Skowhegan

Biographical review: containing life sketches of leading citizens of Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Aroostook counties, Maine

Biography of Hiram Swain Steward

Hiram Swain Steward, a retired business man of Skowhegan, Maine, was born in this town, August 7, 1827, son of Josiah and Nancy (Webb) Steward. On both paternal and maternal sides he comes of long lines of New England ancestry. Solomon Steward, of Rowley, Massachusetts, his great-great-grandfather, who was born about 1700 and died in 1788, is said to have served under Captain Harman at the taking of Norridgewock. The children of Solomon Steward were: Benjamin; Solomon, Jr.; Phineas; Daniel; William; Jacob; and Mary. Daniel Steward, the fourth son as here named, great-grandfather of Hiram S. Steward, was born in […]

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Biography of Charles Cayford

Somerset County, Hancock County

Charles Cayford, of Cornville, a prominent farmer and breeder of trotting stock, son of Benjamin E. Cayford, was born here, December 14, 1828. He is of good old English ancestry, his grandparents, John and Judith Cayford, having emigrated from England to America in the early part of the present century. They located first On a farm in Skowhegan, Maine, where the grandfather was engaged as a farmer and drover and also for some years as a minister of one of the local churches. After the death of his wife he removed to a small town in Florida, of which he

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Biography of Lyman L. Walton

Somerset County

Lyman L. Walton, of Skowhegan, the junior member of Walton & Walton, one of the foremost law firms of Somerset County, was born in Mercer, Maine, June 2, 1849. He is a son of Sylvanus B. and Martha T. (Chapman) Walton. The father, a son of Joshua and Mary (Rollins) Walton, born in Mercer, December 15, 1818, after receiving his education in the common schools, took up the calling of teacher, for which he had many natural qualifications, and followed it at intervals for over thirty years. Whatever he attempted to do he put his best self into, and he

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Biography of Robinson Turner

Piscataquis County

Robinson Turner, of Guilford, the proprietor of the Turner House, one of the best and oldest hotels in Piscataquis County, was born here, March 17, 1834, son of Howard and Betsey E. (Sargent) Turner. The early immigrant ancestor settled in Marshfield, Massachusetts, in 1632. General Turner, from whom was named the town of Turner, Maine, was the father of Abial, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. The grandfather, also named Robinson Turner, was a carpenter of Turner, who spent his life in Oxford County, and died there at the age of ninety-two years. Howard Turner, son of Robinson,

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Biography of Leslie W. McIntire

Somerset County, Androscoggin County

Leslie W. McIntire, of Solon, Somerset County, druggist, Postmaster, and express agent, was born in Bingham, Maine, January 21, 1856, son of Obed and Rose A. (Robinson) McIntire. His parents were natives of Bingham, this county, where the father was engaged in farming for a number of years. Moving subsequently to Athens, Maine, Obed McIntire carried on a general store there for twelve years. From Athens he removed to Lewiston, in which city he spent his last days. He was a much respected citizen of Somerset County in his day, and served with ability in various town offices. His widow

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Biography of Charles H. Allen

Somerset County, Androscoggin County

Charles H. Allen, a well-known farmer of Mercer and the owner of a saw and grist mill in this locality, was born March 5, 1838, in Bloomfield, now Skowhegan. A son of Harper Allen, he is a descendant of a pioneer family of this section of Maine. His grandparents, Ebenezer and Hannah (Bowman) Allen, removed from Massachusetts to Somerset County at an early period of its settlement; and, taking up a tract of wild land in the town of Fairfield, cleared and improved a farm, on which they spent the remainder of their lives. Harper Allen was born, reared, and

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Biography of Warren Russell

Somerset County

Warren Russell, a prominent and well-to-do agriculturist of Madison township, who represents one of the oldest families in this section of Somerset County, was born July 13, 1827, on the homestead where he now resides, son of Jonathan Russell, Jr. His grandfather, Jonathan Russell, Sr., born in New Hampshire, February 8, 1765, married Betsey Nutting, who was born in the same State, June 25, 1768. Coming to Somerset County at an early day, Grandfather Russell settled in Madison, taking up land now included in the present Russell homestead. The district was then in its primitive wildness, and the brave pioneers

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Biography of Rosamus Lowell Mitchell

Somerset County, Franklin County, Sagadahoc County

Rosamus Lowell Mitchell, the proprietor of an extensive woodworking establishment in Skowhegan, Somerset County, was born in Norridgewock, January 26, 1830, son of Jonathan and Nancy B. (Walton) Mitchell. Some of his ancestors were Revolutionary patriots. His grandfather, John Mitchell, a native of Bath, Maine, who spent the most of his life in Chester, Maine, and lived to be eighty-one years old, reared four sons and three daughters. Jonathan Mitchell, son of John, was born in Chester, now Chesterville, Maine. During the War of 1812 he was called out with a company, and served for a short time. He cultivated

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Biography of Frank W. Burns

Aroostook County, Somerset County

Frank W. Burns, a practical and progressive farmer and liveryman of Fort Fairfield, Aroostook County, was born June 12, 1848, in Andover, New Hampshire. His parents, William H. and Adelaide (Murphy) Burns, reared eight children, of whom he was the first-born. The others are: Mrs. Martha Corey, of Skowhegan, Maine; Robert B., of Williams, Arizona; Charlotte, the wife of Lockland Hayes, of Fort Fairfield; James W., who lives on the parental homestead; Stephen A. D., a resident of Wisconsin; Arthur E., of Moro, Maine; and Adelaide, the wife of Charles Young, of Skowhegan, Maine. Frank W. Burns spent his early

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Biography of Abel Davis

Somerset County, Androscoggin County, Cumberland County, Oxford County

Abel Davis, an able lawyer of Pittsfield and a Civil War veteran, was born in New Portland, January 16, 1842, son of Henry D. and Jane M. (Masters) Davis. The father, a native of Dalhousie, New Brunswick:, during his earlier years resided in Marimichi and Maguadavic, New Brunswick. When about forty years old he came to Maine, and, settling in New Portland, was there engaged in farming and lumbering until his death, which occurred March 26, 1868, at the age of seventy years. Jane M. Davis, his wife, who was a native of Maguadavic, became the mother of ten children.

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