USA > New Hampshire > The bench and bar of New Hampshire : including biographical notices of deceased judges of the highest court, and lawyers of the province and state, and a list of names of those now living > Part 1
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GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01092 3073
GENEALOGY 974.2 B42B
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
INCLUDING
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF DECEASED JUDGES OF THE HIGHEST COURT, AND LAWYERS OF THE PROVINCE AND STATE AND A LIST OF NAMES OF THOSE NOW LIVING
BY
CHARLES H. BELL
bien qu'
The Riverside Dress
BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY The Riverside Press, Cambridge 1894
Copyright, 1893, BY H. R. BAILEY, ADMINISTRATOR. All rights reserved.
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The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A. Printed by H. O. Houghton and Company.
Richard Banks - 12.50
H
7/17/64
1264837
To
HONORABLE CHARLES DOE, LL. D. CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, .
THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
I UNDERTOOK this work several years ago, by the desire and with the encouragement of a number of my associates at the bar, some of whom are no longer living.
In the preparation of it I have made use of all the public means of information within my reach, and of the manuscript biographical notices prepared by Dr. John Farmer, lent to me by Edward H. Spaulding, Esq. ; also of notices and copies of bar and court records collected by Hon. Samuel D. Bell and fur- nished me by his sons, Hon. Samuel N. Bell and Hon. John J. Bell ; of the sketches by Hon. William Plumer for which I am indebted to his granddaughter, Miss Mary E. Plumer ; of a series of letters of Moody Kent, Esq., to his kinsman, George Kent, Esq., who presented them to me ; and of notes by Hon. John Kelly, lent by Professor Bradbury L. Cilley. I have also made use of written and oral communications from Isaac Patter- son, Esq., Hon. George W. Nesmith, Henry Heywood, Esq., Hon. James Wilson, John M. Shirley, Esq., Hon. Asa Fowler, John H. White, Esq. (now deceased), Charles E. Batchelder, Esq., Albert S. Batchellor, Esq., Edward S. Cutter, Esq., Otis F. Y. R. Waite, Esq., Hon. Ellery A. Hibbard, Hon. William D. Knapp, Hon. Joshua G. Hall, Miss Mary P. Thompson, and Dr. Samuel A. Green, to all of whom with others not named I hereby acknowledge my indebtedness and express my thanks.
My desire has been to include the name of every member of the bar who has ever lived and practiced in New Hampshire, but not those practitioners who were never admitted to the bar; nor members of the bar who practiced here, but whose homes were out of New Hampshire ; nor those admitted to the bar who never practiced, or who practiced elsewhere.
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PREFACE.
I am too well aware of the liability to mistakes in works of this class to expect this to be free from errors, though the utmost care has been taken to attain accuracy.
The preparation of this work has been to me a labor of love, and I now offer it in partial satisfaction of the debt I owe to a noble profession.
CHARLES H. BELL.
The entire text of this book with the exception of Hon. Jere- miah Smith's biographical notice of the author, the list of living lawyers, a portion of the index, and the table of contents were completed and for the most part printed before the death of Mr. Bell. The preface is from notes prepared by him and is substan- tially his work. The list of living lawyers has been completed with the kind assistance of Charles G. Conner, Esq., the clerk of the Court of Rockingham County. The death of the Hon. John J. Bell occurred after a considerable portion of the work had been printed, and for this reason the sketch of him is placed at the end of the volume. The same is true of the sketches of John W. Clark and A. M. Holbrook, the information required to prepare them having been received by Mr. Bell too late to insert them in the text in their alphabetical order. Some errors have been dis- covered, and a list of corrections will be found after the biograph- ical notice of the author.
CONTENTS.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR ix JUDGES OF THE HIGHEST COURT, IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER 1
PAGE
MEMBERS OF THE BAR WHO HAVE LIVED AND PRACTICED IN THE STATE : DECEASED LAWYERS 135
THE SUPREME COURT
774
A LIST OF LIVING LAWYERS, DISTRIBUTED UNDER THE TOWNS IN WHICH THEY ONCE WERE OR ARE NOW IN PRACTICE . . 775
INDEX 783
1
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR.
IT has seemed fitting that this volume should contain a short notice of its author, who died as it was passing through the press.
Charles Henry Bell, the son of John and Persis (Thom) Bell, was born at Chester, New Hampshire, November 18, 1823. He prepared for college at Pembroke Academy, and Phillips Exeter Academy ; and was graduated at Dartmouth in 1844. He studied law with Messrs. Bell & Tuck of Exeter, and his cousin Samuel D. Bell of Manchester. After practicing for a short time in Chester, he became the partner of Nathaniel Wells of Great Falls. In 1854 he removed to Exeter, where he was at first associated with Gilman Marston. In 1856 he was appointed solicitor for Rockingham County, and was reappointed in 1861, serving until 1866. He represented Exeter in the lower branch of the legisla- ture in 1858, 1859, 1860, 1872, and 1873. In 1860 he was elected Speaker of the House. He was a member of the state Senate in 1863 and 1864, and president of the Senate during the latter year. He was a Mason of high rank, and had served the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire as its highest officer. In March, 1879, Governor Prescott appointed him United States Senator, to serve until an election should be made by the legisla- ture in the following June. In November, 1880, he was elected governor, an office previously filled by his father and his uncle. His gubernatorial term extended from June, 1881, to June, 1883. In 1889 he was president of the Constitutional Convention. He was for a long time a trustee of Phillips Exeter Academy, and latterly the president of the board. He served several years as president of the New Hampshire Historical Society. In 1881 Dartmouth College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. In 1868 Mr. Bell gave up active practice at the bar, and
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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR.
thenceforth devoted himself largely to literary and historical pur- suits. He published among other works, " Historical Sketch of Phillips Exeter Academy," " Memoir of John Wheelwright," and " History of Exeter." His last labor was performed on the pres- ent volume, the greater part of which was printed before his death, the manuscript being then complete save part of the index. He died at Exeter, November 11, 1893.
In 1847 Mr. Bell married Sarah A. Gilman. She died in 1850, and in 1867 he married Mrs. Mary E. Gilman, who survives him.
This bare array of facts and dates can, of course, give no ade- quate idea of Mr. Bell's value as a public man or of the worth of his literary and historical labors. The task of describing his worth in those aspects of it will, it is hoped, be undertaken by one who is fully competent to appreciate it. The chief purpose of the present sketch is to briefly delineate Mr. Bell as a lawyer.
Until his appointment as county solicitor in 1856, Mr. Bell had not been accustomed to take the lead in the trial of causes. It was not as common then as now for young lawyers to try their own cases, and he had had for his business associates, both at Great Falls and Exeter, men older and more experienced than himself. But his appointment as solicitor placed him at once in the fore- front of battle, and subjected him to tests under which a weak man would have succumbed. He had to undergo comparison with Albert R. Hatch, his immediate predecessor in the office, and with John Sullivan, then attorney-general, who were both hard men to follow. But Mr. Bell stood the test successfully. The business of the State, whenever intrusted to him, was ad- mirably performed. There were peculiar difficulties under which a county solicitor at that day labored. He was not only com- pelled to try causes against able counsel, but he was also sure, in a large class of cases, to encounter vehement prejudice on the part of many jurors. A considerable part of the state docket consisted of indictments for the violation of the Prohibitory Liquor Law. This statute had been passed only the year before Mr. Bell's appointment. Its enactment had been a political issue, and its repeal was urged by a powerful party, comprising very nearly half the voters of the State. It was inevitable that each panel should contain some jurors who were bitterly opposed to the law, and some of these men did not, at the outset of a trial,
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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR.
understand that the proper place to manifest their opposition was the ballot box, and not the jury room. Under these circum- stances, it is not to be wondered at that, in a neighboring county, there was at that time great difficulty in securing convictions under this law. But the Rockingham County prosecutions were so well handled, that, when Mr. Bell had been in office two years, he was able to say that he had never yet addressed a jury in a liquor case without obtaining a verdict for the State.
From 1856 until his retirement from practice in 1868, Mr. Bell also took a prominent part in the trial of causes on the civil side of the court ; and his name frequently appears in the New Hamp- shire Reports as counsel in cases carried up from the trial term to the law term. In his case, as in that of most lawyers, it is diffi- cult to single out any one cause which deserves to be noticed above all others. Probably the most protracted, and also the most widely known, litigation in which he was engaged was the controversy between Dr. Bassett and the Salisbury Manufactur- ing Company on the subject of flowage and water rights ; a con- troversy which, in some form or other, figured on the Rockingham docket for about twenty years. One of the ablest oral arguments Mr. Bell ever made before the full bench was in the equity suit between these parties, reported in 47 New Hampshire Reports, 426. His opponent was the veteran leader of the New Hampshire bar, Daniel M. Christie, who was deeply interested in a contro- versy in which he had been retained for more than a third of his long professional career. Mr. Bell's argument made an impres- sion on at least one of his hearers which time has not effaced. It is believed that none of the other able counsel, who, at different periods in this long litigation, represented Dr. Bassett, ever made a better presentation of his case or a more complete answer to the other side.
As a jury lawyer Mr. Bell differed widely from most of the men then recognized as leaders of the bar. They were largely men of strength and character; but they had inherited from the preceding generation some undesirable ways. From an early day the demeanor of opposing counsel toward each other had gener- ally been brusque, and sometimes rough. The treatment of wit- nesses on cross-examination was often very objectionable. In addresses to the jury, prolixity was the order of the day. For a long time there had been no rule of court limiting the length of
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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR.
the closing argument, and the custom was, with one or two notable exceptions, to discuss each case at inordinate length, dwelling on every minute point. In all these respects Mr. Bell had the inde- pendence to differ from the usages and traditions of the bar. He never failed in courtesy. An observer might well have applied to him the remark which Richard H. Dana made in reference to the eminent Massachusetts lawyer, Franklin Dexter : " He seems to be a gentleman practicing law, and not a mere lawyer." Mr. Bell treated every one in the court-room with the same civility that he exhibited towards his equals in social life. His bearing, there as everywhere, was dignified, but without any touch of austerity or superciliousness. He did not knowingly overstate his own case, or misstate that of his adversary. One could not but feel that here was a man whose first conscious desire was not that he might achieve victory, but that he might achieve it worthily ; a man who did not adopt the pernicious maxim that the counsel should know no one except his client, but who recognized something higher than his obligation to his client; a man who made it his object to live up to his oath, that he would " do no falsehood nor consent that any be done in the court." Whatever could fairly be done for his side, he would do; but he would go no further. Pro clientibus sæpe, pro lege semper, was his motto.
With all Mr. Bell's courtesy and calmness, there was no lack of strength or force. Attorney-General Sullivan, the heir to dis- tinguished talent in two generations, and himself one of the most eloquent and effective advocates of the day, is understood to have said of one of Mr. Bell's early efforts before a jury, that he had never heard a case better argued. Mr. Bell was capable of using sarcasm very effectively in rejoinder, but always within the bounds of the professional amenities. His arguments were generally · brief, but clear. He did not waste his own time, or the time of the court. Almost never did he utter a superfluous sentence, and seldom an unnecessary word. "Clearness of statement," it has been well said, " is the great power at the bar." Mr. Bell possessed this faculty in a remarkable degree. His oral argu- ments had the crystal-like clearness which was so marked a characteristic of the written opinions of his cousin, the late Chief- Justice Samuel D. Bell. It is safe to say that he never sat down without making all his points fully understood. One great charm of Mr. Bell's speeches consisted in his admirable command of
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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR.
language. He always used the right word in the right place. Probably no man of his time at the New Hampshire bar could have better stood the test of a stenographic report. His off- hand sentences uttered in the court-room might well be held up to students as a model of pure and expressive English.
"He did not like a jury trial, and a jury trial did not like him " - was said of an eminent lawyer in another State. The first part of this statement may possibly have been true of Mr. Bell. But the last part certainly was not applicable to him. His experience with juries proves that courtesy and fairness are not insuperable obstacles to success, and that a man of ability and integrity can obtain verdicts without resorting to any small arti- fices or objectionable methods. He did not fawn upon jurors, or flatter them. He did not introduce irrelevant topics for the sake of exciting sympathy for his client or prejudice against his op- ponent. But his straightforward method of trying a case was more effective than the flank movements which are sometimes adopted.
Although usually calm and dispassionate, Mr. Bell was capable of feeling righteous indignation, and also of forcibly expressing it. In a congressional convention, in 1862, to which he was a delegate, the committee on credentials reported in favor of seating a certain claimant. Mr. Bell believed that this man had been guilty of dishonorable conduct in the method of his election. He stated the case to the convention in a scathing speech, which could hardly have occupied five minutes. The chairman of the com- mittee, no mean antagonist, and moreover representing on that occasion the faction which succeeded in nominating its congres- sional candidate, tried to stem the tide. But Mr. Bell's burning words had done their work. The convention not only rejected the favorite of the committee, but went so far as to seat his rival.
The belief in Mr. Bell's fairness was universal. It was gen- erally understood that he did not speak unless he had something to say, and that he expressed no opinion that he did not really entertain. "The character of the man stood behind the efforts of the advocate." Not only in the court-room, but also in the stormiest political gathering, he was sure of being listened to with attention. On one occasion, in a turbulent nominating conven- tion, held in 1864, he was the only man on his side who could obtain a respectful hearing while the excitement was at its
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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR.
height. The last session that Mr. Bell served in the legislature, a measure was pending which aroused strong political feeling. The opponents of the bill put up man after man to speak against it, and consumed much time in this way. Meanwhile the friends of the measure confided to Mr. Bell alone the task of replying, and themselves sat silent, entertaining a just confidence that he, single handed, would prove a full match for the entire phalanx of the opposition.
No description of Mr. Bell as a lawyer can be complete which omits all mention of his contributions to the social life of the bar. Modern improvements in locomotion are rapidly eliminating the social feature from legal life in New Hampshire. But when he entered the profession, the railroads had not yet produced their full effect ; the bar still congregated at the shire town throughout "court week," and comradeship was not entirely a thing of the past. No man was a more genial companion than Mr. Bell. In conversation he had no superior and few equals. He was not only a good talker, but also a good listener. He was not in the habit of monopolizing the conversation, or of relating anecdotes of which he was himself the hero. To listen to a familiar, off- hand talk between two such men as Mr. Bell and his intimate friend, Judge Bartlett, was a pleasure the like of which cannot be enjoyed in New Hampshire to-day. Both were full of know- ledge of books, and both had a strong sense of humor, and a wonderful power of expression. The charm of such conversation is more easily felt than described.
It was probably the general opinion of Mr. Bell's friends that, though he was successful at the bar, yet the more appropriate place for him was the bench, where two near kinsmen had served with distinction. He certainly possessed marked qualifications for that position ; a competent knowledge of law, practical ex- perience, tact, sound sense, a dignified presence, and a power of controlling men which led to his attaining the rare distinction of being called upon to preside successively over the House of Rep- resentatives, the Senate, and the Constitutional Convention. Had he remained in active practice, he must erelong have been ten- dered a judgeship. If still at the bar, he could not have been passed over upon the reorganization of the court in 1876. One reason for his non-appointment at an earlier day is to be found in his unwillingness to push his own claims, and his willingness to
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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR.
recognize the claims of others. In 1861 he took an active part in canvassing the lawyers of his section in behalf of the appoint- ment of Judge Bartlett ; and, in 1869, he urged the appointment of Judge Foster. He preferred others in honor.
The readers of the admirable biographies in this volume must regret that the author's legal life could not be delineated by one who possessed his own rare qualifications for such an undertaking. But no such alter et idem is left behind him.
" The lips are silent which alone could pay His worthy tribute."
JEREMIAH SMITH.
ERRATA.
Page 91. At the end of the sketch of Judge Parker, for " He left no issue," read "He left a daughter, and a son who is a member of the Massachusetts Bar."
Page 134. Under Ellery A. Hibbard, for "1876," read " 1874." Under William L. Foster, add "1876-1881," so as to read, " 1869-1874 ; 1876-1881." Under Charles Doe, for "1859-1876," read " 1859-1874," so as to read "J., 1859-1874 ; C. J. 1876 -. " Under Isaac W. Smith, for " 1874," read " 1874- 1876 ; 1877 -. "
Page 254. Under Francis Russell Chase, lines 8 and 9, for " the latter year," read "in 1854."
Page 298. Under Charles William Cutter, for " Hatfield," read " Chat- field."
Page 412. At the end of the sketch of William Henry Young Hackett, for " Of their three children the two sons became lawyers," read "Mr. Hackett had four children, two daughters and two sons."
Page 415. Under John P. Hale, LL. D., line 3 from bottom, for " In 1842 he was elected to Congress, and reelected two years later, serving four years," read " In 1843 he was elected to Congress, and served one term in the House."
Page 478. Under Jonathan Kittredge, line 4, for "1856" read "1855." Line 7, for "two " read " four."
Page 499. Under Gilman Marston, line 3 from bottom, for "1857 " read " 1859."
Page 613. Under Amasa Roberts, for "He never married " read "He left a widow but no children."
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JUDGES OF THE HIGHEST COURT, IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.
DECEASED JUDGES.
RICHARD MARTYN.
CHIEF JUSTICE 1693-1694.
RICHARD MARTYN was a merchant, and a resident of Portsmouth as early as 1660, when he received sixty-two acres in an allotment of lands to the inhabitants. About that time he subscribed two pounds for " the maintenance of the minister," and in 1671 he was one of the founders of the Congregational Church in Portsmouth. He was one of the selectmen in 1668, and for six of the ten suc- ceeding years. In 1671 he was a commissioner for the trial of small causes, and in 1672 and 1679 a deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts. In President Cutt's commission he was named a councilor of the province of New Hampshire, and filled the office till 1683, when he was removed by Governor Cranfield. During Cutt's administration he was also treasurer of the prov- ince, and was afterwards sued by Governor Cranfield and Robert Mason for the recovery of the fines and forfeitures which he had received, and had disbursed on the order of the council. Judg- ment went against him in the provincial court, but was reversed by the King in Council.
In October, 1692, Mr. Martyn was one of the representatives of Portsmouth in the New Hampshire provincial Assembly, and was chosen Speaker. Governor Allen, in December following, ap- pointed him a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and the next year Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature, and he administered the office till his death, April 2, 1694. He appears to have possessed intelligence and good business qualifications,
1
2
DECEASED JUDGES
and to have performed his public trusts acceptably ; and has been justly characterized as a "leading man in church and state."
His first wife, whom he married December 1, 1653, was Sarah, daughter of John Tuttle of Boston, Massachusetts ; his second, Martha, daughter of Samuel Symonds and widow of John Deni- son of Ipswich ; his third, Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Sher- burne, and widow of Tobias Lear ; his fourth, Mary Benning, widow of Samuel Wentworth of Portsmouth. By his first mar- riage he had four or five sons and four daughters.
ROBERT WADLEIGH.
JUSTICE 1693-1697.
Robert Wadleigh lived in Wells, Maine, in 1653, and was town clerk there in 1659. In 1666 he bought land at what has since been called Wadleigh's Falls, on the Lamprey River, now in Lee, built a house and mills there in company with one Listen, and re- moved thither with his family. In 1676 he was accepted as an inhabitant of Exeter, and spent the rest of his life in that place. He was then a man of mature years, and had five sons, some of them approaching manhood. In 1680 he was chosen a deputy to the provincial Assembly, and acted as its clerk. In 1681 the town made him a grant of two hundred acres of land. In 1682 he paid the largest tax in the town.
The next year Walter Barefoote, probably as agent of Robert Mason, brought a suit against him to recover some part of his lands. Wadleigh resisted, and happily recovered a verdict, which, however, was appealed from to the King. Thereupon Wadleigh, who was determined and full of energy, sailed for Eng- land to defend his rights, and made so favorable an impression upon the Privy Council that he not only procured the dismissal of the appeal, but was soon after appointed a councilor, doubtless by their action.
Another probable cause of his visit to England was the fact that three of his sons were under condemnation here for taking part in "Gove's rebellion " against Cranfield's tyrannical adminis- tration. They were soon after set at liberty.
His service as councilor continued from 1684 to May, 1686. He was a justice of the peace in 1686 and probably for the rest of his life, and in 1692 was an " assistant " in the Court of Com- mon Pleas.
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CHRONOLOGICALLY.
On October 30, 1693, he was appointed a Judge of the Superior Court, and was in office till April 27, 1697, when a new com- mission was issued. He was a man of more than ordinary educa- tion, independent, resolute, a friend of the people, and intrusted by his townsmen with important affairs.
He left a considerable number of descendants.
WILLIAM PARTRIDGE.
J. 1693-1697.
According to Belknap's History, William Partridge was a na- tive of Portsmouth, a shipwright of an extraordinary mechanical genius, of a politic turn of mind, and a popular man. He was largely concerned in trade, and was well known in England, through his having supplied masts and timber for the navy. He was treasurer of the province as early as 1692, and in October, 1693, was made a Judge of the Superior Court, and remained upon the bench until 1697. In 1696 some of the leading men of Ports- mouth, who disapproved of the conduct of Lieutenant-Governor Usher, made interest for the appointment of Partridge to super- sede him. Partridge accordingly went to England, and, through the influence of Sir Henry Ashhurst, it is said, returned with the desired commission. For some reason it was not immediately published, and was not recognized by Usher, but on its being pro- claimed in December, 1697, Partridge entered upon the duties of his office, not, however, to enjoy it uninterruptedly, for Usher died hard, and was for a time reinstated, but eventually was obliged to yield. Partridge remained lieutenant - governor till 1703. In that year he quitted New Hampshire and removed to Newbury, Massachusetts, and there died January 3, 1729, in the 75th year of his age.
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