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 32

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 32

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Bishop Bissell's genial, loving, hospitable. generous nature : his familiarity with all grades of society in Vermont : his personal accessibility : his intimate knowledge of the state of his dio- cese : his ready capability in the administration of its affairs ; his talent as a preacher, winning to the children and instructive to all-have been beneficent factors of churchly welfare and pros- perity, and augur most pleasantly for still further growth in the future.

William H. A. Bissell was married on the 29th of August. 1838. to Martha C., daughter of Phineas Moulton, a descendant of the well known Chase family of Cornish, New Hampshire. Two sons and three daughters, all of whom are living and married, constitute the immediate fruit of the union.

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THE STATE OF VERMONT.

ARTHUR DAGGETT COBURN.

Arthur Daggett Coburn, of East Montpelier, Vermont, was born August 31, 1855. Joseph Co- burn, his great-grandfather, was born in 1775, and in 1803 removed from Charlton, Massachu- setts, to Cabot, Vermont. He engaged in the clothing business, and this proved so remunera- tive that in 1813, when he died of typhus fever, he was considered to be the wealthiest man in the town. He left a widow, who survived him for several years, and two sons, Larned and Joseph Leander, and four daughters: Sally, wife of Dr. A. Carter, of Peacham, Vermont ; Clara, wife of Andrew Edgerton, of Cabot, Vermont ; Lucy, wife of Ira Barnes, of Randolph, Vermont; and Mary, wife of James Griffin, of Peacham, Ver- mont.

Larned Coburn, grandfather of Arthur D. Coburn, was born in Charlton, Massachusetts, April 8, 1800. When he was only three years of age, his parents removed to Cabot, Vermont, where they resided until the death of his father in 1813, when they located in East Montpelier. At that time he was only thirteen years old, and he agreed to live with Mr. James Allen until he was of age. The terms of agreement were that he was to receive one hundred dollars and have four months in the winter in which to attend school or learn some trade. He agreed that Mr. Allen should keep thirty of the one hundred dollars to defray expenses in case of sickness, and this left him, when twenty-one years old, just seventy dollars besides the small property left by his father at his decease. His winters were passed at school, with the exception of two, when he learned the clothier's trade. His teacher ad- vised him to take up the profession of law, as he thought he was specially adapted for that vocation, but he decided to become a farmer in- stead. Mr. Coburn worked at his trade for al- most two years, and December 2, 1824, he re- turned to Montpelier and purchased about fifty- seven acres of land, to which he had added from time to time, until now the farm comprises two hundred and thirty acres of well cultivated and · profitable land. In 1823 he married Lovisa L., only daughter of James Allen. Their children are: West Allen, who died when about two years old; Flora S., born March 21, 1826, wife of

Dwight Hollister, of Marshfield; James A., born April 6, 1828; J. Leander, born January 16, 1830, (lied April 6, 1888; Susan A., born January 17, 1832, wife of C. C. Eaton, of Montpelier ; and Lewis L., born November 2, 1833. Mr. Coburn was respected by all who knew him; he was temperate in his habits and upright in all his business dealings. He was chosen to represent the town in the state legislature in 1857-58. He died October 26, 1872, and his wife die.1 August 4, 1872.

Hon. James Coburn, father of Arthur D. Co- burn, was born in East Montpelier, Vermont, April 6, 1828. He received his education in the common schools, and subsequently taught school in the winter months for a number of years. In 1855 he purchased from Mr. Daggett, his father- in-law, his interest in the farm, and followed farm- ing as an occupation. He is a Republican in his political preferences, and has held several im- portant official positons, having served as justice of the peace for many years ; he represented his town in the legislature in 1869, that being the last annual session in Vermont, and again in 1870-71, the first biennial session. In the fall of 1878 he was elected as assistant judge of Washington county court and was re-elected in 1880. Mr. Coburn was an extensive reader of good literature, and an excellent mathematician, which is a natural talent of the Coburn family. On December 4, 1850, he married Abbie B. Dag- gett, daughter of Arthur Daggett, of East Mont- pelier. Their children are: Larned C., born April 2, 1852, married Miss Corrie Bennett, of Calais, and resides at Marshall, Minnesota; Ar- thur Daggett, born August 31, 1855; Flora H., born June 25, 1858, wife of Henry Kelton ; James Lee, born November 3, 1859, now in Alaska : and Dwight H., born September 15, 1861, died when quite young.

Arthur Daggett Coburn, second son of James A. and Abbie Coburn, acquired his preliminary education in the public schools, and later he at- tended Goddard Seminary at Barre, Vermont. He then engaged in the occupation of farming, and for seven years manufactured cheese at North Montpelier, but he has again resumed his farming pursuits on the old homestead, and his parents reside with him.

In politics Mr. Coburn has always been a

James A, Coburn

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Republican, and has served as selectman for two terms. Both he and his family are members of the Universalist church. Mr. Coburn was united in marriage to Miss Fanny Kelton, daughter of Truman Kelton, of East Montpelier, October 15, 1878. Two children have been born to them, namely : Mabel F., born July 31, 1879 ; and Flor- ence, born November 27, 1883.

TRUMAN R. STILES, M. D.

Dr. Truman Ransom Stiles, a well known physician and surgeon of St. Johnsbury, Ver- mont, also prominently identified with the com- mercial and civic interests of the town, was born at Stowe, Vermont, July 21, 1847. His father, James Wilson Stiles, was born March 4, 1817, in Danville, Vermont. He was educated in the com- mon schools, and was a shoemaker by trade, be- came active in public affairs, holding several town offices, was for many years a justice of the peace, and also served as assistant judge. After the organization of the Republican party he was among its staunch adherents. Universalism ex- pressed his religious faith, and he was active in the Masonic order, serving many years as master of his lodge at Stowe. He was first lieutenant of Company D, Fifth Vermont Volunteers, in the war of the Rebellion. He married, March 5, 1845, Miss Hannah Agnes Howe, a native of Williamstown, Vermont, and to them were born three children.

Truman R. Stiles acquired his fundamental education in the public schools of Stowe, and graduated from the medical department of the University of Vermont in 1869. Since that time he has practiced his profession in Caledonia coun- ty, the past sixteen years at St. Johnsbury. Be- sides his practice as a physician and surgeon, Dr. Stiles demonstrates his interest in town affairs, and his undoubted ability to carry forward to a successful issue all matters which met his ap- proval being quickly recognized and appreciated by his townspeople, he was duly elected to serve on the board of village trustees, and was also appointed superintendent of the St. Johnsbury water works.

At Barnet, Vermont, his former residence, he was school director and justice of the peace. He was subsequently made president of the Cale- 12 X

donia Fair Grounds Association, of which he has been a director for six years.

Aside from the untiring energy displayed by Dr. Stiles in the prosecution of his civic duties he has for twenty years, with the exception of one term under Democratic administration, been a member and for some time president of the United States pension board, and was for ten years its secretary. He also served as a member of the legislature during the years 1898 and 1899. In 1892 he was elected state senator, which im- portant position he now fills creditably to him- self, and to the utmost satisfaction of his con- stituency. He has always been a Republican.

In the commercial field, too, Dr. Stiles has at- tained an enviable reputation, occupying positions of great responsibiltiy and trust; he was vice president and director of the St. Johnsbury Shoe Manufacturing Company, a concern of wide- spread business connections, and a director of the Merchants' National Bank, one of the foremost institutions of its kind in the state. He has owned and conducted at different times three drug stores in St. Johnsbury.

During all his busy career Dr. Stiles has not forgotten the development of his spiritual nature, always having been an attendant of the Metho- dist church, and is now a member of the official board of the local body. He also has fraternal and social connections which demand some of his at- tention, the following organizations being among those with which he is prominently identified : The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, the Masonic order, the New England Order of Protection, and the Knights of the Golden Cross, in the first two of which he has held all the offices. He is a member of the Caledonia Medical and Surgical Society and of the state board of health. There are few men who possess the intellectual capacity of Dr. Stiles, in that matters of every nature, whether professional, civic, commercial or social, can be grasped and handled with equal keenness of dis- crimination.

Dr. Stiles has been twice married. November 29, 1870, he led to the altar Miss Abbie A. Jen- ness, who was educated at Glover (Vermont) Academy. She was the daughter of George and Mary D. Jenness, the former a soldier in the Union army for a period of four years in the

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Civil war, and later a number of Sheffield, Ver mont. Mrs. Stiles del April 30, 1000. Dr. Stiles muriel, June 5. 1901. Lizzie A., daughter of Alonzo and Charlotte Derick, of Clarence. ville, province of Quebec.

To Dr. Sules have been born two sons, of whom he may justly be proud. The elder, Don (: Stiles, was born May 30, 1874, in Wheelock, Vermont, graduated from St. Johnsbury Acad- emy in 1895, and is now a druggist in St. Johns- bury. He married. June 25, 1901, Miss Ethel Galbraith, of Smithfield, New York. Ned C. Stiles was born May 7, 1877, in Sheffield, Ver- mont, graduated from St. Johnsbury Academy in 1895, from the medical department of the Uni- versity of Vermont in 1899, and is now engaged in the practice of medicine at St. Johnsbury.

EDWIN LAFAYETTE HOVEY.

Edwin La Fayette Hovey, one of the most progressive citizens of St. Johnsbury, has long been active in promoting the growth and best interests of his town. He is a scion of one of the first families of Waterford, Vermont, where he was born May 25, 1839. His grandfather, Asa Hovey, was a native of Connecticut, whose wife was Mary Alworth. In 1801 they removed with oxen, on a logging sled, to Waterford, Vermont, being among the first half dozen families to locate in that town. Here Mr. Hovey cleared a farm from the wilderness and reared two sons and four daughters, all of whom settled in Cale- donia county. In 1817, while on the way to a mill, his team became unmanageable and threw him out of his wagon, causing his death. His widow subsequently married Ebenezer Holbrook, and lived a good age.

William Hovey, son of Asa, was born in Hampton, Connecticut, in April, 1797, and was four years of age when his parents settled in Ver- mont. From that time on he lived on the pa- rental homestead, receiving only such education as the common schools of the time and locality afforded. He was endowed by nature with the gifts of sound judgment and keen intelligence, to- gether with a sturdy body, and was always re- garded as a good business man and upright citi- zen. He was an unusually successful farmer and became well-to-do for his day. His word was

ever considered binding, and the confidence re- posed in him by his fellow citizens is evidenced by the fact that he filled nearly every office in the gift of the town. He was many years selectman and wverscer of the poor, and represented the town in the state legislature. Though he made no professions of religion, his life was an exam- ple of Christian spirit, and both he and his family regularly attended the Lower Waterford Congre- gational church. His wife Lydia was born in 1801, a daughter of Abial and Rebecca (Chase) Richardson, who settled in Waterford soon after the Hovey family. They were the parents of nine children, all of whom grew to adult age. The eld- est, Abial Richardson, was a farmer and died at the age of fifty-eight years, at East St. Johnsbury. Adeline, the second, married Simeon Huse, and and died at the age of thirty years in the same place, where her husband still resides. Armenia is the widow of Stephen Richardson, a distant rela- tive, and resides in Waterford. Emily died at the age of eighteen years. William M. is a resident of Summerville, St. Johnsbury. Jacob G. died in St. Johnsbury in 1897, aged sixty-three years. Ed- win L. is the seventh. Emory E. lives on the homestead in Waterford. Marcus Aurelius died at the age of eighteen years, at Washington, while on his way to the field as a soldier, in 1863. The father died March, 1871, aged seventy-four years, and the mother in October, 1879, at the age of seventy-eight years.

Edwin L. Hovey was reared on his father's farm in Waterford, receiving his primary edu- cational training in the district school of the neighborhood. He fitted for college at the St. Johnsbury Academy and entered Dartmouth College, where he continued two years, leaving to enter his country's service as a soldier. He en- listed in the summer of 1862, in a nine months' regiment, commanded by Colonel (now Senator) Proctor. The regiment was full at the time of his enrollment, and he entered as a private, but was shortly promoted by Colonel Proctor to the rank of sergeant major, the highest non-com- missioned position in the regiment. He was then a member of Company K, but was subse- quently transferred to Company E, and held the rank of second lieutenant, finishing his term of service as first lieutenant of Company I. The early service of the regiment was in the defenses

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of Washington, but it joined the Army of the Po- tomac in its move on Gettysburg, immediately after which it was discharged by reason of the expiration of its term. Returning to his home and the pursuits of peace, young Hovey pre- pared to complete his course at Dartmouth. While on his way to St. Johnsbury, enroute to the college, he received such a tempting offer of a farming interest that he unpacked his trunk and settled down to business in Waterford. This was the beginning of a busy and most successful career. Within a few months he bought a farm in Waterford, which was sold at a profit of five hundred dollars in a few days. He then pur- chased another farm in the same town, which was sold in a short time at a handsome profit. Since that time he has engaged in farming nearly all the time, but has bought and sold much land in the meantime. The last farm which he tilled in Waterford included eight hundred acres, and af- ter he sold this, in 1868, he held a two-days' auc- tion and sold, among other personal property, twenty-four Durham cows at an average of over sixty-seven dollars each. He now tills about eighty acres, all within the limits of the city of St. Johnsbury and all under a high state of cul- tivation, and fitted by nature for building sites. It is likely to be soon needed for this purpose, as the city is bound to grow, being a natural center for a large tract of country and the seat of exten- sive and world-famed manufactures. It is large- ly due to the influence and efforts of Mr. Hovey that the suburb of Summerville was made a part of the city. , He established the second news- paper in St. Johnsbury, now known as the Re- publican, and the leading journal of the county at the present day. After publishing this paper fifty-eight weeks, he sold it at a profit of five thousand dollars, and soon after acquired a saw- mill on the Moose river, in what is now. Summer- ville, which he operated successfully for a period of fourteen years.

He has built over seventy structures, stores and dwellings, all in Summerville, and has been five times proprietor of the general store in the same suburb. Three times he sold out his stock near the lower end of the street, and he built the store at the junction of Portland street and Con- cord avenue, of whose stock he was twice owner. For a period of one and one-half years he con-

ducted a meat market in St. Johnsbury, and sub- sequently, established the market now operated in his store building in Summerville, which he sold out. One of his greatest gifts is the ability to judge cattle on the hoof, and this led to great success in the market business. All these ven- tures have been profitable and his frequent sales and purchases were made because of advanta- geous offerings. Being a shrewd and industrious business man, he is ever ready for a trade which promises a recompense for his time and capital. He is not afraid of work, and is often found at the present day engaged in building, painting, or otherwise furthering the progress of his extensive real estate operations. In 1874, having become tired of removals of his household, through sales of houses, he erected a permanent home on La Fayette street, which no tempting offers have in- duced him to part with, and here he plans to pass his remaining years.

A man of diversified talents, Mr. Hovey has been useful to his fellow citizens, as well as him- self and family, in many ways. His tastes are literary, and he is the possessor of a fine library and gives much time to study. Active in pro- moting education, he is at present a school di- rector, and the neighborhood owes much to him for his labors and influence in securing the hand- some, substantial, modern schoolhouse which adorns Portland street. He has served many times as selectman and lister, and is at present moderator, grand juror and justice of the peace. He made the occasional speech at a picnic in cele- bration of the Fourth of July in his native town, in 1860, in the autumn of that year cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, and has since con- sistently supported the Republican party.

Mr. Hovey attends divine worship with his family at the Universalist church of St. Johns- bury. He was a charter member of Green Moun- tain Grange No. I. organized at St. Johnsbury, July 4, 1871, and held all the leading offices of the Grange: was elected secretary of the state Grange at its organization, July 4, 1872, and held this position several years. At present he is a member of Pleasant Valley Grange, of Water- ford. He has been a member of Chamberlain Post No. r. G. A. R., for twenty-five years, and has filled all the offices of the post. For the last fifteen years he has been chairman of its enter-

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tainment committee, and this organization never falls to provide instructive, as well as entertain . ing diversions. Mr. Hovey is also identified with the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, of St. Johnsbury, in which he takes a contribu- tive interest.

March 2, 1804, Mr. Hovey was married to Miss Ella F. Carr, a native of Waterford, daugh- ter of John P. and Fanny ( Woods) Carr, of the same nativity. Mrs. Hovey died December 23. 1871, at the age of twenty-three years, leaving three children, the eldest, Edith L., married John H. Moore, of St. Johnsbury ; and Mable F., is the wife of E. P. Carpenter, of Waterford. Both are graduates of St. Johnsbury Academy. Ella is at home unmarried. Mr. Hovey married, Sep- tember 4, 1873, Miss Sarah F. Hutchins, who was born in Morrisville. Vermont, and is the daughter of Daniel P. and Mary (Grout) Hutch- ins. Two of the four children of this marriage survive, namely : Bertha E. and Grace. G. The latter graduated at the age of eighteen years from St. Johnsbury Academy, in 1902. The former is the wife of her fellow graduate of St. Johnsbury, David H. Macomber, formerly of Westford, and they re- side at Independence, Iowa. Mrs. Hovey is ac- tive and popular in the work of the Woman's Relief Corps, and served in 1901 as president of the state department of that body, with credit to herself and success to the organization. She is a member of the choir in the Church of Messiah, and has long been active, as have all the chil- dren of the family, in the musical affairs of the city, all having excellent musical gifts. Mrs. Moore, the eldest daughter, is also a member of the church choir, and Mrs. Macomber was organ- ist until her removal from the city.

REV. JOEL OSMAN SHERBURN.

The Sherburn family is of ancient and hon- orable English origin, and the American branch, in the various generations, has been prominent in New England history. The name has been variously spelled Sherborn, Sherbourn, Sher- burne and Sherebourne, the form last given being the most correct.

The home of the Sherburns in England was Lancaster, and they possessed old estates at

Stonihurst, Aighton. The first ancestor of whom we have any record was Richard Sherburn, who was born in 1380 and died in 1449. The name of his wife was Agnes Stanley. Of his life we know nothing; whether he followed the profession of arms, and in his youth took part in the battle of Shrewsbury, where the "wild prince," Henry of Monmouth, defeated the rebels under Hot- spur, the Percy of the day, and the Welsh chief- tain and magician, Glendower ; whether, later, he followed the "wild prince," then Henry the Fifth, to France, and shared in the great victory of Agincourt ; whether he was in France with the English army when the marvelous exploits of the Maid of Orleans were filling Britons with super- stitious awe and the Frenchmen with extrava- gant anticipations ; of all this we know nothing. Whether he was one of the few who, in that rude age, possessed a taste for literature, and was among the admirers of Geoffrey Chaucer, whose poems were just then given to the world ; on this subject the record is silent. On only one point are we informed concerning him, namely, that of his religion. The record states that the early generations of the family were all Papists, and therefore we may suppose that in any religious controversy Richard Sherburn was always to be found on the side of the church, and that he had no sympathy with the heresies of Wyckliffe, which were then agitating the country. In re- gard to his descendants during the two centuries subsequent to his death, the following is a suc- cinct record : Richarde (1380-1449) and Agnes Stanley had Richard ( 1402-1441), who married Matilda Hammerton, and had Sir Richard (1465-1513), who married Jane Langton and had Richard (born 1488) who married Anne Brown and had Hugh, (born 1516) (wife not known), and had Henry, of Oxford, England, who mar- ried Joan Acton, and had Joseph Augustus, of Oldham, England, who had John, of New Eng- land, who married Elizabeth Tuck in 1645.

John Sherburn (I) came from England to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, at some time prior to 1643. This fact is established beyond doubt by the records, which show that in 1653, John Sherburn, with other settlers of over ten years' standing, received an extra grant of land, namely, two hundred acres. Of this emigrant ancestor we are informed, further, that he was not a man

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of liberal education, that he followed the occupa- tion of a farmer, and that he was an independent in religion, which means that he was a type of the seventeenth century New England Puritan. Judging from the fact that he was an officer of the church at Portsmouth, it is evident that he was a man of standing in the colony. It seems probable that by this time the Sherburn family had embraced the doctrines of the Reformation, and it is possible that John Sherburn was an ex- ception among them in belonging to the party which claimed that still further reformation was necessary to render the church in all respects an ideal institution. John Sherburn married, in 1645, Elizabeth Tuck, whose ancestry is not re- corded.

John Sherburn (2), son of John and Eliza- beth (Tuck) Sherburn, was born in 1650, mar- ried, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1675, Mary Jackson, and died in 1731. John Sher- burn (3), son of John and Mary (Jackson) Sherburn, was born in 1686, and died in 1718. He married and was the father of a large family. Nathaniel Sherburn (4), son of John Sherburn, was born in 1708, and died in 1772. He had a numerous family. Daniel Sherburn (5), son of Nathaniel Sherburn was born in 1739, married Polly Leah, and died in 1814 in Goshen, New Hampshire. David Sherburn (6), son of Daniel and Polly (Leah) Sherburn, was born in 1778, and married, in 1803, Wealthy Kinney, daughter of the Rev. Jonathan Kinney, of Plainfield. The Kinney family was from near New Haven, Con- necticut. David Sherburn died in 1857, in Barre, Vermont.

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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 32

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