USA > New Hampshire > Sketches of successful New Hampshire men > Part 28
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While serving as justice of the supreme court, and when his term in that court was about to expire, he was offered, by the governor, the appointment of city judge. This would have made him judge of the court of general sessions, the principal criminal court of the city, having jurisdiction of cases of the highest class. This appointment he did not accept. In 1858 he was appointed, by the governor of New York, commissioner of quarantine, to succeed Ex-Gov. Horatio Seymour, with authority to abolish the then present station and erect a new one elsewhere, as the commission might decide. His associates in this com- mission were men of the highest character, and the commission was one of
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HON. CHARLES A. PEABODY.
importance at the time,-just after the quarantine buildings had been destroyed by a terror-stricken mob, and the wildest fears that contagious diseases might be transmitted from such a station had taken possession of many minds.
In 1862 he was appointed, by Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, judge of the United States Provisional Court for the state of Louisiana. This court was called into existence by the necessities of the federal government in respect to its foreign relations, after the conquest of New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana by the army of the United States, during the late war of the rebellion, and while that territory was held in military occupation. A large part of the population of New Orleans and Louisiana was persons of foreign birth and allegiance, having claims on their respective governments for the protection of their rights. Those governments, when appealed to, made demands through their ministers, resident at Washington, on the government of the United States, and the number and importance of these claims had become so great that the state department was much embarrassed by them. Mr. Seward, secretary of state, had been more than half his time since the conquest occupied by them, and they had, in some instances, assumed such proportions as to threaten seri- ously the relations of the government with foreign powers. In this condition of things it was resolved to constitute a tribunal which should be empowered to de- cide all these questions, and keep them from the department. Accordingly, the government resolved to establish a court at New Orleans, which should have power to hear and determine every question which could possibly arise out of human transactions, and to make the decisions of that court conclusive of the rights of all parties. To effect that purpose, the following order was made by the President of the United States : -
EXECUTIVE ORDER,
ESTABLISHING A PROVISIONAL COURT IN LOUISIANA.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, · WASHINGTON, October 20, 1862.
The insurrection which has for some time prevailed in several of the states of this Union, including Louisiana, having temporarily subverted and swept away the civil institu- tions of that state, including the judiciary and the judicial authorities of the Union, so that it has become necessary to hold the state in military occupation; and it being indispensably necessary that there shall be some judicial tribunal existing there capable of administering justice, I have, therefore, thoughit it proper to appoint, and I do hereby constitute, a Provi- sional Court, which shall be a court of record for the state of Louisiana, and I do hereby appoint Charles A. Peabody, of New York, to be a provisional judge to hold said court, with authority to hear, try, and deter nine all causes, civil and criminal, including causes in law,
equity, revenue, and admiralty, * * * luis judgment to be final and conclusive. And I do hereby authorize and empower the said judge to make and establish such rules and regula- tions as may be necessary for the exercise of his jurisdiction, and to appoint a prosecuting attorney, marshal, and clerk of the said court, who shall perform the functions of attorney, marshal, and clerk, according to such rules and regulations as may be made and established by said judge. * * A copy of this order, certified by the Secretary of War, and deliv- ered to such judge, shall be decmed and held to be a sufficient commission. Let the seal of the United States be hereunto affixed.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President :
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
The powers conferred by this order, it will be seen, are as great as can be conferred by sovereignty itself, -" to hear, try, and determine all causes, civil and criminal, including causes in law, equity, revenue, and admiralty, * * his judgment to be final and conclusive." Under this commission, Judge Peabody proceeded to organize his court by appointing his prosecuting attorney,
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marshal, and clerk. Thus organized in New York, the court proceeded, by gov- ernment transport, to New Orleans, and commenced business. It was immediately filled with causes of the first magnitude, and continued throughout its existence to attract almost all of that class of business. The court held that it had jurisdic- tion not only of cases originating in it, but that it had power to review on appeal cases originating in other courts. It also ordered causes pending and undecided in other courts transferred to itself, and there decided and ended them. A cause pending in the circuit court of the United States, on appeal from the district court of the United States, was transferred by order of this court and decided. (The Grapeshot, 9 Wallace 129). Mr. Seward, as he and Chief-Justice Chase were dining with Judge Peabody, speaking of the supreme court of the United States, said for the ear of the chief-justice: "His court has some power in time of peace, no doubt, but none in time of war. It is limited to a small class of cases, and in those usually to appellate jurisdiction, and in all cases it is bound by law prescribed for its guidance; in none of which respects was Peabody's court under any limitation ;" and (turning to Judge Peabody ) he added : "Why, Peabody, all the power of his court is not a circumstance to what you had in Louisiana."
The executive department of this court was no less remarkable than its juris- diction. The marshal had at his command, by order of the departments of war and navy, all needed aid from the army and navy. A personal escort of soldiers as large as needed on land, and transports and gunboats on water, were always at his disposal, and nothing was needed beyond the exhibition of the process of the court to command their services. Escorts of a thousand and more cavalry were in the service of the marshal at times, and similar facilities were afforded by the gunboats and transports on the rivers, bayous, and lakes of that aqueous state. Even private commercial vessels plying on the Mississippi river and other waters of the state were, by order of the war department, compelled to stop and take on board any deputy of the marshal, at any place where he should demand it by showing his signal, and to stop and land him wherever he demanded it. This they were required to do at all places, however exposed, and where vessels were not otherwise allowed to land for business purposes, on account of exposure to the enemy. The relief to the department of state was complete; for from the time the court commenced business nothing was heard there of controversies which had burdened and alarmed the department previously, and the success of the court in other respects was equally complete, commanding the respect and confidence of the community, -the disloyal as well as the loyal. This office he resigned in 1865, and the court was terminated in July, 1866, on his recommen- dation, by an act of congress.
In 1862, to meet an emergency, and to avoid having the business of that court interrupted by business of a different character, he was appointed judge of a criminal court in New Orleans, in which for several months he dispensed all the criminal justice administered in the city of New Orleans and the part of Louisiana held by the federal army, excepting only capital cases, which were always tried in the more dignified court held by him. In 1863, while holding the United States provisional court, he was appointed chief-justice of the supreme court of Louisiana,- the appellate court of last resort. In 1865 he was ap- pointed, by the President of the United States and confirmed by the senate, attorney for the United States for the eastern district of Louisiana. That office he declined to accept, and he returned to the practice of his profession in New York as soon as he felt at liberty to retire from the United States provisional court.
In 1876 he was nominated by the Republican party for surrogate of the
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HON. CHARLES A. PEABODY.
county of New York, on which occasion he was not elected ; but he ran many thousands of votes ahead of his ticket, and lacked less than thirteen thousand of an election, while the majority against the ticket generally, which was headed by Gen. John A. Dix for mayor, himself an honored son of New Hampshire, was more than fifty-four thousand.
He is now, and has been since its organization many years ago, a member of the " Association for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations," an association, as its name imports, devoted to the advancement of the law gov- erning nations in their intercourse with each other, composed of publicists and advanced students of the science of government from nearly every nation of Europe, and from some of the most enlightened nations of Asia, as well as America. In the proceedings of that body he has taken an active part, attending its meetings, which occur annually, and are held in the different cities of Europe, as Ghent, Geneva, the Hague, Bremen, Antwerp, London, Berne, Frankfort-on- the-Maine, Cologne, Liverpool. He has always been a member of the executive committee, and is now vice-president of the association for the United States, in which office he succeeds Charles Francis Adams and the late Reverdy Johnson. He has traveled extensively in Europe, having visited it frequently in the sum- mer vacations of business, and last year (1881), after attending the congress of the Association for the Reform of the Law of Nations, at Cologne, he attended an International Geographical congress at Venice, as a delegate from the American Geographical Society. He is now pursuing his profession in New York, as he has always done since he commenced there, except for the times he has been acting as judge.
In his religious preferences he is Episcopalian. While living in New Orleans, in 1863, 1864, and 1865, he was a member of the vestry of Christ church there, and he has been for many years, and now is, senior warden of Christ church, North Conway, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Judge Peabody has married twice. The first time, as before stated, to Julia Caroline Livingston, daughter of James Duane Livingston, of the city of New York, the mother of his children. His second marriage was to Maria E. Hamilton, with whom he is now living. This lady, daughter of John C. Ham- ilton, is a grand-daughter of Alexander Hamilton, the favorite aid and trusted counselor of General Washington in the Revolutionary war, the first secretary of the treasury of the United States, the organizer of that department, and in large measure of the government of the United States.
By his first marriage he had five children, who are now living, -four sons and one daughter. His sons are all graduates of college and professional schools. Three of them are lawyers, one is a physician, and all reside in the city of New York. One of them bears the name of Glendower (Philip Glendower), after the Welsh chieftain, Owen Glendower, in recognition of the Welsh origin of the family.
As has been said, Judge Peabody was the oldest of ten children, having had five brothers and four sisters, all natives of New Hampshire. Of his brothers, only one survives with him, Dr. William F. Peabody, of San Francisco, a doctor of medicine, a biographical sketch of whom should forin a part of this volume. Dr. Peabody was for a time Professor of Languages in Mount Hope College, Baltimore, following thither his older brother while the latter was teaching and studying his profession there. The Doctor studied his profession in Baltimore, and practiced there for a time; but in the very early days of California emigra- tion removed thither, where he still resides, commanding much respect as a gen- tleman of high moral and social character and much literary taste, as well as an able physician. Two of his brothers, George S. Peabody and Enoch W. Peabody,
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HON. CHARLES A. PEABODY.
after the subject of this sketch, the pioneer of the family, had located in New York, became shipmasters of distinction in the "old" or "Black Ball" line of Liverpool packets sailing from New York, in the days when those ships were the pride of the nation, and the command of one was equivalent to a certificate of the highest character for efficiency and reliable qualities. Of the sisters, three sur- vive and live in Andover, Mass., the last place of residence of their parents.
NOTE. - Judge Peabody's judicial life has been sufficiently varied and uncommon to at- tract remark. He has been twice justice of the supreme court of the state of New York, by appointment of the governor, and was offered a place on the bench of another court, which he did not accept; he has been appointed judge of three different courts by the federal gov- ernment of the United States; he has been three times the nominee and candidate of his party for other judicial places, - twice for the bench of the supreme court of the state of New York, and once for surrogate of the city and county of New York.
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GILMAN CHENEY.
THE postal, passenger, and express cars, representing respectively govern- ment, corporate, and private enterprise, constitute a trinity which has annihi- lated space and made possible the business progress of the last fifty years. The third is the creature of a few men, among whom the Cheney brothers of New Hampshire are most conspicuous.
Their grandfather, Deacon Tristram Cheney, was one of the early settlers of Antrim, he having come from Dedham, Mass., in 1769, and located near the Hillsborough line. His son Jesse, who married, first, Miss Blanchard, of West Deering, and, afterwards, Deborah Winchester, of Hillsborough, located his homestead near Cork Ridge, on what is known as the Dimond Dodge place, where there were born to him nine children, of whom Benjamin P., James S., and Gilman are the three who have made " Cheney's Express" a familiar phrase in every city and village in New England and Canada.
Gilman was the fifth child. He was born January 25, 1822, and until he was eighteen years of age worked at farming in the vicinity of his native town. At that age he had a little knowledge of books, a strong constitution, and an abundant stock of courage and ambition, with which he left home to make a place for himself in the business world. For the next ten years he was slowly gather- ing capital, experience, and knowledge of men and things in the cotton-mills of Nashua, Newburyport, and Manchester ; and, while filling his place to the satis- faction of his employers, he could not find there the opportunity he wished, and, in search of a wider and more promising field for action, went to California. Here he crowded three years very full of adventure and business success, and then returned to assist his brothers in extending the express system, which was then in its infancy. He was assigned to the Canadian division, and, establishing his headquarters at Montreal, he gave himself heartily to the work, and has since been thoroughly identified with the enterprise. His position is that of superin- tendent of the Canadian Express Company, which covers the territory and con- trols the express business between Detroit, Mich., and the seaboard at Portland, Halifax, and St. John's, and also an ocean route by the Allan line of steam- ships to Europe. He is also largely interested in the American and Wells & Fargo express companies.
The home of Mr. Cheney is in Montreal, where he extends a warm and princely welcome to hosts of friends, and especially to those who were fortunate enough to have known him in his boyhood days in New Hampshire. He married Mary Ann Lincoln Riddle, daughter of James Riddle, Esq., of Merrimack. His only child, William G. Cheney, was born October 12. 1858.
Mr. Cheney has been a very successful man. The enterprise with which his name is identified has grown great and strong. It has made its owner rich, it has given employment to thousands of men at remunerative wages, and it has made it easier and more profitable for others to do their business. He
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GILMAN CHENEY.
deserves all the good things he has received, for he is a true man. In every relation of life, in boyhood and manhood, in business and pleasure, he has challenged only the affection and admiration of those interested in him. His integrity is inborn, his good-nature never fails, and his energy never tires. He never disappoints his friends ; and he has no enemies. 1
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HON. EDWARD H. ROLLINS.
COMPILED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES, WITH SOME ADDITIONS, BY HON. DANIEL HALL.
THE Rollins family is one of the oldest and most numerous in the state. In southeastern New Hampshire, from the seaboard to Lake Winnipesaukee, the Rollins name is prominent in the history of almost every town. Most, if not all, the representatives of the name in this region, and among them the subject of this sketch, are the descendants of James Rollins (or Rawlins, as the name was then and for a long time after spelled, and is now by some branches of the family), who came to America in 1632, with the first settlers of Ipswich, Mass., and who, ten or twelve years afterwards, located in that portion of old Dover known as " Bloody Point," now embraced in the town of Newington, where he died about 1690. The representatives of the family suffered their full share in the privations and sacrifices incident to the firm establishment of the colony, and performed generous public service in the early Indian and French wars, and the great Revolutionary contest. Ichabod, the eldest son of James Rawlins, and of whom Edward H. is a lineal descendant, was waylaid and killed by a party of Indians, while on the way from Dover to Oyster River (now Durham), with one John Bunker, May 22, 1707. Thomas, the second son of James, who subse- quently became a resident of Exeter, was a member of the famous " dissolved assembly" of 1683, who took up arms under Edward Gove and endeavored to incite an insurrection against the tyrannical royal governor, Cranfield. For this attempt, Gove and others, including Thomas Rawlins, were presented for high treason. Gove was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, but was subse- quently pardoned. We do not learn, however, that any of the others were tried. Others of the family fell victims to the murderous malignity of the Indians.
There were from twenty-five to thirty descendants of James Rawlins, of the fourth and fifth generations, engaged in active service, and several of them in distinguished capacities, in the patriot cause during the Revolutionary war.
Among the first settlers of that portion of Dover which afterwards became Somersworth, was Jeremiah Rollins, the only son of Ichabod, heretofore men- tioned as slain by the Indians. He was one of the petitioners for the incorpo- ration of Somersworth as a separate parish. He died a few years previous to the Revolution, leaving several daughters, but only one son, Ichabod Rollins, who became an active champion of the Revolutionary cause, was a member of the con- ventions at Exeter in 1775, and served as a member of the committee appointed to prepare a plan of providing ways and means for furnishing troops, and also as a member of the committee of supplies, the principal labor upon which was performed by himself and Timothy Walker of Concord. He was a member of the convention which resolved itself into an independent state government. Jan- uary 5, 1776, and served in the legislature in October following. He was the
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HON. EDWARD II. ROLLINS.
first judge of probate under the new government, holding the office from 1776 ' to 1784. He was subseqently a member of the executive council, and died in 1800. From this eminent citizen, the town of Rollinsford, formed from the portion of Somersworth in which he resided, received its name. He stands midway in the direct line of descent from James Rawlins to Edward H., -the great-grandson of James, and great-grandfather of Edward H. He had four sons, of whom John, the oldest, was the grandfather of Hon. Daniel G. Rollins, who was judge of probate for the county of Strafford, from 1857 to 1866, and whose son, Edward Ashton Rollins, was speaker of the New Hampshire house of representatives in 1861 and 1862, commissioner of internal revenue under President Johnson, and is now president of the Centennial Bank at Philadel- phia ; and another son, Daniel G. Rollins, was recently district attorney, and is now surrogate of the city and county of New York. James Rollins, the third son of Ichabod, and grandfather of Edward H., settled upon the farm in Rol- linsford which has since remained the family homestead. He was the father of thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters. Of these, Daniel Rollins, the eighth child, born May 30, 1797, and who married Mary, eldest daughter of Ebenezer Plumer, of Rollinsford, was the father of Edward H. He succeeded to the homestead, but sold out and went to Maine with a view to making his home there. He soon returned, and repurchased that part of the homestead lying east of the highway, and erected a dwelling opposite the old family man- sion, where he lived a life of sturdy industry, rearing a family of six children, four sons and two daughters, and died January 7, 1864.
EDWARD HENRY ROLLINS, the oldest of the children, was born October 3, 1824. He lived at home, laboring upon the farm in the summer season, attend- ing the district school in winter, and getting an occasional term's attendance at the South Berwick Academy, and Franklin Academy in Dover, until seventeen years of age, when he went to Concord and engaged as druggist's clerk in the well known apothecary store of John McDaniel. He retained his situation some three or four years, industriously applying himself to the details of the business. He then went to Boston, where he was engaged in similar service until 1847, when, having thoroughly mastered the business, he returned to Concord and went into trade on his own account, soon building up a large and successful business. Having bought and improved the land on Main street, just north of the Eagle Hotel, the great fire of 1851 destroyed the building which he had but recently finished. He rebuilt the stores known as " Rollins's Block," one of which was occupied by his own business for so many years. This property he sold a short time since to the New Hampshire Savings Bank.
In politics, Mr. Rollins was originally a Webster Whig, but voted for Frank- lin Pierce in 1852, and for Nathaniel B. Baker, the Democratic candidate for governor, at the next March election. The aggressions of slavery, however, culminating in the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill and the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, dissolved his brief connection with the Democratic party. Strongly opposed to the extension of slavery, or any measures rendering its > extension possible, though he had previously taken no active part in politics, he enlisted in the American or Know-Nothing movement, in the winter of 1854-55, with the hope that it might, as it did, prove instrumental in the defeat of the Democracy.
From this time Mr. Rollins was an active politician. He labored effectively in perfecting the new party organization, taking therein the liveliest interest. At the March election, 1855, he was chosen to the legislature from Concord, and served efficiently in that body as a member of the judiciary committee. The next year witnessed the merging of the American party in the new Republican
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HON. EDWARD H. ROLLINS.
party, which object Mr. Rollins was largely instrumental in securing. Re- elected to the legislature in March, 1856, Mr. Rollins was chosen speaker of the house, ably discharging the duties of the office, and was re-elected the following year. The talent which he had already developed as a political organizer made his services eminently desirable as a campaign manager, and he was made chair- man of the first state central committee of the Republican party, a position which he held continuously until his election to congress in 1861, and in which he ex- hibited a capacity for thorough organization, - a mastery of campaign work, in general and in detail, -seldom equaled and certainly never surpassed.
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