History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 13

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 13

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

" Resolved, That the right to exclude from their territories seditious persons or others whose presence may be dangerous to their peace, is es- sential to every independent state.

" Resolved, That free negroes and persons of color are not citizens of the United States within the meaning of the Constitution, which confers upon the citizens of one state the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several state's.

" Resolved, That the emissary sent by the State of Massachusetts to the State of South Carolina, with the avowed purpose of interfering with her institutions and disturbiog her peace, is to be regarded io the char- acter he has assnoied, aod to be treated accordingly.

" Resolred, That his Excellency the Governor be requested to expel from our territory the said agent after due notice to depart ; and that the Legislature will sustain the executive authority in any measures it may adopt for the purpose aforesaid."

An agent of the Governor to carry these resolutions into effect reached Charleston from Columbia, the · capital, on the afternoon of Tuesday, the 6th of December; but Mr. Hoar, on the representation of the mayor and sheriff and leading citizens, that he could not remain with safety, had that morning em- barked on his return. In the attempted performance of the duties of his mission he acted with coolness, composure, courage and good judgment. He did not fly from the danger, but yielded reluctantly to the necessities of the occasion, and Governor Briggs stated, in a special message to the Legislature, " that his con- duct under the circumstances seems to have been marked by that prudence, firmness and wisdom which has distinguished his character through his life." In seeming recognition of his services and approval of his course, the Legislature, in the following Janu- ary, by whom at that time the Executive Council were appointed, chose him one of that body.

In 1848 Mr. Hoar, believing the nomination of Gen- eral Taylor an abandonment by the Whig party of its opposition to the extension of slavery, joined in the formation of the Free Soil party and presided at a convention at Worcester, June 28, 1848, to which all opposed to nominations of General Taylor and General Cass by the Whig and Democratic parties were invited. A national convention was afterwards held at Buffalo, and Martin Van Buren and Chiarles Francis Adams were nominated for President and Vice-President. This ticket was supported by Mr. Hoar.

In 1850 Mr. Hoar was chosen Representative to the Legislature, and by his efforts the removal of the

courts from Concord was postponed for a season, and largely through his influence and speech, Harvard College was preserved from State control.

In 1854 and 1855 Mr. Hoar aided conspicuously in the formation of the Republican party, and the events initiating and attending the birth of- that party were the last in which he publicly engaged. He died November 2, 1856.

Mr. Hoar married Sarah, daughter of Roger Sher- man, of Connecticut, October 13, 1812, who died Oc- tober 30, 1866. Their children were : Elizabeth, born July 14, 1814, and died April 7, 1878; Ebenezer Rockwood, born February 21, 1816 ; Sarah Sherman, born November 9, 1817 ; Samuel Johnson, born Feb- ruary 4, 1820, and died January 18, 1821; Edward Sher- man, born December 22, 1823; and George Frisbie, born August 29, 1826.

ARTEMAS WARD was the son of General Artemas Ward, of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, who was the commander-in-chief of the Massachusetts forces at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, and after- wards first major-general under General Washing- ton. General Ward held other important offices, both before and after the Revolution, and was known as a man of high principle and inflexible integrity. On the maternal side, Artemas Ward traced his ancestry . to Dr. Increase Mather. He was born at Shrewsbury Jannary 9, 1762. He graduated at Harvard College in 1783.

After finishing his law studies he began the prac- tice of his profession in Weston, Massachusetts, where he became known and respected, both as a lawyer and a citizen. He was active in town affairs, being representative in the General Court in 1796, 1797, 1798, 1799 and 1800, and holding other town offices. He was captain of a company of light infantry raised in Middlesex County, from September 7, 1789, to March 31, 1793, when his resignation of his command was accepted.

In 1800 when his brother-in-law, Samuel Dexter, the eminent lawyer, who held high offices under the National Government, left Charlestown, to attend to his duties in Washington, Artemas Ward removed to Charlestown to take the place of Mr. Dexter. He was a member of the Executive Council in 1803, 1804, 1805, 1808 and 1809.

In 1810 he became a citizen of Boston, where he re- sided until his death.

In 1811 he was one of the representatives from Boston in the General Court. He represented the Boston district in the Thirteenth and the Fourteenth Congress (from March, 1813, to March, 1817), declin- ing a re-election at the end of his second term. He was a member of the State Senate, from Suffolk County, in 1818 and 1819, and of the convention to revise the Constitution of Massachusetts in 1820.

In 1819 he became judge of the Boston Court of Common Pleas, and upon the abolition of this tribu- nal and the establishment of the Court of Common

clvii

Az Ward

xlvi

xlvii

BENCH AND BAR.

Pleas for the Commonwealth, in 1821; he was ap- pointed chief justice of the last-named court. This position he retained until 1839, when he resigned.

At the height of his practice he was invited to ac- cept a seat on the bench of the Supreme Judicial Court, but declined for domestic reasons.

He was a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard College from 1810 to 1844, and received the degree of LL.D. from the college in 1842.

He married Catharine Maria Dexter, January 14, 1788. Miss Dexter was the daughter of Hon. Samuel Dexter, then a resident of Weston, aud sister of Sam- uel Dexter, the distinguished lawyer. There were seven children of this marriage, of whom the last survivor died in 1881.

During the last few years of his life he was in fee- ble health, and seldom left his house. He died Octo- ber 7, 1847.

Such are the facts which have been found as to the life of Artemas Ward, gathered mostly from the rec- ords of his time. They tell us little of the real man, as he appeared to those among whom he lived, and who took part with him in the action of his day- though from the number of responsible offices to which he was called, it may be inferred that he showed himself faithful in the performance of duty, and had the respect and esteem of the community.

The present writer cannot hope to supply the defi- cieucies in this narrative, so as to give a true repre- sentation of Artemas Ward as he was. There seem to be no sources from which the necessary information can be procured. He left no writing of his own which may be referred to for the purpose, nor has much been written of him by others. His generation has passed away, and none who can properly be called his cou- temporaries are left to tell of him. His children, who remembered him with warm love aud a feeling which was almost reverence, are gone. His descendants now living knew him only as one who had already eu- tered upon the period of old age. But something may be added to make the account less imperfect.

He was a mau of solid and substantial qualities- with no taste for ostentation or display. As a lawyer he devoted himself to his profession ; as a judge, to the duties of his position; in the various elective of- fices which he filled, he did the work that was to be done. In Congress he spoke sometimes, but not ofteu.

He was not a politician in the usual sense of the word. Yet he held decided political opinions, sym- pathizing with the old Federal party till its dissolu- tion and afterwards with the Whig party. He had much anti-slavery feeling, being interested in the cause in its earlier days, before it had grown popular and its advocates had become a political power.

It has been said of him : " If we should select any one trait as particularly distinguishing him, by the universal consent of those who best and those who least knew him, it would be his inflexible regard to justice.

"Of his keen and resolute sense of justice others may speak besides his professional companions. It was seen in other relations than those which he sus- . tained towards the legal interests of the Common- wealth. It was manifested in his political course. Conscientiously attached to one of the two great parties which then divided the nation, he gave a firm support to the measures which he thought right, and as strenuously resisted those which he deemed wrong. In his more private connections he showed the same unswerving purpose of rectitude, the same disapprobation of whatever was false or mean, the same reverence for the right." 1

The estimation in which he was held by those knowing him and practicing in his conrt, will appear from the proceedings at a meeting of the Suffolk Bar, held Oct. 8, 1847, the day after his decease,

Hon. Richard Fletcher, iu offering resolutions at the meeting, spoke thus :

" The decease of the late Chief Justice Ward is an event which must be deeply felt by the members of this bar, and I presume there can be but one feeling and one sentiment as to the propriety of our offering some public testimonial of our respect for his memory. He had reached an advanced age, and his long life had been usefully and honorably spent. As a man, in all the relations of domestic and social life, he sus- tained a most exemplary and elevated character. As a member of our national Legislature, his duties were faithfully and ably performed. As a lawyer he acquired and maintained a high rank. But it is in his judicial character that he is most known and more particularly remembered by the present mem- bers of the bar.

"He came to the bench as Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, nuder its present organ- ization in 1821. It will, I presume, be universally admitted that he was eminently qualified for the duties of that office. He had a matured and estab- lished character. He had ample store of legal learn- ing and habits of business admirably adapted to the great amount of details in the business of his court. He had great patience and equanimity of temper- qualities of great value in any station of life, but essential to a judge. His conduct on the bench was marked by uniform courtesy and kindness-crowning qualities of any judge of any court, without which any judge of any court must lose most of his dignity and much of his usefulness."

Among the resolutions adopted at the meeting were the following :

" Resolved, That this bar would honor his memory, as well for his great worth as a man, as for the distin- guished ability, learning, integrity, patience and fidelity with which, for a long course of years, he discharged the important duties of his judicial sta- tion.

1 Sermon by lev. E. S. Gantett, preached Oct. 17, 18-17.

xlviii

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

"Resolved, That the members of this bar hold in grateful remembrance the courtesy and kindness which on the bench he uniformly extended to them in the performance of their professional labors."

EPHRAIM WOOD was descended from William Wood, who settled in Concord iu 1638. William Wood died May 14, 1671, at the age of eighty-nine years, leaving a son, Michael, and a daughter, Ruth, the wife of Thomas Wheeler. Michael died May 13, 1674, having had Abraham, Isaac, Thomson, Jacob, Jolin and Abigail, who married Stephen Hosmer. Of these, Jacob married Mary Wheeler in 1697, and died October 6, 1723, having bad Jacob, Mary, Ephraim, Dorcas, Hannah and Millicent. Of these, Ephraim married Mary Buss, and was the father of Ephraim, the subject of this sketch. The last Ephraim was born in Concord, August 1, 1733, and died in Concord, April 8, 1814. He learned the trade of shoemaker, but rapidly advanced both in social and political life. He was chosen town clerk in 1771, selectman, assessor and overseer of the poor, and served in these offices many years. He was one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas under the Constitution, and in various ways rendered important services to the com- munity.

JAMES TEMPLE, son of Benjamin Temple, was born in Concord, September 20, 1766, and graduated at Dartmouth in 1794. He taught the grammar school in Concord in 1795 and 1796, and read law with Jon- athan Fay, of that town. He settled in the law at Cambridge, and died March 10, 1802.

WILLIAM CROSBY was born in Billerica, June 3, 1770, and graduated at Harvard in 1794. He read law with Samuel Dana, of Groton, and settled in Bel- fast, Maine, where he died March 31, 1852.

EPHRAIM BUTTRICK, son of Samuel Buttrick, of Concord, was bom in that town about 1799 and grad- uated at Harvard in 1819. He was admitted to the Middlesex bar in 1823 and settled in East Cambridge.

JOHN MILTON CHENEY, son of Hezekiah Cheney, of Concord, was born about 1801 and graduated at Harvard in 1821. He settled as a lawyer in Concord, and was appointed cashier of the Concord Bank in April, 1832. He did in 1869.

HORATIO COOK MERRIAM, born in Concord, grad- uated at Harvard in 1829, and settled in the law at Lowell.

DANIEL NEEDHAM was born in Salem, Massachu- setts, May 24, 1822. The branch of the Needham family to which he belongs has for several generations consistently adhered to the doctrine and usages of the Society of Friends.

Edmond Needham, the first American ancestor on his father's side, arrived in this country between the years 1635 and 1640. The date of his birth, the name of his birthplace in England and the date of his death are not known. His force of character and godliness of life were well known to his contempo- raries, and impressed themselves upon his will, which

is dated "fourth month, 1677." The opening para- graph reads as follows :

" The will and last testament of Edmond Needham, of Lyn, in New England being, blessed be God, in his perfect knowledge, memory, and understanding, tho' otherwise ill in body mak ye writin by min on hand, and according to min on mind, to my children and grandchildren as follows:"

He left two sons, of which Ezekiel was the elder ; Edmond Needham (2d) was born in 1679 or 1680, and was married March 15, 1702. His family record, like those of the majority of the Friends, exhibits the principal lines of descent, but is extremely deficient in minor particulars, and fails to indicate the time of his birth. Daniel Needham, born December 5, 1703, was the father of Daniel Needham, who was born in 1754. He was a merchant by occupation and engaged in trade with Philadelphia. The names of his wife and the date of his death are alike unknown. His son James, born Jannary 1, 1789, in Salem, was a tobacco manufacturer, and largely inter- ested in trade in South America. His moral convic- tions and humane sympathies werc fully enlisted in the great anti-slavery agitation. The temperance re- form also found in him a wise and strong exponent. He married Lydia, daughter of Benjamin Breed, of Lynn, who was born January 26, 1795, and who be- came the mother of his five children. He died in 1845.

Daniel, the subject of this sketch, the son of James and Lydia Needham, was educated in the cel- ebrated Friend's School, at Providence, Rhode Island. Iu 1845 he began the study of law in the office of Judge David Roberts, at Salem, and was admitted to the bar of Middlesex County in 1847. Prior to his qualifications for legal practice, Mr. Needham had been deeply interested in the Peterborough and Shir- ley Railroad, and, although quite young, had been made one of the board of directors. While officiating in this capacity his moral principles were subjected to the severest strain ; but they resolutely bore the test, and thus demonstrated the real excellence of the man. It had seemed a matter of necessity that the Board of Directors should endorse the paper of the corporation to the amount of $42,000. When the obligations ma- tured, other directors put their property out of their hands. Mr. Needham took a wholly different course. As it was, there was a probability of accumulating the funds thus forfeited, but in case of practical repudi- ation there was no possibility of expunging the stain from his reputation. He therefore gave up his prop- erty to the value of $35,000, obtained an extension of time for the payment of the remainder of the debt and continued to prosecute his business. He secured from the New Hampshire Legislature authority to issue construction bonds. These he sold in the market on such favorable terms that his ultimate loss was less than $2000. The clear gain was an untarnished name, which the highest authority affirms to be of more value

Allamil Micham

xlix

BENCH AND BAR.

than " great riches." Thus in his twenty-sixth year the community held the key to the future of his career, which, from his known rectitude and decision, - could not he other than honorable and beneficent. Fully prepared as he was for the pursuits of a legal practitioner, Mr. Needham prosecuted them to a lim- ited extent.

Interesting himself in agriculture, he successfully conducted the management of several farms-one at Hartford, Vermont; one at Dover, Delaware; one at Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, and others in Mas- sachusetts. This continued for several years. In 1857, in association with others, he erected a woolen. mill at Montello, Wisconsin. He also bought a grain-mill situated on the same stream, on his own account. In 1865 he purchased the interests of his partners in the woolen-mill and became its sole pro- prietor. The business of both mills was then carried on by him until 1872. Both enterprises had been financially profitable. In 1866 Mr. Needham was one of three gentlemen who successfully introduced the "hand fire extinguisher " into the United States. He was the first president of the company organized for its manufacture. A French invention originally, it was improved in several important respects, and com- manded a lucrative sale.

He was appointed national bank examiner for Massachusetts in 1871, an office which he held from .871 to 1886. One hundred and eighty-five national banks were in his charge, and all of these, with two exceptions, were located in Massachusetts. During his term of office more official defalcations were brought to light than in the united terms of all other national bank examiners. The first of these was at the Lechmere National Bank, in 1873. Then fol- lowed in quick succession notably those conected with the Merchants' National Bank, of Lowell, the Hingham National Bank, of 'Hingham, the First National Bank, of New Bedford, and the Pacific Na- tional Bank, of Boston ; more than a year before the collapse of the last-named institution he called atten- tion to the reckless manner in which its business was done; but warning and advice were both un- heeded. The crash followed, and the bank itself came officially into Mr. Needham's hands on the 18th of November, 1881. Carefully husbanding its re- sources and adjusting its numerous complications, he partially reconstructed its organization, and by direc- tion of the Government returned it to the hands of the directors; but owing to many of its assets prov- ing worthless, it again passed into the hands of a receiver.

In political life Mr. Needham's experience has been wide and various. In 1851 he was appointed to an official position on Governor Boutwell's staff, with the rank and title of colonel. In 1853 he suc- ceeded Caleb Cushiog as chairman of the Democratic State Committee and discharged his duties with great executive ability until 1854. In 1854 he was the

Democratic candidate for Congress in the Seventh Massachusetts District, but was defeated by his. Know-Nothing competitor. In 1855 Col. Needham purchased a large farm in Vermont and changed his residence from Massachusetts to that State. In 1857 he was elected to the Vermont legislature from the town of Hartford. In 1858 he was re-elected to the same position. Serving on the Committee on Educa- tion, he saw the necessity of a Reform School and earnestly advocated its foundation. Success was de- layed, but was ultimately attained, and largely through his efforts. In 1859 and 1860 he represented Windsor County in the Vermont State Senate, and was a member of the Senate at the special session of 1861.

From 1857 to 1863 he rendered valuable service to Vermont as the secretary of the State Agricultural Society. In the last of these years he represented Vermont at the World's Exposition of Industry and Art in the city of Hamburg. There he secured for his State the first prizes for excellence of exhibited Merino sheep. European competitors were at first in- clined to be indignant at his success, but finally acknowledged that it was merited. In America his services received due meed of applause and are still held in pleasant memory.

Requested by the United States Government to pre- pare a report of the Exposition, he responded to the demand, and the result of his mission to Germany is given to the country in the Patent Office Report of 1863.

Colonel Needham returned to the United States in 1864, and re-established himself in his former home in Massachusetts. Elected to the lower house of the Legislature from Groton in 1867, he served on several important committees of that body. In 1868 and 1869 he was returned to the Massachusetts State Sen- ate. As chairman of the committee charged with the duty of investigating the affairs of the Hartford and Erie Railroad, whose managers wished to obtain aid from the State, he made a thorough examination of its organization, business and prospects; was chairman of the committee appointed to inquire into the advisability of permitting the Boston and Albany Railroad Company to issue stock to stockholders. On the question of granting authority to towns to sub- scribe for stock in aid of certain railroads, he voted with the minority. Subsequently, events vindicated the wisdom of his action.

Colonel Needham was elected secretary of the New England Agricultural Society, at its organization in 1865, and has since sustained that position. Singu- larly efficient in the exercise of his functions, his real zeal and abilities have been among the principal fac- tors of its success. This society has held agricultural fairs in all the New England States, and that with full share of public patronage and with exceptional pecu- niary success. At times responsible for the expenses incurred, he bas skillfully conducted affairs so as to escape financial loss.

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

As one of the most enlightened and practical citi- zens of the grand old Commonwealth of .Massachu- setts, he is necessarily interested in popular education. For twenty years he has been chairman of the Groton School Committee. He was also treasurer of the town in the years 1853 and 1854.

From his earliest manhood Colonel Needham has been an eloquent speaker and a popular lecturer. When lyceums were most in vogue, hisservices were in frequent request and his income from effective re- sponse quite considerable. He is a trustee of the Massachusetts State College, and is president of the Board of Trustees of the Lawrence Academy ; he has been several years president of the Middlesex North Conference, and is connected with many financial and eleemosynary boards as associate director or trustee.

Hehas delivered numerous addresses on different subjects to various organizations, and enjoys the rep- utation of a pleasing and instructive speaker, Among his most widely circulated addresses, are one on the " Evolution of Labor," one on " Strikes, their Cause and Remedy," and one on "Germany," before the Vermont Agricultural Society. He also delivered two orations during the three days' session of "New England at the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, at Philadelphia;" one of these was on the " Position of New England at the Centennial ;" the other upon the "Growth and Development of Art in America"-both of which were 'printed in pamphlet form and had a wide distribution.

The life of Colonel Needham is a model of useful industry. Two States have served themselves, while honoring him, by elections to both branches of their Legislatures. Snch a distinction is rare, and is fruit- ful of suggestion. Whether farmer, manufacturer, legislator, lecturer or bank examiner, he has been fully equal to all his relations and opportunities. Not less honest and upright in all his dealings than fearless in the execution of duty, and versatile in point of talent, he is ever "the right man in the right place."

Colonel Needham has visited Europe three times- twice on business and once for recreation. He has traveled extensively in his own country, having been in California and throughout the Republic of Mexico.

Colonel Needham was married on the 15th of July, 1842, to Caroline A., daughter of Benjamin Hall, of Boston. Mr. Hall was the first importer of ready- made clothing from Europe, and while engaged in that business was involved in serious disagreement with the government officials. Daniel Webster acted as his counsel at the trial, and brought Mr. Hall vic- toriously through it.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 13

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034