USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Concord > History of Concord, New Hampshire, from the original grant in seventeen hundred and twenty-five to the opening of the twentieth century, Volume II > Part 31
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of Boston was bestowed on Mr. Peaslee, and four years later, when another succeeded him, he removed from Concord to Portsmouth, which thereafter became his home. His death took place .in 1866, while on a visit to Minnesota.
Hamilton Hutchins was born in Concord the 10th of July, 1805, and was graduated at Dartmouth in 1827. His studies for the bar were well directed, and on his admission in 1830 he began practice in his native town. He was well read, but preferred the quiet of his office to the tempests of the court-room, so his fame as a lawyer has long since become lost. He stood well in a critical community, and won a good clientage by the care and disposition of his cases. He died in Concord, the 6th of April, 1851.
Another lawyer of that period was Ephraim Eaton. He was born in Candia the 13th of September, 1808, was graduated at Dartmouth in 1833, studied with Samuel Fletcher and began practice in Concord. Here he remained until 1853, a diligent, painstaking practitioner, with a fair amount of business, yet he seems to have left no per- manent record on the annals of the bar. After leaving Concord to take up his residence in Troy, N. Y., Mr. Eaton acquired fame as an inventor and wealth as a member of the firm of Gilbert & Eaton.
In Nathaniel P. Rogers the world lost a fine lawyer and gained a sweet reformer. While Mr. Rogers's career in Concord was almost wholly unconnected with the practice of law, he came here with a professional reputation promising the most brilliant achievements. His tastes were distinctively of a literary kind, his reading was wide and constant, and his writings displayed a wit and mellowness both charming and rare.
He, too, was a Dartmouth graduate, of the class of 1816, and his first years at the bar were passed in Plymouth, his native town. In 1838 he left a good practice and came to Concord as editor of the Herald of Freedom. From then to the day of his death in October, 1846, Mr. Rogers gave his all to the cause of anti-slavery and kin- dred movements. His disposition was bright, and despite his advo- cacy of unpopular measures he was esteemed by his fellow-citizens. IIc died here and was buried in the old cemetery, his last request being observed, which was that no stone should mark his grave so long as slavery existed in his country.
Stephen C. Badger, who was in practice at this period, was born in Warner, the 12th of April, 1797, was graduated at Dartmouth in 1823, and moved to Concord in 1834. For several years he served as clerk of courts for Merrimack county, and in 1857 he became special police justice of Concord, holding the position until the age limit. Mr. Badger was more inclined to civil engineering than to pleading,
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and in that calling he became noted. He was the father of Benjamin E. Badger, a subsequent police justice of this city. Judge Badger, the elder, died the 29th of October, 1872.
Arthur Fletcher, who was admitted in 1840, enjoyed the distinc- tion of being, unlike the rest of his brothers at the bar, a grad- uate of Yale. His birthplace was Bridgewater, and his birthday the 1st of October, 1811. Graduating at Yale in 1836, he studied law with his uncle, Samuel Fletcher, and opened an office in Concord, where he lived the rest of his days. Although an excellent lawyer Mr. Fletcher devoted his talents to business, particularly to banking, and while in touch with his profession, he was not closely connected with it. He died the 19th of February, 1885.
Just as these meu came upon the scene a genius greater, perhaps, than any of them was leaving it. The celebrated Philip Carrigain, after a long career spent for the most part in Concord, was watching the sands of life as they ran out of the glass. Born in Concord the 20th of February, 1772, a graduate of Dartmouth in 1794, he studied with Arthur Livermore and began practice in his native town. Unquestionably a man of talents and of exceeding urbanity of address, his nimble wit and ready acquisition of knowledge led him to neglect opportunity until the years rose as a barrier to his success. He was a gentleman and respected as such, and if his success in life was small he kept his honor to the end. "No political, agricultural, or social gathering was complete without his presence. A toast, a speech, and a poem were always ready in his prolific brain. He complimented the ladies, flattered the farmers, and won the plaudits of all." In 1805-'08 he was secretary of state and afterwards clerk of the senate. But it was as a map-maker that later generations know him. The legislature engaged him to make a state map, which he succeeded in doing, and for many years it remained the best of the kind in existence. Few of our citizens have left so rich a crop of bright sayings, quick repartee, and pertinent puns as Philip Carrigain ; his humorous nature and quaint habits distinguishing him from his fellows, made him a sort of fountain and origin of wit and mirthful sayings. He died here on the 16th of March, 1842.
No man could have been a better complement to another than Asa Fowler was to Franklin Pierce. Nor could two men have differed from each other more than these partners differed. In nearly every mental and physical characteristic they were widely apart. What Pierce lacked Fowler supplied, yet the balance of indebtedness was by no means ill divided. The former was quick in thought and gracious in action, the latter was cautiously slow and self-centered; the one gained clients by attraction, the other kept
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them by services thoroughly performed. Pierce loved the forum, with its action and passions; Fowler preferred the quiet of his office. To one the details of business were annoying ; to the other they were stimulating, so while one partner was dazzling bench and bar with his brilliancy, the other partner was silently acquiring knowledge.
Asa Fowler was born in Pembroke the 23d of February, 1811, and, graduating at Dartmouth in 1833, began practising in Concord four years later. He had lived here three years prior to that time as a student with Charles H. Peaslee, no bad start for a young lawyer, and in less than two years after beginning practice he formed his connection with Mr. Pierce. This firm lasted six years, and became recognized for its strength and ability everywhere throughout the state. In after years Mr. Fowler had associated with him as part- ners William E. Chandler and John Y. Mugridge, but generally he was alone in his legal work. From the beginning of his career political matters interested him, and he soon became a recognized leader of his party. His first office was that of clerk of the senate, from 1835 to 1841. He was a member of the coalition legislature of 1845, which elected John P. Hale to the senate, and he was also in the same body in 1847 and 1848. Again in 1871 he was a member and the next year he was chosen speaker. Appointed United States commissioner in 1846, he continued as such until his death.
One of the results of the political overturn in 1855 was the crea- tion of a new court called the supreme judicial court, consisting of a chief and four associates, and to this bench Mr. Fowler was ap- pointed. Concord was certainly well represented in judicial honors, for at one time three members of the Concord bar were judges of that court : Ira Perley as chief, with Ira A. Eastman and Asa Fowler as associates. Judge Fowler brought to his new position an unceasing application for work, combined with a patient investigation of detail such as few judges ever surpassed. To him hard and unremitting toil was a part of his nature; nothing in the shape of entanglement or perplexities ever disturbed him; he was, all things considered, a machine of infinite capacity. For more than five years, or until February, 1861, Judge Fowler remained on the bench, contributing fully his share to the labors of the court, shunning nothing, and giv- ing his best to his dutics. Soon after his resignation he pro- ceeded to Washington as one of New Hampshire's delegates to the ยท famous but fruitless peace convention. During the period of the Civil War Judge Fowler served as solicitor of Merrimack county, retiring at the end of his five years' term. Through all these years of official duties, no man could be busier than he was ; his business interests were many,-railroads, banking, and manufacturing claimed
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his attention, and subsequently contributed greatly to his wealth. In local affairs he was foremost ; in educational matters he was a leader, serving many years as one of the board of education; in social life no one took deeper or wider interest than Judge Fowler. Blessed with unfailing strength, midnight studies in his library were as stimulants to the drudgery of his professional life. He was an all-embracing reader of books, and his shelves were crowded with the best in literature. He was a wonderfully methodical worker, exceedingly painstaking in all he did, very neat and very concise. As a drawer of legal documents and as a framer of important legis- lative measures, he stood without a rival. For forty years he dili- gently followed his profession, then settling his affairs aright he passed the remainder of his days in extensive travel. For many years Judge Fowler lived in the Governor Gilmore house, so-called, which in later times has become the property of S. Mary's school. His death occurred the 26th of April, 1885, while on a journey to California.
To maintain a bar so numerous and able as that of Concord involved considerable litigation. But people seemed to love fighting in those days. At the March term of the common pleas, in 1840, four hundred and twenty new actions were entered, three hundred and eighty-four continued, and of all these four only were state cases. One of the distinctive features of society seemed to be its suability. Lawsuits were brought for the most trifling causes, and damages were laid in fabulous amounts. One of the jokes of the period was founded in this very practice, and represents a half-impecunious fellow asking for a small loan from the bank, responding when ques- tioned as to his assets that he was certainly worth more than the loan, for he had been sued the day before with damages laid at five thousand dollars. Litigation increased so rapidly even in Merrimack county, that there were three hundred and thirty-six new entries and about the same number of continuances entered on the September docket of 1843. In a mass of litigation almost entirely civil in its character, a criminal trial became an interesting event. Such a trial was the arraignment of one John Putnam for arson. This was at the March term, 1841. The public interest was thoroughly aroused ; crowds flocked to the dingy little court-room, filling the seats and overflowing into the space reserved for the lawyers. On the bench sat Judge Woods, with the customary pair of county judges. These functionaries served as the butt of much ridicule, some calling them flower-pot judges, but they were part of the judicial dignity of the period, and the smaller their services, the greater seemed their dignity and solemn wisdom. The whole trial was a treat of the
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highest kind. It was a combat of leaders, a battle-royal of the bar. For the prisoner, were Franklin Pierce, then in the prime of his powers, and Ira Perley, already an athlete of learning. For the state appeared Charles F. Gove, the attorney-general, and Moses Norris, the county solicitor. To have found four lawyers combining among them more attributes of professional distinction would have been difficult,-Pierce with his eloquence, Perley with his knowledge, Gove with his passionate earnestness and skill as a cross-examiner, and Norris with his wealth of precedents and instant application of them. No wonder that the crowd lingered during the recesses, and ate its luncheon on the benches, nor surprising that it reluctantly moved off at nightfall. Trials like this were the amusements of the time, and the court-room was the theater. At last the final argu- ments were made, leaving in their train countless impressions and recollections that gradually passed into town legends. Fate, how- ever, was against the accused, the jury came in with a verdict of guilty, and Judge Woods at once sentenced him to life imprisonment with fifteen days' solitary confinement.
Another trial about that time was that of State vs. John Renton. This was distinctively a local case, and owing to its singular sur- roundings attracted great attention. It was really a step taken judici- ally towards the reformation of town customs and personal behavior. Public holidays along about the middle of the nineteenth century, and even down to the seventies, were often celebrated in Concord with untoward hilarity. The spirit of license was abroad, upsetting the peace, invading private rights, and jarring deeply on the circum- spect reputation of the citizens. The coming to town of strangers on such occasions may have had something to do with the atmos- phere of disturbance; for local jealousies were easily aroused and fights were frequent, still the root of the disorderly practice was peculiarly of home growth. For several years prior to 1842, the scenes cnacted on the Fourth of July shocked the sense of decency and kindled a lively sentiment of repression among the people. In 1841, the night of the Fourth was but little less than an orgy of unbridled noise and destruction. The mob of wild spirits held full control, making the night one to be remembered. The selectmen and constables, while doing their utmost to control the tumult, were . met with jeers and defiance, and the rioters held full sway. The state house yard was a favorite spot for the display of disorder, and there the crowd was always the largest. Bonfires were set, horns blown, guns discharged, and all kinds of performances indulged in. No species of private property which could by any use contribute to their glee escaped the sharp eyes of the ringleaders. Old wagons,
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eoaeh bodies, out-houses, wood-piles, tar-barrels, all were levied upon to feed the great bonfire. At last the town took action. The Mareh meeting of 1842 voted to repress any further violenee of the Fourth of July order. but those who were in the game only smiled and made faces. Both sides now waited for the signal. It came with the promptness of fate. No sooner had night fallen over the nation's holiday than the repressed exeitement broke forth. It outdid all former disturbanees, and eame near to an out-and-out riot. The state house yard was a mass of flames, while from the glare fire-balls were thrown into the street and on to the neighboring roofs, endan- gering everything within reach. In the meanwhile, the authorities were doing their best, all to no purpose. The violenee increased by its indulgence, going so far as to seize upon a small dwelling-house and feeding it to the fire in pieeemeal. Beautiful maples, the pride of the people and the property of the state, were singed and ruined by the rioters : nothing stayed the wild fury of the night but the weari- ness of the actors. But retribution was at hand, for, during the next few days, eonstables were busy serving warrants on the law-breakers. Many were arrested, identified, and ordered for trial, and among them was John Renton. His ease was probably a flagrant one and merited punishment, but a riot of this type was not the work of any one man.
The people, however, were in earnest, notwithstanding the social position of many of the culprits, Renton in particular being a mem- ber of a well-known family. The trial took place at the October term, before Judge Gilchrist. Again all Concord turned courtward to listen to the proceedings. The trial was a contested one from beginning to end, for Renton's counsel, Bartlett and Peaslee, were in their element. The jury, however, found a verdict of guilty, which was overturned two years later by the superior court. The Renton riot trial was one of Concord's celebrated cases, and while it did not wholly stop the trouble, it had much to do with diminish- ing it.
All was not serene between the political leaders Isaac Hill and Franklin Pieree during the decade 1840-'50, and there is one ease on record in which their rivalries were introduced into a court of law. John Fellows had sued Governor Hill for labor performed, the dam- ages being laid at thirty dollars, and the trial came on before Judge Gove, in common pleas. Pierce and Fowler were for Fellows and Sylvester Dana for Hill. Just as the trial was opening, Mr. Pierce, holding in his hand a copy of Hill's Patriot, called the attention of the court to a certain editorial it contained, and proceeded to read it.
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There was instant objection, which was overruled, and the reading went on. The article certainly came perilously near contempt. It was written in the virile style so characteristic of Mr. Hill, and lashed Pierce and everybody connected with the case. The tone towards Mr. Pierce was spiteful and bitter, and the whole wound up by calling the plaintiff a scoundrel. Judge Gove, while recognizing the gross improprieties of the publication, endeavored to compromise the inci- dent, but without avail. Mr. Hill had his say in open court, which called down upon himself the reprimand of the judge, the sarcastic comments of counsel, and the passionate reflections of a certain rival newspaper of the time. The trial, however, was so personal in its nature as to furnish food for town consumption for many a month until other matters diverted public attention.
During this fourth decade of Concord's legal history business had increased to such an extent that enlarged accommodations had become necessary for carrying on county affairs. The old court house built in 1790 for town purposes had, notwithstanding the alterations of 1823, become altogether too small and inconvenient for the purposes of the court and bar. Moreover, the insecurity of the building was a con- stant danger to the public records, for not only was the edifice con- structed wholly of wood, but its uses as a place for promiscuous meetings and diverting entertainments were not calculated to enhance its safety. In fact to such a medley of strange uses had the ancient structure been subjected that it was popularly referred to as the Noah's Ark. Therefore in 1843 the county convention voted to raise twenty-five hundred dollars for a brick building with fire-proof safes for the occupancy of the register of deeds and the register of probate. The following year saw the work finished and the building opened for business. The old court house described elsewhere in this history stood at the north of the new building, the latter occupying a site a little, perhaps, in front of the present city hall. It was broadside to Main street, with a door in the center, and was reached by a winding gravel walk. It was two stories in height, devoid of beauty, and primitively severe in all respects. This structure with- stood the critical taste of Concord about ten years, when it was blot- ted from sight by demolishing it and using its bricks in constructing the inner walls of the present city hall and county building.
That this attempt at county architecture was not looked upon as a creation of beauty or utility seems evident from this criticism in the Patriot :
" The new County building is a little narrow, contracted concern about the size of our farmers' common corn houses, stuck into the street about half its length in front of the old Court house, and look-
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ing as though it might be a picker to a factory or an advanced guard house to some old barracks."
Now that the new building had been completed, it was voted to repair the old court house, consequently after the manner of fixing a sieve, the roof was patched, a piazza added, the comical cupola was enlarged, and the edifice both inside and out treated to several coats of fresh paint. But after all had been done no one pretended to be satisfied, the judges criticised, the suitors and their lawyers stormed at its primitiveness, while the public snarled at the sum of money thrown away on the ancient "Ark."
Each year added to the unpopularity of these county make-shifts until 1854, when the leading men of the county and the city met to take measures looking to the erection of a structure that would afford adequate accommodations and at the same time be an ornament to the town. The result was the selection of a commission consisting of Judges Whittemore and Woodbury, on the part of the county, with Richard Bradley, Nathaniel B. Baker, John Abbot, Josiah Minot, and Joseph B. Walker on the part of the city, under whose direction the work was at once begun. Additional land belonging to the Deacon Hall and the Captain Nathan Stickney estates was bought, the record building torn down, while the two dwelling-houses stand- ing on the lot, together with the historic but much derided court house and town house, were sold at auction. One of those dwellings, surmounted by a cupola, is now standing in Fosterville; but the old hall of justice, after fetching three hundred and ten dollars, was moved to the rear of Stickney block and subsequently destroyed by fire.
The corner-stone of the present city and county building was laid on the afternoon of Friday, the 25th of May, 1855, although at that time the foundations were all in and the first floor temporarily covered over. The exercises were conducted by Blazing Star Lodge of Free Masons, assisted by the city government and distinguished gentle- men, among whom were Governor Baker and Mayor Clement, who made appropriate addresses. Two years, however, were to elapse before architect Joshua Foster was ready to turn over the building to its owners, for it was not until January, 1857, that everything was ready for occupancy. City hall was formally opened on the twenty-first of that month by a concert given by the music pupils of Morey and Davis, at which speeches were made by Richard Bradley, General Low, and Colonel William Kent. The court-room was inaugurated at a term of common pleas presided over by Judge Jonathan E. Sar- gent, and the Statesman, in its issue of the 10th of January, contains this reference to the event:
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" An adjourned term of the Court of Common Pleas was com- menced yesterday (Tuesday, the 6th), and in the new, spacious, and every way suitable apartment in the Court House just completed. The hall, where justice is henceforth to be dispensed within and for the County of Merrimack, is in keeping with its wealth, intelligence, and population. The Court room is properly and economically fitted for its intended uses. It is prepared for lighting with gas. Court rooms are prepared with more special reference to the convenience of judges, lawyers, jurors, witnesses and parties, and in this case the spectators will be a sort of 'Sabbath days journey' from bench and witness stand. Much of the furniture was transferred from the Court room in the 'Ark.'"
A decade had made few changes in the character and personality of the Concord bar, scarcely a name had disappeared since the year 1840; the only changes found in 1850 were the names of half a score of new attorneys, of whom not a few were destined to attain a high rank and confer still greater repute on Concord. In 1850 there were twenty practising lawyers, the recent acquisitions being Calvin Ainsworth, Sylvester Dana, Josiah Minot, John H. George, Lyman D. Stevens, George G. Fogg, Henry A. Bellows, A. Herbert Bel- lows, Henry P. Rolfe, William H. Bartlett, and Samuel M. Wheeler. Out of that number the future was to select a chief justice, two associate justices, a foreign minister, two police justices, a mayor, a speaker of the house, and two United States district attorneys.
At that time three courts comprised the judiciary of the state, the superior court of judicature, the court of common pleas, and the court of county justices. This system was then nearing its end, hav- ing failed to meet the requirements of the people in the routine and despatch of business. With the exception of County Judge Jacob A. Potter, Concord at this time had no representative on the bench. But in 1852 Ira Perley became a judge, and from that day to the present, Concord has had one or more of its lawyers on the supreme court.
Calvin Ainsworth was born in Littleton, the 22d of August, 1807, received a fair education, and formed a partnership with Ira Perley in 1842. From 1845 to 1850 Mr. Ainsworth was register of probate, and in 1852 he was one of the commission to revise the laws. His associates were Ralph Metcalf and Samuel H. Ayer, and together they completed their labors in a year's time, giving to our legal liter- ature " The Compiled Statutes." It was, however, as a business man rather than as a lawyer that Mr. Ainsworth was known and remem- bered, though it may be recorded of him that he achieved the distinc- tion of serving as Concord's first police justice, his term embracing the inaugural years of the city organization, 1853-'54. In the latter
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