History of Vermont United States of America

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Biographies:

Samuel Chandler Crafts, governor of Vermont, was born in Woodstock, Conn. Oct. 6, 1768; son of Col. Ebenezer Crafts (Yale, 1759), one of the first settlers of Craftsbury, Vt. He was graduated from Harvard in 1790, and in 1792, on the organization of the ten of Craftsbury, was elected town clerk, serving as such for thirty-seven consecutive years. He was a member of the state constitutional convention in 1793, and in 1796 was elected a representative in the general assembly. In 1798 and 1799 he was clerk of the house and was again elected a representative in 1800, 1801, 1803 and 1805. He was register of probate in the Orleans district, 1796-1815; judge of the county court, 1800-10; and chief justice, 1810-16. From 1809 to 1812 he was a member of the executive council, and again from 1825 to 1827, being also chief justice of the county court, 1825-28, and president of the state constitutional convention in 1829. In 1816 he was elected a representative in the 15th congress and was re-elected to the 16th, 17th and 18th congresses, serving 1817-25. In 1828 he was elected governor of Vermont and was re-elected in 1829 and 1830. From 1836 to 1838 he was again chief judge of the county court. In 1842 he was appointed by Governor Paine U.S. senator to fill the unexpired term of Samuel Prentiss, resigned April 11, 1842, and he served until March 4, 1843. He died in Craftsbury, Vt., Nov. 19, 1853.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

George Franklin Edmunds, senator, was born in Richmond, Vt., Feb. 1, 1828; son of Ebenezer and Naomi (Briggs) Edmunds. He received a limited public school training, continuing his studies under a private tutor, and pursued a course in law in the office of his brother-in-law, A. B. Maynard, and with Smalley & Phelps, in Burlington, Vt. He was admitted to the bar in 1849, and removed to Burlington in 1851. He was a representative in the state legislature, 1854-59, being speaker of the house, 1857-59; was a state senator, 1861-62, and during both terms was chairman of the judiciary committee and president pro tempore of the senate. Governor Dillingham appointed him to the seat in the U.S. senate made vacant by the death of Senator Foote, and he took the oath of office, April 5, 1866. He was elected U.S. senator for the remainder of the term of Senator Foote by the legislature of Vermont and was re-elected in 1868, 1872, 1880 and 1886, serving 1866-91. He was a member and (except two years, when the Democrats controlled the senate) chairman of the judiciary committee, was prominent in the impeachment of President Johnson, supported President Grant's administration, assisted in the passage of the reconstruction measures, devised the electoral commission bill of 1877, and served as a member of the commission on the part of the senate. He was the constructor and chief supporter of the anti-polygamy bill. He was president pro tempore of the U.S. senate during Arthur's administration. His name was prominently before the Republican national convention of 1880, where he received thirty-four votes on the first ballot for the nomination for president, and again in 1884 when he received ninety-three votes on the first ballot. In 1886 he led his party in the senate in its effort to force President Cleveland to show cause for his removals from office. He framed a second anti-polygamy bill in 1887, similar to the original Edmunds act. At the close of the 51st congress he resigned his seat in the senate and was succeeded by Redfield Proctor of Proctor, Vt.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

James Fisk, senator, was born in Greenwich, Mass., Oct. 4, 1763. He was descended from John and William Fisk, who came to Massachusetts from Laxfield, Sussex, England, in 1637 or from relatives of these pioneers who followed soon after and settled near Boston. He was self-educated, his father having died when he was two years old. He enlisted in the American army in 1779 and served three years. Returning to Greenwich he worked on a farm and in 1785 was a representative in the general assembly of Massachusetts, and soon after preached as a Universalist minister. He removed to Barre, Vt., in 1798, cleared a farm, continued to preach, and studied law. He represented Barre in the Vermont legislature, 1800-05, 1809-10 and 1315. He was a judge of the Orange county court, 1802-09; a representative from Vermont in the 9th and 10th congresses, 1805-09, and in the 12th and 13th congresses, 1811-15; judge of the supreme court, 1815-16, and U.S. senator, 1817-18, succeeding Dudley Chase, resigned. In congress he was a friend and adviser of President Madison, and a supporter of the war of 1812. In the conspiracy carried on between John Henry employed by the governor of Canada, and the leaders of the Federal party in New England, he arraigned the conspirators and exposed their duplicity and was a large factor in destroying the political power of the Federal party. In 1812 he was nominated by President Madison and was confirmed by the senate as judge of the territory of Indiana, but he declined the office. He resigned his seat in the U.S. senate in 1818 to accept the appointment of collector of customs for the district of Vermont. He removed to Swanton, where he resided during the remainder of his life. He was displaced from office in 1825 by President J.Q. Adams and became a follower of Henry Clay and as earnest a Whig as he had been a Democrat. He was a member of the board of trustees of the University of Vermont, 1810-12, and received the honorary degree of A.M. from that institution in 1812. He was married about 1784 to Priscilla West of Greenwich, Mass., who died Aug. 19, 1840. They had three daughters and three sons. Their son Willbur became president of Wesleyan university. Judge Fisk died in Swanton, Vt., Dec. 1, 1844.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Josiah Grout, governor of Vermont, was born in Compton, Canada, May 28, 1842; son of Josiah and Sophronia (Ayer) Grout; grandson of The ophilus and Joanna (Willard) Grout; and a descendant of Dr. John Grout, who emigrated from England in 1630 and settled in Watertown, Mass. In 1848 he removed with his father to Vermont, where he was brought up on a farm and attended the public schools and the Orleans liberal institute at Glover. He then entered the academy at St. Johnsbury, and on Oct. 2, 1861, left to enlist as a private in the 1st Vermont cavalry. On the organization of the company the became 2d lieutenant. He was promoted captain in April, 1863, and major of the 26th N.Y. cavalry in January, 1864. At the close of the war he studied law with his brother, William W. Grout, at Barton, Vt., and was admitted to practice in 1865. He was collector of customs at Island Pond, 1866-69; at St. Albans, 1870, and at Newport, 1870-72. He removed to Chicago in 1874 and subsequently to Moline, Ill. In 1880 he returned to Vermont and settled on a farm at Derby. He represented Newport in the Vermont legislature in 1872 and 1874, the town of Derby in 1884, 1886 and 1888, being speaker of the house, 1874, 1886 and 1888, and was state senator from Orleans county, 1892-94. In 1896 he was elected governor of Vermont, receiving the largest majority ever given any governor of the state up to that time. His term of office expired in 1898.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Vermont

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