USA > Vermont > Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont > Part 73
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WILLIAM P. MATTISON.
Mr. Mattison was united in wedlock August 9, 1853, to Sarah C., daughter of William P. and Catherine (Sharts) Stickle, of Hillsdale, N. Y. Five children were the fruit of the union : Katherine A. (Mrs. Charles F. Chapin of Waterbury, Conn.), Frederick L., May V. (Mrs. George A. Bruce of South Shaftsbury), William R. and Clayton S.
Some time after his marriage, he removed to Hillsdale, and during a period of about five years engaged in teaching and farming, and also became a partner in a general store. In 1861 he again returned to Shaftsbury, and entered the employment of the Eagle Square Co. He had always taken great in- terest in the affairs of this corporation, giv- ing much time to the study of square-making and improved machinery therefor. In 1864
MATTISON.
the Eagle Square Co., which till then had been organized as a partnership, was incor- porated and three years later Mr. Mattison was elected secretary and treasurer. In 1883 he was promoted to the position of vice-president, which office he holds at the present time. In 1880 the plant of the company, which had been repeatedly en- larged to accommodate the manufacture of bedsteads, sash and blinds, and boring ma- chines, was destroyed by fire, with the excep- tion of the square-finishing department, and it was principally owing to the active and in- telligent efforts of Mr. Mattison that the works were reconstructed. To him was entrusted the responsible task of erecting the necessary buildings and providing a new plant on a larger scale than the former, equipped with the most improved machinery. In this en- terprise he was eminently successful and the company is now more prosperous than ever before. His success as the chief acting execu- tive officer of the Eagle Square Manufacturing Co. for a long term of years stamps him as a representative member of that large and valued class of New England manufacturers who have done so much to win the high repu- tation which these states enjoy as industrial centers.
Politically, Mr. Mattison has been a Repub- lican since the inception of the party. His natural ability and energy have made him a fit candidate for many official positions in both Shaftsbury and Hillsdale. In 1872 he represented his town in the Legislature, serv- ing as a member of the committee on land taxes and taking an active part in all matters affecting the manufacturing interests of the state. Six years subsequently he was chosen state senator from Bennington county, in which body he was a member of several highly important committees.
Mr. Mattison, by an accident received in 1858, had the misfortune to lose the sight of his right eye, which disqualified him for ser- vice in the late war.
In his religious preferences he inclines to the Baptist faith. He has always taken a lively interest in the welfare of his native town to whose material welfare he has been so large a contributor.
MATTISON, FRED LELAND, of South Shaftsbury, son of William P. and Sarah (Stickle) Mattison, was born in Hillsdale, N. Y., April 20, 1857.
His educational advantages were received in the public schools of Shaftsbury, the graded school of North Bennington and the Wilbraham (Mass ) Academy. He com- menced the active business of life as a clerk in his father's store in South Shaftsbury and afterwards became bookkeeper of the Eagle Square Co. till the year 1884 when he was
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elected secretary and treasurer of that cor poration, which position he still retains, and since the illness of his father has had the chief control of the business. He is one of the stock- holders in that company which was founded by Silas Hawes in 1812. In 1878 Mr. Mattison purchased a third interest in the general store owned by W. P. Mattison & Co.
In his political sentiments he is Republi- can and he supports and attends the Metho- dist church.
FRED LELAND MATTISON.
He married, Nov. 29, 1881, Jennie, daughter of Clark and Sarina Bates of South Shaftsbury. Four children have blessed the union : Raymond, Louis, Irwin, and Dorothy.
MAY, ELISHA, of St. Johnsbury, son of Preston and Sophia Stevens (Grout) May, was born in Concord, Dec. 12, 1842.
He was educated at the common schools and at St. Johnsbury Academy. After his preliminary studies he read law with Jona- than Ross, Esq., at St. Johnsbury and was admitted to the bar at the December term in Caledonia county in 1867. The following year he served as assistant clerk in the House of Representatives under John H. Flagg. At one time a partner of Henry E. Belden, Esq., Mr. May is now associated with Hon. Henry C. Bates.
Formerly a member of the Republican party, he withdrew his allegiance in 1884, being a pronounced opponent of the doc-
M. CULLOUGH.
trines of the protectionists, and is now a strong Cleveland Democrat of the independ- ent type, who believes in principle rather than party.
Mr. May was married Dec. 12, 1872, 10 Miss Eunice A. S., daughter of Sumner W. and Rosette ( Eastman ) Arnold. Three chil- dren have been the issue of this marriage : Florence Joanna, Ennice Rosette, and Bea- trice Sophia.
During the war he made an attempt to en- list in the 17th Regt. Vt. Vols., but was re- jected. A second effort was more successful, and he was enrolled in the 26th Regt. New York Cavalry under Col. Ferris Jacobs. He received a commission from Governor Fen- ton as ist lieutenant and regimental com- missary, but was not present at any battle of the war.
Mr. May has also knelt at the shrine of Free Masonry, having taken the degrees of blue lodge, chapter and temple and he is a member of Chamberlain Post, No. 1, G. A. R.
A modest and unassuming man, notwith- standing his liberal and advanced view of the present aspect of public affairs, he has never sought for political promotion, but he was the candidate for auditor of accounts on the Democratic ticket in 1890 and 1892, and is a member of the Democratic state committee for Caledonia county. Mr. May was in 1893 appointed bank examiner in Vermont by President Cleveland, and is at present director of the state prison and house of correction.
MCCULLOUGH, JOHN GRIFFITH, of Bennington, son of Alexander and Rebecca Mccullough, was born in Newark, Del. He is of mingled Scotch and Welsh ancestry, and the circumstances which surrounded his early youth did not present a rosy prospect for his future ; for his father died when he was three years of age, and his mother when he was seven. His early educational advan- tages were meagre, but with unwearied in- dustry he made the most of them, and suc- ceeded in graduating from Delaware College with the highest honors before reaching his twentieth year. He then commenced the study of law in the office of St. George Tucker Campbell of Philadelphia, dividing his time between study and practical expe- rience in the office and attendance at the law school of the University of Pennsyl- vania, from which institution he received the degree of LLB. In 1859 he was ad- mitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. At this time impaired health rendered a change of climate and surround- ings necessary, and he set sail in that year for San Francisco, but the severity of the seacoast winds induced him to remove to Sacramento, where he was admitted to the
Ismccullough 1
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bar of the Supreme Court of California. Even bere the climate was too rough for his delicate condition, and he soon changed his residence to Mariposa, at the foot of the picturesque Sierra Nevadas. California at this time was passing through her trying pioneer period, and her precarious situation was about to be complicated by the bursting of the war cloud of the rebellion, and the young lawyer arrived on this rough scene in time to perform his part in the drama. A terrible struggle between the Secessionists of Southern California and the Unionists ap- peared inevitable, when the arrival of Gen- eral Sumner, sent by the government to su- persede Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, then in command at Fort Alcatraz, frustrated the scheme of Southern sympathizers to separate California from the Union. In young Mc- Cullough, whose loyalty to the Federal government was intense, General Sumner found a ready and efficient supporter and coadjutor. Ascending the stump, in spite of his delicate health which precluded active service in the field, by his courage and elo- quence, he did yeoman service for the cause of freedom and national unity.
Having secured the admiration and confi- dence of the Union element, he was nomi- nated for the General Assembly in 1861, and elected by a triumphant coalition of Repub- licans and Douglas Democrats. In 1862 his constituents returned him to the state Senate, though the district up to that time had been overwhelmingly Democratic. Such was his success and vigor in shaping legislation, that notwithstanding his youth and his brief ex- perience as a practical lawyer, he was nomi- nated the next year by the state convention of the Republican party as attorney-general of California, and elected by an overwhelm- ing majority. In this position he labored with signal skill and success in the interest of and for the honor of the state. Renomi- nated in 1867, he failed of a re-election, though receiving the largest vote of any can- didate on the Republican ticket. For four succeeding years as the head of a well-known law firm in San Francisco, he enjoyed a highly renumerative practice and the en- viable reputation with court, counsel and client, of a practitioner scrupulously accurate in statement and in every action or position governed by the nicest sense of professional honor.
In 1871, while on a visit to the eastern states, General Mccullough married Eliza Hall, daughter of Trenor W. and Laura V. H. Park of Bennington. They have four chil- dren : Hall Park, Elizabeth L., Ella S., and Esther Morgan.
Two years after his marriage, having acquired an ample fortune, he removed to Southern Vermont, where he interested him-
self in railroad, commercial and banking enterprises. His active operations in these directions have made him for some months in the year a resident of New York, where a portion of his time is passed, but his home and permanent and favorite residence is in the Green Mountain state. Some disap- pointed individual has said that Vermont was a good state to emigrate from ; the sub- ject of this sketch believes rather that it is a good state not only to emigrate to, but to marry into also. He is an ardent admirer of those Vermont methods and principles by which, the Grecian statesman said, a small state may be made great, and a great state greater still.
From 1873 to 1883 he was vice-president and general manager of the Panama Railroad Co., and from the latter year until his resigna- tion in 1888 he was president and directing genius of the corporation. He was elected a director of the Erie R. R. in 1884, and since 1888 has been chairman of the execu- tive committee. He was the first president of the Chicago & Erie R. R., a position which he still holds, and is president of the Bennington & Rutland Railroad Co. He is also president of the First National Bank of North Bennington, a director in the New York Security and Trust Co., of the Fidelity and Casualty Insurance Co. of that city, and is largely interested in many other corpora- tions.
American politics have always possessed the liveliest interest for General Mccullough, and he has suffered no political campaign to pass by since 1860, in which his voice has not been heard in earnest and efficient advocacy of the men and principles of the Republican party, yet he entertains no ambition in the direction of public office. His genial nature and social tastes have won him hosts of friends, and his home life in the state of his adoption is singularly happy and contented.
MCDUFFEE, HENRY CLAY, of Bradford, son of John and Dolly (Greenleaf) McDuffee, was born at Bradford, Oct. 3, 1831. John McDuffee was one of the first settlers of the town. He was a teacher and later a railroad projector and civil engineer of distinguished ability and extended reputation.
Henry C. was educated in the Bradford public schools and at Bradford Academy. He lived upon the farm where he was born until 1868, when he removed to his pleasant home on Main street in Bradford where he now lives. He learned surveying at an early age and has always pursued that voca- tion more or less. After the death of his father, and brother Charles, who were agents for Joseph Bell of Boston, an extensive land owner in Canada, New England and the
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western states, Mr. McDuffee was appointed agent, having complete control of the man- agement and sale of this large property, and discharged that trust with much credit. During that time and since, he has had charge of many other complicated estates in different parts of the country, and has also conducted a widely extended business in buying and selling real estate in the South and West. For a number of years Mr. McDuffee had the management of some
HENRY CLAY McDUFFEE.
large oil wells and coal mines in Ohio. Afterwards he was manager of a linen mill in Claremont, N. H., where he remained until 1870, when he returned to Bradford. Mr. McDuffee has always been a public- spirited man, and greatly interested in any- thing which he thought was for the true in- terest of his town. He was one of the organizers of the Bradford Savings Bank and Trust Co., personally secured its char- ter and for many years was one of the directors. He was also influential in estab- lishing the Bradford Opinion and soon after- wards became the principal owner. He has been for many years a trustee of Bradford Academy. Mr. McDuffee is a man of large business experience and has traveled exten- sively.
He was for some time engaged by a large banking establishment of Boston to inspect and to establish loan agencies throughout the West and along the Pacific Coast.
He is a loyal Republican and is a man who has the courage of his convictions. He
McGETTRICK.
has held nearly all the important town offices. He was elected as representative from Bradford to the General Assembly of 1870 and 1871, being the first Republican representative ever elected in that town. He was re-elected in 1872 receiving at this time the largest Republican vote ever polled in Bradford before or since. He was high bailiff of Orange county for 1872 and 1873 ; assistant U. S. Assessor from 1871 to the time the office was abolished, and was elected state senator from Orange county in 1884 serving at this time on the committees of finance, railroads and banks. He was also for many years chairman of the Orange county Republican committee and in 1888 was one of the presidential electors.
He is a member of Charity Lodge 43 and Chapter of F. & A. M. of Bradford.
March 12, 1863, he married Laura Water- man of Lebanon, N. H., who died the fol- lowing September. He married his present wife, Rosie M., daughter of Hon. Roswell M. and Marinda (Nelson) Bill of Topsham, June 8, 1869. They have one child : Ernest Bill.
MCGETTRICK, FELIX WILLIAM, of St. Albans, son of Michael and Mary (O'Con- nell) McGettrick, was born in Fairfield, Nov. 20, 1847.
FELIX WILLIAM McGETTRICK.
The educational facilities which Mr. Mc- Gettrick enjoyed before the war were exceed- ingly limited, as he lived nearly three miles from the nearest district schoolhouse, but
M.1.111.
McLEAN.
after his return from the battlefields of Vir ginia he took a partial course of study at the New Hampton Institute at Fairfax, and then placed himself as a private pupil under the charge of Mr. C. J. Alger at Burlington, in whose office he commenced the study of law, which he afterward continned with the firm of Edson & Rand at St. Albans.
In 1870 he combined his legal studies with the teacher's profession, but two years later he began to practice at St. Albans. He has been engaged in several important cases and ranks high as an able criminal lawyer, and as an advocate he has no supe- rior in the state, possessing great command of language, and is both forcible and elo- quent as a speaker.
Mr. McGettrick enlisted, when a lad of sixteen, in Co. E, 2d Regt. U. S. Sharp- shooters, and in the winter of 1864 the com- mand were in camp around Brandy Station and Culpepper, Va. He was present at the battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, and in the latter engagement was seriously wounded. He was discharged at the close of the war.
He is actively interested in politics, being a staunch supporter of the principles of the Democratic party. He has been town grand juror and member of the school board, as well as town agent for prosecuting and de- fending suits. He was sent as a delegate to the Democratic national convention in 1880, and seven years afterward was appointed special inspector of customs. He was the nominee of his party for Congress in 1892, and the following year received the appoint- ment of superintendent of construction of the new United States custom house and postoffice at St. Albans.
Mr. McGettrick was married, January, 1872, to Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Burke) Morris of Fairfield. They have three children : Edward Thomas, Charles Henry, and Mary Catherine.
MCLAM, JAMES R., of Topsham, son of James and Agnes (Leech) McLam, was born in Ryegate, Nov. 24, 1841. His parents came from Scotland to Caledonia county about 1830, and James received a good prac- tical education in the schools of Ryegate, supplemented by a course of instruction at the Caledonia grammar school and at McIn- does Academy. He remained with his father upon the farm until he was twenty years of age, when he went to Boston, Mass., and en- gaged in the business of trucking for three years.
After spending a year in Iowa, he returned to Ryegate, and finally removed to Topsham, where he engaged in general trade for four years, and then parted with his interest in the business to Mr. Stewart, who had been
connected with him. For several years he gave his attention to insurance, pensions and town affairs. He then went back to his okl stand, and taking A. C. Wormwood, of Bos- ton, as a partner, they successfully conducted the business till 1892, having a practical monopoly of trade in the village, when Mr. MeLam sold out to Mr. Wormwood.
February 1, 1871, he married Susan J., daughter of Daniel and Jeanette (Cochrane) Wormwood, and of this union were issue : Ehner D. (deceased), George L., Cora J., and Agnes M.
JAMES R. MCLAM.
Though not a farmer, he has given both time and money to the establishment of a co-operative creamery in East Topsham, and is a director and secretary of the company.
MCLEAN, ALBERT, of Norton Mills, son of John and Mary (Carleton) McLean, was born in Alna, Me., August 31, 1849.
He received his education in the public schools of Alna and at Eastpitston (Me.) Academy.
His father was a farmer and merchant and to these vocations he added a large ship- ping business, finding opportunity, neverthe- less, to discharge the duties of town clerk for a period of fifty years. Albert remained with him until his majority, in his extensive operations, when he moved to Norton Mills and engaged as clerk for Wilmot Nelson, remaining about four years. Afterward he went into partnership with Mr. Nelson as
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M MASTER.
A. McLean & Co., and continued in trade until the business was sold to A. M. Stetson & Co., in 1889, when he entered their em- ployment as head clerk.
Mr. McLean is a Republican and a Free Mason, having received his degrees in Island Pond Lodge No. 44.
When the town was organized in 1885 he was chosen town clerk and has served most faithfully and acceptably ever since. He also has made a most efficient town treasurer for five years. He is obliging and of sterl- ing moral worth.
He was wedded, in 1885, at Island Pond, to Ella B., daughter of William and Margaret Libby of East Machias, Me., and by her he is the father of two children : John Walter, and Cora Emma.
MCMASTER, WILLIAM D., of Wood- stock, son of John and Nancy ( Burke) Mc- Master, was born in Ireland, Nov. 28, 1833, and emigrated with his parents to Vermont when a child.
His education was obtained in the public schools, and from the experience derived in an apprenticeship served in a printing office.
WILLIAM D, McMASTER.
Mr. McMaster has followed the vocation of printer, editor and publisher. From Jan. I, 1861, he has been the proprietor and pub- lisher of the Spirit of the Age. He is now the oldest journalist as regards continuous service in the state.
Mr. McMaster was married: July 10, 1867, to Maria E., daughter of Wilder and Eliza
C. (Demary) Raymond. Two children were the fruit of their union : Charles E., and William R., both deceased.
Democratic in his political faith, he has served on state, county and town committees, was postmaster of Woodstock during Presi- dent Cleveland's first administration, hold- ing the office for four years and ten months, and several times has been the candidate of his party for town representative. During the period of the rebellion of the slave states his paper heartily endorsed and supported all measures leading to a vigorous prosecu- tion of the war.
MCQUIVEY, ALSON N., of Bread Loaf, son of Nathaniel and Emily E. (Dunham) McQuivey, was born in Ripton, Feb. 3, 1851.
ALSON N. McQUIVEY.
He passed through the common schools of Ripton, the high school of Middlebury and the Vermont Methodist Seminary at Montpelier. After completing his educa- tional training he settled down as a farmer near Bread Loaf Mountain, a noted summer resort, where he has methodically and suc- cessfully pursued his business. He has dealt somewhat extensively in real estate and is much interested in breeding driving horses.
He was united in marriage at Middlebury, Jan. 25, 1876, to Mary, daughter of Carlos and Marcia Hooker. Shortly after her marriage she died and he then espoused Florence A., daughter of William N. and
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Joanna B. ( Fletcher) Cobb. Three chil- dren have been born to them : Agnes A., Gordon D., and Arthur.
Mh. Mc Quivey belongs to the dominant party in the state and for six years has filled the offices of superintendent of schools, auditor, lister and selectman. He was appointed census enumerator in 1890, and two years afterwards was called upon to represent the town of Ripton in the Legisla- ture, where his services were given to the committee on the library.
He belongs to the order of Odd Fellows, and is specially attached to Lake Dunmore Lodge, No. n. He formerly affiliated with the state Grange, and is at present a mem- ber of the Congregational church. Mr. MeQuivey is one of the leading men in the town, and is prominently connected with all affairs of social and political life.
MEAD, ELISHA FERGUSON, of Starks- boro, son of William and Mandana ( Fergu- son) Mead, was born in Hinesburgh, June 25, 1824. His grandfather, Alpheus Mead,
ELISHA FERGUSON MEAD.
was born in Greenwich, Conn. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, was cap- tured and confined in the old sugarhouse in New York. He was one of the early settlers of Hinesburgh, where he died in 1837. The mother of the subject of this sketch was the daughter of Elisha Ferguson, of Starksboro. His grandmother on his mother's side was a sister of Elijah Hedding, one of the early bishops of the Methodist church.
MEAD).
Elisha Ferguson Mead was educated in the common schools and in the Hinesburgh Academy. He studied law in the office of Hon. Asahel Peck, at Burlington, and was admitted to the bar of Chittenden county, in 1847. He practiced in Chittenden county until 1855, when he moved to Michigan, where he opened an office at Romeo, and had a large practice in that and the sur- rounding comities, and in the United States cirenit and district courts. He was elected to the Legislature of Michigan in 1866, and served on the judiciary committee, was re- elected in 1868, and was appointed chairman of that committee, and filled the position satisfactorily the next two years. He prac- ticed law in Michigan until 1874, when he retired from professional life and has since resided at Starksboro.
MEAD, JOHN ABNER, the subject of this sketch, was born in Fairhaven, on the 20th day of April, 1841. His ancestors were En- glish and the family was an ancient and hon- orable one. There is in Westminster Abbey a monument erected to the memory of Rich- ard Mead, M. D., one of his ancestors, who was the friend and physician of the talented though not amiable George II, and of Queen Anne. Col. Richard K. Mead, aid-de-camp to General Washington from 1777 to 1783, attained the rank of colonel and rendered valuable service throughout the war of the Revolution. He was with the commander-in- chief in all his principal battles and person- ally superintended the execution of Major Andre, a duty which he was accustomed to say, he was not able to perform without shed- ding tears. The Rt. Rev. William Mead, Bishop of Virginia, was also of the same family. Richard W. Mead, another ancestor, born in Chester county, Pa., in June, 1778, was said to be the first importer of Merino sheep into the United States. The great- great-grandfather of the present sketch, Col. James Mead, was the first white settler in Rutland and in the valley of the Otter creek, and was a descendant from one of the two families of Meads who emigrated from En- gland about 1642. He was born at Horse- neck, N. Y., August 25, 1730, and married Mercy Holmes of the same place. Having purchased seven thousand acres of land at six cents an acre, situated on either side of Otter creek and near the falls at Center Rut- land, Colonel Mead left Manchester, Vt., on the morning of the 28th of September, 1769, with his wife and eleven children and a son- in-law, and starting out into the unbroken wilderness, arriving at Central Falls on the evening of the 30th, having been en route three days and two nights. An extract from the inaugural address of Mayor Mead on the organization of the city government graphi-
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