History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 8

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 8

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NICHOLAS TILLINGHAST, Esq., was the son of Nicholas and Mary Tillinghast, of Providence, R. I. He received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Brown University in 1793, and from Harvard University in 1807. Mr. Tillinghast was one of the eminent lawyers of Taunton in the early part of the present century. Judge Morton used to like to tell the following story, in which he figured, recommend- ing short pleas. An important case, which had been long and ably argued by the ingenious and learned counsel of the opposite side, was committed to the jury by Nicholas Tillinghast in this uncommonly brief but conelusive style : "Gentlemen of the jury, Dr. Padelford says as you have heard, and Dr. Barnes says as you have heard, but Dr. Mansfield says as you shall now hear," at the same time proceeding to read a single convincing contradictory statement from the noble lord, sufficient authority on all questions of law. " Now, when doctors disagree," asked Tillinghast, sure of his case, " who shall decide ?" The jury gave him their verdiet.

Mr. Tillinghast married Betsey, daughter of Amos Maine Atwell, and had the following children :

(1) Fanny, who died single in 1817.

(2) Amos, who married Miss Jerould, of Pawtucket.

(3) Mary, who married Pascal Allen, of Warren.

(4) Susan, who died single.

(5) Joanna, who married Hon. Silas Shepard, of Taunton.

(6) Elizabeth, who died single.

(7) Nicholas, who married (1) Sophia, daughter of Rev. Mr. Ritchie, of Needham; (2) Ruby Potter, of Dartmouth.

(8) William, who died single.

(9) Joseph, who married Cornelia Armington, of Pawtucket.

(10) Ruth Phillips.

Mr. Tillinghast occupied a house where now stands the City Hotel, and his office was in its rear. Born Jan. 24, 1767, he died April 24, 1818. His wife, born Oct. 18, 1770, died March 19, 1834. They both are buried on the " Plain."

Their son Nicholas has distinguished himself as a teacher, having been principal of the normal school at Bridgewater several years. Mary and Joanna also, before their marriage, were very successful teachers, the latter serving as preceptress in the Bristol Acad- emy.

HON. JOHN MASON WILLIAMS, LL. D., the son of Brig .- Gen. James Williams, graduated at Brown Uni- versity in 1801, and commenced the practice of law in New Bedford. He afterwards located in Taunton, where he received the appointment of judge of the Court of Common Pleas, of which court he was chief justice for many years. Chief Justice Williams re- ceived the honorary degree of LL.D. from Brown University in 1843, and from Harvard University in 1845.

He married Eliza Otis, daughter of Hon. Lemuel

HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Williams, the first representative to Congress from his Congressional district. Their children were :

(1) Elizabeth, who married Hon. Horatio Pratt, of Taunton.

(2) Maria, who married Dr. William A. Gordon, of | thaniel, and James, all graduated at Brown University, New Bedford.

(3) Joseph Otis, who married Emily, daughter of Dr. Keenan, of Springfield. Two others died early.

Judge Williams was eminent for his urbanity and sweetness of temper in social life as for his learning in the profession of law. He was beloved in his life and lamented in his death, which took place Dec. 26, 1868.

Judge Williams occupied a modest mansion on Summer Street, which also became the home of Hon. Horatio Pratt, his son-in-law.

HON. MARCUS MORTON, LL.D., was born in Free- town in 1784, the son of Nathaniel Morton, who mar- ried Mary Carey, of Bridgewater. Mr. Morton grad- uated at Brown University in 1804, and commenced the practice of law in Taunton in 1807. He repre- sented the district in which he lived in Congress four years, occupied a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of the State of Massachusetts fifteen years, and served as Governor of the commonwealth three times. Once, in consequence of the death of Governor Eustis, in 1825, the duties of the chief magistrate devolved upon him as Lieutenant-Governor. Again in 1840, and for the third time in 1843, he was invested with that high office. He acted also as collector of the port of Boston four years. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Brown University in 1826, and again from Harvard University in 1840. Governor Morton married in 1807 Charlotte, daughter of James Hodges, of Taunton. Their children are as fol- lows :

(1) Joanna Maria, who married William T. Hawes, of New Bedford, a graduate of Brown University.

(2) Lydia Mason, who married Rev. Henry W. Lee, D.D., of Springfield, Mass., and Rochester, N. Y., afterward bishop (in the Protestant Episcopal Church) of Iowa.

(3) Charlotte, who married Samuel Watson, of Nashville, Tenn.

(4) Sarah Carey, who married Hon. Willard Lov- ering, a manufacturer of Taunton.

(5) Marcus, who married Abby, daughter of Henry Hoppin, Esq., of Providence.

(6) Nathaniel, who married Harriet, only child of Hon. Francis Baylies.

(7) James, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Hon. George Ashmun, of Springfield.

(8) Susan Tillinghast, who married M. Day Kim- ball, of the firm of Faulkner, Page & Kimball, Boston.

(9) Francis Wood, who married George Henry French, of Andover.

(10) Emily Matilda, who married Daniel C., son of Dr. Dawes, of Taunton, a resident of Brooklyn, N. Y.

The children's children are forty-three, of whom

thirty-two are still living. The Morton mansion is on Washington Street near the intersection of Broad- way.

The three sons of Governor Morton, Marcus, Na-

Marcus in 1838, Nathaniel in 1840, James in 1843. They were distinguished as scholars in their classes, and became eminent in their chosen profession of law. The eldest has been long on the bench of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, and is its present chief jus- tice.

Governor Morton, born Feb. 19, 1784, died Feb. 6, 1864. His wife, born Dec. 23, 1787, died Dec. 25, 1873. They both lie buried in Mount Pleasant Cem- etery.

HON. FRANCIS BAYLIES, the son of William Bay- lies, M.D., and grandson of the Hon. Samuel White, the first Taunton lawyer, was born Oct. 16, 1783, and commenced the practice of law in Taunton in 1810. He officiated as register of probate (an office which his father filled before him) seven years. He was a member of Congress six years, and during the admin- istration of Gen. Jackson he received the appoint- ment of a mission to Buenos Ayres. Mr. Baylies is well known as the historian of Plymouth Colony. Few men in his time were better versed in the an- tiquities of the country, and he had a passionate love for all good learning. His home, a pleasant stone cottage on Winthrop Street, near the present crossing of the railroad, was the centre of attraction to all who delighted in culture and good cheer down to the day of his death, Oct. 28, 1852, aged sixty-nine years and twelve days.

Mr. Baylies married Elizabeth, widow of David Dagget Denning, Esq., of New York City, daughter of Howard Moulton, Esq., of Troy, N. Y., and sister- in-law of Gen. John Ellis Wool. Their only child, Harriet, born May 4, 1823, married Nathaniel, son of Governor Morton, Sept. 29, 1846.

JAMES ELLIS, Esq., son of Rev. John Ellis, a chaplain in the Revolution, afterwards of Rehoboth, now called Seekonk, was born in Franklin, Conn., May 23, 1769, graduated at Brown University in 1791, studied law in Providence with Judge Howell, and in Taunton with Judge Padelford. He commenced the practice of law in Seekonk, but being appointed dis- trict attorney, removed to Taunton. He was thrice chosen State senator previous to 1820.

Mr. Ellis married Martha, daughter of Joseph Bridgham, of Seekonk, and sister of Hon. Samuel W. Bridgham, an eminent lawyer of Providence. Their children were :

(1) John, who died early.

(2) George, who married Sophia Morse.

(3) Horace, who died early.

(4) James P., who married Caroline S., daughter of John Presbrey, and who served as county treasurer,

town clerk, and assistant justice of the police court.

(5) Martha, the only daughter, a young lady of

Marcus Mortow

Ormund do. Burnett

BENCH AND BAR.

uncommon promise, who died in Taunton, Nov. 24, 1828, aged twenty.

(6) Samuel B., the youngest son, who, a member of Dartmouth College, at the death of his sister left college and abandoned all idea of a profession, giving himself up to inordinate grief.

ANSELM BASSETT, Esq., son of Thomas and Lydia Bassett, of Rochester, Mass., was born in 1784, and graduated at Brown University in 1803. He married (1) Rosalinda, daughter of Abraham Holmes, of Rochester, Mass .; (2) widow Lucy Smith, of Troy, N. Y. Three children still live,-two daughters, Cynthia C. H. and Elizabeth M., and a son, Charles J. H., who has been long connected as cashier and president with the Taunton Bank, and who married (1) Emeline Dean, daughter of John W. Seabury, of Taunton; (2) Nancy L. Gibbs, of Bridgewater; (3) Martha B. French, of Pawtucket. There are eight living children : (1) John S., (2) Charles A., (3) Louisa B., wife of George H. Rhodes, (4) Henry F., (5) Rufus W., (6) Mary R., (7) George F., (8) Susie A.

Mr. Bassett served many years as register of pro- bate, and secured a large practice in his profession. His home was on Main Street, the second house west from Chestnut Street, not far from the Church Green. He died, leaving the homestead to his daughters, Sept. 9, 1863.

HORATIO L. DANFORTH, Esq., son of William and Sally (Leonard) Danforth, was born in 1801. His father owned the estate which now constitutes the Lunatic Hospital farm. After his school days the son was employed in the Hopewell Rolling-Mill, of which his father was superintendent, until eighteen years of age, when he met with a serious accident to his athletic career, of which few were his equals, by the loss of an arm taken off by the machinery in the mill. He then commenced his education, prepared for college in Bristol Academy, and was graduated at Brown University in the class of 1825. He studied law in the office of Hon. Francis Baylies, and com- menced practice in 1829, but was not essentially a bar lawyer. He was elected county treasurer in that year, and was re-elected annually irrespective of party lines for twelve years, fulfilling the duties with strict integrity and general satisfaction. He was superseded in 1841 by Dr. Foster Hooper, the Demo- cratic candidate. He then spent two years in Illinois, and on his return in 1844 received the appointment of high sheriff from Governor Briggs, which office he filled until 1851, and was then superseded by Lyman W. Dean, of Attleboro', appointed by Governor Bout- well. From that time he lived in retirement with his sisters, enjoying the society of his friends, his books, and his walks until disease, a dropsical one, closed his life, July 21, 1859. He was frank and out- spoken yet genial in his intercourse with men. He was for many years an attendant of the Episcopal Church. The above facts have been communicated by his friend, Capt. J. W. D. Hall.

NATHANIEL MORTON, Esq., son of Judge Morton, and son-in-law of Hon. Francis Baylies, was one of the most brilliant men who ever flouished in Taun- ton. His professional career was a brief one, but he filled a large place in the hearts of his many friends, which death, alas, too early, as they thought, made void. Born Dec. 3, 1821, he died Feb. 12, 1856, and is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery by the side of bis father.

HON. HORATIO PRATT, son-in-law of Chief Justice Williams, was for many years a leading lawyer of the Bristol County bar, district attorney, and a member of the Massachusetts Senate. His physical constitu- tion was weak. He struggled long with bodily in- firmities, and died at a comparatively early age, May 24, 1872.

HON. CHESTER ISHAM REED, son of William and Elizabeth Dean (Dennis) Reed, was born Nov. 23, 1823, and after fitting for college in the Taunton High School and Bristol Academy, entered Brown University, but through limited means of support left before graduation, subsequently receiving the honorary degree of A.M. for his high attainments in learning. He entered the law-office of Mr. Anselm Bassett, in Taunton, and was invited to a copartnership, which he accepted. He soon took a prominent position at the Bristol County bar, and earned so good a reputa- tion in other parts of the State that he was nominated and elected attorney-general of the commonwealth, in which office he served with great credit several years. A vacancy occurring on the bench of the Superior Court, Mr. Reed was nominated and confirmed, re- signing only when he found the salary could not meet the expenses of a growing family, when he re- turned to a lucrative practice in Boston, changing his residence from Taunton to Dedham. He died at White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., where he had gone for his health, Sept. 2, 1873, in his fiftieth year. Mr. Reed married Elizabeth Y. Allyn, of New Bedford, Feb. 24, 1851, and their children are a daughter, Sybil, and a son, Chester Allyn, a graduate of Har- vard University in 1882, and a student-in-law at the present time.

HON. EDMUND HATCH BENNETT, son of Milo Lyman Bennett and Adeline (Hatch) Bennett, was born in Manchester, Vt., April 6, 1824. He was edu- cated in the Manchester and Burlington Academies in his native State, and when fifteen years of age he entered the University of Vermont at Burlington, where he graduated in the class of 1843, and from which he received the degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) in 1873. For a short time after graduation Mr. Bennett tanght a family school in Virginia, and finally, having decided upon the legal profession as a life-work, he began his studies in Burlington, Vt., in the office of his father (at that time an associate jus- tice of the Supreme Court of Vermont). He was ad- mitted to the Vermont bar in 1847, and in the spring of 1848 settled in Taunton, where he has since re-

HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

sided. Upon locating in Taunton he entered into co- partnership with the late Nathaniel Morton, which continued nearly three years. He then formed a part- nership with Hon. Henry Williams, which relation continued several years. For the past fifteen years he has been in partnership with Henry J. Fuller, Esq., of Taunton.

Upon the incorporation of Taunton as a city in 1865 he was unanimously elected its first mayor, re- elected in 1866, and again in 1867.

Although Judge Bennett early took a leading posi- tion at the Bristol bar, he gave much attention to the study of the law as a science, and during the years 1870, 1871, and 1872 was a lecturer on various topics at the Dane Law School of Harvard University, Cambridge. He has been connected with the Law School of Boston University since its organization in 1872, and in 1876 he was chosen its dean, a position which he still occupies.

Judge Bennett has also been the editor of nu- merous law books, numbering over one hundred volumes, the leading works being the " English Law and Equity Reports," an edition of Mr. Justice Story's works, "Leading Criminal Cases," "Fire Insurance Cases," "Digest of Massachusetts Reports," Ameri- can editions of the recent English works of " God- dard on Easements," " Benjamin on Sales," " Inder- mann on the Common Law," etc. He has also been for several years one of the editors of the American Law Register of Philadelphia. In December, 1878, he delivered at Hingham, Mass., before the State Board of Agriculture, of which he had formerly been a member, a lecture on " Farm Law," which has been very extensively republished in agricultural journals and elsewhere throughout New England and the West. In May, 1858, he was appointed judge of probate and insolvency for Bristol County, and has held the position to the present time, a period of twenty-five years.

Judge Bennett is an active member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and has been for many years either a warden or vestryman of St. Thomas' Parish, Taunton, and has been many times a delegate from this parish to the Diocesan Convention. He has also been three times-in 1874, 1877, and 1880-a delegate from this diocese to the General Triennial Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in this country.

In June, 1853, he united in marriage with Sally, the second daughter of the Hon. Samuel L. Crocker, of Taunton.

Judge Colby, who is claimed by New Bedford as one of its lawyers, and will be noticed under that head, was for years a resident of Taunton. Chief Justice Morton, of Andover, was born in Taunton, and so was Judge Wilde, so long of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. Theophilus Parsons, the learned Professor of Law at Cambridge, once lived and practiced law in Taunton. Seth Padelford Sta- ples, of New York, Henry Goodwin, attorney-general

of Rhode Island, Judge Pliny Merrick, of Worcester, Judge Erastus Maltby Reed, of Mansfield, Baalis San- ford, of Boston, Sydney Williams, of Providence, son- in-law of President Messer, were of Taunton, either as natives or during some part of their professional life.

The oldest living member of the Bristol County bar residing in Taunton is the Hon. Henry Williams, who has represented his district in Congress, served as register of probate, and distinguished himself as a painstaking and most accurate annalist and historian. Samuel R. Townsend also has been long a member of this bar. Their associates in the profession are Edmund H. Bennett, judge of the Probate Court, which posi- tion he has recently resigned, and who also. acts as dean and chief Professor of the Law Department of the Boston University ; William Henry Fox, judge of the District Court; William E. Fuller, register of probate and associate. judge of the District Court; James Brown, who has served as State senator ; Henry J. Fuller, the partner of Judge Bennett ; John E. Sanford, for some years a member of the State Legislature and a portion of the time Speaker of the House of Representatives; James H. Dean and Charles A. Reed, partners-in-law, the latter pres- ent city solicitor ; G. Edgar Williams, associated with Henry Williams; James M. Cushman, city clerk ; Arthur M. Alger, clerk of the District Court; Lau- rens N. Francis, Sylvanus M. Thomas, John H. Gal- ligan, L. Everett White, Edward J. Conaty, Benjamin E. Walcott, W. Waldo Robinson.

Fall River .- JAMES FORD was born in Milton, Mass., Aug. 3, 1774. In 1810 he entered Brown Uni- versity, and graduated with honor, taking the saluta- tory address. He then assumed the study of the law with Judge Metcalf, of Dedham. In 1817 he removed to Taunton and continued his studies with Judge Mor- ton, who was then ex-member of Congress. He was admitted to the bar in 1818, and became a partner of Judge Morton. In 1819 he came to Fall River and opened an office in Central Street.

He was a member of the Legislature in 1825, and was present when Gen. Lafayette laid the corner- stone of Bunker's Hill Monument. In 1826 he deliv- ered the Fourth of July oration in Fall River the day that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died. Mr. Ford was public-spirited in regard to matters in general. He served seven years on the school com- mittees ; and, with perhaps three exceptions, admin- istered the oath of office to the members of the city government up to the time of his death, and was sev- eral times elected an alderman. He was one of the charter members of the Mount Hope Lodge of F. and A. M., and always manifested a lively interest in this ancient and honored order. He was postmaster four years, and one of the founders of the Franklin Savings-Bank, was special police justice for twenty years, for twelve years was one of the inspectors of the State Almshouse, and for twenty-five years he edited the weekly Monitor. He was an excellent

BENCH AND BAR.

lawyer and a good citizen. He died July 27, 1873, lacking only one week of seventy-nine years of age.

ELIAB WILLIAMS, Esq., was for nearly half a cen- tury a member of the Bristol County bar, and at the time of his death the oldest and one of the most highly respected members of the legal profession in this portion of New England.

He was born in Raynham, Mass., in 1803, and spent his early youth in that town, attending school there and in Taunton. At the age of fourteen he entered Brown University, and graduated at eighteen, in the class of 1821, intending immediately to enter upon the study of the law. He had, however, exhausted his pecuniary resources in the acquisition of a colle- giate education, and not having the means necessary to carry him through the long and tedious appren- ticeship then required to enter the legal profession in Massachusetts, he went South, and engaged as a pri- vate tutor in the family of a gentleman in Virginia. While there he learned that by the laws of that com- monwealth a person could prepare for admission to the bar and the practice of the law without spending a certain prescribed time in the office of a counselor- at-law simply by being found qualified upon an ex- amination by the judges of the Court of Appeals. He thought favorably of this plan, as it would allow him to study law and at the same time pursue his vocation as a teacher. And his wishes being made knowu to the attorney-general of North Carolina, that gentleman drew up a course of legal study which he recommended to Mr. Williams. The latter imme- diately repaired to Norfolk and purchased the neces- sary books, and by the time he was of sufficient age to be admitted, according to the laws of Virginia,- i.e., twenty-one, - he had prepared himself for an examination. The mode of conducting this was pe- culiar. Going to Richmond when the Court of Ap- peals was in session in that city, each member of the court appointed a time to see him at his private room, and in this way, at intervals for about a week, the examination was carried on by each judge separately until the whole bench were satisfied with the qualifi- cations of their young candidate, and after taking the necessary oath lie was duly admitted to the bar.

This entitled him to practice in all the courts of Virginia; but, on account of repugnance to the insti- tution of slavery, he decided not to settle there, and returned home. Upon his arrival here he found that his admission to the bar of Virginia did not avail him, inasmuch as he did not practice in that State. So he entered the office of Hon. Marcus Morton as a student-at-law, in Taunton, Mass., and eked out the expenses by teaching school. The first winter after entering he taught in the district where he had at- tended school when a boy. At the close of his school he returned to the office of Governor Morton, and remained there till the latter retired from the profession to accept a place on the bench of the Supreme Judicial Court of the State. He then

entered the office of David G. W. Cobb, Esq., then register of probate for the county of Bristol, and there remained till the term of court in September, 1825, when he was admitted to the Bristol County bar.

Mr. Williams first settled in the practice of his pro- fession at Dighton, Mass., where he remained till 1827, when he removed to Swansea, the latter place being then a more favorable field for the profession than at present, although not sufficient to afford busi- ness for two lawyers, for we are told that he was in- dnced to go there because he had heard that the only lawyer in Swansea had removed to Fall River.

Fall River by this time had become a thriving and promising place, and lawyers, no less than mechanics, business men, and members of other professions, were being attracted thither by its rapidly-developing importance as a manufacturing, commercial, and social centre.

Hezekiah Battelle had been some time in the pro- fession of the law at Fall River, and had acquired some prominence and a lucrative practice. It was through his influence, unsolicited and unexpected, that Mr. Williams was induced in 1833, after having been six years at Swansea, to change his location from the latter place to Fall River. As Mr. Battelle was returning in the summer of that year from a pro- fessional visit to Pawtucket, passing through the village he met Mr. Williams on the street, and pro- posed that the latter should come to Fall River and go into partnership with him, saying that he had more business than he could attend to alone. This fact shows that Mr. Williams was not altogether des- titute of the reputation of a good lawyer even then. The conditions of the proposed partnership, proffered as they were by one of ability and experience in the profession, were even more flattering, for they pro- posed a partnership of five years with equal profits in the business. This was certainly very liberal con- sidering that Mr. Battelle was fourteen years Mr. Williams' senior, and had already attained a good practice.

The partnership once established needed no further stipulation as to duration : it lasted for more than twenty years. During this period it is certainly within bounds to say that the firm did their full share of the legal business of the town.

The firm of Battelle & Williams became one of the best known in this section of the State, both of the partners being distinguished for the thoroughness with which they prepared their cases, and their ex- treme fidelity and care in presenting them to courts and juries. After the retirement of the senior partner Mr. Williams continued business in the well-known office in Granite Block until failing health compelled him to retire to the comforts of home.

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History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 8

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