USA > Vermont > Bennington County > History of Bennington County, Vt. : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 62
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More than this Mr. Root has been honored by the freemen of the county with public office, having been elected to the State General Assembly and twice to the Senate. In 1860 he was a presidential-elector at-large on the Re- publican ticket, and had the honor of casting a vote for Abraham Lincoln in the electoral college. Mr. Root is the only surviving member of the college now living in Vermont. In the local institutions of Bennington our subject has been equally prominent, for besides his connection with the monument associ- tion and the centennial commission, he is one of the trustees of the library asso- ciation, and of the Congregational Church Society, of the latter being the president; his contributions to the fund with which the church edifice was built, and subsequently to the fund that finally extinguished that society's in- debtedness, may be counted by the thousands of dollars. Mr. Root's member- ship in this church dates back to January, 1857. He was one of the first board of directors of the Lebanon Springs Railroad, and one of the incorporators of the First National Bank of Bennington; was elected vice-president of the bank after the first year of its existence, and has continued in that office to this time. He has been connected with institutions and organizations of the State, as well
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as those of local importance, having been a director of the Vermont State Ag- ricultural Society for the last twenty-five years, and president of that society during the years 1871-72 and 1873. Besides this he has been prominently associated with other societies of the State.
Henry Green Root was a native of Massachusetts, born in Greenfield on the 18th day of September, 1818. Up to the time he was seventeen years of age Henry lived at home on the farm of his father where he worked in season and attended district school ; but on reaching the age above stated he was ap- prenticed to learn the trade of tinsmithing at Templeton, Mass. In the fall of 1838 Elisha Root, the father of our subject, came to reside at Bennington, and this fact induced Henry to follow after he was released from his apprenticeship, which release he purchased four months before his term had fully expired. After coming to Bennington young Root borrowed a sinall sum of money from his father, and in partnership with Luther R. Graves engaged in the business of manufacturing and selling tinware, in a small way at the beginning, but grad- ually enlarging and increasing the same as the means of the proprietors would permit. Under the arrangement between these partners Mr. Root had charge of the mechanical department of the concern, while Mr. Graves was on the road. This business grew to large proportions and proved an exceedingly profitable enterprise for the firm. They established houses in various sections of the coun- try, and entrusted their management generally to young and competent men whom they had educated in the business. Among the branch houses estab- lished by the firm of Graves & Root during their long business associations was one at each of the following places: Red Hook, N. Y .; Troy, N. Y .; Easton, Pa ; Watertown, N. Y., and Burlington, Vt.
When Luther R. Graves and Henry G. Root entered into their partnership agreement it was verbally provided that the same should continue for a period of six years, but when that time had elapsed the business of the concern was continued without any further understanding and has been so conducted to the present day; and it is a truth that notwithstanding the fact the Messrs. Graves & Root have now been associated together for a full half century, and for forty-four years without any regular agreement; there has never been an accounting between them, and the acts of either have never been questioned or criticised by the other. Their business has always been successful, and their firm relations entirely harmonious.
On the 23d day of December, in the year 1846, Henry G. Root was mar- ried to Catharine L., daughter of Hon. Samuel H. Blackmer, a highly respected citizen of Bennington. Of this marriage four children have been born, only two of whom are now living. Catharine L. Root, wife of Henry G. Root, died on the 2d of September, 1887. Mr. Root on the 23d day of January, 1889, was married to Mary A. Gale, daughter of the late Dr. Nathan Gale, one of Orwell's most prominent physicians and respected citizens.
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
T AYLOR, DWIGHT. The township of Rupert occupies a position in the extreme northwesterly corner of Bennington county. It was chartered by Governor Wentworth on the 20th of August, in the year 1761, but its early settlement did not commence until several years after that date. Some of its pioneers were from New Hampshire, and among them was Joel Taylor, a native of Merrimac, born March 4, 1764. While yet a young man he came to the town above named, being at that time exceedingly poor in purse, and carrying no baggage except that contained in an old knapsack, which was strapped about his shoulders.
Joel Taylor took up his abode on Rupert mountain, on the old road lead- ing from Pawlet to Salem. At that time the low lands or valleys were swampy, and by the settlers considered of little value, and exceedingly unhealthy ; so Joel Tavlor began clearing his farm on the mountain. He married Hannah Farrar, who was born in New Hampshire in 1762, their marriage taking place in March, 1784. Their children were as follows: Hannah, born August 20, 1785, married Robert Wilson and lived in Rupert, and afterward in Salem, and died January 20, 1858 ; Polly, born October 22, 1787, married Austin Johnson, of Rupert, and died December 3, 1840; Joel, born in Rupert August 17, 1794, married Olive Field, of Dorset, and died April 8, 1859; Stephen, born April 10, 1796, married Harriet Sheldon, of Rupert, and died July 29, 1884, and his wife, Harriet, died February 5, 1854; Elbridge, born August 24, 1799, died September 26, 1884. Joel Taylor, the pioneer, died January 16, 1846. His wife, Hannah (Farrar) Taylor, died September 25, 1825.
Stephen Taylor, the fourth child and second son of Joel, married first Har- riet Sheldon, the daughter and descendant of one of the most respected pioneer families of the town of Rupert. The children of this marriage were : Dwight, born September 10, 1825 ; Emmons, born July 26, 1828, died April 13, 1874; Newton, born February 23, 1830, died March 21, 1841 ; Sheldon, born Au- gust 6, 1833, died April 2, 1874, and James B., born August 15, 1840, now living at Portage City, Wis. The second wife of Stephen Taylor was Olive W. Wakeley, who died December 2, 1877. Emmons Taylor and James B. Taylor both lived in Portage City, Wis., and became prominent lawyers of that place. 1
It will be seen from the foregoing genealogical sketch that of the children of Stephen Taylor but two, Dwight and James B., are now living, and that the former of these alone remains to represent the family name in the town. On the 24th day of April, 1850, Dwight Taylor was united in marriage with Aurora M. Eastman. To them has been born but one child, Hattie M., now the wife of Orlin P. Black.
Dwight Taylor was brought up to the occupation of farming, and has fol- lowed that during the majority of the years of his life. As such he has been persistent, thrifty and enterprising, and the result has been shown in the steady
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increase of his means until to-day he is counted as one of the most successful and affluent and influential men of the town and county. As rapidly as the revenues of his farm were received they were promptly invested, and by this means he has enhanced the value of his estate. Farming with him was a pleas- ure rather than a burden, and he has given it the same close attention and care that the most successful merchant bestows upon his business. In the affairs of the town, too, has Mr. Taylor taken an active part; and in office his course has been characterized by the same spirit of straightforward honesty and economy that has made his business life a marked success ; but he has not been, by any means, an office-seeking politician, for the offices he has held, and the other various trusts that have been put upon him, have not been of his asking, but rather against his inclination ; and he has yielded to the en- treaties of his friends, feeling it a duty that he perform some service for his town and people as well as for himself. Mr. Taylor is a leading member of the Congregational Church of Rupert, and of his means liberally contributes to the support and maintenance of that society, and the good work in which it is engaged.
R OBERTS, GENERAL MARTIN. Standing upon a beautiful elevation, at the point where the road divides and leads to the east and west sides of Mount AEolus, overshadowed by magnificent elm trees, and commanding a view of the charming valley of the Battenkill River, as that stream courses along the base of the Green Mountains, is the place known to every dweller of Manchester, Dorset and other towns as the "Roberts homestead," the prop- erty occupied during most of the years of his long life by Martin Roberts. And the older residents of the town will recall in pleasant remembrance the familiar form, the dignified, military, and ever courteous bearing of him of whom we write. Should there be found one person whose memory could carry him back three-quarters of a century, he would recall in mental picture the thriving little hamlet, with its dozen or more of houses clustered around the homestead place, and known as " Robertsville." But hamlet and proprietor have long since gone ; and it is therefore the purpose of this sketch to perpet- uate the memory of the latter to the use of generations to come, in the history of the county in which he was born and lived and died.
Martin Roberts was the eldest son of Gen. Christopher Roberts, and was born on the 8th day of January, in the year 1778. Of his early life and of his more mature years we have no detailed record, but in the history of the town of Manchester it is stated that the male children of Gen. Christopher Roberts were Martin, Jonathan, John Peter, Benjamin, and Serenus. Martin, while quite young, became a clerk in the store owned by Joseph Burr, of Manchester, and here he acquired a knowledge of the mercantile business. After a few years he started in trade for himself, in a small way at first, but gradually enlarging
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
the same until about the time of the breaking out of the War of 1812, he was known as one of the most thrifty and successful merchants in the region, until about the closing years of the war, when, on account of general stagnation in trade circles, and the consequent depreciation of values, together with his in- ability to recover loans and advances made to friends, his possessions were largely reduced, but not one whit was Martin Roberts lessened in the estima- tion of his fellow townsmen and acquaintances by reverses of fortune. After liquidating the heavy losses thus incurred, still possessing means and resources unexhausted, he entered into the bold enterprise of starting a new line of stages for carrying passengers and mails between Boston and Saratoga The line was arranged to run by a new route from Boston westward through Keene,
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THE ROBERTS HOMESTEAD.
Concord, Chester, Landgrove, Peru, and over the Green Mountains to Rob- ertsville in Manchester, and thence over the Western or Taconic range through Rupert and Salem to Saratoga. The charms of the scenery through the most beautiful valleys and passes of the mountains was somewhat depended upon to attract travel and make the new route remunerative, but the enterprise was financially a failure, and brought heavy losses to the bold originator of the scheme.
In military affairs in the State General Roberts was active and prominent, and rapidly advanced from lesser rank to greater until he became Major-Gene- ral of militia, the highest military office in the State, and this he held up to the time of his death in 1863. No less prominent was the position occupied by General Roberts in the Masonic fraternity of the State, as for a number of years he filled the exalted office of Grand Master.
Edward Roberto
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
During the period of political agitation about the time of the War of 1812. General Roberts was on what was proved, by American success, to be the un- popular side of the controversy. He was the Federalist leader, and the ac- knowledged champion of the doctrines of that short-lived party in the north part of the county, and as such was put forward by his followers and pitted in the field of politics against the leader of the Democracy, a person no less prom- inent than Richard Skinner, then the leading lawyer of the town, and after- ward governor of the State
Martin Roberts was twice married. His first wife was Lucy Bulkley, by whom he had four children, two only of whom grew up and raised families. They were Marcius and Mary B., the former settling in East Dorset, while the latter became the wife of Dr. George Tuttle, and lived in Manchester. His wife Lucy having died, Martin Roberts, on the 11th of January, 1806, married Betsey, the daughter of Luther Stone, esq., one of Arlington's most prominent citizens. The issue of this marriage was thirteen children, all of whom, save one which died in infancy, grew to man's and woman's estate, married, and raised families that are now scattered through several States of the Union. These children were Lucy, Dexter, Charles, Benjamin, Edward, Mira, Betsey Ann and Julia Ann, (twins), Richard, Belvediere, Elizabeth, and Henry Eckford.
General Martin Roberts died in 1863, at the advanced age of nearly eighty- six years. The old homestead still stands, but all evidences of the existence of a small village around it are fully wiped out. The old home and farm, en- larged and improved, are now the property of Edward Roberts, who, from the love he bears the place of his birth, out of his abundant means maintains the homestead as much as possible in its original form, and makes it his dwelling place throughout the warmer months of the year.
R OBERTS, EDWARD. The subject of this brief sketch was born in Man- chester, at the Roberts homestead, on the 23d day of March, IS12, and was the fifth child born to Martin and Betsey (Stone) Roberts. Burdened with a large family of children, and not being largely possessed of this world's goods, it was impossible for the parents to make advances of money to start their sons in business, but what proved more to their welfare, each was given as good an education as the means of the parents could afford. Edward was naturally inclined to books, and started out in life with the determination to enter a pro- fession, but in this his expectation was balked, and he was then obliged to en- gage in mercantile pursuits ; but with him professional life, while it may have been more in accord with his taste, could not have been more successful than that calling which circumstances compelled him to adopt.
In the spring of 1827, then being just past his fifteenth year, Edward Rob- erts left home and went to Rutland, where he engaged with his cousin, E. C. Purdy, esq., in the printing office of the Rutland Herald. Here he remained
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
some two years, and until the fall of 1829, when he went to Fishkill-on-the- Hudson and entered the Highland Grove Gymnasium, a classical preparatory school, then under the charge of Rev. B. Kent, a brother-in-law of our subject. Having applied himself diligently to his studies, and engaged in teaching when not so occupied, young Roberts was prepared for a still higher education, and in the latter part of the summer of 1831 he entered Williams College for the regular classical course. Unfortunately, however, his college course was ab- ruptly terminated by a severe attack of inflamatory sore eyes and dyspepsia of such a nature as to compel a cessation of study and retirement from the institu- tion, and to effect a radical change in the plans for the future therefore mapped out. But he was quite unwilling at once to yield up all hope of completing his education and entering professional life, and the succeeding ten years found him engaged in travel and teaching, devoting such time to study as he could bear, but without instructors other than the best text-books. Especially was he devoted to Greek, Latin, Hebrew and some of the modern languages, the knowledge of which he has kept up, a great solace to him, and refuge from the cares and vexations of an unusually busy life.
But the ten years at length passed, and his old difficulty continuing in a threatened chronic form, Mr. Roberts reluctantly abandoned his cherished hopes of a professional life, and in 1841 went to New York City and settled down to business life. Subsequently he became a silent, and finally a general member of. the firm of Roberts, Cushman & Co., for many years one of the leading houses in that city engaged in importing hatter's material, supplies, etc., and to-day Mr. Roberts' name is in the old firm established so many years ago, and he still retains an extensive interest therein, although his time is mostly devoted to tlie care and development of the large real estate interests of which he is possessed. Still our subject finds time each summer to visit his old home in Manchester, of which he is now, and has been since 1849 the owner; and here, surrounded by family and friends, he passes the heated sea- son in quiet enjoyment under the protecting branches of the magnificent old elms that gave him their shade in boyhood days.
In 1840, the year next preceding that in which he entered business life in the great metropolis of our country, Edward Roberts was united in marriage with Lucy Maria Benjamin, daughter of Hon. Nathan Benjamin, of South Eg- remont, Mass. Of this marriage three children were born as follows: Nathan B. Roberts, June 25, 1841 ; Edward A. Roberts, May 18, 1843 ; Gardner B. Roberts, November 12, 1844, died March 7, 1845. Lucy Maria, his wife, hav- ing died January 26, 1845, on April 27, 1847, Mr. Roberts was married to Miss Irene B. Robinson, daughter of Royal Robinson, M. D., of Braintrim, Pa. Of this second marriage have been born eight children as follows: Genevieve Roberts, May 15, 1848, died September 16, 1887; Jessie Roberts, January 3, 1850, died December 6, 1887; Christopher H. Roberts, January 27, 1852; Irene Roberts,
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
May 17, 1854, died May 9, 1857; Lucy Roberts, June 1, 1856; Walter Rob- erts, April 3, 1858, died June 8, 1859; William R. Roberts, June 26, 1860; Fanny, August 11, 1862, died March 13, 1864.
ISHAM, PIERREPONT HON., the oldest child of Dr. Ezra and Nancy (Pierrepont) Isham, was born in the town of Manchester on the 5th day of August, in the year 1802. Of his early life the writer has no authentic infor- mation, but at the age of about nineteen years he commenced a course of law study in the office of his uncle, Richard Skinner, of Manchester, one of the first lawyers of the State, at one time chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, and governor of the State. In the year 1823, then being twenty-one years old, Mr. Isham was admitted to the bar, and at once began practice in Bennington county, in the south half shire, a part of the time in Pownal but the greater part in Bennington, where he continued to reside until the year 1860, at which time he left this State and moved to New York. In his chosen profession of the law Pierrepont Isham had such early instruction, and applied himself so diligently to the study of its maxims and principles that he soon ac- quired the reputation of being one of the ablest lawyers of Southern Vermont, and it is said that he loved the practice of the law, not because he particularly loved litigation itself, but because it was a profession in which men of erudi- tion, high legal attainments, and honorable feelings have full scope for all their powers, and yet can aid in the honest and able administration of justice. His clients knew that he was entitled to their implicit confidence, his profes- sional associates and the bench knew that candor and fairness were his charac- teristics. But it was as a professional man, and in that character that all men- bers of the same fraternity could more fully appreciate him. His knowledge of law was deep; his oratorical powers fine and persuasive; and his long pro- fessional course, at the bar and upon the bench, was a success. His forensic efforts for nearly forty years bear testimony to his power and ability as a law- yer, an advocate, and as a judge.
The life of a lawyer devoted to his profession is inevitably uneventful. The relation to friends and clients, and the issues of controversies at the bar, though they may be absorbing and often dramatic, do not pass readily into biography. Six years of the professional life of Pierrepont Isham were passed upon the bench of the Supreme Court of Vermont. In the fall of 1851 the Legislature of the State elected him to that position, which he held without intermission until the fall of 1857, and then peremptorily declined a re-election that was offered him. During that period the body of railroad law of this country was in its early course of development and as the railroads constructed in Vermont passed almost immediately into litigation many of the most important cases of that time came under the cognizance of that court. Possessing as he did those qualities that placed him high in the profession as a lawyer, Judge Isham
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was eminently fitted for the more exalted station on the bench of the Supreme Court, and here he was ever self-possessed dignified, courteous, easy and grace- ful in bearing, firm in his rulings, logical in his reasonings, kind and forbearing, especially toward the younger members of the profession, so that he earned the reputation of being one of the ablest and most popular judges upon the Supreme bench, where, during the term of his incumbency, he was associated with jurists like Stephen Royce, Isaac F. Redfield, and Milo L. Bennett. Very soon after Judge Isham's retirement from the bench he removed to New York, where he lived until his death, on May 8th, 1872. He was always known as a man of scholarly tastes and wide reading, a profound lawyer, a blameless citizen, a faithful friend, a trusted counselor, adequate to every call of duty, though he seldom appeared in court. Thus his was a complete life. It was, however, as a citizen and neighbor, and especially during his latter years, that those who knew Judge Isham best will remember him most fondly. His genial and kindly presence, his liberal heart and free hand, his perfect truthfulness and single- ness of mind, his uprightness and purity of life, his thorough contempt for over- subtle methods, his unhesitating assertion and support of his honest con- victions, in short his Christian faith and the Christian morals and Christian life by which that faith was evinced, these form the memories of him which will long- est endure in the hearts of his friends. He was one to whom death could not come untimely. Upon the occassion of the death of Judge Isham, the New York Herald, commenting upon his life, said: "Judge Pierrepont Isham, an American lawyer, jurist and judicial magistrate of brilliant reputation and the most strict integrity of character, died yesterday. His removal from life sorrows a wide circle of friends and terminates a professional career of great utility. Judge Isham was for a long period of time an associate with Chief Justice Red- field and Judge Bennett on the bench of the Supreme Court of Vermont in its best period, but of late years a resident of New York and of Vermont. He was rarely seen in court, although he was the counselor of some of our most influential men in matters affecting their largest interests. His reputation was known throughout New York, New England and some of the Western States. He was accepted by the public and by his brethren at the bar as an excellent representative of that class of men, 'old time judges,' who were raised to the bench, as it were, of necessity, purely because of the weight of their profes- sional influence and character, whose decisions, founded strictly on principles of equity and the common law, illumine the reports of the courts of the United States, and are cited abroad with respect, and continue to be quoted long after their authors have given place to younger men. His example in every day life was a useful one, prominent as he necessarily was in society. He was standard bearer and active member of his church, and one who zealously per . formed every duty of a good citizen."
On the 2d day of October, in the year 1831, Pierrepont Isham was married
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to Semanthe Swift, daughter of Dr. Noadiah Swift, a distinguished physician of Bennington. Judge Isham raised to maturity a family of three children, viz .: Edward Swift, Henry Pierrepont, and Mary Adeline, the latter the wife of Ma- jor Sartell Prentice, U. S. A., of all whom reside in the city of Chicago, Ill.
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