St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1907-01-23
At the Willie.
Death of H. B. Davis.

death of H. B. Davis, in his list year.
Heman Barnum Davis was born in
Calais, September 10, 1886, where his
parents resided until he was about 8
years old, when they moved to Mont
pelier. At the age of 10 he began to
work for his board on the farms in the
neighborhood with the privilege of at
tending school in the winter. When only
Is years old he was apprenticed to E.
p. Walton of the Vermont Waterman.
This was in March, 1851, and from that
day until his death, nearly 50 years, he
was in the printing business, being one
of the oldest, if not the oldest, printer in
Vermont. In 1858 he went to st.
Johnsbury to become the foreman of the
st. Johnsbury CALIFORNIAN where he
rendered most faithful service for thirty
years. In the spring of 1889 he came to
this village and established the Lyndon
vile Journal, which paper he printed for
three years and then sold to Bullock &
Wells. Mr.. Davis then moved to Bel:
lows Falls and conducted the job Office
of the Bellows Falls Times. In the fall
of19O2 he sold this business to Dix &
Gobie and Jan. 10, 1908, returned to
this village and leased the job depart
ment of the Lyndonville Journal About
this time he admitted his daughter, Miss
Nellie M. Davis, into the firm and the
business was conducted under the firm
name of H. B. Davis & Co. On Dec. "a,
1908, they opened new job office in the
Masonic block where the business will be
carried on.
Mr. Davis married in 1860 Salle M
Woods of st. Johnsbury and two child
rem were born to them Mrs. Davis and
Miss Nellie Davis are still living. He was
an active member of the Universalist
church and Past Grand of Caledonia
Lodge, No. 6, 10. O. F., and Moose
River Encampment of st. Johnsbury.
While editor of the Journal he took lively
interest in village affairs and it was
largely through his efforts that the Village
Improvement Society was established.
He was a man who made friends with
ev rybody and never failed to seek out
an opportunity to do some act of kind
ness. The funeral was held from his late
home Saturday afternoon and was
largely attended by the townspeople and
by ST. Johnsbury friends. There was a
beautiful display of floral tributes, in
Guiding designs from the Odd Fellows
fraternity. The scripture was read by
Rev. E. G. French, the prayer was given
by Rev. l. w. Mclaughlin and Rev. A.
Francis Walch of St. Johnsbury spoke
appreciatively of the virtues of the de-
h, L., <~f+ 1a 1,a,
and above all his long life of faithful
service to mankind and his maker. The
interment was at the Lyndon Center
cemetery and the bearers were c. NJ
Darling and DR.. F. H. Davis of this vii.
lage, S. j. Hastings of Waterford, 0. H
Henderson of St. Johnsbury, Editor
Arthur F. Stone of the st. Johnsbury
CALIFORNIAN and Editor Charles T. Wal
ter of the St. Johnsbury Republican.
Educational Institute.
The institute under the auspices of the
educational department of the state was
held here Thursday, and the program as
arranged by Mason S. Stone, state
superintendent of education, and c. H
Dempsey of st. Johnsbury, county ex
aminer, was carried out with a few
changes. The public took much interest
in the meetings and there were several
present from the surrounding towns
anxious to hear about the proposed
consolidation of towns for the new
supervision. The principal address Of
the morning was by Clark P. Rowland
the new principal of St. Johnsbury
Academy, upon direct Moral Training
in School" The theme was continued in
the afternoon by an address by Rev. E
G. French upon the special subject
moral Training in the Home" The
rest of the afternoon was occupied by
Supt. Stone, who explained the features
of the new law. Music Hall was fairly
well filled in the evening at the public
meeting and Rev. E. G. French presided
The addresses were interspersed with
both vocal and instrumental music
Supt. Stone was the first speaker and
briefly outlined the object of the meet
ings and made a strong plea tor better
education in the smaller schools. He
was followed by Arthur F. Stone, editor
of the St. Johnsbury CALEDoNIAN, who
made plea for forestry, citing numerous
instances of the ruthless destruction OF
our forests and the necessity of con-
serving this almost priceless heritage.
Hon. E. B. Finn of Springfield was the
last speaker and made an eloquent plea
for new and greater Vermont. Hesaid,
"We must have confidence in our town,
we must have confidence in our business
men, we must have confidence in our
enterprises. The trouble in Vermont has
been want of confidence in our own state
so that men and money have been sent
west. After our investors in the west
had lost their money, they began to
invest at home and the result is that
towns like Springfield are having boom
and it is boom built upon actual pros.
perity and enterprise. We must dc
everything here in the state to keep it
abreast Of the other states, and one
thing which we must do is to teach our
men and women to be selfrespecting
which means our method of education
Our schools must not convey the i'm
preston that manual labor is degrading
for it is not. A healthy man cannot
respect himself unless he will support
himself, and he is not worthy of respect
Some men can support themselves better
by their brains and some better by their
hands, and both kinds of labor are dig
nifed and necessary to life. The way
we can bring about new and greater
Vermont is to stand shoulder to shout
der, work hand in hand, and have con.
idence in each other and rejoice in their
prosperity"
Meeting of the women's Clubs.