USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 60
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110
The land now occupied by the post-office and custom-house building was deeded on August 27, 1816, by Seth Pomeroy to John Pomeroy for $3,000. John N. Pomeroy derived his title from the latter, and on the 30th of March, 1855, sold the property, including the brick cottage, to the United States for $7,750. The deed describes the lot as extending 220 feet on Main street and 316 on Church. On the 4th of August, 1854, Congress passed an act appro- priating $40,000 for the construction of a custom-house, post-office and rooms for the judge of the United States District Court, at Burlington. This build- ing was begun in the fall of 1855, and completed in the spring of 1857. In June, 1858, an additional appropriation of $4,000 was made for paving and grading the grounds and furnishing the building. It is composed of brick, iron and stone, only the doors, base-boards and the floors of the upper story be- ing made of wood. Douglas A. Danforth, the first postmaster to occupy it, removed his office from the basement of the city hall.
PRESENT PROFESSIONAL MEN.
Edward J. Phelps, the subject of this sketch, was born in Middlebury, Vt., July 11, 1822. He was the son of Samuel S. Phelps, who, as lawyer, judge of the Supreme Court, and United States Senator, has left a reputation for distin- guished ability. The son, Edward J., was graduated from Middlebury College in 1840. He studied law at the Vale College Law School and in the office of Hon. Horatio Seymour, in Middlebury, and was admitted to the bar in 1843. He soon removed to Burlington and became a partner of Hon. David A. Smalley. The firm had a large business. Later in life he was for some time 32
494
HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
a partner with Hon. L. E. Chittenden. In 1851 he accepted the office of sec- ond comptroller of the currency under President Fillmore, and served through this administration. From 1856 for two or three years he practiced his profes- sion in New York city. Returning to Burlington he continued in active prac- tice until 1880, when he was made professor in the Yale College Law School. At this time he gave up most of his local professional work, retaining his con- nection only with the most important cases. For many years his legal busi- ness had been in quality and extent perhaps the most desirable of any in the State. In 1870 he represented Burlington in the constitutional convention. In 1877 he presided with his wonted grace over the centennial celebration of the Bennington battle, and delivered the opening address. In 1880 he gave a course of lectures on medical jurisprudence before the medical department of the University of Vermont. He was president of the American Bar Associa- tion in 188r. His printed report to that body, of the " changes in statute law," is a good example of his witty and sarcastic style of treating certain classes of subjects. As professor of law in Yale College he was extremely popular as a lecturer, his light and graceful touch embellishing the dryest of topics. In 1882 he also gave a short course of lectures before the law school of Boston Univer- sity upon constitutional law.
In politics Mr. Phelps was a Whig, while the organization of that party con- tinued vital. Later, he acted usually with the Democratic party, although tak- ing little part in the business of politics. In 1880 he was the Democratic nom- inee for governor.
Upon the accession of the Democratic party to power in 1884, he was nominated and confirmed as minister to England. Never having been in the National Legislature, his newspaper reputation was limited and the nomination was something of a surprise to active politicians ; but his eminent fitness for the English mission has already been demonstrated.
In August, 1845, Mr. Phelps was married to Miss Mary Haight. Of their four children two survive - Mary H., the wife of Horatio Loomis, of Burling- ton, and Edward P., now in London, a member of the legation. A son, Charles, died in boyhood, and Edward H. died in Detroit in 1884, at the age of thirty-seven, while occupying the position of chief engineer of the Michigan Central Railroad.
Mr. Phelps holds a high position at the bar. In the management of causes before the court and jury he is extremely skillful, facile and adroit ; well equipped to meet all emergencies - he is a dangerous antagonist and is notably successful in winning verdicts. He has a gift of graceful and fluent expression which has been carefully cultivated, so that as a speaker and advocate he has few superiors in point of neatness, elegance, finish and persuasiveness.
George F. Edmunds .- Vermont from its earliest history has wielded an in- fluence in the national councils out of all proportion to her population and the
495
TOWN AND CITY OF BURLINGTON.
extent of her territory. Her distinguished senatorial delegation for a century has added to her fame and prestige as a producer of great men. Mr. Edmunds holds a high place in the list of senators from this State, and no one of them has been recorded as having been the originator or promoter of so many im- portant measures of legislation as he.
Mr. Edmunds was born in Richmond, Vt., February 1, 1828. He was educated in the village schools, and also spent some time in study under a pri- vate tutor. He studied law in the office of his brother-in-law, A. B. Maynard, and afterwards in the office of Smalley & Phelps, at Burlington. He was ad- mitted to the bar in 1849, and began practice in Richmond in partnership with Mr. Maynard. In 1851 he removed to Burlington, and very early showed an aptitude for the profession, which brought him a good practice. He always had a civil business of good volume and character. In the Vermont Central Railroad litigation, which in one form or another was in the courts for many years, and which involved the large interests of various classes of security holders, he was one of the leading counsel. Mature in intellect as well as in personal appearance, his successes came early and have continually followed him. In August, 1852, he married Miss Susan Marsh Lyman, daughter of Wyllys Lyman, of Burlington. They have had two daughters, one of whom survives.
In 1854, when twenty-six years of age, he was elected town representative as a candidate of the younger element in politics. He was a member of the House from 1854 to 1857 inclusive, and during the three last sessions was speaker. In 1855 he was chairman of the judiciary committee. In 1861 Mr. Edmunds was elected State senator from Chittenden county, and during this term was chairman of the judiciary committee. He was re-elected in 1862. In the State Legislature he was distinguished for his thorough acquaint- ance with the duties of every post to which he was assigned, and his close at- tention to the business of the day in every detail. In 1866 he was appointed by Governor Dillingham as the successor in the Senate of the United States of Solomon Foote, and was afterwards elected by the Legislature for the re- mainder of the term ending March 4, 1869. In 1880 he received his fourth election. His present term of service expired by limitation in 1886. From these data it will be seen that Mr. Edmunds has been in public service, either in the State or the National Legislature, every year but five since he became twenty-six years of age. In the United States Senate Mr. Edmunds early took an active and leading part. He has served in the committees on com- merce, public lands, retrenchments, and appropriations. During the Forty-first Congress he was chairman of the committee on pensions, and in the third ses- sion of the Forty-second Congress he succeeded Mr. Trumbull as chairman of the judiciary committee. This position he held continuously until the ac- cession of the Democratic party to power in 1885. In 1866 he reported a
496
HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
bill to regulate the term of civil offices. At the beginning of Grant's admin- istration he earnestly opposed the repeal of the tenure of office act. In 1876, at the crisis of the conflict over the electoral count, he submitted a draft of the constitutional amendment, which provided for the counting of the electoral votes by the Supreme Court of the United States. The proposition was re- jected. He was afterwards chairman of the Senate committee which devised the bill providing for the electoral commission. Mr. Edmunds reported the bill and was made a member of the commission. In 1886 he framed, advo- cated, and pressed to their passage the resolutions which declared it to be the sense of the Senate that papers on file in the departments should be submitted to the Senate on demand, when they concerned the reputation of any public officer who was removed, or who was proposed for confirmation. The anti- polygamy bill was chiefly his work, and the bill providing for the presidential succession, which became a law January 9, 1883, was introduced by him. The foregoing are a few of the many legislative measures with which the name of Mr. Edmunds has been prominently identified. At the close of the last ses- sion of Congress he was chosen president pro tem. of the Senate.
Although never a willing candidate for the office of president of the United States, his name was presented by the Vermont delegation to the National Re- publican Conventions of 1880 and 1884, and met the endorsement of a large and influential portion of the press and people.
Mr. Edmunds is a very strong debater upon questions of law as well as politics, and has had during his senatorial term a large practice before the Su- preme Court of the United States. Mr. Edmunds is recognized as one of the great leaders of the Republican party, and from his extensive and thorough information in all matters pertaining to the public service, he has become at Washington the guide and counselor of Republicans and Democrats alike, in questions of political administration, wherever considerations of party may chance to have no place.
Next to Mr. Phelps, the attorney of longest standing in Burlington is E. R. Hard, who was admitted to practice in the Chittenden County Court at the March term of 1845. He was born at Essex, Vt., on the 17th of February, 1824; secured his education by private study, and took his preliminary course of law study in the office of David A. Smalley.
William G. Shaw was born at Danville, Vt., on the 9th of August, 1831 ; was graduated from the University of Vermont in 1849; began the study of law with William W. Peck and David A. Smalley, of Burlington ; was admit- ted to practice at Burlington in 1853. He held the position of secretary of civil and military affairs of the State in 1856-58 ; was reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court from 1858-64; member of the House of Representa- tives from Burlington in 1862-63 ; alderman of this city in 1868 ; judge of the City Court of Burlington 1868-72 ; in 1856 he was chosen a member of
it & Whiteox prostor
Dank, Roberts
497
TOWN AND CITY OF BURLINGTON.
the board of trustees of the Burlington Savings Bank, and has retained the office ever since. He is a member of the board of trustees of the University of Vermont, to which position he was called in 1881 ; and he is also a mem- ber of the board of trustees of the permanent fund of the Home for Destitute Children, to which position he was appointed December 20, 1876.
Daniel Roberts, for a more extended sketch of whose life the reader is re- ferred to a subsequent page, was born in Wallingford, Vt., on the 25th of May, 18II ; received a collegiate education at Middlebury, was admitted to the bar of Rutland county in September, 1832, and came to Burlington in 1856.
Russell S. Taft was born in Williston, Vt., on the 28th of January, 1835, was educated at the common schools and academies, and after a due course of study was admitted to the bar of Chittenden county in 1856. He was select- man of the town from 1861 to 1864, and alderman of the city of Burlington from 1865 to 1869; was State's attorney for Chittenden county in 1862, '63, and '64; senator from this county in 1865-66, and lieutenant-governor of the State in 1872-74. In 1880 he represented the city in the Legislature and was elected associate judge of the Supreme Court, and in 1882 was appointed fifth associate judge by Governor Farnham, vice Wheelock G. Veazey, pro- moted. He was elected fifth associate judge in 1882.
C. J. Alger was born at Hinesburg, Vt., on the 20th of December, 1829, and was graduated from the University of Vermont in 1854. In 1856, after a two years' service as principal of the Franklin, Vt., Academy, he began the study of law in the office of Hon. George F. Edmunds. In 1857 he entered the office of Hon. Asahel Peck as student and in April, 1858, was admitted to practice in the courts of this State. He followed his profession somewhat ir- regularly, owing to his activity in public affairs. He became interested in the public schools of the city, was elected school commissioner and served seven years as clerk of the school board, and after a year's retirement was called to the position of superintendent of schools for six successive years, when he re- signed further service. He was then devoted to the interests of the city as alderman for five years, during the last two of which he was chairman at the same time of the street and water committees. These positions were never before held simultaneously by the same person. In the spring of 1886, owing to his increasing labors as editor and publisher of the Burlington Independent (an able and a fearless exponent of good morals and clean politics), which he had a few months previously established, he relinquished the duties of this office. He had never abandoned the practice of his profession, but had con- tinually been engaged in the transaction of legal business, especially in the col- lection of claims, etc. A growing defect in hearing prevented his frequent appearance before the courts in litigation.
A. V. Spalding was born on the Ist day of February, 1835, at Bridgewa- ter, Vt. He received his education at West Randolph Academy, and pursued
498
HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
his law studies in the office of Hon. Jefferson P. Kidder, once lieutenant-gov- ernor of Vermont, and lately United States district judge of Dakota. He was admitted to practice at the June term of the Orange County Court, in 1859.
Henry Ballard was born on the 20th of April, 1839, in the town of Tin- mouth, Vt .; was graduated from the law department of the University of Al- bany in 1863, and in September of the same year was admitted to the bar of Chittenden county. A more detailed sketch of Mr. Ballard's life appears in a later page.
Hon. Bradley B. Smalley was born in Jericho on the 26th of November, 1836, and removed to Burlington in 1839. He received a common school and academic education ; studied law with his father, the late Hon. David A. Smalley ; was appointed clerk of the District Court of Vermont in 1861, and admitted to the bar of Chittenden county in 1863. He represented the city of Burlington in the Legislature of 1874 and again in 1878, besides holding va- rious offices in the city. During the presidential campaign of 1884 he was chairman of the State Democratic committee, and in 1886 was appointed by President Cleveland collector of the port for the district of Vermont.
W. L. Burnap was graduated from Dartmouth college in the class of 1863, and soon after entered the law office of Wales & Taft of Burlington. He was admitted to the Chittenden county bar at the September term of 1886. As will be seen by reference to the civil list, he served as State's attorney for three years; he was county senator in 1882, and is now professor of medical juris- prudence in the medical department of the University of Vermont.
George B. Shaw was born on the 27th of July, 1845, at Burlington ; was graduated from the University of Vermont in 1865; studied law at the Uni- versity of Albany and with his brother, Judge William G. Shaw, and was ad- mitted to the bar in April, 1868. He has practiced in Boston, New York city, and for nine and a half years in Burlington.
A. G. Whittemore was born in Milton on the 23d of January, 1844. After receiving his degree from the University of Vermont in 1867, he entered the law office of C. W. Witters, of Milton, and was admitted to the Chittenden County Court at the September term of 1870. In the following spring he came to Burlington and shortly afterward entered into partnership with Henry O. Wheeler, a relation which subsisted until the Ist of January, 1886. Mr. Whit- temore represented the town of Milton in the Legislature in 1870, and was pres- ident of the Burlington Board of Aldermen from 1876 to 1880.
E. F. Brownell was born in Williston on the 15th of May, 1846; studied law in the office of Hon. Daniel Roberts, was graduated from the Albany Law School in 1870, and admitted in Burlington in September, 1 870.
Robert Roberts, the junior member of the firm of Roberts & Roberts, was born on the Ist of January, 1848, and became a graduate of the University of Vermont in 1869. After the usual course of study, part of which he took at
499
TOWN AND CITY OF BURLINGTON.
the Columbia College Law School, he was admitted to the bar of Chittenden county in September, 1871. Since that time, with the exception of one year in Europe immediately after his admission to practice, and two years in prac- tice in Chicago, he has been regularly engaged in practice in Burlington. He represented the city in the Legislature from 1882 to 1884.
J. W. Russell was born on the Ist of September, 1846, at Moira, Franklin county, N. Y., and was graduated from Yale College in the class of 1868. He studied law in the office of Judge William G. Shaw, in Burlington, and was admitted to the bar of Chittenden county at the September term of 1871, after a course in the Columbia Law School. He was afterward admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the State, and in the United States Courts. From December, 1882, to December, 1884, he was State's attorney for Chit- tenden county.
Henry O. Wheeler was born on the 7th of October, 1841, in the town of Williston. He was educated in the University of Vermont. He entered this institution in the class of 1860, but owing to the Rebellion, in which he ren- dered his country gallant service, he was not graduated until 1867. During the war he fought in the ranks of the First Vermont Cavalry, and was promo- ted first lieutenant of Company A, and afterwards brevetted captain. He was wounded while engaged in the battle of the Wilderness by a ball which seri- ously affected, and, to all appearance at least, penetrated the left lung, but he was able to enter the action at Shenandoah Valley on the 7th of October, 1864, when he was taken prisoner and confined in Libby prison until the fol- lowing February. He was then exchanged. After his graduation from the university, he began the study of law in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and continued his course with Congar & Sloan, of Janesville, Wis. There he was admitted to practice on the Ist of June, 1868. He removed to Iowa, was admitted to the District Court of that State on the IIth of May, 1869, at Fort Dodge, and to the Supreme Court on the 13th of November, 1871. He came to Burlington in the spring of 1872 from Winooski, where he had been for a few months. He was appointed superintendent of schools in 1880, after serving several years before that on the school board, and retains the position still. He is also treasurer of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, to which place he was appointed in July, 1881.
Chauncey W. Brownell, jr., was born in Williston on the 7th of October, 1847. He is a graduate from the University of Vermont, class of 1870, and of the Albany Law School in 1872. He also studied for a time in the office of Wales & Taft. He was admitted to the Chittenden County Courts in Septem- ber, 1872. He was assistant secretary of the State Senate from 1874 to 1880, since which time he has been the secretary of that body. He is also State's attorney for Chittenden county.
Elihu Barber Taft was born on the 25th of March, 1847, at Williston
He
500
HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
was educated at the Williston Academy and the University of Vermont, from the latter of which institutions he was graduated in 1871. He studied law with the firm of Wales & Taft, and was admitted to practice at the April term of 1873.
Hamilton S. Peck was born on the 22d of October, 1845, at Royalston, Worcester county, Mass., and is a graduate from the University of Vermont. He pursued his course of study with Wales & Taft, and L. L. Lawrence, of Burlington, and was admitted to practice in the courts of Chittenden county at the April term of court 1873.
Seneca Haselton was born on the 26th of February, 1848, at Westford, in this county. After his graduation from the University of Vermont in 1871, he entered the law office of Wales & Taft, and completed his course of study in the law department of the University of Michigan, from which he was grad- uated in 1875. In the same year he was admitted to practice in the courts of Chittenden county. He was elected city judge in 1878, and in consequence of annual re-election held the office until 1886.
W. H. Hare, born on the 12th of May, 1848, at Cedars, P. Q., and gradu- ated from the Montreal College at the age of twenty years, came to Burling- ton in 1872, and commenced the study of law with the Hon. Levi Underwood. He was admitted at the May term of 1876, after completing his course with L. L. Lawrence. From 1877 to 1880 he was clerk of the City Court; has been city grand juror three years in succession ; was again clerk of the City Court in 1885, and in 1886 was elected city judge.
L. F. Englesby was born on the 3d of August, 1854, in Burlington. He received his education at the High School in this city and at the University of Vermont, and prepared himself for the practice of law at the Boston Law School, in the offices of S. H. Dudley, of Boston, and Henry Ballard, of Burlington. He was admitted at the April term, 1879. He has served as grand juror, clerk of the City Court, and is now alderman from the first ward.
J. J. Enright was born in what is now South Burlington on the 6th of April, 1861, received his education in Burlington, studied law in the office of Hon. Henry Ballard and was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1882. He is still a resident of South Burlington, for which he has been town agent for the last three years.
D. J. Foster born in the town of Barnet on the 27th of June, 1857, edu- cated at the St. Johnsbury Academy and at Dartmouth College, from which he was graduated in the class of 1880, and began his law studies with J. W. Rus- sell, of Burlington. He was admitted to practice at the April term of court, 1883. He has held the offices of city grand juror and school eommissioner since 1885.
Orman P. Ray was born in Irasburgh, Vt., on the 2Ist of May, 1837, and was admitted to the Coos county (N. H.) bar in November, 1886. His home
501
TOWN AND CITY OF BURLINGTON.
had always been in Vermont until 1865, when he went to New Hampshire. He removed to Winooski in 1872. On the 6th of September, 1882, he was appointed county clerk, a position which he now fills. He removed to Bur- lington in May, 1883.
James A. Brown was born on the 23d of November, 1840, at Grand Isle, Vt. He completed a regular course in the University of Vermont in 1863; began the study of law in the office of Hon. George F. Edmunds ; went one term to the law department of the Albany University, and was admitted to the bar at Plattsburgh, while in the office of G. M. Beckwith & Sons, in 1865. He then practiced several years in Milton, Vt., and removed to his old home, Grand Isle. He represented that town in 1880, and also served it in the capacity of State's attorney. He came to Burlington in July, 1885, and is deputy collector of internal revenue for the district of Vermont.
Present Physicians.1- Dr. H. H. Atwater was born on the 17th of Febru- ary, 1828, at Norfolk, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., and came to Burlington with his father, Dr. William Atwater, in 1829. He was graduated from the University of Vermont in 1847, and from the medical college at Woodstock, Vt., in 1851, and immediately began his practice in this town. He was in partnership with his father until the death of the latter in 1853. Among the offices - all of them professional - which he has held may be mentioned that of commissioner of the insane for the State two years ; health officer of the city six years in all ; city physician, etc. He is now instructor in obstetrics during the winter terms of the medical department of the University of Ver- mont, and consulting physician of the Mary Fletcher Hospital. He is the author of the chapter on medical men and institutions in former pages of this work.
Dr. S. Wager was born in New Jersey in 1818, received his education in New York and New Jersey, and came to Burlington thirty years ago. Since that time he has continuously practiced in this city.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.