USA > Maine > Maine; a history, Volume IV > Part 13
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land, where he took his post-graduate work in the famous University there, and he spent in all about eighteen months in Europe. He then re- turned to the United States and once more re- sumed his practice at Portland. In this he has been extremely successful, and is now one of the best known and most popular physicians in the city, enjoying an equal reputation among his professional colleagues and with the community- at-large. At the present time (1917) he is on the Exemption Board, Division One, of the United States.
Dr. Baker has not allowed his professional duties to interfere with what he considers his obligations as a citizen, and has taken during his entire life in Portland, a keen and active inter- est in its affairs. He served for two years, namely, 1882 and 1883, on the school board, after which he resigned from duties which were too exacting in their character to be reconciled with his professional work. Dr. Baker is a very prominent Free Mason and has attained his thirty-second degree in that order. He is affili- ated with the following Masonic bodies: Lodge No. 74, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Bristol; Greenleaf Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; St. Albans Commandery, Knights Templar; the Council, Royal and Select Masters; and Kora Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
On June 4, 1884, Dr. Baker was united in mar- riage with Mary Augusta Whitman, born at Anthony, Rhode Island, near Providence, Sep- tember 26, 1854. Mrs. Baker is a daughter of Thomas Arnold Whitman, who was a prominent resident of Providence, engaged in the banking business there, who died there many years ago. Dr. and Mrs. Baker are members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Portland, Maine, and he is at present senior warden.
There is something intrinsically admirable in the profession of medicine that illumines by re- flected light all those who practice it. Some- thing, that is, concerned with its prime object, the alleviation of human suffering, something about the self-sacrifice that it must necessarily involve that makes us regard, and rightly so, all those who choose to follow its difficult way and devote themselves to its great aims, with a cer- tain amount of respect and reverence. It is trne that today there has been a certain lowering of the average of the standards and traditions of the profession, and that there are many within its ranks at the present time who have proposed to themselves selfish or unworthy objects in-
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Louis A. Byg
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BIOGRAPHICAL
stead of those identified with the profession it- self, whose eyes are centered on the rewards rather than the services, yet there are others also, who have preserved the purest and best ideals of the calling and whose self-sacrifice is as dis- interested as that of any who have preceded them. To such men we turn to seek the hope of the great profession in the future, to the men who, forgetful of personal considerations lose them- selves, either in the interest of the great ques- tions with which they have concerned them- selves or in the joy of rendering a deep service to their fellow-men. This type of man can be found in Dr. Baker, whose work in the city of Portland, Maine, in the interests of its health, both as a private practitioner and in his capacity as a health officer has done the public and con- tinues to do them an invaluable service.
LOUIS A. CYR-In 1912 Mr. Cyr saw his store and stock of general merchandise at Lime- stone, Aroostook county, Maine, totally destroyed by fire. He had but a few years before become sole owner of the business through the purchase of his partners' interest, and in one night he saw his hopes sadly shattered, but he began at the bottom again, rebuilt, and has regained the place in the business world from which he was tem- porarily dispossessed. Mr. Cyr is a son of Alexis and Julienne (Sirois) Cyr, his father a farmer, a member of the Maine Legislature, and for twenty- six years postmaster of Grand Isle, Maine, a Democrat and a man of high character.
Louis A. Cyr was born in Grand Isle (now Lille), Maine, June 18, 1875. He was educated in the public schools, Normal School, and St. Joseph's College (New Brunswick), and for a time after graduation was a teacher. Later he became clerk in the general store of Henry Gag- non at Van Buren, Maine, there remaining four years. At the end of that period he located at Limestone, Maine, in the employ of the same firm, opening a branch store there. He was ad- mitted a partner in 1900, the firm reorganizing as H. A. Gagnon & Company. In 1904 he bought his partner's interest, and since that year he has conducted business under his own name. In 1912 he was burned out, but at once rebuilt and has a large and well established general merchandising business. He is vice-president of the Limestone Trust Company; town treasurer; notary public; and formerly a selectman of the town. Mr. Cyr is a Democrat in politics; a member of Van Buren Lodge, Knights of Columbus; and is a prominent member of the Catholic church.
Mr. Cyr married in Frenchville, Maine, July 24, 1897, Laura A. Franck, daughter of Joseph and Hortense (Saucier) Franck. Mr. and Mrs. Cyr are the parents of nine children: Cecile M., born August 2, 1899; Esther M., born October 4, 1901; Louis E., born May 7, 1903; Emile J., born January 19, 1905; Lauretta R., born Octo- ber 7, 1906; Leo George, born July 25, 1909; Sylvio, born March 23, 1911; Annette, born March 25, 1914, and Lucille, born May 20, 1916.
WALTER BENSON MOORE-Although a resident of Portland, Maine, for a comparatively brief period, Walter Benson Moore, the popular and energetic secretary of the Chamber of Com- meree of that city, has in that time grown to be most closely identified with the life and affairs of the community and now occupies a prominent place both in the notice and regard of his fel- low-citizens. He is a native of Ohio, and is the son of Louis Jackson and Cora Belle (Hackett) Moore, of Dayton, Ohio, where his father was successfully engaged in business as a miller for many years. Mr. Moore, Sr., was a man of some prominence in his neighborhood and enjoyed an enviable reputation for probity and straightfor- ward dealing among his fellow-eitizens, and he gave his son the advantages of an excellent edu- cation.
Born Febraury 22, 1875, at Dayton, Ohio, Wal- ter Benson Moore attended the public schools of his native city for his education. Upon com- pleting his studies in these institutions, he took a business course offered to young men by the Young Men's Christian Association of Dayton, where he well proved his capacity as a student and from which he profited highly. He then se- cured a position with the National Cash Regis- ter Company of Dayton, Ohio, and remained for ten years with that concern, during which time he was associated with executive, selling and manufacturing departments. He proved his ability and value to his employers by his readi- ness and aptness in grasping the details and prin- ciples of the business, and was rapidly promoted to positions of greater and greater responsibility. After severing his relations with this company, he was associated for five years with the Com- mercial Dayton Receivers' & Shippers' Associa- tion, and also served for a similar period as sec- retary of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce. At the end of the latter period he left Dayton and went to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where for two years he was secretary of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. He spent the following
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three years in organizing a number of commercial associations and then came to Portland, Maine, where he took the position of secretary of the Portland Chamber of Commerce, a post which he continues to hold at the present time. In this capacity he has done a great deal to assist in the business and commercial development of the city, and is now recognized as a factor of im- portance in this aspect of the community's life. While still a resident of Dayton, Mr. Moore took a very active part in public affairs and was an influential figure on the political situation there. He served for four years as chairman of the finance committee of the city and in that office was responsible for many important reforms in the fiscal situation there. He was also active in the military life of the community and was a member of the First Regiment of Ohio Volun- teer Cavalry, Troop F, and served as a corporal during the Spanish-American War. He is a conspicuous figure in social, fraternal and club life of Portland, and is a member of the Economic and Rotary clubs there and the local lodge of the Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks. He is also prominent in the Masonic order and is affiliated with Siloam Lodge, No. 276, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the Chap- ter, Royal Arch Masons; the Council, Royal and Select Masters; the Commandery, Knights Tem- plar; Albert Pike Lodge of Perfection, No. 2, of McAllister, Oklahoma; India Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Oklahoma City; and Indian Consistory, No. 2, Sovereign Princes of the Royal Secret; of the Scottish Rite Bodies, South McAllister, Okla- homa. In his religious belief Mr. Moore is a Congregationalist and both he and his family attend the State Street Church of that denom- ination at Portland, Maine.
Walter Benson Moore was united in marriage, January 31, 1906, at Dayton, Ohio, with Julia Stuart Cowan, a daughter of Hugh Chambers and Anna Lorraine (Laystroth) Cowan, old and high- ly respected residents of that city. To Mr. and Mrs. Moore two children have been born, as fol- lows: Marjory Anne, February 2, 1907, and Vir- ginia Elsie, January 17, 191I.
It is only of comparatively recent times that the inestimable benefits conferred upon the com- munity by the sober business man and merchant are coming to be given their due share of rec- ognition, and that the records of these men are being set down alongside of those more showy ones connected with military service and the af- fairs of State, as most truly representative of
human life on the average and most largely con- tributive to the sum of human happiness in the aggregate. This growing appreciation of the part played by those concerned with the com- mercial and financial interests of the community has been coincident with a profound change in the organization of society itself, a change that has involved the shifting of its base from war to industry. Before this change had taken place, although the value of the merchant was realized in a dim sort of way by the warlike lords of creation, it was tinged with scarcely more con- sideration than that accorded to the creatures of the chase, that were thought valuable, indeed, but merely valuable as a prey for their fierce and insatiable desires, a consideration typified by that of the robber barons of medieval Germany for the traders whose caravans they helped to plun- der. In the gradual emergence into popular no- tice and respect of a mode of life essentially far more noble than that which originally despised it, this country, with its republican institutions, its democratic ideals and independent defiance of old formulae, has played a prominent, perhaps the most prominent part. In the United States of America, while we have amply honored those who have sacrificed themselves in war in the common weal, as we have honored those who sacrificed themselves in any calling, we have re- fused to accept the dictum of a past age and for- eign clime and that there is anything intrinsically honorable in the warlike calling, giving our ad- miration instead to pursuits which, in their very nature, tend to upbuild, not to destroy, which would give and preserve life, not take it. It therefore becomes our appropriate function to set down the records of such men as have established themselves in the regard of the community as examples of ability in these occupations which, more than any other, are typical of life as we find it here in our midst today. There is prob- ably no other region which has been, and still is, more productive of such records than that of New England, the development of whose great commercial interests is associated with a host of names recognized by all as those of the leaders and captains in this wholly beneficient campaign for the conquest of the realms of inanimate na- ture, and the spread of human power and com- fort. Among these names there is one that holds a high place in the records of the people of Maine, especially those of Portland, in which city it is most closely identified with the lives of his fellows, and this name is that of Walter Benson Moore.
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George A. Phair
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GEORGE A. PHAIR-For twenty-one years Mr. Phair has been in the United States customs service at Limestone, Maine, and there has formed a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. He is a son of Andrew and Anna (Benneman) Phair, who came to Maine from Ireland, set- tling in Aroostook county, where he engaged in lumbering the remainder of his life, and died in 1858.
George A. Phair was born in Limestone, Aroos- took county, Maine, March 17, 1855. He was but three years of age when his father died, and at quite an early age he began providing for his own maintenance. He attended the public schools, and was for several years engaged in farming and in lumbering. In 1897 he entered the employ of the United States Government in the department of customs, and has since been continuously connected with that branch of the public service, twenty-one years having elapsed. In May, 1918, he was appointed immigration in- spector, Department of Labor, in conjunction with the customs service. He is a director of the Limestone Trust Company, and a member of the executive committee of the board; in poli- tics a Republican, formerly a member of the Board of Selectmen, and of the Limestone School Board. He is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and interested in the work of that church and kindred societies.
Mr. Phair married (first) in Andover, New Brunswick, Canada, in May, 1880, Anna Kelly, daughter of Henry N. and Mary (Dyer) Kelly. She died in February, 1888. He married (sec- ond) in Limestone, Maine, in 1890, Minnie M. Thompson, daughter of Solomon and Lydia (Bradbury) Thompson. Children of George A. and Anna (Kelly) Phair: James Henry, Lizzie E., Mark T., Maud, and Mary Phair, the two last named dying in infancy. Children of George A. and Minnie M. (Thompson) Phair: Philip A., Edward C., Sarah L., Hallie M., Benjamin and Burns, twin boys; Mariel M., Marjorie O. and Gladys A., making a total of twelve living, all residing in Limestone, Aroostook county, Maine.
HANNO WHEELOCK GAGE-A prominent and able member of the Portland bar, which always recognized his worth, Hanno W. Gage was a man whose death, in 1907, was a severe loss to the community. Endowed with great intellectual gifts, he had also achieved a char- acter which was a combination of strength and gentleness, and of a knowledge of men and a knowledge of books rarely united in the same
person. His sympathy, his simplicity, his charm of manner, and his forceful directness all com- bined to make him one of the most revered and the most profoundly loved men in that section of the State.
Mr. Gage was born in Bridgton, Maine, Jan- uary 28, 1843, and was educated at the local schools and at the North Bridgton Academy. Like many other young men who have not yet found the course for which they are to steer, he taught school for a time, most of his engage- ments being in and about Bridgton. About the time he was twenty he decided that he would take up the profession of law for a life work, and in 1863 came to Portland and entered upon his studies in the office of Sewall C. Stront. In 1866 he was admitted to the bar, and a partner- ship was formed with his former preceptor un- der the style of Strout & Gage. In 1880 Fred- eric S. Stront joined the association, and the firm became known thereafter as Stront, Gage & Strout. The name remained the same when eight years afterward Charles A. Strout took the place of Frederic S. Strout, who had left a va- cancy by death. In 1894 Sewall C. Strout was appointed a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, and withdrew from the partnership, the remain- ing partners continuing in their practice under the name of Gage & Stront, this association be- ing finally dissolved by the death of Hanno W. Gage, January 4, 1907.
The ability and high character of Mr. Gage were recognized by his brethren of the court and bar, and he was appointed one of the board of examiners of Cumberland county. January 26, 1895, he was elected vice-president of the Cum- berland Bar Association, and Jannary 24, 1905, was elected the president of the same association, a position which he held up to the time of his death. He was a member of the Greenleaf Law Library, the Cumberland Club, Ivanhoe Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and Beacon Lodge, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. Gage married, May 27, 1874, Addie M. Ray- mond, daughter of Samuel T. and Elizabeth Ray- mond, of Cumberland Mills, who survives him. They had one daughter, Lonise (Gage) Camp, the wife of Paymaster Walter T. Camp, of the United States Navy.
The following resolutions were adopted by the committee of the Cumberland Bar at the time of his death. The committee consisted of Wil- liam R. Anthoine, Augustus F. Moulton and Charles A. Strout :
Resolved, That the members of the Cumberland Bar
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HISTORY OF MAINE
desire to record their sense of the loss that has come to the profession, and to the whole community, in the death of Hanno W. Gage, late a member of this Bar and a practitioner in all of our Courts. He was one of those rare characters in which learning is united with great activity and business capacity ; acquainted with men as well as with books; practical as well as theo- retical. He has passed away lamented by the Bar, the Bench, and all who were favored with his acquaintance. He had the esteem, respect and affection of his brethren at the Bar when living, for his ability, honor and integ- rity, and for his good fellowship. We desire to place upon the records of this Court an expression of our appreciation of his high qualities as a lawyer, citizen and friend !.
GEORGE ALBERT COWAN-Although ad- mitted to the Maine bar in 1906, Mr. Cowan did not begin the practice of law until 1910, when he located in Damariscotta, Lincoln county, where he has successfully practiced his profession until the present, 1919. Since coming to Damariscotta, he has thoroughly identified himself with the in- terest of that village, and has borne an important part in public affairs. He is a son of George Sawyer and Lydia Ann (Humphrey) Cowan, his father a carpenter and builder.
George Albert Cowan was born in Hampden, Penobscot county, Maine, April 16, 1882. He completed public school grammar courses, then entered Hampden Academy, whence he was graduated, class of June, 1903. He then entered the law department of the University of Maine, pursued a three years' course, and in June, 1906, was graduated LL.B., and was admitted to the Maine bar at the August term in Bangor The next three years he spent in teaching, one year in Jackson, Maine, High School, and two years as principal of schools in St. George, Maine. In I910 he located at Damariscotta, where he has won public favor and gained the law business of an important clientele, including the Newcastle National Bank of Damariscotta, which he serves as attorney.
Mr. Cowan is a Republican in politics, and in Hampden served as a member of the school board for three years. In Damariscotta he served three years as town clerk; was second selectman two years; and is the present chairman of the Board of Selectman. In 1917 he was appointed by Governor Milliken, county attorney for the county of Lincoln, Maine, and in November, 1918, he was regularly elected to succeed himself in that office. He is a member of Star of Progress Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, Jackson; Lincoln Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of Damariscotta, and a past chancellor commander; past master of Alna Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Damariscotta; high priest of Ezra B. French
Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of Damariscotta; King Hiram Council, Royal and Select Masters, of Rockland; Chrystal Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star; Waldoboro Lodge, Loyal Order of Moose; Rockland Camp, Sons of Veterans; and is an associate member of Harlow Dunbar Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He attends the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Cowan married (first) in 1905, Ora L. Emerson, who died in 1907, daughter of Wilbert W. Emerson, of Hampden, Maine. He mar- ried (second) in 1909, Emma M. Hall, who died in 1916, daughter of James Hall, of St. George, Maine. He married (third) January 1, 1918, Agnes M. Sproul, daughter of Captain Joseph D. Sproul, a retired master mariner. By his first marriage Mr. Cowan has a son, Otto, born No- vember 13, 1906, and by his third a son, Theodore Fash, born November II, 1918.
RICHARD WINSLOW HERSEY - The Hersey family is of that sturdy and capable New England stock which has given so many of her strongest men to this country and its representa- tive in the last generation has well displayed in his own personality the virtues and qualities which have for so many generations distinguished his ancestors. Richard Winslow Hersey, one of the most substantial and successful of the busi- ness men of Portland, Maine, is that representative and has won through his own efforts the enviable position which he now holds in the esteem of the community. He is a son of Elias Hersey, a native of Portland, Maine, born in 1833, died October 20, 1897, at the age of sixty-four years. Mr. Hersey, Sr., during his youth was connected with the Casco Bank, but he later severed his connections with this institution and founded the roofing business which under his, and later under his son's management, has reached its present great proportions. Mr. H Hersey, Sr., married Harriette Winslow, like himself a native of Portland, where she still continues to make her residence, having reached at the present time the advanced age of eighty-two years. They were the parents of the following children: Harry, who died in infancy; Elias Winslow, who died in the year 1909 at the age of fifty years; Annic, who is now the wife of Charles G. Allen, of Portland; Seth, who resides in Portland; Joseph W., who resides in Portland and is connected with the roofing business founded there by his father; Philip, who makes his home in Portland and is associated with the Canal Bank; Mabel, who is now the wife of Lonis E. Legge, of Rockford,
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D.M.Gimen
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Illinois; and Richard Winslow, with whose career we are here concerned primarily.
Born March 1, 1880, at Portland, Maine, Rich- ard Winslow Hersey has made that city con- stantly his home up to the present time. He began his education at the local public schools, but was later sent to the Billerica Military School at Billerica, Massachusetts, where he studied for a number of years. Upon complet- ing his course at this institution, Mr. Hersey returned at once to his native Portland, where he became connected with the Elias Hersey Roof- ing Company, the concern founded by his father, which has already been mentioned. The office of this company is situated at 123 Center street, Portland, where it was originally established as early as 1859. The elder Mr. Hersey died in the year 1897 and the control of the business passed into the hands of Elias Winslow Hersey. With his death the business passed once more to another brother, Robert W. Hersey, now de- ceased. Since that time the control of the great company has been in the hands of Richard Wins- low Hersey of this sketch, who at the present time is directing most efficiently the affairs there- of. Its present great development has been due in no small degree to his talent as a manager, and it is now the largest concern of its kind in the State. Recently the company was incor- porated, and it has started anew on what will doubtless prove an equally successful period of its career. Mr. Hersey is a man of strong re- ligious beliefs and feelings and is affiliated with the Universalist church in Portland.
Richard Winslow Hersey was united in mar- riage at Boston, Massachusetts, with Elizabeth Lord, like himself a native of Portland, born Oc- tober 20, 1880. One child has been born of this union, John Philip.
Although the influence of Mr. Hersey upon the community, due to the part he plays in the business world, is a great one, it is not by any means the sum-total of that which he exercises, or perhaps even the major portion of it. This is rather the result of his character as a man, a character which, coupled with a strong person- ality such as that possessed by Mr. Hersey, could not fail to have its effect upon all those with whom he comes in contact. At the base of his character, as it must be at the base of all worthy characters, are the fundamental virtues of courage and honesty, and to these he adds not only other virtues, but the graces of personality and manner, which make him at once the charm- ing companion and the most faithful friend.
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