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 60
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GENERAL WILLIAM WELLS.
General William Wells, deceased, a native of Vermont, during an active life held a dis- tinguished place in the public and commercial affairs of the country. In the Civil war he proved himself a splendid soldier, and won from Gen- eral Sheridan this commendation: "He is my ideal of a cavalry officer."
Hugh Wells, a descendant of an old Eng- lish family, was born about 1590 in the county of Essex, England, and from him the line of descent to General William Wells in the seventh generation is unbroken. Hugh Wells was mar- ried in 1619, and emigrated to America in 1635. He remained in Boston for a time, and subse- quently aided in founding a colony in Hartford, Connecticut. He died in Wethersfield, Connecti- cut, in 1645.
Thomas Wells, the first child of Hugh Wells, was born in Colchester, England, in 1620, and was taken with his parents, in 1635, to America. In 165 1 he married Mary Beardsley, of Wethers- field, Connecticut, daughter of William Beards- ley, of England. In 1659 he went to Hadley, and lived there until his death, in 1676.
Ebenezer Wells, eleventh child of Thomas Wells, was born at Hadley, Massachusetts, July 4, 1668, and died at Hatfield, Massachusetts. His second child, Dr. Thomas Weils, was born at Greenfield, Massachusetts, September 25, 1693, and died at Deerfield, Massachusetts, March 7, 1745. The third child of Dr. Wells, Joseph Wells, born in Deerfield, Massachusetts, October . 8, 1731, died at Greenfield December 22, 1804. The fifth child of Joseph, Roswell Wells, was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts, September 9,
Mincione Theex.
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1769, and in 1805 moved to Waterbury, where he died July 26, 1826, aged fifty-seven years: His wife was Pamelia White, a descendant of Pere- grine White, the first white child of civilized par- entage born on the North American continent. Of this marriage were born two children, William Wellington and Roswell Wells.
William Wellington Wells, father of General Wells, was sixth in descent from the original im- migrant, Hugh Wells, and was born October 28, 1805, in Waterbury, Vermont, where he died April 9, 1869. He was a man of liberal educa- tion, excellent business qualifications and sterling character. He was graduated from the Uni- versity of Vermont in 1824, and studied law. He was turned away from the profession, however, by reason of family considerations, and gave his attention to mercantile manufacturing affairs in Waterbury, and was numbered among the most successful men of affairs in the state. His wife was Eliza Carpenter, born May 10, 1806, a daughter of Judge Dan Carpenter. She sur- vived her husband four years, and died August 5, 1873. They were the parents of ten children, of whom nine were sons.
The third child in this family, William Wells, seventh in lineal descent from the original im- migrant, was born December 14, 1837, in Water- bury, Vermont. He began his education in the common schools of his native town, and mas- tered the higher branches in Barre Academy and Kimball Union Academy, the latter named insti- tution being in Meriden, New Hampshire. While in Barre he performed a remarkable piece of work, using an odometer in surveying for a county map of Caledonia county, a task which occupied him for two months in his seventeenth year. From the age of nineteen until the spring of 1861 he was his father's assistant in his ex- tensive business. After the outbreak of the Re- bellion he and three of his brothers became sol- diers of the army of the Union.
September 9, 1861, William Wells enlisted as a private soldier, and assisted in raising Company C of the First Regiment, Vermont Cavalry ; was sworn into the United States service October 3. 1861 ; promoted first lieutenant October 14, 1861, and captain, November 18, 1861 ; promoted major, October 30. 1862; colonel. June 4, 1864 : appointed brevet brigadier general of volunteers,
February 22, 1865 ; May 16, 1865, upon the per- sonal solicitation of Generals Sheridan and Cus- ter, he was commissioned brigadier general; and he was appointed brevet major general of volun- teers, March 30, 1865, "for gallant and meri- torious service," having received more promo- tions than any other Vermont officer during the war.
He distinguished himself repeatedly in action. He was in the thickest of the fight at Orange Court House, Virginia, August 2, 1862 ; and com- manded the Second Battalion, First Vermont Cavalry, in the repulse of Stuart's Cavalry at Hanover, Pennsylvania, June 30, 1863. In the famous and desperate cavalry charge on Round Top, Gettysburg, July 3, 1863, he commanded the leading battalion, rode by the side of General Farnsworth, the brigade commander, and, almost by a miracle, came out unharmed, while his com- mander fell in the midst of the enemy's infantry. A few days later, in the savage cavalry melee at Boonsboro, Maryland, he was wounded by a sabre cut. At Culpepper Court House, Virginia, September 13, 1863, he charged the enemy's ar- tillery with his regiment, and captured a gun, and was again wounded, by a shell.
After the return of the regiment from the Kil- patrick raid, in March, 1864, Major Wells was detached and placed in command of the Seventh Michigan Cavalry (which had lost its com- mander) for a month. He commanded a bat- talion in Sheridan's cavalry battle of Yellow Tavern, Virginia, May 1I, 1864, in which Gen- eral Stuart, the greatest Confederate cavalry gen- eral, was killed. In the cavalry fight at Tom's Brook, Virginia, October 9, 1864, General Wells commanded a brigade of Custer's division ; and at Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864, his brigade took a foremost part in turning the rout of the morning into a decisive victory at nightfall. cap- turing forty-five of the forty-eight pieces of ar- tillery taken from Early's fleeing army. Major Wells served under Generals Kilpatrick, Sheridan and Custer, and was with Kilpatrick in his famous raid on Richmond, and with Wilson in his daring foray to the south of that city. At Appomattox, on the morning of the surrender of the Army of North Virginia, his brigade had started on its last charge, and was stopped by General Custer in person.
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From September 19, 1864, to April 9, 1865, he was several times in command of the Third Cavalry Division. The departure of Sheridan and Custer for Texas left him as the ranking officer and last commander of the Cavalry Corps. At the grand review of the Army of the Potomac in Washington city, May 22, 1865, he commanded the Second Brigade of Custer's Division of the Cavalry Corps, which led the advance. A medal of honor was awarded General Wells by Congress "for distinguished gallantry at the battle of Get- tysburg, July 3, 1863."
Hlis military career may be summarized by saying that he participated in seventy cavalry en- gagements, in eighteen of which he led a brigade or division, and his service in the field was contin- uous from the date of his muster in until the close of the war. January 15, 1866, he was honorably mustered out of the United States service, having been held in useful service for eight months after the war had ended, a fine testimonial to his sol- dierly ability. The official record speaks for it- self, and General Wells' military career through- out four years and a half in the war of the re- bellion evinces the highest personal qualities of a cavalry commander, combining coolness, prompt- ness and daring intrepidity with most thoughtful consideration for his men.
Soon after General Wells's return to civil life he became a partner in a firm of wholesale drug- gists at Waterbury. In 1868 they transferred their business to Burlington, which was there- after his residence. He represented the town of Waterbury in the legislature of 1865-66, being chairman of the military committee and an influ- ential legislator. In 1866 he was elected adjutant general of Vermont, and held the office until . 1872, when he was appointed collector of customs for the district of Vermont, a position which he filled with efficiency and credit for thirteen years. At the end of that time he resumed his active con- nection with the business house known the world over as the Wells & Richardson Company.
In 1886 he was state senator from the county of Chittenden. He was active in veteran sol- diers' societies ; was one of the presidents of the Reunion Society of Vermont Officers, and presi- dent of the Society of the First Vermont Cavalry. He was one of the trustees, and first president of the Vermont Soldiers' Home, and was a member
of the Gettysburg Commission in 1889-90. He was the first commander of the Vermont Com- mandery of the Loyal Legion, and would have been re-elected had he lived intil the coming an- nmal inceting of the Commandery. He was a member of Stannard Post, No. 2, G. A. R., De- partment of Vermont, and would have been made department commander several years ago had he been willing to accept an election as such. He was a member of the Vermont Society of Sons of the American Revolution.
General Wells was identified with many im- portant business enterprises in the city, being president of the Burlington Trust Company, president of the Burlington Gas-Light Company, president of the Burlington Board of Trade, di- rector in the Burlington Cold Storage Company, director in the Rutland Railroad Company and director in the Champlain Transportation Com- pany. He was a member and a vestryman of St. Paul's church, and was one of the trustces of the Young Men's Christian Association of Burling- ton, and one of its most liberal supporters. Few men, if any, touched the life of the community in which he lived in so many important capacities.
His sudden death from angina pectoris, in New York city, April 29, 1902, removed, while in the prime of life, a most genial, courteous and kind-hearted man, a gallant soldier, and one of the most respected citizens of the Green Moun- tain state.
General Wells was married January 18, 1866, to Miss Arahanna Richardson, who was born July 20, 1845, in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. To them were born two children: Frank Richard- son and Bertha Richardson. Frank Richardson Wells was born February 1, 1871, in Burlington, Vermont, and was married in California, Novem- ber 7, 1900, to Miss Jean Mary Hush, of Oak- land, California. Bertha Richardson Wells was born April 23, 1873, and was married in Burling- ton, Vermont, July 6, 1899, to Dr. Horatio Nel- son Jackson, of Burlington, Vermont.
JAMES HENRY LIVINGSTON.
James Henry Livingston, of Bennington, was born at Cold Spring, New York, February 18, 1847. His father, Alexander Livingston, born in New York, died at the age of seventy-three
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years, in 1881. He married Lovina Boyce, who was born in Vermont, and died in 1875, aged six- ty-four years. Of their union nine children were born, James H. being the seventh in succession of birth.
James H. Livingston received his primary ed- ucation in the schools of Cambridge, New York, whither he removed with his parents in 1851. Entering the office of the Cambridge Valley News when a lad of thirteen years, he began work at the printer's trade, completing his apprenticeship in the office of the Rutland Courier in Rutland, Ver- mont. Going to Boston, Massachusetts, when sixteen years old, he remained there a year, then went to New York city, where he secured employ- ment as ticket agent and telegraph operator in a railway office. Three years later he returned to his trade, for a time publishing a commercial newspaper, Daily Arrival, in New York city, which he subsequently sold and resumed his place at the case, serving as compositor and reporter on the daily papers of New York until 1871. In the meantime, however, Mr. Livingston had contin- ued his studies with the intention of fitting himself for a professional career, reading law to some ex- tent, and for two years studying medicine, after which, during the winter of 1867-8, he was in the Bellevue Hospital College. Since that time he has paid especial attention to such studies as would be of benefit to him in his journalistic work.
Locating in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1871, Mr. Livingston remained there two years, being edi- tor of a weekly newspaper each year. In 1873 he removed to Hoosick Falls, New York, where he established the Rensselaer County Standard, which he conducted until 1880, when he disposed of it. Embarking then in the dry-goods business, he lost, in a few months, the accumulations of his seven years of labor. With characteristic enter- prise, however, he began life anew in Greenfield, Massachusetts, establishing a weekly newspaper, the Greenfield Siftings, which he managed alone for a year. Selling one-half interest in this paper in 1882, he removed to Brattleboro, Vermont, and took a half interest in both the Brattleboro Re- former and the Bennington Reformer, and in company with Charles H. Davenport published all three of these papers for a year. Dissolving part- nership with Mr. Davenport in 1883, Mr. Liv- ingston accepted the Bennington Reformer as his
share of the property, and settled in Bennington, where he has since resided. In March, 1902, he sold out his interest in the Reformer to Frank E. Howe, and turned his attention, temporarily, to the job printing business.
Mr. Livingston married, in 1875, Miss Ella May Saunders, daughter of Horace and Adelaide Saunders, of Berlin, New York, and into their household five children have been born, namely : Mabel, born in 1876; Ida, born in 1879; Eva, born in 1881, died at the age of ten months ; and Grace and Guy, twins, born in 1887. Mr. Livingston is secretary of the board of trade of Bennington and has taken an active interest in advancing the general welfare of the city of his adoption. He is a member of Stark Lodge No. 8, I. O. O. F .; Monument Lodge No. 8, K. of P., and Benning- ton Lodge No. 567, B. P. O. E.
DAVID SEYMOUR WILSON.
The late David Seymour Wilson was an un- dertaker and furniture dealer at Manchester Cen- ter, where he was prosperously engaged in mer- cantile business for more than forty years. He was born in Townshend, Vermont, March 16, 1836, a son of Isaac Boyd Wilson, and grandson of Samuel Wilson. His great-grandfather, whose name was probably James, who was was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, emigrated from Lon- donderry, Ireland, to Londonderry, New Hamp- shire, was one of its earliest settlers, and there spent the remaining years of his life.
Samuel Wilson grew to manhood in London- derry, New Hampshire, afterwards removing to Grafton, Vermont, where he labored with the early pioneers in clearing and improving a home- stead, on which he lived until his sudden de- cease, July 6, 1811. His wife, whose maiden name was Margaret Thompson, was born in Graf- ton, Vermont, August 6, 1771, and died March 17, 1848, having borne her husband the following children : Robert, born November 13, 1795, died June 5, 1832 ; James F., born June 26, 1797, died December 7, 1865 ; Isaac B., father of David S .; Jane, born January 30, 1801, died June 16, 1833 ; John, born November 13. 1803, a seafaring man, was wrecked on one of his voyages ; Gilman, born August 28, 1806, died July 20, 1881; William, born April 23. 180S, died February 17, 1834 ; and
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David, born March 6, 1810, died November 12, 1834.
Isaac B. Wilson was born in Grafton, Ver- mont, February 15, 1799, and died in Manchester, Vermont, March 12, 1876. He was reared and educated in the place of his birth, but began the battle of life for himself in Townshend, Vermont, as junior member of the mercantile firm of Shaf- ter & Wilson. He was subsequently engaged in manufacturing, in company with Judge Shafter, in Cambridgeport, going from there to Athens, Vermont, where he was engaged in general mer- chandise, and was also postmaster for three years. Coming then to Manchester, he located in that part of the town known as Factory Point, where he carried on a remunerative trade in general mer- chandise for more than thirty years, continuing in active business pursuits until his death. He was influential in all affairs pertaining to the management of the town, serving as selectman, overseer of the poor, etc. He also did a large amount of financial business for others, during the Civil war making out all papers for the pay- ment of bounties to the soldiers, borrowing money to make the payments, the amount being subse- quently returned him by the town, which raised funds for that purpose. He was a firm Repub- lican in politics. Of his union with Thankful Bayley, the daughter of an Athens, Vermont, farmer, three children were born, but only one is now living, Cordelia, wife of A. W. Pettibone, of La Crosse, Wisconsin. The mother died at the age of eighty years, January II, 1876.
David S. Wilson was educated in the com- mon schools of Manchester and at the Burr and Burton Seminary, after which he learned the cabinet-maker's trade, which he followed four years as a journeyman. Going to Brandon in 1858, he remained there a year, and then returned to Manchester. In 1860 Mr. Wilson established himself in business at Factory Point, locating in the original part of the building which he occupied up to the time of his re- cent death as
a furniture dealer, the building at that time being only one-fourth as large as now. From time to time, as his trade demanded, he added to his establishment and his stock, and when he died had the distinction of being the one of the largest furniture dealers in southern Vermont, the oldest established mer-
chant in Manchester, and had been in the under- taking business longer than any one else in the county, if not in the state, having taken up his two lines of business simultaneously. He was a strong Republican in politics, and as a representa- tive to the state legislature in 1880 served on the committee on highways, bridges and ferries. He was one of the charter members, a director, and a vice president of the Factory Point National Bank of Manchester.
Mr. Wilson married, October 1, 1861, Rox- anna A. Eddy, daughter of the late Jeremiah and Mary (Boorn) Eddy, of Manchester. Mr. Eddy, a farmer, died in early manhood, leaving three children : James, who was killed by being thrown from a horse; Ann, wife of Norris Car- penter, of West Hoosick, New York; and Rox- anna A., now Mrs. Wilson; Mrs. Eddy lived to a good old age, dying at the age of eighty-four years, and was a member of the Baptist church. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson had one child, Miss Mary B. Wilson. Mrs. Wilson attended the Baptist church.
SENECA SHERMAN CLEMONS, M. D.
Dr. Seneca S. Clemons, one of the longest established and best known physicians of Man- chester Center, was born January 23, 1842, in Wallingford, Vermont, a son of James Clemons, Jr. His paternal grandfather, James Clemons, Sr., served in the war of 1812, and died on the field, at the battle of Plattsburg. His widow sub- sequently died in Wallingford, Vermont, from a sunstroke. They were the parents of five chil- dren, none of whom are living.
James Clemons, Jr., was born in Wallingford, Vermont, and there spent his sixty-nine years of earthly lifc, being engaged principally in agri- cultural pursuits. He married Rachel Sherman, a native of Wallingford, and a daughter of George and Rachel (Congdon) Sherman, who were born and reared in Rhode Island, but settled on a farm in Wallingford after the battle of Plattsburg, in which Mr. Sherman took part ; Mrs. Sherman, who died at the age of eighty-four years, reared six children. Of the union of Rachel Sherman with James Clemons, Jr., eight children were born, of whom six are now living, namely : Henry, a farmer in Wallingford; Seneca S .; Lo- raine, wife of Livingston Derrick, of Wallingford :
Seneca &. Clemons M.D.
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Mary E., of Wallingford; Abbey, also of that town : and Sarah, wife of George Crary, of Wall- ingford. Francis died in childhood, and George E., at the age of thirty-eight years. The mother died March 31, 1901, aged eighty nine years. Both parents attended the Congregational church.
Seneca S. Clemons received his elementary education in the public schools of his native town, and was graduated from the medical department of the University of Vermont with the class of 1865. Beginning the practice of his profession at Manchester Center immediately after receiving his degree, he met with such encouragement in the way of patronage that he has continued here until the present time, being one of the most suc- cessful and popular physicians of this locality, and being the oldest in point of practice in the county. He is a Republican in politics, and served as United States examining surgeon from 1868 until 1882. He is a member of the Benning- ton County Medical Society ; of Adoniram Lodge No. 42, Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has held the office of junior warden ; and of Hope Lodge, No. 50, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. in which he served one term as noble grand. He belongs to the Baptist church.
Dr. Clemons married, in 1869, Annie E. Dan- forth, who was born in East Rupert. Vermont, a daughter of Captain A. J. R. and Abigail (Har- wood) Danforth, who were the parents of ten children, five boys and five girls, four of whom are now living : Oliver H., of East Rupert ; Vesta ; Mary E., wife of Dr. J. E. Hitt, of Granville : and Jennie A., wife of Charles N. Williams, of Dorset. Annie E., wife of Dr. Clemons, died in 1890, aged forty-six years, leaving three chil- dren, as follows : Charles F., who was graduated from Yale University in 1895. tutored in Phila- delphia, Washington and London until 1899, when he went to Butte, Montana, with the Shan- non Copper Company, from there going for the same company, December 31, 1901, to Honolulu, where he is now practicing law in partnership association with Judge Austin Whiting; Mabel, wife of Harry C. Danforth, a farmer in East Ru- pert ; and Abbie E., wife of Frank McGuire of Manchester. Dr. Clemons afterward married Mrs. Nancy Carney, daughter of John Moore, who spent his long life of ninety years in Man- chester.
CROSBY ALPHEUS PERRY, M. D.
Crosby A. Perry, M. D., a prominent physi- cian of Readsboro, Vermont, was born in Con- cord, Vermont, March 1, 1838, a son of the late Micah and Susan ( Woodbury ) Perry. He comes of Revolutionary stock on both the paternal and
CROSBY ALPHEUS PERRY, M. D.
maternal sides and has the distinction of being the youngest son of a soldier of the Revolution in the state. He has inherited the patriotic zeal that characterized his ancestors, and is himself a veteran of the Civil war.
Micah Perry was one of the youngest soldiers in the Continental army. He was born in 1760. was a soldier in the patriot army at the age of sixteen. At the same time there enlisted in the same command his father, Benjamin, and Jon- athan Woodbury. Dr. Perry's maternal grand- father. All were in the battle of Bennington. served throughout the war and survived. Micah
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Perry was twice married, and while his first wife was living he resided in Royalston, Massachu- setts. They had ten children. Subsequently set- tling in Concord, Vermont, he there carried on general farming until his death, in 1840, at the age of eighty years. His second wife, Susan Woodbury, was born and brought up in Concord, Vermont, the home of her father, who was a sol- dier in the Revolution, and also fought in the war of 1812. She was one of a family of fourteen daughters, and she reared eleven children, of whom but three survive, namely : Jackson M. Perry, an agriculturist, who resides on the homestead farm in Concord, which tract has been in the family for one hundred and twenty-five years ; Mrs. Harriet L. Ellis, of Winchendon. Massachusetts ; and Crosby A., the special sub- ject of this sketch, who was the last born of the second union.
Crosby A. Perry received his academical edu- cation at Burnham Academy, Farmington, Maine ; then taking up the study of medicine he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of Pennsylvania, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1859. The following two years Dr. Perry practiced medicine in New York, but gave up his professional career in 1861 that he might serve his country, first as a volunteer nurse and subse- quently as a private in Company E, Fifth Mass- achusetts Volunteer Infantry. He served until December 2, 1864, when he received his honorable discharge. Settling in East Wallingford in 1868, he remained there two years in the practice of his profession, then removed to Rutland, where he continued his practice until 1873, when he removed to Readsboro, his present home. Dur- ing the years that have since elapsed he has gained the confidence of the community in which he resides, and has built up a large practice.
Dr. Perry is a stanch Republican in politics, and takes a keen interest in public matters. He has filled various town offices with acceptability to all concerned, serving for ten years as select- man : for nine years as lister ; as justice of the peace twenty-two years; as superintendent of schools nine years ; and for thirty-eight years was a member of the school board. He is prominent in the Odd Fellows order, belonging to Deerfield Valley Lodge, No. 3, I. O. O. F., in which he
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