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 37

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 37

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from the seaport, or from some English, Scotch or German mission, or Bishop Colenso with some of his helpers : or the Bishop of Cape Town with his traveling companions ; or the governor of the colony with a retinne of associates or subordin- ates ; or a group of military officers ; or some Af- rican traveler, hunter, philologist, or other scien- entific explorer, any and all of whom found in Mrs. Grout an agreeable, generous and hearty hostess. She was a devoted student and lover of God's works in nature, and in her African life she found a rich field for such studies, which proved a delightful alleviation for some of the privations to which she was subjected. Mrs. Grout made the humble cottage in that strange country a refined home, learned the Zulu lan- guage, and came close to the natives in their ev- ery-day life. taught the women and children how to read and write, how to sew, how to make clothing, how to make bread and butter, and how to live clean and decent lives. She gathered them in Sunday schools and Bible classes, and did all that an earnest and devoted Christian woman could to aid her husband in the establishment and building up of a church, a school. pure Christian homes, a widely extended civilization and an enduring Christian community, at and around the beautiful station, Umsunduzi, where their mission lot was cast. Mrs. Grout retained to the last days of her life the love of study and of good books which characterized her youth : she was well read in natural science, and was especially proficient as a student in botany. She also had a natural taste for history, and knew the ways of living and the methods of government of many people of the earth, and she also took a keen interest in current literature and the general news of the day.

The illness that terminated her life began in December, 1896, and was doubtless due to the natural decline of her advancing years. She bore her sufferings with calmness and patient resigna- tion, and her life ebbed away in peace and quiet- ness at her home in West Brattleboro, Vermont. April 27, 1897. The funeral services were con- ducted April 29, 1897, and began with a prayer at the house by the Rev. F. S. Smith, of the West Brattleboro Baptist church ; services in the Con- gregational church were as follows: Hymn. "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say:" reading of the

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Scriptures, remarks and prayer by Mrs. Grønt's pastor, the Key. 1. 11. Babbitt ; hyum, "The King of Love My Sheperd is." The interment was in the West Brattleboro cemetery.

VISS VANTE 1 .. GROUT.

Annie 1. Gront, only daughter of the Rev. Lewis and Lydia B. Grout, was born July 28, 1847, at Umlazi Mission -station, in Natal, South

milo Annied Grout.

Africa. Previous to leaving Natal, as she did, with her parents. March 12, 1862, for this coun- try. she assisted her mother in her school for the natives. Shortly after arriving in this country she entered Professor Olcott's Glenwood Semi- mary, after which, in 1864, she went to Mount Holyoke Seminary. where she remained for two

years, then returned to Glenwood for two years more, and in: 1868 entered the Abbott Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, from which she was graduated in 1870. The following year she es- tablished a select boarding school, Belair Insti- Inte, in her father's house in West Brattleboro, Vermont. After being engaged in this work for four years she was obliged to abandon it on ac- count of her mother's ill health. For one year she was a teacher in Philadelphia, and in Septem- ber, 1875, she accepted a position as teacher in the Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia. At the end of two years impaired health compelled her to return home and take a complete rest, and after being partially restored to health she resumed her teaching for a short period of time, and then took a position as clerk in Mrs. George E. Crowell's "Household" printing and publishing office. When this work was transferred to Boston she went there with it and served as clerk until the enterprise was well established in its new quar- ters. She then returned to her home, where, in addition to social and domestic duties, she de- voted herself in large measure to those nature studies in which she had begun to take a deep in- terest before she left Natal. It was in the prosecu- tion of these studies that she discovered a fern, the Asplenium trichomanes, var. Incisum, not be- fore known to have been found in this country. Miss Grout was a member of the Vermont Botan- ical Club, and at its second annual meeting in Burlington, in February, 1897, she read an essay on "Some Ferns that Grow in Brattleboro," which was reported in the papers as "one of the most delightful, interesting and instructive of the many valuable papers presented at the meet- ing. It was her work to show, as she did, that here in this corner we have some of the rarest plants of the state. Her paper was a revelation of the beauty that lies all about us for the eye trained to study nature in some of her sweetest tracings." Her garden. with its variety of flow- ers and fruit, all of her own planting, putting in a most welcome appearance each in its own time, testified to her love of the pure and beautiful, as well as to her skill and success in garden work. She made several large and choice herbariums, which, in accordance with a memorandum found among her effects after death, were all given to the Brattleborro high school, together with all her

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books and pamphlets relating to the subject of botany. The gift was spoken of in one of the local papers as "a collection containing many valuable specimens not often found in the posses- sion of private individuals." Especially notice- able is a large portofolio of ferns containing many rare varieties found only in Africa. The collec- tion of minerals she made was, by her direction, given to a fellow student in that line of study, who said of this gift in a local newspaper : "This collection consists of about two hundred and fifty specimens, many of which are rare and very fine, having been collected in all parts of this country and in Africa."

Miss Grout was one of the first to take an active part in the organization of a literary club, and after her decease, her father received a letter of sympathy from a committee of the club in which they spoke of her as "a faithful and able worker and charter member of the club, and for a long time our efficient and painstaking secre- tary." She was also a lover of birds, and after her decease it was said in "A Tribute to her Memory," which a committee of the Bird Club addressed to her father, "One of the first to propose the formation of a bird club in Brattie- boro, and one of the most interested, active and efficient in carrying on its work, was Miss Annie L. Grout. Always a lover and student of nature, especially in plant life, and more recently in her observation of birds, which she tempted with food to frequent the shrubbery about her home, she was in sympathy with every movement to awaken and extend interest in these things, so closely related, as they are, to our own welfare and hap- piness." She was secretary and treasurer of the club from the time of its organization to the time of her decease. January 4, 1901, the "Vermont Phoenix" published an article from her pen which gave a list of more than one hundred and fifty Brattleboro birds. In all of her various fields of activity and many sources of improvement and enjoyment, nothing was ever anticipated, experi- enced or remembered with more of satisfaction than her occasional spending of a few days or weeks in East Northfield during the summer meetings of conferences held at that place. Here she availed herself of every opportunity of ac- quiring biblical, religious and spiritual instruction,

inspiration and strength, and to those best ac- quainted with her it was evident that in this way especially, as in others also, she was making a marked and healthy progress in the divine life.

Her death occurred March 18, 1901, after a few days' iliness with the grippe, which resulted in pneumonia. The funeral services, held March 21, at the church and conducted by her pastor, the Rev. L. M. Keneston, were largely attended. In his discourse Mr. Keneston said "Annie Grout was a Christian. From the tender age of twelve years, teaching the natives in the remotest corner of the dark continent about the Saviour she had always been taught to love, and to the very close of her life blessing those whom the world had passed by, the blacks in our southland, and the poor and friendless anywhere she found them- oh, what a company of earth's outcasts will rise up to call her blessed." In closing his address, Mr. Keneston recited a poem of which the fol- lowing lines are the first stanza :

"Servant of God, well done, Now haste thee to thy home. A heavenly mansion waits for thee, Thy Father bids thee 'come.' "-

and of which another stanza of touching signifi- cance in this connection is :

"Thou livest evermore, In loving hearts enshrined. Thy only thought in life's last hour, The dear ones left behind."

An interesting obituary of Miss Grout, in the "Phoenix," of March 22, 1901, from the pen of her pastor, closed with saying: "She was for many years a teacher in the Congregational Sun- day-school, and, although well versed in the Scriptures, spent much time in the direct prepara- tion of the lesson in hand. She was collector for the McIntosh School for colored people, and was deeply interested in that work. One of her last acts was to arrange with a friend for the comple- tion of the canvass, and the sending of funds to that school. Identified with the activities of her own church, her interest and benefactions vet reached out to a broader sphere, and. according to her ability, she spared no effort to assist in every noble cause, but bestowed her means and her strength unsparingly for others.

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CHARLES CARLTON WARREN.

The Warren family of Vermont, which traces its ancestry to the early days of the Massachusetts colony, now widely dispersed throughout the country, has a prominent representative in the person of Charles Carlton Warren, of Waterbury, a man of great enterprise and public spirit, and one of the leading manufacturers of the state.

The American progenitor of the family was John Warren, who came from England with Governor Winthrop in the ship Arabella, arriv- ing at Salem, Massachusetts, June 12, 1630. One of his descendants was Ebenezer, who first ap- pears in Leicester, Massachusetts, in 1744. The history of the family was similar to that of the pioneers of the period,-clearing forests, making famous and founding little communities with their humble churches and insignificant schools, -until shortly before the Revolutionary war.

Elijah Warren, son of Ebenezer, was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, August 27, 1759. He was a tanner by trade, and he followed that use- ful calling throughout his life. He was a conti- mental volunteer soldier during the Revolutionary war, and participated in the battle of White Plains, New York. In 1781 he married Elizabeth, born May 4, 1763, and a daughter of Amos and Mary Belcher (Henshaw) Wheeler, of Worces- ter, Massachusetts, and their six children were Amos, Joseph, Betsy. Lydia. Mary W. and Char- lotte. The mother of these children died March 30, 1800, and the father married June 21, 1801, Mary. Belcher Wheeler, who was born December 19. 1774, and was a sister of his former wife. . Of this marriage were born two children, Louisa A. and Henry E. Elijah Warren died July 18, 1843, and his second wife died August 15, 1851. It is of interest to note that on September 17, 1863, there was a remarkable meeting of his children at the arcestral homestead, when every one born to him. was present. Some of the older ones had left home before younger ones were born, and this was the first and only time in their lives that all were assembled together.

Amos, eldest child of Elijah Warren, was born on the family homestead July 25, 1782, and was educated in the common schools of the neigh- borhood. In early life he settled at Woodstock, Vermont. He was a man of sterling character

and great industry, a tanner by occupation, and he accumulated considerable means, but met with reverses during his later years. He was a mem- ber of the Episcopal church. He married Sophia Holmes, who was born May, 13, 1782, and bore him eight children : Charles Walton, Henry A., Caroline A., Mary E., Lucy An, Amos W., So- phia HI. and George Washington Warren. The mother died Jime 27, 1825, and the father mar- ried October 3, 1825, Mrs. Caroline (Shurtleff ) Chapman, who was born August 10, 1783. One child, Harriet Wood, was born of this marriage. The mother died September 13, 1852, and the father took for his third wife, June 14, 1854, Sally Beers, who died February 3, 1865, aged sixty five years, and her husband survived her little more than three weeks, dying February 26th.

Charles Walton Warren, eldest son of Amos Warren, was born October 25, 1806, in Wood- stock, Vermont, where he received his education in the public schools. He was by occupation a tanner and farmer, and was a capable business man and acquired considerable property. His personal character was unsullied. He was a Con- gregationalist in religion, a Republican in poli- tics, and a member of the Masonic fraternity. In early manhood he removed to Hartland, where he passed the remainder of his life. December 27, 1829, he married Julia M. Perry, of Hartland, who bore him three children: Nor- man Charles, born August 14, 1830, and died October 2, following ; Elizabeth A., born April I, 1834, and died November 2, 1867; and Charles Carlton, of whom further mention is made be- low. The father died. January 15, 1875, and the mother June 13, 188.1.

Charles Carlton Warren, only surviving child of the parents named, was born February II, 1843, in Hartland, Vermont. He received an ex- cellent English education, beginning in the com- mon schools of his native village, and afterwards attending Union Academy. at Meriden, New Hampshire. In 1862, although but nineteen years of age, his patriotic fervor moved him to enter the army and engage in the great battles for the preservation of the Union. A most capable musician, he became a first-class member of the band attached to the headquarters of the First Vermont Brigade, Second Division, Sixth Army

Celewarrin

TALKING INTO THE PHONOGRAPH IN HIS OFFICE, AT WATERBURY, VERMONT.

C. C. WARREN RESIDENCE.

E W. WARREN FAMILY.

A remarkable and interesting meeting of brothers and sisters took place in the good old town of Leicester, Mass., Sept. 17, 1863. Eight children of the late Elijah Warren, of said Leicester, met for the first and probably the last time, at the old homestead where they were born. The elder children emigrated to different States before the younger were born, and even their father never saw them all together ; their names, places of residence and time of birth are as follows :

Amos Warren, Woodstock, Vt., July 25, 1782. Joseph Warren, Leicester, Mass., Jan. 8, 1784. Betsey Bond, Lisbon, Ill., Oct. 17, 1785. Lydia Warren, Leicester, Mass., March 29, 1788.

Mary W. Chapin, Lisbon, Ill., May 23, 1790. Charlotte Fuller, Leicester, Mass., Aug. 8, 1792. Louisa A. Wheeler, Topsham, Maine, Aug. 18, 1807. Henry E. Warren, Leicester, Mass., July 4, 1809.

The mother of the first six, Elizabeth Wheeler, born May 4, 1763, died March 30, 1800. The mother of the last two, Mary B. Wheeler, sister of Elizabeth, born Dec. 19, 1774, died August 15, 1851. The father, Elijah Warren, born Aug. 27, 1759, died July 18, 1843. All of their grandparents lived to be between 80 and 90 years old. All the children of the first marriage are still living and the circle has remained unbroken nearly three-fourths of a century. Mrs. Bond and Mrs. Chapin, taking the excursion of the lakes, traveled over 1600 miles to the meeting. Before their final separation, they went to Worcester and had the above photograph taken in a group. The only saddening thought upon this last occasion was that they would behold each other no more.

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Corps, with which he was connected until it was honorably mustered out of service in 1864, when the speedy end of the Rebellion was assured. He had participated in all the stirring campaigns of the Army of the Potomac during this long pe- riod, and, while technically known as no-combat- ants, the band was frequently under fire in some of the most momentous battles, and bore a useful part in bringing the wounded from the field of carnage. Interesting incidents of his service werc the rapid march of his command from the front to New York city to aid in putting down the draft riots, its return to Virginia, and its marching into Richmond, among the first federal troops to enter the rebel capital, which had for four ycars bade defiance to the national authority.

Returning home Mr. Warren engaged in the tanning business in Hartland, in association with his father, and he was afterwards similarly en- gaged with Wilson Britton. In 1868 the plant was destroyed by fire, and Mr. Warren leased a new tannery in Waterbury, which he conducted in partnership with Homer & Wyeth, of Boston. He subscquently purchased the property and de- voted it to the manufacture of harness and rein leather. Most of his time being taken up at the tannery in producing the high-class leather he handles, and not having much time to devote to office work. he conceived the idea, and put it into execution, of dictating his enormous correspond- ence to the phonograph, which could be repro- duced at any time on the typewriter by the regu- lar office assistants. The business developed rap- idly, and in 1899 had grown to such mammoth proportions that he formed a stock company for its conduct, the Warren Leather Company of Morrisville, now one of the most important man- tifacturing corporations in the state, of which hc has been president to the present time.

In 1887 Mr. Warren purchased a large farm in the village of Waterbury, which he conducted and devoted largely to dairying, while he was also managing his leather manufactory. In 1889 he sold the farm to the state, and upon it was erected the present fine insane asylum. In 1890 he was appointed a member of the state fish commission, and also a director of the state fish hatchery, and he was a prime mover and principal agent in the establishment of the first fish hatchery in the state. This was, in the beginning, an innovation

which was stoutly antagonized in various quar- ters, as being a chimerical scheme and involving useless cxpense. Firm in the conviction of the great usefulness of the system when once fairly established, the board persisted in facc of all ob- stacles and with grudged and meagre appropria- tions, and finally achieved success, rewarded at a later day by the approbation of the people of the state, among whom were those who had been the most determined opponents. To this satisfactory conclusion Mr. Warren was the chief contributor. He is a Republican in politics, and a non-secta- rian in religion. He is a member of Edwin Dil- lingham Post, G. A. R., and of Vermont Lodge No. 18, F. and A. M. of Windsor.

Mr. Warren was married to Miss Ella F. McElroy, daughter of Jerry and Florella ( Broad- wick ) McElroy. Her father was born in Middlesex, Vermont, a son of Robert Craw- ford McElroy, who was born in Chester- field, New Hampshire, September 13, 1775. Flo- rella Broadwick was a daughter of Robert, who came from Scotland and settled in Waterbury, Vermont. Mr. and Mrs. Warren have two chil- dren : Kate Grace, born February 4, 1876, was married June 15, 1898, to H. B. Cram, of New York city, and to them were born two children : Harkness Warren, born July 17, 1899, and Mil- dred, born October 18, 1900. The other child of Mr. and Mrs. Warren is Charles Carlton, Jr., who was born September 29, 1888.

FRANKLIN A. DWINELL.

The subject of this sketch finds an appropri- ate place in the history of those men of business and enterprise in the state of Vermont whose force of character, whose sterling integrity, whose fortitude amid discouragements, whose good sense in the management of complicated affairs have contributed to the development of the resources of this noble commonwealth. His career has not been helped by accident, or luck. or wealth, or family, or powerful friends. He is. in the broadest sense. a self-made man. being both the architect and builder of his own fortune.

Mr. Dwinell was born in East Calais, Ver- mont, May .23. 1848. his parents being Albert and Irene Davis (Rich) Dwinell. The ancestry can, be traced back through many generations to

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France. Michael Dunnel was a native of France and became the progenitor of the family in Amer- ica. Crossing the Atlantic to the new world, he spent his last days in Topsville, Massachusetts, in 1717. Among his children was Thomas Doc- nell, who was the fourth in order of birth in a family of nine. He was born in 1672, married Dinah Brinstdell, of Lynn, Massachusetts, and died in Topsville, in 1747. In their family were nine children, the eldest being Jonathan Dun- nell, who was born in June, 1702, and died in Millsbury, Massachusetts in 1782. He married Mahitable Kenney. They were the parents of eleven children, the fourth of whom was Arche- laus Dwinel. He was born in Topsville, Massa- chusetts, in 1731 and served as a soldier in the English army in the French and Indian war. He married Martha Perkins, and died November 13, 1758. at the early age of twenty-seven years. Three children were born to Archelaus and Mar- tha Dwinel, and the eldest was given the father's name. He was born in. Boxford, Massachusetts, in 1754, and when the country determined to throw off the yoke of British oppression he joined the American army and served under Washing- ton in the Revolutionary war. He married Olive Hall, a daughter of Deacon Willis Hall,of Sutton, Massachusetts, and they were the great-grand- parents of our subject. The grandfather, Israel Dwinell, was the third in order of birth in a fam- ily of six children. He was born in Croydon, New Hampshire, October 8, 1789, and was mar- ried on the Ist of April, 1813, to Phila Gilman, of Marshfield, Vermont. She died June 1, 1864, and his death occurred February 20, 1874. Among their children was Albert Dwinell, the father of our subject. He was the fifth in a family of ten and was born in East Calais.

Albert Dwinell has been engaged in farming and merchandising through many years and is a representative of business interests, occupying a prominent position in commercial circles. He has been honored with a number of local offices, and has also represented his district in both branches of the state legislature, where his loyal support of the measures in which he has believed has proved an important factor in moulding the laws enacted during his terms of service. He is a Republican in his political affiliations, and is un- swerving in his advocacy of the principles of the

party. Long a faithful member of the Congre- gational church, for more than a quarter of a century he has served as superintendent of the Sunday-school, and his efforts in behalf of the church have been far-reaching and beneficial To know Albert Dwinell is to esteem and honor him, for his life has been upright, and in all its rela- tions he has been true to duty and to the trust re- posed in him. He married Irene D. Rich, a daughter of Samuel Rich, and they became the parents of three children : Franklin A., Clarence Rich and Dell Burton.

Franklin A. Dwinell, whose name introduces this record, pursued his carly education in the common schools and afterward entered Barre Academy, in which he was graduated with the class of 1868. He then entered upon his active business career as an employe in his father's store at East Calais, where he remained until 1874. In that year he went to Plainfield, where he engaged in merchandising on his own ac- count, carrying on operations successfully at that point for a number of years. In 1885 the Far- mer's Trust Company was organized and Mr. Dwinell was elected its president, at once tak- ing an active interest and part in its manage- ment, his labors contributing in a very large measure to its prosperous career. In the mean- time, in the spring of 1890, Mr. Dwinell had re- moved to Montpelier, and in 1898 had accepted the position of inspector of investments in the National Life Insurance Company. He also be- came interested in a number of local business enterprises, as a director in the Wetmore & Morse Granite Company, a director of the Mont- pelier Building & Construction Company, and a director in the First National Bank of Mont- pelier. His sound business judgment, his keen discrimination and sagacity have made his coun- sel valued in business circles.

In East Montpelier, on the 15th of December, 1869, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Dwi- nell and Miss Hattie A. Hammett, a daughter of Lawson and Asenath ( Clark) Hammett. By this marriage two children have been born, Elbert Hammett and Melvin Raymond. The former was graduated in Harvard College in 1896, com- pleted a course in the Harvard Law School in 1900, and is now successfully practicing in Kan- sas City, Missouri; while M. Raymond, the

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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 37

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