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Aaron H. Grout

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Aaron Hinman Grout
From 1919's Memoir of General William Wallace Grout and Autobiography of Josiah Grout
Member of the Vermont Senate from Chittenden County
In office
January 5, 1949 – January 3, 1951
Serving with William L. Hammond, Charles P. Smith Jr., Holger C. Petersen
Preceded byWilliam L. Hammond, Charles P. Smith Jr., Ernest L. Whitney, John Deschenes
Succeeded byHolger C. Petersen, Robert S. Babcock, Edward W. Mudgett, Fortis Abbott
Judge of the Burlington, Vermont Municipal Court
In office
February 1, 1933 – September 30, 1941
Preceded byHamilton S. Peck
Succeeded byMyron I. Samuelson
27th Vermont Secretary of State
In office
April 21, 1923 – March 4, 1927
GovernorRedfield Proctor Jr.
Franklin S. Billings
John E. Weeks
Preceded byHarry A. Black
Succeeded byRawson C. Myrick
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives from Newport City
In office
January 5, 1921 – April 20, 1923
Preceded byDean N. Dwinell
Succeeded byWilliam C. Lindsay
State's Attorney of Orleans County, Vermont
In office
1912–1916
Preceded byWillard M. Wright
Succeeded byColby Stoddard
Personal details
Born(1879-01-18)January 18, 1879
Rock Island, Illinois, US
DiedDecember 29, 1966(1966-12-29) (aged 87)
Burlington, Vermont, US
Resting placeLakeview Cemetery, Burlington, Vermont
Political partyRepublican
SpouseEdith Goddard Hart
Children2
EducationUniversity of Vermont
ProfessionAttorney
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Vermont
Branch/serviceVermont Army National Guard
Years of service1893–1901
1910-1915
RankMajor
UnitStaff of Governor George H. Prouty
1st Vermont Infantry Regiment
Battles/warsSpanish–American War

Aaron Hinman Grout (January 18, 1879 – December 29, 1966) was an American judge and political figure who served as Secretary of State of Vermont.

Early life

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Grout was born in Rock Island, Illinois, on January 18, 1879.[1] He was the son of Governor Josiah Grout and Harriet Hinman Grout. He was also the nephew of Congressman William W. Grout.[2]

Grout was raised in Derby and Newport, Vermont, and graduated from Derby Academy in 1896.[3]

Military service

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In 1893, he joined the National Guard. Enlisting in Company I, 1st Vermont Infantry Regiment as a private, he attained the rank of corporal before receiving his commission as a captain and serving as an aide to brigade commander Brigadier General Julius J. Estey. During the Spanish–American War, he aided Estey in organizing and mustering the National Guard soldiers who made up the unit federalized as the 1st Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He left the National Guard in 1901.[4]

Start of career

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Grout graduated from the University of Vermont in 1901, studied law with Newport attorney John W. Redmond, and attained admission to the bar in 1904.[5] He practiced in Newport, first as an associate of the firm Young and Young, and later in partnership with his father.[6] A Republican, Grout served as a messenger in the Governor's office during his father’s term in office, 1896 to 1898. During the governorship of Fletcher D. Proctor (1906–1908), he was the governor's executive clerk. He served as Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs (chief assistant) to Governor George H. Prouty (1908 to 1910).[7]

Grout was chairman of the Orleans County Republican Convention in 1908, a delegate to the Republican state convention in 1908 and 1910, and president of the Newport Republican Club in 1908 and 1910.[8] From 1912 to 1916, Grout served as Orleans County State’s Attorney, a position previously held by his uncles Theophilus and William Grout.[9]

Continued military service

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During his service on Governor Prouty's staff, Grout also served as Prouty's military secretary with the rank of major, and he continued his military service after 1910 as the Judge Advocate of the Vermont National Guard.[10]

During World War I, he was a lieutenant colonel in the Vermont Volunteer Militia, the home guard organization formed to handle the National Guard's domestic missions while its soldiers were deployed overseas.[11]

Later career

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Grout served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1921 to 1923.[12] In 1923, the Secretary of State, Harry A. Black, died in office. Grout was appointed to fill the vacancy. He was elected to a full two-year term in 1924, and was re-elected in 1926. He served as Secretary of State from the time of his appointment in April 1923 until resigning in May 1927.[13]

Grout resigned as Secretary of State to relocate to Burlington and become Treasurer and Manager of the Vermont Acceptance Corporation, a company that made loans to finance the purchase of homes, automobiles and other items.[14]

From 1933 to 1941, Grout was Judge of Burlington's Municipal Court.[15] In 1948, he was elected to a term in the Vermont Senate.[16]

Civic memberships

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Grout was a member of the Congregational church.[17] He was a member of the Grange and the Memphremagog Yacht Club, president of the Burlington Rotary Club and a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.[18]

Grout was an active member of the Masons. He served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Vermont.[19] He was a 33° Scottish Rite mason and served on the Supreme Council, Scottish Rite, Northern Jurisdiction.[19]

Death and burial

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Grout died in Burlington on December 29, 1966.[20] He is buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Burlington.[21]

Family

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In 1907, Grout married Edith Goddard Hart of Chelsea, Massachusetts.[22] Their children included daughters Eleanor (1911–1937) and Nancy (1913–1987).[23]

Other

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Grout's home at 370 Main Street in Burlington was built in 1881. It is still standing, and has gone through several owners and remodelings. Since 2000, it has been operated as the Lang House Bed & Breakfast.[24]

References

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  1. ^ Vermont Secretary of State, Legislative Directory, 1888, page 429
  2. ^ James Terry White, The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1898, page 331
  3. ^ Vermont Secretary of State, Legislative Directory, 1929, page 442
  4. ^ Prentiss Cutler Dodge, Encyclopedia of Vermont Biography, 1912, page 207
    - The Vermonter magazine, Vermont in the Spanish–American War, June 1898, page 249
  5. ^ Vermont Secretary of State, Legislative Directory, 1915, page 569
    - Encyclopedia of Vermont Biography
  6. ^ Vermont Secretary of State, Legislative Directory, 1915, page 569
    - Encyclopedia of Vermont Biography
  7. ^ Vermont Secretary of State, Legislative Directory, 1896, page 267
    - Vermont Secretary of State, Acts and Laws, Passed by the Legislature of the State of Vermont, 1908, page 586
    - Vermont General Assembly, Journal of the Vermont General Assembly, 1908, page 17
  8. ^ Encyclopedia of Vermont Biography
  9. ^ J.C. Schwarz, Who's Who in Law, Volume 1, 1937, page 380
    - Ebenezer Mack Treman, The History of the Treman, Tremaine, Truman Family in America, Volume 2, 1901, page 1613
  10. ^ Walton's Vermont Register, Vermont Military Department, 1910, page 43
    - Vermont Secretary of State, Legislative Directory, 1915, pages 454, 569
  11. ^ John T. Cushing, Harold Pearl Sheldon, Vermont in the World War, 1928, pages 499-500
  12. ^ Vermont Secretary of State, Legislative Directory, 1929, page 442
  13. ^ National Association of Secretaries of State, Handbook, 1977, page 101
    - Vermont Secretary of State, Secretaries of State, Terms of Service, 2011, page 2
  14. ^ Who's Who in Law
  15. ^ Essex County Republican, Vermont Notes Archived January 8, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, February 10, 1933
    - Vermont General Assembly, Journal of the Vermont General Assembly, 1967, page 92
  16. ^ "Successful Chittenden County Senators". Burlington Daily News. Burlington, VT. November 3, 1948. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Vermont Legislative Directory, 1915
  18. ^ Encyclopedia of Vermont Biography
    - University of Vermont, Consuelo Northrup Bailey Papers, Burlington Zonta Club Charter Night Dinner, December 17, 1930, retrieved January 7, 2014
  19. ^ a b Scottish Rite Council of Deliberation, Proceedings of Michigan Council of Deliberation, 1967, page 19
    - Order of the Eastern Star, Grand Chapter of Vermont, Proceedings of the Sixtieth Annual Session, 1932, pages 11, 98
  20. ^ Vermont Death Records, 1909–2008, entry for Aaron H. Grout, retrieved November 7, 2014
    - U.S. Social Security Death Index, 1935-Current, entry for Aaron H. Grout, retrieved January 7, 2014
  21. ^ "Judge Aaron H. Grout Dies; Long Active in Public Service". December 30, 1966. p. 13. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  22. ^ Massachusetts Marriage Records, 1840–1915, entry for Aaron H Grout and Edith Goddard Hart, retrieved January 7, 2014
    - Vermont, Vital Records, 1720–1908, marriage record for Aaron Hinman Grout and Edith Goddard Hart, retrieved January 7, 2014
  23. ^ 1920 United States Federal Census, entry for Aaron H. Grout, retrieved January 7, 2014
    - Vermont Death Records, 1909–2008, entry for Eleanor Hart Grout, retrieved January 7, 2014
    - Vermont Death Records, 1909–2008, entry for Nancy Stewart Grout Churchill, retrieved January 7, 2014
  24. ^ University of Vermont, Historic Burlington: 360 Main Street, retrieved January 7, 2014
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Secretary of State of Vermont
1924, 1926 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Vermont Secretary of State
1923–1927 		Succeeded by
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