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Trenor W. Park

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Trenor W. Park
From 1893's American Encyclopaedia of Biography
Member of the Republican National Committee from Vermont
In office
1868–1870
Preceded byAbraham B. Gardner
Succeeded byLuke P. Poland
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives from Bennington
In office
1865–1869
Preceded byAbraham B. Gardner
Succeeded byLuther R. Graves
Chair of the California Republican State Central Committee
In office
1856–1860
Preceded byNew position
Succeeded byWilliam Sherman
Personal details
Born(1823-12-08)December 8, 1823
Woodford, Vermont
DiedDecember 13, 1882(1882-12-13) (aged 59)
Aboard ship San Blas between New York City and Aspinwall, Panama
Resting placeOld Bennington Cemetery, Bennington, Vermont
Political partyWhig (Before 1856)
Republican (From 1856)
SpouseLaura Van Der Spiegle Hall (m. 1846–1875, her death)
Children3
RelativesHiland Hall (father in law)
John G. McCullough (son in law)
Julia Hunt Catlin (daughter in law)
OccupationAttorney
Businessman
Politician
Signature
Park-McCullough House, Vermont

Trenor William Park (December 8, 1823 – December 13, 1882) was an American lawyer, political figure, and businessman. He was most notable as a founder of the Republican Party in California, and for his Republican leadership roles in Vermont, including member of the Republican National Committee and the Vermont House of Representatives.

Born in Woodford, Vermont, Park studied law as a teenager, and attained admission to the bar at age 21, as soon as he was legally eligible. He practiced in Bennington until 1852. Park was also a businessman, and invested in lumbering and other ventures. In 1846 he married Laura Van Der Spiegle Hall, whose father Hiland Hall had served as a Congressman and Governor of Vermont. In 1851, Hall was named Chairman of the U.S. Land Commission that settled Mexican land titles after the annexation of California. He relocated to San Francisco, and Park went with him.

In California, Park practiced law and was a founder of the Halleck, Peachy, Billings & Park firm. He continued to pursue business opportunities, including real estate and mining, and became the manager of John C. Frémont's Rancho Las Mariposas gold mine. Park faced temporary financial setbacks during the Panic of 1857, but recovered and became very wealthy. When the Republican Party was organized in the mid-1850s, Park won election as the first Chairman of the state party's Central Committee.

Park returned to Vermont in 1864, and continued to practice law and pursue investments in a variety of businesses while also maintaining a residence in New York City. He also served as a member of the Vermont House of Representatives and Vermont's member of the Republican National Committee. Park was a candidate for the 1874 Republican nomination for Governor but withdrew in favor of Asahel Peck, who went on to win the general election.

A noted civic activist and philanthropist, Park's donations included Bennington's public library, the building and land for the Vermont Soldiers' Home, and the University of Vermont's Park Gallery of Art, which later became part of the university's Robert Hull Fleming Museum. Park died at sea in 1882, and was buried first at Brooklyn, New York's Green-Wood Cemetery, and later at Bennington's Old Cemetery.

Early life

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Trenor William Park was born in Woodford, Vermont on December 8, 1823, the son of Luther and Cynthia (Pratt) Park.[1] Park was named for Thomas Trenor, who fled Ireland after taking part in the failed Irish Rebellion of 1798 and became a prominent Bennington businessman and friend of Luther Park. Trenor Park was raised in Bennington and began working at an early age, including selling candy and carrying letters to and from the Bennington post office.[2]

At age 15 Park became the proprietor of a candy store on Bennington's North Street, and at age 16 he began to study law with Bennington County State's Attorney Alanson P. Lyman, attaining admission to the bar as soon as he was legally eligible in 1844.[2] Park began a practice in Bennington, and maintained it until 1852, also becoming active in lumbering and other business ventures. On December 15, 1846, he married Laura Van Der Spiegle Hall, the daughter of Congressman and Governor Hiland Hall. They had three children Eliza, Laura and Trenor Luther Park.[3][4]

Career in California

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In 1851 Hall was appointed Chairman of the U.S. Land Commission empowered to settle Mexican land titles after the annexation of California, and Park traveled to San Francisco with him.[2] He practiced law successfully, soon becoming a partner in the state's leading firm, Halleck, Peachy, Billings & Park.[5] In 1855 Park played a key role in San Francisco's political reform movement by establishing the San Francisco Bulletin newspaper.[6] He also became active in several commercial enterprises, including real estate and mining, and managed the Rancho Las Mariposas gold mine owned by John C. Frémont.[6] Park lost some of his investments in the Panic of 1857, but eventually became very wealthy.[7][8]

Originally a Whig, at the founding of the Republican Party, Park became an active member, serving as a delegate to several state conventions. When the state party was organized in 1856, Park was selected as the first Chairman of California's Republican State Central Committee.[9][10] He served until 1860, when he was succeeded by William Sherman.[11] In 1863 he was a Unionist candidate for the U.S. Senate, narrowly losing election in the California legislature.[12] In 1864 he was a California delegate to the Union National Convention that nominated Republican President Abraham Lincoln for reelection and Democrat Andrew Johnson for vice president.[13]

Return to Vermont

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In 1864 Park returned to Vermont, where he incorporated the First National Bank of North Bennington, was an original investor in the Central Vermont Railroad, and again speculated in several successful business ventures, including timber and mines.[14] He also established a second residence in New York City. He served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1865 to 1869.[15] In 1868 he was a Vermont delegate to the Republican National Convention that nominated Ulysses S. Grant for president and Schuyler Colfax for vice president.[16] The same year, he was elected as Vermont's member of the Republican National Committee, serving until 1870.[17][18]

In 1870 he was one of the founders of Rutland, Vermont's Baxter National Bank, and he often continued to invest in partnership with the bank's president, Horace Henry Baxter.[19] In 1871 Park's daughter Eliza married John G. McCullough, former Attorney General of California, who became active in several of Park's business ventures and later served as Governor of Vermont.[20][21] Also in 1871, Park was an owner and promoter of the supposedly depleted Utah Emma Silver Mine.[22] English citizens invested millions of pounds, and in 1876 and 1877 his partners and he were accused of defrauding the group that purchased the mine.[22] Park and his associates were acquitted in a nationally publicized April 1877 trial.[22]

Park was a candidate for the 1874 Republican nomination for Governor, but withdrew in favor of the eventual nominee and general election winner, state Supreme Court Justice Asahel Peck.[23] The same year, Park purchased controlling interest in the Panama Railway and was elected its president, succeeding Russell Sage.[24] During the rest of the 1870s he engaged in a well-publicized contest with rival financier Jay Gould for control of Pacific Mail, the company that shipped cargo between the eastern and western United States by moving it overland across the Isthmus of Panama.[25] In 1881, Park sold his stock in the Panama railroad for $7 million (over $200 million in 2022).[26]

Active in civic affairs, Park was a member of the committee that oversaw design and construction of the Bennington Battle Monument,[27] and was a trustee of the University of Vermont.[28] His philanthropic donations included the Bennington Free Library (with Seth B. Hunt),[29] and the building and land for the Vermont Soldiers' Home (again in conjunction with the Hunt family).[30][31] He also donated the University of Vermont's Park Gallery of Art, the exhibits of which were later incorporated into the university's Robert Hull Fleming Museum.[32]

Death and burial

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Trenor Park died on December 13, 1882, while aboard the ship San Blas between New York and Aspinwall, Panama while en route to San Francisco.[33] His funeral took place at New York City's Collegiate Reformed Church, and he was buried in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery.[34] Park was later re-interred at Bennington's Old Cemetery.[35]

Legacy

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His Bennington home, the Park-McCullough House, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and is open to the public.[36]

Trenor Luther Park

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Trenor Luther Park (1861–1907) studied at Harvard University and was a successful businessman, yachtsman and golfer. He was married to Julia Hunt Catlin (1864–1947). Trenor L. Park died during surgery for an intestinal ailment, and his friends and family believed his decline had been hastened by despondence over the death of his nine-year-old daughter Elliot, who had been killed in an accident earlier that year.[37][38]

Laura Hall Park

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Laura Hall Park (1858–1939) married Frederic Beach Jennings (1853–1920), a Bennington and New York City lawyer and businessman. They donated the site of their Vermont home to become the location of Bennington College.[39]

References

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  1. ^ Cecil Gage Tilton, William Chapman Ralston: Courageous Builder, 1935, page 252
  2. ^ a b c Henry Clay Williams, American Encyclopaedia of Biography, 1893, page 108
  3. ^ Abby Maria Hemenway, editor, Vermont Historical Gazetteer, Volume 5, 1891, page 92
  4. ^ Oscar Tully Shuck, editor, History of the Bench and Bar of California, 1901, page 594
  5. ^ The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Hon. Frederick Billings, October 1891, page 259
  6. ^ a b Rossiter Johnson, John Howard Brown, editors, The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, 1904
  7. ^ Richard Jay Hutto, Their Gilded Cage: The Jekyll Island Club Members, 2005, page 90
  8. ^ John Hannavy, editor, Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography, 2007, page 1478
  9. ^ Robin W. Winks, Frederick Billings: A Life, 1998, page 126-127
  10. ^ Franklin Tuthill, The History of California, 2010, page 519
  11. ^ trustees of the California State Library, Winfield C. (1893). History of Political Conventions in California, 1849–1892. Sacramento, CA: Society of California Pioneers. p. 184.
  12. ^ Wallace Emerson Lamb, The Lake Champlain and Lake George Valleys, 1940, page 569
  13. ^ Horace Greeley, et al., editors, Proceedings of the First Three Republican National Conventions of 1856, 1860 and 1864, 1893, page 248
  14. ^ Clark C. Spence, British Investments and the American Mining Frontier, 1860–1901, 2000, page 140
  15. ^ Vermont General Assembly, Journal of the Vermont House of Representatives, 1867, page 4
  16. ^ "The Presidency: List of Delegates to the Republican National Convention". The New York Times. May 19, 1868. p. 2. Retrieved July 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Republican National Convention, Official Proceedings of the National Republican Conventions, 1903, page 113
  18. ^ Ely, Burnham & Bartlett, Proceedings of the National Union Republican Convention Held at Chicago, May 20 and 21, 1868, 1868, page 58
  19. ^ Bennington Banner, "Gen. H. Henry Baxter, Death of a Well Known Millionaire", February 22, 1884
  20. ^ Christina Tree, Rachel Carter, Explorer's Guide to Vermont, 2012, page 128
  21. ^ Tyler Resch, Glastenbury: The History of a Vermont Ghost Town, 2008, page 91
  22. ^ a b c "The Emma Mine Case Ended". The New York Times. New York, NY. April 29, 1877. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Railway Gazette, "General Railroad news: Elections and Appointments", May 23, 1874
  24. ^ Railway Age, "General Railroad News: Elections and Appointments", Volume 6, December 19, 1874, page 496
  25. ^ Maury Klein, 1986,The Life and Legend of Jay Gould, 179 to 180
  26. ^ McCullough, David G. (2001). The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-7432-0137-7 – via Google Books.
  27. ^ Charles Spooner Forbes, The Second Battle of Bennington: A History of Vermont's Centennial, 1877, page 13
  28. ^ Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Public Documents, 1867, page 56
  29. ^ Vermont. Board of Library Commissioners, Biennial Report of the Board of Library Commissioners of Vermont, Volumes 1–6, 1895, page 52
  30. ^ National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Report of Inspection of State Soldiers and Sailors' Homes, 1889, page 36
  31. ^ Bill Morgan, Bennington and the Civil War, 2013, page 112
  32. ^ Art and Architecture, University of Vermont web site
  33. ^ "Death of Trenor W. Park: He Dies at Sea On His Way to Aspinwall". The New York Times. December 21, 1882. p. 2. Retrieved July 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ Hiram Carleton, Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont, 1903, page 12
  35. ^ Tyler Resch, The Meticulous Advocate: Hiland Hall of Vermont; A Biography, 2009, page 70
  36. ^ Park-McCullough House web site
  37. ^ "Trenor L. Park Dead; Head of the American Yacht Club Expires After an Operation". The New York Times. October 24, 1907. p. 11. Retrieved July 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ^ "T.L. Park's Daughter Killed; 9-Year-Old Girl Fell Six Stories from Her Garden on the Roof". The New York Times. January 6, 1907. p. 1. Retrieved July 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ^ John J. Duffy, Samuel B. Hand, Ralph H. Orth, editors, The Vermont Encyclopedia, 2003, page 55

Sources

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  • The Hoosac Valley: Its Legends and its History, by Grace Greylock Niles, 1912, page 464
  • Trenor Park: A New Englander in California, by Virginia Bell, California Historical Society, 1981,
  • Biography of Trenor W. Park, History of Bennington County, Vermont, edited by Lewis Cass Aldrich, 1889
  • Proceedings of the First Three Republican National Conventions of 1856, 1860 and 1864, published by Charles W. Johnson, Minneapolis, 1893, page 248
  • National Register of Historic Places web site, Vermont state listings,
  • Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont, edited by Hiram Carleton, 1903, Volume II, pages 12 to 14
  • Men of Vermont: Illustrated Biographical History of Vermonters & Sons of Vermont, Jacob Ullery, 1894, Transcript Publishing Company, Brattleboro, pages 296 to 298
  • Vermont: the Green Mountain State, Walter Hill Crockett, 1921, Volume 4, pages 65 to 66
  • One Thousand Men, by Dorman B. E. Kent, published by Vermont Historical Society 1915, page 123
  • The Vermont Encyclopedia, by John J. Duffy, Samuel B. Hand, and Ralph H. Orth, 2003, pages 53 to 54, 228
  • Letter as Chairman, Republican State Central Committee, Trenor William Park, September 2, 1856, University of California Berkeley archives
  • The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, published by James T. White and Company, 1892, Volume II, page 135
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