Paul Dillingham

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Paul Dillingham Jr.
State's Attorney of Washington County, Vermont
In office
1835–1839
Preceded byAzel Spaulding
Succeeded byHomer W. Heaton
Personal details
Born(1799-08-10)August 10, 1799
William Paul Dillingham
ProfessionAttorney
Signature

Paul Dillingham Jr. (August 10, 1799 – July 26, 1891) was an American

29th governor of Vermont
from 1865 to 1867.

Early life

Dillingham was born in Shutesbury, Massachusetts, on August 10, 1799, a son of Paul Dillingham Sr. and Hannah (Smith) Dillingham.[1] The Dillingham family moved to Waterbury, Vermont in 1805, where Dillingham worked on the family farm and attended the district school in Waterbury and Montpelier's Washington County Grammar School.[1] In 1820, he commenced studying law in the office of Judge Daniel Carpenter.[1] He was admitted to the bar in March 1823, and in April he began to practice in Waterbury as Carpenter's partner.[1] He gained a reputation throughout Vermont as a skilled trial lawyer with a superior ability to present oral arguments to judges and juries.[1]

Early career

Entering politics as a

Vermont State Senate in 1841 and 1842.[1]

Congressman

Dillingham in an 1866 Harper's Weekly illustration when he was governor.

Dillingham was elected as a to the

Mexican-American War.[1]

Dillingham was a delegate to the 1857 State constitutional convention.[2] In 1861, Dillingham served again in the Vermont Senate.[1]

Lieutenant governor

Increasingly opposed to slavery and secession, Dillingham declined the Democratic Party's 1860 nomination for governor.[2] When the American Civil War started, he officially changed his allegiance from Democratic to Republican.[1] He served as the lieutenant governor from 1862 to 1865.[1] Holding office at the height of the war, Dillingham's efforts were focused on aiding governors Frederick Holbrook and J. Gregory Smith to obtain passage of laws for raising, paying, and equipping soldiers for the Union Army.[1] In addition, he campaigned throughout Vermont for the Republican (Unionist) ticket of Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson in the 1864 United States presidential election.[1]

Governor

Dillingham served as the

29th governor of Vermont from 1865 to 1867.[1] As governor, he created Vermont's first reform school and established Vermont's first normal school for teacher training (now Vermont Technical College).[1] It also fell to Dillingham to appoint two members of the U.S. Senate to replace senators who had died.[1] To succeed Jacob Collamer, Dillingham selected Luke P. Poland.[1] To replace Solomon Foot, Dillingham first offered the appointment to former governor J. Gregory Smith.[1] When Smith declined, Dillingham selected George F. Edmunds.[1]

Later life

He resumed the practice of law, and was a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1870.[2] He retired in 1875.[2]

Death and burial

Dillingham died at his home in Waterbury on July 26, 1891.[1] He is interred in the Village Cemetery in Waterbury.[3]

Family

He married Sarah Partridge Carpenter, a daughter of Daniel Carpenter.[1] She died on September 20, 1831, and on September 5, 1832, Dillingham married Sarah's sister Julia.[1] He had seven children who lived to adulthood, including William Paul Dillingham, who served as governor and U.S. Senator.[1] Dillingham was also the father in law of Senator Matthew H. Carpenter.[4]

References

  1. ^
    Newspapers.com
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-58465-086-7
    .
  3. ISBN 978-0-1607-3176-1
    .
  4. ^ Haubrich, Paul (October 30, 2016). "Class of 1857: Matthew Hale Carpenter". Milwaukee Independent. Milwaukee, WI.

External links

Party political offices
Preceded by
Nathan Smilie
 Democratic nominee for Governor of Vermont
1840 		Succeeded by
Nathan Smilie
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Vermont
1847, 1848 		Succeeded by
Jonas Clark
Preceded by Republican nominee for Governor of Vermont
1865, 1866 		Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Vermont's 4th congressional district
1843–1847 		Succeeded by
Lucius B. Peck
Political offices
Preceded by Lieutenant Governor of Vermont
1862–1865 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Governor of Vermont

1865–1867 		Succeeded by

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

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