USA > Maine > Maine; a history, Volume IV > Part 55
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HISTORY OF MAINE
ber industrics expanding, and the farming area developing wonderfully. The chaim of lakes that penetrate this beautiful country and the valleys through which they run make the finest of farm land, and as the forests recede the fields advance. The farmer finds prosperous villages with well equipped stores at convenient points, and one of these found on the Ashland branch is at Soldier Pond, at the foot of one of Maine's prettiest lakes. The store there is kept by a grandson of the old French settler and pioneer, Romaine Michaud, and there with him resides his father, Thomas Mi- chaud, Sr., a son of Romaine, who is passing with his son, Thomas T. Michaud, the evening of a busy life. This son of the third generation in Maine is a man of importance in his community, a heavy dealer in potatoes, with storage houses at Soldier Pond, Wallagrass, Eagle Lake (capac- ity 75,000 barrels), Winterville, Fort Kent Pit, Fort Kent, St. Francis, Albert and Frenchville. At his store at Soldier Pond he handles flour, feed, farm machinery, fertilizer and merchandise, in addition to seed potatoes and his large potato buying and shipping business.
Thomas Michaud, of the second generation, was born at Keegan, Maine, May 3, 1839, and when four years of age was taken by his parents to Wallagrass, Maine. The country, then a wilder- ness, afforded absolutely no school advantages, but the lad grew up rich in the learning of the woods and stream, with a strong body and a brave heart. His father cleared a tract, worked at lumbering, and kept a public house in Wallagrass for several years, although travelers were very few and far between. The lad, Thomas, grew up and became a farmer and lumberman, and was appointed the first game warden in Northeastern Maine. He held that office six years, was a member of the school committee for two years, and after the town of Wallagrass was organized he was elected town treasurer. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church. He is now living, retired, with his son, Thomas T. Michaud, at Soldier Pond. Thomas Michand married, in Frenchville, Maine, in June, 1860, Clara Madore, daughter of Angus- tin and Bregite (Bevesque) Madore, they now having been married fifty-nine years. They are the parents of nineteen children, eight of whom died in infancy. The first two children, a son, three years of age, and a daughter, aged fifteen months, were in the Michand home when it was totally destroyed by fire, it being impossible to rescue them when help arrived. The nine chil- dren who grew to mature years are: Joseph T., the eldest; John T., accidentally killed in 1902;
Edith, married Joseph Gagnon, of Wallagrass, Maine; Sophie, married Theophile Soucy, of Win- terville, Maine; Peter, married Elizabeth Gag- non, of Wallagrass, now living in Wall, Maine; Elizabeth, died at Eagle Lake, Maine, unmarried; Modest, married Adolph Cyr, of Eagle Lake; Phill, married Carl Maxwell, and resides at Eagle Lake; Thomas T., of Soldier Pond, of further mention.
Thomas T. Michaud, youngest son of Thomas and Clara (Madore) Michaud, was born at Wal- lagrass, Aroostook county, Maine, June 14, 1885. He was educated in the public schools of Walla- grass and at Fort Kent Training School, and from his nineteenth year has been engaged in mercan- tile business. He is now located at Soldier Pond where, under the name T. T. Michaud, he con- ducts a large store, newly built, located opposite the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad station. His line embraces heavy and shelf hardware, paints, varnishes, mechanics' tools, lumbermens' supplies, guns, ammunition, fishing tackle and the usual farmers supplies. He is also a large land owner and farmer, and one of the heavy potato buyers of the county. He is a prosperous, progressive, keen, modern business man, upright and honor- able, highly regarded by all who know him. Dur- ing the recent European War Mr. Michand served on the committee of public safety for his town; is a Republican in politics, and member of the Ro- man Catholic church.
Mr. Michaud married, August 27, 1906, at Frenchville, Maine, Nellie Martin, daughter of Basil and Clara Martin. Mr. and Mrs. Michaud are the parents of seven children: Corinne, born July 30, 1907; Mamie, born November 14, 1908; Chester, born May 17, 1910; Wilbert, born Decem- ber 6, 1912; Gordon, born January 29, 1915; Ar- thur, born November 26, 1916; and Camille, born October 6, 1918.
FRANK HARRISON DUDLEY - The fine work of Frank Harrison Dudley as a nurseryman and horticulturist has been recognized in the State, and he is at present the State Horticultur- ist, making his headquarters at the State House in Augusta.
Mr. Dudley was born August 27, 1873, in Bruns- wick, Maine, the son of Oliver P. and Lydia E. (Folsom) Dudley, and is a direct descendant from Governor Thomas Dudley of Maine Colony. His father was a railroad conductor and had worked for the Maine Central Railroad for thirty-five years. During the Civil War he had served in Company G of the Ninth Maine Infantry. Mr.
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Dudley went to the local schools and to the nor- mal school at Farmington, Maine, where he made a specialty of the study of plant life. After leav- ing school he went into the nursery business and made a thorough and practical study of his work, both from the scientific and the business end. Here he was busily engaged for sixteen years when the post of State Horticulturist was ten- dered to him and he entered upon the duties of his office, February 1, 1917. In politics Mr. Dud- ley is a Republican. He is a Mason, and is also a member of the Society of the Sons of Veterans, of the Pomona and the State Grange. He is a member of the Auburn Board of Trade, and be- longs to the Lincoln Club of Portland. He and his family are members of the Congregational church.
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He married, May 27, 1896, at New Gloucester, Maine, Mabel Griffin, a daughter of John Rollins and Martha M. (Kelsey) Griffin, whose ances- tors came to this country in 1622. They have one son, Frank Harrison, Jr., who enlisted as a volun- teer in April, 1917, was made a musician and went to France, where he was in one of the radio schools.
WILLIAM McGILVERY - All citizens of Pittsfield, Maine, and many far beyond the limits of that city know that this is the name of one of the leading mill owners of that region. Mr. Mc- Gilvery is active in the political life of his com- munity and is well known in its fraternal and club circles.
William McGilvery was born July 16, 1880, in Stockton, Maine, and is a son of William R. and Marietta (Lampher) McGilvery and a grandson of William McGilvery. William R. McGilvery was born at Searsport, Maine, and was a shipbuilder. Mrs. McGilvery was a native of Stockton, Maine, where she was married. Both she and her hus- band are now deceased.
The primary education of William McGilvery was received in the public schools of Boston and he afterward attended the high school, gradu- ated in 1898. He then found employment in the woolen mills of Robert Dobson & Company, serving two years in the office. He then went to Boston, where for one year he was associated with the American Loom Company, at the end of that time migrating to New York. In that city he became assistant sales agent for the Am- erican Can Company, but shortly returned as superintendent of the Waverly Woolen Company. This position he retained until the concern sold out in 1914 to the American Woolen Company.
Mr. McGilvery then founded the firm of McGil- very-Cumming Co. The mill gives employment to over sixty men, its annual output exceeding one million dollars. Mr. McGilvery is a director of the Pittsfield National Bank.
A faithful Republican, Mr. McGilvery has been honored by his fellow-citizens with the office of treasurer of the county committee. He affiliates with the Masonic fraternity and the Knights Tem- plar, and belongs to the Boston City Club.
Mr. McGilvery married, April 27, 1904, Mary, born in Pittsfield, daughter of William and Le- citna (MacMaster) Dobson, the former a native of Galashiels, Scotland, and the latter of Pitts- field, where they were married. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dobson are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. McGilvery are the parents of one child, William D. McGilvery.
William McGilvery is an able, honorable busi- ness man and an energetic, public spirited citi- zen. He is a type of man that every community needs.
FRANK WILLIAM STOCKMAN, late owner of the W. L. Wilson Company, wholesale and re- tail grocers, passed to his reward after a long life of honor and usefulness, leaving an example of business integrity which it is the pride of his sons to emulate. He was the son of Samuel and Rachel (Haley) Stockman, and was born at Tops- ham, Maine, July 14, 1847. Samuel Stockman was a farmer and produce dealer of Topsham, Maine, and one of the substantial men of the commun- ity in which he spent his life.
At the age of fourteen, Frank W. Stockman left his home town and came to Portland, where his after life was spent. He secured his first em- ployment with the wholesale and retail grocery firm, W. L. Wilson & Company, whose place of business was in West Market Row. He began as a junior clerk, but being ambitious to rise, he rightly saw the help a better education would be, and entered evening classes in a Portland busi- ness college. With increased mental equipment he rose to better clerical positions, and for five years he continued in that capacity, but continued his study for advanced positions. So well did he fill the positions in which he was placed, and such fine business qualifications did he display, that even before he attained his majority he was ad- mitted to a partnership in the firm he had entered as an untried country boy but a few years previ- ous. At about the time of his admission to the firm the place of business was removed from West Market Row to No. 112 Exchange street,
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and there he continued in business until his death.
In 1873, twelve years after his arrival in Port- land, he became the sole owner of the business, the senior partner, W. L. Wilson, dying in Cali- fornia in that year, having broken in health and gone to California for recuperation. Mr. Stock- mnan purchased the Wilson interest from the es- tate, and for thirty-nine years continued a pros- perous business under the old firm name, W. L. Wilson Company, he the proprietor and manager. His connection with the business as boy clerk, partner, and sole owner covered a period of half a century, and at his death he left a wholesale and retail grocery business well established and prosperous, second to no business house of its kind in the city. The business reflected his own character and the W. L. Wilson Company repre- sented the ambition, business quailty, and sterling character of Frank W. Stockman. The firm and its business was really his life work, and to it he gave every talent he possessed, and every high aspiration of his nature found in some way an ex- pression in the conduct of his mercantile busi- ness. Integrity and honor attended him, and when the years grew heavy his sons, whom he had trained to a similar high conception of bnsi- ness ethics, succeeded him and continue as suc- cessfully as did the father and mentor. In 1908 he practically withdrew from the active manage- ment, sickness confining him to the honse, but only when he passed away did he surrender con- trol of the business which he had developed and made great. He died April 12, 1912, and was bur- ied in the beautiful Evergreen Cemetery.
While a man of strong business tempera- ment and wholly devoted to the interests of the W. L. Wilson Company, Mr. Stockham was not a slavish money getter, but considered the social side of life of importance, and failed in none of the demands which good citizenship imposes. He never desired, sought nor held political office, al- though he strongly supported the principles of the Republican party, and aided to bring its campaign to a successful issue. He was a thirty- second degree member of Portland Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, and in York Rite Masonry held all degrees of Ancient Landmark Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Mount Ver- non Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Portland Com- mandery, Knights Templar. He was also an Odd Fellow, and attended the Baptist church. Broad- minded, liberal in his views on all subjects, de- voted to his home and family, his home on Cnm- berland avenue, Portland, where the family yet resides, was the dearest of all spots to him, and there his happiest hours were spent.
Mr. Stockman married Nellie E. Barbour, who survives him, and they were the parents of two sons; Ralph Haley and Frank William, sketches of whom follow.
RALPH HALEY STOCKMAN, one of the most capable and popular of the younger business men of Portland, Maine, where his death in the prime of life, Jannary 17, 1916, was felt as a se- vere loss to the community, was a native of this city, his birth having occurred here February 20, 1886. Mr. Stockman was a son of Frank Wil- liam, Sr., and Nellie E. (Barbour) Stockman, the former owner of the W. L. Wilson Company up to the time of his death, April 12, 1912. Mr. Stock- man attended, as a lad, the local public schools of Portland, studying first at the Park Street Pri- mary School, later at the Butler Grammar School, and finally at the Portland High School. from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1905. In the summer of that year he secured a clerical position in the office of the W. L. Wilson Company, but his unusual capability and business talent secured him rapid promotion, so that three years later, in 1908, he was appointed treasurer of the corporation, an office which he continued to hold up to the time of his death. Mr. Stockman was also prominent in the general life of this community, and was a well known Free Mason, being a member of the Ancient Landmark Lodge, No. 17, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Green- leaf Chapter, No. 13, Royal Arch Masons; Port- land Council, No. 4, Royal and Select Masters; and Portland Commandery, Knights Templar. His clubs were the Portland and the Portland Yacht of this city, and he was also a member and the president of the Credit Men's Association of Port- land. He was a man of strong religious feelings and instincts, and attended the Williston Congre- gational Church of this city up to the time of his death.
Ralph Haley Stockman was united in mar- riage, April 2, 1912, at Portland, with Reina B. Johnson, a daughter of Almon L. and Margaret (Masterdon) Johnson, who are well known resi- dents of this place.
The life of Mr. Stockman, although a brief one, was well worthy to serve as a model of earnest and disinterested service. Possessed of qualities above the ordinary, of an unusually capable and alert mind, a winning personality and strong character, he was always willing to place his tal- ents at the disposal of the community. The sterl- ing virtues of simplicity and charity, which were the essential factors of an unusual altruism, were not overlooked by his fellow-citizens, however,
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BIOGRAPHICAL
who admired and appreciated them highly, so that there is little doubt that his career would have been a brilliant one, as it certainly deserved to be, had not his tragic and untimely death cut it short in the very prime of his achievement. His death was felt as a loss by all those who had as- sociated with him, even casually, and cast a gloom over a large portion of this community, where his virtues and attractions were so well known and appreciated.
FRANK WILLIAM STOCKMAN, the effi- cient treasurer of the W. L. Wilson Company, and a prominent business man of Portland, Maine, is a native of this city, his birth having occurred here, July 3, 1890. Mr. Stockman is the second son of Frank William, Sr., and Nellie E. (Bar- bour) Stockman .. Mr. Stockman passed his child- hood in his native city of Portland, and attended the Park Street Primary School as a small child. He afterwards studied at the Butler Grammar School and the Portland High School, and gradn- ated from the latter institution with the class of 1910. In the autumn of that year he was given a position as clerk in the W. L. Wilson Company of which his father was the owner, and continued in that capacity until March, 1916, when he was appointed treasurer of the corporation, on ac- count of the excellent work he had done in his clerical capacity. Since 1916 he has continued to discharge the duties of treasurer here with the greatest efficiency, and is recognized as one of the most capable of the younger business men of this city.
In addition to his business activities, Mr. Stock- man is very active in the general life of the com- munity, and is associated with a large number of important organizations in Portland. He is a particularly conspicuous figure in the Masonic or- der, having taken his thirty-second degree in Free Masonry, and is a member of Ancient Landmark Lodge, No. 17, Ancient Free and Accepted Ma- sons; Greenleaf Chapter, No. 13, Royal Arch Ma- sons; Portland Council, No. 4, Royal and Select Masters; Portland Commandery, Knights Temp- lar, of Portland; the Order of Constantine; and Kora Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Portland Consistory, Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret. Mr. Stockman is a member of the Portland Club, the Portland Athletic Club, the Portland Yacht Club, the Portland Kiwanis Club, and the Men's Club of the Williston Congrega- tional Church. In religious belief he is a Congre- gationalist, and attends the Williston church of
that denomination at Portland, and takes an ex- ceedingly active part in the work of the congre- gation.
Frank William Stockman was united in mar- riage, April 16, 1917, at Portland, with Olive Mar- lor Goold, a daughter of Henry Paul and Jessie Ethel (Light) Goold, old and highly respected residents of this city. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Stockman, Janet Goold Stock- man, born February 26, 1918.
DANIEL JOSEPH CONLEY, the well known and successful business man of Lewiston, Maine, comes from a family which has for two genera- tions been native in the "Pine Tree State," but which in the generation preceding that came from Ireland. He himself manifests in his own person and character the typical virtues and talents of his paternal race, having inherited these from many worthy ancestors.
His grandfather, Daniel Conley, was a native of County Cork, Ireland, where he was born in the year 1815. He married Mary Lucy, also a native of Ireland, shortly after coming to Am- erica. Not long after their marriage they emi- grated from their native land to the United States, and settled in the city of Lewiston, Maine, where they were among the first Irish settlers. Here Mr. Conley secured work in the Continental Mill and continned to be so employed for fully fifty-five years. He was one of those who assisted in building the canal at Lewiston, and indeed was employed in the construction of all the important railroads in this region. He and his wife were the parents of sixteen children, nine of whom are now living, name- ly : Mary, who became the wife of Patrick Hopkins, of Lewiston; Etta, who became the wife of John Jepson ; Cornelius, Timothy, Dennis, William, John, James, who now lives at Norfolk, Virginia; and Jeremiah, who makes his home at North Attleboro, Massachusetts. Mrs. Daniel Conley died in Lewis- ton, May 15, 1909, at the age of seventy-four years, but Mr. Conley survived until November 8, 1915, when his death occurred at the venerable age of one hundred years.
One of their children, Daniel Conley, Jr., father of Daniel Joseph Conley, was born August 18, 1856, at Lewiston, Maine, and made his home in this region during his entire life. He was occupied as a farmer on the Sabattus road during the latter part of his life, and died at his home there, July 20, 1913. He married Delia A. Lyons, a native of Chatham, New Brunswick, in the Dominion of Canada, who survives him and still makes her home at Lewiston. She has been engaged in busi-
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ness in this city for the past thirty-five years and is known throughout the community as one of the leading fashionable dressmakers here. To Mr. and Mrs. Conley six children were born, all of whom are now living, as follows: Gertrude K., who is now the widow of J. Harry Lovell, and is employed in the responsible position of wardrobe mistress of the Hippodrome Theatre, New York City; Charles Edward, who is engaged in the manufacture of cigars at Lewiston; Emma F., now the wife of Samuel D. Hamilton, of Lewiston; Daniel Joseph, whose career forms the principal subject matter of this sketch; Mary H., who be- came the wife of Timothy Desjardines, of Lewis- ton; and Louise M., who makes her home with her mother in this city.
Born October 5, 1891, Daniel Joseph Conley, fourth child of Daniel and Delia A. (Lyons) Con- ley, has passed his entire life in this neighborhood up to the present time. It was here also that he obtained his education, attending for this pur- pose the local public schools. He graduated from the Frye Grammar School in 1906, and then attended the Lewiston High School for a period. His father then sent him to a private school in Boston, where he studied art, he having developed a strong taste for this subject in early youth. Upon completing his course at this institution, Mr. Conley returned to Lewiston and here en- gaged in the undertaking business, buying out A. E. McDonough. His establishment has always stood at the corner of Park and Ash streets, and he is now the owner of a successful establish- ment. After placing his business upon a firm foundation, Mr. Conley, who is very much of a student at heart, entered the New England In- stitute of Anatomy, where he applied himself to the study of scientific sanitation and embalming. From this institution he graduated, February 16, 1915, and received a state embalming license. His establishment is thoroughly fitted with all the most modern scientific equipments, and he is recognized as one of the leaders in his business in that region.
A word concerning Mr. Conley's art is here appropriate. Even from a very early age he showed a marked talent in this direction, and when but eleven years old executed a painting of the "Madonna and Child," which attracted con- siderable attention as a remarkable piece of work for a boy of that age. This taste and talent he developed during the first period in which he was studying, in Boston, and since that time has devoted practically all of his leisure mo- ments to the pursuance of this passion. He
has done considerable creditable work, and his home is full of canvasses from his own hand. Mr. Conley is also very fond of animals and es- pecially of dogs, his friendship for them being at once recognized instinctively by his four- footed friends. He is a prominent figure in fra- ternal circles in Lewiston, and is a member of the local lodges of the Knights of Columbus, of the New England Order of Protection and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is also a member of the Calumet and Pest clubs. In his religions belief Mr. Conley is a Roman Catholic, and attends St. Patrick's Church of this denomination in Lewiston. He is unmarried.
The influence which the artist exerts upon the community in which he lives is not to be ex- pressed in material terms, it is not commen- surate with that of the merchant, the business inan or even the inventor, although a certain amount of art must enter into the work of the best of these. In the case of the inventor, or the craftsman and artisan, the art but enhances the value of the material object at which he works and does not necessarily change the kind of value that it possesses. In the case of the pure arts, however, in the case of music or paint- ing, the change is not only in degree but in kind, so that a common standard cannot be found for the two types, which cannot be compared to- gether. But though this is true, and it must re- main forever impossible to compare the work of the artist with that of almost every other kind of man who perfornis a service for the com- munity, the men of aesthetic sensitiveness knows by a sure instinct that the work of the artist is in its nature a thing far greater than that of the materialist, that it is incommensurate be- cause the latter is finite while it is in a sense infinite, that is that its effect is only limited by the capacity of those who receive it, for, while if a man shall benefit a community to the extent of one thousand dollars, nothing will avail either to increase or decrease that benefit, if another shall benefit it to the extent of a beautiful picture, the benefit depends solely upon how great those who see are capable of being moved thereby and with their increasing appreciation might arise beyond any limit we may set for it. It is for this reason that in speaking of the work of Mr. Conley, it is beyond the powers of anyone to say how great since it is impossible for him to know the degree of receptivity with which his message is met, because of the position which he holds in the regard of the community and the popularity which his work achieves among those
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