Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the state of Maine, Part 8

Author: New England Historical Publishing Company, Boston, pub
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Boston, New England historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 998

USA > Maine > Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the state of Maine > Part 8

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Benjamin Bussy Thatcher is carrying on an extensive lumber business in Bangor, in con- nection with his son, under the firm name of B. B. Thatcher & Son. He is largely interested in timber lands, and has also other business interests of a responsible nature, being presi- dent of the Orono Pulp and Paper Company, a director in the Bangor & Aroostook Rail- way Company, a director of the First National Bank of Bangor and of the Merrill Trust Com- pany, and a trustee of the Bangor Theological Seminary. He has been influential in the conduct of public affairs, serving the munici- pality in various official positions, and being State Representative two terms, also State Senator two terms.

Mr. Thatcher married, first, January 24,

1866, Mary E., danghter of James and Ennice Putnam (Wyman) Walker. She was born August 19, 1842, and died January 12, 1875, having been the mother of two children, George T.8 and Charlotte M.' George T.8 Thatcher was born November 14, 1867, in Bangor. On December 7, 1892, he married Agnes D. Cram, of New York, by whom he has two children: Hikla Ella? born September 27, 1893; and Barbara," born July 29, 1895. Charlotte May8 was born in Bangor, May 23, 1870. Mr. Thatcher married December 4, 1877, Char- lotte P. Walker, a sister of his first wife. Her father, James Walker, was a nephew of Presi- dent Walker of Harvard College.

ILAS BURBANK, M.D., of Mount Ver- non, who has been successfully en- gaged in the practice of his profession since 1864, was born in Parsonsfield, Me., January 2, 1840, son of Silas Burbank and his wife Mary. He is the fourth Silas Burbank in direct line of descent, and comes of Revo- lutionary ancestry, his great-grandfather, Silas Burbank, first, having borne arms in the strug- gle for independence. Silas, second, the Doc- tor's grandfather, was an carly settler in Par- sonsfield, where his son, Silas, third, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born. The mother, Mrs. Mary Burbank, was also a native of Parsonsfield. The children of Silas and Mary Burbank were as follows: Esther, Silas, Thatcher W. (who went to California in 1865), Mary E., Harriet P., Sarah, Melinda W., Moses S., Eliza S. Esther, Sarah, and Eliza are no longer living.

Silas Burbank, third, married for his second wife Hannah L. Bragdon, of Limington, Me., by whom he had two children, Annie and Fred A.

Dr. Silas Burbank's boyhood, up to the age of twelve years, was passed in his native town of Parsonsfield, in the schools of which he ae- quired the elements of knowledge. He then accompanied his parents to Limerick, Me., where the education he had already obtained was supplemented by attendance at Limerick Academy during the fall and spring terms. At the age of sixteen he began to be practically

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self-supporting, teaching school in the winter and assisting his father on the farm in the sun- mer. This he did for eight seasons. In 1860 the family removed to Strong, Me., and here young Burbank took the initiative step to a professional career by beginning the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. John A. Richards, then a leading physician of that place. He continued his studies under Dr. Richards for three years, and in 1864 was grad- uated from the medical department of Bowdoin College with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In the same year he came to Mount Vernon, where he has since remained, having built up a good practice, and established an excellent reputation, both as a physician and surgeon. He is a member, and was for one year president, of the Kennebec County Medical Association, also a member of the Maine State Medical As- sociation. A Free Mason, he belongs to Vernon Valley Lodge, in which he has served as Senior Deacon for two years, Senior Warden one year, Master two years, and as secretary for twenty- seven years. He is now chaplain of the lodge. In politics he is a Republican.

Dr. Burbank was first married in 1864 to Jennie B. Pratt, of Strong, Me. She died April 28, 1876, leaving one son, George D., now a resident of Syracuse, N.Y. On Decem- ber 25, 1876, he married his present wife, then Harriet D. Morse, daughter of Luther and Susan P. (Poole) Morse, of Mount Vernon.

CON. AUSTIN DEANE KNIGHT, pres- ident of the Hallowell National Bank of Hallowell-popularly known as Judge Knight, from his former posi- tion on the bench of the Municipal Court of that city -- is a native of Lincolnville, Waldo County, on the western shore of Penobscot Bay. Born March 21, 1823, son of Nathan and Mary (Deane) Knight, he comes of old colonial stock, several representatives of the family, presumably of English birth, having settled in Maine before the middle of the sev- enteenth century. The Christian name of the pioneer Knight in Lincolnville is not known to the present writer. That he was among the first white inhabitants of that locality

may be judged from this record of his son, copied from the Bangor Historical . Magazine, vol. iv .: "Nathan Knight, first white child born in Lincolnville, died there June 2, 1810, @t. 52."

Nathan Knight, of a later generation (per- haps son of above), Judge Knight's father, was a soldier in the War of 1812. He was one of the foremost men of the town of Lin- colnville in his day, serving seventeen years as one of the Board of Selectmen and two years as Representative to the State Legislature.

Austin Deane Knight was educated in the district schools of his native town and the high school at Camden. For a time in his early manhood, his life purposes being as yet unformed, he applied himself to the study of law; but, subsequently deciding to go into busi- ness instead of entering the legal profession, he became a member of the ship-building firm of Decrow & Knight, and for several years in the fifties of the nineteenth century was engaged in that industry at Lincolnville. The business of ship-building on the Maine coast did not flourish then as in former years, and the firm finally gave it up, the junior member coming to Hallowell and turning farmer for a season. In 1864 he was one of the incor- porators and organizers of the American Na- tional Bank in Hallowell, which in 1884 was merged into the Hallowell National Bank. Of the National Bank he was president two years; and of that and its successor, the Hallowell National Bank, he has been cashier for a quar- ter of a century, being also for thirty-nine years, or ever since its organization, a director. For twelve years he served as Judge of the Municipal Court of Hallowell. He has also served as president of the City Council and as a member of the Board of Aldermen. He has traveled quite extensively, it having been his privilege to ascend nearly all the traveled mountains, sail upon all the prin- cipal rivers, and visit about all the art- galleries in North America and Europe. IJe is a strong temperance man and politically a Prohibitionist. A thirty-second degree Mason, he belongs also to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and to the Order of the Golden Cross. Ilis religious affiliations are with the

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Universalist church in Hallowell, of which he is a member in "good and regular standing" and a willing contributor to its philanthropic and missionary activities. Mrs. Knight is also connected with the church.

Judge Knight was married in Malden, Mass., November 20, 1851, to Miss Julia A. Crehore, daughter of Henry Crehore, of that town. In November, 1876, they celebrated on their twenty-fifth anniversary their silver wedding. Nearly two hundred were present, and many costly gifts were bestowed upon them. Judge and Mrs. Knight are highly esteemed in Hal- lowell social cireles. They have no children.

ENERAL ISAAC DYER, Postmaster of Skowhegan, ex-State Senator, and a Civil War veteran, was born in Canaan Me., November 1, 1820, a son of Asa and Mehitable (Chamberlin) Dyer. His paternal grandfather was Christopher Dyer, Jr., of Abing- ton, Mass. Asa Dyer came to Maine in the fall of 1817, settling in that part of the town of Canaan now included within the limits of Skow- hegan. Here he engaged in agriculture and the manufacture of brick, and was so occupied up to 1851, the year of his death. He was one of the pioneer brick manufacturers of this sec- tion. His wife, Mehitable, was a daughter of Ezra Chamberlin, of Abington, Mass. Their children were: Clarrissa; John; Elbridge; Quincy; Chandler; William; and Isaac, the di- rect subjeet of this sketch, who is the only one now living.

Isaac Dyer was educated in the public schools of Skowhegan and in the former Bloomfield Academy. For several winter terms in his early manhood he was engaged in teaching school, residing at home till 1847. In that year, on the death of his brother William, he succeeded to the ownership of the latter's drug store in Skowhegan, of which he was subsequently pro- prietor for thirty-three years. For a part of this time he had as a partner Mr. George Cush- ing, the business being conducted under the firm name of Dyer & Cushing from 1861 to 1880. In that year General Dyer withdrew from the business. He then engaged in agriculture and in the manufacture of brick, carrying on the

latter business till 1897, when he gave it up. He has continued farming, however, up to the present time, his farm consisting of sixty-five acres in a good state of cultivation.

General Dyer's military record began in De- cember, 1861, when he accepted from Governor Washburn the appointment of Lieut- Colonel of the Fifteenth Maine Volunteer In- fantry, he having previously declined the lieut .- coloneley of the Fourteenth Regiment. Leav- ing his business interests in the hands of his trustworthy partner, Mr. Cushing, he joined with his regiment the Nineteenth Army Corps under General Butler, which included some other Maine regiments. They proceeded to the Lower Mississippi, where they took part in the important military operations of the Gulf De- partment, and later under General Banks in the Red River expedition. Here Colonel Dyer (promoted to this rank in August, 1862) found plenty of active service, taking part, among other engagements, in the short but fierce en- counter at Pleasant Hill, when Banks's troops, then eight thousand strong, repulsed some twenty thousand Confederates under Kirby Smith. In the autumn of 1862 he went with his regiment to Pensacola, Fla., where he suc- ceeded General Neal Dow as commander of the port. Returning to Louisiana in 1863, he held command of the fort at Carrollton, La., six miles above New Orleans.

In July, 1864, the Fifteenth Maine was ordered to Fortress Monroe. Afterward transferred to General Sheridan's command, it operated under that dashing leader in the Shenandoah Valley and in the exciting events of the campaign that immediately preceded the end of the war. After Lee's surrender Colonel Dyer went with his regiment to Georgia and the north-eastern part of South Carolina, where, under government supervision, he was engaged in assisting the freccmen to become self-sustaining and law- abiding citizens. In March, 1865, he was bre- vetted Brigadier-general, and in September, 1865, was honorably discharged at Charleston, S.C. He then returned to Skowhegan, Me., and resumed business life as a member of the firm of Dyer & Cushing. In December, ISSO, he sold out his interest in the business and retired to the homestead farm, where he has since resided.

ISAAC DYER.

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Originally a Whig, General Dyer joined the Republican party at its formation. His record of service as a town official includes six years as Selectman, two or three years as a member of the School Board, and one year as Town Treasurer. During the legislative session of 1867 and 1868 he represented his district in the Maine Senate, being a member of the Committee on Interior Waters and the chairman of that on Military Affairs. In March, 1873, he was appointed Inspector-general of Governor Nelson Dingley's staff, and served in that capacity for two years. Appointed Postmaster of Skow- hegan in February, 1900, he has filled that posi- tion acceptably down to the present tine.

General Dyer is a member of Russell Post, No. 96, G. A. R., and was Department Com- mander of Maine in 1892. He is a trustee of Bloomfield Academy, and has acted in the same capacity for the Coburn Free Library Fund since its establishment. . He was formerly a trustee of. the . Skowhegan Savings Bank, of which he was one of the promoters.

. A Free Mason of high standing, he belongs to Somerset Lodge, F. & A. M .: Somerset Chap- ter, R. A. M .; and De Molay Commandery, K. T., in which he has held some of the important chairs.

On June 29, 1851, General Dyer married Lydia Emery, a daughter of Levi and Lydia (Leighton) Emery, of Skowhegan, Me. He has one child, Albert Forrest, who is a dry-goods merchant at Norridgewock, Me. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which General Dyer is a member, serving as chairman of its board of trustees. General Dyer may stand as a typical representative . of the best Maine citizenship. A good husband, a good father, a good soldier, a good legislator, and a good business man, he has well won the esteem in which he is generally regarded through- out this part of the State.

HIILIP HI. S. VAUGHAN, M.D., as- sistant superintendent at the Eastern Maine Hospital for the Insane, Ban- gor, was born in Freeman, Me., Jan- uray 1, 1866, a son of Zenas and Esther (Put- nam) Vaughan Ilis paternal ancestry in this f

country extends back for seven generations to George1 Vaughan, who came from England in the seventeenth century, settling in Massa- chusetts. The line is George,1 Joseph,2 Jolm,3 David,45 Zenas," Zenas, Jr., Philip H. S.8

Joseph2 Vaughan was twice married: first in 1680 to Joanna, whose surname is not known; and second in 1720 to Mercy, widow of Jabez O. Wood. He had three children, as follows: John,3 born (probably) in 1692, who married 1718 Jerusha O Wood, and died March 8, 1770, aged seventy-eight years, Jabez,3 who died April 13, 1773, at the age of seventy-eight; and Deborah, who married M. O. Bennett, and died April 26, 1761.

John3 Vaughan had children born as follows: Josepll, January 26, 1719; John, Jr., April 5, 1720; Jershua, December 1, 1721; Elishua, December 4, 1723; Joanna, September 12, 1725; Mercy, October 13, 1727; Abigail, No- vember 3, 1730; Mary, September 4, 1732; Piper, October 30, 1735; and David, May 13, 1740.

David+ Vaughan, who served as a captain in the American army during the Revolution- ary War, had children by wife Phebe as fol- lows: David,5 Jr., born November 11, 1763; Olive, born December 5, 1765; Ephraim W., December 19, 1769; John, November 14, 1774; and Levi, August 1, 1780.

David5 Vaughan by wife Huldah had five children, namely: Phebe, born July 1, 1787; Elias, October 28, 1789; Zenas, February 4, 1792; David, July 18, 1794; and Huldah, De- cember 15. 1797.

Zenas6 Vaughan, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came to Maine from Middle- boro, Mass., and settled in the vicinity of King- field village, near Farmington, where he took up a large tract of land, cleared and improved it into a farm, and followed agriculture. He married Eunice Knapp, and had nine children, as follows: Elias, born 1820, who died in 1878; Eliza, born 1821, who died in 1898; Olive, 1822, who died jn 1888; Zenas (father of Dr. Vaughan)," born 1829 and now (1903) living; Atwood, born 1832, who died in 1878: Eunice, born 1834, who died in 1892; Huldah, born 1836; Mary B, born 1838; and Dexter B., born 1842, who died in 1885.

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Zenas Vaughan, whose birth took place on the old homestead in Freeman, Me., followed farming there until the breaking out of the Civil War. Immediately after the first battle of Bull Run he enlisted in the First Maine Cav- alry as private, being subsequently promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and later Captain. Taken prisoner at Virginia, 11th of May, on Sheridan's raid to Richmond, Va., 1864, he was sent to Libby Prison, where he remained for two months. From there he went to Macon, Ga., Savannah, and Charleston. At the close of the war he settled in New Portland, Me., where for twenty years he was in trade, engaged in mercantile business. He served for six years as Sheriff of Somerset County, on his election to that office in 1SS4 taking up his residence in Skowhegan, which place he has since made his home. After leaving the office of Sheriff, he was engaged for a few years in trade, finally retiring to private life. When a resident of New Portland he served for a time as Select- man of that town He married September 30, 1855, Esther Putnam, who was born in Freeman, Me., January 11, 1831. Their chil- dren, four in number, were as follows: Estelle, born 1859, who died in infancy; Halie V., born at Freeman, Me., 1861, who married Fred H. Pease, of Anson, Me., and has three children - Thelma, Priscilla, and Esther; Philip H. S., whose name begins this article; and Esther M., born April 14, 1869, in New Portland, Me.

Philip H. S. Vaughan was educated in the schools of his native town and at Westbrook Seminary. He pursued his medical studies at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me., where he was graduated in the class of 1859. Com- mencing the practice of his profession in Skow- hegan, he remained there for a short time, afterward going to Augusta, Me., where he was connected as physician with the Insane Hospital. On the opening of the Eastern Maine Insane Asylum at Bangor, in July, 1901, he was appointed to his present position as assistant superintendent in that institution. Here he has made good use of his opportunity of studying the various forms of mental disease and the appropriate treatment for their allevia- tion or cure. Thus he may lay claim to the title of specialist in that branch of medieal

science that deals with the most distressing of human aihnents, in which every advance should be hailed with joy by all lovers of humanity.

Dr. Vaughan was married January 3, 1594. to Miss Mabel Wentworth, who was born Octo- ber 16, 1867, a daughter of George" and Julia A. (Whittier) Wentworth, of Skowhegan, Me. He has two children: Barbara, born June 11, 1896; and Julia, born June 9, 1898.

Mrs. Vaughan's ancestral line begins with Elder William Wentworth, who appears first at Exeter, N.H., in 1639. Thence he removes in 1642 to Wells, Me., remaining there for about seven years. Removing in 1649 to Dover. N. H., he there made his home, save for tempora- rary absences, for the remainder of his life. He was Selectman in 1651. 1657, 1660, 1664. 1665, and 1670, and Town Moderator in 1661. In 1663 he was Commissioner, an office in which "small causes were adjugded," and in 1657. 1660, and 1661 he was a lot laver. The office. however, by which he was best known was that of Ruling Elder of the church at Dover, espe- cially as it resulted in his officiating as preacher during many years of his life. He married. first, Elizabeth Kenny. Of his second wife no record can be found. From William1 Went- worth the line of descent to Mrs. Vaughan is as follows .--

Timothy2 Wentworth married Sarah, whose surname is thought to have been Cromwell. He died in 1719, his will being proved July S. 1719.

Deacon Samuel Wentworth married August 29, 1725, Joanna, daughter of Jolm and Deb- orah (Church) Roberts, of Somersworth. N.H. She was born October 20, 1705. Deacon Sam- uel died July 4, 1780. His wife died but a few hours after him, and both were buried in one grave on the homestead.

Samuel+ Wentworth, born 1728, married Lois Jones, and lived in Berwick, Me. He died in 1766, and his widow married in Berwick. October 31, 1771, Daniel Libbey. ,

Johm' Wentworth, born in Berwick, Me .. September 21, 1761, when only ten years old went to live with his brother Ebenezer in Bux- ton, Me. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary army. He married October 8, 1785, Hannah

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Elwell, of Buxton, Me., born July 1, 1763. In 1790 he removed to Limington, Me., and in 1798 to Athens, Me., where he died July 19, 1825. He had been on the pension rolls, but was dropped September 4, 1823, on account of a law having been passed debarring men who were in good financial circumstances. His wife died October 1, 1831.

Ebenezer" Wentworth, born in Limington, Me., July 12, 1793, lived in Athens, Me., and there married first, September 12, 1822, Sarah P. Leavitt, born April 7, 1799, who died in Athens, September 29, 1849. He married second, September 11, 1855, Almira MeClure, and died in Athens, May 9, 1870.

George Wentworth, born September 24, 1829, married November 30, 1856, Julia A. Whittier, born in Skowhegan, Me., July 23, 1836. He lived there, and had the following children -- Herbert, Mabel, Grace, and Robert Alene, of whom Mabel became the wife of Dr. Vanghan, as already noted.

ESTON LEWIS, president of the Maine Trust and Banking Com- pany of Gardiner, was born in the neighboring town of Pittston, December 26, 1850, son of Warren and Laura (Carleton) Lewis. His paternal grandfather was the Rev. Stephen Lewis, a Baptist minister of Jefferson, Me. Warren Lewis settled in Pitts- ton about the middle of the century just closed, and was a prosperous farmer. At one time he represented the town in the lower branch of the State Legislature.

From the Gardiner High School Weston Lewis, the direct subject of this sketch, en- tered Bowdoin College, where he took his bachelor's degree in the class of 1872. At the opening of the next school year he returned to the Gardiner High School as its principal, a position that he retained for nearly three years. Preferring, however, a business life to that of an educator, and believing himself possessed of the necessary qualifications for a successful financier, he turned his attention to banking, becoming connected with the Gar- diner Savings Institution, of which he was subsequently treasurer for fifteen years and |

for some time president. For the last four- teen years he has successfully directed the affairs of the Maine Trust and Banking Com- pany, one of the leading financial institutions of Gardiner. His capable management is fully appreciated both by its stockholders and by the board of directors. This company : recently removed from its former location to handsome and commodious quarters in the new building now (1903) in process of erection on the old Evans House Corner. Mr. Lewis is also president of, and an extensive stock- holder in, the Sandy River Railroad, of Frank- lin County, Maine. Politically a Democrat. Le was formerly a leading spirit in municipal affairs, serving with ability in the city govern- ment. He is a member of Hermon Lodg -. A. F. & A. M., and of Gardiner Lodge, K. of P.

On October 18, 1876, Mr. Lewis married Miss Eleanor Weston Partridge, daughter of Charles Henry and Bridget (Weston) Partridge. Mrs. Lewis's father, formerly a well-known Gordi- ner merchant, is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are the parents of three children: Carle- ton, born October 6, 1878; Henry. born No- vember 20, 1SS1; and Eleanor Weston. borz November 17, 1892.

ILLIAM SAWYER DENNETT. a ver- erable and highly esteemed citizen of Bangor, was for thirty-six years associated with the financial and business in- terests of this city as cashier of the Veazie Bank. Son of Daniel and Fanny isawyer Dennett, he was born in Saco, Me., November 26, 1813. His paternal grandfather, Nicholas Dennett, cleared a large farm in Saco, and was extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits. making a specialty of fruit raising, having one of the finest orchards in the town. Industrious. intelligent, and enterprising, he acquired a good deal of wealth for his day. The maiden nine of his wife was Phoebe Seaman.

Daniel Dennett, father of William Sawyer Dennett, was born on the parental homestead in Saco, where he was reared to farm life. He carried on general farming with good ste- cess, and also engaged in business as a tantes and currier. During the War of 1812 he w .:

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mustered into service, and was on duty for a short time at Saco Beach. He married Fanny Sawyer. They afterwards removed to Milo, Me., where he died in 1878 ; his wife died two years later. They were the parents- of nine children, five of whom have passed away, one, Francis, dying in China. The four now living are: William Sawyer, Frank, Angela, and Sarah Frances. Angela is the widow of the late Charles A. Everett, and Sarah F. is the widow of Jason Huekins.

William Sawyer Dennett remained on the home farm till 1831, when he went to Topsham, near Brunswick, Me., where he attended school for a time. Coming then to Penobscot County, he lived in Oldtown three years, from 1834 until 1837, being employed as clerk in a store. In 1837 he accepted a similar position in Ban- gor, becoming clerk for William Woodman & Co., with whom he remained two years. Dur- ing the next two years he was a clerk for the firm of Norcross & Mason, after that time being clerk for J. P. Veazie for nearly ten years. In 1851 Mr. Dennett was made cashier of the Bangor Bank, now the Veazie Bank, and from July, 1851, until March, 1864, he was with the Bank of the State of Maine, which in the latter year was merged in the Second National, Mr. Dennett remaining as cashier of both these banks until 1SSS, when he voluntarily resigned the position. Conscientiously devoted to the interests of the financial institutions with which he was so long connected, Mr. Dennett did much toward maintaining their high stand- ard of excellence, ever performing the duties of his office with characteristic zeal and fidelity. For a number of years he was also a director of the Second National Bank, and for some time he served as vice-president. In politics he was formerly a Whig, and at one time was a strong abolitionist. He is now a stanch sup- porter of the principles of the Republican party. He is always keenly interested in the welfare of the city, which he served one term as Coun- cilman.

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Biographical sketches of representative citizens of the state of Maine, Part 8

Author: New England Historical Publishing Company, Boston, pub Publication date: 1903 Publisher: Boston, New England historical publishing company Number of Pages: 998

Author: New England Historical Publishing Company, Boston, pub
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Boston, New England historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 998