USA > Vermont > The Lake Champlain and Lake George valleys, Vol. III > Part 58
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
(IV) Captain Nathaniel (3) Holcombe was born at Simsbury, Connect- icut, October 25, 1696. He married (first), October 9, 1717, Thankful Hays. The name of his second wife also was Thankful, her surname unknown. Children, born at Simsbury : Hannah, born May 2, 1718; Amos, born June II, 1732; Elijah, born May 26, 1734; Amos, of further mention ; Elizabeth, born July 19, 1736; Sarah, born September 3, 1738; Mercy, born September 3, 1740; Roger ; Hulda, born January 24, 1742-43 ; Zacheus, born January 14, 1744-45 ; Ruth, born November 18, 1747; Margaret, born November 8, 1748; Lydia, whose birthday was October twentieth, year unknown; Theodosia, born August 1, 1753; Adonijah, born September 27, 1757.
(V) Amos Holcombe, the younger of two sons so named, was born at Simsbury, February II, 1735. He was a soldier in the Revolution, in Cap- tain Prior's company, enlisting in 1777 for four months, Colonel Samuel Can- field's regiment of Windsor. He married in September, 1758, Mary Dibol, of Simsbury. He lived at Simsbury and probably at Granby. The only child recorded at Simsbury was Carmi, of further mention.
(VI) Carmi Holcombe was born August 28, 1760. He moved to Ver- mont. Among his children was Samuel, mentioned below.
(VII) Samuel Holcombe was born in 1799. He was a farmer at Isle La Motte, Vermont. He married, in 1817, Martha Knapp, and they had one son, Cyrus, mentioned below.
(VIII) Cyrus Holcombe was born at Isle La Motte, Vermont, January 19, 1824, died at Milton, Vermont, April 25, 1907, at the home of his son, Dr. Luman Clayton Holcombe. He was a carpenter and builder, living for several years in his hotel at Chateaugay, New York, but returning in 1867 to Isle La Motte, where he owned a dairy and fruit farm. In politics he was a Republican and in 1894 he represented the town of Isle La Motte in the Vermont Legislature. He also served on the Board of Selectmen, and on the school committee. He was a steward of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He married in 1850, Almeda C. Hall, who was born at Isle La Motte, July 13, 1832, died September 2, 1883, daughter of Simeon and Betsey (Cochran) Hall. He spent the last years of his life with his son, Dr. Holcombe, at Milton, where he assisted in overseeing the building of the present residence designed and occupied by the doctor. The children of Cyrus Holcombe were : Elvorette Elvira, born April 19, 1852, married Leonard B. Mott, of Alburg,
515
LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
Vermont. (They moved to Newport News, Virginia, in 1894) ; Elmer, born in 1857, now deceased ; Elma, born October 6, 1863, married Rev. George E. Deuel, of Alburg, Vermont, October 2, 1895, who was later the first pastor of the church at Gary, Indiana, but for the past sixteen years he and his wife have been residents of Florida, residing in their own home in Homestead; Dr. Luman Clayton, of further mention.
(IX) Dr. Luman Clayton Holcombe, of this review, was born at Chateau- gay, New York, April 9, 1865, and secured his early education in the public schools of Isle La Motte, entering St. Albans, Vermont, High School in 1881. He next took a business course at Troy, New York, graduating from the Troy Business College in 1883. His first employment was in Boston as bookkeeper in the well-known department store of Jordan-Marsh and Com- pany, becoming head bookkeeper in the retail sales department. During this period he attended Boston Evening Schools. In 1887 he was engaged as assistant express agent at the Boston station of the Boston and Albany Rail- road. In 1889 and 1890 he was a teacher in the public schools of Isle La Motte, and also member of the firm of Holcombe and Houghton, storing ice for the New York market. In 1891 he served as traveling manager for King, Richardson Company, Springfield, Massachusetts, publishers.
Enrolling in the College of Medicine of the University of Vermont, he was graduated in 1894 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and on July sixteenth of that same year was admitted to the practice of medicine in the State of Vermont. Two days later he inaugurated his private practice as a physician and surgeon in Milton, Vermont, where he has continued with great success to the present day.
Dr. Holcombe has attended many medical and surgical clinics and he took a postgraduate course at Boston University in 1911. While he is a general practitioner, he has given especial attention and study to the treatment of children, and is author of numerous medical papers on the subject, includ- ing: "The Artificial Feeding of Infants" and "The Care and Treatment of Premature Infants," which have been published in various medical journals and read before professional societies. The last mentioned paper, printed in the March, 1934, issue of the "International Journal of Medicine and Sur- gery," included a case report of an infant one hundred days premature, weighing at birth only twenty-four ounces. Its life was saved through Dr. Holcombe's expert efforts and by the use of a hastily constructed, homemade incubator, in which it lived three months, being fed at first less than half a teaspoonful every hour by forced feeding. It had no finger or toe nails, could not open or close its eyes, was torpid, and could not cry. A silver dollar would completely cover its face and a finger ring was easily passed over its arm to the shoulder. The United States Health Bureau, of Washington,
516
LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
District of Columbia, states that a complete search of available medical litera- ture fails to reveal any record of a child so premature which survived. She is still living, the mother of two normal children-a world record!
Fond of the great out-of-doors, Dr. Holcombe has always enjoyed hunt- ing, fishing, bicycling, motor and ice-boating, as well as sail yachting on Lake Champlain and, more recently, in the vicinity of Arrowhead Mountain and Arrowhead Mountain Lake: the names of both of which were suggested by him and were endorsed by the State Legislature of 1910 and 1937, respec- tively. Dr. Holcombe is an active member and deacon of the Congregational Church of Milton and for many years has sung in the church choir. He is prominently identified with the Republican party, having been chairman of the Republican Town Committee, chairman of the village trustees, chairman of the School Board, and for the past sixteen years he has served the town and village as health officer. He is Past Grand Master and Past Grand Represen- tative of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is also affiliated with the Phi Chi Fraternity, an honorary member of the Franklin County, the Chitten- den County and the Vermont State Medical societies, and a Fellow of the American Medical Association.
Dr. Holcombe married at St. Albans, Vermont, August 21, 1895, Eleanor Pearl Brainerd, who was formerly a teacher in St. Albans schools and in Brigham Academy, Bakersfield, born November 25, 1869, the daughter of Aldis Owen and Jane Eliza (French) Brainerd, both deceased. Aldis Owen Brainerd, born February 29, 1824, was engaged in a general store in St. Albans and, later, as a lumber merchant there and at Richford, where he owned and operated several mills prior to his death, which occurred April 25, 1906. He was a supporter of the Republican party and during the Civil War served as quartermaster in the 5th Vermont Volunteers. At the time of the St. Albans Raid, October 19, 1864, Aldis Owen Brainerd was the first to seize a gun, mount a horse and start in pursuit of the raiders. His wife, Jane Eliza (French) Brainerd, was born at St. Albans June II, 1831, and died there on May 28, 1895.
Dr. and Mrs. Holcombe are the parents of four children: I. Cyrus Brainerd, born September 25, 1897; married June 30, 1927, Hazel A. Cole, of Burlington, Vermont, born March 31, 1896, daughter of George P. and Mrs. Ida (Thomas) Cole. They have one son : i. George Luman, born June 8, 1929. 2. Luman Clayton, Jr., born November 17, 1898; married August 20, 1930, Thelma Jeneva Cilley, of Colchester, Vermont, born May 13, 1907, daughter of Frederick Stanley and Effie M. (Patterson) Cilley; they have two daughters: i. Fern Sylvia, born July 19, 1931. ii. Dawn Thelma, born May 3, 1935. 3. Aldis Brainerd, born November 20, 1900; married August 14, 1926, Ruth Anna Gray, of Burlington, Vermont, born July 2, 1897,
Pabest OfBohemian M. 2.
517
LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
daughter of Edwin L. and Mary (Hills) Gray; they have two daughters: i. Mary Eleanor, born December 4, 1930. ii. Lois Ann, born June 28, 1937. 4. Ruth Eleanor, born August 21, 1904; married September 21, 1931, J. Kenneth Wagner, born September 30, 1903, son of John E and Mae (Mackin) Wagner, of Milton. All of Dr. Holcombe's children were born at Milton.
ROBERT WILLIAM JOHNSON, M. D .- One of the first physi- cians to serve on the staff of the Bishop De Goesbriand Hospital at Burling- ton, Vermont, Dr. Robert William Johnson has been engaged in this city in the general practice of medicine for the past thirty-eight years. He was born at Weavertown, New York, on February 13, 1872, the son of Robert Johnson, a native of the Empire State where he engaged in the tannery business and later in farming and stock raising, and Jane (Perry) Johnson, also a native New Yorker. Both parents are now deceased.
Dr. Johnson was educated in the public schools and Elmwood Seminary at Glens Falls, New York, and graduated from the University of Vermont with the class of 1898. Receiving his Doctor of Medicine degree at that time, he was interne at Lakeview Sanitarium through the years of 1898 and 1899. In 1900 he first opened up offices at No. 49 South Winooski Avenue, Burling- ton, and here he has practiced medicine ever since. He has been medical examiner for the Aetna Life Insurance Company, Manhattan Life Insurance Company, Security Mutual Life Insurance Company, Columbia National Life Insurance Company, and Union Central Life Insurance Company. At one time he was also adjuster for the Aetna Life Insurance Company and he is recognized as one of the outstanding diagnosticians. One of the original members of the medical staff of the Bishop De Goesbriand Hospital in Bur- lington, Dr. Johnson also serves on the staff of the Fanny Allen Hospital at Winooski. He is a member of the Burlington and Chittenden County Clinical Society and the Vermont State Medical Society, as well as being a Fellow of the American Medical Association. He also is a member of the Medical Alumni Association of the University of Vermont.
A member of the Episcopal Church, Dr. Johnson is affiliated fraternally with Alpha Kappa Kappa, and Burlington Lodge, No. 100, Free and Accepted Masons, of which lodge he is Past Master. He is also a member of all the bodies of the York Rite, including Burlington Commandery, Knights Templar. Dr. Johnson is a charter member of the Past Masters' Association of the Fifth Masonic District ; and one of the first members of the Burlington Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Johnson devotes his spare hours to civic affairs and welfare work, and in this connection is an active member and supporter of the local Young Men's Christian Association. He also is a charter member of the Men's Club of St. Paul's Parish.
518
LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
FRANK LYMAN AUSTIN-The oldest firm of architects in the State of Vermont was established in Burlington over three-quarters of a cen- tury ago by the grandfather of Frank Lyman Austin, was continued by Mr. Austin's father, and is now being carried on by Mr. Austin and his only son. Thus four generations of Austins have contributed their skill as architects in the construction of the following noteworthy buildings : Vermont State Prison at Windsor ; Vermont State Hospital at Waterbury ; Week's School at Ver- gennes ; Brandon School for Feeble-Minded ; Women's Reformatory at Rut- land; all of the State armories ; the National Bank Building at Middlebury ; Brownell Library at Essex Junction; Marble Library at West Rutland; Cathedral High School at Burlington ; Presbyterian Church at Caspian Lake ; George D. Wright's residence at Ladd's Point, Grand Isle; Roy Patrick's residence at Burlington, and others.
Frank Lyman Austin was born September 30, 1874, at Burlington, son of Zachary Taylor and Ella S. (Gallup) Austin, the mother a native of Under- hill and now deceased, while the father was a native of Cambridge and en- gaged in architectural work all his life. Young Austin received his education in the grade and high schools of Burlington, supplemented by special courses in mathematics. He was associated with his father from 1893 until 1899, doing architectural work; and when Zachary Taylor Austin retired in 1899 his son and subject of this sketch took over the business, which, as already indicated, was started early in 1860 by Lyman Austin, father of Zachary Taylor Austin, and is the oldest firm of its kind in the State of Vermont. In 1936 Frank Lyman Austin took in as partner his son, Lyman Dinsmoor Austin, the great-grandson of the founder.
Outside of his profession, Frank Lyman Austin has been active in Repub- lican politics ; served three years as health officer for the city of Burlington ; is past president of the local Chamber of Commerce and former director of the State Chamber of Commerce ; member of the American Institute of Archi- tects, the Boston Society of Architects, Vermont Society of Engineers, and Council of Registered Architects, State of New York. He is a member of the Rotary Club, the Green Mountain Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Washington Lodge, No. I, Free and Accepted Masons, the York and Scottish Rites, and Mt. Sinai Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Frank Lyman Austin married, in 1912, Julia Abbie Dinsmoor, born in West Windsor, Vermont. They have two children: I. Lyman Dinsmoor Austin, member of the class of 1932 of the University of Vermont, and now associated with his father as an architect. 2. Clara Ella Austin. Mr. and Mrs. Austin attend the Congregational Church, and Mr. Austin's diversions are farming. cattle and horse breeding.
519
LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
STANLEY L. EDMUNDS, M. D .- Since 1935 Dr. Stanley L. Edmunds has conducted a practice of medicine devoted to ear, nose and throat ailments. Today he is recognized as one of the most able and prominent young otolaryngologists in this section of Warren County, where he is identified with a number of the leading medical institutions.
Dr. Edmunds was born at Earlton, New York, in 1907, the son of Charles and Jessie Edmunds. After completing a general education at the New Rochelle High School in 1925, he matriculated at Syracuse University, where he received his academic degree in 1929, and his medical degree in 1932. He then served as an interne at the Syracuse City Hospital for Contagious Diseases and was identified with the Syracuse Memorial Hospital in 1933, and during the latter year went to New York City, where he worked in the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary until the end of 1934. The following year he estab- lished himself in the practice he has conducted so successfully in Glens Falls since. Dr Edmunds is a member of the Glens Falls Academy of Medicine, the Warren County Medical Society, the New York State Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Otolaryn- gology. Socially he is a member of the Lake George Club, worships at the Methodist Episcopal Church, belongs to the Nu Sigma Nu Fraternity and, as an undergraduate, was elected a member of the Beta Theta Pi college fraternity.
In 1932, at Syracuse, Dr. Edmunds married Ola Althiser, and they are the parents of two children: I. Donald Stanley, born December 28, 1934. 2. Richard Lawrence, born December 5, 1937.
JOHN W. BRIGHT-As general manager of the Stevens and Thompson Paper Company of Greenwich, New York, John W. Bright is in charge of the operations of all the mills of this concern which in the seventy years of its existence has taken a prominent position in the paper manufac- turing business in the United States.
Mr. Bright is a native of Greenwich, having been born here December 27, 1889, the son of the late James and Mary (Gordon) Bright. James Bright, born in Gilford, County Down, Ireland, in 1852, was associated with the Barbour Flax Spinning Company for thirty-eight years prior to his death in 1915. For thirty-two years of this period he served as superintendent, and for six years as manager. Mary (Gordon) Bright, a native of Waringstown, County Down, Ireland, has already passed her eighty-third birthday.
John W. Bright completed his elementary and high school education in the Greenwich schools, and then entered the employ of the G. and J. Railroad, where he remained until 1917. For the next two years he was associated with the Barbour Flax Spinning Company, and in 1919 he started his brilliant
520
LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
career with the Stevens and Thompson Paper Company. He served as office manager until 1935, at which time he became manager of the Greenwich mill, and then in January, 1938, he was named general manager of all the mills of this company, which include the North Hoosick and Walloomsac Mills, in addition to the Greenwich Mill.
This company traces its origin to 1868, when George S. Thompson, of Troy, and S. S. Stevens, of North Hoosick, formed a partnership known as Stevens and Thompson, for the manufacture of paper. In 1885 the partners came to Greenwich and purchased a majority interest in the Bennington Falls Pulp Company and this company was immediately dissolved, becoming an- other mill of Stevens and Thompson. A paper machine was installed on the third falls in 1890, and three years later another machine was installed on the fourth falls. However, a fire shortly afterwards destroyed the buildings and machinery on the fourth falls, and it required one year to make the necessary replacements. A third paper machine was installed in 1898. In 1900 the Ondowa Mill was purchased from the Washington Pulp and Paper Company, and machinery installed for the manufacture of tissue paper. The company now had four paper machines in operation, and in 1903 the business was incorporated as the Stevens and Thompson Paper Company, with capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars. In 1910 a new paper mill was built, and four new paper machines were installed, two of the older machines being scrapped, and about this time the old pulp mill was scrapped, and a new one erected. The output of these machines was sold to toilet converters until 1916, but at that time new buildings were erected and sufficient machinery installed to permit this company to convert its own output. In 1922 the Stevens and Thompson Paper Company purchased the mill and property of the Bosson Manufacturing Company on the first falls, thereby giving them complete control of all water rights, and creating a development of three thousand, four hundred horse power, and in the same year, the Stevens and Thompson Paper Company of Greenwich, the Stevens and Thompson Com- pany of North Hoosick and the Walloomsac Paper Company were consoli- dated under the name of the Stevens and Thompson Paper Company. In 1905 S. S. Stevens died and his interest in the business passed to his two sons, Frank L. and Fred N. Stevens. George Thompson died in 1913 and his son, Howard Burden Thompson, became treasurer. In 1935 there was a reorgani- zation of this company, and the officials who took office, and who still have charge of the operations of this company are : Frank L. Stevens, chairman of the board; Howard B. Thompson, president and treasurer ; Fred N. Stevens, vice-president ; B. W. Sugden, secretary ; C. Alfred Wanger, vice-president in charge of sales, and John W. Bright, general manager. Mr. Bright also serves as a member of the board of directors of the Greenwich Savings and Loan Association.
52I
LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
Mr. Bright is treasurer and a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Greenwich, and is a prominent civic figure, being past director of the Greenwich Water Works, past president of the Alumni Association, a mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the local School Board. He is also affiliated with Ashler Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and is a member and past president of the Union Club, and a director of the Mary McClellan Hospital, Cambridge, New York.
He is married to Janet H. Skiff, a native of Greenwich, born December 19, 1889, a graduate of the local high school. She also took a teacher's course at Hudson Falls, and for several years prior to her marriage taught in the Greenwich High School. Mr. and Mrs. Bright are the parents of two chil- dren : I. Jean R., born in 1926. 2. Mary G., born in 1928; both now attending the Greenwich public schools.
GEORGE P. BARNARD-Manager of Merkel and Gelman Com- pany of Lake George, George P. Barnard is not only one of the leading mer- chants of his community but is also widely known throughout the Lake George district because of many years which he devoted to the dry goods trade.
George P. Barnard was born at Granville, Washington County, New York, May 15, 1868, son of George E. and Harriet (Cook) Barnard. George E. Barnard, who was born in Granville, Washington County, established him- self as a merchant, a business in which he passed his life, being active until the time of his death. Harriet (Cook) Barnard, his wife, also deceased, was a native of Fort Edward. The Barnard family traces its descent to pioneer ancestors, including Colonel Ethan Allen, famous Revolutionary hero as leader of the Green Mountain Boys.
After passing through the district schools of Washington County, George P. Barnard. at the age of fourteen, found his first employment in the printing shop of the "Washington County Advertiser," continuing there and becoming a printer for some twelve years. Then, establishing a partnership with James D. Keating, he founded the firm of Keating and Barnard, printers, with their place of business in Fort Edward, a business in which Mr. Barnard continued for five years, withdrawing to establish a dry goods store in Fort Edward, under the firm name of Starbuck and Barnard Company. After fourteen years in this association, Mr. Barnard purchased the Starbuck interest and continued the business under his own name until 1918, selling out at that time and becoming manager of Merkel and Gelman Company of Lake George, a position which he has occupied through the present time.
Always interested in civic matters, Mr. Barnard has been particularly active in the Republican party since taking up his residence in Lake George in
522
LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
1919, serving as a member of the Lake George Board of Education and as a trustee of the Lake George Public Library. A member of the Lake George Presbyterian Church, Mr. Barnard devotes much of his time to the varied activities of his church, being a trustee and taking particular interest in the institution's Sunday school, which he serves as superintendent.
George P. Barnard married, in 1891, Jessie Nichols, who is a native of Fort Edward, New York.
JAMES BRAINARD STEARNS-The community of Rouses Point has substantially benefited from the career of James Brainard Stearns, who for years has been a foremost member of the bar of this region. He has par- ticipated in many worth while activities, and has been instrumental in im- proving conditions along various lines.
Mr. Stearns was born September 15, 1858, in the town of Champlain, New York, son of Moses Leonard and Lydia Tennant (Allen) Stearns. His forebear, Isaac Stearns, came to America in 1630 with Governor Winthrop. On the maternal side of the house the Allens, from whom J. B. Stearns' mother was descended, were collateral to the Ethan Allen branch of the family. Isaac Allen, great-grandfather of J. B. Stearns, was one of the first settlers of Plattsburg. His wife, Sally Bedlam, had a brother at Valley Forge. Later the name was changed to Bedloe. The same family gave its name to Bedloe's Island, in New York Harbor. Isaac Allen's first home was burned by Indians about 1790.
After completing his preliminary education, James Brainard Stearns at- tended Cornell University, at Ithaca, New York, where he was graduated in 1881 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He took postgraduate work in the following year, specializing in history. In February, 1886, he was admitted to the bar of New York State at Albany. For years a practitioner of law and a public servant whose work was of a high order of usefulness, Mr. Stearns participated in a wide variety of helpful activities in the Rouses Point com- munity. For nearly thirty years, beginning in 1890, he was a justice of the peace, and for seven years he was a member of the Board of Education of Rouses Point, starting those duties in 1899. Then, in 1897, he became clerk of the board of trustees of the village, continuing for five years in that office. During that time he codified the village ordinances, which were little changed thereafter.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.