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.

[Please see Index page for full citation.]

[Transcribed by Coralynn Brown]

[Many families included in these genealogical records had their beginnings in Massachusetts.]

GILBERT This name is one which has been celebrated in the history of England and in various professions, and several members of this family emigrated to America, where they are now scattered throughout the United States and Canada. (I) Charles Dupuis dit Gilbert came to America from England and settled in Canada, where he married. (II) Jean, son of Charles Dupuis dit Gilbert, was born near St. Francis, province of Quebec, Canada, and probably returned to England while still young, as he held a commission as corporal in the English army and was married in that country. He was by trade a blacksmith, but later was also a carpenter and stone mason. Returning to the land of his birth, he came to the U. S. shortly after 1843, settling first at Norridewock, Maine, then in Waterville, and removing to Orono, Maine, in 1850, where he resided until his death in 1856. He was fairly well educated, could read and write French and easily solve the ordinary problems which occurred in his trade. He was especially noted for his great physical power, was six feet and two inches tall and well knit. His faith was that of the Catholic church, whose creed he strictly observed, and instilled into his children the fear of God. He married, in 1822, Cecile, daughter of Augustin Mercier. She was possessed of a good common school education, was a staunch Catholic and died in Orono, Maine, in 1864. The children of this union were five sons and seven daughters, and one of the sons was in the U. S. army during the Civil War and died either during the war or shortly after. (III) Thomas Gilbert, son of Jean and Cecile (Mercier) Dupuis dit Gilbert, was born in St. Francis, Canada, Nov. 15, 1841. He was ten years of age when he removed with his parents to Orono, Maine, and his education has been wholly along the most practical lines. He entered a sawmill at the age when most boys are still enjoying the playtime of life, and after the death of his father, became the main support of the large family. By dint of hard labor and perseverance it was not many years before he rose to positons of trust and remuneration. He became an expert sawyer and was condidered one of the best gangmen of the Penobscot river. His first lumber operation was that of "getting out" railroad ties for the European and North American railroad, and being successful in this venture, he soon began to cut, haul and drive logs to market on his own account. He was of an optimistic nature, and this, blended with a keen appreciation of values, soon placed him in the foremost ranks of those engaged in this line of business. He has always made his home in Orono and resides there at at the present time (1908). Mr. Gilbert richly deserves the success that has crowned his active, energetic efforts. He has lived a regular, correct and temperate life, wasting none of the strength of his manhood. One says of him: "A railroad does not move its trains with more careful, regular precision than he order his daily life." Realizing from his own experience the handicap of a limited education, he has given his sons and daughters the advantages of practical and professional educations. The sons are all graduates of high schools and college, while the daughters were equally well treated. They were educated at La Salle College, Mass., and one was a student at the Boston Convervatory of Music. Mr. Gilbert has gained and held the respect of his children, all of whom, it may be said, are of high standing in their different walks of life. He married, July 7, 1864, Esther Cordelia, daughter of Ephraim Lyshorn, of Hudson, Maine. She was not only an ideal wife and mother, but an inspiration and tower of strength to her husband in his initial business ventures, and her death, Jan. 31, 1894, was deeply and sincerly mourned by many. Ephraim Lyshorn or Lachance, her father, was a native of Maine, and by occupation a farmer and woodsman. He was the son of Antoine LACHANCE, who was born in Quebec in 1750, and saw service under Montcalm. Lachance enlisted in the Continental army in 1775, serving in Colonel Livingston's regiment, Gen. Arnold in command. He was taken prisoner in 1776, escaped, again enlisted in 1778, going as a scout to the Chaudiere and being discharged upon his return. He again enlisted on board the "Monmouth," Capt. Ross, at Castine, and was in the service three months, during which time the vessel was taken to Bangor and there burned. In 1781 he enlisted in Capt. Walker's company in a regiment commanded by Major Ulmer, and was stationed at Castine. Shortly after his marriage he removed to Orono, where he spent the remainder of his days, occupied in farming, fishing and making shingles. He cleared and lived for fully a half-century upon the land now occupied by the University of Maine, his death occurring Aug. 6, 1839. He married at Winslow, Maine, Sarah Buzze, and had numerous children, of whom some assumed Antoine as a surname, while others changed Lachance to LYSHORN. The children of Thomas and Esther C. (Lyshorn) Gilbert were: 1. Frederick A., see forward. 2. Edith, deceased. 3. Albert A., resides in Orono. 4. Charles Edward, lives in Bangor, Maine. 5. Grace, deceased. 6. Thomas H., lives at Onawa Lake, Maine. 7. Frank Y., resides in Portland, Maine. 8. Eugene C. 9. Daisy A. 10. Alice M. (The latter three living in Orono). (IV) Frederick Alliston, eldest child of Thomas and Esther C. (Lyshorn) Gilbert, was born in Orono, Maine, April 2, 1866. His education was a good one, acquired in the common schools of Orono. After his graduation he commenced working in the lumber business of his father, being thus engaged until he was twenty years of age. At that time he started in business for himself, buying and selling lumber and timber lands. In 1900 he became the timber land agent for the Great Northern Paper Company. His duties here were of so onerous a nature that he gave up his private business altogether in 1903, devoting his entire time and attention to the interests of the company. He provided the various paper mills of the company with logs for pulp, and it takes about one hundred and ten millions of feet of timber each year to fill this demand. He also looks after the several thousand acres of timber land owned by the company and purchases new property. These lands are for the most part on the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers, as the main transportation of logs is done by rafting down the rivers. Mr. Gilbert has been a director in the Penobscot Log Driving Company, the Penobscot Lumbering Association, director and general manager of the West Branch Driving and Reservois Dam Company, director of Northern Maine Power Packet Company and Great Northern Supply Company, and a member of improvement companies. In politics he is a Republican, and was appointed by the governor of Maine as commissioner to investigate the methods of scaling logs and lumber. He has no religious preference, and is affiliated with the following organizations: Mechanics Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Orono; Mount Moriah Chapter, No. 6, Royal Arch Masons; Bangor Council, Royal and Select Masters; St. John's Commandery, No. 3, K. T.; Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite; Perfection Lodge, Eastern Star; Palestine Council, Princes of Jerusalem; Bangor Chapter, Rose Croix; Maine Consistory of Portland; Kora Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Lewiston, Maine; Tarratine and Masonic clubs of Bangor. Mr. Gilbert married Dec. 24, 1889, Bertha Ella, daughter of Josiah Edgerley, a farmer, of Greenfield, Maine. They have no children. Since his entrance into business in that city, Mr. Gilbert has resided in Bangor. GILBERT The family of Gilbert has been represented for several generations in the great lumber district of Eastern maine, where by an energetic struggle its members have attained prominence as lumbermen. (I) Thomas Gilbert, of Orono, has spent his life in the lumber business, in which he has accumulated a large property. He married (first), Esther Cordelia Lyshon, who was born in Hudson, Maine, June 2, 1845, daughter of Ephraim and Mary (Townsend) Lyshon, of Hudson, who died Jan. 31, 1894. Children: Fred A., Albert A., Edith, Charles E., Gracie, Thomas H., Frank Y., Eugene C., Daisy A. and Alice M. He married (second), Vesta (Thibadeau) Atwell, widow of Edward Atwell, daughter of Peter Thibadeau. She has one child, Marion, by Edward Atwell. (II) Dr. Frank Yuba, fifth son of Thomas and Esther C. (Lyshon) Gilbert, was born in Orono, March 28, 1878. After a year of preparatory work at the University of Maine he entered Bowdoin College in 1897, and graduated from its medical department with the degree of M. D. in 1901. After graduation he became assistant physician at the Butler Hospital, a private asylum for the insane, at Providence, Rhode Island, where he spent a year. Following this he was house surgeon to the Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary at Portland, Maine, one year. In August, 1903, he opened an office in Portland for the exlusive treatment of diseases of the eye, ear and throat, and has since devoted himself to that line of work with distinguished success. He is eye and ear surgeon to the Portland Charitable Dispensary and assistant surgeon at the Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary. He is a member of the Cumberland County Medical Association, the Maine Medical Association, the American Medical Association, secretary of the Maine Academy of Medical Science, member of the Maine Eye and Ear Association, the New York Medico-Legal Association, and the Ophthalmological, Otological and laryngological sections of the American Medical Association. Among the clubs of which he is a member are the Portland Athletic, and the County. He is also a member of Theta Chaoter of the Alpha Kappa Kappa Society, of which he is primarius. Politically he is a Republican. He attends the Congregational church, and is a member of the State Street Parish Club. Dr. Frank Y. Gilbert married, April 18, 1906, Florence Cook, who was born Dec. 12, 1880, daughter of Charles Cook. They have one child, Frances, born April 29, 1907.