ME HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES RAILROAD ENGINEER BUCKSPORT MAINE DOCUMENT SIGNED CHECK

Description

Here’s a Document Signed by
PARKER SPOFFORD
(1842 - 1914)
PROMINENT 19
th
CENTURY MAINE POLITICIAN and NOTED RAILROAD & BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION CIVIL ENGINEER,
REPUBLICAN PARTY MEMBER OF THE MAINE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR BUCKSPORT, HANCOCK COUNTY, MAINE 1883 and 1889,
ELECTED A MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF GOVERNOR BURLEIGH 1891-1892,
NOTED RAILROAD ENGINEER IN IOWA, MISSOURI, and MAINE – SURVEYING and CONSTRUCTING AT LEAST EIGHT (8) MAJOR RAILROADS 1865-1880s,
RAILROAD COMMISSIONER OF THE STATE OF MAINE EARLY 1900’s
&
OFFICER and DIRECTOR IN SEVERAL BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS, and OTHER INSTITUTIONS.
Parker Spofford was a noted Dartmouth College-educated civil engineer of Bucksport, Maine, who served as engineer of the Bucksport & Bangor Railroad beginning in 1872. Spofford, was engaged in the surveying and construction of numerous railroads in Maine such as the Bangor & Katahdin Iron Works Railway; the Somerset Railroad; the Canadian Pacific Railroad; the Lime Rock Railroad; and the Portland & Rumford Falls Railroad.
In 1893, Spofford constructed a bridge across the Androscoggin River at Mexico and Rumford Falls.
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HERE’S AN AUTOGRAPH DOCUMENT SIGNED BY SPOFFORD – A BANK CHECK DATED AT BUCKSPORT, ME, MAY 29, 1901, PAYING GEORGE G. WINSLOW (WHO ALSO SIGNS ON THE VERSO) .80 FROM THE ACCOUNT OF THE E. M. C. SEMINARY AT THE BUCKPORT NATIONAL BANK – SPOFFORD SIGNS THE DOCUMENT AS THE SEMINARY’S TREASURER.
The document measures 8” x 2 ¾” and is in VERY FINE CONDITION.
A FINE PIECE OF STATE OF MAINE POLITICAL and CIVIL ENGINEERING HISTORY
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE HONORABLE
PARKER SPOFFORD of Bucksport was born in that town in the year 1842. His elementary education was acquired in the town schools and the Bucksport Seminary. He received his scientific training at Dartmouth College, Scientific Department, of which he is a graduate.
In the autumn of 1865 he went West, and engaged in railroad engineering in Iowa and Missouri for about seven years. During four years of this time he was employed in the location and construction of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, now a part of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad System.
Returning to Maine in the latter part of 1872, he was Engineer of the Bucksport & Bangor Railroad, devoting two years to this work, 1873 and 1874. Since then Mr. Spofford has been engaged a large part of the time upon surveys and construction of various railroads in Maine. Among these may be named the Bangor & Katahdin Iron Works Railway, the Somerset Railroad, the Canadian Pacific Railroad, the Lime Rock Railroad, and the Portland & Rumford Falls Railroad. Upon the two latter roads he was a contractor to quite a large extent. During the last part of the present year he has been engaged in constructing a fine bridge across the Androscoggin River at Mexico and Rumford Falls.
Mr. Spofford is not an idle man when not engaged in his profession, having various business interests and being an officer in several business organizations.
Mr. Spofford was an active member of the Superintending School Committee of the town of Bucksport for nine years. He was a member of the Legislature of Maine in the years 1883 and 1889, and was elected a member of the Executive Council of Governor Burleigh in 1891 and 1892.
He has taken considerable interest in fraternal organizations and has been a member of several. He has been especially interested in the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of which organization he was at the head in New England during the year 1889.
Source:
REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF MAINE, A Collection of Biographical Sketches.
Prepaired under the direction of Henry Chase, Portland, ME.,The Lakeside Press, Publisher
1893
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Hon. Parker Spofford
, son of Frederick and Augusta (Parker) Spofford, was born in Bucksport, July 12, 1842.
His elementary education was acquired in the town schools. He prepared for college at the famous East Maine Conference Seminary at Bucksport, and graduated from Dartmouth College in the class of 1865. In the autumn of the year of his graduation he went west and engaged in civil engineering, and for seven years was employed by railroad companies, four years of that peiod being spent in locating and constructing the Burlington and Missouri River line, which is a part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy system. Returning to Maine in 1872, Mr. Spofford was engaged to survey and construct the Bangor and Bucksport, Maine, railroad, which was completed in 1874. He has also done much engineering work on other railway lines, among them the Katahdin Iron Works railway, the Lime Rock railway, in Knox county, Maine, and the Portland and Rumford Falls railway. In 1893 he constructed a bridge at Rumford Falls over the Androscoggin river.
At the present time (1908), Mr. Spofford is one of the railroad commissioners of the state of Maine. He is one of the most energetic and public-spirited business men of eastern Maine, and is philanthropic and honorable in word and deed. He is beloved by the hundreds among whom he is so well known. He has been a very active and helpful member of the Bucksport school board for many years. He was a representative to the Maine legislature in 1883-89, and was a member of the council of Goveror Burleigh's in 1891-92. He is a staunch Republican in politics.
He is connected with several fraternal organizations, including the Ancient Order of United Workmen, which he served in 1889 in the capacity of grand master workman of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.
In 1870 Mr. Spofford married Mary E. Spofford, of Dixon, Illinois, a descendant of John Spofford, the pioneer ancestor, of Rowley, Mass. She died Nov. 13, 1903.
Source: Genealogical and Family History, of the STATE OF MAINE, Compiled under the editorial supervision of George Thomas Little, A. M., Litt. D. LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, New York,
1909.
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Parker Spofford
Birth
12 Jul 1842
Death
7 Sep 1914 (aged 72)
Burial
Oak Hill Cemetery
, Bucksport, Hancock County, Maine
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