Vermont has more cows than some states have people, and fewer stoplights than a Dunkin' parking lot in Quincy. So you'd figure the list of famous people from Vermont would be short. Nope. The Green Mountain State has turned out two presidents, the guy who made skyscrapers possible, the guy whose name is on half the tractors in America, and a couple of Olympic snowboarders who could fly circles around all of us.
So grab a maple creemee, find a spot on the porch, and meet 12 famous people born in Vermont. A few of them might surprise you, and at least one is going to win you a bar trivia night.
1. Calvin Coolidge, the President Born on the Fourth of July
Calvin Coolidge was born in Plymouth Notch on July 4, 1872, and he's still the only U.S. president born on Independence Day. When President Harding died in August 1923, Coolidge was home visiting the family farm. His father, a notary public, swore him in as the 30th president by the light of a kerosene lamp in the middle of the night. That's about as Vermont as it gets. The whole village is now the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site.
2. Chester A. Arthur, the Other Vermont President
Chester A. Arthur was born in Fairfield in 1829 and became the 21st president after James Garfield was assassinated in 1881. Political enemies spread a rumor that he was really born across the border in Canada, which would have made him ineligible. It didn't stick. Today you can visit a replica of his family's little parsonage at the Chester A. Arthur State Historic Site in Fairfield.
3. John Deere, the Blacksmith Who Changed Farming
Before there were green tractors, there was a kid from Rutland. John Deere was born there in 1804 and learned blacksmithing as an apprentice in Middlebury. He moved out to Grand Detour, Illinois, and in 1837 built a steel plow that could cut through sticky Midwest prairie soil without clogging. The company that grew out of it, Deere & Company, is still one of the biggest names in farm equipment.
4. Elisha Otis, the Reason Elevators Don't Drop
Elisha Otis was born in Halifax, Vermont, in 1811. In the 1850s he invented a safety brake that stopped an elevator from falling if the rope snapped. To prove it, he rode a platform up at the 1854 fair at New York's Crystal Palace and had the rope cut in front of the crowd. The platform held. Without that trick, there'd be no skyscrapers, and his name is still on elevators all over the world.
5. Joseph Smith, Born in Sharon
Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, was born in Sharon, Vermont, in December 1805. His family later moved to upstate New York, where the church got its start. The birthplace is marked by a granite obelisk that's 38.5 feet tall, one foot for every year of his life.
6. Brigham Young, Born in Whitingham
Here's a fun one: the two biggest names in early Mormon history were both Vermonters. Brigham Young was born in Whitingham in 1801. In 1847 he led the Mormon pioneers west to the Salt Lake Valley, and he became the first governor of Utah Territory. So yes, Salt Lake City has a little bit of Vermont in its roots.
7. Admiral George Dewey of Montpelier
George Dewey was born in Montpelier in 1837. During the Spanish-American War, he led the U.S. fleet to a lopsided win at the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, and gave the famous order, "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley." Congress created the rank of Admiral of the Navy just for him, and nobody else has ever held it.
8. John Dewey, the Philosopher From Burlington
No relation to the admiral. John Dewey was born in Burlington in 1859 and graduated from the University of Vermont. He became one of America's best-known philosophers and a giant in education, pushing the idea that kids learn best by doing instead of just memorizing. If you ever did a hands-on science project in school, you can thank a guy from Burlington.
9. Stephen A. Douglas, the Little Giant
Stephen A. Douglas was born in Brandon in 1813. Standing about five-foot-four, he was nicknamed the Little Giant, and he became one of the most powerful senators in the country. He's best remembered for the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates in Illinois. He beat Abraham Lincoln for the Senate seat that year, then lost to him in the 1860 presidential race.
10. Henry Wells, of Wells Fargo and American Express
Henry Wells was born in Thetford in 1805. He helped found American Express in 1850 and then Wells Fargo in 1852 with William Fargo. So the next time you see a stagecoach logo or swipe that green card, remember it started with a guy from a small town on the Connecticut River.
11. Rudy Vallée, Crooner From Island Pond
Rudy Vallée was born in Island Pond, Vermont, in 1901, and grew up mostly in Westbrook, Maine, so both states get to claim him. He became one of the first big pop idols of the radio age in the late 1920s and '30s, famous for crooning through a megaphone. Later he showed up on Broadway and in the movies, including How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
12. Hannah Teter, Olympic Snowboarding Champ
Vermont is snowboarding country, so of course it made a champion. Hannah Teter grew up in Belmont and won Olympic gold in the halfpipe at the 2006 Turin Games, then took silver in Vancouver in 2010. She even got her own Ben & Jerry's flavor, Hannah Teter's Maple Blondie, which is the most Vermont honor there is. Born and raised here and proud of it, just like the folks who rock our Vermont Grown Local T-Shirt.
Honorable Mentions
A few more Vermonters who deserve a shout:
- Thaddeus Stevens, born in Danville in 1792, was a fierce anti-slavery congressman who helped push the 14th Amendment through. Tommy Lee Jones played him in Lincoln.
- Ross Powers of Bennington won halfpipe gold at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
- Orson Bean, the actor and game show regular, was born in Burlington in 1928.
- Thomas Davenport of Williamstown got one of the first U.S. patents for an electric motor in 1837.
Small State, Big Names
Not bad for a state with about 650,000 people, right? Presidents, inventors, admirals and Olympians, all from the land of maple syrup and dirt roads. If you're a Vermonter yourself, wear it loud with a VT Retro 802 T-Shirt. Then keep the trivia going with our fun facts about Vermont, the American firsts that happened in Vermont, and the strange laws Vermont residents must obey.
Know a famous Vermonter we missed? Let us know on our socials. And whether you're from Burlington, Brattleboro or a town with one general store and a church, the Green Mountains are always home.
Stay wicked smaht, Vermont,
Ryan & the Chowdaheadz Crew