Henry M. Bates

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Henry Miner Bates, Vermont State Treasurer. Henry Miner Bates (Vermont Treasurer).jpg
Henry Miner Bates, Vermont State Treasurer.

Henry M. Bates (July 4, 1808 -- August 20, 1865) was a Vermont banker and politician who served as Vermont State Treasurer for six years.

Vermont State of the United States of America

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It borders the U.S. states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. Vermont is the second-smallest by population and the sixth-smallest by area of the 50 U.S. states. The state capital is Montpelier, the least populous state capital in the United States. The most populous city, Burlington, is the least populous city to be the most populous city in a state. As of 2015, Vermont was the leading producer of maple syrup in the United States. In crime statistics, it was ranked as the safest state in the country since 2016.

Vermont State Treasurer

The State Treasurer's Office is responsible for several administrative and service duties, in accordance with Vermont Statutes. These include: investing state funds; issuing state bonds; serving as the central bank for state agencies; managing the state’s cash balances, check processing and reconciliation; safeguarding and returning unclaimed or abandoned financial property; and administering three major pension plans for public employees. The treasurer is elected to two year terms as are all Vermont's constitutional state office holders.

Contents

Early life

Henry Miner Bates [1] was born in Hartland, Vermont on July 4, 1808, the son of Jacob and Charity (Paddock) Bates. [2] He studied law in preparation for a career as an attorney, and in 1839 accepted an appointment as clerk of the courts in Orleans County, Vermont, a position in which he served until 1849. [3]

Hartland, Vermont Town in Vermont, United States

Hartland is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,393 at the 2010 census. It includes the villages of Hartland, Hartland Four Corners, and North Hartland.

Orleans County, Vermont County in the United States

Orleans County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2010 census, the population was 27,231. Its county seat is the city of Newport. The county was created in 1792 and organized in 1799. As in the rest of New England, few governmental powers have been granted to the county. The county is an expedient way of grouping and distributing state-controlled governmental services.

Early career

Bates was elected town clerk of Irasburg in 1841, and served until 1850. [4] In addition, he served in other local offices, including justice of the peace. [5]

Irasburg, Vermont Town in Vermont, United States

Irasburg is a town in Orleans County, Vermont, United States. Irasburg was established in 1781 when the land was granted to Ira Allen, Roger Enos, Jerusha Enos, Jerusha Enos, Jr., Roger Enos, Jr. and others by the Vermont General Assembly. Ira Allen later obtained the rights of the other proprietors, and he deeded the town to Jerusha Enos, Jr. as a wedding gift.

Bates was active in the Episcopal church. [6] He also advocated restrictions on the consumption of alcoholic beverages as an officer of the Vermont Temperance Society, [7] and served as secretary of the Orleans County Agricultural Society. [8]

Episcopal Church (United States) Anglican denomination in the United States

The Episcopal Church (TEC) is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion based in the United States with dioceses elsewhere. It is a mainline Christian denomination divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church is Michael Bruce Curry, the first African-American bishop to serve in that position.

Temperance movement 19th- and 20th-century global social movement

The temperance movement is a social movement against the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote complete abstinence (teetotalism), with leaders emphasizing alcohol's negative effects on health, personality, and family life. Typically the movement promotes alcohol education as well as demands new laws against the selling of alcohols, or those regulating the availability of alcohol, or those completely prohibiting it. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the temperance movement became prominent in many countries, particularly English-speaking and Scandinavian ones, and it led to Prohibition in the United States from 1920 to 1933.

From 1846 to 1849 he was a Whig member of the Vermont House of Representatives, [9] [10] [11] [12] and in 1850 and 1851 he was a member of the Vermont Senate. [13] [14]

Whig Party (United States) Political party in the USA in the 19th century

The Whig Party was a political party active in the middle of the 19th century in the United States. Four presidents belonged to the party while in office. It emerged in the 1830s as the leading opponent of Jacksonian democracy, pulling together former members of the National Republican and the Anti-Masonic Party. It had some links to the upscale traditions of the long-defunct Federalist Party. Along with the rival Democratic Party, it was central to the Second Party System from the early 1840s to the mid-1860s. It originally formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic Party. It became a formal party within his second term, and slowly receded influence after 1854. In particular terms, the Whigs supported the supremacy of Congress over the presidency and favored a program of modernization, banking and economic protectionism to stimulate manufacturing. It appealed to entrepreneurs, planters, reformers and the emerging urban middle class, but had little appeal to farmers or unskilled workers. It included many active Protestants and voiced a moralistic opposition to the Jacksonian Indian removal. Party founders chose the "Whig" name to echo the American Whigs of the 18th century who fought for independence. The political philosophy of the American Whig Party was not related to the British Whig party. Historian Frank Towers has specified a deep ideological divide:

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 are elected to a two-year term without term limits.

Vermont 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. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-member districts, three three-member districts, and one six-member district. Each senator represents at least 20,300 citizens. Senators are elected to two-year terms and there is no limit to the number of terms that a senator may serve.

In 1850 Bates was appointed cashier of the Bank of Orleans, and he held this position until 1854, when he moved to Northfield, Washington County to become cashier of the Northfield Bank. [4]

Northfield, Vermont Town in Vermont, United States

Northfield is a small town in Washington County, Vermont, United States. The town lies in a valley within the Green Mountains and has been home to Norwich University since 1866. It contains the village of Northfield, where over half of the population lives. The town's total population was 6,207 at the 2010 census.

Washington County, Vermont County in the United States

Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. Named after George Washington, its county seat is the city of Montpelier, the least populous state capital in the United States, and the most populous municipality is Barre. As of the 2010 census, the population was 59,534, making it the third-most populous county in Vermont, but the third-least populous capital county in the United States after Hughes County, South Dakota and Franklin County, Kentucky. If Carson City, Nevada and Juneau, Alaska were to be treated as counties, Washington County would be the fifth-least populous capital county.

Bates was also involved in several local businesses in Northfield, including the Northfield Slate Company and the Northfield Gas Light Company. [15]

State Treasurer

In 1854 he was elected Vermont State Treasurer as a Republican, and he served until 1860. [16] After he left office, an audit determined that his state accounts were in arrears, and a subsequent investigation determined that Bates' defalcation amounted to at least $50,000 (about $1.3 million in 2016). [17]

Bates had been empowered to borrow money on the state's behalf; he had taken out several loans of which he made no record, and used the money on speculative investments, including marble and soapstone businesses and the Van Ness farm, now known as the Ethan Allen Homestead. [18] His misconduct came to light when one of the banks which had made such a loan contacted Bates' successor, who could find no record of it. Thus exposed, Bates indicated that he had intended to repay the money, but the investments had failed. [18]

He temporarily fled Vermont, but returned to Northfield about two months later, after the Vermont General Assembly passed a law indicating that Bates would not be subject to arrest provided that he met with commissioners to negotiate a settlement. [19] [20] Bates and the commissioners agreed to have the state accept real estate and other items of value from Bates to satisfy the majority of his debt, while the individuals who had posted surety bonds to guarantee Bates' performance as treasurer, mostly businessmen in Northfield, were required to pay amounts ranging from one to 600 dollars. [21] [22] [23]

Death

Bates died in Northfield on August 20, 1865, and was buried in Northfield. [24] [4]

Family

In 1832 Bates married Nancy Farrar Chapman. [4] They were the parents of three children: Caroline, Harriette, and George C. [4]

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References

  1. ↑ Baldwin, Frederick W. (1916). History of Bank of Orleans, Irasburgh National Bank of Orleans, Barton National Bank, Barton Savings Bank and Trust Company. Burlington, VT: Free Press Printing Company. pp. 109–110.
  2. ↑ "Vermont Vital Records, 1720-1908, Birth Record for Henry M. Bates" . Ancestry.com. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com LLC. July 4, 1808.
  3. ↑ History of Bank of Orleans , page 109
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 History of Bank of Orleans , page 110
  5. ↑ Vermont House of Representatives (1848). Journal of the House of the State of Vermont. Montpelier, VT: E. P. Walton. p. 266.
  6. ↑ Gregory, John (1878). Centennial Proceedings and Historical Incidents of the Early Settlers of Northfield, Vt. Montpelier, VT: Argus and Patriot Book and Job Printing House. pp. 240, 254.
  7. ↑ "The State Temperance Society" . Middlebury Register. Middlebury, VT. January 27, 1858. p. 2.
  8. ↑ "The Farmer: Orleans County Agricultural Society" . The Caledonian. St. Johnsbury, VT. April 22, 1844. p. 1.
  9. ↑ Vermont House of Representatives (1846). Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Vermont. Woodstock, VT: Bishop & Tracy. p. 5.
  10. ↑ "The Election: Town Representatives" . Vermont Phoenix. Brattleboro, VT. September 16, 1847. p. 2.
  11. ↑ Journal of the House of the State of Vermont , 1848, page 7
  12. ↑ Hemenway, Abby Maria (1877). The Vermont Historical Gazetteer. 3. Claremont, NH: Claremont Manufacturing Company. p. 254.
  13. ↑ "Orleans County: The Whigs of Orleans County met on the 13th and had an excellent convention" . Vermont Watchman & State Journal. Montpelier, VT. July 25, 1850. p. 2.
  14. ↑ "Orleans County Whig Convention" . Vermont Watchman & State Journal. Montpelier, VT. July 24, 1851. p. 2.
  15. ↑ Vermont General Assembly (1855). Acts and Resolves Passed by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont at the October Session, 1855. Montpelier, VT: E. P. Walton. pp. 104, 156.
  16. ↑ Vermont Archives and Records Administration (2012). "General Election Results, State Treasurer, 1813-2012" (PDF). Office of the Vermont Secretary of State. Montpelier, VT: Vermont Secretary of State. pp. 8–9.
  17. ↑ "Defalcation of the State Treasurer" . The Caledonian. St. Johnsbury, VT. November 9, 1860. p. 2.
  18. 1 2 Defalcation of the State Treasurer
  19. ↑ "Henry M. Bates, late State Treasurer of Vermont, has returned to his residence in Norhfield" . The Caledonian. St. Johnsbury, VT. December 21, 1860. p. 2.
  20. ↑ "Returned: The late defaulting State Treasurer of Vermont, Henry M. Bates". Bennington Banner. Bennington, VT. December 21, 1860. p. 2.
  21. ↑ "Our Boston Correspondence: Another State Defaulter". Daily Alta California. San Francisco. November 26, 1860. p. 1.
  22. ↑ "A Vermont Defalcation" . Cleveland Daily Leader. Cleveland, OH. November 12, 1860. p. 2.
  23. ↑ "An act for the Relief of the Sureties of the late State Treasirer". Vermont Watchman & State Journal. Montpelier, VT. December 19, 1862. p. 4.
  24. ↑ "Vermont Vital Records, 1720-1908, Death Record for Henry M. Bates" . Ancestry.com. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, LLC. August 30, 1865.
Political offices
Preceded by
John A. Page 		Vermont State Treasurer
1854–1860		Succeeded by
John B. Page
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