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 57
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He was married, February 17, 1870, to Emroy E., daughter of Rev. Thompson Barron, at Newport. They had three children, two sons and a daughter.
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JOHN HANCOCK SLACK.
Son of John and Betsey (Ide) Slack ; born, New London, June, 1789 ; Dart- mouth College, 1811 ; practiced, Andover, Goffstown, Pembroke, and Hill ; died, Loudon County, Virginia, August 2, 1857.
Having studied law with Moses P. Payson of Bath and John Harris and Baruch Chase of Hopkinton, Mr. Slack was admitted, in 1817, and practiced successively in Andover, Goffstown, Pem- broke, and New Chester (now Hill), and perhaps in other places. The simplicity of his nature and his lack of sound judgment for- bade his gaining the entire confidence of the people in his legal ability, and he eked out his subsistence by teaching. Somewhere about 1830 he was living in Canada, and in 1834 he traveled through a part of the United States, soliciting contributions for a Protestant high school in that province. He was living on the fat of the land, and some of the ministers in Essex County, Massachusetts, investigated his authority to collect money for the purpose, and pronounced that he had unparalleled impudence ! Slack criticised the strictures that were made upon him as un- classical, - the unpardonable fault in his eyes. He did, however, succeed in obtaining the means to establish a classical academy in Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, and was engaged in teaching there a number of years ; thence he removed to Fairfax County, Virginia, and at length to Loudon County, where he died. He was an excellent scholar and a successful instructor.
While he was practicing in Andover he brought a suit in tres- pass before a justice of the peace, upon this state of facts : A., having set a steel trap on his own premises to catch a fox, caught a wild-cat instead, which, being a powerful animal, dragged the trap off into B.'s grain-field, where B. secured the creature and killed and skinned it. Slack's action was in favor of A. against B. for taking and carrying away his trap and the skin of the wild- cat. Richard Fletcher of Salisbury appeared for the defendant, and contended that the action was misconceived, and should have been trover, which could only be sustained after a demand had been made ; that B. found these articles on his own land, and would no doubt have returned them to the owner on demand, etc. Poor Slack was overawed and silenced, and retired from the field with the remark that " he would rather face the wild-cat than Fletcher."
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While Mr. Slack was a resident of Pembroke, he brought an action in the newly organized county of Merrimac against a delinquent client, for his fees. When the case was called Slack proposed to have it continued ; and the Court inquiring who ap- peared for the defendant, it was found that Slack's name was entered as his attorney. This led to inquiry, and, the writ being produced, disclosed the fact that Slack was plaintiff, indorser of the writ, and had become bail for the defendant, whose body had been arrested. Judge Richardson, who was more amused than indignant, because he knew the lawyer was weak but not wicked, inquired of Siack why he became bail for the defendant. "No- body else would bail him," was the reply, "and I thought he never would pay me if I sent him to jail." The judge smiled, and directed his appearance for the defendant to be struck off, and the action was defaulted.
His only published literary production which is known was an oration before the Washington Benevolent Society at Hopkinton, July 5, 1813.
He was married in 1827 to Lydia, daughter of Levi Hastings of Wilmot.
JONAS DARIUS SLEEPER.
Son of Jonas and Sally (Bean) Sleeper ; born, Gilford, April, 1815 ; Brown University, 1840 ; practiced, Hill, Haverhill, and Concord ; died, Plymouth, September 9, 1868.
Mr. Sleeper was fitted for college at the academy in New Hampton ; and studied law with Josiah Quincy of Rumney, whose son-in-law he became. He set up in practice in Hill in 1843, and remained there five years; then, receiving the appointment of clerk of the courts for Grafton County, he changed his residence to Haverhill. In 1858 he was made cashier of the state Capital Bank in Concord and removed to that place, but held the position only two years, when he was appointed clerk of the courts for the county of Merrimac, and acted in that capacity to the time of his death. While residing in Haverhill he was elected state senator in 1854 and 1855.
He was a good, careful, judicious lawyer, and was especially adapted to the duties of the office in which he spent so large a part of his life, the clerkship of the courts, by his habits of exact-
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ness, his fidelity, and his unquestioned integrity. He was a well- informed man and a great reader; a genial companion, a good friend to every good cause, and the best of citizens.
He was married in 1846 to Martha G., daughter of Josiah Quincy of Rumney.
DAVID SLOAN.
Son of David and Elizabeth (Scott) Sloan ; born, Pelham, Massachusetts, January 9, 1780 ; Dartmouth College, 1806 ; practiced, Haverhill ; died there, June 7, 1860.
Beginning life with limited means, Mr. Sloan earned the money necessary for his collegiate education, a part of it by writing diplo- mas. George Woodward of Haverhill and William H. Woodward of Hanover were his instructors in the law, and in due time he put up his sign in Haverhill. At first his clients, like those of many another beginner, were not of the most desirable class, but he was keen, shrewd, and determined to make his way, and became for many years a successful practitioner and prudent manager, so that he acquired a handsome property. He is said to have been un- prepossessing in appearance, and of eccentric manners.
His wife was Hannah, daughter of Captain Thomas Johnson of Newbury, Vermont, and two of his sons chose the profession of the law, but both died young.
WILLIAM BRADBURY SMALL.
Son of Isaac Small ; born, Limington, Maine, May 17, 1817; admitted, 1846 ; practiced, Newmarket ; died there, April 7, 1878.
Mr. Small prepared himself at Effingham Academy to become a teacher, and was employed as such in Exeter, when he read for his future profession with Bell and Tuck. He succeeded to the office and business of William W. Stickney in Newmarket when the latter removed to Exeter, and being industrious, honest, and clear headed, and having no "small vices," kept a good propor- tion of his predecessor's clients. He attended all the courts dili- gently and was a good deal engaged in trials. His treatment of witnesses was fair, and his addresses to the jury were temperate and persuasive, while tenacious for his client's interests. His position at the bar was among the foremost.
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He was elected successively representative and senator in the state legislature, and in 1873 a representative in Congress. He had no liking for party strife, however, and went back to his law practice with real relief. The post of county solicitor was given him in 1866, and he filled it five years. Again appointed in 1876, he continued in the discharge of his duties to the time of his decease. He was an able and conscientious officer.
His first wife, Olive A. Furber of Newmarket, he married June 12, 1851. They had one child. His second wife was the widow of Reuben French.
DAVID SMILEY.
Son of Deacon William and Sarah (Robinson) Smiley ; born, Jaffrey, March 16, 1769 ; Harvard College, [1796 ; practiced, Jaffrey, Bridgewater, and Grafton ; died, Plymouth, May 19, 1845.
Mr. Smiley as an attorney began to practice in his native town in 1800; and was the first lawyer settled in Jaffrey. While there he was chosen town clerk and selectman for two years, but in 1806 or 1807 removed to Bridgewater, now Bristol Village, where he remained in practice for a term of about ten years, and then changed his abode to Grafton. In this place he was a school teacher a part of the time, and served for a long period as super- intendent of schools. He also gave some attention to farming. But he kept up his professional business through his life, enjoyed an extensive country practice, and was considered a careful law- yer. His death occurred suddenly while he was in attendance upon the court in Plymouth.
Mr. Smiley was an expert player of checkers, and learning that Dr. Renton of Concord was the champion of his section in that game, was so anxious to test his skill that he is said to have walked from Grafton to Concord, a distance of forty miles, to meet him. It was a genuine feat of modern knight errantry. They were so equally matched that while Smiley won the first game, his antagonist carried off the palm in the second.
Mr. Smiley was married in 1802 to Mary Harkness, at Lunen- burg, Massachusetts. They had five children.
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EBENEZER SMITH.
Son of Deacon Ebenezer and Margaret (Weeks) Smith ; born, Durham, March 13, 1758 ; admitted, 1783 ; practiced, Durham ; died there, Septem- ber 24, 1831.
Mr. Smith obtained his education at Dummer Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts, under the tuition of Master Moody. He studied law with John Sullivan in Durham, and is said to have been secretary to Mr. Sullivan while he was a member of the Continental Congress, in 1780-81. In 1783 Mr. Smith entered upon practice. He was very successful in his profession, and became one of the most prominent lawyers in his section of the State. He is said to have often gone to court with a hundred new engagements. He was not an advocate; most of the impor- tant causes in his time were argued by a few leaders, who accom- panied the judges on their circuit. The preparation of the law and evidence belonged to the attorneys who originated the suits, and upon their fidelity and ability in doing this the fate of the trials chiefly depended. This work seems to have been the forte of Mr. Smith; here his law knowledge and sound sense were conspicuous.
He was held in much respect by his townsmen, and was their representative in the General Court six years between 1783 and 1793.
He was elected councilor in 1788, in 1793, 1794, and 1795, and in 1798 was tendered the appointment of Justice of the Superior Court, which he declined. For nearly twenty years before his death he was president of the Bar Association of Strafford County.
He married, May 5, 1785, Mehitable, daughter of Jacob Sheafe of Portsmouth. Of their children, a son, Jacob S. Smith, became an attorney.
EBENEZER SMITH, JR.
This is given as the name of an attorney of the Court of Com- mon Pleas, in Sanbornton, in 1808. No mention is made of him by the thorough and painstaking historian of the town, nor has his name been found elsewhere. He may have been of kin to Hon. Ebenezer Smith of Meredith.
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EMERY B. SMITH.
This was a native of New York, born about the year 1835, who came to Orford from Boston, Massachusetts, in March, 1881, for the purpose of practicing his profession. He lived, however, only four months after his arrival.
FRANCIS PETER SMITH.
Son of Rev. Isaac and Sarah (Eaton) Smith ; born, Gilmanton, August 22, 1795 ; Dartmouth College, 1816 ; practiced, Kingston and Ossipee ; died, Ossipee, November 21, 1879.
Mr. Smith prosecuted his law studies with Jeremiah H. Wood- man of Rochester, Oliver Crosby of Dover, and Augustus Peabody of Boston, Massachusetts, where he began practice in 1819, but remained but a little time. He tried his fortune successively in Medway, Massachusetts, two years, in Kingston one year, and in Ossipee ten years. At the end of that time he resolved to give up his occupation, and prepared himself for the ministry.
For years he acquired no permanent settlement, preaching tem- porarily in Gilmanton, Epsom, Wolfeborough, and other places until he reached Sebasticook (now Benton), Maine, where he was the pastor from 1845 to 1859. He returned subsequently to Ossipee.
Mr. Smith was an amiable man, and had, no doubt, a fair share of learning, but is said not to have possessed that requisite of a good lawyer, the capacity to apply the rules of law to the facts of his cases. It was his want of success that determined him to seek a different calling in life.
He was married, October 14, 1821, to Elizabeth S., daughter of Rev. Ezra Weld of Braintree, Massachusetts, and had one daughter.
FREDERIC SMITH.
Son of Timothy and Mary (Greeley) Smith ; born, Gilmanton, April 29, 1799; Dartmouth College, 1826 ; practiced, Boscawen ; died, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1873.
Mr. Smith was fitted for college at the Gilmanton Academy, and gained his legal preparation in the offices of Stephen Moody
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of Gilmanton and Stephen C. Lyford of Meredith. In 1829 he began to practice at Boscawen, but at the end of half a dozen years he abandoned the law, and removed to Boston, Massachu- setts, and engaged in trade.
His career as a lawyer was not particularly successful. Of tol- erable scholarship, he was eager after gain, and not too particular in his schemes for obtaining it. Legal business in Boscawen was small, and Smith and his deputy sheriff devised a plan for in- creasing it. An old man in that vicinity had taken out a patent on a sort of mantel of sheet iron, for keeping dishes warm, and many persons were using the device without the license of the patentee. They made an arrangement with the latter, who was without means, to bring suits in his name for infringement of the patent, the fruits of which were to be in great part for their bene- fit. A number of actions were commenced, and Judge Nesmith was retained by the parties sued and gave them the benefit of his sagacity and sound sense. He learned upon inquiry that the invention, far from being a novelty, had been in use for years before the patent was granted. This fact being proved left the plaintiff no case, and the defendants had judgment. But as the plaintiff was worthless, their indignation was strong against his attorney, who they doubted not instigated the suits, but evaded liability for the costs. The feeling thus roused against Smith was such that he thought proper to quit the place and the profes- sion as well.
JAMES SMITH.
Son of James Smith ; born, Newmarket, c. 1795 ; admitted, 1817 ; prac- ticed, Portsmouth and Newington ; died, Newington, 1869 (?).
Mr. Smith was a student at law in the office of Edward Cutts in Portsmouth. He held himself out as a law practitioner for fifty years or more in Portsmouth, and for two or three years about 1838 in Newington, where he then had his residence. He never belonged to the more reputable ranks of the profession, either in point of knowledge or of character, but was addicted to practices which tend to bring reproach upon an honorable calling.
He married Maria Balfour Spence of Portsmouth, in March, 1866, and left no descendants.
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JEDEDIAH KILBURN SMITH.
Son of Jonathan and Abigail Smith ; born, Amherst, November 7, 1770 ; admitted, 1798; practiced, Amherst ; died there, December 17, 1828.
Mr. Smith did not receive a liberal education, and acquired his profession under the instruction of Samuel Dana in his native town. His popular qualities introduced him early to public office ; he was moderator of the town in 1799 and repeatedly afterwards, and representative in 1803 and 1804. In the latter year he was elected to the state Senate and again in 1805 and 1806. From 1807 to 1809 he was a representative in Congress, and in 1809 he was again chosen state senator. After serving in the Executive Council four terms between 1810 and 1815 he was, in 1816, appointed an associate Justice of the District Court of Common Pleas. In 1821, on a change in the organization of the inferior tribunals, he was made an associate Judge of the county Court of Sessions, and in 1823 promoted to be chief Judge until 1825.
Judge Smith was a man of undoubted ability, and in his best days a lawyer of respectable attainments. Prior to and during the war of 1812 he was active in supporting the measures of his party, and thus acquired a large degree of popularity, insomuch that in 1810 he is said to have come within a single vote of being elected to the United States Senate. The great foe of men in his position has almost always been indulgence in intoxicating drink, and Judge Smith did not escape its fatal influence. On this account he was in 1826 removed from the office of postmaster, which he had held for seven years.
He was married, September 30, 1802, to Anna, daughter of Nathaniel Henchman, and had a son and a daughter, both now deceased.
JOHN HARVEY SMITH.
Son of John and Betsey Smith ; born, Rochester, 1802 (?) ; admitted, 1824 ; practiced, Centre Harbor, Conway, Rochester, and Dover ; died, Mere- dith, October 7, 1852.
Mr. Smith was well taught in the common branches of learn- ing, and studied law with Jeremiah H. Woodman in his native town, and with James Bartlett of Dover. He settled first in
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Centre Harbor about 1824, and after three or four years removed to Conway for a short time, and then to Rochester. He repre- sented Rochester in the legislatures of 1832, 1833, and 1834, and in 1837 changed his residence to Dover, where two of his brothers were living. In 1841 he was appointed clerk of the courts for the county of Strafford, and continued in that office to the time of his decease. He received fatal injuries in a collision which occurred between two trains on the Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad, in Meredith, October 7, 1852.
Mr. Smith united with good abilities and a fair acquaintance with the law a kind and generous disposition and honorable feel- ing. It was said of him by a political opponent, "He was a kind, peaceable, generous-hearted man, and if he has left one enemy in Dover I have yet to learn his name."
He never married.
JONATHAN SMITH.
Son of Deacon Jonathan and Nancy (Smith) Smith ; born, Peterborough, August 15, 1797 ; Harvard College, 1819 ; practiced, Lisbon and Bath ; died, Bath, August 10, 1840.
Jonathan Smith was a nephew of Chief Justice Jeremiah Smith. He studied his profession in the office of Levi Lincoln of Worcester, Massachusetts, and in 1825 opened an office in Lis- bon, but remained there only two years. He then established himself at Bath as the law partner of Moses P. Payson.
His abilities and scholarship brought him at once into promi- nence. He was a thorough lawyer, as well as a man of discretion and sound sense. Chief Justice Richardson expressed the opinion that he would make an eminent judge. He tried causes in court, made his points with clearness and precision, and was always listened to with attention by the bench. Moreover he is said to have impressed his hearers with the conviction that he believed all that he uttered. His character was so symmetrical and com- plete that it was asserted that he had no quality that one would wish left out.
Before he reached the age of forty his health began to fail, and he was obliged to relinquish business. After trying other reme- dies in vain, he passed a winter in the West Indies in the futile hope of restoring his shattered constitution. He returned to lay his bones in his native land.
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Mr. Smith was twice elected a representative from Bath in the state legislature, in 1835 and 1838.
He married Hannah P., daughter of Hon. Moses P. Payson. They had four children.
LEWIS SMITH.
Son of Jabez and Cloa (Richards) Smith ; born, Eastford, Connecticut, June 5, 1815; admitted, 1840 ; practiced, Newport, Henniker, Fisherville, and Nashua ; died, Helena, Montana, July 5, 1883.
Mr. Smith was fitted for college at Bennington, Vermont, and studied his profession partly in that State and the last two years with Edmund Burke of Newport. Admitted to the bar in Sulli- van County, he practiced in Newport a short time, and afterwards in Henniker, from 1841 to 1851, a part of that time having an office in Fisherville in Concord ; then at Nashua, until 1856, when he migrated to Hastings, Minnesota. In 1857 he was clerk of the territorial council there, and was subsequently a member of each legislative House of the State, and auditor of Dakota County. In 1872 he removed to St. Joseph, Missouri.
While a resident of New Hampshire he was chosen a represen- tative from Henniker in the legislature of 1841, was assistant clerk of the House from 1843 to 1845, clerk from 1847 to 1849, and delegate to the constitutional convention of 1850. He was an active man of affairs and had a wide practice, and was interested quite as much in political matters as in the business of the courts. He was one of the earliest to take ground against the Free Soil movement in New Hampshire ; but is said to have sided with the loyal sentiment of the country on the breaking out of the civil war.
His wife was Sarah Noyes of Henniker. He left three sons.
SAMUEL SMITH.
Son of Uriah and Olive (Burton) Smith ; born, Francestown, August 12, 1807 ; Dartmouth College, 1827 ; practiced, Francestown and Henniker ; died, Henniker, August 18, 1837.
Mr. Smith was fitted for college at the Francestown Academy, and studied law, the first year with Titus Brown in his native town, and about two years in the law school in New Haven, Connecticut.
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In 1830 he began practice in Chester, Vermont, and after con- tinuing there a year returned to Francestown, whence after another year he removed to Henniker, to succeed to the practice of Artemas Rogers.
He was described by one of his friends as a close student of his profession, a thorough judge of law, considering his age, and of strict integrity of character; deeply interested in general education, and helpful of every cause for the benefit of society. He died of consumption, unmarried.
THOMAS JEFFERSON SMITH.
Son of Thomas S. and Lydia P. (Wright) Smith ; born, Dorchester, April 18, 1830 ; Dartmouth College, 1852 ; practiced, Wentworth and Dover ; died, Manasquan, New Jersey, May 1, 1892.
Mr. Smith was prepared for college at New Hampton Academy. In 1853 he was appointed postmaster of Wentworth, whither he had gone to study law with J. Everett Sargent, and was admitted and began practice in the same town in 1855. He continued to be postmaster until 1861. In that and the succeeding four years he represented Wentworth in the legislature, and in 1866 and 1867 he was chosen state senator from the twelfth district. In 1868 he transferred his residence to Dover. While there he served as clerk of the Senate in 1874 and 1875, and as secretary of the state constitutional convention in 1876.
In 1886 he repaired to Boston, Massachusetts, on receiving the appointment of deputy naval officer at that port, and in the fall of. 1887 he was called to Washington, District of Columbia, as solicitor of the United States Internal Revenue Department, which office he continued to fill until the advent of the new administra- tion. Shortly after that time he entered the employ of the New York and Long Island Branch Railroad, in which he was engaged at the time of his decease.
Mr. Smith was an intelligent and efficient lawyer, and a man of pleasing and popular manners. His interest in education was dis- played by service upon the school committee of Wentworth and of Dover. He was quite distinguished as a public speaker in the legislature and " upon the stump." His political faith was as the breath of his nostrils. He stood by his party faithfully, and his party stood by him.
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His wife was Sarah S., daughter of Daniel D. Kelley of Went- worth. They were married September 17, 1854, and had two daughters and a son.
WILLIAM SMITH.
Born Princeton, Massachusetts, 1790 ; admitted, 1813 ; practiced, Lyme and Hanover ; died, Boston, Massachusetts, October 19, 1867.
Mr. Smith's father was a blacksmith, and moved into New Hampshire while his son was a boy. The father's means being limited, young Smith, ambitious and full of energy, was obliged to rely on his own exertions to procure a professional education. He studied law with Abiathar G. Britton of Orford, and began practice in Lyme in 1814, but after an experience of two or three years removed to Hanover. In that town he remained until the year 1833, when he left the State for Lowell, Massachusetts. Benjamin F. Butler was his student there, and afterwards his partner for a time. After living twenty years in Lowell, Mr. Smith established himself in Boston with his son, Henry F. Durant.
He was hardly past middle age when he quitted New Hamp- shire, and is remembered here as having a considerable faculty for getting business and originating suits, but was not considered a thorough lawyer. He had a boastful manner of speaking of his business, representing the actions in which he was engaged as of transcendent consequence. Some wag applied to him the name of " Puff " Smith, and it fitted so well that it clung to lim. While he lived in Hanover he used to carry ostentatiously a hand trunk between his house and office three times every day, as if it contained papers of great value. He was pompous in his speech, and thought it fine to employ long words. He once inquired, at a public table, of Chief Justice Richardson if he ever cultivated convolvulum tuberosum. The Judge was not daunted by the botanical name of sweet potato ; but having a keen sense of the ridiculous, was intensely amused by the counselor's display of cheap learning. -
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