Benjamin H. Steele (February 8, 1837 – July 13, 1873) was an American attorney and judge. He served as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1865 to 1870.
He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1857; in addition to being the class valedictorian, Steele was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity and the Phi Beta Kappa Society.[3] While at Dartmouth, Steele developed an interest in the military, and organized an informal militia company, the "Dartmouth Grays", which consisted of members of the class of 1859, including Wheelock G. Veazey and Edward Cowles.[3] At the start of the American Civil War, several former members of the Dartmouth Grays were able to receive commissions in the Union Army as a result of their militia experience.[3]
Admission to the bar
After graduating from Dartmouth, Steele became the principal of an academy in Barton, Vermont, where he also began to study law with attorney John P. Sartle.[1] Steele interrupted his legal studies when he became ill; after recovery, he traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, intending to enroll at Harvard Law School.[1] Instead, while visiting the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1858, Steele's friends suggested that he apply to be admitted to the bar.[1] He was interviewed by a committee which included Benjamin Butler; Rufus Choate, who had overheard a portion of Steele's interview, commended him on his performance.[1] Steele easily passed the examination, and was qualified as an attorney.[1]
Career
After considering relocating to the western United States, Steele opted instead to begin a practice in Derby.[1] While practicing law, Steele also served as postmaster of Derby Line.[4][5] He later moved to St. Johnsbury, and among the prospective attorneys who studied in his office was Henry Clay Ide.[6]
Steele's health prevented him from joining the Army during the Civil War; instead, he was appointed drillmaster on the military staff of Governor Erastus Fairbanks with the rank of colonel, and provided the initial military training to newly recruited Union Army soldiers.[3][7]
In 1865, Luke P. Poland, the chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, was appointed to fill the vacancy in the United States Senate caused by the death of Jacob Collamer. Associate Justice John Pierpoint succeeded Poland; despite being only 28 years old, Steele's reputation as an attorney was so well established after his seven years' experience that he was appointed to fill the vacant Associate Justice's position.[1] Steele served on the court until 1870, when he declined reappointment, and returned to the practice of law.[1] In February 1870, Governor Peter T. Washburn died; the Lieutenant Governor, George Whitman Hendee, succeeded to the governorship, and Steele was the jurist who administered the oath of office to Hendee.[8]
Steele's health had never been robust, and he suffered from frequent bronchial infections and hemorrhages.[4] In 1873, his health began to severely decline, and he traveled to New York City for medical advice.[4] Accepting a suggestion that the western United States might provide a healthier climate, he undertook a trip to Minnesota.[4] His health improved for a time, but then continued to decline, and he died in Faribault on July 13, 1873.[1][4] Steele was buried at Hartland Village Cemetery in Hartland, Vermont.[9]
Family
In 1861, Steele married Martha (Mattie) Foxcroft Sumner (1840–1896), the daughter of David and Wealthy (Thomas) Sumner of Hartland.[1][3][10] They were the parents of two children, daughter Mary Hinman Steele (1853–1937), and son David Sumner Steele (1871–1937).[1][3]
Steele was also a second cousin of Harriet Hinman, the wife of Governor Josiah Grout.[13] Steele and Hinman were great-grandchildren of Benjamin Hinman Sr. and Helen Brown of Newport, Vermont.[13]
"Military Intelligence in Brief". St. Johnsbury Caledonian. St. Johnsbury, VT. May 31, 1861. The company organized at Coventry, Capt. West, are in rendezvous at West Derby, occupying the hotel of Lucius Robinson, esq., which he has tendered them, and are under the drill of Col. B. H. Steele of the governor's staff.
"The New Governor". Burlington Free Press. Burlington, VT. February 14, 1870.
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