USA > Maine > Biographical encyclopedia of Maine of the nineteenth century > Part 42
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As a Chief Justice, Judge Weston was remarkable for his dignity and impartiality. Patient in the trial of causes, his opinions were clear and to the point. These opinions, both as associate and as chief, are included in the first twenty volumes of the Maine Reports, and are lucid expositions of the law relevant to the causes heard and decided. In Nisi Prius cases he ruled promptly upon such points of law as were raised. Calm and im- perturbable himself, his charges to the jury were clear, complete, and logical. In all his intercourse with members of the bar he was affable, candid, and courteous.
In political contests Judge Weston took but little part. He was uniformly a firm and consistent Democrat. The only political office he is known to have filled, in addition to that of Representative from New Gloucester in 1808, was that of delegate to the Bruns- wick Convention in 1816. In this assembly he served in the Committee on the Constitu- tion, and supported the measures of the majority of the convention.
The education of the rising and future generations was something that deeply in-
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terested him. In 1820 he was appointed by the Governor and Council one of the trustees of Bowdoin College, and held that relation for many years. In recognition of his merit and services, the college bestowed upon him the honorary title of LL.D. in 1843. Dart- mouth and Waterville had previously conferred a similar distinction. Of the latter institu- tion he was a trustee for the period of thirty-two years.
The evening of Judge Weston's long and useful life was passed in the management of his private affairs, and in the courtesies and amenities proper to his character and social position. His memory was tenacious, and was richly stored with valuable information, garnered from many of the best works in all departments of knowledge. Possessed of agreeable conversational abilities, his society was acceptable to people of all ages. His reminiscences were interesting and often piquant, and his readiness to impart knowledge or pleasure that of a cultured and benevolent gentleman.
Nathan Weston was married in 1809 to Miss Cony, a daughter of Judge Daniel Cony of Augusta, Maine. By her he became the father of seven children-four sons and three daughters. Three of the sons-Nathan, Daniel Cony, and George Melville- graduated at Bowdoin College, and were educated for the bar. Daniel C. subsequently entered the Christian ministry, at Stonington, Connecticut. Charles, the youngest son has served in both the army and navy.
LEAVES, HENRY B., Attorney-General of Maine, was born in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, Maine, February 6, 1840. His parents, Thomas and Sophia (Bradstreet) Cleaves, are noticed in the sketch of Judge Nathan Cleaves. The education of Henry B. Cleaves was acquired at the schools of his native town, and in the academies at North Bridgeton and Lewiston Falls. In September, 1862, he enlisted in the Twenty-third Maine Regiment, under the command of Colonel William Wirt Virgin, and served with that body until its final dis- charge from service, July 15, 1863. He immediately re-enlisted in the Thirtieth Regiment Maine Veteran Volunteers, which was then being recruited under the auspices of General Francis Fessenden ; was commissioned First Lieutenant of Company F, December 29, 1863 ; and ordered to duty in the Department of the Gulf. He participated in the various engagements of the Army of the Gulf up to August, 1864, when he joined the Army of the Potomac, serving through the memorable and brilliant campaigns of Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, and continuing in active service until the surrender of Lee at Appomat- tox. Returning to the Department of the Gulf, he was stationed at Savannah, Georgia,
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and in August, 1865, was honorably discharged from the service, and returned to his native State.
Pursuing the study of law in the office of Howard & Cleaves, he completed the same and was in September, 1868, admitted to the bar. He then formed a partnership with the Hon. Washington Gilbert of Bath, Maine, which relation existed for one year, when Mr. Cleaves removed to Portland, and became the junior partner in the old firm of Howard & Cleaves. This association continued until the death of Judge Howard in 1877. Since that time he has been the partner of his brother, Judge Nathan Cleaves.
During 1876 and 1877 he was a member of the Legislature as a Representative from Portland, and in the last-named year was honored with the chairmanship of the Committee on Judiciary. From 1877 to March, 1879, he was the City Solicitor of Portland. In 1880 he was elected Attorney-General for the State of Maine, was re-elected in 1881, and is now performing the duties of that important and honorable position, with fidelity to the interests of the State and with eminent satisfaction to the public.
ITTLE, JOSIAH STORER, was born in Minot, Maine, July 9, 1801, but moved to Newburyport, Massachusetts, at an early age, where he was brought up by his grandfather, Josiah Little, a somewhat remarkable man, typical of that day and generation. To his character, much of whose force he seemed to inherit, and to his counsels and teachings Mr. Little was greatly indebted for his subsequent success in life. He entered Bowdoin College in 1821, and graduated in 1825 at the head of a class of men who in after-life were numbered among the most successful and distinguished of the nation ; prominent among them being the poet Longfellow, Hawthorne, President Pierce, Jonathan Cilley, Dr. Cheever, and many others -all of greater or less celebrity.
Upon leaving college, Mr. Little studied law in Portland, and entered upon the prac- tice of his profession, in which he continued for a few years, when finding the line of large landed interests claimed his attention, he gave up his profession, and entered upon a business career. From that time he became identified with the business interests of the community in which he resided, and was always more or less connected with large operations. At different periods of his life he was active in various manufactures, particu- larly with those associated with the lumbering interests of our State. He was for many years President of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad, and from that position and others had far-reaching business relations with the Provinces and many parts of New Eng- land.
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He was also much interested in politics; was for several years Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, and was at one time a prominent candidate for Congress for the First District.
Mr. Little's character was such that he was always looked up to and respected by those among whom he lived. His advice was much sought in business matters, and many men now living in prosperity owe their first start in life to his practical advice, generosity, and helping hand.
Mr. Little died in Portland, Maine, April 2, 1862, after a short illness, honored and lamented by a large circle of friends and relatives.
LEAVES, NATHAN, Lawyer, of Portland, Maine, was born in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, Maine, on the 9th of January, 1835. His father, the late Thomas Cleaves of Bridgeton, was a native of that town, and also a life- long resident thereof; he was actively identified with the affairs of Bridgeton, held many positions of honor and trust, and died in March, 1881, at the ripe age of eighty-one years and nine months, sincerely mourned, and highly esteemed by his fellow-townsmen for his many virtues. His mother, née Sophia Bradstreet, daughter of Daniel Bradstreet, was a native of Bridgeton. Her parents were among the pioneer settlers of the place, coming from Rowley, Massachusetts.
Nathan Cleaves prepared for college at the Portland Academy, and was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1858, having among his classmates a number who subsequently achieved reputation in the professional and public walks of life. Among them may be mentioned General Jonathan P. Cilley of Rockland; General Francis Fessenden, late Mayor of Portland ; Judge Lysander Hill of Washington ; Hon. E. B. Neally of Bangor; Hon. Ellis Spear, late Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C .; and others.
Determining to follow the legal profession, he studied law in the office of Howard & Strout, Portland, and in April, 1860, was admitted to the bar of Cumberland County. He was for a few months engaged in practice in Bowdoinham, Sagadahoc County, Maine, and then removed to Portland, and associated himself in practice with Hon. L. D. M. Sweat, who was at that time a member of Congress. This connection continued up to July, 1864, when Mr. Cleaves formed a partnership with the late Judge Howard, and was engaged in practice with him up to the time of his death in December, 1877. In 1869 Judge Cleaves was elected City Solicitor of Portland, and in 1871 and 1875 he was a Repre- sentative in the Legislature from that city. From 1876 to 1880 he filled the office of Judge
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of Probate for Cumberland County. Since his retirement from the bench he has resumed his legal practice, in connection with his brother, Hon. Henry B. Cleaves.
In May, 1865, he was united in marriage to Caroline, daughter of Judge Howard. She died at Augusta in February, 1875.
OBB, JOHN CLIFFORD, Lawyer, of Portland, Maine. Born in West- brook, now Deering, Maine, March 3, 1837. Jonathan Cobb his father, and Jonathan Cobb his grandfather, were farmers by occupation, and natives of the town of Westbrook. His mother's maiden name was Mary Stuart, daughter of James Stuart, who was of Scottish descent, and one of the early settlers in the town of Windham.
Young Cobb was left fatherless at the age of five years, and his mother soon after contracting an unhappy second marriage, he was at a very early age thrown upon his own resources, being dependent upon himself for his home, his education, and his training, as well as for his guidance and direction-compelled to earn, by teaching in the public schools and otherwise, the means with which to pay for his literary and professional education.
His early education was begun in the common-schools of his native town, and completed in the Westbrook Seminary-then and now under the tutelage of Dr. James. P. Weston, and also at other institutions of learning. Leaving the seminary at the age of twenty years, he commenced the study of law in the office of Chadbourne & Miller, Port- land. Admitted to practice at the bar of the State of Maine, in Belfast, in the year 1860, he began his professional career in Rockland soon afterward. In April, 1861, immediately after the outbreak of the great Rebellion, he enlisted as a private in Company H of the Fourth Regiment of Maine Volunteer Militia. Elected to a first-lieutenancy at the organization of the regiment, he served with it until August,-after the battle of Bull Run, -and then resigned and returned to Windham.
In December, 1861, Lieutenant Cobb received his second commission, as first-lieu- tenant in Company D, Fifteenth Maine Volunteer Militia, and served in that position for some time. Accompanying his regiment-which formed a part of the Butler expedition- to Ship Island in the Gulf of Mexico, he went from thence up the Mississippi, assisted in the capture of New Orleans, and from thence was ordered to Fort Pickens, on Santa Rosa Island, Florida, where he officiated as Acting Assistant-Commissary of Subsistence of the U. S. Army, Acting Assistant-Quartermaster U. S. Army, and as Adjutant of the post under Major Allen, of the regular army. In July, 1863, he was transferred to Carrollton, Louisiana, and appointed Acting Assistant Adjutant-General of that post. During the
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same month he received orders from Major-General N. P. Banks, commanding the Department of the Gulf, to raise and organize for service a regiment of engineers at New Orleans. These orders were promptly carried out, and in August Lieutenant Cobb received the provisional commission of colonel of his new regiment from the commanding general. This regiment was afterward changed to the Ninety-sixth U. S. C. I. In com- mand of it, he constructed the fort at Brashear City, Louisiana, this being its first service after organization. From thence, in November, 1863, he was transferred with his com- mand to Matagorda Island, on engineer service, and by order of Major-General N. J. T. Dana was made Chief Engineer of the coast of Texas. He was also placed in com- mand of the post -containing three or four thousand troops-at Matagorda Island. Soon afterward General Dana himself came thither, and made that post the headquarters of the Thirteenth Army Corps-thus relieving Colonel Cobb of the command. He, however, organized a provisional brigade in the Thirteenth Corps, and placed Colonel Cobb at the head. The latter remained at headquarters on Matagorda Island until June, 1864. During that period he repaired and refitted Fort Esperanza, a work previously constructed by the insurgents. In this enterprise he employed the entire working force of the First Division of the Thirteenth Corps, together with his own troops. The fortifications when perfected consisted of five inclosed earthworks and of a crémaillère line extending across the island, and also several lunettes and small works at the head of the island. The whole was intended to be an inclosed camp, to accommodate ten thousand troops, and to serve as a base of operations against the enemy west of the Mississippi. But for this purpose the creations of Colonel Cobb's energy were never utilized. In June, 1864, the Government having changed its plans, he blew up the works, erected with so much expenditure of labor, money, and skill, and that post was abandoned.
Colonel Cobb's next field of operation was at Port Hudson, Louisiana. There, as engineer in charge, he proceeded to reconstruct the earthworks which in two sanguinary assaults the Union army under General Banks had vainly essayed to storm. The place had surrendered in July, 1863, after the fall of Vicksburg. From Port Hudson he was ordered in command of his engineer regiment in August, 1864, to Dauphin's Island, Mobile Bay, and assisted in the capture of Fort Gaines. Next he was ordered with his regiment to Mobile Point, and conducted the approaches to Fort Morgan. After its sur- render (in November, 1864), Colonel Cobb and his command were engaged in repairing this fort. While engaged in this service, and before it was completed (in November, 1864), Colonel Cobb received orders from Major-General Canby, commanding Army and Division of West Mississippi, detaching him from his command, and ordering him to New Orleans, Louisiana, to serve on a military commission, of which Major De Witt Clinton of New York was Judge Advocate. Colonel Cobb served upon this commission some four or five months, during which timc they decided in favor of the Government several important
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causes, involving large sums of money and the personal liberty of the citizens, stoutly defended by the ablest legal talent of the bar of the Southwest. While thus engaged, in the winter of 1864-65, Major-General Hurlbut, commanding the Department of the Gulf, organized a brigade, with headquarters at New Orleans, and placed Colonel Cobb in com- mand. In this relation he continued until the spring of 1865, when he accompanied General Canby and his staff to take command of his old engineer regiment in the siege of Mobile. There he was placed in command of the engineer brigade of the Army and Divi- sion of West Mississippi, and held that position until June, 1865, when he obtained leave of absence to visit his family. This indulgence had been hardly earned by continuous and uninterrupted service, extending over a period of more than three years in the Department of the Gulf. Colonel Cobb was in command of his regiment but a few months in all. For more than a year and a half after his promotion to the colonelcy, he was in activc command of a brigade in the commands of Major-Generals Canby, Banks, Hurlbut, Dana, McClernand, and Gordon Granger.
Soon after Colonel Cobb's return to Maine, he tendered his resignation to the War Department, and received an honorable discharge. The ends for which he had entered the National service had been accomplished : the heresy of secession had been branded as traitorous, slavery had been buried in a bloody grave, and the National Union of the seve- ral States of the Republic been indissolubly cemented by the blood of hundreds of thou- sands of combatants, and the tears and prayers of millions of loyal citizens of the Republic who sympathized with them in all their hardship and suffering, and sustained and cheered them by timely applause and most effective help. Nothing now hindered the resumption of peaceful professional practice, and Colonel Cobb exchanged the conflict of arms for the contests of the forum in 1865. Windham was the place where he renewed his chosen pur- suits, and in which he lived for several following years. In 1872 he removed to Portland. In 1870 and 1871 Colonel Cobb represented Windham in the Legislature of Maine, served in the Joint Committees on Military and Legal Affairs, and also on several minor committees. In the spring of 1871 he established a professional association with his old school-friend Fabius M. Ray, under the style and title of Cobb & Ray. This lasted about five years. Since its dissolution Colonel Cobb has practised alone. Colonel Cobb has for several years been engaged quite extensively in different business enterprises, which he has carried on in connection with his law practice. He also held several important civil offices in the town of Windham during all of the years he resided there.
John Clifford Cobb was married on the 14th of September, 1859, to Hannah M., daughter of Samuel Hawkes of Windham. Nine children, of whom seven are living, constitute the issue of this union. Albert Clifford Cobb, his eldest son, graduated at Bow- doin College in 1881, and is now reading law in his father's office.
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HITMAN, EZEKIEL, of East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, Chief Justice of the State of Maine. Born in East Bridgewater, March 9, 1776. John Whitman, his first American forefather, came to this country from England in or about the year A.D. 1635, and settled at Weymouth, Massachusetts. Thomas, his eldest son, was born in England, and crossed the Atlantic with his mother some years after the father's migration ; removed to Bridgewater in 1662, and died in 1712. Nicholas, third son of Thomas Whitman, was the father of many sons, of whom Josiah was the eighth. Josiah in turn became the father of several sons, of whom Josiah was the third. The Whitman family is very remarkable for the longevity of its members. John Whitman of East Bridgewater, a great-grandson of the founder, died in 1842, at the age of one hundred and seven years. Twelve great-grandchildren of Thomas Whitman lived to the average age of eighty-eight and two-thirds years. The tenacity of life of other descendants is equally surprising.
Josiah Whitman, second, married Sarah, daughter of Caleb Sturtevant of Halifax, Massachusetts, and a lineal descendant of Elder Robert Cushman of Plymouth. He died in 1777, leaving his wife and an infant son and daughter in straitened circumstances. The widow herself did not long survive her husband.
Cradled in poverty and obliged to contend with hardship and privation, the childhood of Ezekiel Whitman was necessarily one of struggle and painfulness. A friend in need appeared in the person of his uncle, the Rev. Levi Whitman of Wellfleet, who took him in charge, gave him rudimentary instruction, and treated him with warm-hearted kindness, that was gratefully repaid in following years when the relative circumstances of the parties were reversed. Dependence, however, was irksome to the bold, adventurous orphan. With some difficulty he was dissuaded from going to sea, and persuaded to pursue the studies necessary to a liberal education. Nor was he a diligent and enthusiastic student. The Rev. Kilborn Whitman of Pembroke found him to be quick and apt to learn, but averse to habits of patient industry. Fifteen months of study prepared him for matricula- tion at Brown University, into which he was freely admitted in 1791. The standard of collegiate education was low, as was also the amount of expense involved to the students. Young Whitman's class numbered twenty-six members. During his first vacation, and in the ensuing winter, he taught school in Marshfield. Jocular and rather irreverent, he there got into trouble for audibly whispering " Spell it," while the minister, Rev. Mr. Leonard, was stammering over the utterance of some difficult word. Forced by financial exhaustion to leave college in his Senior year, he recruited his exchequer by teaching ; returned just previous to Commencement, and after examination was admitted to his degree. A letter of his particular friend Peleg Chandler of New Gloucester imparts a vivid idea of the
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poverty of Ezekiel Whitman in his college days. While on his way to Providence, Chandler overtook a young man "with a large bundle tied up in a bandanna handkerchief hung over his back on a cane ; he had on no coat, nor jacket, or stock. He wore an old pair of nankeen breeches, and I think he had his stockings and shoes in one hand, sus- pended by his garters." Entering into conversation with this youthful oddity, the young aspirant to literary culture soon found out that his name was Whitman. The twain became fast friends, and agreed to chum together. Whitman was independent, eccentric, but never vicious. His regard for truth was sacred. His probity commanded universal confidence.
Such a graduate as Ezekiel Whitman was presumptively sure of success in life. Ab- solutely penniless, he again talked of going to sea, and even of going upon the stage. Friendly counsels induced him to abandon both projects, and to devote himself to the study of law. Benjamin Whitman of Hanover received him into his office as a student. With him he remained a little while, and then went to the office of Nahum Mitchell of East Bridgewater. There he found the tutor and director he most needed. His solid judg- ment, keen perceptions, and unusual ability induced Mr. Mitchell to confide many cases before magistrates and referees to his care. Whitman always managed them to the satisfac- tion of his instructor.
An important mission to the distant regions of the Southwest was next offered to his acceptance. It was that of settling the affairs of a deceased citizen of Bridgewater in the State of Kentucky. He was sent out by the heirs in 1796 to gather the wrecks of the prop- erty, and close the settlement of the estate as well as he could. In doing this a whole year was consumed. He traversed the intervening distance on horseback, and returned through Virginia and Maryland. Pausing at Washington on his way home, he attended the special session of Congress convened to discuss French violations of American neutrality, and was much impressed by the imposing appearance of the Senate, and also by the address of President Adams.
Mr. Whitman was admitted to the bar of Plymouth County in 1799, but determined to seek a settlement in Maine. Josiah Quincy's sarcasm in reply to the remark of Judge Mitchell that "people lived to a great age in the Old Colony," was that "he wondered that people there should want to live long, there was so little to live on or live for." Whether the young lawyer felt the force of this alleged truth or not, it is certain that his temporal prospects could not be greatly bettered by establishment in the District of Maine. The population of Maine was rapidly increasing, it is true, but it was as well supplied with able and enterprising lawyers as Massachusetts. Nothing daunted, he pursued his solitary way to the Eastern wilds on horseback. Instructed, disciplined, and self-reliant, no one was better calculated to carve his way to fame and fortune. His law library consisted of Blackstone's Commentaries, the " Nisi Prius Digest of Espinasse," the " Statutes of Massa- chusetts," and four books of forms, compiled by Samuel Freeman, styled "The Clerk's
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Assistant," "Probate Auxiliary," "Town Officer," and "Justice's Assistant." These were sufficient for the practice that was likely to fall into his hands. Their contents were trans- ferred to his memory. After acquisitions were easy. The scarcity of authorities gave brevity to arguments and pleadings. The application of law and testimony to the case in hand was close and direct. The opinions of the judges were often made up without refer- ence to the arguments of counsel. "It is of no use to argue the case," said Whitman to his associate in a trial before Judge Parsons, "for the old fellow has got his opinion already drawn up in his pocket." Like Judge Parsons, Mr. Whitman did his work in the direct- est, plainest, and simplest way.
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