History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 87

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co.
Number of Pages: 988

USA > Vermont > Addison County > History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 87

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On the 23d of the following October by his own request he was dismissed, though he continued to labor with the churches in 1804. In 1828 the Metho- dists commenced to have circuit preaching, but after a time became too feeble to sustain even this effort. On October 25, 1821, the Universalists organized a church under the pastorate of Rev. James Rabbitt, who ministered to them a quarter of the time for several years, and they now own one-quarter of the Union building. The Congregational Society has quite lost its organization,

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ALMON P. TUPPER.

while the Baptists have sixty-one members, under the pastoral care of Rev. Joseph Freeman, who has been here about a year. Their first house of wor- ship, and the first erected in town, was built in 1808, and rebuilt in 1841, so that it will now accommodate 200 persons. Its original cost was $2,500, though its present value, including grounds, is only $2,000. Three years after the building of this church, in 1811, the Union edifice was commenced, though it was not completed until 1823, costing $3,000, about its present value, in- cluding grounds. It is a comfortable structure, capable of seating 250 per- sons. Rev. Wilmont Mayhew was settled as its pastor about three years ago, and still occupies that position.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

TUPPER, ALMON P., was born in Middlebury, Addison county, Vt., April 24, 1825; the third in a family of four children, and the only son of Norman and Mary (Horton) Tup- per. Darius Tupper, his grandfather, was born in Connecticut, moved from that State and first settled in the town of Charlotte, Chittenden county, Vt., and in the winter of 1794-95 moved to the town of Middlebury, where he built a tavern at the intersection of the present turnpike- road with the " old road," leading from East Middlebury to Middlebury Village. This tavern was kept by him until his death, in 1828, at the age of seventy-four.

His children were Lyman, Elam Norman, Sally, Sylvia, Laura and Ruth. All but the latter were married and raised families. Norman Tupper, father of A. P., was born in Charlotte October 4, 1794; married Mary, daughter of Darius and Sarah (Harris) Horton. She was born May 29, 1797, in Mount Holly, Rutland county, Vt. He spent his youth at the tavern home of his father. He took naturally to learning and books, and early in life became fitted for teach- ing, and taught the neighborhood district schools several winters, before and after his marriage. About the time of his marriage his father deeded him, from the south part of the original farm, about seventy acres, upon which a house had already been built, into which he moved and where all of his children were born. This house was located south of Beaver Brook, near the intersection of East Middlebury turnpike with the Salisbury road. This property he sold about the year 1823 and moved to East Middlebury, where he lived till 1868 or 1869, when he went to live with his son, Almon P., in the same village where he remained to the time of the death of his wife, which occurred August 14, 1868. He married for his second wife Adeline Lake. He died in East Middlebury February 22, 1880, aged eighty-six. His widow is still living in Wayne county, N. Y.

Norman Tupper had an inventive turn of mind and was a natural mechanic. He invented machinery for the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds, the first that were used in this or any other country. He was also the inventor and constructor of the first circular saw-mill. He could procure no circular saw of sufficient diameter for his purpose in this country, but suc- ceeded in procuring one from England twenty-eight inches in diameter. In order to enlarge it he conceived the idea of enlarging it by an "inserted tooth," which he constructed and ran suc- cessfully. This occurred in the year 1835. . Mr. Tupper never took out a patent on any of his inventions, but the invention of the " inserted tooth," above named, figured very largely, years thereafter, in deciding the great patent suit of Spaulding vs. American Saw Company, tried in

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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.

San Francisco. Mr. Tupper was a man of great industry, yet was never hurried. He was a Jackson Democrat, and a member of the Middlebury Congregational Church for many years.

The children of Norman and Mary Tupper were Mary, Naomi, Almon P. and Eliza. Mary, born September 29, 1819, married Israel F. Enos September 30, 1840, died May 20, 1858- children, Alonzo and Eliza; Naomi, born June 18, 1823, married Edwin B. Douglas Septem- ber 19, 1848, a farmer living in Shoreham-children, Norman B., Elizabeth, Charlotte, Laura, Marcia and Frank ; Eliza, born January 16, 1827, died February 15, 1848.

Almon P. Tupper received his primary education in the district school of East Middlebury ; prepared for entrance to college in the Middlebury Academy, but on account of poor health did not enter. Inheriting from his father a natural aptness for mechanics, he was employed in the jewelry shop of Bliss Marshall, at East Middlebury, and subsequently with Charles R. Tur- rill, at2 Middlebury. He afterwards carried on the business by himself at East Middlebury, Rochester, Vt., and at Keesville, N. Y., until the summer of 1847. The occupation proved suc- cessful, but too confining for his health. From 1847 to 1852 was engaged in the manufacture of wool-working machinery. During all the time in which he was employed in the jewelry and machine business he had carefully read and studied Kent and Blackstone and other ele- mentary works of law, and he had frequently been called upon to manage cases before the justice of the peace. In the spring of 1853 he began the regular study of the law with Ozias Seymour, of Middlebury, one of the ablest lawyers in that portion of the State. He was ad- mitted as a member of the Addison county bar in the year 1857, and has ever since been in the active practice of his profession. In 1874 he moved from East Middlebury to Middlebury, where he now resides. Mr. Tupper is a man of great strength of will and a tenacity of power quite surprising to those who have perhaps long known him as a sunny and genial gentleman of the most affable manners, and a serenity never ruffled, and who for the first time detect the hand of steel beneath the glove of velvet. He is a keen student of human nature, and in his judgment of character is rarely at fault. As a lawyer, while he has always had to regret the lack of a broad and deep early culture, his practice has been large and lucrative, and his famil- iarity with case law and precedents very remarkable. Always studious and untiring for a client's interest, shrewd and unwary in conflict, keen to perceive the weak points in his adver- sary's cause and to conceal the vulnerable places in his own, he has had a large measure of success, and enjoys a well-earned reputation as a trier of cases. As a counselor he is sagacious and trustworthy ; as a business man, thorough, careful and efficient ; as a citizen, clear, upright and honorable, ever watchful for public progress, deeply interested in all that promotes the common well-being and helps to make the community prosperous, active against social dis- orders, and solicitous for the public morals.

Mr. Tupper married, November 5, 1848, Mary P., daughter of Luke P. and Mary (Abram) Richardson. Mrs. T. was born in Boston April 6, 1819. An adopted daughter, Helen M., is the wife of the Rev. Charles Markland, of Manchester, N. H., and is pastor of a large Congre- gational Church in that place.

K NAPP, COL. LYMAN E., was born in Somerset, Windham county, Vt., November 5, 1837, and was the fifth in a family of nine children. Cyrus Knapp, his grandfather, was born at Taunton, Mass., December 8, 1769, and when a young man came and settled in Dover, Windham county, Vt. He married Thankful Stearns, who was born in Chesterfield, N. H., February 4, 1770. They had a family of eight children, of whom Hiram Knapp, father of the colonel, was the fifth. He was born in Dover February 7, 1803. He married Elvira, daughter of Jonas" and - (Page) Stearns. The latter was born September 10, 1804, in Marlboro, Vt. Hiram Knapp was a farmer by occupation. He died at Stratton, Vt., September 18, 1859. His wife died in March, 1880.

Lyman E. Knapp, the subject of this sketch, lived until eighteen years of age at Stratton, and worked on his father's farm while attending the district school of the place. He prepared for college by a three years' attendance at Burr Seminary, Manchester, Vt. He entered Mid-

A. P. Tuppen

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735

COL. LYMAN E. KNAPP .- JOHN WOLCOTT STEWART.

dlebury College in 1858 and was graduated with honors in 1862. The week after his gradua- tion he enlisted as a private, but was soon elected captain of Company I, Sixteenth Regiment Vermont Volunteers, a nine months' regiment; employed the major portion of that time on guard duty in the defense of Washington, but near the close of the period of enlistment engaged in the three days' battle of Gettysburg, and constituting a part of the Second Vermont Brig- ade, which rendered itself famous in repulsing the rebel charge under General Pickett on Cem- etery Hill. He was wounded in this engagement, but remained on the field till the battle was ended, and was with the brigade in its pursuit of the enemy on the following day. Soon after this battle his regiment was mustered out and he was commissioned by the governor of Ver- mont to raise a company for the Seventeenth Vermont Volunteers. He raised Company F of that regiment in Windham county and went out as its captain. The regiment was assigned to the Ninth Army Corps, General A. E. Burnside commanding, in the Army of the Potomac. He was engaged in its thirteen battles, beginning with the battle of the Wilderness and ending with Lee's surrender, in two of which-viz., Pegram House and at the capture of Petersburg- he was in command of his regiment. He was wounded in the battle of Spottsylvania Court- House and carried insensible from the field, having received a severe scalp wound from a rifle ball, but returned to his regiment the second day after. He was again wounded by a piece of shell at the assault before Petersburg, on the 2d of April, 1865; but recovering from this, and narrowly escaping as one of the five out of thirteen who remained uninjured by the explosion of a rebel bomb, he resumed command of his regiment and was at its head when the enemy's lines were finally broken, for which gallant and meritorious conduct he was breveted by Presi- dent Lincoln. He was promoted to major of the regiment November 1, 1864, and to the lieu- tenant-colonelship December 10 of the same year. He was mustered out with his regiment July 14, 1865. Four others from his family the Green Mountain State sent to the defense of her country, one of whom, C. H. Pitman Knapp, died from wounds received in the battle of Lee's Mills, Va. On the first day of October, 1865, he became editor and publisher of the Mid- dlebury Register, a position which he filled for thirteen years; but during this period of time he had taken up the study of law and was admitted as a member of the Addison county bar in 1876. In 1878 he drew out from the conduct of the paper, but retained his financial interest in the company until 1884. He was register of probate under Judge Samuel E. Cooke for several years, and was appointed to succeed that gentleman as judge of probate in 1879, since which time by successive elections he has continued to hold that office. He was first assistant clerk of the House of Representatives from 1872 to 1874, was chairman of the Republican County Committee for several years, and for the last sixteen years has served as trial justice of the peace in Middlebury and the county of Addison, He has been a member of the Congregational Churches at Stratton and Middlebury since he was fifteen years of age, and is now chairman of the prudential committee of the Middlebury Congregational Society. He has been for a num- ber of years a member of the school board and treasurer of the Addison County Grammar School. These varied public positions and others which he has been called to fill abundantly attest the high estimation in which he is held by the citizens of his adopted place of residence. Colonel Lyman E. Knapp married Martha A., daughter of Ebenezer and Corcina (Jones) Sev- erance, January 23, 1865, at Washington, D. C.

STEWART, JOHN WOLCOTT, of Middlebury, ex-governor of Vermont, and member of Congress from the First Congressional District of Vermont. Born in Middlebury, Vt., November 24, 1825.

The first ancestor of Governor Stewart's family on the paternal side whose record has been preserved, was Robert Stuart, of Edinburgh, Scotland. Samuel, son of Robert Stuart, emi- grated first to Londonderry, Ireland, and secondly from thence with the historical Scotch-Irish colony which crossed the Atlantic and settled in Londonderry, N. H., in the early part of the eighteenth century. Samuel Stuart was the father of five sons and five daughters, of whom John was the eldest. Leaving Londonderry, he finally fixed his residence at Coleraine, Mass.,

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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.

and died there. The orthography of patronymics was exceedingly uncertain in that era, as town and family records amply attest. For some unexplained reason the spelling of the family name was altered about the death of Samuel Stuart from Stuart to "Stewart," in which form it has been preserved to the present day.

John Stewart, familiarly known as Captain John, was born in Londonderry, N. H., in 1745. He was a man of marked characteristics, full of martial energy, and took an active part in the French and Revolutionary wars. At the early age of fifteen he first killed an Indian in a notable fight in the forest. Subsequently he became a member of the famous band of cour- ageous frontiersmen, know as Rogers' Rangers. He accompanied the ill-fated expedition of General Montgomery against Quebec, and was in the immediate neighborhood of that gallant officer at the time of his death. After that he happened to be in Bennington paying his ad- dresses to the lady who afterwards became his wife, at the epoch of the battle in that place, and led a company of patriot soldiers in that decisive conflict. In 1777 he married Huldah Hubbell, by whom he became the father of five children.

Ira Stewart, the second son of Captain John, was born July 15, 1779. He settled first in New Haven, Vt., and in 1810 removed to Middlebury, Vt., of which in following years he was one of the leading citizens. He entered immediately into the general mercantile business in asso- ciation with his brother Noble. The latter died in 1814, and Ira conducted the business thence- forward on individual account until his death in 1855. He served his fellow-citizens in both branches of the Legislature; was a member of Middlebury College corporation, and was actively interested in everything pertaining to the welfare of the village. On the 29th of October, 1814, he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Wolcott Hubbell, of Lanesborough, Mass. Three children were born to them; one of these, a daughter, died in infancy; the others, who were sons, named Dugald and John Wolcott, survived. John W., son of Ira and Elizabeth (Stewart) Stewart, prepared for matriculation in the Middlebury Academy, entered Middle- bury College, and graduated with honor from that institution in 1846. Adopting the legal pro- fession, he began to qualify himself for practice by reading law in the office of Hon. Horatio Seymour in Vermont, and remained therein until January, 1850, when he was admitted to the bar of Addison County. Commencing practice at Middlebury he conducted it alone until 1854, when he formed a co-partnership with ex-United States Senator Phelps, and maintained the connection until the death of the latter, in 1855. His association with Senator Phelps proved to be very valuable in many respects.

Early in his professional career Mr. Stewart identified himself with the political affairs of his native State. Honors have been showered upon him thick and fast by his fellow-citizens, who in this way practically acknowledged his many sterling intellectual and moral qualifica- tions, and particularly his patriotic public spirit. In the years 1852, '53, and '54 he held the office of State's attorney for Addison county. In 1856 he was elected to the Lower House of the Vermont Legislature as the representative of Middlebury, and served therein as chairman of the committee on railroads. The matters affecting the consolidation of Vermont Central Railroad interests came before his committee, and attracted much and close public attention in view of the importance of the questions involved. His services proved to be so acceptable to his constituents that he was again elected in the following year, and was also appointed to his former position on the railroad committee. During the year 1855 the State house at Montpelier was destroyed by fire and a strong movement was set on foot to make Burlington the capital of the State. This movement Mr. Stewart resisted. Although one of the members from the " west side " of Vermont, he was influentially active in the legislative debates on the question of removal, and favored the retention of Montpelier as the capital. His logic was weighty and powerful and largely instrumental in carrying the point in favor of the old location.

In 1861 Mr. Stewart was returned to the State Senate from Addison county, and served on the judiciary committee, of which United States Senator Edmunds was chairman. Elected to the Senate of 1862, Mr. Stewart again served on the judiciary committee, and as chairman of the committee on rules. In 1865 he was returned to the Lower House from Middlebury, and

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JOHN WOLCOTT STEWART .- JUDGE HENRY LANE.

served in the committees on joint rules and judiciary. In 1865, '66, and '67 he was a member of the House, and at each session was elected presiding officer of the body. As incumbent of the speaker's chair his rulings were received with great favor. The reputation for ability, faithfulness and impartiality then established, was such that on his election to the House, in 1876, he received the singular compliment of unanimous election to the old post-the speakership.

One of the changes in the organic law of the State effected by the Constitutional Conven- tion of 1870 was that by which the sessions of the Legislature were made biennial, instead of annual, as before. Mr. Stewart was the first governor of Vermont elected under the new order of things, and filled the chief magistracy with great honor and acceptability from 1870 to 1872. His inaugural address was brief, business-like and statesmanly. Delivered nine years before the resumption of specie payments, it contained the following just and sagacious recommenda- tion : "It is held by a recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that the provisions of the legal tender act are not retroactive, and that debts contracted prior to its passage are payable in coin. . I respectfully recommend to prompt recognition of the supreme judicial authority of the country, by an enactment authorizing our treasurer to pay in coin that portion of our debt falling within the decision referred to."

This decision was promptly acted upon by Vermont, to her great honor. Governor Stewart's recommendations in respect to public education, and also in reference to the jails of the State, exhibited keen foresight, and were adopted by the Legislature. Indeed, his whole career as governor was one of honor to himself and credit to the State.

Governor Stewart has not devoted his whole time to his profession. He was chosen a director of the Middlebury Bank in 1858, and for several years prior to 1881 served as president with great acceptance, and gave much evidence of his entire fitness for the position. In 1881 his other numerous engagements forced him to decline further re-election.

The re-distribution of seats in Congress, according to the population of each State, follow- ing the census of 1880, occasioned a loss to Vermont of one member. Governor Stewart was elected by the Republicans of the new First Congressional District to the Forty-eighth Congress, receiving 15,638 votes, against 6,009 for his opponent. His lengthened legislative service in both branches of the Vermont Legislature, his excellent gubernatorial administration, and his intimate knowledge of the needs of the State, justify the expectation that in his present wider sphere of personal influence and usefulness Governor Stewart will beneficently and ably repre- sent the dignity and interest of his constituency and the State at large.

It has been written of Governor Stewart that "he is a typical Vermonter of the best quality. Like most noble and excellent men, he is most highly appreciated where he is best known. Middlebury certainly knows of no official honor that she would not bestow, nor of any official duty that she would not entrust, to her 'favorite son.' His position in the foremost rank of citizens and professional men is unchallenged. The State is honored by the nurture and services of such sons as he."

John Wolcott Stewart was married on the 21st of November, 1860, to Emma, daughter of Philip Battell, of Middlebury ; she was born September 5, 1837. They have had five children, as follows: Emma Battell, born March 20, 1863, now living at home with her parents; Philip Battell Stewart, now in his senior year at Yale College; Robert Forsyth and Anna Jessica, born September 17, 1871-the former died in January, 1881; John Wolcott, born December 5, 1872 -died in infancy.

L ANE. JUDGE HENRY. James Lane, grandfather of Henry, born in 1769, came from Mansfield, Conn., and settled in Cornwall, Vt., in the year 1800 on the farm now owned and occupied by the judge. He died July 3, 1801. He left three sons-Job, James and William. James Lane pursued his professional studies with Doctor Ford, of Cornwall, and practiced his profession many years in Ohio. He died there, leaving a family of three children.

William Lane was an enterprising and successful farmer, a public-spirited and useful citizen ; but in the midst of his activity he lost his life in consequence of having his arm caught in a

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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.

threshing machine. He died at the age of forty-eight, September 26, 1844. He left three children - William, Charles D. and Gilbert Cook. Job Lane remained on the farm of his father. He married Sarah, daughter of Bebee and Elizabeth (Eells) Turrill, in 1812. She was born in Shoreham, Vt., April 3, 1792. Job Lane was a good farmer, was a firm supporter of secular and religious order, and a valuable citizen. He died at the age of seventy-two, Novem- ber 19, 1850. His wife died August 15, 1854. Job and Sarah Lane had eight children, viz: James T., William H., Elizabeth, Joel, Henry, Rollin, Sarah and Mariette. James T. was born December 25, 1812, married Lucinda Landon Eells, widow of John Eels, December 3, 1840. She was born October 10, 1812. They had four children -Truman J., Mariette, Joel T. and Gilbert H. William H. was born September 6, 1816; married September 8, 1841, Caroline, daughter of Major Orin and Maria (Alvord) Field. The latter was born September 3, 1822, in Cornwall. They have two children living - William Henry and Estelle Maria. Elizabeth, born September 20, 1817; married, April 11, 1839, P. W. Collins. The latter was born Sep- tember 27, 1810. Mrs. Collins died December 18, 1860. Their children were Joel P. and Sarah E. Joel P. died October 26, 1850. Sarah E. is the wife of C. J. Day, a merchant of Albion, N. Y. Joel Lane was born in -; married Lucretia B. Ripley. He died June 28, 1847. His wife died September 20, 1848. They had one child, Lucretia, who died at the age of twenty. Rollin Lane was born May 3, 1828; married Lucia Brainard March 20, 1861 ; three children -- Charles R., Frank B. (drowned in Otter Creek September, 1884, at the age of nineteen), and Hattie S. Rollin Lane is a farmer, owning and living on the Notham Eells farm in Cornwall. Sarah Lane was born in 1829 and died September 13, 1847. Mariette Lane was born June 22, 1832 ; is the wife of Joel Rice, a lawyer of New York city. Mrs. Rice is an artist of acknowledged ability. Mr. and Mrs. Rice have three children - Charles, Etta May and Edward.

Judge Henry Lane was born in Cornwall February 14, 1824; has always lived on the place of his birth, coming into possession of the Lane homestead upon the death of his father. His education was received in the district school of Cornwall, with several terms of attendance at the Newton Academy in Shoreham. He taught the district school of his own neighborhood and Shoreham two winters. He married, February 7, 1849, Mary Antoinette, daughter of Captain Alanson and Mary (Parker) Peck. Mrs. Lane was born in Cornwall September 12, 1828. Her grandfather, Jacob Peck, with his wife, Elizabeth (Gibbs), moved from Farming- ton, Conn., in 1785, and settled on the farm, a portion of which is now owned and occupied by his son Alanson, in the south part of Cornwall. They had eleven children - five sons and six daughters, of whom Alanson Peck was the ninth child. He was born in Cornwall February 2, 1800. He married, February, 1822, Mary Parker. Their children were James Monroe, Charles C., Orlin A., Mary Antoinette, Martin M. and Henry T. All are married and have raised families.

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History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 87

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co. Number of Pages: 988

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co.
Number of Pages: 988