The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1898-02-03

| oColid LII IioI, anu lIFeu III the township
now called Yarmouth. His name appears
in the membership of a committee ap-
pointed to divide the forfeited lands of
that township, under the act of August,
1861. Returning to New England about
1865, he settled on katherine Island. now
Rutherford Island, in Bristol, Maine.
which he afterwards purchased In 1915,
he became chairman of the Committee of
Safety, and in that capacity addressed a
letter to the Provincial Congress, which
! is preserved among it's records His death
occurred in 1905. There is little doubt
but that the family descends in direct
line from John Otis-Ottis-or Outfits
who came to bingham, in 1852, from
Glastonbury, near Wells, in Somerset
shire, England.
/ On his mothers side Mr.. Otis had a
like honorable line of ancestry. Her
father, Salathiel Nckerson, born in
| Chatham, Mass, November l, 1899, died
IN Belfast, Feb. Is, 1868. He was SOL
der in the war OF 1872, and successful
merchant. His wife, Martha Rogers Nc
Clure, was a daughter of James Mcclure,
revolutionary officer, whose father came
from the north OF Ireland in 1727, and
| with two others made the first settlement
of Hillsboro', \. II.
| The father of Salathiel Nickerson also
| lived in Chatham. He was a revolution
airy soldier, a representative to the Gen
era Court of Massachusetts, and a mem
| Der of the Constitutional Convention in
| 1920 He lived to the age of eighty-se seven.
| His grandfather, William Nickerson, was
an early immigrant to Massachusetts. The
| Admiralty records Of London show the eX-
animation of William NlckeIson, of Nor :
| wlch, in Norfolk county, weaver, aged SO,
| and Annie, aged Is, with four children,
all intending, April s, 1857, to 90 to Bos-
! ton, New England, Ito inhabit.' 1t is
said that he first went to Watertown. He
| subsequently settled in Chatham, having
bought land there of the Indians. His
| wife, whose name was Anne Busby, was
| descended from Elder William Brewster
and also from Stephen Hopkins, both
signers OF the Maytiower compact in 1920.
\ The ancestry oil Mr.. Otis therefore en-
braces two of the Pilgrim Fathers. He
| always took more pride, however, in his
connection with the sturdy Scotch Irish
families of Boyd and Nesmitn, than in
his Plymouth progenitors.
| The early education Of Mr.. Otis was OBJ
tanned in the public schools of Belfast
and at Westbrook Seminary, near Port
land In 1888, he entered the freshman
class OF TUFTS College, and four years later
took the degree OF Bachelor of Arts at
that Institution. His natural ability,
fondness for study and close application
won for him the highest honorS. He re-
celved the Goddard prize for English com
position, and at the termination of his
college course was chosen member of
the Phi Beta Kappa Society, which, as is
well known, admits only the first schol-
ars in its several branches as members
After graduating he read law for year
with the Hon. Nehemiah Abbott of Bel
fast, then engaged in an extensive prac-
| tice, and having passed another year at
the Law School at Harvard College, was
ADM tied TO the Waldo County Bar at the
| October term OF the Supreme Judicial
| Court OF Maine i'll 1865.
| 70 most young men two years of such
! preparation would have seemed sufficient
qualification for immediate entrance into
/ active professional life. Such was not the
view taken by Mr.. Otis 1t was character
/ lstic OF him that he desired to obtain a
still higher standard of legal equipment,
and accordingly he devoted an additional
| year to study at the Dane Law School. re
ceiving il 1866 the degree OF Bachelor of
| Law, aud in the same year the de gree of
Immediately commencing practice in
Boston, he was for several years connect
ed in legal business with the late Ex-Gov-
ernor John Albion Andrew (Bowdoin Col
( lege, 1850, and after the death of the lat
ter with the governors son, the Hon.
John Forester Andrew (Harvard Univer-
sity, 1922, recently deceased.
Mr.. Otis did not aspire to distinction in
/ the forensic department of his vocation
He preferred 'the cool sequestered vale
OF HE" to the StrlfeS OF the court room
| His natural function was that of adviser
! and counsellor rather than that of barriS-
ter or advocate. In positions of conf
dence and trust his services were con
stantly employed. Public honors did not
possess for him an attraction. ''Quet
studies and the companonship of chosen
friends gave him an enjoyment rarely to
be found amid the excitement of political
life
AS man, friend and neighbor. Mr..
Otis was greatly esteemed. His sincerity
and candor commanded the respect of all
who came within his influence In con.
versation there few subjects which he did
not illustrate by fascinating ard brilliant
remarks. He was ever ready with per-
tinent anecdote, and certain felicity of
expression which never failed to enlist at
tentlon made his presence welcome and
entertaining wherever he Went. But his
bright shafts were free from acerbity. and
left no W und To malevolence OF envy
he was ii stranger If he could not speak
well Of one he spoke not at ALL He had
gathered large library of books which
he loved, and of which he was constant
reader, and his literary criticisms were
just and sagacious. The memory of his
endearipg qualities will always be cher
ished by those who knew him. An old
neignbor said, upon learning of his death,
''he was man made to be loved'
Mr.. OILS was tall and erect of figar.. of
handsome features, of courteous and dig
nitied bearing, and of countenance
which was full of light especially when
it reflected the sallies of quiet humor
which he was ever ready to give and to re-
ceive.
During the last ten years of his life he
passed part of every season at Isle au
Haut, near the coast of Maine, where.
with other members of the "Point Look
out Club" he had landed interests, He
was never married. An only sister sur
wives him. Soon after his mothers death.
he purchased the Nickerson homestead.
SO called, beautiful spot at 'sThe Mar
rows" just above the business centre of
Belfast, and commanding a view of the
wide expanse of Penobscot Bay, and the