Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Cabinet Photo of Young Man George G. Averill, born Lincoln, Maine 1869, later MD and GM of Keyes Fibre, Waterville, Maine



Cabinet photograph of a young man identified as George G. Averill; photograph taken by Foster and Evans, Successors to Hill and Hazelton, 24 Hanover Street, Boston, Massachusetts.




From comparing to a photograph of Dr. George G. Averill in his middle years, I believe that this is a photograph of the George G. Averill who was born in Lincoln, Maine 5 December 1869, educated at Lee Academy in Lee, Maine, and later received his medical degree from Tufts College in Massachusetts.  He practiced in Cambridge, Massachusetts for a number of years and then, at the urging of his father-in-law, Martin Keyes, left his practice to work with Martin Keyes at Keyes Fibre Company in Waterville, Maine.


From online research, hopefully correct:


George G. Averill was the son of David F. Averill, born 14 November 1834 in Lincoln, Maine, and his wife Leah S. (Lowell) Averill, who was born 7 December 1845 in Lee, Maine, an adjacent town.  George G. Averill's paternal grandparents were David Averill, born in 1800 in Topsfield, Massachusetts, and his wife Mary M. Lee, born in Dresden, Maine, in 1804.  George G. Averill's maternal grandparents were Thomas Lowell, born in 1806 in, I think, Litchefield, Maine, and his wife Martha Jane (Smith) Lowell.


George had a distinguished career in medicine and business.  He practiced medicine in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1896 until 1910.  He married, first, Mabel L. Keyes, on 18 November 1908.  She was the daughter of New Hampshire native and inventor Martin Keyes, who founded the Keyes Fibre Company in Waterville, Maine.   


In 1911, Martin Keyes convinced Dr. Averill to give up his Massachusetts practice and move to Waterville to help run Keyes Fibre.  Upon the death of Martin Keyes, Dr. Averill became general manager for the next ten years or so.   


After Mabel's death, Dr. Averill married Frances B. Mosher, on 2 February 1921.  She was a teacher at Bangor, Maine, and the daughter of Albert and Mary Mosher of Orono, Maine.   Her brother in law, Osgood Townsend, was involved in the lumbering business; perhaps this is how she and Dr. Averill met.


I read in a compendium of short biographies of notable Maine people that Dr. Averill kept a house in Los Angeles, California, where he spent the winters.  He died in 1954. 


I found this photograph with just the clue of the Boston studio on it and had no idea that I would find myself unearthing clues that led me back to Maine and even to Lee Academy, a wonderful institution that a grateful Dr. Averill supported financially, including the construction of dormitory Weymouth Hall, named in honor of his sister Effie (Averill) Weymouth.


If you have any corrections, additions or insights regarding the information presented above, please scroll down to the comments box at the bottom of this page or contact me directly.  Thanks for stopping by!

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2 comments:

  1. Hello, Any idea where Dr. Averill is buried?

    pnranderson@myfairpoint.net

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  2. Found this listing on Find-a-Grave: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=103602994. He's buried with his second wife, Frances (Mosher) Averill at West Broadway Cemetery, Lincoln, Maine.

    ReplyDelete