San Bernardino County and Riverside County, California Biographies

History of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties 
By: John Brown, Jr., Editor for San Bernardino County 
And James Boyd, Editor for Riverside County 
With selected biography of actors and witnesses of the period 
of growth and achievement.
Volume III, the Western Historical Association, 1922, 
The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, ILL

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MORTIMER P. MAINE.
 
 
        After many years of aggressive and successful business operations, 
Mortimer P. Maine is now living practically retired, although he retains his
ownership of his valuable orange grove of ten acres, in the midst of which
he and his family are enjoying a quiet and happy life. The city is an ideal
spot for those with leisure on their hands, and Mr. Maine rejoices that he
selected Riverside as his permanent home when the ill health of his wife
brought them West in search of a milder climate. Compared with his
earlier years, the time he has spent in California has been one of ease
and independence, and he is one of the enthusiastic boosters for this 
region. Mr. Maine was born in Henderson Township, Jefferson County, 
New York, May 10, 1843, a son of Mortimer P. and Sarah (Drummond)
Maine, both of whom are deceased. The father was born in New York 
State, a member of an old American family of English descent, estab-
lished in this country in 1670, when its representatives settled in Conn-
ecticut. Later removal was made to New York, where the Maines have 
been prominent, especially in agricultural pursuits. The Drummonds are
of Revolutionary stock and Scotch descent, and Mrs. Maine was also
born in New York state. The younger Mortimer P. Maine attended the
public schools of Wisconsin, to which state his parents moved in 1849,
and with the outbreak of the war between the North and the South he
enlisted in the Union Army, and served four years in Company B,
Thirteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, in the Army of the Cumberland,
under General George H. Thomas. He received his honorable discharge
at the close of the war in Madison, Wisconsin, December 25, 1865. For
a number of years following his return to private life Mr. Maine followed
railroading, but later went to Kansas and was engaged in farming until
1901, when, on account of his wife's delicate health, he came to River-
side. Here he bought ten acres of oranges at 1338 Kansas Avenue,
and went into the orange industry. Of recent years he has practically
turned over the management of the business to his son, and is enjoying
a well-earned ease. The crop is mostly navels, although there are a few
valencies. The location is an ideal one, and here a pleasant home is
maintained. The crop is shipped through  the Sierra Vista Packing
House, of which at one time Mr. Maine was a director. He was also for
a time connected with the banking interests of the city, but sold his
stock some time ago. With the majority of the veterans of the war of the
'60's he joined the Grand Army of the Republic, and served as 
Commander of the post in his home town in Wisconsin. Always voting
the republican ticket, he was quite active in party matters in Wisconsin,
serving as delegate to the county conventions and as a member of the 
City Central Committee, but since he located at Riverside, he has not
participated to any extent in politics. In 1874 Mr. Maine married Laura
Elizabeth De Haven, a native of Wisconsin, and a daughter of Alpheus
De Haven, a farmer of Revolutionary stock and French Huguenot
descent. Mr. and Mrs. Maine have three children, namely: Morna G., who
is the wife of George F. Conway, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in
this work; Beatrice M., who is the wife of Truman F. Gridley, who is living
in Coachella, is foreman of the Narbonne ranch; Rexford De Haven, who
conducts his father's business. Since coming to Riverside Mr. Maine
has displayed commendable civic pride and has advocated all kinds of
public improvements, for he realizes the necessity of keeping abreast of
progress in every way. Personally genial and convincing, he has always
made warm friends, and his evident sincerity and sterling worth have
gained for him the confidence and esteem of the community in which
he has been for so long a prominent figure.
 
 
Pages 1094 to 1095.
 
Transcribed and submitted by Sally Kaleta, February 2010.