USA > Vermont > Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont > Part 59
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
August 1, 1884, he entered the Montpelier post-office as clerk under Postmaster George W. Wing, and was appointed assistant post- master June 16, 1888, which position he re- tained till the expiration of the term of Mr. Wing's successor, Mr. Morse, when Mr. Goodenough was appointed postmaster by President Harrison, taking possession of the
16I
GOODWIN.
office August 1, 1892. He has administered the duties of the office to the satisfaction of the entire community and made many im- provements in the service.
He is a member of Aurora Lodge, No. 22, F. & A. M., of which he has been Master. He is also a member of King Solomon Lodge, Royal Arch Chapter, and Mount Zion Commandery.
JONAS ELI GOODENOUGH.
Mr. Goodenough married, Feb. 18, 1889, Eliza P., daughter of James H. and Cathar- ine B. Holden of Middlesex.
GOODWIN, ELAM MARSH, late of Hartland, son of Israel and Betsey ( Mel- endy) Goodwin, was born in Plainfield, Dec. 22, 1828.
Commencing his education in the com- mon schools of Plainfield, he continued pur- suing his studies at the People's Academy of Morrisville and concluded them at the Green Mountain Perkins Institute of South Wood- stock. In early life he evinced a taste for the natural sciences, and was always a great reader and careful student in this field. He had collected a very choice and well-selected cabinet of minerals, shells, relics, and arch- æological curiosities. When he was twenty- one he went to the West for a year, but re- turned well satisfied to make Vermont his home. In 1862 he purchased the farm on which he resided until his death in 1890. He was a successful teacher both before and after he devoted himself to agricultural pur- suits, and was a valuable member of the State Board of Agriculture.
GOSS.
Mr. Goodwin was an earnest Republican and has held many official positions. He was town superintendent of schools in Hart- land and for many years town agent. He represented Hartland several terms in the House, was county commissioner, and sen- ator from Windsor county in 1882. In the House and Senate as elsewhere he was an able and fluent speaker. The duties of executor, trustee, guardian, referee and au- ditor constantly devolved upon him with the increasing confidence of his associates.
Mr. Goodwin was married March 17, 1869, to Ellen A., daughter of Seth and Eliza Densmore Brewster of Hartland. Their only child is Fred Marsh.
He was a Universalist, and during his long life was a shining example of probity, maintaining a high standard of rectitude among his friends and neighbors.
Ex-Governor Pingree in his memorial ad- dress said : "He was ranked by all as a man conspicuous for his natural and acquired abil- ities, most of the time filling official posi- tions in his town and county and constantly attaining a wider and more pronounced rec- ognition for qualities of heart, head and character as a public man."
GOSS, STORY N., of Chelsea, son of Abel and Amanda ( Hebard) Goss, was born in Waterford, Feb. 7, 1831. His father was a farmer, and Story remained upon the farm until he was twenty-three years old.
Educated at the public schools of Water- ford and later at the academies of St. Johns- bury and Chelsea, he commenced to study medicine with Doctors Bancroft and Newell at St. Johnsbury and afterwards with Prof. E. R. Peasley of Dartmouth College. He graduated in 1856 from the medical depart- ment of Dartmouth College and in 1857 he received a degree from the Medical College of New York. Later he accepted an ap- pointment as senior physician on the staff of Dr. Sanger at Blackwell's Island. Re- maining there one year he returned to Ver- mont and commenced the practice of his profession in Georgia, where he continued to live till the breaking out of the civil war.
Dr. Goss was married Jan. 4, 1858, to Ann Eliza daughter of Stephen and Phoebe (Hale) Vincent of Chelsea, and four children have been born to them : Arthur Vincent, Harry Hale, Walter Story, and Annie E.
Dr. Goss was commissioned assistant sur- geon 9th Regt. Vt. Vols., Sept. 26, 1862, and ordered to report to the general hospital at Brattleboro. Here he remained till April when he received orders to join his regiment in the field, previous to which he was pre- sented with a sword by the patients and at- tendants of the Brattleboro institution in token of their high appreciation of his valu-
162
GRANGER.
able services. Continuing with the 9th Regt. in the vicinity of Vorktown, he was com- pelled to resign in October, 1863, as he was stricken down with malarial fever. Par- tially recovering, his zeal for the cause led him to re enlist as acting assistant surgeon, U. S. A., and was ordered again to Brattle- boro and shortly afterwards to Fairfax Semi- nary Hospital, Va., at the time when the battles of the Wilderness were fought. For a third time he was stationed at Brattleboro and later at Burlington until the close of the war.
After his discharge from the service he re- turned to Georgia and remained there till 1870, when he settled in Chelsea and has practiced his profession there ever since.
Dr. Goss was one of the original members, who constituted Waterson Post, No. 45, G. A. R. He has been a Republican from his youth. He was for several years superin-
STORY N. GOSS.
tendent of schools at Georgia and also at Chelsea. Dr. Goss stands high in his pro- fession as a public-spirited citizen and has been for a long time the public health officer of the town in which he resides.
GOVE,MOSES B., of Lincoln, son of Daniel and Sarah (Taber) Gove, was born in Granville, N. Y., Sept. 28, 1847.
His parents removed to Lincoln when he was five years old, where he has since re- sided. He received his education at the common schools of that town, at Barre
Academy, and at the New Hampton ( N. H.) Institute.
After graduating from that institute, he taught school in Lincoln and Starksboro three years. He commenced business in the fall of 1873 by opening a retail boot and shoe store, and continued in the same until
MOSES B. GOVE.
October, 1890, when at the organization of the Lincoln Lumber Co., he became one of the stockholders, and was elected secretary and treasurer, and has held that position up to the present time.
Mr. Gove has been prominently identified with his town, and has held many positions of honor and trust, having been a justice of the peace continuously since 1874, town clerk and treasurer since 1875, postmaster from 1877 to the time of his resignation in 1890, assistant judge of Addison county court, 1891-'92, and a school director in 1893.
Judge Gove has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church for more than twenty years.
He was married May 10, 1870, to Miss Mary E., daughter of Asa and Fanny Purin- ton, and they have had three daughters, one of whom died in infancy, and two are living : Amy Pearl, and Fanny Estelle.
GRANGER, PLINY NYE, of West Burke, son of John and Eunice (Owen) Granger, was born in Bethel, Nov. 26, 1823.
163
GREENE.
GRANGER.
His education was received at the public and private schools of Bethel and Wood- stock. The family having removed to Wood- stock when he was seventeen he assisted his father, who was a carpenter and joiner by trade, and afterwards was concerned in the business of a butcher till 1845, when a strong desire for adventure induced him to embark at New Bedford on a whaling voyage as ship's carpenter. This voyage extended through three and a half years.
Returning in the fall of 1848 Mr. Granger resumed work at his carpenter's bench at which he continued to labor till the spring of 1853, when he was admitted to the M. E. Conference and immediately began to preach in various towns in the state. He continued his duties as pastor for twenty years and then assumed the position of agent for the State Temperance Society, lecturing all over Vermont and making his residence at Peacham. Returning to his ministerial labors, he is now stationed at West Burke. He has always been a successful preacher, ever mak- ing additions to the societies of which he has had the pastoral charge. He has had few active revivals but believes in constant regu- lar work.
Mr. Granger's ancestors emigrated from the old country to Amherst, Mass., and Suf- field, Conn.
He was united in marriage May 28, 1849, to Sophia, daughter of Loring and Susan (Metcalf) Richmond of Woodstock, who died Dec. 24, 1878, leaving issue : John Loring (deceased), Sarah J. (deceased), Guy R., George H., one of a surveying party which went up the Pearl river in 1880 and was never heard from; Susan L. (Mrs. Harrison McClachlin of Peacham), and Frank P. September 7, 1880, Mr. Granger married as his second wife Ellen E., daugh- ter of Nathaniel P. and Lydia (Rollins) Stevens of Derby.
Mr. Granger has occupied the responsi- ble position of superintendent of schools in the towns of Walden, Holland and Lyndon, represented Peacham in the Legislature in 1872. In 1874 he was chosen a senator from Caledonia county. He has served eight years as commissioner both in Orleans and Caledonia county. In 1880 and 1884 he was selected as delegate from the Ver- mont annual conference to the General M. E. Conference and has been for several years trustee of the Vermont M. E. Semi- nary, trustee and treasurer of the Preachers' Aid Society and also served for a consider- able time as steward of the M. E. Conference and upon several other standing committees of the church. Mr. Granger was presiding elder of St. Albans district from 1878 to 1882 and of St. Johnsbury district from 1882 to 1886. He has always been a steady ad-
vocate of temperance and has been eminent in the order of Good Templars : was a charter member of Lodge No. 7. He has also served as delegate to the Grand Lodge of Vermont and to the Right Grand Lodge when it assembled at Detroit, Mich.
GREENE, OLIN D., of Warren, son of Milton and Aurora (Goodno) Greene, was born Sept. 21, 1856, in Rochester.
Brought up as a farmer, he obtained his education in the common schools of Roches- ter and the State Normal School at Ran- dolph. Concluding to adopt the medical profession, he studied for three years with his brother, Dr. L. M. Greene of Bethel, and meanwhile attended lectures at the U. V. M., from which institution he graduated M. D. in 1879.
Dr. Greene commenced practice in Roch- ester, remained there one year and then re- moved to Warren where his devotion to his chosen profession has secured to him a large and steadily increasing practice. He is a member of the State Medical Society.
He was married March 4, 1879, to Emma L., daughter of Richard and Clara (Ray- mond) Bee of Rochester. Their only child is Mabelle S.
Dr. Greene belongs to the Republican party, and though never an eager aspirant for political honors, has occupied the office of justice of the peace and in 1888 was elected to represent Warren in the Legisla- ture, where he was a useful member of the committee on manufactures.
Two brothers of Dr. Greene occupy the pulpit, one in Lowell, Mass., and one in Wakefield of the same state.
GROUT, DON D., of Waterbury, son of Luman M. and Philura J. (French) Grout, was born in Morrisville, April 24, 1849.
Educated at the People's Academy, Mor- risville, he taught for a time in Stowe and Holliston, Mass., and was the principal of the academy at West Charleston.
Deciding upon a professional career he began the study of medicine under Dr. George A. Hinman of Charleston and later with Dr. Edward S. Peck of New York. This was followed by attendance at several courses of lectures at Dartmouth and the University of Vermont from which latter in- stitution he graduated M. D. in 1872. Upon his graduation Dr. Grout received the ap- pointment of assistant physician in the Kings County (N. Y.) Hospital and later filled the same position at the asylum for the insane at the same place. He began the practice of his profession at Wolcott in 1873, and in 1875 removed to Stowe where he built up a lucrative practice, which he re- linquished in the spring of 1890 to enter
CRITI.IN.
upon a larger field of activity, which he found at Waterbury, where he has since resided and is actively engaged in his profession.
Politically, Dr. Grout affihates with the dominant party of Vermont, and that his ef- forts have been appreciated by his party is evidenced by the positions of honor and trust which have been given him. He was superintendent of schools while in Wolcott ;
DON D. GROUT.
while a resident of Stowe he represented that town in the Legislature, serving on the com- mittees of public health and lunatic asylums, and had charge of the bill to locate and con- struct a state asylum for the insane, and was appointed by Governor Dillingham one of the trustees for said institution, and had the per- sonal supervision of the construction of a portion of the buildings. He has held many town offices and is at present one of the Waterbury village trustees.
Dr. Grout has been three times married. In July, 1873, he married Nettie A., daughter of John and Susan Jones of Barre, by whom he has had two children, Inez L., and Luman M. December 20, 1881, he married Angie, daughter of Venon and Eliza Wilkins of Stowe. She left him four children : Annie M., Josie R., Benjamin Harrison, and Angie. In 1892 he married his present wife, Ida E., daughter of D. J. and Jane Morse of Water- bury.
Dr. Grout is an active member of the Ma- sonic fraternity, being a member of the Winooski Lodge, Waterbury Chapter, of
Royal Arch Masons and of Waterbury Coun. cil of Royal and Select Masters. He has for the past two years been the Worshipful Master of Winooski Lodge.
GRIFFIN, BENONI, of Sudbury, son of Benoni and Abigail ( Ray) Griffin, was born in Sudbury, March 26, 1809. The family came originally from England and the name of Benoni has descended from father to son for many generations both here and in the old country. His educational advantages were limited to the common schools of Sud- bury and he went from these to labor upon the farm. Mr. Griffin cultivates with great success a large farm of three hundred acres in extent. He also trades extensively in cattle and is known as an honorable and energetic dealer in those lines of business to which he has given his attention.
As an adherent of the Republican party he has held all the offices which could be conferred upon him by his fellow townsmen, and he was elected member for Sudbury to the state Legislature of 1880. Mr. Griffin was employed as a recruiting officer during the war of the rebellion.
BENONI GRIFFIN.
Mr. Griffin was united to Sarah W., daugh- ter of Thomas and Dorcas (Murray) Miller, March 12, 1840. Their children are : La- Roy S., Edna J., Florence S., Ella C. (Mrs. E. C. Spooner), Ernest B., Rolla C., Mary A., Nettie M., and Irwin B.
165
GROUT.
GROUT, JOSIAH, of Derby, son of Josiah and Sophronia (Ayer) Grout, was born of American parents in Compton, Canada, May 28, 1842.
When six years of age his father removed to Vermont and he received his education in the public schools and Orleans Liberal In- stitute at Glover. He also commenced a course of study at the St. Johnsbury Acad- emy, which he left to enlist Oct. 2, 1861, as a private in Co. I, Ist Vt. Cavalry. He was mustered in on the organization of his company as 2d lieutenant, promoted to cap- tain in 1862, and in 1864 was appointed major of the 26th N. Y. Cavalry which was organized for frontier service after the St. Albans raid. While serving with the Ist Vt. he participated in seventeen different en-
JOSIAH GROUT.
gagements and was badly wounded in a skirmish with the partisan leader Mosby, April 1, 1863.
At the termination of the war he entered the law office of his brother, General Grout, at Barton where he continued till December, 1865, when he was admitted to practice in the Vermont courts. The following year he removed to Island Pond where he had charge of the Custom House for three years and also served the same space of time in the same capacity at St. Albans and New- port. In 1874 he changed his residence to Chicago and afterwards to Moline, Ill.
While at Newport, before going West, he practiced his profession with very great suc- cess, ranking high as a lawyer and espe-
GROUT.
cially excelling as a jury advocate. In 1880 he returned to Vermont and has since devoted himself solely to his extensive model stock farm, his chief delight being farming - and it well done. Major Grout's efforts as an agriculturist and stock raiser have met with great success and he possesses some of . the finest Jersey cattle, blooded Morgan horses and Shropshire sheep in the Green Mountain state.
Major Grout was united in marriage, October, 1867, to Harriet, daughter of Aaron and Nancy (Stewart) Hinman, one of the leading families of Derby. They have one son : Aaron H.
Major Grout is an earnest Republican. He represented Newport in the Legislature in 1872, 1874, and Derby in 1884, 1886 and 1883. He was one of the Orleans county senators in 1892. He was speaker of the House, in 1874, 1886 and 1888. He has served as the chief executive officer of the Republican Club at Derby, and was four years vice-presdent and one year president of the Vermont League of Republican Clubs.
He is liberal in his religious belief and has been raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason. During the three years he was in Chicago, he built up a nice law practice which was reluctantly exchanged for business prospects at Moline, where for two years he was one of the supervisors of Rock Island county. He devotes himself industriously and with conscientious purpose to the accomplishment of all his undertak- ings and can be literally regarded as one of those who does with his might whatever his hands find to do. Particularly is this characteristic of faithfulness noticeable in the work he has bestowed in improving and developing his farm and stock, which with a pardonable pride he so cheerfully shows all who call to see him.
GROUT, SELIM E., of St. Johnsbury, son of Theophilus and Hannah (Chick) Grout, was born in Kirby, June 11, 1836.
His father first saw the light in the old homestead now in the possession of Gen. W. W. Grout, M. C., and died when Selim was only eleven years old. At that time the farm was sold and Selim was thrown upon his own resources to fight the battle of life without paternal guidance at a critical age, but he possessed the characteristic family traits of courage, versatility and enterprise.
Beginning his education in the common schools at Concord, he attended later the Lyn- don Academy. He worked upon the farm. learned the trade of a shoemaker, carriage maker and harness maker, acted as clerk, then engaged in selling ice in New York and creditably encountered the rough edge of the world in many and varied capacities.
100
GROUI.
Later he caused on the carriage and harness business, and when the P. & O. R. R. was completed in Jammary, 1872, he was ap pointed the first station agent at West Con cord and acted nearly twenty years in that capacity. During the latter part of this period he gave his attention to manufactur ing chair stock, bobbins, and dressed humber until his works were burned down in 1890. He also owned and carried ou a large grist mill at West Concord for several years.
SELIM E. GROUT.
Mr. Grout was married at Concord Sept. 18, 1862, to Annette, daughter of Benjamin and Sophronia ( Richardson) Hutchinson of Waterford. They have adopted Arthur Mur- ray and Florence C. Grout.
Mr. Grout was a charter member of Essex Grange P. of H. and also one of the original members of Moose River Lodge, No. 82, F. and A. M., and has passed through the chairs of J. and S. W. For two terms he served his lodge as Worshipful Master.
From the beginning Mr. Grout has been an active Republican. A man of benevolent impulses, he has been a useful and public- spirited citizen, obliging and accommodating often to his own loss. He represented Con- cord in the Legislature of 1880. His stand- ing in the community may be inferred from the fact that he has been deputy and high sheriff of Essex county for seventeen years, auditor for six years, and was elected state senator from Essex county in 1890.
GROUT, WILLIAM W., of Kirby, was born of American parents in Compton, P. Q., May 24, 1836. His ancestry is traced back to Dr. Jolin Grout who came from England in 1630 and settled in Watertown, Mass. His great grandfather, Elijah Grout, of Charles- town, N. H., served as commissary in the Revolutionary war. His grandfather, Theo- philus Gront, settled on the Moose river in the new state of Vermont upon land after- ward included in the present town of Kirby, in the year 1799, and there cleared a large farm which his father, Josiah Grout, after- wards owned and on which he lived till near the time of his death.
William W. Grout received a common school and academic education, and was graduated at the Poughkeepsie (N. Y.) Law School in 1857. He was admitted to the bar in December of the same year, and settled in the practice of the law at Barton. In July, 1862, he was nominated by the Republicans of the county to the office of state's attor- ney, but declined the nomination and en- listed in a company then being raised in Bar- ton for the civil war. On its organization he was made captain, and subsequently was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel of the 15th Regt., which was attached to the brig- ade of General Stannard, afterward so famous for the repulse of Pickett's charge at Gettys- burg. The 15th Regt. did not remain at Gettysburg till the close of the battle, but on the afternoon of the second day was ordered to the defence of the Ist corps train, then on the way to Westminster, and liable to at- tack from Stuart's cavalry, which were prowl- ing in the rear of the Union army. A few days after the regiment joined the brigade at Funkstown, and the next day brought up in front of the enemy at Hagerstown, and Colonel Grout with two hundred men from the 16th Regt. went upon the skirmish line against which the enemy was actively de- monstrating, while Lee with the bulk of his army was crossing the Potomac. In August, 1863, Colonel Grout was mustered out with his regiment on account of expiration of term of service.
In the fall of 1864 the enemy raided St. Albans, robbing banks, etc., and by order of the Governor of Vermont, Colonel Grout was placed in command of the provisional forces raised on the east side of the moun- tain to guard the Canadian frontier. The Legislature then in session organized three brigades of militia, and Colonel Grout was elected brigadier-general and assigned by the Governor to the command of one of them.
In 1865 he was elected state's attorney of Orleans county, and was re-elected in 1866. He represented Barton in 1868, 1869, 1870, and 1874. In 1876 he was elected
Verbuly food William woShout
168
GROUT.
to the state Senate from the county of Or- leans, and on organization was made presi- dent pro tempore of that body.
In 1878 he was nominated for Congress by the Republicans of the third district, but was beaten by Bradly Barlow, a greenbacker. In 1880 he was elected to the Forty-seventh Congress from the third district. By the tenth census Vermont lost a member, and the third was absorbed by the first and second districts. General Gront was a candidate for nomination in the second district in 1882, but was beaten by Judge Poland, ex-member of both House and Senate, and ex chief judge of the Supreme Court. In 1884 General Gront was nominated by the Republicans of the second district and was elected to the Forty-ninth Congress by a majority of nearly thirteen thousand, and has since been re- elected to the Fiftieth, Fifty-first, Fifty-sec- ond, and Fifty-third Congresses, invariably running ahead of his ticket. He has served on the committees on territories, levees and improvements of the Mississippi River, edu- cation, District of Columbia (of which he was chairman in the Fifty-first Congress), expenditures in the interior and treasury de- partments, and upon the committee on ap- propriations, of which he is now a member.
Meantime General Grout has been en- gaged in an active law practice till quite re- cently, and all the time interested in agri- culture. He now owns and resides upon the old homestead in Kirby where his grand- father settled in 1799, and which has been in the family ever since.
General Grout married Loraine M. Smith in 1860, who died in 1868. He buried two children in infancy. He has not remarried.
GROUT, THEOPHILUS, of Newport, son of Josiah and Sophronia (Ayer) Grout, was born in Compton, P. Q., Sept. 3, 1848.
His early education was received in the public schools of Concord followed by an academic course at the institutions at St. Johnsbury, Newbury and McIndoes Falls, after which, as he had resolved to adopt the legal profession as his life work, he com- menced his studies in the office of Bisbee & Grout and was admitted to the bar of Orleans county at the September term in 1871. He commenced to practice in the town of Newport and with the exception of one year which he spent in Galveston, Tex., he continued his professional career in that place, having some of the time been in partnership with his brother Josiah and C. A. Prouty, Esq, but chiefly by himself. In 1878 he was made state's attorney and he has been connected with many important
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.