A Relative tale of three Governors of Maine

One of the stories I had been told many years ago by my great-aunt, Leona was that her grandmother was a cousin of two Governors of Maine.  If my great-aunt had told me the names, I didn't remember them or knew who they were at the time.  Several years ago I had tried to see if any of my great-great-grandmother, Susan Church (Spaulding) Mower's first cousins had been Governors and I had come up empty in that search. Recently with the addition of "Thru-lines" on Ancestry, I was able to trace down lines of my family related to me by DNA.  My research revealed that the tale of two Governor cousins was partially true and shed light on a third Governor of Maine connection.

My ancestor "Sue" as she was called by the family was actually a second cousin of two Governors of Maine through her grandfather's side and her grandmother's side.   Her grandfather was a great-uncle to one governor and her grandmother a great-aunt to another governor.

Susan C. (Spaulding) Mower
My great-great-grandmother

Governor Abner Colburn was a 2nd cousin to Sue Mower on her maternal grandfather's Benjamin Weston's side. [see my Weston Family Farm post for more on Benjamin Weston] 

Governor Abner Colburn of Maine

Gov. Colburn was born March 22, 1803 in Skowhegan, Maine, son of Eleazer and Mary (Weston) Colburn.  He  served three years in the Maine House of Representatives before being elected the 30th Governor of Maine in 1863. He served only one term during the Civil War years.  He became president of Skowhegan Savings Bank as well as president and director of the Maine Central Railroad. He served as the Chair of the Colby College Board of Trustees from 1874 until his death in 1885.  He was the uncle of the writer Louise Helen Colburn.   Many of his historical items can be seen in a museum that she began, the Skowhegan History House.  Colburn never married and resided in Skowhegan with his brother Philander Colburn who also never married, but also a wealthy business in Skowhegan.  Gov. Colburn died January 4, 1885 in Skowhegan, Maine.  

On Sue Mower's maternal grandmother's Anna (Powers) Weston, she was a 2nd cousin to Governor Llewellyn Powers.

Governor Llewellyn Powers

Gov. Powers was born October 14, 1836 in Pittsfield, Maine, son of Arba and Naomi (Matthews) Powers.  He attended Colby College and law school in New York.  After receiveing his law degree in 1860, he set up practice in Houlton, Maine in 1861.  He served in the Maine House of Representatives for several years and was Speaker of the House in his last term.  It was his bill in 1876 that abolished capital punishment in Maine.  He became Maine's 44th Governor in 1897 and served until 1901.  He married Martha Averill and they were parents to five children.  Llewellyn died July 28, 1908 in Houlton, Maine.  

My ancestor Sue was living during the time when both of her 2nd cousins became Governors of Maine, although she as woman would not have been able to vote for them.  I can only assume that probably the men in the family including Sue's husband, William Mower, would have voted them into office as they were both Republican governors and until my Dad and myself, my family had all been Republicans.  

Recently the addition of Thru-lines on Ancestry revealed another connection to a Govenor of Maine. My DNA connected me to the Reed family of Fort-Fairfield which I had known from tracing the siblings of Sue Mower.  Her older sister Electa (Spaulding) Reed was the grandmother of Govenor of Maine, John Hathaway Reed.  Sue was also the great-aunt of a Governor of Maine. 

Governor John H. Reed

Gov. Reed was born January 5, 1921 in Fort Fairfield, Maine.  He served in the Navy during World War II and came back to Maine serving in the Maine House of Representatives and Maine Senate.  In 1959, Maine had four Governors, one of which was John Reed.  Gov. Edmund Muskie had resigned to take his seat in the U.S. Senate in January 1959.  Robert Haskell then became Governor for 5 days until Governor Clinton Clauson was sworn in as Governor in 1959.  Gov. Clausn died while in office on December 30, 1959.  With John Reed as Senate President, he then became Maine's 67th Governor.  He was elected in 1960 and again in 1962 to become Maine's first 4 year Governor until 1966 when he was defeated by Ken Curtis.  Gov. Reed then took a seat on the National Safety Board and later was Ambassador to Sri Lanka under Presidents Nixon and Reagan.  He died October 31, 2012 in Washington, D.C.

I was a little too young to be aware of Gov. Reed during his term in the 1960s, as I didn't come along until 1963.  No one in my immediate family ever mentioned any connection to him and probably were not even aware as I don't believe my great-aunt meant he was one of the connections to a Maine Governor as she only said her grandmother was a cousin to two Maine Governors.  Whereas she herself was a 2nd cousin to Gov. Reed.