USA > Vermont > Bennington County > Manchester > Manchester, Vermont : a pleasant land among the mountains, 1761-1961 > Part 24
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Hans Thorner, a resident since 1948, is a noted moving picture producer, especially of ski films.
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Clara Sipprell, eminent portrait photographer, uses no artificial lighting or retouching in an effort to acquire the most perfect natu- ralness in her pictures. By 1937 she had twice won the gold medal of the International Salon of Photographic Arts and Crafts. Among her subjects have been Albert Schweitzer, Robinson Jeffers, Albert Einstein, Felix Frankfurter, Emil Ludwig, and members of the Swedish royal family. In Manchester she has had exhibitions at the Equinox House.
A vital part of the local cultural scene are the Dorset Players, Inc., and the Caravan Theater, both having headquarters at the Dorset Playhouse. The former group is composed of people in the area interested in theater work. It leases the Playhouse during the summer and fall to the Caravan Theater, which was originated by Fred Carmichael and his wife, Patricia Wyn Rose. In 1961 it will be in its thirteenth summer season. The "Fall Color Season" was in- augurated in 1954.
CHAPTER XXVIII
Some Prominent Men and Women of Manchester
§ Among the Proprietors
MARTIN POWEL
C NE of the most important men of Manchester's early years was Martin Powel. Seldom does one come across a person who occupied such a prominent place in a community's life as Powel did through public office. Yet descriptions of the man's character and personality do not seem to be available in contempo- rary records.
Judge Munson mentions that Powel's activities as commissioner of sequestration when he seized and sold Tory properties were characterized by excellent judgment and perfect integrity. Chapin's pamphlet history mentions Powel as lieutenant and innkeeper, but spells the name with two "l's." The name is also misspelled on the Soldiers' Monument in the Village. Powel's own signature was al- ways with the single "1."
Martin Powel was born in Amenia, New York, in 1731 and was one of the Manchester Proprietors. According to D.A.R. records, he was a lieutenant in the Continental Army. Military payrolls re- veal that on three separate occasions he served for a few days with Seth Warner's regiment in forays from Manchester against Tories or against the British. Cambridge, Vermont, land records indicate that Powel, along with Gideon Ormsby, was one of the original grantees of that town.
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As a Proprietor, he was elected clerk of the group June 20, 1777. His last service in that capacity was at a Manchester meeting June 22, 1795. He was frequently chosen to serve on committees for set- ting out lots. In October 1774 he was a member of a committee to ascertain the boundaries of the town. Proprietors' meetings as well as town meetings were often held at his house. He is said to have been keeper of William Marsh's tavern, which stood on the present site of the south wing of the Equinox House.
Among Powel's town offices were: selectman, lister, leather sealer, sealer of weights and measures, treasurer, brander of horses, highway pathmaster on the main road, jail keeper, and town clerk. He served in the latter position twenty-one years, from 1774 to 1795. He was also a justice of the peace and for twelve years, judge of probate.
For seven years Powel was a member of the Legislature and he was often appointed to committees, usually of three members, to investigate and report on petitions and various other matters brought to the Legislature. His services as committeeman and dele- gate included : Committee of Safety; Committee to Administer Pub- lic Safety; committee to act with New Hampshire regarding the legality of land titles in the New Hampshire Grants; committee to divide Manchester into school districts; committee to act with the convention to set up rules for mutual defense and guidance in 1775; Dorset Convention, which met at Cephas Kent's tavern in 1776; convention of 109 delegates July 24, 1776, which created the Republic of Vermont; convention which met at Bennington Janu- ary 6, 1791 to ratify the Constitution of the United States.
Martin Powel was an extensive landholder. Set off to him as a Proprietor were ten tracts (usually fifty acres each though two con- sisted of twenty-five); one tract of 100 acres; and two tracts of forty-eight acres. Also recorded are thirteen transactions, the last in 1793 in which he purchased various acreages from other holders. A summary of fifteen sales by him would indicate that he disposed of well over 500 acres. All but one are recorded in English pounds, which totaled 1,784. The other was for $500. These holdings, though not as extensive as those held by some others, seem to have been well chosen and were disposed of at satisfactory profits. Even so, a house he occupied which was located about two rods south of
1
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the old Court House was mortgaged to Joseph Burr, to whom Pow- el's administrator, his son Martin, Jr., sold it in 1804 for $150.
In Manchester records written in his own hand, Powel noted his two marriages. He had nine children by his first wife, Rhoda, and three by his second wife, Elizabeth Harris. Rhoda died April 20, 1777 and he married Elizabeth March 1, 1778. There seems to be no record of where either wife was buried or of Rhoda's family name.
Martin Powell, Jr. (he used both "l's") moved to Westford, Ver- mont, 115 miles north of Manchester, and was elected town clerk there at the first town meeting, March 1793. His father, Martin Powel, Esq., followed in 1795, accompanied by his fourteen-year- old daughter, Electa. To account for this migration-the grantees to whom Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire gave Westford sold some of their rights to a group of proprietors in the Manchester area. At least one meeting of the Westford Proprietors was held in Dorset and another at the house of Jared Munson in Manchester. At that meeting, Martin Powel, Esq., served as clerk pro tem. Gideon Ormsby, a Proprietor, sold land in Westford to Martin Powell, Jr., and possibly to his father, but the records do not always clearly distinguish between father and son.
Again in Westford, the father's talents in public office were recog- nized. He was chosen town clerk in 1796 as well as pound keeper and sealer of weights and measures. He continued as town clerk into 1800 and was also elected treasurer. As justice of the peace, he performed the first wedding ceremony in the neighboring town of Essex.
The year 1800, however, was apparently one of illness. Although Powel had been elected town clerk, the records indicate he did not serve. His death was recorded by his son as August 20, 1800. The date on the gravestone in the Brookside Cemetery, three miles west of the village, is August 22. Though he was a veteran of the Revolu- tionary War, no flag flies at his grave. The inscription on his stone, however, seems particularly fitting and whoever composed it must have known the man well. It reads:
The most active genius-the most acknowledged usefulness-the strongest attachments will not save from the gripe of death.
Martin Powell, Jr., entered the ministry after some years in
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Westford. He was in Underhill in 1813 and preached in Rupert in 1820. He died in 1849 and his gravestone stands beside his father's.
GIDEON ORMSBY (September 24, 1736-January 21, 1804) Gideon Ormsby was another influential citizen whose activities were of considerable importance in Manchester's early history. He held several of the same offices as Martin Powel, Esq., and they both served on the same committees at various times.
Among his offices were: moderator, Proprietors' meeting, Octo- ber 2, 1783; moderator, town meeting at least three times; select- man; lister; tythingman; hayward; town treasurer for several years; treasurer of Proprietors, 1802; sealer of weights and measures; trustee of public school lands; grand juryman, 1781; representative of Manchester in the Legislature seventeen years.
He was a member of the committee to lay out a highway through Manchester in 1764; on a Proprietors' committee for land surveys, 1784; on a committee to make a more equal division of town high- way districts, 1794; and on a committee to examine the accounts of selectmen and the treasurer.
Ormsby was captain of a company of militia located in Manches- ter in 1778 and was sent to the frontier with thirty-one men where they served eight days. He was eventually ranked a major. He was one of a group of volunteers who went to oppose New Yorkers on the east side of the state in 1779.
In Manchester he lived on premises subsequently owned by Gov- ernor Richard Skinner, later the Canfield place now owned by Cutler Severance. His home and some of his land holdings were at Ormsby Hill on U. S. Rte. 7. He was influential in getting the county buildings located on the Village green in 1794.
Like the other Manchester Proprietors, Major Ormsby was in- terested in land dealings. His holdings seem to have been quite ex- tensive and were probably profitable. At least fourteen lots totaling 582 acres were set out to him as a Proprietor. In addition, he made thirty-four purchases, the last on March 22, 1814. The last of his forty-seven land sales was in 1808. He was also interested in land dealings in Westford.
The fact that Book B of Proprietors' Records is missing prevents exact accuracy in estimating the Proprietors' original holdings.
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These may have been more extensive than available records show. Ormsby is buried in the old part of Dellwood Cemetery.
TIMOTHY MEAD (1724-1802)
Timothy Mead owes his measure of distinction in the early settle- ment of Manchester to his role as property owner and man of busi- ness rather than to service through public office. He was, however, elected pathmaster in the northeast part of town in 1776 and 1778; fence viewer in 1794 and 1796; selectman for eight years; brander of horses; member of the committee to settle accounts with the town officers (auditors); and collector for the Proprietors' assessment in 1802.
Mead became owner of 200 acres of land at Factory Point, which is now Manchester Center. He built a sawmill, gristmill, fulling mill, distillery, and store there. Refusing to provide land for the erection of county buildings, he did, however, give land for the site of the Baptist church, first near the Factory Point Cemetery and later, at its present location.
SAMUEL FRENCH
Samuel French's contribution to the growth of Manchester was principally as surveyor for the Proprietors. He was also county surveyor in 1782 and town surveyor for six years. He served as lister in 1784 and as selectman in 1794.
§ Others of Influence
JAMES ANDERSON (September 12, 1798-December 22, 1881) Came here from Andover Theological Seminary as candidate for Congregational church pulpit in May 1829; accepted the call for $600 a year and was pastor thirty years; clerk, first board of trustees, Burr and Burton Seminary; nicknamed "Priest Anderson" because he was one of the last Calvinistic preachers using the wrath of God rather than love of God as a motive to move the hearts of men; has also been called the "ideal country clergyman and highest type of Christian gentleman-dignified, austere, and stern."
FRANK C. ARCHIBALD (December 31, 1857-April 19, 1935) Graduated Middlebury High School, Vermont Academy; admitted
Ahiman L. Miner (1804-1886), Man- chester lawyer who spoke at the famous Stratton Whig Convention in 1840 with Daniel Webster.
Loveland Munson (1843-1921), Chief Justice, Vermont Supreme Court.
Mrs. Susan (Roberts) Miner, second wife of Ahiman L. Miner. A lady of con- siderable influence, especially in Village affairs, Mrs. Miner was held in high regard.
Mary Campbell Munson (1862-1954), wife of Judge Munson and like him, de- scended from the oldest families in Man- chester. Mrs. Munson is especially re- membered for her service and devotion to the First Congregational church, Burr and Burton Seminary, and the Mark Skinner Library.
Frank C. Archibald (1857-1935), Man- chester lawyer.
Franklin H. Orvis (1824-1900), fore- sighted "father" of Manchester's sum- mer business.
Charles F. Orvis (1831-1915), founder of the famed Manchester fly-rod busi- ness which still bears his name. This picture was taken in 1913.
Icy Palmer (1823-1911), Tuscarora In- dian. A Manchester resident for many years, she is buried directly behind the greenhouse at Dellwood Cemetery.
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to Vermont bar, 1886, and came to Manchester, 1888, to open office; state's attorney, Bennington County, 1892-1894, 1914- 1916; represented Manchester in Legislature, 1904, 1906; Senator from Bennington County, 1910; Attorney General of Vermont, 1918, 1920, 1922, 1924; town law agent, 1932; member, school board; moderator, town meeting.
ALICE BENNETT (July 8, 1870-August 10, 1958) Born in Man- chester, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry T. Bennett; register of probate under Probate Judge William B. Edgerton; assistant to Town Clerk Hiram Eggleston; town clerk, 1919-1952; compiler of published record of all soldiers from Manchester in Civil War, Spanish-American War, and first World War.
OTTO R. BENNETT (August 14, 1866-November 21, 1949) Graduate of Burr and Burton Seminary, 1883; purchased and be- came editor of the Manchester Journal, 1905; formed and became president, Manchester Printing Company, 1922; postmaster, 1922- 1934; representative of Manchester in Legislature, 1922; member, Odd Fellows and Masons; "a crusading editor for the advancement of town and state" who had a thorough knowledge of the printing business.
WILLIAM P. BLACK (June 2, 1801-September 3, 1887) Son of Captain Peter Black, merchant and hotelman of early Manchester; deacon, Congregational church; trustee, treasurer, Burr and Bur- ton Seminary; town clerk, 1836-1842; town treasurer; cashier, Manchester Bank, Battenkill Bank, Battenkill National Bank.
WILLIAM A. BURNHAM (December 29, 1805-May 8, 1860) Ed- ucated at Pinkerton Academy, Derry, New Hampshire, and at An- dover (Mass.) Teacher's Seminary; outstanding teacher at Burr and Burton Seminary from 1835 to 1860; associate principal with Rev. J. D. Wickham; first school superintendent in Manchester; was first to admit girls to his classes at the Seminary; monument at Dellwood Cemetery notable.
JOSEPH BURR (August 11, 1772-April 14, 1828) Came to Man- chester in 1793 from Hempstead, Long Island; opened general
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store in Village; representative of Manchester in the Legislature, 1824; stockholder, Peru Turnpike; first to hold liquor license in town; gave money for town poor farm; amassed fortune of $135,000 which he bequeathed to religious and educational institutions, the most vital to Manchester being $10,000 for founding Burr and Burton Seminary.
ELIAS B. BURTON (1816-1892) Graduated from Middlebury College, 1837; admitted to bar, 1842; representative of Manchester in the Legislature, 1856-1857; Senator from Bennington County, 1865; state's attorney, Bennington County; law partner of A. L. Miner, Samuel S. Burton, Loveland Munson; one of two delegates representing first Vermont Congressional District at National Re- publican Convention at Chicago at which Abraham Lincoln was nominated for the presidency; trustee, president of the board, Burr and Burton Seminary, 1859-1891.
JOSIAH BURTON (February 22, 1777-April 22, 1853) Sheriff of Bennington County, twenty-one years; first board of trustees, Burr and Burton Seminary; largest single contributor to fund that se- cured Burr's bequest and founded school; left $11,000 legacy, half for Burr Seminary, half for separate educational facilities for females if stipulation complied with within four years; by default entire sum went to Burr and Burton, which decided to admit girls and thus became first coeducational secondary school in Vermont.
AUGUSTUS G. CLARK (October 5, 1812-May 10, 1879) Eldest son of Myron Clark, who came to Manchester in 1825 from Rupert; both operated Factory Point tannery (M. Clark & Son) with A. G. Clark later entering partnership with Mason S. Colburn; represen- tative of Manchester in the Legislature, 1849; postmaster, Factory Point, 1861-1870.
MYRON CLARK (September 2, 1790-March 8, 1869) Rebuilt gristmill purchased from Timothy Mead at Factory Point, 1840, and is given credit for building up value of Factory Point property; first president, Bennington and Rutland Railroad; first board of trustees, Burr and Burton Seminary.
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MASON S. COLBURN (June 6, 1837-February 18, 1895) Partner in A. G. Clark & Co., Factory Point gristmill, marble mill, and tan- nery; managing director, Bennington and Rutland Railroad; cap- tain, Company A, 11th Regiment, Vermont Militia and later, colo- nel; not a Civil War veteran but did much to encourage enlistment and liberal bounties; representative of Manchester in the Legisla- ture; Senator from Bennington County; moderator, town meeting; responsible for movement to restock woods with deer.
HARVEY K. FOWLER (1818-1909) Graduated from Burr and Burton Seminary, 1840; admitted to Vermont bar, 1842; judge of probate and register of probate for twenty-seven years.
R. BURR GLEASON (March 11, 1873-May 20, 1947) Represen- tative of Manchester in the Legislature, 1935, 1943, 1945; superin- tendent, Factory Point Cemetery; town grand juror; officer, First Baptist church; deacon, over thirty-nine years, and Sunday School superintendent, over twenty years, at Baptist church; Manchester commander, state commander, Sons of Veterans; justice of the peace.
EDWARD GRIFFITH (January 7, 1871-December 14, 1948) Born East Dorset; graduated from Burr and Burton Seminary, Dart- mouth College, and New York law school; admitted New York bar, 1896, Vermont bar, 1909; selectman, Dorset; judge of probate, thirty-eight years; member, Bennington County and Vermont Bar Associations; chairman, Battenkill Valley Chapter, American Red Cross; chairman, Manchester Salvation Army committee; charter member, Manchester Rotary Club; member and one of organizers, Manchester Board of Trade; clerk, treasurer, Village; director, Chamber of Commerce; president, Factory Point National Bank; trustee, treasurer, Dellwood Cemetery Association; president, trus- tee, Southern Vermont Artists, Inc .; counsellor, Vermont Society of Mayflower Descendants.
CHARLES H. HAWLEY (January 6, 1861-March 30, 1943) Dea- con, trustee, Congregational church; trustee, Burr and Burton Seminary, 1907-1943; trustee, Dellwood Cemetery Association, Mark Skinner Library; director, Factory Point National Bank.
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LEMUEL HAYNES (1753-1833) Self-educated Negro who was a "Minute Man" in the Continental Army; ordained to ministry, 1785; pastor, West Rutland church, thirty years; pastor, Manches- ter Congregational church, 1818-1822; spiritual advisor to the Boorns in their murder trial, which was held during his pastorate here and in his church due to lack of room in the Court House; pastor, Granville, New York, at time of his death; biography has been published.
THOMAS J. HEALEY (March 30, 1874-July 9, 1949) President, Manchester Board of Trade; prudential committee, Fire District; charter member, president, Manchester Rotary Club; exalted ruler, Elks, Eagles; Mason; troop committee, Boy Scouts of America.
EDWARD HUNT HEMENWAY (October 29, 1883-June 16, 1938) Graduated from Burr and Burton Seminary, 1901; attended Uni- versity of Michigan; owner, hardware store; president, Village, while cement road was under construction and put out of office be- cause road was too wide; trustee, Burr and Burton Seminary, twenty-five years, and chairman, prudential committee; his obituary said he offered "a life of friendship and service" to Manchester.
LEWIS EDWARD HEMENWAY (June 12, 1877-March, 1915) Graduated from Burr and Burton Seminary, 1896, and Yale Col- lege, 1901; received medical training, University of Michigan and Detroit College of Medicine; Hemenway Prize at Burr and Burton Seminary given in his memory at Commencement for student who has done most for Seminary; general practitioner, office on Bonnet Street, Center.
LEWIS H. HEMENWAY (November 30, 1841-August 30, 1925) Born in Siam, where his father, Asa, was a missionary from Ver- mont; graduated from Burr and Burton Seminary, Middlebury Col- lege; served in the Civil War, 12th Regiment, Vermont Volunteers; graduated from University of Vermont Medical College, 1866; also trained at King's County, New York Hospital; began as general practitioner in Manchester, 1868; trustee, historian, and benefactor of Burr and Burton Seminary until his death.
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A. J. HICKS (December 5, 1878-November 20, 1934) Graduated from Burr and Burton Seminary, 1897; treasurer, clerk, deacon, Baptist church; treasurer, Bennington County Co-operative Cream- ery; trustee, Burr and Burton Seminary, 1932-1934; member, chairman, school board; executive committee, Manchester District Nursing Association; town treasurer; assistant cashier, Factory Point National Bank; representative of Manchester in the Legisla- ture, 1927, 1929.
JOSIAH BURTON HOLLISTER (June 17, 1831-December 4, 1907) Attended Burr and Burton Seminary; representative of Man- chester in the Legislature, 1862; Senator from Bennington County, 1864; member, Council of Censors, 1869, which called the Consti- tutional Convention of 1870; superintendent of schools in Man- chester, 1858, 1860-1863; in East Dorset and Rutland marble busi- ness; trustee, president of the Board, Burr and Burton Seminary, giving more than $25,000 to the school during his lifetime; modera- tor, town meeting.
EDWARD SWIFT ISHAM (January 15, 1836-February 15, 1902) Son of Pierpont Isham, early Pownal and Bennington lawyer and Supreme Court judge, and grandson of Ezra Isham, early Manches- ter doctor; educated Lawrenceville Academy, Williams College, Harvard Law School; admitted to bar, 1858; formed partnership in Chicago with Robert Todd Lincoln in firm of Isham, Lincoln, and Beale and was thereby a participant in many noted legal cases; president, Ekwanok Country Club; corporation member, Mark Skinner Library; member, Manchester Historical Society; trustee, Burr and Burton Seminary; "Ormsby Hill" was his Manchester home.
EDWARD SWIFT ISHAM, JR. (1869-1927) Graduated from Yale University; by occupation, a New York manufacturer; trustee, Burr and Burton Seminary, Dellwood Cemetery Association; mem- ber, board of governors, Ekwanok Country Club.
GEORGE F. LAWRENCE (July 3, 1882-June 29, 1957) Born in Manchester; graduated from Burr and Burton Seminary, Albany
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Law School, 1905; legal practice, New York City, Manchester, Ver- mont; judge of probate; member, Bennington County bar; lister; clerk, treasurer, Village; justice of the peace; member, Masons, Rod and Gun Club.
ROBERT TODD LINCOLN (August 1, 1843-July 26, 1926) Born in Springfield, Illinois, the eldest son of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln; educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, Harvard University, and the University of Illinois; Secretary of War, President Gar- field's cabinet; Minister to Great Britain four years under President Harrison; married Mary Harlan, September 24, 1868; president, Pullman Company; his Manchester connections date back to 1863, when he accompanied his mother and Mrs. Abner Doubleday to the Equinox House; he often returned to visit his law partner, Edward S. Isham, and in 1902 bought several hundred acres of mountain and valley land which he developed into "Hildene," an English type of estate; his children were Abraham Lincoln 2d (Jack) who died at the age of sixteen; Mrs. Charles Isham, who also lived in Manchester for a time and whose son, Lincoln, is now a resident of Dorset; and Mrs. F. E. Johnson, whose children by an earlier mar- riage to Warren Beckwith were Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith and Mary Lincoln Beckwith, the latter a Manchester resident (1960); Robert T. Lincoln died in Manchester and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery; all Village flags were at half-staff and many houses were draped with mourning; his friend, Horace G. Young, said of Lincoln's relationship with his adopted village-"Few men .. . have exerted upon a community an influence at once so strong, so gentle, and so kindly. In this village he was more than a friend and benefactor; he was a strong and unusual character who enjoyed the universal respect and affection of all who knew him" (Manches- ter Journal, August 26, 1926).
ANDREW MARTIN (May 26, 1860-June 21, 1940) Born Jersey City, New Jersey; came to Manchester in 1878 to manage Equinox House for over sixty years; vice-president, Equinox Company; president, Manchester Village, 1924-1938; member, officer, Man- chester Community Club; honorary life member, New England Hotel Association; member, Manchester Chamber of Commerce;
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managed hotels in Georgia and Florida also; made a Knight of Malta by Pope Pius XI, February, 1932.
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