USA > Vermont > Franklin County > Successful Vermonters; a modern gazetteer of Lamoille, Franklin and Grand Isle counties, containing an historical review of the several towns and a series of biographical sketches > Part 14
USA > Vermont > Grand Isle County > Successful Vermonters; a modern gazetteer of Lamoille, Franklin and Grand Isle counties, containing an historical review of the several towns and a series of biographical sketches > Part 14
USA > Vermont > Lamoille County > Successful Vermonters; a modern gazetteer of Lamoille, Franklin and Grand Isle counties, containing an historical review of the several towns and a series of biographical sketches > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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
During the dark days of the re- public Wolcott nobly responded, and sent 134 of her hardy, patri- otic sons to the Southern battle- fields, 32 of whom not only gave their services but their lives, "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
FIFE, SETH ALLEN, a son of Almon and Marinda (Peck) Fife, was born in Chelsea, April 23, 1842. When six months of age his parents moved to Elmore and here Seth A. received his early education in the common schools of the town. In 1867 the family moved to Wol- cott and Mr. Fife entered trade and has continued as a progressive and highly esteemed merchant to the present time.
The Fife store is one of the larg- est in Lamoille County, being 100 x 80 feet, and is really three stores, a thoroughly up-to-date grocery store, a modern clothing store and
SETH A. FIFE.
a perfectly stocked and equipped dry goods and millinery store. In addition to his mercantile interest Mr. Fife has been interested in sev- eral large lumber deals and has been an important factor in this industry for a number of years. Ile is also a director in the La- moille County Savings Bank and Trust Company of Hyde Park.
Mr. Fife served Wolcott 13 years as town treasurer and in 1892 was its representative in the General Assembly.
February 16, 1876, Mr. Fife was married to Fannie Putnam of Johnson, a daughter of Abel and Mary (Parker) Putnam. They have one child, Gertrude M., born
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November 3, 1879, a graduate of Morrisville High School, a special course of two years in Wellesley College and a graduate of the Carl Faelton Piano School of Boston.
Marinda Peck, mother of Seth A. Fife, was a daughter of Eunice (Hubbell) Peck and a granddaugh- ter of Seth Hubbell, of whom there is an extended article in the his- torical review of Wolcott. See page 167.
HUBBELL, RALPH M., was born in Wolcott, November 26, 1865, a son of Myron R. and Mary (Mar- tin) Hubbell. He was educated in the district schools of Wolcott. After completing his education, Mr. Hubbell learned the carpenter and millwright's trade, and for several years was sawyer for the Morse Manufacturing Company. For the past five years he has conducted a grocery store. He has held several town offices, and is now town treasurer.
In 1893, he married Harriet R. Eaton of Hyde Park; three chil- dren have been born to them : Mary E., Bertrand E. and Carrie L.
Mr. Hubbell is a member of Min- eral Lodge, No. 93, A. F. & A. M., of Wolcott, and the Woodmen.
Ralph M. Hubbell is a great- grandson of Seth Hubbell, who was the first settler of Wolcott, and of whom there will be found an ex- tended article in the historical re- view of the town of Wolcott. See page 167. The generations from, and including Seth Hubbell, the pi- oneer, to Ralph M., are Seth Hub- bell, Seth Hubbell who married Sylvia Spaulding, Myron R. Hub- bell, who married Mary Martin, and Ralph M., subject of this sketch.
Myron R. Hubbell is, and long has been, a man of unusual ability
and talent; early in life he devel- oped rare genius for invention, and for more than twenty years di- rected his energies in that direc- tion. He constructed his own pat- terns and models, and secured 15 useful patents. Among the most notable is the reversible plow; he devised and patented the shifting clevis now so generally in use on reversible plows, and also patented the rod running lengthwise of and swiveled to the beam for the same purpose.
Myron R. Hubbell married, April 2, 1862, Mary Martin of Wol- cott, their only surviving child be- ing Ralph M. Mr. Hubbell is a member of Mineral Lodge, A. F. & A. M. of Wolcott. He is a sturdy Republican in politics, but never sought or would accept pub- lic office.
SPALDING, WALLACE W., was born in Morristown, March 27, 1850, a son of Isaac and Thankful A. (Foss) Spalding; he was edu- cated in the public schools of Mor- ristown.
The Spalding family is one of the oldest in America, and this branch dates its origin in this coun- try from the coming of Spalding of the Mayflower fame. The family has always been of the sturdy, hardy type, having little patience with the unreal and unsubstantial. Generation after generation of this splendid old American family have been noted for their integrity and worth, and have been highly es- teemed for their honorable lives.
Wallace W. Spalding was en- dowed with a sound head and splendid physique, and early de- termined to live close to nature and till the soil; in this he has been re- warded in a substantial manner.
The Spalding home, of which we
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LAMOILLE COUNTY.
give a pretty view, is one of the cosiest home places in town; it is located about two miles from Wol- cott, on the Morrisville road.
Mr. Spalding has two farms be- sides the home place, and owns the Maxfield block in Hyde Park.
A sturdy Republican in politics, he has served Wolcott as road sur- veyor, lister, constable, collector, and deputy sheriff. He is a member of Mineral Lodge, No. 93, A. F. &
ing was united in marriage to Ida A. Crowell of Hyde Park; seven children have been born to them, all of whom, but one, Beaula, a girl of 11 years, are deceased.
Mr. Spalding believes in small farms, well cared for, as the visit- ors can attest from personal observation.
RANDALL, HERBERT I. Mason Randall was one of the early settlers of the town of Newbury,
RESIDENCE OF WALLACE W. SPALDING.
A. M. For 31 years he has been affiliated with this great fraternity ; has served in the chair of the blue lodge, is now deputy grand master, is a member of Tucker Chapter, R. A. M. and is regarded as a wide- awake and progressive citizen. He was the organizer of the rural free delivery route for Wolcott, which was the second route established in Lamoille County.
February 28, 1875, Mr. Spald-
in Orange County. He married Mary Pike Nelson and they settled and cleared Jefferson Hill and here dwelt in a log cabin, which for some years was their home. In 1837 they built a substantial farm- house. They were the parents of 11 children.
Henry F. Randall, a son of Ma- son, was born in the "new house" on Jefferson Hill, Newbury, June 9, 1846; educated in the "little
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red schoolhouse" of his time and came to be one of the successful and highly respected farmers of his town. He married Clara R. (born October 4, 1848), a daughter of Samuel A. and Irena C. (Prescott) Tucker, January 1, 1872; three children were born to them: Her-
ceived in the common schools, at Newbury Seminary, and gradu- ated with honor from the Me- Gaw Normal Institute at Mer- rimack, New Hampshire, in 1894. November, 1894, he entered the gristmill of Freeman Tucker at Boltonville and remained for six
HERBERT I. RANDALL.
bert Ingalls, born February 9, 1873; Emma Irena, born Septem- ber 30, 1875, and died in early girlhood, May 28, 1891, and IIenry Greeley, born April 19, 1884.
Herbert I. Randall spent his boyhood assisting his father on the farm; his education he re-
years. At this time Mr. Randall felt that he must establish a busi- ness for himself, so purchased the II. B. Bundy gristmill at Wolcott, where he located December 20, 1900. Here, by close attention to business and square dealing, he has attracted a host of friends and ac-
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quired a splendid patronage. Be- fore leaving Newbury, Mr. Ran- dall had served the town two years as lister and three years as audi- tor, and, in September, 1902, he was chosen to represent Wolcott in the General Assembly. Here his splendid training stood him in
June 8, 1901, and died in infancy, August 11, 1901; Adlee Hattie, born March 25, 1903, and Aileen, born September 9, 1905.
MORSE, FRANK B., was born in Woodbury, July 20, 1844, a son of Ira and Hulda (Ainsworth) Morse; received his education in
.
FRANK B. MORSE.
good stead, and he proved himself to be a useful member of that body and served on the committees on claims and temperance.
December 19, 1900, Mr. Randall married Miss Hattie B. Morrison of Ryegate, who was born Septem- ber 16, 1873; they have had three children : Earl Morrison, born
the district schools of Elmore, Barre and Cabot, and when a mere boy of 17 years enlisted from Woodbury in Company E, Eighth Vermont Infantry, which was com- manded by Colonel Stephen Thomas, who commanded a brigade at Cedar Creek. Young Morse re- mained in the service of his coun-
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try until the close of the war, and was in many of the important en- gagements of that terrible period in our nation's history, being at the capture of New Orleans, battles of Bisland Cotton, Louisiana, Seige of Port Hudson, Winchester, Cedar Creek and others.
taken a prominent part in the af- fairs of the community in which he has resided. He has held the various town offices in Elmore and Wolcott, and in 1902 was door- keeper of the state Senate. He is a member of Mineral Lodge, No. 93, F. & A. M. of Wolcott and
CHARLES O. MORSE.
Returning from the war, he lo- cated at Woodbury and later, in company with his brother, Hon. George A. Morse, he bought a lum- ber mill at East Elmore. From that time to the present, Mr. Morse has been connected with the lumber industry. Possessed of a sound body and clear mind, he has always
is serving as commander of George P. Foster Post, No. 55, G. A. R., Department of Vermont.
June 19, 1866, Mr. Morse was married to Samantha A. Gale. Two children were born to them: Flora A. (Mrs. J. W. Rivers of Morrisville) and Charles O., who is superintendent of the Morse
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Manufacturing Company at Wol- cott. Mrs. Morse died January 27, 1892, and Mr. Morse married for his second wife Mrs. Georgia A. (Burrows) Pinney, December 8, 1892. .
Mr. Morse, by habits of industry and economy coupled with good judgment, has won an enviable place among his townsmen.
MORSE, CHARLES O., son of Frank B. and Samantha A. (Gale) Morse, was born in Wolcott, May 2, 1870, a descendant of Revolu- tionary stock and one of the ener- getic young Vermonters of La- moille County. For many years the various branches of this family have been leading factors in the lumber industry in the Lamoille valley and to their square dealing, energy and farsightedness much of the material prosperity of the county is due.
Charles O. Morse, subject of this brief sketch, was educated in the public schools of his native town and at the People's Academy at Morrisville. After completing his education he entered the general store of Seth A. Fife at Wolcott, as a clerk, remaining for two years. In 1897 he became superintendent and manager of the Morse Manu- facturing Company's large plant at Wolcott, which position he still fills. The plant manufactures from two to three million feet of lumber annually, giving steady em- ployment to from twenty to thirty men, thus becoming Wolcott's chief industry. Under the efficient man- agement of Mr. Morse the plant has materially increased its business and is regarded as one of the thor- oughly equipped, organized and well-managed plants of northern Vermont.
Mr. Morse is public spirited and takes a lively interest in all mat- ters affecting the welfare of the community. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity.
June 2, 1897, Mr. Morse was united in marriage to Philabelle M. Dexter of Wolcott, daughter of the late E. P. and Mary (Clough) Dexter.
HASKELL, CHARLES E., a son of Edwin and Lorinda (Lyford) Haskell, was born in Woodbury, June 8, 1858. He was educated in the public schools of Calais and at Goddard Seminary at Barre. For the first three years after complet- ing his education, young Haskell was a commercial salesman and did a successful business. At the end of this time, with a capital of $85 and a splendid confidence both in himself and the public, he bought a stock of goods and opened a gen- eral store at Calais.
During his most strenuous and eventful career Mr. Haskell has owned woolen mills at South Ac- worth and Newport, New Hamp- shire, spent 10 years looking after real estate in Massachusetts and in 1882 returned to Calais, and for the next three years was associated with his father in the mercantile business.
In 1885 he located in Wolcott and has the largest general stock of goods in Lamoille County. He is the embodiment of push, pluck, hustle, energy, courage and get- there-tive-ness and the writer has no doubt that his annual sales exceed that of any man in the county. Honesty, integrity and square dealing have made Mr. Has- kell a foremost factor in the mer- cantile life of his county and he furnishes the ambitious and willing
CHARLES E. HASKELL.
STORE OF CHARLES E. HASKELL, AT WOLCOTT.
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LAMOILLE COUNTY.
youth a splendid example of what "I can and I will" means to a boy who has quality and honesty.
In September, 1890, Mr. Haskell was married to Jennie M. Quimby of Corinth. They have no chil- dren.
PARKER, HERBERT H., was born in Wolcott, August 10, 1851, a son of Henry P. and Martha O. (Davenport) Parker. He was ed- ucated in the district schools of Wolcott and at the People's Acad- emy of Morrisville. Since leaving
HERBERT H. PARKER.
Mr. Haskell is among the most public-spirited and loses no oppor- tunity to do all in his power to benefit or beautify his adopted home. He has never sought public office, but has served as town audi- tor and for several years he has been an honored member of Min- eral Lodge, F. & A. M. A-13
school Mr. Parker has followed farming and sawmill work.
He has always taken a lively interest in all public matters and has always given liberally of his time and means to anything that would aid his town. He has al- ways resided in Wolcott.
Mr. Parker married Isabel M.
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Tillotson of Wolcott; they have two children : H. Alton and Henry B.
He has served the town of Wol- cott as auditor, school director, se- lectman and in 1896 was chosen to represent the town in the General Assembly.
BELVIDERE.
Population, Census of 1900, 428.
The town of Belvidere was, on the 5th of March, 1781, granted to John Kelley. On the same day the town of Lowell was also granted to Mr. Kelley by Governor Chittenden, and originally named Kelleyville.
Belvidere was chartered Novem- ber 4, 1791. The first settlement was made about the year 1800, by Captain Moody Shattuck (an ex- tended article on the Shattuck family will be found on page 109, in the town of Eden). The first, town meeting was held March 21, 1808, at which John Brown was chosen clerk, William Beal, John Hodgkins and John Adams, were chosen selectmen.
At a meeting held at the house of Enoch Dodge, on the first Tues- day in September, 1808, the first freeman's meeting was held, and a vote taken for representative in Congress. In 1822, John Brown was elected as the first town representative.
The town house was built in 1853. In the Civil War Belvidere, like her sister towns, did her full part, by sending 40 of her sons to Southern battlefields. Of this number several were either killed or died from disease in the service, notably Lieutenant Rich- ard T. Cull, who represented the town in 1861.
The first preaching in Belvidere was in 1810, by Elder Morris, who came from Hardwick and preached in the barn of Timothy Carpenter. In 1851 a good church building was erected.
The town originally contained 30,100 acres, but November 15, 1824, a part known as the "Leg" was annexed to Waterville, and Oc- tober 30, 1828, another portion was annexed to the town of Eden.
FRANKLIN COUNTY
Population, Census of 1900, 30,198
T was doubtless Jacques Car- tier, the French navigator, who was the first European to rest his eyes on the mountains of Vermont. On the 2d day of October, 1535, he arrived with a few volunteers at an Indian settlement called Hochelaga, which was afterwards called Mount Royal, whence the present name of Montreal. Doma- cona, an Algonquin chief, con- ducted him to the summit of Mount Royal, which towered above the settlement, and showed him, in that bright October sun, the coun- try for many miles south and east, and told him of the great rivers and inland seas and of smaller riv- ers and lakes penetrating a beauti- ful territory belonging to the war- like Iroquois. These Indians had settlements in the interior of the state now called Vermont, but whose earlier name was Iroquoisia.
In that part of Iroquoisia, or Vermont, which is now called Franklin County, there were grants to M. de Bauvais and to M. Douville, comprising the territory now included in Swanton, St. Al- bans, Highgate and Georgia. This appears on inspection of a map of "Lake Champlain, from Fort Chambly to Crown Point," by An- ger, the king's surveyor, made in 1732. This map was published in 1748 and a reproduction may be
found in the Documentary History of New York, volume I, page 358, and will be a source of great inter- est to the historical investigator.
In a chronographical map of the province of New York, divided into counties, manors, patents and town- ships, compiled from actual survey by Claude Joseph Southier, Esq., and published in London in 1779, the territory now known as Frank- lin County forms a part of the County of Charlotte; the greater part of Swanton is called Platts- burg.
The County of Franklin once formed a part of the original coun- ties of Albany, Addison, Benning- ton, Charlotte, Chittenden and Rutland. It was incorporated by the General Assembly by "An Act for dividing the counties of Orange and Chittenden into six separate and distinct counties," passed No- vember 5, 1792. Franklin County was then comprised of the towns of Alburgh, Isle le Motte, North Hero, Highgate, Swanton, St. Al- bans, Georgia, Fairfax, Fairfield, Smithville, Sheldonvale, Hunts- burgh, Berkshire, Johnson, Enos- burgh, Bakersfield, Fletcher, Cam- bridge, Sterling, Belvidere, Mont- gomery and Richford.
In 1802 the General Assembly passed an act establishing Grand Isle County, taking from Franklin County the towns of Alburgh,
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North Hero and Isle le Motte. In 1835, Lamoille County was estab- lished and Franklin County lost Belvidere, Cambridge, Johnson and Sterling. The county now is com- posed of one city, 14 towns and Avery's Gore.
St. Albans being the shire town, the public buildings are located there. The first court house was of wood, and was used for some years as a place of public worship and as a town house. The first jail was "a lean-to on the east end of the Coit house," built in 1778 by Barnabas Langdon. Up to 1837, St. Albans had expended $23,000 on building and sustaining the county buildings.
The "Franklin County Grammar School" was established in St. Al- bans by an act of the General As- sembly, passed November 9, 1799. In several of the town grants there were reservations for the support of a "County Grammar School." The first building erected at St. Albans for the use of the Franklin County Grammar School, was a large two-story wooden building. It was removed from its original site, and was burned in January, 1865. In 1861 the original prem- ises of the school was leased to Union School District No. 4.
FLETCHER.
Population, Census of 1900, 750.
The town of Fletcher was char- tered August 20, 1781, by Governor Thomas Chittenden to Nathaniel Bruch, David Avery, Rufus Mon- tague and others, but only the last named ever resided in town.
In 1786 Benjamin Fassett sur- veyed the first division of lots, and in 1789 the second division was surveyed by John Safford.
Fletcher was organized March 16, 1790, with the following offi- cers : Elisha Woodworth, clerk; Elijah Daly, constable; Peter Thurston, Lemuel Scott and Eli- jah Daly, selectmen. Levi Com- stock, chosen in 1795, was the first justice of the peace, and Dan- iel Bailey, elected in 1797, was the first representative. John Fulling- ton of Deerfield, New Hampshire, began the first clearing on the river farm owned by Mrs. Helen F. Lee, in 1787 or 1788. He put up a shanty and returned to Deerfield for his wife and four children. They had one horse to ride and one cow to drive, with marked trees as a guide. Two men from Fairfax were with them. They encamped for the night in Johnson, and find- ing a patch of turnips, Mr. Ful- lington imprudently ate some, which introduced bilious colic, which soon caused his death. He was buried by his companions in a coffin made from a hollow log.
Lemuel Scott was the next set- tler. He came from Bennington in 1789, bringing his wife and one child on a sled drawn by a yoke of steers. From Burlington he found his way by marked trees. He set- tled on the farm now owned by D. H. Chapman. Deacon Peter Thurston, the next settler, located on the south side of Lamoille River, on what is known as the Bishop farm, which was later annexed to Cambridge. Elijah Daly came about the same time, and settled on the O. G. Carpenter farm.
Elias Blair, Reuben Armstrong, John Kinsley, Samuel Church, Samuel Church, Jr., Joseph and James Robinson and Dewey Nichols, all of Bennington, came here in 1795. Excepting Kins- ley and Armstrong, these men
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
all settled at or near the Center. Daniel Bailey came with his fam- ily from Weare, New Hampshire, in March, 1795, and settled in the northern part of the town, where he' reared a numerous family, his sons being prominent in town af- fairs.
George King, Sr., Joseph and Nathan Holmes, Michael and Jon- athan George, Daniel Gregory and Peter and Cyrus Danforth, were the first settlers of School District No. 4, in the western part of the town, near Buck Hollow.
Jerah Willoughby opened the first store in town in 1820. It was kept in his dwelling house on the farm now owned by O. G. Carpen- ter. He kept a tavern in the same house, known as the Willoughby House.
The principal manufactures of the earlier time were the small saw- mills, a gristmill and about fifty years ago a starch factory, also a tannery, one mile east of the Cen- ter. Manufactures were limited by scarcity of water power. The first post office was located at the Center in 1832, Elias Blair, Sr., be- ing first postmaster.
There are two farming villages, one mile apart, each with a church and store, known as the Center and Binghamville. The St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain Railroad ex- tends across the eastern part of the town, with a station at East Fletcher.
Fletcher is almost exclusively a farming town, the resources being dairying, stock raising and making maple sugar. There is probably no other equal area on this planet where the equipment and the quan- tity and the quality of maple sugar equals that of Fletcher.
WELLS, THADDEUS CHASE, son of Jonathan, Jr., and Prudence (Chase) Wells, was born in Flet- cher, January 6, 1836.
His maternal grandfather, Thad- deus E. Chase, came to Fletcher from Grafton, Massachusetts, in 1810, and settled on the large farm which has since been occupied by five generations of his posterity. He originally took up 100 acres, but the farm has been enlarged by
THADDEUS C. WELLS.
successive purchases until it now contains nearly three hundred acres. Mr. Chase built the stone house in 1825, one of the interest- ing relics of the past generation. He was one of the Plattsburg vol- unteers. In 1805, at the age of 23, he went to England, carrying a certificate of American citizenship, so as to avoid impressment in the British navy. This is now in the family possession. He married
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Phebe Sibley, and their only daughter, Prudence, married Jon- athan Wells, Jr., in 1831, father of the subject of this sketch.
Thaddeus C. Wells was the eld- est son of a family of six children, five of whom are living. Of an adventurous disposition, at the age of 16 he went to the Iowa frontier and drove a stage route, and in 1857, helped drive a herd of cattle and 3,000 sheep overland to Cal- ifornia. For a dozen years he was chiefly engaged in the milk business in San Francisco, but returned to Randolph in 1869, and farmed there for 10 years. He then re- turned to the old homestead to care for his aged parents, where he has since remained. Mr. Wells is one of the most energetic and success- ful farmers of Franklin County. The productions of the farm have trebled under his able management, and it now carries a stock of 100 head of horses and cattle, includ- ing a herd of 50 cows.
Mr. Wells married Harriet A. Herren, who died, leaving one son, Fred A. Wells of Brandon. Thaddeus C. Wells married Cora E. Clark of Underhill, in 1893, and they have three children. He has served as selectman in both Ran- dolph and Fletcher. In politics Mr. Wells is a Democrat. He car- ries his threescore and ten years lightly, and with his varied and wide experience of life is an inter- esting and congenial personality.
ELLINWOOD, BYRON MOSES, son of Eli and Avaline (Hook) El- linwood, was born in Fletcher, June 2, 1839. Eli Ellinwood was a well-known vocalist and singing school master, an enthusiastic, pop- ular and patriotic citizen, and long time resident of Fletcher. Soon
after his marriage, in 1837, he lo- cated on the farm where Byron now resides. When the Second Ver- mont Regiment was raised, in 1861, Eli Ellinwood, although 46 years of age, enlisted in Company H, and after a year of faithful service died in hospital in New York, on his way home on furlough.
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