USA > Vermont > Windham County > Gazetteer and business directory of Windham county, Vt., 1724-1884 > Part 17
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82
and Jemiı . uvedl on the farmi .
His eldest settled in Was .. of the lea ·1:
David H physician
Hornells:
went to ( aged 98 : The F
The present "
and mar citizens : Easterbrook was ...
tlers. ]
€ 29, 1748, he e. "1
" le, whose minden :
when 3 and fou in the t
"ott time he rorke! ast villa_c." but soon ..
southw He had a family of tant ning until wthicted with " three £
great 1 ", bore dir.reg the rematri g .
life. ] 1 .A. az d much years ; his ,
1813, : Maj. J.u.,. . is'erbrook, ee.
Esterb attleboro with his Father and me. with his panos intil of age.
age of
Stewar ******** , n 1799, and . 1
Danielelogg
133
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
ley farm," so-called, near the family homestead. He engaged quite largely in the dairy business for a number of years and became a conspicuous and popular figure in the local militia with the rank of major. He was the father of twelve children-four sons and eight daughters,-all of whom grew to man- hood and womanhood, and four of whom,-two sons and two daughters, -still survive at advanced ages. The children of Major James and Polly Stewart Esterbrook were as follows : Maria, born Sept. 7, 1800, married Rufus Pratt, and died October 19, 1858; Charlotte, born June 13, 1802, married William Bullock, and is still living; Daniel S., born April 17, 1804, married Betsey Gladden, and died įSeptember 19, 1869; Dorothy, born January 27, 1806, married Salmon Fessenden, and died May 27, 1878 ; Nancy, born October 8, 1808, married Wesley Jacobs, and died April 28, 1849; Mary A., born No- vember 6, 1810, married Harvey Houghton, and died March 18, 1861; James H., born August 10, 1812, married Nancy A. French, and died April 9,1862 ; William H., born July 31, 1814, married Adaline A. Thayer, is still living, and has two children, Ada, wife of George S. Dowley, and Mary, wife of L. H. Richardson, and now resides in Brattleboro; Emily, born Septem- ber 16, married Henry A. Gane, and is still living ; Cyrinthia I .. born April 25, 1819, married Benjamin F. Tilden, and died January 10, 1849; George W., born December 2, 1821, married Nancy A. Goddard, and is still living ; Har- riet C., born August 16, 1824, married Albert A. Cortis, and died November 6, 1875.
Anthony VanDoorn was born in Bristol, R. I., October 14, 1792, where he passed most of the early part of his life. In the spring of 1815 he re- moved to West Brattleboro and established himself as a cabinet maker. No- vember 7th, of the same year, he married Betsey Hubbard, of Groton, Mass. About this time his father, Moses Van Doorn, tailor by trade, who had pre- viously for a tiine resided in Fitzwilliam, N. H., removed to Brattleboro where he spent the remainder of his days, dying in 1825. Here Mr. Van Doorn carried on successfully the cabinet business till his removalto East Brattleboro in 1829. Here with increased facilities, together with larger experience and rising ambition that forced him to stand abreast with the growing demand of the times, he continued the manufacture of furniture and conducted the business with such extraordinary energy and thrift, that he soon ranked among the first manufacturers of the kind in the State. At different times he had associate partners for a brief period, viz. : William Conant one year, at another time his brother Frederick, and later his sons M. T. and C. A., who continued till the business was disposed of, in 1851. Being blessed with a strong constitution and possessing more than ordinary mental endowments, he was able, during all his business career, to contribute his share of assistance in carrying forward the enterprises of his time. His strong self-reliance and progressive spirit, with independence of action, not unfrequently created a ripple in the arena of reform ; but being actuated by genuine philanthropy and Christian principle his efforts resulted largely in the elevation of society. His religious faith was
Thayle
134
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
of the Puritan type as held by the Congregational schools of the century. If he had faults, he also had uplifting, redeeming aspirations. He cherished an unwavering trust in an overruling Providence, was not slack in his devotions, upright, generous, persistant and unflinching in resolution in all his under- takings. He was among the first to engage in Sabbath-school work in the town, in which he took a deep interest. He performed so prominent a part, with such energy and zeal, that he has been aptly styled "the father of the Sabbath-schools." He was accustomed, during his last years, to visit Sunday- schools in various places in the State, before which he spoke with consider- able acceptance. He regularly contributed substantial aid to all the various branches of missionary work; was a firm supporter of the Colonization society, to which he was a regular contributor as long as he lived ; and at the same time, believing in the "inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ;" he was true to his convictions, by practically aiding the unfor- unate "chattel" in his onward flight to the "Beulah land." He made a tour of nine months in Europe, which afforded him a great deal of satisfac- tion. While on a visit to friends in Providence, R. I., he died suddenly, August 22, 1871. He had five children-three sons and two daughters. One died in infancy, three are living in Brattleboro, and Charles A. is living in Greenfield, Mass.
Dea. John. Grout was born at Westminster, Vt., August 17, 1788, went to reside in Newfane about 1810, and moved to West Brattleboro in 1836, where he died, October 16, 1851. Dea. Grout married Azubiah, daughter of Jona- than Dunklee, of Brattleboro, May 28, 1811, and had nine children, eight of whom were sons. Mrs. Grout died at West Brattleboro, July 24, 1866, aged seventv-three years, Mr. Grout's age at the time of his death being sixty-three years. Lewis the eldest of the children, born in Newfane, January 28, 1815, attended the Brattleboro academy in 1834, '35, '36, and '37, taught a district school in Marlboro in the winter of 1835-36, in Putney 1836-37, and in East Guilford 1837-38; attended Burr Seminary in 1838, entered Yale college the same year, and graduated thence in 1842. During a portion of the latter part of his collegiate course he was engaged in teaching in a military, classical and mathematical school at West Point, N. Y., where he also taught a year after graduating. He studied theology for two ; years at Yale Divinity College, 1844 and 1845, and one year at Andover Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1846. In 1844 he paid his way by teaching a few hours a day in Miss Comstock's Ladies' Seminary, and in 1845 by serving as chaplain in the family of Gerard Halleck, Esq., editor of the New York Journal of Com- merce. October 8, 1846, he was ordained as a missionary, and was married the same day to Miss I.ydia Bates, in Springfield, Vt. He set sail from Bos- ton, October 10, for South Africa, stopped a few weeks in Cape Town, and reached Natal, Africa, February 15, 1847. Here, among the Zulus, in the Dis- trict of Natal, he labored as a missionary in the service of the American Board, for fifteen years, and at the end of that time, March 12, 1862, with impaired
Ginayle
1
Can Doom.
Ginayle
134
TOWN OF BRATTLFRADA
- a ir by the Congrega' # ud Ing. redeeming . ort bay Providence 1 . ' r
c:
.1
he .
i
1:
15, and one year at
1 1516 In 1844 i:P
i "stock's Istes' Sen. t Gerani hi ! ck. k.
1
Pct aber 8, 1846, la' w". m.
t the way to Miss 1. 1 : 1 geld, t mi 10, for Son u Anto a od a few w. VA Na AL Africa, F . r .r 15 : 47. Here. ... r
t Jak be labored .... .than the . er.
CA. Van Dom.
Undy Google
135
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
health, he set sail for his native land, and landed in Boston on the 7th of June. His health having in a measure been restored, Mr. Grout preached a year for the Congregational church in Saxton's River, and then accepted a call to the church in Feeding Hills, Mass., where he was installed as pastor, and con- tinued to labor till the first of October, 1865. He then received an appoint- ment from the American Missionary Association as secretary and agent of that society for New Hampshire and Vermont, and in this employ has con- tinued till the present time, some nineteen years, having his home in West Brattleboro.
Elisha Simonds, born at Lunenburg, Mass., July 8, 1780, died at Brattle- boro, April 6, :864, aged eighty-two years and nine months. Mr. Simonds was the father of seventeen children, the third,of whom, Penni, was born at Alstead, N. H., March 21, 1807, and removed with his father's family to Swanzey, N. H., about the year 1819, at the age of twelve years. From about the the year 1823 until 1833, he worked at shoe-making, as it was car- ried on in those early days. In the spring of 1833, he came to Brattleboro and opened a custom boot and shoe store, in what was then known as Hall's Long building, and from that date until his death occupied the same room. Henry W. Simonds commenced business in the same room, August 10, 1881, but November 16, 1883, the building was destroyed by fire, when he removed to Elliot street.
Alfred Simonds was born in Alstead, N. H., in 1810, and came to Brattle- boro in 1832. He married Maria Stockwell, daughter of Arad Stockwell, and located on High street. He carried on the tanning business at Center- ville, was selectman several years, and reared a family of three children, two of whom are now living in Lexington, Ky.
William Harris was one of the early settlers of Brattleboro. Just at what time he came here, however, is not known; but Capt. Banajah Dudley, resid- ing here at the age of ninety-three years, married a daughter of William's son Ezra, and says that William came here with his family of nine children, from Holden, Mass. He died August 15, 1797, aged seventy-one years. Patience Gleason, his wife, died November 21, 1808, aged seventy-six years. Their children were Valentine, William, Salthiel, Calvin, Ezra, Mrs. Howe, who was killed by lightning in a house standing where Dr. Steadman now re- sides, in West Brattleboro, and Mrs. Chandler. William Harris, Jr., was born October 2, 1757, and died in Brattleboro March 12, 1845; Abiah Brooks, his wife, born April 16, 1765, died in Brattleboro, March 6, 1847 ; Polly, born October 5, 1784, married Dr. Samuel Bullock, of Brookline, De- cember 25, 1803, settled and died in Canada ; William was born May 24, 1787 ; Flavia, born July 10, 1789, married Elkanah Crosby, January 10, 1808, and settled and died in Catskill, N. Y .; William, born September 8, 1791, married Jemima Wood, December 19, 1816, and settled and died on the home farm, dying September 25, 1849 ; Ira, born March 6, 1796, settled and married in Canada, and died in Minnesota ; Roswell was born March 6, 1798. He
Ginayle
136
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
taught his first school in Wardsboro, in the winter of 1814-15. He fitted for college with Rev. Caleb Burge, pastor of the Congregational Society at West Brattleboro, entered Middlebury college in 1817 and graduated in 1821. He had charge of the Brattleboro Academy two years, as principal, after which he entered Andover Theological Seminary, in 1723, and graduated in 1826. He was licensed to preach by the Wind- ham County Association of Congregational ministers, at Halifax, June 21, 1826, and preached at Salisbury and Amesbury, Mass., and Antrim, and Derring, N. H., for two years, when, on account of serious bronchial difficulty, he was obliged to relinquish active duties as a minister. He then gave himself up almost entirely to the duties of teaching, preaching occa- sionally. He took charge of the Hampton academy, Hampton, N. H., in the autumn of 1828, and remained there until the summer of 1833, when he was married to Miss Matilda Leavitt, of Hampton, on the 29th of August, coming immediately to Brattleboro, and for the second time took charge of the Brattleboro academy : but in the autumn of 1837 was forced to resign on account of ill health. In 1845 he once more resumed his labors as prin- cipal of the academy and remained in charge a little more than eight years. After a vacation of five years, he was again induced, in 1858, to take charge of the academy, but was again compelled to relinquish it in less than a year. He was the first superintendent of schools in this town, and held the office and also that of postmaster at West Brattleboro a number of years. His last sickness was very brief, he being taken suddenly ill on Saturday, March 4, 1871, at about 11 o'clock, P. M., and passed to his rest at I P. M., on Mon- day, March 6, 1871, his 73d birthday. His wife died December 13, 1841. He left three sons, Rev. W. J. Harris, D. D., Roswell Harris, Jr., and Rev. Charles Clarke Harris.
Broughton D. Harris, son of Wilder Harris, was born at Chesterfield, N. H., August 16, 1822, and married Sarah B. Hollister, of New York city. He was fitted for college at Chesterfield academy and at the Kimball Union academy, in Meriden, and entered Dartmouth in 1841, graduating in 1845. He studied law for a while, with Hon. Asa Keyes, of Brattleboro, then engaged in the newspaper business, being editor of the Vermont Phenix for a while, and for several years was editor of the Semi- Weekly Eagle. In the spring of 1851, he went to Utah, as the first secretary of that Territory, Brigham Young being at that time governor of the same. He soon, how- ever, came in collision with Brigham and his saints respecting the discharge of his official duties, the result of which being that Mr. Harris finally refused to disburse the money placed in his hands by the government for the benefit of the Territory, as he regarded the proceedings of the Mormon authorities as being contrary to the laws of the United States. He then left Utah and returned the money to the United States treasury, his action being approved by the government, and he was soon after appointed secretary and acting- governor of New Mexico, but his appointment was declined. In 1847, '48
Linayle
1
.
or
re by t. govern
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
tal fitt So gri ye in ha 2: at d g21
(
1
. active duties , the duties of teach Harapton academy. ied there with the st une. . Leavitt, of Hampton, on .t . r.rboro, she fir the second t . but in the aut: . 10. of 1837 w. . 1845 he once more resumed he "name " in charge a little more :1.A. rs, he was again induced, in 18-4 it . in compe's I to relinquish ! ! · : lent of schon. in this town, at 'a · at West Brutit -boro a number of it 1 being taken suddenly ilon situr. . r. w., and | tipi I to his iest at I p. . : + PrithAv 19 wife And December . T. Fluns, D D, Roswell Harns, Jr
f wi, 'er . arne, was born at Che: con ed Satt b. Hollister. of New } : 1. reverfield " my and a' ine Kann Fryred Dattimonth in 1841, graduate . . with Hon. Ava Keves, of Brattic .. . ness, being e hior of the Vermont ' was editor of the Some Wally Rate Yeah, a 1. first secretary of that neto wr of the same. Hr . 'ist az , saints re-pecting the . whh : . ie that Mir. Hit s fina intr . lv the government for !!
1 .fines of the Mormon a : cl States. He then lef- i . straty, his action in NL .: r appointed secretary at "tient was dechned. 1u
Normy OMbotton
137
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
and '49 he was register of probate here, and a member of the Vermont sen- ate in 1860 and '61, being also chairman of the committee on military affairs. By appointment of the governor he was a member of the Peace Congress which assembled at Washington during the memorable winter of 1860-61. For several years he has been engaged in the construction of railroads, and was mainly instrumental in pushing through the enterprise of building the Brattleboro and Whitehall railroad. He is president of the Brattleboro Sav- ings Bank, and has been one of its trustees since its organization.
Nathan Birdseye Williston, son of Rev. Payson Williston, of East Hampton, Mass., was born August 11, 1797. He left his father's home at the age of twelve years, and from that time onward was dependent on his own resources. He came to Brattleboro in 1810, as clerk in the store of Ezra Clark, a dealer in hardware and drugs. Winning the confidence of Mr .. Clark, he became a partner, and ultimately succeeded to the business. Later on he took into partnership his brother-in-law, Ferdinand Tyler, and still later Mr. Charles F. Thompson. At the establishment of the Windham County Bank, in 1856, he became its president ; and when that institution was merged into the First National Bank, in 1864, he continued in the same relationship to that organi- zation, till his retirement in 1879. During the war he was engaged in the manufacture of carriages. Mr. Williston was twice married, to Margaret, who died comparatively young, after bearing him five children, and to Caro- line Brewster, whom he also survived. None of his children are living. Mr. Williston died December 5, 1883, aged eighty-six years.
Henry Dwight Holton, M. D., A. M., a resident of Brattleboro for the past fifteen years, was born at Saxton's River, Vt., July 24, 1838, married there Ellen Jane Hoit, November 19, 1862, who was born November 28, 1839, at Saxton's River, daughter of Theophilus and Mary Damon (Chandler) Hoit. The early training of Dr. Holton was of the strictest New England kind, and much of his success in life is undoubtedly due to the principles thus early instilled into his mind by his parents. His boyhood was like that of the majority of boys brought up on a farm. The following account of his life is from a book entitled, "Physicians and Surgeons of America," and a sketch of him, in a work published by the Rocky Mountain Medical Asso- ciation. He was fitted for college at the Saxton's River Seminary, and studied two years with Dr. J. H. Warren, of Boston, and two years with Professors Valentine and A. B. Mott, of New York, attending lectures at the same time in the medical department of the University of New York, from which he graduated in March, 1860, settling successfully in Brooklyn, N. Y., Putney, Vt., and Brattleboro, Vt., his present residence. He has traveled extensively in Europe and this country. He is a member of the Connecticut River Val- ley Medical Society, of which he was secretary from 1862 to 1867, and president in 1868 ; the Vermont Medical Society, of which he was censor for several years, and the president in 1868; the American Medical Association and the British Medical Association, a corresponding member of the Boston
Linayle
138
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
Gynecological Society, and member of the American Public Health Associa- tion, and a delegate to the International Medical Congress at Brussels in 1875. He is also a member of the Rocky Mountain Medical Association- The Doctor has contributed some valuable papers to medical journals and to transactions of medical societies, and reported at one time " Mott's Cliniques" for the press. An article describing his apparatus for keeping in place ster- nal dislocations of the clavical, and an article on diphtheria, are contributions which show research and ability. He was appointed by the court, in 1873. medical examiner to the Vermont Asylum for the Insane, and in the same year was elected by the legislature one of the trustees of the University of Vermont. He has been surgeon of the 12th regiment of Vermont militia. He is now professor of Materia Medica and General Pathology in the medi- cal department of the University of Vermont. The honorary degree of A. M. was conferred upon him in 1879, by the University of Vermont. In June. 1880, he was elected one of the vice-presidents of the American Medical As- sociation. The Doctor is a vigorous orator and a clear thinker, and well up in a knowledge of the most approved and latest methods of relieving human suffering.
Charles Newton Davenport, the eldest son of Calvin N. and Lucy W. Davenport, was born at Leyden, Mass., Oct. 20, 1830, and died at Brattleboro. April 12, 1882. He was educated in the common schools of his native town, at the Shelburne Falls (Mass.) academy, and at the Melrose seminary, in West Brattleboro. He entered the office of the Hon. Oscar L. Shafter, of Wilmington, Vt., as a student of law, March 10, 1851, and was admitted as an attorney at the April term, 1854, of the Windham county court. Im- mediately upon his admission to the bar, he formed a co-partnership with Mr. Shafter, which continued until November 10, 1855, when it was dissolved, in consequence of the decision of Mr. Shafter to permanently remain in California, where he had been since October, 1854, in the employment of the law firm of Halleck, Park, Peachey & Billings. Mr. Davenport remained at Wilming- ton in the active practice of his profession until his removal to Brattleboro, in March, 1868, where he resided until his death. Here he found a wider field, and more important causes were intrusted to his care, entailing upon him a correspondingly larger amount of labor. In June, 1875, desiring to be relieved of a portion of his largely increased and increasing business and responsibilities, which even then were overtasking his powers, both mental and physical, he took into partnership with him Jonathan G. Eddy, which co-partnership existed until January 1, 1882 , when he disposed of his business to James L. Martin, and with a view of regaining his health, which had become seriously impaired by his constant application and unremitting toil in the cause of his clients, he retired from the practice of the profession he loved so well.
Mr. Davenport married, December 12, 1854, Miss Louisa C. Haynes, of Lowell, Mass., who bore him six children, four of whom died young. The
139
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
other two, Charles H. Davenport, the editor and publisher of the Windham county Reformer, and Herbert J. Davenport, a graduate of Harvard law school, are living. Mrs. Davenport died September 30, 1870, and Mr. Davenport was married a second time, November 6, 1871, to Mrs. Roxana J. Dunklee, of Brattleboro. She died May 22, 1881.
Paul Chase was born in Guilford, Vt., where he resided until after his mar- riage with Miss Gracie Hyde, daughter of Dr. Dana Hyde, when he came to Brattleboro. He was high sheriff of the county about twenty years, colonel of militia, proprietor of the old Brattleboro Stage House, which was located where the Brooks House now stands, for twenty years. He died in 1854, aged seventy six years. His children were Lucy, Harriet and Edwin H. The latter was born in Brattleboro in 1819, married Eveline Dickinson, by whom he had two children, and for his second wife he married Sue A. Cowan, of Kentucky. For the past twenty years he has carried on an ex- tensive distillery in Bryantsville, Ky., spending his summers in Brattleboro.
Bela N. Chamberlain, son of John, was born at Newport, N. H., June 14, 1823, and in 1840 commenced to learn the hatter's trade in his native town, where he remained until 1853. In 1847 he married H. Jane Cran, the union being blessed with four children, only one of whom, Herbert B., is living. In 1854 the latter came to Brattleboro with his father, and formed a partner- ship with Henry Pond, of Keene, N. H., under the firmn name of Pond & Chamberlain, dealers in hats, caps and furs. From 1862 to 1868 the firm was Chamberlain & Frank, since which time Mr. Chamberlain has carried on the business alone, being now one of the oldest business men in Brattleboro, there being but two other merchants in business who were here when he came.
Timothy Vinton was born in Reading, Mass., January 5, 1803. When he was only a year old he was left fatherless, and his mother soon after removed to Leonminster, Mass., where he received a common school education. At the age of twenty-one he went to work in a paper-mill, and in 1830 com- menced business on his own account, remaining in Leonminster until 1836. During that year he went to Fitchburg, Mass., where, in company with Alvah Brooks, he was in the paper business until 1843, after which, until 1847, he was engaged in the same business at Pepperell, Mass. Since 1847 he has been engaged in paper manufacture in Brattleboro. Mr. Vinton married Caroline Woodcock, in November, 1828, who bore him five children, and died in 1878. Two of the children, John F. and William H., are living.
Dr. Dan P. Webster, born at Northfield, Vt., in 1845, graduated from the Burlington medical college in 1867, and immediately commenced practice in Putney, remaining there until 1882, when he came to Brattleboro. Dr. Webster represented Putney in the legislature from 1872 to '74, was State senator in 1878, was State railroad commissioner from 1878 to '80, and from 1874 to '76 sergeant-general of the State militia, being on the staff of Gov. Asahel Peck.
Linayle
140
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
Dr. David P. Dearborn came to Brattleboro immediately after the late war, and has been in practice here since. At the age of twenty-five years he enlisted as a private in Co. F, 4th N. H. Vols., at Keene, N. H., July 3, 1861. Here he was rapidly promoted, as follows: 2d Lieut., Co. G, August 18, 1862 ; 2d asst. surgeon, December 16, 1862 ; Ist asst. surgeon, May 2, 1864; surgeon, November 9, 1864, being mustered out of service August 23, 1865.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.