S2E2 Justin Morrill, and a stretch to tie in to family.

(author's note):

written version has been edited from the podcast version for clarity. not that it is really any clearer...

So here we go so today the podcast welcome welcome. If you were listening to the last one and the way I introduced it was "I'm BigZig and this is the Moments That Last Podcast" and then I kind of laughed because one of my favorite podcasts that I listen to is put out by the Professional Photographers of America, the PPA. Their host, I can't remember his name, but the way he starts a podcast is just like that it's "My name is Bob Smith and this is..." so I tried to emulate that last time I thought it was funny. So I made myself laugh. But anyway, I AM BigZig and this IS The Moments That Last Podcast, Season 2 Episode 2.

In keeping with the overall theme, I was trying to maintain a theme of the month of family and then today's subtopic is Vermont history. I had done some research on this particular piece of Vermont history before I decided that this month was going to be family related. To be fair I probably should have stuck with my original plan and found something family related that I could use and then just done a little bit more research, but things being such that they are I'm gonna try to tie this in to family.

Strafford Green

Some of my travels with hospice bring me to the same places over and over again depending on what my schedule looks like. For example two weekends ago I was down in the Weathersfield Vermont area quite a bit. Three weeks ago when I was on shift and did all this stuff this research for this project I was up in the Stratford Vermont area and I'd been up there a couple times, and this time I had a little extra time on my hands.

Historic Marker

Here's some information of one of Stratford's most famous and prominent native sons, a gentleman by the name of Senator Justin Morrill. He was born April 14th, 1810 in Stratford Vermont the son of Mary Hunt Proctor and Nathaniel Morrill. His father Nathaniel was a farmer blacksmith and a militia leader who obtained attained the rank of colonel. Senator Morrill was born in 1810, so his dad was in the militia back in Revolutionary War times. Senator Morrill died December 28th, so it's kind of fitting that we're doing him now, which is one of the reasons I picked him. He died December 28th in 1898 so post-civil war.

He attended school in Strafford, Thetford Academy, and a school called Randolph Academy, which I didn't know there was such a thing. So this has prompted me to do try to dig a little bit more and find out about Randolph Academy. I grew up in the Randolph area and it may be the old name the old timey as the kids say the name for what's now part of Vermont College system or something, but when I graduated from there in 2003, it was Vermont Technical College and that may be Randolph Academy. I don't know stay tuned. He Senator Morrill worked as a merchants clerk in Stratford Vermont and in Portland, Maine. He he was partners in business with a gentleman Judge Jedediah Harris, and together they owned four stores throughout the state of Vermont. They were general stores, that kind of thing. Senator Morrill invested in several other business ventures as well. He was an investor in banking he was an investor in railroads, and he was investor in real estate. In late 1840 he was 30 years old not quite 31 years old. He was financially secure enough to retire. I'm gonna leave that right there: financially secure enough to retire at 31 years old, back in the mid 1800s.

He took up farming, gentleman farming as they called it, and he became active in the Whig Party. In 1854 he was elected to the US Congress as a Whig. It was during these times that the Whigs morphed into the Republican Party and this gentleman senator Justin moral was a founding member of the Republican Party in the United States of America.

Morrill's Tomb

He served on the Ways and Means Committee. I wasn't quite sure what that was, so I did some light digging and the Ways and Means Committee is responsible for tax writing, the committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, social security, Medicare, unemployment benefits, child support laws, foster care, adoption, and various other measures. The committee members are not permitted to serve on any other House committee unless granted a waiver. When he wasn't While he wasn't on the Ways and Means Committee he was also on a Joint Committee for Reconstruction. Keep in mind he this was all happening right after the American Civil War. So You know, we had this period of Reconstruction after the Civil War where it was I guess right around also the same time as the Industrial Revolution and we were trying to rebuild the country that had been torn apart. He helped draft the 14th Amendment, which is mostly remembered for addressing citizenship rights and equal protection under the law ratified in 1868 the 14th Amendment came right on the heels of the Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves in America, so he was Instrumental in in coming up with The drafting of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution in 1866 he was elected to the US Senate as a Republican So he was in Congress 1854 is elected to Congress 1866 he was elected to the US Senate and he served nearly 31 years until his death at the at the time of death his 43 year 299 days of continual Congressional service was the longest in US history. In 1866, 43 years...just shy like two and a half months shy of 44 years of being in Congressional service was the longest in US history. Currently He ranks 31st. There have been 30 other people who have served longer than that since 1866.

So What does this have to do with family? I don't know. I really don't that's the thing. I think he and his wife had a couple children, I think one of them died young and another went on just to be continue the family business as a farmer. Perhaps his biggest contribution to America during his time in office was the Land-Grant College Act which was signed into law by Abraham Lincoln in 1862. It was while he was a member of Congress; he hadn't yet become a senator from Vermont, but he was a member of Congress. The Land-Grant College Act established federal funding for higher education in every state.

To quote Senator Morrill, "This bill proposes to establish at least one college in every state upon a sure and perpetual foundation accessible to all but especially to sons of toil where all of needful science for the practical Advocations of life shall be taught where neither the higher graces of classical studies nor that militarily drill our country so greatly appreciates will be entirely ignored and where agriculture the foundation of all present and future prosperity may look for troops of earnest friends studying its similar and recondite economies and at last elevating it to that higher level where it may fearlessly invoke comparison with the most advanced standards of the world."

What? What? So it seems to me basically he's saying hey, we're gonna in perpetuity, so forever, we're gonna establish these Colleges at least one at least one in every state, where science will be taught, along with other things that you need to know in order to survive. The colleges will be accessible to everybody especially those who work hard. A second Land-Grant act in 1890, eight years later, targeted the former Confederate states and led to the creation of several historically black colleges and universities. He did that and that's pretty dang cool, and that's just this guy from Vermont. It's a little town in Vermont, Strafford, if you're not looking at this online if you're listening to the podcast I suggest that you hop over follow the links down in the links in the description. There should be a link hopefully if I get this to work, right? It's very small town. It's very picturesque, very quintessentially New England if you will, and he did all this stuff way back when. That's amazing, and I'm sitting here doing, doing, what AM I doing? What am I doing?

He's buried at Stratford Cemetery in Stratford Vermont less than half a mile from his home. You could actually walk there, and the walk is kind of neat if you were to do it. It takes you right through the middle of town, right past it the the green or the common, which is in front of the the church. His homestead the Justin Smith Morrill Homestead was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1960. Lo and behold it's the first one in the state of Vermont; it was the first such honorary designation in Vermont, the Justin Smith moral homestead.

The house is an outstanding example of the Gothic Revival style of architecture popularized by Andrew Jackson Downing and Alexander Jackson Davis in the early 19th century. Senator Morrill used their architectural handbooks to design his dream house, adapting the forms and details to suit his own vision. It's closed during the winter, so don't rush up there now to go take a look at it. But if you're gonna be in this corner of the state Next year I Would plan to go look at it. I might go take a tour of it myself. I've driven past it many times It's right the road for me.

This is weird that I'm saying this because I'm 57 and certainly 12 year old me would not have said this and probably not even 28 year old me or maybe not even 35-36 year old me would have said this but I think it's important for families to explore the areas where they live, where they call home. That might be a little difficult these days as people don't typically live in one place for as long as we have in the past. I Think it's important for families, especially if you've got kids in the teens or maybe a little bit younger than that, to explore your area find out some stuff about the area that you live in and do it together. Don't just do it online, anybody can can sit on the couch and pop open a laptop or their phone or a tablet or some sort of device and do some investigating. I think it's more important to actually get out there and go outside and explore and walk the land if you can or walk the neighborhoods if it's safe and go into those buildings and see those kinds of things together as a family.

Morrill's Homestead

I have been really nostalgic lately about my family; there are things that we did as a family like when we went to the Bunker Hill Monument (again!). Even though this little history lesson about Senator Justin Morrill who was born in 1810 and died in 1898 isn't really directly tied to family.

So thank you very much for sticking around. We're on 22 minutes and next time we're going to be talking about hospice and family. This is one of those topics that I'm a little on the fence about talking about because not everybody wants to hear about hospice. But we're gonna do it anyway, just because we can and we'll see how that goes. So thank you very much for staying tuned I hope everybody has a great rest of the day and please remember to stay rooted stay connected and stay focused.

We'll see you again. Be well, bye everybody!

 

References:

Wikipedia Contributors. (2025, November 6). Justin S. Morrill. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_S._Morrill

United States House Committee on Ways and Means. (2022, August 9). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_Ways_and_Means

Justin S. Morrill | American politician | Britannica. (n.d.). Www.britannica.com. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Justin-S-Morrill

Senator Justin Morrill | State Historic Sites. (2016). Vermont.gov. https://historicsites.vermont.gov/justin-morrill

Welcome to the Friends of the Morrill Homestead. (2010, February 1). https://www.morrillhomestead.org/