Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1915-01-28
SEVEN JUDGES IN
OVER A CENTURY
United states Judges for the District
of Vermont from 1901 10 Date.

ol the fourteenth instant calls to mind
that since the organization Of our state
in 1871 there have been but seven federal
judges during the period of almost one
hundred and twenty-four years. The
average tenure Of these judges has been
little over seventeen years The long
est term was that Of Judge Elijah Paine
who served for forty-one years, and the
shortest that OF Judge Chapman, who
| served for two years and n half
| The first of the district judges was
Nathaniel Chapman Of Tnmouth, who
served from March T. 17o1, TO September
B. 1889 He was born at Salisbury, Conn
| November 49, 1852. and died at Tinmouth.
February 49, 1s43. at the age of ninety
one years He was a graduate of Yale
and lieutenant in the Revolutionary
| army; he fought at Monmouth and en-
dured the sufferings Of Valley Forge
| He studied law at Salisbury, Conn, and
was admitted to the bar of that State I'm
177a. In April of that year he reached
his fathers home in Tinmouth and be-
gun the practice Of his proto sson. At
the superior court held in Rutland i'm
June. l71?, he was appointed as attorney
At law and sworn and licensed to plea !
at the bar in the State court. He repre-
scented Tinmouth in the Legislature Of
l'S4-5; was elected assistant Judge Of the
superior court in 1856 and was the frs.
lawyer TO be placed on the bench In Yer
mont. In 1901 he was appointed, with Louis
r. Morris. commissioner to attend Con-
gress and to negotiate for tho admission
of the state into the Union. Immediately
afterwards President Washington ap-
pointed him as United States Judge for
the district OF Vermont. which POSITION
he resigned IN 1873 In 1896 nc was elect e
ed chief judge II the Supreme Court of
Vermont and in 1871 United States senator
TO succeed Isaac Tichenor. in which ca
pacity he served fer five years when he
returned to Vermont. resumed practice
and again represented Tinmouth In The
Legislature from 1896 to 1911. In 1913 he
was elected one OF the council of cen
sors. body chosen once in seven years
to review the constitution and recommend
amendments He was chosen chief judge
again In 1913 and continued as such until
1915. In tn" latter year he was appointed
professor of law Of Middebury College
and held this place until his death.
! During this time he was president OF the
board of trustees of that institution. He
outlived nearly one-half Of his successors
! in the legal profession and spent the
last ten years OF HIS life in scclusion and
study at his home in Tinmouth. His
! library was a wonder to the people of the
ncighhorhood, and when II was produced
for appraisal it measured exactly one
cord. II was eight feet long, four feet
wide and four feet high.
The second district judge was Samuel
| Hitchcock of Burlington and Vercennes
He was born at Brimfield. Mass. March
q, 1870. and graduated at Harvard in MI
| FIe studied law at Brookfed. Mass. and
was probably admitted to practice in
Worcester. In l7ss he removed to Bur
! lington where no began the practice Of
I his profession. He represented Burlng-
ton In the Legislature In 1889, 1790-9l -ee-93
He was n member of the Convention OF
Delegates OF the People Of the State OF
Vermont. held at Bennington In 1921 to
! ratify the constitution of the United
States. which had been submitted by an
act Of the Vermont Legislature, passed
ing the author Of the charter of the
University of Vermont He was one Of
! he first trustees OF that Institution and
his life. He was appointed the first
| States attorney OF Chittenden county
and served az such from 1857 to 1870 He
was elected attorney genera, Of Vermont
under the act OF 1870 He was presldcn-
tial elector in the second presidential
election and voted for Washington and
! Adams As one OF tho committee Of re-
! vision Of our statutes he assisted in the
compilation Of lTa7. His appointment as
| district Judge came through President
John Adams September ?. 1913. and he
continued TO hold the office until the
| judiciary act was repealed. The first
marriage recorded in Burlington is that
Of Judge Hitchcock to Lucy Caroline Al
len, May o. 1850 She was the second
daughter Of Ethan Allen. For n half
dozen years after his marriage he re-
manned in Burlington. then moved to
Vergennes until 1906 when he returned
to burlington, where he died November
90 1913
| The third Of the federal judges was
Elijah Paine Of Williamstown. who was
born Mt BROOKLYN. N. Y, January . 115-,
| studied at Harvard for a ,cw months Gu
tered the Revolutionary army and aftcr-
wards returned to co'cye wher, II" gao
uated In 1871. After suu"yng law he
came to Vermont and located ut Wind
sor. Some time later be loft the latter
place and located in Wiliamst iva md
began the settlement in the midst Of a
wilderness. Hero he astabl; shell mill
| for the manufacture OF proa,c. nth which
employed two hundred workmen. He
| erected the first saw and grist mill
in the vicinity and built a turnpike from
Brookfield to Montpelier at an expense
| OF $1,000. which he presented to the State
At one time he was the owner OF fifteen
thousand Merino sheep together with
many high grade horses, cattle and
swine In 17s6 he was n member OF the
convention to revise the State constitu-
| ton. He represented Willtamstown In
the Legisla from 1877 10 1871 and was
n judge OF the superior court after its
organization until 1894. when he was elect
ed United States senator 10 succeed
stephen r. Bradley He declined a Sec
ond election because of his appointment
as district Judge. March 2. 1901 This
place no held for over forty years and
until few weeks of his death April 2S,
1912 The University of Vermont and Har-
ward University each conferred on him
latter institution he delivered the first
GRAFTON before the Phi Beta Kappa so
ciety and was elected its president in 1883
| He was member OF several learned So
cieties for the advancement Of the arts
and sciences. lie had four sons, Martin,
an eminent physician, Elijah. a fudge Of