The Biographical Dictionary of America/Appleton, James

APPLETON, James, temperance reformer, was born at Ipswich, Mass., Feb. 14, 1785, son of Samuel and Mary (White) Appleton. He was prominent in public affairs, being elected when quite young to the Massachusetts legislature. He held the rank of colonel in the Massachusetts militia during the war with Great Britain, at the close of which he was appointed brigadier-general. He then removed to Portland, Me., and in 1836 was elected to the Maine legislature, where he served one term, and later was an unsuccessful candidate for governor. His speeches on total abstinence, and on the abolition of slavery were able and influential. In 1853 he returned to his native town, where he died Aug. 25, 1862.