Elmwood Stud Farm 1901, Lewiston Junction, Maine

Following is a biography of James S. Sanborn, owner of the Elmwood Stud Farm and part owner and manager of "The Maine Farmer."

Biographical History of

Massachusetts

Biographies and Autobiographies of the

Leading Men in the State

Samuel Atkins Eliot, A.M., D.D.

Editor-in-Chief

Volume VIII

MASSACHUSETTS BIOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY

BOSTON. MASSACHUSETTS

1917

Copyrighted, 1916, by

Massachusetts Biogbaphical Society

All rights reserved

JAMES SOLOMON SANBORN

The Sanborn family of America traces their ancestry from Nicholas Sanbourne of Wiltshire, England, who was born about 1320 and represented Bath City at the Parliament held at Westminster, November 3, 1391.

Lieutenant John Sanborn, the immigrant ancestor of James Solomon Sanborn, was born in England in 1620. Some twenty years later he emigrated to America and settled in Hampton, New Hampshire. Thence the line runs as follows: John Sanborn, son of Lieutenant John Sanborn, born in Hampton, 1649; Enoch Sanborn, son of John Sanborn (2), born in Hampton, 1686; Moses Sanborn, born in Hampton Falls about 1717; Henry Sanborn, son of Moses Sanborn (4), born in Kensington, New Hampshire, in 1746; Moses Sanborn, son of Henry Sanborn (5) was born in Epping, New Hampshire, April 25, 1777; moved to Wales, Maine.

Henry Sanborn, son of Moses Sanborn (6) was born in Epping, New Hampshire, February 18, 1808. He went to Maine with his family and followed farming to the end of his life. His only child, James Solomon Sanborn, was born in Wales, Maine, March 29,1835. His mother was Ann Grossman Daly. He died in Somerville. May 10, 1903. His boyhood was spent in Wales and Monmouth, Maine, and in Nashua, New Hampshire. His education was secured in the district schools of the time. Trained in the rocky fields of Maine, without much of the technical training of the schools, he was big in body and big in mind, and, as the sequel shows, big also in sympathy and affection.

His business career was begun as a traveling salesman for the seed house of A. H. Dunlap of Nashua, New Hampshire. Here his aggressive qualities found free play and for a number of years he not only succeeded in satisfying his employers and making money for himself, but he graduated from that fine school of experience which has furnished a highway to success for so many young American commercial travelers.

Mr. Sanborn was not the man to remain long working for somebody else. He could follow when necessary, but his native ability and energy made him a leader rather than a follower. His first business venture on his own account was in Lewiston, Maine, where he went into the coffee and spice business. This led to a wide acquaintance with the trade and resulted in his connection in 1868 with the firm of Dwinell, Hayward and Company of Boston, large

dealers in his coffee and spices. Here he became a dominating force in the coffee trade.

In 1878 he formed a partnership with Caleb Chase and established the firm of Chase and Sanborn, dealers in tea and coffee. It is perhaps no exaggeration to say that this remarkable firm sprang into almost immediate success and speedily won a world-wide reputation. They gathered coffee and tea from the lands in which they grew and distributed it to the farthest comer of the United States. Mr. Sanborn would be the last to claim exclusive credit for the remarkable success of the firm. The truth is that the genius of Mr. Sanborn and his partner called together a very extraordinary group of younger men and compacted them into an organization so full of energy, of initiative, and withal of so much loyalty that success was certain. Mr. Sanborn was not only a giant worker himself, but he was a genius in finding men and infusing into them his own spirit of enterprise. Bold to audacity in the matter of advertising, the firm furnished the coffee to all the restaurants on the ground of the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Mr. Sanborn at the request of his partner took entire charge of this feature of their business. It was resolved that the name of Chase and Sanborn as distributors of coffee should be known to the farthest limits of the land. But it was not enough that they should be known. They must be favorably known. Every man who knew them should be a friend. Therefore from the outset it was established as a settled principle that there was to be no trickery. The name of Chase and Sanborn was to stand for honest goods at honest prices.

Mr. Sanborn, after entering business in Boston, made his home in Somerville, Massachusetts, to the end of his life, except for a period of five years from 1884 to 1889 when he lived in Boston. He had a summer home in Poland, Maine. An enormous worker, Mr. Sanborn also had his pleasures, one of which was farm life with special reference to horse breeding. He gave particular attention to the breeding of French coach horses and his stables at Elmwood were justly famous.

In 1879, he became part owner and manager of the Maine Farmer, a weekly newspaper of wide influence for more than half a century. Bom among the hills of Maine, he was a true lover of nature and was never happier than when near to Nature’s heart. Mr. Sanborn was also an extensive traveler, particularly among the coffee and spice-producing countries of Europe and America.

James S. Sanborn was a big, brainy, successful business man, typical of New England's best, but that is not saying enough, for he was as big hearted as he was big brained. There was no littleness or meanness in his nature. He wanted to succeed and he did succeed, but never at another man's expense. He worked not for himself nor by himself. He worked in the spirit of cooperation for the common good, and nothing pleased him more than to observe the prosperity of some young man associated with him in business. Of a peculiarly cheerful and hopeful disposition, he managed to infuse his cheerfulness into the organization of men which he had helped to bring together.

"Without taking part in active politics, Mr. Sanborn was essentially a patriot. Without religious ostentation, he was essentially a Christian and was long connected with the Winter Hill Congregational Church.

He was married November 6, 1856, to Harriet Newell, daughter of Captain John and Sarah (Moody) Small of Auburn, Maine. She died in 1901. To them were born four children: Helen Josephine, an author, living in Somerville and Boston; Charles Edgar, died in 1905 ; Oren, Cheney ; Georgie Dunlap, who married

Edward Sands Townsend of Boston. Both sons were connected with the firm of Chase and Sanborn.

So lived James Solomon Sanborn whose life is summed up in the words of a friend: "His executive gift was his genius. Integrity of character was the inspiration of his gift for organizing and for executing. He never betrayed a friend. He was wholesome, genial, and strong in body and mind. A great originating merchant, he leaves behind him a legacy of unique values in memories and in friendships, as well as in fame and service, as an industrial

founder.