History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 103

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n; Rann, William S
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co.
Number of Pages: 1170

USA > Vermont > Rutland County > History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 103

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In all the relations of life he was regarded as a strictly honest man. He was very frank, fear- less, and outspoken, without a particle of hypocrisy or deceit. In business he was remarkable for his energy and tenacity of purpose, working out success where most men would have given up in despair, and never once, during his whole business career, failed to meet his obligations in full. In religion he was liberal ; in politics a Republican, and he was always a warm friend of temperance in all things. His social qualities were much above the average. He was extremely fond of music and no mean performer on the violin. Although economical in his style of living, he was ever a friend of the poor, generous and kind-hearted. The people of Fairhaven will long have occasion to cherish the memory of Mr. Adams, as a citizen thor- oughly identified with the interests of the town and village, warmly favoring all practical pub- lic improvements, an advocate of good schools and all moral reforms.'

4 LLEN, HONORABLE IRA C., the subject of this sketch, was born at Bristol, a small town at the foot of the western slope of the Green Mountains, on the 4th day of April, 1816. His father, Richard Allen, was a descendant of Timothy Allen, who came from Wood- bury, Conn., in 1768 to Pawlet, Rutland county, Vt .; he was a cousin of Ethan Allen. His son, Timothy Allen, jr., was born in 1757 and died at Hartford, N. Y., in 1834. He married Abigail Morse. Their issue was nine children, one of whom was Richard Allen. Timothy Allen, jr., went to Bristol, Vt., near the close of the last century ; he owned a forge there and a farm, which he carried on until 1815, at which time, having lost his wife, he married the widow of Amby Highy and moved to Hartford, N. Y., where she resided. Richard Allen was born in Pawlet, March 31, 1783. He was twice married ; first Nabby Groat, of Bristol, February 23, 1806, the issue being two daughters, one of whom, Mrs. N. C. Rose, of Peoria, Ill., is still living. Mrs. Allen died September 10, 1810, and he married for his second wife Annie Johnson, July 21, 1811 ; she was a native of Ticonderoga, N. Y.

Timothy Allen, jr., was a soldier in the Revolutionary army and fought under Col- onel Herrick at the hittle of Bennington, when nineteen years old. Richard Allen was conspicuous as a soldier in the second war with Great Britain : was adjutant in a regiment of Addison county cavalry. His regiment was ordered to the Canadian lines to enforce the em- bargo, and afterwards returned to Vergennes to aid in guarding the shipping then in process of building for MacDonough's fleet, which was to share a glorious part in the battle of Platts- burgh. When the shipping moved out upon the lake, the troops marched to Burlington, only to find the governor's proclamation ordering them not to leave the State. Richard Allen, with others, then resigned his commission. When Jehiel Saxton afterward called for volunteers in the streets of Burlington, Richard Allen's name went upon the list as the seventeenth volun- teer ; he subsequently took an active part in the engagement at Plattsburgh and Saranac Bridge. It will be seen that the subject of this sketch comes from good and patriotic stock. Richard Allen was the father of seven children by his second wife, viz .: Jane, Richard, Tra C., Elizabeth. Lucinda, Willard and Lucy Ann, all of whom reached maturity and all but the eld- est are now living.

In completing a sketch of Mr. Allen we cannot do better than quote the language of Judge C. M. Willard, in an article in the Financier, as follows : -

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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

" The Hon. Ira C. Allen, founder and president of the Allen National Bank of Fairhaven, Vt., is a fair type of the energy, industry, frugality and thrift of the better class of New Eng- land business men. Such men are seldom . born to the purple' and owe little, if anything, to adventitious surroundings or the advantages of scholastic training. The culture and habits born of privation and toil, with the moral and religious culture of a right home life, are a more substantial foundation for a successful life than an inherited fortune. A character thus con- stituted not only invites success, but survives the storms which not infrequently make ship- wrecks of material wealth.

In 1817 his parents removed to Hartford, N. Y., where his father prosecuted the joint busi- ness of farmer, tanner and shoemaker. The succeeding eighteen years of the son's life were spent at home, the last six years as an apprentice in the shoe-shop, with the annual respite of three months for attendance at the district school. At the age of nineteen his ambition led him to seek a business of wider scope and larger possibilities than a country shoe-shop. Strange as it may seem to the young men of to-day, he negotiated with his father for, and act- ually purchased from him the value of his services for the remainder of his minority, and started out to shift for himself. He entered the country store of his uncle, Alonson Allen, in Livingston county, N. Y., in 1835, and the following year removed with him to Fairhaven, Vt., where he has since resided, with the exception of one year at Whitehall, N. Y. (1844), and an- other in New York city (1845), being employed as book-keeper in the importing and jobbing dry goods house of Woodward & Terbell. He continued in the employment of his uncle un- til 1846, when he was received as a partner under the firm name of A. & I. C. Allen. In 1851 he purchased of his uncle one-fourth interest in the marble business of Allen & Adams, the new firm being Allen, Adams & Co. In 1854 he purchased the remainder of his uncle's in- terest in the marble business and thenceforth the business was conducted under the firm name of Adams & Allen. This was a most fortunate venture, though it involved a heavy indebted- ness. They purchased the marble quarry that had heretofore been worked under a lease. This was among the first marble quarries opened in Rutland county and was worked by this firm to the depth of one hundred and fifty feet. He made no mistake in his expectations of the marble business, then in its infancy. He devoted his untiring energy to its prosperity and reaped a large profit therefrom, until 1868, when the company sold their quarry in West Rut- land and he in the following year sold to his partner his interest in the mill and other company property at Fairhaven. Since that time he has made heavy investments in railroads, iron mines, slate interests and real estate, all with exceptional success. He was one of the pro- jectors and also one of the ten original subscribers to the capital stock of the First National Bank of this place ; has officiated there as director, vice-president and president. He was a prominent promoter and investor in the stock of the Fairhaven Marble and Marbleized Slate Company, which was organized in 1869. He served as vice-president of this company from its organization until the death of Colonel Allen, its first president, when he succeeded to the presidency, which office he now fills. He was an original subscriber to the stock of the Rut- land and Whitehall Railroad Company ; for many years was a director, its treasurer and now its vice-president. He is also a director in the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad Company. In 1879, with a few other capitalists, he organized the Allen National Bank and was made its president. In addition to his business cares he has served two terms each as representative, 1861-62, and senator, 1867-68, in the State Legislature, with the same fidelity which has char- acterized his private business.

He purchased of W. C. Kittredge, in 1866, his dwelling and land on the west side of the park and erected his marble residence in 1866-67. He was one of the founders of and con- tributors to the Vermont Academy, at Saxton's River, Vt., and for many years has been on the board of trustees.

Mr. Allen is a man of large social qualities, of tender domestic affections, decided religious proclivities and a generous supporter of the church with which he is connected.

Ira C. Allen was married September 19, 1855, to Mary E. Richardson, of Geneva, N. Y. Their children are as follows : Charles R. Allen, born May 5. 1857. Ira R. Allen, born March 29, 1859. Jessie A. Allen, born October 16, 1860. Francis E. Allen, born April 29. 1863. All of these are living. Charles R. Allen was married November 29, 1882, to Jessie E. Dailey, of Hampton, N. Y .; they have one child, Lura Elizabeth, born March 10, 1885. Mrs. Allen died on the 20th of March, 1885, at Jacksonville, Florida.

B AXTER, HORACE HENRY, was born in Saxton's River, January 18, 1818. He was the eldest son of Horace Baxter, esq., who was for many years a practicing attorney in Rockingham, judge of probate, and a very popular and eminent citizen of Windsor county. Judge Baxter was in his personal appearance a manly and striking figure, and from him his son, doubtless, inherited that manly, noble look and bearing as well as his affable disposition and engaging manner for which he was distinguished.

IV. I.V. Parku.

871

HORACE HENRY BAXTER.

General Baxter began he as a clerk in the establishment of Blake & Appletorin Beston ; but after a years returned to Bellows Falls and engaged in mercantile business Has he con- tinued with indifferent success until about the period of the construction of the Rutland and Bur- lington Railroad, of which Hon. Timothy Follett was then president. Under his administra- tion Mr. Baxter was awarded the contract for grading the depot grounds at Bellows Falls and the construction of three or four miles of railway near that place. This kind of work was con- genial to his taste and ushered him into a series of large railroad enterprises in which he met with the most unqualified success. So efficiently did he perform the work of the small con- tracts at Bellows Falls, that he was entrusted by the president of the road with the completion of several other contracts on the same line, which had been abandoned by others. This was followed by the award to him of a contract for the grading and masonry on about twenty miles of the Western Vermont Railroad. The remarkable efficiency displayed by him in doing this work gave him prominence as a railroad contractor. Leaving his native State, he went into Northern Ohio and built the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad - a work calling for the most in- domitable perseverance, determination in overcoming obstacles, and energy. But in spite of the almost insurmountable difficulties encountered, the road was finished and turned over to its projectors within the contract time. He was now only thirty-seven years old and felt him- self capable of coping with any enterprise that might offer. Returning to Rutland, he pur- chased, in company with two associates, the marble quarries then in possession of William F. Barnes ; of this property he subsequently becam . the sole owner, and incorporated the Rutland Marble Company for the better prosecution of the industry that has since grown to such enor- mous proportions. Into the working of these quarries he threw his whole energies, and with what degree of success is now well known to all who are at all conversant with the marble in- dustry. In 1861 he was chiefly instrumental in procuring a charter for the Rutland County Bank, against strong opposition. But on account of certain transactions connected with the organization of the bank which he considered questionable, and which resulted in depriving him of the controlling management of the institution, he withdrew his business interests from Rutland, and atter selling out his interests in the marble quarries in 1863, returned to New York.

At the breaking out of the great Rebellion, and even before that event, General Baxter saw with prophetic eye the magnitude of the oncoming struggle, and was one of the first to urge his native State to prepare for war. When finally the first body of Vermont troops marched down Broadway, on their way to the front, General Baxter rode at the head of the column. It was largely through his energy and liberality that so fine a body of organized and well-equipped men was so promptly ready for the field, and if he felt a degree of pride in their magnificent appearance on that day, it was justifiable, His liberal support of war measures continued through the struggle, his time and means heing freely given up for the success of the cause.

After the sale of his Rutland interests and removal to New York, he made the metropolis his home, passing his summers, however, in Rutland and taking an active interest in everything that promised to advance the welfare of the village and town. Though he was never a politi- cian nor an office-seeker in the smallest sense, he held the office of adjutant-general of the State under the administrations of Governor Fairbanks and Governor Holbrook ; in this ca- pacity he mustered the early regiments that went from the State. He filled the office of select- man of Rutland, and highway-surveyor and took a deep interest in town affairs generally. He was one of the corporators of the Evergreen Cemetery and, with a few others, was instrumental in the building of the Episcopal Church. In the year 1858 he erected his mansion in Rutland, which, with its grounds, is one of the finest and most sumptuous homes in the State.

General Baxter's life in the metropolis was one of large activity for a number of years, par- ticularly in the vast operations of Wall Street, where he was intimately associated with the late Henry Keep. It was through their operations that Mr. Keep was made president of the New York Central Railroad, in which position he was succeeded by General Baxter until the prop- erty passed into the hands of Commodore Vanderbilt. He also, in connection with Mr. Keep and others, obtained control of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, and advanced the price of its stock from 40 to par. In the summer of 1870 he joined Mr. Trenor W. Park in buying the Emma silver mine, in Utah ; in this enterprise he advanced nearly $400,000 in cash. General Baxter purchased the property in good faith, but it proved a very troublesome invest- ment and was, perhaps, the least remunerative of any venture he ever made.

In the period between 1875 and 1880 General Baxter was a director in the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railway Company, the Panama Railway Com- pany and the Continental Bank of New York. He became an early and heavy investor in the stock of the Pullman Palace Car Company and supported that enterprise when few were bold enough to embark in it. It was his custom to keep at his immediate command large sums of money, which enabled him to act promptly in those large enterprises which he was able to grasp and understand so thoroughly. This is shown by his investment of $100,000 in the

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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

construction company which built the New York elevated railroads after he had become a con- firmed invalid - an investment which brought him a gain of more than $200,000. Such in- stances of his boldness in financial operations, his clear and accurate judgment and foresight, might be multiplied indefinitely. It was said of him that " he did not know how to make a hundred dollars or a thousand, but he knew how to make a hundred thousand."

General Baxter was a man of broad, liberal and charitable nature ; open, affable and pleas- ing in his manner, and socially one of the most pleasing of companions ; his home was noted for its generous hospitality. On the 21st of December, 1841, he was married to Eliza Wales, of Bellows Falls, who died September 8, 1849, leaving no children. On the 18th of December, 1851, he married Mary E. Roberts, of Manchester, Vt., who survives him. They had two children - Henry, born May 18, 1856, who died March 20, 1860, and Hugh Henry, born Oc- tober 2, 1861.

General Baxter died February 17, 1884, in New York. His remains were brought to Rut- land for interment, and the entire community and the various institutions with which he had been identified, united in paying respect to his memory through resolutions, addresses and letters.

B AIRD, HIRAM. The ancestors of the subject of this sketch were among the very early settlers in Rutland county. John Baird came into the town of Chittenden in the fall of 1792 and purchased two lots of land which now form a part of the estate of Hiram Baird. He had a son, also named John, who came into the town with his parents, and was the sec- ond son of the family. Earl Baird, the eldest of the children, removed to Castleton and thence west. Thaddeus, next younger than John, removed to Ohio a few years after the set- tlement in Chittenden and died there. David spent most of his life in Chittenden and died in that town. Thomas also lived and died in Chittenden. These sons of the pioneer were all respectable farmers of the town.

John Baird 2d, the father of Hiram, was also a farmer ; spent his life in the town of Chit- tenden and died at the house of his son Rufus, about a mile from the old homestead. His first wife was Rebecca Pearson, daughter of Josiah Pearson, who came to Chittenden from Massachusetts ; lived eleven years in that town, then a few years in Pittsford, returning to Chittenden, where he passed the remainder of his life. Mr. Baird's second wife was Harriet Kilburn, daughter of Simeon Kilburn, of Chittenden. His children were Hiram (the oldest and the subject of this sketch), Joel, also son of the first wife, and now living in Chittenden ; Louisa, daughter of the first wife, married Daniel Noyes of Chittenden, who recently died, leaving his widow still a resident of that town ; Lester L., son of the second wife, died at Get- tysburgh while serving his country ; Charles V., a farmer now living in Chittenden ; Jane married M. L. Dow, and lives in Plymouth, Vt.

Hiram Baird was born on the 19th day of November, 1804. in Chittenden, on the farm where he now lives. His youth did not differ materially from that of all New England sons, born of parents who were striving to make homes for their families in the early years of settle- ment. His educational advantages were not extensive, being confined chiefly to attendance at the district school in winter seasons, and even this ceased when he was about seventeen years of age. He remained at home, sharing the burdens of the farm labors, until he was twenty- one years old, when he hired out to S. Granger & Sons, then operating the furnaces in Pitts- ford. Three months later he returned home and for two years worked the homestead farm with his father. Succeeding this period he worked the land where Rufus Baird now lives. In the mean time he had married, in the spring after he became of age, Miss Sally Morse, daughter of Jonathan Morse, of Lester, Vt. The tract of land which he first acquired com- prised fifty acres, to which he afterwards added another fifty, and worked the tract for five years. At the end of this time, his father having sold the homestead farm, Hiram returned there and purchased it ; the farm then contained one hundred acres. To this has been added three hundred acres more, which is now in possession of Mr. Baird and his sons.

Mr. Baird's wife died November 25, 1880. Their children have been as follows : Franklin, born November 6, 1830, died June 3, 1883. He married first Belinda Morse, and second Ida Goodfellow ; they had three children (all by the second wife), who now live with their grand- father, Hiram. Franklin Baird was a man of prominence in the community, and possessed talents and capacity far above the average. He was almost constantly honored by his towns- men with offices of responsibility after he reached manhood. He was selectman two or three years ; was town clerk and treasurer fourteen years, and held the office at his death, and rep- resented the town in the Legislature in 1867-68. He, moreover, by his general public spirit and uprightness, gained the confidence and esteem of all who knew him,

The next child of Hiram Baird was Stephen S., born October 2d, 1832; married Mary Hewitt, daughter of Charles Hewitt, and lives in Chittenden, where he is a successful farmer ;

HIRAM BAIRD.

873

HIRAM BAIRD. - PORTER BENSON.

their children are one daughter, Nettie, who married Alvin Eggleston and lives in chittenden, and one son, Horace, who still lives with his parents.

Hiram Baird is an example of the self-made, successful men of Vermont, so many of whom are found in all communities of the State men who, although they may never arise to emi- nence, chiefly on account of their surroundings and limited opportunities, yet reach a position in the estimation of their acquaintances which is at once enviable and honorable. Mr. Baird had only passed his majority a short time when he was placed in office -- that of constable first ; he then held the office of lister many years; was elected selectman several years ; jus- tice of peace a number of years, and finally declined further election ; town agent and trustee of public money ; represented his town in the Legislature in 1866-67, and in various other ways has been tendered evidences of the confidence of his fellow-citizens. Mr. Baird has been a successful farmer and acquired a competence in that honored occupation, and now in his old age, still active in body and in almost perfect mental preservation, enjoys the review of a well- spent life.

B ENSON, PORTER, the subject of this sketch, was born in Clarendon on the 22d of Sep- tember, 1833. His father was M. D. Benson, who came into this State from Massachu- setts. The boy Porter obtained a good English education in the common schools and at the Black River Academy, at Ludlow. Aside from the time thus spent his years until he reached his majority were spent in hard labor upon his father's farm.

When he reached twenty years of age his father died, leaving a considerable estate, the principal part of which consisted of two farms in the town of Clarendon, one of them being on the hill near Clarendon Springs. The son was deemed the best person to settle the estate and accordingly he was appointed administrator. His father's family consisted of his wife (who was Laura Spring before her marriage, daughter of Amos Spring, of Clarendon), and four children ; the eldest was Elizabeth, who married Moses W. Kelly, a farmer of Claren- don ; next was Porter ; the third, Willis, who now lives in Wallingford ; and Eliza, married A. Jay Newton, a farmer of Clarendon. The settlement of the estate was executed by the son Porter in the best and most satisfactory manner, the farm near Clarendon coming into his own hands, through the purchase of the interest of one of his sisters. On the Ist of January, 1855. he was married to Maria Ripley, daughter of Eleazer Ripley, of Bennington. They resided five years on the hill farm, mentioned, when he sold it and purchased a farm in the Otter Creek valley, where he spent the remainder of his life and where his widow and her children now reside.

This merely indicates that Porter Benson was one of the great body of successful farmers of Vermont ; but he was much more than this. He was possessed of much more than com- mon business and executive capacity, and soon extended his work far beyond the limits of his agricultural pursuits. He began dealing in farm machinery, in which he was unusually success- ful, and held many of the most valuable general agencies, appointing sub-agents throughout the county ; in this way he did a large and successful business, and always to the eminent sat- isfaction of those with whom he became connected. He thus enjoyed an extended acquaint- ance in all parts of the county; indeed, there were few men who were better known. The men with whom he dealt came to look upon him as a sort of leader and general counselor in all matters of importance. For example, when the project of sending a milk train from this county to New York was developed, Mr. Benson was sent by his constituents to the metropo- lis on several occasions, to make all necessary arrangements ; and numerous similar instances might be enumerated, showing the confidence reposed in him. Public office was also tendered him until he had held nearly all positions in the gift of his townsmen. He was collector a number of years including the war period, when the duties of that office were peculiarly onorous and responsible, and held the place until he dechned further election. He was also constable for a long period ; was selectman at the time of his death, and overseer of the poor. In 1866-67 he was sent to the Legislature, where he was efficient in sustaining the war measures of that period. Republican in politics, he entered with his usual energy into all the necessary labors of recruiting the town s quotas of soldiers, and had more to do, perhaps, in this respect than any other citizen. In short, he was in all respects a popular and successful min. This is further shown by the following brief extract from an editorial in the Rutland Globe published on the occasion of his untimely death : -

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History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 103

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n; Rann, William S Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co. Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n; Rann, William S
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co.
Number of Pages: 1170