History of York County, Maine, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 21

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 730

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His wife, whom he married in October, 1797, was Han- nah, daughter of Capt. Seth Storer, of Saco, by whom he had one son, William Rufus, and several daughters. His son graduated at Bowdoin College in 1823, became a law- yer, and moved to the West, where he died in 1836.

CHAPTER XXIII.

BENCH AND BAR-(Continued).

Lawyers at Different Periods in Maine-Lawyers in York County in 1800-Comparative Time Consumed in Causes-Long Tenure of Office-Biographies of Members of the Bar and Courts.

THE lawyers at different periods in Maine are thus summed up by Mr. Willis :

" In 1800 the number of lawyers was fifty-three. The population of Maine at that time was 151,719. In 1820, the date of separation, the population had nearly doubled, being 298,335. The number of lawyers had increased to two hundred and seven. In 1840 they had more than doubled, heing four hundred and thirty-seven, distributed among the counties as follows: York, 34; Cumberland, 66; Lincoln, 49; Oxford, 26; Franklin, 20; Kennebee, 59; Penobscot, 74; Han- cock, 12; Somerset, 25; Piscataquis, 10; Washington, 29; Waldo, 29 ; Aroostook, 4. Bangor, with a population of 8634, had forty-eight lawyers ; Portland, with a population of 15,218, had thirty-seren. In 1860 the number enrolled in the profession was five hundred and twenty-nine, the population of the State being 628,801.

"The lawyers in York County, in 1800, were Prentiss Mellen, Cyrus King, George Thacher, Ehenezer Sullivan, Judah Dana, Nicholas Emery, Edward P. Hayman, John Holmes, Dadley Huhhard, George W. Wallingford, Joseph Thomas, Temple Hovey."

The customs of the bar and mode of conducting busi- ness of the courts have very much changed. In the early days bar-meetings were regularly held, and the openings of the courts were always attended by a procession of the judges and lawyers, preceded by the sheriff and his depu- ties,-the former in his official costume, with staff, sword, cocked hat, blue coat, and buff vest. Before the days of bells the opening of court was announced by the beating of drums, or hy a crier going through the streets. In the proceedings of the courts the lawyers were much more concise in their arguments, both to the court and the jury. Mr. Parsons, in his interesting memoir of his father, the distinguished chief justice, says he was seldom over half an hour in his addresses to a jury, and these were directed without ornament to make clear and plain to their minds the precise point of the case. And Chief Justice Mellen, in an article written for " Coleman's Miscellany" in 1839, observes,-

"Thirty or forty years ago a cause was argued in half an hour, or an hour at the most, which now demands half a day; and in accom- plishing the task there is as touch circum-round-abont declamation, phraseology, and traveling hackwards and forwards, as there was in Corporal Trim's story to Uncle Tohy, about the king of Bohemia and his seven castles."

The long tenure of office and the multiplication of offi- ces in the same hands were striking features of the early courts. In York County John Wheelwright was thirty years judge of probate and of the Common Pleas ; Simon Frost was register of probate, clerk of the Court of Com- mon Pleas, and register of deeds twenty years, or there- abouts, from the middle of the last century ; Daniel Sewall was thirty-seven years register of probate, and about thirty years clerk of the courts; Ichabod Goodwin was sheriff twenty-seven years. Mr. Sewall moved from York to Ken- nebunk in 1815. He retired from his long official services upon the reorganization of the courts under the State in 1820, at the age of seventy-five, to spend the remainder of his days amidst the enjoyments of a cheerful and happy family circle, and in communion with books, in which from childhood he had taken great satisfaction.

JOHN HOLMES,

John Holmes was for many years one of the most promi- nent lawyers of Maine. He was the son of Malchiah Holmes, and was born in Kingston, Mass., in March, 1773. His early life was passed as a manufacturer in the extensive iron-works of his father in his native town, where his in- telligence attracted the village school-teacher, who advised his father to give him an education. After some prepara- tory study he was admitted to Brown University, one year in advance, in 1793, and graduated in 1796. He imme- diately entered upon the study of law with Benjamin Whitman, at Hanover, and was admitted to the bar in 1799. The same year he resolved to seek his fortune in the eastern country, and in pursuance of his purpose settled in Alfred, in this county, in the month of September, then a district of the town of Sanford, and containing about eight hundred and fifty inhabitants. The town was not incor- porated till 1808, but it afforded a favorable opportunity for a talented youug lawyer to rise in the profession. Mr. Holmes was for several years the ouly attorney in the

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, MAINE.

neighborhood. The titles to land in that part of the country were in an imperfect and unsettled state; the set- tlers had made their pitches upon vacant spots in what was called the Fluellen or Phillips grant, and made their im- provements without a shadow of title. The proprietors had just begun to make an investigation of their rights. Mr. Holmes was employed by them for this purpose, and pur- sued the inquiry and the prosecution of claims with great industry and success. Many actions were necessarily brought, and much exasperated litigation was the conse- quence, which called forth great legal talent from Maine and Massachusetts, and settled some very important ques- tions of law and real estate.

These cases brought Mr. Holmes into extensive practice, and a familiar acquaintance with the laws relating to titles. At the time Mr. Holmes commenced practice the Supreme Court was composed of Chief Justice Dana, and Justices Paine, Bradbury, Nathan Cushing, and Dawes, and was held at York once a year. The Common Pleas consisted of Nathaniel Wells, Edward Cutts, Jonas Clark, and Simon Frye, noue of whom were educated as lawyers. There were three terms a year of this court, held respectively at York, Waterborough, and Biddeford.

The courts in York, besides their own lawyers, were at- tended by the late Chief Justice Parker, Mr. Symmes, and Solicitor Davis, of Portland, some New Hampshire lawyers, and occasionally by a professional gentleman from Massa- chusetts. The judges and lawyers, on account of the had- ness of the roads, generally performed their circuits on horseback, and often met with poor fare and rough usage; but they usually contrived to season these adversities with merriment and good fellowship, to which Paine, Davis, and Thacher contributed not a little. The mail was also trans- ported on horseback, and it is related that a respectable lawyer, on one occasion, as he was passing through the Saco wood, met the mail-carrier, and as he was expecting a letter from Boston by the mail, which only came once or twice a week, he requested the carrier to examine the mail there in the woods and see if his letter was not in it. The accommodating rider took off his mail-bag without hesita- tion, poured the contents upon the ground, and they both went to work searching for the desired object, which was soon found, as the pile to look over was not large. The number of lawyers in Maine at this time was forty-five, of whom ten resided in the county of York, viz., the late Chief Justice Melleu, and Judge George Thacher, of Bid- deford; Cyrus King, of Saco; Dudley Hubbard, Ebenezer Sullivan, and Edward P. Hayman, of Berwick ; Joseph Thomas and George W. Wallingford, of Kennebunk ; Ju- dah Dana, of Fryeburg; and Nicholas Emery, of Parsons- field. These were all distinguished in their profession, and most of them in public life.

Mr. Holmes was a good lawyer; while he was not defi- cient in logic and sound argument, few men knew how to handle the weapons of wit with more skill and effect. An opportunity was rarely lost by him of exhibiting his oppo- nent in a ridiculous position. An instance of this kind occurred in the Senate of the United States, in the discus- sion on nullification. Mr. Tyler alluded to a satirical re- mark of John Randolph, in which that gentleman had

some time before designated certain active politicians as partners, under the firm-name of " James Madison, Felix Grundy, John Holmes, and the Devil," and asked Mr. Holmes, with a view of making a severe cut, what had become of that celebrated firm. Mr. Holmes immediately sprang to his feet, and said, " Mr. President, I will tell the gentleman what has become of that firm: the first member is dead, and the second has gone into retirement, and the last has gone to the nullifiers, and is now elec- tioneering among the gentleman's constituents! and thus the partnership is legally dissolved." The laugh produced on the occasion was wholly at the expense of Mr. Tyler.

Many similar anecdotes illustrative of his ready wit might be related. He was once assisting a client in the survey of a parcel of land, about which he was quarreling with his neighbor. Neither of the parties was of unimpeachable character. As they were passing through a portion of the disputed territory, they came to a swamp covered with bushes and almost impassable. One of the litigants said to Mr. Holmes, " This, 'Squire, is the devil's hop-yard." " Ah !" said he ; " then I think the devil must be dead, for I see his sons are quarreling for the inheritance." "Then you expect to prevail," said the opposing counsel, " as your client is the oldest heir." "It is not certain," said he ; " my client, to be sure, is the oldest, but yours is the most deserving."

During a portion of the time of Mr. Holmes' practice, Joseph Bartlett also practiced at the York County bar. He was a graduate of Harvard, of the class of 1782, and settled first in Woburn, Mass., but came to Saco in 1802. He was a fine scholar, a man of polished wit and insinu- ating manners, and possessed a peculiar influence over the minds of young men. In other respects he was profligate and unprincipled, and ended a career which began with much promise in shame and disgrace.

Mr. Holmes was not content with the quiet pursuit of professional duties, but participated largely in the political contests of his time. He began life as a Federalist of the old school, and was elected by that party in 1802 and 1808 to the Massachusetts Legislature, from Sanford and Alfred. It was not till a considerably later day that the decline of Federalism in Maine, and the increase and strength of Democratic sentiments, compelled him to change over to the popular current. As late as 1810 his wit and sarcasm were exhibited in song, taking off the doings of a Demo- cratie caucus held that year in Kennebunk for the purpose of nominating candidates. It was said by their opponents that they determined at this caucus to try the efficacy of treating at the election. Mr. Holmes, with a good deal of tact, satirized this in six published stanzas, from which we take the first and the last.

"KENNEBUNK CAUCUS. " SONG.

" The York County Demos of late held a meeting : The object was great, but the party was small. The marshal had issued his circular, greeting, To tag, rag, and bob-tail to meet at the call.

"He called for attention While he made objection To Gore's re-election, And wished they'd be mum ;

BENCH AND BAR OF YORK COUNTY.

But while he was stating The cause of the meeting, The Caneus was parting, And calling for-rum.

"So bribing the printer, and treating the voters, Was the plan they adopted the elections to carry, And ride by the help of those tipsy supporters, Into office hy votes they had purchased fur Gerry.

" When all shouted applause To the Jacobin eanse, And declared by the laws They would never be dumb ; And most solemnly swore, Than to re-elect Gore They had rather give more Than a hogshead of rum."

In the latter part of 1811 he became the advocate of the national administration and the war measures of Mr. Madi- son, and on the next election was returned a representative to the General Court from Alfred. So proud were his new friends of their acquisition that he was put forward at once as their candidate for Speaker of the House in opposition to the old incumbent, Timothy Bigelow. A large majority of the House were the political friends of Mr. Bigelow, and he was re-elected ; but Mr. Holmes became an untiring assailant of the measures of the majority, and an active leader of the party he had espoused. He was elected to the Senate of Massachusetts in 1813, and continued a mem- ber of that body during the trials and excitements of the war, boldly and ably sustaining the policy of the national government, and contending, with unabated ardor, against all the anti-war measures of Massachusetts. He was ap- pointed lieutenant-colonel in Col. Lane's Regiment, United States Army, in 1813, but declined the appointment.

The struggle of Mr. Holmes against all the opposition, sarcasm, and ridicule of his former associates, now his po- litical enemies, exhibits in a strong light his great abilities and wonderful resources in self-defense and in the main- tenance of his influence and popularity. The keen severity of Daniel A. White, the polished irony of Harrison Gray Otis, the caustic humor of Josiah Quincy and Judge Put- nam were not spared in the frequent and sharp encounters which the political heat of the day engendered. And it would be doing great injustice to Mr. Holmes not to say that he sustained himself with great ability in these trying and unequal contests. For wit he returned wit in full measure; for argument, argument; for coolness, courage, and self-command, he was the equal of his opponents, and for readiness to turn the current against them in debate more than a match for his ablest antagonists. If at any time the regularly marshaled forces of logic and argument seemed deficient, no man had a readier or happier faculty of pressing into the service the auxiliaries of wit and satire. Although in Massachusetts the strength of the Federalists was powerful, he felt that he had in Maine a growing and vigorous constituency that would ardently sustain his measures and carry him triumphantly through the struggle.

At home, both at the bar and in politics, he had an able and accomplished opponent in Cyrus King, of Saco, a man of equal power as a public speaker, of ardent temperament, and of elevated moral character. If anything, however,

Was wanting in Mr. King, it was the coolness of Mr. Holmes, which sometimes gave the latter the advantage.

In 1815, Mr. Holmes was appointed by President Madi- son commissioner, under the fourth article of the treaty of Ghent, to make division between the United States and Great Britain of the islands in Passamaquoddy Bay. The next year he was elected representative to Congress from the York District to succeed Mr. King, and was re-elected in 1818 without opposition, receiving eleven hundred and six out of eleven hundred and eighty-two votes. While he was engaged as commissioner and as member of Congress, he was actively employed in effecting the separation of Maine from Massachusetts, in which he was not only a zealous worker but the acknowledged leader. In a conven- tion composed of the ablest men in Maine to draft a con- stitution for the new State, which was to take its place as another star in the national flag, he was appointed chairman of the committee which drafted the instrument, and upon the admission of the State was honored with the place of its first senator in Congress. He continued to hold that honorable station by re-election till 1827, and in 1828 was again elected to fill the unexpired term of Albion K. Parris, who was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court in June of that year. In 1833 his congressional life ceased, and he returned with all the freshness and vigor of youth to the practice of his profession, after an uninter- rupted and most successful political career of over twenty- two years, in which there was not a year when he was not occupying some public station. In 1836-37 he was elected a representative from Alfred to the Legislature of Maine, and in 1841 appointed by President Harrison United States district attorney for the District of Maine, in which office he died, July 7, 1843.

Few persons have had their ambition more fully gratified than Mr. Holmes. His popularity at one time in Maine was very great, and he managed matters nearly in his own way. To say that some of his public acts were severely criticised by his opponents, is only to assert what might reasonably have been expected. But no impeachment has been cast upon his honor or integrity, or upon his private and domestic character. He was a kind husband, a tender and judicious parent, and a good neighbor. As a towns- man, he was always exceedingly vigilant in promoting the interests of his fellow-citizens in all matters of education and municipal improvement. From the time he settled in Alfred he never ceased his exertions till he had procured all the courts of York County to be held in that place, which was finally accomplished in 1833. He also suc- ceeded in having a route for a railroad from Portland to Dover (now the Portland and Rochester Railroad) laid out through his adopted town, although he failed to raise the means for completing it.

Mr. Holmes first married Sally Brooks, of Scituate, in September, 1800, by whom he had two sons and two daughters,-all of his children. His eldest daughter mar- ried Hon. Daniel Goodenow, Judge of the Supreme Court of Maine ; she died in 1840. Ilis second wife was the widow of James Swan, son of Col. James Swan, of Boston, and the accomplished daughter of Gen. Knox, to whom he was married in July, 1837. He removed the next year to

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, MAINE.

her seat at Thomaston, the late residence of her father, where he lived the most of his time till his appointment as United States district attorney, when he divided his resi- dence between Thomaston and Portland. In 1840 he published, under the name of " Statesman," a digest of the public and private laws of Maine, in one octavo volume, confining himself to a succinct statement of the general prin- ciples of constitutional and municipal law.

WILLIAM LAMBERT.

William Lambert and Benjamin Greene were both ad- mitted to the bar in York County in 1801; both studied their profession with Dudley Hubbard, and settled beside their teacher in South Berwick.

Mr. Lambert was born in Rowley, Mass., July 22, 1778, and being fitted for college at the celebrated Dummer Academy, took his degree at Dartmouth iu 1798. By close attention to business he succeeded in attaining a remunera- tive practice, which he continued till his death, Dec. 11, 1824. He was twice married, and left two children, a son and a daughter. The son, Rev. Thomas Ricker Lambert, was lately rector of the Episcopal Church in Charlestown, Mass., although, previous to becoming a minister, he had studied law with Judge Nicholas Emery, in Portland. The daughter was the wife of the late Hon. John P. Hale, United States senator for New Hampshire.

BENJAMIN GREENE.

Benjamin Greene was the second son and fourth child of Benjamin and Martha ( Brown) Greene, of Waltham, Mass., and was born in that town May 5, 1764. He graduated at Harvard College in the class with Chief Justice Mellen, Professor Abbott, of Bowdoin, President Webber, of Har- vard, Silas Lee, and Benjamin Pickman, in 1784. He first studied divinity, and was settled in the ministry at Medway in 1788. In 1797 he was invited to take charge of the Berwick Academy, which he accepted, and while pursuing the duties of preceptor, entered his name as a law student iu the office of Dudley Hubbard. He closed his vocation as teacher and was admitted to the bar at the same time, in 1801, as has been said, " full fledged for law and politics, aud ou a hearty pursuit of both." He commenced with a full maturity of powers, and with adequate learning and large knowledge of the world. In 1809 he was elected representative to the General Court, and continued to be elected for nearly every year afterwards till the separation from Massachusetts. When the old Common Pleas was abolished under Governor Gerry, in 1811, and the Com- monwealth and Maine divided into circuits, Mr. Greene was appointed chief justice of the eastern circuit, including York. Cumberland, and Oxford Counties, with Judge Dana and William Widgery as associates. He entered with vigor and vivacity upon his new sphere of action, which he sustained with dignity, promptness, fidelity, and ability. He held the office till the establishment of the new Court of Common Pleas, under the act of Maine, Feb. 4, 1822. In 1824 he was a member of the Legislature, and Speaker of the House. In September, of the same year, he was ap- pointed by President Adams marshal of Maine, as the successor of Thomas G. Thornton, of Saco, who had held

the office from 1803. This was his last public service, which ending in 1830, he removed to Athens, Me., where his son, Dr. Benjamin F. Greene, then resided, where he passed the remainder of his life in peaceful retirement, and died Oct. 15, 1837. in the seventy-fourth year of his age. Judge Greene was an easy and graceful speaker, though, it is said, somewhat inflated in style. He was considered a good lawyer and an impartial judge, and presided with dignity on the bench.

Judge Greene married Lydia Clark, of Lexington, Mass., by whom he had five sons. His oldest son, Benjamin F., was a physician, at Parkman, Me., where he died. Charles, born at Marblehead, Feb. 21, 1796, graduated at Dart- mouth College in 1811 ; was a successful lawyer, first at South Berwick, and then at Athens, Me., where he con- tinued to practice till his death, Aug. 24, 1852. He was a State senator in 1835, a member of the Executive Coun- cil in 1836, and judge of probate for Somerset County from 1841 till the time of his death. He married Sarah Sawtelle, of Norridgewock, by whom he had several chil- dren. Frederick, born at South Berwick in 1807, was a lawyer, at Saco, where he practiced till his death, Aug. 1, 1865. He was a member of the Senate in 1835-36, and a representative in 1842. In 1849 he was chosen judge of the Municipal Court of Saco, a position which he occu- pied till 1852. He married, Nov. 23, 1841, Lydia, daugh- ter of Samuel Coleman, of Kennebunkport. One of his sons, Frederick Greene, is now overseer in the Pepperell Mills, at Biddeford, and with his brother, Joseph Leland, served in the war of the Rebellion, enlisting Oct. 3, 1863, in the 29th Maine Regiment; was under Gen. Banks in the Red River expedition, in Louisiana, and afterwards in the Shenandoah Valley and Virginia. His two sisters, Ellen and Mary, are both living, and reside in Massachusetts. Bowen Clark Greene, another son of Judge Greene, was admitted to the bar, but did not follow a regular practice of the law. He was postmaster in Saco from 1845-49, and deputy collector of customs at that port several years. He had been clerk in the Secretary of State's office in 1835, '36, '37, and a part of that time deputy secretary. He was never married. He died at Saco, Aug. 3, 1860. Another son, Henry Bowen Clark Greene, was a distinguished physician ; he began his practice in Saco, and removed to Boston, where he died, Jan. 31, 1848. He married, May 27, 1823, Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. Samuel Hartley, of Saco.

JUDGE JOSEPH HOWARD.

Judge Joseph Howard was born in the year 1800 at Brownfield, Oxford Co. At the time of his death he was seventy-seven years of age. His preliminary education was obtained at Fryeburg Academy. He graduated at Bowdoin College in 1821, taking a high rank in his class, and im- mediately commenced the study of law in the office of Judge Dana, at Fryeburg. He completed his studies in the office of Judge Daniel Goodenow, and was admitted to the bar in 1824. He first opened an office in Bridgton, Cumberland Co. Within a year John Burnham, a success- ful lawyer in Limerick, York Co., died suddenly, and Mr. Howard immediately removed there, where he remained in successful practice for twelve or fifteen years. While quite

BENCH AND BAR OF YORK COUNTY.

young he received the appointment of county attorney for York County, and very ably performed the duties of that office for about ten years.

In 1837 he removed from Limerick to Portland, and soon after formed a partnership with Henry B. Osgood, his brother-in-law, their wives being the accomplished daugh- ters of Judge Dana and sisters of the late Governor, John W. Dana. After the decease of Mr. Osgood, he and the late George F. Shepley, Judge of the United States Circuit Court, formed a partnership which continued till 1848, when the senior partner, Mr. Howard, was appointed a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. Prior to that time he had for several years filled the office of United States Attorney for the District of Maine. When his term of office on the bench of the Supreme Court expired he was in the prime of life, aud soon after formed a partnership with Sewall C. Strout, Esq., of Portland, which firm con- tinued several years, when it was dissolved to enable the judge to associate with him iu business his son-in-law, Nathan Cleaves, late judge of probate for Cumberland County. Afterwards Henry B. Cleaves, Esq., late solicitor for the city of Portland, was admitted as a member of the firm, which continued till the death of the subject of this notice.

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History of York County, Maine, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 21

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 730

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 730