Biographies of Chittenden County

Page 6

TOWN, ALBERT , was born at Waterbury, Vt., on the 7th of June, 1819. He is descended from one of the oldest families that have come to this country from England. The earliest known existence of the surname Town, or Towne, was in the year 1274, when William De la Towne, of Alvely, a village in Shropshire, about twenty miles southeast of Shrewsbury, England, was engaged in the prosecution of a law suit. The earliest mention of the family in America is dated 1635, when William Towne resided in Cambridge, Mass., and in 1639 was the town clerk. He died there in the spring of 1685, aged eighty years. Another William Towne lived in Salem, Mass., in 1640, and died at Topfield about 1672. Two of his daughters, Rebecca and Mary, were executed during the Salem witchcraft delusion, while another daughter, Sarah, barely escaped with her life. From this branch of the family the subject of this sketch is sprung. Albert Town's father, Salem, was a native of Waterbury, Vt., whither his father, Asa, immigrated from Salem, Mass. Albert Town's mother was Rachel, daughter of Major Poland, a prominent soldier of the Revolution. Of their ten children only two have deceased, George W., having been killed at the storming of Chapultepec, in the Mexican War, after having served in the Seminole War, while Salem died at the age of three years.

Albert Town received a common school education at Dunham, now in the Province of Quebec, whither his father removed when he was but two years of age. When he reached his eleventh year he left home and hired out on a farm for four years, at four dollars a month, his board and clothes, and the privilege of attending school winters.  In 1834 he came to St. Albans, Vt., where he remained two years, and then came to the farm which he now owns and occupies, as a laborer by the month for Ransom Jones.  The most interesting part of his career began in the spring of 1840. On the 8th of March of that year he left Richmond with several friends, with whom, on the 2d of April, he embarked from New Bedford, Mass., on board the whaling vessel New Bedford, Captain Leonard Crowell, for a three years' whaling voyage in the Southern Pacific Ocean. On the 16th of April they landed at St. Jago, one of the Cape Verde Islands, and two or three weeks later touched at Fayal, on one of the Azores. After cruising around these islands for a time they directed their course directly for Cape Horn, which they doubled early in July, and on the morning of the 8th bore off to the north from the islands. They landed at Juan Fernandez, near Valparaiso, Chili, and then headed for Callao, Peru. On the 26th of September they reached this port, where they remained about six weeks, painting their ship, and getting supplies. On the 28th of April, 1841, they went on shore at Payta, on the coast of Peru, and recruited with cocoanuts and oranges. Thence they proceeded to the Marquesas Islands, a group of the French archipelago, called the Mendana Archipelago. By the 10th of September they had returned to Callao, and on the 5th of April, 1842, landed at Tahiti, or Otaheite, one of the Society Islands, where they recruited, and painted and repaired the ship. On the 1st of August they touched at Chatham Island, and procured a number of terrapins.  Thence they again repaired to the northern coast of Peru, where they obtained a supply of wood and water, and vegetables. On the 18th of January, 1843, they were quarantined at Talcahuna, less than a mile from the island of Caracana, whence, after a stay of nearly two weeks, they succeeded in eluding the vigilance of the officers and escaped, reaching Juan Fernandez on the 7th of February.   Their next venture was towards the Sandwich Islands, which they reached in April, on the 22nd of which month they landed near Honolulu, and again recruited with wood, water, potatoes, yams, etc.   They cruised about here for a time, went to the Society Islands, and thence towards the coast of Japan. After cruising the Pacific Islands in this manner until the fall of 1843, they started for home, passing the little isle of Mas-a-fuera, near Juan Fernandez, and touching on the latter on the 2d of January, 1844. They doubled Cape Horn on the 2d of April, crossed the equator towards the north on the 8th of May, and in due time landed at New Bedford, and enjoyed a reunion at Richmond.

Let it not be supposed that this voyage was filled with unmixed pleasures. The sailors often suffered from sickness, induced by exposure and overwork in a climate to which they were unused ; their food, except at the infrequent intervals of their landing at some tropical island, was unwholesome and unpalatable in the extreme, many of the men were subjected to the cruelties of a drunken mate and the severity of his brother, the captain; add to which the continued perils incident to the life of a whaler, from the whales which they pursue, from pirates, and from tempest and calm, and you have not recited one-half of the discomforts of this career.    On the way south, when about twenty-four hours sail from the Cape Verde Islands, they were in great apprehension from the movements of suspicious-looking craft having the appearance of pirates; and while off the coast of Japan, upon which they could not land, being placed under the commercial restrictions which that country had not then surrendered, they were in constant fear of Japanese junks.   Notwithstanding this fear, they took about 500 barrels of sperm oil in the space of four weeks while in that region.   At Otaheite they had a difficulty with the natives, which resulted in the Capture by the latter of six sailors, including Mr. Town, who were put in the calaboose with their feet in stocks.   They were all released in the course of a few hours, and Mr. Town was forced to pay a fine. 

During his leisure moments Mr. Town was always engaged in some profitable employment for himself, instead of carousing or idling as did the greater part of the crew.  He took advantage of his opportunities for reading. One accomplishment should not be omitted. He made two pairs of swifts - one for the captain, and one which is still in his possession -from the ivory teeth and the bones of whales captured on the voyage, fastened with silver rivets. The mechanism of these swifts is wonderful, and is the result of many hours of patient and careful labor. He also made four canes, one of ivory, one of cocoanut wood, and two of whalebone. He gave the ivory cane to the American consul at Honolulu.

After leaving the sea in August, 1844, Mr. Town at once repaired to the farm which he had left, and took charge of it for Ransom Jones, and also worked for a time on the railroad then building. After working here for five years he went to Granby, Canada, where his father was living, and where he remained until 1860. In the spring of that year he returned to Richmond and purchased the same farm, which he still occupies, of the estate of Ransom Jones. Since then he has remained on this place without intermission. His property now consists of this farm of about 330 acres, including one or two lots of wild land, and a farm of 250 acres in Underhill. He has been quite closely confined to his farm, not mixing much in politics, though he is a decided Republican, and has been frequently honored with office by his townsmen. He is now and for several years has been overseer of the poor.

He first married, in March, 1850, Zerviah, daughter of Oliver Shepard, an early settler then living in the next house west of this farm. By her he had one child, which was named after her, and which died with her on the 28th of June, 1853. In March, 1856, Mr. Town married again, his second wife being Marietta, daughter of William Williams, and a descendant of John Williams, cousin of the famous Roger Williams, whom he accompanied from the Old to the New World. Her grandfather, John Williams, was the first of the family in Richmond, and settled at a very early day on that farm on Richmond Hill now occupied by Benton Williams. He came from New Hampshire. Her mother's father, Robert Towers, came from Stromness, Orkney Islands, Scotland, was impressed on board an English man-of-war, captured with the rest of the crew by a French vessel, and confined in a French prison until released by an exchange of prisoners; came to this country, married Lucinda Soper in the State of New York, lived for a time in Jericho, and finally removed to Richmond.

Mr. and Mrs. Town have had nine children, all of whom are living, and all but two of whom are at home. Following are their names and the dates of their births: William A., born September 3, 1860; Kate D., born December 13, 1862 ; Ira E., born April 17, 1864; George V., born May 18, 1865; Clarence S., born August 1, 1866; Jennie M., born February 17, 1868; Herbert C, born March 23,1874; Edgar Earl, born May 18, 1875; and Grace M., born March 4, 1877; William A. married Jessie Sayles, of Richmond, in 1882, and in 1879 Kate D. became the wife of H. C. Gleason, of Richmond.   Biographies Index

TALCOTT, LEWIS H. The subject of this sketch was born on the 27th of June, 1836, in Williston. He is sprung from English stock, being descended from John Talcott, who lived in Essex county, England, previous to the year 1558. John Talcott's grandson of the same name, from whom are descended all the members of the Talcott family in America, came to Boston in 1632, and afterward settled in Hartford, Conn.  The first member of the family to live in Williston was David Talcott, great-grandfather of Lewis H. Deacon David Talcott was the son of Joshua and Rachel (Hollister) Talcott, and was born on the 5th of January, 1740. On the 3d of March, 1763, he married Elizabeth Parker, of Coventry, Conn., by whom he had five sons and two daughters. He resided for a number of years in Tyringham, Berkshire county, Mass., and removed at a very early date to Williston with his entire family. He bought a large tract of land on the hill that now bears his name, nearly all of which is still owned by his descendants. Around him he established his sons, Parker, Josiah, David, Zelah, and Jonathan. He was a prominent man in the early days of the town, and was one of the first selectmen, in 1786. He died in September, 1810. His youngest son, Jonathan Talcott, was born on the 10th of February, 1773, married Jerusha Morton, of Hartford, Conn., a number of years after his arrival in Williston, and died here in April, 1802. He had two children, Roswell and Jerusha, the latter of whom was born in 1802, married Leonard Smith in 1825, and died at Brookfield, Vt., in 1882. Roswell Talcott was born on the 24th of August, 1798, and is now living near the residence of his son Lewis H., at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. His wife, also living, was born in Springfield, Vt., on the 10th of October, 1801, but at the time of their marriage, February 1, 1824, was living at Keene, Essex county, N. Y.   Roswell and Lodisa (Holt) Talcott have had five children, three sons and two daughters, of whom all but one daughter are now alive. The eldest, Seth C, is in California; Jerusha C. is now Mrs. Draper, of Williston, and was for many years a successful teacher in the common and higher schools, and has for about four years held the office of town superintendent of public schools in Williston. Lydia Jennett died in 1847, Lewis Holt is the subject of this sketch, and Jonathan R., the youngest, is in California.  The history of this family is thus much older than that of the town. Immediately upon establishing his settlement in Williston, Deacon David Talcott erected a large framed house on the summit of the hill, and opened, and, all his life after, kept the first tavern in Williston. He also cultivated a large farm, as did all of his sons but one, David, jr., who erected the first framed house in the village (still standing, the second house east of Charles D, Warren's store), and a few rods to the rear of it built and conducted a large tannery for many years. All of the children of Roswell Talcott received the advantages of a good education in the academy which then flourished at Williston, and one, Jerusha, was sent to a popular seminary in Carlisle, N. Y., which, owing to ill health, she left six months before she would have been graduated.  Lewis Holt Talcott remained with his father during the period of his minority. In 1862 he went to San Francisco, Cal., and engaged extensively in dairying. In 1865 he returned to his native town and started a dairy on what is known as the Root farm, in the north part of the town. At first he kept twenty-two cows. He remained on the Root farm until 1876, increasing the products of his business and the means of production. In July, 1876, he purchased the farm which he now occupies, and which was originally settled by Daniel Fay. In 1868 Hiram Wallston built a large cheese factory on the original Talcott farm, which Mr. Talcott has managed since 1870. This factory is run by Mr. Talcott through the summer months, who makes the milk from his own cows, and from those of many of his neighbors, into cheese. In addition to this he has a smaller factory connected with his residence, which is used especially for winter dairying, where either butter or cheese, and sometimes both, are made from his dairy alone.   He has increased his possessions and his income with incredible progress from a small beginning, until he has achieved the enviable reputation of having the largest dairy in the State of Vermont. In 1885 and 1886 he made 150,000 pounds of cheese and 16,000 pounds of butter each year. His home factory runs only in the winter, when he always has fresh cows. He now has about three hundred cows, besides a large number of young cattle and twenty-five or thirty horses, which all derive their sustenance from about 2,000 acres of land divided into ten parcels, not joining, in the town of Williston. His business is increasing steadily, and will undoubtedly in time arrive at far vaster proportions than it now assumes.

Mr. Talcott is a consistent Republican in politics, and, though not ambitious to figure as an office-holder, has frequently been placed in positions of honor and trust by those best enabled to judge of his abilities and fitness. He was elected a representative of Williston in the Legislature in 1872, and has twice been selectman. He is interested in the support of the Universalist Church, which he and his family regularly attend.  On the 11th of March, 1858, Mr. Talcott was united in marriage with Lucy, daughter of Zimri Root. Her grandfather, Arad, was an early settler-about 1800-from Montague, Mass., upon the Root farm previously mentioned, and now owned by Mr. Talcott. Arad Root was born on the 10th of September, 1767, and died on the 1st of September, 1855. His son Zimri was born May 19, 1806, and died October 8, 1872. Mrs. Talcott was born on the 24th of November, 1836. Mr. and Mrs. Talcott have had five children, of whom only two are now living. The following are their names and the dates of their births, etc.: Seth, born March 12, 1860, died December 17, 1864 ; George M., born June 3, 1862, died August 9, 1883; Charles R., born May 16, 1869, died March 5, 1886; Jennie E, born September 30, 1870, and living now with her parents; Frank, born October 13, 1873, also at home.   Biographies Index

WALES, JUDGE TORREY E. Torrey E. Wales was born in the town of Westford, in Chittenden county, on the 20th day of June, 1820. His father, Danforth Wales, a native of Brimfield, Mass,, at an early age went to Pittsford, Vt, and served an apprenticeship in the clothier's trade. From there he came to Westford in about the year 1808, when he had attained the age of twenty-three years. Owing to his energy and practical business talents, he soon built up a large and successful business as a cloth-dresser, and became also the proprietor of the grist and saw-mills on Brown's River. He achieved prominence in the various affairs of the town, and held several of the most important offices within the gift of his townsmen, serving several terms as their representative. He died at the age of sixty-five years. His first wife was Lovisa Sibley, of Westford, who shared with him the hardships that attend the course of a pioneer in a country so reluctant in the distribution of rewards as was Western Vermont in early days, and became the mother of the subject of our notice. After her death Danforth Wales again married-the fruit of the second marriage being a daughter, now Mrs. Charles Kimball, of Westford.

Torrey E. Wales passed his boyhood days in preparing, as well as he could in the schools of his native county, for a collegiate course of study ; and with such success that he was graduated from the University of Vermont in the class of 1841. He then entered the law office of Asahel Peck, subsequently justice of the Supreme Court and governor of the State, and, after devoting the necessary time to the study of law, was admitted to practice in the courts of Chittenden county at the spring term of 1845. Choosing Burlington as his future home, he opened an office at the head of Church street, and patiently waited for briefs.   He was not long permitted to be idle, however, and by virtue of his thorough acquaintance with the principles of law, and his natural equipment in common sense, which is the power of successfully applying principles to facts, he built up a good practice. He continued alone until about 1857, when he formed a co-partnership with Russell S. Taft, then lately a student in his office, and now an honored justice of the Supreme Court of the State. This relation subsisted for the un-usual period of twenty-one years, being finally dissolved in 1878. The next partnership was formed in the spring of 1882, by the admission of George W. Wales to an interest in the business, and the firm name of Wales & Wales was adopted.

Judge Wales has always been a consistent and unswerving member of the Republican party, though he has not by any narrow and bitter partisanship attempted to rise at the expense of others. His diligence and abilities have been abundantly recognized by those who have had the best means of knowing him. He was elected State's attorneyin 1853, and held the office three consecutive years. He was chosen the second mayor of the city, and remained in that office for two years (1866 and 1867), and in 1870 served as acting mayor in the place of D. C. Linsley, mayor elect, whose business called him away from Burlington immediately after his election. Judge Wales was also one of the members of the board of aldermen in the years 1869, 1870, and 1871, resigning in the latter part of the last mentioned year. He was again elected alderman in 1874. In the years 1883 and 1884 he served as city attorney. Besides the several positions he has been placed in a number of the minor offices, and in 1868, 1869, 1876 and 1877 represented the city in the Legislature. The office for which he has shown the greatest aptitude, that of judge of probate, was given him in the year 1862, since which time he has not been allowed to retire, but has been kept in the office continuously for nearly twenty-four years.

On the 3d of February, 1846, he married Elizabeth C. Mason, of Burlington. Mrs.  Wales died on the 12th of April, 1886, leaving one son, George W. Wales, who was born on the 10th of July, 1855. He was graduated from the University of Vermont in the spring of 1876, when he had reached the same age at which his father was graduated from the same institution. In the Congressional sessions of 1876 and 1877 he acted as private secretary to Senator Morrill, and in 1878 and 1879 held the same position with Senator Dawes. In the spring of 1882 he was admitted to the Chittenden county bar, and at once entered into co-partnership with his father. From 1882 to 1884 he was secretary of civil and military affairs under Governor Barstow.   Biographies Index

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