Park Pollard

Park Hiram Pollard was born in Cavendish, Vermont on June 5, 1869.{{cite book |last=Black |first=Harry A. |author-link=Harry A. Black |date=1921 |title=Vermont Legislative Directory |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435020591327&view=1up&seq=565 |location=Montpelier, VT |publisher=Vermont Secretary of State |page=561 |via=HathiTrust}} He attended the schools of Proctorsville, Vermont, Vermont Academy and Black River Academy. Pollard apprenticed as a pharmacist and became the co-owner and co-operator of Pollard Brother's Store in Cavendish.{{cite news |date=August 9, 2021 |title=Pollards Store’s teenage pharmacist with the Cavendish Historical Society |url=https://vermontjournal.com/history/pollards-stores-teenage-pharmacist-with-the-cavendish-historical-society/ |work=The Vermont Journal |location=Ludlow, VT |access-date=March 30, 2023}} In addition to selling medicines, Pollard's offered a “compounding” pharmacy service, which made customized medications for humans and animals. As a general store, it carried a wide variety of products, including food, tobacco, shoes and boots, carpets, rope, petroleum products, and windows and window shades.

Active in politics as a Democrat, Pollard served in local offices, including town lister, town selectman, and trustee of the village of Proctorsville. During World War I, he served on the Windsor County draft exemption board and was appointed U.S. Explosives Inspector for Vermont.{{efn|Explosives inspectors oversaw the storage and security of explosives by users including mines and construction projects in order to ensure they were not stolen or misused during wartime.}}

Despite being a Democrat in an era when Republicans won all elections for statewide office, Pollard was appointed by Governor Allen M. Fletcher to a seat on the Vermont Public Service Commission from 1913 to 1915.{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109167257/park-pollard-death/|title=Park Pollard, 86, Dies; Leader of State Democrats|newspaper=Bennington Banner|date=December 27, 1955|accessdate=September 8, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} Pollard became chairman of the Vermont Democratic Party in 1916.{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109271165/pollard-on-john-davis/|title=Park Pollard is Davis Man|newspaper=Vermont Journal|date=July 25, 1924|accessdate=September 10, 2022}} He was first elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1916, representing the town of Cavendish. In April 1917 Pollard was nominated to the Vermont Board of Control by Governor Horace F. Graham, but his nomination was blocked by the Vermont Senate.{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109167630/banner-on-pollard/|title=The Refusal of the Senate|newspaper=The Enterprise and Vermonter|location=Vergennes, Vermont|date=April 12, 1917|accessdate=September 8, 2022}}{{efn|The Board of Control was empowered to investigate state spending and make cost savings recommendations to the legislature.}} This blockage was denounced by some commentators as an act of petty partisanship, but other observers contended that the Senate's decision was motivated by remarks Pollard had made on the House floor.

Pollard was not re-elected in 1918, but was elected again in 1920. While in the state house he was noted for his ability to block legislation, due to his strong ties with rural representatives.{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109214914/park-pollard/|title=Park Pollard|newspaper=Vermont Standard|date=October 5, 1922|accessdate=September 9, 2022}} Pollard's legislative focus was on what he deemed unnecessary spending, and earned a reputation as a fiscal conservative.{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109272370/pollard-steps-down/|title=Pollard Out; McDevitt in Command|newspaper=The Brattleboro Reformer|date=June 16, 1942|accessdate=September 10, 2022}}

Pollard was the Democratic nominee in the 1923 special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat that had been vacated by the death of William P. Dillingham. Due to Vermont's traditionally Republican lean, he was considered to have next to no chance of winning.{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109215454/pollard-1923/|title=Bold Park Pollard|newspaper=Boston Herald|via=Brattleboro Reformer|date=August 17, 1923|accessdate=September 9, 2022}} Pollard attempted to define the race around the issue of Prohibition, taking a "wet" stance that advocated for amending the Volstead Act to be less restrictive, and attempting to appeal to supporters of wet Republican John W. Redmond, who had been defeated by "dry" candidate Porter H. Dale in the Republican primary.{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109215670/rum-and-vermont/|title=Rum and the Vermonters: Vermont and Democracy|newspaper=Vermont Standard|date=October 25, 1923|accessdate=September 9, 2022}} Pollard was defeated by Dale, 66%-33%.

Pollard endorsed John W. Davis for President in 1924. He was nominated by both the Democratic and Republican parties for re-election as state representative that year, but declined the nominations for unspecified personal reasons.{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109270900/pollard-declines/|title=Park Pollard not a Candidate|newspaper=Vermont Standard|date=October 2, 1924|accessdate=September 10, 2022}}

Pollard was the Democratic nominee for Governor in 1930, once again running as a wet. During the campaign, he favored the total repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act.{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109271888/pollard-1930/|title=Park Pollard's Declaration|date=July 4, 1930|newspaper=The Vermont Tribune|accessdate=September 10, 2022}} He lost heavily to Lieutenant Governor Stanley C. Wilson. Pollard was again the Democratic nominee for Governor in 1942, losing to incumbent Governor William H. Wills, and stepped down as party chair that same year.

Pollard died in a Waterbury nursing home on December 26, 1955. He received Masonic funeral honors, and was buried at Hillcrest Cemetery in Proctorsville.{{cite news |date=December 30, 1955 |title=P. H. Pollard Rites Held In Proctorsville |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122019361/obituary-for-p-h-pollard/ |work=Rutland Herald |location=Rutland, VT |page=9 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Pollard was the son of Don Carlos Pollard and Sarah (Moor) Pollard.{{cite book |editor-last=Marquis |editor-first=Albert Nelson |editor-link=Albert Nelson Marquis |date=1916 |title=Who's Who In New England |edition=Second |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RmUTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA862 |location=Chicago, IL |publisher=A. N. Marquis |page=862 |via=Google Books}} He was a first cousin of Calvin Coolidge; Pollard's mother was the sister of Coolidge's mother Victoria Josephine Moor.{{cite book |last=Kingsbury |first=Barbara B. |date=1994 |title=Chubb Hill Farm and Cavendish, Vermont: A Family and Town History, 1876-1960 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XE4jAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Sarah+Pollard%27s+sister+,+Victoria+Moor+Coolidge+,+was+his+mother+.+%22 |location=Cavendish, VT |publisher=Cavendish Historical Society |page=101 |via=Google Books}} Pollard married Edith Mary Johnson in 1894; they were the parents of a daughter, Minnie.{{cite news |date=May 10, 1923 |title=Mrs. Park Pollard, Proctorsville, Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122022559/obituary-for-park-h-pollard/ |work=Vermont Standard |location=Woodstock, VT |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}} Edith Pollard died in 1923, and in 1931 Pollard married Julia Rose (McNulty) Rollinson.{{cite news |date=October 21, 1931 |title=Park H. Pollard Weds Julia M'Nulty |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122022896/julia/ |work=Brattleboro Reformer |location=Brattleboro, VT |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard, Park}}

Category:1869 births

Category:1955 deaths

Category:Coolidge family

Category:People from Cavendish, Vermont

Category:Vermont Academy alumni

Category:Businesspeople from Vermont

Category:20th-century American pharmacists

Category:Democratic Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives

Category:20th-century members of the Vermont General Assembly