Embedded Files
After which the town of Proctor is named, Redfield Proctor was in many ways the most significant figure in the development of Vermont's marble industry and responsible for the scale the Vermont Marble Co. reached under his leadership.
Born in 1831 in the village of Proctorsville, Colonel Redfield Proctor attended Dartmouth College and Albany Law School before enlisting following the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. In 1863, he left the infantry and practiced law briefly until he became receiver of the Sutherland Falls Marble Co. in 1869 following the dissolution of Dorr and Myers' partnership.
Proctor had a vision for the company; with its water power, capable of great development, a promising quarry, and a good deposit of sand on the site and the railroad immediately at hand. Proctor decided that, if he could bring the property into one ownership, under efficient and economical management it provided a basis upon which a prosperous business could be built.
In November of 1880, Proctor organized the Sutherland Falls Marble Co. into a Vermont corporation; investing all that he had and could borrow to become its treasurer and resident manager and leading the company into its "heyday" over the next 50 years.
Portrait of Redfield Proctor
President Harrison's cabinet including Redfield Proctor as Secretary of War
At the same time as his rise to power within the Vermont Marble Company, Proctor began his career as a politician. In 1867, he represented Rutland in the Vermont House of Representatives; serving as a State Senator in 1874 and as lieutenant governor in 1876. In 1878, just two years before merging the Vermont Marble Co., he was elected governor.
By 1889, Proctor had made a name for himself in politics and was chosen by President Benjamin Harrison as his Secretary of War until stepping down to become a U.S. Senator in 1891.
Read more about Proctor's time under the Harrison administration in the Rutland Historical Society Quarterly article "Redfield Proctor: Secretary of War, 1889-1891".
According to the National Mining Hall of Fame:
"In 1882, Proctor traveled to Italy to meet the competition head-on. He was able to recruit highly skilled marble carvers, who were attracted by the certainty of employment and good wages. Other less skilled laborers came to the town of Proctor from Ireland, Sweden, Poland, French Canada, and other nations. The success of the Vermont Marble resulted from the use of modern machines and techniques, such as the coring machines, channeling machines (invented in Vermont), gadders, and mechanical hoists to reduce the labor of men and animals. At the time of Proctor’s death, the company employed some 5,000 workers."
After leaving the leadership of the Vermont Marble Company for his political career, Redfield Proctor's son Fletcher Proctor became head of the business. It was under the leadership of Redfield Proctor and then his son Fletcher Proctor from 1889 until his death in 1911 that the company was able to grow to the degree it did.
Redfield Proctor remained a Senator representing Vermont until his death in 1908. His funeral service was held at Union Church in Proctor, and over 10,000 people attended.
The Proctor Family (Vermont Historical Society)
A good many people beyond the scope of this website have written about the life and influence of Redfield Proctor from various angles. For more detailed information, see his page under the biographical directory of Congress or "Redfield Proctor: Secretary of War, 1889-1891". For more information on the town of Proctor, see "Proctor: The Story of a Marble Town".
References
“Our History.” n.d. Vermont Marble Museum. https://vermontmarblemuseum.org/history-of-vermont-marble/.
Miglorie, Catherine. Vermont’s Marble Industry. Arcadia Publishing, 2013.
Fred Patch Correspondence. Vermont Historical Society Leahy Library, Barre, VT.
Vermont Marble Company - Its Past and Future. Proctor, VT: Vermont Marble Co., 1920. Proctoriana Collection. Vermont Historical Society Leahy Library, Barre, VT.
Bowie, Chester W. “Redfield Proctor Secretary of War, 1889-1891.” Rutland Historical Society Quarterly 29, no. 4, 1999.
For more resources, see the About page.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse