USA > Vermont > Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont > Part 80
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His name has been very prominent in the agricultural interests of the town and of the
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state. In iSoz he received the appointment as a member of the State Board of Agricul- ture, which office he soon resigned, his busi ness relations not allowing him to hold the same. In the same year he also refused the candidacy for town representative. At the present time he holds the office of secretary of the Vermont Dairyman's Association ; also is master of Protective Grange, Brattle- boro, Mr. Pierce is an active member of the Universalist church, now being a member of the board of trustees of the First Universal- ist Society in Brattleboro,
In 1884 Mr. Pierce married Ida M., daugh- ter of Alvah and Sylvia Weed of Saratoga, N. Y., by whom he has four children : Milton W., George E., Frederick W., and Weed K.
PIERSON, JAMES SMITH, of Burling- ton, son of Smith F. and Lydia R. ('Tabor) Pierson, was born in Shelburne, Dec. 8, 1840.
JAMES SMITH PIERSON.
After attending the public schools of Bur- lington until he was seventeen years of age he went to Janesville, Wis., where he found employment as a clerk in his brother's store for a few months ; then returned to Burling- ton where he was occupied with learning the trade of a machinist till 1862, when he enlisted as a private in Co. C, 12th Vt. Vols., but was discharged on account of sickness before his term of service expired. For nearly five years owing to disease contracted while in the army the state of his health pre- vented any active employment. He next removed to the city of New York and gave
PUI RPOINT.
his attention to the development of Professor Lowe's mvention of water gas, the success of which is due largely to the improvements he invented and perfected in the apparatus for manufacturing the gas, which is now univer- sally used in America, and has reduced the cost of gas to the consumers in the United States, millions of dollars per year. He was for several years engaged in constructing gas works in most of the large cities in this country and for two years was general super- intendent of the United Gas Improvement Co. of Philadelphia, the largest gas cor- poration in the world. After accumula- ting a fortune he retired from active busi- ness in 1886 and returned to Burlington, where he purchased his father's old farm and has since occupied himself with the im- provement of the same. He is a director in the Burlington and Waterbury (Conn.) Gas- light companies and president of the latter, also a director in the Burlington Electric Light Co., and has official connection with various other water gas companies.
Mr. Pierson married, Dec. 7, 1872, Lu- cille, daughter of James and Elenor ( Pellea- true ) Blake of Brooklyn, N. Y. They have an adopted daughter : Constance.
He is an adherent of the Republican party but has never sought or held any office. He belongs to several social organ- izations in the city of Burlington and attends the Protestant Episcopal church.
PIERPOINT, EVELYN, of Rutland, son of Hon. Pierpoint and Abigail (Raymond) Pierpoint, was born in Rutland, June 10, 1816. He is descended from the Rev. James Pierpoint, who was the second clergyman of New Haven, Conn. [For a sketch of his father, Judge Pierpoint, see Part I of this work.
The subject of this sketch received the customary education in the public schools in Rutland, followed by a short course of study in Bennington Academy. When twelve years of age he was employed as a clerk in Rutland post-office, and served a term of years as clerk in a general merchandise store in that place. In 1837 he took charge of the store of the Brandon Iron Co., and later formed a partnership with William Y. Ripley at Centre Rutland. He was for a number of years engaged with a dry goods jobbing and importing house in New York City, and was engaged in trade for four years in Lansingburgh, N. Y. He then returned to Rutland, and after engaging in business with his father-in-law for four years, erected in Mendon the first steam saw mill in Ver- mont, and during the building and operation of the Rutland & Burlington R. R. was en- gaged in the lumber and bridge building business. In 1851 he engaged in the real
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estate business, and has been directly inter- ested in the purchase and sale of many of the prominent transfers in his growing city. He was a member of the Council of Censors in 1854 and 1855, and was one of five dele- gates to the national convention in Phila- delphia in June, 1855.
EVELYN PIERPOINT.
Politically Mr. Pierpoint is a Republican, and was justice of the peace and for a num- ber of years town treasurer ; was inspector of finance under Governors Washburn, Hendee and Stewart ; was one of the directors and cashier of the National Bank of Rutland ; was also one of the incorporators and direc- tors of the Merchants' Bank in that city.
Mr. Pierpoint was one of the founders of Otter Creek Lodge of I. O. O. F., and is the only surviving charter member of that body. He also belongs to the Masonic Lodge of Rutland, and is a Congregationalist in his religious preference.
June 4, 1841, he was united in marriage to Sarah J., daughter of James and Miriam (Buttrick) Barrett, of Rutland, who departed this life May 7, 1893. Five children were the fruit of this union : Kate Frances (de- ceased), Alice J. (deceased), Charles E. (deceased), Mary E. (deceased), and Annie Evelyn, now at home with her father.
PIKE, PAPHRO D., of Stowe, son of William and Nancy (Hitchcock) Pike, was born in Morristown, Dec. 1, 1835.
He passed the days of his youth in labor on the paternal acres, and gained his educa-
PINGREE.
tion in the common schools of Morristown, and later at Johnson Academy. When he had arrived at man's estate, as he had a nat- ural taste for mechanical pursuits, he pur- chased a saw mill, which furnished him with employment till 1860, when he moved to Stowe and engaged in a similar enterprise, constructing a mill in that town.
When President Lincoln issued his call for volunteers he enlisted in Co. D, 11th Regt. Vt. Infantry, and followed the fortunes of that organization during its entire service, including the last grand advance on Rich- mond. During this period he was constantly at his post, with the exception of two months spent in the hospital, and was honorably dis- charged in July, 1865.
Mr. Pike wedded Abigail, daughter of Luke J. and Eunice (Camp) Towne, of Stowe, Nov. 7, 1860. Three sons are the issue of this union : Arba A., Lewis A., and Fred M.
After his release from the army he was variously employed as carpenter and mill- wright for several years, and in 1871 he commenced the manufacture of butter tubs. In this he continued for fourteen years, when he sold the business and went to Brooklyn, N. Y., and was employed in the Hatters Fur Cutting Co., but after a time returned to Stowe and again purchased his old mill, where with improved machinery the firm of P. D. Pike & Sons are now engaged in the manufacture of butter tubs, making use of several improvements in the mechanical appliances of the trade which have been patented by himself, and from small begin- nings has derived an increasing and prosper- ous business.
Though favoring the political principles of the Republican party, Mr. Pike has not found much time for official life, so urgent and various have been the demands of his private affairs, but he has faithfully discharged the duties of those town offices which have been conferred upon him. He was elected to a seat in the House in the Legislature of 1880, and served on the committee on manufactures.
PINGREE, SAMUEL E., of Hartford, son of Stephen and Judith (True) Pingree, was born in Salisbury, N. H., August 2, 1832. Moses Pengre, his earliest American ancestor, was the proprietor of salt works in Ipswich as early as 1652, was selectman of that town, deacon of the First Church, and deputy of the general court in 1665, and from this worthy, Samuel E. Pingree is the sixth in lineal descent.
After the usual preliminary studies pur- sued in the academies at Andover (N. H.) and McIndoes Falls, he entered Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1857.
PITKIN.
Selecting the profession of law, he studied in the office of Hon. A. P. Hunton of Bethel, and was admitted to the bar of Windsor county at the December term of 1859, after which aduussion he began to practice at Hartford with fair prospects of success.
At this juncture the war for the preserva tion of the Union commenced, and Mr. Pingree promptly responded to President lincoln's call for troops by enlisting as private in Co. F, 3d Regt. Vt. Vols., and was soon chosen ist lieutenant of that organiza- tion. In August, 1861, he was promoted to captain, commissioned major 27th of Sep- tember, 1862, for meritorious conduct, and finally received the grade of lieutenant- colonel on the 15th of January, 1863. In his first important engagement, that of Lee's Mills, Va., he was severely wounded and con- fined for ten weeks in hospital at Philadel-
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SAMUEL E. PINGREE.
phia, but returned to his command imme- diately upon his recovery, and was present in most of the important battles in which the Army of the Potomac was engaged. In the second day's battle of the Wilderness, Lieutenant-Colonel Pingree was placed in command of the famous 2d Vt. Regt. (all the field officers of that regiment having been killed or wounded), and this honorable posi- tion he retained until that organization was mustered out of the U. S. service. After participating in the battles of Spottsylva- nia Court House, North Anna River, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and in the sanguinary
struggle for the possession of the Weldon R. R., in which last affair he narrowly escaped capture with a portion of his command, he concluded his military service by assisting in repulsing the movement of General Early on Washington, arriving with his comrades of the 6th Corps just in time to save the capital of the nation from destruction. He was honorably mustered out of service July 27, 1864.
After his return to civil life Colonel Pingree resumed the practice of his profession at Hartford. In 1868 '69 he was state's attor- ney for Windsor county and during his term of office Hiram Miller was indicted and tried for the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Gowan, and it was chiefly owing to the careful preparation and the efficiency with which Colonel Pingree conducted the prosecution that the accused criminal was duly convicted and suffered the extreme penalty of the law.
Though not an office seeker Colonel Pingree has never shunned responsibilities of official position. He has been town clerk of Hart- ford for thirty-four years, less the time he was in the war, and in 1868 was chosen delegate- at-large to the national Republican conven- tion at Chicago. Two years subsequently he was made president of the Reunion Society of Vermont Officers, before the members of which association he delivered an excellent and scholarly address in 1872. In the fall election of 1882 Colonel Pingree was chosen Lieutenant-Governor of the state by the Republicans, his popularity being indicated by the fact that his vote was the largest of any cast for the state officials and two years later his merit was still farther recognized by his election to the office of Governor. His administration was characterized by the same efficiency and zeal which he has ever dis- played as soldier, lawyer and citizen. Upon the establishing of a state railway commission ex-Governor Pingree was appointed chairman of the board, in which position he is now serving.
Governor Pingree was married Sept. 15, 1869, to Lydia M., daughter of Sanford and Mary (Hinman) Steele, of Stanstead, P. Q.
PITKIN, PERLEY PEABODY, late of Montpelier, son of Truman and Rebecca (Davis) Pitkin, was born in Marshfield, March 9, 1826. It was his misfortune to early lose his mother, Rebecca (Davis) Pit- kin, but his subsequent good fortune to be guided in his future conduct and studies by his grandfather, Gen. Parley Davis of Mont- pelier Centre, who was the first general sur- veyor of Washington county, and with his cousin, Col. Jacob Davis, first permanently settled in Montpelier. The general's grand- father was Major Stephen Pitkin, one of the first settlers in Marshfield. Through these
P.P. Pirkimo
PITKIN.
ancestors General Pitkin inherited the com mon attrilnites of great energy, a good judg- ment, and a strong mind, a kind and court cous disposition.
His education was secured at the district schools and completed in the Washington county grammar school. Until the war he resided at East Montpelier. When the gold tever struck the community Mr. Pitkin visited California and for three years was em- ploved in trading and mining.
After his return to East Montpelier he represented that town in the General Assem- bly during 1859 and 1860 and in the extra session, convened to take action on the war. Mr. Pitkin very soon made up his mind as to the action which he would personally take and so, on the 6th of June, 1861, he having meantime volunteered his service, he was commissioned quartermaster of the 2d Regt. Vt. Vols. In April, 1862, he was promoted to be assistant quartermaster of the volunteers with the rank of captain, and July 8, 1864, to the rank of colonel. In November, 1864, obedient to the wishes of his Governor, Col- onel Pitkin resigned from the army to assume the office of state quartermaster general, which office he retained for a period of six years. During that time he had charge of the state arsenal with its large quantity of military stores, the major part of which he afterward disposed of to foreign govern- ments, turning the proceeds into the treasury of the state.
Upon his return from the South, he located at Montpelier in business with Dennis Lane and James W. Brock, and from that time on exerted a large influence both in the affairs of that company and the town. In 1872 General Pitkin represented Montpelier in the Legislature. He was first selectman dur- ing 1868-'70; 1874-'77; 1879-'80; a com- missioner of Green Mount cemetery from March 2, 1880; a director of the First Na- tional Bank from Jan. 9, 1866; a director of the National Life Insurance Co. and member of its finance committee, from Jan- uary, 1878; a trustee of the Washington county grammar school from 1868; and for some years president of the Montpelier school board.
His principal business was in the manage- ment of the Lane Manufacturing Co., of which corporation (which sends its saw- mills as far as Japan) General Pitkin was president, from the death of Dennis Lane in 1888, to his death.
Every movement in town or village mat- ters that contemplated a true and probable progress, received his encouragement, his service, and his support. He was a man of fine physique and commanding appearance, and his presence filled the eye. His own eye, dark and clear, beamed with kindness
and glowed with power. His personal influ- ence, born of the general respect which was had for his judginent and his fairness, was very great-in a word, it was a commanding influence.
Ilis work in the war was such that to enter upon any account of it would be idle, with the space at command. In the memorable campaign of 1864 the wagon trains of the Army of the Potomac were under his direc- tion ; the supply of food, clothing and am- munition was largely under his management. General Grant wrote his memorable " fight it out on this line if it takes all summer " dis- patch while General Pitkin waited to take it to Washington. In "Benedict's Vermont in the Civil War" will be found a clear sketch of General Pitkin's military service, while in I. E. Chittenden's "Personal Reminiscences" is a chapter devoted to him-a very readable chapter, too, though some of it will bear a little salting.
Mr. Pitkin married, April 14, 1848, Caro- line M., daughter of James Templeton, of East Montpelier. Their four sons are : Clar- ence H., Carroll P., Fred E., and Frank I. Mrs. Pitkin died Dec. 11, 1883, and General Pitkin married, July 26, 1886, Mrs. Jennie (Dewey) Poland, daughter of Denison Dewey.
PITKIN, JOHN G., of Fair Haven, son of Joseph and Lucinda (Smith) Pitkin, was born in Poultney, Sept. 6, 1826.
He received his education in the public schools of Poultney, and at the age of twen- ty-one removed to Fair Haven where he has since resided, with the exception of three years (from 1852 to 1855), which he spent in California. In 1855 he engaged in the grocery and provision business in which he continued for ten years, when he and his brother, W. W. Pitkin, formed a partner- ship, under the firm name of Pitkin & Brother, to do a general hardware trade, in which enterprise they have been successful to the present time.
In politics, Mr. Pitkin has always been an ardent Republican. He has held nearly all of the town offices, and has always filled them with credit to himself and honor to the town. In 1872 he represented Fair Haven in the state Legislature, also in 1886 and in 1892 was elected to the state Senate from Rutland county.
Mr. Pitkin is a member of Eureka Lodge, No. 75, F. & A. M. of Fair Haven, and has been master of the lodge six years. He has served as D. D. G. M. of the Fourth Ma- sonic district three years. He is also a member of Poultney Chapter, No. 10; Morning Star Council, No. 10, of Poultney ; and of Killington Commandery, No. 6, Rut- land.
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Mr. Pitkin was married in Fair Haven, Dec. 31, 1855, to Miss Susan J., daughter of Samuel and Marinda (Brown) Howard. Of
JOHN G. PITKIN.
this union only one child is issue, a daugh- ter : Hattie M. (Mrs. W. H. Childs of New York City).
PLATT, MYRON, of Larrabee's Point, son of Elmore and Betsy (Peck) Platt, was born in Glens Falls, N. Y., on August 15, 1830.
Until eleven years of age he attended the district schools of his town and then entered Glens Falls Academy. In 1851 and 1852 he took a special course at the Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N. Y. Shortly after he went into business in Glens Falls where he re- mained until 1858 when he moved to Shore- ham, purchasing a large farm on Lake Champlain at Larrabee's Point. Here he has remained since, devoting himself to farm- ing and stockraising.
Mr. Platt has held all town offices which he could be persuaded to accept. He was inspector of elections in Glens Falls, N. Y., in the presidential election in 1856, in which campaign he supported Fremont, the Republican candidate, and the principles of this party Mr. Platt has steadfastly believed in. He has been a justice of the peace since 1868, receiving his commission from each of the Governors since. For the last twelve years he has been the only trial justice in Shoreham. He was elected assistant judge
PLUMLEY.
of the Addison county court in 1886 and while upon the bench established a reputa- tion for sound sense in the discharge of his duties.
Judge Platt married in Shoreham, August 6, 1856, Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of L. D. and Mary Larrabee. From this union three children have been born: Mary I .. (Mrs. Robert O. Bascom of Fort Edward, N. Y.), Fred Elmore, and Nellie.
MYRON PLATT.
Judge Platt is a member of no church or society but known throughout the county as an honorable man and true to his principles.
PLUMLEY, FRANK, of Northfield, was born in Eden, Dec. 17, 1844.
Reared upon a farm and educated in the common schools of the town and the People's Academy, of Morrisville, he adopted for a time the profession of a teacher, but in 1866 commenced the study of the law with Powers & Gleed, at Morrisville, and a year after entered the law department of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he also pur- sued a selected course of study in the literary department. After three years of professional training he was admitted to the bar at the May term of the Lamoille county court, 1869, and afterwards came to Northfield, and entered the office of Hon. Heman Carpenter. The firm of Carpenter & Plumley, formed in 1870, was disolved by mutual consent in 1876. Mr. Plumley has attained a leading position at the bar. He was state's attorney from 1876 to 1880 inclusive, and among his
PLUMLEY.
important cases were the Carr and Mecker murder trials. He was appointed in 1889 by President Harrison, United State's attorney for Vermont.
Mr. Phunley possesses the entire confi dence of his townsmen in every walk of life. He is a member of the M. E. Church and for twelve years has been superintendent of the Sunday school.
FRANK PLUMLEY.
He is now serving his fourth consecutive term of three years each, as a member of the board of directors of the Northfield graded and high schools, of which body he is chair- man, and for several years has filled the same position on the board of village trustees. He is also a trustee of Norwich University, and a trustee of the Northfield Savings Bank.
He was married August 9, 1871, to Lavinia L., daughter of Hiram and Mary (Smith) Fletcher of Eden. They have two children : Charles Albert, and Theodora May.
Mr. Plumley is a Republican, and an ardent temperance man. Elected repre- sentative from Northfield to the Legislature in 1882, he served with ability on the judi- ciary committee, and also on that on the insane. He was chairman of the Repub- lican state convention in 1886, and was ap- pointed one of the delegates;from Vermont to the anti-saloon conference, held in New York in the spring of 1888, and was the fourth delegate-at-large to the Republican national convention of 1888, in which he
was a member of the committee on the plat- form, and was the anthor of the resolution presented to that committee pledging the cordial sympathy and moral support of the national Republican party to all well directed efforts to temperance reform. It was pre- sented on the floor of the convention by Mr. Boutelle of Maine and adopted with slight verbal alterations. Mr. Phimley has a national reputation as an interesting and effective campaign orator, and in the strug- gle of 1884 he was sent to Michigan by the national committee, to which state he has been recalled at each successive state and national campaign since that time. Mr. Plumley has served four terms as the wor- shipful master of DeWitt Clinton Lodge, No. 15, F. & A. M., and is also a member of Northfield Lodge, No. 19, I. O. O. F., and of Northfield Lodge, No. 175, 1. O. G. T., and was the first and the present W. C. of Northfield Lodge, which contains two hun- dred and forty members.
For five years he was grand secretary of the Grand Lodge I. O. G. T., and represent- ative from that body to the Right Worthy Grand Lodge of the World at its New York and Topeka sessions. For three successive years he filled the office of grand chief templar in the state. He is a lecturer on constitutional law at Norwich University, which institution conferred on him the de- gree of A. M. at its commencement in 1892.
PLUMLEY, FRANK M., of Sherburne, son of Adolphus and Lucy (Dexter) Plum- ley, was born in Shrewsbury, March 27, 1840.
He received his early educational training in the common schools and later supple- mented this by a course of general reading. A lover of books he has collected a small but well selected library. After the comple- tion of his schooling he followed the calling of a commercial traveler for a few years and then settled down upon a farm in his native town, to which vocation, after a short time, he added a lumber business which he carried on successfully for thirty years. In 1885 he removed to Sherburne and engaged in the lumber trade in that town until 1893 when he purchased an estate on the Wood- stock road on which he now resides.
Mr. Plumley was married in Shrewsbury, Nov. 30, 1862, to Eliza N., daughter of Curtis and Eliza Hale. To them have been born three sons : Rush, Ralph, and Albert.
He has always been an earnest Republi- can ; has held the offices of selectman, road commissioner, justice of the peace, as well as other positions of honor and trust, and was chosen to represent Sherburne in the state Legislature of 1892, where he served
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with credit on the committee on manufact- ures. Being yet in the prime of life he will
FRANK M. PLUMLEY.
probably become more prominent in county and state affairs within the next few years.
POLAND, JOSEPH, of Montpelier, son of Luther and Nancy (Potter) Poland, was born in Underhill, March 14, 1818. His father, Luther Poland, was born in Brook- field, Mass., March 11, 1790, moved to Vermont in 1814, and died at Montpelier, June 16, 1880.
The family moved from Underhill to Wa- terville (then Coit's Gore), in 1821, and till 1835 Joseph worked on the farm, meanwhile attending the district school and Johnson Academy. In September, 1835, he came to Montpelier, and as an apprentice entered the office of the Vermont Watchman, where he remained until 1839. He was confirmed in anti-slavery opinions by witnessing the riotous conduct of those who, in October 1835, disturbed the meetings at the State House and the "Old Brick Church," at which Rev. Samuel J. May lectured.
January 1, 1839, he began the publication at Montpelier of the Voice of Freedom, the first distinctly anti-slavery periodical of the state, but in less than a year was com- pelled to dispose of the property on account of broken health.
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