THE EARLY BAR

      The Vermont Register for 1812 gives the names of eight "practicing attorneys" in Jefferson county. To these should be added two names to complete the list of lawyers in the county at that date, James FISK and Cyrus WARE. Mr. FISK was in Congress and out of practice, and Mr. WARE was a Judge of Caledonia County Court when the new county was established, and he had at once cases on the docket, so his name should have appeared in the list.

      In the space allowed and the time at command it is impossible to give individual members of the bar such sketches as they deserve. And it will be found that many of the most prominent lawyers of the county have little space given them -- in many cases for the reason that quite full accounts of them are elsewhere extant, and that it has been thought better to use these pages for material that is for the most part not already in print. Reference will be made to Hemenway's Gazetteer of Vermont as Hemenway, to Thompson's History of Montpelier as Thompson, to Mr. Baldwin's very praiseworthy History of the Orleans County Bar as Baldwin, and to Gov. Farnham's very useful work in Child's Gazetteer of Orange County.

      Charles BULKELEY, of Montpelier and Berlin, was the first lawyer to settle in Washington county. He lived in Montpelier at least as early as April 8, 1797, as he is described in a deed of that date as of Montpelier; and he had not moved into Berlin as late as December 10, 1798, but probably did so soon after, and he there remained till his death, April 25, 1836, at the age of seventy-two. He was a native of Colchester, Conn.

      He was state's attorney (Berlin then being in Orange county) in 1800, 1801, and 1802; and was chief Judge of Jefferson county from December 1, 1813, to December 1, 1814, as heretofore stated. He was one of the trustees of the Montpelier Academy when it was incorporated, November 9, 1800, and I take it that Sally BULKELEY, who attended that school when J. Y. VAIL taught it in the winter of 1807-08, was his daughter, and from the place her name occurs in the list that she was then quite a girl. Judge BULKELEY ceased the practice of the law the last ten years of his life. When living in Montpelier he occupied the FRYE house, the third built in town, on the west side of Main street; near the arch bridge, and his house in Berlin was about a dozen rods above that bridge. He was a respected citizen, and at his death gave liberally of his considerable property for public purposes. Very likely Sally was dead before that time. Mr. and Mrs. BULKELEY left an unfortunate son named Frank, who was a well-known character for years in all this region. Frank was harmless and used to go upon the run -- his main pursuit being pushing over decayed "stubs" in the woods. He sometimes varied the exercises, though, and was once discovered setting adrift a Bible on a board in the Winooski. Inquired of as to what he was doing, he explained: " 'Spect, s'pose, pretty likely, sendin' the word o' God, t' the heathen down to Burlington, on a shingle."

      James FISK, of Barre, came into that town about 1796, according to some accounts, but probably not till 1798. He was not then a lawyer, and Cyrus WARE and Samuel PRENTISS were in Montpelier before FISK was admitted to the bar. Mr. FISK was born in Greenwich, Mass., October 4, 1763. He served in the Revolution three years, married Priscilla WEST, who died August 19, 1840, served a term in the Massachusetts legislature, and soon began to preach as a Universalist minister. He moved to Barre, probably in 1798, and began clearing a farm, preaching occasionally. He was, in 1802, elected assistant Judge of Orange County Court, and admitted to the bar of that county June 21, 1803. He represented Barre several years, beginning in 1800, and was a member of Congress from March 4, 1805, to March 4, 1809, and again from March 4, 1811, to March 4, 1815. He was chief Judge of Orange County Court in 1809, and again represented that town in 1809, 1810l and 1815. He was nominated by President Madison in 1812 as Judge of Indiana Territory, and was confirmed, but declined to serve. In 1815 and 1816 he was a Judge of the Supreme Court, and in 1817 and 11818 was United States Senator, but resigned to accept the collectorship of Vermont, which he held from 1818 to 1826. He was a personal friend of President Monroe, and delivered an address of welcome to him at Montpelier, July 24, 1817. In January, 1819, he moved from Barre to Swanton, where he lived till his death, November 17, 1844.

      He is said to have been kind and genial, and not to have sought the positions of trust which he held. Thompson describes him as "small-sized, keen eyed, ready-witted, and really talented," when he saw him at the Montpelier meeting of February, 1812, to attend which Mr. FISK had come from Washington "to act as the champion speaker of the Democrats."

      CYRUS WARE, of Montpelier, was the second lawyer to settle in the county, for though Mr. FISK had moved in a year or more before him it was as a farmer and preacher that he came. Mr. Ware was born in Wrentham, Mass., May 8, 1769. His father died when Cyrus was three years old, and when he was fourteen he came to Hartford, Vt., and learned blacksmithing. After he was twenty-one he studied law with Charles MARSH, of Woodstock, and Jacob SMITH, of Royalton, was admitted in 1799 to the Windsor County bar, and came at once to Montpelier. He represented the town from 1805 to 1809, and it was through his influence and that of David WING, Jr., then secretary of state, that the act of 1805, making Montpelier the state capital, was passed. He was chief Judge of Caledonia county from December 1, 1808, to December 1, 1811. He was a man of good ability, and might have risen to higher places had it not been for his social disposition and the customs of the time. He was in his later life the trial justice of the town, and it was he who held MORRICEY, in 1836, for trial for the murder of CORRIGAN. Thompson says he was a philosopher and the most perfectly original character of Montpelier in thought, words, and ways, and that his shrewd observations, and quaint and witty sayings, were more quoted than those of any other man in this section. He denied that he was poor, for he put a round valuation on his children and thanked Heaven he had them on hand. He died February 17, 1849. He married Patty WHEELER, of Barre, May 26, 1803, and of their six children, Mary, the youngest, is now living in Montpelier, the wife of Joel FOSTER.

      Samuel PRENTISS, of Montpelier, when he came to Montpelier, and for many years after, was Samuel PRENTISS, Jr., his father, Dr. Samuel PRENTISS, being in the practice of medicine in Northfield, Mass. Young Samuel was born in Stonington, Conn., March 31, 1782; the next year his father went to Worcester, Mass., and about 1786 to Northfield, Mass., where Samuel went to school, and where he studied the classics with Rev. Samuel C. ALLEN. At nineteen he entered the law office of Samuel VOSE, and soon left there and went into the office of John W. BLAKE, of Brattleboro, and was, in December, 1802, admitted to Windham County bar.

      He came to Montpelier and opened an office in May, 1803. He married Lucretia HOUGHTON, daughter of Edward HOUGHTON, of Northfield, Mass., October 3, 1804. She was born March 6, 1786, and died June 15, 1855, nineteen months before her husband, who died January 15, 1857.

      They had twelve children, of whom two died in infancy (Augustus, their tenth child, born February 16, 1822, and died May 19, 1822; and Lucretia, their eleventh child, born June 13, 1823, and died July 23, 1823). Of the ten sons who reached manhood, nine were lawyers. The remaining son (their third child, Edward HOUGHTON, born December 28, 1808) was a druggist, but May 21, 1842, was appointed clerk of the District Court for Vermont, and held the position till September 20, 1859. Edward H. married Laura H. DOANE, April 10, 1831. He moved to Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1866. Of the seven children of Edward H., two, Charles C. and Samuel F. (who will be remembered by the members of the 2d Vermont Brigade as an aide on the staffs of Gens. STOUGHTON and STANNARD), are now law partners in New York city.

      As several of the nine sons of Judge PRENTISS, who became lawyers, were mot admitted in Washington county, I have thought best to give notices of this "Montpelier nine" here, and not in the order of their admission. More full accounts of them will be found in Binney's Genealogy of the Prentiss Family, and of Charles W., John H., and Henry F. in Baldwin's Orleans County Bar. The children of Judge Samuel PRENTISS and Lucretia Houghton PRENTISS were:

      Samuel Prentiss was in the full practice of the law when Washington county was formed, and so continued for the next fourteen years. In politics he was in early days a Federalist and afterwards a Whig. In 1822 he declined an election as Judge of the Supreme Court, and it is said that his reason was a modest distrust of his own ability to perform the duties, a distrust shared by no one else. In 1824 and 1825 he represented his town, and in 1825 became a member of the Supreme Court and in 1829 chief Judge of that court. In 1830 he was elected to the United States Senate and re-elected in 1836. In 1842 he was appointed Judge of the United States District Court for Vermont, and was Judge of that court until he died.

      E.J. PHELPS, late Minister to England, in his address in 1882 upon Judge PRENTISS, refers approvingly to Chancellor KENT's declaration that he regarded Judge PRENTISS, although Judge STORY was then living, as the best jurist in New England. Mr. PHELPS says of the last time he saw him on the bench

    "He was as charming to look at as a beautiful woman, old as he was. His hair was snow white, his eyes had a gentleness of expression that no painter could do justice to; his face carried on every line of it the impression of thought, of study, of culture, and complete attainment. His cheek had the glow of youth. His figure was as erect and almost as slender as that of a young man's. His whole fine attire, the snowy ruffle and white cravat, the black velvet waistcoat, and the blue coat with brass buttons was complete in its neatness and elegance, and the graciousness of his presence, so gentle, so courteous, so dignified, so kindly, was like a benediction to those who came unto him."

      Of Mrs. PRENTISS, Thompson says that "she was one of earth's angels"; and Rev. Dr. LORD that she was "of remarkable sweetness and gentleness of disposition. She never forgot a favor. She never remembered an injury. The one never escaped her acknowledgment and gratitude; the other never stirred her spirit." Of her Judge PRENTISS said, after her death, that in all his married life of more that fifty years he had never known or heard of an instance in which she had spoken an unkind word or lost the perfect control of her temper.

      Rare lives, those of the Judge and his wife, but not lived without a struggle! Mr. PRENTISS, "inheriting from his father existence and poverty," had not the stolid nature that goes its way untouched by temptation. As he neared middle life he became intemperate." Mrs. Prentiss was very judicious." She Judged him not, and her presence and her voice shielded him:

      The influence of her daily life at last triumphed and the good husband was regained to and by the good wife. His restoration to mastery over himself, once returned, was never lost. It came some years before his public career began. And all through the after years that brought honors to him, honors that he worthily bore, his neighbors saw in the wife his "guardian angel" who had made the wearing of those honors possible, and who had preserved him to be the statesman and the Judge.

      Dan CARPENTER, of Waterbury, son of Simeon CARPENTER and Anna BURTON, was born November 21, 1776, in Norwich, Vt.; was admitted to Windsor County bar in the spring of 1804, and the following summer settled in Waterbury. He was the fifth lawyer to come into this county. He was married at Norwich, January 27, 1805, to Betsey PARTRIDGE. They had eight children, one of whom still survives, the wife of ex-Gov. DILLINGHAM.

      Mr. CARPENTER was tall, lithe, and graceful; a gentleman of the old school. He represented his town some ten years, and beginning with 1827 was first assistant Judge of the County Court for eight years. He was also for many years a merchant. In 1823 Paul DILLINGHAM, Jr., became his law partner, and in 1827 Mr. CARPENTER retired from practice. He died December 2, 1852.

      Jeduthun LOOMIS, of Montpelier, was the sixth lawyer in the county. He was born in Tolland, Conn., January 5, 1779. He studied law with Oramel HINCKLEY, of Thetford, Vt., and after admission to the bar came to Montpelier, Thompson says in 1805; he was certainly here in 1806, as December 6, 1806, he was summoned by the constable to depart the town. Many like hospitable invitations to depart are on record, one having been served on J. Y. VAIL, Nicholas BAYLIES, Timothy MERRILL, and others at a later date. It was the custom in those days to "warn out" all new comers; the voters wanted immigrants to settle, but were not anxious they should "gain a settlement." Mr. LOOMIS married Hannah HINCKLEY, of Thetford, March 11, 1807; she died December 24, 1813, and October 10, 1814, he married Charity SCOTT, of Peacham, who died June 13, 1821, and October 8, 1822, he married Sophia BRIGHAM, of Salem, Mass., who died in 1855. In 1820 he was elected Judge of probate and served ten years. He was a tall, dark man, of grave countenance, "rather set," Thompson says, but at heart charitable and of known good motives. He died November 12, 1843.

      Charles LOOMIS, the son of Judge-LOOMIS by his third wife, studied law and was admitted to Washington County bar, September term, 1853. He went very soon to Cincinnati, where he was living in 1860, and has since died.

      Denison SMITH, of Barre, the seventh lawyer in the county, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1805, and was admitted to Orange County bar at its December term, 1808, and settled about that time in Barre. He was the son of Joseph and Ruth SMITH, and was born at Plainfield, N. H., January 8, 1784, and died at Barre, February 8, 1836. He was one year chief Judge of the County Court, and was six years state's attorney. He had a good practice and was a sound lawyer. He married Fannie KIMBALL, of Cornish, N. H.

      Denison Kimball SMITH, their son, was born at South Barre, October 16, 1822; read law, was admitted to the Washington County bar, November term, 1847, the same term that Matt CARPENTER was admitted. He began practice in Barre in 1847, was state's attorney about 1858, and died March 4, 186o. He married Maria B. FOLLETT, June 24, 1854.

      Timothy MERRILL, the eighth lawyer of the county, was born in Farmington, Conn., March 26, 1781, and when of age went to Bennington, where his brother, Orsamus C. MERRILL, was practicing law. He read law, was admitted, and then went to Rutland, where he began practice with Robert TEMPLE. He came to Montpelier in 1809 and opened an office. He was the first state's attorney of the new county and held that office in all nine years, longer than any other man. In 1811 and 1812 he represented Montpelier. He was seven years engrossing clerk of the General Assembly and nine years clerk of the House of Representatives. In 1831 he was elected secretary of state and held that office until his death in 1836. In 1812 he married Clara FASSETT, of Bennington. They had five children, a son who died in infancy; Ferrand F.; Edwin S.; Clara Augusta; and Timothy R., who was for ten years Judge of probate and has for many years been and now is town clerk of Montpelier. Mr. MERRILL was a sound lawyer, and had the confidence of the community as the early dockets show, and as the fact that such men as Gov. VAN NESS sent their business to him testifies. His fellow citizens kept him in public life, and that they did not send him to Washington was owing to his own reluctance to undertake that service. He advised settlements rather than litigation, and partly as the result of this, and partly because his political service took his time-from his profession, he had not attained such financial success as he thought would permit him to undertake service in the National legislature. He therefore declined to have his name used when the prospects of an election to the United States Senate were very flattering, had he consented.

      Ferrand Fassett MERRILL, son of Timothy and Clara, was born in Montpelier, October 24, 1814. He read law and was admitted to Washington County bar, November term, 1836. He was clerk of the House of Representatives from 1838 to 1849, and was secretary of state from 1849 to 1853. He represented Montpelier in 1856 and 1857, and the latter year had the responsibility of conducting "the State House fight," in which he was opposed by George F. EDMUNDS among others. Mr. MERRILL possessed marked ability as a lawyer and as a legislator. He was both scholarly and practical. He died of apoplexy, May 2, 1859, in the noon of his life, and when its afternoon promised to be one of domestic happiness, of high professional success, and of increased public honors. He married Eliza Maria WRIGHT, who with three children, one son and two daughters, survived him.

      Chester Wright MERRILL, son of Ferrand F. and grandson of Timothy MERRILL, was born in Montpelier, April 23, 1846. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1866; read law and was admitted to the Washington County bar at the September term, 1870. He soon afterwards went to Cincinnati, where he for many years held the important position of librarian of the Cincinnati Public Literary. He now lives in Cincinnati in the practice of his profession.

      Joshua Youngs VAIL, of Montpelier, was the son of Abraham and Betty (LEE) VAIL, and was born in Pomfret, Vt., August 30, 1784. I think he came to Montpelier to live before Timothy MERRILL did, but that he was not admitted to the bar until after Mr. MERRILL had opened an office in Montpelier. Mr. VAIL graduated at Middlebury College, August 17, 1808. He taught Montpelier Academy the winter preceding his graduation, and I have his manuscript copy of the "Conditions of the Academy School"; they are as follows:
 
 
 

“Conditions of the Academy School, beginning on Thursday the 17th of Decbr., 1807. "Tuition, for reading and writing, ten shillings and sixpence, and for arithmetic, grammar, and other english studies, two dollars per quarter, each scholar to be charged 3 shillings for fire wood. For those who study the languages 3 dollars per quarter & not to be charged for wood. "The strictest attention will be paid to the instruction of the pupils. Should the school be so much crowded as to make it necessary to refuse any the smallest must be excluded. "The above conditions are the same as established by the board of trustees. Montpelier, Decbr. 15, 1807. " JOSHUA Y. VAIL, Preceptor."

      I have, also, kindly furnished me by Mrs. H. H. DEMING, his daughter, his list of scholars for that term which began December 17, 1807, and closed March 1808. On this paper, in a list of "lads" who studied reading and writing, the first name is that of Elisha P. JEWETT, who came to Montpelier in February, 1807, and now lives here at the age of nearly eighty-eight years, hale, hearty, active, and bright. I met him on the street to day and ire told me the history of Samuel Prentiss's first election as representative for Montpelier in 1824.

      J.Y. VAIL, when the county was organized, had been admitted to the bar and was a partner of Judge PRENTISS. I think he settled in Montpelier immediately after graduation. His and Mary TUTHILL's intention of marriage was published December 31, 1809, and they were married by Rev. Chester WRIGHT, January 27, 1810. She was a sister of Abraham G. D. TUTHILL, a portrait painter, who was a pupil of Benjamin WEST. They had nine children, two of whom are now living in Montpelier: Oscar John Tuthill VAIL, born March 7, 1824, and Laura Davis VAIL, wife of H. H. DEMING, Esq. Joshua Y. VAIL was clerk of the court, beginning in 1819, for about twenty years. He was the first secretary and treasurer of the Vermont Mutual Fire Insurance Company, which early had its office in a small building which now stands back of Mr. DEMING's house, and which had formerly been Mr. VAIL's law office, on the site of the Ballou bulding near the bridge, but which, in the flood of July 27, 1830, floated off and landed near the present Central depot, whence it was drawn to the lot where it now stands. Mr. VAIL died of lung fever, April 3, 1854.

      Jackson Abram VAIL, son of J. Y., was born February 25, 1815, and died April 15, 1871. He married Abbie G. LANGDON, October 2, 1837, and after her death married Sarah ANGIER. His daughter Helen M. married William H. BLAKE, of Swanton, and his daughter Sarah A. married Homer W. VAIL, of Pomfret. J. A. VAIL was admitted to Washington County bar, April term, 1837. He was a brilliant lawyer, but his habits were such that he threw away his great opportunities. He was greatly interested in the Canadian Rebellion of 1837. He represented Montpelier in 1849 and 1850. He was as near a genius as any man who ever practiced at the Washington County bar, and when he was himself was the equal in the court-room of any man who appeared there in his day.

      Nicholas BAYLIES, of Montpelier, son of Deacon Nicholas BAYLIES, of Uxbridge, Mass., was born in Uxbridge, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1794, read law with Charles MARSH, of Woodstock, was admitted to the bar, and practiced in Woodstock a number of years. He moved from Woodstock to Montpelier in 1809 (not in 1810 as stated in all printed notices that I have seen), for his family was in Woodstock April 9 of that year, and he was "warned out" of Montpelier the 15th of November following. He was a scholarly man and was the author of a 3-vol. "Digested Index to the Modern Reports," published at Montpelier in 1814, which received the approval of James KENT and Judge PARKER. The "proprietors" of this book were Nicholas BAYLIES, Samuel PRENTISS, Jr., and James H. LANGDON. Mr. BAYLIES also published a theological work on free agency. He was elected state's attorney in 1813, 1814, and 1825, and a Judge of the Supreme Court in 1831, 1832, and 1833. He removed to Lyndon about 1835, where he lived with his son-in-law, George C. CAHOON, and practiced law till his death, August 17, 1847. He was buried in Montpelier, August 22, 1847. Mr. BAYLIES was probably seventy-nine years of age at his death, though some authorities make him eighty-two and others only seventy-five. He argued a case in the Supreme Court here but a few months before his death. He married Mary RIPLEY, daughter of Prof. Sylvanus RIPLEY and granddaughter of President Eleazer WHEELOCK. She was a sister of Gen. Eleazer Wheelock RIPLEY, who commanded at Lundy's Lane after SCOTT was wounded. Mr. BAYLIES's only daughter, Mary Ripley BAYLIES, married George C. CAHOON, of Lyndon, October 27, 1825. His son, Horatio N. BAYLIES, was long a merchant in Montpelier and died in Louisiana. Another son was a lawyer of whom I am enabled, by a letter from Ripley N. BAYLIES, to give the following notice: --

      Nicholas BAYLIES, Jr., of Montpelier, son of Judge BAYLIES, was born at Woodstock, April 9, 1809; fitted for college at Montpelier and at Fryeburgh, Maine; graduated from the University of Vermont in 1827, studied law in Montpelier, and was admitted to the bar in 1829. I do not find the record of this admission, but do find that he was admitted to the Supreme Court bar of this county, March term, 1832. He went, in the fall of 1829, to New York city, and studied further with Joseph BLUNT until the summer of 1830, when, under the advice of his physician, he returned to Vermont. He practiced in Johnson about a year, and then came to Montpelier and went into partnership with J. P. MILLER. In 1833 he ccompanied his brother to Southern Brazil, but returned in 1834, and resumed practice in Montpelier till the fall of 1836, when he went to Washington, where he met his uncle, Gen. E. W. RIPLEY, then a member of Congress from Louisiana. Acting on his uncle's advice he went to Louisiana and located at Greensburgh in St. Helena Parish. He was elected a member of the Louisiana legislature in 1840 and 1842. In 1842 he married Harriet CAHOON, daughter of Hon. William CAHOON, of Lyndon, Vt. From 1843 he was for ten years either district attorney or district Judge of the Eighth Judicial District of Louisiana. In 1853 he moved to Greggsville, Ill., and in 1858 to Polk county, Iowa, having, bought lands near Des Moines. He was elected a member of the Iowa legislature in 1863. In August, 1885, he and his wife were living in Des Moines, and their eight children were also all living.

      Ripley N. BAYLIES, son of Nicholas, Jr., furnished me with the above information as to his father, and was himself, in August, 1885, a lawyer practicing in Des Moines, Iowa.

      Roger Griswold BULKLEY, sometime of Montpelier, Duxbury, and Moretown, had cases on the docket of Jefferson county at its organization, and, had before that lived in Montpelier though he then resided in Williamstown. He was born in Colchester, Conn., May 6, 1786, studied for a time at Yale, and began studying law in Connecticut; in 1806 or 180 he came to Montpelier and studied with his uncle, Charles BULKELEY. He was admitted to Orleans County bar, August 8, 1809; the same year he married a Miss. TAYLOR, daughter of Daniel TAYLOR, of Berlin, and began practicing in Williamstown. He enlisted and served throughout the War of 1812, and after the war lived in Washington till 1817, when he moved to a farm in Duxbury, near Moretown village. His name appears in the Registers as a lawyer in Duxbury as late as 1845, and as a lawyer in Moretown from 1851 to 1869. He lived in Moretown village for the last twenty-five or thirty years of his life, and died there February 2, 1872. Harry BULKLEY and George BULKLEY are his sons.

      Stephen FREEMAN, of Barre, was the first attorney to be admitted in the new county. On the docket of the June term, 1812, is this record: "At this term of the court Stephen FREEMAN, of Barre, in the county of Jefferson, was, duly admitted and sworn as an attorney before this court. Attest, George RICH, Clerk." Mr. FREEMAN's name appears in the Registers as a practicing attorney in Barre till 1832. He, at one time, had something of a practice, but Denison SMITH, Newell KINSMAN, and L. B. PECK were too fast legal company for him to keep up with, and the last years of his life he was largely employed as a trial justice.

      Guy J. A. HOLDING, of Waterbury, was admitted at the December term, 1812. He was in Montpelier November 15, 1809, for on that day he was "warned out" in company with Nicholas BAYLIES, Timothy MERRILL, and others. He was also in Montpelier September 8, 1811, for on that day the intention of marriage of himself and Clarissa JONES, of Richmond, was published. His name appears in the Registers as a practicing attorney in Waterbury as late as 1815

      William UPHAM, of Montpelier, was admitted to the Jefferson County bar, December term, 1812. He was born in Leicester, Mass., August 5, 1792, His father settled on a farm near Montpelier Center in 1802. William, when about fifteen years old, lost his right hand by getting it crushed in the machinery of a cider-mill. So he went to the academy in Montpelier and studied Latin and Greek with Rev. James HOBART, of Berlin, awhile. About 1809 he began studying law with Mr. PRENTISS, and after his admission to the bar practiced in company with Mr. BAYLIES, and afterwards alone. He was town representative in 1827, 1828, and 1830, and was elected state's attorney in 1829. He was a famous jury lawyer and a man of very bright intellect and eloquent speech. He stumped the state for Harrison in 1840, and in 1842 was elected to the United States Senate, of which he was a member from March 4, 1843, to January 14, 1853, when he died of small-pox in Washington after a ten days' illness. He married Sarah KEYES, who was born in Ashford, Conn., and was a sister of Mrs. Thomas BROOKS, of Montpelier, the grandmother of Daniel BROOKS, of the Vermont Brigade. Their children were William K., Charles C., and Sarah Summer, wife of George LANGDON, all now deceased; and Mary Annette, their youngest daughter, now living in Montpelier.

      William Keyes UPHAM, oldest son of the Senator, was born in Montpelier, April 3, 1817, studied law and began practice in Montpelier in 1838, and was there admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court at its March term, 1841; and about 1845 moved to Ohio, where he died March 22, 1865. He attained a high position in the profession in Ohio.

      Hemenway's Gazetteer says there was a lawyer by the name of Charles ROBY in Plainfield for a short time about 1812. I find nothing to sustain this statement. Whether ROBY was a reality, or a myth as I found one "Charles ROBBINS" to be, I do not know.

      Thomas HEALD, of Waitsfield and Montpelier, was admitted to the Jefferson County bar, December term, 1813. He was a son of Col. Thomas and Sibyl HEALD, and was born at New Ipswich, N. H., March 31, 1768, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1794. He read law with Jonathan FAY, of Concord, Mass., and became a lieutenant in the United States army in 1798. When Nicholas BAYLIES was practicing in Windsor county I find from Dana's History of Woodstock that there was a lawyer by the name of HEALD at that bar; whether he was BAYLIES's classmate, Thomas HEALD, or not, I do not know. Thomas HEALD practiced in Waitsfield from 1813 to 1817, when he moved to Montpelier, and in 1818 moved to Alabama, where he died at Blakely, in July, 1821. He married Betsey, daughter of Jonathan LOCKE, of Ashbury, Mass., in December, 1800.

      George WHEELER, of Montpelier, was admitted at the December term, 1813; but I have no further information concerning him.

      James LYNDE, of Montpelier, was also admitted at the December term, 1813. He was a son of Cornelius and Rebecca (DAVIS) LYNDE, and was born at Williamstown, April 21, 1791. He was an older brother of Hon. John LYNDE still living in Williamstown. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1810 and studied law with Judge PRENTISS. He was practicing law here in 1817, and moved to Williamstown and went into practice there in 1818. He died in Williamstown, June 25, 1834, unmarried.

      I find on the records of December term, 1813, "Mr. Elijah BLAISDELL entered as a clerk in Mr. J. LOOMIS's office for two and a half years from this December term, 1813"; also, "Mr. Henry F. JANES entered as a clerk in the office of J. Y. VAIL, Esq., September, 1813"; also, "Mr. Alanson ALLEN entered a clerk in the office of Joshua Y. VAIL, December 1, 1813." I find nothing further about Alanson ALLEN except that he with JANES went with the military company to Burlington at the time of the battle of Plattsburgh.

      Charles ROBINSON, of Barre, who was admitted to the Supreme Court in this county in 1821, was from 1814 to 1833 a practicing attorney in Barre according to the Registers. Where he was admitted originally I do not know. Perhaps he was living in Plainfield before he went to Barre, and that the name "Charles ROBY," given in Hemenway as that of a lawyer in Plainfield about 1812, is a mistake, and that the name should be ROBINSON.

      Elijah BLAISDELL studied law in Montpelier and was admitted at the December term, 1813. He was born in Canaan, N. H., October 30, 1782, son of Hon. Daniel BLAISDELL. Soon after being admitted he returned to Canaan and later became the Hon. Elijah BLAISDELL, of that place and of Pittsfield, N. H. In politics he was a Federalist, and later a Jacksonian Democrat.

      Joseph SMITH, of Barre, was admitted at the December term, 1815. His name appears as a practicing attorney in Barre from 1818 to 1823.

      Azro LOOMIS, of Montpelier, was admitted at the December term, 1815. He practiced law in Montpelier and died here. He married Susan BURBANK; June 29, 1814. They had three children, Horatio SEYMOUR, born April 13, 1820, now a merchant and living in Montpelier, and two daughters, Emily and Julia.

      HENRY F. JANES, of Waterbury, third son of Solomon and Beulah Fisk Janes, was born in Brimfield, Mass., October 18, 1792. His parents moved to Calais, where his boyhood was spent. He read law in Montpelier with J. Y. VAIL, and began practice in Waterbury in 1817. He represented the town many years, was elected to Congress in 1834 to serve out the remainder of Benjamin F. DEMING's term in the 23d Congress. Mr. DEMING, who had been county clerk of Caledonia county, died during his first congressional term at the early age of thirty-four; he was the father of H. H. DEMING, now living in Montpelier. Mr. JANES was also elected to the 24th Congress, and served three years in all in Washington. He was also state treasurer for three years. In 1826 he married Fanny BUTLER, daughter of Gov. BUTLER. Dr. Henry JANES, of Waterbury, is their son. Mr. JANES was a very good lawyer and useful citizen. He died June 6, 1879.

      William RICHARDSON, Of Stowe, son of Israel Putnam RICHARDSON and Susan Holmes RICHARDSON, of Fairfax, Vt., read law with Joshua SAWYER at Hyde Park, was admitted to Orleans County bar, August 15, 1815, and began practice in Stowe in 1817. About 1824 he went to Burlington on business, crossed Lake Champlain, and was never heard of after. It is supposed he died suddenly. Israel Bush RICHARDSON, of Michigan, a general in the war of the Rebellion, is said to have been his brother. He married a daughter of Nathaniel BUTTS and they had several children. The oldest, Charles T., read law a few months at Stowe, went to Michigan, but never practiced.

      William RICHARDSON, of Waterbury, another son of the above named William, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced in Waterbury in 1848, 1849, and 1850. He died three or four years after his admission to the bar.

      Thomas REED, of Montpelier, was born at Hampstead, N. H., March 29, 1793. His father, Captain Thomas REED, who married Patty HUTCHINS, of Hampstead, came with his family to Montpelier in 1804. Thomas, Jr., as he was called when admitted to the bar, must have been admitted to the County Court bar in 1817 or 1818, as in the last year named he was in practice in Montpelier, and was admitted to the Supreme Court bar at the September term, 1821. He was preeminently a business man and a banker, and was a man of strong body and strong mind. He went to the "Plattsburgh war" one day ahead of the other Montpelierites of his time, (they left here Friday,) with the same zeal and courage that Captain KEMP and Co. H displayed sixty-seven years after in the equally dangerous "Ely war." The enemy in each case took the course of the coon that knew Captain Martin SCOTT, of Bennington. The day of the Plattsburgh battle the sound of cannon broke up the meeting (it was Sunday), and the villagers went over on Berlin hill and listened and wept, for they thought their folks were in the fight. Mr. REED took pride in military matters and became a colonel in the militia. He was a man severe in speech and manner, and of great dignity; but underlying all this he had a sense of humor. He used to tell with great glee how the proudest moment of his life was when, arrayed in all the panoply of war, he sat his horse in presence of and in command of his regiment of Vermont militia, and believed that the honor and dignity of his position must impress others as it did himself; and that the humblest moment of his life was the next one, when he became suddenly aware of the presence by his side of a slab-sided, lantern-jawed client who, undeterred from thought of gain, and unimpressed by all the pomp and circumstance of mimic war, inquired, "Mister REED, can't I sell you abaout tew bushels of fust rate pertaters?" The known solidity of Montpelier financial institutions and of its business in general is largely due to the influence of Col. REED upon its business men. His advice to a young banker (found in Hemenway, vol. 4, p. .173) shows the principles on which he acted. In that advice he warns his correspondent to be careful in loaning to any who "go by other banks to do business at yours," and says "security, security, security, that is the main thing." He first married Emily DOANE, of Hartford, Conn., and their one child died in infancy, and his wife soon after. He then married Mary L. W. BOWLEND, of Billerica, Mass. They had six children. George B. REED, of Boston, Charles A. REED, of Chicago, William J. REED, who died in Milwaukee many years ago, and Edward D. REED, late of Buffalo, N. Y., who was buried in Montpelier this week, were the sons; and Josephine, wife of J. Monroe POLAND, of Chicago, and Georgianna, who married George W. BAILEY, Jr., and after his death Col. E. Henry POWELL, of Richford, state auditor, are the daughters. Col. REED died in Montpelier of paralysis, April 7, 1864.

      Hezekiah Hutchins REED, brother of Col. Thomas REED, was born in Hampstead, N. H., May 26, 1795; he read law with Dan CARPENTER in Waterbury and was admitted to Washington County bar, March term, 1819, and that year began practice in Troy, Ohio, where he remained five years, and then returned to Montpelier and went into partnership with his brother Thomas. He, like his brother, was more engaged in business than in law, and he was president of the Vermont bank at the time of his death. Both were men of public spirit and of strong influence in establishing and maintaining a strong community. His first wife was Martha P. BARNARD. They were married September 21, 1825, and had five children, Mary B., who married Prof. N. G. CLARKE and died February 11, 1859; Cornelia A.; Eliza Spaulding, who married Alpha C. MAY and lives in Milwaukee; Emily Doane, who married Charles W. WILLARD and died in January, 1886; and Gertrude H. Emily S. and Eliza D., were twins. Mr. REED married for his second wife the widow of a Mr. LAMB, who was a Miss LAMB before her first marriage. Mr. REED died in Milwaukee, June 15, 1856, while on a visit to the West.

      Shubael WHEELER, second child of Lieut. Jerahmel B. and Sibyl WHEELER, was born in Montpelier, March 20, 1793. He married Elsey DAVIS, October 5, 1818, and their daughter Emily Mandeville was born June 29, 1819 He was in the practice of law in Montpelier in 1818, and remained here two years; removing then to East Calais, where he was in practice for many years. He was assistant Judge of the County Court from 1827 to 1831, and was clerk of the court from 1846 to 1849, and from 1850 to December term, 1857, having Luther NEWCOMB for his deputy during the last seven years. Soon after he ceased to be clerk of the court he went West and made his home the rest of his days with his daughter Emily, wife of Levi W. WRIGHT, of Merrimac, Wis., the only survivor of his eight children. He was an accomplished, genial man; left his too social habits when he became clerk and made an admirable officer of the court. The meeting of the bar to recommend a person for clerk in 1846 was the occasion of a lively discussion as to the relations of church and state in this country, in which Mr. HEATON championed the cause of Mr. WHEELER, who was opposed by some on account of his religious belief or wart of it.

      Charles STORY, son of Alexander and Sally (MYERS) STORY, was born December 30, 1788, at Salem, Mass., where his father lived and died. Charles came to Newbury, Vt., and August 28, 1812, married a daughter of Col. Thomas JOHNSON, of Newbury, by whom he had three daughters. He afterwards came to Montpelier, studied law with J. Y. VAIL, was admitted to Washington County bar, September term, 1819, and went at once to McIndoes Falls, where he practiced ten years. Then he went to Coventry and practiced till 1850, being state's attorney for Orleans county in 1836 and 1837. He moved to Newbury in 1850 and died there in the spring of 1851.

      Robert L. PADDOCK (probably a son of Dr. Robert PADDOCK who settled in Barre about 1806) was born in Barre, was admitted to Washington County bar, September term, 1820, went to Highgate, where he married a Miss FREILEIGH, and practiced till 1824, when he went to Swanton and became a partner of Judge FISK. In 1827 he was deputy collector at Highgate and practiced at Highgate till 1846, when he went to New York. He came back to Highgate in 1849 and practiced there four years. He died in 1861.

      Newell KINSMAN, of Barre, was admitted at the March term, 1822, and immediately began practice in Barre. He was a good lawyer, and his name appears among the practicing attorneys of Barre as late as 1855. He married Leonora LAMB, a sister of the second Mrs. H. H. REED, of Montpelier. She died suddenly at Cleveland, Ohio, June 14, 1856, the two families having gone West for a few weeks' trip, on which Mr. REED and Mrs. KINSMAN both died. I do not find that Mr. KINSMAN resumed practice.
 
 
 

Gazetteer Of Washington County, Vt. 1783-1899, 
Compiled and Published by Hamilton Child,
Edited By William Adams.
The Syracuse Journal Company, Printers and Binders.
Syracuse, N. Y.; April, 1889.
Pages 58-73

Transcribed by Karima Allison, 2003