History of Pomfret, (Windsor County) Vermont United States of America

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Biographies:

Elmer Bragg Adams, jurist, was born in Pomfret, Vt., Oct. 27, 1842, a lineal descendant of Henry Adams of Braintree, Mass. He was graduated at Yale in 1865; organized a system of free schools in Atlanta and Milledgeville, Ga., under the direction of the American Union commission in 1865, and studied law at Harvard. He was admitted to the Vermont bar in 1868: engaged in practice in St. Louis, Mo., and was married in 1870 to Emma Richmond of Woodstock, Vt. He was judge of the circuit court in St. Louis, 1878-84; declined a second term and resumed practice as a member of the firm of Boyle, Adams and McKeighan, which subsequently became Boyle and Adams. He became U.S. judge of the Eastern district of Missouri in 1896, and was a lecturer in the University of Missouri, where he received the degree LL.D.

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

Rush Christopher Hawkins, soldier, was born at Pomfret, Vt., Sept. 14, 1831; son of Lorenzo Dow and Louisa Maria (Hutchinson) Hawkins. His grandfather, Dexter Hawkins, was a soldier in the Revolution and served in one of the Rhode Island regiments. His great grandfather, the Rev. Aaron Hutchinson, an accomplished classical scholar, was the first settled Congregational minister in the central (eastern) section of Vermont in 1776, and was a founder of the Woodstock society. Rush received his scanty education at the district school of his native town and left Vermont in 1846. In 1848 he enlisted in the 2d U.S. dragoons and with a part of his regiment was in the last nine months of the occupation of the valley of the Rio Grande, Mexico. He was discharged from the army by reason of ill health, studied law in New York and began practice there in 1856. At the outbreak of the civil war, he was at the head of an independent company of Zouaves in New York city, and immediately upon the President's call for two years' troops this company was the first to tender its services to the government. He raised and organized the 9th regiment of New York volunteer infantry, afterward known as "Hawkins's Zouaves" which participated in the movement against Big Bethel, Va., was second in command of the Hatteras expedition, landed at Hatteras Inlet, taking part in the engagement there, and at Chicomocomico, joined Burnside, and was in the actions at Roanoke Island, Winton and South Mills, N.C., in which last engagement, April 19, 1862, Colonel Hawkins was wounded. He commanded the brigade, which was made up for him the March preceding, at Fredericksburg, and at the siege of Suffolk, in April, 1863. With his regiment he was mustered out of the service in June, 1863, having been brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers. He was also brevetted brigadier-general in the national guard of the state of New York, and presented with a sword by the citizens of New York. He organized the first body of loyal North Carolina troops at Plymouth, N.C., and was chiefly instrumental in the organization of the 1st regiment, North Carolina volunteers. In July, 1862, General Hawkins was placed under arrest by order of General Burnside for denouncing General McClellan as a failure, but no charges were preferred against him and he was released. After the close of his military career he became associated with various movements connected with political reform, including civil service, and was appointed one of a committee from the Union League club in May, 1864, to impress upon the people the importance of that subject. He was a representative in the New York assembly in 1872, and resigned his seat seven days before the adjournment of that body. He was U.S. fine arts commissioner at the Paris exposition, 1889, and in that year was made an officer of the Legion of Honor of France. He became a recognized authority on the early history of wood engraving and of first printing presses. His collection of books from the first fifteenth century presses illustrating the early history of wood-cutting and first printers, is the most comprehensive one in the United States and ranks sixth or seventh in importance in the world. He is the author of: The United States in Account with the Rebellion; Statement of Rush C. Hawkins (1872); Report Relating to the Cause and Increase of the City Debt (1876); First Books and Printers of the Fifteenth Century (1884); Gen. John Wolcott Phelps of Vermont (1885); Horrors in Architecture (1886); Early Coast Operatians in North Carolina (1887); The Rev. Aaron Hutchinson, A.M. (1888); Report on the Fine Arts at the Universal Exposition held in Paris in 1889 (1891); Better Than Men (1896); The Assassination of Loyal North Carolinians for Serving in the Union Army (1897), and many magazine articles.

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

Edward Conant, educator, was born at Pomfret, Vt., May 10, 1829; son of Seth and Melvina (Perkins) Conant; grandson of Jeremiah Conant of Bridgewater, Mass., and Pomfret, Vt.; and a descendant of Roger Conant (1593-1679). He was educated at Thetford academy and at Dartmouth college, attending the latter 1852-54. In 1854 he became principal of the Woodstock (Ct.) academy, and afterward held the same position in the Royalton (Vt.) academy and the Burlington (Vt.) high school. In 1861 he became principal of the Orange county grammar school at Randolph, which during his administration was changed into a state normal school. From 1874 to 1880 he was state superintendent of education. He was principal of the state normal school at Johnson, 1881-84, returning in the latter year to Randolph. He received the degree of A.M. from Middlebury college in 1866, and from the University of Vermont in 1867. He published A Few Roots of English Words (1870); A Drill Book in the Elements of the English Language (1871); Conant's Vermont (1890); Vermont Historical Reader (1895).

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

George Warren Gardner, educator, was born in Porefret, Vt., Oct. 8, 1828. He was graduated from Dartmouth in 1852; was principal of Black River academy, Ludlow, Vt., 1852-53, and principal of Colby academy, New London, N.H., 1853-61. He was licensed to preach in 1853, ordained in 1858, and became pastor of the First Baptist church, Charlestown, Mass., in 1861. In 1870 he travelled in Europe, Egypt and Palestine, and in 1872 resigned his pastorate at Charlestown to become home secretary of the American Baptist missionary union. He held pastorates at Cleveland, Ohio, and at Marblehead, Fitchburg and Waltham, Mass., 1876-78; was president of the Central university of Iowa, Pella, 1881-85, and instructor in Biblical literature and Christian evidences in Colby academy at New London, N.H., 1890-95. He was an editor of the Missionary Magazine and the Watchman. He received the degree of D.D. from Dartmouth in 1867. He died in New London, N.H., April 27, 1895.

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