The history of Washington county, in the Vermont historical gazetteer:, Part 77

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890, [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt., Vermont watchman and state journal press
Number of Pages: 1066

USA > Vermont > Washington County > The history of Washington county, in the Vermont historical gazetteer: > Part 77

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He was one of the organizers of the

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Montpelier Gaslight Company, and an officer in it several years ; his was the sec- ond house in Montpelier piped for burning gas. He also in its early days devoted much time to the affairs of the Vermont Central R. R., losing, like many others of the early friends of that road, many thou- sand dollars. For several of his last years, from age and infirmities, he was not able to attend to business, and died at his home at the "Riverside," in 1881, in his 83d year. He was the oldest surviving mem- ber of the Washington County Bar except Hon. Paul Dillingham, of Waterbury.

He married, in 1830, Mary Warner, daughter of Samuel Goss. They had 4 children : Chas. F., who was graduated at Dartmouth in 1854; studied law in his father's office ; removed to Michigan, and died at the age of 31 ; another son, who died in infancy ; and two daughters, both married and live in Montpelier-Ellen J., wife of C. J. Gleason, and Lucy A., wife of Chas. A. Reed.

The widow of Mr. Smith still resides at the " Riverside," Nov. 1881.

Mr. Smith was also an honored member of Aurora Lodge, No. 22, F. & A. M. The following is from the record book of the Lodge :

IN MEMORIAM.

Bro. Dramel Hopkins Smith,

Born in Thetford, Vt., Oct. 16, 1798; Died at Montpelier, Vt., January 23d, 1881 ; Aged 82 yrs., 3 mos. and 4 days.

Affiliated with Aurora Lodge, No. 22, F. & A. M. Dec. 12, 1853.

Past Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Vt. Treasurer of Aurora Lodge, No. 22, From December 4, 1854, to December, 1857.

" Awaiting the sound of the gavel in the East."

[From Obiluary in the Vermont Watchman.] COL. THOMAS REED

was born at Hamstead, N. H., Mar. 29, 1793. He was a son of Capt. Thomas Reed, and came with his father to Montpe- lier in 1804, where he resided until his de- cease. He was by profession a lawyer, and at his decease the oldest attorney in the court in this County ; though for many

years prior to the first stroke of his disease -some five years prior to his death, and from which he never rallied-he had not been an active practitioner at the bar. For the last 20 years, his active labor was mainly as a farmer, a pursuit in which he took much delight, and which he thor- oughly understood, as indeed, he under- stood everything which he undertook to do. During the last 5 years he was an invalid, and for 3 years was with- drawn from all business, the slow progress of his disease undermining a naturally vig- orous constitution until April 18, 1864, when another shock of paralysis rendered him unconscious, and he remained in that state until he quietly passed away on the 19th.

For more than 40 years he was one of the leading citizens of our town.

His early life was, in many respects, a severe struggle with adverse circumstances. He held himself not at all obliged to for- tune or the favor of any one, for the success he achieved, and he became austere, almost combative in his manner. He despised all shams. Humbugs stood no chance under the severe scrutiny of his eye and the arrows of his searching interrogation. His sagacity was seldom at fault. Few of his ventures failed of returning with profit. He exacted of others what he was always ready to yield to them, equal and exact justice. No deserving charity, no worthy enterprise ever sought his aid in vain. Many hearts have been warmed by unob- trusive gifts from his hand, for which he would not patiently listen to thanks.

He had a capacious intellect. His mind was as stalwart and vigorous as his body, and he never allowed either to become en- ervated by idleness. His reading was va- ried and thorough. There were few sub- jects with which the general scholar is fa- miliar that he had not searched. He never forgot anything of value to him, whether he had found it in books, or in observa- tion, which with him was never superficial, but always critical and complete. He be- lieved what was worth knowing at all was worth knowing well. His learning was ac- curate and full, his opinions well matured,

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deliberate and precise. We have regarded Mr. Reed as mentally one of the strongest men in the State, and if he had early had the advantages of a complete education, and had given his great force of character and strength of will to intellectual pursuits, he would undoubtedly have reached the first rank among the intellects of Vermont, if not of New England.

He was one of the strongest, most hon- , est and most worthy citizens of Montpe- lier. He belonged to a generation which is now nearly gone, the men whose energy, strong will, business activity, commer- cial sagacity, integrity and generous enter- prise, have made our town what it is. Of his cotemporaries, many have gone before, and few remained to attend at his funeral. Well will it be for us all, if we, like Mr. Reed, do our work well, and leave a fra- grant memory to be cherished by those who shall one day take our places.

Addition by E. P. W'alton.

The foregoing just tribute to Col. Reed, appeared in the Green Mountain Freeman, and was doubtless from the pen of the late Hon. Daniel P. Thompson. It should be added, that as a banker for many years Col. Reed was at the head of the financiers of the State, an acknowledged authority, from which there was no appeal ; and as a writer on political questions, he was caus- tic in controversy, sure of his facts, and powerful in argument. On the record of the old bank of Montpelier will be found a very able and conclusive argument against the free banking act, which grew out of the party clamor of "Smilie and bank reform"; but the following extracts of a letter to Stephen Foster, Esq., of Der- by Line, written Dec. 6, 1855, are given as evidence of Col. Reed's wisdom and prudence as a banker :

" Keep in mind always that if you have good security for all your loans your bank can't fail, nor the stockholders fail to get good dividends.

" When a man comes by other banks to yours for a loan, you may know that he has borrowed as much as he is entitled to from his capital or that he is discredited at home.

" Keep in mind the fact that many men are made great and rich by distance, and you may be sure that if any go by other banks to do business at yours, that they go there because they are obliged to, and not from love.

" If a man asks you for a loan whom you don't know to be responsible, the only safe way is to consider him good for noth- ing and take security accordingly. Chari- table presumption and banking presump- tion in regard to men are entirely differ- ent : the charitable presumption in regard to a man that you don't personally know about, is always that he is good and rich ; but the banking presumption is that he is good for nothing-and the cashier who does not act by this rule will first or last, if not constantly, be a loser by his error.

" Have no dealings with a stranger in buying drafts or checks of him unless he can refer you to some responsible man in the neighborhood as to his character.

" Never take a draft of anybody without its being first accepted, unless it is other- wise secured than by the drawer's name- and never do so if you know the drawer to be good, for how do you know he will ac- cept? Many buyers of produce, wool, &c., will often present such drafts, and if the cashier takes them, he has no security but the drawer, and he is often a stranger. Many banks have lost by such careless- ness.

" In fine, pay out no money but on se- curity of more than one name-and never regard as security an endorser or under- signer who is connected with the principal as partner, or one who must fail if the prin- cipal does.

" Banks, being allowed to take only six per cent, can't afford to lose anything, and therefore it is expected by their customers that perfect security will be required-and if any one objects to this, there is a double reason why you should require it of him. Many men, who are known to be good, think they should not be asked to give se- curity for what they want to borrow-but such can have no difficulty to find se- curity, and they should be required to find it, otherwise you will find it difficult to get

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security of those who are more doubtful, and be subject to the charge of partiality. Security, Security, Security, that is the main thing-and mind always to have the security taken before you let the money go. It is scarcely ever got afterwards."

Mr. Reed was commissioned Colonel of Vermont militia Aug. 11, 1825, by Gov. Van Ness ; and honorably discharged June 27, 1827, by Gov. Butler.

The late Daniel Baldwin, shortly before his death, said to the writer of this note, that he regarded Col. Reed as being, intel- lectually, the strongest man that Montpelier has had. Mr. Reed was certainly pre-em- inent in his chosen role as banker, but not superior to many others in other profes- sions. It is doubtless true, however, that if he had adhered to the profession of the law, and limited himself as counsellor in the supreme court and cases in chancery, he would have reached a very high rank. The severity of his manner and speech un- fitted him for a jury trial. He always won by honest force, if he did win, and not by suavity or trickery.

CAPT. ISAAC RICKER.

[From information furnished by the family.]

ISAAC RICKER was born in Dover, N. H., Christmas day, 1784. Here his early years were passed, and from Dover he enlisted in the old N. E. 4th Reg. Infantry, U. S. A., in 1811, and was in the service all through " the last war with Great Britain," as the old soldiers of 1812, I have noticed, in speaking of it, almost invariably style the war of 1812, '14, with England. He was under Col. Boyd, and the regiment was called the best in the United States at that time. He was also under Harrison when he took command at Cincinnati. Boyd's regiment was with Gen. Harrison when he won his brightest laurels. Capt. Ricker was there, and led his company in to the battle of Tippecanoe.

His weight being 200 at this time, tall and massive, he was an imposing looking and bold officer.

soldiers to the English, and he, like all the rest of Hull's infamously sacrificed men, suffered more in his imprisonment, follow- ing thereupon, than has ever been written. He was 7 years in the United States ser- vice, and never got scratch, wound or pen- sion, though his widow, a second wife, has had one for about 2 years past. After the war he was, for about 2 years, a recruiting officer of the U. S. A.

He came to Montpelier in 1817, and set -. tled on the site where is now the residence, store and shop of his son, Rufus Ricker, merchant tailor, State street, just opposite the post-office. He was deputy sheriff of the County and constable some years. Capt. Ricker was a staunch Democrat. " He fought too many years for the whole country to be anything else," says his son.

We were told by an old native citizen of this County, at Burlington, the other day -Mr. Leonard Johonnott-that Captain Ricker and Senator Upham were particular friends ; that he always worked enthusi- astically and efficiently in any election for Upham. "Why," said his old Barre neighbor, "any history of Montpelier vil- lage of 50 years ago, without Capt. Isaac Ricker, would be no history at all." He cared little for town offices, or political honors for himself, but was all alive and energetic for his friends. And yet says one who knew him best in Montpelier, " he was a man who did not usually talk much ; he had been under military tactics too long ; but a prompt man when he did take hold, and acted with so much integrity as a sheriff, and so kindly, he was uncom- monly respected and trusted by those he took into custody."

Captain Ricker married, first, Nancy Dame, of Rochester, N. H. She had 7 children, of whom Rufus R. Ricker, Fran- cis Derancis Ricker and Mrs. Priscilla Holmes, widow of Edwin C. Holmes, are now living here. Another son, George P. Ricker, was for many years engaged in busi- ness in town, and died from accident, in August, 1851. His first wife dying, he married, about 1828, Loramie W. Hart, of Burlington, who survived him, and still

The Indians surprised them, as is well known, that night. He was in Hull's army when he surrendered at Detroit his brave lives in Montpelier. She had two children :

Aaron Bancroft

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Harrison Hart Wright, now living in San Francisco, a '49er, one of the pioneers of that State, born in Montpelier; and a son of 12 years, who died of typhus. Capt. Ricker died July 16, 1837, and is buried in Green Mount Cemetery.

THOMAS NEEDHAM

was born in Salem, Mass., Nov. 1785 ; re- moved to Mount Vernon, N. H., in 1812, where he married, that year, Eleanor Dodge, and they came to Montpelier in 1819, where they resided the remainder of their days. Mr. Needham was a cooper by trade, which vocation he followed through life. He was a man of brain, a great reader, and kept himself thoroughly ac- quainted with the affairs of the country. Politically, he was a Democrat, an ardent worker and earnest supporter of his party, which was in a majority in town in his day. For 25 years he wielded an influence in town, either at town or State elections, far greater than any other man. He never, however, aspired for office. Re- peatedly, he was asked by his party to ac- cept of their nomination of him as their candidate for town representative, which was equivalent to an election, but always refused to accept of it. Of town offices, he was for several years a justice of peace, selectman, and overseer of the poor ; the poor being bounteously cared for under his management. He also held the office of first jail commissioner many years. In all of the offices held by him, he was faith- ful to their trust. He died June 12, 1872, in his 87th year, leaving 2 sons, Algernon Sydney, for many years a sea captain, now residing in Montpelier, and Daniel, resid- ing in Barre. His wife, Eleanor D., died Oct. 9, 1880, in her 93d year. C. B.

THE OLD VILLAGE SEXTON.

[ From obituary by Hon. Joseph Poland and Col. H. D. Hopkins.]

AARON BANCROFT was born in Wood End, now within the present limits of Boston, Mass., Feb. 2, 1784. He wasone of a family of 12 children, and a son of Samuel Bancroft, who was a brother of the Rev. Dr. Aaron Bancroft, of Worcester, Mass., father of George Bancroft, the his-

torian ; being a direct descendant of Thos. Bancroft, a Puritan, who landed in Boston in 1632.

Aaron, the subject of our sketch, was married in 1804, to Anna Foster, of Wood End, and removed to Montpelier in 1813. He began work at his mechanical trade, that of a shoemaker, which he followed uninterruptedly until he was 84 years of age, when, by an accidental fall, he re- ceived injuries which disabled him from further service. In 1813, the year he came to town, the old Elm Street Cemetery was opened, and he was soon after made its sexton, the duties of which office he faith- fully performed for nearly 50 years, until July, 1857, when the new cemetery, Green Mount, was occupied, having been dedi- cated the previous year. What a tale of mortality could the old sexton tell :

" Nigh to a grave that was newly made, Leaned a Sexton old on his earth-worn spade; His work was done, and he paused to wait The funeral train through the open gate. A relic of by-gone days was he, And hls locks were white as the foamy sea; And these words came from his lips so thin,

* I gather them in, I gather them in.'

" I gather them in for man and boy ; Year after year of grief and joy ; I've builded the houses that lie around In every nook of this burial ground; Mother and daughter, father and son, Come to my solitude, one by one,- But come they stranger, or come they kin,- I gather them in, I gather them In.

" Many are with me, but still I'm alone, I'm king of the dead-and I make my throne On a monument slab of marble cold, And my sceptre of rule is the spade I hold. Come they from cottage, or come they fromn hall, Mankind are my subjects-all, all, all ! Let them loiter in pleasure, or toilfully spin- I gather them in, I gather them In.

"I gather them In-and their final rest Is here, down here, In the earth's dark breast!' And the Sexton ceased, for the funeral train Wound mutely o'er that solenin plain ; And I said to my heart, When time Is told, A mightier voice than that Sexton's old Will sound o'er the last trump's dreadful din- 'I gather them in, I gather them in!'"

In 1819, when the old brick church was erected, he was made its sexton, in which capacity he officiated for two score of years. In "form and feature " he was the exact representation of his office, gray, bowed, kind, slow-spoken and courteous. In his earlier day, he possessed great phys- ical strength and muscle even up to the

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age of 50 ; he repeatedly bore off the palm in wrestling matches and foot-races. He was also endowed with a remarkable mem- ory, which he retained to the last. To him we are indebted for the record of the vital statistics of the town, making a list of about a thousand deaths, which he kept for 46 years, until 1857, since which time the State law has required the registration of all deaths by the district clerk.

In 1804, Mr. Bancroft and his wife united with the Congregational church, of which they remained faithful members till their death. Mrs. Bancroft died in Oct. 1865, aged 82 ; and Mr. Bancroft, Mar. 26, 1872, aged 88 years. That he was a sincere Christian, no one ever doubted who knew him, for his daily life gave uniform testi- mony to the genuineness of his profession. His Bible was his daily food, even upon his dying bed, and he found great comfort in the songs of Zion, which he always dearly loved, until the summons came. Artless and as trustful as a child, faithful to all his trusts, cheerful under the worst trials, a peacemaker everywhere, pure in heart and exemplary in life, Aaron Bancroft may well be said to have lived and died an honest man.

He reared a family of 5 sons and 3 daughters : Aaron, Sarah, Henry, Mary, Ed- ward C., Daniel Foster, Eliza and Charles E ; two more died in infancy. All now are deceased but two, Daniel Foster, now re- siding in New York city, and Mrs. Mary Rogers, in Cabot. The sons all learned various mechanical trades, which they fol- lowed through life, all being superior work- men at their several trades.

CAPT. LEMUEL BROOKS,

born in Connecticut in 1767, married Rhoda Barber, of Simsbury, Ct., and came to Montpelier in January, 1798. He was present and cast his vote in the first town meeting held in Montpelier. He first set- tled in the part now called East Montpelier, where he lived for 40 years, when he re- moved to Montpelier village, where he died in 1846, during the session of the Legislature here, aged 79 years, and was buried in the old Elm Street Cemetery.

He is remembered by his descendants as a large man, almost of heroic size, a kind old gentleman, fond of a joke and of his grandchildren. He and his wife lived happily together 48 years. They had no sons, but a family of 5 daughters, four of whom married : Mary, A. Sidney Wing, of Montpelier ; Rhoda, General Humphrey ; Amanda, another Mr. Humphrey ; Fanny, Loomis Palmer.

MRS. RHODA BROOKS.

Rhoda Barber, born in Simsbury, Ct., Nov. 17, 1798, immediately after her mar- riage with Lemuel Brooks, Jan. 1798, came to Montpelier. There were but two framed houses at that time, and the frame of an- other, in the old town of Montpelier, com- prising the present Montpelier and East Montpelier. The frame was that of the Cadwell house, still standing at the head of State street, that became and continued for many years to be the most spacious and ele- gant private dwelling in town, and the quar- ters of successive governors of the State. When Mrs. Brooks first saw the frame, it was surrounded by the stumps and trunks of trees that had been cut down to open a site for the building. Mrs. Brooks went to the farm of her husband, now in East Montpelier, where they remained till their . removal to this village in 1838. After the death of Mr. Brooks, she resided with her son-in-law, Loomis Palmer, until her death, Dec. 21, 1873, aged 85 years.

Mrs. Brooks was large and elegant in person, of perhaps the finest English type of beauty ; dignified in her manners, genial in her temper, and of great intelligence. Mr. Thompson was largely indebted to her for material for his history of Montpelier.

A lady of a well-ordered life, whose Christian faith was illustrated by hospital- ity and charity ; whose end was more than beautiful. Awaking without sickness on the morning of the anniversary of her hus- band's birth, she calmly told her daughter that she was going, and entered at once upon the way from earth to Heaven.

THOMAS BROOKS,

brother of Lemuel, settled in Montpelier not far from the time that his brother did.

Jonathan Shepard

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Children of Thomas and Roxa Brooks : Delorma, Lemuel, Keyes, Mary, Melanc- thon, Sarah, Lorenzo, Joseph, Harriet, Thomas, Roxa.

JONATHAN SHEPARD.

One after another the now thinly scattered band of our first settlers are all fast passing away. Of the earliest pioneer settlers of Montpelier, Jonathan Shepard went to his long rest July 26, 1863. He was born in Haverhill, Mass., June 31, 1772, and at the age of 21, came to Montpelier, where, for the first two or three years, he was in the employment of the first settler, Col. Jacob Davis, being constantly engaged with others of the Colonel's band of hardy laborers in clearing up the lands now con- stituting the site of our flourishing village. After a few years, he married a Miss Bur- dick, of Waitsfield, who died of spotted fever in 1810, and a few years subsequently, he married the widow of Wm. Hutchins, many years since deceased. His first " pitch " was on the lands afterwards known as the Silloway farm, near Henry Nutt's. Soon selling this, however, he purchased the well-known valuable farm lying around the mouth of Dog river, which he held till a few years ago, when it passed into the hands of his son, George C. Shepard, Esq. While carrying on this farm, he became the occupant of the Hutchins', or Farmers' inn, which, to the very general acceptance of the public, he kept for nearly 30 years.

Mr. Shepard was never known as an office-holder : for, though often offered them, he uniformly declined all offices. He was a man of much decision of char- acter-of great energy, of fine business ca- pacities, and from the first has been among our most active and enterprising citizens, and by these qualities, he accumulated a very handsome property; and what is better, he was an honest man, ever re- garding his word as sacred .- Obit.

HON. JOSEPH HOWES AND WIFE.

Joseph Howes, born in Lebanon, Conn., March 28, 1783, died in Montpelier, April 26, 1863. He was descended from one of the early puritans who settled in Plymouth

County, Mass. Judge Howes came to Montpelier with his wife in 1808, both re- mained there during their lives, and both were among the members of the First Con- gregational church, now commonly known as Bethany church, at its organization in 1810, of which they were ever faithful and highly-honored members. Judge Howes was intelligent, decided and immovable in his religious and political opinions. Be- ginning as a Jeffersonian Republican, he, with the most of that party in Vermont, supported John Quincy Adams for presi- dent in 1824, and after Gen. Jackson's election in 1828, adhered successively to the National Republican, Whig, and the modern Republican parties. He was pat- riotic, served nearly two years on the frontier as adjutant in the war of 1812- 15, and served so well that a commission in the regular army was offered him, which he declined on account of the pressing needs of his young family. In Sept. 1814, however, he started for Plattsburgh as second lieutenant in the volunteer Mont- pelier company, a roll of which, in his hand-writing, has been found among his papers. He represented Montpelier in the Legislature of 1813, and while holding that office, left for military service on the frontier ; was also a Judge of Washington County Court, 1819 to 1827 ; and served several years as surveyor of public build- ings, his duty being to provide for sweep- ing, heating and lighting the State House, and furnish stationery for both Houses. His bill for these services in the session of 37 days in 1825 was $68.71, $3 of which only was for his personal service-less than $2 per day for all, which is less than the daily pay now of a page. He was also long engaged in the most responsible town offices,-moderator, selectman, overseer, and magistrate. He was thoroughly con- scientious in the discharge of all his public and private duties-severely just as against himself, and severely censorious of all wrong ; but he was also generous to those who had wronged him.

PATTYWILDER, daughter of Abel Wilder, of Norwich, and grand-daughter of Lieut. Gov. Elisha Payne, of Lebanon, N. H.,

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The history of Washington county, in the Vermont historical gazetteer:, Part 77

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890, [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Montpelier, Vt., Vermont watchman and state journal press Number of Pages: 1066

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890, [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt., Vermont watchman and state journal press
Number of Pages: 1066