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

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1576

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

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Governor Bullock was also, in 1849, a State Sena- tor. He was judge of the Worcester County Court of Insolvency for two years, 1856-58, having, under a previous jurisdiction, served as commissioner of insolvency from 1853. He was mayor of Worcester in 1859. But the most prominent event in his public life was his election to the gubernatorial chair, which he occupied three years-1866, '67 and '68. At the first election he received nearly fifty thousand votes more than the opposing candidate.

He undoubtedly could have held prominent posi- tions in national affairs had he been so disposed ; but his ambition seems not to have run in that direction. He never held office under the general Government, and all the incidents of his political life must be looked for in the history of his native State, where a rich store is to be found.

On the 5th of January, 1879, Hon. George F. Hoar was authorized by President Hayes to ask Governor Bullock if he would accept the then vacant Eng-

lish mission. In answer the following letter was re- ceived :

WORCESTER, Dec. 8, 1879.

My Dear Sir: I received yesterday your favor of the 5th inst., in which you kindly inquire, iu behalf of the President, whether I wonld nndertake the Mission to England. 1 have felt at liberty to tuke to myself twenty-four hours to consider this question, and I now apprise you of the conclusion to which my reflection bas, with touch reluctance brought me. 1 am compelled, by the situation of my family, to reply that it would be practically impossible for me to accept this appointment.

I particularly desire to express to the President my profound and grateful acknowledgment of the high distinction he has offered to confer upon me, and to assure him of my purpose in every way as a private citizen to uphold him in his wise and patriotic administration of the government.

Your communication has been and will continue to be treated by me as confidential.

I remain with great respect and esteem, Tru y aud faithfully yours, ALEXANDER H. BULLOCK. The Hon. Geo, F. Hoar, U.S.S.

In financial, humane, and all reformatory move- ments Governor Bullock was active and efficient. He was president of the State Mutual Life Assurance Company, and of the Worcester County Institution for Savings, a director in the Worcester National Bank, chairman of the Finance Committee of the Trustees of Amherst College and a life-member of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society. He was a writer of much more than ordinary ability, and while editor of the Egis newpaper, which position he held for several years, established an enviable repu- tation as a journalist. The degree of LL.D. was con- ferred on him by Harvard and by Amherst.

During the Civil War Governor Bullock was an efficient co-laborer with Governor Andrew, so appro- priately called the " War Governor of Massachusetts." His eloquent voice was often raised to cheer the gathering crowds of patriots in various places, and Faneuil ITall, too, resounded with his stirring ap- peals.

He was a great friend of learning ; and all institu- tions of instruction, from the elementary common school to the best endowed college, had his counsel and encouragement.

And there was in him a vein of true democracy, often manifesting itself in anxiety to guard against any attempt by legislative, judicial or any other power to override the soverign right of the people ; and hence, as might naturally have been expected, he remained a firm friend to the principle of "Local Option," in law, so far as it could in any way be made expedient. He vetoed, to the surprise of many of his party friends, one or two enactments, considered important, for the simple reason that he viewed them as trenching on some general right of the people.

In 1869 he visited Europe with his family, and on his return the following year the civic authorities and citizens of Worcester gave testimony of their appreci- ation of his character and his services by a public reception. After his retirement from the Governor-

Francis H. Dewey

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THE BENCH AND BAR.

ship he held no other public office, and declined to entertain any of the suggestions made to him of further political service, which would involve, to some extent, the abandonment of those studies and employments which were so agreeable to him.

Governor Bullock was an orator of great power, and the volume of his addresses recently published cou- tains many models of pure style and elegant scholar- ship. Speaking of him in this connection, Senator Hoar says : " Above all, he possessed, beyond any of his living contemporaries, that rare gift of eloquence which always has been and always will be a passport to the favor of the people where speech is free."

He was a lover of scholarship, a citizen of many resources and large usefulness, whose life diffused all around it an influence and charm, which elevated the standard of the domestic and moral life of the community. In January, 1882, with startling suddeuness, he died amid the scenes of his activities.

The world owes much of its brightness and beauty to the people whose cheerful disposition and faculty for cordial greetings make others ashamed of melan- choly dullness and drive away worry and vexation from their presence.

Such a blessing to his friends was the companion- ship of the late Judge Dewey.

In 1814 Daniel Dewey was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Judicial Court, and held the office only about one year until his death. In 1837 his son, Charles A. Dewey, received a like distinction, and for nearly thirty years discharged his duties with learning and fidelity. FRANCIS H. DEWEY, with this distinguished legal lineage, was born in Wil- liamstown in 1821. A few years later his father re- moved to Northampton. In that town and in Amherst his studies preparatory to college were pursued. From Williams College, where his ancestors for three generations had held office as trustees, he graduated in 1840, and proceeded at once to fit himself for his inherited profession in the law schools of Yale and Harvard College. He also gained prac- tical experience in the office of Charles P. Hunting- ton, in Northampton, and of Emory Washburn, in Worcester. With the latter he formed a partnership soon after his admission to the bar, in 1843, a fact which testifies to the elder man's appreciation of Mr. Dewey's abilities even at that early stage. The man- ner in which he entered upon the work of this es- tablished office, and assumed its responsibilities alone upon Judge Washburn's promotion to the bench in the very next year, tested his powers and gave him a high standing at the bar in the earliest years of his practice. During this time his utmost diligence was constantly required to attend to the multitude of causes in which Mr. Washburn had been engaged. It would have been most natural if clients who had sought out so distinguished a counsellor to whom to entrust their important affairs should have desired to place them in other hands than those of an inex-

perienced young attorney ; but Mr. Dewcy gave such evidence of fitness for the task and of devotion to husiness, that he retained almost the whole of the clientage, and increased it as the years went by. In 1850 he associated with himself in practice Hartley Williams, then just admitted to the bar, and contin- ued the connection for thirteen years. From 1866 till 1869 Frank P. Goulding, Esq., was his junior partner. During his whole life, and in all his varied lines of employment, Judge Dewey was incessantly active. No other adverb can describe the nature of his activity. Always brisk, apparently in a hurry, yet with his faculties alert and undisturbed, he went from one task to another, without apparent thought or need of rest. In the trial of causes before juries his manner was restless, almost nervous; but his watchfulness of every movement, his quick seizure of every slight advantage and his thorough familiarity with the facts proved to opposing counsel that there was nothing to be hoped from the inattention of his adversary. Throughout the most heated controver- sies he preserved his courteous tones, his pleasant smile and his real composure. Some men are able to hide beneath immovable features and thoroughly controlled muscles disturbed feelings and discomfited plans of action. But Mr. Dewey's mental quiet was preserved under what seemed a physical necessity for movement.

His closing argument was always to be dreaded as likely to present some unexpected view of the evi- dence or some shrewd suggestion which his opponent had left unobserved and unanswered. He seemed to take the jury into his confidence, to talk to them in a friendly, common-sense manner, without attempt at eloquence, but with remarkably convincing effect.

In 1869 Governor Claflin appointed him an asso- ciate justice of the Superior Court,-a position which he occupied until 1881. There he became a most useful presiding officer, despatching the business of the courts with the celerity which characterized his private business, treating with courtesy and patience counsel and witnesses, and assisting the jurymen by impartial, lucid statements, summing up the evi- dence and explaining the legal principles which were to guide them.

Mr. Dewey's energies were by no means confined to professional employments, exacting as those were. The number of business enterprises and charitable institutions in which he was interested as an officer, and to each of which he gave faithful attention, would seem to have furnished sufficient occupation for the whole time of an active man. Yet he did not seem to be oppressed by the burden of respousibili- ties. He possessed the happy faculty of laying aside all worry over affairs, when he had done the best that his judgment dictated for their proper conduct. He was president of one railroad company and a director in another, and acquired a considerable familiarity with the methods of management of these

HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

modern systems of transportation, while his sagacity as a financier was of the greatest service to his stock- holders. After his resignation from the bench, in 1881, he gave the largest share of his time and thought to the service of the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Com- pany, the largest business establishment of the city.

He invested largely in its stock, was one of its directors, and until his death acted as the general legal adviser of the concern. To the interests of the Episcopal Church, where he was a constant attendant, and of various public charities, he gave willing and faithful service. In him Williams College had a con- stant friend. From 1869 to his death he was one of its board of trustees, an office to which he was called by heredity as well as individual fitness, and Presi- dent Carter testifies to the worth of his ever-ready advice, skillful management of the investments of its funds, and loyal support on all occasions.

In social life he was a most delightful companion, overflowing with good humor, entering with zest into the spirit of any gathering for recreation, whether the company were youngsters or those of his own age. His love for children was a conspicuous and charm- ing trait, exhibited not only to those of his own family, but in his fondness for gathering about him, whenever opportunity afforded, the playmates of his grandchildren, and enconraging their sports.

In 1887, while still as deeply engrossed as ever in his multifarious cares, without apparent diminution of his capacity or desire for work, he was suddenly stricken down without a moment's warning. Yet it is difficult to call his death untimely. His life had been a singularly successful one, whether we regard his legal attainments, his acquisition of property, his friendships or his family relations. He left his work well done, and saw his sons ready and able to take it up and carry it forward. Without pain or lingering he passed away. If one conld choose his exit from the world's stage, could he choose better ?

Judge Dewey's partner for thirteen years was HARTLEY WILLIAMS, whose graceful dignity long adorned the bench of our Municipal Court. He was born in Mercer, Maine, in the year 1820. As one of a large family of children, in a community where every one was diligently at work, wresting from an unwilling soil the means of subsistence for himself and those dependent on him, his time was largely occupied by the duties that usually devolve on a farm- er's boy, and his opportunities for education were restricted. At nineteen years, however, he had made such good use of the facilities at his command as to be prepared to undertake the instruction of others, and first in a neighboring town, later in Fall River and Rhode Island, he taught schools with good suc- cess. He must have been a most helpful and lovable teacher, with those kindly manners, that unselfish interest in the welfare of those about him, and that long-suffering patience which characterized the ma- ture man whom we knew.

While still engaged in this work he formed the iu- tention of entering the legal profession. In 1843 he came to Worcester, and for several years was engaged in mercantile pursuits, all the while cherishing his resolution to become a lawyer, and giving what time he could to study. In 1848 he gave up business, and entered Mr. Dewey's office as a student. To a share in the burdens of that busy office he was admitted in 1850, directly after he had passed his examinations for the bar. His early habits of industry, cultivated through his varied employments, now served him well. By constant, regular attention to his business, and an ability to so control his mental operations as not to worry over it, he accomplished a very large amount of work with an appearance of little effort, certainly without any evidence of haste. As an ad- vocate, he was one to whom juries were glad to listen, and obtained a good measure of success. His clients found him a wise and safe counsellor, with an intelli- gent business judgment, enlightened by careful read- ing and excellent grasp of legal principles.

In matters of' public interest Mr. Williams exerted a wholesome influence, unostentatiously performing the duties of a good citizen on the side of morality and progress. His experience as an instructor made him a valuable member of the School Committee, and for many years he gave much of his time and valuable suggestions to this most important depart- ment of public usefulness. He served his city as an alderman, and during the Civil War was a member of the State Senate for two years, and of Governor Andrew's Council in 1864 and 1865. In the latter capacity he became a trusted adviser of the Gov- ernor, and formed strong ties of friendship, not only with him, but with other members of the Council, which were cemented in an association formed by those who had been Councillors during the war. At the annual meeting of the Andrew Councillor Associ- ation he was a regular and most welcome attendant. This only illustrates the nature of the man. He was social in his instincts, loved to meet his friends, to bind them to him by acts of kindness, and disliked to allow change of situation to interfere with friendly relations once formed.

His most important public service was in the court over which he presided. To this position he was appointed in 1868, while holding the office of district attorney, to which he had been elected in 1866. The act abolishing the Police Conrt, which had been in existence since the incorporation of the city, and establishing with the same jurisdiction the Munici- pal Court, took effect in July, 1868, and from that time until the beginning of his fatal illness Judge Williams administered the law with impartiality, wisdom, and with a constant urbanity which made the duties of counsel before him a pleasure. His patience was inexhaustible, and, while he maintained the dignity of his position, he was always easily to be approached and ready to listen with kindly sym-

THE BENCH AND BAR.

pathy to the oft-recurring tales of misery and suffer- ing which were poured out to him by offenders await- ing his decision.

In 1872 the Municipal Court was abolished by the act creating the Central District Court, which is now in force. The jurisdiction of the new tribunal cov- ered not only the city, but several of the neighbor- ing towns, and formed part of a system of District Courts, which were established to take the place in most of the towns of trial justices. Mr. Williams was immediately commissioned as judge of this conrt.

In 1882, while presiding at a meeting of an asso- ciation of natives of Maine, in the formation of which he had taken great interest, he suffered a par- alytic shock, from the effects of which he did not re- cover, and died after a few months' illness.

In 1878 an address was delivered before a social gathering of the bar of the county by Judge DWIGHT FOSTER, in which he supplemented the previous ad- dresses of Mr. Willard and Judge Washburn by add- ing biographical sketches of some of our lawyers who had passed from the stage since 1856. From each of these sources has been derived much of the material for the present chapter. Mr. Foster was uot, at the time mentioned, a resident of this county, but his interest in its har, where his early associations were formed, continued through his life. He was born in the city of Worcester in 1828. The names of three generations of his ancestors have appeared in these pages, two of them as judges. His father had prac- ticed so short a time as almost to interrupt the chain of legal heredity, but the son possessed the family genius in fullest measure. He was one of those whose ability shows itself in the earliest stages of their development.

In 1848 he graduated from Yale College with the highest honors of his class, and only one year after- wards was admitted to the bar in his native city. For a short time thereafter he was a partner of Mr. Ba- con, and, for a few months before the promotion of Judge Thomas to the bench, was associated with him. He thus became early inducted to a considera- ble practice. For a short time after Judge Kinni- cutt's retirement, in 1857, he held the office of judge of Probate.

In 1861 he was elected Attorney-General of the State, and held the office by successive re-elections during the following three years. Here he deservedly acquired a high reputation for his mastery of our criminal law. In the trial of a capital case during the first years of his incumbency, where the evidence was almost entirely circumstantial, he won the admi- ration of experienced lawyers for his management of what all had looked upon as a difficult and doubtful undertaking. As the adviser of the government in the midst of the novel exigencies arising out of the war, his promptness and clear-sightedness were in- valuable. Questions were constantly presented to

him by the Governor, by heads of departments and by military officers, which were without precedent in their official experience, and yet which called for speedy solution. Mr. Foster realized that it was more important, in that time of peril, that the various offi- cers should have some rule to guide them immediately than that a laborious examination of authorities should be made while the time for action was slipping by. His opinions were accordingly given without delay, and with clearness and positiveness sufficient to assure a doubting interrogator and inspire him with confi- dence to proceed with his new duties.

From 1866 to 1869 he was an associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. In that short term of service he evinced admirable qualifications for the position, presiding at nisi prius with dignity and courtesy, and in his published opinions dealing with questions of law concisely and logically. One reason given by him for his retirement from the bench was the inadequacy of the salary,-a jnst reproach to the system which endeavors to procure for the State the services of the highest legal talent at lower rates of compensation than are offered by private corpora- tions.

From this time on he made Boston his permanent home, and acquired a very Incrative practice. For several years he delivered lectures on "Equity " in the Boston University. With this branch of the law he was especially familiar, and was accustomed to make use of its methods for obtaining relief whenever practicable, so that his instruction must have been very valuable as containing the results of his own experience in addition to the theory of the books.

One of his distinguished services was as counsel for the United States before the commissioners to whom was referred the question of the rights of our fishermen under the treaty with Great Britain. At the time of his death, in 1884, and for several years previous thereto, he acted as the counsel of the New England Mntnal Life Insurance Company, and their business occupied the principal portion of his time. As an advocate he rarely aronsed the sympathy of juries by any attempt to enlist their feelings, but rather relied on clear and logical appeals to their rea- son. His own apprehension of the evidence was dis- tinct, and he was able to present it to the jury forci- bly and in the simplest form. He had a just reliance on his own powers, and did not hesitate to assume responsibility or engage any adversary. At the same time he appreciated and gave generous praise to the merits of brother lawyers. In private life he was a genial host and an attractive guest. His mind was well-stored with varied information, and he possessed the faculty of imparting that in an agreeable man- ner. His mental operations were exceedingly quick and his power of observation ever on the alert, so that all his surroundings contributed to his stock of knowledge and filled his conversation with ever-fresh interest. The honorable line of lawyers, of which he

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

was the brightest ornament, is not yet extinct. Though the Worcester bar cannot claim his sons as members, they still uphold the ancestral reputation in other scenes.

GEORGE F. VERRY was one of the best illustrations which this bar has furnished of the value to a lawyer of the qualities of self-reliance and perfect imper- turbability. His success may be as fairly traced to his possession of these traits as to any other cause. He was born in Mendon in 1826, and had the advan- tage of his father's care for only two or three years. His education was obtained in the common schools and during a partial course at the Andover Academy. From that preparatory school he had hoped to enter college, but his plans were interrupted, and he left his studies to engage in learning the business of a manufacturer. After a few years' trial, however, he determined to fit himself for the bar, and began his studies in the office of Henry D. Stone in the year 1849. Admitted to the bar after the usual three years of preparation, he was in a short time received as a part- ner by Mr. Stone, and so continued until 1857. Thus entering upon a business already well-established, he had the opportunity to learn, by actual use, the value of his acquirements. This was largely the process of his attainment to that degree of forensic skill and knowledge of the law which secured his high rank among our advocates. He was not a learned student of books or precedents, but to the questions involved in each case in which he was concerned he gave close attention and consulted the books with reference to those particular topics. With a retentive memory and a clear common-sense judgment, he thus became familiar with the current of decisions upon almost the whole of the great variety of controverted doctrines which have been debated in our courts. After the dissolution of his connection with Mr. Stone, he con- tinued business alone with a rapidly increasing clientage until 1875, when he formed a partnership with Francis A. Gaskill, the present district attorney, and Horace B. Verry, his adopted son, which con- tinued till his death.

A large part of Mr. Verry's reputation was won in the conduct of the defence of criminal causes. In several capital trials which attracted wide attention, his skill in the examination of witnesses, his readi- ness to meet sudden emergencies, and his thorough grasp of the bearing of evidence were shown in a manner which placed him among the leaders in that department of practice. On the civil side of the court, also, the possession of the same resources brought to him, perhaps, the most lucrative clientage of any of his contemporaries during the ten years before his death. In the progress of the most excit- ing trial he preserved a most absolute control of all his faculties. Forcible in the presentation of his own views, keen, and often severe in his examination of witnesses, he never allowed any exhibition of temper to weaken his influence with the jury, or ob- | fied with that career, and began the study of the law

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

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1576

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1576