History of Moretown, (Washington County) Vermont United States of America

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Matthew Hale Carpenter, senator, was born in Moretown, Vt., Dec. 22, 1824; son of Ira and Esther Ann (Luce) Carpenter. His parents gave him the name Decatur Merritt Hammond, which he afterward changed to Matthew Hale. He was a student at West Point, 1843-45; studied law in the office of Paul Dillingham at Waterbury, Vt., and was admitted to the bar in 1847. He studied law in the office of Rufus Choate in Boston, Mass., 1847-48; removed to Beloit, Wis., in 1848; engaged in practice, and in 1855 married Caroline, daughter of Paul Dillingham, governor of Vermont. He removed to Milwaukee, Wis., in 1858; served as judge advocate of Wisconsin during the Civil war, and after the slaves became free insisted upon their being enfranchised and protected in their newly accorded rights. He was employed as government counsel in the McCardle case in 1868, a test case involving the legality of the reconstruction act. He also acted as counsel for William W. Belknap, secretary of war under President Grant, who was impeached by the houses of representatives, and secured his acquittal, and represented Samuel J. Tilden before the electoral commission in 1877. He was elected to the U.S. senate as a Democrat, serving 1869-75, and 1879-81. His most notable speeches in the senate were those in defence of President Grant against the attack of Charles Sumner; on the Ku-Klux act; on Charles Sumner's second civil rights bill; on President Johnson's amnesty proclamation; on the bill to restore Fitz John Porter to his place in the army; and on the ironclad oath. He died in Washington, D. C., Feb. 25, 1881.

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

History of Moretown, (Washington County) Vermont

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