History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 60

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 60

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

that office until the present time (1881), except for the year 1878. He has served one year upon the School Board and two years upon the Water Board, of which he is now a member. In 1876 he became a co-partner with Messrs. Lewis and Lewis A. Barker, and they adopted the style of Barker, Vose & Barker.

In 1859 he married Ellen A., daughter of Elisha Chick, Esq., of Winterport.

Mr. Vose is a careful and discriminating student, a re- liable lawyer, a man of integrity, a good citizen, and will doubtless continue to be successful in his profession.

OLIVER LEONARD

was the son of Jonathan Leonard, who descended from James Leonard, who claimed descent from Lord Dacre, of the noble family family of Leonard, who flourished at Pontypool, in England, in the twelfth century. James settled in Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1652, where he es- tablished the first manufactory of iron in America. Oliver was born in Norton, Massachusetts, in February, 1764. He entered Brown University, at Providence, in 1783, and graduated in 1787. While in college Shay's Rebellion occurred, and the student donned the soldier's uniform and performed the duties of adjutant under General Lincoln until his services were no longer neces- sary. From his fine personal appearance and good horse- manship, his adjutancy acquired for him the style of "Colonel," by which he was addressed in after life. When the Rebellion was subdued, Mr. Leonard returned to college and graduated in good standing. After a year occupied in trade, he entered the office of Stephen Dexter, Esq., in Newport, Rhode Island. From there he went into Judge Padelford's office, in Taunton, and after a short time there was admitted to the Bar in 1791. He established himself in Taunton in his profession. About- that time he married Mrs. Sarah Fletcher, the widow of an English surgeon in the American Revolution, who had in her own right an annuity of one hundred guineas. He remained in Taunton until 1796, when, being im- pressed with the idea that the new country of the Penob- scot would be more favorable to his prospects than that in which he was, he came to that part of Orrington which is now Brewer, and had such legal business as there was in the region for several years. But he did not confine his business to his profession. He was in haste to be rich, speculated in lumber, and gave too much of his at- tention to other matters. He was popular, and the peo- ple of Orrington sent him as a Representative to the General Court in Boston in 1798 and the five following years.

In 1817 Mr. Leonard removed to Bangor. He had not prospered in his too many vocations, and he thought to apply himself more closely to his profession; but it was wearisome, and his clients were few. His income diminished; his wife's income became the subject of a suit in chancery, and the payment of the annuities was suspended for nearly twenty years. He at last attempted to hold a Justice Court for the trial of cases; but that proved an abortive enterprise, and the prospects of pros- perity which he thought existed when he came to Penob-

scot, dwindled until he was reduced to absolute poverty. "His splendid figure bent, his cheerful and handsome face became gradually gloomy, and his conversation lost most of its charms under his adversity."* He died in January, 1828, and his widow, whose annuity was sus- tained by a decree in her favor, had the benefit of it for one or two years more, until she died.

JACOB MCGAW

was born at Merrimac, in the State of New Hampshire, September 6, 1778. He was the son of Jacob McGaw, who was born in the North of Ireland, in 1737, and emi- grated to America in 1760, at the age of twenty-three. His mother was Margaret Orr, a lady who descended from emigrants from the North of Ireland. The families of Jacob McGaw, Sr., and Margaret Orr being from the same locality in Europe and entertaining the same re- ligious tenets-the Presbyterian-it was fitting that two members of the same church should come together in the relation of husband and wife. The fruit of the union was four sons and three daughters. Two of the sons were educated at Dartmouth College, and became law- yers, and two became merchants. Jacob graduated at the age of nineteen, in 1797. The same year he entered the office of Hon. Thomas W. Thompson, of what is now Franklin, and after devoting himself to the study of the law until 1801, he was admitted as an attorney to practice in the Court of Common Pleas in January of that year. In the same month he established himself in Fryeburg, Maine, where he practiced until 1805, and shared the business with the Hon. Judah Dana, who was the only other practicing lawyer in that part of the country. While there he is said to have been the suc- cessful competitor against the Hon. Daniel Webster (who was then the preceptor of Fryeburg Academy) for the hand of Phebe Poor, a daughter of Ebenezer Poor, of Andover, Maine, and aunt of John A. Poor, Esq., recent- ly deceased. As his business in Fryeburg was not satis- factory, in 1805 he removed to Bangor, making the sixth lawyer at that time in the three adjoining towns of Ban- gor, Hampden, and Orrington - Samuel E. Dutton and Allen Gilman in Bangor, Enoch Brown and John God- frey in Hampden, and Oliver Leonard in that part of Orrington which is now Brewer-and the only lawyers in what afterwards became Penobscot county.

Mr. McGaw possessed talent, and having popular manners business within two years became very satisfac- tory; and always, until 1836, he had a successful prac- tice. Having suffered from too much confinement and too little exercise, he at that time relinquished his profes- sional engagements and retired to private life. Mr. Willis, in his History of the Lawyers of Maine, says: "He had great influence with the jury by his easy, pleas- ånt manner, and his happy tact of introducing anecdotes and applying familiar incidents and facts to illustrate his argument. He retired from the Bar with the honors of the profession upon him, and with the respect and affec- tion of his professional brethren, his clients, and the com- munity." He was "a man of fine personal appearance,

* Willis's Lawyers of Maine.

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

of ardent and impulsive temperament, and agreeable conversational powers."

After he had retired he prepared some historical notes of Bangor, embracing facts which he had collected and within his personal recollection, with a view at one time of publishing them. From some cause he did not, but deposited them with the Maine Historical Society. When the county of Penobscot was organized, he was appointed County Attorney. This office he held until Maine be- came a State, giving great satisfaction in the performance of its duties.

His death occurred on May 12, 1867, at the age of eighty-eight years, eight months, and six days. The Bar, on the 15th of the month, adopted the following resolu- tion :--

Resolved, That, distinguished in his profession, which, as a lawyer and advocate, he had illustrated, through a long and successful career, by eminent learning, ability, and integrity, beloved and esteemed for the kind and ample discharge of his duty to his family and his country, and crowned with the devout faith and good works of the Christian, he " came to his grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in his season."

His death was duly announced, and an eloquent tribute to his worth was paid by A. Sanborn, Esq. Mr. Sanborn was followed by Judge Kent, who said :-

He has taught us how to grow old genially and gracefully, and how to retain the friendship and regard of new generations by kindly sym- pathy and active interest in passing events; by forming new attach- ments, as the old were severed; by a generous intercourse with his fellow-man, to the close of a long and serene old age.

Mr. McGaw was the father of two daughters, one of whom survived him-the wife of Hon. John B. Foster, of Bangor.

GEORGE STARRETT,

was born in Warren, Maine, May 15, 1798. He. came to Bangor about 1825, and became a partner with Thomas A. Hill, under the firm name of Hill & Starrett. A methodical man, he early became the Secretary of the Bar. With the community he established a reputation for integrity, diligence, carefulness, and faithfulness. Im- plicit confidence was placed in him by all.

He died February 2, 1837, and the Bar appointed a large committee of the most prominent members to re- port resolutions of respect. George B. Moody, Esq., Chairman, reported six resolutions eulogistic of him. Among them was the following, which gives an idea of the man :

Resolved, That the example of our deceased brother, in rising from obscurity to universal respect, attaining, in a few years, comparative affluence by the steady and unwearied cultivation of the talents com- mitted to him, by almost unexampled diligence in business, and, more than all, by unswerving professional integrity, is calculated to impress on his brethren the useful lesson that a well-grounded self-respect, public esteem, and professional success, are the almost certain reward of the honest and diligent.

Mr. Starrett intermarried first with Eliza Ann Ham- mond, of Bangor, who died January 3, 1828, aged twenty-one, leaving one son, George H. H .; second, with Martha Burgess, of Wareham, Massachusetts, who died December 13, 1833, aged thirty-five, leaving a son, Thomas B., and a daughter, Eliza H .; third, with Mrs. Caroline Langdon (Stone) Morrell, August 21, 1834, who died May 31, 1865, aged sixty-six, childless.

CHARLES GILMAN,

son of Allen Gilman, was born in Bangor in 1807. He was a graduate of Brown University, studied law with his father in Bangor, and was admitted tothe Bar in June, 1830. His tendency was rather to literature than to law while in Bangor, and he edited several publications in Bangor, as The Clarion, a weekly literary paper, published in 1828; Eastern Magazine, in 1835-36, a monthly; the Ban- gorean, a weekly, in 1836, all creditable publications. After a few years Mr. Gilman removed to Illinois, where he edited the Law Reports of that State for several years with ability, and established before his decease a high reputation as a lawyer.

JAMES S. ROWE

was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, October 20, 1807. He graduated at Bowdoin College in 1826, and came to Bangor about 1836. Mr. Rowe, notwithstanding he was for years an invalid, commanded a large and excellent practice, and became a leading member of the Bar. With a fine intellect, courteous manners, and a thorough acquaintance with the principles of the law, he com- manded the respect of the Bench and the Bar. Devoted to the profession, he continued to labor in it until, within a year or two past, he has been compelled by failing health to relinquish it altogether.

JONATHAN P. ROGERS

was born in Kennebec county, and came to Bangor in 1825. He was admitted to the Penobscot Bar in Janu- ary, 1826. In about 1828 he went into partnership with Hon. Edward Kent, with whom he continued until 1831. He was appointed Attorney-General of the State in 1832, and held the office until 1844.

Mr. Rogers was a man of fine personal appearance, of great self-reliance, great endurance, great mental ac- tivity and acuteness, and of great logical power. He had the reputation, with many, of being the foremost lawyer in Maine. Ex-Governor Washburn says that "his men- tal endowments were never surpassed by those of any son of Maine; the master of principles and the consummate advocate, he was a born lawyer; with but slight aid from early education, no man that I ever heard speak possessed a style so close, so strong, and so pure; his addresses, whether to court or jury, might be set in type without the change of a single word."* No one would care to criticise this eulogy, perhaps, when it contains a reference to Mr. Rogers' slight early education.

Mr. Rogers married Miss Page, an accomplished lady of Hallowell, removed to Boston, and died there at the age of forty-six years, leaving one son.

SAMUEL GARNSEY,

son of Benjamin Garnsey, was born in Effingham, New Hampshire, in 1804; received his early education in Effingham and Gilmanton Academy; read law with Josiah Dunbar in Effingham, and Judge Bailey in Wis- casset ; came to Bangor in 1828, where he practiced law until 1840, and went to St. John, in the Province of New Brunswick, and was in other business until 1850-51. When he returned he did not resume the practice of the

* Orono Centennial, p. 90, n.

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

law. He was in mercantile business with Joseph C. White, Esq., from 1851 until 1854, the firm name being J. C. White & Co. After that he was in business by himself.

He intermarried with Miss Eliza Ann Nichols, of Wis- casset, in 1828.

He died in Bangor in 1873. He was a well-read and reliable lawyer, and a good citizen. The Bar passed res- olutions honoring his memory as that of "one who dur- ing his connection with the Bar sustained the character of an honest lawyer, a courteous and honorable practi- tioner, and one whose professional virtues we may well strive to imitate." Judge Cutting responded to the reso- lutions, alluding to the deceased in eulogistic terms and giving a brief sketch of his career in life as a professional and business man.

THEOPHILUS P. CHANDLER.

Theophilus Parsons Chandler, son of Peleg Chandler, was born in New Gloucester, Maine, October 13, 1807. He received his education at the public and private schools of his native town, never having been a student at an academy or college. He commenced the study of law in his father's office before his eighteenth year; fin- ished his studies with Frederick Allen, of Gardiner, Maine, and was admitted to practice in Kennebec county, Au- gust 13, 1829. He opened an office in Bangor, October 8, 1829; removed to Gardiner November 19, 1829; re- turned to Bangor on November 4, 1831, where he con- tinued in full practice until the summer of 1836, when he removed his office to Boston, where it continued more than forty years.

Mr. Chandler married Eliza J. Schlatter, of Philadel- phia, September 20, 1837, and removed his residence from Boston to Brooklyn, Massachusetts, in May, 1848, where he now resides. He is the father of seven chil- dren, four sons and three daughters, all of whom are now living except his oldest son, Charles Lyon Chandler, who was killed in Virginia May 24, 1864, while in com- mand of a regiment in the civil war.

He never held a political office. He was for four years, ending in 1853, President of the Northern Rail- road of New York. In January, 1861, he was appointed one of the Peace Commissioners from Massachusetts to the National Convention held in Washington prior to the breaking-out of the civil war. In June, 1863, he was ap- pointed United States Assistant Treasurer for Boston, and held the office until the expiration of his second commission, in 1868. The honorary degree of A. M. was conferred upon him in Bowdoin College in 1837.

GEORGE B. MOODY

was born in the county of York in 1802. He entered Harvard College, and was graduated in 1819, being there a classmate of Judge Kent. After having qualified himself for the profession, he established himself in Old- town, in this county. He afterwards removed to Bangor, where he won a high standing at the Bar. In 1841 he held the position of County Attorney, to which office he was appointed by Governor Kent. He died in Bangor July 6, 1856, at the age of fifty-four, after a long illness.

His death was announced to the Supreme Judicial Court (then holding the law term, Chief Justice Tenney, with Justices Hathaway, Appleton, May, and Cutting on the bench) by Mr. Kent, who paid a felicitous tribute to his memory, and said:

To myself, personally, his death comes with more than usual impress- iveness. The companion of my early years, my college classmate and room-mate, the friendship then formed has been continued without a cloud or a shadow for nearly forty years. Our years of manhood have been spent at the same Bar, and in constant and close companionship in professional and social life, and with unabated regard and unwaver- ing confidence. And now, as I recall all his truthfulness and sincerity, his guileless and confiding nature, his simplicity, his high sense of honor, his refined and polished manners, his domestic virtues, which always rendered his house attractive to its inmates and friends, I feel that I have lost a brother with whom I have walked pleasantly so many years.

The volumes of our reports, which but imperfectly present the argu- ments of counsel, will nevertheless show that he was a lawyer clear and able in his arguments, and presenting his views forcibly, and ex- hausting whatever supject he undertook to investigate.

Afterwards Mr. Kent presented complimentary resolu- tions of the Bar, and Chief Justice Tenney responded. He said that the deceased "possessed talents and legal attainments of a high order, and seized upon and pre- sented points with clearness and force, and often sur- prised opposing counsel in argument by a success to them entirely unexpected."

GEORGE W. INGERSOLL

was born in New Gloucester, county of. Cumberland, Maine, in 1803; graduated at Bowdoin College in 1830; studied law with the late Judge Daniel Goodenow in Al- fred, Maine; was admitted to the Bar and went into practice in Oldtown, Penobscot county, in 1832. Like most farmer's boys of that day striving for an education, he taught district school to pay the expenses of a collegi- ate course. When he had accumulated money enough to pay the expenses of a first term, he went to the military school at Norwich, Vermont. An elder brother had promised to aid him, but at the end of the term, being disappointed in this and fearing that his well-disposed brother would not be able to carry out his intentions, and unwilling to incur a dollar of debt, he took all his world- ly goods tied up in a handkerchief, and walked from the school to his home in Maine, feasting on bread and milk on his way when hungry, instead of spending his little substance at taverns. Upon this journey he contracted a lameness from which he began to suffer towards its close, and obtained relief from a bottle of opodeldoc, a famous remedy in that day, the purchase of which nearly bank- rupted his purse. Applied on the roadside occasionally, however, it enabled him to finish his journey. But the lameness did not entirely leave him; at times after- wards during his life it reminded him of his efforts for an education.

From Oldtown Mr. Ingersoll removed to Bangor, which ever afterwards was his place of residence, contin- uing in the practice of his profession.

He was Inspector of Customs in Bangor when Hon. William C. Hammatt held the office of Collector, under President Taylor. He represented the city of Bangor in the Legislature of 1854 and 1855, and was Attorney-

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General of the State in 1860. He was a sound lawyer, entirely reliable both as counsel and as a man.

Mr. Ingersoll intermarried with Henrietta, daughter of Oliver Crosby, Esq., of Atkinson. They had three children living when he died-Edward C., who went into the profession, and is now in Washington, District of Co- lumbia; Alice, a beautiful and accomplished lady, the wife of Hon. Daniel H. Chamberlain, ex-Governor of South Carolina; and Fanny Hilliard Ingersoll, who has the reputation of being the best short-hand writer now in Washington.

The Penobscot Bar passed resolutions on the occasion of Mr. Ingersoll's death, which occurred early in the year 1860, in which they bore "willing testimony to his inflex- ible honor, his eminent abilities, and unswerving fidelity in all his personal relations."

WILLIAM T. HILLIARD

was born in Gorham, in the county of Cumberland. He graduated at Bowdoin College in the year 1826. Having qualified himself for the profession of law in the offices of Judge Pierce, of Gorham, and Judge Ruggles, of Thomaston, he was admitted to the Bar. In 1832 Mr. Hilliard commenced practice in Oldtown, in this county. He continued in practice in Oldtown for seven years, and attained a high degree of popularity. In 1847 he be- came a candidate for the office of Clerk of the Courts, and was elected over the Whig candidate and the regular nominee of his own, the Democratic party, his own town complimenting him with a nearly unanimous vote. After his election Mr. Hilliard removed to Bangor, and has since resided there. He held the office of Clerk of the Supreme Court for about ten years, having been three times re-elected. On retiring from that office he formed a connection in business with Moses L. Appleton, with whom he did a large business; and afterward with E. W. Flagg, who succeeded Mr. Appleton in the firm. Mr. Hilliard has since been in business for himself, alternating his professional with literary labors, of which he is fond.

NATHANIEL WILSON

was born at Haverhill, Grafton county, New Hampshire, September 18, 1808; fitted for college at the academy in his native town; entered Dartmouth College in 1825; graduated in 1829; and went thence in September to Lancaster, where he taught the academy two years, hav- ing been its first preceptor. Here he gained a high rep- utation as a successful and popular teacher. In 1831 he took charge of the High School in Augusta. His suc- cess in this position was highly complimented, and he gained much credit for executive ability. Among his pupils who subsequently acquired distinction were Gen- eral Seth Williams, Hon. John Potter and three brothers, Hon. B. A. G. Fuller, and Hon. George W. Ladd, now Congressman.

From Augusta Mr. Wilson went, in 1832, to Gardiner, and read law with the Hon. George Evans. In January, 1834, he was admitted to the Bar in Kennebec county, and came thence to Orono, arriving there January 12, 1834.

July 17, 1834, he married Adeline, youngest daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Haven Boardman, of Lancaster, New Hampshire, a most beautiful and accomplished woman. She died, December 12, 1836, of consumption, leaving no children. April 17, 1839, Mr. W. intermar- ried with Abbie Ann, the oldest daughter of the late Jeremiah and Susan Colburn. By this marriage he has had ten children, seven sons and three daughters. Five sons and two daughters, and seven grandchildren, are living. Their oldest son was a volunteer, and made a Lieutenant in Company F, Twelfth Maine Regiment, under Colonel George . F. Shepley. By exposure and hardships at Ship Island and New Orleans he contracted disease, which in 1873 caused his death. Two sons are graduates of Bowdoin College, one now in the practice of the law at Orono, the other a clergyman. A third, aged twenty, is a graduate of the State College, in the class of 1881, and has chosen the profession of physi- cian (he being the seventh son). Two other sons are successful business men, and both have families. Of his two daughters, one is the wife of a professor in the State College of Pennsylvania, and the other has recently com- pleted two years of successful teaching as the Preceptress of Cumberland Institute. Mr. Wilson feels a most com- mendable and justifiable pride in his children.

Mr. Wilson has been prominently identified with all the leading interests calculated to add to the prosperity of the town. Its public school, the cause of temper- ance, moral and religious influences-each and all have found in him a friend and faithful advocate. At much inconvenience he has served as a member of the Super- intending School Committee more than thirty years. He was largely instrumental in securing the location at Orono of the State College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, has ever been its firm and devoted advocate and friend, and for several years served as one of the Trus- tees and on the Executive Committee. He has held at different times most of the various town offices. In Sep- tember, 1879, he was chosen Representative to the Legis- lature, and acquitted himself with honor to himself and the district he represented. He was placed on the Judiciary Committee, a position of high responsibility and importance. In the matter of restoring the salaries of the Justices of our Supreme Judicial Court, few, if any members, exerted more effective influence; and in a speech of much power and force he nobly sustained the high character of all its members. That the State Col- lege in 1880 was donated anything, and also saved from serious depression and injury in its prescribed course of studies, to him must be given the highest meed of praise, he advocating the claims of this institution as one worthy the most liberal patronage, which it was the duty and pledged obligation of the State to sustain. He served one year as the Grand Worthy Patriarch of the Order of Sons of Temperance, and was for several years a delegate to the National Conventions of the Order. As a professional man he has always done a large and suc- cessful business, and won his full share of all contested cases. To his clients, whether rich or poor, he was al-

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History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 60

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