USA > Vermont > Orleans County > Biography of the bar of Orleans county, Vermont > Part 21
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Young Wyman's education was obtained at the common schools and the academy at Bradford, where he was fitted for entering col- lege with the exception of Greek. Subsequently he took a full course, and graduated at Comer's Commercial College, Boston, Mass. Upon arriving at majority he went to Boston, and there and at Philadelphia engaged in the business of book-keeping until 1852.
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At that time there being so much said of the rich mines in Cali- fornia he repaired to that state, and engaged in mining until the latter part of 1854, when he came east as far as Minnesota, where he occupied himself in buying and selling real estate until Septem- ber 20, 1860. He then returned to Vermont and entered the Peo- ple's Bank at Derby Line, and at the same time pursued the study of the law with Benjamin H. Steele, and at the June term, 1862, of the Orleans county court, was admitted to the bar.
After his admission Mr. Wyman engaged with Mr. Steele, and continued at work in his office until the spring of 1865. After this, for about two years, he was engaged in mining in Canada. In December, 1867, he was appointed deputy collector and inspector of customs for the port of Derby Line, which office he has held to the present time to the entire acceptance of all. Mr. Wyman is a democrat in politics and has never married.
JOHN YOUNG.
By HON. JOHN L. EDWARDS.
J
OHN YOUNG, the subject of this sketch, was born in Stan-
stead in the Province of Quebec, March 31, 1839. His parents, Alexander and Mary (Drew) Young, were also born in Stanstead, where his father died in 1850 and his mother still resides.
Mr. Young's early education was acquired at the district school, after which he prepared for college at the Stanstead Academy, then under the supervision of John A. Jameson, now one of the judges of the supreme court of Illinois, Gilbert, and Dennison B. Gage. His progress at this institution was rapid and so thorough that he was enabled to enter college in the sophomore class. With a mind thoroughly disciplined under these eminent instructors, he entered the Wesleyan University at Middletown, Conn., in 1857. At this institution his deportment and scholarship gained for him an envi- able reputation. Diligent in his studies and mindful of every duty devolving upon him as a member of the university, he was enabled to rank among the very first of an unusually large class in that excellent institution. Mr. Young graduated at this institution with high honors in 1860.
Mr. Young had, during his whole course of study, contemplated
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the legal profession as the great work of his life, and so tenacious was he of this that he had no sooner graduated than he began to cast about to see how he could accomplish his great purpose. To him it was everything. His limited means had already been exhausted in his college course, but he was in nowise disheartened, his eye was fixed upon the goal, and every obstacle was brushed away as though it were but a feather in a giant's hand.
To accomplish his purpose he engaged as principal of the Derby Academy in the summer of 1860, and continued as such in that institution to the close of the fall term, 1861. He also at the same time commenced the study of the law in the office of J. L. Edwards in Derby, where he spent his time not occupied in the discharge of his duties as principal of the institution. His great powers of endurance and ripe scholarship enabled him to discharge his duties as teacher with fidelity, and still make rapid progress in the profes- sion he had chosen. In these few months he had accomplished in his profession what is usually acquired by the law student in a much longer time. During all this time he had no side issues to distract his attention from the leading idea of his life, and came to the bar admirably fitted for the discharge of its arduous duties at the June term of Orleans county court, A. D. 1862. Here a new era in his life was dawning upon him which required all his ener- gies. He had reached the crisis where more than half who set out in the great work fall behind, languish and perish, and the merci- less waves of oblivion sweep them from their comrades, while the rest remain with firm grasp but with varied success, struggling for the prize that is before them.
At this time the profession in Orleans county was well supplied in numbers and in talent, and there seemed but slight foothold for the young practitioner ; but one who had read law in Orleans county and had become acquainted with the leading members of that bar always felt it a hardship to be compelled to go beyond the reach of its social influence. Such was the feeling entertained by Mr. Young, and he chose rather to accommodate himself to a mea- ger support than to surrender the relations he had cherished at that bar.
With mingled feelings of hope and fear, Mr. Young took up his residence in South Troy in 1862, and there commenced the practice of the law. His scanty means supplied only a small but choice
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library. His library, however, had one advantage over the libraries of beginners generally ; it was well read, and it soon became a for- midable weapon in his hands. At this period our great civil war was raging, and law business was comparatively at a standstill everywhere. Nothing daunted, Mr. Young turned neither to the right nor the left, but kept his eye steadily fixed upon his profes- sion, and in the language of the poet, "Left all meaner things to low ambition and the pride of kings."
Though life with him could hardly supply his daily wants, here, with a small beginning, was laid the foundation of his future suc- cess. Whether business came or not it was all the same, his work went manfully on, and he became familiar with the leading cases and great principles of the common law, which in after years he turned to the very best account, enabling him to do double the business of the ordinary lawyer in the same time.
Being foreign born, Mr. Young was naturalized in December, 1866. In 1867, Mr. Young removed to Derby Line, where he con- tinued the practice of his profession. Here was a wider field for business, and he soon began to reap the benefit of his hitherto laborious life. Mr. Young remained at Derby Line in the success- ful practice of his profession until 1881, when he removed to New- port, where he became a member of the late firm of Edwards, Dickerman & Young. That firm having dissolved in 1886, Mr. Young entered into copartnership with Jerry E. Dickerman, under the firm name of Dickerman & Young.
Although Mr. Young has hardly reached the meridian of his pro- fessional career, yet he has accomplished much. He has established himself among the leading members of the bar of Vermont. With a naturally vigorous constitution, a well balanced logical mind and a retentive memory, joined to a life of industry and studious habits, very much may yet be expected of him.
His vigilant foresight and careful preparation of his cases, both as regards the facts and the law, renders him a formidable compet- itor, but better far than this, it enables him to see that his client has the full benefit of all his legal rights. His cases are well held in hand, and the emergencies are very few that have not been care- fully considered in their preparation.
Mr. Young was married to Augusta A. Young, June 3, 1866, by which marriage there is one son, George B. Young.
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BIOGRAPHY OF THE BAR.
GEORGE W. TODD.
T HE subject of this sketch was born in Rindge, N. H., Novem- ber 19, 1828. He was educated at the academies in Jaffrey and Marlow, N. H., and at Brattleboro, Vt., and also under private tutors. After being a student of medicine for two years he relin- quished the same for the study of law, which he pursued at Win- chendon, Mass., and with the late Chief Justice Edmund L. Cushing, LL. D., at Charlestown, N. H. Subsequently he was graduated from the state and national law school at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and was admitted to practice in that state, and afterward in Orleans county, Vt. After being engaged a few years in that profession he abandoned it to become a teacher. For seven years he was princi- pal of the Orleans Liberal Institute at Glover, Vt., three years at Marlow Academy, one of the high school at Edgartown, Mass., and three years each of the Lenox and Great Barrington high schools of the same state. He then became principal of the McCollom Institute at Mount Vernon, where for six years he kept the well- known academy in the front rank in prestige and prosperity. Mr. Todd had served for fourteen years altogether upon school boards in the various places where he had resided. In politics he was a republican, but was so engrossed in educational matters that he gave but little attention to civil affairs. In 1857 he was chosen a representative to the legislature from Rindge and re-elected in 1858, only two votes being cast against him the latter year. He was elected a state senator from the Amherst District in 1879, and served a biennial term with distinguished credit. Mr. Todd mar- ried twice-the first time to Mary Ann Blodgett of Jaffrey, N. H., and the last time Sarah J. Chapin, daughter of Deacon Harvey Chapin of Holyoke, Mass., who survives him, but with no children. In the death of Mr. Todd his state loses an honorable and upright man, one who had gained for himself an enviable rank as an edu- cator, and who had served with distinction in both branches of the legislature.
RILEY E. WRIGHT.
R ILEY E. WRIGHT, the son of Erastus and Mary A. (Fair- brother) Wright, was born at Westminster, Vt., July 24, 1839. When he was about three years of age his parents moved to Coventry, Orleans county. His primary education was obtained
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acquittal and entire exoneration of Gen. Tyler. At the time, the trial excited great interest and general attention not only in Mary- land, but throughout the country. September 12, 1866, he mar- ried Mary E. Collier of Newport, Vt.
WILLIAM D. TYLER.
W ILLIAM D. TYLER was born in Essex, Vt., March 17, 1824, the son of Daniel and Permelia (Farrand) Tyler. His education was obtained at the common schools of his native town and the Essex Academy. In 1854 he entered the office of Aaron and Charles Soule of Fairfax, for the study of the law. He remained there for a time, but soon engaged in farming and mer- cantile business, reading law as he could find opportunity, and was not admitted to the Franklin county bar until the April term, A. D. 1864. In April, 1865, he went to Irasburgh, and was appointed register, his brother, Milton R. Tyler, being judge of probate for the district of Orleans, and served until December, 1865. During this time Judge Tyler was obliged to be absent most of the time, and the duties of the office were performed almost wholly by our subject, and to the satisfaction of the district. After December he opened an office at Irasburgh, and has been in practice there since. As a lawyer Mr. Tyler is not distinguished as an advocate, but has excellent judgment and a good knowledge of the law, and it is in the department of counselor that he best succeeds. He also excels as a conveyancer He was elected town clerk for the town of Irasburgh in 1868, and has held the office since. He rep- resented that town in the legislature in 1874 and 1875, and it was largely due to his untiring efforts that the bill to remove the shire of Orleans county from Irasburgh was defeated. He was married September 1, 1855, to Mary E. Haynes of Plattsburgh, N. Y.
JOSIAH GROUT.
T' HE subject of this biography was born at Compton, Canada, May 28, 1842. His parents were Josiah and Sophronia (Ayer) Grout. His father was of English ancestry, which had resided in this country upwards of a century at the time of his birth. His
JA J Wilcox, Boston.
Riley hight.
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at the common schools, and the academies of Coventry, Glover and Derby, attending school spring and fall and teaching winters. In 1859 he went to St. Hyacinthe, Canada, to study and perfect his knowledge of the French language, remaining there.and at St. Rosatia until well versed in that language. In the fall of 1859 he went to Powers Institute, Bernardstown, Mass., where he remained about a year as the teacher of the French language in that institu- tion, and also at the same time pursuing the study of Latin and Greek. In the summer of 1861 he was examined for and entered Dartmouth College, intending to return and complete a collegiate course of study there, but instead of so doing, in September of that year he entered Middlebury College, and remained there one year, or until the fall of 1862. At this time the great struggle between the North and the South being the all-absorbing topic, and the call for troops ever ringing in his ears, young Wright concluded to abandon his studies and answer his country's call. He returned to his father's house in Coventry, and in less than one week's time, with the help of some others, succeeded in recruiting a full company, which was mustered into service as Co. H, 15th Vermont Volun- teers, of which company young Wright was elected captain. He served faithfully in this capacity until the summer of 1863, when he was mustered out, and early in the fall of that year he entered the law office of the late Judge Benjamin H. Steele at Derby Line, and was admitted to the bar of Orleans county December 31, 1864. In April, 1865, Mr. Wright removed to Baltimore, Md., where he has been engaged in the active practice of the law to the present time, having been employed in many of the most important cases of his city and state. Among the more important ones with which he has been identified as attorney may be mentioned that of Brant vs. Ehlen, et. al., reported in the Fifty-ninth Maryland Reports, involving about $200,000. Mr. Wright represented the principal defendant. He was also counsel for Gen. E. B. Tyler, late post- master of Baltimore City, against whom charges were preferred in 1879, during President Hayes' administration. The charges were of a venomous and scandalous nature, but generally believed to have been inspired by personal and political enemies. The investi- gation lasted for some thirteen weeks. The fight was hot, and the charges were pressed with great vigor. The testimony was reviewed personally by the president. The investigation resulted in the
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Josiah Gout
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ORLEANS COUNTY, VERMONT.
„mother descended from that good old Scotch-Irish stock which fig- ured so prominently in the early settlement of the country. Thus . combining closely the elements of fearless manhood and sterling integrity, these parents were married at St. Johnsbury, from whence, after a brief stay in their new life they removed to Comp- ton. Residing in the Dominion a few years, they returned to the town of Kirby, where his father secured the family homestead near St. Johnsbury East, which is still kept in the family name.
Upon these ancestral acres he reared a family of ten children, of which Josiah was the fourth, and there he passed his boyhood, con- tending with propositions of farm life. His education was limited to the common school, with a partial academic course.
The large family, the limited means, and extensive farming oper- ations of his father rendered it necessary for the children to share their time and toil in the industrial endeavors of the home. This Josiah faithfully did, performing cheerfully his full share of the farm work, attending the district school as he could be spared. He industriously made the most of a few privileged terms at the acad- emies of Glover and St. Johnsbury, from which latter institution in October, 1861, not yet twenty-one years of age, overflowing with the love of country, he enlisted in Co. I, Ist regiment, Vermont Cavalry. Upon the organization of his company he was chosen second lieutenant, in the following May was promoted first lieuten- ant, and on the first day of April, 1863, was commissioned captain of his company.
In a cavalry fight with Mosby at Broad Run, Va., on the same first day of April, he was severely wounded, from which, and his impaired health that followed, he was honorably discharged in October following.
Under the governor's call for troops occasioned by the St. Albans raid, Capt. Grout raised a company, was made its captain, and on the organization of the frontier regiment of cavalry, he was appointed one of the majors. With this rank he was in command of the post at St. Albans until the war closed in June, 1865.
Upon retiring from the army he resumed the study of law at Barton in the office of his brother, William W. Grout, and at the December term, 1865, was admitted to the bar at Irasburgh. For about a year he was in partnership with his brother in law practice and publishing the Orleans Independent Standard.
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BIOGRAPHY OF THE BAR
In November, 1866, he was appointed deputy collector of cus- toms, and stationed at Island Pond. He continued to hold this office, being stationed at Island Pond, St. Albans, and Newport until the spring of 1872, although his home was at Newport after 1869. In October, 1868, he was married to Harriet Hinman, daughter of Aaron Hinman, one of the oldest and best families of Orleans county, and they have one son, Aaron Hinman Grout. In 1869 he formed a copartnership with L. H. Bisbee of Newport, under the firm name of Bisbee & Grout, for the practice of the law, which continued with a large and lucrative business until 1871, when Mr. Bisbee removed to Chicago.
Theophilus Grout, a brother, then entered the firm, and contin- ued until the spring of 1875, when Josiah followed the example of his former partner, Mr. Bisbee, and removed to Chicago. He prac- ticed law in Chicago with good success for three years and then removed to Moline, Ill., where he engaged in the manufacture of scales. A stock company was formed for that purpose, of which Mr. Grout was president and business manager, a position which he still holds. In 1881 he returned to Vermont and purchased the old Hinman homestead at Derby, one of the best farms in Orleans county, with extensive farm buildings in the village of Derby Cen- ter, where he now resides. Mr. Grout's highest aim has been to make his broad acres produce to the highest extent, and to fill his pastures and stables with the choicest flocks and herds in the land, giving to his agricultural pursuits here, and his manufacturing interests West, his entire attention.
Although not a politician according to the common acceptation of the term, Maj. Grout has been several times honored with places of public responsibility and trust. In 1872 he was elected repre- sentative from the town of Newport, and re-elected in 1874. He was an active and prominent member both sessions, serving on the judiciary and other committees. At the close of the session of 1874, Hon. H. Henry Powers, the then speaker, having been elect- ed one of the judges of the supreme court, and having resigned the speakership, Maj. Grout was elected to fill the vacancy. During his residence in Moline he was elected supervisor of Rock Island county for Moline. In 1884 he was elected representative from the town of Derby.
As a lawyer Maj. Grout grew rapidly from the date of his admis-
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sion to the bar, and was universally popular with the bar and the people, and at the time of his leaving the state was one of the most successful lawyers in the county. He was noted for preparing his cases carefully, and trying them with masterly skill. He was clear and logical in the statement of the law in the higher courts. He was especially successful in the trial of jury causes. His arguments were plain, direct and forcible. His powers of repartee and sar- casm were great, but these faculties were used with good taste, and their exercise always restrained within the bounds of courtesy. His language was usually simple, but his choice of words was felic- itous, and when excited his expressions became eloquent, and his manner corresponded to his thought. As a citizen he holds the respect and confidence of all who know him. In social life he is genial and companionable, warm in his attachments and firm in his friendships, a gentleman liberal in all his views.
HENRY C. BATES.
By ELISHA MAY, ESQ.
TI HE subject of this sketch is the son of Lewis C. and Lucy A. (Dodge) Bates, and was born at Derby, Vt., January 29, 1843. The parents were possessed of great integrity and industry, and more than common intelligence. The mother is now (1886) living, at the advanced age of eighty years, and is in possession of all her faculties. His early history is a mere repetition of that of a majority of those in the profession of law. Brought up to labor on the farm, he attended the common schools, and when they no longer afforded the necessary instruction, he pursued a course of study at the academy at Derby, Vt.
This old school has sent out a large number of strong men and women. Like many other academies in Vermont, it reflects great credit upon the system which grew and flourished at the commence- ment of the present century.
Some of the greatest men, at some time in their lives, were either pupils or instructors in the academy. The most celebrated American-excepting, perhaps, Benjamin Franklin-taught for a time in an humble academy in Fryeburg, Maine.
The instruction Mr. Bates received at Derby was thorough. He
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then taught in the common schools and in the Essex County Gram- mar school, read law at Charleston, Vt., in the office of Edwards & Dickerman, and in December, 1866, was admitted to the bar in Orleans county. During the rebellion he served the country as a member of Co. C, 4th Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. Married to Miss Laura E. Jenness, March 10, 1866, he moved his household goods to Wheelock in 1867, remained there a short time, and thence removed to West Concord and Guildhall.
At the last place he remained till 1873, where he formed a part- nership with O. S. Burke, and practiced his profession at St. Johns- bury, Vt., as a partner of the firm of Burke & Bates till Mr. Burke's death in September, 1876.
Till 1882 he conducted a large and increasing practice, when he became senior partner in firm of Bates & May. In 1870 Mr. Bates served as census enumerator in Essex county, and in 1880-82 as state's attorney of Caledonia county. At present he is the nomi- nee for first senator in the same county.
While practicing his profession in Essex county, Mr. Bates made for himself a reputation of a first class jury lawyer. This was done in the only possible way, viz: By the most careful study of the law and facts of each case.
In the case of State vs. Knowles, charged with arson in burning Norton mills, tried before Judge Peck in 1869 or 1870, the qualities of a good lawyer were conspicuously shown. The defense was in- sanity, and the case required much prudent management. This it had, and the prisoner was acquitted.
The power to see and develop the strong points of the case on trial has been Mr. Bates' strongest characteristic. He is not and never has been a technical lawyer. In training as well as of make up, he is of broad gauge type. A plea in abatement he shuns, if possible, in a legal discussion, and the mint and cummin of facts in a jury trial are never alluded to, but he rather speaks of the weightier matters.
He possesses a faculty somewhat rare, that of commanding the confidence of juries before whom he appears. They say they think him honest.
The court give him attention while he discusses questions of law, and this evidently upon the ground that while he may err as to conclusions, he never strains at the gnat and swallows a camel.
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Another characteristic of Mr. Bates is his love of fun. Himself a wit of no mean order, he appreciates it highly in others. In argument he at once sees the veins of fun, if any, in it, and works them for all they are worth.
No man ever won verdicts from hostile juries who has neither wit nor the sense of the ridiculous in his make-up. Ridicule is never so effective as humor. One wounds and the other does not.
The great lawyer is always cool and self-preserved. Mr. Bates never loses his head. When his opponent lets him fall he strikes upon his feet ; some very good lawyers when switched off the main line of a case are not able to get back the same day. This the opponents of Mr. Bates never do. He is full of resources, and has these resources well in hand.
Each year's practice has taught its lesson, and these lessons have been well remembered. No opponent catches Mr. Bates in the same trap a second time.
Wary, careful and vigilant, Mr. Bates prefers the defense, not because of cowardice, but because his mind is conservative.
To persons not acquainted with his peculiarities, and his moods and habits, Mr. Bates may appear unsocial, and not interested in the affairs of the world. A more mistaken notion was never enter- tained. He is deeply interested in all moral and social questions of the day, and he is particularly so in regard to the history of the late war and the soldiers.
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