Richard Hampton Vose (courtesy, Maine State Archives)
Richard H. Vose was born in Augusta, Maine on November 8, 1803, the son of Solomon Vose a lawyer and graduate of Harvard College.
Graduating from Bowdoin College in 1822, he studied and practiced law in Worcester, Massachusetts for six years before returning to Augusta in 1828 to open a prosperous practice. He remained a prominent member of the Kennebec Bar until his death on January 19, 1864.
Vose, a Democrat, served as a member of the Maine House of Representatives in 1834 and 1835 and again in 1838 and 1839. He was elected a member of the Maine Senate in 1840 and 1841 serving as its President in the latter year.
On January 12, 1841, Richard Vose served as Governor of the State of Maine for one day when John Fairfield resigned. He returned to the Senate on the next day when the new Governor, Edward Kent, was sworn in.
His last public office was that of County Attorney for Kennebec, a post he held from 1848 to 1856. North, in his history of Augusta, implies that Vose was a good student and a hard-working, successful lawyer but did not have the character of a good politician. According to the author, “his confiding nature and sanguine temperament,” prevented the success otherwise indicated by his intellect.
Source: Maine State Senate
Additional resources
*North, James W. History of Augusta. Augusta: Clapp and North, 1870, pp. 348-350
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*Cited in “Richard H. Vose” Friends of the Blaine House at http://blainehouse.org/governors/Richard_H_Vose.html (accessed April 20, 2011)