Cumberland County, Maine - Josiah Hayden Drummond, LL.D.
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Biography
Josiah Hayden Drummond, LL.D.
Biographical Review
Cumberland County, Maine
Boston
Biographical Review Publishing Company
1896
Page 152-155


Josiah Hayden Drummond, LL.D., who is widely known as one of the ablest lawyers
in the State of Maine and a distinguished leader in the Masonic fraternity, was
born in Winslow, Kennebec County, August 30, 1827, son of Clark and Cynthia
(Blackwell) Drummond. His paternal ancestors, who were Scotch-Irish
Presbyterians, emigrated to Maine and settled in Georgetown, then including
Bath, etc., in 1729, when that thriving port was hardly more than a pioneer
settlement; and in Georgetown his great-grandfather, John Drummond, a farmer and
mariner, died in 1775.   He was the father of John, second, who was born a few
months later.

The childhood of John Drummond, second, was passed in Georgetown, but during the
greater part of his mature life he was engaged in farming in Winslow. He married
Miss Damaris Hayden, whose father, Colonel Josiah Hayden, moved to Winslow about
1785, purchasing the farm adjoining the Drummond homestead. Colonel Hayden was a
man of sterling worth, prominent in town affairs and highly respected. He served
during the Revolutionary War as a Major and afterward was a Colonel in the State
militia.  Through him the subject of the present sketch is eligible as a member
of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Clark Drummond, son of John and Damaris (Hayden) Drummond, was born in Winslow,
Me., July 5, 1796. He was a prosperous farmer, owning and occupying the farm on
which he was born, and was an influential and an esteemed citizen, taking an
active part in promoting the general welfare. He served in various town offices,
and for many years as Justice of the Peace. He died in 1888, at the advanced age
of ninety-two years and five months. His wife, Cynthia Blackwell, was born in
Winslow, January 17, 1799, and died in 1868. She was the daughter of Captain
Mordecai Blackwell, who had removed to Winslow from Sandwich shortly before her
birth. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Clark Drummond, eight of whom are
now living, Josiah H., David H., and Charles L. being residents of Portland, and
the other five making their homes in Kennebec County.

Josiah Hayden Drummond passed his early days on his father's farm at Winslow,
making the most of the limited educational facilities offered by the district
school and distinguishing himself by his proficiency in mathematics. He later
attended Vassalboro Academy, where he mastered Colburn's Algebra when thirteen
years old; and he was subsequently assistant teacher of mathematics at the
Academy. Entering Colby University, he there also gained a high reputation as a
mathematician, and was graduated with honor in 1846, receiving three years later
the degree of A. M. He taught school for three years, in the mean time studying
law with Messrs. Boutelle & Noyes at Waterville, and was admitted to the bar at
Augusta in 1850. That same year - the period of the great exodus to the gold
country -he made a business trip to California, traveling by way of the Isthmus,
and became a member of the bar in that State also. Returning to Waterville in
1851, he rapidly rose to prominence in his profession and in politics.

Though affiliated with the Democratic party by family tradition and training, he
left its ranks in 1855 on account of his antagonism to Slavery, and in the
following year did efficient work in the interest of the Republicans, spending
nearly eight weeks on the stump and speaking twice and often three times a day.
In 1857, while absent from home, he was nominated by the Republicans for the
lower branch of the legislature, without his knowledge, and was elected. The
next year he was re-elected and chosen Speaker, making a record of ability that
has never been surpassed and, in the opinion of many, never equaled in the
State. In 1859 he was elected Senator from Kennebec County, but resigned his
seat to accept the position of Attorney general of the State. He was re-elected
in 1861, 1862, and 1863; but the following year he declined in order to devote
himself entirely to the work of his profession. In 1860 he moved to Portland,
and was from that city also elected to the legislature, and subsequently chosen
Speaker, as a matter of course. He declined re-election. In 1864 he was a member
of the Republican National Convention that renominated Lincoln, and he was also
an active member of the conventions that nominated Hayes and Blaine. Since 1864
he has uniformly declined to be a candidate for office, preferring to devote his
time to the demands of his profession. His name was prominently mentioned for
Governor and United States Senator, and there is little doubt that he would have
received the nominations had he been desirous of receiving them; and a chair on
the Supreme Bench of the State might have been his had he cared to take it.

He has been City Solicitor of Portland for many years, and is the attorney of
important corporations. In 1851 he was connected with the Androscoggin &
Kennebec Railroad, and in 1864 was elected Director of the Maine Central
Railroad, with which it became consolidated. He resigned his office in 1871 in
order to facilitate the consolidation of the Maine Central with the Portland &
Kennebec, in which he took an active part, and soon after became clerk of the
corporation. This position he still holds by virtue of successive annual re-
elections, and, as chief counsel of the roads, has engaged in many legal
contests both before the courts and the legislature. In 1875 he was elected
Director of the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company, was active in its
reorganization, and has been its general counsel since, and shaped the
legislation that moved the company to Maine. He has been a Director also of the
Union Safe Deposit and Trust Company of Portland since its organization.

Especially noteworthy are his achievements in behalf of the Masonic fraternity;
for, after Thomas Smith Webb, who gave form to Masonry in this country, no man
has done more for the ancient craft than Mr. Drummond. He joined the Waterville
Lodge in 1849, and was its Master in 1858-59. From 1860 to 1863 he was Grand
Master of the Grand Lodge of Maine, and was for two years at the head of the
Grand Chapter and Grand Commandery of Maine, and one year at the head of the
Grand Council of Maine. In 1871 he was elected to the chief position of the
General Grand Chapter of the United States, and in 1880 was Grand Master of the
General Grand Council of the United States, holding each office three years. He
was Provincial Deputy Grand Master of the Royal Order of Scotland under the late
Albert Pike, and since Mr. Pike's death has been Provincial Grand Master. In
1859 and 1862 he received the degree of the Scottish Rite, and in the latter
year the thirty-third degree was conferred upon him, making him an honorary
member of the Supreme Council of the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States.
He was immediately elected Lieutenant Grand Commander, and was re-elected in
1863 and 1866. In 1867, upon the union of the Supreme Councils previously
existing, he was elected Grand Commander of the United Supreme Council, the
highest office in the gift of the fraternity. He was re-elected in 1870, 1873,
and 1876, but declined further service. This office was no sinecure, involving a
large amount of correspondence with all parts of the world. As Chairman of the
Committee on Masonic Jurisprudence in the grand bodies of Maine and in the
national bodies, Mr. Drummond has done more than any one else to shape the
polity-of the Order in the State and nation. In his own Grand Lodge he has for
thirty years performed the duty of reviewing the proceedings of the other Grand
Lodges - over fifty in number-his report often comprising more than two hundred
pages. He has also performed a similar labor for the Grand Chapter, Council, and
Commandery. In these reports questions of Masonic law, usage, polity, and duty
are discussed; and the reviewers of other Grand Lodges concede to Mr. Drummond
the first position as to ability and influence. Mr. Drummond has filled other
Masonic offices and performed other duties that we have not space to enumerate.
He is widely known and his acquaintance eagerly sought by the brethren in Europe
and America, few of the hundreds of thousands of Masons in this country being
unacquainted with his name.

Mr. Drummond is a working member of the Maine Historical Society, of the Maine
Genealogical Society, of the Old Colony Society of Taunton, Mass., and of the
New England Historical Genealogical Society of Boston. He is well versed in
State and local history, and has preserved much important historical and
genealogical data for the benefit of future generations, as some extensive
compilations to be published shortly will bear witness. His talents in this
direction have also been exerted for the benefit of the Masonic Order. He wrote
the history of the Portland Lodge, the work containing about three hundred and
fifty pages; compiled the Maine Masonic Textbook; which for some years has been
a standard work on Masonry and which has passed into the fourth edition, each
succeeding edition being revised and enlarged; assisted in the compilation of
the Maine Royal Arch Textbook; and compiled a large part of the appendix (two
hundred and fifty pages) to Yorston's edition of Gould's " History of Free
Masonry," which is a valuable and much quoted work. He also edited, jointly with
J. Ross Robertson, of Toronto, Canada, the "History of the Cryptic Rite,"
published by the latter in 1888. Two articles, "Masonic Jurisprudence" and
"Scottish Rite," he prepared for a work entitled "History of Free Masonry and
Concordant Orders."

On December 10, 1850, Mr. Drummond was united in marriage with Elzada Rollins
Bean, daughter of Benjamin Wadleigh and Lucetta (Foster) Bean. She was born
March 2, 1829, in Montville, Me., but at the time of her mar marriage was. a
resident of New York City. Her father was a son of Phineas and Hannah (Clifford)
Bean, born in Candia, N.H., March 31, 1804. Phineas Bean was the son of Jonathan
and Mary (Leavitt) Bean, born in Candia, July 25, 1763. He removed with his
family to Montville, Me., in 1808, and died there October 16, 1838. Four
children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Drummond, namely: Myra Lucetta;
Josiah Hayden, Jr., associated with his father in legal work, the name of the
firm being Drummond & Drummond; Tinnie Aubigne, wife of Wilford G. Chapman; and
Margelia Bean.

Mr. Drummond still keeps up his connection with his Alma Mater, Colby
University, which conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. twenty-five years after
graduation, the honor being a complete surprise to him. He was the first
President of the D. K. E. Society, and presided at its fiftieth anniversary in
July, 1895; and he has served on the Board of Trustees of the institution longer
than any other member, except two, having been elected in 1857. For many years
he has been Vice-President of the corporation and Chairman, ex officio, of the
Board of Trustees.

In religious belief Mr. Drummond is a liberal Christian, attending and
supporting the. Unitarian church. He is a man of great determination, and yet is
very kind-hearted, finding it difficult to say "no" when his sympathies are
appealed to. He is especially kind to young men; and he will drop -his own work,
though ever so busy, to answer the appeal of a young lawyer for help in a legal
problem, not only responding, but taking time to enlarge on the theme. A man of
large figure and commanding presence, his personality presents a rare
combination of physical, mental, and moral gifts.