USA > Vermont > Addison County > History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 89
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Mr. Wicker's political opinions have never been of that dubious character which cannot be named, or which are not known; but he has rather been outspoken in his views at all times. Before the last war he was an uncompromising anti-slavery man, and a member of the Free Soil party, and since the organization of the Republican party has ever been identified with it in interest.
The confidence of his townsmen in his ability and honesty is attested by the fact that at different times they have bestowed upon him nearly all of the offices within their gift. He rep- resented Ferrisburgh, Vt., in the Legislature in 1857 and 1858; has been for many years trustee of the United States Deposit Fund for support of public schools, and among still other offices has held the position of justice of the peace for nearly forty years. Among the county offices which have fallen to his lot are the positions of county commissioner, which he held for several years, and of assistant judge of the County Court, which he held in 1881 and 1882.
His religious preference is Congregational, and he has been a member of that denomination nearly all of his lifetime. There is no church of this creed in this part of the town, however, and therefore, when a Wesleyan Methodist Church was organized here a number of years ago, he allied himself with it for a time.
On the 10th of October, 1838, Mr. Wicker married Maria D. Halladay, a daughter of Theo- dore and Delight Halladay, of Shoreham, Vt. They subsequently moved to Middlebury, where he died March 30, 1857, aged seventy-four years, and his wife August 20, 1853, aged sixty- nine years. Mrs. Wicker was the seventh of eleven children (six sons and five daughters), and was born on the 28th day of July, 1817. Her grandfather was Azariah Halladay, the first of the family to come to Vermont; was born in Hartford, Conn., and died in Shoreham, Vt., on the 11th day of February, 1831, in the eightieth year of his age. Mr. and Mrs. Wicker have had a family of three sons, viz .: Henry C. (now traffic manager of the Chicago and Northwest- ern Railroad at Chicago-he is forty seven years of age); Cassius Milton (commissioner of the Chicago Freight Bureau, composed of merchants, manufacturers, and Board of Trade, in Chi- cago-forty-two years old); and Lemuel Theodore, who was born in 1850, and died when but three years of age. Besides the two sons who have reflected great credit upon their parents by their unusual success, Mr. and Mrs. Wicker have a parent's interest in Charles S. Lavake, a nephew, who came from Ohio to live with them in 1862, when he was fourteen years of age, and remained with them until February, 1869; he was one of the founders of the house of Sul- livan, Drew & Co., in New York city, but is now a member of the firm of James G. Johnson & Co., wholesale milliners in New York city.
745
NATHAN SMITH BENNETT.
B ENNETT, NATHAN SMITH. Among the early settlers in the town of New Haven, Vt., was Daniel N. Bennett, who was a brother of John N., first town clerk of Bridport, Vt., who came from Connecticut with his family. He secured a farm in that town, and his son, Benjamin G. Bennett, on the 27th of November, 1805, married Lucy Smith, daughter of Nathan, born October 4, 1784, and granddaughter of Samuel, the Addison county pioneer.1
In the year 1814 Benjamin G. Bennett removed to the town of Bridport, where he continued his occupation as a farmer until his death in 1869, aged eighty-five years. His life was a quiet one (he assisted at the battle of Plattsburgh, N. Y., September, 1814), but its duties were so well performed that he gained the unqualified good-will and respect of all his townsmen. The chil- dren of Benjamin G. Bennett were: Candace. born November, 1807, who married George Mur- ray, of Addison, and second, Nahor Wheelock, of Bridport, and is now a widow and with her daughter at Middlebury, Vt .; the second child was the subject of this sketch; the third was Hila, born June, 1815, who married Daniel Lewis, of Potsdam, N. Y .; the fourth was David A., born November, 1819, who is now a resident of Cleveland, Ohio.
Nathan S. Bennett was born in New Haven, Addison County, Vt., on the 5th of December, 1812, and was, consequently, two years old when his father removed to Bridport. His father first occupied land now owned by Hiram Barton, and at a later date built the house where O. S. Gibbs now lives. Nathan S. was given such educational advantages as were then accessible to the farmers' sons of this locality. He attended the district schools and select schools a por- tion of each year until he was nineteen years old, and by his naturally studious habits acquired a fair English education. At the age of nineteen he started out in the world for himself, and began as a clerk in the store of his uncle, Allen Smith, in Addison. After a short period there he took a similar position in the store of J. S. Strong, in Bridport, on the site of Ira D. Fletcher's present store. After two years of faithful service here he made a trip to the West of about eight months, working more or less as a clerk during his absence. Returning to Bridport he en- gaged in the store of Joseph Frost, at West Bridport, on the lake shore. He remained in Mr. Frost's employ one year or more, which was followed by a period of similar service for A. A. Buck, in Bridport, for one year.
This brings Mr. Bennett's career down to the year 1840, when he was twenty-eight years old. He had, during his labor in these various stores, acquired a knowledge of mercantile busi- ness. He now began business on his own account, beginning in a store on the corner opposite the present brick store of his son in Bridport. He was successful from the outset, and might have followed that business through his active life had his health permitted; but his physical strength gave way, and after ten years of active trade he sold out, and followed farming there- after on a limited scale. This comprises the events in the private business life of Mr. Bennett- a career in which, whatever may have been the financial result, he won nothing but the univer- sal good-will and esteem of those with whom he came in contact. This fact is clearly demon- strated by the fact that his townsmen have honored him with most of the offices in their gift. The minor positions in the town were nearly all filled by him many years ago, and in 1850 he was elected justice of the peace, which office he holds to this day. He was made town clerk in 1860, and still fills that responsible post; his books being models of neatness and his penman- ship as clear and firm as if written when he was twenty, instead of seventy-three years of age. He represented the town in the Legislature in 1853-54, and was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1870. In all of these public offices he has shown unwavering devotion to the right, and discharged their duties with fidelity and ability.
In April, 1840, Mr. Bennett was married to Polly E., daughter of Benjamin Miner, jr., of Bridport. Benjamin Miner, sr., was a captain in the War of the Revolution. After its close he became one of the earliest settlers in Bridport, coming here in the spring of 1786. He located on the land now owned by E. Ladd Miner. Seven years later he reinoved to near South Mountain, where Charles E. Crane now resides, and there died at the age of nearly ninety-three.
1 For a further account of the Smith family, see biography of Sheldon Smith, in these pages.
746
HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
He was born at Stonington, Conn., moving here from New Jersey with his children, who were Benjamin, jr., William, James, Joseph, and Clement ; only the last named was born in this town Benjamin Miner, jr., was born August, 1767; began on the farm, and after built the house now occupied by E. L. Miner, in 1791, and became one of the foremost men of the town; was elected to the Legislature in the first quarter of the century ; was a member of one or more of the Con- stitutional Conventions; was selectman many years and held many other positions of responsi- bility ; and in all of the relations of life is remembered and universally spoken of as one of the worthiest men of the town. He died in 1851, aged eighty-four years. He was married to Polly Hemenway, of Shrewsbury, Mass., February, 1793; she died in 1858, aged eighty-six years. Their children were Anna, who became the wife of Paris Fletcher, one of the fore- most citizens of Bridport (she died in 1854); Champlin (died in 1823); Betsey (married Joseph Hayward, of Weybridge; died in 1848); Uriah, a farmer (died in this town in 1848); Daniel, long a merchant in company with Paris Fletcher (died in the West Indies in 1839) ; Frederick, a farmer (died in this town in 1872); and Polly E., the wife of N. S. Bennett, born in 1815.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have been Lucy M., born September, 1841, died in her seventh year; Jennie M., born April, 1850, died in the eleventh year of her age; D. Herman, born May 18, 1853, now the leading merchant of Bridport; has held various town offices and is now town treasurer; was postmaster since the administration of President Hayes until 1885, and otherwise has received evidence of the confidence of the community. Mr. and Mrs. Ben- nett now enjoy the quiet of their pleasant home and the good-will of all.
W ALKER, RUSSELL. The father of the subject of this sketch was also named Russell, and was born on the 9th of April, 1771. His youth was spent among the Shakers at New Lebanon, N. Y., whence he came to Shoreham, Addison county, Vt., in 1794. On the 10th of September, 1795, he was married at his new home, and was engaged in farming on the place which is now owned by Orrin Cooper. In the year 1800 or 1801 he settled in the town of Bridport, Vt., on the farm which is now owned by Selden Walker. In 1806 he exchanged his farm for real estate in the town of Schroon, N. Y., where he remained for ten years. In 1816 he returned and settled on what is now the home of his son, Russell Walker. At that time only six acres of the land were improved. A log house stood on the place, which the family occupied till 1820, when the farmhouse on the lake shore, southwest of the present dwelling, was built. In 1834 he became an inmate of the family of his eldest son, Simon Ze- lotes (a sketch of whose life follows this), on the place now the home of G. R. Walker. His family consisted of two sons and two daughters, as follows: Simon Z., Lovisa (died September 22, 1875), Russell (the subject of this sketch), Almira (married Richard B. Bloomfield and died on October 14, 1878, in Bridport, Vt.). The elder Russell was a man of prominence in the com- munity ; he held the office of justice of the peace for many years, and united early with the Congregational Church. In the War of 1812 he took a conspicuous part, and commanded a company of militia from Schroon, which shared in the battle of Plattsburgh. He died on the 8th of September, 1863. His widow survived him until April 1, 1864.
Russell Walker, jr., was born in Bridport, Vt., on the 30th of October, 1805, and is a son of Russell and Anna (Chellis) Walker. His educational advantages were limited to the common schools and one term at the academy at Middlebury, Vt .; but he made the most of these ad- vantages, and secured such an education as fitted him for teaching, which he followed in the winter of 1826-27, in the "Wicker district," in Bridport. In the spring of 1827 he entered the employ of Mathew Chambers as a clerk, and about a year later he accepted a similar position in the store of B. F. Haskell, in West Cornwall; remaining here a short time, he accepted a similar position in Ticonderoga, N. Y., where he remained for about a year and a half. In the spring of the year 1830 he began mercantile business in Whiting, Vt., and six months later he returned to Bridport. On the 3d of November, 1830, he was married to Charlotte M., a daugh- ter of Benjamin Skiff, one of the pioneers of Bridport. She was born in Bridport on July 15, 1811. Soon after his marriage Mr. Walker formed the firm of Strong & Walker, and began
10
ALITTLE
S. Z. WALKER.
RUSSELL WALKER.
747
RUSSELL WALKER. - SIMON ZELOTES WALKER.
business in the store now occupied by I. D. Fletcher, in Bridport. Here they carried on a suc- cessful business for two years, when, on account of failing health, Mr. Walker closed out and returned to his farm, joining his brother, Simon Z., in working it. At the end of the year Mr. Walker purchased his brother's interest, and has since given his entire attention to farmning. He is now the owner of one hundred and seventy acres, which constitute one of the best farms in the county. The old home dwelling was destroyed by fire on the 19th of April, 1857. The present handsome dwelling was built the same year. Mr. and Mrs. Walker were the parents of two daughters, the eldest of whom died in infancy, and the second, Latetia A., lives at home, caring for her parents in their declining years. Mrs. Walker died suddenly on the 28th of Feb- ruary, 1880. She was an estimable woman, and was beloved by all who knew her.
Mr. Walker's excellent natural qualifications and his good business judgment have been fully recognized by his townsmen. He held the office of justice of the peace for many years prior to 1860; was selectman for several terms up to 1862, when he declined further election. He was sent to the Legislature in 1862-63, and took an active part in sustaining the measures for carrying on the war. He has been a lifelong member of the Methodist Church, and is guided in all things by the strictest rules of integrity and the promptings of charity.
W ALKER, SIMON ZELOTES, was born in Shoreham, Addison county, Vt., November 3, 1796, and was the eldest son of Russell and Anna (Chellis) Walker. Anna Chellis was a daughter of one of the Revolutionary soldiers, who served honorably as a quartermaster from the Battle of Bunker Hill until the end of the struggle. The ancestor of the subject of this sketch has been noticed properly in the preceding sketch of Russell Walker.
Simon Zelotes Walker received his education in the common schools of Bridport and Schroon, which was amplified by extended reading and study in later years. While still a boy and living in Schroon he served as drummer in the company commanded by his father (before mentioned), and was present at the battle of Plattsburgh. Down to about 1830 he occupied the home place and was successfully engaged in farming; he then purchased what is now the home of his son, G. R. Walker. On the 19th of April, 1840, he was married to Elvira S. Allen, and they had one child, who died in infancy. Mrs. Walker died September 8, 1841. Mr. Walk- er was again married January 15, 1843, to Lucinda A. Allen, a sister of his former wife and daughter of Ebenezer Allen, one of the pioneers of Bridport, who settled and cleared the farm where he lived and died; it is still owned by his descendants. Ebenezer Allen married a daughter of Philip and Submit Stone, and they had a family of five daughters, three of whom are living : Mrs. Walker ; Caroline, living in Bridport; and Fidelia C., wife of Lyman Southard, living in Charles City, Ia.1 Mr. Allen was a prominent citizen of the town, held various local offices, and as justice of the peace was noted for his integrity and the fairness and justice of his decisions. He was always active in all good works - the building up of churches, and benevo- lent objects generally ; he was also a prominent and active Freemason. He died December 17, 1875, at the age of eighty-seven years.
Simon Z. Walker, after his marriage and settlement on the place now occupied by his son, became a successful farmer and stock-grower, and became prominent in the breeding of Saxony sheep. He was a man of sterling character, and sound principles and judgment. Recognizing his valuable traits, his townsmen honored him with numerous positions of trust and responsi- bility, which were filled in an efficient and honorable manner. He was elected justice of the peace early in life and held the office until his death; was selectman several terms, and in 1849- 50 served his constituents in the State Legislature. He was a believer in and supporter of Chris- tianity, and labored for its advancement. In the Masonic order he was also prominent, and by his general worth and high standard of living won a large number of sincere friends.
Mr. and Mrs. Walker were parents of three sons. Albert A. was born May 26, 1849; he grew to manhood, and during the War of the Rebellion enlisted in Company D, Fourteenth
1 Mrs. Allen died December, 1853, and Mr. Allen was married the second time to Mrs. Truman Gran- dey, who died in 1884.
748
HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
Vermont Volunteers; in the Battle of Gettysburgh he was wounded on the night of July 3, while assisting a wounded comrade from the field, and died on the following day, July 4, 1863. G. R. Walker is the next son, born August 12, 1847. He was educated in the common schools and academies, and has made farming his only occupation; he has never married. He was se- lectman from 1874 to 1877 inclusive, and was elected to the State Legislature in 1884. S. Z., born January 8, 1850, is a farmer by occupation, and occupies a place adjoining the home farm of his father; married August 19, 1873, to Addie C. Russell, and they have one daughter and one son; Walter Z., born April 23, 1880, and Lettie A., born July 26, 1874. G. R. and S. Z. Walker own jointly the two farms occupied by each.
Y MITH, M. D., M.D. This family of Smith is of French origin. The emigrant from France S to this country was the sixth generation removed from the doctor. Amos Smith, son of the emigrant, lived in Cheshire, Mass. He raised a family of nine children, four sons and five daughters, of whom Henry Smith was the eldest child. He was born on October 6, 1769, in Cheshire, Mass. He married, on February 7, 1790, Anna Blanchard, of Cheshire, Mass. She was born on November 13, 1770. In the same year of his marriage he moved from Cheshire and settled in Addison township, Addison county, Vt., on the place now owned and occupied by his son, Truman T. Smith. He filled the offices of justice of the peace for many years, and also held other town offices. He represented his town in the Legislature of the State in 1833 and 1834. He was a prominent anti-slavery man, when it cost something to be one. He was, for all the years he was a leading resident of the town, a leading member of the Addison Baptist Church. He died in April, 1849. His wife died in March, 1850. Their chil- dren were: Henry Smith, jr. (born on July 31, 1790, and died on April 17, 1793); Harty (born on October 17, 1792, wife of Dyer Westcott; lived in Charlotte, Chittenden county, Vt., thence removed to Canton, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., and died at Malone, N. Y., leaving a family of children) ; Amos (born on December 17, 1794; married Barbara Westcott on March 30, 1819). The latter was a daughter of Stukely and Lydia Westcott, and was born on August 27, 1797. The children of Amos and Barbara were: Cordelia C. (born on June 6, 1821, wife of Alfred Collins, both of whom are now deceased); Alden A. (born on March 21, 1823, married Kate Thompson, of New York city; he was an architect in that city, and died in Addison in 1865 ; his wife and two children survive him); Stukely W. (born on February 19, 1826; mar- ried Maria O., daughter of Wilda and Aurilla (Squire) Dorwin). She was born in Hopkinton, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., on September 27, 1825. Stukely W. Smith was born on the old homestead, which is now owned by Truman T. Smith. He has lived on the place where he now resides since he was three years of age. This place was formerly owned by Eli Squire, grandfather of Mrs. Smith. Stukely W. Smith is a prominent farmer in the town of Addison, Vt .; has filled the important offices of the town, and was its representative to the Legislature of the State in the years 1858 and 1859. The children of Stukely W. and Maria O. Smith were: Melvin D. (subject of this sketch), Hermon H. (born on December 5, 1854, died on Jan- uary 24, 1863), Sarah B. (born on October 15, 1866, now resides at home). Amos Smith died on November 27, 1874, and his wife, Barbara, died on March 29, 1877. Amos and his father, Henry, were at the battle of Plattsburgh, and received a land warrant as soldiers of the War of 1812. Justus (born on December 13, 1796, married Anna Rogers, and by her had a family of nine children ; he died in 1876, and his wife survived him but a few years); Polly (born May 20, 1800, wife of Warham Brown, who was a farmer of Panton, Vt., both of whom died, leav- ing a large family of children) ; Truman T. (born on May 15, 1803, married Urana Rogers on December 25, 1828; by her has had a family of eight children, six of whom are now living and married; his wife died on March 26, 1885; Truman T. now owns and occupies the old home- stead where he was born).
Dr. M. D. Smith was born in the town of Addison, Vt., on April 27, 1848. He was edu- cated in the common schools and also in the select ones of the county, under the tutoring of L. F. Benton, principal of the Vergennes and Bristol schools. His taste for scientific reading was
749
M. D. SMITH. M. D. - HON. LUCIUS E. SMITH.
early developed. At the age of seventeen years he engaged in the study of medicine, and in 1868 he associated himself with Dr. James C. Jackson, of Dansville, N. Y., where he remained for one year and then entered the Eclectic Medical College, of Pennsylvania; and from here he graduated in the spring of 1871. He at once associated himself with Dr. A. B. Woodard, of Tunkhannock, Wyoming county, Pa., where he practiced his profession for two years, when he was called to his native town to take charge of the practice of his old friend and family physi- cian Dr. Hinds, who was in failing health. He. remained in Addison, Vt., for nearly seven years, when, feeling the desire for more clinical instruction, he gave up his practice and went to New York, matriculated in the Eclectic Medical College there, and availed himself of the privi- lege of the Bellevue Hospital lectures, receiving the degree of M. D. from the E. M. C. in the spring of 1880. He then opened an office in West Cornwall, Vt., where he remained but a few months, after which he went to Chicago, Ill., to resume his study in Hannemann Medical College of that city, from which college he received the degree in 1884. The same year he located in Middlebury, Vt., and has practiced his profession in that and surrounding towns since.
Dr. Smith was married on April 27, 1868, to Nellie F., daughter of William and Martha (Murray) Hanks. Mrs. Smith was born in Addison, Vt., on December 18, 1849. Her parents are now living in Addison, Vt. Their children are: Kate L., Carlton M., Nellie F., Murray B., Belle M., Jesse F., and Martha W. Levi Hanks, Mrs. Smith's grandfather, was one of the early settlers of Addison, and was a captain in the War of 1812.
Dr. and Mrs. Smith have had one child born to them-Hermon E. (born on July 21, 1877).
MITH, HON. LUCIUS E., was a son of Luman B. and Lucia (Collins) Smith, of Monkton, S Vt. He was born at that place on the 5th of October, 1824, and was the second of five chil- dren, of whom the others were Hon. A. T. Smith, of Vergennes; Daniel C., of Addison; Jerome B., of Burlington; and Mrs. B. F. Sutton, of Middlebury, Vt. The subject of this sketch had exceptional educational advantages, and made good use of them. He entered and was gradu- ated from Juliet College, a Catholic institution at Moscow, Canada, where many priests have been and are now educated. He became a fine French scholar, and to the last kept up his acquaintance with the language through books and newspapers. He was also well informed in general literature and on current topics of popular interest. After his graduation from the college he speculated for a number of years in cattle, sheep, wool, butter, and general produce, having his headquarters in Monkton, Vt. He always owned considerable property in Monk- ton, and left at the time of his death five hundred acres of land.
His father, Luman B. Smith, was born just west of Monkton Pond, in 1798, on the farm formerly owned by his (Luman's) father, Daniel Smith, an early settler who attained prominence in the town and represented it in the Legislature a number of years. Daniel Smith died on the 2d of April, 1813, of the epidemic then raging throughout the country. Luman B. Smith died on the 5th of October, 1874. His wife, Lucia, a daughter of Daniel Collins, died on the 19th of September. 1870, aged sixty-eight years.
The subject of this sketch came on to the farm which is now occupied by his widow, in 1873, it being the farm owned by her father, Milcs B. Bates, who died on the place on the 29th of September, 1878, aged seventy-six years, after having occupied the place for forty years. He was also the son of an early settler, Jehiel Bates.
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