USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume II > Part 10
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(VII) Charles H., second son and child of Dr. Stephen and Sophia (Carleton) Thay- er, was born October 14, 1810, and died Janu- ary II, 1864. He was educated in the schools of his native city. After his marriage he set- tled in Fairfield, but removed from thence
to Waterville in 1839, and there engaged in the mercantile business on the southwest cor- ner of Main and Temple streets, remaining for a number of years, and then sold out to the old firm of Thayer & Marston. Mr. Thayer has taken a prominent part in the various in- terests of Waterville, serving as selectman for a period of thirteen years, and as a direc- tor of the old Waterville Bank. He was a Whig and Republican in politics. He married, October 3, 1837, Susan E. Tobey, who died October 15, 1893. They had one child, Fred- erick Charles, see forward.
(VIII) Frederick Charles, A. M., M. D., only child of Charles H. and Susan E. (To- bey) Thayer, was born in Waterville, Septem- ber 30, 1844. His education was a liberal one; he attended the public schools of Water- ville, the Waterville Academy, Franklin Fam- ily School for Boys at Topsham, Maine, en- tered Waterville College in 1861 and became a student at Union College in 1863. He studied medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. James E. Pomfret, of Albany, New York, attended the medical lectures at the Albany Medical College and was graduated from the Maine Medical School in 1867. Dr. Thayer was president of the Kennebec County Medi- cal Association in 1878, president of the Alum- ni Association of the Medical Department of Bowdoin College, which he was instrumental in founding, in 1885-86. The degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by Colby University in 1884. He was a member of the legislature, 1885-86, and in the latter year delivered the annual oration before the Maine Medical Association; president of this association, 1887-88; alderman of Waterville, 1889. He has served in the state militia as assistant surgeon and surgeon of the Second Regiment, as medical director of the First Brigade and surgeon-general on the staff of Governor Henry B. Cleaves. He was the first president of the Waterville Trust Company and for a long period was one of the direc- tors. He is a director of the W. W. & F. Rail- road Company. He was one of the founders, and has been president of the Waterville Clin- ical Society ; has been president of the Board of United States Pension Examining Sur- geons of Augusta, consulting surgeon to the Maine Central General Hospital at Lewiston, and to the City Hospital at Augusta. Dr. Thayer has been master of Waterville Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; commander of St. Omer Commandery, Knights Templar ; grand commander of the Grand Commandery of Maine, grand warden of the Grand En-
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campment, Knights Templar, United States of America, and enjoyed the distinction of hav- ing the thirty-third degree in Masonry con- ferred upon him. By his skill and success in important surgical cases, Dr. Thayer early gained an eminent position in his profession, which he has since maintained. In addition to his extensive business interests he has been prominently identified with all movements for the progress and development of the city for many years. He was president of the Cen- tennial Committee of One Hundred, and of the executive committee, and the success of the celebration was largely due to his faithful attention and his efficient generalship. He still resides in the house in which he was born, No. 214 Main street.
Dr. Thayer married, December 2, 1871, Leonora L., daughter of Judge William B. Snell, of Washington, District of Columbia. They have no children.
GILBERT This name is one which has been celebrated in the history of England and in various pro- fessions, and several members of this family emigrated to America, where they are now scattered throughout the United States and Canada.
(I) Charles Dupuis dit Gilbert came to America from England and settled in Canada, where he married.
(II) Jean, son of Charles Dupuis dit Gil- bert, was born near St. Francis, province of Quebec, Canada, and probably returned to England while still young, as he held a com- mission as corporal in the English army and was married in that country. He was by trade a blacksmith, but later was also a car- penter and stone mason. Returning to the land of his birth, he came to the United States shortly after 1843, settling first at Norridge- wock, Maine, then in Waterville, and remov- ing to Orono, Maine, in 1850, where he re- sided until his death in 1856. He was fairly well educated, could read and write French and easily solve the ordinary problems which occurred in his trade. He was especially noted for his great physical power, was six feet and two inches tall and well knit. His faith was that of the Catholic church, whose creed he strictly observed, and instilled into his children the fear of God. He married, in 1822, Cecile, daughter of Augustin Mercier. She was possessed of a good common school education, was a staunch Catholic and died in Orono, Maine, in 1864. The children of this union were five sons and seven daughters,
and one of the sons was in the United States army during the Civil War and died either during the war or shortly after.
(III) Thomas Gilbert, son of Jean and Cecile (Mercier) Dupuis dit Gilbert, was born in St. Francis, Canada, November 15, 1841. He was ten years of age when he re- moved with his parents to Orono, Maine, and his education has been wholly along the most practical lines. He entered a sawmill at the age when most boys are still enjoying the playtime of life, and after the death of his father became the main support of the large family. By dint of hard labor and persever- ance it was not many years before he rose to. positions of trust and remuneration. He be- came an expert sawyer and was considered one of the best ganginen of the Penobscot river. His first lumber operation was that of "getting out" railroad ties for the European and North American railroad, and being suc- cessful in this venture, he soon began to cut, haul and drive logs to market on his own account. He was of an optimistic nature, and this, blended with a keen appreciation of values, soon placed him in the foremost ranks of those engaged in this line of business. He has always made his home in Orono and re- sides there at the present time. Mr. Gilbert richly deserves the success that has crowned his active, energetic efforts. He has lived a regular, correct and temperate life, wasting none of the strength of his manhood. One says of him: "A railroad does not move its trains with more careful, regular precision than he orders his daily life." Realizing from his own experience the handicap of a limited education, he has given his sons and daughters the advantages of practical and professional educations. The sons are all graduates of high schools and colleges, while the daughters were equally well treated. They were edu- cated at La Salle College, Massachusetts, and one was a student at the Boston Conservatory of Music. Mr. Gilbert has gained and held the respect of his children, all of whom, it may be said, are of high standing in their dif- ferent walks of life.
He married, July 7, 1864, Esther Cordelia, daughter of Ephraim Lyshorn, of Hudson, Maine. She was not only an ideal wife and mother, but an inspiration and tower of strength to her husband in his initial business. ventures, and her death, January 31, 1894, was deeply and sincerely mourned by many. Ephraim Lyshorn, or Lachance, her father, was a native of Maine, and by occupation a farmer and woodsman. He was the son of.
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Antoine Lachance, who was born in Quebec in 1750, and saw service under Montcalm. Lachance enlisted in the Continental army in 1775, serving in Colonel Livingston's regi- ment, General Arnold in command. He was taken prisoner in 1776, escaped, again en- listed in 1778, going as a scout to the Chau- diere and being discharged upon his return. He again enlisted on board the "Monmouth," Captain Ross, at Castine, and was in the service three months, during which time the vessel was taken to Bangor and there burned. In 1781 he enlisted in Captain Walker's com- pany in a regiment commanded by Major Ul- mer, and was stationed at Castine. Shortly after his marriage he removed to Orono, where he spent the remainder of his days, oc- cupied in farming, fishing and making shin- gles. He cleared and lived for fully a half- century upon the land now occupied by the University of Maine, his death occurring August 6, 1839. He married at Winslow, Maine, Sarah Buzze, and had numerous chil- dren, of whom some assumed Antoine as a surname, while others changed Lachance to Lyshorn. The children of Thomas and Es- ther C. (Lyshorn) Gilbert were: 1. Freder- ick A., see forward. 2. Edith, deceased. 3. Albert A., resides in Orono. 4. Charles Ed- ward, lives in Bangor, Maine. 5. Grace, de- ceased. 6. Thomas H .. lives at Onawa Lake, Maine. 7. Frank Y., resides in Portland, Maine. 8. Eugene C. 9. Daisy A. 10. Alice M., the latter three living in Orono.
(IV) Frederick Alliston, eldest child of Thomas and Esther C. ( Lyshorn) Gilbert, was born in Orono, Maine, April 2, 1866. His education was a good one, acquired in the com- mon schools of Orono. After his graduation he commenced working in the lumber busi- ness of his father, being thus engaged until he was twenty years of age. At that time he started in business for himself, buying and selling lumber and timber lands. In 1900 he became the timber land agent for the Great Northern Paper Company. His duties here were of so onerous a nature that he gave up his private business altogether in 1903, de- voting his entire time and attention to the in- terests of the company. He provided the various paper mills of the company with logs for pulp, and it takes about one hundred and ten millions of feet of timber each year to fill this demand. He also looks after the several thousand acres of timber land owned by the company and purchases new property. These lands are for the most part on the Ken- nebec and Penobscot rivers, as the main trans-
portation of logs is done by rafting down the rivers. Mr. Gilbert has been a director in the Penobscot Log Driving Company, the Penob- scot Lumbering Association, director and gen- eral manager of the West Branch Driving and Reservoir Dam Company, director of North- ern Maine Power Packet Company and Great Northern Supply Company, and a member of improvement companies. In politics he is a Republican, and was appointed by the governor of Maine as commissioner to investigate the methods of scaling logs and lumber. He has no religious preference, and is affiliated with the following organizations : Mechanics Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Orono; Mount Moriah Chapter, No. 6, Royal Arch Masons; Bangor Council, Royal and Select Masters; St. John's Commandery, No. 3, K. T .; Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite ; Perfection Lodge, Eastern Star; Palestine Council, Princes of Jerusalem : Bangor Chap- ter, Rose Croix; Maine Consistory of Port- land: Kora Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Lewiston, Maine ; Tarratine and Ma- sonic clubs of Bangor. Mr. Gilbert married, December 24, 1889, Bertha Ella, daughter of Josiah Edgerley, a farmer, of Greenfield, Maine. They have no children. Since his entrance into business in that city, Mr. Gil- bert has resided in Bangor.
This family is of Huguenotic TARBOX extraction. It has been spelled Tarbeaux, Tarback and Tar- bock. Among the scions of this stock were Rev. Increase N. Tarbox, D. D., of Boston, Judge James Tarbox, of Vermont, and Hon. John K. Tarbox, a member of congress from Massachusetts. A limb of the family tree branched off into Vermont and Admiral Dewey is of this line.
(1) John (1) Tarbox was in Lynn, Massa- chusetts, as early as 1640, and had seven acres of land on Water Hill. Ile was an owner in the iron works, an infant industry in the strug- gling colony. He served as appraiser in the estate of George Fraile, and was a man of good character and a substantial citizen. His will is on record in the probate office in Salem, Massachusetts, and in it appears this: "I be- queath my house and housing with all my land and meadow, with a Greene rug and a great Iron Kettell and a round Joyned Table to my Sonne John Tarbox." The name of his wife was Rebecca ; children : Rebecca, Jonah, John and Samuel.
(II) John (2), second son of John (I) and Rebecca Tarbox, was born in 1645. He
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shared much more largely in his father's es- tate than did Samuel, probably under the old English law of primogeniture. There may have been other reasons. Samuel seems to have filled a larger space in the public eye than his elder and more fortunate brother. John married Mary Haven, July, 1667. Chil- dren : John, Joseph, Sarah, Joseph, Jonathan, Samuel, Ebenezer, Hannah, Mary and Su- sanna, the last three triplets; Nathaniel and Mary. His wife died November 10, 1690.
(III) Nathaniel, sixth son of John (2) and Mary (Haven) Tarbox, was born January 25, 1684, and was the first to carry the name to Maine, moving to Biddeford on the Saco river. He had charge of the garrison house near Biddeford Pool, the remains of which are still to be seen there. The name of his wife was Elizabeth; they were married in 1710. Children: Joseph, Benjamin, John, Hosea and Sarah. He was killed by the In- dians in 1723.
(IV) Joseph, eldest son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Tarbox, was born in 1711. He went with his father to Biddeford. He mar- ried Mary Belcher, of Boston, February 22, 1732. Children : Daniel, Mary, Joseph, Han- nah, Jonathan, Zachariah, Eliakin, Sophia, Eliezer and Lavinia.
(VI) Andrew, probably a grandson of the above-named Joseph and Mary (Belcher) Tarbox, was a leading and influential towns- man of Woolwich, Maine. He was a ship- master and sailed the seas for many years. Captain Tarbox was a Whig when it was a time to be Whigs and subsequently shifted to the Republican party on the question of slav- ery. He was a great admirer of Henry Clay, after whom he named his son. He removed to Bath, served in the city government and died at eighty-four.
(VII) Henry C., son of Captain Andrew Tarbox, was born on Phips' Point, Woolwich, Maine, December 2, 1836, died December 9, 1897. He was reared on the family estate. His early education was in the district schools, complemented by terms at Pittston and Litch- field Academy. He early imbibed a love for the mariner's art, and at thirteen years of age went "down to the sea in ships" with his father. He arose in successive gradations from cabin-boy to master, commanding the "Samuel Tarbox" six years, most of the time in the Chincha Island trade. In 1866 the "Sam- uel Tarbox" was lost in a hurricane sailing from Baltimore for Aspinwall. Captain Tar- box was rescued after being without food for three days. He sailed other ships, the "Itasca,"
"Alexandra" and the "Almira Robinson." On February 15, 1866, he married Aramede S., daughter of Alfred Lemont, of Bath ; children : Alfred L., Lida L., deceased, Harry R., Ma- linda L., M. Louise, Barnard L.
LEMONT The history of the Lemont an- cestor in Maine begins with a scene of hope, strength and devotion which has been many times repeated in the long generations of this sturdy family. After days of cloudy weather the sun shines brightly on the city of Londonderry, Ireland. The wind, which has persistently blown from the sea, turns and beckons hopefully to all outgoing ships. It sings merrily in the rig- ging and tugs at the sails. And then the sturdy young John Lemont, just passed his eighteenth year, says a good-by to his father, Thomas, and mother, Mary. "I shall soon send for you to join me in America. Our Huguenot ancestors found a home of refuge in Londonderry; in this new land we shall have greater freedom and prosperity. God will be with us." Then he takes Elizabeth McLanathan by the hand, and the two kneel together and pray for help that they may soon meet again on a distant shore. They rise with faces full of love and hope. Elizabeth turns to her whirring wheel. John hastens to his waiting ship. Each knows the other will be true, no matter how many days may slip by. The letters of John Lemont tell that he safely reached Dromore, near where the city of Bath, Maine, now stands, and that there were earnest, God-fearing people there from the north of Ireland; that he has a goodly farm of four hundred acres, running from Dromore to the New Meadows river; that this was sold to William Butler, for he had found a place at Georgetown, which he thought would better please Elizabeth and his parents ; and in a few years his letter says: "Here is the money to take you hither ; come speedily ; we shall all be so happy together." And again the sun shone brightly on Londonderry, and an outgoing ship started on a prosperous voy- age. "It is just as John said it would be," spoke Elizabeth McLanathan, with the happy tears shining on her face. "Yes, he is a noble boy," smiles the mother. "And so wise for one of his years," adds the father. And they repeat their praises still more gratefully when they land at Georgetown, and see John's home amid the shaggy woods, the mill, which hums and buzzes incessantly, and the strong garri- son house, where they will be so safe if the Indians seek for their lives. "And you are
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building a vessel yonder," said Elizabeth, clap- ping her hands; "you did not tell us half you are doing. Her name-oh! Jolın, it is Eliza- beth !" Then came a joyous wedding-day and a happy married life of nearly forty years. The crops grew well, the mill brought much honest money, many vessels for the coasting and West India trade were built, and to the happy home came seven sons and five daugh- ters, all hardy and God-fearing, two of them living until almost a hundred years. The old minister stands by the bedside of John Le- mont, when he looks for the last time on the pleasant fields about his home, and says: "God has wonderfully blest you and yours. If I have the story aright, your grandfather, a noble Huguenot, came to Londonderry in 1670. There your father was born in 1678. He died here in Georgetown, February 15, 1756. Your mother died here November 5, 1743, at the goodly age of seventy-five years. You were born in 1704, and this is the good year of 1766, and your faithful Elizabeth is with you, and all your sons and daughters. You have ever trusted in God, held fast to hope, and worked well. Aye, John, I know what you whisper, ''Tis all of the Lord.' That is the lack of boasting which has been one of your noblest traits. I believe this will be handed down to your latest generation." This was a true prophecy. Though the members of the Lemont family have been constantly at work along many lines, less has been pub- lished about them than almost any other stal- wart family of Maine.
(I) The will of John Lemont was dated March 14, 1764, and probated May 13, 1767. In this he states that his beloved wife, Eliza- beth, is to have charge of the bulk of his property ; when the son, David, arrives at six- teen years he is to have charge of this. He states that he has already given to his sons, Benjamin and James, eighty acres of land each, and that he now gives these sons one- third part of the sawmill standing on Whis- gig creek, with one-third part of all privi- leges thereunto belonging. He carefully di- rects how ample provision shall be made for the rest of his children. The children of John Lemont are given in the following order : Elizabeth, Benjamin, Deacon James, Nancy, Sarah and Colonel John.
(II) Colonel John (2), youngest child of John (1) and Elizabeth (McLanathan) Le- mont, was born in August, 1740, in George- town, Maine, and died October 23, 1827. He served in the Revolutionary war and was made a colonel of the First Regiment, First Brigade
and Eighth Division of Massachusetts Militia, in 1788. He married Mary Robinson, of Port- land, Maine, and their children were Betsey, Mahetable and Captain John.
(III) Captain John (3), youngest child of Colonel John (2) and Mary (Robinson) Le- mont, was born May 22, 1774, and died Feb- ruary 4, 1803. He was a very successful com- mander of vessels in the West India trade, and at one time, together with his brother, Samuel Lemont, was taken a prisoner by the French. He was married October 5, 1797, to Sarah Donnell, born October 2, 1774, died May 8, 1864, a daughter of John Donnell. Children : Lavinia, Levi P., John Robinson, Alfred.
(IV) Alfred, son of Captain John (3) and Sarah (Donnell) Lemont, was born in Bath, April 5, 1808, and died in 1896. In early life he learned the trade of blacksmith, and followed that vocation in Bath thirty years, and then relinquished it and engaged in ship- building. He constructed his first vessel, a schooner, in a yard north of Thomas Har- ward's, in 1835, and named her "Eliza Ann." She was employed in the coasting trade, and eventually was lost on Seal Rock, while try- ing to enter the harbor at Eastport, to which place she was bound, to load with plaster. In 1835 he began building ships at Winnegance, with Richard Morse & Sons, and continued to build with them until 1851, when he estab- lished a yard of his own in Bath, in which he continued to build vessels until 1865, when he relinquished the business, but continued to own interests in various vessels until the close of his life. He was connected with banks in Bath from about 1870 till his death, and was a director in the Sagadahoc National Bank and an incorporator in the Twenty-five Cent Savings Bank. His last years were spent in retirement on a farm at West Bath, where he had a finely located residence commanding a fine view of the beautiful Campbell's Pond. Here he passed in health and pleasant occu- pation the last years of a green old age. He married, December, 1836, Malinda, who was born in Wales, daughter of Benjamin and Lucy (Dunlap) Hodgdon. She died in 1882. They had one daughter, Aramede Snow, born February 9, 1846, in Bath ; married, February 15, 1866, Captain Henry C. Tarbox, and lives in Bath.
William Cross was one of the CROSS early settlers of Vassalborough, Maine. The name is now ex- tinct in that town, but an old family burying- ground on Cross Hill contains the graves
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of the early settlers. William was born in 1770 and died in 1849, according to his grave- stone. He may have belonged to the Ipswich family, though no connection is known. Chil- dren: 1. William, Jr., born 1799, mentioned below. 2. Zebedee, 1805, died at Vassalbor- ough in 1853. Probably others.
(II) William (2), son of William (1) Cross, was born in Vassalborough in 1799, died in Augusta, Maine, December, 1886. He married (first) Abigail Lewis, a native of Pal- ermo, Maine, who died in 1852 in Vassalbor- ough. He married (second) Clarissa Foster, who died in Augusta in 1895. He was a farmer, residing until 1860 in his native town of Vassalborough. He then moved to China, Maine, and again, during the Civil War, he removed to Augusta, Maine, where he estab- lished a trucking business on his own account, continuing it successfully until obliged by ill health to retire from active business. He was a prominent member of the Baptist church of Vassalborough and deacon for many years. In politics he was a Republican. Children of first wife, born at Vassalborough : William L., Sophia, Laurinda, George H., John W., Lau- rinda, Ann, Melissa, Emily, Sewall B., men- tioned below ; Alonzo, Abby. Child of second wife: Alonzo B.
(III) Sewall Black, son of William (2) Cross, was born June 4, 1837, at Cross Hill, Vassalborough, died June 27, 1903, in Au- gusta, Maine. He received his education in the public schools in his native town. In his boyhood and youth he worked on his father's farm in Vassalborough. He learned the trade of tinsmith in Augusta and worked afterward as a journeyman in Biddeford, where he was living when the Civil War began. He en- listed in Biddeford in Company D, First Regi- ment, Maine Volunteer Cavalry, and re- enlisted in fifty-second company, Second Bat- talion Veteran Reserve Corps. Ile served through the whole war, and took part in many battles and engagements. Upon his return after the war he embarked in business as a tinsmith, in the firm of Cross & Pinkham. After three years the firm was dissolved, and Mr. Cross opened a hardware store in Au- gusta, in the firm of Gould & Cross. Two years later this firm admitted another partner, and the name became Gould, Barker & Cross for two years, when Mr. Cross sold his in- terests in the business to his partners and bought a farm in Manchester, Maine. Besides conducting his farm, he worked at his trade from time to time. In 1887 he returned to Augusta and established
business, in which he was very successful. In 1892 he took his son, Hubert J. Cross, into partnership, under the firm name of S. B. Cross & Company, continuing in this business until 1896, when both he and his son devoted their energies to the Glenwood Spring Water Company, which he organized and of which he became the president and treasurer. He married (first), February, 1861, Sarah E. Mitchell, born May 17, 1840, in Canaan, Maine, died April 26, 1869, at Augusta. He married (second), May 15, 1870, Abby F. Mitchell, born May 30, 1845, in Canaan. Chil- dren : Hubert J., mentioned below; William M., Olive P.
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