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 he State
of Vermont may be small population-wise, but for its size, it can holds its own against other states when it comes to producing famous people.
Appearing in the links below are
sites, both physical and on the Web or both, that offer more insights
into the people for whom they were built. In some cases, the sites
may be a bit different from those containing biological information
only. For instance, the Web site for Thomas Davenport, the inventor
of the electric motor and the electric railway, is a site seeking
DNA that would help identify Mr. Davenport's heirs. Also, the site
about John Deere, the inventor of the self-propelled steel plow,
is today's John Deere Company Web site. Others are strictly biographical
or are anecdotal, but all are of considerable interest. Included
below are people who may not have been born in Vermont, but who
lived here and made a major contribution to society, such as Robert
Frost.
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Ethan Allen, Established the Green Mountain Boys, Captured Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolution
1 Ethan Allen Homestead . Suite 2 . Burlington . Vermont 05401
802.865.4556 | Fax: 802.865.0661
info@ethanallenhomestead.org
Flamboyant frontiersman, daring military leader, land speculator, suspected traitor, prisoner of war. Ethan Allen was all of these, and more. He dominates early Vermont history, from the Green Mountain Boys and the capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point - to the very shape of the state as it gained independence.
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Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States
President Chester A. Arthur Historic Site
Off Route 36 or 108 in Fairfield . Vermont
802.828.3051 . Fax: 802.828.3206
Email: john.dumville@state.vt.us
This small frame house was reconstructed by the State of Vermont in 1953 on the location where the Arthur family moved shortly after the birth of the future 21st President of the United States. Chester Alan Arthur was born in Fairfield, Oct 5, 1929, the son of a Baptist preacher. The building houses an interpretive exhibit on Arthur’s life and career. Nearby, and also open to the public, is the brick church where his father served as minister.
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Orson Bean, Actor
Orson Bean was a second cousin of President Calvin Coolidge. Has been married to Alley Mills since 1993. He was married to Carolyn Maxwell from 1965 to 1981. He wrote his autobiography, Too Much Is Not Enough, and he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award in 2000 for "Being John Malkovich." He was a game show regular during the 1960'and 1970s, and appeared in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman in a reprising role. He was also a frequent guest of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
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Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the Unites States
Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 97 . Plymouth . Vermont 05056
802.672.3389 | Fax: 802.672.3369 | E-mail: info@calvin-coolidge.org
The Coolidge Homestead is an important component of the activities of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation. It is also the centerpiece of the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site in Plymouth. The house was the setting for many significant events that affected the life and times of Calvin Coolidge. He moved there when he was four.
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Thomas Davenport, inventor, electric motor, electric railway
Welcome to the Davenport Surname DNA Project. The purpose of this project is to determine possible relationships between different Davenport family lines (worldwide, not just the US). With the use of simple DNA tests we hope to find out which Davenports have a common ancestor.
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John Deere, inventor, self-propelled steel plow
The story of John Deere, who developed the world's first commercially successful, self-scouring steel plow, closely parallels the settlement and development of the Midwestern United States, an area that the homesteaders of the 19th century considered the golden land of promise.
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George Dewey, admiral in the U.S. Navy, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy under President Theordore Roosevelt
George Dewey was born on December 26, 1837 in Montpelier, Vermont. Upon his graduation from the Naval Academy in 1857, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1861. During the Civil War he served with Admiral Farragut during the Battle of New Orleans and as part of the Atlantic blockade. From 1871 until 1896, Dewey held a variety of positions in the Navy. In 1897 he was named commander of the Asiatic Squadron, thanks to the help of strong political allies, including Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt.
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Stephen Douglas, politician, ran against Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency
People called him the "Little Giant." Though short in stature, Stephen A. Douglas was very influential in Congress, thus earning his nickname. Born in Brandon, Vermont, on April 23, 1813, Douglas was a U.S. representative, senator, and presidential candidate.
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James Fisk, Financier
James Fisk (April 1, 1834—January 6, 1872), American financier, was born in Bennington, Vermont. After a brief period in school he ran away and joined a circus. Later he became a hotel waiter, and finally adopted the business of his father, a peddler. He then became a salesman for a Boston dry goods firm, his aptitude and energy eventually winning for him a share in the business. By his shrewd dealing in army contracts during the Civil War, and, by some accounts, cotton smuggling, he accumulated considerable wealth, which he soon lost in speculation.
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Ralph FlandersUnited States Senator, President of the Federal Reserve Board in Boston
Flanders, Ralph Edward, a Senator from Vermont; born in Barnet, Caledonia County, Vt., September 28, 1880; moved with his parents to Pawtucket, R.I., in 1886; attended the public schools at Pawtucket, Lincoln, and Central Falls, R.I.; engaged as a machinist apprentice at Providence, R.I., in 1897 and remained in the machine tool industry until his death; moved to Springfield, Vt., in 1910; president of the Federal Reserve Board of Boston 1944-1946.
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Robert Frost, Poet
A new museum, only minutes away from Frost's gravesite in Bennington, was recently opened to honor America's favorite poet. Frost lived in the Stone House in South Shaftsbury, Vermont from 1920 to 1929. Here, Frost composed many of the pieces that became part of his first Pulitzer Prize winning volume New Hampshire, published in 1923, including "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."
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Richard Morris Hunt, Architect
The forth of five children, Richard Morris Hunt, the designer of Grey Towers, was born into a family of wealth and prominence on October 31,1827, in brattleboro, Vermont. And even though he grew into the nation’s most revered architect by the latter part of the nineteenth century, he is today largely forgotten.
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Elisha Graves Otis, Inventor of the Elevator Brake
Otis had no way of knowing that this simple safety device was to alter the face of the globe, that because of it vast cities would spring up toward the sky instead of spreading toward the horizon as in the past.
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Patty Sheehan, Professional Golfer
Credits her mother Leslie, father BoBo, and Ed Jones as the individuals most influencing her career…Rated one of the top junior snow skiers in the country as a 13-year-old...Winner of the 1986 Samaritan Award...Playing editor for Golf For Women magazine...One of eight athletes featured on Sports Illustrated’s annual “Sportsman of the Year” cover in 1987.
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Joseph Smith, Religious Leader, Founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints of Mormon
Young Joseph Smith took a deep interest in the diviner's skills and spent as much time as he could in the magician's company, trying to master the man's divining abilities. When no treasure was found and no more farmers would pay him, the diviner left town, but by that time Joseph had picked up some of his lore. Acquiring some magic stones of his own, Joseph was successful in using the stones to locate some lost tools.
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Rudy Vallee, Singer, Entertainer, Radio Star and Actor
Musician and actor Rudy Vallee born in Vermont, grew up in Westbrook, Maine. He dropped out of High School to join the Navy in 1917, but was quickly discharged when it was discovered that he was underage. He studied saxophone, and clarinet and finished high school. Upon graduation he entered the University of Maine, and latter transferred to Yale where he played and sang with the Yale Collegians. It was with this group that his style of singing with a megaphone to project his voice was born.
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Henry Wells, Co-Founder, Wells Fargo Bank
Born in Thetford, Vermont in 1805, Henry Wells was the son of a Congregationalist clergyman who moved to New York when Henry was eight. At 22 -- because he was a stutterer himself -- Henry opened a school for the treatment of speech defects. But the country was on the move and Henry Wells wanted to be part of the adventure. In 1836 he went to work as a freight agent on the Erie Canal. By the 1840s, he had his own express company that brought the rapid movement of valuables to the West of his youth -- all the way from Albany to distant St. Louis.
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Brigham Young, Religious Leader, Second President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of the Mormon
Completing a treacherous thousand-mile exodus, an ill and exhausted Brigham Young and fellow members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints arrived in Utah's Great Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. The Mormons, as they were commonly known, left their settlement in Nauvoo, Illinois, and journeyed West seeking refuge from religious persecution.
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