USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume II > Part 31
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(IV) Lieutenant Christopher Jr., son of Christopher Dyer (3). was born about 1735- 40, in Abington, Massachusetts. Children, born in Abington: I. Bela, born 1757, soldier in the revolution ; he and brother Christopher built a mill for General Lincoln at Passama-
quaddy, Maine, in 1780 ; died May, 1830, aged seventy-three ; married Ruth Hunt. 2. Joseph. 3. Christopher, married Deboralı Reed ; soldier in the revolution. 4. Benjamin, settled in Ash- field, Massachusetts. 5. Jesse, settled in Plain- field, Massachuetts. 6. Asa, mentioned below.
(V) Asa, son of Lieutenant Christopher Dyer (4), was born in Abington, Massachu- setts, in July, 1773, and died in Skowhegan, Maine, February, 1851. He was a farmer at Abington in early life. He removed to Skow- hegan in the fall of 1817, and bought eighty- five acres of land on what is now called Dyer Hill, on Upper Madison street. In connection with his farmi he manufactured brick for many years. He was one of the first settlers and taxpayers in what is now Skowhegan, in 1823. In politics he was a Whig. He married, Sep- tember, 1801, in Abington, Mehitable Cham- berlain, born September, 1780, in Abington, and died July, 1877, in Skowhegan. Children : Clarissa, John, Elbridge, Quincy, Chandler, William, Isaac, mentioned below ; Joseph, men- tioned below.
(VI) General Isaac, son of Asa Dyer (5), was born in Canaan, now Skowhegan, Maine, November 1. 1820. He was educated in the public schools of his native place, and worked with his father, farming and manufacturing brick. He left home when he came of age, and was associated for two years with his brother, Jolm Dyer, in the manufacture of saleratus. He then went to Albany, New York, and entered the employ of his brother, Quincy Dyer, in the same line of business. After a short time he returned to his home in Skowhegan, and assisted his father on the farm, teaching school during the winter terms in the towns of that vicinity. He was promi- nent in the state militia, and when the civil war broke out he was commissioned lieutenant- colonel of the Fifteenth Maine Regiment of Volunteers, December 19. 1861, and served with lis regiment at New Orleans under Gen- eral Benjamin F. Butler, and later under Gen- eral Nathaniel P. Banks, in the Red River Expedition. Ile was commissioned colonel in August, 1862. He served in the Shenandoah Valley campaign under General Sheridan, and was later detailed to take charge of the freed men at New Orleans. He was mustered out, after the close of the war, having served three years and nine months, September 9. 1865. In February, 1865, he was brevetted brigadier- general. When he entered the service he left his drug business, which he had established at Skowhegan, in the hands of his partner, George Cushing. Upon his return he resumed
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business in the partnership, and continued un- til 1880, when he sold out to his partner. Mr. Dyer then devoted his attention to farming and manufacturing brick on the homestead on Dyer Hill. In 1889 he sold the brick business. Ile was appointed postmaster February 1, 1900, and reappointed in 1905 and 1908, giv- ing both government and public perfect satis- faction in his administration of the office. Mr. Dyer is a Republican of steadfast loyalty and much influence. He was a member of the Skowhegan board of selectmen for six years ; town treasurer one year, and member of the school committee five years. He is a promi- nent member of the Methodist Episcopal church and chairman of its board of trustees. He is a member of Skowhegan Lodge of Free Masons: of Somerset Chapter. Royal Arch Masons : of De Molay Commandery, Knights Templar, of which he is past commander. He is a member of Somerset Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, of Russell Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he was the first com- mander, also the Loval Legion.
He married, June 29, 1851, Lydia F. Emery, born April, 1828, died December 22, 1904. daughter of Levi Emery. Child, born at Skowhegan : Albert F., September 17, 1856, educated in the public schools, engaged in the dry-goods business in Skowhegan. Married Maria Emily Swain, by whom one child, Edith, born September 10, 1883, married Benjamin T. Stewart, December 2, 1903.
(VI) Joseph, son of Asa Dyer, married Dorcas -, and had children, one of whom was named Frederick.
(VII) Frederick, son of Joseph and Dor- cas Dver, was born in Hollis. Maine. Decem- ber 22, 1805, and died in Old Town, Maine. He married Sarah K., daughter of John and Esther ( Moulton) Darrah ; three sons : Will- iam H., Daniel and Albert.
(VIII) William H., son of Frederick and Sarah K. (Darrahı) Dyer. was born in Old Town. Maine. June 9, 1846. and became a mechanic, millwright, a superior workman, who began his business life making tools and implements used by lumbermen. Later on he took up general millwright work, and followed that trade for nearly a quarter-century. He is now and for several years past has been connected with the mechanical work of pulp and paper-mills. He is a Mason, member of Whitney Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Canton, Maine, and in politics is a Demo- crat. He married Catherine Noonan, born at St. George. New Brunswick, June 30, 1846,
died February 8, 1896, having borne her hus- band one child, Frederick R. Dyer.
(IX) Frederick Rainey, only child of Will- iam H. and Catherine ( Noonan ) Dyer, was born in Old Town, Maine, October 3. 1873. and received his carlier education in the Can- ton public schools, and in Ilebron Academy, graduating from the latter in 1894. He then entered Colby College, remained there his freshman year, and in 1895 took up the study of law with O. H. Hersey, of Buckfield. In 1897 he passed the required examination, and in the same year was admitted to practice in the courts of this state. In 1899 Mr. Dyer began general practice in Buckfield, and al- though comparatively young in the profession, he nevertheless has won his way to an en- viable standing at the bar in his town and county. He is a Republican in politics, and in 1907 represented Buckfield in the lower house of the state legislature. He has given effi- cient service as a member of the school board, and also in the performance of the more diffi- cult duties of the office of superintendent of schools, which he filled for three years. He is a member of Evening Star Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Buckfield, and Turner Chapter, No. 41, Royal Arch Masons. On October 27, 1900, Mr. Dyer married Lena H., daughter of Edwin and Lola ( Record) Max- im, of Buckfield.
FASSETT In very early New England records this name is given as Fassell and Fassett. The first settler of this cognomen in America was John Fassell, who was made freeman in Dedham in 1654. Nathaniel was of Concord in 1666. and Patrick was in Malden, where he had a son born in October, 1672, and removed to Biller- ica. where he was an accepted inhabitant June 2, 1679. John Fassett, son of Patrick. clerk and deacon of the Separatist Church, in Hard- wick, which was practically the nucleus of the settlement in Bennington, Vermont, in 1761. was a leading man in that company of wise and brave pioneers who resisted the encroach- ments of New York and laid the foundations of Vermont, making the names of "Green Mountain Boys" famous. Patrick Fassett and his wife, Sarah, came from Rock Fassett Castle, Ireland, and settled in Lexington, Mas- sachusetts. There is a tradition that the an- cestors of the family were refugees who fled from Scotland to escape religious persecution, and that the name Fassett was assumed to con- ceal their identity, the original family name
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being MacPherson. Some branches of the family spell the name Fawcett, or Fossett.
( I) Francis Henry Fassett, son of John and Betsey (Turner) Fassett, was born in Bath, Maine, June 25, 1823. He was a descendant of one Richard Fassett. Family tradition states that Richard Fassett came to this coun- try as a cabin-boy on the flagship of the Eng- lish fleet which came to this country at the time of the French and English war of 1756. He deserted from the army and settled soon after at North Yarmouth, Maine. He is also recorded as having served in the revolutionary army 1775 and 1777. In the "Genealogy of the Montague Family" we find the following : Fassett-Fawcett is probably from Forcett, a township in the Wapentake of Gillingwest, North Riding of Yorkshire, England. The family were early settled in Lincolnshire, where their coat-of-arms is recorded. The family of Fawcett is of antiquity in County Durham, England. The family of Godfrey Faucet is of great antiquity in County Kent, from the time of the conquest.
Francis Henry Fassett, when seven years of age, began to attend Master Joshua Page's school, in the old Erudition schoolhouse, and continued at intervals until he was fourteen, and then became a clerk in a general store. After four years' service there he was indentured to Isaac D. Cole, then a leading carpenter and builder, to learn the carpenter's trade. He remained with his master until he arrived at his majority, and then began business for him- self. He had a natural aptitude for this busi- ness and from the first drew his own plans. He took such contracts as he could get in Bath for twenty years, and had then outgrown his environment ; seeking a larger field, he settled in Portland in 1864. While in Bath he was always with the progressive element and connected with those enterprises which were intended to benefit the town. He traveled much in the prosecution of his business, and obtained many valuable ideas of construction and architecture in various large cities. Among the organizations with which he was connected in Bath were the fire department and the band. In the two years following his removal to Portland he had become well acquainted with the people of the city, had done considerable work in the line of construction, and estab- lished a reputation for ability and reliability as a builder second to none. So when the great fire of 1866 swept away most of the business part of the city, he was well prepared to ob- tain as many contracts as he could fill; and from that time was one of the leading carpen-
ter contractors of Maine. He has put up build- ings in every part of the state, among the principal of which are the Maine General Hos- pital, the Alms House, the Second Parish Church, the City Hall, which was destroyed in 1866, and Keith Theater, one of the com- pletest edifices of the kind in the country- all in Portland. Mr. Fassett was an old line Whig in his youth, and cast his first vote for Henry Clay. When the Whig party disrupted he joined the Republican party, and has ever since been a supporter of its principles. Mr. Fassett has voted at every presidential elec- tion but one since 1844. Francis H. Fassett and Mima Ann Welch were married in Bath, Maine. She was the daughter of Ezekiel and Temperence Welch; was born July 12, 1825, died December 9, 1857. The children by this marriage were: Edward, William, Walter and Annie. Edward receives extended mention be- low. William graduated from Bowdoin Col- lege, practiced law, and died in Denver, Colo- rado: Walter resided in Kansas City, Mis- souri, where he died, leaving one child, Arthur F .: Annie died young. Mr. Fassett married (second) Harriet Hudson, daughter of John B. Hudson, of Bath, Maine. Three children were born of this union: Frederick G., Mima and Harriet. Frederick G. married Cora Jordan and has three children ; Mima and Har- riet are single.
( II) Edward, eldest child of Francis H. and Mima Ann (Welch) Fassett, was born in Bath, April 13, 1848. He was educated in the public schools and Eastman's Portland Business College, and at the age of seventeen years went to Syracuse, New York, to learn the machinist trade. A year later he returned to Portland, to assist his father in the rush of business incident to rebuilding after the great fire. Illness of Mrs. Fassett necessitated a change of residence for her, and the years between 1876 and 1891 were spent by Mr. and Mrs. Fassett in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Denver, Colorado, and Kansas City, Missouri, where he was engaged in the practice of ar- chitecture. In 1891 Mr. Fassett returned to Portland and joined his father in business, and the two have since been associated, the younger man taking upon himself the greater part of the hard work in the last few years. Mr. Fas- sett is a Republican in politics and an Episco- palian in religious faith. While in the west he became an Odd Fellow and a Free Mason, and is now a member of those bodies. Edward Fassett married ( first) in New York City, Armenia Angevine, born in New York City, June 1, 1848, died in La Crosse, Wisconsin,
Adam P Leighton
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October 27, 1876, daughter of and (Gibson) Angevine. They had two children : Mamie Angevine, who died at six- teen years of age, and Grace Burnham, who married E. C. Higbee, of La Crosse, Wiscon- sin. He married ( second) Lucia K. Gile, born in Franklin, New Hampshire, daughter of Alfred and Lucinda Gile. Of this marriage six children have been born, as follows: Fran- cis H. G., Wallace Flagg, Willard Welch (died young), Malcolm Edward, Alice Mary and Harold Stedman.
Adam Leighton, son of LEIGHTON Peter and Rachel ( Wins- low) Leighton, was born December 30, 1811, died March 5, 1866. He owned a farm in West Falmouth, which he cultivated until 1861, when he removed to Portland and opened a grocery-store in a build- ing on the site of the present auditorium. After carrying on this business four years, he died. He was a man of excellent character, had a wide circle of friends, and was much respected. He possessed moral courage in a high degree, and lived up to what his con- science accepted as right. For a time he was with a single exception the only Republican in West Falmouth, but he never concealed his political views, and lived to see many of his former political opponents follow him into the Republican party. He married in 1836, Julia Ann. born in North Falmouth, February 26, 1816, died December 21, 1898, daughter of Silas and Abigail (Roberts) Leighton. Chil- dren: I. Byron, married Mary Stone, and resides in Osage, Iowa. 2. Wendell, married Annie Holdsworth, and lives in Portland. 3. Wilbur, married Fannie Barber, and is a resi- dent of Portland. 4. Adam P., mentioned be- low. 5. Ambrose P., married Harriet Norton, and lives in Portland.
(II) Hon. Adam Philips, fourth son of Adam (I) and Julia Ann ( Leighton) Leigh- ton, was born in West Falmouth, April 6, 1851, and spent the first decade of his life on his father's farm and attended the country schools. He then went to Portland with his parents, and at fourteen years of age lost his father by death. He worked his way through school, attending Westbrook Seminary several terms, the last being in the fall of 1867. No- vember 19, 1867, he entered the employ of Chisholm Brothers, who were then carrying on a book-store on Congress street. He began at $5 a week, and in later years he once remarked to a business friend with whom he was talking over old days, he "was mighty glad to get the
job at that figure." A year later he was sent down to the Grand Trunk station, to take charge of the newsboys at the Chisholm rail- road office. His sphere of action increased until 1872, when he was made manager of the company, a position he now holds. The Chis- holms, with whose business Mr. Leighton has been so long connected and had a part in en- larging, started their book and news business on the Grand Trunk railroad. They now con- trol business on a dozen roads, and were pion- eers in introducing a great many of the best- selling publications. For years they furnished newsdealers and jobbers from the Atlantic to the Pacific with view-books. During the World's Fair, in Chicago, in 1893, the firm sold more than 400,000 of these lithographic books, representing buildings and scenes of the great fair. Later the half-tone photographs succeeded the lithographs, and then came the post-cards, in 1888. In the post-card business, as in the publication of book-views, the Chis- holm firm had the pioneer trade. In 1888 that firm published the first picture post-card. The Hugh C. Leighton Company, of which Mr. Leighton's son is president and manager, was founded in 1904. and is recognized as one of the largest and leading post-card manufac- turing houses in the United States, its weekly product being from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 cards. In 1898, in company with S. B. Adams, Mr. Leighton bought the plant of Curtis & Son Company, the pioneer manufacturers of chewing-gum of the world, which furnishes an output of three and one-half tons of gum every twenty-four hours. These two houses pay from thirty to forty per cent. of the entire customs duties collected on imports at the port of Portland. The combined duties paid by these two firms, gum and post-card manufac- turers, amount to from $40,000 to $50,000 a year. A few years ago Mr. Leighton was the controlling influence in the reorganization and retention of the Lakeside Press, one of the largest lithographic and printing houses in New England. Four Portland industries with which he is financially and officially connected distribute through their weekly pay-rolls an aggregate of fully $100,000 annually. Mr. Leighton's other business connections are as follows: Vice-president of the Chapman Na- tional Bank : vice-president of the Cumberland Loan and Building Association, and director of the Mercantile Trust Company. Mr. Leigh- ton's financial interests, his success in the man- agement of his own business and that of others, his high moral character and genial manner, attracted the attention of his fellow
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citizens, and for years he has been prominent in the public affairs of the city of Portland.
Raised by a father who was an Abolitionist and a Republican, Adam P. Leighton kept the faith of his father, and has always been a stalwart adherent to the teachings of Lincoln and the founders of the party. In the nineties his political career began. He was elected to the common council, representing ward seven for three successive years, 1891-92-93. At the expiration of his term in the council he was chosen by Mayor Baxter as the Republi- can member of the newly authorized street commission, a non-partisan body composed of one Republican, one Democrat, and the city engineer as chairman. In 1896 Mr. Leighton was elected alderman from ward seven, and again returned to that body in 1897. In his labors in the city government he was attentive to his duties and recognized as a power for wise action and good government. In the years between his retirement and 1907 he was busy with his many business interests, but not unmindful of the affairs of the city, keeping well informed of all that was going on in mu- nicipal affairs. In 1907 he was solicited to become the candidate of his party for mayor, and acceded to the desire of his friends in that matter. At the following election, December, 1907, he was elected by a handsome majority, and in the conduct of the city's affairs since his inauguration, December 9, 1907, he has made an enviable record. He is a member and has served as president of the Portland Club ; is a member of Atlantic Lodge, No. 81, Free and Accepted Masons ; Greenleaf Royal Arch Chapter, No. 13: Portland Council, No. 1, Royal and Select Masters ; and Portland Com- mandery, No. 2, Knights Templar. He is also a member of Bramhall Lodge, No. 3, Knights of Pythias, and is a charter member of the Pythian League. He worships at the State Street Congregational Church.
Adam P. Leighton married, in Portland, June 30, 1873, Isadore M., born August 9, 1852, daughter of Alonzo and Mary (Dodge) Butler, of Portland. Children : Nettie May, married, December 27, 1900, Dr. T. W. Luce, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire ; two children : Isadore and Emily. Carlton B., Hugh C. and Adam P. Jr.
The origin of the family and FLETCHER name of Fletcher are so re- mote that little, if any, is known of either. Different writers have claimed England, Normandy and Switzerland as the original home of the Fletchers. Prob-
ably families of this name originated in each of these lands. Lower, in his essay on "Eng- lish Surnames," says: "Fletcher is from the French flechier, that is, 'arrow-maker, or, more generally, a 'superintendent of archery. The occupation of fletcher, or arrow-maker, ex- isted in Britain long before it became a sur- name. The English word fletcher signifies "an arrow-maker," or "a maker of bowes and arrows." There is no doubt that this family is one of great antiquity, as is apparent as well from constant mention of its members in the early public records, as also from its ancient arms-sable, a cross flory between four scallop shells argent ; and. indeed, from these latter it would seem probable that one or more of its members took part in the crusades. The name in England is an honorable one. It is not emi- nent in politics, but in various ranks of society. No less than three Fletchers hold baronetcies, and others have high offices in the army and navy and in civil life. And nineteen of the gentry are Fletchers.
(I) Robert Fletcher, the immigrant, was born in England in 1592, but whether in York- shire, which tradition indicates, or Shropshire, which one circumstance indicates, or else- where. is not known. He came to America in 1630, and settled at Concord. Massachu- setts. He was then thirty-eight years of age, and had two sons, Luke and William, and it may be supposed a wife, and his daughter Cary. It was five years later that Concord was organized, and his name appears in the earliest records of the town. In the court files of Middlesex county his name frequently occurs as petitioner for bridges, as juryman, &c. He was a wealthy and influential man. and died in Concord, April 3. 1677, aged eighty-five. The only public office he is known to have held was that of constable, to which he was elected in 1637, and from which he was formally discharged in 1639, in the language of the record "not being found faulty." His children were: Luke, William, Cary, Samuel and Francis.
(II) William, second son of Robert Fletch- er, was born in England in 1622, came with his father to Concord, Massachusetts. when he was eight years old, and was admitted free- man May 10, 1643. In 1653 he settled in Chelmsford, of which he was one of the first inhabitants, and held the office of selectman. to which office "he was chosen November 22, 1654. This first publick meeting was holden at his house." This was the first framed house in Chelmsford. He had a great landed estate which has been divided and subdivided by in-
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heritance through several generations, and has mostly passed to owners of other names. The part where is now the center of Lowell de- scended to his great-grandson Andrew, who owned three hundred acres, and was sold out of the family soon after Andrew's death in 1792. One farm still remains in Middle Chelmsford. William Fletcher, who owned it in 1881, of the eighth generation from Robert, held it from consideration of family attach- ment. The name of William Fletcher ap- pears frequently on court files of Middlesex county. In 1665 as petitioner for a road ; the same year a bill of costs for his servant being put in the house of correction ; the same year a bill of costs for suit against William Shaw ; in 1663 as appraiser of an estate; in 1673 as commissioner of Chelmsford. The birth of his daughter Lydia, only found in the Concord records, is the first birth of a Fletcher that is recorded in America. He died November 6, 1677. He married, in Concord, October 7, 1645, Lydia Bates, who died October 12, 1704. Their children were: Lydia, Joshua, Paul, Sarah, William. Mary, Esther and Samuel.
(III) Joshua, second child of William and Lydia ( Bates) Fletcher, was born March 30, 1648, was admitted freeman March 11, 1689, and died November 21, 1713. He married (first ), May 4. 1668, Grissies Jewell, who died January 16, 1682. He married (second), July 18, 1682, Sarah Willy. The children of first wife were Joshua and Paul. The children of second wife were: Rachel, Timothy, John, Joseph, Sarah, Jonathan, Elizabeth and Jonas.
(IV) Captain Joseph. fourth child and third son of Joshua and Sarah (Willy) Fletcher, born at Chelmsford, June 10, 1689, died Oc- tober 4, 1772, aged eighty-three. He settled and lived in Westford, Massachusetts, where all his children were born. He married, No- vember 17, 1712, Sarah Adams, of Concord, Massachusetts, born in 1691, died April 24, 1761. They had ten children: Joseph, Ben- jamin, Timothy, Thomas, Sarah, Edith, Pela- tiah, Joshua, Ruth and Mary.
(V) Captain Pelatiah, seventh child and fifth son of Captain Joseph and Sarah (Adams) Fletcher, born May 3, 1727, died February 23, 1807, aged eighty. He was a man of ability, much respected and trusted by his fellow townsmen, well known for his de- votion to the patriot cause, and was sent as a delegate from Westford to a convention of town committees held in Dracut, November 26, 1776. He married (first), January 13, 1757, Dorothy Hildreth, daughter of James Hil- freth, born August 26, 1736, died June 17,
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