Arthur R. Gould

Arthur Robinson Gould

Arthur Robinson Gould (born March 16, 1857 in Corinth , Penobscot County , Maine , † July 24, 1946 in Presque Isle , Maine) was an American politician and businessman. From 1926 to 1931 he was a member of the US Senate .

Arthur Gould attended the East Corinth Academy and then went into business for himself. After a few unsuccessful undertakings, he worked in his older brother's grocery store in Bangor from 1875 . From 1877 he was a successful sales representative in the valley of the Penobscot River and in Aroostook County to the north and soon a partner in his brother's company. At that time the area around the Aroostook River was already settled and some places already had city rights, but there was no bank. Gould therefore settled in Presque Isle in November 1886 and founded a business and a bank. He passed his previous trading business to his younger brother.

In the years that followed, he acquired large stakes in two sawmills and in the Presque Isle Electric Company. From 1906 he was director of the Maine and New Brunswick Power Company . At that time, Aroostook County was technically developed by the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad from Bangor and a branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway from Canada. The town of Washburn, northwest of Presque Isle, Gould's adopted home, was still completely without a rail link. Gould came up with the idea of ​​building an electric railroad between Presque Isle and Washburn and founded the Aroostook Valley Railroad in 1902 , which finally opened in 1910. The railway took its electricity from Gould's own power station. Gould's investments in Aroostook County gave the area a significant boost.

In the following years, Gould's interest in politics grew. He was a member of the Republican Party and was elected to the Maine Senate in 1921 , to which he served until 1922. When US Senator Bert Fernald died in August 1926, Gould was granted the right to fill his post until the end of his term in office. He took up his new office as US Senator on November 30th of that year. After the end of the term on March 3, 1931 Arthur Gould returned to Maine. During his tenure in the Senate, he served as Chairman of the Immigration Committee for the 71st United States Congress . Arthur R. Gould died on July 24, 1946 in Presque Isle and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Bangor.

literature

• Oliver L. Hall (1941): The Man From East Corinth: Episodes in the Life of Arthur R. Gould, A Builder of Aroostock and Senator of the United States. Augusta, ME: Kennebec Journal Print Shop.
• Charles D. Heseltine and Edwin B. Robertson (1987): Aroostook Valley Railroad. History of the Potatoland Interurban in Northern Maine. Westbrook, ME: Robertson Books.

Web links

• Arthur R. Gould in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Arthur R. Gould in the database of Find a Grave (English)