USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 9
USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 9
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Judge Butler was possessed of superior abilities and of honest purposes ; he was true to his party, of unquestioned integrity and usefulness. As a lawyer he was attentive to his business, faithful, industrious, and persevering. As a citizen he is spoken of in terms of the highest commendation by those who knew him best.
FREDERIC H. DAVIS was a native of Boston, and was said to have been educated at the Roman Catho- lic College in Baltimore. He practiced in Salem in 1815, and came to Deerfield the next year, but re- mained only a year or two.
DAVID STEELE, JR., was a native of Peterborough, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1815. After reading law with Hon. James Wilson, he com- menced practice in Deerfield in 1818, but remained only a short time, removing to Gaffstown, where he passed the residue of his life.
JOSIAH HOUGHTON studied law at the Connecticut Law School and in the office of Hon. Boswell Ste- vens, of Pembroke, and on being admitted to the bar in 1820 set np practice in Deerfield, where he died in 1833. He was a respectable practitioner and an es- timable citizen. His death was the result of excite- ment and exposure, caused by the search for a child who had strayed away from his home.
IRA ST. CLAIR was born in New Hamptou, Aug. 9, 1796, read law with Stephen Moody, Esq., of Gil- manton, and S. C. Lyford, Esq., of Gilford, and began practice in his native town in 1824. The next year he changed his residence to Deerfield, where he re- mained for the rest of his life. In 1848 he received the appointment of judge of probate for the county of Rockingham, and held it until 1857. He was a law- yer of competent learning, with a good deal of old- fashioned prudence and caution, and was in many ways well fitted for the responsible office which he held. His character was excellent, and he was much respected by the community. He died April 5, 1875.
HORATIO GATES CILLEY was a son of Hon. Ho- ratio G. Cilley, of Deerfield, and was born Nov. 26, 1805. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1826, and pursued his law studies under the direction of Hon. George Sullivan, commencing his profes- sional life in Deerfield in 1830. He was a lawyer of respectable learning and capacity, and was chosen a representative of Deerfield in the General Court for
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HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
the years 1851 and 1852. Not long afterwards he left the State and removed to Lewiston, Me., where he passed the remainder of his life. His death oc- curred March 13, 1874.
DERRY.
JOHN PORTER was born in Bridgewater, Mass., Feb. 26, 1776. He completed his college course at Dartmouth in 1803, and studied law with Aaron Hutchinson, Esq., of Lebanon, and'in 1806 began to practice in Derry (then Londonderry). He represented that town in the State Legislature for five years, and the town of Derry for ten years. Ile was also a mem- ber of one of the commissions to revise the statutes of the State.
Mr. Porter's education and capacity were quite above the average, and he was esteemed an able and learned counselor. He was engaged in many con- tested causes in the courts, though he lacked confi- dence in his powers as an advocate, and the most im- portant of them were argued to the jury by other counsel. He gained the confidence of the community in an unusual degree, and there is no doubt that he conducted his legal business with prudence and un- common skill, and was faithful to the interests of his clients.
He was a tall, impressive-looking man, deliberate in movement and speech, but with a thorough appre- ciation of all that was bright and humorous.
JAMES THOM was born in Londonderry, Aug. 14, 1784, graduated from Dartmouth College in 1805, studied his profession with Hon. George Sullivan, and was admitted an attorney in 1808, making Exeter his first residence. While there he edited a paper called The Constitutionalist, besides attending to his law busi- ness. In 1815 he changed his residence to his native town, and remained there till his death, Nov. 27, 1852. He was a representative in the Legislature for several years, and took a leading part therein. About 1828 he was instrumental in obtaining the charter of a bank in Derry, and became its cashier, after which he gave little time to his profession .-
DAVID AIKEN GREGG, a native of Londonderry, was born March 12, 1788, and died at Derry, May 15, 1 1866. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1811, and began the practice of law in Londonderry in 1814, removed to Salem in 1817, and returned to Londonderry in 1820. In 1832 he was representative in the State Legislature, and State senator in 1840 and 1841. He was also postmaster of Derry, and register of probate from 1842 to 1847, during which time he resided in Exeter.
Mr. Gregg manifested no little of the sagacity and wit which characterized his Scotch-Irish ancestors. He was never largely engaged in the courts, but con- ducted a quiet, useful business to the satisfaction of those who employed him.
THORNTON BETTON, a son of IIon. Silas Betton, was born in Salem in the year 1800, and died there Sept. 1, 1841. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1820, studied law with James Thom, Esq., and set up in his profession in Salem, from which town he was sent as representative to the General Court for two or three years. In 1830 he changed his residence to Derry, and that town also he represented in the Legislature.
Mr. Betton possessed talents, and during his rather brief career made something of a figure. It is believed, . however, that his judgment and balance were not equal to his enterprise.
EDWARD PINKERTON PARKER, son of Rev. Ed- ward L. Parker, was born in Londonderry, April 18, 1816. Graduating from Dartmouth College in 1836, he taught in the Pinkerton Academy and studied law for two years, and was admitted to practice in 1839, establishing himself in Derry. From 1843 to 1847 he was principal of the Adams Female Academy there, and then removed to Merrimac, where he formed a connection in business with Hon. James U. Parker. In 1853 he bade adieu to the law and engaged in manufacturing. Ile died in Merrimac.
JOSEPH A. GREGG was the son of Hon. David A. Gregg, of Derry. He studied law in his father's office, and commenced practice in Derry about 1842. In 1850 he was a member of the convention to revise the Constitution of the State, and the youngest of that body. He was a man of promising talents, and had he been spared gave every indication of rising to em- inence. He died Sept. 9, 1854, at the early age of thirty-one. An obituary notice mentions the fact of his holding the office of postmaster, and being one of the prominent and enterprising citizens of his town.
He was a bright, ready man, of popular manners, and sang a good song in the old-fashioned convivial assemblies of the bar. He was public-spirited and took much interest in every movement for the benefit of his town. Few men have passed through life with , at a later date entered into trade in Manchester. the more general esteem and regard of all parties than Mr. Thom.
JOHN PORTER, JR., was a son of John Porter, Esq., of Londonderry. He studied law under the direction of his father, and entered practice in 1837 at Bedford as the partner of Jonas B. Bowman, Esq. Two years afterwards they removed to Manchester. Mr. Porter Afterwards, about 1858, he returned to Derry and resumed his law practice. He was irregular in his habits, and his law business dwindled, and at length, without notice to his friends, he went to Enfield and joined himself to the Society of Shakers there. He became a leading member of the sect, and was for several years engaged as their business agent, ac- quitting himself quite to their satisfaction. He died among them in 1875.
EPPING.
WILLIAM PLUMER filled no small space in the legal and political history of the State. Ilis native
William Plumer
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BENCH AND BAR.
place was Newbury, Mass., where he was born June ; and was far more interested in literary work and in 25, 1859, but when he was but nine years of age his public questions than in the pursuits of his profes- sion. father, Samuel Plumer, became a citizen of Epping, in this State, where his son ever afterwards resided.
William attended the schools of the neighborhood while assisting his father on the farm until he was seventeen, after which he had no instructor except while acquiring his legal education. But he was a great reader, and had an active mind and a retentive memory. Ilis first essay in life was as a preacher of the Baptist denomination when he was just reaching his majority ; but before long his opinions changed, and he resolved to study law. ITis instructors were Hon. Joshua Atherton, of Amherst, and Hon. John Prentice, of Londonderry, though he gave little credit to the latter.
Mr. Plumer was admitted to practice in 1787, hav- ing previously served in the office of selectman of Epping and representative in the State Legislature. The latter office he held for eight years, and was Speaker in 1791 and 1797. In 1798 he received the commission of solicitor for Rockingham County. In June, 1802, he was chosen to fill the vacancy in the Senate of the United States caused by the resig- nation of James Sheafe, and held his seat until March, 1807.
He was chosen a State senator in 1810 and 1811, and presided over the Senate both of those years. He was elected Governor of the State in 1812, and again in 1816, 1817, and 1818. This was the end of his publie service, though he survived until Dee. 23, 1850. For the remainder of his life he lived in re- tirement on his farm, surrounded by his family, and deriving great enjoyment from his large and well- selected library and from his literary labors. Ile wrote and published various essays of a historical, practical character, and prepared and left in manu- script a series of valuable biographical sketches of Americans of note of his own and earlier times. These would have been given to the public had not the various biographieal dictionaries and works of a similar character occupied so fully the field of his labors.
As a lawyer Governor Plumer was diligent, careful, and sagacious. He won his laurels among no mean competitors, the bar of Rockingham and Strafford Counties during the period of his aetive practice containing some of the foremost lawyers of their time in the country. In all the relations of life he was respected, even by those whose sympathies were, by reason of political disagreement, turned most widely in other directions.
WILLIAM PLUMER, JR., son of the preceding, was born in Epping, Feb. 9, 1789, was a student in Phil- lips' Exeter Academy and in Harvard College, whose diploma he received in 1809. He completed his legal studies under the tuition of his father in 1812, and was admitted to the bar, but he never could be styled an active practitioner. He was essentially a student,
In 1816 he was appointed United States commis- sioner of loans for the State of New Hampshire, and as such resided in Portsmouth for above a year, and until the office was abolished. In 1818 he was chosen a representative in the State Legislature, and the same year was elected a representative in the Con- gress of the United States, where he remained by successive re-elcetions for six years. In 1824 he was chosen, on the part of the New Hampshire Senate, United States senator, but the House failed to coneur. In 1827 and 1828 he was a member of the New Hamp- shire Senate, and in 1827 he declined the appoint- ment of United States district attorney. After this Mr. Plumer appeared seldom in public, though he occasionally took part in popular meetings and on occasions of unusual interest. IIc lived in much domestic happiness at his home in Epping, and em- ployed himself in reading and in literary compo- sition. Several poems of his were published, and others privately printed for distribution among his many friends. He also prepared a valuable biog- raphy of his father. His last public labors were in the State Constitutional Convention of 1850-51, and he died three years later, Sept. 18, 1854.
HIRAM OSGOOD was a native of London, and com- menced the law business in Epping about 1823. After remaining there about a dozen years, during which time he sustained a highly respectable char- aeter, he emigrated to Michigan, where he died in 1840.
ENOCH BARTLETT was a son of Hon. Bradbury Bartlett, of Nottingham, and commenced practice in Epping about 1845, but remained there only a couple of years before he went to Lawrence, Mass., and opened an office. He was quite a successful prac- titioner, and was elected mayor of the city, but died in 1855.
JAMES MCMURPHY was a partner of the pre- ceding, and continued in business in Epping after Mr. Bartlett's departure until his death, about 1855. Mr. MeMurphy was a man of decided ability, had gained a respectable position as a lawyer, and was a growing man at the time of his deccase, which oc- curred while he was only in middle age.
EXETER.
The first educated lawyer in Exeter was NICHOLAS PERRYMAN, a native of Devonshire, England, born Dec. 24, 1692. He came to this country young, after the death of his parents, married Joanna, daughter of Stephen Dudley, about 1717, and was iu practice in Exeter between 1720 and 1730. His name appears pretty frequently in suits after that date, and he did much of the conveyaneing of his time. In 1744 and 1746 he appeared in behalf of Exeter in divers con- tested matters wherein the town was interested. He
30
HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
was evidently a leading man, and took a prominent part in the affairs of the community.
NOAH EMERY was a son of Daniel Emery, of Kit- tery, Me., and was born Dec. 23, 1725. He studied law with Nicholas Perryman, Esq., whose son-in-law he became, and was in practice in Exeter before 1769. During the Revolutionary war he occupied important and confidential positions in the new government. He was repeatedly chosen delegate from Exeter to the Provincial Congress, and was made clerk thereof, and acted on the committee to draw up a form of government for the colony. He was appointed clerk of the Court of Common Pleas in 1776, and continued to hold the office till 1787, near the time of his death, and was succeeded in the office by his son, who bore : the same name.
.
WILLIAM PARKER, JR., was the son of Hon. Wil- liam Parker, of Portsmonth, an eminent judge of the Superior Court. He was born in 1731, graduated from Harvard College in 1751, and was admitted to the bar in 1765. Commencing practice in Exeter, he succeeded his father as register of probate in 1776, and discharged the duties of the office until his death in 1813. He was also appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1790, and served in that capacity until 1807.
Judge Parker was respectably learned in his pro- fession, and through his long life did much business in it, but on account of constitutional diffidence ap- peared little in the courts. It is said he never argued a cause to the court or jury, but he was an excellent conveyancer and a safe and judicious counselor, and found abundant professional occupation outside the courts. He was a man of bright parts and nnbending integrity, and though he looked after his clients' interests faithfully, was very easy towards his own debtors. He died June 5, 1813.
OLIVER PEABODY, eldest son of a farmer of the same name, was born in Andover, Mass., Sept. 2, 1753, graduated at Harvard College at the age of twenty, studied law with Hon. Theophilus Parsons, of Newbury, Mass., and settled in Exeter about 1781. Ile was soon brought into public notice. He received the appointment of solicitor Aug. 6, 1789, was elected State senator in 1790, and the same year was consti- tuted judge of probate for the county of Rockingham, which office be filled until June, 1793. In 1793 and 1794 he was again a member of the State Senate, and in the latter year president of that body. Being chosen State treasurer he resigned the office of sena- tor, and continued in the former office for nine years. In 1805 he was appointed sheriff of the county of Rockingham, and discharged the duties of the posi- tion for five years. In 1813 he was again chosen to the Senate, and was its presiding officer, and the same year was made a justice of the Court of Common
Pleas for the Eastern Circuit, holding the position until 1816. Three times he was chosen an elector of
He had several children, only one of whom arrived | President of the United States, viz., in 1796, 1800, at maturity, Joanna, who married Noah Emery, and 1808. He died Aug. 3, 1831. Esq. Mr. Perryman died Aug. 9, 1757.
Judge Peabody was gifted with excellent natural advantages, improved by study and cultivation. In all the various official positions which he sustained he exhibited the capacity and qualities needed for their | satisfactory administration. He was not a contentious lawyer, and rarely took part in the trial of causes in court, but he drew many writs and conducted a large office business to the contentment of his clients. He was formed by nature for popularity. Handsome in person, graceful in manner, with a mild temper and a social disposition, he won the regard and conciliated the good will of all. He could not have an enemy. His name naturally suggested itself for new positions of trust, and while few objected, he attracted warm friends and zealous partisans, who easily carried his election or appointment, so that a large portion of his active life was spent in the service of the public. He was the father of an interesting and gifted family, on whose education he spared no expense, and in whose society he enjoyed the chief happiness of his later years.
NATHANIEL PARKER, son of Judge William ' Parker, Jr., was born in East Kingston, Oct. 22, 1760, and studied law in the office of his father, settling in practice at Exeter. He represented that town in the Legislature, and after performing the functions of deputy Secretary of State for some years was then made secretary in 1809. He died in 1812, leaving no descendants.
GEORGE SULLIVAN, a native of Durham, and a son of Gen. John Sullivan, of the Revolution, was born Ang. 29, 1771, and was a graduate of Harvard College, of the class of 1791. He prepared himself for his profession under the tuition of his father, and made Exeter his home. He was appointed solicitor for Rockingham County in 1802, and held the office till 1805. In 1811 he was elected a member of Con- gress for two years, and in 1814 and 1815 he was chosen to a seat in the New Hampshire Senate. Be- fore this time, in 1805, he had received the appoint- ment to the State attorney-generalship,-which for three generations has been held long and creditably in the Sullivan family,-and occupied it for two years. Afterwards in 1815 he was reappointed and adminis- tered the office for twenty years more. He resigned the place in 1835, on the passage of a law increasing the salary, but prohibiting the incumbent from engaging in practice in civil causes. Mr. Sullivan's services were in too much demand by snitors to allow him to confine his attention solely to the criminal business. He died April 14, 1838, highly respected thronghont the State. His private, professional, and public char- acter were alike unblemished. His intellectual ca- pacity, his legal acquirements, and his honorable course of practice placed him in the foremost rank of
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BENCH AND BAR.
New Hampshire lawyers, while the charms of his sweet voice, his graceful gesticulation, and his elo- qnent periods gave him a great advantage over his less favored competitors. Though of ardent tempera- ment, and never shunning a contest, he was as ready to forgive as to take offense; the only unpardonable sin in his eyes was mean and underhand dealing. Ile was above all tricks and artifices. The traditions of his career that yet linger in the har are all as creditable to his high sense of professional honor as to his mental force and moving eloquence.
SOLON STEVENS, born in Charlestown, Oct. 3, 1778, graduated from Dartmouth College in 1798, read law with Hon. Benjamin West, and settled in Exeter in 1804. He remained there but a few years, when he removed to Boston, and soon returned to his native town, where he died Aug. 29, 1809.
JEREMIAH SMITH, a son of William Smith, was born in Peterborough, Nov. 29, 1759. He entered Harvard College in 1777, and about the same time served for two months in the army, being present and wounded at the battle of Bennington. He afterwards migrated to Rutgers College, in New Jersey, and graduated in 1780. He was for a time engaged in teaching, and then studied law, entering the bar in 1786, and establishing himself in his native town. He was sent as representative to the Legislature in 1788, 1789, and 1790, and as delegate to the State Constitu- tional Convention in 1791-92. In 1790 he was chosen representative in the United States Congress, and served until he resigned his seat to accept the ap- pointment of United States district attorney for New Hampshire in 1797. The same year he changed bis residence to Exeter. In 1800 he was commis- sioned judge of probate for Rockingham County, and discharged the duties of the position about two years. In 1801 he received from President Adams the ap- pointment of United States circuit judge and en- tered upon its duties, but in a few months the law which established the court was repealed and his office terminated. In 1802 he was elevated to the dignity of chief justice of the Superior Court of the State, and administered the office with eminent ability until his resignation, on account of ill health, in 1809. The next year he was elected Governor of New Hampshire, and hell the office for one year. He was replaced as chief in 1813 upon the bench of the highest State court, and continued as such until 1816, when a radical change of the judicial system of the State resulted in the removal of all the judges.
For a few years after this Judge Smith returned to the bar, and then about 1820 retired from active prac- tice. The honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by Dartmouth College in 1804, and by Harvard in 1807. He continued to live in Exeter till 1842, and then removed to Dover, where he died September 2Ist in the same year.
Judge Smith's intellect was vigorous, his learning great, and his perceptions keen. He was an admirable
lawyer, and enjoyed a large and lucrative practice in four counties for some years; but he studied and trained himself for the judicial office, and there he shone conspicuous. He had abundant professional learning, patience, and sound sense, beside fine dis- crimination and a sense of justice that was rarely at fault. Some of his opinions have been recently published in a volume, and, though mere skeletons and without revision, they constitute a valuable ad- dition to the juridical literature of the State.
Many anecdotes of Judge Smith's ready wit are told by those who remember him. It was keen as an arrow, but left no sting behind. As a citizen and a neighbor his society was greatly valued. He mani- fested an interest in everything that made for the benefit and credit of his town. He was a trustee and treasurer of the Phillips Academy for many years; he was active in promoting the formation of a lyceum, and prepared lectures for it ; he delivered an interesting and valuable historical discourse on the occasion of the two hundredth anniversary of the set- tlement of Exeter. Few men have left the record of a long life so unsullied.
JOSEPH TILTON was born in East Kingston in Au- gust, 1774, and graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1797. Studyinglaw with Hon. Jeremiah Smith, he commenced practice in Wakefield soon after 1800, and removed to Rochester about 1805. In 1809 he opened an office in Exeter, where he thenceforward resided. For nine years in succession, from 1815 to 1823, inclusive, he represented Exeter in the General Court, a fact which is significant of the trust reposed in his ability and honesty by his fellow-citizens. He practiced his profession in the days of Mason and Webster, Sullivan and Bartlett, and other men of mark in the law, and maintained among them a creditable standing for learning and capacity. He was esteemed and respected by all, and his social qualities were highly valued by those who knew him best. Judge Richardson, who had a keen appreciation of humor, maintained the pleasantest relations with Mr. Tilton, and enjoyed many a hearty laugh at his quaint stories and bright repartees. Mr. Tilton died March 28, 1856, at the advanced age of eighty-one years.
JOTHAM LAWRENCE was a son of David Law- rence, of Epping. He received his early education at the Phillips Exeter Academy, which he entered in 1793, and prepared himself for admission to the bar in the office of Hon. George Sullivan. He lived to be the oldest member of the Rockingham bar, and died in Exeter, Nov. 6, 1863, aged eighty-seven years.
JEREMIAH FELLOWES was a native of Exeter, and a graduate from Bowdoin College in the class of 1810. He went through his preparatory studies under the eye of Hon. George Sullivan, and opened an office in Exeter in 1813. He was a young man of talents, and was the author of a volume of poems of some merit. He became in early life the victim of mental disease, from which he never recovered.
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