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 II > Part 110
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THE STATE OF VERMONT.
1804, where the Seventh Vermont received much pluse for us steadiness and daring ; and at the Siege of Mobile and the Spanish Fort, Alabama, in March, 1865. While in command of a portion of the skirmish' line in front of the fort, and under cover of a dense smoke from a fire started by the enemy, which entirely concealed his move- ments from the Union generals, he was surprised by a sortie from the fort and made a prisoner with twenty of his company. For his courage ' and obstinate resistance on this occasion he was commended by his colonel and brigade com- mander, and also by the Confederate general in command of the fort. After a brief captivity he was paroled, at Vicksburg on the 22d of April, and honorably discharged by special orders of the war department, May 15, 1865. He was a good soldier and capable officer.
After being mustered out of the service he resumed his position as clerk in the drug busi- ness. In 1870 he formed a partnership with Al- bert C. Tuttle, under the firm name of R. B. Stearns & Company. He was associated in busi- ness with Mr. Tuttle for about twenty-five years, when Mr. Tuttle withdrew from the firm. A few years previous to his withdrawal, W. J. Hen- derson was admitted to the firm, and in 1899 Mr. Stearns sold out his interest to Mr. Henderson, reserving the right of the firm name, and bought out Beaupre & Lowrey, being in business for him- self from that time until his death, August 9, 1902. Mr. Stearns was president of the Bur- lington Retail Druggists' Association, and was a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and the Reunion Society of Vermont Officers. He married, September 13, 1864, Jane Augusta Swan, daughter of Jonah and Caroline (Story) Swan; she is still living in Burlington.
Joseph Tuttle Stearns, son of Captain Riley Burdett Stearns, was born in Burlington, Ver- mont, July 3, 1874. He received his education in the Burlington high school, from which he was graduated in 1892. He then entered the University of Vermont, from which he graduated in 1896, and then entered Harvard Law School, and was graduated from that institution in 1899, and was admitted to the bar in October of the same year. He entered the office of the Hon. D. J. Foster, of Burlington, Vermont, with whom he practiced law until March 1, 1900, when he
was appointed clerk of the city court. He also serves in the capacity of justice of the peace for Chittenden county, and continues in active prac- tice of law. Mr. Stearns is a member of the Sigma Phi fraternity, the Ethan Allen Club and the Vermont Bar Association. He is treasurer of the Associate Alumni of the University of Vermont and secretary of the Waubanakee Golf Club. In politics he is a firm and staunch Re- publican, and is a vestryman in the Episcopal church, and a member of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, which is connected with it.
His brother, John Brainerd Stearns, was born in Burlington, Vermont, March 26, 1869. He received his education in the Burlington high school and the University of Vermont. He grad- uated from the latter institution in 1891, and was an instructor in chemistry therein from 1891 to 1896; assistant professor of chemistry in the same institution in 1898-1899, and secretary of the university from 1894 to 1896. He is a mem- ber of the American Chemical Society, the American Association for the advancement of Science, the Sigma Phi fraternity, Delta Mu (Medical) fraternity, and the Waubanakee Golf Club. His religious affiliations are with the Con- gregational church, and in politics he is a Re- publican. He was married on June 29, 1899, to Miss Elizabeth Strong Cooley, a daughter of William Henry and Charlotte (Stoddard) Cooley of Auburndale, Massachusetts. They have one son, William Cooley Stearns, born Au- gust II, 1900.
GEORGE WASHINGTON HARMAN.
George Washington Harman, of Bennington, an accomplished lawyer and successful man of affairs, was born in Pawlet, Rutland county, May 7, 1812. His parents were Nathaniel and Alice (Hascall) Harman. He was the sixth in descent from John Harman, born in England about 1620, who was one of the early settlers of Springfield, Massachusetts. Through his mother he was the seventh in descent from Governor William Bradford, of the Plymouth colony. Ezekiel Harmon, his grandfather, removed in 1774 to Pawlet from Suffield, Connecticut, which had been the family home for four generations, and married Lydia Harmon in the following
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year. He was a deacon of the Congregational church and for many years a justice of the peace. His son, Nathaniel Harman, was admitted to the Rutland county bar in 1803, and practiced law for over forty years. He was a member ot the council of censors of 1834, and of the con- stitutional convention in 1836. He was a justice of the peace during a long period, and was highly esteemed for his judicial ability and his sturdy independence in the discharge of public duties. He adopted that spelling of his surname which his inquiries led him to believe was its correct form, and it has been followed by his descendants.
George W. Harman received his early educa- tion in the common schools of his native town, also at a local academy and under a private teacher. He roamed the forests with dog and gun, and studied nature by himself while he stud -- ied law in his father's office. He was admitted to the Rutland county bar in 1833, and practiced law in that county until 1848, enjoying a con- stantly increasing practice. He married, Octo- ber 12, 1836, Miss Laura A. Penfield, of Pitts- ford, Vermont, with whom he lived for more than sixty-one years. He was a member of the constitutional convention in 1843. About Jan- uary 1, 1848, he removed to Bennington, having accepted the position of cashier of the Stark Bank, a state institution then recently established, of which Hon. William S. Southworth, after- wards agent of the Lawrence Manufacturing Company, Lowell, Massachusetts, was president. It continued in business until 1867, when its ex- istence ended by reason of the national banking act. Mr. Harman remained in its service to the last, at the same time being engaged in an in- creasing law practice, and continuing his profes- sional work until advancing years caused him gradually to withdraw from active labor.
As a lawyer he was careful, accurate, pains- taking and methodical. His knowledge of the statutes and decisions of his own state was unusual. While he adopted no special line of practice, his banking connections naturally led him into corporation, financial and commercial litigation. In business matters he happily com- bined conservatismi with progressive energy. His ability as a framer of legal and public documents was well known and acknowledged. Most of the leading manufacturers and prominent busi-
ness men of his vicinity found him at one time or another their trusted counsellor; and many of the statutes which affected the welfare of his community received their wording from his pen. When the Bennington County Savings Bank was organized, in 1878, he became connected with it, was its treasurer for a number of years, and its secretary until the time of his decease. He was active in local matters, especially in connection with the movement for better schools. He held various town and school offices; was the first judge of the municipal court of the village of Bennington ; was secretary and a director of the Bennington & Rutland Railway Company for many years, and until his decease.
In politics he was a Whig in early life, and a Republican from the organization of that party. He was fond of historical research and made many journeys to examine ancient records, so that he might be certain upon mooted points. For a number of years he was president of the Bennington Historical Society. He was one of the founders of the Vermont State Bar Asso- ciation, a vice president of it for several years, not seldom its presiding officer, and always at- tended its meetings ; being for years one of three. venerable members whose annual presence there was a continual inspiration. With one exception he was the oldest member of the bar in the state at he time of his decease. He prepared several historical papers for that body, and was a fre- quent contributor on historical subjects to various local and other journals. He was a regular at- tendant of the Congregational church. Down to within six weeks of his decease he enjoyed a remarkably vigorous old age, in full possession of all his faculties and able to attend regularly to his ordinary business. He died at his home March 29, 1898, in the eighty-sixth years of his age.
JOHN M. SAFFORD.
John M. Safford, general insurance agent and broker, Burlington, was born September 12, 1846, in Cambridge, Vermont. His great-grandfather, Samuel, was an officer in the Continental army, was prominent in civil and military affairs, and was a pioneer of the town of Bennington, where he died. The grandfather, John Safford, was at
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the battle of Bennington, which occurred on his twelfth Luthdas, and he helped guard the pris 1015. He was one of the first surveyors and the hrst school teacher of Lambille county, and he followed farming and surveying, dying at the age of ninety-six years
Madison Safford, the father of John M. Saf- ford, was born in Cambridge, Vermont, Feb- ruary 15, 1809. He attended the common schools of the town and completed his education at the Plattsburg (New York) Academy, after which he was employed as a teacher for a number of years. Subsequently settling on the ancestral homestead on which he was born and reared, he thenceforth engaged in agricultural pursuits un- til his retirement from active duties. He was also a surveyor, and nearly all the surveying in Lamoille county prior to the early fifties was done by his father and himself. He was for many years a Republican in politics, held town offices, and later became a Prohibitionist. He married Charlotte Montague, who was born in Cambridge, August 28, 1808, and was reared in the family of grandfather John Safford, later marrying the latter's son. They were members of the Congregational church, and took great interest in missionary work. John M. Safford has a photograph taken at the seventieth anniversary of his parents' wedding, an occasion not often cele- brated, the father being then ninety-two and the mother ninety-three. The latter died at the age of ninety-three years, and the father died Decem- ber 28, 1902, aged nearly ninety-four. A brother of Madison Safford married a sister of Levi P. Morton. of New York. Five children were born to Madison and Charlotte Safford. William Webb, who died at the age of twenty-one, was a teacher in the south and in Indiana. Samuel M., the second son, married, in 1863, Ellen A. Hop- kins, of Cambridge. He resided in Fairfield after his marriage, then in Arlington until 1869, and then moved to Cambridge, where for a year he was engaged in the lumber business with his brother, J. M. Safford, after which he went to the home farm, where he still lives, having ful- filled his filial duty to his parents during the 'declining years of their life. They have no children. Laura Augusta, now deceased, married Luther Putnam, of Westford, Vermont. The fifth of the family died in infancy.
John Al. Safford lived on the home farm until he was seventeen years of age, when, inspired by patriotic impulse, he enlisted, December 25, 1863, in Company L, Eleventh Regiment, First Vermont Heavy Artillery. With his comrades he spent the first winter aiding in the defense of Washington, but in the spring, when Grant made his move on Richmond, they were made a part of the Army of the Potomac, and he participated in the battles of Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor. Young Safford remained with his regiment through the hard campaign that followed, until August, 1864, when he was sent to the field hospital at Harper's Ferry, later to Annapolis, thence to York, Pennsylvania, and was then transferred to Vermont, where he remained until January, 1865, when he rejoined his regiment. He was discharged as commissary sergeant of his regiment, September 25, 1865.
Returning home at the close of the war, Mr. Safford was ill for two years, and after his re- covery resumed his studies, taking a course at the Johnson Normal School. Embarking in the lumber business in 1868, he followed that occupa- tion for twenty-three years. May 20, 1877, Mr. Safford met with a severe financial loss, when his steam manufacturing plant, together with house, barns and other buildings, with their contents, were entirely destroyed by fire. The mill was rebuilt that same season, and house and barns the following spring. He resided in Cambridge until 1891, when he removed to Burlington, in the interests of the Champlain Manufacturing Company, with which he was connected for two years. He engaged in the insurance business in 1893, and has carried it on with good success, at the same time being employed in the advertis- ing department of the Essex Publishing Com- pany. Politically he affiliates with the Republi- can party, and for eight years served as justice of the peace in his native county. Fraternal's he is a member of the Grand Army of the Re- public and the Sons of the American Revolu- tion. He belongs to the Congregational church. September 15, 1868, Mr. Safford married Lo- duska L. Corse, who was born in Cambridge, Ver- mont, April 19, 1846. She was a daughter of Gad Corse, who was a native of Hebron, New York, born May 3, 1799; he married Lucetta H. Morey, a daughter of William Morey, who
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THE STATE OF VERMONT.
served as a soldier in the war of 1812. Mr. and Mrs. Safford are the parents of three children, the youngest of whom died in infancy. The others are Henry M. and Raymond G. Safford. Henry M. Safford, born December 20, 1871, is a resident of Winooski. He married, first, in 1891, Lena Powell, of Burlington, who died April 4, 1897, having borne him two children, the older of whom, Marjorie, died at the age of six months, while Grace lived but five weeks. He married, second, March 6, 1898, Julia Gallup, of North Adams, Massachusetts, who died April 16, 1900, having borne him one child, Morton L., who died when five months old. He married, third, May 7, 1902, Irene Maynard, of Water- ville, Vermont. Raymond G., the second son of Mr. and Mrs. Safford, born October 10, 1876, is engaged in the real estate business in Boston, Massachusetts.
WALTER M. WARE.
Walter M. Ware, one of the foremost agricul- turists of Putney, is a man of great enterprise, good judgment and undoubted ability. He was born in Townshend, Vermont, in 1855, a son of the late William M. Ware. Joseph Ware, his paternal grandfather, a shoemaker by trade, was for many years a resident of Townshend, Ver- mont, where his death occurred at the venerable age of eighty-two years. His wife died when about seventy-six years old. They had the fol- lowing named children: George, a business man in Boston; Bradley, a cattle dealer, resided in Townshend, Vermont; William M., the father of Walter M .; James; Charles, a grocer in Boston ; Richard, a manufacturer; John, a farmer in Wardsboro, Vermont; Frank was engaged in seafaring pursuits ; Eliza married Mr. Brown, of Watertown, Massachusetts; Laura married Wal- ter Evans, of Watertown; Lucina married John Haley, of Boston : Elmira ; and one who died in childhood.
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William M. Ware, a native of Putney, died at his home, in Townshend, Vermont, at the age of seventy-three years. He was a farmer by occupation, and a citizen of prominence, serving ably and faithfully in the various town offices. He married Clarissa Harris, a daughter of Will-
iam Harris, a well-to-do farmer of Townshend, and into their household the following children were born, namely: Marcia married William Loomis, of Springfield, Massachusetts, by whom she has seven children, Clifford, Maud, Robert, Howard, Ethel, Edith and Carroll C .; Ellen L., who has been a teacher in the public schools of Springfield for a quarter of a century ; and Wal- ter M. The mother is still living, an active and pleasant woman of seventy-four years.
Walter M. Ware was reared and educated in Townshend. At the age of sixteen years he left school, and the following year began the battle of life for himself. Embarking in busi- ness as a teamster, he was engaged in freighting between East Townshend and Brattleboro for ten years, keeping busily employed, and accumu- lating some money. Coming to East Putney in 1883. Mr. Ware managed the Aplin farm on shares for a few years, then invested his savings in land, buying the Lovell farm and adjacent property, his estate comprising six hundred or more acres, four farms, each with its own build- ings and improvements, being consolidated into one. He is one of the most extensive and pro- gressive farmers of the county, making a specialty of stock-raising and dairying. In 1901 he raised ninety-one acres of corn, and eighty acres of oats, the largest crop of either raised on any one farm in the state during that year. He winters on an average two hundred cows, sometimes the number being as high as two hundred and fifty ; keeps twenty horses; and employs from ten to fifteen men. He is one of the largest cattle dealers of this section, last year selling over thirteen hundred cows, besides which he fatted nearly one thousand dollars' worth of calves, and realized fully as much on his hogs. He is con- sidered an authority on all branches of agricul- ture, and his well kept homestead, with its mod- ern and valuable improvements, bears visible evi- dence of his thrift and good management.
Mr. Ware married, first, in 1876, Nellie Hol- brook, of Townshend, Vermont. She died in 1886. Two children blessed their union, namely : walter M., who died in infancy ; and Alice, wife of Mr. Woodburn, who assists Mr. Ware in the management of the home farm. Mr. Ware mar- ried. second, December 25, 1890, Frances Wil- bur, of Westminster, Vermont.
THE STATE OF VERMONT.
FREDERICK FLESWORTH CLARK, M. D.
Dr. Frederick Ellsworth Clark, a well known plus-ician of Burlington, Vermont, belongs to an oid Massachusetts family. He traces his ances- try five generations to his great-great-grandfa- ther, David Clark, who was born in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, October 19, 1758. In the affairs of the town, both civil and military, he took a prominent part, and was among the Revolution- ary heroes who performed gallant service in de- fending the principles to which they were such strong adherents. He married, July 17, 1791, Sarah Davis, also of Ashburnham, where he re- sided until his death, July 5, 1841. His wife died October 10, 1823. They had a family of nine children.
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Levi Clark (twin), great-grandfather of Dr. Clark, was born February 15, 1792, in Ashburn- ham. He was a very successful farmer. He married Abigail, daughter of Job and Mercy Pratt. of Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, and eight children were born to them.
Luther Clark, Dr. Clark's grandfather, son of Levi and Abigail (Pratt) Clark, was born in Ashburnham, March 31, 1822. He was a very popular man and served with distinction in the Civil war with Company F, Twenty-fifth Regi- ment, Massachusetts Volunteers. He was a butcher by occupation, and was the first of that trade in the town. As a pioneer in this industry his business was conducted on an extensive scale. Later he was a farmer. He married, March 31, 1841, Mary C. Cory, daughter of Stilman Cory, and to them were born eight children, four of whom are living: Mrs. Jennie (Clark) Moss- man. now living in Leominster, Massachusetts ; Alfred Francis, mentioned hereinafter ; Eliza, who became the wife of Martin Davis, of Gardner, Massachusetts ; John, now living at Ashburnham ; Martha, Mary, Lucy and Georgia, all deceased. Mrs. Clark was a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and died November 23, 1870, at the age of fifty years. Her husband's death occurred October 31, 1901, at the age of seventy-nine years.
Alfred Francis Clark, father of Dr. Clark, and a son of Luther and Mary C. (Cory) Clark, was born February 4, 1842, in Ashburnham, Massa- chusetts, where he received his education. Like his father, he combined the occupation of a farmer
with that of a butcher, until 1875, when he retired from business. and now makes his home in the village of Ashburnham. He married, July 27, 1862, Linda R., born April 23, 1840, in Rindge, New Hampshire, daughter of Joel and Susan (White) Bixby.
Mr. Bixby was born in Rindge, New Hamp- shire, January 5, 1803, and was one of seven children, Saphronia, Susan, Eunice, Mary, Julia and Hitty, and one brother, Harrison Joel Bixby, who married Susan White, born in Methuen, Massachusetts, December 26, 1805. Joel and Susan (White) Bixby were the parents of twelve children: Aaron, now living at Ashby, Massa- chusetts; Mary, who became the wife of Otis Pratt, of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, where she still resides: Julia, who resides in Fitchburg, Massachusetts ; Caroline, who married George Humphrey, of Gardner, Massachusetts ; Augus- ta, who married Austin Brooks, of South Ash- burnham, Massachusetts; Susan, who became the wife of William Lindley, now deceased ; Martha, who became the wife of George A. Walls, of Fitchburg, Massachusetts; Syntha, Thomas, Charles and Linda, of Ashburnham, deceased ; and Linda R., mentioned above as the wife of Alfred Francis Clark, and who died April 24, 1888, at the age of forty-eight years. Joel Bixby died December 10, 1875, and his wife died March 6, 1883. Mr. and Mrs. Alfred F. Clark were the parents of four children: Alice M .; Frederick E., mentioned at length below; Walter S., de- ceased ; and Nettie J. Clark. In addition to tak- ing an active interest in the affairs of his town, Mr. Clark has also aided in the military affairs of the state, having served seventeen years in the local militia company of Ashburnham, Massa- chusetts, in which town he has always made his home, and is well and favorably known, and in which he still resides.
The special subject of this sketch, Dr. Fred- erick Ellsworth Clark, son of Alfred Francis and Linda R. (Bixby) Clark, was born February I, 1869, in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, where he received his education, graduating in 1888 from Cushing Academy. " For the next four years he was engaged in teaching, and the last two years of that time was principal of the high school at Ashland, New Hampshire. During the summers of 1890 and 1891 he was connected with the .
black (m)
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THE STATE OF VERMONT.
Natural History Camp for boys, held at Lake Quinsigimond, near Worcester, Massachusetts. The first year at this camp, he was instructor in manual training. The following year he was . quartermaster on the colonel's staff, with the rank of captain. In 1892 he entered the medical de- partment of the University of Vermont, from which he graduated in 1894, the second in a class .of forty-three. He was one of the winners of the second cash prize of twenty-five dollars, and also .received a special honorary diploma indicating his high standing in scholarship. During the last year of his college course he was in the office of Dr. J. B. Wheeler, at the same time engaged largely in the hospital work.
At the end of a year he entered upon an inde- pendent professional career, in which he has since continued with success. His ability as a physician was soon recognized, as the positions of which he has since been appointed bear ample testimony. In 1899 he was appointed instructor in gynecol- ogy and obstetrics in the University of Vermont, which position he held until the following year, when he was given special laboratory work, and was appointed to fill the chair of pathology and histology. In 1899 he was appointed medical di- rector of the Vermont Life Insurance Company, and both these positions he filled in a most accept- able manner. In 1901 he resigned his positions as instructor in gynecology and obstetrics, but re- taining that of instructor of normal and patholog- ical histology. For six years he has been con- sulting physician to the Fanny Allen Hospital, and for the last two years on the attending staff. In addition to filling a number of other offices, he was elected health officer of the city of Bur- lington, Vermont, in 1902.
Dr. Clark has taken an active interest in the ·various medical societies, is a member of the Bur- lington Clinical Society, the Vermont Medical Society, the American Medical Association, and the American Congress of Tuberculosis. He is a member of Washington Lodge, F. & A. M., and of the Ethan Allen Club. He is much interested in benevolent work, and is one of the directors of the Young Men's Christian Association.
Dr. Clark married, August 15, 1895, Linnie S., daughter of A. B. Simonds, who was a successful merchant of Williston, and also of Burlington, Vermont, now deceased. He was the father of
twelve children: Amelia, deceased; Fred H .; George, deceased ; Mary, deceased; Edward and Ellen, twins, the latter deceased; Frank, de- ceased ; Louise ; Willis, deceased; Abraham; Isa- dors, who is now the wife of Mr. Towle, of Brat- tleboro, Vermont; and Linnie S., the youngest, mentioned above as the wife of Dr. Frederick Ellsworth Clark. Dr. and Mrs. Clark are the parents of two children: Elizabeth Kelton, born July 25, 1898; and Linda Frances, born Septem- ber 4, 190I.
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