Winburn Milbury Staples (1855-1939)

From the Bridgton News, September 18, 1896.

   A standout figure in the history of Bridgton, Maine, Winburn Milbury Staples wore many hats during his life, being a real estate dealer, banker, steamship owner, academy trustee, and town selectman and treasurer. In the late 1890s, he was elected to the first of two terms in his state's house of representatives and followed that by winning election to the state senate, where he also served two terms. The son of Charles and Sarah (Center) Staples, Winburn Milbury Staples was born in Naples, Maine on February 8, 1855.

  Early in his life Staples attended Naples district schools and at age ten removed with his family to South Bridgton. He continued his schooling at the Bridgton High School and Bridgton Academy, and during young adulthood briefly taught school as a means of income. In the late 1870s, he joined his uncle's mercantile store as a clerk and continued in that role until 1881. Staples married in November of that year to Idalyn Grove (1856-1939), to whom he was wed for nearly sixty years. The couple's lengthy union remained childless.

  Having accumulated ample knowledge as to the daily running of a general store, Winburn Staples resolved to go into business for himself, and in 1881 opened his own general merchandise store in Bridgton, which he continued to operate for several years. This period of operation also saw Staples begin to dabble in real estate, and in the mid-1880s he and a partner erected a building in downtown Bridgton that would house not only the town post office but also the local Knights of Pythias Lodge. This building would be followed by the construction of a grocery store, which Staples conducted as a "thriving and extensive business". Further business successes came to Staples when he developed plans for a small steamboat on Lake Highland for recreational use for tourists and townspeople. This steamer, called the "Lady of the Lake", held at least ten passengers and would burn wood for fuel. This period of activity also saw him assume the posts of manager and treasurer of the Bridgton and Harrison Electric Co. from 1897-1902.

   Active in the civic and fraternal life of his town, Staples was a longtime Mason, Knights of Pythias and Odd Fellows Lodge member, as well as a "faithful member" of the Congregationalist church. Staples would make his first foray into the political life of Bridgton with his service as town treasurer from 1888-90. He would later be elected to the Bridgton board of selectmen and served as board chairman from 1894-96. Desiring for further political honors, Staples announced his candidacy for the Maine House of Representatives in 1896 and was elected to that body in September of that year "by a handsome vote of 380, or all but eight of the Representative votes cast in town." Several days following his election Staples' life and public doings were highlighted by the Bridgton News, which acknowledged him as:

"Generous and public spirited, he is ever ready to lend a helping-hand towards promoting the advancement and prosperity of the community in which he lives; and that he is a popular and respected member thereof the size of his plurality at Monday's election adequately demonstrates!"

From the Bridgton News, May 18, 1900.

   Taking his seat at the start of the 1896-98 session, Staples would be one of over two dozen Cumberland County representatives serving in that session, and also had some oddly named company, his fellow representative being Plantville Preston Larrabee (also from Cumberland County) who was profiled here in April 2017. Staples' first term saw him serve on the committee on Inland Fisheries and Game, and in 1898 won his second term in the legislature, a term that saw him named to the committees on Commerce, County Estimates, Mercantile Affairs and Insurance, and Manufactures.

  In the 1900 election year, Staples set his sights on a seat in the state senate, to which he was elected later that year. The 1901-03 senate session saw Staples named to the committees on Bills in the Second Reading, Counties, Indian Affairs, Manufactures, and he would go on to win a second term in late 1902.

   Following the conclusion of his second senate term in 1905 Staples recommenced with his earlier business dealings in Bridgton and in 1908 was one of the organizers of the Bridgton National Bank. Soon after its establishment, Staples was named as its president, continuing in that role until his resignation in 1919. This bank would later fail during the Great Depression and in 1933 was "absorbed by a Portland concern." Seeing the need for a local bank, Winburn Staples personally wrote a check for $10,000 to be used to open a Portland bank branch in Bridgton, and along with $25,000 given by the town of Bridgton, a branch of the Cresco Bank and Trust Company was eventually developed.

  Staples continued to be heavily involved in the affairs of his town well into his eighties, and during the winter months resided with his wife in Florida. In the late 1930s, Idalyn Staples' health eventually failed and on February 10, 1939, she died at a Maine sanitarium, aged 82. Winburn Milbury Staples survived his wife by less than a month, dying at a St. Petersburg, Florida hospital on March 7, 1939, aged 83. A double funeral for both Staples and his wife was held on March 11 in Bridgton and both were later interred at the Forest Hill Cemetery in that town.

  Now, nearly 80 years following his death, Staples' memory remains alive in Bridgton in the form of the Noble House Inn, his former home that was built in 1903. First converted to a bed and breakfast in the 1980s, the inn continues to be sought out by tourists today.

From the Bridgton News, March 10, 1939.

Plantville Preston Larrabee (1851-1924)

Portrait courtesy of the Sebago Historical Society.

   Sebago, Maine received extensive mention on March 27th's profile on Vinal Garfield Good, a Sebago resident and former Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives. As it turns out, Sebago was represented in the Maine legislature by another oddly named man (several decades prior to Mr. Good) and I think you'll agree that he possesses one of the most unique first names imaginable! Plantville Preston Larrabee was a lifelong native of Cumberland County, Maine, and, while a farmer for all his life, also occupied several local political offices in addition to serving in the legislature.

   While Mr. Larrabee's obscurity initially hampered my wanting to author a small biography for him, my feelings changed when I developed a correspondence with Sherrill Brown of the Sebago Historical Society. Through Sherrill's diligent searching, the accompanying photographs of Larrabee were found to include in his article here, and she was also kind enough to send along a portrait of Vinal G. Good and his wife (featured in his write-up several days ago). I want to extend a hearty thank you to Sherrill for her help in tracking down the portraits of Mr. Larrabee, as well as the one for Mr. Good. Many, many thanks for your help!

   One of four sons born to Thomas Wells (1816-1890) and Olive Ayer Larrabee (1816-1896), Plantville Preston Larrabee was born in Cumberland County, Maine in March 1851. The origins of Larrabee's peculiar first name have been lost to history, and despite the mysteriousness surrounding it can safely be said that both Thomas and Olive Larrabee had a "green thumb", as it were, as they not only named two of their sons Plantville (an earlier child with that name dying in 1849) but also named their last born son Greengrove. Greengrove Larrabee died in infancy in 1853, and one can only wonder why Thomas and Olive would bestow these botany-type names upon their sons!

   Little information is known about Plantville P. Larrabee's early life or education, except notice of his marriage in Naples, Maine on Independence Day 1875 to Etta Maria Shaw (1858-1944). The couple was wed for nearly five decades and their union would see the births of six children, Ethel May (1877-1959), Winifred (1878-1968), Evetta (born 1881), Elmer Francis (1883-1969), Percy Vernon (born 1885) and Marjorie Ella (born 1888).

   A farmer in Sebago for all his life, Larrabee was also active in a number of agricultural concerns in that area, serving as secretary of the Baldwin and Sebago Farmer's Club and held the post of treasurer of the Cumberland and Freeport Agricultural Society from 1909-1910. In the late 1880s, he also joined Sebago's local health board, serving as its secretary for three years. 

  Plantville Larrabee first entered the political life of Sebago in the late 1870s, serving as a member of the school committee from 1876-77. In 1883 he served as town assessor and two years later was elected as Sebago town treasurer. Larrabee would also occupy the office of town selectman on several occasions, serving in 1889-90, 1892, 1895-96, 1900, 1902 and 1904-05. 

 Plantville P. Larrabee in 1902, courtesy of the Sebago Historical Society.

   Larrabee reached his highest degree of political prominence in 1896 when he was elected as Sebago's representative to the Maine State legislature. As one of several Cumberland County representatives serving in the session of 1897-99, Larrabee was named to the house committees on Indian Affairs and Public Buildings. 

   Following his one term in the legislature, P.P. Larrabee returned to farming in Sebago and in 1907 began another stint on the Sebago school committee. In May 1918 he became a founding member of the North Sebago Lakeside Cemetery Association and in the following month was named as its first president. After many years of service to Sebago at the local and state level, Plantville P. Larrabee died in 1924 at age 73. He was survived by his wife Etta and his children and was interred at the Lakeside Cemetery.

  Public service would continue in the Larrabee family with Plantville's son Elmer Francis, who, like his father, occupied a number of local political offices, including Sebago town clerk, road commissioner, and selectman. In the year before his father's death, Elmer was elected to the Maine House of Representatives from Sebago, serving there for two terms (1924-1928).

Elmer F. Larrabee in 1914, courtesy of the Sebago Historical Society.

Active Irving Snow (1849-1938)

Portrait from the Maine legislative composite of 1911.

   Certainly one of the more humorous names you'll find amongst the vast annals of the Maine legislature, Active Irving Snow was a Brunswick-based grocer and merchant who served three terms in the Maine House of Representatives. Born in Harpswell, Maine on November 16, 1849, Active I. Snow was the son of Active and Mary Ann Toothaker Snow. Sadly, I have no interesting tidbits as to how (or why) both Snow and his father were given the name "Active", and, if you were like me, the name Active Snow immediately conjured up images of a severe blizzard!

   Educated at schools in both Harpswell and Portland, "A.I." Snow (as most sources list him) moved to Brunswick, Maine in 1880. He would spend the rest of his life in that city, except for a three-year stay in California (his dates of residence being unknown at this time.) Snow married in Brunswick on June 28, 1892, to Emma Florence Brigham (1868-1921) and later had four children, May (died in infancy in 1893), Austin Irving (died in infancy in 1895), George Active (born 1896), and Raymond (1902-1974.)

    In the years following his removal to Brunswick A.I. Snow established himself as a grocer, and in the succeeding years, his store would become a hub of activity in that town. Snow's store received prominent mention in Marjorie Standish's 1996 work Keep Cooking--the Maine Way, which notes that his business employed several clerks. This same work also relates that Snow was an inveterate checker player, and could often be found deeply engrossed in a game, a habit that sometimes necessitated a wait for customers in the event Snow's clerks were busy!

   As a man "deeply loved and respected" within the Brunswick community, Snow was eventually induced by his fellow townspeople to venture into politics. In 1898 he made his first attempt at public office, being nominated by Brunswick Democrats for a seat in the Maine legislature. Attesting to his being an "honest, upright citizen", the Bath Journal noted that Snow was

" In every respect worth of the position. He is a temperance man and no doubt will poll a large vote for the political party he represents."

From the Bath Independent Journal, July 20, 1898.

   Although unsuccessful in his 1898 legislative run, Snow made another run for the Maine statehouse in 1910 and was this time successful. Taking his seat at the start of the 1911-12 session, Snow would serve on the committees on Mercantile Affairs, Insurance, and Inland Fisheries and Game. Curiously, Snow's fellow Cumberland County representative during this session was Alvah Snow (1851-1921), who, coincidentally, also hailed from Brunswick. The men aren't believed to have been related, as Alvah Snow had been born in Penobscot County.

   At the conclusion of his term Snow returned to his grocery business in Brunswick, and in 1924 won a second term in the legislature, serving in the session of 1925-26. Snow was elected to his third term in the house in 1926, and by the conclusion of that term in 1928 was nearing 80 years of age. Widowed in 1921, Snow continued to reside and work in Brunswick until his death at age 88 on July 20, 1938. He was later interred along with his wife Emma at the Cranberry Horn Cemetery in East Harpswell, Maine.

From the Kennebec Daily Journal, January 3, 1911.

Chadbourne Whitmore Perry (1876-1921)

From the January 6, 1909 Kennebec Daily Journal.

    Born into a prominent family in Fort Fairfield, Maine, Chadbourne Whitmore Perry possesses a flowery name that brings to mind a successful, affluent man of means. True to that description, Perry was for many years an insurance dealer in Fort Fairfield and was a member of numerous fraternal groups in the Aroostook County. Perry would also represent Fort Fairfield in the Maine state legislature on two occasions between 1907-1911.

   The son of Henry Otis  (1829-1913) and Hattie Ruby (Witham) Perry, Chadbourne W. Perry was born on December 17, 1876. A distinguished citizen of Fort Fairfield, Henry Otis Perry was a Civil War veteran and insurance agent who occupied several political offices during his life including stints as selectman, school superintendent, and member of the Maine legislature (serving from 1867-68.) The origins behind Chadbourne's unusual first name remain unknown, and the spelling of his middle name is variously given as Whitmore, Whitemore, and Whittemore (the first instance being given on his 1917 draft registration.) 

   Chadbourne W. Perry would graduate from the Fort Fairfield High School in 1894 and in September 1898 married to Estella McDougal (born 1874) to whom he was wed until his death in 1921. The couple later had three daughters, Louise (born 1900), Maxine (1902-1991), and Katherine (born 1909). 

   Early in his life, Perry joined his father in the latter's insurance business, eventually becoming a partner. Upon Henry Perry's death in 1913, he became the sole operator of that business and also succeeded his father as agent for the American Express Company. Active in several other business concerns in Fort Fairfield, Perry also served as the director of the Frontier Trust Company in the 1910s.

  In 1906 Chadbourne Perry began treading the political waters, winning election to the Maine House of Representatives from Aroostook County. During the 1907-09 session, he sat on the committees on Mercantile Affairs and Insurance and following his re-election to the house in 1908 served on the committee on Pensions. Perry would also have some oddly named company during this session, serving alongside Eldrean Orff, Verdi Ludgate, and Beloni Dufour. 

Portrait from the Fort Fairfield Review, April 3, 1907.

   Returning to his insurance business after leaving the legislature, Chadbourne Perry also maintained memberships amongst several fraternal groups in Maine, including the Houlton Commandary of the Knights Templar, the Garfield Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons, the Knights of Pythias of Fort Fairfield and the Eastern Frontier Lodge, #112 of Free and Accepted Masons.  Perry died in Fort Fairfield on December 11, 1921, shortly before his 45th birthday, his cause of death being recorded as "chronic alcoholism." He was survived by his wife and was interred at the Riverside Cemetery in Fort Fairfield.

Vinal Garfield Good (1906-2000)

From the March 6, 1961 Biddeford Saco Journal.

   A prominent name in Maine politics during the late 1950s and 60s, Vinal Garfield Good was for over forty years an insurance and real estate dealer in Sebago, and in 1958 was elected to the Maine legislature. Good would advance to the post of Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives (serving during the 1961-62 session) and later won election to the Maine Senate for one term. Born on January 6, 1906, in Houlton, Maine, Vinal G. Good was the son of Walter Tyler and Olive Boynton Good.

   A student in schools local to Houlton, Vinal Good was a standout athlete in his youth, being the quarterback of the high school football team and captain of the track team. He would go on to attend Colby College (class of 1929) and following graduation took on a coaching-teaching career, being employed at high schools in Mexico, Maine, and Braintree, Massachusetts. In December 1929 he married his first wife Adalyn Goodwin in Berwick, Maine and five years later began a stint as Director of Physical Activities at the Natick, Massachusetts High School.

   Good turned to the study of law in the mid-1930s, enrolling at the Northeastern Law School. Earning his law degree from that school in 1938, Good would establish a private practice and later put his profession on hold to serve with the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division during World War II. Stationed in Colorado, Good was later a member of the Judge Advocate General's Corps at Fort George Meade in Maryland. During his Maryland residency Good met Dorathy Anderson (1911-2007), whom he would wed in 1946. The couple would later become parents to two children, James and Jeanette.

   In the late 1940s Good and his wife established the Sebago Agency, a real estate and insurance business they would continue to run for over four decades.  Good first entered politics in 1958 when he was elected to the Maine House of Representatives. Serving in the 1959-60 session, Good would win a second term in 1960 and launched a bid for House speaker, spending several weeks traversing the state meeting with fellow representatives and memorizing parliamentary procedure. In January 1961 Good's hard work paid off, as he was chosen speaker by his fellow legislators.

   Serving as speaker during the 1961-62 session, Good left the legislature in January 1963 and in November 1966 was elected to represent Sebago in the Maine Senate, serving in the session of 1967-69. Following his time in state government Good returned to his insurance and realty interests in Sebago, and for three decades held the post of town meeting moderator. 

   Vinal Good maintained an active schedule well into his ninth decade, and, as a jogging enthusiast, was a familiar sight to Sebago residents with his red hat and stopwatch. In the year prior to his death, Good was awarded the "Boston Post Cane" by the Sebago Historical Society, an honor bestowed upon Sebago's eldest citizen. Vinal G. Good died in Sebago on December 23, 2000, at age 94, and was survived by his wife Dorathy and his children. A burial location for both he and his wife remains unknown at this time but is presumed to be somewhere in the Sebago vicinity.

Vinal and Dorathy Good, portrait courtesy of the Sebago Historical Society.

Oayma Joshua Colby Sr. (1906-1993)

Portrait from the Maine Legislature composite photo, 1937.

   Sporting a truly unique first name, one-term Maine state representative Oayma J. Colby's life bears similarity to another Maine legislator profiled here, Bancroft Hussey Wallingford (1891-1975). In addition to serving in state government, both men were lifelong Maine natives who had long-term involvement in agriculture, with both making a specialty of orcharding. A graduate of the University of Maine with a degree in horticulture, Oayma Colby went on to work as an orchardist and for a time operated his own farm. Following his service in the legislature, he would be affiliated with the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, serving as the Superintendent of Highmoor Farm.

   The son of Joshua William Small Colby (1876-1940) and his wife, the former Mary Ann Davis (1876-1942), Oayma Joshua Colby was born in Maine on June 4, 1906. Little is known of his early life or schooling, except notice of his enrollment at the University of Maine in the late 1920s. A member of that school's Agriculture Club and Varsity Winter Sports Team, Colby graduated in the class of 1929 with his B.S. degree in Horticulture.

   After leaving the University of Maine Oayma Colby began a three-year stint as an orchardist with the W.S. Wyman farm in Winthrop, Maine. Colby married in Maine in November 1933 to Sylvia Morrissette (1910-1996). The couple was wed for nearly sixty years and their union would see the births of four children: Oayma Joshua Jr. (born 1934), Alden (birth-date unknown), Peter (1944-1973), and Maryann (1955-2015).

Colby's senior portrait from the University of Maine "Prism", 1929.

   Following the conclusion of his work at the W.S. Wyman farms Oayma Colby operated his own farm in Oxford County, and for several years engaged in orcharding and poultry raising. In 1936 he won election as one of Oxford County's representatives to the Maine state legislature and served during the 1937-39 session. Aside from his dates of service and the length of his term, nothing else could be located on Colby's time as a representative.

   At the conclusion of his legislative term Colby returned to farming, and for two years was employed at the Western Maine Sanatorium as its farm manager. His time there saw him oversee a vast farming complex, comprising

"A sixty cow dairy herd, eighty head of hogs, twenty acres of truck and field crops, and an orchard producing 2,000 bushels of apples."

   In March 1941 Oayma Colby was appointed as superintendent of the Highmoor Farm at Monmouth, Maine. This farm, part of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, is still in existence today, and during Colby's tenure comprised over 220 acres of land and upwards of 3,000 apple trees. Colby resigned from Highmoor Farm in 1943 and was succeeded in the superintendency by W. Damon Hoar.  

Oayma J. Colby (on left), at a 1950 Oxford County Farm Bureau meeting.

    After leaving Highmoor Farm Colby returned to Oxford County and in the mid-1940s served as the Vice-President of the Oxford County Farm Bureau. In November 1950 he was elected as the president of that organization (serving during the 1951 year) and was also a member of the Paris, Maine school committee. 

   A resident of Norway, Maine in the latter period of his life, Oayma J. Colby died in that town on June 7, 1993, three days after his 87th birthday. He was survived by his wife Sylvia, who, following her death in 1996, was interred alongside her husband at the Riverside Annex Cemetery in South Paris, Maine.

Eldrean Orff (1860-1938)

Portrait from the Kennabec Dailey Journal, January 6, 1909.

   The Maine state legislature in the early 20th century has proven to be a veritable treasure trove of oddly named political figures. Amongst these unusual names is Eldrean Orff, a longtime Cushing, Maine resident who, in addition to holding several political offices at the local level, served two terms in the state house of representatives from Knox County.

   Possessing a name that sounds as if it belongs to a character on Lost In Space or Star Trek, Eldrean Orff was born in Cushing in December 1860, being the son of Payne and Eliza Burton Orff. Prominent in Cushing politics, Payne Orff (1818-1898) served as a town selectman for many years and was also a representative in the Maine legislature in the session of 1878-79.  

   A student in the common schools of Cushing, Eldrean Orff was a farmer and married Harriett "Hattie" Robinson (1867-1942). The couple later became the parents of six children, Willis, Hattie, Lilian, Audrey, Albert, and Ralph. Following in his father's stead, Eldrean also served in several political offices in Cushing, including town selectman, assessor, and constable. In 1908 Orff won election to the Maine House of Representatives and during the 1907-09 session sat on the committees on County Estimates, Elections, and Indian Affairs.

From the Kennebec Daily Journal.

    At the conclusion of his legislative term, Orff returned to Cushing, serving once again as selectman, and in 1916 took charge of overseeing reconstruction work done to Cushing's "Back road". Orff won a second term in the Maine state house in 1918 and during the 1919-21 session was a member of the Salaries and Fees committee. Little information could be located on the remainder of Orff's life, except notice of his death in Cushing on December 29, 1938, at age 78. He was survived by his wife Hattie and was later interred at the Orff family cemetery in Cushing.

Tileston Edwin Woodside (1876-1967), Tileston Fracker Spangler (1849-1936)

Portrait from the Kennebec Daily Journal, January 3, 1911.

   Obscure Maine state representative Tileston E. Woodside is yet another example of a small-town lawyer who went on to serve a term in his state's legislature, and the 1911 Maine state house proved to be peopled with oddly named representatives, with Active Irving Snow, Corydon Powers, Beloni S. DuFour, Houghton H. Putnam, and Zebulon Gould Manter serving alongside Woodside. Born on August 6, 1876, in Lewiston, Maine, Tileston Edwin Woodside was the son of Edwin and Sarah Adella (Wadlin) Woodside. 

   A student in the Lewiston schools, Woodside went on to study at the Bates College, graduating in the class of 1898. After being admitted to the Maine bar in 1903 he established his law practice in Lewiston, later removing to the town of Webster. Elected as one of Androscoggin County's representatives to the Maine legislature in 1910, Woodside would serve during the 1911-13 session on the committee on Bills In the Third Reading.

   After leaving the legislature Woodside continued practicing law, being a member of the firm of Newell and Woodside in Lisbon, Maine. Woodside also married late in life, taking as his bride one Catherine Galvin (1880-1960) on April 20, 1936. Prior to Catherine Woodside's death in 1960, Tileston had served as a notary public in Sabbatus, Maine, and died in Lewiston on November 9, 1967, a few months after his 91st birthday. He was later interred alongside his wife and parents at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Sabbatus.

From the Past and Present of the City of Zanesville and Muskingum County, Ohio, 1905.

   Two years following the above article on Tileston Woodside, another "Tileston" with fleeting political involvement was discovered (July 1, 2019). Lifelong Zanesville, Ohio native Tileston Fracker Spangler was long a business power player in Muskingum County, serving as president of the Spangler Realty Company, director of the City and County Workhouse, and a founding organizer of the Guardian Trust and Safe Deposit Company of Zanesville, of which he served as vice-president. A keen genealogist and leading historian in his city during his senior years, Spangler had a brief flirtation with politics in 1920, when he served as an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Born on March 28, 1849, in Zanesville, Tileston Fracker Spangler was the son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Tarrance) Spangler.

   A graduate of the Zanesville High School in the class of 1867, Spangler embarked upon a brief teaching career and in 1870 turned his attention to law studies, reading law under local attorney Albert W. Train. After being admitted to the bar in 1873, Spangler saw more lucrative opportunities in real estate work, and within a few short years had become affiliated with the Homestead Building and Savings Association of Zanesville. Spangler would later organize the Spangler Realty Company, and as its president had a role in the development of the Brighton, Maplewood, Norwood, and Belleview Terrace neighborhoods into improved residential areas. 

  A founding organizer of the People's Savings Bank of Zanesville, Spangler served that organization as its first president and in May 1900 led in the establishment of the Guardian Trust and Safe Deposit Company, of which he was the first vice president and manager. In 1892 Spangler entered into the role of director of the Zanesville City and County Workhouse, serving in that capacity until 1898. Further business successes came Spangler's way with his being the director and secretary of the Kearns-Gorsuch Bottle Company and for an indeterminate period of time held the directorship of the Muskingum Coffin Company.

  Tileston Spangler's first foray into Ohio government came in 1883 when he was selected by then-Governor George Hoadley as a member of his military staff and was given the rank of Colonel. He served that administration until 1885 and was reappointed under Governor James Campbell, serving from 1889-1891. In addition to those roles, Spangler was named to Zanesville's first park commission, and as its head proved influential in:

"Converting forty acres of comparatively unimproved grounds into parks and making special changes at Putnam Hill and McIntyre and Pioneer Parks. His transformation of a bare and unsightly river bank at the end of Woodlawn Avenue into a rare beauty spot with flowers and grassy levels and attractive arbors marked a rare achievement in park-making and gave infinite charm to a plot of land in the heart of Zanesville."

Tileston Spangler in old age.

   In 1920 Tileston Spangler served as part of the Ohio delegation to the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco as an alternate delegate. A keen student of history as well as a genealogist, he would author a history of his family (which was published after his death) and for a number of years held memberships in both the Sons of the American Revolution and the Sons of the War of 1812. Widowed in 1907, Spangler later remarried to Mary Buckingham Greene, who would survive him upon his death, which occurred on January 8, 1936, at age 86. Spangler was later interred in the Spangler family plot at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Zanesville.

North West (1857-1943)

   We continue our stay in Maine to profile another man with a truly amusing name...North West! While his name may stir up memories of the media frenzy that surrounded the birth of celebrity toddler North West a year or two ago, this North West was a Maine native who had a brief flirtation with state politics, serving a term in the Maine House of Representatives at the turn of the 19th century. Little could be found on West's life, and due to the dearth of resources mentioning him his write-up here will be as brief as his legislative service!

   The early years of North West's life are shrouded in obscurity, except for notice of his birth in Massachusetts in June 1857. He would marry Beatrice L. Hall (1881-1974) and had at least two sons, George Milton (1908-1980) and William Hall (1911-1972).

   Before his election to the Maine legislature, the only public office West held was a stint on the Biddeford City Council, first being elected to that body during the 1880s. In 1898 he was elected as one of two state representatives from Biddeford and during his term (1899-1900) held seats on the committees on Claims and the State Prison. Following his time in state government West continued to serve Biddeford in various local offices, including time as a member of the Biddeford school board. He would serve as its chairman from 1901-02 and during the 1904-05 board session was a member of the committees on Repairs and Supplies and Text Books and Course of Study.

  By the time of his son William's birth in 1911 North West is recorded as residing in Kennebunkport, where he was the manager of a water company. Little is known about West's life following this point, excepting that he and his family later removed to Seattle, Washington sometime after 1920. West died there in 1943 and was later interred at the Acacia Memorial Park in King County, Washington. His widow Beatrice died in 1974 at age 93 and was also interred at this cemetery, as are his sons George and William.

Zelma Merwyn Dwinal (1884-1957)

   The following write-up takes us to Maine to examine the life and political exploits of a man named Zelma. After locating the name "Zelma M. Dwinal"  amongst a listing of Maine County Attorneys in the 1921 Maine State Register I was quite certain that Dwinal was an early example of a woman being elected as a county attorney, this mainly due to the appearance of the name Zelma (predominantly a female first name). After further research I was rewarded with the above portrait from the Lewiston Evening Journal, proving that Dwinal was in actuality a male and had previously been a municipal judge in Rockland, Maine, a one-term state representative, two-term state senator, and a Republican candidate for Congress in 1934.

   The son of Fred and Luetta Briggs Dwinal, Zelma Merwyn Dwinal was born on March 12, 1884, in Mechanic Falls, Maine. He would attend local schools and later studied at Bates College, graduating in the class of 1906. Following his leaving college Dwinal settled into an educational career that saw him serve as principal in several Maine school districts, including those in Richmond (1906-09), Livermore Falls (1909-11), and Camden (1912-17). He married in December 1907 to Harriette Newall (birth-date unknown), with whom he had three children, Charles, Barbara, and Lucille.

   Zelma Dwinal was called to a very different area of public service during the early 1910s, being selected by then U.S. Senator from Maine William P. Frye to be a member of the U.S. Senate police force. Dwinal's appointment was successful and he served at the Capitol from 1910-1912, during which time he also studied at Georgetown University. Dwinal continued to serve at the Capitol until the year following Senator Frye's death, afterward returning to Camden, Maine. He continued to teach school and study law for the next five years and in 1918 was admitted to the bar. Establishing his practice at Camden, Dwinal also entered the business life of that community in 1919 when he took over ownership of the Talbot Insurance Agency. 

   In 1920 Zelma Dwinal entered the political life of Maine when he won election as County Attorney for Knox County. He would serve in that post from 1921-23 and in 1924 was elected to represent Knox County in the Maine State House of Representatives for the 1925-27 session. Dwinal continued his political ascent in 1927 when he began serving the first of two terms in the Maine State Senate, the last of which concluded in 1931. In addition to the aforementioned posts, Dwinal was a delegate from Maine to both the 1928 and 1932 Republican National Convention and in 1930 lost out in the Republican primary for U.S. Representative from Maine, being bested by Oxford County clerk Donald Barrows Partridge.

   Dwinal's longest term of public service began in 1932 when he entered into the office of Judge of the Municipal Court of Rockland, Maine. He would continue to serve on the bench for over two decades before stepping down in 1954 at age seventy. Early in his tenure as judge Dwinal made another run for Congress, announcing his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 2nd Congressional district in early 1934. Hitting the stump hard, Dwinal made a number of speaking appearances throughout his campaign, including one stop at the Lewiston-Auburn Kiwanis Club in August 1934. During his address at the club, Dwinal took the Roosevelt administration and its policies to task, emphasizing that:

"Too many theorists and too few practical authorities are dictating the operation of the Nation's business today."

A Dwinal campaign notice from the Lewiston Evening Journal.

   Continuing his speaking engagements throughout the late summer of 1934, Dwinal stepped up his attacks on Roosevelt's policies, arguing that the government's "lavish and record-breaking expenditures" had caused hardship in his state and made light of his opponent's enthusiastic support of Roosevelt and the New Deal programs. Dwinal's opponent for Congress that year was Edward Carleton Moran Jr (1894-1967), a former candidate for Maine Governor who had taken his seat in Congress the previous year. On election day in September 1934, it was Moran who won out in the vote count, besting Dwinal by a vote of 52, 491 to 46, 200. 

   Following his congressional candidacy, Dwinal returned to the office of Rockland Municipal Judge, retiring in 1954. He died three years later on September 30, 1957, at age 73 and was interred at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Camden, Maine.