeper in Bel- grade, Me., who married Abbie Boyd, of New- ton, Mass., and has three children-Gertrude, Harold, and Lawrence; James Frederick, M.D., whose personal history will be found upon another page of this work; and Wallace A. Hill, now engaged in the roofing business in Fairfield, Me., who married Nina Sawyer, of Fairfield, and has one daughter, Margaret.
ON. JAMES MORRELL LARRABEE, Judge of the Municipal Court of the city of Gardiner, Kennebec County, was born in the town of Wales in the adjoining county of Androscoggin, De- cember 4, 1833. His parents were Daniel and Sabrina (Ricker) Larrabee. His father was a native of Wales, being a son of John Larrabee, who went to that town from Scar- boro, Cumberland County, in 1793. John Lar- rabee married in Wales, in 1794, Susanna Andrews. They had eleven children.
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There is a tradition among the American families of Larrabee that their ancestors were Huguenots in France. John Larrabee, of Wales, Me., was a descendant in the fifth generation of Stephen1 Larrabee, whose eight children were named in the will of William Larrabee, of Malden, evidently his brother, in 1692. William, it is said, was married in Malden in 1655. Thomas,2 born about 1660, son of Stephen,' was a land-owner in Scarboro in 1681. He was killed by Indians in 1723. John,3 son of Thomas Larrabee, was the father of Philip4 and grandfather of John5 Larrabee, of Wales, Me.
Daniel® Larrabee, father of Judge Larra- bee, of Gardiner, was a ship carpenter, and he followed his trade for a number of years as a master shipbuilder in Bath, Me. Afterward
he went South, and engaged in cutting and fitting ship timber in Maryland and Virginia. He settled on a farm in Gardiner in 1856, and from that time till his death, in 1SS3, gave his attention to agriculture. His wife Sabrina, a native of Milton, Strafford County, N.H., was a daughter of Elias Ricker and his wife, Mary Morrell Wetherell, and a descendant of early colonists.
James M. Larrabee was one of a family of two children. He passed his boyhood years in his native town, obtaining his early educa- tion in the public schools under the district system, so healthily stimulating to a country lad inclined to learning. He continued his studies at the Maine Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's Hill, where he was graduated in 1853, and after that attended for a year Phillips Academy at Exeter, N.H. Failing health pre- vented him from going to college; he has, how- ever, never ceased being a student both in science and in literature. For about five years in his later youth and early manhood he taught school in Gardiner and elsewhere.
In 1855 he removed to Gardiner, where for three years he was principal of the Highland Avenue Grammar School. Skilled in instru- mental music (or as a player on the E-flat tuba), .he enlisted September 28, 1861, in the band attached to the Eleventh Maine Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front, the regiment being a part of the Army of the Potomac. He was in the battle of Fair Oaks, Va. In Au- ust, 1862, a little less than a year from date of enlistment, the band was discharged by Act of Congress. Returning to Gardiner, he was engaged for a number of years in agricult- ure and carpenter work.
In 18S5 he was appointed by Governor Fred- eriek Robie Judge of the Municipal Court of Gardiner. In this capacity he has served continuously down to present date, making for himself an honorable record for faithfulness and efficiency as an administrator of justice. He has also held other offices of public trust, having served for thirty-three years as a mem- ber of the School Committee of Gardiner, the greater part of the time being chairman of the board and Superintendent of the Schools, and for a number of years as a member of the city
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JAMES MORRELL LARRABEE.
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government, both as Alderman and Council- man and as president of each board. For five years also he was an assessor of Gardiner. In politics he is a Republican, having joined that party at the time of its formation in 1855. He has been a member of the Congregational church at Gardiner ever since 1857.
He is prominently identified with the Ma- sonic fraternity; has served as Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Maine, and as presiding officer of the various Masonic organizations of Gardiner. He is now secre- tary of the Masonic Lodge, Chapter, and Coun- cil, at Gardiner. He belongs likewise to Heath Post, No. 6, G. A. R., of Gardiner.
He married September 18, 1856, Priscilla Woodward, of Winthrop, Me., daughter of the late Amos Woodward and his wife Nancy. Five children born of this union are now liv- ing, namely-Edgar W., Harry E., J. Holland, Edith M., and Austin P. Edgar W. Larrabee was graduated at Bowdoin College in the class of 1881, and is now paymaster of the Massa- chusetts Corporation in Lowell, Mass. Harry E. Larrabee is connected with the Reporter's Journal at Gardiner. J. Holland Larrabee is the manager of the jewelry store of H. R. Woodward, of Norwich, Conn. Edith M., a graduate of Colby University (now College), class of 1897, was for some time a teacher in the high school at Attleboro, Mass. Austin P. Larrabee (Bowdoin College, 1901) is now (1902) a post-graduate student at Harvard University, making a specialty of the study of zoology, having previously served as instruc- tor in that science at Bowdoin College, for one year after receiving his Bachelor's degree.
RANCIS M. STURTEVANT, who has resided on his present farin in Oakland, Kennebec County, since 1866, is a native of the town, born March 28, 1836, a son of Reward and Ann L. (Hesketh) Sturtevant. He is a grandson of Lot Sturtevant, a native of Cape Cod and of Scotch antecedents, who was one of the pioneer settlers of Oakland. Lot was a Revolutionary soldier. When he settled in Oakland after the war, the country in this vicinity was practically a wilderness,
and he was obliged to clear a tract of land of its timber in order to establish a homestead. There were no roads, the routes between the scattered settlements being indicated by blazed trees. In those early days he used to carry corn on his back in a sack to Waterville, from that place taking a canoe to Gardiner, where he had it ground. His death, which occurred late in the fourth decade of the last century, deprived Kennebec County of one of its typical pioneer citizens, who, by reason of his associa- tion with the early history of the county, his Revolutionary record, and his interesting per- sonal characteristics, was widely known and respected.
Reward Sturtevant, son of Lot and father of the subject of this sketch, was born in the town of Oakland, then known as West Waterville, and resided here all his life, engaged in farm- ing. He died in 1845. His wife Ann was a daughter of John Hesketh, who with his wife came from England and settled in Hallowell, Me. Of the children of Reward and Ann Sturtevant-eleven in all-the following now survive: Martha J., now Mrs. John Coolidge, of Watertown, Mass .: John H., who resides in Waterville, Me .; Reward A., who lives in Fairfield, Me .; Henry W., of Waterville; Fran- cis M., whose name begins this sketch; Ellen, who is the wife of Allen C. Goodwin, of Fairfield, Me .: and Charles B., of Oakland, Me. Those deceased are Margaret, Robert, Edwin J., and Elizabeth.
Francis MI. Sturtevant was reared in his native town of Oakland. Though he attended the cominon schools and made the best use of his opportunities for the acquisition of knowl- edge, his (ducation has been largely acquired in the practical school of life. Adopting the time-honored occupation of agriculture-that, more than any other, upon which mankind is directly dependent-he has pursued it in connection with dairying with such intelligent application that he is now numbered among the prosperous and substantial citizens of the town. His success, from a worldly point of view, has been self-achieved, and is therefore the more creditable to himn.
Mr. Sturtevant was married in 1862 to Asenath Wheeler, a native of Oakland and
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daughter of Orlando and Emeline (Palmer) Wheeler. Mr. and Mrs. Sturtevant have been the parents of seven children: Chester O., who lives in Fairfield; Alice E., who is the widow of Wesley Gilman, a former citizen of Oakland; Edith, who is now deceased: Herbert M., who resides in Boston, Mass .: Everett P., who is clerk in the post-office at Oakland; Howard F. and Ralph W., both of whom reside at home with their parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Sturtevant belong to the Con- gregational church at Waterville, which he is now serving as Deacon, having held that office for several years. He is a member of the Honorary American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. His political principles affiliate him with the Republican party.
REDERICK ISAAC BROWN, one of Readfield's successful men and an ex- member of the Maine Legislature, was born in Chesterville, Me., December 26, 1851, son of Lauren M. and Eliza A. (Stevens) Brown. His father was a native of New Hampshire. His mother was born in Mount Vernon, Me. When a small boy, Lauren M. Brown was brought from New Hampshire to Chesterville by his father, Isaac Brown; and the active period of his life was devoted to agricultural pursuits.
The early life of Frederiek Isaae Brown was spent upon the home farm; and his education, begun in Chesterville publie schools, was eon- tinued at the Maine Wesleyan Seminary, Kent's Hill. After leaving school he turned his atten- tion to farming, which occupation he followed until 1879, when he removed to Readfield, and engaged in mercantile business. During the past twenty-four years he has built up a large and profitable trade as a dealer in groceries, provisions, hardware, ete .; and he is at the present time one of the most prosperous mer- chants in Readfield. His business ability, progressive tendencies, and natural aptitude for public affairs have long eaused his name to remain upon the list of eligible candidates for publie office, and his services in an official capacity have been of marked value to the town. For six years he served as a Selectman,
being chairman of the board for a considerable portion of the time; for three years he was Town Clerk; and during the session of the State Legislature in 1891 he represented the towns of Readfield, Mount Vernon, Vienna, and Fayette in the lower house. For a number of years he has been chairman of the Republican Town Committee. He is a member of Lafayette Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Read- field; Trinity Commandery, Knights Templar, of Augusta; and Readfield Lodge, No. 30, Ancient Order of United Workmen, of Read- field.
On January 19, 1881, Mr. Brown married Miss Annie M. French, a native of Chesterville and daughter of the late Benjamin S. French, of that town.
ORACE ELISHA CARSON is one of the more prominent of the native residents of Mount Vernon, Kenne- bee County. Born April 17, 1849, son of Elisha C. and Lucy Tilton (Cram) Car- son, he is a grandson on the paternal side of James Carson, of Mount Vernon.
Elisha C. Carson, the father, spent his life in the town of Mount Vernon, his birthplace. As a citizen he was active and influential, serving as Selectman, and also for one term as a mem- ber of the Maine House of Representatives. His death oeeurred in February, 1892. His wife, Luey Tilton Cram was a native of New Hampshire. Their children were-Elizabeth, John P., George A., Horace E., and Ella L.
Horaee E. Carson acquired his education in public and private schools in Mount Vernon. Brought up to farm life he has since followed agriculture successfully. He owns and occu- pies a good farin of one hundred acres, favorably located, and with its buildings forming a com- fortable rural homestead.
Mr. Carson married Mareh 21, 1878, Ellen B. Robinson. She was born in Mount Vernon, March 21, 1855, daughter of James A. and Elvira (Dunn) Robinson. Her father, James A. Robinson, who died in February, 1900, was a native of Mount Vernon, Me., and son of James Robinson, an early settler of this town. He served as Selectman of Mount Vernon for a
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number of years, and also represented his dis- trict in the Maine Legislature.
Mr. and Mrs. Carson have been the parents of three children-Herman H., Cleon E., (now deceased), and Harry A. Mr. Carson is a Re- publican in politics. A progressive, useful citizen, he has done his share in advancing the interests of the community and adding to the agricultural resources of the town.
EORGE WATERMAN GOULDING was born in North Wayne, Me., February 24, 1842. His father was Joseph V. Goulding, a native of Massachusetts, and his mother was Frances P. (Hubbard) Goulding, a native of the town of Waterville, of which Oakland was formerly a part. Mr. Goulding's parents, when he was two years old, moved to Troy, N.Y., remaining there six years, when they moved to West Waterville, now Oakland. At twelve years of age .he went to Minnesota, then a Territory, and located on the frontier. Mr. Goulding as a boy went West to live with a relative until he was twenty-one: but, when only fifteen years of age he ran away from his uncle, built a raft on the bank of the Mississippi, and, committing his fortunes to the Father of Waters, boldly pushed from the shore. That act shaped his future destiny, and places him in the class of boys thrown upon their own re- sources. His proximity to the Indian tribes gave him an excellent opportunity to study their habits and characteristics; and before he was eighteen years old he acquired the Chippewa language and later the Sioux, so as to speak them with ease.
In May, 1861, in his nineteenth year, when even the frontier settlements were ablaze with martial enthusiasm, caused by the news of the firing upon Fort Suniter, he travelled fifty miles on foot to Fort Snelling, and enlisted in the first regiment that was mustered into the United States service for three years, or during the war-namely, the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. This regiment marched some two hundred miles to Forts Ripley, Ridgeley, and Fort Abercrombie to relieve the regular troops, Second Infantry, United States army stationed at those exposed points, at this time the out-
posts of civilization, and then repaired to Washington, arriving in Alexandria, Va., about. the time Colonel Ellsworth was killed in that city.
Mr. Goulding participated in every battle in which that famous regiment engaged except one, and he undoubtedly owes his life to the fact that when that battle was fought-Gettys- burg-he was unconscious in a hospital at Alex- andria. In that single engagement eighty- three out of every hundred of his regiment lay dead and wounded on the field in less than ten minutes' time. The subject of this sketch was color guard when on duty; and, as the colors were shot down five times, and every color guard killed or wounded in the conflict. it is safe to aver that his chance of escape with life, had he participated in the fight, would have been slim. Colonel Fox, in his carefully pre- pared work on "Regimental Losses in the American Civil War," says, speaking of the Second Corps in this battle: "The fighting was deadly in the extremne, the percentage of loss in the First Minnesota being without an equal in the records of modern warfare. General Hancock, in speaking of the charge of the regi- ment, which he himself ordered, says, 'There is no more gallant deed recorded in history.'" It is natural, then, that Mr. Goulding should declare that the proudest part of his life was his connection with the First Minnesota.
The following is a record of the battles in which he fought: first Bull Run, Ball's Bluff. crossing at Edwards Ferry, and attacking the enemy in flank, and preventing still greater disaster to Colonel Baker's command at Ball's Bluff, Yorktown, Williamsburg, West Point, Fair Oaks, Savage Station, Glendale, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, second Manassas, Chantilly, South Mountain, Antietam, Freder- icksburg, Chancellorsville, Bristow Station, and Mine Run, besides numerous skirmishes. In May, 1864, he was mustered out as Sergeant, having completed his three years' enlistment. He immediately re-enlisted in Hancock's Vet- eran Corps, and, after the death of President Lincoln, aided in cleaning out Moseby's guer- rillas from that part of Virginia infested by them. When the conspirators implicated in the assassination of Lincoln were arrested, details
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were made from his regiment to guard them until executed. He was finally mustered out March 10, 1866, during the last six months of his service being stationed at Louisville, Ky., and at Camp Chase, Ohio, engaged in muster- ing out Western and Southern troops who ren- dezvoused at those points at the close of the war.
Mr. Goulding came to Oakland, then West Waterville, in 1866, and entered into partner- ship with George H. Bryant, under the firm name of Goulding & Bryant, the connection being of short duration. Subsequently Mr. Goulding engaged in the drug business, and was Oakland's druggist for thirty-four years, hav- ing no competitor for most of the time. He retired from the business in 1902. While car- rying on the drug business, he also operated two stores at Madison, Me.
He has been president or treasurer of the Oak- land Machine Company for ten years. He is at present president of the Messalonskee Cloth- ing Company, vice-president of the Oakland Woollen Company, president of the Messalon- skee National Bank for a number of years, and a director and vice-president for twelve years or more. He was appointed Postmaster of Oakland in 1901 by President MeKinley and again commissioned by President Roosevelt. As a Grand Army veteran he has served on the staff of General Veazie, national Commander, as aide-de camp with rank of Colonel, also on the staff of the Department Commander of Maine. He is a member of Sergeant Wyman Post, No. 97, G. A. R., and a Past Commander.
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