USA > Vermont > Orleans County > Biography of the bar of Orleans county, Vermont > Part 20
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Mr. Crane does not especially enjoy hard mental work. He is not inordinately ambitious and not at all avaricious, and does not therefore do as much of it as he might if he cared more for the fame or money to be got out of his profession. At the same time few men can think better or more to the point than he can when he sets himself seriously about it. In mere knowledge of case and statute law he is surpassed by several of his brethren, but he has an excellent understanding of general principles and a strong legal sense, and these qualities make him good counsel when he gives a matter his serious attention.
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It is, however, as a trier of questions of fact before juries that he especially excels. As already intimated he is rather indifferent to the reputation and the money to be made out of a lawsuit, and is not, therefore, always seen at his best, unless there is something about the case itself which interests him. When thoroughly engaged, especially if the case is adapted to him, he acquits him- self in a manner which would be creditable in any company. His mind is naturally a methodical one. In considering a case he intu- itively recognizes what will be its strong points and their relations to each other, and when he develops it to the jury he does so in an orderly way, giving special prominence with them to what is spe- cially prominent in his own mind. This quality, combined with an admirable tact in the asking of questions, makes him master of the difficult art of putting in a case, a part which is very often assigned to him, and which he does in less time, with fewer words, and to a much better effect than most lawyers.
He is equally skillful in cross-examination, where he seldom antagonizes a witness, approaching him rather in a manner so con- ciliatory and so approving that the poor fellow really thinks that he is doing admirable service for the party who called him until he happens to notice the uneasiness of the attorney on that side. When everything else fails he possesses the difficult art of casting over the most straightforward testimony an atmosphere of doubt. No matter how honest the witness or how consistent his evidence, the subject of this sketch will manage, whether by the incredulity manifested upon his own countenance, or the insinuating nature of his questions, to leave with the jury the impression that while that fellow may be straight enough ordinarily, there is evidently some- thing in this particular instance which isn't just right.
It is, however in the argument of causes to a jury that Mr. Crane is the strongest. He is not in the common acceptation of that word an orator. His voice is hardly adapted to the addressing of large bodies, and he lacks the passion which sways them. Apparently the business of public speaking is distasteful to him, for he always runs away from an opportunity to make a speech. . Even in the trial of causes he is apt to put the argument upon some associate. Nevertheless, given twelve men in the jury-box, with a case which must be argued and nobody to argue it for him, and the writer conceives that very few lawyers whom he has ever
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As an advocate he confines himself closely to the questions at issue with no attempt at display or effect. With impressive voice and manner, a ready, fluent, effective speaker, a close and logical reasoner, he presents his case with clearness and force. Fair and candid in the treatment of opponents, he is close and searching in cross-examination, and in the analysis of motive and evidence "in which he holds the mirror up to nature."
In the trial of a cause surprises often occur and counsel are placed in trying positions, Mr. Carpenter is capable of making a good fight in a waning cause. But " thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just," and he is only at his best when fully in accord with the dictates of justice and humanity. His mind is broad and deep rather than sharp, his attainments are solid and substantial rather than showy. Well versed in parliamentary law, he excels as a presiding officer, easy, courteous and dignified. Sensitive to criticism, retiring by nature, scorning self-seeking, he is often silent where men of less ability push themselves into prominence. With extensive reading, a retentive memory, a mirthful nature, abreast of current events, he is a social, jovial companion. There is nothing of the hedgehog or mule in his composition. Honest in sentiment, humane in feeling, broad and charitable in view, his sympathies are along the line of public weal and progress, with little of Hamlet's gloomy burden. "The time is out of joint, O cursed Sprite, that ever I was born to set it right." A sound law- yer, a good citizen, a warm and genial friend, he is a generous whole-souled man. And when fully roused few will deny him the meed of one of the ablest advocates at the Orleans County Bar.
ASAHEL M. BURK.
By HON. P. K. GLEED.
A SAHEL M. BURK was born in Morristown in the county of Lamoille, on the 28th day of June, 1823. He was the son of Sampson and Louisa H. Burk.
His father was a thrifty farmer, and one of the early settlers of the town. He was visited with the blessing of a large family, such as are few and fast growing fewer under the false fashion of the day.
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Mr. Burk attended the schools of his native town and the acad- emy at Bakersfield. He engaged in the mercantile business at Morrisville for a short time, but like Lincoln did not make it a suc- cess. He then removed to Kansas, but soon returned to his native state. He studied law with Hon. W. G. Ferrin at Montpelier, and was admitted to the bar of the Lamoille county court at its June term, 1860.
He at once opened an office at West Albany, Orleans county, where he remained only about six months, when he removed to Craftsbury. Here he remained six years, and successfully pursued his profession. In this short time he earned for himself the repu- tation of being an honest, careful, and prudent adviser, and a faith- ful and responsible manager of all affairs entrusted to him by his clients.
The death of his father and the condition of his affairs, and especially the care of his aged mother, recalled him to Morristown, where he has since lived. Mr. Burk, like St. Paul, has never mar- ried, but has been the stay of his aged mother and other members of his father's family. He has for many years held the office of town clerk and treasurer ; has frequently been appointed guardian, administrator and executor, and in all these functions has been faithful to every trust and of great public benefit. He is now the owner of quite a landed estate, and has been rewarded by fortune to quite an extent.
MERRILL JACKSON HILL. By E. A. STEWART.
M ERRILL JACKSON HILL, the son of Samuel and Sophia Norris Hill, was born in Danville, Vt. His father was a physician, and practiced in Danville many years. He died at an advanced age in 1879. Merrill's mother died in 1839 when he was a small boy. Merrill was early thrown upon his own resources, and from the age of twelve years he earned his own living, providing himself with the necessary books for study, and acquiring thereby habits of self-reliance, so essential to one's success in any depart- ment of life. Having prepared himself for college at the academies in Danville and St. Johnsbury, he entered the University of Ver- mont in 1847, and graduated in 1851 in the same class with Mat-
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thew H. Buckham, now president of that institution. The means were mostly earned by teaching during these years, but the fact that he was owing something at his graduation did not appall him. He immediately went to North Scituate, R. I., where he taught one and a half years, thence to Sherbrooke, P. Q., where a more lucrative position was offered him. He remained here, also, one and a half years, and then returned to Vermont with the intention of going West or South, but at the urgent request of a sister who was in precarious health, and who was very dear to him, having encouraged him in his struggles for an education, he decided to remain in his own native state. About the first of September, 1854, he went to Derby, in this county, to take charge of the acad- emy. He remained there six years, though he was not at the head of the academy all the time. He acquired an excellent reputation as an instructor, and probably, if he had desired it, could have secured and filled a permanent position in a collegiate institution with honor to himself. During his residence in Derby he read law in the office of J. L. Edwards, Esq., and was admitted to the bar at the June term of Orleans county court, 1860. He also varied his pursuits by purchasing a farm in the adjoining town of Morgan, and digging in the soil. He worked upon it with considerable ardor for two or three years and then sold it, but the profits did not warrant his engaging further in the real estate business.
An associate and friend of his wrote as follows, at this time, of Mr. Hill's qualities of mind and acquirements as a speaker : The gentleman's language is faultless. He always clothes his argu- ments with an elegance of diction that other speakers would do well to acquire. He has a fine, analytical mind and quick percep- tions, and is therefore ready in debate. He discusses the question in a pointed, logical manner. Indeed he is too logical, or rather he does not introduce that variety into his speeches which may be af- forded by one's knowledge of men and things who has been an ex- tensive reader and observer. He does not reason by comparison, nor enforce his arguments by illustration. In this line he displays more talent than tact. His speeches are, as one has said of Macauly's style in History of England, "a continued pounding of logic from beginning to end." As a lawyer he might make a fair jury advocate, but his forte would lie in arguing cases to the court, where embelishment, though useful, is not so indispensable to suc-
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cess. He would make a good special pleader, his analytical mind being well fitted for the nice distinctions that characterize that branch of the law.
In September, 1860, Mr. Hill opened a law office at West Berk- shire, Vt., where he remained nearly eight years, during a part of the time being in the customs office at that place. In April, 1868, he removed to St. Albans, where he has since resided, continuing the practice of the law; he has also been engaged to quite an extent in the insurance business. Soon after his removal to St. Albans he commenced the erection of a fine residence on an eli- gible street, which he finished to his taste, and thus with a pleasant home, a fair share of business in one of New England's most beau- tiful villages, Mr. Hill is prepared to enjoy the years that indicate the declivity of life.
In December, 1855, Mr. Hill married Jane, the daughter of Hon. Jacob Bates of Derby. She came to a tragic death by her own act in August, 1859, when it was supposed she was recovering from a long and severe sickness. In December, 1861, he married Mary, the eldest daughter of Jasper Rand, Esq., by whom he has two daughters.
MILTON R. TYLER.
T HE subject of this sketch was born in Essex, Vt., March 18, 1835, and is the son of Daniel and Permelia (Farrand) Tyler. He attended the district school and academy, and afterward entered the University of Vermont at Burlington, where he graduated in the class of 1859. Immediately after leaving college he engaged as principal of the Essex Academy, where he remained two years. He entered the office of Anson Soule of Fairfax, where he pur- sued the study of the law, and was admitted to the bar of Franklin county at its April term, A. D. 1860, and soon commenced the practice of his profession at Irasburgh, Orleans county, Vt. He was elected judge of probate for the district of Orleans in 1863, and re-elected in 1864 and 1865. Subsequently he went to Bakers- field where he remained thirteen years, enjoying an extensive and lucrative practice. He then removed to Burlington. He was elected judge of the city court, a position which he held several
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years to the entire acceptance of all, receiving at his last election all the votes cast but three. He is now in active and successful practice at Fergus Falls, Minnesota.
CHARLES I. VAIL.
T' HE subject of this biography, the son of Samuel K. and Mary D. Vail, was born in Chester, N. Y., November II, 1837, and prepared for college at the Seward Institute, Florida, N. Y. He entered Union College, Schenectady, in 1855, and graduated there in 1859. He studied law with Hon. Timothy P. Redfield at Mont- pelier, Vt., and was admitted to the Washington county bar at its September term, A. D. 1860, and at once commenced the practice of the law at Newport with Charles Robinson as a partner. He removed to Irasburgh in the spring of 1862, and continued in prac- tice there until April, 1871, when he removed to Blairstown, Iowa, where he now resides, still in the active practice of the law. December 9, 1861, he married Abbie F. Barnes, daughter of Henry E. Barnes of Stowe, Lamoille county, Vt.
CHARLES WILLIAMS.
C' HARLES WILLIAMS, the only son of Henry and Celynda (Greenleaf) Williams, was born in Derby, Vt., January 26, 1826. He received his education at the common schools and Derby Academy. At the age of twenty-two he married Maria C. Trav- erse, who still survives him, and resided at Derby several years. He then entered the employ of the Fairbanks Scale Manufacturing Company of St. Johnsbury, and removed there, his business of selling and setting up scales taking him to all parts of the United States. Before very long he moved to Melrose, Mass., and from 1851 to 1861 was in the employ of the Fairbanks Company, under the direction of Greenleaf & Brown, their Boston agents. While thus engaged in active labor during the day, his evenings were spent in hard study, being materially aided by Senator Gooch of Melrose in the loan of law and other books. In the winter of 1860 he passed a thorough examination in Boston, and was pronounced
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well qualified for admission to the bar, but as he had not conformed to the law of Massachusetts and rules of the court with relation to the admission of attorneys, he could not be admitted.
In May, 1861, he returned to his native town, and at the June term of that year was admitted a member of the bar of Orleans county, and immediately opened an office at Derby Center, although at the time he was in failing health. He had several cases at the December term of that year, and went to Irasburgh full of zeal for his clients, but was prostrated while there, and was obliged to return to his home before the adjournment of court. He lingered in constant suffering until his death, which occurred March 17, 1862. He was an honored member of the Congregational church. He left to his mourning wife and daughter the heritage of an unsullied reputation, and well-founded hope of meeting them in a land where death is unknown.
JULIUS SILAS DORMAN.
T HE subject of this sketch was born in Waterloo, P. Q., May 23, 1837. His father, Orrin Dorman, was married in Fairfax, Vt., to Miss Julia Swift, and they soon went to Georgia, where they remained two or three years, and then removed to Waterloo, which was the residence of the family some twelve or fifteen years. They then came to Potton for a short time, and from there to North Troy, which was the residence of both the father and mother of our sub- ject until their death.
He received his education at the academy at Granby, P. Q., and at the village school at North Troy, pursued the study of the law at North Troy in the office of W. D. Crane, and was admitted to the bar of Orleans county at the December term, A. D. 1861, and soon went into the office of Gen. William W. Grout at Barton to look after his business in his office, he having enlisted the October previous. June 16, 1863, he enlisted in the 11th Vermont Volun- teers. In October of that year he was appointed corporal of Co. M., and in May, 1864, was promoted to sergeant, and February 16, 1865, made second lieutenant of Co. G., and commissioned as first lieutenant in Co. L., June 21, 1865. Mr. Dorman was discharged from the service June 24, 1865, and soon opened an office at North
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Troy and commenced the practice of law. In 1872 he was appoint- ed inspector of customs with no regular station, doing duty wher- ever directed by the collector of Vermont. In January, 1883, he was appointed consular agent and stationed at Potton, P. Q., which position he has since held.
CHARLES H. FLEMING.
A FTER the most diligent inquiry and thorough investigation with relation to this man, I can only find that he studied law with Jessie Cooper, and according to the records of the court was admitted to the bar of Orleans county at the December term, 1861.
JOHN BARNEY ROBINSON.
T 'HE subject of this sketch was born in Brownington, Vt., Feb- ruary 5, 1838. He was the son of Benjamin Franklin and Nancy (Hayward) Robinson. Jasper Robinson, the paternal grand- father of our subject, moved from Weathersfield, Conn., to Brown- ington early in the history of that town, and was for many years a successful merchant there. He was elected a representative sev- eral times, and served as assistant county judge in 1828-29. When our subject was two years of age his father moved to Barton, which was ever afterward to be his home.
ยท His early opportunities for obtaining an education were few. His father had a large family and was a man of small means, hence young Robinson was confined to the district school and a few terms at Barton Academy. Soon after his majority he commenced the study of law in the office of John P. Sartle of Barton, but in August, 1861, although nearly fitted for admission to the bar, he relinquished his law studies and enlisted in Co. D, 4th Vermont Volunteers. In November of that year he was severely injured in one knee, and soon returned home on a furlough, and June 18, 1862, received his discharge. He never fully recovered from the hurt. Upon his return home on his furlough he immediately resumed his law studies, and was admitted to the bar of Orleans county at the December term, 1861. After receiving his discharge he contracted partnership for the practice of the law with Benjamin
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he mastered it, and is now a proficient French scholar. He subse- quently read law with J. L. Edwards, a prominent practitioner at Derby, paying his way mainly by teaching French, and was admit- ted to practice in June, 1862. This course and outcome is a forci- ble illustration of the power and conquering force of mind and well directed will power in overcoming obstacles which appear to those of less vigorous intellect and decided purpose insurmountable. The same month he was admitted to the bar, he enlisted as a private in Co. E, 9th Vt. Infantry, and was afterward promoted to the cap- taincy of Co. H. of the same regiment, and served with decided credit through all the hardships and severe service which that excellent regiment passed, and was always found at the front, in the thickest of whatever battle or service it was engaged in, which were many and often severe. He was captured at Harper's Ferry, released on parole, and sent to Camp Douglas, Chicago, where he remained until exchanged, when he rejoined his regiment and remained with it until 1864, when he resigned on account of sick- ness and returned to Newport, Vt., and engaged in the practice of law, soon building up an extensive and lucrative business.
About this time he married Miss Jane E. Hinman, the accomplished daughter of Aaron Hinman of Derby, one of the first families in Vermont, and of that good old New England stock, the virtues and morals of which have spread through the West, permeating and elevating the tone and character of the people wherever they find lodgment. Mrs. Bisbee is an estimable, amiable, and interest- ing woman, who presides with dignity over a home of attractive and pleasant surroundings. The elegant and costly residence which Mr. Bisbee has recently built in the beautiful suburban town of Hydepark would grace and ornament the choicest residence streets of Chicago or any other city. The hospitality and good cheer met with there are in keeping with the elegant home, whose hosts are esteemed by their friends and in social circles. They have an interesting and pleasant family, which makes the otherwise attractive home the more attractive.
In 1865 Mr. Bisbee was elected state's attorney of Orleans county, where he lived, and was re-elected in 1867, but soon resigned to accept the position of deputy collector of customs, which office he filled until 1869, when he was elected to the legislature. He was re-elected in 1870. He was an active and prominent member of
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graceful and forcible speaker before a jury or a promiscuous audi- ence. He is an ardent republican, and his voice and eloquence are heard in the important campaigns when the principles of the party are at stake.
He is an affable, genial, and generously endowed gentleman under all circumstances. Clothed with becoming dignity, he is still with- out vanity ; courteous and obliging, but permitting no undue famil- iarity ; painstaking and earnest in the interests of his clients, with fidelity to integrity and honor ; gifted by nature with the sturdy qualities of mind, heart and body, so characteristic of the best New England stock, he has developed and improved them. He is a suc- cessful man as a lawyer a and a good citizen-a man of exemplary habits. He is a self-made man in the fullest sense, and being in the prime of life there is a future of promise before him. He has already illustrated the annals of this state at the bar, in the legis- lature, and in shaping public opinion and sentiment ; a man of force and character, he is liable to make a still further impress on the history of his time.
ELIJAH STRONG COWLES. 1
E LIJAH STRONG COWLES was born at Coventry, Vt., April 30, 1836, and is the son of Seth Fairchild Cowles and Sylvia Strong, his wife, she being the daughter of Hon. Elijah Strong, formerly of Brownington, Orleans county. Young Cowles early obtained such an education as the public schools at home could give, and from there he went to the academy at Brownington. Like many ambitious Vermont boys, he taught school to get means to go on with his studies. The public school in his own district, as well as those in the neighboring towns of Barton, Troy, and other places, were the fields of his labors and successes. He continued his studies in the academy at Peacham, and subsequently took a more advanced course at St. Johnsbury Academy.
While at St. Johnsbury he took the place of principal of the high school, and also, on the invitation of Hon. Ephraim Paddock, he entered his office as a student at law, attending the school dur- ing the day and studying in the office morning and evening. Hard work and long hours were too much for his health, and he was obliged to give up both work and study. Rest and a sea voyage
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LHBisher
, A. J Wilcox, Boston.
6. S. Cowles
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soon restored his health, and after spending some time in the offices of Enoch and Amasa Bartlett at Coventry and Irasburgh he was admitted to the bar of Orleans county at June term, 1862, and entered on the practice of the profession at Coventry.
There being little inducement for a lawyer to remain in that town, Cowles removed in 1866 to New York City, where he was soon admitted, and entered at once into a fair practice. Becoming interested in business on the Jersey side of the river, he removed his office across the river, and afterwards went into partnership with Washington B. Williams, one of the foremost lawyers in that state, and the firm of Williams & Cowles is now one of the best law firms in that large city. Mr. Cowles is a republican, and usu- ally takes an active part in the national campaigns in that city, and stands well as a popular public speaker. He is identified with the charitable and religious movements of the city, is one of the trustees of the Children's Home, president of the County Sunday- school Association, and in 1884 he was sent by the State Sunday- school Association to represent the state in the international convention at Louisville, Ky. Mr. Cowles seems to have been suc- cessful as a lawyer, as a citizen, and as a man.
GEORGE D. WYMAN.
T HE subject of this sketch was born in Chelsea, Orange county, Vt., June 18, 1828, and is the son of Daniel and Anna (Wil- son) Wyman, the former of whom was of Scotch and the latter of Irish descent. The Wymans came to Massachusetts in the year 1622. The Wilsons were living in Chester, N. H., as early as 1725. The immediate family of our subject were from Lee, Oneida county, N. Y., where the paternal grandfather, Samuel Wyman, died.
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