USA > Vermont > Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont > Part 79
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PEMBER, EMMETT R., of Wells, son of Russell and Emily (Bidwell) Pember, was born in Wells, Sept. 21, 1846.
He enjoyed such educational facilities as were afforded by the public schools of Wells, supplemented by a course of study at the Troy Conference Academy at Poultney, and the Fort Edward Institute of Fort Edward, N. Y. His ambition tempted him to follow a professional life, but filial duty induced him to remain with his parents on the home- stead, and here he has devoted the larger part of a useful life to agricultural pursuits.
Mr. Pember was united in matrimony at Caroline, N. Y., Oct. 3, 1872, to Carrie, daughter of William and Julia A. (Barton) Winchell. This union has been blessed with five daughters and one son : Grace E., Celesta M., Julia E., Ernest W., Ruth A., and Rubie Alice.
Mr. Pember is an ardent Republican and has continuously been the incumbent of some town office since he was twenty-one years of age. He has served sixteen years as chairman of the Republican town com- mittee and also several years on the Repub- lican county committee. He was elected senator from Rutland county in 1880, serv- ing on the committees on agriculture and highways and bridges. He enjoyed the dis- tinction of being the youngest member of the Senate during that term, but notwith- standing his youth established a high reputa- tion as a careful, considerate and intelligent legislator. For two terms he has served acceptably on the State Board of Agriculture. He also has knelt at the altar of Freemasonry and is connected with Morning Star Lodge, No. 37, of Poultney. He has always been actively identified with educational work both in our common schools and Sunday schools and several years of his earlier life were spent in teaching. Whatever tends to promote the moral, religious or material interests of the community in which he lives, or the state at large, ever finds in him a faithful and zealous advocate.
PERKINS, MARSH OLIN, of Windsor, son of Henry Olin and Mary Eloise (Gid- dings) Perkins, was born in Rutland, Feb. 7, 1849.
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His early education, including a college preparatory course, was obtained in the public schools of Rutland. He entered Middlebury College and graduated in the class of 1870. While still pursuing his studies he made his first essay as an in- structor, and taught at Bridport, Hydeville and Wallingford. He was made principal of the South Woodstock Academy in 1870. The following year he was elected to a simi- lar position in the Windsor high school, which he occupied until 1880, when he became editor of the Vermont Journal.
Mr. Perkins has always acted with the Republican party and held many offices of trust and responsibility, among which may be mentioned that of school director con- tinuously from 1881 of both the town and village of Windsor. He was elected a mem- ber of the Legislature to represent the town in 1882 and 1884, and four years after was chosen a senator for Windsor county. In 1888 he was appointed by Governor Dilling- ham a member of his staff with the rank of colonel.
In Masonic circles Colonel Perkins has been especially prominent, and at various times has been the presiding officer of all the bodies of the order in Windsor. He has also most creditably filled a similar position in the Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter and Grand Commandery of the state, and in 1884 was made honorary member of the Supreme Council Northern Masonic Juris- diction, A :. A :. S :. R :. , U. S. A. In 1891 he was elected an active member of the same and deputy for Vermont.
He was united in marriage, Dec. 31, 1878, to Clara Alice, daughter of Lyman J. and Abbie (Locke) Mclndoe. Five children have been born to them : Locke Mclndoe, Gail Giddings, Margaret Florinda and Ma- rion Eloise (twins), and Herbert Marsh.
PERRY, ELBRIDGE, of Pomfret, son of Asa and Martha Ann (Spooner) Perry, was born at Pomfret, Sept. 2, 1846.
Educated in the public and private schools of Barnard, at the age of twenty he left the paternal roof and labored on various farms for a period of five years. In April, 1872, he purchased the estate on which he now resides and which he has cultivated till the present time. He is a substantial farmer and has enjoyed a contented, though perhaps a some- what uneventful, career. On his farm he raises large numbers of cows and sheep.
He belongs to the Republican party ; has been road commissioner, school director, and town representative to the Legislature of 1892. He has also served the town as select- man.
Mr. Perry was married Jan. 26, 1870, to Viola, daughter of Smith and Caroline M.
PERRY.
(Hackett) Hodges, of Pomfret. Five chil- dren have been born to them: Mima A., Hermon S., Arthur A., Seth E., and Mildred H.
PERRY, JAMES M., of Barre, son of Daniel A. and Dulcina ( Freeman) Perry, was born in Plainfield, Feb. 28, 1838. His father was a farmer of English descent, and during his whole life resided in Plainfield, where he was prominent in civil life, and was twice a member of the Legislature. The boyhood of James was passed on the old homestead, where he divided his time be- tween labor on the farm and an attendance at the common schools of Plainfield, and Barre Academy.
JAMES M. PERRY
At the age of twenty-one Mr. Perry com- menced his mercantile life as a clerk in the Union store of Barre ; this was a good school, for the establishment was a financial success. In 1864 he returned to his native town and engaged in trade for four years. He then, perceiving a fine business oppor- tunity in Barre, opened a large store in that village, where he still continues to reside, carrying on a large trade in dry goods and boots and shoes. He is recognized as a safe and successful financier and has been prominently identified with the monetary in- terests of the village. He has been for twelve years and is still a director of the na- tional bank and also holds the office of president of the Barre Savings Bank and Trust Co.
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Mr. Peny was married Feb, 16, 1869, to Thna Il., daughter of Allen and Betsey ( Nelson) Martin, of Bane. Four children are issue of this union : J. Frank, Carl M., Edna D., and Dean II.
The orders of Masonry and Odd Fellows claim Mr. Perry as a member. He belongs to Gramte Lodge, No. 35, F. & A. M., of Barre, and to Royal Arch Chapter, No. 26, and was one of the founders of Hiawatha Lodge, No. 20, 1. O. O. F.
Hle is a Republican, and has received sev- eral offices in the gift of that party, has been chairman of the board of village trustees and also an active member of the town committee. In 1890 he was elected to the House of Rep- resentatives and did good service as a mem- ber of the committee on claims.
PHELPS, BRIGHAM THOMAS, of West- minster, son of John and Judith H. (Brig- ham) Phelps, was born in Grafton, May 4, 1841. In 1849 he removed with his parents to Walpole, N. H., remaining there six years, and from there to Westminster where he now resides.
He was educated in the common schools of Walpole, N. H., Westminster Academy and at the Bryant & Stratton Commercial College of San Francisco, Cal. He entered business life in the employment of Brigham & Balch, wholesale commission merchants of San Francisco, and there continued until failing health admonished him that an out- door life was a necessity, and upon delibera- tion he decided to remove to Westminster and engage in tobacco raising and general farming, which he did in 1870.
Mr. Phelps is a Republican and is in full sympathy with his party. In 1871 he was appointed deputy sheriff of Windham county which office he held for ten years. He has been called to serve his town in many official capacities, as first constable, auditor, tax collector, and to represent it in the Legislature, being elected to that body in 1888 and serving on the committee on agriculture.
Mr. Phelps responded to the nation's call and in August, 1862, enlisted in Co. I, of the 12th Vt. Vols., and was a corporal of his company. His regiment was ordered to the defenses at Washington and was there in Casey's Division and was afterwards attached to the first corps (General Reynolds) of the Army of the Potomac, and honorably dis- charged July 14, 1863. In 1864 recruited and was elected Ist lieutenant Co. B, 12th Regt. Vt. State Militia.
In social life Mr. Phelps takes a deep interest. He is a member of E. H. Stough- ton Post, G. A. R., No. 34, of Bellows Falls, and was its commander for two years, 1891- '92, and of the Temple Lodge, F. & A. M.,
of Bellows Falls, also of the Chapter and of the Hugh De Payen's Commandery of Keene, N. H.
Hle was married, July, 1874, to Annie (., daughter of Nodiah 1 .. and Eliza A. (Bur- roughs) Holton of Westminster.
BRIGHAM THOMAS PHELPS.
Mr. and Mrs. Phelps are the inventors of the Excelsior square system of cutting ladies' and children's garments, which is of such value that it has found its way into every state in the Union. In recent years Mr. Phelps has also conducted this business in connection with the management of his farm.
PHELPS, EDWARD JOHN, of Burling- ton, son of Hon. Samuel S. Phelps, was born in Middlebury, July 1I, 1822.
He received his education at Middlebury college, graduating in 1840, and studied law at the law school of Yale University, and in the office of Hon. Horatio Seymour in Mid- dlebury. He was admitted to the bar in Addison county in December, 1843, and after something more than a year of prac- tice in Middlebury, established himself as a lawyer in Burlington.
In 1851 the office of second comptroller in the treasury was unexpectedly offered to Mr. Phelps by President Fillmore. As its duties would not require a cessation of pro- fessional practice, he accepted the office, and held it through Mr. Fillmore's adminis- tration. He represented Burlington in the Constitutional Convention of 1870, and was made president of the American Bar Asso-
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cation in 1881. Mr. Phelps has been for more than twenty years a trustee of the Vermont State Library. He was appointed professor of law in Vale College in the same year, and gave a short course of lectures before the law school of Boston University mpon constitutional law. Mr. Phelps was a whig while that party continmed organized and active. Since that party ceased to be he has regarded himself as an independent in politics, not bound in fealty to any organized party. In the main, however, he has voted for Democratic nominees. In the year 1880 he was the candidate of the Democratic party of Vermont for the office of Governor, and received the largest vote ever cast in Vermont for a Democratic aspirant to that office.
Mr. Phelps was married in August, 1846, to Mary, daughter of Hon Stephen Haight of Burlington. Of this marriage there are surviving two sons and one daughter : Ed- ward, Mary ( Mrs. Horatio Loomis of Bur- lington), and Charles Pierpoint.
The faculties and qualities by which he is chiefly known and regarded have been mani- fested mainly in his vocation as a lawyer. Vet, not only his arguments to courts and juries, but also his occasional addresses and his professional lectures, show him exten- sively conversant, from scholarly study and extensive reading, with a wide range of learning outside of the law, and deeply im- bued with the text and spirit of the best classics of our language, and familiar with the current literature of the day.
Outside of the court room the public ex- hibitions of Mr. Phelps mark him as one of the best furnished, best-judging, and most cultivated and accomplished of public speak- ers. There is but one expression in this respect by those who heard his address on Chief Justice Marshall at Saratoga before the American Bar Association in 1880, or his address two years after on American Legis- lation, or witnessed his presidency of the Bennington Battle Centennial in 1877, or heard him on Judge Prentiss before the Ver- mont Historical Society in 1882, or any other of his public addresses.
Mr. Phelps has never cast his fortune or plumed his ambition in the line of politics. What has been before stated as to his politi- cal relations and action as a citizen and voter sufficiently explains him in this re- spect, however congenial and gratifying polit- ical life and political preferment might have been to him under other auspices and con- ditions. His chosen status in his relation to politics attests the ingenuousness of his views, discordant as they may be with the common conception and sentiments of the majority of his state.
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In 1885 he was appointed by President Cleveland United States Minister to the Court of St. James, and no one could have more faithfully, ably and elegantly discharged the duties of that responsible office. He was leading counsel for the United States before the Behring Sea Board of Arbitration, which held its sessions in Paris in 1893. Although the public performance of this most high professional engagement was in the second Cleveland administration his en- ployment and preparatory work in this great international lawsuit was in the time of the Harrison administration.
PHELPS, FREDERIC B., of Irasburg, son of William and Maria ( Forward ) Phelps, was born in Belchertown Mass., Feb. 8, 1829.
FREDERIC B. PHELPS.
While fitting for college at the academy at Belchertown he was allured by the golden promises of wealth offered in California in 1849, and emigrated to that state, where he remained for eight years, during which time he acquired a thorough practical knowledge of Spanish and other European languages. On his return to the East he resumed his studies and graduated from the Hartford Theological Seminary in 1870. He was ordained and installed pastor of the Congre- gational church at Lowell, Oct. 18, 1870, where he continued his ministerial services for nine years, the latter portion of the time also preaching in Westfield. In both these
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places many members were added to the church through the energetic efforts of the pastor. In 1879 he was installed at St. Johnsbury East, where he remained four years and finally, after six years of minister- ial labor in Massachusetts and New Hamp- shire was called to Irasburg, where he is now engaged in the labor of his profession. During the twenty-three years of his pastoral labors he has lost but three Sabbaths from sickness, and he has frequently aided in revival work in parishes other than his own.
Rev. Mr. Phelps has twice entered the married state. His first wife was Damaris S., daughter of Jared and Julia (Storrs) Clark, to whom he was united at Belcher- town, Mass., Jan. 10, 1859. She died five years later having been the mother of two sons, both of whom died in infancy. He was again wedded at North Amherst, Mass., April 19, 1865, to Sarah T., daughter of Daniel and Tammy (Eastman) Dickinson. By her he has had seven children : Frederic William (deceased), Charles Dickinson, Edith Sophia (deceased ), Myron Austin, Julia Eastman, Florence Dell, and Isabelle Maud.
Mr. Phelps has been a Republican since the formation of the party and was a mem- ber of the state convention that nominated John A. Andrew for Governor of Massachu- setts. For four years he was superintendent of schools in Lowell, and also served on school committes in Erving, Mass., and Sulli- van, N. H.
For some time he was chaplain of Mt. Norris Lodge of G. T. at Lowell, and he held a similar position in the lodge at Erving, Mass.
PHILBRICK, JONATHAN, of Guildhall, son of Thomas P. and Susan ( Boston) Phil- brick, was born at Bartlett, N. H., Oct. 26, 1836. His father was for many years a stage driver of the old school, an employment that has fallen into disuse under the aggressive and universal advance of the iron horse. He removed to Maidstone when Jonathan was six years old.
The latter received his education in the schools of that place and also in those of Guildhall. Leaving the paternal roof when he had attained his eighteenth year, he was for a period employed on various farms in the vicinity. Later he removed to Holyoke, Mass., and labored in a paper mill for two years. He then made his residence in Bos- ton where he was engaged by the Boston and Providence R. R. Corporation to serve them, first as fireman and afterward as locomotive engineer, and in this responsible capacity he remained, careful and diligent in the per- formance of his duties for twenty-nine years. In 1858 he purchased the estate where he now lives and as a solace to the declining
years of his father, settled his parent in this comfortable home and thirty years after took possession of the property himself and from that time has made it his abode. In every way he has improved the farm which, under his vigorous and successful management, has always furnished abundant and remunerative crops.
Mr. Philbrick is a Democrat, but though belonging to the minority party, received the compliment of an election to represent Guildhall in the Legislature of 1892, and he has also filled the position of selectman in the town. He is a member of the Brother- hood of Locomotive Engineers.
He was united to Amelia F., daughter of E. M. and Mary ( Boston) Hayes of Boston, Oct 25, 1876.
PHILLIPS, GEORGE HENRY, of Put- ney, son of Aaron Jones and Susan (Walker) Phillips, was born in Athol, Mass., May 3, 1836.
GEORGE HENRY PHILLIPS.
He moved with his parents to Winhall at an early age, and it was here that he received his early educational training by attending school during the winter season and laboring during the summer on the farm. as was cus- tomary in those days.
On the 28th day of August, 1862, Mr. Phillips enlisted as a private in Co. C, 14th Vt. Vols., and was promoted through suc- cessive grades to that of orderly sergeant, which rank he continued to hold until his
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discharge in 1863. He is a member of Greenwood Post, No. 90, G. A. R., of Put- ney, and has always taken an active part in its work.
In 1864, after his return from the war, he bought a farm at Winhall and carried it on for one season, when the well-known Dr. Ranney farm in West Townshend was thrown on the market, and he sold his Winhall inter- ests and purchased the latter place, which he successfully conducted until 1870, when he removed to Putney, where he has since resided and carried on farming, as well as real estate business and the shipping of cattle to Brighton.
Mr. Phillips has served the town of Put- ney for three years as lister, for two years as selectman, and in 1882 as a member of the Legislature.
Mr. Phillips was married, Nov. 25, 1864, to Helen Mar, daughter of Holman and Lucretia (Whipple) Barrows.
PHILLIPS, WINFIELD SCOTT, of Arl- ington, son of Charles and Marietta ( Bennett) Phillips, was born in Silver Creek, N. Y., Dec. 9, 1841.
When he was six years old his father re- moved to Pawlet, where Mr. Phillips was educated in the public schools. After a short experience as teacher, he studied medicine with Dr. Munroe of West Pawlet, remaining with him till the doctor's death ; he then put himself under the charge of Dr. Mosely of Arlington. He attended the Albany Medical College in 1866, and was graduated from the medical department of the U. V. M. in 1867. After a brief con- nection with Dr. Mosely, he took a special course in the Burlington Medical College, and soon after established himself at Arlington where he has built up a large and prosper- ous general practice.
He has confined himself very closely to his professional duties, but in 1890 was sent as representative to the Legislature by the Re- publican vote, where he gave his attention to special committees on temperance, and was made chairman of the committee on the insane. Dr. Phillips was a charter member, and for three or four years censor, of the Union Medical Society, and now holds the office of president of the Bennington County Medical Society. He is also associated with the Medical Association of the state, and was for six years master of Red Mountain Lodge, No. 63, F. & A. M., member of Adoniram Chapter, Manchester, of Taft Commandery, No. 8, Bennington, and for one year served as deputy district grand master. He is a member of the Episcopal church.
On Oct. 23, 1869, he was united in marriage to lonc, daughter of Clark and
PHINNEY.
Sarissa (White) Parsons of Arlington. Two children are issue of this union : Hallie Lone, and Charles Winfield.
PHINNEY, TRUMAN C., of Montpelier, son of Elisha and Priscilla (Wentworth) Phinney, was born in Middlesex, April 11, 1827.
At the age of seventeen he left his father's farm and went to Brandon, where he learned the jeweler's trade. In 1849 he came to Montpelier and went into the jewelry busi- ness with Capt. A. A. Mead, under the firm name of Phinney & Mead. This firm con- tinued in business until 1856, when Mr. Phinney sold his interest to his partner, and started alone in the same business. Here he continued in business until 1863, when he
TRUMAN C. PHINNEY.
sold out to Stephen Freeman. After spend- ing a year in California, he returned to Montpelier and engaged in business with Denison Dewey, under the firm name of D. Dewey & Co. In 1869 he sold his interest to Mr. Dewey, and immediately thereafter bought the Ballou bookstore. For the next sixteen years Mr. Phinney prosecuted a gen- eral book and stationery business, at what became known as the Phinney bookstore, disposing of the business in 1885.
Mr. Phinney was elected sergeant-at-arms by the Legislature of 1870, and has held this office continually by successive elections un- til twenty-three years have been passed by him in this office. During this period, and in addition to his customary duties, he has
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superintended the preparation of the ground for the new state library building, the intro- duction of a new system of heating and ven- tilating the Capitol building, and the several extensive repairs by which the utility and beauty of the chief public buildings in the state have been greatly enhanced. Since 1885 Mr. Phinney has devoted his whole time to state service, merging with the duties of sergeant-at-arms those of deputy secretary of state, to which position he was appointed in 1891.
For the last twenty-three years Mr. Phin- ney has served the interests of local educa- tion upon the school board, and for several years has also served upon the board of ves- trymen of Christ Church. He has been prominently identified with local Masonry for nearly forty years, for seven years holding the position of master of Aurora Lodge, and for fourteen consecutive years that of T. I. Master of Montpelier Council, R. and S. M. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Mr. Phinney married Miss Sarah E. Barnes, daughter of William S. and Adeline P. (Howe) Barnes, of Albany, Ill., Sept. 11, 1855. Their family consists of three daugh- ters and one son : Mary A., Jennie P., Anna W., and Robert T.
PIER, FREDERICK BALDWIN, of Rawson- ville, son of Rev. Orvis and Eunice (Smith) Pier, was born in Westford, July 26, 1847.
He received his early education at the common schools and graduated from the Black River Academy, at Ludlow, in 1864. He then learned the trade of a carpenter in Jamaica, which occupation he followed for eleven years. In 1875 he established himself as a merchant in Rawsonville, where he has since resided. In 1877, through the unre- mitting labor and work of Mr. Pier, the gov- ernment established a postoffice in the place, and he has since been postmaster. At the age of twenty-five he was elected justice of the peace, and has since continuously held the position, while his ability and energy have called him to various other posts of trust and responsibility.
Mr. Pier married, Jan. 2, 1868, at Bond- ville, Helen A., daughter of Charles R. and Faustina (Barrus) Williams. There are two children living : Gladys M., and Frank W.
PIERCE, CHARLES ALEXANDER, of Bennington, son of James and Dorcas Bayard Pierce, was born in Chester, August 22, 1839.
He was educated in the common schools, and at the age of sixteen entered the office of the Brattleboro Phoenix, where he served his apprenticeship. In 1861 he established the Manchester (Vt.) Journal, which he con-
tinued to publish for nine years, but finally purchased the Bennington Banner, which he now owns, and in connection with this is the proprietor of one of the largest job printing, bookbinding and publishing estab- lishments in the state. He was appointed postmaster at Bennington in 1891 by Presi- dent Harrison.
He enlisted in Co. C, 14th Regt. Vt. Vols., of which company he was Ist sergeant, and on account of an accidental injury received his discharge in May, 1863.
Mr. Pierce wedded Abby, daughter of Isaac W. and Maria Gibson, of Londonderry. Their children are : Charles W., Warren A., and Nettie M.
PIERCE, GEORGE W., of Brattleboro, son of Nathan G. and Roxana (Keach) Pierce, was born in Westminster, Dec. 3, 1854.
GEORGE W.' PIERCE.
He received his education in the common and private schools of his native town and assisted his father on the farm until he was twenty-four years of age, when he entered the employment of the Vermont Asylum for the Insane at Brattleboro. For eight years he served as supervisor of the male depart- ment, and at the expiration of that time he was selected for the management of the farm. For the past six years Mr. Pierce has been the manager of the asylum farm department, a position which he still holds.
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