History of Brandon, (Rutland County) Vermont United States of America

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Biographies:

Thomas Jefferson Conant, educator, was born at Brandon, Vt., Dec. 13, 1802; son of John and Charity Waite (Broughton) Conant; grandson of Ebenezer and Lydia (Oakes) Conant, and of Waite and Esther (Breding) Broughton; and a descendant in the seventh generation of Roger and Sarah (Horton) Conant, who came to America from Devonshire, England, and landed at Plymouth about 1623. He was graduated from Middlebury college in 1823, and remained there until 1825, taking a post-graduate course in philosophy. He was a tutor in Columbian college, Washington, D. C., 1825-27, and in the latter year accepted the chair of languages in Waterville (Maine) college, afterward Colby university. In 1833 he resigned and removed to Boston, where for two years he studied the Oriental languages. He was professor in Hamilton (N.Y.) theological seminary, 1835-50, meanwhile spending two years abroad in the universities of Halle and Berlin. He held the chair of Hebrew in the Rochester (N.Y.) theological seminary, 1851-57, and then removed to Brooklyn, N.Y., where he began his life work, the revision of the common English version of the Bible for the American Bible union. In 1873 he was chosen a member of the American committee, co-operating with the Old Testament company of the convocation of Canterbury, England, in the revision of the authorized English version of the Bible. He was married July 12, 1830, to Hannah O'Brien, daughter of the Rev. Jeremiah Chaplin, the first president of Waterville college. Middlebury college conferred upon him the degree of D.D. in 1844. His Hebrew grammar became a standard textbook in England and America, and he published many exegetical works on New and Old Testament topics, including The Book of Job (1857); The Gospel of Matthew (1860); The Book of Genesis (1868); The Book of Psalms (1868); The Book of Proverbs (1871); and a translation, with notes, of the Books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth I and II, Samuel I and II, and Kings (1884). He died in Brooklyn, N.Y., April 30, 1891.

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

Stephen Arnold Douglas, statesman, was born in Brandon, Vt., April 23, 1813; only son of Stephen Arnold and Sarah (Fisk) Douglas, and the fifth Stephen Arnold Douglas in direct line in the Doug!as family. His father died suddenly of heart failure when his son was two months old and while holding the infant in his arms. His mother removed with the family to a farm where Stephen attended the district school and was brought up after the manner of farmers' sons. When fifteen years old he apprenticed himself to a cabinet maker and with the money carried by eighteen months' work he attended the Brandon academy one year. His mother about this time was married to Hezekiah Granger, and his sister to a son of his stepfather and the two families removed to a farm near Clifton Springs, N.Y., where Stephen entered the Canandaigua academy and pursued his law studies. In 1833 he visited Cleveland, Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis, and other towns in the new west, seeking a desirable field to complete his law studies and practise his chosen profession. At Winchester, Ill., he opened a school which he conducted for three months, devoting his evenings to study. In March, 1834, he was licensed to practise law and opened an office in Jacksonville. He became well known as a poiitical orator, and delivered an address, sustaining the administrative conduct of President Jackson, that commanded the attention of politicians. The legislature of Illinois elected him attorney-general of the state in 1835, which office he resigned in December, 1835, having been elected a state representative by the Democrats of Morgan county. In 1837 President Van Buren appointed him register of the land office at Springfield, Ill., and he held the office two years. He was an unsuccessful candidate for representative in the 25th congress in 1837, being defeated by five votes after fifty votes for him had been rejected, his name on the ballot being misspelled. At this time the state had but three representatives in congress. In 1840 he entered the presidential campaign as a supporter of Martin Van Buren, during which he addressed over two hundred public meetings, mostly in the open air, arid as a result Van Buren carried the state. In December, 1840, he was appointed secretary of the state of Illinois and in February, 1841, was elected by the legislature a judge of the supreme court. In 1843 he resigned his seat on the bench to become the Democratic candidate for representative in congress and he was elected to the 28th and re-elected to the 29th congresses, serving 1843-47. He was re-elected to the 30th congress in 1846, but before that congress assembled, Dec. 6, 1847, he was elected by the state legislature a senator in congress for six years from March 4, 1847. He was re-elected in 1853 and again in 1859, after a memorable joint canvass of the state with Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate, serving in the United States senate, 1847-61. In the house of representatives he opposed the demands of Great Britain in the Oregon controversy, advocated the annexation of Texas, and sustained the administration of President Polk. He opposed the Clayton-Bulwer treaty and favored the annexation of Cuba if it could be accomplished lawfully and honorably. In 1854 Senator Douglas introduced and advocated the Kansas-Nebraska bill and incurred the bitter hatred of all abolitionists as well as extreme pro-slavery men by declaring slavery a question to be regulated by popular sovereignty and not by Federal legislation. In the debates on the compromise measures of 1850, which he supported, he stood the peer of Clay and Webster. In 1858 and again in 1860 he travelled through the southern states and encouraged the Union sentiment in every way, denying the right of secession and counselling moderation and constitutional measures for redressing wrongs. As early as 1852 his name had been prominent in the Democratic national convention of Baltimore for presidential candidate and in 1856 it was again presented to the national convention assembled at Cincinnati, but when the majority of the delegates declared their preference for James Buchanan, Senator Douglas telegraphed from Washington for his friends to withdraw his name and in no case to have it used in a contest under the two-thirds rule. The convention had adopted a platform that fully covered the principles always advocated by him and he came into the canvass of 1856 fully competent to give hearty support to the Democratic party. His triumphant re-election to the senate in 1860 had paved the way for his presidential aspirations and the national convention at Charleston stood ready to place him at the head of the ticket. The withdrawal of the delegates from the southern states prevented his nomination and resulted in the breaking up of the convention. When the convention reassembled at Baltimore he received the nomination of a factional ticket, John C. Breckenridge receiving the nomination of the southern Democrats and John Bell that of the so-called Union party, and the election in 1860 resulted in Breckenridge receiving 72 electoral votes, Bell 39, and Douglas 12. In the popular vote he stood next to Lincoln, receiving more than beth Breckenridge and Bell combined. After the election Senator Douglas used his influence in maintaining the Union sentiment and he counselled the upholding of all constitutional measures used by the President in putting down the rebellion. He was a zealous champion of President Lincoln and in his declining days he dictated messages to his constituents and to the Democrats of the entire country, counselling them to preserve the union of the states. He was a regent of the Smithsonian institution and received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Middlebury college, Vt., in 1851. He was married in 1847 to Martha, daughter of Col. Robert Martin of Rockingham county, N.C. She died, Jan. 19, 1853, and in November, 1856, he was married to Adele, daughter of James Madison Cutts of Washington, D.C., who survived him and who was married in 1863 to Gen. Robert Williams, U.S.A. His son, Stephen Arnold, the sixth in line, became a prominent Chicago lawyer and political orator, and his elder son, Robert Martin, became a supreme court judge in North Carolina. His Life was written by James W. Sheahan and by Henry M. Flint as campaign documents in 1860. He died in Chicago, Ill., June 3, 1861.

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

Frank Hall Knowlton, botanist, was born at Brandon, Vt., Sept. 2, 1860. He was graduated at Middlebury college, Vt., in 1884. He was an assistant in the botanical department of the U.S. National museum, 1884-87; assistant curator 1887-89; and professor of botany in Columbia university, 1887-96. In 1889 he spent six months in New Mexico, Arizona and California as assistant paleontologist of the U.S. geological survey. He had charge of the botanical work for the Standard Dictionary, for which he prepared about 25,000 definitions. He received the degree of Ph.D. from Columbian university in 1896, and that of M.S. from Middlebury college in 1887. He was twice married: first, Sept. 27, 1887, at Kingman, Kan., to Annie Sterling, daughter of William A. and Lydia Moorhead who died, Jan. 6, 1890; and secondly, Oct. 8, 1893, to Rena Genevieve, daughter of Isaac B. and Lizzie W. Ruff, of Laurel, Md. He was one of the editors of the American Geologist and of The Plant World. He was elected a member of the American Society of Naturalists and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1893, also a fellow by the Geological Society of America and the Washington Academy of Science. He is the author of: Birds of Brandon, Vt. (1882); Fossil Wood and Lignite of the Potomac Formation (1889); Fossil Wood of Arkansas (1890); Fossil Flora of Alaska (1894); Catalogue of the Cretaceous and Tertiary Plants of North America (1898); Fossil Flora of the Yellowstone National Park (1899); Flora of the Montana Formation (1900), and contributions to scientific journals.

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

Alfred Hudson Guernsey, author, was born in Brandon. Vt., May 12, 1818; son of Harvey and Abigail (Lacey) Guernsey; grandson of Harvey and Lucy (Wainwright) Guernsey, and a descendant of Oliver and Rachel (Ware) Guernsey. He studied at the Oneida institute, a manual labor school, near Utica, N.Y., attended Union theological seminary, New York city, 1841-43 and 1845-46, and was graduated from there in 1846. He was editor of Harper's Magazine, 1851-69; an associate editor of the American Cyclop?dia (1872-76); and editor of A1den's Cyclopedia of Universal Literature, most of the articles having been prepared by him (20 vols., 1884-91). His writings include Harper's Pictorial History of the Great Rebellion (with Henry M. Alden, 1863-67); The Spanish Armada (1878); Thomas Carlyle: His Theories and Opinions (1880); Ralph Waldo Emerson, Philosopher and Poet (1881); and The World's Opportunities and How to Use Them (1884). He died in New York city, Jan. 16, 190?.

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