Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887, Part 7

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., Syracuse Journal Co., Printers and Binders
Number of Pages: 886

USA > Vermont > Essex County > Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887 > Part 7
USA > Vermont > Caledonia County > Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887 > Part 7

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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having commenced farming in 1850, the boyhood of our subject was spent on a farm, which, although depriving him of many educational advantages, laid the foundation for a strong and vigorous man, and a will that in the end overcame all obstacles. His seemingly nomadic habits in early life, which were more the result of circumstances and accident than any want of stability, brought him in contact with human nature in all its varied forms, and his strug- gles from place to place had much to do with that strength of character into which he afterward settled. Having formed a partnership with Elisha May, in 1882, he settled down to work in good earnest, and with the aid of one of the most studious of partners, he is enjoying a reputation among the very best lawyers of the state. In his marital relations he was fortunate and un- fortunate-fortunate in possessing a woman who was amiable and kind, but whose infirm health has made one more obstacle to encounter, for until re- cently his means were, from the circumstances of his life, somewhat limited. He is a man of medium height, determined almost to willfulness, plucky, fair but very decisive, sarcastic, but never to bitterness. He is nat- urally popular, with respectable surroundings, and those who know him predict for him a bright and prosperous future.

Hon. Franklin D. Hale was born at Barnet, Vt., March 7, 1854, where he lived with his parents until he was two years of age, when they moved with him to Concord Vt., where he resided for nine years, attending the district schools and living and doing as a boy is accustomed to do on a farm. When he was eleven years old he removed with his parents to Lunenburgh, where he attended the district schools and was engaged somewhat as a teacher. Desirous of greater advantages he went away to the Northfield high school and to the St. Johnsbury academy. While at Northfield, having selected his life work, he commenced reading law, in connection with his studies at school, with A. R. Savage. When he had completed his purposes in these schools he went to Colebrook, N. H., taught school there, and continued his reading of the law. In 1875, '76 and '77 he was in training for the law at the Michigan university. Having studiously and industriously improved all the opportu- nities he could make available for educational purposes, at the age of twenty- three he began to read law in the office of Hutchinson & Savage, at Lewis- ton, Maine, where he remained as a student for six months. He then entered the firm of Hutchinson, Savage & Hale, where he practiced for two years. From there he went into the west and spent a year. Returning to Lunen- burgh he engaged in farming and law practice. He married Miss Addie L. S. Silsby, daughter of Hon. Levi Silsby, November 2, 1881. His father, Sprague T. Hale, and his mother, Nancy (Moulton) Hale, having a thrifty farm and being comfortably located, the subject of this sketch was naturally quite contented to assist the old people, because it gave him a situation cor- responding, of course, to a farmer's life, but which was, nevertheless, a con- dition of as absolute independence as wealth would produce. His integrity, candor, studious and regular habits soon attracted the attention of those

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around him. They called him to act as superintendent of schools in 1882, '83 and '84, as selectman in 1884, '85 and '86, together with other positions of trust. In 1884 he was elected town representative. He held the office of state's attorney from July, 1883, until December, 1886. He was elected county senator in 1886. As state's attorney he performed the duties of his office with candor and care, without radicalism, and without any attempt at creating personal sensation, but steadily, firmly and quietly did his duty. As a representative he was quiet and unobtrusive, made few speeches, but what he did make were regarded as candid and thoughtful. As a senator he orig- inated several measures, and having acquired more confidence was more en- terprising in his movements, and soon took good rank and was a useful man, not only in the care of his constituents' local interests, but he participated largely in the general legislation of the state. He is yet a young man, and it is impossible to write much of his life, for the historian cannot write that which has not occurred; but it may be safely predicted that his life will be a consist- ent and happy one with the promise of much success before the public.

Hon. David S. Storrs, son of Aaron and Elizabeth (Smith) Storrs, was born in Randolph, Vt., December 4, 1834, and was educated in the public shools, Orange County Grammar school, at Randolph, and the Kimball Union acad- emy at Meriden, N. H. He spent two years teaching in'New Hampshire, and then studied law in the offices of Lyman C. Chandler, of Rockaway, N. J., the Hon. Philander Perrin, of Randolph, Vt., and Col. R. C. Benton, of Hyde Park, Vt. He practiced law a little over a year, at Wolcott, Vt., but the circumstances surrounding him were unsatisfactory, and in June, 1861, he received an appointment as deputy collector of customs at Island Pond, Vt. In connection with the duties of this office he read and practiced law some- what until April, 1864, when he resumed the practice of his profession and devoted his entire time to it. He was elected state's attorney for Essex county in 1864, and received re-elections until 1868; was representative for the town of Brighton in 1874, and was state senator in 1876; was judge of probate from 1880 to 1884, was town clerk of Brighton from 1866 to 1872, and has held nearly or quite all the other town offices. He married Sarah A. Robinson, September 17, 1863, by whom he has two children, Carl R. and George E. Judge Storrs, as he is always called, has some peculiar and re- markable traits of character. He is a man of decision even to willfulness, and is entirely independent. He is a man of strong natural talents, and quite a combative disposition, although he is genial and capable of much tenacity in friendship. He enjoys fun, and the common people are free to joke with him. To illustrate: An old Irish gentleman approached him one day and said, "Would ye be afther lettin' my Jimmy read law wid ye?" " Well," said Judge Storrs, "I will do anything I can to accommodate you. Is he sufficiently educated ?" " Wal, I don't know ;" says the Irishman, " but he has the makin's of a lawyer in him." "How is that?" asked the Judge. " Wal, sir, he can lie, chate and steal like the devil." As an office lawyer

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Judge Storrs has no superior, although he shrinks somewhat from the collis- ions of the bar. As a judge of probate he exercised sound discretion and gave universal satisfaction. As a legislator he did not originate so much as he criticised ; but in his way was very efficient. He is a retiring man, and I imagine conceives a distaste, to a certain extent, for the active practice of the law. Some years since he bought him a farm and retired to it, and has since devoted most of his attention to its cultivation. Many old clients fol- lowed him into his retirement and would occasionally pull him out to assist them, relying on his good judgment and practical common sense to give them the assistance and information which they needed. He is among the prom- inent memories of Essex county, identified very largely with its interests, an ardent Republican, active in politics, and will be long remembered by the people of the county.

Col. Z. M. Mansur was born in Morgan, Vt., November 23, 1843, was ed- ucated at the district school, and when seventeen years of age taught school, and by great industry and perseverance mastered the English branches of education and those things which are the most useful in the common walks of life. August 17, 1862, when but eighteen years of age, he enlisted and served three years in Company K, Ioth Vt. Vols., as corporal ; was through all the battles of the Army of the Potomac in 1864, down to September 19. When at Opuquan Creek, Va., he lost his right arm. He was sent to the Montpelier hospital, and as soon as his wound was healed, and while a soldier, attended the Washington county grammar school six months. He was discharged in the fall of 1865, and taught school during the winter and summer of 1866, and attended the Derby academy during the fall of that year. January 17, 1867, he was appointed inspector of customs at the port of Island Pond. February 17, of that year, he resigned that office to accept the position of postmaster at the same place, which he held until November 10, 1885. He studied law with George N. Dale from 1870 to 1874, and was admitted to practice in Essex county at the March term of 1874. He was elected to the general assembly from Brighton in 1886, during which he te- ceived from Governor Ormsbee the appointment of colonel on his staff. He is now entering upon his duties as state's attorney for the county of Essex, to which he has been elected for the two years ensuing. Although his active life has hardly begun, yet for a young man there are many interesting things connected with the beginning of his career. He came back from the army with an empty sleeve, and in a situation concerning which Charles Carpenter, one of Vermont's poets, says :-

The staunch right arm is needed In the peaceful walks of life : 'Tis needed in the toils that wage With poverty and strife. There's a shadow o'er his pathway, From which there's no reprieve, Of a gory, shattered, own right arm, And an ever empty sleeve. -

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There were dependent upon him others for whom he manfully fought. Being a man of perfect courage, he fought as bravely " in the peaceful walks of life " as he had in the army. One day he was talking with a legal gentle- man and expressing gloomy anticipations for the future, and deprecating direful allusions to the situation in which he would be placed, together with those dependent upon him, when by any political changes he should be thrown upon only his left arm for support. His friend said, "go into the office and read law and be ready for them." The young man was thunder- struck, and replied that his education was insufficient; but at last he con- cluded to try it, and so he began to study law. He commenced by making imaginary pleadings, and read industriously during the time required, at the end of which he passed what was regarded as an excellent examination, and commenced the practice of the law in connection with his duties as postmaster, which at once fixed him upon a solid financial basis. He soon gained the confidence of the community and acted in various positions of trust and con- fidence, being at one time administrator of nearly every estate in the vicinity. And so he worked on with energy, until by change of administration he was invited to resign his office as postmaster, being an " offensive partisan," whereupon the people of the town of Brighton immediately elected him as representative to the general assembly, where he at once took high rank and became identified with many of the leading measures, was chairman of one of the most important committees, was a member of the judiciary commit- tee, and did some plucky debating. Having married Miss Ellen S. Newhall, by whom he has two children, a son, Arthur G., aged fifteen, and a daughter, Mabel S., whose age is seventeen, his surroundings are all that a man might reasonably expect. He is a man of thorough convictions, undoubted cour- age in defending them, perfect integrity, and most faithful in his friendships ; and is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church. This is the im- pression he gives the writer, who would be pleased to describe his whole career, but can only anticipate a very successful future for him.

I would gladly write of the Hon. Reuben C. Benton, a son of Samuel S. and Esther P. Benton, but he passed beyond my view in about twelve months after I came to the county. I have been told that he was born at Water- ford, Vt., November 28, 1802. He was the oldest child of a family of twelve children, eleven of whom lived to be men and women, one of the grandest circumstances which can attend one's lineage. He was educated in the common schools and at the Concord academy, which was then in charge of the Rev. Samuel Reed Hall, one of the finest old school teachers and men that the state of Vermont ever produced. Mr. Benton taught school win- ters for a number of years. He married Almira Fletcher, of Haverhill, N. H., about 1828. He bought a small farm in St. Johnsbury and went to farming and trading in cattle and sheep for some four years. He then bought and lived on a farm in Waterford until 1840, when he removed to Lunen- burgh. Here his education and business capacity were such as to invite

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those in the vicinity to ask him to do conveyancing, and then to act as at- torney in the local courts; and so he went on farming, conveyancing and practicing law, and reading, until 1851, when he had got many suits to bring to the county court and was admitted to practice in that court, and soon after in the supreme court. His business increased rapidly and he continued the practice of the law until his death, October 13th, 1857. He was county surveyor for Caledonia county for a number of years ; representative of Lu- nenburgh in the legislature ; was sheriff of Essex county in 1854 and '55, and conducted the celebrated trial of State vs. Mrs. Abigail Allen for the murder of Mrs. Lurvey, the only trial for murder ever held in Essex county. He had four children, two sons and two daughters-Col. R. C. Benton, of Minneapolis, and C. H. Benton, Esq., of the same place, who are now among the leading lawyers of Minneapolis. The oldest daughter, Almira, married a Mr. Robinson, editor of the Stanstead Journal. The other, Mary Esther, married a Mr. Leland, and died at Johnson, Vt., in October, 1885. Mr. Benton came to the bar because of his strong and vigorous intellect, his capacity to do business, and the want of legal men in the community in which he lived. He told the writer at one time that he came to the bar in- voluntarily and before he scarcely knew it. He was a bold, fearless man, a man of vigor and push, of that type which commands the quick confidence of the people and of that character which will retain it. As a legislator he was prominent and known by all. He grew fast in his profession and in the confidence of his clients and constituency ; but in the midst of his usefulness, and during the last year of his senatorial term, he was suddenly taken sick, and after a brief illness died. In form and figure he was of the physical type of the late Senator Anthony, of Rhode Island. His speaking, too, resembled somewhat his style. When the writer first came to Essex county he was the central figure at the bar. Not so much, perhaps, the father of the bar as "Father Heywood," but more imposing, and yet with all this he was a most genial man, fond of anecdotes, and would enliven the dullest group instanta- neously. He enjoyed a joke even at his own expense. The last time I saw him I rode with him from Irasburgh supreme court, and among other anec- dotes on the ride he related one concerning himself with great merriment. He said his son Reuben was driving a yoke of oxen, attached to a cart, through a gateway, and ran a wheel on to one of the gate posts and knocked it over. Whereupon he exclaimed impatiently to his son, " there, you jackass, why didn't you knock down the other post ?" The son stopped, and, looking at his father, with a merry twinkle in his eye, pleasantly replied, " nothing but a mule, father." His vigorous work, his enterprising spirit, and his social intercourse with the community, were such that when he died it was as if a tall oak had fallen down among the smaller trees and the twigs and staddles around it.

Hon. Charles E. Benton, brother of Reuben C., was the youngest child of a family of twelve children. He was born at Waterford, Vt., December II,

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1825, and born of one of those families who are living in perpetual rebuke to those couples who fail to raise large families except for reasons beyond their control. He lived at home until about twenty-one years of age, had the advantages of a common school education, and attended the St. Johns- bury and Lancaster academies two terms. Being of naturally strong make, vigorous mentally and physically, he drank heartily and with a keen appetite at the fountains of learning such as spring from our mountain sides, but which sometimes scantily supply us all. He came to Guildhall April 5, 1860, bought a large and productive farm on the Connecticut river, and carried it on until March 16, 1866, at which time, from various causes, the county de- sired a county clerk, and was unable to find one that seemed to suit all parties. Mr. Benton was solicited to accept the office; but having a fine farm well stocked, and being comfortably surrounded, and having settled down into a condition of contentment, he at first declined, but at last consented to accept the office.

He disposed of his farm and moved to the village about the first of Janu- ary, 1868, where he has since resided. Soon after Mr. Benton's removal to the village, Mr. Bates, the last of the line of lawyers who had resided there, moved away, and the town was left with no regular practicing lawyer. So, in addition to his office as clerk, he was soon called upon to do local law busi- ness, to do general town business, and finally to do miscellaneous business such as an efficient man under such circumstances would naturally be called upon to do. He has filled nearly, or quite, all of the town offices. He rep- resented the town in 1866 and 1867, was senator in 1874 and 1875, and has been clerk of the courts since 1865. He was a member of the Republican state committee for ten years. He married Adda Chamberlin, daughter of Abner and Mary Chamberlin, at Newbury, Vt., October 21, 1856. They have had three children -- Charles A., Everett C. and Jay B., the first of whom died in 1877. The second has just published a neat little history of the town of Guildhall, to which the writer is indebted for the data from which he makes this and some other sketches. The subject of this sketch has, for the last few years, been very prominent in the politics of the state and county. He is an active man, and of that energy which is characteristic of the family. He is amply able to defend himself and his friends in any emergency, and is shrewd enough not to be circumvented by the arts which always surround a man in public life. He came to the bar four or five years after he moved to Guildhall ; but owing to his position as clerk, he has never appeared in the higher courts as an attorney. When driven to defend himself or a client in the local courts, he does it with marked sagacity, much spirit and determi- nation, and with absolute courage and confidence in his cause. He is a man of marked characteristics in respect to these and other qualities, and has ex- erted no inconsiderable influence upon the Bench and Bar of this county.

There are some old practitionors at the bar of Essex county, but in its early days there were few resident lawyers, and the business was pretty much

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absorbed by lawyers from New Hampshire, and from the adjoining counties in Vermont. One David Hibbard, of Concord, in very early times, was a man of great vigor of thought, and, although not a remarkably learned man, yet one who laid the foundations of a legal character, and cultivated those characteristics which have marked his descendants both in Vermont aud New Hampshire, and made the name famous in this locality for its legal tendencies. I would write particularly of him, but am unable to give the data.

There are several modern members of the bar, the particulars of whose lives I am unable to procure, and as I am compelled to close this sketch, I can only refer to them. George W. Hartshorn, of Canaan, is a man whose life is filled with incidents enough to deserve an extended sketch, but I am unable to procure the means to make it. He was formerly clerk of the Or- leans county court, has filled most of the local offices since he has resided in Canaan, and has been state's attorney for several years. He is a ready, fluent speaker, an active politician, and has been, for a great many years, very inti- -

mately connected with the leading interests of Essex county.

Oscar F. Harvey, of West Concord, is a man of most determined will, the closest application, and the most untiring industry. He delves with desperate energy to get at the bottom facts and principles in a case, and yet he is very quiet, undemonstrative and retiring, and makes no pretensions to oratory, but in a quiet way exhibits no inconsiderable skill in presenting his case. He has held many offices of trust, including that of state's attorney for the county, for several years. This last office was also held for several years by Albro F. Nichols, who formerly resided at West Concord, now a resident of St. Johns- bury. He is a polished and gentlemanly man, a man of the finest type, and, although young, is fast growing in his profession.

I might speak of others, but when I get beyond the line of my immediate associates, I fear I speak unintelligently, and perhaps unprofitably and tediously.

Henry W. Lund, Esq., was born at Granby, October 11, 1854. He was educated in the common schools and at the St. Johsbury academy, read law in the offices of George W. Hartshorn, of Canaan, and Henry C. Bates, of St. Johnsbury, and was admitted to practice in the Essex courts at the March term of 1881. He was married May 29, 1880, to Carrie V. Jones, daughter of Dr. S. P. Jones, of Canaan. On his admission to the bar he located at Canaan, where he has since been engaged in the practice of the law. He is a young man, and is located in a beautiful village on the Connecticut, and in every way is fortunately surrounded to enjoy life. To a man of moderate ambitions the country affords business enough to satisfy, although it is some- what remote from the main currents. Mr. Lund is an outspoken Democrat. He lives in a town where the majority are against his political convictions, and therefore he has occupied few political positions. He seems to have a higher ambition than that of indulging in political squabbles. One of the tendencies of his mind grows out of his having been compelled to support

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himself during his school days, which he did largely by being engaged in teaching. His interest in education, and his zeal in carrying forward the means of education, attract the attention of those around him, and he has acted as to .vn superintendent of schools several times, and is now chairman of the board of school directors.

Among the prominent lawyers who occasionally came from adjoining coun - ties to attend the Essex county courts, and who made things interesting and lively during the first days that the writer spent at that bar, were the Hon. John L. Edwards, Hon. Jerry E. Dickerman, Gen. S. W. Slade, Edward A. Cahoon, Hon. George W. Cahoon, and later George C. Cahoon, who is now a regular attendant upon the courts, and such men as the Hon. Thomas Bart- lett, from Lyndon, Vt., and Burns and Fletcher, Judge W. S. Ladd, Hon. Jacob Benton and S. W. Cooper, Ray, Drew & Jordan, Judge George A. Bingham, and Edgar Aldrich, all from New Hampshire.

Of Gen. Slade I have no information except as I remember his appearance about thirty years ago at court. He was a bold, dashing, and very vigorous and able man ; imperious even to defiance, and a very effective lawyer.

Edward A. Cahoon is a candid, delicate and sensitive man, always cool, and of very fine literary tastes. He addressed the jury in such pure English, and in a style so admirably simple, as to always please the jury and excite their admiration. Even an illiterate juryman, although he might not under- stand why, would see that his argument in logic, language and style was in the purest taste. His physical system was as delicate and sensitive as he was mentally, and he died quite early in life, amid the regret of his friends that they could not be permitted to see into what he would have developed had he been permitted to live to a ripe age.

Geo. W. Cahoon was a man of very studious habits and a large amount of legal attainment, and was one of the most plodding and industrious men that ever visited our county. On a matter involving the examination of records, like the investigation of a land title, or the evidence of the residence of a town pauper, he never tired. He was not brilliant as an advocate, though he was master of his cases, and especially of that class of cases to which I have alluded. His son, George C. Cahoon, is very like him in almost every respect, and is a man whom we are always pleased to see at the courts. Perhaps not more genial than was his father in his younger days, but more so than at the time I knew his father.

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Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887, Part 7

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn Publication date: 1887 Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., Syracuse Journal Co., Printers and Binders Number of Pages: 886

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., Syracuse Journal Co., Printers and Binders
Number of Pages: 886