USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Littleton > History of Littleton, New Hampshire, Vol. I > Part 62
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The political opinions held by Harry Bingham were such as would naturally be expected from his early environment. His father and grandfather were stout opponents of federalism, and when the " era of good feeling" passed, in the storm that aroused the people in 1828, they naturally, as followers of Jefferson, adhered to the political fortunes of Jackson. The blood of democracy coursed in the veins of the young man. He was not, however, disposed to accept his political principles as a birthright. His mind was of a peculiar order. He had to know things before they received his approval. He accordingly investigated, reflected, and tried a political proposition as he would a question of law by the tests of reason, experience, and principle. When he had reached a
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satisfactory conclusion, it was seldom or never changed ; like his habits of thought and action, his friendships and his enmities, these decisions stood the assaults of years, and only when the battle ended with his final retirement were his opinions permitted to be influenced to the extent of a renunciation of even immaterial matters. This tenacity was manifested in his adherence to the habitual mispronunciation of two or three words. One of these, " pūt," was always " put " with him.
When he first became prominent in the councils of the State democracy, the fortunes of the party were in their decadence. A storm was gathering which was to sweep thousands from their political moorings, reconstruct old and create new political par- ties. At the crisis when it was known that the Know-Nothings were to carry the State, a meeting of leading men was held at Somersworth to take counsel in regard to future action. A gen- eral course was mapped out. But loyalty was then as much an unknown quantity as it was among Napoleon's favorites after Waterloo. At the close of this conference Mr. Bingham and several others remained for a night at Concord, and were invited to another and more select conference which was held in the private office of an apothecary. The question discussed was what was to be the position of those present in view of known changes that had occurred since they left Somersworth. At this time the effect of their decision on their personal political fortunes was fully considered. Harry Bingham was unmoved by such argu- ments and stood for loyalty to principles. For the moment his appeal had influence, and all agreed to stand by the old party. Within a few days the sudden death of the Rev. Mr. Moore, the Know-Nothing candidate for Governor, added to the confusion. A new candidate was sought, and the position was offered to Mr. Bingham by men who, when he declined to consider their offer, united upon Ralph Metcalf, who subsequently held the office of Governor of the State during two terms. Had he been a traf- ficker in principles, it is easy to speculate as to the political "honors" that would undoubtedly have been his in the succeeding forty years. He regarded the proposition then, and ever after, as one unworthy of a moment's consideration. His character was not so well established in 1855 as it was in later years, and this incident became one of the foundation stones upon which it rested.
Mr. Bingham was first elected a member of the House of Repre- sentatives in 1861, and was re-elected annually until 1867, when he declined a nomination. He was a member in 1868, from 1871
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to 1879 inclusive, and in 1881, 1889, and 1891. From 1883 to 1887 he was a member of the Senate. While a member he served upon the Judiciary Committee. In 1871 and in 1874, when his party had a majority in the House, he was chairman of that committee. Always the leader of his party during his legisla- tive career, he had an influence in shaping non-political legisla- tion that was second to that of no other member.
It was in 1874 that a bill was introduced authorizing the union or consolidation of the Boston and Lowell, the Lowell and Nashua, and the Nashua and Wilton railroads, constituting the line of con- necting roads between Boston and Wilton, then operated by the same corporation. People to-day could with difficulty realize the magnitude of the opposition against the measure. "It was the entering wedge in the way of legislation that in the end was to place all the railroads in the State in the control of one corpora- tion ; " " it would destroy competition ; " and many other objections were urged. Mr. Bingham led the opposition to the measure, while John G. Sinclair had charge in behalf of its friends. After a contest of great vigor and unexampled incidents, the bill was defeated by a narrow margin on the first trial of strength ; but a reconsideration was secured, and it passed the House. While a member of the Senate in 1883, Mr. Bingham opposed the passage of a bill entitled " An Act providing for the establishment of rail- road corporations by general law." Without going into the details of the act, it is sufficient to give the principal point he urged against the bill. He claimed that its passage would surrender to the railroads of the State not only the control of transportation, but would ultimately place the law-making power and the political destinies of the State in their control ; " that by giving it the sanction of law the members of the Legislature betray their constituents and deliver them bound hand and foot to the mercy of a conscienceless power." In this opposition he was ably seconded by Irving W. Drew of the Coos District, who offered many amendments calculated to limit the power of the corpora- tions. In view of the results very few people will be inclined to deny to these senators the vision of seers and the voice of prophets. Other measures advocated persistently for years were the act finally passed for the punishment of bribery at elections and the law known as the Australian Ballot Act.
The acknowledged leader of his party, he was many times its candidate for Congressman and for United States Senator. In 1874 Governor Weston named him for Chief Justice of. the Supreme Court, but strong railroad interests opposed his con-
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firmation in the Council, and Judge Cushing was finally appointed to the position.
His legislative career was limited to a narrow sphere, yet it was such as to call forth his great powers as a politician and statesman. As a leader in the House of Representatives his tact and skill in dealing with individuals were often tested, and abun- dantly demonstrated his force as a politician. As a statesman dealing with masses and principles as applied to the affairs of state, his vast knowledge of history, his mastery of legal prin- ciples, and his power of statement were as clearly discernible and hardly less useful in the New Hampshire Legislature than they would have been in the wider field of national affairs. He was a constructive law-maker, but not a meddler with the statutes or a visionary. He preferred to keep in old paths that time and experi- ence had shown to be safe rather than to venture in untried ways.
He was a powerful speaker and seldom failed to convince a candid audience. He was not what is commonly termed an orator; his weapons were those of reason and logic, and his lan- guage, derived from Anglo-Saxon sources, was characterized by simplicity and strength. He laid a solid foundation, and the superstructure erected thereon would stand and command atten- tion without rhetorical embellishments.
He was democratic in his habits, entirely devoid of self- consciousness, and one of the most natural of men. Encomiums and compliments came to him in abundance after a strong argu- ment in the courts or in the Legislature. These he appreciated, but was otherwise unaffected by them. He was seldom given to conversation regarding his achievements, and on occasions when he spoke of them was a severe critic of his own work. He was unassuming, gracious, helpful, and moderate in his charges for legal services. For many years after he became the head of the bar of the State his charges were limited by the fee bill. This was a serious stumbling-block sometimes to others in the settlement of accounts, and members of the bar suggested that two promi- nent members should call upon him to remedy this evil. They did so during a law term at Lancaster, and urged him to increase the amount of his charges. He said but little in his own behalf, and when the committee had stated its case, he was silent for some time and then said, "The fact is, gentlemen, I charge a good deal more now than I can collect, and I see no reason for making a change; " and it was some years before he was per- suaded to do so.
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The extent of his learning, especially regarding the world's history, was simply marvellous ; it seemed to be boundless. Once when an agent was urging him to purchase a great Encyclopedia, he made a brief examination of a volume, and turning to Cuba found an error in its area as there given which the agent said was called to his attention for the first time. His memory was so accurate that nothing that he had ever known or considered seemed to escape. His friendships were strong and seldom broken. His relations with an eminent politician of his own party were sometimes doubtful on account of conflicting am- bitions, and Mr. Bingham had many reasons for sundering the chain that had held them in friendship for many years. When, however, misfortunes came to this friend, he was the first to go to his assistance, and continued to give him aid until the clouds passed.
Mr. Bingham was not a church-member, but he was a firm believer in the Bible as the word of God and in what is termed orthodox theology. When he died, his funeral was held in the Opera House, the Rev. Mr. Goodrich, of All Saints Church, reading the beautiful Episcopal service. It was attended by hundreds from out of town and by many from distant States.
George Azro Bingham, the fifth child and fourth son of War- ner and Lucy (Wheeler) Bingham, was born April 25, 1826. He grew up agile and lusty. He attended school in the old " castle district" with his brother Edward. After leaving the home school, he spent several years at the high school at Concord Cor- ner or at Waterford, when his brother Harry was principal at those institutions, and at St. Johnsbury Academy.
In these years, like many another young man seeking to better his position in the world, he taught school during the winter months. In. 1846 he entered the law office of Thomas Bartlett at Lyndon, and in December, 1848, was admitted to the bar at Danville. The winter of 1848-1849 was passed in the West, whither he had journeyed with a view of locating and practising his profession. The surroundings were not congenial and he returned to Vermont. In the spring of this year he entered into partnership with Mr. Bartlett, who was at the time the leader of the bar in Caledonia County. Two years later, Mr. Bartlett hav- ing been elected a member of Congress, George W. Roberts became a member of the firm, the style being Bartlett, Bingham & Roberts. The Whigs having gerrymandered Mr. Bartlett out of any chance of re-election, at the close of his term he returned to active practice. The business not being sufficient to engage
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Gro. A. Bingham
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the activities of all the members of the firm, Mr. Bingham with- drew, and in the closing months of 1852 joined his brother Harry at Littleton. The firm of H. & G. A. Bingham, then estab- lished, continued for nearly two-thirds of a generation, and ac- quired a reputation for legal knowledge and strength unsurpassed by any other firm in the State.
At this time Littleton was on the threshold of great material advancement. The advent of the railroad, which had its northern terminus here for eighteen years, brought an increase of prosper- ity, in which the legal fraternity reaped its full share of the harvest. In the division of labor which was deemed necessary, the Coos business fell to the junior member. Here he had not long to wait for a case which would put his quality to the test. The once famous case of Russell v. Dyer, in which the title to the Fabyan House property was involved, was soon upon the docket, and Mr. Bingham was retained for the defendant. His management of this case was such as to place him well to the front in the ranks of the profession, and to secure for him retainers in many of the most important causes tried in this county.
In 1860 the firm of H. & G. A. Bingham was merged in that of Woods & Bingham, Hon. A. S. Woods and Edward Woods becoming members, with an additional office at Bath in charge of Judge Woods and the subject of this sketch. Mr. Bingham re- mained at Bath three years, and at the expiration of that period returned to Littleton, and the old firm of H. & G. A. Bingham was re-established. From this firm Mr. G. A. Bingham retired in 1870, and was without a partner until his elevation to the bench of the Supreme Court in 1876. He remained upon the bench nearly four years, resigning in October, 1880. In December fol- lowing, he resumed practice with Edgar Aldrich as partner. Soon after, Daniel C. Remich became a member of the firm. Judge Bingham was reappointed an associate justice of the Su- preme Court in 1884, and served in that capacity until March, 1891, when impaired health and a desire to establish his son in business led him to retire to private life. He at once resumed practice with his son, George H., as partner, under the firm name of Bing- ham & Bingham. To the business of this firm he devoted what- ever of strength remained, until the connection was dissolved by the inexorable mandate which all must obey.
His professional life was one of great activity, and many of the cases in which he appeared as counsel were important, both on account of the interests and the principles involved. Of these
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a list is not necessary. The leading cases were Russell v. Dyer, before referred to ; Wells v. The Jackson Iron Manufacturing Co .; Cahoon v. Coe ; several in which he appeared for the Grand Trunk Railway ; the Bemis cases ; The New Hampshire Land Co. v. Tilton et al., and The Manchester and Lawrence Railroad v. The Concord and Montreal Railroad.
His political principles were imbibed at the purest fountains of Jeffersonian democracy, and were adhered to undeviatingly through life. They closed to him the avenues to high political preferment, but such honors as were within the gift of his party were freely bestowed upon him. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention which convened at Charleston in June, 1860, and finished its sessions at Baltimore. In this convention he was an ardent supporter of the candidacy of Senator Douglas. In 1864 and 1865 he represented the old twelfth district in the State Senate, and in 1875 and 1876 was a representative from Littleton to the General Court. In the campaign of 1880 he was the can- didate of his party for Representative in Congress, and shared the fate of his associates in defeat at the polls. He was not anxious to serve in the numerous minor but not less useful positions which the public called him to fill ; but his views of the duties of citizenship were such that he often yielded to these demands when compliance required a considerable sacrifice of valuable time on his part. He discharged all the duties of this character with zeal and intelligence.
We come to the consideration of his character as a lawyer with diffidence. To those who have felt the thrust of his steel and the force of his blow, or shared in his sagacious counsels and witnessed his triumphs at the bar, any observations must seem superfluous.
On first coming to the bar he evidently gave more care to the form than to the substance of his arguments. His bearing was manly and engaging ; his voice, resonant, clear, and penetrating. His language was fluent, but his vocabulary not of wide range; his sentences were long, involved, and often marred by mixed metaphors. He soon, however, reached the conclusion that verdicts were to be gained by other means than oratory, and his methods as an advocate were much changed. His style, though always wanting in purity and simplicity of diction, became strong, delib- erate, and convincing. He appealed to the judgment rather than to the feelings of a jury.
Few men have attained eminence at the bar who seemed so wanting the accomplishments usually deemed essential to success
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as an advocate. He had little of the imaginative faculty, and while he possessed some humor and a keen relish of wit in others, he seldom made use of these qualities himself. From the first he was a zealous student of the law, with no time for general reading ; his knowledge of literature was not large, and this vast armory of the advocate was practically closed to him.
What, then, was the secret of his power, for he was easily one of the first lawyers at the bar of our State ? It is to be found in liis clear eye for facts, his immense power of concentration, his singleness of purpose, and his entire devotion to the cause of his client. Carlyle's characterization of one of the world's great men is true of him : "The man had a certain, instinctive, ineradicable feeling for reality, and did base himself upon fact so long as he had any basis." His mind was compact with the decisions of the courts, and he readily applied their principles to the case in hand. These characteristics, together with an indomitable spirit and in- tense application, were invaluable in the preparation of causes for trial. He knew his own case thoroughly and that of his opponent as well. In these respects, and in the assembling of evidence and its presentation to the jury, he has had few equals and no supe- rior in our day. His intellectual energies responded to every de- mand made upon them. They grew and broadened with every increasing opportunity.
On the bench these qualities shone with added lustre. He was patient in hearing and quick in ruling upon questions raised in the progress of a trial. His conduct there received the commeil- dation of his associates and the approval of the bar. His courtesy and kindness were marked features of his professional life, and to young and inexperienced practitioners, or his juniors, he was very gracious, aiding them in many ways, generally more by suggestion than by direction.
In personal appearance Mr. Bingham was tall and imposing, his manners simple and dignified. I recall him as he appeared when he first came to Littleton, and I think it is given to few men to preserve through a long and laborious life so much of the ap- pearance of their early manhood as was given to him. Until dis- ease had racked his frame, the only change the years seemed to have made in face or figure was an added calm and seriousness which came to the one, and the rounding fulness which middle life brings to the other.
He was twice married, first to Miss Smith of Lyndon, who sur- vived but a short time. In 1858 he was united with Miss Eliza I., daughter of Judge Woods of Bath, a woman of strong intellectual
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endowments and varied culture. Their domestic life was an ideal one. In the family circle Mr. Bingham was a delightful com- panion, and there he found the only relaxation from the cares and perplexities of professional life that he permitted himself to enjoy.
He was a good citizen, taking a deep interest in the welfare of the community in which he passed the active years of his life. A man of positive opinions and aggressive tendencies, living a life of contention at the bar and in politics, he passed through the tur- moil of a busy life with no stain resting upon his character.
He was charitable in the true sense of the term; though not an indiscrimate giver, with a purse open to every demand which might be made upon it, he was certainly wise and liberal in his charities. No worthy public work or measure during more than forty years of his residence in Littleton failed to receive the sup- port of his heart and purse. He was temperate in all things but this, - he could not spare the magnificent constitution with which his Maker had endowed him, and when the immortal spirit took its flight, the frame which had been its earthly tenement was literally worn out. Had he survived a few months longer, he would have rounded out the span allotted by the Psalmist. His years were filled with unremitting labor and usefulness, and when his life went out, the community in which he had long dwelt lost a good citizen, the State a servant who had served her well, and this association 1 one of the pillars of its strength.
The youngest of the Bingham brothers who have had a home in Littleton is Edward F. Bingham, long a judge in Ohio, and but recently retired under the law from the chief justiceship of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. He began his legal studies in the office of Judge Miller of Chillicothe, Ohio, and in May, 1848, came to Littleton and entered the office of his brother Harry. He remained until September, 1849, when he returned to Ohio and entered upon the practice of his profession. He bears a strong physical resemblance to his brother George A .; they having the Bingham complexion and temperament, while Harry resembled the Wheelers in these respects. He early achieved eminence in his new home, and was long regarded as among the strongest judicial characters of that State noted for its great lawyers. Judge Bingham is the sole survivor of this eminent family, and is a frequent visitor to his old Granite State home.
Edmund Carleton, eldest son of Dr. Edmund and Joanna Carle- ton, was fitted for college at the Academy, Haverhill, N. H .; 1 Grafton and Coös Bar Association, 1895.
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EDWARD F. BINGHAM.
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graduated with honor from Dartmouth College, in 1822 ; taught school in Washington and Georgetown, D. C., and at the same time was a member of the family of John C. Calhoun ; read law with Col. William Garnett, Tappahannock, Essex Co., Va., and was admitted to the bar in that county, Jan. 25, 1826 (having meantime, 1825, received the degree of Master of Arts from Dartmouth College) ; the same year returned to Haverhill, and became associated with Joseph Bell, Esq. ; moved to Littleton, in 1827, and thenceforward was a prominent man in the com- munity.1
In law matters his judgment was good, and his opinions valued by bench and bar. His disposition to settle cases out of court, and especially his delicate health, reduced the large number of clients which should otherwise have come to him. He sought a more active life and became a manufacturer of lumber. Dr. Adams Moore was his associate in a number of land and timber speculations. In 1833 he cleared the land now called Apthorp, it being covered with a forest of large pine-trees, and erected a saw-mill where the electric light plant now is. No similar venture had then been made so far up the valley of the Amino- noosuc River. The road which he made to his mill is the founda- tion of the present highway.
He built a dwelling-house on the hill opposite the mill, and in 1844 moved his family from the village to the new home. Since the trees of the opposite side of the river have been cut away, a remarkably fine view of Mount Lafayette, directly south, can be had from the house. He was fond of the hamlet which grew around him, and was instrumental in having the Common given to the town, conjointly, by the Messrs. Balch, Redington, Cate, and himself.
The Legislature made an appropriation to build a road through to the south of the Franconia Notch, specifying that the work should be directed by an appointee of the Governor and the judges of the Supreme Court. Their choice fell upon Mr. Carleton. The road was so well made that it has continued to be a delightful thoroughfare ever since.
He was public-spirited and never shirked responsibility, was active in the formation of a town lyceum in 1831 and partici- pated in the debates, served on the School Committee, made temperance addresses, and was a leading member of the Congre- gational Church. He married, November 30, 1836, Mary Kilburn
1 This sketch was prepared by one who knew him many years. It should have preceded in natural order those of the Bingham brothers.
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Coffin, a lineal descendant of Tristram Coffin. She was a woman of rare endowments of head and heart, fitted to shine in the highest society ; had profited by the teaching of Mary Lyon (founder of Mt. Holyoke College), and Miss Grant at Ipswich, Mass. ; had taught in the Concord Academy, 1834, and had trained the choir of Boscawen to sing the song of Freedom. She was the first and most powerful anti-slavery woman in Littleton and vicinity, and influenced her husband greatly. In 1837 they began to prod the conscience of the church for continuing to hold fellowship with slaveholders, and they never ceased so long as there was a slave in the land. Their eldest daughter, Mary, at the point of death, wished to join the church, and made the desired action by the church a condition precedent. It was refused. The Littleton Anti-Slavery Society was one of the earliest to be formed (1837), owing to their exertions. Mr. Carleton voluntarily defended Allen and Brown, who were sent to jail for making Abolitionist excla- mations between the acts of worship in the Congregationalist meeting-house.
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