Josiah Grout Jr. | |
|---|---|
 OfficialVermont State House portrait | |
| 46th Governor of Vermont | |
| In office October 8, 1896 – October 6, 1898 | |
| Lieutenant | Nelson W. Fisk |
| Preceded by | Urban A. Woodbury |
| Succeeded by | Edward C. Smith |
| Member of theVermont Senate fromOrleans County | |
| In office 1892–1894 Serving with Amory Davis | |
| Preceded by | Henry C. Cleveland, Charles W. Wheeler |
| Succeeded by | Charles L. Erwin,Willard W. Miles |
| Speaker of theVermont House of Representatives | |
| In office 1886–1890 | |
| Preceded by | James K. Batchelder |
| Succeeded by | Henry R. Start |
| In office 1874–1876 | |
| Preceded by | H. Henry Powers |
| Succeeded by | John W. Stewart |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1841-05-28)May 28, 1841 |
| Died | July 19, 1925(1925-07-19) (aged 84) Newport, Vermont, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | William W. Grout (brother) |
| Children | Aaron H. Grout |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Signature | .png) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States (Union) |
| Service | Union Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1863, 1865 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | 1st Vermont Cavalry Vermont Frontier Cavalry |
| Commands | Company M, Vermont Frontier Cavalry |
| Wars | American Civil War |
Josiah Grout Jr. (May 28, 1841 – July 19, 1925) was an American lawyer and politician fromVermont. ARepublican, he served multiple terms in theVermont House of Representatives andVermont Senate, including holding the leadership post ofSpeaker from 1874 to 1876 and 1886 to 1890. He served asgovernor from 1896 to 1898.
Grout was born inCompton in theBritish Canadian Province ofLower Canada on May 28, 1841, a son of Josiah and Sophronia (Ayer) Grout.[1] His parents were native Vermonters, and they returned to Vermont when Grout was six years old.[2] He received his early education in the public schools and at Orleans Liberal Institute atGlover, Vermont.[1] He was a student atSt. Johnsbury Academy when the Civil War broke out, and he left to enlist in theUnion Army for theAmerican Civil War.[1]
On October 2, 1861, Grout joined Company I,1st Vermont Cavalry as aprivate.[1] On October 22, he received his commission as asecond lieutenant later that month, and was promoted tofirst lieutenant on April 25, 1862.[1] He was promoted tocaptain on April 4, 1863.[1] Grout took part in 17 battles and was wounded in theSkirmish at Miskel Farm on April 1, 1863.[3] Grout requested return to his regiment, but on October 1, 1863, he was discharged due to his wounds. After the ConfederateSt. Albans Raid in late 1864, in January 1865, Grout was commissioned as a captain and assigned to command Company M, VermontFrontier Cavalry, which performed patrol duty along the Canadian borders with New York and Vermont. He was promoted tomajor in March 1865 and mustered out in June 1865.
After the war, Groutstudied law inBarton with his brother,William W. Grout.[1] He wasadmitted to the bar in December 1865, and in 1866 moved toIsland Pond, where he was in charge of customs collections for the districts ofNewport andSt. Albans.[1]
In October 1867, he married Harriet Hinman, daughter of Aaron and Nancy (Stewart) Hinman.[1] In 1874, he moved to Chicago, and afterward toMoline, Illinois, where he was one of the supervisors ofRock Island County for two years.[1] He returned to Vermont in 1880, where he took up farming, and raised some of the finestJersey cattle, bloodedMorgan horses andShropshire sheep in Vermont.[1]
A Republican, Grout represented Newport in theVermont House of Representatives in 1872 and 1874, andDerby in 1884, 1886 and 1888.[1] In 1874, 1886 and 1888 he wasSpeaker of the House.[1] He was elected to theVermont Senate fromOrleans County in 1892.[1] Grout was also head of the Republican Club of Derby and was vice president of the Vermont League of Republican Clubs for four years, and president for one.[1]
At the Republican State Convention on June 17, 1896, Grout was narrowly nominated as the party's candidate for governor, receiving 339 votes compared toWilliam W. Stickney's 336. He easily beat Democrat J. Henry Jackson in thegeneral election, receiving 53,426 votes (76.4%) to Jackson's 14,855 (21.2%). Grout's term was highlighted by enhancement to the state's educational system, a visit to theTennessee Centennial Exposition. TheSpanish–American War broke out during Grout's term, and at the start of the war Grout tended the services of a regiment of infantry and a battery of six guns from the Vermont Militia, which was accepted by the federal government. On May 21, 1898, he dispatched a regiment of 47 officers and 980 men to the war. Due to the short duration of the war, however, the Vermont regiment saw no active service and returned to the state on August 21, where it was reviewed by Grout at Camp Ethan Allen. In October 1898, Grout was succeeded byEdward Curtis Smith. In 1898, Grout received thehonorary degree ofLL.D. from theUniversity of Vermont, and he received an honorary LL.D. fromNorwich University in 1899.[4]
Grout again represented Derby in the Vermont House in 1904.[1] Grout died in Newport on July 19, 1925.[5] He was buried at Derby Center Cemetery.[6] His sonAaron H. Grout, served asVermont Secretary of State from 1923 to 1927.[1]
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of Vermont 1896 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Vermont 1896–1898 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
