January 11, 1911

"At the age of 103 Abner Dunton passed to his long rest from the home of his son Abner Jr. of Hope Corner.

Uncle Abner before his last infirmity rose regularly at 6 a.m. and retired with equal regularity at 7 p.m. Not long before he reached the century mark it was common for him to walk to Camden six miles to attend the Fourth of July parade or to Union five miles to attend the annual fair. Short of stature, and wearing an ancient stove-pipe hat, he presented a figure which became very familiar to people in the countryside.

Even at 103 years of age at the last election, he disdained the services of an auto or other vehicle when he went to the polls. The townspeople surrounding the voting place, waiting for him to cast the first ballot, stood with bared heads as the old patriarch made his way into the booth, and with hands that scarcely trembled he marked the space at the top of his democratic column. It was a scene that probably had no equal in New England and very few in Uncle Sam's broad land. He lies in Hope Grove Cemetery next to his wife who predeceased him in 1876. And so ended the era. He had seen more of Hope's history than anyone since and always given his best to see it thrive."

(From History of Hope Maine by Anna Simpson Hardy P185.7)