USA > Vermont > Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont > Part 117
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In September, 1861, he enlisted in the Federal army, joining Co. F, Vt. company of Berdan's Sharpshooters of the Army of the Potomac, and served in many of the principal battles in which his regiment par- ticipated. He became a favorite of Colonel
DANIEL PERRY.
Berdan and other officers of his regiment, and was well known as the "Tall Corporal on the Right." He is six feet four inches tall and is said to have been one of the best marksmen in the army. He returned to Vermont in the winter of 1863, and taught as the principal of the high school at Jack- sonville and North Bennington.
He went West in 1872 and was connected with school work in the higher graded schools until about 1880, then entered the law, abstracting, real estate and loan business in Maysville. He has been very successful in business, being recognized as one of the best real estate lawyers in the West, and a very successful dealer in real estate. His business has amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and it is his pride, that he has never
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PHELPS.
PETTEE.
lost a dollar to a client in investments, dur- ing his business experience. At present he is employed extensively in examining securi- ties and titles for capitalists residing in the East, and in loaning money.
In October, 1885, he was united in mar- riage, with a daughter of Mr. J. L. Darden, of Southern Georgia. She is a grand-niece of Commodore Nicholson, the first com- mander of the old "Constitution." One daughter has blessed this union.
Mr. Perry has held many important offices, among them, county superintendent of schools, public administrator and mayor of Maysville, Mo., his home, where he is attend- ing to his business interests, enjoying the fruits of long and faithful service in civil life.
PETTEE, LYMAN F., son of Anson L. and Lucy (Bartlett) Pettee, was born in Wil- mington August 14, 1849. Both his grand- fathers were for many years active officers in the old state militia, and his father, Dr. A. L. Pettee, was one of the most prominent phy- sicians in Windham county.
Young Pettee received his early education in the public schools of Wilmington and later on attended the Burnside Military School at Brattleboro. He, early in life, came to the conclusion that he preferred to finish his edu- cation in the more practical channels of busi- ness experience and accordingly became engaged in several minor enterprises long before he had arrived at his majority. At the age of twenty-three he left Vermont to accept a position with the New York Pie Co., of New York City, and remained with them one year, after which he embarked in the baking business on his own account in the city of Brooklyn. This venture was for a time successful, but a universal panic in bus- iness so discouraged him that he finally, in 1880, sold out. Mr. Pettee entered the em- ploy of Crandall & Godley, New York, in 1881, the firm enjoyining the distinction of being the largest dealers in bakers' and con- fectioners' supplies in the world. From this time his strides along the pathway of success were rapid. He soon became superinten- dent of the business, and within two years was admitted as a partner with a modest in- terest. He accepted every opportunity to prove his value to the firm, so that when the senior member, Mr. A. B. Crandall, died, Mr. Pettee found his opportunity. Since then, 1887, the firm has more than doubled its business. In 1892 they were succeeded by the Crandall & Godley Co., and Mr. Pettee was at once elected vice-president and treasurer, which position he now holds.
Mr. Pettee has engaged in many other large and important enterprises, being presi- dent of the Geysers Natural Carbonate Acid Gas Co., operating at Saratoga Springs,
N. Y., and New York City, which ships its product to all parts of the world. He is also president of the Supply World Publish- ing Co., which issues the recognized leading trade paper in the interests of bakers and confectioners.
Mr. Pettee is proprietor of the Deerfield stock farm at West Brattleboro, now one of the recognized institutions of Windham county, on which are some of the most highly bred horses in this country, and where he spends the time he has at his command for recreation. He is also the inventor and patentee of several useful articles of recog- nized merit.
He is a Mason and in politics is a staunch Democrat but has never permitted partisan principle to blind his eyes to the mistakes of his own party.
Mr. Pettee was united in marriage in 1871 to Imogene S., daughter of Frank and Sophia Prouty, who died, 1880. She bore him two children : Harry E , and L. Grace. The latter met an accidental death, being drowned while on a visit to Wilmington. In 1883 he was again united to Mary E., daughter of William and Elizabeth Thresher. Four children have blessed this marriage : Willie C., Lyman E., Elmo C., and George Mortimer.
PETTIGREW, RICHARD FRANKLIN, of Sioux Falls, S. D., was born at Ludlow, July, 1848; removed with his parents to Evans- ville, Wis., in 1854 ; was prepared for college at the Evansville Academy, and entered Be- loit College in 1866, where he remained two years ; was a member of the law class of 1869, University of Wisconsin; went to Dakota in July, 1869, in the employ of a United States deputy surveyor as a laborer ; located in Sioux Falls, where he engaged in the surveying and real estate business ; opened a law office in 1875, and has been in the practice of his profession since ; was elected to the Dakota Legislature as a mem- ber of the Council in 1877, and re-elected in 1879 ; was elected to the Forty-seventh and Forty-eighth Congresses as delegate from Dakota Territory ; was elected to the Terri- torial Council in 1884-'85 ; was elected United States Senator Oct. 16, 1889, under the provisions of the act of Congress admit- ting South Dakota into the Union : took his seat Dec. 2, 1889. His term of service will expire March 3, 1895. He is president of the Sioux Falls Terminal Railroad Co. : the Sioux Falls Street Railway Co., and of the Sioux Falls, Yankton & Southwestern Rail- way Co.
PHELPS, CHARLES E., was born in Guilford, May 1, 1833; removed with his parents to Pennsylvania in 1838, and to
1.111 1.1.
Manyland in 18.11; graduated at Princeton College in 1853 ; studied law, and came to the Manyland bai in 1855 : admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court in 1859. In (860 he was a member of the city council of Baltimore. In 1861 he was commissioned a major of the Maryland Guard, which post he resigned. In 1862 he was made Lieut. Col. of the 7th Md. Vols., and honorably discharged on account of wounds in 1864, and was soon afterwards elected a representative from Maryland to the Thirty ninth Congress. He was subse- quently commissioned brevet brigadier-gen cral for gallant conduct at the battle of Spottsylvania.
PHELPS, GEORGE HOVEY, of Fargo, N. D., son of Simonds Fowler Phelps and Susan Critchett Phelps, was born July 17, 1862, at Lowell. Ilis education was received in the district schools of his native town, Mbany Academy, Johnson State Normal School, and St Johnsbury Academy.
GEORGE HOVEY PHELPS.
The years from 1883 to 1885 were spent in teaching in New Hampshire and Vermont, and in the fall of 1885 he entered the law office of Hon. L. H. Thompson at Irasburg, and commenced the study of law. In 1887 he became deputy clerk of court at St. Johns- bury and remained in that position until he removed to Fargo, North Dakota, in 1,888, where he took charge of the loan and collec- tion department in the office of Burleigh
F. Spalding. During the year 1890 he held the position of deputy clerk of the dis- triet court of Cass county and, in 1891, formed a law partnership with Burleigh F. Spalding, which firm was succeeded in June, 1893, by the present firm of Newman, Spald- ing & Phelps. Mr. Phelps has confined him- self strictly to business, paying partienlar at- tention to commercial and real estate law, and through his energy and fidelity to his partic- ular line has carned for himself a foremost rank, and holds for his firin a large clientage among the leading wholesale houses through- out the country.
He is a member of Shiloh Lodge, No. 1, F. & A. M .; Keystone Chapter, No. 5, R. A. M .; Casselton Council, No. 1, R. S. M .; Auvergne Commandery, No. 2, K. T .; El Zagal Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S .; Mecca Chapter, No. 5, 0). E. S., and Fargo Consis- tory, 32d degree A. A., Scottish Rite. He is past high priest of Keystone Chapter, has served three years as deputy grand secretary of the Grand Lodge, F. & A. M., and Grand Chapter of R. A. M. of North Dakota and is the grand representative of the Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter of Vermont, near the like Grand bodies of North Dakota.
Mr. Phelps was married at Irasburg, Oct. 12, 1887, to Julia Lucy, daughter of Ethan Allen and Abigail Jane Leach. They have one child : Kenneth Allen.
Mr. and Mrs. Phelps keep open house for all natives of Vermont and retain at all times their loyalty to the state of their birth.
PHELPS, JAMES T., of Boston, Mass., son of James T. and Lucy J. ( Mitchell) Phelps, was born May 24, 1845, at Chittenden.
He was educated in the public schools of Burlington, and of Chelsea, Mass. In 1857 Mr. Phelps entered the Boston office of the National Life Insurance Co. of Montpelier, which was then conducted by his father, and pursued his studies under paternal direction. During the years of 1861 to 1863 he was a clerk in a country store at Fair Haven, then returned to Boston, and, with the exception of a year or two in the West, has been in the service of the National Life Insurance Co. contiuously since. Under the firm name of James T. Phelps & Son, he formed a partner- ship with his father in 1869, and in 1870, at the death of his father, assumed and has since had entire control of the Massachusetts bus- iness of the company, with great success. In 1870 he was made a director of the com- pany, and is now on the board.
Mr. Phelps has been in the insurance busi- ness practically during the entire period of its history in America and has acquired a considerable distinction as a writer on the subject and is an acknowledged authority on life insurance matters.
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PIERCE.
Mr. Phelps has served in the city council of Chelsea, Mass., two years in each branch, as councilman and alderman, with honor to himself and his constituents.
JAMES T, PHELPS.
He was married Oct. 19, 1879, at Fair Haven, to Juliza A., daughter of the late Otis Hamilton, and has two living children, both daughters.
PIERCE, LEROY MATTHEW, of Black- stone, Mass., son of Alvah Warren and Lydia (Atwood) Pierce, was born at Olney, Ill., Jan. 14, 1842, and became a Vermonter by adoption. The removal of his parents from Londonderry to Illinois and their subsequent return a few years later when their son was three or four years of age, explains the situ- ation.
His education began at the old time acad- emies in Londonderry and Springfield and he entered Middlebury College in 1861 but did not graduate until 1866, for while a student he passed some time away as a dele- gate of the Christian commission in the hospitals of Washington, D. C., City Point, Va., and in the Army of the Potomac. Re- turning to Middlebury he resumed his studies in a succeeding class. At college he was prominent in society work and was president of the fraternity of the various chapters in the different colleges of Delta Upsilon and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa. He was the salutatorian of his class and also received the Waldo prize for scholarship and good behavior.
PIERCE.
Shortly after graduation at Andover Theo- logical Seminary of Massacusetts, where he had passed the years from 1866 to 1869, he went to (ilenwood, Mo., where he was ordain- ed Feb. 4, 1870, and labored as a home mis- sionary for about two years, In 1871 he re- turned East and received a call to preach in the Congregational church at Provincetown, Mass., which he accepted and served there until failing health caused an interruption of his ministry after about a year's occupancy of the pastorate. He resumed the work of the ministry at Bernardston, Mass., becom- ing pastor of the Congregational church, and remained there for ten years, from 1873 to 1883. In the summer and autumn of 1883 he visited Europe in company with Mrs. Pierce. In the spring of 1884 he be- gan his present connection as the pastor of the Congregational church in Blackstone,
LEROY MATTHEW PIERCE.
Mass. While a busy minister, Mr. Pierce has devoted considerable time to private study, especially botany, and the Hebrew Bible, in both of which he has attained pro- ficiency for one who is not a teacher of those branches.
Mr. Pierce was married, May 24, 1876, to Catherine, daughter of the late Hon. William and Abbie Hard Billings of Arlington.
PIERCE, WILLARD HENRY, of Green- field, Mass., son of Nathan G. and Roxana (Keach) Pierce, was born in Westminster. Nov. 21, 1864.
PROCTOR.
The early educational advantages of Mr. Pierce were received at the district schools of his native town and from private instinc tion, as well as a course at Saxtons River (Vt.) Academy. He entered the University of Vermont, medical department, with the class of 1883, and graduated M. D. in 1885.
Dr. Pierce commenced the active practice of his profession at the age of twenty-one, at Bernardston, Mass., and on Jan. 1, 1893, he removed to Greenfield, Mass., where he has since resided and built up an excellent practice. Although a general practitioner, Dr. Pierce has a special aptitude for surgical work, and receives many calls from the pro- fession in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. When twenty-five years of
WILLARD HENRY PIERCE.
age he had performed a large number of the most difficult operations, including the suc- cessful removal of one kidney. Dr. Pierce enjoys the distinction of having performed the first operation known as laparotomy, done by a resident of Franklin county.
Although a staunch Republican, he has been too busily engaged with his profes- sional duties to devote much time to politics. While in Bernardston he was a member of the town committee, and was frequently sent as delegate to state and other conventions.
He became a Free Mason in 1886, and is now a member of all the bodies of that
order. Was president of the Library Asso- ciation and trustee of Powers Institute while in Bernardston. He is a member of the Connectient Valley Medical Association, of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and for two years president of the Franklin county district of the latter. During the time of his membership he has contributed a large number of essays to these societies.
Dr. Pierce was married at Bernardston, Mass., Sept. 5, 1888, to Nellie May, daughter of Ormando W. and Roxcena ( Arnold) Gray. They have one daughter : Roxy.
POLLARD, HENRY M., was born at Plymouth, June 14, 1836; received a com- mon school and academic education, gradu- ating in 1857 at the scientific department of Dartmouth College ; served in Union army during the war as major of the 8th Regt. Vt. Vols. ; located in Chillicothe, Mo., in the fall of 1865, and has since resided there, prac- ticing law ; was elected a representative from Missouri in the Forty-fifth Congress as a Republican.
PROCTOR, WILLIAM HENRY, son of Asa and Lorena (Proctor) Proctor, was born in Cavendish, Oct. 19, 1827. Both the paternal and maternal grandfathers of Mr. Proctor served in the Revolutionary war, and the latter was present at the skirmish on the village green at Lexington, and later partici- pated in the battle of Bunker Hill.
When he was eight years of age, the parents of Mr. Proctor removed to Kalama- zoo county, Mich., and eight years later to Columbia county, Wis. He attended the schools of his native town, and afterwards studied in Schoolcraft, Mich., and Azatlan, Wis.
Mr. Proctor has always followed the voca- tion of a general farmer, and to this has given the greater part of his time and atten- tion. He has settled in the town of Foun- tain Prairie, a locality which is much admired by all who visit this charming spot.
He was married Nov. 8, 1857, to Angeline E., daughter of the late Samuel and Mary S. (Durfee) Lashier. Nine children are the issue of this marriage : Nettie A. (deceased), Ellen Lorena, John S., William R., Mary E., Walter A., Clara M., Alfred H., and Ade- laide L.
For several years Mr. Proctor held the office of town supervisor and was also chair- man of the town board and for eight years a member of the county board of supervisors. In 1882 he was elected to the state Legisla- ture of Wisconsin, representing the second assembly district of Columbia county.
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RANNEY.
RAMSDELL.
RAMSDELL, WILLIAM MARTIN, of Brooklyn, N. Y., son of Horace D. and Lucretia (Holt) Ramsdell, was born Nov. 14, 1851, at Montpelier.
He received his early education at the public schools of his native town, and began early in life to exhibit a strong liking>for mechanics. At the age of eighteen he en- tered the establishment of Fisher & Colton, manufacturers of saddlery hardware, at Mont- pelier, and served an apprenticeship in the
WILLIAM MARTIN RAMSDELL.
silver plating department. Immediately afterward he went to Portland, Me., and entered the employ of A. H. Atwood, manu- facturing dealer in silver plated ware, and remained three years, spending such time as could be spared in preparing himself for a professional career which he had decided upon entering.
In 1875 he returned to Montpelier and began the systematic study of dentistry under the tuition of the late Dr. O. P. Forbush. After two years Dr. Ramsdell located in West Randolph and remained three years in successful practice, when, desiring a larger field, he formed, in 1880, a partnership with Dr. Charles D. Cook, a prominent dentist of Brooklyn, N. Y., with whom he remained in pleasant business relations two years, a part of which time was spent in pursuing a course of study in the Indiana Dental College at Indianapolis from which he graduated with honors.
Dr. Ramsdell at this time entered busi- ness upon his own account in Brooklyn,
where he has developed a successful practice. He is a member of the Brooklyn Dental Society, the First District Dental Society of the state of New York ; the Brooklyn Ethical Association ; and of the Brooklyn Society of Vermonters.
Dr. Ramsdell was married at Montpelier, Sept. 2, 1879, to Ida, daughter of Lorenzo D. and Nancy Frost Hill.
RANNEY, AMBROSE A., son of Wait- still R. and Phœbe (Atwood) Ranney, was born in Townshend, April 16, 1821.
He fitted for college at Townshend Acad- emy and was graduated from Dartmouth Col- lege in the class of 1844. His early life was spent on the home farm until he was nineteen years of age. His father was the leading physician of his native place, and was for two years Lieutenant-Governor of the state of Vermont.
After graduation he studied law with Hon. Andrew Tracy in Woodstock, and was admit- ted to the bar of Vermont in December, 1847. He immediately removed to Boston and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in June, 1848.
Mr. Ranney was married in Cavendish, Dec. 4, 1850, to Maria D., daughter of Addi- son and Maria (Ingalls) Fletcher. Of this union were four children : Fletcher Ranney, now a partner in his father's law firm ; Maria F., Helen M., and Alice Ranney, now Mrs. Thomas Allen.
He was city solicitor for Boston, 1855 and '56 ; member of the House of Representa- tives 1857, '63 and '64 ; elected to Congress in 1880, as a Republican, from the third congressional district, and twice re-elected, serving through the Forty-seventh, Forty- eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses. He joined the Republican party at its organiza- tion, and has since remained a staunch and active worker in its ranks. While in Con- gress he served two terms on the committee on elections, investigating frauds and render- ing most valuable service in the interests of fair elections and the integrity of the ballot- box. During the last term he was a mem- ber of the judiciary committee, and the head of a special committee on the Republican side of the house to investigate the famous pan-electric scheme, involving the reputation and conduct of high government officials and exciting great public interest. His ser- vices on this committee are a matter of hon- orable record.
His absorbing aim and ambition was. however, in the profession of the law, where- in, previous to his congressional career he had achieved eminent success. He had been only a few years at the bar when the office of city solicitor was conferred upon him, and his duties therein were most creditably dis-
REDINGTON.
charged. He had little taste for politics, and political honors have at all times been thrust npon lum, rather than sought for. But during Ins legislative service, both state and national, he won the respect and esteem of all parties, and impressed the public generally by his mandy bearing, his fidelity to duty, as he un derstood it, and his great ability as a profound Lawyer, and a successful legislator. He may be said to have achieved a national reputa tion. While his return to private life, and his chosen profession, may have been more congenial to him, the loss to the publie ser- vice was the cause of deep regret among all who knew his virtues.
RAY, OSSIAN, of Lancaster, N. H., was born at Hinesburgh, Dec. 13, 1835. Here- moved to Irasburgh in early childhood, and there and at Derby received an academic education. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1857, and has since practiced at Lancaster, N. H., where he removed soon after his admission to the bar. In 1868 he was a member of the state Legislature, and also in 1869. From 1862 to 1872 he was solicitor for Coos county, and was United States attorney for the district of New Hampshire from Feb. 22, 1879, to the fol- lowing December, when he resigned, upon his nomination to fill vacancy on the Forty- sixth Congress consequent upon the death of Hon. Evarts W. Farr. He was elected to that Congress, and was re-elected to the Forty-seventh Congress as a Republican.
READ, ALMON H., was born in Shel- burne, June 12, 1790 ; graduated at Williams College ; studied law and removed to Penn- sylvania ; was frequently elected to the state Legislature ; also to the Senate ; in 1840 was appointed treasurer of the state, and in 1841 was elected to fill a vacancy in the National House of Representatives, and re- elected to the succeeding Congress. He died at Montrose, Penn., June 3, 1844.
REDINGTON, EDWARD DANA, of Evanston, Ill., son of Edward C. and Caro- line D. (Stearns) Redington, was born Nov. 12, 1839, at Chelsea.
Mr. Redington was educated in the schools of Chelsea, and at the St. Johnsbury Acad- emy, and graduated with the class of 1861 at Dartmouth College. After graduating, he became a teacher in St. Johnsbury Academy for a year. In the winter of 1863-'64 he served as assistant cashier of the Passumpsic Bank.
From 1862 to the close of 1865 Mr. Red- ington was actively engaged in the defense of the Union. He enlisted in the 12th Vt. Vols., August 23, 1862, and was sergeant- major to Feb. 23, 1863, and afterwards 2d
Lient. of Co. I until mustered out, July 14, 1863. President Lincoln appointed him additional paymaster U. S. Vols. with the rank of major, Feb. 24, 1864, and he re- mained on duty with the Army of the Poto- mac until Jime 24, 1865, when he was ordered to Springfield, Ill., to pay mustered- out troops. He served there until Nov. 30, 1865, and was mustered out at the close of the war. From 1866 to 1871 he was em- ployed by the Kansas Pacific Railway Co. as
EDWARD DANA REDINGTON.
cashier and paymaster, residing at Wyan- dotte, Leavenworth, and Lawrence, Kan. From 1871 to 1875 he was engaged in the lumber business in Lawrence, Kan., and from 1875 to 1887 in Chicago, Ill. Since 1888 he has been connected with the Provi- dent Life and Trust Co. of Philadelphia, Pa., in their Chicago agency.
Mr. Redington is a Republican in politics, though while in Kansas he was the Pro- hibition candidate for mayor of Lawrence in 1873. In the same city he was a member of the school board from 1872 to 1875.
In the G. A. R. Mr. Redington has been prominent, serving as aid on Commander Veazey's staff in 1891. He is a member of the Illinois Commandery, Loyal Legion, of the Western Society of the Army of the Po- tomac, and of the Sons of the American Revolution. He has been president of the Chicago Alumni Association of Dartmouth College ; is president of the Chicago Associ- ation Sons of Vermont for 1894, and Jan.
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REDINGTON.
RICE.
22, 1894, he was elected president of the Chicago Congregational Club for the ensu- ing year.
Mr. Redington was married twice, his first wife being Mary Ann, daughter of Eph- raim and Mary Ann Chamberlain of St. Johnsbury, whom he married Nov. 15, 1864. From this union there are three children living : Lizzie Stearns, John Chase and Paul Goodwin (twins). Mrs. Redington died in April, 1880. May 18, 1882, he mar- ried Mary Julia, daughter of Ezra and Julia R. Towne of Topsfield, Mass., by whom he has one child : Theodore Towne.
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