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 67
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BENJAMIN F. WINKLEY.
Son of Benjamin Winkley ; born, Barnstead ; practiced, Barnstead and Strafford ; died, Strafford, c. 1869.
This gentleman was a legal practitioner in the adjoining towns of Barnstead and Strafford for several years between 1843 and 1849, after which he appears to have confined himself to Strafford, until his decease, about 1869. His business was not large, nor was he a lawyer of note.
JAMES ANCRUM WINSLOW.
Son of Admiral John A. Winslow ; born, Boston, Massachusetts, April 29, 1839 ; Harvard College, 1859 ; admitted, 1861 ; practiced, Littleton ; died, Binghamton, New York, June 27, 1892.
Mr. Winslow was fitted for college at the Boston and the Rox- bury Latin schools, and studied law in the Virginia Law School. He enlisted in a Massachusetts volunteer regiment in 1862, and in 1864 and 1865 served as a first lieutenant in the Second Massa- chusetts Volunteers. After some experience in his calling in Massachusetts, he came to Littleton in 1867, practiced there less than a year, and was then admitted to the bar of New York. He was a bright political speaker, of rather irregular habits.
He never married.
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ELIJAH WOLLAGE.
Born, Bernardston, Massachusetts, 1769; Dartmouth College, 1791 ; ad- mitted, 1803 ; practiced, Westmoreland ; died, Starkey, New York, July 18, 1847.
Mr. Wollage first studied divinity, and was ordained pastor of the Congregational church in Guilford, Vermont, in 1793, and dismissed in 1797. He next settled in Cambridge, Vermont, but about this time determined to change his profession for that of the law. He was practicing in Westmoreland in 1802, stayed there a few years, and was somewhat influential in town affairs, but re- sumed his pastoral connection in 1811 at Guilford. In 1818 he was minister of Rockingham, Vermont; then of Pulteney, New York, and finally was stated supply at Wheeler and Starkey, New York, until his death.
He was married.
ALVA WOOD.
Son of John and Eunice (Stickney) Wood ; born, Georgetown, Massachu- setts, August 18, 1821 ; practiced, Exeter ; died there, February 17, 1878.
Mr. Wood was educated in the public schools of his native town, and at the academy in Pembroke. He studied law in the office of James Bell and Amos Tuck of Exeter, and commenced to practice in that town about 1848. Though he had to contend with the disadvantage of an imperfect early training, he enjoyed vigorous health, and high courage. Few of the lawyers of his county had a larger docket of cases in the courts than his, for a considerable series of years. He was remarkable for his tenacity of purpose. Every rebuff he bore good-naturedly, and with a soft answer that turned away wrath.
It may be truly said that he made the most of himself and of his opportunities, and among his associates he left none but pleas- ant memories.
He married Mary F., daughter of John C. Gerrish of Exeter, November 30, 1854, and left a son and two daughters.
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CHARLES HOWE WOODBURY.
Son of Dr. Peter P. and Eliza B. (Gordon) Woodbury ; born, Bedford, March 10, 1840 ; admitted, 1863 ; practiced, Manchester ; died, Bedford, September 12, 1893.
This was a nephew of Judge Levi Woodbury. Receiving an academical education, and with some experience as a teacher, he pursued his legal studies at the Harvard Law School and with Her- man Foster of Manchester, whose partner he became, for about a year. Then he removed to New York city, and became a member of the law firm of Churchill and Woodbury, and led the life of an active and successful lawyer for the succeeding thirty years. He sustained a high rank in his profession, as well as in political and social life, but declined judicial and congressional honors which were within his reach. His moral and religious character was unblemished.
Dartmouth College in 1879 gave him the degree of A. M.
He was joined in marriage in April, 1863, to Frances, daughter of John A. McGaw of New York.
JAMES TRASK WOODBURY.
Son of Hon. Peter and Mary (Woodbury) Woodbury ; born, Francestown, May 9, 1803 ; Harvard College, 1823 ; practiced, Bath ; died, Milford, Mas- sachusetts, January 16, 1861.
Mr. Woodbury received his college preparation at the academies at Francestown and Exeter, studied law with his brother, Levi Woodbury, in Portsmouth, and went to Bath to begin practice. About three years after his settlement in Bath his attention was strongly directed to religious subjects, and this together with his distaste for a legal life induced him to change his profession for that of the ministry. He accordingly studied divinity, and, being ordained August 29, 1832, was settled as pastor over the church in Acton, Massachusetts.
In 1851 and 1852 he represented that town in the General Court of the commonwealth, with special reference to the pro- curing of an appropriation for the erection of a monument in Acton to commemorate the services of Captain Isaac Davis, one of its citizens who fell in the fight at Concord bridge, at the
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opening of the Revolution. The chief credit of carrying the measure through the legislature is attributed to Mr. Woodbury. He exhibited the trappings which the early martyr for liberty had worn, and the marks made by the fatal bullet, and in a speech of two hours' length - the only speech he ever made in a legislative assembly - he carried his hearers with him, and the appropriation of two thousand dollars was voted by a large majority.
He is said to have possessed a genial nature, with fine social feelings, which endeared him to a large circle of friends. His labors in the ministry were also earnest and successful.
He was married in 1826 to Augusta, daughter of Jonathan Porter of Medford, Massachusetts. They had three children.
LUKE WOODBURY.
Son of Mark and Alice (Boyd) Woodbury ; born, Antrim, December 25, 1800 ; Dartmouth College, 1820 ; admitted, 1824 ; practiced, Hancock and Antrim ; died, Antrim, August 27, 1851.
Mr. Woodbury read law in the office of Edmund Parker at Amherst. In 1824 he began to practice in Hancock, but after a year or two returned to Antrim. In 1833 and 1835 he repre- sented that town in the legislature, and in December of the latter year he received the appointment of Judge of Probate for Hills- borough County, and administered the office to the time of his death.
Judge Woodbury was noted as singularly honest and truthful ; his schoolmates said of him, - " You can't trust any deviltry with Luke !" He was quiet and unobtrusive, as well as diffident and self-distrustful, but his abilities were said to have been equal to almost any position. As a lawyer he was quite above mediocrity, and he gave entire satisfaction as Judge of Probate. Though not an active politician, he possessed the confidence of his party in a high degree, and had received the nomination for the of- fice of governor of the State ; but he did not live to witness the election.
June 10, 1834, he was married to Mary E. Wallace of An- trim. He left no children.
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SAMUEL WOODBURY.
Son of William and Hannah (Kelley) Woodbury ; born, Salem, December 21, 1784 ; Dartmouth College, 1811 ; practiced, Portsmouth ; died in Groton, Massachusetts, July 6, 1819.
After his graduation Mr. Woodbury became the preceptor of Lawrence Academy, in Groton, Massachusetts, for a year, and then pursued his law studies in the office of William M. Richard- son, then of Groton, and of Luther Lawrence of Lowell, Massa- chusetts, and went into practice in Portsmouth.
Soon afterwards he resolved to change his profession, and began the study of divinity with his cousin, Rev. Francis Brown, and succeeded him, November 5, 1817, in the ministry of North Yarmouth, Maine. Before two years had elapsed, his health began to fail, and he was obliged to leave his pastoral charge. He made a journey in the hope of regaining his health, but to no purpose.
He married Mary, daughter of Samuel Lawrence of Groton, July 28, 1818, who survived him. They had one daughter.
EDWARD WHITESIDE WOODDELL.
Born, Granville, New York, October 6, 1817 ; practiced, Claremont and Unity ; died, Unity, October 20, 1889.
This gentleman received his elementary and legal education in the State of New York, and there practiced in Washington County some years before he came to New Hampshire. In 1849 he settled in Claremont, and continued in the practice of his pro- fession in that town twenty years. A pulmonary disease and loss of voice obliged him to quit the active duties of the law, and in 1869 he removed to a farm in Unity, and devoted some part of his time to literary pursuits. His talent as a versifier was above mediocrity, as may be seen in his " Christmas Eve," published in the "Poets of New Hampshire."
He had a good deal of natural ability, was a ready talker, and could make a very effective speech. He was more inclined to farming than to the law, however, and did not have much practice in his profession.
In 1863 and 1864 he was a representative from Claremont in the legislature, and became well known in the State.
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He married Mary A. Nelson in 1846, who died, with their two daughters ; and in 1886 he was again married to Hattie A. Leslie of Plymouth, Vermont, who bore him one daughter.
CHARLES WOODMAN.
Son of Rev. Joseph and Esther (Whittemore) Hall Woodman ; born, San- bornton, January 9, 1792 ; Dartmouth College, 1813 ; admitted, 1816 ; prac- ticed, Dover ; died there, October 31, 1822.
When a lad of five years, young Woodman lost his right hand. This accident incapacitated him for manual occupations, but perhaps determined for him the course in life which was most con- genial to him. He obtained his legal education with his brother, Jeremiah H. Woodman, at Rochester, and with Governor Christo- pher Gore at Boston. In 1816 he commenced practice at Dover. He was a stirring, shrewd, generous man, of marked ability, and soon brought himself into notice and popularity. He developed a taste for politics, and was a representative in the legislature from Dover in 1820, 1821, and 1822, in which last year he was chosen Speaker of the House. At the same time he was a candidate for the office of representative in Congress with a moral certainty of being elected ; when in the midst of his bright prospects, his career was suddenly terminated by death. All accounts represent him as a man of much capacity and high promise, and his premature decease was regarded as a serious loss to the community.
He was married, first, to Mary W., daughter of Joseph Gage of Dover, in June, 1818. She lived but a single year, and November 5, 1821, he was united to Dorothy Dix, daughter of Hon. John Wheeler of Dover. The latter survived him, with one son.
CHARLES WILLIAM WOODMAN.
Son of Jeremiah H. and Sarah (Chase) Woodman ; born, Rochester, De- cember 7, 1809 ; Dartmouth College, 1829 ; admitted, 1833 ; practiced, Som- ersworth and Dover ; died, Dover, January 24, 1888.
Mr. Woodman was fitted for the bar in the offices of his father, of Ichabod Bartlett in Portsmouth, and of Richard Bartlett in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1833 he went to Great Falls Village
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in Somersworth to practice, but the next year moved to Dover, where for more than half a century he kept his office open for clients. In 1839 he received the commission of solicitor for Strafford County. Two years after its expiration he was ap- pointed Judge of Probate, and performed the duties of the office until 1853. The succeeding year he was made a Justice of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas, and remained upon the bench until that court was abolished. He was a commissioner of the Circuit Court of the United States, it is stated, for over thirty years. He was also a representative in the state legislature in 1861 and 1862, and again in 1878 and 1879. In 1862 he was commissioned a paymaster of United States Volunteers, and re- signed in 1863.
He was an excellent " all round " lawyer, and acquitted himself creditably in all the positions he held. Well balanced, with good legal learning, courteous, patient, and judicious, his demeanor and his decisions gave general satisfaction. Though not brilliant, he was discriminating and sensible. His impartiality and upright- ness and honorable intentions impressed every one with respect.
His first marriage occurred October 6, 1840, to Charlotte A., daughter of Stephen Pearse of Portsmouth; his second, June 6, 1866, to Frances J., daughter of John J. Soren of Roxbury, Mas- sachusetts. By his first marriage he had four children, of whom only two daughters outlived him.
DANIEL CARLTON WOODMAN.
Son of Daniel and Eunice (Crockett) Woodman ; born, Laconia, December 13, 1830 ; admitted, 1859 ; practiced, Laconia ; died there, March 19, 1866.
This gentleman received his education at Gilford Academy in Laconia, and studied law with Stephen C. Lyford, and with Elkins and Stevens in the same place. Commencing practice there in 1859, he became and remained for three or four years a partner with William L. Avery. In 1863 he enlisted in the First Regiment of New Hampshire Heavy Artillery, and served until he was discharged, October 19, 1864, to accept promotion as first lieutenant of the Thirteenth United States Colored Troops, which office he resigned June 12, 1865.
During Mr. Woodman's short connection with the bar he did not give his whole attention to his profession, but was a farmer
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also. He is represented as possessed of quite average ability, and was interested in education, serving as superintending school com- mittee of his town.
He was married, October 8, 1853, to Betsey L. Peabody, at Laconia, and had four children.
EDGAR HORACE WOODMAN.
Son of John K. and Mary J. (Drew) Woodman ; born, Gilmanton, May 6, 1847 ; admitted, 1873 ; practiced, Concord ; died there, March 21, 1892.
Fitted for college at the academies in Gilmanton and Boscawen, Mr. Woodman afterwards prepared himself for a business life at a commercial institution, and for several years occupied positions of responsibility of that character. Then he studied the law with Minot, Toppan, and Mugridge at Concord, and began practice in that city. He was chosen mayor of Concord in 1883 and 1884, and his record in that position was satisfactory to all parties, in respect to his honesty, fidelity, and efficiency. He was treasurer of the Peterborough and Hillsborough and of the Franklin rail- roads ; director and treasurer of the Concord Gas-Light Company ; director of the First National and president of the Mechanics' National banks, and held other trusts indicative of the confidence reposed in his business capacity and uprightness.
He is said to have had the qualities which would have made him an able advocate, but preferred the business side of the law, and his sound judgment, discretion, and industry gave him great facility and success therein. He was honorable, public-spirited, generous, and at his death left no enemy behind him.
His first wife, married May 6, 1878, was Georgiana Hodges of Boston, Massachusetts, who died within a year ; his second was Elizabeth B., daughter of Hon. William L. Foster of Concord, whom he married April 20, 1886, and who bore him one daughter.
JEREMIAH HALL WOODMAN.
Son of Rev. Joseph and Esther (Whittemore) Hall Woodman ; born, San- bornton, April 15, 1775 ; Dartmouth College, 1794 ; admitted, 1799 ; prac- ticed, Warner, Meredith, and Rochester ; died, Rochester, May 8, 1854.
Mr. Woodman is said to have been the second scholar of his college class. He taught the academy at Hallowell, Maine, for
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two years, and then studied law in the offices of Thomas W. Thompson of Salisbury and of Jeremiah Smith of Exeter. He opened his own office, first, in Warner in 1799, then in Meredith in 1800, where he remained six years, and at length in Rochester, his final home.
In the half century of his active life he carried on an extensive legal business with diligence, skill, and success, he contributed largely to the promotion of education and agriculture in his vicinity, and in private life was a model parent, rearing a large family to usefulness and respectability, and dispensing a bountiful hospitality. It was largely through his efforts that the schools of Rochester were provided with the most competent instructors ; he aided in establishing the academy at Wolfeborough, and was the first president of its board of trustees. He took an active part in organizing the earliest agricultural society in Strafford County, of which he became president, and he was for a long time an active director of the old Strafford Bank.
Instead of encouraging litigation among his neighbors, he strove to adjust their differences by amicable settlement. In 1823 and 1824, though a staunch Federalist, he was chosen a representative in the legislature from a Democratic town.
Mr. Woodman was united in marriage, in 1806, to Sarah Chase of Portsmouth. They had nine children who lived to maturity, two of whom became lawyers of New Hampshire.
JOHN SMITH WOODMAN.
Son of Nathan and Abigail H. (Chesley) Woodman ; born, Durham, Sep- tember 6, 1819 ; Dartmouth College, 1842 ; admitted, 1848 ; practiced, Dover . and Rollinsford ; died, Durham, May 9, 1871.
From the academy at South Berwick, Maine, Mr. Woodman made his entrance into college, from which he graduated with high marks for scholarship, particularly in mathematics. He was four years a teacher in Charleston, South Carolina, and thence made an extended tour in Europe, returning to New Hampshire to complete the law studies which he had already begun, with John A. Richardson of Durham and Daniel M. Christie of Dover. He entered the practice in Dover, but after a few months moved to Salmon Falls village in Rollinsford. His business was not extensive, but gave promise of his future prominence.
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In January, 1871, the chair of mathematics in Dartmouth Col- lege, to which was afterwards added the professorship of civil engineering in the Chandler Scientific School, tempted him to quit the law, and he never afterwards resumed it in this State. He was an admirable professor, and labored with zeal to elevate the standard of scholarship in the institutions with which he was con- nected, and to secure pecuniary benefactions therefor. At his decease he bequeathed the reversion of twenty thousand dollars to the object. He was moreover of great advantage to the State in the office of commissioner of education, which he held some years, and in which he labored with assiduity and success.
He married, December 10, 1848, Mary Ann Pendexter, daugh- ter of Stephen P. Chesley of Durham. They had one daughter, who died in childhood.
THEODORE CHASE WOODMAN.
Son of Hon. Jeremiah Hall and Sarah (Chase) Woodman ; born, Rochester, April 10, 1815 ; Dartmouth College, 1835 ; admitted, 1838 ; practiced, Haver- hill ; died, Bucksport, Maine, June 13, 1886.
Prepared for college at the Phillips Exeter Academy, Mr. Woodman was fitted for the legal profession under Noah Tebbets of Rochester, and Daniel M. Christie of Dover. He went first to Haverhill to practice, but remained only two years, and then removed to Bucksport, Maine, where his principal life-work was done. He was a lawyer of note and of high character, was a representative in the legislature of the State three years, and Speaker in 1868, and a member of the executive council in 1854.
He took to wife, May 16, 1843, Mary J., daughter of Deacon Henry Darling of Bucksport, Maine, and had a son and three daughters.
GEORGE WOODWARD.
Son of Professor Bezaleel and Mary (Wheelock) Woodward ; born, Han- over, August 20, 1776 ; Dartmouth College, 1793 ; practiced, Haverhill ; died, Lowell, Massachusetts, December 5, 1836.
Taking his bachelor's degree at the age of seventeen, Mr. Woodward first engaged in trade. He was treasurer of Dart- mouth College from 1803 to 1805, in which latter year he removed
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to Haverhill to practice the law which he had studied, probably in Hanover. He was there given the place of cashier of the Coos Bank, which brought him little advantage, as he was afterwards sued by the bank. He employed Jeremiah Mason as his counsel. As the court was about to come on in which the suit was to be tried, Mason visited his client to make the requisite preparation. He found him engaged in singing sacred music. This was not altogether to the great lawyer's mind. "Come," said he ; " we must go over your evidence." "Let's sing another psalm," was Woodward's reply. He was a deeply religious man, and devoted to psalmody.
He was a successful collecting lawyer, but his practice in the courts was somewhat limited. In 1828 he removed from New Hampshire to Lowell, Massachusetts, where he was made clerk of the city council. The historian of Haverhill terms him " a man of prominence and high character."
He was married, first, to Elizabeth, daughter of Captain David Webster of Plymouth ; second, to Lydia her sister; and third, to Elizabeth, daughter of William Leverett of Windsor, Vermont, January, 1816. He left several children.
WILLIAM H. WOODWARD.
Son of Professor Bezaleel and Mary (Wheelock) Woodward ; born, Han- over, September 17, 1774 ; Dartmouth College, 1792 ; practiced, Hanover ; died there, August 9, 1818.
This was a grandson of the founder of Dartmouth College, and was the first male child born on Hanover Plain. He was an attorney in Hanover as early as 1793, and was an able man and a good lawyer, though somewhat given to technicalities. In 1805 he was made treasurer of the college, and secretary of the board of trustees. In 1813 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for the western circuit, and on a modification of the judiciary in 1816, Chief Justice of the same court for the second district. His name came into special prominence in the " Dartmouth College cases." The college was chartered under the authority of the British crown in 1769, and the legislature of the State in 1816 assumed to amend the charter so as practically to put the institution out of the power of the old trustees into that of a new board. The old trustees refused to accept the
to Te
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amendment, and suits were brought to test its legality, in the principal one of which Woodward's name appeared as a party. The question was stoutly contested, the Superior Court of the State pronouncing in favor of the power of the legislature to make the amendment, and the Supreme Court of the United States reversing that decision, upon the ground that it conflicted with the constitutional provision against the passage of laws im- pairing the obligation of contracts.
Judge Woodward's position in this acrimonious controversy, socially and politically, was a delicate and difficult one, but his honesty and right intentions were, it is believed, never questioned. He died before the final decision.
He was married in 1802, to Betsey, daughter of Dr. Benjamin Curtis of Boston, Massachusetts, and had two children.
SAMUEL THOMAS WORCESTER.
Son of Captain Jesse and Sarah (Parker) Worcester ; born, Hollis, August 30, 1804 ; Harvard College, 1830 ; practiced, Nashua ; died there, December 6, 1882.
Judge Worcester belonged to a distinguished family ; the cele- brated Noah Worcester was his uncle, and Joseph E. Worcester, the lexicographer, was his brother. Samuel was prepared for college at the academies in Pembroke, and in Andover, Massachu- setts, was a student at law in the office of Benjamin M. Farley in Hollis and at the Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and settled in his profession in Norwalk, Ohio, in 1835. There he remained for thirty-two years, and acquired prominence and influ- ence. He was a member of the Ohio Senate in 1849 and 1850 ; and in 1859 was elected judge of the tenth judicial district of the State. While holding this office in the spring of 1861, he was chosen a representative in Congress.
In 1867 he returned to New Hampshire, and established him- self in Nashua, where he kept his office during his life, still cling- ing to his profession, though he no longer leaned upon it, having acquired a competency.
Before he was thirty he was the author of two juvenile spelling- books, and after his return to this State he published not a little on educational and historical subjects. He arranged the scattered early records of Hollis, and then prepared and issued, in 1879, a
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valuable history of the town. He was a zealous and useful mem- ber of the state Historical Society, and read before it a paper of much interest and importance on the part taken by New Hamp- shire soldiers in the battle of Bunker Hill.
His public and private character were alike admirable. He stood ever for the right as he saw it, he tolerated no compromise of principle, and bore about him a genuine atmosphere of purity. After the death of his wife in 1874, who with himself was a dis- ciple of Swedenborg, he still had her chair placed regularly at his table, and derived great comfort from his faith in her spiritual companionship and communications.
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