USA > Maine > Biographical encyclopedia of Maine of the nineteenth century > Part 21
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He was a good judge of men, and was quick to discover ability and integrity in young lawyers, and those who possessed them never failed to receive his kind encouragement ; but trickery and indirection obtained no favor or countenance from him.
As a law judge, from his broad and comprehensive knowledge of the law as a science, from his good common-sense and sound judgment and his power of clearly stating his views to others, and from his positive elements of character, he had great influence with his associates, and was inferior to none of them. When he resigned, in the full vigor of his mental and physical powers, there was a general expression of regret that the State could no longer have his services in the office which he had so ably filled.
In 1871 he resigned the presidency of the Portland and Kennebec Railroad (which had meanwhile become the Maine Central), to accept the position of a director and the office of vice-president of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company ; which posts he held for several years, when, broken down in health by severe mental labors in connection with that and other enterprises, he was compelled to seek its recovery in absolute rest at his quiet home in Augusta. But the strain upon his nervous system had been too great and too prolonged to enable the highest medical skill and the most assiduous care and attention to avert the fatal termination.
Judge Rice was twice married. His first wife was Anne R. Smith of Hallowell, who died in 1838, leaving him one son, Albert S. Rice, Esq., a successful lawyer in Rockland. For his second wife he married Almira E. Robinson, daughter of Joseph D. Emery, and widow of George Robinson of Augusta, who survives him. He had one daughter by this last union,-Abbie E. Rice,-who married Captain Samuel Dana of the U. S. Army, and died in California in 1868.
Metropolitan Publishny & Engraving Co Boston
Commande Fox
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The subjoined extract from a very just and discriminating newspaper notice is appended as an appropriate close of this brief and imperfect memoir:
[From The New Age of June 2, 1882.]
"Judge Rice was a man of mark. He was distinguished for strength of character, a vigorous intellect, keen perceptive faculties, and hard common-sense. He was a positive man, possessed of strong convictions, and of the courage to express them. He was enterprising, energetic, of large business capacity, and entertaining comprehensive views of public and industrial affairs, he was confident of his own powers to successfully grapple with whatever he undertook. As an editor he was able and efficient; as a lawyer he was successful ; as a judge he was clear-headed, keen-sighted, quick to discern where the justice of a case lay ; and, guided in his rulings and decisions by the unerring light of general prin- ciples rather than the confused and ofttimes conflicting authority of precedent cases, he was rarely wrong in his conclusions; as the president of a large railroad corporation in his own State he displayed a breadth of views, and a capacity and tact for business enterprise, surpassed by few men who have devoted their lives to the management of great railroad lines ; as the vice-president of a transcon- tinental railway to the Pacific he illustrated a capacity to comprehend the vast interests involved in the undertaking, and the ability and genius to contribute largely to the elaboration of plans and measures for its successful prosecution.
"In the demise of Judge Rice the State has lost a man of commanding abilities ; Augusta one of its most enterprising and public-spirited citizens ; the Democratic Party a firm and consistent supporter of its principles ; his numerous friends an esteemed companion, his bereaved wife a kind husband, and his family the tender and considerate care of a father and protector."
OX, EDWARD, of Bangor, late Judge U. S. District Court. The ances- tors of Judge Fox were prominent in the history of Portland from its earli- est settlement, and were distinguished among the statesmen and ministers of the colonial history of New England. He was descended from Thomas Fox, the first of the name in New England, who came to America before 1638, and was a leading citizen of Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was many times a Selectman, and where he died in 1693, at the age of eighty-five. This Thomas Fox was a lineal descendant of John Foxe, the celebrated Oxford scholar and a fellow of Magdalen College, who wrote the " Acts and Monuments of the Church," known as " Foxe's Book of Martyrs," and numerous other works. He was exiled for his Protestant opinions under the reign of Queen Mary, but returned to England under Elizabeth, and was made preb- end of Salisbury Cathedral. He died in London in 1589. Thomas Fox of Cambridge had several children, of whom Jabez, a graduate of Harvard in 1668, was the ancestor of Edward. Jabez was settled as the minister of Woburn in 1678, upon a salary of fifty
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pounds a year-one quarter in silver-with house-rent and fire-wood. His widow survived him, and married Colonel Jonathan Tyng, of Sir Edmund Andros's Council. John Fox, the son of Jabez, and a graduate of Harvard in 1698, succeeded his father in the ministry of Woburn, and married Mary, a daughter of Hon. Edward Tyng, a distinguished soldier and statesman of New England, and who, being appointed Governor of Annapolis, was captured by the French on his way to his command, and died a prisoner in France. Edward Tyng had possessions in Falmouth, where he lived for some time, and married Elizabeth, the daughter of Thaddeus Clark, whose wife was the granddaughter of George Cleeves, the first settler in Falmouth. One of the children of John Fox and Mary Tyng, his wife, was Jabez Fox, a graduate of Harvard in the Class of 1727; and who, like his father and grandfather, studied theology, but was compelled on account of his poor health to abandon preaching. He settled in Falmouth, now Portland, where he spent a useful and honorable life, and was for many years a member of the Provincial Council, member of the General Court, and naval officer at his death in 1755. His wife was the widow of Phineas Jones ; and their son John, the grandfather of Edward, became a prominent citi- zen in Falmouth, was frequently Selectman, was Representative to the General Court four years, and a delegate to the convention in Massachusetts which adopted the Constitution of the United States. His son John, also a leading merchant and citizen in Portland, was the father of Edward, who, as has been seen, unites the blood of the biographer of the Mar- tyrs with that of the first settler in Portland and the early worthies of New England. His mother was Lucy Jones Oxnard, his father's cousin, and descended from the same ancestry.
Edward Fox was born in Portland on the Ioth of June, 1815, attended school at Exeter under the famous Dr. Abbot, and prepared for Harvard College, where he was graduated in the Class of 1834. After leaving college he attended the law-school in Cambridge, then rising to great celebrity under Judge Story and Simon Greenleaf-the latter recently one of the leaders of the Cumberland bar. Readers of the biography of Judge Story will re- member the enthusiasm which that jurist felt for his work at the law-school, and Judge Fox had the pleasure of receiving instruction from the judge before whom he was soon to argue real cases in the U. S. court, as well as subsequently to sit as judge in the same tribunal. Besides studying his profession at the Harvard Law School, he also studied in the law-office of Willis & Fessenden, the former being the pleasing historian of the lawyers of Maine, and the latter the Senator from Maine during the Rebellion. In this office he gave promise of his future learning by the extensive researches he would make upon every point submitted to him to be examined: Upon finishing his law studies he was immediately invited to become a partner with R. A. L. Codman, a leading member of the bar in Portland, a lawyer of brilliant forensic abilities, and possessing a large prac- tice. Entering into Mr. Codman's extensive practice, Judge Fox never knew the dreary waiting which many eminent lawyers have experienced, but plunged at once into a large
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and important business, which always increased so long as he remained at the bar, and which finally became so burdensome as to compel him to seek relief upon the bench. The firm of Codman & Fox was distinguished throughout the State, and was one of the ablest in the community, Their business extended into different counties and into all the courts. The Cumberland bar at this time was noted for its many first-class lawyers. Stephen Longfellow was then in full practice. C. S. Davies, eminent in admiralty and equity juris- prudence, was at his prime. General Samuel Fessenden, with his partner Thomas A. Deblois, William Pitt Preble, Willis & Fessenden, and R. A. L. Codman were all lawyers whose conflicts at the bar exhibited the highest powers of eloquence, learning, and skill. Upon the bench of the U. S. court sat Ware, an elegant scholar, and deeply read in the principles of Roman and admiralty law ; and Shepley the elder, Whitman, and Weston gave dignity and strength to the Supreme Court of the State. Such courts and such a bar required accurate learning and great industry and abilities to acquire a position in the front rank. Fox soon proved that he was equal to encountering the ablest leaders at the bar. Although his partner was known to be one of the finest advocates in the State, and possessed unusual powers before a jury, nevertheless the younger partner was at once seen managing the most intricate causes in court, and displaying a skill in manage- ment and a power in argument which marked him as a coming leader in the profession. The prominent traits of his mind were strength, sagacity, and penetration. To these he united great industry and habits of laborious research, which were sustained by a powerful physical organization. In speaking he indulged in no rhetoric, his arguments being plain, sensible, and convincing. His influence with courts and juries was increased by the purity of his life, a character of the highest integrity, and a keen love of justice. As a counsellor he would permit no dishonesty, and he would refuse to advise those who wished to evade the spirit of the laws. One of. his students relates that upon one occasion when a man consulted him upon assigning some property Mr. Fox replied, " What you want to know is how to put your property out of your hands so your creditors can't get it. There is no law which helps a man to cheat his creditors, and if there were, I would not tell you how to use it."
It was said by Lord Tenterden of England, that the division of lawyers in that coun- try into counsellors and attorneys, and confining themselves to particular branches of the profession, induced a narrowness of study and a search for distinctions rather than princi- ples. This remark was noticed by the celebrated Caleb Cushing, who observed that in this country, where members of the bar studied all branches of the profession and partici- pated in the practice of the various courts of the common law, equity, and admiralty, that the study of law produced greater comprehensiveness of mind and a greater tendency to generalization. Here jurisprudence became a science, rising from ordinary private disputes to questions of legislation and government, and prepared the lawyer for the larger functions
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of the jurist and the statesman. This observation was especially true of the legal profes- sion in Portland, in which have been found some of the ablest men in the country. From early times there had been a considerable commerce with foreign countries, giving rise to many questions in mercantile law. The State was renowned for its ship-building ; and its long and rocky coast, with numerous deep bays and estuaries, brought forth a race of hardy seamen, whose adventures and voyages occasioned frequent causes within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. Surrounded by the territory of Great Britain, its long dis- pute with that power over the question of their boundary-line gave rise to many im- portant discussions of international law. The U. S. courts especially were obliged to consider questions involving the relations of the States with the U. S. Government, the conflicts of double allegiance, and the rights of sovereignties as well as of indi- viduals. These great matters, as has been eloquently said, lifted the legal mind to the high- est regions of the science and practice of the law. Most lawyers in this country are more or less frequently members of the Legislatures, where they are called upon to reform the defects of existing laws; and Maine has been especially distinguished for her broad and enlightened legislation upon questions of jurisprudence.
Judge Fox's practice was extensive in the U. S. courts in Maine, and especially in the District Court, then presided over by Judge Ware. The eminence of this scholarly and learned judge, his profound knowledge of Roman jurisprudence and admiralty law, compelled the lawyers who practised before him to study deeply their causes, and thus the profession caught a higher system of investigation from the distinguished and able court. Fox's name is among the most frequent in those reported cases in Ware's reports, which furnished occasion for his elaborate expositions in elegant diction of the principles of admiralty and maritime law, of which the profession at that time was not well informed. Among the interesting causes in which Fox appeared as leading counsel, soon after his admission to the bar, was the case of Polydore, a slave in the West Indies, and who, upon being violently assaulted in Portland harbor by the captain of the vessel in which he had come to New England, brought a civil suit in the U. S. court against the captain for damages. Fox's hatred of injustice was deeply stirred by this outrage upon a friendless slave, and he acted as his counsel. It was insisted that as Poly- dore was a slave by the law of his domicile he could not sue in the courts; but Judge Ware, in a learned opinion, held that having come to a jurisdiction where slavery did not exist, for any personal wrong committed upon him he might bring a suit like a free per- son. Other legal questions, new in their character and important in their results, were brought before this court, some of which he maintained with success before the appellate tribunals and against the weight of Judge Ware's adverse opinion.
The remark attributed to Chief Justice Tenterden was never applicable to the Cumber- land bar. Portland, although an active commercial town, and maintaining a considerable
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inland and maritime trade, was not sufficiently large to permit the lawyers, as in the larger cities, to divide themselves among the different branches of the profession. The leading lawyers might be seen going from an argument on a question of admiralty jurisdiction to another court to argue a point of common law. Fox was severely trained in the common law, and deeply read in mercantile law and equity jurisprudence, which his comprehensive mind, his broad sense of justice, and his sturdy common-sense qualified him to appreciate and enforce. In a few years from his admission to practice he was recognized as one of the leaders at the bar and one of the most reliable members of the profession, while his practice as constantly increased. He remained in business with Mr. Codman for ten years, until 1847, when they separated, and Mr. Fox continued in business alone. A few years later he associated with himself his younger brother Frederick Fox, then just admitted to the bar. In 1853, owing to the failing health of his wife, Mr. Fox abandoned his large business and took his family to a warmer climate, visiting the island of Nassau, and travelling through the Southern States. Believing that the climate of Cincinnati would be beneficial to his wife, he procured admission to the bar in that city, and prepared to enter upon the practice of his profession. But as Mrs. Fox's health grew worse, he came with her to Philadelphia, and resided in Germantown. Mrs. Fox died in the summer of 1856, when he returned to Portland and resumed his law practice, again associating his brother with him. The firm at once embraced an extensive business, which grew so absorbing, that in 1862, to obtain relief from labors which overtaxed even his great strength, Mr. Fox accepted an appointment upon the Supreme Bench of Maine. Judge Fox performed the duties of his new office for about a year, holding court in several counties in the State ; but finding that he was obliged to be absent much of the time from home, he resigned the position and returned to practice.
In the mean time he had been City Solicitor for Portland, chosen by the City Council to that office, and in the years 1860-61 he had represented his city in the State Legislature at Augusta. His services as a legislator were not confined to the period of his membership in the Legislature. Upon all important questions touching new laws or amending old ones his opinions were constantly sought, and his aid often demanded for drafting new provisions. The laws of Maine have received many finishing touches from his hand.
On resuming practice in 1863 Judge Fox immediately found himself as deeply engaged in the exacting demands of a large business as that which he had surrendered in the previous year. In 1866, Judge Ware resigned his position of U. S. District Judge, whose duties had become burdensome to him by reason of his great age and increasing infirmities, and Judge Fox was appointed by President Johnson, with the unanimous approbation of the bar and the public, to the vacancy. This position he filled for nearly sixteen years, administering the numerous branches of the law which are embraced within the jurisdiction of the U. S. courts with the greatest wisdom, promptitude, and learning.
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The jurisdiction of the U. S. courts is exceedingly varied and extensive. It has nowhere been better described than by Charles Sumner in his delineation of the various realms of jurisprudence explored and expounded by the great Judge Story. "There," said he, "is the ancient and subtle learning of the real law, the criminal law, the niceties of special pleading, the more refined doctrines of contracts, the more rational system of commercial and maritime law, the peculiar and interesting principles of admiralty and prize, the immense range of chancery, the modern and important jurisdiction over patents, and the higher region of public and international law." And to these might be added the divisions of bankruptcy and revenue causes. The vast system of revenue laws which grew out of the necessities of the country, and the enactment of a national bank- rupt law soon after his accession to the bench, brought numerous questions of privatc right, as well as contentions between the Government and its citizens, before Judgc Fox, whose decisions, ranging through all the various branches of the law, have been accepted by the profession as authoritative cxpositions of the law in the causes before him.
Judge Fox was pre-eminently fitted for the bench. To judicial qualities of the highest order, he in his appearance looked the judge. His person was large, dignified, and com- manding, and his features werc strong, impressive, and stern. Of him it might be said that his features indicated his character, which was decided, fcarless, upright, and inflexiblc. He would not permit a case to be artfully handled so as to hide the real point of the con- troversy, and he had inscribed prominently upon his commonplace-book the maxim of Lord Hale, which he loved to enforce, "that the jury should be told where the main point of the business lies." All the eminent judges who werc associated with him during his career have testified in the highest terms to his great pre-eminence as a judge, and especially while holding jury trials. Juries rarely failed to agree when he presided in court. It is related of him that on one occasion a jury had been out all night and had failed to agree in a case of much importance, which he did not consider to be difficult of decision. He told them that their timc could not be better employed during the remainder of the term than in considering the case. The jury retired, and in a few moments rendered a verdict. This anecdote well illustrates his decision and force of character. Of admiralty law he was a perfect master. His administration of the criminal law was characterized by perfect knowledge of the subject, accuracy in his rulings, firmness, and promptness. In the trial of common-law suits, particularly such as related to commerce and contracts of insurance, he was regarded as a very able judge. But eminent as he was in these depart- ments, his powers and learning were still better attested in his administration of the bank- rupt law. No judge in administering the bankrupt law was more accurate in his decisions, or is entitled to higher esteem for the thoroughness with which all questions were examined and discussed. He was remarkable for his aptness in the despatch of business, and never allowing anything to accumulate on his own desk, he sought to instil the same diligence
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and promptitude into others. As a citizen, Judge Fox was highly esteemed, not only for his private virtues, but for his opinions on all important questions affecting the community in which he lived. In matters pertaining to public affairs he was often consulted, and his views always carried weight with the public mind.
This eminent judge died in the fulness of his powers, and almost in the performance of his duties. During the last day of his life he presided in court, and before its close he had given a clear and impressive charge to the jury, which retired to prepare its verdict. That night, soon after retiring, he died in his sleep, well prepared by the uprightness of his life, the kindness of his heart, and the performance of every duty, to come before that great Judge before whom courts, juries, and parties must all appear.
Judge Fox was twice married. His first wife was Lucy Ellen Winslow, by whom he had two children. The eldest, a daughter, married Francis Fessenden. The youngest, Edward Winslow Fox, a graduate of Harvard in 1864, became a lawyer of great promise, and was already urged for important judicial station when he died from overwork in 1877, at the early age of thirty-two. The second wife of Judge Fox was Mrs. M. T. Fessenden, with whom he lived twenty-four years, and who survived him. They had no children.
HEPLEY, ETHER, of Portland, Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine. Born in Groton, Massachusetts, November 2, 1789. He was the second son of John Shepley and Mary (Gibson) Thurlow Shepley. His mother was a daughter of Deacon Gibson of Stowe, and the widow of Captain Thurlow of the Revolutionary Army.
The Shepley family is descended from one of the most ancient in Yorkshire, England. As early as 1316 it is recorded that John de Shepley signed a certificate as "Lord of the township of Shepley, in the county of York." About the year 1637 the first representatives of the Shepleys made their appearance at Salem, Massachu- setts. In 1700 the name of John Sheple is found at Groton. From him Ether Shepley was a lineal descendant in the sixth degree. Sturdy and vigorous, the family is one of those from which all that is best in New England life has sprung. For many generations the Shepleys of Groton were locally prominent men-"much used by the town." Mr. Willis, author of the " Lawyers of Maine," wrote of the father of Ether Shepley as follows : "He was an orderly sergeant of a company in the Revolution ; he held several town offices in Groton, was a farmer, fond of reading, and a man of general information." Two of his sons received a collegiate education.
John Shepley, elder brother of Ether, lived in Saco for many years, was a "walking
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dictionary" of the law, a graduate of Harvard, a member of the Senate of Massachusetts, and reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.
Ether Shepley received his elementary education at Groton Academy, under the tuition of Caleb Butler. There he was fitted for entrance into Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1811. Professor N. H. Carter and Bezaleel Cushman of Portland, Dr. William Coggswell, Daniel Poor the celebrated missionary, Professor Park of the Law School at Harvard, and Amos Kendall, Postmaster-General in President Jackson's Admin- istration, were among his classmates.
Choosing the profession of law, Mr. Shepley, after leaving college, began the study thereof in the office of Dudley Hubbard of South Berwick. During the two years of his stay there he rendered great assistance to Mr. Hubbard by the intelligent and active man- ner in which he took hold of the large collection business of that gentleman. Although urged to continue his services, he declincd, and subsequently read law in the office of Zabdiel B. Adams in Worcester County, and in that of Solomon Strong in Hampshire. On his admission to the bar he commenced practice at Saco, in July, 1814. Here the knowledge, business habits, and experience previously garnered came into active play, and placed him at the head of youthful practitioners. Industry, close application, and practical ability kept him in that relative position, and raised him to high social standing in the community.
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