Belonie Simon Dufour (1864-1933)

From the Maine legislative composite of 1909-10.

  A prominent citizen residing in St. Agatha, Maine, Belonie Simon Dufour held multiple political offices in that town, was a school superintendent, furniture store owner, bank cashier, and a leading club-man in his region. Dufour earns a spot here on the site with his service in the Maine House of Representatives, where he served two terms. Born of New Brunswick parentage in Madawaska, Aroostook County, Maine Belonie S. Dufour was the son of Eusebe (1812-1898) and Modeste (Soucy) Dufour (1822-1890).

   Dufour's early education was obtained at the Madawaska Training School under Joseph Vital Cyr in Fort Kent. Dufour married in St. Basile, New Brunswick in October 1893 to Annie Beaulieu (1878-1918), and the couple's twenty-five-year union produced four children, Alfred (died 1898) Wilfred (1894-1980), Annie (1895-1979), and Pierre Paul (1908-1971). Shortly after his marriage, Dufour settled in St. Agatha, where he took employment as a clerk in the general store of Israel Ouellette. 

  In 1899 St. Agatha was separated from the town of Frenchville and incorporated, and soon after Belonie Dufour was elected as the town's first selectman and town clerk. This position was followed by a stint as registrar of wills, justice of the peace, and notary public. He achieved further local distinction as town superintendent of schools and held the additional role of school board member. In 1908 he was elected as a representative from Aroostook County to the Maine house of representatives, and in the 1909-11 term sat on the State Lands and State Roads committee. He won a second term in late 1910 and during the 1911-12 session served on the committee on the State School For Boys and the Industrial School For Girls.

  A leading figure in the fraternal life of his region, Dufour was a longstanding member of the Modern Woodmen of America, serving as recorder for its local chapter for 25 years. He also held memberships in the Catholic Order of Foresters, the Knights of Columbus Council 1102 of St. Agatha, and the Royal Neighbor Council. 

  Throughout his life, Belonie Dufour was invested in several business concerns in the Aroostook County area, including being a founder of the Long Lake Starch Company. He was its manager for twelve years and later served two years as a cashier for a branch of the Van Buren Trust Co. in Frenchville. Sources also note his owning a furniture store and dealing in farm implements. Widowed in 1918, he later remarried Marie Legasse, who survived him. After many years of prominence in his region, Belonie Dufour died on April 15, 1933, aged 67. He was interred alongside his wife Annie at the St. Agatha Lower Cemetery.

  

Dufour as he looked during his time in the legislature.

Pharcellus Dean Bridges (1846-1940), Pharcellus V. Crittenden (1846-1933)

   A lifelong Massachusetts resident, Pharcellus Dean Bridges was a prominent farmer and businessman in Franklin County who served three terms in the Massachusetts General Court. Aside from a brief biographical write-up in an 1894 edition of A Souvenir of Massachusetts Legislators (where the above portrait was located) little else could be found on Bridges' life, which extended to the grand old age of 93.

   Born in the town of Deerfield on December 21, 1846, Pharcellus was one of thirteen children born to Benjamin Franklin and Mary Hubbard Bridges. Educated in the common schools of Deerfield, Pharcellus later went on to study at the Deerfield Academy in the early 1860s. After reaching adolescence, Bridges moved to Connecticut where he became involved in the grocery business. He eventually returned to Massachusetts where he and his twin brother Marcellus "conducted the home farm, while also buying and selling farm produce." In addition to this, Bridges was also one of the foremost political and civic leaders in Deerfield, serving as a member of the board of selectmen and later on the board of Overseers of the Poor. Beginning in 1875 Bridges served for 36 years as a member of the Deerfield school board. The Souvenir of Massachusetts Legislators also lists him as being the Captain of Company H, Second Regiment Militia from 1876-1888. 

  Bridges was elected to his first term in the Massachusetts State Senate in 1877, representing the county of Franklin. He was returned to this office in 1885 and in 1894 was elected to his first term in the state house of representatives. It was remarked that Bridges was the "only representative from Deerfield who has been elected to the legislature for a third time for more than thirty years", and during his stint in the house held a seat on the committee on military affairs.

                    Pharcellus Bridges as he looked late in life, found via the Find-a-Grave website.

   After leaving the Massachusetts legislature in 1895, Bridges returned to farming and produce sales, later serving as President of the Board of Trustees for the Deerfield Academy. He died at the age of 93 on August 26, 1940, in Deerfield and was later interred at the Pine Nook Cemetery in that town.

   Rochester, New York resident Pharcellus V. Crittenden is another man with this odd first name who made himself known in the public forum. A lifelong New Yorker, Crittenden was born in the town of West Brighton on August 6, 1846, being the last of eight children born to Austin and Sarah Crittenden. 

  Pharcellus received his education in the Monroe County district schools and later began studying at the Rochester Commercial School. Shortly after graduating from the latter institution, he joined up with the H. Austin Brewster grocery house of Rochester, eventually becoming a full partner in this business. This company would later become known under the name Brewster-Crittenden Co., with Pharcellus serving as its president for a number of years. Crittenden married on October 12, 1879, to Frances Baker, who predeceased him in 1931. The couple remained childless through the entirety of their marriage.

   In 1907 Crittenden was selected as a chief commissioner from New York to the Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition being held in Hampton Roads, Virginia. In the following year he served as a Republican Presidential Elector for New York, and during the 1912 Presidential election was named as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago. Pharcellus Crittenden maintained an active involvement in business affairs well into his eighties and is also mentioned in his Rochester Democrat Chronicle obituary as serving as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Central Presbyterian Church and as vice-president of the Monroe County Savings Bank.

   Pharcellus Crittenden died at age 87 on October 15, 1933, at his home and was interred alongside his wife Frances Delora at the Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester. The rare portrait of Crittenden shown above was featured in his obituary in the October 16, 1933 edition of the Rochester Democrat Chronicle.

Burpee Laban Steeves (1868-1933)

  This obscure man is Burpee L. Steeves, a physician who gained political distinction as the Lieutenant Governor of Idaho in the early 20th century. Few biographical sources could be found on Steeves, with the exceptions being a write-up in the Centennial History of Oregon, published in 1912, and a small passage in Volume 8 of the Success Magazine of 1905. Further research has indicated that the "L." in his name stands for Laban (a figure in the Book of Genesis) and that he was a Canadian by birth, being born in the province of New Brunswick on July 7, 1868. His parents, Aaron and Lydia (Steeves) Steeves were also New Brunswick natives.
   At the age of five, Burpee and his family are recorded as moving to Prince Edward Island, where he attended the Prince of Wales College. Steeves embarked upon a teaching career which extended until 1888 when he relocated to Oregon and began studying at the Willamette University at Salem. He graduated from here in 1891 and soon after began pursuing a career in medicine at Willamette University at Portland. He received his medical degree from the latter institution in 1894 and thereafter opened a practice in the town of Silverton. Burpee Steeves married in Salem on April 18, 1893, to Ms. Sarah Fiducia Hunt (1871-1939), with whom he would have one son, Laban Aaron Steeves (1894-1943).
   In 1897 Steeves removed from Salem to Idaho and reestablished his medical practice, "winning a wide reputation and large business" in the process. In 1904 he was elected as the Lieutenant Governor of Idaho on the Republican ticket, serving under Gov. Frank Robert Gooding (1859-1928). Steeve's term lasted two years (1905-1907) and is mentioned in the Centennial History of Oregon as "constituting a most commendable chapter in his life." 

From the Sunday Oregonian, November 10, 1912.

   Steeves returned to the medical profession after his term and in 1909 moved back to Salem, where for the remainder of his life he operated a practice specializing in the treatment and prevention of eye, ear, nose, and throat diseases. Steeves's work in this area earned him statewide repute, and it is noted in the Centennial History of Oregon that "his skill and ability today place him in the foremost ranks in the medical profession, not only of Salem but all of Oregon". Following his resettlement in Salem Steeves is remarked as "having invested heavily in property", and in November 1912  received further political honors when he was elected as the Mayor of Salem for one term. Steeves is mentioned by the History of Oregon as giving Salem "a most businesslike and progressive administration" and shortly after being sworn in in January 1913 announced a ban on smoking in the Salem city council chamber, and also approved eight saloon licenses.
   In the years following his mayoralty, Steeves continued in the medical profession, and in 1918 was elected as the President of the Oregon State Medical Association. He served in this post until 1920. The History of Oregon also lists him as being active in church work and was a parishioner at the local Methodist Episcopal Church. Steeves was also a delegate to that church's General Conference in Saratoga Springs, New York in 1916. Burpee Laban Steeves died at the age of 65 on October 23, 1933, at his home in Salem. He was subsequently interred at the Mount Crest Abbey and Mausoleum in Salem. The portrait of him featured at the top of this article (and one of the few to be found online) was discovered in the earlier mentioned Success Magazine, Volume 8, published in 1905. 

                      This portrait of Burpee Steeves was found in the 1923 work "History of Oregon".