USA > Vermont > Encyclopedia, Vermont biography; a series of authentic biographical sketches of the representative men of Vermont and sons of Vermont in other states. 1912 > Part 10
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ENCYCLOPEDIA VERMONT BIOGRAPHY
[POLAND
children. by neighbors, by all who knew him. He was a member of the Congre- gational Church for the last twenty years of his life, and he delivered a course of lectures, as reverent as they were learned, on "The Authenticity of the Scriptures." He was for some time professor of med- ical jurisprudence in the Vermont Medical College, at Woodstock, where he gave short but instructive courses of lectures. The University of Vermont conferred the de- gree of LL. D. on him in 1849, and Dart- mouth in 1860. Mr. Collamer wedded, July 15, 1817, Mary N., daughter of Abi- jah Stone, and seven children were the fruit of this union.
POLAND, LUKE P., chief justice of the supreme court, both senator and represen- tative in Congress; born at Westford, Nov. 1, 1815; son of Luther and Nancy (Potter) Poland. His educational ad- vantages were limited to a few weeks each year in the public schools and a few months in the academy at Jericho when he was 17; was clerk in a store at Water- ville and did work in his father's saw- mill; taught school in the village of Mor- risville and studied law in the office of Samuel A. Willard; was admitted to the bar in 1836 and 12 years later became one of the judges of the supreme court. Was register of probate for Lamoille County 1839-40; member of state constitutional convention 1843, and states attorney 1844-5; in 1860 chosen chief justice of the supreme court and held it until his election as senator in 1865, continuing two years. On the death of Senator Collamer, having some years before moved to the east side of the mountain and made St. Johnsbury his home, he was chosen by the Legislature to fill out the unexpired term of a little over a year, and in 1866 was elected representative to the lower House of Congress and Morrill trans- ferred to the Senate which position he held by successive re-elections until 1875. Was chairman of the state's delegation to the Republican national convention in 1876; two years later St. Johnsbury sent him to the State Legislature, and in 1882, he made something of a contest with Senator Morrill for the latter's seat in the Senate. A surprise party however in the conven- tion of the new second district secured him the nomination for the House away from General Grout, but he served only
one term. In 1838, he married Martha Smith Page of Waterbury, who died 1853; they had three children; in 1854 married Adelia H., sister of his deceased wife. Judge Poland died July 2, 1887.
EDMUNDS, GEORGE FRANKLIN, Phila- delphia, Pa. Lawyer, statesman. Born Richmond, Feb. 1, 1828; son of Eben- ezer and Naomi (Briggs) Edmunds. Educated in common schools and with private tutor. Studied law in office of A. B. Maynard, Richmond, 1846-7; and Smalley & Phelps, Burlington, 1847-9; admitted to Vermont Bar 1849, and to partnership with Mr. Maynard in Rich- mond; removed to Burlington 1851, where he soon forged his way to the front against such formidable competitors as Ex-Lieutenant Governor Underwood, Ed- ward J. Phelps, and David A. Smalley. Represented Burlington in Vermont Leg- islature 1854-59; speaker 1856-9; sena- tor from Chittenden County and president pro tem 1861 and 1862; United States Senator 1866-91; resigned. Member
Electoral Commission 1877; largely supported, against his protest, for president of United States in National Republican Convention 1880. Author of act of Mar. 22, 1882, for suppression of polygamy in Utah and disfranchisement of those who practice it, known as Ed- munds Act; also of the anti-trust law of 1890; president pro tem of U. S. Senate during presidency of Gen. Chester A. Arthur; was leader in Senate on Republi- can side; notable as a constitutional law- yer. In 1897 became chairman of Monteray Commission appointed by ex- ecutive committee of the Indianapolis Conference.
MORRILL, JUSTIN SMITH, born at Strafford, April 14, 1810; son of Nathan- icl and Mary (Hunt) Morrill. Educated in the public schools, Thetford and Ran- dolph academics; at the age of 15 entered a store as clerk; went to Portland, Me., in 1828 to fill a similar position; returned to Strafford in 1831 and became the part- ner of Jedediah Harris, leading merchant in town, business connection terminat- ing with the death of Judge Harris in 1855; in 1854 received the nomination of the Whig party convention of his district for Congress and he was elected by a small majority, taking his scat Dec. 3,
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THE SENATORS
ROSS]
1855; and thereafter affiliated with the new Republican party. He opposed the tariff in 1857 and carried through the House the first bill against Mormon polyg- amy; introduced the first bill to grant free lands for agricultural, scientific and industrial colleges ; it was vetoed by Presi- dent Buchanan but was again introduced and carried through by Mr. Morrill 1862; he was five times re-elected to the House where his influence was greater than any other member with the exception of Thad- deus Stevens. During the war he had charge of all tariff and tax legislation, and the "Morrill tariff" of 1861, and the in- ternal revenue tax system of 1862. In 1866, after 12 years of honorable service . in the House he was transferred to the U. S. Senate where he was authority on all questions relating to finance and tax- ation, and his period of service in the na- tional Legislature was as remarkable for its duration as it was distinguished for its usefulness. Died Dec. 28, 1898. In 1851 he married Ruth Swan of Easton, Mass.
ROSS, JONATHAN, St. Johnsbury. Sen- ator 1899-1900. Born Waterford, April 30. 1826; son of Royal and Eliza (Ma- son) Ross. Educated in the common schools; select school at Waterford; Phil-
lips Academy, Danville; St. Johnsbury Academy; Dartmouth College, A. B. 1851; LL. D. 1855. In 1852 married Eliza Ann Carpenter, who died 1886; they had eight children, Caroline C., Elizabeth, Helen M. (deceased), Julia (Mrs. A. C. Aldrich), Martha (Mrs. J. W. Titcomb), Edith (Mrs. C. W. Braley), Edward Harlan, and Jonathan C. For his second wife married Miss Helen Dag- gett. Taught in Craftsbury, and was principal at Chelsea Academy for some time; studied law with Hon. William He- bard; admitted to Orange County Bar 1856; in partnership with A. J. Willard at St. Johnsbury two years; with G. A. Burbank one year, and with W. P. Smith a year. Treasurer Passumpsic Savings Bank 1858-68; states attorney Caledonia County 1862-3; represented St. Johns- bury in Legislature 1865, '66, '67; mem- ber council of censors 1869; senator from Caledonia County 1870; assistant judge supreme court of Vermont 1870-90; chief judge 1890 to Jan. 11, 1899, when he re- signed to fill the vacancy in U. S. Senate caused by the death of Hon. Justin S. Morrill. Dec. 1, 1900, appointed by gov- ernor as chairman state railroad commis- sion, serving two years, thereafter devot- ing his time to the profession of law until his death at St. Johnsbury,
REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS
The following is a complete list of the Representatives in Congress for Ver- mont. Biographical sketches of the entire list are given on the following pages, with exceptions noted.
Nathaniel Niles 1791-95
Charles Rich 1817-25
William Henry 1847-51
*Israel Smith 1791-97
Henry Olin 1824-25
Lucius Peck 1847-31
Daniel Buck 1795-99
Mark Richards 1817-21
William Hebard 1849-33
Matthew Lyon 1797-1801
William Strong 1819 91
James Meacham 1849-36
Lewis R. Morris 1797-1803
Ezra Meech 1819- 21
Ahiman L. Miner 1851-53
Israel Smith .1801-03
Rollin C. Mallory 1819 -31
Thomas Bartlett, Jr .. . 1851-53 Andrew Tracey 1853-55
William Chamberlain. . 1803-05
Elias Keyes 1821-23
*Martin Chittenden. .1803-13
*John Mattocks 1821-23
Alvah Sabin IS53-57
James Elliot 1803-09
Phineas White 1821-23
Justin S. Morrill 1855-67
Gideon Olin 1803-07
William C. Bradley 1823-27
George T. Hodges .. 1856-57
¡James Fisk 1805-09
D. Azro A. Buck. 1823-29
Eliakim P. Walton. 1857-63
James Witherell. .1807-08
Ezra Meech 1825-27
Homer E. Royce .. 1857-61
Samuel Shaw 1808-13
*John Mattocks 1825-27
Portus Baxter 1861-67
William Chamberlain. . 1809-11
George E. Wales. 1825-29
Jonathan H. Hubbard.1809-11
Heman Allen of Milton. 1827-29
Fred'k E. Woodbridge 1863-69 Worthington C. Smith. 1867-73 ¡Luke P. Poland ... .1867-75
William Strong 1811-15
Jonathan Hunt
1827-32
Charles W. Willard. . . 1869-75
William C. Bradley. 1813-15
William Cahoon
1827-33
*George W. Hendee .... 1873-79
*Ezra Butler 1813-15
Horace Everett 1829-43
Dudley C. Denison. 1875-79
*Richard Skinner 1813-15
Charles Rich 1813-15 !
Heman Allen of Milton. 1832-39
Bradley Barlow 1879-81
Daniel Chipman 1815-17
*Hiland Hall 1833-43
James M. Tyler. 1879-83
Luther Jewett
1815-17 |
Benjamin F. Deming. . 1833-35
William W. Grout. 1881-83
Chauncey Langdon 1815-17
Henry F. Janes. 1835-37
¡Luke P. Poland. 1883-85
Asa Lyon 1815-17
1815-17
John Smith 1839-41
William W. Grout .. . .1881-83
John Noves 1815-17
Augustus Young 1841-43
1885-1900
Heman Allen of Col- chester
George P. Marsh. 1843-19
Kittredge Haskins .. 1901-09
¡Samuel C. Crafts. 1817-95
*Solomon Foot 1843-47
David J. Foster 1901-12
William Hunter .1817-19
*Paul Dillingham 1843-47
Frank Plumley 1909-
Orsamus C. Merrill ... 1817-19
¡Jacob Collamer 1843-49
Frank I .. Greene 1912-
"Biographical sketch will be found among "The Governors."
¡Biographical sketch will be found among "The Senators."
NILES, NATHANIEL ; legislator, speaker, councilor, congressman, lawyer, judge, physician, preacher, inventor, and some- thing of a poet; born South Kingston, R. I., April 3, 1741, the grandson of Samuel Niles, of Braintree, Mass .; commenced his collegiate course at Harvard, later grad- uating at Princeton; studied theology under Rev. Dr. Bellamy; studied law and medicine, taught school in New York city, preached at Norwich and Torrington, Conn., and indulged himself with mechan- ical experiments; invented a process of making wire from bar iron by water power, later building at Norwich, Conn., a woolen card manufactory. He was an ardent patriot in the Revolution; author
of the ode entitled "The American Hero," 1776, and which became a war song of New England soldiers ; came to West Fair- lee and settled near center of town, preach- ing Sundays in his own house for 12 years ; elected to the Legislature 1784 and chosen speaker; in 1784 was also elected with Moses Robinson and Ira Allen an agent to Congress to "transact and negotiate busi- ness of this state with that body." Judge of the supreme court 1784-8; member of the council 1785-7. and served in the eon- stitutional convention of 1791. taking the lead with Chipman in securing the ratifi- cation of the Federal constitution; served in Congress 1791-5; again represented Fairlee in the Legislatures of 1800. '01.
*John W. Stewart. 1883-92
Isaac Fletcher 1837-41
Charles Marsh
*John Mattocks 1841-43
H. Henry Powers. 1892-1900
1817-18
*William Slade 1831-43
Charles H. Joyce .. 1875-83
¡James Fisk 1811-15
Benjamin Swift 1827-31
64
ENCYCLOPEDIA VERMONT BIOGRAPHY
[BUCK
'02. and in 1812, '13, '14; again member of council of censors 1799, and again re- turned to the governor's council 1803-8, and in the constitutional convention 1814. In politics, Mr. Niles was a Jeffersonian Republican, and for 20 years the most steadfast and popular champion of Dem- ocratic views in Vermont. A resolute antagonist of slavery, he led in formulat- ing the demand of the state in 1805 for a constitutional amendment to forever pro- hibit the importation of slaves into the country; he "entered a solemn protest" against some of the lottery legislation of 1804; was chairman of the committee in 1814 that reported against the constitu- tional amendment proposed by Tennessee and Pennsylvania to reduce the term of senators from six to four years; was chair- man on the part of the House of joint committee to consider the invitation of Massachusetts to send delegates to the Hartford convention, and which to the lasting credit of Vermont, by unanimous vote of the committee, reported against having anything to do with this traitorous scheme. He strenuously opposed the bank bill schemes proposed so thickly in the early years of the century, finally as- senting in 1806 to the compromise for the establishment of the Vermont State Bank. At the age of nearly seventy-four he re- tired from his thirty years of almost con- tinuous public service, and passed the rest of his days until his death in November, 1828, at his home in West Fairlee. Judge Niles was twice married, first to a daugh- ter of Rev. Dr. Joseph Lathrop of West Springfield. Mass., and second to Eliza- beth Watson of Plymouth, Mass. He left two sons. one of them. Nathaniel. became U. S. consul at Sardinia, acting plenipo- tentiary to Austria, and secretary of le- gation at the Court of St. James under General Cass.
BUCK, DANIEL, a lawyer by profes- sion. was one of the carliest settlers of the state; represented Norwich in the Legislature several years, and held the speaker's chair 1795-6; again in Legis- lature in 1806; in 1792 counsel for Ira Allen in the fight in the Legislature over the latter's accounts. one phase of which resulted in political revolution and ousted Governor Chittenden from office one term; member of the convention at Bennington that adopted the act of union, but took
the lead in opposing that action and urg- ing Vermont to continue an independent little republic by herself; took a leading part in the passage of the act of 1806, empowering judges of the supreme court of judicature to grant divorces; was ac- tive in the Legislature of 1806 for the es- tablishment of a state bank; served as states attorney 1794, and one of the state's representatives in Congress 1795- 9, being an ardent Federalist, while his colleague, Matthew Lyon, was a red-hot Democrat. His declining years were spent in Chelsea, where he practiced his profession until his death in 1817.
LYON, MATTHEW, elected to Congress from three states, was born in Wicklow, Ireland, about 1746; attended school at Dublin where he obtained an English education and a smattering of Latin; ap- prenticed to a printer and bookbinder, but at the age of 13 a sea captain induced him to run away and come to America, even though it meant 15 years of slavery to pay his passage. He was in Vermont in 1776, and with a lieutenant's commis- sion was stationed at Jericho with a squad of men, who later refused to serve be- cause of support and Lyon was court- martialed and cashiered for cowardice. He was reinstated in July, 1777, and made paymaster of the Northern army. After the battle of Bennington he was a farm laborer of Governor Chittenden who made him his deputy-secretary and clerk of the court of confiscation; became a captain and colonel of the militia; repre- sented Arlington in the Legislature 1779- 82; moved to Fair Haven in 1783, where he conducted a saw and grist mill, and erected an iron mill in 1785 and a paper mill soon after. In the iron mill he turned out hoes, axes and nail rods; made paper from basswood long years before it was thought of anywhere else; was se- lectman in Fair Haven 1788, 1790, and 1791; the town's representative in the Legislature ten years, and later estab- lished "The Farmers Library" and a political sheet, the "Fair Haven Gazette"; was assistant judge. of county court 1786; and on the admission of the state into the Union became a red-hot Dem- ocratie leader, and immediately a candidate for Congress; contested the election with Israel Smith and Isaac Tichenor in 1791, '93, '95; in 1795 was elected to Congress,
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THE REPRESENTATIVES
ELLIOT]
taking his seat in 1797, he and Andrew Jackson in the Senate being the two most rabid anti-Washington men in Congress. He had many bitter fights in Congress, but the thing with which Lyon's name is most strikingly linked in history is his martyrdom to the alien and sedition law. At the fall term of U. S. court in Rutland in 1798 he was indieted for "seurrilous, scandalous, malicious, and defamatory language" about President Adams, pub- lished in the Windsor Journal ; he pleaded his own case at the trial, but was con- vieted and sentenced to four months' im- prisonment and a $1,000 fine, and was confined in jail at Vergennes and treated with much hardship. While in jail he was re-elected to Congress by 500 major- ity; his journey thither being one of tri- umph in a coach and four under the American flag. In a prolonged contro- versy over the presidential election in 1800, he cast the vote of the state for Jefferson. At the expiration of his term in Congress he moved to Kentucky, es- tablished the first printing office in the state and was elected to Congress in 1804; moved to Arkansas, and in 1820 was again elected to Congress, but died at Little Rock, Aug. 1, before taking his seat. In 1840 Congress refunded to Colonel Lyon's heirs the fine he had paid in Vermont under the sedition law.
MORRIS, LEWIS R., six years Con- gressman; a native of New York, where he was born Nov. 2, 1760; settled in Springfield about 1786; was a member of the Bennington convention that voted to ratify the Federal constitution, and one of the commissioners to Congress that completed the negotiation for admission to the Union in 1791; represented Spring- field in the Legislature 1795-6; 1803- '05-'06-'08; secretary of the constitu- tional Convention at Windsor 1793; mem- ber National House of Representatives 1797 to 1803. Soon after settling in Springfield he married the daughter of Rev. Buckley Olcott of Charlestown, N. H., who lived but a few years, and later he married Ellen, daughter of Gen. Arad Hunt of Vernon. He died at Vernon. Dec. 29, 1825.
CHAMBERLAIN, WILLIAM; soldier, councilor, judge, congressman, and lieu-
tenant-governor; born Hopkinton, Mass., in 1753, and when 20 years old moved with his father to London, N. H .; en- listed promptly when the war for indc- pendence opened, was in the Canada ex- pedition as an orderly sergeant, and one of nine offieers and privates out of a com- pany of seventy that survived to take part in the battle of Trenton, N. J. Return- ing to his New Hampshire home, he vol- unteered again upon Burgoyne's invasion and was in the battle of Bennington where he distinguished himself by his bravery; settled in Peacham about 1780 and was town clerk for 12 years; jus- tice of the peace 244 years; town repre- sentative 12 years; chief judge of Cale- donia County court 17 years, and coun- cilor seven years, 1796-1803. Was twice elected to Congress, 1802 and again in 1808; the Federalist victory of 1813 elected him lieutenant-governor with Martin Chittenden, and they were re- elected in 1814; was an Adams presiden- tial elector in 1800. The close and hard- fought election of 1815 retired him to private life finally, though he ran a lit- tle better than Chittenden. He died Sept. 27, 1828.
ELLIOT. JAMES; born Gloucester, Mass., Aug. 18, 1775, and reared as a farm servant in the family of Colonel Sanderson of Petersham; was taught the rudiments of grammar by his employer, but otherwise was self-educated. He came to Guilford when fifteen, and en- gaged as a clerk; filled with military ar- dor. at age of eighteen he enlisted at Springfield, Mass .. and was in service three years against the insurgents in Pennsylvania and the Indians in Ohio. Returning to Guilford in 1798, he pub- lished a 278-page volume of his political and miscellaneous works; read law. was admitted to the bar and settled in prac- tice in Brattleboro. He was elected to Congress to succeed Lewis R. Morris. and on retiring in 1809 published a paper for a time in Philadelphia; entered the army in the war of 1812 as a captain, but after brief service returned to Vermont and resumed the practice of law at Brattle- boro; elected to the Legislature in 1818- 19; removed to Newfane and was again sent to the Legislature in 1837-8; was county clerk, judge of probate. and the
66
ENCYCLOPEDIA VERMONT BIOGRAPHY
[OLIN
last two years of life was states at- torney. He died Nov. 10, 1839, aged 64 years.
OLIN, GIDEON; a Congressman and one of the founders of the state, was born in Rhode Island in 1743 and came to Vermont and settled in Shaftsbury in 1776; was delegate to Windsor conven- tion of June 4, 1777, and a representa- tive in the first Legislature under the new state government in 1778; in the Legislature from 1780 to 1793, and speaker from 1788 to 1793; judge of Bennington County
court 1781-98; served in the council from 1793-8, and again as judge 1800-2, and chief judge 1807-11, a total judicial service of twen- ty-three years. He was a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1791 and 1793, and was in Congress two terms, from 1803 to 1807. He died in Jan- uary 1823. Congressman Abraham B. Olin of New York was his son and Con- gressman Henry Olin of this state his nephew.
WITHERELL, JAMES; Congressman 1807-8; born Mansfield, Mass., June 16, 1759; enlisted at age of 16 in the Rev- olutionary service, continuing therein from the early siege of Boston until peace was won and the army disbanded in 1783. when he came out as an officer with $70 in Continental currency. Studied medicine at Mansfield, and in 1789 be- gan practice at Fair Haven, where he married Amy Hawkins, a lincal descend- ant of Roger Williams. He was a red- hot Democrat and a hearty associate of Matthew Lyon; represented Fair Haven from 1789 to 1802; assistant judge of Rutland County court 1801-3, and chief justice 1803-6; councilor 1802-7, when he was elected to Congress; before his term was completed President Jefferson appointed him one of the judges of the territory of Michigan, with executive and legislative duties to perform as well as judicial. In the war of 1812 he com- manded a corps at Detroit and when the pest fell before the British he refused to surrender his command but allowed his inen to disperse and escape while he re- mained to be taken prisoner. He again lived in Fair Haven while on parole, but when exchanged returned to Detroit, and in 1826 President John Quincy Adams
appointed him secretary of the territory. He died at Detroit Jan. 9, 1838.
SHAW, SAMUEL; Congressman 1808- 13; a Democrat of the Matthew Lyon school, was born at Dighton, Mass., in December, 1768; came to Putney when 10 years of age, and at 19 settled himself at Castleton and began, after two years of study, the practice of medicine; repre- sented Castleton in Legislature 1800-7, when he was elected to both houses, but accepted the office of councilor; defeated the following year, he was elected to Con- gress, serving from 1808 to 1813; on his retirement was appointed surgeon in the U. S. army, attaining an eminence which was remarkable, considering his limited education. He died at Clarendon, Oct. 22, 1827.
HUBBARD, JONATHAN HATCH; Con- gressman 1808-11; born in Windsor in 1768; died there Sept. 20, 1849; had a liberal education and studied law and was admitted to bar in 1790, practicing until his election to Congress in 1808. He served until 1811, and in 1813 be- came judge of the supreme court of Ver- mont, continuing in office until 1815.
STRONG, WILLIAM; Congressman 1811-15, 1819-20; born at Lebanon, Conn., in 1763; son of Benajah and Polly (Bacon) Strong; was self-educated by means of books he could borrow, and for several years was engaged in making land surveys in Grand Isle county. Return- ing to Hartford and engaging in farming he quickly became a man of influence in the community; represented Hartford in the Legislature 1798-9, 1801, '02, '15, '16, '17, and '18; was sheriff of Windsor county eight years, from 1802 to 1810; judge of supreme court of Windsor county in 1817, and a member of the council of censors in 1834; first elected to Congress 1811, serving two terms; in 1819 returned again, serving one term. In 1793 married Abigail Hutchinson of Norwich; they had nine children; of these, John P. and Charles were woolen manufacturers at Quechec. He died Jan. 28, 1840, at the age of seventy- seven.
BRADLEY, WILLIAM C., Congress- man 1813-15, 1823-7; born Westminster,
67
THE REPRESENTATIVES
LANGDON]
March 23, 1782; son of Senator Stephen R. and Merab (Atwater) Bradley. H was twice a congressman, long the leader of the Jacksonian Democracy of the state, and in the opinion of Pliney White, "all things considered the greatest man Vermont has produced." He began to write poetry at the age of six years, and when twelve his first prose work, "The Rights of Youth," was published; was a great Bible student, and at the age of eleven was fitted for college; at twelve was studying Hebrew; at thirteen he en- tered Yale, but was expelled before his freshman year had ended; at eighteen was secretary of the commissioners of bankruptcy, and before he was of age was states attorney for Windham County holding this position seven years; at twenty-four represented his town in the Legislature; at thirty was a member of the governor's council, and at thirty-two was sent to Congress; was Democratic nominee for governor in 1830, 1834, '35, '36; twice in 1837-8, joined the Free Soil party in 1848, and later the Republican party. Elected to Congress as a Jef- fersonian Democrat in 1812; at the ex- piration of his term he was appointed agent of the United States, under the treaty of Ghent, for fixing the north- eastern boundary, a work that required five years; again elected to Congress in 1822 and 1824; again represented West- minster in the Legislature of 1850 and was a member of the constitutional con- vention of 1857. In 1858, after fifty- six years of practice, he took leave of the bar at Newfane. He died at West- minster in March, 1867, following soon the death of his wife, a woman of rare beauty of person and character,
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