FOUNDING FATHER POLITICIAN CITY AUBURN MAINE LITTLE DOCUMENT SIGNED CHECK 1874 !

Description

Here’s a Document Signed by
EDWARD ADAMS LITTLE
(1841 – 1876)
PROMINENT 19
th
CENTURY FOUNDING FATHER, POLITICO, ENTREPRENEUR and WEALTHY DEVELOPER OF THE CITY OF AUBURN, ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY,
MAINE,
COUNCILMAN OF AUBURN,
ORIGINAL INCORPORATING OFFICER, and DIRECTOR OF THE AUBURN ACQUEDUCT COMPANY -
RESPONSIBLE FOR BUILDING THE 1
ST
FIRST WATER SYSTEM FOR AUBURN. MAINE IN 1868,
RESPECTED MERCHANT and MANUFACTURER,
BANKER - DIRECTOR OF THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF AUBURN 1868-1876, and
PRESIDENT 1875-6 and ORIGINAL INCORPORATING OFFICER and DIRECTOR OF THE AUBURN SAVINGS BANK 1868- 1876.
Edward Adams Little
had a significant impact on the historical development of the City of Auburn!
Auburn, Maine was incorporated as a city in 1869. The first water system was built in 1868 by a team consisting of Edward A. Little, Francis M. Jordan, and Joel Vickery, who distributed water from a spring off Main Street through a log pipe line. The Auburn Aqueduct Company was incorporated in 1869 and 24 years later, in 1893, the City of Auburn purchased the system for 0,000.
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HERE’S AN AUTOGRAPH DOCUMENT SIGNED BY LITTLE – A BANK CHECK DATED AT AUBURN, ME, OCT. 6, 1874, PAYING HIMSELF 8. FROM HIS ACCOUNT AT THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK (OF WHICH HE WAS A DIRECTOR OF THE BANK!).
A GEORGE WASHINGTON 2c INTERNAL REVENUE STAMP IS APPLIED TO THE DOCUMENT, and INITIALED BY LITTLE, “
E. A. L.”
The document measures 8” x 3” and is in VERY FINE CONDITION.
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BIOGRAPHICAL/GENEAOLOGICAL NOTES:
Edward Adams Little
Birth
13 May 1841, Auburn, Androscoggin County, Maine, USA
Death
14 Apr 1876 (aged 34), Washington, District of Columbia, DC
Burial
Oak Hill Cemetery
, Auburn, Androscoggin County, Maine
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EDWARD TAPPAN LITTLE,
FATHER OF EDWARD A. LITTLE
, was born in Newburyport, Mass., December 29, 1809. He came to Danville (now Auburn) with his father's family and there resided the remainder of his life. His academical education was acquired at the Portland Academy, then under the charge of that noted master, Bazaleel Cushman, and at the Gardiner Lyceum under Rev. Benjamin Hale, D.D. He studied law with his father and was admitted to the Cumberland Bar in 1833. He was a trustee of Lewiston Falls Academy (now the Edward Little Institute) and contributed liberally to its endowment. He held the office of selectman in Danville in 1847, 1848, and 1854; was also town agent, and a member of the superintending school committee; was a representative to the state legislature from Danville in 1847 and 1855, and from Auburn in 1864 and 1866. He was one of the directors of the Maine Central Railroad Company, and was also clerk of that company. He was judge of probate for Androscoggin county from June, 1859, to January, 1864. Judge Little was a sound lawyer and safe counselor, held in high esteem by the judges of our courts and members of the profession, as well as by his fellow-townsmen. He was a public-spirited citizen and used his influence to promote every enterprise that would benefit his town. He maintained through life a high character for integrity and honesty. No man ever justly charged him with dishonorable conduct, and few men have passed through life more generally and highly respected by all who knew them. He was twice married. His first wife was Miss Melinda Adams, daughter of Rev. Weston B. Adams, of Lewiston Falls. Their son,
EDWARD ADAMS LITTLE
, born May 15, 1841, was a merchant and manufacturer, a director of the First National Bank, a trustee of Auburn Savings Bank, and served as councilman of Auburn. He died April 14, 1876. He married Susan M. Jordan. Their children are Edwin T. (a lawyer of Denver, Col.), Horace (a manufacturer in Auburn), and Mabel. His second wife was Miss Lucy Bliss, daughter of Zeba Bliss, Esq., of Taunton, Mass. (afterward of Auburn), who, with one son. Prof. Geo. T. Little, of Bowdoin College, survive him. He died at Auburn, November 5, 1867.
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Francis M. Jordan (1824-1903)
Little
is known of his early years, but he married his wife Parthenia in 1851, and by that same year had
started to purchase land from Edward A.
Little
, a developer and entrepreneur in Auburn
, in the vicinity of
Little
's house and Academy on the River Road, now Main Street. Beginning in about 1869 he partnered with Albert E. Frost, and his brother William A. Jordan, and opened a lumber dealership, sawmill and planing mill in Lewiston. This enterprise was described as "a large and prosperous business" in the Leading Men of Lewiston, Auburn and Vicinity in 1889.6 In 1873 and 1874 F. M. Jordan was elected Alderman for the rapidly developing
4th
Ward in which he lived, and in 1878 he served as the city assessor.
In 1869 F. M. Jordan,
Edward A.
Little
, Joel Vickery and A.M. Pulsifer were incorporated by the Maine Legislature as the Auburn Aqueduct Company. The Auburn Aqueduct Company was responsible for bringing a continuous, piped-in supply of water to the homes and businesses of Auburn. As the superintendent and president of this company until it was taken over by the City in 1893, Jordan made a major contribution to the development of the city's infrastructure, as well as its ability to fight fires. During this period the city of Auburn was rapidly developing into a manufacturing center - with a specialty in the production of shoes and boots - and many large factories were being built. At the same time, the downtown area was rapidly being developed with business blocks and city and county offices. Developing a reliable water supply was one of the key projects, along with the installation of sewers and the paving of roads, necessary to support the growth of the city's commercial and industrial base. The following description of the company was published in the 1891 History of Androscoggin County.
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The Auburn Aqueduct Company is the outgrowth of a
little
enterprise started years ago by F. M. Jordan. The first reservoir was a spring near
Edward
Little
High School
and it was alike (sic) reservoir and fountain-head. Wooden pipes were laid to a few houses and the water was used with satisfaction. Later, others desired this supply and the source was changed to Auburn heights, where abundant springs were found. As Auburn increased in population, more water was needed, and the company changed the source of supply to the brook near the city farm, where a dam was built and water carried by iron pipes. The company purchased the right to enter Lake Auburn from the Franklin Company for ,000; the charter obtained from the Legislature contained a provision that the city could buy the plant in ten years by payment of its cost and 10 per cent, on the investment. The time passed and the city lost its opportunity of purchase. At this time Auburn exempted the company from taxation in consideration of water furnished for fire and other purposes. However the first hydrants for fire purposes were put in by the Aqueduct Company voluntarily; one near Roak Block and another on Court street. A new contract was made in 1883, whereby the company was to enlarge its facilities (among other things to lay a new main to the pumping station on Goff Hill from Turner street, to be 12 inches in diameter, and 6 Leading Men of Lewiston, Auburn and Vicinity, p. 37. William Jordan left the partnership in 1886.
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