Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Plaisted, Harris Merrill

PLAISTED, Harris Merrill, soldier, b. in Jefferson, N. H., 2 Nov., 1828; d. in Bangor, Me., 30 Jan., 1898. He worked on a farm and taught, and was graduated at Waterville college (now Colby university) in 1853, and at Albany law-school in 1855. He was then admitted to the bar and began practice in Bangor, Me., in 1856. He entered the National volunteer service in 1861 as lieutenant-colonel, was commissioned colonel in 1862, participated in McClellan's peninsular campaign, commanded a brigade before Charleston, and served with Grant before Richmond. He received the brevet of brigadier-general of volunteers in February, 1865, and that of major-general of volunteers in March of the same year. He resumed his profession after the peace, was a delegate to the National Republican convention in 1868, and attorney-general of Maine in 1873-'5. He went to congress as a Republican in 1874 to fill a vacancy, served one term, declined re-election, and was governor of Maine in 1881-'3. After 1884 he had edited and published “The New Age,” in Augusta, Me.