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 131
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132
Frederick W. Ward, son of Charles F. and Jeanette (Wood) Ward, was born June 22, 1857, in Burlington, Vermont, receiving his education in the common schools and the high school of his native city. At the age of fifteen he began his business career, being employed in the Burling- ton Savings Bank, with which his father was con- nected, rising. step by step, until, when his father resigned the position of treasurer, he was elected
744
THE STATE OF VERMONT.
to that office, which he still holds. The building occupied by the bank is in accordance with its very flourishing condition as a financial institu- tion, being the finest edifice of the kind in New England.
In politics Mr. Ward is a Republican, and, notwithstanding the absorbing nature of his du- ties as a financier, gives a due portion of his atten- tion to public affairs. He is a member of the Unitarian church. Mr. Ward married, August 20, 1889, Mary J. Sanford, born in Knoxville, Tennessee. They have one daughter, Anna San- ford.
Patrick H. Sanford, the father of Mrs. Ward, was born in 1822, in West Cornwall, Vermont. He taught in Williston Seminary, later studied law, and was admitted to the bar of Vermont, and subsequently to that of Tennessee. He has practiced in Galesburg and Knoxville for over fifty years, and has also filled the offices of circuit judge and judge of probate. He has been elected to both branches of the state legislature, serving two terms in each, and has also acted as chair- man of the judiciary committee. Mr. Sanford is a fine Greek and Latin scholar, and holds a distinguished position in the ranks of that hon- orable class of self-made men, of which this coun- try has furnished so many examples. He mar- ried Jane Fich-Griffen, born in Williston, Ver- mont, who died at the age of forty. Of their children Mrs. Ward is the only one living.
HENRY S. WILLSON.
Henry S. Willson, sheriff of Bennington county, Vermont, has been prominently and actively identi- fied with the manufacturing, political and social interests of Arlington, Vermont, for a number of years, and during his eleven years' incumbency of the office of sheriff, which is the longest term any sheriff has held the position for many years, has been largely instrumental in effecting many changes and improvements in the county build- ings which have been of inestimable value. He is a son of Ellsworth C. and Elizabeth (Rice) Willson, and a native of Westminster, Vermont, the date of his birth being April 5, 1850.
Ellworth C. Willson (father) was born in New Hampshire, acquired an education at the
schools adjacent to his home, and in early life learned the trade of cabinet-maker and carpen- ter, which occupations engrossed his entire time and attention during the active years of his long and useful life. He removed from his native state to Vermont, settling in Bellows Falls, where he resided for a long period of time, but at the time of his death, which occurred in the seventy- sixth year of his age, he was a resident of Rock- ingham, Vermont. Mr. Willson married Eliza- beth Rice, a native of Littleton, New Hampshire, and a daughter of Jonathan Rice, who was a stonemason by trade, and a resident of Bellows Falls at the time of his decease. Mrs. Willson died at the age of sixty-eight years; both Mr. Willson and his wife were members of the Bap- tist church. They were the parents of nine chil- dren, five of whom attained years of maturity, and of these there are only three living at the present time (1903) ; Henry S., mentioned at length in the following paragraph ; Alice, widow of James Gar- rish ; and Harriet, wife of Mr. May, a resident of Ludlow. Vermont. The eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Willson, Marion, now deceased, was the wife of Henry Wolfe, of Saxton's River, Ver- mont. Henry S. Willson's grandmother Hardy was a native of New England, was the mother of a large family of children and died at an ad- vanced age.
From early childhood until he attained the age of eighteen years, Henry S. Willson resided in Bellows Falls, New York, attended the common schools and learned the trade of cabinet-maker with his father. He then removed to Arlington, and for several years was employed by the firm of W. & J. G. Flint, making shoe pegs, repair- ing and performing other kinds of labor. His next employment was with the Chishel factory in Sunderland, Vermont, where he remained sev- eral years. and then returned to Bellows Falls. Later he located in Keene, New Hampshire, and after a residence of two years in that city, he settled in Arlington and secured employment with the Arlington Car Company, but this work not proving congenial to his tastes he returned to his former occupation in the peg factory. Subse- quently he established a carriage-making and re- pairing business in Arlington, and this enterprise he conducted successfully until 1891, when he
745
THE STATE OF VERMONT.
was appointed deputy sheriff of Bennington coun- ty, and in the following year (1892) was elected sheriff, and has been re-elected every two years since. During his term of office he has, with the co-operation of the judges, been successful in making many notable improvements in the county buildings, having built an addition and also in- stalled a steam heating apparatus in the jail at Bennington, and in 1901 built an addition to the new steel jail at Manchester, in which are located the retiring rooms for the use of the judges, sheriff and grand jury, and also installed a steam heat- ing apparatus the same year. It was through his influence that the water system was placed in the town of Arlington, the work being conducted un- der his personal supervision.
Prior to his election to the office of sheriff, Mr. Willson served his town in the capacity of lister for one year, school director for six years, and constable for several years. He is a strong adherent of the principles of Republicanism, and has been elected to serve as a delegate to county ·conventions a number of times, also to state and congressional conventions, in the transactions of which he has taken a keen and active interest. He is a member of Red Mountain Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, No. 63, and is one of the charter members of the Arlington Social and Lit- erary Club, serving as its first president and holding office for two years.
Mr. Willson was united in marriage, in 1874, to Ellen Cullinan, a native of Ireland, who died aged forty-six years. Their children are: William P., employed in the Lasher shop at Bennington, Vermont, married Bridget Morrissey, and they are the parents of one child, Charles Willson ; Kate; and Nellie, who resides in Arlington, Ver- mont. Mr. Willson married a second wife, and .one child has been born of this union, Harry P. Willson, born in 1901. Kate Willson, elder ·daughter of Henry S. and Ellen Willson, died April 2, 1902, in the twenty-fourth year of her age, at Saranac Lake in the Adirondack Moun- tains, where she had been staying for some time in order to recuperate her health. The funeral services were held from St. Colombo church in Arlington, and were attended by a large number of friends and acquaintances who sincerely de- plored her early decease. She was a graduate of a North Adams business school, and for a num-
ber of years was employed as a stenographer in the office of Barber & Darling, of Arlington, Vermont.
LUCIUS D. TAFT.
Lucius D. Taft, a member of the well known firm of E. W. Bailey & Company, who are ex- tensively engaged in the flour, feed and milling business in the city of Montpelier, Vermont, and also in Chicago, Illinois, is a thoroughly reliable business man, and possesses in a large degree the essential qualifications for a successful business career-enterprise, industry, ability and perse- verance. He was born in Barre, Vermont, De- cember I, 1852, a son of Dennison and Levina · (Gale) Taft.
Dennison Taft was reared on a farm, and in his early days acquired a good English educa- tion, and also engaged to some extent in agricul- tural pursuits. From 1860 to 1865 his attention was devoted exclusively to the woolen business, being interested in the Quechee mills ; in 1861 he removed to Montpelier, and after severing his connection with the Quechee mills, in 1865, he purchased the Langdon flouring mills, which proved a profitable source of income for a num- ber of years. He then engaged in the lumber business, and his proving a lucrative means of livelihood he continued at this line of trade up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1899. He also built the Bethany Congregational church. Mr. Taft was married twice, his first wife having been Levina (Gale) Taft, who bore him three children : John E., a resident of Aberdeen, Wash- ington; Clara, deceased; and Lucius D., men- tioned at length hereinafter. Mrs. Taft died in 1853. Mr. Taft chose for his second wife Rachel Moore, a native of New Hampshire, by whom he had two daughters, Alice R .; and Edna M., wife of Charles A. Gay, of West Medford, Massa- chusetts.
Lucius D. Taft acquired his education at the public schools of Montpelier, Vermont, and after completing his studies began his business career as clerk in the grocery and feed store of Bailey & Park, being in their employ from 1869 until 1879, when the firm dissolved partnership, Mr. Bailey, with whom Mr. Taft remained, taking the flour and feed department. In 1881 Mr.
746
THE STATE OF VERMONT.
Taft formed a co partnership with his former em- ployer, and the firm of E. W. Bailey & Company was organized, and from that date to the present time (1903) their trade has increased steadily both in volume and importance, they being the proprietors of two extensive establishments, one in Montpelier, Vermont, and the other in Chicago, Illinois, Mr. Taft assuming the management of the business in Montpelier. Mr. Taft was united in marriage to Mary Ellis, who was born in Berlin, Vermont, and is an adopted daughter of Leonard Ellis.
HORACE WARNER STRONG.
The Strong family of Vermont, represented in the present generation by Horace W. Strong, of West Berlin, Washington county, is of ancient and honorable ancestry, second to none in the state. The immigrant ancestor, Elder John Strong, was born in Taunton, England, in 1605. He sailed from England, March 20, 1630, in the ship Mary and John, arriving at Nantasket (Hull), Massa- chusetts, about twelve miles southeast from Bos- ton, on Sunday, May 30, 1630. He, with others, settled at Dorchester, Massachusetts, then re- moved to Hingham, then to Taunton, Masachu- setts, and then to Windsor, Connecticut. In 1659 he removed from Windsor to Northamp- ton, Massachusetts, of which he was one of the first and most active founders. In Northampton he lived for forty years, and was a leading man in the affairs of the town and church. He was a tanner and very prosperous in business. His first wife, whom he married in England, died on the passage soon after landing. He married for his second wife Abigail Ford, daughter of Thomas Ford, who came over on the same ship with him. She died, the mother of sixteen children, July 6, 1688; the husband died April 14, 1699, aged ninety-four years.
John Strong, Jr., was born in England in 1626, son of Elder John Strong and his first wife. John Strong, Jr., married, November 26, 1656, Mary Clark, daughter of Joseph and Frances Clark; she was baptized September 30, 1638, and died April 28, 1663. John Strong, Jr., married for his second wife, in 1664, Elizabeth Warriner. He resided in Windsor, Connecticut, where he was a tanner and a man of influence. He died
February 20, 1697-98, and his second wife died June 7, 1684.
John Strong, son of John and Elizabeth (War- riner) Strong, of Windsor, Connecticut, was born December 25, 1665. He married, November 26, 1686, Hannah Trumbull, of Suffield, Connecticut, daughter of Deacon John Trumbull. He resided at Windsor, Connecticut, where he died May 29, 1749.
Deacon David Strong, son of John and Han- nah (Trumbull) Strong, of Windsor, Connecti- cut, was born December 15, 1704. He married, May 3, 1732, Thankful Loomis, daughter of Moses and Joanna Gibbs Loomis. She died May 21, 1771. He removed from Windsor to Bolton, Connecticut, where he died January 25, 1801.
Nathan Strong, son of Deacon David and Thankful (Loomis) Strong, was born January 15, 1736-37, and was a farmer at Bolton, Con- necticut ; he died March 25, 1801. He married Anne Olcott, of Vernon. Connecticut.
Levi Strong, son of Nathan and Anne (O1- cott) Strong, was born August 24, 1762, and was a farmer at Bolton, Connecticut; he died July 24, 1823. He married, October 25, 1781, Lucy Warner, daughter of Dr. Ichabod and Mary (Lasell) Warner. She was born May 11, 1764, and died May 19, 1841.
Russell Strong, son of Levi and Lucy (War- ner) Strong, was born August 29, 1785. He was a farmer at Bolton, Connecticut, and after 1814 in Berlin, Washington county, Vermont, where he died February 25, 1864. He married, June 25, 1811, Susannah Webster, daughter of Thomas and Susannah (Skinner) Webster ; she was born October 10, 1787, and died April 5, 1872.
Russell Warner Strong, son of Russell and Susannah (Webster) Strong, was the first of the family born in Vermont, in the town of Berlin, Washington county, June 7, 1823. He received his education in the district schools of his native town. He followed farming on the homestead where his father settled, and in time added to the original farm until it amounted to more than three hundred acres. He was a man of high character. In politics he was a Republican from the formation of that party until his death. He held the office of selectman for several terms. He was a member of the Congregational church, a member of the Grange for many years, and
747
THE STATE OF VERMONT.
held office in that order. He died in March, 1891. He married, first, March 20, 1856, Caroline Jame- son, born October 18, 1829, and died November 24, 1862, a daughter of Alexander and Sarah (Locke) Jameson, of Irasburg, Vermont. By this marriage there was one son, Horace Warner Strong. Russell W. Strong married, second, Mary Frances Marshall, widow of David Mar- shall, and daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Blod- gett) Greeley. By this marriage there was one daughter, Caroline (Carrie) Belle, born October I, 1865 ; she married Jesse Hedges.
Horace Warner Strong, son of Russell War- ner and Caroline (Jameson) Strong, was born on the homestead farm near West Berlin, in the town of Berlin, Washington county, Vermont, Febru- ary 27, 1857. His education was received at the district schools of his native town and at the high school at Northfield, Vermont. He has always followed farming on the old homestead where he was born, and in connection with his farming keeps a large dairy of fifty-five fine, well bred cows. He is known as one of the most in- telligent and successful farmers in his region, and commands the deep respect of all for his worth as a man. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Berlin. In politics he is a Republican. He has never consented to fill a public office, preferring a quiet home life and occupation upon the fine property upon which his life has been passed.
Mr. Strong married, January 1, 1880, Miss Ella Anna Brown, daughter of Daniel C. and Anna (Bixby) Brown, of Berlin. The children of this marriage are Florence Anna, born October 19, 1888 ; Theron Warner, born October 26, 1896; Caroline Jameson, born September 14, 1901.
JOSEPH M. AYRES.
Joseph M. Ayres, an enterprising young busi- ness man of Bennington, is a native of the city, born June 3, 1877. He came of an old and highly respected New England family. His great- grandfather was proprietor of a tavern (as hotels and lodging houses were then known) in this state at an early period, and became one of the first settlers of Bennington Center, taking an act- ive interest in many progressive measures which contributed to the upbuilding and advancement
of the community. Joseph Ayers, his grandfather, was reared in Colerain, Massachusetts, and after- ward went to Salem, New York, whence he came to Bennington. He was a farmer, and spent a quarter of a century upon his homestead here, transforming his land into richly cultivated fields. He afterward went to Illinois, but later returned to Bennington, where he died at the age of sixty- five years. His wife has also passed away. Both were members of the Congregational church, and took an active interest in its upbuilding. In their family were five children, but one of whom is now living, Laura, who married Elmer Stratton, of Hebron, Illinois.
John H. Ayres, father of Joseph M. Ayres, was born in Salem, New York, his native city, but while still a boy came to Bennington, where he began his education in the public schools. Later he became a student in the seminary, and having acquired a good education began teaching, fol- lowing that profession in Woodford, Vermont. Subsequently he learned the tailor's trade, work- ing with G. B. Sibley, and after he had mastered the business he was engaged in that line through- out his business career. He also established a store, dealing in men's furnishing goods and ready-made clothing at 441 Main street. He be- came a leading representative of mercantile inter- ests, and his efforts contributed to the commercial prosperity of the city. He was also active in public affairs, and his worth made him a valued and influential citizen of the community. His political support was given to the Republican party, and he served as trustee of the village and in other offices. Socially he was connected with the Red Men, the Benevolent and Protective Or- der of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In the last named he filled all the chairs, and in his life exemplified the beneficent principles of the order. He married Miss Annie Montgomery, and they became the parents of four sons : Elmer, who is living in Oneida, New York; Joseph M .; John H., of Bennington; and Charles, who is with his brother Joseph in the drug store. Mrs. Ayres was a member of the Congregational church, and her Christian belief was manifest in her noble life. Both parents have now passed away, the father having died at the age of forty-eight years.
Their son, Joseph M. Ayres, began his educa-
748
THE STATE OF VERMONT.
tion in the public schools and continued advanced studies in the high school. He entered upon his business career as a clerk in the drug store of Dr. Shurtleff, with whom he remained for five years, after which he became a salesman in the Van Vlack drug store. In 1900 he purchased the store, and has since conducted the business on his own account. He had already won popularity with the public and has continued to receive a liberal patronage. He has the finest and one of the largest drug stores in the county, equipped with a complete stock of everything found in an establishment of this character. His business methods are straightforward, and will bear close scrutiny, and his patrons comprise the best class of Bennington's citizens. As a citizen he is inter- ested in all things pertaining to public progress and improvement. He is a member of the fire department, and has held some public offices, to which he was elected as a Republican. Socially he is connected with the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks.
HENRY HERBERT ROSS.
Henry H. Ross, for about a quarter of a century prominently identified with the educa- tional interests of Vermont and New York, and at the present time (1903) acting in the capacity of manager of the Security Mutual Life Insur- ance Company of Binghamton, New York, having for his territory the western half of the state of Vermont, was born in Rutland, Vermont, May 2, 185I.
James Ross, the great-grandfather of Henry H. Ross, was born in the year 1743, in Massa- chusetts, whence he removed to Vermont, and be- came one of the pioneers of that state, settling in the town of Shrewsbury. His son, James Ross, was born in Shrewsbury, Vermont, in 1771, and was united in marriage to Abigail Rugg, who was born in 1774. They reared a large family of children, all of whom are deceased.
James Ross, father of Henry H. Ross, was born in Shrewsbury, Vermont, May 9, 1809. He was reared on a farm and acquired a practical education in the public schools ; later he entered the Castleton Medical College, and afterward that at Woodstock, from which institution he was graduated in 1834. He began the practice of
medicine at Rochester, Vermont, where he re- mained for a short time. He then located in Woodstock and later in Rutland, Vermont, and after practicing his profession for a few years in these places took up his residence in Leroy, New York, and later in Lockport, New York, where he was engaged as a general practitioner until 1849, when he returned to Rutland, Ver- mont. There he spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1881. He was well known and highly respected in that city, being one of its most promi- nent and successful physicians, whose skill and ability merited and received entire confidence. In 1834 he married Almira Edson, who was born in Shrewsbury, Vermont, in the year 1812. She was a daughter of Zidon Edson, for many years a farmer of Rutland, Vermont, but who after- ward located in Aurora, Illinois, where he resided at the time of his death. The following named children were born to Dr. and Mrs. Ross : Zidon E., a resident of Washington, D. C., where he has been engaged as a government proofreader since 1872; James E., a citizen of Bunker Hill, Illinois ; Charles E., the leading dry-goods mer- chant of Rutland, Vermont; Wallace, who died at the age of thirty-two years; Ellen R., widow of J. C. Roberts, of Rutland, Vermont ; Frank A., a clothier of Franklin Falls, New Hampshire; Henry Herbert; and Vina, an artist of Rutland, Vermont. The father of these children died in 1881, aged seventy-two years, and his first wife died in 1856, at the age of forty-four years. In 1858 Dr. Ross married Rebecca Young, of Leba- non, New Hampshire, who survived him eight years. He was for many years an active member of the Baptist church.
Henry H. Ross attended the public schools of Rutland, Vermont, where he obtained a classi- cal preparatory education, which was supple- mented by a course of study in Middlebury Col- lege, from which he graduated with honors in 1872. . His training qualified him for a position of teacher at Mechanicville, New York, where from 1872 to 1874 he acted in the capacity of assistant in the academy of that town. The fol- lowing year he was instructor in Greek in Mid- dlebury College, which position he resigned to become principal of the high school in Vergennes, Vermont, where he remained as principal and superintendent for six years. In 1881 he accept-
749
THE STATE OF VERMONT.
ed the principalship of the Vermont Episcopal Institute of Burlington, Vermont, the diocesan school for boys, which position he occupied from 1881 to 1899. During the last five years of this time he assumed the management of Bishop Hop- kins Hall, the diocesan school for girls, and dis- charged the duties of both positions faithfully and creditably. After his resignation he became the manager for the western half of Vermont, of the Security Mutual Life Insurance Company of Binghamton, New York, which position he holds at the present time. In politics he advocates the principles of the Republican party, but has never sought or held office.
Mr. Ross holds a high place in Vermont Ma- sonry, being made a Mason in. Center Lodge, Rutland, in 1872 ; he is a Knight Templar and thirty-third degree Mason, and has held all the higher positions in the subordinate bodies. From 1888 to 1891 he was grand master of the grand council of Royal and Select Masters for the state of Vermont, and during these years was chairman of the committee on foreign correspondence. In June, 1902, Mr. Ross was elected to serve as grand secretary of grand lodge and chapter, grand recorder of grand council and commandery of Knights Templar, and grand recorder of the Council of Deliberation of the Ancient and Ac- cepted Scottish Rite of the state of Vermont. He now fills those positions, having an office in the Masonic Temple at Burlington, Vermont. He is also a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Greek letter society.
On July 27, 1876, Mr. Ross married Lauretta Gould Howard, a daughter of Deacon J. J. How- ard, a prosperous farmer of Benson, Vermont. Deacon Howard was married to Persis P. Pierce, who was born in Whitehall, New York, a daugh- ter of Deacon Pierce. Thirteen children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Howard, five of whom are living at the present time, namely: Mrs. J. H. Balis, Charles H. Howard, Mrs. E. A. Beers, John M. Howard, of Benson, Vermont, and Dan- iel D. Howard. The father of these children died at the age of seventy-four years, and his wife passed away in her eighty-third year. Mrs. Ross died March 15, 1894. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ross: Katherine Howard, now (1903) studying music in New York city; and Margaret Howard Ross. The family are mem-
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.