The Cyclopædia of American biography.

WELLINGTON

WELLINGTON

House of Representatives, in which he served
from 1890 until 1894. During the last two
years of his term he was Speaker of the
House. Mr. Ammons was elected to the
Colorado State Senate in 1898, and served as
Senator until 1902. Having become a figure of
prominence in state politics, he was nominated
a candidate for the Lieutenant-Governorship
in 1904, and again in 1906, but both times
failed of election. In 1913, however, he was
elected Governor of Colorado, on the ticket of
the Democratic Party, and administered the
affairs of the State until 1915. He is President
of the Farmers' Life Insurance Company, the
Middle Park Land and Live Stock Company,
the National Western Stock Show Association; Vice-President of the Colorado State
Board of Agriculture, the Grand Country
Fair Association; and Chairman of the Agricultural and Live Stock Bureau of the Denver
Civic and Commercial Association. Mr. Ammons is a member of the Grange, Farmers'
Union and the Sons of Colorado. He is a
member of the Democratic, Denver, Athletic
and Lions Clubs. He married, on 29 January,
1889, Elizabeth Fleming of Denver, Colorado.
WELLINGTON, Hiram Bartlett, jurist,
b. in Williamstown, Massachusetts, 12 September, 1840; d. at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 24
December, 1919, son of Harvey and Emeline
(Bartlett) Wellington. He was a grandson of
Eli and Marjorie Rich Wellington and of
Luther and Olive Olds Bartlett. His family
traces its origin to English ancestors, whose
line runs back to the eleventh century. Originally the name was Willington, a baronial
family established in the time of William the
Conqueror. One of the most ancient English
names is that of Sir Ralph de Willington, who
lived in the fourteenth century. His earliest
American ancestor was Roger Wellington,
1609-1698, who was living in Watertown,
Massachusetts, in 1636. He was one of one
hundred and twenty townsmen who shared in
a distribution of land-his portion being twenty
acres of what is now Mount Auburn Cemetery.
In 1657 he bought land in Lexingtop and later
was made one of the selectmen of that town.
His descendants have been prominently identified with the growth of the colonies, and have
been honored repeatedly by 'being chosen to
fill positions of trust and service. Upon the
death of his father, Hiram Bartlett Wellington
with his brother went to Lenox to live with
an uncle, Phineas Cone. He was educated at
Drury Academy, in North Adams, and in
Lenox Academy. At the age of eighteen he
was clerk in the Probate Court under Judge
H. W. Bishop of Lenox, but though he gained
a sound legal training, owing to peculiar circumstances, he did not apply for admission to
the bar until nearly forty years later. In 1861
he was made a deputy-sheriff, and from that
day until his decease, in one capacity or another, he was an active servant of the public.
In 1871 and 1872, he, in company with Josia
Wilcox, established a successful shoe factory
in Pittsfield, but ill 'health overtook his partner, and Mr. Wellington found that his private
business interfered so much with his public
duties that he abandoned the former. For sixteen years from his first appointment, he

served as deputy sheriff, in 1863 he became a
justice of the peace, and was probably the
dean of all justices in Massachusetts. In the
same year Governor Andrews appointed him
a special coroner, and he held that office until
it was changed to that of Medical Examiner
in 1887. In that year he was created a special
sheriff, and continued in that office until 1880,
when he was elected High Sheriff of Berkshire
County. In 1863, also he was made United
States Deputy Provost Marshal. He was for
many years an assistant registrar of probate,
and was frequently called upon because of his
knowledge of law, to be an administrator,
executor, or assignee. He was a man in whom
the public ever reposed confidence, one who
was ever vigilant in protecting the interests of
his district and each citizen in it. In 1871
when the County Seat was changed from
Lenox to Pittsfield, he removed to Pittsfield
and became deputy-jailer, and lent much aid
to the Sheriff then in charge in instituting
prison reform along more modern lines. In
1880 he was chosen High Sheriff. He did not
dispense party spoils, however, but endeavored
to carry out the spirit of civil service. This
produced discontent among office seekers, and
his next election was keenly contested. He
won, however, after a fair fight, and served
a second term. In 1888 he was made Associate
Justice of the District Court of Central Berkshire, a position which he held at his decease.
Judge Wellington was elected a member of
the Board of Public Works in the first City
election in 1891, and on the building of the
Willimansett Bridge across the Connecticut
River he was appointed commissioner to determine how much each town concerned should
be assessed for betterments. He discharged
this onerous duty with rare skill and justice,
and attracted much attention thereby. For
about a quarter of a century he was a trustee
of the City Savings Bank of Pittsfield, for
which he secured the charter in 1893, and of
which he served as treasurer until 1913. He
was then chosen vice-president. Judge Wellington was a great lover of natural scenery.
His tastes were refined, his manner courteous,
and his 'bearing dignified. In his religious affiliations he was a member of the parish of the
First Congregational Church in Pittsfield.
Socially, he belonged to the Park Club, and
served on the Executive Committee of the club
for twelve years. As a member of the Free
Masons he was held in high esteem, belonging
to the Mystic Lodge of Pittsfield, and for many
years was Treasurer of the Eastern Star Lodge
of Lee. Many years of earnest and faithful
service to the City of Pittsfield won for Judge
Wellington wide recognition, generous appreciation and the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens, and in his death they mourn a
good citizen, an honest and faithful public
servant and a Christian gentleman. On 3
December, 1863, Judge Wellington married
Nancy B. Sears, a daughter of Marshall and
Mary Sabin Sears of Lenox, granddaughter of
Luther and Anna Foster Sears and Origen
and Hannah Osborn Sabin, and a descendant
of Richard Sears, who came from England to
Yarmouth about 1630. Mrs. Wellington survived with seven children.

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