Honorable Elias Dudley and Some of His Political Correspondence With Notes by the Author Sprague's Journal of Maine History Vol. IV June, 1916 No. I pages 10-15 Honorable Elias Dudley and Some of His Political Correspondence With Notes by the Author (Continued from Vol. 3. Page 147) The Honorable Lucillius A. Emery, of Ellsworth, Chief Justice Emeritus of the S.J. Court of Maine, recently furnished the Journal with old letters to and papers of Honorable Elias Dudley who was prominent in the political affairs of the Whig Party in Maine, when Edward Kent was Governor of the State and its political leader, and who was later a Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine. Bangor, Jan. 27, 1841 Dear Sir: I have applied to Gov. Kent for the office of Public Administrator for this County, and as you know something of me I take the liberty to ask your aid in having me appointed to that office. It is not a very great office, to be sure, but it may be one of some emolument & beneficial in other respects. I have some acquaintance with the duties of an Administrator, and, if I had not, there would not be much difficulty in fitting myself for them. By rendering what assistance you can consistently in this matter you will very much oblige. Your Friend & Servt., John E. Godfrey(1) P.S. If anything further should be necessary in the way of petitions, will you be kind enough to inform me? J.E.G. John Edward Godfrey, was born in Hampden, Maine, September 6, 1809, and was the son of John and Sophia Godfrey. His father was the John Godfrey already mentioned in this notes (Vol. 3, p. 147), born at Taunton, Massachusetts, May 27, 1781, and a direct descendant of Richard Godfrey of England. His mother was the daughter of Colonel Samuel Dutton, born at Hallowell, July 31, 1786. Married in Bangor, May 21, 1806. During his boyhood his father moved from Hampden to Bangor, which was ever after his home until the time of his death. He was educated in the public schools of Hampden and Bangor and the academies in Machias and Hampden. He read law with William Abbot, and was admitted to the bar, at the Court of Common Pleas, 1832, and at the Supreme Judicial Court in 1835. He first commenced the practice of law in Calias in 1833, but remained there only one year, when he returned to Bangor. On May 16, 1837, he married Elizabeth Angela Stackpole, daughter of David Stackpole of Portland. They had two children, John Franklin Godfrey, born June 23, 1839, and George Frederick Godfrey, born October 23, 1840. His wife died May 27, 1868, and on September 19, 1876, he married again, Laura Jane, daughter of Michael Schwartz, by whom he had one child, a daughter Ethel, born September 26, 1878. He was a member of the City Council in Bangor in 1840-47, and of the Common Council 1848, 1854, to 1859, during the last of which he was its president, and from 1866 to 1870, was a member of the Board of Alderman. He served as a member of the school committee from 1847- 1853 and from 1874 to 1877. In 1856 he was elected Judge of Probate for Penobscot county, and served until 1881. He was a member of the Maine Historical Society and one of the originators and members of the Bangor Historical Society, and was elected its president in 1873, which place he held for the remainder of his life. He was an ardent and faithful student of Maine History and devoted much of his time to this pursuit. The Honorable Albert Ware Paine, in a paper on Mr. Godfrey read before the Maine Historical Society, May 28, 1885, and published in its Collections, Series II, Vol. 1, p. 79, says: No man had probably a more perfect knowledge of the early annals of Eastern Maine, including Old Norombega and the pre-historic events of the Penobscot region, as well as the history of the city of Bangor after its inhabitancy commenced. It was in recognition of this qualification that he was selected as the orator on the occasion of Bangor's centenary celebration in 1869. The satisfactory manner with which he executed the trust and the great value of his address, as a historical memento of the past, is uniformly recognized by all and will ever remain a monument to his memory. Upon the contemplated semi-centenary of the city's charter, on the year of his death, he alone was looked forward to as a person to perform the like *art of the service, and thus finish the history which he has so faithfully brought down to the present century. His death however came just in season ** defeat his candidacy and with it the celebration itself. The volume, which **etuates the valuable history alluded to, also contains, in other contribu- **for the occasion, further and pleasant evidence of his literary qualities. **Rhyme of the Ancient City Hall,' and 'To the Penobscot, Now' both **stimony to a merit not to overlooked or disregarded. On many other occasions and in various ways did Mr. Godfrey exhibit for the benefit of the world and especially of the community in which he lived peculiar talent as a writer of antique and hidden events, Volume VII and VIII of the Maine Historical Society's 'Collections' bear ample evidence of the proposition. 'The Ancient Penobscot', 'The Pilgrims at Penobscot', Baron de St. Castine,' 'Castine the Younger', 'Basheba and the Tarratines,' 'Norombega' and 'Memorial notice of Edward Kent' are among the articles so contributed by him, and are evidence of great versatility of talent as well as of varied information. In addition to these he also furnished important contributions to the 'History of Penobscot County', filling a very large portion including notices of the bench and bar of this county. In a previous 'History of the Press of Maine' published 1872 and 1879, he also a valued contributor of important material. During his life, he was a zealous advocate of the anti-slavery cause and was allied with the Free Soil party and the Liberty Party as was for a time editor of the Bangor Gazette, the official organ of these parties in Eastern Maine. Previous to this he had been a Whig and upon the formation of the Republican party he joined that political organization, of which he was an active member until his death. In the History of Penobscot County, published by Williams Chase & Co., Cleveland, 1882, appears much of Mr. Godfrey's most valuable work as a historian. His thirty chapters in that work entitled "The Annals of Bangor" containing about 200 pages, is an exhaustive and accurate history of Bangor from it's earliest settlements in 1882. His death occurred in Bangor, February 20, 1884, aged seventy-five years. Bangor, February 6, 1841 Elias Dudley Esquire. Dear Sir: Excuse the freedom I now take in addressing you at this time, on the subject of the probate office- I have made an application to Governor Kent in person for assistance, to reinstate me in the office from which I was removed about six years since, by the influence of certain Loco-foco gentlemen whose views & feelings were not (as I supposed) in accordance with mine, to give place to another person, having such as were more congenial to them-- Should I be presuming too much to ask your friendly aid and assistance in the matter?--the other gentlemen of the Council board I have not the pleasure of an acquaintance--It would be unbecoming in me to say anything to favor myself on this subject, therefore I would refer you and the other members of the Council to such gentlemen here as are somewhat acquainted with the records & probate proceedings of the office during the time I had the charge. William Abbot-Esq- was a commission appointed especially by Chief Justice Mellen at that time to make inspection of all the County records-therefore of James Crosby, Esqr. would be happy to make any remarks or statement in relation to the duty by me performed when in office--my family is somewhat large at this time, and should the office aforesaid become vacant, to be reinstated therin would confer a favor on, Sir..................................Your Humble Servant, Alexander Savage.(1) (1)Alexander Savage of Bangor was the second Register of Probate for Penobscot County, 1820-1836. Bangor, Feb'y 6, 1841 Hon. Elias Dudley. Dear Sir: As much dissatisfaction has been expressed respecting the present Reporter of the decisions of our Sup. Jud. Court, without distinction of party, and as it is generally believed that a change will be made as regards that office; I beg leave to state, that in my opinion, John Appleton, esq.(2) of this city, would well sustain that office and would be very acceptable to the profession here. Mr. Appleton is a gentlemen of great legal attainments and discriminating mind, with all the habits of industry necessary in that situation. His appointment would be gratifying to Your friend & hum. Serv. Allen Gilman. (3) (2) John Appleton was born at New Ipswich, New Hampshire, July 12, 1804, and died at Bangor, Maine, February 7, 1891; graduated at Bowdoin in 1822; was admitted to the bar in 1826; appointed to a seat on the bench in 1852; promoted to the Chief Justiceship in 1883, having thus served as a member of the bench for thirty-one years, and previously as a member of the bar for twenty-six years, thus fifty-seven years in all of active professional work. He first begun practicing law in Sebec village in what is now Piscataquis county but remained there six years when he moved to Bangor which remained his home until his decease. He was a man of great learning and recognized as one of the ablest jurists that New England has ever produced. (3) Allen Gilman was a lawyer and the Register of Probate of Penobscot county, 1816-1820, and the first Mayor of the city of Bangor 1834-5. He was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, July 16, 1778. Died in Bangor, April 7, 1846. Stetson, Feb. 7th, 1841. Respected Sir: I hope you will excuse my presuming to give you any advice in any matters relating to your duty as a Counsellor to our much esteemed Governor, and I hope you will believe me when I say, I would not presume, were it not for to acquit myself of a duty I think I owe to the section of Country that I live in to use my best endeavors to get good appointments where removals are necessary for the good, and are expected by the Whig party, I am aware the duty of the Governor and Council must be an arduous one, and to satisfy all applicants for office out of the question. But sir, allow me to state my opinion which is that not appointment could be more judicious that that the Honorable Samuel Butman should be chairman of the board of County Commissioners for Penobscot , his gentlemanly manners and talent, when serving in that capacity before commanded the respect of all in our section that had any business with him officially and I think I speak the truth when I say that to leave him out when he can be had will be a source of more regret than generally attaches to such an office, both to Whigs and locos, it would be difficult to get any other Whig for the office spoken of that the locos would not find fault with the appointment. I think that the locos generally will be glad and certainly the Whigs will, to hear the present loco commissioners are turned adrift and Mr. Butman and two other good men are appointed in their places, if only to stand until next fall when I think that the offices should be filled by the people say for two, or three years. There is another office in Penobscot that I would recommend not to touch, that is the Clerk of the District and Supreme Courts, for Penobscot. The present incumbent is a man that has many powerful friends in both political parties as for his moral worth and gentlemanly deportment it is perhaps better understood by the Governor himself, and you, than by me. But I feel my duty to admonish you for the good of the Wig party, not to turn out every loco that may be found in office, but only the bad ones and the Lord knows there are many. But if some of them can be kept in with safety and I think that Charles Stetson may, I would not make a clean sweep this year, at any rate our weakness admonishes us, to try and make it understood that the Whig party have other objects in view than merely to possess themselves of all the offices in the Country. Now friend Dudley, I hope you will give this due consideration. I have not signed any petition but this letter, although several were brought to me for that purpose, and perhaps I may have displeased some of them for not doing so. But I will say in advice of this kind I wish to act as the public good requires without favor or hope of reward. Samuel Stetson (1) (1)Samuel Stetson, born in Randolph, Mass., January 12, 1793. In 1819 he emigrated to Penobscot County, settling in Stetson Plantation, and which is not the town of Stetson, named for Major Amasa Stetson of Dorchester, Mass.; November 6, 1822, married Hannah, daughter of Dr. Thomas Stow Ranney, of Newport, Maine. He purchased a farm of Major Stetson and became a farmer of means, and was an influential citizen of the town and county. He died in Stetson, October 31, 1843. To the Hon. Elias Dudley, Councillor to the Gov. Edward Kent. Wash., Ap. 15, 1841 My Dear Sir: Although I have not before acknowledged the receipt of your favor of 18 ult. I have not been inattentive to the subject to which you requested my attention. I called immediately after its receipt upon the P.M. Gen. & stated the merits of the case to him as well as my limited knowledge would allow. It appeared that no change of site would be made until full opp. was granted for all parties to be heard; and that I should be appraised before any movement was made. Not having heard from him since, I presume all is right. Nevertheless it may well to forward me any proofs or statements calculated to help your views, which may be obtained. Very truly & respectfully Yours, Geo. Evans (1) (1)Honorable George Evans of Gardiner, Maine, was born in Hallowell, Maine, January 12, 1797, and died April 5, 1867. He was a graduate of Bowdoin College. He was a lawyer of note and ability. He was elected a member of the Maine Legislature in 1825-26-27-28-29, and was speaker of the House in 1829. The same year he was elected by the Whigs representative in Congress from the Kennebec District. He was elected seven times successively serving 12 years. He did not however, enter the House of Representatives for the last term, to which he was elected, having in the meantime been elected to the legislature, U.S. Senator. He served in both Houses of Congress eighteen years successively. He was renowned for his ability as an orator. He had also served his state as Attorney General three years. Elias Dudley, Esq. Bangor, Sept. 19, 1841 My Dear Sir: I regret that I did not meet with you the other day, when you was at Bangor, but Mr. Hamlin informed me that he told you that I had written to Mr. Benson in reference to going to Augusta this week. I did not think of remaining at home, but on the whole have concluded to go over, although there is little of nothing to do, that cannot as well be done in October.. In reference to yourself, I do not think it very important that you should attend, unless the letter I have written to Mr. Kimball & Mr. Singer should induce them to remain at home & and no other should be absent, in which case there would not be a quorum. If you can go as well or not, I think you had better go, but if it is inconvenient I cannot see anything which ought to urge me to press the journey upon you. I do not know how I shall go over or whether Tuesday or Wednesday. If you come to Bangor on Monday or Tuesday please call at my house or at the law office. Very respectfully Yours, Edw. Kent (2) (2)Edward Kent, son of William Austin Kent of Concord, New Hampshire, born in that place January 8, 1802. His mother was a sister of Prentiss Mellen, the first Chief Justice in the State of Maine. He graduated from Harvard College in 1821; settled in the practice of law at Bangor, Maine, in 1825; was successively a representative in the State Legislature, Chief Justice of the Court of Sessions for Penobscot County, Mayor of the City of Bangor, Governor of the State of Maine for two terms, on of the Commissioners on the part of Maine to settle the Northeastern Boundary question, U.S. Counsul for four years at Rio Janeiro, under President Taylor's appointment, and, after his return to this country, was for fourteen years one of the Judges of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine. He received the degree of L.L.D. from Waterville College in 1855. He was recognized as one of the ablest jurists in Maine and New England. He died in Bangor, May 19, 1877. * * * * NOTICE: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. 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