USA > Vermont > Orleans County > Biography of the bar of Orleans county, Vermont > Part 25
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JOHN LEON LEWIS.
OHN LEON LEWIS was born March 7, 1858, at Berkshire, J Vt. He was the son of Milo G. and Euretta (Willard) Lewis. His grandfather, Milo Lewis, was of English descent, and settled in Berkshire early in its history. John L received his education at the common schools of Berkshire and the St. Albans Academy. Early in 1875 he commenced the study of the law in the office of Hon. H. C. Wilson at North Troy, and was admitted to the bar of
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Orleans county at its September term, 1877, and immediately opened an office at North Troy, where he has since practiced his profession. In December, 1882, he formed a copartnership with Frank H. Rand, under the firm of Lewis & Rand for the practice of the law, which continued about one year. Mr. Lewis is pos- sessed of energy, ability and tact, and has succeeded by his own exertions in building up a thriving law business. He is also en- gaged in the mercantile business at North Troy quite extensively. He was married June 17, 1885, to Miss Georgia E. Harrison.
CHARLES A. PROUTY.
C' HARLES A. PROUTY was born at Newport, Vt., October 9, 1853. He is a descendant of John Prouty, who was born at Spencer, Mass., in 1747, and was one of the first settlers of Newport in 1799. He twice married ; his first wife deceased before he came to Newport. For his second wife he married Alice Dag- gett, and settled upon a farm in the north part of Newport near the lake shore. Arnold, the second son, married Sally, daughter of Martin Adams, and was blessed with eight children, and died Jan- uary 16, 1881. John A., their fifth child, born in 1826, and the father of our subject, married Hannah Lamb, and had by her six children. He is one of the prominent business men of Newport, being extensively engaged in farming and the manufacture of lum- ber. Charles A., his oldest child, was never very robust, although enjoying ordinary health ; his make-up was more of the slender, intellectual type. His boyhood was spent on his father's farm, and attending the district school near his father's residence and the school at the village of "Lake Bridge." He was a ready scholar, and had made such rapid progress that at the age of fourteen he was sent to the high school at Upton, Mass. There, and at Derby and St. Johnsbury Academies, he fitted for college. In 1871, at the age of eighteen, most thoroughly prepared, he entered Dart- mouth College, and graduated in 1875, the acknowledged leader of his class. The science of mathematics in all its branches was his favorite study, and one that intensely interested him throughout his full course, and particularly so the branch of Astronomy. He resolved to make it the study of his life, and soon after graduation
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from college he entered the astronomical observatory at Alleghany City,Penn. Hard and protracted study during a long college course, coupled with close application, almost entirely indoors, with change of climate, soon prostrated young Prouty, and at the end of one year he returned to Vermont. Upon his recovery his friends, par- ticularly his father, advised him to study for the law, knowing it would not, like the other profession, necessarily take him away from home. Their counsel prevailed, and he entered the office of The- ophilus Grout, Esq., at Newport, and was admitted to the Orleans county bar at the February term, 1877, and right away formed a copartnership with Mr. Grout, which continued one year.
Mr. Prouty was always thoroughly a student ; he enjoyed diligent, patient research of almost any subject, and the subject of the law was no exception. He enjoyed its study exceedingly, but its prac- tice, as he found it during that first year, which was not particularly different from that of almost every country lawyer, made up of almost everything in the shape of business, was not at all to his taste ; hence when he was offered the position of principal of the Newport Academy and Graded School he accepted it. This work was entirely to his mind, and he continued the principal of this school for two years to the entire satisfaction of all. At the end of this time the close confinement of the school-room had so im- paired his health that he resigned, and took an extended trip West. In July, 1882, he again opened an office at Newport for the practice of the law, and in September of that year was elected state's attor- ney for the county of Orleans, and in 1884 was again elected to that office. The duties of this office combined with civil cases of the better class that soon came to hand, fully occupied his time ; and since 1882 he has been engaged in many of the more important cases in the county, notable among them being the case of State vs. Maloney, the editor of the Richford Gazette, which was an indictment for publishing libellous and slanderous articles in his paper against Chief Justice Royce. Mr. Prouty conducted and closed the case for the state with an argument of marked ability. In his practice he has developed many characteristics seldom found only after long experience and thorough study in the profession. Independence, firmness and resolution are his salient points. As an advocate he eschews all mere ornament, but there is an earnest- ness and directness in his manner which at once forcibly and favor-
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ably impresses an audience with his sincerity, with his complete belief in the justness of his cause, and carries conviction to the mind of court or jury. March 26, 1879, he was married to Abbie Davis of Lyndon, and they have one son, Ward Prouty.
JOHN C. BURKE.
By HON. H. HENRY POWERS.
OHN C. BURKE, son of Walter and Catherine Riley Burke, J was born in the city of Leeds, England, August 15, 1854. He is of Irish descent. His father emigrated to this country soon after John's birth, and lived in New York City a few years, and in 1860 removed to Craftsbury, Vt. He lived on a small farm about one and a half miles from Craftsbury Common.
John attended the district schools in Craftsbury and a few terms at the academy. When the building of the Lamoille Valley rail- road commenced John engaged himself as a teamster, and soon became a time-keeper for the contractors, then a foreman, and ulti- mately a contractor himself. In 1871 he left his employment on the road, and attended two more terms of school at Craftsbury Academy. In the summer of 1872 he had charge of the construc- tion of the railroad then being built from Newport to Richford, and in the fall of 1872 returned to the Lamoille Valley road, and had charge of the grading of the same from Wolcott to Hydepark. In the spring of 1873 he again attended a term of school at Craftsbury Academy. In 1874 he resumed his work on the railroad till fall, when he took another term of school at Craftsbury. He taguht a district school in the winters of 1874 and 1875, and attended his last term of school in the spring of 1875. Until the fall of 1876 he was again engaged in railroad work.
Thus his early education was of that limited but practical kind which has developed the characters of so many of the public men of this country. In such an education there are two studies only to be pursued. First, how to earn money, and second, how to spend it to the best advantage. In this case both branches were very successfully mastered. John's earnings were not used in fostering bad habits and pleasing bad companions, but in acquiring that edu- cation that would fit him best for the profession of the law, towards which his youthful ambition led him.
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In the fall of 1876 he commenced the study of law in the office of W. W. Miles, Esq., then of Craftsbury, and in September, 1878, was admitted to the bar in Orleans county. In due time he was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of Vermont, and that of the United States Circuit Court for the district of Vermont. He began practice at Albany, Vt., and soon gained a large clientage, which has rapidly grown till the present time, and which called him into Lamoille and Caledonia counties as well as his own. Since 1882 he has been engaged in many of the more important cases in the three counties named, and has often been called to other coun- ties to assist in the trial of important causes. In his practice at the bar he has developed many of the characteristics of the best lawyership. He is honest with the court and with his associ- ates, is ambitious to win his cases by fair dealing and on their mer- its, gives to his cases the most thorough preparation, both on the law and on the facts, and thus comes to the trial armed at all points. He has a fine flow of language, an easy and dignified manner, and a happy gift of illustration. He has a copious supply of genuine Irish wit, which he often handles with great effect.
In politics Mr. Burke is a democrat, but on all occasions subordi- nates his partisanship to his manhood. In 1882 he represented the strong republican town of Albany in the legislature, where he served upon the judiciary committee, and took a leading and influential part in the debates. He was chairman of the Vermont delegation to the national convention at Chicago in 1884 which nominated President Cleveland. September 1, 1885, he was appointed a dep- uty collector of customs at Newport.
He married Gertrude Dow, daughter of John C. Dow of Albany, November 23, 1881, by whom he has one child, Walter Scott Burke, born June 26, 1885.
JOHN L. CARR.
T `HE subject of this sketch was born at Kilwinning, Scotland, June 22, 1850, and is the son of Hugh and Mary (Lenerthan) Carr. His father is a farmer, and immigrated from Scotland to Craftsbury in 1853, and removed from there to Glover in the fall of 1855. Here young Carr lived, assisting in the farm work summers, and attending the district school winters. As he grew older this
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way of life did not suit him, and he determined to secure an educa- tion if possible. To this end he went to the Normal School at Johnson, and subsequently attended the academy at St. Johnsbury. During this time he paid his own way by working at farming dur- ing summers and teaching winters. As a teacher he was very suc- cessful, having taught eight terms prior to commencing the study of law, two of these being the village schools at Glover and Cov- entry. June 5, 1876 he entered the office of Gen. William W. Grout at Barton, and pursued the study of the law until the September term, 1878, when he was admitted a member of the Orleans county bar, and in November, 1885, admitted a member of the supreme court of the state. After his admission to the bar he at once commenced practice at Barton, where he has since resided. As a lawyer he is an earnest, patient worker, and to his untiring and persistent indus- try is largely due his success. In religious sentiments he is a con- gregationalist, and in politics a republican. He married Josie E. Bodwell of Glover, February 26, 1879, and has two children.
FRANK PIERCE McGREGOR.
T HE subject of this biography was born in Londonderry, N. H., October 27, 1852. He was the son of Lewis and Augusta (Blodgett) McGregor, the former of Scotch-Irish, and the latter of English ancestry, the family of his mother being one of the first and leading families which settled in Londonderry. He obtained his primary education at the common schools, and· fitted for college at Pinkerton Academy, Derry, N. H. He entered Dartmouth College in August, 1871, and graduated in June, 1875, and soon afterward accepted the position of principal of the academy at Bradford, Vt., where he remained two years. He then went to Newport and accept- ed a similar position in the Newport Academy and Graded School, and here he took up the study of the law evenings and other spare time in the office of Charles A. Prouty, Esq. He was admitted to the bar in Orleans county at the September term, 1878. In 1879 he commenced the practice of the law at Barton Landing, but only remained a few months; subsequently was in the office of Gen. W. W. Grout at Barton a short time. His experience thus far as an attorney not proving congenial to him, he went to Fitchburg, Mass.,
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and engaged as master of the High Street Grammar School. After two years' service he resigned, and took a similar place at Lawrence, Mass., at an advanced salary, where he remained two years. Dur- ing this time the success of the school more than equaled the expec- tations of its most sanguine friends. He was then elected master of the Lawrence High School, which position he still holds. As a teacher it is due to Mr. McGregor to say that he has been eminently successful, his time and energies having been given almost exclu- sively to this profession. Notwithstanding this, he has not given up the idea in the near future of again taking up the profession of the law. Mr. McGregor is a member of the Lawrence Street Con- gregational church, Lawrence. He was married January 30, 1884, to Miss Lucia Sanderson of Phillipstown, Mass., and has one son.
CHARLES H. WALWORTH.
C' HARLES H. WALWORTH was born at Wayne, Ohio, June 21, 1853, the son of Charles B. Walworth, who was born at Canaan, N. H., September 30, 1806. His mother, Hannah M. Hotchkiss, was born at Vernon, Ohio, February 19, 1818. His early years were spent at Wayne, where he received his primary education. In 1870 he entered Grand River College at Austinburg, Ohio, and graduated therefrom in 1875, and immediately commenced the study of the law in the office of Simonds & Wade at Jefferson, Ohio. In 1875 he went to Vermont, and was engaged to some ex- tent in aiding his uncle, D. P. Walworth, Esq., of Coventry, in the management of his extensive business, but still continued the study of the law in the office of L. M. Shedd at Coventry. At the Sep- tember term, A. D. 1878, he was admitted a member of the Orleans county bar, and in the fall of that year commenced the practice of his profession at Elk Point, Dakota, where he remained in active and successful practice until 1884, when he removed to Pierre, Dakota. Mr. Walworth is a young lawyer of good ability, ener- getic, upright and persevering, and is destined to make his mark in the home of his adoption. Mr. Walworth was married in 1881 to Mattie L. Pattee of Ackley, Iowa.
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JAMES GREELEY SIMPSON.
T HE subject of this sketch was born at Craftsbury, October 12, 1854, and is of Scotch ancestry, his grandfather, John Simp- son, having emigrated from Scotland in 1830 and settled in Greens- boro, Vt., where he lived until his death, which occurred in 1876, at the advanced age of eighty-three years. He reared a family of ten children.
Hon. James W. Simpson, the father of our subject, his second child, commenced in the mercantile business at East Craftsbury about 1847, and has continued to do a thriving and prosperous bus- iness to the present time, having the confidence of the people of his county and town, as evinced by his election to offices of trust and responsibility among the highest in their gift.
James G. obtained his education at the school of his native dis- trict, Craftsbury Academy, Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Mass., and St. Johnsbury Academy, where he graduated. He at- tended for one term the Columbia Law School, New York City, after which he completed his law studies in the office of Hon. L. H. Thompson of Irasburgh, and W. W. Miles, Esq., of Craftsbury, being admitted to the bar of Orleans county at the February term, A. D. 1879, and immediately commenced the practice of his pro- fession at Greensboro Bend, Vt. He remained here a few years, and removed to Craftsbury and opened an office, and in January, 1885, he removed to Minneapolis, Minn., and formed a copartner- ship for law practice with one Morgan, under the firm name of Morgan & Simpson.
FRED S. TUPPER.
T HE subject of this sketch was born at Bakersfield, Franklin county, Vt., December 31, 1855, and is the son of Jackson and Caroline (Parkhurst) Tupper. Mr. Tupper received a good elemen- tary education in the common schools of his county, and fitted for college at Barre Academy, graduating from that institution June 8, 1876. He then attended the law school at Cambridge, Mass., one term, and returning from there entered the office of John S. Tupper at Milton, Vt., where he pursued the study of law. Subsequently he went into the office of Hon. Henry R. Start of Bakersfield, from
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whose office he was admitted to the bar of the Franklin county. court at the April term, A. D. 1879. He immediately commenced the practice of his profession at Troy, remaining there until Feb- ruary I, 1880, when he removed to East Fairfield, Vt., where he now resides and practices his profession.
IRA F. ADAMS.
T HE subject of this sketch was born at West Derby, Orleans county, Vt., August 21, 1859, the son of Warren W. and Laura (Fish) Adams. His early education was obtained at the common schools of Derby and Newport, and subsequently attended the Stanstead College, where he took a full course with the exception of Greek. He also attended a school at Lewiston, Me., one term. In 1878 he commenced the study of the law with Theophilus Grout at Newport, and was admitted to the bar of Orleans county at the September term, 1880, and immediately went West, commencing the practice of his profession at Parsons, Kan., where he has since resided. Mr. Adams at once took a good stand in his profession. He was elected clerk of the city in 1884. He was married Novem- ber 19, 1884, to Jessie Graves of Parsons.
ORLO H. AUSTIN.
By CHARLES H. JONES.
"T HERE'S a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood leads on to fortune." To some the flood tide comes in early life, favoring breezes fill every sail, brilliant success crowns every effort. To others it comes in mature manhood, and to oth- ers late in life. While to some the tide seems ever at its ebb, and whether from fault of chart, compass or sail, failure alone is the reward of effort.
In the current of other lives there is little of ebb and flow, but from its obscure source a silent progress with constant accretion. Obstructed in its course, it seeks broader channels, ever advancing in its slow, steady, resistless flow to the ocean of human destiny. To this class belongs the subject of our sketch.
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Orlo Henry Austin was born in Eden, Vt., August 31, A. D. 1838. He came of New England stock. His grandfather was among the earliest settlers of Waterbury, Vt., coming from Con- necticut. His father, Asa Austin, was a farmer, who joined the Vermont Volunteers in 1814, and was in the battle of Plattsburgh. His mother, Nancy Gregg, was a native of New Hampshire.
When about ten years of age he came with his parents to Crafts- bury in this county. Here he attended the district schools and Craftsbury Academy, and taught in the towns of Craftsbury and Wolcott. In 1859 he was admitted to the University of Vermont, but teaching the Brownington Academy that fall, he joined his class at the opening of the spring term. Near the close of his junior year in college he enlisted in Co. F, IIth Regiment, Vermont Volunteers, and was chosen second lieutenant. In November, 1862, he was promoted to first lieutenant of Co. I. While in active ser- vice under Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, he was promoted to the captaincy of Co. A, September 2, 1864. He was in every bat- tle in which his regiment was engaged except the assault on Peters- burgh. As a soldier Capt. Austin was content with a faithful discharge of duty, seeking neither favor nor promotion. That his service was fearless and efficient, his comrades will bear witness. With the many brave boys from his county and state, he fought a good fight, he finished his course with honor, he kept the faith to the end.
After his return from the war he erected a store at Barton Land- ing, and engaged in business as a general dealer. In November, 1869, he formed a partnership with C. E. Joslyn, and a large and flourishing trade was established. In November, 1878, J. C. Par- ker and I. D. R. Collins joined the firm, and an extensive lumber business was added. The great decline in prices from 1875 to 1877, the destruction of their stock of goods by fire, a technical defect in the insurance and heavy losses by the failure of other parties, caused the suspension of the firm in the spring of 1877. Capt. Austin then went out of trade, but at once erected a large business block on the site of the one burned. Little more than a year after the new building was occupied, through the negligence of a tenant it was consumed by fire. On this site his present business block, a substantial aid and ornament to the village, was erected in the sum- mer of 1878.
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In 1877 he formed a partnership with A. C. Parker, who held the post-office and a large insurance business. In this firm Capt. Aus- tin did the office work, and improved his spare time in the study of law, purchasing books as occasion offered and borrowing of promi- nent lawyers in the county, from whom he received kindly aid and counsel. He was admitted to the Orleans county bar at the Feb- ruary term, A. D. 1880. By reason of his scholarly tastes, his lit- erary attainments, his experience as a trial justice and general business adviser, and as a practitioner in justice courts, he was the better equipped at forty years of age to change from a business to a professional life.
From the first his practice was adequate for the support of a large family. A careful and prudent counselor, his business has largely been of that practical nature, partly the outgrowth of modern times, by which rights are secured while litigation is avoided. Yet when occasion demands, he is not wanting in the elements of a good fighter. Coming to the bar late in life, he would be at great disadvantage if dependent alone on the sharp practice of legal fencing and technical subtleties, in which by long experience the mind is made alert. While not unmindful of these aids, his chief reliance is on the merits of his cause, which, before both court and jury, is perhaps the safer anchor.
As an advocate there is no display of mental pyrotechnics, no artful appeal to sentiment and passion, no fluent sophistry by which "to make the worse appear the better cause." Of this he is inca- pable. He wants "that glib and oily art, to speak and purpose not." His method is a calm, cogent appeal to reason and justice, with strong denunciation of hypocrisy and shams.
November 1, 1881, he was appointed judge of probate for the dis- trict of Orleans, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hon. I. N. Cushman. The time has passed when business talents alone are deemed sufficient for this office. It is a domain in which the maxim emphatically applies, "a question settled right is settled ever, but settled wrong is settled never." It is and must be a distinct and separate branch of the law. It is one in which, as a rule, the gen- eral practitioner is unversed. The relative importance of our courts is sometimes forgotten. In the county court close questions of law and sharp contests arise, when the real issue is a mere matter of will between the parties, or a pecuniary trifle. The probate court
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is pre-eminently the people's court. To it all must come, soon or late. Through it the bulk of their property must pass, each gener- ation. By it large estates are distributed. In it questions are tried and decisions rendered, which affect the interests of parties practi- cally unrepresented and perchance unborn. The peace of families is involved, the rights of the widow and orphan, generations to come, influences far reaching in their results.
Judge Austin has thoroughly mastered the principles of probate law, and keeps abreast of current decisions, in which new and intri- cate questions are constantly arising, while his army experience and knowledge of general business have prepared him for its prac- tical administration. It is safe to assert that he is well fitted for this position. Devoid of policy, amply furnished with backbone, he meets little temptation where men prone to yield to the pressure of influence might lead a devious course. In him the poor and afflicted find friendly sympathy and counsel, with righteous indig- nation at oppression and wrong. In the five years that he has held the office, many close and bitter contests have come before him. Yet from a fairness in hearing all sides and parties, a cool and sound judgment, a firm adherence to justice and law, there have been few appeals from his decisions, and none have been reversed.
For some years he was superintendent of schools for the town of Barton. Connected with the old Congregational church at Brown- ington, he was active in forming a branch in his own village, and in the completion of their fine church building. From its organiza- tion ten years since, he has been the superintendent of a live and vigorous Sunday-school.
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