Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1905-12-22
General Ripley Dead.


took place suddenly from apoplexy at his
home in Rutland on Saturday morning.
General Ripley was born in Middlebury |
December 81, 1882 He was of Puritan |
stock and pilgrim ancestry, being a
direct defendant from Joshua Ripley of |
the Massachusetts, colony, who married |
Hannah, daughter of William Bradford,
Jr., deputy governor of the Plymouth |
colony and granddaughter of Governor
William Bradford who came over in the |
Mayflower in 1920. He was the son of |
William Young Ripley, native of Mid |
dlebury who, after making his fortune
as a merchant in South Carolina and
New York city, returned to Vermont
andlwas a leader in the first develop
ment of the marble business, and promi-
nent in business and banking circles in
Rutland, being the president of the Rut-
land County bank from its organization
until his death. General Ripley's mother
was Jane Warren, the daughter of Cen
eral Hastings Warren of Middlebury.
He was engaged with his father in the
quarrying and saving of marble when
the Civil War broke out. He was then
captain of the Rutland Light Guard,
which was one of the ten militia COM
ment of Vermont Volunteers, and be-
came Company X of that regiment He
went to the front with the regiment
May 8, 1861, and served with it through
out its three months term of service,
having his first experience under fire in
the Battle of Big Bethel In November
of that year Lieut.. Col. Mears of the
First Regiment (Berdan's) of U. S. sharp
shooters, resigned and Ripley was APP
pointed lieutenant. colonel in his place-a
position for which he was fitted by his
high spirit and genius of command as
we'll as by his skill as a marksman. He
shared the arduous experiences of the
sharpshooters, being engaged in front of
Yorktown, at or near Hanover Court
House, Gaines's Mill, in front of Rich
mond, in which battle Colonel Ripley
commanded the regiment; at Glendale,
Va, and at Malvern Hill. In this famous
battle, in which the first sharpshooters
especially distinguished themselves,
among other things virtually annihilat-
ing the crack confederate light battery
the Richmond Howitzers,' which az
one of its members said event in a
/ ha t11 20 "a
engaged in beating back Magruder's last
desperate charge on the hill, Col. Ripley
received wound from a bnllet which
shattered the bone of his right leg. He
narrowly escaped amputation and the
wound, which was open for two years.
did not permit his return to active
service in the field. When Vermont
undertook the defense of the frontier
after the st. Adams raid and the State
militia was organized into a division of
three brigades, in 1864, Col. Ripley was
appointed division commander with the
rank of ma jor-general. In 1865 he be-
came the leading partner i'll the firm Of
Ripley Sons, which continued the marble
business upon the retirement of their
father. In 1875 he succeeded his father
as president of the Rutland County bank
and administered the Office with marked
ability and success up to his death.
In 1899 he was elected mayor of the
city of Rutland and gave the city one of
the best administrations in its history.
Though strong republican. as well as a
leading citizen, Gen. Ripley with the
exception above noted) declined to be a
candidate for any office, political or
civic. He was a man of high patriotism,
strong will, great independence Of
thought and action and in his loss Rut-
land loses one of its best men and the
State loyal and valued citizen.
General Ripley was a member of the
Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and
its senior vicecommander, 1928. He
held the congressional Medal of Honor
for distinguished service in the battle of
Malvern Hill, and was member of the
Medal of Honor Legion.
Iu 1857 General Ripley married at
Rutland Cornelia Ann Thomas, who sur
wives him, as does his younger brother,
Gen. E. II. Ripley of New York; two
sisters, Mrs. Julia c. r. Dorr and Mrs.
Charles Z. Parker of Vergennes and
three children, Mrs. John G.. Pease of
Boston, Mrs. Henry r. Dorr of Rutland
and Thomas E. Ripley of Tacoma, Wash
ngton,-Burlingto Free Press.