USA > Maine > Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the state of Maine > Part 47
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Packard; and further ancestral history of his immediate family may be found on another page of this work, in connection with the sketch of his mother, Mrs. Harriet A. Packard. Clar- ence Hall, born February 27, 1856, in St. George, married Hattie Wiley, of Rockland: they have two children, Matthew and Viva H. Alice Hall, who was born in St. George, October 15, 1859, is the wife of Frederick Healey: they have no children. Walter T. Hall was born in Rockland, Me., October 21, 1871. Maynard F. Hall was born in Rockland, Me., November 25, 1875.
EORGE N. LAWRENCE was born in Pittston, Me., December 2, 1846, son of Daniel and Sophia E. (Duell) Law- rence. His paternal ancestry has been traced back for more than seven centuries to Robert Lawrence, of Lancashire, England, born prob- ably as early as A.D. 1150. Attending his sover- eign, Richard "Cœur de Lion," to the war of the Crusades in the Holy Land, he so distin- guished himself in the siege of Acre that he was knighted "Sir Robert of Ashton Hall."
After sixteen generations comes John Law- rence, born at Wisset, England, and baptized October 8, 1609, who came to New England. He married Elizabeth Townley, and settled in Watertown; and among his children was Peleg, born January 10, 1646, at Watertown. Peleg was the father of Major Eleazer Lawrence, born February 28, 1674, at Groton; and Eleazer, of Eleazer, second, born about 1707 at Groton. The next in the line of descent under present consideration comes David, born at Littleton, January 26, 1743, who went to Kennebec Plan- tation, and married, in 1768, Elizabeth East- man, of that place. A son of David was Edward, born at Pittston, Me., January 19, 1778, who married Abigail Wells, of Ipswich, Mass. Their children were born as follows: Edward, Novem- ber 1, 1803; Daniel, February 19, 1805; Caroline, January 17, 1807: Benjamin, May 2, 1809: Abi- gail, March 2, 1811; Washington, May 8, 1812; Cordelia, July 23, 1814; Lucy, January 29, 1816; David, January 25, 1818; Franklin, July 3, 1820; Lavina C., September 10, 1822.
Daniel Lawrence, son of Edward and father
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of George Nickels Lawrence by his wife Sophia, had children as follows: Caroline, born Decem- ber 27, 1832, who died September 10, 1833; Daniel, born August 5, 1836, who died June 22, 1897; Silas Duell, born July 26, 1839, who died September 16, 1841: George Nickels, born De- cember 2, 1846, whose name begins this sketch; and Abigail Wells, born July 26, 1852, who mar- ried January 24, 1883, George Burt Stone. Mr. and Mrs. Stone have one child, George Lawrence Stone, born November 1, 1886.
George Nickels Lawrence was educated at Kent's Hill Academy and at the Dirigo Business College. After graduating from the latter in- stitution, he went to the Provinces, where he taught writing and book-keeping for about a year. He then spent four years as clerk in the Gardiner (Me.) post-office -- from 1868 to 1872- afterward becoming book-keeper for the Kenne- bec Land and Lumber Company, with which he remained for several years. Subsequently he engaged in the ice business, in association with J. Manchester Haynes and Henry A. DeWitt, under the firm name of Haynes, DeWitt Ice Company, Mr. Lawrence being general manager of the business, until 1898, when he became manager of the Maine department of the Ameri- can Ice Company.
Mr. Lawrence is a member of Asylum Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Augusta, and in politics is a Re- publican. He was married December 16, 1874, to Ella J. Hooker, who was born in Gardiner, Me., January 14, 1852, daughter of Walton Olney and Sophia (Andrews) Hooker, her father being a lineal descendant of the Rev. Thomas Hooker, of Hartford, Conn.
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence have one child, Bertha Sophia, born June 29, 1877, who married Sep- tember 26, 1900, Dr. Herbert Allen Black, of Pueblo, Col.
RTHUR B. CROCKETT, of Rockland, was born in this city, May 4, 1854, and was here bred and educated. His father, the late Captain Rob- ert Crockett, was a son of Robert J. Crockett and a grandson of Jonathan and Elioenai (Robbins) Crockett. (Further notice of his ancestors may be found on another page of
this volume, in connection with the -sketch of Amos F. Crockett.)
Mr. Crockett has always been a resident of Rockland, and has long been associated with his brothers in the manufacture of lime, one of the most prominent industries of this local- ity. He has also been successfully engaged in the livery business for the past twenty-one years, having one of the most finely equipped livery establishments in the city. He is a Republican in politics, and is held in high re- gard as a citizen of integrity.
On August 16, 1873, Mr. Crockett married Elizabeth Gregory, who was born in 1854. She is a daughter of Captain Hanson and Mary A. (Merrifield) Gregory and a descendant in the fifth generation of William Gregory, who was born in Massachusetts in 1731. In 1762 William Gregory removed from Walpole, Mass., to St. George, Me. In 1770 he took up land at Clam Cove, being the first settler in that part of Camden and the second settler in the town, Mr. Richards being the first. He died in 1824 at the venerable age of ninety-three years. He married Experience Robbins, who was born June 2, 1735. She was a daughter of Oliver Robbins and his second wife, who at the time of their marriage was the widow of Charles Blackington. Captain John Gregory, son of William, was born June 21, 1769, in Thomaston. He married Elizabeth Simonton, who was born January 13, 1772. She died November 4, 1857, leaving eight children, fifty grandchildren, seventy-one great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren. She came to this county from Falmouth, following her brothers, one of whom, John, settled in South Thomaston, and the other, James, in Camden. Both reared large families, and have many descendants living in this vicinity. P. Han- son Gregory, born in 1809, son of Captain Jolin and his wife Elizabeth, married Mary Ann Barrows. Her father, Ichabod Barrows, a native of Cumberland, Me., settled in what is now Rockland in 1770, and lived here until his death, in 1823. On January 3, 1804, he married Mary Young, of Thomaston. Their son, Captain Hanson Gregory, born in 1832, married November 8, 1853, Mary A. Merrifield, and was the father of Elizabeth Gregory, now
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the wife of Arthur B. Crockett. Mr. and Mrs. Crockett have had two children, the elder, George E., born June 19, 1874, died February 10, 1SSS. The younger, Lucy Mabel, was born November 19, 1877.
LEWELLYN EDGAR BRADSTREET, a well-known contractor and builder of Hallowell, was born in East Palermo, Waldo County, Me., June 16, 1848, son of Amon and Clara (Dunton) Bradstreet. The Bradstreets are an old Maine family of English origin, coming to this country in the early part of the seventeenth century, and sett- ling first in Massachusetts.
The subject of this sketch was reared on his father's farm at East Palermo, and educated in the public schools of that town. In 186S, at the age of twenty, he left home, and went to Lawrence, Mass., where for some two years he worked at carpentry. . He then returned home to East Palermo, where he remained for a while, but in 1873 came to Hallowell, and began work here as a journeyman carpenter. He continued thus employed for some twelve years, and then took up contracting and building on his own account, beginning in a small way. His busi- ness has increased from year to year, until he now employs during the busy season about fifty men, and is recognized as the leading builder in this section. His success has been achieved by hard work, founded upon an intelligent and practical understanding of every branch of his trade, and associated with strict integrity in his business methods. Of high personal elar- acter and good financial standing, he is num- bered among the most useful and substantial citizens of Hallowell, of which place he has now been a resident for nearly thirty years. In politics he is a Republican.
Mr. Bradstreet married September 30, 1873, Annie A. Perkins, daughter of the late G. W. and Julia Mitchell (Williams) Perkins of Hal- lowell.
Mr. and Mrs. Bradstreet have five children, namely: Claridel, born October S, 1877; Julia Nettie, born July 16, 1879; John Perley, born June 21, 1SS1; Joseph Randolph, born June 28, 1885; and Llewellyn Edgar, born May 1, 1891.
ON. WILLIAM C. SIMPSON, of Fair- field, was born in the town of Clinton, Kennebec County, Me., April 19, 1831, the fifty-sixth anniversary of the battle of Lexington. His father, Crowell Simpson, was a native of Winslow; and his mother, whose maiden name was Catherine Davis, was born in Waterville, in the same county of Kennebec. His paternal grandfather. Reuben Simpson, was son of John Simpson, who came to Winslow, Me., from Massachu- setts. Reuben Simpson married Nellie Hume. of Waterville, Me.
Crowell Simpson was a well-known farmer in Clinton, Me. He died in 1885 at the age of seventy-seven years. His wife Catherine died in 1SSS. They had twelve children. Mrs. Catherine Simpson's father, John Davis, served as a soldier in the war of the Revolution. He was a native of Ireland.
William Cook Simpson was the second-born child in his father's family. He left the paren- tal roof when he was eleven years and some months old, and for the next three years lived in the family of Levi Pollard in Winslow, Me. In his sixteenth year he was apprenticed to Major Japheth Winn, then of Sabasticook, Kennebec County, Me., to learn the black- smith's trade. He remained with Major Winn, working at the forge, five years and three months, or until he attained his majority. For a short time after that he worked at ironing vessels, being employed as a journeyman in the black- smithing department of the old shipyard in Bath, Me., of John Rideout, then one of the leading ship-builders in Maine. Leaving Bath in 1852 or 1853, he followed his trade for the next few years as a journeyman in Clinton, Me., his birthplace. Desirous of seeing for himself the much-talked-of land of gold on the Pacific coast and trusting to gain new expe- rience, if not wealth, in 1856 he went to Cali- fornia. In that rapidly developing country he found plenty of openings for a skilled work- man; but, as he had no intention of settling there permanently, he looked about somewhat. plied his craft in various places, and early in 1859 returned to Maine, journeying, as he went out, via the Isthmus of Panama. Buying out the blacksmithing establishment in Benton,
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Me., of his former employer, Major Japheth Winn, he located himself in that town, and carried on the business until 1871, when he removed to Fairfield, where he remains a resi- dent. For about twenty-three years he was proprietor and manager of a smithy, and en- gaged in general blacksmith work. In 1894, after forty-eight years of active labor, he re- tired from business.
He married November 28, 1858, Miss Ann Louise Spencer, daughter of the late Isaac Spencer, Jr., of Benton, Me., and grand-daugh- ter of Isaac, Sr., an early settler of that town. Of this union are two children, Alice (now Mrs. A. H. Totman) and William S., both of Fairfield.
Judge Simpson, as he is now generally known, having served as trial justice several years, held the office of Town Clerk during a part of the period of his residence in Benton, and also that of Collector. He is a member of the Uni- versalist church in Fairfield. A stanch Re- publican in politics, he cast his first Presidential vote in 1856 for John Fremont. He is a mem- ber of Fairfield Lodge, No. 68, I. O. O. F., of Fairfield, and a Past Noble Grand of the same. If he has retired with a competence, as appear- ances would seem to indicate, he has the sat- isfaction of knowing that he earned it with his own hands: it is the product of useful indus- try, honest toil early begun, well directed, and long continued. Needless to say, he has some good ideas on industrial topics, well considered views on the labor question and on the duties and rights of American citizens.
AMUEL TURNER HERSOM, of Oak- land, Deputy Sheriff of Kennebec County, is a native of West Water- ville (now Oakland), Me., born De- cember 17, 1839, a son of Benjamin and Lovina (Witham) Hersom. Benjamin Hersom, who was a native of Maine, settled in West Water- ville, of which town he was a Selectman for several years and Constable for many years. He was a Republican in politics. In his earlier years he followed the occupation of drover, buying cattle and selling them in the markets at Portland, Me., and Brighton, Mass. He
died in Oakland, a widely known and much respected citizen. His wife, Lovina, was a daughter of Samuel Witham, a prosperous farmer of West Waterville. Their children were: Martin Van Buren, Olive A., and Samuel Turner. Olive A. married, first, David Bates, who was killed at the battle of Bull Run. Her second husband was George Boardman, who also is now deceased.
Samuel T. Hersom in his boyhood attended the public schools of Oakland. Brought up on his father's farm, he acquired a competent knowledge of agriculture, dairying, stock-rais- ing, and the various duties pertaining to farm life and labor. In September, 1862, he enlisted in Company B, Twenty-first Maine Volunteer Infantry, under the call made by President Lincoln for nine months' men; and he served eleven months and twenty days, nearly three months more than the period for which he had enlisted. For a short time he was stationed at Brooklyn, N.Y., but subsequently was trans- ferred to General Banks's command, his regi- ment operating between New Orleans and Port Hudson. In May, 1863, he took part in the various attacks on Port .Hudson. Honorably discharged in August of that year, he returned home to West Waterville, where he soon entered the employ of the Emerson & Stevens Manu- facturing Company, scythe manufacturers, with whom he remained for eight years. He then went to New London, N.H., where he worked for six years in a scythe shop. Subsequently returning to Oakland, he was again for eight years with the old concern. At the end of this period he became a member of the firm of A. B. Bates & Co., lumber manufacturers, of West Waterville, which connection lasted for several years: and since then he has been occu- pied chiefly in agricultural pursuits. He served formerly for five years as Road Commissioner of Oakland, and has been Deputy Sheriff con- tinuously since 1SS5. He is a member of Ser- geant Wyman Post, No. 97, G. A. R., which he has served as Commander: Messalonskce Lodge, F. & A. M .; of Cascade Grange, P. of H .; and the lodge of the A. O. U. W .- all of Oakland. In politics he is a Republican.
Mr. Hersom married December 31, 1867, Martha F. Bates, a daughter of Asa B. and
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Azuba (Sturtefant) Bates, of Oakland, Me. They had one child, who died in infancy. Mrs. Hersom died in August, 1902.
ON. BEN TENNEY, former Mayor of the city of Hallowell, where he has been a resident since 1887, is widely known as one of the enterprising and prosperous business men of Kennebec County, being now manager of the Flint Sand- paper Factory at Hallowell and of the American Glue Company of Boston (works at Hallowell). He is a native of this part of Kennebec County, having been born November 6, 1846, in that district of the old town of Hallowell which in 1850 was incorporated as the town of Chelsea. His parents were Enoch Alonzo and Sarah O. (White) Tenney.
His father, known as Alonzo Tenney, was born in Hallowell. He. died in Chelsea. Me., in February, 1872, aged sixty-eight years. Samuel6 Tenney, father of Alonzo, was a lineal descendant in the sixth generation of Thomas1 Tenney, who came from England, and was one of the original settlers of Rowley, Massachu- setts Bay Colony, in 1679. Samuel Tenney removed from Rowley, his native place, to Hallowell, Me., in the early part of the eigh- teenth century. In his later years he was widely known in Maine as a lecturer on scien- tific subjects.
Alonzo Tenney was an influential citizen of Chelsea, serving for a number of years as Selectman and two terms as Representative in the State Legislature, being one of the lead- ing factors in local politics in his day. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah O. White, was a daughter of James White, of Chelsea.
Ben Tenney was educated in the district schools of Chelsea and at Hallowell Academy, which has been changed in later years to the Hallowell Classical Institute.
He started in business for himself in 186S at Farmingdale, engaging in the manufacture of glue. This industrial undertaking he con- , tinucd for twenty years, and then turned his attention to the manufacture of flint sand- paper, which he carried on at Farmingdale till 1887, in that year transferring it to Hallowell,
where he conducted the manufacture on a larger scale than before. In 1900 he sold the plant in Hallowell to the American Glue Con- pany, he being retained as manager of the two industries, as noted above.
In 1876 Mr. Tenney represented Chelsea in the lower house of the Maine Legislature. Since his removal to Hallowell he has served on the school board, and has been Mayor of the city two terms. In politics he is a Repub- liean, and is recognized and esteemed as a publie-spirited, progressive citizen. He is now (December, 1902) president of the Northern National Bank of Hallowell, Me .. having been for some years one of the directors. He is a member of the Hallowell Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
He married in 1889 Miss Annie E. Leigh. daughter of the late Thomas Leigh, of Hallo- well, Maine.
CON. PELEG ORISON VICKERY. founder of the well-known publishing firm of Vickery & Hill, of Augusta, and for many years one of the best known citizens of the State, was born in the little farming hamlet of Danville (now a part of Auburn), Androscoggin County, Me., Sep- tember 23, 1836, his parents being George W. and Mary E. (Hodgman) Vickery.
His boyhood days were passed upon the home farm, where he was given abundant oc- cupation, but possessed few opportunities for self-improvement. He made some progress in the elementary branches of learning by at- tendance at the district school, and eagerly devoured the contents of such books as fell in his way. His recreations were as simple as they were undiversified. He loved to study the habits of the wild creatures that made their home in the woods; and fishing, the universal sport of boys in rural communities, found in him an eager devotee. But his was no care- less, easy-going, easily satisfied nature. His ambitions lay beyond the boundary line of his father's well-tilled acres, though their goal was hidden in the obscurity of the future.
I'pon one thing he was resolved-to escape the uuremunerative and unintellectual drudgery
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of farm . life; and, with this end first in view, at the age of sixteen he took an academic course to fit himself for the profession of a teacher. Long hours were spent in evening study. His education advanced, until, when he was almost ready to become a pedagogue, something turned his attention to printing, and he entered upon an apprenticeship to that trade in a small country job printing-office. Here he became proficient in type-setting, in course of time becoming a full-fledged jour- neyman. But the salary was small, and, both with the view of earning more and of perfect- ing his knowledge of the trade, he started out into the world, and spent several years in knock- ing about from office to office. In this period he gained also a knowledge of the world that was of use to him in after years. At the break- ing out of the Civil War he entered the Union army, and served with the Third Maine Regi- ment about five months.
After his discharge from the army he re- turned to AAugusta, where he obtained employ- ment on the Kennebec Journal, and decided to make that city his permanent home. One of his first " takes" on the Journal, which after- ward served to fix the period of his first con- nection with that paper in his mind, was part of an account of the great Portland fire of July 4, 1866, the loss in which was nearly fifteen mil- lion dollars. Some time afterward he opened a small job printing-office in Augusta, which he subsequently conducted for several years. About this time he began to study the question of publishing, and his investigations in this direction were greatly stimulated by the then recent success of Mr. E. C. Allen, who in the early seventies had started a publishing and advertising business in Augusta, and who was rapidly making a large fortune. Having come to the conclusion that there was a fair field for the publication of a monthly story paper of good literary merit, adapted to the needs of the great middle class, Mr. Vickery secured a location, and in 1875 issued the first number of Vickery's Fireside Visitor, which within two years had attained a circulation of one hundred and sixty-five thousand.
With the wonderful growth of the paper's circulation, which was greatly aided by the
up-to-date advertising that he scattered broad- cast, the business grew proportionally, and it became necessary to vacate the large leased building which he then occupied, to move into the large publishing house that he built for him- self in 1879.
In the meanwhile the citizens of Augusta. mindful of the push and energy that he was showing in his own business affairs, and wish- ing to show something of their appreciation of him as a man and fellow-citizen, had elected him for five successive years chief engineer of the fire department, to the City Council one year, and to the Board of Aldermen two years. In 1878, in view of the fact that "his reputa- tation and financial success had been achieved by integrity, fidelity to business trusts, and vigilant and persevering industry," he was elected one of Augusta's Representatives to the Maine Legislature, and in 1879 re-elected. In 1SSO and 1SS1 he was elected Mayor with large majorities and in 1882 without opposi- tion. While he was thus rapidly mounting the ladder of political success, Mr. Vickery's publishing business grew to such an extent that he was obliged to retire from the political arena and devote himself entirely to his pub- lications. At this time his only daughter mar- ried a young physician. Dr. John F. Hill, who had recently graduated at Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, and who had come to Augusta to settle professionally.
At the earnest request of Mr. Vickery, Dr. Hill gave up his profession, and the co-partner- ship of Vickery & Hill was formed. The un- tiring energy of the younger man at once made itself felt in the business, which grew even more rapidly than before. Successively were estab- lished Happy Hours and Hearth and Home. papers designed to furnish light reading matter for the home and family throughout our con- tinent. The enlargement of the business and the changing of two of the papers to semi- monthlies rendered necessary a continual in- crease in the plant, until at length the limit of floor room was reached and new plans became necessary.
Accordingly, in 1889, after much study, the entire printing plant was taken ont, and a magnificent Scott press, having a capacity of
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ten thousand copies per hour, was put in, which, however, is only run at a speed of six thousand per hour, or more than fifty thousand every day. About three years previous to this the firm had engaged Mr. Walter D. Stin- son to take charge of their advertising, and at about the same time many outside interests rendered Mr. Vickery's active participation in the business affairs of the house impossible. Dr. Hill, therefore, became managing partner, and under his supervision the business of the house is now carried on.
At the time of Mr. Vickery's death, which took place, after several weeks' sickness, on Sunday, November 16, 1902, he was State Senator from his district, and was one of the largest property holders in Augusta, as well as one of its wealthiest citizens. He was deeply interested in fish and game legislation, and was an advocate of a license law compelling sportsmen to pay for the privilege of taking big game.
Mr. Vickery was married August 9, 1854, to Ellen E. Greene, daughter of Henry and Sarah (Stacey) Greene, of Augusta, Me. Mrs. Vickery's father, a printer by profession, was born in Portland, where he died at the age of fifty-two. Mr. and Mrs. Vickery had only one child, a daughter, Lizzie Greene Vickery, who married Dr. John F. Hill, now (1903) Governor of the State of Maine. (See sketch of Governor Hill on another page.)
ARREN A. WRIGHT, M.D., who has practised both medicine and surgery in Readfield for over forty years, was born in Palmyra, Me., March 9, 1837, son of Ruel and Fanny (Strickland) Wright. His father, who was a native of Nashua, N.H., and was left an orphan when a small boy, settled in Palmyra at an early date in the history of that town. His mother was born in Andover, Mass.
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