Paul Dillingham

Paul Dillingham Jr. (August 10, 1799 – July 26, 1891) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Vermont, the 24th lieutenant governor of Vermont from 1862 to 1865, and the 29th governor of Vermont from 1865 to 1867. Over a long public career that spanned the antebellum period, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, he was an influential figure in Vermont’s legal and political life and, at different times, a leader in both the Democratic and Republican parties.

Dillingham was born in Shutesbury, Massachusetts, on August 10, 1799, the son of Paul Dillingham Sr. and Hannah (Smith) Dillingham. In 1805 the family moved to Waterbury, Vermont, where he grew up working on the family farm. He attended the local district school in Waterbury and later studied at Washington County Grammar School in Montpelier, receiving the basic classical and practical education typical of aspiring professionals in early nineteenth-century New England. In 1820 he commenced the study of law in the office of Judge Daniel Carpenter, a prominent local attorney. After three years of legal apprenticeship, he was admitted to the bar in March 1823, and in April of that year he began the practice of law in Waterbury as Carpenter’s partner. He soon gained a statewide reputation as a skilled trial lawyer, noted in particular for his ability to present persuasive oral arguments before judges and juries.

Entering politics as a Democrat, Dillingham quickly became a central figure in Waterbury’s local government. He served as a justice of the peace from 1826 to 1844 and as town clerk from 1829 to 1844, roles that combined judicial, administrative, and record-keeping responsibilities in a rural Vermont community. He represented Waterbury in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1833 to 1835, and again from 1837 to 1840, participating in state legislative debates during a period of economic change and political realignment. From 1835 to 1839 he served as State’s Attorney of Washington County, prosecuting criminal cases on behalf of the state. He was a delegate to the Vermont constitutional convention of 1836, contributing to revisions of the state’s fundamental law, and he served in the Vermont State Senate in 1841 and 1842, broadening his influence in state politics.

As a member of the Democratic Party representing Vermont, Paul Dillingham contributed to the legislative process during two terms in the United States House of Representatives. He was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Congresses and served from March 4, 1843, to March 3, 1847. During his congressional service, he was the only Democrat in Vermont’s congressional delegation, reflecting the state’s emerging Whig and later Republican dominance. He served on the House Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Claims, where he participated in the consideration of legal, constitutional, and financial matters affecting the nation. Serving in Congress during a significant period in American history, he favored the annexation of Texas and supported United States involvement in the Mexican-American War, positions consistent with national Democratic policy at the time. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1846 and returned to Vermont at the close of his second term, having taken part in the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents during a contentious era of territorial expansion.

After leaving Congress, Dillingham resumed his law practice in Waterbury while remaining active in public affairs. He served as a delegate to the Vermont constitutional convention of 1857, again helping to shape the state’s governing framework. In 1861 he returned to the Vermont Senate, serving at the outset of the sectional crisis that would soon erupt into civil war. Increasingly opposed to slavery and secession, Dillingham declined the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor in 1860, signaling his growing estrangement from the national Democratic position. When the American Civil War began, he formally changed his political allegiance from Democrat to Republican, aligning himself with the Unionist cause that dominated Vermont politics.

Dillingham’s prominence in his new party led to his election as the 24th lieutenant governor of Vermont, a post he held from 1862 to 1865. Serving under Governors Frederick Holbrook and J. Gregory Smith during the height of the Civil War, he played an important supporting role in mobilizing Vermont’s resources for the Union war effort. His efforts were focused on aiding the governors in obtaining passage of state laws to raise, pay, and equip soldiers for the Union Army, and he campaigned throughout Vermont for the Republican (Union) ticket of Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson in the 1864 presidential election. In this capacity he helped maintain strong public support for the war and for the national administration in a critical election year.

In 1865 Dillingham was elected the 29th governor of Vermont, serving from 1865 to 1867, a period that encompassed the close of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction. As governor, he pursued reforms in education and social policy. He oversaw the creation of Vermont’s first reform school, reflecting contemporary efforts to treat juvenile offenders separately from adult criminals and to emphasize rehabilitation. He also established Vermont’s first normal school for the training of teachers, an institution that later evolved into what is now Vermont Technical College, thereby laying groundwork for the state’s modern system of professional education. During his governorship he was also called upon to fill vacancies in the United States Senate caused by the deaths of Vermont’s sitting senators. To succeed Jacob Collamer, he appointed Luke P. Poland. To replace Solomon Foot, he first offered the appointment to former governor J. Gregory Smith; when Smith declined, Dillingham selected George F. Edmunds, who would go on to a long and influential Senate career.

After completing his term as governor in 1867, Dillingham returned to private life in Waterbury and resumed the practice of law. He remained engaged in public affairs as a delegate to the Vermont constitutional convention of 1870, continuing his long-standing involvement in shaping the state’s organic law. He retired from active professional work in 1875, closing a legal and political career that had spanned more than half a century and multiple eras of American political development.

In his personal life, Dillingham married into the family of his legal mentor. His first wife was Sarah Partridge Carpenter, daughter of Judge Daniel Carpenter; she died on September 20, 1831. On September 5, 1832, he married her sister, Julia Carpenter. Seven of his children lived to adulthood, including William Paul Dillingham, who followed his father into public service and became both governor of Vermont and a United States senator. Through his family connections, Paul Dillingham was also the father-in-law of United States Senator Matthew H. Carpenter, further extending his family’s influence in national politics.

Paul Dillingham died at his home in Waterbury, Vermont, on July 26, 1891. He was interred in the Village Cemetery in Waterbury, leaving a legacy as a prominent Vermont lawyer, legislator, congressman, and Civil War-era governor whose career bridged the transformation of American politics from the early republic through Reconstruction.