USA > Vermont > Orleans County > Biography of the bar of Orleans county, Vermont > Part 8
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LEWIS MARSH.
L EWIS MARSH, the son of William and Hannah (Nye) Marsh, was born in Montpelier, July 6, 1804. He attended the com- mon schools and the Washington County Grammar School. He commenced the study of the law with J. Y. Vail of Montpelier, where he remained about two years, and completed his law studies with Hon. Nicholas Baylies, and was admitted to the bar of Wash- ington county at the September term, 1826, and immediately went to Derby, Orleans county, and opened an office for the practice of his profession. He continued in active practice there for over eight
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years until failing health compelled him to relinquish it, and he returned to his father's house in Montpelier, where, after a few weeks' illness, he died June 4, 1835. Although Mr. Marsh's con- nection with the bar was comparatively brief, yet it was long enough for him to establish a very excellent reputation as a lawyer. His briefs in some of the earlier Vermont reports show a highly cul- tured legal mind, and indicate a brilliant future had he been spared. His practice in his profession was among the ablest talent of the state. The late Chief Justice Isaac F. Redfield while at the bar was his neighbor and competitor, and it is said of them that they were well matched in their profession. This certainly would seem to be fame enough for the young lawyer. He had to contend, also, with such men as Leslie and Starkweather of the Orleans county bar, who stood high in their profession. While establishing himself in his profession, Mr. Marsh also established himself among his constituency as a gentleman of the highest honor and integrity, and has long been remembered among the people of Orleans county as one of its most worthy citizens.
JAMES AUGUSTUS PADDOCK.
T HE subject of this biography was born at Craftsbury, April 18, 1798, the son of Dr. James Paddock, Craftsbury's first physician. The mother of our subject was Augusta Crafts, the daughter of Col. Eben Crafts, from whom the town of Craftsbury was named, and the sister of Hon. Samuel C. Crafts, one of the ablest and best men which the state has ever had in its public ser- vice. Judge Paddock received his primary education at the district school of his native village and Peacham Academy, which in those days ranked among the highest of its kind in the state. He entered the University of Vermont at Burlington and graduated therefrom in 1825, and at once commenced the study of the law with Hon. Augustus Young of Craftsbury, and was admitted to the bar of Orleans county at the August term, 1827, and immediately opened an office at Craftsbury for the practice of his profession. Young Paddock did not have to wait long for business. His reputation for reliability and faithfulness was established even before he was admitted to the bar, and he soon found himself with a large and
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lucrative practice. But the great labor and close application neces- sary to successfully carry on a large legal business soon begun to tell upon his health, and he was soon impressed with the fact if he desired to live to the usual age of man he must, in the main, relin- quish his chosen profession. It was hard for him to do this, as everything up to this time gave forth great promise for the future success of his life, but he well knew that to be a great lawyer required constant study and hard work.
From this time forth he sought no professional work, doing only such legal work as his old clients urged upon him, occupying him- self with agricultural and other pursuits conducive to health. In 1847 he was elected assistant judge of the county court, and re- elected in 1848. In 1854 he was elected judge of probate for the county of Orleans, an office which he held but one year, as at the next election the opposite party politically were victorious.
Judge Paddock was married in 1827 to Mary C. Phelps, by whom he had four children. Judge Paddock deceased in April, 1867, and at a meeting of the county bar held July 9, 1867, appropriate reso- lutions were adopted, and John H. Prentiss, Esq., delivered an address, from which we quote the following :
"Within the years of his waning professional life he was an assistant judge of the Orleans county court, and by means of his legal attainments and his sound and judicial mind and judgment, he confessedly and materially aided the court in the performance of its important duties.
Subsequently he was chosen judge of probate for Orleans county, a position for which he was pre-eminently fitted by his legal acquire- ments, his sound judgment, his wisdom and prudence, his unpreju- dicial mind, his exalted reverence for justice, his knowledge of mankind, and his sympathy for the widow and the orphaned. For this place he so nearly seemed by his virtues to have been ordained, that it is no disparagement to others to say, that had the people been less subject to the imperious exactions of party, and as true to the state and faithful to themselves as he was true to the state and faithful to them, he would have adorned that position while his life remained.
In his individuality as a man, he was of pure integrity, gifted with a nice punctilious sense of honor. He earned and could have had as unanimously in Craftsbury, as Aristides earned and had in
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Athens, the surname of The Just. As a Christian man he was exemplary and sincere, as a citizen patriotic and true, as a judge upright and just, as a lawyer courteous, discreet and wise, and in all his outward life and manifestations he clearly demonstrated that all the paramount ends he aimed at were his God's, his country's and truth's.
But it is of his character as a lawyer that it may seem most appropriate here and now to speak; and concerning him in that relation it may be truly said that he did no falsehood, neither did he consent that any be done in court. He did not wittingly, will- ingly or knowingly promote, sue, or procure to be sued, any false or unlawful suit, neither gave he aid or consent to the same. He delayed no man for lucre or malice, but acted to his office of attor- ney within the court according to his best learning and discretion, and with all good fidelity as well to the court as to his clients."
ISAAC F. REDFIELD.
By HON. E. J. PHELPS-1877.
T SAAC F. REDFIELD was born in Weathersfield, Vt., on the Ioth day of April, 1804, the eldest of a family of twelve chil- dren. His father, Dr. Peleg Redfield, removed to Coventry, in Orleans county, in 1808, where he spent most of his life, a promi- nent physician and much respected citizen, and died in 1848 at the age of seventy-two. Judge Redfield graduated with high honors at Dartmouth College in 1825, entered immediately upon the study of the law, and was admitted to the bar in Orleans county in 1827. He rose rapidly in his profession and in public estimation, and held from 1832 to 1835 the office of state's attorney for that county. In February, 1834, on motion of Daniel Webster, he was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of the United States, Chief Justice Marshall presiding.
At the October session of the legislature of Vermont in 1835, he was elected a justice of the supreme court. He was then only thirty-one years of age, the youngest man that has ever attained that office in the state. His election was entirely unexpected to himself, especially as his political opinions were not in accordance with those of the majority of the legislature, and it afforded a very
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marked proof of the personal and professional reputation he had acquired.
His associates on the bench at the time he took his seat were Charles K. Williams, Chief Justice Stephen Royce, Samuel S. Phelps and Jacob Collamer. It is not too much to say that the court thus formed has never been surpassed in this country.
Judge Redfield accepted the appointment with much hesitation and distrust of his own powers, but had very soon the satisfaction of knowing that he was regarded by the bar as the fit associate of his distinguished compeers. For twenty-four successive years after his first election (the judges being then annually elected in Ver- mont), he was unanimously re-elected by the legislature, though a large majority of that body were during all that time opposed to him in political sentiment. Judge Williams, in 1846, and Judge Royce, in 1852, successively retired from the chief justiceship, full of years and honors. Judges Phelps and Collamer had meanwhile passed from the bench to the United States Senate, the former in 1838, the latter in 1842. Judge Redfield succeeded Judge Royce as chief justice, and was eight times unanimously elected to that office. These facts are far more significant to show the estimation in which he was held by the bar and the people of Vermont than any comment that can now be made. His term of office was longer than that of any judge who ever sat upon the bench in the state, though exceeding by only two months that of Judge Royce.
Judge Redfield's judicial opinions, so far as reported, are con- tained in the Vermont Reports from vol. 8 to vol. 33, extending through the best period of his life. They form the enduring mon- ument by which he will be judged among lawyers when all the gen- erations of those who knew him shall have followed him to the grave. They exhibit the judicial cast of his mind, the vigor of his reasoning powers, the extent and accuracy of his learning, his unwearied industry, his clear, strong, conscientious sense of justice, the breadth of his views, the elevation of his sentiments. They show in some measure the field of his exertions, and the usefulness of his long service in the administration of justice. Of all his writings, they are the most significant of the character and mental structure of the man, because they are not the mere discussion of theoretical principles, or the enunciation of abstract conclusions, but contain that practical application of legal truth to the affairs of
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life and the course of justice, in the success of which the law and the judge find their true test and their only substantial value. " What good came of it at last ?" is the question that mankind will ultimately apply to the finest of learning and the most exhaustive disquisitions.
It is upon this final and best criterion, the justice which they wrought in the cases to which they were addressed, and the whole- someness of the general system of law which they helped to build up, that these recorded labors of Judge Redfield and his associates, during a quarter of a century, may be safely left to the considera- tion of posterity.
Judge Redfield's opinions were perhaps more distinguished in the departments of equity, commercial and railway law. It would be interesting to advert to some of the more important of them, and to trace their influence in the deliberations and conclusions of other courts.
But the limits of this brief sketch do not admit. Two or three general characteristics are all that can be mentioned. There are lawyers who, strong in principles and vigorous in deductive reason- ing, too little regard the light and the learning afforded by the labors of others. There are those on the other hand who know lit- tle but cases, and can be brought to almost any conclusion that seems to be sustained by what is called authority, by whom the reported decision of a court can never be answered, except by the counter decision of some other court. Between these two classes of lawyers, Judge Redfield occupied very fortunately a middle ground. A diligent student at all times, thoroughly acquainted with the course of English and American decisions, drawing largely upon their reasoning, and in no respect undervaluing their author- ity, established principles, and a strong sense of justice and of right were after all the controlling element in bringing him to results.
He was never brought "by learned reasons to absurd degrees." Technicalities were not allowed to subvert justice, when by any fair means they could be surmounted or escaped. He regarded the general field and current of decision rather than those isolated cases always to be found, which constitute the ignes fatui of the law, and serve to lead weak minds astray. He followed authority, but he questioned the validity of that authority which controverted sound principles, or conducted to unsatisfactory judgments. His
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views of the law were always elevated. He did not look upon it as an aggregation of arbitrary rules and disconnected machinery, but as a broad, fair, and noble science, that ought to pervade with a salutary and wholesome influence all the affairs of human life; as not merely the protector of private right, but equally the conserva- tor of public liberty. Neither his reading nor his thought was cir- cumscribed by the narrow channel of the subjects actually in controversy before him. He made himself familiar with the higher branches of jurisprudence, its constitutional foundations, its his- tory, its philosophy, its morality, its literature, its connection with the frame-work of society and of government. He became not only a lawyer, but a jurist, in the true sense of the term. Such studies enriched his opinions with a many-sided scholarship, and gave them an elevated and dignified sentiment. They rest when important questions are to be considered upon broader and higher grounds than mere technical rules or arbitrary precedents.
Judge Redfield contributed largely in the course of his judicial service, towards that gradual infusion of equity principles into the rules of the common law that has marked its recent progress, and has brought the two systems so much nearer together than for- merly. Many of his opinions could be cited as illustrations of this. Striving always to make the standard of legal judgment as nearly as possible that of sound morality and substantial justice, and strongly predisposed towards the views of courts of equity, he was a persistent advocate, often somewhat in advance of the current of decision, of a liberal adoption of those views in determining the questions and administering the remedies of courts of law. The railway system in America had its origin and grew up while Judge Redfield was upon the bench, and opened a new and wide range of questions and controversies for judicial decision. It is not often that an original field of inquiry is presented to courts of justice. They have mainly to travel in beaten paths, and originality in the law proves usually a very questionable virtue. What the commer- cial law was to Mansfield, and the constitution of the United States to Marshall, railway law became in a lesser degree to Redfield and his associates. Happily they were found equal to the occasion. It happened that very many of the important questions on all the branches of this subject came before the supreme court of Vermont before they had been decided elsewhere. Their decisions on these
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questions form, when taken together, a body of railway law that is very nearly complete, and may be referred to with a just pride by the bench and bar of the state.
They have been largely followed elsewhere, and remain almost entirely unassailed in the determinations of other courts. In these decisions Judge Redfield took a leading part, and devoted much labor. He had the advantage of able assistance, and usually a for- tunate concurrence of opinion on the part of his associates. The attention he was thus compelled to give to the subject, and the interest it awakened in his mind, led to the preparation of his treatise on the Law of Railways, which he published in 1857. It met the immediate demand of the time, and speedily attained a very wide circulation. Its admirable clearness and precision of statement, the convenience of its arrangement, the soundness and practical value of its conclusions, and the fullness of its citations, made it what it is likely to remain-the acknowledged and standard text book on the subject. Five editions of the work have been published. It has come not only into universal use in this country, but is referred to with frequent approbation by the bench and bar in England. The success of this book, and the growing attention his judicial opinions had attracted, especially after he became chief justice, gave Judge Redfield a national reputation. Though his court was that of a small and rural state, its decisions came to be widely known and much respected in other tribunals. But the printed records of his labors as a judge and an author can exhibit nothing of those qualities of the man which enter so largely into the real usefulness of a magistrate. His unfailing courtesy and kindness, his amiable temper, his unquestioned and unquestionable purity of character, his patience in hearing, the unassuming dignity and quiet decorum with which he invested the proceedings of his court, the practical sense and sagacity with which he encoun- tered questions of fact, these are qualities which will be always remembered by those who appeared before him, but of which the memory must die when the witnesses are gone. He presided at nisi prius with great tact and acceptance. Under his guidance juries seldom went astray. And the most disappointed suitor car- ried away a kindly respect for the judge. No man was ever more capable of appreciating and profiting by a good argument, or was more candidly open to its influence.
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In 1860, when the great sectional controversy that culminated in the civil war was drawing near its height, Judge Redfield clearly perceived that his opinions on exciting constitutional questions were likely to become unpopular and distasteful. In no sense a politician, but a student, a scholar, and a lawyer all the days of his life, his sentiments were naturally conservative, and not likely to be changed. Too conscientious and independent either to conceal his opinions or to trim them to suit the breeze, he was at the same time too sensitive in his nature, and too retiring in his habits, to be willing to do battle against the apprehended pressure of popular feeling, or the threatened clamor of political excitement.
He resolved, therefore, to withdraw from the bench and from public life. In this resolution he was doubtless unduly sensitive. His views upon these questions were those of the best constitu- tional lawyers of the country, and were ably and courageously maintained by some of its greatest judges. Though overborne for a while by the storm, they have all been ultimately sustained by the highest tribunal, and will always remain the established law of the land. There can be no doubt that the expression, temperate though firm, that he would have given to his opinions when occa- sions arose, though left in the minority for the time, would in the end have added to his reputation, and would have commanded the admiration of those, many who had the judgment secretly to approve, but not the courage openly to avow them. Undoubtedly, notwithstanding these views, he would have been retained upon the bench by unanimous consent, so long as he chose to remain there.
Other reasons, however, had weight in inducing him to retire. He had been withdrawn so early by judicial promotion from the practice of his profession, that he had acquired but a slender estate, which the very moderate salary of his office had not enabled him to increase. Liberal offers had been made him to become the edi- tor of an edition of Judge Story's works. He desired, also, to pub- lish a new edition of his own work on railways, and also certain other legal treatises which he had in contemplation. This employ- ment, and a residence in Boston, promised an agreeable change from the labors of the bench, and offered very desirable pecuniary inducements.
He presided in the supreme court for the last time at the general term of the whole court, held at Montpelier in November, 1860.
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The last opinion he delivered from the bench was in the case of Hart vs, the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank, reported in the 33d volume of Vermont Reports. On the occasion of his retirement, the bar of the state adopted a series of very cordial and compli- mentary resolutions, which were presented in open court by Hon. L. B. Peck in their behalf. A very appropriate response was made by Judge Redfield. The proceedings will be found in the 36th vol- ume of Vermont Reports, page 662. His withdrawal from the bench occasioned sincere and general regret.
He removed to Boston in 1861, immediately after his retirement, and there resided until his death. During that period his industry was unremitting. Besides successive editions of his work upon Railway Law, now extended with the growth of the law and the increase of decisions on that subject to two volumes, he wrote and published a full and excellent treatise on the Law of Wills, in three volumes, and another on Carriers and Bailments, in one volume. These have become standard works. He published, also, a very useful and well edited collection of American Railway Cases, in two volumes, and one of Leading American Cases on Wills, in one vol- ume. He edited an edition of Judge Story's work on Equity Juris- prudence, Equity Pleading, and on the Conflict of Laws, and of Prof. Greenleaf's work on the Law of Evidence.
It is acknowledged on all hands that the work of bringing up these treatises to the advance that had taken place since they were written, in these important branches of the law, was performed in a manner every way worthy their high character and their distin- guished authors. Judge Redfield wrote also many of the leading articles in a new edition of Bouvier's Law Dictionary. For more than twelve years of his residence in Boston, he was one of the editors of the American Law Register, and contributed largely to its leading articles as well as to its notes on decisions of importance and interest, and its miscellaneous matter. During all this time he was also considerably engaged in giving opinions, some of which were published, in cases submitted to him.
Large as his professional work during this period of his life was, he yet found time for valuable contributions upon those constitu- tional questions which connect the principles of jurisprudence with those of political government. During the war he wrote for the London Law Review an extended and very able article, which was
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republished in this country, vindicating the nationality of the United States government, and also a letter to Senator Foote, which was published in pamphlet form, on the powers of the national government, and its duties in the matter of the restoration of the seceding states, after the termination of the war.
He wrote and published various other articles on kindred topics. Judge Redfield was, during a large portion of his life, a member of the Episcopal Church, and deeply interested in its prosperity. He was a frequent and interesting contributor, both while on the bench and afterwards, to the Churchman and other church journals. He was a delegate to the general convention of the church at all its sessions from 1837 to 1861. In the deliberations of that dignified body, especially on questions that touched the subject of jurispru- dence, he had great influence. He spoke but rarely and never at much length, but at times with decisive effect. At the close of the civil war a considerable amount of confederate property remained in Europe, principally in England, consisting of cargoes of cotton, money balances, ships, munitions of war, etc. To this property the United States government laid claim, and numerous suits in the English courts of chancery resulted. Most of it was subject to various and complicated claims by creditors, consignees, agents and others, and the title to much of it was in dispute. The pendency and conduct of these various proceedings became very embarrass- ing to Mr. Adams, the American Minister to Great Britain, and it was necessary that competent counsel should be sent to Europe to take charge of and direct them. Judge Redfield was appointed by Mr. Seward, then secretary of state, in conjunction with Mr. Caleb Cushing, the special counsel of the United States government for this purpose. He went to England immediately after his appoint- ment, and remained there in the discharge of the duty assigned him for two years, returning home once during the period for con- sultation with the government.
The business with which Judge Redfield was charged was not only important, but delicate and difficult in its bearing upon the relations of the two countries. There was much sensitiveness of feeling at that time between the people of England and of Amer- ica, growing out of the events of the war, and the attitude taken by Great Britain. The American claims against Great Britain for the heavy losses sustained by privateers fitted out in England were
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