History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 19

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co.
Number of Pages: 1100

USA > Maine > Penobscot County > History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 19

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We reserve for another chapter some account of the county organizations affecting the Penobscot country.

Itamin . Planta .

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

GOVERNOR PLAISTED.

General Harris M. Plaisted, of Bangor, Governor of the State, was born in Jefferson, New Hampshire, No- vember 2, 1828, son of Deacon William and Nancy (Merrill) Plaisted. His parents possessed little of this world's goods beyond the resources of a rocky farm with- in the shadow of the White Mountains, but to their chil- dren they left a rich inheritance in their exemplary lives of industry unremitting, and of piety most pure and sin- cere. For nearly forty years they were members and pil- lars of the Baptist Church in Jefferson. The father died in 1854, and the mother two years later. Noticing his death the local paper (Coos Democrat) said of him:

He was a good man, and true in all his relations of life; a good husband and father; a good citizen and an honest man. Scarcely have we ever known one whose character was so positive, and whose life was so earnest, so universally respected and beloved by all who knew him. We never heard a word spoken, we never heard of a word spoken, to his dispraise-not even one of those little qualifying words, " but" or "if," so often used to cloud commendations that can but be rendered.

General Plaisted was one of a family of nine children, six sons and three daughters-three of whom, besides himself, made their homes in Maine-Hon. William Plaisted, of Lincoln, who has been a member of the State Senate from this county; Dr. Plaisted, late of Farming- ton, a graduate of Jefferson Medical College, Philadel- phia, and surgeon of a Maine regiment during the war ; Mrs. Church, deceased wife of Cyrus P. Church, Esq., of Bradford. One son, Charles, is now living in Lancaster, New Hampshire, who has represented his town in the New Hampshire Legislature.

General Plaisted comes of good legal as well as fight ing stock. His grandfather, the Hon. Samuel Plaisted, was for several years Judge of the New Hampshire Court of Common Pleas, and a native of Berwick, in this State; was descended from Colonel John Plaisted, of Ports- mouth, who was a member of the New Hampshire As- sembly from 1693 to 1727; Speaker in 1697, 1717, and 1727 ; a member of the Royal Council from 1702 to 1716; a Judge of the Supreme Court from 1699 to 1719, and Chief Justice in 1716-19. The father of Colonel John was Captan Roger Plaisted, a distinguished officer in the Indian wars that make so dark a chapter in the early history of New England. Roger came to Berwick about 1650, and was killed in battle with the Indians October 17, 1675. The savages, about one hundred and fifty, made an attack on the settlement, and were stoutly resisted by Captain Plaisted in command of the two up- per garrisons. At the first alarm he sent a messenger to Major Waldron, at Dover, New Hampshire, importunate- ly beseeching aid; "for," said he, "we are all in great danger of being slain unless our God doth wonderfully appear for us," and, in the true spirit of the age, added: "They that cannot fight let them pray." No assistance came to him, but in the fight the next day his desperate resistance saved the settlement, though at terrible cost.

" Being greatly over matched," says the historian, "some of his men sought safety in flight, but he, disdaining to fly or yield, though urged again and again to surrender, fought with desperate courage until literally hewed down by the enemy's hatchets. Two of his sons, unwilling to leave the intrepid man, sought their retreat too late and were slain. Such being the fate of this Spartan family, whose intrepidity deserves a monument more durable than marble. The father had represented Kittery four years in the General Court, and was highly respected for his uncommon valor, worth, and piety. He and his sons were buried on his own land near the battle-ground, full in view from the highway leading through Berwick; whose lettered tombstone tells succeeding ages: 'Near this place lies buried the body of Roger Plaisted, who was killed by the Indians October 17, 1675; aged forty- eight years.'" *

Among the descendants of the brave old Indian fighter are Governor Goodwin, of New Hampshire, and Gov- ernor Fairfield, of this State, also Judge Peters, of the Supreme Court of Maine.

General Plaisted is the eighth in descent from Roger Plaisted. Until the age of seventeen he remained at home in New Hampshire, working on his father's farm and attending the district school. During the next three years, spring and fall he attended the academy at Lan- caster, St. Johnsbury, or at New Hampton, paying his way by "doing chores" for his board, and "ringing the bell " for his tuition; teaching school winters and working on the farm summers.

In 1849 he entered college at Waterville, Maine, (Colby university) where he graduated in 1853. During his col- lege course he taught the village school in Waterville three winters, and was principal of the Waterville Liberal institute three terms. He was also superintendent of schools, elected by the town, for three years.

In 1855 he graduated from the law school of the Uni- versity of Albany with the highest honors of the institu- tion, winning the first prize, the gold medal, for the best essay on equity jurisprudence. After pursuing his studies one year in the office of Hon. A. W. Paine, of Bangor, he was admitted to the Bar in 1856, and in October, the same year, opened an office in that city, where he has since made his home. He was for three years-1857-60 -a member of the staff of Governor Lot M. Morrill. His first vote was cast for Hon. A. P. Morrill, Temper- ance candidate for Governor in 1853.

In 1861 he entered the army as lieutenant-colonel of the Eleventh Maine infantry, and was soon after pro- moted to colonel. He entered active service in March, 1862, and commanded his regiment through the Penin- sular campaign of General McClellan, participating in most of the great battles of that memorable campaign from the Siege of Yorktown to Malvern Hill. He commanded a brigade in the Siege of Charleston under General Gillmore in 1863. In April, 1864, he was trans- ferred, with his brigade, to Virginia, and commanded his brigade in General Grant's great campaign against Rich. mond in 1864-65, which resulted in the overthrow of the

* Williamson's History of Maine.

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

Confederacy. During this campaign his command was engaged with the enemy and had men killed and wound- ed on fifty-nine different days-losing in the aggregate one thousand three hundred and eighty-five out of two thousand six hundred and ninety eight, and his command never moved to the front without him while he was in the service. He was twice promoted by the President "for gallant and meritorious conduct in the field," to brigadier- general, and major-general by brevet.

During the war he was at home-once on sick leave, and recruited over three hundred men-once for the purpose of filling up his regiment, which had been more than decimated in battle, and recruited three full com- panies .. Directly and indirectly, he succeeded in keep- ing his regiment full and in the service to the close of the war. The recruiting fees allowed him, as well as any one who recruited for the army, amounted to over eighteen hundred dollars-all of which he turned over to his sol- diers. For this generous and patriotic act he received, in the spring of 1864, through the Portland Press, the felicitations of Mayor McLellan.

On taking leave of his old brigade General Plaisted made to it the following farewell address, full of sensi- bility and pathos, such as can animate only the citizen soldier "whose bayonet thinks"-from every line of which shines out the spirit of the true soldier and patriot:

To the officers and soldiers of the Third brigade-Eleventh Maine, Tenth Connecticut, Twenty-fourth Massachusetts, One Hundredth New York, Two Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania.

At last, soldiers, it becomes my duty to say farewell! That word may sometimes be spoken and not carry with it the heart's regret, but not by him who has, for years, shared the pleasant companionship of soldiers.

That companionship with you I have shared in a campaign which will be celebrated even in the world's history, celebrated for the brave deeds and manly virtues of a patriot army contending for government, freedom and empire; yes, soldiers, with you ! I will not rehearse your history in that campaign. Suffice it to say, the record shows you en- gaged your country's toes and had killed and wounded some of your number on fifty-nine different days! that your losses in the aggregate were one thousand three hundred and eighty-five out of two thousand six hundred and ninety-eight. Your name and fame are as familier as household words in the camps of this army corps and among your fel- low-citizens at home. Your iron will and firmness have won for your- selves the proud title of "The Iron Clads." That cowardly cry, "we are flanked," has never been heard in your ranks. When other troops have given way on your right or your left you have shown to your enemy that you had no flanks, no rear; that the Third brigade was all front, and that, too, of steel. How well that front has been maintained the long list of your casualties sadly but gloriously attest. Your brave deeds will be remembered in-your country's history and be the proud boast of your descendants.

When reviewed by the Lieutenant General and the Secretary of War, not long since, your soldierly bearing won from those high officials the strongest expression of their approbation and delight. What would they have thought had they seen you FIGHT!

Be proud of your record, veterans; you have a right to be.

The respect and confidence of such troops after such service is honor enough. It is sufficient reward for the best efforts, the best endeavors of a lifetime. I .am indebted to you, comrades. Your conduct has afforded me the keenest pleasure of my life, and while life shall last memory will constantly recur to the conduct of the "Iron Brigade" with as much pride and gratitude as the heart is capable of.

May the day come quickly when you can return to your homes to re- sume your peaceful pursuits and to receive the honors, which belong to our country's defenders. Then will you in your civil life vindicate the high character of the army by aiding to restore and preserve the pub- lic morals, and by proving to your fellow-citizens that in learning to be- come good soldiers you have become the best of citizens.

In conclusion, I desire to repeat for your encouragement the language of Washington to his brave troops, who had won for us the cause we are now contending to maintain: "Let me remind you, " said he, "you, the private soldiers, of the dignified part you have performed in the great struggle. For happy-thrice happy-will he be accounted here- after, who has contributed, though in the least degree, to the establish- ment of this gigantic Republic on the broad basis of human freedom

and empire." Immortal honors will belong to you as saviours of the Republic, no less than to our fathers as founders of it. Farewell !

To the Eleventh Maine, my old companions, farewell ! H. M. PLAISTED.

The military career of General Plaisted from the com- mencement of the war in 1861, when as a private citizen he raised a company of volunteers and took the field in the cause of his country, to the victorious close of the great struggle in 1865, when, as Brevet Major General of volunteers, he returned to his home in Bangor, forms one of the brightest pages in the history of Maine troops, and links that history with the most brilliant achieve- ments of the Union army. It is fitting that, to a record so brightly told, we add the expressed recognition of his merits by his superior officers and comrades in arms.

During the Peninsular campaign in 1862, he served under General Naglee. The latter having been promoted to the command of a division, was desirous that Colonel Plaisted should command his (Naglee's) old brigade, and wrote to the Vice President, Mr. Hamlin, as follows:

At my instigation our mutual friend, Colonel Harris M. Plaisted, is an applicant for promotion that he may command my old brigade. I can assure you it cannot fall into better hands. He has been well tried on the Chickahominy, at Fair Oaks, White Oak Swamp, and other battlefields of the Peninsula, and sustained himself and regiment in such a manner that his State will refer to the history of the war and the conduct of the Eleventh Maine with pride and extreme satisfaction. Let me ask of you as an especial favor, that you will use your influence with the President and secure the "star" for Colonel Plaisted.

In 1863 General Plaisted commanded a brigade under General Gilmore in the siege of Charleston, and was warmly recommended for promotion.

In October, 1864, he was again recommended for pro- motion by Major Generals Terry, Ames, and Foster, his corps and division commanders. Major General Terry, the hero of Fort Fisher, wrote as follows:

Colonel Plaisted is a brave, patriotic, and loyal man, and has faith- fully served the country since early in the war. His regiment is not only one of the best in the Tenth Army Corps, but one of the best which I have ever seen.

He is more than ordinarily attentive and zealous in the performance of his duty, and equally careful for the comfort and welfare of his men. In the battle of the 7th instant (New Market Road) he handled his brigade with marked skill and ability, and it was as much due to his efforts as to the efforts of any one else that our flank was not turned and the battle not lost.

General Foster wrote:

The discipline of his brigade (the Third of the First Division) is of the highest order, and its fighting qualities unsurpassed by any in this army. Colonel Plaisted having commanded it since its organization at Hilton Head, is, in my judgment, entitled to the greater share of the credit for the remarkable efficiency which it has attained. Colonel Plaisted is an officer of unbounded zeal and energy, and his loyalty and patriotism knows no bounds.

General Ames (from Maine) wrote:

The credit for the excellence of his regiment undoubtedly falls to him. I have been connected with this corps for months, and it is my opinion, as well as that of the officers of the higher grades in the corps, that the Eleventh Maine Volunteers is far superior to any Maine regiment in the Army of the James, in fact that it is unsurpassed by any regiment from other States. The conduct of the Eleventh Maine in every battle it has participated in has called forth the highest praise from all, and I must acknowledge it causes me the strongest feelings of State pride in Maine troops.

The following tribute from the officers of one of the regiments of his brigade was forwarded to General Plaisted after his return home:

At a meeting held the 30th day of May, 1865, by the commissioned officers of the Tenth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, at camp near Richmond, Virginia, Colonel E. S. Greely being president, and Lieu- tenant J. W. Hawxhurst secretary, Captain F. G. Hickerson, Captain James H. Linsley, and Chaplain H. Clay Trumbull were appointed a committee to draft resolutions expressing the feelings of the officers of this regiment towards General Plaisted, their late late brigade com- mander. The following preamble and resolutions having been reported by said committee, were unanimously adopted :

" WHEREAS, General H. M. Plaisted, our brigade commander during long and arduous campaigns, has been forced, in consequence of fail- ing health, to leave the military service he loved and adorned, and has

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

now retired to private and civil life, that he may have formal assurance of what, from his long association with us, he must fully understand are the true and hearty personal sentiments and opinions of the officers of the Tenth Connecticut ---

" Resolved, That while our commander, General Plaisted, had our sincere esteem for his genial social qualities and his ever kindly and courteous personal bearing, our respect for his high integrity and marked attainments in scholarship and military science, and our con- fidence in his brave and experienced soldierly lead, he merited our es- pecial admiration for his moral courage, in choosing, on more occasions than one, to risk his own advancement rather than to risk in foolhardy assaults the lives of the brave men he commanded, while his presence with them when they were most exposed showed that he never held them back from unwillingness to share all dangers to which they were properly called of duty.

" That the unvarying and remarkable successes of his command are the best evidences of General Plaisted's faithfulness and ability as a soldier, and that no higher tribute of praise can be paid to his skill and bravery than that he was a worthy commander of the 'Iron Brigade.' That until the memory of the events in which we bore a part with him and under him have passed from our minds, we shall ever cherish pleasing recollections of General Plaisted as an able commander, a gallant soldier, and an estimable Christian gentleman.

" Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted by our president and secretary to General Plaisted, with assurance of our in- dividual respect and regard.

"E. S. GREELY, President, Colonel Tenth Connecticut Volunteers.

"Lieutenant J. W. HAWXHURST, Secretary."

That General Plaisted possesses the highest moral as well as physical courage is evidenced by the following order issued by him prohibiting "whiskey rations" to the officers under his command :

Hereafter requisitions for whiskey-the one gallon per month-by commissioned officers of this brigade will not be approved at these headquarters.

The colonel commanding the brigade believes that a scheme could not be devised better calculated to ruin the young men holding commis- sions in our army and to impair the discipline of the service than this "one gallon a month " whiskey allowance; for such an habitual use of intoxicating drink cannot fail to engender habits which, if not in the service, must in after years prove ruinous to those who indulge in it.

But this gallon of whiskey-this jug of rum a month-is degrading to the high character of an officer in the United States army, both in his own estimation and in the estimation of his men. It destroys the respect which is due him as an officer and gentleman, and thus saps the very foundation of military discipline.

Whiskey, as a beverage, it must be admitted, is a useless indulgence at the best, and one which the officer must deny to his men. The Col- onel commanding is free to say that no officer possesses the true spirit of a soldier who is not willing to practice that self-denial which it is his duty to enforce upon the men of his command. It is believed by him that the officers of his command have a proper appreciation of them- selves and of the service, and, therefore, will readily discountenance a practice which tends to the greatest evils, and which can be only a use- less indulgence.

In May, 1865, after leaving the service, General Plais- ted returned to Bangor to resume the practice of his pro- fession, worn down by fever and ague from the effects of which he has never fully recovered.

In 1867 he was elected Representative from Bangor to the State Legislature, and re-elected in 1868. He was delegate, from the State at large, to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1868, which nomi- nated General Grant for the presidency. He was elected Attorney General of the State by the Legislature in 1873 after a severe contest, and re-elected in 1874 and 1875. It fell to his lot as Attorney General to conduct, in be- halt of the State, during his three years of office, four- teen capital cases, among which were the celebrated trials of Wagner, Gordon, Lowell, Reed, Benner, Robbins,

the "Annie B." murderer, and Carson, twenty-two days on trial.

So carefully and skilfully were these cases prepared and managed no verdict was set aside by the full bench on law. Some of these cases called for advocacy of the highest order. He was always equal to the occasion. The cele- brated Wagner case was the first which called forth all his powers. This lifted him in reputation as advocate to a high rank in his profession. In a column of editorial comments the Boston Daily Advertiser, of June 20, 1873, characterized his argument in this case as a "model for such speeches," and as a " piece of masterly rhetoric."

He was a member of the LXIVth Congress from the Fourth District, serving on the Committee of Public Build- ings and Expenditures of the Treasury Department. He was also member of special committees on ventilation of the Representative Hall, and Proctor Knott's committee to investigate the "Whiskey Frauds," so-called. For the whole of the long session, up to the middle of August, 1876, General Plaisted was taken from the floor of the House by the labors of these committees. He also served for several weeks a member of the sub-committee appointed from the Committee on the Treasury Expendi- tures. General Plaisted was not a candidate for a second term, on account of a vote of the convention of 1875, which gave the succession to Aroostook county.

Immediately on his return from Washington General Plaisted resumed ›work in his office. In 1877 he en- gaged with F. H. Appleton, Esq., in the preparation of " Plaisted and Appleton's Digest," a digest of the sixty- eight volumes of the Maine Reports-a work of four- teen hundred pages, which was completed the day he was nominated for Governor. He had previously pub- lished two other works, "The Lowell Trial," and "The Wagner Trial." He has also prepared for future pub- lication the history of the Plaisted family.

June 1, 1880, General Plaisted received the unanimous nomination for Governor of two conventions-the Green- back convention of one thousand five hundred and fifty delegates, and the Democratic convention of seven hun- dred and fifty delegates. He was elected in September following, after the most hotly contested election per- haps ever known in the State, receiving 73,770 votes to 73,554 cast for Hon. Daniel F. Davis. January 13, 1881, he was inaugurated Governor of the State for two years. The Legislature elected at the same time is Republican. Among the public acts of Governor Plaisted, which ex- cited general discussion, were his inaugural address, his vetoes of thirty-one bills for the re-charter of State banks of issue, and his veto of the bill to apportion the State for Senators and Representatives.

Governor Plaisted cast his last vote for the Republican ticket in 1878. He had previously taken his stand pub- licly in favor of Government currency as against bank currency. He is opposed to all banks of issue and in favor of Government issues to constitute, with gold and silver, the entire circulating medium of the country. The following extract from his inaugural address to the Legis- lature presents the issues upon which he was elected:

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

Debt, public and private ; debt and taxation are slowly but surely undermining our free institutions. Government bonds not only escape taxation themselves, but they furnish a cover for all other kinds of evi- dences of debt that are taxable. This double iniquity must be borne so long as United States bonds are endured. It would seem that the prop- osition to refund the seven or eight hundred millions of United States bonds now maturing, could meet with but little favor by the mass of the people in this State; that their interests demanded that these bonds should be paid, not refunded to remain a burden for a generation at least, and perhaps for generations. Then that other proposition be- fore the American Congress, to retire and destroy the 346,000, 000 legal tender notes,-burn them, so that out of their ashes may arise a like amount of interest-bearing bonds to further tax the labor and industry of the country! Would it not be more in accordance with the interest of the toiling masses in this country, to require the National banks to retire their currency, some over three hundred millions, and replace it with United States legal tenders, and thereby pay off a like amount of United States bonds, burn them up and thus relieve the people of so much burden of interest, and above all, from the baneful influence of these bonds upon the currency and business of the country ?

The Treasurer of the United States in his last report says: "In- stead of the volume of the circulation being regulated by the business needs of the country, it is governed by the price of United States bonds !" The power that controls the volume of the people's money is certain to control the people's destinies.

This question of the currency is one about which honest men may honestly differ. It is an important question. Its decision will be of far reaching consequence. If the bank currency win the wole field of circulation, then we shall have a never ending national debt, main- tained by the banks as the basis of their existence; yes, fostered by them as "a national blessing"-to the banks, ever increasing in num- ber and power as the country increases in wealth and population, and certain to become, if not so already, a political machine, hostile to free government, mingling in the elections and legislation of the country, corrupting the press and exerting its influence in the only way known to the money power-by corruption.

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History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 19

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co. Number of Pages: 1100

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co.
Number of Pages: 1100