Lucius Eugene Chittenden (May 24, 1824 - July 22, 1900) was a Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

 author, banker, lawyer, politician and peace advocate who served as Register of the Treasury

Register of the Treasury

The Register of the Treasury was an office of the United States Treasury Department. In 1919, the Register became the Public Debt Service which, in 1940, became the Bureau of the Public Debt....

 during the Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

 administration.

Early life

Chittenden was born in Williston, Vermont

Williston, Vermont

Williston is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. The population was 8,698 at the 2010 census, an increase of over 1,000 people since the 2000 census...

, the son of Giles and Betsey (Hollenbeck) Chittenden. He was the 2nd-great-grandson of Vermont's first governor, Thomas Chittenden

Thomas Chittenden

Thomas Chittenden was an important figure in the founding of Vermont.Chittenden was born in East Guilford, Connecticut and moved to Vermont in 1774, where he founded the town of Williston. During the American Revolution, Chittenden was a member of a committee empowered to negotiate with the...

. He received his early education in the district schools of Williston and academies in Williston, Hinesburg

Hinesburg, Vermont

Hinesburg is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for Abel Hine, town clerk. The population was 4,340 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...

 and Cambridge

Cambridge, Vermont

Cambridge is a town in Lamoille County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,186 at the 2000 U.S. Census. Cambridge includes the village of Jeffersonville.-History:...

. He studied law with a variety of attorneys, and was admitted to the bar in Franklin County

Franklin County, Vermont

Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. It is part of the Burlington-South Burlington, VT Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 47,746. Its shire town is the City of St. Albans.-Geography:...

 in 1844. He opened a law office in Burlington

Burlington, Vermont

Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....

 the next year.

Politics

He became interested in politics and public affairs early in his career, gained prominence in the anti-slavery movement and the Free Soil Party

Free Soil Party

The Free Soil Party was a short-lived political party in the United States active in the 1848 and 1852 presidential elections, and in some state elections. It was a third party and a single-issue party that largely appealed to and drew its greatest strength from New York State. The party leadership...

, and published from 1848 to 1851, with E. A. Stansbury, the "Free Soil Courier." After helping Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 John S. Robinson

John S. Robinson (governor)

John Staniford Robinson was the 22nd Governor of Vermont from 1853 to 1854. He was the first Democratic governor of Vermont and remained the only Democrat elected to the governorship for 110 years. He placed second in the election but was chosen by legislature over first place finisher and Whig,...

 get elected governor in 1852, he became active in the newly formed Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

. He was elected state senator from Chittenden County

Chittenden County, Vermont

Chittenden County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of 2010, the population was 156,545. Its shire town is Burlington. Chittenden is the most populous county in the state, with more than twice as many residents as Vermont's second-most populous county, Rutland.Chittenden County...

, and served from 1856 to 1860, while also serving as president of the Commercial Bank in Burlington.

Civil War

Governor Erastus Fairbanks

Erastus Fairbanks

Erastus Fairbanks was an American manufacturer and Whig politician.He studied law but abandoned it for mercantile pursuits, finally settling in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, where in 1824 he formed a partnership with his brother Thaddeus for the manufacture of scales, stoves and plows...

, in February 1861, appointed Chittenden one of five Vermont delegates to the Washington Peace Conference

Peace conference of 1861

The Peace Conference of 1861 was a meeting of more than 100 of the leading politicians of the antebellum United States held in Washington, D.C., in February 1861 that was meant to prevent what ultimately became the Civil War. The success of President Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party in the...

, a group formed to try avert the coming Civil War. The other delegates were former Governor Hiland Hall

Hiland Hall

Hiland Hall was a United States Representative from Vermont. He was born in Bennington, Vermont. He attended the common schools, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1819 and commenced practice in Bennington....

, Levi Underwood, H. Henry Baxter, and B. D. Harris. Chittenden was selected recorder of the conference, and published its records in 1864.

In March 1861, President Lincoln's new Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase

Salmon P. Chase

Salmon Portland Chase was an American politician and jurist who served as U.S. Senator from Ohio and the 23rd Governor of Ohio; as U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Abraham Lincoln; and as the sixth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.Chase was one of the most prominent members...

, a former member of the defunct Free Soil Party

Free Soil Party

The Free Soil Party was a short-lived political party in the United States active in the 1848 and 1852 presidential elections, and in some state elections. It was a third party and a single-issue party that largely appealed to and drew its greatest strength from New York State. The party leadership...

, offered Chittenden the position of Register of the U.S. Treasury

Register of the Treasury

The Register of the Treasury was an office of the United States Treasury Department. In 1919, the Register became the Public Debt Service which, in 1940, became the Bureau of the Public Debt....

, which he accepted, serving in that office for the remainder of Lincoln's first administration, resigning in 1864 due to poor health.

Later life

When he resigned from the Lincoln Administration, he returned to Vermont to regain his health, but by 1866 was living in Tarrytown, N.Y., where he practiced as an attorney until at least 1894. He returned to Burlington at some point, where he died.

Chittenden was married to Mary Hatch in 1856, and fathered three children.

Writings

• "Address before the 34th Reunion of the Reunion Society of Vermont Officers
  Reunion Society of Vermont Officers
  The Reunion Society of Vermont Officers was an organization of American Civil War veterans.-Founding:The Society was founded in 1864 by Union veterans from Vermont. Its original organizers included Redfield Proctor, George G. Benedict, and Wheelock G...
  
  , November 5, 1897," at Bennington, Vermont. Proceedings of the Reunion Society of Vermont Officers Vol. II—1886-1905, Burlington, VT: Free Press Printing Company, 1906, pp. 222–237.
• "New Moneys of Lincoln's Administration. Their Origins, Growth, and Value." Harpers New Monthly Magazine, 81:1890.
• An Unknown Heroine; an historical episode of the war between the states. New York: Richmond, Croscup & Co., 1894.
• Invisible Siege: The Journal of Lucius E. Chittenden April 15, 1861 - July 14, 1861. San Diego: Americana Exchange Press, 1969.
• Lincoln and the Sleeping Sentinel - The True Story. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1909.
• Personal reminiscences, 1840–1890, including some not hitherto published of Lincoln and the war. New York: Richmond, Croscup & Co., 1893.
• Recollections of President Lincoln and his Administration. New York: Harper and Brothers. 1891.
• The Capture of Ticonderoga. Rutland, VT: Tuttle & Co., 1872.
• "The Character of the Early Settlers of Vermont Its Influence upon Posterity," delivered July 4, 1876, at Burlington, Vermont. Contained in Our National Centennial Jubilee: Orations, Addresses and Poems Delivered on the Fourth of July, 1876. Ed. Frederick Saunders. (New York: E.B. Treat, 1877; reprint, St. Clair Shores, MI: Scholarly Press, 1976), pp. 499–521.
• The Law of Baron and Femme, of Parent and Child, Guardian and Ward . . . and of the Powers of the Courts of Chancery; With an Essay on the terms Heir, Heirs, and Heirs of the Body. Second Edition, with Notes, Burlington, VT: Chauncey Goodrich, 1846., 1864.