USA > Maine > Maine; a history, Volume IV > Part 65
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cerned; Walter B., Frank H., Florence N., and Phillip. The elder Mr. Fairfield's death occurred July 17, 1903, and that of his wife, February 2, 1915.
Born August 2, 1851, at Saco, Maine, Rufus Al- bert Fairfield was educated at Waltham, Massa- chusetts. After completing his studies he re- turned to Saco, and in 1870 accepted the position of machinist in the Pepperell Mills, which his grandfather had helped to build. From that posi- tion he was promoted to that of cotton inspector, and has held the latter post for the past thirty- seven years. Mr. Fairfield has always been fond of athletics and as a young man became a great bicyclist, a form of sport in which he became very expert. He is the oldest member of the League of American Wheelmen, his name being No. 1 on the list of the organization's members. It was Mr. Fairfield that organized the York County Wheel- men, a club of those devoted to the gentle sport, and he was also president of the Saco Snowshoe Club.
Rufus Albert Fairfield was united in marriage, December 20, 1876, at Saco, with Frances M. Pat- ten, a daughter of Charles S. and Ellen (Brown) Patten, old 'and highly respected residents of Saco. Mr. and Mrs. Fairfield are the parents of the following children: 1. Arthur P., born October 29, 1877; received his preliminary education at the local common schools; afterwards attended Bow- doin College, and from there went to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, from which he graduated with the class of 1901; he is at the present time a commander in the United States Navy; mar- ried Nancy D. Deval, of Annapolis, Maryland. 2. George Albert, born June 18, 1879; a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Boston, and now follows the profession of civil engineering; he married Augusta Horsefield, of Hempstead, Long Island. 3. Lawrence P., born May 18, 1883, died July, 1906.
CORYDON POWERS, son of Orson and Sally (Hibberd) Powers, was born in Hanover, Maine, August 31, 1840. He was raised on a farm and educated at the public schools and Gould's Acad- emy, Bethel Hill. He enlisted in the Civil War in 1861, served three years, then re-enlisted, and was discharged at the close of the war. During this time he was promoted from private to commis- sary sergeant and served through the war without injury, in Steven's Fifth Maine Battery, taking part in many of the important engagements of that tremendous struggle.
In July, 1861, he, in company with Edwin
Garydon Powerk
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Brown, a relative, drove from Hanover, Maine, to Caribou, Maine, in a single rig. He located on a farm on the Woodland road, now known as the Charles Doe farm. He afterwards sold his in- terest in this farm, and on his marriage' went to live with his wife's parents, who lost their only son in the war. From that time he took charge of their interests, finally coming into possession of a large farm consisting of 440 acres, in what was then called Forestville Plantation. He car- ried on the farm with good success and soon be- came one of the foremost citizens of the town, which afterwards was united with the town of Lyndon and the name changed to Caribou. In 1894 Mr. Powers sold his farm to his two sons, and devoted his time to the general agency of the Hoover potato digger, which at that time was becoming extensively used by the farmers of Aroostook county. By hard work and honest dealings, he built up a large and profitable busi- ness. In 1907 he also sold this business to his two sons and retired to private life. He took a great interest in the welfare of his home town, being a member of the Masonic lodge, Royal Arch Chapter, second master of Garibou Grange, member of the school board, and for many years one of its selectmen. He served as representative for Caribou in the Seventy-fifth Maine Legisla- ture. In political belief he was a Republican, and was a regular attendant of the Methodist church. There is a large, beautiful window dedi- cated to his memory in the new Methodist church at Caribou.
Corydon Powers was united in marriage, De- cember 14, 1865, at Forestville Plantation, to Abi- gail Keech, a daughter of Hazen and Abigail (Swan) Keech. Mr. and Mrs. Powers were the parents of the following children: 1. Leila May, born October 30, 1866, who married George W. Washburn, and died July 30, 1896. 2. Cora Adel- aide, born March 28, 1868, died July 3, 1876. 3. Mary Etta, born November 10, 1869, died July 29, 1893. 4. Elmer Ellsworth, born September 22, 1871, married Harriet Colburn. 5. Delmar Dells- worth, born September 22, 1871, married Ella J. Scott. 6. Pearl Bertrand, born September 14, 1877, died March 21, 1879. 7. Birdena Bessie, born December 13, 1882, married Olof T. Pierson, 8. Bertha Leola, born May 29, 1885, married Atwood W. Spaulding. Mr. Powers died at Caribou, June 15, IQII.
DANA CARROLL DOUGLASS - A well trained, efficient, railroad man is a valuable asset at any time, but particularly so when it became
necessary for the Federal Government to take over the control of the railroads throughout the country, as it did during the World War. Dana Carroll Douglass, the Federal Manager of the Maine Central Railroad, is a man well versed in railroad service.
Mr. Douglass was born in Leeds, Maine, Feb- ruary 2, 1877, so is still comparatively a young man, being in his early forties, with a fine future opening out before him. He has received the benefit of a good, common school education. He is a member of the Portland Country Club.
On October 16, 1900, Dana Carroll Douglass married Martha E. Brackett at Portland, Maine. They have one child, Dana Carroll Douglass, Jr., born in Portland, August 21, 1914.
OLCOTT BROWN POOR-In Andover, Ox- ford county, forty-five miles northwest of Lewis- ton, Olcott Brown Poor was born, and there on the paternal farm spent his youth and early man- hood. He developed the strong body and clean mind of the right living country boy, and was taught that love of country which is always a part of the education of the American farmer boy. Thus, when President Lincoln called for men to defend the flag, he was one of Maine's noble sons to respond, as did two of his brothers. This was his preparation for business life, and during the years that followed he was connected with different activities, but was principally en- gaged in farming. He passed to his reward at the age of sixty-eight, honored and respected by all who knew him. This branch of the Poors came from Andover, Massachusetts, Olcott Brown Poor being a grandson of Dr. Silvanus Poor, born there and later moving to Andover, Maine, where he practised medicine very successfully for many years. He married Mary Merrill, born in Pelham, New Hampshire, January 3, 1781.
Silvanus (2) Poor, son of Dr. Silvanus (1) and Mary (Merrill) Poor, was born in Andover, Maine, February 23, 1805, and there always lived, a substantial farmer and public spirited citizen. He was a Republican after the formation of that party, held many town offices, and represented Andover in the Maine Legislature. He was a member of the Congregational church, and of that once strong order, the Sons of Temperance. He married Eliza Fox Brown, born in New Hamp- shire, sister of the famed John B. Brown, busi- ness man and financier, of Portland, Maine. Mrs. Eliza Fox (Brown) Poor was a daughter of Titus Olcott and Susannah (Bundy) Brown, of Lan- caster, New Hampshire; granddaughter of Elias
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and Abigail (Olcott) Brown, of Connecticut and New Hampshire; great-granddaughter of Ichabod and Sarah (Chapman) Brown, of Stonington, Connecticut; great-great-granddaughter of John and Elizabeth (Miner) Brown, of Stonington, Connecticut; and great-great-great-granddaughter of Thomas and Mary (Newhall) Brown. Thomas Brown was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1628, his wife, Mary Newhall, born in 1637. Three of their sons, John, Thomas and Eleazer, settled in Stonington, Connecticut. Silvanus and Eliza Fox (Brown) Poor were the parents of ten children: I. John Alfred, mortally wounded in the fighting before Petersburg, died June 19, 1864, during the Civil War, in which he enlisted at its beginning, in Virginia. 2. Walter Stone, a graduate of Bow- doin College, class of 1860, now deceased. He en- listed in Duryea's Zouaves, in New York City, and served during the entire war, becoming colo- nel of a colored regiment. He was later mayor of Newbern, North Carolina. He married (first) Ellen G. Hedge, daughter of a minister of Brook- line, Massachusetts, and professor in Harvard University. He married (second) Ella Waller, of New York City. 3. Henry Watson, deceased. 4. Olcott Brown, of further mention. 5. Mary Susannah, married George W. Fox, whom she survives. George W. Fox, son of Thomas B. Fox, of Boston, was secretary of the Unitarian Association for sixty-one years. When fifty years' service had been completed, his brethren recog- nized his great service with a beautiful testimonial of their appreciation. He died February 12, 1917. 6. George Arthur, deecased. 7. Edwin Silvanus, deceased. 8. William, now residing in Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania. 9. Sarah Elizabeth, deceased. Io. Addie Frances, of Seattle, Washington.
Olcott Brown Poor, fourth son of Silvanus and Eliza Fox (Brown) Poor, was born in Andover, Maine, August 23, 1838, and died in Portland, Maine, May 18 ,1906. He was educated in the dis- trict schools and remained at the honie farm until war between the states called out the manhood of the nation. He enlisted in the Twenty- third Regi- ment, Maine Volunteer Infantry, served until the close of the war, then was honorably discharged and mustered out. After returning from the army, Mr. Poor was for some time engaged in the work of sinking the caissons for the laying of bed-rock foundations for the great piers of the first New York-Brooklyn Bridge. He had charge of sixty men connected with an important part of the great work, and for fifteen years he remained in New York, engaged in that and similar undertak- ings. He then returned to Andover, Maine, and
until his death engaged in farming at the old home. Mr. Poor was a Republican in politics, and held many local offices in addition to sitting in the Maine Legislature as Senator. While em- ployed in New York he joined the Masonic order, and after returning to Andover, became a Knights of Pythias. He was an attendant at the services of the Congregational church, and a willing sup- porter of all good causes.
Mr. Poor married, December 7, 1882, Abbie Gor- ham Barker, born in Saccarappa, Maine, daughter of Jeremiah and Sarah Emery (Merrill) Barker. Jeremiah Barker was born in Sedgwick, Maine. Sarah Emery (Merrill) Barker was born in An- dover, and there was married. She was a grand- child of Ezekiel Merrill, first settler of Andover. Mrs. Olcott Brown Poor survives her husband, and resides in Andover, Maine. She has no chil- dren.
GEORGE KENDELL GIBBS, the efficient and popular superintendent of the great Pepperell Mills at Biddeford, Maine, is a member of a good old New England family, which came from Mas- sachusetts to this State about three generations ago. His grandfather, Theodore Gibbs, was born at Worcester, Massachusetts, but came to Maine in his early youth and made his home at Bridg- ton. His son, Kendell Gibbs, the father of George Kendell Gibbs, was born at that town in the year 1812, and became very prominent in that region. For many years he was a successful cotton manu- facturer, but towards the close of his life gave up that occupation and took up farming, in which occupation he continued until the time of his death. He was a leading figure in local politics and served during a long period as selectman, and for some years was a member of the State Legislature. He was a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He married Dorcas Varney and their children are: George K .. Charles N., Luca A., Clara Augusta, and Sarah F. The death of Kendell Gibbs occurred in 1878.
Born at Somerworth, New Hampshire, where his parents were residing for a time, George Ken- dell Gibbs spent much of his boyhood at South Berwick, Maine. He gained his education at the local district school and the South Berwick Acad- emy and, upon completing his studies at these in- stitutions, went to work for his father in his cot- ton mills, the Great Falls Manufacturing Com- pany. He afterwards worked at several different establishments of the same kind, and, in 1853, came to Biddeford, Maine, and here found em-
Lutti Klasy
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ployment in the Pepperell Mills, where he worked in the weaving room for some years. Mr. Gibbs had, during his experience in various cotton mills become an expert in the art of cotton manufacture and this experience was added to, though in quite another field by three years work with the Saco Water Power Company, at Saco, Maine, where he learned all about water power problems and in this way still further increased his fitness for the responsible position that he now holds. After this intermission, he returned to the Pepperell Mills and resumed his work in the weaving room, continuing there until he was offered the position of manager of a mill at Springvale. He filled the latter place about seven years, and then, in 1881, returned to Biddeford to take the office of super- intendent of the Pepperell Mills, a post that he still holds (1918). He has proved a most efficient and capable superintendent and the work and pro- duction of the establishment has developed greatly under his capable direction. Mr. Gibbs has been a member of the lodge in the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows for many years.
George Kendell Gibbs was united in marriage with Sarah A. Small, daughter of Daniel Small. Mrs. Gibbs died in the year 1910. To Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs five children were born, as follows: Fred; Anna and Alice (twins); Howard K., born July 3, 1870, who now makes his home at Delta, Colorado; and Edward Pason, born November 22, 1874, and now assistant superintendent of the Pep- perell Mills under his father. He married Clara A. Morse, daughter of Robert A. Morse and Annie (Stuart) Morse. He holds membership in Pilgrim Commandery, at Lowell, Massachusetts, and in Boston Consistory, thirty-second degree; and in the Shrine at Lewiston. He is director of Web- ber Hospital Association and director of Pepper- ell Trust Company.
LUTHER KING CARY-Held highly in the esteem of his fellow-townsmen of Fort Fairfield, Luther King Cary had in the course of a long life seen many changes come to the section in which he was born. He was born at Turner, Maine, May 3, 1838, and his education was that of the district schools of that time and region. He later had a general store and did some farming at the same time. Mr. Cary started in the hardware business in 1871, in which he was very success ful. After his death the L. K. Cary Company was founded, Edward K. Cary as president, and William S. Davidson as treasurer, which still continues. In politics Luther K. Cary always held with the Re- publican party. When a young man he heard the
call for men to defend the Union and enlisted, serving through one enlistment and re-enlisting and rising to the rank of sergeant. He was a member of the Masonic order and of the Congre- gational church.
Mr. Cary married, at Turner, Maine, November 17, 1859, Ellen M. Bradford, daughter of Jesse B. Bradford, and their children are: Susie W., born August 10, 1862; Jesse B., born October 22, 1868; Edward K., born May 18, 1872; and Leila A., born November 6, 1873.
HORACE HAMBLEN TOWLE-The name Towle, which is that borne by the family of which Horace Hamblen Towle, of Portland, Maine, is a member, while it has not been associated with the "Pine Tree State" for any great length of time, is most intimately associated with the neighboring State of New Hampshire, where its members have resided continually from the earliest Co- lonial period. The founder of this family in America was one Philip Towle, who is supposed to have come from the northern part of Eng- land, and to have been of Scotch-Irish descent. We have a record of April 15, 1664, of his hav- ing bought a dwelling and property amounting to seven and a half acres as well as about seventy acres of outlying land, and some shares of the common land in Hampton. A portion of this property still remains in the hands of his de- scendants. He married, November 19, 1657, at the age of forty-one years, Isabella Austin, of Colchester, England, and Hampton, New Hamp- shire, and a granddaughter of John and Joanna Bland, of Edgarton, England. It brings the perils of that time nearer home to recall the fact that she was at one time the victim of the per- secution of witchcraft. Both she and a friend were at first accused and the friend, evidently hoping to gain immunity, confessed and put the blame on Isabella Towle. They were both ar- rested and placed in prison, remaining there from the summer till the seventh of September, when Hampton Court heard their case and released them on bail of one hundred pounds each, and finally, in the following year, discharged the case. Philip Towle and his wife Isabella were the par- ents of eight children, and the line runs from them through Sergeant Joseph, John (2), and Levi Gordon Towle to Timothy Towle, the father of the Horace Hamblen Towle of this sketch. Levi Gordon Towle, the grandfather, came from Hampton, New Hampshire, where the family had resided for a number of generations, to Epping, a town in the same State, and it was
ME .- 2-21
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here that his son Timothy Towle was born. Here also the latter died in the year 1886.
Born February 7, 1852, at Epping, New Hamp- shire, Horace Hamblen Towle received his edu- cation at the public schools of his native place, which he attended until he had reached the age of seventeen. He continued, however, to reside under the parental roof until twenty years of age, when he came to the city of Portland, Maine, where he believed that greater opportunities awaited him. Here he worked for about twelve months for the Portland Street Railroad, and was there rapidly advanced until he had reached an excellent position, and then on the first of September, 1873, when he severed his associa- tion and went to work for the Maine Central Railroad. He thus began a connection which has continued to the present day. He was at first employed merely in general work about the sta- tion, and here on February 11, 1881, he was placed in charge of the 'baggage department, where he has remained ever since. His work is carried on in a most efficient manner and he has made through his talent for organization, a model department of the one in which he is in charge, and is now one of the most valuable members of the staff of the railroad.
Mr. Towle does not, however, confine his ac- tivities to the tasks connected with his business life, but is a well known figure in the general life of the community. Mr. Towle is particularly prominent in Masonic circles and has taken his thirty-second degree in Free Masonry. He is a member of all the Masonic bodies in the neigh- borhood, including lodge, chapter, council, com- mandery, temple and consistory. In his relig- ious belief, Mr. Towle is a Methodist and at- tends the church of that denomination in Port- land, where he has been active in promoting its cause in the community. Mr. Towle is extreme- ly fond of fishing, in which delightful sport he finds his chief recreation and spends the major portion of his vacations in this way.
Horace Hamblen Towle was united in marriage on October 21, 1886, at Portland, Maine, with Amelia Hamstead, a native of Skowhegan, Maine, and a daughter of and Roxana (Adams) Hamstead. Mr. Hamstead is deceased, but Mrs. Hamstead survives him and now resides with Mr. Towle, at the advanced age of ninety years. To Mr. and Mrs. Towle two children have been born, as follows: Gerald Hamstead, January 4, 1889, who is now a conductor employed by the Maine Central Railroad; Horace Hamblen, Jr., born November 20, 1892, graduated from the law
department of the University of Maine, in June, 1916, admitted to the bar of Cumberland county, February 6, 1917, and recently opened an office at Westbrook, Maine, where he is practicing his profession.
Mr. Towle has brought to the shaping of his career a very happy and unusual combination of characteristics, which has won for him his suc- cess as a business man and his still greater suc- cess as a man. Underlying the rest of his per- sonality and serving as the surest and most im- perishable foundation for it, is that strong, prac- tical morality that so distinguishes the hardy race of which he is a member. His philanthropy is great and springs from the sincere kindness of his heart, which embraces all men in its regard, and from the culture and enlightenment of his mind which gives intelligence and definite direc- tion to his natural altruism. Closely correlated with this is his sturdy democracy of outlook, a democracy with a healthy pride in a long line of worthy forebears. In spite of his strong social instincts, he is a man of intense domestic feel- ing, who takes his greatest pleasure in the inti- mate relations of the home and family and makes himself beloved by those who are thus closely associated with him. He has many friends and among them, as in the community-at-large, he exerts a powerful influence which is always wielded on the side of right and justice.
ASHER DAVIS HORN, late of Farmington, Maine, where his death occurred November 25, 1914, and where for many years he had been en- gaged in a number of important activities, was a native of Athens, Somerset county, in this State, where his birth occurred August 20, 1849. He was a son of David and Martha (Dow) Horn, and was one of a family of five sons, of whoni he was the last survivor. Mr. Horn was one of those characters who absorb knowledge readily from any environment in which he may be placed, and he was an earnest student in the hard school of experience, where he gained that knowledge of his fellowmen, which is the most valuable that one can possess. After completing his studies in the local schools, Mr. Horn went to the town of Skowhegan, where he engaged in the livery business in a small way. He was, however, ex- ceedingly successful in his enterprise, and after a few years came to Farmington, where he opened a large livery stable in what is now known as Keyes Square. Not long afterwards he re- moved to the building on Main street, which oc- cupied what is now the site of the Motor Mart
a. D. Horn
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Garage, and here he first gained the wide repu- tation and patronage which was for so many years accorded him. Here, also, he laid the foundation of the business career which con- tinued for nearly forty years. The great fire of 1886 resulted in the destruction of his stables, but Mr. Horn was not a man to be easily discour- aged and, after locating temporarily in the stable connected with the Blue Mountain House, which is now known as the Exchange Hotel, set to work to find an appropriate place to establish himself once more. The old Lake House, which was one of the buildings destroyed by the fire, had occupied a site which appealed to Mr. Horn, and this he purchased from J. W. Smith, in De- cember, 1886. He at once began the erection of his new stable, which measured thirty-five by one hundred and forty-four feet, and which was completed in the spring of the following year, being among the earliest of the new buildings erected after the fire. A few years later he built nearby a very handsome house, one of the no- ticeable places of the village, and that has been his home for the past fifteen or twenty years.
After reëestablishing himself in business, Mr. Horn also turned his attention to agriculture, and bought a large tract of land from Andrew J. Wheeler, which he began to develop into a highly successful farm. He later purchased the old Hovey place, which he added to his former prop- erty, and in course of time abandoned the livery business and devoted his entire time and atten- tion to farming. He was highly successful in this enterprise. Some years before the close of his life, Mr. Horn once more became interested in the stable business, and continued to engage in it in connection with his farming, up to the time of his death. Mr. Horn never lost his keen interest and fondness for horses, and always maintained a reputation for having the best of stock. He was exceedingly interested in horse- racing, and was a zealous votary of the track. During his time he entered many fine horses in the events of that region, and frequently served as starter or judge, in which capacity he gained a wide reputation for impartiality. For ten years before his death he was starter at the Franklin County Fair. He was a man of strong domestic instincts and always found his chief happiness in his home. Public spirited in the highest de- gree, Mr. Horn did much for the general welfare of the community, and at the time of his death could look back over a long period of growth and development in Farmington, in which he had been one of the chief figures. He loved the town of
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