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 84

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 84

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THE STATE OF VERMONT.

to compound essences, as well as to practice medi- cine so successfully as to receive from his neigh- bors the title of Dr. Gove. He married Sophronia Kelton, born September 17, 1811, in Grafton, New Hampshire, a daughter of John A. Kelton, a pioneer of the town of Ripton (now Lincoln), where he spent his life as a very successful farm- er. Dr. and Mrs. Gove were the parents of seven children, six of whom grew to maturity, but only four of whom are now living: Annette married George W. Beaver, and resides in Peoria, Illi- nois; Mark A., residing in Portland, Oregon ; Webster N., mentioned at length hereinafter ; Emma J., who became the wife of George A. Thayer, and died September 28, 1893, in Lincoln ; Henry W., in business with his brother, Webster N. ; Abbie E. died May 4, 1876, in Lincoln, while the wife of Alfred Haight: Dr. Cove died Sep- tember 15, 1887, in his seventy-ninth year, and his wife died May 30, 1882, at the age of seventy.

Webster N. Gove, son of Azarias and So- phronia ( Kelton) Gove, was born May 15, 1845, near South Lincoln, Vermont, and received his education in the schools of the town. At the age of twenty he engaged in the lumber business, which he followed for seven years, and then, feeling an interest in agricultural pursuits, he be- came a farmer. " At the end of two years Mr. Gove entered commercial life, purchasing a store, which he conducted during part of the time with a partner, until 1890, when the business was bought out by the Lincoln Lumber Company, of which Mr. Gove was made president. The establish- ment, which is engaged in the manufacture of butter-tubs and boxes, is the largest of the kind in Addison county, having the most spacious store in the county, and owning one thousand eight hundred and fifty acres of timber land. The factory keeps a force of fifty men constantly at work. the store giving employment to four clerks, and the whole establishment attracts the best patronage of the surrounding towns.

In politics Mr. Gove is a Republican, holding the office of selectman, which he has already filled for two terms. At the solicitation of his towns- men, he represented them in the state legislature in 1880. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is steward. Mr. Gove was married May 21, 1872. to Jane Butterfield, who was born in Lincoln, Vermont, and died in 1877.

October 25, 1880, Mr. Gove married Cynthia Ann (Purinton) Greene, born in Middlebury, Ver- miont, daughter of Asa Purinton, and widow of Edwin Greene. Mrs. Gove attends, with her hus- band, the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a teacher in the Sunday-school.

FRANK PLUMLEY.

Frank Plumley, of Northfield, a brilliant law- yer, an orator of national reputation, and a man who has rendered to his community signally use- ful services in various public capacities, is a native of Vermont, born in Eden on December 17, 1844. He was reared upon a farm and began his edu- cation in the common schools in the neighbor- hood, which was supplemented by a course in in People's Academy, Morrisville. For a short time he taught school, and then entered upon the study of the law under the preceptorship of Pow- ers & Gleed, at Morrisville. After a year thus occupied he entered the law department of the University of Michigan, at the same time pursu- ing a selected course of study in the literary de- partment of that institution. Returning to his native state he was admitted to the bar before the Lamoille county court in 1869. He located in Northfield in that year and formed a law partner- ship with Hon. Heman Carpenter, which asso- ciation was maintained until 1876. Since that time, with the exception of about three years, Mr. Plumley has practiced alone, caring for the inter- ests of a large and influential clientage with great capability and success. Signal recognition of his ability has been accorded to him in various calls to important positions in the line of his profes- sion. For four years beginning in 1876 he was state's attorney, and while occupying this posi- tion he prosecuted the notable Carr and Meaker murder cases. In 1889 he was appointed United State's attorney for the district of Vermont, by President Harrison.

He has been connected with many of the most noted cases of the state, especially with the im- portant litigation in the central portion of the state, having prosecuted in the Marsh and Buz- zell murder trial, the Mills, et al., and Seaver in- cendiary trials, in all of which conviction was secured ; he also defended successfully in the ex- citing Wales arson case, in the trial of Mildred

Frank Plumley.

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Brewster, charged with murder; in the Doherty case, in which latter conviction was secured, the case carried to the United States supreme court, and the commutation of Doherty's sentance finally secured from the legislature of 1902, at which time Mr. Plumley made an argument for com- mutation before the general assembly which was regarded as a masterpiece of eloquence and pow- er ; he also was assigned by the state to defend in the celebrated Spotter case and secured the acquittal of Mr. Wilson after a hard-fought trial in Windsor county.

In 1884 he was appointed lecturer on con- stitutional law at Norwich University, of which institution he was made trustee in 1888 and from which institution he received the honorary degree of A. M., in 1892.

An ardent Republican, Mr. Plumley has been for many years prominent in the counsels of the party and an interesting and efficient campaign orator. In 1884 he was sent by the national com- mittee to take the stump in Michigan, and he be- came such a favorite that he has been recalled to that state in every succeeding national cam- paign. He was chairman of the state convention in 1886, and that body, in recognition of his vigor in maintenance of temperance, appointed him a delegate to the anti-saloon conference held in New York city early in 1888. In the same year he was a delegate-at-large to the Republican na- tional convention, which nominated General Har- rison for the presidency, and he occupied a prom- nent place in that body. He was a member of the committee to which was committed the draft- ing of the platform, and was the author of the resolution pledging the sympathy and support of the party to all well directed efforts looking to temperance reform, and this, with some minor verbal changes, was adopted by the convention.

Mr. Plumley has given much attention to the promotion of education, and has served for more than twenty-one years continuously upon the Northfield board of education, and for several years he has been chairman of that body. In 1882 he was elected to the state legislature as repre- sentative from Northfield and served with ability upon the judiciary committee and the committee on the insane, taking high rank as a debater and being recognized as one of the leaders. He served as senator from Washington county in

the state legislature of 1894, his own town giving him the largest majority ever given to any resi- dent candidate. He was elected president pro tem of the senate, and served as a member of the judiciary committee and the committee on rules.

In religion he is a Methodist, and was for more than twelve years superintendent of the Sunday-school connected with the church of which he is a member. He has been prominently identified with all temperance work, and has been a member of the Independent Order of Good Templars during the greater part of his life. He was the first worthy chief Templar of Northfield Lodge, at that time a splendid body numbering about two hundred and fifty mem- bers. For five years he was grand secretary of the Grand Lodge and was a representative from that body to the Right Worthy Grand Lodge of the World at its session in New York city and at Topeka, Kansas, and he was for three years consecutively the grand chief Templar of Ver- Vermont. He is a member of DeWitt Clinton Lodge, No. 15, Free and Accepted Masons, over which he presided as master for four years, and he is also a member of Northfield Lodge, No. 19, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

In 1900 Mr. Plumley was one of the leading competitors for the nomination as representa- tive to Congress from the second congressional district and in the convention polled nearly as many votes as his opponent, but withdrew for the sake of party harmony. In 1902 Mr. Plum- ley was appointed first associate member of the court of claims, by Governor John G. McCul- lough.

He was married August 9, 1871, to Lavinia L. Fletcher, of Eden ; and to them two children have been born, Charles A. and Theodore M.

ALFRED FERGUSON.

Alfred Ferguson, a prominent and progressive agriculturist of Bristol, Vermont, is a descendant of a family who have made their home in the state of Vermont since the early part of the eight- eenth century, and the fifth generation are now residents there. John Ferguson, great-grand- father of Alfred Ferguson, was born in Nine Partners, New York, in 1753. and soon after the Revolution located in the vicinity of the present

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village of Starksboro, Vermont. He erected his residence in what was then called the town of Monkton, and for many years followed agricul- tural pursuits. Becoming impressed with the fact that it was inconvenient for the residents cast of Hogback Mountain to reach the business center of the town, he used his influence in the legisla- ture, of which body he was a member of three years, toward securing the annexation of a tract of land lying cast of this mountain to Starksboro, Vermont. His endeavors were successful, and in this way he became a resident of the town. His original farm consisted of a large part of what is now the site of the village of Starksboro. He had a large spring on his ground, to which he added the waters of a small stream by tunnelling through a hill, and thus obtaining large water privileges he erected the first grist and fulling mill in the town, and in addition to this occupation he also operated a forge and trip-hammer shop. His descendants to the fifth generation are now occupying portions of the old farm, where Mr. Ferguson died at a great age. He was chosen the first representative of the town in 1798, and continued the incumbent of that office for many years. His wife was Mary Cuthbert, of Dutch descent.

His son, Elijan Ferguson, was born in Nine Partners, New York, April 17, 1775, and removed with his parents to Starksboro, Vermont, where he became prominently identified with the com- mercial, political and social affairs of the town. He devoted his entire life to the occupation of farming, at which he was eminently successful ; he was elected to fill all the local offices in the gift of his fellow townsmen, and it was largely through his instrumentality that many improve- ments were made in the town. He was united in marriage to Miss Mary Haight, who was born in Starksboro, Vermont, November 6, 1780; their marriage was solemnized August 10, 1797, and they became the parents of ten children. Mr. Ferguson's death occurred in Starksboro, Ver- mont, at the age of seventy-five years, and his wife passed away when she had attained her seventy-sixth year.

Albert Ferguson, fourth child of Elisha Fer- guson, was born in Starksboro, Vermont, Octo- ber 23, 1803. His literary education was ob- tained in the common schools of his native town,

and after completing his studies he turned his at- tention to the tilling of the soil, at which occupa- tion he spent the remainder of his life. He mar- ried Miss Clarissa Bostwick, born November 21, 1806, a danghter of Gilbert and Lydia (Butler) Bostwick, who came to Starksboro, Vermont, in 1820, and the remainder of their lives were spent in that town. Mr. Bostwick died August 3, 1869, and his wife's death occurred July 3, 1868. Four- teen children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Albert Ferguson. Mr. Ferguson died in Bristol, Ver- mont, May 17, 1884, in the eighty-first year of his age.

Alfred Ferguson, third child of Albert and Clarissa Ferguson, was born in Starksboro, Ver- mont, April 12, 1829. He is indebted to the com- mon schools of Bristol, Vermont, for his lit- crary education, upon the completion of which he engaged in farming, and this occupation has been the principal pursuit of his life. He has a fine farm which consists of two hundred and fifty acres of well cultivated land, which is devoted to the production of a general line of garden pro- duce; for which there is always an available mar- ket. Two hundred acres of this farm were pur- chased in 1857, at a cost of seven thousand dol- lars. Mr. Ferguson paid down six hundred dol- lars and gave his note for the balance. He sub- sequently rebuilt the house and erected fine barns,. which cost him an additional four thousand dol- lars. He then purchased ninety acres of land- which adjoined his farm, erected a fine commo- dious house and barn, which altogether cost three thousand dollars, and this is now occupied by his son, who aided in its purchase. Previous to 1857 he was the owner of a farm for which he paid- two thousand dollars, one hundred down, which was the money he had saved out of his earnings as a farm laborer, and a note was given for the balance. He was then eighteen years old. He has been very successful in all his undertakings, and much credit is due to him for his industry, energy and perseverance.

In his political affiliations Mr. Ferguson is- an adherent of the Republican party, and has served the town as selectman and lister for a num- ber of years; for ten years he acted in the capa- city of justice of the peace, and he has also been appointed delegate to the county conventions.

On April 12, 1858, Mr. Ferguson married Miss

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Jerusha Wright, who was born in New Haven, Vermont, November 8, 1833, a daughter of Caleb Wright, who was a prominent farmer of that town, and his wife, Harriett Rockwood, who was born September II, 1810, in Starksboro, Vermont. They had five children. Mr. Wright was born February 13, 1810, in Weybridge, Vermont, and died in the town of New Haven, Vermont, Janu- ary 30, 1896, at the age of eighty-six years. His wife's death occurred December 29, 1898, when she had attained the age of eighty-eight years; they were both consistent members of the Metho- dist Episcopal church of Weybridge. Four chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson, two of whom survive. The first, Wright Alfred, born July 4, 1863, resides on a fine farm in New Haven. He married Miss Cora Ray of Monkton, Vermont, and has one child, Clara, born May 9,' 1888, in New Haven, Vermont. The second, Edwin Alfred, born July 24, 1876, is a successful farmer at Bristol, who resides on the homestead. He married Miss Huldana Brooks, who was born July 23, 1879, in Virginia and reared in New Haven, Vermont, and they have one child, Irene, born December 25, 1900. Both sons are members of the Masonic fraternity. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson are earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Bristol, Vermont, in which Mr. Ferguson has held the office of trustee for many years, and for over forty years has acted as steward; in fact he has taken an active part in all the work connected with the church, as did also his father and grandfather, who very materi- ally assisted in the building of the edifice at Starksboro. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson are honored for their fidelity to principle, truth and right, esteemed for their genial and kindly man- ner and loved for their many admirable qualities.

SOLON THOMAS CHAMBERLIN.

Captain Solon Thomas Chamberlin, superin- tendent of the Readsboro Chair Manufacutring Company, at Readsboro, Vermont, was born Ap- ril 4, 1846, at Leicester, Junction, Addison coun- ty, Vermont, a son of Willard H. Chamberlin. Willard H. Chamberlin was born in Brome, Can- ada. He was the son of Ebenezer Chamberlin, who was born December 14, 1780, died November 22, 1859. Ebenezer Chamberlin married Kezia

Stone, July 8, 1804. Kezia Stone was born June 2, 1782, died March 24, 1849. Of the union of Kezia Stone with Ebenezer Chamberlin, nine children were born : Elnathin G., born September 26, 1805; Daniel S., born January 23, 1807; Martha, born April 15, 1809; Calvin, born De- cember 19, 1810; Willard H., born October 13, 1814; Timothy E., born April 23, 1816; Kezia, born December 12, 1819; Abigail, born August 31, 1821 ; and Versel E., born April 14, 1824.

Willard H. Chamberlin acquired his educa- tion in the common schools of Brandon, Vermont, and its seminary. During his earlier life he was

SOLON THOMAS CHAMBERLIN.

engaged in farming, but was afterward dealer in blooded horses of considerable note, buying Black Hawk horses and then shipping west for breeding purposes ; and for a number of years he was engaged in buying Merino sheep and ship- ping them to the western states. He died in Brandon, Vermont, February 16, 1875. He was a Republican in politics, and always took a great

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interest in public affairs, being a great reader. He married Elizabeth Gage, who was born in Hague, New York, January 14, 1818, and daughter of Thomas Gage, who was for many. years a farmer in Sudbury, Vermont, but who, while advanced in years, moved to Illinois, and died there at the age of ninety-two years. He was a Mason, belonging to Brandon Lodge. Mr. Gage married Eunice Stevens. Of the union of Mr. Gage and Eunice Stevens, ten children were born, Rebecca, Conro, Diana, Patience, Amanda, Pomclia, Elizabeth, William, Ruth and Ann.

Of the union of Elizabeth Gage with Will- ard Chamberlin, ten children were born. Harlan, of Goshen, Vermont; Eva, the wife of D. B. Brown, of Goshen, Vermont; Ella, who married L. Melvin Baker, since deceased; Solon T., with whom this sketch is chiefly concerned; Leonard J., living in Massachusetts; Adel, who married D. Fassett, since deceased; Allen B., a resident of Holyoke, Massachusetts; Alton, residence un- known, none of the family having heard from him for twenty-five years: Versel, a resident of Goshen, Vermont ; and William H., a resident of Petaluma, California. The mother was a member of the Baptist church from the age of sixteen un- til her death, December 22, 1898.

Solon T. Chamberlin spent the very earliest years of his life in Leicester Junction, Whiting, Sudbury, and Goshen, Vermont, receiving his education in the public schools of Whiting, Sud- bury, and Goshen. While at home he assisted in the labors incidental to a boy's life, occasionally accompanying his father to the west with sheep or horses. In 1864, a lad of eighteen, he enlisted in Company B, Ninth Vermont Volunteer Infan- try, and served until the close of the war. He par- ticipated in the battles of second Fair Oaks, Chapin's farm and Fort Harrison. Returning home, he engaged in buying and shipping Merino sheep west and in farming for two years; then located in Gardner, Massachusetts, where he en- tered the chair factory of Bent Brothers in 1871, where he tried to learn the business in all its de- tails. He was with Bent Brothers for a number of years. He subsequently entered the employ of Heywood Brothers & Company, where he had charge of part of their factory for two years. In 1890 he went to Detroit, Michigan, as superinten- dent of a large chair factory for two years. He

thien accepted the position of superintendent of a chair factory at Frankfort, Kentucky, for the Mason & Ford Company. Mr. Chamberlin had charge of this factory two years, employing nine hundred men, the work being done by convict labor. The firm then going out of business on ac- count of the expiration of their lease with the state, Mr. Chamberlin induced the state to take up the work previously carried on by the Mason & Ford Company, and he was given entire charge of the factory, employing nine hundred men the first two years, and six hundred the ensuing four years. Being forced by ill health to resign his position, he returned to Brandon, Vermont, and purchased a farm, on which his family still reside, and was there successfully engaged in farming pursuits until 1901, when he became superinten- dent of the Readsboro Chair Manufacturing Com- pany. A full description of this plant may be found on another page of this volume in connec- tion with the sketch of A. B. Clark.

While living in Gardner, Massachusetts, Mr. Chamberlin was commissioned captain of Com- pany B, Second Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, his commission being signed by Governor Rob- inson, and served six years, resigning when he went to Detroit, Michigan. Fraternally Mr. Chamberlin is a member of William Ellison Lodge No. 185, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, of Gardner, Massachusetts, is a past grand of the lodge, and of D. G. Farragut Post No. 116, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he has filled all the chairs, and for two years served as commander. Politically he is a Republican. Captain Chamberlin married Huldie M. Wash- burn, April 21, 1868, youngest daughter of Charles and Maria Brown Washburn. Mrs. Chamberlin was born in Goshen, Vermont, No- vember 27, 1847. Charles Washburn was born in Bridgewater, Vermont, April 1, 1815, son of James and Nancy Backus Washburn. He died in Goshen, Vermont, August, 1892. Mrs. Charles Washburn was born in Rochester, Vermont, No- vember 19, 1816, daughter of John and Myria Austin Brown. Mrs. Washburn is still living, her mind being bright as fifty years ago. There were born to Mr. and Mrs. Washburn five chil- dren, Mary J., Charles Langdon, Shubel H., Huldie M., and one died in infancy. Captain and Mrs. Chamberlin have had three children:

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Clifton L., a music teacher in Rutland, Vermont, who was educated for his profession by Professor Saxton, of Lexington, Kentucky ; he was born in Goshen, Vermont, July 7, 1875. Jesse L., born in Gardner, Massachusetts, July 31, 1881, died January 26, 1882. Dalton E., born in Gardner, Massachusetts, February 17, 1884, died in Bran- don, Vermont, February 8, 1903.

FRANK L. EASTMAN.

Frank L. Eastman, a leading and influential citizen of New Haven, Vermont, belongs to a family which for more than a century has been represented in the state. Jonathan Eastman, great-grandfather of Frank L. Eastman, was born in 1753, in Norwich, Connecticut, removing early in life, with his three brothers, Calvin, Anson and Amos, to Bristol, Vermont, where they acted the part of pioneers in the then infant settlement, of which Jonathan Eastman became one of the most prominent citizens. He served for eleven years as town clerk, four years as selectman, and rep- resented the town in the state legislature from 1792 to 1795, in addition to acting for seventeen years as justice of the peace. Mr. Eastman died December 16, 1816, in Bristol, at the age of six- ty-six years. His first wife, Miss Haynes, bore him a daughter. He married, second, Ruth Dean, born in New Haven, Vermont, and they had five children.

Ira Eastman, son of Jonathan Eastman, was born October 16, 1802, in Bristol, Vermont, where he followed the occupation of a farmer. He mar- ried Sally Foote, born July 9, 1802, in New Ha- ven, whose father, Thomas Foote, was one of the first settlers of that region, where he spent his entire life. Sally Foote was born in a log house which stood on the site of Mr. Frank L. East- man's present home. Mr. and Mrs. Eastman were the parents of four sons, of whom one, Ira, is now living in Montpelier, Vermont. In the latter part of his life Mr. Eastman went to northern Ohio, where he died at the early age of thirty-four, his wife surviving him many years, dying at the age of sixty-four.

Albert Eastman, son of Ira and Sally (Foote) Eastman, was born August 1, 1825, in Bristol, Vermont, and was reared in the home of his ma- ternal grandfather, where he received his early

education, afterward attending the academy at Malone, New York. On completing his education he returned to New Haven, Vermont, where he had spent his childhood, and there taught school for several terms, at the same time engaging in farming during the summer seasons. In material matters he was very successful, owning a fine farm of one hundred and fifty acres, and occupy- ing a leading position in the community, in the affairs of which he was very active. He enjoyed in a high degree the esteem and confidence of his townsmen, being elected to a number of offices, among which were those of lister and overseer of the poor. He was a man of literary tastes, find- ing a great source of pleasure in his books. His entire life was spent in New Haven. From 1852 to 1860, he lived on the shores of the New Haven river, and subsequently purchased his boyhood home, from his uncle. He married, April 13, 1852, Mary Sumner, born September 27, 1831, in Potsdam, New York, daughter of Thomas Sumner, who was born in Bristol and was the son of Henry G. Sumner, a pioneer of that town. Thomas Sumner married Dorcas Fuller, and went to Potsdam, New York, where he remained un- til about forty years old, when he returned to Bristol and died there at the age of seventy-five years, in 1875. His father built for himself a substantial and comfortable house in the town of Bristol, which is still standing. Mr. and Mrs. Albert Eastman were the parents of two chil- dren, Frank L., mentioned at length hereinafter ; and Lizzie, wife of Rev. George W. Brooks, pastor of the Village Congregational church at Dorchester, Massachusetts. Mr. Eastman died July 25, 1882, at the age of fifty-eight. Mrs. Eastman, who is still living, is, in point of mem- bership, the oldest attendant of the New Haven Congregational church, with which she became connected fifty years ago.

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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 84

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