USA > Maine > Maine; a history, Volume IV > Part 17
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the largest saw mill plant in New England and the largest shingle mill in the United States. The plant of this company has a daily capacity of two hundred and fifty thousand feet of long lumber, one hundred an dsixty thousand laths, and five hundred and fifty thousand cedar shingles. Mr. Parker is a leading figure in lumber dealings and operations in Maine and is an authority in his line, equally well versed in the practical side of lumher as he is in the financial and executive direction of the important concerns he controls.
Mr. Parker has had extensive shipping interests, some of which he retains at the present time. He made a departure from the lumber business in 1898, when he organized Parker & Thomes Com- pany, wholesale dealers in dry goods and fancy goods throughout all of New England. He is president of the United States Trust Company, and a trustee of the Portland Savings Bank. He belongs to lodge, chapter, and commandery in the Masonic order, and is a member of the Knights of Pythias. He is (1919) president of the Portland Club and a member of the Portland Country Club.
Mr. Parker married, at Gorham, New Hampshire, March 15, 1875, Elizabeth Tasker Jewell, of Bangor, Maine, daughter of William and Emily (Bates) Jewell. They are the parents of Walter Brown Parker, born March 31. 1882, a graduate of the Portland High School, associated with his father in business.
ARTHUR OWEN WHITE-Among the prominent and successful business men of Lisbon Falls, Maine, is Arthur Owen White, a member of an old and distinguished family, and descended on the paternal side of the house from Irish ancestors, while on his mother's side his descendants can be traced back to the famous "Mayflower." His father, Owen White, was born at Bowdoin, Maine, September 20, 1828, and was one of the "forty- niners," having spent ten years in the West, after which period he returned to Litchfield, in his native State, where he followed the occupation of farming all his life. He conducted the Lisbon town farm for ten and a half years and engaged in many other similar occupations connected with farm life. He was a very prominent and successful man, and a highly respected and intelligent citizen. He mar- ried Mary Jane Flanders, who was born in Rich- mond, Virginia, a member of a distinguished Vir- ginian family. Owen White died at Lisbon Falls, in 1000, and his wife three years prior, in the same town. They were the parents of three children, all of whom are now living, as follows: I. Mar- garet Lucy, who is now the wife of Frank C.
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Coombs, of Lisbon, and the mother of three children : Frank, Robert and Jennie. 2. Dexter Smith, a resident of East Auburn, where he con- ducts a prosperous farm. 3. Arthur Owen, of whom further.
Born September 17, 1871, Arthur Owen White, a son of Owen and Mary Jane (Flanders) White, had but little association with his native birthplace, Litchfield Corners, Kennebec county, Maine, but at the age of seven removed with his parents to Lis- bon, a picturesque town of the "Pine Tree State." It was here that he attended the local public schools, and later graduated from the high school of the region, during which time he had established a record for probity and scholarship. He then matriculated at Grey's Business College of Port- land, Maine, and in 1889 completed a thorough course of general business training. He obtained a position with the Tibbetts Manufacturing Con- pany in the capacity of bookkeeper, and remained with this establishment for a period of about two years. However, Mr. White did not find this place one which lived up to the ideals which he had set for himself, and his next step was to associate him- self with S. E. King, of Welchville, Maine, where he remained for one year, and at the end of this time secured a position in a grocery store at Win- throp, Maine. He subsequently came to Lisbon Falls, in 1893, having received an offer from a Lis- boti Falls store to take charge of the meat depart- ment there. With this concern he remained for nine years, at the end of which period he had saved up enough capital to cherish his life-long ambition, that is, to some day become the proprietor of a store of his own. With this end in view. Mr. White, in 1904, started a grocery and meat store of his own, this being the same establishment that he is at present conducting on Main street, Lisbon Falls, Maine. Here Mr. White conducts a suc- cessful business, and, in fact, one of the largest of its kind in that region of the State.
It is not only in the business life of Lisbon Falls that Mr. White takes so prominent a part. In 1906 he was elected on the staff of the board of selectmen, and served in this capacity for about three years. In 1909 he was elected chairman of this board, a post which he still holds, having served on the board of selectmen for twelve years in all, the last nine years as chairman. Mr. White is a devotee of out-door sports in general, and is what is called a "baseball fan," having played on a team while a young man. He is an athlete of some note ,and takes a keen interest in all sorts of athletic sports. He is identified with a number of important clubs in the region, being a prominent
Mason, a member of the Order of Red Mcn, of the Foresters, and of the Order of the Eastern Star, in the latter organization of which he was patron for four years. Mr. White is also a mem- ber of the Grangers, and is now serving his sec- ond year as master.
In 1891, at Lewiston, Maine, Arthur Owen White married Gertrude A. Webber, a native of Lisbon Center, Maine, where she was born September 15, 1872, a daughter of Alfred C. and Beulah (Lan- caster) Webber. Mr. Webber was the postmaster of Lisbon for a number of years, a position which he held up to the time of his death. To Mr. and Mrs. White the following children have been born: 1. Florence M., born January 6, 1892, and died Oc- tober 28, 1909; she had just graduated from the Lisbon Falls High School with the highest rank of any pupil up to that time, having attained an average of ninety-six per cent. 2. Alva Leslie, born April 21, 1894, and now assists his father in his business. 3. Freeman Owen, born May 7, 1896, and works in the paper mills here, but has enlisted in the Nelson Dingley Heavy Artillery. 4. Alfred Carlton, born May 14, 1898, and is now a member of the class of 1918 in the high school at Lisbon Falls.
DAVID RAE CAMPBELL-David Rae Camp- bell, who for many years had been one of the most conspicuous figures in the industrial life of Dexter and Sangerville, Maine, where he has been inti- mately identified with the development of the woolen industry, is a native of Scotland, having been born in the city of Glasgow in that country, July 30, 1830. He passed his childhood and early yonth in his native land, and received his educa- tion at the local and public schools there. Upon completing his studies at these institutions, Mr. Campbell served a seven year apprenticeship in the woolen mills of Scotland and learned in that ex- cellent school every detail of the manufacture of these goods. At the expiration of that time, be- lieving that a greater opportunity awaited him in the new world, he came to the United States and here engaged in the woolen manufacturing busi- ness. Indeed he was one of those who contributed most largely to the building up of this most im- portant industry in Maine, and became affiliated with a number of the largest concerns in this region. He was president of the Campbell Manufacturing Company of Sangerville, Maine, of the Dunbarton Woolen Company, of Dexter, Maine, in which position he had been succeeded by his son, Angus Osgood Campbell, and of the Niantic Manufactur- ing Company of East Lyme, Connecticut. For
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many years he was regarded as an authority 011 woolen goods, and is one of the most capable organizers and efficient executives hereabouts. Mr. Campbell, upon coming to this country, be- came a citizen thereof and affiliated himself with the Republican party, of which he has always been a staunch supporter. Concerned as he was, how- ever, with the large interests that he was develop . ing, he was quite without ambition for political preferment of any kind, and although a prominent figure in the general life of the community refused to accept any public office. He is a member of the Maine Woolen Manufacturers Club, and has always devoted much time and energy to the im- provement of the conditions surrounding this in- dustry in America. In his religious belief Mr. Campbell is a Methodist and for many years has attended Campbell Memorial Church of that de- nomination at Sangerville, Maine.
David Rae Campbell married (first), in the year 1858, at Amesbury, Massachusetts, Betsey S. Springer, deceased. Two children were born of this union, as follows: Angus Osgood, January 25. 1860, whose sketch follows; and Willie A., born January 23, 1862. Mr. Campbell married (second), in the year 1868, at Dexter, Maine, Eleanor (Ellen) (Lovejoy) Curtis, by whom he had three children, as follows: Grace E., born July 28, 1869; David O., born in 1874, and Louisa E., born in 1878.
ANGUS OSGOOD CAMPBELL .- One of the prominent figures in the industrial life of Dexter and Sangerville, Maine, and an influential citizen of that community is Angus Osgood Campbell, a member of an old and distinguished New England family of Scotish origin, and a son of David Rae and Betsey S. (Springer) Campbell, who for many years resided at this place.
Angus Osgood Campbell was born at Dexter, January 25, 1860, and as a lad attended the local public schools. He was graduated from the Dex- ter High School, and later took a commercial course at the Eastman Business College at Pougli - keepsie, New York. Having thus prepared him- self for a business career, Mr. Campbell, follow- ing in the footsteps of his father, became inter- ested in the manufacture of woolen goods and has remained in that line ever since. Mr. Camp- bell has met with a notable success as a woolen manufacturer, and at the present time holds the office of president of the Dumbarton Woolen Com- pany of Dexter, Maine. He is also clerk of the Niantic Manufacturing Company of East Lyme, Connecticut, and is prominent in industrial circles in both states. Mr. Campbell has not confined
his activities to the manufacture of woolen goods, however, but has become interested in financial operations in this region and is now a director of the Dexter Trust and Banking Company of this town. Mr. Campbell has always been a staunch supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and has been elected to a num- ber of important public offices on its ticket. He has served as selectman and treasurer of the town, and in 1907 and 1908 was a member of the Gover- nor's Council. Mr. Campbell is also a prominent figure in social and fraternal circles hereabouts, and is a member of Abner Wade Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Piscataquis Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Bangor Council, Royal and Select Masters; and St. John's Commandery, Knights Templar, having taken his thirty-second degree in Free Masonary. He is also affiliated with the local lodges of the Benevolent and Pro- tected Order of Elks, and the Knights of Pythias. His clubs are the Tarratine of Bangor, and the Piscataquis of Foxcroft, Maine.
Angus Osgood Campbell was united in marriage. September 15, 1882, at Guilford, Maine, with Bertha Alice Wade, a daughter of Abner P. and Sarah (Ayer) Wade, old and highly-respected residents of that place. To Mr. and Mrs. Campbell one son has been born, Angus Wade, February 14, 1884, now a lieutenant in the American Red Cross and in active duty overseas.
DAVID OSGOOD CAMPBELL-Among the prominent figures in the industrial life of Sanger- ville, Maine, with whose affairs he has been actively identified for many years, is David Osgood Camp- bell, who now lives retired from active life at Sangerville. Mr. Campbell is a son of David Rae and Eleanor (Ellen) (Lovejoy) Campbell, and a member of an old Maine family. His father, like himself, was active in the industrial life of the community, and was engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods for many years in this region.
David Osgood Campbell was born at Sangerville, July 28, 1874, and as a lad attended the common schools of his native town. Later he entered the East Maine Conference Seminary, Bucksport, Maine, from which he graduated, class of 1891. After completing his studies at the latter institu- tion, Mr. Campbell began his successful career, and became treasurer of the firm of D. R. Camp- bell & Sons, woolen manufacturers, at Sangerville, of which his father was the head. Later this con- cern was incorporated under the name of the Camp- bell Manufacturing Company, and David Osgood Campbell remained treasurer thereof for several
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years, the last two years as general manager, also was a director in the business until it was sold to the Dumbarton Mills Company. He then was elected director of the new company, also, for a few years, secretary. Mr. Campbell early became interested in western affairs, and for a time made his home at Seattle, Washington, where he came as assistant treasurer and a director of the Seattle & Yukon Steamship Company. He was also con- nected in the capacity of manager with the steam- ship Elishu Thompson of San Francisco and Seattle. After two years in that region, Mr. Camp- bell returned to the East, and was for a time a director of the Guilford Trust Company, of Guil- ford, Maine. Since that time, however, he has withdrawn from these various business interests and now enjoys a well-earned leisure. Mr. Camp- bell is a Republican in politics, and although much interested in all questions and issues of the day, has never been ambitions to hold public office. He is exceedingly active in social and fraternal circles here, and is a member of various orders and as- sociations, among which should be mentioned: the Knights of Pythias, in which he has been through all the chairs, and was at one time chancellor of Sir Godfrey Lodge, of Sangerville, and is now past chancellor thereof; the Abner Wade Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Sanger- ville; Piscataquis Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of Dover, Maine; and Court Kinhoe, Independent Order of Foresters, of Sangerville. Mr. Camp- bell is also a member of the Tarrantine Club, of Bangor, Maine, also being reëlected to membership in the National Geographic Society, of Washing- ton, D. C., and is active in the life of all these associations. While not a formal member of any church, Mr. Campbell attends the Methodist Episco- pal church (Campbell Memorial Church) of San- gerville, Maine, and is exceedingly liberal in his support of the same.
David Osgood Campbell married (first) Scptem- ber 25, 1900, Virginia M. Ring, now deceased, of Orono, Maine, a daughter of Charles B. and Ab- bie Ring, both deceased. Mr. Campbell married (second) Mrs. Genevieve (West) Collins, of Franklin, Maine, a daughter of Hon. Joseph H. and Mary (Brackett) West, of that place. One child was born to Mr. Campbell by his first mar- riage, David Rae Campbell, born November 7, 1901.
ARTHUR E. BAKER was born in Beaver Falls, Lewis county, New York, September 20, 1877. After completing his course of study in the public schools of Potsdam, New York, he turned his at-
tention to business pursuits, familiarizing himself with the details of the construction business, which line of work he followed until the year 1906, achieving a large degree of success therein. In the following year he took up his residence in Bidde- ford, Maine, and there engaged in the hardware business, and after the death of his father-in-law, Carlos Heard, which occurred July 31, 1917, he assumed charge of his hardware business and so contiues, a well merited success attending his efforts. Mr. Baker is a director of the Pepperell Trust Company, the duties of which he performs in an efficient manner. He holds membership in Dunlap Lodge, No. 47, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; York Chapter, No. 5, Royal Arch Masons ; Maine Council, Royal and Select Masters; Brad- ford Commandery, No. 4, Knights Templar; Kora Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; Ada Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star and the Odd Fellows.
Mr. Baker married, December 12, 1906, Edna Heard, daughter of Carlos and Harriet A. (Lunt) Hcard, and they are the parents of two children : Carlos, born May 6, 1909, and Harriet Anita, horn February 25, 1911.
Carlos Heard, father of Edna (Heard) Baker, was born in Porter, Oxford county, Maine, July 26, 1844, the son of James and Eunice (McKenney) Heard. He was reared in his native town, and educated in the common schools thereof, thus ob- taining a practical education. In 1865 he removed to Biddeford, Maine, and six years later, in com- pany with the late Simeon P. McKenney, pur- chased the hardware establishment of Barnabas E. Cutter & Son, then and for years afterwards located in the old City building. The legal papers trans- ferring this business were of date June 8, 1871, and the firm of McKenney & Heard continued until the death of its senior member, after which Mr. Heard conducted it on his own account. In 1894 the City building was destroyed by fire, but with characteristic energy, Mr. Heard quickly re- moved what was left of his stock, and, adding to it, opened a new store in the Quinby & Sweetser block, and within a very short period of time was again conducting business as usual. In the fol lowing year, 1895, Mr. Heard completed the erec- tion of the three-story brick building known as the Heard block, on Main street, where, under the old name of McKenney & Heard, he conducted business until his death. By this time the trade of the concern had made great strides, both in the retail and jobbing lines, and its customers were found in all parts of York county. From the oc- cupancy of a single store of moderate dimensions .
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in the old City building, the house now has nine thousand square feet or nearly one-fourth of an acre of floor space, making it one of the largest concerns of its kind in this section of the State. Mr. Heard was fortunate in having as assistants men of his own choosing, who worked side by side with him and grew up with the business, Mr. Tristram Hanson having been associated with him from almost the beginning of the business, Mr. Waterhouse for many years, and Mr. Baker, his son-in-law, who has been connected with the busi- ness for many years. In addition to the manage- ment of his immense business, Mr. Heard served as president of the Biddeford Savings Bank, as director of the Biddeford & Saco Railroad Com- pany, and in local financial circles his knowledge and judgment were rated high and he was often consulted by those having funds to be invested. He had been a close student for many years of financial problems, and there was perhaps no man in the community better posted as to the earning power and real and prospective value of securities. His particular hobby in this line was mill stocks, he keeping close track of what the leading cotton mill corporations of New England were doing. He could tell, off-hand, the surplus of a given con- cern, its approximate earnings, its rate of divi- dends, its general physical condition.
Mr. Heard was a Democrat in politics. In 1877 he was elected an alderman, and was reelected in 1878 and 1879, serving as presiding officer of the board in the last mentioned year. He represented Biddeford in the Legislature in 1879 and 1880; was an assessor of taxes from 1883 to 1890, in- clusive; street commissioner in 1885-1886, and in 1896 was the first nominee of the Citizens' party for mayor. His administration was so successful that he was reelected in the following year without a struggle and by a largely increased majority. He was the first non-partisan mayor ever chosen in Biddeford. For some time, after the retirement of Hon. John M. Goodwin, Mr. Heard was presi- dent of the Citizens' Association. Although hold- ing no office in recent years and considering him- self as out of active politics, Mr. Heard was to the last greatly interested in public affairs and was a staunch supporter and great admirer of Presi- dent Wilson. Mr. Heard also served as president of the McArthur Library Association.
Mr. Heard married, September 30, 1874, Harriet A. Lunt, now deceased, daughter of Cyrus K. and Harriet (Graves) Lunt, and sister of the late IIon. Wilbur F. Lunt. Three children were born of this marriage : Carlos Clayton, of whom further ; Ethel, married, May 15, 1918, John Fred Hill, of
Kennebunkport, Maine; Edna, aforementioned as the wife of Arthur E. Baker.
Mr. Heard passed away at his summer home on South Point, Biddeford Pool, July 31, 1917, and interment was in the family plot in Laurel Hill Cemetery. Mr. Heard was a lineal descendant of John Heard, who came from England in 1636 and settled in what is now Dover, New Hampshire.
Carlos Clayton Heard, only son of Carlos and Harriet A. (Lunt) Heard, was born in Biddeford, Maine, July 5, 1875. He attended the public schools of Biddeford, graduating from its high school, and then entered Yale College, from which he also graduated. The following two years were spent in the wholesale and retail hardware business in his native town, and in 1898 he took up the study of law with Nathaniel B. Walker (LL.B., 1877), and was admitted to the har in 1901. He was for a long time associated with Mr. Walker in prac- tice, under the name of Heard & Walker, but for several years had practiced independently. He was counsel for the Biddeford Savings Bank, of which his father was president, and local counsel for sev- eral large companies. In 1914 he was elected city solicitor of Biddeford on the Democratic ticket, and held that office until his death. He served for nearly sixteen years, beginning March, 1899, as a member of the Board of Assessors of Taxes, for ten years being chairman of the board. In 1900 he was chosen secretary of the Citizens' Executive Committee, and served in that capacity for one year. He was a member of the York County Bar Association, was president of the Association of the Descendants of John Heard, was prominent in the Masonic order, and attended the Foss Street Methodist Church of Biddeford. In 1908 he re- ceived from the University of Maine the degree of LL.M.
Mr. Heard married, in Biddeford, July 15, 1903, Mrs. Isabella Falconer (Paterson) Bardsley, of Saco, Maine, daughter of George F. and Jeannette (MacGregor) Paterson, and widow of William T. Bardsley. The death of Mr. Heard occurred in Biddeford, January 31, 1915, and his remains were interred in Laurel Hill Cemetery at Saco.
WILBUR FISK DRESSER is a member of those fine old families rare perhaps in other lands, but which abound in the history of our own, which seem to combine within itself the virture at once of an aristocracy and a democracy, the graces of the former with the strong moral fiber of the lat- ter. Mr. Dresser's ancestors were among the early pioneers of Scarboro, Maine, where indeed his great-great-uncle, Henry Dresser was killed by the
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Indians. His great-grandfather, Richard Dresser, escaped the massacre and continued to live in Scar. boro during his entire life and it was here that Wentworth Dresser, son of Richard and father of Josiah Carter Dresser, the father of the Mr. Dresser of this sketch, was born. Mr. Josiah Carter. Dresser, born in 1817. made his home in Scarboro, and there died in 1868 at the age of fifty-one years. He married Lydia W. Junkins, a native of York, Maine, and they were the parents of three children as follows: Wilbur Fisk, with whose carcer, we are particularly concerned; Melville W., who died at the age of thirty years, an event which cut short a career which promised most brilliantly; and Emma N., who died when but eighteen years of age.
Wilbur Fisk Dresser was born August 8, 1848, at Scarboro, Maine. His education was received at the public schools, and upon completing this he began his active life by following in his father's footsteps and taking up farming as an occupation. He was very successful in this line and continued in Scarboro until he had reached the age of fifty years. In 1898 he came to South Portland, which has been his home and the scene of his busy and active career. While still a resident of Scarboro, Mr. Dresser had supplemented his farming opera- tions by conducting a general store in the town and he also held the office of postmaster there during the administration of President Cleveland. Upon coming to South Portland he engaged in the real estate business, establishing an office at No. 80. Exchange street, where he has made his headquarters for twenty-two years. He has been highly successful in this line of business and is now regarded as one of the typical, substantial business men of the city. He is the owner of a very handsome residence in South Portland. In the year 1915, Mr. Dresser was appointed to the office of State assessor by Governor Curtis and still holds that responsible position and devotes almost his entire time and attention to its extremely onerous tasks and duties. In the meantime, his sons are carrying on the real estate business with ad- mirable efficiency and success. Mr. Dresser has held many other important offices in the gift of his fellow citizens of South Portland: He is a Democrat in politics and has served as alderman of the city, while in the years 1911 and 1913 he was elected to represent the community in the State Legislature and served on that body for two terms. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias. In religion Mr. Dresser is a Methodist.
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