USA > Maine > Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the state of Maine > Part 60
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Thomas+ Burleigh married Merey Norris. At Deerfield, in 1766, he was appointed one of a committee to "look out for a suitable place to sett a meeting-house upon." In 1775 he made Sandwich, N.H .. his permanent home, residing in the locality still known as "Burleigh Hill." His son, Benjamin5 Burleigh, who was a mer- chant, and kept the first store in Sandwich,
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N.H., was born in Sandwich. He married Priscilla, daughter of Moses Senter, of Centre Harbor, N.H. After the death of Benjamin Burleigh his widow married Colonel Parker Prescott.
Moses6 Burleigh, son of Benjamin and Priscilla and grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Sandwich, March 25, 1781. Some time previous to 1812 Moses" Burleigh removed from New Hampshire to Maine, settling in Palermo, where he resided until 1830. He was a man of considerable ability and force of char- acter, and filled various civil offices, besides serving in the militia, in which he rose, in 1816, to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, being there- after known as Colonel Burleigh. As Captain of a company he was called into service in the War of 1812. Among other honors bestowed on him, he was elected to the Massachusetts Legis- lature, and was a delegate in 1816 to the con- vention that met to form a constitution for the proposed State of Maine. Removing with his family in 1830 to Linneus, Aroostook County, he there made his home until his death, February 13, 1860. He married Nancy Spiller, of Palermo. Their children were: Elvira Senter, born 1806, died 1829; Benjamin, born 1809, died in infancy ; Benjamin, second, born 1811; Parker Prescott, born May 16, 1812, died April 29, 1899; Nancy S., of whose birth we have not the record; Moses Carlton, born 1818; Samuel Kelsey, born 1820; Olley S., born 1822; and Rufus Burnham, born 1826.
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The Hon. Parker Prescott Burleigh, father of Edwin C., was born in Palermo, Me. A lead- ing citizen of Linneus, he served repeatedly in each branch of the Legislature, and was for a long time State land agent. Besides farming he learned the profession of surveyor, and in that capacity he acquired an extensive knowl- edge of the wild lands of Maine, in which he made some successful personal investments. As State chairman in 1869 of the Maine Commis- sion on the settlement of the public lands he contributed largely to the rapid development of Aroostook County. His death occurred April 29, 1899. His first wife, Caroline Peabody Chick, born January 31, 1815, daughter of Jacob and Sally (Clark) Chick, of Bangor, died April 6, 1861. She left three children, namely: Al-
bert Augustus, born October 12, 1841, a veteran of the Civil War, now residing in Houlton; Edwin Chick, born November 27, 1843, as mentioned above; and Frances Emily, now wife of F. M. Spiller, of North Abington, Mass., born January 12, 1849. Parker P. Burleigh married, secondly, May 29, 1873, Charlotte Mehitable, daughter of Colonel James and Mehitable (Jones) Smith, of Bangor, Me.
Edwin Chick Burleigh was educated in the common schools of Linneus and at Houlton Academy. In his later youth he found em- ployment in teaching school and in surveying land, having learned the latter occupation under his father. During the Civil War he enlisted at Augusta in the District of Columbia Cavalry, but, much to his sorrow, was rejected by the examining surgeon, Dr. Brickett, who has since often claimed that he thus saved to Maine a future governor. Adjutant-general Hodsdon kindly gave the young patriot a place in his office, where he served until the close of the war. Resuming the occupations of farming and surveying, he followed them until 1870, when he entered the State Land Office as clerk, and two years later he removed to Bangor. He was State land agent in 1876, 1877, and 1878, and was assistant clerk of the House of Repre- sentatives for the same years, subsequently re- signing in 1880 to accept a position in the office of Treasurer of State. At this time he removed with his family to Augusta, where he has since resided. In 1SS5 he was elected Treasurer of the State, and in 1887 was re-elected to that office. A year later he was elected Governor of Maine, receiving a plurality of eighteen thou- sand and fifty-three; and in 1890 he was re- elected with a plurality of eighteen thousand, eight hundred and ninety-nine.
His administration as Governor was distinc- tinetly a constructive one. Portland, the larg- est city in the State and its chief commercial centre, had long been desirous also of becom- ing the seat of government. The matter was finally settled while Mr. Burleigh was Governor, and very largely through his efforts. He threw into the spirited contest that was waged on the question not only the strength of his own per- sonality, but also the influence of his newspaper, the Kennebec Journal, which has always been
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a potent factor in moulding public sentiment in Maine. Not only did the State capitol re- main at Augusta, but, on the recommendation of Governor Burleigh and in the face of deter- mined opposition, a substantial appropriation was made to enlarge and remodel it.
When his .four years as chief executive of the State had expired, in 1892, Mr. Burleigh had aspirations to go to Congress. The late Seth L. Milliken, of Belfast, was then the member from the Third District, but there were evidences of some opposition to his renomination. Mr. Milliken was a man of strong popular traits and wide acquaintance, knowing, it is said, almost every voter in the district. To enter the lists against such a candidate required just the cour- age that Mr. Burleigh possessed. The battle was one of the most hotly contested that has ever occurred in Maine politics, and was won by Mr. Milliken by a very narrow margin, one of the other candidates throwing his strength to him in order to bring about his nomination. Mr. Burleigh had clearly foreseen the final re- sult, however, and, before it was reached, had in type an editorial for his paper, the Kennebec Journal, exhorting the Republicans of the Third District to give the nominee of their party a united and cordial support. There was no per- sonal bitterness because of the campaign, Mr. Burleigh and Mr. Milliken remaining. good friends to the day of the latter's death. When the vacancy arose in the summer of 1897, Gov- ernor Burleigh was nominated by acclamation, and subsequently triumphantly elected.,
In Congress Mr. Burleigh has shown the same wise and masterful qualities that distinguished him as Governor. Though quiet in his de- ineanor and modest almost to a fault, he is one of the most tenacious of men in carrying out what he undertakes. He went diligently about the unpretentious duties of serving his constit- uents as soon as he arrived in Washington, and kept piling up results that increased at home his reputation for usefulness. One of his most memorable triumphs was won in connection with the apportionment bill in the Fifty-sixth Congress, when he served on the Select Com- mittee on the Census. Reed and Dingley had exerted themselves in 1890 to carry an appor- tionment bill in the House that would insure
to Maine for ten years more four Representa- tives in Congress. As a member of the Census Committee, Governor Burleigh was in an ad- vantageous position to organize for such an apportionment. He took up the task some months in advance, for it was known that the Republican leaders were averse to increasing the membership of the House.
He laid the plans of the organization, decided that the fight must be won, if at all, through the co-operation of Senators, made the com- bines with various States, and set in motion the influences that brought the decisive votes from New York and Pennsylvania.
The turning-point in that contest came in the Census Committee. Chairman Hopkins, of Illinois, had a bill for three hundred and fifty- seven members, based on a population of two hundred and eight thousand, eight hundred and sixty-eight for each member. Governor Burleigh had a bill providing for three hun- dred and eighty-six members, based upon a population of one hundred and ninety-four thousand, one hundred and eighty-two, the smallest number that would allow Maine to re- tain four members of the House. When the day for voting in the committee came, there was pending a third proposition to amend the Hopkins Bill so as to provide for a membership of three hundred and seventy-three, based upon a population of one hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and eight. This would have taken care of all the States represented by members of the committee except Maine. All were playing polities; and the argument was quietly circulated that, if the intermediate proposition were adopted, it would be a step toward a larger representation, such as the Burleigh Bill proposed, when the apportion- ment was taken up in the House. The con- mittee of thirteen was almost equally divided. At Mr. Burleigh's request, Chairman Hopkins agreed to vote on the Burleigh Bill, the inter- mediate proposition, and the Hopkins Bill, in the order named. The Burleigh Bill was beaten, seven to six, and so was the intermediate propo- sition. That was where the surprise came. All his friends supported the intermediate propo- sition, which would have cared for their States; but to their amazement he voted against it.
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Hot words were spoken after that vote, but Mr. Burleigh stuck by his position. He liad canvassed the probabilities the previous evening with his own delegation, and reached a perfect understanding as to what he should do in that very contingency. "If the intermediate prop- osition had carried, Maine would have been weakened by the loss of Indiana, Ohio, Ken- tucky, and South Carolina," said he, afterward. Then the Hopkins Bill was adopted by a vote of seven to six, and the committee went before the House with a report divided on those lines as between the two extreme propositions. The House decided with a good majority for the Burleigh plan, and every voter in Maine has still a lively remembrance of the way in which Governor Burleigh carried out his apportion- ment campaign.
Mr. Burleigh has for years been largely in- terested in the wild lands of his native State, especially in Aroostook County; but he has never purchased timberland without first mak- ing an inspection of the property, and it is said of him that he never lost a dollar through these transactions. He was interested with his brother Albert in constructing the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad into the Aroostook wilder- ness, an enterprise that has had a great in- fluence in the development and upbuilding of that resourceful region. For a number of years past his chief business interest has centred in his newspaper, the Kennebec Journal. Asso- ciated with him in its ownership and manage- ment are his son, Clarence B. Burleigh, who holds the position of managing editor, and Charles F. Flynt, a practical printer of long experience, who has charge of the business de- partment. When Congress is not in session, he may nearly always be found at his desk in the Journal building or in the private office of his summer cottage on the shores of the beau- tiful lake, Cobbosseecontee, where he spends a portion of the summer months with his family. He has taken an active and important part in replenishing the rivers and lakes of Maine with fresh stock, sending hundreds of thousands of fish from the commission at Washington to be distributed over the central part of the State, thus helping to make it a veritable paradise for sportsmen.
Mr. Burleigh was married June 28, 1863, to Mary J. Bither, who was born in Linneus, Me., November 9, 1841, a daughter of Benjamin and Anna (Tyler) Bither. Her father was a son of Peter Bither, a native of England, who died in Freedom, Me., and who served on the Ameri- can side in the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Bither fought against England in the War of 1812.
Mr. and Mrs. Burleigh have been the parents of six children-Clarence Blendon, Caroline Frances, Vallie Mary, Lewis Albert, Lucy Emma, and Ethelyn Hope. Clarence Blendon Burleigh, born at Linneus, Me., Nov. 1, 1864, married Sarah P. Quimby, daughter of the Hon. Joseph H. and Nancy (Fogg) Quimby, of Sand- wich, N.H., and has two children, both born in Augusta, namely: Edwin Clarence, Decem- ber 9, 1891; and Donald Quimby, June 2, 1894. Caroline Frances Burleigh, born at Linneus, Me., July 23, 1866, married Robert J. Martin, M.D., of Augusta, whose father, Dr. George W. Martin, was a leading physician of that city. Dr. R. J. Martin was drowned June 16, 1901, in attempting to rescue a drowning girl. He left one child, Robert Burleigh, born September 3, ISSS. Vallie Mary Burleigh, born at Linneus, June 22, 1868, married Joseph Williamson, Jr., of Augusta, son of the Hon. Joseph Williamson, of Belfast, Me. She has two children: William Burrill, born November 20, 1892; and Robert Byron, born August 23, 1899. Lewis Albert Burleigh, born at Linneus, March 24, 1870, married Caddie Hall Brown, daughter of the Hon. S. S. Brown, of Waterville, Me., and has one child, Lewis Albert Burleigh, Jr., born July 20, 1897. Lucy Emma Burleigh, born in Bangor, Me., February 9, 1874, married the Hon. Byron Boyd, the present Secretary of State, who is a son of Dr. Robert Boyd, of Linneus, Me. She has two children: Dorothy, born November 12, 1895; and Robert Boyd, second, born June 25, 1902. Ethelyn Hope Burleigh, born in Linneus, November 19, 1877, is unmarried, and resides with her parents.
Mrs. Burleigh was her husband's playmate and schoolmate when they were children to- gether in Linneus, Me. While a thoroughly domestic woman, she keeps well informed as to political conditions, and is acquainted with
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almost every one of prominence in the State. Her advice and assistance have frequently been of great value to her husband in his public career.
ON. EDMUND C. BRYANT, of Pitts- field, present representative of Somer- set County in the Maine Senate, came to this town in 1879. He was born in Anson, Somerset County. January 8, 1852, son of Elias and Almira (Gamage) Bryant. His parents were both natives of Anson. The father, Elias Bryant, who went to Australia in 1853, at the time of the gold discoveries, died there of fever some six months after his arrival.
The subject of this sketch, who was an infant in arms at the time of his father's departure to the antipodes, was brought up by his widowed mother. Beginning his education in the public schools of Anson, he afterward attended Anson Academy and the Maine State Normal School at Farmington. Subsequently he taught school for some four years in this State. He then began the study of dentistry, and was graduated in 1879 from the Baltimore College of Dental Sur- gery. With the exception of the time that he has devoted to the public service, he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession in Pittsfield.
Dr. Bryant's standing in his profession is shown by the fact that he has received invita- tions to give clinics before the dental meetings at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and also before the New York Odontological So- ciety.
A Republican in politics, Dr. Bryant became connected with the local government machinery, serving as Selectman and for ten years as a member of the School Committee. Elected to the lower house of the State Legislature for the session of 1887, he ably represented the towns of Pittsfield, Palmyra and Detroit. His first election to the Senate was in September, 1900, for the session of 1901, and was followed by his re-election in September, 1902, for the ses- sion of the present year (1903). This simple fact evidences more strongly and clearly the confidence and esteem in which he is held by his fellow-citizens than any mere words could
do, however elaborated. Dr. Bryant is one of the directors of the Pittsfield National Bank. As a business man and public-spirited citizen he takes a deep interest in the advancement and prosperity of the town, which he has helped materially to promote.
Dr. Bryant married in January, 1878, Miss Eva R. Woods, of Pittsfield, Me. He has three children-Marie L., L. Rae, and Vera M. The Doctor is a member and was formerly president and secretary of the Maine Dental Society. He belongs to Phlentoma Lodge, No. 51, I. O. O. F., of Pittsfield.
ON. SUMNER J. CHADBOURNE, for many years one of the best known and most highly respected public men in the State of Maine, was a native of Dixmont, Penobscot County. Boru July 21, 1830, son of John and Betsey (Stevens) Chadbourne, he was a grandson on the paternal side of Elder John Chadbourne, born in York County, who, a century ago, was a prominent preacher of the Baptist faith. About the year 1799 Elder John Chadbourne was one of the early settlers and the pioneer minister in Dix- mont, being accompanied thither by his sons Daniel and John. He was an eminently use- ful citizen in the new community, not only preaching the gospel, but, like Paul, working with his hands. His trade was that of car- penter and millwright, and he erected the first grist-mill in the town. Full of the mis- sionary spirit, he preached not only in Dix- mont, but in many of the surrounding places with much success. He was very hospitable and kind-hearted, delighting to entertain worthy strangers and turning no one from his door empty-handed. He died about 1833, having finished his course and kept the faith. He was a descendant of Humphrey Chad- bourne, who came to New England in 1631, and settled at Strawberry Bank, now Ports- mouth, subsequently becoming a prominent man in York County, Maine.
John Chadbourne, son of the Elder and father of the Hon. Sumner J. Chadbourne, was born in Cornish, York County, Me., July 21, 1790, and at the age of fifteen accompanied his
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parents to Dixmont. Here he spent the rest of his life, engaged in farming, his death oc- curring March 19, 1866. His wife, Betsey Stevens, was a daughter of Deacon Amos and Mary (Pullen) Stevens, of Winthrop, Me. Their children were: Sally G., born September, 1819; Miranda E., March 29, 1821; Ann B., May 24, 1828; Mary G., October, 1822; Sumner J., July 21, 1830; James B., August 28, 1832; and Amos B. T., August 28, 183S.
Sumner J. Chadbourne, after acquiring his elementary education in the district schools, continued his studies at Hampden Academy, an institution which provided for its pupils a course somewhat similar to that of the high school of the present day. He was naturally of a studious turn of mind, and this tendency was increased by an accident that occurred to him when he was nine years old, the result of which was that he lost his leg, and was thereafter unable to participate in the bois- terous sports of his companions. From this injury he suffered more or less physically dur- ing all the rest of his life. He assisted as well as he could on the home farm, and, after completing his course at the academy, he taught school for several years in his native town. In this position his abilities soon be- came manifest. He became a member of the school committee, and at the age of twenty- one was elected superintendent of the schools of Dixmont. The post he held for several years. He had previous to this worked for a while in a. country store.
His active political life began in 1857, when he was elected a member of the Maine House of Representatives for the following year. During this session of the Legislature his genial, honest, social ways attracted to him at the State capital many whose friendship he retained to the end of his life. In 1859 he was elected second assistant messenger of the House, an office. in which he continued for six years, in 1865 being chosen first assistant messenger. The latter position he retained until the session of 1867, the speaker of the House during that time being the Hon. James G. Blaine. In the year last named he was made assistant clerk of the House, and, being promoted the following year to the chief
clerkship, he held that position until 1876, when he was elected Secretary of State. To this office he was re-elected in 1877 and 187S. In 1879, the Democrats and Green- backers being in control, he retired from the office. In 1SSO he was again elected to the Secretaryship of State, and in 1SS1 he was made Deputy Secretary, a position that he held almost continuously until the time of his death, which took place at Augusta, Octo- ber 1, 1902. The following tribute to his worth appeared in the Boston Globe of Octo- ber 2, 1902 :-
"Few men in Maine have been more highly honored by their fellow-citizens than Sumner J. Chadbourne, and few men could have more honorably and conscientiously discharged the public duties devolving upon them than did Mr. Chadbourne. He was the soul of honor. He was loyal, true, and devoted in his alle- giance to his family, to his friends, and to his party, and he was faithful in the performance of every trust reposed in him.
"For nearly half a century Mr. Chadbourne was a part of the machinery of the State gov- ernment, and during that time he came in contact with all the leaders of his party from the days of Hannibal Hamlin and James G. Blaine down to the present time. United States senators, representatives to Congress, governors, members of the Legislature, State officials, public men of all kinds, and influential business men throughout the State of Maine knew him, and they loved, respected, and admired him for his manly, kindly heart and for his unswerving and unflinching loyalty."
Mr. Chadbourne was a prominent Free Ma- son, belonging to the East Dixmont Chapter, which he helped to organize; to Trinity Com- mandery, K. T., of Augusta, and to the Grand Lodge, of which he was Senior Warden for several years. Notwithstanding - the loss of his leg, he was fond of exercise, and managed to participate at times in various healthful sports, which he enjoyed until late in life.
Mr. Chadbourne was married in March, 1854, to Hannah M. Davis, daughter of Isaac and Margaret (Davis) Davis, of Exeter, Me. Mrs. Davis's father served in the War of 1812 with Great Britain. Her mother, we are told, was
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a descendant of Lord Granville. Mr. and Mrs. Chadbourne were the parents of two children, Emma A. and Lizzie G. Emma A. Cliad- bourne, who married Arthur S. Philbrook, of Newport, Me., died in Gardiner, October 11, 1886, leaving one child, Agnes Margaret, who is now attending school. Lizzie G. was mar- ried January 15, 1903, to Joseph E. Alexander, of Richmond, Me., now chief clerk in the office of the Secretary of State.
ILLIAM H. TAYLOR, who during his long life was a prominent and re- spected citizen of Norridgewock, Somerset County, was a native of the town, having been born here March 7, 1819, son of John and Jane (Hooper) Taylor. His parents were natives of York County, Maine, the father born in Kennebunk, and the mother in Berwick. His paternal grandfather, John Taylor, came to Norridgewock from Kennebunk when the count- try hereabouts was practically a wilderness, with scarcely any roads, the routes between the dif- ferent settlements being indicated by blazed or spotted trees. Land being cheap, he purchased for his sons a goodly number of acres. His son and namesake, John, father of the subject of this sketch, was a married man when he came with the family to Norridgewock. He remained for many years a resident of Norridgewock, but finally returned to Kennebunk, where a few years later he died. The children of John Taylor and his wife Jane were: Joshua R., Jo- seph, Jesse, John H., William H., James, Lucy Ann (who died in childhood), Lucy Jane, Ecsa, and Frances.
William H. Taylor, after receiving an average amount of schooling, began industrial life as a granite worker, learning the granite and monu- ment trade, at which he worked subsequently for a number of years, manufacturing monu- ments for cemeteries and also furnishing granite for building purposes. From this industry he branched naturally into railroad construction work, building granite bridges and culverts for different railroads, including the Somerset Rail- way of Maine, the Ware River Railroad in Massa- chusetts, and the Caygua Lake Railroad in New York State. In his later years he engaged in
agriculture. His death took place in Norridge- wock, May 25, 1901. Mr. Taylor was highly es- teemed by his fellow-townsmen for his honesty and kind, neighborly characteristics. He pos- sessed an available fund of general information, and was considered a man of good judgment. He served for seven years as a trial justice. He belonged to Somerset Grange, P. of H., of which he was at one time Master. In politics he was a Republican from the organization of the party. At one time there were in Norridge- wock twenty-one voters of the Taylor connec- tion, and twenty of these voted the Republican ticket.
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