USA > Maine > Maine; a history, Volume IV > Part 6
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Mme. Eames was married a second time on July 13, 1911, at the Church of Saint Pierre de Chaillot in Paris, to Emilio de Gogorza, the emi- nent baritone. Gogorza. although of Spanish origin and foreign education, is an American citizen. In the year 1911-12, Mme. Eames and her husband made a concert tour together. In 1914 she revisited the home of her girlhood days in Bath, and after having taken a residence for one winter, decided to settle there per- manently.
Mme. Eames retired from the stage of 1914, following the twenty-fifth anniversary of her debut in Paris. Her last public appearance was in Portland, Maine, in 1916, when she sang in behalf of a charitable enterprise. Aside from the opulence and excitement of her operatic years, she has lived a life of domestic simplicity and comparative solitude. Although her life has not been wholly free from sorrow, pain and the shadow of physical ills, Mme. Eames has ever manifested the traits which tend to
beautii: and elevate existence. A devout Catho- lic, her happiness and welfare are placed on the basis of belief in an infinite and supreme God. As in the days when she was seen in the brill- iant setting of the stage with its festal lights. so she still remains to those who see her,- beautiful and gracious, stately in her simplicity, a woman of abounding vitality and dauntless joy.
FLORENT SANFACON-Of French-Cana- dian extraction, Florent Sanfacon is one of that valuable element which in certain sections of Maine has done so much by its aggressive energy and thrift to infuse a new and vigorous strain into the old Colonial stock of New England. He was born at Grand Isle, Maine, October 16, 1866, and obtained his education at the Fort Kent Training School and at St. Joseph's College, in New Brunswick. His father, Socitie Sanfacon, and his mother, Scolastique (Le Vesseur) San- facon, were both natives of Grand Isle, Maine, his father's father, Joseph Sanfacon, having been the first white child born in that region. Remi San- facon, another son of Socitie Sanfacon, served in the Fifteenth Maine Infantry in the Civil War, and died in New York.
After leaving school Florent Sanfacon taught for twelve years in the schools of Grand Isle, and then entered upon a business career, taking this up about the year 1898. His commercial instinct was sure and sound and he has made a success of his venture in the field of gen- eral merchandising. He has made various good investments in real estate and now owns two hundred acres with his store, where he deals in potatoes, hay, and pulp wood. In his political affiliations, Mr. Sanfacon is a Democrat, and he served for twenty-three years as town clerk, re- signing this at last to take up the duties of post- master of Grand Isle. He has also served as selectman, holding the office of chairman for thir- teen years. He has also taken a very keen in- terest in the cause of education having from his early experience gained a clear insight into the defects and needs of the educational system. He has therefore thrown himself very zealously into the work of school commisisoner. Mr. Sanfacon is a member of the Roman Catholic church, and is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees, and Knights of Columbus.
He married, June 20, 1897, at Grand Isle, Maine, Julia Thibodeau, a daughter of Thomas and Mary Ann Thibodeau. Their children are: Thomas A., born at Grand Isle, July 28, 1902; Peter
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HISTORY OF MAINE
Charles, born November 27, 1906, now in St. Mary's College, Vancouver; Mary Jane, born in April, 1900, and May Ann, born in 1907.
HON. LESLIE COLBY CORNISH was born at Winslow, Maine, October 8, 1854, the son of Colby Coombs and Pauline Bailey (Simpson) Cornish, the former born at Bowdoin, Maine, September 9, 1818, and died June 22, 1894. He was a merchant of Winslow, and served the State as a member of the House of Representa- tives, as a Senator. Pauline Bailey (Simpson) Cornish, the mother of Chief Justice Cornish, was born at Winslow, February 14, 1820, and died January 17, 1898. They had four children, but the only survivor is Chief Justice Cornish.
He was fitted for college at Coburn Classical Institute, at Waterville, and then went to Colby College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1875. For two years after leaving col- lege he taught, holding the position of principal of the high school at Peterboro, New Hamp- shire, until 1877. He then took up the study of law, entering in 1878, the office of Baker & Baker, in Augusta, Maine. From 1879 to 1880, he attended Harvard Law School, and in the Oc- tober term of court, 1880, he was admitted to the bar of Kennebec county. He began his prac- tice with Baker & Baker, and, in 1882, formed a partnership with them under the name of Baker, Baker & Cornish, which continued until 1893. From the latter year until 1898, he practiced alone, forming in that year a partnership with his nephew, Norman L. Bassett, which continued until he was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, March 31, 1907. On June 25, 1917, he was appointed Chief Justice of that court, gaining thus the highest honor in the gift of the State.
Chief Justice Cornish is a Republican in his political faith, and represented his district in the Maine Legislature in 1878. For five years he was a member of the State Board of Bar Ex- aminers. He has been a trustee of the Au- gusta Savings Bank since 1892, and since 1905, has been president of the institution. He has been trustee of the Lithgow Library since 1883, and has been president of the board since 1894. He is chairman of the board of trustees of Colby College, and since 1901, he has been a trustee of Coburn Classical Institute. From 1904 to 1913, he served as director of the American Uni- tarian Association, in Boston. He was presi- dent of the Maine Society of the Sons of the American Revolution from 1901 to 1902. He is
a member of the Maine Historical Society, the Delta Kappa Epsilon, and Phi Beta Kappa fra- ternities. He is a vice-president of the Harvard Law School Association, and is a member of the Masonic Order. He is a member of the Uni- tarian church, and president of the Maine Uni- tarian Association. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Colby College in 1904, and from Bowdoin College in 1918.
Chief Justice Cornish married, October 10, 1883, Fannie Woodman Holmes, of Boston, :: daughter of David P. and Sarah Woodman Holmes, of Georgetown, Massachusetts.
JOHN WILLIAM CONNELLAN, M.D., was born at Portland, Maine, October 21, 1868, of Irish parentage, and displays in his character and personality the typical virtues and abilities of that capable race. His father was James Connellan, who was born in County Clare, Ireland, April 4, 1837, and who, after spending the first twenty years of his life in his native country, came to the United States, landing in the port of Portland, which he made his home from that time on. He married in this country, June, 1867, Mary Rynne, like him- self a native of County Clare, Ireland, born May 21, 1840, came to this country at the age of three years. They were the parents of ten children, as follows: John William; Margaret, who died at the age of four years; James A., who died Sep- tember 2, 1916, a prominent attorney of Port- land, and Democratic leader of the Maine Legis- lature in 1915 and 1916; William A., who now practices law in Portland; Anna and Marie, now both deceased; Nellie, who became the wife of John T. Kelliher, of Pottsville, Pennsylvania; Minnie, who became the wife of John T. Clarity, of Portland; Joseph P., an attorney in Portland; and Margaret, who became the wife of James Davee, of Portland.
Born October 21, 1868, at Portland, Maine, Dr. Connellan, eldest child of James and Mary (Rynne) Connellan, has made that city his home and the scene of his active professional career. It was there that he gained the preliminary por- tion of his education, attending the Portland pub- lic schools, and it was there that he was pre- pared for college in the Portland High School, from which he was graduated in 1887. He at once entered Bowdoin College, from which he was graduated, having made up his mind in the meantime to take up the profession of medicine as his career in life. Accordingly he entered the Maine Medical School, from which he was grad- uated in 1892, taking his degree of M.D. For
Leslie Clomish
Stephen E. amer
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BIOGRAPHICAL
three ycars thereafter he practiced medicine at Lewiston, Maine, and in 1895 came to Portland, where he established himself permanently. For some time Dr. Connellan was engaged in general practice, but by degrees he specialized more and more in the treatment of alcoholic and narcotic cases. On August 1, 1915, he established at No. 33 Eastern Promenade, Portland, a hospital for the treatment of these cases, which in the two years that has elapsed between that and this writing, has met with success and developed to large proportions. Dr. Connellan is at the pres- ent time a recognized authority in this branch of the practice and his reputation has extended far beyond the confines of his home city. Dr. Connellan takes a keen interest in public affairs generally, and is as active a participant therein as the exigencies of his practice will allow. He is, of course, particularly interested in matters connected with politics, and was a delegate-at- large from Maine to the Democratic National Convention held at St. Louis in 1916. He is also a member of the Democratic City Committee of Portland, a member of the school board and a member of the recreation committee. He is connected with several important clubs and fra- ternities, among which should be mentioned the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the local lodges of the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In his religious belief, Dr. Connellan is a Catholic and is a mem- ber of the Cathedral Parish, attending the Cathe- dral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.
Dr. John William Connellan was united in mar- riage, June 16, 1914, at Portland, Maine, with Mrs. Ella (Coffey) Hay, widow of the late Robert Hay, of Portland. There were three chil- dren by her former marriage, as follows: Wil- liam B., who is a nurse in the hospital of Dr. Connellan; Patrick Bailey, now in the United States army; and Marie, who is now studying in the Grammar School at Portland.
There is a theory held by many that talent, ability, by whatever name it is called, is not a specialized faculty but will express itself with equal facility in whatever direction the circum- stances offer. It is a belief at once difficult of proof and disproof, since in the very nature of the case we can never know what any man might have done under any other circumstances than those of his actual life. The probability would seem to be that it is true in some cases and not in others, but whether it be true or not, another and related proposition is almost obviously so. This may be stated about as follows: that any
talent or ability, whether it express itself or not in some characteristic utterance, must always show itself in the character of him who possesses it. Of this Dr. Connellan is a splendid example, and the same qualities which have produced his skill in his profession, the patient industry that enabled him to master the detail of the niediu :.. he worked in, showed itself unmistakably in the sympathetic and kindly but firm personality his friends and associates knew so well and admire so completely. For patience makes it possible for us to understand and sympathize with our fellows, and difficulties overcome makes us toler- ant of the shortcomings of others. These great qualities Dr. Connellan possesses in a high de- gree.
STEPHEN E. AMES, son of Solon Summer- field and Elizabeth (Ellis) Anics, was born at Fort Fairfield, Maine, September 13, 1874, and was educated in the grammar and high school of his native place. He has been a farmer all his life, following the occupation of his father. He is a Republican in politics, but has never cared to hold office. He is a member of the Masonic order and of the Grange, in which latter organ- ization he has been master treasurer and at the present time is the secretary. He has also been a lecturer. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Ames married, at Fort Fairfield, Maine, December 24, 1901, Carrie L. Beckwith, born April 16, 1878, daughter of Jolin Chipman and Sarah (Marquis) Beckwith. Their children are: Zylpha Elizabeth, born December 5, 1902; Sarah Christine, born June 6, 1905; Catherine Chipman, born February 12, 1907; Margaret Helen, born December 15, 1915; Philip Stephen, born July 15, 1918.
WILLIAM COLBY EATON-The conditions of life in New England, not less than thie sturdy stock which originally peopled it, tend to pro- duce many-sided, capable men, men who ex- emplify the idea conveyed by the term, "self- made man," men whose industry and close ap- plication have brought to them success and won them the confidence and esteem of their fellow- citizens. Such a man is William Colby Eaton, the well known and successful attorney of Port- land, Maine, who throughout his life has made that city at once his home and the scene of his many activities, and who today enjoys a reputa- tion unsurpassed as a capable attorney, who preserves in his conduct the highest ideals of the
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HISTORY OF MAINE
bar and a citizen of public spirit. He is a grand- son of Stephen W. Eaton, a native of Maine, and through him, is descended from a long line of worthy ancestors. The founder of the Eaton family in this country, where various of its mem- bers have played most distinguished parts in the affairs of their several communities. must have occurred at least as early as 1639.
The immigrant ancestor was John Eaton, who left a record which bears eloquent testimony to his possession of many sterling virtues, great courage and an unusual degree of intelligence. He came to this country with his wife, Anne Eaton, and their six children, but left no known record of the date or place of their arrival or of the vessel in which they came. However, his name appears on the proprietors books of Salis- bury, Massachusetts, in the winter of 1639-40. Although there is no way of tracing directly his ancestry in the Old World, there can be very little doubt at least of the fact that he came from England, as his name and all his associations were characteristically of that people. He re- ceived a number of grants of land, one of which was a lot in Salisbury, near the present town office, and another upon which he appears to have dwelt was near the Great Neck Bridge on the Beach Road. This homestead has never passed out of the hands of the Eaton family, and is at present the possession of seven sisters, who to- gether own it in equal and undivided shares. It is known in the community as "Brookside Farm." His first wife, Anne, died on February 5, 1660, according to an old record, and on November 20, 1661, he married a Mrs. Phebe Dow. From this worthy progenitor the line may be traced through John (2), Joseph, Jolın (3), Wyman, John (4), Tristran, to Stephen W. Eaton, the grandfather of Mr. Eaton already referred to.
Stephen W. Eaton, son of Tristran and Betscy (Woodman) Eaton, was born at Buxton, Mainc. The extraordinarily prominent part played by him in the development of the transportation systems of Maine was introduced and made pos- sible as it were by the fact that his first employ- ment was with the Cumberland and Oxford Canal Company, which turned his attention and thoughts to the problems which afterwards so entirely engrossed them. He remained with this company for a period, and was then engaged as an engineer in making the first survey of the line of the Atlantic & St. Lawrence Railroad, which has since become an integral part of the Grand Trunk System. When the road was finally com- pleted he remained with it, taking for a time the
office of freight agent. This position, however, he resigned in 1853 in order to take one of a similar character with the Michigan Central Rail- road. He returned, however, to Maine, after a short period, where he became railroad superin- tendent at Leeds and Farmington. His next posi- tion was that of second lieutenant of the Andros- coggin Railroad, and still later he became the first superintendent of the York & Cumberland Road. This was the last of the railroad offices held by him, as he withdrew about that time from railroading and settled permanently in Port- land, where he engaged in commercial business on a large scale. He was for many years one of the most successful and prominent merchants of that city and was greatly esteemed by his fel- low-citizens. In politics Stephen W. Eaton was a Democrat, and as that party was then domi- nant in the State he held a number of public offices. He was surveyor of the port of Port- land during the administration of President Tay- lor, serving under Collector Jewett. He was a prominent Free Mason and was affiliated with many Masonic bodies in that part of the State. In the year 1854, however, he removed from Port- land on account of the ill health of his family, and made his home in Gorham, though in spite of this fact he still attended to his business in the city. His death occurred at the age of sev- enty-one in Gorham, in 1876. Stephen W. Eaton married Miranda B. Knox, a native of Portland, a daughter of - Knox, who was a descendant of General Knox and had been born at Buxton. They were the parents of eight children, as fol- lows: Stephen M., Samuel K., George R., Minnie, Charles P., Woodman S., Howard E., and Ed- ward.
Woodman Stephen Eaton was born in Port- land, October 16, 1846, and died in that city, August 28, 1905. He studied at a private school in Portland for a number of years, and later at- tended Gorham Academy. At the age of seven- teen years he became an office assistant in thc employ of the Berlin Mills Company at Berlin, New Hampshire. He spent some time aftc. wards at Lewiston, where he had a position with: the freight department of the Androscoggin Rail- road, a position which undoubtedly stimulated his interest in the question of railroads and may even have been responsible for his long and close as- sociation with railroading in that part of the country. However, his career in business life was cut short by his being appointed to a position in the office of the provost marshal at New Orleans, to which place he went and there dis-
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BIOGRAPHICAL
charged his duties until the close of the Civil War. Upon returning to Maine, however, he secured a position with the Androscoggin Rail- road Company, where he worked for about a year as a freight checker. This he left to take a position as freight cashier of the Portland, Saco & Portsmouth Railroad, and remained with this company from 1867 to 1875. He was then ap- pointed to the position of freight agent of the Eastern Railroad, and in 1882 the office of freight agent of the Maine Central Railroad was added to the other. He was appointed general freight agent of the Maine Central Railroad in 1885, remaining in this most responsible position for about twelve years. During the time that he served in this capacity, the railroad enjoyed an extremely rapid growth and his ability to handle the great business gave evidence of how great was the executive ability and adaptibility which he possessed. Mr. Eaton, Sr., was a Con- gregationalist in his belief and attended the High Street Church of this denomination, giving lib- erally in support of its work. He was a Repub- lican in politics, but though he gave active as- sistance to the party he never held public office of any kind and indeed eschewed rather than sought distinction of this kind. Like his father before him, he was extremely prominent in the Masonic order, in which he reached the thirty-second de- gree, and he was affiliated with the following Masonic bodies: Ancient Landmark Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Mount Ver- non Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Portland Com- mandery, Knights Templar, of which he was past commander; Kora Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; and the Maine Con- sistory, Sovereign Princes of the Royal Secret. He was also a member of the Grand Command- ery of Maine, in which he held the rank of sword bearer. Besides the Masonic bodies, Mr. Eaton, Sr., was a member of Legonier Lodge, Independ- end Order of Odd Fellows; the Eastern Star En- campment, Patriarchs Militant; the Bramhall League and the Cumberland, Portland and Coun- try clubs. He married, October 16, 1866, Jud- ith Annette Colby, of Gorham, Maine, a daugh- ter of the Rev. Joseph and Almeda (Ballard) Colby. They were the parents of four children, as follows: William Colby, with whose career this sketch is particularly concerned; Edward S., who died in 1895, aged twenty-four years; Harry Woodman; and Gertrude May, who died in in- fancy.
Born January 13, 1868, in the city of Port- land, William Colby Eaton received his education
in the local schools of his native city. He gradu- ated from the High School there in 1886 and then attended the academic course at Harvard Uni- versity. From this he was graduated with the class of 1891 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then entered the law school in connection with the same university, and also read law in the office of Charles F. Libby, Esquire. In the year 1894 he was admitted to the bar of Cumberland county, Maine, and at once opened an office at N'o. 97 Exchange street in that city. Here he engaged in a general legal practice in which he met with a high degree of success until at the present time he is regarded as one of the leaders of the Portland bar. For four years he held a commission as lieutenant-colonel on the staff of the governor, acting as aide-de-camp to that offi- cial. In 1901 and 1902 he was a member of the City Council from Ward seven, and in 1903 he was appointed assistant county attorney, holding that position in that and the following year. In 1905 he became county attorney and discharged the duties of this highly responsible post in that year and the next and also in 1909 and 1910. For a number of generations the members of the Eaton family have been prominent in Free Mas- onry and William Colby Eaton is no exception to this rule. He has attained the thirty-second degree in that order and is affiliated with An- cient Landmark Lodge, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons; Mount Vernon Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Portland Commandery, Knights Templar; and Maine Consistory, Sovereign Princes of the Royal Secret. He is also a mem- ber of the local lodge of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, of the Cumberland, Port- land, Athletic, Country and Lincoln clubs. Mr. Eaton is extremely fond of golf and finds his recreation in that delightful sport.
William Colby Eaton was united in marriage, May 16, 1895, at Portland, with Marion Durant Dow, a daughter of Frederick and Julia (Ham- mond) Dow, old and highly regarded residents of Portland. Mr. and Mrs. Eaton are the parents of one child, a daughter, Annette Hammond, born March 13, 1897, and now in Wellesley, taking a special course at the Dana Hall Branch in music.
About the learned professions generally, and especially that of the law, there has grown up a great body of tradition, an atmosphere of them, it might be said, the intensity and mass of which it is very difficult to imagine for those who have never entered it. The law is the heir of many ages, not merely in its substance, its proper mat- ter. but in a myriad of connotations and associations
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HISTORY OF MAINE
involving all those who from time immemorial have dwelt with and in it; the great men who have made and adapted it, the learned who have interpreted and practiced it. the multitude who have been protected and, alas, victimized by it. From each and all it has gained its wisdom or wit, its elo- quence or its tale of human feeling to point a moral, until by a sort of process of natural selection there has risen a sort of system of ideals and standards, lofty in themselves, and a spur to the high-minded, a check to the unscrupulous, which no one may disregard. The bench and bar in America may certainly point with pride to the manner in which their members have maintained the splendid traditions of the profession, yes, and added their own, no inconsiderable quota, to the ideals of a future time. Among those who may be prominently mentioned as having ably main- tained these legal traditions in the day and gen- eration of the State of Maine is Mr. Eaton, of Portland, whose carcer in the practice of his pro- fession is worthy of remark.
JAMES R. THURLOUGH, son of Frederick and Elsa (Whitney) Thurlough, was born at Monroe, Waldo county, Maine, March 6, 1846. He received a common school education. He adopted farming as an occupation and is also a starch manufacturer. He came to this county fifty years ago, unmarried, and has made his home here ever since. He is a Republican in his poli- tics, and has been a member of the county com- missioners board for twelve years, and for three years has been a selectman of the town. He is a stockholder in the Fort Fairfield National Bank. He is also a member of the Masonic order, and belongs to the United Baptist church.
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