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 4
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 4
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 4
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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
He then removed to Newport, Vermont, and entered the Express
and Standard office. From here he soon returned to his " old love," the Free Press, at Lebanon, New Hamp- shire, where he remained until 1869, when he removed to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and entered the Times of- fice. Shortly after this the Times was purchased by Dr. G. B. Bullard and Hon. W. W. Grout, and from this time until the purchase of the plant by A. A. Earl, Mr. Rowell was local editor and general manager of the Times.
In 1873 Mr. Rowell purchased the book and job department of the Times office and established the St. Johnsbury Advertiser, a monthly publication, and since that time. with the exception of about eighteen months, which he spent in the state printing office in Concord, New Hampshire, and in Boston, he has conducted a publishing and general book and job printing business in St. Johnsbury.
Since he began business in St. Johnsbury there have been four newspaper and three job printing offices established and discontinued, and to-day there is neither a pub- lisher or printer in the city who was in business when he began in 1823.
He enjoys the well-earned repu- tation of being one of the best ar- tistie and all-round printers in northern New England. He has al- ways been a leader in his profession, and the craft have been greatly ben- efited by the originality and neat- ness of the work which he has put before the public.
Mr. Rowell married Fannie T. Estabrook of West Lebanon, New Hampshire, daughter of Alanson and Electa Estabrook, descendants of the earliest and most respected settlers of that section of New Eng-
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
land. He has two daughters, Geor- gie Lena and Winifred, who have been liberally edueated in the St. Johnsbury academy, Burdett's Busi- ness college, and the Lowell School of Design in Boston.
Mr. Rowell is a faithful student of current events; is an excellent newspaper correspondent; is inter- ested in every movement for the betterment of mankind, and always ready to assist in any movement for the local interests of his city and town. He is a member of the South Congregational church and many
fraternal and social organizations, including the Masonic, Order of the Eastern Star, Modern Woodmen of Ameriea, Junior Order of American Meehanies, United Order of the Golden Cross. Mystie club, and other similar orders.
HILL, GUY W. The Old Bay state was the nursery of the pater- nal ancestry of the Hills. The great-grandfather of Guy W. Hill came from there more than a cen- tury ago and settled in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, whenee his grand- father, Cyrus T. Hill, moved to Waterford, and later to the fine up- land farm near the Connectieut river, which for half a century has been the family home. Here Guy W. was born, April 26th, 1878, and it was the scene of his youthful sports and labors. His father, Wil- Jard C. Hill, is a well-to-do farmer, and his mother was Hannah, daugh- ter of John P. Weeks of Danville.
At the age of fifteen Guy W. en- tered St. Johnsbury academy, made an excellent record, and graduated in the class of '92 with honors. IIe commenced reading law the follow- ing November in the office of Dun- nett & Slack, completed his stud-
ies with Bates, May, & Simonds, and was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of Vermont, with high rank, in October, 1901. While pursuing his legal studies, Mr. Hill taught school and did whatever eame to hand to defray his eontin- gent expenses.
Soon after his admission to the bar, he located in his present eom- modious office in the Merchants' Bank bloek, 47 Railroad street.
GUY W. HILL.
Rarely has a young lawyer during his second year of practice secured so ample a clientage and scored the success achieved by Mr. Hill, as evi- denced by the court records. Mr. Hill seems to possess the essential qualifications of a successful jury advocate.
FARNHAM, LAMBERT II. The grandparents of the subject of this sketeh. Eben Farnham and wife, came into St. Johnsbury as pio-
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
neers more than a century ago from Wałpole, N. H., built a log house and settled on the side hill near the town " poor farm." Amariah Farn- ham was born there, but afterwards settled on a farm near Stiles pond, in the town of Waterford, where Lambert H. was born in 1851. Af- ter serving an apprenticeship at the
In the spring of 1892 the firm of Farnham & Albee was formed, and they put a stock of hardware into the J. C. Taylor store, at Summer- ville. Finding this store inade- quate for their increasing trade, in January, 1893, they bought the Grange store and stock of F. V. Powers and put in a stock of hard-
RESIDENCE OF LAMBERT HI. FARNHAM.
tinman's trade with D. W. Hibbard, at West Concord, he went to Cali- fornia and pursued his trade several years at remunerative wages. In 1878 he returned to Vermont, mar- ried Miss Jennie Eldridge of Minne- sota, made his home on the paternal farm at Waterford, and was em- ployed by the Fairbanks Co. eleven years, and became foreman of their tin shop.
ware, stoves, and tinware, plumbing, steam and hot water fitting goods, and agricultural implements.
The increase in their business has been phenomenal; it has more than quadrupled during the decade, and their sale of agricultural imple- ments is probably the largest in northern Vermont. This fact is the best exponent of the sterling in- tegrity, tireless energy, and business
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
sagacity of L. H. Farnham and II. R. Albee.
Mr. Farnham has charge of the books, and in a general way of the
LAMBERT H. FARNHAM.
purchases and sales, and is recog- nized as a genial, popular, and re- liable salesman. He is a member and past master of Moose River lodge, No. 82, F. & A. M., of West Concord; also a member of Ilaze- well chapter, Palestine commandery, Mizpah Lodge of Perfection, and Mt. Sinai temple. Mr. Farnham is a charter member of the N. E. O. P., an Odd Fellow, and a member of the local Rebekahs and Eastern Star. He was unanimously elected a men- ber of the board of village trustees, and is serving his fourth term, for the past three terms as chairman and clerk of the board.
llis administration of village af- fairs has been marked by many pub- lic improvements, and at the same
time by the extinction of the village debt.
Mrs. Farnham died in 1896, leav- ing one daughter, Ina May, a stu- dent at the academy. Mr. Farn- ham married June 30, 1903, Mrs. Della C. Robinson Lee, formerly of West Concord, but for several years a resident of Boston.
ALBEE, HENRY R. Henry R .. son of Cyrus S. and Cynthia (Cobb) Albee, was born in Morgan, Vt., in 1852. Ile was one of a family of eight children, which included two pairs of twins.
He was reared upon a farm, and received only the training of the common schools, and the ofttimes more effective training of the school of daily life.
HENRY R. ALBEE.
lle married Miss Mary E. Ruiter in 1876, and for ten years was ac- tively engaged in farming in Ilol- land. Ile then removed to St.
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
Johnsbury, and engaged with E. and T. Fairbanks, for several years as night watehman, but later in the machine shop.
Since the formation of the firm of Farnham & Albee, the latter has had the care of the extensive out- side operations of the firm, which had developed from the employment of one assistant, until at present from six to twelve men are con- stantly employed, and the plumb- ing business covers a radius of fifty miles. The firm has located more than one hundred steam and hot water heaters, employing experts in each specialty.
They have built an annex to the store, 36 by 48 feet, two stories, and basement, have thoroughly re- fitted the store, including plumbing and electric lights, and have also added a new four-ton Fairbanks platform scale. Mr. Albee was for several years on the police force, and is a familiar figure in social life. He is a prominent member of the N. E. O. P., an I. O. O. F., and a thirty-second degree Mason.
Mrs. Albee died in 1889, leaving one daughter, Helen, a teacher in Massachusetts. Mr. Albee married Mrs. George Randall of St. Johns- bury in 1890.
BARTLETT, HARRY A. The genial freight agent of St. Johnsbury has a wide acquaintance in this sec- tion, and all of his acquaintances are friends. He was born in St. Johnsbury in 1864, the only son of Jarvis and Lydia (Allen) Bartlett. Jarvis Bartlett was a native of New- bury, born in 1830, came to St. Johnsbury in 1850, in the employ of the Passumpsie railroad. and as engineer ran the first train to Bar- ton. He engaged in the meat and
provision trade in 1860, in company with A. M. Cook, and conducted the grocery and provision business un- til seven years before his death, in 1899.
Mr. Bartlett was a trustee of the village, a Knight Templer of Pales- tine commandery, and was univer- sally respected and beloved for his integrity and benevolence.
Harry A. was educated in the public schools and academy of St.
JARVIS BARTLETT.
Johnsbury. After serving four years in the drug store of W. A. Sias, he learned and followed the trade of stone-cutter with Carrick Bros. several years. He entered the freight office of the Boston & Maine railroad in 1889, and his ser- vices were so efficient that he was appointed freight agent three years later, which position he still ac- ceptably occupies.
The remarkable increase of
Jauathon Ras
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
frreight business is shown by the fact that the force in the office and in the shed has increased from seven to twenty-five men.
The week ending June 27, Fair- banks Co. shipped forty-four car- loads of freight.
H. A. Bartlett married Miss Ger- trude SS. Brown in 1885. Ile was a member of the fire department ten years and also assistant engineer.
Mr. Bartlett has an excellent so- cial and business standing, and is a prominent member and grand seere- tary of the Grand lodge, N. E. O. P., of Vermont. He has passed all the chairs of Passumpsie lodge, No. 27, F. & A. M., and Haswell chapter, and is a K. T. of Palestine com- mandery.
GILMAN BROS. Fred D. and Daniel T. Gilman are good types of the Vermont farm-bred business man. As wholesale and retail deal- ers in team horses and hay they fill an important sphere of usefulnss, and fill it well.
The bike has had its day. The horse is here to stay, And Gilmans sell the hay.
F. D. and D. T. Gilman are sons of Nathan H. and Mary J. (Darling) Gilman.
They remained on the paternal farm in Barnet until 1891, when they sold it and removed to St. Johnsbury and soon after bought the livery stable near Miller and Ryan's factory, conducted the same for one year, more than doubling the business and the stock, when they sold the stock to Ellery Clark. Since then they have been largely and increasingly engaged in the sale of team horses and hay. They buy horses by the car-load, largely in Missouri and Jowa, and sell to the
farmers and business men of this section. Gilman Bros. are recog- nized as good judges and care-tak- ers of horses. The public have learned to depend on their judg- ment and fairness, and they now handle from 300 to 500 horses an- nually, many being bartered for smaller horses and other farm stock. In 1901 they built a new stable, 45 by 90 feet, with entire basement, which gives them ample facilities for their horses and cat- tle. The same year they bought their present residence. They own forty acres of land in or near this village, forty near Passumpsic, and several hundred in North Danville, and last year ent about 150 tons of hay. They are wholesale and re- tail dealers in hay and straw, baled and loose.
F. D. Gilman married Sadie Rob- erts of Danville and they have one son, Paul W.
Mrs. Daniel T. Gilman was form- erly Nellie Hoyt of Wheelock, and the little daughter is Aline.
ROSS, JONATHAN. This name has long been regarded by the peo- ple of Vermont as a synonym for moral worth, judicial acumen, and the highest civic virtues.
Jonathan Ross was born in Wa- terford, Vermont, April 30, 1826, son of Royal and Eliza Mason Ross. The paternal grandfather of Judge Ross moved to Waterford from Massachusetts in or about the year 1295. He cleared away the forest and cultivated a farm, on which he supported himself, wife, and a fam- ily of six children, of whom Roval. the father of the subject of this sketch, was the second son.
Jonathan Ross received an excel- lent common school education, fit-
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
ted for college in the St. Johnsbury academy, and graduated from Dart- mouth college in 1851. During his minority his summers were occupied in the enltivation of the paternal 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 decided success. After graduating from college, he was for several years principal of the acad- emy at Croftsbury, Vermont, and of the one at Chelsea, Vermont. While residing in that town he entered the office of Judge William Hebard for the study of law and he was ad- mitted to the bar of Orange county in January, 1856. The same year he formed a partnership with A. J. Willard, Esq. of St. Johnsbury, which continned two years.
lle then practised by himself un- til 1865, when G. A. Burbank, Esq .. became a partner during one year. and later W. P. Smith sustained the same relation until 1820, when Mr. Ross was elected a judge of the su- preme court of Vermont. From 1858 to 1868 he was the efficient treasurer of the Passumpsie Savings bank. In 1862-63 he was state's attorney for Caledonia county. In 1865-66-67 he was the representa- tive of St. Johnsbury in the legis- lature and served on the judiciary and other important committees. He was for some years before 1870 an influential member of the state board of education. In 1869 was a member of the last council of cen- sors held in the state.
In 1820 was elected to the state senate, and 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 worthily filled until January 11, 1899, when he was appointed by Governor E. C. Smith United States senator, to fill the vacancy cansed by the death of the late Ilon. Justin S. Morrill.
A distinguishing characteristic of Judge Ross was his promptness and capacity for work. When appointed to the senate, he started the next day for the capital, leaving no un- finished judicial business in arrears.
Judge Ross, almost from the first. exercised an important influence in that august body, an instance almost unprecedented, and in a speech of masterly grasp and logic pointed out the relations of the new possessions to the national government, and the policy of the administration was based on that theory.
He was one of four candidates for the senatorship before the legisla- ture. He was appointed by Gov- ernor W. W. Stickney chairman of the board of railroad commissioners in 1900, and filled that position with rare ability two years, when he re- fused a reappointment, and retired to the practice of his profession at St. Johnsbury.
Judge Ross is the connecting link of two generations of public men in Vermont, representing the stanch integrity and the progressive activ- ity of both, and his great influence has always been exerted on the side of morality and temperance. Mr. Ross was imited in marriage in 1852 with Eliza Ann, daughter of Isaiah and Carohne (Bugbee) Carpenter. Eight children were born to them, Caroline (. (deceased), Eliza M. Helen (deceased), Julia (Mrs. Dr. Aldrich of Somerville, Massachu- setts), Martha (Mrs. John W. Tit-
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CALEDONIA COUNTY.
comb), Edith (Mrs. Charles W. Bra- ley), Edward Harlan, and Jonathan C. Ross (deceased).
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, Mrs. Ilelen Daggett, a relative of his first wife and a former well- known teacher.
ROSS, DR. EDWARD H., is the only living son of Hon. Jonathan and Eliza (Carpenter) Ross, and was born in St. Johnsbury in 1864. 1Je graduated in 1882 from St. Johns- bury academy and from Dartmouth college. with the degree of A. B., in 1886.
After teaching one year in the well-known Kimball Union acad- emy of Meriden, New Hampshire, he was engaged as a teacher in the Brewster Free academy at Wolfe- borough, New Hampshire, at its or- ganization, and filled that position one year. Having decided to adopt the profession of medicine, he took the full medical course at Dart- mouth, and graduated in 1891. Dr. Ross inherits from a stanch ances- try a well-balanced mental and physical constitution and he is es- sentially a student as well as a prae- titioner of medicine.
The year following his medical graduation was spent in St. Eliza- beth hospital, Boston, an institution devoted to the treatment of the dis- cases of women, and later he was as- sistant physician for five months in Dr. Jefferson's private hospital at Lowell, Massachusetts.
Dr. Ross settled in practice in his native town in 1892. Two years later he married Miss Nellie O. Her- sey of Wolfeborough, New Hamp-
shire. Two children have been born to them, Ralph Hersey, and Helen Carpenter. Dr. Ross is located at 84 Main street, and pursues an ac- tive practice, his specialty being gynecology and surgery. He j- an esteemed member of Passumpsic lodge, No. 22. F. & A. M .; also of the Vermont Medical society and of the pension board of Caledonia county.
DR. EDWARD HI. ROSS.
Dr. E. HI. Ross is " to the manor born," a good type of the scholarly physician and loyal citizen, and is especially identified with the inter- ests of Brightlook hospital.
LEWES, WARREN C. It has been the rare privilege of the subject of this sketch to sit on the knee of his grandfather, Jonathan Lewis, and hear him relate the inspiring story of Bunker Hill and Saratoga, in which battles he fought. Jona- than Lewis was a pioneer and the
3
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
first town clerk of Kirby, Vermont, and one of the earliest settlers of West Concord, then an unbroken wilderness. Warren C. was one of the nine children of Jonathan Lewis, Jr., a venerable citizen of that town, who died in 1877 in his ninetieth year. After attaining his majority, Warren obtained an aca- demic education, and became a suc- cessful teacher.
WARREN C. LEWIS.
" He doffed with ease the scholar's gown,
To peddle wares from town to town; And through the long vacations' reach,
In lonely lowland district teach."
He peddled watches and jewelry several years and secured the nu- cleus for future enterprises. He in- tended to become a civil engineer, but embraced an opportunity to en- gage in the lumber business with
D. P. Hall and M. and C. Hill, and later by himself at West Concord. During more than twenty-five years he was the leading surveyor of the town of Concord, and is still en- gaged in that line. He was also a director and a large owner in the West Concord woolen mills.
W. C. Lewis married Miss Mehet- able B. Frye of West Concord, who died in 1828, and his second wife was Mrs. Annette A. Frye Burroughs. also of West Concord. In 1882 he moved to St. Johnsbury and bought his present residence and adjoining lands in the village of Summerville, from which he has sold off building lots for more than his original pur- chase cost. Meanwhile he has con- ducted extensive farming on his pretty homestead, and also the busi- ness of fire insurance. For nearly thirty years he has been a trusted agent of the Vermont Mutual Fire Insurance company, and for nine years a director. Mr. Lewis has been a Free Mason for more than forty years. He is esteemed as a man of kindly impulses and exem- plary life, and has been financially successful.
BROWN. EDWARD F., son of Ed- ward B. and Lucy (Risley) Brown, was born in Berlin, Vermont, in 1819, the seventh of a family of eleven children. His father was a millwright and house carpenter by trade, and the marks of his handi- work are visible in many private and public buildings in that section. E. F. Brown and his four brothers received only the advantages of a common school training and assisted their father at his trade until they became of age, when they struck out in the world for themselves.
Edward F. came to St. Johnsbury
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CALEDONIA COUNTY.
in August, 1841, at the age of twenty-one, and entered the store of Shed & Jewett, which stood on the site of Colonel T. C. Fletcher's residence, at that time, and for ten years following the only store on St. Johnsbury Plain.
with an addition of twenty-five dol- lars a year for four years.
Soon after he came to St. Johns- bury his employers sent him to Bos- ton to buy goods for loading a six- horse team, which made a semi- annual trip, consuming about four
1211095
EDWARD F. BROWN.
Ilis capital consisted of a suit of homespun cloth, a Spanish milled dollar, still in his possession, now 104 years old, good principles, will- ing hands, and a stout heart. Ilis salary was $75 per year and board,
weeks. The regular stage to Bos- ton, via Concord and Nashna, was four days.
Moses Kittridge was then post- master at the Plains, where a tri- weekly mail was received by a two-
-
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
horse stage running from Danville to Littleton. The postage was from six to twenty-five cents, according to distance sent.
In 1845 Mr. Brown went into company with Ephraim Jewett, for five years, but remained fifteen years. Meanwhile, in 1849, Jewett & Brown built their large store on the site now occupied by Brooks, Tyler and company. At that time the site of the court-house was oc- cupied by the old village burying- ground, but the county buildings were moved here from Danville, soon after the advent of the Pas- sumpsie railroad in 1850. Danville bank was then the only one in Cale- donia county. The same year Mr. Brown built his house, corner of Summer and Central streets, buying the lot, twelve rods by six, for $100 of Thaddeus Fairbanks.
Mr. Brown continued in trade successfully almost fifty years on Main street, during the last ten years with his son. F. N. Brown as a partner. The latter is a popular and successful general merchant lo- cated in Brown's block. E. F. Brown's half century of mercantile life and that of his son and succes- sor. covers the entire period of the active growth of St. Johnsbury. E. F. Brown sold goods to Joseph Fairbanks, grandfather of Rev. E. T. Fairbanks and Professor Henry Fairbanks.
His benevolence and high integ- rity won the confidence and esteem of all, while his industry and good judgment have been rewarded with financial success, and he is a large real estate owner in St. Johnsbury. Mr. Brown has been actively inter- ested in local affairs, was foreman of Engine company, Deluge No. ? ,
and later for several years chief en- gineer of the fire department. He has been a director of the Passump- sie Savings bank for more than thirty years. In politics a Repub- lican since the formation of the party, and in religious belief and support an ardent Universalist, his moral influence has ever been true and helpful. He was one of the village trustees for ten years.
In 1846 Mr. Brown married Ab- bey, youngest daughter of Captain Nathaniel Proctor of Montpelier, and five children were born to them, Katie R., Florence P., Gracie, Frank Newton, and Abbey Proctor Brown (now Mrs. A. R. Brooks). He mar- ried for his second wife Mrs. Lizzie Robinson Clark, widow of Captain John Clark, of Lunenburg, at West Newton, Massachusetts, in 18:1. E. F. Brown has not outgrown the enthusiasms of youth, speaks ably and fluently in public when occasion calls, and carries his eighty-four years bravely. He still is a director of the Passumpsie Savings bank and attends promptly and well to his business affairs. He is the earliest and oldest of St. Johnsbury's pio- neer business men.
STILES, TRUMAN RANSOM, M. D. There are very few physicians in Vermont who are as widely and favorably known in both the public and professional capacity as Dr. T. R. Stiles, for his practice has cov- ered a wide range in Caledonia county, and he has held many in- portant publie positions. His par- ents were James W. and Hannah .1. (Howe) Stiles, long-time residents of Stowe, Vermont, where the subject of this sketch was born, in 1842. After attending the High school of his native village, at seventeen years
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CALEDONIA COUNTY.
of age he became a clerk in a drug store at Waterbury, Vermont, where he remained three years, and began reading medicine with Dr. Horace Fales.
He continued his medical studies with Dr. B. F. Sutton of Stowe, and
in Sheffield, and after a residence of ten years removed to Barnet, where he remained seven years, attending at both places to an extensive prac- tice.
He was already well known when he came to St. Johnsbury in 1887,
TRUMAN R. STILES, M. D.
graduated from the medical depart- ment of U. V. M. in 1869.
Later he took brief post-graduate courses, and during the winter of 1901 took the full course at the post-graduate school of New York city. In the fall of 1869 he settled
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