History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 31

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n; Rann, William S
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co.
Number of Pages: 1170

USA > Vermont > Rutland County > History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 31

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).

266

HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

that his mind once grasped -all the rest was accomplished by persistent in- dustry and a systematic course of study, labor and recreation." He continued through life to read the Old Testament in the Hebrew, the New Testament in the Greek, with Homer, Virgil and other poets in Latin, calculating to go through the course once in each year. This annual feat shows his great ca- pacity for study. His political life was of the purest and loftiest character, he being a Federalist of the school of Washington. He died in Tinmouth Febru- ary 15, 1843, and in October, 1873, a monument was dedicated to his memory, at which ceremony there was a large gathering of the bar and others to pay a tribute of respect to one of the most eminent men of Vermont.

John A. Graham was the first practicing attorney in Vermont. He was born June 10, 1764, and in 1781 entered the office of Edward Hinman, in his native town of Southbury, Conn. In 1785 he was admitted to the bar and removed to Rutland. He says in his own language, in a book published by him in 1797, on the early history of Vermont : " I moved forward as well as I could desire, in the different courts of the court of common pleas, till the year 1790, when I was called to the bar of the Supreme Court of the State. I prac- ticed in this Court until June, 1792, when at the Circuit court of the United States of America, for the district of Vermont, at Bennington, I was called to the Bar of that Court, and admitted and sworn as an attorney and counselor." In 1794 Mr. Graham was given an appointment on Governor Chittenden's staff with rank of lieutenant-colonel. In the same year he was sent to Europe by the Episcopal Church of Vermont in the interest of that church. He re- turned in the following year, but revisited England soon afterward, and while there was given the title of Doctor of Laws by the Royal College of Aberdeen, and there also he gave some of his leisure to the writing of his book on Ver- mont. In 1800 he returned first to Vermont for a year or two and then to New York, resumed the practice of law and attained considerable success. He is credited with obtaining a decision which resulted in legislation securing to all persons charged with crime the right to interview with counsel, before be- ing examined in private by a magistrate, a practice then in vogue and often greatly abused. For his argument in that case he received the congratulations of many eminent men both in and out of the legal profession. He died on the 8th of August, 1841. His first wife was the daughter of Dr. Hodges, of Clar- endon, and his second wife was Margaret Lorimer, daughter of James Lori- mer, of London. He had a son by each of his wives.

Theophilus Herrington 1 was born in 1762, and became a resident of Clar- endon in early life. He never received a legal education, and though admitted to the bar, practiced law but little. He, however, attained a high reputation as a judge, and as representative of Clarendon in the Assembly. In October,

1 He commonly wrote his name " Herrinton," and was probably the best anthority as to how it should be spelled, although it has generally been spelled with an " a."

267

THE COURTS AND THE BENCH AND BAR.

1800, he was made chief judge of the County Court of Rutland and twice re- elected. In October, 1803, he was chosen one of the judges of the Supreme Court, and in the following month was admitted to the bar. He remained on the bench until October, 1813, and died in the succeeding month of that year. His name has become almost immortal, perhaps, from the language attributed to him in response to a master who had captured a slave in this State, and having produced good evidence of his ownership, asked Judge Herrington what further testimony he could demand; the reply being : " A bill of sale from God Almighty, sir." Though rough and unpolished in his deportment, and without technical knowledge of the law, he yet brought to his aid in his judicial labors a mind so energetic and vigorous, a discrimination so acute, and such thorough investigation, that he seldom failed to properly apply the laws.

Hon. Robert Pierpoint was one of the most eminent of the Rutland county bar. He was born at Litchfield, May 4, 1791, and was one of the seven sons of David Pierpoint. At seven years of age he was placed with his uncle to live, at Manchester, Vt. His uncle kept a country inn and the lad, although in feeble health, aided about the place for nine years as far as he was able. At sixteen he entered the office of Richard Skinner and began the study of law ; there he remained until he reached his majority, pursuing his studies with the utmost enthusiasm. In June, 1812, he was admitted to the bar of Bennington county and in the same year came to Rutland to live. Shortly afterward he was made deputy collector of the direct tax ; the office was one requiring tact, energy and ability, and he performed its duties most satisfactorily. He rep- resented Rutiand in the Legislature in 1819, 1823, 1857 ; was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1822 and 1828; member of the State Council from 1825 to 1830 inclusive, and State senator from 1836 to 1839 inclusive ; county clerk from 1820 to 1839; judge of probate from 1831 to 1832 ; clerk of the House of Representatives in 1832 and 1838; lieutenant-governor in 1848 and 1849. The degree of M. A. was conferred on him by Middlebury College in 1826 and by the University of Vermont in 1838. He was a judge of the Circuit Court under the old system from 1850 to 1856, and held other honorary positions. His character has been summed up in the words, " He was an able and good man." In his profession he ranked high and was a for- midable opponent. He died September 23, 1864, aged seventy-three years.

Israel Smith passed a portion of his professional career in this county. He was born in Suffield, Conn., April 4, 1759, and graduated at Yale College in 1781. He began practice of law at Rupert, Bennington county, and was sent to the Legislature from that town four years. He was one of the commission to establish the boundaries of this State and decide matters connected with its admission to the Union. In 1791 he removed to Rutland and in the fall of the same year was elected to Congress from the district composed of towns

268

HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

west of the mountains, and re-elected in 1793 and 1795. In 1797 he was elected chief justice of the Supreme Court. In 1801 he was defeated as a can- didate of the Republicans for governor, but elected to Congress, and at the close of his term took his seat in the United States Senate, to which he was elected the previous October. In October, 1807, he was elected governor of the State. He died in Rutland December 2, 1810.

Solomon Foot, one of Rutland's and Vermont's most distinguished citi- zens and statesmen, was born in Cornwall, Addison county, November 19, 1802 ; graduated at Middlebury College in 1826. On leaving college he be- came principal of Castleton Seminary, and held the same position again in 1828, having in 1827 been a tutor in the University of Vermont, at Burling- ton. He was professor in natural philosophy in the Vermont Academy of Medicine, at Castleton, from 1828 to 1831. He read law with B. F. Langdon and Reuben R. Thrall, and was admitted to the Rutland county bar at the September term, 1831, settled in Rutland and entered at once upon a success- ful practice, especially as a jury advocate ; he took great part in political affairs, being a favorite and popular platform orator. His first marked public appear- ance that gave him notoriety was as president of the monster Whig convention at Burlington in 1840, at which ten thousand people convened, and his first words uttered in his loud, melodious voice, have become memorable : " Men of Vermont, come to order," which is said to have thrilled and hushed the vast throng in a moment of time. He took a leading part in that campaign, and from that time entered upon a successful political career. He was a member of the Vermont Legislature in 1833, '35, '37, and '38, and was speaker of the House in 1837, '38 and '47. In the State Constitutional Convention of 1836 he was a prominent member; State's attorney from 1837 to 1842. He was elected to Congress in 1843 and served until 1847, and was elected United States Senator in 1850, and served until his death in 1866, making a continu- ous public service of twenty years. He was president of the Senate during a part of the Thirty-sixth and the whole of the Thirty- seventh Congress, and his nomination for the vice-presidency was quite prominently canvassed at Lincoln's first election. He made many elaborate speeches in the Senate, and was conspicuous in the great Lecompton debate of 1858. He stood among great war senators during the Rebellion, and was an associate and adviser of President Lincoln. In 1854-55 he was president of the Brunswick and Florida Railroad, and visited England, negotiated its bonds and purchased the iron for the road. He died at Washington after a brief illness, March 28, 1866. A memorial funeral service was held in the Senate Chamber, after which the re- mains were conveyed to Rutland, accompanied by a senatorial committee, and deposited in the United States Court-room, where an impressive scene occurred on the delivery of the remains to the people of Rutland, in feeling addresses by Hon. Luke P. Poland, his colleague in the Senate, and Senator James R. Doo-

269

THE COURTS AND THE BENCH AND BAR.

little, of Wisconsin, followed by an address of acceptance on the part of the people by Hon. William T. Nichols. On the day of the obsequies, citizens came from all parts of the State, making the occasion one of the most impress- ive ever witnessed in Rutland. Public services were held and a eulogy pro- nounced by Rev. Norman Seaver, D.D., and the burial was made at Evergreen Cemetery, where a monument of granite has been erected, taken from the same quarry from which the granite of the Vermont State-House is built. He left his large library to the United States Court of Vermont. He was twice mar- ried but left no children. The annals of Vermont will hand down to coming generations the memory of few more useful and distinguished citizens in public and national life, and none who held his native State and the town of his resi- dence in higher regard and greater love.

Charles Kilbourne Williams, LL. D., was born in Cambridge, Mass., January 24, 1782. He was descended from a long line of distinguished ancestors, and a son of Rev. Samuel Williams, LL. D., an eminent clergyman, Hollis professor in Harvard College, the first historian of Vermont and among the early Congrega- tional ministers of Rutland, and a grandson of the patriot minister, Rev. John Williams, of Deerfield, Mass., who was carried into captivity to Montreal, in Feb- ruary, 1704. His wife was murdered on the way. The subject of this sketch grad- uated at Williams, studied law with Cephas Smith, jr., and was admitted to the bar at the March term of the Rutland County Court, in 1803, and at once became eminent in his profession. In 1812 he served one campaign on the northern frontier, and was afterwards for many years major-general of the State mi- litia. He represented Rutland in the General Assembly in 1809-11, 1814- 15, 1820-21, and again in 1849; State's attorney in 1814-15. He was col- lector of customs for the district of Vermont from 1825 to 1829. He was president of the Council of Censors in 1848. His most distinguishing quality was as a jurist, and he was elected a judge of the Supreme Court in 1822, and served until 1824, when he was appointed collector and was re-elected again in 1829 to 1833, when he was elected chief justice and held that position until his voluntary retirement from the bench in 1846. Judge Williams was a lawyer of deep research and popular manner, and a courteous and learned judge. The judicial opinions reported are of great value to the profession, and his judicial history is among the most eminent in the history of Vermont. He was governor in 1850 and '51, which was his last public office, and crowned a long and useful service to the State. He was a devout member of the Epis- copal Church and was frequently a member of the diocesan and general con- ventions of that denomination. He died suddenly at his home in Rutland, March 9, 1853. He married Lucy Jane, the daughter of Hon. Chauncey Lang- don, of Castleton. This family consisted of four daughters and three sons, Charles L., Chauncey K., and Samuel, all of whom became lawyers, and a grandson, Charles K. Williams, is now a member of the Rutland county bar.

270

HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

Leonard Williams a brother of Charles K. Williams, was born in Bradford, Mass., in 1775. Studied law with Daniel Chipman and was admitted to the bar in in 1795, and after a practice of a few years at Brandon and Rutland, he was appointed a lieutentant in the United States army in 1799, and died in the service in 1812, at the age of thirty-seven years.

Charles Langdon Williams was born in Rutland in 1821, graduated at Wil- liams College in 1839, studied law with his father, Charles K. Williams, and was admitted to the bar in April, 1842. He settled at Brandon in 1844, and remained there until 1848, and afterward resided in Rutland. He was a law- yer of eminent attainments and learning, but he was cut off in his useful career, by consumption and died March 10, 1861, aged forty years. A son, Charles K. Williams is the only member of this eminently legal family now in practice. Mr. Williams was the author of the Statistics of the Rutland County Bar, 1847, Revised Statutes of Vermont, 1851, and Vermont Supreme Court Reports, vol- umes 27 to 29, of which he was reporter from 1855 to 1857.

Chauncey Kilborn Williams, was born in Rutland in 1838. Graduated at Williams College, in 1859, studied law with his brother, Charles L. Williams, and admitted to the bar. After a practice of a few years he removed to Flint, Mich., where he was for several years a successful lawyer and city judge. He returned to Rutland and was for a time editor of the Rutland Herald, also of the Rutland Globe. He was a man of varied culture and historical research, and a writer of great force and clearness. He was the author of the Lives of the Governors of Vermont, and Centennial History of Rutland, and was a fre- quent contributor of historical sketches to the press; was a corresponding or honorary member of most of the historical societies in this country and several in Europe. He died suddenly in Rutland.

Samuel Williams was born in Rutland, graduated at Williams College and studied law with his brother, Charles L. Williams. Was admitted to the bar and practiced for a time in Rutland. He was secretary of civil and military affairs during the governorship of Frederick Holbrook in 1861-62, also Gov- ernor Smith in 1863-64, and proved a valuable war secretary. He was for a few years treasurer of the Central Vermont Railroad. He was State senator from Rutland county in 1874. He has retired from practice and now resides in Philadelphia. He recently published a memoir of his father, Charles K. Williams.

Edgar L. Ormsbee, for twenty years or more a leading lawyer of Rutland, was born in Shoreham in 1805. In early youth he manifested much origin- ality and precocity of mind. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1823, in a class distinguished for its superior standing and scholarship, embracing such men as Joseph Battell, the eminent patron of Yale College; Julian G. Buel, a talented lawyer; Hon. John S. Chipman, Member of Congress; Rev. Thomas J. Conant, president of Madison University ; Rev. E. B. Smith, pres-

271

THE COURTS AND THE BENCH AND BAR.

ident of New Hampshire Theological Institution ; Francis Markoe, of the Diplomatic Bureau, at Washington; Rev. L. L. Tilden, long a minister at West Rutland; Hon. Merritt Clark, of Poultney, and Judge Harvey Button, of Wallingford. Among these men Mr. Ormsbee was distinguished for gen- eral and classical scholarship and natural talent. He read law with Hon. Rodney C. Royce and graduated at the Litchfield (Conn.) Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1826. He quickly rose to a high position and retained it until his retirement from practice. The only public office he held was that of State's attorney, from 1845 to 1847. His manner was, un- happily, not such as to render him very successful at nisi prius ; his forte was before the Supreme Court. He was argumentative, fond of metaphysical distinctions ; his style clear, pointed and suggestive, and his phraseology in the expression of his ideas often showed the purest and most classical diction. In common cases his angularity and rigidity of manner often diverted from the force of his argument ; but when his cause was one of sufficient importance to call forth his best powers of mind, then would he arise in dignity and grace and pour forth his thoughts in chaste and manly diction, in unsurpassed elo- quence. His wit was keen, his humor unbounded, his repartee always ready, and his satire irresistible. Mr. Ormsbee's perceptions were far-reaching and some- times prophetic. He was one of the first to conceive the feasibility of inter- communication through Western Vermont with the Canadas and other local- ities, and entered with voice and pen into zealous advocacy of the project ; his efforts, against much opposition, did very much to assure the railway system in which Rutland county now shares. He died November 24, 1861, at the age of sixty- four years. His widow still lives at an advanced age.

Moses Strong was one of the early leading members of the Rutland county bar. He was a son of John Strong, of Addison county, and born in Connec- ticut. He studied law and married a daughter of Daniel Smith, in Shoreham, as his first wife. He came to Rutland about 1810. He was elected to the office of chief judge of the County Court and held other positions of honor and responsibility. He died September 29, 1842.

De Witt Clinton Clarke, son of Asahel Clarke, was born in Granville, N. Y., September 12, 1810. He entered the University of Vermont, but left it with- out finishing his course, and subsequently graduated at Union College (1831). He studied law with Hon. George R. Davis, of Troy, N. Y., and was admitted to the Rutland county bar at the April term of 1842. He practiced law in Brandon, where he was for a time in partnership with E. N. Briggs. He established the Free Press at Burlington in 1846. In 1853 the paper passed from his possession and he engaged with Governor Charles Paine in the con- struction of railroads in Texas. Later he established the Burlington Daily Times. General Clarke was a man of note; he held many offices of impor- tance and responsibility. In 1840 he was quartermaster-general of the State ;

272

HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

secretary of the Vermont Senate from 1840 to 1851 ; executive clerk of the United States Senate from 1861 to 1869; member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1857 and 1870, and secretary; presidential elector in 1860. He married Caroline T. Gardner, of Troy, N. Y., who died in 1866, without children. General Clarke died in September, 1870. He was a sparkling writer both in prose and verse, and an influential editor. In conversation entertaining ; in official duties, competent, courteous and attentive. Few men had a wider acquaintance, both with the men of his own State (for though not born in Vermont, he was of Vermont parentage and a Vermonter through and through) and among the public men of the country.

Anson A. Nicholson was born in Middletown in 1819. He studied law with Judge Harvey Button, of Wallingford, and was admitted to the bar in 1843. He practiced first in Chester, Vt., where he married, and two or three years later removed to Brandon, where he remained a number of years in the enjoyment of a large practice. About the year 1864 he came to Rutland and resided here the remainder of his life. His death occurred in 1877. Mr. Nich- olson was well educated in his profession, enjoyed the respect of his fellow prac- titioners, and was especially proficient as an office lawyer. The only public office he held was that of State's attorney (1857-58). He was a fluent and gifted writer, both in prose and verse, and early in life learned the printer's trade and at one time edited the Kalamazoo (Mich.) Chief, when he was but twenty years of age.

Although Frederic Williams Hopkins did not long engage in active prac- tice of his profession, still his eminent qualifications entitle him to some brief mention. He was born in Pittsford September 15, 1806, and died in Rutland January 21, 1874. He was a graduate of Middlebury College, class of 1828, and studied law with Hon. Ambrose L. Brown, who was his brother-in-law. In 1831 he was admitted to the bar and practiced with considerable success until 1839, when he gave up the profession forever. From 1833 to 1836 he was register of probate for the Rutland district, and at the time he relinquished his practice was appointed clerk of the Supreme and County Courts for this county. This office he filled until 1868, with the greatest credit. He had a taste for military life and was made adjutant and inspector-general in 1838, holding the office until 1852. He was a fluent writer of both prose and verse and an eloquent speaker. His first wife was a daughter of Thomas Hooker, of Rutland, and his second a daughter of Zimri Lawrence, of Weybridge.

William Douglas Smith was a son of Hon. Israel Smith ; a graduate of Middlebury College in 1804, and a member of the bar of the county. He was appointed clerk of the House of Representatives of Vermont in 1809, and con- tinued in the position until his early death in 1822.

Colonel Jesse Gove, a son of Nathaniel Gove, was a prominent member of the bar in his day. He was born in Bennington, February 20, 1783, and fitted

273

THE COURTS AND THE BENCH AND BAR.

with Samuel Watson, of Rutland. He read law with Cephas Smith, jr., of Rutland, and was admitted to the bar of the county at the March term of 1818. In 1809 he was appointed clerk of the United States District and Circuit Courts for the district of Vermont and held the office till his death. He was ap- pointed postmaster of Rutland in 1841, and attained the rank of colonel in the militia.

William Page was born at Charlestown, N. H., in 1779; graduated at Yale College in 1797, and studied law with Daniel Farrand and was admitted to the Chittenden county bar in 1806, and retired from practice in 1825. He became cashier of the Bank of Rutland, a position he occupied for nearly a quarter of a century. He was secretary of the governor and Council from 1803 to 1807, and register of probate from 1815 to 1825. He died in 1850, aged seventy years. His son, the late John B. Page, was governor of the State.

John L. Fuller, born in Massachusetts in 1798 ; studied law with Charles K. Williams, and admitted to the bar in 1822, and in 1824 removed to Penn- sylvania, where he died in 1836 aged thirty-eight.

Darius Chipman, born in Salisbury, Conn., in 1758; studied law with Na- thaniel Chipman ; admitted to the bar in 1781; represented Rutland in 1801 ; State's attorney in 1785 ; removed to New York city in 1816, where he died, aged sixty-two years.

Ambrose Lincoln Brown was born in Cheshire, Mass., October 25, 1795, and fitted at Castleton Academy. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1816, and studied law with Hon. Charles K. Williams, LL. D., of Rutland, practicing here from 1819 to 1837; from 1837 to 1841 engaged in paper- making and book-selling, and a part of that time as editor of the Herald; after 1844 he followed civil engineering. He was judge of probate for the Rutland district from 1832 to 1835 and in 1838-39; represented the town in the Leg- islature in 1834-35 ; was assistant clerk of the House of Representatives 1841, and judge of Rutland County Court, 1844 to 1847.

James Tilson Nichols, born in 1803 and died in Sudbury, 1868; studied with Hon. Solomon Foot and Silas H. Hodges, of Rutland, and was admitted in 1851 ; was assistant clerk of the House of Representatives in 1852; State's attorney for Rutland county 1859-60; member of the Legislature 1861-63; senator from Rutland county 1863-64 ; was a partner of Hon. Robert Pier- point from 1857 to the death of the latter; went out as a private in the First Vermont Regiment and was commissioned colonel of the Fourteenth Regiment, in which capacity he served with honor.

Rodney C. Royce was born in Berkshire in 1800; studied law with Chief Justice Stephen Royce, and admitted to the Franklin county bar in 1822; set- tled in practice at Rutland, and proved one of the most eminent and brilliant members of the bar. He represented Rutland in the Legislature in 1830-31 and '32, and was register of probate from 1825 to 1832. He died in 1836,

274

HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

aged thirty-six years. His only living descendant, Edmund R. Morse, is now a member of the bar.

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.

History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 31

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n; Rann, William S Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co. Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n; Rann, William S
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co.
Number of Pages: 1170