Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont, Part 76

Author: Ullery, Jacob G., comp; Davenport, Charles H; Huse, Hiram Augustus, 1843-1902; Fuller, Levi Knight, 1841-1896
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Brattleboro, Vt. : Transcript Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 842

USA > Vermont > Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont > Part 76

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Judge Munson was, in September, 1889, upon the resignation of Judge Veazey, ap- pointed sixth assistant judge of the Supreme Court, and in 1890 was elected fourth assist-

NELSON.

ant judge of that court which position he now holds by re election in 1892.

Judge Munson's fairness, studious habit, and literary skill rendered him a most valu- able acquisition to the bench, and his pe- onlar ability as a presiding officer helps to keep up the well deserved reputation the

Vermont trial courts have won as places where the law is administered with fit dignity and decorum.

Judge Munson married, May 4, 1882, Mary B., daughter of Rev. Alexander B. and Anna M. (Hollister) Campbell, of Men- don, 11.

NEEDHAM, LEWIS CASS, of Leicester Junction, son of Benjamin E. and Amanda (Page) Needham, was born in Shrewsbury, April 6, 18.13. His parents were early set- tlers of Massachusetts, and his great-grand- father, Benjamin Needham, was one of the founders of the town of Shrewsbury. Owing to his being the only dependent of a widowed mother and her younger children, Mr. Need- ham is about the only member of his family who is without a personal war record. His

LEWIS CASS NEEDHAM.

great-grandfather was a soldier in the Revo- lution ; his grandfather, father, and an uncle were soldiers in the war of 1812 ; an uncle, Horace Needham, served in the Mexican war, and many others of the family were engaged in the war of the rebellion.

The early education of the subject of this sketch was obtained in the schools of Shrews- bury during the fall terms, his summer and winter months being spent in farm labor and teaching. Mr. Needham resolved upon a business career, and pursued a course of study in the Eastman Business College of

Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Subsequently he re- turned to his birthplace and lived with his widowed mother until her death. In 1868 he went to Rutland and commenced work in the employment of the Rutland Railroad Co. In 1878 he moved to Leicester and since then has been agent for the Central Vermont Railroad Co. in that place.

He represented Leicester in the Legisla- ture in the session of 1884 ; has been justice of the peace since that time, and superin- tendent of schools since 1890. He was chairman of the Republican town committee in 1890, and takes an active interest in political affairs.

Mr. Needham became a member of Centre Lodge, F. & A. M., at Rutland, in 1865, and afterward affiliated with St. Paul's Lodge at Brandon, in 1890. He became a member of Killington Lodge, I. O. (). F., of Rutland in 1870, and was a zealous and efficient worker in the order. He united with the Congregational church at Rutland in Janu- ary, 1875, and was transferred to the church in Whiting in 1885, where he has been a deacon since 1887.

Mr. Needham was married, Jan. 23, 1879, to Ella, daughter of Nelson and Nancy (Farr) Brown of Rutland. Of this union there are two children : Martha E., and Florence R. Mrs. Needham is a grand- daughter of Solomon Brown of Lexington, Mass., who was a Revolutionary soldier, and fired the first gun in the battle of Lexington. The gun is a keepsake in the Brown family.

NELSON, WILMOT G., of Norton's Mills, son of Nathaniel and Eliza (Green- liaf) Nelson, was born in Alna, Me., May 9, 1850.

His education was derived from a course of study at the common schools, at the com- pletion of which he entered his father's shop to learn the tanner's trade and engaged in this calling till he arrived at his majority, when he entered the employ of the Norton Mills Co., as clerk. When the company failed in 1874, Mr. Nelson went to Island Pond, but soon returned and rented a store, in which he carried on the principal retail general trade of the place. In 1884 he entered as senior partner the firm of A. McLean & Co. This concern five years

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after sold their interest to A. M. Stetson & Co., by whom Mr. Nelson was engaged as foreman of the establishment.

Mr. Nelson was united in marriage, August 7, 1874, in Boston, to Cora A., daughter of William and Margaret Libbey of East Machias, Me. Four children have been the fruit of their union : Frank M. (deceased), Gertrude E., Edward J., and Edith M.

WILMOT G. NELSON.

He has taken the several degrees of the blue lodge, working with Island Pond Lodge, No. 44, and is also a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the lodge of Odd Fellows in that town.

When the town of Norton was organized in 1885 Mr. Nelson acted as moderator and first selectman, which office he held for three consecutive terms. He has also been postmaster for fifteen years and deputy sheriff for twelve years. His business en- gagements have been so pressing and im- portant, that he has avoided office. He is an outspoken Republican and his influence can be seen in the constantly increasing vote of that party in the town, which, not- withstanding the large foreign element, gave a majority for Harrison in 1892. His in- fluence in the community has been con- stantly on the side of good morals and progress.

NEWELL, LYMAN MERRIFIELD, of Wardsboro, son of Jackson and Sarah (Mer- rifield) Newell, was born in Wardsboro, April 14, 1833.

NEWTON.

Having availed himself of the educational advantages derived from the common schools, he was employed as clerk in his father's store until 1855, when he bought his father's interest and continued the busi- ness for four years. He then retired from active mercantile life and bought a farm, which he has conducted up to the present time.

He was united in marriage April 20, 1855, to Sylvan D., daughter of Calvin and Orrilla (Choate) Taylor.

For twelve years past Mr. Newell has been town treasurer and town agent. For many years he was lister and constable, and also trustee of public money. He was a mem- ber of the Constitutional Convention in 1870,

LYMAN MERRIFIELD NEWELL.

while for four years, 1867, 1868, 1872 and 1873, he represented the town in the General Assembly. An upright citizen, Mr. Newell has the respect of the community in which he resides.

NEWTON, WILLIAM S., of Brattleboro, son of Willliam and Betsey ( Harris) New- ton, was born in Marlboro, June 26, 1822. He was of the seventh generation on the line of descent from England. Cotton New- ton, his grandfather, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was at the battle of Stillwater.

His educational training was obtained in the common schools and at the Brattle- boro Academy, and when seventeen years of

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age he left the farm upon which he was born, to take his first step in active business life, being employed as clerk in the store of Jesse C'one at the center of the town, which was then located on the present site of the meeting house. Subsequently he came to Brattleboro, where he obtained a similar position in the store of Gardner C. Hall, in whose service he remained for two years. Again he returned to the place of his nativity, but in 1852 accepted a position in the employment of the Vermont & Massachu- setts Railroad Co., at Brattleboro ; from thence he transferred his services to the post-office under the administration of Samuel Dutton. In March, 1859, he formed a copartnership with Nathaniel Cheney and engaged in the grocery business. This con- nection was dissolved in July afterwards and he continued the trade at the old stand till Dec. 1, 1887.

He was elected town clerk, March 3, 1863, and justice of the peace at the September Freemen's meeting afterwards ; elected a trustee of the Vermont Savings Bank in January, 1882, and vice-president in Jan- uary, 1891. In all of these capacities he has given universal satisfaction by the exact- itude, impartiality and conscientiousness with which he has discharged the some- what delicate duties of his official position, and the unwavering rectitude and constant probity of his daily life have earned the entire respect of the community where he resides.

Gifted with a keen sense of the ridiculous, no one more appreciates the comic side of life or enjoys with more hearty zest the droll occurences that are continually arising to relieve in some degree the irksome toil to which poor humanity is otherwise con- demned.

His religious preference is the Congrega- tional faith.

Mr. Newton was united in wedlock, March 30, 1858, to Lucinda W. Harris, daughter of David W. and Salome (Wheeler) Goodrich, of Chesterfield, N. H.

NICHOLS, WILLIAM HENRY, of Brain- tree, son of William and Betsey (White) Nichols, was born in Braintree, Dec. 23, 1829. He descends from old New England stock, which has exhibited the virtue of good citizenship through successive generations. Isaac Nichols, his great-grandfather, was a colonel in the Revolutionary army, and a participant in the battles of Bennington and Saratoga. He came to Braintree with his wife and seven stalwart sons and one grand- child in October, 1787, and took up his residence on Quaker Hill, building a rude log hut, covered with bark. From that time to the present, the family has been promi-

nently and officially connected with public affairs. Isaac was the first representative, repeatedly holding that position ; and he and his wife were original members of the First Congregational Church, of which he was for a long time a deacon, and which was organ- ized in 1794. His wife, Dorcas (Sibley) Nichols, was a woman of unusual mental and physical vigor, of great celebrity as a nurse, and lived to the remarkable age of one hundred and four years and ten months. His youngest son, Rev. Ammi Nichols, was a clergyman for two-thirds of a century.

Betsey White, mother of Judge Nichols, was a lineal descendant of Peregrine White, the first born of the Pilgrims, and the old family homestead, now occupied by the son of Judge Nichols, has been the home and unencumbered property of the family for more than a century.

William H. Nichols attended the Orange county grammar school and West Randolph Academy, and graduated from Middlebury

WILLIAM HENRY NICHOLS.

College in the class of 1856. He studied law with John B. Hutchinson, meanwhile teaching several terms of the Orange county grammar school and West Randolph Acad- emy. He was admitted to the Orange county bar in 1857, and continued to prac- tice until the fall of 1860, when he estab- lished himself as a lawyer at Cedar Falls, Iowa.

On the breaking out of the war he enlisted as a private, served in the departments of

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NIMBLET.

Mississippi and the Gulf, at Vicksburg, Shiloh, the siege and second battle of Cor- inth, and capture of Mobile, and was wounded at Corinth. He served at times as drill-master, and ordnance and commissary sergeant. After being mustered out he came to Braintree and took charge of his father's farm.

A Republican in politics, he has discharged many public and official trusts. He was a member of the last Constitutional Conven- tion ; representative from Braintree in 1870 ; judge of county court, 1872 to 1874; has been superintendent of schools, and was for a long time clerk and treasurer, a position that has been held by successive members of the family for nearly three-quarters of a century. In 1879 he was elected judge of probate, and has since creditably filled that position.

Judge Nichols married, August 3, 1856, Ann Eliza, daughter of William A. and Abby (Curver) Bates. Their children are : Henry Hebert, William Bates, Edward H., and Anna.

Judge Nichols is a whole-souled gentle- man, and in all of the various relations of civil and military life has discharged his duties ably and faithfully. He has been for thirty-six years a member of Phoenix Lodge, No. 28, F. & A. M., and is also a comrade of U. S. Grant Post, No. 36, of West Randolph.

NIMBLET, OSCAR L., of Monkton, son of Hosea and Althea (Williams) Nimblet, was born in Monkton, Jan. 16, 1832.

His scholastic training was received at the public and private schools of his native town and at Bakersfield Academy. Immediately after leaving Bakersfield he commenced the study of medicine by attending lectures at Dartmouth College, and afterwards graduated with high honors from the medical depart- ment of the University of Vermont, receiving his diploma in the class of 1854. Returning to Monkton, he practiced successfully in that town and vicinity.

Doctor Nimblet was married at Mont- pelier, August 16, 1853, to Sarah V., daugh- ter of David and Hannah ( Prescott) Mason, by whom he has had issue : Ida A. (Mrs. Moses Sears, of Williston), Katie L. (Mrs. Alfred Hull, of Hinesburgh), Altha S. (Mrs. William Stone, of Williston). Mrs. Nimblet died Dec. 2, 1884, and Doctor Nimblet was united, Jan. 2, 1886, to Mrs. Eliza C. Weller.

Doctor Nimblet has always been an ardent supporter of Republican principles. On ac- count of his interest in educational matters, he has been called upon to act as superin- tendent of schools for a quarter of a century, besides serving as school director and town agent. He represented Monkton in the Leg-

NORTON.

islature of 1888, giving his services to the committee on the insane, in which capacity he established a most desirable record. He has enrolled himself a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity, and though a believer in Christianity, is not a member of any particu- lar sect.

He possesses marked literary ability, and has often contributed to papers and periodi- cals. He is a fluent and eloquent speaker, and has often displayed his oratorical powers in lectures and on public occasions in vari- ous parts of the state.

NORTON, LUMAN PRESTON, of Ben- nington, son of Julius and Maria (Spooner) Norton, was born in Bennington March 20, 1837. Mr. Norton is directly descended from William C. Spooner, signer of the De- claration of Independence, and his great grandfather, John, fought in the Revolution- ary army in which he held the rank of captain.

LUMAN PRESTON NORTON.

He received his preliminary education at the public schools of Cambridge, N. Y., and afterward pursued his studies at the acad- emies of Randolph and Bennington and also that of Bloomfield, N. Y. Entering Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., he graduated in June, 1858, and the following year formed a copartnership with his father at Benning- ton for the manufacture of pottery, a busi- ness established by his great-grandfather in 1793. After his father's death in 1861 Mr. Norton continued in the concern for twenty-

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OLMSTEAD.

one years, when he sold his entire interest to his partner and removed to Bismark, Dak., for the benefit of his impaired health. On his return to Vermont he accepted the gen- eral agency of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. He was elected the first president of the Bennington County Savings Bank and also of the village of Bennington. Ile is largely interested in real estate both in Vermont and in the West.

A Republican in his political preferences, he has taken little active part in public af- fairs, though confidence in his integrity and financial capacity have called him to the office of trustee of Bennington village, repre- senting that town in the Legislature of 1874, being assigned to important committees.

OLMSTEAD.

In Mt. Anthony Lodge, No. 13, F. & A. M., he has been the incumbent of all the offices with the exception of that of master ; is a charter member of Bennington Histor- ical Society, and belongs to the Improved Order of Red Men. He is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church. He is auditor of the diocese of Vermont and has been for many years lay delegate to the dio- cesan convention.

Mr. Norton married, Oct. 12, 1858, Alice 1 .. , daughter of Bradford Godfrey. Four children have been issue of this union : Luman S., Agnes C. (wife of Judge Charles H. Darling of Bennington), Alice Mabel, and Julius Philip.

OLMSTEAD, ALNER ALLYN, of South Newbury, son of Isaac H. and S. Ann (Allyn) Olmstead was born at Newbury, June 15, 1850. He is of English-Scotch (lescent.

ALNER ALLYN OLMSTEAD.

He received his education at Newbury Sem- inary and Vermont Methodist Seminary at Montpelier. In 1871 he commenced the study of law with Orrin Gambell of Bradford, but on account of difficulty with his eyes he was compelled to abandon his hopes of entering that profession, and formed a partnership with his father for the manufacture of chairs, which trade he had learned in his minority.

This business connection continued until the death of his father in 1878. The next year Mr. Olmstead built a large and commodious chair factory, costing about $6,000, and since that time he has successfully conducted the business, with the addition of the lumber and furniture trade. He is a farmer and breeder of blooded horses, of which he is a great lover, owning twelve at the present time. He is enterprising and possesses a marked degree of will power, with that con- tinuity that makes it painful to give up. He is a director, treasurer, and manager of the Orange County Canning Co., which he was instrumental in organizing.

Mr. Olmstead is a Democrat, and although his town is strongly Republican, in 1890 he was elected a member of the General As- sembly, a position not held in Newbury by a Democrat since Henry Keyes, thirty-five years before. He served on the committee of manufacturing and on the joint special committee of the World's Fair. He gained the reputation of being a prudent and care- ful legislator, and won the confidence and esteem of his associates. His townsmen honored him with a re-election in 1892, when he served on the committee of grand list, and, being a staunch temperance advocate, was placed on the committee of temperance, where he did good work. On the 5th of May, 1892, at the Democratic state conven- tion in Montpelier, Mr. Olmstead was chosen a member of the Vermont Democratic state committee, and now holds that position. On the 13th of June, 1893, J. Sterling Merton, Secretary of Agriculture in Mr. Cleveland's cabinet, appointed Mr. Olmstead to the posi- tion of state statistical agent for Vermont at a salary of $600 per year.

He joined the M. E. Church in 1870, and has been an active member, officer and lib- eral supporter since. He was made a Mason in 1874, and is now a Royal Arch.

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ORVIS.

On May 27, 1880, at South Newbury, he married Miss Jennie M., daughter of John and Susan C. (Fuller) Thompson, a noble Christian woman, "who did him good and not evil all the days of her life." She died Dec. 25, 1889.

ORVIS, FRANKLIN HENRY, of Man- chester, was born on the 12th day of July, 1824, and is the eldest child of Levi Church and Electa Sophia (Purdy) Orvis. His father, Levi Church Orvis, and grandfather, Waitstill Orvis, were likewise natives of Ver- mont, though born east of the mountains. His mother was descended from Reuben

FRANKLIN HENRY ORVIS.

Purdy, who will be remembered as the head of one of the oldest and most highly re- spected pioneer families of the town of Manchester. Levi Church Orvis came to Manchester about the year 1820, living for a time in the family of Ephraim Munson, and attended Hill's School. Shortly afterward he married Electa Sophia Purdy. He was engaged in the mercantile and marble busi- ness at Manchester up to the time of his death in 1849.

It was in his father's store that Franklin H. Orvis obtained his early business train- ing. He was educated in the common schools of the town, and at the Barr Semi- nary, and the Union Village Academy at Greenwich, N. Y., from which last institution he graduated in 1842, being then eighteen years of age. The next two years were passed in Wisconsin and Illinois in mercan-

ORVIS.

tile pursuits, but in 1844 he went to New York City as a clerk in the wholesale dry goods house of Marsh & Willis, which posi- tion he held for about two years. In 1846, Mr. Orvis, in association with Elijah M. Carrington, formerly of Poultney, under the firm name of Carrington & Orvis, engaged in the wholesale dry goods business, which he continued until about the year 1860, when he retired to give his whole attention to the hotel which he had established some eight years before. But the Equinox of Man- chester, as is very well known, has been con- ducted as a summer resort exclusively ; there- fore, when Mr. Orvis withdrew from his occupation in New York City, the winter months became to him a season of compara- tive inactivity, except during the period of his connection with the Manchester Journal, which paper he purchased in 1871, and con- tinued with gratifying success. In 1872 Mr. Orvis became proprietor of the St. James Hotel at Jacksonville, Fla., which he con- ducted as a winter resort. In 1875 he pur- chased the Putnam House at Palatka, Fla., enlarged it and continued its management until it was destroyed by fire in November, 1884. In 1880 Mr. Orvis leased the Wind- sor at Jacksonville, conducting this and the Putnam at Palatka until the latter was burned, since which the Windsor has occupied his time during the winter, and the Equinox at Manchester during the summer. The suc- cessful conduct of a large hotel calls for as much of tact and good judgment as the man- agement of any other extensive enterprise. These necessary traits and qualifications are possessed by Mr. Orvis in an abundant degree ; and while to him is due the credit of having built up these large enterprises, and made for them a reputation second to none in the country, acknowledgment should be made of the efficient assistance rendered by his sons, who have inherited much of the business thrift and energy of their father.

He was married Nov. 17, 1852, to Sarah M., daughter of Paul and Sarah R. Whitin, of Whitinsville, Mass. Six children are the fruit of this union.

It will seem from the foregoing brief resume, that the life of Franklin H. Orvis has been one of busy activity for more than half a century. While he has been thus engaged with his business affairs he has nevertheless found time to participate in the various events and measures looking to the welfare and improvement of his native town. Every enterprise tending to its advancement has found in him an earnest advocate, and every worthy charity has received from him sub- stantial aid. In the fall of 1869 he was elected to the Vermont Senate from Benning- ton county as the candidate of the Republi- can party, of which party he has been an

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active member since 1861. In 1892 he was again elected to the Vermont Senate for two years. Although now in his seventieth year he is actively engaged as the head of the well- known Equinox Spring Co., of Manchester.

OSGOOD, CHARLES WESLEY, of Bel lows Falls, son of Peter and Rebecca Osgood, was born in North Andover, Mass., Nov. 14, 1841.

Ilis early education was received at the common schools of Andover and supple- mented by a short course of study at Phil- lips Academy. At the age of fifteen he ended his brief schooling and commenced to learn the trade of a machinist. Having mastered this, after various vicissitudes Mr. Osgood came to Bellows Falls in 1871 and entered into partnership with William G. Barker, under the firm name of Osgood & Barker, to do a general trade. When they started they employed but one man, but the firm was successful and business steadily in- creased. Ten years after the formation of the concern Mr. Barker died, and since then Mr. Osgood has owned and operated the plant and he is now chiefly occupied in the manufacture of paper-making machinery. In 1883 his shops were burned, but in 1891 he purchased the estate known as the Island House property and erected a spacious building thereon, in which now nearly a hun- dred men are employed.

Though a strong Republican, Mr. Osgood has neither cared for nor sought office.

He married at North Andover, Mass., Fan- nie M., daughter of B. Gardner Searle. Three children have been issue : Edward Gardner, Charles Herbert, and Fannie Rebecca.

OWEN, CLARENCE PHILANDER, of Glover, son of Philander and Irene (Knapp) Owen, was born in Glover, March 31, 1844. He is of Puritan lineage, being a descendant from Samuel and Priscilla Owen, who emi- grated from Wales about 1685, settled in Salem, Mass., but not finding sufficient re- ligious liberty there, went to Roger Williams colony at Providence, R. I.

His great-grandfather, Capt. Daniel Owen, was the president of the first state conven- tion of Rhode Island, which adopted the Constitution, and drafted the letter which informed General Washington of the organ- ization of the state government. He was also chief justice of the state and Dept .- Governor from 1786 to 1790, and with five others was granted the exclusive privilege of coining money for a term of twelve years, then was a partner in an iron foundry with the celebrated John Paul Jones until the breaking out of the Revolution. At the close of the war, with others, he received a grant of land in the towns of Westfield and Barton.

OWEN.

Mr. Clarence Philander Owen obtained his education in the public schools, the Orleans Liberal Institute of Glover, and Barre Academy. After a course of legal study in the office of Knapp and Wright of Kcosaukqua, lowa, in the fall of 1866 he was admitted to the Van Buren county bar of that state, but never practiced his pro- fession, for he was immediately appointed United States inspector of customs for the First lowa district. While visiting his home in 1868 he was seized with a dangerous ill- ness the nature of which precluded all in- door occupation, and he became a farmer. In this employment he has always remained, making a specialty of Jersey stock and Mor- gan horses.

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Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont, Part 76

Author: Ullery, Jacob G., comp; Davenport, Charles H; Huse, Hiram Augustus, 1843-1902; Fuller, Levi Knight, 1841-1896 Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Brattleboro, Vt. : Transcript Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 842

Author: Ullery, Jacob G., comp; Davenport, Charles H; Huse, Hiram Augustus, 1843-1902; Fuller, Levi Knight, 1841-1896
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Brattleboro, Vt. : Transcript Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 842