The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier., Part 139

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt. : Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press
Number of Pages: 1064

USA > Vermont > Washington County > Montpelier > The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier. > Part 139

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Mr. Dillingham never by a professional act degraded his profession. He loved it, and practiced it because he loved it. He withdrew from practice about 1875, after a period of professional labors of half a cen- tury. He is now in the 83d year of his age, and is exceedingly well preserved for such advanced years. An hour with him now in social intercourse is a rare enjoy- ment. With nothing to regret in the past, and a Christian's hope of the future, his present condition exhibits a restfulness and placidity which fittingly crowns a life of labor not spent in vain.

From Chaplain E. M. Haynes' History of the Tenth Regiment, (1570).

MAJOR EDWIN DILLINGHAM,

second son of Hon. Paul Dillingham and Julia Carpenter, was born in Waterbury, May 13. 1839. The first years of his life were passed at the home of his parents, amidst some of the most delightful natural scenery in the State. Here the mountains are ever green in their towering magnifi- cence to the sky. Almost every field is laced and ribboned by tireless, sparkling streams ; the soil, rich and stubborn in its fertility, yields its fruits only to the steady persistence of a hardy race ; and here, al- most in sight of the State Capitol, and within the immediate circle of its legisla-

When in his best mood, he played upon the strings of men's hearts with the facility tive and social influences, and always

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under the more refining elements of a Christian home, the years of boyhood and youth were numbered. Like other boys, we presume he passed them 'quietly, not varying much from the round of sports and duties of New England's revered manual for the training of her sons, al- though other homes have not been so richly endowed by Christian example. His opportunities for an education, we are in- formed, were respectable and diligently improved. Always found at his task, he won the admiration of his teachers ; ever kind and of a happy spirit, he was loved by his fellow-students. Enjoying the highest advantages afforded by the com- mon schools and academies of his native State, he here received all the instruction deemed absolutely essential to entering successfully upon his professional studies. He chose the profession of the law, and commenced his preparation for the bar in 1858, in the office of his brother-in-law, the Hon. Matthew H. Carpenter, now a senator in Congress, in the city of Mil- waukee, Wis., where, however, he re- mained but a few months. Upon leaving the office of Mr. Carpenter, he entered the Law School at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where he graduated with honor in the autumn of 1859. He finally finished his law studies, preparatory, in the office of Dillingham and Durant, in his native town, his father being the senior member of the firm, and then Lieutenant Governor, and afterwards Governor of the State. In Sept. 1860, he was admitted to practice at the Washing- ton County bar ; and it is said, "though the youngest," was considered " one of its most promising members." Subsequently, he became the law partner of his father, and thus established in his profession, and thus associated, he continued until July, 1862. We have often heard him speak of this arrangement as one most suited to his tastes, and doubt not that it was one of great promise and profit. It may be that he had expected to reap much from the great ability, experience and wide reputa- tion of his father as an advocate and states- man, and so enrich his own mind for the largest duties of his calling, either in its

immediate sphere, or else fit himself for the demands of a wider field, and prepare to win the honor to which the young am- bition may justly aspire. But whatever schemes of this kind he might have enter- tained, they were not destined to be re- alized ; even if they did float dimly, yet with golden wings, before his mind, his nature was not one to remain undisturbed by the dark war-cloud that had for two terrible years stretched from the Gulf to the northern boundaries of his native State. Its mutterings, mingling with the cries of the slain of his own kinsmen and companions in peace, were notes of sum- mons. Though the silver lining of other dark clouds had betokened promisé, this had turned to blood, and he would go and do battle for his country. Forgetting party affinities, and severing dearer and sweeter ties, he, with thousands more, would make the sacrifice of his young life upon the nation's altar. But to write all that was noble of this officer, would be but to repeat what has been in a thousand in- stances already made historic, and for him, we, his compatriots and subordinates in rank, because he has taken a higher com- mission, have but to record the epitaphs of the brave !

Upon the President's call for 300,000 troops, issued in July, 1862, he actively engaged in recruiting a company in the western part of Washington County, of which he was unanimously chosen captain. These recruits finally became Co. B, of the Ioth Reg. Vt. Vols., and were really the first raised for that regiment ; but in con- sequence of a company organization then existing, though formerly designed for the 9th Regiment, he was obliged to take this position in the Ioth. Soon after the reg- iment was fairly in the field, he was de- tailed as Assistant Inspector General or. the staff of Brigadier General Morris, ther commanding the Ist Brigade, 3d Division 3d Army Corps, Army of the Potomac He acted in the capacity of aid-de-camp to this officer during the battle of Locus Grove, Nov. 27, 1863, and while carrying an order to his own regiment, his hors was shot under him and he was taken

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prisoner. Then he was marched most of the way to Richmond and incarcerated in Libby prison, where he was kept for four long months in durance vilest. In March following, he was paroled and soon ex- changed, when he immediately returned to the field and to his old command. Gen. Grant was at this time making his cel- ebrated campaign from the Rapidan to Petersburg, and consequently rendered ap- proach to the immediate scene of opera- tions extremely difficult. Still, troops of every arm of the service were being hurried forward, and Capt. Dillingham was put in command of a battalion of exchanged pris- oners and enlisted men, which he led to the front, fighting some of the way. He dismissed his men to their respective com- mands, and reported for duty at Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864.

Col. Jewett had resigned. Lieut. Col. Henry and Major Chandler had been pro- moted respectively to the first ranks in the command. Capt. Frost, the ranking line officer, was breathing his last the hour he arrived ; one-third of the regiment were lying dead on the field and wounded in the hospital, and the rest, begrimmed with dirt and powder, within close range of the enemy, were looking down into the Chick- ahominy swamp, within steeple view of Richmond. Col. Henry had been wound- ed on the first instant, and Lieut. Col. Chandler soon afterwards became sick, and Capt. Dillingham took command of the regiment, although he held it but a short time, Lieut. Col. Chandler returning to duty. The remaining awful days until the 12th, was his second battle with his regiment. June 17, 1864, he was com- missioned Major, and went with the troops to James river and Bermuda Hundreds, where, with a large part of the corps, they were ordered into action by Gen. Butler. But Gen. Wright delayed obedience to the order, and his corps was finally extricated by Gen. Meade, after remaining under a most distressing artillery fire from the enemy's battery for several hours. From this time until his death he was constantly with the regiment, and some of the time in command.

July 6, 1864, the 3d Division of the 6th Corps was detached from the Army of the Potomac, and the two remaining divisions soon afterwards, and were sent into the Shenandoah Valley, under Gen. Sheridan. Arriving at Frederick City, Maryland, on the 8th, he was second in command at the battle of Monocacy. fought on the 9th, Lieut. Col. Chandler being detailed to command the skirmish line, and Colonel Henry in command of the regiment. After marching untold leagues from Frederick to the Relay House, to Washington, up the Potomac to Leesburg, over into the Shen- andoah Valley, through Snicker's Gap, where we had a skirmish with the enemy over and in the river on the 18th, back to Georgetown by way of Chain Bridge, again up the Potomac as far as the mouth of the Monacacy, thence to Frederick, Harper's Ferry, Winchester and Strasburg, back to Harper's Ferry, by way of Charleston- over 600 miles since we had set foot in Maryland, July 21. It was now Aug. 22. On the 21st, the whole corps was attacked vigorously by the enemy, drawing in the pickets in front of the 2d Division, while the troops were lying quietly in camp or preparing for Sunday morning inspection. Here, for the first time, young Dillingham was ordered to lead his command to battle. The regiment, however, was not prom- inently engaged, and he had no opportuni- ty to distinguish himself. When asked how he felt, invested with the full command at such a time, he replied : " I felt as if we should make a good fight, but I rather wished that Henry had been there." From this time he commanded the regiment until he fell at the glorious field of Winch- ester, Sept. 4, 1864.

We may not here describe that battle. It was a decisive victory for our arms and the country. It was a golden victory. It lifted higher the national banner than any other battle of the year north of Atlanta. But the eye of prescience could have dis- cerned a thousand emblems of mourning stretched beneath its starry folds, and seen the tears of as many Northern homes falling for their dead, yet re-consecrating the

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flag! One was mourned in Waterbury! Major Dillingham had fallen !

Washington County Court was in ses- sion, and attorneys were contending by peaceful process for the civil rights of a few clients. In Virginia, its youngest and most promising member, who had thrown his sword into the vaster scale of justice, was contending for the civil rights of the nation. Under orders to charge the en- emy, whose front was ablaze with cannon and abatised with fixed bayonets, he was firmly pacing back and forth along his battle line, steadying its formation and awaiting the final signal to advance. Those who saw him say that he heeded not the the missiles of death that fell thick around him and his brave men. Keenly he eyed the foe-anxiously he awaited the onset. To him it never came. About noon, while in this position, he was struck by a solid twelve-pound shot on the left thigh, and borne bleeding and dying to the rear. In two hours he was no more. The regiment charged and nobly avenged the death of its Major, but he had gone another way. Though he never recovered from the nervous shock produced by this wound, he did not lose consciousness until his noble spirit departed. He conversed oc- casionally with those around him. Among his last words was the utterance: "I have fallen for my country. I am not afraid to die." The first were inspired by patriotism, the last by Christianity! His remains were borne to Waterbury and in- terred, where the spirit of honor watches over the treasured dust; and when the history of Vermont's noble men is written, the names of her heroes fairly recorded, we shall read high upon the scroll the name of Major Edwin Dillingham. E. M. H.

A member of the " Tenth," from the bat- tle field writes : " While the fight was still roaring up over the hill he died, and this was the end of a beautiful, harmonious life. Young, handsome, brilliant, brave amid trials, cheerful amid discouragements, upright, and with that kindness of heart which ever characterized the true gentle- man, blended with firmness and energy as a commander, he was ever respected by

all of his command, and loved by all of his companions.

" A fairer and a lovelier gentleman The spacious world cannot again afford."

We shall long mourn him in our camp."

He fell, as a soldier should fall, At the head of his own gallant band ;

He died, as a soldier should die, In defence of his own native land.

He fell 'mid the battle's loud roar, Where the stars and the stripes proud did fly :

His life to his country he gave- " "Tis sweet for one's country to die."

He fell in the springtime of life,

His country from traitors to save,

While the bugle, the drum and the fife Fired the hearts of the true and the brave.

He died while the victor's shout Rang clear on the mountain air,

While the foe in disordered rout Were fleeing in wildest despair.

Vermont her proud record shall make, And add to her long roll of fame, With the Allens and Warners she'll place Young Dillingham's glorious name.

The closing tribute to our young hero is from the pen of J. A. Wing, Esq., of Montpelier.

One of the largest and most beautiful monuments of the State, in which elegance and simplicity combined, has been erected by the Governor at the grave of his son. It is of the Sutherland Falls quarry, finest Vermont marble, the cutting and erecting by a townsman, Geo. C. Arms, of Water- bury.

PHILANDER A. PRESTON, born in Water- bury, Nov. 27, 1833, enlisted in the Vt. Cav., Sept. 1, '61 ; with his regiment till July 6, '63, when wounded and in hospital till De- cember ; returned to duty ; Jan.'64,re-enlist- ed ; taken prisoner June 27, at Stony Creek Station, Weldon R. R .; taken to Ander- sonville, Sept. 10; removed to Charles- town; then to Florence, where he was literally starved to death; died Jan. or Feb. '65, aged 32 ; left a wife and one son.

The eighth annual re-union of the Tenth Vermont Regimental Association was held at Waterbury, Sept. 4, 1873. The asso- ciation went in procession to the cemetery to pay honors to Maj. Dillingham, Thomp- son, and other Waterbury patriots there interred.

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SOLDIERS BURIED IN TOWN.

BY HON. WM. P. DILLINGHAM.

Revolutionary Soldiers who are buried in Waterbury :- Capt. Thomas Jones. Aaron Wilder, Ezra Butler, Zachariah Bas- sett, Moses Nelson, David Town, John Hudson, D. Sloan, Benjamin Conant. Paul Dillingham, Asaph Allen, Isaac Marshall, Thomas Eddy, Alphas Sheldon, Joseph Hubbard, Stephen Jones, Asa Poland, George Kennan.

NOTE .- This list is made from consulta- tion with aged persons. In regard to those of 1812, any list I could make would be so defective as to mislead rather than be a help. More than 40 men went out and most of them are buried here, and yet 1 have obtained only a dozen of the names.

Soldiers in the War of 1861 who are bu- ried at Waterbury :- Major Edwin Dilling- ham, Capt. Lucien D. Thompson, Lieut. J. Edwin Henry, Lieut. Dow E. Stone, Surgeon James B. Woodward, Alba Dut- ton, C. E. L. Hills, Almon C. Thomas, Tilton Sleeper, Carlos Prescott, Charles Lee, Henry Lee, Joseph B. Conant. Clar- ence K. Mansfield, Wm. Wallace Whitney, Frank Stearns, Henry Dillingham, H. R. Bickford, Tabor H. Parcher, Ira S. Woodward, George S. Woodward, H. S. Burleigh, Augustus Steady.

NOTE .- This list is not complete, but as nearly so as time will permit us to make.

[This list was only asked from Mr. Dil- lingham two days before going into print. We had overlooked not having it. ED.]

ORIGIN OF THE REFORM SCHOOL.

Gov. Dillingham in his first annual mes- sage to the Legislature, that of 1865, rec- ommended the establishment of a State Reform School. On this suggestion an act was passed at the session of that year to establish the Vermont Reform School, that authorized the governor to appoint a board of three commissioners to purchase a farm not exceeding 200 acres of land.

liminary duties of such a board, visiting reformatories in other States to acquire needful information relating to requisi- tions and management of such institutions. This was also preparatory to selecting a suitable location for a reform school. In their report the next year to the governor, they relate their proceedings and conclu- sions on the subjects of their inquiries ; also the requisitions in the location, and the reasons which determined them in favor of locating in Waterbury, which have been already stated in these papers, page 854.

THE BURNING OF THE REFORM SCHOOL

building Dec. 12, 1874. was a calamity to many individuals, and in some respects, to the public. The loss of public and private property was large ; while 160 inmates es- caped with little but their lives in the dead of a December night, from their comfort- able home to undergo months of depriva- tion of their former comforts.

The loss of personal property in the building was little known; and probably few ever knew the loss of the State, in other ways than the cost of the building. It is well known to the tax-payers of the State that the fire led to the removal to Vergennes. However much the citizens of that ancient city may congratulate them- selves upon the event, and the maneuvers leading to it. few disinterested persons have ever had reason to be proud of the success of the means that led to its accom- plishment. The careful examinations of reformatories in other States, and inqui- ries into the necessary requisitions in choosing the location of such institutions, were narrated in the first annual report of the trustees; and their reasons for the selection of the site of the first location of the school in Waterbury, are believed to have been satisfactory to the great majority of the people of the State. If those rea- sons were good then, they were no less forcible after the fire, but rather more so, the surroundings being the same, and in addition, the foundation and much available material remaining which could be appro-

The governor appointed Rev. A. G. Pease, Rev. L. A. Dunn, and Charles Reed, Esq .. members of the Legislature that year. They received their commis- sions Nov. 24, and entered on the pre- priated to the rebuilding, a foundation

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already being laid ; a large outlay for that purpose would have been avoided. But whatever reasons might be assigned for rebuilding on the old site, the Legislature, especially the lower house, seemed indis- posed to regard them, while the senate by a very small majority concurred in the re- moval, even after the passage of the act authorizing the governor to purchase cer- tain designated real estate in Vergennes for the locating the reform school, it was reported he had serious doubts of the pro- priety of doing what the act authorized for purchase of that real estate .- R. BUTLER.

CATHOLIC CHURCH IN WATERBURY.

1876 .- This mission, before it became a parish with a residing pastor, was attended occasionally, first by Father O'Callaghan from Burlington, then successively by Rev. J. Daly, Rev. Father Drolet, the Reverend Oblate Fathers, from Burlington, Rev. Z. Druon and Rev. Joseph Duglue, the two last clergymen living then at Montpelier. It was in 1857, that the old church, dedi- cated to St. Vincent Ferrier, was built on the hill on the east side of the railroad, at a little distance from the depot. It was enlarged about 10 years afterwards by Father Duglue. The present pastor, the Rev. John Galligan was appointed to take charge of his congregation in the year 1869. He soon purchased a fine residence in Winooski turnpike street, and this year . (1876,) he bought the adjoining lot where stands the Adventist meeting-house, which he is now enlarging and converting into a church.

Rev. Z. DRUON.

1882 .- The Church of Waterbury was dedicated to Almighty God under the voca- ble of St. Andrew, the Apostle, Nov. 30, 1876. Waterbury is now attended regu- larly on every other Sunday by Rev. J. Galligan. Bishop DE GOESBRIAND.

Patrick Bryan, the first Catholic in town, a tailor, came from Burlington from 1815 to '20 ; settled and worked at his trade. He had a large family, and brought another tailor from Burlington here, Michael Con- nor, a Catholic ; both spent their lives here. Mr. Connor had several sons in the war. R. BUTLER.

SOME DAY.

There will be a hush in a darkened room Where, heeding not the stilly gloom,

A pallid forni will lowly lie,

Beneath the folds of snowy drapery, Pale hands clasped o'er a pulseless breast, Cold white lips in silence pressed, Eyes-that have closed in sleep for aye ; There will be footsteps' muffled tread, And voices whisper, "she is dead," Some day.

Others tears and others woes Shall not disturb my deep repose; Perhaps some loving hand may press My marble form in tenderness, And twine the myrtle with flowers fair, To deck my rest, as I slumber there. But naught to me will that pressure be, Of beauty, or fragrance of rarest flowers, The light or shadows of passing hours- Some day.

1 shall not heed as they bear me on, With solemn tread, to the churchyard lone; Or hear the tone of the deep-toned bell, Breaking with mournful ebb and swell; As they lower me down, I shall feel no fear, The requiem's strains I shall not hear,- Or even the shock of the yellow clay, As withi hollow sound on niy coffin lid, It falls and covers my narrow bed, Some day.

Summer and winter will come and go, With their floral wreath and robes of snow, And the phantom train of years go by, But I shall not heed them where I lie. The violet there, with its eyes of blue, May weep o'er my grave its tears of dew, The wild bird sing his sweetest lay. Yet the heart beneath lie cold and still; Will not respond with its wonted thrill, Some day.

Only a lock of silken hair, Little mementoes here and there, Only a ceasing of care and strife, Alas! alas! is it all of life ?

Alı, nol there is somewhere a fairer shore, Where friends long parted shall nieet once more, A beauteous land in the far away, Where light and joy will ever remain, And the soul its long-lost treasure regain, Some day.

Then why should we fear, Oh Death, thy clasp, Or shrink at the touch of thy icy grasp ? Since thou art the angel that opens the gate Of that city bright where our loved ones dwell. We will place these hands, without one thrill, Into thine own, so cold and chill; Come lead us to that realm of day, Where never a sigh is heard, or knell, But where the pure and beautiful dwell Forever.

Waterbury, Vt., March, 1872. M. M. N.

[A poem we clipped from the Burling- ton Free Press ten years since, and re- served till we might reach the history of Waterbury, not anticipating any difficulty in finding the author ; but our inquiry is to-day, who wrote it?

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DR. C. C. ARMS,

[From the Vermont Watchman.]

was a physician here 20 years. He came from Stowe, where he first practiced his profession a short time. He was married not long before coming here, Nov. 16, 1833, to Lucia Mills, born in Windsor, Dec. 5, 1805. They had two daughters and one son, one daughter died in child- hood, one in yonng womanhood. Dr. Arms, Sr., died Apr. 15. 1854, age 51 ; Mrs. Arms Mar. 20, 1882. Mrs. Arms spent the most of her days after her hus- band's death in Waterbury, and left behind her a life marked by a quiet but positive exercise of the cardinal virtues of woman- hood. Her only son, Dr. Charles Carroll Arms, encouraged by his resolute mother, made his way through college, graduating at Dartmouth in the class of '65. acquired his profession, and now in Cleveland, Ohio, sustains a good reputation as a man and a physician. It was his privilege to be with his mother at her death.

DR. F. P. DREW,

Only son of Dr. Oliver W. Drew-see page 860-born in Waterbury, pursued classical studies in the University at Bur- lington, and his professional studies in the Medical College at Woodstock, and in the College of Surgeons of New York, where he graduated in the spring of 1857, and in the summer of that year entered upon his profession in Attica, Fountain Co., Ind .; in the fall of 1859 moved to Junction City, Kansas, and continued the practice of his profession nearly 2 years; was appointed Post Surgeon at Fort Riley, in the dis- charge of which office he continued until his death from pneumonia during the war, we believe, at the age of 35, leaving a young widow. He married Dec., 1861, to Nelly Chaney, of Attica, Ind. The Re- publican Union, Junction, Kansas, said of him at the time of his death : "By several years of medical practice in the vicinity of Junction City and Fort Riley, and as army surgeon at the Fort, he had acquired a high and increasing reputation. To a mind well disciplined by scientific culture, he added the gentle culture and the kind

sympathy which flow from a generous heart. His own ease, his health, even, were of no account compared to what he es- teemed the claims of duty to the suffering."

His father's death did not occur till some years after that of his son. The fa- ther had three wives ; first, Lucretia Arms, second. Margaret Woodward, third, Olivia L. B. Atherton. The first was the mother of his two children. The family are all now, but the third Mrs. Drew and daugh- ter, Mrs. Wood, dead.

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The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier., Part 139

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Montpelier, Vt. : Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press Number of Pages: 1064

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt. : Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press
Number of Pages: 1064