USA > Vermont > Addison County > History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 17
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Luke Strong, son of Judge John Strong, of Addison, was born in Addison August 6, 1768. His first deed of property in Vergennes was dated 1798, and he built the house afterward owned by Major John Thompson. In Dwight's history of the Strong family it is said he was " a lawyer at Vergennes and re- markable for his sagacity and integrity of character. Arrested in the midst of a prosperous career by consumption, he undertook to stay its progress by a sea voyage and by a residence for a time in Georgia and North Carolina, but to no purpose, and he came home to die, which event occurred April 5, 1807." The court docket of his day shows that he was attorney in a large number of cases. He married Lucretia Harmon, of Vergennes, and they had several children, only one of whom, a daughter, lived to maturity. Three of his grand- sons made a fine record for their patriotic services in the War of the Rebellion. One of them, Richard S. Tuthill, is now United States attorney for the north- ern district of Illinois.
Hon. Samuel Hitchcock,1 the fourth son of Noah and Mary Hitchcock, and grandson of David Hitchcock, one of the original settlers of Brimfield, Hamp- shire county, Mass., was born in Brimfield March 23, 1755. He fitted for col- lege with Rev. James Bridgham, a graduate of Harvard University in 1726. He was graduated at Harvard University in 1777. After his grad- uation he read law at Brookfield, Worcester county, Mass., with the late Hon. Jedediah Foster, and was, probably, admitted to the practice of the law at Worcester. About 1786 Samuel Hitchcock removed to Burlington, Vt., where he commenced the practice of his profession. He was the first State's attorney appointed in Chittenden county and held the office from 1787 to 1790 inclu- sive. He represented the town from 1789 to 1793 inclusive. He was a mem- ber of the convention of delegates of the people of the State of Vermont, held at Bennington January 10, 1791, toratify the constitution of the United States, which had been submitted by an act of the Vermont Legislature passed Octo- ber 27, 1790. The charter of the University of |Vermont, which was granted by the General Assembly November 3, 1791, is said to have been drafted by Samuel Hitchcock, while the main features of it were furnished by another alumnus of Harvard University, the Rev. Samuel Williams, D. D., of Rutland. Samuel Hitchcock was elected one of the trustees from the start and continued to hold that office until his death. He was secretary of the corporation from 1791 to 1800, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Daniel Clark Saunders, D. D., president of the University. Dr. Wheeler, in his historical discourse, says that the creative mind of Dr. Samuel Williams and the reflective and profound mind
1 By George F. Houghton, esq., in Miss Hemenway's work, Vol. I, p. 590.
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of Judge Hitchcock had worked for the University of Vermont and in it. He was elected attorney-general of Vermont under the act of October, 1790, and was succeeded in 1793 by the Hon. Daniel Buck, of Norwich. Samuel Hitch- cock and Lemuel Chipman, of Pawlet, were the presidential electors at large from Vermont at the second presidential election in 1793. Lott Hall, of Westminster, and Paul Brigham, of Norwich, were their colleagues in the first electoral college in Vermont, and all were appointed by the Legislature in 1792, and they cast the vote of Vermont at Windsor for George Washington and John Adams. In 1797 the second general revision of the laws was completed by a committee consisting of Roswell Hopkins, of Vergennes; Richard Whiting,. of Brattleboro; Nathaniel Chipman, of Tinmouth, and Samuel Hitchcock (then of Vergennes). Samuel Hitchcock was judge of the District Court of the United States for the district of Vermont, and judge of the Circuit Court of the second circuit of the United States, receiving his appointment from President John Adams, and going out of that office when the judiciary act was repealed. Judge Hitchcock was married May 26, 1789, to Lucy Caroline Allen, second daugh- ter of General Ethan Allen. In 1794 he removed to Vergennes, where he lived until 1806 (possibly 1805), when he returned to Burlington to reside. Judge Hitchcock's scholarship was of a superior order, and as a lawyer he ranked among the foremost in New England. He was endowed with a large measure of benevolence and admirable social qualities. As a conversationalist he was unrivaled for humor and brilliant repartee. His personal appearance was dignified and commanding. He had a light complexion and sharp blue eyes, and to a handsome person of medium size and height he added polished manners and a pleasing address. He died at Burlington November 20, 1813, aged sixty-eight years. In a letter some years since by General Grandey, he says : "Judge Hitchcock was a man of a high stamp of character in all respects, a leading and controlling mind among the strong and original minds of his day." "The University of Vermont owes its paternity to Judge Samuel Hitchcock." Of the three sons of Judge Hitchcock who survived him but are now dead, Henry Hitchcock became the chief judge of the Supreme Court and the statesman of Alabama. General Grandey, who was his personal friend and acquaintance in Alabama, says of him: "He was the best known, the most beloved, the most distinguished, the ablest, the most worthy and the most popular man in Alabama during the last ten years of his life." Ethan Allen Hitchcock (probably born in Vergennes), a distinguished major-general of the United States army, wise in council and brave in war, as became the descendants of such ancestors. Samuel Hitchcock, the youngest son of Hon. Samuel Hitchcock, was educated at West Point, afterward resigned and studied law. He was a natural student, inheriting some of the admirable traits of his parent. He died in the forty-fourth year of his age, of consumption.
Hon. Daniel Chipman, LL.D.,1 was born in Salisbury, Conn., October 22,
1 From Swift's History of Middlebury.
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1765. He was one of six sons of Samuel Chipman, then residing in that place. In 1775 the father removed with his sons to Tinmouth, in Rutland county. Daniel there labored on his farm until November, 1783, when he commenced his preparatory studies with his brother Nathaniel, who was then in the prac- tice of law in Tinmouth. He entered Dartmouth College at the commence- ment in 1784. Notwithstanding the short time he spent in his preparatory studies, by his confirmed habit of industry and his energy he graduated, in 1788, with a standing among the first in his class. He immediately commenced the study of law in the office of his brother Nathaniel, and in September, 1790, was admitted to the bar, and opened an office in Rutland. He soon had an exten- sive practice, regularly attending all the courts in the counties of Rutland, Ben- nington, Addison and Chittenden. In 1793, three years after he was licensed to practice law, he was chosen a delegate from Rutland to the convention held at Windsor, for amending the constitution. In the year 1794 he removed to Middlebury, still continuing his practice in the counties above named. In 1796 he was married to Eleutheria Hedge, daughter of Rev. Lemuel Hedge, a minister of Warwick, Mass., and sister of the late Levi Hedge, professor in Harvard College, then residing with her mother in Windsor. In 1798 and two succeeding years he represented Middlebury in the General Assembly, and in several other years previous to 1808. He was chosen that year a member of the council under the old constitution, and was annually elected to that body for several years. He represented the town also in 1812, 1813 and 1814. In 1813 he was elected speaker, and was distinguished for his promptness and de- cision. It was a time of high party excitement, the two political parties, Fed- eral and Democratic, being nearly equal. The constitution provides that "at the opening of the General Assembly, there shall be a committee appointed out of the Council and Assembly, who, after being duly sworn to the faithful per- formance of their trusts, shall proceed to sort and count the votes for governor and declare the person who has a major part of the votes to be governor for the year ensuing, and if there be no choice made, then the council and General Assembly, by their joint ballots, shall make choice of a governor." Such com- mittee had been appointed at this session, and some time in the evening, hav- ing completed the canvass, the Governor and Council came into the chamber of the House of Representatives to hear the report of the canvassing committee, and agreeably to the uniform usage on such occasions, the speaker resigned his chair to the governor, who was appointed chairman. The canvassing com- mittee reported that there was no choice of governor by the people, and there- upon the committee of the two houses adjourned to an early hour the next day. On examination of the constitution the next morning, Mr. Chipman was satis- fied that the report of the canvassing committee was conclusive; that the two houses had no power to canvass the votes or to act on the subject, otherwise than by a concurrent resolution to meet and elect a governor by their joint bal-
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lots. He therefore considered it would be highly improper, and indeed in vio- lation of the constitution, for the House of Representatives to join the Governor and Council, to decide the question whether a governor had or had not been elected by the people. Having taken this view of the subject, he at once de- cided on the course to be pursued-that he would not resign the speaker's chair to the governor, when he and the Council should enter the House, but retain it and continue to preside, and preserve order in the House, leaving the governor to preside in the Council. Accordingly, when the Governor and Council came in, he retained the speaker's chair, seating the governor at his right. This was so unexpected that there was profound silence for several min- utes. At length a member of the House arose and addressed the chairman. The speaker called him to order, saying if he had a motion to make he must address the speaker. Several other members made the same attempt, but were immediately put down by the speaker. A member of the Council then ad- dressed the chairman; upon which the governor, turning to the speaker, ob- served, "There seems to be great confusion." "There is indeed," said the speaker ; " but your excellency may rest assured that the most perfect order will be preserved in the House, over which I have the honor to preside." At length the Governor and Council, finding that the House of Representatives would not act with them, retired, and the two houses afterwards met by con- current resolution, and elected a governor by their joint ballots. This incident in the life of Mr. Chipman, which produced some excitement at the time, we have copied from an account given by himself, not only because it is an illus- tration of his character, but because it is an event connected with the political history of the State. In the year 1814 Mr. Chipman was again elected speaker of the House, and the same year was elected a representative to Congress. He attended the first session, but, by reason of ill health, was unable to attend to his duties a great portion of the time, and during the next session was con- fined at home by sickness. The year following his health was so far restored that he again resumed the practice of law, and in the years 1818 and 1821 represented the town in the Legislature. In the year 1822 he published an essay on contracts for specific articles. It was highly commended by Judge Story, Chancellor Kent and other eminent jurists, met with an extensive sale, and added much to his reputation as a lawyer and scholar. In the preface to this work he urged the importance of having the decisions of the Supreme Court reported. At the next session of the Legislature, in the year 1823, an act was passed providing for the appointment of a reporter, and he was ap- pointed to that office. Having published one volume of reports, ill health compelled him to resign it. In the preface to his volume he urged the im- portance of dividing the Legislature into two branches, by constituting a Sen- ate. The Council of Censors having recommended this among other amend- ments, a convention was called for the purpose of considering it. In the mean
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time Mr. Chipman had retired from public life and invested considerable prop- erty, and built him a large house in a pleasant location in Ripton, and had fixed his residence in the refreshing and salubrious atmosphere of that place. Such was his anxiety to have this amendment adopted that he yielded to the solicitations of his neighbors and accepted the appointment of delegate to the convention, held in January, 1836, from that town. Mr. Chipman took a con- spicuous part in the able and animated debate on that subject, and the amend- ment was adopted by a small majority. In 1846 Mr. Chipman published the life of his brother, Hon. Nathaniel Chipman, LL.D., formerly member of the United States Senate, and Chief Justice of the State of Vermont. He after- wards published several smaller works, Memoirs of Colonel Seth Warner and Thomas Chittenden, first Governor of Vermont, with a History of the Consti- tution during his Administration, which are valuable publications. In 1850 Mr. Chipman was elected delegate to the Constitutional Convention of that year, and there made his last appearance in any public capacity. The journey to Montpelier proved too much for his advanced age and feeble health. While in attendance upon the convention he was attacked with sickness, from which he
never recovered. He reached his home in Ripton in a feeble condition, and died on the 23d of April, 1850, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. We doubt whether there is, or ever had been, another man so familiarly acquainted with the early history and interests of the State. He was a plain man in his dress and address, and courteous in his manner. His addresses at the bar and else- where were eloquent from the power of his argument and the weight of his opinions, rather than from any polished oratory. It has been said of Mr. Chip- man that he "was one of the ablest lawyers of his time, being at the head of his profession in this county during the most of his professional life ; " that " he was a master of the common law ; " that he " was a man of nice and quick per- ceptions, and of great skill in the examination of witnesses." "He was an original, bold and profound thinker and reasoner. His argument was rapid and earnest, clothed in language clear, vigorous and forcible. His candor and enthusiasm had great weight with a jury. The ease with which he could take a jury out of an intricate and tangled case and bring them to a clear and luminous view of the law and facts marked the hand of a master." The evidence seems conclusive that tradition is not at fault when she assigns to Daniel Chipman great intellectual powers, made available by intense applica- tion and industry, and trained to their fullest exercise by the force of sur- rounding circumstances and by association with strong men who were his peers in many respects, and by no means feeble antagonists in the contests of the forum.
Hon. Horatio Seymour, LL.D., was born at Litchfield, Conn., May 31, 1778. He was the son of Major Moses Seymour and Mrs. Mary (Marsh) Seymour. His father was a respectable citizen of that place, was in the War of the Revo-
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lution, represented the town in the State Legislature much of the time from 1795 to 1812, and was town clerk for nearly forty years. The subject of this notice pursued his studies preparatory to entering college at New Milford un- der the tuition of his brother-in-law, Rev. Truman Marsh, then located in that place. He was graduated at Yale College in 1797. The following year he spent as an assistant teacher in the academy at Cheshire, Conn .; the sec- ond he spent in the study of law, at Judge Reeve's law school in Litchfield. In October, 1799, he came to Middlebury and continued his professional studies in the office of Hon. Daniel Chipman. In the spring of 1800 he was licensed to practice law, and, in competition with several distinguished and older law- yers, such as Daniel Chipman, Samuel Miller and others, entered immediately into an extensive practice, and rose rapidly in general estimation as a man and as a lawyer. He did not seek to extend his practice to other counties, but in the county of Addison no other lawyer, we believe, ever had so extensive a business, or was engaged at the same time in so many causes in the different courts. While building his large and very expensive brick house, in 1816 and 1817, he expressed to the writer of this notice his regret to lay out so great an expenditure on a house, but stated, as some alleviation, that his income dur- ing those two years was sufficient to meet the expense. Notwithstanding his talents, which were of a superior order, and his thorough knowledge of the law, he was probably no little indebted for his success to his great popularity as a man. His career as a lawyer was uninterrupted until the spring of 1821. In the mean time, in December, 1800, the same year in which he was admitted to the bar, Mr. Seymour was appointed postmaster, and continued in the office for nine years, but for much of the time, on account of the pressure of his pro- fessional business, he committed the personal superintendence, with its income, to other hands. When the Vermont State Bank was established at the session of the Legislature in 1806, he was chosen one of its first directors, and con- tinued in that office until the branch at Middlebury was closed. In 1809 he was elected by the people a member of the Executive Council, and was annually re-elected for the five following years. In October, 1820, he was elected by the Legislature to the Senate of the United States, the duties of the office to commence on the 4th of March, 1821. At the close of his first term he was re-elected for a second. This of course was an interruption to his professional pursuits. At the close of his second term in 1833, he returned to the practice of law. This he continued until a few years since, when his infirmities forced him to retire from it. The corporation of Yale College, at the commencement in 1847, the fiftieth anniversary of his graduation, conferred on him the hon- orary degree of LL.D. Mr. Seymour was constitutionally diffident and dis- trustful of himself. So far from seeking for office, we think he never accepted one but with reluctance and through the solicitation of his friends. This trait undoubtedly influenced him in the discharge of his senatorial duties. He did
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feel called by a sense of duty, among so many distinguished senators so ready to speak, to make a display which his distrust of himself forbade. He was greatly respected for his sound but modest opinions, and his influence, though silent and unobtrusive, was generally recognized in the Senate. His intimate friends and associates were among the most distinguished men connected with the government, such as Adams, King, Clay, Webster and Marcy. But he did not often make any formal address in the Senate. It was otherwise when he acted in the capacity of an advocate. The rights and interests of his clients had been entrusted to him, and he had engaged for their defense, and no per- sonal feelings could justify his neglect. In his addresses to the court or jury he made no attempts at display, but in his quiet and modest way poured forth a powerful and comprehensive argument, which his opposing counsel found it difficult to meet, and introduced points in the case which had not occurred to them. He had great ingenuity and tact in the management of his causes. In his intercourse with all ranks of men he made all honest men his equals, and treated them as such. He had great ingenuity and wisdom in accomplishing his purposes, and when circumstances required he could keep "his own coun- sel ;" but he had a scrupulous regard for the rights of all with whom he dealt, and had no forbearance for dishonesty or intrigue. By the interest he ex- pressed in the affairs of all who needed his sympathy, and by his courteous and kindly treatment of all with whom he came in contact in every form of asso- ciation, he secured not only the respect and confidence, but the personal friendship of all.1 Mr. Seymour was married in 1800 to Miss Lucy Case, daughter of Jonah Case, of Addison; she died in 1838. Mr. Seymour died November 21, 1857, in the eightieth year of his age, leaving three sons and the children of a deceased daughter.
John Simmons was born at Ashford, Conn., September 16, 1775 ; grad- uated at Providence College, now Brown University, in 1797. He began the study of law with William Perkins, of Ashford, and finished his course with Seth Storrs, of Middlebury, and was admitted to the bar in March, 1801. He began and continued during his life the practice of law in Middlebury, partic- ularly excelling as an office lawyer and counselor, and securing to an unusual degree the confidence of the community by his integrity, his practical wisdom, sound judgment and consummate prudence. Among many other offices of trust and responsibility which he ably filled was that of treasurer of Middlebury College, which he held from 1810 until his death. He compiled the first book of legal forms ever published in the State, entitled the Gentleman's Law Maga- zine, printed at Middlebury in February, 1804. He was also in fact the joint author, with Chester Wright, of an arithmetic called the Federal Compendium, published in 1800. As an honorable and moral citizen, deeply interested in the religious and educational prosperity of his town and county, he pursued a happy
1 Swift's History of Middlebury.
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and useful life. He was married in 1807 to Laura Bell, daughter of Harvey Bell, sr., and sister of Hon. Harvey Bell, late of Middlebury, and died June 9, 1829. His wife and five children survive him.
Hon. Enoch D. Woodbridge " was the son of Hon. Enoch Woodbridge, and born in Bennington, Vt., May 16, 1779. He studied law with his father and was early admitted to the bar. He married, October 12, 1806, Miss Clara Strong, the second daughter of General Samuel Strong, of Vergennes. He was prominent and influential in public affairs in his neighborhood and the State, held many positions of trust by the votes of his fellow citizens, was repeatedly mayor of the city of Vergennes, and member of both branches of the Legisla- ture. He was an able lawyer, a good citizen, a man of most kindly and gen- erous disposition, true always to his own convictions of right." Mr. Woodbridge is reported to have been a sagacious lawyer, skillful in the conduct of his cases, thoroughly versed in the knowledge of his profession, and particularly so in all that related to land titles, in his day the source of many of the important suits in court. He was a safe counselor, a good advocate, and secured an extensive practice in Addison county and vicinity. In the early part of his career he was in partnership with Josias Smith, and the firm of Smith & Woodbridge had an extended fame and a large practice, which was continued successfully by Mr. Woodbridge for many years after the death of Mr. Smith. In his later years he retired from professional life and was succeeded by his son, Hon. F. E. Woodbridge, who is still in the practice. Enoch Woodbridge died in July, 1853, aged seventy-four years.
David Edmond was born at Woodbury, Conn., May 15, 1778, being the youngest son of Robert Edmond, who came to this country from Tyrone county, Ireland, and settled in Woodbury ; he had a large family of boys and educated several of them at college, two of them at Yale, where David Edmond grad- uated with high honor in 1796, at the age of eighteen years. The remark of President Dwight to a citizen of Vergennes afterward, shows that the boy was father of the man. He pronounced him a wonderful scholar in the ease and rapidity with which he mastered his studies. David Edmond after leaving college studied law with his elder brother in Fairfield county, Conn., Judge William Edmond, who entered Congress in 1798 as a representative from Con- necticut, one year before David Edmond was admitted to the bar in Fairfield county. Mr. Edmond came to Vergennes it is supposed in 1801, as he was "admitted a freeman" in town meeting in Vergennes March 23, 1802; was admitted to the bar of Chittenden county in February, 1802. He received his first deed of real estate in Vergennes in January, 1803 ; was elected to a city office in March, 1803, and from that time on held various offices of trust and responsibility, up to the time of his death, March 27, 1824. He was a repre- sentative from Vergennes to the State Legislature in 1808, 1809, 1813, 1814, 1815, 1817 and 1821. He was the State's attorney for Addison county in
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