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 6
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 6
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 6
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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
Always actively interested in the prosperity of Morrisville, his latest achievement is the purchase of the abundant water power at Morris- ville and the installment of an extensive electric light plant, which is connected with his grain store and there grinds and elevates large quantities of grain, his shipments being the largest in this valley. He has a large reserve electric power which he will sell or rent at ad- vantageous terms to any new enterprise.
Mr. Slayton's first wife, Edna R. Hathaway of Moretown, died in 1879, leaving a son and a daughter. Allie H. Slayton, a graduate of People's Academy and of a Boston Commercial School, is his father's able assistant. Miss Josephine M. Slayton was a former student at Wellesley.
He married, in 1886, Lillia, daughter of Hon. Carlos S. Noyes of this town, who died in Janu- ary, 1897, leaving three children.
Mr. Slayton was one of the lead- ing projectors of the Union Sav- ings Bank and Trust Company, and since its incorporation has been a director. He has also served as auditor and on the in- vestment committee. He was a member of the special committee to
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institute the electric light and wa- ter systems and subsequently for two years as one of the village light and water commissioners, acting as
man of the building committee of the new Congregational Church. He has acceptably served both town and village many years as chair-
DI-BROS-& R-MICIT
HENRY A. SLAYTON.
secretary and treasurer of the board, and was re-elected to the same position for a term of five years. He was the efficient chair-
man of the board of auditors. His excellent judgment, mastery of de- tails and rare executive ability have been generously devoted to
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
the well being of his community and town.
CLARK, GEORGE W., son of Chester and Alvira (Crosby) Clark, was born in Hyde Park. Ilis father was a prominent farmer, on the large farm later sold to the towns of Stowe, John- son and Morristown as a combined town poorfarm.
George W. Clark attended the People's Academy and the Stowe
GEORGE W. CLARK.
High School, and taught district school three successive winters after he was 18 years old. He resided at Stowe from 1866 to 1876, and was a well-known dealer in live- stock, for a time in partnership with Hon. Amory Davison of Craftsbury, in an extensive busi- ness. They once drove 1,215 head of store cattle to Connecticut in a single drove. Since his return to Morrisville, in 1876, Mr. Clark has
been an extensive owner and ope- rator in real estate and timber lands. At the present time he has 4,500 acres of village, farm and timber lands, and is undoubtedly the largest real estate owner in Lamoille County. He has dealt quite largely in farm produce. Mr. Clark owns considerable land in and about the village of Morris- ville, and has promoted village growth by selling sites and furnish- ing building materials. He is a skillful connoisseur of horses, and has been successful in several cases in developing speed and selling at good prices. He owns the Burke farm, near the village, a desirable property of 400 acres. His vari- ous enterprises receive his careful attention, his office being in Gleed Block, opposite "The Randall." Mr. Clark is a stockholder in sev- eral of the semi-public enterprises of Morrisville. He has served three terms as village trustee, but has seldom accepted public office.
He married May, daughter of Joseph and Abbie (Merriam) Noyes of Morrisville, in 1889, who died two years later. In June, 1905, he married Blanche May, a daughter of Stephen and Mary (Town) Atwood of Stowe. Mr. Clark is genial in his social rela- tions, a successful financier and a methodical and reliable business man. He is a member of Mount Vernon Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and Tucker Chapter, R. A. M., of Morrisville.
FITCH, CORDILLA WALKER, son of Jabez D. and Eleanor (Wells) Fitch, was born in Hyde Park, May 13, 1831. Mr. Fitch is a lin- eal descendant of James Fitch, the first settled minister of Norwich, Connecticut, also Elder William Brewster of the Mayflower, and
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LAMOILLE COUNTY.
he is a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants of Mas- sachusetts. His grandfather, Ja- bez Fitch, was a soldier of the Revolution. The Fitches were among the earliest and most prom- inent pioneers of the town of Hyde Park. Mr. Fitch's father and mother died in 1836, when he was but five years old, and "he early learned the power to pay his cheerful, self-reliant way." A farm bred boy, at the age of 16, he came to Morrisville, then a strag- gling hamlet, and soon learned the builder's trade of Thomas Tracey. He helped build the old People's Academy, and later attended school there.
Having learned the carriage maker's trade at the well-known Abbot-Downing works at Con- cord, New Hampshire, he took charge as foreman of Thomas Tra- cey's carriage shop at Morrisville and later followed that trade at Montpelier, Stowe and other towns. Taking up the trade of architect and builder, he designed and su- perintended the construction of many of the finest public build- ings and private residences in Morrisville and vicinity, includ- ing Woodbury and Centennial Blocks in Morrisville, Averill Block at Barre, Phoenix Hotel at Hyde Park and Brigham Academy at Bakersfield, all of which are enduring monuments of his professional skill and industry. Mr. Fitch was a member of the Vermont party that located the town of Mapleton, Kansas. He joined a company of Sharpe's Ri- flemen in Lawrence and served un- der "Colonel Jim Lane" during the red-hot border ruffian times and was with him at one of the Le- compton sieges. Returning to Ver-
mont in 1857, he married Esther A. French of Morrisville. They have four children, viz. : Mrs. Nellie Belle Crane, Mrs. Minnie May Steele, Willie and Walter Fitch, all of Morrisville. Mr. Fitch is a stanch temperance man in theory and practice, and in politics a strong Republican. He has filled all of the chairs in Mount Vernon Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; is a member of Tucker Chapter and has taken
CORDILLA W. FITCH.
the council degrees. He is one of the oldest members of the Masonic Veterans' Association and was ten- dered an ovation in November, 1904, by Mount Vernon Lodge at the fiftieth anniversary of the day of his joining the lodge.
He inherits in a rare degree the sturdy and worthy qualities of his stanch Puritan ancestry, has taken a loyal and liberal interest in pub- lic enterprises and is universally
A-6
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
esteemed. Active and well pre- served in his seventy-fifth year, he has built several summer cottages on the shores of Caspian Lake of Greensboro, where he and Mrs. Fitch spend their summers.
DODGE, HARRISON, son of Hi- ram and Harriet (Penniman) Dodge, was born in Morristown, April 4, 1849. Mr. Dodge is a good type of the successful rural Vermonter. John Dodge, his
HARRISON DODGE.
grandfather, was an early settler of Barre, and one of the old-time teamsters to Boston. Hiram Dodge settled in town more than sixty- five years ago, on a portion of the home farm. He was energetic, a good horse breeder and farm man- ager and enlarged the home farm to 200 acres.
The 60 acres of tillage varies from light sandy soil adapted to corn to heavy clay bottom grass land. Mr. Dodge successfully con- ducted the "Alamo Dairy Farm"
as a milk farm with a large patron- age, at Morrisville. For many years he was an extensive and suc- cessful breeder of Shropshire sheep. Mr. Dodge rebuilt the farm barns, nearly two hundred feet in length and installed a silo of nearly two hundred tons' ca- pacity. He adopts progressive methods and labor-saving machin- ery and is an active, successful farmer and a genial, companionable man. In 1893 he erected his pres- ent fine residence, equipped with all the modern improvements, on Congress Street, using timber grown on the home farm. He has rented the home farm for a term of years.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Dodge are loyally devoted to the best inter- ests of the community, and espe- cially farm interests and are prom- inent and esteemed members of the Grange. Mr. Dodge is now master of Harmony Pomona Grange.
The Dodges are also members of the State Dairymen's Association, and Mrs. Dodge, a lady of unusual executive and social faculties, was secretary of the Woman's Auxili- ary, and one of the few charter members.
Harrison Dodge married, in 1877, Anna, daughter of William Gilbert of this town, and three children were born to them : Edith S., Harold H., and Kenneth G.
Edith S. has recently married Mr. Percy R. Davis of the firm of Mould & Davis of this village. Harold H. is employed with T. B. Ellis of this village and Kenneth G. is with his parents.
SMALL, LEVI S. The name of Small represents exemplary char- acter, good citizenship, successful farming and long residence in Mor- ristown.
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LAMOILLE COUNTY.
William Small, the progenitor of the family in America, came to Salem, Massachusetts, from Eng- land, prior to 1675, and partici- pated in King Philip's War, re- ceiving therefor a grant of land in Amherst, New Hampshire. Since that time six generations of the family in direct descent have borne the name of William Small.
William Small, the second, re- ceived the title to this land in 1756,
500. They reared a family of three children : William Milo, Levi S. and Viola L., widow of the late J. M. Campbell, all of whom are living, and have families in the Small neighborhood. William Small died in 1862, and the farm was divided by William M. and Levi S.
Levi S. Small was born April 26, 1842, and in 1863 married Martha N., daughter of Rev. H. W.
RESIDENCE OF LEVI S. SMALL.
and located there; William, third, was a Revolutionary soldier and died at Morristown at the age of 91.
William, fourth, father of L. S., came to Morristown in 1810, lo- cated on the farm now owned by his son, William Milo Small, and in 1826 chose Lucy Churchill as a helpmeet. The couple were fru- gal, thrifty and energetic and as opportunity offered, the original 50-acre farm was extended to
Harris. Levi S. Small is one of the energetic and successful farm- ers of this section. His farm is located on the Randolph Road, five miles from Morrisville, con- tains 225 acres and is one of the most desirable in Lamoille County. The farm operations are conducted by machinery. The 60 acres of mowing and tillage is rich clay loam, level and very productive of hay, corn and oats. The farm carries 40 head of cattle, in-
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
cluding about twenty-five excellent high-grade Jersey cows, 40 sheep and four horses. Mr. Small is us- ing the silo and a separator, and making his own butter, which sells at good prices, the dairy being the leading farm resource. There is a good sugar place of 500 trees. Mr. Small has built, or rebuilt, all of the farm buildings, and they are models. The house, built in 1896, and finished in home-grown woods, is commodious and elegant. Mr. Small is a Universalist and a Re- publican in politics. A man of ex- cellent judgment and sterling in- tegrity, he has repeatedly served the town as justice of the peace, lister and selectman. He is a member and past master of La- moille Grange. The children of Levi S. and Martha (Harris) Small are: Walter L., a druggist at Dorchester, Massachusetts, born in 1866; Henry H., born in 1872; Frank E., born in 1875, employed with Lewis & Co., Boston, Massa- chusetts; Allen B., born in 1878, is a farmer in Morristown. The four sons were educated at Peo- ple's Academy.
Henry H. Small married, in 1895, Katie L., daughter of D. A. Gilbert of Morristown. He in- herits the sterling qualities of a stanch ancestry, is a progressive farmer, a scientific butter maker and an esteemed citizen, one of the town selectmen. He appreciates and enjoys the solid advantages of rural life on the ancestral home- stead, hallowed by the time-hon- ored associations of three genera- tions.
SMITH, HON. ALLEN B. AND GEORGE I. A. Allen B., son of Ze- dock and Sarah (Russ) Smith, was born in Waitsfield, May 5, 1832. Zedock Smith was born in 1803,
and in youth resided at "Quaker Smith Point," Shelburne, on a part of the estate now owned by Colonel W. Seward Webb. He married, in 1827, and for many years, as a farmer, resided in Waitsfield.
Allen B. Smith came here from Waitsfield in 1856, and for 10 years resided on a farm on the Laporte road. In 1867 he pur- chased the Doctor James Tinker farm at Morristown Corners, which has since been the fam- ily home. This house is one of the historic landmarks of this early village, a grand old ancestral brick house, with majestic maples in the foreground and mountain peaks guarding the horizon. Mr. Smith erected the large barn the first year of his occupation, and us- ing a silo, has doubled the produc- tions of the farm. It is located a mile and a half from Morrisville, an excellent hill farm of 150 acres, including 60 in mowing and til- lage and the balance pasture and woodland. There was a splendid sugar place of 600 trees, with all of the modern improvements, which was destroyed by the inva- sion of forest worms in 1898. In recent years the farm is conducted as a dairy farm. Mr. Smith uses the United States separator and makes the butter at home, which is sold at Boston. The farm contains a rich sub-stratum of clay and marl and is a splendid grass farm, and with intensive cultivation about ten acres of rank corn and fodder corn are annually produced. The farm now carries 45 head of cattle, including 25 grade Jersey cows and five horses.
Allen B. Smith married Roxana P. Jackson of Duxbury, who died in 1889, leaving two sons, Zerah and George I. A. Zerah died in
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LAMOILLE COUNTY.
1901. In 1891 Mr. Smith married Mary Flanders.
Allen B. Smith has served the town many years as lister and se- lectman and was assistant judge of Lamoille County. Both father and son are highly respected as men and citizens.
neer of Concord. George I. A. and Leone E. Smith have two children : Charles H., and Lorna C.
MORSE, HON. GEORGE A., son of Ira and Hulda (Ainsworth) Morse, was born in Plainfield, October 22, 1848. The venerable parents of Judge Morse are still living in this
IRA MORSE.
George I. A. Smith was born in 1861, and since his majority has owned an interest in, and borne a part in the management of the farm. He married Leone E., daughter of Daniel and Eliza Ann (Bingham) Russ. Mrs. Smith's maternal great-grandfather was Warner Elisha Bingham, a pio-
town, active and well preserved. With their descendants, they cele- brated the sixtieth anniversary of their marriage in October, 1903.
Ira was one of the 12 children of Joseph and Sally (Ainsworth) Morse, all but one of whom lived to maturity. Joseph Morse was a soldier of the War of 1812. Ira
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
Morse and his good wife resided 35 years in Woodbury, on a farm; later in Wolcott and came to Mor- risville in 1899. Their two eldest sons were Union soldiers, viz. : Franklin B., in the Eighth Ver- mont, and Orlando J., in the Ninth Vermont, who died in hospital.
pleting his education at Hardwick Academy for several winters he en- joyed the helpful experience of teaching school.
Two years later he bought a saw- mill at East Elmore and engaged in manufacturing lumber. Begin- ning with a very limited capital,
GEORGE A. MORSE.
George A. Morse is best known as as extensive and successful lum- ber manufacturer, but he has made an excellent record in local and public affairs. Reared among the wholesome environments of the farm, he developed a good phy- sique and habits of industry, econ- omy and perseverance. After com-
by energy, good judgment and strict attention to business, he ex- tended his business until he pos- sessed 2,000 acres of timber land and manufactured two million or more feet of lumber annually. He has invested his capital largely in productive industries, which he manages. He is president of the
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LAMOILLE COUNTY.
Morse Manufacturing Company of Wolcott and a large stock owner. In 1893 Mr. Morse sold his mill at East Elmore and purchased his present sightly and handsome resi- dence at Morrisville. At present he is stocking several mills and selling their product, having his office in Drowne's Block. He is a director of the Hardwick Savings Bank and Trust Company.
While at Elmore, at some time he filled nearly all of the town of-
chairman of the grand list com- mittee. He was elected associate judge of the county in 1898 and served two terms. He is a member of Mineral Lodge, A. F. & A. M., also a member and liberal sup- porter of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Morse married, in 1874, Alice, daughter of William Sil- loway of Elmore. Two children have blessed their union: George G. and Ethel Glee, who has re-
RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM M. SMALL & SON.
fices and was representative in 1882. He was appointed post- master under General Grant and filled that office a score of years. For five years he was a trustee of the village of Morrisville and for a decade or more has been on the board of water and light commis- sioners. He has acceptably filled important fiduciary trusts in the settlement of estates. As a Repub- lican, he was chosen senator for Lamoille County in 1890 and was
cently married Charles H. Raymore of Cambridge. George G. Morse was educated at U. V. M., and is an electrical engineer.
Judge Morse has achieved a handsome competence and an ex- cellent standing. A man of un- assuming manners but of strong convictions, he is highly esteemed for his sterling qualities of mind and heart.
SMALL, WILLIAM M. & SON. William Milo, son of William and
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
Lucy (Churchill) Small, was born on his present farm, February 6, 1829. He married in 1862, Hattie Bennett of Stowe. Their children were William H., a promising young man, who died in 1894, at the age of 29, and Fred M., born in 1870.
The home farm of 300 acres is one of the best in the county and is conducted on scientific princi- ples, with modern machinery. W. M. Small has erected excellent farm buildings, is a thorough farmer and financially successful. He is a social, kindly man, a great reader and a prominent member and past master of the Grange.
The family have lived on this farm nearly a century.
Fred M. Small is a graduate of People's Academy and was a stu- dent at U. V. M. He is an en- thusiastic member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity and was a chap- ter delegate to the National Con- clave at Indianapolis in 1896, also at Philadelphia in 1900. He is a Royal Arch Mason and master of Lamoille Grange, P. of H. Mr. Small is one of the rising and pro- gressive young men of the town and highly esteemed. He married Lula, daughter of Eben Douglass, a grad- uate of People's Academy and a talented musician. Their home is enriched by the charms of art, lit- erature and music, and by a cordial hospitality.
NOYES, HON. CARLOS S .- The subject of this sketch was a gen- tleman of the old school, a con- necting link of the past with the present generation. He was born in Hyde Park in 1816. His father was Breed Noyes, the first merchant of that town. Both his paternal grandfather Oliver Noyes, and his maternal grandfather, Aaron
Keeler, were Revolutionary sol- diers and early settlers. He was formerly a merchant in his native town, but was the first cashier of the National Bank of Hyde Park, chartered in 1854. After the
CARLOS S. NOYES.
death of his brother, Lucius Noyes, president of the bank, Carlos S. succeeded him until he resigned, about 1892. In 1875 he moved to Morrisville. During his residence at Hyde Park Mr. Noyes held many important town offices, was town clerk, selectman, a member of the Legislature in 1848 and 1849, and again in 1862 and 1863. He was elected president of the Union Sav- ings Bank and Trust Company in 1891, and held that position until his death, in October, 1897. He is appropriately styled the father of Lamoille County Banks.
Mr. Noyes married Louisa Rit-
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LAMOILLE COUNTY.
terbush of Eden, who died March 12, 1898.
Arthur C. Noyes is the sole sur- vivor of a family of four children, and resides in the noble brick man- sion built by Jedediah Stafford at the foot of Main Street. Mr. Noyes was a man much loved by his entire family and greatly re- spected by all his large number of acquaintances, for his sterling in- tegrity and pleasing manner. His systematic, conservative methods have long been influential among business associates.
SMITH, CLEMENT F. The sub- ject of this sketch is one of the most progressive and energetic farmers of the Green Mountain State, and has exerted an active and lasting influence in uplifting farming to a higher plane in his town, county and state. His career shows the possibility of scientific and practi- cal farming.
Clement F., son of Daniel and Betsey (Pike) Smith, was born in Morristown, July 29, 1856, and is a lifelong resident. Having com- pleted his education at People's Academy, at the age of 22 he mar- ried Mary A. Burnham, and soon after purchased his father's 175- acre farm and stock for $10,500, with only $500 to pay down. La- porte Farm is pleasantly located on the Stowe road, three miles from Morrisville, and now contains 325 acres, of which 70 are in tillage and meadow and the remainder in pasture and woodland. All the operations of the farm are performed with farm machinery, and Mr. Smith was the pioneer in this section in its introduc- tion and use. Having demon- strated its utility, he became a suc- cessful salesman of farm machin- ery. He has the independence and
courage to take the initiative and was the third man in the state to erect a silo. He has a circular silo of more than three hundred tons' capacity. His meadows average to cut four tons of hay per acre annually. By intensive farming, a judicious rotation of crops and added acreage, he has increased the productions of the farm until he now keeps more than one hundred head of cattle and horses.
His dairy, probably the largest in the county, now contains 60 head of thoroughbred and high grade Jersey cows and heifers. Each cow's milk is weighed twice a day and frequently tested and cow
CLEMENT F. SMITH.
boarders do not remain long in his stables. His cows look finely, are free from tuberculosis and av- erage to produce from 325 to 350 pounds of gilt-edge butter annu- ally, which finds a ready market
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
at lucrative prices in Massachu- setts cities. In brief, Mr. Smith conducts a private experiment sta- tion, which is distinctively a public benefit to the farmers of his section.
A boarding house has been erected to accommodate the help; the residence and barns have been fitted up with the modern improve- ments; an artificial lake and fish pond with boat house, has been laid out; the capacity of the barns has been extended; in short, Laporte Farm has become a model, one of the most attractive and profitable farm estates in the state.
He was the first master of La- moille Grange, P. of H., and has always been a potent factor in the Granges of his town and section, and the Vermont State Grange, of which he has been overseer eight years. He is a prominent mem- ber of the State Dairymen's Asso- ciation and was two years its pres- ident. Mr. Smith has an excellent local standing, an unblemished record. He is an esteemed member of Mount Vernon Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, of which he has been steward since his majority, and is now Sunday School Superin- tendent.
Mr. Smith represented Morris- town in the Legislature in 1894, served on the committee on agricul- ture and as chairman of the special committee on tuberculosis, drafted the first bill to become a law.
Mrs. Mary Burnham Smith has rare social and mental gifts and has a state reputation as a speaker at state gatherings. Six of their seven children have been educated at People's Academy, of which Mr. Smith is a trustee. Mabel C., Mrs. E. H. Gregg, and Lilly A., are residents of Colorado; Grace B.
is a graduate of the Oread In- stitute and Ruhamah M., are in Los Angeles, California, where the lat- ter is attending college. Alice B., Mark B., and Frances W., are with their parents.
BLAIR, NOEL B., son of Charles and Amira (Beach) Blair, was born in Fletcher, November 18, 1845. Elias Blair, his grand- father, came to Fletcher as one of the first settlers, bringing in his
NOEL B. BLAIR.
family with an ox team from Ben- nington, and here opened up a farm from the primeval wilder- ness. He reared a family of seven children. Charles, the youngest son, remained on the farm and cared for his parents during their declining years until the death of his father.
Charles Blair died at the early age of 45, and the cares of a 200 acre farm devolved upon Noel B.,
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LAMOILLE COUNTY.
then a youth of 19 years, and he furnished a home for his four sis- ters until their marriage.
He remained upon the farm un- til he was 45 years of age, when he came to Morrisville, but still con- tinues to own the old homestead, which has been in possession of the family for nearly a century. The farm contained a fine sugar place of 1,300 trees, well set up with an evaporator, Mr. Blair being among the first to use this improvement. He became an expert sugar maker as well as a successful dairyman. In March, 1891, he came to Mor- risville, and in company with C. H. Slocum and H. C. Fiske, engaged extensively in the purchase and sale of maple goods. He bought in January, 1900, the boot and shoe stocks of C. H. Slocum and M. A. Stone & Co., and consolidated them in his present store on Portland Street, which has since been the well-recognized headquarters of the trade. His capable assistant is D. C. Spaulding, who for 30 years has been a popular clerk in town, also four years postmaster. Mr. Blair's ready wit and cheerful op- timism sheds sunbeams of happi- ness upon his customers, and he is a reliable as well as a popular salesman.
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