USA > Maine > Waldo County > Belfast > History of the city of Belfast in the state of Maine v.I, 1770-1875 > Part 34
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88
When it is considered that the Rules of the Supreme Judicial Court require that nine years at least should have been devoted to literary and professional pursuits, to qualify
365
LAW AND THE COURTS.
appointment of the latter, there had not been one educated lawyer on the bench in Hancock County. The judges, in the language of the statute, were to be " substantial persons." Practically, they were not "learned in the law," but they were generally promi- nent, well-to-do men, who had occupied political or municipal stations, and had acquired the reputation of honesty. The Court of Sessions was similar to that tribunal which the " Spectator " mentions as being adorned by Sir Roger de Coverley. All the Justices of the Peace for the county composed it, and crowded the bench. In addition to jurisdiction in criminal matters, they had authority to summon juries, and exercised the powers of the
a man for admission to that Court, as Attorney thereof; and two years' practice therein as an Attorney, to qualify him for admission as a Counsellor thereof; and that those who ' undertake the ardnous duties of an Attorney or Counsellor at Law are bound in honor to indemnify their clients for all losses or damages which are occasioned hy negligence, or want of professional knowledge, it must he evident that a reasonable and honorable compensation onght to be made, whenever professional assistance is afforded. Therefore, We, the Subscribers, Members of the Bar in the County of Hancock, establish the fol -. lowing rate of fees, as the lowest we will receive ; and we agree that we will not receive for the same any commutation or substitute whatever.
Advice or Consultation.
For advice when the property in dispute exceeds thirty dollars . . . $2
Drafting Instruments.
Drafting Deeds and other Instruments 1
Collecting Demands before Suit.
For collecting all demands of Twenty Dollars and under cts. 50 All demands exceeding Twenty Dollars, and not more than One Hun- 1 dred Dollars
All demands exceeding One Hundred Dollars, and not more than Five } 2 Hundred Dollars
All demands exceeding Five Hundred Dollars . 3
Writs, g.c.
For all Writs originally below the jurisdiction of the Common Pleas . 1 All Writs returnable to the Common Pleas. . 2
The above charges for Writs and collecting are to be made when the action is settled. before entry, and are to be paid together with the Sheriff's fees.
Recognizances, g.c.
Where the demand is settled by recognizance, the fees are to be double the fees for. collecting before snit.
Justice's Court. Arguing a cause before a Justice $3 Fees in the Court of Common Pleas. FOR PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL, OR ATTORNEY. If he prevail, the Counsel or Attorney is to charge the Plaintiff with the bill of cost.
366
HISTORY OF BELFAST.
present county commissioners. In 1807, the organization was. altered by substituting a fixed number of Justices. In Hancock there were six, designated by the governor. By repeated enact- ments, radical changes took place in their functions, which in 1831 culminated in the substitution of the Court of County Com- missioners.
"Castine," says Judge Crosby, " was the capital of all that vast territory lying east of the counties of Lincoln and Kennebec, the centre of its society and commerce, and its seat of justice. During the session of the courts there, the shores and harbor exhibited the appearance of an Indian encampment. The judge
He is also to charge the fees for arguing the same, if argued either to the Court or Jury.
If the Plaintiff do not prevail, his Counsel or Attorney is to charge the Writ accord- ing to the rate above stated, and all sums of money paid for the Plaintiff in carrying on the suit. He is also to charge a term fee for each term of 3 dollars.
And if the cause he argued to the Court or Jury, the fee for arguing is to be substi- tuted for the term fee.
FOR DEFENDANT'S COUNSEL, OR ATTORNEY.
Where the defendant prevails, his Counsel or Attorney is to charge the bill of costs recovered against the Plaintiff ; and if the cause be argued to the Court or Jury, he is to charge the usual arguing fee.
If the defendant do not prevail, his Counsel or Attorney is to charge him term fees as aforesaid; and if the cause be argued, the arguing fee ia to be aubstituted for the term fee at the term the argument is had.
For arguing a cause in the Common Pleas $6 For Trustees' answer
3
Supreme Judicial Court.
FOE PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL, OR ATTORNEY.
When the Plaintiff prevails, the Counsel or Attorney is to charge the bill of costs iu the Court of Common Pleas, and in the Supreme Judicial Court, and fees for arguing the same to the Court or Jury, or both, as the case may be.
When the Plaintiff does not prevail, the Counsel or Attorney is to charge the sum paid for him in the prosecution of the auit, and term fees double the amount chargeable in the Court of Common Pleas, and also the fees for arguing the same to the Court or Jury, or both, as the case may be.
DEFENDANT'S COUNSEL, OR ATTORNEY.
When the defendant prevails, the Counsel or Attorney is to charge the bill of costs, and the fees for arguing the cause to the Court or Jury, as the case may be, and term fees double the amount chargeable in the Court of Common Pleas.
When the defendant does not prevail, the Counsel or Attorney is to charge term fees double the sum charged in the Court of Common Pleas; and the fee for arguing is to be substituted for the term fee at the term the argument is had.
For arguing a cause to the Court or Jury, iu the Supreme Judicial }
Court .
$12
367
LAW AND THE COURTS.
and jurors, the parties and witnesses, the lawyers, sheriffs, and subordinate officers, loafers and idlers, besides not an inconsider- able number of gentlemen spectators, all arrived in open row or sail boats. This great collection was from the scattering settle- ments of the islands, Frenchman's Bay, the Penobscot River and its Bay. Now you must not suppose there was any thing like fatigue or gloom or despondence in all this. Quite otherwise. It was a hearty, happy, and merry meeting. Each had his story of disasters, hair-breadth escapes, and ludicrous incidents. It was a hearty laugh, a good dinner, and then to business. There were no old men : new countries have no old men. We were all young men, - healthy, hearty, and in the full flow of joyous anticipation. There was nothing of that low, narrow, and contracted selfishness which disgraces the present generation. Highways, houses of
For Naturalization $12
For Divorce ,
20
For Partition, exclusive of Court fees 12
And if the cause be argued, the arguing fee is to be substituted for the usual term fee. When the Debtor is insolvent, and the Plaintiff does not obtain satisfaction of his judgment, the Counsel or Attorney may charge the bill of costs only.
References, g.c.
For argument in references entered into, in the Supreme Judicial Court and Court of Common Pleas, and rules entered into before a Justice of the Peace, the compensation is to be regulated according to the rate of fees established for arguing a cause in the Court, to which the same are returnable.
After the term when the cause is referred, and before the term wben the report is made, the Counsel or Attorney for Plaintiff or Defendant may charge half-term fees only.
Paying over Money collected.
When money is collected and paid over to a client, who lives without the County of Hancock, a commission of three per cent shall be charged to him upon the amount col- lected.
These rules are intended to establish the lowest compensation, and not to restrict gentlemen from receiving more liberal fees in cases of difficulty or magnitude.
OLIVER LEONARD.
ENOCH BROWN.
JOB NELSON.
SAMUEL LITTLE.
ALLEN GILMAN. JOHN GODFREY.
WILLIAM CROSBY. SAMUEL M. POND.
BOHAN P. FIELD. JOHN PIKE.
WILLIAM ABBOT. OAKES ANGIER.
JACOB MCGAW. WM. D. WILLIAMSON.
SAMUEL E. DUTTON. THOMAS E. HALE.
JOHN WILSON. GEORGE T. CHAPMAN.
ARCHIBALD JONES.
JOHN G. DEANE.
GEORGE HERBERT.
SAMUEL K. WHITING.
PHILO H. WASHBURN.
368
HISTORY OF BELFAST.
public worship, academies, schools, and public institutions were the subjects of discussion to which every heart and hand were devoted. Our country and its prospects were every thing : our trials, our perils and sacrifices, were nothing." 1
And another writer, in reference to the men who composed the court and bar of Hancock and Waldo Counties in the early days, describes them as follows : " As citizens they were liberal, high- minded, ever ready to lend a helping hand to all those institutions of religion, education, and charity which distinguish the character of New England people. As lawyers, they were learned and skilled in their profession. They acted upon the belief that their profes- sion, so far from oppressing the poor or circumventing the igno- rant, was designed, and should be used, for the wise purpose of administering justice and executing the laws of the land.
" The life of the profession of law is in a great measure one of strife and conflict." In every cause presented for trial having adverse parties, its investigation and discussion almost necessarily engender antagonistic feelings. Attorneys are often blamed by the opposite side for doing no more than their duty. But these men, confining themselves to the merits of their cause, and soaring above every species of abuse either of parties or witnesses, seldom incurred enmity from any quarter. They were slow to suspect, much less to charge witnesses, with perjury, and believed that honest men on both sides might go to law for their rights. Such liberality could hardly fail of being appreciated by the public ; and it may be truly asserted that no men ever passed through a course: of practice with fewer enemies than they. The same liberal prac- tice manifested to parties and witnesses was extended to each other. No one believed that the duties he owed to his client. required him to attack his brother who happened to be opposed to him; and if in the heat of the moment any acrimony was excited, it generally died with the occasion which gave rise to it.' There was therefore the most friendly feelings subsisting among themselves, which made them companions, and enabled them to act together in every measure, public or private, for the public good. It is true that like all other men they had faults ; but look- ing at their learning, talents, and the many good qualities which adorned their lives, it is not too much to say that they would have done credit to any har in any age or country."2
1 Autobiography of Hon. William Crosby.
2 Reminiscences of Deceased Members of the Bar, by Joseph Williamson, published in the "State Signal," April 15, 1852.
369
LAW AND THE COURTS.
The isolated local situation of Castine always caused great inconvenience to a large number of the people, and as early as 1792 a public movement was made to change the county seat to some place more accessible. This project did not please the citi- zens of Belfast, for they voted "not to have the courts removed from the peninsula where they are now held." In 1811, when it was proposed to create a registry of deeds on the western side of the bay, the town, for some reason which is not apparent, opposed the change. Two years later, a plan for dividing the county met with no better favor, and a vote was unanimously passed " that it is inexpedient at present." But at the close of the war of 1812, the business and population of Castine seriously declined, while the census of Belfast exhibited an increase of nearly seventy-five per cent from 1810 to 1820. The growing importance of the place began to be recognized, and the subject of making the town a half-shire was agitated. At the annual spring meeting in 1818, it was voted " that Alfred Johnson, Jr., Nathan Read, and Rufus B. Allyn be a committee to petition the General Court for one term of the Supreme Judicial Court to be holden at Belfast." The petition was not granted. Upon the erection of Maine into a State in 1820, the matter was renewed, and appears to have been urged upon the Legislature for several years with great pertinacity. Through the efforts of the people of Belfast, the following petition was presented to the Legislature of 1827, from a large number of towns : -
TO THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MAINE, JANUARY, 1827.
The undersigned, a Committee of the town of
in the County of legally chosen at their An- nual Meeting on the second Monday of September, 1826, for the purpose, beg leave to represent that the counties of Hancock and Lincoln comprise long and extensive territories, and many of the towns are situated at a great distance from the Shire Towns in each of said Counties, which renders it very expensive and incon- venient for those to attend who have business with our Courts and Public Offices, that the public good and the interest and con- venience of your petitioners will be greatly promoted by the for- mation of a New County, consisting of the following towns and plantations, viz. : Belfast, Brooks, Jackson, Thorndike, Monroe, Northport, Islesborough, Swanville, Knox, Belmont, Waldo,
24
370
HISTORY OF BELFAST.
Lincolnville, Vinalhaven,1 Searsmont, Prospect, and Frankfort in the county of Hancock ; and Camden, Hope, Montville, Mont- ville Plantation,2 Appleton, Palermo, Thomaston, Warren, Cush- ing, St. George, Union, and Washington in the county of Lincoln ; and Freedom, Unity, and Joy & in the county of Kennebec, be erected into a new County. The above towns now probably con- tain about thirty-six thousand inhabitants.
We therefore in behalf of said town of ask your honorable body to incorporate us, together with the towns and plantations above mentioned, into a County, bearing the name of Knox, and that Belfast and Warren be the Shire Town for years, or such other town or towns as the Legislature may direct ; as in duty hound will ever pray.
Such respectable memorials could not be disregarded ; and the committee to whom they were referred, after amending the origi- nal plan by striking out the towns of Thomaston, Warren, Cushing, St. George, Union, and Washington, in the county of Lincoln, reported a bill establishing a new county, with Bel- fast for its sole shire town. The name was left blank; but at the suggestion of Hon. R. C. Johnson, who was then a member of the House of Representatives, that of Waldo was inserted, to per- petuate the name and memory of General Samuel Waldo, who formerly owned nearly all the territory comprised within its limits.4 Upon the question of the passage of the bill, an animated debate took place. Mr. Johnson gave the general reasons why the county should be established. The joint standing committee who had the subject under consideration had reported in its favor without division. The case was so clear there was not a single dissenting voice. It was contemplated that the county should contain twenty-six towns, of which twenty-one in their corporate capacity had petitioned for the county, and a large portion of the remaining towns had also petitioned as individuals. He referred to the difficulty of crossing the bay at some seasons of the year, and mentioned an instance when a whole term of court was lost in consequence of the sloop in which the judge had taken passage becoming becalmed.
1 Vinalhaven was annexed to Waldo County in 1838.
2 Now Liberty.
8 Now Troy. It was formerly called Joy, from Benjamin Joy, of Boston, who owned a large portion of the territory.
4 For a notice of the life and character of General Waldo, see Chapter III.
371
LAW AND THE COURTS.
Mr. Abbot,1 of Castine, replied at considerable length. He contended that the bay, instead of presenting an impediment to those who wished to pass from the western side to attend the courts at Castine, was actually a convenience. A packet was con- stantly running from Belfast, by which people could pass witlı less expense and trouble than if the bay was not there. To show that the packet was regular and seldom interrupted, he read a statement of the trips of the packet during the sessions of the courts for five years. Out of one hundred and seventy days dur- ing which the courts were in session, there were but seven days in which the packet did not run ; and, on one hundred and seven- teen days, the packet passed twice a day or more. The debate continued two days, and was participated in, among a large num- ber of other members, by George Evans of Gardiner, and Daniel Goodenow of Alfred. At its close, the bill was passed by a majority of twenty-three.2 In the Senate, no formidable opposi- tion was made; and the bill was approved by Governor Lincoln, on the 7th of February, 1827.8 By its provisions, the new county was to go into operation on the following 3d of July. One term of the Supreme Court was appointed, and three of the Court of Common Pleas. For five years, or until a jail was built, the jails of Hancock, Lincoln, or Kennebec Counties were to be used. It was enacted that the governor should appoint the usual county officers, whose terms were to commence on the 3d of July. The Register of Deeds and Treasurer were to be chosen at the September election. Joseph Hall was appointed Sheriff, Hugh J. Anderson Clerk of the Courts, Alfred Johnson, Jr., Judge of Probate, Nathaniel M. Lowney Register, and Joseph Williamson County Attorney. All these officers resided in Belfast, except the sheriff, who was a citizen of Camden. Bohan P. Field, of Belfast, was the first Chief Justice of the Court of Sessions, having as associate justices Joseph Shaw, of Thorndike, and Thomas Eastman, of Palermo. No person received a majority of votes for register of deeds or county treasurer. For the former position there were eight candidates. At the fourth trial, in March, 1828, Frye Hall,4
1 Hon. William Abbot, afterwards of Bangor.
2. Portland Argus.
3 The erection of Knox County, in 1860, took off from Waldo County the towns of Appleton, Camden, Hope, North Haven, and Vinalhaven.
4 By repeated elections, Mr. Hall continued to hold the offices of register of deeds and county treasurer for over twenty years. His faithfulness and popularity secured him the support of different political parties. He died in August, 1849, aged sixty-three.
372
HISTORY OF BELFAST.
of Hope, was chosen, the duties of the office during the vacancy having been performed by the clerk of the courts. Ralph C. Johnson " was appointed Treasurer by the Court of Sessions, and continued to act as such for a year, when, declining an election, Mr. Hall, the Register of Deeds, succeeded him.
The first term of the Court of Common Pleas for the new county was held July 24, 1827, by Samuel E. Smith, of Wiscasset, and David Perham, of Bangor, justices. Samuel A. Whitney, of Lincolnville, acted as foreman of the grand jury ; and Simeon Foss, of Belfast, of the traverse jury. There were sixty-two entries, and only a single trial. No session of the Supreme Court convened until July of the following year.2 Chief Justice Mellen presided. Harry Hazeltine, of Searsmont, was foreman of the first jury ; and William Parkman, of Camden, of the second. But little business was transacted.
Judge Johnson opened his first Probate Court in August, 1827. His earliest official act, which appears of record, was to approve the will of Robert Miller, a well-known citizen of Belfast, whose death had recently occurred. For several years, in addition to monthly sessions in the probate office, terms were held once a year, respectively, at Camden, Frankfort, and Freedom. The salary of the judge was originally but one hundred and fifty dollars.
It was stated in a previous chapter that in 1825 the inhab- itants voted to furnish and prepare the town house for the use of the courts, whenever Belfast became the shire of a new county. This vote was carried into effect in 1827, six hundred dollars hav- ing been raised for finishing the second story into a court-room and other apartments. A conveyance from the town to the county was duly made. The court-room was about forty feet square, and was inconvenient and poorly ventilated. Hard, uncushioned benches, instead of chairs, were provided alike for jurors, officers, specta- tors, and attorneys. Those for the latter had the addition of desks similar to an old-fashioned school-house, until 1841, when tables were substituted. The floor was strewn with sand or saw- dust. A long bar, or prisoner's dock, guarded at each end by officers, occupied the rear. For many years, the judge was at- tended to and from his lodgings by the sheriff, bearing bis official staff. There were no retiring rooms for the court or for witnesses.
1 Excepting Mr. Anderson, all the first officers of Waldo County have deceased.
2 The last term of the Supreme Court held in the old court-house was hy Judge Appleton, in October, 1853.
373
LAW AND THE COURTS.
The jury rooms were small, and without any communication from the court-room except through its main and only entrance. It was originally contemplated to finish the basement into public offices ; but this plan was never effected. They were at first kept in Phoenix Row. A building with fire-proof vaults having been erected on High Street, in 1829, by Joseph Williamson, early in the following year the offices were removed to it, where they remained until the present court-house was completed. The probate office was in that part of the block now occupied by Henry L. Lord as a store, the office of the Clerk of the Courts in the room over it, and the Registry of Deeds and Treasurer's office in the room opposite.
The project of a new court-house, although frequently discussed, did not assume a definite form until 1850, when the members of the bar, and the jurors in attendance at the February term of the District Court, joined in a petition for the measure. Soon after- wards, an arrangement was effected by which the county conveyed to school districts numbered four and five, for one thousand dol- lars, all the interest which it held under the deed from the town ; reserving, however, a right of occupation, until a new building
COURT-HOUSE. BUILT IN 1853.
was erected. The county commissioners immediately entered upon the matter, and purchased as a site thirty-five square rods of land bounded by Church, Market, and High Streets,1 for seven
1 In 1874, the county purchased an adjoining lot, having a frontage of forty-five feet on Church Street, and extending to High Street, subject to ground leases which expire in 1877.
374
HISTORY OF BELFAST.
hundred dollars. Plans made by Messrs. B. S. Dean, of Bangor, and Edwin Lee Browne, of Boston, architects, were accepted ; and a contract for the proposed edifice was awarded to Edward Hawkes, of Belfast, for fourteen thousand dollars. The building was completed in 1853, and on the last day of the year the pub- lic records were removed from the Fire-proof Block to the spacious and more convenient apartments provided for their better security. On the first Tuesday of January, 1854, a term of the Supreme Court, presided over by Judge Rice, was held in the new court- room. The dimensions of the court-house are seventy feet by fifty, with a height of thirty-six and a half feet. It is two stories high, constructed of brick with freestone facings, and at the time of its erection was regarded as not inferior to any similar struc- ture in the State. A belfry and bell were added in 1856.
Soon after the organization of Waldo County, the Court of Sessions decided to build a jail, and in 1828 procured for a loca- tion seven acres of land at the corner of Miller and Congress Streets, of Thomas Pickard, for five hundred and twenty dollars. The next year, a contract for building a stone jail, with a brick house for the jailer, was made with Jeremiah and John Berry, of Thomaston, who laid the corner-stone of the former on the twenty- ninth day of June. No ceremonies were observed on the occasion except to deposit copies of the local newspapers. The jail was completed in November, and cost, with appurtenances, five thou- sand five hundred and ninety-four dollars. The house cost two thousand six hundred and five dollars. A high fence enclosed the former building, which was constructed of hard granite, quarried at St. George. The structure was thirty by twenty and a half feet in dimensions, and two stories high, the walls of the lower story being two feet thick. It was imperfectly built, and the cells were dark, damp, and small. In less than two years after its comple- tion, the " Maine Workingmen's Advocate " pronounced it "a disgrace to the county, and a reproach to the age." Prisoners constantly escaped, and its walls afforded no security against desperate criminals. Finally, in 1851, after the jail had been indicted by the grand jury as unsafe and insufficient, it was demolished, and the present one took its place.1 The cost of the . latter was six thousand and sixty-two dollars. It is about forty-
1 During the erection of the new jail, a temporary cell was prepared for the Jewells, who were confined on a charge of murder. A guard was maintained over them during the night.
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.