USA > Maine > Androscoggin County > History of Androscoggin County, Maine > Part 38
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HON. DAVID DUNN was born in Cornish, January 17, 1811, studied law with Gov. John Fairfield in Saco, and was admitted to the bar at Alfred in 1833. In 1834 he commenced the practice of law in Poland, where he has since resided, doing an extensive business as a lawyer, and actively participating in the affairs of the town, holding for many years town offices, viz .: one of the selectmen, clerk, treasurer, and one of the superintending school committee. A life-long Democrat, he was a representative from Poland in the state legislature in 1841, 1842, 1843, and 1844. He was speaker of the house of represen- tatives in 1843 and 1844. In 1843 Gov. J. M. Fairfield was chosen U. S. Senator, and was succeeded as governor by Hon. Edward Kavenagh, of Newcastle, then president of the state senate. In December, 1843, Governor Kavenagh's health failed him. He resigned the office of governor and died. Mr Dunn, then speaker of the house of representatives, succeeded him and held the office of governor in the last day of 1843 and the first day of 1844. He qualified the members of the legislature of 1844. Three of its members, John W. Dana, Abner Coburn, and Anson P. Morrill, who then took the oath of office before him, were afterward governors of the state. He was treas- urer of Cumberland county in 1854, state senator from Cumberland county in 1845 and 1846, and president of the senate in 1846. In 1857 he was appointed a clerk in the Post-Office Department at Washington, holding that position until 1861. Mr Dunn is a ready speaker and advocate, genial and
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pleasant in his intercourse with his associates-a man of "infinite jest." He is the oldest member of the county bar at the present time, and active in the duties of his profession.
GEORGE W. CHASE was born in Bridgton, May 18, 1815. When he was six months old his father moved to Portland, and died there. He resided in Portland until he was 16 years old, when his mother married the late Hon. Edward Little. He then came to reside in Danville, now Auburn. He was educated at Portland, Belgrade, and Fryeburg academies and Bowdoin College, and studied law with Mr Little. In 1838 he went to Dixon; Ill., and was there admitted to the bar. He married Miss JJennete Clark at St Louis, Mo., Sep- tember 30, 1841, after which he moved to Baton Rouge, La, and there taught school three years. From there he returned to Danville, and entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1850 he represented the district composed of Danville and New Gloucester in the legislature of Maine. In 1852 he founded and edited the Democratic Advocate (see History of the Press). He was an eloquent advocate, a terse and vigorous writer, and was highly esteemed by all his associates. He died July 17, 1853.
JOHN GOODENOW, son of Hon. Rufus Goodenow, was born in Paris, Feb- ruary, 1817. Ile was graduated from Bowdoin College in the class of 1836. He then studied law with his father and was admitted to the bar in Oxford county at the November term, 1838, of the Court of Common Pleas. He commenced practice at Hiram. Afterwards he had an office at South Paris, and subsequently at Auburn. He had a position for some time in the Custom House in New York City. In later years he has resided in Baltimore, Md. He married Miss Sarah Appleton, daughter of General James Appleton, of Portland.
CALVIN RECORD was born in Minot, now Auburn, February 27, 1819. His academical education was acquired at the Lewiston Falls Academy and the Maine Wesleyan Seminary. He pursued his legal studies with James O. L. Foster, Esq., of Lewiston; was admitted to the Cumberland County Bar in April, 1849. He began business in Lewiston and continued practice there and in Auburn until 1889, when he went to Jersey City, N. J., where he is now established as a lawyer. His residence while in Maine was in Auburn and Danville. He was connected in business in Auburn and Lewiston with Judges Walton and Luce from January 6, 1856 to 1861, and with L. H. Hutchin- son, Esq., from July 1, 1871, to March, 1875. He was one of the superin- tending school committee in Auburn in 1848, and of Danville in 1852 and 1853 ; one of the selectmen of Danville in 1854 and 1855, and represented the Danville and Minot district in the state legislature in 1856.
Mr Record has always affiliated with the Democratic party. He was a delegate to the convention held at Charleston, S. C., in April, 1860, and at the adjourned convention held at Baltimore in June following, and was
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also a delegate to the first convention after the war, held in Philadelphia in August, 1866, when all the states were represented. He devoted a great deal of time and services in the establishment of Androseoggin county, and assisted in drawing the bill establishing the county which was passed by the legislature of 1854. As a lawyer Mr Record is thorough and careful in the preparation of his eauses, and an able advocate. He is esteemed by his brethren at the bar, and all others, for his kindly disposition and agreeable social qualities.
HON. C. W. WALTON, who has attained such high reputation on the bench, was admitted to the bar in 1843. Elected county attorney for the county of Androseoggin in 1857, was representative to Congress in the second congres- sional distriet in 1860, appointed judge of the Supreme Judicial Court in 1862, and re-appointed in 1869. He was for some years a resident of Auburn.
JUDGE NAHUM MORRILL, son of Colonel John A. Morrill, was born at Limerick, Me, October 3, 1819. He was educated at Limerick Academy, Kimball Union Academy, Meriden Village, N. H., and one year in Dartmouth College. He studied law with his unele, Hon. Moses McDonald, of Limerick, Samuel Bradley, Esq., of Hollis, Me, and a few months with Hon. John MeDonald, of Bangor, and Charles P. Chandler, Esq., of Foxeroft, Me. He was admitted to the bar in Piscataquis county, at the District Court for the Eastern Distriet, held at Dover, Me, on the fourth Tuesday of March, 1842. A few months thereafter he commenced practice in Wells, Me, where he remained about two years, and then moved to Durham. Remaining there about two years, he came to Lewiston Falls, now Auburn, August 26, 1846, and since that date has been a resident of Danville and Auburn. He was appointed judge of probate March 29, 1854, by Governor William G. Crosby, and held that office until it was made elective, when he declined to be a candidate. He was, without solicitation on his part, appointed provost marshal of the second district of Maine, September 27, 1864, and held that office until the close of the war of the Rebellion, receiving an honorable discharge October 31, 1865. He was admitted to practice in Circuit Court of the United States at Portland, July 1, 1868. While residing in Durham he was one of the superintending school committee one year, and held the same office one year in Danville. Ile is president of the board of trustees of the Edward Little Institute, also president of the Androscoggin Bar Association, both of which offices he has held several years last past. He has been several times appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court, auditor, referee, and special master in chancery to hear and determine actions of considerable importance, and requiring careful investigation. He is a member of the law firm of N. & J. A. Morrill. He was married, April 30, 1851, to Miss Anna I. Littlefield, daughter of Walter Littlefield, Esq., of Wells, Me.
MAJOR JOSIAH DUNN PULSIFER was born near Worthley brook in Poland, May 13, 1820. His father, Moses R. Pulsifer, was a physician of ability, and
1
Malum Morrill
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his mother, Mary Strout (Dunn) Pulsifer, was a daughter of Hon. Josiah Dunn, a man of prominence. In 1823 Dr Pulsifer removed to the island of Mt Desert, where Josiah attended the town schools until at 14 years he became a student at Maine Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's Hill, where he was fitted for college and took part of the first year's college course. He entered Waterville College in 1839, but did not remain. From this time for some years his principal business was teaching. (His first school was taught at Mechanic Falls, when he was 15.) In 1840, 1841, and 1842 he was prin- cipal of the high school at Minot Corner. During these years he had been studying law with Jabez C. Woodman, of Minot, James O'Donnell, of Gray, and Codman & Fox, of Portland. He was admitted to the bar of the state at Portland in May, 1843, and at once began practice at Somesville in Hancock county. Legal business being neither extensive nor highly remunerative, Mr Pulsifer taught the graded school at Ellsworth, the next winter, and after- wards attended Harvard law school, and then located as an attorney in Columbia, Maine, where he remained until 1849, the last four years being postmaster. During this time he became interested in Pitman's system of phonography, and devoted all of his spare time to the practice of this art, in which he became skilled. In the fall of 1849 he joined a company of 40 (of which he was a director) that purchased a bark of 250 tons, a river steamboat, a cargo of lumber, two years' provisions, etc. They took the steamer apart, loaded it in the bark, and went to California, arriving there in June, 1850. Selling out, the company separated, Mr Pulsifer going to the mines, where he dug gold one year, and came back to Maine. Soon after, he engaged in trade at Minot Corner for three years, and was postmaster, selectman, etc. In 1854 he was elected clerk of the courts of the new county of Androscoggin. His term was for three years from January 1, 1855. He was twice re-elected. In February, 1864, he was appointed paymaster in the U. S. service with the rank of major, and was in active duty until mustered out in 1865.
The value of stenographic reporting in the courts of Maine had impressed itself on the leading jurists, and Major Pulsifer was invited by Judge Walton to pass the winter of 1866-7- at Augusta and aid in procuring the passage of an act authorizing the employment of stenographic reporters by the courts. This act was passed in the spring of 1867, and Major Pulsifer was appointed court stenographer and for a year was the only one employed. From the first he has been continuously engaged in reporting court proceed- ings in every county and under nearly every judge in Maine, and was reporter of decisions for four years. Ile was official reporter of the state senate in 1867 and of the house in 1868. January 1, 1855, Mr Pulsifer removed to Auburn, where he now resides. He married May 24, 1848, Helen A., daughter of Willard H. Woodbury, of Minot. They have five children: Abbie, Pitman, Woodbury, Cornelia, and Harriet. Major Pulsifer has been interested in
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education, and has served with ability on the school boards of Columbia, Minot, and Auburn. He has given his children educational advantages ; they are thoroughly conversant with stenography, and all have reported for the courts. Pitman and Woodbury are at this writing clerks of important committees of the U. S. Senate. Abbie is reporting for the courts, and Cornelia is stenographer for the Ara Cushman Company. The children have all fol- lowed their father's profession with marked ability. Major Pulsifer is the father of stenography in Maine, one of its earliest teachers in New England, and as an instructor is unrivaled.
RICHARD DRESSER was born in Cape Elizabeth, Me. The family came to that place from Gloucester, Mass. His paternal grandfather with his two brothers participated in the battle of Bunker Hill and other engagements of the Revolution. From his tenth year Mr Dresser resided in Danville for four years, then in Pownal until 1854, when he made his home in Auburn. His education was obtained in the common schools. When 19 years old he began teaching and taught twelve successive winters. He was a carpenter until 1850. After that time he carried on the daguerreotyping and photographing business about 14 years. While engaged in this he gave his leisure time to reading law, and was admitted to the bar at Auburn in May, 1868. During his residence in Pownal he was one of the superintending school committee several years, and served one term as selectman. From 1850 to 1854 he was county commissioner of Cumberland county. He was at various times lieutenant, captain, and major in the militia. He has held the offices of town clerk and treasurer of Auburn seven years, and assessor four years. In 1875 he was appointed judge of Auburn Municipal Court, in which office he still continues, discharging its duties conscientiously and to the satisfaction of the community. In 1847 Judge Dresser married Mary A. Hammond, of New Gloucester. They have had two children.
ABEL BOYNTON was a practicing lawyer at Little River, now Lisbon Falls, for some years in the early settlement of the town. After him came one Stowell who remained but a short time, and was succeeded by one Alden who made but a short sojourn.
SAMUEL GOOCH came to Lisbon in 1822, practiced in Lisbon till 1827, when his place was taken by Samuel Moody.
STETSON L. HILL. [See page 255.]
HION. WILLIAM WHEELER BOLSTER was born in Rumford, Me, July 6, 1823. He is the son of General Alvan Bolster, of Rumford. He attended the public schools of his native town, and the academies of Bethel, Me, and Peacham, Vt, where he fitted for college, teaching in various towns in Maine and Vermont in vacations. In February, 1845, he commenced the study of law with Isaac Randall, Esq., and Judge Walton, at Dixfield. He graduated from Harvard Law School at Cambridge, Mass., August 25, 1847,
Mr. N. Rolster
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and is a member of the Harvard Law Association. He was admitted to the bar April 15, 1846, at the April term of the Supreme Judicial Court in Portland, and entered upon his professional duties at East Rumford, and resided there till October, 1852, when he moved to Dixfield, where he followed his profession for the next twenty years. In October, 1872, he came to Auburn, where he formed a partnership with A. M. Pulsifer, with their law office in Lewiston. He has practiced with success in Oxford, Franklin, Androscoggin, and Cumberland counties. While in Dixfield he was senior member of the law firms of Bolster & Ludden, Bolster & Richardson, Bolster & Wright. In September, 1861, he was elected county attorney for Oxford county ; re-elected in 1864 for three additional years. In 1871 he compiled the " Tax Collector and Form Book "; in 1880 the " Tax Collector's Book." Both are in general use throughout the state. In connection with these works, he compiled an "Invoice and Valuation Book," an " Assessment Book," a "Tax Collector's Book," and a " Highway Surveyor's Book " for the use of town officials. Since the adoption of the Revised Statutes of 1883, they have been revised by him and adapted to the present law.
While living in Rumford and Dixfield he served several terms in each town as a member of the superintending school committee. In 1877-8 he was alderman in the city government of Auburn; for three years after he was city solicitor. In May, 1848, he received the appointment of clerk in the office of secretary of state, which office he held by annual appointment until 1858, with the exception of a single year. During two sessions of the legisla- ture he discharged the duties of miscellaneous clerk, and throughout six other sessions he had charge as engrossing clerk of the engrossing department; in 1857 the statutes of Maine were revised, and the engrossment of the revised code was under his supervision. For a year and a half he was commission clerk, which office he resigned in May, 1858, on account of ill health. In September, 1868, he was elected state senator from Oxford county; re-elected in 1869, and in 1870 was chosen president of the senate. January 15, 1873, he was appointed state bank examiner, and re-appointed February 2, 1876, holding the office six years. In January, 1883, he was elected to the executive council for two years. February 5, 1885, he was appointed a trustee of the State Reform School; re-appointed February 6, 1889, he now holds the office.
February 17, 1849, he was elected and commissioned first lieutenant in Company A of the Rumford Riflemen, of the Second Brigade of the Sixth Division of Maine Militia. July 12, 1851, he was promoted to the captaincy, which he resigned and was honorably discharged April 16, 1852. October 3, 1864, he was appointed to the office of division advocate, with the rank of major, on the staff of Major-General W. Wirt Virgin-now Judge Virgin - who commanded the Third Division of the State Militia. This post he held during General Virgin's term of office. At the breaking out of the Rebellion
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in 1861, under orders from General Virgin, he was actively engaged in organ- izing the militia composing the Third Division. In 1846 he joined the Sons of Temperance and has ever since identified himself with temperance reform. December 9, 1856, at Livermore, he was admitted to the third degree of Masonry in Oriental Star Lodge. Since August, 1878, he has been president of the Little Androscoggin Water-Power Company of Auburn. At the organization of the American Banking and Trust Company, succeeding the Maine Mortgage Loan Company, he was elected its president, which office he now holds.
In religion he is a Universalist; in politics, a Republican. Before the organization of the Republican party he was a Democrat. In August, 1852, he was a member of and actively participated in the memorable county convention of anti-slavery Democrats, Free Soilers, and Whigs, which met at Norway and formed the Republican party, and then first nominated a full set of county officers. While in practice Mr Bolster attained and maintained a high rank as a lawyer, and conducted trials of important causes. In later years he has devoted more time to other pursuits than to his profession, but still occasion- ally appears in court. He was married October 15, 1848, to Martha Hall, daughter of Joseph Adams, M.D., of Rumford. She died August 20, 1866. August 17, 1868, he married Florence Josephine, daughter of Colonel Lewis Reed, of Mexico.
ASA P. MOORE was born in Portland, August 23, 1823, and was educated in the public schools of Portland. After leaving school he went to sea and rose to the position of first officer of a ship. Becoming weary of a life upon the ocean, he left that occupation, removed to Lisbon, and entered upon the study of law. While pursuing his studies his services were often required as a magistrate, land surveyor, and conveyancer. He was admitted to the bar in Androscoggin county in April, 1860, and began business as a lawyer immedi- ately thereafter at Lisbon, succeeding Samuel Moody, where he has since resided. He was supervisor of schools from 1851 to 1855, inclusive. He married, July 12, 1847, Miss Susan P. Andrews, of Lisbon, now deceased.
HON. CHARLES WILLIAM GODDARD, son of Henry Goddard, Esq., was born in Portland, December, 1825. He was educated in the public schools of Portland, and was graduated from Bowdoin College in the class of 1844. He read law in the office of Howard & Shepley, and was admitted to the bar in Cumberland county, October, 1846, began practice in Portland, remaining there about three years, when he came to Auburn, having his office in Lewiston, where he was in active practive 16 years, with the exception of four years, when he was U. S. Consul-General in Constantinople. He was appointed the first county attorney for Androscoggin county in 1854, and held the office to and including 1857, during which time he was, on account of the feeble health of the attorney-general, the leading counsel for the state in the famous trial of George Knight for the murder of his wife; he was a member
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of the state senate from Androscoggin county in 1858 and 1859, and the last year was its president; was appointed U. S. Consul to Constantinople in 1861, which office he held until 1864. In 1866 he moved from Auburn to Portland. In 1867 he was placed, by appointment of Governor Chamberlain, on the commission for the equalization of municipal war debts of the state. The same year he was appointed justice of the Superior Court of Cumberland county and held that office until 1871, when he was appointed postmaster of Portland, which position he held twelve years. In 1872 Judge Goddard was appointed to the lectureship on medical jurisprudence in the Medical School connected with Bowdoin College, and was afterwards chosen by the boards of the college professor in that department. In 1881, by a resolve of the legislature, he was appointed commissioner to revise the general and public laws of the state of Maine. The duties of that commission were discharged with great faithful- ness and ability. He was a director of the American Peace Society and a member of the Association for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations. He married first, Caroline R. Little, daughter of Hon. Thomas B. Little, of Auburn, who died in 1853. In 1857 he married Rowena C. Morrill, daughter of ex-Governor Anson P. Morrill, of Readfield, who survives him. He died in Portland, March 9, 1889. Judge Goddard was a gentleman of unquestioned integrity, honest and faithful in all the relations of life, and possessing great decision of character. He believed that the laws of the land should be enforced, and acted upon that principle without fear, favor, or affection for any party brought before him, always striving to deal out exact justice in every case. He possessed a fine literary taste, was learned in the law, an accomplished gentleman, a sound lawyer, eloquent advocate, upright judge, a warm friend, and agreeable companion.
HON. THOMAS AMORY DEBLOIS FESSENDEN, son of General Samuel Fessenden, was born at Portland, January 23, 1826. He was fitted for college at North Yarmouth Academy, and passed his freshman year in Dartmouth College, the other three at Bowdoin, and was graduated in 1845. He then began the study of law in the office of Willis & Fessenden, Portland. He was admitted to the bar in Cumberland county in April, 1848, and then opened an office at Mechanic Falls. In 1850 he moved to Auburn and formed a copartnership with Judge Morrill, which continued eight years, afterwards with Hon. William P. Frye, which lasted ten years. He was delegate to the Republican National Conventions which nominated General Fremont in 1856, and General Grant in 1868. He was elected representative from Auburn to the Maine legislature in 1861; was elected county attorney in 1861, which position he held until elected to the Thirty-seventh Congress for the unexpired term of Hon. Charles W. Walton, resigned. In 1868 he was chosen presi- dential elector. He married Miss Elizabeth R. Titcomb, daughter of Silas Titcomb, Esq., of Lewiston. He died in Auburn, September 28, 1868. The
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historian of Bowdoin College makes the following just estimate of his char- acter : " Possessing a fine person, winning manners, easy address, he was well fitted to wield influence over men, was successful at the bar and in legislative debate. With a character marked by true nobility, scorning intrigue or duplicity, of great purity and integrity, and of a genial humor, he had the confidence of men."
CYRUS KNAPP, of East Livermore, son of Joseph and Deborah Cushman Knapp, was born in Kingfield, January 4, 1827. His mother was the eldest daughter of Andrew Cushman, a Revolutionary soldier. He attended the common schools of his native town until he was 18 years of age, when he entered Monmouth Academy, where he continued until 1849. During his connection with Monmouth Academy he taught common and singing schools in the winters. After leaving school he entered upon the study of law in the office of Judge Seth May, in Winthrop. He was admitted to the bar in Kennebec county, October, 1852. In March, 1853, he commenced the practice of his profession at Livermore Falls. The following year he was elected one of the superintending school committee of East Livermore, and held the office, by successive elections, ten years, and later was chosen supervisor of schools for two years. March 29, 1854, he was appointed, by Governor Crosby, clerk of the courts of Androscoggin county, which office he held two years. He was elected representative to the state legislature from East Livermore in 1858 and 1871. April 7, 1871, he was appointed, by Governor Perham, judge of probate for Androscoggin county, to fill the unexpired term occasioned by the resignation of Judge Luce, and subsequently was elected to the same office, which he held one term. He moved to Auburn in September, 1873, where he continued to reside until October, 1875, when he returned to Livermore Falls, where he has since resided. He married Miss Ellen S. Luce, daughter of Oren and Ellen C. Luce, then of Livermore Falls. Judge Knapp does not devote his whole time to the practice of his profession, but he is a lawyer of no mean ability, an ingenious and successful advocate, and has been a prominent attorney at the Androscoggin bar.
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