Men of progress; biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in and of the state of Maine, Part 78

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 78

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He was the first to be selected as umpire of any dispute that arose in the town. His leading ethical traits were integrity, benevolence, enterprise and public spirit. Nothing did he more heartily enjoy than to perform the office of peacemaker among his friends and neighbors. His kindness and liberality were bounded only by his means. As "God blessed his latter end more than his beginning," his hand- fuls were more and more thrown abroad. It was characteristic of Mr. Merrick that, whatever he undertook, he made it a point to do as well as it could be done. Though of a slender frame, he excelled in many forms of athletic exercise. He was an inimitable skater and swimmer, an admirable horseman, and an expert driver. If he paddled a birch canoe, no Indian could do it better. If he danced, no Frenchman could excel him. If he read aloud, it was perfect. If he sang, it was ex- quisite. In short, whether he told a humorous story, suggested a useful hint, insinuated a compli- ment, let fall a satirical squib, or uttered a jest, he left nothing to be added or improved. Of his religious history and character this is not the place to speak particularly. His was a singularly pure life. In his later years his religious character devel- oped and ripened gradually but beautifully. He was a humble and earnest, a devout and growing Christian. While in Philadelphia he was a constant attendant at the Presbyterian (Calvary) Church, under the charge of the Rev. D. Jenkins, and there he devoutly received the communion whenever it was administrated. His personal appearance was always striking, but particularly so in his later years. None ever saw him to forget him, and none ever became intimately acquainted with him without respecting and loving him. His was a noble mind, a noble heart, and a noble life. His faults were few, his enemies none. Of his children, Sarah Harriet, married in 1826 to John A. Vaughan, lived many years in Philadelphia, and died in 1872. Samuel Vaughan left home at sixteen to begin his long and successful career in Philadelphia, where he afterwards established the Southwark Foundry ; after having been sent to Europe to investigate the best methods, he superintended the construction of the gas works in that city ; he was the first President of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and to him was chiefly due the founding of the Franklin Institute. John, who had been engaged in the drygoods importing trade, died at Hallowell, at the age of twenty-eight. Mary, who spent most of her life in Hallowell, married John P. Flagg, and died in 18So.

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

George was a civil engineer ; his life was spent in many places, and he died in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, in 1862. Thomas Belsham, the youngest of the six children, whose portrait accom- panies this sketch, is the only living representative of the name born in Maine. His early education was obtained in Hallowell schools, followed by a year at the Gardiner Lyceum, and about one year at Bowdoin College, where the French lessons were recited to Henry W. Longfellow. In May 1831 he entered business as clerk in the store of Robinson, Page & Company, Hallowell. Upon the failure of this, fifm in 1833, he with his father's assistance bought out the business, and began trade on his own account, in partnership with Simon Page. About 1835 a steamboat. called the Huntress ran from Boston to Gardiner. The Hallowell peo- ple, desirous of having her start from their town and not gaining their request, applied to Commo- dore Vanderbilt to put on an opposition boat. He at once sent the Augusta. Mr. Merrick being then in New York, was a passenger on her first trip. As she did not prove fast enough, the Commodore put the C. Vanderbilt in her place. After that there was always an exciting race with the Hun- tress. During the negotiations about this matter the Commodore was a frequent guest at John Merrick's. The business in Hallowell continued till 1839. In September of that year Thomas Belsham was married to Miss Elizabeth M. White of Hallo well, and immediately removed to Philadel- phia, where he entered into a partnership with his old friend and schoolmate. Llewellyn S. Haskell, in the jobbing drug business, trading as Haskell & Merrick. The business not paying in Philadelphia, they removed in the winter of 1845-6 to New York, continuing operations at 10 Gold street. Mr. Merrick made four business trips to Europe, in 1855, 1860, 1867 and 18;0. His family accom- panied him in 1870, spending three years in Hanover, Stuttgart and Paris, with summers in Switzerland and on the coast of France. During this time also, Mr Merrick made various business and pleasure trips to Italy, the Nile, Palestine, Asia Minor and Austria. After spending the year of 1873-4 in Orange, New Jersey, the family resided for a number of years in New York city, removing finally to Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1879. Since withdrawing from business, in 1880, Mr. Merrick has lived in quiet retirement, with books and garden, music an! - cial engagements, to pass the time happily. The summer months are

spent at Prout's Neck, Maine, in his cottage, which accommodates, besides himself and Mrs. Merrick, a goodly number of their children and grandchild- ren, and even a great-grandchild. Of the seven children, four are still living, who together with the grandchildren have learned, through these summer sojourns, that they too have a strong home feeling for the old state of Maine.

NEWMAN, REVEREND STEPHEN MORRELL, D. D., Pastor of the First Congregational Church in Wash- ington, District of Columbia, was born in West Fal- mouth, Cumberland county, Maine, November 21, 1845, son of Joseph and Helen M. (Morrell) New- man. His paternal ancestry is derived from the Newmans of carly New England history. On the maternal side he is also descended from early settlers, among his ancestors being Kenelm Wins- low of Plymouth Colony. He acquired his early education in the district schools of his native town and at Westbrook (Maine) Seminary, and was grad- uated at Bowdoin College in 1867 with high college honors. He officiated as Class Poet in both his Freshman and Senior years. From the age of fifteen he was engaged in school-teaching during academic and college vacations, and followed that occupation until 1868, when he entered Andover Theological Seminary, taking a full course at that . institution and graduating in 1871. He accepted his first call during his Senior year at Andover, and was installed Pastor of the Broadway Congregational Church in Taunton, Massachusetts, where he con- tinued until 1878, when he resigned to become Pastor ot the College (First Congregational) Church at Ripon, Wisconsin. In 1885 he resigned his pas- torate at Ripon to accept a call to the First Con- gregational Church of Washington, District of Columbia, the largest church of the denomination south of New York, where he has continued to the present time. In the spring of 1892 an extremely urgent call to the Presidency of Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio, was laid before him, which after full consideration he finally declined. At that time the Washington correspondent of the New York Observer, Professor C. H. A. Bulkley, D. D., said of him : "The call of Rev. Dr. Newman to the Presidency of Marietta College awakened the fears of many hearts which would have been filled with deep regrets had he accepted. As Pastor of the First Congregational Church, he has not only won the affections of his own people, but drawn out the

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sympathies of other denominations. He is a man of true heart, gentle in spirit, well balanced, sym- pathetic, and withal endowed with much practical common sense. His preaching is altogether extem- poraneous, without a note, full of original thought, pre-eminently spiritual, offering healthful pabulum to hungry souls. . . . He has admirably succeeded, drawing towards him a large congregation and securing the full sympathy and affection of the people. They have proved this by their endeavor- ing to avert his decision for Marietta College, giving him a six-months leave of absence with a yearly vacation of three months thereafter. The resolu-

S. M. NEWMAN.

tion to this effect was unanimously adopted. Such a testimony as this to the value of a pastor's services is honorable to his people and must be gratifying to him. To the joy of many Christians here who had prayed that he might remain, Dr. Newman has decided to do so, and Marietta must look elsewhere for a President " Dr. Newman is President of the Washington Congregational Club, Chairman of the Center Council of the Civic Center of Washing- ton, and member of the Executive Committee of the National Municipal League. He is also a member of the National Geographic Society and the American Historical Association. He served as a member of the Board of Education of Taunton,

Massachusetts, while pastor there, and for the two years 1881-3 was Professor of Mathematics in Ripon College, Ripon, Wisconsin. The duties of the latter position were carried on in combination with his pastoral labors, until he was compelled to give up the joint work on account of his health, and return to the pastorate singly. For several years Dr. Newman has been a reviewer for several leading periodicals, and has occasionally contrib- uted to the press in other ways ; but pressure of pro- fessional duties has prevented him from undertaking very much work of this kind. The degree of D. D. was conferred upon him in 1887 by his alma mater. He was married August 15, 1871, to Mrs. Mary L. (Coburn) McManus, of Brunswick, Maine. They have one daughter : Helen C. Newman, a member of the Woman's College of Baltimore, Class of 1900. There are two stepsons: Warren C. and George R. McManus, both physicians.

NOYES, CROSBY STUART, Journalist, of Washing- ton, District of Columbia, was born in Minot, Androscoggin county, Maine, February 16, 1825. He commenced life on a farm, attending the country school in winter, until he was fifteen years old, and then to obtain a further education he went to Lewiston, Maine, where he worked successively in a cotton mill, a harness shop and trunk factory, and also taught school, and thus earned the means to get training at the Lewiston Falls Academy, then in charge of the distinguished teacher, Edward P. Weston. While at Lewiston, some bright sketches of life in a cotton mill written by him for a humor- ous paper styled "The Yankee Blade," attracted much attention and were widely copied throughout the country. Other contributions in a similar vein had a like success, and his youthful productions made their way into such books as "The Harp of a Thousand Strings " and Burton's "Cyclopedia of Wit and Humor," which collected the best work of the recognized humorists of the day. Ill health drove him to a milder climate and in 1847 he made his way to Washington, District of Columbia, with the view of getting employment as a correspondent. His scanty stock of money gave out before he reached his destination and he was obliged to walk from Baltimore to Washington. He engaged as Washington correspondent for the Lewiston Journal (then owned by Dr. Alonzo Garcelon) and some Boston and Philadelphia papers. His letters, from their witty and picturesque character and their vivid

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representation of exciting scenes in Congress, were exceedingly popular. In 1855 he took a foot-tour through Europe for the benefit of his health, and wrote a series of entertaining letters for the l'ort- land (Maine) Transcript. On his return he became a reporter on the Washington Evening Star, then recently established. During the exciting war times, Mr. Noyes won high reputation as an ener- getic and accurate news-gatherer. His capable ser .ces in this capacity have been recognized by the conspicuous entry of his name in the roll of distinguished war correspondents carved on the stately Army Correspondents' Memorial Arch, recently erected on South Mountain, Maryland. overlooking the Antietam and Gettysburg battle- fields. His brilliant work on 'The Star soon caused his promotion to the position of Associate Editor. In 1867, with some associates, he purchased The Star, and became Editor-in-Chief, which position he has held continuously ever since. From this time his public history and that of the Washington Star were identical. Its steady, healthful and won- derful growth was only an index of the plans, pur- poses and ambitions of its chief ; and he succeeded in that historic graveyard of newspaper enterprises in building up a newsy, influential and conspicu- ously successful newspaper. Mr. Noyes was a potential factor in the development of modern Washington. Municipal improvements as put in operation by A. R. Shepherd were dreamed of and planned by Mr. Noyes and Mr. Shepherd when serving together in the local Common Council in 1863. He was afterwards a foremost advocate of the assumption by the government of its share of District expenses, of the reclamation of the Potomac flats, and of the establishment of the beautiful Rock Creek Park. Mr. Noyes has been an extensive traveller in all parts of the world, and has con- tributed to his paper numerous articles containing vivid pictures of scenes and life in foreign countries. He is a member of the Cosmos Club, the Geograph- ical Society, the Anthropological Society, the His- torical Society, the Woodmont Rod and Gun Club, the Down Town Club, the Society of the Oldest Inhabitants, and various other societies and social organizations of the Capital City. The honorary degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by Bowdoin College in 1887. He has always been a leader in all local movements of a business, edu- cational, charitable, benevolent or reformatory . haracter, and is a Director in the District of Columbia Reform School, the Board of Children's

Guardians, the Foundling Asylum, the Newsboys' Home and Children's Aid Society, the Washington Board of Trade and several leading banking and business organizations. He has been a vigorous supporter of civil service reform and municipal government reform, and in every way has sought to make his paper the exponent of clean, honest, inde- pendent journalism. He has been christened by Mr. John Brieben Walker, proprietor of the Cosmo- politan Magazine, as "the Editor-in-Chief of the most influential newspaper in Washington ; of the daily which shapes more legislation than any other paper in the United States." Mr. Noyes was mar-

CROSBY S. NOYES.

ried January 24, 1856, to Elizabeth Selina Williams, daughter of Rev. Thomas Williams of Poland, Maine. They have three sons and two daughters : Theodore Williams, Frank Brett, Maud Elizabeth, Thomas Clarence and Miranda Cushman Noyes. The sons are all connected with The Star, Theodore W. being associated with his father as Editor ; Frank B. as Treasurer of the Star Company, and Thomas C. in the news department.

PETERS, JOHN ANDREW, Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, was born in Ells- worth, Hancock county, Maine, October 9, 1822,

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

son of Andrew and Sally (Jordan) Peters. He . comes of Revolutionary ancestors, one of whom, Andrew Peters, was a Major in Clinton's Brigade in the battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776. His paternal grandfather, John Peters of Bluehill, was a land surveyor, and was intrusted by the Common- wealth of Massachusetts with difficult and important services in the District of Maine, which he dis- charged with accuracy and ability. Among the services was that of the original lotting of townships in Eastern Maine, his assistants being his sons, John, Jr., and James Peters, and his son-in-law, - Reuben Dodge. The lines thus run remain undis-

JOHN A. PETERS.

turbed to this day. His maternal grandfather, Melatiah Jordan, was a prominent citizen and was appointed Collector of Frenchman's Bay District, August 4, 1789, about four months after the govern- ment was inaugurated under the Constitution. His commission was signed by George Washington, President, and countersigned by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State. He continued under that com- mission until he died, in December 1818. Judge Peters' father, Andrew Peters, was a merchant, dealing in lumber, mills and shipping. He was of commanding figure, and noted in all his business dealings for readiness of decision, honesty and fidelity. The mother was of a lively temperament,

with a fine sense of honor and ready sympathy ; mirthful and full of wit, she had the faculty of inspiring others with the same qualities. The sub- ject of this sketch fitted for college at Gorham (Maine) Academy, and entering Yale graduated from that institution with high honors in 1842, the title of his graduating thesis being "The Profession of Politics " He then pursued a course at Harvard Law School and in August 1844 was admitted to the Bar in Ellsworth, removing to Bangor the same year. He was for a short time a partner of the late Judge Hathaway, and for five years immediately prior to going upon the Bench his partner was Hon. Franklin A. Wilson, now President of the Maine Central Railroad. He was elected to the Maine Senate two successive terms in 1862 and 1863, and the following year, 1864, was chosen by a large majority a member of the House, where he took an active part in the debates. He was elected Attorney-General of the State by the Legislature of 1864-5, discharging these duties with signal ability. In 1866 he was elected by the Republicans to the Fortieth Congress, and served upon the Committees on Patents and Public Expenditures. He was re-elected in 1868 to the Forty-first Con- gress, and in 1870 to the Forty-second Congress, serving in the latter upon the Committee on the Judiciary and as Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Congressional Library. Deciding to return to his chosen profession, he declined another elec- tion to Congress, and in May 1873 he was ap- pointed an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the State, his eminent fitness being universally conceded. On August 29, 1883, he received his commission as Chief Justice, and still holds that exalted position, which he continues to fill with ability and universal satisfaction. The degree of I.L. D. was conferred upon him in 1884 by Colby University, in 1885 by Bowdoin College and in 1893 by Yale. Judge Peters is married and has two daughters. He resides in Bangor.

PRENTISS, REVEREND GEORGE LEWIS, D. D., Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Theology and Mis- sion Work in the Union Theological Seminary, New York, was born in West Gorham, Cumberland county, Maine, May 12, 1816, son of William and Abigail (Lewis) Prentiss. On both sides he comes of the best New England ancestry. His paternal grandfather was Samuel Prentiss, a native of Cam- bridge, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Harvard

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College ; and his mother was a daughter of Major George Lewis, of Barnstable. The Lewis family are of Puritan descent, and through them Dr. Prentiss can trace his origin by four different lines to Mayflower Pilgrims. He is a younger brother of Seargent S. Prentiss, one of the most able lawyers and eloquent orators that the state of Maine or the country ever produced, and of whose life, although well known to the older generations of people throughout Maine and the United States, a brief account may properly be incorporated in this sketch. Seargent Smith Prentiss was born in Port. land, Maine, September 30, 1808. While an infant he suffered a violent fever which resulted in depriv- ing him of the use of his limbs for several years, and his right leg remained lame throughout his entire life. His partial recovery was due to the unwearied care and devotion of his mother, who was herself in feeble health. During the War of 1812 his parents moved to Gorham, Maine, where young Prentiss fitted for Bowdoin College at the academy, and he was graduated at Bowdoin with the class of 1826, at the age of seventeen years. After studying law for a year with Judge Pierce of Gorham, he set out for what was then the Far West, with a view to seeking his fortune. Having remained a short time in Cincinnati, he journeyed down the Mississippi River to Natchez, where he became tutor in a private family. He later finished his law studies, and after his admission to the bar in 1829 he entered into partnership with General Felix Huston. His legal ability rapidly developed, and by nis natural eloquence and sincerity of pur- pose he soon became one of the most prominent members of his profession in the state of Mississippi. In 1832 he removed to Vicksburg, where his career as a lawyer was one of remarkable success, and in 1833, when twenty-four years old, he appeared before the Supreme Court at Washington, District of Columbia, where in spite of his youth, he at once attracted the attention of Chief Justice Mar- shall. About the year 1836 he was induced to be a candidate for the legislature upon the Whig ticket, and being elected, at once became the leader of his party in the state of his adoption. He was elected to Congress after making one of the most remarkable canvasses on record, but his seat was contested by his Democratic opponent, and he was rejected by the casting vote of the Speaker, Mr. Polk His speech in favor of his claim gained for him a national reputation as an orator, and during the three days consumed in its

delivery the National House of Representatives was crowded with members of the Senate, foreign diplomats and private citizens, who were held spell-bound by his masterly defence of his cause. The election being sent back to the people, he was triumphantly returned. Political life was exceedingly distasteful to him, however, and abandoning it he returned with fresh zea! to the practice of his pro- fession. The applauses of the world could not deceive hitu, for in a letter addressed to his sister he wrote: "1 laugh at those who look upon the uncertain, slight and changeable regards of the multitude, as worthy even of comparison

GEO. L. PRENTISS.

with the true affection of one warm heart. I have ever yearned for affection ; I believe it is the only thing of which I am avaricious. I never had any personal ambition, and do not recollect the time when I would not have exchanged the applause of thousands for the love of one of my fellow-beings." In 1842 Mr. Prentiss's yearning for affection was satisfied by his marriage to Miss Mary Jane Williams of Natchez, and henceforth his life was full of the sweetest domestic peace and joy. In 1845 a case involving the validity of his title to a valuable estate was decided against him in the United States Supreme Court, thus wresting from him at one blow his property and the costly buildings he had erected

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MEN OF PROGRESS.

upon it. In consequence of this misfortune, and of his abhorrence of repudiation, which was forced upon the state in spite of his determined opposition, he removed in 1846 to New Orleans. Hecontinued to practice there until his health failed, and he died in Natchez, July 1, 1850, at the early age of forty- one years, universally beloved and lamented, leaving a widow and four young children, three of whom are now living. George L. Prentiss, the subject of this sketch, fitted for his collegiate course at Gorham (Maine) Academy, then in charge of Rev. Reuben Nason, one of the most learned educators in the state, and was graduated from Bowdoin College with

- the class of 1835, numbering among his friends there such men as Cyrus Hamlin, Henry Boynton Smith, and other sons of Maine who have acquired more or less fame. Following graduation he was assistant teacher at Gorham Academy for a year, and after spending a winter in Mississippi with his brother he resumed his studies in New York city. He received instruction in Hebrew, Syriac and German from the brilliant Oriental scholar, Dr. Isaac Nordheimer, and going abroad in the summer of 1839 he pur- sued his theological studies at the Universities of Halle and Berlin. While attending the first named university he enjoyed the intimate friendship of the celebrated Professor Tholuck, with whom he kept yp a correspondence for more than a third of a century ; and during his sojourn in Europe he came into very pleasant relations with many of the fore- most scholars and literary men of that period, both in Great Britain and on the continent. Among these were Neander ; Von Schelling, the philosopher ; Julius Müller, the theologian ; Baron Bunsen, Carlyle, Frederick D. Maurice, John Henry Newman, Arch- Deacon Hare and the poet Wordsworth. At Halle he was a fellow-student with Philip Schaff, who afterwards became his colleague in America and the first of American church historians. In dedicating his admirable volume on Mediaval Christianity to his oldest American friend, Dr. Schaff adds : " When, forty years ago, we met in the house of Tholuck at Halle, then in Neander's lecture room at Berlin, and two years later in St. Peter's and on the capitol at Rome, . . . ve did not dream of seeing each other in your native land, still less of becoming colleagues there in the same institution of sacred learning. But this thought occurred to me even then : if Prentiss is a fair specimen of his countrymen, I would not object to live and labor among them. I was not mistaken in you, nor disappointed in America." In April 1845 Mr. Prentiss was called to the Pastorate

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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 78

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