USA > Vermont > Orange County > Gazetteer of Orange County, Vt., 1762-1888 > Part 7
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removed west, and Thomas W. W. mentioned below. Mr. Austin married for his second wife Miss Sarah Minerva Angell, of Montpelier, in March, 1845, by whom he had two sons, now living. Mrs. Austin is now the wife of Daniel Houghton, Esq., of Bradford. Mr. Austin died March 1, 1855, at Bradford, where he had so long lived. He was a man of fine personal appearance and an impressive speaker. He was a Whig in politics until about the time the Free Soil party was organized, when he followed the lead of John P. Hale. He was liberal in his religious sentiments, a kind neighbor, always ready to visit the sick and needy.
Joseph Warren Downes Parker was born in Bradford, March 22, 1808. His education was limited to what could be obtained from the district or common schools of the time. He fitted himself, however, to teach, and taught in the vicinity of Bradford in district schools during thirteen winters. He studied law and commenced practice in his native town in 1832, and con- tinued there until 1855. He represented the town in the state legislature in 1837 and 1839, and held various town offices during his active life in Brad- ford. He was clerk of the courts held in Orange county in 1837 ; was regis- ter of probate for the Bradford district in 1837, '38 and '39; and was judge of probate for the same district from 1840 to 1845, inclusive. He removed to Janesville, Wis., and continued in the practice of his profession until his death, October 7, 1865, after a two months' illness from dysentery. He re- tained till his last sickness his well known buoyancy of spirit, studious habits and apparently robust health. He was of a long-lived race, his father dying of sheer old age at ninety two, at Wentworth, N. H. His tastes were do- mestic and his studies lead in the line of science beyond his profession. He was a critical Latin and Greek scholar, and in his forty-third year attained proficiency in Hebrew. Astronomy was always a delight and geology brought him comfortable revelations. He was an upright and honest man in all his relations, a good lawyer, and a Democrat in his politics. He married Amine Currier Pratt, of Bradford, in 1833, and two children were born to them, Marion Amine (Mrs. George R. Curtis), in 1835, and Warren Downes Parker, in 1839. Mrs. Curtis died at Janesville, Wis., in 1875, and Warren D. now resides at River Falls, Wis., where he is president of the State Nor- mal school.
Lorenzo Tabor was the son of Thomas Tabor and Abigail Drew, his wife, and was the grandson of Stephen Tabor and his wife Comfort Parker. He was the oldest of nine children and was born in Bradford, February 23, 1815. His education was limited to the common school and Bradford academy. He studied law with Seth Austin, Esq., of Bradford, and with Elijah Farr, Esq , of Wells River, and was admitted to the bar at the Orange County Court in 1838. He married Miss Maria Ormsby, daughter of Thomas Ormsby, of Bradford, in 1839. He soon removed west and settled in Adrian, Michigan, where he practiced his profession for twenty-five years, and then retired from
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the active duties of the business with a competence. He was a nephew of Isaac W. Tabor who practiced for a time in Newbury.
Robert Mckinley Ormsby, one of six sons of Dr. Joseph Ormsby, was born in Corinth, June 29, 1814. From his ninth to his fifteenth year he lived with Mr. Ezra Child, of Bath, N. H., receiving there the advantages of a common school education. In 1831 he was a student at Bradford academy, where he began to show some of the peculiarities of his original mind. He stood easily among the first scholars in certain branches and even then began to show some of liis remarkable facility in writing. Soon after, in 1833, he went to Massillon, Ohio, where he taught school for a time. In 1836 he went to Louisville, Kentucky, where he bcame a student in the university in that city and attempted to replenish his slender purse by writing for the daily papers. He then studied Latin, to which he afterwards gave a good deal of attention. At some time he acquired a fair knowledge of the French language, but whether while he was in Louisville or not the writer cannot say. While writing for the daily press he prepared a series of articles that attracted the attention of Judge Marshall, of that state, who inquired at the editorial office of the paper for the author. Upon becoming acquainted with Mr. Ormsby, Judge Mar- shall invited him to become a student at law in his office, and finally took him into his family, where he remained until he was admitted to the bar. Hon. Humphrey Marshall and Tom Marshall were sons of Judge I. I. Mar- shall, of whom we are speaking, and although older, were friends of their father's young student.
In 1842 Mr. Ormsby came to Vermont, on account of the sickness of his mother, and settled in the law business at Bradford, where he remained until 1866, when he removed to New York. During the first years of his residence in Vermont his practice was not large. He did the law business connected with the extensive operations of Mr. Asa Low and such other business as came to his hands without effort on his part, but he spent the most of his time in studying his profession and reading extensively such literary works of high character as were attainable in a small country town. He gradually accumulated an excellent and quite extensive library of his own, both of law and miscellaneous works. His business increased from year to year until he had all that he could attend to. He never made it very profitable, however, for the reason that he was not careful about his accounts, but chiefly because of his generosity to his clients. No man ever appealed to him in the misfortune of defeat in an unsuccessful law suit without having his bill for services abated to the client's entire satisfaction. Nevertheless, Mr. Ormsby accumulated several thousand dollars before he went to New York. He never had an extravagant habit unless his purchasing of books may be so classed.
During all this time his pen was never idle, but his productions being mainly for the newspapers, little of the result of his labor is preserved. This practice, however, together with his natural ability, gave him a very remarka- ble readiness in expressing himself upon all subjects in the best and most
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forcible English. During this period he wrote a serial story for the Ameri- can Protector, the newspaper then published in Bradford, entitled " Kritz Lemberg," which was afterwards issued in book form. It was of no great literary value and its author was hardly willing to acknowledge it in after years, and it is only mentioned here as showing the restless mental activity that beset the man. He also prepared, at the request of Mr. Asa Low, a spelling book, which had a very extensive sale. Several years later, in 1857,after the establishment of the State Board of Education, and when John S. Adams, Esq., was secretary of the board, the book was adopted as the text book of the state in spelling, and for five years was extensively used and sold through- out Vermont. Mr. Orinsby came from Kentucky a decided Whig of the southern type, and when Daniel Webster was talked of for the presidency he threw himself into the canvass with the whole force of his powerful nature. He published and edited for a time the Northern Enquirer, a weekly news- paper, at Bradford, in the interest of Mr. Webster's nomination. But he was doomed to disappointment, as were so many of that great man's ad- mirers.
At, the time of the organization of the Republican party Mr. Ormsby stood among the leading lawyers of the eastern part of the state, and as the editor of the Enquirer was an influential man in political circles. He had many warm friends and admirers, and had he seen fit to go into the ranks of the new party, where most of his old friends, the Whigs, went, he could have received any political promotion that he desired. But his convictions and party sympathies would not permit him to do this, yet he hesitated, as did many of the old Whigs, to unite with the Democrats, and he remained for several years in what was termed the Old Line Whig party in Vermont. During this time he was nominated as a candidate for state treasurer on the state ticket, with Hon. John Wheeler for governor, but neither of them were elected.
In 1859 he published " A History of the Whig Party," a book of 370 12mo. pages. The sale of this book was not large, as it was the history of a party then practically dead ; but it is full of interest, and shows Mr. Ormsby's peculiar and original line of thought.
Soon after this he drifted naturally into the Democratic party, as did so many of the members of the Old Line Whig party. His law practice con- tinued to increase and he was so well esteemed by his new political friends that in 1864 he was nominated by the Democrats as a candidate for Congress from the Second Congressional District of Vermont. In 1857 he formed a partnership in the law business with the writer of this article, who had just completed his law studies with him, which lasted two years and a half, and although they differed decidedly in political and other matters, yet their former friendship was strengthened, and continued of the warmest kind up to the death of Mr. Ormsby. He was one of the most genial, good natured and obliging men that ever did business with another. Whatever happened,
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nothing ever disturbed his equanimity, and no difficulties ever discouraged him. His knowledge of the intricacies of the law was remarkable, and the court always listened to him with attention, for he generally had something new to say. However desperate seemed the condition of his case he usually devised some way to extricate himself. He was not always successful, but his fertility of resource was extraordinary.
In 1857, September 14, Mr. Ormsby married Miss Lucy J. Murphy, a lovely girl of Bradford, daughter of Thomas Murphy, Esq. So long as he lived he found in her a most sympathetic and valued friend and wife in their domestic relations and in his literary labors. They had four children, two sons and two daughters, of whom only one survives, Edward Everett Ormsby, born in 1860.
In 1866 Mr. Ormsby removed his business to New York city, where he re- mained until his death, February 20, 188t. He resided, however, out of the city, and for a few years, and at the time of his death, he and his family and that of Thomas Murphy, his father-in-law, lived on East Chester Hill near the beautiful town of Mt. Vernon, Westchester county, New York. In speaking of Mr. Ormsby the New York Times of February 22, 1881, says: " His in- troduction to the bar of this city was through Charles O'Connor, with whom he was associated in the defense of Jefferson Davis. He was formerly a lead- ing lawyer of Vermont, and was a man of decided mental power and an active philosophical political student, though not a political office-seeker. He wrote a history of the Whig party, and was also the author of a work on the glacial theory."
After his removal to the city his interest in literary and scientific matters increased, and all his leisure time was devoted to study in that direction. He continued a frequent contributor to the press, and in 1876 published a short poem entitled "Darwin," being a conversation between " Christian" and "Philosopher." Of this poem, the Mt. Vernon Argus, a paper published in the town above referred to, says: "When the scientific and religious world trembled at the doctrine of Darwin and Huxley, our lamented friend wrote and published his work which will remain a perpetual monument to his memory, taking issue with these great scientists and disputing their theories. To quote the last two lines of the work above alluded to, where Mr. Ormsby uses this language :-
' It is the true sphere of philosophy
To find out God and not ignore Him.'"
With this we must conclude our words in memory of an old friend. Al- though, at the time of his death, he had not lived in Bradford for fourteen years, yet we all felt that an old citizen and friend had gone. R. F.
Elliot Taplin Farr was born in Corinth, Orange county, on the 10th day of August, 1815. In his eleventh year he went to live with his aunt, Mrs. Sophia Lovewell. Under her kind, fostering care the bent to his mind and
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character was unquestionably given, and his literary taste formed. In his eighteenth year he began teaching, attending the academy at Bradford the fall and spring terms for nearly two years. During this time he fitted for college and entered the University of Vermont in 1837 and graduated in 1841. He then taught a select school at East Corinth for several terms, after which he entered the office of Hon. J. W. D. Parker, at Bradford, as a law student, and in the spring of 1843 the office of Charles P. Thompson, of Haverhill, N. H., as a clerk. He was admitted to the Grafton county, N. H., bar in September, 1843, and to the Orange county bar in December of the same year. He opened a law office in Bradford, and practiced his profession successfully for some eighteen months, when his health failing him he gave up his office and spent several years in his native town. He taught the academy at Corinth the fall and spring terms, and occasionally engaged in the practice of his profession, until the summer of 1847, when he taught the academy at Wentworth, N. H., for nine months. He then removed to New York city where he has since resided. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1850. When he first went to that city he entered the law office of Col. W. D. Crafts, an old law partner of Aaron Burr, and lias continued the practice of the law with Col. Crafts to the present time. In connection with his law practice he has, since 1868, been the publisher and editor of the Mother's Magazine, an old and staid publication. - The bent of his mind is, judging from the course of his life, retiring and literary. While in college Mr. Farr was chosen presi- dent of one of the literary societies, was justice of the peace and town superintendent of schools in Corinth, and has been for several years a vestry- man of L'Eglise du Sainte Esprit, the French church of the Holy Spirit, in New York. He has never married.
Lewis R. Morris was born in West Fairlee in 1816. He received his edu- cation at the common schools of his native town and at Newbury seminary. He gave considerable attention to mathematics, and became quite a pro- ficient in surveying ; studied law at Bradford with Hon. J. W. D. Parker about the years 1842-44, and at Haverhill, N. H., with N. B. Felton, Esq , during the years 1845-47, where he was admitted to the bar. During his legal studies he was the principal assistant of John McDuffee, Esq , in making a survey from Bradford to Montpelier to determine the feasibility of a railroad route between those two points. Among the junior members of the party were Henry C. McDuffee, T. W. W. Austin, Roswell Farnham and John T. Manson. Mr. Morris removed to Bradford about 1849, and, was admitted to practice at the Orange county bar January 5, 1850. He had a fair share of practice, and being public spirited he gave considerable of his time to the welfare of his fellow citizens. He was the originator and promoter of the first public library in the village in which he lived. In March, 1852, he com- menced the publication of the Green Mountain Farmer, a semi-monthly sheet devoted to agriculture, but its publication, in Bradford, was discontinued within the year, for want of adequate support. He built, and for some time
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lived in, the house so long owned and occupied by Dr. A. A. Doty and family, on Main street, in Bradford. In 1854 he removed to White River Junction, then a growing place, from the building of the railroads and the car shops of Latham & Co. After the failure of that company and the burning of the shops, Mr. Morris removed to Lebanon, N. H., in 1862, where he practiced his profession until his death, in 1876. He married Miss Lucinda Bliss, daughter of Capt. Ellis Bliss, of Bradford, who survives him, and who has re-married James Dayton Clark.
Asa M. Dickey* was born at East Orange, March 10, 1821, and is of Scotch-Irish descent. His grandfather, Adam Dickey, was born in London- derry, N. H., in 1751, and married Jennie Nesmith, of the same town. He with his brothers Robert and James served in the Revolution-James was poisoned by the British in New York, and Robert was killed in battle. Adam served through the war and received a pension. Soon after the close of the war Adam moved with his family to Topsham, and his was the fifth family in the town ; he owned 700 acres of land on what was called "Dickey Hill." He had a family of five sons and five daughters, and died in 1840 at the age of ninety years.
The third son, also named Adam, was the father of Asa M. Dickey. The father was also born in Londonderry, N. H., February 9, 1782, and died July 5, 1851, at the age of seventy years. Both father and grandfather were independent farmers.
At the age of fifteen years Asa M. was apprenticed to an older brother at the trade of brick-laying, and served three years, when his health failing, he tried his hand at peddling for a man in Salem, Mass., at which calling he worked a part of two years. But this was not a congenial occupation, and he returned to Vermont and again took up his trade of brick-laying, which he followed until the summer of 1841, when his health again failing, he decided to get an education.
His poor health was the result of rheumatic fever when he was seven years old, and from that time till the age of forty-five years, he was, to a large extent, a sufferer from the effects of that disease.
Mr. Dickey's advantages for an education were limited, consisting of the common schools, a select school at East Corinth, Vt., and the Methodist seminary at Newbury. During his struggle for an education he taught school five terms ; and in the fall of 1841, on applying to his teacher for a certificate as to his qualifications as a teacher of district schools, the teacher asked him as to his intended life work : "Teaching," was the reply. The teacher advised him to study law. This was his inspiration ; he adopted the sugges- tion and the next spring entered the law office of the Hon. John Colby, at Washington, Vt., as a student. The law library of this gentleman was
* By S. B. Hebard.
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extremely limited, and consisted of a few elementary works, such as Black- stone, Chitty, Swift, Kent, and Starkie.
He only remained with Mr. Colby to the end of the year, when, needing greater facilities for study, he entered the office of Hon. Levi B. Vilas, then of Chelsea, Vt., but later of Madison, Wis.,-the father of a present member of President Cleveland's cabinet,-in the spring of 1843. Judge Vilas was then doing the largest business of any lawyer in Orange county. Mr. Dickey remained in this office till his admission to the bar, at the June term of Orange County Court, 1845. In August following his admission he suffered severely from inflammation in one eye, causing his confinement in a dark room for six weeks, and his eye was so badly affected that he never after had good use of it. Notwithstanding this misfortune, coming at the opening of his career, he, in the following October, opened a law office at West Topsham, and at once succeeded in obtaining a good list of cases.
In 1847 he was again prostrated with rheumatic fever, from which he did not fully recover until June, 1848. This was the turning point in his physical condition, as ever since he has had more robust health than ever before.
His success in his profession was marked. He inspired confidence by his integrity and industry, and by his devotion to the interests of his clients. In 1850 he was elected state's attorney for Orange county, and re-elected in 1851. His was the first election to that office by the people after the change in the constitution of the state, making county officers elective by the people. At his first election he was not thirty years old.
In the fall of 1852 he entered into partnership with Hon. C. B. Leslie, of Wells River, and removed there. At this time the Boston, Concord & Montreal, and the White Mountain railroads were in process of construction, and the new firm was counsel for these roads. There was also a large legal business at that point, which fell off after the completion of the roads, and in 1856 he dissolved his connection with the firm, removed to Bradford, and there opened an office. He remained in Bradford until 1870, doing a large business and taking a high place among the lawyers, practicing in this and other counties, and was leading counsel in most of the important cases tried in Orange county. In the fall of 1870 he removed to St. Johnsbury and entered into a law partnership with W. P. Smith. At this time his eyes troubled him so severely that he had no expectation of doing much business ; but, notwithstanding his imperfect sight, he entered at once into a large and lucrative practice, being engaged in many very important causes in Caledonia, Orleans, Essex and Washington counties.
In the winter of 1880 he was again prostrated by severe sickness, in conse- quence of which he virtually gave up his profession, and at the urgent solici- tation of his son returned to Bradford, where he now lives. Since his return to Bradford, although seeking no business, he still is obliged to accede to the importunities of friends, tries many cases and has a leading part in many of the important cases now on the docket.
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Mr. Dickey has been a life-long Democrat, and in 1853 was chairman of the Democratic state committee. At the September election of that year John S. Robinson was elected governor, and appointed Mr. Dickey chief of his staff with the rank of colonel. In 1864 Col. Dickey was a delegate to the Democratic National convention which nominated Gen. George B. McClellan for President. In 1869 he represented Bradford in the legislature, was the Democratic candidate for speaker, and served on the judiciary com - mittee. In 1876 and 1878 he was the Democratic candidate for representa- tive to Congress, and in 1878 was that party's candidate for United States senator against Hon. Justin S. Morrill.
Col. Dickey, while actively engaged in the practice of the law, has always had a large docket, and has been engaged in most of the important cases. Although he has been hampered by his defective sight, his knowledge of the elementary principles of the law has stood him in good stead in the place of much reading. His good sound judgment and practical application of these principles has rendered him eminently successful in his practice. Few have more correctly judged of cases, and few have been more successful in winning them.
Col. Dickey is best to be appreciated in his practice before juries. The trier of causes before a jury must be thoroughly equipped ; he must be prepared to meet and cope with unforeseen difficulties, and readiness in this is an important factor in winning jury causes. Col. Dickey excels in these quali- ties. He is never at a loss, is full of expedients, and has great tact in the presentation of his proofs. He has the rare faculty of earnestness in the pre- sentation of his cases, combined with an air of perfect belief in its truth ; and although that belief is not stated in words, yet his sincerity is so appar- ent that it has a large share in contributing to his success. Col. Dickey can attribute that success in a great measure to his skill in the use of witnesses,. and it is undoubtedly true that many of the cases he has been instrumental in gaining, have been won by his skillful handling of opposing witnesses.
His knowledge of human nature, correct judgment of motives, intimate. knowledge of the case in hand, has given him prominence in the art of cross- examination, and he has used this quality in a very successful manner. The unwilling witness has been made to tell what he knows ; the surly, dogged. witness overcome, and the lying witness exposed.
As an advocate his forte lies in the clear exposition of his case, his logical deductions from the evidence, his grouping of the facts in his favor, and the massing of his forces upon the weak points of his enemy. He is not particu - larly noted for his eloquence, but in place of flowery speeches and bursts of brilliant language he presents sound arguments and solid facts, together with such earnestness and sincerity of manner as never fails to impress the jury, and is largely contributory to his final success.
He has had such legal lights as Lucius B. Peck, William Hebard, Paul Dil- lingham, Andrew Tracy, I. T. Washburn, C. W. Clarke, H. H. Powers, Thomas
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Bartlett, and others eminent in the profession as opponents, and his success in causes in which they were opposing is no mean tribute to his abilities. No man has won a larger per cent. of the causes committed to him than he, and that success is due largely to the qualities above described.
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