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 16
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He was much interested in the material development of Kan- sas, was prominent in the organization of the first Board of Agri- culture ; for a time was editor and publisher of the "Cultivator and Herdsman," and was long a contributor to the newspaper press. In his later life he occupied a farm.
Judge Bailey was in Kansas at the critical point of the destiny of that Territory, and was conspicuous in his efforts to rescue it from the blight of slavery ; and this not without personal risk, for being in Lawrence when it was sacked by the " border ruf- fians," he narrowly escaped with his life by swimming the Kansas
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River in the night. His career was filled with adventure and variety, and he is entitled to high credit for his steady and consistent opposition to the extension of slavery, and his important agency in securing the public domain to the area of freedom.
He married Mrs. Elizabeth A. Peabody of Lawrence, Kansas, December 15, 1870, who survived him.
ALBERT BAKER.
Son of Mark and Abigail (Ambrose) Baker ; born, Bow, February 5, 1810 ; Dartmouth College, 1834; admitted, 1837 ; practiced, Hillsborough ; died there, October 17, 1841.
Albert Baker, though he died in early manhood, had already made his mark in law and in politics. He was fitted for college at Pembroke Academy under Master John Vose. His legal studies were directed by Franklin Pierce, then of Hillsborough, and by Richard Fletcher of Boston, Massachusetts ; and he was admitted to the bar of Suffolk County in April, 1837. He es- tablished himself in practice in Hillsborough as successor to Mr. Pierce, and soon took a leading position as a lawyer and a politician.
In college he was an excellent scholar, and persistent to the extent of sometimes defending his own opinions in the recitation- room, against the doctrines of the professors. As a lawyer he was well-read, sharp in making points, and unyielding in main- taining them. He was a good advocate. But he is said to have begun on the mistaken principle of bringing suits whenever clients desired it, whatever might be his own opinion on the subject, and the consequence was that after his early death, it was found that he had a large number of actions upon the docket which had to be discontinued.
He carried his pertinacious and combative disposition into po- litical life. He was the most radical of Democrats. He spoke well and forcibly in the state legislature, of which he was a member in 1839, 1840, and 1841, and, young as he was, was an acknowledged party leader at the time of his decease.
Mr. Baker was said to have been a great user of tobacco, which perhaps sapped his strength, so that he became an easier prey to disease. He never married.
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NATHANIEL BRADLEY BAKER.
Son of Abel and Nancy (Bradley) Baker ; born, Henniker, September 29, 1818 ; Harvard College, 1839 ; admitted, 1842 ; practiced, Concord ; died Des Moines, Iowa, September 12, 1876.
One of the most popular men that New Hampshire has ever produced was Nathaniel B. Baker. Of fine physique, engaging manners, and thoroughly kind heart, he had not an enemy even among his political opponents.
He received his education at Phillips Exeter Academy in 1834 and 1835, at Dartmouth College, and at Harvard College, where he graduated. He then turned his attention to the study of the law in the office of Pierce and Fowler in Concord, but in 1841, before completing his legal reading, became the joint proprietor with H. H. Carroll of the New Hampshire " Patriot," the leading Democratic newspaper of the State, at Concord. His connection with the paper continued about two years. In the mean time, in 1842, he had completed his law studies, with Charles H. Peaslee of Concord. Three years after his admission to the bar he was made clerk of the courts in Merrimac County. That post he resigned in 1852, and resumed the practice of the law in company with Francis B. Peabody at Concord.
Meantime his popularity naturally bore him into the front ranks of his party, as a candidate for political honors. He was elected to the state legislature in 1850, and was chosen Speaker of the House, an unusual honor to a new member, indicating the high estimation in which his abilities were held. He was familiar with the mode of proceeding of the body over which he was called to preside, having acted as reporter thereof, while he was con- nected with the New Hampshire ""Patriot ; " and he fully met the expectation of his most sanguine supporters by the readiness, accuracy, and impartiality with which he discharged the duties of the chair. The next year his party could hardly boast of a clear majority, either in Concord or in the House; yet he was again chosen, the sole representative from Concord, and Speaker for the second time.
In 1854 he was nominated for the governorship of the State, and was elected, though by less than a thousand majority. The year after, he was renominated, but his popularity was neutralized
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by the political changes which had come over the State, and which united men of various shades of opinion in the support of what was called the American ticket; and Governor Baker failed of a reelection. But he probably received more votes than any other man of his party would have had.
In 1855 Governor Baker was attracted to the West by the offer of the attorneyship of an important railroad, and changed his home to Clinton, Iowa. His popularity followed him there. He represented his county in the legislature of Iowa in 1860 and 1861. When the Southern Rebellion broke out, being a thorough Union man, he was at once chosen Adjutant-General of the State. His activity and energy, his devotion to his country's cause, his sound good sense and thorough comprehension of his duties, and his honorable and impartial treatment of officers and soldiers and all men with whom he had to deal, rendered him one of the most useful of the many excellent adjutant-generals of the States. He was retained in the office up to the hour of his death.
He was married in May, 1843, to Lucy C., daughter of Rev. Petrus S. Tenbroeck, rector of the Episcopal Church in Concord, and left several children.
THOMAS BANCROFT.
Son of Deacon Nathaniel and Mary (Taylor) Bancroft ; born, Lynnfield, Massachusetts, November 14, 1765; Harvard College, 1788 ; practiced, Rochester ; died, Canton, China, November 15, 1807.
This gentleman's residence in New Hampshire was transitory. He probably fitted himself for his profession in Massachusetts, and made his appearance in Rochester about the year 1794, and remained there as a legal practitioner for a year or two, at most. Probably finding the field a very unprofitable one, he then with- drew to Salem, Massachusetts, and became master of the gram- mar school there. He afterwards had the appointment of clerk of the courts in Salem for several years. After resigning that place he went to sea as supercargo of the ship Hercules, and died at the end of his outward voyage.
He was married, November 10, 1797, to Elizabeth Ives, daugh- ter of Robert Hale and Sarah (Bray) Ives, of Beverly, Massa- chusetts ; and had two sons who survived him.
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EVERETT COLBY BANFIELD.
Son of Rev. Joseph and Elizabeth (Chapman) Banfield ; born, Wolfe- borough, September 19, 1828 ; Harvard College, 1850 ; practiced, Wolfe- borough ; died, New York city, November 12, 1887.
Mr. Banfield was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard College, and studied his profession with Nathan Clifford in Portland, Maine, and with John P. Healy in Boston, Massa- chusetts. He received his license to practice in Boston, and con- tinued there from 1853 to 1866, and then removed to New York on being appointed to a position in the law division of the United States custom house in that city. After three years he was ap- pointed solicitor of the United States Treasury at Washington, District of Columbia, and acted as such from 1869 to 1874. In the last-named year he was retained as the attorney of the Pacific Mail Company of San Francisco, California, and filled that po- sition for a year. A partial failure of his health caused him to withdraw from this employment, and he returned to his native town on Lake Winnepesaukee.
After a rest of a year or two he opened an office in Wolfe- borough, but never engaged very largely in practice there. He was particularly active in organizing the high school in Wolfe- borough.
Mr. Banfield is represented as possessed of marked ability and intellectual cultivation. Never content with what he had already accomplished, he was continually striving throughout his life to enrich his mind with further acquisitions. In his person and manners he was peculiarly attractive; he was esteemed by his townsmen, and in his family relations was especially beloved.
He married Anne S., daughter of Professor N. W. Fiske of Amherst, Massachusetts, October 28, 1854. She and their six children survived him.
DAVID BARKER.
Son of Colonel David and Ann F. (Simpson) Barker ; born, Stratham, Janu- ary 8, 1797 ; Harvard College, 1815 ; admitted, 1819 ; practiced, Rochester ; died there, April 1, 1834.
The father of Mr. Barker, shortly after the birth of this his eldest son, changed his residence permanently to Rochester.
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David, the son, was transferred from the school of that town to the Phillips Exeter Academy, and thence to college, from which he graduated at eighteen. He qualified himself for the bar in the office of John P. Hale of Rochester, and opened his own office there in 1819. He was an accomplished scholar and a well- instructed lawyer, with remarkable maturity of judgment, an agreeable disposition, a habit of promptitude, and integrity un- sullied.
In 1823 he was chosen a representative to the General Court, and rechosen in 1825 and 1826. Though of well-defined opinions, he was not a mere partisan in politics, but rather independent in some of his views and actions. In 1827 he was elected to the United States Congress. There he manifested an intimate know- ledge of the political history of the country and a thorough ac- quaintance with the questions at issue between the parties, and made himself known as a legislator of enlarged views and marked ability. When the next election came round, however, the old party lines had so far changed in the State that the entire con- gressional delegation were replaced by new men. Mr. Barker re- turned to his legal practice and his usefulness as a private citizen.
It was not long afterwards that he began to perceive indications of failure of his bodily health. He was not disquieted, however, but kept about his business, and maintained his equanimity and cheerfulness until he saw the last of earth. He had a clear con- science, and was a firm believer in the Christian religion.
He took in marriage, October 1, 1823, Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Upham of Rochester. She survived him, with their two children.
DANIEL BARNARD.
Son of Thomas and Phebe (Eastman) Barnard ; born, Orange, January 23, 1827 ; admitted, 1854 ; practiced, Franklin ; died there, January 10, 1892.
The farm on which Mr. Barnard was born and passed his youth was distant three miles from the district school. His parents, however, contrived that he should get as much schooling as was possible, and supplemented it by their own instruction in the evenings.
At the age of seventeen he resolved on a collegiate education, and labored on the farm and taught school to pay the expenses of his preparation.
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His plan of study was interrupted by his being sent as a repre- sentative to the legislature, by his townsmen, as soon as he at- tained his majority, and for four years in succession. Though the youngest member, he manifested such sagacity and legislative talent that he became a leading man in the House. In 1851 he gave up the idea of college, and became a student of the law with George W. Nesmith and Austin F. Pike of Franklin, and in three years was duly admitted to the bar, and to a partnership with Mr. Pike, Mr. Nesmith retiring from practice. Mr. Barnard's business was large and widely extended ; he attended the courts in Merri- mac and Belknap counties, and the Plymouth sessions in Grafton County, besides the federal tribunals in the State.
In 1860 and 1862 he was a representative of Franklin in the General Court; in 1865 and 1866 a state senator, and the latter year president of the Senate ; and in 1870 and 1871 a member of the Executive Council. From 1867 to 1872 he was solicitor of Merrimac County, and he declined a reappointment in 1872, and again in 1877. In 1887 he was appointed Attorney-General of the State, and that office he filled to the hour of his death. He left no duty of all these official trusts undone or ill done. His labors as Attorney-General were protracted and exhausting, espe- cially in the prosecutions of Sawtelle and of Almy each for mur- der, and possibly weakened his powers of resistance to the malady which terminated his life.
Mr. Barnard's amiable disposition and frank and honorable character attached his brethren of the bar very strongly to him, and made him friends throughout the community. One who knew him thoroughly, and appreciated his merits, happily de- scribed one of his leading characteristics in the phrase, " There was nothing sinister about him."
He had abundant technical learning and skill ; was an industri- ous worker, grudging no time or labor to the complete perform- ance of his professional or official duties ; a judicious adviser alike in legal and in ordinary affairs ; a master of terse and convincing speech before a popular assembly, a legislative body, or as an advocate in the court-room. He was a trustee of the Franklin Library Association and of the Savings Bank, and president of the Franklin National Bank. The degree of Master of Arts from Dartmouth College in 1867 was a deserved tribute to his attainments and character.
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His home was to him the happiest of all places, and he was for- tunate in his domestic relations. He was married, November 8, 1854, to Amelia, daughter of Rev. William Morse of Chelms- ford, Massachusetts. Of their four sons, two became lawyers ; and there were two daughters.
LEVI BARNARD.
Son of Dr. John Barnard ; born, Boston, Massachusetts, 1772 ? ; practiced, Lancaster ; died there, October 12, 1832.
Mr. Barnard was fitted for, and for a time was a student in, Harvard College, but did not complete his course. He com- menced the practice of the law in Lunenburg, Vermont, and rep- resented that town in the General Assembly in 1803 and 1810. He was afterwards settled in Concord, Vermont. In 1820 he transferred his home to Lancaster, where he lived ever after. He is described by one who remembers him, as an accomplished gentleman, and rather distinguished as an advocate ; very precise, and with the manners, habits, and dress of the olden time. He argued causes in court with fluency and ease, but excelled in rhet- oric rather than in logic.
In some of his business operations he was not altogether for- tunate, and he never acquired an extensive practice after his re- moval to Lancaster.
He married, in 1805, Lucy, daughter of Dr. William Page of Rockingham, Vermont, formerly a well-known citizen of Charles- town. They had a son and three daughters.
WILLIAM MORSE BARNARD.
Son of Hon. Daniel and Amelia (Morse) Barnard ; born, Franklin, January 10, 1856 ; Dartmouth College, 1876 ; admitted, 1879 ; practiced, Franklin ; died there, April 15, 1886.
A career of high promise was cut short by the early death of William M. Barnard. With a thorough education obtained at the Phillips Exeter Academy and Dartmouth College, supple- mented by a careful legal training in the office of his father and at the Boston Law School, he was completely equipped for his chosen profession ; while his natural abilities enabled him to make the best use of his acquirements. He entered at once into
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company with his father in his practice, and by his youthful energy and ready apprehension became a power in the office, and made his influence felt and respected. His father treated him in their business on equal terms. Young Mr. Barnard had already, at the age of thirty, made his mark at the bar.
His friends were numerous, and strongly attached to him. In his town, where the political majority was against him, he was chosen repeatedly to local offices, for which his qualifications were of the best. A year before his decease he was prostrated by severe illness, from which he never fully regained his strength. Upon a relapse, he sank rapidly, until death put a period to his earthly prospects and labors.
ISAAC ORR BARNES.
Son of Nathan and Anna (Remick) Barnes ; born, Bedford, June 12, 1798 ; Middlebury College, 1818 ; practiced, Barnstead ; died, Boston, Massachusetts, January, 1864.
This gentleman, who was better known as a politician and humorist than as a devotee of the law, was one of the nine children of a farmer. He prepared himself for college at the academy in New Ipswich. One year after his graduation he spent in teaching the academy at Francestown, and then became a law student in the office of Titus Brown of the same town, receiving his certifi- cate as an attorney in 1822.
He first became a practicing lawyer at Barnstead. He is de- scribed as "a pretty good lawyer when he would attend to busi- ness," and as one " who could enjoy a joke even at the expense of his own political party." He had small liking for the law, but a genuine proclivity towards political life. Nine years of practice in Barnstead sufficed him ; in 1831 he went to Lowell, and, two years after, to Boston, Massachusetts.
In March, 1835, while his brother-in-law, Levi Woodbury, was a member of the national Cabinet, Mr. Barnes was made naval officer of the port of Boston, and retained till 1841. Most of the remainder of his life was spent in public office. In 1845 he became United States Marshal for the district of Massachusetts ; in 1849 clerk of the Circuit Court; in 1853 Pension Agent at Boston until his decease.
Of Colonel Barnes's wit and humor many anecdotes are related.
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The manners of the people of Barnstead, during his sojourn there, were rather primitive, and his neighbors, as he complained, were in the habit of borrowing his boots, to wear on great occasions. He had no objection to lending them to those whose feet were of ordinary dimensions ; but the majority of the borrowers had large feet, and so his boots got ruined. He adopted the expedient, therefore, he said, of having a strong pair made on purpose to lend, - large enough for the megapods, - and in that way saved his credit, and his personal boots for his own wear.
After Jackson's famous " removal of the deposits," various "pet banks," as they were called, sprang up in our principal cities. Of one of these, the Lafayette of Boston, Barnes was made president. Like many others of the same class, it soon found itself in difficulties, and its assets were discovered to be largely composed of worthless paper. An official investigation of the affairs of the bank was ordered. The officer called on the bank president. " Well," said Barnes, in his high falsetto voice, " I hope you may be able to find some property belonging to the bank, for I assure you I cannot."
The last mot which is credited to this inveterate joker was uttered while he was upon his death-bed. He was visited by his physician, who tried to say something encouraging. He found the sick man's extremities were warm, and remarked cheerfully, "Your feet are warm; that is an excellent symptom ; no man ever died with warm feet." "How was it with John Rogers the martyr ?" was the response.
Mr. Barnes was married about 1826 to Hannah T., daughter of Hon. Peter Woodbury of Francestown. He left no descendants.
ROYAL DEXTER BARNES.
Son of Warren M. and Mary (Blodgett) Barnes ; born, Northfield, Massa- chusetts, June 18, 1854 ; admitted, 1878 ; practiced, Nashua ; died there, August 29, 1891.
Mr. Barnes was educated at the McCollom Institute in Mount Vernon, and the Literary Institute in Nashua, and read law in the same city with George Y. Sawyer. He was chosen city solici- tor of Nashua in 1880 and the three following years, and ac- quired a fair practice, both civil and criminal. Without extraor- dinary legal qualifications, he was active, self-confident, and
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energetic. He might probably have acquired position at the bar, if he had been steady and industrious. But his habits of dissi- pation were an insuperable obstacle to his progress, and led at length to his death by his own hand.
He married, March 13, 1878, Idella E. Prescott, at Nashua. She with their three children outlived him.
WILLIAM BARRETT.
Son of Zimri and Persis (Batchelder) Barrett ; born, Wilton, July 2, 1836 ; Harvard College, 1859 ; admitted, 1861 ; practiced, Nashua ; died, St. Paul, Minnesota, September 14, 1888.
Mr. Barrett began the study of the law in 1859, with Aaron P. Hughes of Nashua, and afterwards attended lectures at the Har- vard Law School. He decided to try his fortune at practice in Nashua. He was chosen city solicitor, and to several other local offices. In 1871 the position of solicitor for Hillsborough County was given him. Two trials for murder occurred during his five years' occupancy of the office, one of which, the "Major case," was especially difficult and keenly contested, and in that he se- cured a conviction. Mr. Barrett was a man of popular manners and superior intellectual capacity, and made many friends.
About the year 1876 he quitted Nashua, in some embarrassment it was said, and removed to St. Paul, Minnesota. He is reported to have won a fine position in that city as a lawyer and a citizen. He was appointed chairman of the Board of Public Works, and was greatly esteemed. His death was sudden and unexpected.
Mr. Barrett was a zealous Freemason, and had been the Grand Master in New Hampshire and attained high rank in other Masonic bodies.
He was the author of a Genealogy of the descendants of Thomas Barrett, Sr., of Braintree, Massachusetts, published at St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1888, a work apparently of research and value.
Mr. Barrett married Sarah E., daughter of Christopher Page of Nashua, who with a son and daughter survived him.
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GEORGE BARSTOW.
Son of William and Abigail (Townsend) Barstow ; born, Haverhill, June 19, 1812 ; Dartmouth College, 1835 ; practiced, Hillsborough and Manchester ; died, San Francisco, California, September 9, 1883.
Mr. Barstow was fitted for college at the academy in his native town, and at Peacham, Vermont. He entered the class of 1835, of Dartmouth College, but did not graduate in course. During the years 1835 and 1836 he was principal of the academy at Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, and the next three years he spent in the study of the law in the office of Robert Rantoul, Jr., in Boston. There he was admitted, and practiced from 1839 to 1844. He then removed to Hillsborough in this State for a year, and then to Manchester, and devoted himself to his profession for about four years with much success.
He had already brought himself into public notice by the com- position of a History of New Hampshire, first issued in Concord in 1842. It was a work of some ability, though immature, and written with evident bias; it reached a second edition in 1851.
Parts of the years 1849 and 1850 he spent in travel in Europe, and on his return he fixed his residence in New York city. After about eight years there, he turned his face towards Cali- fornia. Planting himself in San Francisco, he soon achieved a reputation in the judicial courts and in the legislature of the State. He was a member of the House of Representatives as a pronounced Union man, in the exciting years of 1861 and 1862, and the latter year was Speaker. He was again a representative in 1878. For the two or three years before 1860 he was pro- fessor of medical jurisprudence in the University of the Pacific. He was also president of the Young Men's Christian Association in San Francisco.
Mr. Barstow was successful in his profession, and made himself useful and respected in California. He gave his legal knowledge and financial assistance to many of the local charities, and was a frequent contributor to the press on topics of public importance. Some of his articles in the journals, and in pamphlet form, are said to have had a wide and salutary influence.
Mr. Barstow's wife was Emily E., daughter of John Shepley of Saco, Maine. She survived him, and he left no children.
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ENOCH BARTLETT.
Son of Hon. Bradbury and Polly (True) Bartlett ; born, Nottingham, March 15, 1819 ; practiced, Epping ; died, Nottingham, June 27, 1855.
Mr. Bartlett's education was obtained at the academies of Hampton and Derry, and he was several years a school-teacher before he entered upon the study of the law, in the office of Wil- liam W. Stickney of Newmarket. He opened an office in Epping in 1845, and practiced there two years in company with James McMurphy, doing a business of considerable extent. After the decease of his partner in 1847, he removed to Lawrence, Massa- chusetts, then rapidly growing into importance, and commenced practice there, with success. In 1852 he was a representative to the General Court, and in 1853 was elected the second mayor of the newly created city. He gave up his practice, and devoted his attention assiduously to the duties of this post, probably to the detriment of his health. He had repeated attacks of illness afterwards, and never resumed practice.
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