USA > New Hampshire > The bench and bar of New Hampshire : including biographical notices of deceased judges of the highest court, and lawyers of the province and state, and a list of names of those now living > Part 12
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A pleasant anecdote is related which shows how little he re- garded time in the thorough performance of his functions as counsel. He had occasion in one of his trials to cross-examine an expert in handwriting, in regard to the genuineness of a sig- nature. The name in dispute began with the letter A, and Mr. Bellows put a long series of questions to the witness, all in rela- tion to the different parts of that letter, wherein they resembled or differed from the genuine handwriting; first the dot at the end of the first down-stroke; then the curve that terminated in the dot ; then the slant of the stroke ; its lightness or heaviness ; its termination at the top; and a hundred other particulars about that and the other lines which composed the letter. The pre-
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siding judge, feeling that this protracted style of examination was prolonging the trial without compensating advantages, after bear- ing it with what patience he might for half an hour or so, felt impelled to put an end to it, and inquired, "Brother Bellows, don't you think that this line of examination has gone far enough ?" "Perhaps it has, your Honor," replied Mr. Bellows blandly, not realizing, however, that the Judge meant that he should dismiss the witness from the stand; "so now, if you please, we will take up the second letter ! "
Mr. Bellows, though not a thorough partisan in politics, was elected a representative in the legislature from Littleton in 1839, and from Concord in 1856 and 1857. His eminence as a lawyer in the latter years naturally pointed him out as the fittest chair- man of the committee on the Judiciary, and in that position his. learning, good sense, and moderation were of great service. In later years his advice respecting projected legislation was fre- quently sought and freely given, and always prudently and wisely.
On the occurrence of a vacancy on the bench of the Supreme Judicial Court, Mr. Bellows was, with the concurrence of the bar in general, selected to fill it, September 23, 1859. The residue of his career was identified with that court. October 1, 1869, he was promoted to the position of Chief Justice, and continued to preside in the court to the close of his life.
The services of Judge Bellows while on the bench were of great value. He possessed qualities which specially adapted him to the place. In addition to his legal learning, which was ex- tensive, his familiarity with practice and the traditions of the pro- fession, gained from thirty years' fruitful experience, his habits of industrious and careful investigation, and his sound judgment and good sense, he had what has been called a judicial mind, the power of holding the balance even between parties and conflicting claims, uninfluenced by prejudice or partiality, and allowing due weight to every consideration from every side. No judge ever strove more earnestly to do his entire duty. In his tribunal each suitor felt that full justice was done to his case. The Judge was so obviously fair that lie never gave offense, and scarcely ever cause for dissatisfaction. But it was not because he had no decided opinions. His convictions were formed deliberately, but when formed they were held with proportionate tenacity. While he made no professions to be a genius, capable of striking out new
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and original paths to the goal of justice, he was faithful, con- scientious, and discriminating in following the old. Like Lord Kenyon, he felt safety and pride in standing super antiquas vias ; and without being what is termed a black-letter lawyer, the cherished a reverence for the perfection of the common law system, and endeavored to maintain it in its purity. It certainly never suffered at his hands.
In all the relations of life Judge Bellows was exemplary. A high-minded, gracious gentleman, he had too much self-respect to do an act or say a word unworthy the respect of others. He treated every one with a civility which rarely failed to win civility in return. In the company of friends he was genial, and abounded in agreeable discourse, seasoned with a rare humor, and uttered in a voice peculiarly hearty and pleasantly modulated. Fond of the society of ladies, his behavior towards them was almost chiv- alric. In his own home he was an attentive host, and as a hus- band and father worthy of all love and respect.
Judge Bellows performed faithfully the duties of a good citizen, was interested in public affairs, and encouraged public improve- ments, sometimes to his own pecuniary loss. In religion he was a staunch upholder of the liberal faith, and a devout, consistent Christian. His career was a memorable exemplification of the value of an equable temperament, habits of useful industry, and the application of high principle in the conduct of all the affairs of life.
He received his degree of LL. D. from Dartmouth College in 1869.
He was married, June 16, 1836, to his cousin, Catharine W., daughter of Josiah Bellows of Walpole, and had six children, two sons and four daughters. Two of the latter were successively the wives of Charles P. Sanborn of Concord, and one of the sons entered the profession of the law.
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JONATHAN EVERETT SARGENT, LL. D. J. 1859-1873. C. J. 1873-1874.
Son of Ebenezer and Prudence (Chase) Sargent ; born, New London, Octo- ber 23, 1816 ; Dartmouth College, 1840 ; admitted, 1843 ; practiced, Canaan, Wentworth, and Concord ; died, Concord, January 6, 1890.
Judge Sargent was prepared for college at Hopkinton and Kimball Union academies, and defrayed a great part of the expenses of his education by teaching during his vacations. He began the study of the law in the office of William P. Weeks at Canaan, and the next year engaged in teaching school in Virginia and Maryland, at the same time continuing his legal reading under the direction of David A. Hall of Washington, District of Columbia. There he was admitted an attorney in 1842, and, re- turning to New Hampshire, finished his three years' course in the office of William P. Weeks, with whom, upon his admission to practice in this State in 1843, he became a partner in Canaan. In that position he remained till 1847, when he opened an office in Wentworth, and built up there a large and profitable practice. In 1844 he was appointed solicitor for the county of Grafton, and served as such for the succeeding ten years. He was a repre- sentative in the legislature in 1851, 1852, and 1853, and the last of those years was Speaker. In 1854 he was chosen a member of the state Senate, and was president of that body.
He was commissioned a circuit Justice of the Court of Com- mon Pleas in April, 1855, and was continued on the bench of the reorganized Court of Common Pleas till the abolition of that court in 1859. Then appointed a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, he sat upon that bench till August, 1874, the last year and a half of which time he was Chief Justice.
In 1874 he resumed the practice of the law in Concord. From that city he was in 1876 elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and the two succeeding years a representative in the state legislature. In 1877 he was chairman of a committee to revise the general statutes of New Hampshire, a work which was performed with thoroughness and adopted by the legislature in 1878 under the title of the " General Laws."
Judge Sargent had been successful in the accumulation of property, and in his later years his services were largely employed
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as a director of the National State Capital Bank in Concord, and as president and a member of the investment committee of the Loan and Trust Savings Bank. He was also much interested in historical studies. He delivered an oration at the centennial anniversary of his native town in 1879; a memorial address on Chief Justice Joel Parker at Dartmouth College in 1880 ; and was several years vice-president, and in 1888 and 1889 president of the New Hampshire Historical Society. Other places of trust and dignity were at various periods conferred upon him.
The career of Judge Sargent may well be commended to imi- tation. Beginning with no special advantages of fortune or position, he wrought his own way by industry and economy to enviable success. With good but not transcendent original endowments, he cultivated his powers so faithfully that he filled the several important stations to which his fellow-citizens elevated him with usefulness and credit. A careful, prudent, painstaking lawyer, he carried with him upon the bench all his habits of thor- ough work, and became a judge worthy of his place among the eminent jurists who have done honor to the highest judicatory of New Hampshire. His shrewd, sound sense and his knowledge of men were on a par with his professional learning, and enabled him to avoid the rocks on which merely bookish lawyers have often split. He was always in touch with the masses. In testimony of his legal acquirements and judicial standing, Dartmouth College honored him with the degree of LL. D. in 1869.
His studies were not confined to his profession. He read with interest history, philosophy, and belles-lettres. In his social rela- tions he found much pleasure ; he was a kind friend and neigh- bor ; in manner he was agreeable and cordial.
He married, first, Mary C., daughter of John Jones of Enfield, November 29, 1843. She died July 2, 1852, leaving two sons, one of whom, John Jones Sargent, died in Wisconsin just as he was ready to begin the practice of law. Judge Sargent's second wife, whom he married September 5, 1853, and who survived him, was Louisa J., daughter of Colonel James K. Paige of Went- worth. By this marriage he had three children.
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GEORGE WASHINGTON NESMITH, LL. D. J. 1859-1870.
Son of Deacon Jonathan and Elinor (Dickey) Nesmith ; born, Antrim, October 23, 1800 ; Dartmouth College, 1820; admitted, 1825 ; practiced, Salisbury, afterwards Franklin ; died there, May 2, 1890.
A good share of the best qualities of his Scotch-Irish ancestry descended to George W. Nesmith. His father was a leading man in Antrim, but had a large family and no superfluity of means. Hence it is doubtful if George, his youngest son, would have aspired to a college education, but for a slight lameness, which would have interfered with labor on a farm or in a work- shop. He acquired his classical instruction from Rev. John M. Whiton in his native place, and, relying chiefly upon his exertions for his support, obtained entrance to college. After his graduation he earned the means to pay the arrears of his college expenses by teaching, and was a year and a half principal of the academy at Bradford, Vermont. In 1822 he became by invitation of Parker Noyes of Salisbury, an inmate of his law office. Mr. Noyes was probably not unwilling to be relieved from contention, and kindly allowed his student, as soon as he had mastered the rudiments of the law, to attend for his own benefit to the justice business which came to the office, of which there was a good deal at that day. Thus young Nesmith early learned to measure himself against experienced lawyers, and gained familiarity with his calling, and confidence. When his three years of study were ended, Mr. Noyes received him into an equal partnership for a year, and then retired, leaving him the good-will of his business.
From his very start in his profession the people who knew him believed in him, - in his mental ability, his sagacity, and his thor- ough uprightness, and trusted him implicitly to look after their public and private interests. He was chosen a representative in the legislature no less than fifteen times, beginning with 1830 and ending with 1872, and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1850, and a presidential elector in 1888. At the time of his decease he was president of the Franklin Savings Bank, of which he had been a director since 1869; a trustee of Dartmouth College, which he had been since 1858 ; president of the New Hampshire Agricultural College, of which he had been
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a trustee since 1870 ; and president of the New Hampshire Or- phans' Home, which he had been since its organization in 1871. He had also been one of the first directors and eight years presi- dent of the Northern Railroad. In 1859 he received the appoint- ment of Justice of the Superior Court, and served until he reached the age of seventy years.
Judge Nesmith had a firm hold of the great principles of the law, but gave himself small concern about the niceties, - the orna- mental work. He never encouraged litigation, and it was said of him that he settled more incipient and projected suits than any other practitioner in the State. He acted often as a referee in important cases. This was a method of disposing of controversies which met his approval, as it afforded an opportunity of doing substantial justice between the parties, without being trammeled by legal technicalities. An anecdote will show his summary style of reaching an equitable decision. He was once the chair- man of a board of referees, before whom a suit involving a con- siderable amount was heard at great length. The youngest mem- ber of the board acted as scribe to take minutes of the testimony. When the case was finally submitted and the referees had with- drawn for deliberation, the junior remarked, "I suppose now I 'd better read over the evidence." "Oh, no," said Mr. Nesmith, " no need of that ; let's chalk." Probably no man ever administered justice with a more even hand, however, than he. He was counsel in many important actions, and his instinctive sense of right, his native shrewdness, and his accurate judgment of men, as well as his acquaintance with legal principles, rendered him a strong sup- port to any cause. He made no display, but the client who had secured his help felt that his interests would be fully guarded.
Judge Nesmith was long a political power in the State. He had small ambition for his personal advancement, but as a legisla- tor and counselor of his party he was invaluable. He was a par- ticular friend of Daniel Webster, and at the visits of the great statesman to his New Hampshire home, he always made much of the society of Judge Nesmith. For him in return Judge Nesmith had the highest admiration. It was through his instrumentality that the Elms Farm, Webster's Franklin home, was secured for the charitable purpose of furnishing a refuge to orphan children of the State. He gave generously of his means and of his time to this object, and the institution, now well founded and success-
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ful, will always remain a monument to the joint memory of Webster and Nesmith.
Judge Nesmith's support was always cheerfully given to every public improvement. He wrote the charter of the town of Franklin, and labored zealously for its sanction by the legislature, while he was a tyro in the law ; he was a leader in the campaign that was necessary to introduce railroads in the State, and was early interested in manufacturing enterprises that have since brought so great prosperity to his town.
His personal character was of the highest. Notwithstanding he was so many years before the public eye, no whisper of detraction was ever breathed against him. Not even his political opponents disparaged him. His society was sought by all. He was fond of conversation, and drew from his capacious and tenacious memory endless stores of reminiscences and anecdotes for the entertain- ment of his hearers. His recollections of the earlier members of the bar were clear and distinct, and the present writer only regrets that they could not be embodied in his own racy style in this work. He was the author of not a few sketches of interesting persons and events, which have been published in journals and magazines ; but was never prevailed upon to undertake any ex- tended historical work, though often urged to do so.
He was joined in marriage, September 26, 1826, to Mary M., daughter of Samuel Brooks of Bradford, and granddaughter of General Timothy Bedel of the Revolution. They had two sons and a daughter; the latter alone outlived her father.
WILLIAM HENRY BARTLETT.
J. 1861-1867.
Son of Samuel C. and Eleanor (Pettingill) Bartlett ; born, Salisbury, August 20, 1827 ; Dartmouth College, 1847; admitted, 1851 ; practiced, Concord ; died there, September 24, 1867.
The family of Bartlett has long been a distinguished one in the annals of New Hampshire, and the branch of it from which Wil- liam H. Bartlett sprang is specially notable for its men of talents and learning. In his childhood he took to study with a keen relish, sometimes even to the neglect of " healthful play." At the age of thirteen he entered the academy at Meriden village, Plain- field, and in two years' time had mastered the preparatory studies
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for college. In 1842 he was matriculated at Dartmouth, and stepped at once to the head of his class. In his sophomore year he was absent several months, engaged in study elsewhere, so that when he reentered, it was in the class of 1847, and in that also he took the highest rank as a scholar. His youth rendered it ad- visable, in the opinion of his friends, that he should not at once after his graduation begin his professional preparation, and he spent a year as a post-graduate in the study of history, German, and the Greek drama, at the Western Reserve College, in which one of his brothers was a professor.
He then, in 1848, was received as a student at law in the office of Ira Perley at Concord, until the latter went upon the bench in 1850 ; after which he finished his study under Henry A. Bellows of the same city. Immediately on his admission to the bar in 1851 he opened an office in Concord. In 1853 and 1854 he was chosen solicitor of the city. In 1857 his health began to show symptoms of failure, and from that time forth he was never a well man, but continued heroically to the last to do his work as lawyer and judge, in spite of the progress of incurable disease.
His legal accomplishments and his intellectual superiority were so generally understood, that from his very start in the profession his services were in request in cases of difficulty and importance. And although he rarely appeared as an advocate, and especially at trial terms, and was one of the most unassuming of men, yet his fame as a lawyer of great learning, and of the highest judicial fitness, was so well established among the bar, that in 1861, when a vacancy occurred upon the bench, and it was understood that he would accept the appointment, he was named a Justice of the Superior Court by substantially the unanimous voice of the profession.
It is scarcely extravagant to say that he met every require- ment of his position. Let Chief Justice Perley, who knew him thoroughly, and valued him most highly, tell the story of his reception : " When he went upon the bench, his high qualifica- tions for the office were at once recognized by the legal profes- sion. His youthful appearance, his unpretending manners, and his easy and rapid way of dispatching business might have led a careless observer to fear that he would be found wanting in solid- ity and soundness of judgment ; but the character of his mind was eminently judicial. His examination of authority in cases which
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required it was faithful and exhaustive. He weighed conflicting arguments and reasons with equal impartiality. He had great sagacity in perceiving the practical bearing of any question under consideration, and its connection with the whole complete system of the law, and his opinions and rulings were received with the greatest respect and deference by the legal profession throughout the State. In presiding over trials I never learned that he was known in the most irritating circumstances to lose the sweetness and equanimity of his own temper; and he often had the rare felicity of winning from both sides the commendation of perfect fairness and impartiality."
Judge Bartlett's relations with his associates upon the bench were of the most agreeable character. His legal learning, and the readiness and almost unerring certainty with which he grasped the principle which should govern the decision of a cause, were well known to them. In repeated instances they felt constrained to yield their impressions of the law to his unanswerable argu- ments, and in one prominent case 1 his opinion reversed the doc- trine which had previously been held in this State, sustained, too, by the current of English and American authorities. And unquestionably his associates rested with more confidence upon their opinions, in general, when buttressed by his approval. He did not need, however, to give his entire time to the law. The rapidity of his acquisition was such that he found leisure also for various and wide reading. He was fond of books and of con- genial society, and never denied himself the enjoyment of either. He had a genuine scholar's taste for the best literature; and there was an aroma of scholarship in everything that proceeded from his lips or his pen.
Through the six years of his connection with the bench, he per- formed his public duties with no diminution of thoroughness or ability, though the inroads of disease in the later part of that period greatly decreased his bodily vigor. But his spirits were never depressed, and his intellectual fires never paled. His pleasant and often playful manner would never have led one to suppose that he was struck with a mortal illness. The world has not often seen a more symmetrical character than that of Judge Bartlett. Learned without ostentation ; with intellectual powers of the first order, yet without assumption; easily leading, yet
1 Bassett v. Salisbury Manufacturing Co. 50 N. H. Reports, 444.
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making none seem to follow ; yielding in trifles, firm and fearless in essentials ; always devoted to the right, he was the ideal of a great judge. Affectionate by nature, a fond son, husband, and brother, a true friend, conscientious and pure-hearted, he was as much beloved as a man as he was respected as a magistrate. In his presence the angry elements of forensic contests were stilled. The most disappointed suitor never dreamed of questioning his impartiality or his capacity.
May 8, 1856, he was married to Caroline, daughter of Abel Baker of Concord, and sister of Nathaniel B. Baker. She sur- vived her husband.
WILLIAM SPENCER LADD, LL. D.
J. 1870-1876.
Son of Hiram and Aurelia (Palmer) Ladd ; born, Dalton, September 5, 1830 ; Dartmouth College, 1855 ; admitted, 1859 ; practiced, Colebrook and Lancaster ; died, Lancaster, May 13, 1891.
Mr. Ladd was fitted for college at the New Hampshire Confer- ence Seminary at Tilton; and after taking his degree, was a teacher at Danvers and South Danvers, Massachusetts, for a year or more. His law studies were commenced in the office of Alfred A. Abbott of Salem, Massachusetts, and concluded in that of Burns and Fletcher in Lancaster. Beginning practice at Cole- brook in 1859, he continued there till September, 1867, when he entered into partnership with Ossian Ray at Lancaster. In 1870 he received the appointment of Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. That judicatory was " reorganized " in 1874, and he was retained in the highest state tribunal by being commissioned a Justice of the Superior Court. Another change of the courts took place in 1876, and Judge Ladd was not reappointed.
He returned to the bar, and continued in practice as long as he lived.
In 1883 he was chosen a representative in the legislature of the State, and the same year was selected as state reporter. This office he filled with punctuality and accuracy up to the time of his death. His last public service was as a delegate to the conven- tion to revise the Constitution of the State, in January, 1889.
Judge Ladd was endowed with great intellectual strength. By the constitution of his mind he was impartial and independent.
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Early in his practice he made his mark as one who could be trusted to do his utmost for his employers, and whose utmost was not easily surpassed. His removal from Colebrook to Lancaster, the seat of the chief law business of the county, indicated a stage of his progress. A broader field had become necessary for the free exhibition of his powers. The firm of Ray and Ladd was a peculiarly strong one. Both members made friends and inspired confidence ; the one was noted rather for his fluency, readiness, and adaptability ; the other for strength, tenacity, and breadth of views.
Judge Ladd had been at the bar only eleven years when he entered upon his judicial labors, and had not become well known in many sections of the State; but wherever he made his appear- ance his fitness was quickly admitted. All his instincts were on the side of justice. He had no patience with the cobweb theories that were woven to obscure the real merits of causes, but brushed them aside without scruple. He got down at once to the hard pan of fact and reason.
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