Life and letters of Joseph Story : associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States ...

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PROFESSOR OF LAW THEODORE EISENBERG B.A., J.D., 1972

Chapter I. Parentage

Atjtobiogeaphical Letter of mt Fathek — His Father — Mar-

BIAGE ChAEACTEK AND PERSONAL ApPBARANOB — RELIGIOUS

Views — Anecdotes — His Mother — Her Personal Appearance AND Character.

An autobiographical letter, written by my father in the year 1831, and addressed to me, thus commences with an account of his parentage : —

"Washington, 23d January, 1831.

" My DEAR Son :

" I have often resolved to write down for your use a brief memoir of my life ; and having leisure at this time, I have determined not to omit it any longer. You are too young now to think much about it ; but if you should live, and grow up to manhood, as I pray God you may, I am sure that it cannot fail to be of interest to you. I shall write, too, very frankly and freely, and in a manner which would not be justifiable if this were designed for the public, or even for the eyes of a friend. But between a parent and child all forms may be dropped, and we may write as we feel ; and if here and there a spice of personal vanity should appear, it would be but as the small talk of the fireside, where mutual confidence allows us to think aloud, and tell our honest thoughts as they

VOL. I. 1 arise. Perhaps, when I am in my grave you -will take comfort in these little details, and say, with the poet, — Forsan et hcec olim meminisse juvabit.

" I was born at Marblehead, in the county of Essex, on the 18th of September 1779. My father's name was Elisha Story ; my mother's, Mehitable Pedrick. My father was a native of Boston, and born in 1743. He was the son of William Story of that place, who held, I believe, the office of Registrar in the Court of Admiralty at the beginning of the Revolution. My grandfather was, in fact, a Whig, but holding office under the British government, he was subjected to the common odium of the times. His house was assailed by the mob, and considerably injured. My father was a sturdy Whig, and took a very early and active part in all the revolutionary movements. He was one of the Indians who helped to destroy the tea in the famous Boston exploit. He did not receive a pubKc education, owing, I believe, to his father's very rigid religous opinions, which would not suffer him to go to Harvard College, lest he should there imbibe those heretical tenets, which, in the form of Arminianism, were then supposed to haunt those venerable shades. He, however, was educated in the Public Latin School in Boston, then under the government of the celebrated master Lovell. After receiving the usual classical instruction there, he studied medicine with a very eminent physician. Dr. Sprague, of Boston. He married for his first wife. Miss Ruth Ruddock, daughter of John Ruddock, Esq., a man who had accumulated a considerable property in the ship-building business in Boston. She died in the year 1777, leaving seven children. In the autumn of 1778, my father married Miss Pedrick, whom you know as your grandmother still living, and by her had eleven children, of whom I am the eldest. Your grandmother's father was an opulent merchant of Marblehead, and, indeed, for that day, a very opulent merchant. He inclined, as many men of property did, to the Tory side, but never took any step except in favor of his countrymen. A considerable portion of his property being in shipping, was lost by rotting at the wharves during the war. He died in the year after I was born ; and finding that like himself I was left-handed, he was extremely anxious to give me a proof of his regard by presenting me with a small messuage ; but my mother, with great good sense, for the purpose of avoiding all family disagreements, declined the offer ; and thus I was probably saved from the mischievous notion, that I had property in my own right, a notion with which servants are apt to fill young minds to their positive injury."

Mr. Pedrick was a man of enterprise and decision of character, and as his daughter expressed herself, "he had no fear of any thing that the Almighty ever put on this earth." She used often to speak with pride of the courage he showed on one occasion when a fire broke out in Marblehead, during which he exposed his life to extreme dangers to save the property and lives of the family ; and on another occasion, during the winter season, when, although he could not swim, he sprang into the water, which was filled with broken ice, to save the life of a child not in any manner related to him or known by him. This energy and self-reliance formed, as we shall see, a striking trait of his daughter's character, and was transmitted also to my father.

" My father," continues the Autobiography, " soon after the commencement of the revolution, entered the army as a surgeon, and continued in it until the close of the year 1777, when he retired, being disgusted with the management or rather mismanagement of the medical department. I am told that there is still extant a correspondence with the head of that department on the subject, somewhat excited, but J have never seen it. He was with General Washington during the campaign of 1777 in the Jerseys ; and I remember to have heard him speak, in my early youth, with great enthusiasm on the subject. To the very close of his life he entertained the highest admiration of General Washington, and of John Adams, though in the political controversies between the latter and Mr. JeflFerson, he took side with Mr. Jefferson. He was, in a just sense, a disciple of the school of Washington, a lover of the Union, and devotedly attached to a republican government. In the party divisions of the times succeeding Washington's administration, he was a very decided republican, and continued so to his death. But his natural moderation of character, combined as it was with great firmness and amenity, saved him from those extravagancies, which but too often disgrace the history of parties. "And now that I am upon the subject of my father, I must indulge myself in a few remarks upon his character and person. He was not so tall as I am, and rather of a stronger and fuller build. He must have been an uncommonly handsome man in his youth, (and indeed so I have always heard) ; for when I first recoUect him with distinctness, though then quite bald, his face was still of great masculine beauty and attractiveness.

His eyes were blue and of singular vivacity and sweetness, his eyebrows regularly arched, and a fine nose, and an expressive mouth, gave a perfect harmony to his features. There was, too, a slight smile which occasionally played about his features, and a general cheerfulness and ease in his conversation, which won every person who came near him. His manners were bland and approaching to elegance ; modest, but at the same time with a conscious bearing of character ; and there was just enough of the pride of person about him to make him solicitous to dress well, but not in showy apparel — with neatness, and yet not with too scrupulous care. My father was not a man of genius, but of plain, practical sense, and a quick insight into the deeds of men! He possessed great natural tact and sagacity with little pretension to learning. As a physician, he was eminently suecessful in practice, as was established by the constant increase of his business to the very time of his decease. In one branch of it he was eminent, perhaps more so than any individual in the neighboring towns. I mean in obstetrics. In cases of this sort he was often sent for into the neighboring towns, and I remember that on several occasions. Dr. Holyoke, then very eminent in the same branch, was in the habit of requiring his presence and assistance in difficult cases."

In the year 1770, Dr. Story removed from Boston, where he was born and had lived to that time, to Marblehead, and on this occasion he received the following certificate from the principal physicians of the former place : —

" To all whom it may concern, this is to certify, that Dr. EHsha Story was born and educated in this town, until he had attained a good knowledge of the Latin tongue ; that he then served two years with Dr. E. Mather, a physician of note, at Lyme in Connecticut, and then returning to Boston was four years longer under the instruction of the well known Dr. John Sprague ; that, since the completion of such period, he has for six years past practised with reputation in the common diseases of this climate, and the smallpox by inoculation and the natural way ; that he is well skilled in midwifery, and has attended or performed in most of common operations of surgery ; and this, our brother, being about to depart from our healthy metropolis, much more plentifully furnished with practitioners than some of the best of them are with patients, we recommend as a gentleman of abilities and integrity in his profession, an assiduous asserter of the rights of his country, and a friend to mankind.

John Sprague. Thomas Young.

Benjamin Church.

Boston, September, 1770.

1*

" But," continues the Autobiography, " what I delight to dwell on with most sincere satisfaction, is my father's domestic character. He was one of the most amiable men I ever knew; kind and indulgent to his children, partaking of all their pleasures, and busy in promoting their innocent amusements. His home was full of cheerfulness. No one came there who did not receive a hearty welcome ; no one departed without feeling as if leaving a home. He was liberal, charitable, and full of sympathy for the poor and afflicted. There was so much of gentleness about him, that his children felt him to be more of a companion than of a pajeht. His temper was very uniform, and almost an unclouded sunshine. I do not remember more than once in my whole life that he was angry with me. I have forgotten the occasion, but I know that I was quite in the wrong. I have heard him often say that his temper was naturally hasty and irascible ; but that he had by perseverance and attention obtained the mastery over it. And he gave me very strong advice with parental tenderness to acquire a like mastery by the same method. I hope I have profited by that advice. I am sure that his recommendation was founded in a just observation of our power over ourselves."

The same statement he here makes as to his father's original hastiness and irritability of temper, I have often heard him make in regard to himself, saying that he was wont when a boy to give way to violent bursts of passion, which led to serious and affectionate expostulation from his father. This tendency was, however, afterwards so completely subdued, or rather so admirably directed, that it only gave glow to his enthusiasm and activity to his powers. During my whole life, I never once saw him in a passion^ even under the most tryino- circumstances, and I never heard him speak an angry or wounding word.

" I remember," proceeds the Autobiography, " that on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year, my father was in the habit of joining in all the merriment and sports of his children. On some of those occasions he usually played blind-man's-buif with us, and he was really the most adroi]t of all the company in escaping detection. The last time he ever played with us in this manner, he could not have been far from fifty-five years of age ; and upon the close of it, he said, in a manner which aifected us all nearly to tears : ' My children, this is the last time I shall ever play with you in this game.' The remark struck us dumb ; and for a few minutes we were wrapt in melancholy.

" My father was a religious man, liberal and charitable in all his views. He was an Arminian in principle. My uncle, who was the minister of the church to which he belonged, was a warm, and indeed, over-zealous Calvinist. Between him and my father there were often disputes on the points of their faith, but these occasioned no alienation. One of the ea>rliest impressions that I have, is of a conversation in which he spoke with great kindness and charity of the Roman Catholics, among whom he said there were many pious and excellent men. I was too young at the time to know who Roman Catholics were or what was their creed. But toleration of Popery was at that time almost a deadly sin among the good old Calvinistic Puritans, and I honored his opinion the more, because it formed such a contrast to that of others who were about him. I trace back to this source my early and constant hatred of religious persecution, and my love, my inextinguishable love of freedom of opinion and inquny in matters of religion. They have now become the guiding maxims of my life. My father was for the last fifteen years of his life accustomed to have family prayers in the morning and evening. On Sunday, after the public afternoon service was over, aU the family, incliiding the servants, were assembled in one room, and he then read a printed sermon of some English divine, and concluded the day with reading a portion of the New Testament, and with prayer. I still remember those meetings with great pleasure. My father read with remarkable clearness and propriety, and it was a treat to sit under him, while he gave us specimens of the best eloquence of popular divines. The flexible tones of his voice, the graceful modulation, the animated zeal, and the patriarchal simplicity of his utterance on those occasions, gave me a taste for serious reading and touching eloquence, which turned my thoughts even in youth to the sober realities of life. I am sure that I was greatly a gainer by those domestic services. And when in after life I read Burns's beautiful poem of the Cotter's Saturday Night, I felt, a thousand times, that it portrayed scenes familiar to my thoughts and dear to my recollections.

" I have many reasons to believe that I was somewhat of a favorite with my father from an early period. He gave me his confidence while I was yet a boy, and talked to me of his business and his situation in a manner belonging to persons of mature years and reflection. I was sensible of the value of this confidence, and retained it through his whole life. Peace to the memory of so good a man. It is still very dear to the aged inhabitants of my native town, among whom he enjoyed a singular and enviable respect and attachment. He was among them a general favorite, and often performed the truly important ofEce of peacemaker, and restorer of broken friendships and family harmony."

Dr. Story seems to have had a temper which was genial and equable without being tame, a clear understanding, considerable sagacity, and great boldness and energy. He used to say that his mother condensed her opinion of him as a boy into the statement that « he was a rogue, but an honest one." Some anecdotes illustrating his character may not here be without interest particularly as they also illustrate the character of the time.

He was, as my father has stated in his autobiography, and as I have frequently heard him say, one of that small band of sturdy revolutionists (about seventeen in number) who, in the year 1773, and during the excitement growing out of the duty imposed on all tea imported into the Colonies, disguised themselves as Indians, boarded the ships laden with that obnoxious article, which lay in the harbor of Boston, and threw overboard their whole cargoes, amounting to about three hundred and forty-two chests.

He was also one of the "Sons of Liberty," actively cooperating in all the counsels and measures of the various clubs, which were the crystallizing points of the revolutionary spirit in Massachusetts. He not only attended their secret meetings, but engaged in their most dangerous service. " In consequence of their active demonstrations during the year and while the British troops were quartered in Boston," says his daughter, Mrs. E. White, "the commander-in-chief stationed two brass field-pieces on the Common, within a short distance of the guard-house, for the purpose of overawing the inhabitants. The Sons of Liberty thereupon called a meeting, at which they resolved to attempt to carry off these cannon. Their plan was, to proceed to the Common at midnight, with a sufficient body of chosen men, two of whom were to advance, seize and gag the sentinels, and the others to assist in removing the cannon, in case the guard-house was not alarmed. My father was selected as the person to attack and disarm one of the sentinels, a duty which despite its danger and difficulty, he readily undertook.' I have heard him say, that he marched alone from a particular spot on the Common, towards one sentinel, looking steadily at him, with his gun cocked, and when near enough to be heard, said, 'If you make the least noise, or give the slightest alarm you are a dead man ; ' that he never saw a man so frightened, — the soldier shook from head to foot, not daring to make the least resistance or to sound an alarm; that after disarming and gagging him, he gave a loud whistle, which was the preconcerted signal to his companions, who at once came to him from their places of concealment, and assisted him to hind the sentinel to a tree. He then whispered to the prisoner, that if he attempted to raise the guard he would instantly be shot down ; and this was the only word spoken by any of the party. The poor fellow, however, remained perfectly quiet, while the party dragged away the cannon without being disturbed, and, if I remember aright, took them over the neck and there hid them.

" I have heard my father say, that he was at the examination and court martial of the sentinels the next day, and that the sentinel with whom he dealt declared, upon oath, that all at once he was surrounded, overpowered, disarmed, and gagged by a large number of persons who looked like devils, and seemed as if they must have come up from under the earth ; that he endeavored to discharge his gun and give an alarm, but was prevented by the numbers of persons by whom he was surrounded. My father said that the soldier gave his testimony so bravely and boldly, not supposing that there could be any person present aware of his cowardice and of the

I b if'"' ^^^^^'' °^ ^°^^^''y' "'^^^ ^^^ 'P^^^^ "*^^° attacked the other sentinel, actual facts, that it was nearly impossible for him to restrain himself from laughing and even from contradicting him."

These two cannon played a distinguished part in the Revolution, and were the same, afterwards described by the Secretary of War in a representation to Congress as " two brass cannon, which constituted one moiety of the field artillery with which the late war was commenced on the part of America, and were constantly in service during the war," and upon which he was directed to affix a suitable inscription. On one of them, therefore, was iascribed, " The Hancock, sacred to Liberty ; " on the other, (which was the cannon taken by Dr. Story) "The Adams." They are now deposited in the Bunker Hill Monument, at Charlestown.

Before the revolution, and at the period when the English were in the habit of forcibly impressing seamen, wherever they could find them, a man named Michael Corbett was engaged on board an American vessel, at the port of Boston, laden with salt. On the morning when the vessel was to sail, an English lieutenant came on board in search of seamen to impress, and having found Corbett below and half covered with salt, in which he had hidden himself to avoid discovery, ordered him, with insulting language, to come out. Corbett refused repeatedly, and finally, as he saw the lieutenant advance to seize him, drew a line in the salt before him, threatening to run the lieutenant through with his marline-spike if he came over the line. The lieutenant did, however, advance across the line, upon which Corbett, as good as his word, killed him instantly by running him through the body. Great uproar and confusion naturally ensued. Corbett was carried ashore, tried, and through the influence of the English officers, condemned to death. The Americans, among whom the system of impressment had excited great indignation, took part with Corhett, and threatened to raze the jail and deliver him, if any attempt should be made to execute the sentence. Dr. Story was among the most indignant. He visited Corhett in disguise, and assured him of protection. He then went to the sheriff, represented the state of feeling in the town, prayed him to use his influence to prevent an attempt to enforce the sentence, and finally announced his determination in such event^ to aid the people in their attempt to rescue Corhett even by the razing of the jail. His argument and representation, backed by the determined spirit of the people, had such effect that Corbett was finally liberated.

During the revolution, Dr. Story was attached to Col. Little's regiment as surgeon. But it was common in the Continental army for th& surgeons, and even the chaplains, to act as soldiers, and in most of the battles occurring during his connection with the army, he was engaged. He fought at Concord and Lexington,, pursuing the British troops at every step during their retreat to Charlestown, and was in the trenches as a volunteer at the battle of Bunker Hill, fighting beside his friend Warren during all the early part of the engagement, and until he was forced to abandon the duty of a soldier for that of a surgeon in removing and attending to the wounded.

Dr. Story's charities to the poor were large in proportion to his means. But his sympathy was not restricted to virtuous misfortune, — it extended to those whom want tempted to crime. He recognized the fact, that seeming virtue is often only vice untempted, and that the heart which would be bounteous in the sunshine of prosperity is often stunted and debased by the mere savagery of need. One night he had occasion to go to his stable for. his horse, when to his surprise he recognized a person whom he knew to be poor, standing in the hayloft and pitching out the wood piled there. Concealing himself, Dr. Story watched the man, and saw him carry off the wood without attempting to prevent the theft, alleging as a reason, that bitter need must have induced the act.

The final clause in his will is particularly interesting, as showing the estimation in which he held my father, and as containing a beautiful trait of his own character. It is as follows : —

" I request my executrix hereinafter mentioned not to distress the poor, who may owe me at ray decease, but to receive their debts as they may be able to pay in ever so small a sum.

" I also make my wife Mehitable Story aforesaid my sole executrix of this my last will, knowing that she will receive advice and assistance from her son Joseph, to whom I recommend her and her concerns ; and though this perhaps is needless, I do it to mark my special confidence in his affections, skill, and abiUties."

My father's mother was born in 1759, and at her marriage was only nineteen years of age. She was slight in her frame, but handsome and vivacious, of a vigorous constitution, very tenacious of purpose, and had in an eminent degree that tact and managing power in which women so much excel men. Born during the French war, her childhood and youth had been passed amid

VOL. I. 2 those exciting scenes wMch preceded tlie American Revolution. She was married during the struggle for independence, at a time when the material prosperity of this country was at its lowest ebb, and the means of living were very narrow. Yet such was her spirit, that at nineteen years of age she was willing to assume the responsibility of a family of seven children upon an exceedingly restricted income. Her eldest child was my father, and it was during those revolutionary struggles which brought out like fire the secretest handwriting of character, kindling the enthusiasm and quickening the powers of all, that he was born. With her ardent temperament, it was impossible for her not to share in a lively manner the excitements of the day. This had doubtless not only great influence in strengthening her own character, but in modifying that of her child. But her interest in public affairs never interfered with the exact performance of all her domestic duties, and her home was always well ordered, neat, and cheerful. Her spirit seems not to have sunk under the cares of a growing family, but to have risen to the exigencies of her situation. Chiefly did her capacity exhibit itself after the death of her husband, which happened in the year 1805, when she was left with an exceedingly moderate income, and a large family of children solely dependent on her economy and foresight. And I have often heard my father describe the shifts to which she was put, and the admirable tact and method with which she conducted her household, and cared for the education of her children.

Dr. Story, in his last testament, speaks of her as " my beloved, faithful, and affectionate wife, (who) did during the whole time in which I have lived most happily with her, take on her the charge and management of my children, whom I had by a former wife, and did conduct that trust reposed in her with great patience and prudence, which probably have few examples, and thereby left my mind free to prosecute my professional engagements."

Nor was the position of the mother of a large family at that time, in New England, an easy one. Food was dear, comforts scarce, and means stinted. The climate was bleak and trying, especially in Marblehead. The demands of charity were large. And the two ends of the year could only be made to meet with frugality and management. The mother of a family was forced not only to superintend, but actively to take part in the work. Domestics were not to be had to any extent, and each housewife was bound to help herself. There was little time for leisure, much less for luxury. Things do not move on in a new country, where difficulties beset the path at every step, as in an old country, where the wheels of labor are fitted into the well-worn grooves of custom. In addition, the war encumbered not only the nation, but the individual, and comforts, and at times, even necessaries, could not be commanded. A mother was, therefore, often forced to be at once servant, seamstress, housekeeper, schoolmistress, and lady. Her position corresponded to the Italian definition of beauty, "il piu nelV una."

Strong self-reliance is apt to slide into dogmatism, and it is probable that my grandmother may have had somewhat of this failing. As I remember her in old age, she was like all brave natures, impatient of timidity or weakness of purpose. Her temper was gay, and she was a great talkei', telling manifold stories of the Revolution, and of the men and deeds of the past age. Her mind had a romantic turn, and with a sort of half-superstition she used to recount the legendary tales of her native town, never quite believing nor quite disbelieving them. Even to her death she took great interest in all the passing events of the day, and particularly in politics, which she read with avidity and strong personal feeling. She was impatient of being assisted, — preferring to do for herself, — loved to take the lead, was constantly busy, and never could believe that she was aged.

Such was the parentage of my father. And no one who knew him can fail to see how strongly the peculiar traits of both parents were stamped upon his nature. The friendly geniality and, broad understanding of the father, forming the base of his character, which was heightened by the indomitable will, vigor, and enthusiasm of the mother.

Chapter II. Childhood And Youth

Peeceptive Faculties — Interest in Politics — Scenes in the Barber's Shop — His Mistake op the Identity op his Mother— The Ambition he showed in his Games — His First Military Experience — ^His Stddiousnbss — Anecdote op his Generosity and Coukage — He Goes to the Academy — His Opinion op the " Elegant Extracts " — Diligence at School — His Estimate op the Mind and Character op Women — Domestic InPLUENCBS — LiPE AT HoME — ANECDOTES OP BoYlSH

Tricks — Conpidence op his Father in Him — Religious Influences— Accident — Influences op his Native Place — Description op Marblehead — Its Superstitious Character— Eccentric Persons — Dialect of Marblehead — Anecdotes AND Illustrations op it — He begins to write Verses — His Religious Views — Preparation por College.