USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 96
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Mr. Talcott is a consistent Republican in politics, and, though not ambitious to fig- ure as an office-holder, has frequently been placed in positions of honor and trust by those best enabled to judge of his abilities and fitness. He was elected a representative of Williston in the Legislature in 1872, and has twice been selectman. He is interested in the support of the Universalist Church, which he and his family regularly attend.
On the 11th of March, 1858, Mr. Talcott was united in marriage with Lucy, daughter of Zimri Root. Her grandfather, Arad, was an early settler-about 1800- from Montague, Mass., upon the Root farm previously mentioned, and now owned by Mr. Talcott. Arad Root was born on the roth of September, 1767, and died on the Ist of September, 1855. His son Zimri was born May 19, 1806, and died October 8, 1872. Mrs. Talcott was born on the 24th of November, 1836. Mr. and Mrs. Talcott have had five children, of whom only two are now living. The following are their names and the dates of their births, etc .: Seth, born March 12, 1860, died December 17, 1864 ; George M., born June 3, 1862, died August 9, 1883 ; Charles R., born May 16, 1869, died March 5, 1886; Jennie E, born September 30, 1870, and living now with her parents; Frank, born October 13, 1873, also at home.
DENtales
781
JUDGE TORREY E. WALES.
W. TALES, JUDGE TORREY E. Torrey E. Wales was born in the town of West- ford, in Chittenden county, on the 20th day of June, 1820. His father, Dan- forth Wales, a native of Brimfield, Mass., at an early age went to Pittsford, Vt., and served an apprenticeship in the clothier's trade. From there he came to Westford in about the year 1808, when he had attained the age of twenty-three years. Owing to his energy and practical business talents, he soon built up a large and successful business as a cloth-dresser, and became also the proprietor of the grist and saw-mills on Brown's River. He achieved prominence in the various affairs of the town, and held several of the most important offices within the gift of his townsmen, serving several terms as their representative. He died at the age of sixty-five years. His first wife was Lovisa Sibley, of Westford, who shared with him the hardships that attend the course of a pioneer in a country so reluctant in the distribution of rewards as was Western Ver- mont in early days, and became the mother of the subject of our notice. After her death Danforth Wales again married-the fruit of the second marriage being a daughter, now Mrs. Charles Kimball, of Westford.
Torrey E. Wales passed his boyhood days in preparing, as well as he could in the schools of his native county, for a collegiate course of study ; and with such success that he was graduated from the University of Vermont in the class of 1841. He then entered the law office of Asahel Peck, subsequently justice of the Supreme Court and governor of the State, and, after devoting the necessary time to the study of law, was admitted to practice in the courts of Chittenden county at the spring term of 1845. Choos- ing Burlington as his future home, he opened an office at the head of Church street, and patiently waited for briefs. He was not long permitted to be idle, however, and by virtue of his thorough acquaintance with the principles of law, and his natural equip- ment in common sense, which is the power of successfully applying principles to facts, he built up a good practice. He continued alone until about 1857, when he formed a co-partnership with Russell S. Taft, then lately a student in his office, and now an honored justice of the Supreme Court of the State. This relation subsisted for the un- usual period of twenty-one years, being finally dissolved in 1878. The next partner- ship was formed in the spring of 1882, by the admission of George W. Wales to an in- terest in the business, and the firm name of Wales & Wales was adopted.
Judge Wales has always been a consistent and unswerving member of the Republi- can party, though he has not by any narrow and bitter partisanship attempted to rise at the expense of others. His diligence and abilities have been abundantly recognized by those who have had the best means of knowing him. He was elected State's attorney in 1853, and held the office three consecutive years. He was chosen the second mayor of the city, and remained in that office for two years (1866 and 1867), and in 1870 served as acting mayor in the place of D. C. Linsley, mayor elect, whose business called him away from Burlington immediately after his election. Judge Wales was also one of the members of the board of aldermen in the years 1869, 1870, and 1871, resigning in the lat- ter part of the last-mentioned year. He was again elected alderman in 1874. In the years 1883 and 1884 he served as city attorney. Besides the several positions he has been placed in a number of the minor offices, and in 1868, 1869, 1876 and:1877 represented the city in the Legislature. The office for which he has shown the greatest aptitude, that of judge of probate, was given him in the year 1862, since which time he has not been allowed to retire, but has been kept in the office continuously for nearly twenty-four years. 50
782
HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
On the 3d of February, 1846, he married Elizabeth C. Mason, of Burlington. Mrs. Wales died on the 12th of April, 1886, leaving one son, George W. Wales, who was born on the 10th of July, 1855. He was graduated from the University of Vermont in the spring of 1876, when he had reached the same age at which his father was gradu- ated from the same institution. In the Congressional sessions of 1876 and 1877 he acted as private secretary to Senator Morrill, and in 1878 and 1879 held the same po- sition with Senator Dawes. In the spring of 1882 he was admitted to the Chittenden county bar, and at once entered into co-partnership with his father. From 1882 to 1884 he was secretary of civil and military affairs under Governor Barstow.
ARSTOW, HON. JOHN L. The Barstow family in this country are descended, B
so far as is known, from four brothers who left the West Riding of Yorkshire, in England, in September, 1635, and settled in Massachusetts. They traced an honorable ancestry back to the reign of Henry III, A. D. 1271, when one of the number, John by name, received an estate in Surrey, in acknowledgment of services rendered in the wars with the French. The American emigrants and their descendants engaged mainly in shipbuilding, argriculture, mercantile and maritime pursuits, though among them are found the names of many clergymen, physicians and teachers. Very many of the town histories of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island refer to members of this family in commendatory terms. Those more prominent are described as men whose chief greatness consisted in the greatness of their souls, devoted to everything religious, patriotic and public-spirited ; as being hospitable, of sound judgment, unbend- ing integrity, gentlemanly deportment, benevolent, peacemakers, God-fearing, regular attendants at church. Of one it is said he was absent from church but once in fifty years ; of another his minister said, " I can set my watch correctly when I see Deacon Barstow coming to meeting." They took an active part in the colonial wars with the Indians and French, as well as in the War of the Revolution. Some suffered captivity and some death at the hands of the Indians, and one was killed with Wolfe at Quebec. Their names are found on the muster-rolls of Putnam at Bunker Hill, and of Washing- ton at Valley Forge.
One of these Revolutionary veterans, Ebenezer, fifth in direct descent from John, one of the original immigrants, came to Vermont at the close of his service in the war and settled in Shelburne, purchasing a tract of unbroken wilderness from Ira Allen in East Shelburne. He married Esther Owen, set about clearing his land and led the ordina- ry, uneventful arduous life of our early settlers, bearing his full share of the burdens of town and public affairs, and is still kindly remembered by some of the oldest inhabi- tants as a quiet, honest, law-abiding citizen. At his death, March 30, 1834, at the age of 78 years, his farm came into the possession of Heman, his second son, who during a long and industrious life never resided away from the old homestead except when teaching school during the winters of his early manhood. Heman Barstow was a lead- ing and active member of the Methodist Church, and long one of its class leaders. Temperance, Sabbath-schools, education and every good cause found in him a liberal and active friend. He was entrusted by his fellow citizens with many public duties and represented his town and county in both houses of the General Assembly of the State. In December, 1814, he was married to Laura Lyon, an estimable lady who was descend- ed on the maternal side from the Hawley family of Connecticut. Her amiable and affectionate disposition made her home one of peace and love, while her faithfulness to
783
HON. JOHN L. BARSTOW.
every duty of life endeared her memory to all her numerous relatives and acquaint- ances. She died January 17, 1857, aged sixty-two years, leaving eight children. Her husband followed her to rest, closing a peaceful and useful life on the 27th of February, 1868, aged seventy-eight years.
Their youngest son, John Lester Barstow, the subject of this sketch, though born in a rural district and brought up to farm life with its ordinary meager opportunities for ed- ucation, had the advantages of very superior teachers in the common schools and a few terms in Shelburne Academy. These were utilized with such diligence and with such credit to himself that at the age of fourteen years he was examined and licensed to teach in Burlington by its board of school superintendents, which then consisted of Revs. O. W. B. Peabody, J. K. Converse and H. J. Parker, and he began his work away from home as a teacher in the district school. At this time, being nearly fitted for college, he was very desirous of obtaining a liberal education ; but, the village merchant offering him a place, he yielded to the advice of his father and entered the service of John Simonds, 2d, a thoroughly honest and trained business man, where he remained four years, learn- ing those methodical business habits so invaluable to every walk of life. He then, at the invitation of his uncle and brother, who were proprietors of a large hotel at Detroit, Mich., entered their service. A few months after he was of age an equal partnership in the business of his former employer, Mr. Simonds, was offered to him, which he de- clined ; but the offer gave him such confidence in his business capacity that at the age of twenty-two years, being offered the use of money for the purpose by one of the wealthy men of Detroit, he purchased the lease and fixtures of the hotel and entered upon an extensive and lucrative business, in the course of which he became acquainted with nearly all the prominent men of that State. In those days the sale of wines and liquors was the most profitable part of a hotel ; but he refused to share its profit, and cast his first vote for prohibitory law. Michigan was then strongly Democratic, but he ad- hered to his Whig education and instincts, and was one of the band of young men that so enthusiastically supported " Zach " Chandler and by whose efforts Mr. Chandler af- terwards became the leading figure in Michigan politics. The business of hotel keep- ing was, however, not at all consonant with his tastes and inclinations, and he left it in 1855. He at once had numerous flattering offers of business, but the New Eng- land custom in those days of large families was that one member of the family should remain at home to take care of the " old people "; so, after spending some months in travel through the United States and Canada, he settled upon the old homestead, in charge of the old farm, devoting himself to the study and active pursuit of agriculture, and becoming a paid correspondent for some of the leading agricultural papers of the day. On the 28th of October, 1858, he was married to Laura Maeck, granddaughter of Dr. Frederick Maeck, the first physician settled in Shelburne, who is elsewhere men- tioned in this volume. Mrs. Barstow died March 11, 1885, of the dread disease con- sumption, which was hereditary in her family. She had for years been an invalid, but bore her sufferings with patience and fortitude, and her death was deeply mourned by a large circle of relatives and friends. She left two sons, viz .: Frederick M., born March 3, 1860, who was graduated from the University of Vermont in 1880 and is now a civil engineer, and Charles L., born May 23, 1867, now a student at the University of Ver- mont.
The war of 1861 found few young men with so many ties to bind them at home, and, like many others, he did not feel it a duty to enlist while"so many others could do so
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784
HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
and were willing to do so with so little sacrifice to family and business. But when months of struggle had passed with little but reverses to the Union arms he entered the Eighth Vermont Volunteers, under Colonel Stephen Thomas, serving as adjutant, cap- tain and major, and during the whole of his service he was with Gens. Butler and Banks in Louisiana and the southwest. Colonel Thomas remaining in command of his regi- ment for over three years gave little chance for promotion to subordinate officers, but he was mustered out of service while major of the regiment August 18, 1864, on ac- count of expiration of term of service. Like many another northern youth he entered the army with robust health and vigorous constitution ; but nearly three years of ardu- ous out-door service in the swamps and miasmatic climate of Louisiana shattered both, and for twenty years past, remittent fever, chills and other malarious diseases have fol- lowed him, necessitating constant care and frequent medical attendance. But it may be noted that he has never made application for a pension, though often urged to do so by his physician and by his old colonel, now General Thomas, as being as much entitled to one as though an arm or a leg had been shot away. These physical disabilities have in later years deterred him from entering upon any active business pursuits.
The limits of this sketch permit no extended notice of his military service. It must suffice to say that though he was frequently detailed upon staff and other duties he bore an honorable part in every skirmish and battle in which his regiment was engaged. Col- onel George N. Carpenter, of Boston, in his history of the Eighth Vermont Regiment, notes that when, after the bloody fight of June 14, 1863, in front of Port Hudson (in which the Eighth Vermont lost 165 men killed and wounded) General Banks called for volunteers to head the storming column for a final assault, Captain Barstow was one of the brave men who stepped forward to form the " forlorn hope, " and sums up the matter by saying that " Major Barstow won a splendid record in the army," and adds : " He became captain of Company K and acting adjutant-general under Gens. Thomas and Weitzil, and afterwards Major. He participated in all the engagements in which his regiment took part, and was complimented for eminent service in the field ; was honorably mentioned for his personal services in the engagement with the gunboat Cotton. Served as assistant adjutant-general on the brigade staff at the siege of Port Hudson ; was complimented in the report of brigade commander for gallantry in the assault on Port Hudson June 14, 1853; was in command of the recruits and those who did not re-enlist (500 in number) while the veterans were on a furlough, and for a time was post-com- mander at Thibedeau, La. As a commander he enforced military discipline by exam- ple as well as by precept, and above all by the noble manhood with which nature had endowed him. Major Barstow carried with him into private life the tender regards of his comrades, who in token of their esteem presented to him a beautiful sword and belt, just as he was about to leave New Orleans for home." As to the incident of the sword presentation it may be added that it was presented by the rank and file, and that pre- vious to this time, when he left the captaincy of Company K to become major, the en- listed men of his old company also presented him with an elegant sword. These two memorial gifts are justly preserved with great pride, as evincing the regard of the en- listed men after they had served under him and known him thoroughly.
Colonel Carpenter in his book also briefly outlines the civil service of Governor Bar- stow after the war, as follows :
" Since his retirement from the army Major John L. Barstow has filled many posi- tions and always to his credit. He had hardly reached his home after leaving Louisi-
785
HON. JOHN L. BARSTOW.
ana before he was called into the State service by the offer of a responsible position in the recruiting service by Adjutant-General Washburn, which he was obliged to decline on account of shattered health. In the following September he was elected a member of the Legislature, and it was during the session in which he served that St. Albans was attacked by Confederate raiders from Canada. At the request of General Washburn he went to the scene of action by the first train, and the next day was sent into Canada on a special mission by Major Austine, United States military commandant of the State. This famous raid created such an excitement that a law was soon passed establishing three brigades of militia, of four regiments each, and Major Barstow was elected by the Legislature as one of the brigade commanders. Under this commission he was ordered by Governor Smith to take command of the provisional forces on the northwestern frontier, where he remained on duty until relieved by General Stannard in January, 1865. In September of that year he was again elected to the Legislature by the unan- imous vote of his town, and in the years 1866 and 1867 he was State senator from Chit- tenden county."
His legislative service to the State may be summed up by a quotation from one of the leading editors of the State in 1882 : " General Barstow has always supported the public cause of the many against the few in his legislative career; his devotion to the farmer class, from which he sprung, has been unwavering : he has an ampler and more accurate knowledge of our past legislative history than any public man in the State ; he has always exercised a leading influence in shaping legislation ; he has a clear, precise vision of its present defects, and for sound equipment for the place of State executive he is the peer of any man in Vermont."
Of his legislative service Rev. Pliny White, a noted biographer of the day, said : " His influence was second to none. When he addressed the House he always had a solid basis of facts upon which to found his arguments, and was always listened to with respect. His high tone as a man won for him many friends. He seemed to be a schol- arly person, more at home with the pen in his hand than when addressing an audience, and was esteemed one of those described by the saying-' Reading maketh a full man.'"
This reference to his habits of reading makes it proper to say that his range of read- ing has embraced almost every branch of literature and science, as well as history and political economy. Few men keep so accurately informed in regard to every interest of his native State and country, while the past and current history of the world are to him matters of constant study. Few men in the State have so large a subscription list of newspapers and magazines, and few private libraries excel the one he has accumulated. It may be well supposed that his influence in legislation has not been confined to the years when he was a member. At the time when he was elected governor there was hardly a clause of the State laws for the benefit of soldiers that was not written by his hand, while educational matters, particularly the authority given towns to establish cen- tral schools ; the rights of married women, equal taxation, taxation of corporations, State and national supervision of corporations, and many other subjects have for years received his earnest attention. He held responsible positions upon standing commit- tees, and when special committees of importance were formed, like those upon the rati- fication of the amendment of the Constitution of the United States, his name was al- ways found upon them. His efforts have been persistent at home and in Washington to prevent a renewal of the old reciprocity treaty with Canada, which he believed would be disastrous to Vermont farmers.
786
HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
In 1870 he was appointed United States pension agent at Burlington, which office he held for nearly eight years, discharging its duties in such a manner as to call from Hon. Carl Shurz, then secretary of the interior, an autograph letter of thanks. His ad- ministration in the United States pension agency brought the same measure of praise that has been accorded to the discharge of his other public duties. The disbursements amounted to millions and brought him in contact with the poor and lowly on the one hand and the extortionate claim agent on the other. The unfortunates soon learned to look upon him as their friend, as he at once set about instituting reforms that were of great benefit to the needy pensioner. When he retired from the office, on account of its consolidation with the other offices in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine in 1878, the Burlington Free Press said : " The business has been conducted under General Bar- stow with an insignificant amount of error, and with a care for the interests both of the pensioners and the government which is worthy of the highest praise. As an instance of the thoughtful attention paid to the recipients of the government's bounty we may mention that the female pensioners, of whom there are about a hundred in this city and Winooski, who were unable through sickness or other disability to come to the office to draw their pensions, have been always paid at their own residences, the agent or his as- sistant paying their dues personally, and the same kindness characterized the entire conduct of the agency. In short General Barstow has exhibited in the pension office the qualities of fidelity to duty, efficiency and courtesy which have characterized him as a soldier, a legislator and in private life. We have expressed an opinion that there was no better agent in the three States, and we can add that we have reason to believe that he could have received the appointment to the consolidated agency if he would have accepted. He preferred, however, not to leave his home and his native State. We are glad to retain him as a citizen, and he will carry with him in his retirement from the office the respect and esteem of all who know him."
In 1879 Governor Proctor appointed him State commissioner for the centennial cel- ebration of the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and he rendered effective service in securing government aid for the undertaking, and for the monument, and in arrang- ing plans for the celebration.
In 1880 he was elected lieutenant-governor of the State for the biennial term, and in 1882 was elected governor, the nominations to each office having been made by the unanimous vote of the respective conventions.
Many of his recommendations to the Legislature were acted upon in accordance with his wishes, while others were postponed. He was the first governor of Vermont to call the attention of the law-making power to the alleged discriminating and excessive rates of freight by transportation companies, and to urge the creation of an effective railroad commission. Neither the Legislature of 1882 nor that of 1884 was ready to act upon this subject, but he has lived to see in 1886 that both political parties demand such a commission in their convention resolutions.
Colonel Carpenter, in his book, says : " The Eli riots occurred during Governor Barstow's term of office, and his course in requiring that justice should precede force, and that the riotous miners should be paid their honest dues, attracted much favorable comment throughout the country." Pending the nomination of his successor, in 1884, a majority of the Republican newspapers in the State advocated his re-nomination, but he declined to become a candidate. The quality of his service as governor, judged by the press, is shown by an extract from the Rutland Herald of October, 1884, then edited
787
HON. JOHN L. BARSTOW. - ALBERT GALLATIN WHITTEMORE.
by the well-known critic, Lucius Bigelow. In commenting upon Governor Barstow's final message he said: " He has more than fulfilled the flattering promises made for him by his friends when he was nominated. He has been as careful, able, independent and efficient a governor as we have had in Vermont during the last twenty years, a period which includes executives of the quality of Dillingham, Peck and Proctor."
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