Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887, Part 8

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 8
USA > Vermont > Caledonia County > Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887 > Part 8

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).

Of the next three of whom I have spoken, I have a description which in the waiting hours of a term at court I gave to the editor of the Essex County Herald, which he has kindly permitted me to attach hereto, and which is as follows :-

As I sit in the deepening twilight in the Guildhall of to-day, I hear the remark that " the court is awfully dull, and Guildhall is not what it used to be." I am surprised to hear such remark, because from where we are sitting the eye wanders easily from the improved public buildings around over those

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neat dwellings (which have taken in almost every instance the place of old, dingy rookeries) to the river on which are situated lively little manufactories almost entirely unknown to the Guildhall of the past. A large amount of work has been done without flirt or flutter, under the direction of the quiet and able Judge Rowell at this term. But I do not wonder that the people think that courts under the reference system have degenerated. I think myself that the system breeds inertia, and if cases are' too much disposed of lazily and among favorites, a return to the jury will be the only escape. The jury must be kept on hand after all as a means of safety. No, sir ; when I look on the present days of Essex county courts, I see they have not the vim and zest of former times, when the plausible Edwards seriously recommended a fine of $5.00 be imposed on a class of criminals for grave though fashionable offenses, " and in very aggravated cases it might be $10.00."

There is no end to those little incidents from those days when every place was so full of court folks that even " Hinds " could not be put up for the night. Hotels and private houses were crowded. A throng of restless, lively lawyers hurried and bustled about looking after parties and witnesses, and gathered in groups and rooms to prepare for the coming trial. Everywhere the highest enthusiasm was manifested in a frank and familiar intercourse and a zeal born of generous rivalry. Lawyers entered into jury tilts with an ex- citement akin to that which fired an ancient Briton for a tournament. I love to catch a glimpse of those good old days ere they pass away forever.

In this vision of the past are three who have somewhat distinguishing char- acteristics from the rest. One is Hiram A. Fletcher, a man of small physical stature, full of quaint expressions, a complete traveling digest of the decisions of the courts. Sharp, witty and sarcastic, yet withal a true and warm hearted friend. He was a man of great resources, and an untiring worker. The or- der and regularity with which he kept his papers was remarkable. So well arranged was his business that he could go to his files and get his papers as well years after cases were ended as while they were pending. His words were at times cutting, but he dealt generally in pleasant ridicule. In the trial of the officers of a town charged with procuring themselves elected fif- teen minutes before the time appointed for the meeting, he defended on the ground that the respondents did not interfere with any town meeting because they did none of the acts charged during the time appointed for the town meeting, but before. He convulsed the court with a humorous description of a political meeting which the prosecuting attorney attended by mistake the day before it was appointed, and found the old red school-house locked and the keyhole carried off, and also described the improvised meeting, the politician's address, and so illustrated and ridiculed the charges against the respondents as to turn the tide completely in their favor and secure an acquit- tal. Another time he was defending a client against a charge of murder. The prosecution introduced as a witness a pert young miss who submit- ted patiently and willingly to the examination in chief, but when turned over

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for cross-examination she straightened up, tossed her head disdainfully, and placed her delicate, half-concealed number five slipper in the most favorable position for observation as much as to say, "Now come on Mr. Fletcher," and he did, with the query, " How old are you, Miss?" " I shall be just eighteen years old the twentieth day of next November, if nothing happens." " How old will you be then if something does happen ?" he retorted, quick as thought. The witness became instantly submissive and respectful. At another time he was defending a corporation against the claim of · an individual who was represented by a bright, sharp and enthusiastic attorney who was very confi- . dent at first of success, but who, beginning to see that the tide was against him, made a desperate dash to capture the jury. Fletcher very happily chaffed him on his discomfiture, and closed as follows :

" Ye'll try the world soon, my lad, And, Ossian dear, believe me, Ye'll find mankind an uncou' squad, And muckle they may grieve ye ; For care and trouble set your thought Ev'n when your end's attained ; And a' your views may come to naught Where ev'ry nerve is strained." 1

Yes, Fletcher was a genial man and lively, and when he went away we sadly missed him.

In this school of men who are gone, or nearly all gone, I see in memory another form towering above all the rest ; tall-over six feet in physical statute-prominent lips, yet so compressed as to indicate great deter- mination of purpose, and the keenest realization of the most trying emer- gency and a willingness to meet it. Thomas Bartlett was a man of that kind of swarthy complexion which, with long neglected hair, beard and habit, would suggest desperation, but with his well shaved face, nicely trimmed hair, and neat, and, when circumstances would permit, rich dress, it gave him an air very distinguished and dignified. In voice, action and thought he was bold, frank and at times terribly defiant. He was as tender hearted, sensative, and sympa- thetic as a girl, and his palsied leg and arm were as eloquent as the rich tones of his heavy yet pathetic voice, especially when defending the weak and abused. At the same time he had an unmeasured contempt for meanness, and could hate the man indulging in it with a hate that was more than a hate, against which, whenever and wherever personated, his voice rose as a terrific storm in terrible invective. His style was at times extravagant, but he was capable of the closest and clearest expressed logic. His analytical style of reasoning was almost a wonder, replete with unexpected pictures and startling illustrations, racy, and filled with bursts of thrilling eloquence. To example imperfect and faintly remembered instances: He was prosecuting a travelling circus which travelled, advertized, and in every way held itself out as Sears & Co.'s circus, for so negligently putting up seats that plaintiff fell and was in-

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jured. The defendants claimed that the circus belonged to a Mr. Faxon, of Liverpool, and that he alone was responsible. Said the advocate: " Gentle- men, I have a dog, and a mean cur he is too. He comes when I whistle. He goes when I say 'ste-boy.' He follows me wherever I go. T. Bartlett is marked on his collar. I am out with him on a day and he ravenously attacks my neighbor's sheep. I am called on for damages. I reply, ' Sir, my name is on the collar of that cur. He goes when I say 'ste-boy,' comes when I whistle, follows me and is under my direction entirely, but I can't pay you ; that dog belongs to Mr. Faxon of Liverpool!'" Then followed some half dozen more illustrations as pat as this one, only the dim outlines of which I have reproduced here, completely overwhelming the defense and winning a verdict for the plaintiff.

He was solicited by a young and inexperienced attorney to assist in the defense of a poor widow whon two rich plaintiffs had got involved in the technicalities of the law. He concluded somewhat as follows : " In con- clusion, gentlemen, I am here at the solicitation of my young brother without scrip and without price. I told him I would charge nothing. I reconsider. I will charge, and I ask him here and now to promise to discharge the obliga- tion. It is this : When my now shattered form shall be laid in the tomb, my lips sealed with death, my voice silent in the grave, my wife set upon by legal robbers armed with the technicalities of the law, and he is standing by with ripened experience and a warm heart, I ask him to walk as boldly to her defense and with as pitying a heart as I have struggled with the defense of this poor woman." Then lifting up his palsied arm with the hand of the other, and turning to his young associate, he added, with terrible emphasis, " Will you do it?" His exact words cannot be re-produced, nor his man- ner described, but many eyes were dimmed. There was no noise in that court- room. Defending the case of an old man against a charge of assault and battery in which plaintiff claimed defendant had produced a hernia, the proof of which failed, the plaintiff's attorney begged in his argument for damages for a common assault and said: " We do not demand a million of money from this old man, give us fair, reasonable damages." The defendant was a perfect picture of very neat poverty. Mr. Bartlett commenced his address somewhat as follows: "Gentlemen of the jury, I knew my brother R- when a boy. He was a magnanimous boy. I see him ripening into a wonder- fully magnanimous man. But to-day he has capped the climax of his mag- nanimity. He says he don't demand a million of money from my client. Good God ! gentlemen of the jury, if he should demand and recover at your hands a million of money from my poor old client it would reduce him to comparative want. It would seriously interfere with his annual rents and profits." No one can describe Mr. Bartlett ; he was possessed of such spon- taneity, such vivid imagination, warm social qualities, generous sympathies, tender heartedness and lionlike makeup, mentally and physically. His life created interesting incidents enough to fill a volume. But he is gone, and

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the sun never set on a sadder day to his personal friends than that on which he died, nor did eternal night ever close down upon a life which was suc- ceeded by a more lonely stillness.

I see coming through nearly thirty years another in this picture. Through all that time shines the lusture of a gifted and noble manhood. The space he filled presents nothing but pleasant recollections of William Burns. As I see him he was kind, courteous, and exceedingly pleasant, but he was not tame by any means. His sarcasm and invective were as keen as any blade that ever glistened in our little circle. As a public speaker, especially in discussing political subjects, in his palmiest days, I thought him without a superior in this section of the country. As a lawyer he excelled. He was apt in the technology of law, not remarkably proficient alone in specialties and wanting in other respects, but he had a general variety and well selected stock of in- formation, to which was added a broad, practical common sense, which made him an efficient and useful man. He excelled, of course, as an advocate. His style was elegant, simple and sublime (for sublimity is almost always simple in literature) almost as Dickens, and resembled the purity of an Addison. He often indulged in ironical language, but it was such pure irony, and was so completely manufactured out of materials of his case as to seldom subject him to just criticism, or leave any lasting sting behind. As a practitioner he was a model. He was a gallant man. He had not the keen scintillating wit of a Fletcher, nor the strong, comprehensive though unadorned style of a Heywood, nor even yet the dashing, overwhelming and torrent-like style of a Bartlett, but he had such a blending and pleasantly arranged parts of them all as to constitute a most consistent man. Many years since (as we count them in the life of a man) Mr. Burns was severely injured by a collision of railway trains, yet he was still very graceful, and so managed his deformity that I used to think it added to, rather than took from, the effect of his most brilliant efforts. The influence of his charity and kind consideration for others I shall feel as long as I live. His life was and is constantly saying to us-

" Let us no more contend or blame Each other, blamed enough elsewhere, but strive In offices of love how we may lighten Each other's burdens in our share of woe."

And his recent death forcibly reminds us that-

" The battle of our life is brief, The alarm, the struggle, the relief ; Then sleep we side by side."

Judge Ladd is said to have added as much to the discipline of the bar as most any man who is accustomed to visit our court. He is a very hard working man, one who goes to the bottom of every case; who looks candidly on both sides, and this candor and industry has enabled him to acquire such learning

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in the law as to suggest him, above all others, as one of the judges of the supreme court of New Hampshire. The bar is much indebted to him for his example, his studious and careful preparation of every case, and, although hesitating in his manner, and pretending to no oratory, the presentation of his cases are models for imitation.

Hon. Jacob Benton is a man who was early identified with the practice in this county. He is a very tall man, of commanding presence, and in every way calculated to do anything he undertakes with great decision and confidence- confidence in himself as well as in his cause. He was regarded while in con- gress as the leading man in his section, and perhaps the strongest debator, and has contributed very largely to the enterprise and discipline of the bar in this county.

Hon. Saunders W. Cooper was originally from Vermont, but spent his riper years at Lancaster, N. H. He belonged to a very large and enterprising family, of whom Jesse Cooper, a celebrated lawyer, was one, and Judge J. W. Cooper, formerly a judge of our courts, now living in Colebrook, was another. Saunders W. was a delicate, fine grained man, and, if I may use the expres- sion, his mentality was of the tenor order. He exercised a clear and clean manner of talking. It was of a thrilling style, partaking sometimes of the pas- sionate. To illustrate his influence in his argument: After he had got to be almost beyond the capacity to practice, and had a physical affliction which compelled him to make his arguments while sitting, the writer had occasion to sit as auditor in a case in which he conducted the defense. It was agreed that the decision of the auditor should be final, and no appeal should be taken from it to the courts, or rather exceptions taken from it to the judge. Mr. Cooper began his argument and, although there was no possible view that could be taken of the case on which he could prevail, and this was evident at the close of the evidence, yet he began his argument and soon, although he favorably impressed no one with the merits of his cause, still the auditor be- came so intensely interested in his style and manner of presenting his case that the opposing council, noticing it, revoked the agreement by which the auditor's decision was to be final. From what I learn of him in manner and in style and in many respects he resembled very much General Seth Cushman. Possibly he may have acquired some of his qualities by imitation, for he was a young man when Cushman was in his prime.

In latter days perhaps the Hon. Ossian Ray has been the most exten- sively identified with the practice in this county of any man coming in from . outside of it. And up to the time he went to Congress, in 1881, he was doing a very lucrative business in connection with the other member of his firm. He is a lawyer by nature, cultivation, taste and work. He enjoys the collis- ions of the bar. He enters into the discussions of legal propositions with the keenest zest. He engages in political controversies in behalf of others with untiring zeal and commendable courage. He is an ardent devotee to his profession and never wanders from it. He took the office of county solicitor

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because it was on his way and merely incidental to the practice of his pro- fession. He accepted the office of district attorney because his friends saw his peculiar fitness for it and urged it upon him. He is an impetuous man, im- pulsive and generous, and most keenly alive to all that is going on about him. In short, he is a live man, and has added much to the impulsive and passion- ate strifes and work of the bar.

Major Irving W. Drew is a man of that type which can be clearly distin- guished from most of the other men who have visited our county. Elegance of style in the advocate is generally born not of effeminacy, but of delicate physique. And tender and delicate passions and sentiments do not usually originate in very masuline natures, and yet this man possesses the tenderest sympathies of a woman, the finest and most delicate literary taste, and the keenest sensitiveness, and is very susceptible to that enthusiasm which grows out of his surroundings; and at the same time is a man more than ordinarily robust, with great strength and activity, strong physical impulses, and cap- able of great endurance. Combined with these qualities to which I have alluded he is very tenacious in his friendships. He is extremely popular ; has been in the state Senate; and the people of Essex county join heartily with the people across the river in the highest anticipations for his future.

Hon. Chester B. Jordan is a man that one always likes to meet. A man of education, an accomplished penman, and in every way a thorough busi- ness man, and when the hours of labor are over one of the best story tellers that you can meet. His connection with the courts in this county is mostly in the preparation of cases, in which he is remarkably skillful. He seems not to have much appetite for public speaking, but when driven to it acquits himself well. I have heard him make one or two efforts which would do credit to any man at the bar, and as a business man he is the equal of any- one who ever attended our court. He has done much by his pleasant ways and keen wit to enliven the toils of the court for a good many years last past.

Hon. George A. Bingham, of Littleton, N. H., was one of the stirring lawyers who attended the Essex county courts until about 1880, when he was elected judge of the New Hampshire courts. He is a man of nice legal per- ceptions, capable of fine distinctions, and absolutely tireless in his investi- gation of a case. He is quiet and affable when not in action, but when en- gaged quite aggressive. In examining a witness he sometimes pursued him with relentless fury. He seldom, but at times, met his match. Judge Bingham has a clear, transparent complexion, and a very bright but pleasant eye. His head is bald, and the " clearing " is quite a prominent feature. One time he was examining an apparently dull witness, and trying to have him state out of which barn he took a quantity of hay. The witness evaded him. At last the counsel asked. " Was it from the old or new barn ?" "I don't know as I ever examined the two barns so as to see which was the oldest," drawled the witness. " Well, then, will you tell us how old the barn was from which you took the hay ?" The witness instantly brightened and with an inimitable

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drollery of manner replied, " It was ' bout as old as yeau, an ' needed shin- glin' 'bout as bad." The effect of this upon the subsequent proceedings can be imagined only by those having experience.

Of the younger lawyers who attend our courts is the Hon. Edgar Aldrich, late speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. He is a young man who is growing very rapidly in his profession. A man of good mind and who goes as deep into the hidden matters of the law as any man of his age. A man of intense application, great capacity to develop the propo- sitions in a case, and makes a most forcible statement of them.

Among the pleasant visitors at this bar, and one which I may not omit, because he was born and raised in Essex county, is Harry Blodgett. An art- ful, ingenious, and industrious young lawyer, and who in criminal matters is getting to make it quite interesting.

There are two young lawyers from Caledonia county who have taken a very active part in the Essex courts. One of them is the Hon. Henry C. Belden, who, under the most adverse circumstances, with a little help from the late Mr. Bartlett, came to the bar. Having made great proficiency in his profession he establised himself in business and soon became identified with the work in the Essex county courts. He held several intermediate offices, became senator from Caledonia county, and soon became the Ben- jamin F. Butler of the Senate. He worked with enterprising energy and went into popularity and success in his business with remarkable rapidity. When quite young his health failed him and he went to Minneapolis, where he is, improved in health and doing a flourishing business.

Perhaps the most versatile among the modern lawyers who visit us is Eli- sha May, of St. Johnsbury. A young man of racy, restless mind, a man of extensive information and general reading, with a keen appetite for the law.

Among the older members of the bar was a bright lawyer by the name of Joseph Berry. He began his career about the beginning of this century, and was chief judge of the court somewhere in the twenties. He was a member of the Governor's council 'a great number of years, and was state's attorney some eight or ten years.

Still later came the Hon. John S. Wells, who is said to have been a very skillful lawyer ; but of this class of men I may not speak much, because they were before iny day, and I have no data in which I can place any confi- dence.

I only know of Mattocks that he was great in the estimation of the times. He was familiarly called " Jack Mattocks," and after his election as governor he was addressed as Governor Mattocks. An anecdote is related of him which seems to illustrate what is said of him by older people, that he was always ready for any emergency. It is told of him that on the very last day of the year, the governor being on a journey spent the night at the hospitable house of a friend. On the morning of New Year's day, as he was bathing and preparing for breakfast, he unfortunately leaned against a door at the 5*

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head of the stairs leading down to the kitchen. The door gave way and the maids of the household, while busy preparing the morning meal, were aston- ished, to see, rolling and tumbling into their presence, a chubby, fat old gen- tleman in a most unpresentable attire. But in this hour of dismay the Gov- ernor's ready wit came promptly to his aid ; for politely exclaiming, " Ladies, I wish you all a happy New Year," he hastened back to his toilet.

Ex-Lieut .- Gov. George N. Dale* was born at Fairfax, Vt., February 19, 1834, and lived in Waitsfield from six months to twenty-one years of age. He- was educated scantily in the common schools and attended Thetford acad- emy two or three years, during which time his limited means compelled him to pursue only those branches which he regarded most necessary and bene- ficial in the practice of law, which profession, very early in life, he had deter- mined to follow. He read law during the time required in the office of Messrs. Dillingham & Durant, at Waterbury. He was admitted to practice at the March term, 1856, of the Washington county court. In December of the same year he borrowed money to defray his expenses and came to Guildhall. Here he formed a partnership with Hon. William H. Hartshorn, which con- tinued about two years. He soon became very much attached to the place and the people, and did a growing business until 1861, being state's attorney most of the time. He was elected representative from Guildhall in the legis- lature in 1860 for the purpose of opposing the dismemberment of the county, and took part in the memorable session of April, 1861. In June of the same year he was appointed deputy collector of customs, and took charge of the port of Island Pond, which position he held until 1866, when he was elected to. the state Senate, to which he was re-elected in 1867, 1868 and 1869. In the year 1870 he was elected lieut .- governor, and in 1871, he was reappointed deputy collector of the port of Island Pond, which position he resigned in 1882. In November, 1885, he was elected president of the Vermont Bar Association. On the election of Judge Steele, in 1866, Mr. Dale was sub- stituted for Judge Steele in the firm of Steele & Robinson, under the name of Dale & Robinson, having offices at Derby Line and Barton. Soon after he formed a partnership with B. F. D. Carpenter, Esq., having an office at West Charleston, and continued in connection with them for several years,. having his office at Island Pond, where he now resides, and is regarded as one of the ablest lawyers now living and in active practice of the law in the state. He married, October 19, 1864, Miss Helen M. Hinman, of West Charleston, a daughter of the late Judge Porter Hinman, by whom he has three children, viz .: Porter Hinman, born March 1, 1867, who is now in the office with his father ; Helen Inez, born May 6, 1872, and Mary Lettie, born March 22, 1883. He is a thorough student in his profession, never satisfied until he has searched all the authorities, always taking a broad and tenable view of every case, true as steel to his clients interests, and has a large capac-

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Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887, Part 8

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