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 32
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 32
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 32
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
The Swanton marble, called Ly- onaise, is a beautiful variegated marble, with an almost infinite va- riety of shades and hues, and has been used for widely different pur- poses. The Barney Marble Com- A-27
pany has been and is a leading fac- tor in the prosperity of Swanton.
STONE, HON. HENRY MARTYN, son of Hervey and Eliza (Smith) Stone, was born in Jericho, June 10, 1828. His ancestors of Eng- lish and French extraction settled in pre-revolutionary days in Lanesboro, Massachusetts. His grandfather, David Tolman Stone, after marriage to Thankful Rog- ers, moved in an ox-cart to Jeri- cho in 1780.
Hervey, the youngest of David's children, born in 1800, at the age of 19 married Eliza Smith, a de- scendant of Nathan Smith, who emigrated from England to Con- necticut in 1700. From this union five children were born, of whom Henry Martyn was the youngest.
It is interesting to note that Her- vey, commanding a company of cavalry, escorted General Lafay- ette from Essex to Burlington on his visit to Vermont in 1825.
In about 1842 the family moved to Highgate, and 10 years later to Swanton, where Hervey died at the age of 87, his wife, Eliza, dying in 1896 at the advanced age of 99 years.
Henry Martin Stone received his early education in the common schools and in Bakersfield Acad- emy, living on the farm with his father until he was twenty years of age. He embarked in the mer- cantile business in Tinmouth, Rutland County, in 1848.
In 1851 he was united in mar- riage to Olive Barker, daughter of Noah Woodruff and Olive (Bar- ker) Sawyer of Tinmouth, and seventh in direct descent from Captain Miles Standish of Dux- bury Hall, Lancashire, England, captain of the Plymouth Colony.
Soon after his marriage, Mr. Stone moved his business to Swan-
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
ton, where it was enlarged by the addition of marble and wood- working departments.
In 1858 he began the lumber, coal and building material busi- ness, which was continued with marked success until 1890. Since that year he has been interested in
election as state senator in 1896 he has not held political office.
Charles Henry, eldest son of Hon. Henry M. and Olive (Saw- yer) Stone, was born in 1854, mar- ried Kate E. Hale of Stowe, was in business with his father in Swanton, and later in Iowa and
HENRY M. STONE.
various business enterprises with his eldest son in Western and Southern states. He has held most of the town and corporation offices and has taken a prominent part in the affairs of his commun- ity. He is a Republican in poli- tics, but with the exception of an
Minneapolis. Emily Olive, born in 1858, married Gaylord W. Bebee and died in 1894. George Barker, born in 1862, was gradu- ated from the University of Ver- mont in 1885 and from the Gen- eral Theological Seminary of New York City in 1889. He was for
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
fifteen years vicar of St. Mary's and curate of Mt. Calvary Church, Baltimore, Maryland. He mar- ried Emily O. Alcock in Florence, Italy, where for two years he has been curate of St. Mark's English Church.
Edward Sawyer, born in 1864, took the same educational courses as his elder brother, George. He married Ellen Cornelia, daughter of Hon. Henry A. Burt of Swan- ton. He was seven years rector of St. Matthew's Church, Enosburg Falls. After spending seven years in the South for his health, for the most part engaged in ministerial work, he returned to Swanton and is rector of Holy Trinity of Swan- ton, and St. John's, Highgate.
Walter Hervey, born in 1866, died in childhood.
Arthur William, born in 1869, is a graduate of Columbia College, New York, and the General Theo- logical Seminary, was located in the ministry at Rutland and Lyn- donville and is now a chaplain in the Pacific Squadron of the United States navy. He married Cora Page Woodward of Morrisville.
Florence Mary, born in 1874, a student at St. Agnes, Albany, New York, married, in 1901, Doctor C. E. Strong of New York City.
FURMAN, DANIEL G., son of Warren S. and Mary Ann (Ware) Furman, was born in Elizabeth- town, Essex County, New York, August 22, 1855. His father, a millwright by trade, moved to Highgate four years later, where Daniel attended the district schools. After he was 12 years of age he had his own way to make in life and with a weight of 64 pounds hired out for eight months to a farmer for $64. He paid his own way several terms at the New
Hampton Institute by performing the duties of janitor. He early chose the legal profession as the sphere most congenial to his tastes and abilities, and at 18 years of age began reading such law books as he could get, while pursuing his labors as a hired man on the farm. He subsequently read law in the offices of George Newton of St. Al- bans and Hon. Henry A. Burt of Swanton and was admitted to the bar of Franklin County at the September term, 1876.
Mr. Furman first located at East Berkshire, but removed to Swan- ton, May 9, 1879, where he has since remained and built up a suc- cessful practice. Possessing a ner- vous temperament, a mind alert, aggressive and original, and a reso- lute will, Mr. Furman soon became a stirring figure in the legal and political arena. He was admitted to practice in the federal courts and in November, 1905, took in Fred L. Webster as a partner.
Mr. Furman has held various local offices and twice has been sent to Washington, together with Hon. Henry A. Burt, to represent the local custom house before the United States treasury department. As a Democrat he was elected to the Legislature from Swanton in 1888, and although one of the youngest members, was an active member of the judiciary committee, the Democratic candidate for speaker and the floor leader of the minority. He is a ready and forc- ible debater. He has been a mem- ber of the Democratic county com- mittee and in 1900 was chairman of the Democratic state convention. While he is a Democrat, he is non- partisan and independent.
Mr. Furman married, Septem- ber 8, 1880, Elizabeth M., daughter
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
of Hiram and Elizabeth (Barr) Best of Highgate. They have had two children, Bernice M., who re- sides with her parents, and Willis Best, who died in infancy. They have an adopted son, Alan Foster Furman, eight years of age.
Mr. Furman owns and manages
gent members, drew and presented the resolution in the grand lodge, predicting that gifts would be made by the wealthy, which, after strenuous opposition, was adopted and he was made chairman of the committee to raise funds as a nu- cleus, and raised several thousand
DANIEL G. FURMAN.
several farms, which he has greatly improved. He is a charter mem- ber of Missisquoi Lodge, No. 32, I. O. O. F., of Swanton, and has passed all of the chairs. He con- ceived the idea of a Vermont Odd Fellows' Home, for old and indi-
dollars and reported at the next annual meeting. Subsequently, Mr. Gill of Ludlow presented the building known as the Gill Odd Fellows' Home, thus realizing and materializing Mr. Furman's con- ception and prediction,
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
FLETCHER, CARL CHITTEN- DEN, editor of the Swanton Courier, the eldest son of Colonel Truman Chittenden and Katherine (Brown) Fletcher, was born at St. Johns- bury, February 5, 1870. He comes of stanchest Vermont stock, be- ing a direct descendant, the fifth, from Thomas Chittenden, first gov- ernor of Vermont.
His grandfather, Colonel Fred- erick Fletcher, was distinguished in military and civil life, especially as a financier. His father, Colo- nel Truman Chittenden Fletcher, is widely known as a public man, having represented St. Johnsbury in the Legislature, held important local offices, was aide-de-camp on the staff of Governor Stewart. He was a delegate to the National Re- publican Convention in Chicago in 1884 and a presidential elector from Vermont in 1900. He was four years a member of the state board of railroad commissioners and a score of years a school direc- tor of St. Johnsbury.
Edward F. Brown, maternal grandfather of Carl C. Fletcher, came to St. Johnsbury in 1841 and engaged in trade soon after, and his store was for nearly a decade the only one in St. Johnsbury vil- lage and himself one of its most esteemed citizens.
Mr. Fletcher was educated in the public schools of his native town, St. Johnsbury Academy and Dartmouth College. Upon leav- ing college he at once entered upon newspaper work with the Rutland Herald. After a year's experience he was promoted to the position of city editor, which he held for five years. From the Rutland Herald he went to the New York World. Returning to Vermont he was en- gaged a short time with the Bur-
lington Free Press, going from there to St. Albans, where he was on the staff of the Messenger five years. In 1899 Mr. Fletcher pur- chased the Swanton Courier.
Mr. Fletcher has served three years as a member of the pruden- tial committee of the Swanton Falls Union School District and is the present chairman of the Re- publican town committee.
During the legislative sessions of 1892 and 1894 he served as official reporter of the Senate.
He is a member and past master of Seventy-Six Lodge, No. 14, F. & A. M., and also a past master of Englesby Lodge, No. 84, of St. Al- bans, now amalgamated with Franklin Lodge of that place. He is also a member of Champlain Chapter, No. 1, R. A. M., Lafay- ette Commandery, No. 4, K. T., both of St. Albans; Vermont Lodge, No. 1, Knights of Pythias of Rutland and the Vermont So- ciety of Sons of the American Rev- olution.
In 1898 Mr. Fletcher married Lillian, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Wells of Cabot. They have two sons, Hugh Chittenden and Frederick Wells.
BABCOCK, JOSEPH WEEKS, of Necedah, Wisconsin, was born in Swanton, March 6, 1850; removed with his parents to Iowa in 1855, where he resided until 1881, when he removed to Necedah, Wisconsin, where he has since resided and for many years was engaged in the manufacture of lumber; was elected to the Wisconsin assembly in 1888 and reëlected in 1890; was elected chairman national Republi- can congressional committee for the years of 1894, 1896, 1898 and 1900; was elected to the Fifty- third, Fifty-fourth, Fifty-fifth,
JOSEPH W. BABCOCK.
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
Fifty-sixth, Fifty-seventh, Fifty- eighth and Fifty-ninth congresses ; was appointed chairman of the committee on the District of Co- lumbia in the Fifty-fourth, Fifty- fifth, Fifty-sixth Fifty-eighth and Fifty-ninth congresses, and a mem- ber of the committee on ways and means in the Fifty-sixth and Fifty- seventh congresses.
EDDY, REVEREND MILO S., was born at Corinth, August 15, 1865. The family soon afterwards re- moved to Brownington. Milo at- tended the district schools and completed his education at Derby Academy and the Methodist Sem- inary at Montpelier, from which
REV. MILO S. EDDY.
he graduated in 1891. During this period he taught several terms of school, thereby paying his educational expenses. The follow- ing year he joined the Vermont Conference and was appointed to the parish at Coventry, where he remained three years. His work was so satisfactory that he has been
successively assigned to larger fields. He was four years at Waterbury Center, six years at Morrisville, and located in Swan- ton in April, 1904. A thorough student of biblical literature and of current topics, Mr. Eddy is also a persuasive and effective speaker and a faithful pastor.
Mr. Eddy married, on April 28, 1892, Nellie H., daughter of J. H. and Christiana Wolcott. Their home is brightened by two daugh- ters, Olive Imogene and Doris M.
A Methodist church was organ- ized at Swanton in 1816, of which Elisha Barney was class leader. There was preaching once in four weeks, held at first at the school- house. The church now numbers about one hundred and fifty mem- bers. The Sunday-school contains 175 members, with an average at- tendance of nearly one hundred.
FOSTER, ELLIS WILLIAM, son of Araunah and Lucy S. (John- son) Foster, was born on the paternal farm at East Swanton, April 26, 1851. For a period of 109 years, four generations of the Foster family have here enjoyed the simple pleasures, the whole- some labors and the solid ad- vantages of a rural home. Thomas and Rhoda (Hutchins) Foster, grandparents of the subject of this sketch, came to this place in 1797, carved out an 80-acre farm from the primeval wilderness, and reared their family of 11 children, performing almost a miracle of prudence and energy. The long- drawn howl of hungry wolves often disturbed their nightly slum- bers, but danger, privation and hardship sharpened the wits, hard- ened the frames and prompted the ambition of these sturdy pioneers and their children.
Araunah was one of the six sons
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SUCCESSFUL, VERMONTERS.
who lived to maturity and on him devolved the care of the small farm in the failing years of his parents. He was the typical farmer of his period, equal to any work that came to his hand, a mill wright, his services were in great demand; a carpenter and joiner, he built all of the excellent farm
fairs. The 80-acre homestead, un- der his able management, has been increased one half in area and trebled in production and for the past score of years has been con- ducted as a dairy farm, with 30 grade Jerseys. It is a fine, level upland farm, in excellent cultiva- tion.
ELLIS W. FOSTER.
buildings. Araunah Foster died here in 1893, at 90 years of age.
The eldest son, Arthur H., and the youngest, Ellis W., are now citi- zens of Swanton. Ellis W. Foster enjoyed only the district school training, but he has always been a student of practical and public af-
Ellis W. Foster married, in 1875. Etta Estelle, daughter of Harry and Lucia (Conger) Beales of St. Albans. A son died in infancy and the only daughter, Mabel Anna, after receiving a good education at St. Albans grammar school and Commercial College at Burlington,
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
is express agent and assistant sta- tion agent at Green's Corners.
Ellis W. Foster has for a score of years occupied a varied and im- portant sphere of usefulness in his town. Possessing a large fund of practical information on general and legal subjects, sound judgment and undoubted integrity, he has creditably filled nearly every office in the gift of his townsmen, has given his counsel and support for public improvement.
CARR, AMBROSE E., son of An- thony and Maria (Cavanaugh) Carr, was born in Swanton, June 17, 1863. At the age of 18 he be- came an apprentice at the marble trade with George and R. L. Bar- ney. Possessing an active temper- ament and marked mechanical abil- ity, he was soon promoted to be foreman of the finishing depart- ment and later was a contractor on the finished work. Beginning at the foot of the ladder, he has worked his way by merit and by a thorough knowledge of every detail. to his present responsible position of general foreman, which he has continuously occupied for 18 years. During the past 20 years Mr. Carr has devised and applied many im- provements in the mechanical ap- pliances of the marble business.
In politics, an earnest Republi- can, Mr. Carr has ever taken an active part in local and public af- fairs and has repeatedly served the town as selectman, moderator and justice and also the village in va- rious capacities.
He married Miss Theresa Tel- ford of Highgate in 1888 and they are parents of two children : Mary, who died in 1900 and Frank J.
BARNEY. MILO W., son of Rev- erend Miles R. and Abigail (Lord)
Barney, was born at East Brook- field, Massachusetts, January 14, 1866.
Reverend Miles R. Barney was a son of Horatio W. Barney and a native of Swanton and returned to that town in 1872.
Milo W. Barney was educated in the public schools and academy of Swanton. After several years of mercantile training he engaged with the Barney Marble Company in August, 1888, and since that time has been continuously con- nected with the company.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Barney has been actively identified with public affairs, is serving his third term as chairman of the board of selectmen and has been president of the village corpora- tion. He has been treasurer of the public funds and since its organiza- tion a director and treasurer of the Swanton Savings Bank and Trust Company, and in 1906 represented Swanton in the Legislature.
Mr. Barney is an excellent type of the energetic, progressive and public-spirited Vermont business man of the period.
He married, in 1893, Clara L., daughter of Reverend J. S. and Addie (Fassett) Tupper.
THE BARNEY MARBLE COMPANY. The name of Barney for more than a century has been honored in the annals of Swanton, as representing all the civic virtues, and later, dis- tinguished military service in the war for the Union. While there were many pioneers in Swanton in the marble business, the Barneys were among the earliest and the ablest, and to George Barney, man- ufacturer, patriot and historian, more than to any other of her sons. Swanton owes the development and
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
consolidation of that marble enter- prise which has been, and is now, the lifeblood of business and the exponent of her splendid mineral resources. Sawing of marble at Swanton Falls has been a leading business since the construction of the first mill, in 1812.
Elisha Barney erected a marble mill in 1829, and the business of sawing the Swanton and Isle La Motte marbles continued to flour-
was a fair demand for Isle La Motte dark marbles for hearths and mantels and a considerable de- mand for the variegated dove-col- ored marble for grave stones and monuments.
After the death of George Bar- ney, in 1883, the business was con- ducted by R. Lester Barney. In 1888 The Barney Marble Company was organized, which has carried on a steadily increasing business.
PLANT OF THE BARNEY MARBLE COMPANY.
ish until the hard times of 1837, when the cheaper, light Italian marbles became fashionable.
The year 1840 marked a new era in the marble business, when George Barney built a large mill near the site of the present mills and continued successfully, grad- ually absorbing and consolidating with other concerns until the time of his death, October, 1883. In 1841, and prior to that date, there
In 1900 the Vermont Marble Com- pany purchased a large interest in the stock, the mill has been greatly enlarged and modernized with the latest mechanical appliances, and under the present able management is doing the most extensive and prosperous marble business in the history of the town. For nearly a score of years Milo W. Barney has been superintendent and Ambrose E. Carr, foreman at the works, po-
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
sitions which they still deservedly retain.
The colored marbles of Swanton are unique, practically inexhausti- ble and easily accessible, being lo- cated only a mile and a half, with an easy grade, from the plant. In beauty and variety of contrast it is unequaled.
Various shades of red dove color and chocolate are mottled with white, yellow and green, which fin- ishes with a beautiful polish. The Roxbury quarry furnishes a dark green clouded and streaked with white, which for interior decora- tive work is a universal favorite and the six standard varieties man- ufactured here are in excellent de- mand.
BLISS, SUMNER W., was born in Swanton, January 29, 1856. He
SUMNER W. BLISS.
received his education in the pub- lic schools and has always taken a lively interest in all questions that affected the welfare of the people. He has held the various town offices and in 1906 was chosen to repre-
sent his town in the General As- sembly and served on the joint standing committee on game and fisheries.
ALLEN, DOCTOR CLARENCE E., son of Heman and Mary Irene (Hutchins) Allen, was born in East Farnham, Quebec, January 23, 1856. Doctor Allen comes of strong New England ancestry on both the paternal and maternal lines. His great-grandfather was Josiah Allen, who removed from Vermont to Frelighsburg, Quebec. His early boyhood up to 12 years of age was spent in his native village and his literary education was com- pleted at New Hampton Institute, Fairfax. He entered McGill Med- ical College, Montreal, in 1879, and graduated in 1883. He soon after- wards settled in Swanton, where he secured an active, and later an ex- tensive and lucrative, practice. Resolved to keep abreast of the times, Doctor Allen, in 1886, took a post-graduate course in the London hospitals and in 1894 took a post- graduate course in the New York Polyclinic.
He is a member both of the Ver- mont State and of the Franklin County Medical societies and for the past three years has been a member of the board of United States pension examiners.
Doctor Allen married, in 1888, Minerva S., daughter of Zepheniah and Hannah (Saxe) Drury of Highgate. Their home is blessed with three children: Horace Eu- gene, Clarence Keith and Dorcas Irene Allen.
Doctor Allen has entered heart- ily into the varied social and public activities of his town and section. He is financially successful and the owner of several business blocks in Merchants' Row. He is a charter
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
member of Missisquoi Lodge, No. 38, I. O. O. F., and has passed all the chairs. He is also a member of Seventy-Six Lodge, No. 14, F. & A. M. During the last three years he has served as a trustee of the village of Swanton, and is now president of the corporation.
The organization of the Swan- ton Savings Bank and Trust Com- pany was completed in September,
longs the distinction of having been the site of the first Catholic church in Vermont, which is elsewhere re- ferred to. In 1840 Swanton be- came a mission. In 1847 a brick church was erected, and in 1853 Swanton was one of the 10 churches of the recently erected Diocese of Burlington. Rev. J. Lionnet, the first resident pastor in 1854, was succeeded by Rev. L. Cam in 1857.
INTERIOR OF CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY.
1904, with Doctor Clarence E. Allen, president, and M. W. Bar- ney vice-president and treasurer. The capital is $50,000 and the deposits now amount to nearly $100,000. The other directors are Hon. Carroll S. Page of Hyde Park, E. D. Herrick of Highgate and H. W. Marvin of Alburgh.
THE CHURCH OF THE NATIV- ITY. To the town of Swanton be-
The church took fire at the Christ- mas Mass of 1858, and was con- sumed.
The corner stone of a new church was laid June 13, 1859, and the church was completed, free of debt, and consecrated September 8, 1869, by Bishop Louis de Goesbriand.
This fine Gothic structure, 72 x 40 feet, was handsomely restored and redecorated in 1895.
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
At the time of the organization of the parish, there were about one hundred families, both Irish and French; today they number 300, nearly one half of the population of Swanton, a congregation which has vastly outgrown the size of the
and remodeled in 1896, has capac- ity for 300 pupils. It is directed by the Sisters of the Holy Ghost, whose provincial house is in Hart- ford, Connecticut.
The present rector of the parish is Reverend Father E. M. Salman,
:
THE OBLATES HOUSE AND APOSTOLIC SCHOOL.
church. The Oblates House and Apostolic School, erected by Rev- erend Father Ansin in 1896, is a spacious three-story building, sur- mounted by belfry and cross, where young men are trained in preparation for the priesthood. St. Ann's School, erected in 1873,
born in France in 1873 and ap- pointed parish priest in 1903. He is a member of Oblate of the Sacred Heart, whose mother house was in France and to whom the parish was given in charge when Reverend Father Cam resigned.
GRAND ISLE COUNTY
Population, Census of 1900, 4,462
HERE is no slight analogy between the efforts of Vermont to secure admis- sion as a member of the sisterhood of states of the American Union and the long-de- layed but persistent efforts of the island towns to secure county au- tonomy. Franklin County was orig- inally a part of Chittenden, and was erected as a county in 1792, and then embraced all of the pres- ent area of Grand Isle County ex- cept the towns of South Hero and Grand Isle. It made no material difference to the people of the is- lands whether they were connected with Chittenden or Franklin coun- ties, but the partition of their ter- ritory between two large counties was very unsatisfactory, and the oc- casion of much criticism. The sub- ject of creating a new county from the island towns and Alburgh was agitated soon after the erection of Franklin County in 1792, but no definite action was taken until the month of September, 1794, when a petition was forwarded to the Leg- islature praying for the erection of a new county to be called Hero, and embracing all of the islands of the lake north of Colchester Point. and Alburgh. The petition was signed by 23 residents of Alburgh, 29 from North Hero, 63 from South and Middle Hero and 8 from Isle La Motte. The petition was duly presented and referred to
a committee which, however, was discharged without making a re- port. In 1796 efforts were re- newed, but without success.
In 1779 the records show "A pe- tition signed by the selectmen of South Hero, North Hero, Alburgh and Isle La Motte, in behalf of their respective towns, praying that a new county may be created out of said towns with the adjacent is- lands, with all of the privileges and immunities of other counties except that all appeals that shall be carried from said county to the Su- preme Court of Judicature when sitting in the County of Frank- lin," was sent up from the House of Representatives with an appro- priate entry, but was shelved like its predecessors. The project was renewed in 1801, but without avail.
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