USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Professional and industrial history of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Volume I > Part 69
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BABSON SAVILIAN LADD graduated at Harvard in 1870, and taught school in Worces- ter two years after graduation. He studied law in the office of Lathrop, Abbot & Jones, of Boston, and at the Harvard Law School, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar March 27, 1875. He married, November 16, 1878, Ella Cora Brooks, of Milton.
CHARLES H. SWAN graduated at Harvard in 1870, and after studying law in the office of Harris & Tucker, of Boston, was admitted to the bar in June, 1872. He married, November 6, 1884, Caroline Metcalf Nazro, of Dorchester, where he has his residence.
WILLIAM WARREN VAUGHIAN graduated at Harvard in 1870, and after studying law at the Harvard Law School was admitted to the Suffolk bar in November, 1874. He married, October 16, 1882, Ellen Twisleton, daughter of the late Dr. Samuel Park- man, and resides in Boston.
MELVILLE M. WESTON graduated at Harvard in 1870, and studied law in the office of Robert D. Smith, of Boston, and at the Harvard Law School. He was admitted to the bar in December, 1873, and practices in Boston.
GEORGE JONES, alias GEORGE THE COUNT JOHANNES, was the son of George Jones, a Boston constable, and was born in that city. In early life he acted on the stage of the old Tremont and other theatres. About the year 1840, when he was perhaps thirty or thirty-five years of age, he went to England, and there in some of the lesser theatres played the leading parts in the plays of Shakespeare. His performances amused the people and brought down on him the satire and humor of London Punch. He returned to Boston not many years before the war and made himself conspicuous by his libel suits against parties who dared to express doubts of his title and pretensions. He claimed that the rank of count had been regularly conferred on him in England, and he wore the badges of his rank. For several years he was the terror of the newspapers and the courts, and besides managing the many suits in which he was the plaintiff, he acted in others as a special attorney, never having been admitted to the bar. In a suit brought against William L. Burt for a libel contained in an address to the jury in a case in which the count was the plaintiff, the libel con- sisting of the declaration that he was insane, he described himself in the declaration
george
P. Langer
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to the writ as " a public author of historical and other works, public lecturer and pub- lic oratorical illustrator of the Sacred Scriptures and the works of Shakspeare, and special attorney," etc. Another suit was brought by him against Francis H. Under- wood for writing in the Boston Atlas and Bee that " there flourishes a soi disant count with his decorations given by the Grand Duke Pumpernickel, or brought fron some similar august potentate." This suit caused Mr. Underwood much trouble, and his determination to discover the origin of the assumed title of count, and to put an end to the pretensions of the man who claimed the right to bear it, cost him some money, but was effectual. Affidavits were secured in England showing that Mr. Sartoris, the son-in-law of Adelaide Kemble, the sister of Fanny Kemble, to make sport of Mr. Jones, invited him to a dinner or supper in London, and in the course of the evening told him in a serious way that he ought to have a title, and as he himself was descended from an ancient count whose right to confer the rank on others inured to his descendants that he would bestow the title on him. Making him kneel on the floor, he said: "Rise George the Count Johannes, Knight of the Golden Spur." But as Mr. Sartoris was really descended from a count it was necessary to show that he had no power to confer the title, and an affidavit was obtained from the Chancellor of Austria showing that the last and only grant of the title with a descending power of transfer was made in 1495, and that the family possessing it had lapsed. It was also shown by experts, among whom was the late Edmund Quincy, that the title of Knight of the Golden Spur was alone given by the Pope to such as had performed some special service to the Romish Church. Some hints concerning the various libel and slander suits in which the count was engaged may be found in Johannes vs. Bennett, 5th of Allen, and Johannes vs. Burt vs. Underwood vs. Mudge vs. Nickerson and vs. Pangborn, 6th of Allen. The count finally became so troublesome with his suits that he was indicted for barratry and convicted, and a sentence to the House of Correction was withheld only on the condition that he would leave the State. He went to New York and is said to have died there since 1880.
JONATHAN MASON, son of Jonathan, was born in Boston, August 20, 1752, and grad- uated at Princeton in 1774. He studied law with John Adams, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1777. He was a representative several years, a member of the Executive Council, and in 1800 was elected United States senator as the successor of Benjamin Goodhue, of Salem, who had resigned. He served as senator until 1803 and as member of Congress from December, 1817, to May, 1820. He died in Boston, November 1, 1831. He married Susanna Powell.
JEREMIAH MASON was born in Lebanon, Conn., April 27, 1768, and graduated at Yale in 1788. He was the son of Jeremiah Mason, a colonel in the Revolution. He was admitted to the bar in 1781, and began practice in Westmoreland, N. H. In 1794 he removed to Walpole, and in 1797 to Portsmouth, where he rapidly gained an extensive business. In 1802 he was appointed attorney-general of New Hampshire, and served in the United States Senate as a Federalist from 1813 to his resignation in 1817. In 1832 he removed to Boston where, as in New Hampshire, he shared with Mr. Webster the leadership of the bar. In 1840 he retired from general practice, though continuing until his death the consulting business of his office. He was a man whose brain and mind and body corresponded. All were massive and strong, and while Mr. Webster declared that much of his own skill as a jurist was due to
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lessons learned from Mr. Mason in his contests with him at the bar, there was many a common man who had cowered before his physical presence. It is said that once riding down throught the upper and narrow part of Water street in Boston in the chaise in which he always rode, and crouching down as was his habit so that his real height was not disclosed, he met a team coming up. It was of course necessary that either Mr. Mason or the driver of the team should back out of the way. Mr. Mason ordered the driver to back in a somewhat peremptory manner which the driver re- sented, returning the compliment by telling the old man to back himself. After some words of a not very friendly character Mr. Mason getting a little angry began to straighten up, much to the dismay of the driver, who at last exclaimed, For God's sake, mister, don't uncoil any more, I'll get out of the way. It is unnecessary to go into details concerning the characteristics of Mr. Mason as a lawyer or concerning the prominent incidents in his career. They may be found in his memoirs, and in the various biographical dictionaries. He died in Boston, October 14, 1848.
JONATHAN ADAMS was a barrister in 1768, living in Braintree, then a part of Suf- folk county. He was not a graduate of Harvard, and the writer has been unable to learn anything of his history.
JOB ALMY was judge of the Common Pleas Court of Bristol county, serving in that capacity from 1740 to 1747, and belonged in Tiverton. He is entitled to a place in this register in consequence of his appointment in 1737 to act as a special justice in Suffolk county in the case of Aaron Knapp.
EDMUND ANDROS was born in London, December 6, 1637. In 1674 he was appoint- ed governor of the province of New York by the Duke of York, and continued in service till 1681. In 1686 he was appointed by James the second governor of New England, and arrived in Boston, December 21, in that year. On the accession of William and Mary he was deposed and imprisoned, and sent to England. In 1692 he returned to America as governor of Virginia, and remained until 1698. From 1704 to 1706 he was governor of the Island of Jersey, and died in London, February 24, 1714. The judicial powers exercised by him in New England, and described in the introductory chapter of this volume, entitle him to a place in this register.
GEORGE FRANKLIN DANFORTH was born in Boston, July 5, 1819, and graduated at Union College in 1840. He was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Roches- ter, N. V. In 1879 he took a seat on the bench of the Court of Appeals, and is be- lieved to be still in service.
ADDINGTON DAVENPORT, jr., son of Judge Addington Davenport, was appointed attorney-general in 1728 and 1732, but Washburn says that it is doubtful whether he was permitted to perform the duties of the office. He practiced law in Boston some years, but in 1732 went to England and took orders for the church. He was born in Boston, May 16, 1701, and graduated at Harvard in 1719. Having been ordained in England he returned to Massachusetts, and was appointed the first rector of St. Andrew's church in Scituate. In 1737 he became rector of King's chapel in Boston, and in 1740 was transferred to Trinity church, of which he was rector until his death September 8, 1746.
DAVID LISLE, of whom the writer knows little, was solicitor-general of the Com- missioners of the Customs in Boston from 1769 to his death in February, 1775.
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JOHN MENZIES came from England to Boston in 1715, and brought with him a com- mission as judge of admiralty, having been in Scotland a member of the Faculty of Advocates. He at first settled in Roxbury, but removed to Leicester, where he lived many years. He was a representative from Leicester, and expelled for writing letters to the Lords Commissioners in England, complaining of the interference by the Provincial Courts with his jurisdiction. He died in Boston, September 20, 1728, at the age of seventy-eight years.
HERBERT PELHAM was born in Lincoln county, England, in 1601, and graduated at Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1619. He was the son of Herbert Pelham of Michelham Priory, who was admitted to Gray's Inn in 1588, and grandson of Edward Pelham of Hastings, in Sussex, a member of Parliament in 1597. Edward, the last named, was admitted to Gray's Inn in 1563, was called to the bar in 1579, knighted and made lord baron of the Exchequer of Ireland, and died in 1606. Herbert came to Massachusetts in 1638, having been educated in the law. He was the first treasurer of Harvard College, and returned to England in 1649, where he died in 1673. His daughter, Penelope, married Josiah Winslow, son of Governor Edward Winslow, of the Plymouth colony, who was himself governor of that colony from 1673 to 1680.
WILLIAM EDWARD PAYNE, son of William and Lucy (Lobell) Payne, was born in New York, April 8, 1804, while his parents were returning to Boston from a visit in Washington. He was one of twins, and his twin brother was named Edward Will- iam. He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, and at Harvard, where he graduated in 1824. He studied law at the law school in Northampton, and in the office of Lemuel Shaw and Sidney Bartlett, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1827. Being in poor health, he never practiced law to any extent. In 1834 he went to Europe, where he remained until his death, which occurred at Paris, France, July 5, 1838. He was unmarried.
THOMAS W. THOMPSON was born in Boston, March 15, 1766, and graduated at Har- vard in 1786. He studied law, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar. He practiced law in Salisbury, N. H., from 1790 to 1810, when he removed to Concord, N. H. He was speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1813-14, member of Congress from 1805 to 1807, and State treasurer in 1809, and United States senator from 1814 to 1817. He died at Concord, October 1, 1821.
CHARLES WESLEY TUTTLE was born in Maine, November 1, 1829, and as one of the corps of observers at the Astronomical Observatory in Cambridge distinguished him- self by the discovery of a telescopic comet in 1853, which bears his name. In 1854 he was attached to the United States expedition for determining the difference of longitude between Cambridge, Mass., and Greenwich in England. Having taxed his eyes too severely by astronomical work, he abandoned his scientific pursuits, and after attending the Harvard Law School was admitted to the Suffolk bar March 4, 1856. He died July 18, 1881, At the time of his death he was engaged in writing memoirs of Caleb Cushing and Captain John Mason.
WILLIAM HEATHI was born in Roxbury, March 2, 1737, on the estate on which his ancestor settled in 1636. He was bred a farmer, but had a strong taste for military affairs. He was the commander of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1770, and colonel of the Suffolk Regiment in 1774. He was a representative in
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1761, a delegate to the Provincial Congresses of 1774 and 1775, and a member of the Committee of Correspondence and Safety. He was appointed brigadier-general of the militia December 8, 1774, major-general June 20, 1775, brigadier-general of the Continental Army June 22, 1775, and major-general August 9, 1776. He was stationed at Roxbury during the siege of Boston, and after the evacuation of that city went to New York and took command of the posts at the Highlands. In 1777 he commanded the Eastern Department, had charge of the prisoners taken at Saratoga, and finally had command on the Hudson until the close of the war. He was a delegate to the Federal Constitutional Convention in 1788; State senator from 1780 to 1792, and in 1806 was chosen lieutenant-governor, but declined. On the 2d of July, 1793, after the incorporation of Norfolk county, he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and also judge of probate of the new county, and died January 24, 1814.
THOMAS GREENLEAF was born in Boston, May 15, 1767, and graduated at Harvard in 1784. He was a representative from Quincy from 1808 to 1820; a member of the Executive Council from 1820 to 1822, and in 1806 was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Norfolk county. He died January 5, 1854.
JOHN W. AMES, son of Fisher Ames, was born in Dedham, October 22, 1793, and graduated at Harvard in 1813. He studied law with Theron Metcalf, and after ad- mission to the bar opened an office in Boston. After a short time he removed to Dedham, from which town he was a representative in the General Court in 1822, and where he was president of the Dedham Bank from 1829 until his death, which occurred October 31, 1833.
WILBUR H. POWERS, son of Elias and Emeline (White) Powers, was born in Croy- den, N. H., January 2, 1849. He inherited from a vigorous ancestry strength of character and tenacity of will which have served him well in the development of his professional career. Since the day when a Le Poer figured as one of the bravest generals in the battle of Hastings, the family name in its various forms of spelling has represented an honest and brave and patriotic race. Early in life he attended the village school, often traveling three miles on foot to more distant schools when nearer ones were closed, and later he attended a school of higher grade at Olean, N. Y., and Kimball Union Academy at Meriden, N. H. But he was not content with the instruction received at these institutions. Naturally of an inquiring mind, he had been in the habit of listening to the conversation of his elders, and thus his ambition was kindled to learn something more of the world than he could acquire within the narrow field of his country life. In 1871 he entered Dartmouth College and graduated in 1875, having taken during the collegiate course several prizes for rhetoric, oratory and general scholarship. During the winter months he had taught
school, and during the summer vacations been employed on his father's farm or in a neighboring furniture establishment, and thus he not only learned lessons of industry and thrift, but earned something towards the payment of his college bills. After leaving college he attended the Boston University School of Law, graduating in 1878, and was admitted to the New Hampshire bar at Concord in August of that year. In November, 1878, he was admitted to the Massachusetts bar at Fitchburg, and began practice in Boston January 22, 1879. Upon coming to Boston he made Canton his place of residence for a year, and removed to Hyde Park in 1881, where he has con- tinued to live up to the present time. With the interests and welfare of that town
James Selumber
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he has closely identified himself, and in 1890, 1891 and 1892 was its representative in the General Court. . In the House of Representatives he was recognized by the Re- publieans as their most judicious and efficient leader, and to his efforts was due the passage of the Congressional apportionment bill, which was considered as more just and more free from partisan manipulation than any apportionment for many years. He was also chairman of the Committee on Railroads and in 1892 was appointed chairman of the important committee to revise the judicial system of the Common- wealth. He was also the author of the " Powers Tax Bill," the objeet of which was to make a more equitable division of that portion of the State tax now paid to eities and towns, and at the same time to foster the publie school system and aid needy municipalities. He married in Boston, May 1, 1880, Emily Owen, and continues to live in Hyde Park.
DAVID HAVEN MASON, son of John and Mary (Haven) Mason, was born in Sullivan, N. H., March 17, 1818, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1841. After studying law he was admitted to the Suffolk bar October 7, 1843. In 1848 he took up his resi- denee in Newton and there remained until his death. With the sterling traits which were his characteristics, he was not long in securing the confidence of the business community and establishing himself firmly in the profession. In the town of his adoption he became a respected and trustworthy citizen, and he was ever active and efficient in promoting the welfare of the town and its people. His interest in the schools of Newton was especially strong, and to his efforts more than to those of others was due the erection of a new High School building against serious and deter- inined opposition. The people of Newton have recognized his services in behalf of the schools by giving his name to one of the schools in Newton Centre. In 1857 he delivered an oration in New London, Conn., on the Fourth of July and in 1859 in Newton on the same occasion. On the 14th of July, 1864, he delivered the oration at the centennial anniversary of the settlement of Lancaster, N. H. In 1860 he was appointed by the governor a member of the State Board of Education and served several years, during which he was especially conspicuous in the establishment of the State Normal School in Framingham. In 1863, 1866 and 1867 he was a repre- sentative from Newton, and more than once declined nominations to the State Senate and to Congress. A seat on the beneh also was offered to him, but he preferred the active business as well as the larger emoluments of his profession. During his legis- lative career and before committees of the Legislature he advocated many important measures, among which may be mentioned the consolidation of the Western and Boston Worcester Railroads, the equalization of bounties to soldiers, the Fort Hill enterprise, and the abolition of the Mill Dam toll-gate. During the administration of President Grant, George S. Hillard resigned the office of United States distriet attorney for Massachusetts, and on the 22d of December, 1870, Mr. Mason was ap- pointed his successor, and held that office until his death. He married, June 16, 1845, Sarah Wilson, daughter of John Hazen and Roxanna White Wilson, of Rutland, Mass., and died at Newton, May 20, 1873, leaving one daughter and three sons, members of the Suffolk bar, and referred to elsewhere in this register.
JAMES R. MURPHY, son of James and Catherine Murphy, was born in Boston, July 20, 1853. He was educated at Boston College, and at the University of Georgetown, District of Columbia, from which he graduated in 1872. After leaving college he
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was emyloyed three years as professor of Latin in Loyola College, Baltimore, and in Seton Hall, New Jersey. He then studied law in the office of Josiah G. Abbott, in Boston, and at the Boston University Law School from which he graduated with the degree of LL.B. in 1876, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar October 18 in that year. Since his admission he has always practiced alone, relying on his own un- aided efforts for the professional success which he has achieved. Among the im- portant cases in which he has been counsel may be mentioned the Frye murder case, the Florence Street murder case, and several contract cases involving large sums of considerable amount. As a Roman Catholic he has been active and influential in the organization of Young Men's Catholic Associations, and is a member of the Catholic Union, the Order of United Workmen and the Royal Arcanum. He is in the prime of mental and bodily vigor, still advancing in his profession with a sure promise of continued success. He married in Baltimore, Md., Mary, daughter of George Baker Randall, November 21, 1881, and has his residence in the Roxbury District of Boston.
GEORGE PARTRIDGE SANGER, son of Rev. Ralph and Charlotte Kingman Sanger, was born in Dover, Mass., November 27, 1819, and graduated at Harvard in 1840. His rank in college was high, and the studious habits while in college were main- tained through life. He fitted for college partly under the instruction of his father, and partly at the academy in Bridgewater, the native place of his mother. During his preparation he taught school in Dover during the winter of 1834, at the age of fif- teen, and in Sharon during the winter of 1835. After leaving college he taught a private school in Portsmouth, N. H., nearly two years, after which he entered the Harvard Law School, from which he graduated with the degree of LL. B. in 1844. In 1843, while attending the law school, he was appointed tutor in Latin, having held the position of proctor since August, 1842. In 1846 his connection with the col- lege terminated, and he was admitted to the Suffolk bar on the 9th of February in that year. After his admission he was associated in business for a short time with Stephen H. Phillips, and afterwards with Charles G. Davis, and in 1849 was ap- pointed assistant of George Lunt, United States district attorney for the District of Massachusetts. In January, 1853, he was appointed on the staff of Governor Clif- ford, and on the 30th of September of that year was appointed Commonwealth attor- ney to succeed John C. Park, who had resigned. In 1854 he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and was succeeded as Commonwealth or district attorney by George W. Cooley. Ife remained on the bench until the abolition of the Common Pleas Court in 1859, and in 1861 was reappointed district attorney in the place of Joseph H. Bradley, who had been appointed to succeed Mr. Cooley, but declined. He held the office of district attorney until 1866, when he declined further service, and resumed practice. In 1867 he removed his residence from Boston to Cambridge, and continued it there until his death. In 1873 he was appointed United States at- torney for the District of Massachusetts by President Grant, and was reappointed twice, once by President Hayes and once by President Arthur. In Charlestown, where he resided in the earlier part of his career, he was a member of the School Board two years, and captain of the Charlestown City Guards. In 1853 he com- manded the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, and in 1870 was a member of the Boston Common Council. He was a member of the House of Representatives in
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1873, and was for several years the president of the John Hancock Mutual Life In- surance Company of Boston. Aside from his official labors, and those more in- timately connected with his profession, he devoted much time to the literature of the law. He was editor of the American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowl- edge from 1848 to 1860, was twice editor of the Law Reporter, and the editor of the Statutes at Large of the United States from 1855 to 1873. In 1860 he was ap- pointed, with Judge William A. Richardson, by the Massachusetts Legislature, to publish the General Statutes in 1860 and an annual supplement to the same, a work which continued until the revision of the statutes in 1881. He married, September 14, 1846, Elizabeth Sherburne, daughter of Wm. Whipple and Eleanor (Sherburne) Thompson, of Portsmouth, N. H., and died at Swampscott, Mass., July 3, 1890.
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