Sidney Root

Root was born in Montague in western Massachusetts, but early in his life his family moved to Vermont, where his boyhood days were spent in the shadow of the Green Mountains.

Though prevented by reason of his father's limited resources from attending school more than three months in the year, he made the most of his meager opportunities and soon found architecture was the passion of his youthful mind.

He possessed exceptional talents for skillful and accurate designing, but his practical father considering that such an accomplishment was comparatively worthless, refused to encourage it, and so apprenticed his fourteen-year-old son to an indifferent sort of a jeweler who taught him the business of watch-making.

From the date of his return until the time of his death he was one of its foremost citizens and when it was decided to hold the International Cotton Exposition in 1881, Mr. Root was commissioned to visit Europe in behalf of the enterprise where he successfully sold shares in the corporation.

Root was a great lover of nature and he suggested old colleague Lemuel Grant donate land to create a park.