The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1896-03-20
GEORGE TALKS AGAIN
About His uncio's VIII. the Poverty OF
His Youth and the Gond Fortune Of
His Blind ErOther.

70 be so poor ~ boyn0Ou rs 10 nav
only single 'clress-up" suit in com
mon with q brother and still to b.
: worth over 100000 before being -
years old and the richest man in tn
county, shows &c me OF the chapgeR tina
can come to Al man.
: OF course thcro Is only one man il
Franklin county that fila the bill To-
tho above description and that IL vii
liam Watson Davenport of Leydcn
wat Davenport, as he is familiarly
known. While there ma! be men il
the county having moro than 800, COZ
, OF property in their possession. 1t maS
well br doubted if there is u single
one that would have that amount OF
wealth after his debts were paid. aside
from Mr.. Davenport.
: The filing of the inventory OF the
late Oliver Daycnport's estate the past
week proves cunciusircly that there
was no cXaggeration of his estimated
wealth. Aside from n few minor tens,
the property is in stocks and bonds
that can be turned into cash as quick
~ as the holder can reach financial
center.
To start as poor country boy and
accumulate 543, 600 is certainly Il re.
marllablc record, and now that the old
gentleman is dead the greater portion
of the estate is 10 90 to William
Watson Davenport, who, notwithstand
ing the fact that he started with moth
ing but a good constitution and total
! blindness, has accumulated 300, 600 by
! his own efforts, and now, seemingly to
compensate him in Il measure for his
loss Of sight, great fortune Of 800.
900 is bequeathed to him.
! George ". Davenport, one al the
| brothers, and who by the will OF mis-
uncle Oliver comes to small fortune
Of $40, 600, was asked day or two ago
to chat about his family. Here is
what he said:
Our father, Calvin n. Davenport,
was a farmer and butcher in Leydcn,
and died in 1852 when he was ~
years old. as to his strength of charac
ter aud ability | can only quote 10 YOU
Il remark made lay my brother. Charles
n, Davenport. one time when we were
on our way 10 the co1rt house in New
fame. VI.
- George, said hc, our father was
II stronger man in natural ability than
any of his six boye.
The six boys OF the Davenport
family were Charles n, who at the
time Of his death was recognized rs |
one Of the leading lawyers Of tins sec !
ton, Martin Y. of Bernardston, viii |
liam Watson of Leydeu. myself. Ste ,
phen Tabor of West Brattleboro and |
L, II. OF Wilmington.
-Four out Of the number were Jaw
vcrs, and have always supposed that
one reason why we had tendency to-
ward that profession was because of
the litigation INDUCED in by father.
He vas SO unfortunate as to become
involved in bitter district school con
test in Leyden, and while he lived we
heard Law at the tireside morning.
noon and night. The fight was severe
enough TO cat up one Of fathers farms
and leave the other one mortgaged at
his death.
Our mother was Lucy White Day,
export, who before she was married, (
lived on Florida mountain. Like so I
many other New England mothers. she
was noble woman. II any of us have I
lone anything worth remembering il
IS due to her training. /
We were bitterly poor at fathers {
ieath, but our bother with four chill q
Ire under II ycaIg ~ age not only
,hecrfu!ly carried the iuad but also i
lid moro than her share IN caring for b
hose who even had less than We had @
1t makes me laugh TO think of it i
low when l recall that in our boyhood n
lays Wat and had only one dress b
Ip suit in common. We were of r
bout the same size and we took turns o
4 wearing the suit whenever one Of us "
rent out of the town which was not C
cry often. s.
L have been told that Uncle Oliver Il
adj about 5000 when he sold out his Il
otcl in Deerfield. That was co years b
go. he went west and invested in Il
,al estate where the city Of Kaiama- NJ
DO, Mich, now stands. That land =
cited him small fortune. Then he
ad country store there and made
oney in that rapidly. Then he went al
, Chicago and beanie broker and real III
'tate dealer. al
Il have heard him tell Of purchas- IN
lg piece of real estate in Chicago at
I'd paving S25, 900 for it. The people 10
fought him insane, but he sold the
me land five years later for $40, coo III
Speaking of our poverty in Leyden
recall that at one time uncle Oliver
rs coming back to Leyden after he ga
ut been away for number OF years
id mother wished to entertain him. no
e. She needed flour and molasses and Co
= sent Wat to the Leydcn store for CO
e goods. Although her word was as tn
sd as Il bond. the merchant refused wa
trust her Wat had carried a by
sket of eggs. and in return for them ers
brought back the mOlasscs but no
ur the
' Mother was so put out that she inc
led ut tn" man 5 ineanness. f. W. fac
cker, the father of Snow Packer Of ~
eenticld. came 10 the house and saw wi
at mother was in trouble. He found an,
{ what the matter was, came to the
and a barrel OF -four came ord
lis from the storr of S. l.. Shattuck, I
c of the old-timr merchants. and Co
On Uncle Oliver came there was ito
nty TO eat she
I had worked Oh farms Until had owe
ned enough IN attend the academy I
l}ernarustun. and | have felt rich lie
;" since. y contontcd mind is much ing
ter than money. vii
II was in 1859 that | went there. frol
| the principal was Prof. Ward. pan
ic and my older brother. Charles. alst
re- chuns, and he knew or my com I
=, At that time there were % pupils Org
the academy. and when | made my the
t appearance with my trousers near
'iH inches above Tny brogan shoes =,
ri the girls laugh and say to each H.,
er. What greenhorn he is, and ~ ~.
tess they were rot far from right "