Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1916-11-10

providing fora State railroad commits
sion and was able to have it passed in
the face of the opposition of the all
powerful railroad interests. II is this
commission law which exists today,
Four other important measures he
brought forward and carried through.
"How did you do it?" asked Mr.,
/ Hepburn.
FIGHTING WITH FACTS.
81 found most of the members did
not know how to work or to study up a
subject and that the most formidable
weapon to use was a volley of facts,
he replied,
Facts which could not be disputed
when fired at them always awed them,
Having won a reputation for being
right, it was easy enough to become a
factor in any debate. OF course, ! had
to work very hard.
Five years effective work in the as
sembly won him the appointment of
superintendent Of the State banking de-
pertinent.
But let US get back to the beginning
of our story The founder of the
Cleveland Plain Dealer, a successful
railroad contractor in Ohio and a liter
ary-oratorical light, all three of good
education, were among the uncles of
Alonzo Barton Hepburn, but his father,
farmer in Cotton, N. Y, objected to
giving him a college education on the
ground that it would unfit the youth
for the WORK of a farmer. Three elder
brothers had gone off as privates in the
Civil war each came out with com
mission-but Barton was too young,
having been born on July "a, 1916, No
boy had ever gone from Cotton to col
lege. One citizen who was not at all
proud of this tradition offered to lend
the lad 81, 600 if he would take insur-
ance and join the Masons. Barton did.
To exc out his slender resources he
taught district school between terms
and also became clerk in a Cotton store,
This job cut his wisdom teeth. The
store bought everything the community
produced and sold everything it con-
sumed. Cotton, lying at the foothills of
the Adirondacks on the banks of the
Raquette river, at the entrance of the
lumber industry, was then the most
hourishing place in \St. Lawrence
county, with 1880 permanent inhabi-
tants and many transents. The young
clerk learned to handle and appraise
the value of all sorts of materials
raised by the farmers as well as the
supplies needed for the lumber camps
up the mountains.
On graduating with an A. B. degree
from Middlebury college, the town
where his father was born, he became
instructor of ma thematics at st. Law
renee academy and later principal of
Ogdensburg educational institute at a
salary of 81, 200 year. This enabled
him to pay off all his debts. He next
studied law, was admitted to the bar
and returned to Cotton to rest up.
CAREER AS LAWYER.
So many people swarmed to him for
legal advice that he decided to stay
there and practice. He could pick
whichever side he wanted in almost
every suit. Business doomed. His
clients included the King estate of Bos-
ton and others owning extensive tracts
of land. Then the State of New York
engaged him to look after overdue
taxes, etc. Plenty of timber land could
be picked up by merely paying back
taxes.
Hepburn saw his opportunity. He
bought 10000 acres at fifty cents an
acre, sold some timber off it, joined
several others in building saw mill
which cut 25,OOO,OOO feet per year, put
money into wing dams and made the
river navigable for logs. He was, how
ever land poor
Governor Cleveland offered to reap
point him State bank superintendent,
but as his lumber interests were har-
assing him, he quit. In addition to his
domestic expenses, he had to pay in
terest and taxes on his land, build a