Biographies of Windsor County Vermont
History of Windsor County Vermont
Lewis Cass Aldrich published in 1891
SANDERS, COLEMAN , was born in Windsor, Vt, October 2, 1820. and was the eldest child in a family of eight children of Levi and Betsey (Lewis) Sanders. His father was a shoe-maker by trade and was a native of Weathersfield, Vt. He removed to his native town when Coleman was five years of age and carried on a farm in connection with his trade. Our subject attended the local schools, also the Perkinsville Academy, and on becoming of age was employed as clerk in a general store at Perkinsville, where he remained two years. He then went to Claremont, N. H., and worked three years for William Farwell, and afterward one year for Jonathan Chase, of Springfield. In 1848 he came to Chester and was for four years clerk in F. E. Fullerton's store. In the spring of 1852 he formed a partnership with David Gray under the firm name of Gray & Sanders, and opened a store on the South street, and in the fall of the same year they removed to what is now Chester Depot. The store-room, now occupied by his son, was built for them and was the first building, except the depot, that was erected at Chester Depot. This firm continued business for two years, when Mr. Gray's interest was bought by Mr. Sanders. The latter continued the business alone till 1873, excepting that Charles Heald was his partner for one year and Horace Parmenter for one year. After his retirement from business Mr. Sanders carried on a farm until his death. In politics a Republican, he was called upon by his fellow citizens, at different times, to fill the office of selectman. In his religious belief he was an Episcopalian. On May 27, 1847, he married Celinda, daughter of Elias and Mehitable (Marcy) Hoadley. Her father was a native of Massachusetts, her mother of New Hampshire. She was born in Hartland, Vt., June 6, 1828. They had four children, all natives of Chester, viz.: Coleman H., born April 24, 1849, married P. Ellen Carpenter and has two children, viz.: Roy L. and Emily ; Ella C, born September 2, 1851, died September 3, 1854; Willie F., born April 12, 1856, married Ella Sawyer, resides at Winchester, N. H.; and Cora, born August 31, 1862, is the wife of Henry W. Brownell, of Chester. Mr. Sanders died August 17, 1888. Biographie Index
SLACK, JOHN A ., was, born in Springfield, December 29, 1818, and was the youngest child, and only son, in a family of five children of John and Hannah (Taylor) Slack. His father purchased the farm on which John A. now resides, and settled on the same in 1805. It is pleasantly situated on Black River, and is now known as Riverview. The daughters of John and Hannah (Taylor) Slack were Sally, who died single ; Emily (deceased), married Stephen P. Cady, of West Windsor, Vt.; Pluma, a widow, resides in Clinton, la.; and Hannah (deceased), married John W. Heath. John A. Slack, after attending the district schools, became a student at Kimball Union Academy, at Meriden, N. H. His early life was spent on his father's farm, and at the age of twenty-one he went to Lowell, Mass., and was for about two years employed in the carding-room of the Tremont Cotton-Mills in that city. Returning to his native town till 1846 he carried on farming, besides working in the cotton-mill of Fullerton & Martin. In the spring of that year he learned the trade of machinist, and has ever since been engaged with the Parks & Woolson Machine Co. An old-time Whig in politics, he cast his first presidential vote for General William Henry Harrison. Since the organization of the Republican party he has always voted that ticket. Mr. Slack has been for about fifty years a member of the Methodist church. He married, first, January 1, 1843, at Lowell, Mass., Miss Mary A. McAllister, a native of Fryeburg, Me. The result of this union was six children, viz.: William H. H., senior member of the firm of Slack Bros., shoddy manufacturers, of Springfield; Eliza, wife of J. P. Way, of Springfield; Frances A , wife of Professor J. W. Freley, of Wells College, Aurora, N. Y.; Ella, wife of W. R. Jacobs, of Springfield ; John T,, born in Springfield, August 3, 1857, married Lilla E. Bowman, and is a member of the firm of Slack Bros., of Springfield ; and Effie H., wife of Elmer T. Merritt, of Springfield. Mr. Slack married, second, January 1, 1870, Mrs. Jane C. Jacobs, nee Knights, and was united in marriage the third time June 1, 1881, to Miss Emma M. Cady. Biographie Index
SLACK, Colonel WILLIAM H. H ., was born in Springfield, Vt, February 21, 1844, and is the eldest child in a family of six children of John A. and Mary A. (McAllister) Slack. After attending the district schools he finished his education at the Springfield Wesleyan Academy. His father was engaged in farming, and his boyhood was spent on his father's farm. At the age of eighteen he enlisted as a private in Company E, Sixteenth Vermont Regiment, being mustered out of the United States service in the fall of 1863. Previous to his enlistment he had commenced to learn the trade of machinist with his father, who was then engaged with Parks & Woolson. On returning from the seat of war he continued his trade, and remained in the employ of the above company till 1870. In the latter year he commenced, at his present location, the manufacture of shoddy and flocks ; he has also been engaged in many of Springfield's successful enterprises. Mr. Slack has always taken great interest in G. A. R. affairs, and was the first commander of the Jarvis Post No. 43, and has been honored by appointments from two commander-in-chiefs of that order ; was appointed aide-de-camp with the rank of colonel on Major William Warner's staff, and assistant inspector-general on Colonel Wheelock Veazey's staff. In politics Mr. Slack has always been a worker in the Republican ranks, and has been called upon by his fellow-citizens to fill positions of trust; was the representative from Springfield in the Legislature of 1888, and was chairman of the committee on military affairs during that session. He is aide-de-camp on the staff of Governor Carroll S. Page. He has three sons, Harry C, Walter W., and J. Milton. Biographie Index
SMITH, CHARLES CARROLL , A. M., M. D., was born in Sharon, Conn., June 11, 1830, the sixth in a family of eight children of Ransom and Lydia (Burtch) Smith. After attending the common school in his native district, he taught several winters in the public schools of his State, working on the farm for his father during the other seasons, till he became of age, when he attended the State Normal School at New Britain, at intervals, for about a year, but during that period teaching and farming a portion of the time. About the last of August, 1855, he entered the Green Mountain Liberal Institute, at South Woodstock, Vt., for a more thorough education, and remained there till May, 1858. It was his purpose to commence the study of medicine the following autumn, but desiring to go on with his associates, he entered Middlebury College the following spring, and was graduated from that institution in August, 1862. On the 30th of the same month he enlisted from Middlebury, as a private in Company E, Fourteenth Regiment Vermont Volunteers, and was mustered out July 30, 1863, by reason of expiration of his term of enlistment, but being prostrated by typhoid fever, was carried on a bed to the home of his wife in Hancock. After a long sickness, he regained a good degree of health, but receives a pension on account of disabilities resulting from the fever and from other sickness and injuries incurred while in the service. He studied medicine with Professor Walter Carpenter, M. D., of Burlington, and received his diploma from the medical department of the University of Vermont in
June, 1865. He then entered, as one of its staff of physicians, the Citizens' Hospital at Flatbush, L. I., where he remained nearly a year. May 24, 1866, he settled in the village of Gaysville, in Stockbridge, where he has since continued in the practice of his profession. He is a member of the Vermont Medical Society, and is president of the White River Medical Association. He belongs to the G. A. R., being a member of Daniel Lillie Post, located at Bethel, was its first commander, and had several re-elections to that office. He has held various town offices in the town where he resides, and was its representative in the years 1872 and 1884 In 1890 he was one of the senators from Windsor county, serving on several important committees, one being the committee on education. October 17, 1862, he married Mary L. Perry, daughter of Bela R. Perry, of Hancock. Their children are Ransom Perry (deceased), Mabel Gertrude and Leda Florian. Biographie Index
STEARNS, DANIEL , was born in Reading, Vt, July 26, 1807, the third in a family of eight children of Daniel and Sarah (Pratt) Stearns. Two brothers, Charles and Thomas Stearns, came from England about 1630, and settled in Watertown, Mass. The subject of this sketch descends the sixth generation from Charles. The line of descent is as follows: first, Charles, the emigrant; second, Rev. Charles ; third, Thomas, of Leominster, Mass.; fourth, Daniel; fifth, Daniel; sixth. Daniel. Daniel and Paul Stearns, sons of Daniel, fifth, above, came from Leominster and settled in Reading in 1796: Daniel on the place now occupied and owned by Jarvis Pratt, who married his daughter; Paul, on the place now owned and occupied by his son Honestus. Daniel Stearns was twice married, but all his children who reached adult age were by his second wife, Sarah Pratt. They were Justin, now an old man living in Fitchburg, Mass. ; Hannah, wife of Jarvis Pratt, named above; Daniel, subject of this sketch ; James M., died in Weathersfield, Vt., in 1873; Betsey, wife of James Boutelle, died in Canada, September 17, 1837, aged twenty-four years ; Rufus, living in Reading; Mary, died single in Reading; and Charles, died aged eighteen in Reading. Daniel Stearns, the father, died in Reading, March 22, 1831, aged fifty-nine years; his wife died January 10, 1828, aged fifty two years. Daniel Stearns in 1837 commenced merchandising in Reading, where he continued in trade five years. In 1844, in company with his brother-in-law, Major Levi C. Fay, he leased the Dartmouth Hotel at Hanover, N. H., which they ran about nine months. He then engaged in merchandising at Windsor, and continued in trade until 185 i. He was elected by the Legislature a director of the Vermont State Prison for a number of years, and was chairman of the board of directors of the Windsor Savings Bank for several years. For four years he ran a livery stable at Windsor. While a resident of Reading Mr. Stearns filled the positions of deputy sheriff and tax collector. After his removal to Windsor he received the appointment of deputy United States marshal, a position he held for many years. He also represented the town of Windsor two terms in the Legislature. Mr. Stearns has been retired from active business for a number of years. He is a man of extensive acquaintance, is well respected by all who know him, and enjoys in a large measure the esteem of the community in which he lives. He married, November 2, 1830, Flavilla, daughter of Ezra and Olive (Lincoln) Fay. Mrs. Stearns was born in Reading, November 5, 1810. Mr. and Mrs. Stearns have no children. Biographie Index
STEELE, Hon. BENJAMIN H. Judge Benjamin H. Steele descends the eight generation from George, who came, in company with a brother John, from Essex county, England, about 1631-2, settled at New Town (now Cambridge, Mass.), removed to Hartford, Conn., and died in 1663. He had four children, of whom James was the youngest child. He married, first, Anna Bishop, second, Bethia, widow of Deacon Samuel Stocking. In 1675 he was appointed commissary in the King Philip War. James, second child of six children, of the above, by the first marriage, born about 1658, married Sarah Barnard, lived at Hartford, Conn. Rev. Stephen, the third in a family of six children of James and Sarah, born at Hartford, 1696, married May 2, 1720, Ruth Porter, of Hadley, Mass. He graduated at Yale College in 1718, and was the first settled minister in Tolland in 1720. James, seventh child of the nine children of Rev. Stephen and Ruth, born February 6, 1737, married, first, January 24, 1754, Abigail Huntington, second, Dorothy Converse, third, Abigail Makepeace. He had thirteen children, seven by the first marriage, two by the second and four by the last. Zadoc, his third child by the first marriage, born December 17, 1758, married February 10, 1785, Hannah Shurtleff. He was taken prisoner by the Indians that burnt Royalton, Vt., October 17, 1780, and with other captives was placed in a prison on an island in the rapids above Montreal, from which he made his escape. He died at Stanstead, Canada, March 23, aged eighty-seven. Sanford, the ninth of the ten children of Zadoc and Hannah, born April 13, 1804, married December 14. 1835, Mary Hinman, of Derby, Vt, born August 14, 1812. He lived in Stanstead, Canada, and died June 26, 1852. Judge Benjamin H. Steele was born in Stanstead, P Q., February 14, 1837, the eldest in a family of five children, two daughters and three sons, of Sanford and Mary Steele. Very early in life he evinced a strong taste for mental culture and worked faithfully to gratify this desire. He attended school in his native place and at the academy in Derby Center, Vt., and meantime taught the district school while a mere lad. He also spent some time in St. Pierre College, P. Q., and afterwards became a member of Norwich University, then under the presidency of Dr. Bouras. He remained here about one year and then entered the sophomore class of Dartmouth College in the spring of 1855. Both in scholarship and talents he stood in the front rank of his class, a class too of marked ability and promise. He graduated with the highest honors of the class from Dartmouth in 1857. During the last year of his college life, he had carried along with his academic duties also his professional studies, which accounts for his admission to the bar so soon after his graduation. He was admitted to the Suffolk bar in Massachusetts, also to the Orleans bar in Vermont in 1858, and commenced practicing at Derby Line. During the eight or nine years of his professional life at the bar, he gave himself unremittingly to the close and thorough study of the law, and laid that broad and solid foundation which was both the occasion of his appointment to the Supreme Bench of Vermont, and the secret of his subsequent distinguished career upon it. He received his appointment to the Supreme Bench in the autumn of 1865, and was the youngest man who ever filled that position. If there were any misgivings of the propriety of the appointment of so young a man to the Supreme Bench judgeship so much can be said with truthfulness, that wherever in the State he sat for the trial of causes, he completely vindicated the executive action. He remained on the Bench about five years, when on account of pressing private business, he declined a re-election, to the unanimous regret of the Bar and the public. During the term of office he delivered several opinions of uncommon interest and importance. Notable was that of the Rutland Railroad case, an opinion conceded to be an honor to his legal and judicial attainments and ability. After his withdrawal from the Bench he lived in comparative retirement at Hartland, occupied with private business which claimed his immediate and personal attention. He was a member of the Vermont Board of Education, and rendered valuable and efficient service to the cause of common schools. Though not a blind partisan he took a living interest in politics. He was a delegate at large from Vermont to the Philadelphia Convention, which re-nominated General Grant, and took a leading part in formulating the platform of the party on that occasion, as a member of the committee on resolutions. Early in the winter of 1873 the Judge was prostrated with a severe attack of cold and inflammation of the throat, on account of which he went to New York city to procure the best medical skill and aid he could command. For a time it was thought he was improving, but in May following, a sudden change for the worse took place, and with a view of finding relief by change of climate, he went to Faribault, Minn., but the change brought no relief, and he died there on Sunday, July 13, 1874. Judge Steele married February 6, 1861, Martha, daughter of David H. and Wealthy (Thomas) Sumner, who was born May 19, 1840. Mary Hinman Steele and David Sumner Steele are the Judge's only children. Biographie Index
STEELE, FRED E. , M. D,, of Stockbridge, son of Samuel Warren Steele, was born in Northfield, Vt., May 28, 1859. His great-grandfather, James, was born in New Hampshire, and moved from there and settled in Roxbury, Vt. James, his son, born in New Hampshire, came to Vermont with his father, married Esther Smith and had six children. Samuel Warren Steele married March 10, 1857, Martha L Cram, who was born in Williamstown, Vt, April 15, 1838. Their four children were Clarence W., Fred E., Henry D., and Flora E. Samuel Warren Steele is a tinsmith by trade and resides in Northfield. Fred E., after attending the common schools of Northfield, was a student in the Northfield High School, and afterward for one year at the Norwich University. He commenced the study of medicine with Dr. W. B. Mayo, of Northfield, who was his preceptor for three years. During that period he attended two courses of lectures at the Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital at Chicago, and secured his diploma from that institution February, 1882. He has been much interested in the cause of education, was superintendent of schools from 1883 to 1887, and represented the town of Stockbridge in the State Legislature in 1890. The March following he located in the village of Gaysville, where he has since continued in the practice of his chosen profession. He was united in marriage to Luna May, daughter of Josiah P. and Fanny (Densmore) Brooks, who was born on the 29th of August, 1860. They have had born to them two children, namely, Fred E., who was born September 11, 1883; and Roy, who was born September 17, 1889, and died September 19, 1889. Biographie Index
STOCKER, SAMUEL RUSSELL , was born in West Windsor, Vt, (then Windsor,) November 12, 1815. His grandfather, Samuel, born in Newburyport, Mass., in 1737, was twice married. His second wife was Hannah Morrison, born in 1742, by whom he had six children, of whom Eben, father of Samuel R., born in 1779, married, first, Abigail Kimball, and had six children, as follows : Lydia, who was the wife of Lewis Patrick, died in Windsor ; Clarissa, the wife of David Hunter (the oldest man now, 1890, living in Windsor). She died in Windsor. Emma, the only one of the children now living, is the widow of Harry Shedd, and lives in Hartland ; Eben M., formerly a merchant in Hartland, then an insurance agent in Hartford, Conn., where he died ; Samuel R.; and Ormond, died in Hartland. Eben Stocker, the father, married, second, Sally G. Parsons, of South Woodstock ; no children. He died in Hartland, November, 1859. Samuel R. Stocker spent his childhood on the home farm in West Windsor. His first employment away from home was as clerk in the store of Oilman Shedd, at Sheddsville, then with Dr. George B. Green, at Windsor, and finally in Hartland, in the store of Stocker & Bates. He eventually became owner of this store, but subsequently sold it to his brother, E. M. Stocker. In December, 1847, he came to Windsor, where, for about eighteen months, he carried on a restaurant in company with his nephew, N. W. Patrick. He then opened a dry-goods store in the old Constitution House. He next formed a partnership with Luther C. White, under the firm name of Stocker & White, and for many years this firm did the leading business in the town. He eventually purchased White's interest, and for a few years carried on the business in his own name. In 1861 he sold to M. C. Hubbard and Major L. C. Fay, and at the same time purchased the mills and water-power at North Enfield, N. H., and established there the Mascoma Woolen-Mills, and carried them on in partnership with Allen Hayes. Upon the dissolution of this partnership he rented out the mills for a number of years, again opening a dry-goods store in Windsor in company with Charles Story, the firm becoming Stocker & Story, and at the termination of this partnership he formed another with H. C. Phillips, and his son, L. W. Stocker, and carried it on under the title "One Price Store," until his death, which occurred April 21, 1885. Mr. Stocker married, first, Martha Ann Hayes, of Hartland. Abbie Kimball, born October 4, 1841, died in Indianapolis, Ind., February 12, 1881, was the only child by this marriage. She was the wife of Daniel E. Stone. They had six children, viz : Mary E., Nettie S. (deceased), John S , Carrie L., Emma, and Jet C. Martha Ann, his first wife, died March, 1843. He married, second, April 13, 1845, Betsey, daughter of Zebina and Abigail (Spaulding) Spaulding. Mrs. Stocker was born November 24, 1822, in Hartland. They had nine children, viz.: Samuel F., born April 18, 1847. married, first, September 25, 1870, Mary Ella Houston, second, Kate Caldwell. He is a fruit dealer in Spokane Falls, Washington Henry Walbridge, born February 22, 1849, married, November 25, 1879, Lizzie Ann Edminster. They have two children, Henry Samuel, born September 2, 1881, and Howard Edminster, born May 6, 1890. Henry is a merchant in Windsor. Luther White, born October 17, 1850, married Mary Frances Jones; no children. He is engaged in the real estate business at Spokane Falls. George Kendall, born October 8, 1852, married, August 30, 1877, Clara C. Twitchell; no children. He is a partner in the firm of Tilton, Stocker, Frye & Co , at Spokane Falls, and one of the leading business men of that place. Mary Lizzie, born October 17, 1854, died May 19, 1874. Mary Hollis, born January 15, 1857, married, November 18, 1885, Nettie Church, of Farmington, la. Their children are Samuel Church, born August 25, 1887, and Alvin Ormond, born March, 1889. He is a druggist in Indianapolis, Ind. An infant son died in November, 1858. Minnie Amelia, born March, 1860, lives at home. Ormond Sylvester was born July 21, 1862. He was in company with his brother, Luther W., in the mercantile business at Windsor for a number of years, but at this time (1890) they have closed out their business at Windsor, with the view of all six brothers settling at Spokane Falls in the near future. Samuel R. Stocker, though a Democrat in politics, was yet selected to fill the offices of selectman, lister, and justice of the peace. He rendered efficient service as selectman in filling the quota of the town for soldiers during the war period. He was one of the prime movers and principal owner of the stock of the Windsor Aqueduct Company. In his religious belief he was a Universalist. He was a thirty-second degree member of the Masonic fraternity ; also a member of the order I. O. O. F. Scrupulously honest in all business relations, genial and entertaining in society and in the home circle, the community felt they had indeed suffered a loss in the death of Mr. Stocker. Biographie Index
STORY, Dr. DYER . Captain Zechariah Story, the second son of Jeremiah Story, was born at Ipswich, Mass., in November, 1741. At an early age he went to sea as a cabin boy, and followed the sea till he became a captain of a West India merchantman. Finally, however, he married Susannah Low of Essex, Mass., and removed to Hopkinton, N. H., where he engaged in farming, and where the following children were born to him: Jemima, Isaac, Zechariah, Susannah, Charlotte, Mary, Asa, Samuel and Dyer. In the autumn of 1789 he removed with his family to Windsor, settling in the part of the town that was erected into the West Parish in 1793. Here he purchased 200 acres of land, twenty acres of which were improved and contained a log-house. This large farm he cleared, and after a time built a brick-house which was his home during the remainder of his life. He died May 12, 1831. Of Captain Story's sons, Isaac studied medicine in Westmoreland, N. H., practiced his profession for two years in Windsor, Vt., and died of consumption November 12, 1801. Zechariah died at the age of twenty-one years. Asa settled upon a portion of the home farm and died there at an advanced age. Samuel removed to the State of New York, where he died at the age of fifty-five years. Dr. Dyer Story, his youngest son, was born May 17, 1789. He received such common school education as the first settlers were enabled to give their children. He determined upon the study of medicine, and as a means to that end engaged in school teaching through the winter months. In the autumn of 1813 he completed his medical studies at Hanover, N. H., and in the following spring went to Bridgewater, Pa., where he practiced briefly in company with Dr. Dennison. Not liking the country, he soon went to Rushford, N. Y., where he remained for three years, having a large practice. In 1817 he was prostrated by a severe illness which lasted three months, and upon recovering sufficiently to endure the journey, he determined upon a visit to his friends in Windsor. Here he was induced to settle permanently, living with his father upon the home farm for many years. In 1847 he built a house nearer Brownsville, which was his home during the remainder of his life. He died November 13, 1868, aged seventy-nine years, fifty of which had been in the practice of his profession. Dr. Story held various public offices, delivered addresses on public occasions and in 1846 and 1847 was a member of the Legislature.
He married, October 22, 1818, Susan, daughter of Martin and Sarah (Puffer) Lawrence, who was born August 17, 1797, and died October 29, 1878. Their children, all born in West Windsor, were Darwin R., Henry L., Susan L. and Charlotte M. Darwin R., born August 17, 1819, studied medicine with his father in 1854, settled at Proctorsville, Vt., where he has practiced his profession ever since; Henry L., born August 28, 1820, is a farmer in Windsor; an infant son born April 5, 1823, died the same day; Susan L., born September 8, 1824, married, September 1, 1870, Royal L. Bayley; and Charlotte M., born April 5, 1832. The two latter reside in the village of Brownsville. Biographie Index
SUMNER, DAVID HUBBARD . The principal family of the name of Sumner in this country is traced back to I. Roger Sumner, of Bicester, Oxfordshire, England. He married Joanne Franklin and died in Bicester, December 3, 1608. II. William, his only son, born in Bicester, in 1605, married October 22, 1625, Mary West. He came to New England in 1636, and settled at Dorchester, Mass., and died there December 9, 1688; his wife June 7, 1676. III. William, eldest of seven children of William and Mary, born in Bicester, married Elizabeth, daughter of Augustine Clements, of Dorchester; was a mariner, moved to Boston, and died there February, 1675. IV. Clement, the ninth child in a family of ten children born in Boston September 6, 1671, married May 18, 1698, Margaret Harris. V. Of their seven children, William was the eldest, born at Boston March 18, 1699, married October 11, 1721, Hannah, daughter of Thomas Hunt, of Lebanon, Conn. He was a physician, and moved from Boston to Hebron, Conn., and in 1767 to Claremont, N. H., where he died March 4, 1778; his wife April 2, 1781. VI. Benjamin, the ninth of eleven children of the above, born in Hebron Februarys, 1737, married May 7, 1758, Prudence, daughter of David Hubbard, of Glastonbury, Conn.; lived first at Hebron, moved to Claremont, N. H., where he died May 9, 1815 ; his wife died September 7, 1821.
Colonel Benjamin Sumner was a land surveyor, and a man of considerable wealth and prominent in the early history of Claremont. He took an active part in the controversy respecting the New Hampshire Grants. Of his thirteen children, David Hubbard was the ninth. He was born in Claremont, N. H., December 7, 1776. Having given a number of his sons a liberal education, it was the purpose of his father that he also should take a collegiate course, but after fitting for entrance to college he expressed a decided preference for mercantile life, and was accordingly placed in the store kept by the Lymans at White River, Vt, as a clerk. After some service there he commenced business for himself In 1805 he married Martha Brandon Foxcroft, daughter of Dr. Francis Foxcroft, of Brookfield, Mass. She died in March, 1824, and left no children. Soon after this marriage Mr. Sumner removed from Claremont to Hartland, Vt, and engaged in trade at that place. This business he continued tor many years, and with considerable success. During the War of 1812 a militia company formed at Hartland. and much to his surprise Mr. Sumner was elected as their captain. In 1813 and 1814 he represented Hartland in the State Legislature. He also served many years as justice of the peace. About 1814 he was appointed postmaster of Hartland, which office he retained for nearly twenty years. He was a Democrat during his entire life, but in the War of 1812 imbibed such a dislike of any factional opposition to an administration engaged in carrying on a war and upholding the national honor, that he could not oppose the war to suppress the rebellion, although he never confessed to any sympathy with the Republican party in respect to the matters out of which the rebellion sprang. Soon after coming to Hartland Mr. Sumner interested himself in the development of the town by building roads, some of them at his own expense, also in bridging the Connecticut River between Hartland and Plainfield, and in establishing mills. The first bridge built by the company of which he was one of the incorporators, having been swept away by a freshet, Mr. Sumner, who had become its sole survivor, in 1841 completed another bridge which was destroyed in a freshet March 1859, after which time he maintained a ferry at that point. Mr. Sumner was one of the original incorporators of a company organized for the purpose of rendering the Connecticut River navigable at Water Quechee Falls, where canals and through locks were put in. Extensive mills were maintained at the same point by Mr. Sumner for many years. The mills were lost by freshets, and a small portion of the old canal walls is nearly all that is now left to indicate what was once one of the busiest parts of the town. Mr. Sumner was largely interested in a company organized for the purpose of carrying on an extensive lumber and timber trade on the Connecticut, the company owning for that purpose whole townships of land in New Hampshire and Vermont. In 1817 he purchased of the widow and heirs of the Royal Governor Benning Wentworth all the unsold lots of land in Vermont and New Hampshire known as the Governor's Rights. These lands were the 500 acre lots reserved by the governor to his own right in each charter of his New Hampshire grants. These lands being widely scattered, the purchase threw upon Mr. Sumner considerable labor, and the defense of them involved him in some litigation.
As a business man Mr. Sumner had great grasp of mind, was hopeful, progressive, and quick to avail himself of all improved methods. He was strong in his personal attachment to his friends, and would never suffer them to be misrepresented in his presence. In personal address he was a gentleman of the old school, somewhat formal, dignified and precise, but at the same time affable, hospitable, and possessed of a keen relish for wit and humor. Through earnest in his business, and active in every legitimate effort to win success, he was still scrupulously conscientious, and not only so lived as to preserve to himself the consciousness of rectitude but also so as to inspire others with entire confidence in his integrity. He was married to his second wife. Wealthy Thomas of Windsor, April 25, 1839. There were two children of this marriage, Martha, born May 19, 1840, widow of the late Judge Benjamin H. Steele, who owns and occupies the old homestead, and David H., jr., born November 8, 1842. The son, after a brief illness, died August 18, 1867, but a short time before the death of his father, which occurred August 29, 1867. The death of his only son, who had already taken upon himself the responsibility of his father's affairs, and whose loss was deeply felt, not only by his relatives, but also by the public, undoubtedly hastened the death of the father. A few days after the funeral of the son the remains of the father were carried to the grave by the Masonic Fraternity of the vicinity, to whom he had been warmly attached in life, and among whom he had long stood as a senior member. The memory of Mr. Sumner is still green and fresh in the hearts of many with whom he labored, and whom his generous and hopeful energy encouraged in later life. His wife, Wealthy, died at her home in Hartland, February 7, 1887, a devoted mother, a faithful friend, kind to the poor, unsparing in sympathy, whereby she attached to herself a large and delightful circle of friends. Her heart and hand were given to every good work. Biographie Index
The information on Trails to the Past © Copyright 2024 may be used in personal family history research, with source citation. The pages in entirety may not be duplicated for publication in any fashion without the permission of the owner. Commercial use of any material on this site is not permitted. Please respect the wishes of those who have contributed their time and efforts to make this free site possible.~Thank you!
