1 11 390020029fi0350 "S'wifs. :;!»?§; ^^l^^^j^M^ .¦ilx.Jf ^^> <^ IfeTt'* 'Y^LiE-WMnviEi^sinrY" BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE PERKINS FUND 1908- s Piscataquis Biography AND fragments BY JOHN FRANCIS SPRAGUE BANGOR CHAS. H. GLASS & CO., PRINTERS 1899 Copyright, 1899 By JOHN FEANCIS SPBAGUE TO THE REV. GEORGE ALLEN MATTHEWS, OF AUBURNDAL^S, MASSACHUSETTS, WHOSE KINDNESS TO ME WHILE STRUGGLING IN THE MIRE OF MISFORTUNE AND GROPING IN THE DARKNESS OF UTTER DESPAIR SAVED ME FROM A POSSIBLE FATE THAT I DO NOT NOW DARE TO CONTEMPLATE, THIS UNASSUMING VOLUME IS MOST AFFECTIONATELY AND SINCERELY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. ' ' O, there are voices of the Past, Links of a broken chain, Wings that can bear me back to times Which cannot come again . Yet God forbid that I should lose The echoes that remain ! ' ' AUTHOR'S NOTES. " The rank is but the guinea's stamp — A man's a man for a' that." ' ' TwicE-TOLD Tales ' ' would be an appropriate title to much that herein appears, some of it having previously been published in the publications of the Maine Historical Society, in the Maine Sportsman and other journals, and some are memorial proceedings in our courts as they have appeared from time to time in the Piscataquis Observer and other local papers. It is a partial history of some who have been distin guished in public life in the Pine Tree State, and who have abided in Piscataquis County and helped to make its history during a generation that is rapidly passing from earthly view. They were men of strong personalities and have made an indelible impress upon the community. With the exception of what is said of Hiram Stevens Maxim, the subjects of these sketches have all departed the scenes of this life and entered upon that " Sleep that no pain shall wake." To prepare these brief stories of these men's lives for preservation in a more permanent form has been the object of the writer. They were nearly all my friends and associates when in earth life and this has been to me a pleasant though somewhat sad duty. J. F. S. MoNSON, Maine. 0NTENT8 LM \S Adthor's Notes iii Henry Hudson 3 James Stuart Holmes 7 Frank A. Hart 13 Augustus Gardner Lebroke 19 Charles A. Everett 27 James Sullivan Wiley 37 Ephraim Flint 39 Cyrus a. Packard 45 Joseph Darling Brown 49 Alexander M. Robinson 59 Thomas Davee 67 Louis Annance 71 Leonard Hilton 77 Adams Huse Merrili 81 Sumner A. Patten S3 Hiram Stevens Maxim 85 Captain Thomas PiOBInson 91 Fragments : A Court House Dedieatiou 93 Chief Justice Appletou as a Sebec Lawyer 94 Alexander Greenwood 94 Hannibal Hamlin as a Piscataquis Piscator 95 Piscataquis in the Constitutional Convention 97 The Million Aci'es 97 In Memory of a Dog 99 Our Silent Wards 100 HENRY HUDSON. HENRY HUDSON. Henry Hudson was born in Canaan, N. H., October 26, 1824, and died while on a visit to his native town, June 24, 1877. He was admitted to membership in the Piscataquis County Bar in June, 1849. Having previously settled in Guilford, he was in active practice there until within a short time of his decease. Guilford was then only a small and unimportant town. To-day it is one of the largest and most active business centers in the Piscataquis Valley, with large manufacturing interests, a National Bank, two newspapers, and many other substantial evidences of thrift and progress. The first seeds of its prosperity were planted through the energy and determination of Mr. Hudson, for he was not onty an able attorney, but a shrewd, far-seeing and broad- minded business man as well. The advent of the Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad, since absorbed in the Bangor and Aroostook System, was the beginning of Guilford's advance ment, and it was almost entirely through the efforts of Mr. Hudson that Guilford obtained the excellent railway facili ties which she has ever since enjoyed. The Biographical Review of Boston, Vol. 29, page 158, says of him: " For years he sustained the reputation of a leading lawyer in this (Piscataquis) County. He was active and indu.strious, displaying much energy and ambition. His extensive practice made him a well-known figure in the courts of Piscataquis and Penobscot counties, where he fought many hotlj' contested cases. The income of his busi ness enabled him to acquire a large estate. 4 PISCATAQUIS biography AND FRAGMENTS. A Democrat of the most pronounced type, he sincerely believed the fundamental principles of his party to be the most substantial basis of a liberal republic, and he made his influence felt in both the county and state organizations. He was frequently chosen to attend district and state conven tions and was a delegate to the National Convention held in New York in 1868. The community had the advantages of his services in the capacity of town agent for several 3'ears." He married Emily F. Martin, who was born in Guilford, Maine, May 13, 1831, daughter of the late Addison and Iv3'dia (Otis) Martin. Her father, who was a pioneer mer chant and a prominent citizen of Guilford, died in 1876. Her mother, who was a relative of General O. O. Howard of the United States Army, was killed by lightning July 5, 1842. The children of Henry Hudson, Sr., and his wife were Henry, now an active business man and a leading attornejr of the county ; Micajah and James, both of whom are now and have for several years been in public life and are merchants in Guilford. At the time of his death the writer of these lines, in one of the local papers said of Mr. Hudson : " Many of his argu ments in court were of such a character as to entitle him to a high position among the ablest and most eloquent lawyers in Maine. His integrity was never doubted among his friends, clients and associates. There are but few instances among business men where any one ever observed all verbal agree ments more strictly and sacredlj^ than Mr. Hudson. He was ever the friend of the poor man, appreciated and realized his wants and was noted throughout his life for his sympathy and material assistance to many who were never able to repay him, and often tried causes in court for such without hope of reward or remuneration. To a friend he was always true. As a companion he was genial, cordial and warm hearted, his manner always pleasing and attractive. His was one of those positive, daring natures, which is certain to make its mark in any age of the world and upon any quarter of the globe." PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. 5 At the September Term (1877), of the Supreme Court held at Dover, the following resolutions, adopted by the members of the bar, were read to the Court by Ephraim Flint, where upon the Court responded, and ordered the resolutions to be placed on the records of the court : Jlesolred : That l)y the death of our lamented brother, Henry Hudson, Esq., the people of this county have lost an energetic and useful citizen, and this bar a successful lawyer and wise counselor, distinguished for his devotion and zeal to the cause of his clients ; and that this bar will cherish in their remembrance his noble and generous qualities of heart. Mesolvi'd : That the Secretary of this Bai', transmit a copy of these resolutions to the family of the deceased, and that His Honor, the Judge, be requested to order them placed on the records of this court. In the convention of 1868, above referred to, Mr. Hudson's colleague from the Fourth Congressional District was the late Marcellus Emery of Bangor. Richard D. Rice, Samuel J. Anderson, David R. Hastings and James C. Madigan were the delegates-at-large from Maine in this convention. JAMES STUART HOLMES. JAMES STUART HOLMES, THE PIONEER LAWYER OF PISCATAQUIS COUNTY. James Stuart Holmes was the second lawyer to com mence the practice of the profession in that part of Maine that is now Piscataquis county. Although one other lawyer, David Aigrey, had preceded him by a few months at Sebec, yet as Mr. Aigrey remained here but a short time before he went to a Western State, Mr. Holmes may well be denomin ated the pioneer of the profession in this (Piscataquis) county. He was born November 13, in the year 1792, in what was at that date the town of Hebron, now Oxford, in the county of Oxford, that portion having been set off into a new town in 1829. His father was Captain James Holmes, a native of Plymouth, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, who married Miss Jerusha Rawson of Sutton, Massachusetts, and soon afterward moved to the district of Maine. James Stuart was the eldest of nine children, eight sons and one daughter. The Holmeses claim to have descended from the Stuart royal family of England. James' boyhood and early youth were passed on his father's farm among the hills of Oxford, which have produced so large an array of noted and talented men. He attended the town schools and Hebron Academy until he was thoroughly prepared for college. He graduated from Brown University at Providence, Rhode Island, in the year 1819. He was a classmate of Horace Mann, the dis tinguished educator, and for many years he held correspond ence with him. He immediately entered the law office of the 8 PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. Honorable Enoch Lincoln, afterward a Representative in Congress and Governor of the State. Mr. I^incoln was then a practicing lawyer at Paris Hill. He remained here four years pursuing his legal studies, varied only by occasional visits to Portland, where he was the guest and friend of Honorable Stephen Longfellow, a distinguished lawyer and politician of that time, but now especially remembered as the father of Henry Wadsworth lyongfellow, America's eminent poet. At this time he enjoyed the acquaintance and friend ship of the future author of "Evangeline." In 1878, a little more than a year before his death, Mr. Holmes visited the poet at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and then these old and long parted friends revived and lived over again the recollections of by-gone days. In 1822, after admission to the Bar, he settled in the new town of Foxcroft, in what was then Penobscot County, on the northerly bank of the Piscataquis River, where his two brothers, Salmon and Cyrus, had preceded him in 1818. He here opened a law office and commenced the practice of his profession. In the autumn of the same year he opened and taught a high school for one term, which was incorporated the next winter (1823) by the Legislature as "Foxcroft Academy " with a small grant of land. This is a successful school today and a monument of honor to its founder. He was a member of its original board of trustees and served without interruption until his decease. He always took great interest in this institution of learning and never, until the last year of his life, when he had become too feeble from age and disease, had he failed to attend an academical examina tion of the students and seldom any meeting of the board of trustees. From the time of his first entering upon his profession to about the years 1838 or 1889 he had an extensive and lucrative practice, though directly in competition with such men, eminent for legal learning as well as for forensic talent, as Honorable John Appleton, afterward Chief Justice, Gorham Parks, Jonathan P. Rogers, Jacob McGaw, Albert PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. 9 G. Jewett and others at that period who were all intellectual giants, yet he was regarded as the peer of the ablest. For a time he was a law partner with the Honorable James S. Wiley, at one time a Representative in Congress from this district. The organization of the new county of Piscataquis pro duced radical changes in the legal business in this region and the fraternitj' as well. It introduced new men with new methods and narrowed the field of labor. From this time onward his practice declined untU he entirely disappeared from the scenes of a former active life and his retirement became permanent. The late Joseph D. Brown of F'oxcroft, and a former member of the Piscataquis Bar, was a contem porary with Mr. Holmes. During his lifetime I addressed a letter to Mr. Brown, asking him for information in regard to Mr. Holmes, and in his reply to me he says : " I well remember a remarkable scene in the year 1843, in which he (Holmes) was an active participant. The Adven- tists or followers of William Miller were numerous in the neighboring town of Atkinson. Their preaching of the second coming of Christ was deemed a heresy by leading citizens and members of other churches. Some of these citizens who opposed the Millerites went to Dover and insti tuted legal proceedings against Israel Damon and several others who were preachers and leaders in the Miller faith, under the vagrant act. In the old church on the hill thej' were arraigned before Moses Scott, a justice of the peace. Without pecuniary compensation Mr. Holmes volunteered his services for the defense. For four days the court room was crowded with people. During the whole time there was a succession of praying, singing of hymns, plaintive and exhilarating, as only the old-style Millerites could sing, shouting, jeers, groans and applause, but above all these, occasional distracting sounds, could be heard Mr. Holmes' eloquent argument for religious freedom and toleration, and the right of every person to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, under his own vine and fig 10 PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. tree. At the close of the trial the prisoners were promptly discharged. At that time he had lost none of his early vigor and the fire of his oratory had not grown dim. I remember it as one of the grandest defenses of religious toleration and freedom that it has ever been ni}' pleasure to listen to or read of." He was also one of the earliest in this county to join the order of Free Masons. Soon after he came to Foxcroft he was made a Mason by Penobscot Lodge, then of Garland, now of Dexter. At that time the highways were impassable lor carriages, and he, in compan}^ with Honorable C. P. Chandler, used to make the journey, a distance of ten miles, on horseback, to attend the meetings of the lodge. This was before there was any lodge in this section. Subsequently he was instrumental in starting Mosaic Lodge at Foxcroft, in 1826, and was one of its charter members. He was its first master after the reorganization of the same in 1845. The only civil office, other than municipal, that he ever held, was that of chairman of the board of county commis sioners for Piscataquis County, to which he was appointed by Governor Edward Kent, in 1838. He served on the board of school committee for many years, and was always deeply interested in all things pertaining to education. Religiously he was a liberal, though he affiliated with the Universalists. In 1838 he united in marriage with Jane S. Patten, and a family of six sons and one daughter were the fruits of this union. Three of his sons died in early manhood. Politi cally he was first a National Republican, then a Whig and later a Republican, with which party he alwaj's after voted. As a National Republican he supported the administration of John Quincy Adams. He hated Andrew Jackson, and loved Henry Clay, as the men of that day loved and hated these great leaders. At the State election of 1879, although feeble and in a dying state, he insisted on being carried to the polls to cast, as he termed it, "his last vote for freedom." He died peacefully at his home in Foxcroft, December 30, 1879. He was a natural scholar and continued to cultivate a PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. 11 classical taste, reading Latin and Greek to the close of his life. His books were his constant and loved companions, and during his later years he sought their company more than at any other part of his life, and was found among them oftener than among the haunts of men. For much of the data contained in this paper I am indebted to the late Joseph D. Brown, Esq., of Foxcroft, before mentioned. I also herewith append the following extract from an article written by the late Honorable Augustus G. Lebroke of Foxcroft, which was published in the Piscataquis Observer, January 15, 1880 : "Mr. Holmes was a lawyer of the old school, educated at a time when special pleadings with all their exactions and subtleties were in full vogue. (Quackery in active law practice was then next to impossible. He had at one time, and especiallj' before 1838, up to which time this county was a jjart of Penobscot, a larger and more lucrative practice than any other lawyer ever had here. He was successlul in the proper sense of the term, among such distinguished contemijoraries as John Appleton, Edward Kent, Cutting, Kelley, Orr, Longfellow, Greenleaf, Fesseuden the elder and others, whose names make illustrious the pages of our jurisprudence. Mr. Holmes' legal knowledge was not the reflection from inferior minds. He sought learning from the maxims of the civil law, Roman jurispru dence and from the great masters of the profession on the continent as well as from those great moulders and architects of the English law, Littleton, Coke and Bacon and, later, Blackstone, Mansfield, Ellen- borough and others. He sought for principles and disliked empiricism." FRANK A. HART. FRANK A. HART. At the February Term (1888), of the Supreme Court at Dover, Charles A. Everett, President of the Piscataquis Bar, addressed the Court, and in appropriate remarks alluded to the death of one of its members, Frank A. Hart, who had departed from this life since the last term of that Court. He referred feelingly to his past life and labors, and informed the Court that a committee selected by the Bar had prepared resolutions in honor of his memory. Henry Hudson of Guilford then spoke as follows : May it Please the Court: — Since the last term of this Court, a sad bereavement has fallen upon us in the death of one of the youngest members of this Bar. Brother Frank A. Hart passed quietly away in November last, at the home of his parents in Willimantic. It was little thought at the last term of Court that our ranks were so soon to be thinned by death ; and least of all was it thought that Brother Hart was to be the one. At that time he was apparently in good health. Although from birth he suffered from physical infirmities, yet he always enjoyed good bodily health. But a fatal malady must have been insidiously undermining his system. Brother Hart was born in Willimantic. His father has long resided in that place. Although suffering from physi cal infirmities, such as would have deterred a less courageous and energetic person, he earl}^ manifested a disposition and desire to obtain an education and make his mark in the world. His father's circumstances were such that he could not render that assistance that he would have wished. But this did not discourage or deter Brother Hart from his pur pose. With that energy and zeal which ever characterized 14 PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. him, he set to work, and how well he accomplished the task, his life, although brief, well illustrated. He was always cheerful, always saw something to accomplish, and was never discouraged ev&n under adverse circumstances. He sup ported all progressive enterprises, he was broad and liberal in his views, and a strong advocate of all that would improve the advantages of the common people. Life is dear to all. It is hard for those who have accomplished life's work to die ; but it is still harder for those who are just entering upon the stage of action and have their life work to perform, to be stricken by death. This is especially true in the case of Brother Hart. He had arrived at that point in his life where as he expressed it to me, only a few months before his death, " He could see his way through." But whether we would or not, the inevitable must be submitted to. Who can say that this life though brief was not worth living ? Is it not worthy of emulation by those who with more favorable opportunities become disheartened and fail to make the most of that with which God has endowed them? At the request of my Brothers Peaks and Sprague, who were appointed with me as a committee of the Bar to draft resolutions, I offer the following : Whereas : The members of the Piscataquis Bar desire to record their appreciation of the character and ability of our deceased brother, Frank A. Hart, who was a member of this Bar, and also express our deep sense of the loss sustained by this Bar as well as by his relatives and friends. Therefore, li(S(ilcc(l : That in his death there has been taken from the Bar, one who was ever mindful for the interests of his clients, active in all pro gressive enterprises, coui'teous and genial to all, zealous in whatever he undertook, ambitious to succeed in life and a striking illustration of what can be accomplished by will and perseverance; and that, his life under adverse circumstances, although brief, is worthy of emulation. licxolred : That the members of this Bar extend to his parents their symjiathy in the loss of so worthy a son. Hi-sdlri'il : That these resolutions be entered on the records of this court and a copy be transmitted by the clerk to his parents. Henry Hudson, "| Committee J. F. Si'RAGUE, V of J. B. Peaks, J the Bar. PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. 15 A. G. Lebroke of Foxcroft, moved to second the resolutions and spoke briefly. He felt that the memorial services were very appropriate and was glad that the venerable President of the Bar Association, Hon. C. A. Everett, was present to pre side, and that the production of the resolutions had been com mitted to so able hands as Brother Hudson and his associates. Mr. L. said that it might seem sometimes on occasions of this kind that out of an abundance of charity and by guid ance of the maxim that we should say nothing except good concerning the dead, the virtues of those departed might be extolled while their- faults might be lightly passed. But while listening to the resolutions he thought all the words in relation to our deceased brother, Frank A. Hart, so well expressed, were absolutel}' and in sacred truth, richly deserved. Mr. Hart in all things was most diligent and faithful. His observance of truth under all circumstances never deviated nor faltered. His physical infirmity, the speaker had at first thought, might be an objection to his study and practice of law. But during the two years' study in the office of him self and Mr. Parsons, Mr. Hart so patiently and gracefully bore his own afflictions that nobody ever thought of being annoyed thereby. He was enthusiastic in his support of religious and educational work. He had a keen appreciation of the present and a full hope of the future. To him there was a reality in the expression : "Life is real, life is earnest. And the grave is not its goal ; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul." Mr. Hart was laudably ambitious and if Providence had vouchsafed to him the allotted years of life, he would undoubtedly have risen high in his chosen profession. He loved life and for himself might say : " For who to dumb forgetf ulness a prey. This pleasing, anxious being e'er resigned ; Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day. Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind." 16 PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. His life was an honor to his name and a legacy of good fame to our fraternity. J. B. Peaks of Dover then spoke as follows; May IT Please the Court : — I was not so well acquainted with Brother Hart as were some of the other members of the Bar, but he had one characteristic which always impressed itself upon me with great force. I allude to his enthusiasm. He had great enthusiasm in everything he did. He was an enthusiastic student. He was enthusiastic in educational matters. He had great enthusiasm in his religious views. In fact, his whole soul seemed filled with enthusiasm, and I have often thought that had he been an able-bodied man, his enthusiasm would have led him into the service of his country. Because I believe that the bravest deeds of brave men were performed by the force of enthusiasm. As a member of the committee I have subscribed to the resolu tions. As a member of the Bar, I agree with the spirit of the resolutions, and what has been said by my brothers here. J. F. Sprague upon that occasion, among other things, said : ' ' We who suffer from physical disability are too apt to be imbued with the spirit which inspired Lord Byron, who was himself crippled and who in the ' Deformed Trans formed,' from the bitterness of his heart exclaimed: f have no home, no kin. No kind — not made like other creatures. To share their sports or pleasures. It is often so with such who are thus unfortunate. Frankly I can say that I speak somewhat from personal experience, as well as from observation when I aver this. The strong have no conception of the dark world of misery in which many of the weak continually dwell, yet such was not the case with our late brother; his misfortunes which would have embittered other lives and made other natures gloomy and cynical did not affect him in this manner. It PISCATAQUIS biography AND FRAGMENTS. 17 was never for a single moment a shadow .upon his spirit. He loved the world and enjoyed life, and believed in man kind just as easily and just as naturally as though he had no burden of this kind to carry ; he never thought for a moment with Byron that ' The very waters mock me,' but his views of life were philosophical and sensible and entirely free from repinings and murmurings." Judge Virgin presided and responded to the remarks made by the members of the Bar appropriately and ordered the resolutions spread upon the records of the court. AUGUSTUS GARDNER LEBROKE. AUGUSTUS GARDNER LEBROKE. Augustus Gardner Lebroke, for three decades, was a prominent personage in the affairs of Piscataquis county, and during nearly all of the time was identified with the history of Maine, as a leading member of the dominant political party, as an able lawyer, as a legislator and public speaker of wide fame, in state and national political campaigns. He was born in Paris, Maine, February 9, 1823. His father was Jacob Lebroke, who married Martha Foster, of the same family as is the Honorable Enoch Foster of Bethel, formerly one of the justices of the Supreme Court of this state, and now a leading lawyer in the city of Portland. Jacob Lebroke was the son of James La Brook, who was a native of France and came to this country in the fleet of war vessels sent here during the American Revolution by the government of France. At the close of the war he settled in Pembroke, Massachusetts, and afterwards migrated to Hebron in the province of Maine, finally settling in Paris. James La Brook's wife was a Gardner, one of whose family has since been Governor of the Commonwealth of Massa chusetts. The family name was gradually changed to Lebroke ; the early records give it both as La Brook and Lebroke. About the year 1828 Jacob Lebroke with his family moved to the new town of Foxcroft, in what is now Piscataquis county, and was among its earliest settlers. The subject of this sketch began the battle of life when a boy, with the same vigor and energy that characterized him in all of his later years. His youth was subject to the hard ships and privations which were a necessary part of the life 20 PISCATAQUIS biography AND FRAGMENTS. of all pioneers of eastern Maine. He labored in the cedar swamps, cutting trees and shaving shingles winters, and worked in his father's fields summers, and yet he found time to attend the common schools which are the nursery of Maine's intelligence and learning. He readily became the master of all that was then taught in his town school, and graduated with honors at the Foxcroft Academy. Before attaining the age of maturity he entered upon a successful career as a school teacher in his own and neighboring towns. At other times he served as clerk in stores. He commenced the study of law with the late Honorable James S. Holmes of Foxcroft and completed his studies with two eminent lawyers in Bangor, Honorable C. P. Chandler and Honorable Albert W Paine. In 1849, when the gold fever raged in the Eastern States, he went to California but remained there less than two years. February 26, 1857, he was admitted to the bar in Dover, to practice in the courts of Maine, and immediately entered upon the practice of his profession in Foxcroft vihage, and remained there until the grim messenger silently summoned him from his labors in the twilight hours of the nineteenth day of July, in the year 1889. He at once attained a high position as a counsellor; he was cautious and prudent. He fully canvassed his opponent's position, while he readily comprehended all the difficulties of his clients. His profes sional zeal and industry were seldom if ever surpassed by any in the profession. His client's cause was his own cause, to the fullest degree. He loved the law, its intricacies, its history, and its traditions captivated his mind. Nothing in this world fascinated him as much as a legal problem. While he was always deeply interested in all the political questions of the day and discussed them with great ardor, while he was a devotee of literature and philosophy, while agricul tural subjects at times arrested his attention, and while he was ever active in promoting progress in his town and county, all of these were subordinate to his devotion to the PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. 21 law. As an advocate before juries and courts, his masterly eloquence made him eminently successful. In rehgious beliefs Mr. Lebroke was in the best and highest sense of the term a free thinker. Although as to the innumerable speculative creeds relating to the religions of men, he was an agnostic, yet his faith in God and in a future life was steadfast and unwavering. Politically, Mr. Lebroke was a Republican. He made his debut in the political arena at a most important epoch in the history of this nation. While incipient war in the new-made territories was shaking the very foundations of our govern ment, when the contest between freedom and slavery was at its height he entered the conflict and soon became a power in the strife. During the excitements and intensity of the Kansas period he ver}' quickly earned the fame for forensic ability which remained his until the day of his death, which avowed him as the peer of the greatest orators that this State has produced, and which easily gave him an equal footing with the many public speakers of national fame of that remarka ble time. He helped form the Republican party. His services as an advocate of its principles were ever sought after, and his voice has been heard in its behalf, not only in his own but in many other States of the Union. He was born an aboli tionist. His very nature made him hate slavery. He could no more have espoused the cause of the slave-master than he could have defended the inquisition. He sympathized deeply with every living creature that was oppressed. "Man's inhumanity to man " was no less abhorrent in his eyes than his cruelty to any other living thing of God's fair earth. None of his prominent characteristics were more marked or more universally understood by all his friends than this one. These sentiments were a part of his being; it was, therefore, but natural that he should early battle for the rights of man. Onl}' once did he deviate from the beaten course marked out by the national leaders of this great political organiza tion. When the rupture in the party between President 22 PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. Grant and Horace Greeley, Charles Sumner and others occurred he voted for and supported Mr. Greeley for Presi dent ; he subsequently returned to his first affiliations and his valued services were properly recognized. In 1858, he was elected a member of the Maine Legisla ture for the session of 1859. Although he had then been a member of the bar less than two years he was a member of the committee on legal affairs and took a prominent part in the labors and debates of this session; he was associated with and met in public discussion such eminent men as James G. Blaine, William H. McCrillis, Frederick A. Pike, Neal Dow and Ephraim K. Smart. Again, in 1871, he was a member of the House, serving with marked ability, and being a member of the judiciary committee. For ten con secutive years he was county attorney, and unusually successful as such ; for twenty-five years, with the exception of one year, he was the agent or law officer of the town of his residence. He had also done service as a member of the Republican, state and other political committees. In 1882 he was elected a member of the State Senate and re-elected in 1884, serving through the sessions of 1883 and 1885 : he was a member of the judiciary committee at each session and its chairman in 1883. As a legislator he was no less eminent than as a lawj^er. During his last term as Senator it was the writer's good fortune to enjoy the privilege of his daily association, his intimacy and his counsels. His brilliant talents, his wonder ful power in debate, his remarkable faculty in the use of language, his well-founded knowledge of legal principles, his practical knowledge of the world, his marked originality and unique mode of expression, together with his genial and pleasant manners and forceful and impressive personality, made him an attractive feature in Maine's halls of legisla tion, and added materially to his influence and position while a member. Honorable Josiah Crosby of Dexter, in an article published in the Eastern State shortly after the decease of Mr. Lebroke, in speaking of him, said : PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. 23 " So great was his natural talent for extempore speaking, and so much had he improved it by cultivation and practice, that it was really much easier for him to make a good oral argument or speech upon any public occasion than to read a written argument, though well prepared. In his last argu ment delivered at the law court, he had a well-constructed printed argument in his hands but paid no attention to it in the delivery, and really made a better argument than the previously printed one, though written with much care." On October 9, 1889, when the Supreme Court was con vened at Dover, Chief Justice John A. Peters presiding, Joseph D. Brown, Alexander M. Robimson and Ephraim Flint having been chosen as a committee of the Piscataquis Bar for the purpose, presented resolutions in respect of the memory of Mr. Lebroke. I subjoin the following extracts from the tributes offered by the members of the Bar on this occasion. Mr. Joseph D. Brown said: ' ' While he was a member of the Senate in 1883, the revis ion of the statutes was completed, and the book as now in use, bears the impress of his hand and mind. The vigilance with which the rights and interests of his constituents were guarded and the favoring acts of the Legislature are known and appeciated by all intelligent citizens of the county." The Honorable Alexander M. Robinson said : " He was emphatically a self-made man. Possessing more of genius than of talent, I think he was generously endowed by the hand of Nature with both these choicest of intellectual gifts. The French blood in his veins, inherited from his father, predominated, and he was born a polemic controversialist. During his services as a legislator, he was uniformly placed on the judiciary committee, and at one session was its chair man, and there was probably no member of the profession in the state more familiar with its statutes than Mr. Lebroke. His official duties as County Attorney were ably performed 24 PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. and he was as clannishly loyal to the rights and interests of the town of his adoption as was ever a Highlander to his native heath in the days of Montrose or Lochiel. The style of his advocacy was apt to be florid and rhetori cal but his capacious memory and masterly command of the English tongue made him always an attractive speaker and often an impressive and successful advocate. His arguments to the jury were often enlivened by wit and satire, weapons always ready at hand, which he wielded with the skill of a master. Like most men of his temperament, he placed a high estimate on his own achievements, was fret fully impatient of criticism, fond of flattery and covetous of praise, characteristics not objectionable at all when held within proper bounds. Kind hearted and largely sympa thetic, in his fitful moods he was easily moved to laughter or tears." The writer of these lines at that time said : "I was intimately and closely acquainted with the deceased since I was first admitted to the Bar, some fourteen j'ears ago, but my earliest recollection of him dates back years before that. It was when I was a small boy and during the exciting Kansas epLsode in our national politics. In company' with several men and boys, I went one evening to the 'town house' in Sangerville, and for the first time saw Mr. Lebroke and listened to one of his speeches. The scene is vividly impressed upon my mind ; within the grim walls, dimly lighted bj^ the old oil lamps, was a large crowd of people, many of them opposed to the speaker in their political sentiments and yet he swayed them as the wind sways the leaves upon the forest trees ; I saw strong men weep when he eloquently painted the wrongs and oppressions of the colored men and recited the cruelties of border-ruffianism. I shall never forget the scene." PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. 25 Honorable Willis E. Parsons on this occasion said: "He was always kind to the poor; many will miss the bounties received at his hand; frequently have I known him to espouse the cause of the lowly and right the wrongs of the humble, without recompense or even hope of reward, to his own detriment and perhaps the loss of a more wealthy and influential client." In speaking of his well known love for the brute creation and the tenacity with which he pursued violaters of the laws against cruelties to animals, Mr. Parsons also said : ' ' So noted had he become for his gratuitous protection to them that even the school children pa.ssing in the .street, on seeing a horse abused would saj' : 'We will tell Mr. Lebroke.' And tell him they did, and I have seen him follow the little child into the street to find the animal and then reprimand the cruel driver or, if necessary, compel him by prosecution to properly care for his beast." Among other members of the Bar who spoke in eulogy of the deceased were Mr. Henry Hudson, Honorable James S. Wiley and Honorable Ephraim Flint, all of which were responded to in an approppriate manner by the Court. During his life he became a member of the great benevo lent order known as the Odd Fellows, and he loved its principles with all the intensity of his nature. His brethren honored him with the highest place within the gift of a subordinate lodge and his relations with this brotherhood were ever pleasant and beneficial, both to him and his associates. Nearly all of the lodges of the county were in attendance at the time of his burial. His remains repose peacefully where they were placed by the rites of this fraternity in the Foxcroft cemetery. On the bank of the gentle river Piscata quis that he loved so well in life and often apostrophized in speaking, he sleeps the sleep that knows no waking. CHARLES A. EVERETT. CHARLES A. EVERETT. At the September term of the Supreme Judicial Court at Dover (1890) Henry Hudson addressed the court and offered the following resolutions : lii'scth-ed : T'hat by llie death of oui- lamented lirothei-, (Charles A. Everett, the people of this county have lost an exemplary and useful citizen and this Bar a successful lawyer and wise counselor, distin guished for his devotion and zeal to his clients; and that this Bar will chei'ish in their I'emembi'ance his true and noble qualities of heart. iLi-Kiilreil : 'J'hat the secretary of this association transmit a copy of these resolutions to the family of the deceased and that His Honor, the Judge, be requested to order them spread u])on the records of this coui't. Henkv Hudson, J. F. SPKA(iUE, J. B. Peaks. Henry Hudson said : "May it Please Your Honor: — On the fourth day of March, 1890, death removed from this Bar its oldest member, Charles A. Everett. Admitted to the Bar prior to the organization of this county, his period of practice ante-dated the birth of nearly all the members of this Bar. He was born in Meredith, N. H., in 1815. His early youth was spent in New Hampshire. In 1831 he came with his father's family to the town of Dover. Shortly after this he entered Waterville College, where he remained nearly two years. On leaving college he entered upon the study of law and in 1837 was admitted to the Bar in Penobscot county. He was appointed the first County Attorney of this county. In 1854 he was a member of Governor Crosby's council. At the September election, 1865, he was elected Judge of Probate. This office he resigned in 1866, when he left this state and went South, returning in 1872. In 1873 he was again elected 28 PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. County Attorney of this county. Always a firm believer in the principles of the Republican party and when occasion required ready to assert his views, yet he was not given to politics and cared but little for it ; his tastes and inclina tions moved in other channels than politics. He was not endowed with the qualifications that make successful politi cians. I never knew Brother Everett until his return from the South in 1872. My first impressions of him were far from favorable. I thought him cold, distant and austere. When I went to Dover and opened an office in 1875 I first came to know him and found my first impressions of him were far from the truth. From that time until his death I was on most intimate terms with him. I was with him to quite an extent. I was with him in his office and his home ; he was frequently at my home. When he was a friend, no one was ever a truer friend. Friendship with him meant something. His friendship was lasting. Instead of being an austere and distant person he was the opposite. He always had a cheerful and pleasant word under adverse circum stances. He was a kind father and devoted husband. In no place will he be more missed than in his own home. To the younger members of the Bar he was ever ready to give his opinions on questions of law. No young man ever asked him a question but he found him ready and willing to answer. His rank as a lawyer is well known. Thoroughly versed in the principles of the common law, he was always well equipped. In the trial of causes he could at one time be humorous and at another time be sarcastic. None had greater power to say ^o much in so few words. He was incisive and forcible. He was frank and open in all things ; he hated hypocrisy. But he is gone. His place is vacant. We feel his absence and mourn his loss. With the permission of Your Honor, I now present the resolutions, unanimously adopted by the Bar, and move that the same be spread upon the records." Remarks were also made by Ex-Governor Davis. PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. 29 Colonel Peaks would have spoken in eulogy but at the time was confined to his house by sickness. J. F. Sprague of Monson, said : "May it Please the Court:— In Lord Byron's famous inscription on a monument that he erected over the remains of his favorite dog, Boatswain, occur these words: ¦<). man! thou feel)le tenant of an hour, Debased liy slavery or corrnpt liy power, Who knows thee well, must quit tliee with disgust; Degraded mass of animated dust. Thy love is lust, tliy friendship all a cheat. 'I'hy smile liypocrisy, thy woi'ds deceit.' Such sentiments as these may have caused the world to look upon Byron as a cynic, yet every life has undoubtedly had its bitter experiences which have been only too convinc ing that there is very much truth in these lines. Ever}' life pathway is more or less marred with the ruins of hopes stranded by broken pledges and friendships betrayed. When, therefore, we have had one whose life's history has been in every way, by its practices as well as its precepts, directly opposed to this dark picture of one of the common weak nesses of humanity, it behooves us to give it more than casual notice. The life of our late Brother Everett was an example of fidelity and truth, the highest type of loj^alty to friends, of undimmed honor and uncompromising devotion to principle. It is only the truth to add that he was also equally uncom promising to his foes. Living in a world of deceit and hypocrisy, he never knew how to deceive or betray or to practice treason in any form. No one who knew him well can possibly conceive of his shrinking for an instant, from performing a duty of life, because to do so would lessen his popularity with the multitude. His devotion to the cause of a friend would not permit him to even listen to his censure without vigorouslx- defending him, much less could he have ever stabbed him in the dark. I am utterly unable to imagine 30 PISCATAQUIS biography AND FRAGMENTS. him refraining from fulfilling an obligation or from serving a friend because his own interests might thereby be jeopardized. Whatever else may be said of him, of his abilities, his peculiarities, his strength and his weaknesses, in my judg ment, his leading and controlling characteristic was his being so remarkablj' free from guile, craft or dissembling. That famed sentiment of Tallej'rand, that language is best used to conceal thought, or words to that effect, could never have been applied to him. He used plain, unambiguous Saxon, not to deceive, but to ex;press his real thoughts, his true meaning, his whole intention, and his entire conviction upon the subject or about any person in which he was interested, and he had the courage to always express his actual senti ments under all circumstances. Such a man could not be other than honest and upright in other matters. I believe him to have been thoroughly honest and sincere in all things. Never called to positions in peace or in war that the world honors as exalted ones, he, in the battle of life, proved to be a hero ; for the highest courage is that which ever dares to do what is right and always fears to do what is wrong. His success as a lawyer will be referred to by those more compe tent than myself. That he was a peer of the ablest at our Bar is only the truth. He loved his profession and was always intensely interested in the cause of his client, whose interests he shielded with an unwavering fidelity. Every trust imposed upon him he held as sacred. His word about a business or a professional transaction was as good as his bond. No lawyer was ever more industrious than he. His life work has been an emi nently successful one, because he has made the world better for his having lived in it, and because he never surrendered to the wrong. We are all rapidly moving toward.s — ' 'I'lie knell, the shroud, the mattock and the grave. The deep, damp vault, the darkness and the worm. We shall soon be beyond the mysteries of this life, removed from its friction and shadows. We are none of us exempt from the faults which are ,so opposed to the virtues PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. 31 and the many traits which made our late brother's life an exalted one. For the remainder of the brief time that we have on this side of the dark river, can we honor his memory more than to renew to-day our determination to cultivate those high equalities which his life so forcibly illustrated?" Honorable Josiah Crosby : ' ' I presume I had a longer acquaintance with Brother Everett than any other member of this Bar. I well remember when he came to Dover in his father's family in 1831. His father purcha.sed land upon the hill westerly of this Court House, then occupied as a farm, now mainly covered with buildings. Brother Everett and myself fitted for college together at Foxcroft Academy and boarded in the same family, the family of Mr. Richard D. Rice, and from that time to his death I have intimately known him. He had some pecu liarities of character. His love of popularity was small. He was not made for a politician and I am not aware that he ever manifested any aspiration in that direction. He was at one time a member of the Governor's council, in the administration of Governor Crosby, but it was under peculiar circumstances. It was in the time when the old Whig party was undergoing the process of disintegration. I have always supposed the place to have come to him unsought. In financial matters, though successful for a while, his career in that direction could not be called prosperous. After accumulating considerable property he went to Cali fornia, and by reason of sickness during all the time he was unable to accomplish anything. Returning with fortune con siderably impaired he was afterwards engaged in slate quarry business in Maryland, in which he was not successful. His manner was somewhat blunt and a stranger on first acquaint ance might not receive a favorable impression. But this I will say of him : he was a man of the most scrupu lous integrity. As has been well said by Brother Sprague, his word was as good as his bond. Get his 32 PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. verbal promise and you might rely upon it with the utmost confidence. Now this is saying much of any man. In the great essential quality of manhood, integrity, he was a con spicuous example. He hated cant and hypocrisy of every description and took no pains to conceal his aversion. No doubt this trait in his character gave intensity to the blunt- ness of his manner, and yet he was an accommodating man. I ever found him kind in all business intercourse, and I think such is the unanimous experience of the Bar. His financial misfortune did not discourage him or unnerve him. He still persevered with laborious industry as long as strength lasted. He reared with success a large family to whom he was always kind and by whom he was much beloved. I never heard a word to their disparagement, and have heard much to their praise. Any man who brings up a large family and points them in the right direction, has made a success in life. He has left to them something infinitely more valuable than riches, the precious odor of a good name. I think that within the year preceding his death, he felt a keen premonition of his early departure, and was ready for the great change. I am told that on the death of Brother Lebroke, he said : "Well, it may be my turn to go next, and I am willing that it should be so. The death of Brother Everett cannot be otherwise than a solemn reminder to us all, and especially to the members of the Piscataquis Bar, of our frail hold on this earthly existence. A few years since we attended the funeral of Brother Hudson, and recently of Brothers Lebroke and Everett — all leading members of this Bar, men of mark, who filled a large .space in the profession. Whose turn may come next is known only to Omniscience, but of this we may be assured, that the relentless scythe of time will soon make harvest of us all." M. L. Durgin, Jr.: ' ' May IT Plea,se Your Honor : — I am fully aware that what I may say on this occasion will add but little to the very appropriate remarks which have already been made, but PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. •!.-) I should be derelict in ni}- duty did I not offer a word in testi mony of the sincere regard I felt for our late brother. I had known Brother Everett from my early boyhood but more intimately since I became a member of this Bar, and since that titne our relations have been of the pleasantest and most intimate. To me he was always kind, cordial and obliging and ever ready to render advice and assistance. Brother Everett was a man who was positive in his con victions, true and loyal to his friends and uncompromising to his enemies. Toward him I felt more than a common regard and when I learned that he was Hearing his end I knew that I was about to lose a friend, and when at last his journey of life had ended I felt that I had, indeed, lost one who had been to me a source of help and encouragement and there fore, at this time I wish to offer this slight tribute of esteem toward one whose memory I shall ever cherish, for he was my friend." C. W. Brown said : "Your Honor: — Although one of the }oungest members of this Bar, I wish to speak a word in eulog}- of our deceased brother. During a portion of the time when I was a .student with Colonel Peaks and during all the time that I have been in practice with him. Brother Everett, down to the time of his last sickness, occupied an adjoining office, and as iii}- Brother Peaks was much absent I had frequent occasion to seek the advice of Brother Everett. I invariably found him willing to answer my many questions, no matter how bus}- he was at the time, and you all know his untiring industry ; he would lay aside his work and not only answer questions but go beyond them, and in that bluff way, so thoroughl}- his own, teach principles of law invaluable to a student and a young practitioner. And I think I am not alone his debtor in that regard. I know him to have been ever ready to give counsel and advice and words of encouragement to the young- men of the Bar, in whom he always manifested a sincere 34 PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY .AND FRAGMENTS. interest, and whatever Brother Everett manifested was sin cere, for if he had one virtue high above his others, it was sincerity. There was nothing he so thoroughly disliked as hypocrisy in any form. Quick to resent real or fancied injury, he never stabbed a man in the dark. If he was a man's enemy, that man knew it without a doubt. That he had his faults his best friends will not deny, and when one of our number conies down toward eternity with such purity of life, that in it his associates can find no fault, the burial ser vices of that one we shall not attend for he will be translated bodily to Paradise. With faults we have nothing to do on such occasions as this. Those we leave to that other tribunal that knows their cause as well as existence. We have only to do with virtues and we find them in ample measure in our brother, truthful, temperate, honest, upright, open, true and kind, almost worshipped by his own family circle. No man need fear to have his life stand before his fellows, when little children love him. Brother Everett seemed never so happy as when, on riding, his carriage was so filled with children that he could hardl}- be seen. I have often wondered which were happier at those times, he or they. We miss him from among us and we young men miss the counsels and advice he was so free to give. Many legal maxims of his teaching we shall never forget. It now hap pens at this Bar that while we have so lately buried our brothers Lebroke and Everett, at well advanced years, and there are others among us who are gray with age, a number of young men are just beginning their practice. May we find it a pleasure in the morning of our lives to make the evening of theirs pleasant and happy. We are at the bottom of the rugged hills of life, they have passed the summit of those hills and are Hearing the quiet valleys, soon to be borne by the still waters to join our brother whose absence from us we mourn to-day. We shall soon be called to occupy their places as we are being called to occupy the places of the asso ciates of their youth. May we fill those places as well as PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. 35 they have filled them, and when we come down to life's setting sun, may we have as many virtues to commemorate as we find in them, and as few vices." Judge Peters here feelingly responded to the foregoing; spoke in high terms of the character of the deceased and said he full}- and heartily concurred in what had been said. He then ordered the resolutions to be spread upon the records of the court and as a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased, ordered the court adjourned. JAMES SULLIVAN WILEY. JAMES SULLIVAN WILEY. James Sullivan Wiley was born in the town of Mercer, Somerset County, January 22, 1808, and would have been eighty-four years of age, had he lived until his next birthday. When ten years old, he removed with his father to Frye- burg, Oxford County, where he worked on a farm, helping his father clear land and make a home on what was known as Smart's Hill. In 1826 he went to Bethel to learn the blacksmith's trade, as an apprentice with John Hastings now of Fryeburg. Here he worked three years and during the time attended Gould's Academy and also recited private lessons to William Frye, Esq., Bethel's first lawyer and father of Judge Richard A. Frye. With his brother, Enoch Wiley, in the spring of 1829 he walked from Fryeburg to Bangor, where his brother Samuel then resided. He afterwards attended school in the city, teaching in Brewer during the winter seasons. When fully prepared by study, in 1832, he entered Waterville Col lege, now Colby University, graduating with honors in the class of 1836. General Benjamin F. Butler of Lowell, Mass., the distinguished lawyer and statesman, was a fellow student in college for two years. After leaving college, the same year he became principal of Foxcroft Academy, a position he held for three years, in the meantime reading law with James S. Holmes, Esq., of Fox croft, the senior lawyer and president of the Piscataquis County Bar. On his admission to the Bar, he formed a co-partnership with his legal tutor, which continued until dissolution, a few years later. He then opened an office on 38 PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. Union Square, Dover, where he devoted himself with energy to the practice of his profession. In 1846, after a sharp can vass, Mr. Wiley received the nomination of the Democratic party in convention as a candidate for the representative in Congress from the district composed of Penobscot and Piscataquis counties. He was subsequently elected and took his seat in the Thirtieth Congress, on the first Monday in December, 1847. His colleagues from his own State in the House were : E. K. Smart of Camden, Franklin Clark of Wiscasset, A. W. H. Clapp of Portland, Hiram Belcher of Farmington, David Hammons of Lovell and Hezekiah Williams of Castine. Mr. Wiley was the last survivor of this large delegation. At the close of his congressional term in 1849, he returned to Dover and erected, for that day, a beautiful residence on Main street, which still remains a monument of his archi tectural taste, although it has passed to other hands. From that time he gave his undivided attention to business, devot ing his attention principally to claims against the United States Government for land and military pensions. In these he was eminently successful, and for many years enjoyed the reputation at home and in Washington, of being one of the most efficient and reliable pension attorneys in practice. About the time he entered upon his professional career, he married with Miss Ruth Parker of Brewer, a most accom plished lady, who died about 1871. He never contracted a second marriage, but continued to occupy the house built by himself, until 1889, when he returned to Fryeburg, where some of his relatives reside, to spend the evening of life among the familiar scenes of his youth. Mr. Wiley during his residence of more than half a century in Piscataquis County, was always noted for his uprightness of character, the strength of his convictions and the integrity of his purposes. He was always true to whatever com mended itself to him as right. His life was exemplary in the highest degree. EPHRAIM FLINT. EPHRAIM FLINT. For many years Ephraim Flint of Dover, was a well known citizen of Piscataquis County and a public man of state repu tation. The following in relation to his life history is sub stantially an article that was published in the Piscataquis Observer subsequent to his demise : At quite an earh- hour Sunday morning, June 17th (1894), the people of this community were suddenly startled by the announcement that their esteemed fellow citizen, Hon. Ephraim Flint, had passed away, dying a few minutes after five o'clock without a struggle. His death was evidently painless. He had been ill for some two weeks previous, but was supposed to be improving, so much so that he visited the Court House on Friday, and Saturday his son, H. B. Flint, Esq., had taken him out in a carriage for a drive. The deceased was the son of Deacon Ephraim and Pliebe Thompson Flint and born at Baldwin, Cumberland County, Maine, March 10, 1819, and consequently had passed the 75tli year of his age. He was a lineal descendant in the seventh generation of Thomas Flint, who came to Boston in 1635 from Matlock, Derbyshire, England, and settled in Concord, Mass., two years later (1637). In his boyhood Mr. Flint attended tlie common schools of ' his native town and later pursued his studies at Westbrook Seminary, Parsonsfield, Gorham, Bridgton and Fryeburg Academies and Norwich (Vt.) University, from which last named institution he graduated in 1841 with honors. While acquiring his education he had been for a portion of the time engaged in teaching. After graduating he became a law 40 PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. student in the office of Fessenden & Willis in Portland, then regarded as the leading lawyers in Cumberland County, spending a part of the time at the Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Mass. In 1843 he visited Piscataquis County and was admitted to the bar. The next year, 1844, in the month of May he opened a law office in the town of Monson in this county and in the following June married Miss Laura Maria Riley, of Norwich, Vt., who survives him. Mr. Flint continued in the practice of his profession at Monson until January, 1851, when, having been elected Clerk of the Courts for the county at the state election in the Sep tember previous, he removed with his family to Dover, to enter upon his official duties; this position, by virtue of sub sequent elections he held to the close of 1862, a period of twelve years. In 1863, by appointment of the Governor of the state (Abner Coburn) he served on the commission to locate the two normal schools, resulting in the choice of Castine and Farmington. He became a candidate for Secretary of State in the winter of 1864 and was elected by the legislature of that year. This high and responsible office he held with marked distinction by annual legislative election lor four consecutive years when he was transferred to the Executive Council for the year of 1868. The following year, 1869, he served as chairman of the commission for the revision of the statutes of the state. The result of his labors is embodied in the Revised Statutes of 1871. At the close of this service he resumed his practice of law in Dover which he conducted with good degree of vigor and success nearly up to the time of his decease, inter rupted only by an election to the state legislature in 1880 as a representative from the district, or class composed of Dover, Sangerville and Parkman, where he served on the judiciary committee during the session of 1881. In politics, upon the dissolution of the Whig party, Mr. Flint became a RepubHcan and the honorable positions held PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. 41 by him, covering so long a period, indicate his prominence in that party organization. Religiously, as in politics, his views were conservative and liberal, always conceding to others the freedom of opinion. Though affiliating with the Congregationalists, his convic tions led him to adopt the broader opinions of the Unitarians and in that faith he lived and died. As a lawyer, he was not of the class called brilliant, but all his arguments before the law and other courts show soundness of position taken and were characterized by exhausted research and mental labor. Clients ever found in him a wise and safe counselor. His nature was congenial and gentle and he always had a pleasant greeting for every one, rich or poor, cultured and ignorant alike. His stately and erect figure so familiar for more than forty 5'ears upon the street will be seen no more, but his memory will long be kept green in the hearts of those who have shared his friendship in life. He never intention- allj' inflicted an injury upon others. His life was gentle and gently he passed to his peaceful rest — " So fades a summer cloud away, So sinks the gale when storms ai'e o'er. So gently shuts the eye of day. So dies tlie wave along the shore.'' Besides the widow, Mr. Flint leaves a son, H. B. Flint, Esq., our present Clerk of Courts, and a daughter, Mrs. Clara Louise Thomas, residing in Waltham, Mass., near Boston, and several grandchildren to whom he was much attached. A son, Edgar Thompson Flint, died in Savannah, Ga., in 1876. Funeral services were held at his late residence on Main street, under the au.spices of Kineo Lodge, I. O. O. F., of which he was an honored member of many years standing. The religious exercises were conducted by Rev. A. L. Chase, pastor of the Congregational church, and Rev. J. H. Guerney, a former pastor. The floral tributes were elaborate and beautiful. 42 PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. The remains were interred in the village cemetery with the impressive rites of the fraternal order in charge. A large concourse of friends and citizens were in attendance to pay their last respects to their late as.sociate, counselor and neighbor. At the February Term of the Supreme Judicial Court (1895) A. M. Robinson, President of the Piscataquis Bar Association, arose and briefly addressed the Court, Foster, Justice presiding, speaking of the decease of Ephraim Flint, late a member of the Piscataquis Bar, and announcing that the customary resolutions of respect to the memory of the deceased lawyer had been prepared by a committee, and asked leave to present the same. He then requested Henry Hudson of Guilford to read the resolutions. After a few explanatory and eulogistic remarks upon the life, character and public services of his deceased professional brother, he submitted the following resolutions : lii'milrcit : That in the death of our late associate, the Hon. Ephraim Flint, who died at his residence in this town on the seventeenth day of June, lSil4, we are called to lament the loss of one who had occupied a prominent position at the bar of this court, in the halls of legislation, and in the state department as secretai-y, and as a member of the execu tive council; that in him we recognize the erudite lawyer, wise and cautious counselor, judicious statesman, and genial companion. Bcsulrcil. : That we will continue to cherish the memory of our departed brcithei-, keeping in lively remembrance his many social vir tues, professional honor, his legal learning and ability. lli'KDlred: That His Honor, the Justice presiding, he requested to order that these resolutions be spread unon the records of this coui-t, and that the secretary of the Bar Association present a cojiy of the same to the family of the deceased, with the expi-ession of our sympatliy in their deep affliction and bereavement. A. M. B(_)Bixsox, 5L L. DuKGiN, Hexky Hudson. Brief addresses by M. L. Durgin, J. D. Brown, C. W Brown, C. W. Hayes, M. W. Mcintosh and J. B. Peaks, fol lowed the reading, each bearing testimony of the high esteem PISCATAQUIS BIOGRAPHY AND FRAGMENTS. 43 in which the deceased was held by his associates at the Bar, in the common walks of life, and in the numerous official positions he was called by his fellow citizens to fill. The response by Judge Foster was a very happy one, elo quent and impressive. In his remarks the Judge related as an incident that the first commission he ever held, and that as an officer in the military service, bore the tests of Ephraim Flint, Jr., Secretary of State, now thirty-one years ago. He closed his address by ordering the clerk to spread the resolu tions upon the records of the court, and that the court adjourn as a token of re.spect to the memory of the deceased. CYRUS A. PACKARD. CYRUS A. PACKARD. Friday, the closing day of the Supreme Judicial Court at Dover (1897), was partly occupied by memorial services upon the late Honorable Cyrus A. Packard of Blanchard. J. F. Sprague of Monson, presented the following resolutions: Jii'sohred: That by the death of our lamented brother, f^yrus A. Packard, this Bar loses a valued member and the community an exem plary and useful citizen and that this Bar will cherisli in its remem brance his many sterling and noble qualities of character. ]!et«dred : That the secretary of this association transmit