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 15
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 15
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 15
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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
B. M. Ellinwood is one of the most industrious and successful farmers in this section, and is warmly attached to his beautiful homestead by the hallowed associa- tions of life-long residence. The home farm of 222 acres is located a mile and a half from Cam- bridgeboro, is fitted for the opera- tions of farm machinery and is one of the most desirable and pro- ductive farms in Franklin County. It carries a dairy of 40 cows, some young stock, and the farm team. A fine sugar place of 1,500 trees is a source of pleasure and profit to the owner.
Mr. Ellinwood has rebuilt and remodelled the farm buildings, which are handsome and commodi- ous, and command a magnificent panorama of Mount Mansfield, the Green Mountain Range and the Gore by Lamoille Valley. Mr. El- linwood is a modest man, who has avoided rather than sought town office, but is recognized as a suc- cessful financier, and as a citizen of integrity, good judgment and public spirit.
He married Hersa, daughter of Orsemus Ellsworth of Fletcher. Their only son, Charles Eli Ellin- wood, is a successful farmer, dai- ryman and stock dealer, on the Colonel Gates farm in Cambridge. Nettie A., the only daughter, is the wife of Doctor S. G. Start of Cambridge.
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
SHEPARDSON, WILLIE S., son of Samuel C. and Emily (Robin- son) Shepardson, was born in Fletcher, March 11, 1861. The golden wedding of his parents was celebrated October 3, 1900.
Samuel C. Shepardson, a prom- inent and successful farmer and long-time resident of Fletcher, was a man of strong physique and great energy, and active until a brief time before his death, July 14, 1903. He is survived by the
W. S. SHEPARDSON.
widow and two sons: Willie S. and H. D. Shepardson, the latter re- maining on the home farm. The youth and early manhood of the subject of this sketch was spent upon the paternal farm. In 1897 he rented the Robinson store at Fletcher Center, which he pur- chased five years later. He re- paired and rebuilt the buildings, which are now models of neatness and convenience, and is securing a
prosperous and increasing trade. Genial and accommodating in dis- position, a careful buyer and relia- ble salesman, Mr. Shepardson fills an important sphere of usefulness as the leading merchant in town. He is the local agent of the Ver- mont Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany. He has been postmaster during the past eight years. He has acceptably served the town in the various capacities of justice, school director, lister and select- man, and as a Republican, repre- sented Fletcher in the Legislature of 1894.
Willie S. Shepardson married, in 1902, Mary L., daughter of P. H. and Ellen (Flynn) Sloan of Fletcher. Their only child, Har- old Samuel, was born August 26, 1904.
CHURCH, NELSON W. Samuel Church, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was for- merly a resident of Bennington, and served nearly seven years as a soldier of the Revolution.
Samuel, Jr., his son, came to Fletcher from Bennington in 1797 and settled on the farm now owned by Nelson W. Church, which has been owned without encumbrance over a century, and occupied by six generations of the family. Four generations of the family were born here. Hiram, the eld- est of the two sons of Samuel Church, Jr., was a life-long resi- dent on the ancestral farm.
Nelson W., son of Hiram and Lorinda (McClure) Church, was born here December 25, 1837. He married Eliza, daughter of Luther and Sarah (Ufford) Wells, in 1860. Few men so fully appreciate and enjoy the solid advantages of the ancestral home as Mr. Church, and here he has resided as a prosperous
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
farmer. He was bereaved by the death of his beloved wife in March, 1902.
Recently a great sufferer from rheumatism, he has made his home with his only son, Leslie, who re- sides on a fine farm near Cam- bridge. Leslie Church married Delia A., daughter of Horace and Lovica (Boynton) Chapman, in February, 1899, and the following March moved from Fletcher to the Safford farm.
Mr. Church built a fine stock barn and horse barn in 1901. The farm now supports 30 cows and the farm team, and under Mr. Church's care has greatly in- creased in fertility.
Cora, the only daughter of Nel- son W. Church, married Charles Bellows of Cambridge.
The Church farm of 200 acres is pleasantly located near Fletcher Center, and contains an excellent sugar place of 1,600 trees, with modern equipment. The sugar place and a good dairy of 20 cows were the leading resources.
Nelson W. Church has never sought office or preferment, but has served as justice and selectman. He is strongly attached to his na- tive town by the time-hallowed as- sociations of residence and ances- try, and is universally esteemed as a man and citizen.
SMITH, FRED L., son of George and Helen C. (Gage) Smith, was born in Westminster, September 27, 1858. His boyhood was spent in attendance at the district schools and in the cares and labors of the farm. His parents removed to Athens when he was 11 years old, where he remained until be became of age. He married, in 1885, Mrs. Ella Swan Chase of Fletcher and
settled on their present farm near Fletcher Center.
The progress and improvements of the past 20 years illustrate what may be acomplished by energy,
FRED L. SMITH.
economy and good judgment. The original farm of 200 acres has been increased to 300 by purchase. The productions of the farm have more than doubled during the past 20 years and it now supports 70 head of cattle, including 50 cows, mostly grade Jerseys. Mr. Smith erected, in 1903, a model barn, 46 x 105 feet, with gable driveway.
Having provided the farm with a modern equipment for butter making some twelve years ago, Mr. Smith began taking milk of neigh- bors and, starting with a few patrons, he has now nearly ninety. Mr. Smith is recognized as a skill- ful and successful creameryman,
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
and delivered an address before the 1906 meeting of the Vermont Dai- rymen's Association which was highly commended. He conducts a feed store in connection with his creamery, and is one of the busi- est of men. His plant is the most important, if not the only manufac- tory of the town of Fletcher, and with the feed business, is an im- portant industrial factor.
He is a member of the State Dai- rymen's Association, and also of the Methodist Church. A repre- sentative farmer and manufac- turer, Mr. Smith represented Fletcher in the Legislature in 1898.
PARSONS, CHARLES BINGHAM, youngest son of Medad R. and Betsey (Bingham) Parsons, was born in the house where he now re- sides in Fletcher, December 14,
CHARLES B. PARSONS.
1841. Medad R. Parsons came here from Fairfax in 1820, and cleared up this farm from the wil- derness. His wife was a daughter of Captain Elias Bingham, the pi- oneer of Binghamville.
Charles B. Parsons received only the training of the district schools, and shared the usual experience of the farm boy of the period. He re- mained on the home farm as the solace of his parents' declining years. His mother died in 1881 and his father five years later. He married, in 1862, Jane A. Wether- bee of Fletcher, who died in 1882. Three children were born of this marriage: Addie A., wife of A. J. Lamb, and Rollin C., both of Fletcher, and Jessie M. of Fairfax. Mr. Parsons married in 1884 Lu- cia C., daughter of Henry and Ann (West) Hooper.
Mr. Parsons' farm now contains 235 acres. Dairying, with a herd of 20 cows, is the main resource, the butter being made upon the farm.
Mr. Parsons is past chancellor commander of Lamoille Lodge, No. 12, Knights of Pythias, and a mem- ber of the Grand Lodge of Ver- mont. He is also a member of Modern Woodmen of America, No. 10,127. Mr. Parsons is highly es- teemed for his good judgment and integrity and is prominent in town affairs. He has been lister six years, selectman seven years, school director three years, justice 30 years and town clerk and treasurer for the past 10 years. A Demo- crat in politics, he represented Fletcher, a strongly Republican town, first in 1874, again in 1904.
MAXFIELD, HAMPTON L., son of Harry and Abigail (Bishop) Maxfield, was born in Fairfax, September 2, 1836. His education was completed at the New Hamp- ton Institute. When the tocsin of war resounded
"He left the plowshare in the mold, The flocks and herds without a fold,"
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
to respond to his country's call. He was mustered into the United States service June 20, 1861, as a member of Company H, Second Vermont Regiment. He shared
HAMPTON L. MAXFIELD.
the fortunes of the senior regi- ment of the "Old Brigade" from the First Bull Run, including the Peninsular campaign and Grant's last advance on Richmond, and participated in a score of battles and skirmishes. He was wounded at the charge of Marye's Heights, and again at Wilderness, when for two months he was disabled and in the hospital. At the Wilder- ness he left his Springfield musket on the field, which fell into the hands of the Confederates. The name, company and regiment of the owner was carved on the gun, which 11 months later was brought
back to the regiment by a squad of deserters.
Returning to his native town, Mr. Maxfield married, in October, 1866, Ermina A. McClellan of Cambridge. They farmed in va- rious towns in this section until 1899, when they located in their present home in Fletcher.
They have three children: Lot- tie married O. H. Gome of Fletch- er; Arthur A. Maxfield, an electri- cian, married Ida M. Rush, and re- sides in Somerville, Massachusetts, and with him resides Cora F., his youngest sister.
Hampton L. Maxfield is an es- teemed member of Cambridge Post, No. 10, G. A. R., and Mrs. Max- field of Green Mountain Relief Corps, No. 53, Department of Ver- mont. Mr. Maxfield was a brave and faithful soldier and is a good type of the "Green Mountain Boys of '61."
CARPENTER, OLIVER G., son of Sumner and Hulda M. (Good- rich) Carpenter, was born in Fletcher, August 9, 1854.
Jesse Carpenter, the grandfather of Oliver, came from Croydon, New Hampshire, about 1825, set- tled in the north part of Fletcher and cleared up a farm from the wilderness. He married Eliza- beth Chase and they reared a large family : Calvin, Elmira, Emory, Sylva, Sumner, Cephas, Eli, Abi- gail, Addison B., and Marinda, of whom only two are now living- Cephas and Eli, both of Fletcher.
Sumner Carpenter was born in 1824, married Clarissa, daughter of Joseph Stickney in 1849, and their two sons are A. B. Carpenter of Fairfax and J. S. Carpenter of Morristown.
The children of Sumner and Hulda (Goodrich) Carpenter
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were : Oliver G., Ella M., of Lynn, Massachusetts; Effie A. of Cam- bridge, Elsie D. of Westford and Olney S. of Fletcher.
Sumner Carpenter moved to the present farm, two miles from Cam- bridge, in 1867, and his aged parents resided with him. By his death, in 1877, the town of Fletcher lost a prominent and esteemed citizen.
The Carpenter farm of 164 acres is one of the most productive and desirable in the county. The ma- jestic form of Mt. Mansfield, with a beautiful foreground of village, meadow and forest farms, is a scenic picture of surpassing beauty. Mr. Carpenter erected his commodious barns, including two silos, in 1894. The main barn is 46 x 100 feet, with gable driveway, and deep bays
sold at 21.89 cents per pound, bringing $70.14 per cow. In 1905 39 cows averaged 295 pounds each, which at 241/2 cents per pound, brought the owner $72.27 per cow. This is successful farming. The farm also contains a fine sugar place of 1,000 trees, with modern equipment.
Oliver G. Carpenter completed his education at the New Hampton Institute, Fairfax. He married Alice M. Chase, daughter of Joseph B. and Irena (Drake) Chase, Feb- ruary 20, 1884. Mrs. Carpenter is a true home-maker, and the domes- tic circle is cheered and brightened by the presence of two daughters : Glee A., born in 1894, and Ruby C., born in 1899.
Oliver G. Carpenter is an ex- cellent type of the enterprising,
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SUNNYSIDE FARM, OLIVER G. CARPENTER, PROPRIETOR.
and the ell is 30 x 40. The barns contain 70 head of cattle, includ- ing 40 as fine grade Jersey and thoroughbred cows as the county contains. In 1904 40 cows aver- aged 325 pounds of butter, which
progressive and hospitable Ver- mont farmer. His townsmen have recognized his sterling qualities by electing him to the most responsible offices in their gift, and by sending him to the Legislature in 1896.
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
FAIRFAX.
Population, Census of 1900, 1,338.
The charter was granted by Benning Wentworth, governor of New Hampshire, August 18, 1763, to Edward Burling and 63 others. A village was laid out on the level tract known as the Plain, where there was formerly a store, tav- ern and the primitive industries of a pottery, still, potash and fulling mill, all of which have long passed away.
The first proprietors' meeting of the town of Fairfax was held at Arlington, August 30, 1786, and action was taken for laying'out the first division of lots, and for rais- ing money to defray the expense of the same. The first meeting of pro- prietors holden in town, was held June 9, 1791, at the house of Broadstreet Spafford. Captain Seth Ford was elected moderator and Nathan Spafford, proprietors' clerk. At this and subsequent meetings the balance of the lots were surveyed and drawn out. The final dividing of the town was not completed until May 7, 1792. The first town meeting was held March 22, 1787, at the house of Captain Broadstreet Spafford, who was elected moderator. Thomas Russell was elected town clerk; Nathan Spafford, constable ; Broadstreet Spafford, Robert Bar- net and Thomas Russell, selectmen.
The first settlement in Fairfax was made by Broadstreet Spafford, who, with two sons, Nathan and Asa, came from New Hampshire in 1783 and began to clear the farm owned by Mrs. David Shepardson, on the Lamoille River. Robert and Jose Barnet came the follow- ing year, and a short time after, Thomas Russell settled in town.
None of their descendants are now living here. At that time the near- est settlers were at Cambridge, seven miles distant.
The supplies were generally brought in from Burlington. Levi Farnsworth came in from Charles- town, New Hampshire, in the spring of 1787, with his dog, axe and gun, and built a log house on the Plain. In 1790 he returned with his family, and was followed soon after by his brothers, Jasper, Oliver and Joseph Farnsworth, who settled on the Plain. Gould Buck, the pioneer of this at one time numerous family, came to the locality called Buck Hollow in 1790, and was soon followed by his brothers, George, Zadock, Nathan, Joseph and Jesse. Douglass Buck, the last representative of this once numerous family, has recently sold his 600-acre farm and moved to St. Albans. Abijah Hawley was a strong character and pioneer set- tler in the northern part of Buck Hollow, and came in 1789. His father was Jehial Hawley, a prom- inent citizen of Arlington, and his grandson, Hon. Charles A. Haw- ley, has recently sold the old home- stead and moved to Richford.
The First Baptist Church of Fairfax was organized in 1792, and its first ordained minister was Reverend Elisha Andrews. In 1824 the society, in association with the Congregationalists, built a meeting house. In 1848 and 1849, the society built the present church, the frame being furnished by Deacon Ansel Shepardson and Harry Safford. The church was thoroughly repaired in 1885. The present pastor is Reverend Frank Ufford, a native of Fairfax.
The Methodists of Fairfax be- gan to hold class services early in
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
the last century, but the society was not organized here until 1832. The first meeting house was built in 1840, and the present one in 1851.
The Roman Catholic Church at Fairfax was built in 1872, during the pastorate and under the direc-
prosperity and population, the sum of $10,000 was raised, and with this sum the old union meeting house was remodeled into a well- arranged school building, and dur- ing the summer of 1853, the school was opened. It proved an excel- lent acquisition to the town, and
ADELBERT B. BEEMAN.
tion of Father M. Pigeon. The parish is small and the church is usually supplied from Milton or St. Albans.
The New Hampton Institute was originally located at New Hamp- ton, New Hampshire. During the middle of the last century, when the town had attained its greatest
for many years was a prosperous institution, but recently suffered a serious decline.
BEEMAN, HON. ADELBERT B., son of James Munroe and Loraine (Lewis) Beeman, was born in Fair- fax, July 15, 1843. He is a de- scendant from Joseph Beeman, a pioneer of the county, and well
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
known as an extensive landowner and surveyor. James M. Beeman was reared upon a farm and learned the trade of blacksmith and wheelwright. In 1856 he moved to Fairfax village and engaged in trade. For 13 years he was in the lumber and butter tub business at Fairfax Falls.
Adelbert B. Beeman was edu- cated at New Hampton Institute. He began clerking in 1860 in Bur- lington, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. He entered into mercantile partnership with his father in 1864, under the firm style of J. M. Beeman & Son. That was the time of greenback prices; cotton cloth at 45 cents per yard, kerosene $1.25 per gallon, butter 51 cents per pound, dressed pork 16 cents per pound, wool 90 cents to $1.00 per pound. The store was the leading general merchandise center in the village, with a large trade in butter and maple sugar. In 1892 Mr. Beeman sold the store to Francis H. Shepardson.
Since that time Mr. Beeman has been extensively engaged in buying farm produce, the specialties being butter, eggs and maple sugar. His operations have extended all over Northern Vermont, where he is widely and favorably known. With an experience of 40 years, he ex- presses the opinion that as a rule the farms are more productive and the farmers better fixed than ever before, during that period. Mr. Beeman is a stalwart Republican, and as such represented Fairfax in 1886 and was a senator from Franklin County in 1892. He was a member of the Republican Coun- ty Committee for four years.
For a quarter of a century he has been town clerk and treasurer, and is recognized as an influential
citizen and able business man. He is president of the Allen Bee- man Company, wholesale dealers and jobbers of fancy farm produce, at Norwich, Connecticut. He is vice-president of Franklin County Savings Bank and Trust Company of St. Albans. Mr. Beeman has been a member of the Masonic fra- ternity for 42 years. He was for many years secretary, and is a past master of Lamoille Lodge, A. F. & A. M.
He married, in 1873, J. Agnes Allen of Westford, who died, in 1884, leaving a son, Arthur Allen Beeman, who is a graduate of Sax- ton's River Academy, and is now associated with his father in busi- ness. Adelbert B. Beeman mar- ried for his second wife Mrs. Carrie Nash of New Haven.
PETTY, DOCTOR FRANK A., son of McKendree and Eliza J. (Truax) Petty, was born in Bur- lington, August 20, 1855. McKen- dree Petty was for 33 years profes- sor of mathematics in the Univer- sity of Vermont, and died in 1887. Frank A. was one of a family of five sons and five daughters, of whom three sons and three daugh- ters are now living. Of the four sons who lived to maturity, three were physicians. The eldest, Doc- tor Charles W. Petty, died at Keeler's Bay. Doctor John C. Petty is located in Wisconsin. The youngest son, Reverend Henry Curtis Petty, is a clergyman of the Troy Conference.
The early environment of Frank A. Petty was stimulating and fa- vorable for the development of scholarly tastes. He was edu- cated in the excellent public schools of Burlington and at the Univer- sity of Vermont. He graduated from the Medical Department of
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
U. V. M. in 1885. His first settle- ment was at Hyde Park, where he remained a year, and later located at Underhill Center. Doctor Petty came to Fairfax in 1890, where he has since resided, and acquired a successful practice in this and sur- rounding towns. He takes an
one daughter, Lillian. Mrs.
Petty is a graduate of the Johnson Normal School, a lady of refine- ment, and an active factor in the social and religious life of the com- munity. For many years she has had charge of the primary depart- ment of the Methodist Sabbath-
FRANK A. PETTY, M. D.
active interest in the social and ed- ucational well-being of his adopted town, has served as superintend- ent of schools, and is a past master of Lamoille Lodge, No. 6, A. F. & A. M. He is a member of the Ver- mont State Medical Society.
Doctor Petty married, in 1894, Mary A., daughter of Daniel J. Norton of Fairfax. They have
school. Doctor and Mrs. Petty are prominent members of that church.
The home of Doctor Petty is a delightful social center, and his personal and professional influ- ence stands for morality and prog- ress.
SHEPARDSON, FRANCIS WAY- LAND, youngest son of Ansel, Jr., and Lu Ray (Story) Shepardson,
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
was born at Fairfax, February 26, 1836.
Daniel Shepardson, the first American ancestor, came from England to Salem, Massachusetts, in 1628 or 1629, and soon after set- tled in Charlestown. Ansel, Jr., was born in Middletown, in 1793,
built a pioneer flax machine, which he used extensively. He com- menced wool carding and cloth finishing in 1830, which was con- tinued 20 years, when a new mill was built and machinery installed for making woolen cloth and yarn. He also erected a foundry and
FRANCIS W. SHEPARDSON.
a son of Ansel, Sr., who came with his family to Fairfax about 1805, and located on a farm. Ansel, Jr., was a good vocalist, and for many years taught singing school. An- sel, Jr., built a sawmill on the stream nearby and manufactured lumber. He also invented and
blacksmith shop at what became known as Shepardson Hollow. He was a member of the Baptist Church, was for half a century one of its deacons and a man of most exemplary character. He died in 1875, at the age of 82.
Francis W. Shepardson early
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
evinced unusual mechanical abil- ity, and in 1857, at the age of 21, assumed entire management of the factory at the Hollow, and con- ducted it successfully for eight years. The volume of the business outgrew the facilities, and in 1865 Mr. Shepardson formed a co-part- nership with S. N. Gaut, owner of the great falls of Fairfax, and the company purchased the most modern machinery and equipped "Lamoille mill." This factory was known far and near for the ex- cellent quality of its goods and for many years turned out yearly about $30,000 worth of fancy cas- simeres, flannels and yarn, which supplied the local trade.
In 1881 Mr. Shepardson sold his interest in the Lamoille mills, and purchased the Hiram Bellows place at the village, where he has since resided. He married, in 1860, Miss Jennie Kinney of Mil- ton, and two daughters were born to them: Fannie V., the youngest, is living, the wife of Nathan B. Al- fred of Fairfax.
Mr. Shepardson cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, and as a Republican represented Fairfax in the Legislature in 1890. He has served his townsmen in many capacities. For a quarter of a century he has been a trustee of the Bellows Free Academy fund, most of the time as secretary and treasurer, and under the general direction of the board has managed the investment of that fund in a most masterly and successful man- ner. He has made the realization of this great project, the great aim and ambition of his life. He had personal charge of the construction of that model school building, "The Bellows Free Academy." Mr. Shep- ardson has sung in the Baptist A-14
choir here for 60 years and for 50 years has been chorister of that church choir, and also a member of the church since the age of 14.
BRUSH, S. WARNER, son of Captain Charles H. and Sarah Jane (Roberts) Brush, was born in Fairfax, May 24, 1868. Charles H. Brush was born in Cambridge, in 1839, son of Silas Brush. The latter, and also his father, were well-known hotel keepers, and Silas was many years town clerk. Charles H. completed his schooling at New Hampton Institute. In the fall of 1862 he enlisted in the First Vermont Heavy Artillery, where he was successively promoted through every grade from private to captain, and served three years. He took part in several battles and was captured on the Weldon Rail- road, June 23, 1864, and was held a prisoner until November at Belle Isle, Andersonville and other pris- ons. He married in 1866, Sarah J. Roberts, and soon after bought and occupied the large farm now owned by S. Warner Brush. Cap- tain Charles H. Brush has been a trustee of Bellows Free Academy 15 years, and a school director nine years. He took the initiative in the system of conveying town pu- pils in barges to the Bellows Free Academy and for years has given much time to school interests.
S. Warner Brush ranks as one of the leading farmers of Franklin County.
After completing his education at New Hampton Institute and Vermont Academy, he married Ella, daughter of D. J. Norton, and settled on the home farm, which he helped carry on for several years. In 1903 he purchased the farm of his father. Containing more than five hundred acres and
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