USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Groton historical series. A collection of papers relating to the history of the town of Groton, Massachusetts, Vol III > Part 17
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Judge Lawrence was a large land-owner in Groton and its neighborhood ; and Ithamar Bard Sawtelle, in his History of Townsend (page 63), says that, with two exceptions, no man possessed in Townsend so many acres. According to John Boynton Hill's History of Mason, New Hampshire (page 34), he owned eleven farms of the two hundred into which that town was divided, after it had been surveyed and allotted ; and in the original grant made by the Masonian proprietors, his name appears first in the list of grantees (page 28). The township of Mason was divided, in conformity with an early custom, into smaller parcels of land, and each tract assigned to the several owners by lot ; and this custom furnishes the origin and explanation of the American use of the word lot as applied to a portion of land measured off, or appropriated for any particular purpose.
Judge Lawrence died at Groton, on May 19, 1764 ; and I can give no better estimate of his character than that con- tained on a tablet to his memory in the old Burying-Ground, as follows, line for line : -
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Here lye the remains of Coll", William Lawrence, who departed this Life May 19 !! A. D. 1764. Anno zEtatis 67. He was a Gentleman who in military life rose from the rank of Cap" Lieu; to the command of a Regiment. In the year 1739, he was made a Justice of the peace afterwards Quorum unus ; a special Justice of the court of common Pleas for the County of Middlesex, and a standing Justice of the Court. He for many years represented the Town of Groton with the Districts of Pepperrell and Shirley in the general Assembly of this Province. In all his public betrustsments he acquitted himself with fidelity and honour. In private life his behavior was becoming his Christian profession. He was remark= ably industrious in the improvement of time, Just in his dealings, a good neighbour, a faithful friend, patient of injuries and ready to forgive them, gratefull to Benefactors, very ready in affording assistance to the widow and fatherless, and mercifull to all proper Objects of pity. He was a strict observer of the Lords Day, a constant and serious attender on the public exercises of Religin, a devout worship= . er of God in his family.
Blessed are the dead who dye in the Lord. Here also lies the Body of M? Susanna Lawrence Relict of the above named Coll" William Lawrence
She was a woman of Piety and good Sense, An industrious, Prudent wife ; an indulgent Parent, a good Neighbour, a faithfull Friend, A hater of Hypocrisy and Guile ; a lover of Hospitality, Patiet under Affliction and Resigned to The will of Heaven in death by which she was called out of the world to Receive the Rewards of a faithfull Servant on the roth of Sep: & in the 80"! year of her Age. A) : 1771.
JAMES PRESCOTT was the eldest son of the Honorable Benjamin and Abigail (Oliver) Prescott, and born at Groton, on January 13, 1720-21. Hle was married, on June 18, 1752,
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to his cousin Susanna, daughter of the Honorable William and Susanna (Prescott) Lawrence, of Groton ; and they had nine children, of whom the eklest, Benjamin, was killed in the battle of Bunker Hill, where he was a sergeant in Captain Joseph Moors's company. Like his two brothers, James was much engaged in affairs of a public nature. In the militia he passed through every grade of service, from that of the lowest commissioned officer of a company to the colonelcy of a regiment. In political life he was chosen a member of the General Court for fifteen years, a member of the Senate for six years, and of the Executive Council for six years. At the beginning of the Revolution he was a member of the three Provincial Congresses of Deputies and of the Board of War. On September 6, 1775, he was chosen Sheriff of Middlesex County, which position he held for five years ; and on December 21, 1782, he was appointed Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, which place he filled for nearly eighteen years.
Few persons in the Commonwealth ever held so many different offices and of such a varied character as Judge Prescott, and yet he was not an office-seeker ; and he filled them all with credit to himself and with honor to the town. His dwelling was situated on the Great Road to Boston, perhaps half a mile southeast from the village, where he died on February 15, 1800. His wife, a native of Groton, was born on February 5, 1725-6, and died on December 26, 1805.
OLIVER PRESCOTT was the youngest son of Benjamin and Abigail (Oliver) Prescott, and born at Groton, on April 27, 1731. He graduated at Harvard College with the highest honors in the Class of 1750, and then studied medicine under the tuition of Dr. Thomas Robic, of Sudbury. Ile took high rank in his profession, and in 1781 was a charter member of the Massachusetts Medical Society; and at the Commencement of 1791 Harvard College conferred upon him the honorary degree of M.D., which before that time had been given by that institution to only seven persons. Hle was also the president of the Middlesex Medical Society
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during the whole period of its existence. Apart from these professional laurels, he likewise received many civil and mili- tary honors, besides some of a judicial character.
Dr. Prescott was town-clerk during thirteen years, and selectman during thirty-two years. Before the Revolution, he held the offices of Major, Lieutenant-Colonel, Colonel, and ยท Brigadier-General, respectively, in the militia, and in 1781 sec- ond Major-General ; but soon afterward, owing to ill health, he resigned his commission. Ile was a Justice of the Peace and of the Quorum throughout the Commonwealth ; and on October 30, 1776, was chosen a member of the Board of War, though he does not appear to have taken his seat in that body. On May 29, 1777, he was elected a member of the Council, an office which he held for two years ; and on July 1, 1779, he was appointed Judge of Probate for Middlesex County, and continued as such until his death, which took place at Groton, on November 17, 1804. Dr. Prescott took an active part in suppressing Shays's Rebellion, an insurrection which had many supporters in his neighborhood. He was one of the original Trustees of Groton Academy, and the first President of the Board; and he was also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
On October 19, 1756, Dr. Prescott was married to Lydia, daughter of David and Abigail (Jennison) Baldwin, of Sud- bury ; and they had eight children. His wife died on Septem- ber 27, 1798. His dwelling was situated in the southerly part of the village, near the fork of the roads, close to the William Prescott monument.
EBENEZER CHAMPNEY was a son of Solomon and Abigail ( | Macsparran) Champney, and born at Cambridge, on April 3, 1744. He was a descendant of Richard, who came from Lancashire in England during the early days of the Col- ony, and settled at Cambridge. Ebenezer graduated at Har- vard College in the Class of 1762. At first his intention was to enter the ministry, and to that end he began to study under the direction of the Reverend Caleb Trowbridge, of Groton, whose daughter he subsequently married. Soon afterward
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he left his chosen profession in order to take up the study of law in the office of the Honorable Samuel Livermore, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and in the year 1768 he was admitted to the bar of that State. He then opened an office at New Ipswich, where he began to practise his profession. In the spring of 1783 he came back to Groton, where he remained until 1789, when he again returned to New Ips- wich ; and in February, 1793, he was appointed Judge of Probate for Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, which office he continued to hold until the time of his death in the early autumn of 1810.
According to the town-records, Mr. Champney was mar- ried, on October 9, 1764, to Abigail, daughter of the Rev- erend Caleb and Hannah (Walter) Trowbridge, of Groton ; and they had seven children, of whom three died in infancy. By this marriage he became connected with the distinguished families of the Cottons and the Mathers. His wife was born on November 30, 1740, and died on October 23, 1775. In No- vember, 1778, he was married, secondly, to Abigail, daughter of Samuel Parker, who had gone from Groton to New Ipswich as early as the year 1760; and by this union there were four children. According to the History of New Ipswich (page 419), the second wife was born in 1762, and died in 1790. In March, 1796, he was married, thirdly, to Susan Wyman, who died in the following September. . Hannah, a daughter by the first wife, on February 2, 1792, married the Honorable James Prescott, Jr., of Groton, whose biographical sketch appears later in this Number.
During the excitement of Shays's Rebellion in the year 1786, owing to some spite which the insurgents had against Judge Champney, at that time a resident of Groton, an attempt was made to burn his office. Combustibles ready for use were found concealed under the building ; but for- tunately the plot was discovered in time to defeat its object. The office stood on the south side of the house, and was afterward used as an office by Timothy Bigelow, Samuel Dana, and Luther Lawrence, and still later by Dr. Amos Bancroft. Subsequently it was moved across the street, and
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placed in a corner of Dr. Amos B. Bancroft's garden, a short distance north of the site of the Town House; after which it was again moved to the rear of his dwelling, and still later to the neighborhood of the railroad station, where now it is occupied by a family.
Judge Champney had a large practice, and exercised a wide influence in the community. During the carlier years of his professional life, while living at New Ipswich, he was the only lawyer between Groton and Keene. He died on September 10, 1810, at the age of 66 years, 5 months, and 7 days.
The following inscription is found on the cast side of Francis Champney's monument, in the Old Burying-Ground at Groton : -
HON. EBENEZER CHAMPNEY ESQ. FATHER OF FRANCIS CHAMPNEY, DIED SEPT. IO, ISTO. A. 67 Ys. HE RECEIVED THE HONERS OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY 1762, ADMITTED TO THE BAR 1768,
APPOINTED JUDGE OF PROBATE 1793, IN WHICH OFFICE HE DIED. UNIVERSALLY RESPECTED & LAMENTED.
JAMES SULLIVAN was a son of John and Margery (Brown) Sullivan, and born at Berwick, Maine, on April 22, 1744. He received such an education as then could be acquired in a country village, and he began the study of law in the office of his brother John, at that time a resident of Durham, New Hampshire, who afterward became a distinguished Gen- eral of Revolutionary fame.
On February 22, 1768, he was married to Hetty, daughter of William and Avis (Adams) Odiorne, of Durham ; and by this marriage there were six sons and three daughters. His wife was born on June 26, 1748, and died on January 26, 1786.
After living for a short period at Georgetown, Maine, he removed soon after his marriage to Biddeford, on the Saco River, where he remained nearly ten years. He was a mem-
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ber of the three Provincial Congresses, from Biddeford, during 1774 and 1775, and a member of the General Court, from the same town, during 1775 and 1776. On March 20, 1776, he was appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Judicature, which position he held for six years. With the hope of being able, during the intervals of his judicial duties, to be more with his family if living in a central position, and in the be- lief that during his enforced absence from home they would be in greater security further from the seacoast, Judge Sul- livan, in February, 1778, sold his dwelling-house at Biddeford, and took up his abode in Groton. Hle bought a farm on the present Lowell Road, about half a mile east of the First Parish Meeting-house. "It was pleasantly situated," says his biographer, the late Thomas Coffin Amory, Esq., "and the house, which still remains, stands on an elevation command- ing the view of a most agreeable variety of fertile fields and sunny slopes." By his change of residence, the towns of Biddeford and Pepperrellborough (now Saco) were not pre- vented from sending him again, in the spring of 1778, as a Representative to the General Court. On August 16, 1779, he was chosen a delegate from Groton to represent the town in the Convention for forming the Constitution of Massa- chusetts, which met on September i of that year ; and on February 28, 1782, was chosen, by a joint convention of both branches of the General Court, in place of Sam Adams, a delegate to the Continental Congress, then in session at Philadelphia, and his credentials were presented to that body on May 20. On June 11, 1787, he was elected by the Legis- lature a member of the Executive Council to fill a vacancy caused by the declination of Joseph Bradley Varnum, Esq., of Dracut, who had been previously chosen on June 1, 1787; and on May 29, 1788, he was appointed Judge of Probate for Suffolk County. On February 12, 1790, he was chosen Attorney-General of the Commonwealth, which office he held during seventeen years. He was the first President of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and occupied the position during fifteen years. In the autumn of 1804 he was chosen one of the Presidential Electors at large; and when the
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Electoral College met in December, the members threw a unanimous vote for Thomas Jefferson as President. On April 6, 1807, he was elected Governor of the Commonwealth, and served in that capacity for nearly two terms. Ile entered upon the duties of the office on May 27 following, and died in Boston, on December 10, 1808, while Governor.
JOHN BULKLEY was the first native of the town, so far as I can learn, who studied law as a profession. He was a son of Colonel John and Mary ( Underwood) Bulkley, of Groton, and a descendant of the Reverend Peter Bulkley, of Con- cord, and he graduated at Harvard College in the Class of 1769. Ilis uncle, Joseph Underwood, was a graduate in the Class of 1735, and perhaps prompted the nephew to take a collegiate course. His father was a prominent man in the neighborhood, and during the French and Indian War gained a colonelcy in the public service. The son studied his profes- sion, in part at least, at Boston ; and I have seen a fragment of a manuscript diary kept by him during that period, from which it appears that he was a gay young man, somewhat given to dissipation. He was born at Groton, on June 22, 1749, and died on December 14, 1774. See " The Centennial Record " (Groton), February 22, 1876, for extracts from the diary just alluded to, where it is incorrectly said that the writer was unknown.
I have also seen a note-book kept by him, which contained a list of " Actions before Col. Prescott." The first entry is " Abel Keemp vs Eleazor Green Mon : 4" November 1771"; and the last one in the list is dated July 25, 1774. At the end of the book is a list of " Executions returnable to Jus : l'rescott 60 days from Jan? 14 1772," of which the last one is dated October 30, 1774. The names of Jonas Cutler and Jonathan Clark Lewis, who were traders in Groton at that period, appear often in the lists ; and presumably they were suing their customers for the amount of their bills. I am inclined to think that, while keeping this book, Bulkley was. acting in some official capacity, perhaps under the appoint- ment of his townsman Judge James Prescott.
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The following inscription is found, line for line, on his tombstone : -
[Cherub's Head.] COL. JOHN BULKLEY, whose remains are here entomb'd, departed this Life Dec; y" 31 /D. 1772. E. 69. much lamented by those who knew him. He left a sorrowful widow, four Daughters & one son, named JouN by whom this family tomb was built ; who also departed this Life Dec; ye 14"! A) 1774. 2E 26. & whose remains are here deposited.
He was educated at Harvard College and took the degree of A.B. & A. M. In the years 1769 and 1772. A good natural genius improv'd by a liberel Education he employ'd
in the study of Law but had only practiced as an attorney a sufficient time to raise in his friends the most (sanguine) hopes of whatever great or good could reasonably be expected from an honest & benevolent heart, influenced by a good understanding and a prudent disposition, before a period was put to his Action, and designs ; & his numerous Acquaintance were call'd to lament the death of a dutiful son - a loving brother - a faithful friend - a kind neighbour - a good citizen - an honest man. y Amicus patrice, generis humani Amicus.
THOMAS COLMAN succeeded Mr. Bulkley as an attorney, though but little is known of his professional life in Groton. He was the third son of Deacon Benjamin and Ann (Brown) Colman, and born at Byfield, a village of Newbury, on March S, 1751. He graduated at Harvard College in the Class of 1770, and without doubt knew Bulkley as a fellow-collegian at Cambridge. It is uncertain how long he practised in this town, but probably until about the time of his death. He was drowned at Newbury bar, on October 28, 1781.
The following extract from a Memoir of Samuel Dana, writ- ten by the Honorable Charles Humphrey Atherton, and printed in the third volume of the " Collections of the New- Hampshire Historical Society" (Concord, 1832), contains some references to both these young lawyers : -
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We are more the creatures of accident than we generally sup- pose, or are willing to allow. Now it happened that just before his [Mr. Dana's] relinquishment of the pastoral office, he was ap- pointed executor of the will of John Bulkley, Esq., an Attorney of law in Groton. This brought him in contact with a law library, which for convenience he had removed to his own house. To this occurrence may be traced his future success and distinction in life. In searching these law books, he spent many of his leisure hours, and either discovered or formed his taste for the investigation of legal subjects. One more lucky occurrence only was wanting which should give him some knowledge of office business, in order to fix Mr. Dana a candidate for the bar. For this, he did not long wait and it was probably of his own procuring. Thomas Coleman, Esq., who in 1779 succeeded Mr. Bulkley as an attorney in Groton, had his residence and office in the house of Mr. Dana, and under these favourable circumstances, he acquired some knowledge of the practice of law. Thus did Mr. Dana pick up his qualifications as a lawyer, as he had those of a clergyman, with great ease and little cost (pages 12, 13).
In this list of the Lawyers of Groton is included, as an ex- ceptional case, the name of Samuel Dana, who was for many years the minister of the town. Before the troubles had arisen between him and his parish, he had done some business of a legal character ; and, furthermore, at that period an edu- cated man was liable to act in any professional capacity. In the Memoir, by Mr. Atherton, from which an extract has just been given, there is a reference to the way in which he became interested in the study of law.
SAMUEL DANA was a son of William and Mary (Green) Dana, and born in that part of Cambridge which is now Brighton, on January 14, 1738-9. Ile entered Harvard Col- lege at the early age of twelve years, which shows the natural aptitude of his mind to receive instruction, and graduated in the Class of 1755, of which President John Adams was a member. Hle fitted himself for the duties of a pastor by the only means then available, which was to study theological works under the advice of neighboring ministers. In fact
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the only course open to any professional scholar at that period was to follow a course of study under the guidance of an experienced teacher, as there were then no professional schools in the land. On June 3, 1761, Mr. Dana was settled as the minister of Groton ; and on May 6, 1762, he was married to Anna, daughter of Captain Caleb and Abigail (Bowen) Kenrick, of Newton. Ilis pastorate here appears to have been harmonious until the political troubles of the Revolu- tion began to crop out, when a sermon preached by him in the early spring of 1775 gave great offence to the parish. His sympathies were with the Crown, while those of the people were equally strong on the other side; and the excitement over the matter ran so high that he was compelled to give up his charge. After his dismissal from the church he remained at Groton during some years, preaching for a short time to a Presbyterian Society, then recently organized ; and later he removed to Amherst, New Hampshire, where he resumed the study of law in the office of Joshua Atherton, Esq., an at- torney of that town. In the autumn of 1781 he was admitted to practise in the Court of Common Pleas of Hillsborough County. He was a delegate chosen by the town of Amherst to the convention for the formation of a plan of government, which resulted in the State Constitution of 1783; and im- mediately after its adoption by the people he was commis- sioned as one of the Judges of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas, but declined the appointment. In the year 1785 he was appointed Register of Probate for Hillsborough County, and held the office until January 9, 1789, when he accepted the position of Judge of Probate, which he afterward resigned on December 21, 1792. In this office he was followed by the Honorable Ebenezer Champney, of New Ipswich, who had previously been a lawyer at Groton, and who has already been mentioned in this Number. In 1793 he was chosen to the State Senate to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr. Atherton, his former preceptor.
Judge Dana died at Amherst, on April 2, 1798, leaving a large family of children and grandchildren, and was buried on April 4, with Masonic rites, when a funeral oration was de-
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livered before the Benevolent Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, by the Honorable Timothy Bigelow, of Groton.
BENJAMIN CHAMPNEY was the eldest child of Ebenezer and Abigail (Trowbridge) Champney, and born at Groton, on August 20, 1764. Ifis early life was spent on his father's farm in the work that usually falls to the lot of a country boy. His education was received at the common schools of that day, with some occasional instruction from his father, under whom he prepared himself for the legal profession. Ile was called to the Middlesex bar ; and in the year 1786 he opened an office in connection with his father at Groton, where he remained until 1791, when he removed to New Ipswich, and joined his father, who had two years previously taken up his residence in that town.
In the year 1792 Mr. Champney was married to Mercy Parker, who died in April, 1795, having borne him three chil- dren ; and, secondly, in October, 1809, to Rebecca Brooks, who became the mother of seven children. Perhaps his first wife and his stepmother Abigail Parker were sisters, - daughters of Samuel and Abiacl Parker, of Groton. For twenty years he was the postmaster of New Ipswich, and for a long time one of the selectmen ; and he died in that town on May 12, 1827, at the age of 62 years, 8 months, and 23 days.
JAMES PRESCOTT, JR., was the youngest son of the Hono- rable James and Susanna (Lawrence) Prescott, and born at Groton, on April 19, 1766. He was educated at Harvard College, where he graduated in the Class of 1788. He studied law, and began the practice of his profession in the adjoining town of Westford, where he remained about ten years, when he returned to Groton. On February 2, 1792, he was married to Hannah, daughter of the Honorable Ebenezer and Hannah ( Trowbridge) Champney, of New Ips- wich. She was born on September 23, 1768, and died on January 2, 1836; and from the year 1783 to 1789 her father was a lawyer of Groton. Mr. Prescott was appointed, on June 3, 1805, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, which office he filled for six years. By an Act passed on
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June 21, 1811, the Court of Common Pleas became the Cir- cuit Court of Common Pleas ; and for political reasons Judge Prescott was not re-nominated for the position. On February 1, ISO5, he was appointed to the office of Judge of Probate, made vacant by the death of his uncle, Dr. Oliver Prescott, on November 17, 1804. For six years Judge James Prescott was acting as Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas and at the same time as Judge of Probate, - a conjunction of offices which now would be considered incompatible with the best interests of the public. For forty-two years in succes- sion the Probate Judgeship of Middlesex County was held by him and his uncle.
Judge Prescott died at his residence in Groton, on October 14, 1829. Ilis dwelling-house was situated on the east side of the Great Road, near the end of High Street, and before his ownership had belonged to Benjamin Bancroft, by whom it was probably built as far back as the Revolutionary period.
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