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 35
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CHARLES FREMONT BUSWELL.
Charles Fremont Buswell, proprietor of the Union Card Company and of a large book and stationery store, is one of Montpelier's most en- terprising and successful business men. He was born July 14, 1856, in Worcester, Vermont. à son of George M. Buswell, and his paternal grandfather, Ebenezer Buswell, born October 17. 1789, married Jane Kemp. George M. Buswell was born in Acworth, New Hampshire, January 20, 1823, and grew to man's estate on the ances- tral homestead. In his early life he learned the shoemaker's trade, which he followed to some ex- tent in his New Hampshire home. He subse- quently removed to Vermont. locating first at Worcester, then residing in various towns in this state, eventually settling permanently in Mont- pelier, where he was engaged in the grocery busi- ness until his death, October 4, 1874. He mar-
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ried Laura A. Cooper, on January 1, 1850. Her father, William H. Cooper, a native of Alstead, New Hampshire, married Abigail Kemp, and soon after removed to Worcester, Vermont, where he engaged in farming pursuits, becoming one of the leading farmers of the community, and a citizen of much prominence. Two children were born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. George M. Buswell: Charles F., and Lillie E. Lillie E. Buswell married Themas J. Keegan, of Mont- pelier, and they have three children: Frederick .A .. Harold Cooper, and Laura Emma.
Charles F. Bisweil is a self-made man in the highest sense implied by the term, developing from a very small beginning the largest print- ing plant in Vermont. During his boyhood, days he attended the public schools of Montpelier, and assisted his father in the grocery store, in the meantime establishing quite a business as a dealer in old postage stamps, of which he had quite a collection. In connection with this in- dustry, or pastime, he purchased a small printing press and some type, paying nineteen dollars for the entire outfit, and began printing cards and envelopes, thus inaugurating an industry that merged into a good business, which he called the Union Card Company. He subsequently opened an office at 30 Main street, but his business so increased that he had to have additional room. and he took the second floor of the building in which he was already occupying the first floor and basement. In 1897 the business had as- stimed such proportions that more commodious quarters were needed, and he moved to his pres- ent location on Main street, in the Golden Fleece building, where he has the first floor, fifty feet by one hundred and fifty feet, with basement. In his work Mr. Buswell keeps in use five job presses, four large cylinder presses, and an auto- matic press, having all the business he can attend to in this line, it being the most extensive of the kind in the state. In connection with this, he has one of the largest and finest equipped blank book and stationery stores in Vermont, his store be- ing centrally located at 32 State street. The suc- cess which he has achieved as a manufacturer and merchant is due entirely to his own industry, foresight and practical judgment.
Notwithstanding that his private interests en- gross so much of his time, Mr. Buswell is ac-
tively identified with the material progress of the city in which he resides, and has served as village trustee, and, since its incorporation, three years as alderman of the first ward. Politically he is a Republican, and fraternally is an Odd Fellow, belonging to both lodge and encamp- ment. In May, 1882, Mr. Buswell married Em- ma 1 .. Murphy, of Northfield, Vermont, a dangh- ter of William Murphy. Two children have been born of their union, George W., and Arthur, who died at the age of four years.
EDWARD WYATT BISBEE.
Thomas Bisbee (then written Besbedge), the common ancestor of the New England family of Bisbee, was one of those persons who came to New England soon after the landing of the Mayflower Pilgrims, in order that they might enjoy more perfect religious freedom. The rec- ords show that he sailed from Sandwich, Kent, England, in the ship Hercules, John Witherly, master, with his wife, six children and three servants, and they landed at Scituate Harbor ( Massachusetts) in the spring of 1634. There are many circumstances which tend to show that he was a man of some wealth and position in the old country, and a man of influence in Plymouth colony. He brought certificates from Thomas Warren. rector of St. Peter's at Sand- wich, and from Thomas Harmon, vicar of Hed- corn of his conversion and conformity to the orders and discipline of the church, and that he had taken the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. He became a member of Lothrop's church, the first gathered at Scituate, and was chosen one of its first deacons.
Tn 1638 he bought a house in Duxbury and moved there. In 1843 he was chosen represent- ative from Duxbury to the general court. He was one of the grantees of Seipicon (now Rochester), but the grant was not accepted, and Mr. Bisbee subsequently moved to Marshfield, where his name appears on a petition to the general court. He afterwards moved to Sud- bury, Massachusetts, where he lived several years and died March 9, 1674. The only children of Thomas Bisbee, whose names appear upon the record, are as follows: Elisha, m. Alice, m. Mary, m. The name of the wife of Thomas
1
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THE STATE OF VERMONT.
Bisbee does not appear upon the records of Plymouth colony, which are equally silent re- specting three of his children.
Elisha Bisbee, son of Thomas the settler, in 1644 kept a ferry in Scituate, where Union Bridge now stands. His house was a tavern. Children : Hopestill, John, Mary, Elisha and Hannah.
John Bisbee, the second son of Elisha, born in 1647, at Scituate ; married Joanna Brooks, at Marshfield, September 13, 1687. He moved to Pembroke and died there September 24, 1726. His wife died August 21, 1726. Children: Mar- tha, John, Elijah, Mary, Moses, Elisha, Aaron and Hopestill.
John Bisbee, the eldest son, born September 15, 1690, at Pembroke, was married to Mary Oldham, of Marshfield, 1710-II; but moved soon after to Pembroke, and died there August 2, 1772. He must have had two wives, as the records of Pembroke give the name of his wife Rebecca, and make Rebecca mother of the chil- dren : Abner, Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah and John.
Abner Bisbee, the eldest son, born July 31, 1734, at Pembroke, is the founder of the Bisbee family in Vermont. He enlisted in the French and Indian war from Massachusetts, under Gen- eral Amherst, became captain of a company of rangers, and often traversed the wilds of Ver- mont. In 1763 he settled six miles from Fort No. 4, in what is now Springfield, Vermont. Several years thereafter he married Miss Hall. daughter of Captain Hall. During the Revo- lutionary war he was captain of a scouting party, and held two commissions that are now in possession of his descendants, one signed by Gov- ernor Clinton or New York, the other by Gover- nor Chittenden. In 1772 he owned six hundred acres of land in Springfield. He held important offices there, represented that town in the general assembly, and died there in 1805. Children : Elizabeth, Abner, John. Elisha, Sally, Elijah and Gad. The children all lived and died in Ver- mont.
John Bisbee, the second son, born in Spring- field, married Nancy Chamberlain, of Weathers- field, December 1, 1801. He was a farmer by occupation. He moved to Waitsfield, Vermont, in the spring of 1836, and previous to that time had lived in Springfield. Children : Elizabeth
(died in 1828), Nancy, Arathusa, Mary J., John B., Elijah W. and Elizabeth.
Elijah Wyatt Bisbee, son of John and Nancy (Chamberlain) Bisbee, was born in Springfield, Vermont, August 17, 1816. He received a good common school education, and successfully taught district schools several years previous to his marriage. He moved with his parents to Waitsfield in 1836, and there married Lydia D. Brown on January 31, 1845. He lived in Waits- field until March, 1864, when the family moved to Moretown, and the father died there Febru- ary 23, 1897. He was a farmer by occupation. a Republican in politics, and attended the Congre- gational church. During several years after 1864. and until the death of Mr. Merriam, he bought butter and farm produce for J. W. Merriam & Company of Faneuil Hall market, Boston. He held many town offices, and served several years as selectman of Moretown. He favored im- proved methods of farming, and was a friend and supporter of dairymen's meetings, where he freely participated in the discussions. He served as president of the Agricultural Society in the community in which he lived. "Mad River Valley ;" also as president of Washington County Agricultural Society. Children: Edward Wyatt, died in infancy ; Lucy Jane, died in infancy ; Bur- ton Dewey: Edward Wyatt: Arthur Brown ; John Chamberlin ; and Daniel Ralph. Accord- ing to the desire of both father and mother all of the sons received an academical education, and what the children have accomplished in life is due to the efforts of their parents.
Lydia Dewey Brown, born in Royalton, Ver- mont, December 23, 1821, was a daughter of Artemas and Eunice (Dewey) Brown. She was educated in the public schools of Hanover, New Hampshire, and at Thetford Academy, and is a member of the Congregational church. The par- nets of Artemas Brown moved from Connecticut to Guilford, Vermont, where he was born Decem- ber 31, 1879. Eunice Dewey was of the eighth generation of descendants from Thomas Dewey. founder of the Dewey family in this country:
Thomas Dewey (then written Deawy) emi- grated to America from Sandwich, Kent. Eng- land, as one of the early settlers under Governor Winthrop and Rev. John Warham. Some think Thomas came in the Lyon, which arrived at
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Salem in February from Bristol, England ; but this could not be, as the records of the colony show he was here on August 26, 1633 ; others think he came in the Griffin, which arrived Sep- tember 4, 1633. He married Frances Clark, relict of Joseph Clark, at Windsor, Connecti- cut, March 22, 1639. He died at Windsor in May, 1648. Children: Thomas, Josiah, Anna, Israel and Jedediah.
Josiah Dewey, deacon, sergeant, second son of Thomas the settler, baptized at Windsor, Con- necticut, October 10, 1641, died at Lebanon, Con- necticut, September 7, 1732. He learned the carpenter's trade and located at Northhampton, Massachusetts. In February, 1668, he was granted land in Westfield to pay him for build- ing the minister's house, and moved there in 1670. On November 6, 1662, at Northampton, he married Hepzibah Lyman, daughter of Rich- ard and Hepzibah Lyman, of Northampton. She died at Lebanon, Connecticut, June 4, 1732. Children: Hepzibah; Mary, died in infancy ; Josiah : John ; Ebenezer ; Nathaniel ; Joseph, died in infancy : Elizabeth ; Joseph, died in infancy ; Benjamin, died in infancy ; and Experience.
Josiah Dewey, son of Josiah, born December 24, 1666, at Northampton, Massachusetts, died about 1750, at Lebanon, Connecticut. He was a farmer of Westfield, Massachusetts, until he removed to Lebanon, Connecticut, about 1696, as one of the first settlers ; January 15, 1691, he married Methitable Miller, of Westfield, Massa- chusetts (daughter of William and Patience Miller ), born at Northampton, Massachusetts, July 10, 1666. Children : William, Josiah, Joseph, John, Mary, Mehitable.
William Dewey, son of Josiah, born January, 1692, at Northampton, Massachusetts, died No- vember 10, 1759, at Lebanon, Connecticut, of smallpox caught at Albany; married Mary Bailey, July 2, 1713. Children: Mercy ; Wil- liam, died in infancy ; William, died in infancy ; Simeon ; Jerusha ; Hannah ; Zerviah ; Elijah ; and Ann.
Simeon Dewey, son of William, born May I, 1718, at Lebanon, Connecticut, there died March 2, 1751, where he was a farmer, and married March 29, 1739. Anna Phelps, born August 6, 1719. died September 25, 1807, at Hanover, New Hampshire. She married again, November 27,
1765, Noah Smith, who died in February, 1776, and she moved to Hanover, New Hampshire, where all her children then living ultimately settled. Children: Theoda, died in infancy; William, died in infancy ; Simeon ; William ; Amy and Benoni.
William Dewey, son of Simeon, born Janu- ary 11, 1746, at 1.cbanon, Connecticut, died June 10, 1813, at Hanover, New Hampshire. He lived at Hebron, Connecticut, until 1776, when he located on Connecticut river, four miles above Dartmouth College, where he carried on farming and mechanical operations. He married, in 1768, Rebecca Currier, daughter of Andrew and Re- becca ( Rockwell) Currier, of Colchester, Con- necticut, and born March 19, 1747, died July 6, 1837. Children : Anna, Simeon, William, David, Asa, Israel, Lydia, Henry, Parthenia, Oliver, Eunice, Elias, Andrew and a son born August 9, and died August 11, 1791.
Eunice Dewey, born April 7, 1784, in Hano- ver, New Hampshire, died in Waitsfield, Ver- mont, September 27, 1851. Married Artemas Brown, October 21, 1819. He was a farmer in Royalton, Vermont. In 1827 he bought the old Dewey homestead at Hanover, New Hampshire. In 1842 he sold that farm, and moved to Waits- field, Vermont. Children, born in Royalton : Lydia Dewey, Lucy Maria and Harriet Pinneo.
Edward Wyatt Bisbee, son of Elijah W. and Lydia D. (Brown) Bisbee, was born in Waits- field, Vermont, February 27, 1856. His edu- cation was received in the district schools and at Barre Academy, from which he was graduated in June, 1875. At intervals during his attend- ance at the academy, and after he had registered as a law student, he successfully taught school in Warren, Roxbury, Waitsfield, Barre, West Fair- lee, South Royalton, and in the grammar school of Claremont, New Hmapshire. He studied law at Montpelier in the offices of Heath & Carleton and of Joseph A. Wing. He was admitted to the Washington county bar at the September term of court, 1879, and located in Barre, in Novem- ber, 1879. He has since practiced his profesion there. He has been an enterprising and success- ful young man of independent thought and action, prominently identified with the interests of Barre, and has held various offices there. Until he became personally interested in the
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Barre Water Company, a corporation organized to supply the municipality and its inhabitants with water for fire, sanitary and domestic pur- poses, with the right of eminent domain, he was counsel for the town and village of Barre. He has taken to the supreme court several important cases of local interest. He was counsel for the town in litigation concerning the town hall, which involved the question, as a citizen who refused to pay his tax expressed it: "To see whether the town has the right to build a building with a stage in it for theatricals, heated with the steam engine, and lighted with lightning." The case is reported in 60 Vt. p. 530. His first case in the supreme court, where he appeared for the National Bank of Barre, reported in 56 Vt. p. 582, involved a question as to the extent national banking associations are subject to the laws of the state in which they are located. He was state's attorney for Washington county from 1866 to 1890. In 1892 he was one of the incorpo- rators and commissioners to effect the organi- zation of the Barre Savings Bank and Trust Company, and is one of the directors of, and counsel for, that bank. He is also one of the trus- tees named in the will of the late L. F. Aldrich, in which Mr. Aldrich bequeaths to seven trus- tees to serve during their lives about fifty thous- and dollars, with few restrictions, for the estab- lishment of a public library in Barre. He is a Republican in politics, and attends the Universal- ist church. In 1899 he was appointed, by Presi- dent McKinley, postmaster in Barre, reappointed by President Roosevelt in 1903, which office he now holds. He is a member of the executive board of the New England Postmaster's Associ- ation.
Mr. Bisbee took the M. M. degree in Granite Lodge, F. & A. M., March 29, 1882. He is a member of the Granite Chapter No. 26; St. Aldemar Commandery No. II; Vermont Con- sistory ; and Mount Sinai Temple, Mystic Shrine. He is a zealous Mason and contributed his por- tion to have a chapter and commandery in Barre. When Granite Chapter was chartered in 1892, he was elected second officer, and was the second person to serve as its high priest. When St. Aldemar Commandery was constituted in 1896, he was elected its first eminent commander.
He was married January 20, 1886, at Mont-
pelier, to Julia B., daughter of John and Maria (Wilson) Snow. Julia Bell Snow was born in Chelsea, Vermont, September 30, 1857, was edu- cated in the public schools of her native town and in the graded schools of Montpelier. She is an accomplished pianist. John Snow, her father, was born in Royalton, Vermont, August 21, 1807, and died at the home of his daughter in Barre, January 19, 1893. Before the age of railroads he was well known as the owner of large stage routes in Vermont and Massachusetts. His an- cestors settled along the south shore of Massa- chusetts Bay. He married Maria Wilson in Chelsea, Vermont, January 6, 1844. Maria Wil- son was born in Chelsea, November 14, 1822, died in Montpelier, April 27, 1889; she was a daughter of William Wilson. William Wilson was born in Bradford, Vermont, May 25, 1797, died in Chelsea, October 19, 1872; married Octo- ber 21, 1821, Mary Godfrey, born July 30, 1798, died April 15, 1871.
GEORGE W. PARMENTER.
The record of business activity forms a lead- ing chapter in the history of every community in this present epoch of the world's progress. It is therefore meet that the leading business men should be mentioned in every volume purporting to give a pen picture of the life of any town or city. George W. Parmenter is engaged in dealing in ice, in Montpelier, and his straightforward business methods, his capable management and his enterprise, have made him a reliable and suc- cessful business man. He was born in East Montpelier, Vermont, August 26, 1841, and is a son of L. M. and Eunice (Barton) Parmenter. The father was also born in East Montpelier and was a son of Moses Parmenter, who removed from Sudbury, Massachusetts, to the Green Mountain state when a young man. Moses Par- menter served his country as a soldier in the war of 1812. By his marriage he became the father of three sons and three daughters: L. M., Ed- ward, Harrison, Mary, Laura and Fanny. The father of these children passed away at the age of eighty-four years.
L. M. Parmenter was reared to farm life, early becoming familiar with all the duties that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. When old
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enough to enter upon an independent business carver, he chose the pursuits to which he had been reared. He wedded Eunice Barton, and they became the parents of seven children : Mary Jane, the wife of B. F. Buxton; Marcus, of La- conia, New Hampshire; George W .; John W., who is a resident of Manchester, New Hamp- shire: Milo, who is living in Lamar, Colorado; Eunice the wife of Charles Freeman ; and Calvin, who resides in Montpelier. L. M. Parmenter filled some offices of public trust and responsibil- ity, including those of selectman and justice of the peace, and he was a member of the Metho- dist Episcopal church, his life having been per- meated by his Christian faith.
George W. Parmenter followed farming until he was twenty-five years of age. At that time he came to Montpelier and worked for R. H. Whittier in the meat business for fifteen years, on the expiration of which period he turned his at- tention to the ice trade, and now has control of that line of business in this city, because of his reliable methods, his careful management and his earnest desire to please his customers, combined with reasonable prices.
Mr. Parmenter was married in 1866 to Miss Jane F. Sanders, a daughter of Willard Sanders, of East Montpelier. By this union there are four children: George, who is a graduate of the medical department of the Vermont Univer- sity, having completed the course in 1902 ; Fanny, the wife of J. F. Sheldon, of Springfield, Massa- chusetts, is a violinist and has gained considerable reputation because of her skill; Nellie, whose musical talent is manifested as a pianist, and who also plays the cornet and other instruments; and Walter, who died at the age of four and one half years. Mr. Parmenter is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He also belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and is now serving as one of its stewards; for many years he led the choir in that church. The family pos- sess exceptional musical ability and are a valued addition to the musical circles of this city.
HUGH J. M. JONES.
Hugh J. M. Jones, one of the enterprising young business men of Montpelier, Vermont, was born in Ebensburg, Cambria county, Penn-
sylvania, February 6, 1865, a son of Hugh and Eliza Jones. Hugh Jones, his father, was a native of Wales, where he was born in 1830, a son of Even and Au Jones, who came to this country when Hugh was only two years of age. They settled in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, and later they removed to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where they remained for the balance of thir lives. llugh Jones was a pupil in the public schools of that town, and entered his mercantile career by engaging in the grocery business, at which lie continued until 1864, when he enlisted as a private in the Two Hundred and Fourth Volun- teer Pennsylvania Infantry. He was soon pro- moted to the rank of second lieutenant, then to acting captain. He participated in many battles of the Civil war, and was killed at the battle of Fort Steadman, March 25, 1865. Lieutenant Jones was survived by a widow and six small children, the eldest child being twelve years of age and the youngest six weeks old, at the time of his death. The mother was a native of Wales, and was brought to this country by her parents when she was two years of age. The children of Hugh and Eliza Jones were: Marshall W., now a member of the firm of Jones Brothers, and a resident of Winchester, Massachusetts; Annie E., wife of David E. Pritchard, of Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania; Seward W., a member of the firm of Jones Brothers and a resident of Newton Highlands, Massachusetts; Dayton E., a member of the firm of Jones Brothers up to the time of his death, which occurred August 15, 1902; Hugh J. M. Jones, hereinafter men- tioned; and Maggie E., the wife of S. Heber England, of Zanesville, Ohio.
Hugh J. M. Jones removed in the spring of 1877 to Zanesville, Ohio, where he received his education in the high school, and in 1883. was engaged in the capacity of clerk in a mer- cantile business there ; later he was employed in the granite trade in the firm of Jones Brothers. This firm was organized in 1883 by Marshall WV. and Seward W. Jones, and in 1884 Dayton E. went with the firm, and later was taken in as partner, and a year later Hugh J. M. went into the firm as traveling salesman and in 1899 became a member of the firm. The business offices are located in Boston, Massachusetts, and the quarries and manufactories are situated at
Hugh Ingues
Levis Grout
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Barre, Vermont. This is the most extensive plant of its kind in the world. Mr. Hugh J. M. Jones removed to Montpelier, Vermont, in the spring of 1896, and has complete charge of the quarry and manufactory department of the work, and he gives employment to three hundred men.
Mr. Jones has attained a high position in the Masonic fraternity, being a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, Royal Arch Masons, Knights Templar, and is also a prominent mem- ber of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Jones holds mem- bership in the United Commercial Travelers and the Apollo Club. He has served as a member of the school board and of the park commission, and he acts in the capacity of director of the Young Men's Christian Association and of the art gallery. He is also a consistent member and attendent of the Congregational church of Mont- pelier, Vermont.
On July 9. 1899, Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Dell B. Brandom, of Mt. Sterling, Ohio, a daughter of William B., and Julia A. (Simpson) Brandom. Four children have been born to them, namely: Robert B., born January 8, 1891 ; Marjory D., born May 2, 1894: Hugh Brandom Jones, born August 23, 1809; and George L., born February 17, 1892, and died August 10, 1892.
William B. Brandom, father of Mrs. Jones, was a son of Charles and Susan (Keiger) Bran- dom. Charles Brandom was the son of Ezekial Brandom, who came to this country from Eng- land, settled in Virginia and participated as a soldier during the Revolutionary war. His wife, Susan Brandom, was the daughter of John B. Keiger, who attained to the rank of lieutenant colonel during the Revolutionary war. Julia A. Simpson, the mother of Mrs. Jones, was the daughter of James W. and Sarah (Pickerel) Simpson, the former named being a son of James Simpson, of Virginia.
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