Sibling rivalry: The brothers Main

Williams Leeds Main

William Leeds Main (1812-1890) lived in Ledyard his entire life. W.L. became the largest landowner and the wealthiest man in Ledyard in the latter part of the 19th century (ref. 2, p. 629) which is reflected in the list of dozens of property purchases, sales, mortgages, and foreclosures in the Ledyard land records. His mortgage loan to Israel Brown in 1887 was not his only interest in local sawmills; among his many mortgages was a loan in 1885 to Elias Watrous of Ledyard for a sawmill and property (ref. 7, 5, 599).

William Leeds was a hard-nosed businessman: “Energetic, conscientious, and upright, he prospered abundantly, but always in honorable undertakings, for he held his word sacred, and rendered and demanded strict justice” (ref. 8, p. 439). Strict justice indeed; William sued and foreclosed many times on mortgages he held both for his Ledyard neighbors and family members. He sued family members after they had died, as he did against the estate of his cousin Avery Brown in 1887 (ref. 7, 6, 395). He sued family members after he had died; his estate successfully sued his nephew Aaron Brown to foreclose on the Ledyard Up-down Sawmill property in 1902, 12 years after Williams Leeds death.

Yet William Leeds was also apparently a trusted family member who was a guardian for young Seth Brown after his father Albert, the owner of the Ledyard Up-down Sawmill property died in 1868; WL was the executor for his sister (and Albert’s widow) Surviah’s estate when she died in 1876. He was “a wise counsellor to those in need of advice. In his friendships he was staunch and true, and often lent a helping hand to those less fortunate” (ref. 3, p. 248).

Amasa Morgan Main

William Leeds little brother Amasa Morgan Main (1830-1908) was the youngest boy among the 16 children of Thomas and Lois Main (ref. 4, p. 503).

Like big brother William Leeds, Amasa was an enormous financial success: at one point he had a farm with over 1000 peach trees (ref. 14). Peach farmer Main protected his interest in peaches by refusing to comply with state law and going to court over an order to destroy his trees infected with Peach Yellows; Amasa claimed the law was unconstitutional (ref. 9).

In some years Amasa was said to have raised and shipped 40 tons of turkeys (ref. 14) and in 1896 sent a turkey to President McKinley for Thanksgiving (ref. 11).

Amasa Main was said to have “accumulated considerable wealth” (ref. 3); enough to declare his livelihood as “Capitalist” in the 1900 federal census. Part of his wealth and large landholdings were acquired via foreclosures, and he was always ready for a lawsuit. In the 1880s Amasa sued his nephew Israel W. Brown, the owner of the Ledyard sawmill, about a contact to harvest timber on a woodlot owned by Amasa. The argument came down to arguing what time of day the contract ended. Not only did Amasa sue Israel Brown for trying to extend the contract period (by hours!), but Amasa had in fact delayed Brown’s work by claiming Brown was not cleaning the woodlot and repairing fences to his satisfaction (ref. 6).

But capitalist and veteran plaintiff Main could also be generous; no doubt he made many friends in the area by paying for substitutes for 173 men who didn’t want to enlist in the Union Army during the Civil War (ref. 14).

The nut doesn’t fall far from the tree: Amasa’s son Lafayette was called “the man of many lawsuits” in an article reporting a foreclosure suit by Lafayette against his brother Amasa E. (an attorney by profession) over their father’s estate. (ref. 15)

Evidently WL and Amasa, like many brothers, had disagreements which may have been worsened because of their similarities as adults. It’s easy to imagine they saw each other as rivals in wealth. They both were involved in politics: Amasa was a Republican who was in the state legislature for years representing North Stonington; WL represented Ledyard in the state legislature as a Democrat in 1858 and 1875 (ref. 1, p. 21) and was the “big gun” for Ledyard Democrats (ref. 10). They both had stores in Ledyard (ref. 12) where they sold liquor (ref. 5). They even married sisters. WL wed Sarah A. Frink of North Stonington in 1837 and Amasa married Sarah’s younger sister Lucy O. Frink in 1851 (ref. 3, pp. 248, 252).

They were primed to disagree and disagree they did! Possibly one of the lowlights was the suit by William Leeds against Amasa for deliberately crashing his carriage his carriage into William Leeds’ as they were passing each other on a local road (The suit was dismissed, ref. 17). The brothers were described as being in bitter enmity for many years, “and at almost every term have had bad cases in court, of the pettiest character, but which they have savagely contested” (ref. 5). It came to a head in 1876 during a lawsuit in which WL sued Amasa for slander for accusing his son of stealing a gun. Presiding Judge Foster called the two brothers into his office for a long discussion. Judicatory oil was poured on the long-turbulent fraternal waters and when all came back to the courtroom the brothers were in tears, settled amicably, and agreed to be “forever friendly and brotherly” (ref. 5).

Although WL and Amasa lived for many more years, the courtroom scene surely would be in the script as the happy ending of the movie.

References