Legal Papers of John Adams, volume 1
Here follow brief biographical sketches of seventy-two judges, lawyers, and law students who were active during the period of John Adams' career as a practicing lawyer. The list includes: (1) all justices who sat on the royal Superior Court of the Province between 1758 and the closing of the courts in 1774; (2) all lawyers called to the Superior Court as barristers from 1762, when the degree was first adopted, until 1774; (3) a few important figures among the many lawyers who were admitted as attorneys in the Inferior or Superior Court from 1758 to 1774, but either were never barristers, or were called later; (4) the ten men who are known to have clerked for Adams from 1766 to 1777, regardless of when, where, or whether they were admitted to practice. It should be assumed that a lawyer practiced primarily in Suffolk County unless another county is mentioned in the sketch.
Since these sketches are intended primarily for identification, there has been no attempt at either bibliographical or factual completeness. In many cases the only reference given is to a standard source, such as the
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or Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
, where the reader will find citations to full-length biographies and other biographical works, as well as listings of the subject's own writings and manuscripts. Fuller references have been supplied only when there is no standard source on a subject, or important information does not appear in the standard source. It should go without saying that a great many of the sketches could be amplified by consulting the indexes to the present and preceding volumes of
The Adams Papers.
In many of the sketches factual data, such as dates of admission to the bar, appointment to judicial or other civil office, and service in the legislature, have been supplied without citation from a variety of additional sources, including the Minute Books of the Superior Court; Whitmore, Mass. Civil List
; the legislative lists contained in A&R; the Suffolk County Bar Book, MHi, printed in 19 MHS, Procs.
(1st ser.) 147 (1881–1882); and the civil, legal, and legislative lists appearing in a series of almanacs published at Boston and variously titled, A Pocket Almanack (1780–1787), Fleets Pocket Almanack
Massachusetts Register (1788–1797), Fleets' Register, and Pocket Almanack (1798–1800), and The Massachusetts Register and United States Calendar (1801–1821). Many xcviof these references, particularly those to the Minute Books, came from the Adams Papers Editorial Files.
Each of the sketches has been indexed under the subject's name, where it appears first among the entries, with the rubric “sketch of.”
Practiced in Plymouth Co. Represented Bridgewater in the House, 1776, 1778, 1779, despite his somewhat equivocal political stance. Amassed a sizable fortune in practice before his death. See 1
Adams Family Correspondence
84 note, 140–141; 2 id. at 4, 13.
Advocate General in Admiralty, 1762–1767. Judge of the Massachusetts Vice Admiralty Court, 1767–1776, a post held by his father, Harvard Graduates
12–16.
Witness in Boston Massacre trials, 1770 (Nos. 63, 64). Major in the Massachusetts forces and in the Continental infantry, 1775–1776. See 1
Adams Family Correspondence
81 note.
Brother of Jonathan Bliss, q.v. Practiced in Middlesex Co. Appointed Justice of the Peace, Worcester, 1767; Middlesex, 1773. An addresser of Hutchinson, 1774. Proscribed, 1778. Commissary in the British army during the Revolution. Thereafter member of the Council and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in New Brunswick, where he remained until his death. Jones, Loyalists of Mass.
35–36.
Brother of Daniel Bliss, q.v. Practiced in western Massachusetts. Represented Springfield and Wilbraham in the House, 1768, 1769. One of the 17 “Rescinders” who voted to withdraw resolutions protesting the Townshend Acts, 1768. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1770. Departed for England at the start of the Revolution and was proscribed in 1778. In 1785 appointed Attorney General of the newly formed province of New Brunswick. Served in the assembly there and was Chief Justice from 1809 to 1822.
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A Pocket Almanack ... 1780 (Boston, no date).
Began study of theology, being licensed to preach, 1757. Practiced in Hampshire Co. until 1793. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1769; of the Quorum, 1771. Prominent in town affairs until the Revolution, when he withdrew, lacking sympathy for the popular cause. Represented Spring-field in the House, 1796, 1797. Served as Judge, Hampshire Inferior Court, 1798–1810. 2 Dexter, Yale Graduates
365–366.
Married daughter of Benjamin Kent, q.v. Associated with JA and Josiah Quincy Jr., q.v., in the trial of the soldiers after the Boston Massacre, 1770 (No. 64). Loyalist. An addresser of Hutchinson, 1774. Went to England in 1774. Proscribed in 1778 and imprisoned briefly (by Kent) on his return to Boston. Served as judge of the royal Court of Vice Admiralty at Newport, Rhode Island, in 1779 and as Solicitor General of New York, 1780–1783. Moved permanently to Halifax in 1784, where he was Attorney General, Speaker of the House, Councilor, and, from 1797 to 1833, Chief Justice and President of the Council.
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Practiced in Barnstable Co. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1773. Addresser of Hutchinson, 1774. Recanted. Involved in the affair of the Lusanna, 1775–1802 (No. 58). Represented Barnstable in the House, 1782–1785, 1788–1790. Member of the Massachusetts Ratification Convention, 1788. Served in Congress, 1791–1795. Chief Justice, Suffolk Inferior Court, 1799–1806.
Biog. Dir. Cong.
Practiced in Falmouth (now Portland, Maine) until 1779, thereafter in Newburyport. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1768. Attorney General, Cumberland Co., 1777–1779. Served in the Massachusetts Senate, 1791– 1792. Elected to Congress in 1795–1796. Sat on the Supreme Judicial Court from 1797 until his removal by legislative address in 1803 after a paralytic stroke.
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Appointed Justice of the Peace and of the Quorum, 1761. Briefly Collector of the Port of Salem, 1764, but dismissed, apparently in scandal over counterfeit clearances. Represented Salem in the House, 1762–1768. One of the seventeen “Rescinders” who voted to withdraw resolutions protesting the Townshend Acts, 1768. Judge, Essex Inferior Court, 1770–1774. Addresser of Gage, 1774. Appointed Judge of the Superior Court and a Mandamus Councilor, 1774. Took refuge in Boston. In 1776 sailed for England. Proscribed, 1778. Governor of Bermuda, 1781–1788. 13 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
551–560.
Brother-in-law of Daniel Leonard, q.v. Addresser of Hutchinson, 1774, and Gage, 1775. Sailed for Halifax, 1776, and thence to New York, where he fought in defense of the city. Proscribed, 1778. Marshal of the Rhode Island Vice Admiralty Court, Newport, 1780. Judge of the Vice Admiralty Court and member of the Council, Bermuda, 1780–1783. Returned to Boston, 1788. Died at Roxbury. Jones, Loyalists of Mass.
78–79.
Early friend and correspondent of JA. Son of prominent Boston merchant. A namesake was NEHGR
298 (1854); 1 JA Diary and Autobiography
47–48, 196–197.
Practiced in Essex Co. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1761. Member of committee to instruct the representatives of Marblehead on the Stamp Act, 1765. While arguing in the Superior Court, Falmouth (now Portland, Maine), 1 July 1768, seized with an “Apoplectic Fit” and died a few hours later. 10 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
276–277.
Resident of Scituate. Representative in the House frequently after 1721. Councilor, 1746–1763. Plymouth Co. Judge of Probate and Inferior Court Judge, 1738nd;1746. Justice of the Superior Court, 1748–1771, a post held previously by his father, Judicial History of Mass. 298–299.
Practiced in Scituate from 1755 to 1760 and in Pownalborough (now Dresden, Maine) from 1760 to 1772, serving not only as Justice of the Peace and of the Quorum, Register of Deeds, and Judge of Probate, but as general counsel of the Kennebec Company during the latter period. In 1772 appointed Judge of the Superior Court, a post held by his father (John Cushing, q.v.) and grandfather (Harvard Graduates
26–39. His MS Reports (MH-L) and other papers pertaining to his judicial service in Massachusetts are being edited for publication by John D. Cushing of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Son of Richard Dana, q.v. After an unsuccessful private reconciliation mission in England, 1775–1776, served as a member of the Massachusetts Council, 1776–1780, and a delegate to the Continental Congress, 1777–1779. Secretary to JA's legation in France, 1779–1780. Minister (unrecognized) to Russia, 1781–1783, with JQA as his private secretary. Appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1785. Chief Justice, 1791–1806.
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. For a more detailed biography, see W. P. Cresson, Francis Dana (N.Y., 1930). His papers are in MHi.
Married a sister of Edmund Trowbridge, q.v. Practiced in Essex and Middlesex cos. before moving to Boston. Represented Marblehead in the House, 1738. Active in the affairs of the town of Boston, serving incvarious offices and as counsel. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1756; of the Quorum, 1757. An active Son of Liberty, especially during the Stamp Act and Boston Massacre crises. Father of Francis Dana, q.v. 6 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
236–239.
Married Gridley's daughter. Participant with JA in Gridley's “sodality,” 1765. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1761. 13 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
39–40.
Practiced in Newburyport. Appointed Attorney General for York Co., 1744; Justice of the Peace, Essex Co., 1752. Loyalist in sympathy, but did not go into exile. 10 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
364–366.
Participant with JA in Jeremiah Gridley's “sodality,” 1765. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1762. Advocate General in Admiralty, 1770–1776. Appointed Deputy Judge, 1768. Solicitor to the American Board of Customs Commissioners, he was an Addresser of Hutchinson in 1774, and Gage in 1775, and left for Halifax and England in 1776. Proscribed, 1778. 1 Dexter, Yale Graduates
706–707; 11 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
144–147;
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Edmund Goffe. See Edmund Trowbridge.
Practiced in Barnstable Co., but concentrated on office-holding. Appointed Register of Probate, 1740, and Justice of the Peace and of the Quorum, 1753. Addresser of Hutchinson, 1774, but recanted with Shearjashub Bourne, q.v. Continued practice and held minor offices after the Revolution, but denied commission as Justice of the Peace. 9 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
300–303.
Benjamin Gridley (1732–before 1800). Harvard 1751. Admitted attorney and barrister, SCJ, Aug. 1762.
Nephew of Jeremiah Gridley, q.v. Did not practice law extensively. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1774. Addresser of Hutchinson, 1774, and Gage in 1775. Appointed judge of Suffolk Inferior Court by Gage, June 1775. Sailed to Halifax in 1776, and then to England. 13 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
90–94.
The leading lawyer of his time. Many of the outstanding lawyers of the next generation studied under him, including William Cushing, James Otis, Benjamin Prat, and Oxenbridge Thacher, qq.v. Others, notably JA, were deeply influenced by his knowledge of the law. Founder of the “sodality,” a legal discussion group in which JA participated, 1765. Broadly interested in literary matters as well, founding the Weekly Rehearsal (1731) and (with others) the American Magazine (1743). Appointed Justice of the Peace and of the Quorum, 1746. Represented Brookline in the House frequently, 1755–1767. Appointed Attorney General, 1767. Represented the Crown in the argument on writs of assistance in 1761 (No. 44), but appeared with JA before the Council in 1765 to argue on behalf of the merchants of Boston that the courts be opened during the Stamp Act crisis. 7 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
518–530.
Practiced in Hampshire Co. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1749; of the Quorum, 1762. Principal spokesman of patriot party in western Massachusetts. Frequently represented Northampton in the House, participating with JA and others in many of the legislative battles preceding the Revolution. Elected to the Council in 1769. Declined to serve in Continental Congress, 1774, but maintained an active correspondence with JA and other members, urging independence. Elected to the House, 1775–1777. Developing mental illness caused him gradually to withdraw from public life after 1776. Critic of the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, declining to serve in the state Senate because of the religious test imposed.
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; 1 Dexter, Yale Graduates
709–712. For a more recent biography, see E. Francis Brown, Joseph Hawley, Colonial Radical (N.Y., 1931). Portions of his papers are in NN.
Son of Alexander Hill, Boston merchant. Took a sum of money from JA's office, July 1774, in course of departure from Boston for personal reasons. JA apparently accepted his apology, because he is mentioned as in the office as late as Oct. 1774. Enlisted in the army and died of “camp fever,” March 1775. 1
Adams Family Correspondence
146 note, 173; see letters of Hill to JA, July–Sept. 1774, Adams Papers.
Practiced in Plymouth Co. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1760; of the Quorum, 1764. See Washburn, Judicial History of Mass. 238; The Hovey Book 76–78 (Haverhill, 1913).
Brother of Thomas Hutchinson, q.v. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1752; of the Quorum, 1761. Judge, Suffolk Inferior Court, 1758–1771. Justice, Superior Court, 1771–1775. Deputy Judge of Probate, Suffolk Co., 1765–1769; Judge, 1769–1775. Rejected the royal salary grant, but accepted appointment as Mandamus Councilor, 1774. Sailed for Halifax, 1776, remaining there until his death. Proscribed, 1778. Took no part in public life in Halifax, but claimed that he was still Suffolk Co. Judge of Probate and retained custody of the probate records until 1784, when Benjamin Kent, q.v., was able to procure their surrender. His son, Harvard Graduates
237–243.
The most important figure on the loyalist side in pre-Revolutionary Massachusetts. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1740. Served in the House, 1739–1749, and on the Council, 1749–1766. Expert on provincial currency and credit. Lieutenant Governor, 1758–1771, serving as acting Governor from 1769 until his appointment as Governor in 1771. Chief Justice, 1760–1771 (did not sit after 1769). Also served as judge of the Suffolk Inferior Court, 1752–1758, and as Suffolk County Judge of Probate, 1752–1769. As judge and Governor, involved in the major political events of the period, including the arguments on writs of assistance (No. 44), the Stamp Act crisis, the Boston Massacre (Nos. 63, 64), the burning of the Gaspee, and the Boston Tea Party. Called to England in 1774 and relieved as Governor; never returned to Massachusetts. Author of History of the Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay, a thoughtful and scholarly work, of principal value for its account of his own administration (first published in 3 Vols., 1764–1828; ed. Lawrence Shaw Mayo, Cambridge, Mass., 1936, 3 Vols.). 8 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
149–215.
Began career as a Congregational minister. Dismissed by an ecclesiastical council after a heresy trial in 1735, but won a lengthy civil suit for his back salary in 1737. A Son of Liberty and correspondent of John Wilkes. Appointed state Attorney General, 1776. Served as Attorney ciiiGeneral for Suffolk Co., 1777–1785. Under the influence of his loyalist son-in-law, Sampson Salter Blowers, q.v., joined family in Halifax in 1785. 8 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
220–230.
Married White's daughter and succeeded to his practice in Bristol Co. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1767; King's attorney for Bristol Co., 1769. Represented Taunton in the House, 1769–1772, 1773–1774. Addresser of Hutchinson and Mandamus Councilor, 1774. Author of “Massachusettensis” papers, seventeen pseudonymous newspaper essays defending the Crown, to which JA replied as “Novanglus,” 1774–1775. Took shelter in Boston, 1774, where he was appointed solicitor to the Customs Commissioners in 1775. Sailed to Halifax in 1776, giving his legal services to the Crown there and in England, where he continued to act for the Commissioners. Proscribed, 1778. Admitted to the Inner Temple, 1779. Chief Justice of Bermuda, 1782–1806. Returned to practice in England, where he was a leading barrister until his death.
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Practiced in Newburyport until 1777, thereafter in Boston. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1769. Addresser of Hutchinson, 1774, recanting several months later. Represented Newburyport in the House, 1776; Boston, 1778, 1780. Delegate to Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, 1779–1780. Served in Continental Congress, 1782–1783. Appointed to federal Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture, 1782. Judge, United States District Court, Massachusetts, 1789. Appointed Chief Judge of the First Circuit in Feb. 1801 by JA — one of the “midnight judges.”
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; 1
Adams Family Correspondence
405–406. His papers are in MHi.
Son of Chief Justice Harvard Graduates
250–257.civ His diary is a most useful account of his activities on the Bench. See Vol. 3:39 below.
Son of Jonathan Mason, who was a prominent Boston merchant, Son of Liberty, and witness in the Boston Massacre trials (Nos. 63, 64). Federalist. Served in the Massachusetts House and Senate periodically, 1786–1800, 1803–1808, and as interim U.S. Senator, 1800–1803. Thereafter withdrew from politics, but was elected to Congress, 1816, 1818.
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Nephew of Chief Justice Peter Oliver, q.v. Practiced in Worcester Co. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1768. Represented Hardwick in the House, 1770–1771. Addresser of Hutchinson, 1774. Sailed to Halifax, 1776, then to England, where he remained until his death. Proscribed, 1778. Jones, Loyalists of Mass.
222.
Early Plymouth Co. industrialist, with poetic talent. Leading loyalist. Related to the Hutchinsons by marriage. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1744. Judge, Plymouth Inferior Court, 1747–1756. Justice, Superior Court, 1756–1772; Chief Justice, 1772–1775. Represented Middleboro in the House, 1749, 1751, and sat on the Council, 1759–1766, upholding the Crown position. Impeached as Chief Justice by the House, 1774, for refusing to reject the royal salary grant. Jurors refused to serve under him thereafter. Appointed a Mandamus Councilor, 1774, and served on that body, taking refuge in Boston. Sailed to Halifax, 1776, and then to London. Proscribed, 1778. In retirement wrote Origin and Progress of the American Rebellion, a lengthy and very partisan account of the political events which he had witnessed (ed. Douglass Adair and John A. Schutz, San Marino, Calif., 1963). 8 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
737–763.
Father of James Otis Jr., q.v. Practiced in Barnstable and Plymouth cos. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1734; of the Quorum, 1748. Attorney General, 1748. Disappointed in his aspirations to the Chief Justiceship by the appointment in 1760 of Thomas Hutchinson, q.v.— supposedly a cause of the younger Otis' enmity toward the Crown. Represented Barnstable in the House, 1745–1756; Speaker, 1760–1761. Councilor,cv1762–1774 (negatived, 1767–1769). On the first Revolutionary Council, 1775–1776. Appointed Chief Justice, Barnstable Inferior Court, and Judge of Probate, 1764. Washburn, Judicial History of Mass. 212–213; see 11 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
250–252.
Leading pamphleteer, politician, and lawyer for the patriot side in the 1760's. Son of Col. James Otis Sr., q.v. Practiced first in Plymouth, but in 1749 moved to Boston. One of the most learned and successful lawyers of the period, with serious literary pretensions as well. Appointed Justice of the Peace in 1756, and at about the same time Advocate General in Admiralty. Turned against the Crown in 1760, allegedly because Thomas Hutchinson, q.v., was appointed Chief Justice in preference to James Otis Sr. at the death of Stephen Sewall, q.v. Resigned as Advocate General and in 1761 argued against the application of the customs officers for writs of assistance (No. 44). His argument, as recorded and circulated by JA, became an important piece of patriot propaganda and may have inspired Otis' Rights of the British Colonies (1764) and later pamphlets, which were of major significance in the Revolutionary movement. Represented Boston in the House, 1761–1769, despite growing doubts of his sincerity in the patriot cause, arising from the tortured course both of his political dealings and of the logic of his pamphlets. With Samuel Adams and Joseph Hawley, q.v., acted as a leader of the patriot majority of the House, attending the Stamp Act Congress in 1765. In Sept. 1769, struck on the head in a scuffle with Customs Commissioner John Robinson, an incident leading to protracted litigation, in which JA represented Otis. Thereafter, madness, occasionally apparent earlier, overtook him. Elected in 1771 to the House, but spent the greater part of his remaining years in confinement, or at least retirement, reappearing for brief lucid intervals succeeded by displays of obvious insanity. Killed by a bolt of lightning as he stood in his doorway watching a storm.
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; 11 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
247–287. See also Bernard Bailyn, Pamphlets of the American Revolution, 1:410–417, 546–552 (Cambridge, Mass., 1965).
From 1749 until 1757, variously schoolteacher, merchant, whaler, preacher, and law student. Practiced in Boston until 1761, thereafter primarily in Taunton until 1781, when he returned to Boston. Appeared for the prosecution in the Boston Massacre trials, 1770. (Nos. 63, 64). Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1763. Represented Taunton in the House, 1773–1775, 1779 Speaker, 1777–1778. Declined seat on the Superior Court, 1775. Elected a delegate with JA to the Continental Congress, cvi1774; signer of the Declaration of Independence. Declined re-election to Congress in 1777, and chosen Attorney General of Massachusetts, serving until 1790. Councilor, 1775, 1780. On drafting committees for the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780. Sat on the Supreme Judicial Court, 1790–1804. 12 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
462–482. His diary, extensive law notes, and other papers are in MHi and are a principal source for the present work. His correspondence is being edited for publication by Stephen T. Riley, Director of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Practiced in Essex Co. Leading lawyer of the post-Revolutionary generation, having many later distinguished students, including JQA. Interested in science as well, producing essays on astronomy and geometry. Author of the Essex Result, report of the Essex Convention in opposition to the proposed Massachusetts Constitution of 1778. A leader in the Essex Junto at the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1779. Delegate to the Massachusetts Ratification Convention, 1788. Elected to the House, 1779, 1787–1791, 1805. Appointed Chief Justice of Massachusetts, 1806, serving until his death.
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Practiced in Essex Co. Addresser of Hutchinson, 1774, and of Gage, 1774. Fled from Salem in May 1776 overland to New York and thence to England, where he remained until his death. Proscribed, 1778. Jones, Loyalists of Mass.
237–238.
Leg amputated as result of accident, 1729. Married Auchmuty's daughter. Leading lawyer in Boston; minor poet. Moderator of the Town Meeting, 1757. Representative in the House, 1757–1759, but fell from favor with departure of Governor Pownall. Appointed Chief Justice and Councilor, province of New York, 1761. Returned briefly to Massachusetts during struggle over source of judges' salaries in New York, 1762. Went back to bench when struggle was resolved in Crown's favor. 10 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
226–239. His law library of 115 volumes is itemized in the inventory of his estate filed in Suffolk Co. Probate Court, 8 July 1763, printed in Abbott Lowell Cummings, ed., Rural Household Inventories 202–206 (Boston, 1964).
Practiced in Worcester. JA studied law in his office, 1756–1758. Appointed Justice of the Peace and of the Quorum, 1762. Addresser of Hutchinson, 1774, and Gage, 1775. Took refuge in Boston, 1774, and appointed Attorney General, 1775. Sailed for Halifax, 1776, then to New York, where he held a military post. Proscribed, 1778. Lived in England, 1779–1784. Then moved to New Brunswick as Judge of the Supreme Court and member of the Council. 12 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
57–66.
Practiced in Essex Co. Had many students, including William Wetmore, q.v., later his son-in-law. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1761. Addresser of Hutchinson, 1774, but recanted. Addresser of Gage, 1774. Although remaining firmly loyalist in sympathy, he braved out the Revolution in Salem, continuing to practice law in partnership with Wetmore, and finally being appointed a Justice of the Peace and of the Quorum in 1786. 11 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
295–301.
Radical leader, newspaper writer, pamphleteer, orator, and successful lawyer. Often called “the Patriot” to distinguish him from his father (“the Colonel”) and son (“the President”—of Harvard), both also named Josiah. Brother of Samuel Quincy, q.v. At Thacher's death, continued law studies, taking over the office and retaining much of his late mentor's practice. Counsel for the defense with JA in the second Boston Massacre trial, 1770 (No. 64). Also represented an unpopular defendant in Rex v. Richardson,
No. 59. Always frail in health, he died of tuberculosis aboard ship in sight of Massachusetts, returning from a secret, high-level, and unsuccessful, reconciliation mission to England in April 1775.
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. Selections from his courtroom notes, started during his student days and now with other family papers in MHi, were published in 1865 as Quincy, Reports.
Early friend of JA. Brother of Josiah Quincy Jr., q.v. Counsel for the Crown in the Boston Massacre trials, 1770 (Nos. 63, 64). Appointed cviiiJustice of the Peace and Solicitor General, 1771. Addresser of Hutchinson and Gage, 1774. Sailed for England, May 1775. Proscribed, 1778. Customs officer and successful barrister in Antigua and elsewhere in the West Indies, 1779–1789. 13 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
478–488.
Son of “Father Read,” i.e., Harvard Graduates
369–377; Washburn, Judicial History of Mass. 184, 319; 1
Adams Family Correspondence
404.
Joined Continental Army, 1775. Served during the war as aide to General Benjamin Lincoln and with Lafayette, attaining the rank of major. Settled in Hingham, which he represented in the House, 1801–1805. He seems never to have practiced law, but was active in town business. Colonel in the Provisional Army, 1799–1800, serving at Oxford, Massachusetts. Apointed Justice of the Peace, 1803; of the Quorum, 1810. Moved to Burlington, Vermont, 1811, where he remained as a leading citizen until his death. See 1
Adams Family Correspondence
142 note; Abby Maria Hemenway, ed., The Vermont Historical Gazetteer, 1:544 (Burlington, 1867).
Practiced in Middlesex Co. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1766. Addresser of Hutchinson, 1774. Took refuge in Boston, 1775. Sailed for Halifax, 1776, where he was a wine merchant until his death. Proscribed, 1778. Jones, Loyalists of Mass.
246.
Represented Salem in the House, 1760–1761. Councilor, 1762–1769, supporting policies of Hutchinson. Appointed Justice of the Peace and of the Quorum, 1761. Judge, Essex Inferior Court, 1761–1772. Essex Co. Judge of Probate, 1766–1772. Justice, Superior Court, 1772–1774. His death was hastened by the agitation over the royal salary grant, which he renounced on his deathbed. 11 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
572–574.
Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1740. Judge, Massachusetts Vice Admiralty Court, 1746–1766. Judge, Middlesex Inferior Court, 1747–1752. Justice, Superior Court, 1752–1766. Jonathan Sewall, q.v., studied in his office. Frequently elected to the House from Concord or Charlestown, 1740–1754. Founder of the town of Lincoln, 1754, and its Representative thereafter. Member of the Council, 1759–1761. Supported the Stamp Act as judge and legislator. Died in England while apparently on a mission concerning the New York—New Jersey boundary dispute. 9 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
81–87.
Practiced in Haverhill. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1767. Delegate to Second Provincial Congress, 1775. Represented Haverhill in the House, 1776. Declined appointment to the Superior Court, Oct. 1775, but accepted appointment, Sept. 1776. Delegate to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1779. Appointed Chief Justice, 1790. 12 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
574–580.
Married Judge Parker's daughter. Practiced in York Co., beginning 1760. Appointed Register of Probate, 1766; Justice of the Peace, 1767. Politically moderate, but reappointed to these offices, 1775, and served on Council, 1776–1778. Associate Justice, Superior Court and Supreme Judicial Court, 1777–1789. Member, Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, 1779. Judge, United States District Court for the District of Maine, 1789–1818. 13 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
638–645.
Practiced primarily in Middlesex Co. Early correspondent and friend of JA. Gradually increasing political differences led to a dramatic parting at Falmouth (now Portland, Maine) in 1774, but they were reunited warmly, if briefly, in London in 1787. Said to have turned to the Crown side when a petition to clear the bankrupt estate of his uncle, late Chief Justice Stephen Sewall, q.v., was rejected by the General Court after the Otises, qq.v., had promised to secure its passage. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1762. As “Philanthrop,” participated in newspaper controversy with JA over attacks on Governor Bernard, 1766–1767. Appointed Solicitor General, Attorney General, and Advocate General in Admiralty, 1767. “Informer” and counsel for the Crown in Sewall v. Hancock,
No. 46, suit for penalties arising out of alleged smuggling in John Hancock's sloop Liberty, 1768–1769. Appointed Judge of the new District Vice Ad-cxmiralty Court to sit at Halifax in 1769. Drew the Boston Massacre indictments (Nos. 63, 64), but withdrew from the prosecution, 1770. Addresser of Hutchinson, 1774, and of Gage, 1775. Took refuge in Boston, 1774. Sailed for London, Aug. 1775. Proscribed, 1778. Sailed to New Brunswick, 1787, where he practiced law, the Halifax Vice Admiralty Court having been abolished. His son Harvard Graduates
306–324; see Stark, Loyalists of Mass.
456.
Nephew of Chief Justice Harvard Graduates
561–567.
A Pocket Almanack ... 1786. Not on similar lists as either attorney or barrister, 1780–1785, indicating temporary withdrawal from practice.
Practiced in Hampshire Co. Represented Hadley and South Hadley in the House, 1767–1768, 1769–1770. In Massachusetts Senate, 1793. Justice, Supreme Judicial Court, 1800–1805. 2 Dexter, Yale Graduates
437–439.
Practiced in York Co. until 1778; thereafter in Groton and Boston. King's attorney for York Co. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1774. Served in the Provincial Congress and in the House, periodically, 1775–1784. Justice, Superior Court and Supreme Judicial Court, 1776–1782. Elected to Continental Congress, 1783. Massachusetts Attorney General, 1790. Defeated by Federalist candidate in race for governor, 1797, but elected to the office in 1807 and, narrowly, in 1808. Author of several works on legal and historical topics.
DAB
.
Brother of James Sullivan, q.v. Practiced in New Hampshire. Delegate to First and Second Continental Congresses. Appointed Brigadier General, 1775, Major General, 1776, fighting in many of the major campaigns of the Revolution until his resignation in 1779 for health reasons. Attorney General of New Hampshire, 1782–1786. Served in state Assembly (Speaker, 1785). Elected “President” (governor) of New Hampshire, 1786, 1787, 1789. Judge, United States District Court, New Hampshire, 1789–1795.
DAB
.
In office of Suffolk Co. Clerk of Courts, ca. 1736–1744; thereafter in practice in Boston. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1741. Not reappointed after accession of George III, 1760. Leading Son of Liberty. Said to have been a manager of the Boston Tea Party. Served on Committee of Correspondence and on a Committee appointed in 1773 to prepare a vindication of Boston. Moderator of the Town Meeting, April 1775. Caught in Boston by the British; died under house arrest, Aug. 1775. 9 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
580–583.
Leading lawyer, whig politician, and pamphleteer. Served on numerous Boston committees. Argued with Otis in 1761 against the application of the customs officers for writs of assistance (No. 44). Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1761. Represented Boston in the House, 1763–1765, leading the opposition to the American Act of 1764 with his pamphlet, Sentiments of a British American. 10 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
322–328. See also Bernard Bailyn, Pamphlets of the American Revolution, 1:484–488 (Cambridge, Mass., 1965).
First cousin of AA. During his clerkship, tutored JA's sons and became virtually a member of the family. Clerk in the office of the Secretary of the Continental Congress at York and Philadelphia, 1778. JA's private secretary in Europe, 1779–1783. Subsequently settled in Haverhill, where he practiced law. 2 JA, Diary and Autobiography
402 note. A small group of his papers is in MHi, and his extensive correspondence with JA and other members of the family is in the Adams Papers.
Son of JA's old Braintree rival, Capt. Ebenezer Thayer. 2 JA, Diary and Autobiography
10.
Practiced primarily in Middlesex Co. Considered the most scholarly lawyer and judge of the pre-Revolutionary period. Many of his students cxiiwent on to great success at the bar. Appointed Justice of the Peace and of the Quorum, 1739. Attorney General, 1749–1767. Represented Cambridge in the House, 1750–1752, 1755, 1763. Member of the Council, 1764–1766, where he supported Crown policies. Justice of Superior Court, 1767–1775, bringing to the bench legal knowledge which many of his fellow judges lacked. Pleadings and opinions in the field of real property reprinted and cited by Massachusetts lawyers into the 19th century. Renounced the royal salary grant, 1774, and thereafter remained a neutral, withdrawing from public life to devote himself to legal research and study. 8 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
507–520;
DAB
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Wit and jurist. Cousin of The Progress of Dulness, was written and published at this time. In Aug. 1774 returned to New Haven to practice law, moving to Hartford in 1781. M'Fingal, satirical epic on the Revolution, published 1775–1782, was the basis of his later literary reputation. State's attorney, Hartford Co., 1789. Served in the legislature, 1792, 1800. Judge of the Connecticut Superior Court, 1801–1819, and of the Supreme Court of Errors, 1808–1819. Died at Detroit, Michigan Territory, where he had moved in 1825.
DAB
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Son of Deacon John Tudor. Lifelong friend and correspondent of JA. Judge Advocate of the Continental Army, 1775–1778. Practiced law in Boston until 1796, when a substantial inheritance enabled him to retire. Thereafter he devoted his life to travel and civic enterprise. Many of his students became prominent lawyers and judges. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1781. Represented Boston in the House, 1779, 1791–1796; Senator from Suffolk Co., 1801–1803. Massachusetts Secretary of State, 1809–1810. Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court, 1811–1819. “Memoir of Hon. William Tudor,” 8 MHS, Colls.
(2 ser.) 285–325 (1819). His papers are in MHi.
Practiced in Worcester Co. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1769. Loyalist in sympathy, but recanted in May 1775. Nevertheless, proscribed in 1778. Appointed Advocate General of the Rhode Island Vice Admiralty Court, 1779, but never served, Newport being evacuated by the cxiiiBritish. Served in loyalist forces around New York, 1781–1782. Judge, Supreme Court of New Brunswick, and Councilor, ca. 1785–1808. Jones, Loyalists of Mass.
281–283.
Married Pynchon's daughter. Practiced with Pynchon in Salem until 1785, thereafter in Boston. Addresser of Gage, 1774. Represented Salem in the House, 1777. Succeeded Shearjashub Bourne, q.v., as Chief Justice, Suffolk Inferior Court, 1807, serving in that post and as an associate justice of the successor Middle Circuit Court of Common Pleas until 1821. One of his daughters, Sarah Waldo, married the future United States Supreme Court Justice, Joseph Story, in 1808. James C. Wetmore, The Wetmore Family of America 446–448 (Albany, 1861). See also 2 JA, Diary and Autobiography
94. Wetmore's student notes, largely copied from Pynchon's law notes and now in the Adams Papers, are a principal source for the present work.
Practiced in Bristol Co. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1744; of the Quorum, 1756. Appointed Judge, Bristol Inferior Court, 1756. Represented Taunton in the House, 1749–1759; Speaker, 1759. Elected and chosen Speaker again, 1764–1766; member of the Council, 1766–1769. 9 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
110–112.
Practiced in Worcester Co. Appointed Justice of the Peace and of the Quorum, 1769. Addresser of Hutchinson and Gage, 1774. Fled to Boston, 1775, and finally to England, where he died. Proscribed, 1778. 13 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
301–303.
Son of John Williams, Inspector General of the Customs, and cousin of Diary and Autobiography
227–228, 356; see 12 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
60–61; (Boston) Continental Journal, 4 May 1780.
Practiced in Plymouth Co. Appointed Justice of the Peace, 1771. Took refuge in Boston, 1774. Sailed for Halifax, 1776, then to New York, where he served the Crown as paymaster and commissary. He saw some naval service with a loyalist fleet out of Newport in 1779, but returned to New York, where he died. 13 Sibley-Shipton, Harvard Graduates
374–377.
Practiced in Springfield. King's attorney. Represented Springfield in the House, 1747–1768, 1770–1774. Commissioner, Albany Congress, 1754. Approved of the Stamp Act Congress, 1765, but declined to be a delegate. Member of the Council, 1767–1768, favoring Crown policies. Appointed Mandamus Councilor, 1774, but declined to serve. Reconciled by 1778 and active again in politics and practice.
DAB
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Practiced in Falmouth (now Portland, Maine). Occasionally acted as King's attorney. Died in epidemic following the burning of Falmouth. Others of his family were loyalists. Stark, Loyalists of Mass.
466.