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 13
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Mr. Cutler was united in marriage, February 25, 1874, to Miss Emma Theresa Gilman, who was born October 28, 1852, a daughter of Solo- mon Loomis and Diantha (Powers) Gilman. Two children have been born to them, namely : Arthur Gilman, born July 3, 1883; and Isabel Diantha, born November 25, 1884, died June 9, 1885.
JUSTUS NEWTON PERRIN.
In March of the year 1789, before Washing- ton was inaugurated president of the original thirteen colonies, and two years before the famous Green Mountain country became a member of the Union, Zechariah Perrin, with his wife and four children, made his way from Hebron, Connect- icut, and settled in the town of Berlin, thus being one of the very oldest settlers and one of the original founders of the present town. Zech- ariah was the son of Thomas and Jerusha (Por- ter) Perrin, was born in Hebron, Connecticut, March 18, 1750, and in 1781 married Mary Tal- cott, a native of Glastonbury, Connecticut. In
coming to Vermont he conveyed his family and provisions on a sled drawn by two yoke of oxen ; he came by the Connecticut and White rivers to Brookfield, which was then the end of the road ; the remainder of the way was marked by blazed trees and was covered by snow three feet deep. He took an active part in the organization and settlement of the town of Berlin, was prominent in the founding of schools and was a consistent member of the Congregational church, for the support of which he contributed liberally. He lived to rear a large family, and in his occupa- tion of farming accumulated a large property. He died May 28, 1838, at the age of eighty-eight, and his wife died September 11, 1828.
Porter, the second son of Zechariah and Mary Perrin, was born February 1, 1790, on the old homestead located by his father in 1789, being the first male child born in the town. His edu- cation was obtained in the common schools and at Randolph Academy; November 15, 1815, he married Lucy Kinney, who was the daughter of Rev. Jonathan Kinney, of Plainfield, Vermont, and was born October 4, 1796. By occupation a farmer, he probably accumulated more property than any one in that business in the town before his time ; a great part of this he gave away during his life time for charitable and religious pur- poses and to his many children. All his dealings were characterized by a strict regard for justice, and he was one of those sturdy, upright men upon whom the nation depended for its strength in the early times. In politics he was a Whig and later a Republican ; he held many of the town offices. His death occurred May 17, 1871, that of his wife December 9, 1878. Their children were as fol- lows: Jonathan Edwards, born November 25, 1818, died October 20, 1878; Eliza. born Novem- ber 14, 1820, died January 6, 1892; Justus New- ton, our subject; Emeline, born December 24, 1824, died October 10, 1853 ; George Kinney, born May 23. 1827; Henry Martin, born June 23, 1829, died January 7, 1896; Lucy, born July 9, 1831, died July 1, 1833; Porter Kendrick, born September 13, 1833 ; Joseph Newcomb, born Oc- tober 7, 1835, died October 26, 1863 : William Burton, born January 19, 1839.
Justus Newton Perrin was born on his father's homestead on the 21st of November, 1822. Re- ceiving his early training in the district schools
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and in the academy at Thetford, Vermont, and being inured to the discipline of fari life, he fol- lowed that as his life occupation ; at the present time he attends to his affairs with a vigor that would shame many a younger man. His political views are those of the Republican party and he has served as superintendent of schools for over twenty years and as a further mark of his ability in public affairs he repre- sented his town in the state legislature in 1863 and 1874. In religion he is a Congrega- tionalist, and has been a deacon in that church for many years. As a leading citizen of his own town he deservedly ranks high in the estimation of his friends and neighbors.
Mr. Perrin was first married December 22, 1847, to Arethusa Rosette Hosford; she died March 27, 1855, having borne two children, Lucy Helen, born November 15, 1848, and Harriet Eliza, born April 7, 1850. He contracted a sec- ond marriage on January 13, 1858, Mary Wild, the daughter of Elisha and Lucinda (Rix) Wild, becoming his wife ; she was born in West Fairlee, Vermont, April 22, 1827. The children of this marriage are: Porter and Elisha, twins, born November 1, 1858; Mary, born April 25, 1860; Justus Newton, born November 23, 1863; and Lucinda Rix, born July 15, 1867. This is a very brief record of a family that have for years been prominent in affairs of private and public life in their town of Berlin.
CHARLES HERBERT JOYCE.
Charles Herbert Joyce, of Rutland, Vermont, ex-member of Congress from the first Vermont district, was born near Andover, England, Jan- uary 30, 1830. His grandfather, Thomas Joyce, was a resident of the village of Wherwell, near Andover. Charles, son of Thomas Joyce, born in November, 1808, was one of a family of twenty- one children. He emigrated to the United States of America in the summer of 1836, and settled in the town of Waitsfield, Vermont. He was a ma- son by trade. He married Martha Eliza, daugh- ter of Thomas Grist, and to them were born two sons and two daughters, all of whom are yet liv- ing. Charles Joyce died April 24, 1877, in his seventieth year.
Charles Herbert Joyce, son of Charles and
Martha E. (Grist) Joyce, came to this country with his parents when six years old, and all his scholastic training has been of distinctively Amer- ican character. After passing through the public schools of Waitsfield, he studied in the Waits- field and Northfield academies, and also in the Newbury Seminary. He labored by the side of his father, and afterward taught school in order to support himself while preparing for his profes- sion.
He began his law studies in 1850, when twen- ty years of age, in the office of John L. Buck and F. V. Randall, in Northfield, and finished his read- ing under the preceptorship of F. F. Merrill, of Montpelier. In his youth he had served during three sessions as a page in the state legislature, and while a law student he was appointed assist- ant state librarian, and one year afterwards he was made librarian, these appointments affording him excellent opportunities for special studies in professional and general literature. He was ad- mitted to the bar of Washington county in Sep- tember, 1852, and the same year he entered upon the practice of his profession in Northfield. In 1856 he was elected state's attorney of Washing- ton county, and he was re-elected in the following year. He had already built up an excellent per- sonal practice, and the position to which he was called served to bring him into a larger field of usefulness and prominence, and forward the foun- dation for his future high professional success. As state's attorney he greatly distinguished him- self by his zeal and ability in the prosecution of Ariel Martin, of Calais, Vermont, charged with the murder of two residents of that town. Two eminent lawyers (Paul Dillingham and Luther L. Durant) appeared for the defendant, but Mr. Joyce so arrayed his evidence and made such a logical presentation that he obtained a convic- tion. He also prosecuted one Simmons, indicted for subornation of perjury against a prominent business man of St. Albans. The crime was one of peculiar turpitude, attracting great attention, and Mr. Joyce was warmly complimented when he procured a conviction and the guilty man was sentenced to ten years imprisonment in the peni- tentiary.
The outbreak of the Civil war interrupted for a time the professional career so auspiciously be- gun. At the first call of President Lincoln for
Charles Of. Soupe
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THE STATE OF VERMONT.
troops, he recruited a company of volunteers, ex- pecting to get the company into the first regiment, but was unable to accomplish his purpose. Three months later, however, June 7, 1861, he received from Governor Fairbanks a commission as major in the Second Regiment, Vermont Volunteers, the first three-year regiment to leave the state. July Ioth, the regiment went into active service in Vir- ginia, under General Oliver O. Howard. Major Joyce was present with his command in the bat- tle of Bull Run, and rendered excellent service in leading the line of battle until it was finally crushed, and in withdrawing and reforming the regiment in good order. Major Joyce was also with his regiment during McClellan's campaign in 1862, and participated in the battle at Lee's Mills, Apri! 16, and at Williamsburg, May 5. On June 7 he was promoted to the lieutenant colonelcy. A series of engagements in which his splendid regiment was prominently engaged soon followed. The battle at Golding's Farm on June 27 was fol- lowed by that of Savage Station on the 28th, and the latter was one of the sharpest engagements of the war. June 30th, occurred the battle of White Oak Swamp, which was really part of the battle of Malvern Hill. Then followed the occu- pation of Harrison's Landing, where the regiment remained until August 16. September 2nd, it marched into Maryland. Near Burkettsville, Col- onel Joyce was incapacitated by a disability due to arduous service and exposure, and was obliged to leave his post for a time. He was engaged in the second battle of Bull Run, and in the sanguinary struggle in and near Fredericksburg, December 12 and 13, where his regiment was closely en- gaged and suffered severely. His old complaint recurred with fresh violence, and he was con- strained to resign his commission in January, 1863. His retirement was a source of deep regret to himself and to his comrades, and to his su- perior officers, who had frequently, in their official reports, commended his personal gallantry and soldierly qualities. While unable to again take the field, Colonel Joyce bore a most useful part during the remainder of the war in aiding the re- cruiting of fresh troops and otherwise affording loyal support to the government.
In the summer of 1863 Colonel Joyce located in Rutland and renewed the practice of his pro- fession. He soon took a foremost place at the
bar, and front that time has been concerned in much of the most important litigation in his por- tion of the state. Among his most notable cases was that of the state against four men, three of whom were named Plumley, indicted for murder. An old feud between the Plumley and Balch fam- ilies had resulted in a fight, in which one of the latter named was killed. The trial lasted twenty- eight days, and during the entire contest Colonel Joyce conducted the defense with a spirit and re- sourcefulness which challenged the admiration of the bar of the entire state. Colonel Joyce made the closing argument for the defense, and pre- sented his case in masterly style, and was at once recognized as one of the first jury advocates in the state, and this in face of the fact that the evidence against his clients was of such a char- acter that but one was acquitted, while the second was convicted of murder, the third was sentenced to imprisonment for twenty years, and the fourth for life. It is presumable that to his masterly de- fense was largelly due the ultimate mitigation of the sentences passed upon two of his clients by a partial commutation of punishment.
In 1874 Colonel Joyce was engaged to assist the state's attorney in the prosecution of John P. Phair for the murder of Anne Frieze, at Rutland, under the most horrible circumstances. The case had attracted wide-spread attention, and many notable persons attended the trial. The press of the day highly commended Colonel Joyce for the masterly manner in which he closed the final ar- gument for the state. Another splendid victory achieved by him at the bar was in the celebrated case of Calvin B. Inman, of Poultney, tried for the shooting of Patrick Sennott, at the September term of Rutland county court, 1889. Colonel Joyce made the closing argument for the defense, and during its delivery the large courtroom was crowded with people from all parts of the county. A death-like stillness was preserved by the vast audience until he closed, when the deep murmur of applause showed the effect produced by the fiery and eloquent words of the advocate. The prisoner was acquitted. The Rutland Daily Her- ald, in its editorial, said that "Colonel Joyce was eloquent and impressive. It was the effort of his life. He was inspiring ; he was pathetic ; and with the magical witchery of a silver tongue he painted a portrait so touching, so saddening that at times
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THE STATE OF VERMONT.
there was scarcely a dry eye in the audience. Again, in characterizing the affray and that which led up to it, he gave full rein to his terrible power of denunciation."
Colonel Joyce has rendered to his community, . on pensions and back pay ; a member of the select to the state and to the nation, services of signal usefulness, and his name has an honored place . in the annals of legislative bodies in the most im- portant epochs. In 1860 he was elected as a Re- publican to represent Rutland in the lower house of the state legislature, in which body he served as chairman of the committee on elections, and also on the joint committee under the fourth joint rule. His services proved so acceptable to his constituents that he was returned in the following year, and was honored by election to the chair of speaker of the house. One of the youngest men who ever occupied the position, he acquitted him- self with a degree of ability which would have been creditable to a veteran presiding officer and parliamentarian. At the close of the session he was presented with a silver tea service by the members of the house.
In 1874 Colonel Joyce was elected from the first Vermont congressional district to the forty- fourth Congress, receiving 9,638 votes against 2.597 for H. W. Heaton, the Democratic candi- date, and 1,635 for C. W. Willard, the independ- ent Republican aspirant. He was re-elected in 1876, receiving 14.496 votes against 7,057 for Childs, Democrat, and eighteen scattering. In 1878 he was elected for a third term, receiving 12,600 votes against 5,867 cast for J. J. R. Ran- dall, Democrat, and seventeen scattering. In 1880 he was elected for a fourth term, receiving 15,- 645 votes, against 6,771 for J. J. R. Randall, Democrat ; 358 for C. C. Martin, Greenback ; and thirty-seven scattering.
His fourth election to Congress, and that in consecutive order, was an unusual compliment, but it was richly merited. Colonel Joyce has proved from the first his ability as a legislator and statesman, and his constituents honored him for his services and talents. In the forty-fourth Congress he served upon the committees on pri- vate land claims, on expenditures in the depart- ment of justice, and on the select committee sent to investigate the election frauds in Louisiana. In the forty-fifth Congress he served on the com- mittee on pensions and expenditures, and in the
forty-sixth Congress on the committee on post- offices and post roads. In the forty-seventh Con- gress he received more ample recognition, and was appointed chairman of the select committee committee appointed to audit the accounts of ex- penditure incident to President Garfield's sick- ness and burial ; a member of the committee ap- pointed to collect and suitably report upon all the facts connected with the alcoholic liquor traffic; and also a member of the committee on invalid pensions.
Colonel Joyce was a frequent and effective speaker in the national house of representatives, and many of his speeches attracted attention not only in his state but throughout the country. One of his most memorable orations was delivered in opposition to the granting of Mexican war pen- sions to persons who participated in the late re- bellion. It bristled with telling points. "It will be seen, Mr. Chairman," said he, "that it is pro- posed by this bill not only to repeal section 4716, but to go further, and pension every man-Jeffer- son Davis and all-who was engaged in those wars, whether he fought in the Confederate army or not during the late rebellion. Now, sir, while we only pension Union soldiers who lost life, limb or health in saving the government, it is pro- posed by this bill to pension all these men who fought to destroy it, whether invalids or not. To my mind this has much the appearance of grant- ing privileges to the Confederate which we deny to and withhold from the Union soldier, and is in fact offering a premium for treason."
In his speech on the United States marshal bill, and in favor of impartial suffrage, occurs the following pertinent passage: "If the govern- ment has power to preserve its own life; if it has the power to put its foot on the neck of treason, put down revolution, and crush redhanded rebel- lion ; if it has the constitutional strength to guard and protect the very citadel of American liberty, and the very ark of our political covenant-then surely it must have the power to protect the voter from Democratic intimidation, and guard the bal- lot-box from Democratic fraud and corruption."
His speech on "The Policy of the Government in Relation to Pensions" was a statesman-like presentation of the entire subject, and embodied the mature conclusions of his long experience in
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THE STATE OF VERMONT.
matters connected with the pension list. It was full of pertinent and quotable statistics, and closed with a peroration whose eloquent tribute to the bravery of our patriotic soldiers was greeted with great applause. In 1876 he made speeches on the death of vice-president Wilson ; on the presenta- tion of the statute of Ethan Allen; on early re- sumption of specie payments; on the centennial celebration of the American independence ; in 1878 on the repeal of the resumption act and the re- monetization of silver; on the election of presi- dent and vice-president ; on the tariff ; in 1879, on the policy of the Democrats in forcing an extra session of Congress by failing to pass the regular appropriation bills ; in 1880, on commercial re- ciprocity between this country and Canada; on the apportionment of representatives to the na- tional Congress ; and on the policy of the govern- ment in relation to pensions.
Colonel Joyce's position on the vexed question of Chinese influx is equally manly and outspoken. Summarizing his objections to the passage of the Chinese immigration bill he said :
"In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, and to sum up my objections to this bill, permit me to say that I am opposed to it, because it is in violation of the terms of the treaty of 1880 with China; be- cause it is hostile to the spirit of our institutions ; because it is in direct antagonism with the great principles of our civilization ; because it is in con- tradiction of the policy we have always pursued toward all other nations ; because it is a bold and unwarrantable repudiation of our national dec- larations on this subject ; because it is a false and unnecessary admission in a public law that we have been wrong for two hundred and eighty years ; because it is building the same wall against China which she kept up against the world for centuries, and which we helped England to pull down ; because it is a deadly blow at our growing commerce with one of the richest kingdoms on the globe ; because it is a palpable violation of the terms of the Republican platform of 1880; be- cause foreign immigration more than anything else has built up this country, and given us pros- perity and greatness ; because 105,000 Chinamen. even if they are as bad as gentlemen claim, dis- tributed among fifty million Americans, can give no just cause of alarm."
In addition to these notable speeches must also
be named that against the repeal of the resump- tion act delivered January 26, 1878; and that on the "Alcoholic Liquor Traffic-Its Effects upon the Industries and Business of the Country- What it Costs the People-The Duty of Con- gress," delivered on the 3d of April, 1880.
Colonel Joyce is one of the most popular and forcible platform speakers in Vermont. His first marked effort was in advocacy of the election of General John C. Fremont to the presidency in 1856. Ever since that day he has been an active and influential participant in every presidential campaign to the present time. Nor has his effort been confined to his own state. He has been heard in New Hampshire, New York and Indiana, where he received as hearty a welcome as at home. He is still in the very prime of a late manhood, although somewhat troubled by the complaint which necessitated his resignation during the war. He was in possession of a lucrative legal practice at Rutland until his retirement in 1900, and his place in the forefront of the Vermont legal fra- ternity was unquestioned. There were few of his compeers who did not dislike to be in antagonism to him before the courts. Four consecutive elec- tions to Congress constitute indisputable proof of his popularity. Characteristic decision and cour- age voice themselves in his speeches. In the na- tional legislature his reputation was that of an entirely conscientious and industrious representa- tive, whose unspotted character and clear record commanded the admiring respect of all his asso- ciates. Brave as a soldier and efficient as an officer, he would doubtless have risen to high com- mand in the armies of the Union had not disease supervened and forbidden further service.
Colonel Joyce was married February 21, 1853, to Rouene M., daughter of Gurdon Randall, of Northfield. Two children, a son and a daughter, both of whom are living, were born of this mar- riage. His daughter is the wife of T. C. Craw- ford. at one time correspondent of the Chicago Times Bureau, and resides at present in London. England. To Mrs. Crawford were born two chil- dren. Jack Randall and Inez Grace. Colonel Joyce's son, Charles P. F. Joyce, is a physician residing in Kingston, New Hampshire. He mar- ried Margaret Pierson in July, 1895. The mother of these children died May 26, 1902.
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THE STATE OF VERMONT.
DR. EUGENE WILLIAM KNIGHT.
This young and progressive representative of the dental profession in the Green Mountain state has made a flattering success of his busi- ness, and is looked upon as one of the most progressive of that most necessary fraternity. He has been in business in Bellows Falls since the year 1885, and during that time has obtained recognition as the leader of his profession in his community. He is very loyal to the town of his adoption, and invests the results of his success- ful operations in enterprises that will advance its interests. In 1901 he erected a handsome office building in which he now operates, one of the most complete structures that can be found in the state of Vermont exclusively devoted to the practice of dentistry.
Dr. Knight is of Scottish extraction, the or- iginal American ancestor being Benjamin Knight, though it does not appear just what re- move in relationship he was from the immediate subject of this sketch. Coming within the bounds of positive knowledge, the grandfather of Dr. Knight was Ira Knight, and was born in Marlow, New Hampshire, where he lived at what is called Knight's Corners (named after him), he being a very large owner of real estate in that section. He was a man of prominence and held many offices of public trust in his community.
Eben P., the son of Ira Knight, was educated at Marlow Academy, and upon arriving at ma- turity learned the currier's trade. He later abandoned this business and dealt largely in cat- tle and sheep. He married Elvira Richardson, the daughter of Jonathan Richardson, who bore her husband one son.
Dr. E. W. Knight was born in the town of Marlow, New Hampshire, September 15, 1863, and was educated, as was his father before him, at Marlow Academy. He early discovered an aptitude for the subject of dentistry, and at the age of eighteen he began the formal study of the profession under Dr. O. M. George, of Bellows Falls. He finished the required preliminary study, and was licensed to practice in his native state in 1884. He immediately began practice in his native town, opening branch offices at Al- stead and Gilson, neighboring towns, in each or which he spent ten days alternately. This
arduous work he contimed for a period of seven and one half years, and so exacting were its requirements that his health began to fail him, and it became necessary for him to make a change. He thereupon located in Bellows Falls in 1890, where he has since resided, and is succeeding most admirably. Dr. Knight uses the most modern and advanced methods in his business, and is alert and wide-awake to every advance made in his rapidly developing busi- ness. He is a worthy member of the New Hamp- shire State Dental Society, and at whose yearly meetings he is a regular attendant. In 1885 Dr. Knight married Alberta, the daughter of Louis C. Lovell, of Rockingham, Vermont, and who has become the mother of two bright and sturdy sons, Leroy and Ralph. Dr. Knight is of a. most social and genial nature, and finds delight in attendance upon the sessions of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, in which organ- ization he is also a member of the Golden Rule Encampment and Skitchewaug Canton. In Masonry he is past master of the St. Paul Lodge No. 30, and is also a Knight Templar of Holy Cross Commandery, No. 12, and is a Shriner of Mount Sinai Temple. Besides being a genial good fellow, Dr. Knight has made a reputation for himself as a nimrod. His greatest delight is in the pursuit of the chase, and he has one of the most complete outfits of dogs and guns which can be found in the state. His offices are crowded with specimens of his skill in marks- manship which have been made beautiful by the taxidermist's art. By untiring industry and sound judgment Dr. Knight has won a merited success in all his undertakings, and is in all respects worthy the high regard in which he is held by his fellow men.
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