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 31
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Hillsborough, and soon afterwards, assistant clerk of the Superior Court. In 1823, on the organization of Merrimac County, he became clerk of the Superior Court, and afterwards clerk of the Court of Common Pleas for that county.
In 1826 Mr. Eastman removed to Concord, but after eight years there, resumed his residence in Salisbury, until 1847, when he changed his abode to Waltham, Massachusetts, at the age of seventy-seven, probably to be near some of his children.
He was a good clerk, but was not particularly successful as a lawyer. Though honest, and with the best intentions, he is said to have lacked knowledge of men and of common affairs. More- over, he was excitable, and liable to be carried away by any sud- den gust of feeling. In hearings before a justice, for example, he would get into a frenzy and lose his self-control completely. It was probably this weakness that stood in the way of his employ- ment in contested suits, and his own consciousness of it that led him to obtain the assistance of other counsel in all his cases which were to be heard in the higher tribunals.
The first wife of Mr. Eastman was Susan, daughter of Dr. Joseph Bartlett of Salisbury ; his second was Eliza Sweetser, whom he married in 1807.
He had eleven children, most of them by his second wife.
NEHEMIAH EASTMAN.
Son of Ebenezer and Mary (Butler) Eastman ; born, Gilmanton, June 16, 1782 ; admitted, 1807 ; practiced, Farmington ; died there, January 19, 1856.
Mr. Eastman was a student in the academy at Gilmanton until he reached the age of nearly twenty, and then entered upon his term of legal study, four years with Stephen Moody of his native town, and one year with John C. Chamberlain of Charlestown. In 1807 he commenced practice in Farmington, and was a careful, prudent, diligent lawyer. It was his habit to be in his office as early as any one was stirring, often by four o'clock in the morn- ing, and to remain until ten o'clock in the evening, -a day's work that in point of length would put to shame the laborers of the present generation, professional or mechanical, the latter especially. By such industry and application he secured a large clientage.
His abilities were good, though not brilliant, his law knowledge
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sufficient and at command, and he accomplished in his long prac- tice a prodigious amount of business, not indeed of the character to captivate the eye of the public, but of the kind which but- tresses and facilitates the every-day transactions of men. He rarely engaged in jury trials without an associate. With his brethren of the bar and with the public his standing was alike good.
In middle life Mr. . Eastman was actively concerned in political affairs, and was a warm partisan of Levi Woodbury whose sister he married. He represented Farmington in the legislature of 1813; was a state senator in 1820 and the four following years ; and was a representative in Congress from 1825 to 1827.
He married Anstris B., daughter of Hon. Peter Woodbury of Francestown, October 24, 1812. George N. Eastman, his succes- sor in practice in Farmington, was their son.
ROYAL EASTMAN.
Son of Richard and Elmira (Morrill) Eastman ; born, Falmouth, Maine, June 27, 1816 ; admitted, 1844; practiced, Somersworth ; died there, Feb- ruary 2, 1874.
Mr. Eastman was of Quaker parentage, and was educated at the Friends' School, Providence, Rhode Island. After arriving at man's estate, he was engaged for a time in teaching, and then turned his attention to the law. He was in the office of Nathan- iel Wells of Somersworth from 1842 to 1844, having previously studied in Maine, it is supposed. He entered into practice in Great Falls Village, in company with Winthrop A. Marston.
Mr. Eastman was a pleasant companion, a man of integrity, and a sagacious lawyer. He was of rather too retiring and self- distrustful a nature to take the brunt of the battle in a resort to litigation. As junior counsel, to prepare causes, marshal author- ities, and see that everything was in instant readiness, he was invaluable. His practice was a considerable one, and he was retained in not a few important causes.
He received the appointment of postmaster of Great Falls in 1870, and retained it as long as he lived. For many years he held the office of superintendent of schools, and of the public library.
He married, February 23, 1858, Harriet S., daughter of Dr.
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Richard Russell of Somersworth. They had three children, one son and two daughters.
EPHRAIM EATON.
Son of Henry and Hannah (Eaton) Eaton ; born, Candia, September 13, 1808 ; Dartmouth College, 1833 ; admitted, 1837 ; practiced, Concord ; died, Troy, New York, March 3, 1863.
Mr. Eaton's education was acquired at the Kimball Union Academy and Dartmouth College, and he studied his profession with Samuel Fletcher at Concord, at the same time holding the secretaryship of the New Hampshire Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany there. He practiced in Concord sixteen years, with some success so far as the pecuniary results were concerned, but appar- ently without acquiring any high position as a lawyer. It may be that in entering the law he mistook his vocation, as he manifested considerable talent as an inventor, and in 1853 removed to Troy, New York, and there pursued the business of an iron founder.
He afterwards became a member of the firm of Gilbert & Eaton, car builders on a large scale.
He was a good scholar, and possessed a fine personal presence, with a head resembling that of Daniel Webster.
He married in 1843 Mary J., daughter of Horatio G. Cilley of Deerfield.
AMASA EDES.
Son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Baker) Edes ; born, Antrim, March 21, 1792 ; Dartmouth College, 1817; practiced, Newport ; died there, September 10, 1883.
Mr. Edes was well described by the late John M. Shirley as "a natural scholar." He manifested in childhood a love for learning, and his early education was mostly self-acquired.
In 1814 he entered the office of James Wilson of Peterborough as a student at law, and began to prepare himself for college by the advice of Mr. Wilson, who generously offered to lend him the means therefor. With a comparatively short period of study in the New Ipswich Academy, young Edes was enabled to enter the junior class of Dartmouth College in September, 1815. After his graduation he employed his time in teaching schools and acad- emies, and resumed his legal studies with Mr. Wilson, then at
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Keene, and was admitted to the bar in 1822. On the first day of the next year he began his long career of practice in Newport.
As a lawyer he was noted for his thorough understanding of his cases, and his sound judgment. His sense of justice was keen, and in his application of it to facts he seldom erred. He met able competitors in the courts, and carried off his full share of success and credit in the encounters. Through life he maintained the character of a trustworthy counselor, and enjoyed an excep- tional degree of prosperity and contentment. For a number of his later years he was the respected president of the bar in Sulli- van County.
He was an early and earnest advocate of temperance, and never lost his interest in education. He was a member of the legislature from Newport in 1834, and was a trustee of the New- port Academy, and a member of the superintending school com- mittee for many years.
He married Sarah, daughter of Samuel Hart of Keene, March 20, 1823, and had two sons, one of whom is the successor of his father in legal practice.
THOMAS M'KAY EDWARDS.
Son of Thomas and Matilda (Chandler) Edwards ; born, Providence, Rhode Island, December 16, 1795 ; Dartmouth College, 1813 ; practiced, Keene ; died there, May 1, 1875.
Mr. Edwards's legal instructors were Foster Alexander, Henry Hubbard, and Tristram Burges of Providence, Rhode Island.
He settled in practice in Keene in 1817, and passed his life there. Gifted by nature with excellent abilities and business sagacity, he united to them industry and attention to his profes- sion, and for a quarter of a century managed a large and profit- able law practice. He tried causes in court to a considerable extent, and argued them. well. His mind was logical, he was somewhat downright and literal, and the sense of humor was nearly lacking in him. It is related that once, when he was in political life, he made an attempt to tell a facetious story in a public address, but his success did not encourage him to repeat the experiment.
He began his service for the public as postmaster of Keene from 1817 to 1829; he was representative in the legislature eight
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years, beginning in 1834, and ending with 1856 ; and in the latter year was a presidential elector. In 1859 he took his seat as a representative in Congress and held it four years. He made few speeches, and they were marked with knowledge of his subject and sensible views.
In 1845 he was chosen president of the Cheshire Railroad, and gave most of his time for seven years to its business. Here he showed himself to have enterprise, self-reliance, and admirable judgment. " He had his own way, in spite of engineers and all," it is said, and the result was favorable in the highest degree. The railroad was a source of an honorable fortune to its president.
His later life was mainly occupied in managing his private con- cerns. He was president of the Ashuelot Bank, and of the Ashu- elot Mutual Fire Insurance Company. His own account of his life written to his college classmates in 1869 concludes with this modest and highly satisfactory statement : " My life has not been marked by any very remarkable incidents. I have always been actively employed, professionally and otherwise, and have been reasonably successful in all matters I have undertaken."
Mr. Edwards married Mary H., daughter of Phineas Fiske of Keene, May 26, 1840. They had seven children.
CHARLES SUMNER ELA.
Son of Hon. Jacob H. and Abigail M. (Kelley) Ela ; born, Rochester, May 2, 1853 ; admitted, 1875 ; practiced, Rochester ; died, Denver, Colorado, Octo- ber 21, 1883.
Mr. Ela acquired his education in the public schools of Roches- ter, read law in the office of Worcester and Gafney, and began to practice in the same town in 1875. In 1876 he received the appointment of Judge of the Police Court, and continued in prac- tice there until 1882.
His health had for some time been feeble, and he then went to Colorado on some business for his father, in the hope also that the change of climate might benefit him. He improved so rapidly that he desired to make a longer stay there, and induced his father to form a company for cattle raising, of which he was to be superintendent. But his expectation of fully regaining his health was fallacious, for in the second season he was attacked by dis- ease which proved fatal.
He was a young man of much promise.
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RICHARD ELA.
Son of Joseph and Sarah (Emerson) Ela ; born, Lebanon, February 21, 1796 ; admitted, 1819 ; practiced, Durham ; died, Washington, District of Columbia, January 8, 1863.
Mr. Ela was educated in the public schools of Portsmouth, and studied his profession there with William M. Richardson, with William Plumer the younger, and with Ichabod Bartlett.
He set up his office in Durham the same year, and remained there till 1830, having a good share of practice in the courts of Rockingham and Strafford counties. After leaving Durham he was for a time employed in one of the public offices in Ports- mouth, and in 1835 was appointed to a clerkship in the Treasury Department in Washington, District of Columbia, where he passed the residue of his life. He was a very efficient and popu- lar officer, and was the author of various articles of merit on financial subjects. He was a good scholar, a habitual student, a well-read lawyer, and a ready writer. While he was in practice in this State he prepared for publication the trial of Amos Fer- nald for murder of a child by starvation and other ill treatment, in Strafford County. It was executed with a fullness and accu- racy quite rare in those ante-stenographic days.
Mr. Ela was married, August 1, 1844, to Lucia King of Saco, Maine. They had four children, a daughter and three sons.
MELBURN FRANCILLO ELDRIDGE.
Son of Dr. Michael Eldridge ; born, Dunstable, Massachusetts, c. 1822 ; admitted, 1843 ; practiced, Exeter, Nashua, and Newmarket ; died, Milford, October 13, 1854.
Mr. Eldridge fitted himself for the bar in the offices of George Y. Sawyer of Nashua and Bell and Tuck of Exeter. Four or five years of his professional life, from about 1845 to 1849, he spent in Exeter, having an office a part of that time in Newmar- ket. He then removed to Nashua, and remained there till a short time before his decease. He was in practice awhile, also, in Amesbury, Massachusetts.
He is described as of good powers of mind and pleasing man- ners, but his repeated changes of residence and early death
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allowed him little opportunity for displaying his aptitude for his calling.
His wife was Adeline, daughter of Daniel Conner of Exeter, and he left one child.
JEREMIAH ELKINS.
Son of Samuel and Esther (Robinson) Elkins ; born, Andover, August 31, 1795 ; Dartmouth College, 1817 ; practiced, Gilford, Barnstead, and Meredith ; died, Meredith, February 24, 1854.
After leaving college, Mr. Elkins proceeded to Virginia, where he was engaged in teaching for several years. He read law with William A. G. Dade, of Prince William County in the same State, and was admitted at the Circuit Court of the District of Co- lumbia in April, 1823. From that time till October, 1833, when he opened an office in Meredith Bridge, Gilford, he was in prac- tice in Washington, District of Columbia. He removed to Barn- stead about 1836, and returned to Meredith about ten years later.
He was clerk of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1836 and the two following years, register of Probate for Strafford County from 1836 to 1839, and of Belknap County from the time of its formation in 1841 to 1851.
Mr. Elkins was undoubtedly a good scholar and a man of decided capacity. He was popular, and perhaps fonder of politics than of the law. Like many another of similar tastes, he is said to have fallen into convivial habits, which did not advance him in his professional career.
His first wife, married in March, 1838, was Sarah G. Emerson. After her death he married Mary Ann, daughter of Abraham Bunker of Barnstead, who, together with two daughters by his first marriage, survived him.
THOMAS LANGDON ELWYN.
Son of Thomas Elwyn ; born, Canterbury, England, c. 1775 ; admitted, 1811 ; practiced, Portsmouth ; died there, 1816.
This gentleman is said to have been left an orphan at an early age, and to have been educated at the University of Oxford, Eng- land. In 1796 he came to this country, and was so much struck with the attractions of a daughter of John Langdon, then a sen-
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ator in Congress, that he determined to give up his own country for her sake. He went back to England, settled his affairs, re- turned, and married her. His residence was ever afterwards in Portsmouth, and he adopted the surname of his father-in-law as a part of his own.
It is said that he had been admitted an attorney in Pennsylva- nia, and sought admission in this State simply to conduct a cause in which he was a party, and which contrary to the old adage he succeeded in gaining. He was a peculiar man, but was much respected. He was a representative in the state legislature.
His wife was Betsey Langdon, and he had two sons.
BENJAMIN EMERSON.
Son of Joseph and Lydia (Durrell) Emerson ; born, Alfred, Maine, March 20, 1792 ; Dartmouth College, 1816 ; practiced, Gilmanton and Pittsfield ; died, Pittsfield, January 23, 1878.
Mr. Emerson received his ante-collegiate instruction at the academy in South Berwick, and read law with the facetious John Holmes of Alfred, Maine. Admitted in 1822, he went into prac- tice the next year in Gilmanton, and remained twenty-seven years. He was chosen repeatedly to town offices, and was representa- tive in the legislature in 1824, 1826, and the two succeeding years. In 1849 he changed his residence to Pittsfield. There, too, he was elected selectman, and continued to practice his profession to a greater or less extent to near the time of his decease. He was a lawyer of good standing, and had a large clientele ; but being a modest, unassuming man, never became a leading counsel, though he was able to express himself in public tersely and strongly. In the conduct of business he was very successful, and accumulated a handsome property. For some years he was a director of the Pittsfield bank, and he was an energetic promoter of the Suncook Valley Railroad, and of the Pittsfield Water Works. He was quiet and studious in his habits, and kept him- self well informed on all subjects of current interest. He also held strongly religious views.
Mr. Emerson's first wife, whom he married June 6, 1818, was Mrs. Rebecca S. Porter, daughter of Rev. Isaac Story of Marble- head, Massachusetts ; his second was Frances, daughter of Sam- uel Leighton of Alfred, Maine ; her he married January 31, 1847.
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BENJAMIN FROTHINGHAM EMERSON.
Son of Rev. Daniel and Esther (Frothingham) Emerson ; born, Hollis, July 3, 1806 ; Union College, 1830 ; practiced, Nashua ; died there, September 6, 1884.
Mr. Emerson studied his profession with Benjamin M. Farley of Hollis, and at the Harvard Law School, and opened his office in 1835 in Townsend, Massachusetts. The next year he came to Nashua. Until 1840 he was a partner of Aaron F. Sawyer; afterwards he practiced alone. He had a little office on Rail- road Square, which he occupied as long as he lived, and which remained unchanged amid the improvements which were going on around it, in the rapidly growing place.
While he lived in that part of the township called Nashville, he held many town offices and was a leader in local affairs, and after Nashua adopted a city charter he was chosen alderman and repre- sentative in the legislature. For the last quarter century of his life his practice was almost wholly in the Probate Court, and was extensive and successful. He was a man of high character, sin- cere, honorable, and trustworthy.
He first married Eliza Kendall of Bedford, who died in 1870, leaving two sons. In 1872 he was united to Mrs. Caroline C. Morse of Nashua, who outlived him.
SAMUEL EMERSON.
Son of John and Elizabeth (French) Emerson ; born, Chester, February 4, 1792 ; Dartmouth College, 1814 ; practiced, Moultonborough and Sandwich ; died, Sandwich, March 4, 1872.
Mr. Emerson prosecuted his law studies in the office of Amos Kent in his native town, and began to practice in Sandwich in September, 1817. After seven years' residence there, he went to Moultonborough, where he married and remained three years. He then returned permanently to Sandwich. He was solicitor for Carroll County from 1851 to 1855 inclusive, and state senator in 1859.
His rank at the bar was among the highest in his county. As an advocate he did not excel, but as a counselor he commanded great confidence. He gave especial care and attention to the
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preparation of his cases, and was a proficient in the almost lost art of special pleading. He was one of those lawyers who identi- fied themselves with their clients ; and in his best days he enjoyed a very large practice.
His first wife was Mary A. Moulton of Moultonborough, by whom he became the father of a son and a daughter. In 1860 he married Mrs. Elizabeth (Morrill) Picket of Chester.
JAMES WOODWARD EMERY.
Son of Samuel and Ruby (Woodward) Emery ; born, Haverhill, Massachu- setts, November 30, 1808 ; Dartmouth College, 1830 ; admitted, 1833 ; prac- ticed, Portsmouth ; died there, December 16, 1891.
Mr. Emery studied law with Ichabod Bartlett of Portsmouth, and afterwards was associated with him in practice until the death of the latter in 1853. In 1857 he removed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and became president of the Union Horse Rail- road Company, which under his management was highly success- ful. He was also one of the projectors and promoters of the European and North American Railroad, and was largely inter- ested in coal mines in New Brunswick. He returned to Ports- mouth in 1870, after which he gave little attention to the law, but was chiefly employed as a director in various banks and railroads, and in other trusts.
Before leaving Portsmouth he was the chief promoter, if not the projector, of the Portsmouth and Concord Railroad, a real experiment, involving risk and troubles innumerable. He was the legal adviser, encourager, and one of the main upholders of the enterprise. Though the original stockholders were losers, yet it is since demonstrated that the scheme was not chimerical, but only a little in advance of the times.
The legal firm of Bartlett and Emery constituted a fortunate combination of qualities, Mr. Bartlett being a brilliant advocate, and Mr. Emery emphatically a worker, with no ambition for dis- play, but earnest and eager for success. Their list of causes in the courts was among the largest in the county.
After Mr. Bartlett's death, Mr. Emery remained a few years in practice alone, in Portsmouth, with an ample clientele. What he won, he gained in fair, open contest; he despised all indirect methods.
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Mr. Emery was a representative in the state legislature for six years between 1844 and 1874, and one of the most prominent and influential members. In 1873 he was Speaker.
He was a man of character and high standing in public and private affairs. Upright and manly, he was respected even as an opponent. Though not a man to waste words, he was frank and pleasant to all who meant honestly.
He was joined in marriage, August 15, 1857, to Martha E., daughter of Captain Andrew W. Bell of Portsmouth, and be- came the father of two daughters and two sons, one a lawyer.
NOAH EMERY.
Son of Noah and Elizabeth (Chick) Emery ; born, Kittery, Maine, Decem- ber 22, 1725 ; practiced, Exeter ; died there, January, 1788.
Mr. Emery no doubt prepared himself for the practice of the law under the instruction of Nicholas Perryman of Exeter, and was probably associated with him in business. The amount of legal business at that time must have been small, and the fees proportionate.
As the political troubles between the American colonies and the mother country increased in intensity, Mr. Emery warmly took the side of his country. In June and in December, 1775, he was a member of the provincial Congress from Exeter. He was one of the committee who reported the brief constitution under which New Hampshire was governed through the trying period of the Revolution, the first written constitution adopted by any of the United States.
Mr. Emery was a member and clerk of the House of Represen- tatives, through 1776 and 1777.
In 1776 he received the appointment of clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, and performed the duties as long as he lived.
He was married, March 20, 1745, to Joanna, daughter of Nicholas Perryman, he being twenty years of age, and she only fourteen. He left five sons and four daughters. .
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TURNER ESTABROOK.
Son of Rev. Joseph and Lucy (Cushing) Estabrook ; born, Athol, Massachu- setts, April 18, 1790; Harvard College, 1810; practiced, Lee and Farming- ton ; died, 1816.
While Mr. Estabrook was in college he underwent a severe attack of typhoid fever, from which it is said he never fully recovered. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, and settled in practice in Lee in 1813 or 1814. For a time, too, he appears to have had an office in Farmington. In two or three years he left New Hampshire for Philadelphia, but afterwards proceeded to the South, presumably in pursuit of health. The im- pression of his friends was that he was drowned while crossing a river in traveling ; though they received no definite account of his death. He was unmarried.
ESTWICK EVANS.
Son of John and Susanna (March) Evans ; born, Portsmouth, 1787 ; prac- ticed, Portsmouth and Exeter ; died, New York city, November 20, 1866.
This eccentric person belonged to a family of uncommon natu- ral powers ; his brother Richard having without a regular legal education reached the position of a judge of the highest court, and his sister Sarah Ann, afterwards Mrs. Lehmanowski, being the author of a novel and other literary works. He was in a great measure self-instructed in the law, and was, contrary to all precedent, admitted an attorney in 1811 by the Court of Common Pleas, without the recommendation of the bar. This proceeding called forth a spirited remonstrance from the bar, and has never since been repeated, it is believed.
Mr. Evans practiced in Portsmouth up to 1815 ; then awhile in Exeter, and, later, again in Portsmouth. He was noted for taking up the cases of sailors, and the poor generally, who had grievances, and was regarded by them as their champion ; while the regular legal practitioners were none too friendly to him of course. Jeremiah Mason is said to have declared that Evans " had about as much influence as any one, because he was a clever fellow, honest, poor, and not well treated, and the people sympa- thized with him."
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