The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1885-07-17
A PECULIAR CASE.
The Turning Point in MY Professional
Career.

Career.
When YOU said at the bar dinner that there was
always one peculiar case which marked the up
ward turn of q lawyers career l replied tnat
such had been my own experience. You de-
sired to learn the particulars, which had then
no time to give. To-day being rainy time at
the Springs, forbidding all outdoor exercise, l
shall kill time by writing all about it.
We two first met and laid the foundation of
our intimacy while serving together in the state
senate. 1 was then in the fill practice of my
profession, with no notion of going upon the
bench. You were from different part OF the
state, and it is scarcely possible that you had
ever heard much OF my early career. began
practice In Gordon county, which, thirty years
since, was in the backwoods. Brantford, its
county town, has now over fifty thousand in
habitants; then it was struggling village OF
less than eight hundred.
When came to Brantford, the two wealthiest
men there were Abel Prescott and Benjamin
Cuyp. The former had inherited fine estate,
and also obtained large amount of ready mon
ey by his wife, The latter, inheriting very little
had made money very FAST and by means not
quite creditable. The one was a free liver; the
other close and penureus. 1t was known that
Trescott had gone to the bad, as the saying Is,
on the death of his wife, and was getting EN-
barrassed in his affairs. He drank hard, and
thus incapacitated himselflfor the prudent man.
agement Of business. He bred and ran race
horses, and his colts rarely won. He gained,
and was unlucky at that. The result was that
his ready money gave out, and most of bis real
estate became heavily mortgaged. The money
was always loaned by Cuyp; and whenever
Cuyp advanced money in that way, the proper
ty securing the loan came into his hands sooner
or later. 1t got to be saying, when mort
gage with Cuyp as mortgage was recorded;
"Old Ben has been buying another farm cheap.
Cuyp rarely put himself forward in these trans
actions. Moses M'Kissen was the go-between.
Moses was justice Of the peace, a convey ANGER
and real estate agent He was also an auc-
tioneer; in fact, he engaged in almost ANYTHING
whereby penny might be made. And ne mad
made good many penniaS. He was growing
rich. Through him Cayp loaned Prescott quite
largo spms os money, which the latter squan-
dered
Trescott had an only daughter. Marion Tres
colt was-but l need not describe her. You
saw her when over forty-a handsome woman
and you can imagine her at eighteen. l had
met her on several occasions; but the father
was still considered rich, and 1. poor lawyer,
had no pretentions as a sutton. Her father
doubtless loved her; but he did not alter his
habits for that. At length be was attacked by
disease and, his constitution being utterly brok.
en- up, could not Withstand it. He died, not at
the Trescott homestead, but on what was famil-
iarly known as the Four Section Purchase.
About year before he had let the family place,
which was heavily mortgagsd, and removed to
the large tract, which was free from all encum-
brance. His grandfather had bought from the
government four sections Of rich land extend
ing two miles along the river, and mile from
it on either side. Then il Just touched the vii
lage; now it is nearly all closely built on and
closely cut up by streets. 1t contained twenty.
five hundred and sixty acres of the finest land
in the country. One section had been cleared
and put under fence, on the right hand side Of
the river and on this a rude but substantial
frame house had been erected. Nearly as much
had been cleared on the other side Of the river.
The place was rated at between twenty or thirty
dollars an acre.
On his death-bed Prescott said to his daugh-
ter: 81 have not done very well by you, Mar
ion; but You'll not want. The old homestead,
and the valley farms, and the three town houses
are heavily remembered. By igood manage
ment you NAV keep the homestead; the rest will
have to 60. Cuyp'n get them. Let him fore
close on them. You can't pay the interest,
much less the principal; but you can pay one
years interest on the homestead. The rest are
desirable property, and will yield surplus over
the debt upon them enough to clear the home
stead. / have left you exscutrix. This proper
ty we are on has not a cent against it. The
cleared part will pay the taxes and keep you
after fashion; and in time it win be very val
uable."