St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1912-12-11

Mr.. Rankin died during the Dec
ember term of court in 1887 and
Marshall Montgomery was candi-
date for the position of county
clerk. He was not in practice of law
at that time and the county bar at
meeting unanimously endorsed
the name of A. F. Nichols for the
position. He was chosen by Assistant
Judges, Jacob G. Hovey of St. Johns
bury and cloud Harvey of Barnet.
Judge Russell S. Taft of Burling-
ton was the presiding judge at that
time and all three of them have
passed away.
His Old Associates
At that time the practicing attor-
neys in ST. Johnsbury were Ide and
Stafford III. c. Ide and w. P. Stat
ford), Bates and May (Henry G.
Bates and Elisha May), Harry Blod-
gett and Alexander Dunnett. Of
these, only Messrs. May, Blodgett
and Dunnett are now in practice be-
fore the court. Mr.. Dunnett was
states attorney at Lnat time. When
Mr.. Nichols come to ST. JohnsDury
from Concord in May, 1888, he was
| in partnership with Mr.. Dunnett, a
partnership which was continued for
three years under the name of Mich
OILS and DunneLC.i
In recalling conditions at that
time Mr.. Nichols said that the only
men in the county outside of ST.
Johnsbury in practice at that time
and still members of the bar, are w.
attorney, and J. T. Gleason of Lyn-
donville. Among the we'll known
lawyers (that was before we had at
torneys), who appeared before the
court during Mr.. Nichols first term
in court were:- Wilson and Powers
of Morrisville. (now Judge George
Powers of the supreme court), F. d.
Hale of LunenDurg, (noW u. S. con-
SUD, z. M. Mansur of Island Pond,
C. B. Leslie of Wells River, ]. P.
Lamson of Cabot, l.. u. Hathaway of
Hardwick, Edwards and Burke of
Newport and Z. K. Gleed of Nor
risville. Win +he exception of
Judge Powers none of these names
are familiar in the courts of today
and many of them have passed on.
A Famous Case
The first term of court had a lot
of criminal business before it and
the state prison sentences pronounc-
ed during that term aggregated 27
years. the famous trial of H. Thorn
as Ward, charged with arson, was
held then and he was convicted and
sent to state prison. 1t was SAID
this was the first. time a horse was
allowed to testify in court. Inc
buildings which Mr.. Ward burned
were located in Walden and it was
known that Mr.. ward drove a GER
tain horse from a local stable on the
night of the fire. The states attorney
and Sheriff Sulloway got the horse
from the stable and headed for
Walden. AS they got near the neigh
borhood they allowed the horse to
take it's own course and it carried
them straight to the house where
the fire was. This was admitted as
evidence in the case.
Asked if there were other men
serving as county clerks in Vermont
who were in Office at that time Mr..
Nichols found that H. A. Harmon
in Rutland county, FL. B. Cushman
in Orleans, Smith B. Waite of La
noble and ]. r. Pember of Windsor
are the only ones. In the eight other
counties there have been changes.
The only men on the bench in
Vermont that were judges at that
time are Judges John w. Rowell and
Loveland Munson of Manchester of
the Supreme Court None of the
judges who sit at the county courts
now, were in Office then
Changes on the Street
Mr.. Nichols also spoke of the
changes that have taken place along !
the route from his home on Mt. |
Pleasant street down Main street. |
The only neighbors left about Mr.. |
Nichols home are DR.. r. w. Warner.
Charles Green and E. T.. Ide. The
only persons living on Main street !
that were there when the county 1
clerk" began his daily trips are d. /
D. Patterson, Adelaide w. Lowering |
Candace c. Frost and Harriet G. |
Boynton. At that time Nichols and /