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 66
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CHARLES R. JAMASON.
Charles R. Jamason, a well known publisher and editor of White River Junction, Vermont, was born fifty years ago at Lowell, Massachus- etts, and, until reaching the age of ten years, was reared by an uncle. During the winters he attended 'the public and high schools, and fin- ished his technical education while residing at Granby, province of Quebec. He went from Can- ada to St. Albans, Vermont, where he was em- ployed as a typesetter in the office of the St. Al- bans Daily Messenger, having learned the trade during his residence in the province of Quebec. Limited as had been his opportunities for attend- ing school, Mr. Jamason had energetically and efficiently supplemented them by his own earnest endeavors in the sphere of mental culture, thus receiving an intellectual training and discipline not always to be gained in the schools. From St. Albans he removed to Poultney, Vermont, where he continued to work at his trade, and in the course of time became one of the proprietors of the Poultney Bulletin. Later he was engaged in
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newspaper work in Rutland, and at Manchester, whence he went to Morrisville, thence to North Troy, and in that place became one of the. pub- lishers of the North Troy Palladium. Some time afterward he lived for three years at Swanton, where he published the Sentry, which he moved to St. Albans. In 1887 he sold this journal, and removed to White River Junction and took a po- sition on his present paper, and after eleven months purchased that paper, since which time he has been publisher and editor of the Landmark, a Republican organ, devoted to local interests, and taking an active and aggressive part in local and political questions. In connection with his busi- ness as editor and publisher he also conducts a well equipped job printing department.
Mr. Jamason has been solicited to accept of- fice, but has repeatedly refused, believing that he can better fulfill his mission as a citizen by giv- ing his best energies to his work as a journalist. He is a member of United Brethren Lodge No. 21, F. and A. M., Cascadnac Chapter No. 27, R. A. M., Windsor Council No. 8, R. & S. M., and Vermont Commandery No. 4, K. T., at Wind- sor, Vermont. He also belongs to Mount Sinai Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and Wenona Chap- ter No. 43, O. E. S. Mr. Jamason married Laura M. Cole, of Morrisville. Their family consists of three children : Charles H., Karl R. and Harry E.
WILLIAM EDWARD JOHNSON.
The name of William E. Johnson has long been actively and honorably associated with the practice of law in Woodstock, Vermont, where he was born June 26, 1841, a grandson of Eliakim H. Johnson, who was born at Wallingford, Con- necticut, where he obtained a practical education in the common schools; later he located in Wal- lingford, Vermont, where he was successfully en- gaged in agricultural pursuits for many years, and subsequently he settled in Woodstock, where his death occurred. He was united in marriage to Mary Dennison, and the following named chil- dren were born to them: Eliakim, Edward, Will- iam, Mary, Lucretia and Jane, all of whom are now deceased.
Eliakim, father of William E. Johnson, was born in Wallingford, Vermont, October 9, 1805,
and his educational advantages were acquired in the district school. Later he removed to Wood- stock, Vermont, and engaged in the mercantile trade : for thirty years he acted in the capacity of cashier of the Woodstock National Bank, be- ing also a member of the board of trustees, and for a short period of time he served as treasurer of the Ottauqueechee Savings Bank. In politics he was formerly a Whig, later a Republican, and was chosen by his fellow townsmen to represent them in the legislature. He also held various other local offices. Mr. Johnson was married twice, his first wife having been Emeline Rob- inson, and their children were: George E., de- ceased, who married Mrs. Elizabeth Hilliard and resided in Boston; Jane M., deceased, was the wife of Dr. Morton, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, now deceased, and they had one child, Johnson Morton, a resident of Boston ; Henry C., deceased, married Mary Cushing, and they had three chil- dren, one of whom died in infancy, one died in early life, and the third is Henry B., a lawyer, in New York city.
Mr. Johnson's second wife was Harriet Au- gusta Collamer, a daughter of the ex-United States senator and judge of the supreme court, Jacob Collamer, who was born in Troy, New York, January 8, 1791, a descendant of Peter Collamer, who was included in the list of those liable to the duty of bearing arms in defence of the Massachusetts colony in 1643; having no chil- dren of his own he sent to England for his nephew, Captain Anthony Collamer, and made that gentleman his heir. Captain Collamer mar- ried Sarah, one of the twin daughters of Isaac Chittenden, in 1666, and they had a family of six children; while on a coasting voyage from North River to Boston, he was wrecked on Scituate beach, and lost his life December 16, 1693, and the place of the disaster is now known as Collamer's Ledge. His son Peter Collamer, born in 1671, married Abigail Davis, of Rox- bury, November 8, 1694, and nine children were born to them. One of these, named Anthony, born June 10, 1699, married Susanna Oakman, of Marshfield, in 1731, by whom he had four chil- dren. His eldest son Anthony was born July 4, 1735, married Mercy Barker, December 13. 1758, and removed to New York in 1778. Of his chil- dren, Samuel was born July 18, 1765, married
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Ehzabeth Van Oommmm in July, 1789, and Jacob Collines was one of the children born to them. Soon after his graduation from college, at the cathy age of fifteen years, he entered upon the Study of law at St. Albans and was admitted to the bar m 1813. He also served during the war of 1812 is lieutenant of artillery in the frontier cam- paign. After his admission to the bar Lieutenant Collamer opened a law office in Randolph Cen- ter, but later removed to Royalton, where he re- mained until April, 1836, when he removed to Woodstock. In the earlier years of professional life he held the office of register of probate; four times he represented the citizens of Royalton in the legislature of Vermont, and he was also state's attorney for the county of Windsor. In January, 1836, he was a member of the constitutional con- vention ; was one of the assistant judges of the supreme court ; was elected a representative to Congress in November, 1843, and served three times. In 1849 Judge Collamer was appointed to the portfolio of postmaster general in General Taylor's cabinet, and upon his return home was elected circuit judge by the legislature of Ver- mont. In October, 1854, he was elected United States senator, and in 1860 was again elected for another term of six years, which continued until November 9, 1865.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were : William Edward; Elizabeth C. became the wife of Solomon Erskine Woodward, and after his death married Charles J. Ives, a resi- dent of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Louise Lucretia married Charles J. Mckenzie, deceased, who was engaged in the woolen manufacture business at Franklin, Massachusetts; Mrs. Mckenzie died in 1902. Mr. Johnson's death occurred October 19, 1870, at the age of sixty-seven years.
William E. Johnson, son of Eliakim and Har- riet A. Johnson, acquired his preliminary educa- tion in the public schools of Woodstock, was then a student at Kimball Union Academy at Meriden, New Hampshire, from which he was graduated in 1858, and he then completed his course in Dartmouth College, from which institution he was graduated in 1862. He then took up the study of law in the office of the late ex-Governor Peter T. Washburn and Charles P. Marsh, at Woodstock, which was known as the celebrated firm of Washburn and Marsh, and admitted to
the bar in the May term of 1865. For two years he was associated with Warren C. French at Woodstock, after which he established an office on his own account, and has since conducted a general practice. His reputation as a lawyer has been won through carnest, honest labor, and hu- standing at the bar is a merited tribute to his professional ability.
Mr. Johnson is a director of the Woodstock National Bank, and for the past ten years has served as president of the same; he is a director of the Woodstock Railroad Company. He has been a member of the Bar Association for many years, a member of the National Bar Association, a vice president of the Vermont State Bar Asso- ciation, having been offered the presidency. In politics he is a Republican, was state's attorney in 1872 and 1874, and was chosen senator from Windsor county in 1888, and has also served as delegate to the state local conventions. On Au- gust 20, 1866, Mr. Johnson was united in mar- riage to Miss Elizabeth M. Hatch, a daughter of Philo Hatch, of Woodstock, where he was en- gaged as a trader and speculator. One child has been born to them, Margaret L. Johnson.
ARMENTUS B. BIXBY, M. D.
Dr. Armentus Boyden Bixby, of Poultney, Vermont, comes from an ancient and honorable New England family. The ancestry is Danish and the name is found in Boxford and Ipswich, Suffolk county, England. The family name is derived from the words "box," the box tree, and "by," the house or town by the box trees.
The first of the name in America seems to have been Nathaniel Bixby, who came with a colony to Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1636, and who appears as a householder in the following year. His son Joseph was born in England about 1625, and died in Boxford, Massachusetts, in 1700. He was one of the incorporators of the town of Boxford, which, through his influence, was given the name of his native village in Eng- land. He filled various town offices, and was chosen to run the boundary lines between Box- ford and adjoining towns. He married, in 1647, Sarah (Wyatt) Heard, a widow, who was a native of the same county in England with him- self.
Armendie B. Bixby M.D.
,
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Their son Daniel, born in 1651, in Ipswich, and died in 1717 in Andover, married Hannah, daughter of Captain Thomas and Hannah (Brewer) Chandler. David, son of the parents last named, born in Andover, February 15, 1688, died in Andover; he married Abigail, daughter of Joseph and Lydia (Ballard) Butterfield, of Westford. Their son Asa, born February 24, 1735, in Westford, where he died in 1809, was a Revolutionary war soldier, a private in Captain Joshua Parker's Company, Colonel Robinson's Regiment, August 1, 1777 ; he married Susanna Howard. Their son, Joseph, born May 19, 1766, in Westford, and died April 26, 1839, in Mt. Holly, Vermont, married Molly, daughter of Jon- athan and Elizabeth (Sawtell) Boyden, of Gro- ton, Massachusetts.
Armentus William, son of Joseph and Molly (Boyden) Bixby, was born June 17, 1804, in Mt. Holly, Vermont, and died September 12, 1841, in Shellersville, Ohio. He married, in 1827, Hannah Maria Stoddard, born in Clare- mont, New Hampshire, November 27, 1804, and died in Shellersville, Ohio, September 13, 1841 ; She was the daughter of Amos and Catherine (Tallman) Stoddard. Amos Stoddard was a lin- eal descendant of Anthony Stoddard, who came from England to Boston in 1639, and his remote ancestor was that Sir William Stoddard who came from Normandy to England in 1066, with his cousin, William the Conqueror.
Armentus Boyden Bixby, son of Armentus William and Hannah (Stoddard) Bixby, was born in Mt. Holly, Vermont, June 26, 1834. While he was still an infant his parents moved to Shel- lersville, Ohio, where both of them died, leaving him an orphan at the age of seven years. He returned to Vermont and obtained his support by labor upon the farm during the summer, while devoting his winters to attendance at the district schools. At the age of nineteen he decided to educate himself as a physician. Commencing his preparatory studies at Black River Academy, Ludlow, and Kimball Union Academy, of Meri- den, New Hampshire, he entered Castleton Med- ical College, from which he graduated in 1858, completing his course at the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons in New York. He began his professional labors at Londonderry in 1860, and built up a large and extensive practice in that and
adjoining towns. Obeying the call of duty, he offered his services to the government and was made assistant surgeon of the Fourth Regiment, Vermont Volunteers, continuing in the army from October 6, 1862, to September 30, 1864, when he returned to his former labors. In 1882 he was compelled to abandon his practice on account of ill health, and removed to Poultney, where he now resides.
In religion Dr. Bixby is a liberal Baptist. He has always been an active worker in the church, but his labors have never been character- ized by narrow sectarianism. For some years he was a licensed preacher in the Methodist church and labored as a revivalist with marked success. During the agitation of the slavery question he was a strong opponent of that institution, and acted with the Republican party until 1884, when he withdrew and became an active Prohibitionist. He was a member of their state committee for a number of years and chairman of the state con- vention of 1888. He was sent as a delegate to the national convention which nominated Clinton D. Fisk for the presidential chair. His eminent qualifications for official position were demon- strated by the fact that he was the choice of his constituents for the position of state treasurer in 1888, and his popularity was evinced by his running ahead of his ticket. He also received the nomination for the position of judge of pro- bate for Rutland county in 1892. In the presi- dential campaign in 1888 he took the platform and advocated the principles of his party in nearly all parts of the state, speaking eloquently and effectively.
Dr. Bixby was married March 17, 1857, to Annie, daughter of Luther and Polly (Hemmen- way) French, of Mt. Holly, who died June 10, 1860, leaving one daughter, Lola Ann. He mar- ried for his second wife, October 9, 1862, El- nora E., daughter of Lewis and Mary (Aiken) Howard, of Londonderry. One daughter has blessed the union, Salome Eliza.
Dr. Bixby is pre-eminently a self-made man, who, left an orphan in early childhood, yet strug- gled successfully to educate himself, and by un- aided efforts, attained an honored position in the community. Independent in idea and action, he is respected by all who know him for the probity of his life and character, and has always proved
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himself a firm friend to those in adversity, and a kind and considerate neighbor; of him it can be truly said in the words of Sir Henry Walton, "his armor is his honest thought, and simple truth his highest skill."
BARNEY CANNON.
Barney Cannon, the popular postmaster of Bellows Falls, Vermont, was born at Montreal, Canada, January 25, 1847, a son of Barney and Anna (Bonner) Cannon, the latter named being a
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BARNEY CANNON.
native of Scotland, and after her marriage she removed with her husband to Montreal; later they removed to Ludlow, Windsor county, Ver- mont, where they resided for the balance of their lives. Mr. Barney Cannon, Sr., was employed for many years as section foreman on the Rut- land Railroad of Vermont ; subsequently he was engaged in the ocupation of farming, meeting with a marked degree of success.
The boyhood of Barney Cannon, Jr., was spent
in Windham, Windsor and Rutland counties, Vermont, where he received his education in the district schools. On September 30, 1861, when he was only fourteen years and eight months old, he enlisted as a private in Company C, Sixth Vermont Regiment, from Mt. Holly, Ver- mont, under the command of Colonel Nathan Lord. This was one of the three-year regi- ments of the famous Old Vermont Brigade. His company went to Washington, D. C., and entered into their winter quarters at Camp Griffin. Young Cannon received his baptism by fire at Lee's Mills, where his company had five men killed and nineteen wounded; he participated in thirty-seven engagements, the principal ones be- ing: Warwick Creek, Virginia; Lee's Mills ; Williamsburg; Golding's Farm, January 27 and 28; Savage Station; White Oak Swamp; Crampton's Gap; Fredericksburg; St. Mary's Heights ; Banks' Ford; Gettysburg; Yorktown; Gainsville; Rappahannock Station; Wilderness ; Spottsylvania; Cold Harbor; Petersburg; Wel- don Railroad; Ream's Station; Fort Stev- ens; Charleston, West Virginia; Opequan, Virginia; Winchester; Fisher's Hill; Cedar Creek and Sailor's Creek. Through his brave action on the field of battle he was rapidly promoted from private to sergeant major of the regiment; he was given the rank of corporal February 30, 1862, sergeant in October, 1864, sergeant major May 12, 1865, and he served as acting adjutant under the appointment of Colonel Lincoln in 1865, and he was honorably discharged July 6, 1865, after serving a term of nearly four years for his country. His regiment was equal to that of any regiment from Ver- mont ; they stood by their colors while in action, and it is further credited to the state of Vermont that at the close of the war there had been one thousand, five hundred and thirteen men enlisted under all calls.
In 1866 Mr. Cannon removed to Bellows Falls, Vermont, where for two years he pur- sued his trade of carriage, sign and ornamental painter; he then located in Brattleboro, where he engaged in the same business until De- cember, 1876, when he' returned to Bellows Falls and continued working at his trade until he was appointed postmaster of the town in 1890. During his incumbency of the office
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many important improvements have been in- augurated, the most notable one being the free delivery system to rural localities, which was obtained November 1, 1899. Mr. Cannon acted in the capacity of superintendent of the erection of the new high school building. Mr. Cannon held the position of postmaster four years and four months, but was again reap- pointed to fill the same position January 1, 1899.
Mr. Cannon's career in the Grand Army of the Republic has been most notable. He joined Sedgwick Post in Brattleboro in 1868, of which he was for two years adjutant, and two years he served as commander. He was largely instrumental in reorganizing E. H. Stoughton Post No. 34, in July, 1880, of which he acted for six years as adjutant and for three years as commander. He also acted in the capacity of aide-de-camp of Grand Commander Ray in 1889, was adjutant general of the department of Vermont in 1892 and in 1895 he was the de- partment commander. He is also a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias, and in his politics he is a firm adherent of the principles of the Republican party.
Mr. Cannon was united in marriage Septem- ber 17, 1871, at Bellows Falls, Vermont, to Miss Rosa A. Corbally. One child has been born to them : Alice B., who is now the wife of Charles T. Grout, of Newport, Vermont, by whom she has two children, William W. and Rosanna Augusta Grout.
H. C. WHITE.
H. C. White, of North Bennington, widely known as a manufacturer of lenses and stereo- scopes, is a son of John and Clarissa (Castle) White, and was born in North Bennington, De- cember 25, 1847. After receiving his education in the public schools of his native town, he moved, at the age of twenty-one years, to the city of New York, where he entered into partnership with B. G. Surdam for the manufacture of stereo- scopes and lenses. There he remained four years, and after acquiring the necessary skill he re- turned to his native town, where he started a similar line of business. In 1877 he removed to his present location, where he had erected a large plant, and successfully carried on the business of
manufacturing lenses, writing desks and stereo- scopes. In 1886 his entire establishment was de- stroyed by fire, but he immediately erected a larger plant, and he has ever since enjoyed an uninterrupted career of prosperity. He has in- vented several improvements in stereoscopes, which he patented, gaining a monopoly of the stereoscopic business. In 1898 the making of stereoscopic views was added to the business of the H. C. White Company, and Mr. White and his three sons, Messrs. Harry C., Clarence W. and L. Ray White, all of whom are photographic artists, in conjunction with other men employed for the same service, have traveled all over the world in securing interesting and instructive pho- tographic views for stereoscopic purpose, and so well directed have their efforts been that the work of the firm has obtained recognition throughout the world, both for the comprehensiveness of their collection of views as well as the artistic merit, and the result has been that the making of these views is now the significant feature of the busi- ness, necessitating the enlargement of the plant and the increase of the force of employes.
Mr. White was united in marriage with Mar- rie L., daughter of William Watson, of Brook- lyn, New York, and they have had six children.
HON. HOMER CHARLES ROYCE.
The Hon. Homer Charles Royce, of St. Al- bans, Vermont, belongs to a family which for nearly a century and a half has been a potent factor in the growth and development of the Green Mountain state. Stephen Royce, the earli- est historic forefather of this branch of the fam- ily, emigrated from Cornwall, Connecticut, to Tinmouth, Vermont, in 1774, and was one of the delegates from that town to the convention as- sembled at Cephas Kent's in Dorset, July, 1774, which declared Vermont to be a free and inde- pendent state. During the Revolutionary war he served in the American army with the rank of major.
Stephen Royce, Jr., son of Major Stephen Royce, was born July 8, 1764, in Cornwall, Con- necticut. He also rendered excellent service to his country in the Revolutionary army, which he entered at an early age, and in which he contin- ued for a period not definitely ascertained. Re-'
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siding in Tinmouth until 1791, he removed with his family in that year to the new town of Berk- shire. in Franklin county, where, in 1792, he commenced to hew a farm out of the wilderness. Only two clearings preceded his, and in 1799 he constructed the first frame dwelling that was raused in the town, and made it his home until the close of his useful career. To Stephen Royce the municipal organization of the town of Berk- shire in 1704 is mainly attributable, and, very fit- tingly. he was the first representative of its citi- zens to the general assembly in the same year. In following years he was frequently re-elected, and was, all his life, among the conspicuous cit- izens of Vermont. He married, December 8, 1785, Minerva, daughter of Ebenezer Marvin, of Tinmouth, who had been an officer in the con- tinental army, and was a member of the first council of censors, which assembled in 1785. He was also chief judge of the county courts for the counties of Rutland, Chittenden and Franklin. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Royce three sons and three daughters reached maturity. He himself died July 13, 1833.
Stephen Royce, son of Stephen and Minerva (Marvin) Royce, was born August 12, 1787, in Tinmouth, and at the age of four years was taken by his parents to the town of Berkshire, where there were at the time only two other families. His early education was received in the grammar schools of Addison county, and later he became a student in Middlebury College, from which he graduated in the class of 1807, being one of seven, some of whom attained to eminence. Twice was he interrupted in his academical and collegiate course by the necessity of returning to the farm to work, and made his journey back to college on foot, with packages of furs secured in the wilder- ness, from which he obtained the money for the purchase of necessary books. After graduating at the age of twenty, he taught school for one year, and then studied law in the office of his ma- ternal uncle, Ebenezer Marvin, Jr., with whom he was afterward in partnership for a few years. He was admitted to the Franklin county bar, and first practiced at East Berkshire, where he re- mained two years, then for six years was at Shel- don, and in 1817 went to St. Albans, where he pursued his profession with ever increasing suc- cess until he was called to the bench. In 1815
and 1816 he represented the town of Sheldon in the state legislature, and in 1822-23-24, that of St. Albans, acting as a delegate to the state con- stitutional convention in 1822. During the years 1816 and 1817 he was state's attorney of Frank- lin county, and in the former year was a member of the legislative committee that made a strong report in favor of adopting the constitutional amendment proposed by North Carolina for choosing both presidential electors and congress- men by the district system. In 1825 he was elected one of the associate judges of the supreme court of Vermont, and the following year was re- elected. He was again elected in 1827, but, for personal and domestic reasons, declined to serve. In 1829 he was again placed on the bench of the supreme court of the state, and, by repeated re- elections, most of which were unanimous, was continued in office until 1852, thus giving twenty- three years of his life to judicial service, a term equalled only by that of the Hon. Jonathan Ross. In 1833 he left St. Albans, and again took up his residence in East Berkshire, which was his home for the remainder of his life.
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