USA > Vermont > Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont > Part 57
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125
In 1887 he was elected president of the Rutland Electric Light Co., and since that time has devoted the best part of his energy to furthering the success of his different electrical ventures. In 1887 he also became a member of the National Electric Light Association. At the convention of the latter organization in Kansas City he was elected one of the executive committee, holding that position until the Providence convention when he was chosen second vice-president. At the St. Louis meeting he was elected first vice-president which place he still occupies. His paper on municipal ownership, read be- fore the convention of the National Associa- tion at Cape May, N. J., required two editions to supply the popular demand. Shortly after this he appeared before the joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives in Washington with a review
of the Postmaster General's argument for a limited postal telegraph, and later still re- viewed the subject of municipal ownership before the Massachusetts Legislature. Since the publication of his book entitled "Munic- ipal Ownership, Its Fallacy," with other numerous contributions to various scientific and literary journals Mr. Francisco has been acknowledged the best authority of the day upon this problem.
As a citizen of Rutland he ranks as one of its foremost and progressive representatives. He does not aim at political preferinent, but confines his labors to the interest of his business life, which fact is evinced by the careful and energetic supervision given the institutions with which he is associated. He is the senior partner of M. J. Francisco & Son; president of the Rutland Electric Light Co. ; vice-president of the National Electric Light Association ; director of the Rutland Trust Co. ; member of the Rutland Board of Trade, the Rutland County Asso- ciation of Underwriters, the American Insti- tute of Electrical Engineers ; a Mason of many years standing and a stockholder or director in many other corporations outside the state.
Mr. Francisco has two sons : I. Holmes, and Don C.
FRARY, SOLON FRANKLIN, of South Strafford, son of Jonathan and Lydia Col-
.
SOLON FRANKLIN FRARY.
cord (Blaisdell) Frary, was born in Straf- ford, Jan. 27, 1822. He is lineally de-
147
FRENCH.
scended from John Frary, who came from England in 1638, and was among the earli- est settlers of the town of Dedham, Mass. The progenitors of Mr. Frary for three gen- erations are buried in the town of Strafford.
He received his education in the common schools and Norwich University, and com- menced the active business of life in a coun- try store as clerk with Hon. J. S. Morrill and Judge Jedediah Harris, at Thetford, where he remained for three years. He then returned to Strafford, where he continued to engage in trade till 1890, when he retired from the pursuits of active life.
December 18, 1854, he was united in marriage to Adeliza, daughter of Benjamin and Betsey ( Kent) Gilman. Their children are : Gertrude, and Bessie Jane.
Mr. Frary has always been a Republican ; has held the offices of town treasurer, town agent, justice of the peace, and chairman of the board of auditors. He was chosen rep- resentative of the town in the Legislature of 1872, and was elected in 1888 from Orange county to the state Senate. He discharged the duties of postmaster for twenty-eight years, has often been made chairman of the Republican town committee, and was one of the trustees of Goddard Seminary, being one of the auditors of their accounts and chair- man of the investment committee. He is liberal in his religious views, and has been a generous supporter of all the societies of his town.
FRENCH, WARREN CONVERSE, of Woodstock, son of Joseph Wales and Polly (Converse) French, was born in Randolph, July 8, 1819. He was educated at the com- mon schools and the Orange county gram- mar school at Randolph. His father was the oldest son of Gen. John French, one of the early settlers of Randolph, who was brigadier-general of state militia at the time of the last war with England and marched with his brigade to Burlington at the time of the British invasion in 1814, Jacob Collamer, then a young lawyer at Randolph, being one of his aids-de-camp.
He studied law with Tracey & Converse at Woodstock and was admitted to the bar of Windsor county court at the May term, 1844, commencing practice at Sharon, where he remained until 1857. Upon the election of Hon. James Barrett to the bench, he was invited by his uncle, Mr. Converse, to remove to Woodstock and succeed Judge Barrett in the firm of Barrett & Converse. In this firm he remained as a partner till July I, 1865, when Mr. Converse retired from the profession and was succeeded by Mr. Will- iam E. Johnson. This connection lasted until July, 1868, after which for some time Mr. French continued the practice of his
FULLER.
profession by himself. In July, 1879, he formed a partnership with his son-in-law, Frederick C. Southgate, and this arrange- ment still exists. He has been in full and active practice, mostly in Windsor and Orange counties, from his admission to the bar, and has been engaged in many impor- tant civil and criminal cases.
In politics he was a whig until the organ- ization of the Republican party, of which he has since been a steady adherent. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1850 ; the first state's attorney for Wind- sor county elected by the people under the amended constitution of 1850, and state
WARREN CONVERSE FRENCH.
senator in 1858 and 1859. He represented Woodstock in 1876 and was the same year a member of the national convention which nominated Mr. Hayes.
In religious belief he is a Congregational- ist, and was superintendent of the Sunday school for many years.
Mr. French married, Sept. 19, 1849, at Sharon, Sarah A., daughter of Hon. William and Lydia (Gleason) Steele. They have been blessed with six children : Mary (Mrs. William H. Brooks, deceased), Anna ( Mrs. Frederick C. Southgate), Lillie (Mrs. Har- old S. Dana), Warren C., Jr., William Steele, and John.
FULLER, HENRY, of Bloomfield, son of Henry and T. (Bowker) Fuller, was born in Maidstone, August 26, 1838.
1.18
FULLER.
When two years old his father moved to Bloomfield, where the subject of this sketch has since resided. His education was con fined to such instruction as could be had in the high schools and in Derby Academy.
Farming has been the steady occupation in the life of Mr. Fuller, though he has given some attention to teaching. Having from his early youth a great desire to travel and see the world outside the narrow limits of his home surroundings, he was unable to indulge this longing till he had arrived at the years of middle life, but in 1892 he gratified his cherished wish and spent the greater part of the year in visiting every portion of his native land from the Atlantic to the Pacific, traveling more than eight thousand miles to effect his purpose.
The grandfather of Mr. Fuller, with his brother, came to Minehead, now Bloomfield, in or about 1800. He raised a family of ten children, nine of whom lived to the age of eighty years.
Mr. Fuller has been a lifelong Democrat, though in his latter days he has had a ten- dency toward Prohibition. He has been constable, collector, selectman, and town clerk for thirteen years, and has held other minor offices.
At the age of seventeen he joined the M. E. Church, and during his whole life has earnestly labored in the cause. Devoting himself to the welfare of the parish and Sab- bath school, he has been steward for many years, and served on various church com- mittees.
He married, May 31, 1864, Miss Nettie WV. Colby of Whitefield, N. H., which union was blessed with two sons : Henry Clarence (died Oct. 9, 1867), and Asa C., now a preacher in the M. E. Church. Mrs. Fuller died Jan. 15, 1868. For his second help- meet Mr. Fuller took to wife Miss May L., daughter of Mary and Nathan M. Johnson, of Bloomfield. By her he has had two chil- dren : Earle W., and Maude M.
FULLER, LEVI K., of Brattleboro, son of Washington and Lucinda (Constantine) Fuller, was born in Westmoreland, N. H., Feb. 24, 1841.
His parents were of English and German stock, and his ancestors on both sides served in the Revolutionary war. He removed to Windham county in 1845 with his parents, and began his active career at the age of thirteen by learning telegraphy and also the art of printing. At sixteen, having devel- oped an aptitude for mechanics, he won a premium for a steam engine improvement at the Windham County Agricultural Society's fair. Going to Boston, he served an ap- prenticeship as a machinist, acting for a time as night telegraph operator at the Merchants'
Exchange. During a great portion of his residence in Boston he also took a scientific course at the evening schools. Returning to Brattleboro in 1860, he entered the Estey works as machinist and mechanical engineer and later established a shop of his own, where he manufactured wood-working and other machinery with success.
In April, 1866, he entered with Col. J. J. Estey the firin of J. Estey & Co. (now the Estey Organ Co.), superintending the man- ufacturing department, and for twenty years has been vice-president of the company.
He has been a most indefatigable inven- tor, his name appearing in the Patent Office at Washington as the anthor of a hundred different inventions, many of great value.
His success in aiding in establishing large European agencies for the company, and his many trips abroad in its interest, have won for him recognition on both sides of the Atlantic as a liberal and intelligent man of business. On his trip in 1873 he was ten- dered by President Grant the appointment of commissioner to the Vienna Exposition, which he was obliged to decline on account of the press of private business. ʼThe musical trade of two continents acknowledge his success as a factor in elevating the great corporation to its present high position. His last achievement in securing the adop- tion of what is termed in the musical world "international pitch" for musical instru- ments, now officially adopted by all man- ufacturers in this country, has been termed by Mr. Steinway "one of the most impor- tant, perhaps the most important, in the annals of musical history."
He is an active member of the American Society for the Advancement of Science, and of the American Society of Mechanical En- gineers. He is also interested in astronomy, has an observatory of his own attached to his private residence and the finest equa- torial telescope in Vermont. His library also of scientific and technical works is one of the most complete in the state.
Organizing the Fuller Light Battery, V. N. G., as an independent company in 1874, he has continuously served therewith since, bringing it to a degree of perfection univer- sally commended by all regular army in- spectors as second to no military organiza- tion in the country, adding greatly to the reputation of the Vermont militia. He was brevetted colonel in 1887 for long and mer- itorious service. He also served as aid on the staff of Governor Converse.
Mr. Fuller's private business, however, has not prevented him from participating act- ively in public affairs, both local and state. He has held important town and village offices, is a trustee of the Brattleboro Sav- ings Bank and the Brattleboro Free Library.
Bon Kpuller
150
FULLIR.
In ISSo he was elected to the state Sen ate, taking an active part in the important legislation of that session, including what was then know as the "new tax law," a meas ure tending to equalize the burden of taxa tion and most satisfactory to the people. As a member of the Senate he served as chair man of the committee on finance, npon the committee on military affairs, and that on railroads. In 1886 he was elected Lienten ant Governor, filling that position with credit to himself and honor to the state, proving himself one of the best presiding officers whose services the Senate has had the good fortune to enjoy.
Early in life he became connected with the Baptist denomination, and has always had an active interest in the success of the church of his choice. His gifts, however, have never been confined to that faith, but his liberality to all denominations is proverb- ial. His interest in educational matters is well known, one of the most important evi- dences of which is the Vermont Academy at Saxton's River, to which he has largely given both his time and money, and this institu- tion, under his management as president of the board of trustees, has taken a high rank throughout New England.
He has always been specially interested in agriculture and the development of that branch of Vermont's industries. His pur- chase of a farm and the presentation of the same to the Vermont Academy, his intro- duction of finely bred sheep and other stock, and the inauguration of new features in con- nection with practical farm educational work, has attracted wide attention in the community.
Governor Fuller's fitness for the position of chief magistrate of his state has long since been recognized, and in 1892 his Republican friends bestowed upon him the highest honor in their power by nominating and electing him to the gubernatorial chair.
Mr. Fuller was married, May 8, 1865, to Abby, daughter of Hon. Jacob and Desde- mona (Wood) Estey.
FULLER, JONATHAN KINGSLEY, of Barton Landing, son of Samuel Freeman and Elizabeth ( Kingsley) Fuller, was born in Montgomery, May 13, 1848.
Mr. Fuller attended the common, select and private schools of his native town until twenty-one years of age. His parents being limited in their circumstances, and young Fuller being somewhat delicate in health, he had to forego the great desire of his heart, a classical education. In 1870 he entered the law office of John S. Tupper. Here he gave himself earnestly to the study of law, and having access not only to a large law library, but also to a fine collection of theological
and historical works, his reading covered a wide field. During this time also, while teaching school, he felt moved to enter upon the work of the ministry. The M. E. Church, of which he was a member, urged him to take a license to preach, and, forsaking the legal profession, he began the course of study prescribed by the church. This was con- tined for four years, and ordination followed at St. Jolmsbury, April 23, 1873. He was stationed at Eden in 1872-'73, at Richford in 18744-'76. At the close of a very success- ful pastorate in this thriving center, he handed his resignation to the Vermont Con- ference.
Uniting with the Congregational church at East Berkshire, he immediately received a hearty call to the parish of that denomina- tion in Bakersfield. Free to control and direct his own labors his congregations in- creased, while a steady demand was made
JONATHAN KINGSLEY FULLER.
for his sermons and other writings upon the popular questions of the day. Six of the twelve years of this pastorate he was super- intendent of schools, aiding in the establish- ment of Brigham Academy. As a testimony of appreciation of such service, he was, on Dec. 15, 1885, made a life member of the General Theological Library of Boston.
While at Bakersfield, Mr. Fuller devoted a little time to farming, in which pursuit he was highly successful. He was a frequent lecturer before the State Board of Agricul- ture.
151
FULLINGTON.
Politically, Mr. Fuller is an independent Republican. He has written and lectured often on such themes as "Civil Service Re- form," "Political Methods," " Political Re- form," "Religious and Political Liberty," " Moral Training in Our Schools," "Oppor- tunity ; or, the Uses and Abuses of Wealth."
In 1883, Mr. Fuller was made honorary member of the A. B. C. F. M .; in 1885 he was instrumental in organizing a Congrega- tional church at East Fairfield ; in 1888 he became an orignal member of the Congre- gational Club of Western Vermont. In 1889 he severed his connection with the church in Bakersfield, and of the several calls which he received, accepted the one from Barton Landing, where he now ministers to a thrifty church in a flourishing community.
In 1890 he received under Professor Har- per the appointment of examiner in the American Institute of Sacred Literature. In 1891 he was elected to membership in the American Academy of Political and Social Science in Philadelphia. In this same year he was chosen superintendent of schools for the town of Barton, which office he now holds ; he is also one of the directors of the Orleans County Summer School. In 1892 he was constituted a member of the Orleans County Historical Society. In this same year he was sent from the state convention of Congregational churches as delegate to the Free Will Baptist yearly meeting. In 1892 he was unanimously chosen chairman of the board of school directors for the town of Barton.
Mr. Fuller was married Sept. 16, 1875, to Gertrude Florence Smith of Richford. Of this union there have been born: John Harold, Hawley Leigh, Raymond Garfield, and Robert Samuel.
FULLINGTON, FREDERICK H., of East Cambridge, son of John T. and Sylvia (Carpenter) Fullington, was born in Cam- bridge, Dec. 9, 1851.
Ephraim Fullington came from Raymond, N. H., nearly a hundred years ago, and set- tled on the farm which has continued the property and residence of the family for four generations.
The present possessor of the estate re- ceived his early education in the district schools of Cambridge, and afterward pur- sued a course of study at the Johnson Nor- mal School. The second of a family of four sons, he early displayed such energy and industry that he was the chief reliance of his father. When he became of age he rented the property, and has conducted it ever since, at the same time giving his father the shelter of a home. Dairying and the manu- facture of maple sugar and syrup are his principal resources. His sugar orchard,
FULTON.
numbering over two thousand trees, is one of the finest in the state, and has averaged four pounds to the tree in annual production.
Mr. Fullington was chosen to the Legis- lature of 1888 by the largest Republican majority given in the town of Cambridge. He has been selectman and road commis- sioner, and is now school director and school superintendent. He is a modest man, the possessor of good common sense, and of undoubted integrity.
FREDERICK H. FULLINGTON.
He married, March 16, 1875, Emma, daughter of James F. and Clara (Davis) Taylor of Barton, by whom he has had. two children : Fred Earl, and Stella Blanche.
FULTON, ROBERT REED, late of East Corinth, son of Robert and Abigail (Smith) Fulton, was born in Newbury, May 20, 1824.
Mr. Fulton's father was born in Scotland and emigrated to America in 1801. Imme- diately on his arrival he removed to New- bury and there settled. Mr. Fulton's mother was the daughter of Col. John Smith of Revolutionary fame, who moved to Newbury in 1780. Descended from such ancestry, from his boyhood days he won the esteem and confidence of his townsmen. Although his early life was spent on one of Vermont's hill farms, Mr. Fulton received what was for his generation a liberal education, attending the Thetford and Corinth Academies.
Besides holding the minor offices in his native town, he was chosen its representa- tive in 1867 and 1868. In 1870 he estab-
152
FURMAN.
lished himself as a merchant in the village of East Corinth. He was, in 1888, chosen to represent Corinth in the Legislature and was also postmaster for many years, which office he held till the thne of his death, Jan. 18, 1893.
ROBERT REED FULTON,
In politics he was a pronounced Republi- can, and in religion a worthy member of the Congregational church. A man of generous impulses, unassuming, kind and courteous was Robert Reed Fulton.
He was married to Annie Halley, in November, 1861, daughter of James Halley of Newbury, who survives without issue.
FURMAN, DANIEL G., of Swanton, was the son of Warren S. and Mary A. (Ware) Furman, and was born in Elizabethtown, N. Y., August 22, 1855.
CA.1.UP.
lle was indebted to the New Hampton Institute at Fairfax for his educational train- ing. Mr. Furman studied law with George W. Newton of St. Albans and the Hon. H. A. Bint of Swanton, and was admitted to the bar in Franklin county, September, 1876. Hle practiced two years in Berkshire, after which he removed to Swanton, where he has established a large and successful business.
As a Democrat, he was elected as the rep- resentative of the town of Swanton in 1888, and was a candidate for the speakership, and in 1893 was appointed United States Consul at Stanbridge, P. Q.
DANIEL G. FURMAN.
Mr. Furman married, Sept. 8, 1880, Miss Elizabeth M., daughter of Hiram and Eliza- beth (Barr) Best. One daughter and a son blessed their union : Berenice May, and Willis B.
GALLUP, O. M., of Victory, son of Amos and Emoline Gallup, was born in Wakefield, N. B., March 21, 1838.
His father was a prominent farmer and business man. Mr. Gallup received a fair education in the common schools of the town, and began his career as a driver of logs. Mr. Gallup had a great natural apti- tude and desire for large operations and soon commenced railroad building. His first work being the Hopkinton & Milford R. R., he next built the Acton & Nashua
R. R., and then went to Woods River Junc- tion, R. I., and constructed the railroad there and afterwards the larger portion of the Kingston & Narragansett road. He soon came to Vermont and built forty-one miles of road from the town of Johnson to the Lake. He then constructed the Profile & Franconian Notch R. R., opening up this important summer resort in the White Mountains. Later he built the docks at Swanton and the Champlain House at Maquam Bay, at a cost of $28,000.
153
GALLUP.
His next enterprise was the link connect- ing Bethlehem, N. H., with the main line and after this he constructed thirteen miles of railroad to Maquam Bay and Rouse's Point.
In 1880 he came to Victory and with C. H. Stevens bought the mill now called "Gallup's Mills," but his partner soon sold
O. M. GALLUP.
out. At this time there was not a good highway in the place, and Mr. Gallup at once surveyed a route for a railroad at his own expense and obtained by personal effort a large part of the subscription for the enterprise, contributing fifteen hundred dollars on his own account ; then he took the contract to build the road at a losing price, that the town might receive the bene- fit of it. From that time to the present he has been engaged in his mill, although he has since built a road for the Wild River Lumber Co., in the western part of Maine.
Mr. Gallup was elected to the Legislature in 1892 from Victory as a Democrat. He takes a great interest in every movement which conduces to the moral and material well-being of his community, and has been a liberal contributor to all worthy enterprises in the community, having donated land for the schools and churches of the place
Mr. Gallup was married July 3, 1883, to Miss Mary A. Cutter, daughter of A. B. Cut- ter of Bradford, Mass. Four children have blessed their union, of whom two are living : Annie, and Frank.
GAGE.
GAGE, SIDNEY, of Westminster, son of William P. and Laura M. ( Richmond) Gage, was born in Westminster, Nov. 25, 1853.
His education was confined to the com- mon schools of Westminster, and after his somewhat limited schooling, he engaged in the employ of his father in the manufacture of baskets, and later succeeding his father, has continued in the same business to the present time.
He has been called upon to assume the responsibility of some of the town offices in his native place, and in 1892 represented Westminster in the General Assembly. Mr. Gage is a member of the board of trustees of the Bellows Falls Savings Institution, having served in that capacity since 1889. An earnest, honest, upright citizen, he has won the esteem and good will of his fellow citi- zens.
SIDNEY GAGE.
Mr. Gage was married in Bellows Falls, Feb. 21, 1877, to Ellen L., daughter of Albert E. and Lucy M. (Davis) Leonard of Grafton .;
GARDNER, ABRAHAM BROOKS, of Pownal, son of Samuel J. and Jennette (Merchant) Gardner, was born at Pownal, Jan. 6, 1858.
After his education was finished in the Bennington public schools, he labored on his father's farm, where he remained until his twenty-second year, when he bought an estate of his own.
151
GA11 .
CAIIS.
In 1886 Mr. Gardner was elected to rep resent his town in the Legislature, an office which he ably filled for one term. For the past four years he has been, and is now, one of the selection of lownal.
1
ABRAHAM BROOKS GARDNER.
He is also a prominent member of the Masonic body. He is in religious prefer- ence a Baptist.
Mr. Gardner was married in October, 1880, to Miss Audria M., daughter of D. F. and H. E. Bates. Their three children are : Flor- ence A., Daniel F., and Jennette M.
GATES, AMASA O., of Morrisville, son of Daniel F. and Lavina (Jordan) Gates, was born in Morristown, April 25, 1842.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.