George Edward Wales (May 13, 1792 – January 8, 1860) was an American politician from

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

who served as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Biography

Wales was born in

Westminster, Vermont Westminster is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,016 at the 2020 census. It is also the first capital of the Republic of Vermont. It borders the state of New Hampshire. History Westminster is Vermont's olde ...

, and attended the common schools in Westminster. He studied law with Stephen R. Bradley in Westminster and with

Titus Hutchinson Titus Hutchinson (born April 29, 1771, Grafton, Massachusetts; died August 24, 1857, Woodstock, Vermont) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge in the state of Vermont. He served on the Vermont Supreme Court from 1825 to 1833 and as Chief ...

(who later served as chief justice of the

Vermont Supreme Court The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court. The Court ...

) in

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1812. He moved to

Hartford, Vermont Hartford is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. It is on the New Hampshire border, at the intersection of Interstates 89 and 91. It is the site of the confluence of the White and Connecticut rivers; the Ottauquechee River also flo ...

, in 1813 and began the

practice of law In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professi ...

. He served as clerk and

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

of the White River Bridge Company from 1818 until 1825. He was a member of the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives ar ...

from 1822 until 1824, and served as

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

in 1822, 1823 and 1824. Wales earned

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

s from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1823 and the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

in 1825. Wales was elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

as a

National Republican The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States that evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John Qu ...

and served in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses, March 4, 1825, to March 3, 1829. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1828 to the Twenty-First Congress. After leaving Congress he resumed the practice of law. He later joined the Whig Party. Wales was elected town clerk in

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

in 1840, and served in that position until his death. From 1847 to 1850 he was

Judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of the

Probate Court A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the Administration of an estate on death, administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts ma ...

for the district which included Windsor County. Wales was a trustee of

Norwich University Norwich University – The Military College of Vermont is a private senior military college in Northfield, Vermont. It is the oldest private and senior military college in the United States and offers bachelor's and master's degrees on-campus ...

from 1845 until 1857.

Personal life

Wales married Amanda Lathrop Wales in 1813, and they had seven children. Wales joined the

Free and Accepted Masons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

of the State of Vermont in 1812, and was the state Grand Master from 1825 to 1827.

Death

Wales died on January 8, 1860, in Hartford, and was interred in Hartford Point Cemetery.

References

External links

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

govtrack.us: Rep. George Wales
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wales, George Edward 1792 births 1860 deaths Members of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont Vermont National Republicans Vermont Whigs 19th-century American politicians Vermont state court judges Vermont lawyers People from Hartford, Vermont Members of the Vermont House of Representatives Speakers of the Vermont House of Representatives Burials in Connecticut National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers

Biography

Personal life

Death

References

Further reading

External links