Walter C. Dunton

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Walter C. Dunton

|image = Walter C. Dunton (Vermont Supreme Court Justice).jpg

|alt =

|caption = From 1901's Report of the Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Vermont Bar Association

|office1 = Member of the Vermont Senate from Rutland County

|term_start1 = 1880

|term_end1 = 1882

|alongside1 = Royal D. King, Orel Cook, Emmett R. Pember

|predecessor1 = Horace H. Dyer, Ebenezer J. Ormsbee, Levi Rice, Charles A. Rann

|successor1 = Aldace F. Walker, Walter E. Howard, Charles D. Childs, Charles S. Colburn

|office2 = President of the Vermont Bar Association

|term_start2 = 1880

|term_end2 = 1881

|predecessor2 = Luke P. Poland

|successor2 = Daniel Roberts

|office3 = Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court

|term_start3 = 1877

|term_end3 = 1879

|predecessor3 = Hoyt H. Wheeler

|successor3 = Wheelock G. Veazey

|office4 = Probate Judge of the Rutland District of Vermont

|term_start4 = 1865

|term_end4 = 1877

|predecessor4 = Ambrose L. Brown

|successor4 = Charles S. Colburn

|birth_date = {{Birth date |1830|11|29}}

|birth_place = Bristol, Vermont, U.S.

|death_date = {{Death date and age|1890|04|23|1830|11|29}}

|death_place = Rutland City, Vermont, U.S.

|resting_place = Evergreen Cemetery, Rutland, Vermont, U.S.

|party = Republican

|spouse = Miriam E. Barrett (m. 1862)

|children = 5 (including Edith Kellogg Dunton)

|education = Middlebury College

|occupation = Attorney

|allegiance = United States (Union)

|branch = Union Army

|serviceyears= 1862–1863

|unit = 14th Vermont Infantry

|commands = Company F, 14th Vermont Infantry

|rank = Captain

|battles = American Civil War

}}

Walter C. Dunton (November 29, 1830 – April 23, 1890) was a Vermont attorney, businessman, politician, and judge. In addition to serving in the Vermont State Senate, Dunton was a justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1877 to 1879.

Early life

Walter Chipman Dunton was born in Bristol, Vermont on November 29, 1830.{{sfn|Men of Vermont Illustrated|page=188}} He was educated at Franklin Academy, and graduated from Middlebury College in 1857, where he was a charter member of the Middlebury chapter of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.{{sfn|Men of Vermont Illustrated|page=188}}{{sfn|Memorial Paper on Walter C. Dunton|pages=84–90}} After graduation, Dunton studied law with the firm of Dillingham and Durant of Waterbury, and then with Linsley and Prout of Rutland.{{sfn|Men of Vermont Illustrated|page=188}} He was admitted to the bar in 1858, moved to Manhattan, Kansas Territory, and established a practice in Riley County, Kansas.{{sfn|Memorial Paper on Walter C. Dunton|pages=84-90}} A Republican, Dunton served in the Territorial Legislature in 1861.{{sfn|Memorial Paper on Walter C. Dunton|pages=84–90}}

Military career

In 1862, Dunton enlisted for the American Civil War, was commissioned as a captain in the Union Army, and was appointed commander of Company F, 14th Vermont Infantry.{{sfn|Memorial Paper on Walter C. Dunton|pages=84–90}} Part of the 2nd Vermont Brigade, the 14th Vermont was a 10-month regiment, and was active from October 1862 to August 1863;{{sfn|Memorial Paper on Walter C. Dunton|pages=84–90}} it took part in the defense of Washington, DC, and played a key role in breaking up Pickett's Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg.{{sfn|Memorial Paper on Walter C. Dunton|pages=84–90}}

After the war, Vermont Grand Army of the Republic Post 110 in Bristol was named in his honor.{{sfn|"Grand Army of the Republic Department of Vermont Posts"}}

Later career

After leaving the Army, Dunton practiced law in Rutland as the partner of John Prout and Wheelock G. Veazey.{{sfn|Men of Vermont Illustrated|page=188}} In 1865 he was elected probate judge of Rutland County, and he served until 1877.{{sfn|Men of Vermont Illustrated|page=188}} In 1870 he was a delegate to the state constitutional convention.{{sfn|Memorial Paper on Walter C. Dunton|pages=84–90}} Dunton served as a trustee of Middlebury College from 1870 to 1890.{{sfn|Memorial Paper on Walter C. Dunton|pages=84–90}}

In April 1877, Dunton was appointed a justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, replacing Hoyt H. Wheeler, who resigned to become Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont.{{sfn|Memorial Paper on Walter C. Dunton|pages=84–90}} He served until 1879, when he resigned and returned to practicing law; he was succeeded on the court by his law partner Wheelock Veazey.{{sfn|Memorial Paper on Walter C. Dunton|pages=84–90}}

Dunton served in the Vermont State Senate from 1880 to 1882, and served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee.{{sfn|Memorial Paper on Walter C. Dunton|pages=84–90}} He served as president of the Vermont Bar Association from 1880 to 1881, and from 1888 to 1889 he was a law professor at Iowa State University.{{sfn|Memorial Paper on Walter C. Dunton|pages=84–90}} Dunton was also active in several businesses; in addition to serving as the attorney for Rutland's Baxter National Bank, he was also a member of the bank's board of directors.{{sfn|"Death Notice, Hon. Walter C. Dunton"|page=1}}

Death and burial

Dunton died in Rutland on April 23, 1890,{{sfn|"Death Notice, Hon. Walter C. Dunton"|page=1}} and was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Rutland.{{sfn|"Funeral of Judge Dunton"|page=4}}

Family

In October 1862, Dunton married Miriam E. Barrett of Rutland.{{sfn|Memorial Paper on Walter C. Dunton|pages=84–90}} They were the parents of one son and four daughters: Agnes Ellen; Edith Kellogg; Walter Barrett; Miriam Buttrick; and Mary.{{sfn|Memorial Paper on Walter C. Dunton|pages=84–90}}

References

Sources

=Books=

{{cite book |last=Harman |first=Henry H. |date=1901 |title=Proceedings of the Vermont Bar Association: Memorial Paper on Walter C. Dunton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4mlFAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA42 |location=Montpelier, VT |publisher=Argus and Patriot Printing House |ref={{sfnRef|Memorial Paper on Walter C. Dunton}}}}
{{cite book |last=Ullery |first=Jacob G. |date=1894 |title=Men of Vermont Illustrated |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Nvg_AAAAYAAJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Nvg_AAAAYAAJ/page/n185 188] |location=Brattleboro, VT |publisher=Transcript Publishing Company |ref={{sfnRef|Men of Vermont Illustrated}}}}

=Newspapers=

{{cite news |date=April 25, 1890 |title=Death Notice, Hon. Walter C. Dunton |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/burlington-weekly-free-press-dunton/143902732/ |work=The Burlington Free Press |location=Burlington, VT |via=Newspapers.com |ref={{sfnRef|"Death Notice, Hon. Walter C. Dunton"}}}}
{{cite news |date=April 26, 1890 |title=Funeral of Judge Dunton |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93992414/dunton-funeral/ |work=Rutland Herald |location=Rutland, VT |via=Newspapers.com |ref={{sfnRef|"Funeral of Judge Dunton"}}}}

=Internet=

{{cite web |url=http://vermontcivilwar.org/pw/gar/post.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040817112939/http://vermontcivilwar.org/pw/gar/post.php |url-status=usurped |archive-date=August 17, 2004 |title=Grand Army of the Republic Department of Vermont Posts |website=Vermont in the Civil War |publisher=Tom Ledoux |access-date=June 9, 2017 |ref={{sfnRef|"Grand Army of the Republic Department of Vermont Posts"}}}}