Portus Baxter | |
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| Member of the United States House of Representatives fromVermont's3rd district | |
| In office March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1867 | |
| Preceded by | Homer Elihu Royce |
| Succeeded by | Worthington Curtis Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1806-12-04)December 4, 1806 |
| Died | March 4, 1868(1868-03-04) (aged 61) Washington, D.C., US |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Ellen Jannette Harris |
| Relations | Carlos Baxter (brother) |
| Children | William H. Baxter (1833–1843) Jedediah Hyde Baxter (1835–1836) Jedediah Hyde Baxter (1837–1890) Myron Leslie Baxter (1840–1895) Henry Clay Baxter (1844–1890) William P. Baxter (1847–1911)[1] |
| Parent |
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| Alma mater | Norwich Military Academy andUniversity of Vermont |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer |
Portus Baxter (December 4, 1806 – March 4, 1868) was a nineteenth-century banker, farmer, and politician fromVermont. He served three terms as aU.S. Representative from the state's3rd Congressional District from 1861 to 1867.
Baxter was born inBrownington, Vermont, the son ofWilliam Baxter and Lydia Ashley. After attending local schools, he graduated fromNorwich Military Academy in 1824, and entered theUniversity of Vermont inBurlington.[2] He left UVM in 1826 after his father's death, and was responsible for administering his father's estate. (In 1852, UVM conferred on Baxter thehonorary degree ofMaster of Arts.) He moved toDerby Line, Vermont, in 1828, where he engaged in agricultural and mercantile pursuits, which took him down theConnecticut River valley and into Canada. He was one of the original incorporators of theConnecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad, which was planned to run almost the entire length of the state on the eastern border.
Baxter was the onlyWhig delegate fromNew England who supportedZachary Taylor for president in 1848.[3] He was one of Orleans County'sassistant judges from 1836 to 1837.[4] He was a presidential elector for Whig nomineeWinfield Scott in 1852, and Republican nomineeJohn C. Frémont in 1856.[5]
In 1860, after many years of urging, he finally ran for Congress, was successful and eventually served three terms, from March 4, 1861, to March 3, 1867, in the37th,38th, and39th Congresses.[6][7] During the 38th Congress, he chaired the Committee on Expenditures in theDepartment of the Navy. He also served on theAgriculture andElections Committees.[8]
Baxter's time in Congress coincided with the four years of theAmerican Civil War, and he was such a proponent of Vermont soldiers he earned the nickname, 'the soldier's friend.'[9] One Vermonter's letters document instances where Mrs. Baxter, and other wives and daughters of Vermont's Congressional contingent, were strong supporters of the efforts of theChristian Commission. Baxter also frequently visited the regiments in the area immediately surrounding Washington, D.C., watching out for a son who had joined the11th Vermont Infantry, and sponsoring others in their efforts to get promoted. During the bloodyBattle of the Wilderness in May 1864, Baxter and his wife spent so much time in the hospitals in and aroundFredericksburg, Virginia, tending to wounded soldiers, that they themselves suffered from exhaustion and eventually had to leave to recuperate.
He remained in Washington, D.C. after completing his last term. Baxter suffered from asthma, and he died of pneumonia after a few days' illness. His was buried in the village cemetery inStrafford, Vermont.[10]
Baxter General Hospital, the Civil War soldier's hospital inBurlington, was named for Baxter, as was Portus Baxter Park in Derby Line.[11][12]
His wife, Ellen Jannette Harris (1811–1882), daughter of Judge Jedediah Hyde Harris of Strafford, whom he married on June 19, 1832, survived him by fourteen years. They had eight children, four of whom lived to adulthood. The most notable wasJedediah Hyde Baxter, who served asSurgeon General of the United States Army.[13]
Judge Harris was the business partner of SenatorJustin Smith Morrill. Baxter and Morrill became close friends as a result of the connection to Harris, with Morrill referring to Baxter as "one of nature's noblemen" and Baxter consciously patterning his business and political career on Morrill's.[14]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromVermont's 3rd congressional district 1861–1867 | Succeeded by |
