Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625-1892, Part 54

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

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Manchester Haynes

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land & Camden Electric railroad; is the owner and builder of the Augusta Opera House; is a director of the Edwards Manufacturing Company, whose large mills are located at Augusta; a director of the Kennebec Steam Towage Company, and a trustee of the Lithgow Library.

Thus by his marked ability and unquestioned integrity, Mr. Haynes has won a position among the foremost business operators and public men of Maine; and it is but logical to infer that still higher honors await him. Bringing to the counting-room the tastes and cul- ture of the lawyer and scholar, he has broadened his mental horizon and cultivated his keen taste for literature and art by general reading and European travel.

Mr. Haynes' political record is also one of activity and influence. He was a member of the legislature of 1876, and in its debates on the Usury Bill he attracted the favorable attention of capitalists and political economists by his masterful handling of the questions of sup- ply and demand. He was reëlected in 1877, and was recognized on all sides as one of the leading members of the house. The next year he was elected to the state senate, where he took a similar influential position, and in the debate on the famous contested election case he made one of the most powerful and eloquent speeches in behalf of constitutional suffrage ever heard in Maine's capitol.

In 1879 he was returned to the senate and chosen its president in that critical period when the election had resulted in no choice of governor by the people, and it seemed not improbable that the presi- dent of the senate would be required to exercise the office of gover- nor. Thoughtful men of all parties looked to the senate as the conservative branch of the legislature for the orderly continuance of the government under the constitution. Apprehensions were allayed and confidence secured by the unequivocal and statesmanlike address of Mr. Haynes on assuming the presidential chair. "This year," he said, "the introduction of a new theory of public policy has so far further divided the people, that a new and unusual duty under the constitution is imposed on this legislature. It is to be hoped that in so far as this branch shares in this responsibility its action will be so prompt and decisive, its devotion to principle so unswerving, as to afford at once a test of the strength of the constitution and our rever- ence for it."

By his familiarity with parliamentary law, through previous legis- lative experience, and by his elegant address and manly bearing, Mr. Haynes made one of the most accomplished presiding officers the senate had known for many years.

In 1882 he was again elected representative to the legislature from Augusta, and was chosen speaker of that body, where he maintained the high reputation he had already established in the senate, and in the debate on the congressional apportionment, he took the floor and

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made a strong and eloquent speech in support of the bill as reported by the committee.

He was a delegate to the national convention that nominated Blaine and Logan in 1884, when he was made a member of the republican national committee and was a member of the national executive com- mittee from that time until 1892. As a citizen of Augusta, Mr. Haynes has always been vigilant in promoting the interest of the people with reference to all public enterprises and internal improvements; ready and generous with money and service whenever properly required.

Mr. Haynes made Augusta his permanent residence in 1867, and the same year married Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of Ira D. Sturgis, of that city. The names of their four children are: Marion Douglass, Sturgis (died when one year old), Hope and Muriel.

Fred. L. Hersey, son of Levi P., was born in Hebron, Me., in 1859. In 1883 he bought the retail shoe business in Augusta which his father had established in 1879. In 1889 father and son formed the ex- isting partnership in that business. He is a member of the board of trade of the city, was in city council in 1888-9, is a member of present board of alderman, and has been a director of the Augusta Loan and Building Association since it was chartered, June 16, 1887. Mrs. Her- sey is Carrie M., daughter of Osgood Morse, of Auburn, Me.

DANIEL HEWINS, born August 11, 1800, in Augusta, was the young- est of the six children of William and Matilda Hewins, who came to this city (then Hallowell) prior to the year 1794, and in September of that year, while serving as school committee, he received a proposi- tion from Isaiah Wood, of Fort Western, to teach his school. Some years after, William Hewins moved to Ohio, where he died.

Daniel's mother died when he was an infant, and he was taken to live with a family named Matthews; but he was permitted before he attained his majority to live with his uncle, Amasa Hewins. On May 7, 1826, he married Zeruah, daughter of David and Cynthia Wall, and granddaughter of David and Hannah Wall, who were early settlers on the farm now owned by Luther I. Wall, where Zeruah was born November 28, 1800.

Daniel Hewins filled many important positions and places of trust among his townsmen, especially in the settlement of entangled es- tates. His business success occupied his time, and to hold office was not his wish, although often urged. He was elected an alderman of the city, and was appointed at all times upon the most important committees. His integrity and ability were a guarantee of success in every undertaking. His sympathy, politically, was with the demo- cratic party; and of the Congregational church he was a strong sup- porter. He was liberal in every good work in the church, in society and at his home. He died December 23, 1888, at the home of his

THE HEWINS HOMESTEAD

RESIDENCE OF Mr. GEORGE E. HEWINS, AUGUSTA, ME.

Daniel Huvino

PRINT E. BIERSTADT

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granddaughter, Mrs. Haskell, in this city, and was buried in the Hewins' Cemetery, on the river road.

Of the three sons and six daughters of Daniel and Zeruah Hewins, none are now living. The oldest daughter, Avis Pauline, married John H. Church, and left a daughter, Pauline, now Mrs. George D. Haskell, and one son, John Church.

George E. Hewins, son of Daniel, was born at the homestead Octo- ber 3, 1828, and died October 18, 1892. He married Adelaide V., daughter of Abel Pierce, and granddaughter of Asa Pierce, one of the first settlers on Church Hill. The four children of George E. Hewins are: Georgie E., Daniel A., Scott S. and Frank Hewins-all of whom are receiving the advantages of the best schools of Augusta. Mr. Hewins spent his life on his farm, adjoining the homestead farm of his father. The landscape illustration shows this picturesque section of rural Augusta at the intersection of the Church Hill and Bangor roads.

No class of people in America have more cause to be thankful for the blessing of good ancestry than the descendants of the world-re- nowned Pilgrim stock that settled Barnstable county, Mass. Devoid of pretension, sparing of words, their characteristic traits were ear- nestness of conviction, simplicity of life and integrity of act. These qualities are the making of the most enduring business reputations. Of this original Cape Cod stock comes Oscar Holway, of Augusta. He is the son of Seth Holway, of Fairfield, Me., where he was born in 1834. His grandfather, Gideon Holway, of Sandwich, Mass., came to Fairfield about 1782.

Oscar Holway began trade in Augusta in 1857 as a grocer. In 1864 he commenced a wholesale flour and grain business, and in 1875 es- tablished a branch house in Auburn, Me., since which time the firm of Oscar Holway & Co. has done the largest business of its kind in Maine.

Besides the care of his private affairs, he is president of the First National Bank of Augusta, a trustee of the Kennebec Savings Bank, a trustee of the Auburn Trust Company, a director of the Au- gusta Water Company, of the Kennebec & Boston Steamboat Com- pany, of the Old Town Woolen Company, and of the Waverly Woolen Company, of Pittsfield, Me.

He married in 1859 Olive A. Fowler, of Fairfield, Me. Melvin S. Holway, the elder of their two children, is now an attorney at law in Augusta, is the treasurer of the Cushnoc Fiber Company, and a director in the First National Bank. Charles O. Holway, the younger son, is a resident of Auburn, and a member of the firm of Oscar Hol- way & Co.

Joseph A. Homan, noticed at page 245, was born in 1816 at Marble- head, Mass., and November 29, 1829, became an apprentice on a Boston

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daily. In 1835, with two partners, he started the first penny newspaper in Boston. In December, 1837, he came to Augusta as compositor on the Kennebec Journal.

James Madison Humphrey, a farmer at Bolton Hill, son of James B., grandson of Jesse, and great-grandson of Jesse Humphrey (1748- 1831), of Bristol, Me., was born in 1838. He married Lydia R., sister of J. Albert Bolton and has two children: Fred M. and Mary E. James B. Humphrey was born in Bristol, married Elizabeth T. Gay, of Salem, Me., in 1836, and died in 1888.

William B. Hunt, born in Augusta in 1835, is a son of William and Hannah (Hodges) Hunt, of Augusta. William came from Kings Nympton, Surrey county, Eng., to Halifax, in 1820, and in 1821 to Augusta, where he married a daughter of Ezra Hodges, a soldier in the revolution, and was a tailor by trade, carrying on a business in Augusta nearly forty years. William B. has made three trips west, spending twelve years in California and vicinity, chiefly engaged in mining. He did a boot and shoe business in Augusta about eighteen years. He was alderman in 1885 and 1891. His wife was Clara A. Perley, of Fairfield. Their children are: Charles G. and Grace M. The oldest son, Leon W., died in 1891.

Daniel Knight, a son of Jonathan Knight, of Windham, Me., mar- ried Sarah Hussey, of Windham, and about 1831 removed to Augusta, where their son, Orrin J., was born in 1832, and where he and Tamsin L., their other surviving child, now reside. Their farm, south of the hospital, was early occupied by the McMaster family. Orrin J. Knight was formerly engaged in Thomas Lang's ship-yard in Augusta.

SAMUEL W. LANE was born in Frankfort, Waldo county, Me., April 22, 1838, the youngest of the nine children of Urial and Susan S. (Deane) Lane, who were descended from sterling colonial stock. His father, an architect by profession, died when he was a small boy. His mother was a woman whose devout piety ennobled and sweetened a character of great force and energy. To her training and guidance he has always attributed every attainment of his life. On the death of his father the family removed to Hampden, Me., where he was educated in the common schools and at the Hampden Academy, working on a farm and at shoemaking to defray current expenses. Studious and fond of books, he began teaching school winters, at the age of seven- teen. Choosing the profession of law, he was admitted to the bar in Penobscot county, and began practice in Hampden, when deciding on a collegiate course, he returned to the academy, and was nearly ready for college when the events of 1861 roused his patriotism, and instead of going to college, he went to war.

Enlisting as a private in the 1st Maine Cavalry, he spent the win- ter of 1861-2 in a tent on the state capitol grounds in Augusta. This proved a cold introduction to the city of his future home, for a disa-

Orean Hoolway

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bility, followed by his discharge in March of 1862, was the result of the exposure. With a few weeks of home life came a return of vigor, and with it the old resolve to march under the flag of his country, and again he enlisted, this time in the 11th Maine Infantry, in which he was promoted by regular gradations from the ranks to a captaincy. He served in Virginia, in North and South Carolina, in Florida, and in the Department of the Gulf-nearly three years of constant duty- never absent from his regiment, except when on detached service, until sent home to be discharged. While at Pensacola he was stricken with an attack of fever of so virulent a type that the medical director hastened to send him home. The post surgeon at Augusta adjudged him a physical wreck, and he was discharged from the service in No- vember, 1864. But the resources of a hardy constitution again put him on his feet. In the following February he was able to assist in the provost marshal's office in Augusta, where he remained till that office was abolished. The very next day he opened a law office in Augusta, and was burned out in the great fire of the following Sep- tember.

This was followed by the greater and far pleasanter event of his marriage to L'Nora Florentine, daughter of Captain George W. Perry, a retired sea captain, October 9, 1865. About this time he began to pay the penalty of a useful activity in municipal affairs. He was a member of the school board, of the common council, for many years auditor of accounts, and for three terms treasurer and collector, refus- ing a fourth election. Following this, he served the city as alderman three years, then two years as mayor, declining a third year. While holding the mayoralty he recommended to the common council an iron bridge over Kennebec river, in place of the wooden structure then standing. The suggestion was adopted, and in less than one year the present iron bridge was ready for the public. In 1868 and in 1869 Mr. Lane was assistant secretary of the state senate, and for the ten years following he was principal of that office. In the fall of 1892 he was elected to the next term of the state legislature-and the end is not yet.

Captain Lane is a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He took an active interest in the Grand Army of the Republic, and was a charter member of the first Grand Army Post in Augusta. He was subsequently chosen commander of Seth Williams Post of the Grand Army, and while holding that posi- tion organized Seth Williams Ladies' Relief Corps, and founded a fund of several thousand dollars for the relief of poor and disabled comrades, their families, widows and orphans. The Department of Maine chose him as its representative to the national encampment for several years, and in 1886 as its commander. The chorus of com- mendation that followed this selection was perhaps most distinctly

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voiced by General Selden Connor, at a supper given Thursday even- ing, February 25, 1886, by the Ladies' Relief Corps of Augusta to the comrades of Seth Williams Post, in whose behalf he presented the new department commander with a rich Grand Army badge. A few of his earnest, eloquent periods were: " You are, I am sure, well aware how loyally and zealously-with a whole heart and every energy-your comrades urged you at the recent Annual Encampment at Skowhegan for the high position you now hold. They were not moved to such action solely by their desire for your personal advancement, but by the worthier motive that they were thereby promoting the interests of the Order, that they were offering the Department a chief who would bring tried ability and faithfulness to its service. The entire unanimity with which our choice was ratified by the Encampment, was an occurrence almost, if not quite, without a precedent in our his- tory. As an outward and visible token of our congratulations and thorough confidence that in the conduct of your office you will amply justify the choice the Grand Army of Maine has made, Seth Williams Post has procured this golden badge of our Order, and of your rank, and begs you to accept it. It is because of your loyalty and true ser- vice that we bring this gift for your acceptance. Long may you wear it, and may it brighten with new honors in the coming years."

Mr. Lane has long been a zealous Mason, holding many official po- sitions in the different bodies, being several times the chief officer in the Lodge, Chapter, Council and Commandery. He has also filled the presiding chairs in Asylum Lodge and Jephtha Encampment, I. O. of O. F.

He was editor of Our Young Folks' Illustrated Paper, published by E. C. Allen & Co., for three years from 1869, and in 1878 becaine editor in chief of the various publications issued by that house; still retaining that position with the E. C. Allen & Co. Publishing Corpora- tion formed in 1892.

The number, the diversity, and the range of the many positions of public service to which Mr. Lane has been called by his fellow-citizens have been exceeded only by the fidelity with which he has filled them.

Albert T. Leavitt, born in 1826, is a son of Albert Leavitt, who came from Auburn, Me., about 1825 and built the first house on the George A. Prescott place. His father was Jacob Leavitt, of Auburn. Albert T. married Lydia Ann Brown, who died, leaving ten children: George A., Hannah M. (Mrs. Captain John H. Haley), Elmer, Inez H. (Mrs. Thomas Field), Harvey, Augusta (Mrs. Shaw), William W., John F., Abbie May (Mrs. Ziba Keene), and Llewellyn. Mr. Leavitt's farm was first occupied by a Mr. Pond, on the Leavitt road, which was opened before 1858.

Henry M. Leighton, born in 1824, married Martha Page, and re- sides where her parents, Levi and Mary C. (Hamlen) Page lived; her grandfather, Levi, was a son of Dea. James Page, who settled near here and died in 1830. They have two children: Susie H. (Mrs. Roscoe E.

Samuel WLane

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Penney), and Charles S. Leighton. Mr. Leighton's father, Ephraim, was the son of Ephraim Leighton, who came up the Kennebec with his father, Benjamin, when there were but three houses in Augusta, and made their way, by blazed trees, to Mt. Vernon, where the family were early settlers; thence Ephraim returned to Augusta about 1813.

Benjamin F. Libby was born in Whitefield in 1824. He went to California in '49, but returned in 1852 and married, settling in Augusta. He married first, Esther Ann Ware, and second, Olive A., sister of J. Madison Humphrey. He was five years in the city council. Mr. Libby's farm was settled by Zebulon Morse, but Edward B. Thorne built the house about 1841. Mr. Libby's father, Benjamin, was in the revolution and war of 1812. Mr. Libby's children are: James E., Everett W., Frank H., Lotta M., Winslow B. and Daisey-the latter by second marriage.

William H. Libby, born in Woolwich, Me., in 1832, is a son of Cap- tain William K. Libby, who followed the sea many years, and about 1842, with his family, came to Augusta. Here William H. attended the common schools, and worked as a riverman. In 1860 he was elected a councilman of the city, serving two years, and was appointed to the police force. In 1861 he was elected city marshal, which position he filled five years. In 1864 was appointed deputy U. S. marshal for the district of Maine, holding the appointment till 1877, and since 1865 has been coroner. He was appointed deputy sheriff in 1867, and held the position until elected sheriff in 1875. He has been three times elected to this office. In 1883 he was again appointed deputy sheriff, and has held that position since, excepting two years. From 1872 to 1877 he was alderman of his ward, holding that office five consecu- tive years; and from 1881 to 1886 was on the board of assessors, serving four years as chairman.

Thomas Little was born in Bremen, Me., in 1804. He came to Augusta in 1821 as an apprentice to a joiner, and worked at that trade until 1835. He was then in the grocery trade at the foot of Cony street until 1862, when he sold to Chisam & Robinson. His wife, deceased, was Elizabeth Prince Howard. Their children: Mar- tha (Mrs. William A. Pidgin, of Lewiston), Thomas H. (deceased), Elizabeth, Mary A. and Cordelia. His present wife, Elizabeth Springer, had four children: James S., Rhoda E., Charles O. (de- ceased) and Frank A. Little. Mr. Little was fourteen years city treasurer and collector. He was the oldest member of the Congrega- tional church at the time of his death in 1891.

H. P. Lowell, a son of J. H. Lowell, of Hallowell, was born in that town in 1865. He was graduated from the Hallowell Classical Acad- emy in 1883, and in the same year came to Augusta to learn the jew- elry business, going into the store of Wheeler & Lord. Upon the

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death of Mr. Wheeler in 1887, he purchased his interest, and the firm became Lord & Lowell, as at present. In 1888 Mr. Lowell married Bertha, daughter of Rev. Francis Grosvenor, of Kennebunkport, Me. They have one child, Marguerite G.

Fred D. Lynn, a son of George, and grandson of Nathaniel Lynn, of Windsor, was born in Windsor in 1843. He married Louisa Bow- ler, of Waldo county, and has two daughters: Melva E. and Alma B. He was a soldier with the 1st Maine Cavalry in 1864, and is now farm superintendent of the Togus Home, which position he has held since 1869, excepting four years. Nathaniel Lynn lived on the North Bel- fast road, about one-half mile west of Tyler's Corner, on a farm set- tled by Isaiah Noyes, now known as the Seekings farm.

JOSEPH H. MANLEY .- In 1816 Amasa Manley, of Vermont, a son of Jesse Manley, of Stoughton, Mass., was residing at Putney, Vt., and was engaged in the jeweler's business, and there, on the 16th of June, to him and his wife, Lydia French, was born their fifth child-James Sullivan Manley. Three years later they removed to Maine, where Amasa had embarked largely in land speculations, and settled at Nor- ridgewock, where their six younger children were born. He subse- quently removed to Augusta and bought a farm north of Ballard's Corners, where he passed the remaining years of his life.

James S. was fitted for college, but his prospects of a college train- ing and a professional career were sacrificed under the Juggernaut of his father's unfortunate land speculations. When twenty-three years old he married Caroline G. Sewall, of Augusta, who survives him. She is the daughter of Charles and granddaughter of General Henry Sewall, of revolutionary fame, a Puritan family identified in every generation with the first interests of New England, and conspicuous from its first settlement in the affairs of Augusta. Here James S. Manley passed the active years of his useful life as editor and pub- lisher, and here he died, December 9, 1861. His children were: Jo- seph Homan, Abbie and James Sewall.

Joseph H. Manley, the eldest of the three, was born October 13, 1842, while his parents were living a short time at Bangor. When eleven years old he was put at school for four years in Farmington, Me., in the "Little Blue School " for boys. Ill health, which had limited his earlier opportunities, now interrupted the plans for his collegiate education, but when nineteen he began the study of law in Boston, and in February, 1863, graduated from the Albany Law School with the degree of bachelor of laws and was admitted to prac- tice in that state. The same year, and before he was twenty-one years old, he returned to Augusta and became the law partner of H. W. True. In 1865 he was admitted to practice in the United States district and circuit courts and was appointed a commissioner of the

Att Manley

AUGUSTA. 478a

U. S. district court of Maine. During that and the following year he was in the Augusta city council, as president in 1866.

From 1869 to 1876 he was in government employ as agent of the internal revenue department and spent the three following years in Washington as agent of the Pennsylvania railroad in its relations with the treasury department. In the spring of 1878 he purchased his present half interest in the Maine Farmer, on which he worked as general editor until first appointed by Garfield, in May, 1881, post- master at Augusta, which position, under two administrations, he filled for over seven years, until he resigned in August, 1892, to take at Mr. Harrison's request a position on the republican national execu- tive committee conducting his canvass for the presidency.

He was a delegate to the republican national conventions of 1880, 1888 and 1892, and for eight years has been chairman of the state committee of Maine, of which he has been a member since 1881. That year he was elected a trustee of the Augusta Savings Bank, and is also a director in the Edwards Manufacturing Company, treasurer of the Augusta Water Company and of the Augusta Electric Light and Power Company, and largely identified with the city's progress. In 1887-8 and in 1889-90 Mr. Manley represented Augusta in the state legislature, and as a factor in the political affairs of the state and of the nation he is to-day more widely known than any other private citizen of Maine, with the one illustrious exception of her statesman son, whom Maine always delights to honor.

In 1866 Mr. Manley married Susan H., daughter of Governor Sam- nel Cony, and they have four children: Samuel Cony Manley, Lucy Cony Manley, Harriet Manley and Sydney Sewall Manley.

Will C. Miller, of Augusta, is the son of John A., the grandson of Charles, and the great-grandson of Joseph Miller, of Union, Me., whose father was Jesse Miller, of Franklin, Mass. John A. Miller married Sarah Marston, of Warren. Their children were: Will C. and Francis F., now of Portland. By his second wife, Laura Rokes, he had one child, Fessenden W., now of Union, Me. Will C. came to Augusta in 1883, and has been bookkeeper for O. Williamson since 1890. He married in 1890, Annie G. Robbins, of Augusta. They have one child, Ruby G.

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Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625-1892, Part 54

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