Wait, Albert S.

The following data is extracted from Merrimack and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire Biographies.

Albert S. Wait, of Newport, the oldest lawyer in active practice in Sullivan County, was born in Chester, Windsor County, Vt., April 14, 1821, son of Daniel and Cynthia (Reed) Wait. His grandfather, John Wait, was among the early settlers of Mason, N.H. John moved to Weston, Vt., and was a sturdy farmer of that Green Mountain town and a highly respected member of the community. He died in Weston at a good old age. His children were: James, John Sumner, Daniel Amos, Lucinda, and Mrs. Davis.

Daniel Wait, who followed the trade of blacksmith, was a Brigadier-general in the State militia and in his last years a Justice of the Peace. He first settled in Chester and afterward in the village of Saxton's River, Rockingham, Vt. He was grand juror of the town of Rockingham, which is an office peculiar Vermont. A man of good judgment, he had the esteem of his fellow-townsmen. In religion he was a Universalist. He was a Democrat in politics, and one of two men in Chester village who voted for Andrew Jackson. He died in 1856 or 1857, at the age of seventy. His wife, who belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church, died when ninety-two years of age. Their children were: Martha E. Spaulding, who lives in West Springfield, Mass.; Sarah A. Spaulding, now deceased; Otis F. R., who was a prominent man of Claremont, an historian and Justice of the Peace, and died in 1895; Albert S., the subject of this sketch; and Daniel H., who died at the age of nine years.

Albert S. Wait spent his boyhood in Chester and Rockingham, Vt. His early education was obtained in the schools of Chester. He began the study of law at the village of Saxton's River, in the office of Judge Daniel Kellogg, and was admitted to the bar in 1846 at Newfane, Windham County, Vt. He first located in Alstead, N.H., remaining there untilt he year 1857, when he removed to Newport. Here he was in partnership with the Hon. Edmund Burke for ten years. Since the termination of that connection he has been in practice alone. He is to-day the oldest lawyer in the county in active practice.

Mr. Wait has been married three times. His present wife, formerly Miss Ella O. Eno, of Westfield, Mass., has one daughter, Minerva S. Wait. His religious creed is the Congregational. In politics he is a Democrat, and he is a member of the Board of Trustees of the State Industrial School. He is connected with the Masonic fraternity by membership in Mount Vernon Lodge, of which he has been Master. He has also been District Deputy Grand Master. He is likewise a member of the New Hampshire State Historical Society and an honorary member of the Naval Order of the United States. Mr. Wait ranks among the leading men of his profession, and is mentioned in English law books as an authority on fine points of law.

Source: Merrimack and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire Biographies

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