History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Part 31

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Boston : W.A. Fergusson & Co.
Number of Pages: 1124

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1 By W. A. Fergusson.

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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.

house. He was beaten in that body, but the senate sustained him by a vote of eight to four. He attracted the attention of the leading legislators, and it is not too much to say if his inclinations had carried him into legislative life he would have fairly ranked with the state's best known and ablest men. In his town he is popular and highly esteemed. He was its treasurer for two years, and selectman for five. June 6, 1880, he received the appointment of judge of probate, and still holds the office, and while very important and strongly contested cases have come before his court (notably the Isaac Adams and Dr S. A. Bemis will cases), no appeal from his decisions has ever been sustained. "He has shown signal ability as a judge of probate, and if the absence of error in professional practice is a proof of learning, he certainly holds a very respectable position."

He married, June 4, 1865, Mary, daughter of William E. Moulton, of Par- sonsfield, Maine. Their children are Walter D. H. and Bertha Mary. Judge Hill has been an active Whig and Republican, is a shrewd and sagacious politician, and prominent in the councils of his party. In religion the judge is a Unitarian, with very strong predilections, however, for the manners, thought, and associations of the Friends. He fully believes in the movings of the Spirit.

He is a lover of literature, and had circumstances led him the proper way would have been a shining light in the galaxy of its stars. Possessed of a wonderfully retentive memory, a vivid and exalted imagination, poetie powers of a fine order, and a wealth and exuberance of classic diction, he writes well on any subject on which he tries his pen; but it is in grand and lofty fields, deseriptions of the solemn mountains and the rich and varied scenery of the lakes, appreciation of the nobler qualities of humanity, and keen and accurate analyses of human nature, that he excels. His poem of "Chocorua " has elicited high praise. He is full of anecdote and traditional lore and is apt in quotations of sayings and in descriptions of people. He is a capital com- panion ; his insight into human nature enables him to adapt himself pleasantly to the society he is in, while his rare conversational powers and fund of humor cause him to become at once its central figure. His memory of poetry and gems of prose is simply marvelous ; he will quote poem after poem by the hour while time to the listeners passes on its way unheeded. Combine with these a candid honesty, a kindliness of heart which never fails to win friends, a delicacy as tender as a woman's, and a quiet unconsciousness of any superior merit, and the reason of his great popularity is apparent.

ERASTUS P. JEWELL was born in Sandwich in 1836, and educated at com- mon and high schools and the seminary at New Hampton. He was a son of Mark F. Jewell, a farmer of high personal character. Mr Jewell commenced the study of law with Colonel Thomas J. Whipple about 1860 or 1861, was admitted to the bar in Belknap county about 1865, and soon after entered into a

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partnership with Colonel Whipple, which was dissolved a few years later. Mr Jewell practised alone for a number of years, then formed a partnership with Charles F. Stone. This is now one of the strongest law firms of Belknap county. Mr Jewell has been very successful in his profession. His prepara- tion for the trial of cases is peculiar to himself, and his methods would not always be adopted by many, and perhaps would not be always suited to most others. He is in no sense a plodder ; his discernment is very quick. He looks well to see what is involved in his case, anticipates with great correctness what is likely to be the ruling of the court, judges well where the hinges on which the decision will turn need to be made strong, and defends and strengthens those hinges with great tenacity, and does not trouble himself much about matters on which some counsel would expend much time and labor.

The result is that he is usually successful, at least he wins a good propor- tion of verdicts. He is a very pleasing and effective advocate, and has the respect of the court and the confidence of the jurors. But he is much more than a lawyer. He has a fine taste for the elegant, impressive, and original in literature, and considerable creative power in this direction ; is one of the fair- est men in his estimate of his political opponents and professional rivals ; he has a vein of genial humor ; his shafts are keen, but carry no malice. In short, Mr Jewell is one of those men whose character a biographer likes to delineate.

HENRY ASA FOLSOM was born in Sandwich about 1845, the son of Jesse and Elizabeth (Varney) Folsom. He was graduated at Dartmouth in the class of 1871. He had considerable interest in educational matters during his college course. He read law and was admitted to practice about 1874, and for a season practised in Boston. He returned to Hanover and was made professor of municipal law in Dartmouth College, where he continued until his death in 1887. He was a man of rare scholarship, a thoroughly educated lawyer with a mind of a judicial nature, and his analysis of principles was remarkably lucid and clear.

A. BIRNAY TASKER, of Sandwich, is a son of Rev. Levi B. Tasker, formerly of the same town. Mr Tasker was educated at New Hampton and was for a season a student of Amherst College. He read law with David H. Hill at Sandwich, practised his profession for a time at Boston and Peabody, Mass., and subsequently returned to Sandwich, where he has been engaged in his law business for the last five years. Mr Tasker is one of the most exact and scholarly men in the Carroll county bar, and we could scarcely name a man in the county better versed in the principles of the common law. He has held several local places of trust, and is considerably engaged in probate practice, and is regarded as a safe and valuable counselor. In politics he is a Republi- can, and in religious matters liberal.

LEVI FOLSOM, of Tamworth, commenced the practice of law at South Tamworth not far from 1850. He was a genial, scholarly man of apparently

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good prospects when he emigrated to the West, and is, I believe, still living there. He was a brother of John T. D. Folsom, for many years postmaster at South Tamworth.

HENRY C. DURGIN, formerly of Sandwich, now of Lynn, Mass., commenced the study of law with David H. Hill, and afterwards studied with David O. Allen at Lynn. He graduated with high honors at the Boston Law School, yet practised his profession but a short time, abandoning it when a good business prospect opened for him.

GEORGE P. DAVIS, of Parsonsfield, Maine, read law with David II. Hill, Luther Moore, of Limerick, Maine, and Charles Clifford, then at Harvard Law School in 1868. On his return he finished his studies in the office of David H. Hill, and was admitted to the Carroll county bar in 1877. He is now in Par- sonsfield, practising law, teaching, and farming.

ELBRIDGE FOGG was born in Sandwich about 1841, and remained there during his boyhood. He became a lawyer and emigrated to Pennsylvania, where he married the daughter of a prominent Quaker. She was a lady of much refinement. Mr Fogg was just achieving success in his profession when in the " springtime of life " he died, leaving many friends to mourn him. He was son of Stephen Fogg, now of New Jersey.

CHARLES E. HOAG, at the age of nineteen, having had meagre opportuni- ties for education, became ambitious to do something more than he had yet done, and seemed to feel like Albert Pike,

" Who knew not the bent of his own mind Until the mighty spell of Coleridge Had waked his hidden powers."

He commenced the study of law with David H. Hill at Sandwich about 1871, then went to Peabody, Mass., and entered the law office of his uncle, Sidney Bancroft, and was admitted to the bar about 1875 ; practised in Peabody and built up a lucrative business, from which he retired a few years since and devoted himself to journalism. He is a man of clear judgment, unusual fore- cast into the probabilities of events, an inveterate fighter, and whoever drives him from his positions must fight for every inch he gains.

HORACE L. HADLEY, born in Sandwich about 1838, received his prepara- tory education there, studied law with Sidney Bancroft at Peabody, Mass., and was admitted to the bar not far from 1861. After years of successful practice he went to Washington, Ohio, where he continued in law. Mr Hadley had great faith in the possibilities that come to those persons who by ambition and per- severance are worthy of them, and by his own example he has

"Taught to all men, commons, lords, and kings,

That some things can be done as well as other things."

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WILLIAM B. FELLOWS, son of Colonel Enoch Q. Fellows, was born in Sand- wich, July 5, 1858, prepared for college at New Hampton, and was graduated from Dartmouth in the class of 1880. He read law with Hon. E. A. Hibbard, of Laconia, was admitted to the bar in 1883, and commenced practice in Ashland, where he continued one year, then removed to Tilton, taking the law business of W. D. Hardy. In 1881 he was sergeant-at-arms of the New Hampshire senate; was private secretary of Senator Pike in the Forty-eighth Congress ; clerk of the committee on claims, and private secretary of Senator Cheney during his term. He is county solicitor of Belknap county. Mr Fellows is fertile in resources, has strong originality, ability of a high degree, both natural and acquired, and will unquestionably take a high place in his profession.

ALONZO MCCRILLIS, formerly of Sandwich, was a lawyer of considerable repute, but he soon removed to Maine, and there his reputation as a man of business and a lawyer was made. He was related to the McCrillis families now living in Sandwich. He recently died, having attained a good old age.

DAVID MCCRILLIS, another lawyer of Sandwich birth, also related to William McCrillis, went to Great Falls, and there established a lucrative practice. He died at an early age, when bright prospects were before him and professional and political honors were of easy attainment.

SAMUEL HIDDEN WENTWORTH, son of Paul and Lydia C. Wentworth, was born in Sandwich and graduated from Harvard in 1858. He has received the degree of A.M., and from the Harvard Law School the degree of LL.B. He practises law in Boston, where he resides.

PAUL WENTWORTH, son of Colonel Joseph and Sarah J. Wentworth, was born in Sandwich, graduated from Harvard in 1868, commenced the study of law soon after with Hon. Ira Eastman, was admitted to the bar in Merrimack county in June, 1872, and returned to Sandwich, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession. He has been county solicitor several years under both appointive and elective systems, and is the present incumbent. He was superintending school committee and a member of the board of educa- tion in Sandwich. He was a delegate to the constitutional convention in 1876, and representative in 1878, and has served as chairman of the selectmen. He is a member of the Red Mountain Lodge of Freemasons. He married Ellen F. Duncklee in Concord, November 18, 1872. Their children are Louisa C., Joseph, and John Paul. He is a well-read lawyer, an effective advocate, personally popular ; a genial companion, scholarly in his tastes, a favorite with his professional brotherhood, and has a delightful home amid scenes so beautiful that we almost wonder how such lovely prospects ever got "astray from Paradise."

MOSES J. WENTWORTH, brother of Paul, was graduated in the same class from Harvard. He went West and was graduated from the law department of

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the Chicago university, and received the degree of LL.B .; then engaged in business for his uncle, Hon. John Wentworth, of Chicago, whose vast estate is left chiefly in his care. He is a man of strong business ability ; practises law, and represented his adopted city in the legislature in 1874, 1876, 1878, and 1880.

GEORGE WINSLOW WIGGIN was born in Sandwich, March 10, 1841, and educated at the common and high schools in that town and at Phillips Exeter academy, where he took a four years' course and prepared to enter Harvard as a sophomore. He was engaged in teaching in Massachusetts for a few years, then studied law with Hon. Samuel Warner at Wrentham, Mass., and was admitted to the bar in Norfolk county, September 25, 1871. He has been for many years in the practice of his profession at Franklin, Mass., and now practises also in Boston, and has acquired a lucrative business and a high professional reputation. ITis natural abilities, which were of a high order, have been developed by ambition and diligence until congressional honors have come within easy reach, but he seems disinclined to grasp the prize, preferring to attain excellence in his chosen profession rather than such position as he might obtain by a mixture of politics and law. He was county commissioner of Norfolk county in 1879, 1881, 1884, and elected in 1887 for three years.

ALPHEUS B. STICKNEY was a native of Sandwich. He went West in early life, practised law, and is now one of the first business men of the Northwest.

WILLIAM QUINBY, son of William F. and Martha Quinby, was born in Sandwich. He was graduated from Dartmouth College and then engaged in educational affairs in Washington, D. C., and subsequently admitted to the bar after a course of preparation at a law school. He is a young man and has not had time to establish a reputation in law, but has established one as a scholar of rare attainments and a successful man in educational matters, and a brilliant career as a lawyer can be confidently predicted of him. He now resides in Washington, D. C.

AARON BEEDE, JR, son of Aaron and Mary (McGaffey) Beede, was born in Sandwich about 1860. Ile prepared for college whenever and wherever he could ; entered Bates College at Lewiston, Maine, with a poor preparation ; as a sophomore his rank as a scholar had improved : as a junior he stood high, and he finally graduated the first man in college. Hle read law, and was admitted to practice in Maine and was in legal business there for a short time success- fully. Ile has also studied theology. It is uncertain whether law or the gospel should claim him. He has good health and courage, strong ambition, strong will, high aspirations, and plenty of native talent, and if his future life is guided by proper conservatism he can hardly fail to become a power in the world.

COLONEL JOHN PEAVEY, for long years a prominent business man of

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Tuftonborough, was admitted to the bar in Carroll county about 1852 as a statute lawyer. Ile filled many responsible positions ably ; was once treasurer of Strafford county, and was appointed bank commissioner by Governor N. S. Berry. He was a business lawyer and, later in life, removed to Michigan, where he is now, at the age of eighty-five, busily engaged in procuring pensions and other legal labors, and in the enjoyment of good health.

ZACHARIAH BATCHELDER was one of the marked men who have passed away within the last quarter of a century. He was born in Beverly, Mass., in 1795, but his parents moved to Sunapee in his early youth. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College. After passing some years in teaching and the study of the law, he went to Wolfeborough and established himself in the profession and business of his life. It had been his cherished hope to enter the ministry, which for some time he kept in view in his studies. But as time passed and he gained nearer and more definite views of the duties of the sacred office, his strong natural diffidence and self-distrust led him to the conclusion that he was better adapted to some other profession. Mr Batchelder was thoroughly edu- cated and kept up his interest in classical learning until the close of his life. He was a man of very high attainments in the law, strictly accurate in the drawing of briefs, these being without a flaw. He was the scholar of the county, although Aaron B. Hoyt may have been his equal in general learning. Mr Batchelder was one who ought to be long remembered, as his influence extended far beyond the usual duties of his profession.

JOSEPH FARRAR, a native of Vermont, came to Wolfeborough from Chelsea, where he had been admitted to practice. He was here early in the century, and after the building of the Pickering store had his office in the upper story. He is remembered as a man of medium size, pleasant manners, and if not as scholastic as Batchelder, was safe in counsel and well posted in common and statute law, and no mean antagonist in the courts. He shared the practice of this part of the county for a long time with Zachariah Batchelder.

CHARLES F. HILL was a native of Limerick, Maine. He read law with his uncle, Joshua Hill, of Frankfort, and practised a few years at Searsport. He then came to Wolfeborough, where he acquired a lucrative practice and was a leading member of the Carroll county bar. About twenty years ago he went to New Jersey, and died in Newark, February 12, 1889, at the age of about sixty-seven years. He was a lawyer of marked ability, a convincing and able advocate, and a man of high personal and professional character. Hon. Joel Eastman regarded him as a very strong advocate. His wife was a sister of Charles H. and Benjamin F. Parker. His son, C. E. Hill, is president of the common council of Newark and a lawyer of good repute.

WILLIAM COPP FOX was born at Wolfeborough, December 29, 1827, was educated at Wolfeborough and Gilmanton academies, and was graduated from Dartmouth in 1852. He read law with Batchelder, of Wolfeborough, and

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Hobbs, of Wakefield, and has since been in the practice of his profession in his native county. In his early life he was engaged in educational interests, was for a time principal of Wakefield academy, and two years school commissioner of Carroll county. He was president of Wolfeborough Savings Bank for six years, and is now president of Carroll County Bar Association. Mr Fox has become migratory in his habits within a few years, and as winter approaches our northern elime he goes with the journeying birds to the warm regions around the Gulf of Mexico. At the time of this writing he has just returned from his orange groves in Florida.

Mr Fox is a well-educated lawyer and is regarded as a safe counselor and has had a lucrative business. He has hardly been willing to devote himself entirely to his profession, but believes he can enjoy life better to cultivate his love for the higher walks of literature. He is a poet of considerable reputa- tion, and at a meeting of the Grafton and Coos Bar Association he read an original poem that attracted much attention. He also has a great love for social matters and is a very companionable man. He delights in the sports of the lake, in boating and fishing, and in the latter accomplishment he is a worthy rival of Izaak Walton. At his solicitation many an eight pound trout has come up from the dark depths of " "Siogee's waters" to spend his remaining life under sunny skies, and it might be said of Mr Fox as Saxe said of " The Cold Water Man ": -

Many a gudgeon of the lake (If he could speak to-day) Would own, with grief, this angler had A mighty taking way.

No man has a keener sense of the beautiful in nature or art or language. He sees and appreciates wit when it floats in a form so delicate that it requires explanation to the average mind.

EDWIN PEASE, son of Hon. Zebulon Pease, was born at Freedom, April 23, 1827, and died at Conway, August 31, 1879. His rank as a lawyer was fair. He represented his town two terms, and was state senator in 1868. He was a war Democrat. He was not what is called a successful man in a worldly sense, but he won the regard and goodwill of nearly every one with whom he came in contact. His honesty was unquestioned.

GEORGE E. BEACHAM was born at Wolfeborough, May 12, 1852. Among his paternal ancestors was one who came to this country during the Revolu- tionary war and settled in Ossipee. His boyhood history is about the same as the average son of the New Hampshire farmer, who has the ambition to make the best of his natural talents and opportunities. In 1873 he commenced the study of law in the office of William J. Copeland, and was admitted to the bar in 1876. Mr Beacham was elected a member of the New Hampshire house of

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representatives before he was thirty years old, and at the age of thirty he was appointed associate justice of the police court at Somersworth. He is a law partner of the firm of Beacham & Foote that has offices at Wolfboro Junc- tion and Great Falls, and does business in Strafford and Carroll counties and York county, Maine.

SEWALL W. ABBOTT was born in Tuftonborough, April 11, 1859. His education at district schools was largely supplemented by attendance at Tamworth high school, Hebron academy, Colby university, Maine, and Union Law College, Chicago, where he took high rank, and was admitted to the bar in 1883. After a practice of about a year he returned to his native state March, 1885 ; he passed a legal examination at Concord, and December 15, 1885, he established himself in the profession of law at Wolfeborough. He is a wide- awake man, quick, alert, and persistent, and has many of the qualities which constitute a bright lawyer and live citizen. He is a Republican in politics, and Unitarian in religious sentiment.

JOSEPH TILTON was born at East Kingston, August, 1774, was graduated at Harvard in 1797, admitted to the bar in 1800, and opened an office in Wake- field near the Piper schoolhouse. He removed to Rochester in 1805, to Exeter in 1809, where he died March 28, 1856. From 1815 to 1823 inclusive, he rep- resented Exeter in the legislature, and was esteemed and respected for his hon- esty and ability. He practised his profession in the days of many distinguished lawyers, and ranked creditably among them for his legal lore.

DAVID COPP, JR, son of David Copp, of Wakefield, was born about 1770, was educated at Phillips Exeter academy, and studied law with Hon. W. K. Atkinson, of Dover. He subsequently removed to New Orleans, where he died.

AMASA COPP was born in Wakefield, October 8, 1788, and was graduated from Dartmouth in 1811. He read law with Hon. W. K. Atkinson and Amos Kent, and practised in Chester and Wilton, and later in Wakefield, where he died January 7, 1871. He was a man of large and powerful physical frame, loved hunting and hard exercises in the swamps and on the mountains, and with preeminent natural talents failed to make the best of them, and consequently his position as a lawyer was not quite what due diligence might have made it. Such at least seems to be the estimate placed on him by Hon. Charles H. Bell.

WILLIAM SAWYER, one of the older lawyers of Carroll county, was gradu- ated at Harvard College in 1801, and after reading law with Henry Mellen, of Dover, came to Wakefield about 1805, where he died in 1860. He was a man to be remembered as one of the strictest integrity, and won the right to be spoken of as the " honest lawyer," and ever exerted his influence for good.

JOSIAH HILTON HOBBS, of Wakefield, was born in Effingham in 1795. His rank as a lawyer was very high. Thirty-five years have elapsed since his

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death, and of the generation that knew him but few survive, but they still remember his strength as a lawyer. Hobbs and Eastman were generally arrayed against each other in the leading cases in the county, and were some- times associated. Eastman was the greater as an advocate, but Hobbs in the leading specialties of law was more learned. His mastery of the law was much of the same nature as so greatly characterized his gifted son, Frank Hobbs. Hon. Joshua G. Hall and Hon. John W. Sanborn, who knew him well, agree in ranking him very high, not only among the leading lawyers of the county, but of the state.

LUTHER DEARBORN SAWYER, son of Timothy Sawyer, was born in Wakefield, March 7, 1803. He prepared for college at Phillips Exeter acad- emy, and was graduated from Bowdoin in 1828. He read law with Sawyer & Hobbs, was admitted to the bar in 1832, and practised his profession in Ossipee from 1832 till 1859, with the exception of one year when he was in practice at Sandwich Centre. He resided a short time in Dover and in Massachusetts, where he held the position of trial justice. The last twenty years of his life were passed in Wakefield in the active business of his profession. In 1846 he was assistant clerk of the New Hampshire senate; he held the office of county solicitor for Carroll county for several years, and was a representative in the legislature in 1859 and 1860.

Mr Sawyer was a firm friend and admirer of Hon. Joel Eastman, and believed that the people of New Hampshire ought to have placed Mr Eastman in Congress in his midday strength. Mr Sawyer did excellent service as a lawyer. He caused satisfactory adjustment of many difficulties, and used the confidence reposed in him in the interests of peace. He was a ready debater and an interesting man in conversation ; he had an extensive acquaintanec with the members of the profession in New Hampshire for two generations. He died in July, 1884, the oldest member of the Carroll County Bar, and the president of its association. Mr Sawyer had a vast fund of information relating to distinguished lawyers and statesmen in this and other states, and his personal recollections of Hale, Bell, Pierce, Bartlett, Christie, Sullivan, and others afforded vivid pictures of these eminent men.

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History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Part 31

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Boston : W.A. Fergusson & Co. Number of Pages: 1124

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Boston : W.A. Fergusson & Co.
Number of Pages: 1124