Luke P. Poland

Luke Potter Poland
Member of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1875
Preceded by	Justin Smith Morrill
Succeeded by	Dudley C. Denison
In office March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1885
Preceded by	James M. Tyler
Succeeded by	William W. Grout
United States Senator from Vermont
In office November 21, 1865 – March 3, 1867
Preceded by	Jacob Collamer
Succeeded by	Justin S. Morrill
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives
In office 1878
Personal details
Born	(1815-11-01)November 1, 1815 Westford, Vermont, US
Died	July 2, 1887(1887-07-02) (aged 71) Waterville, Vermont, US
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Martha Smith Poland Adelia Henrietta Poland
Profession	Politician, Lawyer, Judge, Teacher, Bank president

Luke Potter Poland (November 1, 1815 – July 2, 1887) was a United States Senator and Representative from Vermont.

Biography[]

Poland was born in Westford son of Luther and Nancy Potter Poland. He attended the common schools and Jericho Academy. He worked as a clerk in Waterville, worked in his father's sawmill, taught at Morrisville schools, studied law in the office of Samuel A. Willard and was admitted to the bar in December 1836. He practiced in Morrisville. In 1838 he married Martha Smith Page and they had three children. Martha died in 1853 and he married her sister, Adelia H.^[1] With his first wife, Poland's children included: Susan E. (1840-1841); Martin Luther (1841-1878), a West Point graduate and captain in the United States Army who died while on duty at Fort Yuma on the California-Arizona border; Mary Frances (1843-1865); and Isabel Emma (1848-1927), the wife of first Andrew E. Rankin, and then Henry O. Cushman.^[2]

Career[]

Poland was register of probate from 1839 to 1840 and was a member of the State constitutional convention of 1843. In 1844 and 1845 he was prosecuting attorney of Lamoille County, and in 1848 he succeeded Charles Davis as an Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, a position in which he served until 1849. He served as an associate justice again from 1857 to 1860, succeeding Pierpoint Isham.^[3] In 1860, he succeeded Isaac F. Redfield as chief justice; he served until 1866, and was succeeded by John Pierpoint.^[4][5]

After resigning from the court, Poland was appointed as a Republican to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Jacob Collamer, and was elected to finish the term on October 24, 1866.^[6] He served from November 21, 1865 to March 3, 1867. He was then elected to the House of Representatives for the Fortieth and to the three succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1867 to March 3, 1875).^[7] While in Congress, he was chairman of the Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business (Fortieth Congress) and a member of the Committee on Revision of the Laws (Fortieth, Forty-first and Forty-third Congresses). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Forty-fourth Congress.^[8]

A member of the Vermont House of Representatives in 1878, Poland was also a trustee of the University of Vermont at Burlington and of the State Agricultural College. He was president of the First National Bank of St. Johnsbury for twenty years. He was again elected to the House of Representatives, and served during the Forty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1885);^[9] he was not a candidate for renomination.

Death[]

Poland died at his country home near Waterville on July 2, 1887 and is interred at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, St. Johnsbury.^[10]

See also[]

• Poland Act

References[]

External links[]

• Luke P. Poland at Find a Grave

• United States Congress. "Luke P. Poland (id: P000406)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Govtrack US Congress
• Encyclopedia, Vermont Biography