Charles Durkee was born in Royalton on this day in 1807. He would leave Vermont, but his legacy would revolve around an issue close to Vermont’s heart: the abolition of slavery.

Durkee became a Wisconsin Congressman and then Senator. He was the first well-known congressmen from the north central United States to stand solidly against slavery. Durkee served as a delegate to the peace congress of 1861, which was one of the last attempts to preserve the Union without resorting to a civil war.

Durkee eventually become a Senator from Utah, and in 1865, President Johnson appointed him Utah’s Governor.

Photograph courtesy historyforkids.utah.gov.