USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Springfield > An address, delivered in the new court house, in Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, at the dedication of the same, April 28, 1874 : containing sketches of the early history of the old county of Hampshire and the county of Hampden, and of the members of the bar in those counties, with an appendix > Part 7
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ERASMUS NORCROSS
was a native of, and settled in Monson. He was admitted in 1823, and practiced for a short time in his native town. I do not remember seeing him at court.
JOHN B. COOLEY
was admitted to the bar in 1822, and was settled in Brimfield. He was a man of talent, but not a hard student or a laborious
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practitioner. He was a man of wit and humor, and desirous rather of having a jovial time than of accumulating money or fame. Many years ago, he removed to the West, but within a short time he returned to this Commonwealth.
RICHARD D. MORRIS,
of Springfield, was a brother of Judge Morris, and for a few years his partner. He was admitted to the bar in 1822. At the commencement of the building of the Western Railroad, he was employed to settle the land damages, and to attend to the other office business of the corporation. He accordingly relin- quished his professional business, and devoted himself exclu- sively to their interests. He died in 1870.
WILLIAM BLISS
was admitted in 1822, and commenced practice in Springfield. For some considerable time he was the law partner of Justice Willard, and the firm of Willard & Bliss was engaged in the transaction of considerable business. The health of Mr. Bliss was poor, and he accepted the office of county commissioner, in the hope that air and exercise would restore his energies. But the attempt proved vain. He was a promising lawyer, and died, leaving a high reputation for talent and character.
HON. WILLIAM B. CALHOUN
was admitted to the bar in 1821. My impression is that he was a student of Mr. Bliss ; but whether from want of taste for the profession, or an absorbing love of politics, he had very little to do with professional practice. The desire of political office, in some persons, and in some families, seems almost to run in the blood, and many a man is ready to relinquish the true honors of life, and his capacity for usefulness therein, for an appointment by the executive, or the choice by the people to a situation, in which respect does not follow the appointment, or the choice. Mr. Calhoun was a man of talent. For many years he was a Representative in Congress, from this district. In 1828 he was chosen Speaker of the House in this State, in which office he remained till 1835 ; and in 1846 and 1847 he was the President of the Senate. He at last, in impaired health, retired to his farm, a home in which he found that peace and quiet, that he
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had failed to find in the scenes of political turmoil, in which the greater part of his life had been spent.
JAMES STEBBINS
was admitted to the bar in 1813, and practiced law in Palmer. In his old age he removed to Springfield, his native town, where he died.
JAMES W. CROOKS.
He was a native of Westfield, a graduate of Yale College in 1818, and for some years a teacher in Westfield Academy, and afterwards in Springfield. He studied law with Mr. Bliss, and was admitted in 1824. His office was in Springfield, on the " Hill," where he was at some time in large business. He died in 1867. As a teacher he had an excellent reputation, and in all respects was an agreeable, companionable man.
FRANCIS B. STEBBINS
was a native of Granville, admitted in 1826, and settled in Brim- field. He was a lawyer of studious habits, and attentive to all the duties of his profession. When at court, he was particu- larly attentive to the trial of cases. He gave careful heed to the management of each cause, and studied the pleadings, and watched the examination of the witnesses. He became a skill- ful practicing lawyer, and had attained a good standing as an estimable and useful man, when he removed from the State to Central New York, and became engaged in the grain or flour business. He married the sister of Hon. Thomas H. Bond, of New Haven, and is now deceased.
MATTHEW IVES, JR.,
was a student in the office of Mr. Blair, and was admitted, in 1827, as an attorney of the common pleas. He did not engage in practice, but devoted his attention to other pursuits. He was a member of the House and Senate, and for many years the postmaster of this town, in the time of Gen. Jackson.
FRANCIS DWIGHT
was a student at the law school of Judge Howe, and was admit- ted in 1830. He early removed to the State of New York,
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where he engaged in the cause of common school education, and, after a short life of usefulness, he died.
JOSEPH D. HUNTINGTON
was a student with Augustus Collins, in Westfield, admitted in 1831, and removed to Lancaster, Mass., where he died. He never practiced in this county.
GEORGE B. MORRIS
was admitted in 1840, was a student in the office of his father, and commenced business in company with his brother, Henry Morris. On the resignation of Richard Bliss as clerk of the court, he was appointed as his successor; and, until his death, in the year 1873, he performed the duties of the office in a faithful and obliging manner. He was kind and social in his habits ; and we know of no other officer to whom the members of the bar were more justly attached.
HENRY VOSE
was admitted in 1841. He practiced for a few years in Spring- field ; but, when the common pleas was abolished, and the supe- rior court was substituted for it, he was appointed as one of the justices, in which office he remained till his death, in 1869.
ERASMUS D. BEACH
was a student in the office of his uncle, John Mills, and was admitted in 1833. He practiced in Springfield, and his busi- ness was extensive. He had at different times several partners : James W. Crooks, William G. Bates, Edward B. Gillett and Ephraim W. Bond. He was a courteous and a successful prac- titioner, and exercised a great influence with the jury.
LORENZO NORTON
was a student in the office of Chapman & Ashmun, was admit- ted in 1843, and became a partner in their firm. He died about 1850. He was a diligent and faithful lawyer.
IION. EDWARD DICKINSON.
Since the delivery of this address, and the publication of this edition of it, Mr. Dickinson has died. He was a member of
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the House of Representatives, and dicd suddenly, in the latter part of the same day that he had been engaged in the discharge of his duties, upon an important question in the House. He was born early in the year 1803, was graduated at Yale College in 1823, in the same class with Hon. George Ashmun, of whom he was a room-mate, and a life-long friend. He was a student who applied himself severely to his books, who was regular in his habits, and took a highly respectable rank in his class. In his college life, he was distinguished by the traits that have illus- trated his whole life. No one was more decided in his opinions. He adopted them upon a mature examination, and adhered to them with what many people would call an unprofitable persist- ency. His independence, perhaps, stood in the way of his advancement, but it did not weaken the respect of the people for his intelligence or honesty.
AMOS W. STOCKWELL
was a graduate of Amherst College, in 1833, and studied law at Harvard Law School. He was also a student in the office of Hon. Isaac Davis, of Worcester, and for a short time, his part- ner. He at last removed to Chicopee, where, for several years, he was an honorable practitioner at the Hampden bar. Unfor- tunately, his health was not strong enough for the labor devolv- ing upon him, and the community was soon deprived of a use- ful, and much respected lawyer. He died in 1853.
REUBEN ATWATER CHAPMAN
was born at Russell, in Hampden county, on the 20th of Sep- tember, 1801. His parents were poor, and in too humble cir- cumstances to give to their children anything in the way of education, except what was to be obtained at the common school of the town. Their home was in a sequestered district of the town, remote from neighbors, and with little opportunity to obtain books ; and the school of the district was kept only for a few months in each year. The vacations were spent by him in labor upon the farm. His time was so well employed, that he was engaged as a school teacher, and taught in the neighboring town of Montgomery at the early age of seventeen years. He afterwards went to Blandford as a clerk in a store. The young men of that town established a lyceum, or debating
·
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society, young Chapman became a member, and distinguished himself as a debater. He at length entered his name, as a student at law, in the office of Gen. Alanson Knox, of Bland- ford. He soon mastered the ordinary routine of country prac- tice, and was accustomed to attend justice's trials in Blandford and in the neighboring towns, encountering, sometimes, the lawyers in the vicinity, and sometimes their students. At the time of his admission to the bar, he enjoyed the reputation of being an able and acute practitioner.
He was admitted to the bar at the March term of the court of common pleas, in 1825, and opened an office in Westfield. There were then, in that town, a large number of law-offices, a number much too large for the necessities of the town and its vicinity, and he was much disappointed with his success. In 1827 he removed to the quiet town of Monson, and, finding the demand for his services there too limited, he removed, in 1829, to the more thriving town of Ware. He was at once regarded in the light of an intruder ; and a feeling of professional rivalry rip- ened into controversy. He was not a person to come off second best in such a state of things, and he had obtained a lucrative and an increasing practice, when he was invited to a co-partner- ship with the Hon. George Ashmun, in Springfield, in this county. He came to Springfield in the year 1830, and the firm of Chapman & Ashmun was formed. Subsequently, Mr. Lorenzo Norton was admitted as a partner, and remained as such until his death. In 1850, the firm was dissolved, and Mr. Chapman, for a time, conducted his business alone. In 1854, he took Mr. Franklin Chamberlain as a partner, and the relation continued till the appointment of Mr. Chapman as a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, in 1860, Mr. Chamber- lain removing to Hartford, Conn. Upon the vacancy in the chief justiceship, by the retirement of Chief Justice Bigelow, in February, 1868, Mr. Chapman was appointed as his successor, and continued to fulfill the duties of the office until his death, June 28, 1873.
It is by no means an easy task to prepare a satisfactory esti- mate of the professional character and services of the late Chief Justice Chapman. That which, in some portions of the Com- monwealth would be considered eulogy, in another part might be considered as faint praise. His practice at the bar, before
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his elevation to the bench, was chiefly a local practice. In a few cases, he appeared before the jury in the eastern counties, and occasionally in Berkshire county ; but his professional efforts were mostly exerted in the old county of Hampshire. His term of office, as a justice of the court, was also for a com- paratively short period, and he filled the high office of chief justice only for a period of a little over five years. By the arrangement of the terms of the court, for the convenience of the justices, a greater rather than an equal proportion of the terms of the court were held by him in the central and western portions of the Commonwealth ; and, in consequence, the people and the members of the bar in the eastern counties were not so well acquainted with his capacities. Any estimate of his ability is one which puts him to a trying test. He who assumes the mantle, so long worn by those great men who have so long and so ably filled the office in which he died, must indeed be a great man, not to suffer in the comparison. Few of the present mem- bers of the bar remember Parsons ; but his reputation still represents him to us as the "giant of the law."
A greater number, especially of the older members, remem- ber Parker. He had been a public man, before he was elevated to the bench, and his high reputation was exalted by his ability in a new sphere. But the great part of the legal profession, and indeed, of the people of the Commonwealth, were educated under the legal teachings of Chief Justice Shaw. For a long period,-from 1830, to his death, in 1861, he had filled the office of Chief Justice. His opinions, scattered as they are over volumes of our Reports, if collected and published as a sepa- rate work, would constitute many volumes of the most valuable judicial essays and disquisitions of perhaps any legal mind in this country or in England. When, therefore, we sit down to estimate the talents and character of any person who has suc- ceeded to an office that these three great men have occupied, we insensibly are led to the institution of a contrast or compar- ison, without reflecting, that, in every age of the world, and in all countries, there are always a few representative men, whose names stand out from among their contemporaries, as worthy of the general homage of the world.
Cicero was accustomed to boast, that by his "studious nights," and "his laborious days," he had enabled himself, a
IO
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norus homo, to sit in the ivory chair of the Fabii, and the other noble patrician families of Rome. Certainly it is no less a mat- ter of pride, when a young man emerges from a sphere of pov- erty, at the age of seventeen years becomes a teacher of our public schools, and, through all the gradations of a laborious life, rises constantly in the scale of intellectual progress, till he crowns the honors of his life by faithfully performing the duties of the highest judicial office in the Commonwealth.
Let it not be understood that, because the late lamented Chief Justice Chapman was of humble origin, of a limited edu- cation, and comparatively unknown to the bar and the people of the Commonwealth, that he was deficient in any of the qual- ifications which are necessary to form a good judicial officer. It is rather to his credit, that, with these disadvantages, he should, in his short term of office, have won the respect and approbation of the members of the bar, and of the public, by an exhibition of talent which no one who did not know him intimately was authorized to expect. Entering upon legal practice with noth- ing but a common school education, acquired in the intervals of daily toil, he acquired a knowledge of the Latin language, and was a reader of the ancient classics in that tongue. And, in the midst of his laborious professional duties, he also applied himself with success to the acquisition of the French and Ger- man languages. His studies also were extended into the sci- ences ; and, in his associations with distinguished scientists, he has been able to sustain himself honorably in conversational discussions. In one respect he succeeded admirably as a chief justice. He was a most excellent administrative officer. He properly appreciated the evils of the law's delay, and he was of a character to push forward the legal business of the court to speedy justice.
Another trait of his character was his entire impartiality. He considered a judicial tribunal as a theater for the ascertain- ment of right, and that the legal forms of procedure were the necessary securities by which the rights of parties were to be investigated and established. Without regard, therefore, to the parties litigant, and with no influences of friendship in favor of the opposing counsel, he labored to discover the substantial merits of the controversy, and to apply the principles of prac- tice to the triumph of justice. The opinions which he has left
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upon the record bear testimony to his industry and his talent. They are generally brief, being rather decisions of the questions of law in dispute, than long disquisitions upon the law. His language is concise and clear ; and no one who is desirous of ascertaining, can fail to understand what the point of law is, that he proposes to decide.
There was one admirable trait in the mind of the chief jus- tice, which distinguished him, both at the bar and on the bench ; and we allude to the quick appreciation of the evidence, and the points of law in the case. He was always distinguished for his readiness in understanding the facts, and his application of legal principles to it.
ANSEL PHELPS, JR.,
Was born in Greenfield, studied law in the office of Wells, Alvord & Davis, at Greenfield, and was admitted to the bar in 1840. He was settled in his profession in the town of Ware, where he continued until the year 1846, when he removed to Springfield, in this county, and became the attorney or legal adviser of the Western Rail Road. In this capacity, he attend- ed not only to its business in court, but at hearings before the Legislature. He was a member of the House of Representa- tives, and the Senate ; and was, in all situations, an active and intelligent person. Mr. Phelps was a man of extraordinary energy and zeal, and threw his whole soul into his business. He was, from the year 1856 until 1859, mayor of the city of Springfield, and he deserved the confidence of his constituents, in the discharge of the duties of the office. He died in the year 1860.
I have thus given what you will scarcely believe to be a brief statement of my recollections of the members of the bar in the county of Hampden, who were more early in practice than myself, of several of my contemporaries, and a few of the younger members. A fear of being still more tedious has com- pelled'me to omit much that would be necessary to render the narration desirably complete. A delineation which would be a history of the members of the bar would swell into a volume. Nor have I ventured to speak so particularly of the characters and talents of those who have lived in these latter days. It
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has been my object, rather, to refer to the senior members of the bar, whose ability and virtue have done so much to form its reputation and to give it the high standing it ever has main- tained in this community. Let me say, then, of my seniors and contemporaries, that I know not on the wide carth a body of more upright, honest and just men, than were the members of the Hampden bar. Their word was like their bond, inviola- ble, and they seemed to have no wish to violate it. Agreements between them needed no instrument in writing to bind them to the performance, and, except in regard to one or two unfortu- nate cases which fell short of that high professional character that formed the reputation of the bar, I do not remember that I ever heard a dispute or misunderstanding between two of the members about a verbal agreement. Then, as now, there was a strong feeling on the part of each counsel in favor of his client. Then, as now, it was hard to give up a preconceived opinion. But each one submitted himself without evasion to his convic- tions of the law. Soon after my attendance at the court began, a motion was made by Mr. Bates on one side for a set off of two judgments of opposite parties. He presented his views with great clearness, confessing that he had found no adjudged authority. Mr. Chapman, with whom was Prof. J. H. Ashmun, replied to him. Prof. Ashmun then said that the argument of Mr. Bates reminded him of an adjudged case which he would read, as a friend of the court and not as counsel. When he had concluded it, Judge Strong said, " Well, Brother Bates, you and the supreme court seem to have indulged in the same train of thought, and I do not doubt but you will plead not guilty to the charge of reading their opinion !" "I am sorry," said Mr. Bates, " to be obliged to confess that I am not guilty !" How honorable was it in this learned lawyer to produce to the aid of the court an authority that was conclusive against his own client.
It was customary for the judge to invite the officiating cler- gyman, at the opening of the court, to dine with him and the bar at their rooms. On one of these occasions, the Rev. Dr. Osgood was at dinner, at the right hand of Judge Putnam, and the conversation turned upon the relative influences of the law upon the conduct of the different classes of society. Judge Putnam said, " During my long life and my judicial experience,
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I have observed and reflected much upon this subject ; and, making all allowances for my professional bias, I am compelled to say that there is no class of society, and no profession, that is so free from crime, and that has ever manifested so abiding a reverence for the laws of God and man, as the legal profession. I say it, and I say it with regret, not even excepting your min- isterial profession." "I fully agree with you," said the doctor. " Whether it is their knowledge of the law and their fear of it that deters them, or their frequent observation of crime in oth- ers that disgusts them, or whether it proceeds from the influ- ence of a correct moral principle controlling their conduct, I know not; but I confess that the fact is so!" "It is so !" resumed the judge. "We have scoundrels in all the profes- sions. We have Gilbert Glossin and other rascals in the legal profession, as they have Dr. Lampedos in the medical (the man who tried to keep his patient sick by pills and drops which he had tried upon a dog to see if they were dangerous) ; but, as a general fact, what I have said, I believe to be true."
This conversation took place more than forty years ago. It made a deep impression upon me then, and I have often reflect- ed upon it. I submit to your adjudication,-Is not the declara- tion of Judge Putnam true ? I speak not now of other coun- ties, and especially not of other states, but have not the lawyers of the old county of Hampshire sustained the reputation that was thus ascribed to them ?
We are all acquainted with the characters of those whose names have come down to us embalmed in the annals of that respected county. We have all known, either personally or by a recent tradition, the men of whom I have spoken, whose rep- utation, as a body, though the men are now dead, "yet speak- eth." We have known of their virtues by the hearing of the ear, and our eye seeth the great moral power that the influence of their example hath exerted upon the world ; and we cannot but acknowledge with reverence and gratitude the obligations of society for their wisdom and guidance.
Let me recall your thoughts to the consideration of the sub- ject to which I first called your attention. Let me again refer to this dedication of a court-house, or rather this consecration of a temple, to the purposes and the worship of law. And, as we carry back our reflections from the present to the past, we
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cannot but be astonished at the striking contrasts. At one time, the inhabitants of Hampshire were so few in number, the legislative body ordained, that, while the people should be so few in number that twelve suitable persons could not be found to constitute a proper jury, six persons should be considered a competent number ! Now, our own county, one-third part of the county of Hampshire, consists of a population of 80,000 souls. Then, the valuation of the whole of the old parent- county was so small, that the taxes assessed upon it were authorized to be paid in " cattle and corne," upon the apprais- ment of an indifferent person! Now, the valuation of the county of Hampden, by the apportionment of 1872, exceeds $58,000,000. Then,-as the remonstrance of the town of West- field, representing the situation of the shire town of this county two hundred years ago, alleges,-Springfield "hath been sorely under ye blasting hand of God, so that it hath, but in a lower degree than ordinary, answered ye labor of ye husbandman !" Now, its population exceeds, probably, 30,000, and its valuation $37,000,000 ! Then, its courts were held in the dwelling house of "ye worshipful Major Pinchon," or in places of which the record or history is silent, until the new court-house was erected by the joint expense of the town and county, about a century and a half ago ! Now, we are met to dedicate this judicial forum, one of the most beautiful in this Commonwealth, if not in any State of this Union !
Hardly less astonishing is the contrast between the first court-house, standing upon a site in Court House lane, which cost £30, and the present building, situated upon land of the value of $75,000, and on which has been expended $185,000,- a structure apparently intended to be as permanent as the Ro- man forum, or the exhumed temples of Pompeii or Hercula- neum. I need not describe the particulars of the contrasts. The enterprise of one of the journals of the city has displayed to the eye of the people, a representation more satisfactory than any description.
I crave your indulgence for a few moments, while I allude to the court-house of 1821. I well remember the controversies in reference to its site,-a portion of the inhabitants of Springfield striving to locate it near the Unitarian church, in the garden of Hon. Jonathan Dwight, instead of in its present location. I
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