The history of Washington county, in the Vermont historical gazetteer:, Part 76

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890, [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt., Vermont watchman and state journal press
Number of Pages: 1066

USA > Vermont > Washington County > The history of Washington county, in the Vermont historical gazetteer: > Part 76

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His courtesy, too, to the younger mem- bers of the bar has become proverbial. For many years his position has been com- manding ; his opinion was therefore sought by those younger than himself. Who of us does not remember his forbearance and patience ?

Mr. Peck was slow in forming his opinions. Every loop-hole in a question was revolved over and over in his mind before any definite conclusion was an- nounced. A leading though homely maxim with him was, " Be sure you are right, and then go ahead !" He believed in the ad- vice of Polonius to his son :

Beware Of entrance to a quarrel; but, being in, Bear It, that the opposer may beware of thee.

He was peaceful in his habits, and for many years past has been more inclined to

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advise settlements than to bring suits. His friends were few, but as a general rule very select. These he bound to his heart with hooks of steel. In this connection I cannot refrain from speaking of his reti- cence. By those who did not know him well, this has been taken for coldness. But it was very far from that.

Mr. Peck was one of the most sensitive men I ever knew ; hence he was never ob- trusive. His sensibilities were delicate, and his apparent reserve was the result of a retiring modesty, rather than coldness of heart. He was, on the contrary, I confi- dently affirm, one of the kindest-hearted men I ever knew. If he did a favor, it was quite as apt to be behind your back as to your face. If he bestowed charity it was with no ostentation. If done at all, it was because it was proper and right; not because it might or might not be talked about.

I have already alluded to the force of habit upon him. When once the wheels were in the groove, it was difficult to get him out of it. I remember well when we moved into our new office, about 1860. Many a time have I known him to pass by to the old office, and never discover his error until he had got to the stairway or He never indulged in satire 'or sarcasm ;' ry. His kindness of heart forbid that he should wound the feelings of others. the door. It was many months before he at most, it could only be called a pleasant- felt at home in our new quarters, and I believe his old sign never came down from over the old office until within two years.

Mr. Peck never pressed a debtor; I never knew him to dun one, even. But, while he never troubled others, he was al- ways prompt in his engagements, and they were fulfilled with no quibbling, no mis- understandings. In short, he had a homely, old-fashioned honesty, and he was particularly attracted towards one who had the same. His dealings with other mem- bers of the bar were of the same character ; he was open, frank, straightforward, and he was never found in any different position to-day from what he was yesterday. Hence his word was a bond.

He delighted in the practice of the law, not so much in the contentions of the forum, as in the law as a science. His mind, whether in or out of court, was ever

dwelling upon it; he thought of nothing else, cared for nothing else. Here was his heart, and here was he also. He had a mind and temperament peculiarly adapted to the scientific investigation of legal prin- ciples. For his mind, being active and strong, gave him great power of analysis, and his temperament being slow and cau- tious, no conclusion was announced until the analysis was complete. His chief ex- cellence consisted in his power to separate and distinguish things essential from things of circumstance, and here he himself could only be his parallel .. His clear discrimina- tion easily penetrated the small clap-trap with which some lawyers attempt to con- ceal, rather than elucidate the truth, and having a clear understanding himself, he could make it clear to others also.

Mr. Peck was not a man of great gen- eral learning, or high scholarly culture ; his reading was generally, though not al- ways, confined to the leather-bound vol- umes of our office ; there he revelled in perfect contentment. And as each new volume was issued, he drank from the clear fountains of the law, and renewed again his acquaintance with old and familiar principles as applied to new cases.

He never ventured upon flights of im- agination or sketches of fancy. He con- sidered them as but small aids in the elu- cidation of truth, and when these arts were opposed to him, they faded away into the thin air of nothingness as he exposed their worthlessness. For want of these arts it has sometimes been said that he was not a great jury advocate. If by this is meant he was not brilliant in his conceptions, and swift and rapid in that kind of imagery which captivates the fancy and pushes the mind momentarily from its true balance, I agree to it, but if the art of good advocacy consists in convincing the understanding and riveting the mind upon the vital and centralizing points of a case, then, I think, he was a great jury advocate, and his great success in this regard is the best proof of

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the truth of it. It should always be re- membered that after the advocacy is over, comes the rigid, unbending charge of the court. The minds of the jury quickly re- gain their equanimity, and return to the pivotal points in the case.

But however this may be, his pre- eminence in the Supreme Court for more than twenty years has never been ques- tioned. It was remarked by Chief Justice Redfield, many years since, that he was the model lawyer of the State, and one of the most scholarly and appreciative of our present judges has often said that no man helped the court like Mr. Peck. The ex- pression is peculiarly appropriate ; for, to help the court implies ability and willing- ness on his part, and confidence and trust on theirs. When Mr. Peck arose, he stood, not the friend of his client alone, but also the friend of the court. Instantly they would lean forward to catch the meas- ured tones of his voice, as principle after principle was announced, constituting an unbroken chain of logical deduction, never diverging or diffuse, but ever aiming at a given result, and when the conclusion was reached, he always sat down. There was no repetition, no tautology.

His appearance here was always quiet ; his style of address conversational. With great deference on his part, he and the court seemed to be conferring together. He was recognized their equal, and he never abused the high compliment. Hence the weight of his character gave great force to his arguments. He was a man of few words, but they were spoken with great precision and measured accuracy.

In recent years I think he has not been accustomed to rely upon cases to any great extent. When a cause was to be argued, his first question was, what is right? and he never would fail to find some legal prin- ciple which would adapt itself to his view of the case. He never believed law was a code for the advancement of legalized trickery, but that in its proper administra- tion, it was co-extensive with the highest morality, and productive of the purest jus- tice.

With such a head and such a heart, Mr.

Peck practiced for 40 years in the courts of this State. True to his clients, true to the court, loved by the bar and respected by the public, he leaves behind him a reputa- tion whose lustre will illumine these altars of justice so long as the votaries of the law shall study it as a science, or practice it with fidelity. The future law student will find our reports full of the imprints of his masterly mind, and will read with unceas- ing delight those pages in which legal principles have been so moulded under his guiding hand as to adapt themselves justly to the ever-varying and changing circum- stances of life.

The barbarous conception of the poet, that

The evli that men do, lives after them ;

The good is oft Interred with their bones, will find no verification in his case.

His gentleness, his courtesy, and the noble qualities of his heart will be remem- bered by all of us who are living, and the monuments of his learning, spread all over our jurisprudence, will be remembered by those who come after us.

But, may it please the court, he is gone from us now ; his labors are over, his des- tiny accomplished. Placidly and calmly he has laid off the armor of life. The armor was battered and worn ; it had been through many a battle, for he had fought a good fight. Truthfully and appropriately may we apostrophize it,

Bruised pieces go Ye have been nobly borne!

Mr. Peck, said the Hon. Timothy P. Redfield on this occasion, was the veteran leader of this bar, and for more than a quarter of a century had stood among the foremost of his profession in the State.

He wasalso a model in courtesy and ur- banity in court. He loved and honored, but never, by a professional act, degraded the profession ; and his kindness and cour- tesy were extended alike to his brethren and the court. As a mere lawyer, it is not probable this bar will soon find again so perfect a model.

He was in attendance upon the last ses- sion of this court, in his usual health. At

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the General Term of the Supreme Court, in November, he had the responsible care of a large number of important cases, and it was observed that he exhibited more than his accustomed elasticity and vigor. A few days afterwards, while upon profes- sional business in the city of Lowell, Mass., he was suddenly stricken, and lingered, with the windows of his intellect darkened, until the 28th of December, when the light went out.

[Of the resolutions on his death, passed by the bar, we most admire :]

Resolved, That we respected him for a modesty that never assumed, and a cour- tesy that never gave offense ; we loved him for his honesty; we admired him for his learning ; and that in all these character- istics, so happily united, he has left us a rare example.

STODDARD BENHAM COLBY. BY HON. T. P. REDFIELD.

Stoddard Colby was the second son of Capt. Nehemiah Colby, born at Derby, Orleans County, Jan. 1816.

In 1829, he began fitting for college in the office of the late Judge Redfield, who had then commenced the practice of the law, in the little village of Derby Center, in which Capt. Colby was the chief citizen and actor.

Stoddard was an easy and ready scholar, and acquired language, especially, and its use, with great facility. Judge Redfield, fresh from college attainment, undulled by professional labors, was to young Colby a thorough teacher in the Greek and Latin languages. Colby entered the freshman class of Dartmouth College in the fall of 1832, and, in due course, graduated in the summer of 1836. He was among the few best scholars in the class; was, without question, elected one of the Phi Beta Kappa members from his class, which comprise the best recitation scholars, not exceeding one-third of the whole number in the class. He was a good recitation scholar in all de- partments ; but his special gifts were in the languages ; and as a ready writer and debater, he was among the best. After his graduation, he studied law in the office of the late Senator Upham, at Montpelier, and was admitted to the bar in Orleans

County, at the December term, 1838, and entered upon the practice of his profession at his old home in Derby Center. He was elected representative from the town of Derby in the year 1841, on the democratic ticket, although a large majority of the voters of Derby were, at that time, Whigs ; which shows that personally, Mr. Colby was highly esteemed by the citizens of his native town.

He practiced his profession at Derby with all the success in business that could be expected in the limited sphere in which he necessarily moved in that place. The first case he argued in the County Court was in behalf of his uncle, Dr. Moses F. Colby, in the famous suit, Nelson v. Colby, for malpractice as a surgeon in treating the fracture of the neck of the thigh bone of the plaintiff's wife. The theory of the plaintiff's case was that Dr. Colby had needlessly confined his patient in splints, till her health gave way, and she became insane, in consequence of the treatment, when, in fact, there had been no fracture. The surgeons of the plaintiff claimed that such a fracture could seldom be united, by a bony union, in persons of the patient's age ; and if so, with shortened limb, and imperfect motion, and that in Mrs. Nelson's case, there was no shortening of the limb ; " and perfect symmetry of motion."

Mattocks, Cushman, Bell, and the late Judge Smalley, giants in those days, were all engaged, and took part in the trial, and young Colby opened the argument to the jury, in the defence. By the argument he established a reputation as a good advocate, which followed and adhered to him for more than 20 years of his professional prac- tice in this State. He always used choice and beautiful language ; was facile in illus- tration, and in figures of speech, and ever ready in wit and sarcasm. His client after three jury trials was cast in that first suit ; and while the suit was pending on excep- tions, and petition for new trial in the Su- preme court, Mrs. Nelson died, and it was then ascertained that the limb had been fractured, and the fragments had united in a perfect bony union ; and the plaintiff dis- continued his case from the docket.

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Mr. Colby removed to Montpelier in 1846, and soon after formed a law partner- ship with the late Lucius B. Peck. The law firm of Peck & Colby was then a lead- ing firm in the important legal business of the State, and continued so till 1863, when it was dissolved, and Mr. Colby was made Register of the Treasury, and removed to Washington. He continued to hold this position in the Treasury until his death, in the fall of 1867. He died at Haverhill, N. H., and was buried in the beautiful cemetery on the highlands, near Haverhill Corner.

Mr. Colby was twice married. His first wife was Miss Harriet E. Proctor, the eldest sister of Gov. Proctor. She per- ished on the ill-fated steamer, Henry Clay, which was burned on the Hudson River. He afterwards married Miss Ellen Hunt, who survives him. By the first marriage he had four children, two of whom sur- vive ; and by the second marriage, two children.

He will be remembered by his intimate friends and acquaintances for his genial wit and fertile resource in conversation, and the rich-garnered treasury of story and anecdote.

But his reputation as a public man must rest, mainly, upon the character won in the varied and various tilts in the legal tournament, during the practice of a quar- ter of a century at the bar of Vermont. In that tournament, he was conceded to be one of the most brilliant advocates at the bar of his native State. He had no evil habit-no tarnish upon his good name ; was for many years a consistent member of the Protestant Episcopal church ; and died, seemingly, before his work was finished, at the age of 52.

SAMUEL GOSS,

our most venerable citizen, said the Watch- man, in a notice of his death, one who for his age, character, and fidelity as the ruler of his house, well-deserved the title of pa- triarch, died at Montpelier, Sabbath morn- ing,-Aug. 19, 1866-in his 90th year. He was born in Hollis, N. H., Nov. 1776; served an apprenticeship as printer with

Amos Farley and Rev. Leonard Worces- ter in the office of "Isiah Thomas, the father of printers," at Worcester, Mass., entering the office at the age of 15, and at 21, (says Col. Hopkins in a notice of Mr. Goss in the Boston Journal,) he went to Boston and purchased a second-hand press and other printing materials, to set up business for himself. Setting his face toward Vermont, he arrived with his scanty outfit at Peacham, on the 24th of Jan. 1798, and for want of better accom- modations, established his office in a small school-house, a building scarcely large enough, as he used to say, to seat 20 chil- dren, and 8 days afterwards, issued the first number of the Green Mountain Pat- riot, a paper which he edited and published 9 years, in company with Mr. Farley-firm Farley & Goss-when he removed his print- office to Montpelier," [see Walton, page 291,] and commenced the Vermont Watch- man. Selling the Watchman in 1810, to the late Gen. E. P. Walton and Mark Goss, (a younger brother,) both of whom were apprentices to Farley & Goss, he engaged in paper-making, which he continued for many years at Montpelier. Ardent in temperament, clear and strong in con- victions of duty, everything entered into he prosecuted with energy and zeal. In the church and Sabbath-school no one was more earnest and faithful. We think he has served more years in the Sabbath- school than anybody within our knowledge, unless it was his friend and brother in the church, the late Col. Asahel Washburn. Next best he loved his country, and from youth till he had reached almost a century of years, George Washington was his model of a statesman, with his announce- ment of whose death in his paper, appear- ed from his pen :

AN ODE, OCCASIONED BY THE DEATH OF GEN. GEORGE WASHINGTON,

DEC. II, 1799.

Why do these mournful accents flow, Why drops the unavailing tear, What dire event, what fatal blow, Which thus excites a pang severe ? In sad responses echoes through the skies, Columbia's Parent, Frlend and Savior dies!

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'Tis true, alas! too true, we mourn The exit of our Hero Chief;

While on celestial pinions borne He soars aloft o'er pain and grlef; Yet grateful millions will their loss deplore, Till time's extinct, and virtue is no more.

In him those charms that bind the heart, And tranquilize the human mind, Beam'd sweet cffulgence thro' that part, Which now is to the tomb consign'd. In scenes of joy, in days of gloomy strife, Benign and calm the Hero pass'd through life.

No monarch on hils shining throne Can, justly, equal honors claim ; His modest worth resplendent shone, Unrivall'd on the lists of fame. Nor Ilves the man, with grief Columbia cries, So good, so kind, so temp'rate and so wise.

O, could Columbia's deepest groan, Re-animate his slumb'ring clay,

No longer would affilction's moan Pervade a realm so lately gay.

But prayers, nor tears, nor virtuous deeds could save, Nor magic arts can raise him from the grave.

Then cease to mourn the great man's fate, Let Heaven's superior will be done; And future heroes imitate

The matchless deeds of Washington:

Who once our troops to splendid vict'ry led, Established peace, but now, alas, is dead.

Mr. Goss was a contributor to the Poets and Poetry of Vermont, revised edition.

During the years of the rebellion, his heart was with his country. It was a habit with him to visit the old "Watch- man" office, ever to him an endeared spot, twice a day to get the latest war news. " On one of his last visits, he submitted a patriotic poem," says the editor, " which was to have been published, but he took it back to make some changes in it, doubt- less, forgot it ; we now regret its loss." We think, perhaps, we have found the poem. The following, contributed by his daughter, was among his last, if not his last, poetical efforts :

FUGITIVE'S DIRECTORY-Impromptu. BY SAMUEL GOSS.

Old Gov. Wise Is all in a foam

Because his black cattle to Northern States roanı, And bids us poor Yankees to send them all back. Without e'en a bloodhound to scent out their track. But humanity says, no, let them rest here a while, And their fears of re-capture in slumbers beguile. But when they resolve to quit the straw as their bed, Just stuff their old pockets with dried beef and bread, And bid them go forward alone, in the night,

With the star in the north as their guide and their 11ght,

To degree 45 near the line of the State, And the beautiful plain of Canada East,

Where prudence suggests a permanent stand,

Quite removed from the lash of the slave-driver's hand. And here let them rest, and effectually prove,

The obvious fact-a pleasant remove.

Samuel Goss was one of the first per- sons with whom the Editor of the Gazetteer became acquainted in Montpelier. We have of him a special remembrance, and for him-as he was then in his fine, ripe old age-a special reverence. The few last years of his life he suffered much, it is recorded of him, from the infirmities of age, and prayed for patience to wait his change, and went gladly to his rest. He was buried with Masonic honors, from the residence of his son-in-law, Hon. O. H. Smith, in Green Mount Cemetery, in the spot selected by himself, almost side by side with his ancient colleague and pupil, Farley and Walton.

For 60 years he had been a worthy and prominent citizen of the place. "His life has extended over three generations of men," said the Rev. Dr. Lord in his funeral discourse, "and he was ever one of the first in all excellent enterprises and institutions, and one of the last to withdraw his hand. He began life for himself in Peacham, about the close of the last century. He established in that place a paper which he published and edited, doing all the work with his own hands for several years. He was a nervous and vig- orous prose writer, and often enriched his columns with poetic effusions of no mean merit. When he removed to this town, it was in its infancy. He brought with him his press and his paper, and the developed energies of a confident, earnest, self- reliant Christian man. He conducted his paper, as its early copies will show, with a marked ability. He held a sharp and trenchant pen, never forgetful of Christian principles and Christian charity, however, but the faithful index of a clear, acute, active and intense perception.

Long after he was 70 years of age, he was wont to labor with his hands through the whole day, and in the evening give him- self to some Christian work, or while away time with his book or his pen. But how- ever much he was interested in all public affairs, I think he most of all delighted in the welfare and upholding of the church. He was one of the seventeen who organ- ized and constituted the first Congregational

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church in this town. He was the first clerk, and its records were kept by his hand and attested by his name. No name, unless it be the pastor's, appears there so often as his. There was no trying duty of his profession he ever sought to avoid, and no fitting and beneficent work he did not eagerly perform. A teacher in the Sabbath-school for 35 years, his name was always fragrant in it like ointment poured forth."

Of the 17 original members of the Con- gregational church, he was the last sur- vivor but one.

Samuel Goss was the son of John and Catherine (Conant) Goss, the second of Io children, the eldest being John, Jr. Samuel Goss married, June, 1803, Mary French, born Oct. 1784; children : Wm. A., Benjamin F., Mary, Mary W., Eliza, Samuel P., Lydia French, Lucy A., John, and Samuel French. Mrs. Goss died Oct. 27, 1861. Of the children, only two are living, Mrs. O. H. Smith, of Montpelier, and Samuel F. Goss,'of Chicago.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN GOSS, son of Samuel, born in Peacham, 1806, brought to Montpelier in 1808, was brought up in this town, and prepared for business in the store of Roger Hubbard, (now deceased.) He went from here to Northfield, and was several years in successful business con- nection with Gov. Paine; from thence to Waterbury, Brandon and Vergennes, where as elsewhere, he was an energetic man of business, and zealous in benevolent and religious enterprises. He died in Ver- gennes in 1878. His disease, of the brain, had the peculiarity to bring out viv- idly, almost to the exclusion of his bodily sufferings, his early boyhood, the lessons of his parents and the Sabbath-school. Hour after hour, he would repeat from the Scriptures and hymns of youth, at the same time recognizing every attention. He was exceedingly courteous and grateful to his attendants during his long 5 months' illness, withal as vivacious and cheerful as in his most fortunate days. It was sad to see mind and body slowly, but surely wasting away, but comforting to see he recognized no sorrow, He was buried in

the family lot in Montpelier Green Mount Cemetery.

Mrs. LUCY A. (Goss) COBB, the young- est daughter of Samuel Goss, died in Kal- amazoo, Mich., 1879, of whom the local paper speaks as a most estimable woman.

HON. ORAMEL HOPKINS SMITH

was born in Thetford, Oct. 1798, came to Montpelier about 1830 ; studied law in the office of Judge Prentiss, admitted to the Bar in 1825, and remained in Judge Pren- tiss' office 2 years after. In his earlier professional years, he repeatedly served as assistant clerk in the House of Repre- sentatives ; was State's attorney 3 years, ending in 1844; justice of the peace 25 successive years ; 40 years a constant at- tendant upon the services of the Congre- gational church in this village, and during a quarter of a century led its choir. Of his professional ability, the fact that his name appears in the court records for 25 years preceding 1860, as counsel in nearly all the cases of those days, is conclusive proof.

July, 1860, at White River Junction, arising at midnight in the hotel, without a light, to take a train north, he stumbled against a piece of furniture and fell, strik- ing a wardrobe on the back of his neck. Every physical power from his neck down- wards was instantly paralyzed, but his vocal organs and every faculty of the mind re- mained in active play. To Dr. Dixi Crosby's remark that he had about one chance in one hundred for recovery, he promptly replied, " I'll take that chance !" In the course of a year, his will power and wonderful vitality so far triumphed, he re- sumed practice in his office as a counsellor, though his right side remained perma- nently paralyzed, and for 18 years longer, under difficulties that would have appalled a less resolute man, plied his profession with energy and industry. Late at night, the light shining from his office window, on the second floor of the building at the corner of Main and State streets, frequently told of the old painstaking faithfulness triumphing over his infirmities.

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The history of Washington county, in the Vermont historical gazetteer:, Part 76

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890, [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Montpelier, Vt., Vermont watchman and state journal press Number of Pages: 1066

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890, [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt., Vermont watchman and state journal press
Number of Pages: 1066