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 64
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In 1846 he quitted Lancaster and took up his residence under peculiarly favorable circumstances in Exeter, where he soon acquired a large and remunerative practice. He received the appointment of attorney-general, January 17, 1847, but it was not a position to his liking, and he resigned it after a few months. In 1851 and 1852 he was elected a state senator, and both years was made president. In January, 1855, he was appointed by the
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governor a senator of the United States to fill out the unex- pired term of Moses Norris, deceased, and occupied his seat until March 4. Mr. Wells had been a candidate for the United States Senate two years before, and had failed of his election by only the narrowest margin ; and though he was the candidate of his party for governor in 1856 and 1857, the political revolution which the State had undergone in 1854 left him in the minor- ity. He held no public office after 1855, and was deeply disap- pointed in his political aspirations. He made no secret of this, but avowed that he had expended a large sum in politics, and had failed to realize his hopes.
As a lawyer, however, Mr. Wells was highly successful in ob- taining money and reputation. He was a keen business man, and looked well after his fees. His professional knowledge was far above mediocrity, but he was not what would be called a dili- gent student. His engagements often called on him for strenuous and long-continued exertion, and he was always equal to the de- mand ; but he liked the work of the jury trial, in which he was especially distinguished, better than that of consulting and com- paring authorities.
Dartmouth College bestowed upon him the honorary degree of Master of Arts in 1857. He was happy in his domestic relations, a fond parent, and most interested in the welfare and happiness of his children.
His wife, to whom he was united in 1832, was Rebecca E., daughter of Josiah Bellows 2d of Lancaster. Three of their five or six children outlived him.
NATHANIEL WELLS.
Son of Rev. Nathaniel and Eunice (Hemmenway) Wells ; born, Wells, Maine, February 28, 1805 ; practiced, Somersworth ; died there, August 16, 1878.
Mr. Wells was educated at the Phillips Exeter Academy, his father having removed to Deerfield in 1812. Completing his academic course in 1826, he proceeded to Brunswick, Maine, where he engaged in trade, and for a while edited a weekly news- paper. In 1833 he went to Great Falls Village in Somersworth, then rising into importance, and pursued the study of the law with Winthrop A. Marston, while at the same time he taught
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schools in that place and in Dover. On his admission, he began the practice of the law in Somersworth, as a partner of Mr. Mars- ton. He was well grounded in the principles of jurisprudence, and as an office lawyer, particularly, he was a model. His faculty of comprehending complicated statements of facts, and of giving to each its due share of importance, was extraordinary. The facility and accuracy with which he drew contracts and instru- ments of every kind, however multifarious the provisions and qualifications, was a source of wonder to less accomplished drafts- men. He seemed to take pleasure in disentangling knotty ques- tions, as some men enjoy chess and other scientific games. His advice was uniformly shrewd, sensible, and well founded. He was the confidential counsel of the Great Falls and Conway Rail- road, of the Great Falls Manufacturing Company, and of other corporations, and of many leading business concerns in his own and neighboring places. He did not often take an active part in the trials of their suits, being averse, by reason of natural diffi- dence and sensitiveness to criticism, to making his appearance in public. But he had a very important part in preparing their causes for trial.
Mr. Wells's intercourse with all was marked by courtesy and kindness. His character for integrity and honor was unblem- ished. With decided political convictions, he was no mere parti- san. He once nominally held the office of postmaster, but the emoluments went to a friend. He was a member of the consti- tutional convention of 1850, but he never cared to undertake po- litical office. In 1871 he received from Dartmouth College the honorary degree of Master of Arts.
His life was uneventful, but diligent, useful, and in every way worthy of respect.
He was married twice ; first, to N. A. Wyman of Woburn, Massachusetts ; second, to Harriet, daughter of James Thom, Esq., of Derry. By his first marriage he had one son ; by his second, two daughters and two sons, one of whom is a lawyer in Somersworth.
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SAMUEL ISRAEL WELLS.
Son of Israel and Lucy (Lyon) Wells ; born, Shelburne, Massachusetts, c. 1790 ; Dartmouth College, 1814 ; admitted, 1819; practiced, Salisbury ; died, Portland, Maine, 1846 or 1847.
Mr. Wells graduated from college with a high standing as a scholar, and was at once engaged as preceptor of the academy at Salisbury, then a flourishing institution. In that position he re- mained two years, showing a rare faculty of imbuing his pupils with an enthusiasm for study. Then he entered the office of Richard Fletcher of the same town as a student of the law. In September, 1819, he took the office of his preceptor, who removed that year to Boston, Massachusetts. From that time to 1836 Mr. Wells continued to practice in Salisbury, and until the last two or three years thereof was regular in his habits and attentive to his business. In his office some of the most promising young men of the time were students, and to them he left the care of his "justice business," while he was himself diligently perusing the authorities of his profession and attending to clients, whom he heard courteously and fully, but never encouraged them to stay after their business was done. A lawyer of learning, he tried causes somewhat in the higher courts, but was diffident, impatient of opposition, and lacked readiness and self-possession. He aspired to a seat upon the bench, and about 1833 was en- couraged to believe that he should receive it, but to his great mortification it went to another. He became disheartened and fell into habits of intemperance, from which friends induced him to amend, and he removed, in 1836, to Windham, Maine, to prac- tice his profession, and later to Alabama as a teacher.
He was married in February, 1824, to Lucy, daughter of Rev. Mr. Kellogg of Windham, Maine, and was the father of five children.
JOHN WENTWORTH, JR.
Son of Hon. John and Joanna (Gilman) Wentworth ; born, Somersworth, July 14, 1745 ; Harvard College, 1768 ; practiced, Dover ; died there, Janu- ary 10, 1787.
Mr. Wentworth was the son of a judge of the Superior Court. He studied law with William Parker of Portsmouth, and in 1771
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commenced practice in Dover, his only legal competitor at that time residing in the county being John Sullivan of Durham. The office of register of Probate was one of the prizes sought for a century ago by young lawyers, and Mr. Wentworth, on the first organization of the Probate Court in Strafford County, in 1773, secured that, and held it to the time of his decease.
In the revolutionary movements which began to exhibit them- selves overtly in 1774, he took no passive part. He was chosen one of the Committee of Correspondence of his town, and in 1776 took his seat in the legislature. He served there as a repre- sentative up to 1781; then in the council till December, 1783, and in the Senate from June, 1784, to 1786. The last ten years of his life he was chosen moderator at nearly every annual meet- ing of Dover.
March 14, 1778, he was chosen a delegate to the Continental Congress for one year. He reached Yorktown, to which place Congress had adjourned, on the following 28th of May. On the way from his home thither he had deemed it prudent to be inocu- lated with the small-pox. The disease apparently left injurious effects upon his constitution. He was able to attend to his duties in Congress until the succeeding September, and then returned to his home. His connection with Congress was signalized by one act which will keep his name permanently in remembrance ; he affixed his signature to the original Articles of Confederation of the United States in August, 1778. But though he was twice re- elected to Congress, first in 1778 and again in 1781, the feeble state of his health never allowed him to return thither.
Mr. Wentworth was of an amiable disposition and even temper, affable, and well liked. He was the farthest possible from en- couraging resort to the law on account of the fees he should gain from it; he had no longing for the acquisition of property. He was a respectable but not a brilliant lawyer, and had no oratorical gifts. His influence came chiefly from his honesty, his sound sense, and his sincere patriotism.
He was married, in 1771, to Margaret, daughter of Joseph Frost of New Castle. They had four sons and three daughters. One of the daughters married Daniel M. Durell of Dover, and became the mother of Edward H. Durell, both of the legal pro- fession. Paul, the youngest son of John Wentworth, Jr., was the father of "long" John Wentworth of Chicago, Illinois, and of Samuel H. Wentworth of Boston, Massachusetts, also lawyers.
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JOHN WENTWORTH.
Son of Thomas and Anne (Tasker) Wentworth ; born, Portsmouth, 1768 ; practiced, Portsmouth ; died, Paris, France.
This gentleman, who for some unknown reason was often styled Sir John, was while young taken to England by his mother upon her second marriage, and became a barrister at law of the Inner Temple, London. Between the years 1797 and 1799 he published a " Complete System of Pleading," in ten octavo volumes. About the same time he received the appointment of attorney-general of Prince Edward's Island. He made his appearance in Ports- mouth not far from the year 1800. On the Fourth of July, 1804, he delivered an oration before the citizens of Portsmouth, which was published.
He probably gained credit for the production of his voluminous work on pleading, but upon examination it was found to be of small value. Lord Abinger pronounced it to be of "no authority at all; a vast collection of pleadings obtained from Mr. Lawes and one or two gentlemen, which he (Wentworth) threw together, and which I have found in a very long career of professional life to be in a great manner extremely incorrect." .Mr. Wentworth had little business, and attained no considerable rank as a lawyer in New Hampshire. His habits were irregular, and he fell into reduced circumstances. The death of a relative of his wife in England brought her a handsome legacy, upon which, about the year 1816, she with her husband proceeded to London, and never returned to this country. His death occurred while he was on a visit to France.
He married, January 7, 1802, Martha, daughter of Colonel Michael Wentworth.
TAPPAN WENTWORTH.
Son of Isaac and Eleanor (Goudy) Wentworth ; born, Dover, February 24, 1802 ; admitted, 1826 ; practiced, Somersworth ; died, Lowell, Massachusetts, June 12, 1875.
Mr. Wentworth received his early education in the public schools of Dover. He became a clerk in a store, first in Ports- mouth, and afterwards in South Berwick, Maine. There he attracted the notice of William Burleigh, a lawyer and member
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of Congress, by a clever article which he wrote in favor of the latter's reelection. By Mr. Burleigh's invitation he entered his office as a student until he was admitted to the bar. He then began practice in Somersworth, and continued there seven years ; and the fact that his gains amounted to a thousand dollars per year during that period tells well for his prudence and business capacity.
The rising manufacturing town of Lowell, Massachusetts, then offering a tempting opening, he removed there in 1833. Under the city charter of Lowell he was elected in 1836, and the four succeeding years, a member of her common council, and the last of those years was chosen its president. In 1851, 1859, 1863, and 1864 he was a representative from Lowell in the General Court, and in 1848, 1849, 1865, and 1866 was a state senator. In 1852 he was a member of the Thirty-third Congress of the United States. He was also a commissioner on the part of Mas- sachusetts to settle the boundary line between that State and Rhode Island.
He held a prominent position at the Middlesex bar, and was very successful in the management of business for his clients, as well as for himself. He accumulated a large property, and as his only child died before him, he devised the bulk of it, after pro- viding for his wife and some relatives, to Dartmouth College, as soon as it should, with accumulated interest, amount to half a million of dollars.
He married, January 20, 1842, Ann, daughter of General Solomon McNeil of Hillsborough. Their only child died at the age of ten years, in 1853.
BENJAMIN WEST.
Son of Rev. Thomas West ; born, Rochester, Massachusetts, April 8, 1746 ; Harvard College, 1768 ; admitted, 1773 ; practiced, Charlestown ; died there, July 27, 1817.
A sedate and even disposition distinguished Mr. West from his childhood up. By the help of his brother, Rev. Samuel West, he was enabled to enter Nassau Hall, whence after one year he migrated to Harvard College. He was a teacher two years, and then studied for the ministry with his brother. But a brief expe- rience determined him to abandon the pulpit, and he began legal
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study with Abel Willard of Lancaster, Massachusetts. Simeon Olcott then received him as his partner in practice in Charles- town. Soon the Revolution interrupted all law business, and Mr. West, who desired to avoid the scenes of hostilities, accepted an invitation to visit South Carolina. But before long a British expedition was sent there, and Mr. West, who volunteered into a corps of home guards, was taken prisoner. Released after a short detention, he returned to Charlestown, and to law practice, which soon began to revive.
He now began to enjoy a business of much extent, which brought him money and reputation. It is probable that his legal learning was none too thorough, owing, as he himself said, to his discontinuance of study when he began to practice. But he had great discernment and sagacity, a wonderful gift of clear and lucid statement and of persuasion, and the art of succeeding. Jeremiah Mason, who admired him greatly, said: "In arguing cases of complicated and doubtful evidence before a jury, I have seldom, if ever, heard his superior." Daniel Webster affirmed that Mr. West was "one of the most successful advocates,, if not the most successful, that ever practiced in the courts of New Hampshire ; a person who, to singular powers of popular logic and persuasion, added the weight of the utmost purity and respec- tability of private character, and one who, if he had not always refused public office, could not have failed to make a figure in the national councils." Jeremiah Smith's biographer said "there was no man whom Mr. Smith remembered with a more affec- tionate respect than Mr. West. He excelled at the bar, particu- larly in the narration of facts."
Mr. West's retiring disposition induced him to decline public offices which were often urged upon him. In 1781 he was chosen a delegate to the Continental Congress ; in 1786 he was appointed attorney-general of the State; in 1787 he was elected a member of the convention which framed the Constitution of the United States; in 1789 he was chosen a representative in Con- gress, and in 1802 he was appointed Judge of Probate, but he accepted neither of the positions. On being elected delegate to the convention to ratify the United States Constitution, however, he considered the occasion so important that he did not refuse the office, though he was a silent member, and on being urged to speak, to gratify the expectations of those who had heard of his
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oratorical reputation, he modestly answered : " If people who never heard me now think well of me I am unwilling by my own act to destroy that opinion." It is said that he never arose to speak in public without a nervous tremor, and would willingly have given thrice the amount of his fees to be excused from argu- ing an important cause in court.
In 1814, when he was selected by delegates from twenty towns to attend the "Hartford Convention," he accepted the position from the highest motives of patriotism. A friend attempted to dissuade him from taking part in it by suggesting that he might incur the risk of the punishment for treason ; to which Mr. West with sincerity replied: "If that be so, I shall consider myself fortunate that I, who am old and useless, shall be the means of saving the neck of a younger and better man."
Mr. West in the trial of causes never wrangled nor descended to abuse. He systematically avoided quarrels and enmities with opponents, parties, witnesses, and counsel. " In social intercourse his manners were simple, but always courteous and urbane. He had a delicate and refined wit, and was fond of it in others; his manner of living was simple, exceedingly neat, and approaching to elegance ; he indulged in a liberal hospitality entirely free from ostentation. In short, he was a gentleman in the true and best sense of the term.". He never wished for riches, but retired from practice when he had acquired a sufficient property, and lived afterwards in tranquillity.
His first wife, whom he married about the year 1780, was a daughter of Rev. Thaddeus Maccarty of Worcester, Massachu- setts. She died in 1803, and three years later he married Fanny, daughter of Joshua Atherton and widow of William Gordon of Amherst, a lady on whom Jeremiah Smith passed the eulogy that " she loved to wait on others."
He had no children.
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EDWARD BARKER WEST.
Son of William and Mary (Barker) West ; born, Concord, April 1, 1822 ; Dartmouth College, 1844 ; practiced, Warner and Nashua ; died, Portsmouth, July 18, 1887.
The subject of this sketch was fitted for college at the academy in Plainfield. Soon after his graduation from college he was applied to by Governor Isaac Hill, to whom President Andrew Jackson had written to recommend a suitable person to be private tutor in his family, to take that situation ; and Mr. West pro- ceeded to Tennessee and resided a year in the " Hermitage " in that capacity. Returning then to New England, he studied law in the office of Marcus Morton, Jr., in Boston, Massachusetts, and was admitted in 1848.
He established himself in Warner for four years, and in 1853 removed to Nashua. He practiced there till 1843, and then removed to Portsmouth to take the place of paymaster's clerk at the navy yard. He continued to discharge the duties of that office till a few years prior to his decease.
Mr. West is remembered as a bright, pleasant boy, of quick parts and full of quaint conceits. In college he was popular, and maintained a creditable stand in scholarship, though it was felt by those who knew him that he was capable of accomplishing more by greater exertion. It is doubtful if he found himself at home in the law, since he relinquished it for employment requir- ing merely clerical qualifications.
He married, October 14, 1857, Louisa J., daughter of William D. Beasom of Nashua. She with one of their three children survived him.
PRESBURY WEST, JR.
Son of Hon. Presbury West ; born, St. Johnsbury, Vermont, c. 1795 ; admitted, 1823 ; practiced, Manchester and Amherst ; died, Jefferson (?), May, 1858.
Mr. West studied his profession with Isaac Fletcher of Lyn- don, Vermont, was admitted an attorney in Caledonia County, and from 1825 to 1837 practiced in Thetford in the same State. There he had quite an extensive business, the justice part of which
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was for a time attended to by his student, George W. Morrison, afterwards of Manchester; and when Mr. West came to New Hampshire about 1844, he became associated in practice with Mr. Morrison. For a short time in 1845 he sojourned in Amherst, but soon returned to Manchester.
Mr. West was a quiet, unobtrusive man, and attended especially to the office business of the firm, drawing instruments and the like, and rarely if ever appearing in court ; while Mr. Morrison tried the causes. After a stay of some five or six years in Man- chester, Mr. West moved to Jefferson, and was employed in lum- bering, and never, it is believed, engaged in law business after- wards.
His wife was Mercy, daughter of Rev. Asa Barton, D. D., of Thetford, Vermont.
SAMUEL WEST.
Son of Rev. Samuel West ; born, Boston, Massachusetts, 1771 ; Harvard College, 1788 ; admitted, 1792 ; practiced, Walpole, Charlestown, and Keene ; died, Keene, January 30, 1810.
This brilliant young lawyer was probably a clerk in the office of his uncle, Benjamin West of Charlestown, through his prepa- ration for the bar, and set up in practice in Walpole in 1793. About 1799 he removed to Keene, and made his home there afterwards, with the exception, perhaps, of a short stay at Charles- town. On the 22d of February, 1800, at the request of the inhabitants of Keene, he pronounced a eulogy upon George Washington. "From the well-known abilities of the orator," it was remarked in a contemporary journal, "the public expec- tation was raised, and it was not disappointed."
Mr. West was one of the coterie of youthful literary spirits who aided Joseph Dennie in conducting the " Farmer's Museum " at Walpole, in its palmy days. He has been pronounced "a most brilliant advocate and eloquent lawyer."
NATHANIEL WAITE WESTGATE.
Son of Earl and Elizabeth (Waite) Westgate ; born, Plainfield, January 26, 1801 ; admitted, 1827 ; practiced, Enfield and Haverhill ; died, Haverhill, December 16, 1890.
At the age of fifteen young Westgate was attacked by a serious illness, which left him permanently lame. He then went through
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the course of study prescribed for entrance to college, at the Kim- ball Union Academy in Plainfield. By teaching schools in the winter, and reading law at the other seasons of the year under the direction of Charles Flanders in his native town, he qualified him- self to enter the bar when he was twenty-six years of age, and established himself in Enfield Centre, where he acquired a prac- tice of considerable extent in Grafton and Sullivan counties. After remaining there twenty-nine years, and holding several town offices of trust, he received in 1856 the appointment of reg- ister of Probate for the county of Grafton, which required his removal to Haverhill.
Nathaniel S. Berry was then the Judge of Probate, and five years afterwards was elected governor of the State, upon which Mr. Westgate was promoted to the office of judge. Such he re- mained, to universal acceptance, until 1871, when he reached the constitutional limit of age. For nearly ten years longer, however, he continued in the practice of his profession, and then withdrew from active life to the retirement of his home. He long enjoyed a large and profitable practice, and in addition to bringing up and educating his considerable family, he accumulated a handsome property.
His first wife was Lydia J., daughter of Dr. Prentiss of Spring- field. She died childless after five years of married life. No- vember 14, 1842, he married Louise, daughter of Austin Tyler of Claremont, who was the mother of his six children, and sur- vived him. Two of his sons have held the offices in the Probate Court of Grafton County which he successively filled, - Tyler Westgate that of judge, and William F. Westgate that of register. The latter is a lawyer by profession.
GEORGE WHEELER.
Son of Moses and Pamela (Putnam) Wheeler ; born, Charlestown, Novem- ber 2, 1782 ; Dartmouth College, 1807 ; practiced, Hanover ; died, Troy, New York, 1870.
Mr. Wheeler studied his profession with Stephen Ross of Troy, New York, and began practice there in 1810, but soon removed to Elizabethtown, New Jersey. In 1815 he came to Hanover, and was for a while the partner of Mills Olcott. In 1821 he was com- missioned postmaster, and so continued until 1829. He returned
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to Troy in 1830, and pursued his profession so long as his health and strength permitted.
His wife, whom he married July 6, 1816, was Mary, daughter of James Wheelock of Hanover.
SAMUEL METCALF WHEELER.
Son of Albira and Melita (Metcalf) Wheeler ; born, Newport, May 11, 1823 ; admitted, 1847 ; practiced, Newport, Concord, and Dover ; died, Dover, January 21, 1886.
Mr. Wheeler's early education was obtained at the seminaries in Claremont and in Newbury, Vermont, and at the military academy in Windsor, Vermont. He studied law with Walker and Slade in Royalton, with Tracy and Converse in Woodstock, Vermont, and with Ralph Metcalf in Newport; and commenced practice in 1847 in the town last named. After a year he re- moved to Fisherville in Concord, and practiced there four or five years. He then went in 1853 to Dover, and formed a business connection with John H. Wiggins, and at once entered into a large practice. This he retained for a quarter of a century, hav- ing for a time Joshua G. Hall as his partner, and afterwards alone. He was a leading member of the bar, an efficient bank officer, and a prominent politician. He was a representative in the General Court in 1864 and 1865, and again in 1868, 1869, and 1870. The last two years he was chosen Speaker. In 1876 he was a delegate to the convention to revise the state Constitu- tion. In these several bodies he occupied a prominent position as a debater and in committee. He was president of the Dover National Bank, and the State Bank which was merged in it, from 1858 to 1874. In 1866 the trustees of Dartmouth College granted him the honorary degree of Master of Arts.
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