USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume II > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106
(VII ) Dummer, son of Samuel and Sarah ( Bachelder-Titcomb) Sewall, was born at York, Maine, in 1737. At the age of nine- teen he enlisted in the provincial army, and served at the reduction of Louisburg, where he was appointed an ensign. On his return he was appointed lieutenant, and ordered to Canada, where he served in the army of Gen- eral Wolfe, and under General Amherst, until the conquest of the French possessions in North America, participating in the battle that ended in the taking of Quebec, in 1759. In 1760 he married in York, Maine, Mary, daughter of William Dunning-said to be "the handsomest girl in Old York"-and re- moved with her to that part of Georgetown afterward incorporated into the town of Bath, and here he resided until his death. When the young couple came to Bath, Colonel Sewall built a log house on the eastern side of what was afterward High street, opposite to the spot where he built later the larger and more commodious house which still stands.
As soon as hostilities were threatened with Great Britain, he was selected by the people of the district as one of the committee of safety, and associated with Brigadier-General Samuel Thompson, of Topsham, in the per- formance of the duties of that appointment. He was also a delegate to the provincial con- gress which assembled at Watertown, and by the council then administering the affairs of the state lie was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the regiment commanded by Colonel Sam- uel McCobb. With this regiment he marched to Cambridge and joined the continental army under George Washington. Colonel Sewall soon after was appointed muster-master of the district of Maine-the duties of which he performed during the remainder of the war. He was a magistrate of the county of Lin- coln, appointed by the first government estab- lished by the commonwealth, and continued as such by successive appointments until his death. He was also for many years a special justice of the court of common pleas for the county. Soon after the adoption of the con-
-
522
STATE OF MAINE.
stitution of Massachusetts, Colonel Sewall was elected a senator from Lincoln county. He was a member of the convention of 1788, called by the state to ratify the constitution of the United States, and was one of the committee of compromise appointed at the suggestion of General Hancock toward the close of the session, to consider and report such amend- ment as would make the proposed form of government more acceptable, and without which the constitution would not probably have been ratified by the convention. He was the first postmaster of Bath, serving from the establishment of a regular mail until 1806. Interested in education, he was one of the first overseers of Bowdoin College, and served as treasurer and trustee from 1799 to his resig- nation in 1806. A deeply and sincerely re- ligious man, he was a founder and one of the deacons of the "Old North Church," now represented by the Winter Street Congrega- tional Church. Over three hundred of his family letters, written during the last thirty- five years of his life, have been preserved, and give a vivid picture of his own spiritual nature and his keen interest in religious matters. Noted for his amiable temper, his generous heart, his decision of character, his sound judgment in all practical affairs, this good man died April 6, 1832, at the advanced age of ninety-four. The children of Colonel Dum- mer and Mary (Dunning) Sewall were : Dummer, Mary, Sarah. Lydia, Hannah, who died young, Joseph, Samuel, Hannah, Deborah and John.
(VIII) Joseph, son of Colonel Dummer Sewall, was born December 17, 1770, at Bathi. He was a carpenter and builder in his early life and afterwards engaged as an owner and builder in navigation. At Hunnewell's Point, Popham, where he lived for several years, he occupied what was known as the "White House," a conspicuous building always kept painted in the color indicated. He was a man of magisterial prominence, presiding at town meetings, and a ready speaker. In 1816 he removed to Farmington, Maine, where he spent the remainder of his life in farming, and where he died. He married (first) Lydia Marsh, of Bath, by whom he had two sons, General Joseph, adjutant-general of Maine, and William Dunning, mentioned below, and one daughter, Lydia, who married Dr. Ebe- nezer Wells, of Freeport. By his second mar- riage, to Hannah Shaw, of Hunnewell's Point, he had one son and three daughters: Hon. George Popham, who settled in Old Town, and was speaker of the Maine house of repre-
sentatives. Mary, who married John Ran- dolph Cony. Ellen, who married David Worces- ter, of Bangor. Mercy H., who married Governor Samuel Cony, of Augusta. His third wife was Katherine Shaw, sister of his second, and their three children were: Kath- erine, who died in childhood. Bradford, of Farmington. Arthur, of Dysart, Iowa.
(IX) William Dunning, son of Joseph and Lydia (Marsh) Sewall, was born November 27, 1795, at Bath. He became one of the earliest and most prominent of the ship- builders of Bath. He was also interested in the railroads of the state, and served as direc- tor of the Portland and Kennebec railroad. He represented his district in the state senate and was influential in political affairs. He married Rachel, daughter of William and granddaughter of Hon. David Trufant, of Bath. Their children were: Harriet Hyde, who married Abram S. Cutler, of Brookline, Massachusetts. Marcia Elizabeth, who mar- ried Joseph Ropes, of Salem, Massachusetts. William Dunning, who was killed by an acci- dental fall in his father's shipyard, and whose only child died in infancy. Edward, the well- known ship-builder of Bath. Arthur, men- tioned below. Rev. Frank Sewall, D. D., of Washington, D. C., and York, Maine. Alice Worcester, of Bath.
(X) Arthur, son of William D. and Ra- chel (Trufant) Sewall, was born November 25, 1835, at Bath. He received his education in the public schools of his native city. While still in his teens he was engaged in the pur- chase of ship timber at Prince Edward Island, and in 1854 formed a partnership with his older brother, Edward, under the firm name of E. & A. Sewall. The next year the two brothers launched their first ship, the "Holy- head," of over one thousand tons, a large ves- sel for those days. Every year afterwards, on an average, a ship generally of large tonnage for the era was built by this firm. On the death of the senior partner in 1879, the firm name was changed to Arthur Sewall & Com- pany, his nephew, Samuel S. Sewall, and his son, William D. Sewall, becoming partners. Its activity was not diminished with the change of name. In 1890 President Benjamin Har- rison walked along the keel of the "Rappa- hannock." of over three thousand tons burden, at her launching, the largest wooden ship afloat, and was reminded by his host that, in the presidency of the elder Harrison, his father had built another "Rappahannock," which was also the largest ship of her day, though only a little over one thousand tons
523
STATE OF MAINE.
burden. The record of the largest wooden ship remained with these builders for several years later. In 1893 Mr. Sewall went to England and Scotland, visited all the noted shipyards, studied the different lines of prog- ress in marine construction, and returned to Bath to equip his yard for the complete con- struction of steel sailing vessels. The first steel ship built there bore the appropriate name of "Dirigo." It was in his career as a builder of ships that Mr. Sewall took the greatest pride. To him the product of his shipyards was a matter of greatest interest and satisfaction. He watched every part of a vessel's construction, and there was no part of the work he was not capable of manually performing. His relations with his employees was always most cordial, most of them being fellow townsmen, and all possessed with the esprit de corps ever resulting from talented leadership. He took an equal pride in his work after a ship sailed out of the still waters of the Kennebec and began to make a record for herself upon the high seas. Almost all of the Sewall vessels were officered from the banks of the Kennebec, with a preference given to the boys of Bath. For many years there was no more promising field for a young man to adopt. The best blood of Maine has proudly walked the quarter-deck of Bath- built vessels, and it is hardly an exaggeration to say that at least every family on the river has contributed one son to the service of the merchant marine. The Sewall wooden ships have always borne a fine reputation, although, as being wooden ships, English discrimination in Lloyds operated somewhat to their detri- ment. They have not always been profitable investments, but Mr. Sewall continued stead- ily to add to his fleet long after others became discouraged by the poor returns. He never lost faith that ultimately the United States would regain its power and pre-eminence on the seas, and always favored the enactment of measures designed to enable it to do so, not regarding American ships in the light of an ordinary private industry seeking protection, but as a national industry, which national pride and patriotism should put into a position of profitably carrying the Stars and Stripes into all the ports of the world. He was an intense American. In the times of war noth- ing would induce him to disguise or prepare his ships against possible capture, and the Stars and Stripes and the flag of the Sewalls continued to fly from his vessels during the entire Civil War. One of his best, the "Vigi- lant." was captured by the Confederate gun-
boat "Sumter," when she was but fairly out upon the high seas.
Mr. Sewall would have gladly devoted all his time to the building of ships, but his abil- ity as a man of affairs caused him to be drafted into other lines of business activity. He was for nine years president of the Maine Central railroad, and a director and president of the Eastern railroad before it was merged in the Boston and Maine. He also served many years as president of the Bath National Bank. His executive capacity and his busi- ness judgment, rather than his wealth, caused him to be sought for many corporate positions. He always took a lively interest in the politi- cal affairs of his country. He was a Demo- crat from conviction, and in this conviction he never wavered. This, of course, closed to him all avenues of political advancement in Maine. The highest and only elective offices he held were those of councilman and alder- man in his native city. Within his party, he occupied a position of enviable influence. He was a delegate to the national conventions of 1872, 1880 and 1884. In 1888 and 1892 he was chosen a member of the national Demo- cratic committee, and served on the executive committee during each campaign. His democ- racy was virile and robust, but at times it seemed almost overshadowed by his intense Americanism. With regard to the tariff, he would have used it so far as it is necessary to raise revenue, as a weapon against other nations-a weapon of defense to our indus- tries, and of action to force from other nations a return for every concession we make to them. To this extent, he sympathized with the reciprocity measures of Secretary Blaine, and was a believer in discriminating duties in favor of American tonnage as advocated by Jefferson. He was an advocate of a vigorous foreign policy. He would deal with Canada so as to force her to realize her disadvantage as a British dependency. He favored the annexation of Hawaii, the maintenance of our influence in Samoa, the independence of Cuba. He was an ardent and outspoken champion of bimetalism. This firm and early avowal of what was among Mr. Sewall's associates a very unpopular doctrine brought him into national prominence, and in 1896, to the sur- prise of the country and himself, he was nominated by the Democratic party as a can- didate for vice-president. On accepting the nomination for the vice-presidency of the United States at Madison Square Gar- den, New York City, in August, 1906, he said :
524
STATE OF MAINE.
"The Democracy of the country realize that all the great principles of our party are as potent and essential to the well-being of the country to-day as they have always been, and as they ever would be, but the overshadowing issues before the country now, made dominant by the distressed condition prevailing through- out our land, is the demand for reform in our existing monetary system. Our party and, we believe, a great majority of the American people are convinced that the legislation of '73 demonetizing silver was a wrong inflicted upon our country which should and must be righted. We believe that the single gold standard has so narrowed the base or our inonetary structure that it is unstable and un- safe, and so dwarfed it, in its development and in its power to furnish the necessary financial blood to the nation, that commercial and industrial paralysis has followed. We be- lieve that we need, and must have, the broad gold and silver foundation to support a mone- tary system strong and stable, capable of meeting the demand of a growing country and an industrious, energetic and enterprising people, a system that will not be weakened and panic-stricken by every foreign draft upon us, a system that will maintain a parity of just values and the nation's money and protect us from the frequent fluctuations of to-day, so disastrous to every business and industry of the land. We demand the free coinage of silver, the opening of our mints to both money metals without discrimination, the return to the money of our fathers, the money of the Constitution, gold and silver. We be- lieve this is the remedy and the only remedy for the evil from which we are now suffering ; the evil that is now so fast devastating and impoverishing our land and people, bringing poverty to our homes and bankruptcy to our business, which, if allowed to continue, will grow until our very institutions are threat- ened. The demonetization of silver has thrown the whole primary money function on gold, appreciating its value and purchasing power. Restore the money function to silver, and silver will appreciate and its purchasing power increase. Take from gold its monoply, its value will be reduced, and in due course the parity of the two metals will again obtain under natural causes. We shall then have a broad and unlimited foundation for a mone- tary system, commensurate with our country's needs and future development, not the un- safe basis of to-day reduced by half by the removal of silver and continually undermined by foreigners carrying from us our gold."
After his defeat for the vice-presidency, Mr. Sewall continued actively in his business and traveled extensively. In 1896-97 he went over the route of the Panama canal, and then, although it was generally conceded that the proper route for an interoceanic canal was by the way of Nicaragua, with his character- ictic firmness he maintained that it should be by way of Panama-a position which has since been vindicated.
He died September 5, 1900, at Small Point, his summer home. Mr. Sewall was sincerely a religious man and a prominent member of the New Church ( Swedenborgian ) over which the Rev. Samuel F. Dike, D. D., was for half a century the pastor. To this venerable man, by whom he was both baptized and married, he bore a deep affection, and one of the many generous deeds unostentatiously done by him was the provision for a year of foreign travel for this scholarly clergyman after the close of his pastorate.
Mr. Sewall married Emma Duncan, daugh- ter of Charles and Rachel ( Sewall) Crooker, of Bath, who survives her husband. A woman of quiet and refined tastes, an artist with pen and camera, so well read in history and liter- ature that travel has meant more to her than to most, she has for years made her home a true center of culture and society. She is also a descendant of (V) John Sewall through his son Samuel, his grandson Henry, his great- grandson James, his great-great-grandson James, his great-great-granddaughter Rachel. Her three sons are Harold Marsh, mentioned below, William Dunning, mentioned below, and Dummer, who died in infancy.
(XI) Harold Marsh, son of Arthur and Emma D. (Crooker) Sewall, was born Janu- ary 3, 1860, at Bath. He graduated at Har- vard, receiving the degree of A. B. in 1882 and of LL. B. in 1885. He entered the consular service as a Democrat, being appointed vice- consul to Liverpool and consul-general at Samoa in 1887 by President Cleveland. Find- ing himself unable to agree with the latter's policy in the Pacific, he resigned his post and returned to this country. Under President Harrison he was attached to the commission which negotiated the Berlin treaty of 1889, for the joint-government of Samoa by the powers. He was reappointed consul-general at Samoa in 1889, and secured the site for the naval station at Pago-Pago. He was admitted to the Maine bar in 1892. He presided over the Republican state convention and was a delegate to the National Republican conven- tion of 1896. The same year he was chosen
525
STATE OF MAINE.
a member of the Maine legislature. In 1897 he was appointed United States minister to Hawaii, and the following year personally re- ceived the transfer of the sovereignty of the islands. He remained at Hawaii as a special agent of the United States until the organi- zation of the territory was completed, and served as its first member of the National Republican committee. Again taking up his residence in his native city, he was chosen a member of the Maine house of representatives for the years 1903-06, and of the Maine senate for 1907-08. His personal qualifications for the office made him a prominent candidate for nomination by the Republicans as a repre- sentative to congress from the second Maine district in 1908, and the selection of another candidate was due largely to considerations of place of residence and previous candidature. Mr. Sewall married, in San Francisco, Sep- tember. 1893, Camilla Loyall, daughter of Richard Porter and Caroline (Loyall) Ashe. Their children are Loyall Farragut, Arthur, Emma Kaiulani and Camilla Loyall Ashe.
(XI) William Dunning, son of Arthur and Emma D. (Crooker) Sewall, was born April : 14, 1861, at Bath. He graduated from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1882, re- ceiving the degree of B. S. He is the junior member of the firm of Arthur Sewall & Com- pany, ship-builders, Bath; president of the Bath Savings Institution, the Bath National Bank ; director of the Fidelity Trust Company, Portland, of the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad Company, and identified with other corporations. He married, June 9, 1886, Mary Locke Sumner, of Worcester, Massa- chusetts, and has children : Arthur, born July 21, 1887: Margaret, August 3, 1889: Dorothy Sumner, March 2, 1894; Sumner, June 17, 1897.
(VII) Joseph (1), son of Samuel Sewall, was born at York, Maine. He married his cousin, Mercy Sewall, daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Kelly) Sewall. Child, born at York: Joseph, mentioned below.
(VIII) Joseph (2), son of Joseph ( 1) Sew- all, born June 7, 1773, died December 18, 1859, aged eighty-six. He married Mrs. Abigail H. Gray. Children : I. Joseph, mentioned below. 2. Samuel, born January 24, 1813, died Octo- ber 6, 1850, aged thirty-seven. 3. Joanna, born January 29, 1814. 4. John, born Novem- ber 23, 1815. 5. David, born June 6, 1817, lived in York. 6. William H., born February 22, 1821. 7. Lydia, born December 26, 1822.
(IX) Joseph (3), son of Josephi ( 2) Sewall, was born in York, October 26, 1811. He mar-
ried Eliza Jane Frafton. He died April 23, 1892, aged eighty years, five months, twenty- five days. Children : 1. Joseph, born January 31, 1841, died May 12, 1852. 2. Mary Eliza, born September 25, 1843. died May 23, 1886. 3. Frank Ernest, born November 29, 1844. 4. John Henry, born March 24, 1846, died Au- gust 19, 1847. 5. Emily Ann, born July 15, 1848. 6. Noah Millard, born December 8, 1850, mentioned below.
(X) Noah Millard, son of Joseph (3) Sewall, was born in York, Maine, December S, 1850. He was educated there in the public schools and in Eliot Academy. He learned the trade of carpenter, and was for many years a builder in York, where he is now living, re- tired. He is a Republican in politics, a mem- ber of Riverside Lodge of Odd Fellows of Kittery, Maine, and a well-known and highly respected citizen. He married, October 24, 1877, Emma E. F. Guptill, born April 25, 1856, daughter of Dr. Calvin Haven Guptill, of Eliot, Maine. Children, born in York : I. Dr. Millard Freeman, born September 28, 1878, was graduated at Portsmouth high school, 1895; Dartmouth College, 1899; Jef- ferson Medical College, 1903; is a physician at Bridgton, New Jersey. 2. Grace Judson, born February 2, 1880, married Harry Albert Stacy, who was four years draughtsman in the American government service at Key West, now in Washington, D. C. 3. Arthur Eugene, mentioned below.
(XI) Arthur Eugene, son of Noah Millard Sewall, was born in York, March 14, '1882. He attended the public schools of his native town, graduating from the Portsmouth high school and Dartmouth College, where he re- ceived the degree of A. B. in 1904. He studied his profession in the Harvard Law School, graduating in 1907. He read law also in the office of Cleaver, Waterhouse & Emery, of Biddeford, and was admitted to the bar in 1907. He has been practising law in York since then. He is a Republican in politics and superintendent of schools in York, also one of the directors of York County National Bank. He is a member of Aspinquid Lodge of Free Masons, of York.
John Curtis ( 1) was born in 1800 CURTIS and died in Portland in 1869, aged sixty-nine years. For many years he followed the sea, while his family lived on a farm in Bradford, Maine. From there they moved to Bangor, where he and his son John began preparing gum for the market. In order to be ncarer the market they came
526
STATE OF MAINE.
to Portland, Maine, where Curtis & Son made a fortune in the industry they had started in a humble way. John Curtis was a hard- working man, and had a reputation of being perfectly honest. He died highly respected by all who knew him. He married Mary B. Bacon, by whom he had three children : John B., Charles H. and Mary E.
(II) John Bacon, son of John and Mary Brown ( Bacon) Curtis, born in Hampden, October 10, 1827, died in Portland, June 13, 1897. aged seventy years. He attended the common schools a short time in his boyhood. and then turned to making a living for himself and assisting his father and the other mem- bers of his family. He worked for a time on a farm for five dollars a month, later he re- ceived sixteen dollars, and at last twenty-four dollars a month. Many years afterward he said that the proudest day of his life was when he gave his mother the first money he received for his labor. He worked in the woods for a time as a swamper ; that is, he cleared away the underbrush, and blocked out the roads through the woods. There his attention be- came fixed upon the practicability of gathering and selling spruce gum as a business. After leaving the woods he talked with his father about the idea. Jolin Curtis was a cautious man, and he doubted if any one would want to buy gum for chewing or other purposes. The matter was finally decided when Mrs. Curtis said, "Try it." The family moved to Bangor, and there, over an old Franklin stove in the kitchen of the Curtis house, the first lot of gum was made. The first label was printed. The "State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum" it was called, and the firm of Curtis & Son sprang into existence. When a sufficient amount had been made to market, John B. Curtis took it to Portland. For two days he walked the streets and tried to find a buyer among the merchants, but found none. The third day found him still talking spruce gum, but to those who could not be made to see there was money in it. At last he found a man who bought hts merchandise, which at first he had hard work to sell, but which soon sold itself. The gum business up to 1848 did not afford employment enough for two, and John B. went on the road as a pedler, and sold Curtis' Spruce Gum, patent medicine, and so on, having for his motto, "Give a man all you can for his money, while making a fair profit yourself." The motto was strictly lived up to, and the business at home and on the road prospered greatly. He was very shrewd and very energetic, and drove the best team
ever attached to a pedler's wagon, with the single exception of the pair Colonel James Fisk owned when he was on the road. It was by driving the best team he could get that Mr. Curtis "got around" his opponents, for in those days the wholesale pedler was a great New England institution, and the most active man got the principal part of the patronage. "When the other fellows thought I was in bed," said Mr. Curtis once, when talking of his early days, "I was on the road. By driv- ing nights I got in ahead many times, and had the trade all to myself." He began this work in 1850, and in his travels with his cart covered all New England, and the first year he collected six thousand dollars in money. The time soon came, however, when, in the opinion of father and son, there was more money to be made in some other direction, that John B. could be of more use in a wider field, and that the West should be included in the territory their business should cover. So John B. Curtis changed from pedler to com- mercial traveler, and was perhaps the first of the drummers. It may be some one else will be found who was on the road before his time, but it is safe to say that he had a larger circuit than any drummer before-if any went before him-or since. He was one of the first, if not the first commercial traveler to go West as the representative of an Eastern business house. He went all over the West in advance of the railroads, opening up busi- ness. In those days journeys were made with some difficulty. For example, he went from Portland to Philadelphia by water, thence by canal to Pittsburg, from Pittsburg to St. Louis by the Ohio river, from St. Louis to St. Paul on the Mississippi, making the entire distance by water. He carried his stock with him, took orders, gave credit for one year, made money and many friends, and had over one thousand of the customers of forty years be- fore, and their successors in the West alone. In speaking of his early experiments in the West as a commercial traveler, Mr. Curtis once said in after years : "I have passed hun- dreds of nights camping out on long trips, with only a blanket for a covering and the ground for a bed. We, who drummed the trade in the West then in behalf of Eastern houses, did not mind that, but we did object to the rattlesnake sometimes. It didn't pay to have them get too familiar. We were happy when we could travel by canal-boat or by steamboat, but the dreadful Western stages were what tried our patience. Time and again, but for the fact that my samples and
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.