VANCE, William, Esq. (updated 10/14/2014)

Taken when Edson D. Scofield owned this property c.1900.

Leonard Cornforth and his brothers Richard, William, John, Robinson, Robert and their wives sold Robert Cornforth’s (their father) home to Squire William Vance[i]  in 1832. The home is still standing and very much lived in (2013). It is located on the Old Kents Hill Road just west of the Giles Road intersection.

William Vance was a prominent figure in Maine history and politics and another story all unto himself. Among his accomplishments he was a Revolutionary War veteran who, at age 16, was among those that marched up the Kennebec with Benedict Arnold. He received a War Grant in Readfield following his service to country.[ii]  While living in Readfield Vance was a lawyer and State Representative. He was married six times and had seventeen children. When he died it is said he had amassed many debts that his executor was left to find a means to pay.

One of his daughters, Charlotte H., married Lot M. Morrill - a lawyer who later became Maine's 28th Governor, a US Senator and Secretary of Treasury under President U.S. Grant. Morrill was appointed guardian of Vance's minor children when Vance died in 1841, and he was also the executor of the Vance estate. Settling the Vance estate was a challenging task since he had accumulated so much debt. 


A granddaughter (child of George), Sophronia, married Sylvanus Giles in 1870 and they moved part of the original Cornforth house to Factory Square that became part of the Giles home.[iii] They were the grandparents of Roy Giles whom many of Readfield current residents remember today and fondly called “Mr. Readfield.”.[iv]


Vance's son Robert was 15 when his father died and Robert received an inheritance after the estate was settled. With that he traveled to New York City, Chile and ultimately California where he was a pioneer daguerreotype photographer who captured the first images of the gold mine fields and California Indians. He came to be called the "father of California photography" because so many artists gained their skills as apprentices in his six studios - in California and as far away as Hong Kong. Among his protégés was Carleton Watkins, whose images of Yosemite were vital to President Lincoln and the U.S. Congress’ move towards declaring Yosemite as a National Park.

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[i] Kennebec County Registry of Deeds Book 131 Page 527 Feb 1832

[ii] http://www.maine.gov/sos/arc/research/revwargrants3.html

 accessed 7/8/2013

[iii] Reflections of Readfield (the Story of our Town) by Readfield Bicentennial Commission; pub. The Knowlton & McLeary Co. Farmington, ME 1975; page 34

[iv] U.S. Census 1900 Readfield, Kennebec, Maine