USA > Vermont > Orleans County > Biography of the bar of Orleans county, Vermont > Part 22
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Like many other attorneys, Mr. Bates leads an active, busy life. Cheerful and helpful, he commands the confidence of all who know him.
C. HENRY BENTON.
C.
HENRY BENTON, the son of Reuben C. and Almira · (Fletcher) Benton, was born at Lunenburgh, Essex county, Vt., February 26, 1841. His primary education was obtained at the common schools and academies of his native county, and he entered the University of Vermont at Burlington in 1860 when nineteen years of age, and continued there until his patriotism would not allow of his remaining longer, and he enlisted as a pri- vate in Co. D, 5th Vermont Volunteers, and was mustered into service September 16, 1861 ; he served in various capacities three
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years, and was mustered out in the Shenandoah Valley, September 16, 1864. He returned to Vermont and read law with his brother, Col. R. C. Benton at Hydepark for a time, when he entered the law school at Albany, N. Y., taking a full course, and was admitted to practice in all the courts of New York by the supreme court at Albany on May 6, 1866. Returning to Vermont he was admitted as a member of the Lamoille county bar at its May term, A. D. 1866, and November of that year commenced the practice of his profession at South Troy, Orleans county. Mr. Benton soon became known as a skillful and successful attorney, but was not contented with the limited law business of that agricultural region, and in October, 1871, he removed to Minneapolis, Minn., where an ample field presented itself for the display of his talent and energy. He at once took front rank among the attorneys of that city, and today is one of the ablest. In the words of another, independence, firmness, resolution and discretion are his salient points, and of these three the first is the most prominent.
He possesses this to such a degree that his exterior is rough and uninviting ; but withal, back of this is one of the kindest and most sympathetic hearts, fearless, conscientious and honorable. He is able in all departments of law, but has become famous in his trials, both in jury and court cases. His independence has been the cause of few public honors. Only once has he become a public servant. He was elected to the city attorneyship of Minneapolis, and served the city well. He has an enviable reputation in lumber litigations throughout the Northwest. One of his great efforts was at the time when, as a specially retained counsel to assist the city attor- ney, he defended the city in the celebrated Manitoba bond case. His brother, Col. R. C. Benton, being counselor for the Manitoba Company, became his opponent in the case, and the legal tilts between them on the trial were terrific at times. It was largely through his assistance that the city was relieved from paying the bonds. Mr. Benton was married June 25, 1866, to Flora E. Had- ley of Hydepark, who with two children died before he left Ver- mont. £ November 24, 1874, he married Jeannette Graham at Minneapolis, and has three children-Crissie M., Harry G. and Mabel.
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CHARLES BOARDMAN DAGGETT.
T 'HE subject of this sketch was born in Farmington, Maine,
August 31, 1843, and is the son of Samuel and Julia (Jones) Daggett. His grandfather and great-grandfather were both sea captains from Martha's Vineyard. Mr. Daggett commenced his education at the common schools and Farmington Hill Academy, and at the age of sixteen he entered Bowdoin College, from which he graduated with honor in the class of 1863.
He went to Canada in 1864, and was principal of the Cassville High School one year, where he met Miss Anna M. Hill, whom he married March 3, 1865. He was also principal of the Barnston Academy. He studied law with Benjamin H. Steele of Derby, and was admitted a member of the Orleans county bar at its June term, 1866, and the same year was admitted to practice in Franklin county, Maine. Soon after his admission he opened an office at Derby Line, where he remained about two years, in the main clos- ing up the unfinished business of Judge Steele, he having been appointed one of the judges of the supreme court. When he left there it was to go to Chicago, Ill., where he experienced all the tri- als and hardships so many young lawyers meet in large cities, but perseverance and hard work won. He secured a very good busi- ness, and in 1871 he was appointed a justice of the peace on the south side, and held the office, a very lucrative one, for four years. He died of apoplexy November 6, 1875. Mr. Daggett was always very scholarly, and became a very thorough and well read lawyer, which well fitted him for the position of justice which he occupied.
GEORGE N. DALE.
By B. F. D. CARPENTER, ESQ.
G EORGE N. DALE was born at Fairfax, Vt., February 19, 1834, and is now fifty-two years of age. When he was but six months old his father removed his family to the town of Waits- field, Vt., where the subject of this article resided until he became twenty-one years of age.
His early life may be aptly described by Isaiah's striking Hebra- .ism "First born of the poor," that is, inheriting as the first born
32
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did, his father's wealth, a double portion of poverty's negative endowments, but to one who inherited qualities worth bringing out these all proved sharp stimulants, so that by force of all these adverse circumstances young Dale at an early age was called upon by that necessity that knows no other law but that of unquestion- ing obedience, to take part in that incessant toil which falls to the lot of a very poor boy in the country. His boyhood may best be described as one of severe protracted physical labor, and he was very scantily furnished with the time to attend the common schools, his opportunities in this respect being "like angel's visits, few and far between.". But these occasional and interrupted seasons at school in the winter time, and such other aids as the weekly news- papers, such books as he could borrow and find time to read, and above all the ideal dreams of something better and more satisfying in the future than the dull tread-mill of that hard, unsatisfying life, had fitted him to take the first step of vantage ground, that of a teacher in the "district school."
He very soon became famous for the order and discipline main- tained in his schools. Possessed of a grand physique, he could fight, if necessary, and when compelled to assert his individuality there never was any doubt as to the result, observing the advice of Polonious, " Beware of entrance to a quarrel ; but being in bear it, that the opposer may beware of thee." Hence he was called upon to manage and control what were termed the "hardest schools," where exuberant young America had compelled an ignominious capitulation on the part of pedagogue, but it is superogation to say that the subject of this sketch never surrendered, but successfully completed each contract of service to the mutual profit of teacher and pupil.
Before arriving at this period in his life he had determined upon his future employment and life work, and toward the accomplish- ment of this purpose he had been making such progress as the cir- cumstances of his condition allowed. At some time he had attended a court, and had witnessed a hotly contested suit at law, and had drank in and become permeated with all its dramatic elements, the keen encounter, the array of contending forces, the gradual enroll- ing of the proof in the case, charges and counter charge, the appli- cation of legal principles to the mass of facts, assorting, arranging, and applying them to the various rights of the parties litigant, the
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verdict so bravely fought for ; and the keen black-eyed lad, cap- tivated and enchanted as by the perusal of an Arabian legend, makes choice of the profession of the law as that to which his future manhood should be devoted.
The money earned by teaching in the winter seasons and by manual labor at other times was economized, and devoted to defray- ing the expenses of two or three years' instruction at Thetford Academy, and to the special study of the law. At the academy his limited means compelled him to pursue alone those branches of study which he regarded as the most necessary and beneficial in the practice of his chosen profession.
After completing his course of study at the academy he com. menced the study of the law in the office of Messrs. Dillingham & Durant, and having read law the required length of time he was admitted to practice at the March term, 1856, of the Washington county court. In December following he borrowed money to defray his expenses, and removed to the town of Guildhall and formed a partnership with Hon. William H. Hartshorn, which continued about two years. He soon became very much attached to the place and the people, and was rewarded with a growing and lucrative business until the year 1861. During the period last mentioned, Mr. Dale was state's attorney for the county of Essex most of the time. He was elected representative of the town of Guildhall in 1860, for the purpose of opposing the proposed dismemberment of Essex county, and participated in the memorable session of the legislature in April, 1861.
In June of the same year he was appointed deputy collector of customs for the port of Island Pond, and retained that position until 1864, when he was elected to the state senate, to which he was re-elected in 1865-6-7-8 and '69. In 1870 he was elected lieutenant-governor. In 1871 he was reappointed deputy collector of the port of Island Pond, which position he held until he resigned in 1882. In November, 1885, he was elected president of the Ver- mont Bar Association.
In 1866, upon the election of Judge Steele as a member of the supreme court, Mr. Dale had extended his law practice to the coun- ties of Caledonia and Orleans, and had become widely and favora- bly known as a sound, prompt, and reliable lawyer, and more especially as a jury advocate. He was substituted for Judge Steele
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,
in the copartnership of Steele & Robinson, under the name of Dale & Robinson, having offices at Derby Line and at Barton. Soon after he formed a partnership with the writer of this article, having an office at West Charleston, and continued these several business connections for quite a number of years, keeping his own office at Island Pond where he now resides, practicing his profes- sion. Mr. Dale may truly be said to be the architect of his own position ; starting from the point where he was a poor, friendless boy, his early struggles for improvement, thence to the numerous positions of public trust and honor which he has been called upon to fill, and as to the performing of their several duties, it is but the merest justice to say that they have all been well done, and adding to this the busy life of a lawyer in full practice, the review cannot but reflect credit upon him in every way. It is not flattery to say, that Mr. Dale has always, on every occasion, exhibited the finest sense of personal honor and honesty, and this joined to a frank, generous spirit and large-heartedness of manner has contrib- uted to his well earned personal popularity, and also has endeared him to all those who have been so fortunate as to esteem them- selves his friends. He is a powerful and effective speaker, and because of his magnetism of manner commands the attention of juries, because he makes his client's case his own, and brings to the trial of the cause a zeal and earnestness which could only come from a conviction that he was right. He has been successful in winning and holding the confidence of clients and of the commu- nity in the honesty, soundness, and safety of his counsel.
The success which has crowned his efforts is the legitimate fruit of the constancy and diligence with which he has striven to perform each duty as it presented itself, and his life illustrates that wealth of opportunity which American laws and institutions affords for distinction to all those who, having selected a profession, follow it with steadiness of purpose, close application, and industry and hon- esty of practice.
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DAVID K. SIMONDS.
D AVID K. SIMONDS was born April 5, 1839, at Peru, Ben- nington county, Vt., where his parents, David and Anna (Byam) Simonds resided at that time. His father came from Gard- ner, Mass., about the year 1800, when he was a mere boy, his grand- father being one of the early settlers of Peru. David was educated at the common schools, and prepared for college at Burr Seminary, Manchester, Vt .; entered Middlebury College in 1858, and gradu- ated, fourth in his class, in 1862. During his college and prepara- tory course he paid his way to some extent by teaching. The fall term of his junior year in college he taught a high school at West- field, Orleans county, in company with Prof. M. F. Varney, and in the following winter taught at North Troy. In the spring of his senior year he commenced teaching the academy at Champlain, N. Y., and continued after his graduation until the summer of 1863. Notwithstanding he was obliged to take three absences from college to pay current expenses, he kept well up in his class. In August, 1863, he went to Memphis, Tenn., and engaged as city editor on the Memphis Daily Bulletin, which position he filled about six months, and then enlisted in the Tennessee state troops, where he served a short time. He then served as war correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and St. Louis Republican until very near the close of the war. While teaching at Champlain, N. Y., he entered the law office of Charles E. Everst, and devoted what time he could spare to the study of the law, and after his return from the war he resumed the study of the law with Crane & Bisbee at Newport, Vt., and was admitted to the bar of Orleans county at the June term, 1866. He opened an office at Newport, and occupied himself in the practice of law until the summer of 1869. While at New- port he, in company with Royal Cummings, started the Newport Express, of which he was the editor. After about two years he sold his interest in the paper to D. M. Camp, the present editor and proprietor.
The newspaper business being more to his taste than the law, in 1869 he went to St. Johnsbury, and in company with E. L. Hovey started the Times, of which he was editor. The next year he sold out and went to Bennington, where he engaged as editor to the Banner. In 1870 he went to Manchester and purchased the Jour-
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nal, which he owns and edits at the present time. In 1873 he was elected town clerk, and has held the office since. In 1876 he was appointed postmaster of Manchester, and held the office during the republican administration, and he has also held the office of regis- ter of probate.
Mr. Simonds has always taken a great interest in everything per- taining to schools and education, and has ever, not only with his paper, but personally, done all that he could for their advancement. In politics he has always been a stanch republican. Mr. Simonds was married in 1873 to Ellen L. Clark, daughter of Rev. Asa F. Clark of Leverett, Mass. They have two children, a son and daughter.
SOLOMON W. DANE.
OLOMON W. DANE, the son of Joseph and Jane Wheeler S Dane, was born in Danville, Vt., August 13, 1837. During his boyhood he was engaged, except while attending the district school, in assisting his father in the cultivation of the farm. As soon as he had the means he commenced the study of the law with Lewis H. Bisbee at Newport, and was admitted to the bar in that county at its December term, 1867, and immediately commenced the prac- tice of his profession at Newport. He was soon appointed deputy collector of customs and stationed at Newport, which office he held at the time of his death, March 30, 1870. Mr. Dane was married September 12, 1858, to Lucretia M. Sias, who, with two children, Ernest and Laura, survives him.
GEORGE P. KEELER.
G EORGE P. KEELER was born in Burlington, Chittenden county, Vt., February 4, 1843, the son of Philip and Eliza (Watson) Keeler. His education was obtained at the common schools and the Chittenden County Institute at Essex Center. Upon the breaking out of the rebellion, in September, 1862, young Keeler enlisted from Irasburgh, Vt., into the Allen Guards, after- ward Co. F, IIth Vermont Volunteers, Heavy Artillery. In 1865 he returned to Irasburgh, and went into the law office of John H.
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Prentiss, where he pursued the study of the law until the 25th day of December, 1868, when he was admitted to the bar, and soon afterward opened an office at Craftsbury, Vt., for the practice of his profession. He remained there about a year, when he went West and settled at Waterloo, Jefferson county, Wis. He was soon elected city attorney for the city of Waterloo, an office which he held two years. In 1871 he went to Milbank, Lincoln county, Dakota, where he has been in active practice since. He has been district attorney for Lincoln county. Since Mr. Keeler has been in Dakota he has had a constantly increasing law business, in the management of which he has had excellent success. Mr. Keeler was married to Sarah A. Mead of Irasburgh, July 24, 1864, and has one child, Herbert James Keeler.
ISRAEL A. MOULTON.
T' HE subject of this sketch was born in Rumney, N. H., Janu- ary 2, 1844. He was the son of Jonathan and Betsey Moul- ton. His mother was from Campton, and her maiden name was Betsey Avery. Israel attended the common schools, and afterward the academy at Coventry. In 1863 he went to Baltimore, Vt., where he was engaged for a while in teaching, and while there mar- ried Lettie Wright of Grafton, Mass. Soon after his marriage he entered the office of Hon. W. D. Crane of Newport, and was admitted to the bar of Orleans county at the December term, 1868, and at once emigrated to Kansas and commenced the practice of his profession. He died November 25, 1873.
LEONARD S. THOMPSON.
L EONARD S. THOMPSON, son of Truman and Louisa Thompson, was born in Richmond, Vt., August 26, 1842. When eleven years of age his father moved to Stowe, Vt. He received his first schooling at the Stowe High School, and after- ward prepared for college at the Williston Academy, but owing to ill health did not take a collegiate course. In September, 1866, he moved to Irasburgh to teach school, and remained there in that
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capacity, teaching at Irasburgh Common thirteen terms. During this time he began the study of the law with Charles I. Vail of that place, and was admitted to the bar of Orleans county at its Septem- ber term, 1869, and the following February commenced the practice of his profession at Irasburgh. He continued alone for about one year. At the end of this time he formed a copartnership with Laforrest H. Thompson, under the firm name of L. S. & L. H. Thompson. This continued until September, 1873, when he moved to Stowe, Vt. He opened an office, and engaged actively in the practice of the law until quite recently. He was state's attorney for the county of Lamoille for the biennial term of 1874 and 1875. He represented the town of Irasburgh in the legislature in 1872.
CHARLES PARSONS ALLEN.
C HARLES PARSONS ALLEN, the youngest son of the late Hon. Ira H. Allen, was born at Irasburgh, Vt., February 16, 1844. He was a grandson of Gen. Ira Allen, the first treasurer of Vermont, to whom and his associates the town of Irasburgh was granted. The mother of Charles P. was Sarah C. Parsons of High- gate, Vt., a lady of fine character, rich mental endowments and rare worth. His father was largely identified with the development and prosperity of Irasburgh, and at his death, which occurred about the time Charles P. attained his majority, he left a very large estate.
Charles P. was educated in the common schools, at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, N. H., and at Norwich University. He read law with Heman S. Royce of St. Albans, Vt., and was admit- ted to the Franklin county bar. Until a year or two before his death he resided at Irasburgh, and down to the time of his death treated it as his residence.
Having an ample fortune, he never engaged in the practice of his profession. Had the presence of poverty compelled him to rely upon his profession for his living, he, without doubt, would have succeeded in it, as he had many qualities of mind requisite for suc- cess at the bar.
His time was largely devoted to the management of his estate in Vermont, and in the latter years of his life to the management of a large and valuable plantation which he had purchased in Virginia.
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BIOGRAPHY OF THE BAR
FRED GILMAN.
T HE subject of this biography was born in Piermont, Grafton county, N. H., the son of Zeeb and Navini (McNeal) Gilman. His early education was obtained at the common schools of his native town and Bradford Academy. Subsequently he attended Kimball Union Academy at Meriden, N. H., from which he gradu- ated in June, 1867. In the fall or early winter of 1867 he com- menced the study of the law with Powers & Gleed of Morristown, Vt., to which place his parents had removed. He remained there in the study of the law until he was admitted to the bar of Orleans county at the February term, A. D. 1870, Judge Benjamin H. Steele presiding, and in April of that year went West and located at Ack- ley, Hardin county, Iowa, for the practice of his profession. He remained there until February, 1886, when he removed to Newton, Iowa, and formed a copartnership for the practice of the law, under the firm name of Stahl Bros. & Gilman. Mr. Gilman's practice has always been quite large, and it can truly be said that he has been very successful. Mr. Gilman was married June 2, 1873, to Miss Cora Burns of Ackley, and has three children-one son and two daughters-Lou Gilman, born November 4, 1874, F. Burns Gilman, born April 2, 1876, and Roy Gilman, born October 5, 1884.
WILLIAM R. ROWELL.
W ILLIAM R. ROWELL, the son of Hon. A. J. and Lucy A. (Richardson) Rowell, was born at North Troy, Vt., March 18, 1844, and attended the common school of that village and Missis- quoi Valley Academy. Subsequently he attended the " New Hamp- ton Institution " at Fairfax, Vt., for a year. In the winter of 1860 he taught school in Mansonville, P. Q. In the spring of 1861 he was appointed a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point on the recommendation of Hon. Homer E. Royce, member of congress from the third congressional district of Ver- mont, and entered that institution in June of that year. In the winter following he resigned his cadetship, and entered the army with his father, Hon. A. J. Rowell, who was on the staff of Gen. Grover, and remained there until the fall of 1862, when he returned
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THEOPHILUS GROUT.
T HEOPHILUS GROUT, the eighth child of Josiah and Sophro- nia (Ayer) Grout, was born at Compton, P. Q., September 3, 1848. His family is traceable as far back as '1640 through official records, which show the reputable positions occupied by branches of the family. In direct descent he was the fifth from his first American-born ancestor, Capt. John Grout, who was a surgeon in Watertown, Mass., as early as 1640. He left Jonathan, born March 15, 1658, who settled in Sudbury, where he married Abigail Dix, by whom he had seven children. Of these John, born October 14, 1704, was a successful lawyer. He married Joanna Boyngton and had children. His son Elijah was born October 29, 1732, settled in Charlestown, N. H., about 1766, served as commissary in the revolutionary war, was twice married, and was the father of eleven children. Theophilus, his son, born August 29, 1768, and the grandfather of our subject, was one of the first settlers of the town of Kirby, Vt., locating as early as 1792 on a tract of land in the extreme southwest part of the town on Moose river, which was ever after the family homestead. He was a prominent man in the public affairs of the town from the first; was a member of the legis- lature, justice of the peace, and a collector of United States revenue in different periods of his life. He married Joanna Willard, and was blessed with eleven children, and died in 1852. Josiah, son of Theophilus, was born October 20, 1805; married Sophronia Ayer, September 29, 1830, and soon moved to Compton, P. Q., where he resided a few years and returned to Kirby, settling on the old home- stead, where he reared a family of ten children.
The early history of our subject was like that of most boys in his position. He attended the common schools and the academies at Newbury, McIndoes Falls and St. Johnsbury. He was obliged to teach to pay his way to some extent, and prior to 1870 had taught in Barton, Concord, Passumpsic and Brighton. In the spring of 1870 he commenced the study of the law in the office of Bisbee & Grout at Newport, and by close application passed a cred- itable examination, and was admitted to the bar of Orleans county at the September term, A. D. 1871, and September 14, 1871, was appointed inspector of customs at Newport. In about one year he formed a copartnership with his brother, Maj. Josiah Grout, for the
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