Bancroft Hussey Wallingford (1890-1975)

From the Lewiston Daily Sun, January 30, 1932.

   A two-term member of the Maine State House of Representatives, Bancroft Hussey Wallingford was for many years prominent in agricultural circles in his native county of Androscoggin. Born in Auburn, Maine on December 13, 1890, Bancroft H. Wallingford was the son of John and Emma (Crowell) Wallingford and was a student in schools local to Auburn. A graduate of the Edward Little High School in 1907, Wallingford married on September 27, 1922, in Auburn to Ms. Winifred Olfene (1892-1988), with whom he would have two children, Otto Henry (1923-2000) and Helen Louise Wallingford (born 1926). 

   From the few brief mentions of him online, Mr. Wallingford is remarked as being a successful farmer and is acknowledged by a 1932 edition of the Lewiston Daily Sun as having "set himself an orchard that is said will be one of the best in the state when it comes to fruitage." This orchard grew to be one of the largest in Maine and in addition to this Wallingford also owned a large farm in the town of Litchfield, "with 80 acres under the plow, 40 acres being grown to potatoes every year. This is the largest planting of potatoes in this or adjoining counties." The B.H. Wallingford Orchards on Perkins Ridge in Auburn continued to produce a substantial amount of apples for many decades onward, and in 1948 was turned over to his son Otto, who continued to operate it until it was sold in 1968 to West Breeze Orchards, Inc.

   In addition to his being an orchardist and farmer, Wallingford found prominence in Auburn political affairs, being elected to the Maine State House of Representatives from the county of Androscoggin in 1930. He was reelected in 1932 and was profiled in the Lewiston Daily Sun during his reelection bid. This paper noted that "having had one term's experience he feels that he is in a better position than ever to help serve the people", and that during his first term held a seat on the House Committee on Agriculture.

  Following his service in state government, little else could be located on Wallingford's life. He continued to be involved in agriculture in his native town of Auburn and died there "of a lingering illness" on February 23, 1975, at age 84. He was shortly thereafter interred at the Mount Auburn Cemetery. He was survived by both his children as well as his wife Winifred, who died at age 96 in April 1988. 

From the Feb. 24, 1975 edition of the Lewiston Sun Journal.