USA > Vermont > Grand Isle County > History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. > Part 65
USA > Vermont > Franklin County > History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. > Part 65
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83
In 1884 he married Rosina E., eldest daughter of the late Hon. H. H. Bowman, of St. Albans. She lived but three years after their marriage. Although born in England Mr. Borley is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of American patriotism, and continually demonstrates the warmest
688
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
sympathy for our republican institutions. His public spirit and benevo- lence are widely known, and many public institutions of charity can testify to his generosity. He has been vice-president of the National Association of Life Underwriters of the United States ; first vice-presi- dent and treasurer of the Vermont Life Underwriters' Association, which was organized through his individual efforts, and which is now an honor to the state ; and was for several years secretary and treasurer of the Franklin County Board of Underwriters. He is a prominent mem- ber of the Masonic order, the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and other societies. Local organizations of several towns throughout the state, and even in other states, have testified to his popularity by elect- ing him to honorary membership. Modest of his success in business life, it is his greatest pride to be considered an American.
EWETT, COL. A. B., who was born in St. Albans, March 20, 1849, J was the second son and child of Eleazer and Dorothy (Abell) Jewett. His boyhood days were spent on his father's farm. He attended the district schools of his native town, and on attaining his maturity he engaged in mercantile business and came to Swanton in November, 1851. He afterwards formed a partnership with Elisha L. Barney and kept a general store at Swanton. The breaking out of the civil war found him engaged in mercantile pursuits, but knowing that his coun- try was in danger he left his business and offered his services to put down the Rebellion. He was commissioned first lieutenant of Com- pany A, First Regiment of Vermont Volunteers, April 27, 1861, and was mustered out August 15, 1861, at the end of his term of service. Colonel Jewett re- enlisted August 26, 1862, and was commissioned Sep- tember 1, 1862, colonel of the Tenth Vermont Volunteers. Owing to ill health he was obliged to resign his command April 25, 1864, and lie returned to Swanton and again became identified with the business in- terests of that town. During the year 1869 Colonel Jewett became in- terested in railroad matters. The Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad had been built as far as Johnson, Vt., and had become bankrupt, work having been stopped, and to all appearance the project was hopelessly abandoned. To put the road on a paying basis it was necessary to com-
689
BIOGRAPHICAL.
plete it from Johnson to Swanton, and thereby make connections with Ogdensburg and the far West. To accomplish this herculean task Colo- nel Jewett devoted his time and wholly through his endeavors was the road completed. He retained his interest in the road till it was pur- chased in the fall of 1886 by the Boston and Lowell Railroad.
Colonel Jewett's death occurred March 6, 1887, and was hastened by his exhaustive and untiring work in the interest of the Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad. His widow, who was Miss Achsah M. Giffin, survives him. They had two children : Frances E., who died at the age of nineteen, and George A., who died at the age of twenty-one.
H AYNES, JAMES MADISON, was born in St. Albans, April 30, 1815. He is the second son of John and Sophia (Fellows) Haynes. His father was an early settler of St. Albans, and was a carpenter and joiner by trade. He emigrated to Ohio with his three sons in 1833, where he and his sons John and Josiah died. James M. Haynes re- ceived only a common school education, and was apprenticed to learn his father's trade. He removed from Ohio to his native town in 1841 and worked at his trade till 1843, when he started a sash and door fac- tory at St. Albans Bay, and was one of the pioneers of that manufac- turing industry in Vermont. He carried on this business successfully for twenty years, employing from eight to twelve hands, when he pur- chased his present farm and engaged in agricultural pursuits in connec- tion with fruit growing. Mr. Haynes started in life with no ready capital, but by perseverance and industry he has obtained a comfortable fortune. He is a natural mechanic; his house and outbuildings, besides a number of pieces of furniture, are products of his handiwork. He is a generous and public spirited man, and was one of the founders of the Universalist church of St. Albans, his donations to that society aggre- gating over $4,000. In politics he was originally a Democrat, but since the organization of the Republican party he has affiliated with that body. He married, October 31, 1841, Esther Tuller, who was born in St. Albans, September 13, 1814, and they have had three children, viz .: Theron B., born July 4, 1843, died September 23, 1847; Volna B., born June 5, 1845, died October 2, 1847 ; and Alfred M., born November 9, 1851, died May 1, 1868. 87
690
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
H ALL, COL. ALFRED A., was born in Athens, Windham county, Vt., December 31, 1848. His boyhood days were passed with his parents, R. H. and M. E. Hall, upon a small farm in his native town, where he attended the common schools until prepared to enter upon a course of study in Leland and Gray Seminary in Townshend, Vt. Cir- cumstances preventing the attainment of a long cherished desire of en- tering college, he commenced the study of law in the office of Davis & Adams in St. Albans in 1870. At the April term of 1873 he was ad- mitted to the bar in Franklin county, and later to practice before the Supreme Court of the state and the United States courts. In 1874 he formed a partnership with W. D. Wilson, esq., in St. Albans, where he has since continued the practice of his profession with marked success, earning for himself high rank as an able and conscientious lawyer.
Colonel Hall is as prominent in social, military, and political circles as he is among his professional brethren. He has been repeatedly called upon to preside over the annual and special meetings of his townsmen ; has been twice elected president of the board of trustees of the village of St. Albans, has served as village corporation counsel many years, and was state's attorney of Franklin county for two years; in every instance winning distinction for himself and reflecting honor upon his constitu- ency. Ever since his academical days, when his winters were occupied with teaching district schools, he has been deeply interested in educa- tional matters. For many years he has been a member of the school board of his adopted town,-a portion of the time its chairman,-and has labored earnestly with the aid of his associates to bring the schools, with which he is thus so closely identified, to the high state of excellence and proficiency for which they are now noted. He is at present one of the trustees of the Franklin County Grammar School. A descendant of Revolutionary stock he is strongly imbued with military tendencies, and has naturally manifested a deep interest in the support and devel- opment of the state militia. In 1876 he was enrolled as a private in the famous Ransom Guards of St. Albans, and retained an active member- ship until promoted from the ranks to the non commissioned staff, from which he was advanced to the commissioned staff of the First Regiment N. G. V. In 1884 he was appointed upon the staff of Gov. Samuel E. Pingree, with the rank of colonel and A. D. C., and in 1876 closed an
69 1
BIOGRAPHICAL.
active ten years' service with well earned honors. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Amid the multifarious duties of an otherwise busy life Colonel Hall has found time to devote a portion of his splendid ability and untiring energy to the advancement of Free Masonry in his native state. In fact the history of his Masonic career is in no small measure the history of the institution itself during the past fifteen years. When barely twenty- one years of age he was brought to Masonic light in Blazing Star Lodge, No. 23, in Townshend, Vt. Soon after his removal to St. Al- bans he was admitted to Franklin Lodge, No. 4, of which he was elected junior warden in 1872 and worshipful master in 1873, 1874, and 1875. In 1876 he was appointed grand lecturer by Grand Master Henry H. Smith, serving three years, and at once sprang into prominence before the craft in general by his intelligent and indefatigable efforts to evolve order from the chaos which marked the ritualistic work of that day, and by his familiarity with Masonic law and jurisprudence and the usages and customs of the craft. In 1881 he was elected grand junior warden of the Grand Lodge, and advancing through the chairs retired from the Grand East in 1889 after a brilliant administration of two years as grand mas- ter. He received the chivalric orders of knighthood in 1876 in Lafayette Commandery, then located at Swanton. As a member of this organiza- tion, and later as its eminent commander, he was instrumental in making it one of the most flourishing commanderies in the state. In 1882 he was elected grand generalissimo of the Grand Commandery, and in 1883 and in 1884 grand commander, leaving a record never excelled in that high office. In 1883 he represented the Grand Commandery at the Trien- nial at San Francisco, and at the present time is the representative of the grand master of Knights Templar for the district comprising New York, Vermont, and Connecticut. Colonel Hall is not without distinc- tion in the Cryptic Rite, having received the degrees in Columbus Council, R. and S. M., of St. Albans, and having served as thrice illus- trious master several years. He took a prominent part in the organ- ization of the Veteran Masonic Association of Vermont, and was its first venerable chief. He has also attained to the thirty-third and highest degree A. A. S. R. He was first in Vermont to have been elected grand master, grand high priest, and grand commander, and this sketch would
692
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
be incomplete without further reference to his valuable labors in the several grand Masonic bodies. From his first appearance upon the floor of each he has been prominent in their deliberations, and by continuous service upon committees, notably of jurisprudence, has left the impress of his wisdom and culture upon the most important legislation. A fluent and pleasing speaker, a terse and ready writer, he not only has done much in his public and private addresses and writings to dissem- inate light and instruction among his brethren, but also to elevate the standard of Free Masonry before the world at large.
In the private walks of life Colonel Hall is genial and sincere, a staunch friend, and a loyal citizen. In his domestic life he is blessed with a devoted wife, née Abbie L. Austin, with whom he was united in marriage in 1874, and two bright and promising sons, viz .: Harrie Vaughan, aged thirteen years, and Le Roy Austin, aged three years.
P AIGE, STEPHEN WILSON, M.D., was born in Barnet, Vt., Au- gust 18, 1852, and is the seventh son and eighth child in a family of ten children of Stephen Peabody and Susan (Clifford) Paige. His father was engaged in farming pursuits, and the doctor's early education was obtained at the district schools of his native town. He never re- ceived an academical course of study, and at the age of nineteen entered mercantile life as book- keeper for E. & T. Fairbanks in their general store at St. Johnsbury, Vt. He remained in their employ till 1878, and by strict economy he saved enough to commence the study of his cho- sen profession. After finishing his business career at St. Johnsbury he was employed for the following two years by Park & Robinson, wholesale grocers of Montpelier, Vt. During this time by constant study he was fitting himself for the medical profession. In 1881 the doctor went to Barre, Vt., and became a student in the office of Prof. J. Henry Jackson, who was one of the faculty of the University of Ver- mont. He remained in Professor Jackson's office till the spring of 1882, when he entered the Medical Department of the University of Vermont, and graduated from there in 1884. In October of the latter year he went to New York city and was instructed in clinical medicine and sur- gery at the various hospitals of that city. In the spring of 1885 he
J. H. Paige, MAS
في
693
BIOGRAPHICAL.
commenced the practice of his profession at St. Albans, where he is now located. During the small pox epidemic at Montreal in the fall of 1885 Dr. Paige was appointed by the government on the quarantine staff, his duties being the inspection of passengers traveling between Canada and the states. He is a member of the State and County Medical So- cieties, and is one of the attending physicians for the Warner's Home for Little Wanderers of St. Albans. The doctor is a prominent Mason, having received the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite; he is a member of Passumsic Lodge, No. 27, F. and A. M., Haswell Chapter, No. II, R. A. M., Montpelier Council, R. and S. M., and Palestine Com- mandery, No. 5, K. T. He is also an Odd Fellow and a member of the Delta Mu Society of the University of Vermont. In politics a Repub- lican, he has never been an aspirant for public office.
B ALLARD, ORRIS. The first settler in Georgia of the branch of the Ballard family from which our subject is descended was Joseph Ballard, who removed from Tinmouth, Vt., to that town and located on the farm now owned and occupied by his grandson, Joseph Ballard. The pioneer settler was born in Connecticut, February 7, 1766, and married, November 14, 1793, Polly Loomis. The latter was also a native of Con- necticut, where she was born May 5, 1775. Their children were Laura, who married Truman Chase, and died in Westford, Vt .; Orin, who died in the West; Joseph, a Baptist clergyman, who died at Norwalk, Conn .; Hiram, who died in Georgia ; E. Miranda, who married Isaac Chase, and died at Westford, Vt .; Rion W., who died at Milton, Vt .; Orris ; Royal T., who resides in Fairfax, Vt .; Polly, who was married, first, to Churchill Hickok, and second, to Charles Darling, and died in Milton, Vt .; and Loomis, who died in New York state. Joseph, the pioneer, died in Georgia, April 11, 1836, and his wife September 27, 1847. Orris Ballard was born in Georgia, July 7, 1808, and married, September 20, 1836, Chloe P. Jocelyn, a native of Georgia. Their children were all born in Georgia, and are as follows: First, Joseph, born July 8, 1838, married Augusta Kingsley. He is a farmer in Georgia, and has four children, viz .: Bert, Julian, Jessie, and George. Second, George A., born October 28, 1839, married Palmyra L. Witters, and has two children,
694
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
Rolla C. and Mabel U. He is an attorney at Fairfax, Vt. Third, Henry, born June 16, 1841, is a farmer at Oxford, Furnace county, Neb. Fourth, Chloe Priscilla, wife of Judson Carr, of Georgia. Fifth, Emily, wife of Stearns Boyden, and resides in Georgia. Sixth, Orris, born January 12, 1849, married Caira Wightman, and has one child, Josie, He is a farmer and customs house official, and resides in Georgia. Orris Ballard was a staunch member of the Republican party. He died in Georgia in May, 1880, and his wife November 17, 1874.
B RIGHAM, PETER BENT, was born at Bakersfield, Vt., on the 4th of February, 1807. His father was Uriah Brigham and his mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Josiah Fay. His father died leaving several children wholly dependent upon their mother and their own exertions for their support. At that time the subject of this memoir was in his early youth. Like many of our foremost citizens the boy set forth from his home without money, friends, or influence to seek his fortune.
Experience teaches us that, with few exceptions, men retain their general characteristics throughout life. It is often said that the child is father to the man, and we watch the beginning as prophetic of the future career. But the converse is no less true, for the developed character of mature manhood throws a light upon the acts and efforts of childhood and youth. And so in this case. The fortitude, the indomitable self- reliance, the patience, vigor, and integrity of the prominent and success- ful citizen of Boston were the same which guided the young country lad as he set out from his home through a comparative wilderness for a dis- tant city, that he might relieve his widowed mother from the care and expense of his support and gain for himself a name and a fortune.
The first part of his journey was on the back of an old broken-down horse, with saddle-bags containing his food and scant apparel. Long before he reached his destination the horse became useless and he made his way on foot, and by working on a Middlesex Canal boat, to Boston. By assiduous and persevering labor in various occupations, chiefly in the fish and oyster business, he accumulated a little money, and by judicious use of what he had gained he acquired enough to lease the prominent restaurant known as Concert Hall, in Court street, with which for many
695
BIOGRAPHICAL.
years he was identified. But his chief success was in the careful pur- chase of real estate, and in these transactions it is believed that never, in a single instance, did his judgment fail him. At the time of his death his fortune, after deducting all liabilities, was estimated at about $1,000,000.
Mr. Brigham never sought public office, but was deeply interested in his adopted home, and in a quiet and unostentatious way did much to promote the welfare of the city of Boston. He might easily have had office in any branch of the municipal government, for which in many respects he was peculiarly fitted, but he preferred to help in his private capacity. As an experienced dealer in real estate his judgment was often sought by the city officers, and especially on important ques- tions of street widening and similar improvements it was found to be of great value. He was one of the original directors of the Fitchburg Rail- road Company, and continued in office up to the time of his death. To that corporation he gave very much of his valuable time and thought, always ready to labor for its interests without favor or reward.
His habits of life were most regular. Careful as to food, and a total abstainer from spirituous liquors and tobacco, he was enabled to preserve a robust health, so necessary in the arduous labors upon which he had entered. His great success in business was, in a measure, owing to his cordial manners proceeding from a genuine kindness of heart. It was not his method to scatter money here and there and thus to relieve his conscience, but he sought out those who were not only in need, but ready to help themselves, and with his advice and assistance, and perhaps a small expenditure where absolutely necessary, there were many who owed their relief from poverty to him. His sympathy for his fellowmen was especially illustrated in his anti-slavery sentiments and the gentle kindness which he ever showed to the negro race. He was constant in his endeavors to aid them in obtaining employment and to relieve the distress of those as to whom it was clear to him that relief was necessary. Among his papers after his death were found two cancelled wills, of dates prior to 1862, by which he gave the bulk of his estate for the emancipation of slaves.
He often lamented his want of a liberal education, which he could not have obtained on account of the necessities of his situation. Ap-
696
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
preciating fully its importance he provided by his will a large endow- ment for the erection and maintenance of an academy in his native town of Bakersfield. This academy is now a most prosperous institu- tion, and has been a great blessing to the town and its neighborhood. The number of its students at present is over 100, and bids fair to con- siderably increase. Liberal provision was also made by his will for the care and improvement of the cemetery in his native town.
Mr. Brigham had no issue, having never married, and the careful thought which he gave to the disposition of his estate was characteristic. It was his firm belief that it was far better for any man with health and strength to earn his own living, and that inherited money would be a hinderance rather than a benefit. He therefore was not willing to make provision in his will for the males among his kindred who were able to earn their own support. But for two of them who were disabled, and for his nieces; he made liberal provision, and also for his sister, Mrs. Sarah B. Jacobs, who still survives him, to whose industry and frugal care and affectionate solicitude for his welfare he was much indebted, who was his companion in his home, and to whom he was tenderly at- tached. The bulk of his large fortune, however, was devoted by his will to the establishment, after the expiration of twenty-five years from his death, of a hospital for the sick poor of his adopted city. Fourteen years have now elapsed and the estate in the hands of his executor has increased to a valuation of more than $2,000,000, and it is expected that in the remaining eleven years much more than another million will be added by accumulations, after payment of all annuities with which it is charged.
A most noble and well directed charity indeed, and it will remain as a perpetual monument to its generous founder in the relief of what seems to be the sum of human suffering-poverty and sickness combined. And when we consider this beneficent disposition of his property at the last, and the testamentary provision which at different times he had made for suffering slaves, may we not well think and believe that in those long years of patient toil in gathering his fortune this benevolent donor had, all the while, a fixed purpose, known only to himself, of using his life and strength for the welfare of his fellowmen?
After a well-rounded life of remarkable energy and activity, guided
697
BIOGRAPHICAL.
by rules of strict integrity, on the 24th day of May, 1877, Peter Bent Brigham calmly and bravely laid himself down to die in his own home in Boston, at the allotted age of three-score years and ten.
H OTCHKISS, CEPHAS A., born in Georgia, June 27, 1834, was the only child of Cyrus and Mary (Town) Hotchkiss. The pioneer of the family in Georgia was James Hotchkiss, the grandfather of Cephas A. He was born in Ira, Vt, and came to Georgia from Hub- bardston, Vt., in 1798, locating in the center of the town, but subse- quently removing to the southern part. He married Alice Storey and had a family of six children, viz .: Asenath, who married Nathaniel Bowker and died at Potsdam, N. Y .; Cyrus; Hiram, a resident of Lena, Stephenson county, Ill. ; Harriet, who married Albert Bliss and died at Freeport, Ill .; Charlotte, who married Nathan Pratt and died at Chi- cago, Ill .; and James M. James and his wife Alice both died in Georgia. Cyrus, the eldest son of the family, was born in Georgia, December 1, 1799, and married Mary, daughter of Edmund and Mary (Macumber) Town. He was engaged in the mercantile business and in farming. From 1832 to 1842 he kept a store at West Georgia, at which place he was burnt out. From 1849 to 1853 he carried on the sale of general merchandise at Georgia Plains. He was originally a Douglas Democrat, but on account of his anti-slavery sentiments he joined the Republican party at its organization. He was a member of the Vermont House of Repre- sentatives in 1858 and 1859 and of the Senate in 1860 and 1861, and held various town offices. He died March 3, 1875. James M., the youngest son of the family, was born in Georgia, May 27, 1812, and was twice married, his last wife being Mrs. Harriet Hosford. She was a native of Cambridge, Vt, and the daughter of John and Rebecca (Whitcomb) Storey. They had one child, Harriet E., the present wife of Cephas A. Hotchkiss. James M., in company with his brother, Hiram, purchased a farm in Fairfax in 1832, but afterwards engaged in the mercantile business at Fairfax, which he carried on for a number of years. He finally removed to Waterville, Vt., where he was engaged in merchandising for nineteen years, and then returned to Fairfax, where he carried on business till 1874. He died in that town May 7, 1877.
88
698
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
He represented the town of Waterville several years in the state legisla- ture, and was for two years state senator from Lamoille county.
Cephas A. Hotchkiss, after attending the local schools, took an aca- demical course.at the Bakersfield Academical Institution (usually known as the South Academy) and at the Lamoille County Academy at John- son, Vt. In 1852 he became a student at the University of Vermont, where he remained till 1855. Since that time he has been engaged in farming, and is to-day one of the successful agriculturists of his native town, his farms embracing some 575 acres. In politics a Republican, he was elected to the office of lister in 1858 and '59, and from that time to the present has held some town office. He was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives in 1870 and 1876.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.