USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume II > Part 35
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1813; married, February 19, 1761, John Wal- cott. 6. Israel, July 22, 1744, married, De- cember 7, 1769, Elizabeth Southwick.
(V) Ebenezer, son of Thomas Gardner, was baptized in Salem, September 4, 1737, and was a potter by trade. After the death of his father he was placed, July 11, 1754, under the guardianship of his uncle, Jonathan Gardner. He resided in Roxbury for a time, and on April 16, 1763, sold his land to his brother, Thomas Gardner. He received a grant of land at Auk-paque, Cumberland county, Nova Scotia, from which the Acadians had been ex- pelled. He was a member of the committee of safety at the time of the revolution, and went to Boston to help on the campaign. Shortly afterward he was obliged to flee with his family, and went to Machiasport in 1776, suf- fering great exposure and danger. For his patriotic services he received a grant of a thousand acres of land in 1785, near Bangor, but preferred to remain at Machias, where he built a house below the Falls. He was also in active service in the revolution in Captain Stephen Smith's company, Colonel Benjamin Foster's regiment, in 1778-79: in Lieutenant John Scott's detachment, Sixth Lincoln County Regiment, in 1779, on duty at Penobscot. He married, in 1769, Damaris, baptized Septem- ber 4, 1747, died February 5, 1837, daughter of Nathan and Susanna Merrill, of Haverhill. He died November 21, 1832, aged ninety-seven years. Children, born in Cumberland county, Nova Scotia: 1. Susannah, October 15, 1770, died April 9, 1843; married (first) Aaron Sevey; ( second ) July 17, 1796, Marshall Thaxter. 2. Eunice, July 14, 1772, died un- married March 6, 1836. 3. Ilannah, May 3, 1774, died September 1, 1858; married, March 30, 1797, Daniel Foster. 4. Ebenezer, Jan- uary 31, 1776, mentioned below. Children born in Machias, Maine: 5. Samuel, July 13, 1781, died May 16, 1853 ; married ( first) Abi- gail Barry: (second) Jane F. Getchell ; (third ) Relief Wilson. 6. Thomas, October 10, 1783, died September 17, 1872; married, December 1, 1808, Sarah Barry. 7. John. July 16, 1785, died December 8, 1846 ; married (first) March 19, 1812, Susan Barry : ( second) February 14, 1830, Mary Palmer ; . (third) 1836, Lavinia Foster. 8. William, October 21, 1789, died October 9, 1883: married, October 9, 1817, Lydia Albee, 9. Nathan, September 24, 1793, died March 14, 1795.
(VI) Ebenezer (2), son of Ebenezer (I) Gardner, was born in Cumberland county, Nova Scotia, January 31, 1776, died February 5, 1859. He was a farmer and lived at Had-
ley's Lake, in Maine. He married, June 21, 1803, Sally, born at Scarborough, Maine, No- vember 12, 1783, died August 25, 1875, daugh- ter of William and Ellen (Dillway ) Albee. Her father was in the revolution, serving as lieutenant from May 1, 1777, to May 1, 1781, in Captain John Preble's artillery company, at Machias, Maine. Children : 1. Susannah, born April 30, 1804. died December 25, 1886; mar- ried, September 13, 1823, Cyrus Sanborn; children : i. Hannah Sanborn, born January 26, 1825, died January 26, 1854, married, Oc- tober II, 1846, Frederick Talbot, a lumber merchant in New York; ii. Mary Crocker San- born, born April 13. 1827, married, April 30, 1854, Charles Talbot, brother of Frederick ; iii. Cyrus Sanborn, born August 12, 1829, died April 4. 1847; iv. Susan Lowell Sanborn, born August 3, 1832, died September 8, 1832; v. Sarah Albee Sanborn, born September 17, 1833, died June 21, 1891, married, October 7, 1854, John K. Ames ; vi. Susan Gardner San- born, born May 29, 1836, died September 3. 1865, married, May 17, 1856, Frederick Tal- bot : vii. Thomas Mayhew Sanborn born De- cember 31. 1838, married, November 28, 1865, Helen Chase; viii. Caroline Lowell Sanborn, born August 31, 1841; ix. Frank Sanborn, born December 5, 1843, married, December 5. 1885, Elizabeth Brown. 2. Thomas J., born December 31, 1805, died June 10, 1833. 3. James A., born December 26, 1807, married, December 27, 1832, Almira Kilton, who died November 5. 1844; married (second) Mary Bowman ; children : i. Almira, born December 1, 1833, married Charles Morris, of Philadel- phia; ii. James T., born May 29, 1836, died September 20, 1875. married Mary E. Gard- ner ; iii. Augusta, born August 14, 1838, mar- ried Stillman Coffin, of Jonesport : iv. Emma, born December 20, 1840, died May 10, 1842 : v. Emma, born October 23, 1844, died Septem- ber 13, 1852; vi. Antoinette L., born February 23, 1846, died October 13, 1865 ; vii. Isaac E .. born May 25, 1848, married, September 12, 1874, Eliza Wilbur; viii. Sophia K., born Jan- uary II. 1861, died October 29, 1865: ix. Clarence T., born September 10, 1855, mar- ried, March 26, 1879, Emma L. Barnard; x. Herbert, born July 28, 1861, died October 2, 1865. 4. Ebenezer, born 1810, died at Mil- ford, Massachusetts, October 10, 1889; mar- ried, October 26, 1833, Hannah C. Wilder, born June 21, 1806, died August, 1877; re- sided at Dennysville ; children: i. Deborah Reynolds, born March 30, 1835, died January, 1895. married, October 31, 1856, Benjamin Lincoln ; ii. James Frederick, born July 9,
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1837. married ( first ) Maria E. Lincoln, 1859, (second) June 6. 1864, Mary E. Cooper, and served in the civil war ; iii. Lyman Kent, born November 4, 1840, married, June 4. 1863, Mary K. Hobart; iv. Sarah Albee, born De- cember 7, 1841, married Thomas Crocker Eastman; v. Emma Albee (adopted), born April 16, 1852, married Albert C. McLaughlin. 5. Thaxter, born February 19, 1812, died Sep- tember 26, 1887; married, June 21, 1835, Jo- anna West, born December 16, 1819, died De- cember 5, 1886; had an adopted child, Emma Albee, who died September 13, 1852, aged ten years. 6. Lucinda, born April 15, 1814, died July 29, 1892; married (first) August 31, 1835, Samuel Starrett; (second) Stephen H. West, born September 18, 1811, died October 12, 1891. 7. Lydia, born February 14, 1816, died July 3, 1818. 8. Henry A., born April 24, 1818, married, November 1, 1841, Sarah G. Brown, born February 15, 1820; children: i. Henry Erastus, born August 10, 1842, died in prison at Richmond in the civil war, June 3, 1862: ii. Mary J., born December 29, 1843, married, November 15, 1873. Frank F. Albee ; iii. Lucinda S., born March 15, 1846, died March 15, 1849; iv. Eben, born May 28, 1848, died November 15. 1881; v. Abby R., born August 25, 1851, died August 14, 1865; vi. Edwin R., born November 29, 1853, died Au- gust 31. 1865; vii. Susan S., born February 24, 1856; viii. Lizzie A., born March 7, 1859, died March 23, 1895, married, November 25, 1879, Oliver H. Seavey; ix. Clara E., born May 17, 1864, married, April 10, 1895, Isaiah C. Huntley. 9. Aaron L. Raymond, born Jan- uary 19, 1822, mentioned below. 10. Cyrus S., born June 16, 1824, married, May 16, 1857, Abbie S. Harmon: children: i. Andrew F., born February 22. 1859: ii. Elma H., born October 4, 1864 : iii. Arthur E., born Febru- ary 24. 1869; iv. Harry Morris, born Decem- ber 26, 1871. TI. Julia R., born October 18, 1826, married, December 9, 1844, Thomas M. Gardner: children: i. Edward P., born Feb- ruary 13, 1846, married, March 1, 1873, Leo A. Munson; ii. Emily T .. born March 24, 1848, married, January 20, 1872, Elbert E. Wiswell ; iii. Susan S., born January II, 1850, died June 5. 1855: iv. Sarah Edna, born July 5, 1852, died October 17, 1869; v. Aurelia R., born December 15. 1854; vi. Susan T .. born May 1, 1857, died April 17, 1868: vii. Harlan P., born August 5. 1859, married, December 22, 1883, Lizzie A. Whittier; viii. Florence, born June 1, 1862, died May 2, 1892, married, December 29, 1888, Charles McReavey; ix. Walter S., born February 3. 1865, married,
October 8, 1889, Emma K. Smalley. 12. Ed- win R., born November 6, 1828, died October 30, 1853; married, March 28, 1853, Helen A. Cotton.
(VII) Aaron L. Raymond, son of Ebenezer (2) Gardner, was born January 19, 1822, at East Machias, Maine, and died at Dennysville, April 23, 1891. He was educated in the public schools of his native town. He worked on his father's farm until he was fifteen years of age, then lived with an older brother, in whose shop he learned the trade of blacksmith. He followed his trade until 1865, when he opened a general store. He also conducted a farm and a blacksmith-shop at Dennysville until his death, April 23, 1891. He was a prominent merchant and influential citizen of Dennys- ville. He married, September 5, 1848, Abbie Wilder, born February 21, 1830, at Dennys- ville, daughter of Captain Bela R. Reynolds. (See Reynolds family.) Children, born at Dennysville : 1. Julia Raymond, born May 31, 1850, died February II, 1851. 2. Hon. George Reynolds, January 14, 1852, mentioned be- low. 3. Edwin Raymond, June 11, 1854, mar- ried, September 20, 1877, Ada Sargent Al- len : he is a prominent citizen of Dennysville, holding the office of town treasurer and other places of trust and honor ; was formerly super- intendent of the Sunday-school of the Congre- gational church, and is now treasurer of that church. 4. Charles Otis, September 2, 1856, married, December 26, 1882, Sophia Alice Corthell ; he has been for many years a promi- nent merchant in the city of Eastport, and jun- ior partner of the firm of Corthell & Gardner ; member of the board of trade and prominent in Masonic circles ; an officer in Saint Bernard Commandery, Knights Templar. 5. Eva May, March 28. 1858. 6. Frederick Lee, April 3, 1862, married, January 15, 1888, Mary Stod- dard Philbrook; he is a member of the board of health and of the school committee of Den- nysville, a merchant of that town.
(VIII) George Reynolds, son of Aaron L. Raymond Gardner, was born at Dennysville, January 14, 1852. He attended the public schools in his native town and graduated from the high school. He went to San Francisco, California, and was a student in Woodbury College, where he began to study law. Re- turning to Maine, he continued the study of his profession at Calais, and two years later, in 1880, was admitted to the bar. He began immediately to practice in Calais, and in 1881 formed a partnership with the late Hon. Enoch B. Harvey. This firm took a foremost posi- tion at the bar of the county, and in a few
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vears ranked among the most successful and best known in that section of the state. In 1888 Mr. Gardner was elected judge of courts probate and insolvency for Washington county, Maine, for four years, and has been reelected from time to time, as his term expired. He has always taken an active part in public affairs. He is a Republican. He has been a member of the school committee for many years, and is also a member of the board of trustees of old Washington Academy, of East Machias. He has been interested in business, is one of the owners of the Dennysville Lum- ber Company, trustee of the Calais Savings Bank, and director and one of the corporators of International Trust and Banking Company, of Calais. He is a member of Saint Croix Lodge of Free Masons; of the Saint Croix Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; also St. Croix Council, R. and S. M .; of Hugh de Payen Commandery, Knights Templar, of Calais ; of the Delta Lodge of Perfection, No. 14. Princes of Jerusalem; Rose Croix Chap- ter : Portland Valley Consistory, thirty-second degree, S. P. R. S .; and Kora Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Lewiston, Maine. He is also a member of Fellowship Lodge of Odd Fel- lows ; past vice-chancellor of the Calais Lodge, Knights of Pythias, No 45. He is a member of Etchimin Tribe, I. O. R. M., of Calais; member of the St. Croix Club, and a member of the Sons of the American Revolution of Maine. He married, January 25, 1888, Annie E., of Calais, Maine, daughter of James and Mary (Parkman) Robbins, granddaughter of Ebenezer and Sarah (Albee) Robbins. Sarah Albee was the daughter of a revolutionary soldier : Ebenezer Robbins was born in 1776.
Judge Gardner numbers among his immi- grant ancestors, besides those mentioned, Thomas Lincoln and Matthew Cushing, who settled in Hingham, Massachusetts, among the earliest pioneers ; also John Waters Jr., father of Eunice (Waters), wife of Thomas Gardner (4), born November 27. 1640, son of John Waters Sr., and grandson of Richard Waters. James and Phebe (Manning) Waters were parents of Richard; Phebe Manning was daughter of George Manning, of Kent, Eng- land. ancestor of Cardinal Manning, and one of the Manning ancestors married a sister of the poet. Geoffrey Chaucer.
(I) Robert Reynolds, immi- REYNOLDS grant ancestor of this fam- ily, was born in England. He is known to have been in Boston as early as 1632. He was a shoemaker by trade. He
was admitted to the church at Boston, Au- gust 10, 1634, and a freeman September 3, 1634. He removed to Watertown from Bos- ton, and was dismissed to the church at Wethersfield, Connecticut, March 29, 1636, but returned to Boston later, and died there April 27, 1659. He sold land at Muddy River. now Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1645 and 1653. His wife, Mary, was admitted to the church October 4, 1645, and died January 18, 1663. His will was proved July 27, 1659, be- queathing to wife, Mary, son, Nathaniel ; daughter, Ruth Whitney, and her eldest son ; daughter, Tabitha Abdy, and her son, Mat- thew : daughter, Sarah Mason, and her son, Nathaniel. (See New Eng. Reg. IX, p. 138.) Children : 1. Nathaniel, mentioned below. 2. Ruth, married John Whitney. 3. Tabitha, married Matthew Abdy. 4. Sarah, married
Mason. 5. Mary, married Sawyer.
(II) Captain Nathaniel, son of Robert Reynolds, was born in England. He lived in Boston, and was a lieutenant and later captain of the artillery company (the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company), and was in King Philip's war, at Chelmsford, February, 1676. He was admitted a freeman in 1665. He was also a shoemaker. In 1680 he re- moved to Bristol, Rhode Island, where he died, July 10, 1708. He was one of the lead- ing men. He married (first) November 30, 1657. Sarah, daughter of John Dwight. She died July 8, 1663. He married (second) Pris- cilla, daughter of Peter Brockett, who was a trader of Boston. Children of first wife, born in Boston: I. Sarah, July 26, 1659, married John Fosdick. 2. Mary, November 20, 1660, died January 28, 1663. 3. Nathaniel, March 3. 1662-63. Children of second wife, born in Boston and Bristol : 4. John, August 4, 1668, died January 30, 1757, in his eighty-ninth vear. 5. Peter, January 26, 1670. 6. Philip, September 15, 1672. 7. Joseph, January 9, 1677, died January 16, 1759. 8. Hannah, January 15, 1682, married Samuel Royall. 9. Mary, 1684, married Nathaniel Woodbury. IO. Benjamin, May 10, 1686, mentioned below. II. Ruth, December 9, 1688, married Josiah Cary.
(III) Benjamin, son of Captain Nathaniel Reynolds, was born in Bristol, May 10, 1686, died August 4, 1770. He lived at Bristol. He married Susanna, daughter of Rev. Grindall Rawson, of Mendon, in 1709. Children, born at Bristol : 1. Priscilla, April 13, 1711, mar- ried Edward Rawson. 2. Ann (twin), July 12, 1715, died unmarried. 3. Mary (twin),
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July 12, 1715, died young. 4. Mary, Novem- ber 20, 1716. 5. John, April 1, 1718. 6. Ben- jamin. November 15, 1722, mentioned below. 7. Grindall, July 11, 1726, settled in Putney, Vermont. 8. Sarah, married Seth Chapin.
(IV) Benjamin (2), son of Benjamin (I) Reynolds, was born in Bristol, Rhode Island, November 15, 1722. He moved to Chignecto, Nova Scotia. When the revolution broke out, he sided with the colonies and against the majority of the Nova Scotia province, and returned to New England in 1776, entering the revolutionary army and having a romantic record therein. At the close of the war he was granted land in Marietta, Ohio, for his services, but never claimed his land. Instead of moving westward, he settled in the wilder- ness at what is now Lubec, Maine. He mar- ried (first) Lydia Raymond, and (second), at Marblehead, Massachusetts, He was drowned at sea. Among his children was Jonathan, mentioned below.
(\') Jonathan, son of Benjamin (2) Reyn- olds, was born at Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia, and died in Pembroke, Maine, in 1866. He settled in Pembroke. He married Persis, daughter of Captain Theophilus Wilder, of Hingham, Massachusetts. Among his chil- dren was Captain Bela R., mentioned below.
(VI) Captain Bela R., son of Jonathan Reynolds, was born in Pembroke, September 15, 1797. died May 10, 1853. He was a sea captain, and later in life was associated in business at Dennysville. He married his cousin, Deborah, daughter of Ebenezer C. and Abigail (Ayer) Wilder, granddaughter of Captain Theophilus Wilder. Captain Wilder, who was a soldier in the revolution and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis, Octo- ber 19, 1781, was born May 15, 1740, and married Lydia Cushing. Theophilus and Mary ( Hersey) Wilder, married May 25. 1732, were the parents of Captain Theophilus Wilder. Jabez Wilder, father of Theophilus Wilder Sr .. was born in 1671, married, 1692, Mary Ford, born May 16, 1671. Edward Wilder, immigrant, was father of Jabez: came in the ship "Confidence," and settled at Hingham, Massachusetts ; married Elizabeth Amnes, and died October 15, 1690. Thomas Wilder, father of Edward, immigrant, died in England in 1634, son of John and Alice ( Keats) Wilder, and grandson of Thomas Keats. Nicholas Wilder, ancestor of John, was a military com- mander in the army of the Earl of Richmond at the battle of Bosworth. August 22, 1485, when he won the approval of Henry VIII, who gave him a grant of land and a coat-of-arms.
Child of Bela R. and Deborah ( Wilder) Reyn- olds : Abbie Wilder, born February 21, 1830, married A. L. Raymond Gardner. ( See Gard- ner family.)
This name, which also ap-
GARDNER pears in the early records of Massachusetts as Garner and Garnett, was borne by a large number of seventeenth century settlers, who were among the ambitious and energetic citizens who went into the wilderness and settled and laid the foundations of prosperity and wealth enjoyed by later generations.
(1) John Gardner settled in Hingham, Massachusetts, about 1650, and in 1656 had land granted to him in the south part of the town. Whether he was a relative of the early Garners, or Gardners, of Boston, is uncer- tain, as but little information has come down to us relating to his early history. He died November 24, 1668. The inventory of his estate was made by John Tower and John Ripley, April 28, 1669, the appraisement listing £44, IIs., and including "the Goats that have been sold to pay debts and maintain the fam- ily." The widow was administratrix. The Christian name of his wife, whom he married at Boston, April 10, 1651, was Mary. She survived him, and married ( second), June 18. 1669, Nathan Chubbuck. The children of John and Mary were: John, Francis, Mary, Sam- uel, Deborah, James, Stephen, Thomas, Ben- jamin and Christian.
(II) John (2), eldest child of John ( 1) and Mary Gardner, was born in Hingham, July 17, 1652, died December 16, 1700. He re- sided on "Liberty Plain," in South Hingham. He married, February 25, 1683, Mary, daugh- ter of Samuel and Mary ( Farron) Stowell. She was baptized in Hingham, October 16, 1653, and died October 22, 1714. Their chil- dren, all born in Hingham, were: John, Mary, Ruth, Elizabeth, Hannah and Remember.
(III) John (3), eldest son of Jolin (2) and Mary (Stowell) Gardner, was born in Hing- ham, January 4, 1674, died April 20, 1742. Like his father, he resided on "Liberty Plain," South Hingham. His wife was Rebecca. She survived him and married (second), Novem- ber II, 1747. Samuel Whiton, widower. The children of John and Rebecca were: Rebecca, Susanna, Mary, John, Rachel, Amos, Alice, Grace and Mercy.
(IV) John (4), eldest son of John (3) and Rebecca Gardner, was born in Hingham, Feb- ruary 5, 1720, died April 19, 1802. He re- sided at "Liberty Plain," the ancestral neigh-
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borhood, and is described as "laborer." He married, December 8, 1742, Joanna, daughter of Jonathan and Joanna ( Whiton) Farrow. She was baptized in Hingham, June 19, 1720. Their children, all born in Hingham, were: Joanna, Submit, Remember, Rebecca, John, Luther, Elijah and Jonathan.
(V) Jonathan, youngest child of John (4) and Joanna ( Farrow) Gardner, was born in Hingham, Massachusetts, January 29, 1764, died in Buckfield, Maine, April 2, 1836. He served in the revolution and was paid in con- tinental currency, of which it took from fifty to seventy-five dollars to pay for his breakfast after leaving the army. Years afterward he made application for a pension for his services in the war, which sets forth so clearly and fully his service that it is copied into this ar- ticle. It is as follows :
"I, Jonathan Gardner, of Buckfield, in the County of Oxford and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, yeoman, on oath declare that I served in the War of the Revolution on the Continental establishment and in Massachu- setts line. for the several terms of six months and twelve months, besides other periods of service. That I enlisted into said service at the town of Hingham, now in the county of Plymouth and said Commonwealth, in the year seventeen hundred and seventy-seven, into a company commanded by Captain Seth Stew- ard, belonging to Coln. Robinson's Regiment of the Massachusetts Line, for the term of six or seven months, but which I do not precisely remember. That I marched immediately to Rhode Island with said company, and did duty there in said company, being engaged in Spence's expedition, so called. during the whole of my said term, at the close of which I was dismissed, it being on the first day of January, Seventeen hundred and seventy-eight. After the above having served another term of three months, I again enlisted into said service some time in the month of April, in the year seventeen hundred and seventy-eight, at said Hingham, into a company commanded by Cap- tain Morse ( who took command of said com- pany at Providence), of the Regiment com- manded by Col. Wade and of the same line, and was engaged in said service at Providence and Fells Point, at which latter place we were stationed till July, and was afterwards en- gaged in Sullivan's expedition, so called, on Rhode Island, and at the close of My said term was dismissed at East Greenwich, in said Rhode Island, having served said period of twelve months completely through. I fur- ther declare that I am a resident citizen of the
United States of America, that I am not borne on any pension list of said United States, and that by reason of my reduced circumstances in life I am in need of assistance from my Coun- try for support. And I further declare that I enlisted in said service at Hingham, I think in the month of July, in the year seventeen hundred and seventy-six, into the company commanded by Captain Penniman, of Col. France's Regiment, for the term of four months, and went to Dorchester, near Boston, immediately, when I did duty in said company during said term of four months and then again enlisted into the same company for an- other term of four months, and continued on to do duty therein to the end of said last named four months at said Dorchester. after which I did duty in the same company one month more in Boston and was dismissed.
"Jonathan Gardner."
He removed soon after his marriage to the Province of Maine, settling in a township afterwards incorporated, by the name of Buckfield, so called because of the many of its original settlers who bore the name of Buck. He married, November 26, 1789, Sarah, daughter of Stephen and Huldah ( Chubbuck) Gardner, of Hingham. She was born August 26, 1767, and died February 29, 1847. (See Gardner V.) Their children were: Jonathan, Ansel, Sarah, Ira. Joanna, Rebecca, Huldah, Jane, Eunice, Eliza and John.
(VI) John (5), youngest child of Jonathan and Sarah (Gardner) Gardner, was born in Buckfield, Maine, December 14, 1812, and died in Patten, August 15, 1902. He left home in the spring following his nineteenth birthday. During the first and second seasons he worked on the Oxford and Cumberland canal. In the fall of 1837 he commenced business in com- pany with a young man about his own age, at North Paris. This partnership was dissolved in a few months. Mr. Gardner continued there four years, and then ( 1841) removed to Patten, in Penobscot county, then little more than a wilderness, and began life as a trader in an old-time country store. From this mod- est beginning grew other and larger interests -farming, the building and operating of mills and factories, the activities and ambitions of politics, all came to keep the current of his life moving rapidly. and almost invariably in the same direction, toward success which he ul- timately achieved. Always an ardent Repub- lican, his keen and vigorous mind and his marked individuality might have won for him great political distinction, but his business was always his first care. His offices came to him
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STATE OF MAINE.
almost without solicitation. He was twice ap- pointed postmaster of Patten, was for eight years an active and efficient deputy sheriff, and held successively during his earlier years the office of selectman of the town, town clerk and town treasurer. To his strong in- terest in education and improvement is largely due the establishment of an academy in Pat- ten. He had been one of the trustees of this now flourishing and important institution since its incorporation in 1846, and had lived to see his grandson occupy the chair of prin- cipal in the fine new building which replaced the old academy. In 1846 he was a member of the house of representatives, and at that time contracted a warm friendship with the late Hannibal Hamlin, which remained un- broken until the death of the latter. He was also a member of the Maine senate at the time of Mr. Hamlin's election to the United States senatorship, and freely gave his influ- ence, his efforts and his vote to secure his election. There is no doubt that Mr. Hamlin appreciated and remembered this loyal friend- ship and unvarying support. He once ex- pressed to a friend the opinion that "Mr. Gardner was one of the best men he ever knew." In his continued services in the house and senate Mr. Gardner's vigorous intellect made its inevitable impression. He was largely instrumental in framing the first prohibitory temperance law in Maine, and a much-needed act for the making and repairing of highways in unincorporated towns. This act remains practically unchanged to-day, a lasting me- morial to the justice, good sense and shrewd- ness of Patten's earliest senator. He was a man of strong opinions, aggressive in action, a crusader against cruelty to the helpless and oppressed, public spirited in the best sense of the word, that of giving generously to every worthy enterprise which was brought to his notice. His private charities were bestowed lavishly, but without ostentation. His inde- pendence of thought led him to reject the austere and gloomy doctrines which were al- most universally accepted in the early part of the last century, and inclined him to accept the more hopeful creed of Universalism, then stirring feebly the current of religious thought. After the death of his wife he was tenderly cared for by his eldest daughter, Mrs. Ida Robinson, with whom he occupied the old homestead. which was the scene of all his domestic joys and sorrows. There is much to envy and admire in the vigorous old age which crowned the busy life of this man. Until the day of his death his still erect and active
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