USA > Vermont > Orleans County > Biography of the bar of Orleans county, Vermont > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26
" One morn a Peri at the gate
Of Eden stood, disconsolate," etc.,
162
BIOGRAPHY OF THE BAR
as anything else. It was doubtless a misfortune that he was held to life by an uncommonly brittle thread, especially in his earlier years, but it was what was required to develop just the man he is. Fearing to confine himself to his office, and reluctant to remain idle, he has devoted considerable time to building residences, which he has done with such skill, taste and economy, that while it has been a pastime and physical restorative, it has been profitable men- tally as well as otherwise. He often boasts in a modest way of his architectural and agricultural attainments. His enterprise in this direction has not been narrow or selfish, as evidenced by his inter- est and active services in building and maintaining the Derby Academy, the state library building, as a member of the com- mittee on its location, and in the planning and erection of the new court-house at Newport. But I forget that I am to write of him as a lawyer, who accomplished much in life, and of whom I am expected to write truthfully and to estimate him according to my best judgment and ability, for history should be truth or silence.
But this much is fact, that he loves the purities of law and regards it as among the very highest orders of science. He has come to be possessed of a legal mind among the finest in the state, and has been identified with some of the most important litigation therein.
He has drawn that "brief" into as huge a volume as the bright- est hopes could ask.
He was married December 11, 1847, to Miss Elizabeth C. Brigham, daughter of Silas Brigham of Brownington. Having no children of their own, they adopted Nellie L. Dorman when she was about eight years of age, constituting her a member of their family by the name of Nellie. Thus has his success been crowned with most fortunate and harmonious domestic relations.
May he long continue to grace and enliven that bar of which he is one of the eldest and most honored members.
Palmam qui meruit forat.
163
ORLEANS COUNTY, VERMONT.
WILLIAM M. DICKERMAN.
By HON. JOHN L. EDWARDS.
W ILLIAM M. DICKERMAN was born in Burke, Vt., August 13, 1820. Soon after his birth his father, Dr. Dickerman, removed to St. Johnsbury, where he resided till a short time before his death, which occurred at his daughter's residence in Keene, N. H., in 1869.
Here at St. Johnsbury William M. received his common school education. In the fall of 1837 he became a student at the New- bury Seminary when that institution was in the height of its use- fulness. At this time the institution numbered very many advanced students, large numbers of whom were annually fitted for college under the instruction and supervision of the Rev. Charles Adams and the Rev. Osman C. Baker, afterwards Bishop Baker. Among this large number of accomplished scholars, none gained a more enviable reputation than young Dickerman. He was a hard worker and very soon stood among the first in his class. It was difficult to tell in what particular branch of learning he most excelled, for he was uniformly excellent in all. He had a great natural talent for debate, and at this institution he cultivated it assiduously. His voice was naturally very heavy and bordering upon harshness, but there was a power in it, which, backed up by logical ideas, never failed to interest and convince his hearers. In these scholastic debates he shadowed forth the coming man.
Mr. Dickerman remained at this institution, except during the winter season when he was engaged in teaching, until the summer of 1840 when he entered the University of Vermont at Burlington. Although as a scholar he was rarely excelled, yet his mind was constantly reaching out for something practical. He seemed anx- ious to get out into the practical business world, and stimulated doubtless in this direction by his meager finances, he severed his connection with the institution in 1841 and immediately entered upon the study of the law which he had long contemplated. He entered upon the study of the law in the office of the late Stoddard B. Colby at Derby, and after the usual course was admitted to the bar in 1843. After that Mr. Dickerman practiced law on his own account in Essex and Caledonia counties till the fall of 1845, when he entered into partnership with John L. Edwards at Derby, Vt.
164
BIOGRAPHY OF THE BAR.
This partnership continued for a little over two years when it was dissolved, and Mr. Dickerman opened an office at Coventry, where he married Eunice D. Boynton of that town, November 21, 1847.
Mr. Dickerman had quite a taste for agriculture and at one time came very near leaving the practice of law and taking up agricul- tural pursuits. But his numerous clients would not allow him to do this. His services as a lawyer were in too great demand. More business came than he could well do, and eventually his arduous endeavors to serve all his clients broke down a naturally vigorous and strong constitution.
Mr. Dickerman was a representative from the town of Coventry in the legislature in the years 1849 and 1850. He held the position of assistant secretary of the senate in 1851 and 1852. He was elected by popular vote state's attorney for the county of Orleans in 1852 and 1853.
As a lawyer Mr. Dickerman always took a broad view of his cli- ent's cause. He disliked to be trammeled with technicalities. He readily saw and appreciated the strong equities of his case, and brought everything to bear in that direction. His great knowledge of human nature, with a large practical knowledge of every day affairs and a strong instinct for the right, made him a most formid- able competitor before a jury. His great talent for debate, mani- fested in his school-boy days, showed itself admirably in after years before the jury.
At the time Mr. Dickerman came to the bar the legal profession in Orleans county stood very high, and no man could take a posi- tion at that bar without earning it. His competitors were such men as Judge Timothy P. Redfield, Stoddard B. Colby, E. G. Johnson, Charles W. Prentiss, John H. Kimball, Samuel Sumner, Judge Paddock, N. S. Hill and Jessie Cooper, while from abroad were Judge Poland, Benjamin Smalley and Thomas Bartlett, and many others worthy of note. These all stood in advance of the young lawyer when he came to the Orleans county bar. It was not long, however, before Mr. Dickerman found himself side by side with these learned gentlemen in the advocacy of causes.
He threw all his energies into his case and really sacrificed him- self for the cause of his client.
As a debater in the legislature Mr. Dickerman had few equals. He maintained a commanding influence in the disposition of the
165
ORLEANS COUNTY, VERMONT.
business, and created a wide circle of acquaintance throughout the state, by whom his early death was greatly lamented.
In 1854 his health gradually gave way to such an extent that he abandoned business entirely, and about 1857 removed to Manches- ter, N. H., where he died on the 14th of April, 1859. His remains now repose in the family burial ground at St. Johnsbury, Vt.
CHARLES H. PARKER.
By W. H. PARKER.
C HARLES H. PARKER was born at Cambridge, Vt., about the year 1825. He was the son of Maj. Thomas Parker, a man of more than ordinary ability. He obtained his education at the common schools of his native town. After he attained his majority he studied law with Samuel Willard, Esq., at Morristown, and commenced practice at North Troy, Orleans county, Vt., where he remained in active practice until August, 1847, when he removed to Janesville, Wis., and from there to San Francisco, Cal., where he now resides, and there entered into a law partnership with F. Waterman, formerly from Johnson, Vt. Mr. Parker is an able and well-read lawyer, and his practice and speculations have been very remunerative, and it is understood that he has amassed a large fortune.
H
WILLIAM T. BARRON.
A BOUT the early history of the subject of this sketch I have been able to learn but little, except that he studied law in Derby, and was admitted to the Orleans county bar in 1844, and commenced practice at Irasburgh, Vt .; that he removed from there to Guildhall, and was in active practice there until about 1850. According to the Vermont Historical Magazine he was state's attorney for the county of Essex for the years 1845 and 1846. About 1851 he removed to Chicago, Ill., and went into partnership with Paul Cornell, and continued in practice with him until 1856, when he severed his connection with Cornell and formed a partnership with a man by the name of Rogers. In 1857 he was elected judge of the county court, and continued in office until the time of his
22
166
BIOGRAPHY OF THE BAR
untimely death, January 18, 1862 .. He was killed in a collision between trains on the Illinois Central Railroad at Hydepark, at the Kenwood station. Of his attainments as a lawyer and judge Paul Cornell of Chicago, his old partner and a prominent lawyer, says : " Judge Barron became a man of extensive influence, and was very highly esteemed by all who became acquainted with him. His legal ability was of a high order, and tended rather to the bench than as an advocate. His integrity was above reproach, a man of great industry, and had he lived would doubtless been one of our most eminent judges. Too much cannot be said of his ability as a methodical, conscientious lawyer."
OLIVER TAYLOR BROWN.
By HON. JONATHAN ROSS.
O LIVER TAYLOR BROWN, the son of Elisha and Mehita- ble Brown, was born at Waterford, Vt., June 2, 1817. Besides at the common schools, he attended several terms both at Lyndon Academy and at Newbury Academy. He studied law first with J. D. Stoddard, Esq., then of Waterford, and subsequently with Judge Samuel Prentiss at Montpelier. While pursuing his academic and legal studies, he taught in the common schools several terms, and acquired the reputation of a successful teacher. He was fond of music, a very good singer, and violinist. He was admitted to the bar at its June term, A. D. 1844. Soon thereafter he commenced the practice of his profession at Coventry. While there he mar- ried Harriet, the daughter of Rev. Drury Fairbanks of Littleton, N. H. He moved from Coventry to East St. Johnsbury in 1848. While at Coventry his wife died, leaving an infant daughter who died at East St. Johnsbury just as she was ripening into woman- hood. Her death was a severe blow to Mr. Brown. He married for his second wife Miss Bean of Coventry, by whom he had sev- eral children. While at East St. Johnsbury he had quite a practice in Caledonia and Essex counties. He was a good counselor and a fair jury-trial lawyer. He had a good legal mind. He was never strong physically, and was not able to endure as much hard labor in the practice of his profession, or otherwise, as most men. In 1872, wishing to furnish his children better educational advantages,
167
ORLEANS COUNTY, VERMONT.
he moved to St. Johnsbury, where he died March 13, 1881, at the age of sixty-four years. Most of the time while he lived at St. Johnsbury his health was very poor. He lost, in a great measure, his voice. He still continued the practice of his profession to the extent his health would allow. Mr. Brown was possessed of a kind of dry wit, which on occasions amused his brethren and the court. On one occasion, while reading an authority to the supreme court, he was interrupted by the presiding judge with "Mr. Brown, you need not trouble yourself to read further from that authority. The court are entirely familiar with it." To which Mr. Brown instantly replied, "Please your honor, I was not reading to familiarize the court, but myself with the authority." Again, a presiding judge in the county court had come down on Mr. Brown pretty severely dur- ing the closing business of the term, and was himself in great trib- ulation for fear he should not get away in time to take the train, and was giving full expression to the fear that he might miss the train. As he was hurrying out of the court-house, Mr. Brown turned to his brethren with the remark, "I hope he wont get left." Mr. Brown always believed in, and was faithful to his clients. They could hardly be in the wrong because they were his clients. He was very fond of his children and did all he could to give them a good education. With a large family and poor health he never acquired much property. His son, Edward D. Brown, now a suc- cessful lawyer and real estate agent at Minneapolis, Minn., he assisted to fit for college at the St. Johnsbury Academy, and after- wards to take the full collegiate course at Dartmouth College. His two surviving daughters graduated at the St. Johnsbury Academy. The widow and one unmarried daughter are with the son at Minne- apolis. The other daughter married Edmund K. Houghton, the son of Dr. Arvin Houghton, a native of Lyndon, Vt. They reside with his father at Charlestown, Mass.
B. W. POOR.
W. POOR came to Glover in 1844. He was a young man
B. . and had no family. He remained less than a year, and then went to Johnson, Vt., where he remained but a year.
168
BIOGRAPHY OF THE BAR
ELKANAH WINCHESTER.
E LKANAH WINCHESTER was a native of New Hamp- shire, his parents living at Westmoreland. In 1842 or 1843 Mr. Winchester came to Glover with Daniel Gray, and soon after he came, commenced the study of the law with Hon. Timothy P. Redfield at Irasburgh, and was admitted to the Orleans county bar June 28, 1844. He was very soon taken sick, and died at the house of Olim Gray in Glover, the same year.
NATHANIEL SAUNDERS CLARK, 2D.
By HON. JACOB M. CLARK.
T' HE subject of this biography was born in Barnet, Vt., August 5, 1820, and died at Junction Grove near Chicago, Ill., April 18, 1866. He was a son of Rev. Jacob S. and Sally (Merrill) Clark, his ancestors being of revolutionary stock. His grandfather, Nathaniel S. Clark, was taken prisoner near Burlington, Vt., in Montgomery's expedition, afterwards exchanged, and rejoined his regiment. His maternal grandfather was quartermaster of the day at Bunker Hill ; both served until the end of the war. Mr. Clark early acquired an exceptionally good common school education, and then at the Brownington, Orleans county, Academy, under Rev. A. L. Twilight, he gained a sufficient knowledge of languages and the higher branches to qualify him for professional study. He studied law with Jessie Cooper at Irasburgh, Vt., and was admitted to the bar of the Orleans county court July 3, 1845. Hc commenced practice in Brownington, but soon moved to West Charleston, where he practiced until 1848, a part of the time associated with now Hon. John L. Edwards, who was at Derby Center.
In 1848, after the death of his first wife, he closed his law office, and commenced engineering under his brother Jacob M. Clark, continuing with him until the close of 1849.
In 1850 he superintended the construction of some important works for the Vermont & Canada Railroad ; then opened an office at Milton, Vt., but afterwards moved to Burlington, and went into the office of Hon. William B. Peck. While residing at Burlington he superintended, as engineer, the erection of the Pioneer machine shop company works.
.169
ORLEANS COUNTY, VERMONT.
In 1853-4 he was engineering with his brother in Lower Canada. Early in 1856 he went to Junction Grove (then Chicago Junction), and became agent at that point for the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad and postmaster and magistrate of the place, which positions he held until his death. Mr. Clark would espouse no cause as a lawyer unless founded in right. His judg- ment in seizing the key point of a case, irrespective of details, was quick and sound. He was social, genial, generous and brave. He was an excellent engineer and skillful artisan. He was an able and effective teacher, when so engaged, as many in the county will remember, and always fond of conducting affairs where men were organized to do effective work. In the administration of affairs intrusted to him he was uniformly prompt, energetic, faithful and exact. He left the record of a valued official, and worthy citizen.
EBEN A. RANDALL.
E BEN A. RANDALL, the third child of William and Debo- rah (Kate) Randall, was born in Greensboro, Vt., November 15, 1818. He was educated at the common schools, and attended the academies at Burlington and some other places. He studied law with James Bell of Walden, and Bliss N. Davis of Danville, and was admitted to the bar of Orleans county January 1, 1845, and at once commenced the practice of his profession at Greens- boro. He was elected representative for the town of Greensboro in 1850, and deceased at Montpelier during the session at the age of thirty-two years. He was a member of Caledonia Lodge of Odd Fellows. He was married July 20, 1844, to Nancy Web- ster of Greensboro.
ISAAC N. CUSHMAN.
By HON. T. P. REDFIELD.
I SAAC N. CUSHMAN, being a member of the bar of the county, was long the clerk of the court, and it is fitting that his name should have conspicuous place on the more permanent records of the bar of the county. He was born in Woodstock, Windsor county, March 24, 1821. His father, bearing the same name, was
170
BIOGRAPHY OF THE BAR
a lawyer, and a leading and one of the most distinguished advocates of the bar in the state. The family soon moved to Hartford in the same county, and owned and carried on a farm as a family home- stead. In 1837 Mr. Cushman became a member of Capt. Par- tridge's Military School at Norwich, Vt., and in June, 1838, he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, and remained a member of the school until July 1, 1840. During that time Grant, Sherman, and many of the distinguished generals on both sides in the late civil war were cadets in that institution, of whom he often spoke during and since the war. While at West Point he found a sum of money which had been accidentally left or lost ; it was advertised and the owner could not be found, and after the search for the owner proved vain he invested the money in lem- ons, and invited in "the boys ; " among his guests of " the boys" was Grant. Mr. Cushman's standing at West Point was very good, more especially in mathematics. He taught district school several winters at Hartland and other places, and in 1842 he taught a select school for about one year, and his spare time he employed in reading law in his father's office. He went to Milwaukee, Wis., and practiced land surveying which he learned at West Point, in which he was proficient.
His father's death in 1843, called him home, when he purchased the old homestead burdened with a mortgage of $1,400, which he essayed to pay off by school-teaching and support a family of inva- lids, which proved impracticable. In 1845 he resumed the study of the law in the office of Judge T. P. Redfield at Irasburgh in Orleans county, and was admitted to the bar January 2, 1847, and went at once to Glover and opened an office for the practice of the law. In 1849 he was elected representative to the legislature from the town of Glover, and during the session of the legislature he was elected judge of probate for the district of Orleans, and at the close of the session he removed to Irasburgh, where he resided until his death, September 29, 1881. The honorary degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him in 1852 by the Vermont University. When the constitution of the state was changed in 1850 making officers elective, he was elected judge of probate, and continued to hold that office until March, 1854, when he was appointed cashier of the Bank of Orleans, situated at Irasburgh, and held that position until he was elected clerk of the court of that county in 1861,
I71
ORLEANS COUNTY, VERMONT.
which he held until his death. He was also at that time elected county treasurer, which he held the like period of time. Mr. Cush- man was elected representative to the legislature also from the town of Irasburgh, also senator from the county of Orleans, and many other offices of trust and responsibility, and had the full con- fidence of the people. He was married to Miss Sally Geddes, May 13, 1855, and had three children, two of whom survive him.
Mr. Cushman was a natural scholar, and was not the ordinary and common type of men. He read with relish all the British classics, and his mind was fully stored from Addison, Goldsmith, Sterne, Steele, Johnson and Burke. He was more familiar with the English classics than any other member of the bar in the county. He had what Byron said of Sheridan,
" Wit, poesy and mirth, That humble humorist of care on earth."
His wit was spontaneous and never used to wound any one, but genial and kindly. We remember at the February term next before his death, in trying a case to the jury, counsel inveighed harshly against his adversary, and deeply stirred his Irish blood. After the court adjourned the offended Irish advocate met the offender in the clerk's office, and called upon him to retract and apologize. He repeated and affirmed the offensive language. Boiling with wrath the stalwart offended advocate advanced towards the offender, reaching out with the great muscles of his arm at full tension, say- ing, " You miserable, lying dog, I will throw you through the window." "Hold !" said Cushman, "I shall object to that in this inclement season." The howling north wind beating furiously against the window panes with a thermometer below 25 ยบ Fahrenheit, was too suggestive, and averted the scene of the great north window in the clerk's office in the court-house, being shivered to atoms, and the impudent advocate struggling amid the debris of broken glass and window-sashes, to save life. Mr. Cushman, from a constitu- tional habit, was modest, reticent, and even bashful. It required the " stirring him up" to disclose the gold and gems that were in him, and that would open the generous treasure of his careful read- ing of the best English authors. Here he was ever rich, and enter- taining in social life and as a companion. He held all the public offices that the town and county could give, and everybody was his friend. The next session after his death the bar of the county
Buster
A.C. Milan,
1
ORLEANS COUNTY, VERMONT. I73
surely be reached in his absence, thus enabling the other side to have everything their own way ; but just before it was "too late" Wilson would always be on the ground with every witness in line. His business from the first was a successful and profitable one. His cases were always well prepared and thoroughly tried. He always acted on the maxim that " good testimony makes a good case," and seldom, if ever, found himself a witness short. Since he went to reside in Troy no considerable legal controversy has arisen in that part of Orleans county known as The Valley, in which he has not taken a part.
His business from the first was remunerative, and possessing a natural taste for farming he has put largely of his accumulations into real estate. He also has a taste and capacity for traffic, as his profitable transactions in real estate and almost every kind of per- sonal property fully attest. Mr. Wilson was for many years the agent of George Atchinson of London, England, in the care and sale of large tracts of land owned by him in Orleans county, and until said lands were all disposed of. Enterprising and public- spirited, Mr. Wilson has always taken a lively interest in all the public improvements of his town and county. He was one of the active promoters of the South-Eastern Railway, and was the attorney of the late Col. A. B. Foster while manager of that road.
He was also actively engaged together with Hon. William G. Elkins, Col. O. N. Elkins and John W. Currier of Troy, and Hon. Luther Baker of Richford, and the late Lucius Robinson of New- port, in the construction of the Missisquoi & Clyde River Railroad, and, from its organization, has been one of the directors in that company. Mr. Wilson has been repeatedly honored by the confi- dence of the people of his town and county.
He was elected state's attorney for Orleans county for the. years 1855 and 1860. He was representative from his town for the years 1863 and 1864, and was senator from Orleans county for the years 1872 and 1874. In the house he was chairman of the committee on claims and in the senate was chairman of the committee on the judiciary.
It is recording what is well known to say that Mr. Wilson dis- charged the duties of all these public trusts with fidelity and ability.
Mr. Wilson was married to Miss Mary Ann Porter on the 22d day of October, A. D. 1850, just three years, to a day, from the time 23
I74
BIOGRAPHY OF THE BAR
he opened his office in Troy ; and now in 1886 Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are able to say that in the whole town of Troy there are living at this time but three other married couples who were living in town at the time of their marriage.
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have had four children, two of whom are living.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.