Phidelem Sinai Demers (1887-1973)

Portrait from the Sanford Tribune, April 16, 1959.

  Possessing one of the more exotic-sounding names you'll see on a roster of past Maine state legislators, Phidelem Sinai Demers was a native of Quebec, Canada who, following removal to the United States, began a long career as a pharmacist in York County, Maine. In addition to his chosen vocation, Demers also cultivated a reputation as one of Sanford, Maine's leading citizens, being a past president and treasurer of the Maine Pharmaceutical Association, a member of the Maine State Commission of Pharmacy, and a two-term state representative from York County. 

  Demers' story begins with his birth in Saint-Fortunat, Quebec, Canada on November 11, 1887, being the son of Telesphore (1847-1950) and Henriette (Lamontagne) Demers. During a long life that extended more than a century (he lived to age 102), Telesphore Demers and his wife raised thirteen children and he himself would achieve success in local Canadian politics, serving as mayor of Saint Fortunat and as school board president. Telesphore removed to Maine with his family in 1890 and after a brief residence in Springvale, settled in the town of Sanford, where he resided until his death.

  Young Phidelem Demers would attend "parish and public schools" in Maine and during his youth worked in a drug store. This work would have a lasting effect on Demers, and after deciding upon a career as a pharmacist enrolled at the University of Buffalo's College of Pharmacy. Following his studies, he earned his New York and Maine pharmacy certificates in 1909 and in the following year joined with his elder brother Donat in establishing a pharmacy on Sanford's "east side." Phidelem Demers married in Maine in April 1912 to Laura Brunelle (1886-1947), with whom he had two sons, Edouard (died in infancy in 1914) and Arthur (1916-1998), the latter also becoming a pharmacist.

   After several years of operating a pharmacy with his brother Donat, Demers sold his interest to his brother and in 1914 opened his own pharmacy, which continued until 1916. After the sale of that pharmacy Demers removed to Rumford, Maine to join the Rumford Drug Store, where he was employed until 1919, afterward returning to Sanford to operate his own pharmacy. In 1923 he purchased the Philip Woods Drug Store, which he continued to operate for over three decades.

  Through the following decades, Demers' status as one of York County's established pharmacists saw him maintain longtime memberships in both the York County and Maine Pharmaceutical Associations. His five-decade-long career in his field saw him hold both the presidency and treasurership of the Maine Pharmaceutical Association and was a member of the Cumberland County Pharmaceutical Association and treasurer of the Maine Independent Merchants Legislative Council. Further honors came Demers' way in 1937 when he was given the American Druggist Award for Service to Pharmacy, and in 1947 was appointed by Governor  Horace Hildreth to the Maine State Board of Pharmacy, serving a three-year term. 

From the Sanford Tribune and Advocate, November 30, 1933.

   While distinguished as a pharmacist, Phidelem S. Demers' time in political office is another noteworthy aspect of his life story. He began his political career at the local level, being a member of the Democratic town and county committees. He was first elected as a member of Sanford's school superintending committee in the early 1930s and was later a trustee for the Sanford Water District for over twenty years, first being elected in 1943. In 1934 Demers announced his candidacy for the Maine House of Representatives and in September of that year won the election, polling 3,014 votes. 

  Taking his seat at the start of the 1935-37 session, Demers' first term saw him introduce legislation that would establish a "representative town meeting form of government" for Sanford, as well as an act that changed the name of the Nasson Institute in Sanford to Nasson College. He would win a second term in 1937, polling 3,246 votes, and sat on the committee on Public Health. The 1937-38 term also saw Demers help draft a new Maine state pharmacy law, taking to the floor of the house to outline the bill's benefits, remarking:

"The purpose of this bill is to regulate the practice of pharmacy, to regulate the sale of poisons, to eliminate certain evil practices, which have been a menace to the public health, and to revise and clarify the present apothecary law, so as to make it workable. Due to our very liberal pharmacy laws,  we find variety stores camouflaged to look like drug stores, selling poisons and other dangerous drugs without discrimination."

From the September 10, 1936 Sanford Tribune and Advocate.

   Following his terms in the legislature, Phidelem Demers returned to his work in Springvale and remained active in other Springvale civic organizations, including a stint as president of the Springvale Rotary from 1947-48 and as a trustee for the Springvale Public Library, serving well into the 1960s. He continued service as a member of the Sanford Water District and retired from his pharmacy in April 1964, being feted with a celebratory dinner at a local steakhouse. Widowed in 1947, Demers would remarry three years later to Aurore Brunelle (1900-1987), who would survive him upon his death. Sources also denote Demers as a keen philatelist with an impressive knowledge of American issues and commemorative issues.

  After many years of service to York County at both the local and state level, Phidelem Sinai Demers died aged 85 on June 6, 1973. He was later interred in the Demers family plot at the St. Ignatius Cemetery in Sanford, Maine.

From the Biddeford Saco Journal, April 17, 1964.

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.

Benneville Yeakel Shelley (1823-1892), Benneville Keim (1790-1872)

From the Omaha Daily Bee, May 4, 1902.

    The figure of Benneville Yeakel Shelley looms large in the early history of Niobrara, Nebraska, a moderately sized village located in Knox County. A physician born and raised in Pennsylvania, Shelley was later a resident of Iowa and arrived in the Nebraska Territory with a head full of dreams in 1856. Heading a small band of settlers, he marked off an area of land on the Niobrara River that would eventually become the town of Niobrara. In the years following his arrival in what would become Knox County, Shelley went on to further repute, and in the late 1870s was elected to the Nebraska House of Representatives for one term.

   Benneville Yeakel Shelley was born in Quakertown, Pennsylvania on April 20, 1823. Deciding upon a career in medicine early in life, he enrolled at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia (graduating in 1846) and soon after established his practice in that city. In 1850 he resettled in the still young state of Iowa, and after locating at Kanesville (now known as Council Bluffs), continued to operate his practice. 

   Embued like many others of the time with the pioneer spirit, B.Y. Shelley heard favorable reports of the settlement of the Nebraska Territory in the early 1850s, and, by 1855 had made his first visit to Omaha. In March of that year, he helped to incorporate the Nebraska Medical Society and later left Omaha to found a settlement in the then existing Black Bird County, called the Black Bird Hills colony. By early 1856 Shelley had returned to Kanesville, and, with fellow pioneer R.R. Cowan and a small band of settlers, returned to Nebraska in the hopes of establishing a town on the Niobrara River. Finding their desired location on an area of land populated by Ponca Indians, Shelley and his company marked off an area that would evolve into Niobrara. By the summer of 1856 the company (now known as the L' Eau qui Court Company) had returned to Iowa to entice others into settling the new town, and after their return had built several buildings and small garrison named "Old Cabin", which was later subject to a number of skirmishes with the native Ponca population. The natives, angered by the taking of their land, would burn down several of the colony's structures, and the winter of 1856 saw Shelley and three other men hunkered down in Old Cabin, away from the elements and natives.

   Following the incorporation of the L' Eau qui Court Company, Benneville Y. Shelley served as its president and in the summer of 1857, the steamship Omaha arrived at the community, bringing lumber and much-needed supplies. The erection of the settlement's first frame building came shortly thereafter, and in a few month's time, Niobrara could boast of a saw-mill, a mercantile store, "a $10,000 hotel" and sixty residents. A post office was also established and in 1857 Shelley was named as the area's first postmaster. Niobrara would later become the county seat of the L'Eau qui Court County, which in 1873 underwent a name change to Knox County, which still exists today.

   In 1859 the L'Eau qui Court Company dissolved and was replaced by the Niobrara Town Company, with B.Y. Shelley being one of its incorporators. By the outbreak of the Civil War Shelley had removed back to Iowa and in 1862 enlisted as an assistant surgeon in the 5th Iowa Cavalry. He served with that unit until the close of the war and was mustered out in August 1865. 

   Certain aspects of B.Y. Shelley's life following his Civil War service remain a mystery. He is recorded in his Omaha Daily Bee obituary as having practiced medicine in Niobrara, Pennsylvania, and Council Bluffs, Iowa, and also married and had a daughter, Laura. By the late 1870s he had removed back to Niobrara and in 1878 was elected to the Nebraska House of Representatives from Knox and Holt Counties. Taking his seat at the start of the 1879-81 session, Shelley was named to the committees on Federal Relations, Privileges and Elections, and Blind, Deaf and Dumb, and Insane Asylums.

  Shelley's life following his service in state government saw him remove back to Council Bluffs, Iowa, "making the latter place his headquarters" during the last five years of his life. Shelley died at his home in that city on February 26, 1892, aged 68, and was survived by his daughter, Laura. He was later interred at the Walnut Hill Cemetery, also located in Council Bluffs.

From the Omaha Daily Bee, February 29, 1892.

From the "Keim and Allied Families" 1899.

   A member of the distinguished Keim family of Berks County, Pennsylvania, Benneville Keim was a banker and hardware merchant in the city of Reading and also served as its mayor for three consecutive terms. The son of Johannes (John) and Susanna (DeBenneville) Keim, Benneville Keim was born in Reading on November 30, 1790. A family with its roots in the United States dating back to the 17th century, Johannes and Susanna Keim's children also included George DeBenneville Keim (1778-1852), a former chief burgess of Reading as well as a leading banker and iron manufacturer.

  Benneville Keim married on August 2, 1812, to Mary Hoch (last name also spelled High), with whom he had eleven children. Several of these children would die premature deaths, but amongst their children who lived to adulthood was William High Keim (1813-1862), who would follow his father into public service. He preceded his father as Mayor of Reading (serving from 1848-49) and later represented Pennsylvania's 8th district in Congress from 1858-59. A term as Pennsylvania Surveyor General followed and from 1861-62 was a Brigadier General of Volunteers during the Civil War.

  Following his marriage, Benneville Keim entered into banking in Reading, and from 1824-1843 was affiliated with the Farmer's Bank of Reading, serving at various times as its president and cashier. Keim would hold the post of president of the Reading Water Company and in 1836 joined with his nephew George May Keim (a future Congressman and Reading mayor) in establishing the Keim, Whitaker, and Co., later to become an "extensive iron works, one of the earliest and most important metal works of that region." Both uncle and nephew would also have a hand in the founding of the Reading Iron and Nail Works in June 1838.

  Benneville Keim didn't enter the political life of his city until well into his sixties, being elected as Mayor of Reading in 1858 as a candidate of the American Party (also referred to as the "Know Nothing" Party.) He would be returned to office for two more terms in 1859 and 1860 and was defeated for reelection in 1861 (having run as a Republican), losing out to Democrat Joel B. Wanner.

  A longtime parishioner at the First Universalist Church of Reading as well as a founding incorporator of the Charles Evans Cemetery in that city, Benneville Keim continued to reside in Reading until his death on October 30, 1872, one month short of the 82nd birthday. Widowed in 1833, he was later interred alongside his wife at the Charles Evans Cemetery.

Coursin Lafayette Mohney (1860-1922)

Portrait from the Memoirs of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 1904.

   Lifelong Pennsylvania native Coursin Lafayette Mohney was for many years a leading contractor and builder in Pittsburgh, and in addition to his chosen profession also ventured into politics, being a member of the Pittsburgh common council and later a Progressive Party candidate for the Pennsylvania state senate. The son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Cribbs) Mohney, Coursin Lafayette Mohney's birth occurred in Clarion County, Pennsylvania on September 9, 1860. He attended public schools in the county of his birth and later embarked on a teaching career in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania that extended three years.

   Relocating to Pittsburgh in the early 1880s, Mohney continued schooling in that city, enrolling at the Duff's Mercantile College. Following his graduation, Mohney entered into a career as a building contractor, a vocation that saw him operate "throughout the country." The succeeding years saw Mohney's reputation in his field soar, with the Memoirs of Allegheny County noting:

"Some of the largest and finest buildings in Pittsburgh, Allegheny City and the surrounding country have been erected under his personal supervision, and few contractors are better known or sustain a high reputation."

   Coursin Mohney married in 1883 to Verona, Pennsylvania native Anne DeGraff (1861-1942), and the couple's near four-decade union saw the births of four children, Eva, Clyde (1887-1966), Clare, and Paul. In 1901 he joined the contracting firm of Langenheim, Cochran, and Co., and two years later made his first run for elective office, successfully running for the Pittsburgh Common Council. His time on the council saw him named to the committees on surveys and public works and retained his seat until 1907.

   In 1914 Mohney set his sights on higher office, becoming the Washington Party candidate for the Pennsylvania state senate. An offshoot of Theodore Roosevelt's "Bull Moose" or Progressive Party, the Washington Party ran a number of legislative candidates in the Pennsylvania elections of 1912 and 1914. Hoping to represent the state's 42nd senatorial district (comprising part of Allegheny County), Mohney would poll a total of 3,273 votes on election day, over 5,000 votes behind winning Republican candidate William Joseph Burke (1862-1925).

   Mohney's life following his senatorial candidacy saw him employed as a carpenter and maintained memberships in several fraternal clubs, including the Pride of the West, the Odd Fellows, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and the Masons. Notice has been found as to his declaring bankruptcy in February 1917 and on December 5, 1922, he died at his Pittsburgh home, aged 62. He was survived by his wife Anna and both were interred at the Union Dale Cemetery in Pittsburgh.

   

From the Pittsburgh Daily Post, December 8, 1922.

Kurnal Rufus Babbitt (1864-1920)

Portrait from Noted Men of the West, 1902.

   The following biography marks a return to Colorado to examine the life of attorney Kurnal Rufus Babbitt, and after locating several sources listing him as "Judge Kurnal R. Babbitt", I was led to believe that at some point he'd served as a jurist. While this turned out to not be the case, Babbitt was referred to as judge due to his 1894 candidacy for judge of the District Court of Colorado, an election he lost by a few thousand votes. Following this defeat, Babbitt was a resident of New York City, where he gained additional distinction as a leading attorney in the city. 

   A native of Michigan, Kurnal Rufus Babbitt was born in Salem, Washtenaw County on June 25, 1864, being the son of Rufus and Ellen Lorena (Cady) Babbitt. He would attend the Michigan State Normal School (graduating in 1884) and after deciding on becoming a lawyer, enrolled at the Columbian University in New York. He earned his bachelor of laws degree in 1889 and shortly after graduating removed to Washington, D.C. to accept a position in the U.S. Post Office Department.

  Babbitt's time in Washington extended until 1891, whereafter he went west to Colorado. First settling in Aspen, he opened a law practice here and later took an interest not only in Colorado's mining opportunities but mining law. Through the 1890s and 1900s, Babbitt became well known throughout the country through his "specialized knowledge of mining law", a reputation that "drew to him as clients many of the largest mine owners and mining companies."

  In 1894 Babbitt made his lone instance of entering politics, in that year becoming a candidate for District Court judge for Colorado's 4th judicial district. A brief mention of his candidacy in the November 15 Rocky Ford Enterprise lists him as a candidate not only of the Democratic party but also the Populists, and his opponent that year was Republican Ira Harris. Babbitt would lose out at the polls that November, garnering 7,355 votes to Harris' winning total of 10, 472. Despite his loss, Babbitt would be referred to as "judge" by many sources of the time, with his New York County Bar Association obituary noting that:

"From that time on, he was called Judge Babbitt. He was rightfully called Judge, fore he was judicial in his thoughts, in his advice and in his conduct.

From the Political Campaigns of Colorado.

   In the year following his candidacy, Kurnal Babbitt married to Lucie Cullyford (1863-1937) and later had three children, Eleanor, Genevieve (1900-1957), and Theodore. Babbitt continued to reside in Colorado until 1908, whereafter he removed to New York City, and for the next decade built up another impressive law practice, being a "General Counsel for many very large corporations and important banking interests." 

   The last year of Babbitt's life saw him in a state of impaired health, being afflicted with a "complication of disorders". He died at his New York City home on January 24, 1920, aged 55, and was survived by his wife Lucie. His remains were later returned to Michigan for burial in the Babbitt family plot at the Rural Hill Cemetery in Northville. Proving that he was a far from forgotten public figure, the town of Argo, Minnesota later changed its name to Babbitt in his honor, and still exists today.

From the New York Sun, January 25, 1920.

Jhilson Payne Cummins (1838-1918)

Portrait from "Freemasonry in Three Parts", 1903.

   A resident of several states during a life that extended nearly eighty years, Jhilson Payne Cummins was an Indiana native and Civil War veteran who served in local political offices in Iowa and Kansas before relocating to the Oklahoma Territory, where he was a probate judge and member of the territorial house of representatives in the early 1900s. Cummins was later a resident of California, where he died and is buried. The son of Daniel and Nancy Ellender (Collier) Cummins, Jhilson Payne Cummins was born in Jackson County, Indiana on November 26, 1838.

  While little information could be found in regards to Cummins' upbringing in his birth state, he is recorded as having attended school in Clear Lake, Indiana and at age 17 began a brief career as a school teacher in Elkinsville. In 1858 he married his first wife Nancy Emmons, who died just eight months later. In 1862 Cummins remarried to Sarah Lutes (1846-1883), with whom he had several children, including Nancy Emeline, Esther Eveline, Howard (1868-1896), Charlotte (1870-1914), Thomas (died in infancy in 1872), George Marion Arthur (1876-1921), James Payne (1878-1960) and Fred. 

   At the dawn of the Civil War Jhilson Cummins signed on for service, enlisting in Co. G of the 5th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. His service with that unit extended three months, and in 1863 reenlisted, this time serving amongst the ranks of Co. H., 120th Indiana Infantry. He was elected as First Lieutenant and would see action at the "battles of Atlanta, Campagne, Columbus, Franklin, and Nashville", and in 1865 was promoted to Brevet Major. That same year Cummins assumed the post of Judge Advocate for the North Carolina military district and was honorably discharged in January 1866.

   Following his return to Indiana Cummins engaged in the study of law and enrolled at the University of Indiana at Bloomington. He earned his bachelor of laws degree in 1867 and after being admitted to the bar relocated to Adams County, Iowa. Settling in the small town of Quincy, Cummins opened his practice and in 1869 won his first political office, being elected as Adams County auditor. He would serve in that capacity from 1870-75 and in the latter year removed to Minneapolis, Ottawa County, Kansas. 

  Within a few years of his establishing roots in Ottawa County, Cummins had become a leading citizen in his community, being a founder (and later president) of the Bank of Minneapolis, and later held the presidency of the Bank of Clay Center. He would continue his banking interests in Lincoln County in the late 1870s, founding the Bank of Lincoln County (noted as being the first such financial institution in that area), and as a man of means, devoted thousands of dollars for investment in the county. Tragedy would strike Cummins in 1883 when his wife of twenty years, Sarah, died aged 37. He remarried in the year following her death to Lenora Davis, about whom little is known. Following her death, Cummins became a three-time widower, and in January 1893 married for a fourth time, taking Malinda Pemberton Davis Benedict (1846-1934) as his wife.

  After turning over his interests in the bank to his head cashier in 1884, Cummins was appointed as a U.S. Commissioner for the Oklahoma Territory in 1889. Shortly after his settlement in Kingfisher County, Cummins was elected as the first probate judge for the county in 1890 and in 1894 won a second four-year term.

From the Hennessey Clipper, November 2, 1894.

   In 1902 Cummins returned to political life when he entered into the race for representative from Kingfisher to the Oklahoma Territorial legislature. His candidacy was reported on favorably by the Hennessey Clipper, which, in addition to touting his civil war service and judgeship, acknowledged him as 

"A man of legal attainments standing well at home and throughout the Territory, having the confidence of the public with large acquaintence over the Territory and among public men a pioneer resident and taxpayer, Judge Cummins possesses all the qualifications necessary for a first class legislator."

   Jhilson Cummins emerged victorious at the polls that November and took his seat at the start of the 1903-05 session. His one term in that body saw him named to the committees on Elections and Legislative Apportionment, the Judiciary, Insurance, Manufactures and Home Industries, Printing, and the Penitentiary and Reformatory. Cummins' term also saw him author a three-volume work on the history of Freemasonry, entitled "Freemasonry in Three Parts: Being a Sketch of Its Origin, Spread, and Object", published in 1903.

   After leaving office in 1905 Cummins continued to reside in Kingfisher and in 1912 was again a candidate for county judge of probate, losing out in the August Democratic primary. In 1914 he and his wife removed to Santa Rosa, California, where he resided until his death. In early 1918 his health began to fail and for several weeks following was confined to his bed, his death occurring on March 2, 1918, at his home. Cummins was survived by his wife Malinda and was later interred under a small military marker at the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery. 

From the Hobart Weekly Democrat Chief, March 18, 1918.

Barnwell Pickins Stephenson (1861-1947)

From the History of Bee County, 1939.

  One can always count on the Lonestar State to field an interestingly named political figure, and that is precisely the case with the recent discovery of Barnwell Pickins Stephenson, a leading citizen of Beeville, Texas who was elected as that city's mayor in the early 1910s. Born in Beeville on June 14, 1861, Barnwell Pickins "B.P." Stephenson was one of several children born to Hugh John and Martha Ann Elizabeth (Hollan) Stephenson. 

  Recorded as the second white child to have been born in Beeville, young Barnwell removed with his family to the neighboring town of Yoakum while still a child, and grew to adulthood in that town. His residency in Yoakum saw him emerge as a leading cotton buyer in the vicinity, as well as a "dealer in general merchandise". In the early 1890s, Stephenson owned and operated the Yoakum Opera House, was an organizer of the Yoakum Masonic Lodge, and was an early stockholder in the First National Bank of Yoakum, which had been established in 1890. 

   Barnwell P. Stephenson married his first wife, Elizabeth Josiah Cleaveland (1861-1916), sometime in the early 1880s, and the couple's marriage saw the births of at least three children, Tena, William B., and Hugh. Following her death in 1916 Stephenson remarried in December 1918 to Alice Ainsworth, who preceded him in death in 1933. He remarried for a third time in April 1937 to a Mrs. E.M. Baggett, who survived Stephenson upon his death in 1947. 

   Stephenson began his political career in Yoakum with his service as a notary public, and from 1898-99 served as Mayor of Yoakum for one term. In 1905 he removed with his family back to Beeville where he continued in cotton buying, and in 1913 was elected as Beeville's mayor, defeating his opponent C.A. Heldenfels by a vote of 214 to 70. His term extended two years and several years after leaving office joined with his son Hugh in establishing a grocery store, operating under the firm name of B.P. Stephenson and Son. Stephenson himself would lose interest in the business and by 1923 had his portion of the business purchased by his son, who continued to operate it alone.

  B.P. Stephenson returned to cotton buying after leaving the aforementioned business, finally retiring in the late 1930s. He remained active well into his eighties, being a church deacon and Masonic lodge member. Late in his life, Stephenson was awarded a life membership in the Yoakum Masonic Lodge, which he had helped to organize decades before. On January 7, 1947, Stephenson died at his Beeville home, aged 85, and was shortly thereafter interred at the Glenwood Cemetery in that city. 

From the January 9, 1947 Beeville Bee-Picayune.

Dannitte Hill Mays (1852-1930)

From the History of Florida, Past and Present, Vol. III, 1923.

   The Strangest Names in American Political History makes its first stop in Florida for 2018 to examine the life of multi-term state representative, gubernatorial candidate, and U.S. Representative Dannitte Hill Mays, a man best known to this author as that funny named Florida congressman whose first name sounds as if it belongs on the periodic table of elements. Curious name notwithstanding, Mays was for over twenty years a political power player in the Sunshine state, serving three terms in the state legislature (including one as speaker of the house), a two-time candidate for Governor, and in 1908 was elected to the first of two terms in Congress. 

   A son of Richard Adams and Eliza (Williams) Mays, Dannitte Hill Mays was born in Madison County, Florida on April 28, 1852. Bestowed the unusual name Dannitte (an ancestral family name) upon his birth, Mays was not the first child in his family born with that name, an older brother (name spelled Daunitt Hill Mays) having died in November 1851. Dannitte Mays' formative years were spent upon his father's plantation and attended the public schools of Savannah, Georgia. From 1866 to 1870 he was a student at Washington and Lee University, and despite having the opportunity to go into multiple fields, Mays elected to pursue farming as a full-time career. 

  Returning to Florida, Mays began his career in agriculture in a "small way", and by the time his two terms in Congress had concluded owned large landholdings in Jefferson, Madison, and Leon Counties, totaling "7,000 acres and his farms are operated by tenants." In 1880 he married to Emmala "Emma" Bellamy Parkhill (1861-1954), and the couples near five-decade marriage saw the births of six children, Elizabeth B.P. (?--?), Mary Eliza (1884-1957), Sarah Croom (?--?), Emmala Mays (1889-1975), Dannitte Hill (1893-1966), and Charles Parkhill (1902-1981).

  Dannitte Hill Mays began his political career in 1888 when he was a delegate from Jefferson County to the Florida Democratic state convention. Two years later he was elected to the first of three terms as Jefferson County's representative to the Florida state legislature. His first term from 1891-93 saw him named to the committees on Rules and State Institutions, and after winning a second term in late 1894, he sat on the committees on Finance and Taxation, Public Health, Public Printing, and Railroads and Telegraphs. Mays also chaired the Appropriations Committee during the 1895-97 session.

  Elected to a third term in late 1896, Mays was elevated by his fellow representatives to the position of Speaker of the House at the start of the 1897-99 session, and during this term held no committee assignments. Following the conclusion of his final house term, Mays set his sights on higher office, and in 1900 his name was put forward as a candidate for Florida Governor at that year's Democratic convention held in Jacksonville. Despite an impressive showing in the balloting, Mays would fail of nomination by only a few votes, the nomination instead going to William Sherman Jennings, who later won the election and took office in January 1901. In 1904 Mays again made a run for Governor in the Democratic state primaries but was defeated by Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, who in turn was elected as Governor that November.

From the Pensacola Journal, January 26, 1908.

  After two losing gubernatorial candidacies, Mays's political fortunes changed in 1908 when he announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 3rd congressional district. As one of five Democratic candidates vying to succeed outgoing congressman William B. Lamar, Mays faced an uphill battle. After announcing his candidacy in January 1908, Mays' campaign platform and previous legislative service were touted in a number of Florida newspapers, and Mays himself detailed the following tenets of his political platform in the April 16, 1908 edition of the Madison New Enterprise, including:

• An improved Florida waterway system to meet the demands of Florida's "growing commercial importance."
• An improved rural free delivery system
• Government aid in building good roads
• Backing labor unions in the state 

  In addition to the above platform, Mays would relate that as a longtime farmer and lifetime Florida resident, he was very much in touch with the needs of the average citizen, remarking that:

"As a Floridian born and bred, I invite and solicit my people's support. Having been a farmer always, I may have missed some of the strenuous features of modern life; but I claim that this will not alienate from me, a tiller of the soil, the support of the people, nor disqualify me from serving them faithfully as Congressman."

  Following his win in the 1908 Democratic congressional primary, Mays faced off against Republican William H. Northrup in the general election that November. When the votes were tallied it was Dannitte Mays who coasted to an impressive victory, garnering 9, 314 votes to his opponents 1,712. Taking his seat in Congress in January 1909, Mays' first term saw him named to the committees on Private Land Claims and Reform in the Civil Service.

From the Tallahassee Weekly True Democrat, June 5, 1908.

   Announcing his bid for reelection in 1910, Mays' reelection campaign was advertised in newspapers throughout his district throughout that year, which intoned his accomplishments during his first term. As the Pensacola Herald detailed in its May 8, 1910 edition, Mays:

"Has done and is doing earnest work for his district--he has had over half a million dollars appropriated for the rivers and harbors of his district for one year--he has had rural routes increased nearly 100 per cent, and will continue to work until every family has daily mail, carriers have better pay, and good roads throughout the district from one end to the other. He is a farmer, and is making every effort to assist the farmers of the district, and encourage agriculture."

  In November 1910 Dannitte Mays polled another impressive victory, besting his Republican opponent, Eric Von Axelson, by over 7,800 votes. During the 1911-13 session Mays was named to the committees on Expenditures in the Department of Agriculture, and Post Offices and Post Roads. In the 1912 election year, Mays entered the Democratic primary but later withdrew, the nomination instead going to Emmett Wilson. 
  Following his time in Congress Mays returned to farming and partook in two of his favorite leisure activities, hunting, and fishing. Dannitte Mays died in Monticello, Florida on May 9, 1930, several days after his 78th birthday. He was survived by his wife Emma, who, after her passing at age 93 in 1954, was interred alongside her husband at the Roseland Cemetery in Monticello.