USA > Vermont > Addison County > History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 90
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Before the formation of the Republican party Lucius E. Smith acted in harmony with the old Whig party of illustrious memory, and upon its dissolution united with the Republican party. He was formed by nature for the activities of life, and was the foremost man of his town and one of the foremost in the county. In 1858, 1859, 1861, 1862, and 1880, he was elected to the House of Representatives, and in 1866 and 1867 he was a member of the State Senate, and was always serving on important committees and discharging his various duties with fidelity and intelligence. On the 11th of March, 1865, he was appointed by President Lincoln commissary of subsistence of volunteers, with the rank of captain, and on the 7th of May, 1870, he was made the consular agent of the United States at St. Johns, P. Q., where he 47
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remained for about a year. In his own town he was frequently a member of State, county and district conventions, and his familiar form and fine presence at these gatherings will long be- pleasantly remembered. He was often selected as a grand juror to the County Court, and was almost invariably chosen foreman by the judges, which duty he discharged with his usual discre- tion and tact. He was town treasurer for the twenty-six years preceding his death.
In religion Mr. Smith was from choice a Roman Catholic, and carried out the principles of that faith with unfailing consistency from the first.
On the 27th of January, 1853, he was joined in marriage with Elvira, daughter of Miles B. Bates, of Monkton, Vt., who survives him. Two children were the result of this marriage, Wyllys E. Smith, who was born on the 27th of January, 1854, and Fannie E., now the wife of J. E. Buttolph, of Middlebury, born on the 21st of May, 1860. Lucius E. Smith died on the 4th of January, 1886, of paralysis of the heart. Outwardly he was the picture of health. Mr. Smith had long suffered with heart disease, and so confident was he that his life was soon to end as it did, that for more than a year previous to his death he had arranged all of his affairs in preparation for his departure. He was suddenly stricken down in the village post-office.
N ASH, GEN. WILLIAM, is a descendant in the sixth generation from Thomas Nash, who with his wife and five children emigrated from Lancashire, England, in the ship Hector; which landed at Boston July 26, 1637. He was by occupation a gunsmith. He died in New Haven, Conn., May 12, 1658. The youngest of his five children, Timothy Nash, was born in England, or at Leyden, in Holland, in 1626; married Rebekah Stone in 1657; in 1660 moved to Hartford, Conn., and thence a few years thereafter to Hadley, Mass., which town he repre- sented in the General Court of Massachusetts in 1690, '91, and '95. He died March 13, 1699, aged seventy-three years. His wife, Rebekah, died in March or April, 1709. They left twelve children, of whom John Nash, known as Lieutenant John, was the sixth. He was born in Hadley August 21, 1667, and spent his life in that town; was a blacksmith by trade and an extensive land holder. He married, March 29, 1689, Hannah Porter, who died May 26 of the same year. He married, November 27, 1691, Elizabeth Kellogg. John Nash was much employed in town business; was representative to the General Court of Massachusetts for the town of Hadley seven sessions, from 1707 to 1731. He died October 7, 1743, his wife July 4, 1750. Of their eleven children Samuel was the ninth, born in Hadley January 29, 1709; mar- ried Margaret Merrill January 24, 1734. Samuel Nash settled as a blacksmith first at Farming- ton, Conn .; but he eventually settled in Goshen, Conn., where he spent the remainder of his days and died at an advanced age. He also filled many of the town offices; was justice of the pcace twenty-six years, and was a representative in the Legislature from 1757 to 1775. There is no record of the death of his first wife, the mother of all of his children; but it is known he married (2) a Widow Dickinson, great-grandmother to Senator Daniel S. Dickinson, of New York. Of his eleven children, William was the fifth. He was born in Farmington, Conn., February, 1743; married Susan Phelps, of Simsbury, Conn. He resided in Goshen until after the death of his father, when he removed and settled in New Haven, Vt. He died in New Haven August 2, 1821. His wife died April 19, 1819.
William and Susan Nash had ten children, two sons and eight daughters. The sons were David P. and William, jr.
William Nash, jr., or General William Nash, as he afterward became known, was born in Norfolk, Conn., August 2, 1788, and came with his father and settled in New Haven when he was twelve years of age. His brother, David P., had already settled in that town in the year 1796. General William became associated with his brother in commercial life. In his business relations he was successful, and soon became known as a man of great sagacity and unques- tioned integrity. Never having enjoyed superior advantages to acquire an extensive education, he nevertheless embraced those within his reach. His mind was naturally acute and inquisi- tive. In all matters vital to the happiness of his adopted town or county he took a deep and absorbing interest. Nor did he confine himself to this comparatively small field. He was an
J. P. DOUGLAS.
A. ITTLE, FIS F.
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GEN. WILLIAM NASH. - JULIUS PRESTON DOUGLAS.
intelligent observer of all matters which affected the prosperity of State and nation, and his influence was always found on the side of justice and humanity. He was frequently honored, by his townsmen, to many of its most important offices, the duties of which he faithfully dis- charged. He represented the town in the Legislature during the sessions of 1825, '26, '36, and '49, and was State senator from the county in 1846-47. He was delegate to the National Whig Convention in 1852, that nominated General Scott for the presidency. He was active in secur- ing in 1832 a charter for the bank at Middlebury, and upon its organization was elected director and president, which position he held for fourteen years, the term of its charter. Upon the re-chartering of the bank he was again elected president, but resigned, choosing to act as one of its directors only, which place he held until the failure of his health, when he resigned, and the vacancy was filled by the election of his son, William Phelps Nash, esq. General Nash was for more than twenty years a member of the corporation of Middlebury College, to the funds of which he was liberal in his contributions. For many years he was vice-president of the Vermont State Bible Society, and contributed liberally to its support. He also gave largely to the funds of the Home and Foreign Missions.
He was an active and influential member of the county and State temperance societies, and aided materially in the formation of that public sentiment which resulted in the passage of the prohibitory law of the State, and to the very last was an earnest supporter of the law and a firm advocate of its rigid enforcement. With all the excellent qualities which characterized his life, the religious phase of it was its unquestioned crowning glory. The general was an active member of the New Haven Congregational Church for more than forty years. Free from ostentation and show, he labored to show forth to the world the power of true Christianity, in a well-regulated life and conversation. He was always ready to respond to the wants of the needy and destitute. Food for the hungry and clothes for the naked were his unostentatious gifts to many who remained in ignorance of the source from whence the needed help had come. His quiet, unobtrusive manner and gentle demeanor always won to him the hearts of the young and caused a genial influence to surround him in the presence of his peers in age and experience.
General Nash married, September 25, 1788, Mary P. Wright, of Weybridge, Vt. He died at his residence in New Haven December 15, 1871. His wife died April 27, 1880.
They had a family of ten sons: William Phelps, born November 6, 1817, owns and occupies the homestead; Charles Dennis, born April 19, 1819, banker and treasurer of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, Wis .; Fordyce Theron, born July 9, 1820, died July 18, 1869; Edwin Wallace, born February 27, 1823, died May 14, 1828; James Jewett, born April 27, 1824, died May 17, 1846; Jonathan, born July 31, 1821, a graduate of Middle- bury College, merchant in Janesville, Wis .; Joseph R., born April 16, 1826, died April 9, 1878; Wallace, born June 24, 1828, died May, 1876; Noah Preserved, born July 21, 1830, a farmer in Wisconsin ; Dorastus Wright, born April 17, 1833, farmer in New Haven.
Do OUGLAS, JULIUS PRESTON. Among the pioneers of Addison county was the family of James Marsh Douglas, who came from Cornwall, Conn., to the town of Corn- wall, Addison county, in 1784, where James Marsh Douglas died in 1790. His son, Benajeh Douglas, was born in Cornwall, Conn., August 5, 1780; was a successful farmer and hotel keeper in Cornwall, Vt., for many years. He was much interested in militia affairs in the early days. His first wife was Salome Scott, by whom he had two children, one daughter and one son. His second wife was Betsey Preston. To that union were born two daughters and six sons; one daughter and four sons survive, of whom one is the subject of this sketch. The latter are all well known and respected citizens of Addison county. Benajeh Douglas died in 1828.
Julius Preston Douglas was born in Cornwall, Addison county, Vt., June 12, 1815. His boyhood did not differ materially from that of most boys of that period-it was a period of labor alternating with attendance at the primitive schools of the day. Born and bred on a farm in the most fertile districts of Addison county, within the town of Cornwall, he owes to
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that wholesome and industrious country life the habits and the character which are at the bot- tom of so many successes in the world. On reaching manhood, January 3, 1843, Mr. Douglas married Emily H. Williamson, daughter of Abraham Williamson, an early settler in Cornwall. In the following spring he purchased the Widow Wright farm in Middlebury, thus making his settlement in life most happily complete. His original purchase consisted of seventy-five acres; he is now the owner of two hundred and twenty-five acres, forming a more than comfortable estate in well chosen lands, with a modern and substantial family residence and numerous and convenient farm buildings, all of which has been acquired by his own thrift and energy. A successful farmer and stock-raiser, in addition to which he owns and manages a hay-press in Middlebury village, and has for many years been an extensive dealer and shipper of hay and straw.
Mr. and Mrs. Douglas are the parents of one daughter and two sons. The former, Della F., was the wife of Horace B. Stoddard, of Dumerston, Vt .; she died July 6, 1882. J. Barclay Douglas and Julius Preston Douglas, jr., are still on the home place. Their oldest son, J. B. Douglas, was married February 12, 1873, to Mary B. Germond, who died November 23, 1881, leaving four children-two daughters and two sons. Julius P. Douglas, jr., was united in marriage to Miss Laura Vancor March 26, 1884.
Mr. Douglas never sought public position. His life has been eminently a practical and suc- cessful one, and he is still one of the most active and energetic men in the community.
J EWETT, E. R. Willow Lawn is in some respects the handsomest estate in Buffalo. It lies on Main Street, near the railroad over which the Belt Line trains conveniently run at short intervals. Its grounds stretch back through acres of farm land to the City Park. The finest half-mile avenue in the city limits for pleasure driving sweeps down past the place and merges into the park roads. The house, lacking the pretensions of many a more modern and expensive city residence, is large, roomy, and has an unmistakable air of comfort and convenience. The long path that leads up to it from the street crosses a lawn well set with trees and shrubs. The chief pride of the lawn, however, the cherished object which has given the estate its pleasant name, is a willow tree. Its great trunk, six feet in diameter and nineteen in circumference, divides, a dozen feet or so above the ground, into many huge branches. A simple seat encircles the tree. It is probably the largest tree in Buffalo; nor do we know of any so large within many miles of Buffalo. It is not the only large willow at Willow Lawn, but it dwarfs its com- panions. Who planted it is not known. The legend lives that around the tree the Senecas used to gather. Beyond that its history must be supplied by the imagination.
Willow Lawn is the home of Mr. Elam R. Jewett. He was a pioneer of the printing and publishing business in Buffalo; has for almost half a century been one of Buffalo's leading citi- zens; and there is none to-day more truly alive to the city's progress and welfare than he.
Elam R. Jewett was a Green Mountain boy. He was born at New Haven, Vt., December 10, 1810. About the time that Horace Greeley (born in New Hampshire when Elam R. Jewett was two months old, in Vermont) first stood up to the printer's case at East Poultney, Vt., to set type for the Northern Spectator, young Jewett left his native town and went to learn the same trade in the office of the National Standard, at Middlebury. Each was to win an eminent rank in a noble calling, at different ends of the Empire State.
After a term of two months' attendance at the Montpelier Academy he became one of the publishers of the Vermont State Journal, Mr. C. L. Knapp-afterward member of Congress and editor of the Lowell Citizen -being his associate. Shortly afterward they assumed the publica- tion of the Middlebury Free Press, and carried on both papers. They were both anti-Masonic, that question being then prominent in the politics of the country.
In 1838 Mr. Jewett made a trip to Ohio, where he contemplated engaging in business; but changing his plans he went to Buffalo, where in the fall of 1838, with Dr. Daniel Lee, he bought the Journal. Buffalo had then about 10,000 inhabitants.
Election was coming on, and there were two Whig papers struggling for a living. It was
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suggested to Mr. Jewett that consolidation, if possible, would be a wise policy. Acting under this advice, the Journal, in May, 1839, was merged in the Commercial Advertiser.
The consolidated paper was called the Commercial Advertiser and Journal, in order to pro- tect the legality of unexpired advertisements for awhile, and then the Journal was dropped and the Commercial Advertiser used only. The publishers were E. R. Jewett & Co., Dr. Thomas M. Foote being the Company.
Under this management the paper prospered. In 1847 a midshipman named Pollocki, angered at an article which had appeared, walked into the office and fired a pistol at Mr. Jewett. The buckshot lodged in a leather wallet, full of papers, in Mr. Jewett's pocket, and did no harm. Pollock subsequently lodged in prison.
The succeeding years brought many business changes. In 1850 Mr. Jewett assumed the management of the Albany State Register and had charge of it for two years, meantime con- tinuing his business in Buffalo, which had grown into large proportions in the job and stationery lines. S. H. Lathrop was added to the firm in 1850. A relief line engraving business was built up, the work done by the company winning a high reputation. Mr. Jewett disposed of the engraving department of his business to H. Chandler & Co., from whom it passed to Messrs. William P. Northrup & Co., and thence to Messrs. Matthews, Northrup & Co.
In 1856 Messrs. Jewett and Foote went to Europe with President Fillmore, between whom and Mr. Jewett a warm personal friendship had existed from the time of Mr. Jewett's settle- ment in Buffalo. Circumstances preventing Messrs. Fillmore and Foote from going to the Holy Land, as was contemplated, Mr. Jewett joined a party of Americans bound thither and traveled through Palestine. At Cannes, in France, the summer residence of Lord Brougham, President Fillmore and companions were invited to the château of the English statesman and cordially welcomed., At Rome they were given an audience by his holiness Pope Pius IX.
In 1857, soon after Mr. Jewett's return, the panic carried down his former partners Messrs. Jewett and Foote, the largest creditors, bought the business of the concern from the assignee, thus once more becoming publishers of the Commercial Advertiser. In 1862 the establishment was sold to Messrs. Wheeler, Warren, & Candee.
In a paper read before the Buffalo Historical Society November 23, 1863, by C. F. S. Thomas, on "Reminiscences of the Press of Buffalo from 1835 to 1863," he says: "The first small job printing press was introduced in 1845 by Jewett, Thomas, & Co., who also established the first stereotype foundry in this city in 1846 or 1847." Continuing, Mr. Thomas said: "It was in the summer or fall of 1836, I believe, that the Buffalo Journal was first published as a daily, Messrs. Haskins & Day still continuing as editors. The Journal, after continuing a rather unprofitable existence for several years, passed about 1839 into the hands of Mr. E. R. Jewett, with whom was associated Dr. Lee and Mr. Clarke as editors, and in the same year it was united with the Commercial Advertiser, and Dr. Foote and Mr. Jewett continued as proprietors."
In an interesting paper on reminiscences of thirty-eight years of newspaper life, read by Mr. George J. Bryan January 29, 1876, he says : "As a publisher Mr. Jewett was eminently suc- cessful. He possesses decided executive ability and rare business talent. May he live to enjoy his hard-earned competence !"
A number of young men who at one time and another were in Mr. Jewett's employ have risen to marked eminence in their calling. Mr. Jewett takes a just pride in speaking of the accomplishments of "his boys," as he calls them. Among these "boys" were the late Wilbur F. Storey, of the Chicago Times ; S. P. Rounds, late government printer at Washington; and others in the publishing business or newspaper profession, among them the proprietor of The Buffalo Express. The late T. S. Hawks, of this city, was still another of Mr. Jewett's " boys "; as were Quartus Graves, afterward a publisher; S. Verrinder, a Baptist minister; Elias Dougherty, who became an Ohio publisher, and others.
After a few years, during which he engaged successfully in the envelope and stationery business, Mr. Jewett bought the Chapin farm, now a part of Willow Lawn, and retired from active business pursuits to the comparative quiet of suburban life. He took up farming with
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enthusiasm. He added to his original purchase until he had 450 acres. When the park was laid out 200 acres of his farm were taken under the right of eminent domain ; but the remainder is found ample for successful scientific farming.
Here he lives in pleasant retirement, though his retirement is by no means withdrawal from friends or public affairs. Many relatives east and west find Willow Lawn a delightful " half- way house," and a host of friends have learned its hospitality. Mr. Jewett was married in 1838 to Miss Caroline Wheeler, like him a native of New Haven, Vt. Though no living children bless their advanced years, they are spared to each other and the community, and are untiring in good deeds.
Mr. Jewett has never cared for participation in politics. The office of supervisor for the twelfth ward was once forced upon him and, though somewhat against his will, he accepted the election, and in his faithful discharge of duties was a rebuke to the sort of men who seek and gain office only to neglect its obligations.
In a worthier cause, however, Mr. Jewett's name is illustrious. A devout and sincere Epis- copalian, he has long been a generous source of practical aid to the Church. About two years and a half ago he gave to the Church Home a very valuable tract of five acres of land adjoining the park and lying on the beautiful avenue he had made, and which is properly named Jewett Avenue. The gift was on condition that within three years there be guaranteed at least $10,000 for the erection of a chapel thereon as a memorial to the late beloved Edward Ingersoll, D. D. Mr. Jewett had long seen the need of an Episcopal house of worship in this growing part of the City. In fact. for many months past he has caused public services to be held at his house on Sundays. It is gratifying to learn that Mr. Jewett's magnificent offer to the Church Home has been availed of, and that a suitable chapel is to stand amid these lovely surroundings, a monument alike to the saint whose name it is to bear and to the devoted generosity of Elam R. Jewett.
G Y RAY, OZRO P. Ozro Preston Gray was born in Bridport, Addison County, Vt., on
September 18, 1806. Of the ancestors the following is known: His grandfather, Dea- con Lamond Gray, was a descendant of Scotch ancestors who in 1612 settled in the North of Ireland, near Londonderry. In 1718 the family of which John Gray was the head, with some forty other families, emigrated through Boston to Worcester, Mass. In 1743 the family settled in Pelham, Mass., where Lamond Gray was born in 1753, the son of Daniel Gray. He was a well-educated man and taught school for a time in that vicinity. May 26, 1778, he was married to Mrs. Isabel Conkey Hamilton, widow of Lieutenant Robert Hamilton, by whom he had two children, Robert and Isabel; the latter afterward became the wife of Cap- tain Jeremiah Lee, of Bridport, Vt., in 1795. After his marriage with Mrs. Hamilton Mr. Gray remained in Pelham about ten years, when, in company with his father, and brother Jeremiah, he came to Bridport and purchased two tracts of land of one hundred acres each. One of these tracts is about a mile south of the village, the other hundred acres included the farm where Prosper Lee lived and died. After the close of the Shay rebellion, Daniel and Jeremiah Gray returned to Pelham, leaving Lamond on their clearing. They subsequently transferred to him their title to the two tracts. Lamond Gray thus became one of the early settlers of Bridport, and there remained until 1812, when he died. He was elected clerk of the town in 1790 and held the position for many years; he was also a deacon in the Congregational Church and was a useful and respected citizen. His children were Joel and Mary. Daniel graduated from Middlebury College in 1805, and soon afterward married Susannah Rice, by whom he had one child, the subject of this sketch.
Ozro P. Gray received the education afforded by the public schools, which was supplement- ed by careful study and reading in later years. When he was eighteen years of age he began a three years' apprenticeship with Thomas Atwood, a tanner of the town of Shoreham ; he fin- ished his trade and worked for Mr. Atwood as a journeyman about four years. In the year 1832 he went to Crown Point and engaged in the same business on his own account, at what is
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OZRO P. GRAY. - WYMAN HENRY MERRITT.
known as "The Centre." On the second of January, 1833, he was married to Mary Nelson, a daughter of William and Charlotte (Bailey) Nelson, some of the pioneers of Crown Point ; she was born on the fourteenth of August, 1809, at Crown Point.
Mr. Gray became a leading citizen of Crown Point, and carried on a successful business there as a tanner and currier; he also held the office of poormaster for many years. In 1865 he disposed of his business and removed to Bridport, Vt., where he purchased a tract of land on which he lived until his death on the 5th of May, 1882.
He had by his life of integrity, liberality in the support of all worthy public objects, his sound judgment and high order of intelligence gained the esteem of the entire community; his widow still survives. They were the parents, by adoption, of one daughter, Edna Gray, now the wife of Henry C. Rice, of Port Henry, N. Y.
M ERRITT, WYMAN HENRY .- The surname Merritt is derived from the ancient Saxon manor and parish of Meriet, in Somersetshire, England. The family trace their pedigree in direct line back to Eadnoth the Statter, a high officer under Kings Edward, Harold, and William the Conqueror. The line, as taken from a carefully prepared genealogical record, is as follows : 1. Eadnoth the Statter; 2. Harding Fitz Eadnoth; 3. Nicholas Fitz Harding; 4. Henry Fitz Nicholas ; 5. Nicholas De Meriet; 6. Hugh De Meriet; 7. Nicholas De Meriet; 8. John De Meriet; 9. Sir John De Meriet; 10. William De Meriet; 11. Simon De Meriet; 12. Sir John Meriet; 13. John Meriet. From the latter, through several generations, embracing a period of 230 years, descended Henry Merritt, born in County of Kent, England, about 1590, the first ancestor of the family who came to this country. He came before 1628, and with others, called "men of Kent," founded the town of Scituate, Plymouth county, Mass., where he became a large landed proprietor, and died November, 1652. His descendants in direct line were as follows: 2. John Merritt, born about 1625, died in Scituate after the year 1670; 3. John Merritt, born in 1660, died June 4, 1740; 4. Jonathan Merritt, born in 1792 and died in Hebron, Conn., October 21, 1758; 5. Noah Merritt, born in Scituate in 1730 and died March 24, 1814, in Templeton, Worcester county, Mass. He had thirteen children, of whom (6.) Noah Merritt was the eldest; born October, 1758, and died August 21, 1843, in Sudbury, Rutland county, Vt. He served six years in the Revolutionary War, and was personally acquainted with Washington. He was a man of high character and great intellectual and physical force. He married Eunice Metcalf and moved to Brandon, Vt., about 1785. Of his seven children (7.) Noadiah Merritt was the eldest child; born in Templeton, December 23, 1782, and died in Pierpont, N. Y., January 1, 1854; married, first, Uranie Goodrich November 26, 1807; chil- dren, Polly, Lucy M., Esther A., Henry H., Nabby, Roxie and Achsah B. He married, second, Relief Parker November 25, 1821. Children, Noadiah Parker, Emily Uranie, Julia Ellen, Dar- win Hamilton, Edwin Atkins, Julius Fernando, William Wallace, Marshall Josephus and John Harvey. Of the children by the last marriage General Edwin A. Merritt was quartermaster- general under Governor Reuben E. Fenton; was collector of the port of New York under President Hayes ; naval officer of the port of New York under President Grant; also surveyor of the port, and was appointed by President Garfield consul-general to Great Britain. Is now living in Potsdam, N. Y. William W. Merritt is a Universalist minister, living in Red Oak, Ia. John Merritt is presiding elder in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Colorado, and Darwin Merritt is a farmer, living in Pierpont, St. Lawrence county, N. Y. Henry Harrison Merritt, the only son of Noadiah and Uranie (Goodrich) Merritt, the eighth generation removed from Henry Merritt above named, was born in Sudbury, Vt., October 26, 1812. He was educated in the district school of his native town, in the West Rutland Academy and Brandon Seminary ; was a teacher in the towns of Brandon, Sudbury and Orwell about ten years. Married, March 5, 1843, Melissa D. Wheeler, who was born in Sudbury December, 29, 1813, daughter of Henry T. and Catharine (Russell) Wheeler. Mr. Merritt lived in Sudbury until April, 1862, when he removed to Brandon, where for eight years he carried on a farm for N. T. Sprague, his principal business being the raising of Spanish Merino sheep. In 1879 he quit farming and
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