USA > Vermont > Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont > Part 100
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BARTO.
publicans of the new tenth Massachusetts congressional district as their standard bearer in one of the hardest fought political campaigns that Massachusetts has witnessed m many years. His dignified and manly course throughout this most exciting con- gressional canvass, and especially towards those of his own party whose support was given to an independent Republican candi- date, was such as to win even the plaudits of his political opponents and make even keener the regret when at the close of what was at first considered a hopeless task, his
election was defeated by only six hundred and eighty. five votes with the independent Republicans attracting the support of over twenty two hundred voters.
Mr. Atwood is a member of St. John's Lodge, F. & A. M., St. Paul's Royal Arch Chapter, and Boston Commandery, is also a member of the 1. O. O. F.
He was married in Boston, Sept. 11, 1889, to Clara, eldest daughter of the late John August and Sophie (Kupfer) Stein; they have two sons: Harrison Henry, Jr., and August Stein.
BABCOCK, JOSEPH WEEKS, of Nece- dah, Wis., was born in Swanton Falls, March 6, 1850 ; removed with his parents to lowa in 1856, where he received a common school education ; he is a grandson of the late Hon. Joseph Weeks of Richmond, N. H., who was a member of the 24th and 25th Con- gress ; is by occupation a lumberman ; set- tled at Necedah in 1881, where he has since resided ; was elected to the Wisconsin As- sembly in 1888, and served as chairman of the committee on incorporations, and was re-elected in 1890 ; was elected to the 53d Congress as a Republican.
BALDWIN, MELVIN R., of Duluth, Minn., was born in Windsor county, April 12, 1838 ; removed to Wisconsin 1847 ; en- tered Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis., 1855, remaining through the sophomore year ; studied law, and then adopted civil engineering as a profession ; was engaged on Chicago & Northwestern R. R. till April 19, 1861 ; enlisted as a private in Com- pany E., 2d Wis. Infantry, brigaded with the Iron Brigade ; was slightly wounded at the first, and severely wounded at the second battle of Bull Run ; promoted to captain of his company ; was captured at Gettysburg and confined in Libby, Macon, Georgia, Charleston, and Columbia, South Carolina ; made two escapes, but was recaptured, and was finally exchanged after seventeen months' imprisonment. Engaged in operative rail- road work in Kansas after the war ; was gen- eral superintendent four years ; removed to Minnesota in 1875, and has resided in Du- luth since 1885 ; president of Duluth Cham- ber of Commerce since 1886; always a Democrat; twice declined Congressional nomination ; nominated by acclamation in August, 1892, and was elected to the 53d Congress.
BARBER, J. ALLEN, was born in Georgia, after a partial course of studies at the Uni- versity of Vermont, studied law and was ad- mitted to practice in 1833; in 1837 he
removed to the then territory of Wisconsin, and settled at Lancaster, where he has since practiced. He was a member of the first Constitutional Convention of Wisconsin in 1846 ; was elected to the state Assembly of Wisconsin in 1852, 1853 and 1863, serving the last year as speaker ; was elected to the state Senate in 1856 and 1857 ; was elected a representative from Wisconsin in the 42d Congress, as a Republican ; was re-elected to the 43d Congress.
BARTO, ALPHONSO, of St. Cloud, Minn., was born in Hinesburgh May 27, 1834, and was the son of William R. and Mary (Gage) Barto.
He was educated at the district schools and under private instruction. At an early age he removed to Illinois and engaged in farming, which vocation he followed until his enlistment in 1861. Upon his return from the war of the rebellion in 1864 he en- gaged in the manufacture of furniture at Elgin, Ill. Desiring to lead a professional life he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1870. Removing to Sauk Centre, Minn., in 1869, he began the practice of his profession and has since followed it with great success both there and at St. Cloud, where he now resides.
He enlisted as a private in Co. K, 52d Ill. Inf. Vols., in 1861, and was successively promoted to second-lieutenant and captain. Serving three years he was mustered out Oct. 25, 1864.
A Republican in his political beliefs he has. held many positions of trust within the gifts of the people ; was a justice of the peace in Kane county, Ill., for three years, and treasurer of the same county, 1867-'69 ; was a member of the House of Representatives. of Minnesota, 1871 ; re-elected in 1872 and elected Lieutenant-Governor of the state of Minnesota in 1873, serving through a cred- itable administration until 1875 ; was a mem- ber of the national convention which nomi- nated Blaine in 1884 ; has held many local and state offices and is now register of the
II
BATCHELDER.
BARTO.
U. S. land office at St. Cloud ; was one of the organizers of the St. Cloud Merchants National Bank, has been a director since its organization, and is now its vice-president.
He married at Middlebury, in 1854, Har- riet E., daughter of Allen E. and Sarah Hitchcock, of Whiting. The issue of this union were : Mary E. (deceased), Lyman R. (now judge of municipal court at Sauk Centre, Minn.), and Harriet M. (deceased). Mrs. Barto died Oct. 13, 1866, and Mr. Barto married Charlotte, daughter of Will- iam and Mary Ann Allen, of Ferrisburgh, Oct. 17, 1867. Of this union was one son, William A., who is now about to grad- uate from the University of Minnesota.
ALPHONSO BARTO.
Governor Barto has been prominent in Masonic circles, and first affiliated with Geneva Lodge, No. 139, at Geneva, Ill., in 1861, receiving the chapter degrees and was exalted to a Royal Arch Mason in Fox River Chapter, No. 49, at St. Charles, Ill. : was knighted in Sycamore Commandery, Syca- more, Ill., and took the Scottish rite degrees to the 32d in Occidental Consistory, Chicago ; and has held nearly all the offices within the local and grand lodges, was grand master of the state in 1891-'92 ; is prominent in G. A. R. circles and organized one of the first posts in Illinois at Elgin in 1866 and was its first commander ; has been past dis- trict and department commander in Min- nesota ; a member of the Loval Legion, de-
partment of Minnesota, and a member of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee.
BATCHELDER, GEORGE W., of Fari- bault, Minn., was born in Danville, Feb. 18, 1826, the son of John and Alice ( Kittredge) Batchelder.
After the usual course at the public schools he fitted for college at Phillips Academy, Danville, graduated from the University of Vermont with the class of '51, receiving the degree of A. B. and that of A. M. in 1854 ; was a member of the Sigma Phi and Phi Betta Kappa Societies.
Upon leaving college he went to Windsor, where he took charge of the graded schools and began the study of the law with the Hon. Warren Currier. In 1852 he removed to Tazelville, Tenn., where he was in charge of the Tazelville Academy for a year, and the following year was at the head of Mc- Minn Academy, Rogersville, Tenn., contin- uing his law studies with the firm of Hall & Walker. He was admitted to the bar in 1854 and returned to Vermont for a short visit. Resolved to follow the advice of Horace Greeley, he "went West" and for a
GEORGE W. BATCHELDER.
short time practiced his profession at Janes- ville, Wis., but later in 1855 prospected in Minnesota (then a territory), locating at the new town of Faribault, in which place he has made his home and built up a lucrative practice. His first partner was the late Judge John M. Berry : from 1857 to 'So he
MAXIFR.
was a partner of Thomas S. Buckham, now judge of the fifth judicial district of Minne sota ; and his present associate is his son, under the firm name of G. W. & C. S. Batchelder.
Mr. Batchelder has always affiliated with the Democratic party ; was nominated for Congress for the Southern District of Minne- sota in 1868, when there were but two dis- triets in the state ; also for associate justice of the Supreme Court, 1888 ; was elected and served as state senator, 1871-'72 ; was mayor of the city of Faribault, 1880-'8) ; has been chairman of city board of education for twelve years, and exerted a great influence in bringing about the union of the parochial and public schools and the adoption of the " Faribault Plan," which was so widely dis- cussed by the press and in the Protestant and Catholic churches of this country and Europe, adopted by Archbishop Ireland and sanctioned by the Pope at Rome.
Having always taken a prominent part in the affairs of Faribault, Mr. Batchelder has been a director of the First National Bank for twelve years and a director of the Austin National Bank since its organization.
Mr. Batchelder wedded, in Wisconsin, July 12, 1858, Kate E., daughter of Cornelius and Mary Davis. Of this union are three children : Georgia L., Charles S., and John D.
BAXTER, LUTHER LOREN, of Fergus Falls, Minn., son of Chauncey and Philena (Peet) Baxter, was born in Cornwall, June 8, 1832.
He received his education at the district schools of his native town, supplemented by private tuition, a year at Castleton Seminary and a two years course at Norwich Univer- sity. Commencing the study of the law at nineteen years of age under Lindsley & Beckwith, and concluding his studies with Judge Horatio Seymour, he removed to Illinois in the fall of 1853 and was there admitted to the bar in March, 1854. Loca- ting at Geneva, Wis., he practiced his pro- fession successfully until 1857 when he removed to Carver county, Minn., and re- sumed the practice of his profession which he continued, except during his enlistment, until 1885 ; from 1876 to 1882 at Minne- apolis and since 1882 at Fergus Falls, where he still resides.
Judge Baxter enlisted in September, 1861, as captain of Co. A, 4th Minn. Vol. Infantry and was assigned with two companies to the command of Fort Ridley ; remaining there until March, 1862, he rejoined his regiment at Fort Snelling and was promoted to the rank of major. In April, 1862, he was ordered South with his regiment, where he participated in many battles, but owing to sickness was compelled to resign in October,
BAXTER.
1862. Re-entering the service in Novem- ber, 1864, as major of the ist Minn. Heavy Artillery, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in February, 1865, and commissioned colonel the same year and par- ticipated in the battle of Nashville. He was elected to the state Senate in the fall elec- tions and was granted leave of absence to take his seat. Returning to the army in March, 1865, he was assigned to duty as chief of artillery of Chattanooga, remaining with his regiment until mustered out of service in October, 1865.
LUTHER LOREN BAXTER.
Judge Baxter is a staunch Democrat, and as such has held many positions of honor and trust ; was judge of probate for Carver county in 1858 ; prosecuting attorney for the 4th judicial district, 1859; county attorney of Scott county, 1863 ; senator from Scott county, 1865-'69 ; member of the House from Carver county, 1869 ; senator from 1869 to 1876 ; county attorney of Carver county, 1877-'79, and member of the Legislature, 1879-'81. At the hands of the Republican Governor Hubbard, he received the appoint- ment of judge of the 7th judicial district, in March, 1885, to fill an unexpired term, and was elected to the same position for a term of six years at the elections of 1886, notwith- standing the fact that the district cast a Re- publican majority of 3,500 ; re-elected at the last election without opposition, he still holds the position.
13
BEAMAN.
He has been a Master Mason for thirty- eight years and is now a member of the Scottish Rites; affiliated with the Loyal Legion and is prominent with the local G. A. R., being a trustee of the Soldiers' Home.
Judge Baxter was first united in marriage to Emma Ward. She died in June, 1870. He formed a second alliance with Barbara Deuhs, who died in March, 1881. He again married in November, 1883, Hilda Emma, daughter of Lewis and Emma M. Child. He has only two children : Chauncey Luther, and Bertha.
BEAMAN, FERNANDO C., was born in Chester, June 28, 1814; removed to New York when a boy, and left an orphan at the age of fifteen ; received a good English edu- cation at the Franklin County Academy, studied law in Rochester ; removed to Mich- igan in 1838, and commenced the practice of his profession ; was for six years prose- cuting attorney for Lenawee county ; was judge of probate for four years ; was a presi- dential elector in 1856 ; in 1860 was elected a representative from Michigan to the Thirty- seventh Congress.
BELCHER, ISAAC SAWYER, of San Fran- cisco, Cal., the son of Samuel and Anna G. (Caldwell) Belcher, was born in Stockbridge, Feb. 27, 1825.
ISAAC SAWYER BELCHER.
His father was a farmer and young Belcher worked upon the farm and attended the dis- trict schools until he was fifteen years of
BELCHER.
age. He fitted for college in the academy at Royalton and entered the University of Ver- mont in 1842, graduating with the class of '46. Having chosen the law as a profession he entered the office of J. W. D. Parker at Bradford and after a thorough course of legal study was admitted to practice in the county courts in 1849 and to the Supreme Court of the state three years later. He continued the practice of his profession in Windsor county until 1853, when he started for California, arriving in San Francisco on the 16th of June. He went at once to the mines in Yuba county and there practiced his profession until March, 1855, when he settled in Marysville in that county and soon acquired a lucrative practice. Mr. Justice Field of the Supreme Court of the United States and other distinguished lawyers, were then practicing at the same bars. His brother, William C. Belcher, now a leading member of the San Francisco bar, was asso- ciated with him.
He was elected to the position of district attorney of Yuba county in 1855, and held the office until 1858. He was elected judge of the tenth judicial district in 1863, and held that office until 1870. In 1872 he was appointed by the Governor to fill a vacancy in the Supreme Court of the state, and at the expiration of his term declined a nom- ination to succeed himself and resumed his practice at Marysville. In June, 1878, he was elected a member and served as vice- president of the Constitutional Convention which met that year. In 1880 he was elected by the Legislature a trustee of the State Library, which position he held for eight years. In 1885 he was appointed a com- missioner of the Supreme Court of the state, and this position he still holds.
At the founding of the Leland Stanford, Jr., University he was appointed one of its trus- tees and since that time has acted as such. In this connection a local paper says of him : " Judge Belcher is a man of remarkable strength of mind and soundness of judgment, and his fellow trustees will find in him a val- uable coadjutor in administering the noble trust confided to their keeping."
Mr. Belcher was united in wedlock, August 12, 1861, to Adeline M., daughter of William T. and Martha (Tappan) Johnson, of Augusta, Maine. The fruit of this union are : Martha A., Richard, William J., and Robert. He now resides in San Francisco, in the full en- joyment of the fruits of an upright, honorable life.
BELCHER, WILLIAM C., of San Fran- cisco, Cal., son of Samuel and Anna G. (Caldwell) Belcher, was born at Stockbridge, Dec. 12, 1820.
1 |
BEARD.
He graduated at the University of Ver mont in 1843; and subsequently taught several years in the Academy of Bradford. Ile was admitted to the bar in that county in 1855.
In 1856 young Belcher went to California and has ever since been engaged in the practice of his profession, and in some of the most important law suits on the Pacific coast. While in Marysville he was a part- ner of his brother Isaac S. Belcher who is now on the supreme bench, but since mov- ing to San Francisco he has become one of the firm of Mastic, Belcher, Van Vleet & Mastic.
WILLIAM C. BELCHER.
He has never held any political or judic- ial office, or been associated with any secret society except the Masons. Mr. Belcher is a life member of Pacific Coast Association Native Sons of Vermont, and is highly es- teemed by his associates, and by the citizens of the commonwealth in which he resides.
BEARD, ALANSON WILDER, of Boston, Mass., collector of the port of Boston, was born in Ludlow, August 20, 1825.
Leaving his native town at the age of seven he spent the years preceding his ma- jority at Stockbridge, working on his father's farm during his boyhood, receiving a com- mon school education, and in addition private instruction from the pastor of the Congregational church, Thomas S. Hubbard, who was a man of liberal culture.
Early inured to the hardships of farm life among the rugged hills of Vermont, we find
BARI.
young Beard at seventeen, strong, hardy, of wonderful vitality, with a thorough English education, well equipped for a life work, that may now be said to have begun when he entered the school room as a teacher, in which occupation he continued with but little intermission until his twenty-first year. In the spring of 1847 Mr. Beard began a mercantile career, opening at Pittsfield in his native state a country store, which he kept for six years; during the time he was postmaster of the town, the first position under the national government he ever held, and the only one until he was first appointed collector of the port of Boston. Both the postmastership and the storekeeper's life he gave up to come to Boston in September, 1853, entering the clothing house of Whiting, Kehoc & Galloupe, as salesman. Less than three years after he was in the wholesale clothing business on his own account; later under the firm name of Beecher, Beard & Co. His Boston business was continued until 1879 under the successive firm names of C. W. Freeland, Beard & Co., Beard, Moul- ton & Co., Beard, Moulton & Bouve. bur- ing this time he had the management of from two hundred to six hundred employes, the manufacturing being under his personal supervision.
On the formation of the Republican party, Mr. Beard, whose early associations had been with the Whigs, gave his influence to the new political creed and has held that allegiance ever since. The year 1864 brought him into the Republican state committee, there to re- main three years. Subsequently he was chairman of this committee in 1875 and '76 and again in 1885. In 1868 he was delegate to the national Republican convention and again in 1888 he was delegate-at-large to the national Republican convention. Mr. Beard was also a member of the House of Rep- resentatives for Massachusetts in 1870 and '71, and again in 1884 and '85. Mr. Beard served as collector of the port of Boston, under appointment of President Hayes, for the full term beginning March, 1878, leaving the office in May, 1882. In January, 1886, he became treasurer of the commonwealth of Massachusetts and that office he held for three years. In 1890 he was again made collector of the port of Boston, which posi- tion he held until March, 1894. In every capacity he has served his party, his state and country faithfully and well.
Mr. Beard was married at Wayland, Mass., Nov. 27, 1848, to Mary Calista Morgan, daughter of Harvey and Sophia Morgan, then of Rochester, Vt. To them have been born three sons : James Wallace, Amherst Wilder, and Charles Freeland, of whom only Charles Freeland is living.
AMYBeard
BENJAMIN.
Although in his sixty eighth year, he is strong and rugged ; a fine speciman of phy- sical manhood, six feet and two inches in height and weighing upward of 200 pounds ; although of a military appearance and bear ing, he is a most genial and companionable man.
BELL, HIRAM, was born in Vermont, and was a representive in Congress from Ohio, from 1852 to 1853.
BENEDICT, ROBERT D., of the New York bar, was born at Burlington, ((1. 3, 1828. Hlis lather was for many years a pro- fessor in the University of Vermont, where R. D. Benedict was educated and where he was graduated in 1848. After his graduation he removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., and taught school for two years in what is now the Twenty-second ward, after which he entered the office of his uncle, Erastus C. Benedict, (afterwards chancellor of the University of the State) in New York City. He was ad- mitted to the bar in 1851, and has practiced law ever since.
In 1864 he married Miss Frances A. Weaver, of Colchester, and settled in Brook- lyn, which he had left for a few years after concluding his school teaching. His chil- dren are two sons : Wyllys (also a lawyer in New York City), Edward G. (who is asso- ciated with his father in business), and a daughter, Elizabeth Evelyn.
Mr. Benedict is well known to the legal profession as the editor of Benedict's Re- ports, in ten volumes, presenting the decis- ions of the United States district courts. He has recently prepared a new edition of Benedict's Admiralty, which was published many years ago by his uncle, and has been the recognized elementary authority on this subject. His law practice is largely in the Admiralty courts.
From the foundation of the New York Times till the death of Henry J. Raymond, its founder, Mr. Benedict was connected with that newspaper as a reporter in the United States courts and as a writer of edi- torials.
An address delivered by him in 1891 on the centennial anniversary of the granting of the charter of the University of Vermont, was published by the University, and a lec- ture on "The Hereford Map of the World and the Legend of St. Brandon," was pub- lished in the proceedings of the American Geographical Society for 1892.
He was for twenty years a member of Ply- mouth Church. For the last eighteen years he has been a member, and is a trustee of the Central Congregational Church. He was president of the board of elections in Brook- lyn for several years after its creation, and
was the last president of the Republican League of that city. For many years he has been a trustee of the Adelphi Academy of Brooklyn ; is a director of the Lawyer's Surety Company of New York ; is president of the New England Society of Brooklyn, and has been president of the Brooklyn Society of Vermonters, and of the Congre- gational C'hib of Brooklyn. He was also a member of the Kings County Club, and is now connected with the Hamilton and the Union League clubs.
BENJAMIN, CHAUNCEY E., late of Malden, Mass., son of Josiah and Rebecca (Emerson) Benjamin, was born in Berlin, Feb. 1, 1829.
He was educated in the schools of his native town, and assisted his father on the home farm until his majority when he re- moved to Wakefield, Mass. ; remaining there about a year, he located at Malden in the same state and made that place his home until his death which took place April 15, 1892.
During the first year of his residence in Malden Mr. Benjamin worked in the rubber factory, afterwards he joined his brother-in- law, E. E. Andrews, in the hardware busi- ness, in which he continued with success for several years. He then established an ex- press line between Malden and Boston which he continued for a year when it had assumed such proportions as to require additional assistance and he took in as a partner George W. Vaughn, with whom he continued the business until his death.
He took a deep interest in Masonic matters and was a prominent member of the local lodge of Odd Fellows.
Mr. Benjamin was married in January, 1856, to Lucy J. Stanwood of Malden. Three children have been born to them : Carrie S. (deceased), Georgiana, and Philip C.
BENTON, JACOB, was born at Water- ford, August 14, 1819 ; received an academic education ; engaged in teaching for several years, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1843 and commenced practice at Lancas- ter, N. H. ; was a member of the state Legis- lature in 1854, 1855, 1856 ; was a delegate to the national Republican convention in 1860; was brigadier-general commanding the state volunteers ; was elected to the For- tieth Congress, as a Republican, and was re- elected to the Forty-first Congress.
BENTON, REUBEN CLARK, of Minne- apolis, Minn., son of Reuben C. and Almira (Fletcher) Benton, was born in Waterford, May 13, 1830.
Robert & Bemrak
UNION,
In 18q be removed with his father's family to lunenburg, where he resided until twenty one years of age. During that time by study at home and at such schools as were in Unneuburg, and two terms at the St. Johns bury Academy, he was fitted for college. He entered the University of Vermont in May, 1851, and was graduated in 1854.
After graduation he went to Johnson, where he took charge of the academy. Pre- vious to entering college he had read law with the late Jacob Benton of Lancaster, and with William Heywood, then of Guild- hall. While in Johnson he read law with Whitman G. Ferrin now of Montpelier, and was admitted to practice in June, 1855. Hc commenced practice in 1856, remaining in Johnson until 1858, then removing to Hyde Park, where he continued until 1867.
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