History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 5

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1818

USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 5

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Early in the following year it fell to his lot to con- duct a memorable trial, with which his name will be always most prominently and honorably associated. No trial in the history of our country for many gen- crations, if ever, has excited a deeper interest or challenged a more anxious and critical attention than that of Professor John W. Webster for the murder of Dr. George Parkman.

In Blackwood's Magazine for June, 1850, in an article on " Modern State Trials," being one of a series of articles from the pen of the eminent bar- rister, Samuel Warren, the author of " Diary of a Physician" and of "Ten Thousand a Year," occurs the following passage :

"It was our intention to have included in this paper a sketch of a great American trial for murder, that of the late Professor Webster for the murder of Dr. Parkman, a fearful occurrence, a black and dismal tragedy from beginning to end, exhibiting most remarkable indications, as it appears to us, of the overruling Providence which sometimes sees fit to allow its ageney in human affairs to become visible to us. All we shall at present say on the subject is that the reply of Mr. Clifford for the prosecution cannot be excelled in close and conclusive reasoning, conveyed in language equally elegant and forcible. Its effect, as a demonstration of the guilt of the ac- cused, is fearful."

In the autumn of 1852 a convention of the Whig party of Massachusetts nominated Attorney-General Clifford for Governor of the State. He accepted the nomination with reluctance, and although he re- ceived nearly twenty-five thousand votes more than either of the opposing candidates, he was not elected by the people. On the meeting of the Legislature, however, he was chosen by the votes of the two branches, and was inaugurated as Governor of Mas- sachusetts on the 14th of January, 1853.

In his inaugural address he used the following characteristic words :

"The law is our only sovereign. The loyalty which in other coun- tries is rendered to the mere accident of birth is here due to that invisible but omnipresent power which we have voluntarily enthroned and established for our protection and guidance under the majestic name of Law."

Governor Clifford discharged the duties of the chief magistracy with great fidelity and dignity, and it was only for him to say whether he should remain in the office for a second year. But his interest in his profession determined him to decline a renomination, and on the election of Governor Emory Washburn as his successor he was at once called on by him to resume his place as attorney-general of the common- wealth. He continued to hold that office-by cxecu- tive appointment for one year, by legislative election for another, and again for a third by the choice of the people of the State-until 1858. He had thus served the commonwealth as its highest law-officer for a full term of seven years in all, and in that capacity had certainly rendered his best public service and acquired his greatest public distinction.

In retiring finally from his position he did not abandon his professional labors, but was frequently to be found in the highest courts of the common- wealth and of the nation in the argument of impor- tant cases. During the terrible civil war which soon afterwards afflicted the country he omitted no efforts in his power to sustain the cause of the Union accord- ing to the convictions of his own conscience. More than once he was summoned to Washington to hold council with cabinet officers in regard to measures in contemplation. At home, too, he spared neither time nor money in encouraging the soldiers who went out from his own city or county. In 1862 he accepted an election to the State Senate, and was at once chosen president of that body, in that capacity rendering conspicuous service to the commonwealth at the most critical period of the war. In 1868 he was one of the electors at large, and united in giving the vote of Massachusetts to President Grant.

In the previous year, however, 1867, he had en- tered upon a line of life which was finally to separate him from further professional or political service, and to confine him to the routine of practical business. Assuming the charge of the Boston and Providence Railroad corporation as its president, he devoted himself to its affairs with all his accustomed earnest- ness and energy.

He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was also a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society. But he rendered larger services to Harvard University at Cambridge, of which he was for many years one of the overseers and repeatedly the president of the board, in which capacity it became his duty to officiate at the induc- tion in 1853 of the late Rev. Dr. Walker, and in 1869 of Charles W. Eliot, Esq., as presidents of the uni- versity. He received the degree of LL.D. from Brown University and also from Harvard University.

Governor Clifford was also one of the original board of trustees of the great education fund established by the munificence of George Peabody, his personal friend, for the impoverished and desolated States of the South. No one was more faithful to that noble

HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

trust, and no one will be more affectionately and gratefully remembered by all who were associated with him in its labors and responsibilities.

In the spring of 1873 he was compelled to abandon all occupation and fly to the salubrious airs of Florida. In the spring of 1875 a visit to Europe was recom- mended to him, and he sailed for Liverpool on the 24th of April of that year.

Before Governor Clifford embarked for Europe he had declined appointments as United States Minister both to Russia and to Turkey, which had been suc- cessively offered to him by the administration at Washington. He had, however, previously accepted an appointment as United States Commissioner on the Fisheries under the arbitration treaty with Great Britain, and had always contemplated fulfilling that appointment.

But his work was ended, public and private. In- deed, he had hardly reached his home in New Bed- ford, after a brief stay in Boston, where he arrived, and was but just beginning to receive from his old friends and neighbors the tokens of welcome which had awaited him, when a disease of the heart, which had given mysterious indications in former years, was now unmistakably manifested. A very few weeks sufficed to bring it to a crisis, and on the morning of the 2d of January, 1876, he died at New Bedford, in the house in which he had enjoyed for more than forty years the rarest domestic felicity, although from it again and again beloved children, in the most en- dearing stages of their lives, had been taken by the angel of death. His wife, two daughters, and three sons-Charles Warren Clifford, Walter Clifford, both members of the bar of Bristol County, and Dr. Arthur Clifford, since deceased-survived him.

The following tribute to Governor Clifford was of- fered by a distinguished statesman of Virginia (the Hon. Alexander H. H. Stuart) when his death was announced at the annual meeting of the Peabody trustees at the White Sulphur Springs, in Virginia, in August, 1876 :

"There was a quiet dignity and grace in every movement, and his countenance beamed with intelli- gence and benignity. To a mind of great power he united a heart which throbbed with generous im- pulses, and a happy facility of expression which gave a peculiar charm to his conversation. There was a frankness in his bearing and a genial urbanity about him which at once commended confidence and in- spired good will. Every one who approached him felt attracted by a species of personal magnetism which was irresistible."

This biography of John Henry Clifford would be inadequate as a testimonial of his life and career if it did not include a statement of the following public demonstrations in memory of him which upon his death emanated from the political, charitable, literary, commercial, and professional institutions in which he had exercised conspicuous and beneficent functions :

Telegram from the State Department of the United States :

" WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 1876.

"The announcement of the death of your most excellent father is re- ceived with the deepest regret. The country loses a good and pure man. The President tenders his sincere condolence. Be assured of my- sym- pathy and sorrow.

" HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State. "CHARLES W. CLIFFORD, EsQ., New Bedford."

Extract from Governor Rice's Inaugural Message to the Legislature of Mas- sachusetts, Jan. 6, 1876.

" Nor can you or I forget that even now the earth is receiving to its bosom the remains of a past chief magistrale of the commonwealth, who embodied in his character and exemplified in his life all that we recognize as highest and noblest in the name of Christian and scholar, statesman, gentleman, and friend."

"IN SENATE OF MASSACHUSETTS, Jan. 11, 1876.

" The committee on the death of ex-Governor Clifford, to whom was referred the communication of His Excellency the Governor, report the accompanying resolutions :

"' Resolved, That in the death of John Henry Clifford, ex-Governor of Massachusetts, the commonwealth has lostone of its most useful, accom- plished, and distinguished citizens. Whether his varied and well-trained powers were exerted in the cause of education or in the execution of the laws, or exercised in debate in either branch of the Legislature of this State, or tested in the responsible executive duties devolving upon him as the chief magistrate of this commonwealth, in all the positions of public trust he so worthily filled he illustrated the ardor of his pa- triotism, the vigor of his intellectual powers, and added to the fame of the State which now mourns his death and honors his memory.

"' Resolved, That his private, no less than his public, life bore testi- mony to the wisdom, strength, beauty, and grace of his personal charac- ter; dignified withont austerity, firm and decided in his convictions, yet courteous and deferential to those of his associates, with a power to apply his varied attainments to the practical affairs of business life, he added to the prosperity and happiness of his fellow-citizens by his ser- vices and counsel, and thus exemplified the peculiar republican sim- plicity of our systems of government, which recognize all public posi- tions as temporary trusts, conferring honor only upon those who by wise and pure administration prove themselves worthy the no less honorable duties of private life.'

" EN SENATE, Jan. 11, 1876.

" Adopted. Sent down for concurrence.

"S. N. GIFFORD, Clerk.

" HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Jan. II, 1876. " Concurred.

"GEORGE A. MARDEN, Clerk."

Tribute of the Trustees of the Peabody Education Fund. " ANNUAL MEETING, " WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, Aug. 5, 1876.

"The following resolutions, proposed by Hon. A. II. H. Stuart, of Virginia, and seconded by Gen. Richard Taylor, of Louisiana, were unanimously adopted :

"' Resolved, That we have heard with profound sorrow of the death, since our last annual meeting, of Ilon. John H. Clifford, one of our original trustees, appointed by Mr. George Peabody to superintend the administration of his munificent donations to the cause of education in the Southern States. We feel that in the death of Governor Clifford we have lost the services and co-operation of one of the most useful, zeal- ous, and efficient members of our body, and that we have been deprived of the society of a gentleman whose eminent talents, liberal attainments, dignified and affable manners, and genial temper were sources of con- staut pleasure to all who had the good fortune to be thrown into inti- mate association with him. As legislator, attorney-general, and Gov- ernor of Massachusetts, he gave abundant evidence of his wisdom, legal and administrative ability, and enlightened patriotism. As a sagacions, energetic, and public spirited citizen, he contributed largely to the de- velopment of the material interests of his native State. And in his private life there was a continual exhibition of those manly virtues and attractive graces which dignify and adorn the character of the Christian gentleman.

"' His seat at our board has been left vacant. The places that have known him will know him no more. He has gone to enjoy the reward of a well-spent life. All that is left to us is the memory of his talents, his eminent public services, and his many virtnes.

BENCH AND BAR.

"' We bow with humble resignation to the will of Him in whose hands are the issues of life and death, and with sorrowful hearts we now de- sire to inseribe on our records this imperfect tribute of reverence and affection for the memory of our deceased associate and friend.'

" GEORGE PEABODY RUSSELL, Secretary."

" Tribute of the Overseers of Harvard University, Jan. 26, 1876.

"In the death of our late associate, John H. Clifford, we recognize the interruption of an honorable, useful, and happy life. Born in another State, he attained the highest official station in our commonwealth ; educated in another university, he presided for many years over the Overseers of Harvard ; trained to the law, he reached its high honors a quarter of a century before he retired from practice to gain equal pre- cedence in another field of labor; trusted with high public otlices, he held in private social station an equal rank ; and whether in public or in private, he held no place which he did not adequately fill. Adminis- tering the affairs of the commonwealth or the business of his corpora- tion, he was wise in counsel, conservative in action, skillful in dealing with men. Presiding in the Senate or in this board, we well know his tact, his courtesy, his impartiality. In his profession, to the strength of a sound mind' in a sound body he did not disdain to add the grace of clear expression and of silver speech. As attorney-general, he gave a dignity to the office of public prosecutor, which in his hands partook of the nature of judicial service. In private life, welcome at every board, he welcomed his friends to his own with a broad, free hospitality. Suc- cess waited upon desert throughout his life. As a public man, no malice assailed, no envy touched him. In his profession, the successful prose- cntion of a great criminal in a cause célèbre gave him a name at home and abroad. In his later business career, he left the corporation which he had in charge at the head of its kind in prosperity, and gave to our city an ornament which may stand as a monument alike of his good taste and his good judgment. His grace of manner, the expression of a kind and genial nature, attracted hosts of friends, whom his real worth retained ; and in the sacred circle of home love was given and returned without stint or limit. Ile carried into public and business life the high sense of honor which is too often left at the home threshold; and the State-Honse, the court-house, and the railroad felt its presence and its in- fluence.

"Society has lost in him a noble gentleman, the State a useful citizen, this board an honored member, and many of us a dear friend."

Tribute of the Boston and Providence Railroad Corporation.

" At a meeting of the directors of the Boston and Providence Railroad corporation, called for Wednesday, Jan. 12, 1876, owing to the death of the Hon. John Henry Clifford, the late president of the company, which occurred suddenly at his home in New Bedford, on Sunday morning, Jan- uary 2d, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, the following resolutions were adopted and ordered to be entered upon the records. The acting president was requested to send a copy to Mr. Clifford's family :

"In the death of their president, his associate directors recognize the loss to the community-in which he had held so prominent and honor- able a position during a peculiarly active and useful life-of a distin- guished chief magistrale, of a pure, able, and eloquent public servant in the Senate and the forum, of a valued citizen, and of a most genial, cultivated, and courteous gentleman.

" His presence will be missed from the academic exercises and advising council of our neighboring university, of which he was an adopted and favorite son, and whose honors he so greatly valued ; from the list of the loyal living sons of his own cherished Alma Mater, and from the board of trustees who were charged with the liberal educational bequest of the late George Peabody.

" The grief of the house of mourning for its beloved head is known but too well.

"The general government, whose proffers of diplomatic life he felt obliged to decline, the commonwealth and the bar, with many learned bodies of which he was a member, have already offered their tributes to the memory of Mr. Clifford ; but, as intimately associated with him in his official position as president of this corporation, we wish to make some simple record of the attachment and bereavement of every person connected with it.

" And it is therefore

" Resolved, That by the death of President Clifford the stockholders of the Boston and Providence Railroad corporation have lost the services of one who gave of the best years of his life to their interests, and during whose administration, marked as it was by enterprise, discretion, and a conservative liberality, the prosperity of the road was so con- spicuous." .

Tribute of the Bur of the County of Bristol, Massachusetts.

" NEW BEDFORD, Jan. 6, 1876.

" Hon. George Marsion, district attorney, presented to the court the following resolutions of the Bristol County bar :

"' Upon the decease of the Hon. John Henry Chfford, it is by the bar of Bristol County

"' Resolved, That while we are saddened by the affliction which has removed from our sight our most eminent brother and leader, our recol- Jection of his professional career affords the highest satisfaction. His love of the law, as the chosen pursuit of his life, was sincere, ardent, con- trolling, and unabated. His ability was unquestioned in every depart- ment of his profession. Ilis learning was ample and his skill adequate to every exigency. The tone of his practice, whether in consultation or in his addresses to the jury or to the court, was always in accord with the purest ethics. His fidelity to his client and his cause was only equaled by his fidelity to the best standards of honor and duty. As the law officer of tho commonwealth, he added dignity to the office and dis- tinetion to the State. The fame which he attained as a lawyer was illus- trated by the noblest qualities of personal character.'"

The foregoing biography has been composed mostly by adopting, in substance and in words, parts of a memoir prepared-agreeably to a resolution of the Massachusetts Historical Society-by Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, who became, in 1836, one of the aides-de- camp of Governor Edward Everett, and then formed with Col. Clifford ties which for more than forty years were maintained by constant correspondence and familiar friendship. The composer of this biog- raphy is one who regrets that the necessary limita- tions of his work do not permit him to do justice to the charming and endearing personality of John Henry Clifford, and to an experience of his abundant and delicate kindness of heart during more than thirty years of intimate professional and affectionate social intercourse with him.

JOSEPH RICKETSON WILLIAMS, son of Richard and Rebecca (Smith) Williams, of New Bedford, Mass., was born on the 14th of November, 1808, and was a lineal descendant of Edward Winslow, the Puritan. Under the instruction of Luther B. Lincoln he was fitted for Harvard at the Sandwich Academy. He gained a high rank of scholarship, and graduated with distinguished honors at Cambridge in 1831. He then entered the law-office of Hon. John Davis in Worces- ter, with whom he completed his studies for the prac- tice of law. After his admittance to the bar, he was offered a partnership with Hon. John H. Clifford, of New Bedford, which his uncertain state of health induced him to decline, and he relinquished his pro- fession, and in 1835 he accepted the agency of an extensive New England company for investments in Western lands, and went to Toledo, Ohio. There he built the American Hotel, and, with Mr. Pierre M. Irving, laid the foundation of the Toledo Blade, and gave it its significant name. In 1839 he took up val- table lands on St. Joseph's River in Michigan, and built a fine flouring mill, which after a profitable business of several years was destroyed by fire.

From 1837 to 1853, Mr. Williams was largely iden- tified with the political interests of the State of Mich- igan. Twice a candidate for the United States Senate against Gen. Cass, and three times a Whig candidate

HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

for Congress, owing to the overwhelming strength of of Harvard. In 1846 he entered the law-office of the Democratic party, the Whigs were successively Col. J. H. W. Paige, of New Bedford, remaining there till 1853, when he associated himself with Judge Brigham, of the same city, remaining with him till Mr. Brigham was appointed to the bench, when he returned to Boston. The attractions of New Bedford for him led him back to that city in 1862, when he entered into partnership with Hon. W. W. Crapo, with whom he remained till his death. He was at one time justice of the Court of Insolvency for the county of Bristol. In 1866 and 1867 he represented the Eleventh Representative District in the Massa- chusetts Legislature. defeated. He was elected a member of the Constitu- tional Convention of Michigan in 1850. In 1853 he returned to Toledo, bought out the Blade, which then became the sturdy advocate of Republican principles. It nominated Salmon Chase for Governor of the State, and did more for the party in Northern Ohio than all the other papers in the State. After three years of editorial labor his health again failed him, and he accepted at the hands of the Michigan Legislature the presidency of the Agricultural College of Michigan at Lansing. Few men had written with greater ability on agricultural subjects, and he was marked as the most suitable person to inaugurate this experiment, the first of its kind in this country.

The undertaking prospered, but after a year of laborious exertion he was forced to abandon the work and seek relief in Havana and the Bermudas.

He returned in 1860 improved in health, and was elected to the Senate of Michigan, which body elected him president. His speeches to the Senate at the outbreak of the Rebellion are models of patriotism and eloquence.

Mr. Williams was a writer of great power, his ideas comprehensive, and his words fitly chosen. He was a man of great heart, generous, and deeply sensitive to the misfortunes of his fellow-men. In social life he was a most agreeable companion, full of intelligence, with a large acquaintance with books and extensive literary acquirements, which served to adorn his natural powers as a conversationalist. The precarious state of his health prevented him from being one of the men of mark in his native State, and returning in a large measure to his Alma Mater the fruits of her planting.

His death at any time would have been felt as a calamity, but it happened at a time when the thoughts of such men were needed to give tone and character to the public acts and enterprises of the age, and was felt most keenly by his associates.

Mr. Williams died suddenly on the 15th of June, 1861, at his old home in Constantine, and was buried in New Bedford. He married in Buffalo, in 1844, Sarah Rowland Langdon, daughter of John Langdon, and granduiece of Gen. John Langdon, of New Hampshire.

HON. JOSHUA CLAPP STONE, a son of Henry B. and Elizabeth (Clapp) Stone, was born in Boston on the 28th of August, 1825. His father was cashier and president of the Suffolk Bank. He lived in Boston till 1838, and was there a pupil of Mr. T. B. Haywood. At an academy at Leicester, Mass., he prepared for Harvard College, which he entered in 1840. He was a diligent student, and his gentlemanly manners, honorable bearing, sympathetic nature, and genial ways won and retained the universal respect of the faculty and his fellow-students. After his graduation in 1844 he entered the Dane Law School

Sept. 17, 1850, Mr. Stone married Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Nathaniel and Anna Hatheway, of New Bed- ford. He died in that city Jan. 2, 1869, leaving a widow and five children, four sons and a daughter, all of whom are living. Mr. Stone was held in high esteem, and was a great loss not only to his family, but to the social and business community and to the legal profession. As a counselor, he was regarded as honorable and upright ; as an advocate, convincing, persuasive, earnest, and logical ; as a legislator, pub- lic-spirited, zealous, and sincere. His associates of the bar had a high appreciation of his legal knowledge and keen judgment ; judges before whom he appeared showed their appreciation of his manliness, ability, and sincerity ; the Legislature felt his power, and was honored and strengthened by his presence.

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History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 5

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1818

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1818