History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 5

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1706

USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 5

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The last argument of Mr. Eddy was at the October term in 1847, in the case of Noble Cannedy against William Haskins, in which the parties went to the court on an agreed statement of facts. A devise of real estate was made to Noble Cannedy, the father of the demandant, " during his natural life, and at his decease to the eldest malc heir, and after his decease to his male heirs and assigns forever." At the time of making the devise, Noble Cannedy, the father of the demandant, had no issue, but he afterwards had several children, of whom the demandant, who was the third son, alone survived him. During his life he conveyed the property to his eldest son, Barnabas, then living, who died before his father, having pre- viously conveyed the property to the respondent tenant. Mr. Eddy appeared for the demandant, and William Baylics for the respondent, and the argument on cach side was long and exhaustive. The court held " that the devisee took a life estate only, and that at his decease his surviving son took an estate entail male," and the tenant was defaulted.

Mr. Eddy died in 1860 at the age of eighty years. Though in a long life of professional labor and honest usefulness he had acquired reputation and honors, he said in his old age that " he would hardly give a peck of refuse wheat for all that is called fame in the world."

NATHANIEL MORTON DAVIS was descended from Thomas Davis, of Albany, who there married Katha-

rine Wendell, by whom he had Robert, 1708; John ; Catherine, 1714, who married John Creecy, of North Carolina ; Thomas, 1722 ; David, 1724 ; Benjamin, and Milcs. Of these Thomas came to Plymouth and married, in 1753, Merey, daughter of Barnabas Hedge, by whom he had Sarah, 1754, who married Le Baron Bradford, of Bristol, R. I .; Thomas, 1756, who held the position of State senator from Suffolk County, and State treasurer, and died in 1805; Wil- liam, 1758; John, 1761, a graduate of Harvard in 1781, United States comptroller of the currency, and judge of the United States District Court; Samuel, 1765; Isaac P., 1771 ; and Wendell, 1776, a gradu- ate of Harvard in 1796. Of these William, a suc- eessful merchant in Plymouth, married in 1781, Rebecca, daughter of Nathaniel Morton, and had William, 1783; Nathaniel Morton, 1785 ; Thomas, 1791; and Elizabeth, 1803, who married first Alex- ander Bliss, and is now the wife of Hon. George Ban- croft. Of these Nathaniel Morton is the subject of this sketch. He was born in Plymouth, and fitted for college in its public schools. He graduated at Har- vard in 1804, in the class with Thomas Aspinwall, Benjamin Merrill, Benjamin R. Nichols, Andrews Norton, and Asher Ware, among whom he secured a high rank as a man of thoughtful and scholarly habits. He studied law in Plymouth, and was there admitted to the bar. During the early years of his professional life he devoted himself to its labors, always giving, however, gratuitous advice and counsel to his neigh- bors and fellow-citizens, and seeking by every effort to preserve peace and harmony in the community to which he was attached by the associations of his birth. The cast of his mind was similar to that of William Baylics, one of his contemporaries at the bar, and in a wider field of activity, with the pressure of poverty to spur him on, he could not have failed to reach the highest honors of his profession. His judicial mind, thoroughly impregnated with legal lore, eminently fitted him for higher and more responsible duties than his studious habit and love of ease would have per- mitted him to assume. He never sought honors, but such as he won sought him. He was at one time president of the Court of Sessions, he repeatedly rep- rcsented his native town in the General Court, and under the administration of Governor John Davis was one of the Executive Council. As a presiding officer and speaker he excelled ; always timid and nervous in preparation, but in execution never failing to reach the highest standard. With a lower idcal of intellectual work, he would have been more courageous and would have accomplished more. As it is, many of his eoncisc, compact, chaste, and well-rounded

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THE COURTS AND BAR.

sentences are remembered by students of oratory as models in the use of language. His form and bear- ing lent a dignity and impressiveness to his speech and a grace to every occasion in which he was called upon to take a prominent part.

He married, in 1817, Harriet Lazell. daughter of Judge Nahum Mitchell, of East Bridgewater, and had William. 1818. a graduate of Harvard in 1837, whose promising career as a member of the Plymouth bar was prematurely closed by death in 1853; Abby Mortin, 1821. who married Hon. Robert B. Hall, of Plymouth ; and Elizabeth Bliss, who married Henry G. Andrews, of Boston. Mr. Davis died during a temporary residence in Boston, July 29, 1848, and was buried in his native town.

KILBORN WHITMAN was descended from John Whitman, who first appeared in Weymouth in 1638. John Whitman, by wife Mary, had Thomas (1629), John. Abiah, Zechariah (1644), Sarah, Mary, Eliza- beth, Hannah, and Judith. Of these, Thomas, of Bridgewater, born in England, married in 1656 Abi- gail. daughter of Nicholas Byram. and had John (165S), Ebenezer. Nicholas, Susanna, Mary, Naomi, and Hannah. Of these, Ebenezer, of Bridgewater, married in 1699 Abigail Burnham, and had Abigail (1702). Zechariah (1704), John (1707), Hannah (1709). and Ebenezer (1713). Of these, Zechariah, of Bridgewater, married Eleanor Bennet, of Middle- boro', and had Samuel ( 1734), Abiah (1735), Zecha- riah (1738), Eleanor (1739), Benjamin ( 1741), Abi- gail |1743), Ruth (1746), Jonah (1749), and Eben- ezer and Sarah, twins (1752). Of these, Zechariah, of Bridgewater, married Abigail Kilborn, of Litchfield, Conn., and had Kilborn (1765), Benjamin (1768), Cyrus (1773), Angelina (1777), and Cassandra. Of these, Kilborn is the subject of this sketch. He was born in Bridgewater, Aug. 17, 1765, and fitted for college in the schools of that town. He graduated at Harvard in 1785, with Nathan Hayward, of Plyin- outh, Jabez Upham, and Henry Ware among his classmates. After leaving college he prepared for the ministry, under the instruction of William Shaw, D.D., of Marshfield, and was soon after settled over the parish in Pembroke, where he continued to hold his residence until his death. While pursuing his studies in Marshfield he became a frequent visitor in the family of Isaac Winslow, a graduate of Harvard in 1762; and a physician of wide and deserved reputa- tion. He afterwards married Elizabeth, a daughter of Dr. Winslow, and had eleven children, -Isaac Wins- low, born Sept. 13, 1789, a graduate of Harvard in 1808; Charles Kilborn, Aug. 25, 1792; Elizabeth Winslow, Dec. 1, 1795, who married Samuel K. Wil-

liams, of Boston; John Winslow, Dec. 24, 1798, a member of the Suffolk bar; James, April 24, 1801, who died young; Sarah Anr, Oct. 11, 1803, who married Hon. Benjamin Randall, of Bath ; Caroline, Sept. 2, 1805; Maria Warren, May 15, 1808, who married Frederick Bryant, of New Bedford ; James Hawley, April 17, 1810, a member of the Plymouth bar ; Frances Gay, Sept. 2, 1813, who married Jacob Hersey, of New Bedford ; and William Henry, Jan. 26, 1817, a member of the Plymouth bar and clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court, the Superior Court, and ex officio clerk of the Board of County Com- missioners.

After ten years' service in the ministry Mr. Whit- man studied law in the office of his brother, Benjamin Whitman, of Hanover, who afterwards left an exten- sive practice, in which he had won an enviable repu- tation, and opened an office in Boston, where he be- came one of the justices of the Police Court. Mr. Whitman was admitted to the bar in Plymouth before the year 1800, and by his ready comprehension of the principles of law and their practical application, he soon drew about him a circle of clients, which continued to enlarge as the successful issue of his efforts before a jury increased his reputation. To his ample knowledge of law he added a keen insight of the characters of men, their tastes, their sympathies, their temperament and prejudices, which made him a formidable antagonist for those less richly equipped with the paraphernalia of a successful advocate. After the passage of the law of 1811, re-establishing the office of county prosecuting attorney, he was appointed by the Governor to that office, and continued to per- form its duties until 1832, when the State was di- vided into districts, and district attorneys took the place of those for the county.

For many years he held also the position by ap- pointment of the Governor of overseer of the Marsh- pee and Herring Pond tribes of Indians, for the per- formance of whose duties he was specially fitted by the strict integrity, the love of just dealing, and the tender regard for the poor and unfortunate, which were his prominent characteristics. He died at Pem- broke on the 11th of December, 1835, at the age of seventy, and was there buried.

JARED WHITMAN Was for nearly seventy years connected with the Plymouth County bar, and at the time of his death was the oldest, and also one of the most highly respected, members of the legal profession in this portion of New England. He was a lineal descendant in the sixth generation from John Whit- man, the English emigrant, who settled in Weymouth in 1636, the line being John1, Henry2, Nicholas3,

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

Eleazer4, Ephraim5, Jared6, and was born on the old homestead in Abington, Mass. (now South Abington), Sept. 27, 1784. He prepared for college at Wrentham, and completed his education at Brown University, from which he was graduated in 1805. He became a stu- dent of law under Judge Kilborn Whitman, of Pem- broke, and after his admission to the bar as a practic- ing lawyer (1809), began his long and useful legal life by a short residence at Nantucket, from which place he removed to his native town, where he ever after resided. He was a farmer as well as lawyer, as was customary with many of the legal profession in those days.

Mr. Whitman married, first, Abigail Barrell. Their children were Elizabeth R. (Mrs. Enoch E. Brown) and Abigail B. (Mrs. William T. Grennell). He married, second, Mrs. Susanna Hayden, daughter of Hon. Aaron Hobart. They had five children-Caro- line H., now residing on the old homestead ; Augus- tus (deceased), Jared, Susan A. H. (Mrs. William R. Vining), and Ephraim.

In person Mr. Whitman was of dignified bcaring, and conferred honor upon the numerous official sta- tions to which he was called. As a man and a friend he cannot be too warmly spoken of. So manly was he by instinct that no one could decm him capable of a mean action ; so broad and charitable in his opinion of others as to lead him to overlook their faults. The feeling of vindictiveness he would not or could not cherish, and as a lawyer or justice would never en- courage litigation, preferring the loss of business to the loss of self-respect. He stirred up no strife, and was pre-cininently a " peacemaker." His relations with his brethren of the bar were always cordial, and his well-known form and face ever commanded respect and, in his advanced years, veneration. He was often called to duties of public and official character. In 1819 he was one of the incorporators of the Plymonth County Agricultural Society ; he was chosen selectman the same year, and held that office nine years ; he held the position of justice of the peace for a long period, and up to within a few years of his death ; he was a delegate to the convention assembled at Boston, Nov. 15, 1820, to revise the Constitution of the common- wealth of Massachusetts; in 1826 he was appointed by Governor Lincoln commissioner of highways for Plymouth County ; he represented Abington in tho State Legislature of 1827, and served as State sena- tor from Plymouth district in 1838-39, and upon the passage of the act by the State Legislaturo creating boards of county commissioners, he was appointed by the Governor one of the three commissioners consti- tuting the first board of Plymouth County, his asso-

ciates being Judge Weston, of Middleboro', and Mr. Collamer, of Scituate, and was continued in this position nine years, until the office became elective ; in 1850 he was made trial justice. In all these trusts Mr. Whitman hewed to the line of an unshaken pur- . pose, and that purpose was the right, and from this he could never be coaxed, flattered, or forced. While a county commissioner the board, in its judicial ca- pacity, was the first court of the State to decide against granting licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquors, and for this action the commissioners received much opposition and fierce denunciation, and a petition, bearing many signatures, was presented to the Gov- ernor asking their removal from office for what it styled their " arbitrary" and " unconstitutional" action. In these days of temperance we can scarcely realize the intensity of popular clamor calling for their re- moval, but they never wavered, and the Governor approved and indorsed the decision of the board.

Usually quiet, retiring, and reserved in manner, he generally uscd few words, but they expressed much ; yet he had a few intimate friends by whom his con- versations and opinions were highly prized. A deaf- ness which afflicted him many years threw him much out of social life, and doubtless had much to do with the reserve of his nature. In politics he was Federal and Old-Line Whig, of the school of Webster and Clay, with whom he was contemporary, and after the death of the Whig party he became a Republican. He was for many years a member of the Union Cal- vinistic Church, and orthodox in his belief. He held pronounced religious opinions, but was not a sectarian. and cheerfully allowed the same liberty of conscience to others which he claimed for himself. He was much interested in Sabbath-school work, and was one of the first to establish a Sabbath-school in connection with the church at South Abington, and during his last years he had a class of educated young men who carnestly listened to the words of wisdom from his lips. His high sense of honor, his cool and deliberate judgment, his studious appli- cation to whatever business came before him, his in- terest in all public and educational matters, and what- ever pertained to the improvement of the community, made him an invaluable associate, citizen, and friend. He was a discriminating reader and possessed of a fine literary taste. He enjoyed and appreciated humor, and in writing expressed himself clearly, concisely, and correctly. His strong inherited constitution enabled him to ontlive all his youthful contempora- ries. He kept a vigorous mind,-his knowledge of public affairs and -of legal changes,-so as to give clear and accurate opinions on law and current events,

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THE COURTS AND BAR.

until after ninety years of age. He died May 23, 1878, in his ninety-fourth year. The accompanying engraving is from a photograph taken at eighty-seven. JOHN BOIES THOMAS was descended from Wil- liam Thomas, one of the merchant adventurers of London, who assisted the Pilgrims in their enter- prise. The ancestor. born about 1573. came from Yarmouth. England. on the " Marye and Ann." in 1637. and settled in Marshfield with his son. Na- thaniel, who was born in 1606. Nathaniel had six children, -William [born 1638). Nathaniel (1643), Mary. Elizabeth (1646). Jeremiah, and Dorothy. Of these. Nathaniel. of Marshfield and Plymouth, married in 1664 Deborah, daughter of Nicholas Jacob, of Hingham, and had Nathaniel, Joseph, Deborah. Dorothy, William, Elisha, Joshua, Caleb, Isaac, and Mary. He married. second. in 1696, Elizabeth, widow of William Condy. Of these chil- dren, William. of Boston. born in 1671, married, in 1701, Abigail Henchman, daughter of Samuel Ruck, and had Margaret. He married, second, in 1717, Anne, widow of John Breck and daughter of Rich- ard Patershall. and had William (1718), Anne (1720 , Anne again (1721). Of thesc, William, of Boston and Plymouth. married, in 1739, Mary, daughter of Peter Papillon, of Boston, and had William. Ann, Elizabeth, and Peter. He married, second. Widow Mercy Logan, daughter of Joseph Bridgham, of Boston, and removed to Plymouth, where he had Joshua (1751), Margaret (1753), Joseph (1755), Nathaniel (1756), John (1758), and Mary (1759. He married, third, in 1771, Mary, daughter of Consider Howland, of Plymouth. Of these children, Joshua, of Plymouth, an officer in the Revolution. for many years judge of probate, and the first president of the Pilgrim Society, married Isabella Stevenson, of Boston, and had John Boies (1767), William (1788), and Joshua Barker, all of whom were members of the Plymouth bar. William, a graduate of Harvard in 1307, survived both his brothers, and at his death. in 1882, was the oldest graduate. He was at one time high sheriff of the county of Plymouth, and supplemented his profes- sional labors by thoughtful and well-written contribu- tions to the columns of the press.

study of law and was finally admitted to the bar. So far as the author of this notice is aware he never engaged in practice, but he was so long connected with the courts, and so highly esteemed as one of their most conspicuous officers, that his name appropriately finds a place in this record. Aside from his profession he was a man of large influenee and varied usefulness in his native town. The town records bear witness to the confidence in his wisdom and fidelity and the respect for his ability and skill felt by his fellow- citizens during a long term of service in their behalf. The field of his usefulness was chiefly within the range of his office and the limits of the town, though in 1820 he was a delegate to the Constitutional Con- vention, and in 1840 one of the Harrison Presidential electors.

He married Mary, daughter of Isaac Le Baron, of Plymouth, and at his death, which occurred Dee. 2, 1852, left two children,-Martha Le Baron, born in 1816, who married Isaac N. Stoddard, and Hannah Stevenson, born in 1821, who married Charles G. Davis, a sketch of whom is included in this record.

THOMAS PRINCE BEAL was the son of David and Lydia (Prince) Beal, and was born in Kingston Feb. 12, 1786. He graduated at Harvard in 1806, in the class with Dr. Jacob Bigelow, Hon. Alexander Hill Everett, and George William Lyman, of Boston, and John Boies Thomas, of Plymouth. He studied law with Kilborn Whitman, of Pembroke, and was admitted to the bar at Plymouth. Before studying law he engaged in business pursuits, which he soon rc- linquished for the more eongenial profession of which he afterwards became a distinguished member. He was contemporary with William Baylies, Zechariah Eddy, and Charles J. Holmes, and shared with them the verdicts of Plymouth County juries. Though perhaps not so well equipped with chapter and verse of the law as either of these competitors in the legal arena, he al- ways made prompt and skillful use of the weapons he wore, and, like an agile swordsman, often succeeded in disarming his more powerful antagonists. Quick at repartee, sharp in his denunciations, bold in his attacks, often the boldest when his cause was the weakest, he would lay siege to a jury with such dash and courage that often, like the reckless soldier in battle, he would win the fight when disaster and defeat seemed unavoidable and sure.

John Boies, the subject of this sketch, was born in Plymouth on the 28th of July, 1787, and graduated at Harvard in 1806. Though not then a member of Occasionally he took an active part in political cam- paigns, and always held his audiences well in hand by the combined logic and humor which characterized his speeches. In the campaign preceding the election of President Harrison he took special interest, and the profession, he was appointed clerk of the courts in 1812, and continued in office until his resignation (in 1850), when he was succeeded by Mr. Whitman, the present incumbent. During the performance of his official duties he devoted much of his time to the | more than once the author of this sketch heard him

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

before an open-air gathering, and remembers well the striking alternations of silence and laughter with which his masterly arguments and his brilliant sallies of wit were received. Not long after the close of this campaign he represented Plymouth County in the Massachusetts Senate, where his abilities found a fresh and extended field for their useful exercise.

Mr. Beal married Betsey, daughter of Col. Joseph Sampson, of Kingston, and died July 16, 1852, leaving a son, Joseph Sampson Beal, a graduate of Harvard in 1835, and a member of the Plymouth bar.

NAHUM MITCHELL was a descendant, in the fourth degree, from Experience Mitchell, who came to Plymouth in the third ship, the " Ann," in 1623. He was the son of Cushing Mitchell and Jennet, his wife, who was a daughter of Hugh Orr, of Bridgewater, but a native of Lochwinnoeh, in Scot- land, and was born Feb. 12, 1769. Having been fitted by Beza Hayward, of Bridgewater, he entered Harvard College in 1785, and graduated in course in 1789, with what reputation for scholarship is not known; but his aeeuracy in matters of scholarship in after-life would seem to render it certain that he could have been no mean proficient. His part at commencement was a syllogistic disputation, with Asaph Churchill, on the thesis, " Gravitas non est essentialis materia proprietas." After leaving col- lege he read law with John Davis, of Plymouth, afterwards judge of the United States District Court, was admitted to the bar in November, 1792, and, soon after, opened an office in his native place.

He soon attraeted attention in his profession, and the estimation in which he was held by the public, and by those who had the appointing power in the State, appears in the many offices which were from time to time conferred upon him.

He was nine years a representative in the General Court, seven from Bridgewater and two from Boston ; a member of the Eighth Congress of the United States, senator from Plymouth County from 1813 to 1814, and a member of the Executive Council from 1814 to 1820. On the abolition of the old County Court of Common Pleas, and the establishment of a Circuit Court of Common Pleas in 1811, he, though not of the same political party with the ruling power, was appointed one of the justices of the new court for Southern Cireuit, comprehending the counties of Plymouth, Bristol, and Barnstable, and, on the res- ignation of Thomas B. Adams, succeeded him as chief justice. In 1822 he was chosen State treas- urer, and held the office for five conseentive years. Besides these offices he received appointments under

special commissions. He was appointed, with Ed- ward H. Robbins, of Milton, and Nicholas Tilling- hast, of Taunton, in 1801, to settle a disputed bound- ary-line between Massachusetts and Rhode Island ; and in 1823, with Mr. Robbins and George Bliss, of Springfield, to settle the line between Massachusetts and Connecticut. His last appointment was chair- man of the first commission for exploring the country from Boston to Albany for a railroad.1

The performance of the various duties of these high and responsible offices was confided to compe- tent and safe hands. Judge Mitehell was a man of great industry, quickness of perception, and eaution, and united to a diseriminating judgment the attent- iveness and precision of the mathematician. His habits of inquiry were so remarkable that he was never satisfied with investigation, nor desisted from it, so long as he had less than all the light he could obtain on the subject. He was a man that did, and did well, whatever he undertook.

As a lawyer he was distinguished for sound learn- ing and fair and honorable practice. The late Chief Justice Parsons, not long before his death, at an evening party in Plymouth, one of whom was the venerable and Rev. Dr. Kendall, when the name of Nahum Mitchell was mentioned, "spoke of him freely as a man and lawyer. He said it would be improper to draw comparisons between him and other gentlemen of the Old Colony bar. There were some of them very respectable ; but certainly Mr. Mitchell was among the very best, and that no one was more accurate and discriminating. He had been in the way of witnessing his accuracy and diseernment, having been frequently associated with him in the same cause. He spoke of him for a quarter of an hour in a strain of high encomium."

His qualifications as a lawyer made him a good judge; and such he was generally esteemed. It was, indeed, sometimes said of him that he lacked prompt- ness and decision. This, however, was only in ap- pearance : the opinion probably arose from a desire on his part to do right, which led him to defer judg- inent until the scales of justice ceased to vibrate, and he could see a clear preponderance.

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 5

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1706

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1706