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 26
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His wife was Anna H. Burleigh of Newmarket.
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JOSEPH BOND CLARK.
Son of Samuel and Betsey (Clement) Clark ; born, Gilford, June 22, 1824 ; Brown University, 1848 ; admitted, 1853 ; practiced, Manchester ; died there, October 22, 1886.
At the age of seventeen Mr. Clark began to prepare himself for college at New Hampton Literary Institute, and for five years after his graduation from the university he was a teacher of schools in this State and in Massachusetts, pursuing his law studies in the mean time under the direction of Asa Fowler of Con- cord. After his admission in Belknap County in 1853, he was two years principal of the academy at Wolfborough; he then established himself as a lawyer in Manchester. He was chosen city solicitor in 1858 and 1859, and a representative in the legis- lature in 1859 and 1860. In 1861 he was appointed solicitor of Hillsborough County, and at the expiration of his five years' term was reappointed.
In September, 1862, he was commissioned lieutenant in the 11th regiment of New Hampshire Volunteers, and was promoted to be captain in March following. May 6, 1864, in the battle of the Wilderness, he was severely wounded ; and in June, 1865, was mustered out of the military service. Returning to his practice in Manchester he was elected mayor of the city in 1867. In 1884 he was a delegate to the national Republican convention, and in 1886, shortly prior to his decease, he was an aspirant for the nomination to Congress, but was unsuccessful.
Captain Clark, in addition to his very considerable legal prac- tice, was officially interested in various corporations. He was a director of the Merrimac River Bank, and of its successor the First National Bank ; a trustee of the Merrimac River Savings Bank ; a director of the Nashua, Acton, and Boston Railroad, of the Manchester Horse Railroad, and of the New Hampshire and People's Fire Insurance companies. He was also a large property holder.
As may be inferred from the positions he filled, Captain Clark enjoyed a large measure of the public confidence. He was a fast friend, a good citizen, and a lawyer of ability and standing. A hard worker, he perhaps assumed too many cares ; ambitious and sensitive, he took every miscarriage sorely to heart. His
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death was the consequence, it is supposed, of the burden of his many responsibilities, in addition to political disappointment. It was a complete surprise to all who knew him.
He was married, September 12, 1862, to Mrs. Mary J. (Pea- body) Smith. She died in 1873, leaving him with two children, a son and a daughter.
PETER CLARK.
Son of Peter and Jane (Aiken) Clark ; born, Lyndeborough, April 29, 1810 ; Dartmouth College, 1829; admitted, 1832 ; practiced, Francestown, Dun- stable, and Nashua ; died, Nashua, May 29, 1841.
This gentleman pursued his professional studies with Edmund Parker of Nashua, Samuel Fletcher of Concord, Titus Brown of Francestown, and at the New Haven Law School. For a short time he had an office in Francestown, and then, in 1833, removed to Dunstable, afterwards Nashua. In the eight years of his life there he established a high character for legal and business capacity, and made himself popular and respected. At the time of his decease he was the chairman of the board of selectmen of Nashua, and the treasurer of the Concord Railroad Corporation. An obituary notice represents that " he enjoyed a high rank in his profession ; as a man of business he had few equals ; as a friend and companion he was beloved by all, and as a citizen he was in the foremost rank."
He married Susan, daughter of Nathaniel Lord of Kennebunk- port, Maine, May 28, 1834, and had four children.
WARREN CLARK.
Son of Jacob K. and Mary Clark ; born, Hopkinton, March 29, 1837; Nor- wich University, 1857 ; practiced, Henniker and Concord ; died, Concord, November 22, 1891.
Mr. Clark was two years a teacher of mathematics and military tactics in New York and New Jersey, and then returned to this State and studied law in the office of Messrs. George and Foster in Concord. In 1862 he was admitted to the bar. He then spent a year or more in imparting military instruction to officers of newly raised regiments, before he opened his office in Henniker. There he stayed until 1870 and then moved to Concord.
In 1874 he was made Judge of Probate of his county, and
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served until a change in the state administration in 1876. From 1888 to 1890 he was postmaster of Concord. Throughout his life he manifested a deep interest in popular education. He was a member of the superintending school committee of Hopkinton and Henniker, and after his removal to Concord he served upon the :school board from March, 1875, to the time of his decease almost continuously.
As a public officer Judge Clark performed his duties punctu- ally and faithfully. He attended industriously to his law practice, which in spite of his impaired health grew to be very considera- ble, though it was mainly confined to work that could be per- formed in his office. He was a safe counselor, and seldom encouraged litigation. He was of a genial nature and courteous in manner, and made many friends.
May 11, 1864, he was married to Fanny S. Otis of Colchester, Connecticut, who survived him.
JOHN BADGER CLARKE.
Son of Greenleaf and Julia (Cogswell) Clarke ; born, Atkinson, January 20, 1820 ; Dartmouth College, 1843; admitted, 1848 ; practiced, Manchester ; died there, October 29, 1891.
Always an excellent scholar, both in the Atkinson Academy and afterwards in college, Mr. Clarke assumed after his grad- uation the charge of the academy at Meredith Bridge for three years. While there he began the study of the law under the direction of Stephen C. Lyford, and afterwards finished his course with his brother, William C. Clarke, at Manchester. In February, 1849, he went to California to practice his profession, but like most others there, of whatever calling, soon turned to mining. In 1851 he returned to Manchester, and began practice successfully, for a year, but with a view to a shorter road to advancement, then assumed the editorship of the " Mirror," a daily newspaper there published. This he purchased the succeed- ing year, and added to it two other papers which he secured, and from them built up the daily "Mirror and American," and the weekly "Mirror and Farmer," both which journals acquired a larger circulation and great influence. The weekly became an authority in agricultural subjects, in which Mr. Clarke took great interest. He was especially devoted to the improvement of the
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breed of horses and other stock, and owned many valuable animals himself, seldom being without excellent specimens of the best blood in his stable.
His daily paper, in addition to the latest news of the day, con- tained all the local intelligence that enterprise could secure, and was the mouthpiece of his political party in Manchester and its vicinity. To his newspaper office Mr. Clarke added an extensive printing establishment, where for years the state printing was performed under his official direction. He issued from it several useful works chiefly of a historical character, - the History of Manchester, prepared by himself; Successful New Hampshire Men ; Sanborn's History of New Hampshire ; and others.
He was in many directions a man of high ambition, enterprise, and zeal ; whatever he took in hand, he put his best powers into. He was a warm partisan and a devoted friend ; always liberal and whole-souled.
Though no aspirant for public office except in the way of his calling, he was a trustee of the Merrimac River Savings Bank from its inception, was lieutenant-colonel of the Manchester Veterans, and president of the Fish and Game League of the State, besides his nine years' service as state printer.
He was married, July 29, 1852, to Susan Greeley Moulton of Gilmanton, and after her decease to Olive Rand of Warner, in 1886. By his first marriage he had two sons.
SAMUEL GREELEY CLARKE.
Son of Captain John Clarke ; born, Pittsfield, June 17, 1827 ; Harvard Col- lege, 1851 ; practiced, Northwood ; died, Bristol, Rhode Island, April 19, 1887.
Mr. Clarke was distinguished for his scholarship at the Phillips Exeter Academy and in college, and graduated at the head of his class. Studying law in the office of Daniel Webster and John P. Healey in Boston, Massachusetts, he was admitted to the bar in Suffolk County and practiced there a few years. His health broke down under the strain of his long and close application to study. He engaged in extensive travel abroad, in Europe and elsewhere, and is said to have had so great a facility for the acquisition of foreign languages that he was able to speak French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. His acquaintance
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with the Latin and Greek classics he kept up with ardor to the latest day of his life.
He lived and practiced his profession in Northwood from 1861 to 1865, excepting the year 1863.
The use of stimulants, to which he was advised to resort for the restoration of his health, and under the influence of which he was in danger of falling, in spite of the best intentions, constituted the main obstacle to his attainment of that professional eminence which his abilities and accomplishments entitled him to expect.
His warm heart, companionable disposition, and honorable feel- ings won him an abundance of friends wherever he chanced to be.
Mr. Clarke married, September 24, 1857, Martha A., daughter of Hon. George H. Kuhn of Boston, Massachusetts, and left a son and a daughter.
WILLIAM COGSWELL CLARKE.
Son of Greenleaf and Judith (Cogswell) Clarke ; born, Atkinson, December 10, 1810 ; Dartmouth College, 1832 ; admitted, 1836 ; practiced, Meredith and Manchester ; died, Manchester, April 25, 1872.
Mr. Clarke at the academy in Atkinson and in college held high rank in scholarship. One year he was principal of the acad- emy in Gilmanton, and then began legal study at the Harvard Law School, with Stephen Moody of Gilmanton and Stephen C. Lyford of Meredith. In Meredith he commenced practice in 1836. Four years afterwards, Belknap County was organized, and Mr. Clarke was appointed its first solicitor. In 1844 he moved to Manchester.
In 1849 and 1850 he was chosen city solicitor ; in 1850 he was a delegate to the state constitutional convention, and in 1851 he was appointed Judge of Probate for Hillsborough County. In 1855 he declined the offer of a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, and in 1856, as one of the results of a political overturn in the State, he was superseded in the office of Judge of Probate. In 1863 he received the appointment of Attorney-General of the State, which he retained to the time of his decease.
He was for many years a director and trustee of two or three banking institutions, a trustee of the Manchester Athenæum, and trustee and clerk of the City Library, and for a time treasurer
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and afterwards clerk of the Manchester and Lawrence Rail- road.
Up to the time of his assumption of the duties of Attorney- General, he enjoyed a large private practice. As the public pros- ecutor of the State he gained high credit. He was a careful and exact lawyer, and rarely if ever made a slip in his pleadings. He was scrupulous in attention to his official duties, and allowed no offenses to pass without proper inquiry and investigation. At the same time he could make allowance for youth and ignorance, and had no vindictiveness or severity in his disposition. It was never believed of him that he used the extensive powers of his office wrongfully, or even heedlessly. On the contrary his acts were all with a single eye to justice and the public good.
Judge Clarke married, in 1834, Anna Maria, daughter of Stephen L. Greeley of Gilmanton, who with two sons and two daughters survived him. Their oldest son is a lawyer, formerly of Manchester, and now in New York city.
AUGUSTUS BAXTER CLAY.
Son of Barber and Mary (Stevens) Clay ; born, Andover, February 19, 1831 ; admitted, 1858 ; practiced, Newmarket ; died there, March 26, 1861.
Mr. Clay's education was obtained in the common schools and at the academies in Nashua and Andover, Massachusetts. Before reaching the age of twenty-one he was employed in a store in Newmarket, but was then looking forward to the law as his pro- fession, and devoted all his spare hours to study. He finished his preliminary reading in the office of William B. Small of Newmar- ket, and began practice there immediately after his admission.
He was bright and ambitious, and his career, both as a lawyer and a politician, promised to be a very successful one. He was elected a member of the legislature in 1860, and had laid the foundations of a considerable legal business, when he was attacked by the illness which in two weeks terminated his earthly existence.
He married Mary G. Woodman of Newmarket, February 26, 1852. They had one daughter, who died in childhood.
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JAMES BOWDOIN CLEAVELAND.
Son of Professor Parker and Martha (Bush) Cleaveland ; born, Brunswick, Maine, 1810 ; Bowdoin College, 1828 ; practiced, Newmarket ; died, Bruns- wick, Maine, 1854.
Mr. Cleaveland was a man of handsome talents and stood well in college. He divided the period of his law study between the offices of Ebenezer Everett of his native town, Stephen Longfel- low of Portland, Maine, and Rufus Choate of Boston, Massachu- setts. He was an inhabitant of New Hampshire from 1835 to 1837, practicing in Newmarket. The residue of his professional life he spent in Maine, at first in Portland, afterwards at Gray, and finally at Passadumkeag on the Penobscot. One year he was a member of the legislature of Maine. In the summer of 1854 he came to his father's house in poor health, and shortly after- wards died of dysentery.
His wife was Lucinda P. Kenney, and they had four children.
EDWIN FRANKLIN CLOUTMAN.
Son of Jeremiah A. Cloutman ; born, Alton, 1838 ; admitted, 1879 ; prac- ticed, Milton and Farmington ; died, Farmington, January 14, 1890.
Mr. Cloutman was educated at the public schools of Farming- ton and at the Phillips Exeter Academy, and studied law with George N. Eastman of Farmington and Josiah G. Hall of Dover. He was admitted to the bar of Essex County in Massachusetts, and practiced awhile in Lynn. In this State he opened an office, first in Milton (Mills), but after a short experience there, estab- lished himself in Farmington. He was considered a man of ability and good promise, and in the five or six years that he resided there had gained a respectable business.
He was married to Ellen F. Alexander of Mount Vernon, and left one child.
FRANCIS COGSWELL.
Son of Colonel Amos and Lydia (Baker) Cogswell ; born, Dover, April 16, 1790 ; practiced, Dover and Boscawen ; died, Goodwin, Dakota, October 22, 1881.
In his youth Mr. Cogswell was wild and difficult of con- - trol. He entered Dartmouth College, and remained in his class
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three years, and was then sent away for some serious misde- meanor. He prepared himself for the law under Oliver Crosby of Dover; practiced in that town from 1817 to about 1822, and then removed to Corser's Hill in Boscawen, with the intention of carrying on a farm in addition to his law business. At first he is said to have been dissipated, but he afterwards reformed, led a more orderly life, and used to exhort in religious meetings. He quitted New Hampshire about 1833 and removed to Dakota, and there rounded out his life of more than ninety years, dying in the house of his second son.
He was married, March 7, 1820, to Mrs. Elizabeth (Smith) Tebbets of Dover, and left three sons and four daughters. One, if not two of his sons followed their father's profession.
FRANCIS COGSWELL.
Son of Dr. William and Judith (Badger) Cogswell ; born, Atkinson, De- cember 21, 1800 ; Dartmouth College, 1822 ; admitted, 1827 ; practiced, Tuf- tonborough, Ossipee, and Dover ; died, Andover, Massachusetts, February 11, 1880.
Mr. Cogswell was preceptor of the academy at Meredith two years after his graduation, and then attended to the study of the law in Gilmanton under the direction of Stephen Moody. His first practice was at Tuftonborough, but shortly afterwards he removed to Ossipee, and remained there about five years. Thence, in 1834, he proceeded to Dover, receiving the appointment of clerk of the courts in Strafford County. That position he resigned in 1842, and took up his residence in Andover, Massachusetts. He was appointed treasurer of the Ballardvale Woolen Company, and in 1845 became also cashier of the Andover Bank. After eleven years of duty there, he was chosen president of the Boston and Maine Railroad. In 1862 he relinquished the latter office, but in 1865 he was reelected and served till 1871. Under his management the railroad gained greatly in means and credit.
He was a director in the Andover Bank twenty years, treasurer of the Marland Manufacturing Company twenty-two years, a trustee of the Gilmanton and Atkinson academies, and of the Punchard Free School at Andover, and an overseer of Harvard College six years. His business talents were excellent, his social qualities made him acceptable everywhere, and his power of reading and dealing
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with men was uncommon. His personal character was high, - his integrity above suspicion. He was systematic and industrious, and put his best abilities into the work he had to do.
He was married, June 8, 1829, to Mary S., daughter of Abra- ham Marland of Andover, Massachusetts, and was the father of eight children.
NATHANIEL COGSWELL.
Son of Hon. Thomas and Ruth (Badger) Cogswell ; born, Haverhill, Massa- chusetts, January 19, 1773 ; Dartmouth College, 1794 ; practiced, Gilmanton ; died at the rapids of Red River, in Louisiana or Arkansas, August, 1813.1
Nathaniel Cogswell was a student at Phillips Exeter Academy in 1784. He studied his profession with Ebenezer Smith of Dur- ham, and commenced practice in Gilmanton in 1805. He stayed there three years, and then removed to Newburyport, Massa- chusetts. He was a rolling stone, and traveled extensively in Europe. He was, moreover, a black sheep in discredit with the bar, and by his criminal extravagance impaired the property of his father. Having a fancy for the military profession, as was the case with many of his family, he was aid to General Brickett in the militia, and afterwards joined the patriot army in one of the many revolutionary movements in Mexico, and rose to the rank of major-general. It was while he was in that service that his death took place.
BENJAMIN MARION COLBY.
Son of Benjamin and Polly (Woodman) Colby ; born, Sanbornton, July 25, 1818 ; admitted, 1845 ; practiced, Sanbornton ; died there, February 9, 1863.
The father of Mr. Colby was a veteran schoolmaster, and though the son did not receive a liberal education, yet he must have been well instructed. Most of the time of his legal study was passed with George W. Nesmith of Franklin. He practiced in his native town where he was best known and highly esteemed, and was very successful in his profession. He was chosen super- intending school committee from 1847 to 1849. Though he was in practice but eighteen years, yet he accumulated a handsome property, and by fair and honorable dealing.
1 Another account states that his death occurred in May, 1814.
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Mr. Colby was widely connected with the members of his pro- fession. He was an elder brother of Jeremiah H. W. Colby of Dover, a nephew of Jeremiah H. Woodman of Rochester, and of Charles Woodman of Dover ; and a cousin of Charles W. Wood- man of Dover, Moses K. Hazelton of Bradford, and Jonathan Kittredge of Canaan.
His first marriage, April 28, 1852, was with Electa M., daugh- ter of Joseph L. Conner; his second, January 29, 1861, with Elizabeth D., daughter of David Robinson of Stratham. By his first wife he had one son, who died in childhood.
JEREMIAH HALL WOODMAN COLBY.
Son of Benjamin and Polly (Woodman) Colby ; born, Sanbornton, January 14, 1821 ; Dartmouth College, 1842 ; practiced, Dover ; died, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, May 11, 1853.
Eleven years from the time of his leaving college brought the life of Mr. Colby to a close, and of that period less than one half was spent in New Hampshire. From 1842 to 1845 he was reading law with Daniel M. Christie and Charles W. Woodman in Dover ; then he was a year in practice there, and in 1846 he emigrated to Wisconsin. He settled in Manitowoc in 1847, and in the six years he lived there was appointed district attorney for one term, and for a short time Judge of Probate for the county.
His wife was Emily, daughter of Benjamin Jones of Chicago, Illinois, and they were married October 29, 1850. They had no children.
DAVID HAYNES COLLINS.
Son of Samuel and Sarah (Haynes) Collins ; born, Deerfield, November 9, 1811 ; Dartmouth College, 1835 ; practiced Plymouth and Haverhill ; died, Deerfield, June 24, 1843.
Mr. Collins after completing his course in college read law with Charles H. Peaslee in Concord and Josiah Quincy in Rum- ney. He began practice at Plymouth, but soon went to Haver- hill, where he lived from 1839 to near the time of his decease. In July of that year he was appointed register of Probate for Grafton County, and held the office about three years. His services in that capacity were of great value, as he rearranged
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and indexed the neglected papers in the office in a methodical and orderly manner. But his health was so slender that he was constrained to spend the last winter of his life in the South, but without substantial benefit, and he returned to die among his kindred.
Mr. Collins was well educated, possessed a good deal of literary taste, and wrote letters that showed originality and polish. He was somewhat peculiar and reserved towards strangers, but those who came to know him well found him most social and agreeable.
MOSES NORRIS COLLINS.
Son of David and Ruth (Bean) Collins ; born, Brentwood, April 15, 1820 ; admitted, 1856 ; practiced, Exeter ; died, the Wilderness, Virginia, May 6, 1864.
Mr. Collins had an academical education, and was several years employed in teaching in Maryland. He began the study of the law in the office of Bartlett and McMurphy of Epping, and com- pleted it with Gilman Marston at Exeter, with whom, after his admission to the bar in 1857, he became a partner.
He was an energetic and efficient practitioner, and during the absence of General Marston in Congress and in the army, con- ducted the business of the office with ability and success. He represented Brentwood in the legislature in 1855; and in 1861 and 1862 he was elected to the same office from Exeter. While he was in Concord in the latter year the 11th regiment of New Hampshire Volunteers was organized, and Mr. Collins was ap- pointed its major, from which post he was soon afterwards pro- moted to be lieutenant-colonel. He proceeded with the regiment to the seat of war; was with it in the fruitless battle of Fred- ericksburg in December following, and in nearly all the engage- ments in which it took part, to the battle of the Wilderness in May, 1864.
On that occasion he was bravely leading his men to the attack, when he received a rifle bullet in the brain, and fell instantly dead.
Colonel Collins was possessed of robust powers, mental and phy- sical, and was ambitious and persevering. He could not have desired a more honorable termination of his brief career than that of giving his life to his country's cause.
He was married to Abby Dow of Epping, and left one daughter.
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ABEL CONANT.
Son of Abel and Margaret (Jewett) Conant ; born, Hollis, June 1, 1784 ; admitted, 1813 ; practiced, New Ipswich ; died, Lowell, Massachusetts, April 12, 1875.
Mr. Conant studied his profession with Walter Hastings of Townsend, Massachusetts, and was admitted to practice in that State. Settling in Townsend he remained there until 1820 when he came into New Hampshire and located himself in New Ipswich, where he resided six years or more, engaged in the practice of his profession. He then proceeded to Lowell, Massachusetts; and, his health being poor, he abandoned the law and gave his attention to the study of new inventions in chemistry and mechanics. He was highly successful. He invented the seraphine, or parlor organ ; and the hollow auger, so much used by wheelwrights. The mortise lock, one of the greatest conveniences of modern times, was conceived and patented by him; and he was the dis- coverer of the method of raising bread by cream of tartar and other acids, which, though a saving of labor, is in other respects a doubtful blessing. It would seem that these improvements should have brought their originator fame and fortune. But the diffi- culty of preventing infringements upon his patents deprived him in a great measure of the rewards to which he was justly entitled.
Mr. Conant did not cease his useful labors for benefiting the public whilst his life lasted.
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