The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier., Part 80

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 80

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" In his political associations Mr. Hyde was a life-long democrat; but with him democracy meant patriotism, and he re- fused to follow any banner but the flag of his country. And during the late war no man in the community labored more earnestly or contributed more freely than he to furnish men and means for bearing that loved banner onward to victory and peace. Thank God that he lived to see the desire of his heart granted !

"Mr. Hyde himself was no stranger to bereavement. Death had repeatedly vis- ited his family, and stirred to their very depths the deep fountains of his nature. But his great, loving heart, so susceptible of grief, turned as if by superior attraction to the still greater and more loving heart of the Father of us all ; and here he found, . not only consolation in his grief, but a firm foundation for his religious creed, in the confident belief that the Infinite God, who desires the salvation of all, will bring them in His own good time and manner to the joys of His heavenly home.

"The home of Mr. Hyde was proverbially the abode of hospitality and good cheer. Here all ages and conditions found a com- panion and friend. Here the benevolence and geniality of his nature were fully de- veloped, and from this central sun influen- ces of love and good will radiated through all the community. To his beloved fami- ly the loss is unspeakable-inconceivable. We offer no word of consolation, for vain is the help of man. The profound respect and sympathy of the community was appro- priately manifested on the occasion of the funeral, by the closing of our places of business, and the attendance of a large concourse of people to mingle their tears with the bereaved, and testify their grief that the manly form, the pleasant smile and the cheering voice of our departed friend would be seen and heard among us no more forever.

" As we conveyed the mortal remains of our departed brother to their chosen rest- ing-place in our beautiful Cemetery, toward the close of a pleasant autumn day, with the partially-veiled sun sinking tranquilly to his rest, and committed "earth to earth and dust to dust," commending his spirit to Him who is the Resurrection and the Life,-we could but inwardly exclaim-

" Be thy virtues with the living. And thy spirit ours."

Maj. Hyde first engaged in the bakery business as junior member in the firm of Cross & Hyde, and this was followed by the large mercantile business above allud- ed to. He left, surviving, a son, Edward D. Hyde, who has succeeded to his fath- er's business, and two daughters-all borne to him by Sarah L., youngest daughter of the late Jacob F. Dodge of Montpelier.

JAMES T. THURSTON. BY HON. C. W. WILLARD.

The death of James Tottingham Thurs- ton, long a resident of Montpelier, de- mands of the public journalist more than the mere mention of his decease ; and per- haps here, even more than ordinarily hap- pens with men of equal worth, because he never by any ostentation of virtue seemed to challenge commendation, is it proper that we should recognize the value of a life singularly industrious, honest and tem- perate, successful in its connection with business interests and public concerns, dear to those who had the pleasure of his friend- ship, and made happy by the love of those who enjoyed the affection of his home.

Mr. Thurston was the son of Moses Thurston and Hannah Bolton Thurston, and was born in Cambridge, Vt., Feb. 19, 1818. His father was a farmer, and the education of which the son had the bene- fit at home was only such as a youth of quickness of intellect could obtain in the common schools of the town, at a time when such schools could hardly be called institutions of learning, but only served to give boys an acquaintance with the rudi- ments of knowledge. He came to Mont- pelier when he was 15 years of age, living with his brother-in-law, Henry W. Sabin, and serving part of the time as his clerk,

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attending for two or three years the dis- trict school during the winter months, and possibly a term or two at the academy. His after life, however, served to show how little the fitness for responsible po- sitions and ability to do well everything that a prominent business man and citizen has to do, depends upon the learning of the schools. In 1838, he was employed as clerk in the Vermont Mutual Fire In- surance Company, where he performed his work so satisfactorily, that in 1842 he was This made treasurer of the company.

position he occupied-with the exception of a period of 14 months in 1850-51, when he acted as secretary of the National Life Insurance Company-for 32 years. At the time he was made treasurer, Daniel Baldwin was president of the company, and such men as Joseph Reed, Joseph Howes, John Spalding and George Worth- ington were active directors. The com- pany then, though well established, was doing a small business in comparison with what it afterwards commanded, and no small share of its subsequent success is due to the faithful and intelligent labors of its treasurer. In 1874, Mr. Thurston was made president, succeeding Mr. Baldwin, who had held the office 34 years. In 1877, he resigned the office on account of his in- creasing infirmity, which made even its lightest duties a severe tax upon his strength.

Mr. Thurston was, besides his connec- tion with the Fire Insurance Company, a director of the National Life Insurance Company from 1852, until his death, and for nearly the whole time a trusted and continually-consulted member of its finan- cial committee. He was also a director of the First National Bank of Montpelier from its organization, and his acquaintance with men and affairs and his prudent judg- ment made him a valuable officer. He was at different times clerk, selectman and lister of Montpelier, and latterly for many years a favorite presiding officer in town and public meetings.

In politics Mr. Thurston was, until 1861, a democrat, and associated with such dem-

ocrats as Paul Dillingham, Daniel Bald- win, Chas. G. Eastman, T. P. Redfield, Charles Reed, John A. Page, Stephen Thomas and W. H. H. Bingham. He was the candidate of that party for state treas- urer from 1856 to 1860. Since the com- mencement of the rebellion in 1861, he has acted and voted with the republican party. He was not, however, either as democrat or republican, a zealous partisan, but al- ways held his opinions of public men and measures subject to his intelligent estimate of their real worth without much respect for their party labels.

Mr. Thurston united with the Congrega- tional church in Montpelier, where he had formerly worshipped, in 1858, was a mem- ber of its communion at his decease, and a regular attendant upon its services when his health permitted. His religion was a matter of judgment rather than of emotion, a belief in the present value of an upright life rather than in the saving power of ecstatic states of mind or unreasoning faith in creeds-in short, an intelligent, con- sistent, exemplary, practical christianity, a christianity that believes the road to Heaven should be traveled not on Sundays alone, but on other days in the week as well.

In 1843, Mr. Thurston was married to Fanny W. Witherell, of Montpelier, who died in 1865, leaving one son, John B. Thurston, now a respected citizen of Montpelier. Afterward, Mr. Thurston married Mrs. Sevira J. Currier, of Mont- pelier, who survives him. His home was a delight to him and to those under its roof, a place to which he always turned with fondness and longing when away, a home now darkened by the shadow of death.

It may justly be said of Mr. Thurston's life that it was calm and steady, flowing like the current of a river that, between even banks, keeps its quiet course to the sea. He was a conservative rather than a reformer, but conservative more in action than in thought, as often happens with men of a temper seldom stirred by the heats of passion or emotion ; but no gen- uine reform that commended itself to the

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sober judgment ever lacked his sympathy or support. Rev. Mr. Hincks, in remarks at the funeral service, said that Mr. Thurston was not aggressive in his re- ligion ; and he might have said with equal justice that he did not belong to the ag- gressive type of man. He was not of the men who found states and conquer king- doms, but of the other equally valuable men who hold fast the progress already made, yet never refuse to advance when new ideas open the way. He had a lively sense of humor, a rare appreciation of the ridiculous, was a keen observer of men, en- joyed a good story and told one exceeding- ly well, and was genial and witty as well as philosophic and thoughtful in conversa- tion. He was quick to see the force of logic, just and intelligent in his estimate of his associates and the men of his time, always giving countenance and aid to every work that met his approval, liberal in contribu- tions to all benevolent objects, ready to aid with his labor and his purse every en- terprise that contributed to the growth, the reputation and the influence of his town, faithful to his many friends, and not unjust to his few enemies. He had a ju- dicial temper of mind, that peculiar excel- lence which commands respect rather in the long run than in moments of excitement and the heat of controversy, that calmness that not seldom frets impatient minds be- cause it does not jump with their conclu- sions and run with their speed, but which always proves its worth and vindicates itself as time wears on. He loved life, and had joy in living. In his long struggle with disease, he would gladly have wel- comed returning health, for the delight he always found in seeing the faces and hear- ing the voices of his friends, for his love for the sweet pleasures which nature in a hundred ways offered to him, and for the sense of being a part of a living, moving world. Yet he met his death patiently, without vain regrets, mourning most of all that with those he loved so well he should no more from our breezy hills look out on the fair pictures that summer and autumn spread over our mountains and along our valleys, nor hear the "various language"

which nature addresses to him who, ir love of her, "holds communion with he: visible forms."

The writer of this notice cannot forbea adding to this imperfect sketch an expres sion of his own high esteem for Mr Thurston, and his sense of personal sorrov at his death. An acquaintance for mord than a score of years, much of the tim familiar and friendly, had revealed man of his excellent qualities of mind and heart, but three months spent last winte with him in a far-away, sunny valley c the Ozark mountains, and the daily de lights of a cordial, frank, confiding com panionship, ripened this friendship of s many years into a warm personal attach ment that will ever be a treasured memor to him who survives.

From the Resolutions passed by the V Mutual Fire Ins. Co. after his death, w give :

Be it resolved, we deeply feel and mour the loss of James T. Thurston, our tru friend and associate, whose upright de portment, integrity of character, goo judgment and usefulness as a citizen er deared him to all, especially to us wh knew him so well. May his many virtue be ever cherished by us, and be an exam ple for those that follow him. May were member in the words so often quoted bi him, " 'Tis not all of life to live, nor all ( death to die."

And from the resolutions passed by th National Life Insurance Co :

Resolved, that we sincerely mourn an profoundly regret the death of our frien and associate, James T. Thurston, whos quick perception, great caution, soun judgment, unblemished character, and per fect integrity, together with other credi able qualities of his head and heart, hav endeared him to us for many years. H. many virtues will be long remembered b us the survivors. " May he rest in peace!

JOSEPH W. WHEELOCK.

[From an article by Hon. CHARLES W. WILLARD the Green Mountain Freeman of March 1, 1876.] Joseph Wilson Wheelock, who died a his home in Berlin, Feb. 23, 1876, wa born in Eden. His father, Martin Whee lock, had 5 sons and 2 daughters. Josep had a common school education, and whe

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bout 18 entered the office of the St. Al- ans Messenger, learned the printer's rade; remained till Aug., 1847; then worked at his trade in the office of the Green Mountain Gazette, at Bradford about years, and came, Feb., 1852, to Montpe- ier, as foreman into the office of the Green Mountain Freeman, of which the ate Hon. D. P. Thompson was proprietor .nd editor, and remained in charge of that ffice, as foreman, during the proprietor- ship of Judge Thompson, and that of S. S. Boyce, and from April, 1861, to Jan., 1869, while Mr. Willard owned the paper. Mr. Boyce, during his ownership of the Free- nan, purchased the subscription list, and became the publisher of the Vermont Christian Messenger, and the Messenger las been published at the Freeman office since that time. Jan., 1869, Mr. Whee- ock became a half owner of the Freeman ind Messenger subscription list and print- ng establishment, and from that time had the entire management of the business of the office, and the practical management of the papers until Jan., 1873. when he purchased Mr. Willard's remaining inter- est in the business, and became and re- nained managing editor and proprietor until his decease.

Mr. Wheelock's active life was in the printing office, and was identified with his craft. Few men have had a busier life, or one into which more work has been crowd- ed. For many years subject to an infirmi- y which made office work often painful, he never shirked any of the responsibili- ies of his position, but often insisted, against the remonstrance of his employers on undertaking work that could only be done by giving his own labor at unusual hours. In that respect, he always held his personal comfort subordinate to his devo- ion to the business in hand. He seemed nore solicitous to make his service for others profitable, than to spare himself, and when he became owner of the print- ng establishment, almost for the first ime began to take an occasional rest from he exacting duties of the office ; yet never, intil compelled to keep away by his final

illness, quite surrendered an immediate supervision, as in the former days when, as foreman, no detail of the work escaped his notice, and his hand was ready at the case, at the make-up, or at the press, as the exigency might require.

He seemed to have no ambitions out- side of his profession ; yet he had, un- doubtedly, the aspiration of the true men of his profession to become the owner and manager of an influential newspaper, and he deservedly reached that position. But, unfortunately, his strength was then too much broken by the gathering forces of the disease that he had fought against so stoutly for years, to admit of his doing for the papers he managed, what he would otherwise have done. He appeared to an- ticipate this, and hesitated as to the pur- chase of Mr. Willard's half of the paper, because he feared his health was gradually but surely failing him, and finally made the venture rather to establish his sons in business than on his own account. With the valuable acquaintance with public men and public affairs which his long connec- tion with a newspaper at the Capital of the State gave him, and with the higher education as an editor, which an intelligent man gets in a printing office better than anywhere else, Mr. Wheelock was as well fitted to be the manager of a leading Ver- mont newspaper as any person in the. State ; but the printing department drew him quite too much away from the edito- rial room for his own reputation as a writer and editor. While Mr. Willard was editor of the Freeman, Mr. Wheelock wrote many articles for which others got undeserved credit, some of them having been copied as widely and with as much appreciation as anything ever written for the Freeman. His style as a writer was clear, graceful in turn of expression, and forcible and pointed enough to leave no doubt of his meaning, a compliment that cannot always be paid to editorials in either country or city newspapers. He had, moreover, what his readers will call to mind, a vein of wit and humor in idea and expression, which made some of his

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descriptive articles highly enjoyable, and established for him a reputation among his contemporaries as one who had few equals and no superiors in that really difficult, yet very popular kind of newspaper writ- ing. If he had devoted himself, as he was often advised, more to editing his paper and less to printing it, he would have achieved a reputation second to that of no editor in the State, and would very likely have prolonged a life in a large de- gree useful to his friends and to the public.

Mr. Wheelock's residence, for most of the time he was connected with the Free- man, was just on the south side of the Winooski river in Berlin. He was for a long time clerk and treasurer of that town, and represented it two years in the legis- lature. He was one of the most trusted advisers of the authorities of the town, was ever solicitous for its interests, and, ap- parently without effort to become so, was influential in all town matters. In the politics of the town and of the county his judgment and advice were always prudent and wise, and were listened to and followed as often and as far as those of any other man. A robust common sense, a quick understanding of men, a plain and direct method of dealing with men and meas- ures, a faithfulness and integrity in his associations which made others believe in ·him and trust him, were the elements of character which gave him strength with his fellows, and won for him the good name which he enjoyed and merited, but he was almost bashful in his modesty, and was best known for the really strong man he was by his intimates and those who sought his advice. * * * The strug- gle and the pain, as well as the joy and hope, of life for him are over, while yet he was scarcely past the prime of his years ; but he performed each day the duty the day brought with it; and what better epitaph can the longest life win for its close ?

Mr. Wheelock married Laura E. Phil- lips, who survives him, and he leaves two sons and a daughter trained to his own calling.

HON. CHARLES W. WILLARD.

BY N. A. HUSE.

[From the Green Mountain Freeman of Wednesday, June 9, 1880.]

Mr. Willard died Monday night, at twen ty-five minutes after twelve. Sunday h was about his room, as he has never failed of being for years, though his hold on lif has been so slender, but began failing and from that time sank rapidly. Hi mind had all its native clearness till within three or four hours before his death, wher he became unconscious.

Charles Wesley Willard was the son o Josiah Willard and Abigail (Carpenter Willard, and was born in Lyndon, June 18 1827. He graduatedat Dartmouth colleg in 1851, and soon after leaving college came to Montpelier, where he studied lav in the office of Peck & Colby, and was ad mitted to the Washington County Bar i: 1853. He became a partner of Ferrand F Merrill for a time after his admission.

In 1855, '56, he was secretary of state and after that declined a re-election. I 1860, '61, he was a member of the senat for this county. In the latter year, h became editor and proprietor of the Free man, and so remained until 1873. Abou 1865, he for a time was in Milwaukee Wis., in the editorial chair of the Sentinel And during his later years his pen has no been idle, as some of the leading journal of the country could say. The columns c this paper have also been favored now an then by good doctrine and wise word over his well-known initials.

In 1868, Mr. Willard was elected t congress, and represented this distric from Mar. 4, 1869, to Mar. 4, 1875. He wa laborious in legislation, as in all things and his congressional work told on hi constitution, and since his retirement h has been in very delicate health. Visit to Colorado and elsewhere failed to re establish his health. But he was not man to give up or rust out, and last yea he accepted an appointment as one of th commissioners to revise the statutes. Col Veazey, the other commissioner, havin; gone upon the bench, the burden of th work fell upon Mr. Willard. He took it

Wwwilleur

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and the work was done and well done- the copy all prepared, and about three- fourths of it put to press under his super- vision-before he was taken away. He liked to work ; like any good workman he knew he could do good work, and we re- joice to know that the activities of the past year cheered his last days with the thought and knowledge that he was yet doing a man's work among men.

Of Mr. Willard's home life here in Montpelier, among his neighbors and friends, we need not speak. He was known of his townsmen, and many more had per- sonal knowledge of his straightforward kind- ness than the casual observer of his re- served ways would ever suspect. He was a member of the Bethany Congregational church. In 1855, he married Miss Emily Doane, daughter of Hezekiah H. Reed. Mrs. Willard has left with her four chil- dren : Miss Mary, Ashton R. (who grad- uated at Dartmouth last year), Eliza May, and Charles Wesley. Mr. Willard leaves a brother, A. J. Willard, of St. Johns- bury, and a sister, Mrs. Hannah Flint, of Concord, N. H., surviving him.

To say the things that should be said of Mr. Willard, we are not able. To say the truth, and not to say that which to those who did not know him might seem to come from affection instead of judgment, from the heart and not from the head, is a hard task. But the people of Vermont, and especially those who for so many years knew through the columns of this paper Mr. Willard's every day thoughts, will make no mistake in this matter. They will know that when it is said he was the " first citizen of the State," the words are words of truth and soberness, and not those of over-zealous friendship.

He had their well-deserved esteem, con- fidence, and indeed affection. The quali- ties that gave these to him were not those of the "magnetic " order. He captivated by no studied arts, by no assumed effu- siveness of manner, but rather in spite of the total lack of those too common attri- butes. He was refined, scholarly; in manner as in mind, he was the gentleman.

Mr. Willard had this good judgment of

his fellow-citizens, and with it their affec- tion, as any one may find who will go among the people of the State in the vil- lages and on the farms, because of the honesty of his purpose and of his act, be- cause of his fearlessness in maintaining what he thought was right and because of the strength which was in his fearless blow. A private citizen in after years, and hold- ing to life by the lightest thread, he was looked to for counsel by those in the full strength of manhood, and honored by a following of his thought which fails to come to most of those in high places. His later life taught well the lesson that "the post of honor is the private station."

To give even the briefest history of Mr. Willard's work would require much time and labor. To give even what he did while in congress the merest mention would require time and space and study that are not at command. He was a care- ful legislator, and one whose counsel bore fruit in the halls of legislation when given.

When he spoke, he spoke for effect on legislation, and that, at times, he was overborne was because he stood up against friend and foe when he thought what they wanted was wrong. Had he always thought with his party, had he always consented to costly schemes which fellow-members urged, instead of always standing for what he believed was right, and trying to head off unnecessary appropriations, he might have been more popular in con- gress-he could not have been more useful. But he did as he did, and he did well. For it is better to have lived as he lived, to leave as he left a good name, that will for many a year be held as the synonym of that which is pure, right and devoid of fear or shadow of turning-a name that represents an ideal manhood-than to have had continuance in or accession of public station. His life was an honor to his State and a good to those who knew him.

MAHLON COTTRILL,

in every sense of the word a Vermonter, was born in Bridport in 1797, his life thus dating back almost to the birth of the State. He came to Montpelier in 1826,

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and went into the employ of Watson Jones, who was then running a line of stages be- tween Montpelier and Burlington. At that time the line between Montpelier and Royalton was opened by Ira Day, of Barre, and Samuel Blodgett, of Royalton. Day and Cottrill soon bought out Jones, and together established what became the great central stage route through the State, and the main thoroughfare for travel between Montreal and Boston, and con- tinued such until the advent of railroads in this part of the State. He was an ex- tensive mail contractor, favorably known at the Post-office Department at Washing- ton. While engaged in the stage busi- ness, he purchased the Pavilion hotel at Montpelier, which he kept until 1856, when he sold it to Col. Boutwell. Mr. Cottrill then purchased the residence next east of the Pavilion, which he owned at the time of his decease, and where he re- sided until 1861, when he, in company with other gentlemen, contracted to carry the United States mail from Kansas City to Santa Fe. He was at Kansas City, Mo., in the active superintendence of this line of stages, when he was attacked by a remittant fever, which terminated fatally, Oct. 1864.

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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 80

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