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 23

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 23

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).

He married, in St. Johnsbury, April 18, 1861, Rebecca, daughter of Nathan and Mrs. Huldah Pike, of Waterford. Children-Almira T., born February 12, 1865, married Herbert W. Blodg- ett, of St. Johnsbury ; Mabel. born August 14, 1871, married Birney A. Robinson, of Proctor ; Joseph, born December 12, 1881.

EDMUND C. HOUGHTON.

Edmund C. Houghton, deceased, son of Charles Elmer and Mary Houghton, entered upon the active duties of life as a merchant, and pur- sued that vocation for a number of years in Ar- lington, Vermont. He faithfully served in sev- eral town offices, was elected several terms as selectman, and was frequently called upon to occupy different offices in the village corpora- tion, and acted in the capacity of graded school trustee. So conscientiously did he perform his duties that he won the approval and approbation of his constituents.

Mr. Houghton was a very prominent figure in Masonic circles, and he held successively the various offices, until several years since he lacked but a few votes of being elected grand master of the state of Vermont. He was several times master of Tucker Lodge No. 48, deputy grand master of Grand Lodge and past eminent com- mander of Taft Commandery.

Mr. Houghton was twice married, his first wife having been Miss Alice McKee, of Winfield,

New York. One daughter, Mary, was born to them, but she died when nearly sixteen years of age, and was interred beside her mother, who had previously passed away. In 1882 Mr. Hough- ton married Mrs. Anson Canfield, of Arlington. They resided in that city until about three years ago, when Mr. Houghton's health began to fail, and he went west to the state of Washington, and from there to southern California in the hopes of recuperating his lost strength, but all was of no avail, and his death occurred in Pas- adena, California.

Charles Elmer Houghton, the father of Ed- mund C., was born in Rowe, Franklin county, Massachusetts, March 10, 1818, and died May 12, 1890. He was the son of Jonathan and Melinda (McLeod) Houghton, his ancestry being Eng- lish on his father's side and Scotch on his mother's.

His early educational training was received in the common schools. He could almost be styled a self-educated man, for he was always particularly · interested in scientific subjects, studying them at every opportunity. Mr. Hough- ton was one of the best known men, not only in his own county, but in the state as well. He had the executive ability of a successful business man, was a keen reader of men, and held the leadership among his fellows because of certain character- istics which he possessed to an eminent degree. He had his own way to make in life, yet he found time to devote to public enterprises, and, like the typical Vermonter, early acquired traits of perse- verance that won for him place and honor in the commonwealth, as well as a competence. He en- tered mercantile life in Shaftsbury, in 1841, with his brother, the late J. C. Houghton. In 1855. leaving the fine business that the two had jointly built to the junior brother, he removed to North Bennington, where he engaged in commercial enterprise with his younger brother, R. L. Hough- ton. Subsequently he took the whole concern and carried it on until 1863, when he associated with it his son, Edmund C., to whom he sold out in 1865, in order to give his attention to his du- ties as vice-president and manager of the First National Bank of North Bennington, which had recently been organized ; the office of vice-presi- dent he held until his death. He had held official connection with four Bennington banks, and was

120

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

the trusted associate of a company of solid busi- ness men. At the time of his death he was the treasurer of the Bennington and Rutland Rail- road Company, and for many years was on the board of directors. He had also been actively comected with several large paper mills in that section.

Early in life Mr. Houghton served on the regimental commander's staff. He had repre- sented the town of Shaftsbury in the legislature, and had also held the offices of assistant judge, constable, selectman, lister and postmaster while a resident of that place. For two terms he was a member of the state senate, and took a leading position there. He was a presidential elector in 1876, was for six years a director of the state prison, had been county treasurer, and member of the Republican state and county committees. He was active in Masonry, belonging to the lodge and the commandery. He was also a member of the committee of the Bennington Historical So- ciety which prepared the bill in 1876 which after- ward became the charter of the Bennington Bat- tle Monument Association. On November I, 1838, he married Mary E. Hutchins, who survived him, with two children: Edmund C. and Helen C. Houghton (Now Mrs. Cole.)

CORNELIA C. (LATHROP) BURDETT. 1

Cornelia C. (Lathrop) Burdett, of Arlington, widow of the late Jesse Burdett, is a woman of culture and occupies a place of prominence in the religious and social circles of the town and county. She was born in Arlington, Vermont, August 5, 1831, a daughter of John Brownson Lathrop. She comes of distinguished English ancestry, being a lineal descendant in the eighth generation from Rev. John Lothropp, the immi- grant, and in the eleventh generation from John Lowthropp, the first ancestor of whom we have any authentic record.

John Lowthropp was a resident of Cherry Burton, England, in the early part of the six- teenth century, owning extensive estates there. His name appears on the Yorkshire Subsidy Roli of 1545. Robert Lowthropp, of Cherry Burton, England, married Ellen , and died in 1558. Thomas Lothropp, the next in line of de- scent, was born in Cherry Burton, England, and

lived there until 1576, when he removed to York- shire, England, where his death occurred in 1696. He married, first, Elizabeth Clark, who (lied July 29, 157.1. His second wife, Mary, was buried at Eton, England, January 6, 1588. Hle was again married, to Jane -

Rev. John Lothropp, the founder of the American family of Lathrop, was baptized in Yorkshire, England, December 20, 1584. He was graduated from Queen's College, Cam- bridge, England, with the degree of B. A. in 1605, and was subsequently a preacher in the first Episcopal church organized in London, England, but for non-conformity was impris- oned two years. On being released he emigrated to Massachusetts, arriving early in 1634, and lo- cating in Scitnate, where he was chosen pastor of the church on January 19, 1634. He subse- quently removed to Barnstable, Massachusetts, where died November 8, 1653. His wife, whose maiden name was Anna Hammond, died Feb- ruary 20, 1687-8. Among their children was a son Samuel, who was the next in line of descent. . One of the granddaughters of Rev. John Loth- ropp married John Huntington, and from them the family of General U. S. Grant was descended.

Samuel Lothrop, born in England, came to America with his parents in 1634, and lived first in Scituate, and then in Barnstable, Massachu- setts, where he became a man of great influence. Removing to Connecticut in 1648, he settled in New London, then called Pequot, receiving a large grant of land on the west side of the Pe- quot river. He improved a homestead, which he sold in 1661, to the Reverend Gershom Bulk- ley. In 1668 he became a resident of Norwich, Connecticut, where he lived until his death, Feb- ruary 29, 1700. On November 28, 1644, he was married in Barnstable, Massachusetts, to Eliza- beth Scudder; and in 1690 married Abigail Doane, who was born January 29, 1632, and died in 1734.

Israel Lathrop, born in October, 1659, in New London, Connecticut, died March 28, 1733. He married, April 8, 1686, Rebecca Bliss. Benja- min Lathrop, born July 31, 1699, married, No- vember 13, 1718, Mary Adgate, who died March 26, 1739-40. Mary Adgate was a daughter of Thomas Adgate, Jr., and Ruth Brewster. The latter was a daughter of Benjamin Brewster and

Cornelia C. Bundelt

121

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

Anna Dart. Benjamin Brewster was a son of Jonathan and Lucretia Brewster and Jonathan Brewster was a son of Elder William Brewster, who was born in 1560 at Scrooby, England, and came over in the Mayflower. Benjamin La- throp again married, June 15, 1741, Mary Worth- ington Jones, who died August 4, 1770. Arunah Lathrop, who was born December 1, 1735, died June 22, 1817. The name of his first wife was Martha, and of his second Sarah; the latter died April II, 1815.

Benjamin Lathrop, born in Norwich, Con- necticut, April 1, 1769, removed to Sunderland, Vermont, when a young man, and resided there until his death, July 4, 1822. He married in Sunderland, Vermont, September 27, 1795, Caro- line Cornelia Brownson, who was born April 3, 1778, and died April 29, 1829. She was a daughter of General Gideon Brownson, and a lineal descendant in the fifth generation from Richard Brownson, the immigrant, the line of de- scent being thus traced : Richard, Cornelius, Tim- othy, General Gideon, Caroline Cornelia. Rich- ard Brownson was one of the original settlers of Farmington, Connecticut, and the pioneer mill-owner of that town; his wife, Elizabeth, united with the Farmington church in 1653, and he became a member in 1654, and both died in Farmington, his death occurring in 1687, and hers in 1694. Cornelius Brownson, born in 1648, probably in Farmington, Connecti- cutt, settled in Woodbury, Connecticut, in 1690, and died there in May, 1732; he married a lady by the name of Abigail. Timothy Brownson, born June 14, 1701, died in 1776; on April 30, 1729, he married Abigail, daughter of Samuel and Hannah Jennery, and among their sons were Gid- con, the next in line of descent, and Nathan. Nathan Brownson, born in May, 1741, was dep- uty purveyor of hospital for the Southern army from March 27, 1781, until the close of the Revo- lutionary war. He subsequently served as gov- ernor of Georgia. His death occurred November 6, 1796.

General Gideon Brownson was born in Salis- bury, Connecticut, November 3, 1739, and died October 9, 1796. He served with distinction in the Revolutionary war, taking a prominent part in many of its noted engagements. He began his official military career in 1771, being appointed

on July 27th of that year a captain in the troop of two hundred and sixty volunteers, organized by General Ethan Allen under the name of the "Green Mountain Boys," and served in that ca- pacity until December, 1775. He was subse- quently a captain in Warner's Additional Conti- nental Regiment, receiving his commission July 5, 1776; on August 16, 1777, he was wounded at the battle of Bennington; was commissioned major on July 16, 1779, and wounded at Lake George the same month, being also subjected to much ill usage at the hands of the Indians, barely escaping death : during the following win- ter he took an active part in the expedition against Canada, and endured untold sufferings and hardships while imprisoned in Montreal, his health becoming so impaired that he was un- able afterwards to take any active part in mili- tary affairs, or to perform any hard labor. He re- tired from the service on January 1, 1781. He married Catherine White, daughter of Isaac and Eleanor (Rindress) White, and granddaughter of William White, of England. One of General Brownson's cousins, Mary Brownson, married, June 23, 1762, Colonel Ethan Allen, and her body, with the remains of her two children, lie in the churchyard at Arlington, Vermont. Caro- line Cornelia Brownson became the wife of Ben- jamin Lathrop, as mentioned above, and their son, John Brownson Lathrop, was the next in line of descent.

John Brownson Lathrop was born in Sun- derland, Vermont, August 29, 1800, and died in Rutland, Vermont, November 1, 1886. He spent his youthful days on the old homestead, af- terwards being engaged for a few years as the proprietor of a stage line. Settling in Arling- ton, Vermont, in 1829, he was a hotel-keeper of note until 1854, when he retired from that busi- ness, accepting a position as station agent of the Western Vermont Railroad Company at Arling- ton, an office that he filled for several years. He was deeply interested in town affairs, and filled many of the more important offices, being town clerk from 1834 until 1845; postmaster from 1843 until 1846; and a representative to the state legislature in 1849. He was an Episcopalian in religion, and took a prominent part in the build- ing of the St. James Protestant Episcopal church. At the time of his death he was the oldest Mason

122

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

in the state of Vermont, being a charter mem- ber of Green Mountain Lodge, F. & A. M. On November 17, 1827, he married Olive Amanda Hill, of Sunderland, Vermont, by whom he had one child, Cornelia C. Lathrop. Mrs. Olive (Hill) Lathrop was directly descended from Noah Scranton, who was an officer in the patriot army in Captain Hand's company, in 1776, dur- ing the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Lathrop was a daughter of Abner Hill, son of Ezra Hill, whose wife, Olive Scranton, was a daughter of Noah Scranton above referred to. The Hills were de- scended from James Hill, an English immigrant of the latter part of the seventeenth century, who located in Massachusetts.

Cornelia C. Lathrop received her preliminary education in the church schools, later studying at Hoosick Falls, under Rev. Dr. Lord, complet- ing her education at Tyler Institute in Pitts- field, Massachusetts. She is actively interested in the Daughters of the American Revolution, of which she has been a member for several years, much of the time serving in an official capacity. For eight years she was state regent of Vermont, from 1891 until 1900, and in addition to or- ganizing fifteen chapters did nearly all of the work of the state in that particular line. Mrs. Burdett was one of the charter members of the Vermont Society of Colonial Dames and her in- fluence and interest have been valuable factors in the development and work of that patriotic organization. She is a member of the auxili- ary of the Episcopal church, and takes an active interest in church affairs. She married, Octo- ber 21, 1851, Jesse Burdett, who was born in Brookline, Vermont, January 19, 1826, a son of Jacob Burdett, and a direct descendant in the eighth generation from Robert Burdett, the line of descent being as follows : Robert Burdett, born in 1637; Thomas, born in September, 1655; Thomas, born in 1683; Jabez, born in 1713; Ja- cob; Jacob, born in 1771; Jacob, born March 3, 1793 ; and Jesse.

Jacob Burdett, the paternal grandfather of Jesse, married a Miss Simmons, a descendant in the sixth generation from William Simmons, born in 1644, the line being continued through his son, James, born in 1658; Lieutenant James Simmons, the next in line of descent, was born in 1686, and his son Caleb, the succeeding an-

cestor, was born in 1714, and his son, Jesse Sim- mons, father of Mrs. (Simmons) Burdett, was born in 1748, his birth occurring in Billerica, and he was a noted musician, being a composer of considerable ability, and the first organist em- ployed in Boston. Jacob Burdett and his wife were the parents of Jacob Burdett, who married Rebecca Talbot.

Jesse Burdett was reared and educated in the public schools of Newfane, Vermont, where his parents then resided, and there served an appren- ticeship at the blacksmith's trade, which he fol- lowed for a number of years. He located at Ar- lington in 1849. In 1852, upon the completion of the Western Vermont Railway, he accepted a position as conductor on that road. In this capacity he won many friends, being efficient and genial ; he remained with the company until 1854, when he became a conductor on the Troy & Bos- ton Railroad, remaining as such until 1860, when he became connected with the Hudson River Railway in a similar capacity. His ability was recognized and appreciated by the officials of that road, and in 1861, he was made train master, later appointed assistant superintendent, and then- promoted to the office of superintendent, a posi- tion that he held two years. In 1871 Mr. Bur- dett was appointed superintendent of the Rut- land division of the Vermont Central Railway, and for the ensuing twenty-five years performed with efficiency and fidelity the duties devolving upon him in that capacity. In 1896, when the Rutland Railway Company regained possession of the Rutland railway, Mr. Burdett was made general superintendent of the road, and hell the position until his death, at Rutland, February 23, 1897. He was a man of sterling integrity and worth, well meriting the high esteem in: which he was held, and his death was mourned by a wide circle of friends. Politically he was a Democrat, and though not an office-seeker served in various town offices in Arlington, and was a representative to the state legislature in 1867. He was an active member of St. James Episcopal church of Arlington, serving as vestry- man for twenty years, and being senior warden at the time of his death.

On October 21, 1851, he married Cornelia C. Lathrop, and one son was born of their union, John Lathrop Burdett, who is a descendant, om

W T. Borite

your very high What Michend

123.

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

the maternal side, in the twelfth generation from John Lowthropp, of England, and in the ninth generation from Rev. John Lothropp, the immi- grant ancestor. John Lathrop Burdett was educated by private tutors, and in Dr. Hunter's School, in New York city. He began his busi- ness career with the Hudson River Railroad Company as a clerk, was then promoted to the office of assistant paymaster of the New York Central Railway Company, a position that he held a few years. He is now paymaster for the same company, and pays out to the employes one hundred thousand dollars per month. He is a resident of New York city, where he is prom- inent in musical circles, and in a number of literary and social organizations, being president of the Manuscript Society.

RT. REV. JOHN S. MICHAUD, D.D.

The Right Reverend John S. Michaud, D. D., bishop of Burlington, is a native of the "Queen City" of Vermont; of French and Irish extraction, his ancestors on his father's side hav- ing been for several generations residents of the province of Quebec, while those on his mother's side lived in Ireland from the days of the Mile- sian colonization. Benoni Michaud, grandfather of Bishop Michaud, and Judith Labelle, his grand- mother, were born and died in Canada, in the parish of St. Andre, Islet du Portage, diocese of Quebec, the former living in his native prov- ince to the ripe age of seventy-five years.

Stephen Michaud, son of Benoni and Jud- ith (Labelle) Michaud, was born July 22, 1812, in the parish of St. Andrew, diocese of Quebec, and during most of his life followed the occupa- tions of farmer and merchant in the city of Burlington. Here, as the cathedral records show, he was married to Catherine Rogan, on the 11th day of July, 1841, by the Rev. Jeremiah O'Cal- laghan, who was then pastor of the Catholic church at Burlington. Miss Rogan was the daughter of John Rogan and Mary McHale, and was born on March 28, 1811, in the parish of Glenfarne, county Leitrim, diocese of Kilmore, Ireland. Two children were born to them as the fruit of their union, one of whom is the present bishop of Burlington. Stephen Mich- aud died of typhus fever at the early age of

thirty-six years; but his wife is still living at the advanced age of ninety-two.

Thus it will be seen that in the ancestry of Bishop Michaud were blended two nationalities -the French and Irish, the Latin and the Celt. Those familiar with the personality and labors of Bishop Michaud will be able to trace in his character and career, the influence exerted by the union of two different races.

John S. Michaud, son of Stephen and Cath- erine (Rogan) Michaud, was born November 24, 1843, at Burlington, Vermont, and was bap- tized on the 26th day of the same month. His boyhood was passed in this city, where he at- tended its parochial and commercial schools and other educational institutions. His schooldays, it would seem, began at a very early period of his existence, for he has still a distinct recollec- tion of having often been borne to and from the old schoolhouse upon the shoulders of one of the larger boys. His good mother was always a fervent believer in education and its benefi- cient influences, and this may explain her anxi- ety to have her boy well grounded in secular- knowledge from his very childhood. But she was a woman of lively faith and deep religious con- victions as well, and early sowed in her young- son's heart the good seeds which were after- wards to develop and produce such abundant. and excellent fruits.

Some years before the advent of Burling- ton's first bishop, the saintly Louis de Goes- briand, a school had been opened by the Rever- end Father O'Callaghan. To this humble cradle of learning the present bishop was sent; and it was during this time that he first heard those mysterious whisperings of the Holy Spirit which come to certain souls, and which are recognized and interpreted by masters of the religious life- as the invitation of the Divine Master to come and follow Him.

But, upon the arrival of the new bishop and its consequent religious revival. those inspira- tions from on high took more definite shape in the mind and heart of the young John Michaud : he became an altar-boy, and loved to serve at the throne of the recently appointed Bishop, won- dering the while as he gazed upon the hand- some but ascetic face of the youthful prelate, that there could be a greater man in the church.

2 24

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

than the venerated Father O'Callaghan, but lit- tle dreaming that he himself was destined one lay to become that greater personage in the Catholic church of his native state.

Owing to his father's premature death, which occurred on the 29th of January, 1847, a feel- ing of responsibility took possession of liini, which, together with his profound sense of grat- itude to his widowed mother, would not allow him to avail himself of the opportunities then afforded him of acquiring a college training, much as his heart yearned to take the only sure path which leads to the priestliood.

From the age of twelve to that of twenty- one, he was employed in the lumber industries of Burlington, filling successively almost every post from that of the small boy in the mill to that of the expert lumberman, advancing rapidly, through the miltiform conditions of this vast business, from one position of trust to another of greater responsibility, and mastering the while with consummate skill every branch and feat- ure of the trade until he was promoted to cleri- cal work in the main offices of Lawrence Barnes & Company. In the winter season and at other odd times he attended special classes and devoted himself to school work. As a result he was the first graduate from the Bryant & Stratton Com- mercial College, established in this city in the early sixties.

Thus the sacrifice which he made for a num- ber of years, whilst he labored diligently to re- quite his beloved parent in a measure, only served to display, and, at the same time, to develop more and more that indomitable courage and per- severing energy and industry which have marked his career in after life both as priest and as bishop.

The month of September, 1865, how- ever, brought him in part to the realiza- tion of his most cherished hopes and wishes. He went to Montreal College, un- der the direction of the Sulpicians, where he remained till he had finished his Versifica- tion, having as a classmate the present bishop of Valleyfield, province of Quebec. From here he went to Holy Cross College, Worcester, Mas- sachusetts, and after pursuing his studies in rhetoric and philosophy at this celebrated seat of learning. graduated with high honors, ob-

taining the degree of A. B. in June, 1870. The following fall found him in St. Joseph's Theo- logical Seminary, Troy, New York, where lie continued his course of studies for three years, and was finally elevated to the holy priesthood on the 7th day of June, 1873, by the late Bishop Wadhams of Ogdensburg, New York.

These facts on which are based the narrative of Bishop Michaud's career as a clergyman bear the stamp of authenticity, having been supplied by Father Delany, who for a number of years acted as private secretary to Bishop Michaud.

During the early period of his priesthood the present Bishop of Burlington was settied for a time at Newport, Vermont, whither he was sent by the bishop in September, 1873, taking charge of the neighboring missions of Albany, Barton and Lowell.

Upon his arrival in Newport, Father Michaud found as the entire church property only two glass candlesticks. Before the following year he had purchased a piece of land from Orville Robinson, upon which he erected a beautiful little church dedicated to the service of God un- der the title of "Star of the Sea." In rapid suc- cession, under his seemingly magical touch, churches rose at Albany and Lowell. In New- port a cemetery was bought and a parochial resi- dence constructed. At Barton he purchased a protestant meeting house and turned it into a church for his little flock in that village.

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 23

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