History of Norridgewock, (Somerset County) Maine United States of America

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Biographies:

John Edward Abbott, lawyer, was born in Norridgewock, Maine, Nov. 30, 1845, son of the Hon. John L. and Elizabeth T. (Allen) Abbott. His education was acquired in the public schools of his native place and at Newton, Mass., until 1862. He entered Yale in the class of 1869, and was graduated at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Court., in 1869. He studied law in the office of his father and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1872, entering into partnership with his father in 1876. He was a member of the Massachusetts legislature in 1893 and 1894. He married June 12, 1878, Alice G. Cochrane, daughter of the Hon. M. N. Cochrane of Compton, Canada, senator in the Dominion parliament.

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

Rebecca Sophia Clarke, author, was born in Norridgewock, Maine, Feb. 22, 1833; daughter of Asa and Sophia (Bates) Clarke; and granddaughter of John Clarke and of Solomon Bates. She was educated in her native town, and in 1861 began to write juvenile stories under the pen-name "Sophie May." The "Prudy Stories" were originally published in the Congregationalist. Her published books include, Little Prudy Stories (6 vols., 1864-66); Dotty Dimple Stories (6 vols., 1868-70); Little Prudy's Flyaway Series (6 vols., 1871-74); The Doctor' s Daughter (1873); Our Helen (1875); The Asbury Twins (1876); Flaxie Frizzle Stories (6 vols., 1876-84); Quinnebasset Girls (1877); Janet; or, a Poor Heiress (1882); Drones' Honey (1887); In Old Quinnebasset (1891).

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

Wellington Parker Kidder, inventor, was born at Norridgewock, Maine, Feb. 19, 1853; son of Wellington and Annie (Winslow) Kidder, and grandson of Isaac Kidder and of the Rev. Howard Winslow. His father, a farmer, invented several improvements in farming implements. Wellington attended the district school, and for three years the Baton preparatory school in Norridgewock. In 1868, when but fifteen years old, he patented through Clifford, patent attorney, an improvement in rotary steam engines. A few years later the superintendent of the locomotive repair shops of Portland, Maine, sought to obtain a patent for the same invention. He studied applied mechanics an d drawing in Boston, Mass., 1869-1874. In 1874 he became interested in printing presses and he invented a web automatic adjustable printing press, which received a diploma from the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics association in 1878. The Kidder press came into general use, being especially adapted to job printing and to printing and consecutively numbering railroad and other tickets from a continuous roll. He made numerous improvements in printing presses, including intermittent web feeding, also a system of machinery for bending and finishing electro-plates. He was married, Sept. 4, 1878, to Emma Louise, daughter of Francis and Louisa (Axtel) Hinckley, of Maiden, Mass. In 1880 he incorporated the Kidder Press Manufacturing company and was its secretary, treasurer and mechanical engineer till 1894. He invented the "Franklin" and "Wellington" typewriting machines and became president of the Wellington Typewriter company. The Wellington was patented and sold as the "Empire" in over twenty foreign countries, and was manufactured in the United States, Canada and Germany. He is the inventor of a noiseless writing machine called the "Silent," adapted to rapid manifolding work and substituting for the resounding blow, a quiet pressure by leverage, as in a printing press. In 1898, after several months spent in France, Germany and England, and a thorough investigation of the subject in the United States, he invented important improvements in automobiles and in heavy motor trucking vehicles, manufactured by the Kidder Motor Vehicle company, of New Haven, Conn., for which company Mr. Kidder became consulting engineer in January, 1900. His invention covered the direct spring-mounted gear, eliminating the chain and sprocket wheel.

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

Volney E. Howard, representative, was born in Norridgewock, Maine, in 1808. He was a lawyer in Vicksburg, Miss., 1830-47, during which time he was also reporter of the court of errors and appeals, and editor of the Mississippian, the organ of the Democratic party of that state. His position as editor brought him into the political controversies of the day, and he fought a duel with Sergeant S. Prentiss, the celebrated orator, also a native of Maine, and another with Alexander G. McNutt, a member of the state legislature, and afterward governor of the state. He removed to San Antonio, Texas, in 1847, where he was active in securing the annexation of the state, and was elected one of its first representatives in congress, serving in the 31st and 32d congresses, 1849-53. He favored the Missouri compromise, and in 1849 was sent to California by President Taylor on a special mission regarding the admission of the territory as a state. He returned to California after the close of his second term in congress, and continued his residence in that state during the remainder of his life. He published: Mississippi Law Reports, 1834-44 (7 vols., 1839-44), and with A. Hutchinson, Statute Laws of Mississippi (1840). He died in Santa Monica, Cal., May 14, 1889.

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