Horace Henry Baxter Horace Henry Baxter ( January 8 , 1818 — February 17 , 1884 ) was a Vermont businessman who served as Adjutant General of Vermont at the start of the American Civil War and President of the New York Central Railroad . Early life . H . Henry Baxter , the son of Judge Henry Baxter , was born in Saxtons River , Vermont on January 8 , 1818 . He attended schools in Windham and Windsor Counties and at age 15 he became a clerk in a Boston dry goods commission warehouse . He worked in Boston for two years and became a supervisor of employees as the warehouse ' s head bookkeeper . In the mid - 1830s Baxter returned to Vermont , after securing the financing to open his own dry goods store in Bellows Falls . Having extended credit to his customers during the Panic of 1837 , Baxter did not receive timely repayment . He closed the store when he was unable to run it profitably . Business career . Despite bouts of ill health usually caused by overwork , Baxter was a large man with commanding presence . Drawing on these traits and his experience managing employees in Boston , in the early 1840s Baxter bid successfully for the contract to grade rail bed and lay track for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad . Baxter personally supervised his workers , and completed the Rutland and Burlington contract successfully . His success led to construction work for other railroads , including the Western Vermont and Cleveland and Toledo . Baxter then settled in Rutland and purchased the Rutland Marble Company . Baxter operated Rutland Marble in partnership with his brother John N . Baxter and Charles Clement and Sons , which included Percival W . Clement . Rutland Marble employed Redfield Proctor as Manager . Baxter operated a farm on Creek Road . Baxter called his farm Maple Grove , and raised raising cattle , sheep and thoroughbred horses . Baxter also constructed a mansion at Maple Grove , which he called Grove Hall . After his death his home was operated as the Crestwood Hotel until it was demolished in 1945 . Military career . Having served as a Captain in a militia unit called the Rutland Light Guards , in 1859 Baxter was appointed Adjutant General of the Vermont Militia . He took steps to prepare the militia in anticipation of the Civil War , and also served as a Delegate to the Peace Conference that attempted to prevent the conflict . After the war started Baxter was responsible for recruiting the 1st Vermont Infantry , a regiment enlisted for three months ' service . Baxter used his own funds to ensure that 1st Vermont soldiers were equipped and paid prior to departing for service in the Washington , D . C . area , and rode at the head of the regiment as it departed Vermont . In 1861 he relinquished the Adjutant General ' s position in favor of someone with combat experience , and was succeeded by Peter T . Washburn , who had been the Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Vermont and its de facto commander . Later career . After leaving the Adjutant General ' s post Baxter returned to his business interests . He sold the Rutland Marble Company to Proctor , and pursued several other opportunities , including founding the Rutland County Bank . After selling Rutland Marble Baxter resided in New York City and Rutland . An associate of Cornelius Vanderbilt , he was a major investor in the New York Central Railroad , serving as President from 1867 to 1869 , and a member of the board of directors from 1869 until his death . In 1870 he incorporated Rutland ' s Baxter National Bank , of which he was President until his death . In addition to his business association with Cornelius Vanderbilt , Baxter sometimes partnered with Trenor W . Park . Baxter ' s other holdings included large ownership stakes in and / or board of directors memberships with : the Chicago & North Western Railroad ; Emma Silver Mine ; Pacific Mail Steamship Company ; Hannibal & St . Joseph Railroad ; Panama Canal Railway ; Continental Bank of New York City ; and the Pullman Palace Car Company . He also owned a construction company which built most of New York City ' s elevated railway , and was the primary investor in Rutland ' s gas lighting company . Death and burial . Baxter was in increasingly poor health in his later years , and often bedridden . He continued to actively manage his investments until his death in New York City on February 17 , 1884 . He was buried in Rutland ' s Evergreen Cemetery . Family . In 1841 Baxter married Eliza Wales of Bellows Falls . They had no children , and Eliza died in 1849 . In 1851 Baxter married Mary Roberts of Manchester , Vermont . They had two sons , Henry ( 1856 - 1860 ) and Hugh ( 1862 - 1945 ) . Hugh Baxter was one of America ' s first well - known pole vault ers . He held the national title from 1883 to 1886 , and set a world record of 11 ' 1 / 2 " in 1883 . He was beaten only once during his pole vaulting career , which continued until 1895 . H . Henry Baxter ' s brother Algernon Sidney Baxter ( 1819 - 1897 ) was a successful businessman in St . Louis , Missouri and New York City . An acquaintance of Ulysses S . Grant from Grant ' s time as a resident of St . Louis , A . Sidney Baxter served on Grant ' s staff as a Captain of Quartermasters from 1861 to 1862 , resigning because of illness shortly after the Battle of Shiloh . Legacy . The Gaysvile , Vermont Grand Army of the Republic post was named for him . Baxter ' s family contributed to construction of the H . H . Baxter Memorial Library , a landmark which now serves as Rutland ' s Jewish Center . The Baxter Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 .