Cumberland County, Maine - Franklin Ripley Barrett
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Biography
Franklin Ripley Barrett
Biographical Review
Cumberland County, Maine
Boston
Biographical Review Publishing Company
1896
Page 676-677


Franklin Ripley Barrett, President of the Portland Savings Bank, was born in
Portland, Me., January 21, 1835, son of Charles E. and Elizabeth M. (Baker)
Barrett. The emigrant ancestor of the Barrett family was James Barrett, who
settled in Charlestown, Mass., in 1638. Lieutenant Colonel John Barrett, the
great-grandfather of our subject, was an officer in the Revolutionary army. He
was at Ticonderoga, under the command of Colonel Seth Warner; and he took part
in the siege of Quebec. His son John, the grandfather of Franklin Ripley
Barrett, was a graduate of Harvard College and a prominent attorney of
Northfield, Mass., where he died in 1816.


Charles E. Barrett was born January 4, 1804, in Northfield, Mass. and at the age
of twelve, his parents having died, he was taken by his guardian to Portland,
where he fitted for college. Graduating from Bowdoin in 1822 and subsequently
reading law, he was admitted to the bar and practiced for a short time. But his
forte was finance, and he gradually became known as one of the most eminent
financiers of the day. He was President of the Canal National Bank for many
years and Treasurer of the Atlantic & St. Lawrence Railroad, now a part of the
Grand Trunk Railway, being one of the original corporators named in the charter
and the last to die. Many of the best years of Mr. Charles E. Barrett's life
were devoted to the affairs of this road; and he was also a Director of the
Portland, Saco & Portsmouth Road, now a part of the Boston & Maine for many
years, becoming interested in the road in 1839, when it was in process of
construction. He was likewise active in the councils of the corporation that
built the canal to Sebago Lake. In politics he was a Federalist, then a Whig,
and lastly a Republican. Though not an aspirant for office, he served for a
while on the Board of Aldermen of Portland. He died January 2, 1894, within two
days of the ninetieth anniversary of his birth. His wife, who was a daughter of
Joseph Baker, died young. They were the parents of six children, three of whom
are now living; namely, Mary E., Franklin Ripley, and George P., the latter also
a resident of Portland.

Franklin Ripley Barrett attended the common schools of his native city and the
old Portland Academy, and was graduated from Brown University, Providence, R.I.,
in 1857. Since leaving college his career has been similar to that of his
father, his first employment being in the office of the Treasurer of the Grand
Trunk Railway. In 1875 he became a member of the banking firm of Swan & Barrett,
and some years later was elected Director of the Portland, Saco & Portsmouth
Railroad, to succeed his father. This office he still holds; and he is also
Director of the Atlantic & St. Lawrence Road, now leased to the Grand Trunk, and
a Director of the Canal National Bank, with which he has been connected many
years, and of which his father was fifty years Director. Mr. Barrett was some
years ago elected to the Board of Directors of the Portland Savings Bank, and in
1891 was made President. This bank is the largest institution of the kind in the
State and the eighth in rank in New England. To its management Mr. Barrett
devotes the greater pant of his time, and the flourishing condition of its
affairs witnesses eloquently to his financial ability. He is also Secretary and
Treasurer of the Maine General Hospital, Treasurer of the Portland Society of
Natural History, and Trustee of the Portland Public Library. Though his offices
are so many and, his business cares so great, nothing is neglected; each
enterprise prospers, and it is evident that his father's mantle has not fallen
on unworthy shoulders.

August 15, 1872, Mr. Barrett was united in marriage with Mary D., daughter of
John Parker Boyd, a representative of an old Portland family. Mrs. Barrett died
March 9, 1878, or within six years after her marriage. Mr. Barrett belongs to
the Maine Historical Society and the Cumberland Club. In religious belief he is
a Unitarian, attending and supporting the church of the First Parish, the oldest
church in the city.