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 29
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 29
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 29
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BAILEY, CHARLES J .. son of Charles R. and Myrilla J. (MeClure) Bailey, was born at Ryegate, July 20, 1867. He is a descendant of the noted Bailey family of Newbury, of
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CALEDONIA COUNTY.
which General Bailey was the pio- neer. He attended the public schools of South Ryegate, and at the age of fourteen entered the employ of George L. Hall, remaining four years.
After spending a year of appren- ticeship at the South Ryegate sta- tion, with P. J. Baird, Charles, at the age of twenty, was appointed telegraph operator at Warren, New Hampshire, where he remained nearly two years. In April, 1889, he became station agent at South Ryegate and occupied this position until 1893.
Mr. Bailey was married to Miss Eva Adams of Chelsea, Massachu- setts, July 27, 1892. The fol- lowing February he was ap-
CHARLES J. BAILEY.
pointed agent of the Mont- pelier & Wells River station at Barre, and filled this responsible po- sition most acceptably until Octo-
ber, 1894, at which time, by reason of an accident, he was nearly de- prived of his eyesight, and was una- ble to resume his duties until Jan- uary, 1895, when he took possession of the station at Groton.
In politics he is a Democrat. He has held several town office>, hav- ing been tax collector for two years, and also town auditor, and in 1902 represented the town in the legisla- ture.
HOUGH, REV. ALFRED J., was born September 23. 1848, at Christchurch, Hampshire, Eng- land.
For thirty years Mr. Hough has been a successful member of the Vermont conference and has served the following charges: Hartland, Woodstock, White River Junction, three separate times, Brattleboro, Bradford, Montpelier, and is now serving his third year at Groton.
Mr. Hough has served Groton as superintendent of schools and has, during his residence in the state, endeared himself to a large circle of friends outside as well as within the church. For many years he has been recognized as a writer of ability.
He has lectured all over Ver- mont and New Hampshire and the scholarly and thorough preparation for this peculiar field of usefulness has in past years made him one of the popular platform speakers of the state.
January 22, 1813. Mr. Hough was united in marriage to Celia Elizabeth Harrington, a lady of re- finement and great worth. Mrs. Ilough is a descendant from Lem- uel Jenkins who. according to the Rowell Genealogy, with his father
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and five brothers, lay in the trenches with Warren at Bunker Hill (see Jenkins family, Kirby).
Mr. and Mrs. Hough have been blessed by the birth of four chil- dren : Mary F., George H., Howard
years of age, and in early boyhood he was bound out on a New Hamp- shire farm where he received only the usual advantages of the com- mon schools. At fifteen years of age he went to Lawrence, Massa-
REV. ALFRED J. HOUGH.
R., and Arthur H., the last three being in business at White River Junction, Vermont.
CLOUGH, REV. GEORGE WES- LEY, son of Morr's and Martha (Foss) Clough, was born in Haver- hill, Massachusetts, in 1849. His father died when he was three
chusetts, where he was converted and joined the Second Baptist church.
At the age of eighteen he went to Madison, now Colgate university, Hamilton, New York, where he completed his theological studies in 1869. During the ensuing ten
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CALEDONIA COUNTY.
years he pursued his trade as painter and paper hanger.
During the latter part of that time he was intimately connected with the Y. M. C. A. work, assist- ing in holding meetings in school houses and the public parks, and during the last two years he preached every fourth Sabbath, al-
REV. GEORGE W. CLOUGH.
ternating with the different elergy- men in sustaining a mission, and also preached occasionally during the remaining Sundays without compensation to a colored congre- gation. In the summer of '79 he supplied at Newton Junction, New Hampshire, then the youngest par- ish in the state, was ordained the following December, and remained
three years. He then was called to the Bakers River Baptist church of Rumney, New Hampshire.
His subsequent fields of labor were at Groton, two years; North Troy, two years; West Plattsburg, New York, three years, where he baptized forty-two persons; Ando- ver, Massachusetts, two years, and Mount Holly, six years. He was unanimously recalled to Groton, May 1, 1889, where he has labored zealously and successfully.
He married Miss Mary E. Kemp- ton of Lawrence, in 1871. and they have two sons and two daughters, Ida E., Ervin W. and Eva A., twins, and Arthur W. Mrs. Clough died Aug. 10, 1903.
Rev. Mr. Clough is superintendent of the public schools of Groton.
DARLING, HON. JONATHAN R. The name of Darling has been a familiar and honored one in the an- nals of Groton during three gener- ations.
John Darling, the first progenitor in this town, was one of its earliest settlers.
In his youth a great reader. he was remarkably well versed in his- tory, both ancient and modern. He was a prodigy of industry. After laboring all day faithfully on his father's farm, he would spend a por- tion of the night clearing land by contract for a neighbor. He was a citizen of incorruptible integrity. He was town clerk 15 years, was many years justice of the peace, se- leetman and represented Groton in 1836, '37, and '38.
J. R., son of John and Jeanette Brock Darling, was born in Groton in 1823, and received his education at Peacham and Danville acad-
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
emies. Naturally active and ener- getic, through a long and honorable career he has strictly devoted him- self to mercantile, agricultural, and
JONATHAN R. DARLING.
business pursuits and has yet found time to discharge many important publie duties.
From 1847 to 1857 he was a mem- ber of the firm of Welch, Darling & Clark of Groton. Since that time he has been engaged in general trade, lumbering, and farming. He was in company with Isaac M. Rick- er in the lumber business in this village for 18 years, but closed the partnership in 1885, Mr. Darling taking the lumber lots in the gore. In 1883 he entered into partnership with his sons under the firm name of J. R. Darling & Sons. Their busi- ness has been very extensive, and they have been large employers of labor.
An old time Whig until 1856, Mr. Darling joined the Republican party at this time, and is an ardent advo-
cate of the protection of American labor and industries. He has held many offices of trust and responsi- bility, is a public-spirited citizen. and regarded as a wise counselor in business affairs. He was town clerk about 38 years, was representative in 1857 and '58, and state senator m '80 and '81. He was elected assist- ant judge of Caledonia county in 1869 and held the position three years.
Sarah M. (Taisey) Darling was born in Groton April 4, 1827, a daughter of John and Phoebe (Heath) Taisey. She was educated in the schools of her native town.
July 1, 1849, she was married to Judge Darling. Their union has been a particularly happy one. Possessed with a spirit of industry, economy, and pleasantry to a marked degree, she has ever watched over and cared for not only her im-
MRS. JONATHAN R. DARLING,
mediate family but all whose wants and cares have come to her atten- tion. Unselfish, generous and quick to respond to the worthy needs of
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all, Mrs. Darling has won a lasting place in the hearts of those who have been fortunate in enjoying her acquaintance.
There have been born to Judge and Mrs. Darling eight children of whom six are still living. Cyrus T. Darling is business manager of the Davenport (Iowa) Democrat, one of the leading newspapers of the northwest. He married Lilla Ann Dixon ; Evalona married Dr. S. N. Eastman : John T., married Maggie R. Ricker. J. T. Darling is mana- ger in the store and has recently erected a beautiful home on Depot street ; Robards N., who is foreman in the lumber business, married Vi- letta Paine : Elmer Ellsworth, fore- man in the farming, married Minnie A. Heath ; Walter Brock, a sales- man on the road, married Luella Babcock.
Judge Darling carries his nearly fourscore years bravely, is still an active man and enjoys a good degree of mental and physical vigor, and the high esteem of a wide circle of relatives and friends. It will be re- membered to the lasting credit of Judge Darling that he was the pioneer in building the first granite shed in Groton in 1896 and another shed in '98, thus starting and also financiering an industry on which the future of Groton so largely depends.
EASTMAN, DR. SETH N., a na- tive of Topsham, where his father, Bernard Eastman, came as a pioneer settler at the age of 19, was a long- time and respected citizen, and died in 1889 at the age of 81.
Seth N. Eastman was a student of Newbury seminary, but at the age of 17, enlisted, August, 1861, in Co.
B, Sixth regiment, Vermont Volun- teers, Colonel Nathan Lord.
He was badly wounded in the leg at Savage Station, June 29, 1862, laid all night beside the road, and the next day witnessed the advance of Lee's army along the turnpike, and a portion of the battle of Mal- vern Hill. He laid three days on the battle-field before he was picked up by the Confederates and sent to Richmond on a freight car. The wound was never dressed by a sur- geon, and he still carries rebel lead in his leg. He was sent to Libby prison, and then to Belle Isle, where after three months he was paroled.
The provisions were barely suffi- cient to sustain life. In three months he was reduced from 150 pounds to a walking skeleton of 90 pounds of skin and bones. When paroled he was bare headed and bare foot and wore nothing but a tattered shirt and trousers. Fortunately, at Alexandria he met a squad of Tops- ham men, going to the front, who supplied him with clothing and per- haps saved his life. He rejoined his regiment at Hagerstown, Mary- land, in September, 1862, and was exchanged six months later.
He was with the old Sixth during the last grand advance on Rich- mond, including the red deluge of Spottsylvania. Bloody Angle, and the Wilderness. At Spottsylvania his company came out of the battle with 13 muskets, Co. F with 4, and the regiment with 94.
In 1865 he commenced reading medicine with Dr. George K. Bayley and continued two years, after which he spent a year in the office of Dr. G. H. Plumley of Mont- pelier, graduating in January,
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
1869. He attended the Eclectic Medical college of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia and Dartmouth Medi- cal college in 1884. He located in
SETH N. EASTMAN, M. D.
Groton soon after and has remained in practice here ever since. Dr. Eastman is a member of the White Mountain Medical society and the United States examining board for pensions.
In 1875 Dr. Eastman was united in marriage to Evalona, daughter of Hon. Jonathan R. and Sarah M. (Taisey) Darling, a lady of refine- ment and rare worth. Two sons were born to them, Cyrus D., born October 2, 1877, and Bernard S., born June 20, 1880. Cyrus D. graduated from the Montpelier seminary in 1896 and manifested unusual taste and ability as a writer and a particularly bright career seemed to be open to him when tubercular consumption appeared
and after a few months in sanator- iums in Colorado and New Mexico he succumbed February 2, 1900.
Bernard S. secured his education in the schools of Groton and at Montpelier seminary and is a clerk in Judge Darling's general store at Groton.
From the last illness of Cyrus D. Eastman his mother seemed to lose courage and strength and gradually the mother love yearn- ing for the first born gave way and on June 16, 1903, she passed away, surrounded by loving and tender ones to join him who had so re- cently gone before. Mrs. East- man was a particularly bright. kind, and lovable woman, who from inheritance, education, and envi-
MRS. SETH N. EASTMAN.
ronment had come to be recog- nized as a leading spirit in the community ; for several years she was a devoted and capable teacher
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CALEDONIA COUNTY.
in the schools of Groton and at the time of her death had been a con- sistent and working member of the Methodist church.
Dr. Eastman is a member of Colonel Preston post, No. 64, G. A. R., and was a member of Sher- man lodge, No. 72, F. and A. M. of Topsham. He has been select- man, was nine years superintend- ent of schools and as a Democrat represented Groton in 1890 in the legislature.
HARDWICK.
Population, Census of 1900, 2,466.
The town of Hardwick is situated in the northwest corner of Cale- donia county and borders on Or- leans. Lamoille and Washington counties. It was a part of Orange county until November, 1792, when Caledonia county was organized. The town was granted November 7, 1:80, and chartered August 19, 1:81, to Danforth Keyes and his as- sociates. It takes its name from Hardwick, Massachusetts, where several of the original proprietors and early settlers formerly resided.
The exact date of the first settle- ment is somewhat in doubt. The first persons to come into town with a view to settling were, doubt- less, Peter Page and one Safford. It is supposed they came shortly after the town was chartered. Meeting with some discourage- ments, however, they abandoned the undertaking for a time, after hav- ing begun a clearing in the vicinity of the Hazen road just east of East Hardwick village. Mark Norris Javs claim to being the first settler. Ile says in his diary: " I went from
Dewey's gore, so called, and made a pitch in Hardwick on the 16th day of May in the year 1788, which was the first pitch that ever was made in the town." In this he seems to have been in error. It is certain, however, that Mr. Norris moved his family into town March 13, 1792, and their coming marked the begin- ning of the permanent settlement of the town. The centennial of this event was celebrated with appro- priate exercises on the 4th of July, 1892.
During the same month that Mark Norris brought his family in- to town, Nathaniel Norris, a cousin, moved in and Peter Page returned to continue the work already begun by him and Safford. From this time the growth of the town was quite rapid and in 1800 there were 260 inhabitants. The first town meeting was held in 1995. Paul Spooner, son of Doctor Paul Spoon- er of Hartland, Vermont, who was lieutenant-governor from 1:82 to 1:86, and a judge of the supreme court of the state for nine years, be- side holding other important po- sitions under the Council of Safety and the early state government, was the first town clerk ; and Ensign Elijah True, Nathaniel Norris, and Timothy Hastings were the first se- Jectmen.
The Hazen road, a military road constructed during the Revolution- ary war by General Moses Hazen. crossed the northeast part of the town, and determined the trend of settlement and of the early business of the town. Three early settle- ments did much to determine the future business centers of the town. In 1:95. Captain John Bridgman of
JUDEVINE MEMORIAL LIBRARY, HARDWICK, VERMONT,
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MEMORIAL LIBRARY
L
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CALEDONIA COUNTY.
Hanover, New Hampshire, made the first settlement in the south part of the town and was influential in es- tablishing the village of Hardwick, successively known as Lamoille Vil- lage, Hardwick Hollow, South Hardwick, and latterly as Hardwick. Mills were built here quite early and several manufacturing enterprises soon sprang up. In 1:96 Colonel Alpha Warner of Hardwick, Massa- chusetts, came to town and opened a house of entertainment on the Ha- zen road. Other business places, notably the store of Strong & De- lano, sprang up near by and the "Street " or " Hazen's Road," be- came the chief business center of the town, a distinction which it held for a long time. In 1798 Samuel Stearns, a native of Newbury, Ver- mont, settled at East Hardwick and built a sawmill and later a grist- mill, the first mills built in town. There sprang up in the vicinity of these mills a business center long known as Stearnsville and now the village of East Hardwick.
The year 1871 marked the advent of the railroad, the first train to reach Hardwick arriving November 24 of that year. Before that time traffic with the outside world was by teams running to Barton, St. Johns- bury, and principally Montpelier. The coming of the railroad opened up possibilities never dreamed of by the early inhabitant. With it came the opening of the granite business and Hardwick became the trading center for the surrounding towns.
The growth of the town up to 1894 or 1895 was gradual but con- stant. About that time the granite business took on a boom and has in-
creased until (1904) Hardwick has become a leading manufacturing center, and Hardwick village a thriving and rapidly growing com- munity. This village was incorpo- rated in 1890 and organized Jan- mary 24, 1891, with Dorman Bridg- man as president and M. V. B. Hathaway as clerk. It owns a val- uable electric light plant, which sup- plies light and power at reasonable rates, and an excellent water sys- tem.
The town has a fine free public li- brary, the gift of Mrs. A. E. Jude- vine as a memorial to her husband and son ; an excellent system of public schools with a first-class graded and high school in Hardwick village ; six churches, four at Hard- wick and two at East Hardwick ; a fine town hall, suited to entertain- ment purposes ; and it has, besides, varied manufacturing and business industries too numerous to men- tion.
This brief sketch would not be complete without mentioning the Hardwick and Woodbury railroad. No one thing has contributed more to the prosperity of Hardwick than the building of this railroad. It extends from Hardwick into the ex- tensive granite quarries of Robinson mountain in Woodbury. The road was chartered in 1894 and the work of construction was commenced in the summer of 1895 and completed in November, 1896. The road has been built and equipped free of debt, an unprecedented record for a Vermont railroad. The success of the undertaking has been largely due to the untiring efforts of its superintendent, J. V. Dutton.
22
A GROUP OF HARDWICK CHURCHES, WITH A GENERAL VIEW OF THE TOWN.
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CALEDONIA COUNTY.
WOODBURY GRANITE COM- PANY. To the growth of the Wood- bury Granite Company, more than any other single cause, is due the rapid growth of the village of Hard- wick. This company was organized under the laws of Vermont in 1888 for the purpose of quarrying gran- ite in Woodbury, Vermont. In 1896 the controlling interest of the company was bought up by John S.
Charles W. Leonard, Charles H. More & Co. of Montpelier, and George H. Bickford. The firm built a large cutting plant at Hardwick and continued business under the firm name until the spring of 1892, when the business was bought by the Woodbury Granite Company and the two firms consolidated. Since that time the Woodbury Granite Company has largely in-
STONE-SHEDS OF WOODBURY GRANITE CO. AT HARDWICK, VERMONT.
Holden of Bennington, Charles W. Leonard of Boston, and George H. Bickford of Bennington. For a year or two manufacturing was done in Woodbury. Late in the fall of 1898 a partnership was formed un- der the name of Bickford, More & Co., for the purpose of manufactur- ing the granite to be quarried at Woodbury by the Woodbury Granite Company, the members of the part- nership being John S. Holden,
creased its cutting plant at Hard- wick, so that to-day it is twice the size of the plant at the time it was bought from Bickford, More & Co. It has also greatly increased its quarrying facilities at Woodbury, until it is safe to say that the firm is operating in Hardwick the largest single cutting plant, devoted exclu- sively to the manufacture of gran- ite, to be found in the country; and the quarries at Woodbury are ad-
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
mitted to be the most complete in the way of equipment and capacity for large production of any in the country.
The firm devotes its attention al- most exclusively to building work of the best and largest class, as well as to vault work and the largest kind of monumental work. Since beginning operations the firm has been obliged to be continually in- creasing its plant to keep up with
try, and the firm is running up- ward of four hundred and fifty men in its plant at Hardwiek proper, and is also running one hundred men at the quarry. It has a pay-roll in the town of Hardwiek running from twenty-five to thirty thousand dol- lars a month, which, of course, has given a great impetus to the growth of Hardwick in every direction.
The members of the Woodbury Granite Company own the control-
QUARRIES AT WOODBURY.
the growing business, and it has de- servedly won a reputation for pro- ducing the highest class of building work and for carrying out its con- traets to the letter. The company is now engaged in the manufacture of granite required for the state capitol of Pennsylvania, which is being erected at Harrisburg. This is, perhaps, the largest single contract for granite that has ever been let in this coun-
ling interest in the Hardwick & Woodbury railroad, which has about twelve miles of track, with engine and ear equipment, the road having been built exclusively for the trans- portation of granite from the quar- ries in Woodbury to the St. Johns- bury & Lake Champlain railroad at Hardwick. In the fall of 1903 the company bought a valuable piece of quarry property in Bethel, Ver- mont, and built a large cutting
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CALEDONIA COUNTY.
plant there for the manufacture of this granite and is now producing in Bethel a very high class granite which is almost pure white in color, and in great demand for the best class of building work. They have just completed two very fine resi- dences on Fifth avenue, New York city, out of this granite.
The business of the company is under the personal management of George H. Bickford, who moved to Hardwick in the fall of 1898 for the purpose of taking charge of the business. Some idea of the com-
Keene, New Hampshire, after which he completed a full course at the Montpelier seminary, entered Wes- leyan university at Middletown, Connecticut, and graduated with the highest honors in the class of 1891.
Mr. Bickford was united in mar- riage to Alice A., eldest daughter of John S. Holden, on October 9, 1894. The fruit of this union is one son, George Floyd, born July 12, 1897. UNION GRANITE COMPANY. The Union Granite company of Hardwick consists of two brothers,
PENNSYLVANIA STATE CAFITOL.
The granite for this magnificent building is being supplied by the Woodbury Granite Company.
parative size of the cutting plant at Hardwick can be gained from the fact that the plant is built and equipped to produce a quantity of finished work probably more than double that of any single plant in the state, and to-day the company is unable to keep up with the de- mand for its product, even among its old and established customers.
George Hamilton Bickford, the manager of the Woodbury Granite Company, was born at Barton, Ver- mont, October 10, 1868, a son of Rev. George H. Bickford, who died in that town. He was educated at
Robert C. and George B. Wallace, 34 and 28 years of age, both born in Canada, members of a large family of genuine Scotch ancestry. Some years ago they came to Hardwick and began to learn the trade of granite working, and being by na- ture mechanical, they soon became proficient workmen. In 1896 they began business for themselves, do- ing all of their own work. By strict attention and by doing the best of work, their business soon increased and they began to employ help, which they have constantly added to, until at the present time
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they employ upwards of thirty men, many of them being among the best and most skilled workmen in this country.
where he became part owner and had charge of a stock and grain farm of one thousand acres. At the end of four years he sold out his in-
STONE-SHEDS OF UNION GRANITE CO., HARDWICK, VERMONT.
Their work is mostly monumen- tal, with fine carving. The stock used is Hardwick, Woodbury, and Barre granite, and the finished pro- ducts are shipped to nearly every state in the Union.
BRONSON. TIMOTHY G., son of William D. and Anna D. (Mason) Bronson, was born at Hardwick, Vermont, May 8, 1859, and was edu- cated in the schools of Hardwick and at Barre academy, graduating from the latter in 1880. In 1881 he went to Iowa, where he taught school for a year. He was then united in marriage to Jennie L. Avery of Corinth, Vermont, after which they went to South Dakota,
terest in the business, and came back to Hardwick. January, 1887, he took charge of the old home farm and has remained upon the same ever since. This is one of the model stock farms, of 450 acres, with fine buildings, and a sugar or- chard of 2,500 trees. The farm now has upwards of one hundred head of "Registered Jersey cattle," also keeps a fine line of "O. I. C." hogs. A large dairy is kept, and the products all made into butter on the farm.
Brondale farm is located on the river road about two miles above East Hardwick village, easy of ac- cess at all seasons of the year, and
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