History of Vermont United States of America

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Erastus Fairbanks, governor of Vermont, was born in Brimfield, Mass., Oct. 28, 1792; son of Joseph and Phoebe (Paddock) Fairbanks. His father was a farmer, carpenter and mill owner, who settled in St. Johnsbury, Vt., in 1815. His first American ancestors, Jonathan and Grace Fairbanks or Ffayerbanke, were natives of Sowerby, near Halifax, Yorkshire, England, and came to America about 1630, settling in Contentment, afterward Dedham, Mass., in 1633, where they erected a house, the timbers and brick for which they brought from England on the ship Speedwell. This house was standing and contained the original furniture in 1899. Erastus attended the district school, taught a similar school two terms and in 1812 became a student of law in the office of his uncle, Judge Ephraim Paddock, at St. Johnsbury, Vt. Failing health compelled him to relinquish study and he entered mercantile life as a country store-keeper. He joined his younger brother, Thaddeus, in establishing a manufactory of plows, stoves, etc., about 1824, and in 1829 they added to the business that of dealers in hemp. This led to the invention of the platform scales for their own use. The demand from the public for similar scales suggested their manufacture and this business soon superseded their other interests. In 1828 they met their first financial reverse through a fire and flood and for two years they were at the mercy of their creditors, who, however, gave them the time asked, during which they fully liquidated all debts. Erastus represented his town in the state legislature, 1836-38. He was a Whig presidential elector, 1844 and 1848; was governor of the state, 1852, but was defeated at the next election by reason of having signed the bill passed by the legislature prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors in the state. In 1854 he declined a renomination urged upon him by the Whig party, but in 1860 was prevailed upon by the Republican party to accept a unanimous nomination, and he defeated Jolm G. Saxe, the Democratic candidate. He was Vermont's "war governor," 1860-61, and the state voted $1,000,000, which was placed at his disposal to arm and forward troops for the defence of the Union. He sent out six regiments constituting the famous Vermont brigade, and a company of sharpshooters, and at the expiration of his term refused to draw out of the state treasury his authorized salary. He was a promoter and president of the Passumpsic railroad and a member of the company that constructed the Sault Ste. Marie canal. With his brothers he founded the academy at St. Johnsbury in 1842, and a fund left by him for that purpose assisted in maintaining the Atheneum, the Museum of natural science and the North church. He was president of the Vermont domestic missionary society, 1849-64, and for many years a corporate member of the American board of foreign missions. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the University of Vermont in 1860. He was married, May 30, 1815, to Lois Crossman of Peacham, Vt. Two of their sons, Horace and Franklin, were brought up in the business of their father and uncle and succeeded to the management of the concern. He died in St. Johnsbury, Vt., Nov. 20, 1864.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Horace Fairbanks, governor of Vermont, was born in Burnet, Vt., March 21, 1820; son of Gov. Erastus and Lois (Crossman) Fairbanks. He was educated at the academies at Peacham and Lyndon, Vt., Meriden, N.H., and Andover, Mass. He was admitted as a clerk in the business of his father and uncle in 1838 and as a partner in 1843. He became the financial manager of the business and saw it grow from an annual product of $50,000 to $3,000,000, and from employing forty workmen to six hundred. He was the projector and chief promoter of the Portland & Ogdensburg railroad. He was the chief founder of the St. Johnsbury athen?um in 1868-71, with its library of 15,000 volumes and its art gallery which he furnished with valuable works of art, including Bierstadt's "Yosemite." He was a delegate to the Republican national conventions of 1864 and 1872, was a presidential elector in 1868, and was elected a state senator in 1869, but was prevented by illness from taking his seat. He was governor of the state, 1876-78, and his administration was characterized by efforts in the direction of prison reform that resulted in much good. His reprieve of a condemned criminal the day before that set for his execution was severely criticized and the supreme court annulled the reprieve. He was a member of the Century association, New York city, and the St. Botolph club of Boston; was president of E. & T. Fairbanks & Co. from its incorporation, Nov. 24, 1874; was president of the Portland & Ogdensburg and of the St. Johnsbury & Lake Champlain railroads; a corporate member of the A.B.C.F.M.; and a trustee of the St. Johnsbury academy and of the University of Vermont. He was married, Aug. 9, 1849, to Mary E., daughter of James and Persis (Hemphill) Taylor of Derry, N.H. He died in New York city, March 17, 1888.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Ryland Fletcher, governor of Vermont, was born in Cavendish, Vt., Feb. 18, 1799; son of Dr. Asaph and Sally (Green) Fletcher. His father (born in Westford, Mass., June 28, 1746, died in Cavendish, Vt., Jan. 5, 1839), was a member of the Massachusetts constitutional convention, 1780; removed to Vermont in 1787; was a presidential elector on the Monroe ticket in 1816, and was a practising physician. The son was educated in the common schools and at the Norwich military academy. He joined the state militia in 1817 and rose by successive promotions to the rank of brigadier-general in 1835. He was prominent among the early advocates of antislavery. In 1854 and 1855 he was elected lieutenant governor of the state and in 1856 was elected governor, serving two years. He was a representative in the state legislature, 1861-62, and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1870. He subsequently served several times as a presidential elector and as a delegate to Republican national conventions. Dartmouth conferred upon him the honorary degree of A.M. in 1869. He was married, June 11, 1829, to Mary, daughter of Eleazer May of Westminster, Vt. Their son, Col. Henry Addison Fletcher, served in the civil war, was an aide on the staff of Governor Proctor in 1878, a member of the state assembly for eight years, a state senator, 1886-87, lieutenant-governor of Vermont, 1890-91, and died at Proctorsville in April, 1897. Governor Fletcher died at Proctorsville, Vt., Dec. 19, 1885.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Josiah Grout, governor of Vermont, was born in Compton, Canada, May 28, 1842; son of Josiah and Sophronia (Ayer) Grout; grandson of The ophilus and Joanna (Willard) Grout; and a descendant of Dr. John Grout, who emigrated from England in 1630 and settled in Watertown, Mass. In 1848 he removed with his father to Vermont, where he was brought up on a farm and attended the public schools and the Orleans liberal institute at Glover. He then entered the academy at St. Johnsbury, and on Oct. 2, 1861, left to enlist as a private in the 1st Vermont cavalry. On the organization of the company the became 2d lieutenant. He was promoted captain in April, 1863, and major of the 26th N.Y. cavalry in January, 1864. At the close of the war he studied law with his brother, William W. Grout, at Barton, Vt., and was admitted to practice in 1865. He was collector of customs at Island Pond, 1866-69; at St. Albans, 1870, and at Newport, 1870-72. He removed to Chicago in 1874 and subsequently to Moline, Ill. In 1880 he returned to Vermont and settled on a farm at Derby. He represented Newport in the Vermont legislature in 1872 and 1874, the town of Derby in 1884, 1886 and 1888, being speaker of the house, 1874, 1886 and 1888, and was state senator from Orleans county, 1892-94. In 1896 he was elected governor of Vermont, receiving the largest majority ever given any governor of the state up to that time. His term of office expired in 1898.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Vermont

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