USA > Maine > Maine; a history, Volume IV > Part 66
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his adoption and had watched its growth with great satisfaction. He recognized the value of a liberal education, and was one of the most ac- tive in securing the best possible advantages for the youth of Farmington in this important con- nection. He was naturally a hard worker, and it was said by the physician that attended him in his last illness, that he had, to a great de- gree, used up his strength in this manner, and that he might have greatly prolonged his life had he been content to take things more easily. It would have been characteristic of Mr. Horn, could he have replied to this, to remark that, "life is made up of incidents and deeds well done, rather than years, and that he had lived the longest who has accomplished most."
Asher D. Horn was united in marriage, Jan- uary I, 1888, with Cora Dain, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew J. Dain, of Livermore Falls. Mrs. Horn died August 17, 1902, and on March 23, 1905, Mr. Horn was united in marriage with Lillian M. Scribner, a daughter of Daniel and Clara (Handly) Scribner, of Farmington. One son was born of this union, Asher Davis Horn, Jr., who, with his mother, survives Mr. Horn.
JOHN B. SMITH, one of the representative business men of Lewiston, Maine, is a son of Andrew Smith, a native of Ireland, who came to America as a young man and located at Lowell, Massachusetts, and of Catherine (Boyle) Smith, his wife. Andrew and Catherine (Boyle) Smith made their home at Lowell and there eventually died. They were the parents of eight children, three of whom are now living, one of these be- ing John B. Smith ,the gentleman with whose career we are especially concerned.
Born at Lowell, May 28, 1851, John B. Smith received the elementary portion of his education at his birthplace, where he attended the public schools. He remained in this city until he was twenty-two years of age, and then came to Lewis- ton, Maine, where he followed the trade of plumber. It had been the young man's ambition, however, to enter upon a career of his own, and he was able to realize this ambition in the year 1876, when he went into business under the firm name of Smith & Smith. The establishment con- tinued under this name until 1890, when John B. Smith formed a concern under the style of John B. Smith & Company, under which name the firm still continues in business. From the outset the business has been successful, and today finds Mr. Smith at the head of one of the most up-to-date plumbing establishments in that part of the
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State. Mr. Smith, however, does not confine his activities to his business interests only, but takes a leading part in the affairs of Lewiston, and was a member of the School Board for eighteen years. He was at one time president of the Board of Aldermen, and he is at present a member of the Water Board. In 1907 he was candidate for mayor on the Republican ticket. Mr. Smith is also actively identified with the fraternal and club life of the region, and is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In his religious belief lie is a Catholic and attends St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Lewiston.
In 1875, John B. Smith was united in marriage with Emma Boland. Mr. Smith is a very well read man, and is exceedingly fond of reading, and is quite a lecturer on current events. The period comprised in this part of the twentieth century is extraordinarily prolific in men of marked business talents. The State of Maine, in proportion to its population, has not been be- hind its fellows in this contribution, and the names of its able and successful men are numer- ous indeed. It is of the career of one such man that the foregoing sketch has been most briefly written, John B. Smith.
JOHN W. ERSKINE-Among the progressive and successful farmers of Easton, Maine, is John W. Erskine, a member of an old and highly respected Maine family, and a son of Rodger A. and Almira A. (Williams) Erskine, the former for many years a farmer in the region of Brad- ford, Maine. The elder Mr. Erskine was a sol- dier in the Eleventh Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infantry, enlisting in Company K, of that regi- ment, in November, 1861. He was honorably discharged from the army, November 11, 1864, after having seen much active service and being wounded in the engagement at Fair Oaks. His death occurred January 7, 1900. He married the widow of his brother, John Erskine, who was killed May 19, 1864, in the battle of Spottsylvania. John Erskine served in Company B, First Regi- ment, of Maine Heavy Artillery.
Jolın W. Erskine was born April 18, 1871, at Bradford, Maine, and attended the local public schools of that town for a number of years. He then, following in the footsteps of his father, en- gaged in farming operations at Easton, in which he has been eminently successful ever since. At the present time he is the owner of about one hundred and eighty acres of valuable farm land here, where he carries on general farming opera-
tions and which he keeps in the highest state of cultivation. He is also interested in a number of business institutions hereabouts, and is asso- ciated in the management of the Presque Isle National Bank. In politics he is a Republican, and although active in local affairs has avoided all public office and political preferment. Mr. Erskine is a member of Ridgeley Lodge, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows; Olive Branch Encampment, Canton Wabasso, and has been through the chairs in each; Trinity Lodge, An- cient Free and Accepted Masons; Garfield Chap- ter, Royal Arch Masons. He is also a member of the Grange, and takes a keen interest in the improvement of general agricultural conditions in this region. In his religious belief, Mr. Ers- kine is a Methodist, and attends the Methodist Episcopal church at Easton.
John W. Erskine married (first) April 2, 1902, Hattie L. White, a daughter of Charles V. and May (White) White. Two children were born of this union: Dorothea A., April 9, 1904; Mary A., in 1905. Mrs. Erskine died in Presque Isle, May 6, 1907. Mr. Erskine married (second) Elizabeth May Coffey, daughter of James and Elizabeth H. (Pass) Coffey. Of this union one child was born: Roger James, born April 17, 1915.
GEORGE ANDREW MURPHY, one of the most conspicuous figures in the public life of Lewiston, Maine, is a native of this city and has been identified with its affairs ever since he was of an age to take part in them. While himself a native of this region, however, Mr. Murphy is of Irish parentage and is the son of Timothy Joseph Murphy, a native of Limerick, Ireland, who came to this country when he was but four years of age. After a short stay at Rockland, Maine, the family moved to Boston, where Mr. Murphy, Sr., remained until 1873, when he came to Lewiston, Maine, and here opened his present hat store, having been engaged in this business for more than forty years. He deals exclusively in hats, furs and raw skins, and his establish- ment is one of the largest in the State. The store is situated at No. 135 Lisbon street and is one of the best known concerns of its kind in the city. Mr. Murphy, Sr., married Margaret A. O'Donnell, a native of Lewiston, and they have been the parents of nine children, six of whom are living. Their children are as follows: Tim- othy Joseph, Jr., who resides in Lewiston, and is engaged in business with his father; Willian P., who also resides in Lewiston, where he is engaged in business as a salesman; George An-
JW. Enstine
Ji IT Shear
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drew, with whose career we are especially con- cerned; James, deceased, who practiced law in New York City; Ca therine, who became the wife of Dr. Joseph W. Shay, of Boston; Elizabeth, who died at the age of four years; Edward, who resides in New Hampshire, where he is employed as a salesman; Mary Regina, a grad- uate of St. Elizabeth College, New Jersey, who resides with her father; Margaret, who died in infancy.
Born January 21, 1879, at Lewiston, Maine, George Andrew Murphy received the elementary portion of his education at the local public schools. He then attended the Lewiston Busi- ness College, where he took a mercantile course and fitted himself for active business life. Im- mediately after completing his education at this institution, he secured a position with the Lewis- ton Bleachery & Dye Works, where he worked in a clerical capacity for some fourteen years. In the meantime, however, he served for four years as city auditor of Lewiston, and in 1910 was elected tax collector of the city. He served in this capacity until the end of 1913, and was then elected to the office of register of deeds, which he holds at the present time. Mr. Murphy is exceedingly fond of out-door sports and pastimes and is especially interested in horses. He is also a conspicuous figure in the social and club life of the community, and is a member of the local lodges of the Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, also the Calumet Club, where he is very popular among a large circle of associates. In his re- ligious belief, as in the case with his family for many generations, Mr. Murphy is a Roman Cath- olic and attends St. Joseph's Church at Lewiston. Mr. Murphy is unmarried.
FRED F. SPEAR-Among the conspicuous figures in the business life of Limestone, Maine, is Fred F. Spear, president of the Limestone Trust Company, and one of the largest and most sucessful farmers of this region. Mr. Spear is a son of Joseph E. and Mary B. (Ward) Spear, the former engaged in the occupation of farming for many years in this section of the State, and a member of an old and distinguished Maine family, which was founded in this country in early Colonial times.
The birth of Fred F. Spear occurred at his father's home at Limestone, Maine, May 13, 1867, and he has made this place his home consistent- ly up to the present time. As a lad he attended the local public schools and was graduated from
the Limestone High School, showing himself, even as a lad, possessed of the ambition and alert mind which have since then marked him. Upon completing his studies at the high school Mr. Spear, following in his father's footsteps, en- gaged in farming as a pursuit, and is now the owner of a handsome farm in this region of the country where he carries on general agricul- tural operations. But Mr. Spear was of an nn- usually enterprising disposition and his attentions were directed towards other interests in addi- tion to that of farming. He became associated with the Limestone Trust Comany, an associa- tion which has continued uninterruptedly ever since, and at one time he occupied the office of president of that institution. Mr. Spear has also interested himself in public affairs in this part of the country, and he is regarded as one of the leaders in the Republican party hereabonts, He has held a number of offices of trust and re- sponsibility, served on the school board for five years, and was selectman of this township for eleven years. He is also a prominent figure in the social and fraternal life of the community; is a member of the local Grange, Knights of Pythias, and Limestone Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, having filled all the chairs of his Masonic lodge and the Grange. In his religious belief Mr. Spear is a Baptist and at- tends the church of that denomination at Lime- stone.
Fred F. Spear was united in marriage in Feb- ruary, 1888, at Fort Fairfield, Maine, with Helen F. Noyes, a daughter of Josiah M. and Sibal Noyes. Mrs. Spear died in May, 1914. They were the parents of the following children: Forest, born April 12, 1890, married a Miss Lundy; Helen May.
OTTO EDWARD HUTT-If one was called upon to select a career that might serve as a model for the youth of an age in which the ideals of our forefathers have suffered something of a decline, he could not do better than take that of Otto Edward Hütt, whose entire career, present- ing as it does characteristics of a more idealistic and gracious time now alas passing, might well serve to leaven the somewhat thoughtless and careless customs of our own. He is a son of Carl Otto Hütt, who was born in Wittenburg, Germany, and whose death occurred in his adopted country at the age of sixty-two years and eight months, in the month of May, 1909, at the town of Malden, Massachusetts. Upon reaching this country, Carl O. Hütt engaged in the sheet
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metal business and worked for a considerable time at Boston. He married Lena Fogel, also a native of Wittenburg, and she now survives him, making her home at Medford, Massachu- setts. She is seventy-two years of age and still quite active. Mr. and Mrs. Hütt were married in Wittenburg and were the parents of seven children, of whom three are now living as fol- lows: Otto Edward, Ernest Henry, who lives in Portland, and is a cornice worker; and Anna, now the widow of Chester Lawrence, and makes her home at Medford, Massachusetts.
Otto Edward Hütt was born in Wittenburg, Germany, May 20, 1882, but came with his par- ents to America at the age of five years and lo- cated with them in New York City. He lived in the metropolis until he was twelve years of age, and then moved to Boston with his par- ents, at which latter place he was educated and lived until he was eighteen years old, in the meantime learning to become a sheet metal worker. He then came to Auburn and later to Lewiston, and took charge of the business of F. Korneffel & Son, also a sheet metal concern, where he remained in charge for a period of about thirteen years. In 1914, however, he returned to Auburn, where he started his present business and is now located at No. 101 Main street. Mr. Hütt's entire time and attention is given to the business enterprise which he has so ably built up and to his family, where he finds his chief recreation and greatest happiness. He is a mem- ber of the Episcopal church, which his family also attend.
On January 1, 1905, at Lewiston, Maine, Otto Edward Hütt was united in marriage with Annie Augusta Kronamann, a native of this city, born March 1, 1880, a daughter of Philipp Kronamann, now a retired miller of Lewiston, and of Sophie (Olfene) Kronamann, his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Hütt are the parents of three children, all of whom are now living, as follows: Philip Carl, born February 7, 1908; Otto Edward, Jr., born June 10, 1912, and Ralph Richard, born Septem- ber 17, 1916.
JAMES BENNETT BLANCHARD, a farmer and lumberman of Presque Isle, was born at Charlotte, Washington county, Maine, October 7, 1851, son of David and Mary L. (Babcock) Blanchard, the former also a lumberman and farmer, and a brickmaker. Mr. Blanchard was educated at the common schools, and then en- tered the same calling that his father had fol- lowed all his life. He has been for twenty-five
years a brickmaker, and has been very success- ful in his business. In politics he is a Repub- lican. He is a member of the Blue Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Presque Isle; of the chapter, Royal Arch Masons; of Caribou; of the council, Royal and Select Masters, at Presque Isle, and of the temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Mr. Blanchard married, at Easton, Maine, Jan- uary 18, 1879, Mary O. Barker, daughter of Sam- uel and Martha (Merrill) Barker. They are the parents of the following children: William H., Frank E., Sidney D., Bessie M., and Charles G., who enlisted in the United States army in the World War and was stationed at Camp Devens.
GEN. SAMUEL DEAN LEAVITT-A native son of Maine, eminent in his profession and in business, a citizen loved and trusted by his con- stituency, Gen. Leavitt served well his day and generation, and in his native Eastport his mem- ory is kept green.
Jonathan Leavitt born at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, moved to Eastport, Maine, where he was moderator of the first town meeting held there, May 21, 1798. He held the rank of cap- tain in the revolutionary army, his commission in quaint form issued by authority of the peo- ple of New Hampshire and signed by M. Weare, president of council, July 30, 1779. He died at Eastport, Maine, January 25, 1810. Captain Leavitt married Mary Perkins, and they were the parents of Benjamin B. Leavitt, father of Gen. Sammuel D. Leavitt, to whose memory this review is dedicated.
Benjamin B. Leavitt was born in Eastport, Maine, November 6, 1798, and there died July 25, 1881, one of Eastport's foremost citizens. He was a leading merchant of the village, and ac- cumulated a large estate which in his later years claimed his entire time and attention. He was one of the leading Democrats of the castern Washington district, and in 1841 he was elected to represent that district in the State Senate. He was appointed by President Polk, surveyor for the port of Eastport, and held the rank of colonel in the Third Regiment, Maine Militia. He was highly regarded in his community as a business man and citizen, and was sincerely mourned when at the age of cighty-three he passed away. He married Hannah Lamprey, and among their children was a son, Samuel D.
Samuel Dean Leavitt was born in Eastport, Washington county, Maine, August 12, 1838. He was educated in the public schools of Eastport
James B. Blanchard
S.s. Leavitt
hathan Ceffort.
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and at Hampton, Franklin and Drummer acad- emies. At the age of twenty-one in 1859, he began the study of law and in October 1861, he was admitted to the Washington county bar. Immediately thereafter he enlisted in the Union army, raising a company which became a part of the Fifteenth Regiment, Maine Infantry, re- ceiving a first lieutenant's commission in Decem- ber, 1861. His regiment served in the Depart- ment of the Gulf under Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, but in 1812 Lieut. Leavitt tendered his resigna- tion, being then at New Orleans, where he had been serving as a commissary of subsistence.
After resigning from the army, Lieut. Leavitt returned to Maine and began the practice of law at Eastport, and for many years continued a successful business, having in addition a well established insurance agency. He was a director of the Frontier National Bank of Eastport, and held other responsible positions in the com- munity, his business ability being well recog- nized and appreciated. His law practice was large in Eastport, but he retained his interest in the insurance business for many years, finally disposing of it. He was a Democrat in politics; in 1873 was elected a member of the State Legis- lature, and in 1874 was reelected. His election and rëlection were tributes of the high regard in which he was held by the voters of his district, for Eastport voters, normally Republican, stood by their neighbor, appreciating his learning and ability, his attitude in connection with the rail- roads winning him many friends. In 1879 he was elected Adjutant General of the State, and in 1886 was appointed Collector of Customs for the Passamaquoddy district by President Cleve- land. He held that office until 1890, and in that year was the candidate of his party for Congress from the Fourth Congressional District. In 1893 he was appointed a member of a commis- sion to revise the military laws of Maine, and the same year was elected mayor of Eastport.
Gen. Leavitt was most cordial and quiet in manner, and he won the friendship of men through his charming personality and his sterling uprightness of character. He died deeply mourned, leaving a widow who yet survives him.
WILLIAM HENRY CLIFFORD-For almost a century the name of Clifford has been a con- spicuous one in the legal profession in Maine and in the public service of that State, from the beginning of the legal activity of Chief Justice Nathan Clifford, of the United States Supreme Court, to the present professional connections of his grandson, Nathan Clifford, ex-Mayor of
Portland, member of the law min of Clifford, Verrill & Ciilford. The intermediate period was occupied by the practice and service of William Henry Clifford, son of the Chief Justice an ! father of Nathan Clifford, who for almost forty years conducted an extensive practice in all the State and Federal courts of his district. William Henry Clifford was a descendant in the eighth generation of George Clifford, who came from his English home in Arnold, Nottinghamshire, in 1614, founding his family in New England, residing first in Boston, where he was a mem- ber of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com- pany, then moving to Hampton, New Hamp- shire. For seven generations New Hampshire remained the family home, Judge Clifford in 1827, establishing in professional practice in York county, Maine, soon after his admission to the bar. Thus it was that Maine afforded him the field and opportunity for the great legal, legis- lative, and judicial service that forms a splendid part of her history. While a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States he was the author of a vast number of important and far- reaching opinions, but to no judicial action of his did such intensely spirited interest attach as to his presidency of the Electoral Commission in the famons Hayes-Tilden election controversy. He was one of the greatest legal lights of his day and generation; indeed, his equal has ap- peared but rarely in the American annals of his profession.
His son, William Henry Clifford, was born in Newfield, Maine, August II, 1838, died Septem- ber 18, 1901. After attendance at the public schools he prepared for college at the Portland Academy and at Professor Woods' school at Yarmouth, then graduating from Dartmouth College in the class of 1858. Beginning the study of law in the offices of Shepley & Dane, of Portland, he completed his work in the office of Benjamin R. Curtis of Boston, and in 1863 was admitted to practice in the courts of Massa- chusetts, in 1864 to the Maine and United States circuit courts, and in 1867 to the United States Supreme Court. His professional offices were in Portland from his establishment in practice until his death. For about ten years he was a commissioner of the United States Conrt for the District of Maine, and afterward acquired an extensive practice in the Federal courts, plead- ing many cases before the Supreme Court at Washington. He compiled "Clifford's Reports," a work in four volumes of his fathers' decisions on the New England circuit.
He early took an active part in Maine poli-
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tics, always as a Democratic supporter. He was a member of the Democratic National Com- mittee, presided over a number of State party conventions, and was the candidate of his party for Congress in the First Congressional District on two occasions, and in 1896 the candidate of the Gold Democrats for the governorship. Mr. Clifford was a man of pronounced and cultivated literary tastes, and the author of several pamph- lets on literary, political, and other subjects. He was honored by the degree of Master of Arts from the Bishops College, Lenoxville, Province of Quebec. He was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, serving as vestryman of St. Luke's Cathedral, and he belonged to lodge, chapter, and commandery in the Masonic order, affiliated as well with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias; his clubs, the Cumberland of Portland, and the Union of Boston. "He was a man of scholarly tastes and broad culture; always a student, his reading was both extensive and exhaustive. He was an authority on many literary and historical subjects, and the addresses which he delivered from time to time on such subjects bore evi- dence of his natural ability and wide learning."
Mr. Clifford married, August 8, 1866, Ellen Greeley Brown, born in Portland, May 30, 1841, died there May 9, 1904, daughter of John S. and Ann M. (Greeley) Brown of Portland. Children: Nathan (q. v.); Matilda Greeley; William Henry; and Philip Greeley; also John B., and Ellen Ayer, who died young.
NATHAN CLIFFORD, son of William H. and Ellen G. (Brown) Clifford, was born in Portland, June 17, 1867. After preparatory study in the public schools of Portland, he attended Phillips Academy at Andover, and the Portland High Schools, from which last he was graduated in 1886. Matriculating at Harvard University in the fall of this year, he was graduated with high honors in the class of 1890. He at once began the study of law in his father's Portland office, gaining admission to the bar in May, 1893, and becoming a member of the firm, Clifford, Verrill & Clifford, the present firm. His pro- fessional activity has been on a plane and of an order worthily succeeding his noted predecessors and his professional standing is of the highest.
Like his honored father and grandfather, he is a staunch Democrat, and his career also paral- lels theirs in his early participation and leader- ship in public affairs. He became chairman of the Portland Democratic City Committee in 1895,
and in 1905, he was elected mayor of Portland. He was reelected at the following polls, the first instance in the history of the city where a Democrat was his own immediate successor. His double term of office was marked by the passage of much substantial legislation and a progressive efficient administration of the public business that won him wide favor among all classes in Portland. Upon his candidacy for a third term, the Republican organization swung back into power Adam F. Leighton, the success- ful candidate.
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