Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625-1892, Part 145

Author: Kingsbury, Henry D; Deyo, Simeon L., ed
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York, Blake
Number of Pages: 1790

USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625-1892 > Part 145

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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lives on the old Chase homestead. His children are: Effie E., Eugene and Estella. Henry E. is a farmer on the old Decker farm. His wife was Alfreda, daughter of Howard Wells. They have one daughter, Carrie P.

Alphonso R. Dickey, born in Clinton in 1842, is a son of Oli- ver C. (1803-1887) and Paulina (Spaulding) Dickey, and grandson of William Dickey, of Vassalboro, Me. Oliver C. came to the farm where Alphonso R. now lives in 1842, and built a saw mill, and in 1854 built the mill that Alphonso R. now owns and runs as a shingle mill. Mr. Dickey's first wife was Hattie Lahar, who left one son, Wilbur A. He married for his second wife, Alice, daughter of George Means, of Clinton. They had three children: Edith M., Lesley A. and Hattie M., who died in 1876. Oliver Dickey had three sons: Oliver W., who died in the army, James A. and Alphonso R.

HOWARD WINSLOW DODGE, of Clinton, is the son of John P. Dodge, who was born in Bridgton, Me., in 1810, and the grandson of Caleb A. Dodge, originally from Massachusetts, who removed, in 1816, with his family from Bridgton to Burnham, Me., where he was a farmer and lumberman, was town collector, and died in 1820. John P. Dodge came to Clinton about 1833 and engaged in farming, which he con- tinued to follow. He married in 1837, Rosanna Richardson, of Clinton, now Benton, and raised three boys: Howard W., Hobart R. and John O., the latter two now lumbermen in Pennsylvania; and one girl, Lottie L., now Mrs. George W. Plaisted, of Everett, Mass. Mrs. Dodge died in 1867, and in 1871 he married, for his second wife, Mrs. Sarah Libby, of Unity, Me. Mr. Dodge died in 1878.

Howard W. Dodge was born in Benton, February 16, 1838, remain- ing at home on the farm till he was twenty-one years old, and receiv- ing the benefits of the neighborhood schools and two terms at Sebas- ticook Academy. In 1861 and 1862 he worked in a lumber mill in Oldtown, dislocating his hip the same year, which disabled him for seven months. The next four years he worked at lumbering for David Hanscom, of Benton, and the three following years in Williamsport, Pa., at the same business, for the widely known firm of William E. Dodge & Co., of New York city.

In 1870 he returned to Benton and bought a farm; took cattle to Boston market; sold his farm in 1871 and opened a store in Clinton village, where he traded thirteen months and sold the business to John F. Lamb. The next year he dealt in potatoes, and in company with Sumner Flood bought sheep in Canada for Maine markets. In 1873 he bought a half interest in Zimri Hunter's store. Hunter & Dodge traded two years, when Nathaniel Jaquith purchased Mr. Hunter's interest, when the present firm of Dodge & Jaquith was formed, and has continued the business of a variety 'store.

Mr. Dodge, always a democrat, with a taste for public affairs, had

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been auditor of accounts, and was one of the selectmen of Benton when he left that town in 1871. He was elected one of the selectmen of Clinton in 1874, served four consecutive years, was then successively moderator, town clerk and treasurer, and is again selectman in the fourth year of his second consecutive series. His party selected and ran him for state senator in 1873-4 and for county commissioner in 1888. His interest in national politics took him to Washington in 1885 to witness the inauguration of President Cleveland. He was made a Master Mason in the Star in the West Lodge, Unity, at the age of twenty-three, joined Sebasticook Lodge by demit in 1872, and has since taken the Royal Arch degree at China, and belongs to St. Omer Commandery of Knights Templar, at Waterville. A life-long temperance man, he has been a prominent Good Templar for twenty- five years. No man in Clinton is more frequently engaged in the settlement of estates, than which there is no more direct proof of public confidence.

He was treasurer of the Z. Hunter Croquet Factory, of Clinton, that burned in 1880, and is treasurer of The Bradford Self-closing Telegraph Key Company, of Clinton.

Mr. Dodge married in 1885, Cora A., daughter of Charles and Olive Jaquith, of Clinton. The names of their three children are: Charles E., Lottie M. and Alice O., all of whom were baptized in infancy. Mr. Dodge was converted in 1869 and joined the Newbury Methodist Episcopal church in Williamsport, Pa. He has always been active and liberal in religious work in Clinton, constantly holding the labor- ing oar in some official capacity in the Methodist church.

Benjamin T. Foster, son of Willis N. Foster, was born at Liver- more, Me., in 1835. He began to work at sash and blind making in 1852, and eight years later came to Clinton and started a sash and blind business in the Hunter's mills, which he sold to William Lamb in 1873. He had made coffins and kept caskets in connection with the sash and blind business, and in 1876 he opened an undertaking and general furniture business in Centennial Hall, where he continued until November, 1890, when the business was removed to the present commodious store, built for the purpose. He has published the Clinton Advertiser since 1876. In 1886 Miss H. Etta Pratt became his partner in business, under the firm name of B. T. Foster & Co.

Rev. Francis P. Furber, born in Winslow in 1825, is a son of Jona- than and Mary (Dimpsey) Furber, and grandson of Benjamin Furber. He came to Clinton in 1845, where he has been a farmer and lumber- man. He served three years in the late war in Company H, 19th Maine. May 6, 1864, he received a wound which destroyed the use of one arm. In 1875 he began ministerial work for the Freewill Baptist society, and was ordained September 27, 1885. He has had regular appointments for the last seventeen years in Clinton and adjoining

Howard H. Dodge

PHINY

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towns. He came from his farm near Morrison's Corner to his present home in 1886. He married Dolly, daughter of Captain David and Dolly (Low) Cain. Their children are: Eliza E. (Mrs. R. M. Pollard), George W., Jane E. (Mrs. David M. Stuart), Nettie M. (Mrs. Frank Bucklin), Mary F. (Mrs. Frederick Simons), and two that died: Emma and James.

Ruel W. Gerald, son of Joseph Gerald, was born October 7, 1841, in Canaan, Me. He came to Clinton with his parents at the age of four years. He began mechanical work when a lad, and since 1870 has worked in the sash and blind department of William Lamb's saw mill, with the exception of three years spent at carpenter work. He has been foreman of the shop since 1876. He married Loantha J., daughter of Alanson Noble.

Simon F. Gerald, born in Benton, in 1829, is a son of William and Mary (Chase) Gerald, and grandson of George F. Gerald, who came from Ireland and lived in Benton. Mr. Gerald lived in Benton until 1859, when he came to the farm in Clinton where he now lives. He has been a butcher and farmer. His first wife was Maria Gibson, who left two daughters-Adra E. and Alma F. He married for his second wife, Cora White. They have one son, Fred F., who lives on the old homestead with his father.

John H. Gibson, born in 1844, is a son of John (1810-71) and Lucy A. (Moor) Gibson. Lucy was the daughter of Captain John Moor (1772), and granddaughter of Mordecai Moor, of Massachusetts. Mr. Gibson's wife was Mary E., daughter of William Cain, and grand- daughter of Captain David Cain. Their children are: Lucy E., Leon H. and Samuel C. Mr. Gibson worked in the woods for some fifteen years prior to 1872, when he came to the farm where he now lives. His grandfather was Samuel Gibson, of New Hampshire.

Daniel E. Greeley, born in 1818, is a son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Erskins) Greeley, and grandson of Jacob Greeley, of Palermo, Me. Daniel Greeley came to Clinton in 1833, and died in 1877. He had eight sons. Daniel E. married Martha, daughter of Nathaniel Winn, who was one of the early settlers of Clinton. Their children are: Charles H., Daniel C. and Elvin A. Daniel C. married Caroline T. Spearin, and lives on the homestead with his father. His children are Elbert C. and Martha M. Charles H. lives opposite his father's home; his three sons are George F., Charles A. and Royden K.

ELBRIDGE G. HODGDON .- No citizen of Clinton has been more thoroughly or more honorably identified with its history for the past fifty years, than Elbridge G. Hodgdon. His father, Thomas S., was a native of Saco, Me., to which town his grandfather, Samuel Hodgdon, came at an early day. Both were shoemakers, adding farming in a supplementary way. They were men of wonderful vigor and endur- ance. Thomas S. had haying to do in Clinton two summers before he

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moved here from Topsham. The two places are sixty miles apart, and he walked the entire distance each year in a single day, bringing a scythe and snath on his shoulder, doing the journey inside of twenty hours. This priceless endowment of bodily power Elbridge G. in- herited from his father. He thought nothing of the journey on foot to Augusta before the railroad came, and has frequently walked forty miles in a day, but never reached his father's grand feat. Neither has he squandered his rich fortune, for at the age of sixty-eight his physical powers still respond easily to every demand.

Thomas S. Hodgdon married Lydia Libby, of Saco, and their children were: David, now of Benton; Elbridge G .; Fannie, now de- ceased, married William McNelly, of Benton; Frederick, now of Canaan, Me .; Rufus, of Waterville, Me .; Caroline A., now deceased, married Thomas Pratt, of Deering, Me .; Emma, who died at the age of twenty; George L., of Portland, Me., and Aaron L., now of Montana. He removed with his family in 1828 from Saco to Lisbon, thence to Topsham in 1829, and in 1831 to Clinton. Here he continued his trade, did some farming, won the respect of the community, and died August 18, 1886.

Elbridge G. was born in Saco, June 6, 1824. His early years were pleasant, but far from idle. He improved the time he spent in the district school, and it was well he did, for it was all the schooling he ever got. At the age of fourteen he left home and went to do all sorts of necessary work about the tavern kept by Parker and Joseph Piper, in the same building that is still the Clinton village hotel. In 1840 he went into Philander Soule's store for one year. In 1841 he began lumbering on the Kennebec, working on long boats during the sum- mer, and spending the winter in the lumber camps of Moosehead lake. In 1842 he bought one-third interest in a shingle mill with David and James Hunter. This proved to be the real commencement of his business life, for it lasted twelve years. The times were close and money was seldom seen. Business moved on by traffic and bar- ter. The firm were obliged to keep most of the articles kept in a country store, which they exchanged for the cedar logs from which their shingles were made.

In 1853, Mr. Hodgdon built a store and became a regular trader, with C. H. Kidder as a partner. The firm of E. G. Hodgdon & Co., in 1854 received the first goods ever brought into town by railroad. The road was not yet opened for business, but Mr. Hodgdon got the man- ager of a construction train to bring several wagon loads of merchan- dise on a flat car. In 1862 Mr. Hodgdon bought his partner's interest, and conducted the business till 1886. During most of the time he was in trade, he was also the livery man of the place. When he sold his store he bought a half interest in the grist mill still run by Hodgdon & Smith. Few country mills grind as much western grain, or have as

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large a trade in feed and corn meal. They used to manufacture family flour, but western mills now do that cheaper and better.

Mr. Hodgdon has served public interests with the same diligence and efficiency manifested in his own. He was town clerk for four years, and county commissioner for six years. He has always been a zealous republican in politics, and in religious matters an earnest Universalist. The purposes and interests of the Masonic order have also received his cordial cooperation. His first degree was taken in 1846, since which he has by regular steps become a Knight Templar. He belongs to that class of men who can always be counted on to do their full share in enterprises for the general good.

He married in 1848, Rosina, daughter of Samuel Kidder, of Albion. Their adopted daughter, Mary, married George E. Pennell, a promi- nent lawyer, of Atlantic, Iowa. The names of their four children are: Iva, Hodgdon, Zinie M. and Della Pennell.

Alpheus Hunter, born in 1826, is a son of James and Elizabeth (Libby) Hunter. He went to California in 1849, where he spent four- teen years, and then returned to Clinton and has since been a farmer, where he now lives. He married Sylvia, daughter of Samuel Haines, of Clinton, and has eight children: George H., Henry A., Jennie M., Edgar, Blanche, Lillie M., Everett and Walter A.

.Jewett Hunter, born December 23, 1819, is the second of a family of ten, of James (1790-1875) and Elizabeth (Libby) Hunter. James and his five brothers-David, 2d, Dunning, Eben, Alfred and Rufus- came from Topsham, Me., to Clinton, where they all settled and raised families. They had three cousins who came to Kennebec county about the same time-Martin and David, who settled in Clin- ton, and John P., who settled in Gardiner. Mr. Hunter has been a farmer and cattle drover, and he and his son, A. J. Hunter, own and occupy the two hundred acre farm of his father. He married Ruth, daughter of Samuel and Sylvia (Woodsum) Haines. Their children are: Lizzie M. (Mrs. Charles Channing), Samuel H., Alpheus J. and Lottie M. (Mrs. W. A. Barton).

Nathaniel Jaquith, born at Skowhegan, Me., May 2, 1883, is a son of David (1803-1887 and Sally (Young) Jaquith, and grandson of An- drew Jaquith, who came from Massachusetts about 1800, and settled in Clinton, where he was a blacksmith and farmer. Mr. Jaquith came to Clinton in 1845, where he was a farmer and mechanic until 1875, when he bought of Z. Hunter a half interest in the general store now operated under the firm name of Dodge & Jaquith. . He was six years deputy sheriff and has been constable for many years. He married Jane, daughter of Eben Berry, of Burnham, Me. Their only daughter, Carrie E., is the wife of Rev. T. S. Weeks.

Isaac Keene, born in 1845, is a son of Isaac and Sarah (Ney) Keene, and grandson of Isaac Keene. His wife is Sabrina, daughter

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of Benjamin Morrison. They have one son, Wesley M. Mr. Keene came to the farm where he now lives, in 1871. He has been for sev- eral years tax collector of the town. He was connected for some years with Mr. Ricker in building dams.

A. W. Kimball, son of Alvah Kimball, was born January 24, 1847, at Chester, Me. He followed lumbering and river driving until 1874, when he entered a store at Lincoln, Me. Here he remained until November, 1879, when he came to Clinton, where he was employed in various vocations until 1885, when he added a dry goods business to the millinery business, which Mrs. Kimball started in 1879, and since that time they have carried on a general dry and fancy goods busi- ness. He married Ella J. Faulkner, of Weston, Me. They have one adopted daughter, Elberta A.

WILLIAM LAMB is a man the story of whose life combines the strength of fact with the charm of fiction. He belongs to a class of veterans whose ranks are growing as thin as the forests of their boyhood-the farmers of half a century ago, who added to their incomes, and sometimes made their fortunes, by lumbering. Maine was not large enough to hold him; the pendulum of his ambition swung clear across the continent, and thither he followed it. Cool, courageous and practical, this class of men walk the earth with profit and safety.

James Lamb, the grandfather of William, came from Vermont and settled in the forests of Clinton more than a hundred years ago. When his son, James, born in 1799, was thirteen years old, both entered the war of 1812, the son as surgeon's assistant. After hostili- ties ceased, they returned to Clinton, where the father spent the bal- ance of his days.

James, jun., at first a farmer and butcher, then a confectioner in Lewiston, returned to Clinton in 1860, and bought the farm on which he died in 1866. He married Levina Lowe, of Clinton, whose mother was the first white girl born in Clinton. Their children were: Lu- citne, died in California; William; Harriet (Mrs. E. R. Noble), of Lew- iston; Albion K., now of California; Ruth (Mrs. G. E. M. Taft), of Whitingsville, Mass .; Levina (Mrs. Charles Hill), of Buxton; James, deceased; Sarah (Mrs. George Brown), deceased; George, deceased; John F., sheriff of Androscoggin county; and Emma (Mrs. George Searles), of Whitingsville.

William, born in Clinton December 2, 1822, worked away from home most of the time after he was nine years of age, getting, in his words, " only a common schooling, and very little of that." At the age of twenty he gave his father $70 for his time, and bought forty acres of land for $400, giving five notes, which he paid. The next nine years he devoted to lumbering, doing little on his farm except cutting his hay. He sailed December 6, 1852, in the new steamship,

William Lamb

PRINT, E. BIERSTADT, N. Y.

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Uncle Sam, having a pleasant passage until they reached Aspinwall on the Isthmus, but while crossing many of the passengers were taken sick. He never knew what suffering was until this time. Leav- ing Panama, they ran into Acapulco on Christmas, and on that day buried seven who died from cholera. Thence they sailed to Sacra- mento, reaching there January 6th, having buried thirty-seven of the crew and passengers in fourteen days. Seventy five were carried to the hospitals, many of them dying afterward.

He located at Roses' Bar. He only worked at mining one half a day, but bought a team and did a business hauling freight from Marysville, a distance of eighteen miles. That fall he bought a part- nership with Wilder & Newcomb in a store at Roses' Bar, and in one at Sucker Flat. In the spring they took an inventory, and found they had $4,500 worth of goods, which represented just the amount of cash invested. Wilder had in some way got rich enough to start back east. William bought out both his partners, and in one month cleared $500. He then took Shepard Lowe as a partner, and in eighteen months they had made $9,000, when he sold to Mr. E. R. Noble, bought claims that summer, and in December following started for home, where he arrived $7,000 richer than when he left three years before.

On January 16, 1855, he was married to Caroline Spearin, of Ben- ton, and settled on the old farm which had increased from 40 to 150 acres. Here they lived until 1866, when they sold the farm for $6,000, and bought of Zimri Hunter their present residence in Clinton vil- lage. In 1867 he bought Major Lord's saw and shingle mill, added the manufacture of doors, sash and blinds, and in 1887 began making croquet sets, now averaging 12,000 per year, and giving work in the different departments of his mill to from ten to thirty people. He is president of the Clinton Dairy Association, has served as selectman, and in 1861 was a member of the state legislature.

Mindful of the interests of others, and of the general good, Mr. Lamb has done much for the growth of the village by selling lots, building houses and making easy terms with purchasers. Politically, he is a democrat, and his religious affiliations are with the Freewill Baptists, being the most effective mover in the formation, a few years ago, of that church in Clinton, and in the building of its handsome house of worship. His record and his reputation are each such as be- long only to honorable and valuable citizens. Mr. and Mrs. Lamb have one child, Helen Eugenia, the wife of Rev. A. D. Dodge, pastor for the past five years of the Clinton Freewill Baptist church. They have one child, William Lamb Dodge.

James Low, born in Clinton in 1842, is a son of Francis and Mary J. (Flood) Low, and grandson of James and Betsey (Chase) Low. At the age of seventeen, Francis Low bought a part of the land now com-

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prising the Low homestead, and by his keen business ability became. one of the leading spirits of the town, filling many responsible posi- tions. He married in 1832, and left five children: Shepard, Emily (Mrs. Charles M. Chase), Francis, George and James, who lives on the old homestead. James' wife was Mary Taylor, who died in 1891, leav- ing three children-Albert T., Charles E. and Annie F.

Arthur McNally, born in 1825, is a son of Arthur and Sarah (Mal- colm) McNally, and grandson of Michael and Susan McNally, who came to this country and settled in Clinton, where they raised nine children. Mr. McNally bought an interest in the saw mill in 1849, and has been engaged in the business since that time. He has been superintendent of the Methodist Sunday school for nineteen years, and for eleven years was present at every session. He married Amanda E., daughter of William Reed. Their children are: Elsie (deceased), Myra, George R. and Lubert A.

Alpheus McNally (1831-1889) was a son of Arthur McNally. He married Mrs. Nancy M. Dixon, daughter of Adoniram Sinclair, who came from Winslow to Clinton, about 1824, where he reared a large family, and died in 1865. Mrs. McNally first married Appleton Dixon, who died, leaving six children: Bert (died November 13, 1833), Villa (Mrs. Marr), Lizzie (Mrs. Thrasher), Alice G., George E. and Al- phonso, who lives on the old McNally homestead with his mother, and is a farmer.

E. E. Merrill, son of Nathan F. Merrill, was born in 1859 at Corinth,

. Me. He was educated in the schools of Bangor and Newport, Me. In 1880 he began to learn the tinsmith trade, and continued to follow it in various places until October, 1889, when he bought a hardware and boot and shoe business of Manly Morrison, in Clinton, where he has since carried on the business, also keeping farm implements. In March, 1891, he removed his business to its present location, the E. G. Hodgdon store. He married Jennie, daughter of R. B. Thompson. They have one daughter-Ethel M.

Manly Morrison, born in 1853, is a son of Benjamin and Lucretia (Joy) Morrison, who had four children: Sabrina (Mrs. Isaac Keene), Frank and Wesley, both deceased, and Manly. The latter was a farmer and school teacher until 1880, when he opened a general country store at Pishon's Ferry, continuing there six years. In 1886 he began a mercantile business at Clinton, which he sold in October, 1889, to E. E. Merrill. Since 1889 he has been engaged in the sale of carriages, farm implements, and wire ties for baled hay. He is also interested in the local real estate and insurance business. In 1888 he opened Spring street. His first wife was Eva B. Drake. His present wife was Manetta M. Brown.

Simon E. Pettigrew, born in 1848, is a son of George (1801-1845) and Mary (Morrison) Pettigrew, and grandson of John Pettigrew, who

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was born in Kittery, Me., came from Sidney to the farm where Simon now lives, and died there, leaving five sons: George, Gilman, Oliver, William and Lyman. George left two sons: Joseph G. and Simon E. The latter married Mary A., daughter of George and Patience Dawin. They have two daughters: Mabel B. and Lettie A.

Joseph Piper, born in 1815, is a son of Joseph P. and Jane (Doe) Piper. His grandfather was drowned in the Kennebec. Mr. Piper was engaged in the lumber business until about 1860, and for fifteen years previous to that had owned the Hunter mills, in company with others: Since 1860 he has been a farmer and cattle broker. He mar- ried Charlotte L., daughter of James Brown. She left one son, Ed- ward E., deceased. His second wife was Elizabeth, daughter of James Hunter; and his third wife was Mary, daughter of James Hunter. She left one son, George H., who has been in the employ of the Maine Cen- tral Railroad Company since 1879, and has been agent at Clinton since 1882. His wife is Eva E., daughter of Charles A. Collins. Edward E. Piper married Cordelia, daughter of Enoch Snell, of St. Johnsville, N.Y., and was a sheep broker and farmer. He died in 1891, aged forty-two.

Silas A. Plummer, born in Lineus, Me., in 1843, is a son of Alfred and Sarah J. (Brown) Plummer, and grandson of Aaron Plummer, who was an early settler of Albion, where he died in 1845. Mr. Plum- mer was a farmer in Aroostook county until 1871, when he came to Benton, where he was employed for nine years by the Maine Central Railroad Company as carpenter. In 1880 he went to Fort Fairfield, Me., where he was a farmer until 1890, when he came to Clinton, where he now lives, on the D. L. Hunter farm of two hundred acres. He married Harriet, daughter of Ephraim and Sarah P. (Flagg) Town, of Winslow. Their children are: Mabel M. (Mrs. Charles Drake), Olive I. and Olin B. (deceased).

Leonidas H. Pratt, born in Clinton in 1846, is a son of Holman J. and Sarah L. (Hunter) Pratt, and grandson of Ebenezer Pratt, who came from Massachusetts to Benton. Holman Pratt came to Clinton in early life, and died here in 1882. His sons were: Edgar H. and Leonidas H., who married Della, adopted daughter of C. A. Dewey, of Massachusetts. Their three children are: Arthur E., Leon H. and Eva I. Mr. Pratt came to his present home in 1884 from the old homestead at Decker's Corners, and is one of Clinton's best farmers.

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Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625-1892, Part 145

Author: Kingsbury, Henry D; Deyo, Simeon L., ed Publication date: 1892 Publisher: New York, Blake Number of Pages: 1790

Author: Kingsbury, Henry D; Deyo, Simeon L., ed
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York, Blake
Number of Pages: 1790