Porter Hinman Dale (March 1, 1867 – October 6, 1933) was an American educator, lawyer, and politician who served as a member of both the United States House of Representatives from 1915 to 1923, and the United States Senate from Vermont from 1923 to 1933.
Porter Hinman Dale | |
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| United States Senator from Vermont | |
| In office November 7, 1923 – October 6, 1933 | |
| Preceded by | William P. Dillingham |
| Succeeded by | Ernest W. Gibson Sr. |
| Member of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont's 2nd district | |
| In office March 4, 1915 – August 11, 1923 | |
| Preceded by | Frank Plumley |
| Succeeded by | Ernest W. Gibson |
| Member of the Vermont Senate from Essex County | |
| In office 1910–1914 | |
| Preceded by | Martin Van Buren Vance |
| Succeeded by | Elmer Reed |
| Judge of the Brighton, Vermont Municipal Court | |
| In office 1910–1911 | |
| Preceded by | Herbert W. Blake |
| Succeeded by | E. J. Parsons |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 1, 1867 Island Pond, Vermont |
| Died | October 6, 1933 (aged 66) Westmore, Vermont |
| Resting place | Lakeside Cemetery, Island Pond, Vermont |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Amy K. Bartlett (m. 1891-1907, her death) Augusta M. Wood (m. 1910-1933, his death) |
| Relations | George N. Dale (father) |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | Eastman Business College |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Vermont |
| Branch/service | Vermont Militia |
| Years of service | 1896–1898 |
| Rank |  Colonel |
| Unit | Staff of Governor Josiah Grout |
| Battles/wars | Spanish–American War |
Early life and career
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The son of Lieutenant Governor George N. Dale and Helen (Hinman) Dale, Porter Dale was born in Island Pond, Vermont on March 1, 1867.[1]
Dale attended public schools in his hometown and went on to study at Eastman Business College. Later he studied in Philadelphia and Boston, and he spent two years studying elocution and oratory with James Edward Murdoch, a Shakespearean scholar and actor.[2]
Upon completion of his education, he taught school at the Green Mountain Seminary in Waterbury, Vermont, and at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Dale then studied law with his father, was admitted to the bar in 1896, and practiced in Island Pond.[3] After the death of his father, Dale practiced in partnership with Harry B. Amey.[4]
Dale served as chief deputy collector of customs at Island Pond from 1897 to 1910, when he resigned and was appointed judge of the Brighton municipal court.[5] He also served in the state militia as colonel on the staff Governor Josiah Grout, and he was also involved in the lumber, electric, and banking businesses.[6]
In 1900 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination in the election for Vermont's Second District seat in the U.S. House.[7] Dale was elected to the Vermont State Senate in 1910 and served two two-year terms.
House of Representatives
editIn 1914, Dale was a candidate for the Republican U.S. House nomination in Vermont's 2nd District.[8] He defeated Alexander Dunnett on the 21st ballot at the state party convention, and went on to win the general election.[9] He served from March 4, 1915, to August 11, 1923, when he resigned to become a candidate for the United States Senate.[10] Dale served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Treasury during the Sixty-Sixth and Sixty-Seventh Congresses.[11]
First inauguration of Calvin Coolidge
editDale was campaigning for the Senate on the night of August 2, 1923, when he heard of the death of President Warren G. Harding. Calvin Coolidge was staying at the home of his father John Calvin Coolidge Sr. in Plymouth, Vermont, and Dale traveled to the Coolidge home to ensure that Coolidge was informed and to offer his assistance. By most accounts, it was Dale who suggested persistently that Coolidge be sworn in immediately to ensure continuity in the presidency, and Dale witnessed Coolidge receiving the oath of office from John Coolidge early on the morning of August 3. Dale drafted and revised a written account of this event, which his grandson Porter H. Dale II and great-grandson Christopher Dale later discovered and published in the Journal of Vermont History in 1994.[12][13][14]
U.S. Senate
editDale was elected to the United States Senate on November 6, 1923, for the remainder of the term ending March 3, 1927, which had been made vacant by the death of William P. Dillingham.[15] Dale was reelected in 1926 and 1932, and served from November 7, 1923, until his death. He was chairman of the Committee on Civil Service (Sixty-ninth through Seventy-second Congresses).
Death and burial
editDale died at his summer home on Lake Willoughby in Westmore, Vermont on October 6, 1933.[16][17][18] He was buried in Lakeside Cemetery in Island Pond.[19]
Family
editIn 1891, Dale married Amy K. Bartlett (b. 1861) of Island Pond. She died on August 1, 1907, and in 1910 he married Augusta M. Wood (1876-1961) of Boston. With his first wife, Dale was the father of Marian (1892-1975), Timothy (1894-1977), Amy (1895-1938), and George (1898-1962).
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Consolidated Publishing, Who's Who in the Nation's Capital, 1921, page 97
- ^ John J. Duffy, Samuel B. Hand, Ralph H. Orth, editors, The Vermont Encyclopedia, 2003, page 100
- ^ William Hartley Jeffrey, Successful Vermonters: a modern gazetteer of Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans Counties, Vermont, 1904, pages 12-13
- ^ "Harry Amey, 80, Dies; Former U.S. District Attorney". Burlington Free Press. Burlington, VT. December 7, 1949. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ James Terry White, The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 44, 1967, page 371
- ^ Dodd, Mead and Company, The New International Year Book, 1934, page 209
- ^ The Vermonter magazine, Candidates for Congress in the Second District, April, 1900, pages 159-161
- ^ "Porter H. Dale Wins". Orleans County Monitor. Barton, VT. September 9, 1914. p. 1 – via Library of Congress: Chronicling America; Historic American Newspapers.
- ^ "Porter H. Dale Wins", p. 1.
- ^ Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, Representatives to Congress, Terms of Service Archived 2013-05-03 at the Wayback Machine, 2008, page 4
- ^ New York Times, Republicans Name House Committees, April 10, 1921
- ^ Bill Harris, The First Ladies Fact Book, 2012, page 456
- ^ Glenn D. Kittler, Hail to the Chief!: The Inauguration Days of our Presidents, 1965, page 167
- ^ Porter H. Dale, The Calvin Coolidge Inauguration Revisited: An Eyewitness Account by Congressman Porter H. Dale, republished in Vermont History magazine, 1994, Volume 62, pages 214-222
- ^ New York Times, Vermont to Elect a New U.S. Senator; Porter H. Dale Will Probably Be Chosen to Fill Dillingham's Unexpired Term, November 4, 1923
- ^ New York Times, Vermont to Fill Senate Vacancy; Seat of Late Porter H. Dale Is Sought by Representative E.W. Gibson, October 22, 1933
- ^ United Press, Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, Senator Dale, Vermont, Dies, October 8, 1933
- ^ Boston Globe, U.S. Senator Dale Dead in Vermont, October 7, 1933
- ^ Esther Buck Hamilton, Vermont is a State I Love, 1976, page 41
External links
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- United States Congress. "Porter H. Dale (id: D000009)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Porter Hinman Dale at Find A Grave
This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress