USA > Vermont > Windham County > Brattleboro > Brattleboro, Windham County, Vermont; early history, with biographical sketches of some of its citizens > Part 24
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The second report of the trustees, (un- published), was presented to the legislature, October, 1836. In this the progress made was detailed. Besides the remodeling of the dwelling house, an extension of a wing containing eight rooms was made to it, the whole being designed for the
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accommodation of 20 patients, the neces- sary officers and employees; the cost of the whole, the purchase, refitting and furnishing, absorbing nearly the whole of the Marsh legacy. They expressed the belief that they had been extremely fortu- nate in the selection of Dr. Rockwell for the superintendency, and that in the ex- penditure of the bequest of the founder, they had erected accommodations for patients to the utmost limit of the means at their command, and had so endeavored to order their arrangements, that in the event of further extensions, these first expenditures should not be to any con- siderable degree lost; and closed by sub- mitting to the legislature the question as to whether the advantages to be derived from such an institution, should be ex- tended through its enlightened liberality, to all the citizens of the State who required them, or be confined to the comparatively few, whom it would be practicable to accommodate, on the original limited plan, calling attention to the impossibility of relying at once upon the appropriation of $10,000 made the previous year, by ยท reason of the provisos which rendered the annual payments liable at any time to be repealed.
In response to this report, the legislature granted an additional appropriation of $2,000. Three subsequent appropriations were made by the legislature for extending accommodations, during the seven follow- ing years, two of $4,000 each, and one of $3,000, aggregating a total of $23,000. These last grants were made with certain provisos in the interest of the State, se- curing to citizens of Vermont a preference in the matter of admissions over those of other States, and stipulating that in case the institution should cease to exist, the real estate should be held as security to the State for the total amount granted. The aid thus rendered to this institution represents the total amount yet appro- priated by the legislature of Vermont, toward providing accommodations for the care and treatment of the insane of the State.
The operations and results of the asylum since its opening have been detailed fully in its published reports from year to year, hence need not be enlarged upon here.
Its growth, from its unostentatious begin- ning to its present state of development, has been slow but constant. The average number at present is 450 patients. With the exception of the State aid referred to, it has been self-sustaining and self-creating, through the sagacious foresight and sound practical management of its board of trus- tees and superintendent. Its success has been in no small degree due to the pur- suance of a steady and uniform policy, which has been rendered practicable under its charter, which preserved it from those frequent changes of management that are incident to political revolutions in institu- tions under ordinary State control.
The asylum is a chartered institution, but not a stock corporation. It is simply a property in trust for a specific object, and its management is wholly vested in its board of trustees. The following are the changes that have occurred, by resignation or death:
In 1838, John Holbrook, deceased; Asa Keyes was elected his successor. In 1839, John C. Holbrook removed from the State; Nathan B. Williston was elected to succeed him. In 1847, Epaphro Seymour resigned ; J. Dorr Bradley was elected in his place. In 1852, Samuel Clark resigned; Frederick Holbrook was his successor. In 1862, J. Dorr Bradley, deceased; Daniel Kellogg was chosen to fill the vacancy. In 1874, Daniel Kellogg and Asa Keyes resigned; William H. Rockwell and James M. Tyler were elected in their stead. In 1875, Nathan B. Williston resigned; Richards Bradley was chosen in his place. There have been three changes in the superinten- dency of the asylum. In 1872, Dr. W. H. Rockwell resigned, and was succeeded by his son. In 1873, Dr. W. H. Rockwell, Jr., resigned, and was succeeded by Dr. Joseph Draper, who entered upon his duties Feb. 16, 1873.
DR. J. DRAPER.
HON. LARKIN G. MEAD
Was born at Lexington, Mass., Oct. 2, 1795; educated at Dartmouth College; first practiced law at Chesterfield, N. H .; married Mary Jane Noyes, daughter of Hon. John Noyes, of Putney, Vt., June 8, 1829, and removed to Brattleboro in 1839, where he was employed in closing up the affairs of the Brattleboro Typographic Co. He practiced law in the courts of Cheshire
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county, N. H., and Windham county, Vt., during a large portion of the 30 years in which he lived in Brattleboro; was a prominent Whig in the Harrison campaign of 1840, and chosen senator from this county in 1846. He procured the charter for the first savings bank in this State, now known as the Vermont Savings Bank of Brattleboro, and was the first treasurer of that institution about 25 years; was chair- man of the first prudential committee, chosen to carry into effect the present system of graded schools, in 1841. Shortly after resigning the office of treasurer of the bank, he died July 6, 1869.
Comparatively few persons have passed a more successful, cheerful, hopeful life of full rounded measure, beyond, by some years, the allotted age of man. In his domestic relations was, apparently, much of happiness and cause for congratulation. The wisdom he showed in the selection of his life partner was fully manifested in the conduct and characteristics of the nine children composing this gifted family. The eldest, John N. Mead, died while in his fourth year at Harvard College, in 1850, at the age of 19 years. He seemed naturally to possess capabilities such as others can rarely acquire by years of effort. He was with George C. Hall and William C. Bradley and others, of that brilliant circle of scholars, in the early days of the present school system, which gave much pride and satisfaction to the teachers and a high character to the schools. In the sciences, languages, music, drawing, painting, mathematics and mechanics, he surprised every one by his proficiency. With such an easy comprehensive grasp his mind seemingly swept the whole field of human effort, we had cause to wonder what an intellectual giant he would become in coming years. All problems and diffi- culties were fearlessly met and conquered with no show of egotism or vanity. Even "the great teacher," death, never found a mortal subject who met him more calmly and philosophically. When told that his disease was past remedy, that his young life, with so much to make that life desirable to himself and others, must in a few hours be closed forever, he replied:
"I have had a good time and good friends, for which I feel thankful. Life thus far has been so pleasant, I would stay
longer, but it is all for the best as it is, for the years of responsibility, I may not be equal to or fitted to endure, are near."
Socrates could have made no better reply, and Bryant, in his high poetical con- ception of the desirable in life's closing scene, has not transcended the actual.
His classmates at Harvard gave evidence of their high estimation and affection by erecting a monument to his memory, on which is inscribed :
"The autumn winds rushing, Waft the leaves that are sere'st ; But our flower was in flushing
When blighting was nearest."
L. G. Mead, Jr., early manifested a taste for drawing and sculpture. His frequent copies from nature on paper, canvass, and in marble, during his clerk- ship with Messrs. Williston & Tyler, in 1853, caused his friends to think he would not long remain behind the counter selling nails, paint and putty. His local fame attracted the attention of that well-known artist, Henry K. Brown, while on a short visit to this place in the summer of 1853. Two favored sons of genius met. The claims of the younger to. favorable consideration being honored by the elder, an artist of established reputation and old world experience, probably decided the pathway of the younger for life. The decisive step was taken by placing himself under the instructions of Mr. Brown, at New York, where the young aspirant diligently improved his favorable opportu- nities about two years, when he returned to his home at Brattleboro, in Dec. 1856, where he soon gave evidence of his progress in art by a New Year's freak. On the last night of the old year, assisted by a comrade, with snow and water, he con- structed an image, called the "Recording Angel." The occasional application of water, during the progress of the work, made the snow more susceptible to mani- pulation and gave the whole figure greater hardness and solidity, as the night was so cold each application of water soon became solid. Standing in a snow bank, in a freezing atmosphere with a lantern "dimly burning," or "the moonbeams misty light," would be more favorable conditions for the burial of Sir John Moore than for the exercise of genius in the work proposed. Conveniently! near
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the scene of operations, at the joining of the two roads at North Main street, was John Burnham's old foundry building. Access was gained thereto, at the midnight hour, and a sufficient quantity of snow carried into a warmer atmosphere, where was formed the most expressive parts of the figure, in the north room of that old building. We will give, in his own lan- guage, the account of a noted citizen of this place, on this occasion:
" As morning dawned, there, at a fork of the two principal streets of the village, stood an image, bright in the rays of the morning sun, and brighter still with the magic light of genius. The mischievous boy stood appalled by the unwonted sight; it was surely no idle work for him to cast his snowballs at. A noted simpleton of the village, after looking at it for a moment, ran away from it in fear and alarm, and a man who rarely ever before made a bow, raised his hat in respect."
This figure remained in perfection over two weeks, unprotected save by the sanctity of genius. New York papers gave an account of this affair, and a resi- dent of Brattleboro, when off the coast of Chili, heard a sea captain read the account from a Spanish paper.
Soon after this event Mr. Mead received several commissions; one from Nicholas Longworth, Esq., of Cincinnati, for a du- plicate of the snow statue in marble, and one from Richards Bradley, for a marble bust of his grandfather, Hon. William C. Bradley. A full length, colossal statue of Ethan Allen was made by him for the State of Vermont, and is now in the State House at Montpelier. Rev. Edward At- water, of New Haven, then recently from Europe, and some parties in New Orleans gave him commissions, all of which he executed to the satisfaction of the appli- cants, previous to his departure for Florence, Italy. The last accounts of him from that place are of a hopeful char- acter for his world-wide fame.
Charles Mead, the eldest brother living, has given proof of excellent business capacity. At the time of the great fire of 1857, his works were destroyed. He was proprietor of the boxwood and ivory rule manufactory, founded in 1834, by S. M. Clark, of Hartford, Conn.
Eleanor, the eldest daughter, was mar- L
ried to Hon. William D. Howells, editor of the Atlantic Monthly, when he was United States Consul to Florence, Italy, during our civil war.
Joanna was married to Augustus D. Shepherd, of New York, we think, in 1862. The family is now widely scattered. To give an account of each member, in detail, our limits and propriety forbid, but as some of their names have become, in a certain sense, public property, may be deemed a sufficient apology for the liberty we have taken for the honor of Brattle- boro.
COL. JOHN STEELE TYLER
Was born in Brattleboro, April 29, 1843. He was a grandson of Hon. Royall Tyler, of whom is a biographical sketch in this work, commencing at page 83. Col. John was the eldest son of Rev. Thomas P. Tyler, D. D., and Mary A. Clark, daughter of Rufus Clark, Esq., of Brattleboro. He was baptized June 22, 1843, at Christ's Church, Guilford, by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Hopkins, receiving as his Christian name that of his uncle, John Steele Tyler, of Boston, Mass.
The subject of this sketch was one of that large class of young men whose pro- fessional studies were arrested by the outbreak of the rebellion, calling them away from school or office to the camp and battle-field. During the first ten years of his life, his father was rector of Trinity Church, Fredonia, N. Y., removing, in 1853, to Batavia, N. Y. Consequently much of his earlier boyhood was passed in Fredonia and Batavia, although he had, for several of those years, the great advan- tage of the careful training and thorough instruction which then distinguished the school for young boys, under the charge of his aunt, Miss Amelia S. Tyler, at Brattleboro. About his twelfth year his father's friend and classmate, Rev. Chas. W. Everest, Principal of the Rectory School, Hamden, Conn., received him into that excellent institution for the next four years. One of the advantages in which it stood, at that time, almost alone, was a strict and efficient military organization. Uniformed and equipped as a company, the boys were drilled semi-weekly by Col. Arnold, their commandant, in all the duties of the soldier.
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We well remember into what neglect the militia system, never very efficient, had fallen. Few of the future heroes of the war, at its opening, knew anything of tac- tics could go through with the manual exer- cise, or had even a correct idea how a squad of men was to be drilled, or how a company was to be organized, and, if possible, still less how it was to be ma- neuvered. All this the four years of his Hamden school life taught him thoroughly, and thus, what, at the time, seemed the least useful of his acquirements, proved to be by far the most important.
Soon after leaving school, his character began to assume a serious and manly cast. It would almost seem as if the stern duties and the early death, that loomed in the near future, already threw back a shade upon his life. While in Brattleboro, at a visitation of the bishop, he acknowledged his baptismal obligations, and received from his father's hands his first com- munion. At the same time with him, a cousin, his equal in age, was also con- firmed. They soon separated to meet no more on earth, the latter, from family connection, removing to the South. It was, in miniature, an example of a wide spread sorrow. Cousins, almost brothers in affection, playmates in childhood, kneeling side by side in the solemn service of their common church, they parted to fight through that long weary struggle with equal bravery, and, no doubt, with equal earnestness of conviction, the one for, and the other against, the flag of their country.
In the spring of 1861, he had commenced the study of law at Brattleboro, in the office of his uncle, Hon. Royall Tyler. When the first call was issued for volun- teers, for three years or the war, he at once wrote to his father asking permission to enlist. If such promptness of application is an example of the zeal of our young men, the brief answer which he received by return mail, illustrates the feeling equally prevalent among their parents:
" MY DEAR JOHN :- If you do not en- list, you will be ashamed hereafter to look your children in the face."
He joined, as a private, the men then being enrolled in Brattleboro, and when they were organized as company C, of the
Second Regiment, he was chosen First Lieutenant, his commission bearing date. May 17, 1861. June 24, the regiment left Burlington on its way to the front. From that time to the end, his history is merged in that of the regiment. The son or brother marched away in the flush of youth and strength, with a tear on his cheek and the light of hope in his eye, and, save a brief leave of absence, they saw him no more till he was brought back to them, tenderly, in that dreamless sleep which no reveille shall disturb.
Within a short month of his departure, we gain our first destined view of the first lieutenant of Co. C., revealed by the lurid glare of Bull Run's luckless fight, Captain Todd wounded, and he in chief command, rallying his men with an indignant appeal as to "what they would say in Vermont, if the Green Mountain boys did not stand firm though all others fled." On the 8th of January, Capt. Todd resigned, and Lieut. Tyler was promoted to his place, January 23, 1862. Capt. Tyler retained the command of Co. C for 14 months, not- withstanding several proposals of promo- tion by transfer to other regiments. This period included the campaigns of Mc- Clellan, Pope and Burnside, and in most of the severe engagements of that battle summer he was present.
Occasional letters, written during the advance and retreat on the Peninsula, are preserved. He speaks with pride of the Vermont brigade at Lee's Mills; at Wil- liamsburg, in the fearful battles of the seven days, and in the terrible retreat through White Oak Swamp. After de- scribing the repulse of the pursuing rebels at Savage Station, June 29, '62, he says:
" The darkness was so intense we could not see our hands before us; but the retreat must be continued, and on we tramp through rain, mud and infernal darkness, until White Oak Swamp lies between us and the foe. We marched all night, many a poor fellow, exhausted, fell out of the ranks, to be picked up by rebel cavalry. On the 30th, everything promised a day of rest. The swamp covers our rear, and the bridge is destroyed. The men rest and sleep as best they may, and a supply of provisions is brought up. When all is quiet, in the twinkling of an eye, the
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rebels, from forty pieces of rifled ordnance, planted with consummate skill, pour their leaden hail into our midst. "Twas the most terrific scene I ever witnessed. Our batteries were unable for some time to re- turn their fire, on account of their immense losses in men and horses; but reinforce- ments arriving, and our division having rallied from what promised to be a panic, we held our ground until midnight, and then covering the retreat by marching the remainder of the night, we reached James River at 7 A. M., next day."
August 27, he writes, from camp near Alexandria, Va. :
" We are all in good health, i. e., those that are left of us. Only 45 of the 87 who left Brattleboro for Burlington are now fit for duty; one-half gone in one year; in two-nous verrons."
In October following, his younger brother, Rufus C. Tyler, arrived at camp in charge of a company of recruits from Ver- mont. Rufus, not quite 15, had enlisted as a private in the 11th Regiment. Capt. Tyler procured his immediate discharge, on the plea of tender age. Rufus, having had some experience in sea life, obtained a commission in the volunteer navy, where he served to the end of the war, taking part in the capture of Fort Fisher and in other naval engagements. He was lost at sea while mate of that unfortunate ship, General Grant.
On the 9th of February, 1863, Captain Tyler was commissioned major in place of Major Stone, promoted. On the 3d and 4th of May following, occurred the battle of Fredericksburg, and Major Tyler, as once before, when captain, crossed the Rappahannock with the Vermont brigade. The Sixth Corps, flushed with victory, by taking the almost impregnable heights, were forced back by the overwhelming forces of Longstreet and Anderson.
Major Wales, then Captain of Co. C, recalls an incident of this fight. " Major Tyler," he says, "in the highest excite- ment was leading the regiment in a charge, pell mell up the hill, clearing the rifle pits, out of which the rebels were tumbling like swallows out of a bank. When about half up, the order of recall was given. ' Not till we have taken those works,' said the major, and it is a singular fact, he could not hear the order till we had done it."
In September, 1863, the Second Ver. mont, under the command of Maj. Tyler, was sent to New York and Poughkeepsie to enforce the draft. After the tramp of the Sixth Corps through Culpepper to Madison Court House, he adds this post- script to a letter of March 4, 1864:
"I omitted to mention an important event of our late expedition. I captured a small contraband; have him to black my boots; says his name is Andy-never had any other. I have affixed Johnson, of Tennessee."
Andy, now known as Andrew J. Reid, remained in Col. Tyler's service till his death, and is still with his relatives in Brattleboro.
His commission as Lieutenant-Colonel is dated April 2, 1864, but its reception by him was delayed until the 24th, on which day his last letter to his father thus briefly announces his promotion :
"Rev. Dr. Tyler: Compliments of his affectionate son,
JOHN TYLER, Lt .- Col. Vt. Vols." Hitherto, in all the battles in which he had been engaged, he had escaped unin- jured, but at the sanguinary struggle of May 4th, in the Wilderness, when the Vermont brigade, at such a fearful sacri- fice, maintained the very key of General Grant's position, he received what proved to be his death wound. In the same charge upon the rebel line, Col. Stone was killed and Lt .- Col. Tyler fell, struck in the thigh by several buckshot. As his boot filled with blood, he supposed the femoral artery was pierced and that he should im- mediately bleed to death. He urged his men to go ahead, as it was useless to re- move him. He was, however, removed to the field hospital, where the bleeding for a time stopped, to again commence, and he sank from exhaustion and died May 23, having completed his 21st year the 29th of April preceding. His commission as colonel, dated May 6, 1864, was forwarded to his uncle by Gov. J. G. Smith, with the highest testimonials as to his character and abilities.
Hon. Frederick Holbrook, who was governor during two years of the war, and from whom he received his commission as captain and major, says of him :
"I knew Col. Tyler intimately and was fondly attached to him for his many manly
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traits and virtues, and fully believed, be- fore time had proved it, he would make a man in the best sense of that term. I well remember his patriotic enthusiasm in rais- ing a company for the war, and the faith- fulness and perseverance with which he discharged every duty as a soldier. I may say, in a few words, that 'the elements were so mixed in him,' as to make him one of the best of our volunteer officers .- Ex- tract from the Tyler Papers.
GEORGE BATY BLAKE,
The youngest of nine children of John Welland and Abigail Jones Blake, was born at Brattleboro, Vt., May 19, 1808. His father and mother were married at Brattleboro, May 24, 1790, by Gardner Chase, Esq. His mother died Dec. 14, 1808, within a few months after George's birth, at the age of 42 years, and his father Oct. 27, 1818, aged 59 years. They were both buried in the beautiful graveyard on the hill near their Brattleboro home.
George, thus early left an orphan, was placed, during a portion of his infancy, and cared for by Stephen Greenleaf and his family, living at the West Village, and in after years he held their memory in grateful remembrance. Subsequently he lived at the homestead until the age of thirteen. His eldest sister, Anna Sophia, who, in 1814, married Henry Cabot, son of Hon. George Cabot, of Boston, had charge of the household during George's childhood until she went to Boston upon her marriage, and there lived until her death in 1845. Mrs. Cabot is well remem- bered in Boston society of the time, for her personal charms and her winning, social graces.
After the death of his father, George was for a few years particularly under the charge of his eldest brother, John Rice Blake. These brothers, the eldest and youngest of the family, long survived the other children, and were for twenty years or more partners in the banking business, which George undertook about the year 1850, in Boston, and to which the energies of the remaining years of his life were largely given.
Although George's father had been a man of very considerable wealth for the time, at his death the family were left
quite poor, so that when Mr. Dickerman, a dry goods dealer from Boston, who chanced to see George, then a lad of thir- teen, in Brattleboro, and offered him a place in his store, the family gladly availed themselves of the offer, and the boy went to Boston. He lived at first with his sister, Mrs. Cabot, in Winthrop Place, Boston, and for two or three years received from his brother John and this sister $50 a year, which was the only money help he ever received. He was in Mr. Dickerman's employ a few years, and went thence to his brother-in-law, Edward Clarke, of Ed- ward Clarke & Co.dry goods importers, and before he was 21 years of age, Mr. Clarke took him into the firm as partner, and he went at once to England to buy goods. From this time, in 1828, he was constantly going to England and the Continent of Europe for the purchase of goods, making many 'acquaintances and some life-long friendships. Among many others he thus came to know George Peabody, at that time a buyer of dry goods for his Balti- more firm, and afterwards long resident in London, where for several years Mr. Blake had large business relations with his firm.
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