USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume I > Part 64
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General Dow died October 2, 1897, in the ninety-fourth year of his age. His funeral was the occasion of another great gathering of those who wished to manifest their respect for the great prohibition leader. With impos- ing ceremonies his body was placed to rest in Evergreen cemetery. A morning paper on the day following his funeral said: "Many distin- guished men and women were present to do honor to General Dow's memory, but the most noticeable feature of the occasion was the very large attendance of people in all walks of life who came to show heartfelt re- spect to the memory of the man who was dear to them because of the cause he championed."
Neal Dow married, January 20, 1830, Maria Cornelia Durant, born in Boston, June 18, 1808, daughter of John and Mary (Durant) Maynard. (See Maynard VII.) She died in Portland, January 13, 1883. She became a member of the Old South Congregational
Church in Boston at sixteen years of age, was later a member of the High Street Church in Portland, and finally of State Street Church, of which she was a member at the time of her death. She was a devout Christian and well known for her works of charity. Suffer- ing and sickness among the poor within the range of her observation were never left un- noticed or unrelieved by her when her assist- ance would avail. She was a true wife and noble woman, a faithful temperance worker, and enlisted the aid of many other women in the cause of temperance. Nine children were born of this union. Of these Edward, Henry, Josiah, and Russell Congdon died when about two years of age, and Frank Allen died in 1865, when eighteen years of age. Louisa Dwight, the eldest child, born March 23, 1831, married the late Hon. Jacob Benton, of Lan- caster, New Hampshire, where she resided till her death, December 7, 1895. The third child and second daughter, Emma Maynard, married William E. Gould, of Portland, and resides in Boston. The only surviving son, Frederick N., is the subject of the next para- graph. The youngest daughter, Cornelia Maria, died unmarried in Portland, October 12, 1905.
(XI) Frederick Neal, son of Neal and Maria Cornelia Durant (Maynard) Dow, was born in Portland, December 23, 1840. He was educated in the Portland Academy, the Port- land high school, and the Friends' school in Providence, Rhode Island. He inherited from his father and grandfather a love for books and study, and supplemented his school course with systematic and extensive reading. At sixteen years of age he left school and took a place in the tannery established by his grand- father. In this occupation he served in every capacity from apprentice to managing partner. In 1861, on the death of his grandfather, Jo- siah Dow, he became his father's partner, and soon afterward manager of the business, re- taining that place until it was closed in 1874, on account of his failing health. In 1861, at the outbreak of the civil war, he volunteered in the first company of militia which offered its services in the state of Maine, but, as al- ready stated in this sketch, his father's en- trance into the army necessitated the son's remaining at home. Mr. Dow's interest in politics, brought up as he was in the family of one of the most active of political char- acters, began at an early age; and in debates in the Lyceum and in contributions to the press, his opinions found their way to the public ear and eye. His participation in actual
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political campaigning began when he attained his majority, and has ever since continued. In 1867 he was chosen a member of the city government of Portland, and was re-elected in 1868. In the same year lie was elected a member of the superintending school com- mittee, and served thereon until 1873, when he declined re-election on account of the amount of his private business. In 1871 he was appointed aide-de-camp with the rank of colonel on the staff of Governor Perliam. The following year he was elected a member of the executive council of Maine. He was re- elected in 1873-74, being chairman of that body in the latter year. During his service as a member of the council he was particularly interested in the Reform School, and to his efforts, as much as to any other agency, is to be attributed the substitution of the reforma- tory for the cell and penal system, which until that time had been features of that institution. In 1874 the Republicans of Cumberland county unanimously nominated him for the state sen- ate, but factional differences in the party pre- vented his election. In 1876 he was appointed by Governor Dingley as one of the commis- sioners from Maine to the Centennial Expo- sition at Philadelphia. In the same year he was made a member of the Republican state committee. To this place he was annually re- elected up to and including the year 1892. In 1880 he was a delegate at large to the Re- publican National convention at Chicago. On the retirement of James G. Blaine from the chairmanship of the Republican state com- mittee, Mr. Dow was chosen chairman of its executive committee, and on the retirement of Senator Frye he became chairman of the gen- eral committee. On the death of Hon. Lot M. Morrill, collector of the port of Portland, Mr. Dow was warmly recommended by the people of Portland and the state generally, without regard to party affiliations, to fill the vacancy, and receiving the appointment from President Arthur, February 9, 1883, he entered upon the discharge of the duties of the office and served until 1885, when he was removed by President Cleveland on the ground of "offen- sive partisanship." Mr. Dow was one of the principal promoters of the measures in 1886, which resulted in the general organization of permanent political clubs through the country. He became the first president of the Portland Club, which was the first of its kind in the state and the second in the country. He was also the first president of the Maine State League of Republican Clubs. In the autumn of 1886 he was unanimously nominated for
the legislature by the Republicans of Port- land, and was elected by a larger majority than any of his associates on the ticket. He served during the session as a member of thic judiciary, and chairman of the library com- mittee. Two years later he was re-elected, was unanimously nominated speaker by his fellow Republicans, and elected. In 1889, when Benjamin Harrison became president, the friends of Mr. Dow began to agitate the question of his restoration to the collectorship from which he had been removed, but Mr. Dow refused to indorse any movement of that kind until the expiration of the term for which his successor had been appointed. In October, 1890, he received his nomination from Presi- dent Harrison, and was at once confirmed by the senate without the usual formality of a reference to the committee. This position he held until 1895. In 1874 Mr. Dow read law in the office of Generals James D. and Frank Fessenden, and was later admitted to the bar, but the amount of other business he had on his hands left him no time to attend to a law practice, and he gave it up. About 1886, with James G. Blaine and others, Mr. Dow became interested in the Evening Express, making it an earnest Republican organ and widely ex- tending its circulation and influence. He is now president of the Evening Express Pub- lishing Company, a director of the Casco Loan and Building Association, president of the Portland Loan and Building Association, president of the Portland Gas Light Company, president of the Casco National Bank, presi- dent of the Union Safe Deposit and Trust Company, and was formerly a director of the Portland & Ogdensbury Railroad Company and of the Commercial Union Telegraph Com- pany. Mr. Dow's many enterprises compel him to be one of Portland's busiest of business men, and few men are more constantly em- ployed or make longer days than he. From his youth Mr. Dow has showed great energy of character, and as soon as he had opportu- nity it became apparent that he had executive ability of a high order. These qualifications, associated with that somewhat rare quality called common sense, made him successful. In politics his ability was early recognized, and he became one of the foremost leaders of the Republican party in Maine. In his con- duct of political campaigns in the state, espe- cially in that of 1882, his aptitude for organ- ization and management of details commanded the attention of all the public men of the state. As speaker of the house he enjoyed the con- fidence and respect of his associates who,
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without regard to party, testified of his abil- ity and impartiality as a presiding officer. Naturally retiring in disposition, his promin- ence and official positions have resulted rather from force of circumstances than from self seeking. He has always refused to be a can- didate for office until his friends could con- vince him that there were sound reasons for the ineffectiveness of any personal wish of himself. His loyalty to his friends would never permit any fancy of his own to inter- fere with their aspirations. These considera- tions have led him to refuse influential tenders of support for mayoralty, congressional and gubernatorial nominations, repeatedly urged upon him. He is a man of strong convic- tions and progressive ideas on all public ques- tions, and one whose integrity of character in all the relations of life have won the confi- dence of this community. But with all his po- litical activity he has never allowed political differences to disturb personal relations, and it has often been said that he has at once more earnest political opponents and friends than any other man in Portland. He has a pleasing personality, is dignified in manner, but always affable and courteous. His ten- acious memory is well stored with historical facts, and has made him a man of wide and accurate information in regard to public men and affairs. He has a lively sense of humor and a ready wit which render him an agree- able conversationalist and companion. As a public speaker he commands a copious fund of forcible and polished language, but depends more upon a logical statement of facts for ef- fect than upon oratorical flights. In religious faith he is an Orthodox Congregationalist of broad and liberal views. At Dunstan, eight miles from Portland, Mr. Dow has a commo- dious and handsomely furnished summer resi- dence, where he obtains recreation. Nearby is his large farm, conducted in a systematic business-like way.
Colonel Dow married, October 22, 1864, Julia D., born July 18, 1839, daughter of Will- iam and Abigail (Brown) Hammond, of Port- land. They have two children: William H., who is next mentioned, and Marion Durant, born August 24, 1870, who married William Colby Eaton, of Portland.
(XII) William Hammond, only son of Col- onel Frederick N. and Julia Dana (Ham- mond) Dow, was born in Portland, Decem- ber 25, 1866, and was educated in the Portland public schools and at the Massachusetts In- stitute of Technology, graduating from the latter school. The two following years he
spent in the employ of William Engel & Com- pany, lumber manufacturers, at Bangor. In 1893 he became circulation manager of the Evening Express Publishing Company, of Portland, and filled that position until he be- came business manager, a place he still holds. He has a live interest in politics and the mu- nicipal affairs of the city, and has served three years as a Republican in the common council, 1895-98, one year of which time he was presi- dent of the council. He was a member of the board of aldermen two years, being chairman of the board one year. He has taken a lead- ing part in affairs of common interest to the newspaper publishers of the state, and is sec- retary of the Maine Newspaper Publishers' Association, 1906-07. He is a member of the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association, the Portland Society of Natural History, the Port- land Society of Art, the Young Men's Christian Association, Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Portland Club, the Port- land Economic Club, and the Portland Country Club. Mr. Dow married, June 16, 1897, Kate Turner, born in Portland, January 19, 1871, daughter of Leander A. and Mary Frances (Turner) Wade, of Portland. They have two children : Katherine Maynard, March 1, 1900; and Neal, May II, 1907, both natives of Port- land.
(For preceding generations see John Dow I.) (IV) Thomas Dow, eldest son of DOW Henry and Elizabeth Dow, was an early settler of Newbury, Massa- chusetts, and one of the original grantees, a farmer, and removed thence to Haverhill, where he died May 31, 1654, at the age of about thirty-nine years. His will was made two days before his death and was proved April 8, 1656. He left a widow, Phebe, and children John, Thomas, Stephen, Mary and Martha. The widow was married November 20, 1661, in Haverhill, to John Eaton, of Hav- erhill.
(V) Stephen, third son and child of Thom- as and Phebe Dow, was born March 29, 1642, in Newbury, and subscribed to the freeman's oath in Haverhill in 1688. He died in that town July 3, 1717. His will was made on the first day of that month and was proved on the seventeenth. He married (first) Sep- tember 16, 1663, in Haverhill, Anne Storie, of Salem, and she died February, 1715. He mar- ried (second) February 7, 1716, Joanna Hutchins. She survived him more than sev- enteen years, and died October 29, 1734. His children, all by first wife, were: Ruhamah,
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Samuel, Hannah, Stephen, Martha and John. ( VI) Stephen (2), second son and fourth child of Stephen (1) and Anne (Storie) Dow, was born September 10, 1670, in Haverhill, died June, 1743, at Haverhill. He married, December 14, 1697, Mary Hutchins. Chil- dren : Timothy, Nathaniel, April, Elizabeth, Richard, Joanna, David, Jonathan and Ste- phen.
(VII) Richard, son of Stephen (2) and Mary (Hutchins) Dow, was born February 15, 1706, in Haverhill, died 1786. He was there married, February 28, 1728, to Phoebe Heath. She was born June 25, 1705, in Hav- erhill, daughter of Joseph and Hannah ( Brad- ley) Heath. Richard Dow lived in that part of Haverhill which was cut off in 1741 from Massachusetts, and became a part of New Hampshire. The records of Salem, New Hampshire, show the births of the following children of Richard and Phoebe (Heath) Dow: Reuben, Oliver, Richard and Asa.
(VIII) Oliver, second son and child of Richard and Phoebe (Heath) Dow, was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, July 28, 1736, died at Waterville, Maine, December 18, 1824. He resided in Salem, New Hampshire, from whence he removed to Hopkinton in 1773; in 1790 he returned to Salem, and in 1820 re- moved to Waterville. Enlisting in 1756, he served during the colonial wars at Crown Point and elsewhere, also during the revolu- tion, and was lieutenant in Colonel Thomas Stickney's regiment in 1776; was at Ticon- deroga. in 1777, in Rhode Island the same year, and in 1781 was in Lieutenant-Colonel Raymond's regiment of New Hampshire troops. He held offices in Salem and Hop- kinton, and joined the Congregational church in 1758. In 1766 he signed the remonstrance against the Anabaptists. He married Hannah Pattee, born December 7, 1737, died March 17, 1820. Children : Phoebe, Hannah, Oliver, Ellice, Levi, Simeon, Phenie and Lavinia.
(IX) Levi, son of Oliver (2) and Hannah (Pattee) Dow, was born March 25, 1771, died March 27, 1849. He married, June 19, 1801, Catherine Whipple, of Boston, who died June 8, 1818. Married (second) July 18, 1819, Elizabeth McC. Horton, of Milton, Massachu- setts, who was born April 7, 1791, died Octo- ber 11, 1864. Mr. Dow resided in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, and Boston, Massachusetts, where he owned a coal and wood wharf on South street, moving to Waterville, Maine, in August, 1820. In religious belief he was a Universalist. Children by first wife: Levi, Charles, William H., Thomas A., Elizabeth,
Catherine, Charlotte, Charlotte Augusta. By the second wife: Mary, George Sylvanus Cobb, John Randolph, Albert Marshall and Marshall Adams.
(X) George Sylvanus Cobb, son of Levi and Elizabeth McC. (Horton) Dow, was born October 24, 1821, at Waterville, Maine, and died June 23, 1888, at Delaware Water Gap. He resided in Maine, Boston, Massachusetts, Davenport, Iowa, New York City, removing to Bangor, Maine, in 1879. He was engaged in the dry goods business, firm of Dow & Lyon, Bangor, until 1852; then read law in Poughkeepsie Law School, New York; prac- ticed in Davenport, Iowa, the firm being Cor- bin & Dow, which was also engaged in bank- ing and real estate business. Together with the late Austin Corbin, of New York, and the late Dr. Burtis, of Iowa, founded the First National Bank of Davenport, Iowa, the first bank opened under the national banking act in 1863. He was later associated with Austin Corbin in New York from 1874 to 1879, dur- ing which the Manhattan Beach hotel proper- ties, the Long Island railroad, were developed by the Corbin Banking Company, which also first established the western real estate-mort- gage-loan business. Mr. Dow was a Unitar- ian, and a Jacksonian Democrat. He married, December 5, 1843, at Bangor, Maine, Eliza- beth Charlotte, born August 29, 1825, daugh- ter of Samuel and Charlotte (Heald) Syl- vester. Children : 1. Ada Horton, born March 6, 1846, at Bangor, Maine, where she resides. Educated at private schools, including Dr. Gannett's at Boston. 2. Herbert George, born August 22, 1854, at Davenport, Iowa, died at Brooklyn, New York, March 13, 1878. He was valedictorian at Swarthmore College, in 1875, from which institution he received the degree of A. B., and was also a graduate of Harvard University in 1877, prominent in athletics, president of the Pi Eta Club, and class-day marshal at Harvard. 3. Richard Sylvester.
(XI) Richard Sylvester, youngest son and child of George Sylvanus Cobb and Elizabeth Charlotte (Sylvester) Dow, was born May 2, 1864, in Davenport, Iowa. Educated in pri- vate schools and at Swarthmore Preparatory ; he spent two years at Harvard Law School, received the degree of LL. B. from Boston University Law School in 1894, and is a mem- ber of the Suffolk ( Massachusetts) bar. He votes with the Republican party, and attends the Unitarian church. He married, October 12, 1886, at Bangor, Maine, Abbie Jenness, daughter of James Freeland Rawson (see
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Rawson), a lawyer who received the degree of A. M. from Union College in 1884. Chil- dren: I. and 2. George Herbert and Rawson (twins), born August 7, 1887, died August 21, 1887. 3. Marion, born July 17, 1888, at Bangor, Maine. 4. Dorothy, born December 22, 1890, at Brookline, Massachusetts. 5. Elsie, born January 26, 1898, at Boston, Mas- sachusetts.
Richard Silvester, who was the first Ameri- can ancestor of Mrs. Elizabeth Charlotte Dow, came from England to Weymouth and Scitu- ate, Massachusetts, and died in Marshfield, Massachusetts, September, 1663. He left Weymouth because of religious views, which were considered too broad. The name of his wife was Emeline, and secondly, Naomi Tor- rey, of Weymouth.
John, son of Richard and Emeline Silvester, was born March 14, 1634, and died between September 12 and 20, 1706, at Marblehead, Massachusetts. His wife's name was Sarah.
Samuel, son of John and Sarah Silvester, was born in 1676, and died in 1834, being baptized October 3, 1676. His wife was Lu- cretia, daughter of Walter and Elizabeth Joyce, whom he married October 19, 1700, and died at Marshfield, Massachusetts.
Joshua, son of Samuel and Lucretia (Joyce) Silvester, was born April 5, 1708, in Marsh- field, baptized June 27, 1708, and the name of his wife was Mary. The first child was born at Pownalborough, now Wiscasset, Maine, in 1739.
Samuel (2), son of Joshua and Mary Sil- vester, was born December 20, 1743, at Pow- nalborough, died in 1791 ; married, April 24, 1766, Mary Horner. He was a cordwainer, and resided at Wiscasset, Maine.
William, son of Samuel (2) and Mary (Horner) Silvester, was born October 5, 1766, and died September 27, 1826. He married, in 1788, Mary, daughter of Ephraim Brown, of Stowe, Massachusetts, who was born in 1771, and died in 1847. Ephraim Brown was a great-great-grandson, on his mother's side, of Jonathan Fairbanks, of Dedham, Massa- chusetts, whose house, the oldest in the coun- try, still stands there. William resided at Norridgewock, Maine, where he held offices, being for many years a justice of the peace, was representative to the general court of Massachusetts in 1813-14-15; was selectman and assessor of Norridgewock in 1791-1802- 13. He laid out the first road to Canada through Maine; built the first bridge over the Kennebec, October 31, 1810; joined the church in 1797; his wife in 1801.
Samuel (3) Sylvester, son of William and Mary ( Brown) Silvester, was born December 7, 1792. and died February 20. 1869. He mar- ried, December 20, 1817, Charlotte, daughter of Timothy Heald, of Winslow, Maine, who was born June 18, 1797, and died June 29, 1875.
He was stationed at Fort Edgecomb, near Wiscasset, in the war of 1812, and held the rank of major. He was a merchant and a Congregationalist. Children of Samuel and Charlotte (Heald) Sylvester : I. and 2. Albert Gallatin and Alfred Goldburn (twins), born April 20, 1820. 3. Benjamin Franklin, De- cember 24, 1821. 4. Eliza Charlotte, (Mrs. George S. C. Dow), August 29, 1825. 5. Harriet Stodder, May 8, 1831, married John W. Tufts. 6. Anna Maria, June 13, 1833, married N. H. Dillingham. 7. William Gus- tavus, August 25, 1835. 8. Carolyn Sawtelle, October 13, 1839, married P. R. Sabin, of Camden, Maine. 9. Frances Louise, August 23, 1843, widow of Parker Erskine; resides in Wiscasset, Maine. Mrs. Dow, Mrs. Sabin and Mrs. Erskine are the only living members of the family of nine ( 1908).
The Rawson genealogy shows among its members Edward Rawson, last secretary of the old Bay State, and first secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and other men of prominence in Massachusetts, includ- ing Dr. Freeland, serving in the American army during the revolution. Among the Eng- lish ancestors was the sister of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Grindall, who was the tutor of Queen Elizabeth. James Freeland Rawson married, at Bangor, March 9, 1858. Sarah Deborah, born February 9, 1831, daugh- ter of Thomas Jenness, of New Hampshire, and Mary (True) Jenness, also of New Hampshire. They had two children: Mary Jenness Rawson, born October 16, 1859, at Bangor, and died at Boston, November 26, 1903; and Abbie Jenness Rawson. Thomas Jenness and Mary True were married Feb- ruary 4, 1830, and moved to Bangor before 1831, where he engaged in the hardware busi- ness, and resided there till his death, August 5, 1864. His widow died March 16, 1892, and they had two children : Mrs. James Free- land Rawson, and John S. Jenness, born Oc- tober 21, 1836, at Bangor, who, after gradu- ating at the Lawrence Scientific School at Cambridge in 1858, with the degree of S. B., entered the business with his father, the firm name being Thomas Jenness & Son. He con- tinued to reside in Bangor, unmarried, until his death, November 15, 1896.
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Mr. Ellery Bicknell Crane, in
RAWSON his excellent genealogy of the Rawson family in America, states that this surname was, in all probability, originally spelled Raufeson (Ralph's son). The present form of spelling was in use dur- ing the reign of Richard II. The Rawson coat-of-arins, the existence of which attests the fact that the family is descended from dis- tinguished ancestors, is composed of "an es- cutcheon, representing the old knightly shield, the lower half (sable) black, the upper half (azure) blue; in the centre of the shield is a castle, with four towers in gold; crest (placed over), a raven's head, black; bearing on the neck drops of gold, one and two; erased, on a wreath ; in the beak a ring of gold. The mot- to underneath, 'Laus virtutis actio', may be freely rendered, 'The deed of bravery is its own praise.' "
(I) Edward Rawson, of Gillingham, coun- ty of Dorset, England, born April 16, 1616, came to New England in 1636, and became one of the grantees of Newbury, Massachu- setts, where he settled. His parents were people of intelligence and high standing, and his mother, who was before marriage Marga- ret Wilson, was a sister of the distinguished Rev. John Wilson, the first minister in Bos- ton. In addition to serving as a selectman in Newbury he was chosen town clerk, being the second to hold that office ; acted as public no- tary and register, also as commissioner and attorney for the trial of small causes, and was a member of several important town com- mittees. In 1638, when but twenty-three years old, he was elected a deputy to the general court, and was several times re-elected to serve in that capacity. In 1645 he was chosen clerk of the house of deputies, and from 1650 to 1686 he served with marked ability as sec- retary of the colony. His official duties hav- ing necessitated his removal to Boston, he es- tablished his residence in what was for at least one hundred and fifty years afterwards known as Rawson's Lane (now Bromfield street), and he died there August 27, 1693. He was actively interested in promoting the manufac- ture of gunpowder in New England, and as a reward for his various public services re- ceived large grants of land from the general court. Edward Rawson and his wife were among the original members of the Old South Church, organized in 1669. The maiden name of his wife, whom he married in England, was Rachel Perne, and she bore him twelve chil- dren. I. A daughter, left in England. 2. Edward, graduated from Harvard College,
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