USA > Vermont > Genealogical and family history of the state of Vermont; a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol I > Part 124
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 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127
Samuel Bancroft, Jr., son of Captain Samuel and Sarah (Lamson) Bancroft, was born at Reading in 1715, and in 1735 married Lydia, born in 1715, and died in 1813, daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Parker. He saw mili- tary service as captain in the French and Indian war (see page 698, Genealogical History of Read- ing, Massachusetts), and held many important offices-deacon, justice of the peace and select- man-and was representative to the general as- sembly from 1769 to 1774. He was noted for the wisdom and prudence of his counsels, and for his ability as a public speaker. He died at Read- ing, Massachusetts, in 1782. His children were : Samuel, born in 1736, married Sarah Holt, and became a judge in Nova Scotia; Lydia, born in 1738, married, in 1761, Z. Johnson, of Andover ; Sarah, born in 1740, married Daniel How, of Andover, in 1764; Mary, born in 1742, married in 1765, Rev. Francis Lovejoy, and settled in Maine or New Hampshire, and was ancestress of the martyr Lovejoy; Mehitabel, born in 1744, married, in 1767, John Nichols; Elizabeth, born in 1746, and marired, in 1769, Nathaniel Cheever ; Anne, born in 1749; Edmund, born in 1751, mar- ried, in 1770, Sarah Pool; Caleb, born in 1753, married in 1776, Susan Tay ; Aaron, born in 1755, married Lucetta Chandler, and was father of Hon. George Bancroft, the historian of the United States ; Lucy, born in 1758, and married, in 1780, Dr. Joseph Gray.
Edmund Bancroft, the second son of Samuel and Lydia ( Parker) Bancroft, was born in Read- ing, July 27, 1751. He served in Captain Eaton's company during the Revolutionary war, and fought in the battles of Lexington and Concord. He married Sarah Poole, his second cousin, born in 1749. died at Lunenburg, March 31, 1831, daughter of Captain Jonathan Poole, an officer in the French and Indian war, a grandson of Captain Jonathan Poole, and of Mary (Leman) Poole. He was a shoemaker by trade, and died in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, in August, 1810.
70
THE STATE OF VERMONT.
Their children were : Sarah, born November 13, 1770, died December 6, 1770; Sarah, born May 20, 1772, married Nathaniel Bancroft, and died in 1855; Samuel and Edmund, born No- vember 23, 1773, Edmund died December 4, and Samuel December 5, 1773 ; Polly, born June 27, 1775, married Thomas Stimson, of Malden, in 1802; Edmund, born March 20, 1777 ; Samuel, born March 7, 1779, died in Aylmer, province of Quebec, in 1854; Lydia, born July 21, 1781, mar- ried John Wood, of Boston, in 1802; Aaron, born February 2, 1784; Esther, born June 2, 1786, married Nathaniel Pratt; Ruth, born December 5, 1788: Timothy, born April 26, 1795, married Abigail Batchelder, in 1817, and died February 3, 1861.
Aaron Bancroft, the son of Edmund and Sarah (Poole) Bancroft, was born in Reading, February 2, 1784. He left the ancestral home in Reading, and went to Montpelier, Vermont, in 1814; here he followed the trade of shoe- maker. He was a deacon of the Congregational church, and was also sexton of the village. He was a good singer, great mimic, and noted ath- lete, winning races at the age of fifty years. October 30, 1807, he married Anna Foster, who was born February 21, 1784, and who died Octo- ber 21, 1865. She was a daughter of Jonathan Foster, a soldier of the Revolutionary war, with the Reading Company at the battles of Lexing- ton and Concord. Aaron Bancroft died at Mont- pelier, March 26, 1872. Their children were: Aaron, born at Reading, Massachusetts, Febru- ary 20, 1809 ; he resided at Montpelier, and never married; he was a shoemaker, goldsmith, moul- der, a skilled mechanic, and was a much noted wag; he died at Montpelier, March 25, 1869. Mary Ann and Sarah Ann, twins, born July I, 1810, and Mary died in three months; Sarah married, first, a Mr. Nye, at Albany, New York, and two sons were born to them: Charles Henry and Prince Mavrocadatero Nye, both having held commissions in the navy ; she married, second, Ivory Snow, of Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, where she died in October, 1886. Edwin, born September 19, 1812, married Betsy Hepburn, of Waltham, Vermont, January 31, 1834, and set- tled at Vergennes, Vermont ; September 25, 1836, he is supposed to have been murdered on or near Lake Champlain; he left one son, Edwin R.,
who was killed about 1890 by cars at New Haven, Vermont, leaving two sons, Charles V. and Ed- win C. Henry, born February 20, 1814, at Reading, Massachusetts, was a blacksmith, and never married ; he died at Montpelier, Vermont, February 1, 1838. Mary, born March 15, 1820, at Montpelier, married George Rogers, of Ca- bot, where she died September II, 1883, leaving no children. Eliza Ann, born September 10, 1822, at Montpelier, died at the age of three months. Daniel Foster, born August II, 1824, at Montpelier, married Harriet J. Ackerman, of New York city February 1, 1854, and he died at Brooklyn, New York, June 26, 1895 (leaving : Annie Foster, born November 4, 1854; she mar- ried March 1, 1886, Thomas H. Graham, of New York city; George, born August 17, 1857, mar- ried Angust 4, 1880, Josephine E., daughter of George and Elizabeth Orcutt, of New York city. George died April 14 1895, leaving a daughter, Louise Bancroft, born May 25, 1881 ; and George Arthur, born January 9, 1888, died June 12, 1894). Eliza, born May 4, 1826, at Montpelier, married Franklin Hoyt, August 16, 1847, and died March 25, 1879, leaving three daughters : Sarah, Lois and Emma, all unmarried. Charles Edgar was born June 11, 1830.
Charles Edgar Bancroft, the son of Aaron and Anna (Foster) Bancroft, was born in Mont- pelier, Vermont, June 11, 1830. He conducted a successful business in tin and hardware, stoves, plumbing, etc. He had a mechanical turn of mind. and several devices which he invented were pat- ented. He was first lieutenant in Company I, Thirteenth Vermont Volunteers, during the Civil war. In politics he was a Democrat. He was a member of the Unitarian church. He mar- ried Diann, daughter of Thomas Thomas, March 15, 1849. She was born in Georgia, Vermont, May 16, 1825, and died June 26, 1855. He mar- ried, second, Julia Ann Hawley of Waterbury. Vermont, October 1, 1857 ; she died August 15. 1869. He married, third, Augusta N. Gould, of Montpelier, February 1, 1872; she died February 28, 1878. He died at Montpelier, February I, 1879. His children, all by his first marriage. were: Edwin Christopher, born September 23. 1851, and died June II, 1852, at Montpelier ; Charles DeForest, born at Montpelier, Vermont. May 17, 1853; twin sons, born at Hyde Park
702
THE STATE OF VERMONT.
in June, 1854, lived but a few days; Alice D., born at Waterbury, Vermont, June 25, 1855, resides at St. Albans, and never married.
Charles DeForest Bancroft, son of Charles Edgar and Diann ( Thomas) Bancroft, was born in Montpelier, May 17, 1853. With the exception of a few years, from 1855 to 1862, when a greater part of his childhood was spent at Waterbury, he has always resided at Montpelier, Vermont, which has been the family home for almost a century. He attended the Union School of Montpelier, and after completing his studies there, at the age of fifteen years, he learned the tinsmith and plumber's trade, at which he worked for twenty- nine years, twenty-four of which he was with the firm of Barrows and Peck, giving up mechani- cal pursuits about five years ago.
During the meantime he was local reporter for the Green Mountain Freeman for several years, and his extensive information on all local and general topics enabled him to fill this position most satisfactorily. He has had charge of the registration of voters at all elections, and has taken the school census and registration of births and deaths for more than a quarter of a century ; in fact, he knows more people in Montpelier, and is known by more people, there than any other man in the city. He held the office of trustee and collector of the village before it was incorporated as a city ; is, and has been for eighteen years, a justice of the peace; is chairman of the board of assessors, having served on the board for twenty years ; and since the first city election, in March, 1895, he has received the annual election for city sheriff and collector. His long service as assessor and collector of taxes has been a most important factor in giving Montpelier a model system for securing each year a complete grand list, and for cleaning up the collection of its taxes every year with a minimum loss, providing alike for the interests of individuals and the city. He has been of material assistance, and has given much spare time in furnishing statistics for genea- logical histories, among others being Miss Hem- inway's "History of Montpelier."
He was married September 1I, 1871, at Mont- pelier, to Flora Burnham Alexander, born in Montpelier, December 6, 1854, a daughter of Thomas C. and Harriett (Dudley) Alexander. Seven children were born to them: Eva Julia,
born February 28, 1873, married Henry Ward Cate, of Montpelier, January 8, 1896, and to them has been born a son, Robert Bancroft Cate, June 17, 1900. Harriet B., born September 4, 1875, died December 14, 1876. Charlotte Angusta, born July 28, 1878, died August 8, 1878. Charles Edgar, born October 10, 1879, died September 2, 1880. Anna Foster born February 14, 1882. dlied October 7, 1882. Frederick Wells, born October 16, 1884, is a collector for the New England Telephone Company in Montpelier and Barre. Charles DeForest, jr., born December 1, 1894.
The old homestead in Reading, Massachu- setts, is still owned and occupied by a Bancroft, and has been for more than two centuries and a half, being the only one that has never changed hands since the settlement, and the family name has been and is a prominent one in both Reading and Montpelier. It is a singular fact that since they came from England all in this family line have for ten generations been born and lived either in Reading, Massachusetts, or Montpelier, Vermont.
BERT EMERY MERRIAM.
Bert Emery Merriam, A. B., superintendent of the schools of Rockingham, Vermont, is a man of excellent executive ability, and a success- ful and popular educator. He was born October 21, 1865, in Elmore, Vermont, son of Albert Chester and Helen Maria (Silloway) Merriam, both natives of Vermont. The father was born in Hyde Park, Vermont, October 29, 1836, and was educated in the People's Academy in Morris- ville ; he has held various town offices and is the present overseer of the poor; he is a staunch Republican in politics. His wife was born in Berlin, Vermont, October 29, 1838; with her husband she is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church.
Bert Emery Merriam received his prepara- tory education in the district schools of his native town, and then attended the People's Academy in Morrisville, Vermont, graduating from that institution in 1889. For one year thereafter he taught in the high school in Stowe, and in the fall of 1890 in Oberlin College, at Oberlin, Ohio, where he also pursued advanced studies, and graduated with the class of 1894.
703
THE STATE OF VERMONT.
Thus early equipped, Mr. Merriam entered upon his professional career in Fairfax, Vermont, where he taught school for two years, from 189.4 to 1896. He then returned to Oberlin, Ohio, and was instructor in his alma mater for two years. During the following year he taught again in Fairfax, Vermont. In 1889 he was elected principal of Hardwick Academy, Hardwick, Ver- mont, and after three years' service was elected to the position which he now (1903) holds. He has met with great success in his labors, and has attained wide popularity, recognized as a teacher of high ability.
Mr. Merriam is a member of the Congrega- tional church, in which he has served as choris- ter and teacher in the Sunday-school. In poli- tics he is a Republican. He is a member of Caspian Lake Lodge No. 86, F. & A. M., of Hardwick.
Mr. Merriam was married August 9, 1899, to Miss Carrie Amelia Shaw, daughter of the late Harrison Shaw, of Elmore, Vermont. She is a lady of culture and excellent attainments, a graduate of the People's Academy, Morrisville, class of 1888; before her marriage she was a teacher in the public schools, and has held the office of town superintendent of schools. She is of honored Revolutionary ancestry. Her great-great-grandfather, Captain Shaw (from whom her husband is also descended), served during the struggle for independence, and she now possesses a Continental five dollar bill which he received from the government when he was honorably discharged at the end of the war.
GEORGE FRANKLIN ROBERTS.
George Franklin Roberts, a prominent and prosperous business man of Wilmington, Ver- mont, was born in Baldwinsville, Illinois, De- cember 21, 1860. His parents were James and Jane (Fairbanks) Roberts, both natives of New England, where their forefathers were among the earl settlers. Whitingham, Vermont, being the place of residence for many years of James Roberts. it was to this locality that he returned with his family in 1867 from Illinois, when his impaired health seemed to require a change.
George F. Roberts spent the early years of his life upon the home farm, and his preliminary
studies were acquired in the village school at Jacksonville, Vermont, later supplemented by a course of study at Shelburne Falls Academy. For several years after completing his studies the summer months werc clevoted to farm- ing, and during the winter season he taught in the village school. Young Roberts had no intention of being a farmer all his life, so finding that the years were passing, and that if he hoped to enter the world of achievement he must not delay, he accepted a position in a box factory at Jacksonville, where, during his two years of service, he developed considerable mechanical skill. From this occupation he en- tered the commercial field as a clerk in a general
GEORGE FRANKLIN ROBERTS.
store at Sadawga; from here he removed to Or- ange, Massachusetts, and then clerked in a gen- eral store at Briggsville, Massachusetts. Subse- quently he engaged with the large grocery firm of Stickney Brothers, of Brattleboro, Vermont, which position he retained for five years. His
704
THE STATE OF VERMONT.
varied experience during these years of labor in different fields made him feel that, should he enter a wider sphere of action, he might gradually suc- ceed in making a creditable place for himself in the world. Thus it was that in iSor he came to New York city, where his first venture was in the baking trade, which he conducted for nearly five years. From this he entered the employ of the Metropolitan Traction Company, of New York, which corporation he served in various ca- pacities for three years. During his life in the great metropolis he was thrown in contact withi men of prominence in business and political ca- reers. He resigned his position in New York March 22, 1899, in order to accept the position of passenger conductor with the Hoosac Tunnel & Wilmington Railroad Company, which he filled until shortly after the death of John C.' Newton, when he was promoted to the position which he now occupies, that of assistant superin- tendent of the road.
HON. PHILIP K. GLEED.
Hon. Philip King Gleed, of Morrisville, Ver- mont, deceased, was, during a long and active life, one of the most distinguished lawyers at the bar of the state, a most useful citizen, and a model Christian gentleman. He was a native of Canada, born in Granby, province of Quebec, September 10, 1834. His parents were the Rev. John and Elizabeth (Prettyjohn) Gleed, the _ father being a native of Lyme Regis, Dorset- shire, England. He came in his youth to Mor- risville, where his older brother, Thomas Gleed, was a well established lawyer, and there he be- came a student in the People's Academy. He subsequently continued his education in the Ba- kersfield Academy, the Troy Conference Acad- emy, at Poultney, from which he was graduated in 1855. and Union College, New York, from which he was graduated with honor in 1859. He then engaged in teaching a school in Morrisville, meantime pursuing law studies under the tutor- ship of his brother, and he was admitted to the bar in 1859, and rose, by the concurrent testi- mony of his colleagues, to a place among the foremost of the profession in the state. His attainments were tersely epitomized by Judge W.
P. Stafford, who, in his remarks at the funeral of Mr. Gleed, spoke of him as the representative type of the general all-around lawyer, who relied upon his own resources and investigation in every case committed to him. His cases were always thoroughly and exhaustively prepared, and were tried upon their merits. His pleas were clear, direct, logical and eloquent, and enlivened with apt illustrations and anecdote. His worth re- ceived a high tribute from the State Bar Asso- ciation, which, in 1888, elected him its president.
Mr. Gleed was called to various positions of honor and trust, in all of which he acquitted him- self with scrupulous fidelity and conscientious- ness. He was state's attorney for Lamoille coun- ty in 1867-68, and again in 1880-82; representa- tive in the legislature in 1868-69; trustee of the State Reform School in 1869; assessor of internal revenue, 1870-74 ; state senator and president pro tem. of the senate, 1880-81 ; and state commiss- ioner of taxes, 1890-92. He was a member of the committee on revision of statutes in 1893-94. He occupied numerous local positions, his serv- ice as selectman covering many years, and in all these offices he displayed the same sound judg- ment and conscientious fidelity that distinguished him in more conspicuous places.
He rendered hearty and loyal service in every worthy effort and enterprise in the village and county in which he lived. He was a member of the school board, a village trustee, a director in the two banks at Hyde Park, and in the Mor- risville Savings Bank. He was a deacon in the Congregational church, and was for twenty-five years superintendent of its Sunday-school. He was affiliated with Mount Vernon Lodge, No. 8, F. & A. M.
Mr. Gleed was twice married. His first wife, to whom he was united October 10, 1861, was Miss Ellen Fuller, of Moira, New York. Two children born of this union, Mary and George, both died young. On May 14, 1885, Mr. Gleed was married to Mrs. Laura Fleetwood, widow of Henry W. Fleetwood, and the mother of Fred- erick G. Fleetwood, of Morrisville, Vermont.
Mr. Gleed died on June 29, 1897, aged sixty- three years. At the time of his funeral, all busi- ness in the village was suspended, and the mem- bers of the Lamoille county bar testified to their respect for the deceased by attending in a body.
705
THE STATE OF VERMONT.
FREDERICK G. FLEETWOOD.
Frederick Gleed Fleetwood, of Morrisville, was born in St. Johnsbury, September 27, 1869. His grandfather, Thomas Fleetwood, was an English gentleman, who came to the United States on a pleasure voyage, and who subse- quently settled in Barnet, Vermont. He there married, and reared two sons, Thomas and Henry W. Fleetwood. The last named married Miss Laura Kenney, of St. Johnsbury, and they were the parents of Frederick G. Fleetwood.
Frederick G. Fleetwood was prepared for college at St. Johnsbury Academy, entered the University of Vermont in 1886, and in 1888 matriculated in Harvard College, from which he was graduated in 1891, just after attaining his majority. In the same year he entered the law office of his step-father, Hon. Philip K. Gleed. Mr. Fleetwood was admitted to the bar in Octo- ber, 1894, and in the following year he became the law partner of Mr. Gleed. This association was maintained until the death of Mr. Gleed, in 1897, when Mr. Fleetwood succeeded to the business of the firm, continuing to occupy the same office.
He was appointed clerk of the committee on the revision of the laws in 1894. In 1896 he was elected town clerk and treasurer of Morris- town, and was re-elected at the three succeeding elections. In the first of these years, and the second after his admission to the bar, he was elected state's attorney for Lamoille county. He was a presidential elector in the second McKin- ley campaign, in 1900, and was chosen messenger of that body to carry the electoral vote to Wash- ington. At the state election, on the first Tues- day of September, 1902, Mr. Fleetwood was elect- ed secretary of state.
THE PARISH FAMILY.
Few families in Vermont can point to a more honorable lineage or show worthier deeds done by its representatives at various periods than the one which it is the object of this sketch to pass in review. Two of the ancestors took part in the great revolution which led to the American republic, and shared the deathless glories of the initial battle at Bunker Hill. Later on the Par-
ishes occupied positions of prominence in all the walks of life, being influential in legislative halls, on the judicial bench, and in important offices of all kinds and almost every grade. They have figured conspicuously as agriculturists, as pro- fessional men and in all the affairs whose aggre- gate make up the growth and progress of a nation.
Jacob Parish, the founder of the Vermont branch of this name, after doing his duty as a Revolutionary soldier, removed in 1788 from Windham, Connecticut, to Randolph, Vermont, and for about fifty years occupied one of the tracts of fertile farm lands in the northern part of the town. There, on the 13th of September, 1793, was born his son, Jacob Kimball Parish, who was destined to lead a long and useful life, spent in the most honorable and varied employment. After obtaining the best education then afforded in the district and Orange county grammar schools, he entered the pedagogic field himself, and spent several winters in the delightful task of "rearing the infant mind and teaching the young idea how to shoot." When the war of 1812 began hie was about eighteen years of age, and lost no time in joining a company of the Randolph volunteers, with which he served gallantly as an orderly ser- geant at the battle of Plattsburg. Some years later he held the responsible position of paymas- ter of the brigade, and afterward was quarter- master of the division with the rank of major. His first venture in civil life was in 1815, when he became a clerk in a store, and two years later entered into partnership with Dana & Stearns, at Chelsea. In connection with the same firm he soon afterward built and opened a store opposite the old General Flint house in Randolph. In 1818, in his twenty-fifth year, Mr. Parish was appointed register of probate for the Randolph district, in which office he continued for fifteen years, and was then promoted by election as judge of probate for the same district. Another judicial position held by him was that of assistant judge of the county, an honor he retained for several years. Among the multifarious offices of trust and profit held by this versatile gentle- man may be mentioned that of postmaster, assist- ant United States marshal, trustee of public moneys, assignee in bankruptcy and bank direc- tor, In addition to all these he occupied various
45
706
THE STATE OF VERMONT.
town ofices and was elected to represent the town in the state legislature. In 1830 he was elected one of the trustees of the Orange county grammar school, and held this place continuously for thirty-six years, manifesting during all that period the most earnest friendship for the cause of education. Such a record of trust and confi- dence on the part of his fellow citizens seldom falls to the lot of any man, and the mere mention is sufficient to show the esteem in which he was held. In fact, Jacob Kimball Parish was a high- minded and public-spirited citizen, whose experi- ence, wise judgment and integrity won the re- gard of all with whom he came in contact, and he never varied in his efforts to advance the ma- terial and moral welfare of his community. One of his most striking characteristics was his love' of temperance, and to this noble cause he de- voted much of the best efforts of his life, being a consistent, outspoken, uncompromising advo- cate of a suppression of the liquor traffic in all its forms. He was president of the first tem- perance society organized in Orange county, and during his two terms in the legislature, in 1857 and the following year, he could always be de- pended on to work and vote for any ineasure that promised to advance this vital form.
In 1818 he married Abigail Chandler, of Pomfret, Connecticut, who died in 1829, after giving birth to one son and two daughters. In 1830 he took a second wife in the person of Mary A., daughter of Israel Converse, of Ran- dolph, with whom he lived in utmost love and confidence for more than half a century. Her grandfather was a Revolutionary soldier and . fought at Bunker Hill. When the golden wed- ding of this venerable and beloved couple was celebrated, on May 10, 1880, a large concourse of the children, grandchildren and friends were prcsent to do them honor and offer congratula- tions. The venerable jurist, however, did not long survive this notable event, his gentle spirit yielding to the inevitable fate of all on the 10th of November, 1881. He left that heritage most desired by fond parents-a son who would worth- ily wear his mantle, and by the achievement of a distinguished career himself prove that he was the worthy offspring of so worthy a sire.
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.