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 36
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 36
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 36
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June 27th, 1866. He was for many years an active and working mem- ber of the Congregational church, of which he was a deacon.
Ezra Selden Freeman, son of Hon. Reuben W., was born in Guild- hall, March 28th, 1825, received his education in the public schools, and took up farming. He maintained and practised advanced methods of farming and was for many years called the best farmer in Guildhall. March 12th, 1868, he was united in marriage to H. Luella Aldrich of Concord, Vermont. Mr. Freeman has held the various town offices and represented Guildhall in the general assembly in 1868 and in 1869.
He is a much respected citizen, who has always manifested a deep interest in anything that would aid the business, moral, religious, or so- cial side of his native town, a man of clear understanding, broad views, and industrions.
FOLLANSBY, HON. PUTNEY R., is son of James and Ruth (Rowell) Follansby of Hill, New Hampshire, where he was born July 25, 1826.
The Follansby and Rowell famil- ies are among the carliest settlers of New England. Early records tell us that the Follansby family is of Norman descent and were follow- ers of the Duke of Normandy in his successful conquest of England in 1066.
Thomas Follansby came to Amer- ica in 1:50 and settled in Newbury- port, Massachusetts. He served in the French war and assisted in the building of Fort William Henry.
Benjamin Follansby, son of Thomas, settled in Hill, New Hamp- shire, about 1800, and died there in 1836. He had three wives. His
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ESSEX COUNTY.
first wife was a Miss Peabody of Danvers, Massachusetts, a near rel- ative of George Peabody, the re- nowned London banker and philan- thropist.
James Follansby, son of Benja- min Follansby and Miss Peabody,
Bradford, the Bradford academy, the public schools of Maidstone and Guildhall, and at the Tilton (New Hampshire) seminary. He taught school for several years after com- pleting his education, teaching in Tilton, Sanbornton, and Northum-
PUTNEY R. FOLLANSBY.
was born in May, 1800. He mar- ried Ruth Rowell of Bradford in 1824. In the fall of 1838 he vis- ited Essex county and located on the William Rich farm. He died in Guildhall in 1871.
Hon. Putney R. Follansby was educated in the public schools of
berland, New Hampshire, and Maid- stone, Vermont.
October 16, 1849, he married Amanda L. Lucas, a daughter of John A. and Lois (Dustin) Lucas, a descendant of Hannah Dustin. Their union has been enriched by the birth of six children, Lois II.
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
(deceased). James L., Fara A. (Mrs. Trescott A. Chase of Bradford. Ver- mont), Nellie M. (deceased), Kath- erine C .. and Frederick L.
In politics Mr. Follansby is a Democrat of the old school, staunch, unyielding, and consistent. Ile rep- resented Maidstone in the general assembly, 1852-53-'58-59-62-63. and Guildhall, 1876-'77, seven terms in all.
He was county commissioner in
FREDERICK L. FOLLANSBY.
1854 and 1859, and judge of pro- bate, district of Essex, 1879-'80. During the Civil war he was first selectman of Maidstone and his vig- orous but wise policy of pay as you go brought the town out of the "great conflict" without a dollar of "war debt."
Frederick L., son of Hon. Putney R. and Amanda L. (Lucas) Follans-
by, was born in Guildhall, Septem- ber 25, 1870; was educated in the public schools and at the Essex county grammar school. At the age of eighteen he entered the em- ploy of Robert Chase & Co., as a bookkeeper, where he remained six years. The following four years he was employed in a shoe factory at Salem, Massachusetts, at the expira- tion of which time he returned to his old home and opened a general store in the fall of 1898. He has served Guildhall as justice of the peace four years, school director four years, and is now chairman of the board and represented the town in the general assembly in 1902. He is unmarried and resides with his parents.
BENTON, HON. CHARLES EMER- SON* was the seventh son and twelfth child of Samuel Slade and Esther (Prouty) Benton. He was born at Waterford, December 11, 1825, and was a child of between three and four years when his father moved to St. Johnsbury, and was about seventeen years old when his father moved to Lancaster, New Hampshire.
Ile was educated in the public schools of St. Johnsbury, and at the St. Johnsbury academy. He re- mained with his father on the farm at Lancaster until it was sold, and his father went to Newbury in 1847, when he was twenty-two, and he went with his parents, being the only child then at home.
Ile there lived with them until October 21. 1856, when he mar- ried Adda, daughter of Abner and Mary (Haseltine) Chamberlin of Newbury. November 6, 1856, he
* In part from sketch published by his nephew, J. H. Benton, Jr., in 1901.
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ESSEX COUNTY.
bought of his father the place at Newbury, where he remained until April, 1860, when he sold the place and moved to Guildhall, Vermont, where he purchased a farm on the
Guildhall, where he lived until his death.
He was county clerk from 1865 to June, 1892, a period of twenty- seven years. He was a very popular
Charles ScButon
River road, known as the Dennison farm.
He lived and carried on the farm until the fall of 1865, when he was appointed county clerk, and in March, 1866, he sold his farm and purchased a place in the village of
man, very much liked by his neigh- bors and townspeople, and held many offices. He was representa- tive from Guildhall in the general assembly. 1866-67, and was state senator 18:4-45. Ile was county treasurer from 1886 to 1892; regis-
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
ter of probate, 1884, and judge of probate from 1886 to the time of his death in 1892.
He was a large, handsome man with the black eyes of his mother. He had a keen sense of justice; was patient and amiable. He was se- lected as auditor and referee in many cases, and his decisions were usnally accepted as sound and satis- factory.
He became a member of the Con- gregational church at Guildhall, July 6, 1829, and in the latter part of his life was quite active in church matters.
He was a kind-hearted, amiable man, fond of his family and his friends, and everybody whom he met was his friend.
He was an ardent and consistent Republican, serving as a member of the Republican state committee of that party for ten consecutive years, and when he was a candidate for of- fice he always ran ahead of his ticket.
He died at Guildhall in 1892, and is buried in the family lot in Lan- caster, New Hampshire. The ac- companying picture was taken about the time he came to Guild- hall.
BENTON, HON. EVERETT C., son of Judge Charles E. and Adda (Chamberlain) Benton, was born in Guildhall, September 25, 1862.
He is of English descent, his an- cestors, on both sides, having come to America previous to 1:00. They settled in both Massachusetts and Connecticut, and were without ex- ception prominent in the early his- tory of those states.
Mr. Benton's paternal great grandfather was a captain in the Continental army, under General
Washington at Valley Forge, while his maternal great grandfather was one of Captain Johnson's minute- men, and was present with Ethan Allen at the capture of Fort Ticon- deroga.
The grandparents of Mr. Benton, both paternal and maternal, were pioneers in Vermont.
In early youth Mr. Benton at- tended the public schools of his native town and the Essex county grammar school.
Mr. Benton commenced his po- litical career at the age of fourteen, when he was appointed a page in the Vermont senate. He was next appointed, for a term of two years, clerk to the secretary of state, and then deputy connty clerk of Essex connty.
At the age of nineteen he decided on a business career, and in Feb- ruary, 1882, he went to Boston and accepted a position as a clerk in the John C. Paige Insurance agency. Fifteen years of constant and faith- ful attention to his work won for him in 1897 a partnership in the well and favorably known house.
He has always taken a deep and lively interest in politics, and for several years was active in the man- agement of the Massachusetts Re- publican state committee, his last year being the celebrated campaign in which Governor Greenhalge was elected.
In 1896 Mr. Benton was a dele- gate to the National Republican con- vention and secretary of the Massa- chusetts delegation, and again in 1900 he was chosen a delegate to the National Republican couvention and was secretary to the committee on permanent organization.
Mr. Benton served on Governor
EVERETT C. BENTON.
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
Greenhalge's staff as an aid with the rank of colonel in 1894-'95-'96, and in 1899 he represented the Third district of Massachusetts in the exe- cutive conneil.
While Colonel Benton has won distinction and achieved a splendid degree of success in Massachusetts, yet never for a moment has his heart wavered in its devotion and love of the green hills, the valleys and the streams of his native Vermont. Back to Guildhall, nestled among the hills of old Essex, have his thoughts fre- quently flown, and years ago he re- cognized that the first town of his native county, rich in tradition and history, had much that ought to be preserved for those who were to fol- low in years to come. So while yet a mere lad, we find him gathering scraps of history, listening to the local stories and gathering all possi- ble information. From these he compiled "Benton's History of Guildhall." which has long been recognized as a valuable and authen- tie history, not only of the town of Guildhall, but as supplying much of the reliable early history of Essex county.
The Essex County Herald of July 19, 1901, says of him: "Being bound by his ancestral church to one of its sacred places, he, in 1899, erected a monument there which commemo- rates the location of the first church edifice in town." (See Guildhall historical sketch for engraving.) "The monument typifies a filial re- spect and affection as deep and last- ing as nature can produce, and so noble as to be classed among the highest virtues in human nature."
"But he was not content with this. He saw and felt through all his boy- hood days, a great want for literary
improvement. He saw how he could fill the hearts of his boyhood's asso- ciates with pleasure and profit, which he did in 1900 by erecting a rich public library and Masonie building (see Guildhall historical sketch for engraving), put hundreds of volumes into it-selected by the rare taste of his scholarly compan- ion, whose affections ran back along lines of affinity to the home of his early childhood-brought into it the young, strong, and powerful men of his age and time, and with them sol- emnly pledged their devotion to the most sacred principles of humanity and fraternity that ever filled the souls of men. All this was done with a single mind to conceive the work, and a single hand to execute it. Nothing was done grudgingly. Nothing was wanting that was not supplied."
In 1885, Colonel Benton married in Boston Willena Rogers, and of seven children born to them six are living. Jay R., Charles E., Blanche A., Dorothy D., Hannah S .. and Jo- siah H.
Mr. Benton is a member of va- rious organizations, among which are the Algonquin and Athletic clubs, Boston Merchants' association, and vice-president of the Beacon so- ciety of Boston. The latter organi- zation is the most prominent and in- fluential dining society in this coun- try. He is also a member of the An- cient and llonorable Artillery com- pany of Boston, a member of the Odd Fellows, a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity, 33°, and a Granger. His membership in the two latter or- ganizations he keeps at Guildhall.
Each year he returns to his native town, where he keeps his residence, the beautiful old homestead, "The
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ESSEX COUNTY.
Tamaracks," with his family, where he may be found at various times during the summer months, and al- though he may be resting from his enormous and constantly growing business cares, he is seldom idle, and when in Vermont his time is usually occupied in some enterprise to ad- vance the interest of the people and the state of his nativity.
BENTON, JAY BAYARD, who is one of the best known of the younger newspaper men of Boston, is a native of Essex county and was born in Guildhall on April 10, 1870. He was the youngest son of Charles E. and Adda (Chamberlin) Benton. He received his education in the schools of his native village, the Essex County grammar school, Lan- caster, New Hampshire, and St. Johnsbury academies. At the last- named institution he was the young- est member in a large graduating class in 1885, and delivered the Latin salutatory at the commence- ment exercises. In the year be- tween his gradnation at St. Johns- bury and his entering Dartmouth college he went to New York and served as the librarian in the Young Men's institute, which had just been started. He resigned this position that he might enter college. He was a member of the class of 1890 at Dartmouth, graduating with hon- ors and delivering a dissertation at the commencement exercises. Ile was a member of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity, and for his excel- lence in scholarship was among those chosen to the Phi Beta Kappa at graduation. He held various class offices, was president of the Handel society and chorister during his senior year. Ile had shown an in-
terest in newspaper work when a boy at his home in Guildhall, and his correspondence for the columns of the Essex County Herald gave in- dication of an aptitude for journal- ism. This was again shown in col- lege, where for the last two years of his course he was one of the editors of The Dartmouth, the leading publi- cation of the college. Upon gradua- tion he decided to follow newspaper work as a profession and he came to Boston, where he obtained a position upon the staff of the Boston Erening Transcript. His advancement here was rapid, and in the course of two years he had been promoted to the position of assistant city editor. He was engaged to become assistant managing editor of the Boston Jour- nal in 1894, and while in the employ of that paper he had special charge of the Sunday edition, which had just been started. In 1897 he was engaged to return to the employ of the Boston Erening Transcript to take his old position, but in less than a year he was advanced to the city editorship, which he has held ever since. It is one of the most re- sponsible positions upon the paper, being the direction of all the local news from Boston and the suburban places, and Mr. Benton has made a great success of it from the very start. For a number of years he has been the Boston correspondent of the New York Dramatic Mirror, and his letters in that paper have been widely read and quoted and made him especially well known among the theatrical profession. Ile has served as the press representative of the Hollis Street, Colonial, and Park theatres, and acted in the same capacity for the Boston Museum un-
JAY B. BENTON.
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ESSEX COUNTY.
til that historie playhouse was torn down to make way for an office building.
He belongs to a number of the clubs of Boston, and has been iden- tified with the University club, the Papyrus club, the Boston Press club, of which he was at one time a direc- tor, the Newspaper club, in which he has held every office, the Dartmouth club, and the Vermont association of Boston. He is an enthusiastic Mason, and after taking his first de- grees in Benton lodge, A. F. & 1. M., in his native place, he became identified with Boston Lafayette Lodge of Perfection, Giles F. Yates Council, Princes of Jerusalem, Mount Olivet chapter of Rose Croix. the Massachusetts Consistory, S. P. R. S., 32°, Woburn Royal Arch Chapter, and St. Bernard Com- mandery of Knights Templar. Ile is unmarried, and has lived in Win- chester, one of the most attractive suburbs of Boston, since 1892. He has traveled quite extensively in his vacations, making three trips to Europe, and the letters of descrip- tion which he has sent home to the Transcript and other publications have been greatly praised for their vividness and accuracy of descrip- tion.
CALL, NELSON, was born in Guildhall, Vermont, in 1841, son of Simeon Call. He attended school in his native town and has followed farming and the profession of a veterinary.
In 1862 Mr. Call married Martha A. Stone of Guildhall, daughter of David Stone of Claremont, New Hampshire. They have no chil- dren.
Mr. Call has served Guildhall as a justice of the peace, lister, and in 1898 was its representative in the
general assembly of Vermont. In politics he is a Democrat of the old school.
The home farm contains 175 acres and ten head of stock are kept. Mr. Call is a genial, pleasant, and enterprising man, always inter-
NELSON CALL.
ested in anything that will aid his native town.
PHILBRICK, JONATHAN, son of Thomas and Susan (Boston) Phil- brick, was born in Bartlett, New Hampshire, October 26th, 1836. When a boy of six years his parents moved to Maidstone, Vermont. He attended the public schools of Maidstone and Guildhall. At twenty years of age he went to Hol- yoke, Massachusetts, and for two years was employed in a paper mill at that place ..
In 1858 he purchased the farm where he now resides, in Guildhall, installed his father on the place and
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
went to Boston and entered the em- ploy of the Boston & Providence railway, first as a fireman and then as an engineer. For twenty-nine years Mr. Philbrick remained at this post and in 188; he returned to his farm in Guildhall where he still re- sides.
In 1876 Mr. Philbrick married Amelia F. Boston of Boston, Massa- chusetts, a native of Guildhall. No children were born to them. Mrs. Philbrick died January 20, 1894.
Mr. Philbrick has held the usual town offices and in 1892 represented Guildhall in the general assembly of Vermont.
A word should be said of the
JONATHAN PHILBRICK.
father of Jonathan Philbrick. Thomas Philbrick was born in Con- way, New Hampshire, February 28th, 1804, and located in Guild- hall in 1847, where he resided until his death, March 22d. 1886. lle
married Susan Boston. Seven chil- dren blessed the union, one of whom, Sarah F. (deceased), married Augustus Drew of Maidstone. Mr. Philbrick was a man highly es-
THOMAS PHILBRICK.
teemed, of sound judgment and great worth, and was regarded as one of the strong men of Guildhall. He held the various town offices.
BOYCE FAMILY, THE. George S. Boyce came to Guildhall with his father. James Boyce. from New- bury, Vermont, when fourteen years of age and located on the North road. He held the varions town offices and in 1854 married Fannie S. Lamkin of Guildhall, Vermont. They had three children, Guy L. (deceased), John W., and Sadie A. (Mrs. Henry Smith, deceased), of Guildhall, Vermont. Mr. George S. Boyce died February 3d, 1899, at the old Boyce homestead, where he lived fifty-seven years.
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ESSEX COUNTY.
Guy L. Boyce, born in Guildhall in 1856, died in the same room lie was born in and with the same at- tending physician, June 17th, 1894. He was educated in the public schools and when sixteen years of age went to Boston, Massachusetts, where he remained for twenty-two years. He was a successful shoe merchant in company with his brother, John W. He married Ida Baker of Lincoln, Massachusetts. They had three children, two of whom are now living, Harriet L. and George Minott. The widow and children reside at Lincoln.
GUY L. BOYCE.
John W. Boyce was born in Guild- hall in 1862, attended the public schools, and went to Boston when twenty years old and entered the shoe business with his brother, Guy L. Upon the latter's death he con-
tinued the business for a year but failing health compelled him to dis- pose of the business and in 1895 he returned to Guildhall and took up farming.
JOHN W. BOYCE.
Hle married Ella M. Hunter of Nova Scotia. They have one child, Mildred M. Mr. Boyce has served as selectman and school director, etc.
Sadie 1. Boyce, born in Guildhall in 1870, attended the public schools, married Henry Smith in 1894, lived in Guildhall until her death, Angust 19th, 1902. She also died in the same room in which she was born.
HUBBARD, GEORGE 1. The llubbard family dates its residence in Guildhall from 1812, when Cal- vin Hubbard came from Spring- field, Vermont, to town and took up his residence on the North road.
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
Calvin Hubbard lived to the ripe old age of ninety-three years five months, while his wife lived to be ninety-three years two months.
Hon. Horace Hubbard, son of Calvin, came to Guildhall with his family in 1817, and commenced
Hon. Horace, succeeded to his father's farm on the North road and was one of Guildhall's progressive farmers and valued citizens.
George A. Hubbard, son of John and Susan D. (Massure) Hubbard, was born in Guildhall, September
GEORGE A. HUBBARD.
clearing land on the North road. He was a man of marked personality and took a deep interest in public affairs. He was assistant judge in 1846-'47 and represented Guildhall in the legislature of Vermont in 1831 and again in 1840.
John Hubbard, youngest son of
10th, 1850, and received his eduea- tion in the public schools of Lunen- burg, Guildhall, and the Essex county grammar school. He fol- lowed farming until 1891, when he became county clerk of Essex county, which position he still holds and has filled with marked success.
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ESSEX COUNTY.
He has held several town offices, represented Guildhall in the legisla- ture in 1890 and again in 1896. He served on several important com- mittees and secured by care and con- stant attention an enviable legisla- tive record.
Mr. Hubbard married October 13, 1871, Ida E. Manning. In 1873 a son was born to them, who died in infancy. In 1890 they adopted a daughter, Ethel M., and April 13, 1891, a daughter was born to them, Addie M.
Mr. Hubbard is a member of the local grange and affiliated with the Masonic fraternity.
BUCK, REV. F. W., was born June 20th, 1867, at Sawyerville, Province of Quebec. When four
REV. F. W. BUCK.
years of age his parents moved to a farm where there was a limited op- portunity for even a common school A-6
education. Here for twelve years the subject of our sketch toiled. At the age of sixteen he became con- verted and with his conversion a strong desire for a better and broader education that he might carry the " message of love " to the people. For eight years the strug- gle for an education continued; then he commenced his career as a preacher and for several years Can- ada was the field of his labors. Then he was sent to Clarksville, New Hampshire, where he labored for two and a half years. In April, 1903, he was sent to Guildhall, his present field of labor.
Mr. Buck has been twice married, first to Luella Lebourueau, who died in 1898. In 1900 he was joined in marriage to Melvina Goupey of Lennoxville, Province of Quebec. They have two children.
LUNENBURG. Population, Census of 1900, 968.
The town of Lunenburg was char- tered by Governor Benning Went- worth of New Hampshire, July 5, 1763, and the next year David Page, Timothy Nash, and George Wheeler settled in what they supposed to be the north part of the township, but according to General Whitelaw's survey, which has become the ac- cepted survey of the various towns along the Connecticut river, the settlement was in the south part of Guildhall. In 1768 Uriah Cross, Thomas Gustin, and Ebenezer Rice came and settled within the present limits of the town. They built their log house near the bank of the river, where fish and game abounded in great quantity.
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
From time to time new settlers came and December 18, 1981, the first town-meeting was held and the town organized. David Hopkinson was chosen clerk.
A destructive fire visited the town July 13, 1849, and destroyed many buildings, including the Con- gregational church, the Methodist chapel, and the town house.
Like nearly all New England towns, the early church history is about all the history made, and it may prove interesting here to fol- low briefly the organization and progress of the Congregational so- ciety, which was the first religious society of Lunenburg.
The first associated religions movement of the town dates from the year 1800, when the Congrega- tionalists built their first meeting- house. This was dedicated in 1802 and the Rev. John Willard, D. D., was called as the pastor. We here give as a matter of enriosity two items of the contract made with Mr. Willard:
" Second. To raise by subscrip- tion a sum sufficient to defray the expenses of sending three sleighs and three spans of horses and suit- able persons to drive the same for the purpose of assisting in remov- ing his [ Rev. John Willard] family and effects from Connecticut [Staf- ford] to this town."
" Fifth. He shall receive for his first year's salary $165. to be as- sessed on the grand list of 1803, and then to raise in proportion as the list of ratable property of those who are liable to pay his salary rises, for the term of six years or until it amounts to $260. And if it should not rise to said sum of $260 in that time, and said society should not be
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