Gazetteer of Orange County, Vt., 1762-1888, Part 10

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers
Number of Pages: 836

USA > Vermont > Orange County > Gazetteer of Orange County, Vt., 1762-1888 > Part 10

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).

BENCH AND BAR.

Phineas Chamberlin, oldest son of Phineas and Abigail (Buck) Chamber- lin, was born in Bath, N. H., March ,7, 1855. He fitted for college at Kimball Union academy in Meriden village, N. H., entered Dartmouth in September, 1872, remained there a year, entered Cornell university and remained another year, and then went to Washington, D. C., as a journalist. In 1875 he entered the office of Hon. Roswell Farnham as a student, having studied law some while at Washington, and was admitted to the bar of Orange county at the June term, 1877. In 1878 he entered into partner- ship with his preceptor and that relation existed until March 31, 1886, when it was dissolved at the request of the senior member of the firm. In August, 1877, he went to Minneapolis, Minn., there intending to open an office, when he met with a sudden and appalling death by a leap in a fit of frenzy from the window of the third story of the building in which he was lodging. He left a wife and two young sons.

John Henry Watson, of Bradford, Vt., was the sixth of eleven children, born unto Asahel and Adelpha Watson, and first saw the light of this world on May 12, 1851, in the town of Jamaica, Vt. His parents being of limited means, he early in life acquired the habits of industry and independence in gaining for himself a livelihood and an education, and in assisting his parents in the support of their large family. He received a common school and aca- demic education, and while so doing was employed during his vacations upon the farm and in teaching, to get means with which to pursue his studies.

In March, 1875, he entered upon the study of the law in the office of Orin Gambell, Esq., in Bradford, and there remained until he was admitted to the bar in Orange county in December, 1877. On the first of January following his admission to the bar, Mr. Watson formed a partnership with Orin Gambell, under the firm name of Gambell & Watson, for the practice of his profession, but in July following the firm was dissolved by Mr. Watson buying out the interest and good will of Mr. Gambell therein, the latter removing to Troy, N. Y., for the further practice of his profession. Mr. Gambell was a good lawyer and of experience in his profession, and the firm of Gambell & Watson had a large practice. Upon the dissolution of that firm, Mr. Watson, having then been admitted to the bar but six months, assumed the full control and responsibility thereof, and has ever since been in the active practice of his profession at the same place. From the begin- ning of his professional career to the present time he, as a lawyer, has had the confidence of litigants to a very high degree, and this fact can be no better demonstrated than by saying that the large business of Gambell & Watson did not diminish in the hands of Mr. Watson as that firm's successor, and his practice has always been among the largest and most lucrative in Orange county during the time he has been in business. He has also been engaged at times and taken a prominent part in litigation of great importance in the courts of the state of New Hampshire. Among the younger mem- bers of the legal fraternity in Vermont, Mr. Watson's acknowledged position

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is in the front rank. He was state's attorney in Orange county for two years, commencing December 1, 1886. He was married, March 25, 1879, to Clara L., eldest daughter of Darwin S. Hammond, of Wardsboro, Vt., and two sons, John Henry, Jr., and Hugh Hammond, both of whom are living, have been the fruit of their union.

John Barron Peckett, Jr., was born in Bradford, Vt., December 21, 1856, and is the second son of John B. Peckett and Caroline H. Low. The Peckett family is of English origin, Giles Peckett having emigrated from Yorkshire, Eng., in 1774; after brief sojourns in Portsmouth and North Haverhill,- N. H., he settled in Bradford, then called Moretown, in 1779 or '80, and from whom the subject of this sketch is four generations removed. Mr. Peckett's education began when he was a youth of very tender years ; as a little child he evinced great fondness for books, leaving his play any time to hear his mother read ; with the wisdom and tact which a good mother always . shows, she was able to inculcate lessons of inculculable value, and which can never be effaced. At twelve years of age, the name by which he had previously been called, Barron Le Roy Peckett, was changed to John Barron Peckett, Jr., out of deference to, and by the request of, his paternal grandfather. He attended the district school, and later pursued a course of study in Bradford academy, fitting him for college. He entered the Chandler Scientific de- partment of Dartmouth college in the autumn of 1875, and remained there over two years. He was a member of the Sigma Delta Pi society, which unanimously elected him as prize speaker, in which position he won much praise and high honor. A severe injury to his spine, received while playing foot-ball, necessitated a discontinuance of his studies early in the third year of his course. The injury not proving permanent, after a period of rest and medical treatment, he became a law student in the office of Gambell & Wat- son, in his native town. When Mr. Gambell withdrew from the firm, he con- tinued the study under the tutelage of John H. Watson, Esq., finishing with E. W. Smith, Esq , of Wells River. He was admitted to Orange county bar in June, 1882, and to the Supreme Court at the general term in 1885. May 28, 1885, he married Cora Elizabeth Adams, an estimable young lady of Bradford.

In October, 1882, he opened an office in his native town, and from the first he has received a fair share of patronage and is doing an increasing business. While in no sense a specialist, he has been very successful in procuring pen- sions for disabled soldiers. His business methods commend themselves to the better judgment of his clients, his counsel tending to the settlement of difficulties and grievances without litigation, rather than precipitating them into law suits for the sake of the fees ; while his accuracy and painstaking efforts in behalf of all with whom he has business relations are duly appre- ciated. Politically he is identified with the Republican party, having served for a number of years on the Republican town committee. He also takes a deep interest in all the reforms of the day, the temperance question espe-

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cially claiming much of his attention. In educational matters he is earnestly interested, and has served his town one year as superintendent of schools. Mr. and Mrs. Peckett attend the Congregational church at Bradford.

Frank Eugene Hiland was born in Bradford, July 21, 1856, and was the only son of Capt. Jerry Hiland. He fitted for college at Bradford academy and entered Norwich university at Northfield, Vt., where he finished his edu- cation in 1875. He studied law with Orin Gambell, Esq., of Bradford, and was admitted to the Orange county bar at the June term, 1880. He imme- diately settled at West Fairlee, where he continued in the practice of his profession for two years, when he removed to Bradford. While at West Fair- lee he was town agent for the prosecution and defense of suits during the whole of the time that he resided there. At Bradford he formed a co part- nership in the law business, in 1883, with George A. Dickey, Esq, which lasted one year. He has been superintendent of schools for the town of Bradford ever since March, 1885.

Stewart Harvey had an office in Bradford in the years 1878 and 1879. He was not very prompt to pay his rent, and his landlord got a writ of restitution against bim, which, when the deputy sheriff, John Bailey, attempted to serve, Harvey struck him on the head with a stick of wood, knocking him down stairs. For this unwise attempt to guard his castle Harvey was indicted and tried at the June term, 1879, of Orange County Court, found guilty, and sen- tenced to ninety days in the House of Correction at Rutland. He served his term out, but succeeded in evading any thing that bore the stamp of labor upon it while in durance vile. He afterwards went into one of the northern counties and died there several years ago, a subject of charity.

BERLIN.

Hon. Charles Bulkley was a native of Colchester, Conn., and came to Berlin, Vt., which was then a town in Orange county, previous to 1800. He was state's attorney for Orange county during the years 1800, 1801 and 1802. He was not " Judge of Probate for Orange County Court in 1800 and ISO1," as is stated in Miss Hemenway's Gazetteer of Vermont. His residence was in Berlin, but his law office was in Montpelier, which was also a town of Orange county from 17SI to November 5, 1792. He is said to have been chief judge of Washington County Court on the organization of that county in 1811, and represented Berlin in the state legislature in 1818. " He was an able man, a good citizen and an earnest and efficient member of the Con- gregational church in Berlin in its early days, and at his death was the oldest member of the bar in this county. He died in April, 1836, aged seventy-two years."-Hemenway's Gazetteer.

BRAINTREE.

Samuel G. P. Craig, the only son of the late Dr. Samuel and Matilda (Parish) Craig, was born in Braintree, July 10, 1829. He was educated at

ORANGE COUNTY.

Randolph, Chelsea and Thetford, read law with S. M. Flint, then of Brain- tree, and afterwards with Hon. J. P. Kidder, of West Randolph. He was admitted to the Orange county bar January 19, 1854, and first practiced in Braintree. In 1856 he was engaged in the practice of the law in St. Paul, Minn., as partner of S. M. Flint, then city attorney, which firm was afterwards changed to Kidder, Flint & Craig, and did a successful business. In 1859 he returned to Vermont and engaged in the practice of law at West Randolph, where his strict integrity of character and remarkable punctuality in meeting engagements, soon brought him a large and remunerative business, his clients often making the remark that they never saw a person who could fill so many engagements at so nearly the same time. Upon the breaking out of the civil war he offered his services from a sense of duty, recruited for several com- panies, and left for the seat of war as captain of Co. G, 8th Vt. Vols., in January, 1862. He never shirked duty, being always cool and collective under fire, willing to endure more, that the hardships of others might be less, "in action possessing that stern bravery that knows no defeat and which ap- preciates danger and faces it." He died of disease brought on by constant labor and exposure in an unhealthy climate, (being of a delicate constitution,) at Opelousas, La., May 4, 1863, after sending for Capt. John L. Barstow (now ex-Governor Barstow) to take his dying message and send to his wife and sisters. He married Miss Sarah A. Harlow, of Alden, Erie county, N. Y., a niece of ex-Governor Kidder, in November, 1859, who, with one son, George Henry, still survive. He was a member of the fraternity of F. & A. M., of Phoenix Lodge, Randolph, Vt. Capt. Craig was at one time cashier of the South Royalton bank.

Judge William Henry Nichols, son of William and Betsey (White) Nichols, was born in Braintree, Vt., December 29, 1829, and descends from early New England stock, through successive generations manifesting its virility, good citizenship, and other sterling qualities. The Nichols family in America descends from ancestors who early in the seventeenth century came to Massa- chusetts from Wales, and it now has representatives in every state. Isaac Nichols, the pioneer of the family in Orange county, was born in Sutton, Mass., May 24, 1737, and removed to Royalston in that state at an early period in its settlement (1765 or '66), and was conversant with the hardships and experiences of a life in the wilderness before coming to Vermont. He was a colonel in the Colonial army during the Revolution, a participant in the battle of Bennington and the surrender of Burgoyne. In the winter of 1786-87 he came to Vermont accompanied by his wife, seven stalwart sons, and one grandchild, and located on what is called the " Alban's hill lot" on Quaker Hill in Braintree. Here a rude log house covered with spruce bark was constructed and occupied by the family in October, 1787, when but three or four families were in the town. From that time to the present the Nichols family has been prominently and officially connected with its public affairs in .church and civil relations. Mr. Nichols, in 1791, was the first representa-

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BENCH AND BAR.

tive, and repeatedly held the position. He and his estimable wife were orig- inal members of the Congregational church, formed in 1794; and Mr. Nichols, elected to the deaconhood in 1801, held that office uninterrupedly for twenty- one years. " He was a man of strict integrity and held many places of trust." He was a carpenter by trade, and tradition tells that once when the whole country-side came to "raise" a barn for him, he told the people to " stand one side, and see him and his seven sons put the heavy timbers in place." This they did, to the surprise of the people and the amusement and pride of the worthy deacon. He died January 6, 1822. His wife, Dorcas (Sibley) Nichols, was a most remarkable woman. To unusual bodily vigor were united in her a keen understanding, great amiability, christian devotion, and unbounded charity. She acquired great celebrity for her skill in nurs- ing, prescribing and caring for the sick, and retained her mental powers to a wonderful degree. A centennial meeting in honor of her 100th birthday was held in the old meeting-house, and she rode on horseback to the place. She died May 9, 1841, aged 104 years, 10 months, and 20 days. Abner, son of Isaac, came to Braintree with his wife Molly, with his father. He was a Congregationalist, a Whig, and most of his life was passed as a farmer in Braintree. He was a short "stocky " man of strong and active constitution. Of quiet ways and peaceable disposition, kind-hearted and generous, he had many friends. His wife was a woman of energy and great resolution. They had six children, of whom William, born in Braintree, married, May 4, 1825, Betsey, daughter of Ebenezer and Lucretia (Partridge) White, who became a resident of Braintree in 1786 or '87. The first American ancestor of this branch of the White family was William, one of the Mayflower band. He was an active minister in Dorchester, England, and his descendants are gen- erally known as influential law-abiding citizens. His son Peregrine was born on board the Mayflower. Ebenezer White was the grandson of Deacon Samuel White, of South Weymouth, Mass., and son of Micah and Susanna (Eager) White. Micah White was born in 1721, and died in Titicut Parish, Middleborough, Miss., in 1802. William Nichols was a "tiller of the soil," a reputable and valuable citizen, and had a marked influence in town matters.

Judge Nichols was fitted for college at Orange County Grammar school and attended Middlebury college, where he was graduated in 1856. He studied law with John B. Hutchinson at West Randolph, and, while a student, taught several terms at the Orange County Grammar School. He was admitted to the bar of Orange county in 1857, began practice in West Randolph, and continued there until the fall of 1860 when he went to Iowa and located as a lawyer at Cedar Falls. On the breaking out of the Great Civil War he enlisted (June 10, 1861,) as a private soldier in the Union army. He was placed on detached service as drill-master, and in ordnance and commissary departments, serving in the Departments of the Mississippi and the Gulf at Vicksburg, New Orleans, Red River, Shiloh, Siege of Corinth and second battle of Corinth, capture of Mobile and other engagements, and was

ORANGE COUNTY.

wounded at Corinth. After being mustered out he came to Braintree and as- sumed charge of his father's farm. Republican in politics, he was called to as- sume many political and official positions. He was a member of the last Consti- tutional convention, representative of Braintree in 1870-71, judge of County Court in 1872 and 1873, and held various town offices, superintendent, clerk and treasurer. It is worthy of record here that the office of town clerk of Braintree has been held continuously by three generations of this family since 1809. In 1874 he was elected judge of probate and has retained this office. In all the varied relations of civil and military life he has performed his duties honestly, faithfully, modestly and conscientiously.

Judge Nichols is in accord with the better element of society, an Episco- palian in religion, a member of Phoenix Lodge, No. 28, F. & A. M., West Randolph, and is now one of its oldest members, having joined in 1857 ; was a charter member of U. S. Grant Post, No. 96, G. A. R., at West Randolph, and has been a frequent delegate to state and county conventions of his party. He married, August 13, 1856, Ann Eliza, daughter of William Atwell Bates and Abby Carver Goss, his wife. [Her father was a native of Attleborough, Mass., and she was born in Brandon, Vt., and descends from the Bates and Carver families so prominent in the Plymouth Colony. The surname Bates is derived from the old French name Bartholomew. The first American resident was Clement Bates, who came from Kent, England, in the ship Elizabeth in 1635 and settled in Hingham, Mass.] Their chil- dren are Henry Herbert, born September 30, 1857, (married, January 8, 1887, Bertha O'Niel, one son George). He has been a merchant in the city of Mexico, now resides in New York city. William Bates, born De- cember 4, 1859, (married, first, June 25, 1881, Mattie E. Demmon, of Water- bury. She died August 6, 1882 ; they had one child, Mattie Josephine,. born June 22, 1882. He married, second, Emma Hiembach, of Duluth, Minn. They have one child, Gretchen.) He is now in Nova Scotia engaged in gold mining. Edward Hatch, born May 19, 1871 ; he is now in Nova. Scotia engaged in gold mining. Anna Green, born June 5, 1876.

Judge Nichols is a whole-souled, genial man, a good and popular citizen, interested in all progressive movements, and occupies a high position in the regards of the community. His children are intelligent, and those who have attained maturity are prosperous and wealth-producing. His wife, an esti- mable lady, is an agreeable companion, and their home is a pleasant and a cheery one.

A. W. Berry practiced law at Braintree for a time and then removed to Pithole, Pa., afterwards settling in New York, where he still resides.

Thomas Nevins came from Haverhill, Mass., and practiced a short time at Snowsville.

Benjamin F. Chamberlin practiced at Snowsville four years or more, and was killed by a fall from a tree about 1843. His name appears in Walton's Register as a lawyer in Braintree as early as 1838. Hon. J. P. Kidder studied

BENCH AND BAR.

law with him. He was a good lawyer and it was said of him that his papers were never quashed because nobody but himself could read them. He was well informed and well read. He went from Snowsville to Concord, N. H., where he became editor of a newspaper.

Robbins Dinsmore-See Williamstown.

Edwin Flint, of Braintree, graduated at the University of Vermont in 1836, studied law, and is now in practice at La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Amiah Spooner was a lawyer at Braintree from 1837 to 1840.

BROOKFIELD.

Martin Paine Burnham was born in Brookfield about 1835, and was the son of Ariel Burnham, who was one of the assistant judges of Orange County Court in 1847 and 1848. His mother was a Paine, and her father was one of the first settlers of the east part of the town. He was educated at the Barre academy under Dr. J. S. Spaulding, studied law with Hon. Philander Perrin, at Randolph, was admitted to the bar of Orange county January 24, 1862, and practiced for a short time at Randolph. He married his wife in Barre, Vt., and died in Texas several years ago.

Col. Francis Voltaire Randall, the second son of Gurdon R. and Laura Warner Randall, was born in Braintree in Orange county, February 13, 1824. When he was eight years old his father removed to Northfield, Vt., and there resided until his death. Having ended his school days young Randall began the study of law in the office of Hon. Heman Carpenter at Northfield, and was admitted to the bar of Washington county in 1847. He began practice in the town of his home and had an office there until 1853 or 1854, when he removed to Roxbury, Vt. There he was successful as a lawyer and popular as a man, and represented the town of his new residence in the state legis- lature, as a Democrat, during the years 1857, '58 and '59. He was also state's attorney for Washington county during the same time. His practice soon grew to be so large that it was advisable for him to be at the county seat, and he removed to Montpelier in 1860. On the breaking out of the Rebellion he relinquished his extensive and lucrative practice to enter the volunteer army of the Union, and on the 20th of May, 1861, was commis- sioned captain of Company F, of the 2d Vt. Regt. With his regiment he was in the battles of Bull Run, Lee's Mills, Williamsburgh, Golding's Farm, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp and Crampton's Gap. September 24, 1862, he was commissioned as colonel of the 13th Vt. Regt., and was mus- tered into the United States service October 10, 1862. At Gettysburg he . had a horse shot under him, and had the honor of taking the only pieces of artil- lery that were captured from the rebels by the Union army during that battle. Col. Randall was commissioned colonel of the 17th Vt. Regt., February 10, 1864, and held that position until he was mustered out of service July 14, 1865. Upon his return home he resumed practice in Montpelier and

ORANGE COUNTY.

soon had a large docket. He continued in the law business at Montpelier until 1876, when he bought a farm and removed to Brookfield intending to make farming his business. But he was too well known to be allowed to re- tire from practice, and he soon had as much business at the Orange county bar as he cared to attend to. He continued thus carrying on his farm and practicing law in Orange county for eight years, varying these labors with lecturing in different parts of the state upon his personal experience during the war. In the spring of 1884 he bought the old hotel at Northfield Center, hired some one to manage it for him, and made it his home until his death, Sunday, March 1, 1885, of apoplexy.

Col. Randall was twice married. By his first wife he had three children, Charles W., Francis V. and Zella. The oldest son enlisted in the Thirteenth Regiment when a mere boy and was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant. He died in 1867 of disease contracted in the service. September 6, 1863, Col. Randall married Miss Olive Colby, who survives him. By her he had three children,-Phil. Sheridan, Gurdon Colby and Luther Volney. Of his children, Francis V., Phil. S. and Luther V. survived him. He also left sur- viving him two brothers and a sister, J. J. R. Randall, architect of Rutland, Edward H., rector of St. John's Episcopal church, Poultney, and Rowena M., wife of Col. Charles H. Joyce, of Rutland, for eight years member of Congress from Vermont. Washington county bar attended Col. Randall's funeral in a body.

CHELSEA.

Benjamin Throop is the first lawyer of whom we have any account in Chelsea, he having settled there in 1796. We can give no further account of him, except that he died in seven or eight years after coming to Chelsea. He had a son, Chauncey Langdon Throop, who was born in Chelsea, April 20, 1800, and who graduated at Dartmouth college in 1824. He did not live in Chel- sea while in college. The son died October 30, 1824, at Jerusalem, Va.

Hon. Thomas Jones was probably the second lawyer who took up his resi- dence in Chelsea. He graduated from Dartmouth college in 1799, and soon after came to Chelsea and continued in active practice of the law until about 1845, when he retired from business. He was very successful in his profession which was quite extensive, and acquired a handsome property by it. No man in the town, and few in the state, were better read in English and American history and politics or in general English literature. His com- mand of language was remarkable. In public religious meetings and in his ordinary conversation with his friends and neighbors this was strikingly mani- fested. His conversation upon topics connected with history and litarature, up to the time of his death, was always interesting and attractive to old and young. He never sought political preferment. He was, however, a member of the Constitutional convention of 1822, and filled the office of associate judge

BENCH AND BAR.

of Orange County Court in the years 1834 and 1836. Judge Jones married the widow of Perley Chandler, a brother to Judge Josiah Dana's first wife, by whom he had one son, Perley Chandler Jones, mentioned elsewhere. The Judge died in Chelsea, September 2, 1860, at the age of eighty-one years.

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Gazetteer of Orange County, Vt., 1762-1888, Part 10

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers Number of Pages: 836

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers
Number of Pages: 836