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 72
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Dr. Frederick Rubert Stoddard. eldest son of Charles Carroll and Lucia Stoddard, was born in Westfield, Orelans county, Vermont. December 16, 1855: He acquired his early education in the Johnson Normal School and later was a student in the University of Vermont, from which he was graduated in 1882. Desirous of becoming a mem- ber of the medical fraternity, he first entered the office of Dr. Joel Allen, of Johnson, with whom he studied medicine, and later he pursued a course of study with Dr. Harrison W. Blackstone, of North Troy, Vermont. On December 12, 1882, he located in Shelburne, where he commenced the practice of his profession, and for the past twenty years has enjoyed a liberal and select patronage, which his skill and ability as a physician and sur- geon entitle him to.
Dr. Stoddard is a prominent member of the American Medical Association, the Vermont State Medical Society, of which he has served as pres- ident, the Burlington Clinical Society, and he is also a member of the United States pension exam- ining board, for which he acts in the capacity of secretary. He has held the office of superintend- ent of schools for the past eighteen years. Dr. Stoddard is prominently identified with the Ma-
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some atdet, has attained to the thirty second de- gred in the Scottish Rite, and belongs to Mit. Smaj temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Shelburne, Vermont.
On June 6, 1883, Dr. Stoddard married Miss Martha Kinsman, of Lowell, Massachusetts, a daughter of Hiram and Martha (Gilman) Kins- man, natives of New Hampshire. Four children have been born of this union : Lucia Ethel, born April 13. 1884: Martha Evelyn, July 4, 1887; Clara Alfredda, November 14, 1891; and Alice Lydia, November 29, 1901.
EDSON P. GILSON. 1
Edson P. Gibson, president of the Killington National Bank of Rutland, Vermont, was born at Reading, Windsor county, this state, October 5, 1839, a descendant of Thomas Gilson, who came to this country at the age of twenty-one, on the Alexander, which arrived May 2, 1635, and he was the first to establish the family in this country. He settled in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. His second son, Joseph Gilson, was one of the foun- ders of the town of Groton, Massachusetts, and one of the thirty "original proprietors" of the common lands of that town. The great-grand- father of Edson P. Gilson, John Gilson, Jr., was born in Groton, Massachusetts, May 12, 1726, and was united in marriage on January 19, 1764, to Prudence Lawrence, of Groton, who was a mem- ber of the fifth generation of descent from John Lawrence, of Watertown, Massachusetts, who was born at Wisset, England, in 1609. The grand- father of our subject, Abel Gilson, was a stur- dy old pioneer of the states of New Hampshire and Vermont, being formerly a resident of Rindge, New Hampshire, where his son, John Gilson, fa- ther of Edson P. Gilson, was born July 1, 1798. When a young boy he removed with his parents to Reading, Windsor county, Vermont. On March 31, 1831, he married Lucy Kneeland Stearns, and among their children was Edson P. Gilson.
His grandmother on his mother's side was Lucy Kneeland Stearns, born at Gardner, Mas- sachusetts, November 8, 1776, and died February 2, 1875, aged ninety-eight years and three months. She was a descendant, in direct line, of Alexan-
der Kneland Kilpendie, in Gowrie, Scotland. whe was born about the year 1225. He married Margaret Wallace, daughter of Adam Wallace. and annt of Sir William Wallace. "Alexander Kneland was the uncle to whom Wallace was in- debted for his carly education and love of liberty, and Scotland indebted for the inspiration of that love."
Edson P. Gilson was thrown upon his own resources at a very early age, and only had the advantage of a common school and academic education. However, at the age of nineteen he commenced teaching and for five years was thus engaged. In 1862 he accepted the position of bookkeeper in the Bank of Rutland. He retained this position for two years, after which he ac- cepted the cashiership of the First National Bank of Springfield, Vermont.
: In June, 1866, in company with Charles Clement and Farrand Parker, he purchased a large marble quarry property at West Rutland, Vermont, and continued in this line of trade for over twenty years. In the same year he also took up his residence in Rutland, where he has resided up to the present time (1903).
He has been connected with the Killington National Bank of Rutland ever since its organi- zation, first as vice president and later as presi- dent, filling the last position at the present time, and he is interested in various other local enter- . prises. For a long period he was justice of the peace of Rutland and trustee of the graded schools. He has been one of the trustees of the Vermont State Hospital for the Insane, is trustee and treasurer of the trustees of the Protestant Episcopal diocese of Vermont, and was for many years vestryman and warden of Trinity (Episco- pal) church. He has been twice elected as deputy to the general convention of the Protestant Epis- copal church. He is also trustee and treasurer of the Rutland Hospital, and was one of its foun- ders. He was one of a commission appointed to secure legislation for a charter of the city of Rut- land.
Mr. Gilson has been twice married; his first wife was Anna E. Clement, of Rutland, to whom he was married in June, 1865. On February I, 1877, he married his second wife Harriet E. Mor- gan, of New York city, who is a descendant in the eighth generation of James Morgan, born in
E. A. Gilsom
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Wales. in 1007, and arrived in Boston, Massa- chusetts, in April, 1636. He settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts and later removed to New Lon- don, Connecticut, in 1650. She is also a descend- ant in direct line, on her mother's side, of Edmund Greenleaf, who was born about the year 1600, in the parish of Brixham, county of Devonshire, England. In the year 1635 he came to America and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts.
Their children living are Robert Morgan, born January 20, 1878, educated in the Rutland schools and the Berkeley school of New York city. He was prepared for Yale College, but gave up this course at the breaking out of the Spanish-American war, and was commissioned as second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, June 9, 1898, at the age of twenty years. He was promoted to first lieutenant April 8, 1899, and was made captain July 23, 1900. He served in the Philippines for more than three years, ar- riving home July 1, 1902, and in August was or- dered to take charge of the recruiting station for the Marine Service at Boston, Massachusetts, where he is now serving.
John Lawrence, second son of Edson P. and Harriet E. Gilson, was born October 26, 1881, at- tended the public schools of Rutland and Berke- ley school, New York city, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston. He is now a student in Yale University, New Haven, Con- necticut.
BOWMAN BURNAP MARTIN.
Among the early settlers of the town of Marshfield, Vermont, no family was more prom- inent than that of the Martins, of whom Bowman Burnap Martin, an influential and highly re- spected citizen of Marshfield, and one frequently honored by his townsmen with official functions, is a representative in the present generation. This family is among those who enjoy the distinguished honor of tracing their descent from a soldier of the Revolution. Jesse Martin, great-grandfather of Bowman Burnap Martin, was one of those pa- triots privileged to take part in the battle of Bun- ker Hill. Nor were his privileges limited to the act of participating in the fight, but in that con- flict for freedom he received a wound which was to him, and is, in the memory of his descendants,
a prouder decoration than could have been be- stowed by the hand of any monarch. It was Mr. Martin's fortune to witness what was regarded by many as the crowning calamity of a day which, with all its disasters, was yet a moral triumph for the patriots,-the death of General Warren. The fall of this young martyr for freedom was one of the sights which made the most indelible impres- sion on the mind of Jesse Martin, and, we may well suppose, nerved him to yet greater efforts in the service of his country. In the autumn of 1800, Mr. Martin, with his wife Naomi Hopkins, six sons and one daughter, came from Francis- town, New Hampshire, to Montpelier, now East Montpelier, and in the following spring he settled on a farm on Maple Hill, in the town of Marsh- field, Washington county, Vermont. Here for many years he devoted himself to the pursuit of agriculture, but finally made his home in Plain- field, Vermont, where he died, November 3, 1832, at the age of eighty-one, leaving to his descend- ants, the memory of a life devoted to the service of his country, to the advancement of the com- munity in which he lived, and to the welfare of his family. His children were: James, William, Jesse, Allen, Mary, Ebenezer and Joshua B.
William Martin, second son of Jesse and Naomi (Hopkins) Martin, was born in Francis- town, New Hampshire, July 28, 1786, and was fifteen years old when his father settled in Marshfield, Vermont. He belonged to that class of men of which this country has furnished so many notable examples, the class styled "self- educated," but often, in the truest sense of the word, the best educated. While acquiring his education he assisted his father until he was twenty-one, and later settled on a farm about a mile above the village of Plainfield, in the town of Marshfieldd, Vermont. In the calling of a farmer he was very successful, the acres culivated by him being among the best in the town. At the age of eighteen, inheriting, no doubt, the military instincts of his father, he enlisted in a company of cavalry, was at once chosen an officer, and rose from one rank of the service to another until he reached that of colonel. When President Mon- roe visited Vermont, the company that escorted him into Montpelier was commanded by Mr. Mar- tin, who afterward dined with the president. Mr. Martin continued the military record of the family
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In serving in the war of 1812, and was present at the battle of Platsburg. Nor was he less active as a citizen than as a soldier, being prominent in lown affairs, holding various offices, serving as .socrate judge of Washington county for several years, and for thirteen years representing the down in the state legislature. Mr. Martin was a man of extremely genial nature and great cor- diality of manner. His hospitality was as spon- taneous in him as it was delightful to the recipent. Hle possessed great kindness of heart, which prompted him constantly to works of benevolence. He was for many years a member of the Congre- gational church at Plainfield, Vermont.
In 1800 Mr. Martin married Sabra Axtell, and their children were: Bowman Bishop, William, Jr., Amanda, Hiram, Edwin, Melinda and Curtis B. Mr. Martin was a man of a large frame, ro- bust constitution, and remarkable vigor and en- durance. He survived until the great age of ninety-three, dying in September, 1879.
Bowman Bishop Martin, eldest son of William and Sabra (Axtell) Martin, was born in the town of Plainfield, Vermont, November 12, 1810, and his education was received in the schools of that town. In his youth he was employed for a time in a store in Plainfield, but afterward settled on the farm in the town of Marshfield, Vermont, about three miles from Plainfield, where his son Bow- man Burnap Martin now lives. Here he led the life of a farmer for over sixty years, devoted to the pursuit of agriculture, but at the same time participating actively in the affairs of the com- munity. . He was an earnest advocate of the prin- ciples of the Republican party, and his townsmen manifested their confidence in him by sending him to represent them in the state legislature in 1861 and 1862, and also by calling upon him to serve them as constable, selectman and justice of the peace, each of which offices he held for a num- ber of years. He was a member of the Congre- gational church at Plainfield. Mr. Martin mar- ried, March 1, 1836, Catherine Davis Pratt, and their children were: Sabrina Lavinia, born in January, 1837; Corlinn Davis, born April 14, 1839: Arminda Pratt, born February 26, 1842; Ann Maranda, born June 3, 1844; May E., born December 26, 1849 ; Bowman Burnap, born Octo- ber 12, 1851; Catherine Elizabeth, born April 8, 1853: Sophia Leavitt, born June 16, 1855. Mr.
Martin's wife died November 3, 1886, and he sur- vived her more than ten years, dying May 31, 1897, at the advanced age of eighty-six, and leav- ing behind him the memory of a well spent life.
Bowman Burnap Martin, youngest son of Bowman Bishop and Catherine Davis (Pratt) Martin, was born on the farm where he now lives, in the town of Marshfield, Washington county, Vermont, October 12, 1851. After receiving his education at the district schools of his native town and at the seminary at Middlebury, Vermont, he remained on the farm with his father, and in the course of time succeeded him in the ownership of the homestead. Like his ancestors, Mr. Martin is an enterprising and thorough agriculturist, en- gaging both in general farming and in dairying, having a dairy of thirty cows. In politics he is a Republican, and maintains the family reputation for public spirit, having served his townsmen in the offices of selectman and road commissioner, and also represented them in the state legislature in 1896. In religious preference Mr. Martin is a Congregationalist. He is a member of Arcadia Lodge No. 53, I. O. O. F., of Plainfield, and of Mansfield Lodge No. 14, K. of P.
Mr. Martin married, March 1, 1879, Lavinia Sawyer Hall, daughter of Amasa J. and Mary (Davis) Hall, of Hardwick, Vermont, and has two children : Herbert Bowman, born March 12, 1881, who resides with his parents, having re- ceived his education at the district schools of Marshfield and the Montpelier Seminary of Mont- pelier, Vermont; and Effie Ella, born May 28, 1885. Mr. Martin, like his ancestors, is a man of influence, a citizen possessing the fullest esteem and confidence of his neighbors, as they have testified by calling him to official positions. His wife and daughter are members of the Marsh- field Grange, and lend grace and attractiveness to the social functions of the town in which they take a prominent part.
GEORGE MARTIN KING.
George Martin King, a prominent farmer and dairyman of Plainfield, Vermont, is descended from Asaph King, few details in regard to whom have come down to us, but who, its may reason- ably be inferred, was one of those sturdy pioneers who have been the progenitors of the great agri-
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asa D. Mathews
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cultural class which forms so large and influential an element in the state of Vermont. This first ancestor married, September 4, 1808, Pamelia Goodell, and their children were: Benjamin, born November 20, 1810; Polly, born December 12, 1812; Laure E., born June 18, 1815 ; Tamer, born August 19, 1818; Arza Warren, born November 4, 1820; Asaph, Jr., born March 20, 1823; and David, born May 19, 1826.
Arza Warren King, son of Asaph and Pamelia (Goodell) King, was born in the town of Wood- bury, Washington county, Vermont, November 4, 1820. His father removed to the town of Calais before Arza was old enough to begin his school life, if we may judge from the fact that the boy's education was received in the district schools of that town. In youth his inclination seems to have been for a commercial life, for we find that his first employment was in an auction store in Boston, Massachusetts. After remaining there a few years, he became a traveling salesman for the wholesale glassware house of F. O. Dewey, which position he held for eighteen years. At the end of that time he accepted a position in the same line with the firm of Batchelder & Com- pany, where he remained nine years. In 1876 he returned to the occupation of his ancestors, and settled on the farm where his son, George Martin King, now lives, in the town of Marsh- field, Vermont. Although a portion of his time, thenceforth, was devoted to farming, he still fol- lowed the business of a traveling salesman. While doing all in his power to advance the inter- ests of the Republican party of which he was a member, Mr. King was always averse to accept- ing office, preferring that his many efforts for the public good should be made in the character of a private citizen. In his church relations he was a consistent member of the Methodist church, and was steward in the church fifteen years, up to the time of his death. Mr. King married, August 25, 1850, Mary C. Flint. They had one child, Mary C., born December 22, 1851, whose birth was speedily followed by the death of her mother, who passed away, January 16, 1852, the daughter herself surviving only to the age of fifteen. Mr. King married, the second time, March 27, 1853, Martha Chapman, born February 28, 1827, daughter of Stephen and Lydia (Reed) Chapman. Their children were: George Martin, born
March 29, 1854; Alma Etta, born December 26, 1856, at Montpelier, Vermont, married Henry H. Martin, of Williamstown, Vermont, and died De- cember 24, 1886. Arza Warren King died De- cember 25, 1896. His wife survives him, and now lives with her son George.
George Martin King, son of Arza Warren and Martha (Chapman) King, was born in Williams- town, Vermont, March 29, 1854, and was edu- cated at the public schools of Marshfield, Plain- field village and Cabot. He lives on the farm purchased by his father in 1876, and in his chosen calling is extremely enterprising and successful, having a dairy of twenty-seven cows. His farm is situated about two miles from the village of Plainfield, on the Marshfield road, and, as he inherits his father's taste for private life, he has never been induced to leave it for any political office, although taking a deep interest in the suc- cess of the Republican party to which he belongs, He was elected steward in the Methodist church after his father's death and still holds that office, and also has served as financial agent two years.
Mr. King married, December 25, 1880, Laura Anna Ayers, daughter of Stephen Ayers, of Cor- nish, New Hampshire. His wife having died July 25, 1881, Mr. King married, March 13, 1883, Melissa Jane Blanchard, born December 27, 1864, daughter of Marshall and Mary Jane (Mudgett) Blanchard. Mr. and Mrs. King have four daugh- ters, namely : Etta May, born January 20, 1884; Myrtie Bell, born November 19, 1890; Laura Anna, born April 24, 1894; and Edith Alice, born June 27, 1900.
ASA D. MATHEWS.
Asa D. Mathews, of Barton Landing, Ver- mont, a veteran of the Civil war, was born in Sumner, Oxford county, Maine, September 23, 1834. He received his preliminary education in the public schools of his native town, and later attended the academy at South Paris, Maine. When he attained the age of nineteen years he re- moved to Massachusetts, and engaged in the boot and shoe business, in which he continued until the breaking out of the Civil war, when he en- listed from Brownington, Vermont, August 7, 1862, as a private in Company F, Eleventh Regi- ment, Vermont Volunteer Infantry, or First Heavy
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Artillery, and was mustered into the United States service September 1. 1862. under command of Captain Jantes Rice. On October 21, 1862, he was promoted to the position of first sergeant ; on August 19, 1863, to second lieutenant, and on January 24, 1864, to first lieutenant. The regi- ment, under command of Colonel James M. War- ner, was assigned to the Vermont Brigade, Sec- ond Division, Sixth Corps, and it participated in the following battles: Spottsylvania, Virginia, May 15, 1864; Cold Harbor, Virginia, June I to June 12, 1864: Petersburg, Virginia, June 18, 1864. Weldon Railroad, Virginia, June 23, 1864. After June 12, 1864, Asa D. Mathews was in com- mand of his company until he was captured at the battle of Weldon, and he was confined in prison at Libby, Macon, Savannah, Charleston, Colum- bia, South Carolina, and Raleigh, North Carolina. He was paroled at Wilmington, North Carolina, March 7, 1865, and sent to Annapolis, Maryland. He was one of six out of the fifty-two men of the company who lived to come home, and was honor- ably discharged May 15, 1865, at the close of the war. During his confinement in the prisons in Savannah, Charleston and Columbia, Lieutenant Mathews made a set of chessmen of wood with a common jack-knife and an old file. The chessmen are as perfect as though they were turned by ma- chinery, and are corrected in style, although he had no model, but having been a chess player since boyhood his memory aided him in fashion- ing them. With these chessmen he played the game, and thus passed away many a lonesome day in the prisons. The chessmen are still in his possession, and are as perfect as when he made them.
At the close of the war Mr. Mathews returned to Barton, and was engaged as a carpenter and builder for twenty years. He served as one of the selectmen of the town of Barton for three years ; was justice of the peace for thirty years ; one of the listers of the town for eighteen years, and a school director for two years. In 1898 he was elected one of the associate judges for Orleans county, and he was re-elected in 1900, and still holds the office.
Mr. Mathews is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry, and he is also a faithful member and strong supporter of the Methodist Episcopal church of Barton, Vermont. In his political
views be adheres to the principles laid down by the Republican party. On December 16, 1860. Mr. Mathews was united in marriage to Alis- Narcisa R. Buxton, daughter of Deacon Aaron Buxton, of Brownington. Mrs. Mathews was a noted school teacher for about thirty years. She died May 27, 1877. On December 25, 1882, Mr. Mathews married Mrs. Mary McNeil, of Barton. The following named children were born to him by his first marriage: Frank A., born in Brown- ington, September 24, 1862, died February 16. 1864 : Carrie E., born in Brownington, November 24, 1864, now a resident of Maine; Winthrop A., born October 13, 1866, now residing in. Daykin, Jefferson county, Nebraska, follows farming as an occupation, and married Miss Carrie Carpenter, of Nebraska ; Ernest E., born December II, 1868, married Miss Sadie Andrews, of Albany, Ver- mont, and resides at Barton, engaged in the flour and feed business; Geneva A., born October 27, 1872, wife of Walter E. Hatch, a farmer of Dan- ville, Vermont ; Clemma C., born April 10, 1876. wife of Marcus B. Purounagian, a minister of Sheldon, Vermont.
ELROY FRANCIS LEAVITT.
Elroy Francis Leavitt, one of the prosperous and successful business men of Plainfield, Ver- mont, was born in that town, February 13, 1862, a son of Ephraim H. and Augusta Abigail Leavitt. Ephraim H. Leavitt was born at Ma- drid, Maine, in 1830. He attended the public schools of his native town, where he acquired an excellent education. No event of special personal importance occurred during his boyhood and youth, which were passed in the ustial manner in. his father's home. His whole life was marked by fidelity to duty and by other characteristics which are well worthy of emulation. He was united in marriage to Miss Augusta Abigail Hill, who was born at Plainfield, Vermont, in 1833, a daughter of Nathan and Abigail Hill, who were old and respected residents of Plainfield, Vermont. Their children are: George Clark, born January 23, 1860, a prosperous farmer of the town of Plain- field : Elroy Francis, born February 13, 1862 ; and William L. Leavitt, born September 19, 1864, a resident of the state of Missouri at Dewitt, and who acts in the capacity of traveling salesman for
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the McCormick Machine Company, of Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Leavitt died March 3, 1867, and his wife passed away February II, 1900.
Elroy Francis Leavitt, second son of Ephraim H. Leavitt, acquired his education in the public schools of Plainfield, Vermont. Upon attaining young manhood he commenced his business ca- reer by running a stage line from the town of Plainfield to Hardwick ; this enterprise proved so successful that he continued it for five years. In March, 1890, Mr. Leavitt purchasedd the drug business of A. E. Snow, which was situated in Plainfield, Vermont. Finding that the accommo- dations of the store were not adequaute to the demands of his steadily increasing trade, he en- larged and improved the premises so that now he has the facilities for conducting an extensive busi- ness. He keeps constantly on hand a large assort- ment of fresh and reliable drugs, and being con- siderate and courteous to his customers, he well merits the success that has attended his efforts. In addition to this business Mr. Leavitt acts in the capacity of treasurer and manager of the Plainfield Creamery Company.
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