History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 8

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1538

USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 8

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A letter from Boston, in the Salem Gazette, at the time of his death, paid the following tribute to his memory : "The Hon. John Glen King, whose death, at the ripe age of seventy years, has been announced, was a gentleman universally respected for his private worth and publie services and example. All who have had the pleasure of an intimate acquaintance with him have been blest by his social qualities, his urbanity of manner and his kindness of heart. The odor of his virtues will long endure among his friends. Truly a good man has departed."

NATHANIEL LORD, JR., though not a member of the har, was so long register of probate of Essex County, and came in such close contact with lawyers in the performance,of their professional duties, as to deserve an honorable place in this record. He was descended from Robert Lord, who came to New England in 1636 and settled in Ipswich. Robert had five sons-Rob- ert, Thomas, Samuel, Joseph and Nathaniel. Of

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these, Robert had six sons,-Robert, 1657; John, 1659 ; Thomas ; Joseph, 1674; Nathaniel, about 1675; and James, 1676. Of these, James had James, Joseph and Nathaniel. Of these, Nathaniel married Eliza- beth Day, and had Nathaniel, 1747 ; Abraham, 1751; Isaac, 1753. Of these, Isaac, by wife, Susanna, had Isaac, 1777 ; Joseph, 1778; Nathaniel, the subject of this sketch, September 25, 1780 ; and Levi, 1794. Of these Nathaniel, by his wife Eunice, had Nathaniel, James, Otis Phillips, Isaac, and George Robert. Of these, George Robert, by his wife Mary, had George Robert and four daughters, Mary L., Anna M., Ella. K., and Elizabeth F.

Mr. Lord graduated at Harvard in 1798, and be- came first connected with the probate office as clerk of Daniel Noyes, who had been register many years. In May, 1815, he was appointed register by Governor Caleb Strong, and continued in office until he was re- moved by Governor Boutwell, in 1851. In 1851 Edwin Lawrence succeeded him, aud in the next year the registry was removed to Salem.

After leaving college and before going into the registry as clerk he taught school a few years in York, Me., and was also for a short time an assistant in the Dummer Academy. He married, in Decem- ber, 1804, Eunice, daughter of Jeremiah and Lois (Choate) Kimball, of Ipswich, and sister of Colonel Charles Kimball, of that town. His three sons, Na- thaniel James, Otis Phillips and George Robert, of whom only the last is living, owed many of their strong mental and physical traits to their father. Sketches of the first two may be found in another place in this record. To George Robert Lord, who, at one time, was register of probate, and is now the courteous and efficient assistant clerk of the courts at Salem, the writer of these sketches is indebted for facilities in the examination of records, which he most generously afforded.

Too much praise can scarcely be awarded to Nathan- iel Lord for the fidelity, thoroughness and courtesy with which he performed the duties of register during his incumbency of thirty-six years. Very many now living have cause to remember his kindness of heart, his timely counsel and his honorable deportment, both in business and social life, and the admirable method and system of the office under its present management is largely due to the high standard which he set up, while it was occupied by him.

DAVID CUMMINS was the son of David and Mehita- bel (Cave) Cummins, of Topsfield, and was born in that town August 14, 1785. He graduated at Dartmouth in 1806, and after completing his law studies in the office of Samuel Putnam, of Salem, was admitted to the Essex bar at Salem in 1809, at the September term of the Court of Common Pleas. He began practice at Salem, afterwards removing to Springfield, and finally to Dorchester, where he died March 30, 1855. He was appointed justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1828, and remained on the bench until 1844. He

was twice married, -- first, August 13, 1812, to Sally, daughter of Daniel and Sarah (Peabody) Porter, of Topsfield; and second, to Catherine, daughter of Thomas Kittridge, of Andover.

SAMUEL PORTER, of Salem, was admitted to the bar of Essex County before the Revolution. He studied law with Daniel Farnham, of Newburyport, and became a Loyalist refugee and ended his days in England.

NATHAN W. HAZEN was born in Bridgeton, Maine, July 9, 1800. He there received his education in the public schools and in the Bridgeton Academy. He studied law with Leverett Saltonstall, of Salem, and was admitted to the bar in 1828. He settled in An- dover, where he secured a large practice. He was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representa- tives in 1834, and at a later day a member of the Senate. He died in Andover, March 19, 1887, the oldest member of the Essex bar.

BENJAMIN ROPES NICHOLS, son of Ichabod and Lydia (Ropes) Nichols, was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, May 18, 1786, and graduated at Harvard in 1804. He was admitted to the bar of Essex County in 1807, and for many years practiced law in Salem. He married, April 12, 1813, Mary, daughter of Colonel Timothy and Rebecca (White) Pickering, of Salem. She was born in Philadelphia November 21, 1793, during her father's temporary residence in that city, and outliving her husband many years, died in West Roxbury March 22, 1863. Mr. Nichols removed to Boston in 1824, where he died April 30, 1848. He was a man of culture, and as an antiquary won more than common distinction. In 1820 he was appointed by the General Court on a commission, with Rev. James Freeman, of Boston, and Samuel Davis, of Plymouth, to superintend the work of copying such a portion of the New Plymouth records as they might think desirable. Under the direction of this commis- sion, six volumes of court proceedings, one volume of deeds, one volume of judicial acts and one volume of laws were copied, and the copies were deposited in the office of the secretary of the commonwealth, where they still are. The original records were also put in proper condition for preservation, and to the intelligent per- formance of the duties of the commission the present state of the Old Colony records is largely due.

RUFUS CHOATE, the son of David and Miriam (Foster) Choate, was born on Hog Island, in the town of Essex, October 1, 1799. He began the study of Latin in 1809 with Dr. Thomas Sewell, and continued his studies with Rev. Thomas Holt, Wm. Cogswell and Rev. Robert Crowell. He afterwards spent seven months at Hampton Academy, then in charge of James Adams, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1819, from which college he at a later day received the degree of LL.D. Degrees were also awarded to him by Yale in 1844 and Harvard in 1845. After leaving college he studied law in the office of William Wirt, at Washington, and at the Dane Law School in Cam-

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bridge, and was admitted to the Essex bar, in Salem, at the September term of the Court of Common Pleas in 1823. He began practice in Danvers, where he re- mained until 1834. During his residence in Danvers he was a State Representative in 1825, State Senator in 1827, and member of Congress from 1832 to 1834. In the latter year he removed to Boston In 1841 he succeeded Daniel Webster in the United States Sen- ate, when that gentleman resigned his seat to become Secretary of State under President Harrison. In 1853 he succeeded John H. Clifford as attorney- general of Massachusetts, and in the same year was a member of the Constitutional Convention. In 1858, in consequence of ill-health, he gave up professional labor, and in 1859 sailed for Europe. At that time the Cunard steamers from Boston touched at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and when reaching that port he was too feeble to proceed, and landing, died in that city July 13, 1859.

Mr. Choate, before he removed to Boston, had been distinguished at the bar ; and after the death of Mr. Webster, in 1852, he was universally recognized as standing at the head of the bar of Massachusetts. In legislative fields he seemed out of his element. In the dominion of law, to which he gave his heart and soul and strength, he was supreme. Though an ora- tor of the first class, his greatest forensic efforts were before a jury, and no gladiatorial show ever exceeded in interest the continuous exhibition of logic entwined with wreaths of eloquence in which he indulged be- fore a reluctant jury, until one after another of the panel yielded to him his judgment and was ready, as he triumphantly saw, to give him his verdict. The writer has seen him address himself for an hour to a single juryman, until he saw at last that he, with the rest, was secure. He was a man of large frame, broad shoulders and upright figure, surrounded by a head and face which it is as impossible to describe as the flash of the lightning in the cloud or the aurora in the sky.

Though contrasting strongly with Mr. Webster in every movement and feature, he was perhaps as striking in appearance, and in an uncovered crowd would have been as likely to arrest the attention of the stranger. There was a fascination about him which always won the sympathy of visitors to the court-room where he was engaged for the side in whose interest he was acting. The juror could no more easily escape this fascination than the visitor, and to this may be attributed a part of his success. The writer was in court at Mr. Webster's last appear- ance before a jury in Boston, and Mr. Choate was op- posed to him. It was one of the many contests in which the heavy-moulded dray-horse, which would only exhibit his strength when he had tons to draw, was pitted against the racer. The racer won the case because there were no tons to draw, and because activity, alertness, swiftness and grace alone were needed.

Few lawyers in Massachusetts have been so much beloved as Mr. Choate. To the young members of the bar he was always courteous and kind; to his peers he was always considerate and liberal. His death was felt as a public loss, and not only the various societies and the bar to which he belonged put on record their tributes to his memory, but the citizens of Bos- ton met in Fanueil Hall and passed resolutions in his honor.

CHARLES JACKSON, born in Newburyport May 31, 1775, graduated at Harvard in 1793 and received the degree of LL.D. from his alma mater in 1821. He was a son of Jonathan Jackson, of Newburyport, who afterwards removed to Boston and there died March 5, 1810. He studied law with Theophilus Parsons and was admitted to the Essex bar in 1796. In 1803 he removed to Boston and attained very soon a high rank. In 1813 he was appointed by Governor Strong associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, and left the bench in 1823. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1820, and in 1833 was appointed one of the commissioners to codify the State laws. He died in Boston December 13, 1855.

STEPHEN MINOT was born in Concord, Mass., Sep- tember 28, 1776, and graduated at Harvard in 1801. He studied law with Samuel Dana, of Groton, and was admitted to the bar in Middlesex County in 1804. He practiced for a short time in New Gloucester and in Minot, Maine, and finally settled in Haverhill. He was, from December, 1811, to June, 1821, judge of the Cireuit Court of Common Pleas, and county attorney from 1824 to 1830. He died in Haverhill April 6, 1861.

SAMUEL PUTNAM, LL.D., A.A.S.1-" Samuel Put- nam was born in Danvers, on the 13th of April, 1768. He was the son of parents of superior intelligence and worth, the line of his ancestry in that place run- ning back into our greatest American antiquity. His father, Deacon Gideon Putnam, amid the emergencies of an early settlement, seems to have exercised a variety of those needful functions which devolved upon men of most native sense and energy. His mother, who united to keen wit most acute feelings, having, of ten children, only this one spared, would often betray the smile and tear in the same moment, and this only one left of her offspring was naturally of so very slender constitution that faintly indeed in his youth could his after career have been antici- pated, and only a bold casting of the horoscope have meted out to him his coming years or attainments. Samnel went to school in Beverly, whither for a time the family removed, and afterwards, at the age of ten years, he studied in the academy at Andover. He saw the soldiers under Arnold as they were going down to attack Quebec, and they were pleased that the little boy-who appears to have had melody born

1 This sketch is taken almost wholly from a sermon delivered in 1853, by Rev. A. C. Bartol, D.D. (Contributed.)

SAMUEL PUTNAM.

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in him, even at his tender age, so rarely cultivated was his faculty-could play the fife for them as they marched by.

" Before the Revolution, too, he had seen a regi- ment of soldiers in command of General Gage, the British governor. He was himself distantly related to the celebrated General Israel Putnam. But his vocation was not to the turbulence of battle, but to the serener air of peaceful studies, and having en- tered Harvard College, with others, a class-mate of John Quincy Adams, he received his graduation in July, 1787, and continued an enthusiastic friend of his alma mater to the end of his days.

" His father had destined him to be a teacher, but, moved by the inspiration and other destiny of his own nature to a different sphere of greater intellectu- al study among men, he went to Newburyport to study law with the distinguished Judge Parsons, yet was by him-his class of pupils being full-direct- ed to Master Bradbury, as he was called, a sound and learned lawyer. He established himself in the practice of his profession, soon very extensively at Salem ; held a leading rank as an advocate, and, against eminent opponents, was prompt, acute, ready, and able, with all the ingenuity at command needful, to serve his client. No advocate of the time is under- stood to have been better versed than he in the prin- ciples of the common law. He had peculiar skill and fame in the branch of mercantile or commercial law, which was a rare reputation at that period, so that the great Samuel Dexter, in an important case sent his client to Essex, to Mr. Putnam, as the man to consult in that early school of the law in Massachusetts."

So late as the year 1885, Lord Esher, the present distinguished Master of the Rolls, pronouncing the judgment of the Court of Appeals of England in an important commercial case said: "The first case to be dealt with is the American case of Brooks vs. The Oriental Insurance Co. It came before a judge whose decisions I have often read with admiration, and from whom I have certainly received great assistance, Mr. Justice Putnam."

"The renowned Justice Story, who had been his scholar, dedicated one of his works to his former teacher, with a high tribute to his sagacity and knowledge, as well as unspotted integrity. He took a decided and ardent part in the political questions of the time, but it is believed, in all the fire of parties that during his early manhood so hotly blazed out, he had no zeal that was not matched by his fairness, or at the core and in the seed outdone by his charity. But so did he retain his earnestness, and so deter- mined was he in his opinions, that he always, to the close, considered it a duty, even at personal inconve- nience, to cast his vote.

exercise this high office for twenty-eight years. I state what is in the cognizance of those familiar with the subject, in saying he had the respect of all good men for the manuer in which he performed its sol- emn and responsible duties. No man ever held the scales of justice more even. None was ever more in- tent on making righteous decrees; none ever more fearless and independent in his decisions ; none more solicitous for the deliverance of the wrongfully ac- cused, and none more indignant against all trickery, lying and fraud. Members of the bar join with his compeers on the bench to declare that no opinions or judgments of a high tribunal were ever more like- ly to be sound, sober, practical, and to the point, than his, as they are recorded in the books.

" He adhered with great conservative firmness and inflexibility to his principles ; but one of his associ- ates told me his principles were good to adhere to. It is the award of another sincere observer of his course that, engaged as he had been in politics, with his whole heart espousing one side, on his becoming judge he put the politician entirely off, and, in his place, knew no distinction of fellow or foe. It is an unequivocal sign of the goodness of his heart, that, while nobody could suspect he was at all influenced by any regard to human favor-so clearly aud evi- dently above all personal regards and consequences was he in his duty-he yet carried into the execution of that duty the singular urbanity which stamped his whole deportment in private life.

"In 1825 he received from the University in Cam- bridge the title of Doctor of Laws. In 1842, while still able to accomplish well the work falling to him in his lofty sphere, he retired into private, there to prove completely that no role of office, but what was solid and genuine, gave him his real consequence in the world. I am persuaded from every quarter will be confirmed the assertion, that he bore himself with admirable fidelity and acceptance in all the relations he sustained. He was exceedingly hospitable, kept open door, cordially invited his friends to come in, delighted to serve them at his table, and forgot not- how could he with his inclination ?- to send a portion to the stranger and the poor, or to some humble neighbor, after whose comfort his benevolence yearned. He was glad to go with his guests over his old paternal estate, which it was a special pleasure to him to increase and improve. He cherished and fondled his farm, but had not the ambition of some to accumulate wealth. He loved to set out trees, whose growth and full flourishing only his posterity could see. I remember he once showed me how much a limb had grown on one of his trees ; he had, I think, brought the branch to town, assuring me it afforded him as much satisfaction as another man would de- rive from a dividend.

" Upon the death of Chief Justice Sewall, in 1814, he was, by Governor Strong, for whom he had a great " He desired kindly constructions of the deeds and motives of others, and would allow no ill intent to be reverence, appointed judge of the Supreme Judicial Court of this Commonwealth, and he continued to | ascribed where any excuse was possible, while all

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

unfairness everywhere met his steady disapproval. Respecting harshness of remark he often quoted a saying of his own father: "That may be true, my son, but you should not say so." This love of all that is spiritually accordant was naturally connected with or issued in a great love of music, especially of sacred music, under his own roof or in the temple. He had a very sensitive ear to the precision of the note ; could scarce abide any falseness of tune, was never more pleased than when some beloved old hymn rang up to heaven, and when not listening to the anthems of the sanctuary, or the voices kindred and dear to him, found, what was to him, a delicious feast in the minstrelsy of the birds. There was, in truth, an infinite sweetness in him; his face was favor, his look an invitation, and he could not keep his hand from blessing the head of a child as he went along. He was, I think, a very happy man, not ex- empt from trial, tasting some pain and sadness as the springs of health and life were broken np, but finding in existence a large boon for overrunning thanksgiv- ing. He had favorite books and authors, and found in reading, and in hearing his friends read, the pleas- ant ocenpation of much time. The enjoyment which a good old age has of youth was his to an uncommon degree. The first time I saw him was with the young all around, evidently both attracted by his love for them, and overflowing him with the tokens of their own, so that in their looks and motions they seemed to make one life together; and I remember well his presence, like a blessing, once, on occasion of the nsual gathering of the children of our own so- ciety on the afternoon of Fast Day. I have heard it repeatedly said, in gratitude to him or commendation of him, that he loved to enconrage young men in their commencing efforts, and by a word or a line from the desk of his tribunal would cheer and stim- ulate them.

"During the stormy period of our public affairs, before and after 1812, he was among the stirring spi- rits. He repeatedly represented, in both branches of the Legislature, his section of the State, and, we may not doubt, nttered always, without compromise, the deliberate conclusions of a thoughtful mind, and the deep sentiments of a guileless heart."

Judge Putnam was married October 28, 1795, to Sarah Gooll, of Salem, who survived him by eleven years. He had three sons and five daughters, who lived to grow np. All were married, and all but one survived their father. He died July 3, 1853, in his 86th year.

LEVERETT SALTONSTALL was born in Haverhill June 13, 1783. It is probable that no native of Essex County who has held his residence through life within its limits has been so conspicuous and so uni- versally respected and beloved. It may be said, too, with perfect truth, that no family in New England can hoast of a more extended pedigree or more gen- le blood than that whose name he bore and whose

fame he contributed so much to maintain. He was the son of Dr. Nathaniel Saltonstall, of Haverhill, and Anna, daughter of Samuel White, of Haverhill, a descendant of William White, a settler in Ipswich in 1635, and one of the first settlers of Haverhill in 1640. Dr. Nathaniel Saltonstall, born February 10, 1746, was the son of Richard Saltonstall, of Haver- hill, and his third wife, Mary, daughter of Elisha Cooke, whose wife, Jane Middlecott, was a great- granddaughter of Governor Edward Winslow, of the Old Colony. Mary Cooke was also great-granddangh- ter of Governor John Leverett. Richard Saltonstall, born June 24, 1703, was the son of Richard Salton- stall, of Haverhill, and Mehitabel, daughter of Cap- tain Simon Wainwright, of Haverhill. The last- mentioned Richard Saltonstall, born April 25, 1672, was the son of Nathaniel Saltonstall, of Haverhill, who was appointed in 1692, by Governor William Phipps, one of the judges of the Oyer and Terminer Conrt to try the witches, and refused to serve, and his wife, Elizabeth, danghter of Rev. John Ward, of Haverhill. Nathaniel Saltonstall, born in Ipswich in 1639, was the son of Richard Saltonstall and Muriel, daughter of Brampton Gurdon and Muriel (Sedley) Gurdon, of Assington, Connty of Suffolk, in England. Richard Saltonstall, born at Woodsome, County of York, England, in 1610, came to New England with his father, Sir Richard Saltonstall, in 1630, returned in 1631, married in England ahout 1633, and coming back to New England in 1635, set- tled in Ipswich. He died on a visit to England, at Hulme, April 29, 1694. Sir Richard Galtonstall, of Huntwick, Knight, baptized at Halifax, England, April 4, 1586, was lord of the manor at Ledsham. He was the son of Samuel Saltonstall, and his first wife, Anne, daughter of John Ramsden, of Longley. He married three wives,-first, Grace, daughter of Robert Kaye, of Woodsome, who was the mother of the son Richard ; second, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas West, Baron de la Warre ; and third, Martha Wilford. He was one of the original patentees of the colony of Massachusetts Bay, and after his first wife died he came to New England with Win- throp in 1630, bringing his children. He began the settlement of Watertown, returned to England in 1631, and there died about 1658, giving in his will a legacy to Harvard College. Samuel Saltonstall, the father of Sir Richard Saltonstall, the date of whose birth is unknown, died January 8, 1612-13, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Hull. He married three wives,-first, Anne Ramsden, above mentioned, who was the mother of Sir Richard Saltonstall ; sec- ond, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Ogden; and third, Elizabeth Armine, widow of Hugh Armine, mayor of Hull. Gilbert Saltonstall, the father of Samuel, had a seat at Rooke's Hall, in Hipperholme. He died in 1598 and was buried at Halifax Deeem- ber 29th. In his will he mentioned his wife, Isabel, and left legacies to the Halifax Church and the

Eng ª by A. H. Ritchie

Lunato allow Hall

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Halifax Grammar School. It is unnecessary to follow the pedigree further in detail. It is sufficient to say that beyond Gilbert, above mentioned, through two Richards, another Gilbert and two other Richards, it goes back to either John or Richard, the sons of Thomas De Saltonstall, of the West Riding of York- shire, who flourished about the year 1300. Every generation has been distinguished for the eminent men it has produced, and in the direct line of the subject of this sketch, every ancestor back to Richard, who came with his father in 1630, has beeu a gradu- ate of Harvard. To this list of graduates the names of Mr. Salstonstall himself, and of his son, Colonel Leverett Saltonstall, the present collector of the port of Boston, may be added.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 8

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1 Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1538

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1538