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 58

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 58

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Dr. Russel is vice president of the Addi- son County Medical Association ; is a member of the State Medical Society; of the Masonic fra-

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ternity, and has held several offices in Apollo Chapter, R. A. M. He assisted in the reorganiza- tion of William P. Russel Post, No. 89, G. A. R., which was named in honor of his father, and which the latter originally organized under an- other name. The Doctor has served as its com- mander for the past six years, and has ever taken an active interest in its work. He was also one of the organizers of the local lodge of the Knights of Honor and has served as its dictator for the last four years. For many years he has been connected with the fire department, being the present fire warden, and he has ever been ready to lend his aid and co-operation to every measure and movement intended for the public good. He is a member and a vestryman in the Episcopal church. In short, he stands on the side of prog- ress, advancement and civilization, favoring edu- cation, religion, law and order, and whatever makes for the good of the people as individuals and as communities.

JUDGE LOVELAND MUNSON.

Judge Loveland Munson, of Manchester, is intimately associated with the legal, political and literary interests of this part of Bennington coun- ty. He was born July 21, 1843, in Manchester, which was also the birthplace of his father, Cyrus Munson. He is a great-grandson of Jared Mun- son, and grandson of Rufus Munson.

Jared Munson came from Lanesboro, Massa- chusetts, to Manchester, Vermont, in 1778, and settled on a portion of the land now included within the limits of Manchester village. He was accompanied by his brother Thaddeus, who sub- sequently served as lieutenant in the local militia, and in addition to carrying on his farm of eighty acres was also proprietor for a few years of the hotel in which the Council of Safety held its meetings prior to the battle of Bennington. Thaddeus Munson afterwards spent a few years in Hinesburg, which he represented in the state legislature in 1793 and 1795, and where his death occurred in 1814. Jared Munson reared a large family of children, among them being the follow- ing: Henry U., who died at the age of twenty- nine years, was a captain in the militia; Anna married Paoli Wells, and their son, Helmus MI. Wells, with Judge Skinner, purchased the land

for the Dellwood cemetery ; Ephraim, who served as deputy sheriff, was the father of Jane Maria Munson, who married A. G. Clark; and Rufus was the father of Cyrus Munson and grandfather of Judge Munson.

Rufus Munson, born in 1762, was sixteen years of age when he came with his parents to Manchester, where he assisted in clearing the parental homestead of which he afterwards be- came the owner. He lived but a few years af- ter attaining his majority, his death occurring in 1797. Of his union with Bethiah Burton, four children were born, namely: Cyrus, Benjamin, Jesse and Polly. Benjamin served in the war of 1812, and was afterwards captain of a com- pany of militia. He married and reared several children, among them being the son, Cyrus B. Munson, who was a captain in the Eleventh Ver- mont militia, while another son, Josiah B. Mun- son, was captain of a company in the Fourteenth Vermont Volunteer Infantry, and took part in the battle of Gettysburg. A daughter, Mary Ann Munson, married Hon. Seward S. Burton, of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Jesse Munson, the third son of Rufus Munson, spent the greater part of his life in New York, and one of his grandsons be- came prominent in the naval service, rising to the rank of commander. Polly Munson spent her entire life in Manchester, becoming the wife of Alvah Hollister.

Cyrus Munson, father of Judge Munson, was born in Manchester, January 22, 1790, and here spent his life, dying October 1, 1857. He was a farmer by occupation, owning a good property just north of the old homestead. He served in various town offices, and settled many estates in this vicinity. He was one of the incorporators of the Burr and Burton Seminary, and served as a trustee until his death. He married first. Au- gust 10, 1811, Catherine Walker, who died Jan- uary 13, 1841. He married second, Lucy, daugh- ter of Deacon Asa Loveland, who died March 24. 1878.

Loveland Munson began the study of law in the office of Elias B. Burton in 1862, and, in June, 1866, was admitted to the Bennington county bar, at once entering upon his professional career as a partner of his former tutor, becoming junior member of the law firm of Burton & Munson. He met with success from the first, having a

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good practice when with Mr. Burton, and being equally prosperous when in business alone. Alr. Munson has always taken an intelligent interest in political matters, being actively identified with the Republican party. About 1866 he was made a member, and afterwards the chairman, of the Republican county committee, an office which he filled a number of years, serving also as chair- man of the Republican district committee. From 1863 until 1866 he edited the Manchester Journal, evincing a good deal of literary talent, and de- livered an excellent address, in 1875, on "The Early History of Manchester," which was after- ward published. From 1866 until 1873 he was town clerk, but declined further election to that office on account of his professional duties. He served as register of probate from December, 1866, until December, 1876, and was a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1870.

Mr. Munson was a representative to the state legislature in 1872, serving on the judiciary and railroad committees, and was elected to the same position in 1874, when he was a candidate for the speakership, his opponent being Judge H. H. Powers. In 1878 he was a state senator, and served as president pro tem. In 1882 he was again a representative to the legislature. In May, 1883, he succeeded Judge Ranney Howard, de- ceased, as judge of probate for the district of Man- chester, and, in 1887, was appointed by Governor Ormsbee chairman of the committee authorized by the legislature, in 1886, to revise and redraft the school laws, presenting the same in the form of a bill, which passed the legislature with but few changes. In September, 1889, Judge Mun- son was appointed a judge of the supreme court ; was elected to that position in 1890, and has since been biennially re-elected, being now second as- sociate judge.

Judge Munson married, May 4, 1882, Mary B. Campbell, daughter of Rev. Alexander B. and Anna M. (Hollister) Campbell, of Mendon, Illinois.

ABRAHAM BROOKINS GARDNER.

Abraham Brookins Gardner, an enterprising and prosperous agriculturist of Pownal, Ver- mont, is a descendant of a family who have made the state of Vermont their home for many years.

George Gardner, great-great grandfather of Abraham B. Gardner, became one of the pioneer settlers of this section of the state in the year 1765. Abraham Gardner, great-grandfather of Abraham B. Gardner, was born in Rhode Island, where he acquired his education in the common schools. He removed with his parents to Pownal, Vermont, and subsequently purchased a tract of land, which is a portion of the present farm, and followed the occupation of farming up to the time of his death. David Gardner, grandfather of Abraham B. Gardner, was born in Pownal, Vermont, and reared upon the old homestead. After acquiring his education in the common schools he devoted his time to agricultural pur- suits upon the ancestral farm, to which he added three hundred acres. He raised a general line of garden truck, and also devoted considerable time to stock-raising; he also erected a number of buildings on the farm. He was a prominent member of the Masonic order. He married Miss Eunice Wright, daughter of Solomon and Eunice (Juette) Wright, the former being a prosperous farmer of Pownal. Mrs. Gardner was born in Pownal, and was the mother of five children, one of whom is Lodieska, who resides in Pownal with our subject. David Gardner died at the age of eighty years, and his wife passed away when she had attained the age of seventy years.

Samuel J. Gardner, father of Abraham Brook- ins Gardner, was born on the old homestead in the town of Pownal, Vermont, where he was reared, and acquired his education in the common schools. Later in life he pursued the occupation of farm- ing, and, being an energetic and industrious man, he met with a marked degree of success in this undertaking. In politics he was an ardent sup- porter of the principles of the Republican party, and served the town in the capacity of lister, rep- resentative to the state legislature and judge of the county court. He married Miss Jennette Merchant, who was born in Pownal, Vermont, daughter of the late H. O. Merchant, who was a prominent farmer of Pownal. Mr. Gardner died in the year 1900, at the age of seventy-six years, and his wife, -- who was the mother of three sons, Abraham, Marcus M., a resident of Bloomington, and John W., an agriculturist of the town of Pownal,-died at the age of sixty-nine years.

Abraham Brookins Gardner, eldest son of

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Samuel J. and Jennette Gardner, was born at Pownal, Vermont, January 6, 1858. After ob- taining an excellent education in the Bennington public schools, he assisted his father in the man- agement of the work of the farm, until he at- tained his twenty-second year, when he pur- chased an estate of his own, and by dint of per- severance, determination and good management, he is now the owner of one of the best cultivated farms in this section of the country. In 1886 Mr. Gardner was honored by his townsmen by being chosen to represent the town in the state legisla- ture, an office which he creditably filled for one term, and he also served in the senate in 1896. He has also held various town offices. He is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, and is also a consistent member of the Baptist church of Pownal, Vermont.

On October 21, 1880, Mr. Gardner was united in marriage to Miss Audria M. Bates, daughter of Daniel F. and Harriet E. Bates. Their five children are : Florence A., Daniel F., Jennette M., Lodieska A. and A. B. Gardner, Jr.

ALLEN LEE GRAVES.

Allen Lee Graves, of Manchester Center, an energetic and progressive business man, is con- spicuously identified with the business interests of this town, being a successful merchant, opera- tor of the Vail Light and Lumber Company, and president of the Factory Point National Bank. He was born May 31, 1845, in Rupert, Vermont, a son of the late Francis Graves.

He is a descendant, nine generations removed, of John Graves, who came to America at a very early period and settled in Concord, Massachu- setts. Nathan Graves, the grandfather of Allen L., was a native of Berkshire county, Massa- chusetts, but when a young man migrated to Ver- mont, locating in Rupert, where he took up a tract of forest-covered land, and with true pioneer grit and persistency, cleared and improved a homestead, on which he lived until his death at the age of eighty-nine years. His first wife, whose maiden name was Polly Kinney, spent her brief life in Rupert, dying at an early age ; of the two children born of their union, neither is now living. He then married Salome Stoddard, by whom he had two children: Mary J., wife of

Timothy Dwight Smith, of Rupert; and Nathan F., who is superintendent of the Shade Roller Company, at Vergennes, Vermont. Nathan Graves and his wife were members of the Congre- gational church, and he was actively interested in local church work.

Francis Graves, the son of Nathan, was reared and educated in Rupert, living there until 1868, when he purchased a farm in Warsaw, Wyoming county, New York, where he was engaged in agri- cultural pursuits until his death in 1888. H mar- ried Esther A. Bowe, daughter of Amos Bowe, of Wells, Vermont. Mr. Bowe was a wheel- wright by trade, and a mechanic of unusual skill, and the kit of tools which he used is now in the possession of his grandson, Allen L. Graves, who prizes them very highly, as he does the spinning wheel and flax wheel which his grandmother for- merly used. Of the union of Amos and Rebecca Bowe, several children were born, as follows: Titus; Abner; Obadiah, who as compositor worked at the case with Horace Greeley, at East Poultney, Vermont, subsequently serving as proof reader, and eventually upon the editorial staff of the New York Sun; Betsey, who mar- ried a Mr. Frye, of Frankfort, New York; Vilas M .; and Esther A., who married Francis Graves. Mr. and Mrs. Francis Graves became the parents of three children: Emma C., wife of Francis Morley, resides in Kern, California; Allen L .; and Julia E., wife of the late Duane Bailey, of Ru- pert, Vermont. The mother early became a mem- ber of the Methodist church and retained that church connection up to the time of her death, at the age of forty years.

Allen Lee Graves was educated in the common and select schools of Rupert, and at the Burr and Burton Seminary in Manchester, working in the meanwhile on the home farm, when not in school, either as pupil or teacher. Starting in life on his own account in 1865, he was in the employ of Cone & Burton, general merchants, until 1869, when he became junior partner of the firm of Burton & Company, at Manchester Center, in that position managing the store for twenty-five years. On the death of Mr. Burton in 1894, Mr. Graves purchased the entire business, which he has since conducted in his own name. He has the largest establishment of the kind in town, em- ploys three clerks, and carries a complete stock

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of ourgal merchandise, including dry goods, gro with hours and shows, he endeavors to keep on haand everything demanded by the country trade. has been connected with the Factory Point Na nonal Bank since its organization in 1883. serv ing first as vice president and since 1888 as its president. He is also chairman of the executive committee of the Mark Skinner Library, and a trustee of the Dellwood cemetery, and of the Burr and Burton Seminary. He has served as town auditor, and in the session of 1900 and 1901 was state senator. He is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Congregational church.

On November 20, 1870, Mr. Graves married Mary E. Hemenway, of Bridgeport, Connecticut. daughter of Jonas and Freelove (Wright) Hem- enway: she died January 8, 1893. Mr. Graves married, June 27, 1895, Delia C. Smith, daughter of Egbert B. and Ann (Sykes) Smith, who reside in Manchester, the former being a farmer and stock grower. Mr. Graves has two daughters, Esther S. and Edna A. Graves.

ALBERT B. CHANDLER.

Albert Brown Chandler, who is now con- spicuously identified with industrial and financial affairs in the national metropolis, is a native of Orange county, Vermont, having been born near the village of West Randolph, on the 20th of August, 1840, the youngest of the thirteen chil- dren of William Brown Chandler, who represent- ed distinguished New England ancestry, tracing his descent in direct line from William Chand- ler, who emigrated to America from England in 1637, settling in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Through his three sons, William, Thomas and John, came the three New England branches of the family, in which were found a number of men of distinction during the colonial epoch, while in later generations the honors of the name have been eminently upheld by men prominent in the civil, naval, military and public service of the country, among the number being Brigadier General John Chandler, long representing the state of Maine in the United States senate ; Rear Admiral Ralph Chandler, of the United States navy; Seth C. Chandler, the distinguished as- tronomer ; William E. Chandler, United States

senator from New Hampshire, and secretary of the navy : and Zachariah ( handler, United States senator from the state of Michigan. In a col- lateral line our subject is also a descendant of John Winthrop, the hist governor of the Massa- chusetts colony, and the relationship continues to the second John Winthrop, the founder of New London, Connecticut, and the first governor of that colony. William Brown Chandler was de- scended from John, the third son of William Chandler, the original American progenitor. Of William Brown Chandler another writer has spoken as follows: "He was esteemed as a man of principle and high Christian character, shown in many ways during his long life of nearly ninety years." The maiden name of his wife was Electa Owen, who "was respected for her rare intellec- tual endowments and beloved for her amiable and womanly traits of character." These parents were natives of Connecticut and New Hampshire, respectively, but they passed their entire lives after marriage in their Vermont home, having reared to maturity eight sons and four daugh- ters, of whom but two of the former and one of the latter are living at the present time.

The youngest of the family, Albert B. Chand- ler, received his preliminary educational discipline in the common schools and academy of his native town, and in his youth he devoted his attention for a time to the trade of printer, working as a compositor in printing offices in Randolph and Montpelier during his school vacations. Finally, however, his efforts were directed along that line which eventually led him to a position of high relative distinction in connection with affairs of wide scope and importance. He began to learn the art of telegraphy in the office of the Vermont & Boston Telegraph Company at Randolph, this having been one of the first companies organized to make practical use of the great invention of Professor Morse. In the summer of 1858 he went to Cleveland, Ohio, and from that time until the present his career has been consecutively identified with the great telegraph interests of the country. In October of the year mentioned he was appointed manager of the office of the West- ern Union Telegraph Company at Bellaire, Ohio, and in February of the following year was ad- vanced to a position in the office of the superin- tendent of the Cleveland & Pittsburg Railway,

Albert Behandler

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in the city of Pittsburg. On the Ist of June, 1863, Mr. Chandler entered the United States military telegraph service, as cipher operator in the war department in the federal capital, and in October of that year, while continuing his duties in the capacity noted, he was appointed disburs- ing clerk for General Thomas T. Eckert, superin- tendent of the United States military telegraph, department of the Potomac. In these positions it was his good fortune to become personally acquainted with President Lincoln, Secretary Stanton and many prominent government and military officials. In August, 1866, Mr. Chandler removed to New York city, to accept the posi- tion of chief clerk in the office of the general superintendent of the eastern division of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and he was also placed in charge of the trans-Atlantic cable traffic, which had been established only a short time previously. He was appointed a district superintendent of the Western Union Company in 1869, continuing until January, 1875, when he was appointed assistant general manager of the Atlantic & Pacific Telegraph Company, of which he later became successively secretary, treasurer, director, vice president and president. He was thus the chief executive of the company during the last three years of its existence, and until it was merged in the Western Union Company, in 1882. He was subsequently made president of the Fuller Electrical Company, which was among the first to develop the system of arc lighting. In 1884 he became counsel for the Postal Tele- graph Company, of which he later became re- ceiver. Upon the reorganization of the com- pany in 1886, Mr. Chandler was elected its presi- dent, and as such he assumed the general man- agement of the affairs of the company and also of the United Lines Telegraph Company, whose interests later became merged in those of the Postal Company. He was president of the Pos- tal Telegraph Cable Company for fifteen years after its organization, which, under his able con- trol and management, expanded vastly in extent and importance, now practically dividing with the Western Union the great bulk of the wonder- ful telegraph business of the country. He is a vice president of the Commercial Cable Company, is a member of the directorate of the Pacific

Postal Telegraph Company, and is also vice pres- ident and general manager of the New York Quotation Company, which, chiefly through his efforts, came into control of the New York Stock Exchange in 1890, and which is employed by that institution for the distribution of its quota- tions among its members. It has been well said that "To his wisdom and sound judgment in conducting negotiations with rival, connecting and other companies and business establishments, the public largely owes the cheapness as well as efficiency of the telegraph service in America, which has reached a development far more than realizing the most sanguine anticipations of Pro- fessor Morse and the pioneers of the telegraph."

"After forty-four years of active service, Mr. Chandler felt that a release from his heavy re- sponsibilities was reasonable and right, and he therefore tendered his resignation of the position of president of the Postal Telegraph Cable Com- pany, giving as his reason his need of rest, and also carrying out the view he had long enter- tained and often expressed, that when a man has achieved a reasonable, even though moderate, success, and has reached the age of three-score years, the comparatively brief remainder of his life should be occupied with other pursuits than the constant care of burdensome business. And having cultivated other agreeable and useful em- ployments during his active business life, he was quite ready and anxious to act upon this view of his duty and privilege. But while accepting his resignation as president, he was made chairman of the board of directors, which position he now holds. While relieved of the burden of all de- tails and much of his previous responsibility, he is still the wise counsellor to whom many mat- ters of importance are referred."

Mr. Chandler was chairman of the committee which had in charge the erection of the magnifi- cent building of the Postal Telegraph Company, in Broadway, New York, and the site of the structure was selected and secured by him. In 1897-98-99. he was president of the Sprague Elec- tric Company, extensive manufacturers of elec- trical machinery, motors, railway controlling ap- paratus and elevators. The elevator branch of this company's business was transferred to the Otis Elevator Company in 1898, mainly through

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Mr. Chandler's eforts, and he then became, and has ever since been a member of the board of di- rectors of the Otis Company.

In thus noting in a brief was the varied and important interests which have felt the influence and controlling hand of Mr. Chandler, it becomes evident that he is a man of great business and administrative capacity, and his powers of con- centration and facility in the directing of innu- merable details are almost phenomenal, since he at all times seems equal to meeting all contin- gencies and to handling an amount of business which would be supposed naturally to demand the interposition of three or more able executives. He has been most conspicuously identified with the history of the electric telegraph in America and in the development of electrical industries which have proved of inestimable value, and his name will ever have prestige in this connection. Another review of his career speaks as follows : "Mr. Chandler has been particularly fortunate in his personal acquaintance with Professors Morse, Varley, Lord Kelvin, Edison, Sprague, and many others of the famous inventors of tele- graphic and electric appliances, and also with nearly all the prominent pioneers, capitalists and business managers who have brought these in- ventions into usefulness. He is a man of re- markable executive ability, of high intelligence, and of fine spirit, courteous, unostentatious, sim- ple in his tastes, a lover of literature and music, a thorough and distinctive gentleman." Mr. Chandler has a fine residence in the city of Brooklyn. and his love for his old home and birthplace has never abated in the midst of the thronging cares and responsibilities of an ex- ceptionally active and exacting business life, and in West Randolph he has a most attractive sum- mer home, while his public spirit and his inter- est in the town are shown in many beneficent ways. In politics he gives his allegiance to the Republican party, and that he maintains a close identification with his native state is shown in the fact that he served as aide-de-camp with the rank of colonel on the staffs of both Governor Woodbury and Governor Grout, of Vermont, and served as president of the Brooklyn Society of Vermonters for two terms, declining further re- election.

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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 58

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