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 5
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J. 1783-1785.
William Whipple was a son of William and Mary (Cutt) Whipple, and was born in Kittery, Maine, January 14, 1730. He went early to sea, after obtaining a common school education, and before reaching his majority had the command of a vessel. He made numerous voyages to the West Indies, Europe, and the coast of Africa, and at the age of twenty-nine entered into trade in Portsmouth, in company with a brother. This he pursued with success until he retired from it about 1775. He took part early and zealously with his countrymen in their dispute with Great
1 Hon. Charles H. Atherton.
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Britain, and was frequently elected to offices in which his abilities and patriotism were conspicuous. In 1775 he was a member of the provincial Congress, and was sent as a delegate to the Conti- mental Congress; besides being placed upon the Committee of Safety of his town and of the State. In 1776, on the adoption of the people's Constitution, he was chosen a councilor, and again a delegate to the Continental Congress. In that year he had the honor to vote for and to subscribe the Declaration of Indepen- dence. His membership of the Continental Congress did not ter- minate till 1778.
He was selected to command one of the brigades of militia of the State, and in 1777, when Burgoyne's expedition was threaten- ing to separate New England from the other American States, proceeded with detachments from his command to Saratoga, and served under Gates in the campaign which eventuated in the cap- ture of the British army. He was also in active service in the field the following year under General Sullivan in his Rhode Island campaign.1
His services, both in his military and his civil capacity, were of great utility to the cause of his country. After quitting Congress he was repeatedly chosen to the legislature of the State, and in 1782 was appointed a Judge of the Superior Court. He possessed the qualifications for the place which were deemed most essential, - " a discerning mind, a sound judgment, and integrity," - and his judicial duties appear to have been performed to the satisfac- tion of the community. After about three years his failing health obliged him to quit the bench in the midst of the circuit, and he departed this life November 10, 1785.
His wife was Catharine, daughter of John Moffatt, and he died childless.
JOHN DUDLEY.
J. 1784-1797.
John Dudley was a son of James and Mercy (Folsom) Dudley, and was born in Exeter (the part which is now Brentwood), April
1 It was during the Burgoyne campaign in 1777 that the well-known anec- dote of General Whipple's giving freedom to his slave Prince is said to have occurred. It is a pity to spoil the story, but the fact appears to be that Prince Whipple, with other slaves, petitioned the legislature for their freedom as late as November, 1779. - 18 N. H. State Papers, 705.
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9, 1725. His parents were unable to give him even a common school education, and his early instruction barely enabled him to read. He went while young to live with Colonel Daniel Gilman in Exeter, as a laborer on his farm, where his native capacity was recognized, and he gained much political and general information by conversation and otherwise, though "he never was able to write five consecutive sentences in correct English." He entered into trade as a grocer in Exeter, after leaving Colonel Gilman's, and though he suffered a severe loss by fire, persevered and pros- pered. For five years, 1760 to 1765, he was one of the selectmen of the town.
In 1766 he removed to a farm which he purchased in Raymond, and gave his attention to agriculture and the lumber trade. In 1768 he was honored by the royal governor with the commission of justice of the peace. At an early stage of the differences which arose between the colonists and the mother country, he manifested his attachment to the cause of his countrymen, and was known as a decided and active Whig. The news of the armed collision at Lexington and Concord in 1775 roused him to instant action, and he may truly be said to have devoted his time for the next eight years to the cause of liberty. Chosen to the provincial Congresses in 1775, he at once made himself recognized as a leader, and few were the important committees in which his name did not appear. From 1775 to 1784 he was constantly in the legislature, and in 1782 and 1783 he was Speaker of the House. From 1776 to 1784 he was one of the Committee of Safety. In 1776 he was constituted a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and held the position until 1784, when he was advanced to the bench of the Superior Court. There he continued until his resig- nation in 1797.
Though he was unlearned in the law, his judicial functions were performed not only to the acceptance of suitors and the pub- lic, but also to the satisfaction of unprejudiced members of the legal profession.
His mental powers were vigorous, his judgment was rarely at fault, he was attentive, impartial, and upright, and he was the master of a rude eloquence that was highly effective. He took decided views, and spared no pains to enforce them upon his jurors, but no one questioned his perfect honesty. He used to declare that it was justice that he was after, rather than law.
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Chief Justice Parsons said of him, " though we may smile at his law and ridicule his language, yet Dudley, take him all in all, was the greatest and best judge I ever knew in New Hampshire." And Judge Arthur Livermore affirmed "that justice was never better administered in this State, than when Dudley was on the bench."
After quitting his judicial post he retired to his home, and passed the evening of his days there in quiet, scarcely ever going away even so far as a mile's distance. He died in Raymond, May 21, 1805, at a good old age.
He was married, June 22, 1749, to Elizabeth, daughter of Caleb Gilman of Exeter, and was the father of eight children.
SIMEON OLCOTT.
J. 1790-1795. C. J. 1795-1802.
Son of Timothy Olcott, Jr. ; born, Bolton, Connecticut, October 1, 1735 ; Yale College, 1761 ; practiced, Charlestown ; died there, February 22, 1815.
Before New Hampshire was divided into counties all the courts were held in Portsmouth, and there was little encouragement for lawyers to settle in the remote parts of the province, both for that reason and because of the inability of the frontier inhabitants to support them. But the demand for their services had enticed a very small number of adventurous young legal aspirants to try their fortunes in the valley of the Connecticut. Among them was Simeon Olcott.
He labored upon the paternal acres until he was twenty-one years of age, and then prepared himself for college under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. White, the minister of Bolton. He was enabled to complete his college course by the aid of his brother, Rev. Bulkley Olcott, and by money which he received for keeping school in his vacations. Some time he spent afterwards in teach- ing in Hatfield, Massachusetts, and then pursued the study of the law in the office of Daniel Jones of Hinsdale.
He established himself in his profession in Charlestown in 1766 or earlier, and there resided through life. He was chosen a representative in the General Assembly of the province in 1772 and 1773, and was placed upon one or more committees of im- portance. In the latter year he was appointed Judge of Probate for the county of Cheshire. At this time he appears to have had
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business enough to justify him in taking a partner, Benjamin West.
But soon the disturbing influence of the war came in, and for some years all legal business was at a standstill. It has been intimated that Mr. Olcott was unfriendly to the cause of the country, but this lacks confirmation, and was probably the result of the jealousy with which the people in those early times were accustomed to regard members of the legal profession, - a jealousy which survived till long within the memory of men now living.
Before the war was over, the Vermont controversy broke out, and Mr. Olcott's place of residence was in the debatable territory. But all these disquieting influences were at length ended, and on December 25, 1784, he received the appointment of Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for the county of Cheshire. This office he held until January 25, 1790, when he was elevated to a place on the bench of the Superior Court, of which he was pro- moted to be Chief Justice, March 28, 1795. Here he continued till, in 1801, the legislature of New Hampshire chose him a senator of the United States, to fill the unexpired term of Samuel Livermore, who had resigned his seat.
Mr. Olcott served as senator till the expiration of his term in 1805, and then, at the age of sixty-nine, retired from active em- ployments. His constitution was naturally sound ; he preserved his health by exercise, temperance, and regular habits of life; and when out of order he trusted for his recovery rather to absti- nence and rest than to medicines.
Judge Olcott's speech is said to have in some expressions be- trayed his want of early education,1 and he had too little experi- ence as an advocate, amid his official avocations, to acquire the art of addressing a jury effectively. His legal attainments, though in our later day they might be deemed inconsiderable, were quite on a level with those of the average lawyers of his time. It is said to be a fact that on two occasions he mistook the day of holding his courts, and failed to attend; and this is at- tributed by Governor Plumer to his having consulted the almanac
1 While he was holding a term of the court at Dover, he was observed to make use of the expressions "this 'ere " and "that 'are ; " whereupon-some wag caused to be published in the Dover Sun the following epitaph : -
" Here lies the body of Ichabod Hare,
Who has left this 'ere world and gone to that 'are."
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instead of the statute to ascertain the time! This almost incredi- ble statement indicates how loosely the business of the judicial proceedings was carried on a century ago. No doubt Judge Ol- cott's good judgment and sense of justice enabled him to conduct trials with fairness and equity, and in a manner, on the whole, quite acceptable to the community. It helped him much that his reputation for honesty and integrity was high, and was never questioned. It was these sterling qualities that gave him his place in the public estimation, and atoned for every deficiency.
Governor Plumer says, "He was open and frank, and expressed his opinions of men and measures freely and bluntly. He cor- dially hated hypocrisy, and studiously avoided every species of dissimulation. He was not avaricious, - never sought or acquired much property, but enough to live well ; and left enough to render his family comfortable. He thought it less trouble to wait on himself than to call for servants ; indeed, he lived in a great mea- sure without them." 1
He did not think it beneath his dignity to perform any kind of useful labor. While he held the office of Chief Justice he was in the habit of himself taking his corn to the mill to be ground. One day, as he was returning home from an errand of that kind, he met a young law student, who was ransacking the village to find some lad to send to mill, not dreaming for an instant of the possibility of descending to such humble employment himself. The Judge gave him a lesson by saying, " Well, as soon as I have carried home my grist, I'll come and take yours to mill."
He was scrupulously punctual in his attendance upon his sena- torial duties. He did not often take part in the debates, but usually contented himself with a brief explanation of his views, and of the grounds of his action.
At the age of forty-seven he married Miss Tryphena Terry of Enfield, Connecticut. They made the journey to Charlestown on horseback, a considerable part of the way guiding their course by marked trees. She survived her husband, who left also three sons, of whom one studied his father's profession.
1 MS. of Governor Plumer, in the possession of the N. H. Historical So- ciety.
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JOHN PICKERING, LL. D.
C. J. 1790-1795.
Son of Joshua Pickering ; born, Newington, 1737 ; Harvard College, 1761 ; practiced, Greenland and Portsmouth ; died, Portsmouth, April 11, 1805.
Mr. Pickering was a descendant of the prominent early citizen of New Hampshire bearing the same name. He was fitted for college under the instruction of the Rev. Joseph Adams of New- ington, and upon his graduation began the study of divinity, but changed it for that of the law. After his admission to the bar he received an invitation to settle as a clergyman in Boston, Massa- chusetts, but declined it, believing that the legal profession af- forded him equal opportunities for benefiting his fellow-men. He was of strong religious feelings, and aimed rather at promoting justice than his own aggrandizement. In the practice of his pro- fession he never refused his services to the poor, though without the prospect of reward. He commenced to do business at Green- land, but in a short time removed to Portsmouth. His talents, his industry, and his integrity secured him an extensive practice. It is said that no lawyer in New Hampshire advocated so many causes as he, and, it is added, received relatively so small a com- pensation. Though one of the most eminent practitioners of his time, he realized from his business little more than he required for the support of his family.
Mr. Pickering was representative in the Assembly of the prov- ince of New Hampshire in 1774, and was chosen a member of the Committee of Correspondence. He was then inclined to oppose the measures of Great Britain towards her American colonies ; but being of a somewhat timid constitution, he dreaded the issue of an open breach with the mother country. When the provincial Con- gress of New Hampshire voted to throw off the British authority and to assume self-government, he was one of those who appeared before the Congress in behalf of the remonstrants against that decided step.
Not long after this time he appears to have taken up his resi- dence in Exeter, from which place he was a delegate to the con- vention to form a Constitution for the State in 1778. After a short stay in Exeter he returned to Portsmouth, and was thence chosen a delegate to the similar convention held in 1781. Of this
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body he was an important and useful member, and contributed greatly to the difficult task of framing a form of government that the people would accept, and that would have the necessary force. The Constitution of 1783 was termed his " favorite child, of his own begetting."
In 1787 Mr. Pickering was elected a delegate to the convention for framing a Constitution for the United States, but his attach- ment to his home, and his timidity at encountering the risks of a long journey, prevented his attendance. But he was a member of the New Hampshire convention in 1788 to ratify the United States Constitution, and was among the most influential in pro- curing its adoption. It is believed that, had he employed his abilities and eloquence as zealously against the instrument as he actually did in its favor, the convention would have rejected it. His connection with the shaping of the organic law of the State was completed by his service in the convention to revise the Con- stitution in 1791-92, of which he was unanimously elected presi- dent pro tem. in the absence of the permanent presiding officer, and in which he took an important and useful part.
Mr. Pickering was repeatedly chosen to the legislative bodies of the State, the House and Senate, as well as to the Executive Coun- cil. Being the senior senator in January, 1790, when John Lang- don upon being chosen a senator of the United States resigned the office of president, Mr. Pickering became for the remainder of the official year President of the State. In August, 1790, he received the appointment of Chief Justice of the Superior Court, and is said to have brought to the position more law learning than any judge who had sat there before him.
He continued upon that bench till his appointment in February, 1795, as Judge of the District Court of the United States. The latter office he accepted, and for some years performed its duties most satisfactorily ; but he had been for a long time much af- fected by hypochondria, which had repeatedly interfered with the regularity of his attendance upon the state courts, and this malady originated such a condition of mental incapacity that in April, 1801, the Circuit Court of the United States appointed one of its judges to take the place of Judge Pickering during his in- ability. But that court was soon after abolished, and Judge Pick- ering again assumed his judicial functions, but with his intellect so shattered that in his court he repeatedly used the language of
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profanity, and exhibited marks of gross intoxication. As his life had been always pure, and his habits irreproachable, this deplor- able change could have been attributed by impartial observers to nothing but positive insanity ; and it might have been expected that those associated with his court would have looked with the utmost sympathy and leniency upon his condition. It seems, how- ever, as if they cared less for what happened to him than for what they could gain for themselves, as the consequence of his infirmity.
In a public point of view it was undoubtedly a very perplexing case. The business of his court was practically suspended. It was important that it should be resumed under a judge with his faculties unimpaired. But there was no method of removing Judge Pickering from the position for which he was obviously un- fitted, except by the odious process of impeachment for malfeas- ance in office. That course was accordingly taken, and the Senate of the United States, sitting as a court of impeachment, heard the evidence in the case, the respondent, though duly notified, not being present. It was proved, clearly enough, that his conduct on the bench had been entirely incompatible with the position ; and it was proved scarcely less clearly that this was caused by mental alienation ; but after a hearing that did no credit to the tribunal, it was determined by the necessary majority of the sena- tors, who voted on the question, to remove him from his office.
It was little short of a travesty of justice, and was only to be palliated by the ignorance of mental maladies which prevailed at the time, and by the exceptional exigency of the case. It is to be hoped that, should a similar instance of decaying powers in the occupant of any judicial position hereafter occur, some legislative remedy may be devised to secure the interests of the public, with- out resort to the false and shameful process of impeachment for willful misconduct.
Judge Pickering, before the terrible visitation of insanity came upon him, was a man of specially symmetrical character. His native powers were trained to their best by assiduous study and exercise ; he was witty, eloquent, and judicious ; his opponents - he had no enemies - could speak only good of him, and in spite of the fact that his profession was cordially disliked by the mass of the people, they all liked him. He was a reader and a scholar, but published nothing beyond one or more charges to the grand
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jury and an address to the bar. He was made chairman of the committee to receive President Washington in Portsmouth in 1789, and welcomed him in felicitous terms. He was chosen a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was honored by the degree of LL. D. from Dartmouth College.
Judge Pickering married Abigail, daughter of Jacob Sheafe, Esq., of Portsmouth, and had one son and five daughters. Three of his daughters were married to lawyers; namely, Abigail, to William K. Atkinson of Dover; Hannah, to Charles Walker of Concord ; and Lucretia, to Isaac Lyman of Portsmouth.
TIMOTHY FARRAR.
J. 1791-1803.
Timothy Farrar was the youngest son of Deacon Samuel and Lydia (Barrett) Farrar, and was born in that part of Concord which is now Lincoln, Massachusetts, June 28, 1747. He lived on his father's farm and attended the schools in his native town till he entered Harvard College in 1763, whence he graduated in 1767. He taught school in Massachusetts about two years, and in 1770 came to New Ipswich and settled upon a farm there, at the same time being employed as an instructor. In 1774 he was chosen first selectman and town clerk of New Ipswich. On the alarm on April 19, 1775, that the British troops had marched out of Boston, he with others, hastily arming themselves, started to meet them, but on reaching Concord they learned that the regulars had retreated to Boston, and proceeded no further.
In 1775 Mr. Farrar received from the Revolutionary govern- ment the commission of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and also that of major in the militia. He accepted both, and though it is not known that he ever distinguished himself as a military man, he filled judicial stations for forty continuous years with usefulness and honor. Inter arma silent leges, and it was not till the Revolution was substantially achieved that the courts were much occupied with business. Meantime, Judge Farrar was from 1778 to his resignation in 1782 a member of the convention for forming a more complete state Constitution, and of the com- mittee to draft the instrument, and from 1779 to 1784 he was a councilor.
In March, 1791, Judge Farrar was transferred to the bench of
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the Superior Court. After five years' performance of his duties there, he tendered his resignation, but on the urgent request of the Executive he was induced to withdraw it. In 1802 he received the appointment of Chief Justice. In the desire that Judge Jere- miah Smith would accept the office, and with the intention of quitting the Superior Court, Judge Farrar took no action upon the appointment, but remained as acting Chief Justice until Judge Smith's acceptance later in the same year. He was then rein- stated as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and presided there until 1813. On the reorganization of that court in 1813 with a wider jurisdiction, he was appointed Chief Justice, and served as such till a political revolution in 1816.
Though Judge Farrar was originally intended for the pulpit, and had no regular legal training, yet he did not fail to study to qualify himself for his duties. When he received his first ap- pointment he procured a copy of Blackstone's Commentaries, and " read it with more avidity than any girl ever read a novel." He was highly conscientious in reference to his duties, and doubtless omitted no means in his power to enable him to discharge his judicial functions well and thoroughly. When Jeremiah Mason surprised the court by filing a demurrer, Judge Farrar appears to have been the only one of their Honors who had any rational idea of the purpose and effect of the proceeding. He has been described as a man of "strong powers of mind, of large acquaint- ance with business, and superior in talents and information gen- erally." And in 1796 Judge Jeremiah Smith wrote of Farrar and Dudley, that in his opinion they greatly overmatched the two lawyers who were then upon the bench.
Judge Farrar lived more than thirty years after quitting the judgeship, and died in Hollis, at the home of a daughter, Febru- ary 20, 1849.
His wife, whom he married October 14, 1779, was Anna, daughter of Captain Edmund Bancroft of Pepperell, Massachu- setts. He left a son and three daughters.
EBENEZER THOMPSON.
J. 1795-1796.
Ebenezer was a son of Robert and Abigail (Emerson) Thomp- son, and was born in Durham, March 5, 1737. His early educa-
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tion was conducted under the advice of Dr. Joseph Atkinson, who afterwards made Thompson his heir. He was prepared for the profession of medicine, and practiced till he became engaged in political affairs, after which he substantially abandoned it. In 1765 he was chosen a selectman of Durham, and rechosen for each of the ten years succeeding, and in 1766 he was representa- tive in the provincial legislature, a position which he continued to fill until the Revolution. He was early recognized as an op- ponent of the acts by which the British ministry attempted to abridge the liberties of the colonies, and in December, 1774, was one of the party that dismantled Fort William and Mary at New Castle of its ammunition. For this overt act of resistance to the royal authority he is said to have been deprived of his commis- sion of the peace by Governor Wentworth.
He was a delegate to the several provincial Congresses which were elected by the people between the practical dissolution of the royal government and the adoption of the first written Constitu- tion in January, 1776, and was made a member of the Committee of Safety from May, 1775, to January, 1781. He also held the office of secretary of New Hampshire from 1775 to 1786. In 1776 he was chosen a member of the council, and remained such until 1781. During the period of the Revolution he was fre- quently placed upon the most important committees. He was twice appointed delegate to the Continental Congress, but de- clined the office.
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