pdf of judicial notice catalog (c0464822)

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Judicial NoticeThe World through the Eyes of Chief Justice Robert Peaslee


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Judicial NoticeThe World through the Eyes of Chief Justice Robert Peaslee

May 15th, 2008 October 15th, 2008

The John W. King New Hampshire Law Library

at the New Hampshire Supreme Court

New Hampshire Supreme Court Society Board of Trustees

Loretta Kenison

Honorary Chair

Ellen L. Arnold

Dorcas H. Deans

Charles G. Douglas, III

Susan V. Duprey

Sylvio Dupuis

Thomas Galligan

Hon. Sherman D. Horton, Jr.John D. Hutson

Mary Susan Leahy

Susan Leidy

Michael Lewis

Mary McGowan

Hon. Kathleen A. McGuire

Jack B. Middleton

Hon. Joseph Nadeau

David L. Nixon

John C. Ransmeier

Tara ReardonRick Schubart

Mary Searles

Gregory H. Smith

Jay Surdukowski

Sherilynn A. B. Young


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Robert J. Peaslee

Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court 1924-1934

Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court 1898-1901, 1907-1924

Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court 1901-1907


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Introductory Essay

By JAY SURDUKOWSKI AND MIKE LEWIS

In 2007, Mary Searles of the John W. King New Hampshire Law Library discovered a thickenvelope in the basement. This tan colored envelope bulged with an unusual discovery: fifty-fivedrawings of litigants and lawyers from the dusk of the Victorian era, sketched by Robert J. Peaslee.Peaslee would go on to be Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. He is known tomany lawyers and school children who tour the court, at least in a subconscious way, as thegentlemen whose name is engraved on the silver pitcher the five justices of the Court fish their casesout of to decide who will write opinions. The pitcher was a gift from the Court in 1917 on theoccasion of Peaslees second marriage. In time it made its way back to the gifter.

Many of the drawings include captions which identify the people or situations depicted. Inthis essay we provide a little context about the man and his art. We have consulted scraps of

biography and contemporary accounts of the trials we have been able to identify.This essay will also appraise Peaslees art. On the surface some of these caricatures may

seem almost child-like, but they actually fit into an artistic tradition of sorts, and deserve to berecognized as doing so.

I. Who is Robert Peaslee?

Peaslee is more than a man who gave his name to a time-honored antique.Born in Weare, New Hampshire in 1864, Robert James Peaslee had a lengthy career as an

attorney and judge. His service as a judge spanned an era during which the creation of our superiorcourts relieved the Supeme Court of the responsibility of riding circuit and hearing trials. Peasleeserved two stints on the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, the first from 1898 to 1901 and thesecond from 1907 to 1934, the last ten years as Chief Justice. Between these periods of service onthe high court he also served as a superior court judge after the court was established. All told, histime as a trial and appellate judge ran almost parallel to the second half of the judicial career ofOliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. who sat on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1902-1932.

The drawings in this show coincidentally date from the time of Peaslees demotion to thesuperior court: 1900-1902.

Early on, Peaslee was adverse to book learning and wanted nothing more than a quietfarming life in Weare. This choice of career evaporated after a brief stint of hard farm labor. Aftersecondary and post-secondary studies in Massachusetts, Peaslee attended the Boston University LawSchool legal alma mater of two current Justices: Richard Galway and Gary E. Hicks. Peasleegraduated second in his class after completing all three years of legal study in a single year. Afterpracticing for a time first in Massacusetts and then in partnership with another Manchester lawyer,Peaslee was elevated to the bench.

Peaslee taught courses at both Boston University and Dartmouth College after he became ajudge. He was also active in his community among his many accomplishments are two whichrelate to this show: he was a president of the Currier Gallery of Art and a Trustee of the ManchesterInstitute of Arts and Sciences.


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After Peaslee stepped down from the bench he served until his death as Counsel to the firmof Demond, Woodworth, Sulloway & Rogers now known as Sulloway & Hollis.

II. Peaslee as Artist

The most apt characterization of Peaslees drawings so far has been made by Attorney MartinGross. On seeing the Gentleman from Claremont and His Stout Client, Attorney Gross said thework resembled an Up-country Daumier. This is an apt description because more than anythingthe drawings appear to be in line with the tradition of social commentary embodied by French artistHonore Daumier (1808-1879).

Daumiers satiric bite was sharpened by a stint in prison at the age of 24 for insulting theKing of France with a likeness. His attention was turned to lawyers and their clients in a famousseries of lithographs calledLes Gens de Justice The People of Justice. See Figure 1.

Fig. 1

While the pictures in this series have a similarity in subject matter lots of people pointing in court and an emphasis on the pointy-nosed features of his subjects, see figures 2 and 3, Peaslees worksare not as fleshy they are simpler. They also do not seem to be as mean-spirited. His humor islighter and he does not attempt to portray the entire legal system as corrupt, as does Daumier.Rather, Peaslee retained a little humor and a lot of humanity while riding circuit.


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Fig. 2 Fig. 3

Active in Democratic politics until his appointment to the bench, Peaslee most certainlywould have been aware of the political satires that were very popular in the time he lived chieflyThomas Nast ofHarpers Weekly. There is some suggestion in his work of an affinity for thepolitical caricatures of the late Victorian period. See fig. 4 (President Theodore Roosevelt and BossPlatt).

Fig. 4


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Edward Gory (see Fig. 5), another artist whose work Peaslees drawings evoke was predatedby Peaslee. Goreys Victorian gothic figures enjoy a cult following and were made famous when

depicted alongside the titles to the long-running public television series Mystery.In Gorey and Peaslees drawings, there appears an affinity for the attention to Victorianoutfits and carefully though sparely rendered facial features which still manage to capturepersonality despite the use of few lines. The Birth of the Perfume most closely resembles Goreyswork. See figures 5 and 6. Note the similarities in the small head and long Victorian coat withdelicate footwear poking out below.

Fig. 5 Fig. 6

Despite fitting Peaslees works into the tradition of Daumier and the American politicalcartoonists of the late-Victorian era, and finding some likeness to Edward Goreys drawings, largequestions are left unresolved. Why did Peaslee create these drawings? And to whom were theyshown in his lifetime if anyone? Also, why did they stop at 1902? Or are these works only a hintat his entire oeuvre which may sit in a dusty attic or basement somewhere? For the moment, thesequestions are unanswered. The drawings in the cache nonetheless are of ample historical interest.


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Among the fifty-five drawings are pictorial accounts of at least six trials. We have donesome digging on four we selected for the show, and, in a few instances, uncovered some of the backstories of the trials, as well as the lives behind some of the portraits.

III. Tales Behind the Trial Drawings

Ossippee, New Hampshire - 1902

The two drawings from a murder trial in Ossippee yield a great deal of interesting material.County Solicitor Hobbs appears in a portrait, as does an elderly witness who testified both at thisOssippee trial and the Parker Murder Trial in 1845 meaning that this witnesses life correspondedclosely to the majority of the Victorian era (1837-1901).

Carroll County Solicitor Josiah Hobbs must have been among the more familiar figures tohaunt Chief Justice Peaslees courtroom. Hobbs is respectfully portrayed in profile, spectaclesadorned, with a serious and scholarly, if not weary, affect.

The caption of the sketch refers to Solicitor Hobbs October 23, 1902 questioning of aseventh witness regarding the five chambers of a revolver lying on the table. An October 25,1902 edition of the Granite State News (a Wolfeboro weekly newspaper) described a case in whichthis testimony may well have occurred. The report describes the single-day murder trial of DavidLittle for the shooting of Mrs. Annie M. Drew. According to the report, justice was imposed in asummary fashion. With Gideon v. Wainwrightmany decades from publication, Little proceededwithout counsel and was indicted, arraigned and tried for murder in a single day. The jurorsreceived the case just after lunch, deliberated for an hour and returned a verdict of guilt. There is nomention of the imposition of a sentence.

Like many respected attorneys before and after him, Hobbs graduated from DartmouthCollege, where he shared the classroom with Governor Benjamin Prescott. He then also graduated

from the Albany Law School, which later produced President William McKinley and Justice RobertJackson of the United States Supreme Court. He commenced practice in Madison, New Hampshirein 1859 and was appointed by the Governor to the position of County Solicitor in 1864. He returnedto private practice in 1875, and was counsel of record in many prominent cases. By dint ofreputation, he was elected president of the Carroll County Bar Association, and later returned to theposition of County Solicitor where he apparently became the momentary object of the ChiefJustices focus.

For a short time, Hobbs also notably enjoyed the fruits of what must have been anuncommonly intellectual marriage. His wife, Mary E. Hobbs, is described by Hobbs biographer asa woman of liberal education and marked literary ability. Eleven years after her untimely deathfrom apoplexy in 1880, Hobbs paid tribute to her by publishing a book of her poetry that remains

in circulation (and at least one copy can be purchased through Amazon.com!).

Mark Pierce and the Parker Murder Trial

Chief Justice Peaslees sketch of Mark W. Pierce makes note that his subject served as awitness in two trials, one occurring before Peaslee himself after the turn of the century, and stillanother occurring in the 1840s which Peaslee refers to in the caption as the Parker Murder Trial.


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The historical record with respect to the latter proved far more yielding than with respect to theformer.

Mark W. Pierce witness at Ossippee in 1902 and at the Parker murder trial in 1845.

The Parker Murder Trial understandably left an impression on Chief Justice Peaslee, thoughit is unknown what role Mark Pierce played in it. The victim in the Parker Trial, one Jonas L.Parker, had emigrated from Lowell, Massachusetts to Manchester, New Hampshire, where hepromptly opened a saloon and bowling alley on the north side of Manchester between Elm andChestnut Streets. One history of Manchester editorializes that the saloon was the resort of thesporting element, and a certain class of politicians. It must also, then, have been popular. Possiblythrough the goodwill of his patrons, Parker obtained the office of town tax collector, a station thatprompted him to frequently carry on his person large sums of money. Many believed that it was thisresponsibility that led to his doom.

On March 26, 1845, Parkers body was found murdered and lying in a forested section ofManchester, his throat cut and the $7,000 then believed to be in his possession missing. Avigilance committee comprised of prominent town elders directed the investigation, and theirsuspicions came to rest on Horace and Asa Wentworth of Saco, Maine. Eye witness testimonyclaimed that Parker was last seen with a broad-shouldered, whiskered man who loosely fit HoraceWentworths description. The vigilance committee concluded that a second man also observed onthe night in question was Horaces brother, Asa, and the committee proceeded to invoke the legalprocess against the two brothers.


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The Wentworths wisely hired two soon-to-be famous men to conduct their legal defense:Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire and Benjamin Butler of Massachusetts. The two persuasivelypointed out that the very eye witness who claimed to have seen Horace Wentworth on the evening ofthe murder, also initially claimed that Horace and Parker acted as friendly acquaintances towardeach other. After testimony established that Horace and Parker had never met, the eye witness

changed his story on the stand, casting serious doubt on the States case. Pierce then also establishedthrough witness testimony that Horace was quite small compared to Parker and not likely to havebeen capable of subduing him. The jury acquitted both defendants of the charges.

In an interesting twist, it was later revealed that Butler, who went on to become a famousCivil War general and the Governor of Massachusetts, subsequently represented a man namedPierson after the Parker Murder Trial who turned out to be the actual Parker murderer. Pierson, whohad been convicted of murdering his wife and child, and confessed the Parker murder to Butler onthe eve of his execution, as well. In his confession, Pierson admitted that he and his brother hadkilled Parker as an act of revenge. According to the Pierson, Parker had refused to turn over $2,000in proceeds from a robbery that Persons brother had entrusted to Parkers care. It was believed thatParker used the $2,000 to open his saloon.

Butler revealed all of this in a letter to Horace Wentworths nephew in 1885. TheWentworth brothers were nonetheless financially ruined by the case and never recovered theirreputation. Their prosecution has been viewed by historians as an act of regrettable prosecutorialirresponsibility.

Newport, New Hampshire - May, 1901

In May of 1901 Peaslee sat for trial term in Newport, New Hampshire, County Seat forSullivan County. In 1901 there were only fifteen attorneys in Sullivan County, and the sameattorneys appeared in case after case.

The drawings include depictions of at least two trials, including the first one:Hoyt v.Simonds. Jesse M. Barton appeared for the plaintiff and H.W. Parker for the defendant. This casewas a dispute about alleged deceit over the boundary of a piece of land. Peaslee has drawn theunfortunate defendant Simonds of Washington who got sued on a line case. We also have apicture of the bespectacled surveyor holding his hand to his head, his beard reaching down to mid-chest level. For reasons unknown, Peaslee also drew a juror from Unity named Solon Anderson.

The second Newport trial Peaslee drew was Taylor v. Burnap, an action to recover moneyfor repairing real estate. The widow Taylor who got excited, as Peaslee drew her, won this casewith damages of $103.63, or about $3,200 in todays money.

Shirley Hill July, 1900

One set of drawings which has eluded explanation are pictures from a trial or trials at ShirleyHill a part of present-day Goffstown. Consultation with area newspapers of the time has notturned up any clues. A picture of a young boy with the caption one of the terrors, a demurewoman called Mary Anne, and a gentleman simply called the pool champion make this inability tofind more information all the more frustrating. What information we do have comes courtesy ofAttorney James Q. Shirley of Sheehan, Phinney, Bass + Green. Attorney Shirley is a directdescendant of the Shirleys for whom the neighborhood is named. He relates that the area was apopular resort with a hotel that catered to wealthy Bostonians. There was also a trolley service from


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Manchester up to the Hill. This could explain the origins of the pool champion. But whatcourse of events at this pleasure dome brought the pool champion, one of the terrors, and the politeMary Anne together at trial remains a mystery for now.

The hotel at Shirley Hill a locality in present-day Goffstown.

IV. Personalities

The Colbys of Claremont: Ira Colby and Ira G. Colby

Peaslees pen appears to have captured two generations of the Colby family lawyers in theClaremont area. The Gentleman from Claremont has an unmistakable beaked nose and large earswhich match a contemporary photograph of Ira Colby, father and law partner to Ira G. Colby. Seefig. 7.


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Fig. 7 Fig. 8

The portrait of Colby the Younger is an especially delicate and almost gentle likeness. See fig. 8.Unlike some of the other drawings, this one has a quality of having been sat for by the subject. Thefather was about seventy years old at the time of this drawing. The son would have been about thirtyat the time of his portrait.

Jason Dudley appears on the far left of this photo of three

Colebrook town officers. He is either in the background

or the gentleman in the middle is exceptionally gigantic.


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Dudley of Colebrook Jason Dudley

Jason Dudley was a prominent North Country lawyer and politician descended from EthanAllen, the Revolutionary war hero, whom his grandmother would tell stories about from personal

recollection. Dudleys wife was a direct descendent of Governor Bradford of Massachusetts. Hisbiography calls him a peacemaker rather than a promoter of strife. Among other activities, Dudleyhad a longtime relationship with Colebrook Academy the alma mater of present-day Justice GaryHicks. Dudley served as principal three years while studying to be a lawyer. After a brief stint inVermont he returned to serve more than a quarter century as a trustee of the Academy. Dudley wasapproximately sixty years old at the time of Peaslees sketch.

Squire Tuttle

The bow-tied Tuttle. The rather intense reader: Hening of Berlin

Hon. James P. Tuttle, was born in New Boston, New Hampshire, received his law degreefrom Boston University, and was admitted to practice law in New Hampshire in 1885. Uponappointment by Gov. Robert P. Bass, he served as New Hampshires Attorney General from 1912-1918.

Hening of Berlin

Crawford Dawes Hening, a native Philadelphian, graduated from the University ofPennsylvania before moving to Lancaster, New Hampshire in 1894. After a brief period, he returnedto Philadelphia to teach law at Temple and the University of Pennsylvania. In 1914, he took upresidence in Lancaster, New Hampshire where he prepared a digest of the New Hampshire lawreports. This work led to his appointment in 1916 as the official reporter for the New HampshireSupreme Court. In the 1920s, he was appointed a municipal judge by Governor Fred Brown.


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V. Conclusion

We hope this brief introductory essay brings Peaslee and some of his drawings to life. Thisshow is a rare instance of viewing historical figures through a judges keenly observant eyes.Though Peaslee may be mortified to know his drawings would be seen more than a century later, weare glad for this unique contribution to the historical record.

Mike Lewis is an Attorney at the New Hampshire Attorney Generals Office. Jay Surdukowski is an

Associate at Sulloway & Hollis.

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