Russell S. Taft

Russell Smith Taft (January 28, 1835 – March 22, 1902) was a lawyer, politician and judge who served as Lieutenant Governor of Vermont and Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court.

Russell Smith Taft was born in Williston, Vermont, on January 28, 1835. He attended schools in Williston and Burlington, studied law with George F. Edmunds and others, and became an attorney in 1856. Among the prospective attorneys who learned the law in Taft's office was Rufus E. Brown, who later served as Vermont Attorney General.Taft was also the first president of the Vermont Life Insurance Company, and later served as its vice president.

A Republican, Taft served as a selectman for the Town of Burlington from 1861 to 1864. After Burlington was incorporated as a city, Taft served as an alderman from 1865 to 1869.

From 1862 to 1865 Taft was Chittenden County State's Attorney, and he was Chittenden County's Register of Probate from 1863 to 1880.

Taft served in the Vermont Senate from 1865 to 1866, and he was Burlington's City Attorney from 1871 to 1872.

In 1872 Taft was the successful Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, and he served from October 1872 to October 1874.In 1874 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for governor, losing to Asahel Peck.

Taft represented Burlington in the Vermont House of Representatives in 1880.

In 1880 the Vermont Assembly elected Taft an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court.He served until 1899, when he was appointed chief justice, replacing Jonathan Ross, who had been appointed to the United States Senate.He was succeeded as an associate justice by John H. Watson.

Taft served as chief justice until his death, and was succeeded by John W. Rowell. He died in Burlington, Vermont, on March 22, 1902. He was buried in Williston's Morse Cemetery.

Chief Justice Taft was the recipient of honorary degrees from the University of Vermont, receiving a Master of Arts in 1877, and a Doctor of Laws in 1899.