USA > Vermont > Caledonia County > Successful Vermonters; a modern gazetteer of Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans counties, containing an historical review of the several towns and a series of biographical sketches > Part 10
USA > Vermont > Essex County > Successful Vermonters; a modern gazetteer of Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans counties, containing an historical review of the several towns and a series of biographical sketches > Part 10
USA > Vermont > Orleans County > Successful Vermonters; a modern gazetteer of Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans counties, containing an historical review of the several towns and a series of biographical sketches > Part 10
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
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CALEDONIA COUNTY.
RANNEY, CHARLES H., son of George and Eliza Jane (Hall) Ran- ney, was born in St. Johnsbury in 1844. Deacon George Ranney was born in 1813 at Westminster West, Vermont, came to St. Johnsbury in 1841, and settled on the farm now occupied by George Morrill, now known as Maplewood farm, where he resided until his death in 1899, at the age of eighty-six. He was a sub- stantial and respected citizen, served many years as lister, and also as se- lectman and was for nearly forty years deacon of the Congregational church at St. Johnsbury Center.
The five children of George and Eliza J. Ranney are: Charles 11., Crawford, Olive E., wife of F. A. Pierce, Fremont H., and Sarah Jane, wife of George Morrill, all of St. Johnsbury. At the age of eighteen, C. H. Ranney enlisted in Company K, Fifteenth Vermont regiment, Colonel Redfield Proctor, and was honorably discharged with his regi- ment. In October, 1866, he entered the service of the Passumpsie rail- road as a brakeman, was promoted as conductor of a way freight a year later and remained in that capacity seven years, when he was appointed conductor on the Portland & Og- densburg, now the St. Johnsbury & Lake Champlain railroad, which position he still fills.
He has been a passenger conduc- tor for a longer time than any other man now living in eastern Vermont, and while his integrity and good judgment have won the approval of the management, his genial good nature and dry humor have made him universally popular with the traveling public. Mr. Ranney has been thrice married, first, in 1870, to Sarah A. Hawkins, who died 7
in 1880, leaving a daughter, Etta M., now wife of B. A. Donaldson of Portland, Maine. His second wife, Nancy P. Bennett of Lyndon, died in 1898, and he married in June, 1900, Mrs. Mary H. (Wakefield) Joubert of Boston.
Conductor Ranney is a member of Chamberlain post, G. A. R., of St. Johnsbury.
JENKS, WILLIAM H., son of Will- iam and Susan (Pike) Jenks, was
WILLIAM H. JENKS.
born at North Troy, Vermont, April 23, 1861. His youthful days were passed in that vicinity. Naturally endowed with artistic tastes, he early resolved to be a photographer, and perfected himself by study and prac- tiee at St. Albans, Vermont, Spring- field, Massachusetts, and Washing- ton, District of Columbia, where he was for a time engaged in special work for the United States govern- ment at the Smithsonian institute.
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
Mr. Jenks located at Newport, Vermont, as a photographer in 1886, and remained there twelve years, during which time he established an excellent reputation as an artist and a citizen, and built up a good busi- ness. He came to St. Johnsbury in October, 1902, and located in No. 47 Brown's block, Main street.
It is sufficient commendation of his work here to say that a large pro- portion of the cuts of St. Johnsbury people were made from photographs taken by him.
Mr. Jenks married Jennie, daugh- ter of Z. C. Blake, of Newport, and they have four pretty children.
Mr. Jenks has passed all of the chairs of Evening Star lodge, No. 37, I. O. O. F., also of Frontier en- campment of Newport, and is a member of Canton Crescent of St. Johnsbury.
SMITH, WALTER PERRIN, son of John S. and Sophronia M. (Perrin) Smith, was born in Hardwick, Ver- mont, November 4, 1841. Mr. Smith fitted for college at Hard- wick academy, and the People's academy at Morrisville, Vermont, and graduated from the University of Vermont in 1867. He pursued the course at the Law department of Michigan university and subse- quently completed his legal studies with Powers & Gleed at Morrisville, and was admitted to the bar of La- moille county in May, 1869. He soon after came to St. Johnsbury and formed a partnership in law with Hon. Jonathan Ross, which continued until the latter was elected to the bench. Mr. Smith was state attorney of Caledonia county from 1874 to '76. He has served as superintendent of schools. He was elected to the legislature
from St. Johnsbury in 1880, and served on the judiciary and other important committees. In 1882 he was elected judge of probate of Cale- donia county, a position in which he has shown such eminent fitness that he has continued to receive the unanimous renominations of the Re- publican party and successive re- elections by the people until the present time.
Judge Smith has ever been infin- ential in the political and religious life of St. Johnsbury. He was for several years a director of the Mer- chants' National bank, is a director of the First National bank, and a trustee and vice-president of the Passnmpsie Savings bank. An able and effective debater, he has fre- quently taken the stump during national elections, and delivered addresses on memorial and other publie occasions. He is a member of the North Congregational church.
He married, in 1876, Susan A., daughter of Dr. Perley R. and Louise M. (Lawrence) Holbrook. They have one son. Robert H. Smith, a graduate of Dartmouth in the class of 1902, and is now in the employ of the Fairbanks, Morse Company, Chicago.
Mrs. Smith is an active worker in the beneficent and educational activ- ities of the times, and a member of the state library commission.
FISHER, CAPTAIN LEWIS W., son of Joel H. and Fidelia (Russ) Fisher, was born in Danville, Ver- mont, in 1838.
Lewis was reared upon the farm, being the only son, where he formed habits of industry and integrity and developed a robust constitution. At the age of seventeen he left the pa- ternal homestead and after peddling
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CALEDONIA COUNTY.
for a time in Rhode Island, was em- ployed for four years in a shoe fae- tory at Lynn, Massachusetts. Re- turning to his native town he en- listed in August, 1861, as a private in Company H, Fourth Vermont regiment.
At the organization of his com- pany, he was appointed orderly ser- geant. During the winter of 1861- '62 he was confined to the hospital at Camp Griffin by a violent fever, but later shared the fortunes of the Old Vermont brigade in its several campaigns with the exception of a brief service as recruiting officer un- til he was captured at the Weldon Railroad in June, 1864. Mean- while he had become a lieutenant and as an officer, after a few days in Richmond at Libbey prison, was sent to the stockade at Macon, Georgia. later at Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina, and rejoined his regiment in May, 1865, and was pro- moted captain.
Mr. Fisher married, in 1864, Alvira J. Fisher and they have one daugh- ter, Fidelia H. Fisher, who resides with them. Soon after his return from the army Captain Fisher bought a farm in what is now the town of Stannard, helped organize the town, holding several important offices, and was its first representa- tive in the legislature. Later he farmed several years in Danville and was engaged in the lumber business in that town about sixteen years. He came to St. Johnsbury in 1886 and there served on the police force. He located in East St. Johnsbury in 1893, and has been in general trade there until the present time and since 1897 has been postmaster. Captain Fisher is an exellent type of the Vermont veteran citizen, an
exemplary man of life in every rela- tion. Ile is a Republican and in re- ligious belief a Congregationalist. Ile affiliates with Chamberlain post, G. A. R.
PARK, MYRON D., son of Abel and Sophia (Dow) Park, was born in Lyndon, Vermont, March 28, 1846. Samuel Park, his grandfather, came from Newfane, Vermont, and set- tled in Lyndon as a pioneer in the year 1800, and eleared up a farm now owned by his grandson, Will-
MYRON D. PARK.
iam L. Park, which has been in the family ownership more than a cent- ury. M. D. Park, one of a family of four sons and two daughters, was reared upon the ancestral farm, and resided there until he was thirty-six years old. He then farmed several years in Wheelock, was engaged in trade in Wheelock three years, and conducted the Caledonia Spring House three years, where he built up a good patronage, meanwhile
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
continuing in trade. He sold the Wheelock hotel to Marshall Way in 1893, and soon after moved to St. Johnsbury Center, rented the new store of H. M. Scott, put in a stock of general merchandise, and bought the store in 1899.
Mr. Park is a genial and accom- modating salesman, and by industry and fair dealing has achieved a good measure of success in business. He carries a general assortment of goods adapted to the demands of the trade, his special features being choice family groceries and provis- ions. He is now handling feed and flour and has recently enlarged his store to meet the demands of in- creasing trade. Mr. Park served four years as selectman in Wheelock, and the same time as lister. Liberal in his social affinities, he affiliates with Union lodge, I. O. O. F., of Lyndon, and Passumpsic lodge, F. & A. M., of St. Johnsbury.
He married in 1880 Miss Julia Locklin of Lyndon.
MAY, ELISHA, son of Preston and Sophia Stevens May, was born in Concord, Vermont, in December, 1842. The first American ancestor of the subject of this sketch was John May, who settled in Massa- chusetts in 1640. Dexter May, a great-grandfather of Elisha, was a soldier of the Revolution. Elisha, his son, was an early settler on Hall's stream in Concord, where Preston was born in 1808. The latter was well known as a farmer and drover, a man of jovial disposi- tion and lively wit. The maternal grandfather of Elisha May was The- opilus Grout (see Kirby), first set- tler and first representative of the town of Kirby, whose wife was Jo- anna Willard.
Elisha May was the third of a family of six sons, four of whom lived to manhood, Dan G., Marcus F., Elisha, Dennis E., and Harry H. When Elisha was fourteen years of age the family moved to the village of West Concord. He was known as a very studious youth and an omnivorous reader, and early developed a prodigious memory of facts and principles. His common school education was supplemented by one term of select school at Glover, Vermont, and eight terms at St. Johnsbury academy, under J. K. Colby.
After successfully teaching sev- eral winter terms of school, in 1863 he began reading law in the office of O. F. Harvey, Esq., of West Con- cord. In the winter of 1863 he en- listed in the Seventeenth Vermont regiment, but was not accepted. He enlisted in December, 1864, in the Twenty-sixth New York cav- alry, was appointed commissary ser- geant of his company, and later commissary of the regiment with the rank of lieutenant, and served until the discharge of his regiment in August, 1865. He soon after re- sumed his legal studies in the office of Hon. Jonathan Ross at St. Johns- bury, and was admitted to the bar in December, 1867.
For several years he was in the employ of school book firms, and commenced active practice about 1870 and soon after formed a part- nership with Hon. H. C. Belden which subsisted one year. He then continued his practice alone until 1882, when the firm of Bates & May was formed and in 1900 Robert W. Simonds became a partner. In 1901 when Hon. Henry C. Bates was appointed on the judiciary of the
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CALEDONIA COUNTY.
Philippines, he withdrew from the firm. The general law practice of Bates, May & Simonds was very extensive and notable, and the firm ranked as one of the strongest in the state. Mr. May is a walking encyclopedia of legal facts and precedents, and his ability in apply- ing those principles in practice and in the preparation of cases is of a high order.
Although a member of the mi- nority party, he has served St. Johnsbury as village trustee, lister, and member of the school board. He was state attorney of Caledonia county from 1872 to 1874, and United States national bank ex- aminer from 1893 to 1898. He was the nominee of the Democratic party in 1890 for state auditor of accounts, and in 1902 for lieutenant- governor. Ile was chairman of the committee on resolutions at the last Democratie state convention and wrote the platform, an incisive doc- ument that attracted much atten- tion. Mr. May has been a Mason forty years, and is a Knight Tem- plar of Palestine commandery. He is a charter member of Chamberlain post. G. A. R. lle married Ennice A. Arnold of Braintree, Massachu- setts in December, 1872. Their children are, Florence Joanna, Eu- nice R., and Beatrice Sophia. Mrs. Eunice A. May has been for fifteen years a member of the town school board and is a former president of the Woman's club and also of the State Federation of the same order.
SIMONDS, ROBERT W., son of Benjamin S. and Mary J. (Kelley) Simonds, was born in Barnet, Ver- mont, July 24, 1870. The Simonds family came from Leeds, England, and settled in northern New Ilamp-
shire, where Jehiel, grandfather of Robert, resided many years as a farmer and lumber man at Dalton. Benjamin S. Simonds was many years foreman for the Connecticut River Lumber company, first at MeIndoes, and later at Lowelltown, Maine. Michael Kelley, maternal great-grandfather of Robert W. Si- monds, came from Cork, Ireland, and settled in Dracut, Massachu- setts, whence his son, Silas, re- moved to Barnet, Vermont. Robert attended MeIndoes and St. Johns- bury academies.
During his minority, his vacations and a year or two be-ides, were em- ployed in the sawmill of George Van Dyke at Melndoes, where he learned to appreciate the value of manual labor and its equivalent in money. Ile began reading law in April, 1892, in the office of Hon. Alexander Dunnett.
Ile was appointed assistant county clerk the following November, and during the illness of Hon. A. F. Nichols successfully discharged the duties of the clerk of the court. Meanwhile he continued his legal studies in Mr. Nichols' office, and was admitted to the bar in October, 1896.
For nearly two years he was an assistant in the office of Bates & May, and became junior partner of the firm of Bates, May & Simonds in April, 1899. Two years later, after the appointment of Judge Bates to the Philippines, the firm became May & Simonds.
Mr. Simonds has integrity and ambition, a retentive memory, and a good legal mind, essential qualifica- tions for the legal profession. lle is an omnivorous reader, and has an ex- cellent private library. Ile married
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
Martha A., daughter of A. C. and Susan (Jenkins) Farmer (see Burke, Vermont) and their home is cheered by an infant daughter, Dorothy Lu- cile.
which place was his home until his death. He died in 1902, at the age of eighty-one years, highly respected and esteemed. The mother of Albro F. was a daughter of Capt. Alpheus
ROBERT W. SIMONDS.
NICHOLS, HON. ALBRO F., son of Hiram M. and Louisa E. (Stoddard) Nichols, was born in Lyndon, March 24, 1850. Hiram M. Nichols was a native of Unity, New Hampshire. In early life he was a peddler of jew- elry and silverware, and later was engaged in mercantile business at Lyndon Center for many years,
Stoddard, of Newark, a prosperous farmer and lumberman, and a long- time resident of that town. She died in 1853. His native village was his home during most of his minor- ity. Aside from attending the dis- triet sehools, he attended a select school at Claremont, New Hamp- shire, the Colby academy at New
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CALEDONIA COUNTY.
London, New Hampshire, and grad- uated in the classical department of the New Hampton institute, New Hampton, New Hampshire, in 1871, with honors. Prior to his graduation a part of his time had been spent
practice in the office with Hon. Thomas Bartlett at Lyndon. In 1876 he located at West Concord, where he made an excellent public and professional record. He was elected state's attorney in 1878, and
ALBRO F. NICHOLS.
on a farm, as clerk in his father's store, and in teaching school. In the fall of 18:1 he commenced the study of law in the office of Belden & May, and was admitted to the bar at the June term, 18:3, of Caledonia county court. He continued his studies for some time thereafter with Belden & Ide. He commenced
reelected the two succeeding terms, resigning the office upon his re- moval to St. Johnsbury in 1883. The law firm of Nichols & Dunnett was formed in 1883 and continued three years. After the dissolution of this firm, Mr. Nichols continued the practice of law alone until Jan- mary, 1888, when he was appointed
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
clerk of court, at the unanimous re- quest of the Caledonia county bar, which office he now holds. Mr. Nichols married Lucella S. Frye of West Concord in 1877, and has a pleasant home. As a lawyer Mr. Nichols possessed excellent judg- ment of legal principles and prece- dents, and with good knowledge of human nature and a genial temper- ament, was a successful advocate. He was made a Mason in Moose River lodge, No. 82, F. & A. M., West Concord, in 1880, later di- mitting and becoming a member of Passumpsie lodge, No. 27, St. Johns- bury, of which he was worshipful master two years. He was eminent commander of Palestine command- ery for three years, and thrice potent grand master of Mizpah Lodge of Perfection for several years. He received the 33d de- gree in 1888. In 1890 he was elected a . senator for Caledonia county, and was an active and prom- inent member of that body; he served upon the judiciary commit- tee, and was chairman of the general committee, and also of the joint spe- cial committee on temperance legis- lation. He was reelected in 1892, and served on the judiciary com- mittee and was chairman of the com- mittee on education. He received both nominations, unanimously, in the conventions. For several years after his appointment as clerk, he was the leading trial justice in St. Johnsbury, and has often been called to act as referee and special master, positions for which he is especially qualified by judicial acumen and in- tegrity. As clerk of court, Mr. Nichols has inaugurated a system of orderly arrangements of documents and records that is highly merito-
rious, and the office is a model of neatness, convenience, and system- atic classification.
THE PASSUMPSIC SAVINGS BANK was incorporated in 1852 and commenced business February 24, 1853. The original corporators were Joseph P. Fairbanks, Edward C. Redington, Ephraim Chamberlin, Barron Moulton, Samnel W. Slade, David Hibbard, Gustavus A. Bur- bank, Jesse P. Bancroft, Charles Blinn, John Morse, Asa L. French, and T. Jefferson Cree. The board of officers elected at its first meeting was as follows: President, Barron Moulton; vice-president, Jesse P. Bancroft; secretary, E. A. Cahoon; treasurer, Edward C. Redington; trustees, Samuel W. Slade, William B. Hale, Samuel A. Chandler, David Hibbard, Moses Kittridge, John Mc- Lean, Gustavus A. Burbank, T. Jef- ferson Cree, John Morse. The first meeting was held at the St. Johns- bury House, and when organized, the business was transacted at the rooms of the old Passumpsic bank, of which Edward C. Redington was cashier. Upon the election of Henry HI. Deming as treasurer, which oc- curred March 10, 1858, the books and papers of the bank were trans- ferred to the store of Boynton & Deming. Here the business was transacted until March, 1861, when Hon. Jonathan Ross became treas- urer and the books were moved to his office. Here they remained until March, 1869, when upon the election of David Boynton as treasurer they were moved back into the old store of Boynton & Deming. At this time the amount due depositors was $98,- 000 in round numbers. The busi- ness of the bank soon outgrew its present quarters and in 1879 a room
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CALEDONIA COUNTY.
was fitted up over Bingham's drug store and the institution, for the first time in its history, became sep- arate and distinct from any other business and assumed the dignity of an independent banking institution. The amount due depositors had now swelled to $600,000, and the number
structed in the most substantial manner. The banking rooms are large and well lighted and attrac- tively finished in native cherry. The ceilings are of corrugated iron. For the protection of its books and papers it has a large fire-proof vault. The building is located on Main
K
E E
THE PASSUMPSIC SAVINGS BANK.
of depositors had increased to 3,145. In 1885 the present commodious quarters became the property and home of the bank. The building is a handsome and commodious three- story structure of thirty feet front by sixty in depth. Its walls are solid briek and every part of it is con-
street where formerly stood the resi- dence of William Fuller. During a period of fifty years this bank has never passed a dividend and has paid over to its depositors after de- dueting expenses and taxes and ac- cumulating a good surplus the sum of $1,398,000 in dividends as fol-
,
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
lows: One dividend at 11,5 per cent. for two months, two dividends at 134 per cent. for six months, four dividends at 11/2 per cent. for six months, twenty-eight dividends at ? per cent. for six months, seven divi- dends at 214 per cent. for six months, fifty-two dividends at 216 per cent. for six months, four divi- dends at 3 per cent. for six months, and four extra dividends at 634 per cent.
Its board of officers is as follows: President, T. M. Howard; vice-pres- ident, W. P. Smith; treasurer, W. S. Boynton; trustees, T. M. Howard, W. P. Smith, W. S. Boynton, T. C. Fletcher, H. N. Turner, L. B. Harts- horn, E. F. Brown, A. B. Noyes, Jonathan Ross; bookkeeper, C. S. Adams; teller, R. C. Baker; assist- ant, A. B. Moore.
The bank is conducted solely for the benefit of its depositors, to whom belong the entire assets. Its surplus stands as a guarantee against loss, and not only that, but it is the property of the depositors. There being no stockholders to absorb the earnings, this surplus will eventually be divided among the depositors. It is purely a mutual benefit savings association and makes no attempt to do a general banking business only so far as to accommodate its many customers. What better aud safer investment can be provided for the small earnings of the working and saving people of the land. A thou- sand men win competence by quietly saving their spare money where one gets rich by crazy speculation.
PACKARD, LAMBERT. "A thing of beauty is a joy forever." The architect who evolves from a mental conception a well proportioned and harmonious structure, is an artist,
and in a sense a public benefactor, for the poorest child on the street shares with the owner and builder the pleasure of possession in beauti- ful architecture. St. Johnsbury is to be congratulated in the possession of many fine buildings and private residences, whose designer is a mod- est and valued citizen of this town. One of the loveliest suburban homes in this section is "Sheltered Gables," a modern villa embowered among
LAMBERT PACKARD.
trees and shrubbery, the residence of Lambert Packard, situated on the Concord avenue road about one mile from St. Johnsbury station. Mr. Packard has a fine farm of 120 acres, a nice dairy of sixteen cows, and everything in good order. The Packards are descendants of Sam- ual Packard, a French Huguenot, who settled in Plymouth colony, the portion now known as Brockton,
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CALEDONIA COUNTY.
Massachusetts, eighteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims. Lam- bert was one of the nine children of Jefferson Packard, there being one daughter and eight sons. The fam- ily of Jefferson Packard came to Waterford, Vermont, in 1847, and there Lambert learned the carpen- ter's and joiner's trade of his father.
Governor Fairbanks. Later models of his designing are the Post-office block, "Underclyffe," residence of the late Colonel Fairbanks, Academy buildings, North Congregational church, "Brantview," the residence of the late Colonel W. P. Fairbanks, Y. M. C. A. building, Music hall, Museum, Pinkerton academy, Derry,
RESIDENCE OF LAMBERT PACKARD.
At the age of fifteen he was thrown upon his own resources. He went to Lowell and Lawrence, Massachu- setts, and soon entered an engineer's office, and later an architect's office as draughtsman; finally he located in Boston as pattern maker. In 1866 he returned to St. Johnsbury and located where he now resides and there his aged parents found a good home. He was general superintend- ent in building the Atheneum for
New Hampshire, Hotel Wheelock and Y. M. C. A building, Hanover, New Hampshire, and Bradford Pub- lie library, besides other public buildings and numerous residences not mentioned.
Mr. Packard married Miss Amanda F. Richardson of Law- rence, Massachusetts, in 1862. They have had three children, two sons and a daughter, Miss Mary Emma Packard being the only one living.
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
CHENEY, HENRY M., son of Danforth and Lois (Pike) Cheney, was born in Waterford, Vermont.
Abial Cheney, brother of Thomas Cheney, the grandfather of the sub- ject of this sketch, was one of the earliest pioneers of Waterford, and
four daughters survive, namely: Abial, a veteran of the Eleventh Vermont regiment; Rhoda, widow of John A. Ripley, and Abbie, widow of R. S. Brigham, all residents of West Concord; John, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Danforth of Brookfield, Missouri; Nellie A., wife of A. K.
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