Victor Hugo Hanscom

Victor Hugo Hanscom was born in Chatham, New Hampshire, 11 March 1889, the sixth child of Seth Eugene Hanscom (1852-1935) and Estella (Cobb) Hanscom (1854-1932). Through his father, he was a direct descendant of Thomas Hanscombe (c.1618-c.1695), a native of Bedfordshire, England who arrived in Salem, Massachusetts in 1629. Through his mother, he was a descendant of numerous early New England families, including the "Mayflower" Howlands, the Putnams (of Salem witchcraft notoriety), and many of the earliest settlers of Andover, Massachusetts.

Victor spent his youth in the family homestead in Chatham, where he attended the local one-room schoolhouse. After his graduation from Fryeburg Academy, he went to Portland, Maine where he attended business school. Upon earning his degree, he was employed by a bank in Portland for twelve years (1911-1923). When he registered for the World War I draft on 5 June 1917, he gave his birthdate as 11 March 1889, his birthplace as Chatham, New Hampshire, his address as 164 Veranda St., Portland, and his occupation as Superintendant, Safety Deposit Vaults, Casco Mercantile Trust Co., 195 Middle Street, Portland, Maine. He also stated that he belonged to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. His first marriage, in 1911 to Edith J. Adams (1890-1935), ended in divorce in 1917. They had one son, Seth Gordon Hanscom (1913-1941), whom Victor retained custody of. He was married second, in 1922, to Charlotte (Tauber) Taylor, and adopted her son, Argyle (1916-1944), a short time later. He and Charlotte had one son together, Alfred Carleton Hanscom, born in 1926.

From 1923 until 1934, Victor and his family lived in Rochester, New Hampshire where he was secretary-treasurer for the Northern New England Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists.

In 1934, he moved his family to Melrose, Massachusetts where he worked for the Finance Department of the New England Sanitarium. Two years later (1936), he and his family moved back to his native Chatham, New Hampshire. He and his wife purchased the large brick Robert Eastman homestead and, for the next eleven years, ran a flourishing farm. By doing so, they were able to support themselves and their family through the worst years of the Depression.

Following Charlotte’s death in 1947, Victor sold his farm and lived in Whitefield, Maine (1947-1953), Richmond, Maine (1954-1967), and finally, Gardiner, Maine (1967 until his death). He died in Brunswick, Maine on 24 February 1971, in his 82nd year of age, of cancer and pneumonia.