Samuel Wadsworth Gould (1852-1935) a U.S. Representative, was born in Porter on January 1, 1852. He moved with his parents to Hiram, attended the public schools and North Parsonsfield Seminary, was graduated from the University of Maine in 1877. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and began his practice in Skowhegan in 1879.
In 1887 he built, in Skowhegan, a fine Queen Anne style home, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Postmaster of Skowhegan 1896-1900, Gould attended all Democratic State conventions for more than forty years, and served as secretary of the Democratic State Committee 1882-1890, and delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1900, 1908, and 1912.
An unsuccessful candidate for Governor in 1902 and for election to the Sixty-first Congress in 1908, he was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-second Congress (March 4, 1911-March 3, 1913). Gould was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1912.
He resumed the practice of law in Skowhegan, had an interest in various business enterprises, and was President of the Board of Trustees of the University of Maine. He died in Skowhegan on December 19, 1935, with interment in Southside Cemetery.
Additional resources
Samuel Wadsworth Gould Congressional Biography: https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=g000343