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several years, based upon the obvious grounds of convenience to the people in transacting the public business.  Dedham was selected as a shire-town on account of its central position, and perhaps because it was a parent town, which once included all the northerly and westerly towns of the county.  Medfield had been proposed, with the idea of uniting several towns of Middlesex.  At this time Dedham had a population of about two thousand people, mostly farmers, with a small central village.
     As there was no court-house, the records of the Supreme Judicial Court from 1794 to 196 continued to be kept in Boston, and the records for 1797 and 1798 are imperfect.  The first term of the Court of Common Pleas, then a county court, was held in the meeting-house in Dedham, Sept. 24, 1793, and the first case was committed to a jury at the April term, 1794.  At the same term the number of actions entered was one hundred and sixty-six.  The first term of the Supreme Judicial Court was held in August, 1794.  A court-house and jail were ordered to be built in 1794, but they were not finished until 1795.  Both structures were of wood and have long since disappared.
     Fisher Ames, in the letter to Thomas Dwight, dated Sept. 11, 1794, writing of Dedham, says, "Our city is soon to be adorned with a jail and court-house, provided a committee of the Sessions can be persuaded to hasten their snail's gallop.  I think I have mentioned in the former letter, that the Honorable Supreme Court was to sit here in August.  They did sit, and in tolerable good humor.  Two days had a piece finished the business.  The jurors could not be feel relief from the former burden of attending fifteen, sometimes thirty days in Boston."  The allusion to the humor of the judges is made more emphatic in a letter written several years later, where he speaks of Judge Ursa Major, R. T. Paine, and of whom, after an uncomfortable scene in court, Mr. Ames once said, with reference to his deafness, that "no man could get on there unless he came with a club in one hand and a speaking-trumpet in the other."
     At the beginning of the separate existence of Norfolk County, the number of lawyers practising in the towns must have been very few.  There were not a dozen lawyers in the town of Boston.  Fisher Ames and Samuel Haven of Dedham, Horatio Townsend of Medfield, Thomas Williams of Roxbury, Edward Hutchinson Robbins of Dorchester Lower Mills, Asaph Churchill of Milton, were the onlyh attorneys practising in the courts at this period.  Members of the bar in Suffolk, Middlesex, Worcester, and Bristol then and for some years afterwards were in the habit

NOTE:  Continue transcribing this page in 2nd colume of this page.

Page 7 -

     The Probate Court has remained unchanged since 1784, except that in 1858 it was consolidated with the Court of Insolvency.

     FISHER AMES died July 4, 1808.  Although he spent his last fifteen years of his life upon his estate in Dedham, and had a law-office near the court-house, yet the state of his health was such during much of the time as to prevent his engaging in constant practice, but he tried many causes before the jury, and was retained in some important causes in other counties.  His fame as a statesman, orator, and political writer completely overshadowed his reputation as a lawyer.  His name does not appear upon the bar records after 1804.  He had for his law partner James Richardson, one of the first members of the bar,  admitted

Page 8 -
after the formation of the county.  He studied law with Mr. Ames, and was admitted as an attorney of the Supreme Court in 1803.  He always lived in Dedham, where he practised his profession until the infirmities of age withdrew him from active life.  He at one period engaged in manufacturing business, which somewhat interfered with his practice.  He was a man of excellent attainments in law and letters, and on Feb. 25, 1837, he delivered an address before the members of the Norfolk bar, at their re quest, on the "antiquity and importance" of the legal profession, its "duties and responsibilities; the evils to which its members are exposed," and its "consolations and rewards," which was printed.  He was president of the bar for many years, and died in 1858.

Page 9 -




Page 10 -
and of the rapid increase of its members, the time has not yet come to speak as matters of history.

     Justices of the Judicial Courts. -
     THERON METCALF was the son of Hanun and Mary Metcalf, and was born in Franklin, Oct. 16, 1784.  He and his ancestors for five generations belonged to the county of Norfolk.  At the age of seventeen years he entered Brown University, where he was graduated in 1805.  After graduating, he studied law with Mr. Bacon, of Canterbury, Conn., and in April, 1806, he entered the law-school at Litchfield, then a celebrated institution, and the only law-school in the United States.  Here he remained until October 1807, when he was admitted to the bar in Connecticut.  After studying a year with Hon. Seth Hastings, of Mendon, he was admitted as an attorney of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas in this county at the September term, 1808, and as counsellor of the Supreme Judicial Court at the October term, 1811.  He practised law for a year in Franklin, and removed to Dedham in 1809.
     In 1817 he became county attorney, and continued to hold that office for twelve years, until the office was abolished by the statute establishing the office of district attorney.  He was representative to the General Court from Dedham in 1831, 1833, and 1834, and a senator from the county in 1835.
     In October, 1828, he opened a law-school, and began a course of lectures upon legal subjects in Dedham.  He had many students, among whom were the late  Hon. John H. Clifford, of New Bedford, and the Hon. Seth Ames, the son of Fisher Ames, and afterward a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court.  The series of papers published in the American Jurist and afterwards embodied in his work on the "Principles of the Law of Contracts as applied by the Courts of Law," were originally prepared for his students.
     In December, 1839, he was appointed reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Judicial Court, and removed from Dedham to Boston.  He held this office until Feb. 25, 1848, when he was appointed a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court.  He remained upon the bench until Aug. 31, 1865, when he resigned after over seventeen years of service.  He died in Boston, Nov. 13, 1875, at the age of ninety-one years.
     Although Judge Metcalf had removed from the county, and was in no way identified with it during the last forty-six years of his life, yet the thirty years during which he had resided and practised in Dedham comprehended nearly the whole of his professional career.  During this period he edited a number of law books, among which were "Yelverton's Reports," "Starkie on Evidence," "Russell on Crimes," "Maule and Selwyn's Reports," "Digest of Massachusetts Reports," and with Horace Mann supervised the publication of the Revised Statutes of 1836, the index to which was made by him.
     Of his reputation and influence while at the bar some mention has been made.  There were probably few lawyers in the commonwealth of his time who had such a full and accurate knowledge of the principles of the common law as Judge Metcalf.  His reputation as a writer upon legal subjects is well established.  His volumes of the Massachusetts Reports, it has been said, are the "model and despair of his successors."  His opinions as a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court are remarkable for their precision of statement and their familiarity with the decisions, both English and American, as well as with the principle and maxims, of the common law, of which he was master.  He never concealed his distrust of the changes effected in the administration of the law by legislation, especially the statute giving full equity jurisdiction to the Supreme Judicial Court.
     He was an accurate scholar, and occasionally wrote articles for the reviews on other than legal subjects.  He was in person below the average height, and of great gravity of demeanor, although he had a quaint humor.  He was a keen and intelligent critic upon many subjects, and his pithy sayings will be long remembered and quoted by those who knew him.
     He received the degree of Doctor of Laws from Brown University in 1844, and from Harvard College in 1848.

     SETH AMES


Page 11 -
 

     EZRA WILKINSON. -



Page 12 -



 

     HON. WALDO COLBURN,

Waldo Colburn

Page 13 -

     ELLIS AMES  (see history of Canton).

     Judges of Probate.¹ -
     WILLIAM HEATH

-------------------------
     ¹ The following notices of the judges of the Probate Court are taken from the "Norfolk Court Manual," prepared and published by Henry O. Hildreth, Esq., in 1876, wht the kind permission of the author.

Page 14 -

     EDWARD HUTCHINSON ROBBINS

     SHERMAN LELAND

death, which occurred Dec. 29, 1829.¹

     WILLIAM SHERMAN LELAND

-------------------------
     ¹ Judge Robbins was a man of fine personal presence, of genial manners, and great kindness of heart.  He was emphatically the friend of the widow and orphan, and his death was regarded as a great public loss.  He lived and died on the fine estate of Brush Hill, now the residence of his son, Hon. James Murray Robbins.

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took place July 26, 1869, at the age of forty-four years.

     GEORGE WHITE

     The Bar. -

     FISHER AMES. -

     HORATIO TOWNSEND was born in Medfield, Mar. 29, 1763, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1783; studied law with Theophilus Parsons at Newburyport, and began practice in Medfield.  In 1799 he was appointed special justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and about the same time was appointed clerk of the courts, which office he held until 1811, when he was removed by Governor Gerry.  He was reappointed the following year, and continued in office until his death, which occurred at Dedham, July 9, 1826, at the age of sixty-three years.

     SAMUEL HAVEN. - Admitted to

     THOMAS GREENLEAF. -

     ASAPH CHURCHILL,

     JOHN SHIRLEY WILLIAMS. - Attorney of Supreme Judicial Court, 1803.  He was born in Roxbury, May 3, 1772, and was graduated at Harvard College in

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1797.  He practised law at Roxbury and at Dedham.  In 1811 he was appointed Clerk of the Courts by Governor Gerry, but was removed the next year by Governor Strong.  He was also County Attorney.  He died at Ware, Mass., while on a journey for his health, in May 1843, aged seventy-one years.

     JAMES RICHARDSON. -

     JAIRUS WARE. -

     THOMAS B. ADAMS. -

     GIDEON L. THAYER. -

     WILLIAM DUNBAR. -

     DANIEL ADAMS. -
 

     JACOB CHICKERING. -

     JOSEPH HARRINGTON. - Counsellor of Supreme Judicial Court, 1809.  He had an office in Roxbury where he practised many years.

     DAVID ALLEN SIMMONS. -

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had received the honorary degree of Bachelor of Laws from Dartmouth College.

     JOSIAH J. FISKE. - Counsellor of the Supreme Judicial Court, 1815.  (See history of Wrentham.)

     JOHN KING. - Counsellor of Supreme Judicial Court, 1811.  He had an office in Randolph, where he practised many years.

     SAMUEL P. LOUD. -

     CHRISTOPHER WEBB. -

     ERASTUS WORTHINGTON. -

     EBENEZER F. THAYER. -

     THOMAS GREENLEAF, JR. - Counsellor of the Supreme Judicial Court, 1814.  He was a son of Thomas Greenleaf, of Quincy; was graduated at Harvard College in 1806, and died in 1817.

     CYRUS ALDEN. -

     SAMUEL J. GARDNER. -

Page 18 -

     ABNER LORING. - Attorney of the Supreme Judicial Court, 1813.  He was born in Hingham, July 21, 1786, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1807.  He studied law with Ebenezer Gay.  He began practice at Dorchester, and was well read in his profession, devoted to business, and of unexceptionable character.  He died, deeply lamented, July 18, 1814, at the age of twenty-eight years.

     THOMAS TOLMAN. -

     JOHN B. DERBY. -

     LEWIS WHITING FISHER. -

     JOHN W. AMES. -

     ABEL CUSHING. -

     MELETIAH EVERETT. -

     EZRAH WESTON SAMPSON. -

     WARREN LOVERING. -

     JONATHAN PARKER BISHOP

Page 19 -
United States Senate, which first took place in the latter year.  He was largely instrumental in the building of the Charles River Railroad, which was opened through the town of 1861.  He died July 10, 1865.

     AARON PRESCOTT. - Attorney of Supreme Judicial Court, 1820.  He was graduated at Harvard College in 1814.  He practised law for many years in the county, and had an office in Randolph.  He died in 1851.

     JONATHAN H. COBB. -

     GEORGE C. WILDE. -

     IRA CLEVELAND. - Attorney of the Court of Common Pleas, Dec. 5, 1827.

     HORACE MANN. -

     JOHN JONES CLARKE. -

Page 20 -

     JOHN MARK GOURGAS. -

     NATHANIEL FOSTER SAFFORD was born

     WILLIAM S. MORTON practised law at Quincy for many years, but he was not admitted in this county.  He was graduated at Harvard College in 1831, and died at Quincy in 1871.  He was a trial justice for some years.

     NAAMAN L. WHITE. -

Saml. Warner

Wm. Gaston

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admitted to the bar elsewhere, and is not now in active practice.

     FISHER A. KINGSBURY

     ASAPH CHURCHILL, JR. -

     ABNER L. CUSHING. -

     SAMUEL WARNER -

    ELLIS WORTHINGTON. -

     JOHN KING. -

     HON. WILLIAM GASTON -

Page 22 -

     SAMUEL BRADLEY NOYES, eldest son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Morrill) Noyes, was born in Dedham, Apr. 9, 1817.  On his father's side he is....

Samuel B. Noyes

Page 23 -

Page 24 -
in positive points of a warm and strong personality.  Of Puritan stock, he has not a shade of Puritan austerity, but rather the reverse, and his good fellowship is a Boston proverb.  He is Saxon rather than Norman in temperament, and his friends find in him a certain mellowness, as of an older civilization than our own, which makes him well met with the agreeable and those who make merry.
     In the affairs of a busy and exacting profession he has retained and developed his taste for literature and history, and while a New Englander by birth and education, his temperament has always led him to that wider society of mankind, where

"one touch of nature makes the whole world kin."

     NEHEMIAH C. BERRY. - Attorney and counsellor, Court of Common Pleas, Dec. 24, 1846.  He had an office for some years at Randolph, and practised in this county, but he many years since removed to Roxbury, and took an office in Boston, where he continues to practise in his profession.

     ELIJAH FOX HALL - Attorney and counsellor, Court of Common Pleas, September term, 1847.   He began practice as a partner with Jonathan P. Bishop, of Medfield.  He afterwards was a partner with Fisher A. Kingsbury at Weymouth, where he continued to practise until his death in 1867.  He acted as a magistrate in Weymouth.

     JAMES HUMPHREY was born in Weymouth, Jan. 20, 1819.  He was educated at the Phillips Academy in Andover, where he was graduated with the first honors of his class in 1839.  He was a teacher until 1852, when he entered the office of D. W. Gooch, in Boston, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1855.  He held the office of selectman in Weymouth for twenty years, and during a large part of the time was chairman of the board.  He was Representative to the General Court in 1852 and 1869, and was a Senator from the Norfolk and Plymouth District in 1872.  He was elected a county commissioner in 1874, and held the office until November, 1882, being chairman of that board during a great portion of his term of service.  In November, 1882, he was appointed justice of the District Court of East Norfolk, which office he now holds.  He resides at Weymouth.

     EDWARD AVERY was born in Marblehead, Mar. 12, 1828.  He was educated in the schools of his native town, and afterwards in the classical school of Mr. Brooks, in Boston.  He studied law in the office of F. W. Choate in Boston, and at the Dane Law School in Cambridge.  He was admitted to the bar in April, 1849, and began practice in Barre, in the county of Worcester, where he remained until the winter of 1850-51.  He then removed to Boston, and has since had an office there.  On the 1st of October, 1858, he became associated in business with George M. Hobbs, a copartnership which still continues.  Mr. Avery has for many years been a leading practitioner in all the courts of Suffolk and other counties, and the firm has up to the present time always had an extensive practice.  Mr. Avery has given especial attention to cases arising under the insolvent laws of Massachusetts and under the United States Bankrupt Law, and in this branch of the law he has been eminently successful, although he has always attended to general practice.  Mr. Avery, since he has had an office in Boston, has always been a resident in Norfolk County.    For some time he resided at Quincy, but for many years past he has lived at Braintree.  He has been employed as counsel in the trial of many important causes in this county, and has thus been identified with the Norfolk bar.  In 1866 he was a Representative to the General Court from Braintree, and in 1867 was re-elected to the House, and also to the Senate from the Norfolk and Plymouth District.

     EDWARD LILLIE PIERCE - Admitted at the February term of the Supreme Judicial Court, 1853.  He was born Mar. 29, 1829, and is a son of Col. Jesse Pierce, of Stoughton.  He was graduated at Brown University in 1850.  During his college course he distinguished himself in several prize essays and in articles which appeared in the Democratic Review.  He entered the Law-School at Cambridge, and received the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1852.  He was the author of the successful prize essay offered to his class upon the " Consideration of a Contract," which was printed.  He afterwards wrote an essay upon "Secret Suffrage," which attracted attention in England, and was there reprinted.  He was after wards in the law-office of Salmon P. Chase, at Cincinnati.  In 1857 he published the first edition of his work on "American Railroad Law."  He took an active part in politics in 1857 as a member of the Republican party, advocating the most liberal treatment of foreigners against the proscriptive policy which then was popular in Massachusetts.
     He continued to practise in his profession, having an office in Boston, as a partner of Asaph Churchill.  At the breaking out of the war, in 1861, he enlisted as a private in the Third Massachusetts Regiment.  He afterwards, in 1862, by appointment of Secretary Chase, had the charge of the freedmen and plantations of the Sea Islands, and his official reports of this trust were widely read.  He was on duty at Morris Island

Erastus Worthington

Page 25 -
in August, 1863, when he was appointed collector of internal revenue for the Third District of Massachusetts, which office he held for three years.
     He was appointed by Governor Bullock, in 1866, to the office of district attorney of the Southeastern District, to which office he was elected by the people in 1866, and again in 1868.  In Order, 1869, he was appointed secretary of the Board of State Charities, and held that office until 1874, when he resigned it.
     In 1875 and 1876 he was Representative from Milton in the General Court and in the latter session was chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary.  He is the author of the "Act to Limit Municipal Indebtedness."  He was appointed by President Hayes in December, 1878, assistant treasurer of the United Stats at Boston, but he declined the appointment.
     Mr. Pierce has been one of the lecturers at the Boston Law-School since its foundation.  In 1881 he published a new edition of his work on "American Railroad Law," much enlarged and enriched by copious notes and citations.  In 1874 he prepared an elaborate "Index of the Special Railroad Laws of Massachusetts.
     Mr. Pierce was one of the literary executors of Charles Sumner, and was the author of the memoir of Mr. Sumner, published in 1877, an elaborate and excellent biography.  He has also been the author of many articles contributed to the reviews and newspapers, of official reports, and public addresses upon a variety of social and political topics, all of which are marked by such ability, breadth, and exhaustiveness of treatment of their respective subjects as to entitle them to hold a permanent place in the current discussions of vital questions.  Mr. Pierce has made several journeys to Europe, one in 1873, to inspect European prisons, reformatories, and asylums, the result of which was given in his report for 1873 as secretary of the Board of State Charities.
     Mr. Pierce received the degree of Doctor of Laws from Brown University in 1882.  He resides at Milton, and has an office in Boston.

     ASA FRENCH, was born on the 21st of October, 1829, in Braintree, where his ancestors have lived since the town's earliest settlement.
     He received his early education in the public schools, was prepared for college at the Leicester Academy, Worcester County, Mass., and was graduated at Yale College, in the class of 1851.  Upon leaving college, he began the study of law at the Albany Law-School, and afterwards entered the Harvard Law-School, where he received the degree of LL.B. in 1853.   He subsequently pursued the study of his profession in the office of David A. Simmons and Harvey Jewell, in Boston.
     Mr. French was first admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of New York, at Albany, in 1853, and afterwards at Boston.  He has always had an office in Boston; but has made Braintree his home, and has been identified with the Norfolk County bar.
     He represented Braintree in the lower branch of the State Legislature in 1866.  In 1870 he was appointed by Governor Claflin district attorney for the Southeastern District, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Hon. Edward L. Pierce, and held this office by successive re-elections until October, 1882, when he resigned.
     In 1882 he was tendered the appointment of justice of the Superior Court of Massachusetts, but declined it.  He has been one of the commissioners on inland fisheries for the State of Massachusetts since 1873.
     He is president of the board of trustees of the Thayer Academy and of the Thayer Public Library, both in Braintree, and both founded and endowed by the late Gen. Sylvanus Thayer.
     In 1883 he was placed by President Arthur upon the annual Board of Visitors to the West Point Military Academy.
     Mr. French was appointed judge of the Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims in Washington, under the act re-establishing that court, approved June 5, 1882.

     ERASTUS WORTHINGTON. - Attorney and counsellor, February term, Supreme Judicial Court, 1854.  He is the son of Erastus Worthington, of Dedham, where he was born Nov. 25, 1828.  He was graduated at Brown University in 1850.  After residing nearly a year in Wisconsin, he entered the Dane Law-School, at Cambridge, where he received the degree of LL.B. in 1853.  He completed his professional studies in the office of Ezra Wilkinson, at Dedham.  He began practice in Boston, and was for some time a partner with David A. Simmons, of Roxbury.  In 1856 he was elected register of insolvency, which office he held until July, 1858, when he resumed practice at Dedham.  He was a trial justice from 1857 to 1867.  In 1866 he was elected clerk of the courts for Norfolk County, and entered upon the duties of that office in January, 1867, and has since been elected for three terms of five years each.  H\ e continues to hold office, and resides in Dedham.

     CHARLES ENDICOTT - Attorney and counsellor, April term, Court of Common Pleas, 1857.  He was born in Canton, Oct. 28, 1822.  He was for several years town clerk, selectman, and held many town

Page 26 -
offices.  He was deputy sheriff of the county from 1846 to 1853, and commissioner of insolvency from 1855 to 1857.  Upon his admission to the bar he began practice in Canton, where he continues to reside.  He was a Representative to the General Court in 1851, 1857, and 1858, and a Senator from Norfolk County in 1866 and 1867, and a member of the Executive Council in 1868 and 1869.  He was county commissioner from 1859 to 1865.  He was State Auditor from 1870 to 1875, and Treasurer and Receiver-General for the Commonwealth form 1876 to 1881, when he became ineligible for re-election by reason of the constitutional limitation in the term of that office.  He now holds the office of tax commissioner.  He resides in Canton.

     JOSEPH McKEAN CHURCHILL

     JAMES E. TIRRELL

     JOHN L. ELDRIDGE

     EVERETT C. BUMPUS

     FREDERICK D. ELY. -

     JOHN D. COBB. -

     EDMUND DAVIS. -

     THOMAS E. GROVER was born in Mansfield, Feb. 9, 1844.  He studied law principally in the office of Ellis Ames, in Canton, and was admitted to the bar Sept. 7, 1867.  Mr. Grover has held the office of trial

Page 27 -
justice for many years.  He resides in Canton, and has offices both in Canton and Boston.

     JAMES E. COTTER was born in Ireland in 1848.  He came to this country in 1856, and resided in Marlborough until his admission to the bar.  He was educated in the public schools, and at the State Normal School at Bridgewater.  He studied law with William B. Gale, of Marlborough, and was admitted to the bar in Middlesex, Jan. 2, 1874.  He removed to Hyde Park, where he now resides.  He has an office in Hyde Park and in Boston.

     GEORGE WINSLOW WIGGIN. - Attorney and counsellor, Superior Court, Oct. 17, 1871.  He was born in Sandwich, N. H., Mar. 10, 1841.  He was educated in the course for four years at Phillips' Academy, Exeter, N. H.  He was afterwards a teacher in the Friends' Boarding School at Providence, R. I., and principal of the Wrentham High School for four years.  He studied law in the office of Samuel Warner, of Wrentham.  He began practice in Franklin in 1872, where he has since resided and practised law.  He has been a trial justice since 1872, and was elected a county commissioner in 1878, and was re-elected in 1881.  He has been chairman of the board during the past year.  He has also an office in Boston.

     JAMES HEWINS was born in Medfield, Apr. 27, 1846.  He was educated in the Medfield and Walpole High Schools, and entered Amherst College.  He studied law with Robert R. Bishop and at the Dane Law School, in Cambridge.  He was admitted to the bar in Suffolk, Feb. 26, 1868.  He has been a trial justice, and is Representative to the General Court in 1884.  He resides in Medfield, but has an office in Boston.

     OSCAR A. MARDEN was born in Palermo, Me., Aug. 20, 1853.  He was educated at the Westbrook Seminary, in Deering, Me.  He studied law in the Boston University Law School, where he was graduated in 1876.  He also studied in the office of S. K. Hamilton, in Boston.  He was admitted to the bar in Suffolk, Oct. 8, 1876.  He has been a trial justice for several years, and resides in Stoughton, but has an office in Boston.

     The following gentlemen were admitted to the bar in Norfolk County, and are now practicing attorneys in the county:

     Asa Wellington, Quincy, Admitted April, 1852.
     Charles J. Randall, Wrentham, admitted Jan. 3, 1859.
     Henry B. Terry, Hyde Park, admitted Apr. 4, 1871
     Don Gleason Hill, Dedham, admitted Oct. 18, 1871.
     Charles Amory Williams, Brookline, admitted Oct. 1, 1873.
     Zenas S. Arnold, Boston, admitted Jan. 20, 1874.
     Charles A. Mackintosh, Dedham, admitted Oct. 4, 1875.
     Frank Rockwell Hall, Brookline, admitted Jan. 8, 1878.
     William G. A. Pattee, Quincy, admitted May 14, 1879.
     John Everett, Canton, admitted May 14, 1879.
     Nathan Hyde Pratt, Weymouth, admitted Jan. 1, 1880.
     James J. Malone, Quincy, admitted May 18, 1881.
     Charles Francis Jenney, Hyde Park, admitted Oct. 4, 1882.
     Albert Everett Avery, Braintree, admitted Jan. 23, 1883.

     The following gentlemen were admitted to the bar elsewhere, but are now practicing attorneys in the county:

     Charles H. Drew, Brookline.  Office in Boston.
     Moses Williams, Brookline.  Office in Boston.
     Bradford Kingman, Brookline.  Office in Boston.
     Thomas L. Wakefield, Dedham.  Office in Boston.
     Alonzo B. Wentworth, Dedham.  Office in Boston.
     John R. Bullard, Dedham.  Office in Boston.
     Horace E. Ware, Milton.  Office in Boston.
     Jonathan Wales, Randolph.  Office in Boston.
     John V. Beal, Randolph.  Office in Boston.
     Charles H. Deans, West Medway.
     Emery Grover, Needham.  Office in Boston.
     E. Granville Pratt, Quincy.  Office in Boston.
     George Fred. Williams, Dedham.  Office in Boston.
     Orin T. Gray, Hyde Park.  Office in Boston.
     W. H. H. Andrews, Hyde Park.  Office in Boston.
     Artemas W. Gates, Dedham.  Office in Boston.
     Robert W. Carpenter, Foxborough.
     Fred H. Williams, Foxborough. 
     Edward Bicknell, Weymouth.  Office in Boston.
     Fred. J. Stimson, Dedham.  Office in Boston.
     Charles E. Perkins, Brookline.  Office in Boston.
     John C. Lane, Norwood.  Office in Boston.

     Sheriffs.¹ -
     HON. EBENEZER THAYER, of Braintree, the first sheriff of Norfolk County, was the son of Hon. Ebenezer Thayer, also of Braintree, and was born Aug. 21, 1746.  His father was for many years a prominent citizen of the town, having served in the office of Representative eighteen eyars, and was chosen Representative to the General Court seventeen years

---------------
     ¹ The following sketches of the sheriffs and county treasurers of the county are mainly taken from the "Norfolk County Manual," by Henry O. Hildreth, Esq., by the permission of the author.

Page 28 -
successively, and in 1776 was a member of the Executive Council.  His mother was Susanna, daughter of Rev. Samuel Niles, of Braintree.  Mr. Thayer served the town many years as selectman, town clerk, and treasurer; was Representative to the General Court in 1796, 1800, and 1801, a member of the Senate in 1795, '96, '97, '98, '99, and a member of the Executive Council in 1793 and 1794.  He was also a brigadier-general in the militia.  On the organization of the county, in 1793, he was appointed Sheriff, but owing to ill health, resigned early in the following year.  He died May 30, 1809, aged sixty-three years.

     ATHERTON THAYER, half-brother to the preceding, was born in Braintree, Feb. 9, 1766.  His mother was Rebecca Miller, of Milton, who was the second wife of Hon. Ebenezer Thayer, Sr.  On the resignation of the office of sheriff by his brother, in 1794, he was appointed to fill the vacancy, and continued in the office until his death, July 4, 1798, aged thirty-two years.

     BENJAMIN CLARKE CUTLER, of Roxbury, was born in Boston, Sept. 15, 1756, and was for many years a merchant, removing afterwards to Jamaica Plain.  He was appointed sheriff July 31, 1798, and held the office until his death.  He died very suddenly at his residence on Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, April, 1810, aged fifty-four years.

     ELIJAH CRANE was born in Milton, Aug. 29, 1754, and was the son of Thomas Crane, for many years a prominent citizen of that part of Stoughton, now Canton.  He early removed to Canton, where his regular business was that of a farmer, in which he met with marked success, although much of his time was devoted to public life.  He was a man of large and erect stature, well-developed form, and graceful carriage, and was noted for his splendid horseman ship.  He early took a deep interest in military matters, rising by successive appointments to the rank of brigadier-general of the Second Brigade, First Division, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, to which he was promoted Aug. 1, 1803, and promoted and commissioned major-general of the First Division June 16, 1809, which position he continued to hold until his discharge, June 8, 1827, a period of service in the highest military office of the State without a parallel in Massachusetts.  He also attained high rank as a Mason, being successively Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in 1820 and 1821, Senior Grand Warden in 1822, and Grand Master in 1832.  On the death of Sheriff Cutler, in 1810, he was appointed sheriff, and continued in office until 1811, when he was removed for political reasons by Governor Gerry.  The following year he was reappointed, and continued in office by successive reappointments until his death, the longest term of service as sheriff ever held in the county.  He died Feb. 21, 1834, aged eighty years.

     WILLIAM BREWER, of Roxbury, was for many years a prominent citizen of the town, having been chairman of the Board of Selectmen for several years, and was Representative to the General Court from 1801 to 1811, inclusive, and again from 1814 to 1817, inclusive.  In 1811 he was appointed sheriff of Norfolk County by Governor Gerry, which position he held for one year.  He died Aug. 2, 1817, aged fifty-nine years.

     JOHN BAKER (2d) was born in Dorchester, Feb. 27, 1780.  He learned the trade of a wheelwright in Roxbury, and soon removed to Dedham, where for some time he carried on the same business.  He was a coroner, and for several years a deputy sheriff of the county.  On the death of Gen. Crane, in 1834, Mr. Baker was appointed sheriff, and held the office until his death, which occurred Jan. 1, 1843, at teh age of sixty-three years.

     JERAULD NEWLAND EZRA MANN, was born in Medfield, June 26, 1796.  He learned the trade of a carriage-painter, serving his time with the Messrs. Bird, of Walpole.  In 1823 he went to Easton, where he remained but a short time, removing the year following to Taunton, where he remained five years, at the end of which time he went to Wrentham, and thence to Dedham, where he took the place of his brother-in-law, Maj. T. P. Whitney, as deputy sheriff and jailer.  On the death of Sheriff Baker, Mr. Mann was, Feb. 8, 1843, appointed sheriff for the term of five years, at the expiration of which he declined a reappointment, but continued to act as deputy sheriff and jailer until July, 1855, when failing health compelled his resignation.  He soon after removed to Vernon, Conn., the residence of his youngest daughter, where he died Apr. 15, 1857, aged sixty years and ten months.

     THOMAS ADAMS was born in Quincy, Apr. 20, 1804.  In early life he was engaged in business with his father as a butcher, and afterwards was proprietor of different stage-lines, and an extensive dealer in horses.  He then went to Roxbury, where he continued to reside until his death.  He was deputy sheriff under Sheriff Mann, and in 1848 succeeded that officer as sheriff of the county.  He was removed from office for political reasons in 1852, but was reappointed the following year, and continued in office until Jan. 1, 1857.  After Roxbury became a city he was for two or three years city marshal.  He

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died suddenly of apoplexy Jan. 2, 1869, aged sixty-five years.

     JOHN W. THOMAS was born in Weymouth, Apr. 1, 1815.  Learned the trade of a shoemaker, and afterwards went into business as a manufacturer; was a Representative to the General Court on 1852, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1853, and in lieutenant-colonel in the militia.  May 13, 1852, he was commissioned sheriff of Norfolk County by Governor Boutwell, but was removed the following year for political reasons.  In 1856 he was elected sheriff by the Republican and American parties, and assumed the position Jan. 1, 1857.  He soon after removed to Dedham, where he continues to reside.  He was the first sheriff elected by the people in the county, and at each successive election was chosen by a large majority of the popular vote.  He held the office until January, 1878, when he declined a re-election.

     RUFUS C. WOOD was born in Palmer, May 30, 1818.  His parents removed to Dudley, where he learned the trade of a machinist, and lived until he was twenty years of age. He previously had at tended the public schools and the Nichols Academy in Dudley. He removed to Canton in November, 1836, and worked at his trade for eleven years in the Kinsley Iron and Machine Company's works. He was appointed a deputy sheriff by Sheriff Adams in 1853, and he held that office until his election as sheriff, in 1877. During President Lincoln's administration he was appointed postmaster at Canton, which office he held for sixteen years, and resigned at the time of his election as sheriff. In 1877 he was elected sheriff of the county, has been twice re-elected, the last time, in 1883, by the nomination and vote of both political parties. Since his election as sheriff he has resided in Dedham, and is master of the House of Correction in connection with his office.

     County Treasurers.—
     ISAAC BULLARD, the first treasurer of the county, was born in Dedham, July 10, 1744, and was a lineal descendant from William Bullard, one of the first settlers of the town.  He was for many years in public life, having been town clerk for three years, selectman five years, and Representative to the General Court from 1794 to 1801, and again in 1806 and 1807.  He was chosen deacon of the First Church, May 28, 1780, which office he continued to hold until his death.  On the organization of the county, in 1793, he was chosen county treasurer, to which position he was annually elected until his decease, which occurred June 18, 1808, at the age of sixty-four years.

     JOHN BULLARD, son of the preceding, was born in Dedham, Jan. 9, 1773. He was also much in public life, having been twenty years a selectman and one year town clerk. On the death of his father, in 1808, he was chosen county treasurer, which position he occupied by successive elections until his death, Feb. 25, 1852, a period of forty-four years.  He was seventy-nine years of age.  (See history of Dedham.)

     GEORGE ELLIS was born in Medfield, Sept. 2, 1793, and early removed to Dedham, where for several years he carried on business as a trader.   He was captain of one of the Dedham militia companies, for several years a deputy sheriff of the county, and for fourteen years one of the selectmen of the town.  He was secretary and treasurer of the Dedham Institution for Savings from May, 1845, to June, 1855, when, owing to ill health, he resigned.  On the death of John Bullard, in 1852, he was appointed by the county commissioners county treasurer, and the two following years was elected by the people, failing of a re-election in 1855.  He died June 24, 1855, aged sixty-two years and ten months.

     CHAUNCEY C. CHURCHILL.  (See history of Dedham.)