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 12

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 12

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JOHN HENRY FLAGG.

John Henry Flagg, lawyer, New York, was born in Wilmington, Windham county, Vermont, July II, 1843, son of Stephen P. and Lucinda (Brown) Flagg. He traces his lineage back to Rawl Flegge, a Danish viking, who ravaged the east coast of England, and there made settlement in the year 868. His first American ancestor, Thomas Flagg, emigrated from the hundreds of East Flegge, Norfolk county, England, in 1637, in company with Sir Richard Carver, and set- tled and became a landowner in Watertown, Massachusetts. Descendants of Thomas Flagg served in Massachusetts regiments throughout the Revolutionary war. General Stephen P. Flagg, the father of John H. Flagg, was also born in Wilmington, where he became a leading lawyer and a man of affairs, while he repeatedly served in both branches of the Vermont legisla- ture, constitutional conventions, etc.

Gro F. Daniele.

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John Henry was educated in the public schools of his native town; at the Wesleyan · Academy, Wilbraham, Massachusetts, and by a private tutor. Selecting the law as his profes- sion, he pursued his legal studies at the Albany Law School and in the office of Flagg & Tyler, which firm consisted of his father and Honorable James M. Tyler, now a judge of the Vermont supreme court. He was admitted to the Vermont bar in Windham county, at the September term, 1864, and began practice at Wilmington, but after two years removed to Bennington, where in the five succeeding years he built up a large and lu- crative practice. In 1864 he was elected clerk of the house of representatives of Vermont, being the youngest person who ever held that office. He speedily mastered the details of parliamentary law and procedure, and filled the office with such exceptional efficiency that it led to four succes- sive and unanimous re-elections. In 1869, his health having given way from overwork and his physicians advised a radical change of cli- mate, he accepted the office of principal clerk in United States senate, for which position he was suggested and nominated by his friend, Senator George F. Edmunds. He held this position for eight years with marked ability and universal popularity, until 1878, when, in opposition to the unanimous' desire of the senators of both politi- cal parties, he resigned that important position. Having been admitted to the bar of the supreme court of the United States in 1870, on terminating his connection with the United States senate, he resumed his law practice, having an office both in Washington and New York, giving special attention to commercial questions arising under treaties between the United States and various foreign powers, tariff cases and kindred subjects. He was prominent in formulating the earlier leg- islation of Congress, defining the relation of our government to the Geneva award fund (paid by Great Britain under the treaty of Washington), and subsequently prosecuted to a successful ter- mination many important cases arising under that treaty. Removing to New York in 1880, he has not only continued his practice in the class of cases above named, but has given much at- tention to corporate law as well, being employed by various steamship lines, railroad companies

and others. For many years he has been coun- sel to the Standard Oil Company and other leading petroleum interests. He is an accepted authority on the law of parliamentary procedure, arising from his long experience in legislative bodies. He is a member of the Union League Club of New York city, the Metropolitan Club of Washington ; a life member of the New Eng- land Society of New York, and was one of the promoters of the Brooklyn Society of Vermont- ers, of which he was one of the first executive committee. He is a man of refined and culti- vated tastes, absolute integrity, esteemed and respected by all who know him. He has a broad familiarity with general literature, and is a vigorous and graceful writer as well as an elo- quent advocate. While his pen has been em- ployed principally in prose compositions, which have appeared in the magazines and elsewhere, he has at times produced verse of high order, as his apostrophe to "Vermont," elsewhere printed in this volume, abundantly testifies.

A volume of his verse, entitled "The Monarch and Other Poems," was privately printed in 1902 for "souvenir presentation" to the author's friends.

Mr. Flagg married June 5, 1889, Miss L. Peachy Jones, daughter of Mr. Frank F. and Ma- rion S. Jones, of Brooklyn, New York, members of prominent Virginia families, who came to New York soon after the close of the Civil war.

JOHN HENRY DONNELLY.

For a number of years the subject of this memoir has been classed among the prominent and influential citizens and business men of Ad- dison county. Success almost invariably is the result of long years of persevering effort, of well applied business methods and of courage un- daunted by repeated failures, and in tracing the life of John H. Donnelly these qualities are to be found. He has long been recognized as the leading merchant tailor of Vergennes, and his superiority of workmanship and his thorough- ness and skill have brought to him his present prosperity. He was born in Keeseville, Clin- ton county, New York, on the 19th of February. 1855, and is a son of Thomas F. Donnelly, who was born in Limerick, Ireland, September 30,

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1830. The latter was reared and educated in the place of his nativity, but in 1852 he left the land of the shamrock for America, landing first at Quebec. He then made his way to Keeseville, New York, where he was employed in the rolling mills and at the forges of an iron company until 1870. In that year he came to Vergennes, where he en- tered the employ of the National Horse Nail Company, serving as superintendent of their rolling department until 1888. He is now living retired from active business pursuits and makes his home with his son, John H., in Vergennes, enjoying the rest which he so truly earned and richly deserves. His political support is given to the Democracy, and in all matters pertaining to the welfare of his locality he has nobly borne his part. For his wife he chose Miss Mary Mc- Donald, their marriage having been celebrated in their native land. She, too, was a native of Lim- erick, where her father, James McDonald, was a teacher in the national schools during his active business life. His death occurred in 1877, at the age of seventy-eight years. In his family were four children, but only one, the mother of our subject, is now living.

John H. Donnelly, the eldest of his parents' eight children, spent the days of his youth in the place of his nativity, there receiving his element- ary training in the graded schools, and later he attended the Vergennes graded schools, while his studies were further continued in the College of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. On the 3d of Jan- uary, 1878, he embarked in the merchant tailor- ing business in Vergennes, succeeding the firm of C. Welcome & Son, the oldest tailors in point of continuous service in the county. Mr. Don- nelly's trade has now reached mammoth pro- portions, receiving orders from all parts of the state, and in his shop he employes from fifteen to twenty skilled workmen. He is a man of up- rightness of word and deed, and all who know him or have had business dealings with him speak in the highest terms of his justice and honor.

His marriage was celebrated on the 12th of October, 1898, when Catherine Von Groll became his wife. She was born in Philadelphia, and is a daughter of Francis Von Groll. The Democracy receives Mr. Donnelly's hearty support and co- operation, and he has ever taken an active inter-

est in all movements and measures affecting the welfare of his fellow men. For four terms he filled the office of alderman, entering upon the duties of that position in 1885; at one time was a member of the city police, was a member of the city council for a number of terms, and on the 16th of February, 1894, he was made the post- master of Vergennes, thus continuing until the Ist of April, 1898. In 1888 he served as a dele- gate to the national convention at St. Louis, and four years later, in 1892, was a member of the Chicago convention which nominated Cleveland for the presidency. He has many times served as a delegate to county, state and congressional conventions, and has received many honors at the hands of his fellow townsmen. He is a member and was one of the organizers of the Vermont State Firemen's Association ; is a charter member of Stevens Hose Company, No. I, of Vergennes, organized in 1874; is a member and active worker in the Knights of Columbus; and is also identified with the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica. Both Mr. and Mrs. Donnelly are members of the St. Peter's Roman Catholic church, are highly esteemed in their community, and their well wishers are legion.

OZIAS DANFORTH MATHEWSON.

Professor Ozias Danforth Mathewson, super- intendent of the Barre public schools, and who is numbered among the most conspicuously useful educators in the state, is descended from an an- cestry which holds an honorable place in the an- nals of New England. The Mathewson family originated in Rhode Island; it has been prominent in the history of that state from an early day, and one of its number was a United States senator therefrom.

Charles Mathewson, son of Arthur Mathew- son, was born in or near Providence, August 26, 1794. He became an early settler in the town of Wheelock, Vermont, where as a farmer he bore a manly part in making a home and aiding in the upbuilding of the community, undergoing all the trials and hardships which fell to the lot of the pioneer. In 1818 he married Sarah Williams, who was born October 7, 1797. Her father, James Williams, born in 1769, came to Lyndon with his parents when he was four years old. In young

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

manhood James Williams located on a farm on the hill where Mr. E. Gray now resides, and reared a large family, who were well known and highly regarded in the neighborhood. His father, Colo- nel James Williams, was born in Scituate, Rhode Island, October 12, 1735, and was a direct de- scendant of the famous preacher Roger Williams. Colonel Williams had a splendid military record, having served in the French and Indian, and Re- voluntary wars. In the latter momentous strug -. gle it was his rare fortune to gain the confidence of General Washington, who entrusted to him various important missions. In 1801 he settled in the woods near Lyndon, and opened up a farm which is now (1903) occupied by Jean Clement. He was the father of six sons and six daughters.

The children born to Charles and Sarah ( Will- iams) Mathewson were: Charles M., Jr., born January 7, 1819, and died June 21, 1849; Sarah A., born February 5, 1820, and died August 5, 1840; Azro B., born February 7, 1822, and died July 18, 1881 ; Melina, born October 13, 1825, and died October 13, 1840; Asha, born March 16, 1827; Harley P., born December 14, 1828, and died August 3, 1901 ; Athelia E., born December 4, 1830, and died April 25, 1873; Arthur W .. born November 14, 1832, and died May 13, 1896; Rosilla M., born October 2, 1834, and died in September, 1836; Epaphras Chase, born Septem- ber 26, 1836; and Ozias D., born February 13, 1839, and died May 14, 1862. Ozias, who died in active service in the Civil war was a member of Company E, Sixth Regiment of Vermont Vol- unteers. The father of this family died at Far- mersville, California, August 21, 1870, and the mother died at Barton, Vermont, October I, 1872.

Epaphras Chase Mathewson, son of Charles and Sarah (Williams) Mathewson, was born in Wheelock, Vermont, September 26, 1836. He was educated in the public schools and at Thet- ford Academy. Throughout his life he has fol- lowed farming, and resides on the homestead where his father located. In politics he is a Dem- ocrat. He has served as selectman and lister, in which offices he has won the commendation of his fellow townsmen.

He married, July 8, 1861, Nancy Earl, daugh- ter of Henry and Sally (Park) Marsh, of Lyn- don, Vermont. She was born in Lyndon, Ver-

mont, September 29, 1837. Their children were named as follows: Ozias Danforth, born March 10, 1864; Addie Maud, born April 4, 1865, who married William Pearson, and resides in Lindsay, California; Hugh Jenkins, born February 8, 1868, who married Lillian Craig, of Wheelock, Vermont. and who reside on the Mathewson homestead ; a son born April 13, 1870, who died September 9, same year; Charles Henry, born October II, 1877, who resides on the homestead with his parents; Carrie May, born November 6, 1880, who now resides at the homestead, and is a teacher in the public schools. Mr. Mathew- son and his wife are both now living on the farm which has been in the possession of the family for three generations.

Professor Ozias Danforth Mathewson, eldest son of Epaphras Chase and Nancy Earl (Marsh) Mathewson, was born in Wheelock, Vermont, March 10, 1864. He early developed a taste for learning, and obtained a most thorough educa- tion. Beginning his studies in the public schools of his native village, he continued them in Hard- wick Academy, St. Johnsbury Academy and Lyn- don Institute, graduating from the last named in- stitution in 1886, and then entered Dartmouth College, from which he was graduated in 1890. He had meantime rendered useful service as a teacher, and in 1885, the year of his attaining his majority, he was made superintendent of schools for the town of Wheelock, in Caledonia county, and occupied that position till 1888. In the autumn of 1890 he was appointed principal of the high school at Barre, and this marked the begin- ning of an honorable career of usefulness in the line of his profession, a profession for which he developed a singular aptitude and to which he brought a genuine and lasting enthusiasm. In 1894 he was appointed examiner of teachers for Washington county, and in 1896 was made super- intendent of the Barre public schools. In 1901 he was placed on the board of normal school com- missioners for the state of Vermont, and made secretary of that body. All four of these posi- tions he has occupied uninterruptedly to the pres- ent time, and the simple statement of the fact is eloquent attestation of his ability and conscien- tious performance of duty. To this general state- ment need only be added the fact that during his administration the schools of his city, particularly,

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

have been brought to the highest degree of effi- ciency, and are justly recorded as a model of what public institutions of learning should be, while Mr. Mathewson is regarded as one of the most capable exponents of educational science in the state.

In 1894 Mr. Mathewson was president of the Vermont State Teachers' Association. He has been a member of the executive committee for several years, and is now chairman of the com- mittee on legislation. He is also one of a commit- tee of three designated by the state legislature of 1002 to distribute a portion of the state school tax "to equalize taxation and afford equal school privileges."

Growing out of his college associations, he maintains membership with two fraternities, the Psi Upsilon and the Casque and Gauntlet. He is a distinguished member of the Masonic order, affiliated with Crescent Lodge No. 66, F. and A. M., Lyndonville; Granite Chapter No. 26, R. A. M., Barre; St. Aldemar Commandery No. II, K. T., in which he is past eminent commander ; and he has attained to the thirty-second degree, Scottish rite, and is a member of Mt. Sinai Tem- ple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Montpelier. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Mathewson was married July 1, 1891, to Miss Angie Matilda Kelley, a daughter of Nathaniel A. and Fanny (Morley) Kelley, born in Worcester, Vermont, December 27. 1861.

HARRY WENDALL WHITCOMB.

The Whitcomb family of Barre, Vermont, of which Harry Wendall Whitcomb is a prominent and prosperous member, trace their ancestry back to John Whitcomb, born in Dorchester, England, from which place he emigrated to this country and settled in Scituate, Massachusetts, where he passed the remainder of his life. His death oc- curred September 24, 1662. His son, Josiah Whitcomb, born in 1638, married Rebecca Wat- ers, and died March 21, 1718. Their son, David Whitcomb, was born in Scituate, Massachusetts, February 20, 1668, and was united in marriage to Mary Fairbanks; later they removed to Bol- ton, Massachusetts, which is supposed to have

been the birthplace of their son Captain Joseph, who was born in 1700, married Damarius Priest, and subsequently located at Swanzey, New Hampshire, where he lived to the extreme old age of ninety-two years. Major Elisha Whit- comb, their son, was born about the year 1723, served during the Revolutionary war, participat- ing in the memorable battle of Bunker Hill; he was united in marriage to Joanna Whitcomb, of Leominster, Massachusetts, and died September 17, 1814.

Salmon D., son of Major Elisha and Joanna Whitcomb, was born in Swanzey, New Hampshire, March 19, 1776, acquired his education in the district school and later turned his attention to the carpenter trade, in which occupation he was eminently successful both in his native town and in Orange, Vermont, to which town he removed in 1805. He married Aruba Camp, born in Shar- on, Connecticut, October 31, 1787. Their chil- dren were Roxinda, born July 23, 1810; George W. C., born September 14, 1814; Emeline A., born September 18, 1818; Sarah C., born Feb- ruary 1, 1821 ; Lyman Waterman, born Febru- ary 7, 1824; William Elbridge, born November 4, 1826; and James Addison, born September 5, 1832. The father of these children died in Barre, Vermont, February 22, 1852, and the mother died October 4, 1867, at Brookfield.

Lyman Waterman, son of Salmon and Aru- ba (Camp) Whitcomb, was born in Orange, Orange county, Vermont, February 7, 1824. He was educated in the district schools of his native town, and upon attaining young manhood pur- chased the Phelps' sawmill property in the town of Barre, which he operated successfully for a period of time; he then purchased the William Martin sawmill property at Plainfield, Vermont, which he conducted for two years, meeting with a marked degree of success. He then acquired the Fork Shop in Barre, which he ran as a sash and door factory, and after a short period of time he disposed of this and purchased the Joshua Twing property, where he followed the trade of mill-wright for over twenty years. In the later years of his life he was the proprietor of a fac- tory in Rochester, Vermont, in which were pro- duced fork handles and chair material, and still later was connected with Whitcomb Brothers

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

Machine Works of Barre, Vermont. In his politi- cal views Mr. Whitcomb was an ardent advocate of the principles of the Republican party. He was a member of Granite Lodge, F. & A. M., of Barre, Vermont. He was united in marriage No- vember 5, 1850, to Miss Mariam (Sargent) Noyes. Two children were born to them, name- ly : Friend Noyes, born November 18, 1855; and Harry Wendall. Mr. Whitcomb died in Barre, Vermont, January 7, 1898, and his wife passed away May 23, 1902.

Harry Wendall Whitcomb, son of Lyman W. and Mariam Whitcomb, was born in what is now the city of Barre, Vermont, May 22, 1858. His preliminary education was obtained in the dis- trict school, and later he attended the Goddard Seminary, from which he was graduated with the class of 1881. His first venture in the busi- ness world was as proprietor of a granite quarry, which he operated for six years; he then dis- posed of it and in January, 1890, he entered into partnership with his brother under the style of Whitcomb Brothers, in the manufacture of stone- working machinery of all kinds. This enter- prise has proved very successful, owing to the fact that they attend strictly to business, are en- ergetic and sagacious, and their reputation for fair dealing has gained them the confidence, good will and respect of all their business associates. In addition to this they have purchased seventy acres of land on Millstone Hill, which they are developing into a fine granite quarry. Mr. Bond is associated with them in this undertaking, and they conduct business under the firm name of Bond & Whitcombs. In his politics Mr. Whit- comb is a firm supporter of the measures advo- cated by the Republican party.

On June 26, 1894, Mr. Whitcomb was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Etta Wells, who was born in Marshfield, Vermont, October 13, 1866, a daughter of Henry Carlos and Eleanor Ermina (Hall) Wells, the former named being born in Woodbury, Vermont, March 18, 1838, and the latter in Marshfield, Vermont, October 7, 1844. The following named children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Whitcomb: Lyman Wells, born in Barre, Vermont, August 28, 1895 ; Wendall Hall, born in Barre, Vermont, March 13, 1899, died January 7, 1900.

NOBLE LANSING BALL.

The subject of this brief review is one of the representative and honored farmers of Addison county, his finely improved estate being eligibly located in the township of Ferrisburg, and his also is the distinction of bearing a name which has been identified with the history of this section of the state since the pioneer days, so that he is specially well entitled to consideration in a work which has to do with those who have been the founders and builders of this favored and pros- perous portion of the old Green Mountain state, where he has passed his entire life.

Mr. Ball is a native of the town of Middle- bury, Addison county, Vermont, where he was born on the 24th of February, 1857, being a son of Alvin Ball, who was born in Ferrisburg, June 28, 1814. The latter was a son of Alvin Ball, Sr., who was one of the prominent and successful farmers of Ferrisburg, where he died at a good age. Alvin Ball, Jr., passed his childhood days on the old homestead farm in Ferrisburg, where he received his educational training in the com- mon schools of the period, and where he contin- ued to be identified with agricultural pursuits un- til he moved to Middlebury township. There he became the owner of a valuable farm, upon which he continued to make his home until 1860, when he returned to Ferrisburg, and continued farming until his death, July 20, 1887, at the age of sev- enty-three years. He was a man of the highest integrity in all the relations of life and held the unqualified esteem of all who knew him. He mar- ried Miss Harriet Hard, who was born in Ferris- burg, being a daughter of Alanson Hard, who was a prominent farmer of this town, where he died at the age of over eighty years. Mrs. Ball entered into eternal rest on the IIth of February, 1902, at the age of seventy-seven years, having been a devoted member of the Methodist Episco- pal church, of which her husband served as stew- ard for the long period of forty years. They be- came the parents of nine children, of whom six are living at the present time, namely: Homer, who conducts the old homestead where his moth- er was born; Evaline, who resides in Sharon Springs, New York; Hattie, who remains at the old homestead; Noble L., the immediate subject

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of this sketch ; Frederick, a resident of Charlotte, Chittenden county ; and Nethe A., the wife of Rev. H. D. Spencer, of Sharon Springs, New York.

Noble L. Ball was but three years of age at the time when his parents removed from his na- tive town to Ferrisburg, and here he was reared to maturity upon the homestead farm, receiving such educational advantages as were afforded in the public schools of the place and period, and waxing strong in both mental and physical vigor. He continued to assist his father in the manage- ment of the farm until he had attained his legal majority, when he assumed the practical respon- sibilities of a man of family, and initiated his in- dependent career. After his marriage he took up his abode on his present farm, which com- prises one hundred and seventy acres of excellent land, upon which the best of permanent improve- ments have been made, and here he has ever since continued to devote his attention to diversified farming, so directing his efforts as to secure the maximum returns therefrom and being known as a progressive, energetic and discriminating agri- culturist. In politics Mr. Ball shows the cour- age of his convictions and the consistency which is due, by giving an unequivocal support to the Prohibition party, in whose cause he has been one of the most prominent and zealous workers in the state, while in 1902 he was the nominee of his party for the office of lieutenant governor of the state. He has been incumbent of various local offices, including that of lister, in which he served for two years. Mr. Ball is a man of utmost honor in all the relations of life, is charitable and kindly in his judgment, and in his daily walk ever aims to exemplify the deep Christian faith which he holds, having been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church since his boyhood days and having held various official positions in the same. He has been steward during the last twenty-nine years, and at the present time has the distinction of being president of the Burlington District Ep- worth League and also president of the Burling- ton District Camp Meeting Association, while he has long taken an active part in the work of the Sunday-school, in which he has been a teacher for many years, while he was the capable and popular superintendent of the same for six years. Both he and his wife are among the most zealous

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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 II, Part 12

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