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 14
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He was married, July 2, 1835, to Elizabeth L., daughter of Lovell Walker of Leominster, Massachusetts. She died in 1866. Of their five children, four survived their parents.
NATHANIEL ADAMS.
Son of Captain Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Parker) Adams ; born, Ports- mouth, 1756 ; Dartmouth College, 1775 ; lived, Portsmouth ; died, Exeter, . August 5, 1829.
Though Mr. Adams was not strictly a member of the bar, yet he was so long and so closely identified with the profession that it appears highly proper to include a sketch of him in this work.
His father was a prominent shipmaster, and his mother was a daughter of Judge William Parker of Portsmouth. He grad- uated from college with distinction, and subsequently was compli- mented with the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Harvard College. He first established himself in his native town as a land surveyor and civil engineer, and in 1779 was made a notary public, an office of importance then.
In 1781 he was appointed assistant clerk, and in 1787 clerk of the Superior Court, and filled the latter office continuously until his decease, with the highest degree of intelligence, efficiency, and fidelity. His duties were, a part of that time, quite onerous, as he was obliged to attend the sessions of the Court in all the coun- ties. He also edited the first volume of the reported decisions of the Court.
He gave much time to literary and historical pursuits, and aided greatly in establishing the Portsmouth Athenæum. He
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was a contributor to the published collections of the New Hamp- shire Historical Society, of which he was an original member, and an officer. The great achievement of his pen was the " Annals of Portsmouth," issued in 1825, a work of character, and an author- ity to-day in all matters then within the reach of a careful and diligent investigator.
One who knew him describes him as " a gentleman of cour- teous and polished manners, and possessed of a wonderful mem- ory, stored with an inexhaustible fund of anecdotes of the court and bar, which he took great delight in relating. In his personal appearance he bore a striking resemblance to President John Quincy Adams."
He died of apoplexy while in attendance upon a term of the Court in Exeter.
His first marriage was with Eunice, daughter of Colonel Moses Woodward of Portsmouth, May 20, 1784 ; his second with Mar- tha Church of Hatfield, Massachusetts, in October, 1795. He left several children.
JONATHAN AIKEN.
Son of James and Elizabeth (Pinkerton) Aiken ; born, Londonderry, June 19, 1784 ; Dartmouth College, 1807 ; practiced, Goffstown ; died, Peoria, Illi- nois, August 28, 1839.
Mr. Aiken studied law in the office of Josiah Forsaith of Goffs- town. In 1813 he settled in practice in Goffstown, and there con- tinued to reside for something more than a quarter of a century. He was a respectable, but not a brilliant practitioner, and out of the avails of his professional labors in a small country town found it not too easy, probably, to do much more than support his large family. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that he at length turned his eyes towards the West, as likely to afford to his chil- dren, as well as to himself, a more encouraging prospect of for- tune. But so far as he was concerned, he postponed his removal too long, for at fifty-four or five years of age, so radical a change of residence and habits is fraught with danger. He took up his abode in Peoria, Illinois, but survived the removal only a few months.
He was married, November 22, 1809, to Nancy Patterson, daughter of Phineas Aiken of Bedford. He had twelve children, nearly all of whom lived to maturity. One, John Aiken, was a lawyer.
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CALVIN AINSWORTH.
Son of Dr. Calvin Ainsworth ; born, Littleton, August 22, 1807 ; admitted, 1835 ; practiced, Littleton and Concord ; died, Madison, Wisconsin, July 7, 1873.
Mr. Ainsworth was educated in the common schools and at the academy in Concord, Vermont, and began the study of the law with Jonathan Stoddard of Waterford, Vermont, and completed it under Henry A. Bellows of Littleton. He was admitted at the court in Plymouth, November term, 1835. Establishing himself as a practitioner in his native town, he remained there seven years, and then changed his home to Concord. For a time he was a partner of Ira Perley. In 1845 he received the appoint- ment of register of Probate for the County of Merrimac, which he held till 1850. In 1852 he was joined with Ralph Metcalf and Samuel H. Ayer in a commission to revise the statutes of the State; and their work was enacted by the legislature, and pub- lished in 1853 under the title of the "Compiled Statutes."
Upon the adoption by the inhabitants of Concord of a city charter in 1853, Mr. Ainsworth was appointed Judge of the Police Court, and occupied the position as long as he remained in the State. He was also for a time treasurer of the Concord and Claremont Railroad. After twelve years' stay in Concord, he determined to change his residence to the great West, and made his new home in Madison, Wisconsin. He lived there about eighteen years. He was chosen Police Justice of Madison in 1862, and was a most satisfactory officer.
He was regarded as a good and safe lawyer, not of the aggres- sive sort, but decidedly conservative. As a man of business and accounts he had few equals, but he had not the qualities to make him an advocate. He was tenacious of his opinions, of correct judgment, and the strictest integrity, and he won friends in every community where his fortunes called him.
He was twice married ; first, to Eliza, the sister of Judge Henry A. Bellows, who lived but a short time after her marriage; and second, in 1846, to Mrs. Letitia (Stinson) White, widow of Joseph W. White, a lawyer who practiced for a time in Ports- mouth. She survived him, but he left no descendants.
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WILLIAM AINSWORTH.
Son of Laban and Mary (Minot) Ainsworth ; born, Jaffrey, August 24, 1792 ; Dartmouth College, 1811 ; practiced, Jaffrey ; died, Concord, June 14, 1842.
Mr. Ainsworth was the son of a clergyman, and studied law partly with Samuel Dakin of Jaffrey, and partly with Judge Barnes of Tolland, Connecticut. He opened an office in his native town in 1814, and practiced there with good success for about seventeen years. He was thought highly of by his fellow- citizens, as he well might be, for he discouraged the spirit of liti- gation, and strove to heal the differences that sprang up among his neighbors. He was chosen a representative in the legislature for four successive years, beginning in 1827.
In 1831 he was induced to change his residence to New Ips- wich, to take the appointment of cashier of the Manufacturers' Bank in that place. In effect he had the entire management of the bank, such unquestioning confidence had the officers in his capacity and integrity. Of course his practice at the bar was abandoned when he accepted this engrossing position. But the people of his new home availed themselves as far as practicable of his learning and abilities. He was placed upon committees for transacting the town business, and in 1841 and 1842 was sent as representative of New Ipswich to the legislature. It was while he was in attendance upon this duty at Concord that he was stricken down by the illness which caused his death.
He married Mary Morse, daughter of John Stearns of Jaffrey, September 29, 1819. They had four children, of whom it is believed that one survives.
WILLIAM GEORGE ALDEN.
Son of William and Eliza (Andrews) Alden ; born, Boston, Massachusetts, April 22, 1853 ; practiced, Laconia ; died, Palatine, Illinois, October 15, 1887.
Mr. Alden, who is said to have been a descendant of the Plymouth John Alden, was educated in the Boston Latin School, and studied law with J. Lincoln in his native city. Admitted a member of the Suffolk bar, he was in practice two years in Bos-
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ton, Massachusetts, and then happening, while on his way to the White Mountains to recruit his health, to make a little stay at Laconia, he was so much pleased with the appearance of the place that he remained and settled there. He associated himself in practice with O. A. J. Vaughan, and was also interested with him in the publication of the Laconia " Democrat."
He had not resided long in Laconia, when he determined to seek a home in the West. He first went to Chicago, Illinois, and there pursued his profession three or four years, and then re- moved to Palatine in the same State, and, having a taste for jour- nalism, became the proprietor of two newspapers, which he carried on so long as he lived.
Mr. Alden is said to have been a fine scholar, with good powers of mind, and many engaging qualities of character.
He married, April 28, 1875, Ella A. Lawrence of Laconia, and they had two children.
AMOS S. ALEXANDER.
Born, Lowell, Massachusetts, May 24, 1829 ; admitted, 1853 ; practiced, Concord and Portsmouth ; died, Chicago, Illinois, May 9, 1877.
The father of Mr. Alexander was at one period a resident of Hopkinton, whence it happened, perhaps, that the son pursued his law studies in the neighboring city of Concord. He first established himself in practice in the village of Fishersville in Concord. He was there but a little time when he decided to make his residence in Portsmouth, and, being an ardent politician, became the editor of the New Hampshire "Gazette," a Democratic newspaper there. He held at the same time an appointment in the custom house at Portsmouth.
He rendered loyal service to his party with pen and voice, making many political speeches, especially in the presidential campaign of 1856. He manifested much ability in this direction, though it was charged that he sometimes allowed zeal to outrun discretion. In February, 1859, he quitted Portsmouth and moved to Chicago, Illinois. There he devoted himself to his profession, and in about five years formed a most advantageous business con- nection as partner of J. W. Merriam, which continued during the remaining thirteen years of his life.
Mr. Merriam says of him: "I never have met with a man, in
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an experience of more than thirty years at the bar, with a more happy faculty of getting the facts in a case before a jury, both from his own and from opposing witnesses. He was a sound and sometimes eloquent advocate, and presented model briefs in Courts of Review. In short, he was a good lawyer, good friend, and good fellow, whose early death was deeply regretted by all who knew him."
Mr. Alexander is remembered by many in this State as of a very genial, social disposition. His political employments, how- ever, allowed him comparatively little opportunity to show his legal acquirements in our courts.
He was married while in New Hampshire, and at his death left a widow and children.
FOSTER ALEXANDER.
Son of Colonel Reuben and Sarah (Foster) Alexander ; born, Winchester, July 3, 1775 ; Dartmouth College, 1796 ; practiced, Winchester and Keene ; died, Winchester, August 2, 1841.
This gentleman belonged to a large and respectable family. After the usual apprenticeship to study in the office of Noah Cooke, he was admitted as an attorney, and commenced business in his native town, about the beginning of the century. In 1809 he changed his domicile to Keene, but after practicing there till 1828, returned again to Winchester, which he made his home ever after.
Mr. Alexander is described as of gentlemanly manners and accom- modating disposition, a fair lawyer, but not eminent, and with little ambition or aptitude for the trial of causes in court. While first settled at Winchester he was chosen a representative of that town in the state legislature for five years successively, from 1802 to 1807, and afterwards when in Keene he represented that town in 1822. He was elected, too, for six years, from 1827, to the office of treasurer of the county of Hillsborough.
He never married, though he is said to have been once engaged, and to have built himself an elegant mansion in Winchester, upon a well-chosen site, with the expectation of occupying it with the lady of his choice. But she changed her mind at the eleventh hour, and he never put faith in womankind afterwards.
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DAVID ALLEN, JR.
Son of David and Hannah (Wilcox) Allen ; born, Newport, December 1, 1805 ; practiced, Newport ; died there, September 1, 1851.
Mr. Allen worked upon his father's farm until he was nearly twenty-one, and in the intervals of his labor obtained his educa- tion in the common schools and at the Newport Academy, where he prepared himself to be a teacher. In that capacity he was employed for several years in Johnstown, New York. He then determined to study law, and carried out the plan in the offices of Edmund Burke in his native town, and of his brother, Ebenezer Allen, in Orono, Maine. He began to practice in Perrysburg, Ohio, but shortly afterwards returned to Newport, and took the office and law business of Edmund Burke while the latter was serving in Congress and as Commissioner of Patents. He was a lawyer in respectable standing, but not distinguished. He lived only about a year after Mr. Burke's final return to Newport.
He was for a time the superintending school committee of New- port, and represented the town in the legislatures of 1849 and 1850.
His wife was Emeline B., daughter of Colonel Daniel Sanborn of Sanbornton. Their marriage took place February 16, 1847, and they had one child, who died in infancy.
BOOZ MOORE ATHERTON.
Son of Dr. Oliver and Abigail (Ladd) Atherton ; born, Chesterfield, Sep- tember 30, 1788 ; Dartmouth College, 1807 ; practiced, Keene and West- moreland ; died, Morris, Illinois, 1867.
The father of Mr. Atherton was a physician. His son ob- tained a collegiate education, and was admitted a counselor of the Superior Court in Cheshire County in 1812. In that year he was in practice in Keene, and from 1813 to 1815 in Westmoreland. His name is found as counsel in one of the actions in Cheshire County at the December term, 1814, reported in "Smith's Deci- sions."
Soon afterwards he removed to Ohio. In 1819 he was at Cleveland, and in 1834 at New Philadelphia, in that State. Sub-
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sequently he established himself in practice in Morris, Illinois, where it is presumed he remained through life.
He married Chloe Hubbard of Keene in November, 1813, and had one child, born in Westmoreland in 1814.
CHARLES GORDON ATHERTON.
Son of Charles H. and Mary Ann (Toppan) Atherton ; born, Amherst, July 4, 1804 ; Harvard College, 1822 ; admitted, 1825 ; practiced, Nashua ; died, Manchester, November 15, 1853.
Mr. Atherton began life amid the most favorable surroundings. His father's circumstances were affluent, and his social and pro- fessional position among the highest. The son was forward in his education, and at twenty-one had finished his legal studies in his father's office. He chose Dunstable, afterwards Nashua, as his place of residence, and its subsequent growth and importance justified the choice. His professional attainments and his gifts as a public speaker speedily brought him into notice, and his tastes inclined him to political life.
As early as 1830 he was chosen representative in the legisla- ture from Dunstable ; in 1831 and 1832 clerk of the state senate ; representative again in 1833, 1834, 1835, and 1836, and the last three of those years Speaker of the House. He was thrice elected to Congress, serving from 1837 to 1843; in 1843 he took his seat as a senator of the United States for the term which ended in 1849, and was reelected in 1852 for six years, only a small frac- tion of which had elapsed at the time of his decease. He was also a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1850, and took a prominent part in its deliberations.
Notwithstanding the demands which these various offices made upon his time, he never neglected nor lost his interest in his pro- fession. He attended punctually and faithfully to all his engage- ments, and maintained a position among the foremost lawyers in the State. His legal knowledge was ample, and he had the most ready command of it, and of all his resources. He was dexterous in the management of a cause, and sagacious in his treatment of jurors and witnesses. He brought out the strong points of his cause with great clearness and force, and presented them to the Court and jury in correct and elegant English, and with an elocu- tion singularly exact and agreeable. His style in the court-room
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has been compared to that of Franklin Pierce; but while they were both powerful and effective advocates, yet Mr. Atherton was much the cooler and more studied in his style, and had his feel- ings well in hand. Mr. Pierce was more impulsive and spon- taneous and emotional. Mr. Atherton kept up his law practice as long as he lived, and it was while he was in attendance upon the court at Manchester that the paralytic seizure occurred, which a few days later terminated his earthly existence. Though previ- ously well and strong to appearance, it is probable that he had had some premonition of the attack, for as soon as he was able to write, while still speechless, he traced on paper with a trembling hand the words, " I expected this, but not so soon."
His career in Congress, no less than his eminence as a lawyer, manifested his high intellectual endowments. He was a leader in counsel and in action. His station was in the front ranks. His services in committee were not less important than in debate. His congressional speeches were numerous, and marked with great lucidity and vigor. He was an intense partisan, and his second election to the United States Senate was said to have been greatly desired, if not actually brought about, by Franklin Pierce, then President elect, in order that he might have a personal friend as the champion of his administration.
It was a remarkable circumstance that Mr. Atherton was a staunch apologist for the " peculiar institution," which his grand- father had so bitterly antagonized in the convention called to pass upon the Constitution of the United States. The grandson did his best in the House to abrogate the right of petition in regard to African bondage, insomuch that he acquired from his political opponents the unpleasant sobriquet of " Gag " Atherton. But he was not alone among the people of the Northern States in misinter- preting the drift of public sentiment, and in taking simply a con- stitutional, instead of a humanitarian view of the slavery question. It was reserved for time to open the eyes of a great majority of our public men to a just perception of the course which true statesmanship not less than philanthropy prescribed, in dealing with that perplexing and exciting subject.
Upon the announcement of Mr. Atherton's death to the Court, which was in session at the time, Daniel Clark offered some remarks, of which the following appear to afford a just estimate of the character of the deceased: "Our late brother was a bril-
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liant instance of a strong and masculine mind, successfully devel- oped and beautifully trained. Liberally endowed by nature, he wonderfully increased the force and power and richness of those endowments by early and careful training. If it were asked in what faculty he excelled, it would be difficult to answer. He was clear ; he was strong. He was brilliant ; he was solid. He was at times melting and tender ; then sarcastic. The great point of his excellence was a harmonious and successful development of the whole intellect. He was eminent as a lawyer and statesman. He attained a high standing both at the bar and in the councils of the nation."
Mr. Atherton's accomplishments were not confined to legal or political topics. He was thoroughly conversant with the history and biography of our own and foreign countries, and with the classics of English literature. Much of the elegance and vigor of his own diction he derived through his familiarity with the productions of the great writers of the time of Queen Anne. He was a thorough gentleman in his bearing, a little reserved it may be to strangers, but courteous and polished in his manners towards all.
He married in 1828 Ann Barnard, daughter of Hugh Hamilton Clark. He left no children.
CHARLES HUMPHREY ATHERTON.
Son of Joshua and Abigail (Goss) Atherton ; born, Amherst, August 14, 1773 ; Harvard College, 1794 ; admitted, 1797; practiced, Amherst ; died there, January 8, 1853.
The college song of the time described this gentleman as " high- blooded Atherton," from which we may infer something of his youthful character. He pursued his legal studies with his father and his brother-in-law, William Gordon, in his native town, was there admitted an attorney, and there in 1797 he entered into practice. Amherst was his home for life, except a few months that he passed in Portsmouth. The law was by no means a lucra- tive profession in a country place at that time, and young Ather- ton could receive little or no help from his father, but was obliged to depend on his own exertions for support. This circumstance probably taught him habits of prudence and thrift, which con- tributed to the accumulation of his large property in later life.
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In less than a year he succeeded in obtaining the appointment of register of Probate, which, though it brought him no great salary, was yet a welcome help to a young man. His accurate and con- scientious business habits made him a model register, and he retained the office nearly forty years, till he resigned it in August, 1837.
Mr. Atherton became early known as a keen, well-read lawyer, and a sagacious, prudent man. In his own town of Amherst he was constantly put forward in every enterprise where a cool judg- ·ment and competent knowledge were requisite. Whenever the town's rights were in question, or a bank, an insurance company, or a railroad seemed to be needed, his name always appeared con- spicuously in connection with it; his townsmen always felt safe under his lead.
Though he had no taste for political life, yet he held very de- cided opinions on public questions, and was chosen a member of Congress ; but after serving a single term, from 1815 to 1817, he declined a reelection. Thrice at a later period he represented the town of Amherst in the state legislature, in 1823, 1838, and 1839.
He was appointed in 1822 by the legislature upon a commission to revise the Probate law of the State. John Harris of Hopkin- ton and James Bartlett of Dover were the other members, but it is understood that the work was mainly performed by Mr. Ather- ton. Their report constitutes the basis of that branch of the law as it has existed from that time to the present, and is a permanent memorial of Mr. Atherton's learning, ability, and judgment.
Mr. Atherton was a cultivated and scholarly man, and was called upon to address his fellow-citizens on many public occa- sions, upon topics of interest. In 1798 he pronounced an oration on Independence Day at Amherst ; the next year a Masonic ora- tion at Concord ; in 1800 a eulogy on Washington at Amherst ; in 1820 an address before the Hillsborough Agricultural Society at Weare, all of which were published. He had also much aptitude for historical and biographical studies, and became early a member of the New Hampshire Historical Society ; delivered its annual address in 1831, was made vice-president in 1832 and 1833, and president in 1834 and the three following years. He contributed to the third volume of the Society's Collections valuable memoirs of Samuel Dana and Wyseman Clagett, and at a subsequent
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time prepared a biographical sketch of his father, Joshua Ather- ton, which was printed for circulation among his friends. Mr. Atherton's historical labors were recognized by the American Antiquarian Society, and by the Massachusetts Historical Society, of both which he was chosen an associate.
For a long period he was the acknowledged head of the bar in his county. In point of learning, acumen, and general ability, as well as diligence, sagacity, and the mastery of graceful and vigor- ous speech, he was fully entitled to the preeminence.
In his personal appearance, Mr. Atherton was a notable speci- men of the gentleman of the old school. Erect, slender, dignified, and handsomely clad, with ruffled shirt, hanging watch-chain and seals, and all the other adornments of his station, at a time when the dress was a distinctive badge of the different classes of society, he was recognized at a glance as belonging to what might be called the patrician order, if such an order there be in our re- public. He retained his sound mental and bodily powers until past the allotted age of man.
Mr. Atherton married, October 30, 1803, Mary Ann, daughter of Christopher Toppan of Hampton. She died in 1817. They had seven children, only two of whom survived him, his son, Charles G. Atherton, and a daughter, who outlived him but eight days.
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