USA > Massachusetts > History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I > Part 39
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Ile is an ardent lover of music, and has taken an active part in the cultivation and promotion of that branch of æesthetics as a teacher of vocal and instrumental music and as a mem- ber of the Boston Philharmonic Institute, of which organiza- tion he was president for a period of three years. He has also been a member of a church choir (a large share of the time as director) for a period of fifty years.
In his younger days he was a student in the military school of Capt. Alden Partridge in Norwich, Vt., and has been familiar with the early navigation of the Connecticut River, of which he wrote up a few years ago some exceedingly read- able sketches, which will be found in this volume.
Ile married, in 1838, Maria, daughter of Ira Kellogg, of Montague, Mass. His family consists of four sons.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE BAR OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
THE first lawyer credited with being a resident of Green- field, and perhaps of what now constitutes the county of Franklin, was WILLIAM COLEMAN, who was born in Boston in 1776, studied law at Worcester with Judge Paine, and settled in Greenfield in some of the latter years of the last con- tury. He was always spoken of as " Lawyer Coleman, " and was a man of talents and taste, enterprising and persevering,
1
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and, as Willard has it in his history of Greenfield, " excelled in everything, even in athletic exercises ; in music, daneing, skating, ball-playing," and particularly in writing. He built what is known as the " Hollister House," importing Architect Shaw from Boston to draw the plans and superintend its erec- tion. It was built after the liberal plans of the mansions of that day, and was the finest dwelling for years in this part of the county. It is still a roomy and well-preserved building. It was erected previous to 1800. Mr. Willard says he did not complete it, however.
He subsequently embarked in land speculation in Virginia, which resulted disastrously. About 1800 he went to New York, where he became famous as a Federal politician and editor of the New York Evening Post, the first number of which was issued Nov. 19, 1801, and which boasted among its con- tributors the gifted statesman Alexander Hamilton. It is stated by Mr. Willard that he was also the law-partner of Aaron Burr. From the founding of the Post he was principal editor for a period of nearly twenty years, and was connected with it until his death. William Cullen Bryant succeeded him, and was also junior editor in connection with him.
He was appointed in New York elerk of the city court, at a salary of three thousand dollars. " He was also a reporter of decisions, and published a volume of reports which bears his name." He was thrown from his carriage in 1829 and severely injured, and died from a combination of his injuries and other difficulties, at his dwelling in Hudson Street, New York, July 13, 1829, at the age of fifty-three years.
During his residence in Greenfield he planted a number of the beautiful elms which still adorn and beautify its pleasant streets.
JONATHAN LEAVITT was a son of Rev. Jonathan Leavitt, of Heath, Franklin Co., Mass. He graduated at Yale College in 1786, studied law in New Haven, and settled in Greenfield about 1790. Ile was senator, judge of Probate from 1814 to 182], and also judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Ilis wife was the daughter of President Stiles, of Yale College.
The imposing mansion still standing east of the Mansion- House block was erected by him, probably in the early part of the present century. It is sometimes also known as the " Hovey Mansion." In this elegant and substantial dwelling he lived until his death, which occurred in 1830, at the age of sixty-six years. Ile had the reputation of being a close student and a good lawyer, and previous to his appointment to the Bench had a very extensive and lucrative practice.
RICHARD ENGLISH NEWCOMB was a son of Hezekiah New- comb, of Bernardston. He was born in Lebanon, Conn., in 1770, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1793. He studied law with William Coleman, and was admitted to practice in 1796. He was a representative to the General Court, county attorney, and judge of Probate. " He was an able lawyer and a powerful advocate when in his prime, and had an extensive practice. He was a gentleman of the old school, of vigorous constitution and strong will, courageous and tirm, but gentlemanly and courteous in all his intercourse with society." At the dedication of the second court-house in 1849 he was present, though in feeble health, and spoke at considerable length in a powerful and feeling manner.
He died in 1849, aged seventy-nine years. Hle was stately and dignified in his appearance even to his last days.
HORATIO GATES NEWCOMB was the son of Hezekiah New- vomb, of Bernardston, Mass., and brother of Judge Newcomb. lle was born Sept. 27, 1785; studied law with John Barrett, of Northfield, and with his brother in Greenfield, and was ad- mitted to the Bar in 1813. His first practice, for short periods, was in Winehendon and Northtield, Mass. He settled in Greenfield about the year 1827 as a law-partner of his brother, and continued a successful practice until his death. The hon- orary degree of A.M. was conferred upon him by Williams College. He was a member of the Legislature, master in
Chancery under the insolvency law of 1838, and judge of the Insolvency Court under the revised constitution for a short time before his death.
He was twice married. His first wife was Maria Pratt, of Winchester, N. H., by whom he had/ one daughter. He married for his second wife, about 1821, Elmira Wells, of Deerfield, Mass., by whom he had five children,-two sons and three daughters. Of the six children, one son is now living in California, one daughter in Boston, one in Chicago, and two in Greenfield.
Mr. Griswold, in his address, when speaking of Mr. New- eomb, uses the following language: " Ile was employed much in the settlement of estates and in probate business; was a good lawyer and counselor, and always advised to that course which was for the interest of his client, not his own. lle took a deep interest in local and public questions. He was kind and sympathizing, and if he was not one of the greatest, he was, what is of much more value, one of the best, of men.17
His death occurred in Greenfield, Sept. 18, 1857, at the age of seventy-two years.
SAMUEL CLESSON ALLEN, son of Joseph Allen, of Ber- nardston, graduated at Dartmouth in 1794, and settled in the ministry at Northfield, Mass., in the following year ; but the calling seems not to have been congenial, and we find him ad- mitted to practice law, after studying with John Barrett, of Northfield, about the year 1800. IIe then settled in New Salem, Mass., and remained until about 1822, when he re- moved to Greenfield, locating himself on a farm on the banks of the Connectient River, where " he pursued agriculture, practiced law, prosecuted his political and literary studies, and reared a family of children."
Three of his sons were eminent lawyers, two of them mem- bers of Congress from Maine, and one, Elisha H. Allen, chancellor and chief-justice of the Sandwich Islands.
Another son, Samuel C. Allen, was for many years repre- sentative from Northfield to the Legislature,-an able states- man, a prominent farmer, an indefatigable advocate of tem- peranee, and subsequently postmaster at East Boston. The elder Allen was State senator, county attorney, and member of Congress for this district from 1816 to 1828.
" He was an accomplished scholar, and a statesman of high national reputation."
ELIJAH ALVORD, son of Caleb Alvord, studied law with Judge Newcomb, and was admitted to practice in 1802.
His residence, excepting the years from 1805 to 1809, during which he was at Greenwich, was at Greenfield. The hono- rary degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by Dartmouth and Williams Colleges. He was a member of the Constitu- tutional Convention in 1820. He was clerk of the courts, register of Probate, and representative to the General Court, and in every position sustained the reputation of a " capable, courteous, and faithful public officer."
In connection with Judges Leavitt, Newcomb, and Grin- nell, he exercised a strong influence on the questions connected with the establishment of Franklin County, the location of the county-seat, and the erection of the public buildings.
JAMES C. ALVORD was the son of Elijah Alvord, and was born in 1808. Ile graduated at Dartmouth in 1827, studied law with his uncle, Daniel Wells, and at the law-school at New Haven, Conn., and was admitted to practice in 1830.
lle was elected to both branches of the State Legislature, was one of the commissioners to codify the criminal laws of Massachusetts, and was the author of the article on homicide and assault,-one of the ablest included in the report of the commission. He was elected to Congress in 1838, but never took his seat, in consequence of his death, in 1839. Mr. Gris- wold pays him a high tribute in the following passage :
" He gave carly promise of great eminence in his profession and in publie lite. What others worked long to achieve he seemed to grasp by intuition. Law was the idol of his love,
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the field of his greatest ambition. It was the shrine at which he worshiped. He loved it as a science, he loved it in prac- tice, and to it he devoted his days and nights without erssa- tion. As a lawyer and advocate at the time of his death, though but thirty-one years old, he had but few equals, and no superior, at this or any other Bar."
D. W. ALVORD, son of Elijah Alvord, was born in 1817. Ile graduated at Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., in 1838, subsequently studied law with Wells, Alvord & Davis, and was admitted to the Bar in 1841.
Ile was a member of the State Senate, and of the Constitu- tional Convention of 1853, and district-attorney and collector of internal revenue for this district. The early training of his father and his experience with his unele, Daniel Wells, his brother, James C. Alvord, and George T. Davis, all able law- yers and accomplished men, was invaluable, and he profited from it largely. He died in Virginia, in 1871, at the age of fifty-four years.
Had he lived to the ordinary age and devoted himself ex- clusively to his profession, he would undoubtedly have taken the foremost rank.
RODOLPHUS DICKINSON was the son of Col. T. W. Diekin- son, of Deerfield, and graduated at Yale College in 1805. Hle studied law with John Taylor, of Northampton, and was admitted to practice in 1808. le opened an office and prac- ticed in Springfield, Mass., until 1811, when he removed to the then new county of Franklin, and was the first clerk of its courts, from 1811 to 1819, when he changed from law to divinity, took orders in the Episcopal Church, and settled in South Carolina, where he was instrumental in forming the parishes of Greenville and Pendleton. Many of the distin- guished men of that State were his parishioners, among them being John C. Calhoun. He was a great student and quite a prolific writer, publishing several important works. He sub- sequently returned to Western Massachusetts, where he resided until his death. He took a leading part in politics with the Jefferson school, and once came very near being elected to Congress. He bore the reputation of being an accomplished scholar, statesman, and distinguished Christian gentleman. He died in October, 1862.
HON. GEORGE GRINNELL was born in Greenfield, Dee. 25, 1786. lle was the son of George and Lydia Grinnell, and received his early education in the common schools of his time and at the old Deerfield Academy. He entered Dartmouth College, and graduated at the age of twenty-two years with high honors. Soon after, he entered the law-office of Hon. Richard English Newcomb, and in 1811 was admitted to the Bar of old Hampshire County. He commenced practice in the new county of Franklin, which was organized the same year, and opened an office in Greenfield. He held the office of county attorney from 1820 to 1828, and from 1824 to 1827 was a member of the State Senate. In 1828 he was elected Representative to Congress from his district, his term of ser- vice commencing on the same day with the administration of Andrew Jackson, March 4, 1829. He was successively re- elected to the same position in 1830, 1832, 1834, and 1836. During this service of ten years in Congress he was the col- league of Isaac C. Bates, John Davis, Edward Everett, Rufus Choate, George N. Briggs, and John Quincy Adams, "all of whom honored him with their friendship and confidence." He declined a re-election, and in 1839 returned to the practice of his profession as a member of the well-known and emi- ment law-firm of Grinnell & Aiken (George Grinnell and David Aiken).
In 1840, Mr. Grinnell was chosen as one of the Presidential electors. In 1841 he was appointed register of Probate for Franklin County, which position he filled until 1849, when he was appointed judge of Probate, to fill the vacancy occa- sioned by the death of HIon. R. E. Newcomb. This office he resigned in 1853, and was appointed clerk of the courts of the
county, which office he filled, by appointment and election, until 1866, when, at the age of eighty years, he withdrew from the active duties and cares of public life.
Mr. Grinnell took an active and influential part in all the enterprises tending to promote the interests of his town and county. He was one of the corporators and first president of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company. In connection with Hon. Whiting Griswold and others, he gave all his influ- ence to the constructing of that line of road and the great tunnel under the Hoosae Mountain, and in August, 1877, had the satisfaction of passing over the road and through the tunnel.
lle took a deep interest in the cause of education, and in 1838 was chosen by the Legislature a trustee of Amherst Col- lege, on behalf of the State, in which capacity he served faithfully and efficiently for twenty-one years, when, his other duties rendering it impossible for him to attend the annual commencement exercises, he resigned the position.
In 1854 the honorary title of LL.D. was conferred upon him by that college.
He was a worthy member of the Masonic order, uniting with it in 1813, and in 1815 was elected master of Repub- lican Lodge, in Greenfield. At the time of his death he was (with one exception) the oldest member in this vicinity.
In 1817, Mr. Grinnell united with the Second Congrega- tional Church of Greenfield, and continued to the day of his death a consistent and active member. Commencing with the year 1821, he served in the capacity of deacon for fifty years.
Judge Grinnell was twice married. In August, 1814, he married Helen Adele Blake, daughter of Hon. George Blake, of Boston. She died in 1818. In 1820 he married Eliza Seymour Perkins, daughter of Rev. Nathan Perkins, of East Amherst. The children by this union were James S. Grinnell, for a long period chief clerk in the Patent Office at Washing- ton, but who returned to Greenfield about 1876 to care for his aged parents; George B., William F., and Thomas P. Grinnell, formerly prominent brokers in New York City ; Helen, who married George Milne, member of a noted bank- ing-house in England ; Harriet, the wife of Mr. McCulloch, a shipping merchant of Montreal; and Ella, wife of Maj. Thomas W. Ripley, of Boston. Mr. Grinnell died at Green- field, on the 20th of November, 1877, in his ninety-first year.
JAMES S. GRINNELL, son of Hon. George Grinnell, was born in Greenfield, on the site now occupied by the " Elm House," July 24, 1821. He graduated at Amherst College in 1842, and read law in the office of Grinnell & Aiken, and also at the Cambridge law-school.
He was admitted to the Bar in 1846 and opened an office in Greenfield, where he soon had a valuable office-practice and appeared in a large number of court-cases. But his tastes were greatly inclined to agricultural pursuits, and in 1862 he removed to Washington, D. C., where he had been appointed chief clerk of the Department of Agriculture, which position his previous studies and experience, as well as natural taste, had well fitted him to fill. In this capacity he remained for three years, when he was appointed chief clerk of the Patent Office, which position he held for a period of ten years. It is proper to remark that these important offices were never more ably filled in the history of the country.
In 1876 he returned to his native town to look after and care for his aged parents, and upon the death of his venerable father, in 1877, became the representative of one of the most prominent and highly-respected families of the place. Since his return he has devoted his time wholly to agricultural mat- ters, except that he occasionally transacts patent-business for his personal friends ; and no man in the valley may be truth- fully said to have a greater number. He is now occupying the original farm owned and cultivated by his grandfather a hundred years ago, and exemplifying by practical farming his knowledge in that most ancient and honorable occupation.
17
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HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.
In the amount of labor performed, and in the extent of his knowledge and influence, his position is properly at the head of the agricultural interest in Massachusetts, which position is unanimously accorded him. He is prominently connected with various agricultural organizations and leads an exceed- ingly busy life, but one pre-eminently to his tastes, and under exceedingly favorable circumstances and surroundings. Hle was one of the judges of the class of agricultural implements and machinery at the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876, where the display probably exceeded anything before seen in any country of the world.
Mr. Grinnell is a man of fine education and excellent liter- ary attainments. His library is one of the most unique and valuable in New England, containing many rare and quaint old volumes, some of which date back in their compilation to the year 1440. Among the most interesting are "Lives of the Christian Fathers," from the imprint of Wm. Caxton, the first English printer, dating back to 1490; a beautiful illuminated prayer-book, printed and illustrated in colors by hand and of venerable age; many of the famous " black- letter" imprint, and the Bible once owned by Dr. Samuel Johnson, with his name and the date, 1780, engraved on the cover. Ile has a rich agricultural library, a collection of English dictionaries, numbering over one hundred and fifty varieties, two hundred and fifty volumes of Arctie explora- tions, and a most rare and complete collection of various edi- tions of Shakspeare's works, together with eurious works upon English field-sports, volumes upon heraldry, etc.
Mr. Grinnell was married on the 8th of August, 1855, to Miss Anne E. Stannard, of Fredericksburg, Va., who died in May, 1857, leaving no children. Ilis homestead occupies one of the most beautiful locations in the village of Greenfield, at the head of Main Street, commanding one of the most pleasing views to be found in New England, and surrounded by ample and well-kept grounds.
FRANKLIN RIPLEY, the son of Jerome Ripley, of Green- field, was born in 1789. 1Ie graduated at Dartmouth College in 1809, studied law with John Barrett, of Northfield, Mass., and at Cooperstown, N. Y., and was admitted to the Bar in 1812. Ile practiced law at Northfield, was judge of Probate, and cashier and principal manager of the old Greenfield-since First National-Bank, of Greenfield, which position he con- tinued to hold until his death, in 1860, at the age of seventy- one years. Mr. Griswold says of him: " He was a man of the strictest integrity, of great industry, and exerted a wide and salutary influence in business, in politics, and in the church."
DANIEL WELLS was the son of Col. Daniel Wells, of Greenfield, born Jan. 14, 1791. He graduated at Dartmouth in 1810; studied law with Elijah Alvord, and was admitted to the Bar in 1813.
Ile was State Senator, district attorney for the four western counties of Massachusetts, and chief-justice of the Court of Common Pleas from 1844 to the time of his death, in 1854, aged sixty-four.
" He was a most conscientious and pure-minded man ; the kindest of husbands and fathers; of deep moral convictions and enlarged publie spirit ; progressive in all his ideas; an indefatigable student, able lawyer and advocate, and for thirty years held the leading sway at the Franklin Bar."*
IION. WHITING GRISWOLD .- This distinguished member of the Franklin Bar was the son of Hon. Joseph Griswok, who died in 1843 while a member of the State Senate. IIe was the tenth of a family of fourteen children, and was born in the town of Buckland, Nov. 12, 1814. He remained upon his father's farm, laboring with his hands and laying the foundation of a vigorous constitution, until his twentieth year, when he entered Amherst College after fitting himself
under able instruetors in his own town, and graduated among the first in his class in 1838. Subsequently he established a select school in Buckland, and gained a wide reputation as a successful and popular teacher.
In the spring of 1839 he commenced the study of law with the firm of Wells, Alvord & Davis, of Greenfield, with whom he remained one year, completing his legal studies in the office of Messrs. Grinnell & Aiken, and in 1842 was admitted to the Bar and immediately opened an office in Greenfield, where he took an influential position in the profession, which he ever after maintained.
His political career commenced as a member of the Demo- eratie party, which, in 1847, elected him as Representative to the General Court, and he was re-elected in 1848 and 1849. In October, 1850, he was nominated for the State Senate by both the Democratic and Free-Soil parties, and elected by a very large majority, being the first Democratic Senator ever chosen by the electors of Franklin County.
During the succeeding session of the Legislature he voted steadily for Charles Sumner for United States Senator. In 1853 he was a prominent and influential member of the Con- stitutional Convention from the town of Erving, and took a leading part in the debates of that body, ranking among the most distinguished men of the commonwealth. In 1855 he was a prominent candidate for the gubernatorial nomination of the Democratic party, and in 1856 was a member of the Democratie National Convention, which put in nomination for the Presidency James Buchanan ; he was also one of the candidates for electors-at-large on the Democratie State ticket.
In the beginning of the troubles which cuhninated in the Rebellion he joined the Republican party, and was elected to the State Senate in 1860. During the long and bloody years of the war he stood manfully, and at all times, by the side of Governor Andrew and Charles Sumner in defense of the rights and liberties of the American people, powerfully sus- taining the imperiled government by both tongue and pen.
In 1864 he was one of the electors-at-large on the ticket with Edward Everett. In 1869 he was a third time in the State Senate, where he greatly distinguished himself by his able advocacy of woman suffrage and other important measures. As a member of the State Senate in 185] he exerted a power- ful influence in behalf of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad and in the interests of the great loosac tunnel. While in the Senate in the last-named year he reported a bill providing for submitting to the people the question of calling a convention for revising the State Constitution, of which convention, as previously stated, he was a member.
Among minor positions he hekl the office of superintending school committee of his town ; was one of three commissioners appointed by Governor Briggs, in 1848, to visit the remnants of the Massachusetts Indians; one of the trustees of the Smith charities in 1849; and one of the State directors of the Western Railroad corporation about 1850, in all of which positions he acquitted himself with his usual ability and success.
" In his domestic relations Mr. Griswold was an exemplary husband and father. He was twice married,-first in 1844, and again in 1856. Ilis first wife was Miss Jane M. Martin- dale, of Greenfield, who died in 1852. llis last was Miss Fanny L. Clark, of Bangor, Maine, who died in 1867, leaving two children," who both survived their parents.
Mr. Griswold died in Greenfield, Mass, on the 28th of Oc- tober, 1874, aged sixty years.
EX-GOVERNOR EMORY WASHBURN practiced law in Frank- lin County for a short time immediately after being admitted to the Bar. He was admitted in Berkshire County, March 1, 1821, and on the 3d of the same month opened an office in Charlemont, where he remained until the 18th of September in the same year, when he removed to Leicester, his native town.
* Griswold's address, 1873.
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HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.
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