USA > New Hampshire > History of New Hampshire, Volume IV > Part 15
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One who has made his name well known as an explorer of the arctic regions was Charles Francis Hall, born in Rochester in 1821. He learned the trade of blacksmith, engaged in journal- ism and became familiar with the stationery and engraving busi- ness. Becoming interested in the fate of the explorer, Sir John Franklin, he proposed to the New York Geographical Society to head an expedition in search of him, and in May, 1860, he set sail from New London, Connecticut, in a whaling vessel. The vessel was blocked by ice and Hall left it after a few weeks.
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Among the Esquimaux he discovered relics of the Frobisher ex- pedition. In two years and a half he acquired much knowledge of Esquimaux life, speech and habits. Like other explorers he could not rest while something more remained to be discovered. He sailed again in July, 1864, and lived five years among the na- tives of the North, during which time he gathered up various relics of the Franklin expedition. He succeeded in getting an appropriation of $50,000 from the United States government for an expedition to the North Pole, and in July, 1871, he sailed the third time for the tip end of the earth, in the ship called the Polaris as a hopeful prediction. On the 29th of August, 1871, he reached the farthest point north ever attained up to that time, latitude 82 degrees and 16 minutes. He died November 8, 1871, and his grave is the farthest one north. A British expedition caused to be inscribed over it, that he gave his life for the cause of science. He published after his first expedition, "Arctic Re- searches" and "Life Among the Esquimaux." His narrative the "Second Arctic Expedition," left in manuscript, was purchased by Congress for $15,000 and published after his death. Though he attained not the complete object of his search, he prepared the way for another American to reach the Arctic Pole.
Stephen H. Long was born in Hopkinton, December 30, 1784, and was graduated from Dartmouth in 1800. Immediately he entered the service of the United States, and in 1814 was second lieutenant of engineers. He was appointed Professor of Mathematics in West Point Military Academy in 1815 and the following year was brevetted major of topographical engineers, gradually rising to the rank of colonel. From 1818 to 1823 Colonel Long had charge of governmental explorations of the territory between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, and in 1823-4 he explored the sources of the Mississippi. After that he surveyed the line of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad and was engineer in chief of the Atlantic and Great Western rail- road. In 1860 he was assigned to duties connected with the im- provement of the navigation of the Mississippi. From 1835 to 1838 he resided in Hopkinton and was interested in local im- provements, attempting to introduce the manufacture of silk. The narrative of his exploration of the Minnesota and Red river valleys and canoe route from Winnipeg to Lake Superior was
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published in two volumes, mostly written by W. H. Keating. Colonel Long died in Alton, Illinois, September 4, 1864.
One of the leading scientists of our country was Elliott Coues, born at Portsmouth, September 9, 1842. He removed to Washington and graduated at Columbia University in 1861, re- ceiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1863. As assistant surgeon in the United States army he saw much duty in Ari- zona and three years in South Carolina, publishing several scien- tific papers about the natural history of those regions. In 1869 he was elected Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in Norwich University, Vermont. In 1873 he was appointed surgeon and naturalist of the United States northern boundary survey commission from the Great Lakes westward. Also he edited the publications of the United States survey from 1876 to 1880, and meanwhile conducted zoological explorations in the West, contributing several volumes to the reports of the sur- vey, notably "Birds of the Northwest," "Fur-bearing Animals," "Birds of the Colorado Valley" and several installments of a universal "Bibliography of Ornithology." He was invited by the leading scientists of England to make his residence in Lon- don and identify himself with the British Museum. He wrote a "History of North American Mammals," which was ordered to be printed by act of Congress. Being ordered again to Arizona, as some thought, through jealousy, he felt forced to resign his commission as surgeon in order to give his whole time to scien- tific pursuits. He was elected to the chair of anatomy in the National Medical College, where he was a faithful and efficient instructor and lecturer for ten years. Nearly all his life he acted as collaborator of the Smithsonian Institute, presenting to the United States valuable specimens collected in his travels and explorations. Among his works were "New England Bird-Life" and "Dictionary and Check List of North American Birds." His "Key to North American Birds" was a standard text-book on ornithology and was reprinted in London. In the latter part of his life he became interested in psychical research and while on a visit to England joined the society for that purpose. Although he had been in philosophy a materialist, he became convinced that materialism did not offer a sufficient explanation of vari- ous mental phenomena. It occurred to him that the Darwinian theory of evolution should be extended further to explain phe-
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nomena of hypnotism, clairvoyance, telepathy and the like. Hence he published "Biogen; a Speculation on the Origin and Nature of Life," and Biogen became the caption of a series of six volumes under his editorship. He had charge of the zoologi- cal, biological and anatomical department of the Century Dic- tionary. Other works were "Field Ornithology," "Signs of the Times," "Travels of Lewis and Clark," and numerous articles in scientific periodicals. He died in Baltimore, December 25, 1899.
The man who has had charge of the geographical work of the United States geological survey for many years is Almon Harris Thompson, born at Stoddard, September 24, 1839. He was graduated at Wheaton College, Illinois, served as lieutenant in the Civil War and was superintendent of schools in Lacon and Bloomington, Illinois, till 1870. He accompanied several explor- ing expeditions in the Colorado and Mississippi valleys.
A scientist of note was Augustus Addison Gould, born at New Ipswich, April 23, 1805. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1825 and after teaching school in Maryland two years and studying medicine he began practice in Boston. But natural history interested him more than medicine. "For two years he taught botany and zoology at Harvard and was one of the found- ers of the Boston Society of Natural History. He was also a charter member of the National Academy of Sciences and was connected with sixteen scientific societies, American and foreign, and was author of more than one hundred scientific books and papers beside those which were strictly professional. He was a pioneer in many fields of New England zoology, and his books were accepted as authoritative on the subjects treated. He was also active in the medical societies, being president of that of the State at the time of his death." (Chandler's Hist. of New Ipswich, p. 451). He was joint author with Professor Louis Agassiz of "Principles of Zoology," used as a text-book in col- leges, republished in Bohn's Classical Library and translated into German. He made a special study of shells and was pre- eminent in conchology. Together with Francis Kidder he pub- lished a history of his native town, covering the period from 1736 to 1852, manifesting the same thoroughness here as in sci- entific studies. He died September 15, 1866.
Edward William Nelson, born in Manchester, May 8, 1855, was graduated from Cook County Normal School, Chicago, in
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1875. He accompanied the expedition for scientific explorations in Alaska, 1877-81, and was naturalist of the United States reve- nue steamer Corwin during her cruise in the Arctic expedition in search for the Jeannette, in 1881. He was chief field naturalist of the United States Biological Survey, 1907-12, and has spent much time in scientific explorations in Mexico. His published works include a report on Natural History Collections made in Alaska, "Birds of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean," "Squirrels of Mexico and Central America," "The Esquimaux about Bering Straits," "Rabbits of North America," and numerous papers about birds and mammals.
Scientists gather facts, classify them and seek to learn the underlying law, so that future conduct may be guided. It has been thought that science is more reliable than philosophy, be- cause it is based upon facts in the material universe, while phil- osophy has rested too much upon apriori speculations. In re- cent years the psychologists have established their laboratories for experimenting with the activities of the human mind, so that these, too, may be reduced to law. One of the foremost in this field of study is Edward Wheeler Scripture, born in Mason, May 21, 1864, and graduated at the College of the City of New York in 1884. His studies were continued at Berlin, Zurich and Leipsic, and at the last named university he took his degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He became instructor in experimental psychology at Yale University and later director of its psycho- logical laboratory. Among his published works are "Elements of Experimental Phonetics," "Thinking, Feeling and Doing," "The New Psychology,' "Researches in Experimental Pho- netics," "Stuttering and Lisping," and many papers contributed to the Yale Psychological Laboratory Studies, of which maga- zine he is editor. In 1893 he discovered a method of producing anaesthesia by direct application of electricity, an alternating current of high frequency being made to pass through a portion of the body in such a way as to cut off transmission of feeling by the nerves, so that no pain may be felt in the limbs while the current continues. He has also invented an instrument for de- tecting color-blindness, which has been widely accepted by rail- roads and in the marine service. Thus scientific study of mental activities leads to practical results, and at least mental philos- ophy is being reduced to a science. Speculative philosophy will
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be indulged in so long as there are thinkers desirous of tracing all knowledge up to unity, but it may be based upon ascertained facts rather than upon apriori assumptions.
Man has been called the "laughing animal." Whoever provokes a smile is accounted a friend. Laughter is a counter- irritant to weeping, an anaesthetic for pains and sorrows. Com- edy and farce win the multitude, while real life has tragedy enough for nearly all. One of the wittiest playwrights of re- cent times was Charles H. Hoyt, born in Concord, July 26, 1860. He was educated in a private school at Charlestown and in the Boston Latin School. He read law but abandoned it for journal- ism, working five years on the Boston Post. His first produc- tion put upon the stage was a "Bunch of Keys," in 1883. Its success soon made him a theatrical manager, and Hoyt's Madi- son Square Theatre became well known. More than a dozen plays flowed from his pen. They were always full of excellent humor. His "Trip to Chinatown" was played six hundred and thirty-nine nights in New York. His home was in Charlestown and in 1892 he represented that town in the legislature and was the candidate of the Democratic party for Speaker of the House. He died November 20, 1900. (Granite Monthly, XVII, 143-152).
Chapter X JURISTS
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IrChase
Chapter X
JURISTS
Salmon P. Chase-Nathan Clifford-John Appleton-Charles L. Woodbury -Charles A. Peabody-Joel Parker-Charles H. Ham-Henry E. How- land-Daniel G. Rollins-Addison Gardner-Philip Eastman-Benjamin W. Bonney-Ira Perley-Henry A. Bellows-Charles Doe-Andrew S. Woods-Jonathan E. Sargent-Nathaniel G. Upham-William C. Clarke -Harry Bingham.
S ALMON PORTLAND CHASE was born in Cornish, Jan- uary 13, 1808, son of Ithamar Chase. When he was eight years of age his father removed to Keene and died the following year. The son went West and was brought up by his uncle, Bishop Philander Chase. At the age of eighteen he was gradu- ated from Dartmouth College, in 1826. Then he studied law four years in Washington, D. C., in the office of William Wirt. He began the practice of law in Cincinnati in 1829. Here he compiled the Ohio statutes and championed the cause of the slave, which for a time barred him from political office. He was elected as a Whig to the Cincinnati city council in 1840; in 1841 he identified himself with the Liberty Party and took part in the national conventions at Buffalo in 1843 and at Cincinnati in 1847. In 1848 he was a member of the Free Soil national con- vention at Buffalo, which nominated Van Buren. He was elected to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1849 to March 3, 1855. In the latter year he was elected gover- nor of Ohio as a Free Soil Democrat, and was reelected in 1857 as a Republican. Again he was elected to the United States Senate in 1860 and took his seat March 4, 1861, but resigned the next day to become secretary of the treasury in President Lin- coln's cabinet, which position he held till July 1, 1864. He had himself been a prominent candidate for the presidency in 1860. He was appointed chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, December 6, 1864, and held that office till the end of life, presiding at the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson. He died in New York City, May 7, 1873. The Hon.
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William Wirt said of him, "A lawyer, orator, senator, governor, minister, magistrate, whom living a whole nation admired, whom dead a whole nation lamented."
Nathan Clifford was born in Rumney, August 18, 1803. He fitted for college at Haverhill Academy and paid his expenses at Dartmouth College by teaching in Hampton Literary Institute. At the age of twenty-four he began the practice of law in York county, Maine. He was a member of the Maine house of repre- sentatives, 1830-34, being speaker the last two years. He was attorney general of Maine, 1834-38. He was elected as a Demo- crat to the 26th and 27th congresses, 1839-43. Then he became attorney general of the United States and served from October 17, 1846, to March 17, 1848. He was commissioner to Mexico with the rank of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipoten- tiary from March 18, 1848, to September 6, 1849, and was the agent in concluding the treaty with Mexico at the close of the Mexican War. He was appointed by President Buchanan as- sociate justice of the United States Supreme Court and held that office till his death, in Cornish, Maine, July 25, 1881. He was president of the famous electoral commission that decided the election of President Hayes.
John Appleton, born in New Ipswich, July 12, 1804, was graduated at Bowdoin College in 1822 at the age of eighteen. After studying law at Alfred, Maine, he was admitted to the bar in Amherst, New Hampshire, in 1827 and at once began legal practice in Dixmont, Maine, whence he removed to Sebec and later to Bangor. In 184I he was appointed reporter of de- cisions. Eleven years later he was elevated to the supreme judi- cial bench and became chief justice of the State in 1862, hold- ing that office twenty-one years. It is said of him that he "was longer on the bench, decided more cases and wrote more de- cisions" than any other judge in Maine. He published a "Treat- ise on Evidence" in 1860, in which he advocated a reform in legal procedure, allowing parties to suits, civil and criminal, to be heard as witnesses. His proposed change in the law of evi- dence has been adopted in nearly all the States. The degree of Doctor of Laws was given him by his Alma Mater, of which in- stitution he was a trustee for many years. He died February 7, 1891.
Charles Levi Woodbury, born in Portsmouth, May 22, 1820,
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was son of Hon. Levi Woodbury. He was educated principally in Washington. After practicing law four years in Alabama he settled in Boston about the year 1845. In 1870-71 he was a member of the General Court of Massachusetts. From 1858 to 1861 he was United States district attorney for the First Ju- dicial District. His chief field of labor was in the federal courts at Boston and Washington. He wrote many articles for peri- odicals and his judicial decisions appear in the three volumes of the reports of his district. He died at Boston, July 1, 1898.
Charles Augustus Peabody was born in Sandwich, July 10, 1814, and died in New York City, July 3, 1901. His education was obtained in several academies and through teaching at Beverly, Massachusetts, and Baltimore, Maryland. He was graduated at Harvard Law School in 1837 and after practicing in New York for a while was elected judge of the supreme court for that city and served one year. In 1858 he was appointed state commissioner of quarantine. In 1862 President Lincoln made him judge of the United States court in Louisiana, where he served till 1865, the last two years as chief justice. Return- ing to New York he resumed the practice of law, in which he continued for twenty years. He was vice-president of the As- sociation for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations and in 1885 was delegate of the United States government to the international congress on commercial law. His summer home was at Kearsarge House, North Conway (Granite Monthly, XXXI, 122).
An honor to the bar and bench was Joel Parker, born in Jaffrey, January 25, 1796. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 18II and began practice of law at Keene. Although his cases were faultlessly prepared, he had not the art of winning favor- able verdicts from a jury, having more knowledge of law than of men. Keene sent him to the legislature in 1824-26. He was associate justice of the supreme court of New Hampshire in 1833 and chief justice in 1836. In 1840 he was chairman of the committee to revise the laws of the State. From 1847 to 1857 he was Professor of Medical Jurisprudence at Dartmouth, lec- turing also in other colleges, and from 1847 till his death he held the chair of Royall Professor of Law at Harvard. Among his published works are "Daniel Webster as a Jurist," "A Charge to the Grand Jury on the Uncertainty of Law," "The Non-Ex-
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tension of Slavery," "Personal Liberty Laws and Slavery in the Territories," "The Right of Secession," "Constitutional Law," "Habeas Corpus and Moral Law," "The War Powers of Con- gress and the President,' "Revolution and Reconstruction," "The Three Powers of Government," and "Conflict of De- cisions." He contributed also valuable papers to the Massa- chusetts Historical Society. For several years he was one of the trustees of Dartmouth College. His death occurred in Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 17, 1875.
Charles Henry Ham was born in Canterbury, January 22, 1831, and died in Montclair, New Jersey, October 16, 1902. His education was in the public schools. For five years he was in the employ of the Concord Railroad, reading law as he had leisure. Feeble health hampered him in early years and he took a voyage to Labrador with good results. Going to Chicago he became clerk in a banking house for a short time, writing for the newspapers from time to time. He became successively editor of the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Inter-Ocean. He held the office of appraiser of customs at the port of Chi- cago under several federal administrations and was a member of the general board of United States appraisers from its forma- tion in 1890. He became pre-eminent as a writer and authority on customs law. His book on Manual Training was published in several languages.
One of the most prominent lawyers of New York City was Henry Elias Howland, born in Walpole, June 30, 1835. He fitted for college at Kimball Union Academy and was graduated at Yale in 1854, and at Harvard Law School in 1857. At once he was admitted to the bar in New York and was in partner- ship with Mr. Sherwood for about twenty years. He was made judge of the marine (now city) court in 1873. He has been a member of the corporation of Yale University, president of the University Club, president of the Society of Mayflower De- scendants, and member of many of the prominent clubs of New York. All his life he has kept up his acquaintance with and in- terest in the inhabitants of Walpole, where he is frequently seen.
Daniel G. Rollins, born in Great Falls, October 18, 1842, was graduated at Dartmouth in 1860 and studied at the Harvard Law School. For some time he practiced law at Portland,
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Maine, whence he removed to New York. From 1866 to 1869 he served as United States attorney for the southern district of New York. Subsequently he was district attorney of New York county and surrogate of the county. In 1887 he was the Republican candidate for a New York judgeship. He died in Somersworth August 30, 1897.
Addison Gardner, born in Rindge March 15, 1797, was grad- uated at Union College in 1819. He practiced law at Rochester, New York. He was district attorney for Monroe county in 1825 and for ten years from 1825 was circuit judge. In 1844 he was elected lieutenant-governor, in 1847 judge of the court of appeals and in 1854 became chief judge of that court. He died in Rochester, June 5, 1883.
Philip Eastman, born in Chatham, February, 1799, died in Saco, Maine, August 7, 1869. He entered Dartmouth Univer- sity and when that institution was abolished he went to Bow- doin College, where he was graduated in 1820. He practiced law in North Yarmouth, Harrison and Saco, Maine. In 1840-42 he served in the Maine senate. He was a commissioner under the treaty of Washington in 1842 to locate grants and pos- sessory claims to settlers on the St. John and Aroostook rivers, and subsequently was a commissioner of Cumberland county. He published "General Statutes of Maine," as chairman of a legislative commission for that purpose and a digest of the first twenty-six volumes of the "Maine Law Reports."
Benjamin West Bonney was born in Littleton, February 2, 1803, and died in New York City, August 18, 1868. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1824, practiced law in New York and was made judge of the supreme judicial court in 1860. Dartmouth honored him with the degree of Doctor of Laws and he was one of the board of trustees of that institution.
Ira Perley, though not a native of New Hampshire, spent his life there. He was born in Boxford, Massachusetts, No- vember 9, 1799, and was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1822, one of the very few who were perfect in deportment and scholarship. After graduation he filled the position of tutor for two years. He settled at Hanover in the practice of law and was appointed treasurer of the college. As a young man he used to entertain the other members of the bar at times by songs and anecdotes. After nine years of practice at Hanover
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he removed to Concord and in 1850 was appointed associate justice of the superior court, but gave up the office after two years. When the courts were reorganized in 1855 he became chief justice of the supreme judicial court and held that office till his resignation in 1859. Again he was appointed chief jus- tice in 1864 and served till he was seventy years of age, thus holding the seat of justice twelve years. He is remembered as a learned judge, learned not only in the law, but in literature. All his lifetime he continued to read the Latin classics and French and Italian authors in their own languages. The best English authors were well known to him. The study of the best writers gave him a rich vocabulary and command of the right words to fit any occasion that might arise. He knew how to pack into a few words a great deal of thought. His decisions are said to be models of style and clearness. His mind worked rapidly and he could accomplish much while others were only getting ready to act. Verbosity and irrelevant talk bored him sometimes to the point of hasty and impatient expression. Dis- honesty in the practice of law he could not tolerate. Rarely he had need of referring to legal authorities. His memory held the principles of law, and from these he reasoned quickly to conclusions. Being sure of the premises he was in no doubt as to the conclusions. Judge Perley died at Concord, February 26, 1874. His biographers rank him with the greatest jurists of the United States.
It is said on good authority that Henry Adams Bellows was born in Walpole, October 25, 1803, although one writer says that Rockingham, Vermont, was his native place. He was educated at Walpole and in an academy at Windsor, Vermont. He began to study law at the age of twenty and was admitted to the bar in 1826. He began practice at Walpole but removed to Littleton in 1828 and there resided till his removal to Con- cord in 1850. He was regarded as at the head of his profession in northern New Hampshire, judicious, skillful, resourceful and not easily disturbed. His cases were thoroughly studied, and neither time nor labor was spared in their preparation and con- duct. It was said that after his removal into Merrimac county the average duration of jury trials was increased by one-third, so minute was he in cross examinations and so much imitated by others. He served in the legislature as representative from
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