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 2
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His wife was Mary Brown. They were married December 8, 1680, and had three sons and two daughters. One of the latter became the wife of Governor Belcher.
JOSEPH SMITH.
J. 1693-1696. C. J. 1696-1697 ; 1698-1699.
Joseph was a son of Robert Smith, one of the signers of the Exeter Combination in 1639. He was born about the year 1653,
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either in Exeter or in Hampton, to which place his father re- moved, and where he himself passed his adult life. He was many years in public employment. He was a representative in the provincial Assembly in 1692, 1708, 1709, and 1716, at least ; selectman of Hampton seven years, and a justice of the peace as early as 1708.
His first commission as an assistant Justice of the Superior Court was dated in 1693, and he acted as such until 1696; then he was advanced to the position of Chief Justice, which he held, with perhaps a slight interval, till 1699.
In 1696 he was treasurer of the province, and in 1698-99 was of the council. In King William's war he was much engaged in military affairs, being then a major of the militia. He also held the office of Judge of Probate from 1703 to 1708. It is evident that he was a useful and much trusted citizen.
He left no descendants, though he was thrice married ; first, to Dorothy, eldest daughter of Rev. Seaborn Cotton ; second, April 17, 1707, to Mary, daughter of Captain William Moore; and last, February 16, 1709, to Mrs. Elizabeth Marshall, who out- lived him. He died November 9, 1717.
NATHANIEL WEARE.
C. J. 1694-1696.
Nathaniel Weare, whose father bore the same name and was an early proprietor of Newbury, Massachusetts, was born in Eng- land in 1631, and became a resident of Hampton, where he was a well-esteemed citizen. When Robert Mason attempted to assert his claims to the ownership of the soil of New Hampshire against the bona fide occupants, by the aid of venal and corrupt officials, Mr. Weare distinguished himself by his resolute stand against him, and was chosen by the inhabitants, outraged by the arbitrary conduct of Governor Cranfield, to go to England and lay their complaints and petition for his removal before the King. He afterwards made a second voyage to England as attorney for William Vaughan in his appeals from the judgment obtained by Mason against him in a land suit, and in other matters. Weare was successful in part, and gained much credit by his conduct of the business. He was ever on the side of the people, in their struggles against the invasion of their legal and civil rights.
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After the overthrow of the Andros government in New England in 1689, New Hampshire being without an executive, an attempt was made to restore authority by the election of commissioners from the several towns, empowered to meet and conclude upon a form of government ad interim. Mr. Weare was chosen one of the commissioners from Hampton ; but the plan was not carried out. He was also sent as one of a committee from Hampton to advise with others at Portsmouth, as to what was necessary to be done in defense of the province against the incursions of the savage enemy in King William's war.
In 1692 he was chosen by Lieutenant-Governor Usher and council a councilor of the province, and in April, 1694, was appointed Chief Justice of the Superior Court, as successor to Richard Martyn, and presided in the court until 1696.
He retained his seat in the council until January, 1698-99, and then, on occasion of some difference with Governor Allen, was by his own decree excused from further attendance. He resumed his place at the council board upon the publication of Governor Bellomont's commission in 1699, and until 1715, when he retired from public employment. He died May 13, 1718.
He married Elizabeth Swain, December 3, 1656. She died about 1660. He took for his second wife Huldah Hussey, No- vember 9, 1690. His two sons, Peter and Nathaniel, were Judges of the Superior Court, as was his grandson, Meshech; and also Chief Justice.
JOB ALCOCK.1
J. 1697-1699.
Job Alcock (sometimes spelled Alcot) was born about 1640, and was a son of John Alcock, who was living in York, Maine, before 1675. The son was appointed lieutenant in the company of militia in that town in 1668, and afterwards captain. Under the second charter of Massachusetts he was in 1691 made a councilor for Maine, and subsequently a Justice of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas, there. His garrison house in York was one of the places of refuge for the whites, when the Indians made
1 In some of the lists of Judges that have been published, the name of Job Clements is given, instead of Alcock. The latter, however, is correct, as an inspection of the original council records demonstrates.
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their descent upon that place in 1692. Williamson, in his History of Maine, describes him as "one of the ancient, most substantial and wealthy inhabitants " of York.
It was probably not long after 1692 that he removed his residence to Portsmouth. In February, 1697, he was sworn as a justice of the peace for the province of New Hampshire, and in the following April he was appointed an associate Judge of the Superior Court. In February, 1699, a new commission issued, and terminated his connection with the court.
He was living in Portsmouth in January, 1700, when Samuel Wentworth of Wells, Maine, nominated him one of the overseers of his will. He died in 1716, and left a widow, Dorothy, but no children.
PETER COFFIN.
C. J. 1697-1698. J. 1699-1712.
Peter Coffin was the eldest son of Tristram Coffin of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and was born in Devonshire, England, in 1630. He removed to Dover before 1650, and as early as 1690 to Exeter, where he resided the remainder of his life. At one time he was in company with Major Richard Waldron, and traded with the Indians. As a merchant he was successful in business, and acquired a large landed property. In Dover he was selectman and town treasurer, each some years; and was deputy to the General Court in Boston in 1672, 1673, and 1679. In 1693 he was appointed councilor, and served, with some interruption, until near the close of his life.
At the attack of the Indians upon the inhabitants of Dover, when the tragical death of Major Waldron occurred, the savages broke into Coffin's house, and finding a bag full of money there, compelled him to scatter it upon the floor while they scrambled for it. On their failure to effect an entrance into his son's garrison, they threatened to kill the father unless his son opened his doors to them. The younger man then surrendered, but the guard placed by the Indians over the family was so negligent that they all escaped.
The next year Coffin took up his residence in Exeter, where he was received as an inhabitant, had a grant of land, and was employed frequently in town affairs. It was while he lived in
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CHRONOLOGICALLY.
Exeter that he served as councilor and as a member of the Superior Court, first as Chief Justice about a year, and later as an " assistant " for twelve years. He died there, March 21, 1715, " a gentleman very serviceable to church and state," according to his obituary.
His wife was Abigail, daughter of Edward Starbuck. He had five sons and four daughters, and his descendants are numerous.
JOHN GERRISH.
J. 1697-1698; 1699-1714.
John Gerrish was of Dover. He was the son of Captain William and Joanna (Oliver) Gerrish, and was born probably in Newbury, Massachusetts, May 15, 1646. He was living in Dover as early as 1660, when he received from Major Richard Waldron a conveyance of part of a mill and a hundred acres of land, and ten years after, of a house partly finished. These were perhaps the dowry of Waldron's daughter, whom Gerrish married. He took the oath of a freeman in 1669. In 1684 he was a deputy from Dover to the provincial Assembly, and was styled captain, having the command of a troop of horse in the militia. In 1689 he was a member of the convention "to resolve upon some method of government," after Andros's deposition. He became councilor in 1692; in 1697 a Judge of the Superior Court, to which position he was again appointed in 1699, and retained his commission till his death in 1714, though he attended court but once after February, 1708-9, and that was in February, 1712-13. At the August term, 1713, he was absent by reason of sickness, as appears by the record.
He had six sons and two daughters.
KINSLEY HALL.
J. 1698-1699.
Mr. Hall was a son of Ralph and Mary Hall, and was born in the year 1652. His father was one of the signers of the Com- bination in Exeter, and the son resided there, though he may have been a native of Dover. He was a man of much intelli- gence and efficiency ; was a selectman of Exeter several years, town clerk, and a representative in the provincial Assembly in
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1694 and 1695. During King William's war he was often em- ployed in a military capacity, having the then important commis- sion of captain, and rendered valuable service. He was one of the justices of the peace, and in 1698 was appointed a Judge of the Superior Court, and sat as such till 1699.
He was twice married. His first wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Samuel Dudley of Exeter. He had five or more children, and died in Exeter in 1736.
SHADRACH WALTON.
J. 1698-1699.
George Walton, the father of Shadrach, was a signer of the Exeter Combination in 1639, and afterwards removed to Great Island, where his son Shadrach was born in 1658, and resided afterwards. The latter became a man of property and influence, and distinguished himself in the Indian wars, rising to the dig- nity of colonel of the New Hampshire forces, in which capacity he assisted in the reduction of Port Royal, in 1710. In 1716 he was appointed to the council, and continued in it until he became the senior member and president thereof, and until his death. Governor Shute appointed him in 1722 to the command of the forces raised for the expedition against Penobscot, whereby Wal- ton became involved in an unpleasant controversy between the governor and the General Court of Massachusetts.
Colonel Walton was a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas from 1695 to 1698, and again from 1716 to 1737. He was ap- pointed a Judge of the Superior Court in 1698, and was superseded by the new commission in 1699. He lived until October 3, 1741.
By his wife, Mary, he had two sons and four daughters.
RICHARD HILTON.
J. 1698-1699.
Richard Hilton was a son of Captain William Hilton, and a grandson of Edward Hilton, the emigrant. He lived in that part of Exeter which is now South Newmarket, and in later life is said to have removed to Portsmouth. He administered the estate of his father, and was a selectman of Exeter seven of the years between 1692 and 1716. In 1698 there was assigned to him a
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CHRONOLOGICALLY.
place for a pew in the new meeting-house, for himself, his wife, and four children. As early as the year 1700 he had a right of ferry granted to him between Exeter and Stratham.
He received the appointment of Judge of the Superior Court in 1698, and served something less than a year, when a change was made. He was living in 1736.
His wife was his cousin Ann, daughter of Edward Hilton, Jr. They had five sons.
JOHN HINCKES.
C. J. 1699-1704.
Mr. Hinckes is understood to have been of English birth, and to have come to Great Island subsequently to 1670. He was not a lawyer, but probably a merchant, and possessed considerable ability, though not much firmness of principle. In 1683 he was chosen with three others by Governor Cranfield and his council as a member of that body, in place of others arbitrarily removed. He received the appointment of " assistant " to Robert Mason as Chancellor to the province, and was one of the three persons to whom Cranfield ordered Rev. Joshua Moody to administer the sacrament of the Lord's Supper in the Episcopal form, in 1683. Mr. Hinckes was named one of " the council for New England " in Governor Dudley's commission in 1686, and a councilor for New Hampshire in Governor Allen's in 1692. He continued in the latter capacity a large part of the time till about the year 1710, and acted as president of the council in the absence of the governor and lieutenant-governor.
Upon the reorganization of the judiciary in 1699, he received the appointment of Chief Justice of the Superior Court, and re- tained the same until 1704, when he left the country " without leave," and Richard Waldron was named councilor by mandamus in 1711, in his stead.
During the administration of Andros he was appointed captain of the fort at Great Island, and in 1707 John Cross, who had been a soldier under his command, petitioned the governor and council for redress, alleging that Hinckes had received twenty-nine pounds from the treasury, belonging to the petitioner, and had clandestinely gone out of the province without paying him. The governor and council granted Cross leave to bring a suit in the
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provincial courts in forma pauperis, for the recovery of the money. Judge Hinckes afterwards returned to New Hampshire, it is believed, and is said to have died in Newcastle in 1734.
His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Nathaniel Fryer, and he left descendants.
JOHN PLAISTED.
J. 1699-1716. C. J. 1716-1717.
John Plaisted was the son of Lieutenant Roger Plaisted of Kittery, Maine, was born near the year 1660, and went to live in Portsmouth when he was aged about nineteen. There he mar- ried Mary, daughter of Captain John Pickering, and became a popular and prominent citizen. He was a representative in the provincial Assembly in 1692 and for several succeeding years, and Speaker of the House in 1696. In 1702 he became a mem- ber of the council, and so continued (with possible intervals) till 1716. The commission of a Judge of the Superior Court was awarded him in 1699, and he attended every term of the Court as such to the time of his appointment as Chief Justice in August, 1716. As Chief Justice he attended but a single term. His death probably occurred in 1717, although the statement of one of his descendants would fix it at a date considerably later.
WILLIAM VAUGHAN.
C. J. 1708-1716.
William Vaughan was a grandson of Sir Roger Vaughan of Glamorganshire in Wales. He received a mercantile education under Sir Josiah Child in London, and came to Portsmouth as a merchant in 1664, when twenty-four years of age. He was suc- cessful in business and acquired wealth, and being generous, pub- lic spirited, and resolute, he bore a very prominent part in the early history of New Hampshire. He was admitted a freeman of Massachusetts in 1669, and was soon after made a lieutenant of cavalry under Captain Robert Pike. From 1676 to 1680 he served as one of the selectmen of Portsmouth, and repeatedly afterwards.
He was a member of President Cutt's council, and of those of several of his successors, holding his seat with various interrup-
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tions till 1713. In the first two years of the provincial govern- ment he sat as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas; and in 1683 he was by Governor Cranfield's appointment a member of the special Court for the trial of Edward Gove and others for trea- son. He was found too independent and too watchful of the interests of the people to suit Cranfield, who displaced him from the office of councilor. Vaughan took part in the movement for forwarding a complaint to the King to procure Cranfield's re- moval from the governorship, and thereby excited the ire of that despotic ruler, who treated him with insolence, and illegally com- mitted him to prison, where he was detained nine months, to the great injury of his health.
He was one of those against whom Robert Mason, as proprie- tor of New Hampshire, brought suit to recover the lands they occupied, and was the only one who appealed from the adverse decision of the Court, though his appeal was really for the bene- fit of the whole. Mr. Vaughan was awhile treasurer of the prov- ince, and for a number of years recorder of deeds ; he was also prominent in military affairs, and at one time was in command of the entire militia force of the province. In August, 1708, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Superior Court, and retained that commission till February, 1716, though he last appeared in court in August, 1714. He died November 12, 1719. He was an honest and courageous supporter of the people's rights and in- terests, and was the object of their warm affection and admiration.
He married, December 8, 1668, Margaret, the younger daughter of Richard Cutt, and was the father of two sons and six daughters. His son George was lieutenant-governor of New Hampshire.
MARK HUNKING.
J. 1712-1729.
Mark Hunking is understood to have been a son of John Hun- king, and to have been born in Portsmouth, May 17, 1670. He was a representative, and Speaker of the Assembly ; and in 1710 was brought into the council, where he kept his seat till 1728. He was chosen recorder of the province in 1722, and again in 1726 for three years.
In 1712 he was commissioned a Judge of the Superior Court, and is supposed to have remained in office till 1729, though the
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absence of dockets for a part of that time renders the duration of his service uncertain. He is said to have deceased about the year 1731. The fact that there were several contemporaries of his, bearing the same name, so that it is not easy to distinguish one from the others, makes any extended biographical sketch impracticable.
SAMUEL PENHALLOW.
J. 1714-1717. C. J. 1717-1726.
This gentleman was born in St. Mabon, Cornwall, England, July 2, 1665. He came to this country with his preceptor, Rev. Charles Morton, in 1686. The Society for Propagating the Gos- pel in Foreign Parts offered him strong inducements to become a missionary, among the Indians, but on account of the unsettled state of affairs in the country he preferred to remove to Ports- mouth, and engaged in trade. Marrying the daughter of Presi- dent John Cutt, he came into possession through her of a large estate, which he much increased by his successful business opera- tions. He lived in handsome style, and was hospitable, notably to strangers, and charitable.
In 1698 and several subsequent years he was a representative in the Assembly, and in 1700 was Speaker. Near the same time he was made collector of the port. In 1702 he was appointed to the council, and remained in it as long as he lived, with the ex- ception of a short suspension by Lieutenant-Governor Vaughan.
Several years he was chosen by the House of Representatives recorder of deeds, and as such was required by Lieutenant-Gov- ernor Usher, under the authority of the Lords of Trade and Plantations in England, to deliver the records and files of the courts, which had been deposited with the recorder by order of the General Court, to the secretary of the province. Penhallow refused to do so without an act of the General Assembly author- izing it; and neither threats nor persuasions could prevail upon him to obey an order which he regarded as a violation of duty and prejudicial to the interest of the people.
In 1714 he was commissioned Justice, and in 1717 Chief Justice, of the Superior Court. There he continued to preside as long as his life lasted. His mental powers, his education, and his famil- iarity with public business rendered him a valuable and excellent judge. In 1714 the office of secretary of the province was also
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conferred upon him, and he discharged its duties up to the time of his decease well and faithfully, as he did all the various public trusts that devolved upon him.
In the war against the Eastern Indians Mr. Penhallow served as a captain, and subsequently was the author of a history of the wars with those Indians from 1703 to 1726, which was published in the latter year. It is a work of authority, and has been twice reprinted.
He died in Portsmouth, December 2, 1726. .
He had four sons and five daughters, and there are many of his descendants living.
THOMAS PACKER.
J. 1717-1724.
Thomas Packer, a native of London, England, was bred a sur- geon, and came to this country while a young man. After a short stay in Salem, Massachusetts, he settled in Portsmouth, where he practiced medicine and surgery, and acquired distinction. For some years he devoted much attention to the duties of divers pub- lic stations. He was a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and also Judge of Probate, and a lieutenant-colonel in the militia. From these offices he was relieved about 1697 by reason of politi- cal disputes ; but afterwards, in quieter times, he was made a councilor, which he continued to be from 1719 to the time of his death. He was also a member and Speaker of the House of Assembly for one or more years, before his appointment to the council.
He was a Judge of the Superior Court for about seven years ; from January, 1717, to his decease.
He was married, August 7, 1687, to Elizabeth, widow of Joseph Hall, and a niece of Major Richard Waldron of Dover. They had children.
GEORGE JAFFREY.
J. 1717-1726. C. J. 1726-1732 ; 1742-1749.
Mr. Jaffrey was the son of the early councilor of the same name, and was born in Great Island, November 22, 1682. He graduated from Harvard College in 1702, and was the first man of a liberal education who appeared on the bench of New
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Hampshire. He became an inhabitant of Portsmouth, and repre- sented that town in the provincial Assembly in 1710 and several succeeding years. In 1717 he was of the council, and the same year was placed upon the bench of the Superior Court as an asso- ciate. In the latter capacity he acted until 1726, when upon the death of Samuel Penhallow he was commissioned Chief Justice, and made treasurer of the province. Henry Sherburne appears to have been Chief Justice early in 1732, and Judge Jaffrey is sup- posed to have resigned at that time. Judge Sherburne ceased to preside in that court in 1742, when Jaffrey was recommissioned Chief Justice, and the latter office he filled till his death, May 8, 1749. He also remained treasurer as long as he lived. His long service in public offices indicates the confidence he inspired in his ability and integrity.
He married, January 10, 1710, Sarah, daughter of David Jef- fries of Boston, Massachusetts. She died, January 12, 1734, and he married, March 9, 1738, Mrs. Sarah McPhedris, a daughter of Lieutenant-Governor John Wentworth. By his first marriage he had a son of his own name and three or four daughters.
PETER WEARE.
J. 1726-1730.
Peter, the son of Nathaniel Weare, was born in Newbury, Massachusetts, November 15, 1660, and lived in Hampton, after- wards Hampton Falls. He was admitted to a seat in the council in 1698, but apparently went out with Allen's government the next year. He was then styled lieutenant ; he afterwards rose to be major and colonel. He was a representative from Hampton in the Assemblies from 1715 to 1728, with scarce an exception, and Speaker of the House in 1722. He appears to have been a man of decided opinions, who spoke his mind with much candor, and a useful public servant, being repeatedly a member of important commissions.
It is understood that he received his appointment to the bench of the Superior Court in 1726, and retained it till 1730.
He married Elizabeth, probably daughter of Humphrey Wil- son, of Exeter, January 6, 1692.
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CHRONOLOGICALLY.
JOHN FROST.
J. 1724-1732.
John Frost was a son of Major Charles Frost, of Kittery, Maine, and was born March 1, 1682. Apparently he was bred to the sea, for it is said that at one time he was the commander of an English ship of war; but later he was a merchant in New Castle, and became useful and prominent in public affairs. He was an inhabitant of Kittery till 1701, at least, and afterwards of Portsmouth. He was appointed a councilor of the province in 1723, and served as such through life; and in 1724 he was commissioned a Justice of the Superior Court, to succeed Thomas Packer. This office also he apparently occupied as long as he lived. His death took place February 25, 1732.
September 4, 1702, he took to wife Mary, sister of Sir Wil- liam Pepperrell, and they had seventeen children.
ANDREW WIGGIN.
J. 1729-1732.
Andrew Wiggin was the son of Andrew and grandson of Cap- tain Thomas Wiggin, who came to this country first in 1631. The subject of this notice was born in Squamscott, now Stratham, January 6, 1672. While Squamscott was connected with Exeter he was one of the selectmen in 1699, 1712, and 1714. Stratham having been incorporated as a separate town in 1716, largely owing to the exertions of Wiggin, he was elected for a number of years its representative in the Assembly, and repeatedly held the office of Speaker, beginning with 1728. He appears to have been an energetic and competent man of business, and very fixed in his opinions, which embroiled him with Governor Belcher.
His commission as Judge of the Superior Court is supposed to have run to 1732, though he only sat on the bench three terms, beginning with September term, 1729. He died about 1756.
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