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 79

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 79

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when he was elected to the senate, serving two years, and was chairman of the committee on in- sane and a member of those on education, pub- lic health and libraries, and also holding member- ship on a number of other important committees. He has rendered in his home town signal and valuable service as health officer and school di- rector, and has always manifested a lively and helpful interest in all that has conserved the gen- eral welfare of the community with whose varied interests he has been so long and intimately iden- tified. The Doctor is a prominent member of the Chittenden County Medical Society and the Chit- tenden County and Burlington Clinical Clubs. In 1865 Dr. Varney became an entered apprentice in Friendship Lodge, No. 24, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Charlotte, and he has con- tinued one of the appreciative and active members of this time-honored organization up to the pres- ent time, having passed the various official chairs in his lodge, of which he served as worshipful master for a period of four years. He is also a member of Burlington Chapter, No. 3, Royal Arch Masons.

. On the 3d of March, 1863, Dr. Varney was married to Miss Augusta C. Ball, who was born July 3, 1840, in Ferrisburg, the daughter of Da- vid Ball, who was likewise a native of that town, where he passed nearly his entire life, having been one of the prominent and successful farmers of the county. He died in 1865, at the age of fifty-six years, and his wife, whose maiden name was Eliza Smith, passed away near the close of her eighty-sixth year. They became the parents of six children, and of this number Mrs. Var- ney is the only survivor. Dr. and Mrs. Varney became the parents of four children, namely : Minetta A., who became the wife of Simeon N. Putnam, and who died on the 28th of December, 1901, leaving one son, Henry N., now living with Dr. Varney ; Charles A., who died before reach- ing his second year; Anna E., who is the wife of Dr. Frank A. Rich, a prominent veterinary sur- geon of Burlington, and they have three children, Ethel I., Robert and Lucy A .; and May P. is now a student in the Clarkson School of Technol- ogy, at Potsdam, New York, where she is com- pleting a course in domestic science, being a mem- ber of the class of 1903. Carrie L. and Benjamin Grover Cleveland, orphans, have had a home with

Dr. and Mrs. Varney during the past seven years. The family home is one of the attractive places of the county and is a center of gracious and refined hospitality, being a favorite rendezvous of the wide circle of friends whom the Doctor and his family have gathered about them, ever taking an active part in the social affairs of the community.

LEWIS BARTLETT CROSS. -

Lewis Bartlett Cross, of Montpelier, is act- ively identified with its manufacturing and mer- cantile interests as proprietor of one of the largest and best known cracker and confectionery estab- lishments in Vermont. A son of Charles Harri- son Cross, he was born in Montpelier August 9, 1839. He is of English ancestors, being a de- scendant in the fifth generation from Thomas Cross (I), who emigrated from Ipswich, Eng- land, in colonial times, and settled in Salisbury, Massachusetts. His son, Stephen Cross (2), married Peggy Bowen, and settled permanently in Salisbury, Massachusetts, where their twelve children were born. Of this large family, all were living when the youngest child was forty years old.

Stephen Cross (3), the grandfather of Lewis Bartlett, was born in Salisbury, Massachusetts, in 1783. Having had the misfortune to break his leg when about seventeen years old, incapacitating him for active labor, he learned the tailor's trade, which he followed first with Winthrop Durgin, then in Canterbury, New Hampshire. where he remained until 1811. Removing then to San- bornton, now Tilton. New Hampshire, he contin- ued at his trade in that locality until his death, April 30, 1841. On June 23. 1799, he married Sally Durgin, daughter of Winthrop Durgin, with whom he was associated for several years. She survived him, dying August 20, 1867, in the eighty-fifth year of her age. Of their children, Charles Harrison was the next in line of descent.

Charles Harrison Cross (4) was born in Til- ton, New Hampshire, February 12, 1812, and was reared and educated in New Hampshire, living there until eighteen years old. Coming to Mont- pelier, Vermont, he served an apprenticeship of three years at the baker's trade, then located in Concord, New Hampshire, where he embarked in business with a Mr. Hoyt, but was unfortunate in

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his venture, losing his entire capital. He subse- quently followed his trade for awhile in Burling- ton, Vermont, then returned to Montpelier, and joined a surveying party that was going west. In 1837 he settled in Montpelier, purchasing the business established in 1828, becoming junior member of the firm of Timothy Cross & Com- pany, bakers. He subsequently bought out his partner and conducted the business alone until January, 1863, when he took his son Lewis Bart- lett Cross into partnership, and under the firm name of C. H. Cross & Son continued in the bak- ery until his retirement from active business, in 1897. He always took a keen interest in the wel- fare of the town in which he resided, serving in the various town and village offices in Montpelier, and was a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a trustee of the Montpelier Seminary.

On March 15, 1835, he married Caroline Webster Houston, who was born in En- field, New Hampshire, February 12, 1812, and died i Montpelier, May 22, 1893. She was a daughter of John Houston, Jr., and granddaughter of John Hous- ton, Sr., who had two brothers, James and Sam- uel Houston, the latter of whom was father of Samuel Houston, who was the first governor of Texas and otherwise prominent in the early his- tory of that state. John Houston, Jr., married Polly Webster, daughter of Thomas and Poily (Goodhue) Webster, and nicce of Ebenezer Webster, the father of Daniel Webster. Thomas Webster settled in New Hampshire in 1736. He was a soldier in the Revolution, enlisting as a private, June 29, 1775, and serving one month and five days. He re-enlisted in Captain Joseph Norris's company, Fourth Regiment, with which he served until mustered out, February 13. 1777. Of the union of Charles H. and Caroline W. (Houston) Cross five children were born, as fol- lows: George Henry, born February 6, 1836, married, December 24, 1862, Ellen M. Matthews, of Fort Covington, New York, and they had three children, Charles, born in 1864, who died in in- fancy ; Jennie Parthenia, born July 5, 1870; and Harry M., born November 26, 1880. Mary Parthenia, born June 2, 1838, died in 1844. Lewis Bartlett is further mentioned below. Oscar Newell, born January 10, 1841, married Isabelle

Richardson, of Montpelier, who died May 10, 1903, by whom he has one child, Harriet Julia, born in 1877. Harriet Maria, born June 14, 1844, died in July, 1845.

Lewis Bartlett Cross acquired his early edu- cation in the public schools of Montpelier, subse- quently continuing his studies for one term each at Fort Edward Institute and Newbury Seminary. In 1858 he began to learn the baker's trade with his father, remaining until 1861, when he prompt- ly responded to President Lincoln's first call for troops, being the second to place his name on the roll of Colonel Randall's recruiting papers, who received his commission from Governor Fair- banks, and recruited a full company in Mont- pelier in one day, the Colonel's name being the first on the roll of enlistment. Sickness, how- ever, prevented Mr. Cross from being mustered in, but he was afterwards appointed sutler of the Third Vermont Volunteer Infantry, by Colonel B. N. Hyde, and served for one year. In Janu- ary, 1863, as mentioned above, he became associ- ated in business with his father under the firm name of C. H. Cross & Son, with whom he was connected for thirty-five years, carrying on in the meantime one of the largest and most successful bakery and confectionery establishments in the state, manufacturing a superior line of candies and a large variety of crackers, the "Montpelier Cracker" becoming especially noted. Since the retirement of the senior member of the firm, Mr. Cross has conducted the business alone, meet- ing with the same eminent success as before.

Politically Mr. Cross is one of the foremost members of the Republican party, which he has ably served in many capacities, being a member of the district committee of the first district for twenty-four years, serving the second district in the same office after the redistricting of the state. He has attended every state convention of his party since 1864, being a delegate to many of them, and was a delegate to the national conven- tion in Chicago in 1880 that nominated General Garfield for the presidency, to the National League convention at Baltimore in 1889, and to the one held in Milwaukee in 1896. In the latter year he was presidential elector at large, and the messenger that carried the electoral vote to Wash- ington in January, 1897. ] He has filled many village, municipal, town and state offices ; in 1890

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being a representative to the state legislature, in which he served on the ways and means commit- tee, and on the committee on banks. He is one of the trustees of the Montpelier Savings Bank and Trust Company, of which he is also vice president ; a trustee and the treasurer of the Heaton Hospital ; a trustee and vice-president of the Wood Art Gallery ; a commissioner of Green Mount cemetery ; and a member of the Apollo Club, and Country Club of Montpelier. Fra- ternally Mr. Cross is a member of Aurora Lodge, F. & A. M .; of King Solomon Chapter, R. A. M .; of Mount Zion Commandery, K. T .; and of Mount Sinai Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Vermont Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.

On December 25, 1862, Mr. Cross married . his name, March 10, 1640, eighty-seven acres.

Lucia A. Chaplin, of Wells River, Vermont, a daughter of Matthew and Lorinda (Howe) Chap- lin. 'Two children have been born to them : Carrie, who lives at home ; and Charles H. Cross.

Charles H. Cross began his business in Bos- ton, Massachusetts, being for seven years con- nected with the Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Company. In September, 1893, he, with two others, organized the Regal Shoe Company, one of the best known organizations of the kind in New England, having its factory in Whitman, Massachusetts, with fifty-three stores in different cities of the Union. He married, November II, 1895, Miss Florence Clark, of North Cambridge, Massachusetts.

HORACE HOXIE DYER.

Horace Hoxie Dyer is considered by many to be the most affluent and influential farmer in Rutland county, Vermont, and is certainly one of its most worthy citizens. He comes from a long line of distinguished ancestors, and, although he is now almost an octogenarian and has led a remarkably busy life, is far from being worn out, but is still vigorous in mind and body, and is actively engaged in looking after his numerous investments and domestic affairs.

The founder of the Dyer family in America was William Dyer, who was born in London, England, and emigrated to America, locating in Boston, Massachusetts. He subsequently re-

moved to Newport, Rhode Island, where he died in 1677. His wife Mary, a Quakeress, was hanged for "conscience sake" on Boston Com- mon, January 1, 1660, choosing to die rather than abandon her faith. On March 15, 1637, he, with other residents of Boston, signed a remonstrance affirming the innocence of Mr. Wheelwright and that the court had condemned the truth of Christ, for which, November 17, 1637, he was disfran- chised. April 28, 1637, William Dyer, with eight others, signed a compact preparatory to the set- tlement of Newport, he being the town clerk. In company with eighteen others, he, as clerk, signed the compact to incorporate / themselves into a "Bodie Politick," in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, March 7, 1638; and, June 5, 1639, he and three others apportioned the lands, having recorded to

William Dyer was secretary of the town of Portsmouth from 1640 to 1647; in 1648 he was general recorder ; from 1650 to 1653 he was at- torney general of Rhode Island. On the eight- eenth day of May, 1653, he received a commis- sion from the assembly to act against the Dutch, he being at that time commander in chief of the seas. He was also commissioner from 1661 to 1662; a deputy from 1664 to 1666; a general solicitor from 1665 to 1668; and secretary of council in 1669. Dyer's Island, which he owned, was named for him by Governor Coddington and others. William Dyer was sent to England on important missions by the colonies, and many times was a conferee of Roger Williams. His son Samuel Dyer was the next in line of descent.

Samuel Dyer was born in Boston, Massachu- setts, December 20, 1635, and died in Kingston, Rhode Island, in 1678. His wife was, before marriage, Ann Hutchinson, who was born No- vember 17. 1643, and died January 10, 1717. Their son Edward Dyer was the next in line and was the great-great-grandfather of Horace Hoxie Dyer.

Edward Dyer was born in Newport. Rhode Island, in 1670, but subsequently settled in Kings- ton, Rhode Island, where his son Samuel was born in 1702. Samuel Dyer moved to West Green- wich, Rhode Island, where he died : on February 24, 1725, he married Tabitha Niles, of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, and their son George was next in line of descent.

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George Dyer, the grandfather of Horace Hoxie Dyer, was born in West Greenwich, Rhode Island, December 26, 1736, and died in Rutland, Vermont, January 8, 1817, past eighty-one years of age; he wedded Ann Nichols, a daughter of Hon. Joseph Nichols, and Abigail Spinck, his wife, of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, Mr. Nichols being a prominent man in public affairs. Mr. and Mrs. Dyer were married on Christmas day, 1760, and their union was prolific of ten chil- dren, seven sons and three daughters, of whom Edward, Horace H. Dyer's father, was the sixth son. The beloved mother died with her eleventh infant in 1780, at the age of forty years. Some years after her death George Dyer married for his second wife Amey Wait, who died in 1812.

Edward Dyer was born in West Greenwich, Rhode Island, June 23, 1774. He was twice mar- ried. His first wife was Sally Bowman, of Clar- endon, Vermont. Their marriage was celebrated November 1, 1798. Mrs. Dyer left her carthly home August 1, 1816, leaving nine of her ten children to mourn her demise. Her tenth child, an infant, was buried with her. Of her children only one is now living, Mrs. Mason Hulett, re- siding in Salisbury, Vermont, a most sprightly and well preserved lady for her years, both physic- ally and mentally. Edward Dyer was again mar- ried, January 7, 1818, to Hannah Hoxie, of Mil- ton, who was born April 10, 1788, a daughter of Gideon Hoxie, who was the town clerk of Milton for over forty years. Gideon Hoxie, who was one of the pioneer settlers of Milton, Vermont, and had the distinction of taking the first wagon to that village, was a son of Stephen Hoxie, of Charlestown, Rhode Island, who belonged to an old Quaker family.

Mrs. Dyer still has her diaries, written in 1812, when she was but a young lady, and they contain many interesting reminiscences. She was a woman of strong individuality and character, and possessed a remarkably good memory, coupled with plenty of good common sense. She bore her husband four children, of whom two lived to maturity, namely : Horace Hoxie, the subject of this sketch; and Sarah Bowman, wife of Zenas C. Ellis. Mrs. Ellis was born in 1821 and died July 7, 1876, leaving four sons, namely: George W., an able lawyer of New York city ; Edward, M. D., a prominent physician of Poultney, Ver-

mont, who has a family ; Horace B., of Castleton, Vermont, a prominent hotel-keeper; and Zenas HI., who is a farmer on the old homestead and is also a prominent banker and business man, is a fine scholar and has been a life-long student, and is a noted linguist. Edward Dyer, father of Horace Hoxie Dyer, owned at one time some eight hundred acres of land in Rutland county, which he acquired by small purchases. His first purchase was made in 1794, when he bought one hundred and forty acres. He did not inherit wealth, but earned and made his fine property. He died May 12, 1854; the mother died Febru- ary 17, 1869.

Nathaniel Dyer, a great-uncle of Horace Hoxie Dyer, rendered valuable service to our country during the Revolutionary war, and his father's large estate and home was a place of rendezvous throughout the war. Reunions often occurred there. General Nathaniel Greene was a cousin of Nathaniel Dyer.

Horace Hoxie Dyer was born on the same farm and in the same house in which he now re- sides, two miles south of the city of Rutland, April 2, 1820. He received his primary educa- tion in the district schools. At the age of ten years he went to a private school taught by Rev. Hadley Proctor and later attended the Brandon school, when Rev. Proctor was principal. . At the age of sixteen years he returned home, where he has since resided, with the exception of four months during the winter of his eighteenth year, when he taught in Fairhaven. His father need- ing him, he discontinued teaching, for there was much to do at home, business demanding the at- tention of his father elsewhere.

On the 15th of February, 1866, Horace Hoxie Dyer wedded Abigail Jane Hitchcock, of Clar- endon, Vermont. She is a daughter of Henry and Hannah Lucy (Hulett) Hitchcock. Mr. and Mrs. Dyer have only one child, a son, Horace Edward, who with his wife and two daughters resides in Rutland. He was a captain of Com- pany A, First Vermont Volunteer Infantry, in the late Spanish-American war, and upon be- ing mustered out of United States service was commissioned major of the First Infantry, Ver- mont National Guards. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1893.

Mr. and Mrs. Dyer have spent their wedded

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life at the pleasant home made sacred by its asso- ciations, having been built by his father in 1810. Mr. Dyer is a Republican and has served the peo- ple of Rutland as selectman for seven years, and in other town offices. In 1878 he was elected to the Vermont senate without any solicitation on his part and without spending either his time or his money. He was president of the Rut- land County Agricultural Society for three consecutive years; justice of the peace from 1843 to 1870, or later, when Henry Hayward was chosen as his successor at Mr. Dyer's urgent request; he was in the state militia from the time he attained the age of eighteen years, and was captain of the Rut- land company for many years. He is vice-presi- dent of the Killington National Bank, of which he was one of the organizers, and is a trustee of the Rutland Trust Company, of which he was vice-president for several years.

Henry Hitchcock, father-in-law of Mr. Dyer, was for many years a merchant in Rutland, later engaged in the village of Clarendon, Vermont, and still later turned his attention to farming and the manufacture of marble, owning a quarry and also a mill. He was born August 22, 1805, in Pittsford, Vermont, and died August 27, 1871, in Rutland. His wife was born July 4, 1817, and died January 28, 1893. They reared only two of their five children, viz: Mrs. Dyer ; and her maiden sister, Louise Amelia Hitchcock.

Rev. Palmer Dyer, brother of Horace Hixie Dyer, was educated in Union College at Sche- nectady, New York. His first charge was Gran- ville, New York, about 1823 ; his next charge was at Syracuse, and in 1824 he went on a missionary trip to Illinois. After a long and tedious journey, he reached Chicago, Illinois, then a swamp hole. While an Episcopalian missionary in Chicago, he administered the first Episcopalian communion service in that city, in a Congregational church upon the invitation of the pastor, who also par- took of the sacrament. In Chicago he purchased an Indian pony which he rode to Peoria, where he established a mission, also establishing mis- sions in different parts of Illinois and Michigan. He was the editor of the Episcopal Watchman, published in Hartford, Connecticut. He was drowned at Ausable Chasm, near Lake Cham- plain in August, 1844. Rev. Mr. Dyer was a

gifted writer and seemed to be inspired of God- the following poem from his pen seeming pro- phetic of his early and tragic death.

LIFE'S VOYAGE. "It is I, be not afraid." -Mat. XIV ,27.

As towards yon bright and blissful shore,

Floats my frail, trembling barque along, Let tempests rage, let billows roar, They cannot drown my joyous song, They cannot hush my voice of prayer, Nor fill my trusting heart with dread; For God is with me everywhere, To cover my defenseless head.

As once He bade the waves be still, When loved ones sailed on Galilee, With gentle gales their canvas filled, And sped them safely o'er the sea ; So now amid the angry waves, Behold! He comes to rescue me ;

I fear not that in Ocean's caves My lonely sepulchre may be.

I see Him when the lightning's flash In awful grandeur round me flies, I hear Him when the thunder's crash Rolls deep athwart the darkened skies ; O then His smile, and then His voice, As in the mildest breeze of even, Both bid my fearless heart rejoice, While wafted on my course to Heaven.

MRS. JULIA E. S. ALLEN.

Many years have passed since the Smith family became identified with Addison county, and its various members have shown intelligence and worth. Julia E. S. Allen was born in the house in which she still resides, and is a daughter of David Smith, who was born in Leicester, Vermont, July 26, 1813, and a granddaughter of Abiel and Lydit (Hendee) Smith. The grand- father was born on the 27th of February. 1773, and for many years was a farmer of Leicester, this state, where his death occurred June 30. 1838. His wife was a daughter of Caleb and Caroline (Ellsworth) Hendee and a sister of the late

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General llendee, of Pittsford, Vermont, whose writings are well known. Lydia ( Hendee) Smith was called to her final rest on the 7th of February, 1862, at the good old age of eighty- four years, her birth having occurred on the 5th of April, 1778. On the 17th of November, 1799, in Pittsford, this state, she gave her hand in mar- riage to Abiel Smith, and for many years they traveled the journey of life together.

David Smith was reared and received his education in Leicester and Pittsford, Vermont, and after leaving the school room as a pupil he again entered it as an instructor, following that occupation in both his native town and in Bran- don. Subsequently he entered the watch and clock business, in which interest he traveled through Canada. After returning to the Green Mountain state he married Miss Sarah Barnum, and they lived with her parents in the residence now occupied by his daughter in Ferrisburg. Hc then turned his attention to farming, operating three hundred acres of land, and in addition to his agricultural labors he also served as a director in the Bank of Vergennes, of which he was vice- president for a number of years, and was also connected with the Vermont Granite Company. He embraced the faith of the Methodist church, which he liberally supported, and was a staunch Republican in political principle. Straightfor- ward in all his business dealings, loyal to his duties of citizenship, he commanded the respect and confidence of his fellow men, and by his death the community lost one of its valued citizens. He passed away May 10, 1889.

On the 30th of May, 1850, David Smith was united in marriage to Sarah Barnum, native daughter of Ferrisburg. When but a child slie was taken to the home where Mrs. Allen was born. Her father, Heman Barnum, came to this state from Connecticut. A public- spirited and useful citizen, he was always anxious to promote the general welfare, and was prosper- ous in his private undertakings. He was a farmer and brick-mason by occupation, and man- ufactured the brick used in the present Ferris- burg town house. His wife bore the maiden name of Lydia Rogers, and was born in Danby, Vermont, of Quaker parents. Her death oc- curred at the age of ninety-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Smith became the parents of two children :

Julia Ella, whose name heads this review ; and Josepha Bari, the wife of Charles A. Chap- man, a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this work. The mother of these children died at the age of seventy-two years, passing away January 22, 1900.

On the 2d of April, 1901, our subject gave her hand in marriage to Henry E. Allen, who was born in New Haven, Vermont. He is a son of Ephron Allen, of Ferrisburg.

GEORGE CARPENTER AVERILL.

George C. Averill, of Brattleboro, Vermont, president of the Vermont National Bank, has for the past seventeen years been one of the leading citizens and most able financiers of this city. As a representative of two old and highly respected English families, the Carpenters and the Averills, his mental qualities and administrative capacity are undoubtedly to a large degree inherent. The Averills at an early date came to Boston, and later settled in New Hartford, Connecticut, where many of the name still reside. The Car- penters are of Mayflower fame, and were among the founders of the Massachusetts colony. David N. Carpenter, the maternal grandfather of George C., was a notable citizen of Greenfield, Massachusetts. While in Greenfield he served very acceptably as postmaster for several terms, and ran on the Democratic ticket for lieutenant governor. Mr. Carpenter left a large family of children. A son of his, who was an uncle of George C., was the distinguished Admiral C. C. Carpenter of the navy.

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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 79

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