Stephen Royce

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For those of a similar name, see Steven Royce (disambiguation).

Stephen Royce
Stephen Royce.jpg
Portrait on display in Vermont State House
23rd Governor of Vermont
In office
October 12, 1854 – October 10, 1856
LieutenantRyland Fletcher
Preceded byJohn S. Robinson
Succeeded byRyland Fletcher
Chief of Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
In office
1846–1852
Preceded byCharles K. Williams
Succeeded byIsaac F. Redfield
Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
In office
1829–1846
Preceded byBates Turner
Succeeded byCharles Davis
In office
1825–1826
Preceded byAsa Aikens
Succeeded byBates Turner
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives from St. Albans
In office
1822–1825
Preceded byJames Mason
Succeeded byBenjamin Swift
State's Attorney of Franklin County, Vermont
In office
1816–1817
Preceded byEbenezer Marvin Jr.
Succeeded byIsrael P. Richardson
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives from Sheldon
In office
1815–1817
Preceded byChauncey Fitch
Succeeded bySamuel Wead
Personal details
Born(1787-08-12)August 12, 1787
Tinmouth, Republic of Vermont
DiedNovember 11, 1868(1868-11-11) (aged 81)
Berkshire, Vermont, U.S.
Resting placeEast Berkshire Episcopal Cemetery, Berkshire, Vermont, U.S.
Political partyWhig Party (before 1854)
Republican (from 1854)
RelationsHomer E. Royce (nephew)
Alma materMiddlebury College
ProfessionAttorney

Stephen Royce (August 12, 1787 – November 11, 1868) was an American lawyer, judge and politician. He served as the 23rd Governor of Vermont from 1854 to 1856.

Early life[]

Royce was born in Tinmouth in the Republic of Vermont on August 12, 1787, the son of Stephen Royce (1764-1833), a veteran of the American Revolution and War of 1812, and Minerva (Marvin) Royce, a daughter of Ebenezer Marvin, who served as a judge and member of Vermont's Council of Censors.[1] Royce grew up in Franklin and Berkshire and attended the local schools.[1][2] He attended school in Tinmouth and graduated from the Addison County Grammar School.[2] He began attendance at Middlebury College in 1804, where his classmates included Daniel Azro Ashley Buck and William Slade.[3] He taught school in Sheldon to earn his tuition, and he graduated from Middlebury in 1807.[2]

Start of career[]

After graduation, Royce began studying law in the office of his uncle, Ebenezer Marvin Jr.[1] He attained admission to the bar in 1809, and practiced in East Berkshire and Sheldon before moving to St. Albans.[1] Among the prospective attorneys who studied law under Royce was Charles Linsley.[4]

Royce was Franklin County State's Attorney from 1816 to 1818, and served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1815 to 1816 and 1822 to 1824.[5]

Career as judge[]

Royce was a Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1825 to 1827, and again from 1829 to 1846.[1] In 1846 he became Vermont's Chief Justice and served until 1852.[6]

Governor[]

He was elected Governor of Vermont in 1854, as a Whig, the last Whig to hold the office. He was re-elected to a second one-year term as a Republican, serving from 1854 to 1856. He was the first Republican to attain the office after the party was founded in the mid-1850s,[7] ushering in more than a century of Republican domination in Vermont politics. Vermont elected only Republicans to the governorship until Democrat Philip Hoff won the office in 1962.[8]

Death[]

Royce died in Berkshire on November 11, 1868.[9] He was interred at East Berkshire Episcopal Cemetery in East Berkshire.[10]

Family life[]

He never married, but resided with his mother, at her request, whenever he was in his hometown.[11]

Royce was the uncle of Vermont Chief Justice and Congressman Homer E. Royce.[12]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Jones, Leonard A.; Reno, Conrad, eds. (1900). "Vermont: Stephen Royce, LL.D." The Judiciary and the Bar of New England for the Nineteenth Century. Boston, MA: Century Memorial Publishing Co. pp. 17–19 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Partridge, Henry Villiers (1905). A History of Norwich, Vermont. Dartmouth Press. p. 175. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  3. ^ Nason, Henry B., ed. (1887). Biographical Record of the Officers and Graduates of the Rensselaer, 1824-1886. Troy, NY: William H. Young. p. 31 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Ellingson, Barbara (1997). "Biographical Sketch, Charles Linsley" (PDF). Charles and Emmeline Linsley Papers, 1827-1892. Montpelier, VT: Vermont Historical Society. p. 1. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  5. ^ The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, edited by Rossiter Johnson and John Howard Brown, 1904, Rowland to Royce page
  6. ^ Ullery, Jacob G. (1894). Men of Vermont Illustrated. Brattleboro, VT: Transcript Publishing Company. pp. 91–92 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "Stephen Royce". National Governors Association. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  8. ^ Encyclopedia of Vermont Biography, edited by Prentiss Cutler Dodge, 1912, page 39
  9. ^ "Death of Judge Royce". Watchman & Journal. Montpelier, VT. November 18, 1868. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ History of Berkshire. Berkshire, VT: Berkshire Historical Society. 1994. p. 70 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ Catalogue of Officers and Students of Middlebury College, published by the college, 1917, page 10
  12. ^ History of Franklin and Grand Isle Counties, Vermont, edited by Lewis Cass Aldrich, 1891, page 228

External links[]


Party political offices
Preceded by
Erastus Fairbanks 		Whig nominee for Governor of Vermont
1854 		Succeeded by
None
First Republican nominee for Governor of Vermont
1855 		Succeeded by
Ryland Fletcher
Political offices
Preceded by
John S. Robinson 		Governor of Vermont
1854–1855 		Succeeded by
Ryland Fletcher
Retrieved from ""