Cumberland County, Maine - John S. Heald ********************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: C. Wendland SilverDrusilla@aol.com Copyright (c) 2005 by C. Wendland Caitlin's Gold Award Project, Girl Scouts USA, Rio Grande Girl Scout Council, El Paso, Texas ********************************************************************** Biography John S. Heald Biographical Review Cumberland County, Maine Boston Biographical Review Publishing Company 1896 Page 372-373 John S. Heald, Claim Agent of the Maine Central Railway, residing in Portland, is a native of Maine, having been born November 4, 1833, at Phippsburg, Sagadahoc County. His paternal grandfather, John Heald, was a prominent farmer of Georgetown and a veteran of the Revolutionary War. His father, the late Sumner Heald, was born at Georgetown, this State, and there lived until he attained maturity. Removing then to Phippsburg, Sumner Heald followed farming in that place until his decease in March, 1894. He also was engaged in milling and the fishery business, both of which he found profitable. In politics he was not especially active, but always cast his vote with the Democratic party. He married Miss Cordelia, daughter of Mark Langdon Hill, who was the first member of Congress from this State, and subsequently became judge of the Supreme Court of Maine. Of their union thirteen children were born, five of whom are still living. The mother lived but a few months after the death of her husband, her death occurring in September, 1894. Both parents were members of the Congregational church. John S. Heald acquired his education in the common schools of his native town, remaining on the home farm until fifteen years of age he then entered the employment of a firm of ship-builders, with whom he served an apprenticeship of six years, becoming master builder. At the age of twenty-one years Mr. Heald removed to Bath, Me., where he engaged in carpentering, erecting a number of fine houses. In 1856 he came to Portland, where be continued at his trade for four years. He relinquished it in 1860, when he was appointed First Deputy Marshal. A year later he was promoted to the position of City Marshal or Chief of Police, a position which be ably filled for ten years. Under his wise administration many important and beneficial changes were made in the police regulations. These so augmented the efficiency of the department that Mr. Heald has since been repeatedly urged to again accept the office, the position having been tendered him even so late as the spring of 1895 by Mayor Baxter. During the late Civil War Mr. Heald was employed in the United States Secret Service, working in New England mostly, where he made some important arrests. One was that of a political refugee, whom he took from an English vessel, securing thereby a number of cipher dispatches that enabled the government to capture a vessel laden with arms and ammunition for the Confederate States. Mr. Heald was also influential in breaking up several gangs of counterfeiters who were operating in Maine and New Hampshire, and who had passed the spurious money in this city. Among those arrested by him were Hartley Bonney and Jim Tuttle, two well known and desperate men, this being his first detective work for the United States. In the course of time he established a wide reputation as the leading detective of the State of Maine, and his services were frequently called into requisition in neighboring cities. He was employed in several cases connected with bank robberies, some of the noted ones having been those committed at Bowdoinham, Norway, Cornish, Rockland, and Dexter. It was in the robbery committed at Dexter that the notorious Le Barron was killed. Mr. Heald was the prime mover in all of these cases. In 1876 he was appointed as special detective on the Maine Central Railway; and in 1879 he accepted, in addition, the duties of Claim Agent of the road. Since then he has filled both positions most acceptably to the company and with credit to himself. He was instrumental in bringing to justice men who placed obstructions on the road at Unity, Bucksport, Pittsfield, besides discovering scores of criminals whose names and offences have not been made public. Mr. Heald's position as Claim Agent is most important. As the system of the Maine Central covers a large territory, the position of Claim Agent is, of necessity, a most important one. Mr. Heald was married August 30, 1862, to Miss Isabelle L. Cutler, of Portland, who presides with a winning hospitality over his beautiful home at 265 State Street. For upward of twenty years Mr. Heald has taken an active interest in the Maine State Agricultural Society and the Gorham County Fair, of which he is a Director and Manager. He occupies a similar position in the Maine Mile Track Association, of which he was Manager in 1894, an office that the pressure of other business obliged him to relinquish the following year. He has been a prominent Director of the New England Fair, which has been held for many years on the Maine Mile Track Association grounds. Mr. Heald is also much interested in the breeding of fine stock, having raised some of standard breed, and his driving horse being one of the finest in the city.