By PAUL HELLER For the Times Argus
Provided photo Thaddeus Fairbanks
While promoting the propagation of hemp in 1830s Caledonia County, Erastus Fairbanks and his brother Thaddeus developed an invention that was to create a family fortune, transform the town of St. Johnsbury, and help inaugurate a political dynasty.
Subsequent to promoting the propagation of cannabis sativa, a plant that would, in the next century, be outlawed and classified as a narcotic, Fairbanks was also to become a railroad magnate, founding member of the Republican Party, and governor of the state of Vermont.
Subsequent to promoting the propagation of cannabis sativa, a plant that would, in the next century, be outlawed and classified as a narcotic, Fairbanks was also to become a railroad magnate, founding member of the Republican Party, and governor of the state of Vermont.
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