The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1916-03-03
A NATIVE OF BARRE.
A. {. Dodge Won Position and Wealth in
Monroe. Wis.

|. The Monroe (Wis.) Times of Feb. Il
contains an appreciative sketch of A. G
Dodge, native of Barre, who died II
Monroe Feb. H. The sketch is as fol
lows;
: Many expressions OF sorrow were TO b'
heard ON all sides last evening with the
announcement that A. c. Dodge, the old
est business man in Green county, had
passed away. Death was due to heart
failure from which the deceased had suf'
} fered for the past few weeks. Up TO this
illness he had never lost time from his
office, daily giving attention to his large
interests.
The funeral will be held on Thursday
afternoon at 1880 from the late home,
SOB West avenue, and will be in charge
of the Odd Fellows, with which frater-
nifty the deceased was for many years II
member, Rev. N. Il. Mclaughlin, of the
Universalist church, will preach the ser
mon.
At Barre, Washington county Yer
mont, A. G. Dodge was born November
o, 1894, being therefore little over
eghty-one years of age. He was a son
of Joseph and Lorenda (Thompson)
Dodge, who spent all of their lives in the
Green Mountain state.
| Up to the age of twenty years, Mr..
Dodge lived ON the home farm and con
tributed his labors TO its cultivation, in
the meantime availing himself of the adj
vantages of the common schools. He also
took course in the Barre academy. In
the fall of 1854 Mr.. Dodge decided to
leave the old homestead and to seek new
er opportunities in the West After a
short time spent in Chicago he came up
to Wisconsin and joined the engineering
crew at which his brother was engaged
on what il now the Chicago, Milwaukee
& st. Paul railroad. He also found en-
ployment in bridge building and spent
several years as a teacher, being for
three years teacher in the village |
schools of Monroe. Later he looked after |
his brothers planning mill in Monroe and |
in 1865 just half century ago, he en- |
tered the lumber business in this city, in |
which he had continued interested until |
his death, being the oldest business man /
in the city.
During the fifty years in which Mr..
Dodge had been identified with the bus
mess interests of the city he had taken
a leading part in all which was for the
best interests of the city. Practically i
every phase of community activity has
felt the influence of Mr.. Dodge. While
busy man all his career, his many inter-
ests absorbing his time and energy, he
has never lacked that public spirit 50 es
sential to the continued welfare Of any
democratic community. In addition to
his local activities in Monroe he owned
and operated a farm since 1884, a place
of $40 acres, in Monroe township. His
farm was essentially known for its high
grade livestock, and in many respects it
was q model place, being a source OF
pride and profit to the owner
Mr.. Dodge was for twenty seven years /
a member of the Monroe board of educa h
ton. With the exception of but five q
years he was the president OF the board. a
Eight times he was elected member Of o
The county board Of supervisors Of Green o
,ounty, and five terms he served as the a
chairman of the board. In 1877 he was l.
of the building committee I
which purchased the present county farm 8
md erected its excellent buildings, now v
as one of the best in the state t
N 1886 he was chairman of the commit RI
zee OF the board of supervisors which
rected the present insane asylum of the
ounty, an institution of superior type.
n 1890 Mr.. Dodge was chairman of the
ounty committee which secured plans II
or the present beautiful courthouse, and
vas secretary OF the building committee
upervising the construction of the build
ny. While president of the school board, =
fr. Dodge took the lead and really be- Il
anne instrumental in establishing the oil
ionroe public library in 1872. r.
Mr.. Dodge became of age in 1855
hat was one of the crucial years in the =.
official history of America, and in 1856 ?
he Republican party first entered the :,
ational field with candidates for the of -
ces of the national government. Mr.. -
lodge voted for John c. Fremont in ~
nat year. and has voted for every Re- :. -
ublcan presidential candidate down to - -
William Howard Taft in 1912. He has -
cen more than a voter, has also been -.
rominent in the councils of his party in
Tisconsin. He served two terms in the
wer house of the state legislature, be- =,
g elected in 1898 and again in 1900, In a.
$50 he was an alternate delegate from -,
to the national convention in IN
hieago which placed in nomination
lmes A. Garfield as the standard bearer -
the party, and in 1888 was a presi- -
initial elector from Wisconsin, casting
ballot which contributed to the placing
Benjamin Harrison in the White
ouse.
November 4, 1860, the marriage of Mr..
odge and Miss Sarah f. Kidder was
To them was born three
il1ren, Charles Sumner Mrs. Flora +.
zach, and Lewis, who was killed in an
cident in 1911. and who for several
airs previously had been secretary aud I
easurer of the Dodge Lumber Co. Mrs. /
'dge died of pneumonia, April 10, 1911.
The Dodge Lumber company, ffty-one
ars under the personal management of Z
r. Dodge, who remained in the retail
mber business longer than any other
IN in the state and was longer in bus c
.ss in Monroe than anyone else here,
II be continued according TO division of
.erests made by him with his son.
aries S. Dodge becomes president, a
andson, Laroy Dodge, secretary. and
lighter, Mrs. Flora Dodge Drach, treas