USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume IV > Part 52
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(III) Simeon, tenth child and seventh son of Jonathan and Ruth (Shattuck) Farnsworth, was born in Groton, July 12, 1718, died in Washington, New Hampshire, March 21, 1805. Until March, 1781, he resided in that part of Harvard which was set off to Shirley, and then removed to Washington, where some of his sons had previously gone, and there spent his declining years in cultivating the soil. His home was about a mile and a half from Washington Centre, near Miller pond. He married (first) May 28, 1744, Martha Hall, who died May 7, 1754. He married (second) Lucy Atherton, who survived him and died May 13, 1823, at the age of eighty-eight years. Jonathan Farnsworth was the father of seventeen children ; those of first wife were : Mehitable, Simeon, Samuel, Martha, Lucy and Joseph; those of second wife were: Manas- sah, died young; Manassah, Samuel, Relief, David, Sarah, died young; Daniel, Reuben, Sarah, Patty and Nancy.
(IV) Daniel, seventh child and fifth son of Simeon and Lucy (Atherton) Farnsworth, was born April 9, 1769, and died July 10, 1851. He resided in Washington, New Hamp- shire. He married (first) June 25, 1798, Sarah Holt, of Sharon, Vermont, whose name is given Nancy in the Holt genealogy. She was born in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1767, and died October 27, 1815. He married ( sec- ond) Phebe Carlisle, of Walpole, New Hamp- shire. He married (third) Christiana Keyes, of Acworth. The children of Daniel Farns- worth, all by first wife, were: Chauncey, Charles, Sarah, Mary, Elvira, Hiram, died young ; and Hiram M.
(V) Chauncey, eldest child of Daniel and Sarah or Nancy (Holt) Farnsworth, was born February 22, 1800, in Washington, died De- cember 18, 1860. He married (first) October 3, 1821, Sylvia Snow, born January 13, 1797,
died August 29, 1831, daughter of Joseph Snow. He married (second) Hannah Wade, of Washington. He married (third) Nancy Stone, of Harvard. His children, by first wife were : Joseph Snow, James Smith, Daniel and George W .; and by second wife were: Sylvia and Nancy.
(VI) Joseph Snow, eldest child of Chaun- cey and Sylvia (Snow) Farnsworth, was born in Washington, New Hampshire, May 28,. 1822, died June 20, 1895. He settled in Windsor, Vermont, and was a blacksmith and draughtsman. He was employed by the Wind- sor Machine Company, which is now owned by the son of Hon. William M. Evarts, Nath- aniel Evarts, and was a very skillful artisan. He was also prominent in town affairs. He was a leading Mason and the last surviving charter member of the local lodge at Windsor, being one of the oldest members of the Ma- sonic fraternity in the state. He married, No- vember 30, 1848, Judith M. Stevens, born in Kennebunk, Maine, October 20, 1822, daugh- ter of James and Susan (Littlefield) Stevens. She died May 14, 1907, aged eighty-five. Children: I. Arthur Latham, mentioned be- low. 2. James Walter, born White River Junction, Vermont, November 10, 1850, mar- ried, December 29, 1877, Emma M. Lester, and resides at Windsor, Vermont. 3. Susie A., born at White River Junction, Vermont, is unmarried and resides in Windsor, Ver- mont.
(VII) Arthur Latham, eldest child of Jo- seph Snow and Judith M. (Stevens) Farns- worth, was born in Kennebunk, Maine, Sep- tember 29, 1849. He attended the public schools, from which he graduated in 1865 and then took a supplementary course of study at Tilden Academy, West Lebanon, New Hampshire. At the age of fifteen he became a clerk for Tuxbury & Stone, dealers in dry- goods and groceries, by whom he was em- ployed ten years in Windsor, Vermont. He was then engaged in business in Troy, Ohio, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In 1874 he removed to Portland, Maine, and opened a gentleman's furnishing store which he man- aged successfully until 1885. He then sold his business to accept the position of United States weigher and gauger, to which position he was appointed by General Samuel J. An- derson, collector of customs at the port of Portland, Maine. In order to demonstrate his qualifications for this place he was required to take the civil service examination, then a newly installed feature in government business. He served in this position till January 1, 1891,
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and then spent a year as a commercial traveler for Twitchell, Champlin & Company. In March, 1892, he was elected city assessor for three years, and for 1894-95 was chairman of the board of assessors. March 12, 1895, he was appointed a special deputy collector of customs at the port of Portland by John W. Deering, collector of the port. Mr. Deering was succeeded in office by Watson F. Milli- ken, who died November 19, 1899. He was succeeded by Charles M. Moses, January I, 1900, and in the interim between those dates Mr. Farnsworth was acting collector. From the date of his appointment by Collector Deer- ing to the present time, Mr. Farnsworth has served as deputy collector. He has been active in politics since early manhood, and has filled places on the Democratic city and county com- mittees for years. He was chairman of the former committee from 1892 to 1894, and under his supervision the party made large gains and was well organized. He is a mem- ber of Atlantic Lodge, No. 81, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Greenleaf Royal Arch Chapter, No. 13; Portland Council, No. 4, Royal and Select Masters; Portland Com- mandery, No. 2, Knights Templar; Maine Consistory, Sublime Princes of the Royal Se- cret, in which he has attained the thirty- second degree. He is also a member of Unity Lodge, No. 3, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows; Trinity Lodge, No. 64, Knights of Pythias; Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 88; president of the Maine Charit- able Mechanics' Association, also a member of Bramhall League, Fern Park Association, Young Men's Democratic Club, Farmers' Club and Fish and Game Club. He has a fine home at No. 216 Ocean avenue, Portland, Maine. He married, September 20, 1870, at Windsor, Vermont, Georgiana M. Hawley, only daugh- ter of William T. and Nancy (Pierce) Haw- ley. Children : 1. Arthur H., born April 18, 1872, United States railway mail clerk. 2. Myra P., born June 18, 1873, married, De- cember 7, 1903, Charles H. Deering, of Saco, Maine; one child, Edith, born May 22, 1905.
Shepley is one of the names SHEPLEY appearing in the history of Massachusetts within a few years after the landing of the Pilgrims. The members of the family ranked high from the time of their settlement in Groton, and that stock years later gave to Maine two of its most talented and noted citizens whose life history is briefly told in this article.
(I) John Shapley, or Shipley, according to
Felt, had a grant of land in Salem in 1637. He was in that part which became Wenham. He removed with his partner, Mr. Fiske, to Chelmsford, where he was a long time a resi- dent. He had children : John, Nathaniel and Lydia.
(II) John (2), son of John (1) Shepley, born 1637, is said to have moved to Chelms- ford.
(III) Captain John (3) Sheple, as he wrote his name, was of Groton as early as 1700, in which year John and Lydia Sheple had born to them a son John. Captain John Sheple ap- pears to have been representative to the gen- eral court six years between 1716 and 1728. In 1718 he was a member of the board of selectmen of the town.
(IV) John (4), son of Captain John (3) and Lydia Shepley, lived in Groton, and there married Abigail Green.
(V) John (5), son of John (4) and Abigail (Green) Shepley, was born in Groton. He was an orderly sergeant and clerk of a com- pany in the revolution; held several town offices in Groton, was a farmer, fond of read- ing, and a man of general information. He married Mary, widow of Captain Therlow, of the revolutionary army, a daughter of Dea- con Gibson, of Stowe. They had three sons -- John, Ether and Stephen.
(VI) Hon. Ether, second son of John and Mary (Gibson) (Therlow) Shepley, was born in Groton, Massachusetts, November 2, 1789, and died in Portland, Maine, January 14, 1877. The Christian name, Ether, was adopted from Joshua xix., 7-the designation of one of the villages of the Canaanites in the south of Judah, allotted to Simeon. The word in Hebrew means stone. From "A History of the Law, the Courts, and the Lawyers of Maine," published 1863, we extract the follow- ing account of Judge Shepley :
"Mr. Shepley received his elementary edu- cation in Groton Academy, under the instruc- tion of Caleb Butler. Thence he proceeded to Dartmouth College, from which he took his degree in 1811. Among his classmates were Professor Nathaniel H. Carter, Bezaleel Cushman and Nathaniel Wright, who were all instructors in Portland after leaving college, Mr. Cushman for thirty years having had charge of the academy; Dr. William Cogs- well; Daniel Poor, the celebrated missionary ; Professor Parker, of the Law School at Har- vard; Amos Kendall, postmaster-general under President Jackson, and other distinguished men, were members of his class. On leaving college Mr. Shepley entered the office of Dud-
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ley Hubbard, in South Berwick, where he re- mained two years under very favorable cir- cumstances. The large collection business of Mr. Hubbard was suffering for want of atten- tion. Mr. Shepley took serious hold of it, and by his activity and intelligence revived it and left it in a favorable condition. He was urged by Mr. Hubbard to continue his services, but he preferred a change, and successively read in the offices of Zabdiel B. Adams, in Worcester county, and Solomon Strong, in Hampshire. On being admitted to the bar he came immediately to Saco, where he com- menced practice in July, 1814. With the ex- perience he had gathered and the habits of business he had acquired, he was more than usually advanced over young practitioners in the knowledge of his profession and in the use of its machinery, and early entered upon a successful and lucrative practice which his industry, close application and practical ability made secure, and gave to him a prominent place in the midst of which he resided. In 1819 the subject of the separation from Mas- sachusetts was earnestly discussed in this state, and Mr. Shepley zealously entered into it. He was elected to represent Saco in that year in the general court, and the same year was chosen a member of the convention which formed the constitution of Maine. In Febru- ary, 1821, he was appointed United States at- torney for the District of Maine as successor to William P. Preble, who was placed on the bench of the supreme court of the state. This office he held until his election as one of the senators in congress from Maine in 1833. The duties of that office, in connection with his very extensive practice, he discharged with great promptness and fidelity, of which no bet- ter evidence can be adduced than the length of time he was permitted to retain it-through the four closing years of Mr. Monroe's ad- ministration, the whole of Mr. Adams', and four years into General Jackson's, and left it at last only for a more exalted station. In 1833 he was elected to the senate of the United States as successor to John Holmes. In this body he sustained the administration of Gen- eral Jackson by his votes and his voice. On the great and exciting question of removing the deposits from the United States Bank, he made two earnest and able speeches in Jan- uary, 1834, vindicating the course and policy of the President. In one of these he paid a glowing eulogium to his classmate, Amos Ken- dall, who was then the agent of the govern- ment in relation to these deposits. But the office of senator, however favorable and agree-
able, the good opinion entertained by the gov- ernment of Maine of his legal ability did not permit him long to retain; for in September, 1836, a vacancy having occurred on the bench of the supreme court by the resignation of Judge Parris, who had been appointed by President Van Buren second comptroller of the treasury, he was immediately appointed to that place. It was apparent from the studies and habits of Judge Shepley that the quiet pursuits of professional duties, and especially in their highest forms as an expositor of the law, were more suited to his tastes than the turmoil of politics. As a judge, both at nisi prius and in the law department, his ability, his industry and integrity fully justified the partiality and good judgment of the adminis- tration of Governor Dunlap, by which the appointment was made. In 1848 he was ap- pointed chief justice as successor to Chief Jus- tice Whitman, with the general concurrence of the bar and public sentiment. His long experience as a jurist and a judge, and the fidelity and legal acumen which he had dis- played in his long judicial service, placed him prominently before the public as a first suc- cessor of the eminent judge who had preceded him. He continued in this high office until the autumn of 1855, when his constitutional term of seven years having expired, he re- tired from the bench, his ermine unsullied, and closed his long judicial life. No judge ever more faithfully or more promptly dis- charged the duties of the bench than Judge Shepley, and the ability which characterized his judicial career is amply illustrated in the twenty-seven volumes of the Maine Reports from the fourteenth to the fortieth inclusive. His opinions are drawn with clearness, direct- ness and force, and no one can mistake the point which he endeavors to establish. That Judge Shepley was devoted to his professional and judicial life and clung with strong attach- ment to his domestic joys, we can have no better proof than the firmness with which he resisted the allurements held out to him to accept positions under the general govern- ment. While on the bench he was urged to accept official stations by authorities at Wash- ington, which he uniformly declined, pre- ferring the comforts of his home and the calm pursuits of the duties of a judge, which he could not but feel were useful to his fel- low citizens, to offices of more notoriety and higher compensation, which would interfere with his domestic arrangements. The last pub- lic office Judge Shepley was called to per- form was that of sole commissioner to revise
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the public laws, to which he was appointed by resolve of April 1, 1856. And notwithstand- ing the injudicious instruction to complete and cause his report to be printed on or before the fifteenth day of November following, he accomplished the almost herculean task, and prepared a very full index of the whole body of the public statutes, which constitutes what is now cited as "Revised Statutes of Maine," published in 1857. If more time had been allowed, we should of course have had a more complete and perfect work, with the benefit of the wise and learned suggestions of an experienced and sensible judge upon the dis- crepancies, inconsistencies and imperfections in the great body of our law. Defects and contradictions undoubtedly exist, which can only be remedied by the most careful investi- gation and comparison, by a sound and ex- perienced jurist. But in this, as in many other cases (an American fault) our people seem to regard more the having things done quickly than well done. They had better follow the Shakespearian rule, "If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly," we add, but not otherwise. Judge Shepley has uniformly through his long life been the firm friend and supporter of good order, and a just administration of the law. He has given substantial aid to the cause of religion, good morals, and general education, and has himself practiced upon the rules he has pre- scribed for others. He has been thirty-three years a trustee of Bowdoin College, having been chosen in 1829, and he has been a care- ful observer of its affairs and a faithful coun- . selor in its emergencies. He has filled all the numerous trusts, private and public, en- trusted to him, uprightly, diligently and well, for the good of the people and the individuals in whose service he has been employed. And after a well-filled public life of thirty-six years, and at the age of seventy-three years, he may very properly lay aside the armor, which he has worn worthily and with honor through the conflicts of political contention, the sharp strifes of the forum and the calmer struggles with the subtleties and nice dis- criminations of legal investigation, where the arms are reason and judgment, against the keen logic of the masters of rhetoric. He has received from Dartmouth College the honor- ary degree of LL.D. * The Chief Jus- tice, too far advanced to take a part in active hostilities in support of the government of his country, sustains the cause by his words and co-operation in its efforts to put down the rebellion. And to enable his son to fight freely
and unencumbered by his numerous engage- ments at home, he has taken his place anew in the courts, and burnished up the forensic ar- mor for fresh contests on the field of his former struggles." "E'en in his ashes live his wonted fires."
The late William Gould, in an obituary no- tice of Judge Shepley, wrote: "That looking over the roll of the 304 delegates who met in September, 1819, in the old meeting-house of the First Parish in Portland (to prepare for the organization of the new state of Maine), I think Judge Shepley was the last survivor of that body. During the year 1838 Judge Shep- ley was importuned by his political friends to accept a nomination as candidate for governor, and the same year he had an informal offer of the office of attorney general of the United States, both of which he declined. Judge Shepley became a communicant of the Con- gregational Church at Saco in 1823. He re- moved from Saco to Portland in 1837, and joined the communion of the State Street Church, and was an exemplary Christian to the time of his death. For fifty years there were no doubts in his mind as to his duty to his Creator and his fellowmen. Within a few years of his death he wrote: 'When strongly inclined to cast it from me as a painful and loathsome subject, it seemed to be mean and unworthy of a thinking man to avoid a full and impartial investigation of his relations to his Creator and to his fellow creatures, and the manner in which he fulfilled them. * * * I desire to leave my testimony that a life of devotion resting upon repentence and faith in Christ is a life of higher enjoyment than can be found without it.' The last time Judge Shepley spoke in public it was the privilege of the writer to hear him. He was the last of the original members of the Maine His- torical Society, which was organized in 1822. Judge Peleg Sprague, of Massachusetts, was one of the corporators, but by his removal from the state in 1835 he ceased to be a mem- ber. He is yet living at the age of eighty- three. In February, 1874, the Historical So- ciety held a meeting in the city building, Port- land, at which Judge Shepley was present. During the forenoon the president alluded to the presence of the venerable Judge, and in- vited him to address the Society, which after some hesitation he concluded to do. While he was preparing to speak, all eyes were turned to his patriarchal figure, which was most striking. On his commencing to speak, there was a general feeling of reverence, and from a common impulse the whole audience rose,
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and remained standing until he closed. He alluded to his associates of half a century be- fore, to his long membership, and expressed regret that he had given the society so little assistance in their researches. He closed with an expression of his interest in the objects aimed at. This was the last time he spoke in public, and the scene will be long remembered by those present."
Judge Shepley died at his residence on State street after an illness of but a few days, at the great age of eighty-seven years, two months and thirteen days. In 1816 Mr. Shepley mar- ried Anna Foster, with whom he became ac- quainted in college. She died in 1867. Their children were: John R., educated in Bowdoin College, from which he received the honorary degree of LL.D .; he is now a prominent law- yer in St. Louis, Missouri; George Foster, judge of the United States Circuit Court; and Leonard D., of the Portland Water Com- pany.
(VII) General George F., second son of Chief Justice Ether and Anna (Foster) Shep- ley, was born January 1, 1819, and died July 20, 1878. He graduated at Dartmouth Col- lege in 1839, at the age of eighteen years. Soon afterward he entered the law school at Cambridge, where he had the privilege of the instruction of Judge Story and Professor Greenleaf. How faithfully and well he im- proved that privilege is shown by the high rank as a lawyer he quickly won and ever maintained. When only twenty years old he was admitted to practice, and commenced business in Bangor as a partner of Joshua W. Hathaway, who was soon afterward appointed an associate justice of the supreme judicial court of Maine. About 1844 he removed to Portland and formed a business connection with Hon. Joseph Howard. In the judicial history of the state of Maine the firm of Howard & Shepley will ever hold an honor- able place, and the name of the junior partner will in no degree reduce its rank. In 1848 Mr. Howard was appointed a justice of the high- est court in Maine, and Mr. Shepley assumed the responsibility of a large and important business, with the confident assurance of all who had observed him that, young as he was, he was equal to the work he undertook. He associated with him John W. Dana, Esq., now deceased, and was recognized as in the fore- most rank of the bar which numbered among its active members General Samuel Fessenden, Thomas Amory Deblois, William Pitt Fes- senden, R. H. L. Codman, Edward Fox, and other distinguished counselors. In 1853 he
was made United States district attorney for Maine by President Pierce, and held the posi- tion till June, 1861, having been reappointed in 1857 by President Buchanan. While occu- pying that office, though called upon to con- duct many important and difficult causes for the government, he retained the large private practice of former years and constantly added to his professional reputation. Though enter- taining strong political convictions in sympa- thy with the Democratic party, up to 1861 he did not to any great extent participate in polit- ical affairs. But he was too prominent a per- son to be permitted to abstain wholly from the excitement of party conflicts, and in 1850 was elected state senator. He occasionally addressed conventions and took part in po- litical discussions, never failing to add to his reputation and influence. In 1860 he was a delegate at large to the Democratic national convention at Charleston, South Carolina, and attended its adjourned session at Balti- more, Maryland. The Maine delegation was divided five to three-five for Judge Douglas and three for Mr. Guthrie. Among the latter was Judge Shepley. He took a prominent part in the convention, and the speech which he made in response to the call for the state of Maine became famous. In the campaign which followed he supported Mr. Douglas. Upon the election of President Lincoln he was not found among those who sympathized with or apologized for the attempt to break up the Union. He was true to his convictions, and September 27, 1861, accepted a commission as colonel of the Twelfth Maine Volunteers. His ·regiment, from the first, was designed to form a part of the New England Division of Gen- eral B. F. Butler, at whose earnest solicitation he was appointed and induced to accept the position. He left the regimental rendezvous at Portland, with his command, on Novem- ber 24, 1861, and next day reached Camp Chase, Lowell, Massachusetts, where he re- mained until January I, preparing for em- barkation to participate in a southern cam- paign. January 2, 1862, he embarked on the steamer "Constitution," at Boston, in com- mand of a detachment of General Butler's di- vision, consisting of his own regiment, the Thirtieth Massachusetts, two companies of mounted rifles and one section of a battery, with orders to report at Fortress Monroe. After considerable detention at Hampton Roads, occasioned by the hesitation of the commanding general of the army to allow any demonstration to be made against New Orleans with so small a force as that placed
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under the command of General Butler, at the personal solicitation of General Butler and himself, he was allowed to proceed, and sailed for Ship Island, where he arrived February 12. By general order No. 2, Department of the Gulf, he was on March 22, 1862, placed in command of the Third Brigade, which con- sisted of the Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Maine regiments, the Thirtieth Massachusetts regiment, the First Maine bat- tery and Magee's cavalry. On the occupation of New Orleans by General Butler, he was placed in command of the troops in that city and Algiers, and was made military com- mandant of New Orleans. Soon after, the rebel mayor of New Orleans having been ar- rested by General Butler and removed from office for disloyalty, in addition to his other military duties, he was ordered to assume the administration of the civil government of the city. In assuming the duties of this position he issued a proclamation in which he assured the peaceable citizens of New Orleans that they would receive the most ample protection of their persons, property and honor, and that speedy and effectual punishment would fol- low any insult to or interference with any United States officer or soldier in the discharge of his duties, or any attempt to denounce or threaten with personal violence any citizen for the expression of Union and loyal sentiments. He retained in force such laws and general ordinances of the city as were not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the United States, or with the orders of the commanding general, and also continued in force all the contracts legally entered into by the city, pledged the fulfillment of them on his part, and required them to be faithfully performed on the part of the contractors. The citizens of New Orleans were assured that the restor- ation of the authority of the United States should be the re-establishment of peace, order and morality, and a guaranty of safety to life, liberty and property, under the law and the protection of the government and the constitu- tion. How well and successfully these expec- tations were realized has now become matter of history. All persons holding office under the city, having been required by General Butler to take the oath of allegiance to the United States or vacate their offices, the alder- men and members of the council declined to take the oath. General Shepley, instead of supplying their places, dispensed entirely with the two boards, and organized an executive government consisting of bureau officers act- ing directly under his authority. This form of
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