USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Bath > History of Bath and environs, Sagadahoc County, Maine. 1607-1894 > Part 31
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John Hayden was born in Bath, September 20, 1808. With a common-school education he became, at the age of fourteen, an apprentice to the watch and jewelry trade, where he continued until March 20, 1829, when he set up for himself, being then twenty years of age. He carried on that business, increasing with the times, until 1863, when he sold out to Howland & Donnell, both of whom had been his apprentices and journeymen. He went to Europe that year, spending some time in Great Britain and on the Continent, and made the same trip the next year, all in the way of business. In 1865 he went to the Chincha Islands and took charge of a ship whose master had been lost overboard, and took her to Hamburg with a cargo of guano.
In 1850 he was elected a representative to the Legislature and served as a Whig in that only summer session that ever occurred in Maine. He declined a unanimous re-nomination at that time, but
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subsequently served in the Legislature as a Republican, in 1862 and 1863. He was always a strong advocate for freedom and, of course, in the former times was stigmatized as an Abolitionist. In 1866 he was elected mayor of Bath.
Mr. Hayden was well versed in Bath history, was a diligent student, and had a remarkable memory. Having travelled extensively, he was well informed in the history and conditions of all countries. He married Miss Martha A. Brown, February 13, 1831, the Rev. John Ellingwood performing the ceremony. The children now living are: Mrs. Emma Eames, Mrs. Gen. T. W. Hyde, and Col. J. F. Hayden, of this city. Mr. Hayden was a grandfather to Mrs. Emma Eames Story, the renowned singer.
At his death a most notable figure passed from Bath streets-a sturdy, active citizen, who took a lively interest in all the affairs of the city while he had the vigor to engage in them.
William Richardson, when a young man, left his native town of Leominster, Mass., and came into Maine, and, after a brief sojourn in Berwick and Topsham, reached Bath where he perma- nently settled. Mr. Richardson's first employment of which there is authentic knowledge, was going as supercargo of a large vessel bound to London, the successful voyage becoming so lucrative that he received, for his share, sufficient profit to give him a start in business, which was in navigation, not going to sea himself. He developed into a merchant and ship-owner; was a shrewd, square- dealing man of ability and thrift, becoming one of Bath's prominent business men and greatly respected throughout his life. He was notable as a man of reticence, attending strictly to his own business and not entering into politics or accepting office, excepting to serve as senator from Lincoln senatorial district when the session was held in Portland, but was known to be a generous supporter of worthy public enterprises and institutions, of strict integrity and perfect uprightness, enjoying the confidence of every person who truly knew him. He acquired a large property from which he donated liberally to benevolent institutions.
Mr. Richardson was born in Leominster, Mass., October 26, 1786,
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and comes down from distinguished ancestry. He married, on March 13, 1814, Harriet Leland, daughter of the Hon. Joseph Leland, of Saco, and her mother was Dorcas King, sister of Rufus King and William King, and her family relations were among the most prominent professional and literay men of New England. He was twice married; his second wife was Mrs. Maria (Ogden) Ward, daughter of Jonathan Ogden, and widow of Marmaduke Ward, of New York, a merchant of note.
His eight children were all by his first wife. Of his sons, Frederic Lord Richardson is a resident of Boston and treasurer of the Hill Manufacturing Company, of Lewiston, Me .; is a son-in-law of Homer Bartlett, of Boston; has his office on State street, and a summer residence at Swampscot.
John Green Richardson was born in Bath, and married Miss Mary Lincoln; was well educated; has been in mercantile business; served in both branches of the City Government; been mayor two terms (1878 and 1879); has held other responsible municipal offices of trust; has been vice-president of the Sagadahoc Historical Society; was captain of the renowned Bath City Grays; one of the trustees and managers of the Bath Soldiers and Naval Orphan Asylum; was Blaine elector in 1884. They have one daughter living. Mr. Richardson has been largely identified with the public affairs of the city and has proved true to the trusts reposed in him; has devoted much time yearly as overseer of the poor; as an officer of the school board has taken a lively interest in the educational interests of the city, and for years has had the sole management of the children of the Soldiers and Sailors Orphan Home.
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BIOGRAPHIES.
David Thomas Percy .- The name of Percy comes down from the illustrious ancestry of the English Percys, famous in history. The advent of the family of Percy from the old country to the Ken- nebec region was in 1730, when Thomas Percy came over with his wife, two sons, and three daughters, and settled on Swan Island. Subsequently he changed his habitation to Hunniwells Point, and was there at the time of the French and Indian War of 1756. The two sons of the original Thomas were Arthur and Francis.
Arthur settled in Phipsburg, and from him descended the entire race of Percys in this section of the state. He married, first, a Gilmore, resided on a farm in the south part of Phipsburg, and had six sons and two daughters. His first wife deceased and he then married Margaret Porterfield, daughter of the Mrs. Porterfield nota- ble in the early history of Georgetown. They had one son, Thomas, who became prominently known as Deacon Thomas, from having long held that office in the old Georgetown and Phipsburg Congre- gational Church. He married Martha Gilmore, in 1763, and had three sons and six daughters.
The descent of David T. Percy was from the second son of the ancient Arthur Percy, whose name was also David, who was born November 20, 1791, and married Elsie Grace, who was born February 21, 1795. They were married May 26, 1816, and settled in Bath. He died February 9, 1867, and she January 3, 1866. They had nine children, of whom David Thomas Percy was the fourth son, born August 15, 1831, and married Adriana Bosworth, daughter of Capt. Robert Bosworth, at Bath, January 5, 1854.
On the maternal side, the great-grandparents of David T. Percy were James and Jane Grace, who came to this country with Alexander Drummond in 1729, and Jane was his granddaughter. His grand- father was William Grace, who was born April 13, 1764, and married Sarah Andrews, of Bath, born May 30, 1757, and they had nine children.
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David T. Percy and his wife have had seven children, of whom six sons are living: Frederick B. graduated at Yale and the Boston Medical University, and is in practice in Brookline, Mass. George E. graduated at the Bath High School and the Boston Medical Univer- sity, and is practicing his profession in Salem, Mass. Frank H. is manager of the crockery store of the firm of D. T. Percy & Sons, in Bath. Augustus A. conducts the business of the dry goods and carpet departments of the firm. Arthur S. is in the lumber business in Boston. David Thomas, Jr., is a graduate of Exeter, the Harvard Medical College, the Boston Medical University, and has settled in Arlington, Mass.
David T. Percy, Sr., is at the head of the firm of D. T. Percy & Sons, in the dry goods, carpet, and crockery business, the largest establishment in those lines in this part of the state. He has long been a prominent member of the Board of Trade, taking an active part in all measures designed to advance the prosperity of the city. In politics he adheres to the Democratic party without being a par- tisan. Mr. Percy, for a number of years, has been one of the deacons of the Winter Street Church, superintendent, for several years, of the Sabbath School of that society ; has been a member of the City Government, serving in the Common Council and on the Board of Aldermen ; and has been the candidate' of the minority party for the highest offices within the gift of the city. Deacon Percy has ever been forward in every good work; has been open- hearted and liberal in all benevolent movements, an unceasing worker in the temperance cause, and one of the most reliable and genial of Bath's citizens.
William Maxwell Reed was a native of Phipsburg and third son of Col. Andrew and Beatrice McCobb Reed. He was born at the Reed farm, on the banks of the Kennebec River, about one mile below the Centre Village, on the 14th of March, 1800. His educa- tion was derived from the local schools, one of which was conducted for many years by his eldest brother, John, who was a fine type of the school-master of that day. William also taught school for a while in his native town. Although young in years, he displayed in his
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school discipline the same energy and force of character that were such important factors in his subsequent career. The monotony and enforced quiet of the school-room was, however, irksome to his naturally active temperament and he soon forsook the desk and became the manager of his father's farm. This was an extensive plantation and required many laborers.
Having faithfully and successfully conducted this business for several years, his father compensated him with the gift of a small farm adjoining the main one. On this land stood the old John Parker timber-house, which had begun to decay. Mr. Reed took down this ancient and well-known landmark, on the site of which he erected a house for himself in 1824. He was married, November 25, 1825, to Miss Caroline Drummond, the eldest daughter of Capt. Alexander Drummond of Phipsburg Centre. After this event he devoted himself to his own farm, at the same time was interested in operating a lumber mill at the Centre Village. Two years after his marriage and occupancy of this house, it was burned by the carelessness of a carpenter who was giving the house some finishing touches. A new house was ready for occupancy in a few months.
In 1835 Mr. Reed sold his farm, purchased and occupied the colo- nial house of his uncle, Parker McCobb, at Phipsburg Centre, also purchasing, in partnership with James Drummond, the double saw- mill owned by the heirs of Thomas McCobb. From this time he was engaged for many years in the lumber business. In connection with two other business men, he inaugurated the building of the lumber mills at Parkers Head, by making Parkers Bay a mill-pond and inducing lumber-men to erect the dam and mills.
His first attempt at ship-building was the schooner Madawaska, in 1832, which he built in a yard near his first dwelling on the Reed farm. The launching of this vessel was memorable as it took place during a snow storm in the month of June.
Colonel Reed inherited a tendency toward a military career from his ancestors on both the paternal and maternal side, and when only nineteen years of age, was unexpectedly elected from the ranks to lieutenant of a military company, at a time when such promotion was no small honor, rising to captain, major, and lieutenant-colonel.
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In 1844 Colonel Reed moved to Bath and engaged permanently in ship-building, buying a yard in the southern part of the town, where he built ships during the rest of his life, under the firm of William M. Reed & Son. At the organization of the Sagadahoc Bank, he was one of its founders and a director, and in 1861 became its pres- ident, a position he filled until his death. When the enterprise of building the Kennebec & Portland Railroad was inaugurated he was among the first to aid the undertaking with money and influence.
Mr. Reed's public career began at twenty-eight years of age, when he was elected, by the town of Phipsburg, to the House of Repre- sentatives, and was continually re-elected until 1840, when he was elected senator, serving two terms; later was a member of the Gover- nor's Council two terms ; when Lincoln was first candidate for Pres- ident was one of the electors; has served several times in the Com- mon Council and was one of the first aldermen of the city.
Originally an ardent Whig and anti-slavery in his political senti- ments, he became a Republican upon the formation of this party, and was ever active in its cause, supporting the War of the Rebellion with zeal. In the performance of his public trusts, he gave the same attention to their duties as he gave to his own private business, to the obligations of which he was ever prompt, discreet, and active.
Hon. Isaac Reed, of Waldoboro, was a member of the same Senate as Mr. Reed, and thus publicly wrote of him since his death : "That honest, Christian gentleman was my room-mate during two sessions of the Legislature." From his earliest years he was sur- rounded with Christian influences, inherited genuine religious tend- dencies, and early in life he and his wife united with the church. In Bath he attended the Winter Street Church. Mr. Reed developed in his youth those noble traits of character that led to decision, dis- interestedness, and unswerving integrity.
For forty-one years he and his wife made their house one of open hospitality. The poor found in him a constant friend, and he was always ready to assist any worthy object whose claims were presented to him. He always manifested a particular interest in young men, and one never applied to him in vain. Wm. M. and Franklin Reed built fifteen ships, three barks, one brig, and three schooners.
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Colonel Reed died, while in the midst of a useful life, January 12, 1866, in his sixty-sixth year. His wife died April 12th of the same year. They were buried in the Maple Grove Cemetery at Bath.
Of a family of eight children, there are now living: Franklin, resident of Bath, and Edwin, Victoria, and Ellen Drummond (wife of Henry Churchill Goodspeed), residents of Massachusetts.
Franklin Reed was born in Phipsburg, and is the second son of William M. and Caroline Drummond Reed. He attended school at the Academy in Bath and later at a private school in Portland.
At twenty years of age he formed a partnership, in Bath, in the dry goods business, with Henry W. Field, under the firm of Field & Reed. He continued in this business five years, when he accepted the secretaryship of an insurance company, of which Capt. John Fisher was president. In 1857 he started an insurance business on his own account, his brother, Edwin, joining with him in 1860. For twenty years the firm of F. & E. Reed did a large business and were well known in all shipping circles. In 1880 Edwin removed to Bos- ton and the firm was dissolved.
In 1853 Franklin became a member of his father's ship-building firm, and after the death of the latter, in 1866, he continued the business in connection with his brother, Edwin. They launched a number of large vessels from their yard in the southern part of the city. Mr. Reed was elected director of the Sagadahoc Bank while his father was president, an office he held until 1874, when he was elected president, a position he still retains. He was president also of the Twenty-five Cent Savings Bank for some years. In 1885 he held the presidency of the Sagadahoc Agricultural Society, but declined a re-election. While a young man he was a member of the Bath City Grays, a military company that was favorably known throughout the state.
Although strong in his feelings politically, he has never taken an active part in politics. In his earlier years he was a member of the Republican party and filled a number of offices in the city govern- ment under the administration of that party. He joined in the Greeley movement after the war and eventually became a Democrat, being the nominee of that minority party for Congress in 1881.
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Mr. Reed developed an aptitude for business from his earliest years, and has achieved success in the various branches he has undertaken. Cautious and careful in details, devoting himself with unceasing zeal to his duties, both public and private, his reliability and good judgment have won for him the confidence and respect of his fellow-townsmen.
On November 5, 1857, Franklin Reed married Sarah Augusta Weeks. They had two children: Ada Frances, who died when an infant, and Frederic Clinton, who was born October 9, 1855, was educated in the Bath public schools and Cornell University, read law with Charles W. Larrabee, in Bath. He died in Brunswick, in 1887, and is interred in Oak Grove Cemetery.
Nehemiah Harding was a life-long sea-captain, sailing in the vessels of William King, continuing as long as able to go to sea. He was born at Truro, Mass., and came, with his father, to the New Meadows to a farm when two years old. When old enough he commenced going to sea, and, working his way up, became a very successful commander. He married Miss Rachel Reed, at Pleasant Point, Topsham, and they had three sons and three daughters. He lived until 86 years old, dying Angust 2, 1865. His wife died Jan- uary 19, 1834, aged 47 years. His descendants, in Bath and else- where, are numerous, taking high rank in business, society, and public positions.
Edward K. Harding .- From the Boston Traveller we take the following notice (published soon after his death) of our late respected citizen, who was well known, through commercial and social inter- course, in Boston, New York, and New Orleans :
"Edward Kelloran Harding, son of Capt. Nehemiah Harding, was born in Bath, Me., in September, 1816. His father was an extremely energetic and successful ship-master, and sailed from that port over forty years. He attended the usual schools of the town, and at 13 entered a store at some trivial rate of wages, all of which, however, he saved for a year and expended in a silk dress for his mother (then and there an uncommon article, even among the wealthy families of the district). He then entered the counting-room of Messrs. Clapp
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& Boynton, ship-builders, where he remained four or five years, when, with letters of recommendation from Messrs. Clapp & Boynton, he went to New Orleans and entered, as clerk, in the ship-chandlery and cordage house of Messrs S. S. Green & Co. Here he rapidly rose to a position as one of the firm, and purchasing the interest of one of the partners, the firm name was changed to that of Green & Harding. Here his large Northern acquaintance and many friends increased the business to many times the original amount.
"In 1841 he married Miss Louisa H. McLellan, daughter of Gen. James McLellan, of Bath, and in 1853 finally retired from the New Orleans house and permanently returned to his early home. Here he formed a partnership with C. S. Jenks, and commenced the building of ships which he continued until 1857 or 1858, under the name of Jenks & Harding, building a number of very fine ships and barques. Besides his ship-building he held very large contracts with the City of New Orleans for granite paving blocks, of which and pressed hay he shipped immense quantities.
"For some years before his final retirement from his New Orleans firm he passed much of his time in the North, and in 1850 he organ- ized the Bath City Grays, a company composed of leading citizens of Bath, which company held their organization as such until the breaking out of the war, when they became Company A, of the Third Regiment, Maine Volunteers. This company was uniformed similarly to the Boston Tigers, and were the "crack" company of the State. They participated in the great Boston Railroad Jubilee, in 1851 or 1852. Besides his commission as Captain of this com- pany, in 1850, he was commissioned aide-de-camp to Governor Crosby in 1853, with rank of Colonel, and Colonel Second Regiment, Second Brigade, Fifth Division, Maine State Militia, in 1855.
" At the breaking out of the war he desired to offer his service to the government, which his fondness for and familiarity with military command would have rendered invaluable at that juncture, but yielding to the desire of the Governor and Adjutant-General of the State he accepted the position of Acting Quartermaster-General of the State of Maine, and equipped every regiment that left the state during the war, personally superintending all details and cor-
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respondence. To illustrate his business activity, in addition to his state duties at this time he was also the largest supplier to the gen- eral government of forage, and shipped largely from the ports of Bangor, Wiscasset, Belfast, Bath, and Portland, besides having buyers all over the state.
"He was at one time president of the City Bank, president of the Marine Mutual Insurance Company, president of the Boston & Maine Steamship Company, president of the International Telegraph Company, Hinkley Knitting Company, Nequasset Lake Ice Com- pany, and had been prominently identified with many other local interests.
"He was the most energetic business man of his time-always prompt, always to his word, and although he was generally con- sidered one of the most "wide-awake" business men, yet no person ever heard it intimated that he had ever over-reached to the amount of a single penny. He had not an enemey in the world.
"As a husband and a father he seemed to his family perfection, -never even an angry word or look. The latter years of his life he was not actively engaged in business, except in occasional ventures. He died of dropsy, August 21, 1874, aged 57 years and 11 months, after an illness of three months."
Colonel Harding married Louisa, daughter of Gen. James McLel- lan, an estimable young lady, and still living. The children of Colonel Harding are: George Edward, who went through a course of education in the Bath schools, graduating at the High School, and graduated at the Columbia College, New York, became an architect and civil engineer, and commenced business in New York, where he has continued with the success that has placed him in the front rank of his profession. He married in that city and has two children. Mr. Harding was the architect of the Bath Public Library building, the drafting of which was a valuable gift to the city, and is a model of adaptedness and beauty of design. Henry Mclellan Harding, having received his early education at Bath, ending with the High School, graduated at Yale College in 1875, and is by profession an electrical engineer, was one of the first to introduce electric railways in the United States, being associated with F. J. Sprague, of New
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York, and George Westinghouse, of Pittsburg, Pa. He married Florence Agnes Powers, of Boston, Mass., and has one child, Marion Powers Harding. The daughters are Mrs. D). W. Russell, who lives at Brookline, Mass., and has three children; the younger daughter married Fritz H. Twitchell, of Bath, and they have one daughter.
The Morse Families, of Bath, descended from Samuel Morse, a Puritan, who came to this country from England, to Massachusetts, prior to 1635, and settled at Dedham, which town he was instru- mental in incorporating. One of the descendants of this lineage was Jonathan Morse, who came to Maine and settled at Small Point, Phipsburg, from whom are descended many of the name in Bath, Phipsburg, and other parts of the state.
Of this branch was J. Parker Morse, who was born in Phips- burg, March 12, 1810. His father was Richard Morse, who, with his three sons, Parker, Alden, and John, was lar ely engaged in the lumber business and ship-building at Winnegance, and later built ships at Bath. In December, 1844, he married Miss Mary Foster Henry (one of the large ship-builders of Bath), and had one son and three daughters. The eldest daughter, Isabella, mrrried William F. Hooper, of Fall River, Mass., where they reside and have one child, Parker Morse Hooper. His second daughter, Clara, married Dr. F. W. Payne of Boston.
As a Republican Mr. Morse was twice elected to represent Bath in the House of Representatives, in which he served in the sessions of 1867 and 1868, and in the Senate in 1869 and 1870. While a member of the Legislature, Mr. Morse was largely instrumental in procuring an act establishing the Soldiers and Sailors Orphans Home at Bath.
The mother of Mr. Morse was Jane Parker Morse, whose parents were Jacob Parker and Isabella McCobb Parker, connected with the historic Parkers and McCobbs of the Kennebec. He died March 19, 1872, and his wife June 24, 1883.
Benjamin Wyman Morse .- No man has been better known on the Kennebec River than Capt. B. W. Morse. While still young he went with his father Wyman Morse in the memorable side-wheel
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steamer Bellingham, a very early tow-boat on the river, proved him- self very capable and trustworthy, and, upon the death of his father, succeeded to the command of the boat when eighteen years of age, subsequently having command of newer and larger side-wheel boats, one of which was the Ellen Morse, the first beam engine side- wheeler built on the river. Then followed the era of screw propellers, the first of which on the Kennebec was the Fearless, with Captain Morse in command. The towage business increasing, Captain Morse was instrumental in forming the Knickerbocker Steam Tow- age Company, by act of the Legislature, in which he successively occupied the positions of treasurer, superintendent, and finally presi- dent of the company, holding that office till his death.
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