USA > Vermont > Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont > Part 84
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ROPES, ARTHUR, of Montpelier, son of George and Miriam (Johnson) Ropes, was born in Newbury May 5, 1837.
He obtained his early educational train- ing in the common schools and St. Johns- bury Academy, and was for a time a member of the class of 1864 in Dartmouth College. He became a teacher in the common schools of Vermont, then was assistant in St. Johns- bury Academy and afterwards promoted to be the principal of the high school of that village. Impaired health induced him to spend a year in outdoor life in the Lake Su- perior region. He then gave his attention to business affairs and was employed as tel- ler in the Passumpsic National Bank, which he quitted to become the cashier of the Northfield National Bank of Northfield. He next engaged in manufacturing at Waterbury and Montpelier and in 1880 he entered the business office of, and soon became a writer upon the editorial staff of the Vermont Watchman. During Mr. Prescott's owner- ship of the Watchman Mr. Ropes was its ac- tive editor. In 1886 he began the publica- tion of the Rural Vermonter at Montpelier, and in 1888 his enterprise and energy dis- played itself in the formation of an associa- tion of business men in Montpelier and Washington county, entitled the Watchman Publishing Co., for the purpose of purchas- ing the Watchman and uniting with it the Vermonter. This was accomplished and
Mr. Ropes has since filled the editorial chair of the Watchman and is the business mana- ger of the company, of which he is a direc- tor and the clerk.
Though a Republican he holds no politi- cal office and his ambition does not rum in that direction, but in that of conducting a newspaper influential in advancing the ma- terial and moral welfare of the people of the state.
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Mr. Ropes was married June 28, 1864, to Mary J., daughter of George W. and Char- lotte (McNider) Hutchins. They have two daughters : Charlotte, and Laura L.
ROSS, JONATHAN, son of Royal and Eliza (Mason) Ross, was born April 30, 1826, at Waterford. Jonathan Ross, the grandfather of the judge, moved from Massa- chusetts to Waterford in or about the year 1795. There he cleared away the forest and cultivated a farm on which he supported himself, wife and family of six children, of whom Royal, the father of the subject of this sketch, was the second son.
Jonathan Ross received the excellent ed- ucation ordinarily imparted in the common schools of Vermont, and fitted for college in the academy at St. Johnsbury. Matriculating at Dartmouth College in 1847, he graduated from that institution in 1851.
Up to the close of his twenty-first year Mr. Ross had a practical acquaintance with agricultural labor on his father's farm. His summers were occupied in the cultivation
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of its acres, and his winters, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, in teaching in the public schools of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. In this pursuit he achieved unusual and decided success.
After graduating from college he taught in Craftsbury, and was principal of the academy at Chelsea. While residing in the latter town he studied law in the office of Judge William Hebard, and was admitted to the bar of Orange county Jan. 18, 1856.
In 1856 Mr. Ross contracted a legal co- partnership with A. J. Willard, Esq., of St. Johnsbury, which continued for nearly two years. After that he practiced by himself until 1865, when he was associated with G. A. Burbank, Esq. This connection lasted for twelve months, and was succeeded in 1869 by partnership with Mr. W. P. Smith. The latter relation existed until the follow- ing year, in which Mr. Ross was elected a judge of the Supreme Court.
Judge Ross has taken an active and influ- ential part in the public affairs of Vermont. From 1858 to 1868 he was treasurer of the Passumpsic Savings Bank. Under his fiduciary management the corporation never lost a dollar. In 1862-'63 he was state's attorney for Caledonia county. In 1865, 1866, and 1867 he was sent to the Legisla- ture as the representative of St. Johnsbury, and served effectively on the judiciary and other committees. He was for some years before 1870 an active and influential mem- ber of the state board of education. In 1869 he was a member of the last Council of Censors held in the state. In 1870 he was returned by Caledonia county to the state Senate, and in the same year was elected sixth assistant judge of the Supreme Court. In 1890 he was elected chief judge of the Supreme Court, which position he now worthily fills.
Mr. Ross was married on the 22d of No- vember, 1852, to Eliza Ann, daughter of Isaiah and Caroline (Bugbee) Carpenter. Eight children were born to them : Caroline C., Elizabeth, Helen (deceased), Julia (Mrs. Dr. Aldrich, of Somerville, Mass.), Martha, Edith, Edward Harlan, and John. Mrs. Ross, who was a sister of Judge Alonzo P. Carpenter of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, died some years since, and Judge Ross married for his second wife, Miss Helen Daggett.
ROWELL, GEORGE BARKER, of Bar- ton Landing, son of Adoniram Judson and Lucy A. (Richardson) Rowell, was born in North Troy, March 30, 1846.
After the usual course of instruction in the common schools, his educational training was pursued in the Missisquoi Valley and St. Johnsbury Academies, and subsequently he
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graduated from the Burlington Medical Col- lege, June, 1872, as a practitioner of the homeopathic school. For some time he was employed as a teacher in the Richford graded and public schools, but soon after his graduation commenced the practice of his profession in his native town. He removed to Irasburg in 1873, where he continued in the same occupation till 1891, when he came to Barton's Landing. Here he be- came a general dealer in horses, cattle, wag- ons and other articles. In connection with a partner he purchased a large farm at Iras- burg.
During the war Mr. Rowell served as a clerk in the quartermaster's department un- der Captain Dunton, at City Point, Va., in 1864. For four years he discharged the duties of town superintendent of Irasburg.
In his political creed he inclines to the principles of the Republican party and is a Congregationalist with respect to his relig- ious preferences.
He is a master Mason in good standing and unites with Missisquoi Lodge, No. 9, at Richford.
He was united in wedlock Jan. 1, 1873, to Isadore, daughter of Daniel and Susan ( Per- kins) Darling of Masonville, P. Q., who died August 20, 1876. Mr. Rowell contracted a second alliance Sept. 1, 1891, with Etta, daughter of Hugh and Jennie (Rowan) Grant of Pembroke, Ont., the fruit of which union is one son : Hugh Grant.
ROWELL, JOHN W., of Randolph, was born in Lebanon, N. H., June 9, 1835.4
The early education of Judge Rowell was received in the common schools and at the West Randolph Academy. There he was thoroughly prepared for admission to college a year in advance. Circumstances, however, conspired to prevent his graduation. Choos- ing the profession of law, he entered in 1856 upon its study in the office of Jefferson P. Kidder, ex-Lieutenant Governor of Ver- mont, afterwards one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Dakota, and a delegate to Congress from that territory. From 1857 to the winter of 1858 he studied in the office of Judge Edmund Weston, and also attended a course of lectures in the law college es- tablished by Judge Hayden and other gen- tlemen at Poland, Ohio. At the June term in 1858 he was admitted to the bar of Orange county. Mr. Rowell at once asso- ciated himself in partnership with Judge John B. Hutchinson. This connection con- tinued until the latter part of 1859, when Judge Hutchinson accepted the position of cashier of the Northfield Bank, which he held until 1861. He then returned to Ran- dolph and again entered into partnership with his old business associate. This new
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relation lasted until 1866, when it was dis- solved by reason of the ill health of Judge Hutchinson. Mi. Rowell removed to Chi- cago in February, 1870, and entered into business connection with John Hutchinson, formerly U. S. Consul at Nice. In Septem- ber, 1871, he returned to Randolph, re sumed legal practice in his old home, and has since made it his permanent residence.
During the legislative sessions of 1861 and 1862, Mr. Rowell represented Randolph in the General Assembly, and was distinguished as the youngest member, except one, of the House. He served both sessions upon the judiciary committee. He also rendered ex- cellent service on other committees. In 1862 and 1863 he efficiently filled the office of state's attorney for Orange county.
In 1874 he was elected a state senator from Orange county and served as chairman of the committee on the asylum for the insane and also on the committee on the judiciary. From 1872 he was for eight years reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court. Mr. Rowell had by his learning in the law and his great skill in active practice become one of the leaders of the Vermont bar when Gov- ernor Farnham, Jan. 11, 1882, appointed him sixth assistant judge of the Supreme Court. The appointment was to fill a vacancy on the bench occasioned by the promotions conse- quent on the death of Chief Judge Pierpoint. Judge Rowell now holds the position of second assistant judge of the Supreme Court.
Judge Rowell was formerly a director of the Northfield Bank, and has been a director and vice-president of the Randolph National Bank since its organization.
He was married on the Ist of August, 1858, to Mary L., daughter of Rev. Leonard and Hannah (Gilman) Wheeler, of Randolph.
ROYCE, GEORGE EDMUND, of Rut- land, son of Alpheus and Harriet (Moore) Royce, was born in Orwell, Jan. 1, 1829. He is the seventh in lineal descent from Deacon Edmund Rice, who emigrated to America from Birkhamstead, Hertfordshire, England, in 1638, and settled in Sudbury, Mass. His great-grandfather, Adonijah Rice, was the first white child born in Worcester, Mass., and here resided until the latter part of his life when he moved to Bridport. He served in several campaigns in the old French and Indian war, and was one of the celebrated band of scouts known as Rogers' Rangers. His grandfather, Jonas Rice, held a commis- sion as first lieutenant in the regular army under General Washington, was present at the crossing of the Delaware, the battles of Trenton and Princeton, and shared in the misery and privations of Valley Forge. At the close of the war he settled in Orwell and was united in marriage to Elizabeth Carver,
a direct descendant of John Carver, first Governor of Plymouth Colony. His father, Alpheus Royce, bore the name of his ances- tors until middle life, when he changed the orthography of the appellative to Royce, al- leging as his reason for the alteration that the family of Rice was becoming too numer- ous and would soon be likely to outnumber the Smiths.
George Edmund Royce received his edu- cation in the public schools, followed by two terms at the Troy Conference Academy. As- sisting his father in the labor of the farm until the age of nineteen, he was then em- ployed in the store of John Simonds as clerk at Watch Point, Shoreham, where he re- mained two years. From there he removed to New York in 1850 and labored for one year as salesman for Dibble, Frink & Co., wholesale dry goods dealers, then gave his
GEORGE EDMUND ROYCE.
services to Lathrop, Ludington & Co., who were in the same line of business, and with whom he remained about seven years. In 1859 he, with others, organized the firm of Robbins, Royce & Hard, wholesale dry goods dealers, and two years after the con- cern was changed to Robbins, Royce & Acker, which arrangement continued until Jan. 1, 1864, when, although the business was very successful and satisfactory, the partnership was dissolved on account of the failing health of Mr. Royce and he removed to Rutland, where he still resides. In 1865 he became interested in the Wardwell stone
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channelling machine, which resulted in the formation of the Steam Stone Cutter Co., of which corporation he became and has con- tinued one of the trustees and treasurer, also being its general manager.
Mr. Royce was first married to Meriam E., daughter of Samuel and Eliza M. (Bot- tom) Brewer, of Orwell, Feb. 5, 1857; she died March 2, 1866 ; he then wedded Mar- tha A. Brewer, sister of his first wife, Sept. 6, 1866 ; he contracted a third alliance with Ellen C. White, of Orwell, Nov. 4, 1875. His children by his first wife were: Fannie E. (Mrs. Charles N. Drowne), George B., Julia M. (died in infancy), Kate M. (Mrs. C. H. Hyde, of Rutland). By his second wife he had : Jane M., Robert S. (died, in Naples, Italy, Jan. 27, 1890), Julia E. ( Mrs. Freder- ick Forest Dowlin, of North Adams, Mass. ; died Oct. 13, 1893). From his last mar- riage there are issue : Edmund W., Thomas J., Pauline M., Albert A., Henry M., Richard H., and John C.
Mr. Royce was one of the original incor- porators and directors of the True Blue Marble Co., and since 1887 has been its treasurer and manager. Since the organiza- tion of the Baxter National Bank he has also been a director of that institution.
He is a Democrat in his political prefer- ences and a bi-metalist, and has five times been elected to the position of selectman in the town of Rutland, besides holding many other local offices. He has large real estate interests in Rutland and the West. He is a Universalist in his religious creed, and one of the trustees of St. Paul's church, Rut- land, and a sustaining member of the Y. M. C. A.
RUGG, DAVID FLETCHER, of Hartland, son of William W. and Rachel ( Dodge) Rugg, was born in Londonderry, Dec. 15, 1852.
He received his education at the West River, Chester and Black River Academies, and from the early age of fifteen was a teacher during the winter terms in the schools of Winhall, Shaftsbury, Ludlow and Weathersfield. While thus engaged he still found time to pursue the study of medicine, to which profession he had resolved to de- vote the labors of his life. Commencing his researches in the office of Dr. W. F. Eddy, of Londonderry, he became a student in the medical department of U. V. M., and after- wards entered the same department of Dart- mouth College, and finally graduated from the U. V. M., 1876, as valedictorian. He received the faculty prize for best thesis. In the same year he took up his abode in Hartland, and, occupied in practicing his profession, has continued to make this town his residence.
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Dr. Rugg was united in marriage, Dec. 28, 1881, to Julia A., daughter of Albert D. and Sarah (Goddard) Hagar. One child has been born to them : Harold Goddard.
An active Republican, Dr. Rugg has been for years a member of the town committee. He has been chairman of the State Board of Censors, town superintendent of schools, and also served on the County School Board. For many years he has been a member of
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the I. O. O. F., and he is enrolled in the Vermont Medical Society, of which he was vice-president in 1883, and in the American Medical Association, White River Valley and Connecticut River Valley Societies. He was also a member of the Ninth International Congress of Physicians, held at Washington, D. C., in 1887.
RUSSELL, CHANDLER MILLER, of Wil- mington, son of Jordan H. and Harriet L. (Partridge) Russell, was born in Wilming- ton, Dec. 7, 1842.
His early education was received in the public schools and he fitted for college at Wesleyan Academy, graduating in 1865.
In 1862, while pursuing his academic course, he returned to his native state and enlisted in Co. F, 16th Vt. Vols., and partici- pated with this regiment in the battle of Gettysburg, being mustered out of service August 10, 1863.
Subsequently he creditably filled the posi- tion of principal of the Wilmington high school, and in 1867 engaged in mercantile
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business in that town, which pursuit he tol lowed until 1878. Three years later Mr. Russell again resmined the profession of teaching, and m 1882 entered the National College of Elocution and Oratory at Phila- delphia, graduating in 1884. In connection with Mrs. Russell he then traveled through New England and New York, giving public readings, which were received with marked lavor. For the last six years Mr. Russell has traveled extensively, lecturing upon pop- ular subjects, in which enterprise he has been unusually successful.
CHANDLER MILLER RUSSELL.
He was united in marriage in June, 1877, to Gertrude E., daughter of Lorenzo and Beulah (Blanchard) Bowen of Readsboro. Of this union one child was born : Blanche Leone.
Mr. Russell was one of the incorporators of the Mount Vernon Institute of Elocution and Languages of Philadelphia, and at pres- ent holds the position of director. He has held many important local offices, always discharging faithfully and conscientiously the trusts reposed in him. In 1891 he was elected a councillor of the American Insti- tute of Civics, New York City. He is a frequent contributor to the columns of vari- ous newspapers and periodicals, and is now collecting material for a history of the 16th Vermont Regiment, and, with the aid of an excellent private library and his own per- sonal endeavor, keeps well informed with regard to all matters of current interest.
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For nearly thirty years Mr. Russell has been a Free Mason, holding various honora- ble positions in the order, and he is promi- nent in the G. A. R.
He is the manager of an extensive insur- ance business, but still devotes some time to filling engagements on the platform.
RUSSELL, GEORGE KENDAL, of Bel- lows Falls, son of Willard and Abigail E. ( Ward ) Russell, was born in Cabot, April 11, 1841.
Having received his early education at the common schools and the Franklin (N. Il.) Academy, he moved with his parents to Law- rence, Mass., and from thence to Exeter, N. H., where he engaged in the manufacture of paper with his father, commencing his busi- ness career at the early age of seventeen.
Like so many of our youth, he felt the martial ardor of the time and in 1862 enlisted in Co. E, 15th N. H. Regt., and served till that organization was mustered out of service. In 1870, he purchased the interest of his father in the Exeter mill and continued by himself till 1873, when he disposed of the prop- erty and removed to Bellows Falls, where he again entered into a business connection with his father, buying a paper mill which the firm operated till 1879, when, the father selling his interest to the son, the latter erected a pulp mill. Twelve years afterwards he sold this to the Fall Mountain Paper Co., and, after disposing of his other manufacturing property to the Robertson & Coy Paper Co., retired from active business life.
Always a Republican he held many official positions in the towns of Brentwood, N. H., and Exeter, and has also devoted much time to Free Masonry, being a member of King Solomon's Lodge, No. 45, of Bellows Falls, Abenaqui Chapter, and Beauseant Com- mandery, of Brattleboro, while his name is on the roll of Mt. Kilborn Lodge, K. of H., and E. H. Stoughton Post, No. 34, G. A. R.
Mr. Russell, Nov. 9, 1863, espoused Annie A., daughter of Mark and Elizabeth (Flagg) Colbath. Of this union there are three living children : Willard T., Lizzie W., and Grace L.
RUSSELL, JULIUS W., of Burlington, son of William P. and Lydia (Miner) Rus- sell, was born in Moira, N. Y., Sept. 1, 1846.
Receiving his early instruction at the academies of Williston and Shelburne, he entered Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., September 1864, where he remained two years, then changed to Yale College, where he graduated in 1868. He was then principal of Hinesburg Academy until De- cember, 1869, when he entered the law office of Judge William G. Shaw of Burlington, continuing with him till 1870, when he went to New York City, where he attended the
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Columbia Law School. During the summer of 1871 he was in the office of L. B. Engles. by, Esq., of Burlington, and was admitted to the bar of Chittenden county at the Sep- tember term of the same year. He has made Burlington his home since that time, and has made a specialty of commercial law.
Mr. Russell married, Dec. 31, 1872, Kate, daughter of Dr. Elmer and Emeline (Dud- ley) Beecher of Hinesburg. Their children are : Flora E., William J., and Elmer B.
For two years he was state's attorney and was city attorney of Burlington from 1889 to 1891. He has served as grand juror and also school commissioner, and for twelve years has been a justice of the peace.
He is a member of Washington Lodge, F. & A. M., of Burlington. His religious pro- fession is Congregational, and he is a member of the Y. M. C. A.
RUTHERFORD, JOSEPH C., of New- port, son of Alexander and Sally (Clifford) Rutherford, was born at Schenectady, N. Y., Oct. 1, 1818. His parents came to Vermont in 1826, and settled at Burlington in 1830. It was in the high schools at Burlington he received the principal share of his education. At the age of twenty years he started out in the world for himself. He early expressed the desire to study medicine, but his cir- cumstances were such that he was unable to do so until 1842, when he entered the office of Dr. Newell, then of Lyndon and after- wards of St. Johnsbury.
In May, 1843, he located at Derby, and in December of that year was married to Hannah W., daughter of Hon. Jacob Chase. Of this union were five children, three of whom are still living: Dr. Jacob C. of Providence, R. I., Mrs. John S. Colby of Chicago, and Mrs. George S. Woodward of Chicago.
In 1844 he resumed the study of medi- cine in the office of Dr. Moses F. Colby, Stanstead, P. Q., and graduated at Woodstock in 1849. In 1851 he went to Blackstone, Mass. In 1857 he returned to Derby, from where he removed to Newport in 1860, which place has been his home since that time.
At the breaking out of the war of the re- bellion in 1861, he was commissioned sur- geon by Governor Fairbanks, and examined recruits for enlistment. He held this posi- tion until commissioned by Governor Hol- brook as assistant surgeon of the 10th Vt. Vols. Mustered into the U. S. service, he immediately started for the front, where the regiment was assigned to duty in the defences of Washington, D. C., and was stationed near Edwards Ferry, Md. The regiment remained here and in this vicinity about nine months. When the army of the Potomac
was ordered to Gettysburg, Pa., the 10th Vt. was sent to Monocacy Station, Md., to guard the rear of the army and the supplies. After the battle of Gettysburg, the 10th Vt., joined the army of the Potomac, and was enrolled in the 3d division 3d army corps. His first experience on the battlefield was Nov. 26, 1863, at Locust Grove, Va., where he received an injury that nearly cost him his life, and which resulted in a broken con- stitution and a crippled frame. Notwith- standing its serious character, he remained at the post of duty, and was in every battle in which his regiment participated, until near the close of the war. In March, 1865, he was promoted to be surgeon of the 17th Vt. Vols., which regiment had but one battle after he joined it, that of Petersburg, April 2, 1865. He was mustered out of the U. S. service with the 17th Vt. Vols. in July, 1865, after having served within a few days of three years. His relations with the two regiments were, and with their survivors have been to the present time, of a very pleasant character. He won the respect and esteem of both officers and men, and the ties of friendship that were there ce- mented with blood and hardship, have be- come stronger and stronger as time has sil- vered the locks of the surviving comrades. And today, nearly thirty years after the war, his comrades speak of Surgeon Rutherford with deep feelings of gratitude and respect.
Directly after being mustered out of the service he returned to his home in New- port, where he has since resided, and re- sumed the practice of medicine in civil life. In 1866 he was commissioned examining surgeon for pensions, which place he has held to the present time, 1893.
He joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 1844, was made a Free Mason in 1866, and has taken all the degrees up to and including that of the Knight Templar.
At an early day the doctor took a deep interest in the anti-slavery cause, and was a delegate to the first convention held by that faction in Vermont. His first vote for pres- ident was cast for William Henry Harrison, and when the Republican party was organ- ized he joined it, and has voted with it ever since. In 1880 he was chosen by the Legis- lature a supervisor of the insane, which office he held for two years.
After a busy life of hardship and toil for the relief of the sufferings of others, he has retired from the active practice of his pro- fession, and is now living in his quiet and pleasant home in the peaceful enjoyment of the fruits of his labors. His kindness to the poor and destitute is limited only by his means, and he is ever ready by kindly words and deeds to cheer and solace the woes he cannot altogether heal.
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