Stephen Royce (August 12, 1787 – November 11, 1868) was an American lawyer, judge and politician. Originally a Democratic-Republican, and later a Whig Party, he became a Republican when the party was formed in the mid-1850s. Royce served as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1829 to 1846, chief justice from 1846 to 1852, and 23rd governor of Vermont from 1854 to 1856.
Quick Facts 23rd Governor of Vermont, Lieutenant ...
Stephen Royce |
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In office October 12, 1854 – October 10, 1856 |
Lieutenant | Ryland Fletcher |
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Preceded by | John S. Robinson |
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Succeeded by | Ryland Fletcher |
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In office 1846–1852 |
Preceded by | Charles K. Williams |
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Succeeded by | Isaac F. Redfield |
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In office 1829–1846 |
Preceded by | Bates Turner |
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Succeeded by | Charles Davis |
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In office 1825–1826 |
Preceded by | Asa Aikens |
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Succeeded by | Bates Turner |
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In office 1822–1825 |
Preceded by | James Mason |
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Succeeded by | Benjamin Swift |
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In office 1816–1817 |
Preceded by | Ebenezer Marvin Jr. |
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Succeeded by | Israel P. Richardson |
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In office 1815–1817 |
Preceded by | Chauncey Fitch |
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Succeeded by | Samuel Wead |
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Born | (1787-08-12)August 12, 1787 Tinmouth, Republic of Vermont |
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Died | November 11, 1868(1868-11-11) (aged 81) Berkshire, Vermont, U.S. |
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Resting place | East Berkshire Episcopal Cemetery, Berkshire, Vermont, U.S. |
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Political party | Democratic-Republican Party Whig Party (before 1854) Republican (from 1854) |
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Relations | Homer E. Royce (nephew) |
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Alma mater | Middlebury College |
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Profession | Attorney |
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Born and raised in Tinmouth, Vermont, Royce attended the local schools and the Addison County Grammar School. He taught school while attending Middlebury College, from which he graduated in 1807. He then studied law, attained admission to the bar 1809, and practiced in East Berkshire, Sheldon, and St. Albans. He represented Sheldon in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1815 to 1817 and served as State's Attorney of Franklin County from 1816 to 1817. Royce represented St. Albans in the Vermont House from 1822 to 1825, when he was selected to serve as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. He served until 1826, and returned to the court as an associate justice in 1829. He served until 1846, when he became the court's chief justice.
In 1854, Royce was the successful Whig nominee for governor, elected with support from Whigs and members of the new Republican Party. In 1855, he was reelected as a Republican. Royce was Vermont's first Republican governor, and the party remained in control of Vermont's government for the next 100 years. His term included the Republican Party's creation of the Mountain Rule, under which governors alternated between the east and west sides of the Green Mountains and were limited to two years in office.
Royce died in Berkshire on November 11, 1868. He was buried at East Berkshire Episcopal Cemetery in Berkshire.
He was elected Governor of Vermont in 1854, as a Whig, the last Whig to hold the office. He was re-elected to a second one-year term as a Republican, serving from 1854 to 1856. He was the first Republican to attain the office after the party was founded in the mid-1850s,[7] ushering in more than a century of Republican domination in Vermont politics. Vermont elected only Republicans to the governorship until Democrat Philip Hoff won the office in 1962.[8]
Jones, Leonard A.; Reno, Conrad, eds. (1900). "Vermont: Stephen Royce, LL.D." The Judiciary and the Bar of New England for the Nineteenth Century. Boston, MA: Century Memorial Publishing Co. pp. 17–19 – via Google Books. Ellingson, Barbara (1997). "Biographical Sketch, Charles Linsley" (PDF). Charles and Emmeline Linsley Papers, 1827-1892. Montpelier, VT: Vermont Historical Society. p. 1. Retrieved July 3, 2018. "Stephen Royce". National Governors Association. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
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