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 15

Author: Carleton, Hiram, 1838- ed
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1032

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 15

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).

e. g., President Chester A. Arthur, Senators Proc- tor, Morrill and Edmunds ; William F. Vilas, sec- retary of the interior and postmaster general; E. J. Phelps, diplomat and United States minister to Great Britain; Secretary Shaw of the treasury ; II. C. Ide, jurist and United States commissioner to Samoa ; Governor Levi P. Morton, Stephen A. Douglas; the poet, John G. Saxe; the artist, William H. Hunt; the architect, Richard M. Ilunt ; and the sculptor, Hiram Powers; Brigham Young; John Barrett, diplomat, and United States consul to Siam; Captain Clark, of the Oregon; Admiral Dewey.

We also note that the men of Vermont have achieved success in many varied callings. We find in the list distinguished clergymen, edu- cators and authors, journalists, editors and pub- lishers, bankers, financiers and lawyers, jurists, railroad presidents and managers, physicians, surgeons and scientists, diplomats, congressmen and United States senators, civil, electrical and mechanical engineers, artists, sculptors and arch- itects, astronomers, geologists and chemists, in- ventors, manufacturers and promoters, generals, admirals and bishops, United States ministers and United States district attorneys; even an offi- cer of the Legion of Honor of France; a Mor- mon prophet or two, and the founder of the Oneida Community. Clearly all the "isms" did not originate on Boston Common. According to our record, which is, of course, incomplete, Ver- mont has given presidents to a dozen different universities, besides her own two, as well as governors to several states.

In the Civil war, Vermont sent more soldiers to the front, in proportion to her population, than any other state in the Union. She had more killed and wounded, in proportion to her number of soldiers in service, than any other state. She captured more standards in propor- tion to the number of her regiments than any other state, and at the end of the war she brought back and returned to the governor every stand- ard she took to the war. There seems to remain but one thing for her to do, i. e., to bring for- ward a Presidential candidate. He would cer- tainly be elected, for "there is so such word as 'fail,' in the bright lexicon" of the Green Moun- tain state.

There is, besides, a curious samencss and sug-

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

gestiveness in the words and phrases used to describe these men of Vermont. "Indomitable persistency," "untiring energy," "unusual habits of purpose," "a well ordered and well balanced mind," "shrewd," "persevering," "faithful," "earnest," "positive,""self-reliant," "resourceful," "bold," "resolute," "firm," "full of shrewdness, tact and enterprise." These and similar phrases occur repeatedly, therefore, it seems almost suffi- cient to say in description of the subject of our sketch, that he is a Vermonter of the Vermonters, with all of the distinguishing characteristics of a Vermonter and a few of his very own.

Addison says, "It is not in mortals to com- mand success ; we can do more; we can deserve it." That Mr. Wicker has done, and the fates, although proverbially blind, have dimly recog- nized his merit. He is a masterful man, full of resources. When he was a boy, his father used to say he "never worried about Cassius. If he got into a tight place, he always got out of it." He has been in a great many tight places since his boyhood days, but he has always got out of them. His early education was that of the com- mon schools, supplemented by the academies of Williston and Middlebury, Vermont. He re- ceived his first business training in his father's country store. This was in the days before the war, when anti-slavery agitation was intense. His father's home was one of the Champlain Valley underground railway stations to Canada, and often when he rose in the morning he would find a dark face in the family circle which had not been there when he retired at night. The family have never ceased to take interest in the elevation of the negro race, but their benevol- ences are carefully concealed from the public gaze.

When Mr. Wicker was twenty-one, he left home and went to St. Louis, where, in the course of a year, he found himself in charge of the Star Union Line at East St. Louis. For three years he was cashier of the People's Dispatch fast freight line at St. Louis. A little incident which occurred while he was check clerk for the Star Union Line will illustrate one of his most marked characteristics-forgetfullness of self and readiness to assist others. One evening the freight clerks of the various railroads centering opposite St. Louis gave a dance, which Mr.

Wicker attended, although unused to such gaieties, coming as he did, from the "land of steady habits." While returning by boat to St. Louis in the small hours of the morning, one of the young ladies of the party came out from the brightly lighted cabin, walked across the deck, evidently under the impression that the boat had reached the landing, and in a moment was under the rail and in the water. Mr. Wicker was standing near by, clad in a heavy Irish frieze overcoat, with a navy revolver in his pocket. Throwing his hat on the deck and calling to his friends to be quick with a boat, he jumped over- board and seized the young woman struggling in the water. As the boat swung in toward shore it brought the rescuer and his burden in the rear of the wheel, and, in spite of all his efforts, the waves caused by the agitation of the water swept over their heads and the current bore them rapid- ly down stream, while the water, thick with anchor ice, chilled them to the bone. After a time the drowning woman ceased to struggle, but her would-be rescuer did not release his hold until he realized that without a boat it would be impossible to get his burden ashore, even if he could bring her to the surface. When he came to the surface himself, the skyline revealed some Ohio river steamers moored to the levee. He gave one last cry for help and went down again, at the same time plunging landward, so that his head struck the side of one of the Ohio river boats, which, fortunately, unlike the Mis- sissippi river boats, are built without much upper works overhanging the hull. His friends had followed down the levee from one steamboat to another, guiding themselves by his cries for help, but without finding an available rowboat. After a few moments of clinging to the boat, tooth and nail, he was assisted on board by means of a coat let down to him. He was so utterly exhausted by his efforts that he could neither stand nor speak, and it was days before his lungs regained their normal condition. This was his trial by water ; the trial by fire came later, in the great Chicago fire, a part of which he was.

Leaving the People's Dispatch, he became Chinese emigrant agent of the North Missouri Railway. His territory embraced the great west from Chicago, St. Louis and Memphis to the Pacific coast. From August, 1871, to December,

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

1876, he was assistant general freight agent of but seven years to run. The directors met in the Chicago and Northwestern Railway, with the additional duty of settling the claims for losses resulting from the Chicago fire of Octo- ber, 1871. From December, 1876, to January, . 1880, Mr. Wicker was successively general agent, assistant general freight agent and traffic manager of the Baltimore & Ohio Railway's trans-Ohio divisions. From 1880 to the spring of 1883 he was in charge of iron mining and furnace properties in northern Michigan, and from the spring of 1883 to the fall of the same year lie was general manager of coal mining interests at Springfield, Braidwood, Tracy and Wilmington, Illinois, operated by the Central Illi- nois Coal Company.

In 1883 he became commissioner of the Chi- cago Freight Bureau, having in charge the tran- portation interests of the wholesale merchants and manufacturers of Chicago, and in 1885 took into the bureau the management of the transpor- tation interests of the board of trade, the stock- yards and the lumber dealers of the city of Chi- cago. In 1887 he removed to New York and was made vice president of the Colorado Eastern road ; in 1889, vice president of the Fort Worth & Rio Grande, and president of the Zanesville & Ohio River Railway. In 1893 he became vice president of the Brooklyn, Queens County and Suburban road. He was one of the "three bad men" that fought through and won the Brooklyn strike in 1895. In 1894 he was also made presi- dent of the North Shore Traction Company of Massachusetts. This company owned all the stock of the Lynn and Boston road and a con- trolling interest in several other railroad com- panies. One of the most notable financial achievements of Mr."Wicker was the discharge of the mortgage of the Lynn & Boston Railroad. It was greatly desired by the directors to consoli- date five other railroads with the Lynn & Boston, and bring out a $5,400,000 first mortgage bond on the whole property, retaining, however, the name of the Lynn & Boston Railroad. The transaction could more easily have been accom- plished in New York, but it alarmed staid Boston financiers, and many and dire were the threats of those holding the bonds if their securities were interfered with, even though three years' interest as a bonus was offered for them, with

New York only to receive the report of the Bos- ton and New York attorneys that the mortgage could not be discharged. This was a discourag- ing situation. Mr. Belmont declared his want of confidence in the management, and that he would wipe his hands of the whole transaction. Mr. Wicker's clear perception grasped the situa- tion, and he frankly told the directors he believed the mortgage could be discharged. Almost as a forlorn hope he was instructed to attempt the legally impossible. Ten days later he reported from Boston that the mortgage would be dis- charged, adding, "The engravers are now at work on the new first mortgage bonds of the Lynn & Boston Railroad Company." This message was so astounding in the face of the assertions as to its utter impossibility by probably the best legal talent in Boston and New York, that some of the New York bankers could not believe it, and sent a secret emissary to Boston to investigate. It was a triumphant moment for Mr. Wicker when he returned and received the congratulations of the New York bankers in- terested. He had simply thrown his marvelous energy and persistency into the work, and suc- ceeded in convincing one after another of the trustees of the mortgage that it would not only be lawful but expedient to do. just what they, as a body, had determined not to do. Action of the trustees authorizing the Old Colony Trust Company to receive principal and interest to date of maturity of the bonds quickly followed, thus enabling them to discharge the smaller mort- gage and make room for the greater one on the consolidated properties.

In the early organization of the Chicago Union Traction Company, Mr. Wicker was its first vice president, but, differing with its management, parted with his holdings and resigned.

He has been vestryman and treasurer of All Angels church (Episcopal), New York, for sev- eral years ; is trustee of the Washington Savings Bank; director and chairman of the board of directors of the Bank of Discount; managing director of the Hudson Valley Railway Com- pany ; director and president of the Dillon-Gris- wold Wire Company ; was prominent in the or- ganization of the Bankers' Money Order Asso- ciation, of which he is a director and vice presi-

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

dent, and is a special partner in the house of Wicker Brothers. He also serves as director in numerous financial organizations, and the fact that he possesses a vital energy so powerful that he can throw it into any work and grasp the general features of an enterprise, while at the same time he masters and retains a full knowl- edge of the details, taken along with his good judgment and wide experience, is sufficient guar- antee of success in his special work.

He is a member of many societies and clubs, among others the Union League, Colonial (board of governors), Lotos, Lawyers', Church, At- lantic Yacht and St. Andrew's Golf Club of New York, and the Union League Club of Chicago. He served as a lieutenant in the Vermont militia, and is an enthusiastic patron of the arts, being a member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Geographical Society, America's Founders and Defenders ; is president of the Chi- cago Society of New York, one of the member- ship committee of the Society of Mayflower De- scendants; and also a member of the executive committee and chairman of the membership com- mittee of the Pilgrims of America.

Mrs. Wicker died in 1889. Mr. Wicker has a daughter, Miss Lucy Southworth Wicker, a graduate of Smith College, and a son, Cyrus French Wicker, a junior in Yale University. They bid fair to develop the same push, energy and strength of character as their forebears. A granite monument in the family plot in the burying ground at North Ferrisburg, Vermont, bears, among other names, that of a son, an- other Yale student, "Henry Halladay Wicker, lost at sea off Marblehead."

Mr. Wicker resides on West End avenue in New York. His summer home, however, is the old homestead at North Ferrisburgh, Vermont, near Lake Champlain, where he was born. He has never lost interest in the Green Mountain state, and his favorite pastime is coaching from and to New York, spring and fall, as well as about the state during the summer. He is an authority on roads and routes, and claims that in seven years' coaching, he has, with one excep- tion, never taken luncheon under a roof; always from the lunch basket in the open, under some sheltering tree. His mother was one of the coaching party until she was eighty-two years

of age, when feebleness prevented longer con- tinuance of the pleasure. The New England home has been enlarged and added to by its pres- ent occupant, without destroying its "Old Home" look, as only a dweller of a city can appreciate and adapt the suggestions of nature in beauti- fying the country habitation of man.

ALBERT G. DEWEY.

The Rev. B. F. Dwight, in his "Notes on the Early History of the Dewey Family," pub- lished in the "New York Genealogical and Bio- graphical Record," remarks that "mechanical in- stinct, tastes and capabilities have been leading characteristics of a large number of the Dewey family," and the truth of the observation finds ample exemplification in the person of Albert G. Dewey and his immediate descendants.

Albert Gallatin Dewey, known as the founder of one of the most important manufacturing in- dustries in New England, was a descendant of Thomas Dewey, who emigrated to America fron: Sandwich, Kent, England, in 1633, and settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Joshua, the grandfather of Mr. Dewey, came from Lebanon,. Connecticut, and was (in 1766) one of the first settlers in the town of Hartford, near Quechee village, where in 1770 he built the first frame house in the town. He served as a minute-man in the Revolutionary war. John, son of Joshua Dewey, born May 29, 1774, at Hartford, was a man of sterling moral character and of high standing in the community. He married Mary Wright, of Lebanon, New Hampshire, and their- children were: Albert Gallatin, Eliza Baldwin, Mary Lyman, Juliette Amanda Melvina and John Jasper. Mr. Dewey died November 23. 1823, on the old homestead.

Albert Gallatin Dewey, son of John and Mary (Dwight) Dewey, was born December 16, 1805, at Quechee village, Vermont. His father died when he was eighteen years old, and he set out to take a man's part in providing for the support of the family. Out of necessity, his educational advantages had been the most meagre. Leaving home, he served a three years' apprenticeship with a carpenter, Elihu Ransom, receiving as his · sole compensation his board and clothing, and. worked over time to earn extra wages in order

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

to assist his family. At the end of his term of service he was discharged as a journeyman, re- ceiving from his master the customary gift of a freedom snit of clothes. For several years afterward he successfully followed his trade, and in 1831 obtained employment in the machine shop of Daniels & Company, of Woodstock, Ver- mont. Here he had opportunity to display his mechanical skill and that power of mechanical analysis which enabled him to master all the technicalities and principles of construction of any piece of machinery, no matter how new to him, and in the short space of four months from the day he began work his ability was so ap- parent that he was sent out to set up machinery in various places, and he was thus successfully occupied for five years.

In 1836, in company with others, Mr. Dewey built a factory on the Ottauquechee river, one mile and a half below Quechee village, for the manu- facture of woolen fabrics. The venture proved unsuccessful, however, and at the end of two years he found himself deeply involved. With admirable determination, he continued to operate the mill, employing a force of from thirty to sixty operatives. During the twelve years from 1838 to 1850, there was scarcely a day when he could have met the claims of his credit- ors, even at the sacrifice of all he possessed, but he honorably kept his creditors fully informed of his affairs, and by close economy promptly met his paper at maturity, at the same time pay- ing his workmen in full on every pay day. Mean- while he spared no pains to improve the quality of his goods, giving his personal attention to the minutest details, exhibiting that carefulness which demonstrated that his heart was in his work, and only satisfied with the acme of ex- cellence. As a result, he made for his mills a splendid reputation, and their product was eager- ly sought by the largest buyers, in the best markets. Until 1841 he used fine wool alone, but that year he began the use of "rag-wool," which was obtained by tearing soft woolen rags into fibres for cloth manufacture. This rag-cloth, as it was termed, first made in this country at Que- chee, Vermont, had been previously known in England as "shoddy," but this term was not known in the United States until the Civil war period. It is, however, due to the memory of

Mr. Dewey, and to those who were his business associates during that great struggle,' to record the fact that the "shoddy" goods of their manu- facture, made for army and navy clothing and blankets, and amounting in value to many hun- dreds of thousands of dollars, were of the high- est quality, showing as much superiority over dishonest products as appears in any line of manufactures, and passing the most rigid scrutiny of the expert inspectors representing the war and navy departments. In 1846 Mr. Dewey acquired all the machinery in use by Daniels & Company, at Quechee, who were then the only manufacturers of shoddy in this country, and from that time until 1848, when the Rays, of Franklin, Massachusetts, engaged in the business, he was the only American manufacturer making and using shoddy yarn and weaving it into cloth, and his development of this important depart- ment of industry entitles him to a share of that honor which is the meed of a master of mechanic art. April 1, 1858, the firm of A. G. Dewey & Company was formed by the association with Mr. Dewey, as equal partners, of his brother-in- law, Justin F. Mackenzie, and of his wife's nephew, W. S. Carter. Their mill contained two sets of machinery, with a capacity of about four hundred and fifty yards of textile fabrics per day. A few years later another set of cards was added, increasing the production to seven hun- dred yards daily, and this average rate prevailed until 1870, when the firm purchased the mill (previously leased by them), and repaired and enlarged it. New and improved machinery was substituted for the old, and as a result, in 1873, the capacity was increased to one thousand three hundred yards per diem. In 1873 Mr. Carter died, and John Jasper Dewey, son of the senior partner, purchased the Carter interest in the firm. January 1, 1876, William S. Dewey, eldest son of the senior partner, was admitted to equal partnership.

A man of marked public spirit, Mr. Dewey was called to many offices of trust and honor. He represented the town of Hartford in the legis- lature in 1850, 1851, 1863 and 1864. In that body he was known as one of the most active and zealous of patriots, and his splendid effort was constantly exerted in promoting such measures as would most efficiently aid the administration

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

of President Lincoln in its struggle to perpetuate the Union. In 1858 Mr. Dewey was elected a member of the board of selectmen, and he held that office until 1866. During the Civil war he displayed excellent ability in the onerous work of filling Vermont's quota of troops. Every re- quisition made upon the town was promptly met, at a minimum of expense, and all needed pro- vision was made for the support of the soldiers' families. In 1869 Mr. Dewey was elected to the state senate from Windsor county, and was re- elected in 1870. While thus ever ready to act the part of a good citizen, and to participate in a proper manner in public affairs, Mr. Dewey was in no sense ambitious, and his public dis- tinction was simply a recognition of his worth and usefulness. He was ever deeply interested in promoting the welfare of the general public, and was an active promoter and one of the original incorporators of the railroad between White River Junction and Woodstock, in which he was a large stockholder. He was elected a member of the board of directors, and on the death of President Peter T. Washburn, in Feb- ruary, 1870, was chosen to fill the vacancy, and he occupied the office until January, 1883, when he declined a further re-election.

Mr. Dewey was married June 18, 1840, to Emily, daughter of the Hon. William Strong, of Hartford, Vermont. Three children were born of this marriage: William Strong Dewey ; John Jasper Dewey; and Emma F., who became the wife of Henry C .. Denison, Esq., of New Bed- ford, Massachusetts. Mrs. Dewey died April 23, 1875, and Mr. Dewey married, August 26, 1876. Miss Evaline Trumbull, of Hartford, Vermont. The death of Mr. Dewey occurred August 26, 1886.

William Strong Dewey, son of Albert Gallatin and Emily (Strong) Dewey, was born in Quechee, Vermont, August 3, 1841. On the mother's side he is the eighth generation from Elder John Strong, who came to America from Plymouth, England, and settled in Dorchester, Massachu- setts, in 1630. The subject of this sketch re- ceived his early education in the public schools ; at Newbury (Vermont) Seminary ; at the Green Mountain Institute in South Woodstock, Ver- mont, and under Hosea Doton in Pomfret. He graduated from Norwich University in 1863. He

was a member of the company of college students which served for three months in the Seventh Squadron of Rhode Island Cavalry, in the Civil war, in 1862. His tastes and associations-his father being a leading woolen manufacturer- inclined him to a business career. For this he fitted himself by a course in Comer's Commercial College and by two years' service in the office of Taft & Parker, mill-owners and manufactur- ers. April 1, 1866, he entered the firm of J. C. Parker & Company, woolen manufacturers, at Quechee, and remained in it until April, 1876, when he sold his interest, and became a member of the firm of A. G. Dewey & Company. When the A. G. Dewey Company was incorporated in 1890, he was elected treasurer of the company, which position he retains to the present time. Mr. Dewey is a Republican in politics and rep- resented the town of Hartford in the legislature in 1886. He has held various local offices of responsibility and trust, is a trustee of the Ottau- quechee Savings Bank; director in the Wood- stock (Vermont) National Bank, and director in the Ticonderoga (New York) Pulp and Paper Company. He served as aide-de-camp on the staff of Governor Pingree, in 1884, with rank of colonel, and is a member of the Lakota Club of Woodstock. He is unmarried.

John Jasper Dewey, son of Albert Gallatin and Emily (Strong) Dewey, was born April 8, 1846, at Quechee, Vermont. He was educated at the Green Mountain Institute, and at Nor- wich University, and graduated from the latter institution in 1865, with the degree of Bachelor of Science, and rank of valedictorian. Subse- quently he attended Comer's Commercial College at Boston, Massachusetts, and then entered his father's factory to learn the business. He be- came a member of the firm in 1873, and, on the incorporation of the company in 1890, was elected president. During his connection with the establishment, the plant has been practically re- built, equipped with modern machinery, and its production increased three and one-half times. Mr. Dewey has been president of the Wood- stock Railway Company since 1895. He is also a director of the Exeter Machine Works at Ex- eter, New Hampshire, a director of the Wood- stock Electric Company, and is a trustee of Nor- wich University, from which institution he has

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.

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 15

Author: Carleton, Hiram, 1838- ed Publication date: 1903 Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1032

Author: Carleton, Hiram, 1838- ed
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1032