History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 20

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 20

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GEORGE MERRICK BROOKS, the son of Nathan and Mary (Merrick) Brooks, of Concord, was born in that town in 1824, and graduated at Harvard in 1844. He read law with Hopkinson & Ames, of Lowell, and at the Dane Law School in Cambridge, and was ad- mitted to the bar in Lowell in 1847. He settled in his native town and married, in 1851, Abba Prescott, who died leaving no children. In 1865 he married Mary A. Dillingham, of Lowell, who is the mother of two children, both daughters, the older of whom is nineteen. Mr. Brooks has been selectman five years, was in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1858, and in the Senate in 1859. In 1869, '70, '71, '72 he was a member of Congress, hav- ing been chosen at his first election to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of George S. Boutwell to take the position of Secretary of the Treasury under President Grant. Before the close of the second Con- gress, of which he was a member, he resigned to take the position of Judge of Probate for Middlesex County, to which he had been appointed by Governor

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Washburn. He has been president of the Middlesex Institution for Savings, a director in the Concord National Bank, and a trustee of the Concord Public Library. He is still Judge of Probate and held in the highest esteem throughout the county.

JOHN SHEPARD KEYES, son of John and Ann S. (Shepard) Keyes, of Concord, was born in that town Sept. 19, 1821, and attended, in his youth, the com- mon schools of his native town, and Concord Academy, and fitted for college under the care of private instructors. He graduated at Harvard in 1841, and read law with his father and Edward Mel- len, of Wayland, and in the Dane Law School, at Cambridge, and was admitted to the bar in March, 1844. He opened an office in Concord, and until 1853 was engaged in practice. In 1849 he was a member of the Massachusetts Senate, and in 1853 was appointed sheriff of Middlesex County, and served under his appointment until his office was made elective, when in 1856 he was chosen by the county, and served until 1860. In 1860 he attended, as a delegate, the Republican National Convention at Chicago, and in April, 1861, was appointed by Presi- dent Lincoln United States marshal for Massachu- setts, and served until August, 1866, when he re- signed. He then retired to his farm in Concord, was water commissioner and road commissioner, and in 1874 was appointed by Governor Talbot, acting Gov- ernor, standing justice of the Central Middlesex District Court, and still holds that office. . He-deliv- ered the oration at Concord on the Fourth of July in the centennial year 1876, and was president of the day on the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the settlement of the town, in 1885.

An interesting incident in the life of Mr. Keyes is one connected with his membership of the Senate, in 1849. In that year the Senate consisted of forty Whigs, and the House of Representatives had 260 members. Forty years after, in 1889, only two of the Senators were living, and only four of the House could be heard of as yet in active life. In that year these six, including Charles Devens and John S. Keyes, of the Senate, and George S. Boutwell, Nathan- iel P. Banks, William Claflin and Henry L. Dawes, dined together, and the record of the men is suf- ficiently remarkable to be stated in this narrative. Three of the six had been Governors of Massachu- setts, four Representatives in Congress, three United States marshals for Massachusetts, two members of the President's Cabinet, two United States Senators, two major-generals in the army, one president of the Massachusetts Senate, one Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, one Speaker of both the Mass- achusetts and United States House of Representa- tives, two judges. In 1849 three were Whigs and three Democrats, and in 1889 all Republicans.

Mr. Keyes married, Sept. 19, 1844, Martha Lawrence Prescott, of Concord, and has had six children, two of whom died in infancy. Two daughters are living,

one of whom is married, and a son, Prescott Keyes, who graduated at Harvard in 1879, read law with Charles R. Train and at the Dane Law School, iu Cambridge, and is now in practice iu Suffolk and Middlesex.

EDWARD MELLEN was born in Westboro', in Wor- cester County, early in the century and graduated at Brown University. After admission to the bar he settled in Wayland, in Middlesex County, where he soon acquired a large practice. He was a hard stu- dent and became so well versed in the reports that on almost every point of law which had been decided in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts he could readily quote the case in which it was involved. He was leading counsel in many important cases, and it is said that at the December Middlesex term of the Court of Common Pleas in 1843 he tried twen- ty contested cases and secured verdicts in nineteen. In 1847 he, with Charles Edward Forbes, was ap- pointed to the Common Pleas bench to fill vacancies occasioned by the resignation of Emory Washburn and .Harrison Gray Otis Colby. In 1854 he was made chief justice on the death of his predecessor, Daniel Wells, and retained that position until the court was abolished, in 1859. During his career as judge he was most assiduous in the performance of his duties, shirking no work, always taking volumin- ous notes and making exhaustive charges to the jury. After he left the' bench he settled in Worcester, where he continued in successful practice until his death, which occurred at Wayland in 1875.

WILLIAM ADAMS RICHARDSON, son of Daniel and Mary (Adams) Richardson, was born in Tyngsbor- ough, November 2, 1821. His father, a native of Pelham, New Hampshire, was a brother of William M. Richardson, who, for twenty years, was the chief justice of that State and married Mary, daughter of William Adams, of Chelmsford, for whom the subject of this sketch was named. William Adams Richard- son prepared for college at the Groton (now Law- rence) Academy, at Groton, of which institution he has been for nearly thirty years one of the trustees. He graduated at Harvard in 1843 and at the Dane Law School in 1846. He also read law for a time in the office at Lowell of his brother, Daniel S. Rich- ardson, whose sketch has already been given, and was admitted to the bar in Boston July 8, 1846. On the next day after his admission he went into business with his brother, under the firm-name of D. S. & W. A. Richardson. This partnership continued until 1858, when he was appointed judge of Probate and Insolvency for Middlesex County. He then left, his brother removing his office to Boston, and not long after changing his residence to Cambridge.

In 1849 he was chosen to fill a vacancy in the Common Council of Lowell and being again a mem- ber of the Council in 1853 and 1854 was, during both of these years, president of that body. In November, 1846, he was appointed judge advocate of the second

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division of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia with the rank of a major, and held that office several years. In 1850, the last year of the service of Governor Briggs, he was a member of the staff with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In March, 1855, he was ap- pointed one of the commissioners to revise the Stat- utes of Massachusetts, who reported the revision which finally became the General Statutes of 1860. On the 27th of. December, 1859, he was appointed with George Partridge Sanger, by a resolution of the Legislature of Massachusetts, a commissioner to edit and superintend the publication of the General Stat- utes and prepare an index to the same.

On the 7th of April, 1856, he was appointed judge of Probate for Middlesex County, holding office until July, 1858, when that office was abolished, and, as has been stated, he was appointed judge of Probate and Insolvency. In 1863 he was chosen by the Leg- islature of Massachusetts one of the overseers of Harvard College for the term of six years, and the law under which the overseers are chosen by the alumni was based on a plan devised by him. In 1869 he was chosen for another term of six years by the alumni, but before the expiration of his term he removed from the State.

On the 27th of March, 1867, he was appointed with Judge Sanger, already mentioned, as his associate in editing and publishing the General Statutes, an edi- tor of the annual supplement to the "General Stat- utes," which was continued until the " General Stat- utes " were superseded by the " Public Statutes " in 1882.

On the 20th of March, 1869, he was appointed assistant secretary of the treasury, and held that office until March, 1873, when, ou the retirement of George S. Bontwell, the secretary, he was appointed his successor. On the 23d of April, 1869, he was ap- pointed one of the justices of the Superior Court of Massachusetts, but declined the appointment to con- tinne iu the office of assistant secretary of the treas- ury.

After the great fire in Boston had burned and de- stroyed the stereotype plates of the "General Stat- utes " and "Supplement," he was associated in 1872, with Judge Sanger under a resolution of the Legisla- ture in preparing and editing a second edition of both. On the 17th of March, 1873, he was appointed, as has been stated, Secretary of the Treasury, and held that office until he was appointed in June, 1874, one of the judges of the Court of Claims at Washington, being promoted January 20, 1835, from the position of associate judge to that of chief justice, which he still holds. His associates on the bench are Charles C. Nott, Glenni W. Schofield, Lawrence Weldon and John Davis.

On the 7th of June, 1880, he was appointed by Con- gress to edit and publish a supplement to the Revised Statutes of the United States, with notes and refer- ences, which was issued in 1881, and contains the

legislation from 1874 to that year. Since 1880 Mr. Richardson has been one of the professors of law in Georgetown University, and has received a degree of Doctor of Laws from Columbia University in 1873, Georgetown in 1881, Howard in 1882 and Dartmouth in 1886.

In April, 1890, Congress passed an act continuing the publication of the supplement to the Revised Statutes of the United States down to March, 1891, to be prepared and edited by Mr. Richardson.

At various times during the residence of Mr. Rich- ardson in Lowell he was a director in the Appleton State and National Bank, president of the Wamesit State and National Bank, one of the corporators, trus- tees and finance committee of the Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank, and one of the directors of the Merri- mack Manufacturing Company. He was also vice- president and president of the Middlesex Mechanics' Association.

Mr. Richardson married, October 29, 1849, Anna M. Marston, of Machiasport, Me., who died in Paris, France, March 26, 1876, leaving one child, Isabel Richardson, now the wife of Alexander F. Magruder, surgeon in the navy, now living in Washington.

The record of Mr. Richardson shows him to have been an active, industrious man, not only learned in the law, but possessing business habits and general traits of character which have deserved and won the confidence of the world.

SAMUEL APPLETON BROWNE, was born in Ipswich November 4, 1810, and read law with Nathan D. Ap- pleton at Alfred, Me. He practiced law in Lowell after his admission to the bar in 1840, and was asso- ciated with Josiah G. Abbott until Mr. Abbott was appointed to the bench of the Superior Court for the County of Suffolk in 1855. He was a member of the Massachusetts Senate two years, and died January 27,1867.

WILLIAM EUSTIS RUSSELL is the son of Charles Theodore and Sarah Elizabeth (Ballister) Russell, of Cambridge, whose sketch has already been given, and was born in that city. He graduated at Harvard in 1877, and, having studied law with his father, was admitted to the Suffolk bar, and is in business with his father, Charles Theodore Russell ; his uncle, Thomas Hastings Russell ; his brother, Charles Theo- dore, Jr .; and his consin, Arthur H., the son of Thomas Hastings, and has his office in Boston. Though so young a man, he has been the mayor of his native city from 1885 to 1889, and in 1888 and 1889 was the candidate for Governor of Massachusetts of the Democratic party. The two campaigns in which he was engaged were, on the whole, the most remarkable gubernatorial campaigns ever made in Massachusetts. His speeches, which were numerons and able, gave him a national reputation, which promises a career of brilliancy and advancement.

WILLIAM ELLISON PARMENTER is the son of William Parmenter, of East Cambridge, who is re-

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membered as a distinguished Democratic politician. He graduated at Harvard in 1836, and, after reading law, was admitted to the Suffolk bar. He always had his office in Boston until his appointment to the bench of the Municipal Court in that city, of which he is the chief justice. His residence is in Arlington.

JOHN WILKES HAMMOND 1 was born in that part of Rochester, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts which is now Mattapoisett, December 16, 1837, being the first-born of two children of John Wilkes Ham- mond and Maria L. (Southworth) Hammond. His ancestors had been residents of Plymouth County for more thau two centuries. His father was a house carpenter,-an intelligent and respectable man,-who, dying when the subject of this sketch was five years old, left a widow and two children without property. The name of their son, who had been christened James Horace Hammond, was changed by act of the Legislature, after the death of his father, to John Wilkes Hammond.

His mother, an intelligent woman, and of great energy and perseverance, provided for her children by teaching school, keeping boarders, and such other means as her ingenuity suggested, giving them the benefit of good mental and moral training. John was apt to learn, but was not physically strong, and for his health, in the summer of 1855 he went upon a cod- fishing cruise, of several months, to the Grand Bank of Newfoundland, in a schooner from Plymouth.

Supplementing what he had learned in the public schools of Mattapoisett by an attendauce of some months in the Barstow Academy of that village, he entered Tufts College in the autumn of 1857. Here, by . school-keeping and other means, he worked his way through college, graduating at the head of his class in July, 1861.

Finding himself, at this time, about five hundred dollars in debt, he taught in the high schools of Stoughton and Tisbury, until September, 1862, when he enlisted as a private in Company I, Third Massa- chusetts nine-months' Infantry, and served with this regiment until it was mustered out in June, 1863.

During his service in the army he narrowly es- caped being taken prisoner at the attack of the rebels on Plymouth, N. C.

After his return from the war he commenced the study of medicine, but finding it not to his taste, abandoned it, and taught for a time in the high schools of South Reading (now Wakefield) and Mel- rose,-studying law, the latter part of the time, in the office of Sweetser & Gardner, in Boston.

With this preparation, and an attendance of one term at the Harvard Law School, he was admitted to the bar, at the Superior Court, Cambridge, in Feb- ruary, 1866.

In March he commenced practice in Cambridge, where he has ever since resided.

On August 15th of the same year he married Clara Ellen, only child of Benjamin F. and Clara (Foster) Tweed. Of the issue of this union there are three children,-Frank Tweed, Clara Maria, and Jolin Wilkes.

Mr. Hammoud began practice with a high ideal of the legal profession, regarding it as a means of pre- venting rather than promoting litigation. Acting on this conviction, he uniformly advised clients to settle difficulties, if possible, without recourse to trial.

Though an entire stranger in Cambridge, and des- titute of the aid of influential friends, he soon gained the confidence of the community, as was shown by his election to several municipal offices-as member of the School Committee and of the Common Council. In 1872-and 1873 he represented Cambridge in the General Court.

In the mean time his legal practice had rapidly in- creased, and in 1873 he was elected city solicitor,-an office which he held continuonsly, by annual election, until March 10, 1886. At this time, having been appointed by Governor Robinson associate justice of the Superior Court, he left a large and increasing legal practice, resigned the office of city solicitor and entered at once upon his duties as judge.

Members of the bar, who practiced in the courts with him, uniformly speak of him as having attained a high standing both. as a counselor and au advo- cate.

As an advocate he showed excellent judgment in the presentation of the evidence before the jury, and was persistent in behalf of his client. His arguments were never long, but strictly confined to the points at issue, and were delivered with a straightforward ear- nestness that was very effective with juries. He was equally strong before the bench.'

The experience which Mr. Hammond had in the courts, and especially that as city solicitor, were an admirable training for his duties as judge. The opinions which he had been called upon to give to the several departments of the city government, and which, in case of litigation, it became his duty to maintain in court, were largely of a judicial char- acter. As a judge he fully maintained the reputa- tion he had acquired as a lawyer.

CHARLES EDWARD POWERS,2 son of Charles and Sarah Brooks Powers, was born in Townsend, May 9, 1834, [See biographical sketch of Charles Powers.] In his boy hood he attended the public schools, and had the advantages and full benefit of a thorough education, having graduated from the institution of New Hamp- ton, N. H., and was afterwards private pupil of Prof. Knight, of New London, N. H., in the higher mathe- matics, for which he had great fondness. He entered Harvard University, at Cambridge, in 1853; gradu- ated and took the degree of A. B. in 1856, after having passed a rigid examination, and was awarded

1 Contributed.

2 Contributed.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

the grade of " magna cum laude." After taking the degree it was his intention to study medicine and surgery, with the view of becoming a surgeon, and for that purpose he entered the medical school in Boston. He had, however, but commenced his new studies, when he learned of the very sudden death of his esteemed father, which event obliged him to leave the school and devote himself to his father's business, which he very successfully carried on for a time, and after settling up the estate he concluded to study law, and entered the Law School of Harvard Uni- versity for that purpose, from which he graduated, and took the degree of LL.B. in 1858. In 1859 he formed a co-partnership with Hon. Linns Child and Linus Mason Child, under the firm-name of Child & Powers, "attorneys and counselers-at-law," and opened law offices in the city of Boston, where they have since remained, Mr. Child, Sr., having died some years ago.

Soon after commencing the active practice of the law the street railways of Boston were beginning to be built and put in operation. Mr. Powers was one of the few only, in those early days, who believed in their success, and he at once embarked in the enterprise, became a large owner, and was made a director and president in several of them. For many years, he and his firm were the acting counsel for many of them, and remain so to this day.

Soon after becoming a resident of Boston Mr. Powers became a very active Free Mason. He was made the Master of a lodge ; for several years was the Eminent Commander of Boston Commandery of Krights Templar ; and for several years was the Grand Master of the Select and Royal Masons of Massachusetts.

Mr. Powers has never been an aspirant for political office. Some years since, and immediately after the great fire in Boston, he was prevailed upon to accept the nomination for the City Council of Boston, and thereupon both political parties put him in nomina- tion, and for two years he was unanimously elected. After serving the two years in the City Council, he was nominated and elected on the " Water Board " of the city, where he served until the water-works were put into the hands of commissioners. It may be said of Mr. Powers that he is regarded as an energetic, saga- cious man, quick to apprehend, fertile in resource, and one who does thoroughly that to which he turns his attention.

Mr. Powers was married in 1858 to Miss H. E. Fessenden, daughter of Hon. Walter Fessenden, of Townsend, and has two daughters-Marion (Mrs. Lamar S. Lowry) and Florence Agnes (Mrs. Henry Mclellan Harding). They have both received an European education, having been abroad six or seven years for that purpose; and while thus abroad, Mr. Powers visited them every year, and made extensive travels with them. In religion Mr. Powers is a Uni- tarian, having become a member of the College

Chapel Church in 1856. He has always enjoyed the best of health, never having had a sick day in his life. To a large degree he inherited his father's noble physique and constitution, and we trust that he may continue to enjoy good health for very many years to come.

SAMUEL KING HAMILTON1 comes from Maine, the good old State that has been nursing mother to so many sons of genius, who have by worthy deeds in other fields, reflected honor on the gracious parent who bore them.

Mr. Hamilton was the youngest son of Benjamin R. and Sarah (Carl) Hamilton, and was born July 27, 1837, at Carl's Corner, in Waterborough, York County, Maine. He was descended from a sturdy, strong- headed Scottish ancestry, which first took root in American soil at Berwick, Me., about 1666. The boyhood and youth of Mr. Hamilton were spent on the home farm, where he became used to the rugged, healthful life of the New England husbandman, and early learned "what trees make shingle," while a naturally strong mind developed with all the rapidity of which surrounding circumstances would permit. A district school furnished the rudiments of knowl- edge, but a hungry and restless mind soon compassed its curriculum, and reached out with still eager long- ing for something larger and better than it had known.

The parents recognized in the last of their six stal- wart sons, as in others before him, the presence of a spirit too aspiring for its native acres, and wisely pro- vided him an opportunity to pursne his studies at Limerick Academy, and later in the Saco High School, where, with enthusiastic diligence under accomplished instructors, the youth of Waterboro' made rapid strides. in the educational course, and in February, 1856, had the courage to apply for the the position of teacher of a village school, and first wielded the emblem of mag- isterial authority in the Ford District of his native town, with conspicuous success.

Leaving the High School in Saco in 1856, with hopes of future usefulness crystallizing into earnest pur- pose to deserve success, and still following the beck - oning hand of fair Science, young Hamilton entered, in September, 1856, the Chandler Scientific Depart- ment of Dartmouth College, and graduated with honor in the class of 1859. He had mostly paid his own way through by teaching school in winters and by other employment, and now with resolute courage and glowing hopes he pressed forward for the final equip- ment for his chosen profession of the law. Before graduating from college he had already entered as a student the busy office of Hon. Ira T. Drew, at Al- fred, Maine, where, remaining several years, varied by teaching school at Wakefield, Massachusetts, and as principal of Alfred Academy, and assisting in a large general practice in York County, he so demonstrated

1 By Chester W. Eaton.

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his capacity and ability in the legal profession, that iu 1862, having been admitted to the York County bar, he was received by Mr. Drew as a partner under the firm-name of Drew & Hamilton. There was no kicking of heels for clients in that office, but the hus- ness of the partnership rapidly expanded, and the firm had a high reputation all over the country. In 1867 the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Hamil- ton opened an office in Biddeford, where he estab- lished his residence and met with ample success. He was an alderman of the city two years, and in 1871 was chosen, as a Democrat, to represent Biddeford in the Maine Legislature, where he made his mark as a busy, influential member. In December, 1872, Mr. Hamilton moved to Wakefield, Massachusetts, enter- ing into partnership with Chester W. Eaton, a col- lege classmate, with law-offices at Boston and Wake- field. This partnership was dissolved in 1878, Mr. Hamilton continuing his office in Boston, where his soundness as an adviser and his ability as an advocate were becoming more and more recognized in the bus- iness world. He retained his residence in Wakefield, where he was highly valued as a citizen and a lawyer. Mr. Hamilton has been greatly interested in the pros- perous development, and especially the educational concerns, of his adopted town. He has served nine years on the Board of School Committee, six years of which time he was chairman of the Board, as chair- man of selectmen two years, and many years as chair- man of trustees of Beebe Town Library, and has as- sisted in the promotion of various important enter- prises in the town. In 1883, when the people of Wakefield were about erecting a handsome and com- modious brick school-house they voted unanimously in open town-meeting that the same should be called the " Hamilton School Building," in recognition of Mr. Hamilton's valuable and public-spirited services in behalf of the Wakefield schools. Mr. Hamilton has been treasurer of the Pine Tree State Club, of Boston, since its organization, and was delegate to the National Democratic Convention in 1880, from the Fifth Congressional District of Massachusetts.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 20

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