The state of Vermont is a place where you can experience American history at its best as it is home to many famous people. Discover the most influential people in Vermont, from well-known celebrities to politicians, philanthropists, actors, writers, educators, and entrepreneurs.
Facts about Vermont
Vermont is a landlocked state in the northeastern United States, bordered by Canada to the north, New York to the west, Massachusetts to the south, and New Hampshire to the east.
It derives its name from the French “montagne verte”, which perfectly describes its green, lush mountainous landscape. Montpelier is its capital.
Vermont is one of the most sparsely populated states in the entire United States. The capital, Montpelier, holds the record as the most sparsely populated state capital on the entire continent (just over nine thousand) and has remained stable over the years.
A boost for its sweet famed maple syrup, the Green Mountain State is also the birthplace of well-known celebrities, politicians, philanthropists, writers, and entrepreneurs. Let’s take a list of the 20 most famous people from Vermont.
Chester Alan Arthur
Chester A. Arthur is one of the most influential people in Vermont. In fact, he is one of the most famous People in the US.
He was the 21st President of the United States, serving from 1881 to 1885. He was born on October 5, 1829, in Fairfield, Vermont, the son of a Baptist minister. As an adult, he practiced law in New York City.
He became known as a skilled public administrator, first during the American Civil War and then as a powerful collector of the Port of New York. Then in 1880, James A. Garfield won the Republican nomination for president and Chester A. Arthur was nominated for vice president.
Four months into his tenure, James A. Garfield was shot dead by an assassin and Chester A. Arthur took over the presidency.
During his three-year tenure, Chester A. Arthur campaigned against New York’s booty patronage system he supported, advocated tariff relief for corporations, and called for tax breaks.
He died of Bright’s disease at the age of 56.
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Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge is also reputed to be among the most influential and famous people in Vermont.
He was the 30th President of the United States from 1923 to 1929. He was born John Calvin Coolidge Jr. on July 4, 1872, in Plymouth Notch, Vermont.
In 1897 Calvin Coolidge was admitted to the Massachusetts bar and due to his reputation as a diligent and diligent attorney, local banks and other businesses began to use his services.
In 1898 he was elected to the City Council of Northampton, Massachusetts, and his political career began.
During the US Presidential election of 1920, Calvin Coolidge was elected Vice Presidential nominee to Warren G. Harding. Calvin Coolidge assumed the presidency on August 2, 1923, after the sudden death of Warren G. Harding.
He was then elected President in 1924. However, despite his growing popularity, he did not run for re-election in the 1928 election.
Calvin Coolidge is known for his strong support for women’s suffrage, the signing of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, which gave US citizenship to the indigenous peoples of the United States, and ushered in a period of rapid and expansive economic growth in the country known as the “Roaring Twenties.” “.
He died of a heart attack on January 5, 1933, at the age of 60.
Damon Wayans Jr.
Damon Wayans Jr. is a young and talented multi-hyphenated member of the renowned Wayans family. He is an acclaimed actor, comedian, author, and among the most famous People in Vermont.
He was born Demon Kyle Wayans Jr. on November 18, 1982, in Huntington, Vermont to Lisa Thorner and actor, producer, writer, and stand-up comedian Damon Wayans. Damon attended the Otis School for Art and Design.
Following in his family’s footsteps, he made his film debut at age 11 in the 1994 film “Blank Man,” playing the role of young Kevin. He appeared in a few small roles on “My Wife and Kids” and landed a permanent job as a writer on the series when he was 20, becoming the youngest permanent writer on television.
Today, he continues to perform at comedy clubs around the country while still plying his trades as an actor and writer.
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Jojo
“Leave (Get Out)” and “Too Little, Too Late” are the hits that launched Jojo’s career and put her on the list of the most influential people in Vermont.
Joanna Noelle Levesque was born on December 20, 1990, in Brattleboro, Vermont. Her childhood nickname and stage name listened to her mother practice hymns and began singing at the age of two.
As a teenager, she topped the Billboard charts and was the youngest solo artist to reach number one. Jojo has also pursued an acting career, making her first screen debut in Aquamarine and R.V.
However, a complex legal battle with her record company, Blackground Entertainment, left her relatively devastated for seven years.
However, in 2014, she was released from her contract with Blackground Entertainment. She then signed a new deal with Atlantic Record, giving her the freedom to release new songs.
Thomas Davenport
Thomas Davenport is an American inventor of a battery-powered electric motor, which served as a prototype for the electric streetcar many years later.
Born July 9, 1802, in Williamstown, Vermont. At the age of fourteen, he was apprenticed to a blacksmith and seven years later he was able to open his own blacksmith shop.
In 1831 Davenport traveled to the Penfield and Taft Iron Works in Crown Point, New York, where Joseph Henry had set up the first commercial electromagnet. He bought an electromagnet and took it apart to see how it worked.
He then forged a better iron core and rebuilt the wiring using silk from his wife’s wedding dress and converted the electromagnetic force into mechanical force. By 1834 he had built his first electric motor.
The next year he used an electric motor to propel a small car around a circular track, the first recorded instance of an electric railway. In 1837 he received a patent for “Improvements in driving machines by magnetism and electromagnetism”.
He also invented an electric printing press (which he used to print his newsletter Electro-Magnet and Mechanics Intelligencer), an electric telegraph, and an electric piano.
Thomas is one of the famous People in Vermont. He died on July 6, 1851. His sons claimed the cause of death was a broken heart after Samuel Morse was credited with inventing the telegraph.
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John Dewey
John Dewey is a philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer who is credited with being a co-founder of the philosophical movement known as pragmatism, a pioneer of functional psychology, an innovative theorist of democracy, and a leader of the progressive educational movement in the United States.
He was born on October 20, 1859, in Burlington, Vermont. In 1879 he graduated from the University of Vermont with a bachelor’s degree. After 1884 he received his doctorate in philosophy from Johns Hopkins University. He then began teaching philosophy at the University of Michigan.
The dominant theme in Dewey’s woks is democracy. As Dewey himself observed in 1888 while still at the University of Michigan, “Democracy and the one, ultimate, ethical ideal of mankind are synonymous to me.”
Before his death on June 1, 1952, Dewey published more than 700 articles in 140 journals and about 40 books. He earned a reputation as one of the famous people in Vermont.
Justin Morrill
Justin Morril, also known as the “Father of Agricultural Colleges,” was a politician and entrepreneur who is remembered today for the Morrill Land-Grant Acts of 1862, which allocated federal funding for the establishment of many of the United States public colleges and universities.
Born Justin Smith Morrill on April 14, 1810, in Strafford, Vermont, he served in the United States House of Representatives (1855–1867) and in the United States Senate (1867–1898) for Vermont.
His 43 years and 299 days of uninterrupted service in Congress at the time of his death in 1898 were the longest in U.S. history. He has since been surpassed, but still ranks 26th as of March 2021 and is considered among the most influential people in Vermont.
Elisha Graves Otis
Elisha Graves Otis was born on August 3, 1811, in Halifax, Vermont. He is credited with inventing a safety device that prevents elevators from falling if the hoist rope fails, making today’s skyscrapers a reality.
As he was cleaning up the factory at the age of 40, he wondered how he could get all the old debris upstairs in the factory.
He had heard of aerial platforms, but they often broke and he was reluctant to take the risk. He and his sons, who were also inventors, constructed their own “safety elevator” and successfully tested it.
Likewise, he also developed a three-way steam valve machine that could switch elevators up and down and stop quickly.
Otis contracted diphtheria and died on April 8, 1861, at the age of 49.
Jody Williams
Jody Williams was born on October 9, 1950, in Rutland, Vermont. She is a political activist known for her work banning anti-personnel landmines, defending human rights (particularly women’s rights), and efforts to promote a new understanding of security in today’s world.
In 1997 she and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines were named co-recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines was formed after Jody spent 11 years doing relief work in war-torn El Salvador. Where landmines were a constant threat to civilians and they were given the responsibility of providing artificial limbs to children who had lost arms and legs.
The Ottawa Convention, signed by 120 states and effective in 1999, will always be associated with the names of Jody Williams and the ICBL.
Ted Bundy
Ted Bundy made it to our list as one of the most famous people in Vermont, in the negative part of history. He assumed the worst and was a serial killer, rapist, and necrophile who was one of the most notorious criminals of the late 20th century and was known for killing at least 20 women in the 1970s.
Born Theodore Robert Bundy on November 24, 1946, in Burlington, Vermont, he was executed in Florida’s electric chair in 1989. His case has since inspired many serial killer novels and films.
Orson Bean
Born in Vermont to one of the founders of the American Civil Liberties Union, Orson Bean grew up to be a popular film, stage, and television actor.
Bean appeared frequently on television game shows and was a founding member of the Sons of the Desert – the international Laurel & Hardy Society. Bean has acted in such films as; As John Malkovich and Miracle on 34th Street.
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Sherman Adams
Llewelyn Sherman Adams, born in East Dover, VT, was a prolific American politician who served as Governor of the State of NH before becoming White House Chief of Staff to President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Nicknamed “The Abominable No Man,” Adams has been said to be perhaps the most powerful chief of staff in history. After resigning from his position, he returned north to NH and founded Loon Mountain.
George Dewey
Montpelier-born George Dewey later rose to the highest position in the US Navy – he was the Navy’s only admiral and served on active duty during the Civil War.
He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War. Dewey played a role in the Battles of Fort Jackson and St. Philip, the Capture of New Orleans, the Battle of Port Hudson, and the Battle of Fort Fisher.
Stephen A Douglas
In addition to serving in the US House of Representatives and as a US Senator, Vermont-born Stephen Douglas is undoubtedly among the most influential people in Vermont.
He ran and lost against Abraham Lincoln as the Democratic presidential nominee in the 1860 election.
Nicknamed the “Little Giant” because of his stature, Douglas was an advocate of the Young American Movement and was responsible for the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Patty Sheehan
Patty Sheehan is an American professional golfer who was born on October 27, 1956. She was born in the town of Middlebury, Vermont. At the age of 13, she was considered one of the best young skiers in the country.
Earl Wooster High School in Reno, Nevada was her alma mater. Joining the LPGA Tour in 1980, she won six major championships and 35 LPGA Tour titles. She was also in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Patty Sheehan & Friends, a Legends Tour tournament, is also hosted by her. This tour supports charities for women and children throughout Northern Nevada.
Henry Wells
The son of a Presbyterian minister in Vermont, Henry Wells was a powerful American businessman, founder of Wells Fargo and American Express, and of course, one of the most influential and famous people in Vermont.
In his 30s, Wells worked as a freight agent on the Erie Canal before founding his own business, Pomeroy & Company, which competed with the United States Postal Service by offering mail delivery services at lower rates.
Joseph Smith
Religious leader and founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), Joseph Smith was born in Sharon Vermont, and published the Book of Mormon at the age of 24. From that point on, Smith attracted thousands of followers, built several cities and temples, and created a new religion.
James Fisk
Born and raised in Pownal, Vermont, James Fisk ran away from home at age 15 and joined a traveling circus before inheriting his father’s peddling business.
Using what he learned at the circus, he was able to dramatically increase the company’s profitability.
Nicknamed Big Jim, Jubilee Jim, and Diamond Jim, Fisk is considered one of the great robber barons of the Golden Age.
By the time he was in his thirties, Fisk was a highly successful NYC corporate executive and stockbroker.
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Wilbur Fisk
Wilbur Fisk, the third child of an English immigrant, was a theologian, educator, and Methodist minister and the first elected president of Wesleyan University. Fisk Hall now stands on the Wesleyan University campus as a tribute to his legacy.
Ralph E. Flanders
Born in Barnet, Vermont, Ralph Flanders is the eldest of nine children raised on subsistence farms. Flanders was an industrialist, mechanical engineer, and Republican Senator from Vermont.
Flanders is best known for leading the motion to censure McCarthy’s grandiose claims that there are large numbers of communist spies within the federal government.
Most Influential People in Vermont |FAQs
Vermont is known for foods like Vermont cheddar cheese, maple syrup, and the ever-popular Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.
That would be Norwich, where half the families earn more than $136,600.
Chester A. Arthur and Calvin Coolidge
A new CNBC report ranks Vermont as the best place to live in America. The business channel used factors like affordable housing, education quality, cost of living, healthcare quality, job opportunities, and environment to come up with the state rankings.
Conclusion
These are some of the famous people who are from Vermont or related in some way to this state. Although Vermont is a state that is known for its architecture, it is also reputed in other fields of endeavors that were inspired, pioneered, or manned by many of her exceptional and influential people.
References
- Famous Vermont People – 50States.com
- Famous People From Vermont – TheFamousPeople
- Top 10 Famous people from Vermont – Discover Walks Blog
- Famous Actors From Vermont | Stacker
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