USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Plymouth > History of Plymouth, New Hampshire; vol. I. Narrative--vol. II. Genealogies, Volume I > Part 38
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He practised in Plymouth four years, when he removed to Rum- ney, where he died April 15, 1824. He was drowned in Baker's River. His entries as an attorney are not numerous in the dockets of his time. His professional labors were mainly limited to office practice.
DAVID SMILEY, son of Deacon William and Sarah (Robinson) Smiley, was born in Jaffrey, March 16, 1769. Deacon William Smiley, his father, in Revolutionary times was a zealous patriot and a prominent citizen of Jaffrey. Rev. Robinson Smiley, Dart- mouth College, 1798, and the first pastor of the Congregational Church of Springfield, Vt., was a younger son of Deacon William Smiley.
David Smiley was graduated at Harvard University, 1796, and practised law in Jaffrey from 1800 to 1807, serving the town as town clerk and selectman. In 1807 he removed to Bridgewater, now Bristol, where he practised ten years. In 1817 he was employed to teach the school in the second, often called the court- house, district. At this time he removed to Plymouth, and here continued the practice of law until 1819, when he removed to Grafton, where he built up an extensive practice. While attend- ing court in this town he was suddenly stricken with lung fever, and here died May 19, 1845. He is described as a man of fine personal appearance, of good address, and of unblemished character.
It is related in Bench and Bar that Mr. Smiley was an expert player of checkers, and learning that Dr. Peter Renton of Concord
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was a champion player of the game, he walked from Grafton to Concord to meet him. It was a genuine feat of modern knight errantry. They were so equally matched that while the lawyer won the first game the doctor won the second.
NATHANIEL PEABODY ROGERS, son of Dr. John and Betsey (Mulliken) Rogers, was born in Plymouth, June 3, 1794; Dart- mouth College, 1816. He read law with Richard Fletcher and Parker Noyes in Salisbury, and was admitted to the Bar, 1819. He was a brilliant lawyer and popular citizen of this town from 1819 to 1838, when he removed to Concord, where he died Oct. 16, 1846. His paternal and maternal ancestors and many of his kindred have been distinguished for talent, liberal learning, and chivalrous philanthropy. The home he enjoyed in childhood and the home over which he presided with graceful dignity in manhood were centres of refinement and gracious hospitality, and thither were attracted the cultured men and women of his time. He was a brilliant lawyer, a versatile pleader, and an eloquent advo- cate, and had he devoted his life to his chosen profession he would have met in the courts of the State few equals and no superiors. Through the purity of his character, the kindness of his heart, and the tenderness of his sympathies he became a firm advocate of anti-slavery and temperance. To these causes and other reforms he devoted the later years of his life. The earnest eloquence of his pleas in the courts and of brilliant address upon subjects which appealed to his reason or enlisted his sympathies are clearly attested if obscurely read in the fading pages of tradition, but the genius of the man, his power of rapid thought, and his felicity of expression still live, and his cultured mind is still speaking in his fervid contributions to the press.
The Herald of Freedom, dedicated to the cause of anti-slavery, was established in Concord in 1835, and later was published by John Robert French, who married a daughter of Mr. Rogers. To the Herald of Freedom and to The White Mountain Torrent, a temperance organ, which was published in Concord by Mr. French, Mr. Rogers was a frequent contributor. In 1838 he'
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became the editor of the Herald of Freedom, and a few months later he removed to Concord, where he resided until his death. To his commanding reputation as a lawyer in Grafton County he added fame as a writer in Concord. His editorials were fresh, trenchant, incisive, and unanswerable. Many of his descriptive articles, which appeared in the New York Tribune and other pub- lications over the pen name of Old Man of the Mountain, are fresh, pure, and matchless models of diction.
To leave Plymouth and the many friends whom he loved, to live beyond the view of the mountains, the rivers, and the meadows, the solace of his childhood and the inspiration of his maturer years, was a sacrifice indescribable. A year before his death he purchased the farm now of David J. Mccutcheon, and here he hoped to live. The surroundings pleased him, and he gave the contemplated home the name of Undercliff. Fate meanwhile was directing otherwise. In the summer of the last year of his de- voted life he remained a few weeks at the seashore, near Lynn, Mass. He returned to Concord in August. During the few re- maining weeks his mind was at rest, but his suffering was extreme. On a beautiful day of autumn, in the ripening sweetness of the year, he called a loving daughter to his side, telling her to sing again The Angel's Whisper. Thus died Rogers, the poet, the scholar, the philanthropist, and the song was sung again to him by the choir of heaven.
From an appreciative article in Granite Monthly, Vol. IV, by his friend and admirer, Parker Pillsbury, the following para- graphs are quoted : -
As a student in books of general literature, especially history and poetry, none were before him. I never heard Shakespeare, Burns, Byron, and Sir Walter Scott read so finely as at his fireside, when surrounded by his own family and perhaps a few invited friends. But general reading never detracted in the least from the duties of his profession. At the time of his death an intimate friend who knew him long and well wrote of him that " so accurate was his knowledge of law and so industrious was he in business, that the success of a client was always calculated upon from the moment that his assistance was secured. The great mis-
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sion of his life, however, was neither literature nor law. He was subse- quently ordained and consecrated as a high priest in the great fellowship of humanity, and most divinely did he magnify his office in the last ten years of his life on earth.
To do justice to the memory of Nathaniel Peabody Rogers, to his character and work, would require genius and inspiration equal to his own. He had most unshaken faith in the people; never doubting that, wisely taught and led, they would gladly abolish slavery and cease to oppress one another. And so, like the great Emancipator of Nazareth, he aimed his sternest strokes at the priests and rulers who " bound the heavy burdens and laid them on men's shoulders."
No two portraits of brothers ever painted much more resemble each other than do those of Nathaniel Peabody Rogers and the martyr John Rogers. I am familiar with both, and there is truly a most startling resemblance. And doubtless that resemblance reached to soul and spirit, so that in an important sense, both braved the Smithfield flames. Both believed in God and truth, in justice and right alike. Having espoused a divine idea, in full faith and love of it, what to them were crosses or fagot fires.
As a husband and father, I never knew one in whom his family were more supremely felicitated. As companion and friend, blessed were all they who enjoyed his confidence and esteem. All the elements of a divine and sanctified friendship seemed in him harmoniously to meet. Gentle, simple, tender, kind, ever ready to sacrifice his own comfort, sharing on occasions, like General Washington, his own room and bed with a colored man, a fugitive slave, not always of the Frederick Doug- lass quality ; and yet always discriminating in high degree with tastes most refined ; always ready to criticise as well as to serve a friend, how- ever dear, if he saw cause, but never in a way to offend; running over with music, poetry, and culture of every kind, he was one the like of whom I have not since seen and may never look on his like again.
WILLIAM COOMBS THOMPSON, son of Thomas W and Elizabeth C. (Porter) Thompson, was born in Salisbury, March 17, 1802; Dartmouth College, 1820. He pursued a course of professional study at the Law School, Litchfield, Conn., and in the offices of George Blake in Boston, Mass., and Parker Noyes in Salisbury. He was admitted 1824, and opened an office in Concord, where he remained two years, removing to Plymouth in 1826. At the time of his removal to this town a State bank doing business many subsequent years as the Pemigewasset Bank had been chartered, VOL. I .- 29
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and William Webster, Moor Russell, and John Rogers, with other men, were completing an organization and were seeking a cashier. To the young lawyer, who was removing to the town, they extended an invitation to accept the position, and the bank was established in his office. He was the cashier of the bank two years. In this business he was brought into close and friendly relations with the prominent men of Plymouth and the surrounding towns. He early acquired a lucrative and extensive practice. In the consulta- tion of the office his wisdom and sagacity were conspicuous, and in the courts he was an able and a dignified advocate.
Governor Bell, in Bench and Bar, pays an appreciative tribute to one of the most successful of the lawyers of Plymouth : ---
He lived in Plymouth twenty-six years, where he had accumulated a handsome competency, and in 1852 removed to Worcester, Mass. The remaining quarter of a century of his life he spent in a retired and quiet manner.
The chief memorials of the lifework of a lawyer, who devotes himself to his profession, are to be found in the buried records of the courts and in fleeting tradition. Mr. Thompson is remembered for his sagacity and wise application of the principles of jurisprudence rather than as a book- lawyer or a forensic champion. His innate sense of rectitude seldom failed to guide to the true solution of the problems which lay in doubt. His personal and religious character, his justice and benevolence, won him the respect of his brethren of the Bar and of the people at large.
He died in Worcester, Mass., April 27, 1877.
JONATHAN BLISS, son of Jonathan and Martha (Martin) Bliss, was born in Randolph, Vt., July 15, 1799; Dartmouth College, 1824. He was a student at law at the school in Northampton, Mass., with Joseph Bell of Haverhill, and with William C. Thompson of Plymouth. He was admitted 1828, and at this time he had maintained a residence in this town three years. He became associated in business with William C. Thompson, and under the firm Thompson & Bliss he practised law in this town from 1828 to 1832. He removed to Haverhill, 1832, and remained there four years, when he removed to Gainesville, Ala. In New Hampshire he was regarded by his associates as a good lawyer
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and an able advocate. In Alabama he was successful and acquired a good estate. He was an elder of the Presbyterian church, and held a prominent position in his profession. He was genial, shrewd, and able, and was popular among his fellow-men.
He made an honest and determined effort to dissuade his neighbors from a decision in favor of armed rebellion, and when he was summoned to declare himself for the Union or Rebellion he reluctantly cast his lot with the State in which he was living. On account of age he was excused from active service, but he raised and equipped a full company at his own expense. He died July 27, 1879, in Cleveland, Ohio, while temporarily absent from his home in Gainesville.
JAMES MCQUESTEN, son of James and Margery (Greenough) McQuesten, was born in Bedford, March 1, 1810. His father died a few days before he was born, and for several years he found a home in the family of his uncle and guardian, Deacon John McQuesten. He was employed several years in stores in Concord and Boston, Mass. His health failed, and he removed to Plymouth, 1837, where he read law and was admitted to the Bar in 1847. He was not largely engaged in the trial of causes, but he was a good counsellor and an excellent office lawyer. He settled several estates and was the trusted guardian of many children. He was respected as a citizen, and in his professional labors he acquired a good estate. He died in Chicago, Ill., May 28, 1875.
DAVID HAYNES COLLINS, son of Samuel and Sarah (Haynes) Collins, was born in Deerfield, Nov. 9, 1811; Dartmouth College, 1835. He read law with Charles H. Peaslee in Concord and Josiah Quincy in Rumney. He entered upon the practice of his profession in Plymouth in 1838, and was taxed in this town in April, 1839. At the June session, 1839, he was elected clerk of the house of representatives. In July of the same year he was appointed Register of Probate, and immediately removed to Haverhill. He was methodical and exact, and his services were highly commended. After three years of close application his
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health failed. He resigned and spent the winter in the South, returning in the spring of 1843 to his home in Deerfield, where he died June 24, 1843.
WILLIAM LEVERETT, son of John and Elizabeth (Salisbury) Leverett, was born in Windsor, Vt., July 8, 1813; Yale College, 1834. He studied for the legal profession at the Yale Law School, in New York City, and with William Crafts at Utica, N. Y., where he was admitted. He came to Plymouth in 1839, or early in 1840. He was a gentleman of scholarly attainments, a good lawyer, and a wise counsellor. His cases were prepared with unusual care, and he tried them with method and ability. In his professional relations and in social and town affairs he was highly esteemed. He was a faithful lawyer of Plymouth thirty-five years. He assisted many and intentionally injured none. In his office Henry W. Blair read for his profession, and later was his partner in business. Mr. Leverett died in Plymouth, Sept. 18, 1874.
RALPH METCALF, son of John and Roby (Converse) Metcalf, was born in Charlestown, Nov. 21, 1798; Dartmouth College, 1823. He read law with Henry Hubbard of Charlestown, Richard Bartlett of Concord, and George B. Upham of Claremont. He practised in Newport two years; in Binghamton, N. Y., two years. Returning to New Hampshire he opened an office in Clare- mont. He was elected secretary of state in June, 1831, and removed to Concord. He held the office seven years, and in 1838 he accepted an appointment in the treasury department, ten- dered by Levi Woodbury, then secretary of the treasury, which he resigned, and opened an office in Plymouth in March, 1840. Here he paid one tax and removed to Newport before April, 1841, where he was successful in law and in politics. In October, 1845, he was appointed Register of Probate, holding. the office six years. In 1852 and 1853 he was a representative from Newport, and he was chairman of the commission to compile the laws of the State, 1852. He was governor of New Hampshire, 1855 and
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1856. After the expiration of his term of office he retired from active professional labor and spent the closing years of his life in Claremont, where he died Aug. 26, 1858. Those who remember him in Plymouth cheerfully testify that he was accomplished in manner, free from ostentation, and that his genial qualities won many friends.
ELLERY ALBEE HIBBARD, son of Silas and Olive (Albee) Hib- bard, was born in St. Johnsbury, Vt., July 31, 1826. He read law with Nathan B. Felton and Charles R. Morrison in Haverhill, and with Henry F. French in Exeter. He was admitted in July, 1849. He entered upon the practice of his profession in Ply- mouth, and remained in this town until January, 1853, when he removed to Laconia. He was an able and a learned lawyer. He carefully prepared his cases, and presented them with tact and ability. He was elected to the Forty-second Congress, 1871-73, and in 1873 he was appointed an associate justice of the Supreme Court. The court was reorganized in 1874, and Mr. Hibbard resumed his law practice in Laconia, where he labored success- fully until his death. He died July 24, 1903. A.M., Dartmouth College, 1863.
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NAPOLEON BONAPARTE BRYANT, son of Jeremy Young and Mercy P. (Blake) Bryant, was born in Andover, Feb. 25, 1825. He was a student in Waterville College, read law with Nesmith and Pike of Franklin, and graduated from Harvard Law School, 1848. He was admitted to the Bar at an adjourned term of court at Plymouth in January, 1849. He commenced the practice of his profession at Bristol, where he remained four years. He served the town as school committee two years, and was twice the democratic candidate for representative, and was elected a county commissioner, 1852. He removed to Plymouth in 1853, where he remained two years. He was appointed county solicitor, 1854, and for political reasons he was removed by address, July 14, 1855. He removed from Plymouth to Concord in the autumn of 1855, or early in 1856, and formed a partnership with Lyman T. Flint.
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At this time he gave his allegiance to the republican party, and was elected a representative, 1857, 1858, and 1859, and was a popular speaker of the house the two last sessions. He was a delegate to the national republican convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln in 1860. In the campaigns of 1856 and 1860 he won an enviable reputation as an eloquent and popular speaker. Withdrawing from politics, he opened an office in Boston, and there the more substantial labor of his lifetime was performed. He was an impressive speaker and an able advocate. He retired from practice in 1891 and returned to his native town. He served the State as a forestry commissioner from 1893 until his death, and he presided over the republican State convention for the choice of delegates to the national convention in 1900. On the evening of Jan. 28, 1902, he delivered an address at the annual installation of the officers of Highland Lake Grange in Andover. This was the last expression of his eloquent tongue. He died suddenly a few moments after the last word was spoken.
CHARLES JAMES FOX STONE, son of Peter and Ruth (Call) Stone, was born in Boscawen, April 21, 1827. He pursued a course of study at the Military Academy in Norwich, Vt., and read law with Austin F. Pike in Franklin, attending Harvard Law School in 1854 and 1855. He came to Plymouth in the spring of 1856 and was admitted to the Bar in 1857. The fol- lowing year he became associated with Joseph Burrows and con- tinued practice in this town in the law firm of Burrows & Stone. He set out upon a brief career under auspices of promise, and early demonstrated his ability and legal attainments. He was a member of the Governor's Horse Guards, being the only represen- tative from this vicinity in that famous military organization. In March, 1860, he was elected a representative to the legislature. Surrendering an assured prospect of a substantial career, he died in the prime of life, April 19, 1860.
JOHN ALVIN PUTNEY, son of John and Sally (Batchelder) Putney, was born in Concord, Aug. 23, 1833; Dartmouth College,
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1856. He read law in Concord, Portland, Me., and with Charles James Fox Stone of Plymouth. He came to Plymouth in 1857. He was admitted 1858, and a few months later he returned to Concord. In 1860 he removed to Memphis, Tenn., where he died May 21, 1865. In the Civil War he was a quartermaster in the Union army.
JOSEPH CLARK, son of Joseph and Hannah (Cook) Clark, was born in Campton, April 2, 1826; Dartmouth College, 1854. He was a classmate of Rev. Henry A. Hazen, D.D., and of Judge David R. Lang of Orford. He read law in this town with Napo- leon B. Bryant; meanwhile he successfully taught one or more terms of high school in the Holmes Academy building. He was engaged in conveyancing and office work in the office of Charles J. F. Stone in 1855, and was admitted to the Bar in February, 1856. He practised in Plymouth, some of the time in company with Benjamin Clark, his brother, until the January term, 1868, when he was disbarred. He was a man of tact and ability, but the court did not approve of his method of conduct in several cases. He was commissioned a captain of Company A, Sixth New Hampshire Infantry, Nov. 30, 1861, and resigned April 14, 1862. From 1868 to 1875 he continued his residence in Plymouth and was engaged in the manufacture of lumber. He removed in 1875 to San Francisco, Cal., where he died Sept. 12, 1902.
BENJAMIN CLARK, son of Joseph and Hannah (Cook) Clark, was born in Campton, June 11, 1828; Dartmouth College, 1855. He was a classmate of Judge William H. H. Allen of Claremont, Edward B. S. Sanborn of Franklin, and Nelson Dingley of Maine. He read law with Ellery A. Hibbard of Laconia and with Flint and Bryant of Concord. He came to Plymouth in 1858 and practised four years in connection with Joseph Clark, his brother. In 1862 he removed to Melrose, Minn., and there engaged in a flour and grain business several years. Later he resumed the practice of law in North Dakota. He died at Fargo, N. D., May 27, 1896.
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JOSEPH BURROWS, son of Joseph and Rachel (Blaisdell) Bur- rows, was born in Lebanon, Me., Aug. 24, 1813. He studied his profession in the office of Josiah Dearborn in Effingham and at the Harvard Law School. He practised a few years in Effingham, removing, 1844, to Holderness Village, now Ashland. He re- moved to Plymouth, 1858, where he died April 5, 1883. Of Mr. Burrows as a lawyer Albert S. Batchelder has written: "He was a man of strong feelings and positive convictions, of warm friendship and intense dislikes. He was faithful to his clients, careful in the preparation of cases, and efficient in trials; a good judge of law, a safe counsellor, endowed with common sense and practical judgment." To which Gov. Charles H. Bell has added: "Mr. Burrows possessed a good legal mind, was industrious and persevering, and his name is asso- ciated in the judicial reports with actions of more than usual consequence."
The people of Plymouth, who knew him in the daily walks of life, testify to the abundant measure of his ability and the rugged- ness of his character. If the few found him an unyielding oppo- nent, the many were charmed with his good humor and valued him as a steadfast friend.
Upon his removal to Plymouth he formed a partnership with Charles James Fox Stone, which was dissolved by the death of Mr. Stone. In 1860 he became associated in business with John W. Ela. The partnership was terminated in 1862, when Mr. Ela entered the service of the United States. In 1875 Mr. Burrows formed a partnership with Charles A. Jewell, and the law firm was continued until the death of Mr. Burrows.
Mr. Burrows was a town clerk of Effingham, a town officer of Holderness, a representative of Plymouth four terms, and a member of the school board many years. He was a delegate to the constitutional convention, 1876, and an influential member of the governor's council, 1878 and 1879. He was a trustee of the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane, and in every position to which he was called he rendered efficient service.
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Dartmouth College conferred the honorary degree of A.M. in 1872.
HENRY WILLIAM BLAIR, son of William Henry and Lois (Baker) Blair, was born in Campton, Dec. 6, 1834. He attended the public school, the Academy in Plymouth, and the New Hamp- shire Conference Seminary, teaching meanwhile several terms of school. In the winter of 1854/5 he taught the school in Ply- mouth Village. In 1856 he became a student at law in the office of William Leverett, and was admitted to the Bar in 1859, and immediately became associated with his preceptor under the firm name of Leverett & Blair. He labored in his chosen profession with enthusiasm and success, early earning a reputation and honors unusual for one of his years and experience. July 3, 1860, he was appointed by Governor Goodwin solicitor for the county of Grafton. , He filled the position with credit and distinction until 1862 and until he was called to another field of service. In the War of the Rebellion he promptly responded to the summons of his country. He volunteered in 1861 and again early in 1862, but was refused by the surgeons. In a third effort to enter the service he enlisted into the Fifteenth New Hampshire Infantry, Oct. 2, 1862, for the term of nine months. He resigned as solicitor in September, 1862, and, surrendering the certainties of an established business for the uncertainities of war, he left his home in Plymouth a private. He returned to New Hampshire, in the absence of Colonel Kingman, in command of his regiment. While the regiment was gathering at Concord he was appointed captain of Company B, but before the organization was fully com- pleted he was commissioned major of the regiment. The commis- sion was dated Oct. 7, 1862. His care for the men of the regiment was constant, and his service in the field was brave and soldierly. Without previous military discipline, he won the esteem of his comrades in arms and added new honors to the accumulating record of the citizen-soldier of our country. He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, April 8, 1863, and during the memorable siege of Port Hudson he was in command of the
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