Rutland County Biographies

History of Rutland County Vermont
Written by H. P. Smith and W. S. Rann
Published by D. Mason & Co. in 1886

ELLIS, ZENAS CLARK, the son of Barnabas Ellis and Balinda Kidder, who removed from Wethersfield, Vt., to Fairhaven, in 1813, was born in Fairhaven, July 25, 1820. He was the sixth of a family of nine children and resided for the most part of his life on the homestead where he died September 26, 1883. He was married in September, 1847, to Sarah Bowman Dyer, a daughter of Edward and Hannah Hoxie Dyer, of Rutland, Vt., by whom he had a family of four sons. His wife died July 7, 1876, and he was married a second time December 8, 1880, but had no children by his second wife.

Mr. Ellis educated himself in the common schools. He accepted quietly and filled honorably numerous stations of trust and usefulness in the affairs of his town, county and community. Elected one of the board of listers in 1847, a selectman in 1858, and later treasurer of the town, he was repeatedly re-elected to all these positions. He was for many years an acting justice of the peace and his judgments were highly esteemed. When, in 1876, without his knowledge, his name was presented by his friends to the county convention as a candidate for the office of associate judge of the County Court, the members of the bar gave him their cordial endorsement and he was elected and held the office for two years. Hon. Hoyt H. Wheeler, since judge of the District Court of the United States for the District of Vermont, presided at the Rutland County Court during most of this period.

Mr. Ellis rendered efficient and patriotic service during the war, in his offices as selectman and treasurer of the town. He was vigilant and successful in raising both money and men. He was a capable, painstaking administrator in conjunction with R. C. Colburn, of the large and complicated estate of the late Israel Davey. He was a member and consistent and steadfast supporter of the Congregational Church. He was a director in the National Bank of Poultney, and was one of the original board of directors of the First National Bank of Fairhaven and served as such director and on the executive committee of the board of organization of the bank until his death. In 1878 he was elected president of the bank and re-elected each year until his death. The following resolutions were passed by the board of directors at that time ;

WHERE. IS, Our late president, Zenas C. Ellis, having since our last meeting been taken from us by death, we are reminded by his vacant chair of the loss that has fallen on us and, especially, on the institution with which he was so long connected, and over whose interests he so efficiently presided.

Therefore, Resolved, That in the death of Mr. Ellis, we have lost one whose counsels were always prudent and judicious, whose careful attention to the duties of his position excited our admiration, and whose kindness of heart, uniform gentleness of manner, integrity of purpose, and high sense of honor, had won our sincere and affectionate regard.

Resolved, That this bank in thus losing one who has been one of its board of directors since its organization, and losing its president, has lost one to whom its prosperity was ever a source of delight, and to whom it is largely indebted for its success, and whose efforts in its behalf should be held in grateful remembrance.

Resolved, That the cashier be directed to write these resolutions on the records of the bank and to transmit a copy of the same to the family of the deceased.

EVERTS, MARTIN C. second son of Gilbert and Hannah (Weeks) Everts, of Salisbury, Conn., was born in Salisbury, Vt., on the 2d day of July, 181S. his parents having removed thither at an early day. His education was obtained at the .Middlebury Academy, and completed at Middlebury College. In March, 1840, he came to Rutland and began the study of law in the office of the Hon. Solomon Foot. He was admitted on the 22d of April, 1843, in Rutland County Court, and continued his studies for four years thereafter, as a partner of his former preceptor, Mr. Foot. On the 12th day of July, 1849. he was married to Frances, daughter of Dr. James Porter, of Rutland.

Few men in this county have been elected to fill so many and varied public positions as fell to the lot of Mr. Everts. He was elected town agent, selectman and moderator; served as town auditor at town meetings a great many years between 1853 and 1882. In addition to these positions of trust he was chosen representative in 1851 and 1852; State's attorney in 1853 and 1854. and in 1875 and 1876 ; State Senator in 1859 and 1860. He was. furthermore, municipal judge of Rutland ten years, and a member of the examining committee of the bar more than thirty years ; in 1861 lie received the appointment of postmaster at Rutland, which office he retained until 1870. He died on the morning of the 14th of March, 1884, from exhaustion induced by a violent bleeding from the nose two weeks previously. His manly and beautiful traits of character cannot be better described than by quoting from the proceedings of the Rutland county bar, taken on the day of his death. The following resolutions, drafted by Hon. D. E. Nicholson, Hon. W. C. Dunton and Captain J. C. Baker, committee, were adopted :

Whereas, Amidst the fluctuating anxieties that have engrossed the public attention since the announcement of the serious illness of our long time professional brother, Martin G. Everts, " the thing we so greatly teared has come upon us." Therefore,

Resolved, That in the death of the honored and lamented deceased, we recognize the striking fact that the limited and professional affliction is merged in the general public sorrow.

Resolved, That as an organized constituent of that sorrowing public, the Rutland county bar most keenly feels the presence of the shadow from the extinction of so clear and steady a light.

Resolved, That the brief term of acquaintance of our youngest members with the beloved departed has warmly and firmly attached them, and that forty-one years of such association has emphasized such relation and appreciation to his few peers in the profession surviving to mourn his departure.

Resolved, That, as a lawyer, he was able and honorable ; as a prosecuting officer, firm, calm and fearless; as a judge, careful, impartial and pure; as a legislator, vigilant, practical and wise ; as a citizen, a universal benefactor and friend ; and in every relation of life the leading and acknowledged popular favorite.

Resolved, That, after closing the dying eyes of most of his near and dear family relations, his own pitying eyes have been at length sealed by his loving neighbors and friends in the presence of the life long idol of his heart, the mother of their only child ' that a long time since preceded the father and the now waiting and doubly afflicted mother to the appointments beyond the grave.

Resolved, That, as a token of our deeply-seated respect for the memory of the deceased, and sympathy with the stricken and widowed conjugal companion of his life, we will attend his funeral in a body, and move an adjournment of this honorable court as an indication of approval of this action of the bar thereof.

Mr. Everts was the father of three children, two daughters, one of whom and the son died in early infancy. The death of little Frances Rebecca, on the 1st of October, 1864, at the age of six years and five months, cast a shadow on the life of her father from which he never fully emerged into his former cheerfulness.

His widow still survives him, occupying the house which he built, and in which he lived until his death.

FRANCISCO, M. J., was born on the 5th day of August, at Westhaven, and was the third son of John Francisco, who moved to Westhaven in 1795. and participated in the War of 1812. At the battle of Plattsburgh he was one of the famous " Green Mountain Boys," and an eye-witness of the conflict between the Saratoga and Confiance, and the retreat of the British when MacDonough was declared the victor. He came up the lake with the fleet to Ticonderoga, where he left the vessel and returned to Westhaven. Here he resided for eighty-three years, being thus more than three-quarters of a century intimately associated with every interest of the town and county. He was the first preceptor of Horace Greeley, who began his eventful career in Westhaven. The Francisco family have been remarkable for longevity, one of the ancestors having guided a plow when he had attained the age of 105 years.

The subject of this sketch left Westhaven in 1852 for Ohio, to enter Oberlin College. After completing his studies there he passed several years traveling through the West and South, visiting all States then admitted to the Union and some of the territories. He returned to Vermont in 1859, returning West again in October, 1860, as principal of the Northwestern Commercial College, at Fort Wayne, Ind. Here he resided during the first years of the Rebellion, and took an active part in raising volunteers for the Union cause. In this work he met the opposition of the " Knights of the Golden Circle " and Klu Klux Clan, and at one time became involved in a riot composed of members of that infamous gang.

In 1863 Mr. Francisco married H. Margaret Holmes, daughter of Israel Holmes, of Waterbury. Conn. Mr. Holmes was directly connected with the founding of all the large manufacturing concerns of Connecticut. He was a descendant of the Judds of Revolutionary memory, and of the genuine Puritan stock. In 1829 he made a voyage of discovery and investigation concerning the possibilities of introducing on a thorough basis the manufacture of rolled brass. A long and stormy passage in a sailing vessel was a type of the stormy scenes he was destined to encounter in the prosecution of his mission. English jealousy and law were both arrayed against him, and made it very warm for the presumptuous Yankee who dared to interfere with the right of England to do the manufacturing of the world ; and the two combined succeeded in filling up his time with strategic movements and coup defeats on the one hand, and of imminent dangers and narrow escapes on the other, a detailed record of which would read today like a romance. Few men have displayed more activity or ability in the manufacturing line. His influence and personal efforts have largely shaped the legislation of the country in matters pertaining to this branch of the nation's industries ; and in the course of his endeavors in this direction he became the co-worker of the leading statesmen of the time, of Webster, Clay and Benton. He wielded a trenchant pen and frequently contributed to the columns of the different publications of the day. He had large interests in Connecticut and the city of New York at the time of his death, which interests devolved upon Mr. Francisco as trustee of his estate.

Leaving Fort Wayne in 1864, Mr. Francisco accepted the presidency of the Pennsylvania College of Trade and Finance, at Harrisburgh, and with the co-operation of Governor Gear)-. Ex-Governor Curtin, Senator Cameron, Secretary of the Commonwealth Jordon and Hugh McCulloch (who was then secretary of the U. S. treasury), he organized a large and flourishing institution, the graduates of which are now filling responsible positions both at home and abroad. After several years of close application in the management of the college, failing health compelled him to relinquish all business, and he returned to his native State and passed a year at the Mineral Springs in the northern part of Vermont. At this time the English fire insurance companies were negotiating for admission into the United States, and Mr. Francisco assumed the general management for Vermont of the North British and Mercantile Insurance Company, and the London and Liverpool and Globe Insurance Company of London and Edinburgh, the first foreign companies that were admitted to the State. He was afterward made manager for Vermont, New Hampshire and Northern New York of several other large companies, and by a conscientious adherence to conservatism rather than haste, carefulness rather than impulse, and final profit rather than present volume of business, and by diligent attention to all engagements, he has made a record which marks him as the most successful fire insurance manager in the State. In 1876 Mr. Francisco met with a serious accident which came near being fatal, and which compelled him to relinquish all business for nearly two years, and necessitated a voyage to Europe, where he spent one season with his family. In 1884 he received another injury, which confined him to his house for nearly a year and a half, and has left him lame for life. Notwithstanding these drawbacks he has steadily increased his facilities until he now represents aggregate insurance assets of more than $200,000,000, in both American and European companies, with the prestige of having written the largest policy ever made in New England, viz., for $2,100,000. In 1884 he was elected president of the Holmes & Griggs Manufacturing Company of New York City, which office he now holds.

Mr. Francisco has two sons, Israel Holmes Francisco. who is cashier in his father's office, and Don Carlos, aged six years.

FRISBIE, HON. BARNES, was born January 23, 1815. He remained at home and worked on his father's farm until twenty-one years of age. He was then in attendance at the academy three years, and intended to go to college where he could have entered an advanced class ; but, as he was then twenty-four years of age, he decided to commence at once the study of a profession, and accordingly entered the office of C. B. Harrington, an attorney in practice at Middletown, and began the study of law. He was admitted to the bar at the September term of Rutland County Court, 1842. The first year after his admission he was in company with General B. Davenport, in Brandon, Vt. He then went to Addison county and opened an office in Bristol, in that county, and there succeeded after two or three years in acquiring a good business; but after three or four years of successful practice, his health failed and he returned to his father's in Middletown. He was attacked with a dyspeptic difficulty while in Bristol, from which he has never fully recovered, and has never since leaving Bristol had a full and active practice in his profession ; though he has not, by any means, been with out business. He removed from Middletown to Poultney in 1863, where he has ever since resided ; and, while living in the former place, kept an office, as he has since, in Poultney. A nervous affection, the result of the dyspeptic trouble alluded to, has induced him to avoid, rather than seek employment in the trial of cases in court. He held the office of assistant judge of Rutland County Court in the years 1852, 1856, 1857, 1858, 1862, 1863. 1864, 1865, 1866, 1883, 1884, 1885, and the term for which he was last elected does not expire until December I, 1886. He was appointed court auditor for Rutland county in 1867, by the Supreme Court. This office he held until 1880, when it was provided that the duties of court auditors should be performed by the State auditor. He represented Middletown in the Vermont Legislature in the years 1854 and 1855, and Poultney in the years 1867, 1868, 1869 and 1872.

He was married to Mary A. Johnson, of Bellows Falls, on the l0th of August, 1843. Six children were the result of this marriage ; four are now living, three daughters and a son. One daughter married C. C. Gove, who is now the principal of Monson Academy, in Massachusetts. The wife died February 14, 1879.

The foregoing brief sketch of the life of Judge Frisbie, which was contributed to this work, while true in all respects, does not seem to be as comprehensive as its subject deserves. While the various offices held by Judge Frisbie, as detailed above, have been ably administered by him, it is still true that the physical debility alluded to has so crippled his powers and diminished his ambition in the past as to render it impossible that he could rise to the professional station which his learning and mental powers fitted him for. The peculiar nervous disturbances following his first physical disease, which none can understand who has not suffered from them, almost forced him to dissipate his time and energies in different directions as a means of relief. He thus became, in a measure, one who has been looked upon as ready and willing at all times to perform this or that duty for the public or private benefit, and whether it was at all remunerative to him or not. The amount of labor thus performed by him during his life, while undoubtedly properly appreciated, is still, perhaps, hardly realized by his acquaintances ; but it has all been done with that willing generosity which is a part of his very nature. His fellow citizens have made him superintendent of schools and have placed him in many positions of trust, requiring ability and labor, but which do not often make an adequate return to the laborer. He is a writer of more than common power, particularly upon historical subjects, which he has made a deep study ; of this fact the reader of this work must be fully aware. In the year 1880 he, in connection with Dr. Currier, of Castleton, projected the Rutland County Historical Society, which has done an excellent work, although yet young in years ; it is now the only historical society working in the State and is destined to 'accomplish a most valuable service, long after its founders have passed away.

In conclusion, it is but just to say that the various public stations to which Judge Frisbie has been called have been filled with credit to himself and for the good of the community; while in his private life, few have reached his years bearing with them more of the unselfish regard and esteem of their fellow humanity.

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