Plymouth County, Massachusetts - Chapter 8: Lawyers Anl> I'ln^utans, 1884

It is not au easy task always to determine piecisely who were the lawyers of a Plymouth Colony town, nor did that degree of obscurity which veiled this matter and led to the uncertainty entirely cease when those towns came to constitute parts of the province of the Blassachusetts Bay in New ICuglaiid. And there is no disguising or mistaking the f.ict tli.it in the earliest years of the history of Plyinoutli Colony professional lawyers were by many, if not indeed by most, of its inhabitants regarded with distrust, which in some instances amounted to a repugnance, that caused lawyers to be characterized as even worse than useless appendages to civilized society ; iu short, mischief-makers, and hence the general .--cntiment of Old Colony communities doubtless was " woe unto you lawyers;" and a very general belief entertained that the greater the number of the lawyers in any community the more numerous, a? a

Liberty is granted by this Court to any person to improve one or two Attornies to help hint in his Pleas provided tiiey be persons of good repute, and such us the Court, approve, and the said Attornies are reijuired to be faithful to their Client, so also as to avoid fraudulent pleas that may have a tendency to mislead the Court or darken the case."

That court at the same session also enacted : -- It is ordered by tills Court that there shall not be allowed above live shillings cost for any attorney or attorueyes to any one action, and where there sliuU happen to be but one attorney entertained but one day in any one action, then to have two shillings and sixpence only allowed him for costs therein.'

Concerning Middleboro' lawyers, it may not here and in this connection be inappropriate or improper to sug^'est that Samuel Prince, Esq., might have been regarded as one of these, but if so, he was cue of the most high-minded and honorable of that profession, being a well-read, thorough scholar, a reliable and safe counselor, who had neither the occasion nor desire to stoop to the deceptive practices or degrading arts of a pettifogger. Of Mr. Prince it has been stated that " he lived in Sandwich, then at Rochester, of which he was principal proprietor, and was successively representative of each of these towns. He was religious from his youth, and much improved in scriptural knowledge, of a public spirit and open heart."

Mr. Prince, with his wife, who was a daughter of Governor Tliomas Hinkley, came to live at Middleboro' in or near the year 1723, and they here resided with Rev. Peter Thatcher, who was their son-in-law. Mr. Prince and wife were the parents of ten children, viz., seven sons and three daughters. One of these sons wa.s that eminently distinguished chronologist, Rev. Thomas Prince, pastor of the old South Church, in Boston. Samuel Prince, Esq., with Mercy, his wife, were admitted to membership in the First Congregational Church at Middleboro", Oct. 25, 1724. He died July 3, 1728, aged eighty. Mercy, the wife, died April 25, 1736, aged seventy-three. A newspaper, called the Ntw England Weekly Journal, in its bsue of July 15, 1728, said of Samuel Prince, Esq., of Middleboro' : " He was one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace, and five of the Justices of the county and an ancient captain of the town were bearers at his funeral."

buried under the shade of two noble old oak-trees then standing at the west end of the public cemetery, but the corpse was afterward disinterred and deposited in a family tomb, and by the loss of this justly distinguished man the people of Middleboro' were brought in a degree to realize those feelings of bereavement of the sacred historian when he wrote, - " And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah, and all tlie aiiir/ing men anil singing women spoke of Jusiali in iheir lamentations." (2 Chronicles xxxv. c/iap. 25 verse.')

If Samuel Prince, Esq., was the first, then was Maj. Elkanah Leonard the second counsellor and attorney-at-law who located for the practice of that profession in Middleboro', and the former home of the latter, although iu his lifetime in Middleboro', is now in Lakeville.

That ancient house, greatly modernized in its external appearance, wherein Maj. Elkauah Leonard formerly resided is still standing near the dam of the old forge and tack-factory in what is now familiarly known as the Tack-Factory Neighborhood in Lakeville, but the successful effort to keep that time-honored old mansion in good repair has been cijually successful iu divesting it of its original luarks of honorable old age, and could the former owner and occupant return he would find it difficult to recognize his ancient home, and be forced to realize the humiliating assurance that upon the very spot whore he so often and signally triumphed he is practically, if not, indeed, entirely, forgot.

Maj. Elkanah Leonard was a son of Ensign Elkanah Leonard, of that part of Middleboro' now Lakeville. Ensigu Elkanah Leonard was a sou of Maj. Thomas Leonard, of Taunton, and born at Taunton, May 15, 1077, and died in Middleboro', Dec. 29, 1714. Maj. Thomas Leonard was a judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the county of Bristol from 17U2 to 1713. He died Nov. 24, 1713, aged nearly seventy-three years. Ensign Elkanah Leonard was an enterprising and useful man at Middleboro', where he was one of the selectmen and a commissioned officer in the local militia, but died when only thirty-seven years of age. Of Maj. Elkanah (son of Ensign Elkauah and grandson of Maj. Thomas) Leonard, the Rev. Dr. Fobes said that be was " one of the most distinguished geniuses of bis name and day," and another authority stated that " he practiced law in Middleboro', in which place he was the first and ouly attorney ;" and Rev. Dr. Fobes added, " He possessed strong powers of investigation, a sound judgment, and an uncommon brilliancy of wit ; and his inventive powers were not surpassed, if equaled, by any of his time. His assistance iu the defense iu criminal pros- , law in the office of Hon. Wilkes WooJ, and aoon after ecutious was luucii sought .for, and bis abilities were bis adiuissiun to tbe bar was elected as a represeutauever more conspicuous than in these defenses." He tive to the State Legislature, and appointed clerk of was several times elected to represent tbe town of tbe county courts. In or about 1814 he removed to Middleboro' in the Le<iislalure, and in or near 1741 ; A^sonet villa<;e, in Freetown, where he was made colwas commissioned as major of tbe First Regiment of one] of a regiment, collector of tbe customs, member Plymouth County militia. | of the Governor's Council, and for seven sessions

During tbe latter part of his life bis mind was ob- represented that town iu the Genural Court. Rescured. Tradition says that his insanity showed turning to Middleboro' in 1828, he was again elected itself in bis declaration that the world bad turned up- ; a representative, and was for a time eiiu'aged in carryside down, and hence he insisted upon wearing his i ing ou tiie trade of a store in a building which, when shoes bottom side up. j enlarged, received tbe name by which it is still known,

Society, and which inscription few ever take the: tbe first who held the office of captain of the ."^liddlepains to decipher, aud a still smaller number task ! boro' Grenadier Company. He w;ls a representative the sou's minority were passed, enjoying the privi- From the most reliable evidence now attainable, tbe leges of the common schools iu Middleboro', together mind of Maj. Elkanah Leonard appears to have be- with those of Peirce Academy, thus titting for colcome weakened and his intellect beclouded at least lege, and graduating at Amherst in ISol. llestuilied thirty years before his death, and if so, Middleboro' law with Hon. Jacob H. Loud, at Plymouth, and was did not have resident lawyers for some forty-five or ! admitted to tbe bar in 1S31J, and in June of that fifty years. I year located iu Middleboro' for practice.

Hon. Wilkes Wood commenced tbe practice of law ' His first commission was tliat of aide-de-camp to at Middleboro' about the beginning of tbe present | his father, who was then brigadier-iicneral of tbe cenlury, and was made judge of tbe Probate Court. '- Plymouth County Brigade. That commission cou- His personal history will doubtless receive a proper ' ferred tbe rank of a captain, and bore date of Dec. notice from an abler pen than mine in the chapter : 'J, 18:^8.

entitled Bench and Bar, as will also the biography I He was reappointed to the same position upon tbe of Zachariab Eddy, Esq., and Hon. William H; 1 staff of Brig.-Gen. Henry Dunham, of Abington, Sept. Wood. I 14, 1842, promoted to lieutenant-coloeiel of the Third

James Washburn, Esq., of that part of Middle- : Regiment of Light Infantry Sept. 15, 1843, colonel boro' that became Lakeville, practiced law for a time July 10, 1844, and brigadier-general of the Second in tbe place of bis nativity, acquiring considerable : Brigade in the First Division of Massachusetts Volcelebrity as a counselor and advocate, but be finally unteer Militia April 8, 1850, which last position removed to and continued bis practice in New Bed- named he held until Oct. 9, 1855. ford, which he represented for several sessions in tbe Gen. Eliab Ward has ever been a reliable and con-

State Legislature. He was the first or earliest who | sistent Democrat, and while that party was in the held tbe office of postmaster in Middleboro'. He was i political ascendant in Middleboro' he received olt-iea son of Capt. Amos Washburn, aud born in or near the year 1767, and died Nov. 19, 1815. His grave is in Lakeville, and the spot is marked by a stone bearing an inscription.

peated assurances of its respect and confidence, being as he was elected to represent that town in the State Legislature for the sessions of 1838 and 1830, and again in 1842, and the nest year he was elected to a seat in the State Senate, and sent again to the House in 1852.

Hon. Francis M. Vaughan was born March 30, ! 183G, and attended the comuioii schools of Middleboro', beiiij; fitted for college at Puirce Academy. I

He entered Brown University at Providence, R. I., 1 in 1857, where he remained as a student two years, i and llioii commenced the study of law in the office of | Hon. William H. Wood, at Middleboro', and was admitted to the bar at Boston in 1S61, and in 187-i j was appointed judge of the Fourth District Court in '. the county of Plymouth, which position he still continues to hold. I

Physicians. - A noted jurist who died a few years | since is said to have studied all three of the so-called I learned professions. He first studied divinity, and | tried to preach, but soon finding that people generally cared less for their souls than for their bodies, gave up preaching and prepared himself for the practice of medicine, when he further learned that fallen man cared even more for gratifying his own stubborn will than for the saving of both soul and body, and so he abandoned practicing medicine and applied himself to the practice of law, where he was never in want of customers or employment, and thus were his labors crowned with eminent success. The early New England clergy were in numerous instances also the physicians of their parishioners, and such may in some degree have been the case in Middleboro', aa we learn that no sooner had the Rev. Thomas Palmer, the second minister, been deposed from his ministerial office and ejected from the pulpit than he, without delay, turned his attention to the practice of medicine, for those who distrusted his piety were glad to get his pills, and such as had no confidence in his ability to lead them to heaven did trust him to restore them to health, and we deem it therefore quite safe to conclude that Thomas Palmer was the first or earliest person located at Middleboro' who devoted his whole time to the alleviation of the woes that human flesh is heir to, and shall therefore consider him the first doctor. An aged lady handed down the following traditional anecdote :

His patients had to furnish him, and when one day he returned from the West Precinct' on his patient's horse, that the animal might not be impounded on its way back he tied up the bridle, with these lines attached :

Another stone bearing the same inscription, to which Was also added the following stanza, was laid upon the cemetery wall not far from this grave :

The reasonable explanation is that the stanza was distasteful to the family and friends of Dr. Thomas Palmer, and another stone prepared to take the place of that one, which it appears was then made to form a part of the cemetery wall.

Peter Oliver, Jr., a son of the chief justice, Peter Oliver, settled for the practice of medicine in Middleboro', about twenty-one years after the death of Dr. Thomas Palmer. Dr. Peter Oliver, Jr., married Sarah Hutchinson, a daughter of Governor Thomas Hutchinson, who was so much distinguished as a historian and loyalist.

lu a work recently published under the title of " Diary and Letters of His Excellency Thomas Hutchinson, Esq.," we find upon pages 03 and G9 the following extracts from a diary kept by Dr. Peter Oliver, Jr. :

"Peter Oliver, 3d son of Peter and Mary (Clark) Oliver, was burn in Boston, Massachusetts Bay, June 17, 1741, 0. S. From this time till 1750 be was back and forwards from Boston to Middleborough, his father moving to Middleborougli, in the counly of Plymouth, in the year 1744.

"July the Ist he went to the school in Newark, Now Jersies, about 2U0 miles from his father, with a very heavy heart. However, lived in Mr. Burr's family, one of the best in the country.

"The autumn of 1756 I studied under a new schoolninster, a Mr. Smith, & lived & studied with him till Septr. 30, 1757, when Mr. Burr, the President, died of a fever.

" I come first to Brunswick i took pas^age in a schooner, Capt. Gibba, for Rhode Island; was about U days in my passage thither ; exceedingly sea-sick.

"In Novr., about the 2d week, I went to liofcton with my father & mother, lodged at Milton at (1. Hutchinson's, who was then only Mr. Hutchinson, or, perhaps, Lieutenant-Uovr.

" Nothing very particular while at College, only I ;pent moat i of my time very agreeably, beeame uiuch acquainted with Mr. , Hutchin:^on'd family (Elidha and I living together thu greater i part of my last two years), S. especially with Sally. She had a very agreeable way in her behavior which I remember pleaded me beyond any other of luy female aeiiuaint", though I had not , the least thouglit uf any connection with her. !

'* I had no care or trouble on my mind, lived euay, db became ac([uainted with an agreeable young lady in the Deighborhood, but only on a friendly footing. I

" In March 21, 1764, I left D"^ Stockbridge's and went to Boston to reside at the Castle, to understand thu natureof the small pox, under D' Gelston.

** I staid there till the hut of Ap' foilow«, when I cleared out, as tliey term it; went to Middleborough in May; and in June | set up for myself in the practice uf physic amidst many dilH- | culties ti: obstructions.

" In June, 17G3, first pay'** my aildresses to Miss S. H., and obtained leave of her father in Aug' follow*, being just before his House WU8 tore down, ho losing every thing ho had in his House; bis Daughters &, rest of the family likewise shared the same fate.

Dr. Peter Oliver, Jr., in this diary, notices the fact tliut his father had built for him a small shop, that doubtless was an apothecary shop, and to this a tradition adds that the father also caused to be erected for the son that house recently occupied by the late Capt. Earl Sproat.

Under date of June 1, 1774, Dr. Peter, Jr., en- I tered in his diary, *' The Gov', Ellbha, and Peggy sailed for England just as the Mandamus Counsellors ' were ordered to take their oatha by G. Gage, who succeeded the Gov' H, Nothing but mobs and riots all this summer." I been Edson], N. Ray Thomas, and a number of others in the Province, as wu imagine, as His Majesty's Council upon the now E:jtabliahment. Col. Watson says ho bids farewell to all peace and comfort in this world. I never sec him so uiieusy in my lifo.

" Aiij. 2;J. - Well, Col. Wiitson is sworn in to be one of His Majesties Council ; he has got home ; they left the Meeting to the number of 40.

** Sept^ 2. - li men deputed from 40 Middlebg. brutes came to the Judges house the 24'^ to know ab^ these ditticulttes, and they went away as dissatislied as they came.

" I dread to think of the conseC{uenees Cliiit uiiisC follow our behavior here whether ever so mild matters aie struck upon by the ministry.

" If the ministry give way to us we are an undone people; and if they set out to punish us according as wu deserve it there will be bloodshed enough before they can reduce us.

" I never knew what mobbing was before. I am si«--U uni>ugli of confusion and uproar. I long for un asylum, - some lile^^ed place of refuge.

"They proceeded and increased their nuiuber to SU, and attuck'd M"" Silas Wood, carried him oH", ami threatened his life if he would not sign their paper to stand by the Old Clmrter, and give up tlie Protest he had then in his pocket.

"lie linally yielded. The next day they visited ab"- 10 ur 12 people who are called Tories, and made them resign to their unwarrantable demands."

This letter as also the diary that precedes it luis been copied from that very interesting and valuable historic production abounding in local facta and untitled " Diary and Letters of His Excellency Thomas liutehinson, Esq."

Id may be said, and that truly, thi^ matter funiis no part of the professional history of Middleboro*, but it forms a very important part of the Revolutionary history of this town, and a part in which Dr. Peter

Oliver acted in so conspicuously, thut it justly and properly constitutes a portion of his biograpiiy, which is the writer's excuse for presenting the same here. Few readers of the present day get an opportunity to read wore than one side of the story of our Revolutionary conflict, and that is the patriot or Whig side. There was another side to this question that caused a resort to arms, and was then decided in bluod, and that was the Loyalist or Tory side, from which stand-point Dr. Peter Oliver, Jr., viewed and re'.;ardeJ the matter.