Genealogical and family history of the state of Vermont; a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol I, Part 71

Author: Carleton, Hiram, 1838- ed
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1032

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his last visit east, only a month before his death, he stopped in Washington by request of the com- missioners to look after the bill in Congress for appropriation toward surveys mentioned above ; and on his return to Minnesota, a few days later, he met these gentlemen in Detroit by appoint- ment. At this time everything looked bright and promising toward the realizing of his cher- ished hopes for nearly fifty years, and he was very sanguine that before many months had passed the work would be actually begun, and his children might see the mighty ocean steamers sailing through beautiful Lake Champlain, en route from Duluth to New York. He never lost confidence in the fact that this canal would be built, sooner or later, for the necessities of trade and commerce would demand it, but he did not live to know the result or failure of all these en- deavors.

CHURCH WORK.

Mr. Canfield was twice instrumental in en- larging St. Paul's church, Burlington, in 1852 and again in 1867. He headed the subscription lists generously, and persuaded others to sub- scribe, while Bishop Hopkins gladly furnished the Gothic plans for the building. In after years he aided Trinity Mission, Winooski, Vermont, and St. Paul's, Brainerd, Minnesota, in the same way, from plans this time drawn by Rev. Dr. John Henry Hopkins, Jr. Besides these, he assisted many other struggling missions in various ways. But he always felt that his crowning work for the church was the building of the Bishop Hop- kins Hall, Rock Point, Burlington. He carried out in so doing the life-long desire of Bishop Hopkins, and was thus inspired to devote himself with all his energy to the enterprise, winning con- fidence by his courage, acquiring gifts of money and giving largely himself, till in less than two ycars the hall was built, the grounds laid out, and everything made ready for occupation, and en- tirely free from debt.

Mr. Canfield represented Vermont as delegate in six general conventions of the church : In Philadelphia, 1856; in Richmond, Virginia, 1859; in New York, 1874; in Boston, 1877 ; in Chicago, 1886; in Minneapolis, 1895. For several years he was a member of the standing committee of the diocese, and was the most active trustee of

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the Vermont Episcopal Institute, from its incep- tion, in 1854, till the day of his death. For six- teen years he was junior warden of St. Paul's parish, Burlington. Honored and beloved by Bishop Hopkins and Bishop Bissell, their closest interests always in behalf of the church were marked by harmony and entire confidence and trust. Nothing could keep Mr. Canfield away when needed for trustee meetings or the sessions of the Vermont diocesan conventions, and these bishops knew they could always depend upon him for faithful, loving service. He was present at the diocesan conventions for forty-four consecu- tive years, part of the time as delegate and for the last thirty-five years as the devoted secretary, coming often from Minnesota for the special pur- pose.

The church schools at Rock Point, the Ver- mont Episcopal Institute for boys, and the Bishop Hopkins Hall for girls, built through the energy, liberality, determination and hard labor for years, of both Bishop Hopkins and Mr. Canfield, were successful and self-supporting so long as Mr. Canfield retained a controlling influence in the board of trustees, and the confidence of the bishop. The rent for the first twenty-one years of the boys' school, under the management of Rev. Theodore A. Hopkins, carefully invested by Mr. Canfield, as treasurer of the institution, amounted to over nine thousand dollars, which, added to five thousand dollars left by Bishop Hopkins towards the girls' school of the future, was a great addition to the funds for the hall in 1888.

Mr. Canfield was always interested in the country and in politics, but never allowed his name to be brought forward for office of any kind. A Whig in the days of that party, he was, afterwards a strong Republican, always voting in line with the leaders.

Mr. Canfield possessed marked characteristics. Strong and courageous and determined in will- power, he was gentle and persuasive in manner, leading others by influencing their judgment, never by coercion. Hopeful, buoyant, resource- ful and far-seeing, he was always the strongest when others were cast down, and quick in ex- pedients to restore hope, and bring wrong to right again. Bright and genial, ready to aid everybody at all times with advice, or money, or

both, he helped many a man to make or mend his fortunes, or his character. He had hosts of friends everywhere, among young and old. His tender care of very old people was one of his most marked traits. He was generous to a fault, and never quick to suspect bad motives. He was a perfectly honest, upright God-fearing man, for fifty years a consistent member of the Protestant Episcopal church. Never in his life was he known to use tobacco in any way, to play cards, to drink, to dance, or to fritter time away in amusement, or even vacations. During all his active business. career of over fifty-five years, he rarely took a day for recreation, finding all the rest he required in change of occupation, and full satisfaction and enjoyment in whatever work he was engaged, and in conquering such difficulties as arose from time to time in all of his various projects. He- was domestic in his tastes, and devoted to his. family. Business calling him so frequently from home was a constant and severe trial borne most- uncomplainingly by him for the good of the cause -for the work he believed he was destined to. accomplish for the benefit of the country at large for millions yet to come. Few men have lived fuller, busier lives than his. The Rev. Dr. Wick- ham, for over thirty years the principal of Burr and Burton Seminary in Manchester, Vermont, knowing Mr. Canfield's career from boyhood, wrote to the editor of the Manchester Journal: "If Burlington can boast of her Edmunds, the leader of the United States Senate, and of her Phelps, the eminent jurist and distinguished rep- resentative at the court of St. James, she has not another citizen that has honored her more than Thomas Hawley Canfield."

Mr. Canfield died suddenly, January 20, 1897, while sitting at his desk in Lake Park, Becker county, Minnesota, aged nearly seventy-five. His body was laid beside his son, John, in the private, consecrated cemetery at Rock Point.

Recquiescat in pace.

HON. DANIEL ROBERTS.

During the unprecedented period of sixty- seven years, Daniel Roberts, of Burlington, was one of the most gifted, industrious and successful practitioners in the courts of Vermont, and dur-

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ing his long and busy life, he has also adorned various important positions and made notable contributions to the literature of his profession. His descent was from Ephraim Roberts, of Wa- tertown, Litchfield county, Connecticut, who served in the continental army and was made an invalid in the service, after which he returned home and his death occurred July 5, 1776. Hc married Phoebe Clark and they left two sons, Daniel and Ephraim. Daniel, the eldest, was or- phaned in his tender years and served a seven years' apprenticeship to a cloth-dresser, was also a school teacher for about seven years, and for thirty years followed his trade in Wallingford, Vermont, after which he removed to Manchester. He married Almira Bishop and he and his wife were fond of good reading and were musically inclined, the one being a performer on the flute and the other a charming singer. They died at ages of seventy-nine and eighty-four years, re- spectively, and their remains lie buried at Man- chester, Vermont.

Daniel Roberts, the fifth of the eleven chil- dren born to Daniel and Almira Roberts, was born at Wallingford, Vermont, May 25, 181I. He was studiously inclined from his earliest years, and at the age of fourteen entered Mid- dlebury College, in which he graduated when eighteen years of age. He then read law under Harvey Button, of Wallingford. Mr. Roberts was admitted to the bar of Rutland county in the year of his attaining his majority, and he then made a trip down the Mississippi river, vis- iting Grand Gulf, Natchez and New Orleans. In 1833 he went to Jacksonville, Illinois, where he had relatives living, and for two years was as- sociated with Murray McConnell, a distinguished member of the Illinois bar. Here he met a former classmate in the person of him who afterward became known as the sainted Rev. Dr. Truman M. Post, of St. Louis, and he also made the ac- quaintance there of Stephen A. Douglas, who was then a young lawyer active in local politics, but who afterward became famous in national affairs. In 1835 Mr. Roberts returned to Vermont on a visit, but he was destined to make his stay per- manent. For twenty years he practiced in Man- chester, having succeeded to the business of Milo S. Bennett, who became judge of the su- preme court, and in 1856 he removed to Bur-

lington, where he formed a partnership with Lu- cius E. Chittenden, this association being main- tained until 1861, when Mr. Chittenden became register of the United States treasury.

Mr. Roberts was actively engaged in his profession until shortly before his death, which occurred October 6, 1899, and in his later years his son Robert was associated with him. The uninterrupted continuity of his professional record is shown by the fact that his name first appeared in the state reports in 1837, and is found in every volume down to the year 1897, when he made his last argument before the su- preme court. His first case (9th Vermont) called for deep research in English law, and his brief was learned and exhaustive-in his own opinion he never drew one surpassing it. In ad- dition to the large practice in the United States court, his engagements were mainly in Chitten- den, Addison, Rutland and Bennington counties. He was attorney for Governor Page and the Rut- land Railroad Company, and later for the Ver- mont Central Railroad Company in its various and extensive litigation. He was absorbed in his profession, seemingly pursuing it for love, and he did not suffer his attention to become drawn from it by scheming for money-getting or for political distinction. He was conscientiously thorough in the preparation of his cases, and was combative and vigorous in their conduct. Deeply read in all branches of the law, he was peculiarly resourceful, and in a trial was seldom taken at a disadvantage by the tactics of an opponent. He was strong before a jury, even in his later years, with his sonorous and well carrying voice, his command of language and his capability, on occasion rising to heights of real eloquence. He was pre-eminently a safe counselor and adviser, and his advice was widely sought because of his known immaculate rectitude, which would not suffer him to lead a client astray or into diffi- culty.

He had no liking for criminal law, but ap- peared in a few cases, some of which were of peculiar dramatic interest or involved an inter- esting legal principle. He had not been long en- gaged in practice when, with Harmon Canfield, also a young, attorney, he was assigned by Chief Justice Williams to defend Archibald Bates, who was charged with shooting his brother's wife one

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evening as she sat hear a window nursing her child. A verdict of murder in the first degree was brought in, and the condemned man was hanged in the presence of a great multitude on Bennington Hill, February 8, 1839, this being the last public execution in Vermont, all suc- ceeding ones having been within the walls of the prison. This trial was one of the notable events in the early career of Mr. Roberts. He said that, though he defended the prisoner with in- tense earnestness, he never spoke to him before, during or after the trial, nor did he attend the execution. At the June term of 1863, two men, Purcell and Costello, were jointly indicted for the murder of a fellow Irishman, who was stab- bed one night as they were all on their way from the Dorset Mountain quarries, each one having been drinking heavily. It was absolutely certain that one of the defendants had committed the murder, but it was uncertain which was the guilty party, and there was no evidence of con- spiracy between them. Purcell was allowed a separate trial upon demand, and was defended by Mr. Roberts, who secured an acquittal on ac- count of the uncertainty of the case, and it ap- peared in the trial that it was more probable that Costello committed the deed. The latter, tried at a subsequent term of court, also was acquit- ted, as in his trial it seemed that Purcell must be the guilty person. Each verdict appeared to be clearly right, and yet the result of the two trials was that a murderer was acquitted, but which was he? In the case of the state versus McDonald (32 Vermont Reports, page 491) a notable instance is found where the law on homi- cide is involved. Mr. Roberts' brief on the case is particularly pointed and in the opinion of Chief Justice Redfield, is worth study. On a second trial of McDonald he was very properly con- victed of manslaughter and sent to the peniten- tiary for life, where he died of consumption.

In 1878, under a contract with the judges of the supreme court and by authority of the legis- lature, he completed a digest of the decisions of the supreme court down to and including vol- ume 48, entitled "Roberts' Vermont Digest," and he afterward published a supplement, this book having since become a standard encyclopedia of the law of Vermont. Had he been less devoted to his profession, public honors would naturally

have come to him, although by temperament he was not a politician in the generally accepted sense. As it was, he was called to various im- · portant positions. In 1853-4 he was a bank com- missioner, and in 1865-6 was special agent of the United States treasury department, and 1868-9 was state's attorney for Chittenden county, and as such surprised the public by doing his full of- ficial duty, thus becoming a disturber of the comfort of many, especially in the prosecution of liquor venders. During the first term of President Grant and through the influence of Senator Edmunds, he was offered the solicitor- ship of the treasury, which he declined. At one time in his youth he served as brigade inspector of militia.

From his earliest years, Mr. Roberts was a determined enemy to slavery, and was, in turn, as parties disappeared, a Liberty party man, a Free-Soiler and a Republican, and he was at times put forward as a candidate to head what was known to be a forlorn hope, where the only end to be subserved was the crystalization of public sentiment. In 1840 he headed the Free- soil state ticket and received more than a thou- sand votes, a gain of about seven hundred over that cast for Birney, the presidential candidate of the party. In the same year he was the orator at the Bennington county celebration of eman- cipation in San Domingo. During these years he frequently aided in assisting fugitive slaves to Canada and freedom. On occasion, when the minister would refuse to give notice from the pulpit of anti-slavery meetings, he would rise from his seat in the choir and make the an- nouncement himself. In 1841 the famous abo- lition journal, The Emancipator, contained an earnest declaration of principles from his pen. In 1850 he was a Free-soil candidate for Con- gress, but was of course defeated ; was a prime factor in the organization of the Republican party, to which he steadfastly adhered except in 1872, when he supported Greeley, and during the Civil war, unable to enter the military service on account of his age, he supported the govern- ment by every means in his power, and con- tributed largely to filling the ranks of the state regiments.

Mr. Roberts was much in demand as a speaker on various notable occasions, having been the ora-

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tor of the Vermont centennial celebration at Ben- same time discerning and generous in liis esti- mates and judgments.' To me this seems a true and just estimate." nington in 1877, and was one of the speakers at the semi-centennial reunion of his college class at the commencement in 1879, when he received In July, 1837, Mr. Roberts was married to Caroline Diantha, a danghter of the Rev. Ste- phen Martindale, Jr., and his wife, Diantha Kent. Mr. Martindale was descended from Ed- ward Martindale, who came from England to Westfield, Massachusetts, in 1730. Ger- shom, seventh son of Edward, was born in 1725, and died in December, 1775. He married Bathsheba Nash, who died May 27, 1808, at Dorset. Their third son, Stephen Martindale, was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1759 and moved to Dorset, Vermont. At the age of eighteen years he was in the battle of Benning- ton, and during the war of 1812 was lieutenant colonel commander of the Second Regiment, the degree of Doctor of Laws. In a later year he made the address of welcome to the visiting society of the Grand Army of the Potomac, and lie presided at the services hield in memory of President Garfield. A man of fine literary tastes, he was an enthusiastic and diligent reader, and lie particularly delighted in the old English au- thors now too little read. In his early life he wrote verses of considerable merit, some of which are preserved in Hemmenway's "Poets and Poetry of Vermont." He held a warm affection for young men, and particularly for those making their beginnings in law, while to the younger members of the bar he was the freely consulted encyclopedia of law. When interrogated by . First Brigade of Vermont Militia, consisting of them, he generally began with a mild reprimand for their lack of scholarship, and then gave them in generous measure all the advice they re- quired.

It was the sad yet pleasant duty of Robert Roberts to read a memorial sketch of his hon- ored sire before the Vermont Bar association, October 23. 1900, and in this he said: "As a man Daniel Roberts was a product of Vermont. He was born here, educated here, made sacrifices to remain here, and here alone he was moulded by the discipline of a long, long life of varied activities and experiences. He loved Vermont's hills and valleys, streams, forests and song birds. He was, therefore, and of right ought to have been in character, simple, primitive, strong, indepen- dent and religious. But from what source came his quaint and lively humor, his poetic sense, his love of letters and music, and quick intelligence in matters of form and balance? These flowers of the spirit are not supposed to flourish on the Puritan stock. But in his case, as in Sampson's riddle, 'Out of the strong came forth sweetness.' A friend has written of him, 'I think he was the most multifarious man among us, the man capa- ble of appreciating and enjoying the greatest number and variety of things which interest men of vigorous minds and healthy impulses. He could enjoy a good story, a good song, a good argument in court, a good book, a good sermon, a good friend, a good action, and he was at the

volunteers and drafted men, and was probably at the battle of Plattsburg. He was a repre- sentative in the Vermont legislature from Dor- set in 1794, 1802 and 1828. He married Huldah Smith, a daughter of Simeon and Rachel (Dib- ble) Smith, both probably born in Lenox, Mas- sachusetts, whence they removed to Dorset, Ver- mont. Simeon Smith was first lieutenant in John Paterson's Massachusetts Regiment from May to December, 1775; captain in Warner's- Additional Continental Regiment, July 5, 1776; and was retired January 1, 1781. He was sur- prised and captured at Fourteen Mile Island, Lake George, July 15, 1779, with eight others and nine were killed at the same time, most of them from Colonel Warner's regiment at Fort George. He was taken to Montreal, where he- suffered hardships from which he never re- covered. His death occurred in 1786, and that of his wife in 1813, and both lie buried at Dor- set. An account of his capture is contained in the Haldimand manuscripts in the British Mu- seum in London.

Stephen Martindale, jr., a son of the above- named Stephan Martindale, was born in 1787, in- Dorset, Vermont, and died in 1847 in Walling- ford, that state. Evidence of his military service is contained in various documents possessed in the Roberts family. Among these are his warrant as sergeant major in his father's regiment, over the signature of Stephen Martindale, lieutenant

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colonel commander, dated July 26, 1812, and his commission as adjutant in the same regiment, signed by Governor Martin Chittenden, May 2, 1814. He was in camp at Plattsburg in 1812. Letters from him are preserved written from camp at Burlington, Vermont, dated September II and October II, 1812; also a plan in ink made at Plattsburg, showing the harbor at Plattsburg, the location of the batteaux, the en- campment of the United States troops and Ver- mont militia and the house in which he was quar- tered, all drawn by his own hand and addressed to his wife, with his signature, "S. Martindale, Jr., sergeant major," and dated October 20, 1812. He became a Congregational minister at Tin- mouth and afterward at Wallingford, Vermont. He married Diantha Kent, of Dorset, Vermont, she being a daughter of Cephas Kent, Jr., and his wife Lydia Sheldon. Cephas Kent, first, with his wife, Hannah Spencer, moved, prior to 1777, from Suffield, Connecticut, to Dorset, Ver- mont, where they kept an inn. Hemmenway's His- torical Gazeteer says: "At this historic tavern, September 26, 1776, was held a general conven- tion of fifty-one members, representing thirty- five towns, where it was resolved that they de- clare this a free and independent district." He was the first representative from Dorset to the state legislature in 1778, and he and his wife lie buried in that town and on his tombstone is a most interesting epitaph recounting his virtues. Cephas Kent, Jr., son of the above Cephas Kent, enlisted at Dorset in the summer of 1776, at the age of twenty-one years, and went on the cam- paign into Canada, and the Roberts family have a copy of his war diary. Three or four of his brothers were in the battle of Bennington. Four children were born to Daniel and Caroline Dian- tha ( Martindale) Roberts; Mary; Caroline M .; Stephen M., who is a physician; and Robert, a lawyer.

ROBERT ROBERTS, youngest child of Daniel and Caroline Diantha (Martindale) Roberts, was born in Manchester, Vermont, in 1848 and was educated in the Burlington high school, the Burr and Burton Seminary, of Manchester, and the University of Vermont, graduating with honors at the last named institution in 1869. He afterward completed the course at the Columbia

College Law School of New York, and was ad- mitted to the bar of Chittenden county at the September term, 1871. Since then, with the exception of one year in Europe spent in study and travel, there acquiring a speaking knowledge of French, since perfected, and two years of practice in Chicago, 1876-7, he has been constantly engaged in prac- tice in Burlington. For

some years he was associated with his talented father, whose gifts and tastes he inherited in a marked degree. During the years of 1874, 1878 and 1880 he was official reporter of the state senate and a press correspondent from the capitol. In 1882, on the Republican ticket, he was elected to the legisla- ture from the city of Burlington, and was placed upon two important committees, the judiciary and revision of bills, being chairman of the last named. From 1887 until 1889 he was city attor- ney of Burlington, while in 1890 he was elected to the state senate for a term of two years, serv- ing as chairman of the judiciary committee. In his legislative services, he displayed high qual- ities as a law-maker, and left his impress upon many important pages of the statute books of the commonwealth. His most notable public service in the senate was in leading the opposi- tion to the bill to remove the State Agricultural College from Burlington. The bill passed the house by a very large majority, but was fought to its death in the senate. In 1889, after a sharp contest, he was elected to the mayoralty of Bur- lington, and was re-elected in 1900 by a large majority, proving himself a most sagacious and progressive executive. He is now engaged under contract with the state in the work of pre- paring a digest of all decisions of the supreme court of Vermont. A man of broad intelligence and warm human sympathies, he has a marked influence in the community. He is a fluent and graceful speaker, and is frequently heard with pleasure upon public occasions on political, ed- ucational and social topics. His social associa- tions are with the Algonquin and Ethan Allen clubs, and he was president of the last named for several years ; is a trustee of the University of Vermont, a member of the advisory board of the Home for Destitute Children, a trustee of the state library, a director of the Merchants' Na-

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Genealogical and family history of the state of Vermont; a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol I, Part 71

Author: Carleton, Hiram, 1838- ed Publication date: 1903 Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1032

Author: Carleton, Hiram, 1838- ed
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1032