USA > New Hampshire > History of New Hampshire, from its first discovery to the year 1830; with dissertations upon the rise of opinions and institutions, the growth of agriculture and manufactures, and the influence of leading families and distinguished men, to the year 1874; > Part 36
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In June, 1764, Matthew Pettengill, Stephen Call and Ebenezer Webster were the sole highway surveyors of Stevenstown. In 1765, the proprietors voted to give Ebenezer Webster and Ben- jamin Sanborn two hundred acres of common land, in considera- tion that they furnish a privilege for a grist-mill, erect a mill and keep it in repair for fifteen years, for the purpose of grinding the town's corn.
In 1768 Judge Webster was first chosen moderator of a town- meeting in Salisbury, and he was elected forty-three times after- ward, at different town-meetings in Salisbury, serving in March, 1803, for the last time.
In 1769 he was first elected selectman, and held that office for the years 1770, '72, '74, '76, '80, '85, '86, and '88 ; resigning it, however, in September, 1776, and performing a six months' service in the army.
In 1771, 1772 and 1773, he was elected and served in the of- fice of town clerk. In 1778 and 1780 he was elected represent- ative of the classed towns of Salisbury and Boscawen ; also, for Salisbury, in 1790 and '91. He was elected senator for the years 1785, '86, '88 and '90; Hillsborough county electing two sen- ators at this time, and Matthew Thornton, and Robert Wallace of Henniker, serving as colleagues, each for two of said years. He was in the senate in 1786, at Exeter, when the insurgents surrounded the house. His proclamation to them was 'I com- mand you to disperse.'
In March, 1778, the town chose Captain Ebenezer Webster
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and Captain Matthew Pettengill as delegates to a convention to be held at Concord, Wednesday, June 10, 'for the sole pur- pose of forming a permanent plan of government for the future well being of the good people of this state.'
In 1788, January 16, Colonel Webster was elected delegate to the convention at Exeter, for the purpose of considering the pro- posed United States constitution. A committee was also chosen by the town to examine said constitution, and advise with said delegate. This committee was composed of Joseph Bean, Esq., Jonathan Fifield, Esq., Jonathan Cram, Captain Wilder, Deacon John Collins, Edward Eastman, John C. Gale, Captain Robert Smith, Leonard Judkins, Deacon Jacob True, Lieutenant Bean, Lieutenant Severance and John Smith. At the first meeting of the convention, in February, Colonel Webster opposed the con- stitution, under instructions from his town.
A majority of the convention were found to be opposed to the adoption of the constitution. The convention adjourned to Con- cord, to meet in the succeeding month of June. In the mean time Webster conferred with his constituents, advised with the committee on the subject, asked the privilege of supporting the constitution, and he was instructed to vote as he might think proper. His speech, made on this occasion, has been printed. It did great credit to the head and heart of the author :
" Mr. President: I have listened to the arguments for and against the constitution. I am convinced such a government as that constitution will establish, if adopted-a government acting directly on the people of the states-is necessary for the common defence and the general welfare. It is the only government which will enable us to pay off the national debt. The debt which we owe for the Revolution, and which we are bound in honor fully and fairly to discharge. Besides, I have followed the lead of Washing- ton through seven years of war, and I have never been misled. His name is subscribed to this constitution. He will not mislead us now. I shall vote for its adoption."
The constitution was finally adopted in the convention by the vote of fifty-seven yeas and forty-seven nays. Colonel Webster gave his support to the constitution. He was one of the electors for president when WASHINGTON was first chosen to that office.
In the spring of 1791, Colonel Webster was appointed Judge of the court of common pleas for the county of Hillsborough. This office he held at the time of his decease, in 1806. He was one of the magistrates, or justices of the peace for Hillsborough county, for more than thirty-five years prior to his decease."
The sons of Judge Webster Daniel and Ezekiel, are noticed among the distinguished members of the New Hampshire Bar, in a subsequent chapter.
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CHAPTER XCV.
THE BAR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE BETWEEN A. D. 1800 AND 1830.
New Hampshire has produced an unusual number of distin- guished men, especially in the legal profession. If we take the year 1815 as a stand-point and look backward and forward for about fifteen years, we shall find more eminent lawyers and ora- tors in our little state than in any other in the Union. Some of the men living in that period have never been surpassed, in any age or nation. The central figure in that group of advocates is Jeremiah Mason. By the unanimous consent of the present generation of Americans, he had no peer as a lawyer. He was a truly magnificent man in mind and body. His noble physique corresponded to the indwelling soul ; it was grand, lofty and im- posing. No man who saw him once ever forgot him. Most men after seeing him, like the honest Shaker who was sent to consult him, could talk of nothing else but his "extraordinary size." But those who heard him were still more profoundly impressed. His intellectual and professional portrait has been drawn by the hand of a master. Mr. Webster says: "The characteristics of Mr. Mason's mind, as I think, were real greatness, strength and sagacity. He was great through strong sense and sound judg- ment, great by comprehensive views of things, great by high and elevated purposes. Perhaps sometimes he was too cautious and refined, and his distinctions became too minute; but his dis- crimination arose from a force of intellect, and quick-seeing, far- reaching sagacity, everywhere discerning liis object and pursu- ing it steadily. Whether it was popular or professional, lie grasped a point and held it with a strong hand. He was some- times sarcastic, but not frequently ; not frothy or petulant, but cool and vitriolic. Unfortunate for him on whom his sarcasm fell! His conversation was as remarkable as his efforts at the bar. It was original, fresh and suggestive ; never dull or indif- ferent. As a professional man, Mr. Mason's great ability lay in the department of the common law. In this part of jurispru- dence lie was profoundly learned. In his addresses, both to courts and juries, he affected to despise all eloquence, and cer- tainly disdained all ornament ; but his efforts, whether addressed to one tribunal or the other, were marked by a degree of clear- ness, distinctness and force not easy to be equaled." Mr. Web- ster lived in the same town, practiced in the same courts with
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Mr. Mason and was generally pitted against him as an antag- onist. In this relation they helped rather than harmed one another. They grew strong, vigilant and wise by their mutual conflicts ; for in such intellectual warfare, as Burke remarks, "our antagonist is our helper." Their associates were all men of mark. There were practicing at the same bar with these lead- ing lawyers, Mr. West, Mr. Gordon, Edward St. Loe Livermore, Peleg Sprague, William K. Atkinson, George Sullivan, Ichabod Bartlett, Thomas W. Thompson, Jeremiah Smith, William Plumer, Arthur Livermore, Samuel Bell, Levi Woodbury, Charles H. Atherton, Joseph Bell, George B. Upham, Richard Fletcher and many other eminent jurists.
CHAPTER XCVI.
JEREMIAH SMITH.
Jeremiah Smith, better known to all as " Judge Smith," was partly educated at Cambridge, but was graduated at Rutger's college, New Jersey. The next few years were spent in study- ing law and teaching, and in 1786 he was admitted to the bar by the court held at Amherst, Hillsborough county. Unlike many of his profession, he combined the characters of attorney and peace-maker, always preventing a law-suit when possible. It was thought by many of the most considerate men in Peter- borough (his native town where he was then residing), that he should be paid $500 each year for saving in this way so much time and money. By his unswerving justice, laborious prepara- tion of his cases and hearty contempt for the "paltry shifts of legal cunning," he did much to bring about a better administra- tion of justice in the courts of New Hampshire. In his own town he was deeply interested in everything that would better its condition. Through his influence, new school-houses were built, better teachers were procured, a small social library was established and the young men, roused by reading, gained habits of earnest thought and keen discussion. In addition to his practice, which was always good, he filled various public offices in his town and state, and in 1790 was chosen a member of con- gress, and served in that capacity with great honor to himself until 1787, when he was appointed United States attorney for the district of New Hampshire. In 1800 he was appointed
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judge of probate for the county of Rockingham, and during this year he prepared a full and elaborate treatise on that branch of the law. In 1801 he was made a judge in the United States circuit court ; but this office, which, he used to say, was the only one he ever greatly desired, was taken from him by an act of congress repealing the judiciary law. After this he was twice the chief justice of New Hampshire, its governor for one year, besides distinguishing himself in contests at the bar with Mason, Webster and Sullivan.
The names of Smith and Mason are most frequently men tioned together by those who remember those times. Neither of them laid claim to the graces of oratory. " When they met it was the stern encounter of massive intellectual strength." Both were men of humor and loved a joke. Mr. Mason once told Mr. Smith that, having been recently looking over the criminal calendar of the English courts, he was surprised to find there so many persons bearing his name, and asked how it happened. "Oh," said he, "when they got into difficulty they took the re- spectable name of Smith, but it generally turned out that their real name was Mason." They worked together in the famous Dartmouth College case.
In 1820, having reached his sixty-first year, Judge Smith with- drew from active life. His old age was happy, serene and use- ful. Wit, wisdom and worth were all his to an unusual degree. In private life he was delightful. Overflowing with fun and kindness, he charmed the young and old alike.
CHAPTER XCVII.
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EZEKIEL WEBSTER.
Ezekiel Webster was a native of Salisbury. He was born March 11, 1780. The first nineteen years of his life were spent on his father's farm. By constant labor beneath a rigorous cli- mate and upon a comparatively sterile soil, he acquired that full muscular development and majestic figure which in later years gave to him extraordinary manly beauty. His brother Daniel, being less robust in constitution, was early destined by his father to professional life. During a college vacation when the brothers were at home together, they made the education of Ezekiel the theme of their constant deliberations. One night they passed
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in sleepless conference. They hardly dared broach the subject to their father, who regarded his elder son as the support of his declining years. Finally Daniel ventured to open the subject to his father. He referred the matter to their mother. A family council was called. The mother was a strong-minded, sagacious woman. She at once admitted the reasonableness of the re- quest and gave her decision, in these words : " I have lived long in the world and have been happy in my children. If Daniel and Ezekiel will promise to take care of me in my old age, I will consent to the sale of all our property at once, that they may enjoy with us the benefit of what remains after our debts are paid." This was a moment of intense interest to all the family. Parents and children mingled their tears together at the thought even of a temporary separation. The die was cast.
After spending about fifteen months in preparation, Ezekiel Webster entered Dartmouth College in the spring of 1801. He ranked among the first of his class in scholarship. He suc- ceeded, with great economy and some deprivation of necessary comforts, by the aid of teaching and the slight contributions to his support from his father and brother, in completing his educa- tion. Mr. Webster, after devoting three years to the study of law, entered upon the practice of his profession, at Boscawen, in September, 1807. His legal knowledge and moral worth soon secured for him an extensive business. As a lawyer he had few equals. He was a wise counselor and able advocate. In de- bate he was dignified and courteous. His weapons were sound arguments clothed in simple but elegant language. His eloquence was earnest and effective. For many years he was a member of one or the other branch of the state legislature. He died sud- denly, of heart disease, on the tenth of April, 1829. He was speaking, standing erect, on a plain floor before a full house, with all eyes fastened upon him. He closed one branch of his argument, uttered the last sentence and the last word of that sentence with perfect tone and emphasis ; and then in an instant fell backward without bending a joint, and seemed to be dead before he reached the floor. Though life was not absolutely ex- tinct, he neither breathed nor spoke again.
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CHAPTER XCVIII.
DANIEL WEBSTER.
In describing the leaders of the bar of New Hampshire, it would be as absurd to pass over Daniel Webster in silence as it would to enact the play of Hamlet and leave out the Prince of Denmark himself ; yet he has been so often eulogized that it seems a work of supererogation to recite even his excellences to the men of this generation. No orator in the world's history was ever more widely known and honored by his contemporaries. His fame was co-extensive with human civilization. European statesmen who took a lively interest in American politics re- garded him as the authoritative expounder of our constitution. He so ably developed the true nature of our government on the floor of the United States Senate that he was everywhere styled the " Defender of the Constitution." In his reply to Colonel Hayne he first taught the people what the UNION really meant, and furnished the arguments by which inferior orators defended it when it was assailed by rebel statesmen. When Mr. Webster died nations were his mourners, and "the world felt lonely " without him. His character and his oratory received unstinted praise from the press and the pulpit. Not even Washington himself was a more general theme of eulogy. Daniel Webster was born in Salisbury, January 18, 1782. He once said in a public speech : " It did not happen to me to be born in a log cabin ; but my elder brothers and sisters were born in a log cabin, reared amid the snow-drifts of New Hampshire at a period so early that when the smoke first rose from its rude chimney and curled over the frozen hills, there was no similar evidence of a white man's habitation between it and the settlements on the rivers of Canada." His early advantages for education were limited. A few weeks' study each winter in the district school made up the sum of his early intellectual culture. In his fif- teenth year he spent nine months at Exeter Academy. Most of his preparation for college was made under the tuition of Rev. Dr. Wood of Boscawen, who received for board and tuition only one dollar per week. He entered Dartmouth College in 1797, where he passed four years in assiduous study. His moral character and devotion to duty have received the highest com- mendation from teachers and classmates. As a writer and speaker he had no equal. He studied law in Boston with Hon.
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Christopher Gore and was admitted at the Suffolk bar in 1805 .. He then opened an office at Boscawen that he might be near his father and assist him in his declining years. Two years after the death of his father, he relinquished his office to his brother, and the next year removed to Portsmouth, where he gained his chief reputation as a lawyer. His practice was abundant but not lucrative, for clients in those days were not rich. He was chosen by the federal party in 1812 to represent the state in congress. He took his seat at the first session of the thirteenth congress, which was an extra session called in May, 1813. From this date to the day of his death, in October, 1852, he had little rest from public official duties. No one man in American history has so deeply impressed his opinions and character upon the in- stitutions of the country. He was distinguished in every de- partment of labor in which he engaged ; at the bar, in congress, in the senate, and in the cabinet. It may be doubted whether, in any of the spheres which he so ably filled, our country has produced a greater man.
CHAPTER XCIX.
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ICHABOD BARTLETT.
"The subject of this notice graduated at Dartmouth College in 1806, where he was a classmate of Hon. George Grennel of Massachusetts. In the same year he delivered the oration in his native town on the Fourth of July, which was published. Having studied law with Moses Eastman and Parker Noyes, he was admitted to the bar in 1812, and commenced practice in Durham. He removed to Portsmouth, where he rapidly attained an honorable rank in his profession, of which he was subse- quently the acknowledged head. The New Hampshire Bar was at this time distinguished for ability, and it was among such com- petitors as Webster, Jeremiah Mason, Jeremiah Smith, Bell, Fletcher, Sullivan and Woodbury, that Mr. Bartlett won his legal honors. He was appointed clerk of the state senate in 1817 and in 1818, in which office he was succeeded by the late Isaac Hill. He was also appointed county solicitor for Rockingham in 1819. Elected to the legislature of the state in 1819, he sig- nalized his entry upon the political arena by his famous speech in favor of the Toleration act, in July of that year. This law, for
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the first time, placed all religious denominations in the state upon equal grounds, taking away the legal establishment of a single sect, and making all dependent upon voluntary contributions for their support. He served three years in succession, and in 1821 was made speaker. He was elected afterwards in 1830, 1832, and again in 1851 and 1852.
In 1823 he was elected to congress, and took his seat in De- cember of that year as a member of the eighteenth congress. He made his appearance at a time of unusual excitement, when Mr. Webster had introduced, and Mr. Clay was supporting with his characteristic impetuosity, the famous resolution in favor of the Greeks. Mr. Bartlett, considering it his duty "to stem the current of popular excitement," opposed the resolution. Mr. Clay, in replying, alluded to " the young gentleman from New- Hampshire," and offered some advice to him on the sub- ject in debate. Mr. Bartlett's retort on this occasion is remem- bered as one of the most effective off-hand speeches ever made in congress. It is certain that while it contributed materially to advance his reputation it secured for him subsequent considera- tion and respect from his great antagonist.
Mr. Bartlett was twice reelected, and continued in the house until 1829. He was distinguished as a bold and spirited debater, and several of his speeches are preserved which fully sustain his reputation as an orator. Those on the " Suppression of Piracy" in 1825, on the " Amendment of the Constitution" in 1826, on "Internal Improvement" in 1827, and on " Retrenchment " in 1828, were widely circulated in the newspapers of the day, and. were perhaps favorable specimens of his power.
When the democratic party in New Hampshire split on the rock of Jacksonism, he took his stand with Plumer, the Bells, Jacob B. Moore and others against the Jackson party under Isaac Hill, who subsequently triumphed and ruled the state. He was the candidate of the anti-Jackson party for governor in 1831 and again in 1832, when he was defeated by Samuel Dinsmoor.
In 1850 Mr. Bartlett was chosen a member of the state con- vention for the revision of the Constitution, of which he was temporary chairman, being succeeded by Frank Pierce as pres- ident of the convention. In this convention, as in the state leg- islature, upon his frequent reëlections, although in the minority upon all political questions, his genius and ability were such as to elicit the admiration of his opponents, and his influence will be felt and his name long remembered as one of the most emi- nent in the history of his native state. It was, however, on the fields of his first triumphs-at the bar-that he achieved his greatest distinction, in the maturity of his powers. 'Master of all the graces of action, speech and thought, yet strong in argu-
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ment,' his success was brilliant and continuous, and he re- tained his position to the end of his career.
They do not seem to have been her greatest men whom New Hampshire has most delighted to honor, but she may still point with motherly pride to the list of those who have honored her, in spite of her neglect. Among these, many names will occur to those who are at all familiar with her history, but none more worthy than that of Ichabod Bartlett."
He died at Portsmouth, where he spent most of his life, Octo- ber 19, 1853, aged 67.
NOTE .- The author of the above eulogy I cannot now identify.
CHAPTER C.
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LEVI WOODBURY.
Mr, Woodbury was one of the most distinguished of the sons of New Hampshire. He was graduated at Dartmouth College in the class of 1809. He was a student of superior scholarship and untiring industry. At the early age of twenty-six he was appointed to the bench of the superior court of New Hampshire. He had been an ardent supporter of the war of 1812, and of course incurred the displeasure of a very powerful party who opposed it. His judicial opinions were therefore watched and criticised by vigilant and hostile partisans, but his services as judge were generally approved by friends and foes, and his legal decisions were held in high esteem.
In 1823 he was elected governor of the state. This office he held only one year. In 1825, being chosen to represent the town of Portsmouth in the state legislature, he was made speaker of the house. During the session he was elected a senator of the United States congress, and consequently resigned the chair of speaker. At the expiration of his senatorial term he was ap- pointed by Gen. Jackson, successively, secretary of the navy and of the treasury. He discharged the duties of all his high offices with such skill, prudence and dignity as reflected honor upon his native state. "During the intervals," says Mr. Barstow, " between the sessions of congress, he continued to practice at the bar, and moved, not without honor to himself, amid that bright constellation of lawyers for which New Hampshire was at this period celebrated throughout the United States. Webster,
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unanswerable in argument; Smith, Bell and Fletcher, all famous for legal acuteness ; Sullivan, unequaled in the music of his voice and the charms of his persuasive address ; Bartlett, master of all the graces of action, speech and thought, yet strong in argument ; these were the associates and competitors of Mr. Woodbury. Disciplined in such a school, he became strong among the strong men by whom he was surrounded, and, by his characteristic industry, zeal and habits of systematic arrange- ment, made himself felt as a man of distinguished ability at the bar and in all the various high public stations which he occupied."
CHAPTER CI.
COMMON SCHOOL INSTRUCTION IN THE STATE.
BY PROF. H. E. PARKER.
Little can be said with regard to anything which may have been done to promote education in the earliest period of our provincial history, from the time of the settlement of New Hamp- shire in 1623 to the time of its union with Massachusetts in 1641. From the similarity and contiguity of many of the settlers of the new colonies, however, it is not unreasonable to infer that they were as much alike in regard to matters of education as they were in other respects. We know that one of the earliest legis- lative acts of Massachusetts was to order that the selectmen of every town "have a vigilant eye over their brethren and neighbors, to see, first, that none of them shall suffer so much barbarisme in any of theire familyes, as not to indeavor to teach, by them- selves or others, theire children and apprentices, so much learn- ing as may inable them perfectly to read the English tongue and knowledge of the capitall lawes." Free schools were established in Boston in 1635. There is recorded on their town records of that year a request to Mr. Philemon Purmont to become an in- structor of their children. The next year a sum was raised for the support also of Mr. Daniel Maud as a free-school master. The former, two years later, removed to Exeter, and the latter, in 1642, became the minister of Dover. It is likely these two men would either find or make things at Exeter or Dover much the same in regard to education as they had been in the place they left.
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