USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Harpswell > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 73
USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Brunswick > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 73
USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Topsham > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 73
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ment, independence, and honesty for a faithful discharge of duty ; this office he held for ten years, and we may say, we believe without a fear of contradiction, that the duty was rendered to the entire satis- faction of the company, and to the great credit of the deceased.
During his long and busy life, - for the captain was never idle when work was to be done, - he amassed a handsome property, which, how- ever, the reverses of later years somewhat diminished.
A gentleman who knew him well in Liverpool in his younger days, declares that he was one of, if not the finest looking ship-master that ever sailed out of that port ; he bore a close resemblance to E. K. Collins of New York, and the mistakes of identity were cause of merriment to both men. A remarkable thing for a sailor, Captain McManus never used tobacco in any form.
In his long service on the sea, and in his ten years' work for the Board of Underwriters, Captain MeManus had become more widely known than any other ship-master in New England, possibly than any in the United States.
The deceased possessed a good knowledge of the common affairs of every-day life, of the current politics of the day, and was thoroughly up in his calling as a ship-master and as a superintendent of the construc- tion of ships. Clear-headed, he was methodical in his business, prompt to meet his engagements, and honest in his dealings with others ; pru- dence and forethought marking his management of his business affairs.
Captain McManus possessed a fund of animal spirits, proving him- self a most companionable man. He was free in his manners, strong in his attachments, and strong in his dislikes ; generous and hospitable in an eminent degree, his house and table were ever open to friends, and that hospitality was bestowed with an ease and cordiality that rendered it doubly acceptable to the recipient.
He died in Brunswick, September 3, 1875,1
MARTIN, CAPTAIN CLEMENT.
Clement Martin was born in 1790. He was one of Brunswick's most successful ship-masters. Starting upon life with none of the advantages of modern days, he won his way to command and competent fortune through the exercise of an untiring energy, a cool judgment, and great business shrewdness and sagacity. Possessing a clear intellect, he observed closely, storing up many curious and interesting facts of men and things, incidents of his early life. He was a man of strong
1 From the Brunswick Telegraph.
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impulses but of warm feelings, making close friends of those who knew him best. He died June 2. 1869.
MERRILL, JOHN, ESQUIRE.
Mr. John Merrill was a surveyor. Having been employed by Sir William Pepperell to survey some of his land, Pepperell was so well pleased with him that he advised him to move to the District of Maine, and it was doubtless through his recommendation that Merrill was employed by Governor Bowdoin, of Massachusetts, to survey his extensive tract of land.
In 1760, Mr. Merrill packed up his clothes and tools, and with his pack over his shoulder left Arundel, and started on foot for the Andros- coggin River. At North Yarmouth he met a man who had just arrived from Brunswick. He asked the man if there would be any trouble in finding the way. " Oh, no," was the reply, " the way is pretty well spotted out." He then asked him the distance, and the answer was, " They call it eighteen miles, but I will swear for it you will think it twenty-eight miles before you get there."
After arriving at Topsham he began to look around for a farm, and finally made a selection of the old Merrill homestead, where he built a log-house in the rear of the site of the present house. He was after- warils rallied by an acquaintance upon what was deemed his lack of judgment in building so far off from the settlement.
While in the employ of Governor Bowdoin he was accustomed each fall. after his season's work was over, to travel on foot, pack on back and staff in hand, to Boston, to render an account of his doings to his employer and receive his pay.
Mr. Merrill was for many years the principal surveyor in Lincoln County. He was very careful and accurate, and showed a good degree of skill for those times. He was a public-spirited and patriotic man. He was one of the selectmen of Topsham in 1764, at the first organi- zation of the town after it was incorporated, and he held that office for eighteen years, at various periods prior to 1800. He was one of the Committee of Correspondence and Safety in 1776, and was one of the principal actors in the affairs of the town during all the period above named. At the June term of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace, held at Pownalboro' in 1777, he took his place on the bench as one of the justices. and he also officiated as such in 1782 and 1783. In 1772 he was licensed by the court as a retailer, and also in 1778. Ile was licensed as an innholder in 1774. At the town meeting Decem- ber 2, 1776, he was chosen as an officer to take recognizance of debts.
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Mr. Merrill was a man of judgment and moral worth. He was an ardent lover of books, and collected a large library at a time when books were both costly and difficult to obtain. It is said that he bought the first Cyclopedia owned in the District of Maine. He was an indul- gent father, and it is related that on one occasion, when his daughter Susannah was only seventeen years of age, he yielded to her solicita- tions and allowed her to make a visit to Boston. She accomplished the journey, riding the whole way on horseback, under the escort of the different mail-carriers on the route. The sight of a beautiful and graceful, as well as daring young damsel, galloping along with her red cloak fluttering behind her, created a sensation in all the settlements and towns through which she passed, and one ardent swain was so smitten by her attractions at that time that he did not rest until he made her acquaintance. He at once proposed, was accepted, and the next spring they were married.
MERRILL, COLONEL ABEL.
Colonel Abel Merrill, son of John Merrill, was emphatically a public man in this community. Says one who knew him well : -
" Endowed with good judgment and a thorough knowledge of human nature, superadded to a good education (self-acquired) and a noble mien, he stood foremost among his townsmen. During the war of 1812, and until its close in 1814, he commanded a regiment and did good service in the division of General King, who regarded him as one of his most efficient and accomplished officers. At the close of the war he resigned, and was called into civil service, representing his town in the House and his county in the Senate, besides holding other offices until he declined them altogether. Married to an estimable lady, and having a family of eleven sons and three daughters, all grown up, he, with ample honor and fortune, withdrew from public life to enjoy, with the wife of his youth, a ripe old age in the society of their remaining children, near the church of which they had been active members for over forty years.
"As a Christian, a member of the Masonic fraternity, a politician, a husband and father, he had few equals, while hospitality has ever been an . heirloom' at the Merrill homestead. He could say of his children, that some of them had visited every quarter of the earth, and that neither absence nor distance ever severed the ties which bound them together."
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MERRILL, CAPTAIN LEONARD P.
Captain Merrill was graduated at Bowdoin College in 1842. He studied law, and practised awhile in Brunswick. He finally went to sea, shipping " before the mast." He rapidly rose, however, in his new occupation, until he came into the command of a vessel. At the time of his death, which occurred in New Orleans, November 1, 1871, at the age of forty-nine years, he was master of the ship Amity, of Bath.
Captain Merrill was a good ship-master. He also possessed fine talents and a cultivated taste, and was a good musician. He was a man of thorough integrity of character, and of good judgment and discernment.
MERRILL, CAPTAIN MOSES EMERY.
Captain Merrill belonged to the Fifth Regiment, United States Infan- try. He was with General Taylor in Mexico, and participated in the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, and the capture of Monte- rey. He then joined Scott, and was at the taking of Vera Cruz, at Contreras, Cherubusco, and at Molino del Rey, where he fell. His remains were brought to Brunswick for interment.
" The conscientious, gallant, and noble Merrill was detached with the storming party. and fell early in the action, while waving his sword above his head, and urging on his men to the charge. He fell too soon for his country, but covered with glory acquired in many battle-fields."
MILLER, REVEREND JOHN.
Reverend John Miller, of Milton, Massachusetts, received a call to settle in Brunswick in December, 1761, and was installed over the church of the First Parish in September, 1762. He was settled over this parish for about twenty-four years. During the early part of his ministry he apparently gave good satisfaction, and the church appears to have flourished. Towards the close of his ministry, however, con- siderable dissatisfaction was felt, charges were made against him, and efforts were several times made to dismiss him. As careful an exami- nation as can now be made into the merits of the case appears to show that the differences between him and a portion of the parish were originally owing to a variance of opinion in regard to matters of church polity. This was a subject upon which the residents of the east and west ends of the town did not harmonize ; the latter favoring the Presbyterian, and the former the Congregational form of church
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government. Mr. Miller could not, of course, satisfy both sides, and after a while mutual criminations and recriminations occurred which rendered a settlement by an ecclesiastical council necessary. Before, however, the matter was settled, Mr. Miller's death occurred. Several letters of Mr. Miller, and other papers relating to the matter, are preserved in the Pejepscot Collection. Concerning Mr. Miller's abili- ties as a preacher, and the influence which he exerted, but little can now be said. Judging from his own writings, he was a strict believer in all the. doctrines taught in the Westminster Catechism, and endeav- ored conscientiously to act up to his religious views. At the same time it is believed that he was charitably disposed to those who differed with him in what he deemed minor matters of faith.
MINOT, HONORABLE JOHN.
At what time Judge Minot first came to Brunswick is unknown. As early as 1715 the proprietors voted that " Mr. Watts' discourse with Mr. John Minot about his staying there (Brunswick) this winter, if it be needful, to oversee our affairs, to keep our cattle employed in halling Timber, &c., and to forward the building of our Houses." Whether he spent that winter here or not is not known ; but he did not, in all probability, take up his permanent residence in the town until after the incorporation, as his name does not appear on the petition for the same, and for some time previously he had been in command of Richmond Fort, and had the control of the truck-house there. He appears, however, to have previously owned a farm on Mair Point.
Judge Minot was town clerk of Brunswick in 1744, and that year recorded the names and ages of his children in the town records, the first entry of the kind that was made. He was a justice of the peace, and subsequently Chief Justice of the Court of Sessions. He also represented the town at the General Court for two or three years .. He was chairman of the Board of Selectmen for two years, and was the man anthorized by the General Court to call the first town meeting in Harpswell.
Tradition describes Judge Minot as being distinguished for the mild- ness of his manners, the benevolence of his disposition, and for his anxiety to promote the peace and happiness of all around him. He was a useful citizen, and was always active in his support of religious institutions. In his manner he was kind and courteous, and was highly esteemed and beloved by all, even by the Indians. It is related 1 of
1 McKeen, MS. Lecture.
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him that, as he was once passing Mair Brook, on his way home from Fort George, two Indians, concealed behind a tree, were just in the act of shooting him, when one of them recognized him, and exclaimed, " Justice Minot ! me no shoot him - he too good man !" The account goes on to state that not long after, this same Indian came to the judge, and wanted some rum for having saved his life on that occasion.
As regards Minot's judicial career but very little is known. He evi- dently kept his court records loosely, as some of them are still extant. entered in account books and diaries. From what has been said of him as a man. it is fair to presume that his decisions were generally equitable, whatever may have been his knowledge of law.
NEWMAN, PROFESSOR SAMUEL P.
Samuel Phillips Newman was born in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1797, was graduated at Harvard College in 1816, and died at Ando- ver. February 10, 1842.
In 1818 he became a tutor at Bowdoin College, and the next year was chosen Professor of Ancient Languages. In 1824 he was trans- ferred to the professorship of Rhetoric and Oratory. He resigned his office in September, 1839, on account of ill health, and removed to Barre, Massachusetts, where he took charge of the Normal School.
For about three years Professor Newman discharged the duties of the president of the college, during the illness of Appleton, the then incumbent. As a professor, he added greatly to the reputation of the college, especially by the publication of his " Practical System ofRhet- oric," which, in this country and England, passed through sixty-seven editions, and of his " Elements of Political Economy."
" The chapter on Taste, in his work on Rhetoric, is the result of much reflection, as well as extensive reading, and, though necessarily brief, is one of the most satisfactory treatises on this subject in the language. Mr. Newman devoted, during the last years of his office, much attention to the subject of elocution. He studied the principles developed by Sheridan, Rush, and other writers, with much care, and conducted this difficult and heretofore neglected branch with skill and success.
" As a critic, he was discriminating, of pure taste, well versed in the laws of English composition, and apt in the application of them. In all his relations to the college he was of a ready apprehension, a perspicacious, able teacher, a wise counsellor, and a valuable friend.
" Mr. Newman was never satisfied with superficial or indefinite views. He was not of that number who gather up scraps of knowledge.
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Hence he was not discursive in reading. He sought for principles. He investigated patiently and thoroughly, and was not contented unless he had some important subject on hand. for such investigation. He was endowed by nature in an unusual degree with the elements of a fine taste, a quick sensibility to beauty, great simplicity of heart and character, and a strong aversion to whatever is showy or affected. His writings were characterized, by simplicity and naturalness.
" In the relations of private life Professor Newman gained the esteem and affection of all who can appreciate worth. His eye, ever ready to kindle and to melt with tenderness, was a sure index of the warm affections within. How he was regarded as a fellow-citizen and a man, may be known from the general interest ever expressed for his welfare after his removal from his home of many years, and espe- cially during the progress of his long and distressing disease, by those of every condition who had long known him in the various relations of public and private life.
" In 1820, Mr. Newman received a license to preach from the Cum- berland Association, and from time to time, as his official duties per- mitted, he preached with acceptance. As a Christian, he was ever advancing in the divine life. The close of his days afforded a striking exemplification of the power of Christian faith to sustain the soul, and to impart that peace which passeth all understanding."1
O'BRIEN JOHN M., ESQUIRE.
Mr. O'Brien was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, September 9, 1786. He graduated at Bowdoin in the first class that ever left that college, 1806, and at his death, in 1865, he was the last member. After graduation he is believed to have studied law in the office of Chief Justice Parsons, of Newburyport. Ile practised his profession awhile in Boston, but about 1845, perhaps earlier, he removed to Brunswick. After coming here he paid little attention to law, but devoted himself to literature, science, and the mechanic arts. He possessed a remarkable inventive faculty. He had a refined taste, was well read in general literature, was a finished writer, possessed good conversational powers, and was a remarkably good extempora- neous speaker.
In manner he was modest and rather retiring ; in disposition sensi- tive, warm-hearted, and generous ; among his friends companionable
1 Portland Advertiser, March 7, 1842.
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and faithful. His wife Hannah was born about 1756, and died Octo- ber 24, 1826.
Mr. O'Brien died in Brunswick, December. 19, 1865.
ORR, BENJAMIN, ESQUIRE.
Honorable Benjamin Orr, the son of John Orr, of Bedford, New Hampshire, was born in Bedford, December 1, 1772. Ile was for many years a resident of Topsham, and lived in the Ruth Thomp- son house. He was one of the most brilliant and successful advo- cates in the State.
The following sketch is abridged from one prepared by Honorable William Willis for another work.1
When Benjamin Orr arrived at years of discretion he expressed a desire for a liberal education ; but his father, having eight sons to provide for, was not able to comply with his wishes, and apprenticed him to a housewright.
He labored in this capacity for two or three years, when he pur- chased a release from his indentures, and worked on his own account, keeping steadily in view the prominent idea of his life, - to qualify him- self for a learned profession. With this intent his head and hands were constantly busy, working at his trade, pursuing a course of study, and keeping school. By keeping steadily in view his great plan of life, his mind was constantly educating itself amidst his daily mechanical toil, by close attention and constant discipline, superior far to the mere formula and routine study of schools. When in Port- land and other towns in which courts were sitting, he embraced the opportunity to spend what time he could spare in listening to their proceedings, hearing the arguments of counsel and the rulings of the court, and thus increasing his stores for improving the operations of his own mind.
In his studies he received much aid from Paul Langdon, a graduate of Harvard, and some time preceptor of Fryeburg Academy, who gave direction to his preparatory studies. With such assistance, and his own unbending perseverance, he was enabled. in 1796, to enter the Junior class of Dartmouth college.
While in college he studied law under the direction of William Woodward, Esquire, of Grafton. On taking his degree in 1798, he entered the office of Samuel Dinsmore, late governor of New Hamp- shire, and continued there something over a year, when, thinking
1 The Courts and Lawyers of Maine.
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Maine would be the best field for his future labors, he proceeded to Hallowell, and placed himself under the tuition of the late Judge Wilde. In the autumn of 1801 he was admitted to the bar in Lincoln County, and immediately opened an office in Topsham, where Mr. Hasey was then the solitary practitioner. In 1803 he was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court, and from the position he at once took at the bar, his practice became very extensive in his own and the a ljoining county of Cumberland. On one occasion he encountered the able and distinguished Jeremiah Mason, of New Hampshire, in a bill of equity before the Circuit Court of the United States. The case was of great importance, as may be supposed by the engagement of such an advocate as Mason. His success was complete and trium- phant, and he was highly complimented by Mr. Mason for the manner and ability with which he conducted the cause.
In Chancery practice Mr. Orr became quite eminent, and is said to have been without a rival in the State. He pursued his large and successful practice without interruption by extraneous employments, except for two years from 1817, when he represented the Lincoln district in Congress. During the first session he did not much engage in debate. On the thirteenth of March he made an able speech in opposition to a resolution which declared that it was the duty and in the power of Congress to authorize the making of post, military, and other roads and canals within the several States. The resolution was, however, adopted, by a vote of ninety to seventy-five. At the next session Mr. Orr made a speech on the Massachusetts Claim, and he also spoke twice on a bill relating to the coasting trade. His remarks were characterized by sound sense, conciseness, and entire pertinency to the subjects under discussion. Mr. Orr was a useful member, by his clear perceptions, his promptness and fidelity to the duties of his station, and the ability with which he treated every subject to which he gave his attention.
This was the last public office which Mr. Orr held. The practice of law suited him far better, and was better adapted to his powers, his education, and his inclinations. He sought it in its highest forms : it gave full scope to his clear and comprehensive mind and his severe dialectic talent, and he pursued it with elevated aspirations and lofty endeavors which would have no fellowship with meanness in any shape. As an advocate Mr. Orr was concise, logical, and forcible. He seized upon the salient points of a case, and pressed them with a power that was invincible. He did not waste his strength in efforts to sustain the weak points of his cause, but poured a concentrated light upon its
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strong features. The manner in which he viewed this style of man- aging a cause may be inferred from his reply to an anxious client, who. sitting by him as he was closing a splendid argument, in which, with conciseness and force peculiar to himself, he had presented his case to the jury, suggested to him some point which he had not touched upon. " I have argued your cause, sir, and cannot stop to pick up the chips." As a lawyer his mind was clear, discriminating, and exact. As he grew in experience and reputation, his business rapidly increased, and his services were called for in all parts of the State.
Immediately after his death, Chief Justice Mellen, in a charge to the grand jury, September, 1828, spoke of him as one " who had long stood, confessedly, at the head of the profession of our State ; who had distinguished himself by the depth and solidity of his understanding, by his legal acumen and research, by the power of his intellect, the commanding energy of his reasoning, the uncompromising firmness of his principles, and the dignity and lofty sense of honor, truth, and jus- tice which he uniformly displayed in his professional career and in the walks of private life."
Mr. Orr was appointed one of the overseers of Bowdoin College, and afterwards, in 1814, was chosen a Trustee, which office he held at the time of his death ; and during this time, for one or two years, he held the office of treasurer.
His wife formerly resided in Newburyport, Massachusetts. She was a descendant from John Robinson. the Leyden pilgrim, and venerated pastor of the Plymouth Church before its migration. By her he had eleven children. The death of this excellent lady, to whom he was most tenderly attached, struck a severe blow upon Mr. Orr, from which he never recovered. His letters to her, when he was absent in Con- gress or upon the circuit, were filled with expressions of anxious solicitude for her health, of deep interest in her comfort, pleasure, and welfare ; and when she was taken from him, he ceased to find conso- lation or support.
He died in 1828.
His sons, John and Henry, were educated at Bowdoin College. John graduated in 1834, and entered the ministry. Henry graduated in 1846, and entered upon the practice of law in Brunswick, where he is still settled.
OWEN, PHILIP.
Philip Owen was born in Brunswick, in February, 1756, and died May 28, 1849. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and a
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member of the General Court in 1812 and 1813. The following extract from a letter written by him, under date of June 14, 1843, to J. T. Buckingham, president of the Bunker Hill Monument Associa- tion. in response to an invitation to attend the celebration of the anni- versary of the battle of Bunker Hill, will best show his services. He was then in his eighty-eighth year, and declined the invitation on account of his infirmities.
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