History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Part 33

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

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Joel Eastman once held the office of United States district-attorney for the district of New Hampshire, and for several years represented Conway in the legislature. He was supported for the office of United States senator in the legislature of 1854, which resulted in no election for any of the rival candi- dates ; but the contest was really a victory for Mr Eastman's party, as it left two vacancies to be filled (in 1855), when John P. Hale and James Bell were elected United States senators. He was also judge of probate for Carroll county from 1856 to 1868, when he retired, having attained the age of seventy years. He was the oldest member of the national Republican convention that nominated General Garfield and supported Mr Blaine until he was withdrawn. He was also a member of the national Whig convention in 1840 that nominated the first President Harrison. It is needless to say that all his official duties were discharged with commanding ability. Had he resided in Exeter or Concord there is scarcely a doubt but that he would have passed many years of his life in Congress.

Hon. James Bell, of Gilford, once said : " When Joel Eastman was admitted to practice it was believed that he would be the leader of the New Hampshire bar; but he went up to Conway, and being possessed of a delightful farm on the Saco, and becoming interested in farming and politics, he did not devote himself to his profession so entirely as to secure his largest development as a lawyer." However, he was well versed in the common and statute law, and in his power of construction was one of the first of lawyers. To analyze principles and throw his comprehensive common-sense into the analysis was a peculiarity of Joel Eastman. It is probable that Emerson or Batchelder were more ready with the changes and revisions of law, and in the extent and fulness of learning the older Josiah Hobbs, of Wakefield, was superior to Eastman, but his great strength lay in, his convincing power as an

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advocate. Like strong men generally, he was not cunning. The lion-hearted King Richard could more easily cleave bars of steel and hearts of oak than sever the light scarf of silk with slight but dexterous stroke. Luther D. Sawyer, speaking of this distinguished advocate of New Hampshire, said : "I have listened with intense pleasure to Sullivan and Bartlett, Christie and John P. Hale, Frank Pierce, Thomas J. Whipple, and James Bell. but I never yet heard the lawyer that could beat and belt and thump and whack facts into a jury better than Joel Eastman."

If you would see him in his exalted mood, imagine him arguing facts to a jury wherein his convictions are in entire harmony with his duty and position. You see a man not above the middle height, his brow stern as the mountains of the north, his deep-set eye recalling the description that Barlow in his " Vision of Columbus" gives of John Adams when making the last great speech in favor of the Declaration of Independence : -

From all the guileful plots the veil he drew ; With eye retortive looked creation through.

His arm upraised and all gestures made with his clenched fist, his speech strong, indignant, and impetuous, court, lawyers, jurors, and spectators listening in silent wonder, and the advocate speaking thus, -

Look at the daily newspapers of the time and you will find the history of our country has become darkened and is one vast history of crime. Why is it so? Because American jurors have not the virtue to respect their oaths and render verdicts according to the facts proved. And so it will ever remain while jurors are so weak or so wicked as to love the criminal better than the victim, and, from personal or partisan prejudice, or from sympathy with crime, continue to violate their sacred oaths and prostitute official duty to allow the criminal . to go " unwhipt of justice." If I had been attacked as my client has been, and should go before a jury of my countrymen and that jury should weakly or wickedly refuse to give me justice, I would curse the country that could produce such a jury. My client is a non-com- batant ; he would not fight. He is an aged man and could not fight; and this lawless villain knew that such were his principles and condition, and thus presumed upon the safety of an attack. If the lawless ruffian had attacked me as he did this old gentleman, I would have returned his assault, and with fist or, if it had been necessary, with bludgeon, by the God that made me, I would have felled him to the earth !

FRANCIS RUSSELL CHASE, son of Jonathan Chase, was born about 1818, and his home was for a large portion of his active life in Conway. His father, although not a lawyer, had quite an extensive knowledge of law and was for about fifteen years judge of probate for Carroll county. Francis was little more than twenty-one years of age when the county of Carroll was carved out of the old county of Strafford. He became elerk of the court until about 1855, when the old court was abolished and a new one established. He read law with Judge Dana or Judge Joel Eastman, perhaps with both. He

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married Huldah Perley Fessenden, of Fryeburg, Maine. He practised his pro- fession in this county, extending his business also into Oxford county, Maine. In 1854 he was speaker of the New Hampshire house of representatives; in 1871 he represented Northfield in the legislature. He was an apt and ready speaker, a companionable man, bright, sharp, and keen, and with strict devotion to his profession might have become a still stronger lawyer.

CHARLES B. SHACKFORD, son of Samuel B. Shackford, of Conway, was born in Barrington, December 28, 1840. He was graduated at Bowdoin in 1863, and soon after entered the law office of Wheeler & Hall at Dover. He subsequently attended Harvard Law School and was admitted to practice in Massachusetts, afterwards in New Hampshire, and pursued his profession at Dover for several years. He was assistant clerk of the house of representa- tives in 1864 and 1865, clerk in 1866 and 1867, appointed solicitor of Strafford county in 1876, and held the office until the adoption of the new constitution, and continued to hold this position by successive elections till his death in 1881. He married Caroline, daughter of Moses A. Cartland, of Lee, October 26, 1869. Readers of Whittier will remember Mr Cartland, and will doubtless recall the tender tribute which Mr Whittier paid him in the poem "M. A. C." With broad culture, strong native ability, and high moral elevation, with social and domestic relations of a very pleasant character, Mr Shackford's high aspira- tions were leading him up to a proud eminence when, January 2, 1881, he died, leaving a very large circle of appreciating friends who had based high expecta- tion on the bright promises of his future.

JOHN COLBY LANG WOOD was born in Freedom, July 6, 1847. His educa- tion was obtained at common and high schools of Freedom and New England Masonic Charitable Institute of Effingham. He was graduated at Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College, Portland, Maine, in 1866. He then engaged in trade at Freedom, then came to Conway in 1868 and carried on merchandising until 1880. He built a store in 1873. He commenced to read law with Hon. Joel Eastman in 1874, then studied with Josiah H. Hobbs, of Madison, and was subsequently, 1880, at the Boston Law School, and was admitted to the bar at Concord at the March term, 1881, and has since practised in Conway. He belongs to these masonic bodies : Mt Washington Lodge, Conway ; North Star Chapter, Lancaster; St Gerard Commandery, Littleton ; Orphan Council, No. 1, Dover. He is a director in Conway Savings Bank, and has been its president. He was register of probate from July, 1883, to July, 1885, and was among the best of the registers of the county, all of whom have been men of excellent official ability. He has been for about four years assistant assessor of internal revenue for the first district of New Hampshire, and still holds the position (1889). He is a Democrat in his political views. Mr Wood discharges his official duties with care and capability.

JOHN B. NASH, now a practising lawyer in Conway, was born in Windham,

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Maine, May 17, 1848. His common school education was supplemented by . attendance at the academy at Gorham, Maine. He studied law with Hon. Joel Eastman and was admitted to the bar at Concord in August, 1878, one of the first under the new order and rules for the examination and admission of students. He commenced practice at Conway and soon established a good legal business in the county, and has already acquired a reputation. He has frequently held town offices, has been county solicitor for four years, and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1889.

Mr Nash is a popular man and enjoys the respect and friendship of his pro- fessional associates. He is generous in his action and liberal in his opinions, is not slow to make himself understood, for he is a positive man in his expression of his views and reasons. He is a rapid speaker, has a very ready command of language, and shows the false positions of his opponents with a great deal of force. He identifies himself with his client's cause, and whatever subject is under his consideration receives the full force of his mental activities, and at the time is the thing of vital importance. He has a keen, robust humor, and an original expression of it. As a man and a lawyer, Mr Nash is one rising to a leading position. He is ever in the lead in progressive movements, and was the first man in Carroll county to subscribe for its history. He is now doing good work on the board of education in Conway.

FREDERIC B. OSGOOD, son of James and Jane ( Harnden) Osgood, was born in Fryeburg, Maine, November 10, 1852. He was educated at Fryeburg academy and Bowdoin College, where he graduated in the class of 1875. He commeneed the study of law with Major D. R. Hastings, of Fryeburg, and was admitted to the bar in 1877 at the December term of the Oxford county court. He began the practice of his profession at North Conway, and with the exception of a six months' absence from the state has been located' there. He was elected county solicitor in 1884 and has held the office two terms, from July, 1885, to July, 1889. He was made a Freemason at Pythagorean Lodge, Fryeburg, about 1873, and still holds membership there. He is a member of Saco Valley Lodge of Odd Fellows, North Conway. Mr Osgood is a natural student, a man of scholarly instinets and much culture, and when fully aroused and persuaded of the correctness of his position speaks with much eloquence. He has an earnest and powerful nature, and often speaks like one born to command.

HION. GEORGE W. M. PITMAN,1 son of Joseph and Joanna (Meserve) Pitman, was born in Bartlett, May 8, 1819. Ile lived with his parents until he was twelve years of age, then went to the tavern of his cousins, Stephen and Ezra Meserve, located where Pitman Brothers' East Branch House now stands, remaining there three years, and then returned to his home. He was educated at the public schools and North Conway and Fryeburg, Maine,

1 By W. A. Fergusson.

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academies. In the fall of 1840 he married Emeline, daughter of Levi and Ann M. (Davis) Chubbuck, and continued his residence in Bartlett, where he has always made his home. The children of George W. M. and Emeline Pitman were :- (1) Joan M., married Lyman Charles; (2) Mary A. (dec.); (3) Angevine (dec.): (4) Winthrop M .; (5) Lycurgus; (6) William; (7) Adnah, married Charles E. Wingate, resides in Lawrence, Mass .; (8) Levi C .; (9) Joseph H .; (10) Emma, married George A. Carson, deceased ; (11) Andrew J. Mrs Pitman died March 1, 1889, aged sixty-six years and tive months. Her eight living children are estimable citizens, prominent in society and business. She was a woman of sterling Christian principle, and her influence will be felt for good during long years.

Judge Pitman was engaged in teaching for some five or six years, then in surveying, for which he had fully qualified himself. He has done much in surveying and platting, probably more than any other man in the state, and so fully demonstrated his ability that he has frequently been called upon as an expert. Many of the original surveys in the White Mountain region were made by him. Studying law, he began practice in 1855, in which he has con- tinued ever since. He conducted merchandising from 1850 until 1888.

Liberal in religion and a sound Democrat in politics, he has represented all the various town offices, including chairman of the board of seleetmen, for some twenty years; served as county commissioner from 1856 to 1859, inclusive : judge of probate, 1874 to 1876 (said to have been the best for length of service the county has ever had); member of the legislature twelve terms, from 1853 to 1869; of the senate in 1870 to 1872, and president of that body during his second term. He enjoys the distinction of being the only citizen of the state who has been honored by a seat in three constitutional conventions. Another circumstance concerning the Pitman family is worthy of note : Judge Pitman, his father Joseph, and his son Lycurgus, three generations, have each been chosen state senator.

Judge Pitman has been for many years a man of extensive influence, as is shown by the record of his serving so many terms in important positions. His dignified appearance and affable and genial nature have made him a favorite among the people; while his sterling integrity, ripened judgment, and large experience in public and private affairs have made him a desirable representa- tive to protect their interests. Judge Hill says of him: "Judge Pitman is a man of quick perceptions, of strong natural abilities, a genial companion, and his conversational powers are of a high order. He has for many years been a leading lawyer of Carroll county."

SETH WYMAN FIFE, son of Moses and Eliza Fife, was born in Chatham, December 10, 1846. He was educated at the common schools and Fryeburg and Norway (Maine) academies, and read law with C. C. Sanderson, of Norway, and was admitted to the Oxford county bar in 1868. He then entered

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Harvard Law School, and after graduation established himself in the practice of law at Fryeburg, where he has continued in his professional labors ; he has also been engaged in insurance business, and in educational matters to some extent.

JOHN BICKFORD, formerly of Ossipee, after being admitted to the bar, went to Manchester, and is now and has been for some time an acceptable clerk of the police court of that city.

JAMES A. EDGERLY was born in Wolfeborough about 1846, and read law with William J. Copeland, of Great Falls. Mr Edgerly, after his admission to the bar, became law partner of Mr Copeland, and so continued till the death of Mr Copeland. He has an extensive practice in York, Strafford, and Carroll counties, and is a rising man in his profession.

There are some whom we have doubtless passed by who might worthily be commemorated here; some among the living, and some whose very names are forgotten. Of those here represented, we have endeavored to present their virtues, but only in the lightest way to recall their frailties, for human frailty is manifested everywhere. The larger number of those whose charac- ters have been delineated here have been worthy men, and have adorned the highest places in a noble profession.

Of the living, many are walking the " border-land," and looking across to the "bright, unearthly shores." They have seen many of their rivals fall beside them and have paid tender tribute to their virtues. But we turn tenderly to the dead, to those who, being invoked, cannot answer. "They have canceled all they have done or said," and gone to "the presence chamber of the King of kings." They have passed ; the venerable in years ; manhood in its prime has "thrown its last fetters off; " aspiring youth has soared from its mortal habitation to the mysteries that lie beyond the material wall that shuts us from the land only seen in holy vision : and as we contemplate these wondrous things of the mortal and the immortal, we recall the language of Wallace as he invokes the silent sleepers of Greenwood : -

Where are ye, lost sunbeams of the soul? Are ye where great Orion towers, and holds Eternity on his stupendous brow ? Or where pale Neptune in the shadowy space Shows forth how far, in his creative mood, In pomp, and silence. and concentred brows, Walked forth the Almighty? Haply ye are gone Where other being roundeth into shapes Of bright beatitude.

NOTABLE TRIALS. - Many interesting trials have taken place in this county which, for the time, created a deep concern. A few criminal trials are worthy of record, as these excited a deep and far-reaching interest.

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About 1865 or 1866, in the town of Effingham, a young man, Mr Day, with one or more friends, was sitting beside his own home, taking a season of rest after dinner. A young man, Mr Frost, was seen approaching with a gun, but there was in the minds of the party no suspicion of hostile intent. Frost had been supposed to be a man very easily disturbed, and had blamed Mr Day for some trivial act wherein Day had performed some act of kindness for the mother of Frost which Frost had refused or neglected to do. Day had no suspicion that Frost regarded him as unfriendly. As Frost approached, he came deliberately near to Day, leveled his gun, and at once shot him fatally. The act was deliberate and with no attempt at concealment. There was no possible defence except the common plea of insanity.

In the following autumn, at the October term of court, Frost was indicted for murder, and tried at the same term. Hon. Henry A. Bellows and Hon. Jonathan E. Sargent presided. William C. Clark was attorney-general, Josiah H. Hobbs, county solicitor. George W. Stevens was assigned as senior counsel, and Sanborn B. Carter as junior counsel, for the defence. The object of the attorney-general appeared to be to have a perfectly just trial and get at the truth. The plea of insanity was very unpopular, and while Mr Clark searched vigorously every test to ascertain the probability of the plea of insanity being just or otherwise, when the hypothetical questions were asked of Dr Tyler of the Somerville (Mass.) Asylum for the Insane, and of Dr Bancroft of the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane, the answers were awaited with much interest.

Those eminent physicians agreed that insanity was indicated by the sup- posed conditions. Those answers substantially settled the case. The jury gave a verdict of "Not guilty by reason of insanity," and Frost was committed to the insane asylum, where he died a few years later. At that time Carroll county had not had many trials of such nature, but within twelve years the reputation of the county as being the " wickedest in the country " was rising fast, and by the time that the last Buzzell trial was concluded we had approached near the head of the list in that unenviable direction.

Trial of Joseph B. Buzzell. - In the late autumn of 1874 the town of Brook- field was the scene of one of the most appalling murders that ever darkened the history of crime. One evening a family consisting of an aged lady, Mrs Hanson, and her son, a man approaching middle age, and her daughter Susan, a young lady of good repute, was sitting quietly in a well-lighted room, engaged in conversation and such other matters as are incident to such occasions. So far as they knew they were at peace with all the world, except that Susan, the daughter, had a suit with Joseph B. Buzzell of the same town to recover damages for breach of contract on the part of Buzzell to marry the plaintiff, Susan. At a previous term of the court the case was referred and the hearing was to take place at an early day.

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Suddenly, amid the rattling and crashing of glass, was heard the explosion of a heavily loaded gun, and the lamps in the room went out. The fear and dismay of the family can be imagined. They recovered from their surprise, lighted a lamp, and then was revealed the broken window, and Susan lying dead, shot by some one from outside. Hon. John W. Sanborn and Frank Hobbs, the counsel for Miss Hanson in the breach of promise suit, at once pro- ceeded to take steps for a thorough investigation. . There was no ground for suspicion against any person except Mr Buzzell, and he was a man of fair repu- tation, had held offices of trust in his town, and was at the time engaged in Wolfeborough at his trade as a stonemason. It was ascertained that he came from Wolfeborough on the evening of the tragedy and returned early next morning.

Next day the excitement was at fever heat, and when the daily newspapers on the following evening announced the murder and its circumstances, there was a general feeling of horror that a peaceful home could be so invaded. Levi T. Haley, at Wolfeborough, asked Mr Buzzell if he had heard of the murder at Brookfield on the last night. Buzzell replied, " A murder ?" Haley answered, "Miss Hanson was shot at Brookfield last night." "Not Susan !" said Buzzell. "Yes," Haley replied, "Susan Hanson was shot through the window last night at her own home at Brookfield and is dead." Buzzell so mastered his emotions as to leave Mr Haley in doubt as to the effect produced.

Buzzell was arrested ; a preliminary trial was had, and he was held to answer to the April term of court, when he was indicted and put on trial. The attorney-general, Hon. Lewis W. Clark, now judge of the supreme court, Frank Hobbs, of Dover, and the county solicitor conducted the prosecu- tion, and Cyrus K. Sanborn and William J. Copeland defended Buzzell. Judge Isaac W. Smith presided. John Gove, of Sandwich, was foreman of the jury. The outside sentiment was very strong against Buzzell. The court used all precaution to have a fair trial, but even then the strong feeling against the respondent seemed floating in the air, and a sentence of " guilty " was pre- dicted with confidence by a large majority of persons attendant. The theory of the state was that Buzzell committed the murder in person, with the weapon in his own hand, at about ten minutes past seven o'clock in the evening. The time of his starting from Wolfeborough became very material. The witnesses differed somewhat in relation to this, many fixing it at near half-past five o'clock, but the testimony was not uniform. The distance was about nine miles, over a very rough and hilly road, across the spur of a mountain of local fame known as " Tumble-down Dick." The jury was taken over the road which it appeared Buzzell had traveled the night of the murder. It was claimed that Buzzell's horse had been driven over this road at some time between the murder and the trial, and had made the trip in less time than the weight of testimony indicated.

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But the question what was the weight of testimony was much disputed. Mueh testimony showed that Buzzell was traveling very leisurely. Other tes- timony indicated that on the lower part of the route those who saw him in the dusk saw him driving rapidly. Boot-tracks were seen in a garden near the Hanson house that were said to be made by Buzzell's boots, or boots of the same size. The tracks of a horse's foot on a road where the murderer was sup- posed to have passed were believed to have been made by a shoe the same size as a blacksmith believed was worn by Buzzell's horse, and which he himself had put on the horse's feet. The cross-examination seemed to elicit from the wit- ness that the same track would have been made by one third of the horses trav- eling upon our roads. All these slight circumstances weighed but little. The trial was conducted with masterly ability on both sides. Frank Hobbs for the state, and Mr Copeland for the defence, chiefly put in the evidence, and each disputed point was thoroughly discussed before the court, and each developed all there was in his ease. Attorney-General Clark made the argument to the jury for the state, which was worthy of his high reputation as a jury advocate. Mr Copeland in an argument of four hours and forty minutes made a trium- phant defence, and Buzzell was acquitted.

The public at large believed Buzzell guilty and felt that a terrible crime was to go unpunished. Severe expressions were indulged in against the jury. While many individual jurors might have believed or had strong suspicions that Buzzell was guilty, partly because they could see how he might have had a motive that would influence some men, but which to others would be no motive at all, they still failed to see that legal evidence existed. Could they say, on their oath to render a verdict according to law and evidence, that it was proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Joseph B. Buzzell was there after his return from Wolfeborough and committed that murder in person at or about ten minutes past seven (such being the theory of the state) ? It seems that most persons will say that whatever the faet was, the jury was justified in finding that on the first trial the murder was not proved against Buzzell beyond reasonable doubt.

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History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Part 33

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