History of Bennington, (Bennington County) Vermont United States of America

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Biographies:

Heman Allen Fay, soldier, was born in Bennington, Vt., in 1778; son of Jonas and Lydia (Safford) Fay. He was graduated from the U.S. military academy in 1808, and served on garrison duty during the war of 1812-15. In 1816 he was appointed chief forage-master of the northern division of the army and in 1818 was stationed at Albany, N.Y., as U.S. military store-keeper. He published: An Official Account of Battles Fought Between the Army and Navy of the United States and Great Britain in 1812-15 (1815). He died in Bannington, Vt., Aug. 20, 1865.

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

Jonas Fay, patriot, was born at Hardwick, Mass., Jan. 28, 1737; son of Stephen and Ruth (Child) Fay; grandson of John and Elizabeth (Wellington) Fay, and great-grandson of John and Mary (Brigham) Fay, who came from Wales to Boston, arriving on the Speedwell, June 27, 1656. The Fays were of French origin, having fled to Wales during the Huguenot persecution. Jonas served in 1756 in the French war as clerk in Capt. Samuel Robinson's company of Massachusetts troops at Fort Edward and Lake George. He afterward studied medicine and in 1766 was among the early settlers of Bennington, Vt., where he practised his profession. In 1772 he was appointed a delegate from Bannington and neighboring towns to appear before Gov. William Tryon of New York and urge him to discontinue his violent proceedings against the Vermont settlers. In March, 1774, he was clerk of the convention of settlers which drew up resolutions to defend their cause and their leaders by force, Allen, Warner and others having been threatened by the New York assembly with outlawry and death. In 1775 he accompanied Ethan Allen's expedition to Ticonderoga as surgeon. In January, 1776, He was clerk to the convention at Dorset and drew up the petition to congress to be allowed to serve the patriot cause independent of New York. He was secretary of the convention of July, 1777, that framed the constitution of Vermont and during the summer of that year was a member of the council of safety. Between 1777 and 1782 he was four times an agent of the state to the continental congress. He was a member of the governor's council, 1778-85; judge of the supreme court in 1782, and judge of probate, 1782-87. He then returned to the practice of medicine at Bennington, removing to Charlotte in 1800, to Pawlet a few years later and finally returning to Bennington. He was twice married: first, May 1, 1760, to Sarah, daughter of Capt. John Fassett, and secondly, Nov. 20, 1777, to Mrs. Lydia Safford. He was joint author with Ethan Allen of A Concise Refutation of the Claims of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York to the Territory of Vermont (1780). He died at Bennington, Vt., March 6, 1818.

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

Alfred Lebbeus Loomis, physician, was born in Bennington, Vt., Oct. 16, 1831; son of Daniel and Eliza (Beach) Loomis; grandson of Russell and Lydia (Huntington) Loomis; great grandson of Daniel and Alice (Chamberlain) Loomis and a descendant of Joseph Loomis of Bristol, England, who sailed for America on the ship Susan and Ellen, in July, 1638, landed at Nantasket, Mass., the same year, and in 1839 settled in Windsor, Conn. His father was an extensive cotton manufacturer and merchant of Bennington, Vt. Alfred was graduated from Union college, A.B., 1850, A.M., 1856. He studied medicine with Dr. Willard Parker of New York and was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, M.D., in 1852. After giving two years to hospital work, he engaged as a practising physician in New York city and made a specialty of the diseases of the heart, lungs and kidneys. He was appointed visiting physician to Bellevue hospital in 1859; was consulting physician to the Charity hospital on Blackwell's Island, 1860-75, and visiting physician to the Mount Sinai hospital, 1874-80. He was a lecturer on physical diagnosis in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1862-65; an adjutant professor of the theory and practice of medicine in the University of the City of New York, 1866-68, and professor of pathology and the practice of medicine there, 1868-95. He was among those of the medical faculty to re-organize the course of study in 1892. In 1866 the sum of $100,000 was given by some unknown person to the university through Dr. Loomis to build and equip the Loomis laboratory. Dr. Loomis was married in 1858 to Sarah J., daughter of Henry Patterson of Hoosick Falls, and secondly in 1887 to Anne M., daughter of Thomas H. Morris of Baltimore, Md., and widow of John D. Prince. He was a member and president of various medical societies in America and Europe. He received the degree of LL.D. from the University of the City of New York in 1883. Dr. Loomis bequeathed $25,000 to the Loomis laboratory and $10,000 to the New York Academy of Medicine. His "Lectures on Fever" appeared in the New York Medical Record, and his lecture on "Peritonitis" in American Clinical Lectures in 1876. He is the author of: Physical Diagnosis (1868); Diseases of the Respiratory Organs, Heart and Kidneys (1876); Lectures on Fever (1882); Diseases of Old Age (1882); A Text-Book of Practical Medicine (1884). He died in New York city, Jan. 23, 1895.

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

Daniel Hascall, educator, was born in Bennington, Vt., Feb. 24, 1782. In 1785 he removed with his parents to Pawlet, Vt., where he attended the district school in winter and received some private instruction. At the age of eighteen he began teaching, at the same time fitted for college and was graduated from Middlebury in 1806. He taught in Pittsfield, Mass., 1806-08; used his spare time in the study of theology; and was pastor of the Baptist church in Elizabethtown, N.Y., 1808-13. He then settled as pastor of the First Baptist church, Hamilton, N.Y. In addition to his pastoral duties he engaged in teaching and also edited, in part, the Christian Magazine. About 1815 he began to receive theological students into his family and through his efforts the Baptist education society of the state of New York was formed in 1817. This resulted in the establishment of the Hamilton literary and theological institution, which afterward became Madison university. Until 1828 he continued as pastor and teacher when he resigned to give his time to the institution and the Baptist education society. In 1835 he left the institution and took charge of an academy at Florence, N.Y. He was pastor at West Rutland, Vt., 1837-48; at Lebanon, N.Y., 1848-49, and then returned to Hamilton, N.Y., where he spent the rest of his life. He published several sermons and pamphlets. He died in Hamilton, N.Y., June 28, 1852.

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