Cumberland County, Maine – Hon. Frederick Robie
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Biography
Hon. Frederick Robie
Biographical Review
Cumberland County, Maine
Boston
Biographical Review Publishing Company
1896
Page 19-23

Hon. Frederick Robie, President of the First National Bank of Portland and ex-
Governor of the State of Maine, is a native resident of Gorham, Cumberland
County.&nbsp;&nbsp;He was born on August 12, 1822, son of Toppan and Sarah Thaxter
(Lincoln) Robie, and is descendant of Henry Robie (or Roby), who is supposed to
have been born at the Castle of Dunnington, Yorkshire, England, February 12,
1618.&nbsp;&nbsp;Henry Robie had at least two brothers, Thomas and Samuel, the former
living and dying at Castle Dunnington. Of Samuel it is recorded that he left
home for America, but his arrival was never heard of. Thomas Robie's son William
emigrated to America, and, settling in Boston, married Elizabeth Greenough; and
tradition says they reared fifteen children. Their descendants still live in New
York, Illinois, and Michigan.

The exact date of the arrival in America of Henry Robie, the far-off ancestor of
ex-Governor Robie, is not known. The first we hear of him is that he was at
Dorchester, Mass., early in 1639.&nbsp;&nbsp;He went to Exeter, N.H., in that year; and
his name is appended to a petition signed by a number of the inhabitants of
Exeter, dated May 4, 1639, addressed to King Charles I., declaring their
allegiance to him and their obedience to such laws as he should make for the
government of the colony and to such wholesome regulations as they should make
for themselves. His name also appears on a similar petition addressed to the
Governor of the colony asking that the town be laid out. In 1653-54 Henry Robie
went to Hampton, and was Constable there in 1662. October 18, 1669, he was an
attorney in a matter before the court of Boston; and on July 13, 1680, he was
foreman of the grand jury. In 1683 he, with other residents of Hampton,
petitioned the Colonial Governor to be freed from head money. The same year he
was elected a member of the Council from Hampton, and the year following he was
made a Justice of the Peace.&nbsp;&nbsp;He died in 1688, leaving a wife, Sarah, and the
following children: Thomas, Samuel, Ichabod, Mary, John, Judith, and Ruth.

John Robie, the next in line, was a soldier in King Philip's War, under Captain
Joseph Syll, and was credited on the books of Haverell (Haverhill) Town,
November 30, 1675, as having earned one pound, sixteen shillings.&nbsp;&nbsp;Part of the
time he served in the garrison at of Chelmsford, Cumberland County. He was
Chelmsford; and, for like services the next year under Lieutenant Benjamin
Swett, on June 14, 1676, he was further credited with eight shillings, sixpence.
In 1675 or 1676 he built himself a house at Haverhill, Mass., in that part of
the town now known as Atkinson, N. H.; and there he met his death on June 16,
1691 being killed by the Indians. His wife had died a few days before, leaving
seven children, the oldest not quite eleven years old. Warned of impending
danger from the Indians, Mr. Robie had taken his family from his home to a place
of safety, and was returning with his cart and oxen about two hours before
sunset, when he was shot down. His son Ichabod, who was with him, was taken
prisoner and carried to Canada, where he was kept about a year, then ransomed,
and returned home

Ichabod Robie, the great-great-grandfather of ex-Governor Robie, was born in
Haverhill, Mass., in 1680, and worked as a tanner and surveyor. An entry in the
Provincial Records of New Hampshire, dated July 3, 1697, states that he is
entitled to two pounds and two shillings for seven days work on the fort erected
for protection against the French and Indians.&nbsp;&nbsp;He appears to have been an
enterprising man, and was a prominent member of the society for settling the
"Chestnut Country" (or Chester, N.H.), organized in October, 1719; a member of
the committee to manage the affairs of the society, and chairman of the
committee to lay out lots; one of the petitioners to the Governor of the colony
asking that they might have a grant of said lands; and one of the proprietors of
the town of Chester, N.H., named in the grant from King George, dated May 8,
1722.&nbsp;&nbsp;He was a member of the Assembly from Hampton in the Provincial House of
Representatives for the years 1735, 1736, 1741, and 1742, on May 8 of the last-
named year being appointed by the House one of the committee to address his
majesty the King upon matters relating to the colony, and was also elected to
another committee to answer the speech of the Colonial Governor and present it
to the House for approval. In the proceedings of the House in many instances he
is called Captain. On January 13, 1706, he married Mary Cass, who became the
mother of the following children: John, born in 1712; Henry, born in 1714; and
Samuel, born in 1717.

Samuel Robie settled on his father's lot, No. 116, March 1, 1744.&nbsp;&nbsp;He was a
Lieutenant in the New Hampshire regiment of which Samuel Moore was Colonel; and
in January, 1775, he was chosen a deputy to nominate delegates to the Congress
of May 10 following. In 1777 he was one of the Committee of Safety for Chester.
He married a Miss Perkins; and their son Edward married Sarah Smith, daughter of
John and Sarah (Toppan) Smith. Edward and Sarah (Smith) Robie were the parents
of the Hon. Toppan Robie, of Gorham, Me., who had three brothers and two
sisters.

Toppan Robie was born in Candia, N.H., January 27, 1782.&nbsp;&nbsp;He was a man of
courage and ability.&nbsp;&nbsp;Captain in a company of State militia which participated
in the War of 1812; and when, in 1814, it was feared that Portland was in danger
of invasion and General Irish's brigade was ordered there, Captain Robie marched
to the front at the head of his company.&nbsp;&nbsp;In politics first a Federalist, then a
Whig, and later an ardent Republican, he represented his town six years in the
General Court of Massachusetts. In 1820-21 he was a Representative in the
legislature of Maine, and in 1837 was a member of Governor Kent's Executive
Council. He held many offices of public trust, and was liberal in his
benefactions for the furtherance of the common weal, giving freely to religious
and educational institutions. The soldiers' monument at Gorham village was his
gift, and on his eightieth birthday he gave five thousand dollars to the
Congregational church and parish of Chester. He died, universally regretted,
January 14, 1871. The Hon. Toppan Robie was three times married. In 1804 he was
united to Miss Lydia Brown, daughter of Benjamin Brown, of Chester, N.H., and a
sister of the late Rev. Francis Brown, President of Dartmouth College from 1815
to 1820. Mrs. Lydia B. Robie died in February, 1811; and Mr. Robie was married
in September, 181l, to Miss Sarah Thaxter Lincoln, daughter of Captain John
Lincoln, who came originally from Hingham, Mass., but was a resident of Gorham
at the time of his daughter's marriage. He was a worthy representative of the
distinguished Lincoln family of Massachusetts. The second Mrs. Robie died in
1828, leaving three sons--Charles; George; and Frederick, the special subject of
the present sketch.

Frederick Robie, after attending the public schools of his native town, fitted
for college at Gorham Academy, studying first under the tuition of the Rev.
Reuben Nason, who died many years ago, and later under the Rev. Amos Brown, D.D.
He entered Bowdoin in 1837, and was graduated in 1841 at the age of nineteen.
That same year he acted acceptably as principal of academies in Georgia and
Florida. Having decided to become a physician, he shortly entered the Jefferson
Medical College at Philadelphia; and, receiving the degree of M.D. in 1844; in
April of that year he opened an office in Biddeford.&nbsp;&nbsp;He was there actively
engaged in the duties of his profession until May, 1855, when he removed to
Waldoboro, Me., where for three years he enjoyed a large and lucrative practice.
At the end of that period he decided to settle permanently in his native town,
but destiny had other views for him.

In 1861 he was a member of the Executive Council of Governor Israel Washburn;
and at the breaking out of the war he was appointed by President Lincoln
additional paymaster of United States Volunteers, his commission, which was one
of the first of this special grade of appointments, being dated June 1, 1861.
Resigning his position in the Governor's Council, he entered at once on active
duty and paid off a number of regiments in the Array of the Potomac in 1861-62,
as well as several new Maine regiments mustered into the United States service
in August, 1862. In 1863 he was stationed at Boston as chief paymaster of the
Department of New England; and in the early part of 1864 he was transferred to
the Department of the Gulf at New Orleans, where for more than a year he
judiciously handled the government's money. The spring of 1865 brought the
termination of the war and also an order to Paymaster Robie to return to Maine
to superintend the final payment of the citizen soldiers from that State at
their muster out of the service. His invaluable services in this important
branch of the army system earned for him the brevet of Lieutenant Colonel, an
honor that few paymasters received at that period. His last commission is dated
November 24, 1865.

July 20, 1866, he was honorably mustered out of service; and among other
encomiums of the public press the following appeared: "He has been a gentlemanly
and courteous officer, and has faithfully discharged the duties of his office '
(from the Argus).&nbsp;&nbsp;"Colonel Robie's service has been honorable to himself and
eminently satisfactory both to the government and its claimants with whom he has
bad to deal" (from the Press). "Major Frederick Robie, the popular and efficient
paymaster of the United States, who has been so long stationed in this State,
has been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel by brevet. This is the first instance of
a Maine paymaster securing such honor; and it could have been bestowed on no
more faithful, modest, and unassuming officer. He is held by the paymaster-
general as one of the best officers in the pay department of our country" (the
Portland Star).

That the press voiced popular sentiment was indicated by the fact that in
September of that year Colonel Robie was elected to the Senate of Maine, and re-
elected in 1867. He was appointed by the Hon. William Pitt Fessenden in 1866
special agent of the Treasury Department, and served two years; and from 1868 to
1873 he was an active member of the Republican State Committee; eight times he
has been called on to represent his native town in the Lower House of the State
legislature, officiating acceptably as Speaker in 1872 and again in 1876. Three
times he has been a member of the Executive Council, in that of Governor
Washburn in 1861, of Governor Davis in 1880, and of Governor Plaisted in
1881-82. He was formerly a member of the Whig party, but has been in full
sympathy with the Republican party since its organization. In 1873 he revisited
Florida and received hospitable entertainment from those who thirty years before
had been his pupils. The fact that many had served in the Confederate army had
not impaired the strong friendships formed in early manhood.

In the educational and industrial interests of Maine Mr. Robie has always taken
a warm interest. The establishment of the State Normal School at Gorham is
largely due to his influence while representing his native town in the State
legislature. In 1878 he was one of the commission to the Paris Exposition of the
world's industry and art; and during that year he traveled extensively in
Europe, by keen observation and philosophic thought maturing his views and
increasing his qualifications for the high office which he was afterward called
to fill. The society called the Patrons of Husbandry attracted his favorable
notice some years ago, as he saw in the organization an instrument fitted to
infuse fresh vigor into the agricultural interests of Maine and to prevent the
depopulation of the rural districts. Giving the weight of his personal influence
to the society, he has largely augmented its efficiency for good. In 1882 he was
chosen Worthy Master of the State Grange, being re-elected its chief officer for
eight years; and under his administration the order grew in numbers and social
power to a phenomenal extent, becoming one of the most beneficent of the
industrial and social organizations of Maine.

The idea that Colonel Robie would make an admirable Governor of the State
occurred simultaneously about fourteen years ago to many minds in different
parts of Maine, and at: once became active; and, though late in the field as a
candidate, he' was received with marked favor. His familiarity with public
affairs, his integrity and sound sense, with his many other marked
qualifications, made him a favorite. Hundreds of old soldiers remembered him as
the courteous and obliging paymaster; scores of men were familiar with him as a
member of nearly a dozen legislatures; hundreds of farmers regarded him as the
head of their order; business men everywhere acknowledged his possession of
attributes which make a wise and prudent governor. Thirteen hundred and thirty-
one delegates were present at the convention which nominated him (the largest
convention of the kind ever held in the State), and gave him ninety-eight votes
more than were cast for his distinguished competitor, William W. Thomas, Jr.

The ensuing political campaign was one of the most exciting ever known in Maine,
one of the leading issues being the difference between Governor Plaisted and the
Executive Council, of which the Republican candidate was Chairman. Colonel
Robie's canvass was cordially commended by the Republican press within and
without the State, his public career of twenty years being so irreproachable
that no flaw in his record could be found; and the fact that he was personally
known to voters in three-fourths of the towns in the 
State strengthened the ticket, which contained the names of four candidates for
Congress. An independent movement was organized to defeat the Republican ticket,
but fell to the ground. James G. Blaine privately stated that in his opinion
"the nomination of Colonel Robie was the strongest that could have been made,
and that to it was largely attributable the subsequent splendid victory at the
polls." Mr. Robie received a majority of nearly nine thousand votes over his
competitor, Governor Plaisted; and his inauguration took place in January, 1883.
His inaugural address to the legislature was a strong and sensible document,
evincing a just State pride and an intelligent familiarity with the affairs and
demands of the Commonwealth. Governor Robie was re-elected in 1884 by a largely
increased majority, reaching nearly twenty thousand. He was in office from
January, 1883, to 1887, his record showing him to have been one of the most
popular and efficient chief magistrates the State has ever had.

In many business enterprises he has been and is a most potent factor. He has
been many years a Director of the Portland & Rochester Railroad Company, whose
early life his father was active in fostering. Mr. Robie was likewise for a long
period a Director of the First National Bank of Portland, of which he is now
President; and in 1885 he was President of the Eastern Telegraph Company. He is
a Director and member of the Financial Committee of the Mutual Life Insurance
Company, and at one time was Business Manager of the Portland Press Publishing
Company. He is a member of the Portland Commandery of A. F. & A. M., an active
member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and an interested member of the Loyal
Legion of the United States. He has recently been honored by his town by the
changing of the corporate name of their high school to "Frederick Robie High
School." A very large grange of Patrons of Husbandry at Otisfield, Me., also
bears his full name.

Frederick Robie was married November 27, 1847, to Olivia M. Priest, an
accomplished lady of Biddeford, Me., and the following children have blessed
their union: Harriet, wife of Clark H. Barker; Mary Frederica, wife of George F.
McQuillan, Esq.; Eliza, who died September 3, 1863; and William Pitt Fessenden
Robie.