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 45
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George Wyllys, oldest son of Joel Tyler, was born at Stamford, Connecticut, January II, 1796, and graduated from Williams College in 1818. He was tutor in that college three years and was then principal of the academy in Newburgh,
New York. In 1825 he became a professor in the University of Vermont, to which position he gave twenty-three years of the prime of his life, filling successively the chairs of mathematics, natural philosophy and chemistry. He was also for many years secretary of the board of trustees and treasurer of the corporation. In 1847 he organized the Vermont and Boston Telegraph Company and built the first telegraph line from Burlington to Boston by way of Montpelier and Concord, New Hampshire, also lines from Bur- lington to Montreal, and to Ogdensburg, New York, and from Springfield, Massachusetts, to St. Johnsbury, Vermont. In 1853 he became the chief proprietor and editor of the Burlington Daily and Weekly Free Press, and retained his connection with the paper for thirteen years. In 1814 he served in Captain J. Howell's company of New York militia which marched for the de- fense of New York against the British. He was twice elected state senator, in 1855 and 1856. He married Eliza Dewey, of Sheffield, Massachu- setts, and six sons were born to them. The sec- ond of these sons was George Grenville, whose paternal ancestry has thus been shown, and he is also of colonial lineage on his mother's side, whose family will now be traced.
Thomas Dewey, the first settler, came to Bos- ton from England in 1633, as is supposed, from Sandwich, near Devon. He became a freeman in Dorchester, Massachusetts, May 14, 1634, and later moved to Windsor, Connecticut, where he was married to Mrs. Frances Clarke, March 22, 1639. He was cornet of the town troop and a deputy to the general court of Connecticut. His second son, Josiah, was the ancestor of Hon. Charles Dewey, of Montpelier, Vermont, and of Admiral George Dewey, of Manila fame. Jed- ediah, the fourth son of Thomas, born in Wind- sor, Connecticut, December 15, 1647, was mar- ried about 1671 to Sarah Orton, of Farmington, Connecticut, and they removed to Westfield, Con- necticut, where he was cornet of the town troop. James, the ninth child of these last named par- ents, was born April 3. 1692, in Westfield. Con- necticut, and married Elizabeth Ashley, who be- came the mother of nine children. Stephen, the oldest son of James, born in Westfield, Connecti- cut, May 13, 1719, was one of the earliest set- tlers in Sheffield, Massachusetts. He was a cap-
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tain in Colonel William Williams' regiment of infantry, raised for the invasion of Canada in 1758, and was also captain in Colonel Jonathan Smith's regiment of Massachusetts infantry in the war of the Revolution, serving at New York in 1776 and at Saratoga in 1777; he married Joanna Taylor, and they had ten children. Stephen, Jr., the oldest of these children, born in Sheffield, Massachusetts, September 8, 1760, married Elizabeth Owen, who bore him two sons and seven daughters. Eliza, their third daughter, was born in Sheffield, October 5, 1793, and on June 5, 1823, marricd George Wyllys Benedict.
These two lines of descent thus converge and meet in George Grenville Benedict, the second son of the last mentioned parents, who was born in Burlington, Vermont, December 10, 1826. He prepared for college in the academy in Burling- ton ; was graduated from the University of Ver- mont in 1847 ; and in 1850 he received from the samc institution the degree of Master of Arts. After leaving college he was a teacher in the Washington Institute in New York city for about a year, and for the three years following was oc- cupied in building and superintending the lines of the Vermont and Boston Telegraph Company, of which company he was president from 1860 to 1865. He became associate editor and propri- etor of the Burlington Free Press in 1853. He has been postmaster of Burlington, and from 1889 to 1893 was collector of customs of the dis- trict of Vermont under President Harrison.
In August, 1862, Mr. Benedict enlisted as a private in Company .C, Twelfth Regiment Ver- mont Volunteers. In January following he was promoted to a lieutenancy and was subsequently detailcd as aide-de-camp on the staff of General Gcorge J. Stannard, commanding the Second Vermont Brigade. He received a medal of hon- or, awarded by Congress for distinguished con- duct in the battle of Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. He was mustered out of service, July 14, 1863. He Jatcr served as assistant inspector general of state militia with the rank of major, and in 1866 was aide-dc-camp on the staff of Governor Paul Dil- lingham, with the rank of colonel.
On returning from the field, Colonel Benedict resumed his connection with the Burlington Free Press in the capacity of editor in chief, which position he has occupied to the present
time, a period of nearly half a century. He has been president of the Vermont Press Association, president of the Vermont Historical Society, president of the Vermont Society of Sons of the American Revolution, governor of the Vermont Society of Colonial Wars and state military his- torian, in which capacity he prepared the his- tory of "Vermont in the Civil War," in two vol- umes. He also published "Vermont at Gettys- burg," and a volume of army letters entitled "Army Life in Virginia."
In 180g he was elected state senator from Chittenden county, serving on the committees on educational and military affairs. He was re- elected for the following term, and served upon the same committees, being chairman of cach of them. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. He has been for thirty-seven years a trustee and secretary of the University of Vermont, and has also served as school commis- sioner of Burlington. As an active Republican, he has been secretary and chairman of the state committies of his party, and a delegate to state and national conventions. One of his brothers, Judge Charles L. Benedict, was for thirty-two years United States judge of the eastern district of New York; another brother, Robert D., is the acknowledged leader of the admiralty bar of New York ; and another, B. L. Benedict, has been for many years clerk of the United States circuit court in the eastern district of New York.
Mr. Benedict was married in 1853 to Miss Mary A., daughter of Edward Kellogg, Esq., of Canaan, New York ; she died in 1857, leaving. a daughter, Mary Frances. In 1864 he was mar- ried to Miss Katharine A., daughter of the Rev. Calvin Pease, D. D., of Rochester, New York, and ex-president of the University of Vermont. A daughter who was born to them died in infancy and a son, Professor George Wyllys Benedict,. of Brown University, Rhode Island, was born January 12, 1872.
ARTHUR G. EATON.
Arthur G. Eaton, cashier of the First Na- tional Bank of Montpelier, Vermont, was born in Calais, Vermont, December I, 1862, a son of Arthur G. Eaton, Sr. He comes of early colonial
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ancestry, being a direct descendant in the ninth generation from John Eaton, the immigrant, the lineage being thus traced : John, John, Thomas, David, David, Jacob, Sylvester C., Arthur G., Sr., Arthur G.
John Eaton (1), with his wife Abigail, came from England to Massachusetts in 1635, settled first in Watertown, then moved to Dedham, where both united with the church in 1641, and where his death occurred, November 17, 1658. John Eaton (2) was born in Watertown, Massa- chusetts, in 1636, but later removed with his wife Alice to Dedham. Thomas Eaton (3) was born in 1675, probably in Dedham, Massachu- setts. In 1697 he married Lydia Gay, and re- moved to Woodstock, Connecticut, where his six younger children were born. In 1723 he be- came a resident of Ashford, Connecticut, where he lived until his death, in 1748. He was a black- smith by trade, and a large landowner. He united with the church in 1735. David Eaton (4) was born in Woodstock, Connecticut, in 1706. He was an active church member, and prominent in town affairs, serving as constable, collector and selectman. The line was continued through his first wife, Diana Davis, of Concord, David Eaton (5) born in Ashford, Connecti- cut, August 4, 1738, removed to South Hadley, Massachusetts, thence to Hanover, New Hamp- shire. He was sergeant during the Revolutionary war under General Jonathan Chase. The line of descent was continued through his union with his second wife, Abigail Curtis. Jacob Eaton (6), born at South Hadley, Massachusetts, March 12, 1766, settled in Calais, Vermont, in 1816. Of his union with Lydia Babbitt, eleven children were born, Sylvester C. being the tenth child.
Sylvester C. Eaton (7) was born in Hard- wick, Vermont, in 1809. He studied law, and practiced his profession in Plainfield, Vermont, until 1845, when he entered the ministry of the Universalist denomination, settling first in Straf- ford, Vermont. He was subsequently appointed state missionary, being located in different places in the state, including Hartland, Hard- wick and Northfield, residing in the latter place until his death, January 7, 1886. He married Marcia Jane Hall, who was born July 16, 1815, a daughter of Jonathan Chase and Lydia
(Payne) Hall, and a lineal descendant in the sixth generation, on the paternal side of Edward Hall, a proprietor of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, in 1658, and his wife Hester, or Ester, the line being continued through Benjamin and Sarah (Fisher) Hall, Benjamin and Betty (Black) Hall, Nathaniel and Prudence (Chase) Hall, Jonathan Chase and Lydia (Payne) Hall, and Marsia Jane Hall. Her paternal grandmother, Prudence (Chase) Hall, was a daughter of General Jonathan Chase, of Revolutionary fame.
Arthur G. Eaton (8) was born in Plainfield, Vermont, November 2, 1836. Reared on the home farm, he obtained his education in the dis- trict school, and at the academy in Glover, Ver- mont. During the Civil war, in July, 1862, he enlisted in Company I, Ninth Vermont Volun- teer Infantry, went to the front with his regi- ment, was taken prisoner at Harper's Ferry, and after being paroled was sent to Chicago, Illinois, where his death occurred: November 8, 1862. He married, in 1858, Ellen MI. Chase, by whom he had three children, namely: Fred- erick L .; Euloeen M., wife of Frank N. Field, of Chicopee, Massachusetts; and Arthur G., the subject of this biographical sketch. Ellen M. (Chase) Eaton was born in Calais, Vermont, October 2, 1839, a daughter of Nelson Chase. Nelson Chase was born in Petersham, Massa- chusetts, February 18, 1802. He subsequently located in Calais, Vermont, where he was a sur- veyor and farmer until 1835. Coming then to Montpelier, he became junior member of the firm of Marsh & Chase, manufacturers of pianos and musical instruments, continuing in the busi- ness six years. Returning to Calais in 1841, he became active in public affairs, serving as town clerk a number of terms ; as registrar ten years; and as judge of probate. He died in 1882. His wife, whose maiden name was Hicks, was a daughter of Gideon Hicks, who married Sally Peck, of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, and became a pioneer of Calais, Vermont, where he cleared and improved a good farm. They reared six children, and Clarissa, the eldest child, became the wife of Nelson Chase. She died in 1884.
Arthur G. Eaton (9) was brought up in Montpelier, where his widowed mother removed with her family in 1864, and received his edu- cation in the Washington county grammar
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school. Beginning the battle of life as clerk in a book and stationery store, he remained in that position two years. In 1885 he entered the First National Bank as a clerk, and was subsequently promoted throught the intermediate positions until he became cashier of the institution, an im- portant position that he has ably filled since 1895. February 10, 1881, Mr. Eaton enlisted in Company H, Vermont National Guard, serving in various offices, such as corporal, sergeant, sergeant major, lientenant and captain. At the breaking out of the Spanish-American war, serving as regimental adjutant, he went south with his regiment, serving under Colonel Clark from May 16 until October. Fraternally he is a member of the Aurora Lodge, F. & A. M.,; and of the Apollo Club. He is a member of the Unitarian church. Mr. Eaton married, October 14, 1891, Alice Drew, daughter of Henry W. Drew, of Montpelier, Vermont.
CHARLES H. MASON.
In a profession in which advancement de- pends upon individual merit, upon close appli- cation and unfaltering effort, Charles Henry Mason has gained high standing, being recog- nized as one of the leading lawyers of Benning- ton. He was formerly judge of the municipal court, and upon the bench his decisions were fair and impartial, winning him the confidence and approval of the public and the profession. He is numbered abong the native sons of the Green Mountain state, his birth having occurred in Royalton, March 3, 1856. His father, Henry Mason, was a native of Woodstock, Connecticut, born in ISI9, and was a son of Sally (Morse) Mason, also a native of Woodstock, and her father was a brother of Samuel F. B. Morse, of telegraphic fame. Henry Mason, the father of our subject, was reared and educated in his native city and afterward came to Vermont, lo- cating in Royalton. He spent his last years up- on a farm and died at the age of forty. He had one sister, Mrs. Sarah Crocker, and she is still living. He married Jerusha Mosher, who was born in Royalton, a daughter of Nicholas Mosher, a farmer and trader, who spent his entire life at Royalton, where he died at the age of sixty- seven years. Nicholas Mosher had six children :
Charler, of Fitchbury, Massachusetts; Chester, now deceased; Sarah; Betsey; Nancy; and Amanda. Mrs. Mason, the mother of our sub- ject, is still living, making her home in Hart- ford, Vermont, at the age of seventy-four years. She holds membership in the Methodist Episco- pal church, with which her people are all identi- ficd.
Indge Mason pursued his education at Royal-
CHARLES H. MASON.
ton Academy and the State Normal School in Randolph, and at the age of sixteen he began teaching in Royalton. Later he followed the same pursuit in Woodstock and Barnard, and subsequently went to Wichita, Kansas, where he spent a year in his position. His health failing him, he returned to the State Normal at Ran- dolph, and upon his recovery began the study of law under the direction of N. L. Boyden, of Randolph, Vermont. Later his preceptor was William C. Johnson, of Woodstock, and subse- quently he studied in the office of D. C. Denison, of Royalton, being admitted to the bar at the May term of the Windsor county court in 1883. He located in Bennington the same year, and for
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almost two decades has been identified with the legal profession of this city. He was village at- torney from 1884 to 1891; in 1885 he was ap- pointed municipal judge to fill out an unexpired term. In 1886 he was elected to that office and served until 1887, when he resigned. Through the three succeeding years he was village at- torney, and in 1891 he was elected state's at- torney, receiving the entire vote of the county save sixty-three votes ; he served for a term of two years in that capacity. He has been most loyal and capable in the discharge of his official duties, winning high commendation on account of the promptness and fidelity with which he has met the public obligations devolving upon him.
In 1889 Mr. Mason was united in marriage to Miss Milissa Huling, a daughter of Daniel Huling. Her grandfather, Daniel Huling, Sr., was of English descent and on coming to Ver- mont located in Shaftsbury, whence he removed to Bennington, his death occuring in this place when he had attained the age of eighty years. He invested his money in western land and be- came very wealthy. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Henrietta Vaughn, was born in Shaftsbury, Vermont, and they became the par- ents of ten children, of whom three are still living ; Milo and Columbus, who are residents of North Bennington; and Anna, the wife of the late Franklin Blackmer, of Bennington Center. The mother of this family died at the age of seventy years. Daniel Huling, Jr., the father of Mrs. Mason, was a farmer and money broker and spent his entire life in Bennington, where he became very prominent in politics as well as successful in business. He married Sophrona Chase, who was born in Whitingham, Vermont, and was a daughter of Samuel Chase, whose birth occurred in the same town. Samuel Chase was a. farmer by occupation and spent his last davs in Bennington, where he died at an ad- vanced age. His wife, who in her maidenhood was Betsey Clement, was born in Dracut, Massa- chusetts, near Lowell, and by her marriage be- came the mother of six children. but only two are now living, the son being Pelham Chase, of Iowa, while the daughter is Mrs. Huling, the mother of Mrs. Mason. Mr. Huling, the father ·of Mrs. Mason, passed away at the age of fifty-
seven, but his widow still survives him and has reached the age of fourscore years. In their family were three children: Mrs. Mason; Ed- ward C., of Chicago; Henrietta, now Mrs. Julian Starrett, also a resident of Chicago. The parents were members of the Baptist church and were people of the highest respectability and worth.
In his political views Mr. Mason is an earnest Republican, having supported that party since age gave him the right of franchise. He is identified with the Masonic fraternity, being made a Mason in Rising Sun Lodge No. 7. He subsequently affiliated with Mt. Anthony Lodge No. 13 (Bennington), in which he has held all the chairs. He is also a Royal Arch Mason. He belong to Mohegan Tribe No. 6, I. O. R. M., and in many of its official positions he has rendered to the order capable service. In ad- dition, Judge Mason is a member of the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, Fish and Game Club, and was an honorary member of Custer Post G. A. R. Mr. Mason is a lover of fine horses and owns some of the best in the state. His chief source of recreation is in dirving some of the representatives of his stables. He is well known in Bennington, where he has long made his home, and at the bar he has gained high rank. His mind is analytical and inductive. In reasoning he is sound and logical, and in the presentation of a case and before court or jury he is strong and forceful, winning many nota- ble decisions in favor of his clients. Of the two important murder cases tried by Judge Mason, the defendant whom he prosecuted is now serv- ing a life sentence, while the one who was de- fended by him was sentenced, but after two years was pardoned.
HENRY PEARL HICKOK.
The annals of Burlington, through the pro- gressive nineteenth century, would be incom- plete without a sketch of him whose name intro- duces this review, for through many decades his career was inseparably interwoven with the industrial and commercial life and the social, educational and moral advancement of the city.
Samuel Hickok, father of Henry Pearl Hickok, came to Burlington at an early day, and
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entered upon a successful business career which gave him prestige as one of the leading mer- chants throughout the northern part of the state. For half a century he was thus identified with the commercial interests of Vermont, and through this channel his son was introduced into the busy affairs which largely make up the stin of human existence. Mr. Hickok died in 1849.
Henry Pearl Hickok, son of Samuel Hickok, was born August 27, 1804, in Burlington, Ver- mont, at the family residence, then at the corner of Main and St. Paul streets. Having pursued his preliminary education in the schools of Bur- lington, Henry P. Hickok matriculated in the University of Vermont, and was graduated in that institution in the class of 1827. At the time of his death he was one of the oldest living alumni. He studied theology at Yale College and Andover Seminary with the intention of de- voting his life to the ministry, and throughout the years of his manhood he was a most earnest supporter of the cause of Christianity. For a year or two he supplied the pulpit of the Con- gregational church in Georgia, Vermont, and of a church in Peru, New York, but his father's retirement from business, combined with his own failing health, led him into other fields of labor, and for almost fifty years he was a most import- ant factor in the business life of his native city.
It was in 1855 when Mr. Hickok formed a partnership with H. W. Catlin under the firm name of Hickok & Catlin and succeeded to the ownership of the store which had long been his father's property. Marked business ability, ex- ecutive force and sound judgment made him a prosperous merchant, and the firm met with most creditable and gratifying success. But the efforts of Mr. Hickok were by no means confined to one line of endeavor, and his wise counsel guided to successful completion many of the industrial. and financial interests of Burlington. In 1852 he was instrumental in organizing the Pioneer Mechanics' Shop Company, the pioneer indus- trial concern of the city. The manufacturing prosperity of Burlington dates from that time, and has been both continuous and reliable. Mr. Hickok was one of the donors of the land oc- cupied by the first great pioneer shop building, became the heaviest stockholder and the presi-
dent of the company, and in time, purchasing the interests of the others, the sole proprietor. In 1858 there occurred a disastrous fire which de- stroyed the building and its contents, causing a loss of one hundred and fifty thousand do lars to the owners and lessees. Mr. Hickok then be- ing the principal stockholder suffered greatly through this disaster. Later he sold what re- mained of the plant to Lawrence Barnes, but always remained a friend of the manufacturing interests of the city and was interested to a greater or less extent in various enterprises. To his efforts was due the organization of the Winooski Lumber Company, at the falls, a steam mill being erected at Underhill and extensive. business there carried on. With the banking in- terests of the city h's name is also inseparably interwoven. In 1854, when the Merchants' Bank, having suffered losses, was on the eve of failure, he, with other prominent citizens, went to the rescue and supplied ad litional capital to. once more place it upon a paying basis. He was. then elected president, and under his able admin- istration it entered upon a prosperous cra which continued until 1865, when, on the adoption of the national banking system, the Merchants', with largely increased capital, was merged into the Merchants' National Bank, which continued to hold its place as the leading and most reliable financial institution of the city. Mr. Hickok remained as president of the latter from the time- of its organization until his death in 1884, and through this services of more than twenty years he bore an unassailable reputation and won a name for the bank which any similar institution. might well envy. He possessed keen insight; was an exceptionally gord judge of men; was- ambitious, yet safely conservative; and, above all, was honorable, even in the small transactions, defrauding no one of a single cent. Such quali- ties cannot fail to secure success.
Mr. Hickok was a man of well rounded char- acter, who, though controlling extensive busi- ness interests, yet found time for the develop- ment of his intellectual and moral nature. The cause of education ever found in him a warm friend, and with a marked appreciation of its real valne he did all in his power to promote the cause of the schools of our land. To his labors is largely attributable the formation of the Union
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high school district, which served as a foundation upon which was reared the superstructure of the present school system of Burlington. He was its first clerk, and in 1852 became a trustee of the State University, in which office he was con- tinued until his death, a period of thirty-two consecutive years. He was secretary of the Uni- versity from 1853 until 1862, and a member of its executive committee for eighteen years, and in these various official connections he performed most effective and beneficial service. His time, talent and money advanced the welfare of that institution of learning, and the influence and re- sult of his labors in that direction are most far- reaching.
Mr. Hickok was for twenty years one of the most prominent members of the First Congre- gational church, and when his father, the elder deacon Hickok, died in 1849, he was elected to the vacant position, in which he served until the or- ganization of the Third Congregational church in 1860. He was one of the leaders in the movement which resulted in the formation of the latter, a work which was rendered expedient alike by the growth of the community and by the increase of the First church. Upon the formation of the new society he was chosen one of the first three deacons and also a member of the prudential committee, holding both offices until his death. He was the largest contributor to the original building fund of the society, to its parsonage fund, and, for many years, to the annual ex- penses of the church. All that he could do to advance the cause of the church was done will- ingly and gladly. He responded freely to the requests for aid that came from the different benevolent organizations of the church and from the missionary societies, but above and beyond this were his private benevolences, frequently known only to himself and his God. Not the slightest ostentation was connected with his giving, and his charity was not only to relieve some temporal want, but often consisted of that help which goes from man to his brother man, enabling him to better meet the trials and diffi- culties of life. Such a spirit prompted him to assist many young men to secure college educa- tions and business positions, and not a few of Burlington's citizens owe their rise in the world to the aid which he gave them in the beginning
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