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

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He served as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

, the 24th lieutenant governor of Vermont from 1862 to 1865, and the 29th governor of Vermont from 1865 to 1867.

Early life

Dillingham was born in

Shutesbury, Massachusetts Shutesbury is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,717 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield metropolitan area, Massachusetts. History For at least 2,000 years, Nipmuc towns along the Towanu ...

, on August 10, 1799, a son of Paul Dillingham Sr. and Hannah (Smith) Dillingham. The Dillingham family moved to

Waterbury, Vermont Waterbury is a town in Washington County in central Vermont, United States. Although the town is still home to the Waterbury Village Historic District, the village sharing the name of the town officially dissolved as a municipality in 2018. As ...

in 1805, where Dillingham worked on the family farm and attended the district school in Waterbury and Montpelier's Washington County Grammar School. In 1820, he commenced studying law in the office of Judge Daniel Carpenter. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in March 1823, and in April he began to practice in Waterbury as Carpenter's partner. He gained a reputation throughout Vermont as a skilled trial lawyer with a superior ability to present oral arguments to judges and juries.

Early career

Entering politics as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, Dillingham served as a Waterbury justice of the peace from 1826 to 1844, and

town clerk A clerk (pronounced "clark" /klɑːk/ in British and Australian English) is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in ma ...

from 1829 to 1844. He served as Waterbury's member of the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives a ...

from 1833 to 1835, as

State's Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

of Washington County from 1835 to 1839, and again as Waterbury's member of the Vermont House from 1837 to 1840. Dillingham served as a delegate to the State constitutional convention of 1836, and a member of the

Vermont State Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members elected from multi-member districts. Each senator represents at least 20,300 citizens. ...

in 1841 and 1842.

Congressman

Dillingham was elected as a to the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Congresses (March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1847). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1846. During Dillingham's House service, he served on the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Claims. The only Democrat in Vermont's Congressional delegation, he favored the annexation of Texas and supported US involvement in the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

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

Lieutenant governor

Increasingly opposed to slavery and secession, Dillingham declined the Democratic Party's 1860 nomination for governor. When the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

started, he officially changed his allegiance from Democratic to Republican. He served as the

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

from 1862 to 1865. 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. In addition, he campaigned throughout Vermont for the Republican (Unionist) ticket of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

and

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

in the

1864 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 1864, near the end of the American Civil War. Incumbent President Abraham Lincoln of the National Union Party (United States), National Uni ...

Governor

Dillingham served as the 29th

governor of Vermont The governor of Vermont is the head of government of the U.S. state of Vermont. The officeholder is elected in even-numbered years by direct voting for a term of two years. Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold guberna ...

from 1865 to 1867. As governor, he created Vermont's first reform school and established Vermont's first normal school for teacher training (now

Vermont Technical College Vermont Technical College (Vermont Tech or VTC) was a public technical college in Vermont. Its main residential campuses were located in Randolph Center and Williston. In addition, there were regional campuses distance sites, and nursing campus ...

). It also fell to Dillingham to appoint two members of the U.S. Senate to replace senators who had died. To succeed

Jacob Collamer Jacob Collamer (January 8, 1791 – November 9, 1865) was an American politician from Vermont. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives, as Postmaster General in the cabinet of President Zachary Taylor, and as a U.S. Senator. Born i ...

, Dillingham selected Luke P. Poland. To replace

Solomon Foot Solomon Foot (November 19, 1802March 28, 1866) was an American politician and attorney. He held numerous offices during his career, including Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives, State's Attorney for Rutland County, member of the U ...

, Dillingham first offered the appointment to former governor J. Gregory Smith. When Smith declined, Dillingham selected

George F. Edmunds George Franklin Edmunds (February 1, 1828February 27, 1919) was an American attorney and Republican politician who represented the state of Vermont in the United States Senate from 1866 to 1891. He was a candidate for the Republican president ...

Later life

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

Death and burial

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

Family

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

Matthew H. Carpenter Matthew Hale Carpenter (born Decatur Merritt Hammond Carpenter; – ) was an American lawyer, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He represented Wisconsin for eight years as a United States senator, from 1869 to 1875 and again from 1879 unti ...

References

External links

Paul Dillingham
at The Political Graveyard
Paul Dillingham
at National Governors Association * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dillingham, Paul 1799 births 1891 deaths Members of the Vermont House of Representatives Vermont state senators Vermont Republicans Lieutenant governors of Vermont Governors of Vermont Vermont lawyers People from Waterbury, Vermont Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont Republican Party governors of Vermont People from Shutesbury, Massachusetts State's attorneys in Vermont 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Vermont General Assembly