Kents Hill School Notables
SOME KENTS HILL SCHOOL NOTABLES
 ELIHU B. WASHBURNE
U.S. Congressman, Secretary of State, Foreign Minister to France
 TIMOTHY O. HOWE
U.S. Senator, Post Master General United States
 HANNIBAL HAMLIN
Maine Governor, U.S. Senator, Vice President of United States
 GENERAL OLIVER OTIS HOWARD
Union Army General; Superintendent West Point; Commander of the Army of the East
 ZEBULON YORK
Brigadeer General Confederate Army Civil War
 C. A. STEPHENS
Nationally known Maine author
 DAVIS W. CLARK
Nationally known religious leader
HON. JOHN L. STEVENS
U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay, Uruguay, Sweden, & Hawaii
 BOB ELLIOT
NBC News Reporter
 FIELD OF EDUCATION
 POLITICS
 NEWSPAPERS & PUBLISHING
 MILITARY
WASHBURNE, Elihu B.: Born 1816 in Livermore, Androscoggin County, Maine
Washburne attended Kents Hill c1835, and went on to Harvard Law School. He then went west to Illinois where he served as U.S. Congressman from 1852-1868. Highly respected by his peers they called him "Father of the House" and "Watchdog of the Treasury". Mr. Washburne became close friends and supporter of  Ulysses Grant and Abraham Lincoln. He was among Abraham Lincoln's intimate confidants during the Civil War. Elihu was Secretary of State for a short time, and Foreign Minister to France from 1869-1877. During the Franco-Prussian War he gained great acclaim for his courage and dedication, and was said to be "the best Foreign Minister to France since Benjamin Franklin". He was nominated for President of the United States in 1876, but chose to not actively campaign against his good friend Ulysses Grant.
Washburne's birthplace, The Norlands, is a living history center in Livermore, Maine. Here, you can learn more about Elihu and his six brothers who were also successful businessmen, inventors and politicians on state and national levels. For information about guided tours, 1870 & 1790 Live-ins, festival weekends or school programs at the Norlands call 207-897-4366
HOWE, Timothy O.: Born 1816 in Livermore, Androscoggin County, Maine
Timothy Howe and Elihu Washburne were classmates at Kents Hill School. Howe later studied law and opened a successful practice in Readfield where he was residing when elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 1840. He went west to Wisconsin where he was elected to the United States Senate in 1860, and served in that office until 1879. He and Washburne were among those who gave birth to the Republican Party. In 1881 U.S. President James Garfield appointed him Delegate to the International Monetary Conference in Paris, France. Later, U.S. President Chester A. Arthur appointed him Postmaster General of the United States.
HAMLIN, Hannibal: Born 1809 in Paris, Oxford County, Maine
Hannibal Hamlin attended Kents Hill School c1824. He was Govenor of Maine in 1857, elected to the United States House of Representatives and was a U.S. Senator from Maine. Hamlin strongly opposed slavery and left the Democrat party in 1856 to help organize the Republican Party as an antislavery group. In 1861 Abraham Lincoln chose him for Vice President, and he served in that office during Lincoln's first term 1861-1865. When Lincoln ran for a second term he wanted a Democrat on the 1864 ticket so did not consider Hamlin as his running mate. In 1935 Maine erected a statue of Hamlin in Statuary Hall in Washington D.C.
GENERAL O.O. HOWARD: Born 1830 Leeds, Androscoggin County, Maine
Oliver Otis Howard was born in Leeds, Maine November 30, 1830, the eldest of three brothers. He attended Monmouth Academy, Kents Hill School & graduated from Bowdoin College at 19 yrs of age. Unsolicited, he received an appointment from Maine, as a cadet in the Military Academy at West Point from which he graduated 4th in rank in 1854. He fought in many important engagements in the Civil War, including Fair Oaks where he lost an arm and had two horses shot out from under him. During his convalescence he went home to Maine where he worked at raising enough volunteers to meet the quota. He returned to active service 2 months and 20 days after being wounded. At the Battle of Gettysburg he received marked credit from General Meade and the Congress in recognition that on the first day of battle at Gettysburg it was O.O. Howard who selected the famous field for battle, and holding it with his reserve troops, while keeping superior force in check all day, from the time of Gen. Reynold's death til near night. He participated in the remainder of the battle until its close, and went on to serve in the war until the end. On May 12, 1865 he was appointed by President Lincoln to post of Commissioner of Refuges and Freedmen, in which capacity he served for 7 years. Other positions he held were: Commander of Indian Fighting 1874-81; Superintendent of West Point 1881-82; Commander of the Army of the East 1888-94. He was largely responsible for the government's establishment of Howard University (for blacks) named in his honor, in 1867, and was its president 1869-72. In 1895 he founded Lincoln Memorial University, Cumberland Gap, Tenn., for educationally deprived mountain people. Monument Hill trail in Leeds has an obelisk erected in his memory. General Howard was married to Elizabeth Ann Waite of Bangor, and they had seven children.
ZEBULON YORK: Born 1819 in Avon, Franklin County, Maine
Zebulon York received his secondary education at Kents Hill School, and then went on to Transylvania University in Kentucky. He later attended law school at Tulane University in Louisiana. Upon receiving his law degree he took up residence in Vidalia, Louisiana where he operated a very successful law practice. He also became a wealthy plantation owner working over 1,500 slaves. During the Civil War Zebulon York chose to fight for the Confederacy in defense of his empire. He quickly moved up through the ranks and became Brigadeer General, one of the very few yankee natives to do so.  After the war he returned to his home in Vidalia, and found his business had been destroyed. He managed a hotel in Natchez, Mississippi following the war,
and died in Natchez on August 5, 1900, where he is buried. 
C.A. STEPHENS: Born 1844 in Norway, Oxford County, Maine
C. A. Stephens was the prolific author of over 2,500 short stories for the popular magazine
The Youth's Companion between 1870-1929. During these years his name was well known to millions of people across America. His works also included 31 books of fiction and non-fiction in addition to pamphlets and articles. C.A. Stephens graduated from Norway Academy, and then attended Kents Hill School for one year. Subsequently, he entered Bowdoin College as a sophomore, where he graduated in 1869. He then moved to Boston where he became successful almost immediately after selling his first two short stories to The Youth's Companion in January 1870.  He built a large home and laboratory in Norway, Maine. Mr. Stephen's died on September 22, 1931, and willed his home to be used as a Hospital, but the gift was refused for lack of enough financial  resources to maintain the massive structure. It was finally sold and destroyed in the 1950's.
Stories From The Old Squire's Farm is a book of C.A. Stephen's  stories which were
compiled and edited by Charles G. Waugh & Eric Jon Waugh.
The book was published by Rutledge Hill Press, Nashville, Tenn., 1995.
The book is the source of the information above.
Eric Jon Waugh is a Kents Hill School student.
DAVIS W. CLARK: Born 1812 in Mt. Desert, Hancock County, Maine
Davis Clark graduated from Kents Hill School in 1833, then from Wesleyan University of Connecticut in 1836. He held various positions at Amenia Seminary in New York until 1843 when he was appointed editor of The Ladies Repository, a Methodist women's magazine in Cincinnati. In 1864 he was appointed to the office of Bishop, and in 1866 was called upon to serve as a Christian mediator to reunite the northern and southern Methodists. He played an important role in healing the spiritual wounds created by the Civil War, and became one of the most popular and best known Methodist leaders during the post war years. At the time of his death in Cincinatti in 1871 he was one of the country's leading religious personalities.
JOHN L. STEVENS: Born 1820 Mt. Vernon, Kennebec County, Maine
John L. Stevens was born 8-1-1820 in Mt. Vernon, the son of Capt. John & Charlotte (Lyford) Stevens. John married Mary Lowell, daughter of Capt. Daniel & Dorcas Lowell of Hallowell. They had 4 chidren, two daughters lived to adulthood.
Following graduation from Kents Hill School John Stevens became a Universalist minister during which time he became a crusader against slavery. His lifelong friend, Gov. Anson P. Morrill, persuaded him to retire from the pulpit, and to become editor and publisher in partnership with James G. Blaine at the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, Maine. Stevens served as the K.J.'s chief editor until 1869. During that time he served in the State House of Representatives 1866-67 and State Senate 1868-69. While a member of the House he introduced the resolve that led directly to the establishment of the Industrial School for Girls in Hallowell, and conceived and advised the municipal aid under which Edwards Manufacturing evolved. He also pushed legislation abolishing capital punishment. In 1869 President Grant appointed him U.S. Minister to Uruguay, a post he held until 1874. From 1881-1884 he was appointed by the U.S. President to the post of U.S. Minister of Scandanavia. During this time he wrote a book about Gustavas Adolphus, a Swedish national hero. Stevens and James Blaine were equals in the early days of the Republican Party, and some historians feel that Blaine's views on Latin America and reciprocity trade relationships were significantly influenced by Stevens.
In 1889 President Harrison appointed John Stevens as Minister Resident at Honolulu. John Stevens engineered a bloodless revolution in 1893 which was led by 9 Americans, 2 British & 2 Germans to dethrone Queen Lilluokalani because she was trying to increase her power beyond the limits of the Hawaiian constitution. In 1894 the Republic of Hawaii was established, and in 1898 the United States annexed Hawaii. Because of Stevens support of annexation of Hawaii to the United States he was popular with the pro-American group in Hawaii, and they gave him an elaborate 7 piece silver service made from melted silver dollars. Stevens came under fire for his part in the annexation by some politicians such as Grover Cleveland and Speaker Thomas Reed. Many more praised and supported him however, including Henry Cabot Lodge, President Harrison and William P. Frye.
Tom Coffman, a film producer and writer from Hawaii has recently visited Kennebec County to interview the John L. Stevens descendents who now own the silver service. The film, Nation Within, written and produced in commemoration of Hawaii's centennial, will be aired on PBS the summer of 1998. Thank you to Mr. Coffman for sharing information with us about John L. Stevens for this page!
BOB ELLIOT, Class '69
(This article taken in part from Kents Hill Today Newsletter Fall '97)
     Known for his unique features on the local televsion news, Bob Elliot, 47, died July 30 of an apparent heart attack while riding his bicycle at Fort Williams State Park near the Portland Headlight, one of his favorite places. Elliot was a postgraduate at Kents Hill during the 1968-69 school year.
     Elliot was mostly known in Maine for his work at Channel 6 in Portland. While doing a fair amount of "hard" news reporting, Elliot is remembered for his offbeat antics on feature stories. His most famous part on the Channel 6 news was "Bob's Basement", a weekly spot put together by Bob from the parking garage at the WCSH studio. He would generally put his uniquely humerous spin on any number of serious or not-so-serious subjects. A collection of his most memorable reports are available on video in stores statewide.
     Elliot spent a good portion of his career as a location reporter for NBC news in South America. He then came back to his home, South Portland and was with Channel 6 until 1996 when he moved his reporting skills to WMTW - Channel 8.
     Kents Hill remembers Bob for his participation in the 100th football game with Hebron Academy. Bob did a great feature on the news before the game reporting on Kents Hill the night before. He was also the featured speaker at the celebratory dinner the evening after the game.
 
KENTS HILL SCHOOL NOTABLES IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION
(This is NOT a complete list!)
KENTS HILL SCHOOL NOTABLES IN POLITICS
(This list is NOT complete!!)
KENTS HILL SCHOOL NOTABLES IN NEWSPAPER & PUBLISHING
(This list is NOT complete!!)
MILITARY
(This is not a complete list)
Brevet Brig.-General Charles H. Howard, Union Army Civil War
Do you know of a Kents Hill School Notable who should appear on this page?
If you do, Email  [email protected]  I would enjoy hearing from you!
This page is maintained by Dale Potter Clark, KHS Class '66
Last updated on March 28, 1998
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