Stranahan, Farrand Stewart
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MILITARY SERVICE Age: 21, credited to St. Albans, VT Unit(s): 1st VT CAV Service: enl 8/15/62, m/i 9/29/62, 1SGT, Co. L, 1st VT CAV, comn 2LT, 1/5/64 (1/18/64), pr 1LT, 2/28/64 (5/5/64), ADC to Gen. George A. Custer, resgd, 8/28/64 See Legend for expansion of abbreviations VITALSBirth: 02/03/1842, New York, NY Death: 07/13/1904 Burial: Greenwood Cemetery, St. Albans, VT Marker/Plot: Not recorded Gravestone photographer: Kathy Valloch Findagrave Memorial #: 23780745 MORE INFORMATION Alias?: None noted Pension?: Yes, widow Miranda A., 5/22/1908, VT Portrait?: Unknown College?: Not Found Veterans Home?: Not Found (If there are state digraphs above, this soldier spent some time in a state or national soldiers' home in that state after the war) Remarks: None DESCENDANTS (Are you a descendant, but not listed? Register today) |
BURIAL: Copyright notice   Greenwood Cemetery, St. Albans, VT Check the cemetery for location/directions and other veterans who may be buried there. |
Farrand Stewart Stranahan
Biography
STRANAHAN, Hon. Farrand Stewart, the third son of the name of Farrand in three successive generations, was born in New York City, February 3, 1842, son of Farrand Stewart and Caroline (Curtis) Stranahan.
He was educated in the schools of his native city and came to St. Albans in 1859, at the age of 17, which was thenceforth his home until his lamented death, July 13, 1904.
In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company E, First Vermont Cavalry, and in that famous regiment performed notable service. He was successively promoted from first sergeant to the rank of second and first lieutenant, and participated in all of the battles of his regiment until the winter of 1864, when he was appointed aide-de-camp on the staff of General George A. Custer, and served with that brilliant commander until the September following, when he was honorably discharged and returned home.
His first important business position was that of paymaster on the Vermont Central Railroad, to which he was assigned in 1865. From 1867 to 1871 he was a retail merchant at St. Albans, and at the latter date was appointed treasurer of the National Iron and Car Company, later known as the National Car Company, which position he occupied at the time of his death. He became cashier of the Weldon National Bank of St. Albans in 1886, and was made its vice-president in 1892. he was also a director of the Central Vermont Railroad, and of the Chicago, New York and Boston Refrigerator Company, and was vice-president of Missisquoi Railroad and of the St. Albans Messenger Company.
Republican in politics, Colonel Stranahan served as trustee of the village of St. Albans, and represented the town in the General Assembly of the state in 1884. Four years later he was elected to the state Senate. He was trustee of the state industrial school from 1888 to 1892, when he was elected lieutenant-governor of Vermont, a position which he filled with fairness and efficiency.
An able and trusted business man and public-spirited citizen, he promptly and faithfully discharged many local positions of trust and responsibility in his community. In fact he was a man of unusually varied gifts, accomplishments and interest, and his judgment and counsel were constantly sought and freely given.
Possessing a rich bass voice, and musical tastes, he sang in the glee clubs and in the choir of the Congregational CHurch, of which organization he was a member and for several years deacon. He maintained his interest in the military affairs of the state, and was captain of Company D, the well-known "Ransom Guards." He was aide-de-camp and chief of staff to Governor Ebenezer J. Ormsbee from 1886 to 1888.
In 1862 mr. Stranahan married Miranda Aldis, daughter of Lawrence and Fidelia B. (Gadcomb) Brainerd and the two children of this union were Mabel Fidelia, deceased, and Colonel Farrand Stewart Stranahan, of Providence, Rhode Island.
Source: Jeffrey, William Hartley, Successful Vermonters: A modern Gazetteer of Lamoille, Franklin and Grand Isle Counties..., East Burke, Vt.: The Historical publishing company, 1907, pp. 312-313.
Grandfather Farrand Stranahan was born in Cooperstown, New York, in 1778, and was reared and educated there, taking up law as his profession and becoming very prominent in public affairs. During the war of 1812 he assisted in raising a regiment in Otsego county and was then made its colonel. He was a man of fine military bearing, six feet high, of influential personality, and in all respects a model commanding officer. During the war he was taken prisoner by the British and confined in Canada for some time. He was twice elected to the state senate, and was one of the seventeen senators who voted against giving the electoral college to the people. He spent most of his life at Cooperstown and died there in 1826. His wife was Sarah Stewart, born in 1768, and died in 1824, and her father, General Charles Stewart, was commissariat and general of the issues on the staff of George Washington in the Revolution.
The only child of these parents was Farrand Steward Stranahan, who was born at Cooperstown, New York, April 24, 1806, and died in 1845. After he had completed his education in the public schools of Cooperstown he went to New York city when still young and there became a broker, which business he followed all his life, and was very successful. He was married to Miss Caroline Curtis, who was born in troy, New York, 1815, the daughter of Zachariah and Sarah Curtis, and her death occurred in 1843. She was the mother of six children, but the only ones living are Farrand Stewart, and John, the cashier of the Welden National Bank at Saint Albans, Vermont. The parents were both members of the Episcopal church.
Farrand Stewart Stranahan, the third of the name in three successive generations, was born to the last mentioned parents, in New York city, February 3, 1842. He attended the public schools of the metropolis, but when he was seventeen years old, in 1859, he came to Vermont, which was to be his home thenceforth, and in which he was to achieve a high place in public and business life. His first important position was that of paymaster on the Vermont Central Railroad, which he received in 1865; from 1867 to 1871 he was in business in Saint Albans, and at the close of teat period was appointed treasurer of the National Car Company, and he still holds this place. In 1886 he became cashier of the Welden National Bank of Saint Albans and was made its vice president in 1892; he is also a director of the Central Vermont Railroad and was vice president of the Missisquoi road. He is an officer in the National Despatch Line, and vice president of the Saint Albans Messenger Company.
The foregoing remarks will give the reader some idea of Mr. Stranahan's prominence in business life, but throughout his life he has been concerned more or less with the affairs of state and nation. His first great service was performed in the cause of a united government when he was scarcely of age, for it was in August, 1862, the he enlisted in Company L, First Vermont Cavalry. He was successively promoted from first sergeant to the rank of second and first lieutenant, and shared in all the battles of his regiment until the winter of 1864, when he was appointed aide-de-camp to the staff of General George A. Custer and served with that brilliant general until September following, when he received an honorable discharge and returned home. Because of this service he is a member of A. R. Hurlbut Post, G.A.R., of which he has been commander, and is also a member of the Loyal Legion.
Mr. Stanahan's civil record is also worthy of note. He is a Republican in politics and as a representative of that party served as trustee of the village of Saint Albans and represented the town in 1884; four years later he was elected to the state senate, was trustee of the state reform school from 1888 to 1892, and in the latter year received his crowning reward by being elected lieutenant governor of the state of Vermont. Furthermore Mr. Stranahan is president of the Saint Albans Cemetery Association, of which he was one of the incorporators.
On August 26, 1862, Mr. Stranahan was married to Miss Miranda Aldis, daughter of Hon. Lawrence and Fidelia (Gadcomb) Brainerd, and the two children of this union are Mabel Fidelia, deceased, and Farrand Steward. Mrs. Stranahan is prominent in social circles, being state regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution, president of the Needle Work Guild, and is one of the board of managers of the Warner House.
Source: Hiram Carleton, Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont, (The Lewis Publishing Company, New York, 1903), i:306-307.
Obituary
FUNERAL OF F.S. STRANAHAN
Large Number of Friends Gather to Pay Last Mark of Respect.
The funeral of ex-Lieut.-Gov. F. Stewart Stranahan, who died at his home on North Main st. Wednesday morning at 12:45 o'clock after a long illness of cirrhosis of the liver, was held at the Congregational church this afternoon at 2:30 o'clock, and was attended by representatives from every family and household in the city beside many friends of the family from abroad and several organizations including the old Ransom Guards, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, A.R. Hurlbut Post, No. 60, G.A.R., and Bellevue Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. Previous to the funeral a short prayer service was held at the house which was attended by family only. The officiating clergyman was the Rev. John L. Sewall, pastor of the church, and the burial service of the Episcopal church was used. The body was borne by Deacon A.L. Dutcher, Dr. E.A. Hyatt, A.C. Stonegrave, Capt.H.E. Perkins, M. Magiff, and Frank L. Greene. The honorary bearers were Col. R.R. Smalley, and Gen, T.S. Peck, of Burlington, Albert Tuttle, of Fair Haven, and Col. George T. Childs, of this city. The regular choir under the directorship of Dr. John Sheerar, sang the hymns "O Paradise, O Paradise", and "Peace, Perfect Peace". M. D. Greene had charge of the funeral. The burial was in the family plot in the South Main street cemetery. The coffin was draped in the stars and stripes surrounded by the device of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of which the deceased was a member. At the conclusion of the service at the grave, Capt. L.S. Tillotson, who was a bugler in the war with Spain, blew the old familiar army call of "taps" as a last formal token of respect to the dead soldier. The floral tributes were profuse and beautiful. During the hour of the funeral the business places of the city were closed as a mark of respect to the honored citizen
Among persons from out of the city present at the funeral were the Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Ezra Brainerd, of Middlebury, Dr. and Mrs. John B. Brainerd of Boston, the Hon. And Mrs, Julius H. Seymour and Miss Sue Seymour, of New York, Edmond Setymour, of Pelham Manor, N.Y., ex-Lieut-Gov. and Mrs. Nelson W. Fisk, of Isle la Motte, the Hon. Olin Merrill, of Enosburg Falls, Congressman D.J. Foster, Gen. T.S. Peck, Col. And Mrs. B.B. Smalley, ex-Gov. F.A. Woodbury, Edward Wells, H.O. Wheeler, of Burlington, William W. Seymour, of Tacoma, Wash., Mr. and Mrs. Albert Tuttle , of Fair Haven, B.F. Fifield, of Montpelier, Mrs. Levi K. Fuller and Mrs. Kittredge Haskins, of Brattleboro, Mr. and Mrs. W.W. Scranton, of Scranton, Penn., Judge H.R. Start, of Bakersfield, Col. L.C. Leavens, of Richford, Capt. L.E Eldridge, department commander, G.A.R., of Randolph.
Members of the Loyal Legion who were present and participated in the services were: Ex-Gov. F.A. Woodbury, Edward Wells, Capt. H.P. Wheeler, Col. B.B. Smalley, Gen. T.S. Peck, of Burlington, Maj. H.W. Hovey, of Northfield, Col. L.C. Leavens, of Richford, capt. H.E. Perkins, Col. Willard Farrington, Capt. A.W. Fuller, of St. Albans, Maj. J.E. Eldridge, of Randolph.
Source: St. Albans Daily Messenger, July 15, 1904
Courtesy of Tom Boudreau.