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 68
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 68
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Mr. Brigham was a man of wide reading, of independent thought, of pure morals, of upright character, kind to his neighbors, and gentle to his family. Being a Democrat in politics he was on the unpopular side in the Green Mountain state, which has always been Whig or Republi- can; yet at three different times (1857, 1869, 1876) he was elected to the state legislature and frequently filled the office of selectman. The last time he was elected to the legislature Dea. Asa Dean, one of the oldest citizens of the town and a life- long Whig and Republican, braved the inclemency of the weather and came out to vote for him, saying that he knew he was voting for an honest man. On relating this fact to a friend in Montpelier Mr. Brigham said, with that frank- ness and simplicity so characteristic of him, that he regarded Deacon Dean's remark as one of the most flattering compliments he had ever received. All through his life he manifested a generous pride in the young men of the town who pursued a liberal course of education, and
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
courted the society of such whenever they were at home on vacations. He associated also much, and to great mutual advantage, with the clergy- men of the town whose philosophical and scientific tastes were in any marked degree developed.
On his death the funeral sermon was preached, August 30, 1878, by Rev. George F. Wright, now professor of the language and literature of the New Testament in Oberlin College, Ohio, who chose as his text: " Who hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."- 2 Tim .: i. 10. Referring to the personal life of Mr. Brigham he said :
" The history of Mr. Brigham, whom we follow to the grave to-day, has been a con- stant protest against all those views of life which make sensual pleasure its chief object. To him life indeed has been more than meat and the body than raiment. From his earliest boyhood the pursuit of intellectual development has peen an absorbing passion. While his father was still living, and the native forests of this town were slowly falling before the woodman's axe, Fay's taste for reading was developed to a remarkable degree. His desires were gratified in the perusal of a small but select library of historical, poetical, and philosophical books, which the far-sighted pioneers brought with them instead of household gods. So long as the father lived nothing was allowed to interrupt the chil- dren when they wished to read; but when his father died, and Fay at the age of eigh- teen stepped into his place and assumed with his mother the care of the household, it was only an indomitable will which could sustain and gratify his love of literature. Yet through a long life he was a standing example to the citizens of this town that wide reading and considerable enjoyment of literary privileges is consistent with the highest success in the ordinary life of a farmer. For through diligent attention to his busi- ness, coupled with strictest integrity, success has attended him, and through legitimate farming he has accumulated no mean fortune. When Mr. Brigham went to the city, as he frequently did in the latter years of his life, it was mainly in search of intellect- ual gratification. On those occasions you would not find him in the theaters and play houses of Boston, but in the lecture halls and libraries. His whole life has been a wit- ness that the joys of the mind are superior to those of the body; and the noble school building now rising to completion in a conspicuous portion of the village, in whose erection he and his family have taken so much interest, will be a standing admonition to the youth of this town that the intellect should be cultivated before the bodily senses. are gratified -- that the clothing of the mind is of far more account than the decoration of the body.
" It would not be wise, even on this occasion, to attempt to conceal the fact that upon some points Mr. Brigham differed from many of us in the mode of expressing his intel- lectual convictions. But he was somewhat fond of parodoxical and antithetical modes of expression, and his wide reading brought him into contact with many lines of thought of which the majority of his townsmen were ignorant. But in the words of the ven-
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erable Deacon Dean, 'He was a devoted husband, an affectionate father, a faithful brother, a helpful neighbor, a good citizen, and an honest man.'
" But the occasion reminds us anew that all things earthly pass away, and that the longest life is but as a watch in the night, and like the grass which groweth up in the morning and in the evening is cut down and withereth. As Mr. Brigham lately remarked in reference to his being upwards of three-score years and ten, that 'he was living on borrowed time,' so we may say of the entire prolongation of our earthly days that it is all borrowed from eternity ; and the ceaseless roll of time continues, even though we dream our lives away. It is too true, alas! as Pascal remarked, that 'Our imagination so magnifies the present hour, through constantly spending thought upon it, and so belittles eternity, though not thinking about it at all, that we make an eternity of noth- ing and a nothing of eternity.' Friends, ' the night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.' For 'now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed.' "
S KEELS, ORIN GREEN, who was born in Highgate, July 22, 1806, is the eldest son in a family of eleven children of David and Martha (Greene) Skeels. The Skeelses were originally from Wales, and Amos, David, and John emigrated to America previous to the Revolutionary war, settling at Lanesboro, Mass. At the beginning of the present century David, a descendant of one of these three, came to Highgate. He was born in 1779, and was a blacksmith by trade and manufactured edged tools. He purchased a farm in Highgate, which is still in the possession of his son Orin G. He married, June 8, 1804, Martha, daughter of Jonathan and Martha (White) Greene. She was a descend- ant of Gen. Nathaniel Greene of Revolutionary fame, and was born in March, 1784. The children of David and Martha (Greene) Skeels were Maria, the widow of John Fish, who resides at Beloit, Wis .; Orin G .; Caroline, who died at eighteen months of age ; Catherine, who died un- married in Highgate; David, who died at De Kalb Junction, N. Y .; Amanda, who married Chester Burnell and died at St. Armand, Can- ada; Edward, who died a prisoner of war at Danville, Va., during the late Rebellion; Caroline E., who died unmarried in Highgate; Al- fred, who died at Stanbridge, Canada ; Nancy, who died single at High- gate ; and Martha A., who married Hezekiah Livingston and died at Swanton, Vt. David, the father, died in Highgate, April 12, 1854, and his wife in Canada, February 22, 1868.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
Orin G. Skeels's education was limited to the district schools of his na- tive town. He learned his father's trade, but becoming dissatisfied he turned his attention to farming, which he has followed during his life. He has resided in Highgate except between the years 1837 and 1859, when he lived in Canada. Mr. Skeels married for his first wife Lois, daughter of Edward C. and Lucy (Downer) Haskins. She was a native of Underhill, Vt. They had no children. Mrs. Skeels died at the age of seventy- one years and nine months. He married, second, Hannah, daughter of Addison and Bethania (Briggs) Smith. She is a native of Stanbridge, Canada.
SEARLS, OSCAR SMALLEY, M.D., was born in Berkshire, Vt., on January 19, 1820. His grandfather, Dr. Benjamin B. Searls, was a native of England, and with his brothers John and James came to America before the Revolutionary war. He was a drummer boy during that war, and removed from Massachusetts to Berkshire, Vt., where he practiced his profession until his death, at the age of over eighty years. His wife was Eunice Scott, and their children were Orren, Sheldon (a well known physician in Berkshire), Benjamin, Fanny, Phila, Pamelia, and Delia. Orren, the father of Dr. Oscar S., was born in Berkshire, where he died at the age of forty five years. He married Loretta, daughter of Alfred Smalley, of Middlebury, Vt., and their children were Rachel, Edgar S., and Oscar S. The latter, after attending the district schools, took an academical course at Jericho Academy. During the years from sixteen to twenty-four his summers were spent on his father's farm and his winters in teaching school. He commenced the study of medicine with Dr. L. N. Burleson, of Berkshire, and graduated from the Castleton Medical College at Castleton, Vt.
In June, 1847, he came to Highgate and commenced the practice of medicine and surgery. As a surgeon he excelled. He performed a great many important operations successfully, and was considered one of the best surgeons in that section. His rides extended over that and the adjacent towns, and he was actively engaged in practicing his pro- fession till 1880, when on account of ill health he was obliged to relin- quish his business, and of late years he has answered only a few calls from some of his old patients. He is a member of the State and County
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Medical Societies ; a Republican in politics he represented Highgate in the House of Representatives of 1880-81, and has held many town offices of trust, including those of justice of the peace and school com- missioner. Dr. Searls married, first, Amanda L., daughter of John Bar- ney, of Swanton. There is no living issue by this marriage. He mar- ried, second, October 13, 1862, Louise F., daughter of Capt. John D. and Catharine (Corrigan) Reynolds, of Isle La Motte. She was born in Fort Covington, N. Y., in June, 1834. Their three children died in infancy.
S MITH, HON. JOHN, was born at Barre, Mass., August 12, 1789, the youngest of four sons of Deacon Samuel and Patience (Gregory) Smith. His father came to St. Albans in 1800 and purchased land on the present site of the village, being located north and south of the main street. He afterwards lost his real estate through some defect in the title: In the town of Barre he was a prominent member of the church, and it is said that he owned the only painted house in the town at the time of his removal to Franklin county. His wife was of Scotch origin, and was a descendant of Robert Ray McGregor, of Scotland.
John Smith's education was obtained at the district schools, and hav- ing decided to fit himself for the legal profession he commenced the study of law with his brother-in law, Russell Hutchins. His studies were, however, mainly prosecuted in the office of the Hon. Benjamin Swift. He was admitted to the bar in August, 1810, and soon after- wards formed a co-partnership with Judge Swift. This firm did a large and remunerative business and ranked second to none in ability and in- tegrity, and continued till 1827, when, owing to Judge Swift's election to Congress, it was dissolved. After the dissolution Mr. Smith contin- ued to practice law till 1845, having several partners at different times. In politics he was a Democrat, and was called upon to fill various offices in the gift of the people. He was elected state's attorney of Franklin county in 1827, and filled that position for the six succeeding years. In 1827 he represented St. Albans in the General Assembly of Vermont and was re-elected, except in 1834, till 1838, being speaker of the House in 1832 and 1833. He received the nomination from the Democratic party in 1838 for representative to Congress. The district was strongly
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
Whig, but the personal popularity of the candidate was such that after three spirited trials he was elected. Owing to the political storm that swept the country in 1840 Mr. Smith was defeated and his congres- sional career terminated March 4, 1841.
Soon after his retirement from Congress the legislature of Vermont granted charters to several railroads. In 1845 mainly through his efforts a charter was obtained for the Vermont and Canada Railroad which gave the right for the company to build a line from some point on the Canada line through the village of St. Albans to connect with some point on the Vermont Central Railroad. They also received the right to build a railroad from any point on their route to the western shore of Grand Isle county, passing across the Sand Bar to South Hero. This would enable them to make connection with the Ogdensburg road, which would open a through traffic with the great lakes and the West- ern country. The route crossing Lake Champlain at South Hero proved not to be feasible, and the proposed terminus of the Ogdensburg road being Plattsburgh, N. Y., parties at Burlington tried to have the project abandoned and the connection of the Ogdensburg and Vermont roads made at that point by ferry. This connection was of the most vital in- terest to the Vermont and Canada Railroad for the reason that the cap- italists of the country refused to advance any further aid to the Vermont railroads only on condition that an unbroken line could be secured to the great lakes of the West. Mr. Smith proved equal to the emer- gency. He petitioned the Vermont legislature to amend the charter granted the Vermont and Canada Railroad by erasing the words "pass- ing across the Sand Bar to South Hero." He carried this amendment successfully through the legislature and thereby gave the railroad the right to build from any point on their route to any point on the west- ern shore of Grand Isle county. The Ogdensburg road changed its terminus to Rouse's Point, N. Y., and Mr. Smith having purchased the farm in Alburgh directly opposite a wharf was built to the channel of the lake, and the connection was first made by ferry and subsequently a bridge was built. Still the capitalists hesitated to advance the funds to build the road. At this crisis Mr. Smith with two other gentlemen de- cided on a course as bold as it was ultimately successful. They pro- ceeded to prosecute the work, becoming personally responsible for the
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expense of same, and borrowed $500,000 before a dollar was realized for subscription to the stock of the company.
Thus did Mr. Smith by his enterprise and foresight take advantage of circumstances to inaugurate a course of measures that has greatly ad- vanced the material wealth and interests of St. Albans. By his efforts in this matter St. Albans became eventually the home of the Central Vermont Railroad, and thereby became the most prosperous and wealthy village in Northern Vermont. He stands paramount in history as the benefactor of Franklin county and of St. Albans in particular, and should receive the reverence and gratitude of the present as well as all succeeding generations. Mr. Smith was noted for his liberality, public spirit, sagacity, and untiring energy. His sudden death occurred November 20, 1858, and was largely due to his perplexing and exhaust- ive labors. On December 31, 1815, he made a profession of religion by connecting himself with the Congregational church, and continued to his death an active and influential member. He married, Septem- ber 18, 1814, Miss Maria W. Curtis, of Troy, N. Y. They had the fol- lowing children: Harriet, who married Benjamin B. Newton, and died at Plattsburgh, N. Y .; John Gregory ; Edward, who died at the age of three years ; Worthington C .; Julia, who married George G. Hunt, and died at St. Albans; and Francis and Louisa (twins), of whom the former died in infancy and the latter married Lawrence Brainerd and died at St. Albans.
A beautiful memorial stone of white marble in St. Albans cemetery is inscribed with the following epitaph: "In memory of John Smith. Born at Barre, Mass., August 12, 1789, died at St. Albans, Vt., Novem- ber 20, 1858. His private virtues and the graces of a well ordered Christian life endeared him to his family and friends, and qualified him for the distinguished position which he occupied at the bar, and for the many offices of public and political trusts which were bestowed upon him. This simply indicates the spot where the mortal remains repose of one who by his perseverance and energy in successfully establishing the Vermont and Canada Railroad gave to Franklin county and St. Al- bans a stimulus for the development of their agricultural and manufact- uring resources." The most enduring and substantial monument to this man's memory is the busy offices and employees of the Central Ver- mont Railroad, which to-day controls and operates about 750 miles of
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
railroad in Vermont and other states, and which is the outgrowth of the old Vermont and Canada Railroad, to the success of which he devoted the last years of his life.
S MITH, HON. JOHN GREGORY, born at St. Albans, July 22, 1818, is the eldest son of John and Maria W. (Curtis) Smith. He was early educated at the district schools of his native town and graduated from the Franklin County Grammar School in 1834. The same year he became a student at the University of Vermont, and graduated from that institution in 1838. Having decided to follow the profession of law he entered the Law Department of Yale College and finished his studies in the spring of 1841, and the following fall term of court he was admitted to the Franklin County Bar. From this time till the death of his father, in 1858, he was associated with him in law practice, and was during the greater part of this time counsel for the Vermont Central Railroad.
In 1858 he relinquished the profession of law to enter into extensive railroad enterprises. The Vermont Central and Vermont and Canada Railroads having been foreclosed by the bondholders a board of five trustees was formed to operate them, and Mr. Smith became a member of this board, and, like his father, he devoted untiring energy and far- reaching forecast to the railroad interests of Vermont.
Being endowed with great executive ability he finally brought order out of chaos. The great power exerted and millions of dollars invested by the Central Vermont Railroad are due mainly to his individual ef- forts. Governor Smith continued to be a member of the board of trus- tees until the consolidation of the Central Vermont Railroad interests under the present system, and since that time he has been its chief ex- ecutive officer. Not only has he been interested in the railroad enter- prises of his native state, but he has been called upon to fill positions in other railroad corporations ; he was several years president of the North- ern Pacific Railroad.
In the politics of Vermont Governor Smith has been favorably and honorably identified ; always a strong supporter of the Republican party he represented his native town in the legislature of 1860, '61, and '62,
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being speaker of the House in 1861. He was a member of the state Senate in 1858 and '59. In 1863 he was elected to the highest office in the gift of his native state-the gubernatorial chair. He held this posi- tion from 1863 to 1865, which was during the dark days of the Rebellion, and became one of the best war governors of the times. While he was governor of Vermont the militia ranks were well filled and he was the soldier's friend everywhere. During this time he received hundreds of letters from soldiers asking favors, and none were treated inconsider- ately. He saw them in the camp and on the field, in the hospital wounded and dying, and ministered to their wants. For the sick and starved from Belle Island, returning to Annapolis paroled prisoners, he personally interceded at the War Department and procured furloughs for them to reach home, a privilege granted to the paroled prisoners from no other state in the winter of 1863.
Governor Smith's love for his native town has been shown by many generous and liberal gifts, the beautiful fountain which adorns the public park being only one of many illustrations. In his private life he is most courteous and kind, the admired center of a host of friends; in his business life he is pleasant and affable to all, always willing to lend his time to any who may approach him. His private residence and grounds are among the finest in the state, and they afford a view of the surrounding lake and mountain scenery that is probably surpassed by no place in the country. In business and social life he has been eminently successful. A man of strict integrity, Governor Smith well merits the high esteem accorded him by his fellowmen.
The governor in his early life did not fail to interest himself in the agricultural interests of the county. The evidences of this are the large and extensive farms operated by him in St. Albans, where employment is given to a large number of men and nature is aided and encouraged to bring forth large and abundant crops. Governor Smith married Miss Anna Eliza, daughter of Hon. Lawrence Brainerd, and has a family of five children, viz .: George, of Minneapolis, Minn .; Anna, who resides at home; Edward C., president of the Central Vermont Railroad ; Julia (Mrs. A. C. Stevens), of Boston ; and Helen (Mrs. Rev. Donald C. Mc- Kay), of St. Albans.
728 HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
W T AUGH, THEODORE ROGERS, M.D., was born in Sauquoit,
Oneida county, N. Y., November 1, 1846, the second son in a family of the four surviving children of Rev. John and Charlotte (Rogers) Waugh. The family is of English descent, and his father, who was the son of Joseph, was born in Carlisle, County Cumberland, England, in March, 1814, and when a child was brought by his father to Boston, where he grew up. The elder Waugh was an author of some distinction and was of Quaker origin, his ancestors having removed from Scotland to the northern part of England in the time of Oliver Cromwell. The early settlers of the town of Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pa., were largely from the city of that name in England. On the maternal side Dr. Waugh is descended from an old English family. His mother, Charlotte Rogers, born in New York state, was the daughter of Oliver Rogers, who was the first one to introduce machinery for calico printing in America. His father, the Rev. John Waugh, has been a Presbyte- rian pastor in the state of New York for fifty-one years, and is now successfully laboring at Cohocton, N. Y. He is the author of several works, among which is a sacred epic, " Messiah's Mission," in nine books.
The early education of Dr. Waugh was obtained at the local schools of his native town. His father about 1855 being called to take charge of a society at Canton, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., he finished his pri- mary studies at that place, and in 1861 became a student at the St. Lawrence Academy at Canton, where at different periods during three years he received a complete academical and collegiate course. His father's financial condition not allowing him at this time to give the doctor as well as his elder brother both a more thorough education, the former was obliged to relinquish his studies, and in 1865 he came to New York city, where he was employed by C. H. Bowman & Co., in whose employ he remained for three years, and the practical knowledge of the dry goods business thus obtained has since been of utmost value to him and has been of great aid in helping him to accumulate the large prop- erty he now enjoys. After leaving New York city Dr. Waugh returned to Canton, N. Y., where his father still resided, and commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Daggett. His father afterwards removed to Carthage, N. Y., and he studied there with Dr. Brown. In 1869 he
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EnFERONY
theo. R. Hangh h.D.
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
entered Hahnemann Medical College at Philadelphia, Pa., and also be- came a private pupil of Prof. Henry Noah Martin, professor of materia medica in that institution. He graduated in 1872 from this college, and on May Ist of that year came to St. Albans through the solicitation of Dr. Stebbins A. Smith, who was a practicing homeopathic physician at that place. Dr. Waugh has since resided in St. Albans, and has by his own endeavors and energetic work built up one of the largest practices in .Franklin county. In introducing the new school of medicine he has overcome the prejudices of the people and the prestige of years which have been in favor of his brethren of the older school. He is a member of the Vermont State Homoeopathic Medical Society and has been presi- dent of that body.
Since his residence in St. Albans Dr. Waugh has interested himself in the welfare and prosperity of that village, and is the owner of many valuable pieces of real estate located within its limits. In politics a Re- publican his life has been too busy attending to his practice and his business interests to become an applicant for political honors. He was one of the incorporators of the St. Albans Hospital, and has since its foundation been one of its board of directors. In 1889 he was elected superintendent and treasurer of the hospital ; the former office includes the duties of house physician. Dr. Waugh married Miss Adah J. Rey- nolds, a descendant of Sir Joshua R. Reynolds, and their first born, Theodora, died at the age of five years. They afterwards adopted a daughter, Marguerite. Their other child is a son, Theodore Rogers Waugh, jr.
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