USA > Vermont > Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont > Part 26
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He led the opposition to Governor Galusha in the Legislature of 1811, and moved a substitute to the address of the committee in reply to the Governor's ad- dress. When he was elected to Congress, so the story goes, he decided that he must have a new suit of clothes. So he sheared the wool from one of his sheep, did the card- ing, spinning and weaving in his own family, procured butternut-tree bark for the dyeing, and had the suit made up by a woman who was owing him. Thus he fitted himself out for service in the halls of national legisla- tion without the expenditure of a penny in cash. Though his service in Congress ex- tended only through two years, it was enough to impress his colleagues with his powers. Another anecdote illustrates this : One of the committees on which he served had a bill to frame of more than ordinary importance, and a member remarked : "Lyon will draft it so strong nothing can break it. Let us go down to him to-night ; but we must buy the candles."
The late Charles Adams of Burlington said : "There have been two men in the state whose intellect towered above all others ; one, 'Nat' Chipman of Tinmouth, the other Asa Lyon of Grand Isle." Said one of his old parishioners : "People would talk about Father Lyon and his peculiarities but when he arose in his pulpit every one forgot the man, or the peculiarities in the man ; with such a dignity he looked down upon his assembly, with such a commanding power of eye, voice, thought, he drew every one up to him and carried them with him. All, whether pulpit audience, political oppo- nent or theological controversialist to be brought over, were not more irresistibly than agreeably drawn to his conclusions." Rev. Simeon Parmalee in his sketch of him for the Gazetteer, describing his personal appearance, said : "He was a great man in stature and in powers of mind. He had a dark complexion, coarse features, powerful build, more than six feet in height, large boned, giant-framed and a little stooping."
He died April 4, 1841, in his seventy- eighth year.
MARSH, CHARLES .- Congressman one term, but greatest as a lawyer, standing undis- putedly at the head of the bar of the state for many years, was a member of one of the remarkable families of the state, being the son of Lieut. Gov. Joseph Marsh. He was born at Lebanon, Conn., July 10, 1765, but
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came to Hartford, in this state, with the family in 1773. He was graduated from Dartmouth, in 1786, took a course in the famous law school of Judge Reeves at Litch- field, Conn., and established himself in practice at Woodstock. His honors were nearly all in the line of his profession up to the time of his election to Congress. He was ap- pointed in 1797 by President Washington to the then comparatively unimportant position of district attorney for the district of Vermont, serving until 1801. In 1814 he was elected to Congress but served only one term. While in Washington he became identified with the American Colonization Society as one of its founders. He acquired great popularity as a patron of benevolent societies generally, and was a highly influential and useful citizen. He made three notable speeches while in the House, on the tariff, the war with Mexico, and the Smithsonian Institution, the latter a particularly thoughtful one. He was chosen one of the board of trustees of Dartmouth College in 1809, and continued as such until his death. The degree of LL. D. was con- ferred on him by this institution.
He was twice married-first, June 18, 1793, to Nancy Collins of Litchfield, Conn., and second, after her decease, to Susan, widow of Josiah Arnold of St. Johnsbury, and daughter of Dr. Elisha Perkins of Plain- field, Conn. There were two children by the first wife, and five by the second. One son, Lyndon Arnold, was a lawyer at Wood- stock for thirty-three years, and register of probate for that district. Another son, Charles, a lawyer at Lansingburg, N. Y., died at the age of twenty-seven. Joseph, the third son of the second marriage, was professor of theory and practice in the Uni- versity of Vermont. The youngest son, Charles, spent his life on the paternal estate. The daughter by the first marriage married Dr. John Barnell of Woodstock, and the daughter by the second marriage, who died when only thirty-four, was the wife of Wyllys Lyman, a Hartford lawyer.
Mr. Marsh died at Woodstock, Jan. 11, 1849, in the eighty-third year of his age.
NOYES, JOHN .- Representative in Con- gress 1815-'17, and for years one of the leading business men of the southeast part of the state. He was born at Atkinson, N. H., a descendant of one of the early settlers of Massachusetts, and of an unusually learned and scholarly family. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1795, and became a tutor there, and had among his pupils Daniel Webster, who in after life admitted his debt intellectually to the tutor. Mr. Noyes en- gaged in theological study and fitted himself for the ministry, but gave it up because of ill-health and returned to teaching, had
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charge of the Chesterfield, N. 11., Academy for a time, and in 1800 moved to Brattleboro to engage in mercantile trade with General Mann, the grandfather of the wife of Gen. George B. Mcclellan. There were several famous connections through the frm of Noyes & Mann. A partner of one of its branches, at Wilmington, was Rutherford, father of President Rutherford B. Hayes. Mr. Noyes' oldest son was John II. Noyes, founder of the Oneida, N. Y., Perfectionist community, which had its first start at Put- ney. His eldest daughter was Mrs. L. G. Mead, mother of the famous sculptor of that name.
The firm did a heavy business, with stores at Brattleboro, Wilmington, Whitingham and Putney, and rapidly amassed wealth.
Mr. Noyes represented Brattleboro in the General Assembly of 1808-'o and 1812, and in 1815 was elected to Congress, serv- ing one term as contemporary with Clay, Randolph and other celebrities. On his return from Washington he moved to Dum- merston, where he lived for four years, and then retired from active life to a farm in Putney, where he died Oct. 26, 1841, at the age of seventy-eight. He wedded, in 1804, Polly, the oldest daughter of Rutherford Hayes, the grandfather of the President.
ALLEN, HEMAN .- "Chili" Allen, as he was called to distinguish him from his distant relative and long political opponent, but per- sonal friend and for many years close neigh- bor, Heman Allen of Milton, who was also in Congress, was a son of Heber Allen and nephew of Ethan and Ira, born at Poultney in 1779. After the death of his father he was at an early age adopted into the family of his uncle Ira at Colchester and given a good education, graduating from Dartmouth in 1795. He adopted the profession of law, but did not practice very extensively as he was in public life nearly all his days.
He was sheriff of Chittenden county in 1808 and 1809; from 1811 to 1814 he was chief justice of the Chittenden county court ; from 1812 to 1817 he was an active mem- ber of the state Legislature ; was appointed quartermaster of militia, with the title of brigadier, and was a trustee of the Univer- sity of Vermont. He was first elected a representative in Congress from Vermont in 1817, but resigned in 1818 to accept from President Monroe the appointment of United States marshal for the district of Vermont. In 1823 he received from the same President the appointment of minister to Chili, which he resigned in 1828; in 1830 he was ap- pointed president of the United States Branch Bank at Burlington, which he held until the expiration of its charter, after which he settled in the town of Highgate,
where he died of heart disease April 9, 1852. His remains were brought to Burlington and interred in the Allen cemetery there. He had much of the Allen ability.
HUNTER, WILLIAM. Was born in Ver- mont ; was a member of the Legislature in 1807, 1809; was a state councilor in 1869, 1814 and 1815 ; was elected a representative from Vermont in the Fifteenth Congress, serving from Dec. 1, 1817 to March 3, 1819.
MERRILL, ORSAMUS C .- Printer, law- yer, judge, congressman and councilor, was born at Farmington, Conn., June 18, 1775, came to Bennington in April, 1791, and was apprenticed to Anthony Haswell. On com- pleting his apprenticeship he engaged in the printing business for himself, and his first printed book was a Webster's spelling book. He then studied law and was admit- ted to the bar in June, 1804.
He entered the military service in the war of 1812-'15, and was made major in the eleventh United States infantry, March 3, 1813 ; lieutenant-colonel of the twenty-sixth infantry as riflemen, Sept. 4, 1814, and transferred back to the eleventh infantry as lieutenant-colonel, Sept. 26, 1814. He was register of probate 1815 ; clerk of the courts 1816 ; member of Congress 1817-'19 ; repre- sentative of Bennington in the Constitu- tional Convention and General Assembly in 1822 ; judge of probate court in 1822, 1841, 1842 and 1846; state's attorney 1823 and '24 ; councilor 1824 and 1826, and member of the first state Senate. Governor Hall states that he was also postmaster for sever- al years. He was a candidate for re-elec- tion to Congress in 1818, and the joint assembly declared him elected, but R. C. Mallory, the opposing candidate, contested his claim, showed that the result was de- clared for Merrill before the returns from several towns had been received, and the result was that Mallory was given the seat.
Mr. Merrill lived in the honor and respect of his fellow-citizens, until he reached the age of eighty-nine, dying April 12, 1865. The late Timothy Merrill, of Montpelier, who held many responsible positions in the public service, was his brother.
RICHARDS, MARK -Councilor, Lieu- tenant-Governor, congressman, and one of the brilliant coterie of Jeffersonian leaders that so long ruled the state in the first quar- ter of the territory, was born in Waterbury, Conn., July 15, 1760, the grandson on his mother's side of Rev. Dr. Hopkins, the dis- tinguished theologian and divine. He was a soldier of the Revolution, enlisting at the age of sixteen, and seeing hard service at Stony Point, Monmouth, Red Bank and
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Valley Forge. He afterwards settled in Boston, and accumulated property in mer- cantile and mechanical pursuits, until in 1796, he moved to Westminster, where he also continued in trade. Five years later, in 1801, he was elected to represent the town, and was re-elected in 1802-'04-'05. From 1806 to 1810 he was sheriff of Windham county, in 1813-'15 was in the Governor's council, and in 1816 was elected to Con- gress, serving two terms until 1820. He again represented his town in 1824-'26, and 1828, and in 1830-'31 was Lieutenant-Gov- ernor of the state, being associated on the ticket with Governor Crafts. He was again in the Legislature in 1832 and 1834.
His son-in-law, William C. Bradley, de- scribes him as in person "lean and tall, of pleasant but somewhat formal manners and in spite of lameness a remarkably active man. His liberality though great for his means was discriminating and well timed ;" his "industry and perseverance whenever occasion called for it were untiring ; his love of order was so precise and descended to such minuteness of detail that it appeared almost incompatible with much expansion of thought, and yet few men can be named who united more knowl- edge of human nature, more sagacity and promptness in business."
His wife was the widow Dorr, and their daughter, Sarah, married Mr. Bradley. He died at Westminster, August 10, 1844, at the age of eighty-four.
MEECH, EZRA .- Twice in Congress, Democratic candidate for Governor in 1830,-31'-32, and afterwards prominent as a Whig, and one of the most enterprising and far-seeing business operators the state had in the early part of the century, was born at New London, Conn., July 26, 1773 and came with his father to Hinesburgh in 1785. He was in his young manhood a hunter and trapper, then branched out into the fur trade, became associated with John Jacob Astor in it, and in 1806, and for a few years after, was the agent of the Northwest Fur Co. He frequently went into Canada on his purchasing trips, bringing large packs through the wilderness, and in 1809 was agent for supplying the British government with spars and timber. In 1795 he opened a store at Charlotte Four Corners, still keeping up his fur trade. In 1806 he pur- chased a farm along the lake shore in Shel- burne, moved there, opened a retail store, also continuing the purchase of furs; en- gaged in the manufacture of potash and in 1810 in lumbering, especially with oak, which he shipped to the Quebec market.
At the declaration of the war of 1812 he was caught in Canada with a large quanity of timber, and obtained a permit to remain
and close his business. During the war he was an extensive contractor in supplying the government and army with provisions. At its close he again went into the lumber trade with success, and all through his later years was also an extensive agriculturist and stock breeder, his farm containing three thousand acres in a high state of cultivation, on which could be seen a flock of three thousand sheep and eight hundred oxen. He was probably the largest land holder in the state, and at his death his real estate was appraised at $125,000.
He was in 1805 and 1807 elected to the state Legislature. In 1822 and 1823 he was chief justice of the Chittenden county court and he was a member of the Constitutional Conventions of 1820 and 1826. His first election to Congress was in 1818 ; he served only one term but was again elected for another term in 1824. His candidacies for Governor were during the period that the state was swept by anti-Masonry and it was largely under his leadership that the skeleton of a Democratic organization was preserved. But before 1840 he had become a Whig, being then a Harrison presidential elector.
He was emphatically what is called a " self made man" ; with but a limited education he won fame and fortune by the aid alone of a strong mind, an accurate judgment and resolute perseverance. He was a large man, physically as well as intellectually, being six feet five inches in height and weighing three hundred and seventy pounds, and yet he was one of the most expert trout fishers in the country, following the sport with delight to his last years, even as he had the chase with his rifle in his youthful days. He was always noted for his generous hospitality.
He died at Shelburne, Sept. 23, 1856, aged eighty-three. He was twice married, first in 1800 to Mary McNeil, who died while he was in Congress, and subsequently to Mrs. L. C. Clark who survived him. He was the father of ten children, only two of whom survived him, sons who lived in Shel- burne.
He joined the Methodist Episcopal church in 1833, and for the rest of his life was a very influential man in his conference.
MALLORY, ROLLIN CARLOS .- Rep- resentative in Congress from 1819 to 1831, and like Morrill in later years the chief framer and foremost advocate of the high tariff bill of his time, was born in Cheshire, Conn., May 27, 1784. He was graduated from Middlebury in 1805, studied law with Horatio Seymour at Middlebury, and Robert Temple at Rutland, and settled at Castleton in 1806, where he was preceptor of the acad- emy for a year, then was admitted to the bar
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in 1807 and practiced at Castleton till 1818, when he moved to Poultney.
He was secretary of the Governor and Council in 1807, 1809 to 1812, and 1815 to 1819 - ten years in all-was state's attorney for Rutland county, 1811-'13 and in 1816; was elected to Congress in 1818, serving for six terms until 1831, and becoming a leader among the protectionists. He was chair. man of the committee on manufactures that reported the tariff of 1828, the "tariff of ab ominations" as the Democrats called it, that led to South Carolina's act of nullification, and Jackson's energetic measures for the Union, though it was largely the reaction of the country against this tariff bill, which had been calculated to strengthen Adams' cause, that had made General Jackson President. Mr. Mallory therefore was one of the issue-mak- ing men of one of the most exciting epochs in our national history. He was a thorough believer in the principles of protection, like Governor Mckinley of our day, and it was a subject that grew on his hands. This tariff was projected at first in the interest of the woolen manufacturers but ended by includ- ing all the manufacturing interests. He was the leader of the House debate on it and ex- erted himself greatly to secure its passage. He was also prominent in the fight over the Missouri compromise which took place soon after his entrance into Congress and he opposed the admission of the state with its slave constitution.
But sudden death, at Baltimore, Md., April 15, 1831, cut short a career which promised to become one of continent-wide fame, and hardly second to that of his great compeers, Clay, Webster and Hayne, in the great economic struggle ushered in by the 1828 tariff.
Lanman says of him that " he was held in the highest estimation both for his public acts and his private virtues." He was a brother of Rev. Charles D. Mallory, D. D., the Baptist divine and founder of Mercer (Ga.) University.
That branch of the family has produced a number of distinguished men of the South.
KEYES, ELIAS .- Representative in Con- gress for one term, and a judge, and a coun- cilor in state affairs, a native of Ashford, Conn., was one of the first settlers of Stock- bridge, whither he came in 1784 or' 85. He represented the town sixteen years, 1793 to '97, 1798 to 1803, 1818, 1820 and 1823-'26, and was in the Governor's council fourteen years, from 1803 to 1818, except the one term of 1814; was assistant judge of the Windsor county court eight years, 1806-14, and chief judge two years more, 1815-17. He also served in the constitutional conven-
tion of 1814. He was in Congress from 1821 10 1823.
WHITE, PHINEAS. - Representative in Congress 1821-3, was a native of South Had- ley, Mass., where he was born Oct. 30, 1770. Graduating at Dartmouth in 1797, he studied law with Charles Marsh at Woodstock and Judge Samuel Porter at Dummerston and in 1800 began practice at Putney where he made his home the rest of his life. He represented the town in the Legislature in 1815-'20 ; was postmaster 1802-9 ; was state's attorney for the county in 1813 ; register of probate 1800 to 1809 ; judge of probate for several years afterward and chief judge of the county court from 1818 to 1820, or until his election to Congress. On his return from the latter service he abandoned his law prac. tice and devoted himself to farming on quite an extensive scale, but was frequently called to public duty, nevertheless. He was a mem- ber of the constitutional convention of 1836, and was a state senator in 1838-40. He was for several years president of the Ver- mont Bible and Vermont Colonization So- cieties, and was prominent in Masonry, being grand master of the Grand Lodge of the state. He was also one of the trustees of Middlebury College. He was a man of solid rather than brilliant abilities, always fulfilling faithfully and creditably the many positions of trust to which he was called. He died at Putney, July 6, 1847, at the age of seventy-six. His wife, who survived him for nine years, was Esther, daughter of Nehe- miah and Hepziba Stevens of Plainfield, Conn., and he married her July 5, 1801.
WALES, GEORGE E .- Judge, speaker of the lower house of the Legislature and four years in Congress, was born in West- minster May 13, 1792, studied law in the offices of Gen. Stephen R. Bradley at West- minster and Titus Hutchinson at Woodstock, was admitted to the Windsor county bar in 1812, and settled at Hartford that year. A man of brilliant parts, he rapidly rose to success and prominence. He was Hartford's representative in the Legislature in 1822, 1823 and 1824. He was in his first term elected speaker on the resignation of D. Azro A. Buck, and he was re-elected in 1823 and 1824, holding the position as long as he was in the House. A nomination to Congress followed these triumphs, and he was elected in 1825, and re-elected in 1829. But here he formed habits of dissipation that brought much criticism upon him and really wrecked his political career, though doubtless his prominence in Masonry, being grand master in 1825-'27, just as the wave of Anti-Masonry was beginning its sweep of the state, had more to do with it. At least
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it brought attack for things that would other- wise have passed without mention. Doubt- less also the attack and defeat aggravated the evil. After leaving Congress he located in different places in Windsor county, prac- ticing his profession, but finally returning to Hartford, where he was elected town clerk in 1840, and held the position until his death. He was elected judge of probate for the Hartford district in 1847, but held the office only three years. He was active in Masonry, beginning in 1812, he being one of the charter members of the lodge at Hartford.
Personally he was one of the most attrac- tive men we have had in public life ; accom- plished, eloquent, quick-witted, genial and large-hearted, ever drawing about him a coterie of friends and admirers.
He married in January, 1813, Miss Amanda Lathrop of Sharon, by whom he had seven children. He died at Hartford, Jan. 8, 1860.
ALLEN, HEMAN, of Milton-twice a representative, serving in all eight years, and one of the Whig leaders of his time, was born in Ashfield, Mass., within limits of what was anciently Deerfield, June 14, 1777, the son of Enoch Allen. His grandfather and several of his other ancestors were vic- tims of the different Indian raids upon that historic ground. On his mother's side he was descended from Elijah Belding, the first town clerk of Deerfield. His father died when he was only twelve years old, and a few years later the family, a widow and younger children came up to Grand Isle where two of their uncles had preceded them. Heman remained behind for a time and took a course of two years at the old academy of Chesterfield, N. H., then he followed to Grand Isle, pursuing his classi- .cal studies under Rev. Asa Lyon, and read- ing law with Elnathan Keyes at Burlington, and Judge Turner at Fairfield, until in 1803 he was admitted to the bar and opened practice at Milton. Though a modest and unassuming man, very diffident about ap- pearing in court, he within a few years secured a clientage that extended through Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle coun- ties, won a high reputation for the thorough- ness with which he prepared his cases, and as the best real estate lawyer in the circuit.
He represented Milton in the Legislature in 1810, and eleven years afterward between that time and 1826, whenever in fact he would be a candidate. He was Milton's earliest lawyer and a man whom the people there almost universally admired. He was several times a colleague of his namesake of Colchester in the Legislature, and he being a Federalist and the other just as warm a
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Democrat, they helped to keep things inter- esting. He was first nominated in 1826 for Congress and elected only after a close con- test, because his candidacy was entangled with that of Governor Van Ness for the Senate, so that he was suspected of being a " Jackson man " and partly because of a lack of understanding with the supporters of Benjamin Swift. He served only one term at this time because of these complications, but was again elected after a protracted con- test in 1832, and three times re-elected. He served on the Revolutionary claims commit- tee where he stood bravely and efficiently with Hiland Hall against the swindlers from Virginia. His lawyer-like habits of pains- taking care and thoroughness made his con- gressional service efficient. He was defeated for re-election in 1838 because of his vote for the neutrality bill proposed by President Van Buren against the insurrection which had broken out in Canada. Mr. Allen's district was a hot-bed of sympathy with the insur- rection and he understood fully the risk he took with this vote, but it was clearly right and even the entreaties of his friends to at least absent himself from the roll call could not shake his resolution to do his duty. The September election failed to give a majority for anybody and he peremptorily refused to stand for the second contest. It had been his idea from the first that the un- popularity he had incurred made it injudi- cious for his party to nominate him, but he yielded to the persuasions of his enthusiastic supporters in accepting. There was a move- ment afterward to make him the Whig can- didate for senator, but it failed. He was also offered the Whig nomination for Governor but declined it.
For the next four years he devoted him- self with all his energy to his professional practice, but died Dec. 11, 1844, after a lin- gering illness brought on by a cold contract- ed in the service of a client.
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