Men of progress; biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in and of the state of Maine, Part 64

Author: Herndon, Richard; McIntyre, Philip Willis, 1847- ed; Blanding, William F., joint ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Boston, New England magazine
Number of Pages: 1268

USA > Maine > Men of progress; biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in and of the state of Maine > Part 64

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CARLETON, LEROY THOMAS, State Fish and Game Commissioner, was born in Phillips, Franklin county, Maine, February 8, 1847, son of Thomas and Hannah (Parker) Carleton. His father was of English descent and his mother of French Huguenot extraction. The famous Carleton coat- of-arms is still extant. His parents had twelve children - six boys and six girls. Inured to hard work on the farm from his earliest recollection, he developed fine physical powers, but his opportuni- ties for an early education were exceedingly limited, the schoolhouse being a mile away ; and eight or nine weeks in winter was all the opportunity he had of attending school until his army services terminated. In September 1861 he enlisted as a private in Com- pany F, Ninth Maine Regiment of Volunteers, and went to the front with his company. At Hilton Head, South Carolina, he suffered a long and dangerous sickness from measles, followed by typhoid pneumonia, and his life was despaired of for many days by the surgeons in charge. Rallying sufficiently, he was sent to his Northern home, where he regained his health in a considerable degree and then re-er. sted in Company E of the Thirty-second Maine Regiment, in which he was made a Corporal and promoted to Sergeant. He participated in every battle and skirmish in which his regiment was engaged, viz., the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, North Anna River, Front of Petersburg, Hatcher's Run, Burnside Mine and Poplar Grove Church. Before leaving Augusta with the Thirty-second, he had a severe attack of scarlet fever, which left him nearly deaf in the right ear, and at the Battle of Burnside Mine he

was wounded in four different places by the ex- plosion of a shell. When his regiment was consoli- dated with the Thirty-first Maine, he was granted a discharge as a non-commissioned officer, in prefer- ence to others on account of his disabilities and services. Returning home he undertook to labor on a farm again, but his impaired health would not permit, and thereupon he reconimenced to go to school. Having no assistance, it was uphill work ; but by lecturing, and running in debt, he was en- abled to take a course at Phillips High School, and the Maine Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's Hill. Subsequently he studied law, and was admitted to practice in August 1873, settling in Winthrop,

LEROY T. CARLETON.

Kennebec county, where he has ever since resided. Mr. Carleton early took high rank as a lawyer and has always had a large and lucrative practice. He served eight years in succession as County Attorney for Kennebec county, a longer term than any in- cumbent in that office in any county in the state. At the close of the celebrated Getchell trial, where Mr. Carleton secured a conviction of Mrs. Getchell for poisoning her husband, unaided by other counsel, one of the older justices of the Supreme Judicial Court made the remark that he was un- doubtedly the ablest criminal lawyer in Maine. Mr. Carleton for seventeen years in succession was Chairman of the School Board in Winthrop. In

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1894, he was appointed by Governor Cleaves as Chairman of the Commission on Special Legis- lation, which made its report to the Legislature of 1895, and the bills he drafted relating to the subject matter were passed and became laws by an almost unanimous vote. In March 1896 he was Appointed by Governor Cleaves Commissioner of I. land Fisheries and Game - an highly important office -and his appointment was received with general favor throughout the state. Mr. Carleton in politics has always been a Republican of a pro- nounced type. His services as a speaker are always in dem. d and he has been prominently mentioned as a candidate of his party for Congress in the Third District. A prominent Grand Army man, and twice Judge-Advocate of the Department of Maine, he is much sought after as a Memorial Day speaker ; he was engaged to speak at Kittery in 1896, and at Bath in 1897, and has delivered similar addresses in many of the principal cities and towns of the state. On April 16, 1897, he was unani- mously elected Department Commander of the G. A. R. of Maine. Liberal in his religious convictions, he is a constant attendant of the Methodist Episco- pal Church and a liberal contributor to religious, benevolent and charitable objects. He enjoys the confidence and respect, to a marked degree, of all who come in contact with him. Mr. Carleton was married June 1, 1872, to Nellie M. Longfellow, daughter of Hon. George A. Longfellow, of Winthrop ; they had one son : George L. Carleton, an exceptionally promising boy, who died of typhoid fever when seventeen years of age.

HOBART, JOHN WALTER, Real Estate Dealer, Boston, was born in Newport, Penobscot county, Maine, July 13, 1854, son of Atkinson and Mary (Kelsey) Hobart. His early education was ac- quired in the common schools of his native town and the Maine Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's Hill, Readfield. Leaving school at the early age of sixteen, he entered upon active business as a clerk in his father's employ, in connection with a drygoods store, savings bank, and office of the American Express Company. At the age of eighteen he became a partner in the firm with his father, under the name of A. Hobart & Son, Newport. When twenty-four years old he was appointed Receiver of the Newport Savings Bank, by Judge John A. Peters of the Supreme Court of Maine ; and when twenty-seven he was tendered the position of

Cashier of the Merchants' National Bank of Bangor, by Hon. S. H. Blake, President of that institution. Declining this flattering offer, he removed in that year ( 1881) to Boston, and engaged temporarily in the sale of municipal and railroad securities to savings banks and capitalists in Maine. In 1882 he formed a syndicate composed of the Hon. Abner Coburn of Skowhegan, Colonel Darius Alden of Augusta, the Trustees of the Thomas M. Reed estate of Bath, and other prominent capitalists, and purchased control of the Nantasket Land Company and the Boston & Hingham (now the Nantasket Beach) Steamboat Company, of both of which com- panies Mr. Hobart subsequently became Treasurer

JOHN W. HOBART.

and Manager. In 1886 the Nantasket Land Com- pany sold out all its lands, which comprised a consid- erable part of the town of Hull, Plymouth county, Massachusetts, known as " Nantasket Beach." Mr. Hobart then purchased largely on his own account, and has since continued to deal in real estate at this prominent seashore resort, and has contributed largely to its development. He is a member of the Odd Fellows fraternity, also of the Boston Art, Ex- change and Pine Tree State clubs. He resides in Brookline. Mr. Hobart was married June 11, 1874, to Emma Estelle Chase, daughter of Edward Chase of Palmyra, Maine ; they have three children : Lillian May, Earle Tisdale and Donald Atkinson Hobart.

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

HOBBS, GEORGE SAYWARD, of Washington, Dis- trict of Columbia, Auditor of the Southern Railway, was born in Wells, York county, Maine, in 1859, son of Cyrus Hall and Clementine (Mildram) Hobbs. His grandparents were Sayard and Lydia (Hall) Hobbs and on the maternal side Samuel and Olive (Hobbs; Mildram. He received his education in the common and high schools of Maine, at South Berwick (Maine) Academy, and at the Eastman Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York. At the age of eighteen, in 1878, he entered the railway service, Si Le which time he has been consecutively Clerk in the general offices of the Eastern Railroad

GEO. S. HOBBS.

of Massachusetts, 1878-83, and Paymaster and Chief Clerk in the Treasurer's office of the same road 1883-5; Auditor of the Marquette, Houghton & Ontonagon Railroad in Michigan, 1885-7; Chief Clerk in the Accounting Department of the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railway, 1887-9 ; Accountant in the President's office of the East Tennessee, Vir- ginia & Georgia Railway, 1889-90 ; Superintendent of Car Service of Boston & Maine Railroad, 1890-4, and since the latter date Auditor of the Southern Railway, with office in Washington, District of Colum- bia. Mr. Hobbs is a Free Mason, a member of Marquette (Michigan) Lodge. In politics he is an Independent. He was married October 29, 1883,

to Mary Philbrick Adams, of Salem, Essex county, Massachusetts ; they have two children : Margarett Adams, born May 5, 1888, and Eleanor Mildrain, born November 2, 1894.

MANLEY, JOSEPH HOMAN, of Augusta, Member of the Executive Committee of the National Repub- lican Committee, was born in Bangor, Maine, Octo- ber 13, 1842, son of James Sullivan and Caroline G. (Sewall) Manley. On the maternal side he is in direct descent from Samuel Sewall of Massachusetts, of old Puritan stock. His great-grandfather Henry Sewall was a Captain in the Revolutionary army. His education during early boyhood was received in the public schools of Augusta, and from the age of eleven until he was fifteen he attended the " Little Blue " Abbott School for boys in Farmington, Maine, where he fitted for college. Ill health, however, which had somewhat limited his earlier opportuni- ties, compelled the abandonment of his plans for a collegiate education. After recovering his health, he entered upon the study of law in the office of Sweetsir & Gardiner of Boston, and in September 1863, at the age of nineteen, graduated from the Albany Law School with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and was admitted to the Bar of New York State. Returning the same year to Augusta, he formed a law partnership with H. W. True, which continued for some years In 1865 he was admitted to practice in the United States Circuit and District courts, and also was appointed a Commissioner of the United States District Court of Maine. From 1869 to 1876 he was in the employ of the Government as a Special Agent of the Internal Revenue Depart- ment. Subsequently he was for a time in Washing- ton as Agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. In 1878 he purchased of Joseph H. Homan a half interest in the Maine Farmer, published in Augusta, which he still holds, and for several years he contin- ued in control of the editorial columns of that jour- nal. In May 1881 he was appointed Postmaster of Augusta, by President Garfield. During his first term in this office he instituted many improvements in the postal service, and was untiring in his efforts to secure the erection of the fine Postoffice Build- ing which now adorns the city. In 1889 he was re- appointed Postmaster by President Harrison, and held the office until his resignation in August 1892, to assume, at Mr. Harrison's request, responsible duties as a member of the Republican National Committee during the campaign of that year. Mr.

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

Manley has for many years been actively interested in business in Augusta, and largely identified with . the city's progress. He is a Director in the First National Bank and President of the Augusta Savings Bank, Treasurer of the Augusta Water Company and of the Augusta Electric Light and Power Company, . ar : a Director in the Edwards Manufacturing Com- pany of that city. He is also a Director in the Maine Central Railroad, Knox & Lincoln Railroad, Portland & Rochester Railroad and in the Portland, Mount Desert & Machias Steamboat Company. M: v large enterprises in Maine and outside have been planned and carried out mainly by his aid and influence. In 1887-8 and 1889-90 he represented

JOS. H. MANLEY.

Augusta in the State Legislature. As afactor in the political affairs of the state and nation Mr. Manley is more widely known than any other private citizen of Maine. The Republican party has no more thorough-going adherent and earnest worker among its leaders in the country, and as a political strate- gist he has no superior. For many years a very warm friend and intimate associate of James G. Blaine, he learned from his affiliations with that great leader much that is of the higher order in the art of politics. He has been for a dozen years Chairman of the State Republican Committee of Maine, and was a Delegate to the Republican National Conventions of 1880, 1884, 1888 and 1892.

In May 1893 he was elected Secretary of the National Republican Committee, and in January 1894 was made Chairman of the Executive Committee of the national organization; and was in June 1896 appointed a member of the Executive Committee of the National Republican Committee, which posi- tion he at present holds. Mr. Manley was married October 4, 1866, to Susan Cony, daughter of Samuel Cony, Governor of Maine 1864-6. His wife died February 17, 1895. He has four children : Samuel Cony, graduated at Harvard in 1889, now with the General Manager of the Maine Central Railroad ; Lucy Cony, married to Chase Mellen, a lawyer of New York city ; Harriet and Sydney Sewall Manley.

MOODY, EDWARD CHARLES, Postmaster at York Village, is a native of the town of York, having been born on the family homestead, where he now resides. The date of his birth was Feb- ruary 14, 1849. He is of Welch descent, and is of the ninth generation from William Moody, the American ancestor of the family, who came to this country in 1633. The line of succession is : (1) William Moody, born in Wales, Great Britain, in 1598; (2) Caleb, born in Newbury, Massachusetts, 1637; (3) Samuel, born in Newbury, 1675; (4) Joseph, born in York, Maine, 1700; (5) Joseph, born 1728; (6) Samuel, born 1762; (7) Charles, born in York, 1796; (8) Eliza E., daughter of Charles, born in York, 1830; and (9) Edward C., the subject of this sketch. Of his progenitors, William was one of the first settlers of Newbury, Massachusetts, where he was granted ninety-two acres of land ; Caleb was a man of affairs in New- bury, and represented the town in the General Court of Massachusetts ; Samuel was a graduate of Har- vard in 1697, and for half a century was an active minister of the Congregational denomination at York, Maine, where he died in 1747; Joseph was also a Harvard graduate and a Congregational min- ister, like his father, but was compelled by ill health to abandon the calling at an early age; Joseph second inherited the homestead, and bequeathed it to his son Samuel, who left it to Charles, by whom it was in turn handed down to the latter's grandson, the subject of this sketch. Edward C. Moody received a fair common-school education in the district school at York Village, under the tutorage of Isaiah P. Moody, John D. Frost and Samuel W. Junkins successively. \ term at Lebanon ( Maine) Academy terminated his school life. When twenty-

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

three years of age he was appointed by Secretary- of-the-Navy Robeson, on the recommendation of Hon. Hannibal Hamlin and Congressman John H. Burleigh, as Chief Accountant at the Kittery Navy Yard, a position drawing a salary of eighteen hun- dred epllars a year. On the abolishment of this office h. was transferred to the Department of Yards and Docks, and remained in the employ of the Government for about three years. Mr. Moody has been active in political affairs from the time of attaining his majority. A staunch adherent to the principle of the Democratic party, he consequently belongs to the minority in the town of his residence, but has held notwithstanding many important public offices. His first elective office was that of School Agent in his old district, Number One. In 1876 he was nominated as candidate for Representative to the Legislature, receiving one hundred and nine votes to nineteen opposition in the Democratic caucus ; but as nineteen members of his party voted against him at election, he was defeated by six votes. In 1878 he was nominated for State Senator, and defeated, although running over two hundred votes ahead of his ticket. In 1879 he was elected a member of the Executive Council of the State by the Legislature, in which body he served on the Elections, State Prisons and Pardons, Indian Affairs and Pay Roll committees. He has served the town as Moderator at several notable meetings, also on various committees, the last being the Town Build- ing Committee of the New Home, of which he was Chairman - his associates being Edward B. Blais- dell, Edward E. Young, W. H. Chase and Bradford S. Woodward, Esq. In 1894 he was nominated Postmaster of York Village, of which community he is a public-spirited citizen and for which he has stood up in sunshine and in storm. In 1896 he was nominated by the Democrats as their candidate

for State Senator from York County, leading, of course, a forlorn hope. Mr. Moody is a member of the York Association, of which he was President in 1877-8-9, and has served on its Prudential Com- mittee. He is a Director of the York Historical Society, but has no connection with any secret organ- ization. Although making no pretentions to piety, he is a Congregationalist in religious preference, and was a member of the original committee chosen by the First Parish of York in 1881 to remodel the Congregational meeting-house, which was com- pleted at a cost approximating ten thousand dollars. Mr. Moody's occupation is that of a farmer, which he carries on with a moderate degree of success.

He generally attends the sessions of the State Leg- islature as a member of the " Third House," and has witnessed the inauguration of thirteen Gover- nors of Maine. The estate he occupies is a fine one, commanding a view of York Bay, and from the residence can be seen, between sunset and sunrise, the lights of warning to mariners at Boon Island, " The Knubble " and Isles of Shoals. Mr. Moody was married August 3, 1870, to Ju- liette Marshall, daughter of Hon. Nathaniel G. and Sophia (Bragdon) Marshall. Mrs. Moody was born December 4, 1851. Four childen have been the fruit of this union : Charles Edward,

EDWARD C. MOODY.

born 1871, died the same year ; Sally Bragdon, born September 2, 1872, now the wife of Dr. Ed- ward C. Cook of York Village; Edna Marshall, born August 31, 1874, and Edward Charles Moody, Jr., born July 4, 1876.

MOORE, JOHN GODFREY, senior member of the New York Stock Exchange firm of Moore & Schley, who gained national prominence as the plaintiff in a suit contesting the constitutionality of the Income Tax liw, was born in Steuben, Washington county, Maine, July 7, 1847. His father was Captain Henry D. Moore, a shipmaster, who spent most of

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

his time at sea, and retired from active service on account of severe injuries received during a storm. Mr. Moore's preparatory education was that of the majority of youths born in the Pine Tree State, the district schools ; but a few years later he enjoyed a winter at Cherryfield ( Maine) Academy and another at the East Maine Conference Seminary at Bucks- port. Thus equipped, he came to New York when eighteen years of age. His first employment in the city was is a clerk in the office of Thomas Mahew and Wilson Godfrey, lumber merchants, 117 Wall street. There he gathered his first experience of tra e in New York, although presumably, like most

JOHN G. MOORE.

natives of Maine, he had previously acquired some knowledge of the lumber business. Within a year, he bettered himself by accepting a position with Bell Brothers, lv aber dealers, at the foot of West 23d street, and with this firm he remained until the summer of 1868. In that year, during which he attained his majority, he started in business on his own account, at 96 Wall street, in the occupation in which he had served an apprenticeship. He rap- idly extended his connections, and finally, in com- pany with John (). Evans, executed several impor- tant contracts with the War Department. His . constructions consisted in part of piers and break- waters at Buffalo and Cleveland, and improvements

along the Delaware River from Philadelphia to Wilmington. To carry out these projects, he and his associates organized The National Dredging Company of the City of Wilmington, Delaware. In 1880, when the Western Union Telegraph Company had apparently absorbed all its rivals, Messrs. Evans and Moore entertained the idea of constructing lines connecting the principal cities, and of leasing wires to bankers and merchants during business hours and to newspapers at night. Abundant capi- tal was forthcoming for the purpose, and the projec- tors had soon stretched wires connecting the cities of New York, Boston and Washington. Later, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Paul, Kansas City and other important points in the West and Northwest were connected, and the competition thus estab- lished materially reduced rates. Finally, the Western Union purchased the lines of the American Union Telegraph Company, and then Mr. Moore organ- ized The Mutual Union Telegraph Company, the prospectus of which announced that it would stretch wires all over the United States. From the inception of this enterprise, the work was pushed with energy and perseverance. Its construction was of the most perfect character, and its lines were rapidly extended through all parts of the country. Mr. Evans as President of the company attended to its finances, while Mr. Moore had charge of the work of construction and equipment. Before all the lines had been completed, Mr. Evans died and Mr. Moore succeeded him as Presi- dent. Under his administration, the lines of the Mutual Union were leased to the Western Union Company for ninety-three years. Soon after the making of this compact, Mr. Moore became one of the directors of The Western Union Company. His management of the Mutual Union brought him into prominence as a financier, and when he returned to New York on February 1, 1885, after a vacation taken to recruit his health, he became a member of the stock-brokerage firm of Moore & Schley, which at once became one of the most prominent on the Stock Exchange. In recent years, Mr. Moore has taken an active interest in railroad affairs, especially in the South. In 1886, he acquired a large interest in the Chase National Bank and takes an active part in its management. He is also a director in the Manhattan Trust Com- pany. He is a director in the Western Union Telegraph Company, and the Missouri Pacific, the Texas & Pacific, the Lake Erie & Western, the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago, and the Nor-

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

folk & Southern railroads, also of the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company, the Brooklyn Union Gas Company, and is interested in many other industrial and manufacturing concerns and companies. Mr. Moore owns a fine private library, is a supporter of the great public museums of the city, and extends discriminating aid to charity. Among his clubs are the Union League, Manhattan, New, Lotos, New York and Riding. The coura- geous and determined opposition of Mr. Moore to what he considered an unconstitutional and unjust law was matter which attracted wide attention. Actuated by the principles which have guided his business career, he announced soon after the Income Tax clause had been added to the tariff bill his antagonism to the measure, and declared he would exhaust every legal means to defeat the act. His success is well known to every well- informed citizen of the United States.

PAINE, ALBERT WARE, Lawyer, Bangor, was born in Winslow, Kennebec county, Maine, August 16, 1812, son of Frederic and Abiel (Ware) Paine. Both parents were natives of Massachusetts, and both were of English descent. The Paines are of Norman ancestry. For a particular history of the Paine descent the reader is referred to the work prepared by the subject of this sketch, entitled " Paine Genealogy, Ipswich Branch," which gives all the particulars of the family back to about the year 1400, to the time of Sir Thomas Payne, Knight, of Market Bosworth ; and thence back frag- mentally some five hundred years more, embracing the family of Hugh de Payen and others of an earlier date noted in Domesday. At the age of fourteen, Mr. Paine commenced fitting for college at Waterville, and in 1828 entered Waterville Col- lege (now Colby University), graduating in the class of 1832. At present he is the oldest living alumnus of that institution. Immediately after leaving college he commenced the study of law. He was admitted to practice as an attorney at Ban- gor on May 28, 1835, and commenced practice there, from which time until the present ( 1897), for the term of sixty-two years, he has continued in practice without interruption. During these sixty- two years he has been generally a very busy inember of the profession, having, with only one exception, by sickness, been present at every term of the courts in the county, with more or less work on his hands. A review of his law docket, which agrees

with his memory, shows that during the fifty-nine years succeeding his entry he has had more or less causes to argue before the Law Court at every term ; the whole number of law cases which he has thus had to argue exceeding five hundred and twenty in all, more than three hundred of which are found reported in the Maine Reports, more or less in number in almost every volume (from Vols. L.4 to 87 inclusive). Besides these he has had occasion to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States at Washington, and also before the Circuit and District Courts of the United States at Portland, besides others before the State Courts in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and

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Men of progress; biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in and of the state of Maine, Part 64

Author: Herndon, Richard; McIntyre, Philip Willis, 1847- ed; Blanding, William F., joint ed Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Boston, New England magazine Number of Pages: 1268

Author: Herndon, Richard; McIntyre, Philip Willis, 1847- ed; Blanding, William F., joint ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Boston, New England magazine
Number of Pages: 1268