History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 56

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co.
Number of Pages: 1100

USA > Maine > Penobscot County > History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 56

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

In 1862 Judge Appleton was made Chief Justice. He was re-appointed in 1869, and again in 1876, when seventy-two years of age. Now, at the age of seventy- seven, his natural vigor appears to be as great as it was at

202

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

seventy-two; and the indications are that he will be as competent for re-appointment at seventy-nine years of age as he was at seventy-two. He is a ceaseless worker, and it would seem with him as if increase of capacity for labor "had grown by what it fed on." When not hearing cases he is in his study, and there is no abatement in the readiness and steadiness of his pen. He has been longer upon the Bench, disposed of more cases, and written more opinions than any other judge in Maine; and when he has retired, each member of the Bar can say, with verity :

" He was a 'judge,' take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again."

His name and work as counsel, reporter, or judge, are continuous in the Maine Reports for about a half a cen- tury-from volume nineteen to volume seventy, inclusive. He has never meddled with politics. He has kept him- self well acquainted with the literature of the day; but the object of his intellectual adoration has been the law. He has written much in relation to the rules of evidence, which was first published in the Jurist, and afterwards col- lected in a separate volume. It is understood that many statutory changes in the law of evidence and in other important branches of jurisprudence are owing to him.

Further particulars of Judge Appleton's life and services are given in his biography in a subsequent part of this volume.

HON. JOSHUA W. HATHAWAY,

Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, was born No vember 10, 1797. In 1816 he entered Dartmouth College, from which he went to Bowdoin. From the latter college he graduated in 1820. He held a high position in his class. After qualifying himself for the practice of law, he opened an office in Blue Hill in 1824. The next spring he removed to Ellsworth, where he ac- quired a large practice and became a leader in the profes- sion. He represented the county of Hancock one year in the State Senate, and came to Bangor in 1847. On the resignation of Judge Allen the next year he was ap- pointed to a seat upon the Bench of the District Court. After that court was abolished in 1852, he was given a seat upon the Bench of the Supreme Court, and held that position until 1859, when he resumed practice at the Bar. He died at the age of sixty-five.

Judge Hathaway's reputation as a lawyer was always high, and upon the Bench he administered the law with ability and impartiality. Possessed of great amiability and good sense, he ever avoided unpleasant collision. The Bar passed eulogistic resolutions at his death, which were presented by Hon. S. H. Blake, who said of him that "in his profession he acquired high rank and a large practice; that as a judge he presided always with dignity and urbanity;" that his published opinions were "remarkably well written," and "distinguished for their clearness, directness, and conciseness;" that his mind seemed naturally "to delight in plain statement, with enough only of foliage to relieve without concealing the size and strength of the trunk and limbs. His habits were plain, his tastes were plain, but he had fine culture,

and his faculties harmoniously blended in the honest man, the able lawyer, and upright judge."

Chief Justice Appleton, in response, paid a high tribute to his worth. He had known him from the days of his college life, at the Bar, in common judicial labor, and in the delights of social intercourse; and in his long and laborious career he did not remember a harsh or unkind word spoken by him, an ungentlemanly expression or a discourteous remark. "He was satisfied with the full dis- charge of his duty, without scattering abroad imputations of fraud or allegations of dishonesty upon parties and upon opposing counsel. His arguments were forcible, though generally brief-for the jury rather than the public-for the cause rather than for display.

The duties of judicial life were not irksome to him. Patient in the trial of a cause, he gave ample time to elicit all the facts and the attention necessary for their just appreciation. . Evenly and impartially he held the scales of justice. . His kindly nature, his warm affections, his cheerful temper, and his courteous manners, endeared him to his friends. Enemies he had none."

JONAS CUTTING, LL. D.,

Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, was born in Croy- don, New Hampshire, November 3, 1800. He gradu- ated at Dartmouth College, where Rufus Choate was his tutor, in the class of 1823; studied law with Henry Hubbard, in Charlestown, New Hampshire, and with Ruel Williams, Augusta, Maine, and established himself in Orono in 1826. He came to Bangor in 1831, and formed a business connection with Judge Kent; the style of the firm being Kent & Cutting. The practice of this firm was large, and its clients of the best character; but the members of the firm were lawyers in the best sense of the term. The accumulation of money was of secondary importance with them, and they did not be- come rich. Their opinion in the most important cases was always sought and always relied on.

Mr. Cutting possessed a keen intellect, and had an ex- tensive reputation as a technical lawyer. All cases sub- mitted to him he examined carefully, and, with his habits of analysis, he was able to give always an opinion satis- factory to his clients, and, in many instances, to all the parties connected with the case. He was not a show lawyer ; he made no flourish in manner or matter. Be- fore a jury he was plain, clear, convincing ; before the court discriminating, direct, and forcible. All listened with attention, and, if not always convinced, were im- pressed by his logical acumen. Such a lawyer could not always remain at the Bar. In 1854 he was elevated to the Bench, and maintained his reputation as a jurist until he retired to private life in 1875. On his retirement the Bar manifested their attachment and respect for him by the presentation of a handsome silver service, accom- panied by a note from the Secretary, F. H. Appleton, Esq., in which he says : "It will be gratifying to you to know, as it is agreeable to me to inform you, that this slight token proceeds from the whole Bar, who, without an exception, by this simple gift desire to bear witness to

203

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

your honorable name, your honest intellect, your ripe learning, your impartial judgment, and to the unstained integrity of your private and official life." At the meet- ing preliminary to the presentation, complimentary reso- lutions, prepared by William H. McCrillis, Frank H. Wilson, and Charles P. Stetson, Esqs., were adopted,and appreciative remarks were made by Mr. McCrillis and Abram Sanborn, Esq., and responded to by Chief Justice Appleton.

Judge Cutting died in Bangor in August, 1876. The Bar adopted resolutions, which were presented by Albert W. Paine, Esq., in which the expressions in the former resolutions of high respect for Judge Cutting's great learning and integrity were renewed and repeated ; and Judge Kent followed in a strain of eulogy justified by "nearly fifty years of unbroken, uninterrupted, and most unreserved friendship." He said :

Political life had no charms for him, and its honors and enticements never seduced him from its chosen path. He fully realized that the law is a jealous mistress; and be escaped all chiding by constant devotion to his first love.

There is one word that better than any other characterizes the man, the magistrate, and the lawyer-integrity. When I say that Judge Cutting was a man of integrity, I mean that he was a man honest in thought, word, and deed, true to himself and his fellow-men. . .

The longer I live and the more I see of men, the less I value mere genius, eloquence, or success, and the more I value purity of life, in- tegrity of purpose, and faithfulness in duty.

Judge Kent dwelt at length upon the virtues and ex- cellences of his departed friend. Judge Peters re- sponded, affirming all Judge Kent had said, and adding :

In character, in manners, in all things, a great excellence was his simplicity (using the word in its highest sense). He was modest at the Bar; he was arrogant nowhere. He presided upon the Bench with case and simplicity. But nowhere did he display greater simplicity or purity of character than in all the walks of private life.

The State will remember Judge Cutting as one of her best jurists. The Bar will remember him as one of the most learned, laborious, able, and upright ministers of the law who ever sat upon our Bench. And all classes of men will remember him as the pleasant neighbor, the honest citizen, the wise counsellor, and the good and conscientious judge.

Chief Justice Appleton also responded, and said :

I entirely and fully agree with him [Judge Kent] in his estimate of our departed brother-a learned, able, impartial, and upright judge. Such with conscientious unanimity was the voice of the Bar, the Bench, and the public; and well may we mourn for one who was almost the last remaining link connecting us with the professional days of our early life.

HON. EDWARD KENT, LL. D.,

Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, youngest son of William Austin Kent, of Concord, New Hamp- shire, was born in that place on the 8th of January, 1802. His father was a native of Charlestown and his mother of Sterling, Massachusetts, she being a sister of Prentiss Mellen, the first Chief Justice of the State of Maine. The subject of this notice was educated and graduated at Harvard College in 1821; settled in the practice of the law at Bangor, Maine, in 1825; was suc- cessively a Representative in the State Legislature, Chief Justice of the Court of Sessions for Penobscot county, Mayor of the city of Bangor, Governor of the State of Maine for two terms, one of the commissioners on the part of Maine to settle the Eastern boundary question,

United States Consul for four years at Rio Janeiro, under President Taylor's appointment, and, after his return to this country, was for fourteen years one of the Judges of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine. He received the degree of LL. D. from Waterville College in 1855, and died in Bangor May 19, 1877, greatly beloved as a genial companion and friend, and universally respected and honored as an able and upright judge, and an honest man.

Aside from his Gubernatorial messages and occasional newspaper articles, Judge Kent published little but his legal opinions, which are embodied in successive volumes of the Maine Reports.

Judge Kent was twice married-first to Miss Sarah Johnston, daughter of Nathaniel Johnston, Esq., of Hillsborough, New Hampshire. She died in 1853, leav- ing, of several children, but one daughter, since deceased. His last marriage was in 1855, to Miss Abby A. Rockwood, daughter of Rev. Otis Rockwood, formerly of Lynn, Massachusetts. She, and an only child and son, bearing the father's name, are still living, to honor his memory and mourn his death.

In estimating aright the character of Judge Kent, cer- tain salient points, not prominent, though not wholly ig- nored, in his official relations, should not be overlooked. They go far, indeed, in making up the well-rounded life of our departed brother and friend. The most promi- nent of these traits were the openness of his nature, the amenity and kindness of his disposition from his youth up, and his capacity for and appreciation of wit and humor. It may be truly said, without detracting from the weightier points of his character, that he "was not only witty himself, but the cause of wit in others." It was, perhaps, humor rather than wit that he indulged in himself and appreciated the most in others-humor of a chastened kind, rather than that boisterous wit which would "set the table in a roar." A quaint conceit, or happy turn of expression, a play upon words, or verbal pun (which Dr. Johnson unfairly called the meanest kind of wit), would go further with him, dwell in his memory the longer, and be recalled with more satisfactory enjoy- ment than the ribald jest or the coarse and vulgar anec- dote.

When Mr. Kent entered the Legislature he was twenty- six years old. He made himself conspicuous by resist- ing, against strong party opposition, the incorporation of the town of Argyle and connecting it to the Bangor Representative District, taking the ground that such an act would be a violation of the Constitution, which pro- hibited the alteration of the established representation until the next general apportionment. He was sharply criticized by his opponents, but he adhered to his posi- tion and had the satisfaction afterward of seeing it sus- tained by the Supreme Court.

Although the practice of his profession was more or less interrupted for several years by the political positions to which he was elected or appointed, yet his legal knowledge and acumen suffered nothing from the inter- ruption. In 1859 he went upon the Bench of the Su- preme Judicial Court, apparently as well fitted for the

204

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

duties of the judgeship as if his judicial studies had never been disturbed. He was an admirable judge for fourteen years, up to three years beyond the age (seventy) to which the Constitution originally limited the tenure of the office.

After leaving the Bench Judge Kent spent a year with his family in travel in Europe. In 1874 he returned to Bangor and resumed the practice of the law, and was engaged in several important cases between that time and the time of his decease. The last public position he held was that of President of the Convention for the amendment of the Constitution of the State in 1875.

Judge Kent was always a favorite with the Bar and with suitors. With his kindness of manner, fondness for home, and happy way of disposing of annoyances, he kept the Court in a state of equilibrium. At one time an at- torney appealed to him to settle a difference between him and the Clerk in regard to a matter of interest. The Judge inquired what the difference was, and was informed that it was six cents. Taking the trifle from his pocket he handed it to the attorney, and told him that that would settle it.

"I don't want your money," the man said; "I want it right."

"That makes it right," the Judge replied; "the busi- ness of the Court cannot be interrupted by a matter so easily rectified;" and he proceeded with the matter before him.

The Maine Reports for half a century contain evidence of Mr. Kent's ability as a jurist. He was fond of the in- tellectual labor that a thorough acquaintance with the law requires; and, up to within a few weeks of his decease, he was examining decisions and making himself ac- quianted with the recent application of legal principles in novel cases.

He was aware when death was approaching, and died like a philosopher. His sufferings were intense during his last hours, but his pure and consistent life had prepared to meet his end as became a Christian with the hope of a happy immortality.

The Bar took action at the time of his decease, and passed appropriate resolutions, which may be found in volume LXVI. Maine Reports.

The remarks of members of the Bar were sincerely eulogistic. Albert W. Paine, Esq., who presented the resolutions, said :

As a politician, though firm and decided in his preferences, he knew no party prejudices. . . In religious matters he was deeply imbued with the doctrines of liberal Christianity, in the best meaning of the term-free from all sectarianism. . As a lawyer he was kind and affable with his clients dis-

couraged litigation studied his cases, and left no decisions unexplained, so that truth might be vindicated and justice done. As a Judge Mr. Kent was by general consent regarded as signally fitted for the place.

Mr. McCrillis said :

Of commanding form and person, and of great physical strength, he was the gentlest of men; of rare talents, he was the most unassuming aud modest of men. No person, even his most intimate friend, ever heard him claim any merit for himself.

Others followed, and Chief Justice Appleton said :

At an early day he rose to the highest rank at the Bar,

As a jurist his written judgments will ever command the respect of the profession. While respecting authority, he respected more the great principles upon which authority rests.

Calmly, with no disturbing fear, with his intellectual vigor neither dimmed by age nor weakened by disease, trusting in the loving kind- ness of God, he met the fate predestined from the beginning for us all; and we cannot doubt that to him there was the joyful greeting: "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

HON. JOHN A. PETERS,

Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, son of Andrew and Sally (Jordan) Peters, was born in Ellsworth, county of Hancock, on the 9th of October, 1822. He fitted for college at Gorham Academy, and graduated at Yale College, New Haven, in August, 1842. He studied law at the Cambridge Law School, and was admitted to the Bar in Bangor at the October term of the Supreme Judicial Court, in 1844. Mr. Peters was a diligent and discriminating student, and was well grounded in the principles of his profession when he commenced practice, It was not long before his abilities became known and appreciated. He possessed a fund of humor, popular manners, and imperturbable good na- ture, and made his way in all good time successfully with the jury, the court, and the public. He became a mem ber of the Senate of Maine in '1862, and was continued as such through the year 1863. He became a member of the House of Representatives of his State in 1864, and was Attorney-General during the years 1864, 1865, and 1866.

Having become the most popular man in the Fourth Congressional District of Maine, comprising the counties of Penobscot, Piscataquis, and Aroostook, he was elected from that District to the XLth, XLIst, and XLIId Con- gresses, from 1867 to 1873. In the XLth Congress he was upon the Committee of Patents and Public Expendi- tures, and in the succeeding Congresses upon the Com- mittee on the Judiciary, and as Chairman on the part of the House upon the Joint Committee of the Senate and House on the Congressional Library. A vacancy having occurred on the Bench of the Supreme Judicial Court of the State of Maine in May, 1873, Mr. Peters was selected by the Executive for that position. The ap- pointment was concurred in by the Bar and the people as one eminently fit to be made, and on the expiration of his constitutional term of seven years, in May, 1880, he was re-appointed. By his courtesy, impartiality, clear exposition of the law and the facts to the jury, and lucid and accurate opinions, Judge Peters has won an enviable reputation as a judge.

HON. DAVID PERHAM,

Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, was born in Ashley, Massachusetts, February 10, 1780. He was the son of Peter Perham, a descendant of John Perham, who came from England and settled in 'Chelmsford, Massachusetts, in 1666. His mother was a daughter of Samuel Buttrick, of Concord, Massachusetts, and her mother was Dolly Flint, descendant of the family of that name who settled in that vicinity. He received his classical education at Groton Academy, Massachu-

205

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

setts. He was a student at law in the office of Messrs. Dana & Richardson, of Groton, and was admitted to practice at the Court of Common Pleas in Middlesex county, in March, 1809. He opened an office in Acton, Massachusetts, but got the spirit of emigration to Maine, and in the summer of 1811 made his way to Orrington, where he established himself; but in the following year he found himself in Brewer, without having removed at all. In 1812 the town of Brewer was incorporated (taken from Orrington), and Judge Perham was near the southern boundary of the town, in the village at the mouth of the Segeunkedunk Stream, where he had a pleasant residence upon the bank of the Penobscot.

He continued in the practice of his profession until the year 1822.

In the spring of 1815 he received a commission from the President of the United States, appointing him the principal Assessor of the Collection District of Massachu- setts, which consisted of the old county of Hancock. He discharged the duties of his office for two years, until the discontinuance of the direct tax, after the year 1816. After the organization of the State, in 1820, he was ap- pointed Judge of Probate of the county of Penobscot, and held this office until 1822. On the organization of the Court of Common Pleas in 1822, he was appointed one of the Judges, and held the office until the court was abolished in 1839.

Many anecdotes are related of Judge Perham's court. One is recorded by ex-Governor Washburn. It is this: The "legal wag" from Oldtown demurred to a plea of the "general issue." "On what ground?" inquired the Judge. "Duplicity, your Honor;" a response which pro- voked an ejaculation from the lawyer on the other side and an audible smile from the gentlemen within the bar. "And may it please the Court," continued the counsel, "I beg to say that in this thing I am entirely serious." To which the Judge: "Mr. Sewall, that will not do in this court!"

In 1833 he removed to Bangor, where he occupied a brick house built by Rev. Mr. Huntoon, at the corner of Fifth and Cedar Streets, until his decease. After he left the Bench he held the office of Alderman for two years, and discharged the duties of the office with great faith- fulness and ability.

Judge Perham was twice married-first, on the 5th of August, 1814, in Acton, Massachusetts, to Betsey Bar- nard; second, to Charlotte Gardner, at Roxbury, Massa- chusetts, October 13, 1830. By his first wife he had a son, who died early, and two daughters, who are living. By his second wife he had no children.

Judge Perham was not a rapid thinker, but he possessed rare good judgment, indomitable industry, great integrity, and singular purity of life. He died in Bangor on May 31, 1845. The editor of the Whig said of him that while he was Alderman he became intimately acquainted with him, and had "never been in the company of any man from whose lips so many lessons of ripe wisdom fell." A committee of the Penobscot Bar, of whom the present Chief Justice Appleton was chairman, prepared

resolutions on the occasion of his death, which were " unanimously adopted." The preamble contains the following just tribute to his worth :-

On the Bench he exhibited ever learning, probity of mind, unweary- ing industry, perfect impartiality between suitors, and a careful purpose and anxious desire to administer the law to the promotion of justice.

In his social relations he commanded the respect of all by his kind- ness of disposition, the unassuming familiarity of his manners, the cheerfulness of his conversation, the extent of his general information, his readiness and ability in the discharge of his duties as a citizen, and the remarkable honesty and uprightness of his intentions.

HON. FREDERICK H. ALLEN,

Judge of District Court, in 1835-36, was born in New Salem, Massachusetts. He came to Bangor and con- nected himself in a law firm with Messrs. Jacob McGaw and John A. Poor. The style of the firm was McGaw, Allen & Poor, and continued until April 22, 1837, when. it expired by limitation.

Mr. Allen was a man of fine abilities, a thoroughly read lawyer, a good advocate, and a gentleman. When the District Court was established, in 1840, he was ap- pointed one of the judges for the Eastern District. His colleague was Hon. Anson G. Chandler, of Calais. Judge Allen held the office until 1849, when he retired. As a judge he was dignified, deliberate, impartial, and always courteous. On his retiring the Bar complimented him with a dinner, and passed resolutions which show the esteem in which he was held. They were drawn by George B. Moody, Esq., and affirm that "his administra- tion of the law had been characterized by those qualities which give most lustre to the judicial station-by ample learning, quick perception, just discrimination, clear ex- position, lucid arrangement of argument, and a compre- hensive grasp of facts-intellectual merits, aided and illustrated by an unvarying impartiality, and by a per- sonal deportment at once dignified, patient, and courteous, insuring that deference which is the need of the Bench, while it gracefully and kindly yielded the consideration due to suitors, to the officers of the Court, and the Bar." That, in thus recognizing his official merit, they "were not unmindful of his high personal character as a citizen, and the many talents and virtues which have secured to him, in his intercourse with society, the attachment, esteem, and respect of his associates and of this com- munity.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 56

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co. Number of Pages: 1100

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co.
Number of Pages: 1100