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 44
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For the purposes of this biography the family history begins with the grandparents, Wallace and Sally Smith, who spent part of their lives on a farm in Rutland county, and had three children, who, like themselves, have long since passed away. One of the latter, named Enoch P., was born at Clarendon in 1792, and when twenty-one years of age went to the town of Shrewsbury, Vermont, in the employ of Colonel Finney ; he then farmed there and in 1865 removed to Shelburne, where he died in 1876. He was a man of some conse- quence in his native county and rose to the rank of captain of one of the local militia companies. He married Lydia Hammond, a native of Mount Holly and member of a family quite prominent in the affairs of Rutland county. Her father, Jede-
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dialı Hammond, was a justice of the peace and lawyer, and represented his town in the legisla- ture for thirteen years away back in the days when it was necessary to ride horseback to the state capital. Enoch P. and Lydia (Hammond) Smith had four children, of whom the two now living are Mary, a resident of Burlington, and the subject of this sketch.
David C. Smith, only surviving son of his parents, was born at Rutland, Vermont, January 8, 1840, spent his early years in Shrewsbury, and was engaged in farming until 1865, when he ac- companied his father to Shelburne. Since his arrival in this county Mr. Smith has had a varied experience on many different farms, spending periods of three or four years on each, until finally he settled down to his present place of two hun- dred acres, where he is engaged chiefly in stock- raising. He buys and sells cattle both for fatten- ing and dairy purposes, butchers extensively and keeps a meat market at the village. He also handles a, great many agricultural implements and keeps on hand a full line of farm tools. Mr. Smith's political affiliations are with the Repub- lican party, and it is as a representative of that organization that he has been elected to the many offices he has filled. He served as selectman for two terms of three years each and was chairman of the board during a third of that time. He was elected lister of the town three different times, retained the office seven years in all, and was chairman of the board three years. At the present time he is prosecuting agent of the town and justice of the peace, both of which duties are discharged with the vigor and impartiality that have ever characterized his official acts. In 1880 the town elected Mr. Smith to the legislature, and in that body he served as a member of the com- mittee on corporations, proving an active and in- telligent representative. On three different oc- casions his party has honored him by election as delegate to Republican state conventions, where his advice has always been valued by the leaders and workers.
On January 4, 1865, Mr. Smith was married to Frances Adelaide Smith, a native of Perkins- ville, Vermont, and daughter of George W. and Fanny (Fish) Smith. Her father worked in a woolen factory in early life and later as a car- penter in Shrewsbury, where he died at the age
of seventy-nine years. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have two children: George E., a merchant at Shelburne Falls, who married Hattie Havens; and Fanny, wife of Walter Webster, clerk in a store of Shelburne village. The family are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church and quite prominent in its religious and philanthropic work. Mr. Smith has been steward for thirty years, member of the Sunday-school since childhood and superintendent for many years. Both Mr. Smith and wife are teachers of classes, and their chil- dren also take an active part in church work. The daughter, who has been organist for many years, is an unusually accomplished lady. She gradu- ated from the University of Vermont and taught successfully in the high school. The son has been superintendent and teacher in the Sunday- school ; he attended a commercial college and ex- hibits much of the talent for business that has characterized his honored father.
JOHN COLLINS BLACKMER.
John Collins Blackmer, one of the longest es- tablished and most prosperous merchants of Manchester Depot, was born in this town, Au- gust 25, 1840, a son of the late Hiram J. Black- mer. His paternal grandfather, Jonathan Black- mer, of Connecticut birth and breeding, was one of the early pioneers of Dorset, Vermont, lo- cating there between 1790 and 1800. He was a physician, and built up a large practice in his new home, his ride extending many miles in either direction. He died while yet in the prime of a vigorous manhood, at forty years of age. His- wife, whose maiden name was Harmon, and who was a daughter of Reuben Harmon "the coiner," of Vermont historical fame, died at the age of thirty-nine years, having borne him three chil- dren, none of whom are now living. Dr. Black- mer was a soldier in the war of 1812.
Hiram J. Blackmer lived in Dorset, Vermont, his native town, until twenty-five years old, ac- quiring his education in the public schools and in the Bennington Academy. In 1820, at the age of twenty years, he entered into the mercan- tile business on his own account, continuing five years. Coming then to Manchester, Vermont, he was one of the leading merchants of the town from 1825 until 1852, when he transferred his.
John & Blackweed
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residence and business to Attica, Indiana, where he continued in business until 1865, thereafter living in retirement from active pursuits. He died in 1884, at the age or fourscore and four years. He married Fannie Collins, who was born in Manchester, Vermont, a daughter of Elijah Collins, and granddaughter of Nathaniel Collins, a native of Connecticut, and one of the thrifty pioneer farmers of Manchester, Vermont, where he settled when a young man. Elijah Collins married Electa Bull, of Manchester, whose father also came here from Connecticut, and they reared three sons and two daughters, none of whom sur- vive ; she died at the age of seventy-four years, and her husband at the age of seventy-five years ; she was a deely religious woman, and a member of the Episcopal church. Of the union of Hiram J. Blackmer and his wife, three sons were born, of whom John C. is the only one living. Harmon C., a miner in Colorado, died in 1897; and Col- lins, a bookkeeper, died in Indiana.
John C. Blackmer attended the common schools of Manchester, and the Burr and Bur- ton Seminary, after which he was employed as a clerk in a store in Sunderland for a year. Go- ing then to Indiana, he was in the employ of a dry-goods house until 1862, when he enlisted in the Sixteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, serv- ing in that regiment as private and sergeant ; was discharged on account of wounds received at Richmond, Kentucky, and after re-enlisting in the One Hundred and Sixteenth, served as first lieutenant and was also first lieutenant in the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth, to which he was transferred. He took part in several important engagements, at Richmond, Kentucky; at Blue Springs, Walker's Ford and Tazewell, Tennes- see ; and at the siege of Vicksburg. He was mus- tered out in September, 1864. Resuming his former position in Indiana, he ramained there un- til 1865, when he returned to Vermont, locating in Sunderland, which was his home for three years. In 1869 Mr. Blackmer settled in Man- chester, opening a store of general merchandise at the Depot, which was then but sparsely set- tled, and in the time that has since elapsed has contributed in no small measure to its growth and development. He has lent material assistance to all projects conductive of the welfare of the place, erecting many buildings, helping lay out streets, 16
and giving such aid as he could to progressive enterprises.
Mr. Blackmer married, in May, 1874, Janet Pratt, a native of Shushan, New York, where her father, E. M. Pratt, a merchant, spent his eighty years of life, and her mother, whose maiden name was Fanny Lyman, born in Walton, New York, died at the age of seventy years. Janet Pratt was the only one of a family of four children to grow to years of maturity. Mr. Blackmer is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Epis- copal church. He has been postmaster at Man- chester since 1874, save during President Cleve- land's second administration. He belongs to Skinner Post, No. 24, G. A. R., of which he was commander for ten years ; he is a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and Ad- oniram Lodge, F. & A. M., of Indiana. Both Mr. and Mrs. Blackmer are members of the Eastern Star, Mrs. Blackmer having held all the offices in the chapter, and served as grand matron of the state of Vermont. She was also department president of the Women's Relief Corps, of Ver- mont, and was regent of the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and has been especially active and interested in the cause of temperance as a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Vermont. Man- chester Depot has a Camp of Sons of Veterans named Lieutenant J. C. Blackmer Camp No. 60.
CHARLES EDMUND MINER. ·
Charles Edmund Miner, of Burlington, well and favorably known in commercial and financial circles during a long and active life, is a lineal descendant of one of the oldest families known in the history of New England. He traces his line- age through the male line in England uninter- ruptedly from the year 1346, to the time of the immigration of his earliest American ancestor, who was Thomas Miner (I). Thomas Miner was born in Chew Magna, Somersetshire, Eng- land, April 23, 1608, and died in Stonington, Connecticut, October 23, 1690. Thomas Miner came to America in his twenty-second year, in Governor Winthrop's company, leaving England at the port of Yarmouth, in the ship Arabella, April 8, 1630, and arriving at Salem, Massachu- setts, June 12. He marched through the woods
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to Charlestown, where he afterwards became one of the leading men of the colony, and foremost in establishing the first church there. The family probably removed to the Connecticut colony in 1646. April 23, 1633, Thomas Miner married Grace Palmer. Next in line of descent is Cle- ment (2), born April 23, 1640, who married, No- vember 26, 1662, widow Frances Willey. He died in October, 1700, and she died Jannary 6, 1672. William Miner (3), son of Clement, born No- vember 6, 1670, married in 1691. His son Cle- ment (4) was born in 1696, married Esther Lee in 1723, and their son Andrew (5), born in 1725, married Priscilla Bosworth, of Norwich, Con- necticut, November 4, 1749.
Roswell (6), son of Andrew, was born Sep- tember 25, 1753. He was a Revolutionary war soldier, and served in New York and on Long Island, and participated in the battle of White Plains. He married Zibeah Cotton, who was born April 5, 1760. The pair removed to Shel- burne, Vermont, and purchased land there, under a deed bearing date May 5, 1794. This land has been owned ever since by their direct descendants, and is now (1902) in possession of their great- grandson, Charles Edmund Miner.
Roswell Miner died November 15, 1809, and his wife died May 15, 1834, and their remains, with those of several of their children, repose in the cemetery about one mile west of the home- stead farm. Their children were Samuel, Ros- well, Philander and others.
Samuel Miner (7), oldest son of Roswell Miner, was born June 19, 1783, and died May 15, 1854. November 19, 1812, he married Azubah Boynton, who was born January 6, 1790, and died June 22, 1821. Their children were: Mar- tin Luther, born September 12, 1813; Sarah Adelia, born July 25, 1816; Lydia Sabriah, born January 31, 1819; and Ruth P., born June 12, 1821.
Martin Luther Miner (8), eldest son of Sam- uel Miner, was a highly respected resident of the town of Shelburne, and was a life-long supporter of the Methodist church of that town. He was married June 10, 1838, to Clarinda Crossman, who was born July 30, 1808. Their children were Aurelia Azubah, born July 15, 1839, and Charles Edmund, born August 4, 1842. Martin
Luther Miner died July 11, 1882; Clarinda C. Miner died December 24, 1895.
Charles Edmund Miner (9), only son of Mar- tin Luther Miner, was reared upon the homestead farm and received his education in the neighbor- ing schools, supplemented by a mercantile course in Bryant and Stratton's Commercial College, Burlington, Vermont. He engaged in wholesale business for many years, residing in Burlington, Vermont. He married Mary Frederica Griffin, of Williston, Vermont, February 11, 1873.
Through his ancient and honorable ancestry, Mr. Miner is a member of the Society of Colonial Wars and the Society of the Sons of the Amer- ican Revolution. He is also a member of the Algonquin Club of Burlington, Vermont. A life- long Republican, he has been associated with the various civic and national reforms to be credited to that party.
CAPTAIN J. O. LIVINGSTON.
Captain J. O. Livingston was one of the few soldiers of the Civil war who received a gold medal from Congress in recognition of bravery. He was also for many years a well known lawyer of Montpelier, and is now living retired. To the soldiers who fought and suffered, giving several of the best years of their early manhood to the preservation of the country under whose flag they were born,-to these heroes, universal trib- bute of gratitude is given, and it is fitting that their patriotic services should find mention in the annals of county, state or nation.
Captain Josiah O. Livingston was born in Walden, Vermont, February 3, 1837, and is a son of Wheaton and Melissa M. (Burbank) Liv- ingston. He was reared by his sister, Mrs. Far- rington, of Walden, and was educated in the com- mon schools and in the academy at Morrisville, Vermont, thus acquiring a good literary educa- tion. Determining to make the practice of law his life work, he then became a student in the office and under the direction of the firm of Gleed & Hendee, well known attorneys, and in 1861 he was admitted to the bar. He entered upon the practice, but could not long content himself to remain at home while the country was endan- gered by the spirit of rebellion in the south.
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It was, therefore, in May, 1862, that Captain Livingston offered his services, to the govern- ment, and was assigned to Company I of the Ninth Vermont Volunteer Infantry. He was commissioned a lieutenant, and his regiment was mustered into service July 9, 1862. He partici- pated in the battle of Harper's Ferry, and was there taken prisoner, but was afterward paroled. Subsequently he was sent to Chicago, Illinois, with his regiment, where he was engaged in guarding prisoners until March, 1863, when he went to Fortress Monroe, acting as escort to pris- oners who were to be exchanged. He afterward took part in the siege of Suffolk, about that time. In September, 1863, his regiment was assigned to Fortress Monroe and Yorktown, and later to the Department of North Carolina, and there re- mained until August, 1864. In September, in the latter year, he joined General Butler's army, on the James river, and on the 29th of September he was at the attack made on Richmond. He like- wise participated in the battle of Chapin's Farm and Fair Oaks. On the 2d of February, 1864, his regiment was guarding the railroad from New- bern, North Carolina, to the coast. The guard consisted of about three hundred and fifty guns, and they withstood the approach of an army of three thousand men. Withstanding the enemy as long as possible, the Union troops were with- drawn across Newpont river, and, under concen- trated fire, Captain Livingston (then adjutant) with Lieutenant Jewett and Lieutenant Peck, of the same regiment, set fire to and destroyed the county road and railroad bridges, and saved the Union troops from capture. For this gallantry Congress awarded him a gold medal. He was commissioned first lieutenant on arriving at the front, in October, 1862, and was detailed as regi- mental adjutant. He served as adjutant until October, 1864, when he was commissioned cap- tain of Company G, and was mustered out with the rank of captain on the 9th of June, 1865.
Mr. Livingston's health had become some- what impaired during his arduous army service, but as soon as possible he resumed the practice of law, establishing an office in Orange county, Vermont, where he remained until 1869, when he removed to Montpelier, and was an active member of the legal profession until 1884, when he retired to private life. He has filled the office
of city assessor for twenty years, and was also a grand juror six years.
On the 15th of November, 1866, occurred the marriage of Mr. Livingston and Miss Alice M. Kent, daughter of Ezekiel and Minerva A. (Curtis) Kent, of Calais, Vermont. In his po- litical affiliations the Captain is a Democrat, and socially he is connected with several civic and military organizations. He belongs to the Ma- sonic fraternity, and was commander of Brooks Post, G. A. R., four years, while for four years he served as adjutant general of the department. He is likewise a member of the Loyal Legion, and of the Society of the Medal of Honor. As a citizen, he is patriotic and public-spirited, and is found as true to-day to his country and her wel- fare as he was when he wore the nation's blue uniform and protected the stars and stripes upon southern battlefields.
LOUIS POMEROY GLEASON.
Louis Pomeroy Gleason, of Montpelier, is conspicuously identified with the mercantile in- terests of this section of Washington county as head of the firm of L. P. & H. C. Gleason. He was born in Warren, Vermont, September 15, 1841, a son of Huzzial Gleason, and grandson of Winsor Gleason. He comes of substantial New England stock, being a descendant in the fifth generation from Isaac Gleason, a native of Peterboro, New Hampshire, and in the fourth generation from Elijah Gleason, a life-long resi- dent of the same town.
Winsor Gleason was born in Peterboro, New Hampshire, and was there reared to agricultural pursuits. Subsequently removing to Langdon, New Hampshire, he carried on farming and lumbering until his death. He married, first, in Peterboro, his cousin, Sarah Gleason. by whom he had five children, namely: Mary. Winsor, Curtis, Laura and Joseph. He married, second, Martha Follett, who bore him three children, Huzzial, Solomon and Horace.
Huzzial Gleason was born on the paternal hometsead, in Langdon, New Hampshire, in February, 1802. Leaving home at the age of seventeen years, he came to Waitsfield. Vermont, where he secured work as a farm laborer. Be- ing industrious and prudent. he accumulated
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money, which he invested in land, and was there engaged in tilling the soil on his own account nutil 1827, when he exchanged that farm for one in Warren, Vermont. Removing to that town, he carried on general farming with excellent re- sults until 1873, when he sold his farm, and settled in the village of Waitsfield, where he lived retired until his death, in 1889. At the time of the Civil war he served as selectman of Warren, where for many years he was a deacon in the Congregational church. In 1827 he mar-, ried Emily H. Richardson, daughter of James Richardson, and a lincal descendant in the sev- enth generation from Thomas Richardson, the immigrant ancestor, the line of descent being thus given: Thomas, Nathaniel, John, Caleb, Captain John, James and Emily H. Captain John Richardson (5), born in Roxbury, Massa- chusetts, February II, 1737, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He married, first, in 1757, Ruth Sawtelle, and married, second, Rebecca Moore. James Richardson (6) was one of the three original proprictors of Warren, Vermont, removing there from Templeton, Massachusetts. The maiden name of his wife was Adah Hinds. Emily H. Richardson (7) married Huzzial Gleason, and they became the parents of four children, as follows: James Richardson, born December 28, 1828, is a well-to-do merchant in Waitsfield, Vermont, and a citizen of prominence, having been town clerk for forty years, post- master for thirty-three years, and a representa- tive to the state legislature; Carlyle Johnson, de- ceased, was for many years a lawyer in Mont- pelier ; Emily M., died unmarried; and Louis Pomeroy, the special subject of this sketch.
Louis P. Gleason acquired his early educa- tion in the district schools, and at the West Randolph Academy, afterwards beginning his business career as clerk in a store at Waitsfield. Coming to Montpelier in 1861, he clerked in the postoffice . for some time, and in 1863 secured a situation as clerk in the dry-goods establish- ment of J. W. Ellis & Company, remaining with the firm in that capacity until 1869, when he was admitted to partnership, becoming junior member of the firm of Ellis & Gleason. He sub- sequently bought out the senior member of the firm, and carried on the business alone for awhile, afterward taking a partner, the firm
name being L. P. Gleason & Company, but, since the admission to the firm of his nephew, L. P. & H. C. Gleason.' In addition to carrying a com- plete stock of dry-goods, Mr. Gleason added, in 1886, a line of furniture, and established an undertaking department, carrying on both suc- cessfully until the present time, being now one of the foremost merchants of Vermont. He is a director of the Vermont Mutual Fire Insur- ance Company, and a member of the standing committee. He has served as vestryman in the Episcopal church for many years, is a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Masonic fraternity.
On February 22, 1870, Mr. Gleason married Anna Louise Timothy, daughter of Helon B. and Louisa (Smith) Timothy, who removed to Niagara, New York, when their daughter was young. Mr. and Mrs. Gleason arc the parents of three children, namely : One that died in infancy; Carlyle Joslyn, a graduate of Am- herst College, and of the Harvard University Law School, is now in New York city; and Frederick Elijah, a student at Yale University.
GEORGE GRENVILLE BENEDICT.
George Grenville Benedict, of Burlington, edi- tor in chief of the Burlington Free Press, and. well known for his literary work in historical fields, is descended in both ancestral lines from English immigrants of the early colonial times. The paternal ancestry begins with Thomas Bene- dict, who landed in Massachusetts Bay in 1638. He married Mary Bridgum, who came over in the same ship with him; he later moved to Long Island, where he was a magistrate, legislator, lieutenant in the Jamaica company of foot infan- try, and a pillar in both the church and the com- munity. From him have descended upwards of thirty-three hundred Benedicts, whose names ap- pear in the "Genealogy of the Benedicts in Amer- ica" published at Albany, New York, in 1870. The line of direct descent to George G. Benedict is as follows: Thomas Benedict, born in 1617, married Mary Bridgum, and they had five sons- and four daughters. John, second son of Thomas, born in Southold, Long Island, was a freeman of Norwalk, Connecticut, in 1680, selectman in 1689, a deacon in the church, and representative.
I. G. Benedict
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in the general assembly in 1722 and 1725; he married Phebe Gregory of Norwalk, and they had six sons and a daughter. James, fifth son of John, born in Norwalk, January 5, 1685, was an ensign, captain, justice of the peace for Fairfield county, representative for the town of Ridge- field, Connecticut, a general assemblyman for the colony for nine years between 1740 and 1752, and deacon in the church; he married Mary Hy- att, of Norwalk, and they had four sons and five daughters. Peter, the eldest son of James, was born in Ridgefield, March 20, 1714, and re- sided in North Salem, Connecticut, being a dea- con in the church ; his wife was Mrs. Agnes (Ty- ler) Heaton, of Branford, Connecticut, and they had five sons and three daughters.
Abner, the third son of Peter, was born in North Salem, November 9, 1740. He graduated from Yale College, studied theology with the fa- mous Dr. Joseph Bellamy, was pastor of the Con- gregational church in Middletown, Connecticut, for fourteen years, during which period he pro- cured the emancipation of all the slaves held in his parish. He was chaplain of a Connecticut regiment in the continental army in the Revolu- tion, and was in the retreat from Long Island and in the battles at White Plains and Harlem. Among his writings was a treatise on submarine navigation for war purposes which antedated by a hundred years the methods now used in the navies of the United States and Europe. He married Lois Northrop, of New Milford, Con- necticut, and they had two sons and three daugh- ters.
Joel Tyler, oldest son of Abner, born at Mid- dletown, Connecticut, September 6, 1772, was admitted to the bar of Fairfield county, Connec- ticut, in 1794. Six years later he became a Pres- byterian clergyman and was settled successively in several churches in his own state and New York. He was chaplain of the Twenty-fifth Reg- iment of Connecticut militia, and was a promi- nent divine and eloquent preacher. He married Currance Wheeler, of Southbury, Connecticut, who bore him four sons and two daughters.
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