USA > Vermont > Orleans County > Biography of the bar of Orleans county, Vermont > Part 9
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then unadjusted. And it is easy to see how in rash or unskillful. hands, the claims of the United States government upon citizens of England, litigated in British courts, might at that juncture have been made productive of serious misunderstandings and disputes. The manner in which Judge Redfield and his associate discharged this difficult duty, the ability, and at the same time the courtesy, tact, and moderation displayed, were worthy of all praise, and were in a high degree serviceable and creditable to the government by which they were employed. All the success was attained which the nature of the claims admitted of. Throughout their prosecu- tions nothing took place to disturb the relations of the govern- ments, or to give rise to any aggrieved feeling on the part of the people on either side, or of the parties more immediately inter- ested. Some of the claims were compromised, and all brought to a satisfactory conclusion.
The circumstances of Judge Redfield's stay in England were peculiarly gratifying to him. His reputation as a jurist had pre- ceded him, and the mission with which he was accredited brought him into communication with many persons of distinction. He received much cordial hospitality, especially from judges and emi- nent lawyers, and from some of the dignitaries of the English church. In such circles his conservative views, refined manners, and cultured conversation, made him personally very acceptable, and placed him in marked contrast with those Americans whom ostentatious wealth had made conspicuous in European capitals, or whom the machinery of party politics has introduced into a social position in foreign countries, which they had never reached at home. He contracted many friendships in England that were main- tained through the remainder of his life.
On his return from England he resumed his residence in Boston and the employments he had relinquished on his departure. From that time to the close of his life, he still kept at work. In the labors and studies that had so long been congenial, he found relief and consolation through gathering years and declining health. Various leading articles for the Law Register were written during this period, among them a review of the Legal Tender cases, an article on "The right and duty of congress to regulate commerce on interstate railways," another on the "Duties of the legal profes- sion." The last edition of his work on Railways was also published
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during this time. And so, in the cherished pursuits, continued to the last, of the jurisprudence to which he had devoted his life, and which he had done so much to cultivate and to dignify ; in the esteem and affection of its disciples, by whom he was surrounded ; in the communion and fellowship of the church he loved, he drew to the close of his life without an enemy in the world. He realized the archangel's benison
" Till many years over thy head return So may'st thou live ; till like ripe fruit thou drop Into my mother's lap ; or be with ease Gathered, not harshly plucked, for death mature."
He died in Charlestown, Mass., of an attack of pneumonia, on the 23d day of March, 1876, near the completion of his seventy-second year, and was buried at Windsor, Vt.
Judge Redfield was twice married-first, to Miss Mary Smith of Stanstead, Canada; afterward, to Miss Catherine Clarke of St. Johnsbury, who survives him. A son also survives him, and a daughter died only six months previous to his own decease. A brother, Hon. Timothy P. Redfield, is one of the justices of the supreme court of Vermont.
NATHAN S. HILL.
N ATHAN S. HILL was born July 30, 1803, the seventh child of Caleb and Cynthia (Strong) Hill. His father was a native of Rhode Island, and in 1802 purchased a considerable tract of forest land on Isle La Motte, and in April, 1803, moved his family upon it, and commenced in earnest to carve out for them a home. No event of note transpired until the breaking out of the war of 1812, when he enlisted, and was killed August 16, 1814, leaving a widow and twelve children. Thus at this early age was young Hill called upon to breast the current of life for himself, if he would succeed. He attended the school, such as it was, of his native island, and subsequently pursued the study of the classics and higher English branches at the academy at St. Albans. He com- menced to read law in the office of Judge Bates Turner at St. Albans, and during that time attended his full course of law lec- tures. He then entered the office of Aldis & Davis, where he remained two years, and was admitted to the bar of Franklin county
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at its September term, 1828. Soon afterwards he opened an office in South Hero, where he remained two years. He then removed to Craftsbury in Orleans county, and in January, 1831, entered into partnership with Hon. Augustus Young, who had been in practice at this place then several years. This partnership continued three years. While with Mr. Young and subsequently, Mr. Hill was very successful. He was always a careful and diligent student, and under all circumstances faithful alike to his profession and his cli- ents. He was elected state's attorney in 1845, and re-elected in 1846. At the annual meeting of the Vermont University at Bur- lington in August, 1855, Mr. Hill was elected treasurer of the uni- versity, and soon after moved to Burlington, where he, in the succeeding twenty-six years, devoted himself to the duties of that office, and he had the satisfaction of seeing, during this time, the university freed from its large indebtedness, and its annual income nearly quadrupled.
MIRON LESLIE.
By HON. C. B. LESLIE.
M IRON LESLIE was a native of Bradford, Vt., born on the 22d day of September, A. D. 1806. His ancestors were of Scotch Irish descent, coming from Londonderry, Ireland, to West- field, now Londonderry, N. H. His parents were not wealthy but were industrious and frugal, but were not able to give their sons a collegiate education, and this son's education was what he obtained from common schools and the Bradford Academy, and at a private school of Rev. Alex. Milligan, a Scotch Presbyterian minister then settled at Ryegate, Vt.
Mr. Milligan was a very learned man, and taught a class of a few young men who could not command the means necessary to receive a college course.
The parents of the subject of this sketch died when he was a mere boy-the youngest of a family of five sons and five daughters, who were left to make their way through life in the best manner they could. Mr. Leslie studied law with Peter Burbank at Wells River village, in the town of Newbury, Vt., and was admitted to the bar at the December term of Orange county court, A. D. 1828, and at the age of about twenty-four went to Derby Line, Vt., and
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began the practice of his profession. He did not have to wait long for business to come to him, and his practice increased from year to year. He ranked high as a lawyer and advocate, and he became to be so favorably known as a good and thorough lawyer that he was tendered an honorable office at the capital of the state, but which he declined. While at Derby Line he married Miss Cath- erine Gillett, who with his daughter, an only child, still at this writ- ing survives him, residing at St. Paul, Minn. He practiced at Derby Line for about five years, or until the spring of 1835, when he, like a good many young men of talent and ambition, felt disposed to seek his fortune in the great West, a country that would afford and give him a wider and more extended field for the display of his tal- ents, and where he could acquire distinction in his profession. In 1834, after the June term of the Orleans county court, he took into partnership E. G. Johnson, a student of his who had been admitted at that term, and who remained his partner and who bought his business in 1835, when he left Vermont and went West, and located at Jacksonville in the state of Illinois. At Jackson- ville he soon acquired the reputation of being a sound lawyer, a man of good judgment and a safe counsellor, and in time he became distinguished at the bar and well known throughout the state. He made many friends and acquaintances, who were attached to him not only for his soundness as a lawyer, but also for his honesty, intelligence, and excellent social qualities, which some- times gushed out in the richest humor and the most sparkling wit. He was frequently, while at Jacksonville, solicited and urged to become a candidate for congress, but he declined, preferring the practice of his profession. The governor of the state of Illinois made out and offered him a commission as a judge of the circuit court of that state, but which he declined, having made arrange- ments to leave the state and go to St. Louis, Mo. While in Illinois he indulged in land speculation to a considerable extent and was quite wealthy, but the reverses of 1837, '38 and '39 fell heavily upon him, and he lost the most of his property. Feeling indis- posed to stay where there was so much to daily remind him of his reverses, and also desiring to go into a still broader field, in the fall of 1839 he went to St. Louis and entered upon the practice of his profession there, and soon acquired and enjoyed a wide-spread rep- utation as a lawyer. He was a brilliant advocate and was engaged
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in a very large number of important causes, and his talents as a lawyer and advocate were of such high order that he was accus- tomed to command and receive large fees for his services. While living in St. Louis he held many offices of trust and honor. In 1847 he was elected state senator and again in 1849, the office being for two years each term.
He was in partnership while in St. Louis with Roswell M. Field, under the firm name of Leslie & Field. Mr. Field was also a Ver- monter. He died at St. Louis on the first day of August, 1854, in active practice, having for partners at that time J. L. and R. T. Barrett, and being in the prime of life, leaving an honorable record in his profession, and as a man, husband and father.
SAMUEL SUMNER.
By FRANK L. ROGERS, ESQ.
AMUEL SUMNER was born at St. Albans, Vt., December S II, 1801. His father, Rev. Samuel Sumner, after graduating at Dartmouth College and the seminary, had married Anna Taylor of Southboro, Mass., and settled at St. Albans as pastor of the Congregational church. As Northern Vermont afforded few edu- cational facilities at that time, young Sumner went to Massachu- setts in pursuit of instruction at the instance, no doubt, of his grandfather, Rev. Joseph Sumner, D. D., then pastor of the Con- gregational church at Shrewsbury. He fitted for college at Leices- ter Academy, and entered Harvard University in 1822. After being connected with Harvard two years he went South, and remained two years teaching, chiefly at Nottingham, Md. In 1826 he returned to St. Albans, Vt., and begun the study of the law with Hon. Stephen Royce. He was admitted to the Franklin county bar in September, 1828, and soon after opened a law office at Coventry, Vt. The law business in that town not fulfilling his expectations, he removed to North Troy in 1830, and a few months later to South Troy. There he practiced his profession until 1861.
In 1830 he was married to Fanny Child, daughter of Thomas Child of Bakersfield, Vt. He was for several years agent of the Boston and Troy Iron Company, and was elected state's attorney in 1838, and again in 1840 and 1841.
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In 1861 he removed to Hydepark, and never afterwards engaged actively in the practice of the law, although in a few years again returning to Troy.
He died August 5, 1879, in his seventy-eighth year, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. V. D. Fitch, in Hydepark. Mrs. Sumner died eight years before him. Of their seven children two died in childhood. Lydia Ann married Dr. G. S. Rogers of Troy, Henry engaged in farming in Troy, Adams G. engaged in business suc- cessfully in New York City, and Samuel J. was killed in the war of the rebellion at Savage Station, Va., while acting captain of Co. D. 5th Regt. Vt. Vols.
Elizabeth married V. D. Fitch of Hydepark. The early training and natural tastes of Samuel Sumner formed him for the pursuits of the student, and accordingly it was in the department of coun- selor that he best succeeded in his profession. In addition to his professional studies he devoted much attention to general literature. He wrote a history of the Missisco Valley, which has been largely incorporated in Miss Hemenway's Gazetteer, and also occasionally contributed articles to various periodicals.
At an early period of his residence at Troy he united with the Congregational church, and during his entire life the integrity of his character was above suspicion.
SAMUEL A. WILLARD.
By HON. LUKE P. POLAND.
S AMUEL A. WILLARD, son of Solomon and Mary Willard, was born in Winchester, N. H., July 14, 1788. His mother was a sister of Gen. William Cahoon of Lyndon, Vt. William Cahoon was lieutenant-governor and a member of congress from Vermont, and quite an important man in Caledonia county in his day. Samuel commenced his business life as a merchant at Lyn- don, and for some years he was thought to be doing a flourishing business, but bye and bye there came a crash, and it ended in a very disastrous failure. My subsequent intimate acquaintance with him showed me that he never could have been a merchant with any other result. He was careless of money, and he could never refuse credit to any man who made the slightest pretence to being able to
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pay. But his creditors were uncharitable, and that was the day of imprisonment for debt, and he was thrust into jail at Danville. I have been told by some aged person, who was present at court, that he remembered his coming from the jail to take his seat upon the bench. He having been elected assistant judge of the county court in 1824 and re-elected in 1825, soon after this he commenced the study of the law with Isaac Fletcher, Esq., of Lyndon, and was admitted to the Caledonia county bar in 1828, and commenced practice at Morrisville. That region was then pretty litigious, and there was a great deal of litigation in regard to lands, ques- tions of tax titles, adverse possession, disputed lines, etc.
Judge Willard made this department of the law a specialty, and he became a learned lawyer in real estate law. I entered his office in the spring of 1834, and was admitted to the bar December, 1836, and at once became Judge Willard's partner, and we continued together for three years.
He was not a very good trial lawyer. If any new feature turned up in his case he was thrown off his balance and could not recover. He lacked ready perception and fertility in adapting himself to any emergency at once. But he was really a lawyer of very considera- ble learning, and quite the best lawyer I ever knew for a man who came to the bar so late in life, and under the adverse circumstances surrounding him ; it was greatly to his credit.
He was judge of probate for the district of Lamoille four years -- 1838, 1840, 1841 and 1843. In 1847 he removed to Barton Land- ing. He was state's attorney for the county of Orleans in 1853, member of the constitutional convention in 1857, and represented the town of Barton in 1861. He married, July 24, 1823, Lucy P. Smith of Lyndon. They had no children. He died September 14, I 864.
JESSE COOPER.
By REV. LEWIS BODWELL.
T HE subject of our sketch, son of Jesse and Sarah (Beach) Cooper, was born in Eaton, Province of Quebec, January I, 1803. During his infancy his parents removed to Canaan, Vt., where he remained till he became of age, doing the usual work of a farmer's son, and there developed the physical vigor and acquired
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the practical views which stood him in so good stead during all his after course. Faithful in diligent attention to present duties, but with tastes drawing him toward another calling, he made the utmost possible use of every educational privilege within his reach. On attaining his majority he spent a few terms at the academy in Guildhall, Vt., and having decided to prepare for the practice of law, he was received into the office of Isaac Fletcher, then one of the most prominent lawyers in his state, and residing at Lyndon. After five years here, during which he applied himself to his work with his usual zeal and patience, and established a reputation for clear judgment and sound reasoning, in 1830 he opened an office in Irasburgh, Orleans county. There for thirty years pursuing faith- fully the duties of his profession, he achieved an enviable reputa- tion, a wide practice, and comparative affluence. Among his associates of this period, and living in the same village, were Tim- othy P. Redfield, afterward one of the justices of Vermont, and Stod- dard B. Colby, of Derby, most widely known by his connection with the United States treasury department. During the days of their professional connection, Mr. Cooper was, with them, well known both in Vermont and New Hampshire ; and in the northern part of these states there was rarely a trial of an important legal case with which he was not connected.
After these thirty years, the removal of his partner and son-in- law, D. A. Bartlett, and the hope of maintaining his own health led him to seek a new home in Kansas; and at Wyandotte he opened an office and began a practice which he carried on success- fully, till in 1870 he decided to retire from the active duties of a profession which he had then followed for forty years. The remain- ing years of his life were spent in closing the business still on hand, in his usual active participation in public enterprises of a religious and educational nature, in the work of the Congregational church, the local and state associations, the Kansas Home Missionary Soci- ety, and as a trustee of Washburn College at Topeka, and a director of the Freedmen's University at Quindaro. To one of his active temperament these were counted among his pleasures, and not as at all interfering with the well-earned quiet at the close of a long and busy life.
On Saturday evening, July 13, 1872, after an unusually laborious week, and when about to retire, he fell to the floor unconscious,
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revived after a few minutes, but remained very feeble, steadily declining till the evening of the 21st, when he passed away.
At a meeting of the bar of Wyandotte county held on the 22d, among other usual and appropriate resolutions set forth-"Their professional appreciation of the private worth and professional mer- its of Mr. Cooper; the loss sustained by the bar in his death ; of his untiring labors, large comprehension, and unswerving integrity ;" and one of the members, himself a native of Vermont, was appointed to prepare for publication a biographical sketch, of which the above is an extract, and in which the writer also says of Mr. Cooper : " His clear analysis of legal cases, and his power to seize at once on their salient points, show the depth and soundness of his intel- lect. The determination with which he commenced the study of law was seconded by the persistency with which he adhered to its practice. He considered the bar as meant for those who would devote their lives to assisting the courts in administering, and suit- ors in obtaining justice. He loved no other pursuit so well; and his career was a protest against the dangerous tendency there is to use the profession of the law as a means to attain something foreign to it. He chose his profession, and then did what he could to pre- serve it from those influences which contaminate it."
Believing firmly that all good law is from God, and given "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life," he sought to honor his profession by making it minister to this rather than his profits only. Thus, when in the progress of a long and bitter controversy between two prominent citizens, one came to employ him to com- mence a suit at law, the disgrace and public injury of such proceed- ings between two neighbors and Christian men were so plainly set before the client, with such an urgent appeal for a quiet settlement, as ended the case at once. Few who knew Mr. Cooper would deny the belief that he would gladly forego the honor and profits of a successful suit if he might instead hope to share His approval who had said, " Blessed are the peace-makers."
As a Christian his convictions matured in manhood ; his doctri- nal views being of a strongly orthodox character, were in important features the opposite of those of his early training ; and his public profession of religion was made near the beginning of his legal career. His piety was of the Puritan type, strict, strong, reliable ; never emotional, but ruled by the one idea of duty ; yet none who
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knew his faithful attendance upon the services of the church, his enjoyment of her ordinances, his liberal support of her institutions, and his warm regard for all Christian people, could doubt the pres- ence of a love which was never bounded by the lines of any denom- ination, even the one he most loyally adhered to. His firm Christian principle leading him to love men, made him an early and life-long supporter of the great reform measures which seemed to him need- ful steps in the great effort "to make men free." And thus before the day of the republican, or even of the free soil party, he was one of the forty-three men who constituted the old liberty party of Vermont.
At the same early day he also became an adherent and advocate of total abstinence views, and an incident in that connection shows most clearly his desire for consistency of practice with precept, in himself as well as in others, and his judicial readiness to hear and ability to decide, against himself as well as against them. Speak- ing by appointment at Lyndon on the temperance question, and advancing his teetotal views in his usual downright and unsparing style, he had among his hearers his brother, Welch Cooper, a well known lawyer of Lancaster, N. H. The lecturer's total abstinence theories had not as yet taken in tobacco, of which he was an habit- ual consumer. In an interview after the lecture, Welch took occa- sion in the soothing language of which he was a master, to denounce the absurdity and inconsistency of an assault on intemperate liquor drinkers, by one equally intemperate in the use of tobacco. He was heard in silence which lasted some time longer, while every point made was evidently carefully considered. Then saying "Welch, you're right," the pipe was at once thrown away, and for the remaining forty years of his life he made no use of tobacco in any form.
Over his coffin one said : " His errors, so plainly visible in the light of his undisguised life, we shall honor him by avoiding ; but the art of seeming to be only what we are, the lesson of sincerity we may learn from him, and he will live again in our lives if his austere plainness teaches us to be more sincere. A man simple in manners, firm in purpose, independent in action, liberal, pious, as such he will still live, long cherished in grateful memory."
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BIOGRAPHY OF THE BAR
URIEL CHITTENDEN HATCH.
T "HE subject of this biography was born in Hartford, Conn., October 21, 1780. After he had obtained a very good educa- tion for the times he entered the office of Gen. Stephen R. Brad- ley of Westminster, where he acquired his profession, and was admitted to the bar of Windsor county. After his admission to the bar he settled at Cavendish, Vt., for the practice of the law. Here he attained distinction both as a citizen and as a lawyer. He rep- resented the town of Cavendish in the legislature in all for fifteen elections, and he held for many years the office of judge of probate. He was the confidential adviser and counsel for several of Vermont's governors.
He removed from Cavendish about 1830 to Troy, Vt., where he was engaged for a few years in the active practice of his profession. In 1834 he returned to Windsor county and settled in the village of Felchville in the town of Reading, and there practiced his pro- fession until failing health compelled him to relinquish it. The death of his wife (who was a woman of great excellence of charac- ter, displaying under all circumstances the loveliest Christian vir- tues), occurred about this time. It weighed heavily upon him, and his health gradually declined until his death, June 19, 1878.
CHARLES STORY.
C' HARLES STORY, the son of Alexander and Sally Myers Story, was born at Salem, Mass., December 30, 1788. The father was of English parentage and a sea captain, and lived and died at Salem, Mass. Charles received such an education as he could obtain at the common schools and academies of the time. He then came to Montpelier, Vt., and entered the office of J. Y. Vail, where he pursued the study of the law, and was admitted to the bar of Washington county at the September term, 1819, and imme- diately went to McIndoes Falls in the town of Barnet, and com- menced the practice of the law. He remained there about ten years and then went to Coventry, Orleans county, Vt., where he remained in active practice until the spring of 1850, when he moved to New- bury, and died in the spring of 1851. In the words of one who
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