USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Bath > History of Bath and environs, Sagadahoc County, Maine. 1607-1894 > Part 34
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Henry C. Tarbox was born on Phips' Point, Woolwich, December 2, 1836, and was brought up on the old Phips farm. His father, Andrew Tarbox, being a ship-master, Henry C. early imbibed the attractions of a sea-faring life, and, at the age of thirteen, went to sea with his father. His early education was in the district schools, but eventually he attended the academies of Pittston and Litchfield, where he obtained the rudiments of an English education and the theory of navigation. From that time on he sailed in separate ships from that of his father, serving the regular grades of seamanship to the command of bark Samuel Tarbox in 1858, commanding her six years, most of the time in the Chincha Islands trade, coming home in 1865, and remaining one year; rejoined the Tarbox, lost her in a hurricane sailing from Baltimore for Aspinwall, and was rescued after three days without food. He then commanded the ships Ataska, Alexander, bark Almira Robinson, and retired from the sea in 1884, living in Bath. On February 15, 1865, Captain Tarbox married Aramede Lemont, only daughter of Alfred Lemont, of Bath, and they have three sons and two daughters.
Parker Merrill Whitmore .- His father, Dea. William H. Whitmore, was a prominent man of his day. He lived in Arrowsic, nearly opposite the City of Bath, where he had a farm which he
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cultivated, and, in the earlier portion of his life, followed the sea; later on he studied for the ministry and was licensed to preach but never ordained. He devoted the winter months to teaching school, in which avocation he was very successful. He was a deacon in the Congregational Church, at Phipsburg, for a long number of years, · and was always known as a bright and active Christian, notable, ready, and earnest in prayer and exhortation. In person he was of a compactly and fully developed build, the perfect man, with a fresh, cheerful, and hearty presence, and liked by all who knew him. He was a great reader of the Bible and read it through twenty-eight times. His days were long in the land, having lived to the age of 89 years, departing this life October 13, 1877.
P. M. Whitmore comes down in the line of the fifth and sixth gen- eration. His grandfather was Andrew Whitmore, born October 2, 1760, and his grandmother was Lucy, only child of James and Mary Couilliard, born January 29, 1768, both living to a good old age, and both dying aged 99 years. His father was William H. Whitmore, of Arrowsic, born September 10, 1788, married, first, Charlotte, daughter of John and Susanna Parker, of Phipsburg, and second, Phebe, daughter of John Hayden, of Bowdoinham, having children by both wives. In early life Captain Whitmore followed the sea, but just after the Civil War he settled in Richmond and later in Bath, where he built several ships. Of late years he has occupied himself as a ship-broker, which business he is in at the present time. He was twice married but is now a widower. His first wife was Martha C. daughter of Samuel F. and Elizabeth G. Blair, of Richmond, Me., by whom he h- 1 one daughter, who only lived one year; his first wife dying, he married Mary E., a sister of his first wife, who died June 1, 1870; by his second wife he had four children, Eugenia Antoinette, Mary Parker, Harriet Louise, and Lizzie Parker.
William Evarts Whitmore is the eldest son of William H. Whit- more by his second wife, Phebe Hayden, and was born at Arrowsic, November 22 1835. While young he entered upon a sea-faring life, became master of ships sailing out of the Port of Bath, and retiring from the sea, while in the prime of life, engaged in the coal trade in Bath, in which business he is now occupied.
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Denny McCobb Humphreys, son of John C. Humphreys, of Brunswick, was born in Brunswick, October 11, 1838, and on January 27, 1863, married Miss Carrie Augusta Owen, who was born in Topsham, April 30, 1839. They have had seven children, of whom there are living, Lillius Barrows (Mrs. A. F. Dunnells), Agnes Whit- more, John Campbell, Grace Thomson, Alice Mary, and Frederic William. Captain Humphreys followed the sea in his early life, commanding some of the best ships of Bath build. He retired from the sea while in the prime of life, and made his residence in Bath, where he has since been engaged in the insurance business.
John Henry Humphreys was born in Brunswick, June 11, 1825, and July 27, 1851, he married Miss Frances Wilson, who was born in Topsham, August 23, 1831. They had one son, Frederick W. Humphreys, who was born May 31, 1852, and died in Bath, of con- sumption, May 11, 1876. He was a very promising young man. Mr. Humphreys moved from Brunswick to Bath in 1866. In his business life Mr. Humphreys was engaged, with his father, J. C. Humphreys, in milling and ship-building in Brunswick; was employed in the Bath Custom House when his father was collector; was treas- urer of Bath Savings Institution from 1861 till his death, a period of thirty years; was a member of Polar Star Lodge and of Dunlap Commandery. In 1891 he went to California for the benefit of his health, and on his return died in Bath, June 6, 1891, and was interred with Masonic honors. He left an amiable wife, who is a member of Grace Episcopal Church and highly esteemed in society.
Charles "Tichols Delano .- The ancestor of the Delano family was Hopestil Delano, grandfather of Charles N., who was born in Kingston, Mass., in 1734. He became captain of a schooner, and while sailing to the Kennebec he purchased a farm in Woolwich and settled upon it, and died there in 1829, when 95 years of age. His son, John Delano, was the father of Charles N., who was born at Woolwich, February 19, 1819. He married, August 17, 1843, Miss Frances Caroline Larrabee, daughter of Robert Larrabee, of Phips- burg. She was born January 26, 1824. Their children were four sons and three daughters. His wife died November 4, 1864, and he
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married her twin sister, Beatrice, November 17, 1865. Captain Delano followed the sea and was in command of sea-going vessels from 1844 to 1868, when he retired and was in the mill and lumber business, in Portland, until 1883, making his residence during that time in Bath, where his widow still resides in a pleasant home. In 1860 he joined the Winter Street Church, and was one of its deacons fourteen years. He accumulated a handsome property. Deacon Delano was a most upright man and an exemplary Christian. His death occurred December 5, 1887, when he was 68 years of age.
Abel E. Work .- James Work, the great-grandfather of Capt. Abel E. Work, of Bath, was born in the City of Cork, near Dublin ; his great-grandmother was Elizabeth Work, but no relation of her husband. They came to America about 1722; resided thirteen years on Birch Island; in 1735 they moved to Topsham and settled on a farm of one hundred acres, bought of the Pejepscot Proprietors, on the Bay road; both died about 1760. They had two sons and three daughters.
The grandfather, Ebenezer Work, was born on the passage from Europe, in 1722. He married Olive Sullivan, of Scituate, Mass., born in 1724. They lived and died on the old farm, he in December, 1826, and she in December, 1827. Their children were: John, James, David, William, Margaret, Jane, Mary, Elizabeth, Lydia, and Mary.
The father, David Work, the third son of the above, was born in Topsham, in 1777 ; married Mary Eaton, of Topsham, 1801 or 1802; she was born in 1784 and died in 1876; he died in 1861, when nearly 84 years of age. They lived and died on the homestead farm. Their children were fifteen, of whom eleven lived to grow up: Oliver, Lucy, David, Joseph, Benjamin, Catharine, Charles, Susan, Lewis M., Harriet, Humphrey, Statira, Abel E. Those liv- ing are David, Susan, and Abel E. David lives on the homestead, and married Mrs. Hannah Griffin, of Topsham, in 1882.
Abel E. was brought up on his father's farm, and commenced going to sea in 1850, when sixteen years old, and became captain in 1862, commanding, successively, the brig, President Benson of Baltimore; bark, Halcyon, and ships, Bombay, Oregon, and Thomas M. Reed
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of Bath; never met with an accident in twenty-six years; only lost one man by sickness, and one lost overboard. On June 13, 1874, he married Augusta Fisher, who was born in Arrowsic, Septem- ber 11, 1843, daughter of A. D. Fisher ; has one child, Ruth Pearl, born in Bath, April 1, 1877.
James Todd Morse, a retired ship-master, was born in Phips- burg, April 17, 1822. His father was Francis Morse, and his mother, Nancy (Todd) Morse. His grandfather was Jonathan Morse, of Small Point. The boyhood of Captain Morse was spent on his father's farm, on the old Lithgow place, and his education was in the district schools. On October 29, 1849, he married Miss Mar- garet W. Lowell, daughter of Capt. Abner Lowell, of Small Point. She was born August 26, 1827, and they have had six children, of whom four are living.
Mr. Morse commenced going to sea in 1840, when he was eighteen years old, sailing in Bath ships, and rose to be master of a ship, in regular course of promotion, in eight years, and commanded some of the best ships of Bath build, for many years. In 1867 he was in command of the ocean steamer, Tiogo, running between New York and New Orleans, via Havana; she was consumed by spontaneous combustion. Ending his sea-faring life, in 1871, he settled in Phila- delphia, being employed as Marine Superintendent of the steamer line between Philadelphia and Antwerp, in which he continued until 1884, when he retired from active business life to the old family homestead in Phipsburg.
John S. Lowell, son of Capt. Abner Lowell, Jr., was born at Small Point, Phipsburg, and went to sea at the age of 17 years. He married Miss C. M. Campbell, of Phipsburg, and they have had two boys and two girls. When 21 years old he became captain, and successively commanded the ships Armoriel and Tiger, barque Alice Minot, ships M. E. Riggs and Merom, sailing in C. V. Minot's employ twenty-one years, after which he moved to Bath, where he still resides during the summer season, and in Charlestown, Mass., winters. Captain Lowell's wife died when he was on a voyage to China, and he subsequently married, after three years, the widow of
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yours very truly Jan Harding
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Captain Plummer, of Newburyport; Charleston, S. C., being her native place. The last few years of his going to sea he had charge of the ship, Studson, until she was sold. Captain Lowell has been fortunate in his sea-faring life.
Samuel Woodard Cushing was born in Phipsburg, July 27, 1821. He is a descendant of the ancient families of Philbrook, Cushing, and McCobb. Mr. Cushing obtained such an education as was afforded by the public schools of that day, together with three years in school in Bangor. During his stay in Phipsburg his home was on Lees Island, where his immediate ancestors resided, owning this notable island. In 1854 Mr. Cushing transferred his residence to Bath, where he pursued trade with success, retiring therefrom in 1892. September 26, 1848, he married, in Phipsburg, Miss Mary Ann Mereen, daughter of Capt. Abel Mereen, who was born July 26, 1831. They have five sons and two daughters, who have been well educated at high schools and colleges, five of them becoming teachers in the higher departments of learning.
William Lee Cushing was born in Phipsburg, July 24, 1849; graduated at the Bath High School in 1868, entered Yale College in 1869 and graduated with the degree of A. M. in 1872 ; taught school in New Haven, Conn.,-Hopkins Preparatory School-several years; went to Europe and spent four years studying at Athens; returned to this country in 1887 ; became teacher in Yale College. In 1889 he founded "Westminster School " at Dobbs Ferry, N. Y., which he is conducting successfully. April 6, 1876, he married Miss Mary Strong, of H- tford, and they have three children. In the spring of 1891 he went on a trip to Europe.
John M. Cushing was born on Lees Island, Phipsburg, February 26, 1851 ; came to Bath, when three years old, with his father, Sam- uel W. Cushing; graduated from the high school in the class of 1868; commenced a sea-faring life, in November of the same year, in the ship Ellen Goodspeed; subsequently went in other Bath and Brunswick ships; became captain in December, 1872, in command of the ship John (). Baker of Brunswick, when twenty-one years of age; in November, 1875, took charge of the ship Oregon; later was in the employ of the Red Star Line of steamers, plying between
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New York and Antwerp; was in the ship brokerage business at Puget Sound four years; came back and was in the employ of the American Line of steamers, running between Philadelphia and Liv- erpool; in August, 1886, was chief executive officer of the Vander- bilt steam yacht, Alva; in June, 1887, took charge of the steam yacht, Susquehanna, owned by Mr. Joseph Stickney, and is now in command and part owner of a ship. He married Emma Smith, of Bangor, December 31, 1872, and has two boys and a girl. She died in February, 1884. '
Samuel Dayton Cushing was born in Phipsburg, March 30, 1853; graduated at the Bath, High School in 1871; went to Europe in September, 1872, and pursued the study of music at Leipsic, Germany, three years, as also at London, where he took lessons on the organ six weeks; returning home he became organist for the Springfield, Mass., Congregational Church, at the same time teach- ing music; from thence went to Toledo, Ohio, where he is organist for a Congregational Society of that city.
Charles Elbridge Cushing was born in Bath, August 11, 1863; graduated at the Bath High School in 1881, and Yale College in 1885, on which occasion he was class poet and the poem was pub- lished in book form; taught school in New Jersey one year, and then at Yonkers, N. Y., and later in the Commercial College at Port- land; thence went to the City of Colorado Springs, Colo., where he was engaged in teaching; and went to Europe in 1890. He is now teaching in his brother's school at Dobbs Ferry.
The youngest son of S. W. Cushing is Frank Delano Cushing, born in Bath, December 15, 1871, and who is in Westminster School preparing to enter college.
Charles Albert Coombs was born in Brunswick, October 17, 1836, came to Bath when a youth, and was educated in the public and private schools. In commencing his business life he served as clerk in several stores, and at the age of nineteen went into the grocery business on his own account, afterwards a partner in the firm of Moores & Coombs. He went to the far western country in 1857 ; was one of General Lane's celebrated Kansas rangers during the Kansas-Nebraska difficulties; then became a pioneer to Colorado in
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the spring of 1859 in the pursuit of gold mining; traveled in Texas and New Mexico; returned to Bath ; was the very first to enroll his name under the first call for troops at the commencement of the Rebellion; was mustered in Company A, Third Maine Regiment of three years' men, of which O. O. Howard was Colonel ; was wounded at the battle of Fair Oaks in June, 1862, and taken to David's Island, on Long Island Sound, to recruit ; returned to the army in May, 1863, as clerk in the Quartermaster's department, served in that capacity in Sheridan's Cavalry until the close of the war; returning to Bath he went to Canada in the oil business; coming back to the States he entered upon his subsequent career of railroad employ; was three and a half years, in 1867 and 1871, station agent at Lewiston; was appointed the first superintendent of the Knox & Lincoln Railroad, in September. 1871; resigned March 31, 1886, to accept the office of general manager of the Boston, Hoosae Tunnel and Western Road; when that road was sold to the Fitchburg Com- pany he became general manager of the New York & Northern; resigned in one year to accept the general management of the Annapolis & Baltimore Road, which position he still holds, while his family continues to reside in Bath, where he married, July, 1866, Miss Mary Elizabeth Cowin, daughter of Capt. Joseph Cowin. They have had one son and two daughters. Mrs. Coombs was born in Bath in 1840. When Mr. Coombs resigned from the superin- tendency of the Knox & Lincoln Road his friends in Bath gave, in his honor, a banquet at the Sagadahoc House, with numerous guests.
Francis Winter Weeks, youngest son of John Weeks and Mary Pettengill, was born in Bath, February 26, 1844. He received a good business education, which was completed in the high school. His business career was commenced as purser on the steamship Montana, plying between San Francisco and Portland, Ore., in which employment he was engaged in 1865, 1866, and March, 1867. Sub- sequently, returning to the East, he entered the office of Franklin & Edwin Reed at Bath. For the period of fourteen years he was in the insurance business. In 1883 he formed a partnership with Frederick E. Reed in insurance and private banking. That con- nection having been dissolved, he was chosen treasurer of the
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People's Twenty-five Cent Savings Bank, in January, 1886, which position he is now filling, and he has been county treasurer since 1889. Mr. Weeks has been a prominent member of the Bath Board of Trade and its secretary many years. He served in the Common Council in 1879, 1880, 1885, 1891, 1892, and 1893, and was its president the latter year; also on the Board of Aldermen in 1886, 1887, and 1888. For twenty-five years Mr. Weeks has been a member of the Masonic Order, having joined Solar Lodge in 1868, and the Commandery in 1886. On September 12, 1876, he married Frances Almira Delano, daughter of Capt. Charles N. and Caroline Delano. She was born May 5, 1854. ^ Their children are : Mary Eveleth, Caroline Beatrice, Charles Nichols, and Olive Metcalf Weeks.
B. W. Hathorne was born in Wiscasset, August 28, 1839. His early life was spent on his father's farm, when, at eighteen years of age, he went to sea three years, after which he was employed on a steamer on Lake Ponchartrain, Mississippi, until 1860, when he went to California and engaged in gold mining with success; returned to Bath in 1870; went into trade at Varneys Mills; in 1871 bought out the store of goods where he has conducted the grocery business to the present time. He has served two years in the City Government. December 31, 1876, he married Miss Eliza A. Morse, a sister of B. W. Morse, a very estimable lady, and their residence is on the site of the Old South Church, High street.
Charles Henry Morse was born in Somerville, Mass., June 17, 1830, and came to Bath when a child, with his parents, where he has since resided. He commenced life by learning the trade of ship- joiner, at which he worked six years. He then began running on steamboats on the Kennebec, soon taking command. In 1862 he was placed in command of a government steamer, built at Wiscasset, and took her to service in Southern waters, where she was employed during the war as a transport of men and supplies. On one occasion this boat did invaluable service in saving Washington from a raid of General Early, when its defenses were weak, by being the only boat on the Potomac, of sufficient light draft, to bring to the city a detach- ment sent to head off the enemy, the Union army being then (1864)
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before Richmond. Returning from the war, Captain Morse com- manded steamboats on the Kennebec until 1885, when he became superintendent of the Knickerbocker Steamboat Company, holding the position to the present time.
Alden Morse was born in Phipsburg, and is a son of Richard and Jane Morse. He worked with his father, cultivating a large farm and operating a saw-mill, during his minority, after which he became interested, with his father and brothers, in the manufacture of lum- ber at Winnegance, doing an extensive and lucrative business which they continued, in connection with the building of ships, at Winne- gance and subsequently at Bath, on a large scale. Mr. Morse was always a worker, and while operating a buzz-saw in his mill had the misfortune to meet with a fatal accident, prematurely ending his days while in the prime of life, May 7, 1875. He married Miss Louisa Lee, by whom he had a son, Charles, and a daughter, Jane. His wife dying, he married Miss Mary Elizabeth Averill, of Wiscasset, and their children are Horace Gray, John Alden, and Clarence Morse. The two elder brothers when of an age to enter business, in 1888, commenced ship-building, launching three large schooners, at Bath, in 1890. Horace G. had the misfortune of being run over in Bath, by a hose-cart of the fire department, while trying to assist during a fire, and was killed. The brother, John A., still continues the business. Mrs. Morse moved to Bath, where the family now reside. In 1870, when the ice business had commenced on the Kennebec, Mr. Alden Morse undertook the enterprise of purchasing and converting the Parkers Head mill-pond into an ice-pond, and taking his brother, John, into partnership, successfully carried on the ice business.
William L. White was born October 10, 1825, in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was a native of Essex County, Mass., and was a lineal descendant of Peregrine White of old Plymouth Colony fame. Coming to Massachusetts when he was two years old, he came to Maine in 1851, and, with others, owned the stage line that ran between Bath and Rockland until the completion of the Knox & Lincoln Railroad, when the travel east from Bath was changed from
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stage to rail. On this road he was a conductor until 1885, when he became successor of C. A. Coombs as manager, and has been con- tinued in that office since the road has become a part of the Maine Central system.
Frederic Henry Low, son of David P. Low, a life-long and esteemed resident of the city, was born in Bath, June 27, 1849, where he received his education in the public schools. He then entered the counting-room of J. S. Milliken & Co., as book-keeper, where he served three years; was then in the employ of George H. Nichols in the dry goods business twelve years; became treasurer of the Knox & Lincoln Railroad Company in 1883; when the road was sold to other parties, in 1890, he was continued in the same posi- tion; elected treasurer of the Bath Savings Institution upon the death of John H. Humphreys, in 1891, and was elected cashier of the Lincoln Bank in 1893. Mr. Low served as alderman in 1889, and has been a member of the Common Council for the years 1883, 1892, and 1893, serving on important committees.
Read Nichols was born in Bowdoin, March 11, 1822, and came to Bath in 1839 to learn the masons' trade, which business he has followed to the present time, and to which he has added dealing in baled hay, drain tile, cement, lime, and brick. He has served in the Common Council three terms and as an overseer of the poor five years; was chief engineer of the fire department two years, having worked his way up to that position in a twenty years' service. He helped work the historical Kennebec engine when its tub had to be filled by the use of buckets. In 1890 he extended his business by establishing a brick-yard a+ the western end of Western Avenue at Round Meadow. January 26, 1846, he married Rachel Ann Little, daughter of Capt. Charles Little of Bath, and their children living are: Charles L., Clara A., and Emma A. (Mrs. Daniel Pierce).
Henry Eames has been assistant cashier and cashier of the Sagadahoc National Bank continuously since 1853, a period of forty years. That he has been const int to the duties of this position is shown in the fact that, in all these years, he has not been absent
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from his desk at the office a single day. Mr. Eames has always resided in Bath, where he was born February 3, 1834. He had the advantages of a good city school education. January 22, 1857, he married, in Bath, Miss Adelia Fredeline Morse, who was born in Gardiner, May 8, 1836. They have three children: Frederick Henry, Ella Florence, and William Morse. Ella Florence graduated from Smith College, Northampton, and married Edward E. Wood, of Northampton, Mass, September 8, 1885, and they reside in that city. F. H. and W. M. Eames graduated from Bowdoin College and from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, and are in the drug business in Manchester, N. H.
George W. Johnson was born and educated in Bath: was assistant postmaster several years; when the Patten Car Works were built he was book-keeper for that company two years, then was elected treasurer of the People's Twenty-five Cent Savings Bank, which position he held until January, 1886. Edward F. Johnson was employed at Swanton, Jameson & Co.'s for eighteen years, as was also Ernest .A. Johnson for about nine years, as salesmen, thus gaining a thorough knowledge of the hardware trade, so valuable to them in carrying on their own business in the same line. The firm is composed of George W. Johnson, Edward F. Johnson, and Ernest A. Johnson, all of whom are active, enterprising, business men, dealing in general hardware and ship chandlery, both wholesale and retail, occupying their own store in Elliot House Block, which was first occupied by Kendall & Richardson, then by S D. Bailey & Co., who were succeeded by George Fisher, and then by Johnson Brothers in 1885.
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