History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 197

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 197

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reader. His love of nature is keen, and he sees beauty where men of coarser nature would pass unheedingly. His most prominent character is hopefulness. Hope is to him like the air he breathes, and no matter what re- verses and petty annoyances may befall him he still main- tains a brave, hopeful spirit, which joined with all his tact and executive force carries him to a successful con- summation. He has a wide, generous nature. His con- versation is free and natural, and he attaches those with whom he comes in contact with the bonds of a hearty friendship. He believes in enjoying life, but rather in a calm and hearty way. To the afflicted he shows sincere sympathy. He is ever on the alert for improvements in his business, and was the first in his profession to intro- duce embalming in the State, and was recently called to Moosehead Lake to embalm and care for the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Haines, who were drowned there.

Mr. Hunt married Miss Eveline K. Knight, Decem- ber 17, 1866. Their family consists of four children- Walter Reid, Ralph Hudson, Edward James, and Eva Sawtelle. His portrait appears in this work.

CHARLES D. BRYANT.

When Bangor was a mere hamlet, there came here, when but a lad, Charles D. Bryant. His father, Robert Bryant, a son of John Bryant, was born in Hollis, in the District of Maine, as this region was then called, Septem- ber 20, 1775. His mother's maiden name was Olive Davis, a native of Saco, Maine, born in 1783. Charles D. was the fourth child of a family of eight children. He was born in Scarborough, Maine, July 16, 1813, and came to Bangor in 1820, when but seven years old. This was the year that Maine became a State. The condition, size, etc., of Bangor at that time may be learned by re- ferring to the history of the city elsewhere. The people were poor, and it was with difficulty that Mr. Bryant could provide his family with necessary food and raiment; yet he struggled manfully on, assisted and cheered by his good wife. In 1827 he bought a small farm in Hermon, getting in debt for it. This farm contained fifty-seven acres, with but little cleared. Here Mr. Bryant moved, living for some time in a log house. For this place he was to pay $4 per acre.

In the spring of 1829, when Charles D. was sixteen years of age, he told his father if he would fit him up with a few clothes, he would go out to work and pay for the farm. After a time the outfit was provided, and Charles started out with a heart full of gladness that he could now help his father. This outfit consisted of one pair of striped bed-ticking pants, one linen jacket, two coarse cotton shirts, minus collar and bosom, one pair of coarse brogan shoes, and two pairs of stockings. He soon found employment, for he was able to convince any one that he could work and was anxious to do so. He worked eight months at $8.00 per month for a Mr. Billings in Newburg on a farm, and during the winter made shingles. The next year again worked for Mr. B., and again in the shingle swamp during the winter. In

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

this way he toiled on. At one time he worked for Captain Lowder and helped build the house on Ham- mond street where Mr. Lowder lived and died. Thus in time he paid for the farm and all interest then ac- crued, making his father a comfortable home and re- lieving him of a great load of care and anxiety. We wonder how many boys in Bangor to-day would do the same ! When he had thus paid off all indebtedness on his father's place, he found himself without any educa- tion, save such as he had picked up at odd moments. He could not feel satisfied with this, and so determined to go to school. To do so he worked evenings at sawing wood, and did chores for Mr. Lowder, thus earning enough to pay his board and tuition at a private school, at $5. per quarter, for ten quarters. This he now wisely says was the best thing he ever did in his life. After this he worked for Benjamin Bussey (under Mr. Lowder, as agent for him) exploring and surveying ; also working at this for other parties. In 1836 he married Miss Avis L. Taylor, and in 1838 moved to Thomaston, where he was employed as agent for Benjamin Bussey, of Roxbury. In 1844, after the death of Mr. Bussey, he returned to Ban- gor and settled in Hermon, where he cleared up a farm, though much of the time employed as explorer and sur- veyor of timber-lands for other parties. In 1854 he sold his farm and moved to Bangor, where he has since lived. For fifteen years he was employed by the late S. F. Her- sey, and since Mr. Hersey's decease by the "estate," as manager of the large business of the Hersey estate. Mr. Bryant has had two sons and one daughter, all of whom are deceased, except his youngest daughter. By economy and industry Mr. Bryant has acquired a competency ; yet he says the happiest day he ever knew, so far as money or property had anything to do with it, was when he had money earned and paid for his father's farm, and had one hundred dollars of his own.

Mr. Bryant truly says "industry and economy, com- bined with promptness in business, are the foundation of success in business." Mr. B. has proved the truth of this adage. (Had we space, we should like to enter more into details of the life of this self-made man ; but our limits forbid.)

JONES P. VEAZIE.

A prominent man in Bangor was Jones P. Veazie, a son of General Samuel Veazie. He was born in Top- sham, Maine, June 2, 1811, and died February 18, 1875. He was twice married, and had by each wife two sons and one daughter. As a member of the firm of Lord & Veazie, in Bangor, he was a well-known and respected merchant, and continued in business with his partner and brother-in-law, Mr. Lord, until the death of the lat- ter. Mr. Veazie then became interested in shipping and other business, in which he employed his capital and finally founded a large lumbering business with Mr. Levi Young, in Ottawa, Canada, which has been emi- nently successful. Mr. Veazie was a man justly esteemed for his social, liberal, and truthful characteristics, and

had the continued respect of all with whom he had deal- ings. In his business and social life he was outspoken in his sentiments, and was one of the earliest anti-slavery men in Bangor, contributing by his means in the estab- lishment of the Bangor Gazette in 1842. He lived to see the glorious work of emancipation, to which he had given much thought and labor, as well as means, carried forward to its full fruition, until the country he loved was in truth the home of the free.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

SETTLEMENT NOTES.

General Joseph H. Smith, the present Collector of Customs in Bangor, was born in Wiscassett, Maine, No- vember 27, 1836. His father, Jacob Smith, was a native of Epping, New Hampshire, and married Julia A. Lam- bert, daughter of Luke Lambert, Esq., of Bath. He lived some years in Wiscassett, but moved to Bath in 1844. He was a lawyer, and widely known in that part of the State. Jacob and Julia Smith had six children, of whom Joseph was the third son. He attended school in Bath and "finished off," as it was sometimes termed, with a few terms at old Garland Academy. This old academy is justly proud of the many noted men who finished their education (if we may properly use such a term) within her walls. On leaving school he entered the counting room of the iron foundry in Bath as book- keeper. Here he remained two years, at the end of which time he came to Penobscot county and entered the employ of William Jameson, of Upper Stillwater, as clerk in his lumber office. He remained in the employ of Mr. Jameson about two years. In 1856, when twenty years of age, he went west and became traveling agent for the St. Croix Lumber Company, of Stillwater, Minne- sota, selling their logs and lumber. He remained with this company two years and then went to Lyons, Iowa, and set up in the lumber business for himself, remaining in Iowa until the breaking out of the civil war. Feeling that it was his duty to enlist, and that he would prefer to represent his native State, he came to Maine and enlisted as a private in the Third Maine Infantry, Colonel O. O. Howard commanding, June 30, 1861. Soon he was pro- moted to Lieutenant, and on November 14 commis- sioned as Captain of United States Volunteers, and as- signed to staff duty with General John Sedgwick, who then commanded a brigade. January I he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel of United States Volunteers, and assigned to duty with the Second Army Corps, General D. M. Couch commanding. October 27, 1864, he was breveted Colonel for gallantry displayed at the battle of Ream's Station and Boydtown Plank Road, Virginia. This was on the recommendation and request of General

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

W. S. Hancock. On the 9th of April, 1865, he was pro- moted to the rank of Brigadier-General of United States Volunteers by brevet, on recommendation of Major Gen- eral A. A. Humphreys. At the close of the war he was offered a position in the regular army, but declined, and was honorably mustered out. At the close of the war the General came back to Stillwater, in this county, and engaged in building mills and the manufacture of lum- ber. He moved to Bangor in 1868, but continued in the lumber business until 1878 at Upper Stillwater, at which time his mills were burned. In June, 1869, he was nominated, commissioned, and confirmed as Col- lector of Customs for this District, which position he has since held. General Smith married Miss Georgia A. Reynolds, February 24, 1859. She was a daughter of Eri Reynolds, Esq., of Chicago. Mrs. Smith died No- vember 2, 1859, and in September, 1866, Mr. Smith mar- ried again, his present wife being a daughter of Freeman Clark, of Bath, Maine, Agnes by name. They have one son, Joseph S., and one daughter, Hortense Louise.

The Hon. Silas C. Hatch, son of the late Silas Hatch, of Bangor, was born March 28, 1821, commenced mercantile business in Bangor in 1845, and continued in trade until September 1, 1870. He was educated at the Bangor schools and at the Gorham Seminary; was four- teen years a member of the city government, serving seven years in the Common Council (several years as President), and seven years in the Board of Aldermen ; was eight years one of the City Assessors, filling that office the past year; member of the Executive Council in 1871-72-78, and State Treasurer in 1874-75-76. It is be- lieved that the State never had a more able and intelli- gent financial officer. He was one of the few officials in the Treasury Department who have made themselves thoroughly familiar with its details. In 1856 he was Presidential Elector on the Fillmore ticket. He was a member of the Legislature from Bangor in 1873-74, and again in 1881-82, serving as Chairman in 1881, on the part of the House, of the Committee on Financial Affairs, and of Ways and Means, and as a member of the Com- mittee on Education. Some of the best years of his life have been devoted to the public service, and no man enjoys in larger measure the respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens.

Hon. Newell Blake, a retired merchant and manufac- turer of Bangor, and ex-State Senator from the county of Penobscot, is a native of New Hampshire, born in Ken- sington, April 26, 1810. He came to Maine in 1842, settling in Oldtown as a merchant in the firm of Stone & Blake. He had already been in business at his native place for three years, and had been married in Boston, Massachusetts, to Miss Phebe Jordan, of that city, but a native of Maine. After a period of twenty-three years in Oldtown, during a small part of which time he was inter- ested in a line of steamers on the St. John, he removed to Bangor and began the manufacture and shipping of lumber, with Mr. Hosea B. Emery, as the firm of Emery & Blake. Upon the death of Mr. Emery, Mr. Blake sold out the mills and business, and himself, in 1870, be- ginning to feel the weight of years, retired from active

business life. While a citizen of Oldtown, in 1852, he was elected on a mixed Free Soil, Whig, and disaffected Democratic ticket to the State Senate, in which body he served during the terms of 1853, 1854, and 1855. He was a member of the Committee on Mercantile Affairs and Insurance, a very important committee, and was Chairman of the Committee on Accounts and Claims. During one session he was Chairman of the "Committee on Indian Affairs. Thus and otherwise well qualified for public life, upon retirement from business he entered the service of the city of Bangor; was a member of the Common Council in 1870-72, and during these three years was President of that body. In 1873 he was elected from the Fourth Ward as Alderman, and the next year was chosen Mayor of the city, and served a little more than one term, delivering two messages to the Council, as there was no choice of Mayor the next spring after his election. For three years he also served on the City Board of Assessors, during two years being Chair- man of the Board. Mrs. Blake is also still living. They have had no children.

Lewis F. Stratton, the present Sheriff of Penobscot county, was born October 1, 1830. His father, Paul Stratton, a native of Albion, Kennebec county, married Sarah Ann Frazier. 'Their family consists of ten children, all of whom are living. Their names and residence are as follow: Mary, wife of George B. Robertson, of Ban- gor; Eliza, widow of Josiah Snow, Mattawamkeag; Wil- liam, now living in Chester ; George H., of Brainard, Minnesota ; Jane, wife of James H. Snow, of Mattawam- keag ; Eunice, widow of the late James P. Crowell, Orono ; Ellen, wife of O. T. Hooper, New York ; Martha J., wife of William Jewell, of Gorham, New Hamp- shire, and Guilford D., of Gorham, New Hampshire. Mr. Stratton is still living, being now eighty-five years old. Mrs. Stratton died in 1879. Lewis Stratton spent his early life on a farm, receiving a common school edu- cation. He first engaged in business for himself at lum- bering and farming at Mattawamkeag, at the age of twenty-one or twenty-two, and continued to reside in Mattawamkeag until 1879, when he was elected Sheriff. Since then he has resided in Bangor. In 1854 he, with his father, built the first hotel in Winn, and in 1851 his brothers built the Katahdin House in Winn. Mr. Strat- ton married Miss Sarah Bunn, daughter of Luther and Phobe Bunn. They have one son, Albert O., now in business in Mattawamkeag. Mr. Stratton has served in all the town offices of his town, having been Selectman, Constable, Collector, School Committeeman, etc. In 1875 and 1876 he was chosen to the Legislature. He is now serving his second term as Sheriff.

General John L. Hodsdon, one of Bangor's present oldest residents, has been in the practice of law, except at intervals, since 1838. He was lieutenant of the Ban- gor Independent Volunteers in 1834, at the age of eigh- teen, and has held the military commissions of Aide-de- camp, Orderly officer to the Major-General of this military division ; captain of the Bangor Light Infantry, Colonel of the Bangor Regiment, Brigadier-General, Major-General of this division under two Legislative elec-

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

tions and commissions, Adjutant-General of the State, and ex-officio Acting Quartermaster-General, Commissary. General, Paymaster-General, and Inspector-General of the State of Maine, under seven annual successive Leg- islative elections, from 1861 to 1867, inclusive. During the three months of the Aroostook war, in the winter and spring of 1837, he served in the field as Aide-de- camp and Orderly officer to his step-father, who was Major-General commanding all the troops in the ex- pedition. In 1853-54 he was Judge of the Police Court in Bangor. The father of General John L. Hodsdon was Jeremiah Littlefield, of Hallowell, who died of yellow fever in 1818, on his passage home from New Orleans. In 1820 Isaac Hodsdon, then of Corinth, Captain in the Thirty- third Regiment United States Infantry in the War of 1812, adopted John, adding his own name to that of Littlefield. General Isaac Hodsdon had a wide and honorable reputation as a military man and politician throughout the State. He died at Corinth in 1864, aged eighty-four years. The children of General John L. Hodsdon are Mrs. Alfred Veazie and Mrs. C. A. Bou- telle, of Bangor ; and John L. Hodsdon, of Boston, Massachusetts. Mrs. John L. Hodsdon is the daughter of Abraham True, Esq., who died at her home in May last aged eighty-eight years. Mrs. F. W. Hill, of Exeter, is a sister of Mrs. Hodsdon, and Dr. J. F. True, of Auburn, Maine, and Joseph N. True, of New Haven, Connecti- cut, are her brothers. General Hodsdon's sisters are Mrs. W. H. Lunt, of Evanston, Illinois, deceased ; Mrs. J. L. French, of Hallowell, Maine. His only brother, Nathaniel Littlefield, of Hallowell, Maine, is dead.

The Bangor Light Infantry, of which General Hods- don was formerly captain, was organized in- 1853, and in respect to personnel, uniform, and equipment was never surpassed by any military organization in New England. In numbered some eighty-five muskets, and comprised among its members many of the leading, most prominent and honorable citizens of Bangor. It entered the Sec- ond Regiment of Maine Volunteers, in the service of the United States, in May, 1861, as company A, under Col- onel Jameson, under a two years' enlistment, and served its term with honor.

General Daniel White, of the firm of White & Fair- banks, soap manufacturers of Bangor, is a son of Daniel and Lucy White, of Winterport, Maine. Mr. White was a native of Nashfield, Massachusetts. Daniel and Lucy White has eleven children, of whom Daniel is the second son. He was born September 12, 1833. His father was a sea-captain, but owned a farm, on which Daniel, Jr., was brought up. On becoming of age he engaged in the furniture business, in which he continued three years. He went to California in 1855 and engaged in mining, remaining one year, when he returned to Ban- gor and engaged in the jewelry business, in which he con- tinued till the breaking out of the war in 1861. In 1861 Mr. White raised Company I, Second Maine Infantry, and was with this company for two years, when he re- turned at the expiration of the time of service of the regiment. He then raised a company for the Thirty- first Maine and went out again as captain of the com-

pany. He was promoted to Colonel in 1864 and taken prisoner at the mine explosion in front of Petersburg, and held as prisoner seven months when he was exchanged. In 1865 he was breveted Brigadier-General and re- mained in service until the close of the war. He is now Colonel of the Second Maine Regiment. During the summer of 1881 he took a trip West, spending the sum- mer, and on his return engaged in the manufacture of soap with J. A. Fairbanks. Their office and factory is located on Morse's Lane, Bangor. Mr. White married Miss Anna S. Rich, daughter of William Rich, of Mon- roe, Maine. They have two children : Grace and Ger- trude.

The late Edward E. Small, of Bangor, was a son of Isaac Small, a mason of that city. The family of Isaac Small consisted of three sons and one daughter. Ed- ward E. was the second son. He was born in August, 1844, and at the age of seventeen entered the army and remained until near the end of the war. After return- ing he engaged as book-keeper for Babb & Strickland in their lumber office. He was with them about nine years, when he was made United States Pension Agent here and held the office until it was removed from Bangor. After this he went into the insurance business with Mr. Clark, and afterwards with Wiggin & Williams under the title of Wiggin, Small & Williams. He was in this business at the time of his death, September 23, 1881. Major Small, as he was called, was captain for a time of the Loyal League, a company quite noted at the time of the trouble at Augusta in 1879. At the time of his death he held a position on the staff of General Chamberlain as Division Quartermaster, with the rank of Major. For several years Major Small was chairman of the Republican City Committee. Mr. Small married Miss Ella I. Severance, daughter of Samuel and Betsey Severance, of Bangor, and at his death left one daughter, Flora Lillian. He was always interested in everything of an educational nature, and was highly esteemed by all who knew him.

Captain James P. Lansil is a son of Charles V. Lansil, who was born in Bordeaux, France, in the year 1768, where he lived about eighteen years, when he emigrated to this county, and settled at Cape Cod, Massachusetts. There he lived about twenty-four years, and then moved to Bucksport, Maine, then to Sunkhaze, and then to Bangor, Maine, where he died in the year 1831, aged sixty-three years. His occupation was that of sailor. His wife was Ruth C. Paine, born on Cape Cod in the year 1778. She died in the year 1837, aged fifty-three years. James P., the sixth child, was born at Bangor, September 30, 1816. His life has been passed at sea mostly, he being captain of a vessel. The other mem- bers of his father's family were: Thomas P., Mary P., Betsey, Charles V., Asa P., Ephraim P., and George W. James P. Lansil was married on the 4th of February, 1838, to Martha Colby, who died in October, 1855. He was a second time married December 27, 1857, to Mrs. Thankful S. Mitchell. The names of children by his first wife are: George, unmarried, resides at Bangor; John F. died in the year 1867; Elbridge T., living, re-

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

sides at Bangor; Francis S. died in the year 1867; Arthur J., married to Annie Douglass; Oscar, married, and resides at Saratoga Spring, New York ; Edward P., married to Fannie S. Carr, and has one child; he is at present at sea with his family. Captain Lansil has a good residence on Lincoln street, Bangor, where he is living as retired ship-master.

George Stetson, President of the First National Bank in Bangor, was born January 25, 1807, in Hamp- den, in this county. His father, Simeon Stetson, was a farmer and trader, and came from New Ipswich now Randolph, Massachusetts; was born in New Ips- wich, and moved to Hampden in 1804. George Stetson was the fourth son and fifth child in the family. He re- ceived a common school and academical education in Hampden, and assisted his father on the farm and in the store. On becoming of age he took charge of a mill in Hampden and engaged in trade. Here he lived until about 1832 when he moved to Bangor and in 1835 en- gaged in the West India trade together with his brother Isaiah and Cyrus Emery, Esq., under the firm name of Emery, Stetson & Co. Mr. Emery dying the firm was changed to Stetson & Co., and continued some years, since which they closed the business. They also owned a mill on Kenduskeag Stream and manufactured lumber quite extensively. They sold their mill about three years ago, since which time he has given his time to the bank business and looking after his interests in timber lands. Mr. Stetson has been a prominent man here for many years, serving as Chairman of the Board of Water Works, President of the Union Fire and Marine Insur- ance Company, and President of the Old Market Bank, now the First National Bank. He also was a Repre- sentative in the Legislature during the war. Mr. Stetson married Adeline Hammond in 1845. She was a daugh- ter of Elijah Hammond, of this city. They have four children, three sons and one daughter: George H., in Kenduskeag, Maine; Edward, a lawyer in Bangor; Isaiah K., with his father and brother in the wholesale ice business, and Mary A. at home. Mr. Stetson is a man very widely known in this section of the State, and takes a very prominent position among the leading citi- zens of Bangor.

Moses Giddings, of Bangor, one of the prominent and wealthy citizens of the place, was born in Bangor Sep- tember 29, 1816. His father, John Giddings, was a mason and built the first brick building in the city. He was well known here, and for many years was one of the leading builders. He married Joanna Trafton and lived here in 1812, at the time of the commencement of the war. He had four children, one son and three daugh- ters, viz: Moses, Hannah F., deceased, wife of O. H. Ingalls; Abbie T., and Nancy, who died in early life. Mr. Giddings died in 1823. Moses Giddings received but a common school education, limited at that, for his father died when Moses was but seven years old so that he early had to look out for himself. He clerked in a store when a young man, and in 1846 embarked in the lumber business for himself. He formerly cut and man- ufactured, but now deals principally in timber lands.

At one time he was engaged in navigation and owned a half interest in the first ship that was captured by the Sumter in the late war. Mr. Giddings formerly built and owned vessels. He has been chosen to represent his ward in both branches of the city government, and is President of the Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad; also President of the Merchants' Marine Insurance Com- pany, and has been one of the trustees of Colby Univer- sity for over thirty years. His first wife was Miss Mary Shirley, to whom he was married in 1850, and who died in 1851. His second wife was Miss Ernestine Chase, married in 1854 and died in 1869. By her Mr. Gid- dings's children were: Frederick C., now of Bluehill, Maine; Mary S., deceased in 1866, and Madeline. In 1877 he married Mrs. Sarah E. Sabine, with whom he is now living.

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History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 197

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