Justin Smith Morrill, born in Strafford Village in 1810, was the son of a blacksmith and entered politics in 1854, serving in the United States Congress for nearly 44 years. As a member of the House of Representatives and later the Senate, he was the chief sponsor of the 1862 and 1890 Land-Grant Acts, major legislation for American higher education in the 19th century, which resulted in more than 100 land-grant colleges and universities in the United States with many millions of graduates worldwide. Morrill is buried in the Morrill Mausoleum in the town cemetery behind the 1799 Town House, along with his wife Ruth, their two sons, Justin and James, and his sister-in-law Louise Swan. His homestead includes a 17-room house that he planned as a prime example of Gothic Revival architecture, completed in the spring of 1851, along with seven agricultural buildings in a designed Picturesque landscape. The four original outbuildings were the ice house, carriage barn, horse barn, and a summer gazebo, and many of the original plantings he made in 1852-1853 survive, including species from Europe and Asia. In 1859 he had the house painted its present shade of pink to imitate the appearance of cut sandstone.

Photo: Dennis Gilkenson

Photo: PaulwC3

Photo: Dennis Gilkenson

Photo: Dennis Gilkenson

Strafford, Vermont · USA