His eldest son, Edwin demonstrated a remarkable range of activities and talents which mark his life as exceptional.
Here's a description of Edwin written in 1926; it's a tale of a man born in 1845, a great man whose life was well-lived…
With the recent passing of Edwin F. Yeaton, Belgrade has lost one of its most substantial and highly respected citizens…
Mr. Yeaton was of distant Scotch ancestry. His paternal grandfather, a soldier in the Continental Army was born at Great Falls, (now Somersworth) New Hampshire. As is well known, the national treasury, at the close of the Revolutionary War was in a deplorable state, and as a reward for their military services, many of the soldiers in lieu of money, received grants of land from the Government.
The portion allotted to Paul Yeaton was in what later became the town of Belgrade, to which he journeyed about 1791. Clearing the land and building a log cabin, he married Mary Hussey and raised a family of seven children.
One of the sons, Paul, born in 1803 who became a carpenter and cabinet-maker of extraordinary skill, later acquired a quarter section of land about a mile from the place of his birth, and on it planned and built the fine large dwelling on the West Road. Having married in 1843 Lydia Goodridge, it was here that Edwin F. Yeaton was born on September 16, 1845 and except for a few years, lived his entire life.
Edwin received his education at the district school nearby and at Titcomb Academy on Belgrade Hill.
When he was about twenty years of age, he became a salesman for nursery stock with the Chase Brothers of Rochester, New York and during a period of four years in Maine and Massachusetts he made an enviable record, being considered their best man on the road. He then returned to Belgrade and engaged in carrying on the farm where he specialized in orcharding.
Edwin inherited a marked talent for music and having been endowed with a rich tenor voice of remarkable range, he taught and conducted yearly singing classes both in Belgrade and in adjoining towns over a period of fifteen years. He was, for many years, leader of the church choir, and during his later years of his musical activities, he directed and sang publicly with a mixed quartet.
Edwin Yeaton served Belgrade for nine years on the Board of Selectmen, three of these as chairman.
As a deputy under Sheriffs Plaisted and Richardson, he served Kennebec County for four years, and in 1913 for the Belgrade District, he was representative to the State Legislature.
During the World War he was appointed director of the Liberty Loan Drives, and in this capacity his efforts were marked with especial success.
His first marriage was to Frances Haskell of Portland, and of this union one daughter, Carolyn was born (now Mrs. Waldemar Kaempffert of New York City).
Edwin's first wife died at an early age, and his second marriage was to Lillian Powers of Manchester who survives him. Of this union were born three children: Paul, Donna, and Russell.
Edwin Yeaton was a man of keen intelligence and foresight, of great industry, and prudence in money matters, who by his thrift acquired a good competence for himself and family.
He had always been a man of strong constitution and of unusual vigor, but during the past winter, he was stricken with an insidious malady which completely baffled medical science, and though he spent several months under treatment in New York City, he was not permanently benefitted, and his general health failing, he passed away at his home on July 19th, 1926.
In his eighty-first year, mourned by all those near and dear to him.
Mr. Yeaton was of distant Scotch ancestry. His paternal grandfather, a soldier in the Continental Army was born at Great Falls, (now Somersworth) New Hampshire. As is well known, the national treasury, at the close of the Revolutionary War was in a deplorable state, and as a reward for their military services, many of the soldiers in lieu of money, received grants of land from the Government.
The portion allotted to Paul Yeaton was in what later became the town of Belgrade, to which he journeyed about 1791. Clearing the land and building a log cabin, he married Mary Hussey and raised a family of seven children.
One of the sons, Paul, born in 1803 who became a carpenter and cabinet-maker of extraordinary skill, later acquired a quarter section of land about a mile from the place of his birth, and on it planned and built the fine large dwelling on the West Road. Having married in 1843 Lydia Goodridge, it was here that Edwin F. Yeaton was born on September 16, 1845 and except for a few years, lived his entire life.
Edwin received his education at the district school nearby and at Titcomb Academy on Belgrade Hill.
When he was about twenty years of age, he became a salesman for nursery stock with the Chase Brothers of Rochester, New York and during a period of four years in Maine and Massachusetts he made an enviable record, being considered their best man on the road. He then returned to Belgrade and engaged in carrying on the farm where he specialized in orcharding.
Edwin inherited a marked talent for music and having been endowed with a rich tenor voice of remarkable range, he taught and conducted yearly singing classes both in Belgrade and in adjoining towns over a period of fifteen years. He was, for many years, leader of the church choir, and during his later years of his musical activities, he directed and sang publicly with a mixed quartet.
Edwin Yeaton served Belgrade for nine years on the Board of Selectmen, three of these as chairman.
As a deputy under Sheriffs Plaisted and Richardson, he served Kennebec County for four years, and in 1913 for the Belgrade District, he was representative to the State Legislature.
During the World War he was appointed director of the Liberty Loan Drives, and in this capacity his efforts were marked with especial success.
His first marriage was to Frances Haskell of Portland, and of this union one daughter, Carolyn was born (now Mrs. Waldemar Kaempffert of New York City).
Edwin's first wife died at an early age, and his second marriage was to Lillian Powers of Manchester who survives him. Of this union were born three children: Paul, Donna, and Russell.
Edwin Yeaton was a man of keen intelligence and foresight, of great industry, and prudence in money matters, who by his thrift acquired a good competence for himself and family.
He had always been a man of strong constitution and of unusual vigor, but during the past winter, he was stricken with an insidious malady which completely baffled medical science, and though he spent several months under treatment in New York City, he was not permanently benefitted, and his general health failing, he passed away at his home on July 19th, 1926.
In his eighty-first year, mourned by all those near and dear to him.
