From Website: http://www.rootsweb.com/~vermont/CaledoniaKirby.html TOWNSHIP INFORMATION KIRBY CALEDONIA COUNTY VERMONT The following biographical sketch of William W. Grout, by the pen of Hon. George H. Blake, of Orleans county Monitor, is taken from “The Bar of Orleans County,” a book published by F. W. Baldwin, Barton, Vt.:— William Wallace Grout was born of American parents in Compton, Province of Quebec, May 24, 1836. His ancestry is traced back in New England to as early a period as 1640, and the record shows that in each generation the Grouts were distinguished for push, strong common sense and integrity. They held various offices, and occupied prominent places in their different spheres of life. From Massachusetts they found their way into New Hampshire, as the new country opened up, and Theophilus, grandfather of William W., came to Vermont in 1792, and settled in Kirby. Josiah, father of William W., was born in Kirby and resided there most of his life, though he spent a few years in Canada. William Wallace was the second child in a family of ten; his mother was Sophronia Ayer, an intelligent, estimable lady of Scotch-Irish descent, whose marked characteristics were transmitted to her children. William W. Grout, like other Vermont boys, had a fair opportunity to attend the common schools, but was ambitious to obtain an education, and hoped to enter one of the professions. He spent his leisure hours in reading and study, and later procured a good academic education. Having decided upon the profession of the law, he entered the law school at Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where he graduated in 1857. Returning from school, he entered the law office of Hon. Thomas Bartlett, of Lyndon, to spend a few months there, and was admitted to the bar in Caledonia county in December of the same year. The next summer he went to Barton and established a law office of his own. The town at that time was the terminus of the railroad and the business center of the county. Several lawyers resided there, and the bar of the county was honored by many members then, and afterwards, distinguished. The young lawyer was pitted against older lawyers than himself in his own town, and against John P. Sartle, an antagonist who was very jealous of his own standing, and imperious in his bearing and conduct. Local litigation soon gave young Grout opportunity to show what material he was made of, and many well remember the fierce battles that were fought in justice courts when Grout and Sartle were engaged as counsel. Here Mr. Grout began to display that good common sense, unfaltering courage, and indomitable perseverance which have ever been the elements of his success. His practice in the local courts increased, and he soon took respectable standing at the bar, both in Orleans and Caledonia counties. In 1862 he was nominated for state's attorney by the Republicans of his county, but he declined the nomination, having decided to enter the army. He recruited a company in Barton, and at its organization was chosen captain. When the line officers met to choose field officers, Capt. Grout was chosen lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Vermont regiment. The regiment was immediately sent to Virginia, and did much marching and picket duty through the winter, camped and tramped all through the guerilla country, and participated in the Gettysburgh campaign; yet it was singularly fortunate in escaping the perils of battles. Col. Grout made an active and efficient officer, and was foremost in seeking the place of danger; he won the confidence of the officers and the esteem of the rank and file of his regiment. The delicate health of his wife forbade that he remain longer from home, and he was mustered out with the regiment in August, 1863, and returned home to resume the practice of the law. The next fall the legislature created a state militia, and Col. Grout was chosen brigadier-general. During the same year he was elected state's attorney, and held the office two years. The somewhat celebrated Baxter-Hoyt campaign for member of congress occurred at this time, and Gen. Grout, having espoused the cause of Mr. Hoyt, made some enemies, who fought him in politics long afterwards. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1868, and his town paid him the high compliment of sending him to the legislature three successive years. His career in the legislature was marked by a faithful attention to business, a careful regard for the interests of the common people, and a war against the Shylocks who were trying to raise the rate of legal interest above six per cent. He was chosen a delegate to the national convention which first nominated Gen. Grant for the presidency. In 1874, Gen. Grout was again sent to the lower house of the legislature, and in 1876 he was chosen to the Senate, where he was made president pro tem. of that body. Two years later, after a very sharp political canvass, he was nominated for representative to Congress over Bradley Barlow. The nomination was bolted by Mr. Barlow. A fusion was made with Greenbackers and Democrats; money was freely used in the campaign, and Gen. Grout was defeated. The injustice of the act was felt all through the state, and the refluent wave of favor was such that, in 1880, both friends and former political enemies made haste to right the wrong, and he not only received an almost unanimous nomination, but a triumphant election to the Forty-seventh Congress. As a first-term member he began his work under disadvantages, but the Congressional Record shows that he was neither an idle nor a silent member. Among the most important measures which he advocated in this congress may be mentioned the creation of a cabinet officer for the head of the agricultural department, the Geneva award, the American shipping bill, the North Dakota Territory bill, and a bill on French spoliations. During the full term of his congressional service he was very faithful to duty, doing a great amount of work, both for the country and his constituents. Just at the close of his work at this time in congress, he was prostrated by a very severe illness which threatened life for some days, and made him unfit for labor several months afterward. The new apportionment had diminished the number of representatives in Vermont to two, and the state had been divided by legislative act into two districts, by a line running along the Green Mountains. This brought Gen. Grout into the second district, and it became to be felt that the interests of the district and the state demanded that he be returned to Washington from this district. At the time the caucuses were held before the district convention, Gen. Grout was busy in Washington, and a few days later prostrate with sickness, so that his canvass was not looked after, and the friends of Judge Poland, taking advantage of the situation, carried a majority of the primary meetings and the convention. Many were dissatisfied with the result, and there was a strong disposition to bolt the nomination. Gen. Grout discountenanced the move and counseled his friends to support the nominee. At the September election a large number of votes were cast for Gen. Grout, but Judge Poland won, and his work in congress was very creditable to the state and to himself. Previous to the time of the district convention in 1884, Judge Poland took himself out of the canvass, and the names of Gen. Grout, Col. G. W. Hooker and Hon. William P. Dillingham were most prominently mentioned for member of congress. Gen. Grout was successful in the convention, and was elected by a majority said to have been the largest given to any congressman chosen from the state in many years. *At this time Gen. Grout is serving his second term in congress; he has been in his place every day of the session, and has won no little credit for himself and the state by his faithful attention to duty. Among the most notable speeches he has made are those on the Fitz John Porter and the Oleo-margarine bills. Should the people again decide to return him to congress, we see no reason why his usefulness and influence may not increase as his opportunities are extended. [* Mr. Grout is now on his third term. He was unanimously renominated in 1886, soon after the above article was written, and was elected by an increased majority, running several hundred ahead of the vote for Governor in his district.] Gen. Grout's course in congress has been in keeping with his character; he has been very faithful to the interests of his constituents and his friends; he has been ambitious to do well whatever he has undertaken to do, and has succeeded. In this exalted and difficult sphere, Gen. Grout has been able, as in all places where he has been placed, to exceed the expectation of his friends and to disappoint his rivals. While Gen. Grout has been largely engaged in political affairs, he has all the while kept up a good law practice, and has been engaged in many important civil and criminal suits. Prominent among them were the cases of Hayden and Turner, indicted for murder, and Moore for forgery. Judge Powers, before whom the Harden case was tried, remarked to the writer that Gen. Grout's effort before the jury was one of the most able arguments he ever heard. Turner was acquitted and Moore was released on his own bail after a disagreement of the jury. Gen. Grout, without disparagement to other counsel, was the chief man on the defense in these important cases. It is a somewhat singular circumstance that in a large practice of several years Gen. Grout only lost a single case where he brought the suit, prepared and tried the case. Whenever he has put himself into a case, he has managed it with admirable skill and with great wisdom. As an advocate he is pleasing, persuasive and able; he seeks to convince a jury by plain and vigorous arguments, caring more to present his case clearly by simple language, than to charm the ear with smooth and elegant phrases. He is intuitively familiar with the principles of justice, and seeks to attain what is right, regardless of the technicalities and the intricacies of law. Had he concentrated his thoughts and his energies upon the law alone, few lawyers would have been his superior. For many years Gen. Grout has been actively engaged in agricultural matters. He purchased the old Grout homestead in Caledonia county, hired his brother-in-law, Capt. Ford, as manager, and commenced both practical and scientific farming. He took the farm in a run down condition, but at once entered upon the work of reclamation. He erected large barns—the largest in the vicinity— he built silos, purchased thoroughbred stock, laid miles of underdraining, and resorted to approved methods of labor without and within. He has been successful, and has far more than attained that most desirable thing which Justin S. Morrill once declared to be worthy the highest aim of the Vermont farmer — “ the raising of two blades of grass in the place of one.” His farm demonstrates the fact that intelligent farming can be successful and profitable in Vermont. Gen. Grout married Loraine M. Smith, of Glover, in 1860. She was a woman of most lovely and amiable disposition, and was highly esteemed for her intelligence and womanly virtues. The union was a most happy one. Two children were born as the fruits of the marriage, but they passed away early, and the mother, stricken and bereft, survived them but a brief time and died in 1868. The loss to the husband was irreparable, and he has felt that no other could fill the place of his early love. He remains single, and his home in Barton is in charge of his sister, Victoria Grout. As a citizen Gen. Grout endears himself to his community by his charity, honesty and public spirit. The poor always find in him a friend; he contributes largely to all churches, and his gifts to schools and other institutions have been large. His word is truth and his honor is unquestioned. He is ever ready to assist in any enterprise that promises to be a public benefit. In religious matters he is liberal, but his liberality does not tolerate anything of infidelity, or sanction aught but the cardinal principles of Bible religion. He is a man who grows in the esteem as acquaintance and association become more intimate. Industrious, persistent, able, honest, courageous and ambitious, Gen. Grout is made of that stuff and of those elements which always succeed, and which bespeak for the future, should his life be spared, a career that will be an honor to his name, his profession and his state.