Clenric Henry Cahoon (1875-1957)

Portrait from the Souvenir of Massachusetts Legislators, 1907.

   An obscure resident of Harwich in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Clenric Henry Cahoon served four years as a town selectman prior to winning the first of two terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Born in Harwich on February 4, 1875, Clenric Cahoon was the son of Patrick and Carrie Cahoon. A student at schools local to Harwich, Cahoon graduated from that town's high school in 1892 and afterward began study at the Bryant and Stratton College. After a brief period at that school, Cahoon became employed as a stenographer with the Enterprise Rubber Co. of Boston and later took on a teaching position at a grammar school for two years. 

  Turning his attention to law studies in the late 1890s, Cahoon enrolled at Boston University in 1897 and in 1901 was admitted to the Massachusetts bar. He would marry to Mertis W. Perry (1877-1960) in the early 1900s and later had four children: Doris (1903-1966), Howard Clenric (1905-1975), Oscar (birthdate unknown), and Emily (1907-1918). 

  Following his admittance to the state bar, Cahoon established his law practice in Boston but practiced there only briefly, removing back to Harwich in June 1901. After setting up his practice Cahoon entered local politics, chairing the Harwich Republican town committee and in 1903 won election to the board of selectmen. He served here through 1907, and in 1906 was elected to his first term in the state house of representatives. The 1907 session saw Cahoon sit on the committee on legal aid, and after winning a second term continued on the committee during the 1908 session. 

   Little is known of Cahoon's life after leaving state government. He continued in the practice of law in his native town and died shortly after his 82nd birthday on February 12, 1957. He was survived by his wife Mertis and his children and was interred at the Island Pond Cemetery in Harwich. In addition to Clenric Cahoon's service in the state legislature, two other Cahoon family members went on to legislative careers of their own. His son Oscar served in the Massachusetts legislature in 1948-49 and Clenric's grandson, Howard Clenric Cahoon Jr., represented Barnstable County in that body from 1971-1991. 

Rednor Pitcher Coombs (1873-1942)

Portrait from the 1908 Massachusetts Legislative Souvenir.

    Another curiously named New England political figure is profiled today, Massachusetts state representative Rednor Pitcher Coombs. Sadly, information on Mr. Coombs has proven to be scant, hence why his article here will be on the short side.

   Born in Isleboro, Maine on June 27, 1873, Rednor Pitcher Coombs was the son of Pilsbury and Mary Coombs. No information could be found on the location of Coombs' schooling or the date of his removal to Massachusetts. He married in Chelsea, Massachusetts on April 30, 1895, to Mary Riley (birthdate unknown), with whom he would have two sons, Paul and John. Both before and after his term in state government Coombs worked as a "wholesale provision dealer" based in Quincy. He was also a member of the local Elks club.

   Before his service in the state legislature, Rednor P. Coombs was a member of the Quincy City Council, representing the city's sixth ward. In November 1907 he was elected as one of Norfolk County's representatives to the Massachusetts General Court. Serving during the 1908-1909 session, Coombs sat on the house committee on insurance and would lose his reelection bid the following year to Louis F.R. Langelier, who defeated him, 1,209 votes to 982.

   Little else could be located on Coombs following his defeat for reelection. Ancestry.com gives notice as to his death sometime in 1942, when he would have been around 69 years of age. A burial location for both Coombs and his family remains unknown at this time. 

Jubal Converse Gleason (1837-1890), Jubal Herndon Cummins (1860-1938)

Portrait courtesy of the State Library of Massachusetts.

    Today we highlight an oddly named political duo, both of whom are named "Jubal".  A name that hearkens back to the Book of Genesis, this biblical Jubal is mentioned as being the "father of all those that handle the harp and pipe." We'll begin our write-up in Plymouth, Massachusetts with one Jubal Converse Gleason, a prominent physician and multi-term state legislator from that county. The son of Andrew and Celia Harwood Gleason, Jubal C. Gleason was born in the Worcester County town of Hubbardston on November 9, 1837. 

   A student in the public schools of Hubbardston and the New Salem Academy, Jubal Gleason enrolled at the Amherst College in 1859 and graduated four years later. He continued his studies at the Harvard University Medical School and following his graduation in 1867 launched his medical practice in Gilbertville, Massachusetts. On July 31st of that year, Gleason married to Anna Pierce Sayles, with whom he would have two children, Everett Harwood (who died aged five in 1876) and Emma Willard (born 1872). 

   After a three-year residency in Gilbertville Gleason moved to the town of Rockland, located in Plymouth County. He would reside here for the remainder of his life and in addition to practicing medicine built up a reputation as one of the town's most respected office holders. For twelve years Gleason served as chairman of the Rockland School Board and for three years chaired the Rockland Board of Health. In 1869 he was elected as one of Plymouth County's representatives to the Massachusetts General Court and during the 1870-71 term held a seat on the joint standing committee on Federal Relations.

   At the conclusion of his term in 1871 Gleason returned to Rockland, and in 1877  was named as medical examiner for Plymouth County's 2nd district. Nine years later Gleason was returned to the Massachusetts General Court as a state representative, and in 1887 won election to the State Senate. His Senate service extended from 1887-1889 and during those terms served on the committees on the Liquor Law, Education, and Public Health. 

   Shortly after leaving the state senate Jubal Gleason died at his home in Rockland, his death occurring on November 1, 1890, at age 52. At the time of his passing, he had been a councilor and member of the Massachusetts Medical Society and was survived by his wife and daughter. A burial location for both Gleason and his family remains unknown at the time of this writing.

From the Tennessee legislature composite portrait, 1891-92.

    Unlike the man who preceded him here, Tennessee state representative Jubal Herndon Cummins has had very little information on his life come to light, hence why his biography here will be on the short side. A lifelong native of Tennessee, Cummins was born on August 3, 1860, and married Genevra Thurman (1862-1938) in the early 1880s. The couple would later have a total of six children, who are listed as follows in order of birth: Lydia Estelle (1885-1953), Carl Thurman (1889-1977), John Oliver (1892-1983), Anna Mary (1894-1984), James Henry (1899-1986) and Guillelmine (1901-1996). 

    Little could be located on Cummins' personal life, except notice that he was a "prominent farmer and millwright" for a good majority of his life. Cummins would represent Cannon County in the Tennessee General Assembly from 1890-1892. He was elected to a second term in 1892 and during the 1893-95 session served on the committees on Judiciary and Sanitation. Following his two terms in the state house, Cummins appears to have disappeared from the pages of history. He died sometime in 1938 and was later buried at the Smyrna Cemetery in Cookeville, Tennessee.

Appleton Howe Torrey (1847-1944), Appleton Park Williams (1867-1937), Appleton Bloomfield Clark (1825-1897)

Portrait from "A Souvenir of Massachusetts Legislators" 1901 edition.

   Today's triple profile focuses on the political doings of three men with the unusual first name "Appleton". The first of these men, Appleton Howe Torrey, was a lifelong resident of the town of Groton, Massachusetts, and over a life that extended nearly a full century, he grew to become one of that town's favorite sons, serving at various times as town clerk, assessor, overseer, selectman, and state representative.

  Born in Groton on December 23, 1847, Appleton Howe Torrey was the son of Willard and Catherine Blood Torrey. He attended school in Groton and later studied at the Lawrence Academy, also located in Groton. In 1870 he entered into the position of clerk in a Boston-based "wholesale boot and shoe house" and remained there until 1879. In 1873 he married to Josephine Emma Nutting (born 1848), to whom he was wed for over fifty years. The couple would later have two sons born to them, Frank Appleton (1874-1965) and Fred Howe (1877-1965).

   Appleton Torrey returned to Groton in 1879 and over the next few decades operated in that town as a "retailer in boots and shoes." He would serve Groton in a number of political capacities, including as town selectman and overseer of the poor from 1886-87 and as town clerk for over thirty years (beginning in 1893). From 1893-95 he was deputy sheriff and in November 1900 was elected as Groton's representative to the Massachusetts General Court, defeating Democratic candidate H.F. Tarbell by a vote of  824 to 469.

   During the 1901-02 session of the legislature, Torrey served as clerk of the committee on towns and as a member of the committee on Labor. After leaving the state house Torrey continued service as Groton town clerk and for over twenty years was clerk of the Groton Water Company, serving in that capacity until his death on April 26, 1944, at the age of 96. Memorialized as having had a "great love of nature" and as a "gentle, quiet gentleman", Torrey was survived by his two sons and was interred at the Groton Cemetery. 

Portrait from "A Souvenir of Massachusetts Legislators" 1898 edition.

    Next is Appleton Park Williams, a resident of West Upton in Worcester County. Williams narrowly missed serving in the legislature alongside the man who preceded him in this article (their terms being just a year or two apart.) Although a resident of Massachusetts for most of his life, Appleton Williams was a Rhode Islander by birth, being born in Providence on January 28, 1867. 

  The son of Zephaniah and Minerva Victoria Park Williams, Appleton Williams attended school in the city of his birth and would graduate from Brown University in the class of 1889. Prior to his removal to Massachusetts Williams was affiliated with the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company of Providence and in 1892 relocated to West Upton in Worcester County. He married his first wife Emelyn Palmer Butts in September 1893 but their marriage proved to be short, as she died on June 22, 1895, aged just 29. It is unknown at this time if any children were born to them.

   Once settled in West Upton, Appleton Williams took work with the Upton Manufacturing Company and was still in their employ at the time of his election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Elected to that body in 1897, Williams garnered 1,374 votes on election day and during his term (1898-99) served on the House Committee on Education. In addition to serving the legislature, Williams took part in local political affairs of West Upton, serving as chairman of the school committee and as town selectman in 1901.

   Following his time at the Massachusetts capitol, Williams busied himself in various civic organizations, including service as the President of the Massachusetts Sunday School Association from 1904-05. He remarried in 1907 to Adelaide Augusta Sisson (1869-1932), with whom he had one daughter, Adelaide Victoria (born 1908.) Widowed for the second time in 1932, Appleton Williams survived his Adelaide by five years, dying on February 24, 1937. Both he and his wife were buried at the Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, Rhode Island.

    Arguably the most obscure of the three men profiled here, Licking County, Ohio native Appleton Bloomfield Clark's placement here on the site rests on his 1880 candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio. Born in Licking County on July 11, 1825, Appleton B. Clark was the son of Anson and Elizabeth Harrison Clark. Little is known of Clark's life and no portrait of him could be found to post here. For a time he served as the editor of the  Newark American, the leading "Republican journal of Licking County" and in 1869 served Newark, Ohio as its postmaster. 

  In 1880 Clark received the Republican nomination for Congressman from Ohio's 13th district. On election day he lost out to Democratic nominee Gibson Atherton, who defeated him by a vote of 19,038 to 16,565. Two years after this loss Clark was again a candidate for Congress, this time from Ohio's 16th district. He was dealt another loss on election day, as Beriah Wilkins (the Democratic candidate) polled 19,743 votes to his own 14,422.

  Little else could be located on Clark following his two unsuccessful candidacies for Congress. He died on February 24, 1897, and was later buried at the Maple Grove Cemetery in Granville, Ohio.

Shubael Wilmarth Brayton (1822-1898)

From the 1872 Massachusetts legislative composite portrait.

    Lifelong Massachusetts native Shubael Wilmarth Brayton was for many years one of Adams, Massachusetts noted business figures, being both a manufacturer and banker. His placement here on the site rests on his one term as a representative in the Massachusetts General Court in 1874, being elected from his hometown of Adams. Brayton was born in North Adams, Massachusetts in 1822, being the son of William E. and Lucinda Brayton. Little is known of his early life and education, except notice of his marriage to Sarah Wells in the early 1840s. The couple would have five children: Mary W. (born ca. 1844), Herbert Wells (born 1850), Isabel S. (born 1852), William E. (born 1862) and Harriett Sylvia (born 1864). Sarah Wells Brayton died in March 1877 and two years later Shubael would remarry to Rhode Island native Frances Lowden (1834-1907), who would survive him upon his death in 1898.

   In 1851 Brayton joined in a partnership with brothers Rodman and Henry Wells to form the Wells, Brayton, and Co., a business devoted to the manufacture of "satinets and cashmeres". The Wells brothers would sell their portion of the business to Brayton and another partner, S. Johnson, in 1862. The business (now called S. W. Brayton and Co.) continued in manufacturing until 1868 when a fire gutted the inside of the building. Brayton would later have the building rebuilt and for a time had the factory stocked with shoe manufacturing equipment, whilst also purchasing his partner's interest. He continued to run the business (comprising a mill, store, "water privilege" and "tenements") until he sold it in 1871 to the firm of Gallup and Houghton.

   Shubael Brayton first became active in public service in North Adams in the mid-1850s, when he was named a justice of the peace. In November 1873 he was elected as one of Berkshire County's representatives to the Massachusetts General Court and took his seat at the start of the 1874 term. His one term in the house saw him sit on the joint special committee on the Hoosac Tunnel Line of Railroads. He was noted as a "stanch Republican from the foundation of that party" in his North Adams Transcript obituary, which further noted that:

"His likes and dislikes were strong and his estimates of men were not based on outward appearances or station in life. For upright character under the humblest exterior he had sincere regard, while no guise could shield fraud and hypocrisy from his most profound contempt. "

  Following his time in the legislature, Brayton continued with his various business interests, being a director of both the Berkshire Life Insurance Company and the Berkshire Fire Insurance Company, located in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In 1885 he succeeded Sanford Blackinton as the president of the Adams National Bank, holding this post until his death thirteen years later.

From the North Adams Transcript, June 20, 1898.

    In the final year of his life, Brayton was afflicted with paralysis, which led to his being confined to his home in Adams in March of 1898. The disease eventually rendered him "helpless and unable to speak" and on June 19, 1898, he died at his home. He was survived by his second wife Frances and was buried at the Hillside Cemetery in North Adams.

From the North Adams Transcript, June 20, 1898.

Wooster Ferdinand Dodge (1841-1914)

                                                      Portrait from "The Leominster Book: Illustrated", 1901.

   A two-term member of the Massachusetts General Court during the early 20th century, Wooster Ferdinand Dodge was a lifelong resident of Leominster, Massachusetts. A descendant of an old established Massachusetts family, Wooster F. Dodge was born on March 28, 1841, a son of Stephen (1808-1855) and Elvira Foster Dodge (1811-1900). A student in the common schools of Leominster, Dodge was an enlistee in the First Massachusetts Infantry Band in May 1861 and served until his discharge in August 1862.  Dodge would later reenlist as a member of Co. H. of the 4th Massachusetts Heavy Artillery and served with this regiment until the close of the hostilities. He married first in 1867 to Emma Renew Brown (1847-1874), who died several years after their marriage. Two children would be born to their union, Flora Elvira (1868-1946) and Fred Lyman (1870-1872). A decade later Dodge would wed Sibelle Eunice Carter (1846-1931), who would survive her husband upon his death in 1914.

   Upon his return home to Leominster Wooster Dodge became employed by the Jewett Allen Piano Case Company. He would continue in this line of work in Andover, Massachusetts, and would return to Leominster sometime later to go into business for himself, being the proprietor of a steam laundry in the early 1870s. Sometime later Dodge would sell this business and join as a partner in his family's paper box manufacturing business (the E.F. Dodge and Co.) in 1874. He is recorded as having "enlarged the capacity of the box factory and has succeeded admirably in business" and continued to be connected with the company through the remainder of his life.

  An active Mason in Leominster, Wooster Dodge was also affiliated with a number of other fraternal groups in the city, including the local chapter of the G.A.R., the Odd Fellows lodge, the Wachusett Tribe of Red Men and the Columbia Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. Dodge entered city politics in the 189os when he was elected as a member of the Board of Selectman for Leominster, serving in that capacity from 1895-1900. He would serve the board as a clerk for three years and in his last year in office held the board chairmanship. 

                                             Portrait from the 1902 Souvenir of Massachusetts Legislators.

    In November 1901 the citizens of Leominster elected Wooster F. Dodge to be their representative in the Massachusetts General Court. A Republican, Dodge defeated Democratic nominee F. I. Pierson by a vote of 884 to 565 took his seat at the beginning of the 1902 session. He would serve on the house committees on Railroads during this term and was reelected to the house the following year, holding a seat on the committees on Liquor Laws and Railroads. 
  Dodge's second term concluded in 1903 and he died in Leominster on December 23, 1914, at age 73. He was survived by both his daughter Flora and his second wife. Both Dodge and his family were interred at the Evergreen Cemetery in Leominster.

From the 1903 Souvenir of Massachusetts Legislators.

Handel Napthali Daggett (1821-1894)

Portrait from "The History of Bristol County, Massachusetts", 1883.

   

    Bristol County, Massachusetts resident Handel Napthali Daggett was for over four decades a prominent business figure in said county, being the son of a successful cotton manufacturer. He would follow in his father's stead and established a business devoted to the manufacture of cotton print cloths and mohair braids and found further distinction as a banker and two-term member of the Massachusetts General Court.

   Born and raised in Attleborough, Massachusetts, Handel Napthali Daggett was born on January 27, 1821, one of nine children born to Ebenezer Daggett (1763-1832)  and his wife, the former Sally Maxcy (1778-1867). A member of the Massachusetts state senate at the time of his death, Ebenezer Daggett had been an Attleborough-based cotton manufacturer for a number of years, and being the son of a man-of-means, Handel N. Daggett had the benefit of a fine education, attending the public schools in Attleborough, as well as Day's Academy in Wrentham, Massachusetts and the Perkin's Academy of Attleborough. 

   After completing his education Daggett resided in Boston for a short period and returned to Attleborough, where in January 1844 joined his twin brother Homer Micajah Daggett in forming a cotton print cloth business in the settlement of Falls Village, operating under the firm name of H.N. and H.M. Daggett.  Handel Daggett married his first wife Eunice Whipple Sheppard (1825-1848) in Attleboro in June 1844 and had two children, Josephine Sheppard (born 1845) and Francis Whipple (1847-1854). Following Eunice's untimely death at age 24 in 1848 Daggett remarried in Livonia,  New York to Jane Amelia Adams (1825-1854), with whom he would have a further two children, Eunice Eudora (died in infancy in 1852) and Flora Eugenia (1853-1857). Daggett was widowed for a second time in 1855 with the death of his wife Jane, and a year after her passing remarried to her sister Lucy (1828-1870). This union would see the births of three daughters, Florence Jane (born 1857), Frances Adams (born 1860), and an infant daughter who died soon after birth in February 1856.

   The Daggett brother's firm continued until its dissolution in 1855. Handel Daggett would continue in business on his own, eventually purchasing another site in an area called Farmer's Village. Here Daggett would develop a hoop-skirt manufacturing business, which existed until 1860. In the following year, he turned his attention to mohair braids, and would soon establish a factory devoted to their manufacture, being noted as "being the first establishment of its kind in the country". Daggett's braid factory grew to become a truly prosperous business in Bristol County, and with this success, it eventually outgrew its original home. Around 1866 Daggett removed his company to a stone mill located at Attleborough Falls, and with this move came an industrial boom in the area, which was recorded by the National Wool Manufacturer's Bulletin in the following passage:

"There soon arose a model Massachusetts manufacturing village, in which a peaceful and industrious population has learned to look upon Mr. Daggett as the benefactor of a community chiefly created by his energy and business ability."

The Gold Medal Braid Company as it looked in the 1870s.

   In 1869 Daggett and two investors (Austin Dunham and George S. Moulton) joined together to establish the Gold Medal Braid Company. With $50,000 furnished by Dunham and Moulton as capital, Daggett took the reins of the company, and in 1873 bought out his friends and continued to operate it alone. The company would house fourteen hundred braiding machines (braiders) and employed one hundred and fifty persons. Active in other areas of business life, Daggett served as the director of the Attleborough National Bank, treasurer of the Attleboro Branch Railroad, president of the Industrial Mutual Fire Company of Boston, and the Woolen Manufacturers Mutual Fire Insurance Company, also located in Boston. 

Daggett's home in North Attleborough, from "North Attleborough", published 1998.

   On May 23, 1870, Lucy Frost Adams died at age 42, leaving Handel Daggett as a widower for the third time in his life. In November 1875 he married his fourth wife, Annie Merritt Parsons (1842-1898), and one daughter was born to the couple, Blanche (1879-1967).
  Beginning in the late 1840s Daggett made his first move into local political office in Attleborough, serving at various times as town selectman (from 1849-1850 and 1861-1862), clerk (1848-1851), and assessor. He was elected to represent Bristol County in the Massachusetts State House of Representatives in November 1863 and served during the legislative session of 1864, holding a seat on the committee on manufactures. He won a second term in the house in 1883 and during the 1884 session served on the house committee on the Library. 
   Daggett continued to be involved with his business concerns until his death, and at the time of his passing was serving as the director of both the North Attleborough National Bank and the First National Bank of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He died of "disease of the heart" on February 27, 1894, at his North Attleborough home, a month after celebrating his 73rd birthday. Following his death, The Gold Medal Braid Company underwent a name change to the Standard Braid Company, and later the International Braid Company, until its closing in 1941. Daggett was survived by his fourth wife Annie, who died in 1898, and both he and three of his wives were interred at the Mount Hope Cemetery in North Attleborough.

                               Handel N. Daggett, from the "One of A Thousand" biographical series, 1890.

Zibeon Chapman Field (1831-1914), Zibeon Lewis Packard (1829-1893)

Portrait from the History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Vol. II, 1889.

  The following dual profile examines the lives of two native New England political figures named Zibeon. A name with biblical origins, there are two meanings behind the name, one of which is a "Horite chieftain" named Zibeon noted in the book of Genesis whose name translates to "little hyena". Another version gives the meaning of the name as "robber". Truly a peculiar name to give a child, even back in the 19th century!

   First to be profiled is Paris, Maine native Zibeon Chapman Field, who would later find prominence in both business and politics in Worcester, Massachusetts, serving two terms in that state's House of Representatives. Born in Paris on Christmas Day 1831, Zibeon C. Field was one of ten children born to Zibeon and Lydia Howe Field and inherited his name courtesy of a brother (also named Zibeon Chapman Field) who died in infancy in 1823. His early education occurred near the town of his birth and at age seventeen removed from Paris and resettled in Milford, Massachusetts, where he was employed in the manufacture of boots. Field would later leave Milford out of concern for his health and traveled to California to make a go at gold mining, remaining here for three years.

   In 1855 Field returned to Massachusetts, marrying in 1856 to one Lydia Ann Corbett (1836-1872). The couple would become the parents of four children, listed as follows in order of birth: Prentice (1859-1863), Francis Dana (1861-1932), Charlotte Thayer (1865-1911), and Grace Prentiss (1868-1962). Following Lydia Field's death, Zibeon remarried in June 1874 to Anna Thwing (1842-1913), mentioned by the Field Genealogy as being a "successful teacher" and "woman of culture."

   For a short period in the 1850s Zibeon Field operated a general store and "provision business" in Roxbury, Massachusetts, returning to Milford in 1858 to join his brother Perley in the formation of a coal and lumber dealership, a business they would successfully manage for over three decades. While attentive to business dealings in Milford, Field found further distinction in local politics, being a member of the Board of Engineers, as well as the Milford Board of Selectmen from 1865-66 and again from 1870-71. In 1864 Field served Milford as a town agent, aiding in the recruitment of soldiers for the ongoing war effort, and in this role visited President Lincoln. His visit with the President later:

"Secured the credit of one-hundred and thirty-seven three years men to Milford--which has not been recorded in its favor at the war department--thereby saving the loss of many thousands of dollars to the town.

    Zibeon Field during his later years, from the 1901 Field Genealogy.

    In the 1864 election year Zibeon Field was elected as one of Milford's representatives to the Massachusetts General Court, and during the 1865 term held a seat on the house committee on Horse Railways. Field would serve a second term in the legislature in 1866, serving on the committees on Railways and Canals. Following his two terms in the house Field refrained from political activity, but did serve as the chairman of the Republican League of Milford during the mid-1870s. Remarked by the Field Genealogy as "a Mason in good standing", Zibeon Field was a member of both the Montgomery Lodge and Mt. Lebanon Masonic chapter, a director of the Milford National Bank, and was a longstanding parishioner at the Milford Universalist Church.

   After many decades in public service in Milford, Zibeon C. Field died on December 18, 1914, a week short of his 83rd birthday. He was predeceased by his second wife Anna, who died in August 1913. A burial location for both Zibeon Field and his wife is unknown at this time. 

  

Portrait from the "Ancestor Photo Archive for Genealogy Research".

   Another Maine native who made his name known politically was Zibeon Lewis Packard of the town of Hebron, who served a term in the Maine House of Representatives in the late 1880s. One of six children born to Lewis and Betsy Webster Packard, Zibeon L. Packard was born in Hebron on May 30, 1829, and as a youth worked the family farm, and was "obliged to assume the head of the family" after the death of his father. Zibeon attended the Hebron Academy in addition to farm work and also taught "in the district schools" during the winter months. 

  In February 1860 Packard married in Hebron to Ellen Bearce (1835-1895), later becoming the parents to four daughters: Bertha Leonora (1862-1908), Ida Ellen (born 1864), Edith Lulu (1867-1967) and Jennie Webster (1871-1942). One of these children, Edith Lulu Packard Cushman, survived her father and mother by over seventy years, dying one month short of her 100th birthday in June 1967.  A few years following his marriage Zibeon Packard enlisted for service as a private in the 30th Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infantry. Following his return from service, he returned to farming and fruit growing, and was later acknowledged by the Lewiston Evening Journal as "one of the pioneers of apple orcharding in this section and made it a remarkable success." 

  Beginning in the mid-1870s Packard was honored by his native town by being elected to a number of local political offices, serving as a Hebron town school supervisor, selectman, town treasurer, and collector. In 1886 he was elected as Hebron's representative to the Maine State Legislature and would serve in the sessions of 1887 and 1889. In addition to legislative service, Packard was also prominent in local fraternal clubs, being a member of the Buckfield, Maine Masonic Lodge, the Hebron Grange, and the G.A.R. The Lewiston Evening Journal notes that Packard remained a "firm friend" of the Hebron Academy, serving as the secretary of the school's board of trustees for over twenty-five years.

   Zibeon L. Packard died at his home in Hebron on August 11, 1893, at age 64. His wife Ellen followed him to the grave two years later, and both were later interred at the Maple Ridge Cemetery in Hebron. Following his death, the Lewiston Evening Journal published a lengthy obituary for him, noting that:

"Whoever held a beneficient relationship with Zibeon L. Packard, whether in the Church, in the Grange, in any organized society, in general society or in his family, has met with an irreparable loss."

French Oxford Joy Tarbox (1861-1924)

Portrait from the Representative Men of Somerville, 1897.

   It isn't often that one stumbles across a man whose name combines a nationality, a city in England, an alternate word for happiness, and the funny last name "Tarbox", but that is exactly the case of obscure Massachusetts legislator French Oxford Joy Tarbox, a distinguished figure in the city of Somerville. The son of Ephraim and Clara Tarbox, French O .J. Tarbox was born on September 1, 1861, in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He attended the public school system of that city and "graduated from the grammar school in the class of 1877." He would later attend the Boston Commercial College for a period of about six months, leaving behind his studies to begin a life on the high seas. Tarbox would serve on board a number of vessels and is recorded by the 1900 Souvenir of Massachusetts Legislators as:

 "Following the seas for several years in the East India and China trade as well as a coast service on the Pacific between San Francisco and adjacent ports."

   After giving up the sea-faring life Tarbox returned home and was engaged in the oil business and later worked as a steam and air brake fitter, being in the employ of the Fitchburg Railroad and the Walworth Manufacturing Co. of Boston. He married in Boston on September 22, 1890, to Sarah E. Magrath, and the couple would later become the parents of three children: Sarah Jennie (birth-date unknown), Wilfred (birth-date unknown), and Ida (born ca. 1899).
  French O.J. Tarbox entered Somerville politics in the mid-1890s, beginning service on the city's common council in 1896. In the following year, he served as a member of the Somerville Board of Aldermen (from 1898-1899) and in the latter year was elected as one of Middlesex County's representatives to the Massachusetts General Court, winning with a vote total of 1552. Taking office at the start of the 1900 term, Tarbox held a seat on the House Committee on Taxation during his one term at the state capitol.
   Following his brief stint in state government, little else could be located on the remaining years of French O.J. Tarbox's life, and aside from political activity, he maintained memberships in the Bunker Hill Odd Fellows Lodge # 114, the Loyal Orange Institute, and the Fitchburg Railroad Relief Association. He is recorded in the 1913 Somerville Annual Report as a "mechanic", being employed by the Boston Elevated Railway Company. A death date and burial location couldn't be located for French O.J. Tarbox, although he is listed in the 1920 census as being a 58-year-old resident of Ward 7 in Somerville, residing with his wife, children, son-in-law, and two boarders. Tarbox is not listed in the 1930 census, placing his death at some point between 1920 and 1930.

  From the 1900 Souvenir of Massachusetts Legislators.

  In an addendum to this article on August 19, 2019, I'd like to give a hail and hearty thank you to SNIAPH site fan Connor Mah, who not only located a death date and location for French O.J. Tarbox (died April 25, 1924 in West Somerville), but also sent along the following obituary, which denotes Tarbox's death as being caused by peritonitis and pneumonia. A week prior to his death, Tarbox was admitted to the Somerville Hospital due to appendicitis but didn't recover.

From the Boston Globe, April 25, 1924. Courtesy of Connor Mah.

Sebeus Colver Maine (1812-1887)

   Bearing a remarkable resemblance to literary icon Charles Dickens, Massachusetts state senator, judge, and inventor Sebeus Colver Maine looks every bit the dapper 19th-century man-of-affairs. This interestingly named man carved quite a career for himself in a number of different vocations, but despite his impressive stature in Massachusetts public life, very little information could be found on him.

   Born in North Stonington, Massachusetts on June 22, 1812, Sebeus was one of thirteen children born to Jabish Breed Maine (1774-1856), a stone and plaster mason, and his wife, Freelove Edwards (1776-1856). No information could be located as to Maine's childhood or education, although it has been found that he taught school in Herkimer County, New York, and during the early 1840s operated the law office of Benton and Maine in the town of Little Falls. He married in Pittston, Maine on September 18, 1843, to Julia Octavia Stevens (1806-1881), a native of Kennebec County. The couple later became the parents of two children, Annie Evans (birth date unknown) and William Stevens Bartlett (birth date unknown) who later became a painter of landscapes.

   Maine was admitted to the Suffolk, Massachusetts bar in February 1845 and spent the next decade in the practice of law. In 1854 he won election to the Massachusetts State Senate, representing the county of Suffolk. His name appeared in an 1855 Massachusetts State Register and is shown below. 

  In the year following his term in the senate, he was named as a commissioner of Insolvency in Boston and in 1858 was appointed as Judge of the Boston Police Court, serving on the bench until 1866. During his tenure on the court, Maine had to contend with numerous instances of draft protests in Boston during the Civil War period, and is acknowledged by a 2012 Foxboro Reporter article as coming "down hard on those who protested the draft during a time of great peril for the nation." Maine's reputation for doling out harsh sentences to protesters garnered him a number of threats, and he eventually had to leave Boston for a short period out of concern for his safety!

   Following his tenure on the Boston police court, little else could be found on Maine's life. In addition to serving in the above capacities, Maine was also an inventor, being awarded patents for "inventions relating to disinfection, cooling, and ventilation" between 1866 and 1872. He also was awarded patents for a "cabinet bedstead" and a fire extinguisher in June 1869. Maine's wife Julia died in 1881 at age 75 and he died on November 25, 1887, at the same age. The Genealogical Record of Nathaniel Babcock, Simeon Maine, Issac Miner, Ezekiel Main notes that Sebeus Maine was buried in Stonington, but fails to mention a name for the cemetery in which he was interred. Julia Octavia Maine was buried in Pittston, Randolph County, Maine following her death in 1881.

   From the Genealogical Record of Nathaniel Babcock, Simeon Maine, Issac Miner, Ezekiel Main, 1909.