USA > Vermont > Addison County > History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 18
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
1808, 1809, 1813, 1814, and 1819 to 1823 inclusive. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1814; mayor of Vergennes from 1819 to his death in 1824. Evidently he was one whom his fellow citizens de- lighted to honor, nor was his popularity confined to his own county. In 1816 an effort was made to secure his services as a representative to Con- gress. He felt it to be unwise to leave an extensive and lucrative practice until he had made provisions for his young and growing family, and did not encourage the effort. His name, however, was placed on the general ticket as one of the six members to which Vermont was then entitled ; but the party to which he belonged was that year in a minority and their ticket de- feated. Mr. Edmond was twice married ; first, to Sarah Booth, who died soon after the birth of her second child. Her children did not long survive their mother. He was again married at New Haven, Conn., October 22, 1804, to Harriet Lavergne Ducasse, who long survived him and is still held in sweet re- membrance by the older citizens of Vergennes for her intelligence and virtues.1 In 1810 Mr. Edmond and his wife both united by profession with the Congre- gational Church in Vergennes, and the records of the church show that he was not an inactive member. In a home where religious principles, refined taste and genial culture prevailed, it is not strange that domestic happiness found a permanent abode. Eight children survived him, only two of whom are now living : Miss Sarah H. Edmond and Mrs. Harriet Lavergne Coyle, of Wash- ington, D. C. Mr. Edmond died in the forty-sixth year of his age, holding the love and admiration of his cotemporaries to a degree that few men ever attain, and that not from any struggle or effort of his, but from the inherent qualities of the man. In the suit instituted in 1817 by the Episcopal Society of Vermont to recover lands which the State had appropriated to the use of schools, and which was finally decided in the Supreme Court of the United States in 1823, Mr. Edmond and Daniel Webster were the attorneys for the State, and Mr. Webster was emphatic in his admiration of Mr. Edmond as a man and a lawyer. Tradition tells of a most elegant speech of welcome made to President Monroe, when he visited Vergennes in 1817, by Mr. Edmond upon the shortest notice, and the president's surprise that Vermont did not avail herself of the services of such a man in the national councils. Whenever a justice's court was held in Mr. Edmond's office (now the Farmers' National Bank) a crowd was sure to gather to listen to his eloquence. Hon. E. J. Phelps, whose father was cotemporary with Mr. Edmond, characterized Mr. Edmond as " one of the most finished advocates that ever lived." Nature's en- dowment of talents of a high order, to which was added a rich and varied cult- ure, adorned with all the social graces, combined to form a man whose like we. may not look upon again. The following extract from the pen of Hon. Charles
1 She was the only child of Jean Ducasse, who came to this country with La Fayette to aid in our Revolutionary struggle. He was a captain of artillery under General Gates, and died while on his re- turn to France, when this daughter was about a year old. He married in this country.
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Linsley, a distinguished member of Addison county bar, and who knew Mr. Edmond, expresses the sentiment of his cotemporaries; he says: "Mr. Ed- mond was well educated and thoroughly grounded in the law when he came to Vermont. He was immediately employed in all the important cases. He possessed those rare and striking qualifications as an advocate and jury lawyer which captivate the crowd and steal away the hearts of the most acute and thoughtful listeners. He was of medium size, with a fine form and a counte- nance dignified and pleasing. With an eye dark and piercing when roused, but in conversation playful and sunny, every motion was easy and graceful and every look was genial and kind. You saw from the first he was no or- dinary man. But one must have heard him address a jury -he never wearied them ; so long as he addressed them every eye was fixed on him with intense eagerness. He was always short, rarely exceeding an hour in arguing an important cause, but that hour was enough for him; for ere that hour was over the jury would be charmed and fascinated by a power they could not resist. His voice, soft and melodious in its lower tones, was capable of the deepest pathos, or, roused, could reach the grand and terrible. His language was care- fully chosen, clear and plain ; it flowed from his persuasive lips like flowing waters, sometimes running with a gentle current, then rushing forward with overwhelming force, compelling assent to his opinions. He never hesitated ; seldom paused, never reconstructed a sentence. When the words passed his lips they were ready for the press. He was one of nature's orators and fasci- nated all who heard him. Though he was conscious of his great powers, he assumed no airs of superiority ; was modest and plain in bearing and manner and a great and general favorite with his professional brethren."
Martin Post was born in Rutland, Vt., November II, 1778. As a self- educated student he entered the law office of Seth Storrs for the study of the law. He was admitted to the bar in 1802. He practiced two years in Jericho, Vt., one year in Cornwall, and in 1805 returned to Middlebury. In 1808 he became the law partner of Horatio Seymour. He was county clerk in 1808- 09, and five years (1804 to 1809) clerk of the General Assembly. He was an amiable man, a natural scholar, an easy writer, but long suffered ill health. He died in 1811, leaving a wife and three sons, his sons being all educated at Middlebury College and all fine scholars. His sons were Rev. Martin M. Post, long settled at Logansport, Ill .; Rev. Truman M. Post, D. D., settled at St. Louis, Mo., well known to many in Addison county as an eloquent preacher and able divine ; Cornelius H. Post died soon after leaving college.
Hon. William Slade was the son of William Slade, esq., of Cornwall, who was sheriff of the county for ten successive years, from 1801 to 1810; and was born at Cornwall, May 9, 1786. He was graduated at Middlebury College in 1807, having maintained a prominent standing in his class, and immediately entered upon the study of law in the office of Judge Doolittle. He was ad-
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
mitted to practice at the August term of the County Court in 1810, and im- mediately opened an office in Middlebury. He continued to practice with in- creasing reputation, especially as an advocate, until 1814. As a politician Mr. Slade was of the school of Jefferson and Madison. In consequence of the meas- ures adopted by these administrations, in resistance of the encroachments of the British and French nations, who were engaged in an exterminating war, and followed by our war in 1812, party politics raged to an extent never since known. A majority of the people of this State had given in their adhe- sion to the Democratic party at the commencement of Mr. Jefferson's admin- istration. But the parties were so nearly equal that the Federalists obtained the ascendency for two years during the war. The struggle between the parties was arduous and exciting. Mr. Slade entered with his whole soul into the con- flict, and became an active and influential partisan. He addressed with zeal and effect all political assemblages, and wrote much in enforcing and vindicat- ing his political views. On account of his popularity as a writer and public speaker he became an acknowledged leader. The Democratic party in the fall of 1813 had established a paper called the Columbian Patriot ; but the editor who had been employed not proving satisfactory, he was dismissed; and Mr. Slade, early in 1814, gave up his profession and became the editor-a busi- ness which was congenial to his talents and temperament. He also established an extensive book-store and printing-office, and published several books. This business did not prove successful, and was continued only two or three years. But he occupied so prominent a position in his party that his friends were ready to give him any office which might be vacant. Accordingly he was elected secretary of State successively from 1815 to 1822 ; assistant judge of Addison County Court from 1816 to 1821 ; clerk of the Supreme Court for the county from 1819 to 1823. After the failure of his printing and publishing business the offices which he held at home in 1823 did not satisfy his pecuniary wants, and he took the office of clerk in the Department of State at Washington in 1824. After the disorganization of the political parties at the close of the war, and during Mr. Monroe's administration, and when the election of a successor approached, towards the close of his administration, Mr. Slade attached himself to the party of John Quincy Adams, in opposition to General Jackson, as did most of the people of Vermont. When the latter came into office in 1829 and Mr. Van Buren had charge of the Department of State, Mr. Slade was removed in a manner that was not relished by the freemen of Vermont, as they were prepared to manifest at the first opportunity. He then returned to Middle- bury and resumed the profession of law, and in 1830 was appointed State's attorney for the county. On the first vacancy in 1831 he was elected a rep- resentative in Congress. In this office he continued until 1843. The year following he officiated as reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court, and in 1844 he was elected governor of Vermont, and continued in that office two
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years. From that time to the close of his life Governor Slade was employed as corresponding secretary and general agent of the Board of National Popu- lar Education. To this service Governor Slade zealously devoted all his time and energy. It required extensive correspondence in its various departments, numerous journeys and frequent public addresses. Governor Slade was char- acterized by persevering industry, and by a sensitive and ardent temperament, which were manifest in all his enterprises. They were exhibited in his polit- ical movements and in all enterprises which he thought tended to promote the reformation of society. They were exhibited no less in his religious character. When a member of college, in 1806, he consecrated himself to the service of religion, and united himself to the Congregational Church in Cornwall, his na- tive place, and afterwards transferred his connection to the Congregational Church in Middlebury. His death occurred on Sunday night, January 16, 1859, in his seventy-third year.
Samuel Swift, LL.D .- Among the honored members of the Addison county bar the name of Samuel Swift, of Middlebury, was a prominent one from 1808 to 1875. His high position in the public favor came to him not so much for his achievements in the strict line of his profession, as for his sterling worth and ability-his excellences as a man and his fidelity and usefulness in the various offices of trust bestowed upon him through a long life, from his earliest manhood to old age. He possessed a clear and logical mind, and was ever faithful to his high moral and religious principles. His sound common sense, cool judgment, stern integrity, and great self-control secured for him a warm place in the regard and esteem of the community where he was best known, and his faithful and wise performance of his public duties widened the circle of his influence and increased the number of his friends. Samuel Swift was born at Nine Partners, now Amenia, N. Y., August 2, 1782. He gradu- ated at Dartmouth College in 1800-was trustee in Middlebury College sev- eral years-was admitted to the bar in 1808. In 1813 he was appointed sec- retary to the Governor and Council, and in 1814 was bearer of dispatches from the governor to General Macomb, at the time of the memorable battle of Plattsburgh. The same year he was appointed county clerk and held the posi- tion thirty-two years. In 1816 he served the first of his six terms as repre- sentative of Middlebury in the Legislature. In 1819 he was elected judge of probate for the district of Addison, which then included the whole of the county, and continued in the office by successive re-elections twenty-two years. Judge Swift was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1829 and 1836-was senator for Addison county 1838 and 1839-assistant judge of County Court 1855, and twice re-elected. By request of the Historical Society he wrote the history of Middlebury, and of Addison county, which was published in 1859, and is the chief source of information to all writers on Addison county matters. Judge Swift died at Middlebury July 8, 1875.
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
Robert B. Bates was one of the strong and brilliant men who adorned the bar of Addison county in the first quarter of the century; men whose names are even now mentioned with an exulting pride by the older men of the county. Robert B. Bates was admitted to the bar of this county in June, 1813, and was in practice here fifteen or twenty years. Mr. Linsley has left the following sketch of him : " Mr. Bates was conspicuous as a member of the Legislature from Middlebury, 1823-25, and the four years next following. As a politician he was always a Whig and was naturally and strongly conservative. From his first appearance in the House he took a high stand as a popular and effective speaker. His reputation as an able lawyer had preceded him; he was placed on the most important committees, and during the six years he represented Middlebury he was one of the most popular leaders in the House. He did not speak often, but when he did he received the undivided attention of the whole House ; the last three years of his service in the House he was elected speaker and made an admirable presiding officer. His style of debate was calm, grave and dignified. Few men had the art of stating a proposition in a more con- vincing and attractive manner, and any fallacy of his adversary was exposed with promptitude and vigor. With a clear and unclouded intellect, much gravity and firmness of manner and most persuasive eloquence, he could hold in breathless silence the undivided attention of the House. As a popular ora- tor no man in this county could vie with him except Mr. Edmond. But it was as a lawyer that Mr. Bates was mainly distinguished. It was as a lawyer that nature had prepared him to shine. He had thoroughly studied his profes- sion before coming to Vermont, but had no practice. Soon after coming to Middlebury he became a partner with the Hon. Daniel Chipman, then in a very large and lucrative practice. Mr. Chipman's health was for some years quite feeble and he was for two years in Congress. The ease and skill with which Mr. Bates took up and conducted this mass of important business, much of which was new to him, showed at once the range of his intellect and its adaptation to the law. It was seen that he was capable of grasping and mas- tering the most complicated cases and presenting them to a court and jury in a clear and luminous manner. The office was fully sustained and the company was retained in all the important cases in Addison and Rutland counties. Mr. Bates had not the easy flow of polished language which distinguished Edmond, or the nervous energy of Daniel Chipman, or the intuitive perception of the law of the case so striking in Judge Phelps; but in some respects he was supe- rior to either of them. Self-reliant, calm and confident, his statements half convinced you that he was right, while his artful examination of witnesses elic- ited every word that could be made to tell in his favor, while the cross-exami- nation of the adversary witnesses was most skillful. His points of law were well considered and stated with admirable clearness. But it was in his address to the jury that his power as an advocate was revealed. The jury were charmed
Che. Linky
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with his fairness and candor. What was wholly indefensible he yielded frankly and gracefully, but sought to weaken the force of what could not be denied. His argument was at once grave and serious, at the same time cogent, persua- sive and forcible. A jury always listened to him with attention and commonly with pleasure."
Samuel H. Holley was the son of Robert Holley, one of the early settlers of Bristol, Vt. Samuel Holley was born at Shaftsbury, Vt., but went to Bris- tol while young and attended the common school and later the grammar school at Middlebury. From there he entered the military school at West Point, where he graduated, and then returned to Middlebury and studied law with Horatio Seymour and was admitted to the bar in 1809. He soon after went to Shoreham and opened an office and continued his practice until the War of 1812, when he received a captain's commission and raised a company and was with them at Champlain, N. Y., in the winter of 1813-14. He resigned soon after and resumed his practice at Shoreham. Not long afterward he went to Bristol and continued his practice until 1821, when he moved to Middlebury and was law partner with Hon. Horatio Seymour three years. He did but little business in his profession after that, devoting his attention to the care of the large property he had accumulated. He seems to have been a lawyer of ability and fine culture, and had the confidence of his acquaintances. He was a justice of the peace twenty-four years; five years a member of the Council ; nine years one of the assistant judges of Addison County Court, and for several years quartermaster-general for the State of Vermont.
Peter Starr, son of Rev. Peter Starr, of Warren, Conn., was born in War- ren June II, 1778. He graduated at Williams College in 1799, and after teaching a few years and studying law he was admitted to the bar in Addison county in 1805 and soon commenced practice in Middlebury, where he had a prosperous business. He was a sound lawyer and a reliable man. Great ele- ments in his success were his wise counsels and his thorough and accurate business habits. He died in 1861, aged eighty-three years.
David K. Markham, son of Ebenezer Markham and grandson of Benja- min Kellogg, one of the first settlers in Addison county, was born at Shore- ham in 1793; admitted to Addison county bar in 1819, and resided in Mid- dlebury until 1823, when he removed to Louisiana and died there of cholera in 1833.
Hon. Charles Linsley " was born at Cornwall, Vt., August 29, 1795. His father, Hon. Joel Linsley, one of the earliest and most prominent settlers of that town, came there from Woodbury, Conn., in 1775. Rev. Joel H. Linsley, D. D., was a brother of Charles Linsley. Charles grew up to manhood in the county where he was born. He did not enjoy the advantage of liberal studies in early years, but seems to have acquired a good, plain education. He was first en- gaged in mercantile pursuits . in Salisbury, and in 1818 entered into the
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business of selling goods at Middlebury in partnership with Benjamin Seymour. This, however, continued but a short time. In 1819 he commenced the study of the law in the office of Mr. Starr, in Middlebury, and after remaining there a year or two went to St. Albans and completed his course in the office of Mr., afterward Chief Justice, Royce. In 1823 he was admitted to the bar in Franklin county, returned to Middlebury and began the practice of his pro- fession. Mr. Linsley remained in Middlebury, engaged exclusively in business at the bar, and commanding much public respect and confidence, down to 1856, a period of thirty-three years, comprising the prime of his life. In 1856, after a brief absence at the West, engaged in some railroad affairs with his sons, he was induced to remove to Rutland, where he formed a partnership with Hon. John Prout and entered at once into a very large business, more lucrative, probably, than any he had ever enjoyed. The next six years, the last of his active life, were its busiest. Besides his heavy practice, he held during the years 1856 and 1857, by appointment of the Supreme Court, the office of rail- road commissioner, the first incumbent of that position after its creation. He was also collector of the district of Vermont under President Buchanan in 1860, and in 1858 he represented the town of Rutland in the Legislature, and took a leading and useful part in the debates and business of the session." The fore- going is taken from an address before the Vermont Historical Society by Hon. E. J. Phelps, in 1866. Mr. Phelps also speaks in high terms of the general popularity, the great legal ability, the sterling worth, the genial social quali- ties and the domestic happiness of Mr. Linsley, and says he was " honest, kindly, generous, true to his friends, in prosperity modest, in adversity brave, he was a Christian gentleman every inch." He died November 3, 1863. In the last years of his life Mr. Linsley was requested by the Vermont Historical Society to prepare sketches of the departed members of Addison county bar, and from the invaluable papers left by him and kindly loaned for this purpose, many of the facts in the sketches in this chapter are obtained, and many of the discriminating descriptions of character are copied in his words.
Hon. Horatio Needham was the youngest son of Joseph Needham, a respect- able farmer of Whiting, Vt., where Horatio Needham was born April 21, 1796. His advantages for early education were very limited, but in 1817 he com- menced the study of law with Elijah Parker, of Brandon, and completed his course with Hon. Samuel Holley, of Bristol. He was admitted to the bar of Addison County Court at the June term in 1821, and immediately afterward opened an office at Bristol, where he continued his practice for more than forty years, and to the time of his death in July, 1863. He was married February 9, 1826, to Miss Betsey Erskine, who survived him ; he had no children. Mr. Needham commenced practice under discouraging circumstances - with no library and but little money ; but he conquered success. His cases were well prepared, his counsel judicious, and he gradually gained the confidence of his
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neighbors and the esteem of his brother lawyers. One of them has said: "In his arguments to a jury he sought to win, and in his earnestness forgot himself. When thoroughly roused he spoke with freedom and force, and his strong com- mon sense gave him weight with the jury. A clear head and great caution made him a wary and safe adviser." He was considered a man of integrity and thoroughly honest. His social qualities also contributed to his popularity. Possessing a retentive memory, he had large store of witty and amusing anec- dotes, which he could relate with a drollery peculiar to himself. He possessed an amiable disposition, a cheerful and happy temperament well calculated to secure friends. In a modest and unassuming manner he held to the principles of the Democratic party and sustained the government in putting down the Re- bellion of 1861, but was not an offensive partisan. He was town clerk of Bris- tol five years ; selectman six years; representative to the General Assembly eight years, the last time in 1853, when he was elected speaker of the House ; once a member of the Council of Censors, and twice a delegate to the Consti- tutional Conventions. Mr. Needham was a consistent member of the Metho- dist Church. He was a Freemason of high degree, and was buried with Ma- sonic honors at Bristol in July, 1863.
Hon. Philip C. Tucker was born in Boston, Mass., January 11, 1800; came to Vergennes in the year 1815 as a clerk of the Monkton Iron Company, in the service of which company, as clerk and agent, he continued until the year 1830. In 1819 he entered upon the study of law with Hon. David Edmond and Noah Hawley, then leading lawyers of Vergennes. In 1825 he was ad- mitted to the bar at Middlebury and immediately commenced the practice of his profession, which he continued successfully during his life. On the 2d of May, 1825, he was married to Mary C. M. McCloskey, of Boston, who still (1886) survives him. In politics Mr. Tucker was a Democrat, in a State in which there has not been a Democratic government since the year 1834; he was not, therefore, in the line of political advancement, although in 1828 he was a member of the State Constitutional Convention and in 1829-30 a mem- ber of the State Legislature. A student by nature and habit, his attainments in scientific knowledge and belles lettres were of a high order. In the year 1835 the University of Vermont conferred upon him the (honorary) degree of Master of Arts, as did also Middlebury College in the year 1842. In the year 1821 Mr. Tucker became a Freemason and advanced in due course to the highest degrees then conferred in the State. For many years he was the pre- siding officer of the local bodies at Vergennes. An indefatigable worker, he soon became a prominent leader in its affairs throughout the State, and held high official station in the Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter of the State. When the anti-Masonic crusade commenced against the order he was deputy grand master of the Grand Lodge, and the enemies of the order found him at the front with his face to his foes; with voice and pen he labored for his order, and soon
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