ant and agreeable to him as any other; he thought that he could perform such services as well as any other duties to which he might be called. He resigned on account of the in adequacy of the compensation; that he had a family that he then thought would require more expenditures than he was able to make; but had he known at the time his subsequent situation in respect to his family, it not requiring what he had anticipated, he should have remained upon the Bench. After fifty years' service at the Bar and on the Bench, he attended the April term of court in 1887, in the Court House of La moille County, where he was admitted; on account of the situation of one of his causes, a recess was taken until July 5, following. Three days prior to that date, when engaged in removing a load of hay, he suddenly expired. PlERPOINT ISHAM was the son of Dr. Ezra Isham of Manchester. His mother was a cousin of Judges Phelps and Pierpoint. With an academical education, he studied law with Judge Skinner, was admitted to the Bar and settled in Pownal; he soon removed to Bennington and continued there in prac tice until his election as judge in 1851. He was short in stature, of a rotund figure, quick and energetic in his move ments, excitable in his temperament, impul sive and ardent, of too impatient a spirit to endure gracefully, as a judge, the vexations of jury trials. Of this he was so well con scious that when the judicial system was changed and the Supreme Court judges were required to preside in the county courts, he declined further service upon the Bench. He would have been chosen in 1857 had he not positively declined an election. He took pride in his profession and greatly honored it, and sought t6 keep abreast with the literature of the law and the current decisions, particularly upon questions of commercial law. His reported opinions exhibit a good legal scholarship, a compre
hensive knowledge of the case in hand and the legal principles applicable to it. Unlike most Americans, the pursuit of politics was not to his taste. He was so averse to political life that he declined popular election to any position, and I think the only office ever held by him, aside from the judgeship, was the legislative appoint ment of bank commissioner. His son, Edward S. Isham, is a member of the law firm of Isham, Lincoln & Beale, in Chicago. Having tried the circuit system for six years, it was found that it was very unsatis factory, and at the session in 1856 the court was reorganized, and instead of a Supreme court of three members, with four circuit judges for service in the county courts, by an act taking effect in the autumn of 1857, a supreme court of six members was estab lished, and a Supreme Court judge required to preside in the county courts. At that time, Judges Rcdfield, Bennett and Isham composed the Supreme Court; Judge Redfield was elected Chief by a majority of 14; Judge Isham declined further service, and Judge Bennett was elected by a majority of 43. Judge Poland was elected unanimously; Judge Aldis was elected over Circuit Judge Kittredge by a majority of 107. John Pierpoint was elected over Circuit Judge Kittredge, and his brother, Robert Pier point, on the second ballot, by a majority of 13, and Judge Barrett was -elected by a majority of 38. The system, as then established, has re mained the same until the present time. Asa Owen Aldis, a native of St. Albans, graduated from the University of Vermont in 1829. He studied law and was a partner with his father. He was an able lawyer, a distinguished advocate, and had an exten sive practice until 1857, when he was elected to the Bench. He was one of the most able, graceful and distinguished members of the court. The loss of several children and the
