the city of Portland.

At the time he was placed in charge the credit of the company was not good, the Bramhall reservoir had burst, and the fortunes of many good citizens who had gone into the venture too deeply, in order to insure a water supply for the city, hung in the balance. His good management and foresight provided the city with an excellent water supply and placed the business on a sound financial basis. He earned once more the gratitude of many citizens. Throughout his life he seemed to have a genius for preserving enterprises threatened with failure and disaster. Many business failures were avoided by his co-operation and good judgment, and he never hesitated to try to bring success out of threatening disaster. He was gifted with keen insight and remarkable executive ability; his influence was great; men followed his lead with the utmost confidence. He created new enterprises, and contributed constantly to the establishment of new industries in his native state. The extent of his work as promoter of industry and business is unknown; the knowledge of all he did in this way died with him. His death was looked upon as a calamity to the city and state, and he was mourned as few men have been. He was a director of the Casco National Bank of Portland, and a member of Saint Botolph Club, Boston. In politics he was a Republican; in religion a Congregationalist. He died October 23, 1904. He married, October 18, 1869, Sarah A. West. To her kindly influence and love, her advice and sympathy, he owed much of his success and most of the happiness of his busy life.

(VII) Harriet B. Wescott, sister of Hon. George Peters Wescott, married Henry G. Beyer, of Washington, D. C., and died at Portland, Maine, January 4, 1891. Children: 1. George Wescott Beyer, born August 3, 1881, in Portland; was educated at St. Johns College, Annapolis, Maryland, the Worcester (Massachusetts) Academy, and Harvard College, where he was a student one year; in 1900 he entered the business established by his uncle at Portland, now known as West, Beyer & Beyer Company; he married Alice Goldsmith, of Detroit, Michigan; child: Elizabeth Beyer, born January 30, 1907. 2. Henry G. Beyer Jr., born May 24, 1885, at Washington; educated at Milton Academy and Harvard College; entered partnership in the firm of West, Beyer & Beyer Company; married Helen, daughter of Henry St. John Smith, an attorney of Portland, who died in 1896, of an old Cape Elizabeth family; child: Henry

G. Beyer 3d, born May 3, 1908. Mr. Beyer is a member of the Signet and of the Hasty Pudding Clubs of Harvard, and the Cumberland Club of Portland.

OAKES

The Oakes family of Maine traces its origin to the two brothers, Edward and Thomas, who became residents of Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1640. They were manifestly of a good Puritan family, and were made freement of the colony soon after their arrival. It may be inferred from the occurrence of this surname with similar forenames, notably the unusual one of Urian, in the registers of St. Antholin's parish. London, that they were from that city. The elder brother, moreover, acted in 1646 as attorney for Mrs. Elizabeth Poole, of Westminster, England. He became one of the prominent citizens of Cambridge, serving as selectman twenty-nine years, and as representative to the general court seventeen years. His son Urian was a distinguished clergyman, and fourth president of Harvard. College, and his son Thomas an eminent physician "who, on first visiting a patient, persuades him to put his trust in God, the fountain of health,” and also prominent in political affairs, serving as speaker of the house of representatives in 1689.

(I) Thomas Oakes, the emigrant, was a farmer, and lived on the westerly side of Garden street, near Concord avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. His name occurs frequently in the early records, and is occasionally spelled Okes. In 1648 he was granted a farm at "Shawshine," which appears to have included one hundred fifty acres; a wood lot of two acres near Spy Pond was also assigned to him. He was "appointed to looke unto the fences about west feilde" in 1650, and in 1653 "to take notice of the breaches of the Towne order concerning destruction of timber on the Common and to present the names of such persons." He died prematurely in 1658, his children, besides two that died in infancy, being Elizabeth, Hannah and Thomas. His widow Elizabeth married Samuel Hayward and removed with the children to Malden, Massachusetts, where she died about 1686. (II) Thomas (2), posthumous son Thomas (1) and Elizabeth Oakes, was born March 18, 1658-59; married, May 22, 1689, Sarah, daughter of Peter and Mary (Pierce) Tufts, who survived him, dying in July, 1749 They lived in Malden, Massachusetts, where he was a freeholder and proprietor and was repeatedly chosen to serve upon town com

of

mittees. He died September 11, 1732. Children: Thomas, Edward, Sarah, Lydia, Urian, Mary, Hannah, Elizabeth, Jonathan and Abigail.

(III) Edward, son of Thomas (2) and Sarah (Tufts) Oakes, was born in 1692. He lived in Medford, where were born to him and his wife Joanna, children: Joanna, Edward, John, Nathan, Samuel, Lydia, Mary, Simeon, Ruth, and Mary.

(IV) Nathan, son of Edward and Joanna Oakes, was born April 14, 1728, at Medford, Massachusetts. He moved to North Yarmouth, Maine, about 1750, and married, October 7, 1751, Amy, widow of Samuel Bucknam, and daughter of Aaron and Elizabeth (Richardson) Wyman, who died July 11, 1775. He married (second) Abigail, widow of John Mason, and daughter of John and Abigail Seabury, who died May 8, 1781. Mr. Oakes was a housewright, joined the First Church in 1776, and died May 7, 1781. His children by his first wife were Edward, Elizabeth, Sarah, John, Lucretia, Mary, and Samuel.

(V) John, son of Nathan and Amy (Wyman) Oakes, was baptized at North Yarmouth, October 28, 1759. He was one of the early settlers in Temple, Maine, where he was prominent in the church, serving for many years as deacon. He reared a patriarchal family, having eight children by his first wife and sixteen by his second.

(VI) Silvester, twenty-second child of John Oakes, was born in Temple, Maine, January 31, 1820. He attended the public schools. of his native place, and studied his profession in the medical schools of Harvard, Bowdoin and Dartmouth Colleges, graduating from the latter in 1844. He also received the honorary degree of M. D. from the University of Vermont in 1856. He opened an office in Auburn, and established an excellent practice in that town and vicinity. He took high rank in his profession. For several years he was a trustee of the Maine Insane Hospital, and was a charter member of the Maine Medical Society. He was active in public life, a useful public-spirited citizen. He was a member of the board of aldermen in 1871 and representative to the state legislature in 1855 and 1885. In 1873 he refused to accept the nomination. of his party for mayor of the city of Auburn. He was a Republican of wide influence and strict loyalty from the earliest days of the party until his death. He was appointed postmaster at Auburn by President Lincoln and continued until President Johnson came into

power. He was a faithful member and liberal supporter of the Congregational church of Auburn. He died March 30, 1887, one of the best beloved physicians and most highly esteemed citizens in the county. Dr. Oakes married Hannah Eliza, daughter of Dr. William Kilbourne, who survives. Children, born at Auburn: 1. Wallace Kilbourne, born November 6, 1850; graduate of Bowdoin in 1870, of Columbia Medical School 1873, president of Maine Medical Society 1897, and a leading physician and surgeon in the state. Henry Walter, mentioned below. Belle.

3. Eliza

(VII) Henry Walter, son of Dr. Silvester Oakes, was born in Auburn, April 26, 1857. He was prepared for college in the public schools of his native city, and graduated at Bates in 1877. He studied law in the office of Hon. William P. Frye, was admitted to the bar in 1880, and immediately began to practice in Auburn, where he has 'continued with much success to the present time. He is now senior partner of the law firm of Oakes, Pulsifer & Ludden. Mr. Oakes has been active in public life. He is a Republican in politics. He has repeatedly served in the common council, represented the city in the legislatures of 1903 and 1905, and since 1907 has been a member of the State Enforcements Commission. He is one of the trustees of the Public Library and at present clerk of the board; a trustee of Bates College, of the Lewiston Trust and Safe Deposit Company, a past supreme warden of the N. E. Order of Protection, a Mason of the thirty-second degree and an active member of the Congregational Church. He married, June 24, 1885, Thalia R. Toothaker, of Phillips, Maine, daughter of Raymond and Eliza (Church) Toothaker. Children, born at Auburn : 1. Raymond Silvester, a student in Bates College, class of 1909. 2. Wallace T.

The name of Foss appears to have FOSS been of Dutch or German origin and was originally Vos, a word signifying fox. It is probable that the first that took the name was so nicknamed because of his shrewdness or cunning, or because he used the fox as a sign at his place of business. The name has been given also as Foot, Foste and Faust. The name was early implanted in New England and is still most numerously represented, especially in in New Hampshire and Maine. John Foss, the ancestor of those bearing the name, is said by tradition to have arrived at Boston on a Brit