Representative Henry Olin

Henry Olin (May 7, 1768 – August 18, 1837) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as a United States Representative from Vermont and as the eighth lieutenant governor of Vermont. As a member of the Unknown Party representing Vermont, he contributed to the legislative process during one term in office in the U.S. House of Representatives. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, in which he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents.

Olin was born in Shaftsbury in the New Hampshire Grants (now Vermont) on May 7, 1768, to Justin Olin and Sally Dwinell Olin. He attended the common schools available in the rural settlements of the period. In his youth he pursued legal studies, reading law in the customary manner of the time, and was admitted to the bar. In 1788 he moved to Leicester, then in the Vermont Republic, where he established himself in the practice of law and began to build the legal and political career that would occupy the rest of his life.

Olin’s public service in Vermont was extensive and long-standing. He was first elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1799 and served multiple, often consecutive, terms: from 1799 to 1804, from 1806 to 1815, from 1817 to 1819, and again from 1822 to 1824. In addition to his legislative duties, he played a significant role in shaping Vermont’s constitutional framework. He served as a delegate to the state constitutional conventions of 1814, 1822, and 1828, participating in the periodic revisions of Vermont’s fundamental law as the state adjusted to political and social changes in the early republic.

Alongside his legislative work, Olin held important judicial and executive positions at the state level. He served on the Addison County Court, first as an associate judge and later as chief judge, from 1801 to 1824, presiding over local judicial matters during a formative era in Vermont’s legal development. He was also a member of the Vermont Executive Council in 1820 and 1821, contributing to the advisory body that assisted the governor and helped guide state policy. These roles underscored his prominence in Vermont’s legal and political circles and his reputation for public service.

Olin entered national politics when he was elected to the Eighteenth Congress as a Democratic-Republican candidate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative Charles Rich. He represented Vermont in the United States House of Representatives from December 13, 1824, to March 3, 1825. During this single term in Congress, he served as a member of the Unknown Party representing Vermont, taking part in the legislative deliberations of a period marked by the transition from the so‑called “Era of Good Feelings” to the more sharply defined party politics of the Jacksonian era. His brief tenure in the House nonetheless placed him among the early federal legislators from Vermont.

After his service in Congress, Olin continued to hold high office in Vermont. He was elected lieutenant governor of Vermont and served as the state’s eighth lieutenant governor from 1827 to 1830. In this capacity, he presided over the state senate and stood as the second-highest executive officer in Vermont government, helping to oversee the administration of state affairs during a time of growth and political realignment in the early nineteenth century.

Olin’s personal life was closely tied to a prominent political family. In 1788 he married Lois Richardson, with whom he had ten children. After her death, he married Polly Sanford Olin, and they had one child together. He was the nephew of Gideon Olin, who also served as a United States Representative from Vermont, and he was a cousin of Judge Abram B. Olin, Gideon Olin’s son. These family connections placed him within a broader network of public servants who were influential in Vermont and national politics.

Henry Olin died on August 18, 1837, in Salisbury, Vermont. He was interred at Brookside Cemetery in Leicester, Vermont, near the community where he had established his legal practice and from which he launched his long career in public service.