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 46
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son of the same town. In that place he began practice at about the age of twenty-three. He was an active member of the Che- shire bar for something over twenty years ; was a man of culture, possessed of rare business qualities, and acquired prominence. He was especially interested in promoting the' cause of education and the public schools. He was the author of a " Description of Chesterfield," published in the first volume of Farmer and Moore's " Historical Collections."
He changed his residence, in 1839, to Brattleborough, Vermont, where he continued to practice the remainder of his life, at the same time holding the position of treasurer of the Vermont Sav- ings Bank, the first institution of the kind in that State. He was a member of the Vermont Senate in 1846.
He married, in 1829, Mary J., daughter of Hon. John Noyes of Putney, Vermont, by whom he had several children, one of whom was Larkin G. Mead, the distinguished sculptor, born in Chesterfield in 1835.
ROBERT MEANS.
Son of Colonel Robert and Mary (McGregor) Means ; born, Amherst, Jan- uary 23, 1786 ; Bowdoin College, 1807; admitted, 1810 ; practiced, Amherst ; died, Lowell, Massachusetts, September 26, 1842.
Mr. Means had his professional instruction in the offices of Charles H. Atherton of Amherst and of Jeremiah Mason, his brother-in-law, at Portsmouth. In September, 1810, he put up his sign as an attorney in Amherst. He is described as a man of " genial aspect, manners, and temper ; of refined tastes and liberal studies, very methodical and accurate in business." His busi- ness consisted in a great measure in collecting debts and drawing instruments for his father and brother, who were large dealers in merchandise and real estate.
In 1831 he was called to take the agency of the Suffolk Mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, for which his agreeable manners and excellent business capacity peculiarly adapted him, and he retained it up to the time of his death.
In 1823 he was united in marriage to Mary E., daughter of Governor Samuel Dinsmoor of Keene. She died in 1829; and five years later he married Abby Atherton, daughter of Hon. Amos Kent of Chester, who outlived him. He had no children.
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HENRY MELLEN.
Son of Rev. John and Rebecca (Prentiss) Mellen ; born, Sterling, Massa- chusetts, October 24, 1757 ; Harvard College, 1784 ; admitted, 1786 ; prac- ticed, Dover ; died there, July 31, 1809.
Mr. Mellen did not quit the farm till he was twenty-two, but then made remarkable progress in his preparatory and collegiate studies. He went into the office of Peter Green of Concord for his legal instruction, and in the autumn of 1786 established him- self as an attorney in Dover. He became a good counselor, but was not distinguished in the trial of causes. He had literary tastes, and composed an oration on Freemasonry in 1798, and sev- eral metrical productions, which appeared in the papers of the day. A Federalist in politics, he was put forward on public occasions as the poetical champion of his party. His most noted production was styled " The Embargo." Much of it consisted of allusions which have now lost their point, but a sample of it is here given : -
" Our ships all in motion once whitened the ocean, They sailed and returned with a cargo, Now doomed to decay, they have fallen a prey To Jefferson, worms, and Embargo. Lest Britain should take a few men by mistake Who under false colors may dare go, We're manning their fleet with tars who retreat From poverty, sloth, and Embargo.
What a fuss we have made about rights and free trade, And swore we.'d not let our own share go, Now we can't for our souls bring a hake from the Shoals, 'T is a breach of the twentieth Embargo."
Mr. Mellen is reputed to be the author of a poem, " Shut to the door, the school 's begun," which had once much popularity. His poetical gift he shared with others of his family. He has been described as " brilliant, witty, somewhat wayward, but be- loved by all who knew him."
He was married, first, to Elizabeth Hovey of Berwick, Maine, who died August 1, 1793; and second, to Martha Wentworth, daughter of Hon. George Frost of Durham. He left three sons.
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JOHN WENDELL MELLEN.
Son of Rev. John Mellen ; born, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1794 ; Harvard College, 1814 ; practiced, Dover ; died, New York city, July, 1829.
Mr. Mellen prepared himself for the practice of the law in the office of his kinsman, Judge Prentiss Mellen of Portland, Maine, and settled for a short time in North Yarmouth, Maine, and after- wards in Dover. When the Dover Bank was chartered in 1823, he was appointed its cashier, and in that position continued four or five years. His lack of business capacity, which resulted in loss to the bank, caused him to leave it, and he opened a law office in the town. He was a man of fine person and unusual literary acquirements, and no one seems to have questioned his entire hon- esty. But his want of success probably preyed upon his sensi- bilities, and he resorted to the deceitful cup to drown care, until his reason was overthrown, and he deliberately put an end to his existence.
PRENTISS MELLEN, LL. D.
Son of Rev. John and Rebecca (Prentiss) Mellen ; born, Sterling, Massa- chusetts, October 11, 1764; Harvard College, 1784 ; admitted, 1788 ; prac- ticed, Dover ; died, Portland, Maine, December 31, 1840.
This was a younger brother of Henry Mellen. He studied law with Shearjashub Bourne of Barnstable, Massachusetts, and was duly admitted an attorney in that commonwealth. It was the fashion of the times for a new-fledged member of the bar to treat the judge and all the lawyers copiously with punch, and Mr. Mellen conformed to the custom. He practiced in Sterling and Bridgewater till November, 1791, when he came to Dover, and spent the winter and succeeding spring in practice there with his brother Henry. The following July he removed to Biddeford, Maine, and there and in Portland finished his course. Thus his residence in New Hampshire was for eight months only.
His subsequent history belongs to and is written in that of Maine. He was among the most distinguished counselors and advocates of that province, and was in 1817 appointed to a seat in the United States Senate. In 1820, when Maine was organized as a separate State, he was appointed Chief Justice of her Supreme Court, and served to the age of seventy years.
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His wife was Sarah, daughter of Barzillai Hudson of Hart- ford, Connecticut. They had six children, two of them sons, who prepared themselves for the legal profession, though neither practiced it.
CALEB MERRILL.
Son of James and Molly (Emery) Merrill ; born, Atkinson, May 22, 1783 ; Dartmouth College, 1808 ; practiced, Chester, Barnstead, and Pittsfield ; died, Pittsfield, December 19, 1841.
Mr. Merrill was prepared for college at the Atkinson Academy. In college he was a scholar of respectable rank, and upon his graduation he began the study of the law with Baruch Chase of Hopkinton. Later he continued it with Amos Kent of Chester, with whom, after being admitted, in 1812, he was for a time a partner in practice. About 1815 he quitted Chester, and made his home in Barnstead for a couple of years, and then settled in Pittsfield.
His practice was largely that of collecting claims, which he performed with more than usual skill, industry, and care. He attended the courts in Strafford as well as in Rockingham (and also Merrimac) County, and was a fair, honest, and quite suc- cessful practitioner. In contested causes in the higher courts in which he was engaged, he left most of the work to be done by his leading counsel, having little fluency or readiness in the art of public speaking.
His wife was Nancy T., daughter of Josiah Underhill of Ches- ter. They had several children, among whom were two sons, who followed their father's profession in Pittsfield.
JAMES ALFRED EMERY MERRILL.
Son of Caleb and Nancy Temple (Underhill) Merrill ; born, Pittsfield, March 29, 1818 ; Dartmouth College, 1839; practiced, Pittsfield and Man- chester ; died, Pittsfield, May 21, 1844.
This excellent young man was a student at law of Ira Perley in Concord, and was admitted in 1842. The two years of his practice he spent partly in his native town and partly in Man- chester. His amiable disposition and pleasant manners endeared him to all his acquaintances, and his industry and ability gave
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promise of future professional eminence. But he was attacked by the scourge of our northern climate, consumption, and returned to his native place to die at the early age of twenty-six.
JESSE MERRILL.
Son of James and Molly (Emery) Merrill ; born, Atkinson, July 17, 1778 ; Dartmouth College, 1806 ; practiced, Deerfield ; died, Bradford, Vermont, March 18, 1854.
Mr. Merrill prepared himself to act as an attorney in the of- fice of William K. Atkinson of Dover, and was admitted in the Court of Common Pleas in 1810, and in the Superior Court two years later. He settled at once in Deerfield, and remained there five or six years ; then removed to Bradford, Vermont. In his brief term of practice in New Hampshire so many years ago, as might be expected, he left few traces in the memory of our people or in the records of our courts from which his characteristics can now be learned. He was an older brother of Caleb Merrill of Pittsfield.
RALPH METCALF.
Son of John and Roby (Converse) Metcalf ; born, Charlestown, November 21, 1798 ; Dartmouth College, 1823 ; admitted, 1826 ; practiced, Newport, Claremont, and Plymouth ; died, Claremont, August 26, 1858.
The father of Ralph Metcalf was able to furnish him with one hundred dollars a year to accomplish his education, and the young man made ready for college at the academy in Chester, Vermont. He studied law with Henry Hubbard of Charlestown, with Rich- ard Bartlett of Concord, and with George B. Upham of Clare- mont. He took the office in Newport which had recently been occupied by David Hale, and practiced there two years. In 1828 he went to Binghamton, New York, and spent two years, and then returned to New Hampshire and began business in Claremont.
In 1831 he was chosen Secretary of State, which required his residence at Concord, and held the post by repeated elections for seven years. While secretary he was appointed by the executive to the office of attorney-general, but declined to accept it. After testing a clerkship in Washington, District of Columbia, for a short time, he returned to New Hampshire and made a brief stay at Plymouth, but returned to practice in Newport.
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In October, 1845, he was made register of Probate for Sullivan County, and continued in the office till 1851. In 1852 he was chairman of the commission to revise the statutes of the State, and in 1852 and 1853 was a representative in the legislature. Two years afterwards he was chosen to the office of governor by the "Know Nothing " or American party, and in 1856 was reelected by the legislature, on the failure of a choice by the pop- ular vote. After the expiration of his term of office he retired from active employment, and spent the remainder of his life in Claremont.
Governor Metcalf was of a social disposition, a great reader of current literature, and a ready writer. His talents were practical rather than showy. Though not distinguished as a public speaker, he possessed popular qualities and made many friends.
He married, in January, 1835, Lucretia A., daughter of Nathan Bingham of Claremont. She died the following year, and in 1843 he married Martha A., daughter of Captain John Gilmore of Newport. They had a son and a daughter.
JAMES MILLER.
Son of James and Catharine (Gregg) Miller ; born, Peterborough, April 25, 1776 ; admitted, 1803 ; practiced, Greenfield ; died, Temple, July 7, 1851.
When he had nearly reached adult age, Mr. Miller studied at the academy in Amherst, and was admitted to Williams College, but never finished his course there. At the age of about twenty- two years he began the study of the law with James Wilson of Peterborough, and duly settled in practice in Greenfield. Hav- ing much inclination for military exercises, he was soon placed in command of a company of artillery in a militia regiment. In that capacity he attracted the attention of General Benjamin Pierce, through whose recommendation, it is said, he was ap- pointed major of the Fourth Regiment of United States Infantry, in 1808.
In the war of 1812 he distinguished himself by his gallant con- duct at the battle of Niagara, where he made his celebrated reply to the order to take the enemy's battery, - "I'll try, sir ; " and at the sortie from Fort Erie, in which he led a division with con- summate courage and judgment. From that war, which was fatal to so many reputations, he emerged a brigadier-general, with the
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highest credit. Congress awarded him a gold medal,1 and the State of New York presented him an elegant sword, in testimony of his bravery and important services in the field.
In 1819 he was appointed governor of the Territory of Arkan- sas, and resigned his commission in the army, much to his subse- quent regret. The climate of Arkansas disagreed with his health, and in 1823 he returned to Temple. The next year he was elected a representative in Congress, and was appointed collector of cus- toms at the port of Salem, Massachusetts. He accepted the latter office and filled it twenty-four years ; then resigned it and retired to his farm in Temple.
Though General Miller was the most intrepid of men, he was without a particle of bluster or show. His letters to his wife afford a pleasant picture of his fondness for his family and home life. He delighted in finding pets for his children. He preferred to spend his evenings in writing to friends, instead of attending the costliest of entertainments. He was full of pleasantry and of sentiment ; an unspoiled natural man, of genuine feeling and true honor.
Hawthorne aptly styled him "New England's most distin- guished soldier."
He was twice married ; first, to Martha, who died young, daugh- ter of Henry Ferguson ; second, to Ruth Flint of Lincoln, Mas- sachusetts. By his first marriage he had two children ; by his second, five.
LUTHER MILLS.
Mr. Mills was a graduate of Harvard College in the class of 1792. He is credited with having held the office of register of Probate for Windsor County, Vermont, from 1801 to 1815, inclu- sive. He made his first appearance in this State in 1805, in which year he was admitted to the bar of the Superior Court in Che- shire County. The New Hampshire Annual Registers contained his name as that of a practicing lawyer in Lisbon in 1805 and 1806. It may be that he had an office there, and was domiciled
1 The inscription on the medal included Chippewa, as well as Niagara and Erie. General Miller was not present at the battle of Chippewa. This is not quite so bad as " to be killed in battle and have one's name spelled wrong in the gazette," but is something akin to it.
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still in Vermont. Windsor in that State was subsequently his home, until his death in 1829.
GEORGE MINOT.
Son of Hon. James and Sally (Wilson) Minot ; born, New London, August 10, 1806 ; Dartmouth College, 1828 ; practiced, Bristol, Gilmanton, and Con- cord ; died, Concord, March 8, 1861.
After his professional preparation with Nathaniel G. Upham at Concord, Mr. Minot commenced practice in Gilmanton in 1832. The next year he moved to Bristol, and in 1834 to Con- cord, on receiving the appointment of cashier of the Mechanics' Bank, of which he afterwards became president. He was also treasurer; of Merrimac County, United States pension agent for New Hampshire, and treasurer of the Boston, Concord, and Mon- treal Railroad. In 1850 he was a delegate to the convention to revise the state Constitution. He was better known as a banker and public officer than as a lawyer.
He married, May 1, 1839, Selina W., daughter of George R. Clark of Portsmouth.
JOSIAH MINOT.
Son of Hon. James and Sally (Wilson) Minot ; born, Bristol, September 17, 1819 ; Dartmouth College, 1837; admitted, 1840; practiced, Bristol and Concord ; died, Concord, December 14, 1891.
This was a younger brother of George Minot, and was fitted for college at the New Hampton Institute. He read law with John J. Gilchrist of Charlestown and Samuel D. Bell of Chester, and first went into practice at Bristol in 1840, but four years afterwards moved to Concord, and became the partner of Frank- lin Pierce. Mr. Minot was rather retiring, but was acknowledged to be a lawyer of much learning and of great resources. He did not confine his attention to his profession, but was a leader in his political party, a banker, and a railroad president. Without special ambition for preferment, he was in 1852 made a Circuit Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and after his resignation in 1855, United States commissioner of pensions, and a director and president of the Concord Railroad and the Northern Railroad in New Hampshire. He was also president of the Mechanics'
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Bank, and later a member of the banking-house of Minot and Company.
Judge Minot has been described as one of the most astute busi- ness men of his time in the State. His sagacity and judgment, his prudence and foresight, rendered him an invaluable counselor in the great business enterprises with which he was connected. He had no desire to appear on the throne so long as he was the power behind the throne. His opinion controlled boards. Though not a fluent advocate, he had a happy art of explanation and reconciliation. If a stockholders' meeting was to be pacified, Judge Minot with his persuasive tones was the man to bring about unanimity of sentiment. Scarcely any one, for years, exerted so great an influence on the political and railway policy and interests of the State as Judge Minot, in his calm, unobtru- sive way.
" As a lawyer in the strictest sense of the term, he maintained a standing in the front rank for forty years."
He was married, August 24, 1843, to Abbie P., daughter of Stephen Haines of Canterbury. One of his three daughters became the wife of George R. Fowler of the Massachusetts bar.
STEPHEN MITCHELL.
Son of Benjamin and Martha (Steele) Mitchell ; born, Peterborough, March 29, 1780 ; Williams College, 1801 ; practiced, Durham ; died there, February 18, 1833.
Mr. Mitchell studied his profession with his uncle, Jonathan Steele of Durham, and settled in practice in that place in 1805. He was a man of talents and standing, and was esteemed a good lawyer. He is said also to have had a literary and even a poetic turn, and to have often contributed to the newspapers of his day ; but nothing bearing his name has come down to the present time. He was chosen by his townsmen to make an address of welcome to Lafayette when he passed through Durham in the summer of 1825, on his way from Concord to Portland, Maine, and we learn that he performed the duty in a " very handsome and appropriate manner." The circumstance that he was an original member of the New Hampshire Historical Society would indicate that his interests extended to matters outside his profession, and that he was recognized as belonging to the better-informed class. He
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was a man of gentlemanly address, and was generally esteemed. His life presents few events for record.
His wife was Sarah, daughter of Major Joseph Mills of Deer- field, and he left no children.
BENJAMIN MOODY.
Son of Caleb and Dorothy (Sargent) Moody ; born (West) Newbury, Mas- sachusetts, November 11, 1777; admitted, 1801 ; practiced, Epsom ; died there, February 28, 1820.
Mr. Moody is said to have been the favorite son of his father, and was permitted to grow up to manhood with rather a scanty education. He entered the office of his brother, Stephen Moody of Gilmanton, as a student, and remained five years. In 1803 he established himself in practice in Epsom, which was his home throughout his entire professional life.
He never distinguished himself as a lawyer, though in the earlier years of his practice he was fairly successful in acquiring business. But as time went on his habits deteriorated, and his business was neglected. He died in middle life.
He had married, rather early in life, Betsey, daughter of Daniel Coffin of Newburyport, a sister of the wife of his brother, Stephen Moody. She with one son survived him.
ISAIAH PREBLE MOODY.
Son of Samuel and Lydia (Preble) Moody ; born, York, Maine, December 3, 1804 ; Bowdoin College, 1827 ; practiced, Hampstead ; died, Newton, Mas- sachusetts, February 1, 1885.
This gentleman was by both parents connected with families of note in Maine. He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and Bowdoin College, and studied law with Stephen Chase at Fryeburg, Maine. He practiced successfully in Lovell, Maine, in Hampstead from 1835, about two years, and subsequently in his native town ; but afterwards abandoned the profession and adopted agriculture and teaching, as " more congenial to his feel- ings and principles." Such being his attitude towards the legal calling, it is hardly to be supposed that he achieved any great success in it, though, so far as known, he was a respectable practitioner.
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In 1831 he was married to Hannah, daughter of Rev. Moses Dow of York, Maine. After her decease, in 1847, he married Abby A. Talpey of York, Maine. By his first marriage he had three daughters and two sons ; by his second, two daughters.
STEPHEN MOODY.
Son of Caleb and Dorothy (Sargent) Moody ; born, West Newbury, Mas- sachusetts, July 21, 1767 ; Harvard College, 1790 ; admitted, 1793 ; practiced, Gilmanton ; died there, April 21, 1842.
Trained in the law offices of Pliny Merrick of Brookfield, and of Levi Lincoln of Worcester, Massachusetts, Mr. Moody was admitted to the bar of that commonwealth, and at once estab- lished himself in Gilmanton. He was a careful, discreet lawyer, of good principles and correct habits, and speedily gathered friends and business. He was many times chosen moderator of the town meetings, was the postmaster from 1801 to 1829, and the solicitor of the county of Strafford from 1804 to 1819. A decided Federalist in his political opinions, he did not care for public office, except in the line of his profession, being a lawyer first of all. He did not escape the satirical pen of the rhymester of the opposite party, however. Moses L. Neal, in his poem on the Gilmanton convention, in 1812, referred to him as
" Stephen the penman, who struts like a crow."
The point of the description consisted in the fact that Mr. Moody's chirography was a horrid scrawl, dreaded by clerks and deputy sheriffs, and that his measured step and manner of tossing his head as he walked were ludicrously corvine. On the other hand, he was an excellent lawyer and an exemplary man. He was diligent, scrupulous in fulfilling every engagement, amiable, benev- olent, and of pleasing manners. If his handwriting was illegi- ble, at least he did not use it to lampoon others ; and if his gait was formal, it was that of an honest and true gentleman.
In 1797 he was joined in marriage to Frances, daughter of William Coffin of Newburyport, Massachusetts, and they had three daughters.
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ALPHEUS MOORE.
Son of Major Willard and Elizabeth Moore ; born, Paxton, Massachusetts, August 29, 1765 ; Harvard College, 1783 ; practiced, Keene and Westmore- land ; died, Salisbury, 1803.
Mr. Moore was in practice in Keene as an attorney in 1787, but removed soon after to Westmoreland. There he purchased a farm and acquired " a considerable run of business." About 1791 he sold the farm and business to Jeremiah Mason, with the inten- tion of removing into the district of Maine. Whether he went there is not known, but he is said afterwards to have lived in Walpole, and in Westminster, Vermont.
Mr. Mason, in his autobiography, says of Colonel Moore (for that, it seems, was his title) : "With much benevolence of dis- position, he was very dissipated and very popular." He was Mas- ter of the Masonic lodge, and fond of a carouse.
In 1803 Colonel Moore appeared on a journey in Salisbury, and stopped at a tavern kept by one Lunt. On going out he fell dead in the road, near the Merrimac River. Lunt was alarmed lest he should be suspected of some foul play, and went to Judge Ebenezer Webster for advice what steps he ought to take. The judge examined the body, found a little money in the pockets, summoned in a few of the neighbors, and took down and sealed up their sworn statements as to their knowledge of the affair. When the judge reported to his son Daniel, who was then a law student, what he had done, the latter expressed a fear lest he might have got himself into difficulty by the want of a regular inquest. This troubled the judge, and on meeting Judge Jere- miah Smith a short time afterwards, he told him the story and asked his opinion.
Judge Smith's reply was characteristic : " Does the public com- plain of what you have done ?" "No, sir." " Do Moore's friends complain ?" "No, sir." "Did Moore himself complain ?" " No, sir." "Then," said Judge Smith, " I think you may go home and rest easy."
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