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 26
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autumn of 1855, and thence to Cambridge, where he resided until his death on November 17, 1856.
On November 30, 1836, Mr. Hopkinson was married to Corinna Aldrich, daughter of the Honorable John and Diantha (Aldrich) Prentiss, of Keene, New Hampshire.
JOHN PARK LITTLE was the youngest son of John and Margaret (Park) Little, and born at Lunenburg, on No- vember 17, 1772. He was a graduate of Brown University in the Class of 1794, where he also took a Master's degree, and studied law in the office of the Honorable Timothy Bigelow, of Groton. In the year ISot he established himself at Gorham, Maine, where his many virtues gave the promising hope of a long and successful life, but which was disappointed. He died in that town, on March 26, 1809. His father was a large owner of land in that part of Groton which is now Shirley, and his mother was a native of Groton.
On September 1, 1805, Mr. Little was married to Mary Jackson, youngest child of the Honorable Oliver and Lydia (Baldwin) Prescott, of Groton. His widow afterward married the Honorable Lothrop Lewis, of Gorham. She was born on November 8, 1774, and died on May 30, 1862 ; and for more than fifty years was an active member of the Congregational Church at Gorham.
EDWARD ST. LOE LIVERMORE was the eldest child of Edward St. Loe and Sarah Crease (Stackpole) Livermore, and born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on February 12, 1800. Ile studied law in the office of the Honorable Luther Lawrence, of Groton, and was admitted to the Middlesex bar in March, 1832. During several years he practised his pro- fession in Lowell, where he died on March 22, 1842.
On June 21, 1828, Mr. Livermore was married at Methuen, to Hannah Gove Brown, a native of Pittsfield, New Hampshire.
JOHN LOCKE was the second son of Jonathan and Mary (Ilaven | Nichols) Locke, and born at Hopkinton, on Febru- ary 14, 1764. In 176g his father's family removed to Framing- ham, and thence, in 1770, to Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, at
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that time called Monadnock No. 2, where they lived in a log- .house. In 1772 the family went to Ashby, where John worked on a farm till he was twenty-two years of age. He fitted for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, and entered Dartmouth College in the second quarter of the Sophomore year. Here he remained only a short time, when he entered Harvard Col- lege at the beginning of the Junior year, and graduated in the Class of 1792. IIc then began the study of law in the office of the Honorable Timothy Bigelow, of Groton, and was ad- mitted to the Middlesex bar in September, 1796. He estab- lished himself in the practice of his profession at Ashby, which town he represented in the General Court during the years 1804, 1805, 1813, and 1823. In 1820 he was a member of the Convention for revising the State Constitution; and from 1823 to 1829 a representative in Congress from the Wor- cester North District. In 1830 he was a State Senator from Middlesex County, and in 1831 a member of the Executive Council. In 1837 he removed to Lowell in order to live with a son, and in 1849 to Boston, where he died on March 29, 1855.
On May 25, 1799, Mr. Locke was married to Hannah, daughter of General Nathaniel and Molly (Jackson) Goodwin, of Plymouth ; and they had five children. He was a brother of Joseph, whose sketch appears next; and they married sisters.
JOSEPH LOCKE was the youngest son of Jonathan and Mary (Haven | Nichols) Locke, and born at Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, on April 8, 1772. He graduated at Dartmouth College in the Class of 1797, and studied law in the office of the Honorable Timothy Bigelow, of Groton. He was admitted to the Middlesex bar in September, 1800, and, according to " The Massachusetts Register and United States Calendar," for 1802 and for 1803, was an attorney at Littleton during those years. The Reverend George Thomas Chapman, D.D, in his " Sketches of the Alumni of Dartmouth College," says that Mr. Locke at that time was living at Acton. John Goodwin Locke, in his " Book of the Lockes" (page 114),
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says that Joseph opened an office at Billerica in 1801, which is probably correct, as it was the family account. Mr. Locke took high rank in his profession, and had a large practice at Billerica. From the years 1806 to 1810 inclusive, he repre- sented that town in the General Court, and in 1820 was a member of the Convention for revising the Constitution of Massachusetts. On July 2, 1814, he was appointed Special Justice of the Court of Common Pleas of Middlesex County, but he was not sworn in as such until September 10, 1816. In 1816 he was one of the Presidential Electors, when the vote of the Electoral College was cast, on December 4, in favor of Rufus King; and in 1821 and 1822 a member of the Executive Council. On June 15, 1819, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Sessions in Middlesex County, which office he held for eight years, and until the Court was abolished by an Act of the Legislature, on February 26, 1828. In IS33 he removed from Billerica to Lowell, where on March 23 of that year he had been appointed Judge of the Police Court, which position he held until April, 1846. He was also a member of the General Court from that city during the session of 1849. Ilis death took place in Lowell, on Novem- ber 10, 1853.
On November 16, 1803, Judge Locke was married to Lydia, daughter of General Nathaniel and Molly (Jackson) Goodwin, of Plymouth ; and they had a family of eight children.
STEPHEN MINOT was a son of Captain Jonas and Mary (Hall ) Minot, and born at Concord, on September 28, 1776. He fitted for college at Westford Academy, and graduated at Harvard College in the Class of 1801. He pursued his legal studies under the tuition of the Honorable Samuel Dana, of Groton, and was admitted to the Middlesex bar in June, 1804. He began to practise his profession at New Gloucester, Maine, but at the end of a year removed to Haverhill in this State. On October 14, 1811, he was appointed Judge of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas, and held the office until 1820, when the law which created that court was repealed. In 1824 he was appointed District Attorney for Essex County,
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which office he held until 1830. In 1825 he was chosen a representative to the General Court, and would have been re- chosen, had he not declined a second nomination. During the later years of his life he withdrew from the active practice of law, and devoted himself to the study of mathematics and the Latin authors, for which he always had a fondness. He died at Haverhill, on April 6, 1861.
On November 9, 1809, Mr. Minot was married, first, to Rebecca, daughter of Samuel and Rebecca (Peabody) Trask, of Bradford, who died on November 27, 1832 ; and, on January 6, 1841, secondly, to Ellen Partridge, daughter of the Hono- rable Stephen Partridge and Achsah (Moore) Gardner, of Bolton. His wife's name was originally Azubah Partridge Gardner, but by an Act of the Legislature, on March 11, 1828, it was changed.
GEORGE MOREY was a son of the Reverend George and Anna (Palmer ) Morey, and born at Walpole, on June 12, 1789. He was fitted for college by his uncle, the Reverend Stephen Palmer, of Needham, and graduated at Harvard College in the Class of 1811. He took high rank in his class, which was pre- eminent for ability and scholarship. For two years after graduation he was the preceptor of Framingham Academy, and while a resident of Framingham began the study of law. Afterward he entered the office of the Honorable Luther Lawrence, of Groton, where he finished his professional studies. After his admission to the Suffolk bar on March 16, 1818, he began the practice of law at Roxbury, where he re- mained a few years, and then removed to Boston, which afterward became his permanent home. He was a wise and sagacious counsellor, and an active member of the Whig party during its existence. For many years he was Chair- man of the Whig State Central Committee. In 1830 and 1831 he was a representative to the General Court, and in 1839 and 1840 a member of the State Senate. In 1842 and 1844 he was a member of the Executive Council, and in 1853 a member of the Convention for revising the Con- stitution of Massachusetts ; and from 1854 to 1859 an Overseer
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of Harvard College. He was also a Presidential Elector at large in 1860, when the vote of the Commonwealth was thrown for Abraham Lincoln. He died in Boston on May 11, 1866.
On May 29, 1823, Mr. Morey was married to Fanny, daughter of Major Lawson and Mary (Jones) Buckminster, of Framingham ; but they had no children.
AUGUSTUS PEABODY was a son of Deacon John and Mary (Perley) Peabody, and born at Andover, on May 17, 1779. He graduated at Dartmouth College in the Class of 1803, and studied law under the direction of the Honorable Timothy Bigelow, of Groton. He was admitted to the Middlesex bar in September, 1806, and began the practice of his profession at Boston. His given name originally was Asa, but by an Act of the Legislature, passed on June 15, 1815, it was changed to Augustus. In the year 1819 he was a member of the General Court from the town of Boston. About 1846 he removed to Roxbury, where he died on October 2, 1850.
On October 28, 1815, Mr. Peabody was married to Miranda, youngest child of Thatcher and Lucy (Wiswall) Goddard, of Boston.
DAVID PERHAM was the younger son of Peter and Rebecca (Buttrick) Perham, and born at Ashby, on February 10, 1780. He attended school at Groton Academy, then under the preceptorship of William M. Richardson, and immediately afterward began the study of law in the office of Judge Dana and of Mr. Richardson, his former preceptor at the Academy, who was now in partnership with Mr. Dana. He was ad- mitted to the Middlesex bar in March, 1809, and opened an office at Acton, where he remained until the summer of 1811, when he removed to Orrington, Maine. He lived in that part of the town which, on its division in February, 1812, became Brewer; and here he lived until the year 1833, at which time he took up his residence in Bangor. He was actively engaged in the practice of his profession until 1822. when he was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He died in Bangor, on May 31, 1845.
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On August 25, 1814, Judge Perham was married, first, to Betsey, daughter of David and Hannah (Davis) Barnard, of Acton ; and, on October 13, 1830, secondly, to Charlotte, daughter of Caleb and Mary (Jackson) Gardner, of Brooklinc. Ilis second wife was born in Newton, on January 22, 1760, and died in Roxbury, on April 21, 1869.
JONATHAN PORTER was a son of Jonathan and Phebe ( Abbot ) Porter, and born at Medford, on November 13, 1791. He was prepared for college at a private school kept by Dr. John Hosmer, of Medford, and graduated with the highest honors at Harvard College in the Class of 1814. He studied law partly in the office of the Honorable Luther Lawrence, of Groton, and partly in the office of the Honorable Asahel Stearns, of Chelmsford, and was admitted to the Middlesex bar in November, 1819. He was fond of books and study, more so than of professional practice, and for that reason he never took the high rank as a lawyer which his attain- ments in other respects seemed to warrant. In the year 1828 he delivered the oration before the Phi Beta Kappa at Cam- bridge. Throughout his life he was a diligent student, and particularly fond of Greek literature. During a long and fatal illness his patience and resignation were the triumph of an abiding Christian faith. He died at Medford, on June 11, 1859.
On July 22, 1823, Mr. Porter was married to Catharine, daughter of Samuel and Anna ( Orne) Gray, of Medford; and they had three children. An only son, long since deceased, was a classmate of the writer of these lines.
JOSHUA PRESCOTT was a son of Deacon John and Martha (Abbot) Prescott, and born at Westford, on November 15, 1780. He was the last surviving member of his father's family, which consisted of six sons and one daughter, who lived to mature age. Three of the sons received a liberal education, Samuel, Aaron, and the subject of this notice. Joshua pursued his preparatory studies at Westford Academy, and graduated at Harvard College in the Class of 1807.
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After leaving Cambridge he taught school for a short while at Saco, Maine, and then began the study of law in the office of his kinsman the Honorable James Prescott, Jr., of Groton. He was admitted to the Middlesex bar in June, 1811, when he opened an office at Reading. He afterward removed to Lynn, where he remained only for a few months, and then returned to Reading, which continued to be the place of his permanent abode. In the year 1830 be published " A Digest of the Probate Laws of Massachusetts, relative to the power and duty of executors, administrators, guardians, heirs, legatees, and creditors," a work which has had a wide circulation. In 1826 and 1827 he was a member of the General Court from the town of Reading. He was much interested in agricultural pursuits, and cultivated successfully the farm on which for many years he lived. He never sought public office, and as a citizen was highly respected in all the relations of life. His faith as a Christian in the unbounded love of God was firm and unwavering, and he awaited his end with calmness and resignation. He died on January 1, 1859, at his homestead in Reading.
On January 5, 1813, Mr. Prescott was married to Abigail, only daughter and surviving child of Lieutenant Thomas and Abigail (Bryant ) Eaton, of Reading ; and they had five children. His widow died on February 4, 1867, aged 82 years and i month.
THOMAS RICE was a son of Noah and Hannah (Warren) Rice, and born at Sutton, on November 27, 1734. Ile gradu- ated at Harvard College in the Class of 1756, and immediately afterward studied medicine under the instruction of Dr. Oliver Prescott, of Groton. About the year 1760 he settled as a practitioner at Wiscasset Point, and with the exception of Dr. William Crawford at Fort Pownal, was the earliest edu- cated physician in that part of the State of Maine. He became eminent in his profession, and had a large and successful practice. In 1774 he was a member of the General Court, and the first representative to the Legislature chosen from any town cast of the Kennebec River. From an early
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period he was active in political affairs, and, though a physician, he was called upon to take a judicial station. In those days it was customary to select any man best qualified for the office, whether from the medical or clerical professions. On September 7, 1763, he was appointed one of the Justices of the Court of Common Pleas for Lincoln County, and later the Chief Justice of the same Court, positions which he held for nearly half a century; and for many years during this period he was also Register of Deeds. On October 25, 1780, he was chosen a Senator to the Massachusetts Legislature, and re-chosen for the two following years. From 1794 to 1799 he served as Trustee of Bowdoin College, although this was before the institution was fairly organized. He died at his home in Wiscasset, on April 21, 1812.
On January 15, 1767, Judge Rice was married to Rebekah, daughter of John and Patience (Tappan) Kingsbury, of Wis- casset, a native of Newbury, who died on August 19, 1816.
THOMAS RICE, JR., was the eldest child of Dr. Thomas and Rebekah (Kingsbury) Rice, and born at Pownalborough, now Wiscasset, Maine, on March 30, 1768. Hle graduated at Har- vard College in the Class of 1791, and came to Groton in order to teach school, and at the same time to study medicine under the tuition of Dr. Oliver Prescott, who had been also his father's instructor. After a short experience he gave up medicine and entered the office of the Honorable Timothy Bigelow, of Groton, where he remained as a law student for three years. After completing this course, he went to Wiscasset, where the court was then sitting, and applied for admission to the bar, but was estopped by the rule which required that a part of the professional study should be pursued in the county. His own account of this new perplexity is given in Willis's " History of the Law, the Courts, and the Lawyers of Maine," as follows : -
I knew not then what to do but to return to Groton to consult my friend Mr. Bigelow. I stopped in Boston, - the Court of Com- mon Pleas was sitting there. I saw Judge Sullivan, the president of the bar in that county, and told him my story. He said that he
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would call a bar meeting and submit my case, which he did, and they voted immediately for my admission to practise in that county. I have the certificate of the clerk of the court, Ezekiel Price, now before me (1851), which shows that fifty-seven years since (1794), I was admitted to the practice of law (page 182).
Mr. Rice then established himself at Winslow, Maine, which at that time included the present city of Waterville, where he soon became prominent as a lawyer. In 1814 he represented the town in the General Court of Massachusetts, and was a member of Congress from the Kennebec District, for two terms, from 1815 to 1819 (Fourteenth and Fifteenth Con- gresses). At the end of a long and useful career he laid down peacefully the burden of a busy life, on August 25, 1854, at his own home in Winslow, carrying with him the love of kindred and the respect of neighbors. He gave up the practice of law about twenty years before he died.
On April 18, 1776, Mr. Rice was married, first, to Sarah, daughter of the Honorable William and Mercy (Porter) Swan, of Gardiner, Maine, and a native of Groton, who died at Winslow, on September 26, 1840 ; and on February 16, 1842, secondly, to Susannah, daughter of Colonel Reuben Hayes and Dorcas (Storer) Green, of Winslow, who died at the same place, on December 1, 1879.
DANIEL RICHARDSON was the third son of Captain Daniel and Sarah (Merchant) Richardson, and born at Pelham, New Hampshire, on January 19, 1783. He studied law at Groton, in the office of Judge Samuel Dana, and was admitted to the Middlesex bar in June, 1807. He afterward settled at Tyngs- borough, where he was postmaster for thirty-five years ; representative to the General Court in 1827 and 1828 ; and a member of the State Senate in 1831, 1832, and 1833, besides holding various town offices. Ile died at Tyngsborough, on February 12, 1842.
On April 2, 1816, Mr. Richardson was married, first, to Mary, second daughter of William and Mary (Roby) Adams, of Chelmsford, who died on Angust 1, 1825 ; and, on November 23, 1826, secondly, to Hannah, fourth daughter of the same
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parents. He was the father of the Honorable William Adams Richardson, of Washington, D. C., Chief Justice of the Court of Claims, who for many years and in many ways has been associated with the town of Groton.
NATHANIEL SHATTUCK was the eldest child of Nathaniel and Catharine (Andrews) Shattuck, and born at Temple, New Hampshire, on February 27, 1774. He was a descendant of an early settler of Groton, and a graduate of Dartmouth Col- lege in the Class of 1801. He read law for two years under the direction of the Honorable Benjamin Joseph Gilbert, of Hanover, New Hampshire, and later in the office of the Hon- orable Timothy Bigelow, of Groton, and was admitted to the Middlesex bar in June, 1804. He began the practice of his profession at Milford, but afterward lived at Amherst and Mason Village, now known as Greenville, all in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. Owing to the failure of his eyesight, he subsequently gave up the practice of law, and became a resident of Lancaster, Massachusetts. He afterward dwelt in one or two other towns in this State, and died at Concord, on September 1, 1864.
On June 15, 1806, Mr. Shattuck was married, first, to Mary, daughter of the Honorable James and Betsey (Kimball) Wallace, of Milford, New Hampshire, who was born on April 5, 1790, and died on June 3, 1812; and, on April 4, 1816, secondly, to Sally, daughter . of Samuel and Jane (Seaton) Stanley, of Amherst, New Hampshire. By the first marriage there was one daughter, and by the second there were six children. The second wife was born at Amherst on July 25, 1789, and died in Manchester, New Hampshire, on February 7, 1865.
SAMUEL EMERSON SMITH was a son of Manasseh and Han- nah (Emerson) Smith, and born at Hollis, New Hampshire, on March 12, 1788. He pursued his preparatory studies at Groton Academy, and graduated at Harvard College in the Class of 1808. He studied the profession of law, partly with the Honorable Samuel Dana, of Groton, and partly with his
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brothers, Manassch Smith, of Warren, Maine, and Joseph Emerson Smith, of Boston, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar on February 25, 1812. Immediately afterward he estab- lished himself at Wiscasset, Maine, where he soon took a high position as a sound and discriminating lawyer. In 1819 he was chosen by that town a member of the General Court of Massachusetts, and during the next year a member of the Legislature of Maine, which was the first session held in the new State. In 1821 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Cir- cuit Court of Common Pleas for the Second Circuit, and during the next year, on its reorganization, when the circuit system was abolished, he was made an Associate Judge of the new Court, which position he held until 1830. During that year he was chosen Governor of the State, and re-chosen at the next two annual elections, and served as such through the years 1831, 1832, and 1833. It was during his administration that the subject of the northeastern boundary began to excite the public mind, and also that the removal of the seat of gov- ernment from Portland to Augusta took place. In 1835 he was appointed to the bench of the Court of Common Pleas, from which he retired in 1837. He died at Wiscasset, on March 3, 1860.
On September 12, 1832, Governor Smith was married to Louisa Sophia, daughter of Henry Weld and Esther (Gould) Fuller, of Augusta.
ASAHEL STEARNS was a son of the Honorable Josiah and Mary (Corey) Stearns, and born at Lunenburg, on June 17, 1774. He graduated at Harvard College in the Class of 1797, and on July 11, 1797, was appointed Preceptor of Groton Academy, which position he held only for six months. Giv- ing up the preceptorship, he began the study of law in the office of the Honorable Timothy Bigelow, of Groton, and was admitted to the Middlesex bar in September, 18oo. Imme- diately afterward he established himself as a lawyer in Chelmsford, where he remained until 1815, when he removed to Charlestown. While a resident of Chelmsford he was chosen, on November 7, 1814, a Representative to the Four-
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teenth Congress of the United States. In 1817 he was ap- pointed University Professor at the Harvard Law School, which chair he held for twelve years. The title has since been changed to the Bussey Professorship. By a Resolve of the Legislature, passed on February 4, 1832, the Governor was authorized to appoint three commissioners to revise the General Statutes, and under this authority Professor Stearns was named as one of them. He died in Cambridge, on February 5, 1839.
On April 23, 1801, Professor Stearns was married at Chelmsford to Mrs. Frances Wentworth (Whiting) Shepard, daughter of Benjamin and Grace (Hall) Whiting, and widow of Daniel Shepard, of Amherst, New Hampshire.
JOHN STUART was a son of Charles and Esther (Ferguson) Stuart, and born at Peterborough, New Hampshire, on Sep- tember 5, 1782. His mother was a daughter of John Fergu- son, and born at Groton, on March 31, 1747. Mr. Stuart studied law in the office of the Honorable Timothy Bigelow, of Groton, and was admitted to the Middlesex bar in Decem- ber, 1807. He began the practice of his profession at New- buryport, but soon afterward went to Boston, where he was living from 1813 to 1829, according to the Directories of that period. He is said, in Smith's History of Peterborough (page 300 of the second part), to have died in the year 1848, but the place of death is not there given.
On June 29, 1809, Mr. Stuart was married to Sarah Taylor, only daughter of James and Sarah (Farwell) Brazer, of Groton. They were the parents of Mrs. Sarah Brazer (Stuart) Berry, who is mentioned in the second volume of this His- torical Series (page 388).
JOHN LEIGHTON TUTTLE, the eldest of thirteen children, was a son of John and Elizabeth (Leighton) Tuttle, and born at Littleton, on February 10, 1774. He was fitted for college partly at New Ipswich Academy, and partly by the Reverend Joseph Willard, of Boxborough, and graduated at Harvard College in the Class of 1796. He studied law, first, in the
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office of the Honorable Timothy Bigelow, of Groton, for two years, but finished his studies in the office of the Hon- orable Simeon Strong, of Amherst. He began to practise his profession at Westmoreland, New Hampshire, and soon after- ward removed to Concord in this State. He was admitted to the Middlesex bar in April, 1803, and later became prominent in the councils of the Democratic party. He was chosen a member of the State Senate in 1808 and the five following years, and was also the County Treasurer during the same period. He was postmaster of Concord from January 1, ISII, to February 14, 1813. On March 12, 1812, he was commis- sioned Lieutenant Colonel commanding the Ninth Regiment of Infantry, United States Army, which took part in the mili- tary operations around Sackett's Harbor, on Lake Ontario, and a short time afterward was appointed Brigade Paymaster. He died, unmarried, at Watertown, New York, on July 23, 1813, when there was a strong suspicion that he had been poisoned by a woman for the purpose of robbery.
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