Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1916-12-22


CLARKE CUSHING Fits.
law. or when he was Is years old, Mr..
Fits engaged with the late Judge j. l..
Martin in quarrying and manufacture
ING business in Sherman, which was
ovcrtakcn NV disaster, and Mr.. Fits
was under financial obligations to the
amount Of $1,000 to $4,000 with nothing
with which to meet them. Although not
legally bound to do so, when he became
of age he assumed the obligations and
for Il period of seven or eight years was
in straitcned circumstances financial
| w. Out of his earnings from the prac
! ticc Of law he paid the obligations i'll
! full without the loss Of a dollar to any
man.
The marriage of Mr.. Fits and Miss
Harriet II. Lyon, daughter of Deacon
! STANLEY and Sarah j. Lyon, took place
in the home Of Mr.. and Mrs. Lyon in
South Londonderry, June II, 1893. the
bride s brother, Rev. John S. Lyon, per
forming the ceremony. She died March
! -, 1897, leaving two sons, Stanley
Clarke, nine days old, now student in
! Dartmouth college, and Robert Lyon,
! two and a half years old, now student
in Harvard Law school.
On June 80, 1903, Mr.. Fits married
Miss Maud Lcnorc Emerson of Brattle.
boro. daughter of Sumner p. and Mar
tina c}alcs) Emerson, Rev. Harry f..
! Miles, pastor of the Centre Congrcga-
tional church, performing the ccre-
lnony Mrs. Fits survives with son,
Osmcr Clarke, and a daughter, Miriam.
Mr.. Fits leaves also his mother, Mrs.
Abbir Fits, and two sisters, Miss Mary
f. Fits and Miss Florence A. Fits,
their home being at Is Chaplin street.
The case which first brought him
prominently before the public, which
was in his early 20'S, was the Marlboro
South pond case which he won for the
people Of Marlboro against a syndicate
! which tried to maintain exclusive fish
! ing privileges on the pond by buying
all the land around it, The late Judge
I.avant NJ Read of Bellows Falls was
associated with Mr.. Fits in this case.
| After the victory had been won Judge
Read declared that Mr.. Fits had the
greatest memory of any man he ever
| knew, and he told how the young law
| yer hHd studied the ease so that he
could give the details of all the 60 odd
transfers of land around the pond,
covering a period Of over 100 years
when the number Of any deed was
called. Other cases early in his career
which added TO his reputation were the
suit of Sidney II. Sherman against the
Estcv Organ company, and the Barna
A. Clark insurance case.
In 1902 Mr.. Fits was counsel in tho
White will case in Boston, in which
Brattlohoro bcncfciarics were con
cerncd. 1t involved 100000. Tive
years later he was senior counsel 70,
the plaintiff in the suit of the CaseiI
company of America, which operated {
large plant in Bellows Falls, agains
Alden Spearc S Sons of Boston. Thi'
case affected the fortunes of business
amounting to millions of dollars annual
ly, and it ended in a complete victory
for tho Casein company.
One of the largest, if not the largest
clients Mr.. Fits ever had was III,
Publishers Paper Co., and the story o
how he came to be retained as its gen
cral counsel. how his kcenncss of intel
lcct was recognized By another man %
. keen mind is Of special interest. Th
company is Maine corporation, anC
it owned, at the time Mr.. Fits was re
tanned. some 40O,00O acres of timber
land in the White mountains and il
Maine, although some of it has since
been sold TO the government. William
. A. Hall resigned as president of tn,
. company on account Of differences anC
/ sued tho company, engaging Mr. FIT
5 as counsel. Mr.. Hall won verdict o
. about $4,000. The late Oaklcigl
q Thorne, Il prominent New York banker
who was then president of the company
> as Mr.. Hall S successor. was convinced
that ability Of the kind shown Ivy Nv
, Fits ought TO bc retained by the Pub
! fishers Paper Co., and that is how Mr.
Fits came to represent the concern
| the past several wears. He continue,
| also to he Mr. Hall 5 counsel in per
/, sonal matters M to the present time
, including Mr.. Halls connection witt
4 the Motor Petrol co.. which operate
= rcfncries in New Jersey.
The ease of greatest local interest re
f Gently in which Mr.. Fits was engaged
with able assistance, was the nov
- widolY-knovn action Of the Hooker
! CorScr & Mitchell 60. Of Brattlcbor
f against former directors Of that concern
1 which resulted in an award Of hcav,
: damages for the plaintiff company, afte
d being heard in several high courts.
e Mir, ritts numbered among his eli
e ents, other than those elsewhere men
A toned, the Conway Lumber Co., havin,
e large holdings in the White mountains
I the New England Power Co. and Con
= necticut River Power Co. and allie,
t power companies, the International Pa
+ per Co, in various special matters, tn
Fall Mountain Electric Light 4 Powe
: Co. Of Bellows Falls, the Claremont Pa