Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont, Part 17

Author: Ullery, Jacob G., comp; Davenport, Charles H; Huse, Hiram Augustus, 1843-1902; Fuller, Levi Knight, 1841-1896
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Brattleboro, Vt. : Transcript Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 842

USA > Vermont > Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont > Part 17

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In 1868, his " Early History of Vermont," a work of over five hundred pages, was pub- lished, in which is unanswerably shown the necessity of the separation of the inhabitants from the government of New York ; their justification in the struggle they maintained in the establishment of their state independ- ence, and their valuable services in the cause of American liberty during the Revolutionary war. In it the loyalty of all the important acts of the leaders is so firmly established by documentary evidence, that he was confi- dent no aspersion could be maintained reflecting upon the patriotism of any of the early heroes. Naturally he has also taken a leading part in the rearing of the Bennington battle monument.

The honorary degree of L.L. D. was con- ferred upon him by the University of Ver- mont in 1859. He was a life member and vice-president for Vermont of the New Eng- land Historic Genealogical Society, a mem- ber of the Long Island Historical Society, an honorary member of the Buffalo and corres- ponding member of the New York Histori- cal Societies.

Mr. Hall was possessed of the qualities which go to make up a statesman ; a strong mind stored with good common sense, a re- tentive memory, and a practical mode of thinking. His flow of language as an ex- temporaneous speaker was deficient, but at the desk he excelled, as formulated thoughts and moulded ideas flowed as freely as could be readily written, and in whatever position he was placed he was found equal to any exigency which arose, as his fund of informa- tion extended to all branches of national, constitutional or international research.

He married in 1818, Dolly Tuttle Davis, daughter of Henry Davis of Rockingham. She died Jan. 8, 1879. Henry Davis was at the battle of Bunker Hill under Colonel Stark at the line of rail fence, and also served at West Point at the time of Arnold's trea- sonable attempt to surrender it to the enemy, being in the Revolutionary service over three years. At a family reunion in North Bennington, July 20, 1885, in honor of Mr. Hall, at the residence of his granddaughter, on which day he was ninety years of age, there were present fifty-one of his descendants,

SMITH.

there being five others who were detained from this interesting gathering.

Governor Hall died in Springfield, Mass., at the house of his son, with whom he was spending the winter, Dec. 18, 1885.

SMITH, JOHN GREGORY .-- The third of the war Governors of the state, the organizer and the head for years of the great C'entral Vermont railroad system, and one of the pro- jectors of the Northern Pacific, was for nearly thirty years the most potent person- ality in Vermont affairs. He was born at St. Albans, July 22, 1818, and was the son of John Smith, a pioneer railroad builder in Vermont, and a leading lawyer and public man of his generation, representing St. Al- bans nine successive years in the Legislature and serving one term in Congress. The family came from Barre, Mass. John Greg- ory graduated from the University of Ver- mont in 1841, and subsequently from the Yale law school. He at once associated with his father in the practice of law and inci- (lentally in railroad management.

At the death of his father in 1858 John Gregory succeeded to the position of trustee under the lease of the Vermont & Canada R. R. Simultaneously he entered politics, and for many years the career in each line was involved with the other. The roads ran down so that in 1865 trust bonds began to be issued to provide for repairs, and from this Governor Smith advanced to a large policy of " development " forming by leases and purchases a great "through system of roads, all under the authority " of the court of chancery, and as an extension of the policy of repairs. The emissions of "trust" bonds continued till 1872, when $4,356,600 were out. When the financial panic struck the country, these structures tumbled, the rent payment to the Vermont & Canada was defaulted, notes went to protest, a legis- lative investigation was held, and a long and complicated litigation ensued. Governor Smith and his management, generally speak- ing, came out of the courts successful, but before the end was reached a compromise was effected by which new securities were issued to the different interests and the "Consolidated Railway of Vermont " formed, still under Smith's management. He was one of the originators of the Northern Pacific railroad enterprise and was the president of the corporation from 1866 to 1872, when he retired amid the troubles that were thicken- ing about both companies. Under his lead five hundred and fifty-five miles of the road were built.

He entered the Legislature as St. Albans' representative in 1860, and in '61 and '62 was speaker of the House, winning such popularity that he was unanimously nom-

DIJUNGIAM.

inated for Governor in 1863 and re-elected in '64. And none are there to deny the high quality of his service to the state and nation in those days. He was the friend and con- fidant of Lincoln and Stanton. He was par- tienlarly solicitons in caring for the Vermont boys at the front, and his many deeds of kindness won him many enthusiastic and life-long admirers. He was chairman of the state delegation to the national Re- publican conventions in 1872, 1880, and 1884. After his retirement from the Gover- nor's chair he held no public office, though for about twenty years he was the master of Vermont politics.

Hle was frequently afterward talked of for a seat in the United States Senate, particu- larly in 1886, when quite a breczy little fight was made for him, and again in 1891 after Edmunds' resignation. But in both cases he withdrew his name.

He was a very remarkable man-shrewd, far-seeing, persuasive, and yet iron-handed in his determination to carry his purposes. He had a wonderful faculty, with his wide knowledge of human nature and his singu- lar affability of manner, of winning other men to his support, and his marked execu- tive ability made successful the schemes he was so facile in organizing and inaugurating. He was prominently interested in several local business enterprises, and was president of Welden National Bank, the People's Trust Co., and the Franklin County Creamery Association. He was a life-long member of the Congregational church, and a liberal giver for church purposes, a late contribution being a gift of some $7,000 for remodeling the church edifice. In 1888 he gave the village of St. Albans an elegant bronze foun- tain costing $5,000, which now adorns the public park. His palatial residence in St. Albans has been the scene of many gather- ings, at which Governor and Mrs. Smith have dispensed a courteous hospitality. He married in 1842, Ann Eliza, daughter of Hon. Lawrence Branerd, who has written several novels and other charming books and who survives him with five children : George G., in business at Minneapolis, Minn., Edward C., president of the Central Vermont R. R.,. Mrs. C. O. Steven of Boston, and Mrs. Rev. D. S. Mackay of St. Albans.

Governor Smith died at St. Albans, after a month's illness, Nov. 6, 1891.

DILLINGHAM, PAUL .- Congressman, Governor, and a lawyer of singular power and eloquence, was born at Shutesbury, Mass., August 10, 1799, the son of Paul and Hannah (Smith) Dillingham, and of a family that traces back to the Winthrop colony in American history, that had brave officers, the direct ancestors of the Gover-

DILLINGHAM.

nor, in both the French and the Revolution- ary wars, and that has always been marked by that fervent patriotism and usually by the religious earnestness so characteristic of him.

Paul's father, a farmer, moved from Shutesbury to Waterbury when the boy was only six years old. The latter was educated in the Washington county grammar school, studied law at Middlebury in the office of Dan Carpenter, was admitted to the bar in March, 1823, and formed a partnership with his preceptor, which lasted until the latter's elevation to the bench. For fifty-two years,

until his retirement in 1875, he was in the constant practice of his profession, except for the interruptions by his public service, and as a jury advocate he was at the head of a bar that for a full generation was among the ablest the state ever contained, and ranked perhaps as the first in the state.

As a Supreme Court lawyer he was not so great, though strong. A fine presence, six feet tall and weighing over two hundred pounds, with a kindly bearing, manly frank- ness and dignified simplicity, an eye beam- ing with magnetic quality, a voice " musical and sweet as a flute in its lower cadences, but in passion or excitement resounding like the music of a bugle," were only the exter- nals of his power. The real secret was a nature rich with human sympathy. A knowl- edge of men and of affairs gathered in a long and observant contact, was illuminated by a mind fertile in poetic conceptions, apt illus- trations and happy anecdotes, and deepened and strengthened by a profound study of the

DILLINGHAM.

Scriptures to enforce his thought. As B. F. Fifield says in a sketch of him: "When in his best mood, he played upon the strings of men's hearts with the facility that a skilled musician plays upon the strings of a guitar, and made them respond to emotions of laughter, anger, sympathy or sorrow, when- ever he pleased and as best suited the pur- poses of his case."

He was town clerk of Waterbury from 1829 to '44 ; representative to the Legisla- ture in 1833, '34, '37, '38 and '39 ; state's attorney for Washington county in 1835, '36 and '37 ; a member of the Constitutional Conventions of 1836, '57 and '70 ; state sen- ator of Washington county in 1841, '42 and '61 ; and in 1843 was elected member of Congress, where he served two terms, and was on the committee on the judiciary. In 1862, '63 and '64 he was Lieutenant-Gov- ernor, and in 1865 and '66 Governor of the state.

He was one of the leaders of the state Democracy, in what may be called its golden era intellectually, though it was a hopeless minority ; and when a state convention met with Saxe, Eastman, Dillingham, Smalley, Kellogg, Stoughton, Thomas, Field, Chit- tenden, Poland, Redfield, Davenport and others, to flash their wit and eloquence across it, and with Hawthorne frequently coming up from Massachusetts to partake of the communion, there was apt to be a "feast of reason and flow of soul," such as no other political organization in the state before or since has witnessed. While in Congress Mr. Dillingham was the only Democrat on the delegation. He strongly favored the admis- sion of Texas, and the policy that led to the Mexican war, not that he had any sympathy with slavery, but because he was a believer in the manifest-destiny doctrine, and one of his speeches predicted the territorial growth and expanding greatness of his country in words that were almost prophetic.

Mr. Dillingham's personal power was a large factor in making that section of the state so strongly Democratic. But the firing on Sumter shattered in a moment the political affiliations of a life-time. With a nature like his it was impossible for patriot- ism to take any other course. He would go to the utmost verge in concessions under the constitution to keep the South content in the Union and this same intense love of the Union would lead him to like sacrifice when once the blow of rebellion was struck. He couldn't see why any Democrat should fail to take that view. He wanted party lines obliterated entirely and the whole North to stand solid in support of the national administration. He, of course, received a warm welcome into the Republican ranks. He was a leader in the state Senate in the

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war measures of 1861, and the next year his services were recognized with the nomina tion for Lieutenant Governor, and after three years' service in this position with that for chief executive in '65 and '66. The can- didate against him both years was his old political friend, Charles N. Davenport. Governor Dillingham's majority in '65 was 16,7144 and in '66 22,822. The great mon- ument of his administration is the establish- ment of the reform school, which he recom- mended in his first message. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1870 and with this his public service closed. Ile retired from law practice in 1875 and lived for fifteen years more, in se- rene and well earned leisure, dying at Waterbury July 26, 1891.

Hle was for many years an influential lay- man of the Methodist church, and was the first lay delegate from the Vermont confer- ence to the quadrennial general conference in Brooklyn, N. Y., in May, 1872, where he took a high position.

Governor Dillingham was twice married, first to Sarah I'., eldest daughter of his friend, preceptor, and partner, Dan Carpenter. She died Sept. 20, 1831, and Sept. 5, 1832, he married her younger sister, Julia. Seven children, three daughters and four sons, lived to reach maturity. One daughter, who died in 1875, married J. F. Lamson of Boston, and another the great senator, Matthew H. Carpenter of Wisconsin, while the other is unmarried. Two of the sons entered the army : Col. Charles, president of the Hous- ton & Texas Central R. R., and Major Edwin, who was killed at Winchester. Frank is a citizen of San Francisco, Cal., while William P., Governor of the state in '88 and '90, is still practicing law at Waterbury and Mont- pelier.

PAGE, JOHN B .- Governor, state treas- urer, and for a generation prominent in Vermont railroading, was born in Rutland, Feb. 25, 1826, the son of William and Cyn- thia (Hickok) Page. Educated in the pub- lic schools, and at Burr and Burton Semi- nary at Manchester, he was called at the age of sixteen to assist his father, then cashier of the old bank at Rutland, to which office the son of John B. succeeded later, and so became 'a banker, and was many years presi- dent of the National Bank of Rutland, the reorganized form of the old state bank. He became interested in the Rutland & Bur- lington R. R., by being appointed one of the trustees of the second mortgage bond- holders, and upon the reorganization of the property as the Rutland Railroad Co., was made president. He was for a time co- trustee with Hon. T. W. Park of the Ben- nington & Rutland R. R., and later was

associated with Hon. J. Gregory Smith as vice- president of the Central Vermont. He was a director of the Champlain Transporta- tion Co., and various other railroad enter- prises, and also in the Canghnawanga Ship C'anal project for connecting Lake Cham- plain and the St. Lawrence, etc.

He was instrumental in the transfer of the shops of the Howe Scale Co., from

Brandon to Rutland, of which company he was the treasurer. He was in 1852 elected a representative to the General Assembly of Vermont at the age of twenty-six, and re- elected for the sessions of 1853 and 1854. In 1860 he was elected state treasurer and re- ceived successive re-elections annually till 1866, and was during this time allotment com- missioner by appointment of President Lincoln. He originated the plan for the payment of the extra state pay voted by Vermont to her soldiers, $7 per month, and disbursed during his term as treasurer a total of $4,635, 150.80 for military expenses.

In 1867 he was elected Governor and re- elected in 1868, serving with judgment and ability through the critical period after the war.

He was again elected representative from Rutland in 1880 and took the place for the purpose of furthering some important meas- ures that he had become interested in. Chief among these was a comprehensive scheme of tax reform, which is the founda- tion of our present corporation law, and with which he wished also to include a plan for the taxation of personal property like that

WASHBURN.

of Connecticut. He made a strong fight for these ideas with the influential vested in- terests of the state mustered against him, and he lived to see them afterwards incor- porated into its laws.

He was a member of the Congregational church, for many years a deacon and super- intendent of the Sunday school, a corporate member of the American Board of Com- missioners for Foreign Missions and was in- strumental in having the meeting of that society, the only one ever convened in the state, held at Rutland in 1874. During this meeting he led in the movement which resulted in the establishment of a Christian College in Japan which the late Joseph Neesima projected. His strong personality was illustrated by his advocacy and accom- plishment, at a meeting of this society at Providence, of an effort to pay off a debt of over $70,000.

He was one of the most public-spirited of men and had always in mind the welfare of his town and state. In his young manhood he was foreman of the Nickwackett Engine Co., one of the oldest organizations of fire- men in the state. He pushed the erection of the commodious Congregational church in 1860, building for future generations, and largely aided in the construction of the chapel addition, the two united forming, perhaps, the most complete church property in the state. He died Oct. 24, 1885, and is buried near Rutland in Evergreen cemetery, a " city " which he helped to purchase and adorn.

WASHBURN, PETER T .- Governor, ad- jutant and inspector-general during the war, and one of that brilliant group of lawyers that made Woodstock famous through so many years, was born at Lynn, Mass., Sept. 7, 1814, the eldest son of Reuben and Han- nah B. (Thacher) Washburn. There was distinguished ancestry on both sides. John Washburn, the sixth generation back, was secretary of the Massachusetts Bay Co., while in England. Joseph Washburn, his grandson, married a granddaughter of Mary Chilton, the first female member of the Pil- grim band that stepped upon Plymouth Rock. The Thachers were for several gen- erations dstinguished preachers in Massa- chusetts.

In 1817 the father of Peter T. Wash- burn moved to Vermont, first settling at Chester, then at Cavendish, and finally at Ludlow. Young Peter graduated at Dart- mouth in 1835, studied law first under the direction of his father, then for a time in the office of Senator Upham at Montpelier, was admitted to the bar in 1838, and began prac- tice at Ludlow, moving in 1844 to Wood- stock where he formed a partnership with

Charles P. Marsh which continued until the death of the latter in 1870. Mr. Washburn was in 1844 elected reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court of Vermont, holding the position for eight years with high credit. He represented Woodstock in the Legisla- tures of 1853 and '54. But his chief ener- gies had been devoted to his professional work, with ever growing reputation, until the breaking out of the war in 1861. He had been chairman of the Vermont delegation to the Republican national convention that in 1860 nominated Lincoln and Hamlin. He was then in command of the Woodstock Light Infantry, a company of citizen soldiers who at once proffered their services to their country, and on the Ist of May marched to Rutland where it was incorporated with the First Vermont Regiment. Washburn was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, but acted as colonel during its entire period of service.

In October, 1861, he was elected adjutant and inspector-general of Vermont and until the war closed devoted himself to its arduous duties, foreseeing their importance to the future, bringing order and system out of chaos and making it the model adjutant's office of the country. He was often likened by his admirers to Stanton for the energy, force and intellectual grasp with which he performed the duties of his office.

He was in 1869 elected Governor by a majority of 22,822 over Homer W. Heaton, the Democratic candidate, and died in office February 7, 1870. He had simply worn himself into the grave by overwork in the excess of his faithfulness to duty. No trace of disease, organic or functional, could be found by the physicians after his death. The decision was that there had been a complete breaking down of the nervous sys- tem. He was at the time preparing a digest of all of the decisions of the Supreme Court from the beginning, and had worked his way through thirty-eight of the forty-one volumes of the Vermont reports when his labors were interrupted.

The able, painstaking and widely varied service he had done the state were ap- preciated at his taking off, and have been more so since. "He was our Carnot, in or- ganizing and administrative talents, our Louvois in energy and executive force," said the Rutland Herald, in speaking of his ser- vice as war adjutant. 'Thorough, studious, accurate, absolutely incorruptible, inflexibly just, judicious and kindly, he was a man the people could not fail to admire.

Governor Washburn was twice married, first to Almira E. Ferris of Swanton, and second to Almira P. Hopkins of Glens Falls, N. Y. Two children by the first wife died young, but two daughters and a son by the second marriage survived his decease, as did the widow.

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CONVERSI ...

PECK.

CONVERSE, JULIUS. Governor and another Woodstock lawyer, was born at Stafford, Conn., Dec. 17, 1798, the fourth son of Joseph and Mary (Johnson) Con- verse. The family was of French origin, the primary orthography being De Coigners, but emigrated to England centuries ago, and the American ancestor, Dea. Edward Converse, came with Winthrop's colony in 1630. The Governor's grandfather and great-grand- father, Lieutenant Josiah and Major James Converse, were renowned in the Indian wars of Massachusetts.

Joseph Converse, father of the subject of this sketch and a farmer, came to Vermont and settled at Randolph in 1801. Julius was educated in the common schools and at Randolph Academy, studied law in the office of William Nutting at Randolph, was admitted to the Orange county bar in 1826, and settled first at Bethel, whence he re moved in 1840 to Woodstock. At Bethel he was for several years in partnership with A. P. Hunton, afterwards speaker of the lower house of the Legislature in 1860-'62. At Woodstock he formed a connection with Andrew Tracy and later with James Barrett, the firms of Tracy & Converse, Tracy, Con- verse & Barrett, and after Mr. Tracy's elec- tion to Congress, Tracy & Barrett, being among the strongest in the state. After Mr. Barrett's elevation to the Supreme Court Mr. Converse formed a partnership with W. C. French which continued until 1865, and after that Mr. Converse's practice was alone and within comparatively narrow limits. As a lawyer he was particularly strong in the careful preparation of his cases and as a cross-examiner of witnesses. He also ex- celled in chancery practice.

He several times represented Bethel in the Legislature and was a member from Wind- sor county of the first Senate in 1836, and three times re-elected to that body. He also represented Woodstock several times, and was state's attorney for Windsor county from 1844 to '47. In 1850 and '5 1 he was elected Lieutenant-Governor on the ticket with Gov. Charles K. Williams. For the next twenty years he was out of public life until in 1872, when nearly seventy-four years old, he was suddenly and unexpectedly nomi- nated for Governor, being taken up to defeat Frederick Billings, a purpose that was ac- complished by a narrow majority of one after a hard fight in the Republican state conven- tion. Mr. Converse was traveling outside of the state at the time, and the first he knew of his candidacy was when he read about the nomination in the morning papers. He was elected by a majority of 25,319 over A. B. Gardner, ex-Lieutenant Governor, who had joined the Liberal Republican movement of that year, and whom the Greeleyites and

Democrats had nominated in high hopes of cutting the Republican majority down to 10,000. His administration was without notable incident.

Governor Converse was twice married, first in 1827 to Melissa, daughter of Henry Arnold of Randolph, who died two months after his inauguration as Governor, Dec. 14, 1872. June 12, 1873, he wedded Jane E., daughter of Joseph Martin, and a daughter was the issue of this second union.

Governor Converse died, August 16, 1885, at Dixville Notch, N. H.

PECK, ASAHEL .- Judge of the Su- preme Court and Governor, was born at Roy- alston, Mass., September, 1803, the son of Squire and Elizabeth (Goddard) Peck of Puritan ances- try on both sides. The family rec- ord can be traced back from Joseph Peck, the first American ancestor, for twenty-one gen- erations to John Peck, Esq., of Belton, Yorkshire, England, probably farther than that of any other Vermont family. His father came to Vermont and settled at Mont- pelier when Asahel was only three years old. Asahel's youth was passed on the farm, where he developed the sturdy vigor, men- tal, moral and physical, that was so marked throughout his career. He was educated in the common schools and fitted at the Wash- ington county grammar school to enter the sophomore class of the University of Ver- mont in 1824 ; but he did not graduate, leaving in his senior year at the invitation of the president of a French college in Canada, for a course of study in the French language in the family of the latter. He studied law in the office of his oldest brother, Nathan Peck, at Hinesburgh, and one of the leading lawyers of that section, and afterward for a year or two in the office of Bailey & Marsh at Burlington. He was admitted to the bar in March, 1832, practiced alone for a while and afterward in partnership with Archibald Hyde and later with D. A. Smalley.

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Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont, Part 17

Author: Ullery, Jacob G., comp; Davenport, Charles H; Huse, Hiram Augustus, 1843-1902; Fuller, Levi Knight, 1841-1896 Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Brattleboro, Vt. : Transcript Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 842

Author: Ullery, Jacob G., comp; Davenport, Charles H; Huse, Hiram Augustus, 1843-1902; Fuller, Levi Knight, 1841-1896
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Brattleboro, Vt. : Transcript Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 842