History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 99

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 99


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Among other early inhabitants who attained prominence may be mentioned William Fox, who was born on the 28th of June, 1776, in Woodstock, Conn. He left there when quite young and came to Vermont. He married and set- tled in Wallingford, probably about the year 1790. He represented the town in the Legislature fifteen years, and held for a series of years other important town offices. He was a prominent Mason. He died on the 17th of February, 1822. His son, John Fox, was born in Wallingford, August 24, 1782. Being of slender frame and delicate health, he concluded to leave his father's farm, and devote himself to the study and practice of medicine. These studies he pursued with Dr. Hamilton, of Wallingford, and Dr. Zac. Porter, of Rutland. After completing the course prescribed he received a license to practice from the Vermont council of medical censors. Afterwards, in 1829, the degree of M. D. was conferred upon him by Castleton Medical College and in the fol- lowing year his son, William C. Fox, was graduated from the same institution. Dr. John Fox continued the practice of medicine in Wallingford for a period of nearly fifty years. He was much interested in politics and affairs of the town, which he represented for several years in the State Legislature. He was also senator from Rutland county for three years. He was held in high esteem by his medical brethren who often called him for advice and counsel. He died June 17, 1853. His son, George H. Fox, who was born in Wallingford on the 22d of March, 1830, is now in practice in Rutland.


Lyman Batcheller was born in Stratton, Vt., March 30, 1795, and came to Wallingford in April, 1835. In 1846 he went into the business of manufac- turing forks, in company with Isaac G., John C., and Lyman Batcheller, jr., and continued in this relation until the time of his death.


Solomon Miller, who was born in 1731, came to Wallingford and erected the first framed house in town, which he occupied until he died in 1807. His son Alexander, who was born in 1776, built a forge and blacksmith's shop on


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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.


the site of the present stone shop of Batcheller & Sons, on Main street, and engaged quite extensively in the manufacture of hoes, axes, nails, etc. Sam- uel Townsend moved from Hancock, Mass., to Wallingford in 1809, and died in 1859, aged ninety-two and one- half years. Deacon Moseley Hall was born in Wallingford, Conn., March 15, 1772. His father, Isaac Hall, was one of the original proprietors. Moseley came to this town in 1792 and located about half way between what are now the villages of Wallingford and South Walling- ford. He was a man of decided opinions and of religious mind, with a deter- mined character. He died in 1861. His son, General Robinson Hall, was born in November, 1797, and died in March, 1861. He was one of the pro- jectors of the Western Vermont Railroad. Other early settlers were Asa Anderson, Luther Holden, who recently died at the age of one hundred and two years, Stanley Stafford, Goodyear Clark, Zephaniah Hull, Hosea Eddy, William Kent, Amasa, Ebenezer and Joel Hart, and James H. Congdon.


Some of the Revolutionary soldiers from Wallingford have already been mentioned. Wallingford contributed generously to the cause of liberty, and aided well also in the War of 1812. The record of this town in the past justi- fies the expectation that in the first wars in the future she will deal many blows and hard ones for the righteous cause. Following is a list of the inhabitants of Wallingford who either in person or vicariously served the Union during the late Rebellion :-


Volunteers for three years, credited previous to the call for 300,000 volun- teers of October 17, 1863. - Charles A. Adams, co. H, cav .; Henry H. Adams, co. C, 10th regt .; Anderson Allen, 7th regt .; George C. Allen, co. M, 11th regt .; Henry C. Allen, co. I, 5th regt .; Leverett Allen, co. A, 7th regt .; Noel Allen, co. B, 7th regt .; Otis J. Allen, co. E, 5th regt .; Otis J. Allen, co. B, 9th regt .; Rudolphus Allen, co. H, 2d regt .; George P. Barber, Samuel P. Barber, 5th regt .; Carlos A. Barrows, co. H, cav .; Eliot Bourn, William Bourn, co. A, 4th regt .; David Bryant, George D. Bryant, cav .; William F. Bryant, co. E, 5th regt .; Albert A. Carpenter, James T. Carpenter, co. B, 7th regt .; Joseph M. Carpenter, cav .; Eugene W. Clark, co. E, 5th regt .; Jacob L. Cook, 4th regt .; Summervill Crother, co. I, 5th regt .; Daniel L. Culver, Harry Culver, 2d s. s .; Eliphalet Culver, co. B, 9th regt .; George W. Cummings, William Cummings, co. F, 6th regt .; George A. Dawson, co. C, 11th regt .; John M. Dorett, 10th regt .; Larkin S. Earl, co. I, 5th regt .; Charles M. Edgerton, 10th regt .; Rufus A. Edgerton, cav .; William Farr, jr., co. I, 5th regt .; Levi E. Fos- ter, William Foster, 6th regt .; David H. Fuller, Francis A. Fuller, co. D, 7th regt .; William M. Gibson, co. C, 6th regt .; George M. Gorton, cav .; Edwin Green, Lewis Gregory, co. C, roth regt .; Joel Grover, 9th regt .; Joel Grover, Jeffrey Hart, cav .; Willis Hart, 2d s. s .; John Hawkins, co. B, 7th regt .; Ed- win M. Haines, 10th, chaplain ; Mason B. Hebbard, cav .; Daniel G. Hill, 10th regt., c. s .; Charles L. Hilliard, 10th regt .; Elizur Hopkins, co. B, 7th regt .;


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Lorenzo T. Horton, Abraham Lapard, Joseph Lassard, co. E, 5th regt .; Har- rison Law. Mathew Maginnis, co. E, 5th regt .; John Maker, co. F, 6th regt .; Thomas Mann, co. C, 10th regt .; John G. Palmer, co. F, 6th regt .; Alfred H. Patch, co. A, 3d regt .; Benjamin A. Patch, 4th regt .; Daniel P. Patch, cav .; Daniel B. Pelsue, co. D, 7th regt .; Henry G. Post, co. C, 10th regt .; Henry W. Pratt, cav .; Jonathan Remington, 5th regt .; Charles W. H. Sabin, c. v. q. m. s .; William H. H. Sabin, 10th regt .; Dexter C. Shepard, co. D, 7th regt .; Thomas E. Smith, co. E, 5th regt .; Harvey C. Stewart, co. H, 2d regt .; William E. Stewart, 2d s. s .; George R. Streeter, 10th regt .; Lewis Taft, 7th regt .; Ezra W. Titus, Harvey Titus, cav .; William Townsend, Adin G. Wellman, co. C, roth regt ; Austin B. Wellman, cav .; Oscar E. Wells, co. C, 11th regt .; Hor- ace H. Wheeler, co. A, 4th regt .; Mason L. White, Daniel Wilder, 9th regt .; Joseph H. Winn, 10th regt .; Julius D. Wylie, co. I, 5th regt .; Edward Yarton, co. C, 10th regt.


Credits under call of October 17, 1863, for 300,000 volunteers and subse- quent calls. Volunteers for three years. - Amos L. Bontell, co. F, 4th regt .; Alvin J. Cook, 3d bat .; Francis M. Farwell, 11th regt .; Levi E. Foster, Willis Hart, 3d bat .; Joseph Hastings, 11th regt .; Ezekiel Hill, co. E, 5th regt .; An- thony Kent, 11th regt .; William H. Keyes, 2d bat .; Robert Niel, co. C, 11th regt .; Walter Southworth, 3d bat .; Sylvester Strong, co. C, 11th regt .; Ezra W. Titus, co. A, 7th regt .; William W. White, Horace J. Wilder, 11th regt.


Volunteers for one year .- Henry J. Earle, cav .; Alfred L. Hazelton, 11th regt .; Israel W. Lewis, Robert J. Overing, 9th regt.


Volunteers re-enlisted .- Leverett Allen, Noel Allen, Albert A. Carpenter, James T. Carpenter, William V. Chase, Eugene W. Clark, Charles B. Crowley, Harry Culver, Francis A. Fuller, John F. Martin, Benjamin A. Patch, Jonathan Remington, Lewis Taft.


Veteran Reserve Corps .- Allen S. Dawson, Mathew Maginnis, Thomas E. Smith.


Not credited by name .- Three men.


Volunteers for nine months .- Loyal Allen, Richard C. Archer, Jerome A. Brown, David Bryant, Edwin M. Crayery, Allen S. Dawson, Henry Eddy, William Frost, 14th regt .; Timothy Gleason, co. A, 13th regt .; Jewett P. Haw- kins, Joseph C. Hawkins, George Ladd, Michael Mackinlear, Patrick Mackin- lear, William H. Munson, George R. Remington, Lyman A. Rondo, co. B, 14th regt .; William B. Shaw, 12th regt .; Patrick H. Smith, Thomas E. Smith, Isaac O. Titus, Edward B. Wells, 14th regt.


Furnished under draft and paid commutation. - Rufus D. Bucklin, Seneca L. Clemens, William C. Croft, Gilbert Hart, Luke A. Hewlett, Watson Kent, M. V. B. Phillips, Russell G. Sherman, A. H. Stafford, Charles A. Stafford, George Sweetland, Marshall Thompson, Otis D. Wilder.


Procured substitutes .- William Davenport, Samuel E. Rodgers.


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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.


Scarcely any town in the county has suffered so frequent and considerable changes in population since the first census of 1791 as Wallingford, as the fol- lowing figures, giving the year and population will testify : 1791, 536; 1800, 912; 1810, 1,386; 1820, 1,570; 1830, 1,740; 1840, 1,608; 1850, 1,688 ; 1860, 1,747 ; 1870, 2,023 ; 1880, 1,865.


The present officers of the town elected in March, 1885, are as follows : Town clerk, Norman Townsend ; treasurer, Edwin Martindale ; selectmen, Joseph Doty, Harvey C. Stewart, Joseph E. Edgerton ; listers, Stephen M. Sherman, John R. Priest, Harvey D. Congdon ; overseer of the poor, John Priest ; first constable, Harvey D. Congdon ; auditors, William H. Congdon, Stephen M. Sherman, Charles H. Congdon ; trustee of public moneys, Dyer Townsend ; fence viewers, Elias Stewart, John M. Aldrich, Boardman Stafford ; town grand jurors, F. O. Stafford, C. L. Higgins, E. A. Fuller ; inspector of leather, Henry Johnson ; inspector of wood, lumber and shingles, Andrew J. Bartholomew ; town agent and superintendent of schools, Charles H. Congdon.


Ecclesiastical .- The first Baptist Church of Wallingford was organized at Wallingford village by Elisha Rich on the 10th of February, 1780. The first meeting was held at the house of Titus Andrews. The original membership numbered only twenty-two persons, inhabitants of both Wallingford and Clar- endon. Ebenezer Murray was at this meeting elected deacon, and in the fol- lowing April Joseph Randall was chosen his associate, and remained deacon until the time of his death in 1836. Rev. Elisha Rich was the first pastor, and Rev. Henry Green, who came in 1787, was the second.


This body and the Congregational Church united and erected a house of worship, which was not ready for occupancy until the summer of 1800. Elder Green was dismissed in 1807, at his own request, and the church was without a pastor for ten years. During the pastorate of Rev. Gibbon Williams, in 1827, the present edifice was erected at an expense of $870. It was enlarged and repaired in 1846, and again in 1869. The present pastor, Rev. S. Henry Archibold, came here in April, 1876. The church now has a membership of about eighty, of whom sixty are resident members. The average attendance at Sabbath-school is about fifty, the pastor being the superintendent. The church property is valued at about $4,000. The present officers of the church are as follows : Committee, C. M. Townsend, F. L. Crary, D. R. Marsh; trust- ees, H. D. Congdon, C. M. Townsend, F. W. Johnson ; collector, A. R. Marsh. The hundredth anniversary of the organization of this church was celebrated on February 10, 1880.


Congregational Church .-. Although the original records of this church are lost, the date of its organization has been fixed upon as the year 1792. The first members and the earliest preachers are unknown. Deacon Mosely Hall united with it in 1798. The first regular pastor, Rev. Benjamin Osborn, was installed November 10, 1802, and remained sixteen years. This church occu-


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pied the union house of worship, before mentioned, from 1800 to 1828, when the present edifice was erected at a cost of $2,560. The present pastor, Rev. S. Franklin French, succeeded Rev. Charles N. Brainard on the first of July, 1883. The present church officers are: Deacons, Samuel E. Rogers, Willis Benson ; clerk and treasurer, Willis Benson ; society officers, committee, John Miller, Samuel E. Rogers, A. Jay Newton; treasurer, William C. Mason ; Sabbath-school superintendent, A. Jay Fenton ; assistant, John R. Adair ; secretary and treasurer, H. R. Strong. The Sabbath-school was organized about the year 1825. Before that each school district had some kind of sep- arate Sabbath-school, and all these were finally transferred to the respective churches. The present membership is about one hundred and eighty-three ; while the average attendance at Sabbath-school is about ninety.


The Union Church edifice at South Wallingford was built by subscription in 1840, the land being donated by Holden Stafford. The first pastor, and the only one ever really settled here, was a Universalist clergyman by the name of Rev. Dennis Chapin. He remained a number of years. Since his departure the Wallingford village churches have supplied preaching. There are from twenty to thirty regular attendents at services now. There is no Sabbath- school. This part of the town is rich in religious feeling.


The East Wallingford Baptist Church was organized on the 3d day of March, 1861, by Rev. Joseph Freeman, with a membership of twenty-nine. The house of worship was erected in 1860 at a cost of about $2,000, which is the estimated value of the church property at the present time. The present pastor, Rev. W. G. Patterson, came here May 1, 1884. The present church deacon is A. H. Jackson, and the Sabbath-school superintendent is Mrs. W. G. Patterson.


St. Patrick's Church (Roman Catholic), at Wallingford, was organized by Rev. C. Boylan in 1865. At its organization its membership was three hun- dred which has since more than doubled. The house of worship was erected in 1866 at a cost of $8,000. Rev. T. J. Gaffney, of Dorset, is the pastor.


Municipal History .- Wallingford is the oldest village in the town, although more or less business has been carried on at South Wallingford since the earliest settlement of the town.


The oldest man in town, Dyer Townsend, lives but a short distance south of the village, and notwithstanding his great age has a clear and active memory with reference to the early condition of the village and vicinity. He was born in Hancock, Mass., on the 23d of November, 1789. In 1796 he came from Ballston, N. Y., to Clarendon, and in 1807 removed to the farm in Walling- ford now occupied by Eliakim B. Townsend, and in 1814 came on to the farm he now owns and works. In the spring of 1814 he married Lucinda, sister to Judge Harvey Button. He has never been sick a day in his life. He has a distinct recollection of Lent Ives and of Joseph Randall, whose school he at-


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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.


tended when a boy. Joseph Randall, the present blacksmith in the village, is grandson to the above named. Mr. Townsend also remembers Philip White, who lived on West Hill, where Eli M. Ward now lives. In 1813 John Reed was operating the grist-mill in South Wallingford. Mr. Townsend was clerk in a store at that village as early as that for Moseley Hall and Ebenezer Towner.


Before the year 1814 Ebenezer Towner had made potash in an ashery on the farm now owned by Dyer Townsend. There were numbers of distilleries in Wallingford village in these early days. Joel Hill and Dr. Fox used to make rye whisky. Moseley Hall kept tavern about a mile north of South Walling- ford, on the farm now occupied by Lewis Stafford. Jonathan Thompson kept one also about two miles east of the north village on land now occupied by Samuel Rogers. Martin Cavanaugh ran a store in the village, not far from the present hotel. Eliakim Johnson kept store and tavern there as early as 1814. Edmund Douglass had a tannery on the farm now owned by Dyer Townsend which he afterwards sold to Simeon Leonard. Mr. Townsend continued it fifteen or twenty years after he purchased his farm. George Vaughn also op- erated for some time a tannery which stood on the bank of the brook on Main street in the village, on land now embraced in Judge Ainsworth's yard. He subsequently started a tannery on the site of Johnson's grist-mill, which he finally sold to Elliot Bradford. Bradford continued it until about 1873 or '74, and failed.


Further information was obtained from Mr. and Mrs. Howard Harris. The former was born in Brattleboro, Vt., August 15, 1799. He came to Walling- ford village in 1824, and began to keep a general store on the site of his present residence. He married Pamela Rustin, his present wife, October 16, 1826.1 She was born in Wallingford on the 24th of February, 1810. Her father, James Rustin, was a hatter, and lived on the corner (now a burnt district) opposite the Hulett store. He owned the land now intersected by Depot street as a garden. His shop stood just north of his house, at the present junction of Depot and Main streets, and is the same building now used by Sherman Pratt in the man- ufacture of coffins and caskets. When Mr. Harris came here in 1824, he had to compete with other merchants here. Eliakim Johnson and William Marsh, under the firm name Johnson & Marsh, had a general store at the south end of the village, on the east side of Main street on the corner next to the Con- gregational Church, in a corner of a tavern kept by William Marsh. Button & Townsend had a store also on the corner just south of Norman Townsend's present residence.


William Hall and Abiel Child practiced law in this village, the office of the latter being on the site of E. Martindale's residence. Dr. John Fox practiced medicine then in the same building.


1 Their daughter, Pamela Harris, became the wife of Dr. George H. Fox, of Rutland.


Israel Inunison


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TOWN OF WALLINGFORD.


At this time " Potash Seminary " was in existence, being a select-school which derived its name from the fact that the building, which stood about on the site of Sabin's tin-shop, had formerly been used in the manufacture of pot- ash ; Johnson & Marsh being at one time manufacturers. The distillery of Dr. Fox stood on ground now covered by the house of Mrs. Wood. At a much earlier day James Sabin ran a distillery, which was owned by William Fox, near the site of Arnold Hill's present residence. It was burned about 1816.


The school, in 1815, was held in the Congregational Chapel, which was erected as a school-house by Lent Ives and James Rustin, and used as such for years, until after the new school-house was built, about 1865, and then sold to the Congregational Society.


As late as 1820 there was scarely a large enough collection of dwellings at Wallingford to excuse its being called village. There were only fifteen or twenty houses scattered along on either side of Main street. The road between here and South Wallingford was so rough and rudimentary in construction that nearly all travel was necessarily on horseback.


When Mr. Harris began to trade here in 1824, Button & Townsend and Johnson & Marsh formed a union and erected a building on the site of the block now occupied by Messrs. Crapo & Townsend, intending to drive the new merchant from the field. Daniel Roberts called them "the holy alliance." Mr. Harris remained in business, however, until his store was destroyed by fire in 1851.


Wallingford has ever been aspiring in educational matters. In 1814 a com- pany was incorporated under the name of the Wallingford Academy, and con- sisted of William and John Fox, Moseley Hall, Alexander Miller, Joseph Ran- dall, Nathaniel Ives, Samuel Townsend, Lent Ives and Ebenezer Towner. Un- fortunately, nothing came of it. The Wallingford graded school was estab- lished on the first of September, 1871. The present principal (there being three departments), H. L. Allen, came in the spring of 1885. There is an average attendance at the school of about one hundred and twenty.


Postmasters .- It is not known when the post-office was established herc nor who received the first appointment. Lent Ives was postmaster for a long time prior to 1815. John Ives, Seth Leonard, Rufus Bucklin, Lewis Bucklin, Mrs. Lewis Bucklin ( 1861), William Ballou, M. C. Rogers, C. M. Townsend, and W. D. Hulett have successively been appointed, the last named being es- tablished in office in August, 1885.


Mercantile Interests. - The oldest mercantile business still carried on in Wallingford village is the grocery of Norman Townsend, which is a direct de- scendant of the old establishment already mentioned of Button & Townsend. This partnership was created in 1819 between Charles Button and Samuel Townsend, and lasted until 1833. From that time until 1866 Samuel Town- send carried on the business. At that time his son, the present proprietor,


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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.


became his successor, and has continued it almost without interruption to the present time.


E. O. Eddy, M. D., has had a jewelry store here since 1860. He prac- ticed dentistry from 1855 to 1884; practiced medicine in the south part of the town after his admission in about 1844, and relinquished it only from loss of health. He has been photographer since about 1860. E. D. Sabin opened his tin-shop in the spring of 1860. During one year after 1866 his brother, C. V. H. Sabin, was his partner.


Sherman Pratt has dealt in coffins and caskets in Wallingford since 1860, and has also been engaged in the manufacture of them on demand. G. H. Edgerton established his present trade in drugs and medicines in the same building which he now occupies, in 1865. C. A. Claghorn bought out the dry goods and grocery business of John Hodgson in 1868, and has continued the trade to the present. William D. Hulett entered into partnership with B. E. Crapo in 1872 and with him for five years carried on a general mercantile bus- iness. Since then he has remained sole proprietor of the establishment.


George W. Tower, formerly a house builder, opened his grocery and feed store in October, 1877. C. M. Townsend, dealer in drugs and general mer- chandise, succeeded Crapo, Batcheller & Co. in 1882.


B. E. Crapo, dealer in dry goods, boots and shoes, was clerk for E. Martin- dale from 1867 to 1871. In 1872 he entered into the partnership before men- tioned with W. D. Hulett. In 1878 Mr. Crapo went to Texas and on his re- turn entered into the firm of Crapo, Batcheller & Co. Since 1882 he has conducted the business alone. H. Ensign opened a grocery here in May, 1885.


Hotel. - The only hotel in the village of Wallingford was erected about the year 1824, completed in 1826, by John Ives, who designed it as a tavern. But it was soon converted to other uses. Sabin & Johnson had a store in the south end ; Mary Atwood kept millinery in one room ; John B. Warner occupied another part as a cabinet-shop ; Judge Button had two rooms in the north end for his office. In 1835 Chester Spencer opened it as the " first temperance hotel in the world " and remained two or three years. Almeron Hyde kept it a while and owned it. Since then Arnold Hill, J. H. Earle, Elmer C. Barrows, L. J. Vance and others have owned and kept it successively. In 1877 W. D. Hulett became half owner with B. E. Crapo, and in 1877 he purchased the en- tire property. E. H. Shaw and A. J. Gardiner kept the house from about 1879 to September, 1885, when the present landlord, J. K. Ford, came into possession. He has put in a new livery and improved in many ways upon the indifferent hospitality of his predecessors.


Manufacturing Interests. - The most important manufacturing concern in Wallingford is the fork manufactory of the Batcheller & Sons Company. In 1834 Lyman Batcheller commenced manufacturing forks in Arlington, Vt.,


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TOWN OF WALLINGFORD.


and in 1835 established the business in Wallingford. In 1846 he took his sons I. G., J. C. and Lyman, jr., into partnership, and began to employ men and work under the firm name of L. Batcheller & Sons. On the 3d day of August, 1848, the works which stood on the same foundation now covered by the stone building on the east side of Main street below the Congregational Church, were destroyed by fire. They rebuilt the factory at once, which still stands and is used as the polishing shop. A new company was formed under the style of Batcheller & Sons. Subsequently, however, they removed their factory and offices across the railroad to their present location. In the summer of 1885 a new (stock) company was formed, and the name was changed to its present form. This company manufactures one of the best forks in the world, and finds a market for its products in every country which has need of such an article.


The grist-mill of F. W. Johnson was started by its present owner and ope- rator in November, 1876. The mill has a capacity for about 150 bushels of grain per day. Mr. Johnson also sells flour, feed, grain, phosphates, plaster, lime, etc.


The Wallingford monumental works were established in the spring of 1877, by John R. Adair the present operator. He employs three or four men.


The Press. - Although Wallingford has no newspaper at present, several have been published here at different periods. A paper called the Local Spy was published from time to time from 1855 to 1860, by Philip H. Emerson and Amasa W. Bishop. Both of these gentlemen were studying law at the time in the office of Hon. David E. Nicholson. Philip H. Emerson is now the United States District Judge of Utah, and Mr. Bishop is a leading lawyer, residing at Oakland, Cal. In 1877 Addison G. Stone established the Wallingford Stand- ard, which was continued until 1880, when it was merged in the Rutland Times. The printing was done at Bennington and Brandon.




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