Aaron Babb (1-5-3-2-5-3) was born on 30 Mar 1812 in the small community of Harmony, Maine, which is located in Somerset County to Mark Babb & Anna Connant.
By 1850 had a business as a Lumberman, a trade that would follow him for the rest of his life. His estate was already valued at $2,000 in the Census that year. A decade later, he had real estate valued at $3,000 with an additional $1,000 in personal assets.
He did a booming business during the Civil War, pulling in $2,482 in income in 1863 alone. The following year he showed a income of $6,689 and owned a carriage, 2 gold watches and a piano. For all of this he paid $448.90 in taxes.
With the war over in 1866, his yearly income dropped back to $2,250. He now owned 2 carriages, along with the 2 gold watches and piano.
In September 1867 Aaron, along with his business partners (Lysander Strickland & Philo A. Strickland) petitioned the Maine Supreme Court for relief in a land dispute.
The cover picture is of a letter sent by Babb & Strickland Lumber Company dated 04 Dec 1871. It is informing a customer of a new shipment of lumber they received and were ready to ship by “rail“. The customer was a Mr. John M. Washburn who worked for the O.C.R.R. company.
The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. The OC was named after the “Old Colony”, the nickname for the Plymouth Colony. – Source: Old Colony Railroad – Wikipedia
In September 1869 Aaron was appointed as one of the judges for a Regatta held as part of the Centennial Celebration for the City of Bangor.
While additional tax records are not currently available (as of June 2023), in 1870 his booming business now placed at a net worth of $20,000. Aaron was already a widower with daughter Mary 23 and son Charles 20. In 1880 Census Hanna was a widow age 37 with sons Harry A. age 8 and Howard age 4.
In Aaron’s will, probated 5 Jun 1877 Henry Aaron and Howard Willis were called “two youngest children” and with Mother Hannah E. each was to receive one-third of estate. (Penobscot Co., ME Land Rec. Vol. 477, p. 11).
In all he had 3 wives, outliving all but the third one.
Aaron was named in his sister Jane’s will (Penobscot Co., ME Probate Vol. 57, pp. 476-478).