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 40

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 40

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THE STATE OF VERMONT.

James of. Warner Past No. .. G. A. R., and was a communicant of the Congregational church.

Dr. Hall married, February 15. 1859, Ophe. lia S. Titus. They had an adopted daughter, .I. Bell, who became the wife of the Rev. Delmar F. Croft. a Baptist clergyman of Boston. They are the parents of one child, named De Foc.

Dr. Hall's last illness was short, being partly the result of over-work. In the discharge of professional duties he was indefatigable, his last call being made but one week and one day before his death, which occurred May 1, 1897. The

event was followed by a universal sense of be- reavement, all classes uniting to mourn the loss of a skillful and benevolent physician, an in- tensely loyal and public-spirited citizen, and a truly kind-hearted man. Modest to a degree approaching diffidence, he did much for the re- lief of the needy poor, and for the advancement of public projects, more, in fact, than will ever be known. During the funeral services all the places of business were closed, the local pastors participating in the service, and members of Post James M. Warner attending in a body. The interment was in the family lot in the old cemetery. The following extract from a letter written by Chaplain Rev. J. E. Goodrich of First Vermont Cavalry will seem to those who know him a fitting tribute to his worth :

"He was a patriot through and through, and he served the Union with the best that was in him. He could measure danger coolly and calmly, but was never deterred by fear from go- ing wherever duty called. His skill and com- petency as a surgeon were known to all of us. When he came back to civil life, not content with the professional training he had received, he took additional courses at the universities, that he might spare neither cost nor pains to equip himself thoroughly for his life work. The church, the school, and the village, all of them have missed the counsel and support of a man who had unselfishly striven to promote the gen- eral good. The new cemetery, the concrete walks, the water and the sewerage systems, the electric lights, the lot secured for a public park, the academy, of which Morrisville has so much reason to be proud, all had been promoted and actively aided by him."

To this fervent tribute to a splendid citizen,

it is to be added that, up to the very last of his life, Dr. Hall was occupied with plans for the further enhancement of the advantages of his home village. As before stated, he, with others, had purchased a tract of land at the corner of Congress street, which he had determined to lay out as a public park, but his death occurred be- fore he could fully consummate his plans, and the property was finally sold. Among his largest and most salutary benefactions was his setting aside to an elderly and destitute couple a farm which was to be their home during the remainder of their days, and was then to pass into the pos- session of the town.

Miss Ophelia S. Titus, wife of Dr. Hall, was a daughter of Joseph Titus, whose father, Joseph Titus, Sr., a farmer of Vershire, Vermont, mar- ried Susan Bacon, and was the father of the fol- lowing children: Daniel, Joseph, Jr., Benjamin, Lyman, Simeon, Lenox, Martha, Chloe, Dorcas, who married Isaac Pennock and had one daugh- ter, Sophia, who died in childhood.

Joseph Titus, Jr., was born in Vershire, Ver- mont, and in early manhood removed to Wolcott, Vermont, where he was one of the early settlers. He owned two hundred and forty acres of land, which he cultivated with great success. He mar- ried Almira Cotton, of Vershire, Vermont, and they were the parents of the following children : Orlando E., who married Rowena Cummings, of Hingham, Massachusetts, and had four children, of whom the only one living is Arthur O., who is employed in the Hardwick National Bank ; Ophelia S., who became the wife of Dr. Elmore John Hall; Isaac P., who is a merchant at Hard- wick, Vermont, and married Ella F. Holton, of Wells River, Vermont, and they have four chil- dren, Florence M., Bessie A., Harry Joseph and Karl I .; Lavina A., who married James Bus- well, resides in Boston, and has no children now living. Joseph Titus, Jr., died at Wolcott, Ver- mont, December 27, 1878, aged seventy-six years, and his wife passed away March 7, 1898, at the advanced age of ninety-two years.

Mrs. Elmore J. Hall, a most estimable woman, proved a real helpmeet to her large-hearted hus- band, and to her he constantly attributed in full- est measure the credit for his own successful and useful life and personal happiness. She vis- ited him while he was at Fort Scott, from Jan-

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uary to April, 1863, sharing with him the ex- posures and dangers of active service in the field in the days of the Civil war. She ably seconded his every effort in all his relations with the com- munity. During his many years of suffering, which he bore with patience and fortitude, she afforded him her tenderest ministrations, and af- ter his death she took up with courage and abil- ity the duties of executrix of his estate, besides carrying out with conscientious exactness various of his beneficent plans which she knew lay near to his heart.

FRANK THAYER NASH.

Among the representative citizens of Addison county, Vermont, is to be named Frank T. Nash, of New Haven, one of the most progressive of its people, and one who has filled a large and use- ful place in public concerns. The family descent is traced from Thomas Nash, a gunsmith, who came to Boston in 1637 and settled with the colony at New Haven, in 1638. The history of his descendants was published at Hartford, Con- necticut, in 1853, by Rev. Sylvester Nash, rector of St. John's church at Essex, Connecticut. Frank T. Nash was born February 2, 1851, in Raymond, Racine county, Wisconsin, but comes of old New England stock. His paternal grandfather, William Nash, was born August 2, 1787, in Goshen, Connecticut, and came to Ver- mont with his father, also named William, lo- cating near where the grandson has latterly re- sided. General William Nash, Jr., was a pro- gressive farmer, and took an active part in the larger affairs of the community. In 1852 he was a delegate to the national Whig convention at Baltimore. He was president of the Bank of Middlebury, one of the first directors of the Bank of Vergennes, and for fifteen years from its organi- zation in 1832, a member of the corporation of Middlebury College, vice-president of the Ver- mont Bible Society, a general in the state militia, and was prominent in local and state bible, mis- sionary and temperance societies. He served in both houses of the state legislature, being re- peatedly a member of the lower house. In Janu- ary, 1817, he married Mary P. Wright, and they died, respectively, in December, 1871, and April 27, 1880, the widow attaining the ripe old age of

ninety-one years. They were the parents of ten children, three of whom are living, Jonathan, of Janesville, Wisconsin; Noah P., who lives in Ripon, Wisconsin ; and Dorastus W. Nash, who lives in New Haven, Vermont.

Fordyce Theron Nash, son of William and Mary P. (Wright) Nash, was born July 9, 1820, in New Haven, Vermont, where he received his education. He engaged in farming in Wiscon- sin for some years, and subsequently returned to Vermont and, finally, to the place where his son now makes his home. His wife, Eliza Thayer, of Weybridge, was born June 30, 1822, a daughter of William A. Thayer. They were married November 15, 1847, and to them were born four children, of whom three are living, Fred P., residing in Glen Elder, Kanasas, where he is a large miller and cattle feeder ; Frank T., further spoken of below ; Fordyce W., of Bristol, Vermont. The parents were members of the Con- gregational church, and died, respectively, at the ages of forty-nine and sixty-nine years, July 18, 1869, and September 16, 1891.

Frank T. Nash passed the first five years of his life in Oak Grove, Wisconsin, and since then has lived, in turn, in New Haven, Vermont, receiving his education there, and in Fairfax, Vermont. He taught school for a time and as- sisted on the farm until the death of his father, when he entered upon the possession of the prop- erty, a fine estate of two hundred acres, devoted to general farming and dairying, a business which, through industry and intelligent methods, he has brought to a high standard with com- mensurate financial results. Mr. Nash has at the same time devoted a large share of attention to community affairs, and has rendered valuable service to the public. He served for a number of years as selectman, and as chairman of the board, and was lister for one year. A Republican in politics, he has served as delegate to various state and county conventions, and represented the town of Montpelier in 1884. As were his an- cestors, he is a Congregationalist in religion, and has been deacon of the New Haven church for many years, and his wife is a teacher in the Sun- day school.

Mr. Nash was married in 1901 to Mrs. Amelia Thompson, a native of New Haven. Ver- mont, daughter of Francis A. and Matilda ( But-

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ler) Goodroc, and widow of Frederick S. Thomp. Son. Her father, now deceased, was, during al most his entire life, a resident of New Haven.

GEORGE H. FOX, M. D.

Dr. George Herbert Fox, of Rutland, Ver- mont, comes from a distinguished New England family. He is a descendant of that Thomas Fox who was a freeman at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1638. He was then thirty years old, and had probably come to America some years prior to that date. He was said to be a son of Dr. Thomas Fox, of London, and it is a family tradition that he left England in anger because of injustice done him in a law suit, which he believed was decided against him on account of his being a grandson of John Fox, the author.

Thomas Fox, named above, was an original proprietor of Cambridge, then called Newton. He was a dealer in lands, executor and administrator of estates, a selectman in 1658, and was repeatedly re-elected. He was an exemplary citizen and ac- tive in church affairs. Who his first wife was is unknown, and it is presumed that she died in England. His second wife was Ellen, widow of Percival Green, who came to Boston in 1635. She died May 27, 1682, aged eighty-two, from injuries received in a fall. Thomas Fox after- wards married (1683) Elizabeth, widow of Charles Chadwick, and, in 1685, married Rebecca Weyth, who outlived him. He died April 25, 1693, aged eighty-five years.

Jabez, son of Thomas Fox, was born in Con- cord, in 1647. His mother was presumably Ellen Green, before named. Jabez Fox was graduated from Cambridge in 1665, and took his second de- gree three years later. In: 1678 he became as- sistant to the Rev. Mr. Carter, pastor of Woburn church. In 1679 the parish called him for its life minister, and built for him a parsonage which he and his son Jabez occupied for seventy-six years. He enjoyed the affection of his people, but at times suffered annoyance, owing to his salary falling in arrears. He died of smallpox in Boston, February 26, 1702, and was buried at Woburn. In 1866 the ancient tombstone erected over his grave was discovered, covered with earth and vegetation, and was cleaned and restored to its place . Mr. Fox married Judith Rayner, daugh-

ter of the Rev. John Rayner, of Plymouth, Mas sachusetts, and Dover, New Hampshire. Their children were John, Thomas, Thomas, Jabez and Judith.

Jabez, fourth son of Rev. Jabez Fox, was born at Woburn, December 2, 1684, and was a manufacturer of woolen cloth and a merchant tailor. He married Hannah, daughter of Rev. George Burroughs, March 8, 1705. Their chil- dren were Thomas, Hannah, Judith and Rebecca.

Thomas, only son of Jabez Fox, was born in Boston, December 7, 1706, and died in 1796. He was among the first settlers at Woodstock, Connecticut, where he set up a clothdressing fac- tory. He lived in a two-story red house not far from the wolf cave associated with the name of General Israel Putnam, and their ancient domicile stood until 1850, when it was burned down. He married Mercie, whose family name is unknown. Their children were: Hannah, Thomas, Mariah, John, Jabez, Fanny and Rebecca.

John, second son and fourth child of Thomas Fox, was born in Woodstock, Connecticut, March 10, 1737. He married Eleanor Lovett (born in 1740), and they removed to Newburgh, New York, where he died, about 1761. His widow made her way back to Woodstock, a distance of one hundred miles, through an almost wilder- ness, carrying her youngest child, William, while John, the elder, walked by her side. Her family effects had been sent by vessel, and were lost by shipwreck. She afterwards married Nathaniel Child, and died November 12, 1822. She is spoken of as a tall, finely built woman, and of great nobility of character. John, elder son of Eleanor (Lovett) Fox, was born August 7, 1759. He was the grandfather of Tunley M. Fox, of South Woodstock, Connecticut.

William, younger of the two children of John Fox and Eleanor Fox, was born June 28, 1760, probably at Newburgh, New York. "Bill," as he was called, had the reputation of being a wild, reckless boy, and at an early age enlisted in the continental army in opposition to the wish of his mother. He served in the army three years and ten months, most of the time as ªscout, a kind of service well suited to his inclinations. He was in the battle of Bennington. When his mother found that "Bill" had enlisted and was bound to go as a soldier, she thought it best that John

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should enter the service for a time to take care of his younger brother. It was not long before "Bill" was down with camp fever and was so low as to be nearly helpless. One day the alarm was given, and John had to shoulder his musket and leave his brother. It was known that the enemy was near, and an attack had been ex- pected. If the British won the day, the brothers would probably never meet again. John placed water within his brother's reach, took leave of him and passed round the tent on his way to the parade. Just then he heard William whisper, "John! John!" He returned and bending over his sick brother, asked what he wanted. "Give it to them, John, damn them, give it to 'em." And, having given this last emphatic charge, he was perfectly willing to be left to his fate. For- tunately it was a false alarm, and John was per- mitted to nurse his brother until he recovered. He performed much scouting duty, for which he was peculiarly fitted through his early hunting experiences. At one time he was detailed on board an armed sloop. Toward the close of his term of service he was engaged in the defense of an outpost, where his uncle, Sergeant Jabez Fox, was killed. When his term of service had ex- pired he returned to Woodstock, Conecticut, where he found the prejudice of his friends had been so strong against him that the property left had been given entirely to his brother. The in- justice of this decision made him resolve to leave his old Connecticut home and, unaided, seek his fortune in a new country. He came to Tinmouth, Vermont, and worked for a man by the name of Spafford who lived near the Robert Hopkins place. This must have been in 1779. At the close of this six months he married Philena White, bought a piece of new land and com- menced clearing a farm, the farm where Lincoln Andrus afterward lived. He didn't really want the "mosquito swamp," as it was called in those days; he preferred a farm in Tinmouth, but hadn't the scrip to pay for it. Near the year 1800 Governor Tichenor (a friend of William) and suite were traveling from Bennington to Rutland on horseback. They called at a little hotel in Wallingford (Mam Hull's Tavern), near where widow White used to live, to get dinner, bait their horses and probably to taste of the good "Old New England." William heard that 15 ×

they were there. He called his company of scouts together, dressed, drilled and painted as Indians, marched up and took the Governor and staff prisoners, carried him into the bush east of the village and held a regular Indian pow-wow over him. It took a good many bottles of "fire water" for the Geovernor's ransom. William came into considerable prominence through force of charac- ter and integrity. He was town clerk and justice for more than thirty years, and a member of the state legislature for twenty years. As magistrate he probably performed more marriages than any other justice in the state. It was his invariable habit upon such an occasion to give to the bride the silver dollar which he received from the groom for the performance of the ceremony. It is said that his decisions of law cases were so just that none were ever reversed in a superior court. In 1780 he married Philena White, who was born in Rutland county, in October, 1762. She died July 3, 1817, and her husband died February 17, 1822, at Wallingford. Their children were John, William, Eleanor, Fanny, Mary, George, Mavin, Laura, Philena and Priscilla. There were no deaths in this family until the youngest child was nearly grown, and parents and children then died in quick succession, eight passing away within a period of twelve years.

John, eldest son of William Fox, was born in Wallingford, Vermont, August 24, 1781. He worked on his father's farm, attending school in the winter months, and afterwards taught school until he was of age. He studied medicine for three years under the preceptorship of Dr. Ziba Hamilton. of Wallingford, and surgery for one vears under Dr. Ezekiel Porter, of Rutland. He was licensed to practice by the first Vermont State Medical Society in 1807, and entered upon prac- tice at Wallingford. In 1829 he received the de- gree of Doctor of Medicine from the Vermont Academy of Medicine at Castleton. He was one of the most accomplished practitioners of his time; his practice extended throughout Rutland county, and he was frequently called to consid- erable distances. He was a man of great nobility of character, great sagacity and unswerving in- tegrity, and was frequently called into public service. He was a member of the legislature in 1822, 1823. 1824. 1838, 1840, 1841 and 1842. and of the senate in 1847, 1848 and 1849. May 12,

THE STATE OF VERMONT.

1807, be married Mary, born at Wallingford July 30, 1788, daughter of lhas ( rary.

Mary Crary was a descendant of Peter Crary, who was the first of the mume in Connecticut, and was in New London as early as 1003. Ile married Christobel Gallop, and had several chil- dren. Christopher was a grandson of Peter, and settled first in Voluntown, Connecticut, and re- moved later to Clarendon, Vermont, with his wife, his son Ezra, and perhaps other children. Ezra, son of Christopher, married and had chil- dren, in Vermont, Nathan, Elias and Nathaniel : and two daughters: Dolly, who married John Smith, and another daughter who married Ran- dall Arnold. Nathan, son of Ezra, was a Meth- odist minister, and removed to St. Lawrence county, New York. He married and had chil- dren: Edward, Appleton, Nathan, John, West- ley and Stephen. Some of his sons were also Methodist ministers.

Elias, son of Ezra, was a Revolutionary war soldier. He married Betsey Palmer, and also removed from Voluntown, Connecticut, with his father-in-law, David Palmer, to Vermont. Elias and Betsey had issue: Solomon; (Polly) or Mary, who became the wife of Dr. John Fox; Elias, Jr., Sally, Nathan, Cynthia, Dr. David and George, all of whom married. Solomon and Sally lived in Pottsdam, St. Lawrence county, New York; Appleton and Mary in Wallingford, Vermont, where they were born; Elias, Jr., set- tled in Illinois ; Nathan, Cynthia and George mar- ried and had families. Dr. David Crary removed from Vermont to Hartford, Connecticut, where he followed his profession. He married, first, Susan Harris, of Brattleboro, Vermont, a daugh- ter of Calvin Harris, and had issue, David, Frank and Susan. His wife died in Hartford in 1849. He married, second, Martha Tyron, of Glaston- bury, and had two children, Lewie and Edwin. David, who is a physician, and Edwin, a drug- gist, are now living in Hartford.

John and Mary Fox died, respectively, June 17, 1853, and August 19, 1876. Mrs. Fox was a most admirable woman, and her long life, much of it passed in widowhood, was a benediction upon all about her. She was nineteen years old when she married Dr. Fox, who had just finished his studies. For nearly half a century she was his sympathetic and helpful companion. No mat-

ter how late his return at night, after long travel to visit his patients, he never failed to find all needed means of comfort. She was a devoted and consistent member of the Congregational church, and her friendliness and aid went out to all the people of the neighborhood. After the death of her husband she made her home with her daughter, Elizabeth, the wife of Edwin Mar- tindale. She was the mother of six children : Harriet, William C., Elizabeth, Mary M., John M. and George H. Fox. Two of the sons, Will- iam C. and George H., embraced the profession of their father. Harriet, the first child, was born October 13, 1809, and died May 16, 1824.

William Crary Fox, second child and eldest son of John and Mary (Crary) Fox, was born July 4, 1811. He began the study of medicine under his father, and completed his professional training in the Vermont Medical Academy at Castleton, graduating in 1830. He practiced in Danby for a short time, and then in Walingford, where he died May 25, 1880. He represented the town in the legislature in 1852-53. He mar- ried, May 8, 1834, Saphronia Sparhawk, of New Hampshire, who was born in 1813, and died January 29, 1839, leaving one child, Harriet S., born April 29, 1837. He married, second, in 1860, Helen M. Sherman, born in Wallingford, in 1836, and who died January 9, 1864. His daughter, Harriet S., before named, married, September 3, 1856, Dr. Cephas K. Martindale, of LaCrosse, Wisconsin. He died in September, 1870, and she married, April 29, 1878, Philip H. Emerson. He was assistant judge of the United States court in Utah, and served on the bench twelve years, having been appointed by President Grant in 1873, and serving until 1885, when he retired to give his entire attention to the practice of law. He died in 1889.

Elizabeth, third child of John and Mary Fox, was born November II, 1813, and died Septem- ber 22, 1896. She married Edwin Martindale, February 14, 1844. He was born in Dorset, Ver- mont, January 6, 1813 ; died in Wallingford, Ver- mont, April 18, 1892. Mr. Martindale was a suc- cessful merchant of Wallingford for many years. He represented the town in the state legislature in 1855 and 1856; was town clerk and town treasurer several years, and held other town offices; was one of the trustees of the Rutland

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Savings Bank, a director in the National Bank of Rutland, and later in the Merchants' National Bank of the same place.

Mary M., the fourth child, was born May 28, 1817, and died September 8, 1838.

John M. Fox, fifth child and second son of John and Mary (Crary) Fox, was born April 27, 1825. As a young man he went to New York city, where he was for a number of years a clerk in the office of the tax receiver. For twelve years he was warden of the penitentiary on Blackwell's Island, and he was also warden of the Ludlow Street jail, a collector of revenue and a deputy sheriff, serving for several years in each of these positions, and later as warden of the workhouse on Blackwell's Island. He married Mary Harris, in New York city, January 29, 1857, and to them were born two children, Wililam H., February 14, 1858, and Frank, December 2, 1866, the latter named of whom succeeded his father (who died April II, 1901) as warden of the workhouse on Blackwell's Island.

George Herbert Fox, youngest child of John and Mary (Crary) Fox, was born at Walling- ford March 22, 1830. He began his education in the schools of his native town, and pursued ad- vanced branches in the Troy Conference Acad- emy, at Poultney, and at the Castleton Academy, but his health became impaired, and he was obliged to suspend his literary studies. In 1848 he began the study of medicine under the pre- ceptorship of his father. He subsequently at- tended two courses of medical Jectures and was graduated from the Castleton Medical College in 1851, the year of his attaining majority. He attended lectures and demonstrations in Phila- delphia in the following winter, and in the New York Medical College in 1853. He then returned to Wallingford, where he was engaged in prac- tice until 1863, when he removed to Rutland. as promising a more active field for his effort. In 1865 he was obliged to relinquish his prac- tice on account of ill health, but was so far re- covered that he resumed practice in 1868. While busily engaged in his profession, he was also interested in a drug business in Rutland, from 1861 to 1865 associated with E. C. Lewis, and again from 1868 to 1870. Never really vigorous physically Dr. Fox has always been an indefa-

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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 40

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