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 113

Author: Carleton, Hiram, 1838- ed
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1044

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 113

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The death of Mr. Cleveland deeply affected the entire community, by whom he was held in affectionate esteem for his nobility of character and usefulness of life. He was three times mar- ried, and he left two children by his second mar- riage, Henry C. and Charles B., the latter of whom resides in Newport.

Henry C. Cleveland, eldest son of Elijah Cleveland, was born October 15, 1831, in Cov- entry, in the house in which he has ever since resided. He began his studies in the district schools, and pursued advanced courses in the academies in Craftsbury and St. Johnsbury. With ample preparation in an educational way, he early entered upon business association with his father, whose characteristics and capabilities he inherited. From the beginning, young Cleve- land was his father's trusted and confidential as- sistant in all his various undertakings, and the relationship between them was peculiarly intimate, remindful rather of that of brothers than of father and son, and was maintained until the death of the parent, whom the son eventually succeeded in various important positions. Upon the death of the senior Cleveland, Mr. Henry C. Cleveland was elected to succeed him in the secretaryship of the Passumpsic Railroad Company, in which capacity he yet continues to serve. His capa- bilities as a sagacious financier had long before found appreciative recognition, and he entered upon his duties with such entire familiarity that the conduct of the business gave no evidence of a change of management. Mr. Cleveland also became a director in the National Bank of New- port, another position for which he was peculiarly well qualified not only by his fine business quali- ties, but by his intimate knowledge of the general condition of the financial world and of the com- munity and neighborhood. He also became in- terested in the various other enterprises which had claimed the attention of his father, and in which he had already borne an important part. Mr. Cleveland has also been conspicuously useful in many important public positions to which he has been called by the people, and to the duties

of which he brought the same sagacity and in- tegrity which characterized him in his personal dealings. He has served as town treasurer and selectman and in other local offices. In 1888 he represented Coventry in the assembly, and in 1890 he was elected to the senate from Orleans county. In 1901 he was elected associate judge of Orleans county for a four years' term.

While thus busied with official duties in vari- ous corporations and under the municipal and state governments, Mr. Cleveland has never lost his keen delight in rural pursuits. The owner of a splendidly improved farm of two hundred and fifty acres, its management is his constant care, making a specialty of breeding Devonshire cat- tle. He is a member of the Congregational So- ciety, and his political affiliations have always been with the Republican party. Since arriving at the age of manhood he has been a member of Memphremagog Lodge, F. & A. M. He was formerly a member of the Artillery Guard, Ver- mont Militia.

Mr. Cleveland was twice married. His first wife was Miss Rosetta Daley, of Coventry, who bore him two children. He subsequently married Miss Mary Jane Greenwood, of Lowell, Vermont, and of this marriage were born three children, of whom is now living a son, Walter Cleveland.

CLEMENT F. SMITH.

Clement F. Smith, of Morrisville, Vermont, president of the State Dairymen's Association, has long been recognized as one of the most use- ful men of the state through his deep and intelli- gent interest in dairying and stock-breeding. While he has thus been highly instrumental in the promotion of these important sources of pros- perity, he has also rendered to the general public services of peculiar usefulness in official positions in the commonwealth and in his community.

Mr. Smith is a native of the state, born in Morristown, July 29, 1856. He began his edu- cation in the common schools, and pursued ad- vanced studies in the People's Academy in Mor- risville. At the age of twenty-two years he mar- ried, and soon afterwards purchased the paternal farm, upon which he made a payment of five hundred dollars, his entire earnings, and pro- viding for the payment of the remaining' ten

41 ×

042

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

thousand dollars out of the fruits of his labors. This fine tract, known as the Laporte Farm, which has since then been in his ownership and under his management, is justly famed as one of the most highly cultivated and productive in all Vermont. Pleasantly located on the Stowe road, three miles from Morrisville, it contains one hundred and seventy-five acres, of which sixty are under cultivation and in meadow, forty are in pasture, and the remainder in sugar or- chard and woodland. The soil is a clay loam, equally adapted to corn or hay. It has not only been maintained unimpoverished, but its produc- ing power has been actually doubled through a wise rotation of crops and intensive cultivation. But little grain is sown, and one-half (thirty acres) of the farm tract proper is given to corn of the Sanford variety, which is planted two years in succession, and is cut with a harvester. The meadow produces two crops each year, princi- pally of clover. The entire product of the farm is used for feeding the dairy and stable stock, and the silo system is utilized for the preservation of feed. Mr. Smith was one of the earliest in the state (the third) to adopt ensilage, and his recently erected silo is a model of its kind in construction and dimensions. Circular in shape, it is thirty-four feet in height and twenty-four feet in diameter, with a capacity of more than three hundred tons, and with its four thicknesses of boards and an equal number of paper it is impervious to frost. The barns, stables and sheds are all of the most substantial and attractive char- acter, and are exceptionally complete in all their appointments.

Devoting his attention principally to dairying, Mr. Smith maintains the largest business in that line in the county, and one which is unsurpassable in the state. His cattle herd numbers a full hun- dred head, more than two-thirds of which are registered and high-grade Jersey cows and heif- ers, and all are kept in such cleanliness that tuber- culosis has been unknown among them. The milk product is remarkable for quality and quan- tity. The cows and milk-producing heifers yield an average of three hundred and twenty-five to three hundred and forty pounds of butter each per annum, and in one year the milk of six cows yielded four hundred and sixty pounds each. A De Laval separator is used in butter-making, and

the butter is eagerly sought in Boston and other large cities, at the highest creamery prices.

Mr. Smith also keeps some horses and colts, including a number of choice Lamberts of the Hambeltonian strain, and a score or more of Ohio Chester and Jersey Red swine. In all these classes, and particularly in milch cattle, his ani- mals have been awarded many prizes at county fairs, and his exhibits have stimulated in marked degree the cattle industry all through his section of the state. Mr. Smith gives his earnest personal attention to the conduct of his farm, and has four men continually in service, and this number is trebled during the cropping and harvesting sea- sons. He also transacts an extensive business in marketing farm and dairy machinery. In 1902 his sales amounted to sixteen thousand dollars, and the indications were, early in 1903, that this amount would be increased twenty-five per cent in that year. Among the articles handled, he makes a specialty of the De Laval separator, of which he has sold more than one hundred an- nually. Thoroughly progressive along all lines of his calling, he also conducts a private experi- ment station, which has long been recognized as a public benefit.

While the foregoing affords a reasonably clear idea of Mr. Smith's personal career, some- thing more is to be said. In recognition of his surpassing ability as a farmer and dairyman and of his worth as a man, he has been called to vari- ous positions wherein he was enabled to advance the general interests of the farmers and stock- breeders of the state. In 1895 he was elected president of the State Dairymen's Association, and re-elected in 1896. He was the first master of Lamoille Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, and for five years he has been overseer of the state Grange. In 1894 he represented Morristown in the state legislature, and in that body was ap- pointed chairman of the special committee on tuberculosis, and a member of the committee on agriculture. In 1902 he was presented as a candi- date for the senate; he consented with great re- luctance to the use of his name, and made no canvass whatever, yet so great was his popularity that he was defeated by only three votes. He is a Republican in politics, and a pronounced advo- cate of temperance. He is a Methodist in religion and has been a steward in his church from his

643

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

twentieth year, and is now superintendent of its Sunday-school. He is deeply interested in edu- cation, and has been for some years past a trustee of the People's Academy, to which he commits the education of his children. His personality is marked by all those traits which become the model citizen, and he is held in deep respect for his natural abilities, unswerving integrity and public spirit.

He was married September 25, 1878, to Miss Mary A., daughter of Mark P. and Rhuhamah A. (Stevens) Burnham, of Enfield, New Hamp- shire. Of this marriage were born seven children : Mabel C., Lily A., Grace B., Rhuhamah M., Alice B., Mark B. Smith and Francis.

GENERAL MERRITT BARBER.

General Merritt Barber, of Watervliet, New York, a distinguished soldier of the Civil war and the war with Spain, comes of an old and honored New England ancestry. He is a lineal descendant of Samuel Barber, born in Connecti- cut in 1680, and died in 1725, whose wife was Mercy Holcomb, born in 1682 and died in 1787. Their son Samuel, a physician, was born in Con- necticut in 1714, and died January 13, 1797 ; he married Sophronia Humphrey, who was born in 1722 and died in 1752. Among the seven chil- dren born to Dr. Samuel and Sophronia (Hum- phrey) Barber was Joseph, who was born in Connecticut in 1744. He was the first of his family to settle in Vermont. He served with dis- tinction in the battle of Bennington, and later in the Revolution he received honorable recogni- tion of his patriotism and courage. He settled in Bennington on a farm now known as the Bar- ney stock farm, and there he passed his remain- ing days. He was a man of influence and ability, and his name appears on the second list of in- habitants of Vermont when the boundary line between that state and New Hampshire was de- fined. He came to his death, at the age of sixty- three years, by a fall from a horse. He was twice married, and his first wife bore him twelve chil- dren. His second wife was Leah Grover, who was born in Pownal, Vermont, in 1750.

Benjamin, son of Joseph Barber, was born in

Pownal, October 16, 1777, where he died Jan- uary II, 1857, after living a successful life as a farmer. He married Sybil Andrews, who was born in the village named, November 30, 1774, a daughter of Noel Andrews, who was a pros- perous farmer and miller, and the pioneer of his name in that region ; he died June 30, 1820. Two children were born to Benjamin Barber: Benja- min, further referred to below; and Sally, born August 18, 1804. The latter married Joseph Kimball, and both were members of the Metho- dist church, and are now deceased.

Benjamin, son of Benjamin and Sybil Bar- ber, was born November 24, 1808, in Pownal. He began his education in the common schools, and entered Williams College, from which, on account of the death of his mother, he was obliged to withdraw before completing his studies. He returned to the homestead farm, which he cared for until his death, January 12, 1891. He married Caroline Wright, who was born in Pownal, August 27, 1809, and died in 1893, at the age of eighty-five years.

Both the Barber and Wright families were of English ancestry. John Wright, born in 1570, a knighted soldier, married Martha, a daughter of Sir William Garaway Knight, all of Knight's Bridge, Essex county, England. Their son, Dea- con Samuel Wright, was born in 1600, in Spring- field, Massachusetts, and lived and died (October 17, 1665) in the same house. The lineal descent from him was Samuel, born in the same place, in 1630; Joseph, born in Charlestown, Massachu- setts, in 1657; Samuel, born in 1693; also in Charlestown ; Charles, born in Pownal, Vermont, January 5, 1718; Josiah, born in the same place, March 14, 1752, and died there, aged sixty-nine years. He was a very prominent man, and served nine years as a member of the governor's coun- cil. Samuel, son of Josiah Wright, was a physi- cian. He married Sally Angel, who was born in Pownal, and who died at the age of eighty years. She was a woman of very small stature, wanting two inches of being four feet in height. It was necessary to make for her a special chair, and one of these is now in the possession of one of her descendants, Dr. Oscar Barber. She was a daughter of Captain Abitha and Lucy Bennett. Captain Bennett was a Revolutionary soldier,

044

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

commander of the Cheshire County Guards, and he ched at the age of eighty years. Samuel and Sally (Angel) Wright were the parents of thir- teen children, among whom was Caroline, the mother of General Merritt Barber.

Benjamin and Caroline (Wright) Barber were the parents of four children, of whom two, General Merritt Barber and Dr. B. Oscar Barber, are living; two are deceased, Andrew, who was a merchant in Dalton, Massachusetts, where he died in 1891; and Sarah, who became the wife of Marcus Whipple, of Pownal, Vermont, who died in 1855.

General Merritt Barber received his early ed- ucation in the public schools, and prepared for college under the tuition of Chester A. Arthur, who was afterward president of the United States. He graduated from Williams College, Massachusetts, in 1857, and during two years of his course was a fellow student with James A. Garfield, the martyred president. He studied law in the office of the Hon. A. B. Gardner, in Ben- nington, Vermont, and graduated from the Ohio State and Union Law College in 1859. He was admitted to the bar in Bennington county at the June term of court the same year, and at once en- tered upon the practice of his profession in his native town. He was assistant clerk of the Ver- mont house of representatives during the sessions of 1860, 1861 and 1862, including the special session of the latter year which provided troops to help suppress the rebellion.

His brilliant military career began with his enlistment as a private in Company E, Tenth Vermont Regiment, June 2, 1862, and he was commissioned first lieutenant of his company Au- gust 7, following. He was promoted to cap- taincy of Company B, same regiment, June 17, 1864. December 31, 1864, he was commissioned by the president as captain and assistant adjutant general, United States Army, and assigned to duty in such capacity with the Vermont Brigade. He participated with the Army of the Potomac in the Antietam campaign of 1862; the Gettys- burg and Mine Run campaign of 1863; the Wil- derness campaign of 1864, and with Sheridan in the Shenandoah in the same year, having been wounded at Fisher's Hill, September 22. He was present at the storming of Petersburg, April

2, at the battle of Sailor's Creek, April 6, and the surrender of Lee's army at Appomattox, April 9, 1865. He was also with his command at Dan- ville, Virginia, in the rear of Johnston's army when it was surrendered, thus having had part in the surrender of both of the principal armies of the Confederacy. He was honorably mustered out of service, September 19, 1865, and subse- quently received three brevets,-that of major of United States Volunteers, October 19, 1864, "for having borne himself with distinguished gallan- try in every engagement since May 5, 1864, par- ticularly in the engagement at Cedar Creek, Vir- ginia ;" that of captain United States Volunteers, March 2, 1867, "for gallant and meritorious serv- ice in the battle of the Wilderness;" and that of major United States Volunteers, same date, "for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia."

With this splendid record, on the recommen- dation of Hon. F. E. Woodbridge, member of Congress, he was appointed and commissioned second lieutenant in the Sixteenth Infantry, Uni- ted States Army, February 23, 1866, and was promoted to first lieutenant on the same date. He was adjutant of his regiment from February 15, 1868, to April 30, 1872 ; was promoted to cap- tain, March 4, 1879; was commissioned major and assistant adjutant general, June 29, 1882; was promoted to lieutenant colonel, August 2, 1890, to colonel, November 15, 1896, and was appointed brigadier general of volunteers in 1901.

At the beginning of the war with Spain, Col- onel Barber was stationed at New York city. At the beginning of hostilities he was assigned to duty in the Philippine Islands in the capacity of assistant adjutant general on the staff of Major General Otis, and after his departure, on the staff of General McArthur. His services were of con- spicuous usefulness, adding another splendid chapter to his brilliant achievements during the Civil war period. After two years, worn down by constant exposure and arduous application to duty, he was ordered home. Returning by way of Japan and China, it was his fortune to become an actor with the small military forces of the allied European nations in suppressing the uprising of the Boxers. He was the last one to grasp the hand of Colonel Liscum when that gallant of-

645

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

ficer left Manila for Tien Tsin. Since his return home, General Barber has made his residence in Watervliet, New York, in winter, and spends his summer at Pownal, where he enjoys a well earned respite after a phenomenally long and active mil- itary career.

General Barber is a member of the New York Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, of the Sixth Corps Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Bennington, and of the Vermont Society, Sons of the American Revolution, to which he derives title through the service in the Revolutionary war by grandparents of both his father and mother. In 1900 Williams College, of Williamstown, Massachusetts, conferred upon him the degree of LL. D.

General Barber was married to Miss Cath- erine E. Roberts, of Bennington, Vermont, June 20, 1858 ; and his second marriage, his union with Delilah Winne, of Troy, New York, occurred May 15, 1867. He has one daughter, Mrs. Sarah B. Boyle, of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Dr. B. Oscar Barber, brother of General Mer- ritt Barber, began his education in the common schools and pursued academical studies in Ben- nington, Hoosick Falls and North Adams. He. followed farming on the paternal farm, near Ben- nington (where J. W. Gardner now resides), un- til it was sold by his father. He then entered the Cleveland (Ohio) Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1877. He engaged in the practice of his profession in Pownal, Ver- mont, the village which had been the home of his ancestors for many generations, and where General Barber makes his home in the summers ; he is yet actively employed. He has made a specialty of diseases of children, and has been peculiarly successful in such treatment. He has borne a full share in community affairs, and has been for a number of years a member of the board of school directors. He is a member of the fraternity of Odd Fellows, and his political affili- ations are with the Republican party.

Dr. Barber was married March I, 1883, to Miss Maggie Emery, a native of Ontario, Can- ada, who died at the age of thirty-seven years. He subsequently married her sister, Miss Rose Emery. The father of these sisters, Walter Em- ery. resides in Plattsburg, New York.

REV. WILLIAM A. PLAMONDON.

Among all the families who figured in the time of the great Champlain, none is deserving of higher honor than that of the name of Plamon- don, the first of whom distinguished himself dur- ing the reign of Edward I, in 1275, and was knighted for his splendid deeds of courage. The annals of history make mention of none who did more for France than Louis Plamondon, who, from the time of the execution of Charles I, in 1649, to the restoration of Charles II, in May, 1660, served with a great distinction and accom- plished much in behalf of the cause for which he served.

The first of the name of Plamondon on this continent came in 1717, during the reign of George I, when the country was but sparsely set- tled. The original emigrant located in Quebec, Canada, where was born the great-grandfather of Rev. William A. Plamondon. He was Louis, the tenth of that name, and was born in 1775, when the country was in the height of excitement on account of the impending American Revolution.

Louis, grandfather of Mr. Plamondon, was born in Quebec, in 1807. He was a farmer and owned five farms. His brother Artemas was killed in dispute over a beaver which was trapped on land belonging to Indians. The wife of Louis Plamondon was Louisa Gosline. born in Mon- treal, Canada, in 1810, a member of one of the most highly respected families of that city, and a very beautiful woman. To them were born fourteen children, ten of whom are deceased. The four surviving, among them the father of Mr. Plamondon, are now living in St. Hilaire, prov- ince of Quebec.

Louis, son of the parents last named, was born in St. Hilaire, in 1837, one of a large family of whom three were priests and two were nuns. Louis Plamondon was a prosperous merchant and farmer. He married, in 1857, Cezari Brillon, born in Richelieu, province of Quebec, in 1838, a daughter of Marcille Brillon, who was a farmer and trapper ; he traded with the Indians and was very successful. They were the parents of four- teen children. Cezari Brillon was brought up by her uncle, John Pion, who was a wealthy and influential man. Of her marriage with Louis

640

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

Plamondon were born, in St. Hilaire, ten chil- dren : 1. Louis, born in 1858; 2. Azamma, born in 1850: 3. Jeseph, born in 1860; 4. Henry, born in 1802, went years ago to the Klondike, where he is an extensive dealer in high grade furs; he is an enterprising man, and has laid out many rich claims for prospectors from the far east ; 5. William A., who is mentioned at length herein- after ; 6. Hilaire, born in 1864 ; 7. Arthemise, born in 1866, and who married, in 1886, Theodore Malo, a merchant of Montreal, province of Que- bec ; 8. Felix, born in 1867, deceased ; 9. Alphee, born in 1868, who is now a Jesuit priest in Eng -; land; he was educated in St. Hyacinthe, in the common schools and in the college and seminary in Montreal, and was ordained in 1899; 10. Cor- ene, born in 1869, educated in Montreal, and mar- ried, 1903, Eusebe Goulette, and is now living in Burlington, Vermont.

The mother of these children died in 1870, at the age of thirty-two years. Mr. Plamondon married, for his second wife, his sister-in-law, Matilda Brillon, born in 1848, and they have two children: Mary, born in 1883; and Eva, born in 1884, at St. Hilaire, and who is a nun in Notre Dame convent, Montreal.

William A. Plamondon, fifth child in the fam- ily last named, passed his early years in St. Hi- laire, where he began his education in the common schools. He was afterwards a student in the college and seminary of Montreal for four years, and in St. Joseph's College at Burlington, Ver- mont, for a like period. He completed his theo- logical course in Rome, where, after three years' devoted attention to his studies, he was ordained in the American College.

Thus amply prepared, after a student life of more than ten years, Father Plamondon returned to Vermont, and was at once assigned to Bishop Michaud's parish, St. Francis Xavier, at Ben- nington. After serving here for six months, he was appointed parish priest at Readsboro and North Pownal, and accomplished excellent work in the upbuilding of both these parishes. He was then transferred to the Church of Our Lady of Good Help, at Brandon, from which he was called, in 1903, to Burlington to the rectorate of St. Anthony's parish. Here he found a church partially completed, and he is now building the

house, and he has given himself most arduously to the consummation of the work.

Father Plamondon, through his devotion to his priestly duties and his personal excellencies of character and disposition, has won the love of his parishioners and the esteem and confidence of the best non-Catholic elements, and he has found in all quarters such encouragement and assurance of support as presages a most useful pastoral career.

WILLIAM BRACKETT CUTTING.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 113

Author: Carleton, Hiram, 1838- ed Publication date: 1903 Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1044

Author: Carleton, Hiram, 1838- ed
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1044