Seneca Haselton was an American lawyer, politician, educator, and diplomat. He was also mayor of Burlington, Vermont, serving from 1891 to 1894.
Background
Seneca Haselton was born on February 26, 1848, in the town of Westford, Vermont, United States, the son of Rev. Amos Haselton, a Methodist minister, and Amelia (Frink) Haselton. It is related that his father was fond of classical literature and wished to name his son Epictetus, but the mother objected and the parents compromised on Seneca.
Education
Seneca attended the public schools of the period in the towns of Jericho and Underhill, and academies in Underhill and Barre. He entered the University of Vermont when James B. Angelí was president of that institution. He also study of law in Burlington, Vermont, in the office of Wales & Taft. After his graduation, Seneca continued his legal studies in the law department of the University, where he received the degree of LL. B. in 1875.
Career
After his graduation, in 1871, Seneca Haselton became associate principal of Barre Academy, holding the position for one year. A little later he secured a position as instructor of mathematics in the University of Michigan to which James B. Angelí had gone in 1871 as president. He thereupon returned to Vermont, was admitted to the Chittenden County bar, and began the practice of law in Burlington.
Haselton was elected judge of the Burlington city court in 1878, holding office until 1886 when he was chosen a representative in the Vermont legislature. He was mayor of Burlington and welcomed President Benjamin Harrison to the city when the latter made a tour of Vermont in the centennial year of the Green Mountain State. In 1894, he was appointed United States minister to Venezuela by President Cleveland but resigned in 1895 because of the failure of his health, shortly before the culmination of the dispute between the United States and Great Britain over Venezuelan boundary affairs. When he had recovered his health he resumed the practice of law.
In 1900 Haselton was the Democratic candidate for United States senator to complete the unexpired term of Justin S. Morrill, but was defeated by Wiffiani P. Dillingham. Haselton held the office of reporter of the supreme court of Vermont from 1900 to 1902, and when Chief Judge Russell S. Taft died in the last-named year, he was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the promotion of the other judges. He served as a member of the supreme court until 1906, when the courts were reorganized, only a part of the original court being retained on the supreme bench. Haselton became chief judge of the new superior court, established that year, but in 1908 was again promoted to the supreme court bench, where he served with distinction until his resignation in 1919, on account of failing health. He practised law a little after his retirement, but died July 21, 1921.
Religion
Haselton was a member of the Congregational Church.
Membership
Haselton was a member of the Vermont Historical Society, the American Society of International Law, and the Selden Society of England
Personality
Haselton had a remarkable memory, and it is related that in the trial of a will case in which he was counsel, he propounded orally to an expert witness a hypothetical question which took more than two hours in the asking, a question which included every circumstance in the case that bore upon the answer desired.