Lyman Gillett Hinckley (April 13, 1832 – November 26, 1887) was a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served as the 30th

lieutenant governor of Vermont The lieutenant governor of Vermont is elected for a two-year term and chosen separately from the governor. The Vermont Lieutenant Governor's main responsibilities include acting as governor when the governor is out of state or incapacitated, presi ...

from 1874 to 1876.

Early life

Lyman Gillett Hinckley was born in the

Post Mills Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries ** An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service ** Iraqi Post, I ...

area of

Thetford, Vermont Thetford is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States in the Connecticut River Valley. The population was 2,775 at the 2020 census. Villages within the town include East Thetford, North Thetford, Thetford Hill, Thetford Center, Rices Mill ...

on April 13, 1832, a son of Lyman Hinckley and Phebe (Gillett) Hinckley. His father was a noted anti-slavery activist and served in local offices including assistant judge of the

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

court. Hinckley attended the schools of Thetford and graduated from Thetford Academy in 1851. In 1852, he began attendance at

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 ...

while teaching school and selling books and newspaper subscriptions door-to-door to pay his tuition. He graduated in 1856, and moved to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. Hinckley studied law with

William Hebard William Hebard (November 29, 1800October 20, 1875) was an American attorney and politician from Vermont. He served in several elected offices, and was most notable for representing Vermont in the United States House of Representatives for two te ...

and

Burnham Martin Burnham Martin (August 10, 1811 – November 17, 1882) was a Vermont lawyer, farmer and politician who served as the 22nd lieutenant governor of Vermont from 1858 to 1860. Early life Burnham Martin was born in Williamstown, Vermont on Augus ...

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 1860. Hinckley did not actively practice law, preferring instead to concentrate on his duties as county clerk.

Political career

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, from 1856 to 1859 he was Assistant Clerk 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 ...

, and he was

Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

Orange County, Vermont Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,277. Its shire town (county seat) is the town of Chelsea. Orange County was organized on February 2, 1781, as an original county with ...

from 1860 until his death. Hinckley served as a Town of Chelsea

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and Town Meeting Moderator, also serving in the

from 1862 to 1864 and 1868 to 1870. From 1872 to 1874 he served in the

Vermont Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-m ...

and was chosen to serve as

President pro tem A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase '' pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being ...

. He was then elected Lieutenant Governor and served one term, 1874 to 1876. In 1878 and 1880 he returned to the Vermont House of Representatives.

Death and burial

Hinckley died suddenly on November 26, 1887 while in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

to visit his sisters for

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

. He was buried Highland Cemetery in Chelsea.

Family

In 1861, Hinckley married Mary Sybil Henry of

Waterbury, Vermont Waterbury is a town in Washington County in central Vermont, United States. Although the town is still home to the Waterbury Village Historic District, the village sharing the name of the town officially dissolved as a municipality in 2018. As o ...

, the sister of William Wirt Henry. They had a daughter, Hattie, who died in 1872 at age eight. Mary Hinckley died in 1874, and Lyman Hinckley never remarried. Hinckley's sister Amelia was the wife of architect

George Albert Clough George Albert Clough (May 27, 1843 – December 30, 1910) was an architect working in Boston in the late 19th-century. He designed the Suffolk County Courthouse in Pemberton Square, and numerous other buildings in the city and around New Engla ...

."George A. Clough," in
Massachusetts of To-day: A Memorial of the State, Historical and Biographical, Issued for the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago
', ed. Daniel P. Toomey and Thomas C. Quinn (Boston: Columbia Publishing Company, 1892): 230.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinckley, Lyman G. 1832 births 1887 deaths Dartmouth College alumni Vermont lawyers Lieutenant Governors of Vermont Vermont state senators Presidents pro tempore of the Vermont Senate Members of the Vermont House of Representatives People from Thetford, Vermont Burials in Vermont 19th-century American legislators 19th-century American lawyers