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 78

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 78

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THE STATE OF VERMONT.

prising city of Bennington. He has been an im- portant factor in business circles, and his popu- larity is well deserved, as in him are embraced the characteristics of an unbending integrity, un- abating energy and industry that never flags. He is public spirited and thoroughly interested in whatever tends to promote the moral, intellec- tual and material welfare of Bennington.

SEWARD P. SMITH.

Few residents of Addison county are better known or more highly esteemed than Seward P. Smith, the popular proprietor of the Mountain View Inn, located in Addison, about ten miles from the city of Vergennes and not far distant from Middlebury. The Smith family is one of the oldest and most honored ones in the Green Mountain state, and they trace their line of de- scent to Samuel Smith, the great-great-grand- father of our subject. With his wife, Hannah, he came to this state from New Jersey, casting in their lot with the early settlers of Bridport, and in that town their son Luther was born. The latter's son, Selwyn, followed the tilling of the soil as a life occupation. Jonas Smith, the son of Selwyn, was born in Bridport, Vermont, but he was reared and received his education in the town of Addison. He, too, chose the work of the farm as his occupation through life. On the 7th of December. 1876, he was united in marriage to Mary E. Pond, who was born in Addison, where her father, Alvin D. Pond, resided for a number of years. Her paternal grandfather, David Pond, was one of the early settlers of that place and was one the most prominent farmers of the county. His wife was born near Lake Champlain, and her father was captured by the Indians. She died at the age of sixty years. Alvin D. Pond. the father of Mrs. Smith, also followed agricultural pur- suits on an extensive scale, and his last days were spent in Addison, being called to his final rest at the age of eighty-three years. He was a fine musician, and for forty years was the leader of a choir. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Rhoda Gage, was born in Addison in 1819, be- ing a daughter of George A. Gage, one of the early pioneers of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Smith became the parents of two sons, Seward P. and George. The mother passed away in 1901, and

both she and her husband were members of the Baptist church.

Seward P. Smith was born in New York, on the 26th of May, 1878, and in addition to the education which he received in the common schools he was also a student for a time in the Burlington Business College. After completing his education he was employed as clerk in the Sil- lick House, thus continuing until he came to his present place, in 1897. The Mountain View Inn, which furnishes accommodations for sixteen peo- ple, is located on Grand View Mountain, over- looking Lake Champlain valley and the Adiron- dacks. The view from this charming inn is mag- nificent, encircling as it does twenty-five differ- ent towns and cities and the principal peaks of the Adirondacks and the Green Mountains, and during the year 1901 it was visited by five thou- sand people. Mr. Smith is a charming host, and the guests at the Mountain View Inn receive the most courteous treatment. He is married and has one son.

RUSSEL TITUS BRISTOL.

For many years Russel T. Bristol occupied a conspicuous place among the leading business men of Addison county. His career was that of an honorable, enterprising and progressive business man, whose well rounded character also enabled him to take an active interest in educa- tional, social and moral affairs, and in all life's relations he commanded the respect and confi- dence of those with whom he came in contact.

Mr. Bristol was born May 29, 1822, and was a grandson of Aaron and Sybil Bristol, natives of Harwinton, Litchfield county, Connecticut. In 1785 they came to the Green Mountain state, permanently taking up their abode in Panton. Aaron Bristol, who was born in 1742, was called to his final rest in 1823. To this worthy couple were born eight children, Sybil. Chauncey, Levi, Rhoda, Philemon, Olive, Moses and Noah. The last named was born in Panton, Vermont, Sep- tember 26, 1789. With his brother Moses he in- herited the old farm their father had purchased on coming to this state, which they continued to operate in partnership until the death of Moses, in 1826. The latter was born in 1786, and was a soldier during the war of 1812. In 1827 Noah

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Bristol erected the residence in which his son's family still resides, and in this dwelling he closed his eyes in death, May 12, 1838, at the age of forty-nine years. For his wife he chose Anna Stafford, who was born in Essex, Essex county, New York, July 13, 1794, and died in Panton, Vermont, October, 1865. They became the par- ents of nine children, none of whom are now liv- ing. They were Philo, Lydia (died at age of three years), Philemon L., Abigail, Russel T., Sybil, Stafford, Abel and Lydia. The eldest daughter became the wife of Rufus Eno. Sybil married Watson Morgan, and Lydia married Charles Haywood.

Russel T. Bristol, whose name introduces this review, was reared on the old Bristol farm which his grandfather purchased in pioneer days, receiving his primary education in the district schools of the neighborhood, which was supple- mented by attendance at the schools of Vergen- nes and the academy at Ferrisburg. After com- pleting his education he was employed as an in- structor in different educational institutions for a time, and later turned his attention to agricul- tural pursuits, owning and operating over one hundred and twenty acres of fertile and well im- proved land. He was enterprising and progres- sive, and his diligence won for him a comfort- able competence. In addition to his agricultural labors he was also for twenty years a director in the Bank of Vergennes, and in many other enter- prises he was equally prominent and well known. For years he operated a cash butter market at Vergennes, being, with his brother, a pioneer in that line. Although his attention was largely given to his business interests, he found time to devote to the public welfare, and he was called upon to serve in many local offices, being for a time the lister of his township and he also occu- pied the position of selectman.

On the 28th of September, 1847, Mr. Bristol was united in marriage to Martha Jane Thomp- son, who was born in New Haven, Vermont, January 27, 1828, and in that town her father, James Thompson, was born December 23, 1799, and spent his entire life, being summoned into cternal rest December 6, 1884, when he had reached the age of eighty-five years. His wife, Abigail Eldred, was born in Rhode Island, and they became the parents of nine children, all of

whom grew to years of maturity and seven are still living. Seven children came to brighten and bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bristol, as fol- lows: Willard R., who was married in 1876 to Mary A. Richards, of Cornwall, and resides in Vergennes, Vermont : Edwin S., who resides near the old home farm; Ernest J., who was married in 1878 to S. Imogene Harris, and resides in Panton ; Carlton D., who was married in 1876 to Anna M. Elitharp, of Bridport, Vermont, and subsequently to Carrie Stone, and lives in Walt- ham ; Alice J., who was married in 1881 to Sidney M. Harris, of Panton; Arthur H., a resident of Middlebury ; and Wallis H., who was married in 1886 to Cornelia L. Sibley, and resides in Ver- gennes. Mr. and Mrs. Bristol had forty grand- children, but seven are now deceased. The mem- bers of the family occupy a prominent place in the social circles of Addison county, and are mostly connected with the Congregational church, in which Mr. Bristol served as trustce for a number of years and in its faith he passed away in death at the old home in Panton on the 20th of November, 1900. A prominent representative of commercial interests, a popular factor in social life, a faithful friend, a kind husband and father and a consistent Chris- tian. he left behind him an untarnished record. and in his death Addison county mourned the loss of one of its truest and best citizens.

ALBERT ORLANDO HUMPHREY.

The strength of character, unfaltering perse- verance and competent business methods which have brought to Albert O. Humphrey success in his entire business career were early manifest. He was born in Jericho, Vermont, February 12, 1829, the son of Ede and Phebe (Lee) Humph- rey. Ede Humphrey was a son of James Humphrey, who came to this country from Eng- land in 1775, accompanied by his older brother John ; they landed in Rhode Island, where they made their home for many years. In 1776 James Humphrey. then only sixten years of age, en- listed, and served throughout the entire Revo- lutionary war. He then returned to Rhode Isl- and, and in Providence met and married Amy Harding, and nine children were born of this union. They resided for a short period of time

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at Warren, Rhode Island, then removed to Sur- rey, New Hampshire, later changed their resi- dence to Brookfield, Vermont, and in 1801 finally settled in Richmond, Vermont. Ede Humph- rey was born in Surrey, New Hampshire, May 19, 1790 ; after attaining young manhood he removed to Jericho, Vermont, where he successfully fol- lowed the vocation of farming. On February 20, 1818, he married Phebe Lee, who was born in Jericho, Vermont, July 31, 1797, and four chil- dren were born to them, three of whom are living at the present time ( 1903) : James L., a retired citizen of New Bedford, Massachusetts; George W., a resident of Rochester, Massachusetts, and Albert Orlando. The father of these children died in Jericho, Vermont, February 28, 1860, sur- vived by his widow, who passed away in the same town, August 12, 1878.

Mrs. Phebe Humphrey was the first child born to Solomon and Louisa (Lane) Lee. Sol- omon Lee was born September 14, 1774, and died August 26, 1846, in Jericho, Vermont. He was a son of Azariah Lee and his wife Eunice Lee, the former named having died July 25, 1821, aged eighty-one years, and the lat- ter died August 29, 1811, at the age of sixty- eight years. Azariah Lee, with his brother John ' Lee, were among the early settlers of Jericho, Vermont, moving there probably from Saybrook, Connecticut. John Lee was the first person bur- ied in the old cemetery at Jericho Center, Ver- mont. Louisa Lane, wife of Solomon Lee, was born at Salisbury, Connecticut, March 23, 1777, was united in marriage to Solomon Lee at Jer- icho, Vermont, May 1, 1794, and her death oc- curred in the same town, December 18, 1871. She was the sixth child in order of birth born to Jed- ediah and Phebe (Stevens) Lane.

Jedediah Lane was born at Killingworth, Connecticut, July 20, 1741, and about the year 1785 moved to Jericho, Vermont, from Salis- bury, Connecticut. He was a man of considera- ble means and was the owner of large tracts of land in the vicinity of Jericho Corners, having settled on what is now known as the R. M. Ga- lusha farm just west of Jericho Corners. He was the first representative from the town of Jer- icho to the general assembly of 1786, and his youngest son, Stevens Lane, was the first male white child born in that town, from which their

descendants have scattered in all directions. Jed- ediah Lane married Phebe Stevens and they reared a family of ten children, all of whom, with the exception of Sevens. were born in the town of Jericho, moved to that village with their parents.

The father of Jedediah Lane was Captain John Lane, a lieutenant of the Twelfth Com- pany in the Seventh Regiment of Connecticut, who was accidentally shot while drilling his com- pany on the square in Killingworth, Connecti- cut, about 1755. He was a son of Deacon John Lane, a substantial citizen of Killingworth, Con- necticut, who was born in Stratford, Connecti- cut, a son of Robert and Sarah (Pickett) Lane, the former named being the first represen- tative of this branch of the Lane family in Amer- ica. He is understood to have emigrated from England about the year 1650.

Albert O. Humphrey obtained his educational advantages in the common schools of Jericho, and later devoted his attention to agricultural pur- suits and the buying of produce. When he at- tained the age of twenty-two years he removed to Richmond, Vermont, remained there a few years and then took up his residence in Under- hill, Vermont, where he engaged in the same line of trade.

In his political affiliations he is a Republican, and for two and one-half years after the Civil war was United States assistant assessor : repre- sented the town of Underhill in the Vermont legislature 1867-8 and was a member of the Ver- mont senate from Chittenden county, in 1872. the first of its biennial sessions. He served in the capacity of selectman for a number of years : has been delegate to numerous conventions, and filled all the offices in the gift of the people.

In 1874 he located in Burlington, Vermont. and in company with E. O. Safford engaged in the wholesale notion business under the firm name of Safford & Humphrey. Later he was associated with F. C. Kennedy at Winooski, Ver- mont, in a general store, the largest of its kind in this section of the state, doing an immense business in meat, provisions, groceries, dry-goods and clothing. Mr. Humphrey was connected with this business nineteen years, and at the same time continued his interest in the Burling- ton store until the death of Mr. Safford, when he

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closed up that branch of business. During this period he was the largest and most prominent merchant in Chittenden county and northern Ver- mont. For the past few years Mr. Humphrey has devoted his energies and capital to various real estate and railroad enterprises, being a stock- holder and director in the Burlington Traction Company, the Military Post Railroad, of which he is vice president, the Barre and Montpelier Power & Traction Company, of which he is treas- urer, and is interested and holds office in other railroad enterprises. In his business activities he is alert and enterprising, systematic, and, above all, thoroughly reliable, genial and kindly in his intercourse with his fellow men, and a champion of all that tends to promote the mater- ial, social, intellectual and moral welfare of the community in which he resides.

On October 29, 1851, Mr. Humphrey mar- ried Cleora Martha Church, who was born in Un- derhill, Vermont, August 10, 1834, and died No- vember 13, 1884. It was her prudence and en- ergy that laid the foundations of their great pros- perity and cheerful home life. She was a daugh- ter of Ziba Woodard Church, who was born in Vershire, Vermont, June II, 1807, died in Un- derhill, Vermont, April 13, 1885, and of Adeline Florilla Rogers, born in Whiting, Vermont, Ap- ril 10, 1808, died April 31, 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Humphrey had two children.

Hattie Grace, born in Richmond, Vermont, October 10, 1857, married, October 7, 1885, Eu- gene Marshall Styles, who was born in Burling- ton, Vermont, September 8, 1850, a son of George Washington Styles, born in Kingston, New York, May 24, 1825, and Augusta Caroline Melissa Au- bery, born in Burlington, Vermont, September 16, 1827 (married in Burlington, Vermont, June 16, 1847, both living in 1903). Mr. Styles is a druggist in Burlington, Vermont. Their one child is Humphrey Aubery, born in Burlington, Vermont, October 15, 1891.

Henry Clay Humphrey, born in Richmond, Vermont, February 28, 1859, married, in Wal- tham, Massachusetts, September 9, 1891, Mary Everett Peirce, who was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, November 2, 1857, a daughter of William Jackson Peirce, born in Craftsbury, Ver- mont, in 1828, and Harriet Emma Seavy, born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1832 (both living in

Waltham, Massachusetts, 1893). Henry C. Ilumphrey is a clothing merchant at Burlington, Vermont. Their child is William Jerome, boru in Waltham, Massachusetts, June 2, 1892.

WILLIAM H. 11. VARNEY, M, D.

Devoted to the noble and humane work which his profession implies, Dr. Varney has proved faithful and has not only earned the due rewards of his efforts in a temporal way but has also proved himself worthy to exercise the important and responsible functions of his calling, there being readily accessible the most tangible evi-

WILLIAM H. H. VARNEY, M. D.

dences of his ability, his abiding sympathy and his earnest zeal in behalf of his fellow men. His understanding of the science of medicine is broad, comprehensive and accurate, and the profession and the public accord him an honorable and dis- tinguished place among the medical practitioners

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of Chittenden county, which has been the scene of his earnest and discriminating endeavors for over forty years, so that he holds prestige and precedence as one of the oldest representatives of his profession in consecutive practice here, while all these long years of ministration to suf- fering humanity have not failed to gain to him the high regard and deep affection of the people of the community in which he lived and labored to so goodly ends. The Doctor's home is located at East Charlotte, and of this town he is a native son, having passed practically his entire life with- in its borders and being a member of a family highly honored in this favored section of the old Green Mountain state.

Dr. William Henry Harrison Varney was born in the town of Charlotte, on the 21st of Au- gust, 1839. His father, Alpheus Varney, was born in Berwick, Maine, a son of Nathaniel Var- ney, who likewise claimed Berwick as the place of his nativity, the name having been long and prominently identified with the annals of the Pine Tree state and with that of older settled sec- tions of New England. In the opening year of the nineteenth century Nathaniel Varney re- moved from Maine to Starksboro, Addison coun- ty, Vermont, later taking up his abode in Ferris- burg, and finally coming to Charlotte, where he passed the residue of his long and useful life, passing away at the age of eighty-two years. He was a blacksmith by trade and vocation, and was recognized as a superior workman. In Char- lotte he was for many years engaged in black- smithing in company with his son Alpheus, and they manufactured many of the farming and carpenter tools and implements used in this vi- cinity in the earlier days. Nathaniel Varney con- tinued in the active work of his trade until the infirmities of advancing age compelled his re- tirement, and no man in the community had a more tenacious hold on the confidence and good will of the people of this community, which was his home for so long a term of years. He was a birthright member of the Society of Friends, with which the family became identified in the early days of its organization and as representatives of which the original American ancestors came hither from England. The maiden name of the wife of Nathaniel Varney was Morrill, she being born in New Hampshire, and they became the

parents of five children, all of whom are now de- ceased, their names, in order of birth, being as follows : William, Alpheus, David, John and Ase- nath. The last mentioned became the wife of Tyler Palmer, a great-uncle of Dr. Varney in the maternal line. The mother of these children died in middle life, being long survived by her honored husband.

Alpheus Varney was born February, 1798, and was a mere boy at the time of his father's removal from Maine to Vermont, his early edu- cational discipline being secured in the common schools of Ferrisburg and the other towns in which the family resided, while he early began a practical apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade under the able and discriminating direction of his father, with whom he finally became actively associated in business in Charlotte, as has already been noted. He became an expert artisan, hav- ing marked mechanical talent, and was endowed with those receptive and assimilative powers which enabled him to gain a wide fund of knowl- edge and to develop his naturally vigorous in- tellect. He was a man of distinct individual- ity and firm convictions and his influence in the community was ever exercised in the right direc- tion, since he demanded the approval of both judgment and conscience for every thought, word and deed, his integrity being absolutely an im- pregnable fortress. He continued to follow his trade for a long term of years and also became successfully identified with agriculture in Char- lotte, which was his home from the age of ten years until his death, which occurred when he was seventy-five years of age. At the time he was known and honored as one of the oldest resi- dents of the town and as one upon whose life record there had never rested a shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil.

Alpheus Varney married Miss Phila Palmer. who was born in Ferrisburg, Vermont. the daughter of Joseph Palmer, who was one of the prominent and successful farmers of this county and who died in the state of Ohio at the patriar- chal age of ninety-four years. He married Electa Waite, who died at the age of fifty years, while all of their children are now deceased. Joseph Palmer eventually consummated a second mar- riage, and of the children of this union two are living at the present time. Alpheus and Phila

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( Palmer ) Varney became the parents of six chil- dren, of whom three lived to attain years of ma- turity, namely : Electa P., who is the widow of Michael Harney and now resides in Monkton, Vermont ; George W., who is a resident of Lin- coln ; and Dr. William H. H. The father held to the faith of the Universalist church, while his devoted wife, who was a member of the Society of Friends, continued her affiliation with that simple and noble sect until her death, at the age of four-score years. The following tribute to the memory of Mr. Varney is from the pen of one who grew up and passed his active life in Charlotte. "He was one of the remarkable men, who, though living in a very humble relation, will leave a vacancy not easily filled. He inherited from his father an unusual share of mechanical skill, which he kept in constant exercise during his active life. He had a shrewd and practical sagacity which qualified him eminently to seize and appropriate new and useful ideas, and made him, according to the testimony of one of his life-long neighbors, not only unequalled as a me- chanic, but excelled by few or perhaps none in his town as a successful farmer. He was a staunch supporter of the political principles which resulted in the overthrow of slavery and the growth of the Republican party, and was in sym- pathy with the Society of Friends, of which his wife was a member, and in which he was edu- cated. He had been for forty years clerk of his school district."

Dr. William H. H. Varney was reared in Charlotte, securing his preliminary education in the public schools and later becoming a student in Barre Academy under Benjamin Allen, the noted teacher of Vergennes, where he fully availed himself of the excellent opportunities af- forded. In the meanwhile, as was to be expected of a youth of such marked self-reliance and dis- tinctive mentality, he had formulated his plans for a future life work, having determined to pre- pare himself for the practice of the beneficent profession to which he has devoted so many years of his life and in which he has attained so grati- fying success. He began his work of technical preparation by taking up the study of medicine in his native town, later going to Burlington with Dr. J. C. Greene, where he continued his studies through two courses of lectures at the medical

department of the University of Vermont and matriculated in the Berkshire Medical College, at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he completed the prescribed course, being graduated as a member of the class of 1862, and coming forth fully forti- fied for the active duties of his chosen profession. Hle established an office in his native town in 1863, shortly after his graduation and the receiv- ing his degree of Doctor of Medicine, and here he has ever since continued his work, with marked self-abnegation and unwavering fidelity, while during all these long years, within which such notable advancement has been made in the science of medicine and surgery, in the use of therapeutic agents, in methods and systems of treatment, the Doctor has kept fully abreast of the march of progress, being a close student of the best standard and periodical literature of his pro- fession and also gaining a most valuable fund of exact information through his own investigation and the duties of his professional work. His practice has been of representative order and he holds prestige as one of the ablest and most hon- ored members of his profession in Chittenden county, while he has otherwise attained marked precedence as a representative citizen, having been prominently concerned in public affairs and having been honored with offices of distictive trust and responsibility. Dr. Varney is one of the acknowledged leaders in the Chittenden coun- ty contingent of the Republican party, of whose principles and policies he has been an uncompro- mising advocate from the time of attaining his legal majority, and he has for many years served as delegate to the various town, district, county and state conventions of the party. In 1872 he was elected superintendent of schools in Char- lotte, and that his administration of the affairs of the same met with strongest popular endorse- ment is evident when we recur to the fact that he continued as the consecutive incumbent of this position from that date until 1899, with the exception of an interim of five years. In 1888 he was elected as a representative of Charlotte in the state legislature, proving .a valuable working member of the house and be- ing assigned to the committee on insane. Further recognition of his eligibility and of his hold upon popular esteem and con- fidence was given in the fall election of 1900,

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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 78

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