Kenneth Vrest Orton (September 3, 1897 – December 2, 1986) was a writer and businessman who co-founded the

Vermont Country Store The Vermont Country Store, Inc. is an American catalog, retail, and e-commerce business based in Vermont. The company was established in 1946 and is operated by the Orton family. History Although The Vermont Country Store was first opened in 1 ...

with his wife,

Mildred Ellen Orton Mildred Ellen Orton (February 9, 1911 – May 6, 2010) was an American businesswoman and author who co-founded the Vermont Country Store with her husband, Vrest Orton, in Weston, Vermont, in 1946. Biography Orton was born Mildred Ellen Wilcox at a ...

Life

Orton was born to and on September 3, 1897, in Hardwick, Vermont. His family later moved to his grandfather's residence in North Calais. There, he participated in his grandfather's business. He served as a Medical Corps sergeant in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1925, he moved to New York, where he came into contact with H. L. Mencken's ''American Mercury Magazine'', and he worked as a publicist. Over the course of the 1920s and 1930s, he became friends with several authors, including Theodore Dreiser, Sinclair Lewis, and

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloq ...

. In the early 1920s, he went to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. During the 1920s, he developed a friendship with the writer H. P. Lovecraft, and joined a literary circle, the Kalem Club. By this time, he had come to dislike New York. He invited Lovecraft to his family farm in 1928. He wished to return to Vermont, and convinced Lovecraft to join him in his trip. They performed manual labor, and met with other writers. Orton also wrote an article in the ''Brattleboro Reformer'' about Lovecraft. In 1936, he married

. In the 1930s, he settled in

Weston, Vermont Weston is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 623 at the 2020 census. Home to the Weston Playhouse Theatre Company, it includes the villages of Weston and The Island. History Weston was originally the western pa ...

, where he wrote articles and essays for local newspapers. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served in a public relations capacity. In 1946, he bought a former country inn and co-founded the

with his wife on the property. This store serves as both a specialty store and a repository for historical documents and objects related to Vermont. He expressed conservative political views. He died on December 2, 1986, in Springfield Hospital.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Orton, Vrest 1897 births 1986 deaths American business executives American company founders American grocers American male essayists American male journalists American military personnel of World War II American publicists Brown University alumni Harvard University alumni Retail company founders United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army non-commissioned officers