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 62
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He married in June, 1850, M. Elizabeth, daughter of Jeremiah L. Robinson of Exeter, and left one daughter.
BELA TURNER.
Son of Captain Bela Turner ; born, Windham, Connecticut, 1765 ; prac- ticed Hanover, Landaff, and Bath ; died, Bath, 1814.
The subject of this notice acquired his legal preparation in Connecticut, and with Edward St. Loe Livermore in Concord, and settled as an attorney about 1787 in Hanover. After some seven years he sold out and removed to Bath, having perhaps tarried awhile in Landaff on his way. He never did much legal business, but he wrote a beautiful hand and was a popular teacher of penmanship. In his later years he yielded to the temptations of strong drink, and eventually became its victim.
He was married, in 1791, to Ruth, daughter of Benjamin Hana- ford of Concord.
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JOHN LEIGHTON TUTTLE.
Born, Littleton, Massachusetts, c. 1773 ; Harvard College, 1796 ; practiced, Walpole ; died, Watertown, New York, July 23, 1813.
Mr. Tuttle's career was chiefly notable for his success as a politician, and afterwards as a soldier. It was soon after his admission to practice that he settled in Walpole, and his stay there was too brief to identify him with the history of the town ; he came first into note at Concord, Massachusetts, to which place he removed. An active and decided partisan in politics, he was soon appointed postmaster of Concord, and afterwards elected county treasurer from 1808 to 1812, and member of the state Senate during the same period.
In 1812 he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel commandant of the Ninth Regiment of United States Infantry, and proceeded to the field of hostilities, near Sackett's Harbor, New York, where his death occurred. He is described in a contemporary obituary notice as a " distinguished officer."
STEPHEN TYLER.
The origin and antecedents of this gentleman are unknown. He was admitted to the bar in 1820, and settled the same year at Drewsville in Walpole. Nothing is recollected of his practice, and he stayed there probably not above a year, when he removed to Louisiana. His death occurred in New Orleans, in that State, in 1823.
JAMES UNDERWOOD.
This gentleman is believed to have been the son of a Justice of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for the county of Hills- borough, who bore the same name, and lived in Litchfield. He read law in the office of Wyseman Clagett in his native town, and in that of John Sullivan of Durham. His name appears in the list of those who accompanied Sullivan in December, 1774, in the raid against Fort William and Mary in Portsmouth harbor. The next summer he was a private soldier in the company of Captain Winban Adams in Colonel Enoch Poor's continental regiment ;
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and in 1776 he was commissioned adjutant of Colonel Joshua Wingate's regiment raised for the Canada campaign.
He is understood to have begun practice as a lawyer in Bed- ford, as early as 1781, and to have continued there for at least six years, and finally to have become mentally deranged.
GEORGE BAXTER UPHAM.
Son of Phineas and Susanna (Buckminster) Upham ; born, Brookfield, Massachusetts, December 27, 1768 ; Harvard College, 1789 ; admitted, 1792 ; practiced, Claremont ; died there, February 10, 1848.
Mr. Upham probably received his legal training in the office - of his brother, Jabez Upham, in Claremont, and in that town, on the removal of the latter to Massachusetts in 1792, became his successor. On the 14th of December, 1796, the position of soli- citor for the county of Cheshire was given him, and he retained it until 1804. He was a representative of Claremont in the legisla- ture every year but one from 1804 to 1815, when he was elected to the state Senate, and in 1818, 1821, and 1837; and he was chosen Speaker of the House in 1809 and 1815. He was also a representative in the Congress of the United States from 1801 to 1803.
Mr. Upham was an excellent lawyer, and had a large and profitable business. He tried causes in the courts, and was a respectable, though not an eloquent advocate. His opinions upon questions of law were formed with care and deliberation, and were of the highest authority with the people of his vicinity. By excellent management he was enabled to accumulate a very large fortune, acquired not by speculation or by sudden changes of values, but by economy and prudence. He was for years a large money lender, on note and mortgage, but unlike some of the capi- talists of the time, he never took usurious interest. He was strictly honest in his dealings; but not generous. For twenty years in the latter part of his life, he was president of the Clare- mont Bank.
Governor Plumer appointed him a Justice of the Superior Court in 1816, but Mr. Upham, by the advice of his political friends it is said, declined the place. The governor, a political opponent, in his private journal described Mr. Upham as "a good lawyer, and a man of irreproachable moral character."
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Amasa Edes of Newport, who knew him well, states that he was " a model gentleman of the old school, exact in all his doings and honest in his dealings, of the strictest justice, and a thorough lawyer. He was universally highly respected."
His wife was Mary Duncan of Concord. They had several sons and daughters.
JABEZ UPHAM.
Son of Phineas and Susanna (Buckminster) Upham ; born, Brookfield, Massachusetts, August 23, 1764 ; Harvard College, 1785 ; admitted, 1788 ; practiced, Claremont ; died, Brookfield, Massachusetts, November 8, 1811.
It was chiefly by his own exertions that Mr. Upham obtained the means of meeting the expenses of his collegiate education. He studied law with Hon. Dwight Foster in his native town, and after his qualification for practice, went for a short time to Stur- bridge, Massachusetts, but soon left that place for Claremont, where he settled in November, 1789. In the latter town he carried on business as an attorney about three years, and then returned to Brookfield in 1792.
He was a representative in the General Court of Massachusetts in the years 1804, 1805, 1806, and 1811, and was chosen a mem- ber of the Congress of the United States in 1807 and in 1809, but resigned his seat before completing his second term. He was a man of spirit and determination ; and he evinced it by the position he acquired as a lawyer. He was not naturally an easy speaker, but by study and careful preparation he made himself eminent as an advocate. His examination of witnesses was skillful and searching, his legal knowledge was ample, and in all the duties of the profession he proved himself to be equal to the best. For nearly twenty years he was employed against the leading lawyers in his vicinity, in important causes.
He married, in May, 1796, Lucy Faulkner of Acton, Massachu- setts.
JOHN RILEY VARNEY.
Son of James B. and Sarah B. (Riley) Varney ; born, Dover, March 26, 1819 ; Dartmouth College, 1843 ; admitted, 1863 ; practiced, Dover ; died there, May 2, 1882.
Mr. Varney prepared himself for college at the Franklin Academy in his native town, and at the Gilmanton Academy.
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While an undergraduate he taught schools in the winters, and after leaving college he had charge of the Franklin Academy two years. His bent was towards mathematics, and the succeeding ten years he was employed as a civil engineer in the preliminary work of laying out railroad lines in New England, New York, and Canada. In 1856 he was appointed clerk of the courts in Straf- ford County, and performed the duties until 1860, when he accepted an invitation to the chair of mathematics in Dartmouth College. There he remained three years, in the mean time reading law under the direction of Daniel Blaisdell of Hanover, as he had previously done, while at Dover, under Richard Kimball. The winter of 1862-63 he spent in Washington as clerk of the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs.
He entered into practice in Dover in March following, with an outspoken interest in political affairs. He was a representative in the legislatures of 1856 and 1857 ; selectman from 1868 to 1871 inclusive ; member of the board of education, and postmaster, each four years; register of Probate 1872 to 1874, and from 1876, and Justice of the city Police Court from 1877, to his de- cease. He was also one of the editors and proprietors of the " Dover Enquirer " from 1868, and of the " Daily Republican " from 1881 up to the time of his death.
Mr. Varney's intellectual powers were logical and acute; he was warm-hearted and full of enthusiasm, conscientious and manly. He was strongly religious, and a deacon of the Congre- gational church.
His first wife, to whom he was united November 21, 1848, was Susan K., daughter of Amos Kimball of West Boxford, Massachu- setts. She died in 1851, and he married, December 25, 1860, Isabella G., daughter of Richard Kimball of Dover.
EDWIN VAUGHAN.
Born, Chelsea, Vermont, September 14, 1832 ; admitted, 1857 ; practiced Claremont ; died there, December 17, 1890.
Mr. Vaughan was educated at the Kimball Union Academy in Plainfield, between 1851 and 1855. His legal studies he pur- sued at the law department of the Albany University. In 1856 and 1857 he was a teacher at Mott Haven, New York, and in 1858 he began to practice in Claremont, in partnership with his
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former schoolmate, Alexander Gardiner. In 1861 he enlisted in the First New Hampshire Cavalry and, rising through the sev- eral intermediate grades, was commissioned captain in March, 1864. He was discharged in June, 1865, having been assistant provost marshal of the Eighth Army Corps for the six months preceding.
Returning to Claremont, he resumed his profession. In 1866 and 1867 he was a representative in the state legislature, and was a United States inspector of revenue in 1867 and 1868. In 1869 he was named consul of the United States at Coaticook, Province of Quebec, a situation which he occupied three years. June 7, 1883, he was commissioned Judge of Probate for Sulli- van County, and passed the remainder of his life in that position.
The testimony of those who served in the field with Captain Vaughan shows him to have been a brave, faithful, and efficient officer, and his performance of the duties of provost marshal and later important trusts was creditable to his capacity and his legal training.
He was married, June 20, 1860, to Elizabeth L., daughter of Rev. S. G. Tenney of Springfield, Vermont.
ORSINO AUGUSTINE JABEZ VAUGHAN.
Son of Silas T. and Polly (Ingalls) Vaughan ; born, Hanover, March 11, 1819 ; admitted, 1846 ; practiced, Gilmanton and Laconia ; died, Laconia, April 30, 1876.
The first year of Mr. Vaughan's law study was accomplished during over-hours and at night, while he was working in a mill at the trade of a dyer. The residue of the period was spent in the office of Jonathan Kittredge of Canaan. He was admitted to the bar in Belknap County, and commenced practice at once in Gilmanton. In 1851 he was made register of Probate for the county until 1857, when he changed his place of residence to La- conia. In 1866 he was chosen to the state Senate, and reelected in 1867. The next year he became the proprietor and editor of the " Laconia Democrat," a weekly political newspaper, and re- tained the charge of it up to the time of his decease. In 1874, upon the reorganization of the judiciary, he accepted the clerkship of the courts of Belknap County, and shortly after was commis- sioned police justice of the town of Laconia.
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Mr. Vaughan was able and ready, with a marked talent for business. Amid all his cares and duties he preserved his remark- able activity and his buoyant disposition. He was probably quite as much at home in the columns of his newspaper as in the court- room, but he never ran into the extravagance of partisan quarrels, and was respected in every capacity. In 1866 he received from Dartmouth College the honorary degree of A. M.
He married, in 1849, Julia, daughter of Hon. Thomas Cogswell of Gilmanton. After her decease, Mary E. Parker of Laconia became his second wife, in 1855. She bore him two sons and two daughters.
JOEL C. VIRGIN.
Mr. Virgin was born in Northwood in 1809. In 1828 and 1829 he was a student in the Kimball Union Academy at Plain- field. He became a printer, and from 1841 to January, 1843, was a joint proprietor with Samuel W. Moses of the " New Hampshire Gazette ", at Portsmouth. In September, 1843, he established a newspaper styled the "Portsmouth Mercury," but in about six months it passed into other hands. Virgin then advertised himself as an attorney at law in Portsmouth, but did little business as such, nor did he possess the confidence of the community. In no long time he quitted the State, and after remaining awhile in Boston, Massachusetts, he went to the West.
DAVID SANDS VITTUM.
Son of David and Dolly (Beede) Vittum ; born, Sandwich, October 31, 1820 ; Dartmouth College, 1845 ; practiced, Meredith ; died, Baraboo, Wis- consin, April 10, 1880.
Mr. Vittum, who is recalled as a regular and well-liked student in college, pursued his legal studies with Stephen C. Lyford of Meredith, and about 1850 went into practice in that place. For two years he was in partnership with George W. Stevens, but shortly after severed his connection with New Hampshire, and settled in Wisconsin. He was two years a member of the Wis- consin Senate, and when the war of the Rebellion broke out, entered the military service, and became a captain in the Third Regiment of Wisconsin Cavalry. He was in the field from 1861 to 1865. Returning to Baraboo, in Wisconsin, he passed the rest of his life there ; in addition to his professional employment,
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holding also the office of president of the First National Bank in that place.
His first wife was Mary E., daughter of Ebenezer Hall of Concord, whom he married in the spring of 1851. After her death he wedded Amanda Hall, her sister.
FREDERIC VOSE.
Son of Hon. Roger and Rebecca (Bellows) Vose ; born, Walpole, Novem- ber 2, 1801 ; Harvard College, 1822 ; practiced, Walpole ; died, New York city, November, 1871.
Mr. Vose was bred to the law probably in his father's office, and began to practice in Walpole as early as 1825. In 1833 he was sent to represent the town in the state legislature, and had received the appointment, the preceding year, of solicitor for the county of Cheshire, the duties of which he continued to discharge until 1835, when he was given the commission of Judge of Pro- bate. That office he retained until 1841. In 1847 and 1848 he was a member of the state Senate, and at the same time held the position of bank commissioner.
He was well skilled in the learning of the law, and was em- ployed in important causes, but rarely argued before the jury, on account of constitutional diffidence, it is said. In the company of others, though a good talker and a good deal of a wit, he left the conversation to the rest. He was retiring in his habits, rarely appearing in society ; but was a great reader. He was charitable and public-spirited, and his death, which occurred while he was absent from home, was deeply lamented by his townsmen.
ROGER VOSE.
Son of Robert and Miriam Vose ; born, Milton, Massachusetts, February 24, 1763 ; Harvard College, 1790 ; practiced, Walpole ; died there, April 17, 1842.
This able and facetious gentleman settled as a practitioner of the law in Walpole as early as 1794. Soon he made himself prominent. He was a state senator in 1809, 1810, and 1812, and a representative in Congress from 1813 to 1817. In 1818 he was a representative in the state legislature, and received the appoint- ment of Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for the
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second circuit, which he filled till 1820. Then he was given the same office in the Court of Sessions for his county, and held it five years. He was well qualified for the positions which were con- ferred upon him, and, moreover, was what many judges and legis- lators are not, -a wit. His very appearance was mirth-provok- ing. The distinguished Robert G. Harper, after having shaken his sides overnight at Vose's witticisms, was so overcome by the sight of his jolly visage the next morning in the Supreme Court room at Washington, that he quite disgraced himself by an untimely fit of hilarity in presence of the grave and reverend judges of the land.
A Southern member of Congress pointed to a passing drove of mules one day and said to Mr. Vose, " There goes a company of your constituents." "Yes," replied Vose, " I see; going South to teach school and run for Congress."
He was counsel for his town in a suit against a number of per- sons who had summarily taken possession of a cannon alleged to belong to the town. The town failed to show title, and the suit failed. While the court was still sitting, the triumphant defend- ants began to discharge the cannon in full hearing. "The case is already reported," remarked Vose.
Judge Jeremiah Smith, after serving one year as governor, failed of a second election. Some of his friends, meeting him shortly after, addressed him in complimentary terms. Vose, who was present, quoted - " We come to bury Cæsar, not to praise him."
The same judge was a particular friend of Governor Christopher Gore of Massachusetts. In a trial before Judge Smith the ques- tion arose whether there was a gore of land, not covered by the deeds. "The law," said the judge, " abhors gores." "Except Kit Gore, your Honor," interjected Vose.
Salma Hale was Vose's successful competitor as member of Congress. Both gentlemen being about to leave the court-room one day, Hale, by mistake, took up Vose's hat. "Put down that hat," said Vose. "You 've got my old shoes, and you ought to be contented without my hat, too."
Meeting a person of not immaculate character, clad in black, Judge Vose asked him for what he was in mourning. "For my sins," answered the man, jocularly. "Have you lost any of them ? " returned Vose.
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Judge Vose was never accused of using his powers of repartee to wound feeling or to give offense. He was of amiable disposition, and slow to anger, though he was fully capable of resenting an intended wrong.
He was married, in 1801, to Rebecca, daughter of Colonel John Bellows of Walpole. They had four children, one of whom was bred to the law.
BAINBRIDGE WADLEIGH.
Son of Evans Wadleigh ; born, Bradford, January 4, 1831 ; admitted, 1850 ; practiced, Milford ; died, Boston, Massachusetts, January 24, 1891.
Mr. Wadleigh was prepared at the Kimball Union Academy in Plainfield to enter college, but his slender health interrupted further study, and for two years he led an outdoor life. Then he entered the office of Mason W. Tappan of Bradford, as a student, and completed his preparation for the bar. He was but little above nineteen years old, but he began at once to practice in Mil- ford. In no long time he made himself known as a lawyer, and as an aspirant of promise in the political field. He was an early and outspoken anti-slavery man, and naturally belonged to the Republican party on its formation.
He was elected a representative to the state legislature in 1855 and 1856, in 1859 and 1860, and from 1869 to 1872, inclusive, and became one of the most popular and influential members of that body. His personal appearance was attractive, his manners were cordial, and his gift of extemporaneous speech never failed to engage the attention. He treated his opponents with courtesy and fairness ; he was ready to do much more for his friends.
In June, 1872, his friends availed themselves of a peculiarly favorable opportunity to present his name to the legislature for election to the Senate of the United States. He was successful, and took his seat in the December following. His course in that body was such as to fully justify the anticipation of his sup- porters. His bonhommie and amiability of character brought him many friends, his service upon committees was assiduous and creditable, and his intellectual strength and ability in the discus- sion of public questions placed him among the strong men of his time.
Upon the close of his senatorial term, he returned with un-
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diminished energy, his mental resources quickened and invig- orated by his wider experience, to the legal arena. He established his office in Boston, Massachusetts, and during the residue of his life was employed in a large and important professional business in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. As a jurist he was much above mediocrity, but his forte was in the court-room, and espe- ceially in the laying of his cases before a panel of his countrymen. His hearty voice and candid address disposed his audience to ,hear him without prejudice. His words were not wasted in try- ing to answer the unanswerable. He spent his force on the real gist of his case. As was said by a contemporary of his own pro- fession, and well towards the head of it, he was "a fine, able, :strong lawyer, and a forcible and attractive speaker."
He was married, January 6, 1853, to Ann Putnam of Milford. She died before him, leaving two daughters, one of whom is the wife of Samuel Hoar, a lawyer of Massachusetts.
GILBERT WADLEIGH.
Son of Benjamin and Polly (Marston) Wadleigh ; born, Sutton, May 27, 1821 ; Dartmouth College, 1847; admitted, 1850 ; practiced, Milford ; died there, March 8, 1886.
Mr. Wadleigh was prepared for college at the New London Academy, and after his graduation taught the high schools in Bradford and in Concord, each one year, at the same time study- ing law, first with Mason W. Tappan of the former place, and afterwards with Asa Fowler of the latter. He began at once to practice in Milford. In 1859 he was chosen cashier of the Sou- hegan National Bank, and served five years.
In 1864 and 1865 he was a paymaster of United States Volun- teers. In 1871 he was made treasurer of the Milford Five Cents Savings Institution, and retired from that position in 1875. In 1863 and 1874 he was a representative in the legislature of the State. In his later years he combined his legal business with that of an insurance agent, and also dealt in real estate.
His standing in his profession was excellent, but he preferred the business side of it to the forensic. The sobriquet of "Judge," by which he was familiarly known, points to his possession of legal accuracy and the qualities of moderation and prudence. His genial character surrounded him with friends, and rendered
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him a popular member of the Masonic fraternity, to which he was attached.
He was never married.
CHARLES WALKER.
Son of Hon. Timothy and Esther (Burbeen) Walker ; born, Concord, Sep- tember 25, 1765 ; Harvard College, 1789 ; practiced, Concord ; died there, July 29, 1834.
Mr. Walker was prepared for college at the Phillips Exeter Academy, and for a year after he quitted college was the first preceptor of the Aurean Academy at Amherst. He then pursued his course of legal study with John Pickering of Portsmouth, and entered into practice about 1793 in his native town. He was appointed second postmaster in Concord in 1801, and solicitor of the county in 1806, which latter position he held only until 1808.
He was averse to public office, and chose to lead a quiet life. He was never a pushing or a conspicuous lawyer. Possessed of a sufficiency of means, he spent much of his time in looking after his own affairs, and those of the northern branch of the Concord Bank, of which he was for several years the president.
He married, in October or November, 1796, Hannah, daughter of Hon. John Pickering of Portsmouth, who died, November 12, 1821, having borne him five children, of whom the eldest was bred to his father's profession, and practiced in New York. One of his daughters became the wife of William Pickering of Con- cord and Greenland.
JAMES WALKER.
Son of Captain Joshua and Mary (Whitmore) Walker ; born, Rindge, March 10, 1784 ; Dartmouth College, 1804 ; practiced, Francestown and Peter- borough ; died, Peterborough, December 31, 1854.
Mr. Walker, after leaving college, was a teacher for a while, and then turned to the law. He left his home with no other resources than the horse which he rode, and a saddle and bridle, designing to go into the office of some counselor in Groton, Mas- sachusetts ; but when he reached Francestown he concluded it would be better for him to study with Samuel Bell at that place. So he sold his horse and equipments, and made so good use of his
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time that when he was admitted in 1808 Mr. Bell received him as a partner.
After he had practiced there about four years he transferred his office to Peterborough. There he resided and practiced his profession during his life, excepting a few years which he spent in the western country chiefly for the benefit of his health. His powers of mind were far above the average, as was also his professional knowledge, and he was distinguished by his sagacity, his public spirit, and his sterling integrity. He was representa- tive in the legislature in 1833, and again in 1843 and 1844.
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