Biographies of Windsor County Vermont
History of Windsor County Vermont
Lewis Cass Aldrich published in 1891
PARKS, FREDERICK , was born in Charlestown, N. H , April 13, 1801, being the tenth child in a family of twelve children of Aaron and Anna (Jennison) Parks. He passed his life till he was twenty one years of age on his father's farm. His education was obtained at the district schools of his native town. In 1823 he came to Acworth, N. H., and learned the trade of machinist and after his marriage became a partner with his father-in-law, Mr. Davidson, and came to Springfield on the removal of the factory to that place in 1829. He was a practical machinist and up to the time of his death was connected with the works which he and his father-in law established at Springfield. Though an active worker in the Republican party Mr. Parks would not accept any public office, but was always interested in all improvements that tended to increase the prosperity of Springfield. A Congregationalist in religious belief, he was always willing to help and encourage all enterprises for the religious benefit of his fellow citizens. Mr. Parks married November 17, 1827, Elvira, daughter of John and Abigail (Prouty) Davidson. She was born in Acworth, N. H., May 6, 1808. They had five children, none of whom are living; three died in infancy ; L. Milan, a member of Company E, First Vermont Cavalry, was killed during a reconnoitering expedition before Richmond, Va.; John Milton died at eighteen years of age Mr. Parks died September 28, 1877 I his widow still survives him and resides in Springfield. Biographie Index
PAUL, Hon. NORMAN , was born in Pomfret, Vt, February 29, 1832, the third in a family of four children, of Ora and Abigail (Harvey) Paul. Hial Paul, his grandfather, came with his family from Walpole, N. H., and settled in Hartland, Vt., in 1808, on the place now owned and occupied by his son-in-law, William S. Crooker. He married Betsey Stevens, and had children as follows : Ora ; Hial, lived and died in Hartland ; Eliza, was the wife of Landrus Spaulding, and died in Hartland ; Rebecca, was the wife of Isaac Seavy, and died in Woodstock ; Paulina, was the wife of William S. Crocker, and died at the old homestead in Hartland ; Candace, died unmarried in Pomfret; Alba, died in Le Roy, N. Y.; and Holland F., died in Iowa. Hial Paul died in Hartland, December 28, 1832 ; his wife died August 3, 1852.
Ora Paul was born in Walpole, October 3, 1799. He was nine years old when his father moved to Hartland. He became a resident of Pomfret December 21, 1825, represented the town in the Legislature in 1840-41 and held various town offices. He married Abigail Harvey, born February 22, 1799. He died in Pomfret, August 29, 1863; his wife died March 27, 1825. They had six children, two of whom died in infancy. Those who reached adult age were Isabel, born December 26, 1823, married Charles M. Case, a farmer living in Woodstock. Their children are Ella I., Ora E., Edwin, George B., Norman R., and Abbie M. George W., born January 24, 1830, married Jennie Paul. They have no children. He was educated in the common school and at the Newbury Seminary. He served three months in the War of the Rebellion as a member of the Woodstock Light Infantry. He has been a merchant for many years in Woodstock, has served as its town clerk for eight years and has held other village and town offices. Ora. born June 25, 1836, married Sarah E. Grover, of Harvard, Mass. Clarence J., clerk in the store of Frank J. Simmons, is his only child. Ora was educated in the common schools and at Newbury Seminary and the Green Mountain Perkins Academy. He served three months in the war as a member of the Woodstock Light Infantry, and at the expiration of that term of service he went again, August 9, 1862, as captain of Company B, Twelfth Vermont Volunteers, and received his discharge, at the expiration of his term of service, July 14, 1863. In 1866 he was elected town Representative from Pomfret, and re-elected in 1867, and again in 1876. In the same year he was appointed by Governor Proctor a member of the State Board of Agriculture, and was its chairman for two years. He was State Senator in 1880 and 1881, and served as one of the trustees of the Otta Quechee Savings Bank for several years, which office he held at the time of his death. He was appointed by the County Court road commissioner for the county of Windsor, which office he held for a number of years. He was secretary of the Windsor County Agricultural Society, and filled the several offices of selectman, lister, town agent and justice of the peace. He was often employed in the settlement of estates. He died in Pomfret, January 15, 1886. His widow lives with her son in Woodstock.
Norman Paul received his primary education in the common schools of Pomfret, for several terms under the instruction of Hosea Doton He prepared for college at Newbury Seminary and at the Green Mountain Perkins Academy. He entered the University of Vermont in 1856 and was graduated from that institution in 1860. He then commenced the study of law with Washburn & Marsh at Woodstock, and was admitted to the bar in 1862. In February, 1863, he began the practice of his profession in Woodstock and has occupied the same office ever since. He was State's Attorney from 1876-78, and State Senator in 1884-85. He was treasurer of the Windsor County Agricultural Society seventeen years, and is the present chairman of the County Board of Road Commissioners. He was for a number of years the secretary of the Otta Quechee Savings Bank of Woodstock, and is one of its present trustees. Biographie Index
PINGRY, Hon. WILLIAM MORRILL , of Weathersfield, was born at Salisbury, N. H., May 28, 1806, being the second son of William and Mary (Morrill) Pingry. He studied law with Samuel I. Wells of his native town, also with the firm of Shaw & Chandler of Danville, Vt. He became a member of the Caledonia County Bar in June, 1832, and commenced the practice of his profession at Waitsfield, Vt., where he remained nine years. In 1841 he came to Perkinsville, Vt., and excepting from November 1854 to August 1857, when he was cashier of the White River Bank at Bethel, Vt., always resided there and followed his profession until his death in May 1885. Mr. Pingry was State Auditor of Vermont from 1853 to 1860, was county commissioner, was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives in 1860-61 and 1868, and a member of the Senate of 1869 and 1870, was Assistant Judge in Washington and Windsor counties, and also a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1850. His heart was warmly enlisted in the anti-slavery cause, with which he was identified at an early period, he being one of the 319 Vermonters who voted for James G. Birney as a Presidential candidate in 1840, when the total Liberty party vote in the United States was 7,059. He was a consistent church member and was for over forty years deacon of the Baptist Church and for almost thirty-five years superintendent of the Sabbath school. The records of the Vermont Baptists for the past forty-five years or more show that his counsels were sought by that denomination throughout the State. He served his brethren often as presiding officer of different organizations, also on various boards of trust, on important committees, and at ecclesiastical councils. He was the first president of the Vermont Baptist Sabbath School Convention organized in 1870. As a corporate member of the board of trustees of the Vermont Academy, he was chosen the first president and held the office till his death. He had collected much valuable material for the town history of Weathersfield. A volume entitled " A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Moses Pengry of Ipswich, Mass., so far as Ascertained, Collected and Arranged by William M. Pingry," and published in 1881, is the result of labor extending through seven years. He married, first, Miss Lucy G. Brown and their two children are Mary Helen, wife of Dr. Orvis F. Bigelow of Amherst, Mass., and Gratia Maria, wife of Cyrus C. Boynton of Los Angeles, Cal. He married, second, Mrs. Lucy C. Richardson nee Carpenter. She survives him and resides in Minneapolis, Minn. Mr. Pingry in 1860 received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Dartmouth College. Biographie Index
PORTER, JOHN , the first of the name to settle in New England, was born in 1590 at Wroxhall Abbey near Kenilworth, in the county of Warwick, England, was married and had a family of children. Animated by a desire to try his fortunes in New England he sailed with his family from London and arrived at Dorchester, Mass, on the 30th of May, 1627. They remained at Dorchester till 1635, and in that year removed to Windsor, Conn. William Porter, a descendant in the fourth generation from John Porter, was born in Lebanon, Conn., on the 4th of September, 1749. From Lebanon he removed to Hartford, Vt., in 1780 there settled, and in due time was married to Mary Hodges. They had nine children, among the number, John Porter, subject of this sketch, born in Hartford the 8th of April, 1798. In those early days the means for securing an education at the common schools were scant, but such opportunities as came within his reach he fully improved, supplying all deficiencies in this direction by the exercise of a resolute will. At the age of eighteen he taught school one term in the neighborhood where he lived, and then took charge of a school in Rodman, N. Y. As a good illustration of his native energy and perseverance it may be mentioned that while thus engaged he twice made the entire journey to Rodman and back on foot, a distance of 300 miles. Soon closing his career as a teacher, he settled down to farming and this continued the chief occupation of his life. He followed the occupation with unwearied industry and zeal, and was amply rewarded in the general success that attended his labors. It was a frequent remark with him that the man who managed his own affairs well might be safely entrusted with the management of other people's affairs. This principle the community in which he lived appreciated and they applied it to his own case. Varied and numerous were the duties he was called upon to perform in the public behalf, duties he did not shrink from, however thankless the work might be at times. John Porter's motto in all cases was this: " If a thing was worth doing at all it was worth doing well." In living up to this principle, he showed true greatness of mind. The same care and attention he gave to all branches of his work were also exhibited in the transaction of such official and political duties as were entrusted to him. Beginning as an original stockholder in the Bank of Woodstock, organized in 1832, when the old bank gave place to the Woodstock Bank in 1847, he was elected one of the directors. This position he held to the end of his life and during all the time, he very rarely missed a meeting of the directors. In his political preferences he was a Whig, and was for many years a member of the Whig State Committee. He was elected to represent the town of Hartford in 1840 and for the two succeeding years. For the next two years he was elected one of the Senators from Windsor county, and in 1845 was again sent to Montpelier as representative, and again in 1848 and 1849. In 1850 he was elected Judge of Probate for the district of Hartford, holding this office till the time of his death, which took place the 12th of November, 1886. His duties as Judge of Probate he discharged with the same unvarying industry and ability that characterized his work in all other fields of labor to which he was called. When the Republican party was organized he became a zealous member of that party, and in 1856 was appointed one of the presidential electors for Vermont. In 1858 he was appointed a commissioner together with Norman Williams and George P, Marsh to prepare a plan for building the present State House and to superintend its construction. A few words in conclusion may be permitted, though words can add little to the record of such a life as John Porter lived. That record is set down in the acts and doings of a long life of faithful work. It is known and read of all men. It exhibits him as a man of remarkable industry, of strict integrity, of sound and discriminating judgment; carefully fulfilling his obligations to others and exacting from others the same measure in return; under provocations manifesting great forbearance; in his speech and general deportment bearing a directness and simplicity of manner that comported with his substantial character and solid worth. John Porter was married on the 30th day of May, 1831, to Jane Frances, daughter of Fordyce Foster, of Hartford. Six children were the fruit of this union, of whom two died in infancy. The oldest son, John F., after he was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1855, moved to Troy, N. Y., where he adopted the legal profession, of which he was an able and honored member. He died at the old homestead at Quechee in the summer of 1885. Three children still survive, namely: Jennie F., widow of the late Charles T. Smith of Colchester, Conn.; Louisa A., wife of John H. Denison of New Bedford, Mass; and Charles W., engaged in the practice of law at Montpelier, formerly Secretary of State of Vermont. Biographie Index
POTTER, SANFORD H. Captain Freeman Potter, grandfather of Sanford H , was a native of England and emigrated to America prior to the War for Independence. He was a soldier in that war, and a captain in the War of 1812. After his marriage he settled in St. Albans, Vt., and died there about 1847. His children were Mosley, Solon, Darwin, Freeborn, Lyman, Fidelia, Daniel R. and Dolly. All were married and reared families. Only Daniel R. is living.
Daniel R., of the above, married Adeline Marsh and had children as follows: Eliza J., the wife of Truman Warner, lives in Georgia, Vt.; Sanford H.; Ellen S., married, first, Albert Johnson, second, Charles Warner, both deceased. Mrs. Warner lives in St. Albans, Vt. Emma is the wife of O. B. Johnson, lives in St. Albans, Vt.; Adeline is the wife of Henry Jennison, lives in Iowa; and Mary is the wife of Charles Warner, lives in St. Albans Adeline Potter, the mother, died in St. Albans in 1855. Daniel R. is still (1890) living in St. Albans, the owner of the Potter homestead, a well preserved man at the advanced age of eighty-three.
Sanford H. Potter was born in St. Albans, October 21, 1839. After attending the common school he prepared for college at the St. Albans Academy, but owing to the death of his mother did not enter upon a college course. At the age of seventeen he began the study of theology with the Rev J. E. Rankin, a Congregational clergyman of St. Albans, with the view of entering the ministry, but at the expiration of six months, becoming satisfied he could not conscientiously become a preacher of that faith, he abandoned it. In 1859 he became an employee of the Vermont Central Railroad as fireman, in which capacity he served until the breaking out of the war. In the fall of 1862 he enlisted as private in Company L, First Vermont Cavalry. During the time of his service he filled the positions of bugler and quartermaster-sergeant. He was not absent a day from the service, and was present in forty-five different engagements, and came out of the war unharmed. He received his discharge at the close of the war. Upon his return to Vermont in 1865 he again entered the service of the Vermont Central Railroad as locomotive engineer and continued in that capacity until 1885.
Mr. Potter is a Democrat in politics and has been the candidate of his party for town Representative three times, and for State Senator once. When Cleveland became President he received from him the appointment of postmaster at White River Junction, a position which he held four years. He has filled the office of justice of the peace for a number of years. He is a Knight Templer in the Masonic Order, a member of the I. O. O. F., a Post Commander of the Abraham Lincoln Post, No. 85, G. A. R., and a member of the Improved Order of Red Men.
He married, first, Sarah Patterson, second, Etta Phillips, and third, Eva Britton, daughter of Wilson Britton, of Hartland. May, a daughter by the second marriage, is his only child. She is the wife of Frederick Short, a farmer living in Amsden, Vt. They have one child, Raymond. Mr. Potter has been a resident of White River Junction since 1870. Biographie Index
POWERS FAMILY . The first settlers of this family in America were Thomas and Walter Power. They were natives of Waterford, Ireland, and settled in this country about 1680. Their wives were named Bonnie, and were of East India extraction An additional s was added to the name by these settlers. But little is known of the two generations succeeding these first settlers. Benjamin Powers, of Old Hardwick, Mass., was a farmer. Of his large family of children, Stephen was born in 1735. On his arrival at manhood, with the permission of his father, he decided to study medicine. There were at that time limited facilities for obtaining a medical education, but Stephen, by diligent and faithful exertions, fitted himself for his chosen profession. He located in Middleboro, Mass., and there began the practice of his profession. After remaining there a few years, in 1772, he determined to investigate the North West. His course took him directly to Woodstock, Vt., and in that year he made his first purchase of land in that town. It consisted of ninety acres situated between Quechee River and Mount Tom. He subsequently purchased other tracts of land, the whole amounting to some three hundred acres. He returned to Middleboro, and in 1774 moved his family, consisting of his wife and five children, up into the wilderness. He brought with him a thirteen year old negro boy, named Cato Boston, as a slave, for whom he had paid one hundred dollars, or five pounds. His wife was Lydia, daughter of John and Sarah Drew, of Halifax, Mass. Their children were. Susanna, born December 14, 1760, died of fever December 2, 1777; Mary, born March 2, 1766, married first, Jason Richardson, second, Oliver Williams ; Stephen born August 6, 1767, married Sally Perry, and had a family of nine children, of whom Hiram, the sculptor, was the eighth child, and in 1818 he moved West; John Drew ; Lydia, born March 16, 1772, became the second wife of Robert Paddock and moved to Barre. She died April 23, 1815.
Dr Powers, the pioneer physician in this part of the country, had a large and extensive practice. His name was widely known and his reputation stood high among the learned of his own profession. In height he was about six feet, good proportion, black eyes and hair, dark complexion, form active and vigorous, and capable of enduring great fatigue. In politics the doctor was a staunch Whig. He died in Woodstock November 27, 1809. His wife died August 29, 1823, aged eighty-eight. Biographie Index
POWERS, Dr. JOHN D. , the youngest son of Dr. Stephen Powers, was born November 17, 1769, in Middleboro, Mass. He received only such an education as could be obtained in a newly settled country. He concluded to follow his father's profession, and began the study of medicine under his care, rode with him, and thus soon picked up ample information to qualify him for a practicing physician. He established himself in his profession as early as 1793, and about the beginning of the century settled on the place at the head of the park, where he lived during his life. He married, first, Sally, daughter of Sylvanus Raymond, by whom he had four sons, viz.: Casper, died aged two ; Volney, died aged ten ; John Drew, and Thomas E. He married, second, Mrs. Abigail Holton, nee Robinson, of Shrewsbury, Vt, by whom he had three children, viz.: Mary, who died, aged twenty-two ; Calvin Robinson ; and Susan, widow of Charles G. Eastman, who died January 18, 1891, at Emmetsburgh, Ia. Dr. Powers was a man of medium size, but compact frame, complexion light, with lips firmly compressed. During the last few years of his life he mostly gave up the practice of his profession. He died in 1855. Biographie Index
POWERS, JOHN D. , the third son of Dr. John D. Powers, was born in Woodstock, January 6, 1806. His education, up to the age of thirteen, was obtained in the district schools of his native town, and was completed at the Randolph Academy in Randolph, at the American Literary Scientific and Military Academy at Norwich, and the Chester Academy at Chester. The object of his education was to fit him for the study of medicine, but becoming satisfied that it was not his calling in life, he decided to engage in agricultural pursuits. His father purchased for him farming implements, and live stock, and placed him on his farm in the spring of 1822. He continued farming until he became of age, when he was obliged to relinquish it on account of ill health. He then learned the comb trade in Woodstock, and followed it for ten years. For the next twenty years he was an employee of the Daniels' Machine Company of Woodstock, and afterwards with A. W. Whitney & Co. for five years. He then again turned his attention to farming, which he followed until his retirement from active business in 1875. He built, in 1829, a brick mansion, which he occupied for thirty years, where the new cemetery of Woodstock is now located. Up to the age of twelve years he attended the Congregational Church and believed in its doctrines. He then heard a Universalist preacher, who changed his views, until he arrived at the age of seventeen years, when he obtained the " Age of Reason," by Thomas Paine, and was for seventeen years a subscriber to the Investigator. In 1850 he became a believer in the principles of spiritualism. At this time there were but three adherents of this faith in Woodstock. By spiritual direction, conveyed to him in the following words : " Brother, ere the leaves fall the second time, we ask you to call a convention of Spiritualists at Woodstock," such a convention was called by him, and was the first of the kind held in Vermont. The convention was addressed by Austin E. Simmons, Mrs. Newton, now Mrs. Wood, and Miss Achsa W. Sprague. He was also a writing medium and clairvoyant for the last thirty years. Politically Mr. Powers was originally a Jacksonian Democrat, but since the organization of the Republican party he has been identified with it. He has not been an aspirant for public honors. He married Jane B., daughter of John Carlton, a native of New Boston, N. H. Of their four children, the two eldest, John and Charles, died in infancy. Susan Eastman is the wife of John M. Currier, M. D., of Newport, Vt., and Laura Carlton is the wife of James Russell Murdock, a jeweler, of Woodstock. Mr. Powers is the last survivor of the large family of Dr. John D. Powers. Biographie Index
POWERS, Dr THOMAS E ., the youngest son of Dr. John D. Powers, by his first marriage, was born in Woodstock, November 14, 1808. He received his education in the district schools and at the Royalton Academy. Having decided to follow his father's profession he entered the Dartmouth Medical School, and was graduated in 1827. He then entered his father's office to further pursue his studies, and soon after as his father's partner, he began the practice of his profession. After a few years he went to Hartland to live, but after about one year he returned to Woodstock, where he continued to reside up to the close of his life.
The practice of medicine was not agreeable to him, and he gradually withdrew from it, till in the latter part of his life he withdrew from it altogether. Other fields of activity suited his temperament better. The stirring scenes of public life he preferred to the quiet of the sick room, and in preference to the management of difficult cases of disease, sought rather the management of public affairs, for the successful conduct of which he in due time proved himself qualified in a high degree. In the year 1850 he was elected representative from the town of Woodstock, to Montpelier, and was re-elected the two following years, and again in 1855 and in 1856. Upon becoming a member of the House, he was elected speaker, and justified the choice of his supporters by proving himself one of the best presiding officers the House ever had. During this time also, and indeed for many years previous, he gave all his energies to the cause of temperance in this State; and in connection therewith, in 1852, he took the editorial management of the Vermont Standard. In 1857 he was appointed by the governor to superintend the rebuilding of the State House. In 1862 he was appointed by the United States government, assessor for the second district of Vermont, and remained in this office nine years. He was endowed with great abilities, that fully made up for any lack of education, and possessed an intellectual force that was felt wherever he moved, and in whatever department of life he saw fit to exert himself. Few men in the State were so influential in the popular assembly. Here, indeed, was the field in which he most delighted to display his varied energies, and he did not find many among his associates and rivals who cared much to meet him there. Fertile in expedients, swift to see the best point of attack, self-reliant, with physical strength to back up all the forces of his mind, it is no wonder he was so formidable in debate, and held such sway over the popular mind. He married Mary E. Warren, and had one child, Ada, who married Charles Anderson, who died in Woodstock, without issue. Dr. Powers died in Woodstock. December 27, 1876 Biographie Index
POWERS, CALVIN ROBINSON , the only son of Dr. John D. Powers, by his second marriage, was born in Woodstock, November 14, 1818. His education was limited to attendance upon the district school of his native town, and in an academy of a neighboring town. On reaching his majority he apprenticed himself to John H. Witt, of Woodstock, to learn the tailor's trade. He carried on this business during his life, being at one time located on the southeast corner of the public square. He was a Republican in politics, but sought no official positions. He was a life-long resident of Woodstock. He was of medium height and weight, with blue eyes and fair complexion, and a cheerful disposition. He was a good neighbor, true to his friends, very reliable, and respected by all who knew him. He married Elizabeth Frances, daughter of Elisha F. and Mary (Nay) Woods. Her father was one of the original settlers of Bridgewater, of which town she was a native. Mr. Powers died in Woodstock, August 28, 1877, without issue. Biographie Index
RAYMOND, Judge ISAIAH , was born in Woodstock, Vt, February 15, 1788. He descends in direct line from John Raymond, who emigrated with his brother William from Essex county, England, and settled in Beverly, Mass., about 1662, where he died January 18, 1703, aged eighty-seven. John, eldest son of John and Rachel (Scruggs) Raymond, born in 1650, is mentioned in history as the first soldier to enter tlie fort in tlie battle with the Narraganset Indians, which occurred in December, 1675. He died at Middleboro, Mass., June 5, 1725. John, son of John and Martha Raymond, who first lived at Beverly, subsequently moved to Middleboro. He married for his first wife Deborah Perry. Barnabas, the third son of the above, was born at Middleboro, May 21, 1710, and married Alice ----- . William, born July 2, 1744, married November 36. 1769, Phoebe Thomas, of Middleboro. He moved to Woodstock, Vt, in 1780, and died September 20, 1822. His wife died April 27, 1829. Isaiah, the subject of this sketch, was the youngest child of William and Phoebe Raymond. He was a resident of Bridgewater, Vt, and Judge of Probate ten years. He was a merchant by occupation, and represented tlie town in the Legislature. He married, October 4, 1814, Abigail, daughter of James Topliff, of Bridgewater. They had two children, viz.: Charles Stewart, born September 20, 1815, and Mary Ann, born January 21, 1821. The latter was married to Dr. Ripley Clark, August 9, 1848, and now resides in Windsor, Vt. The have one son, Isaiah Raymond, born January 1. 1853, a graduate of Dartmouth College, class of '73, and now a member of the law firm of Ranney & Clark, Boston, Mass. He married Kate R. Cummings, November 14, 1878. Charles Stewart married, July 15, 1840, Charlotte M., daughter of Charles Dana, of Woodstock. They had four sons, viz.: Charles, born June 16, 1841 ; William Cashing, born November 9, 1844; Edward Dana, born July 27, 1847, died March 20. 1851; and Frank Isaiah, born June 30, 1853, died July 24, 1861 Charles S. was a merchant by occupation. He served in both branches of the Legislature, and was a member of the last convention called to amend the State constitution. He died June 20, 1883. His widow resides with her son in Bridgewater. Their oldest son, Charles, married Ellen Walker, November 17, 1868. They have two sons, Charles S., born April 22, 1875, and Frank S., born February 5, 1886. Charles Raymond is a merchant, and is located in Ludlow, V . William Cashing married Lucia Ann Merrill, January 1, 1866. They have one son, Edward Dana, born June 8, 1868, a graduate of Amherst College in the class of 1890. William C. was for fifteen years engaged in mercantile business in Bridgewater. He was a member of the State Legislature in 1882-83, census enumerator 1880 and 1890, justice of the peace fourteen years, and town auditor twelve years. Judge Raymond died in Bridgewater, December 22, 1868. His wife died June 7, 1866. We add the following from the pen of one who knew him well: " Sound judgment may be considered as the chief characteristic of Isaiah Raymond's merit. This quality developed early, and predominated in all the business transactions of a long life. His estimate of men, as a rule, was very correct, and to this must be attributed in large measure the success that attended all his operations in the business world. Being from the first a moneyed man, it may be said that for a long period of years, when banks were few and money was scarce, he acted as a sort of general banker among his neighbors, with this principle, among others, carefully observed, namely, that his bank was a place of loans only, never of deposits. Another principle he observed was that in all loans there should be good security with moderate rate of interest, six per cent, being the fixed limit with him in all transactions of this character. Indeed, the offer to pay him more than this he looked upon with suspicion, because in his opinion no man could afford to pay more. Another proof of his moderation of spirit he gave towards the close of his life. To the common remark that the more a man has, the more he wants, he replied, The rule has its exceptions, and my case is one ; I have all I want, and don't care to make my life bigger. In social life Judge Raymond was a man of singularly amiable and cheerful spirit. His temper was never ruffled, and in consequence his deportment was uniformly cheerful and friendly towards all his neighbors. His affection for his children and grandchildren was extreme. He bestowed upon them liberally of his means, and sought in every way to promote their comfort and welfare." Biographie Index
ROBBINS, CHARLES , was born in Chester, April 20, 1818, and is the eldest son of Philemon and Patty (Duncan, nee Carter) Robbins, He finished his education at the age of fifteen years, having only attended the district schools of his native town. He then engaged in the mercantile business, being employed by Cummings & Manning, of Ludlow, Vt. He remained with this firm two years, and was employed the two following years by William Marsh, of Cuttingsville, Vt. Returning to Chester he was for a year in the employ of Sherwin & Richardson, who had a general store on the North street. By the advice of physicians he gave up indoor work, and in 1840 commenced driving stage on the mail route between Boston and Burlington, which he followed until December, 1846. He married, November 27, 1846, Miss Elizabeth Hicks, but there was no issue from this marriage. After his marriage Mr. Robbins, in company with George Orcutt, became proprietor of the Franklin House in Rutland, Vt. In less than a year he sold his interest to his partner and purchased and ran what is now the Bomoseen House in Castleton, Vt. After running the latter hotel for a year he sold it, and till December, 1849, drove stage between Rutland and Middlebury. The Rutland and Burlington Railroad being at this time put in operation Mr. Robbins was appointed station agent at Cuttingsville, Vt., where he remained eighteen months, and in May, 1851, was appointed station agent at Chester, which position he filled till May, 1856. He then accepted the position of station agent at Kewanee, 1LL., a station on the C. B. and Q. Railroad. He remained West till April, 1860, when he returned to Chester and became a clerk in his brother's store, where he remained till March, 1873, when he was elected town clerk and treasurer. Mr. Robbins filled these positions till 1888, when he positively refused a re-election. He was assistant postmaster at Chester Depot from 1873 to 1876, and from the latter date, till he resigned in 1890, postmaster; he has also been a notary public for seventeen years. Biographie Index
ROBBINS, PHILEMON H ., was born in Chester, July 25, 1825, and is the youngest son of Philemon and Patty (Duncan, nee Carter) Robbins. His father was born in Sterling, Mass., in 1783 and came to Chester from Templeton, Mass., in 1806. He married for his first wife Lucy Sawyer and they had five children: Hannah and Orrick L., both died single ; Otis died in Cavendish without issue ; Lucy (deceased) married D. H. Onion ; and Sophia died single at the age of sixty-seven years. He married, second, Mrs. Patty Duncan, nee Carter. Their children were Charles, James, died single, and Philemon H. The elder Philemon was a harness-maker by trade, but in 1819 opened a hotel on the North street, which he ran for twenty-seven years. Our subject received a common school education, also attended the Chester Academy, but at the age of fifteen was obliged to leave school, his father having become paralyzed, and from this time till he was of age he had the sole charge of his father's business. Upon reaching his maturity he commenced his mercantile life and entered the employ of Joshua C. Dana, who carried on a general store in Chester. He was in Mr. Dana's employ for one year, after which he was clerk in William Marsh's store at Cuttingsville, Vt. Owing to the failure of Mr. Marsh our subject was only four months in his employ and for the next two years and eight months worked for Jones & Dow. who succeeded William Marsh at Cuttingsville. In 1850 Mr. Robbins in company with his brother-in-law, Charles C. Holden, under firm name of Robbins & Holden, purchased Messrs. Jones & Dow's interest in the Cuttingsville store. They continued business till 1854, when they purchased a stock of goods of Brown & Gleason and associated with them as partner Austin P. Storey, the firm being Robbins, Holden & Co. This firm was dissolved in 1857 and on April 15th of the following year Mr. Robbins retired to his native town. At this time there was but one mercantile house at Chester Depot, and Mr. Robbins then built his present store-room and engaged in the hardware, iron, steel, flour, grain and grocery business. He continued business alone till 1863, when he formed a partnership with George D. Barton, the firm name being Robbins & Barton. This firm was dissolved in 1865, when Mr. Robbins was alone for a few months, and in the same year he formed a partnership with Frederick W. Marsh, the firm being Robbins & Marsh. This partnership continued till April 1, 1888, when Mr. Marsh's interest was purchased by the senior member of the firm. The original store has been enlarged from time to time so that it is now 120 x 28 feet, the front of the building being in addition twelve feet wider than the back. A store-room 30 x 80 feet is also located on the side of the railroad track. A two-story building 30 x 30 feet is used for the sale of agricultural implements. Mr. Robbins's trade is not confined to Chester, but extends over a radius of thirty miles. He carries the largest stock of blacksmith supplies of any retail house in the State. His assortment of bar iron is not equaled by any competing house in Vermont. Mr. Robbins does some jobbing trade, but is mostly confined to retailing, and the fixtures of the retail department of his store are not excelled in any of the cities of Vermont. Mr. Robbins, politically, is a Republican and has never been an aspirant for official honors. He has been a member of the Universalist church for over twenty years. He married November 16, 1853, Martha H., daughter of Harry and Elizabeth Green (Spencer) Holden. She was born in Shrewsbury, Vt, January 16, 1832. They have two children : Charles O., born March 4, 1860, was educated at Goddard Seminary, Barre, Vt., and married Alice Weston of Westfield, Mass., and is engaged in the hardware business at Brattleboro, Vt.; and Martha Elizabeth, born January 11, 1865, is the wife of Frank J. Smith, of Chester Depot. Biographie Index
ROBBINS, OTIS , was born in Templeton, Mass., June 13, 1805. He passed his early life in Chester, attending the common schools, and in 1822 he went to Cavendish village and became a clerk with Ingalls & Fletcher, they being located at the old red store in that village. The senior member of the above firm retiring from the business in 1827, his interest was purchased by Mr. Robbins and the firm became Fletcher & Robbins. The death of Mr. Fletcher necessitated another change in the firm, and Mr. Robbins took as a partner Mr. Williams, who after a few years removed West, and Joseph A. White became a partner, the style of the firm being Robbins & White. This firm carried on business at Cavendish village for over forty years, and was dissolved on account of the death of its junior member. Mr. Robbins carried on the business till 1881, but during the latter years of his life retired from active business. He held the office of town clerk of Cavendish for over sixteen years, and during his term of office the records are exceptional specimens of penmanship and neatness. Mr. Robbins was also for a number of years one of the board of selectmen of Cavendish. He married in 1835 Susan White, and there was no issue of the marriage. Mrs. Robbins died February 24, 1883. Mr. Robbins died at Cavendish, Vermont, on the 7th of March, 1887. Biographie Index
ROBERTS, WILLIAM G ., was born in Sharon, Vt, July 28, 1835, the third child in a family of eight children, of John and Lydia (Gordon) Roberts. His parents died in Sharon, and of their family but three are living, Cyrus, section foreman on the Passumpsic division of the B. & M. Railroad ; Mrs. Charles H. Maxham, of Pomfret; and William G. The latter, upon the death of his mother, then seventeen years of age, bought his time of his father, and worked on a farm about a year for Mr. Tilden, at Centerville, when he came to Hartford, Vt, as an employee of the Vermont Central Railroad. He was soon promoted to a foremanship, which position he filled till 1871, when lie was appointed roadmaster on the New London and Northern Railroad, being located at Palmer, Mass. He continued in the employ of this railroad for two years, when he received the appointment as roadmaster on the Passumpsic division of the B. & M. Railroad, in charge of the track from White River Junction to Lyndonville ; afterwards his supervision was extended to Sherbrook, P. Q. Mr. Roberts married, October 7, 1856, Mary A., daughter of Joshua and Deborah (Neal) Huntoon She was born in Hartford, Vt., April 14, 1838. She has three brothers and one sister living, viz.: Neal, Francis and Sylvester, farmers living in Hartford, and Laura, widow of John Chandler, resides in Alstead, N. H. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts have four children : Josie M., born August 5, 1858, the wife of George D. Mowe, of Franklin Falls, N. H.; Lena M., born January 7, 1861, the wife of William M. Kendall, jr., editor in Manchester, N. H.; Edith M., born July 8, 1864, the wife of Herbert H. Thayer, an employee of the B. & M. Railroad ; and Willie G., born March 10, 1869, married Alice M. Clough, of Lisbon, N. H., and is an employee of the B. & M. Railroad. Biographie Index
RUGG, DAVID FLETCHER, M. D., was born in Londonderry, Vt., December 15, 1852. His great-grandfather, Daniel, was born in Massachusetts, April 17, 1751; died in 1834. He married Sarah Bancroft, born June 4, 1754, died June 6, 1837. They moved to Hinsdale, N. H., about 1790, and died there. Elijah., the doctor's grandfather, was born in Framingham, Mass., May 3, 1775, and died at South Londonderry, Vt., September 2, 1848. He married, about 1796, Lucretia Farr, who was born December 22, 1776, at Chesterfield, N. H., and died at South Londonderry, May 26, 1857. About 1800 they lived in Baltimore, Windsor county. They had nine children, eight of whom lived to be upwards of fifty-two years. Their son, William W., father of the doctor, was born in Windham, Vt, November 4, 1810, and died in South Londonderry, August 2, 1863. He married, February 11, 1836, at Londonderry, Rachel Dodge, who was born in Andover, Vt, November 18, 1814, and died at South Londonderry, July 29, 1871. They had five children, as follows : William Henry, born in South Londonderry, April 9, 1838, married Fannie M. Webster, at Wallingford, April 6, 1870. William H. is the present clerk of the town of Weathersfield, Vt. Elijah Francis, born in South Londonderry, February 1, 1840, married Mrs. Harriet Augusta Buxton, at Bellows Falls, Vt., December 31, 1868, who died at South Londonderry, November, 1889. Rachel Lucretia, born in South Londonderry, March 6, 1843, married Charles Hamilton, January. 1862. John Ouincy Adams, born in South Londonderry, August 4, 1847, married Mary Louisa Kirby, at Burlington, Vt., October 18, 1871. Dr. David Fletcher, their youngest child, after the district school of his native place, attended the West River, Chester and Black River Academies. He began teaching when fifteen years of age, and taught the winter schools in Winhall, Shaftsbury, Ludlow and Weathersfield, from 1868-76. While engaged in teaching he also prosecuted the study of medicine. After studying with Dr. William F. Eddy, of Londonderry, he attended his first course of lectures at the Medical Department of Vermont University, his second course in the Medical Department of Dartmouth in the fall of 1875, and was graduated from the first named college June 27, 1876. He was valedictorian of his class, and received the faculty prize for the best thesis. In August, 1876, he commenced the practice of his profession in Hartland, where he has continued ever since. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the Vermont State Medical Society, the White River Valley Medical Association and the Connecticut River Valley Medical Society. He was a member of the Ninth International Medical Congress, held at Washington, D. C, in 1887. He was vice-president of the Vermont Medical Society in 1883. He has been chairman of the Board of Censors for the State of Vermont. He has been a member of the order I. O. O. F. since 1883. A Republican in politics the doctor takes an active part in the local politics of his locality He was town superintendent of schools three years, and is a member of the County Board of Education and its present secretary. The doctor married, December 28, 1881, Julia A., daughter of Albert D. and Sarah (Goddard) Hager, born in Proctorsville, Vt., August 21, 1853. Her father was State geologist for Vermont for a number of years. Mrs. Rugg was his eldest daughter. Her sister, Sarah, is the wife of Charles Goddard, of Ludlow. Her brother, Charles C, lives with his mother at Proctorsville. The doctor and Mrs. Rugg have but one child, Harold Goddard, born January 21, 1883. Biographie Index
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