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Death of Hon. Bliss N. Davis

The Oldest Member of the Caledonia Bar, Prosecutor of the Notorious Counterfeiter "Bristol Bill"

An obituary for a Vermont lawyer and state's attorney who once survived a courtroom knife attack from a famous counterfeiter — a vivid, forgotten scrap of frontier justice.

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Burlington Weekly Free Press · February 13, 1885 · Page 1

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DANVILLE, Vt.

Hon. Bliss N. Davis of Danville died at noon Wednesday, aged 85 years. He was the oldest member of the Caledonia bar, had been town representative and State's attorney, and was for several years president of the Caledonia bank. About 1834 he was State's Attorney and prosecuted the notorious counterfeiter "Bristol Bill." At the close of his argument Bill stabbed him in the neck with a knife, in the court, narrowly missing the jugular vein. He was an active practitioner until within two weeks [of his death].

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