USA > Vermont > Orleans County > Biography of the bar of Orleans county, Vermont > Part 7
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WILLIAM HOWE.
By PROF. ESTES HOWE.
W ILLIAM HOWE was descended on both sides from the old Puritan stock, who came to Massachusetts in its infancy. His father was Dr. Estes Howe, who was a surgeon in the revolu- tion, and was present at Bunker Hill and Saratoga. His mother was Susanna Dwight. William was born at Belchertown, Hamp- shire county, Mass., where his father practiced medicine more than fifty years from the 4th of February, 1774.
William was the oldest of six children, two of whom died in infancy. The survivors were a sister and two brothers besides himself.
His father realizing the want of early education himself, sent all his sons to college. William graduated at Dartmouth in 1794. He studied law at Amherst, the next town to Belchertown, with Hon. Simeon Story, a distinguished lawyer, who was in 1801 made one
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of the justices of the supreme judicial court. After being admit- ted to the bar he settled in Hartford, Conn., but after a short time embarked in mercantile pursuits, in which he was engaged for some, years, but finally failed, and found himself not only penniless, but liable under the then prevailing law and custom to imprisonment for debt, at the discretion of his creditors. To make a new start in life he emigrated to the extreme northern border of Vermont, where his father bought him a large farm in what was then almost a wilderness. At Derby Line he established himself, and having given a year to refreshing his knowledge of the law, he opened an office April 28, 1814.
He married Anna Child, sister of Marcus and Col. Levi Child, so well known for so many years in that vicinity. Howe was then forty years of age and his wife twenty-eight. They never had chil- dren. He was a member of the legislature from the town of Derby from 1813 to 1820, and chief judge of the Orleans county court from 1816 to 1824, and one of the assistant judges in 1827 and 1828, and he died November 19, 1828, being the last survivor of the three brothers. All the brothers were lawyers and all judges- William in Vermont, Estes in New York, and Samuel in Massachu- setts. William was a man decidedly of the old school of men, and presided as judge with great dignity.
WILLIAM RICHARDSON.
T HE subject of this biography, according to the best authority I can obtain, was the son of Israel Putnam and Susan Holmes Richardson, of Fairfax, Vt., and a brother of Gen. Israel Bush Richardson, who was a prominent officer during the war of the rebellion. Of his early life I have no information, but it is proba- ble that he was educated in Franklin county, and I am informed he studied law with Joshua Sawyer at Hydepark, and was admitted to the bar of Orleans county August 21, 1815, and about 1817 com- menced practice at Stowe. The Vermont Historical Magazine, in the history of Stowe, says of him : "Mr. Richardson opened an office and did some business, though not sufficient to afford him a good living. It is said that he occasionally worked out on farms, and assisted in clearing up land to supply what was needed to make
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ends meet. Tradition has it that he was a man of moderate ability and limited legal learning, though he was accustomed to argue cases with considerable vigor and zeal. After remaining here about two years he married a daughter of Nathaniel Butts, one of the first settlers, by whom he had five or six children. The oldest, Charles T. Richardson, studied law a few months in this town, and then removed to Michigan, but never practiced. The next son, William Richardson, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and com- menced practice in Waterbury, Vt., but lived only three or four years after his admission. He was a young man of good promise. Some time previous to 1826, Mr. Richardson left home on business to Burlington, Vt., and never returned. His family and friends never obtained any trace of him, except that he crossed Lake Champlain. That year cholera was very prevalent in the country, and it was conjectured by his friends that he might have fallen a prey to the disease and suddenly died, and was buried unknown and unpublished."
NATHANIEL READ JR.
T 'HE subject of our sketch, the son of Nathaniel and Anna (Keyes) Read, was born at Warren, Winchester county, Mass., June 4, 1788. The first of his lineal ancestors who emigrated to this country was Elias Read, who came over from England about the year 1632 and settled in Woburn, Mass., where he resided until his death. His son, Thomas Read, moved to Sudbury, Mass., and there lived and died, and his descendants for several generations . after him continued to reside at the same place. Capt. Nathaniel Read, of the fifth generation after Thomas, was born at Sudbury, October 6, 1702, and was the great-grandfather of our subject.
He is reported to have been a man noted for his sound judgment and uniform integrity, holding a wide influence among the people of his vicinity. His eldest son, Maj. Reuben Read, born Novem- ber 2, 1730, was an officer during the war of the revolution, and after the capture of Burgoyne's army at Saratoga was detailed by Gen. Heath to take charge of the Hessian and British troops. Nathaniel Read, the father of our subject, was the third son of Mr. Reuben Read, and was born at Warren, April 4, 1762. At nine- teen years of age he enlisted in the continental service as a private,
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and was stationed at West Point at the time of Arnold's treason, and one of the men the arch traitor sold and sought to hand over to the enemy. After the war he was married to Anna Keyes, daughter of Col. Danforth Keyes, an active officer in the revolu- tion, and in February, 1800, started with his wife and eight children for the wilds of Vermont, settling on what is now one of the finest interval farms in Lamoille county, in Cambridge. Here he lived and died, honored as one of the substantial men of the town, and here the early days of our subject were spent.
The Vermont Historical Magazine says of him: "In 1805 he commenced study with the Rev. Elijah Woolage, the first settled minister of Cambridge, kept school in the winter, and the following spring went to Burlington, and placed himself as an academican under the tuition of Dr. Sanders, then president of the University of Vermont. He entered the university in 1807, kept school win- ters, and graduated in 1811. After graduating he taught school most of the time until the fall of 1813, when he entered the service in the war between the United States and England, and received the appointment of quartermaster-sergeant and commissary.
The regiment was stationed near the line, and for a short time posted alternately at Plattsburgh, Cumberland Head, Chazy and Champlain. Instead of going into winter quarters it was dis- charged ; and he kept school again the following winter. In Sep- tember, 1814, he volunteered in the defense of Plattsburgh, received the appointment of quartermaster, was engaged with the Vermont troops in the battle of September II, and received, under the act of congress, one hundred and sixty acres of land as a compensation for his services. The following winter he again kept school, and in the spring commenced the study of law in the office of Isaac Warner and Israel P. Richardson, then law partners at Cambridge- boro. In 1815 he studied for a while in the office of Judge Turner in St. Albans, and getting somewhat destitute of funds, went into the office of Joshua Sawyer, Esq., of Hydepark, and did office work for his board and tuition until admitted to the bar of Orleans county court, March 4, 1816, Hydepark then being in Orleans county.
He then opened an office at Cambridgeboro, and afterwards at the center. At this time there were but four or five buildings in the latter place, and the lands about to a considerable extent in a
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wilderness state and unimproved. His practice was small, and for several years he devoted himself wholly to agricultural pursuits as the most congenial employment. Through his instrumentality a post-office was established at the Center, and he received the appoint- ment of postmaster, which office he held about twenty years. He held the offices of justice of the peace and town grand juror for several years. His ambition never led him to seek office, or to enter upon any schemes or enterprise of speculation, but rather to be an honest man and faithful citizen."
SALMON NYE.
T HE subject of this sketch was born in Springfield, Vt., May 12, 1792, the son of George and Lucretia (Dartt) Nye. His father moved from Springfield to Brownington, Vt., very early in the history of that town, and 'always took an active and influential part in its affairs. He is recorded as one of its selectmen as early as 1804. Judge Nye's early life, like most farmers' boys, was spent attending the district school summers and winters, and industri- ously putting in the balance of the time at work on the farm. He had an opportunity to attend the Springfield Academy a few terms before the family moved to Brownington. He then attended the Brownington Academy, completing what education he was able to obtain there. Subsequently he entered the office of William Bax- ter, the pioneer lawyer of Orleans county, for the study of the law, and was admitted to the bar of Orleans county, March 3, 1817. Up to about this time the most important points for law business had been at the half shire towns-Brownington and Craftsbury. But in 1812 the shire had been located at Irasburgh, and the August previous to his admission the court had been held there for the first time. Owing to the push and energy of Ira H. Allen, who lived here, owning much of the town, and who had been instrumental in having the shire located at this place, Irasburgh was fast becoming, for law business at least, the most important town in the county. Consequently young Nye decided to locate there, he being Iras- burgh's first attorney. The wisdom of his course was soon appar- ent by the large amount of business that came to his office. He labored diligently and untiringly, and was ere long rewarded with a
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lucrative and prosperous business. Judge Nye was sagacious and watchful of a client's interest ; he was upright and honorable in his dealing, careful and conscientious as a counselor, and, as a judge, firm in his adherence to honest conviction. He was elected and served as judge of probate for the county of Orleans for the years 1825, 1826 and 1827. He was also town clerk for the town of Iras- burgh from 1819 so long as he lived. He died at Irasburgh, June 27, 1828, at the very beginning of what promised a useful and honorable life, aged thirty-six years.
CHARLES MEIGS.
O F the subject of this sketch but little can be ascertained. We find from the genealogy of the Meigs family, in the posses- sion of Dr. John Meigs of Stanstead, P. Q., that Charles was born in Connecticut about 1785. His father's name was Dr. Phineas Meigs, and he was born in Bethlehem, Conn., about 1760. This record gives the history of the Meigs family from 1638, the date of their landing at Weymouth, Mass. Nothing can be learned of the early life of our subject until he commenced the practice of the law at Morristown about 1817. He practiced law there until about 1828, when he removed to the West. Hon. Norman Boardman of Lyons, Iowa, for many years a prominent lawyer of this county, and who was born in Morristown, says of him: "Charles Meigs I remember well. When I was a small boy he resided at Morristown Four Corners, and he used to meet Joshua Sawyer at our place near Hydepark quite often in the trial of causes, and in fact Sawyer and Meigs were the only lawyers in the vicinity at that time. Meigs was a rapid and fluent talker, and had the reputation of being well read in the law, although not as great a lawyer as Sawyer."
GEORGE CARLTON WEST.
By E. A. STEWART.
G EORGE CARLTON WEST, the second son of Judge Pres- bury West, was born in St. Johnsbury, Vt., April 17, 1795. He received the best education that the academy afforded, and read law with Judge Ephraim Paddock of St. Johnsbury. Having been
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admitted to the bar, he married Sophia Lord, a daughter of Judge Lord, and went to Norwich, Vt., to practice law. He remained there five years, till 1822, when he removed to Brownington, Vt., and formed a partnership with William Baxter, who had been for many years the only lawyer in that region. Their office was what was afterwards known as the "old yellow store," and stood just south of the present store building. It was fixed over later by F. D. Merrill into a dwelling and so occupied by him for several years, and then it was used as a milliner's shop. It was taken down about twenty years ago. Mr. Baxter had accumulated a large fortune for those times. Being among the first to settle as a lawyer in this region, he had a wide sweep of country. In those primitive times for this country, commercial transactions were on a small scale. But what they lacked in magnitude they made up in number. The credit system was more largely in vogue then than now. Merchants had two marks on their goods, one for cash and one for credit. It was expected that merchandise would be largely sold on credit, and from ten to twenty-five per cent more was charged as an equivalent to ready cash. At the end of the year the ledger disclosed many accounts still unbalanced, which inevitably found their way into the lawyer's hands for collection. Barter was much plentier than money, the facilities for getting to market, or turning the forests into the necessaries of life, being very meager. Then, again, Brownington was not the dry place that it now appears to be. For various reasons it was a desirable place for a lawyer to settle in. Besides having a flourishing academy-a rare enterprise in those times -- and the reputation of having been the half shire of the county for many years, it was really the commercial center for all the region round about. The village of Barton Landing was then an unknown quantity. Where the village of Newport now stands was a pine forest unbroken by a single clearing. The dwellers on Lake Memphremagog, as far down as where David Hammond lives, were accustomed to come up the lake and river in their row boats to Judge Parker's, and thence overland to Jasper Robinson's on the hill to "do their trading," and to the post-office, then kept by Esquire Stewart, for their mail, a distance of sixteen miles, and the journey requiring a whole day for its prosecution.
By his partnership with Mr. Baxter, Mr. West was at once initi- ated into quite a practice. He was a good speaker and a close rea-
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soner, and soon acquired the reputation of being a man of excellent judgment and a shrewd practitioner. The nature of the practice then was not calculated to develop the profoundest legal skill. The credit system was responsible for the greater part of the lawyer's fees. It was no uncommon thing to see a sheriff with his pocket full of writs against those debtors who, by misfortune or shiftless- ness, had failed to contribute sufficiently to their store-keeper's till to balance the ledger. This was the lawyer's legitimate work, but it did not tire the brain nor exhaust the mental powers like the more complicated and larger cases of a later date.
Mr. West's Brownington life must have been one of simplicity and enjoyment. With a placid disposition, and being withal a lover of nature, her quiet, social life, her natural beauty of scenery and her literary air, largely superinduced by a flourishing academy, all must have suited his taste, though it may be that larger business envi- ronments would have heightened this feeling. He spent much time and expense in making a home for himself, but just as he got ready to occupy it he moved to Irasburgh. It was the house on the hill afterwards occupied by Dr. J. F. Skinner, and in later years by Rev. S. R. Hall and his family. It was then the best house in town next to the Baxter mansion. Mr. West's children were very deli- cate in their earlier years, and his neighbors told him it was because he kept them in the house so much and away from the dirt. It is related that this became somewhat annoying to him, so that with the youngest child, Marietta, he took a different course, letting her run out of doors to her heart's content, and even helping her to dirt as she sat in the yard, saying that if there was "anything to the dirt theory she should have the benefit of it."
Mr. Baxter dying in 1826, Mr. West became administrator of his estate, a large one, and requiring a good business ability and integ- rity of purpose to secure to the heirs their honest dues. It is believed that Mr. West fulfilled these requirements to the letter.
In 1829, 1830 and 1832, Mr. West represented the town in the legislature, and during the years 1830 and 1831 he was the state's attorney for the county, that officer then being elected by the legis- lature instead of by a direct vote of the people as now. While he was in the legislature he was largely instrumental in getting a char- ter for a bank at Irasburgh, and on the organization of the bank in 1833, Mr. West became its first cashier, holding that position till
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the year 1850. He then moved to Hartland, Vt., where he resided for twenty years. The first years of his residence there he was elected bank commissioner, serving the state two or three years in that position. Having acquired a competence, the remainder of his residence there was passed in the quietness and leisure of a rural life, with only the care that a few acres of land might impose upon him. On the death of his second wife, in 1870, Mr. West went to live with his daughter, Mrs. M. W. Wallace, at Suspension Bridge, N. Y., where he died in September, 1875, aged eighty years.
Mr. West had four children by his first wife-two boys and two girls. The boys died when quite young. Of the girls, Sophia sickened and died while teaching in the academy at Brownington. Marietta, the youngest, married a Mr. Wallace, and has lived at Suspension Bridge, N. Y., for years past.
DAVID GOULD.
D AVID GOULD was admitted to the bar of Orleans county August 17, 1818, and soon commenced practice at Hardwick, where he remained until about 1822, when he removed to Peacham, Vt., and was in practice there several years.
ELISHA H. STARKWEATHER.
T HE subject of this sketch was born in Ludlow, Vt., and was the son of a Baptist clergyman. He settled in Derby as an attorney about 1821 or 1822, and in 1823 he formed a copartnership with David M. Camp, under the firm of Camp & Starkweather. This continued until 1826, when Mr. Starkweather removed to Irasburgh, and there engaged in the practice of the law. He rep- resented Irasburgh in the legislature of the state for the years 1828, 1829, 1830 and 1831. Mr. Starkweather was elected state's attorney for the county in 1828, 1829, and also 1835, and was a member of the eighth council of censors. In 1834 and 1835 he was elected councilor for the county of Orleans. About 1834 or 1835 he moved to South Troy, where he was actively engaged in the practice of the law until about 1838, when he removed to Southern Illinois. He was subsequently elected a representative
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vest fields summers, thus turning his vacations to the best possible and needed purpose.
He studied law with Joshua Sawyer of Hydepark, and during that time was often sent to the outlying towns to try cases in jus- tice courts, in which he had marked success, and received from Sawyer hearty commendation. He was admitted to the bar of Orleans county at the September term, 1824, and soon after located in Barton as attorney at law, which practice he continued until his death, February 21, 1858.
This biographical sketch would be incomplete without reference to his true-heartedness, ability, and merits as a lawyer and man. He had a high sense of honor, and was untiring in his devotion and zeal to his clients, always commanded the respect of the court, and made fast and life-long friends of the members of the bar. He had a large and lucrative practice, one of the best in Northern Ver- mont, being often retained in some of the most important cases in the state. The week before his death he was engaged in the man- agement of a case in Windsor county. In 1843 and 1844 he held the office of state's attorney for the county of Orleans. A sound, safe counselor and able advocate, kind, courteous, yet firm and tena- cious, he had the polish and culture of a scholar, his presence com- manding, being six feet two inches in height, of straight and trim figure, and his habits unexceptional. He enjoyed having his friends around him, at his home and table ; a Christian gentleman, not sec- tarian, but connected with the Congregational church, of which he was a liberal supporter. He gave all public and philanthropic measures his earnest and hearty support. He was to his family all the true father implies, and to the world a true man.
John Hazen Kimball was married October 17, 1827, to Harriet, daughter of Timothy Chamberlin of Danville, Vt., a woman every way worthy of her husband-a true helpmate. Four sons crowned their union-John, a graduate of Dartmouth, clergyman and editor, San Francisco, Cal .; Benjamin S., banker, Tower City, Dakota ; Austin and Timothy C., merchants, New York City.
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GEORGE M. MASON.
G EORGE M. MASON was born at Sturbridge, Mass., October 20, 1801, the son of Jacob and Abigail (Marcy) Mason. His parents moved to Craftsbury, Vt., prior to 1814, but George remained in Massachusetts, attending school at Southbridge and other places, among his mother's, the Marcy family, until he com- menced the study of the law with Samuel A. Willard, Esq., of Morristown, Vt. He was admitted to the bar of Orleans county at its September term, A. D., 1824, and soon afterward opened an office for the practice of his profession at Westfield, Vt. Hc remained there one year, then removed to Craftsbury. In 1828 he removed to Morristown, where he practiced his profession a year, then went to Barton, where he remained about a year, when he moved to Maine, where he made it his home until 1867, when he removed to California, where he died, leaving a widow and one child living in Gilroy, Cal.
HARVEY BURTON.
THE subject of this sketch was born in Norwich, Vt., August 19, 1793. He was the son of Capt. Elisha and Sarah (Cogs- well) Burton. The grandfather of our subject, Jacob Burton, came from Stonington (now Mystic), Conn., in the year 1763, and bought a section or sections of land where the village of Norwich now stands. The following year he brought his family to the then wil- derness, he being the first settler. From this time forth he always took a leading and influential part in the affairs of the town ; was a member of several of the first conventions of the New Hamp- shire grants during the year 1777. The father of Harvey was an active and prominent citizen in Norwich.
In 1785 he was instrumental in founding at Norwich the Windsor County Grammar School, where the subject of our sketch received the most of his education. In the war of 1812 young Burton enlisted, and served in Lieut. Joseph Mayo's company of New York militia. About 1823 he went to Brownington and entered the office of George C. West, Esq., an attorney who had moved from Norwich the year previous, and was admitted to the Orleans county bar at its September term, 1825, and immediately commenced the
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practice of his profession at Norwich, where he remained in active practice until near the time of his death. In politics he was at first a whig, and later a republican, ever actively identifying him- self with his party. In 1825 he was appointed aide to Gov. Van Ness. He served as senator from the county of Windsor for the years 1845 and 1847, and was postmaster at Norwich under several administrations. As a citizen Mr. Burton was unceasing in his endeavors to promote the religious and educational interests of the community, and ever ready in all good works. As a lawyer his forte was not as an advocate or pleader, but he had excellent judg- ment and a good knowledge of the law. He was an excellent man to prepare a case for trial in the higher courts, but made no preten- sions of ability to there present it, nearly always being associated with some one who was able in that direction.
He was a most excellent collector, and had a great deal of that kind of business to do. He was never in the habit of picking up cases for the sake of his fees, and many a case I have known him to refuse and advise a settlement, rather than to urge on what he knew would result in prolonged and disastrous litigation, should he accept the man as his client. He was usually very fortunate in his cases, and mainly from this cause. He always had a large docket in justice courts, and tried his cases with marked ability, and while he was sharp enough in his practice to take advantage of his oppo- nent's faults, still he was always regarded as an honest lawyer. He was twice married and had seven children, five of whom still sur- vive. A long, useful, and honored life closed with his death, Octo- ber 22, 1868.
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