RIDLONS OF HOLLIS, MAINE.
671
with heart and hand to bestow sympathy or substantial comforts
upon the
needy. She was many years in a feeble condition, but could forget her
own sufferings in her efforts to alleviate those of others. She was a patient,
gentle-spirited woman, and lived in peace with all the world. After a long
and painful illness, endured in a calm frame of mind, and sustained by that
divine arm in which she had learned in early life to trust, she passed away
Aug 17, 1862. No children.
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Samuel Ridlon (4), second son of Thomas (2), was born in Hollis,
Me., Feb. 28, 1815; married Hannah, fourth daughter of Gideon and
Judith (Walker) Tibbetts, she was born in Buxton, Aug. 18, 1819, and
died in September, 1865,-and had issue four children, of whom hereafter.
He being the only surviving son, remained at home with his parents, work-
ing on a farm until the decease of his wife, when he devoted himself
mainly to carpenter-work and building. He was a capable man in several
capacities; he moved buildings, laid stone-work, made farm-implements,
surveyed lumber; he was a ready writer, and served as clerk of the
church and fraternal organizations. His memory was retentive, habits
studious, perceptions acute; he was always a reader and possessed a good
fund of general and practical information. He was a good mathemati-
cian, but was unsystematic and without proper organization in his plans
and work. He was a good farmer, so far as cultivation of the soil was
concerned, but in consequence of carelessness and neglect of his farming-
tools was not financially successful. In temperament passionate and im-
pulsive, and sometimes swayed by prejudices, and an almost ungovernable
temper. He was kind-hearted, generous to a fault, and remarkably unselfish
in his dealings with others; in adverse circumstances naturally despond-
ing and given to melancholy; nervous, superstitious, and imaginative,
he was a strong believer in the supernatural. Strictly honest and confi-
dential himself, he trusted everybody, and allowed them to take advan-
tage of him in his business transactions, and frequently lost considerable
sums of money, rather than press his demands. He was an active politi-
cian and advocate of the cause of temperance, and was always a promoter
of education and all movements calculated to better the mental, moral, or
civil condition of his fellowmen. He was pleasant, candid, concise as a
public speaker, and always listened to with the most respectful attention.
In personal appearance he resembled his father; full six feet in height,
shoulders broad, arms very long, frame large and muscular, hair and beard
black, eyes gray, brows outstanding, features regular, complexion ruddy.
He died at the home of his eldest son in Saco, Nov. 14, 1880, and was
buried in the family-lot in the village cemetery at Moderation Mills.
Thomas-B. Ridlon (6), eldest son of William (1), was born in
Bridgton, Me., Jan. 1, 1814; married Harriet Ingalls, and settled in his
native town as a farmer. He owns one of the best orchards in Cumber-
land County. Many of his winters have been spent driving ox-teams in
the logging-swamps of Maine and New Hampshire. He is below the
medium height, but broad-shouldered and compact of build; hair and
beard black and inclined to curl; eyes gray and small, face florid, expres-
sion pleasant. In temperament quick, impulsive, and radical; is sarcastic,
jovial, and companionable; fears nothing that walks the earth. His wife,
who died many years ago, was the mother of twelve children. He married
a second wife, but is now living with a daughter on his old homestead.
Robert-Martin Ridlòn³ (7), second son of William¹ (1), was born in
