USA > Vermont > Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont > Part 101
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REUBEN CLARK BENTON.
March 18, 1856, he was married to Sara M. Leland. They have had four children, all of whom are deceased.
At the breaking out of the war of the re- bellion he entered the service as captain of Co. D, 5th Regt. Vt. Vols., at the organiza- tion of that regiment in September, 1861, was present with his regiment until July, 1862, and was wounded at Savage Station in June of the same year. Upon the organiza- tion of the 11th Regt. in August, 1862, he was made lieutenant-colonel of that regi- ment, in which position he continued until the last of June, 1864, when he resigned for disability.
BISBEE.
In March, 1867, he removed to St. Albans, where he continued in the practice of his profession until June, 1875, when he re- moved to Minneapolis, Minn., where he still resides.
Hle was in the years 1879, 1880 and $881 elected city attorney of the city of Minne- apolis, which office he resigned December, 1881, to enter the employ of the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway Co., as its attorney at Minneapolis. For its successor, the Great Northern Railway Co., Mr. Benton and his firm still continue as attorneys, having, besides, a general practice.
During his practice in Minneapolis, he was at first in partnership with his brother, C. 11. Benton, also a Vermonter, under the firm name of Benton & Benton; after the dissolution of that firm, with William P. Rob- erts, as Benton & Roberts ; and for the past two years with Mr. Roberts and Rome G. Brown, the latter a Vermonter, as Benton, Roberts & Brown, which is the present style of his firm. Mr. Benton has devoted himself almost exclusively to the practice of law since his residence in Minneapolis, and has won the position of one of the leaders of the bar of Hennepin county, and of the state. In politics he is a Republican, but has no re- ligious affiliations.
BISBEE, LEWIS H., of Chicago, Ill., son of David and Sarah Bisbee, was born March 28, 1839, at Derby.
The subject of this sketch (one of the most prominent and gifted members of the Chicago bar) was born and reared through boyhood on a farm. It is not true that the broad, stimulating and intense conditions of wealth and city life are necessarily suppress- ive of marked individual force and character. It is true, however, that much of the brawn and muscle, the life and brain, the refine- ment and energy which lead and govern the real forces of society are developed under the more quiet and rugged conditions of country life. It is a most happy and valu- able fact that the real strength and virtue of society are being constantly replenished from the rural and agricultural forces of the coun- try. And there is probably no source from which is derived a stronger and better rein- forcement of manners and social refinement. The home of Hon. Lewis H. Bisbee is in Hyde Park. It is one of the most refined and elegant in the country, and is a promi- nent center of healthful and refining social influence on a moral and intellectual plane as high as social development has anywhere attained.
Mr. Bisbee's advantages in the common schools while a lad were good. But he early conceived the idea of obtaining the higher and broader education afforded in the acade-
I. H. Bisbeer
BISBEE.
mies of Vermont. hi sminmers he worked on the larm, attending school in the winters until the age of sixteen. Atthis age he fell back on his own resomces and proved himself pos- sessed of the energy and tenacity of purpose requisite to overcome the obstacles naturally in his way. He attended the academies at Glover, Derby, and Morrisville in Northern Vermont and took a course at St. Hyacinth College, near Montreal, C'an., when nineteen years of age. The course of instruction there being conducted in the French language, he became a thorough French scholar. Subse- quently he read law with J. L. Edwards, Esq., a prominent practitioner at Derby, paying his way mainly by teaching French, and was admitted to practice in June, 1862.
The same month he was admitted to the bar he enlisted as a private in Co. E, 9th Vt. Inf., and was afterward promoted to the captaincy of Co. H, of the same regiment. During his military service his conduct was marked by gallantry and faithfulness. Through all the hardships of war he was found reso- lute and cheerful, and in battle always at the front. In 1863 he resigned on account of sickness and returned to Newport and en- gaged in the practice of law, soon building up an extensive and lucrative business.
In 1866, Mr. Bisbee was elected state's attorney of Orleans county, where he then lived, and was re-elected in 1867, but soon after resigned to accept the position of deputy collector of customs, which office he filled till 1869, when he was elected to the Legis- lature of the state. He was again elected to the Legislature in 1870. He proved a most valuable and efficient member of that body, was one of the leaders of his party in the legislative debates, and a member of impor- tant committees. In extempore debate, when the occasion was important, he was con- sidered one of the most vigorous and effect- ive speakers on the floor.
It was in April, 1871, that Mr. Bisbee moved to Chicago, but scarcely had he be- come well started in business when the great fire occurred. In the rebuilding of the city, the reorganization and re-establishment of order and business, Mr. Bisbee came natur- ally and directly to the front of affairs. He had an unwavering faith in the future of Chicago, and the ability to seize and hold the front position which he has ever since occupied.
Mr. Bisbee is one of the most successful jury and chancery lawyers in the Northwest. His practice is of the highest and most lu- crative order. His management of the case known as the " B. F. Allen blanket-mortgage case," for Hoyt Sherman, especially, was con- ducted with extraordinary ability, and was highly complimented by courts and bar ; also the noted Sturges case, with many
others, might be addneed as confirming his high reputation as a lawyer.
In 1887 the Illinois Legislature passed a law permitting the annexation of the town of Hyde Park to Chicago. Through the in- strumentality of Mr. Bisbee the annexation became a fact. Mr. Bisbee was elected to the conmon council, representing the town of Hyde Park, but the Supreme Court of the state declared this law unconstitutional. Thereupon in 1888-'89 Mr. Bisbee secured the passage of a new law, which resulted in the annexation to Chicago of the town of Hlyke Park, Lake Jefferson, and a part of Cicero, containing an aggregate population of about 220,000 people. This great work made Chicago the second city in population of the United States, and among other ad- vantages enabled it to hold the World's Columbian Exposition within its corporate limits.
Mr. Bisbee is the author of the well-known work entitled "The Law of the Produce Ex- change," which is a standard text book on commercial exchanges in England and America.
In 1878 he was elected to the Legislature of Illinois, receiving nearly the unanimous vote of the district, one of the most popu- lous and intelligent in the state. In that body he was one of the most prominent leaders as a ready and able debater and an influential and judicious legislator. He is a graceful and impressive orator, an incisive and logical thinker ; and being possessed of a fine and commanding presence few men are his equal in the legal or legislative de- bating arena. In politics he is an ardent Republican, and in campaigns, when the principles of the party are at stake, his voice and eloquence are always conspicuous.
Mr. Bisbee is a member of the Oakland and Hyde Park Clubs, and one of the foun- ders of the Society of Sons of Vermont in Illinois, of which he has been president. He is also a Knight Templar, a member of the St. Bernard Commandery.
Personally Mr. Bisbee is a genial and af- fable gentlemen of broad and generous nature, dignified, courteous and obliging. In his profession he is honorable, conscien- tious, painstaking and laborious. Of robust and hardy nature, refined, cultivated and learned, he is in the true sense of the term a self-made man. And the most of his life, as the lives of strong men generally run, is still before him.
He was married in 1864 to Jane E. Hin- man, of Derby, Vt., a member of a prominent family of Orleans county. Their two children are : Hattie Hinman, born at Newport in 1867, and a graduate of Cornell University ; and Benjamin Hinman, born in 1877 in Chicago.
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BLANCHARD.
BLANCHARD, CHARLES, of Ottawa, Ill., son of Ralph and Maria (Kellogg) Blanchard, was born in Peacham, August 31, 1829.
He was reared on a farm in his native county, his education being principally ob- tained at the district schools. For three successive falls he walked from his father's farm to the neighboring village, a distance of two miles, to attend a school which in those days was called an academy. He at- tended this school six weeks each winter, part of the time tending the fires and ringing the bell to pay his tuition.
CHARLES BLANCHARD.
After working on his father's farm he worked for the neighbors until he had earned forty dollars and in the fall of 1850 started West with this amount in his pocket, arriv- ing at Peru, Ill., with but five dollars cash ; from there he went to Granville, Ill., and en- gaged to teach school for the winter at a dol- lar per day and board himself. The follow- ing spring he went to Hennepin, where he taught school three years, and during vaca- tions and other leisure time he studied law. At Springfield, Ill., he was examined by Judge Treat and admitted to the bar. Hav- ing taught school to earn enough to pur- chase necessary law books, he opened a law office at Hennepin, but soon removed to Peru, where he practiced his profession, and in December, 1861, he removed to Ottawa.
In November, 1864, he was elected state's attorney of the district, composed of
BLANCHARD.
La Salle, Bureau and Kendall counties, and re-elected in 1868 ; his term expired Dec. I, 1872. Upon the resignation of Judge Good- speed of the ninth district, August 1, 1884, he was appointed by Governor Hamilton to finish the unexpired term, and in the June election of 1885 he was elected for the term of six years, and re-elected in 1891.
He was married in Hennepin, Putnam county, in 1852, to Sarah H., daughter of Isaac and Sarah (Hormel) Gudgel. They had four children : Sydney, who became an attorney at law; Mae, Herman S., and Charles, who died in infancy. The wife of Judge Blanchard was a member of the Con- gregational church. She died April 16, 1880, and Judge Blanchard again married, Dec. 31, 1884, Mrs. Sylvia A. Bushnell, daughter of Jay and Jeannett Carner (now deceased) formerly of Athens, Pa.
Judge Blanchard is a member of Occiden- tal Lodge, No. 40, F. & A. M. ; Shabbona Chapter, No. 37, R. A. M., and Ottawa Commandery, No. 10, and of the Illinois Association of the Sons of Vermont.
BLANCHARD, JOHN, was born in Cale- donia county, Sept. 30, 1787.
He spent his boyhood on a farm ; pre- pared himself for college, and graduated at Dartmouth in 1812; removed to Pennsyl- vania and taught school ; read law and was admitted to practice ; was a representative in Congress, from Pennsylvania, from 1845 to 1849.
He died in Columbia, Pa., March 8, 1849.
BLINN, CHARLES HENRY, of San Fran- cisco, Cal., son of Chauncy and Edatha (Harrington) Blinn, was born in Burlington, Jan. 27, 1843.
Educated in the schools of his native place, he was prepared for the University of Ver- mont, when he entered the army.
He enlisted, August 21, 1861, in the famous Ist Vt. Cavalry, serving three years and four months. He was attached to Sheridan's Cavalry Corps : participated in the battles of Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Wilderness, Winchester, Cedar Creek, and twenty-six skirmishes. He was wounded and taken prisoner at Middletown, Va., May 25, 1862, in a cavalry charge led by General Banks ; his horse was killed by a cannon ball from a battery stationed within three hundred yards, fell with sixteen others and was ridden over by a company of the Ist Maine Cavalry ; was in prison at Lynch- burg and Belle Island, Va., from May 25 to Sept. 17. His regiment has the honor of having captured at Cedar Creek forty-two cannon, the largest number taken by any regiment during the war. He was honora- bly discharged at Burlington, Nov. 19, 1864.
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BLISS.
After the war he was two years chief clerk at the Welden House, St. Albans. He went to California in 1868, and for six years was with the Wells Fargo Express Co. In 1875 he became an editorial writer of the " Alta California." In 1878 he was appointed chief permit clerk in the San Francisco Custom House, which position he still fills.
The positions he has occupied in the Grand Army of the Republic are too many for our space ; suffice it to say, he is now quartermaster and secretary of Veteran Guard, G. A. R., George H. Thomas Post, ete. For five years he has been secretary of the Pacific Coast Association, "Native Sons of Vermont." He is a regular attendant and contributor to Simpson Memorial Methodist Church.
lle was married, Dec. 15, 1870, to Nellie, daughter of Albert and Lucy Holbrook, of Salem, N. H. She is (1894) the leading elocutionist of the Pacific Coast. Mrs. Blinn is a powerful political speaker, and took the stump for Hayes, Garfield, Blaine, and Har- rison. Their union was blessed with a son : Holbrook, born in 1872, graduated at Boy's high school, spent two years in college, and is now a rising young actor.
BLISS, NEZIAH W., of Chicago, Ill., son of Ellison and Mary B. (Worthen) Bliss, was born in Bradford, Jan. 31, 1826.
His grandfather, Ellis Bliss, was a lieuten- ant in the Revolutionary war. His great- grandfather, Ellis Bliss, was the father of seventeen children. His great-great-grand- father, Rev. John Bliss, graduated from Yale, then located at Saybrook, Conn., in 1710, and was ordained first pastor of the Congregational church of Hebron, Conn., in 1717, was dismissed in 1734, and was a lay reader in the Episcopal church until his death. Dr. Neziah Bliss, our subject's name- sake, served fourteen terms in the Colonial Legislature of Connecticut, and was the father of our "public common school system," and was also a son of the Rev. John Bliss.
The subject of our sketch prepared for college at Bradford Academy, and graduated from the University of Vermont with high rank, class of 1846, having as classmates ex-Chief Justice Jameson, and H. R. Steb- bins of Chicago, Judge Belcher, Supreme Court of California, Judge Nelson, U. S. circuit court of Massachusetts, Judge J. W. May, and Hon. H. O. Houghton ( Houghton, Mifflin & Co.), Boston.
He taught schools in Vermont and New Hampshire, after which he studied law with R. McK. Ormsby in Bradford. He went West in 1847, located in Ohio, and there taught school until 1850, then went to Warsaw, Ill., continued his law studies, and was admitted to the bar in 1854. He formed
a law partnership with Judge J. W. Marsh in 1856, and became attorney for Doan, King & Co. of St. Louis. In 1867 he was general superintendent of St. Louis Lead and Min- ing Co., and conducted a large business in mining, smelting, merchandising and farm- ing. In 1882 he located at Chicago, and became attorney and counsel for Marshall Field & Co .; among the many important cases he has managed for that firm was one in which he recovered $40,000, duties illeg- ally exacted on cartons and coverings, under the tariff act of 1883, the litigation as to the constitutionality of the MeKinley bill, etc.
NEZIAH W. BLISS.
He married Jessie, daughter of General and Sarissa (Wells) Andrews, at Warsaw, Ill., Dec. 1, 1852. They had eleven children : Mary and Stella (twins), Ellis Wright, Abby, Neziah Wright, Jr., Malcolm A., Wyslys K., George W., Walter E., Charles K., Harry Staples, Ralph, Eugene B., and Margaret L. Mr. Bliss married for a second wife, Louise, daughter of James W. and Catherine (Troxell) Baugher, and by her had three children.
Mr. Bliss is a man of fine personal ap- pearance, and strong constitution which his excellent habits have fostered He is a man decided in his convictions of right, of per- fect integrity and truthfulness ; his character is above reproach. Possessed of a pleasing address, good conversational powers and genial temperament, he has made hosts of friends.
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BOARDMAN.
He is an Episcopalian, was senior warden of St. Bartholomew Church at Englewood, where he resided with his family for several years, and now resides at Longwood, a suburb of Chicago, located on the highlands of the Blue Island ridge.
BOARDMAN, HENRY ELDERKIN JEW- ETT, of Marshalltown, Iowa, son of Rev. Elderkin J. and Ann (Gookin) Boardman, was born in Danville, June 21, 1828. He is a lineal descendant through eight genera- tions of the ancestor Samuel Boardman, who emigrated from England about 1635. He removed to Weathersfield, Conn., in 1641. The name is first found in the records of Ipswich, Mass., 1637-1639. The father of Henry E. J., Rev. E. J. Boardman, was one of the first abolitionists of Vermont, publish- ing in 1838 a work entitled "Immediate Abolition of Slavery Vindicated."
HENRY ELDERKIN JEWETT BOARDMAN,
The subject of our sketch was educated at Randolph and St. Johnsbury, and Meriden, N. H., academies. Graduated at Dartmouth College, class of 1850. He spent six years in Tennessee, Alabama and Maryland as principal of academies, becoming professor of languages in the University of East Ten- nessee at Knoxville, and was admitted to the practice of law in Tennessee.
In 1856 he removed to Marshalltown, Iowa, and has since been a practicing law- yer in that place and one of the largest land owners in Iowa. In 1869-'79-'88 he traveled extensively in the Old World. He has been
BOARDMAN.
president of the District Bar Association, president of the Farmers' National Bank, director of the First National Bank, of the City Bank, also of the Central Iowa Railway Co., of which he was general attorney for many years, and has been a trustee of the Iowa College at Grinnell. Was nominated for supreme judge by the Democratic party in 1877, as district judge in 1870 and again in 1879, was nominated for congressman, July, 1879. He was a delegate from the sixth congressional district, Iowa, to the Na- tional Union Convention at Philadelphia, August 14, 1866 ; also a delegate to the Na- tional Democratic Convention held in New York, July 4, 1868.
July 6, 1893, at Des Moines, he was elected president of the Sons of the American Revo- lution for the state of Iowa. The " Historian of Iowa " says of him : "His success in pub- lic and private undertakings and his final recoveries in litigated cases, involving ab- stract legal principles, are marvelous. This is due to extraordinary powers of generaliza- tion and analysis, and an industry that never tires. He is solicitous that his acts of benev- olence shall be known only to himself, and is one of the most modest and retiring of men."
He married Miss M. E. Williams (now deceased) Dec. 7, 1858. Of this union were three children : Della Louisa, Annette Gookin, and Clarence Elderkin Carver (de- ceased).
BOARDMAN, HALSEY J., of Boston, Mass., son of Nathaniel and Sarah ( Hunt) Boardman, was born in Norwich, May 19, 1834. He is of Puritan ancestry, a descend- ant of Samuel Boardman who settled in Con- necticut in 1631.
He was educated in the public schools of his native town and at Thetford Academy, graduating from that institution in 1854 as the valedictorian of his class. Entering Dartmouth College in the same year he was graduated in 1858 with high honors.
After teaching the high school at Leo- minster one year he entered as a student the law office of Norcross & Snow, Fitchburg, Mass., and later the law office of Phillip H. Sears of Boston. He was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1860 and immediately began the practice of his profession as senior part- ner of the law firm of Boardman & Blodgett, this partnership continuing until the junior partner, Caleb Blodgett, was made a judge of the Superior Court ; later partners have been Stephen H. Tyng and Frank Paul. During the past few years Mr. Boardman has been engaged in various manufacturing and railroad interests which have necessi- tated frequent and prolonged absences from the state. He is president of the Duluth &
-
BOARDMAN.
Wamipeg Railroad Co, and a director of several other corporations. He is also presi dent of the Evans Coal Co., a large producer of anthracite coal in Pennsylvania, president of the Commercial Mining Co. of Colorado, and a director of the Boston Ma- rine Insurance Co.
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HALSEY J. BOARDMAN.
Mr. Boardman is a stalwart Republican. From 1862 to 1864 he was commissioner of the board of enrolment, under President Lincoln, for the fourth congressional dis- trict. In 1874 he was chairman of the Re- publican ward and city committee of the city of Boston, also a member of the com- mon council and in 1875 its president, and the Republican candidate for mayor the same year. From 1883 to 1885 inclusive Mr. Boardman was a member of the Massa- chusetts House of Representatives. He was a member of the railroad committee during his entire term and its chairman during the last two years. In this capacity he was in- strumental in securing a large amount of legislation calculated to improve the railroad service in this state, including provisions for the change of railroad grade crossings, safety couplings on freight cars, regulations against discrimination in freight rates and for im- provement in signals and precautions to be enforced against color blindness-all matters involving exhaustive examination and sound judgment. Mr. Boardman was elected to the state Senate in 1887 and 1888 and was president of that body both years.
BOUTIN.
He was married in 1862 to Miss Georgie Hinman of Boston. They have two dangh- ters.
BOUTIN, CHARLES W., of Hampton, lowa, son of Joachim and Martha ( Warner) Boutin, was born in Chester, Nov. 8, 1839.
Removing at an early age to Windham he received such an education as the district schools of the town afforded and followed the occupation of a farmer until 1858. He then followed carpentering in Andover and Ches- ter until 1865, when he engaged in the dry goods business in Chicago. This venture was of short duration, for in December of the
CHARLES W. BOUTIN.
same year the entire building and stock were destroyed by fire and he was left without a dollar. Not daunted, however, he started out and accepted such employment as he could find, locating at Webster City, Iowa, in 1867, where he engaged in the nursery business, but this proving uncongenial he sold his interest and removed to Hampton, where began his life's business-that of an architect and builder, in which profession he stands high.
In 1861 he enlisted as corporal of Co. E, Ist. Vt. Regt., and in the following May went out with the regiment ; again enlisting August 20, in the 4th Vt. Regt., he was success- ively promoted Ist lieutenant, captain and major. Major Boutin was on duty with his regiment and participated in all its battles until June 28, 1864, when with others of his
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BRADFORD.
regiment he was captured by the rebels and held as a prisoner of war until March, 1865, being confined at Libby, Macon, Savannah, Charleston and Columbia. After being ex- changed he rejoined his regiment and was mustered out of service with it in 1865. He took a prominent part in the organization of the Iowa National Guards and for sixteen years has served as captain, major, lieuten- ant-colonel and colonel of one of the crack regiments of the state.
Mr. Boutin married at Londonderry, August 25, 1861, Marinda A., daughter of Theodore and Sarah French. She died in 1864, while he was a prisoner of war. He married again, in March, 1869, Julina A. French, a sister of his first wife. She died in April, 1886. In November, 1888, Mr. Boutin married at Ripley, Tenn., Emma S. Kennedy. Of this union is one son : Charles K.
A staunch Republican, he has never evinced a desire for public office. He has, however, been a member of the city council, and county auditor of Franklin county, Iowa, for two terms ; and twice refused the nomination for the mayoralty of Hampton.
He has taken a deep interest in matters Masonic and has held nearly every office in the gift of the lodge and chapter ; as a Royal Arch Mason and Knight Templar he has knelt at the altar of the Mystic Shrine. Assisting in the organization of the local post G. A. R., he has been adjutant, past commander, delegate to department encampment many times and a national delegate twice. Became a mem- ber of Wisconsin Commandery, Loyal Legion, and assisted in organizing the Iowa Com- mandery of which he is now a member.
BRADFORD, JAMES HENRY, of Wash- ington, D. C., traces his ancestry not only to Gov. William Bradford of Plymouth Colony, but three or four generations further back to Rev. John Bradford who after having been chaplain to the Queen was burnt at the stake at Smithfield by Bloody Mary with John Rogers, Latimer and others. His mother, who died when he was but four years old, was the daughter of Thomas Dickman, the first postmaster, printer and editor of Greenfield, Mass. She w was a woman of noble character, beloved by all.
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