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 34
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Mr. Fletcher's circumstances early taught him the lesson of frugality ; he had to borrow a coat in which to appear at his graduation, and to resort to credit for obtaining the means to study and begin his profession. He was an industrious and superior scholar, and on leaving college obtained the preceptor- ship of the academy at Salisbury. There for the first time he saw Daniel Webster, whose fame as a student still lingered at Hanover. " It was the most majestic figure and the noblest countenance on which I had ever looked," said the young man. Webster became from that time his beau ideal of all manly and intellectual perfection, and on finishing his engagement as pre- ceptor at Salisbury in 1809, he went to Portsmouth to complete his law studies, in the office, at the same time that he boarded in the house, of Webster.
He was admitted an attorney in Rockingham County in 1811, and established himself in Salisbury. He was quick-witted, dili- gent, and ambitious. Few practitioners in the State have reached the topmost rounds of the ladder with such celerity as he. He practiced in New Hampshire about ten years, but in that brief period he built up a business and a reputation scarcely inferior to those of the ablest men of thrice his experience at the bar. He was especially noted as an advocate. Rufus Choate, while in col- lege, traveled from Hanover to Concord, no insignificant journey in ante-railroad times, to hear Fletcher speak in an important cause, and was so much pleased with the argument that it decided him to become a lawyer. The author of the Fletcher genealogy describes him as " an orator of great power, fluent and elegant in diction, bright and sparkling in thought, keen and quick in repartee." Judge Pingry of Vermont, after listening to a legal argument of Fletcher's of some hours' duration, said "it was the most learned and powerful that he ever heard from human lips." It was the opinion of the late Judge Wilcox that "Mr. Fletcher was the best advocate who ever appeared at the Grafton bar."
He became one of the half a dozen eminent counselors who
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traveled the circuit with the judges, and were retained to lead in the principal trials in several counties. He thus came to have the charge of the action of Dow v. Joseph Bell, in Grafton County, for breach of promise of marriage. It is said that Fletcher and Bell were not friends, and were rivals for the favor of the lady whom Bell married. It is certain that Fletcher re- mained single for life. In the trial referred to, Fletcher is said to have been peculiarly bitter in his condemnation of Bell's con- duct towards the plaintiff. But the defendant won the verdict.
An anecdote of Mr. Fletcher's New Hampshire experience was related by the venerable George Kent. On a Sunday morn- ing during a term of the court at Haverhill, Mr. Fletcher found Judge Richardson and Mr. W., a member of the Grafton County bar, who was noted for having but little respect for Sunday or any religious observances, in the parlor of the hotel, and invited Judge Richardson to go with him to church. The judge excused himself, and, looking at Mr. W., remarked, “ No doubt brother W. will appear for me on this occasion." "May it please your Honor," replied Mr. Fletcher, " I am very much afraid that he is already retained on the other side !"
In 1819 Mr. Fletcher removed to Boston, Massachusetts. It is reported that he first distinguished himself in public there as a volunteer counsel, in a case which was in danger of being sacri- ficed by the incompetence of the lawyer. Mr. Fletcher at a mo- ment's notice proffered his aid, saved the cause, and made himself a position.
Though he had no predilection for politics, he was once or twice chosen to the legislature of Massachusetts, and in 1837 was elected to Congress. He found, however, that the place was unsuited to his taste and his talents, and though renominated and secure of his reelection, he declined the position, and again returned to his practice.
In Massachusetts, as in New Hampshire, he took his place among the ablest members of the bar. Engrossed in his pro- fession, without a family, without even a hobby, his time, his labors, and his ambition were all concentrated on the law. He was repaid by signal success in his practice, by the acquisition of an ample fortune, and by the highest distinction as a jurist.
In 1848 he was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth. Though he possessed abundant learning,
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courteous manners, and an ardent desire to do justice, he appears to have found the duties uncongenial, and after five years relin- quished his office.
He did little business after leaving the judgeship. The mea- sure of his ambition was filled. He devoted the remainder of his long life to study and reflection. He was highly religious, and made use of his means and faculties to do all possible good. He was for several years the superintendent of the Sunday-school, and was chosen deacon of the church of which he was a member. He declined the latter office, however, because, being unmarried, he could not fill the Scripture requirement that a deacon must be " the husband of one wife."
He was a trustee of Dartmouth College, a fellow of Brown University, and an overseer of Harvard University, each several years, and from each he received the degree of Doctor of Laws.
SAMUEL FLETCHER.
Son of Joshua and Sarah (Brown) Fletcher ; born, Plymouth, July 31, 1785 ; Dartmouth College, 1810 ; practiced, Concord ; died there, October 28, 1858.
After his graduation Mr. Fletcher was the preceptor of the Gilmanton Academy for two years, and then became a student at law in the office of Samuel Green at Concord. In 1815 he was admitted to practice in the Court of Common Pleas, and set up his office in Concord.
He early connected himself with the leading religious society of the place, and for some time was the editor of the "Concord Observer," the organ of the orthodox Congregationalists of the State. He thus formed a wide acquaintance with the leading people of that sect, which was of no small service to him in his business.
He gained an extensive practice in his county. He prepared cases and argued them to the jury with ability and success, and was the trusted counselor of a numerous clientele. He could not be called a great lawyer, but was fully competent to meet all the demands of ordinary practice.
In the year 1842 he accepted the offer of the office of treasurer of the Phillips Academy and Theological Seminary at Andover,
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Massachusetts, removed, and resided there until the year 1850, when he returned to Concord to pass the evening of his days.
Early in his professional life Mr. Fletcher had been chosen for two years a member of the lower House of the legislature, but he had no inclination for a political career. For many of his later years he was a trustee of Dartmouth College.
He was married, in July, 1819, to Nancy, daughter of Colonel Boardman of South Reading, Massachusetts. After her death he married, in February, 1847, Mrs. Hannah Briggs, daughter of Rev. Jabez Chickering of Dedham, Massachusetts.
LYMAN THOMAS FLINT.
Son of Thomas and Azubah (Willey) Flint ; born, Williamstown, Vermont, September 29, 1817 ; Dartmouth College, 1842 ; admitted, 1847 ; practiced, Colebrook and Concord ; died, Concord, April 14, 1876.
After he graduated from college Mr. Flint spent some four years in teaching in schools and academies, and then applied him- self to legal study under William C. Thompson of Plymouth, and Hiram A. Fletcher of Colebrook. In 1847 he opened an office in Colebrook, remained there seven years, and then removed his resi- dence to Concord. He enjoyed a considerable practice in Cole- brook, and also in Concord, and established a reputation for the thorough character of his preparation of cases, and for his success in the collection of evidence. The operations of his mind were slow, but when he fairly made himself master of a case he was confident, pertinacious, and strong. He had not fluency of speech, and did not excel in advocacy, but he was an able lawyer, and an honest, conscientious man.
He was chosen representative from Concord in the state legisla- ture in 1871 and 1872, and was appointed county solicitor in 1871, holding the position two or three years. .
Subsequently to this, Mr. Flint, from some conscientious scru- ples, abandoned the practice of the law, and purchased land two or three miles distant from the city of Concord, where he erected a house and labored as a husbandman till his death.
He married, in 1844, Hannah W. Willard of Lyndon, Ver- mont, and left three sons and two daughters.
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GEORGE GILMAN FOGG, LL. D.
Son of David and Hannah Gilman (Vickery) Fogg ; born, Meredith, May 26, 1813 ; Dartmouth College, 1839 ; practiced, Gilmanton and Concord ; died, Concord, October 5, 1881.
Mr. Fogg acquired his professional training under Warren Lovell and Stephen C. Lyford of Meredith, and at the Harvard Law School, and entered into practice at Gilmanton Iron Works in 1842. The four years that he continued there covered the whole of his strictly professional experience.
He manifested early a strong interest in political affairs, and in 1845, when the Free Soil party had its birth, was one of its earli- est sponsors. In 1846 he was a representative in the legislature, and was chosen Secretary of State. He assumed the control of the " Independent Democrat," and gave his energies to the man- agement of that journal for the ensuing fifteen years. In 1855 he received the appointment of state law reporter, and held the office until 1859. In 1856 he was made clerk of the Kansas com- mission ; in 1860 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention, and secretary of the National Executive Committee.
President Lincoln in 1861 appointed Mr. Fogg minister for the United States to Switzerland, and he resided there until 1865. In 1867 he was appointed by the governor United States senator to fill out the unexpired term of Daniel Clark.
Returning to Concord, Mr. Fogg continued his connection with the press for some years. He was also a trustee and benefactor of Bates College, and corresponding secretary of the New Hamp- shire Historical Society.
Mr. Fogg was a genial, social man and a writer of earnestness and force. Bates College honored him with the degree of LL. D.
He never married.
HENRY ASA FOLSOM.
Son of Jesse and Elizabeth (Varney) Folsom ; born, Sandwich, February 14, 1846 ; Dartmouth College, 1871 ; practiced, Hanover ; died there, April 6, 1887.
Mr. Folsom was educated at Gilmanton Academy and Dart- mouth College ; studied law with N. C. Berry of Boston, Massa-
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chusetts, and graduated LL. B. from the Harvard Law School in 1874. In 1872 and 1873 he was in Washington, District of Columbia, as secretary of the United States Senate Committee on the District of Columbia. From 1874 to 1882 he practiced law in Boston, Massachusetts, and in the latter year was invited to Dartmouth College as lecturer on municipal, constitutional, and international law. He accepted the position, and was a resident and practitioner in Hanover from that time till his decease.
He was distinguished for his scholarship and his professional learning, and possessed a mind of that analytic and well-balanced character which is well termed judicial. His exposition of legal principles is said to have been singularly clear and intelligible.
He never married.
IRA FREEMAN FOLSOM.
Son of Benjamin G. and Ruth (Rowe) Folsom ; born, Gilford, May 20, 1821 ; Dartmouth College, 1848 ; practiced, Gilford ; died there, August 18, 1859.
Mr. Folsom prepared himself for practice in the office of Charles H. Butters of Pittsfield, and began business in 1851 at Meredith Bridge. He was a lawyer of highly respectable attain- ments, straightforward and industrious, and acquired a good gen- eral practice during the eight years of his professional life.
He never married.
ELIJAH FOOTE.
On the first organization of the county of Essex, Vermont, in the year 1800, the name of Elijah Foote appears as counsel in one of the seven actions on the docket of the court. He was state's attorney for the county in 1801 and 1802, and in 1813 and 1814; represented Guildhall in the legislature of the State five years, between 1807 and 1813; and is reputed to have been " a very respectable attorney and esteemed citizen."
He practiced in Essex County till 1817, when he removed into New Hampshire and located himself in Hinsdale, where he ap- pears to have lived till 1820.
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DAVID FORBES.
Son of Lieutenant Robert and Mary (Graham) Forbes ; born, Rutland, Massachusetts, 1762 ; Dartmouth College, 1790 ; practiced, Chesterfield and Keene ; died, Rutland, Massachusetts, June 6, 1814.
This gentleman, of whose early history little has been learned, settled in Chesterfield as an attorney in 1793, and was admitted a counselor of the Superior Court in 1796. In that or the follow- ing year he went to Keene, which was his home until about 1812, when he returned to Rutland, Massachusetts, the place of his nativity. He was a representative from Keene in the legislature of 1803.
General Wilson remembered Mr. Forbes as a man of "a good deal of character ; an interesting, witty, funny man." He is believed never to have been engaged much in trials in court.
JOSIAH FORSAITH.
Son of Deacon William and Jane (Wilson) Forsaith ; born, Deering, De- cember 14, 1780 ; Dartmouth College, 1807 ; practiced, Goffstown and New- port ; died, Newport, March 30, 1846.
Mr. Forsaith pursued his course of law study in the offices of George B. Upham and Caleb Ellis of Claremont, and established himself as an attorney at Goffstown in 1810. The succeeding twelve years he spent in that place, with the exception of two or three of the later, when he was in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1822 he went to Newport, and followed his profession there dur- ing the residue of his life.
He was a superintending school committee, and in 1841 a representative of Newport in the state legislature. He did a fair amount of business in his profession, and his career is described as a successful one.
He married Maria, daughter of William Southworth of Hing- ham, Massachusetts, October 6, 1822. Of their five children one became a lawyer, and a Judge of the Municipal Court of Boston, Massachusetts.
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HERMAN FOSTER.
Son of John and Mary (Danforth) Foster ; born, Andover, Massachusetts, October 31, 1800 ; admitted, 1839 ; practiced, Manchester ; died there, Febru- ary 17, 1875.
Mr. Foster prepared himself at the Derry Academy to enter college, but a disease of the eyes forbade him to pursue a further course of study. For several years he was engaged in teaching, and then entered mercantile business in Boston, Massachusetts. Failing in that, he removed in 1830 to Warner, and for the next eight years lived upon a farm. While there he studied law in the office of Henry B. Chase, and in 1840 opened an office in Manchester. With that place and its interests and prosperity, Mr. Foster became identified for the remainder of his life.
He was chosen treasurer of the town in 1842 and 1843; repre- sentative in the state legislature in 1845 and 1846; city solicitor in 1857 ; state senator in 1860 and 1861, being president of the Senate the latter year ; and representative again in 1868 and 1869. In his legal capacity he built up a large office business, and brought many suits. He was not an advocate, but his advice was sought in many important causes, and he was a confidential counsel of the great corporations of Manchester.
He was a trustee of the Manchester Savings Bank, a director of the old Amoskeag Bank, and subsequently of the Amoskeag National Bank, treasurer and clerk of the Manchester Gas-Light Company, and one of the first directors and clerk of the Manches- ter and Lawrence Railroad.
In his dealings Mr. Foster was straightforward and exact; he was a helpful friend, and a public-spirited citizen.
He married, in November, 1826, Harriet M. A. Whittemore of West Cambridge, Massachusetts.
JOHN LUTHER FOSTER.
Son of John and Phila (Haskins) Foster ; born, Lyman, September 15, 1837 ; Dartmouth College, 1864; admitted, 1867 ; practiced, Manchester, Littleton, and Lisbon ; died, Lisbon, January 17, 1890.
Mr. Foster was fitted for college at the academy at Peacham, Vermont, and after a term of service as paymaster's clerk, towards
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the close of the civil war, was prepared for admission to the bar in the office of Morrison, Stanley, and Clark at Manchester, with whom he was for about a year associated in practice. He then went to Boston, Massachusetts, for two years ; and returning to New Hampshire, established himself at Littleton from 1874 to 1877, and finally in Lisbon. In Littleton he held the office of Justice of the Police Court, and while in Lisbon he was for years chairman of the Board of Education, and a member of the con- stitutional convention of 1889.
He was a gentleman of good talents and amiable character, and a lawyer of excellent standing, though his practice was somewhat interrupted by ill health.
He married, January 14, 1875, Augusta L. Stevens of Haver- hill. He left a widow with three children.
JOHN MATHER FOSTER.
Son of Rev. Dan Foster ; born, Poquonock, Connecticut, c. 1780 ; admitted, 1807 ; practiced, Stoddard ; died there, c. 1815.
Before Mr. Foster's admission as a counselor of the Superior Court, he had probably seen at least two years' practice as an attorney, at Stoddard. Apparently he moved for a time to Lyn- don, Vermont, though he did not remain there long. The his- torian of that town describes him as " naturally bright and kinky, particularly so when he was a little warmed up by the spirit of the bar." He is stated to have left Lyndon in 1812, and to have entered the army. He was afterwards in Stoddard to the time of his decease.
He was married, November 24, 1805, to Alice Carlisle at Charlestown.
WILLIAM RUSSELL FOSTER.
Son of Joseph Hiller Foster ; born, Portsmouth, 1854 ; Harvard College, 1875 ; practiced, Portsmouth ; died there, March 10, 1883.
Mr. Foster was prepared for college at the Phillips Exeter Academy, and studied his profession in Portsmouth. Beginning practice there in 1878, he was the next year chosen solicitor of the city, and continued in the office three years. He was then elected solicitor of Rockingham County, but did not live to enter
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upon the duties of the office. He was an estimable young man, and well prepared for the duties of his profession.
He never married.
CHARLES JAMES FOX.
Son of Jedediah and Mary (Wheeler) Fox ; born, Hancock, October 28, 1811 ; Dartmouth College, 1831 ; admitted, 1834 ; practiced, Nashua ; died there, February 17, 1846.
Few men in our State have possessed the versatility of powers that characterized this namesake of the great English Whig ora- tor. He prepared himself for his profession at the Yale Law School and in the office of Daniel Abbott at Nashua, and there settled in practice. In 1835 he was appointed solicitor of Hills- borough County ; in 1837 he was a representative in the legisla- ture ; in 1840 he prepared and nearly completed a history of the old town of Dunstable, published in 1846 ; in 1841 he was one of the commissioners to revise the statutes of the State, in conjunc- tion with Joel Parker of Keene and Samuel D. Bell of Man- chester. This work was completed in the spring of 1843. While he was engaged upon it he was the collaborator of Rev. Samuel Osgood in gathering and preparing for the press the " New Hampshire Book ; Specimens of the Literature of the Granite State," issued in 1842.
In August, 1843, he was attacked by pulmonary disease ; and sailed the next autumn to the Mediterranean, and traveled through Spain and Egypt, returning home the succeeding spring by way of Italy, Switzerland, France, and England. His travels afforded him no permanent relief. In the following autumn he made another journey in pursuit of health, to the West Indies. He re- turned to his home in June, 1845, never again to leave it in life. The remaining months he spent in Nashua, gradually sinking, till his decease.
It is seldom that a man leaving the world at the early age of thirty-four has accomplished so much of value. This is attribu- table not more to his native ability, which was extraordinary, than to his habits of conscientious and persistent industry. As a lawyer, a poet, a historian, and a philanthropist, he was equally untiring in his labors.
He was greatly instrumental in carrying through the project
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for the extension of the Boston and Lowell Railroad into New Hampshire, and was the earliest treasurer of the Nashua and Lowell Railroad. In politics he was an intense partisan from conviction, and a leader of elevated and honorable character. Among his many employments he never neglected the cultivation of his literary taste, nor his religious obligations.
John H. Warland, a political opponent, wrote of him thus : -
" The scholar's brilliant light is dim, And on his brow death's signet set ; Oh, many an eye that welcomed him With sorrow's burning tears is wet. His was a noble heart and true, His was a strong and gifted mind ;
And fame and love around him threw Their wreaths, with choicest flowers entwined."
Mr. Fox married, in 1840, Catherine P., daughter of Daniel Abbott of Nashua. They had one son.
JOHN HOWE FOX.
Son of Dr. John and Isabel W. (Howe) Fox ; born, Jaffrey, June 14, 1856 ; Dartmouth College, 1878 ; practiced, Jaffrey ; died, Boston, Massachusetts, April 11, 1887.
Mr. Fox was fitted for college at Appleton Academy, New Ips- . wich. He studied law with F. B. Spalter at Jaffrey, and graduated from the Albany Law School in 1880. About two years he was in practice in East Jaffrey ; then he turned his attention to farm- ing in the same place for two or three years. He was a member of the legislature in 1883 and 1885, and a member of the board of supervisors for several years. Having inherited a good prop- erty, he gave considerable time to his investments, and was in 1884 chosen president of the Burton Stock Car Company, and of the Consumers' Boot and Shoe Company. His duties required his presence in Boston, where his death occurred.
He married, November 30, 1882, Belle W. Brown of Fitch- burg, Massachusetts, who bore him a daughter.
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ASA FREEMAN.
Son of Hon. Jonathan and Sarah (Huntington) Freeman ; born, Hanover, January 9, 1788 ; Dartmouth College, 1810 ; admitted, 1816 ; practiced, Dover ; died there, December 8, 1867.
Mr. Freeman, upon quitting college, entered the office of his brother, Peyton R. Freeman, in Portsmouth, and there passed two years, and subsequently studied under the direction of Isaac Ly- man of York, Maine. He was admitted an attorney in York County, Maine, and practiced there till 1818, when he removed to Dover, his subsequent home.
He was appointed a commissioner of the United States by Judge Story, and was elected a delegate to the constitutional con- vention in 1850, and a state senator in 1851 and 1852. In June, 1857, he was appointed register of Probate for Strafford County, and retained the position to the time of his decease.
He was an excellent specimen of the old style of lawyers, care- ful, deliberate, and exact. Without shining talents, he put his respectable powers to the best use. He performed his official duties with regularity and correctness, and was a man of fidelity and integrity.
He married Frances, daughter of Hon. William K. Atkinson, - December 1, 1820, and had four children, one of whom was of the legal profession.
EDWARD FREEMAN, JR.
Son of Edward and Elizabeth (Duncan) Freeman ; born, Plainfield, June 3, 1823 ; Dartmouth College, 1843 ; admitted, 1846 ; practiced, Marlow ; died, Plainfield, April 4, 1888.
Mr. Freeman was fitted for college at the Kimball Union Academy, and pursued his legal studies with Philander C. Freeman of Claremont. Admitted to the bar in the county of Cheshire, he entered upon practice in Marlow in 1846. His experience as a lawyer was short. He remained at Marlow not more than two years, when he returned to Plainfield, and aban- doned the law, preferring to cultivate the soil. In this ancient and honorable employment he continued for the rest of his life.
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He was chosen and served as a county commissioner for the term extending from 1865 to 1868.
He never married.
FRANCIS ATKINSON FREEMAN.
Son of Hon. Asa and Frances (Atkinson) Freeman ; born, Dover, November 29, 1822 ; Dartmouth College, 1841 ; practiced, Dover ; died there, November 14, 1884.
Mr. Freeman belonged to a family of lawyers and of public officers. He was a student at law in his father's office, and that of Charles W. Woodman of Dover, and at the Harvard Law School in 1845. In 1847 he began to practice in Boston, Massa- chusetts, and removed the following year to Murphy, Calaveras County, California. There he remained for above twenty years, a great part of which time he was a Judge of the County Court. About 1872 he returned to Dover.
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