H CHAPTER XVIII. LIFE OF ASA MEAD SIMPSON. A FACTOR IN SHIP-BUILDING AND LUMBER MILLING THE RISE OF THIS ASA MEAD SIMPSON was born in Brunswick, Maine, February 20, 1826. His ancestors on both sides of the house were of Scotch origin, on the paternal side coming from the north of Ireland, and the maternal side directly from Scotland at an earlier date, and among them were several who emigrated to New England in the eighteenth century. Four full brothers and one sister preceded him, and three half-brothers and two half-sisters came after him, in the order of birth. Branches of the family were numerous throughout the state of Maine, but his immediate relatives were settled at Brunswick, which adjoined Bath and formed with it an important shipbuilding community. His father, Thomas Simpson, was a master ship-builder in early life, and after acquiring a competency, he engaged in farming, on the border of the town. He was what was called a fancy farmer in those days; not a tiller of the soil altogether from necessity, as he might have continued in the shipbuilding line to advantage, but because of his desire for agriculture. His farm was a model one, everything on it of the best, and the land kept under a high state of cultivation. He was a man of unusual energy and perseverance-proverbially so in his neigh borbood. Of vigorous intellect, he was progressive in his ideas and well informed on current affairs of moment. Independent in his thinking, he was outspoken and not conciliatory in his speech. He led a correct and useful life. Though not religious in the sense of professed faith, he was moral, and a patron and friend of churches. In physique, he was a fair sample of the men who have given the state of Maine a name everywhere for size, strength, and endurance. In their development we find the benefits of wholesome living exemplified. Their vitality makes manifest the virtue of temperance, frugality, and labor. Mrs Simpson, whose maiden name was Mary Wyer, was revered for her saintly character. She was a devout Christian, a pillar of the church, and demonstrated in her life the beauty of the faith by which she was inspired. The name she gave to her fourth son, that of an eminent congregationalist minister, shows the trend of her feeling in regard to religion. This son, Asa Mead, resembled his mother very strikingly in personal appearance, as well as in the tenderness of disposition that characterized her. How much he was influenced by her presence and care cannot be known definitely, for he was only five years old when she was taken away, in her thirty-sixth year. The susceptibility of the child's mind, however, especially in its relations with the mother, is such that controlling impressions are often made upon it in infancy. A man's character may be determined by impulse received in the nursery. And this is all the more likely when, as in the present instance, the child inherits tendencies that are manifested in the parent. The spirit of good or evil may pass from father or mother irrevocably into the lives of their sons or daughters at the tenderest age-one of the most serious of human responsibilities; yet how few parents realize the force of their example upon the budding intelligence of their offspring! Asa remained on his father's farm until he was seventeen years old. Until the age of twelve, he attended school summer and winter, but afterward, until his tuition in books came to an end, only in the winter. His time out of school was filled with useful work adapted to his years. Every boy in that thrifty community had his task, and was expected to do his duty. The training he underwent was strict, but not severe. It was rational and wholesome, and left no gloomy impressions. When their work was over he and his brothers were free to hunt, fish, skate, or divert themselves otherwise as they wished, within the lines of propriety. He grew up accustomed to take a cheerful view of life, and to feel confidence in himself. He acquired independence by practically learning how to take care of himself; there is no other lesson to be learned, in school or out of school, that can make a man so comfortable or so strong. At the age of seventeen he was apprenticed to ship-building. At twenty, he was well grounded in the principles of the craft, and was given the charge of a crew of men. At twentyone, he was master of the business. During his apprenticeship, he continued his studies and devoted some special care to mathematics, graduating at a seminary in his native town, under charge of Professor Pike as his teacher, who, seeing in him an aptitude for this study and a decided talent for mechanics as well, urged him to prepare himself for civil engineering. But he had his boyish ambition. Everything else seemed to him secondary to the building of ships. That filled his mind. In all probability it was best, for, following his bent, he grew into such usefulness as is seldom realized in the profession of engineering. At twenty-four he could build houses, bridges, and do almost anything in that line that is necessary in a new country. He was ripe for his pioneership, so far as his trade and a general readiness in the use of tools went, but |