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 46

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 46

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of their careers. Loyalty to his country was manifested at all times, yet he never sought or desired office and never occupied a public posi- tion, save in 1852, when he represented his dis- trict in the state legislature.

Mr. Hickok married, in 1834, Maria Buell, daughter of Colonel Ozias Buell, of Burlington, Vermont. She was born in Kent, Connecticut, and after coming to Burlington, Vermont, at- tended school where the Van Ness Hotel now stands. Between the Unitarian church and the school house at that time extended a dense pine grove, covering what is now the business center of the city, and only an old path marked the course among the trees to the place of learning. Mrs. Hickok was her husband's associate, con- fidante and active co-worker in all things, and their home life was rendered ideal by Mr. Hickok's devotion to her and to their only child, Harriet B. In connection with this description of Mr. Hickok's domestic relations may be men- tioned the fact that his sister, Eliza, who took a great interest in all religious matters and benev- olent undertakings, was of great assistance to him in all his enterprises in this direction. A biographical sketch of the Rev. Edward Hunger- ford, who was related by marriage to the family of Mr. Hickok, will be found elsewhere in this volume.

Colonel Ozias Buell, father of Mrs. Hickok, belonged to one of the oldest and most prominent families of Burlington, whither he went from Litchfield, Connecticut. Colonel Buell was a man well known and highly respected, not only for his social standing and his connection with the militia, but for his active interest in religious matters, an interest which he manifested in many ways, and notably in donating the land where the Winooski avenue church now stands. Mrs. Buell, his wife, had a daughter, who married George P. Marsh, United States ambassador to Constantinople, and later to Greece and Italy, making his home in Florence, and afterward in Rome, where he died, having represented the United States government there for twenty-two years.

In 1881 Mr. Hickok sustained a severe be- reavement in the death of his wife, a bereave- ment which was the more keenly felt by reason of his advancing age and failing health. Not-

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withstanding these hindrances, he attended to his business duties and church work, as far as liis strength permitted, to the last. He died in 1884, at the age of eighty years, and any monu- ment erected to his memory and to commemorate his virtues will have become dim and tarnished by time ere the remembrance of his noble ex- ample will cease to exercise an influence upon the community in which he lived and labored to such goodly ends.

ALFRED ANSON BYINGTON.

If one desires to gain a vivid realization of the rapid advancement made in the development and substantial upbuilding of the section of Vermont with which this publication has to do, he may listen to the stories and reminiscences of men who are still living here, and whose memories constitute an indissoluble chain linking the earlier days with this later epoch of prosperity and proud accomplishment, as the twentieth century swings in to the cycle of the ages. The subject of this review, one of the prominent and influen- tial farmers of Chittenden county, and one who has well upborne the prestige of an honored name, is a native son of the Green Mountain state and a representative of one of the old and distin- guished families of New England, with whose history the name became inseparably linked in the colonial days, being intimately concerned in the formation of the grandest republic the world has ever known. It is well that records concerning such sterling families be perpetuated on printed pages, and in accomplishing this end works of this nature exercise their maximum usefulness and prove of permanent value from an historical standpoint.

Alfred A. Byington, well known as the owner of one of the model farms of Charlotte, is a native of Williston, Chittenden county, Vermont, where he was born on the 17th of April, 1830, so that he has now passed the psalmist's span of three- score years and ten, but in this vigorous mental and physical make-up he sets at naught the state- ment further made by the scriptural writer. He is a son of Anson Byington, the place of whose birth was in Hinesburg, Vermont, and who was long numbered among the prominent and hon- ored farmers of this town. He died in Charlotte,

January 16, 1870, at the venerable age of eighty- two years, one of the revered patriarchs of the community in which he had lived and labored to so goodly ends. He was a son of the Rev. Justus Byington, who was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, on the 7th of April, 1763, being in turn the son of David Byington, who was born in Branford, Connecticut, February 17, 1734, and removed to Waterbury, Connecticut, where he was a manufacturer of wheels used in woolen factories ; he was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and died in Farmington, Connecticut.

The father of David Byington was David Byington, born in Branford, November 30, 1702, and the son of John Byington, of Branford-a weaver. Rev. Justus Byington, the grandfather, was a valiant soldier in the war of the Revolu- tion, in which he rendered yeoman service in securing to the colonies independence from the English crown. He enlisted three times, the first time at the age of fourteen. He resided for a number of years in Hinesburg, thence removing to Charlotte and finally taking up his abode in Morley, St. Lawrence county, New York, where he passed his declining days, his death occurring on the 22d of April, 1839, at the age of seventy- six years. He took unto himself a wife, in the person of Miss Lucy Hinsdill, who was born in Canaan, Connecticut, on the 2d of August, 1759, and who died at Morley, New York, on the IIth of November, 1852, having long survived her husband and having been ninety-three years of age at the time of her demise. Of this union were born ten children, all of whom are now deceased. In order of birth they are as follows: Anson, born January 6, 1788; Lucy, December 16, 1790; Archibald, September 7, 1792; Milo, August 7, 1794: Orrilla, September 7, 1796; John, October 8, 1798; Betsey, September 17, 1800; Lorain, July 18, 1802 ; Justus, July 9, 1805 ; and Wesley, December 28, 1807.

Anson Byington, the father of our subject, was born in the town of Hinesburg, as has al- ready been noted, the date of his nativity having been January 6, 1788. He was first married to Miss Lorrin McEwen, and they had one child, Teresa P., who was born September 14, 1807, and became the wife of John Halsey, of Lisbon, New York. After the death of his first wife An- son Byington married Miss Theoda Cunningham,

A. A. Byington

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who was born on the 9th of September, 1787, and who died in Williston in 1850. Fourteen chil- dren were born of this union, as follows: Hiram Fayette, born January 22, 1813; Maria Mary, May 9, 1814; Norman Hensdill, September 20, 1815; Laura Lemira, December 28, 1816; Alme- dea Amanda, March 16, 1818; Harry Harmon, March 28, 1819; Alma Amanda, August 28, 1820: William Worth, January 9, 1822; Myron Monroe, May 18, 1823; Sidney Seymour, September 13, 1824; Lucy Lavina, June 4, 1826; Hiram Hubert, October 8, 1827; Emily Ermina, October 18, 1828; and Al- fred Anson, April 17, 1830. Of this number the subject of this sketch is the youngest, and is one of the three who survive, the others being his brother William, who is a resident of Elkhorn, Wisconsin, and Emily Ermina, who first married William H. French, of Williston, Vermont, and after his death became the wife of William H. Lewis, of Lynn, Wisconsin. Anson Byington de- voted practically his whole life to agricultural pursuits, being thus engaged for a number of years in Hinesburg, later in Williston and still later in Nicolville, while his last days were passed in Charlotte, where he died January 16, 1870. He was a man of marked individuality and sterling integrity, commanding uniform confidence and esteem, and while a resident of Williston he served in a number of local offices of trust and responsibility. Being a protectionist and an ad- mirer of Henry Clay, his political support in his earlier years was given to the Whig party, but during the latter years of his life the great ques- tion of slavery becoming one of the most mo- mentous which the nation has ever been called upon to face, and to him the institution was utter- ly odious, so that he became one of the stanchest of abolitionists. He was one of the original organizers of the old Liberty party, casting his vote for Gerrit Smith, of New York, for Presi- dent in 1848, and subsequently for John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, for the same office, in 1852; but when the Republican party was organized in 1856 he voted for John C. Fremont for Presi- dent. He and his wife were devoted members of the Congregational church in Williston, and he was one of the effective local preachers of the same, ever being moved by a deep humanitarian spirit.

Alfred A. Byington, who figures as the imme- diate subject of this review, passed his youthful days in Williston, receiving his early educational training in the common schools there maintained and in the Williston Academy, supplementing the same by a course of study in the Academy at Bakersfield, which was conducted under the supervision of a Mr. Spaulding, an able instructor and one who stood high in the educational circles of the day. After leaving school Mr. Byington put his scholastic requirements to practical test by engaging in teaching, in which line of en- deavor he did successful work in the district schools of Williston and Hinesburg. It was about this time that the discovery of gold in California became exploited throughout the Union, drawing so many venturesome spirits to the Pacific coast in search of the treasure of the new Eldorado. Our subject became thoroughly imbued with the prevailing gold fever, and, in 1850, joined the band of argonauts who went to California by the Panama route, where he arrived in due course of time, after having endured the dangers and hardships necessarily incidental to such a journey in the memorable period. Mr. Byington remained in California until 1857, and he gives many inter- esting reminiscences in regard to the stirring life of the pioneer days in the Golden State. He re- calls the fact that at one time milk sold for one dollar a gallon and potatoes at sixteen dollars per bushel, while other supplies demanded equally high prices, so that, while many of the miners made large amounts of money, a very consider- able portion of their hard-earned gold was neces- sarily expended in the procuring of provisions.

In 1857 Mr. Byington returned to the east by the Panama route, and upon reaching his na- tive county he turned his attention to farming, having operated farms in Hinesburg and Shel- burne until 1869, when he took up his abode on his magnificent homestead, which comprised four hundred acres and which immediately ad- joins his present home farm, whose area is two hundred acres. On the farm first mentioned, he continued to reside until 1893. when he re- moved to his present place, which is improved with excellent buildings, erected by him, and which has all the conveniences and accessories of a truly model farmstead, the land being ex- ceptionally productive by reason of the scientific-

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methods employed in its cultivation, while the owner also devotes particular attention to dairy- ing, in which department of his farm enterprise he has met with corresponding success, his place being pointed out as one of the best farms in the state : its attractiveness is the greater by reason ·of its beautiful location, a fine view being com- manded of the mountains and of Lake Cham- · plain, the picturesque sight being a source of never-lessening pleasure to those appreciative of the beauties of nature.

On the 6th of September, 1858, Mr. Bying- ton was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Marsh, who was born in Hinesburg on Septem- ber 27, 1834, being a daughter of Hon. Joseph Marsh, who there passed the greater part of his life, engaging in farming, his death occurring at the age of seventy-eight years. Mr. Marsh was more familiarly known as Judge Marsh, having been associate judge of the county court for a number of years. He was honored by his towns- people by being elected several times a member of the legislature and also state senator and to other honorable positions. He was for many years, until his death, a deacon of the Congre- gational church. He was born in Hinesburg, Vermont, while his wife was born in Williston, Vermont, her maiden name being Maria Taylor, and she died April 19, 1851. They became the parents of three daughters and three sons, and one of the daughters still survive, Jennie, the wife of Frederick Macck, of Hinesburg, who · died in 1887. To our honored subject and his wife have been born six children, concerning whom we enter brief record as follows: Charles M., who was born in Hinesburg on the 10th of February, 1860, married Agnes Frost, and they have three children, Merle E., Alfred Stanley and Bernice A., the family home being the for- mer residence of his father in Charlotte, Vermont. Jennie M., who was born in Hinesburg on the 3Ist of August, 1862, was married in 1883 to George W. Prindle, and they reside in East Charlotte, having three children, Leon D., Jessie E. and Lester M. Burton L., who was born in Shelburne on the 2nd of March, 1866, married Alice Williams, in Charlotte, and they reside on the Marsh farm in Hinesburg, being the parents of three children, Marsh M., Hazel A. and Janice J. Anna L., who was born in Shelburne, Ver-

mont, June 22, 1868, is at home. Ethel S., who was born in Charlotte on the 8th of March, 1871, is now at home. Percy F., the youngest of the children, was born in Charlotte on the 5th of September, 1876, and is also at home. All of the children received excellent educational ad- vantages and all were successful and popular teachers for varying intervals with the exception of the youngest, who has never engaged in ped- agogic work.

Mr. Byington identified himself with the Re- publican party at the time of its organization and has ever continued a stanch advocate of its principles and policies, while he has taken an active interest in public affairs and been given gratifying evidences of local confidence and es- teem, since he has not only served as selectman, of which office he was incumbent for three terms, but also as lister for two terms, as justice of the peace for a full decade and school director for the first five years of the town system, he was also honored in being elected to represent his town in the legislature of the state in 1890, prov- ing a valuable member of the legislative body and bringing to bear a strongly deliberative mind and a mature judgment in representing the interests of his constituents and the people of the state at large. He and his family have been for many ycars zealous members of the Congre- . gational church. Mrs. Byington passed away on the 4th of April, 1898.

GEORGE L. LINSLEY.

George L. Linsley, deceased, who for many years was a prominent factor in the commercial interest of Burlington, Vermont, came from an old and distinguished family. The first members spelled their name Linsly, as shown by old papers and documents. In the early days the Linsleys owned almost all of Addison county, Vermont, and ranked as the most prominent family in the county. Not only certain traits of character have been handed down to succeeding generations, which have marked them as successful men, but the family names have been carefully perpetuated to show that those who have borne them before can be looked back upon and regarded with just pride. The first of whom there is any record in America, was Abiel Linsley, whose immediate

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family came from England; Abiel Linsley was born in 1700. He had a son Abiel, who was born in 1730, and another son Jacob, who was born in I747. Abiel who, previous to the Revolution, was engaged in trade with the Indians on the borders of Lake Erie, settled in Cornwall, Vermont, soon after the war ended; he died May 17, 1800, aged seventy years.

· Judge Joel Linsley, son of Abiel, Jr., was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, February 7, 1756. Early in the year 1775 he settled at Cornwall, Addison county. Vermont. From the history of Cornwall published in 1862 is taken the follow- ing : "Early in 1775 the Hon. Joel Linsley, of Waterbury, Connecticut, made a pitch on the lot, on which he continued to reside until his death. His first dwelling, like those of his neighbors, a log cabin, was sixty or eighty rods west of that in which he afterwards lived. He became an ex- tensive landowner, having acted as surveyor, and thus became familiar with the unoccupied lands. His work as a surveyor began early in 1775." When Ticonderoga was abandoned to the British in 1777, the settlers all fled to the south and did not return until after the war was ended. In the winter of 1774 about thirty families came into the town of Cornwall from Connecticut. The town was organized and Joel Linsley was elected town clerk, in which position he served the town for thirty-five years. He represented the town in the general assembly from 1793 to 1797, in- clusive, also in 1799 and 1801, and in 1808 and 1809. He was assistant judge of Addison county court from 1793 to 1800, and chief justice of the same court from 1801 to 1806, and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1793.' He was also a prominent Mason of the Union Lodge in Middlebury.

Judge Linsley belonged to that class of men whose energy, enterprise and intelligence go far in forming the character of the town in which they live. In every office he held, his duties were discharged with marked ability and faithfulness. His cheerful disposition, quaint humor and love of anecdote were prominent traits of his char- acter, and won for him many friends, among whom was numbered Ethan Allen of Ticonder- oga fame. His personality was a striking one, his complexion being dark and swarthy, and his hair very black. Judge Linsley had a brother

Horace, whose sons were Gilbert F., Darius M., Horace and Joel. Judge Linsley married Lavinia Gilbert, who bore him eight children: Sally, Betsy, Horace, Joel Harvey, Gilbert, Charles, Lu- cius and Julius. He died February 13, 1819,

Joel Harvey Linsley, D. D., one of Judge Linsley's sons, was born July 15, 1790. He was first a student for the bar, and was admitted and practiced for some years : afterwards, not finding this profession congenial, he studied for the min- istry and commenced preaching. He was in- stalled as pastor of the Park Street church, Bos- ton, four years, and for ten years afterward was president of the Marietta College, Ohio. He pre- pared for college at the Addison county grammar school, and under the instructions of the Rev. Jedidiah Bushnell. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1837.

Charles Linsley, son of Judge Joel Linsley, was born August 29, 1795, in Cornwall, and was educated for a mercantile life, and was thus en- gaged. for several years. But his tastes led him into a different calling, and he entered the legal profession. He was for many years engaged in an extensive practice in Middlebury, Vermont, and received appointments to several responsible positions. He moved to Rutland, but later re- turned to Middlebury. As a lawyer he was learned, profound and forceful; was a keen ob- server and ranked with such men as Daniel Chip- man. Judy and Phelps, Horatio Seymour, Rob- ert B. Bates, and Peter Star. Under the admin- istration of President Polk he was made district attorney of Vermont for four years, and under President Buchanan, collector of the district. He was railroad comptroller of the state in 1856, and a member of the legislature of 1862, when he re- turned to Middlebury. At the opening of the Rebellion he took the side of the government, and gave it his most earnest support until the day of his death. He was an earnest Christian, and was confirmed in St. Stephen's church by the Rev. Bishop Hopkins in June, 1834. He married Miss Sarah Chipman, who was born in 1805 ; her fa- ther, Daniel Chipman, born in Salisbury, Connec- ticut, October 22, 1763, moved to Middlebury. Vermont, in 1794. later to Ripton, Vermont, where he resided until his death and became one of the representative citizens of the town.

George L. Linsley, son of Charles and Sarah

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(Chipman) Linsley, was born April 2, 1833, in Middlebury, Vermont, where he resided until lie was eighteen years of age, receiving an academ- ical education. He then went west, and in con- nection with his brothers D. C. Linsley and Charles J. Linsley, entered upon his first railroad enterprise, the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad. Shortly afterward he was engaged in the construction of a railway from Danville to Lexington, Kentucky, after which, with his fa- ther and brother, he purchased and conducted for several years a large farm in Kankakee, Illinois. In 1859 Mr. Linsley returned to Burlington, and with his brother, D. C. Linsley, built the branch of the Vermont and Canada road from the central dock in Burlington to Essex Junction. The tun- nel under North avenue was opened at this time, and soon after the completion of this work, in company with his brother, D. C. Linsley, he built a further link of the Vermont and Canada road extending from St. Albans to St. John, province of Quebec. Mr. Linsley again returned to Bur- lington and located what has become the longest established coal business in the city, having an office south of the Central Vermont depot ; he was engaged in that branch of trade up to the time of his death, carrying on a large jobbing as well as retail trade.

In 1865 Mr. Linsley and his brother, D. C. Linsley, and Messrs. Luther Whitney, of Keese- ville, and S. S. Churchill, began the construction, in the northern section of the lumber district, of the mills known as Linsley's Mills, which were operated for several years under the firm name of S. S. Churchill & Company. The mills were erected for the purpose of sawing bridge timber from squared timber from Canada, which prod- uct was shipped to all points in New England. As the lumber business of Burlington increased. facilities for dressing lumber were added and for a number of years the firm conducted a thriving trade in this line. In 1872 the Central Vermont Railroad Company increased its freight yard to such an extent that more room was needed to ac- commodate the increasing business, and the large plot of land near the mills was filled in under Mr. Linsley's personal supervision. Flumes were constructed, and water being pumped from the lake against the bluff west of the Battery, the sand was carried down on to the lake shore. In

this way nearly fifteen acres of yard room were practically redeemed from the lake. In 1880 Mr. Linsley was appointed general manager of the Burlington and Lamoille Railroad, a position he held up to the time of his death, being retained by the Central Vermont after the road passed into the hands of that corporation. Mr. Linsley was also a director for many years of the Burlington Gaslight Company; in his business relations he was always regarded as thoroughly honorable and upright, and a man of the strictest integrity. He was a member of St. l'aul's church of Burlington, and served for a number of years as a member of the vestry.

On October 19, 1864, Mr. Linsley was mar- ried at St. Paul's church in Boston, Massachus- etts, to Miss Faustina A. Wright, who was born in North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, a daughter of George S. Wright, who was born at Westford, Massachusetts, in the year 1805, and was suc- cessfully engaged for a number of years in the lumber, sash and blind trade in Burlington, Ver- mont ; subsequently he removed to Nashua, New Hampshire, where his death occurred in the sev- entieth year of his age. Mr. Linsley died Novem- ber 20, 1899, in New York city, in the fifty-sev- enth year of his age ; the remains were brought to Burlington, and the funeral services were held in St. Paul's church, Burlington, Vermont. He was survived by his widow and a daughter, Mary Chipman, wife of Dr. E. L. Saunders, of Hart- ford, Connecticut, who is engaged as a surgeon on the Massachusetts nautical training ship, the Enterprise.

REV. SAMUEL NELSON JACKSON.

The Rev. Samuel Nelson Jackson, M. D., is a retired Congregational minister living in Bur- lington, Vermont. He is the second son of Ho- ratio Nelson Jackson and Eliza Maria Hollister, and was born in Brome, province of Quebec, Canada, December 21, 1838. His grandfather, the Rev. John Jackson, born in 1771, was a na- tive of Petersham, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1792. He was ordained the first pastor of the Congregational church at Gill, Massachusetts, in 1798, and there his chil- dren, five sons and three daughters were born. His wife, Rebecca Rogers, was the daughter of

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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 46

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