History of Wiscasset, (Lincoln County) Maine United States of America

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Biographies:

John Ward Dean, librarian, was born at Wiscasset, Maine, March 13, 1815; son of Charles and Patience (Kingsbury) Dean; grandson of John and Sarah (Bridges) Dean, and of John and Miriam (Place) Kingsbury; and a descendant of Thomas Deane, who was in Boston, Mass., as early as 1692. He was educated in Portland, Maine, and resided in that city until 1835. In 1839 he removed to Providence, R.I., and in 1843 became a resident of Boston, Mass. In 1862 he was appointed one of the editors of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, established in 1847, and edited the work from October, 1862, to October, 1863; from July, 1864, to October, 1864; and from January, 1875. He was recording secretary of the American statistical association, 1860-72. He was elected librarian of the New England historic, genealogical society in 1872, held the office until 1889, and was again elected librarian in June, 1892. In 1870 he was chosen president of the Prince society, of which he was one of the founders, serving until 1880, when he declined a re-election and was made first vice-president. In 1887 he edited for that society's publications the monograph on "Capt. John Mason, the Founder of New Hampshire," by Charles Wesley Tuttle, Ph.D. He edited the first volume of the Historical Magazine, established in Boston in 1857 and removed the next year to New York, and edited the numbers for January and February, 1858, and December, 1868. He edited the New England Bibliopolist from its commencement in January, 1880. Among his works are: A Memoir of the Rev. Nathaniel Ward, Author of the Simple Cobbler of Aggawam (1868); and Memoir of the Rev. Michael Wigglesworth, Author of the Day of Doom (1871). He died in Medford, Mass., Jan. 22, 1902.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Edmund Flagg, author, was born in Wiscasset, Maine, Nov. 24, 1815; son of Edmund and Harriet (Payson) Flagg, and grandson of Josiah and Anna (Webster) Flagg, and of Col. David and Nancy (Ingersoll) Payson. His first ancestor in America, Thomas Flagg, of Scratby in the Hundred of East Flegg, near Yarmouth, Norfolk county, England, with his future wife Mary, came to Boston with Richard Carver, in the ship Rose in 1637. Edmund was prepared for college by the Rev. Dr. Hezekiah Packard, and was graduated from Bowdoin in 1835. He then taught a private school at Louisville, Ky., for a few months, and later became editorially connected with the Louisville Journal. He studied law in 1840-41 at Vicksburg, Miss., at the same time editing the Whig, and in 1842-43 was editor of the Gazette at Marietta, Ohio. He edited and published the St. Louis Evening Gazette, 1844-45, and later served as official reporter of the courts of St. Louis until 1849 when he was appointed secretary of the United States legation at Berlin. In 1851 he became U.S. consul at Venice, and in 1852 was editor of the St. Louis Daily Times. He was superintendent of statistics in the department of state at Washington, having special charge of the report on commercial relations, 1854-57; was Washington correspondent of the western press, 1857-60, and was in charge of the library of the department of the interior, 1861-70. He was married, Feb. 18, 1862, to Kate Adeline, daughter of Sidney S. Gallaher of Jefferson county, W.Va. He published: The Howard Queen (1848); Blanehe of Artoia (1850); Edmond Dantes (1849); Venice, the City of the Sea, 1797-1849 (2 vols., 1853); and De Molai, the Last of the Military Grand Masters (1888); besides several dramas including Mary Tudor. He died at Highland View, Fairfax county, Va., Nov. 1, 1890.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

John Huntington Crane Coffin, mathematician, was born in Wiscasset, Maine, Sept. 14, 1815; son of Nathaniel and Mary (Porter) Coffin; grandson of James and Martha (McLellan) Coffin and of Dr. Aaron Porter; great-grandson of Dr. Edmund and Shuah (Bartlet) Coffin; great-great grandson of Nathaniel and Sarah (Brocklebank) Dole Coffin; and great-great-great grandson of Tristram Coffin, Jr., who came to America in 1642. He was graduated at Bowdoin college in 1834 and in 1836 was appointed professor of mathematics in the U.S. navy, serving on various ships and on surveys until 1843, when he was detailed to the U.S. naval observatory, Washington, D. C. He was married in 1845 to Louisa Harrison of Washington. After 1853 he had charge of the department of mathematics and subsequently of astronomy and navigation at the U.S. naval academy. He removed to Cambridge, Mass., in 1865, where he was superintendent of the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac, 1866-77 and its editor, 1869-81. In 1876 its office of publication was removed from Cambridge, Mass., to Washington, D. C. In 1877 he was retired from the navy. The American academy of arts and sciences, Boston, the American philosophical society, Philadelphia, and the National academy of sciences, included him as an active member. He received the degree of LL. D. from Bowdoin in 1884. He contributed to the volumes of the U.S. naval observatory (1845-49), and prepared for the U.S. naval academy The Compass (1863); and Navigation and Nautical Astronomy (1868). He died in Washington, D. C., Jan. 8, 1890.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Joseph Packard, educator, was born in Wiscasset, Me., Dec. 23, 1812; son of the Rev. Hezekiah and Mary (Spring) Packard; grandson of Jacob and Dorothy (Perkins) Packard and of Alpheus and Sarah (Frost) Spring, and a descendant of Samuel Packard, who settled first at Hingham, then in West Bridgewater, Mass., in 1638. Joseph Packard attended the private school kept by his father, and Phillips academy, Andover, Mass., and was graduated from Bowdoin college, A.B., 1831, A.M., 1834. He taught in the academies at Walpole, N.H., and Brattleboro, Vt., 1831-33; attended Andover Theological seminary, 1833-34; and was professor of Latin at Bristol college, Pa., 1834-36. He was ordained deacon in 1836 and advanced to the priesthood in 1837; was professor of sacred literature at the P. E. Theological seminary, Fairfax county, Va., 1836-95; dean of the seminary, 1880-95, and professor emeritus, 1895-1902. He was married in January, 1838, to Rosina, daughter of Gen. Walter Jones of Washington, Pa. The honorary degree of D.D. was conferred on him by Kenyon college, Ohio, in 1847. He was a member of the American Oriental society, and of the American commission for the revision of the Bible, 1872-85; prepared a commentary on Malachi for Lange's Commentary in 1874, contributed articles to the Bibliotheca Sacra and other religious periodicals, and published several sermons and addresses, including Questions on the Gospels (1855). He died at Theological Seminary, Va., May 3, 1902.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor