FOUNDING FATHER POLITICIAN CITY AUBURN MAINE LITTLE DOCUMENT SIGNED CHECK 1874
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Here’sa Document Signed byEDWARD ADAMSLITTLE(1841 – 1876)PROMINENT 19thCENTURY FOUNDING FATHER, POLITICO, ENTREPRENEUR and WEALTHY DEVELOPER OF THECITY OF AUBURN, ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY, MAINE, COUNCILMANOF AUBURN, ORIGINALINCORPORATING OFFICER, and DIRECTOR OF THE AUBURN ACQUEDUCT COMPANY - RESPONSIBLE FOR BUILDING THE 1ST FIRSTWATER SYSTEM FOR AUBURN. MAINE IN 1868, RESPECTED MERCHANTand MANUFACTURER, BANKER - DIRECTOR OF THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF AUBURN 1868-1876, and PRESID...ENT1875-6 and ORIGINAL INCORPORATING OFFICER and DIRECTOR OF THE AUBURN SAVINGSBANK 1868- 1876.Edward AdamsLittle had a significant impact onthe historical development of the City of Auburn!Auburn, Maine was incorporated as a city in 1869. Thefirst 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 MainStreet through a log pipe line. The Auburn Aqueduct Company was incorporated in1869 and 24 years later, in 1893, the City of Auburn purchased the system for$250, 000.<<>> HERE’S ANAUTOGRAPH DOCUMENT SIGNED BY LITTLE – A BANK CHECK DATED AT AUBURN, ME, OCT. 6, 1874, PAYING HIMSELF $298. FROM HIS ACCOUNT AT THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK (OFWHICH HE WAS A DIRECTOR OF THE BANK!). A GEORGEWASHINGTON 2c INTERNAL REVENUE STAMP IS APPLIED TO THE DOCUMENT, and INITIALEDBY LITTLE, “E. A. L.”The document measures 8” x 3” and isin VERY FINE CONDITION.<>>::<<>BIOGRAPHICAL/GENEAOLOGICAL NOTES:EdwardAdams 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 <> EDWARD TAPPAN LITTLE, FATHER OF EDWARD A. LITTLE, was born inNewburyport, Mass., December 29, 1809. He came to Danville (now Auburn) withhis father's family and there resided the remainder of his life. His academicaleducation was acquired at the Portland Academy, then under the charge of thatnoted master, Bazaleel Cushman, and at the Gardiner Lyceum under Rev. BenjaminHale, D.D. He studied law with his father and was admitted to the CumberlandBar in 1833. He was a trustee of Lewiston Falls Academy (now the Edward LittleInstitute) and contributed liberally to its endowment. He held the office ofselectman in Danville in 1847, 1848, and 1854; was also town agent, and amember of the superintending school committee; was a representative to thestate legislature from Danville in 1847 and 1855, and from Auburn in 1864 and1866. He was one of the directors of the Maine Central Railroad Company, andwas also clerk of that company. He was judge of probate for Androscoggin countyfrom 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 usedhis influence to promote every enterprise that would benefit his town. Hemaintained through life a high character for integrity and honesty. No man everjustly charged him with dishonorable conduct, and few men have passed throughlife more generally and highly respected by all who knew them. He was twicemarried. His first wife was Miss Melinda Adams, daughter of Rev. Weston B.Adams, of Lewiston Falls. Their son, EDWARDADAMS LITTLE, born May 15, 1841, was a merchant and manufacturer, adirector of the First National Bank, a trustee of Auburn Savings Bank, andserved 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 (amanufacturer 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 atAuburn, November 5, 1867.<> Francis M. Jordan (1824-1903)Little is known of his early years, but he marriedhis 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 MainStreet. Beginning in about 1869 he partnered with Albert E. Frost, and hisbrother William A. Jordan, and opened a lumber dealership, sawmill and planingmill in Lewiston. This enterprise was described as "a large and prosperousbusiness" in the Leading Men of Lewiston, Auburn and Vicinity in 1889.6 In1873 and 1874 F. M. Jordan was elected Alderman for the rapidly developing 4th Ward in which he lived, and in 1878 he served asthe city assessor.In 1869 F. M. Jordan, Edward A. Little, Joel Vickery and A.M. Pulsifer were incorporated by the Maine Legislature asthe Auburn Aqueduct Company. The Auburn Aqueduct Company was responsible forbringing a continuous, piped-in supply of water to the homes and businesses ofAuburn. As the superintendent and president of this company until it was takenover by the City in 1893, Jordan made a major contribution to the developmentof the city's infrastructure, as well as its ability to fight fires. Duringthis period the city of Auburn was rapidly developing into a manufacturingcenter - with a specialty in the production of shoes and boots - and many largefactories were being built. At the same time, the downtown area was rapidlybeing developed with business blocks and city and county offices. Developing areliable water supply was one of the key projects, along with the installationof sewers and the paving of roads, necessary to support the growth of thecity's commercial and industrial base. The following description of the companywas published in the 1891 History of Androscoggin County.<> The Auburn Aqueduct Companyis the outgrowth of a little enterprise startedyears ago by F. M. Jordan. The first reservoir was a spring near Edward LittleHigh School and it was alike (sic) reservoir and fountain-head. Woodenpipes 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, morewater was needed, and the company changed the source of supply to the brooknear the city farm, where a dam was built and water carried by iron pipes. Thecompany purchased the right to enter Lake Auburn from the Franklin Company for$5, 000; the charter obtained from the Legislature contained a provision thatthe city could buy the plant in ten years by payment of its cost and 10 percent, on the investment. The time passed and the city lost its opportunity ofpurchase. At this time Auburn exempted the company from taxation inconsideration of water furnished for fire and other purposes. However the firsthydrants for fire purposes were put in by the Aqueduct Company voluntarily; onenear 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 anew main to the pumping station on Goff Hill from Turner street, to be 12inches in diameter, and 6 Leading Men of Lewiston, Auburn and Vicinity, p. 37.William Jordan left the partnership in 1886.I am a proud member of the UniversalAutograph Collectors Club (UACC), The Ephemera Society of America, theManuscript Society and the American Political Items Collectors (APIC) (membername: John Lissandrello). I subscribe to each organizations' code of ethics andauthenticity is guaranteed. ~Providing quality service and historicalmemorabilia online for over twenty years.~
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