History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 7

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 7

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Charles H. Clifford

BENCH AND BAR.

Among the younger members of the bar he pre- serves all the freshness and humor of boyhood, and among the seniors he sustains the dignity of a recog- nized equal, and his social qualities render him a most delightful companion and friend.

WENDELL H. COBB was born at Sandwich in 1838. He is the son of the Rev. Asahel Cobb, was educated at Dartmouth College, and graduated in 1861, and was admitted to the bar in 1865. He was a law part- ner with Marston & Crapo until that firm was dis- solved. He is now associated with Mr. Marston, the firm being Marston & Cobb. He is a good lawyer and safe counselor.

HOSEA M. KNOWLTON, the present district attor- ney for the Southern District of Massachusetts, was born in Durham, in the State of Maine, May 20, 1847. He was educated at Tuft's College, graduating in the class of 1867. He studied law in the office of the Hon. Edwin L. Barney, in New Bedford, and at Har- vard Law School, and was admitted to the bar upon the motion of Mr. Barney at the Supreme Court in June, 1870. He had an office in Boston for one year, and in 1872 returned to New Bedford and entered the office of Mr. Barney, and from the year 1872 to 1879 was a partner with Mr. Barney. He was in 1876 elected to the House of Representatives of Massa- chusetts from New Bedford, and also for the year 1877, and the following years, 1878 and 1879, was a member of the State Senate. In February, 1879, he was appointed district attorney (to fill the place of the Hon. George Marston, who had been elected to the office of attorney-general), which office Mr. Knowlton now holds. He is an excellent advocate and wise counselor.

The present members of the bar in New Bedford are as follows :

Almy, Edward C.

Barney, Edwin L. Bartlett, Frederick C. S.

Johnson, William H.

Bonney, Charles T. Borden, Alanson.

Luce, Edward J.

Mackie, Adam.

Clark, A. Edwin. Clifford, Charles W. Clifford, Walter.

Marston, George.

Milliken, Frank A.

Codd, Thomas A.

Palıner, George H.

Cobb, Wendell II.

Parker, William C.

Collins, Albeit B.

Perry, Arthur E.

Crapo, William W.

Desmond, Thomas F.

Pierce, Jolın N. Pierce. Philip.

Devoll, Daniel T.

Prescott, Oliver.

Donglass, Edwin A.

Smith, William B.

Fessenden, Charles B. H.

Stetson, Thomas M.

Gillingham, James L. Sullavon, Manuel.

Goodspeed, Alexander M.

Greene, Francis B.

Tappan, Francis W. Wilcox, Lemuel T.

Taunton.1-HON. SAMUEL WHITE, the youngest of eight children of Samuel and Ann ( Bingley ) White, was born in Weymouth, April 2, 1710, and graduated from Harvard College in 1731, at the age of twenty-one.

He was a great-grandson of Thomas White, early at Weymouth, whose son Joseph married, Sept. 19, 1660, Lydia Rogers, and was the father of Samuel, born Feb. 14, 1666. Anna, sister of Samuel, the subject of this notice, was the first wife of William Wilde, whose only child, Daniel Wilde, married Anna Sumner, and was the father of Hon. Samuel S. Wilde, justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts.

Hon. Samuel White has the honor of leading the profession of law in Taunton in the order of time cer- tainly. No other name is recorded before him. Rev. Mr. Danforth " was no contemptible lawyer" in the opinion of Mr. Baylies, and there were other men in all the generations who could do " law business," but to Mr. White has generally been assigned the proud position of the " first Taunton lawyer." His contem- poraries, as Mr. Alger suggests in a valuable article in the "Collections of the Old Colony Historical So- ciety," 1879, were Elkanah Leonard, of Middlebor- ough ; Stephen Paine, of Bristol, some years judge of the Court of Common Pleas ; Timothy Ruggles, of Sandwich, and James Otis, of Barnstable, the father of the distinguished patriot bearing that name. It is not quite certain when Mr. White commenced prac- tice in Taunton, but probably not far from 1739. In 1744 he was commissioned as justice of the peace for Bristol County. In 1746, when the courts first began their sessions in Taunton, he was appointed king's attorney of the Court of Sessions, holding the ap- pointment till death. Mr. White represented Taun- ton in the General Court in the years 1749-53, 1756- 59, 1764-65 ; acted as Speaker of the House in 1759, 1764-65, and was chosen a member of the Council in 1767-69.

He had the honor of presiding over the House during the period of the Stamp Act, when Otis and Adams were members and made their names famous in American history. It was the circular signed by him as Speaker which led to the first Congress, as- sembled at New York in 1765. Thus the initiatory steps towards the American Revolution were taken by him, whose death occurred the 20th of March, 1769. The following inscription is found on the slab which marks the place of his burial on the " Plain :"

" In memory of The Hon. Samuel White, Esq., Colonel of a foot regiment of Militia, Barrister at law, and Member of the IIon. his Majesty's Council, who having been often delegated to the office of government, faithfully served his God, his King, and his country, and exhibiting, thro' an unspotted course of life, the virtues of a patriot, the friend & the Christian, fell asleep in Jesus March 20, MDCCLXIX., in the LIX. year of his age.

The following notices of members of the legal profession in Taunton were prepared by Rev. S. Hopkins Emery.

Holmes, Lemuel L. B. Hopkins, Frederic S.

Knowlton, Ilosea M.

HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

This humble stone, small tribute of their praise, Lamented shade! thy weeping offspring raise. Oh ! while their footsteps haunt ye hallowed shrine, May each fair branch shoot fertile as ye vine. Not with thy dust be here thy virtues' tomb, But brightening still, each grace transplanted bloom; Sire, sons, and daughters share alike renown, Applauding angels, a celestial crown."

Mr. White married in November, 1735, Prudence, daughter of Samuel Williams, of Taunton, and had the following children : (1) Experience, born 1738, and married to Hon. George Leonard, LL.D .; (2) Anna, born 1741, and married to Hon. Daniel Leon- ard; (3) Bathsheba, born 1746, and married to the Hon. William Baylies, M.D.

The White homestead was on the old road to the Weir, now Somerset Avenue, not far from the inter- section of White Street.

Madame Prudence White lies buried by the side of her husband, with the following affectionate tribute to her memory : "In early life she was a firm believer in the Christian religion, and lived in the practice of its precepts. By her amiable disposition she secured the esteem of all that knew her. With a conscience pure, and a constitution rendered excellent by tem- perance and regularity, she reached the ninety-eighth year of her age, and relying on the mercy of her God, she calmly fell asleep in Jesus, June VIII., Anno Domini 1808."

HON. ROBERT TREAT PAINE, LL.D., a distinguished Taunton lawyer, was born in Boston, March 12, 1731. His father, Rev. Thomas Paine, was born in Barnstable, graduated at Harvard College, 1717, and ordained at Weymouth, but in consequence of ill health removed to Boston in 1730, and afterwards resigning the min- istry, engaged in mercantile affairs. His mother was the danghter of Rev. Samuel Treat, of Eastham, the son of Governor Robert Treat, of Connecticut, and granddaughter of Rev. Samuel Willard, vice-president of Harvard College.

Mr. Paine fitted for college in the Boston Latin School, and entering Cambridge at the age of four- teen, graduated in 1749. To this time, as an only son, he had been well supported by a father with abundant means, but this father losing his property, the son was thrown upon his own resources, and after keeping school for a year, made three voyages to North Carolina, acting as master, and in the last going to Fayal and Cadiz, afterwards going as master to the coasts of Greenland on a whaling voyage. On his return, in 1755, he commenced the study of law with his relative, Judge Willard, of Lancaster, giving also his attention to theology. During his law studies he supplied the pulpit at Shirley. Mr. Willard re- ceiving the appointment of colonel of a regiment to be raised for an expedition to Crown Point, Mr. Paine was appointed chaplain, and his sermons, both at Shir- ley and the camp at Lake George, are still preserved. He was admitted to the Boston bar in 1757, and re- moved his office to Taunton in 1761.

Although residing in Taunton, his practice was not confined to any such narrow limits. His clients were in all parts of the commonwealth. Writes a descend- ant of his, "He constantly attended the courts at Boston, Taunton, Plymouth, Barnstable, Worcester, and other places. His great powers of mind, pro- found knowledge of law, and habits of thorough in- vestigation brought him a large practice, which in- creased till it was probably not exceeded by that of any lawyer in the State." Bradford, in his " History of Massachusetts," ranks him " among the most eminent lawyers of the province." He was an intimate asso- ciate and friend of such men as James Otis and Sam- uel Adams.

In 1768, when a convention was called in Boston by prominent men to consult on the condition of the country, and the assembled wisdom of the people was needed, Robert Treat Paine was the choice of Taunton to that convention, and was at once one of its leading spirits. In 1770, after the Boston massacre, Mr. Paine was retained as prosecuting counsel by Bos- ton against the British soldiers, and conducted the trial with signal ability.

This year he was married in Taunton to Sally, daughter of Thomas Cobb, Esq., and sister of Gen. David Cobb. His home was in the rear of what is now the Taunton Bank, afterwards the residence of Judge Fales.

Mr. Paine was not only a good lawyer, but a warm- hearted, zealous patriot. Absorbed as he was with cases at court, he could not be spared in the public service. A large committee of the citizens of Taun- ton was appointed to attend to public affairs and re- monstrate against public wrong, and there was no other man who could serve so well as chairman. Hle drafted the high-toned resolutions which were passed. He represented Taunton in the letter to Lord Dartmouth and in the address for the Gov- ernor's removal, and he was chairman of tlre com- mittee on the impeachment of Chief Justice Oliver.

He was largely instrumental in securing a Conti- mental Congress in 1774. He was one of the Massa- clinsetts delegation to that Congress. His associates were Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, James Bow- doin, and John Adams. The Congress met in Sep- tember and October. Mr. Paine, on his return to Taunton in November, received an ovation from the Sons of Liberty. In 1775, in the winter and spring, ; he attended the Second Provincial Congress at Cam- bridge, and was one of the Committee on the State of the Province. In April he attended the Congress at Philadelphia, which met in May. Mr. Paine was prominent in that Congress, chairman of the Commit- tee on Supplies, and devoted himself for a year and eight months with ceaseless zeal and energy to the work of providing equipments for the army, powder, cannon, and fire-arms. He published an essay on the manufacture of gunpowder, which was very service- able, and devoted himself, body and soul, to the busi-

BENCH AND BAR.

ness of making ready for the men in the field the sinews of war. He served on a committee to pur- chase clothing for the army, to establish a hospital, and was one of a committee, with R. R. Livingston and Governor Langdon, to visit the army on the northern frontier. On the 4th of July, 1776, he was one to sign the Declaration of Independence. He once more returned to Taunton, Dec. 30, 1776, crowned with honor in the eyes of his countrymen as a patriot who had not spared himself for his country's cause. Although elected to subsequent sessions of Congress, he declined the honor, and contented himself with a seat in the Legislature in 1777, of which he acted as Speaker, and afterwards accepted the place of attor- ney-general. In 1778 he was a member of the Hart- ford Convention ; in 1779 a member of the Executive Council, and a member of the committee to draft a new State Constitution, under which, when adopted, he continued to serve as attorney-general.

The duties of this office making his residence at Taunton inconvenient, he removed to Boston in 1781, purchasing the estate once owned and occupied by Governor Shirley, at the corner of Milk and Federal Streets. In 1790 he accepted the position of judge of the Supreme Court, which he had declined in pre- vious years, and so served till 1804, when he was once more elected a member of the Executive Council. After one year he declined all further public duties, feeling that he had earned the quiet of home, till life's close, May 12, 1814, at the age of eighty-three. A most honorable and useful life was his, twenty years of which, in life's prime, were spent in Taunton. Judge Paine had eight children, four sons and four daughters. Three of the sons-Robert Treat, Thomas, and Charles-gradnated at Harvard University and were educated for the bar. Robert died in 1798 of the yellow fever, and Thomas took his name, desiring, as he used to say, a " Christian" name. He died in 1811, having distinguished himself as a poet and writer for the stage. Charles was the father of Charles C. Paine, Esq., who married a daughter of Hon. Charles Jack- son, judge of the Supreme Court from 1813 to 1824. Antoinette Paine married Deacon Samuel Greele, of Boston. Another daughter, Mary, married Rev. Elisha Clapp, also of Boston.

HON. DANIEL LEONARD was the only child of Col. Ephraim Leonard (by his first wife, Judith Perkins), and was born in Norton, now Mansfield, in 1740. He graduated at Harvard University in 1760, and mar- ried, for his first wife, Anna, daughter of Hon. Samuel White. His second wife was Sarah Hammock. Mr. Leonard easily took high rank in his profession and made himself prominent in political matters. First he espoused the cause of the people and advocated republican principles, but afterward, as was sup- posed, through the influence of Governor Hutchin- son, became a leading loyalist. Articles which he published in 1774 an 1 1775 in a Boston paper called Draper's Paper, defending the king, the ministry, and

the Parliament, were considered very able and worthy of a reply from John Adams under the signature of "Novanglus." Of course, in the high state of polit- ical excitement, Mr. Leonard found it uncomfortable, if not unsafe, to remain in Taunton. The house he occupied, afterwards the residence of Judge Padel- ford, bore marks of mob violence. He sought shelter in Boston, proceeded to Halifax in 1776, thence to England, where, as a reward for his loyalty, he re- ceived the appointment of chief justice of Bermuda.

After discharging the duties of his office with ability several years he returned to London, where he died in 1829, at the advanced age of eighty-nine. He left no children, but four grandchildren, the chil- dren of his daughter Sarah, who married John Stew- art, Esq., a captain in the British army and afterwards collector of the port of Bermuda. Leonard Stewart became an eminent physician in London. The oldest son, Duncan, on the death of an uncle succeeded to a lordship in Scotland. A daughter, Emily, married a captain in the service of the East India Company. The other daughter, Sarah, married a Winslow, a descendant of Governor Edward Winslow, of the Ply- mouth Colony, and was connected with Lord Lynd- hurst as private secretary during his chancellorship.

HON. SETH PADELFORD, LL.D., was a native of Taunton, son of John and Jemima Padelford. He was graduated at Yale College in 1770, and honored with the degree of LL.D. from Brown University in 1798. He married Rebecca, the daughter of Abraham Dennis, and sister of the wife of James Sproal, Esq. Their children were as follows :

(1) Mary Dennis, who married Mason Shaw, Esq., of Raynham.

(2) Sarah Kirby, who married Nathaniel, son of Judge Fales.

(3) Melinda, who married Enoch Brown, Esq., of Abington.

(4) John, who died whilst a member of Brown University.

(5) Nancy, who married Samuel Edgar, son of Col. John Cooke, of Tiverton, R. I.

(6) Harry, who married Susan, daughter of Robert Crossman, of Taunton.

(7) Rebecca Dennis, who married John G. Deane, Esq., of Raynham, afterwards of Portland, Me.

There were also five other children, who died young.

Mr. Padelford was judge of probate. He was a highly dignified and polished gentleman, of great in- tegrity of character, and he was favored with a wife who adorned the society in which she moved. Long after they ceased to be among the living of earth their praise was in the mouth of those who remembered their wide and commanding influence.

Judge Padelford died Jan. 7, 1810, aged fifty-eight years and one month. On the stone slab which covers his remains on the " Plain" is the following inscription :

" For he was wise to know and warm to praise, and strenuous to tran- scribe in human life the mind almighty."

HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

The Padelford house still remains near the court- house, although unoccupied. It belongs to the estate of Mrs. Richmond, and was owned by Hon. Daniel Leonard, the Tory lawyer, before it came into posses- sion of the Padelford family.

HON. SAMUEL FALES was a native of Bristol, R. I., and was born Sept. 15, 1750 (the son of Nathaniel and Sarah Fales, a graduate of Harvard Univer- sity in 1773). He married Sarah, daughter of Col. John Cooke, of Tiverton, R. I. Their children were as follows :

(1) Nathaniel, who married Sarah K., daughter of Judge Padelford.

(2) Sally, who married Hon. Nathaniel Hazzard, of Newport, N. C.

(3) Eliza, who married Dr. George Leonard, of Taunton.

(4) Samuel, who married Sally, daughter of John West, of Taunton.

(5) Harriet Leonard, who married Hon. James L. Hodges, of Taunton.

(6) John, who died single.

(7) Almira, who married Jeremiah Niles Potter, of Rhode Island.

(8) Fanny, who married Rev. Swan L. Pomeroy, of Bangor, Me.

(9) Edward, who died single.

(10) Ann, who married, first, Erastus Learned, son of Rev. Erastus Learned, Canterbury, Conn .; sec- ond, Hon. Jonas Cutting, Judge of the Supreme Court, Maine.

There were five other children, who died early in life.

Mr. Fales was for many years clerk of the courts, and afterwards was appointed chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas. He was succeeded in the office of clerk by his eldest son, Nathaniel. I have in my possession a letter from Judge Fales to Judge Davis, in 1816, in which he copies the inscription on Miss Poole's monument, and adds : " I observed to you in Boston that this monument was erected on a small knoll, between the Green and the meeting- house, a little distance from the road. A few years since Dr. Swift, digging a cellar, found a part of a coffin, made of red cedar, under which were part of the bones, skull, and hair of a human body, unconsumed by time, all which were carefully collected and re- moved to the common burying-ground north of the Green, over which the stone was placed, bearing the inscription transcribed for you. The monument is of slate, and was procured by the late R. T. Paine, Esq., as agent for J. Borland, Esq."

Judge Fales died in Boston, Jan. 20, 1818, in his sixty-eighth year. He was buried in Taunton, where you may find the following record concerning him on the " Plain" : " Useful and honorable activity distinguished the progress of his life. Having sus- tained for many years various important offices in the legislative, judicial, and executive departments of

the government with fidelity and honor, he died while attending his duties as a councilor of this com- monwealth ; and though his tedious toils and hoary hairs seemed to demand a more peaceful succession of closing years, his friends are resigned and consoled in the hope of his resurrection to immortal blessed- ness."

Mrs. Sally, wife of Judge Fales, died Sept. 24, 1823, aged fifty-eight years. It is said of her, " Among the benevolent and liberal she ever shone conspicuous. The Christian spirit enlightened the path of her mor- tal pilgrimage, and at last sustained and blessed her with its holy peace and inspiring hopes."

The Fales mansion in Taunton was in the rear of what is now the " Taunton Bank" building, the former residence of Robert Treat Paine, and which, after it was vacated by Judge Fales, was known as the " Wash- ington Hotel."

The house had ample grounds, extensive grass lawns, a vegetable and flower garden, and was an attractive feature in the objects of interest around "the Green." Mr. Charles R. Atwood, in his inter- esting and valuable "Reminiscences of Taunton in ye auld lang syne," published by Ezra Davol, Esq., thus describes what he calls the "imposing and elegant mansion" : "It was two stories high, and running back, broad and deep, with a long building connected with the main house in the rear, two stories high, and with a large number of rooms for servants in the upper story. Adjoining were the carriage-houses, barn, and sheds. There was a fine front yard with a handsome and substantial fence : also, a sidewalk and a large open space between that and the street, wide enough for a carriage-way along the whole front- age. On the border, near the street, there was a row of splendid elm-trees (now no more), making a fine and grateful shade in the summer along the whole distance. This house was considered at that time to be the palace of the town. It was splendidly fitted and furnished. In the rear was the judge's garden. It was filled with fruit-trees, flowers, and shrubbery, and highly cultivated, producing the choicest of the various kinds of fruits and vegetables."

JAMES SPROAT, EsQ., was the son of Ebenezer Sproat, of Middleborough, Mass., who left seven chil- dren. James was born in 1758, December 7th, and settled in Taunton. He married Ann, daughter of Abraham Dennis, sister of the wife of Judge Padel- ford. Their children were as follows :

(1) Rebecca Dennis, who married Alfred Baylies, M.D., of Taunton.

(2) Sarah, who died young.

(3) Francis Eloise, who was one of the originators of the first Sabbath-school in Taunton.

(4) Emily Ann, who died early.

(5) Ann Dennis, who married George B. Atwood, of Taunton.

(6) James, who married (1) Eliza Ann, daughter of George Baylies ; (2) Lucretia, daughter of James

BENCH AND BAR.

Tisdale. He was for many years clerk of the courts in this county.

(7) William Alexis Frederic, who married Abby, daughter of Jonathan Ingell.

(8) Clarissa, who died early.

(9) Henry, who married Priscilla J., daughter of Jesse Smith.

(10) Adeline, who married Samuel B. Harris, of Smithfield, R. I.

(11) Ellen, who died early.

(12) Theophilus Parsons, who married Mary A., daughter of Henry Baylies, of Dighton.

James Sproat, the father of the above, was a man of ready wit and the most amusing mirthfulness. The following story is told of him : David L. Barnes, Esq., was once addressing the jury, when it occurred to him to quote the Scripture passage,-the address of Satan to the Lord,-"Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life," adding, in his forgetfulness of the author, "saith our Saviour." Sproat in an instant was on his feet, and, turning to the court, said, " He may be Brother Barnes' Saviour, but he is not mine." Mr. Sproat had a most imposing personal presence, and was a great favorite in the profession and society at large.

The family residence was what is now known as the Wheaton house, adjoining St. Thomas' Episcopal Church. Mrs. Sproat was a most remarkable woman, of large intellectual endowments, and highly gifted as an authoress. Her series of books for children had a wide circulation, and her verses, like the " Blackberry Girl," reappear every year in the holiday books and juvenile literature of the land. Her "Family Lectures," published in Boston by Samuel T. Armstrong, in 1819, made her famous. In the preface she gives the history of the book: "It has been my practice on the Sabbath, after public wor- ship, to collect my family, and, after attending to the Scriptures, read them one of the following essays, previously written for the purpose." And so she dis- coursed to them on "justice, mercy, humanity, truth, prayer, trust in God, temptations, intemperance, pro- faneness, unbelief, gaming, gratitude, early religion, filial duty," etc., subjects considered in forty-five most sensible and profitable lectures.

Mr. Sproat died Nov. 10, 1825, in his sixty-seventh year. His wife followed him the next year, 1826, January 18th, aged fifty-nine. They both lie buried on the " Plain."

HON. DAVID LEONARD BARNES was the son of Rev. David Barnes, D.D., minister of Scituate, Mass., who married Rachel, daughter of Col. George Leonard, the son of Judge Leonard, an original settler and principal proprietor of Norton. David, the subject of this notice, married Joanna Russell, and practiced law in Taunton. He subsequently removed to Rhode Island, where he received the appointment of district ! judge of the United States Court during the adminis- tration of Thomas Jefferson.

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History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 7

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