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 34
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 34
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 34
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land, and at Alexandria, and af- ter regaining his health rejoined his regiment, January 1, 1863. From that time forward he par- ticipated in every engagement, 18 in number, in which his regiment fought, including the Wilderness, where he was wounded in the shoulder. He was honorably dis- charged, June 29, 1864.
Returning to South Hero, he taught two terms at the academy, made an inspection tour in the West, returned and in February, 1867, married Susan Robinson of South Hero, who died in May, 1868. During this period he con- ducted the Z. G. Clark farm, and for a year or two a store at Keeler's Bay. In March, 1873, Mr. Conro married Emeroy Hodgkins of Grand Isle, a daughter of C. T. Hodgkins and a granddaughter of William Hodgkins, a Revolution- ary soldier, and one of the early settlers.
They soon removed to their pres- ent fine farm of 180 acres, located one mile from the village, and com -. manding a beautiful and expansive view of Lake Champlain, with mountain sentinels on either hand. Although 65 years of age, Mr. Conro is still an energetic and suc- cessful farmer, with a good dairy of 25 Jersey cows, with young stock and sheep.
An active Republican of inde- pendent opinions, he has served many years as moderator, also in most of the other town offices. He represented South Hero in the General Assembly in 1874, and was sheriff of the county four years; also four years a member of the Republican state committee. He is a member of Stannard Post, G. A. R., of Burlington, also a mem- ber and past master of Isle of Pat-
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GRAND ISLE COUNTY.
mas Lodge, No. 17, F. & A. M. He is an excellent type of Vermont's soldier citizens. Mr. and Mrs. Conro have an only daughter, May, a young lady of culture, and a graduate of the University of Vermont.
PHELPS, EDWARD B., son of Orange and Maria Phelps, was
consisted of 16 children, four of whom settled in this town. Tradi- tion says that his first grist was taken to Whitehall, a distance of 80 miles.
Orange, his second son, settled on the large farm near the lake shore, now owned by the subject of this sketch, reared a family of nine
HENRY W. CONRO.
born on the ancestral homestead at South Hero, June 6, 1845. Beni- jah Phelps, his grandfather, came from Connecticut, one of the pio- neers, and settled in the northern part of the town, and after several removals, finally settled on Keeler's Bay, where he died in 1866, at the ripe age of 93 years. His family
children who lived to maturity, and died in 1879, aged 73 years.
The members of this family are now widely separated; two sisters, Mrs. Jane Gordon and Mrs. Flor- ence Landon, residing in Califor- nia; Albert and Martha in Minne- apolis ; Edwin at Dover, New York, and Augusta, with Edwin B., on
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the home farm. The care of the farm and of the aged parents de- volved upon Edward and Augusta, and right well did they fulfil the filial trust. With great prudence and energy Edward Phelps achieved the task of raising the mortgage and paying off the other heirs, on the 300-acre farm. He has since conducted extensive im- provements in tile draining and with his system of mixed farming and three-year rotation of crops, the farm has become one of the most productive and profitable in town. His usual rotation is clover, corn and grain. The farm carries about forty head of cattle, includ- ing 20 dairy cows, 60 Shropshire sheep and a half dozen or more horse kind. There is an excellent orchard of standard fruit.
Mr. Phelps has served the town acceptable in nearly every town office, and in 1888 was its represen- tative in the Legislature. He has achieved an ample competence, which he dispenses liberally in sup- port of education and religion. In politics he is a Republican and a Methodist in religious belief.
He is highly esteemed as a pub- lic-spirited citizen of liberal views and excellent practical judgment. His fine homestead commands a lovely view of lake and mountain.
ISLE LA MOTTE.
Population, Census of 1900,508.
This beautiful island town, one of the smallest territorially in the state, and the most westerly, is rich in historical associations. Here is located the first land of Vermont pressed by the foot of a white man. Samuel de Champlain, the adven- turous French navigator, landed here during his historic voyage
down the lake in 1609. He says that the islands were uninhabited.
The Indian tribes came here to hunt and often landed here in their warlike expeditions. The Iroquois, then the most powerful and warlike of the aborigines, a confederacy of tribes called the Six Nations, came up from Lake George and at that time maintained possession of the islands. During the century of stern contention for the possession of the continent between the French and English, they were the allies of the latter. The Abena- quis, St. Francis and, in general, the Canadian Indians, were con- trolled by the French. As early as 1646 Father Jacques, a devoted Catholic priest, with two compan- ions and 20 Algonquins, were cap- tured by the Iroquois and suffered almost incredible tortures and hardships here.
Fort St. Ann was erected upon the western point of the island in 1666 by Captain LaMothe, from whom the island was named. From this fort, soon afterwards an im- portant expedition was sent out un- der De Tracey, a French officer, against the Mohawk Indians. The fort commanded the western chan- nel and was held by the French and, later, by the English govern- ments, until nearly the close of the century.
At the Shrine of St. Ann, erected on the site of the ancient fort, are to be seen many relics of beads, arrow-heads and utensils of peace and war, exhumed from that his- toric spot, mute witnesses of the tragic scenes of the wilderness.
A grant of 8,000 acres, nearly double the actual size of the island, was made by the Assembly to Ben- jamin Wait and 95 associates, No- vember 11, 1779. It was further
CHASMAK KVINCHELE
AN ISLAND HIGHWAY.
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
resolved "that the said grant be made out, on condition that the proprietors pay to the committee appointed for that purpose, on or before the 10th of January next, £36 on each grantee's right or share." The name of Isle La Motte, applied by the governor, council and General Assembly when the grant was made in 1799, was maintained until 1802, when, by legislative enactment, it was changed to Vineyard. This name, so suggestive and appropriate, was maintained until 1830, when, agree- able to a petition, the ancient name of Isle La Motte was restored, less the final "e". The survey was made during 1785 and the plan drawn and certified by John Clark, surveyor.
In 1788, William Blanchard, one of the original proprietors, settled on the island, and resided there un- til his decease in 1824. About the same time came Enoch Hall and his two sons, Nathaniel and Elihu. The Halls became heads of families and left numerous descendants. Soon afterwards the settlement was augmented by Ebenezer Hyde, Ichabod E. Fisk, a graduate of Yale College, and Abraham Knapp, all worthy and influential pioneers and heads of large families. Abra- ham Knapp was compelled at one time, in order to sustain his large family, to use the buds and tender leaves of basswood trees, as a sort of mucilage, for food, and from the bark fibre to make a sort of cloth for garments.
The nearest gristmills at first were at Whitehall, New York, dis- tant more than a hundred miles, or at Chambly, 30 miles by water and 12 by land, the grain then to be carried on their backs. The mor- tar, dug or burned out of the top
of a stump or log and the swinging pestle, was often used to coarsely grind the grain.
In 1791, the date of the state's admission into the Union, Isle La Motte was organized. The town meeting was held March 24 at the house of Nathaniel Wales, and the following officers were elected : Moderator, Abraham Knapp; town clerk, Abraham Knapp; selectmen, Ebenezer Hyde, Enoch Hall, Na- thaniel Wales; treasurer, Ebenezer Hyde; listers, Nathaniel Wales, Enoch Hall, William Blanchard; grand juror, Ichabod Hyde; tyth- ingmen, Joseph Rasey and Gardner Wait. The following September the town elected Gardner Wait the first representative to the General Assembly. The census of the same year showed a population of 47 per- sons. Nine years later the popula- tion had increased to 135, and at the present time it is approximately 600.
The settlers who served in the War of the Revolution were Joseph Williams, who was wounded at Brandywine battle, William Blan- chard, Ezra Pike, Daniel Bixby, Gardner Wait, Elihu E. Reynolds, Nathaniel Hall, William Wilsey, Seth Strong, John Fadden, Henry Scott and Caleb Hill.
The first road was laid out from Fiske's quarry, around the island to near the terminus of the Isle La Motte bridge. In 1792 provision was made by the selectmen for a burying ground and a town plot.
The first justice was William Utley, chosen that year. The first person born on the island was Laura, daughter of William Blan- chard, September 7, 1792. The first minister who preached here was Daniel Brumley, about the year 1800, and the first physician,
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GRAND ISLE COUNTY.
Luther Plymptom, date, 1800. The first lawyers were Seth Emmons, Solomon Morgan and Samuel Hol- ton, who came about the same year.
In the War of 1812 a requisition was made for a sergeant and six men and about twenty volunteered. Those who served were Orlin Blan- chard, sergeant; Ira Hill, Harry Wait, Minard Hilliard, Conrad Denio, Lewis Gordon and Annas Holcomb.
In 1814 Captain Pring, a Brit- ish officer, landed on the western shore of the island, erected a bat- tery, mounted six long eighteen- pounder guns commanding the lake and claimed jurisdiction over the island. From this point the Brit- ish flotilla started on the early morning of the memorable 11th of September, 1814, to battle with the hastily equipped fleet of Com- modore McDonough in Plattsburg Bay.
In the War of the Rebellion the town furnished 73 recruits, all but four being volunteers, more than one eighth of the entire population, of whom 18 never returned. In- cluded were two captains, one sur- geon, two lieutenants, 10 sergeants and three corporals.
The quarries and the orchards are the principal financial re- sources. The land is unexcelled for general farming and there are many fine hay and grain farms. Probably no other equal space on this continent produces apples equal in quantity and quality. The village, pleasantly located near the center of the town on the highest land, contains the Methodist, Church, store and post-office, the large stone hotel of H. H. Hill, the new public library and a score of comfortable residences.
The islanders are an enterpris-
ing, industrious, hospitable people. We met and became agreeably ac- quainted with many not specially represented in these pages, among others Mr. H. H. Hill, notable or- chardist and landlord, whose father was an 1812, and his grandfather, Caleb Hill, a Revolutionary sol- dier; the Holcombs, Andrew and Wyman, Mrs. Cornelia Scott Hill, granddaughter of Henry Scott, a Revolutionary soldier; Captain William Montgomery, an enterpris- ing inland navigator, and last but not least, Ransom Hall, descendant of soldiers and pioneers, veteran town official, half a century town clerk and a living encyclopedia of local information.
FISK, HON. NELSON W. The subject of this sketch was born at the Fisk family homestead, Isle La 'Motte, August 5, 1854, son of Hiram C. and Cynthia (Clark) Fisk. His great-grandfather, Icha- bod Fisk, came to the island in 1788, and settled on a farm in the southern part of the town, which has since been the family home. He was among the first graduates of Yale College, was the first school teacher in the town, and at his death was president of the State University at Macon, Georgia. He opened the marble quarry, and was succeeded by his son, Samuel, and his grandson, Hiram C. The lat- ter developed the quarries success- fully and was for many years an active factor in the business, politi- cal and religious life of the town, which he twice represented in the Legislature, and died in 1884, at the age of 66.
Nelson W. Fisk received his aca- demical education at the Mont- pelier Seminary and at Fort Ed- ward Institute, and his business training at Eastman's Business
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College, Poughkeepsie. By the death of his father, in 1884, Gov- ernor Fisk became the sole propri- etor of the Fisk marble quarry, operated by the family for three generations, and has continued as such to the present time. Governor Fisk has the distinction of owning and operating the oldest quarry in Vermont, it having been opened as early as 1664, contemporaneous with the building of Fort St. Anne on Isle La Motte. In 1882 and 1884 he served his townsmen as rep- resentative in the General Assem- bly; and in 1888 he was elected state senator from Grand Isle County, and made a most credita- ble record. It was at this session that the Grand Isle Bridge Bill was enacted, which was the last of the three bridges connecting the island county,-the first being built in 1882 from Isle La Motte to Al- burgh. It was largely through the influence and energy of Mr. Fisk that these appropriations so con- ducive to the prosperity of Grand Isle County, were enacted.
In 1894 he was appointed by Governor Woodbury chairman of the board of trustees of the State Industrial School at Ver- gennes, and for several years was a trustee of the State Normal School at Johnson, and since 1896 has been a trustee of the University of Vermont at Burlington, having been reelected for a six years' term by the present General As- sembly. In 1888, he was a delegate to the National Republican Con- vention at Chicago that placed in nomination General Benjamin Har- rison ; also a delegate to the conven- tion of 1892, at Minneapolis, which renominated that eminent states- man. In 1896, when Mr. Fisk was being urged by his friends as a
candidate for the office of lieuten- ant-governor, the Burlington Free Press said, editorally : "He has yielded to the wish of his warm friends throughout Vermont in that he will be a candidate for the second place on the ticket. The announcement will be gratifying to a large proportion of the Republi- cans of the state. Mr. Fisk is a staunch Republican. He is an honorable, genial and popular gen- tleman. As a representative in the House in 1882 and 1884, senator from Grand Isle County in 1888, trustee of the Vermont Industrial School and of the Johnson Normal School; also as an active member of the Vermont Fish and Game League, and in other public capaci- ties, he has shown ability, sound judgment and large capacity for business. He has not asked for support, nor shown any eagerness to become a candidate for lieuten- ant-governor. His candidacy is thus an honorable one, and every way creditable to him. His name will add strength and popularity to the ticket and it will be a source of gratification to many in other sections of the state, that the good island county has at last been rec- ognized by the bestowal of an im- portant elective office."
His businesslike methods, his strict adherence to parliamentary etiquette and his generous affabil- ity, made his term of service as president of the Senate a memora- ble one. In 1894, Mr. Fisk was appointed by Governor Levi K. Fuller one of the state commission- ers at the California Midwinter Exposition, and was the commis- sioner from Vermont at the Pall- American Exposition, held at Buf- falo in 1900.
Governor Fisk was united in
1
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NELSON W. FISK.
A-29
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HISTORIC ROOM, LIBRARY IN GOVERNOR NELSON W. FISK'S RESIDENCE, In which Vice-President Roosevelt received the news of the assassination of President William Mckinley.
RESIDENCE OF NELSON W. FISK.
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
marriage, February 25, 1880, with Elizabeth Beckwith Hubbell, daughter of John Walcott Hubbell, an influential citizen of Chazy, New York. Mrs. Fisk is a lady of character and culture, and presides with becoming grace in this grand old family mansion, long known for its hospitality. At this beautiful estate, in the summer of 1897, at the invitation of Governor Fisk, while president of the Vermont Fish and Game League, it held its midsummer banquet, the largest function of the kind ever held in the state, at which time President McKinley and his cabinet were guests of honor. Again, in 1901, Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt, as the guest of the Vermont Fish and Game League, honored Grand Isle County and Vermont with his presence, and it was at this island home that Mr. Roosevelt received the sad news of the assassination of the revered Mckinley. Ar- rangements were progressing for the reception on the lawn when the shocking intelligence came, at 5.30 p. m., by telephone to Governor Fisk. He immediately called Mr. Roosevelt into his library and in- formed him of the awful tragedy. Then Senator Redfield Proctor, at whose invitation Mr. Roosevelt was present, made the sad announce- ment to the guests: "Friends, a cloud has fallen over this happy event. It is my sad duty to inform you that President Mckinley, while in the Temple of Music at Buffalo, was this afternoon shot twice by an anarchist, two bullets having taken effect."
This grand, old, stone house, erected in 1800 by Governor Fisk's grandfather, possesses a rich herit- age of cherished associations and historic memories. It was in front
of this house that the British fleet anchored the night before the mem- orable battle of Plattsburg and the British officers took possession of and ocupied the house.
HILL, HENRY WAYLAND, was born at Isle La Motte, November 13, 1853. His parents were Hon. Dyer Hill, who was a member of the Vermont Legislature in 1849-'50, and Martha P. Hill, daughter of Enoch Hall, Esq., and Hannah Hall, née Scott.
His paternal grandparents were Mercy Hill, née Pike, and Calvin Hill, son of Captain Caleb Hill, who lived for a time at Granville, New York, and in 1803 purchased a large tract of land on Isle La Motte, portions of which are still owned by his descendants, and where he organized his townsmen for de- fense into a company of militia in the War of 1812, and was after- wards surprised at night by Brit- ish soldiers, shot and killed in his home.
The Hill family trace their an- cestry back to Sir Rowland Hill, the originator of the penny postal system of England and to Sir Row- land Hill, lord mayor of London in 1492.
Henry W. Hill was one of six children, five of whom are still liv- ing, and are Mrs. Charlotte A. Hall, wife of Hon. Ransom Hall of Isle La Motte; Wilbur F. Hill, who has been for many years keeper of the United States light on that Island; Henry W. Hill; Mrs. Alice B. Rockwell, wife of Merritt B. Rockwell, a merchant of Alburgh Center, and Doctor Julian P. Hill, . a practicing physician of Buffalo.
Henry W. Hill passed his youth on the Island farm, now owned by him, attended public schools, en- tered the University of Vermont in
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GRAND ISLE COUNTY.
1872, became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and was grad- uated from that University in 1876, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1881 he received his Master's degree, and in 1900 the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from his alma mater.
He married Miss Harriet A. Smith, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Francis Smith of Swanton, on August 11, 1880.
He was principal of the Swanton Union School from 1877 to 1879, and of the Chateaugay (New York) Academy from 1879 to 1883. In these preparatory schools he fitted several classes for college and at the same time read law and was ad- mitted to the Bar at Albany, New York, on January 25, 1884. The following May he formed a law partnership at Buffalo, New York, with Edward W. Andrews, a na- tive of Shelburne, and an alum- nus of the University of Vermont, and that continued until the death of Mr. Andrews in May, 1896. Mr. Hill is still actively engaged in the practice of law at Buf- falo. In 1893 he was elected a del- egate from Buffalo to the New York Constitutional Convention of 1894, which was presided over by Hon. Joseph H. Choate and of which Hon. Elihu Root was also a member. In that Convention he served on the Suffrage, Educational and Civil Service committees, and was selected as one of a Committee of five to map out its work. He formulated, introduced and se- cured the adoption of some amend- ments to the Constitution of New York. He advocated measures designated to provide home rule for cities, honest elections, the maintenance on a popular basis of secondary and higher education
and the enlargement of the Erie, Champlain and Oswego canals, a work of far-reaching importance to the commercial interests of the state and Nation.
Lincoln, the Constitutional His- torian, says: "The most elaborate and comprehensive speech on ca- nals in the Convention was deliv- ered by Henry W. Hill of Buffalo. Mr. Hill had given the subject long, patient and thorough study, and had, apparently, examined it from every point of view. The speech is replete with historical in- formation and with valuable sta- tistics showing the development of the canal policy in almost every age and country. It contained a general argument in favor of canal improvement and of such constitu- tional changes as would readily permit this improvement; and he fortified his argument by numerous facts, figures and historical refer- ences to show the value and impor- tance of this canal as a factor in the development of the state, and of its probable continued useful- ness, if a liberal policy should be adopted. The student of economic relations of canals will find here the whole subject so carefully con- sidered and so clearly arranged that little need be sought else- where. "'
His record was such in that Con- vention that he was the logical Re- publican candidate for the New York Assembly from Buffalo, whose commercial interests had been so ably championed by him, and he was unanimously nomi- nated five times in succession, elected thereto, and served in that body for the years 1896 to 1900, in- clusive, and then he was three times in succession unanimously nominated by the Republicans of
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the Forty-Seventh Senatorial Dis- trict for the New York state Sen- ate, elected thereto, and served in that body from Buffalo for the years 1901 to 1906, inclusive, and in 1906 was re-elected for the fourth term by a large plurality to represent the Forty-Eighth Dis- trict in the Senate of 1907-'08. This is the longest continued ser- vice ever accorded to a Buffalo legislator. During this time he in- troduced and secured the passage of many important laws, such as a primary election law, the barge canal survey law, the all-state pharmacy law, the general automo- bile law, the child labor laws, the barge canal ninety-nine million dol- lar bonding law and he, also, form- ulated and secured the legislative adoption of several proposed Con- stitutional amendments, such as that known as Section 11 of Article VII, providing for the application of surplus moneys in the treasury to the liquidation of the bonded in- debtedness of the state; Section 4 of Article VII, extending the bonding period of the state from 18 to 50 years, and Section 2 of Arti- cle VI, revising the judiciary arti- cle. In the Constitutional Conven- tion he formulated and introduced Section 5 of Article II, authorizing the use of voting machines at gen- eral elections and was one of the framers of Section 10 of Article VII, authorizing the Legislature to provide for canal improvements, all of which are now integral parts of the Constitution of the Empire State.
He secured the large state appro- priation for the Seventy-fourth and Sixty-fifth Regiment armo- ries, the Historical Society build- ing and the Mckinley monument, all in Buffalo, and was entrusted
with its most important legislation, such as the free public library bill, its grade crossing abolition bills, the Pan-American Exposition bill, and others. He assisted in formu- lating the New York Canal refer- endum bill of 1903, in which, largely through his efforts, was included a provision for the enlargement of Champlain Canal, of such vast im- portance to the commerce of Lake Champlain, and his able advocacy of that measure in the Senate against strong and persistent op- position, and his masterly presen- tation of it to the electors of the state in a score or more of compre- hensive speeches, setting forth the project in all its phases, and the ad- vantages to accrue therefrom, did much to secure its enactment into law and its overwhelming popular approval. It was the most gigan- tic bonding proposition ever sub- mitted to popular vote in any state, and, as Senator Henry W. Hill said in his great speech at the canal dinner of the Chamber of Com- merce of Buffalo on May 8, 1903, in so doing "the state has again dem- onstrated its courage to cope with great questions and reaffirmed her prestige for imperial greatness in commerce and in wealth." In com- batting the blind and stolid inertia of conservatism then existing, Sen- ator Hill in that speech, also said : "The progressive spirit of the age, that bridges rivers and tunnels mountains, that waters deserts and fertilizes plains, that cables oceans and explores continents, that makes cataracts propel the wheels of in- dustry and utilizes the atmosphere as a vehicle for man's thoughts, and that transforms the thunder- bolt into controllable energy to serve man's purposes, will over- come all conservatism and sur-
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