USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > New Bedford > History of New Bedford and its vicinity, 1620-1892 > Part 62
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death of Chief Justice Ward, of the Court of Common Pleas in 1839, was appointed his successor. He held this position until 1844, when, with all his associates except Hon. Pliny Merrick, he resigned. In 1842 he re- ceived the degree of LL D. from his alma mater, and three years later the same honorable distinction was conferred upon him by Harvard Univer- sity. He went to Boston to live upon his retiring from the bench and for some years filled the office of commissioner of insolvency, also find- ing agreeable and remunerative employment as chamber counsel. In 1856 he gave up all business and removed to this city, where he re- mained until his death. He was known as an honest man, true and steadfast to his convictions, devoted to his profession, and as a judge, especially as chief justice, he was held in the highest esteem and re- spect by the ablest men at the bar. During the War of the Rebellion he showed his staunch patriotism by upholding and forwarding the cause of freedom and equal rights and was confident from the first of the ultimate triumph of the Union. He died at the residence of his son- in-law, Dr. William A. Gordon, of this city, December 28, 1869.
Hon. Oliver Prescott was born in Westford, Mass., November 25, 1806. He graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1828, coming to New Bedford soon afterward and assuming a position as assistant teacher in the Friend's Academy. Later he studied law in the office of Lemuel Williams and in the Dane Law School, Cambridge, and was admitted to the bar in 1832. He early evinced those sterling traits of character and sound judgment which enter into the composition of a good lawyer and able jurist, and in the short space of three years after his admittance to the bar, he was appointed judge of probate of Bristol County, and in 1846 was made judge of the Police Court of this city. He faithfully performed the duties of both positions until 1858 when the probate judgeship was abolished and that of probate and insolvency created, and he resigned the police judgeship. In fifty-eight years of professional life spent entirely in New Bedford and Bristol County, Judge Prescott gained a reputation as honorable as it was long in years. No practitioner was more careful and thorough in the preparation of his cases, or more fully enjoyed the confidence of his clients. He was undoubtedly one of the best probate judges in the State, being held in the highest possible esteem. He was almost constantly consulted on
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probate matters, long after his retirement from active professional life, and his great knowledge in this branch of the law was due to his long and varied experience as a judge of the Probate Court. He died at his home in New Bedford, June 11, 1890, aged eighty-four years.
On Friday, June 13, 1890, at the opening of the afternoon session of the Superior Court in New Bedford, Hon. Edgar J. Sherman, presid- ing, Mr. Hosea M. Knowlton, district attorney, addressed the court in part as follows :
" May it please the Court: During the present week while your Honor has been sit- ting here, engaged in the conduct of the business of the court, a melancholy event of much more than ordinary interest has taken place in our community. The Hon. Oliver Prescott, venerable in years, the senior member of the bar of this county, if not of the bar of the Commonwealth, after a long life of good works, has peacefully passed to his long rest. It was fifty-six years ago in this court-house, and at this very term of court, that Mr. Prescott was admitted to the bar ; and during the whole of that period, up to a very short time before his death, he was actively engaged in the practice of his pro- fession in this city." After a brief compliment to Judge Prescott's many professional and social virtues, Mr. Knowlton said : " And now as a token of respect to the memory of our venerable brother, I move that this court do now adjourn."
In seconding this motion, the Hon. Alanson Borden paid high tribute to his deceased friend, saying among other things : " I have been ac- quainted with Judge Prescott for more than forty years, and I think I give expression to the prevailing opinion, both among the members of the bar and the community at large, that he was eminently an honest man and eminently a credit to his profession. He has been known for many years as the 'peacemaker of Water street.'"
The following resolutions were adopted on June 26, 1890, at the session of the Superior Court in New Bedford, Judge Sherman presiding:
" Resolved, That the death during the term of this court of the senior of our bar, Oliver Prescott, admonishes his professional brethren to suspend our avocation and to perpetuate upon the record of the court our appreciation of his virtues and his acquire- ments, and our sorrow at the loss of one so honored and so loved. His knowledge of the common law and of all phases of the probate system was very extensive, and a long, careful and conscientious practice made him an excellent adviser and useful lawyer. The promotion of litigation was no delight to bim. Where peace was possible he sought it with all his gentle influence; where it was not possible, his duty to his clients and to the court was always faithfully, honorably and well performed. His relations with his brethren of the bar were of the kindliest nature. His great age never separated him from our youngest member. No harsh expression or conduct was his, and if such were
Walter Cuffed
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ever used toward him they never rankled or rested in his memory. He was a Christian gentleman. We believe he never had an enemy.
Resolved, That a committee of the bar present these resolutions to the court now in session, with the request that they may be entered on its record, and that a copy be sent to the family of Judge Prescott."
Upon the adoption of these resolutions the following members of the bar spoke briefly of their highly respected fellow member: Alanson Borden, William W. Crapo, Lemuel T. Wilcox, William H. Johnson, James Morton, Edwin L. Barney, and Justice Sherman.
Hon. George Marston was born in Barnstable, October 15, 1821, and his early education was received at the common schools. He com- pleted a course of study in the law school of Harvard College and was admitted to the bar in 1845. He had the great advantage of acquir- ing much professional knowledge through unlimited intercourse with his uncle, Nymphus Marston, for many years one of the best and most in- fluential members of the Barnstable bar. At the time of his removal to New Bedford in 1869, he had already gained for himself wide-spread distinction as district attorney for the Southern District, and upon the death of Joshua C. Stone, of the firm of Stone & Crapo, Mr. Marston filled the place and the firm of Marston & Crapo was formed. Subse- quently the firm became enlarged by the addition of other members, and in 1878 was divided into two firms, Marston & Cobb, and Crapo, Clifford & Clifford. With the former Judge Marston was connected continually down to the time of his death. He was registrar of probate of Barnstable county from March, 1853, to December, 1854, and judge of probate from 1854 to July 1, 1858. From 1860 to 1879 he was district attorney for the Southern District, and it was while holding this office that he removed to New Bedford. Upon his election to the office of attorney general in 1889 he resigned the former position, and the members of the Bristol bar united in a public testimony of their ap- preciation of his public worth and distinguished services. He declined a renomination for the office of attorney general in 1882, having been three years successively re-elected to that position, and from that time on was not identified with any public office, but continued the practice of his profession. His last case was argued before the court at Plym- outh six weeks prior to his death. The following is taken from a biographical sketch of Mr. Marston, written by a friend and associate some years ago, and expresses forcibly the true character of the man :
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" He retired after a quarter of a century of service as prosecuting attorney with a record of unsullied integrity, great ability, and the affectionate regard of all classes of people rarely equaled. But it was not only as a public officer that he was known and respected. For fifteen years scarcely a cause of the first magnitude was tried on the civil side of the court in which Mr. Marston was not engaged, and in which his arguments to the jury were masterpieces of forensic ability. Nor was his work confined entirely to the strict line of his profession. As president of the Nantucket and Cape Cod Steamboat Company, director of the Old Colony Railroad Company, the Citizens' National Bank of New Bedford, and the Quincy Mutual Fire Insurance Company, he displayed business ability of a high order.
" And so the members of the New Bedford bar feel that the question which was in their minds on that beautiful winter's day in January, 1869, when Mr Marston was invited to leave Barnstable and come to this city, to fill the important vacancy created by the death of Joshua C. Stone, was fully answered, and that with untiring energy and pre- eminent ability, with marvelous resources and quickness in their use, with the keenest conception of the true relation of facts to each other, with an unlimited fertility of expression and effective and persuasive diction, all united with an impressive physique, and with all these great powers held in place and controlled by a fullness of heart which won the affection, and a character of perfect integrity which commanded the respect of all, George Marston worthily and completely continued during his life the succession of the leaders of the bar of Southern Massachusetts." He died at his residence in this city, August 14, 1883, and was buried at Falmouth.
Lincoln Flagg Brigham was born in Cambridge (port), Mass., October 4, 1819, and was the youngest son of Lincoln and Lucy (Forbes) Brig- ham. When partially fitted for college he entered the counting- room of Samuel Austin, jr., a well-known merchant of Boston, engaged in the Calcutta trade, but remained in this position but two or three years, when he abandoned it and prepared for college under the private tuition of Rev. David Peabody, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1842. He then entered the Dane Law School of Harvard University, and remained there until January, 1844, when he began the study of
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the law in the office of Clifford & Colby, at New Bedford. He was ad- mitted to the bar at the June term of the Bristol County Court of Com- mon Pleas, at New Bedford, in 1845. The same year he was received as a partner by John H. Clifford, and when the latter became governor of Massachusetts, in 1853, he appointed Mr. Brigham to the office of district-attorney of the Southern District. This office he held until 1856, when the office, becoming elective, he was elected to and con- tinned it until he received the appointment of an associate justice on the establishment of the Superior Court. Upon the promotion of Seth Ames to the Supreme Judicial Court, January 28, 1869, Gov. William Chaflin appointed Judge Brigham to the chief justiceship of the Superior Court. He resided in New Bedford from 1844 to 1860, in Boston from 1860 to 1866, since which time he has resided in Salem, Mass. He retired from public life in 1890. He married, on October 20, 1847, Eliza Endicott Swain, daughter of Thomas Swain, of New Bedford. Judge Brigham's professional career was one of continued and marked ability and constant success, and he enjoys in his declining years the reputation of an enviable record among the members of the bar of the Common- wealthı.
Robert C. Pitman was a native of New Bedford, where he received his early education. He came to the bar in 1847, and was a partner for a number of years with Thomas D. Eliot, then one of the leading lawyers of the Commonwealth. In 1858 he was appointed judge of the Police Court, which position he held until 1864. In 1869 he was made a judge of the Superior Court, and held the office until his death, in March, 1891. Upon his retirement from the police justiceship he was elected to the State Senate, where he proved himself an able speaker and a leading statesman. He possessed remarkable judgment, and ex- cellent judicial qualities, being in every way fitted for the highest court in the State. In his legislative career he was an active temperance worker, and was identified with many questions that concerned the best interests of humanity.
Present Lawyers of New Bedford .- Charles Thomas Bonney, born at Rochester Mass., April 28, 1832. He was educated at Rochester Academy, Phillips Academy at Andover, and entered Harvard in 1848, graduated in 1852. He studied law one year with John Eddy, esq., a
83
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HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.
brother-in-law in Providence, R. I., and at the Harvard Law School, and then in the office of Hon. Thomas D. Eliot, in New Bedford, and was admitted to the bar in October, 1855. He has been engaged largely in the practice of admiralty and maritime business, and was assistant United States counsel in the Court of Alabama Claims during its term between 1874 and 1876, and also in its subsequent terms between 1882 and 1885. Mr. Bonney has been a member of the School Board of New Bedford for nearly thirty years. Was representative in the State Legislature in 1863 and 1864.
Edwin L. Barney was born in Swansea, April 1, 1827. He received his early education in high school and Brown University, afterwards at Yale Law School, and completed his law studies with Timothy G. Coffin, in New Bedford. He was admitted to the bar October, 1850, and has practiced here ever since. In 1851 he was appointed master in chancery, an office which he has held continually to the present time. He was elected to the State Senate in 1865 and 1866. He was judge advocate on General Butler's staff from 1869 to 1875, and has been city solicitor several times.
Lemuel T. Wilcox was born at Fairhaven, Mass., August 8, 1835. His preparatory education was received at Williston Seminary, East Taunton, Mass., and he graduated from Yale College in 1860. He studied law in Eliot & Stetson's office, New Bedford, and was admitted to the bar in 1862, and has practiced here ever since.
Wendell H. Cobb was born at Sandwich, Mass., October 10, 1838, and received his early education in common schools, Paul Wing's Academy, Spring Hill, Sandwich; Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., Dartmouth College, and graduated in June, 1861. He studied law with Stone & Crapo, of New Bedford, and was admitted to the bar in June, 1865, and began practicing in New Bedford, where he has since remained. He has held the office of city solicitor two years, was alder- man of the Fifth Ward from 1885 to 1888 and of the Third Ward in 1891. He has also been a member of the school committee for several years.
Charles W. Clifford was born in New Bedford August 19, 1844. He was prepared for Harvard at the Friends' Academy. He graduated in July, 1865, and began the study of law under the direction of Hon. E.
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H. Bennett, of Taunton, of Hon. John C. Dodge, of Boston, and at the Harvard Law School. He was admitted to the bar in New Bedford in the June term, 1868, and began practice in the office formerly occupied by his father. He became a member of the firm of Marston & Crapo in 1869, of which he remained a member until 1878, since which time he has been an active partner of the firm of Crapo, Clifford & Clifford. He was appointed one of the commissioners to revise the judiciary system of the Commonwealth in 1876.
Thomas A. Codd was born at Barbadoes, British West Indies, Octo- ber 7, 1839. He was educated at private schools and Harrison's College, graduating from King's College at Barbadoes in 1859. He studied law with E. L. Barney, in New Bedford and was admitted to the Bristol County bar in 1881 and has practiced in New Bedford ever since.
Alexander McLellan Goodspeed, born at Falmouth, Mass., Decem- 31, 1847. His education was received at public schools and Academy of Falmouth and Phillips Academy. He studied law first with Mars- ton & Crapo and afterward with Marston & Cobb. He was admitted to the bar March 3, 1880, and has since practiced in New Bedford. For a number of years he has been a director in Falmouth National Bank and counsel for the bank.
James L. Gillingham was born at Chelsea, Mass., July 12, 1857, where he received his early education. He graduated from Fairhaven High School and studied law with Stetson & Greene and was admitted to the spring term of the Judicial Court, April 20, 1880. He has since practiced in New Bedford where he has held the office of public admin- istrator and commissioner to qualify civil officers.
Frank A Milliken, born in New Bedford March 18, 1854, and was educated in public schools, Edward A. H. Ellis's private school, Law School of Harvard University, from which he graduated with the degree of LL.B., in 1875. He continued his law studies in the office of Mars- ton & Crapo and was admitted to the bar in 1876. He has been city solicitor, member of the common council, school commissioner and is now associate justice of the Third District Court of Bristol County, hav- ing been appointed by Gov. A. H. Rice in 1878.
William C. Parker was born at New Bedford, February 19, 1850, and received his early eduation at the New Bedford public schools and Al-
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bany, N. Y., Law School connected with the Union University. He studied law with Barney & Knowlton and was admitted to the bar in 1876. His practice has been prosecuted in New Bedford. He was elected to the State House of Representatives in 1873 and 1874 and was city soli- citor in 1878 and 1881. He was a member of the common council for several years.
George Fox Tucker was born in New Bedford in 1852. He was edu- cated in Friends' Academy, New Bedford, and Friends' Boarding school, Providence, R. I. Studied law with Messrs. Marston & Crapo, of New Bedford, and at Boston University Law School ; graduated in class of 1875. He was admitted to the bar at New Bedford, March, 1876, and has practiced in New Bedford and Boston. He was a member of the school committee of New Bedford in 1881, and represented that city in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, 1890, '91, and '92.
Arthur Eben Perry, born at New Bedford March 3, 1857. His early education was received in private schools and Friends' Academy, and at Harvard University in 1878. He was in the office of Marston & Crapo for six months, and a year in the office of Crapo, Clifford & Clifford, and one year at the Boston University Law School. He entered Attorney-General Marston's office in Boston as a student and was admitted to the bar July 9, 1879. He has since practiced in New Bedford where he has an office with H. M. Knowlton. Has been a member of the common council and city solicitor two years.
Daniel Tucker Devoll, born at New Bedford May 3, 1857, and was educated at the public schools, graduating from the High School in 1875. He was under the direction of private tutors for two years and entered the Law School of Boston University in 1877, graduating in the spring of 1879. He studied in the law office of Thomas M. Stetson in New Bedford and was admitted to the bar at the spring term of the Superior Court in 1880, practicing in Mr. Stetson's office for two years. He thon established an office with A. E. Clark and has always practiced in New Bedford. He was a member of the common council for three years and is at present chairman of the school committee of the town of Acushnet.
William M. Butler was born in New Bedford January 29, 1861: He received his education in the local public schools and graduated from
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the Boston University Law School in the class of 1884. He was admit- ted to the bar September 14, 1883, was a member of the cominon coun- cil in 1887, and was elected to State House of Representatives in 1890 and 1891, and is State Senator elect from this district.
Benjamin B. Barney, born in New Bedford January 25, 1868. Was educated at the New Bedford High School and graduated LL.B. at the Boston University, June, 1889, and was admitted to the bar the same month. Was elected to the House of Representatives of Massachusetts in 1891, being the youngest man ever elected to that body from New Bedford.
Henry Barnard Worth, born in Brooklyn, N. Y., February 24, 1858. Was educated in the common schools of Nantucket and was at Amherst College for three years. He studied law at the office of Stetson & Greene, New Bedford, being admitted to the bar in January, 1885. He has since practiced in New Bedford.
Lemuel B. Holmes was born at Rochester, Mass., July 26, 1853, and received his early education at the common schools of Matta- poisett and Charlestown ; Pierce Academy, and Massachusetts Agri- cultural College, graduating in the class of 1872. He studied law with Thomas M. Stetson in New Bedford and was admitted to the bar in September, 1875. He has been city solicitor upon eight occasions, holding the office abont seven and one-half years. He is at present associated with the law firm of Stetson & Greene.
Francis B. Greene was born in 1844, graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1865, was admitted to the bar in 1869, and thereafter commenced the practice of law with Thomas M. Stetson, esq., under the style of Stetson & Greene ; subsequently Lemuel Le Baron Holmes, esq., and Eliot D. Stetson, esq., were admitted into the firm. He re- tired from the active practice of law in 1888.
Eliot Dawes Stetson was born in New Bedford, July 27, 1861. His education was received at old Friends' Academy and Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1882. He studied law in the office of Stetson & Greene and at Harvard Law School, was admitted to the bar June 9, 1885, entering the fiem of Stetson & Greene the following month, and has continued to practice with them to the present time. Was a member of the common council in 1889, 1890 and 1891.
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Francis Wilder Tappan was born in Boston, Mass., December 29, 1817. He first studied law at Johnstown, N. Y., until 1838, afterward in New York city from 1839 to 1841, and was admitted to the bar in the latter year. He practiced in Ravenna, Ohio, from 1842 to 1853, was commercial agent in Philadelphia and New York from 1853 to 1869. He removed to Fairhaven in 1870 and opened an office in New Bedford. He was appointed a special justice of the Third District Court of Bristol County in 1875.
Robert F. Raymond was born in Stamford, Conn., June 15, 1858, and was prepared for college in New Bedford High School. Studied at Wesleyan University, Harvard College and Law School. He was ad- mitted to the bar at the June term of 1883 and has been in practice in New Bedford ever since.
Joseph I. da Terra was born at Fayal, Azores, November 30, 1865, was educated at Fayal public schools and graduated from Boston Uni- versity Law School in 1885. He was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1885 and has since practiced law in New Bedford.
Clifford P. Sherman was born in New Bedford, September 13, 1861. He received his education at New Bedford public schools, graduating from High School in June, 1879. Studied law with Crapo, Clifford & Clifford, and was admitted to the bar June 14, 1886. He always prac- ticed his profession in New Bedford.
Thomas F. Desmond was born in Limerick, Ireland, June 17, 1851. His early education was received at public schools and High School of Braintree, Mass. Attended the Bridgewater State Normal School and studied law in the office of Hon. Asa French in Boston. Admitted to the bar in June, 1872. Went into the office of Hon. Edward Avery, of Braintree, and remained there for three years, coming to New Bedford in April, 1879, where he has continued to practice. Was registrar of voters in 1885, and chairman of the board for the four years following.
William Henry Johnson was born at Richmond, Va., July 16, 1811. Mr. Johnson educated himself by self-study. He began to study law in the office of Francis L. Porter in 1860. He was admitted to the bar in 1864 and has continued to practice in New Bedford since. He was a member of the common council in 1880 and 188 1.
Emanuel Sullavou was born at Richmond, Va., August 21, 1845. His education was received at New Bedford High School and Exeter,
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N. H., and Cambridge, Mass. He first studied law in the office of Alanson Borden and afterwards with Marston & Crapo. He has prac- ticed law in New Bedford since his admission to the bar. Was a mem- ber of the city council in 1878, and is at present a member of the board of registrars.
Isaiah C. Dade was born in Washington, D.C., April 11, 1865, and was educated at the public schools in Washington and New Bedford. Completed his academical course of study at Lincoln University of Pennsylvania. Studied law with Wendell H. Cobb, of New Bedford, and was admitted to the bar October 10, 1888. He began practice in New Bedford where he has since remained.
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