Nathan Clifford, democrat (1803-1881)

Introduction

In presenting to the public the story of the life of Nathan Clifford, the author is embarking on a sea, which is to him, strange and uncharted. There have been manyhidden rocks, great stretches of unknown shoals, and numberless cross as well as counter currents. He is well aware that not all these dangers have been successfully avoided.

However the book be considered, the effort has been made, conscientiously, faulty though it may be, to make a partial payment for the privilege of bearing a surname, honored among men, years before the present writer was born. Therefore it is to be hoped that the seriousness of purpose may be considered in mitigation of the judgment of the work.

There has also been felt a desire to present properly to readers the story of one who belonged to what is now almost universally admitted to have been the wrong side of a great controversy. We are too apt to forget, in the light of victory, to investigate into the shadows of defeat. The glory of success of ttimes magnifies all those within its rays, at the same time minimizing everything outside and beyond. The winning party is incorrectly considered all good, while its opponents are erroneously held to be the absolute opposite. Therefore it is not unwise to look occasionally into the life of one who was not within the circle of the blessed.

To the men of the North who helped unflinchingly to bear the banner of the Democratic Party during the long viii Introduction

contest over slavery, have been applied epithets signifying not only error, but also guilt. All through this struggle Nathan Clifford was a Northern Democrat. Nay more, he was proud of the title. In all the subsequent years of his long life he never was ashamed of it. He reveled in it, and sincerely believed that he had followed the only right and honorable course.

If the following pages give the reader a picture of a man whose characteristics were virility and fearlessness, coupled with simplicity, a high sense of patriotism and great integrity mingled with intransigency, actuated by the sincere conviction that the continuation of the Federal Union demanded the adhesion to ideas which subsequent events have shown to be wrong in part, I shall be entirely satisfied. If the book leads a doubter to the belief that Judge Clifford, in his political beliefs, love of country and honesty of intention, was one of a large class, I shah feel that I have contributed to a better appreciation of the history of my country.

I wish to express my thanks to Major William H. Clifford, Honorable Clarence Hale, Mr. Philip G. Brown, Honorable William J. Curtis, Mr. Thomas L. Talbot and Mr. Walter G. Davis for their friendly criticism from which I have derived much profit. To my brother, the late Honorable Nathan Clifford, whose reading and research in preparation for writing the biography of his grandfather were cut short by sudden death, I owe the determination to carry on what he had begun.

P. G. C.

Portland, Maine, November 21, 1921.

Contents

CHAPTER

I. — Early Life ....

II. — Representative to Legislature

CHAPTER I Early Life

The rigors of the New England climate and the rugged character of her citizens have very often been said to stand in the relation of cause and effect. Whether this may be scientifically true, or is a happy conceit of some poetically gifted admirer of northern temperament, it, at all events, furnishes a most reasonable explanation of the prevalence among the early settlers on our shores of those sterling qualities which some persons have considered predominating in the American of the first century of the Republic. The trials, hardships and privations with which the comers to the new land had to contend, must certainly have had the effect of keeping off or driving back again any but the stoutest hearts and the most enterprising spirits, till at length there could have been left only the physically strong, the resourceful and the brave.

In Nathan Clifford, who first saw the light of day August 1 8, 1803, in the little town of Rumney, Grafton County, New Hampshire, can be noticed the results of the difficult conditions under which his ancestors had lived. He was of English stock, the tamily having emigrated to this country in the year 1644. The great-grandfather of Nathan Clifford, Isaac Clifford, came into the world in Hampton, New Hampshire, May 24, 1696. He moved to Rumney, where the latter part of his days was spent. He was collector and treasurer of the town. His son, Nathaniel, began life in Rumney in 1750. Nathaniel was like Isaac in character ; public spirited, much respected, and filled the same local offices that his parent had held. He passed away January 23, 1824. The father of Nathan Clifford was Deacon Nathaniel Clifford, who was born in Rumney, September 23, 1778. The Deacon was of a very serious turn of mind, a trifle stern and puritanical, but highly regarded for intelligence and uprightness. He died in 1820. His wife was Lydia Simpson, the daughter of David Simpson of Greenland. She was a woman of great personal beauty and unusual energy, vigor and perspicacity. Her mental peculiarities were transmitted to her child, Nathan. She lived to see him occupy the position of Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and ended her earthly career June 30, 1869, at the ripe old age of ninety-six.

Nature lavished upon Judge Clifford one great gift, — almost perfect health, which stood the strain of long days of hard work. Labors which would have broken down the constitution of a weaker man left him unscathed to do his tasks until, at last, the human machine, literally worn out, ceased to function.

Judge Clifford was the only son in a household of seven children. The finances of the family were very limited but sufficient to afford a comfortable home, free from any great privations. The Deacon lived in a small one and a half story house some distance from the more thickly settled portion of the village of Rumney This structure was standing up to a few years ago. It was in this modest abode that the Judge was born.

The means of education in the town of Rumney were very limited; the course of instruction was narrow and the terms of school continued for only a short time during the winter months when the children could be spared from work on the farm. The early formative influences to which the boy was subjected were of the purest and healthiest sort. His home, though quite humble, was one in which the principles of honor and morality were both exemplified and taught. Parental affection had, however, cherished no further expectations for the future of the child than that he should succeed to his father's place and pursue the kind of life the latter had led. The Deacon entertained no hope for his son beyond what might be expected from a somewhat stingy Nature in return for a diligent cultivation of a very modest plot of ground.

In short there was nothing to distinguish young Nathan, to the casual observer, from any other New England farmer's boy, and the thought had apparently never occurred to the sire that his offspring would do more than carry on the life and traditions of his ancestors. Nathan was not brilliant. There was never noticeable in his character that glittering, flashing genius which shoots so high — and sometimes falls so low. The child had something better than genius. He possessed the ability for hard work and the slow, plodding retentive mind, with sufficient self -appreciation to lift the spirit out of the mire where wallows the drudge. It is to this characteristic of dogged determination to stick to a thing till mastered, and to the ability to use what he had acquired that must be attributed the success which came to him in after life.

The first school he attended was that of his native village. Poor as this was, with persistence and faithful work, he succeeded in securing for himself a fair intellectual groundwork. At the age ot fourteen he told his elders of his desire to obtain an education more liberal than was within the reach of their means to afford him.

At first the family did not view with any degree of favor this departure from traditions. He finally, however, overcame their resistance and obtained their reluctant consent to his enrollment as a pupil in Haverhill Academy. At the time of Clifford's studies there, this institution had recently been established in a stone building, the original wooden structure having been burned in 1814. The academy was one of the oldest in the State of New Hampshire, having been incorporated in 1794 and having helped to educate many famous men. ' Here Clifford remained as a student for three years, until 1820.

Following the custom set by other New England boys of small means and great ambitions, he obtained the direction of a small district school in one of the neighboring towns. His earnings from this source were very small, so that in order to supplement the scanty pay of the country teacher, he used his classroom in the evenings as a place for giving singing lessons. It is said that he was possessed of a fine voice, a good musical taste, and a considerable knowledge of harmony, having acquired these latter accomplishments from his father and sisters during evenings at home. In spite of such exceptional and fortunate opportunities, one must feel considerable doubt as to the value of the future justice's instruction in the vocal art . Such teaching as he imparted was , however, doubtless without great expense to the recipient.

The three years of school life at Haverhill were thus subject to many interruptions, but unflagging industry made up for absences and brought rapid progress with great mental discipline. Subsequently, one year spent at the literary institution at New Hampton, N. H., completed the young man's academic training. He had hoped to enter Dartmouth with the youths of his class and age, but to his disappointment he found himself unable to procure

' History of New Hampshire, Everett Stackpole, vol. ii,, page 337.

the money for such a course. It was, therefore, with great reluctance that the possibiHty of a college career was surrendered. He did, however, find the means and time, in the midst of all his other occupations, to pursue the Hne of classical and other studies prescribed at that time by a New England college. He tried, so far as possible, to keep abreast of the reading and studying of the grade at Dartmouth in which he would have entered had his resources been sufficient.

While he was at New Hampton Institute he announced to his family his determination to read law. The choice of this profession was not an accident or a sudden decision, but the result of a fixed and settled preference. The years of preparation had been times of close and intense application. They had borne their fruit in a mind matured and in the production of practical views of life. The instruction at the academies had been supplemented by a considerable stock of general reading, so that, on the whole, young Clifford had fairly well fitted himself for the commencement of his life work. His earnest study had attracted the attention and won the interested affection of his teacher, securing for him much assistance and encouragement.

At the age of eighteen he entered the office of Josiah Quincy, a prominent lawyer of Grafton County. Mr. Quincy was probably, at that time, the leading attorney of the district. He was born in 1793 in Lenox, Mass., and settled in Rumney in 1816. Beginning life in very restricted circumstances, he had soon acquired financial success and later became the adviser for many large interests. He was several times a member of the State Legislature in both branches, and was President of the Senate. He died in Rumney in 1875. He was known by some as a hard, grasping, money-getting man, but one biographer, at least, regards his reputation as but the resuit of the jealousy of those who were less successful than himself. ^

By thoroughness and application the young student soon won the respect of Mr. Quincy, who treated Mr. Clifford with the utmost kindness, making him a confidant in practice and finally intrusting him with various matters of large importance. It was without doubt owing to the interest and care shown by Mr. Quincy toward his pupil that the latter early acquired a remarkable f amiHarity with the customs and details of business in a law office. Also it is probable that the training under this old-fashioned counsellor, coupled with the slender means of Deacon Nathaniel, led Mr. Clifford to an early and full appreciation of the value of money.

His times of study were still broken into by the necessity for teaching in order to supplement his small income. With his accustomed assiduity, however, he applied himself to his task. At this period entrance into the bar of New Hampshire could be obtained, by one not a college graduate, only after a laborious preparation of five years. Such a course was accomplished by 1827, and in May of that year Mr. Clifford was admitted to practice in New Hampshire. It is well to consider what satisfaction the final accomplishment of a long cherished purpose must have brought to the young man. He was at last in the possession of a certificate enabling him to compete in the world with men of affairs. He had but to pick up one of the opportunities which lay about him.

The first step in his career was to decide on a place in which to settle. The choice of a location was then governed by very different considerations than at present. The outlying districts were of much greater relative prominence than they are today. The centers of population

* The Bench and Bar of New Hampshire, by C. H. Bell, Houghton, MiflOiin &Co., 1894.

had not then begun to absorb the brains and trade of the State. Communication was still wholly by stage and carriage. The country was not able to obtain the satisfaction of its wants from the cities. Therefore there were many towns of considerable importance, where a fair sized trade flourished, which since, for obvious reasons, have fallen back into a dry rot.

Such a settlement was Newfield, Maine, near the New Hampshire boundary. It lies on the north bank of the Little Ossipee River, about thirty miles northwest of Portland, adjoins Limerick on the east and Parsonsfield on the north, and is divided by the river from Shapleigh on the south. To one standing on the opposite bank of the stream and looking northward, a picturesque and unusual aspect is presented. The ground rises in three successive terraces from the water's edge, till the highest is 'crowned with hills and peaks, some bald, some ornamented with plume-like elms, whose graceful forms stand outlined against the sky. Upon the flats or tops of each elevation are collected the separate smaller hamlets constituting the parent village. A southern exposure hastens the spring and renders the soil fruitful and productive.

In 1827, it was a thriving little place, containing several lumber mills and tanneries. By the census of 1820, it had 1 147 inhabitants, and by that of 1830, 1289.' Business of various kinds was active, and land titles were in great confusion. Apparently there was no lawyer in the town.

Acting on the advice of Hon. Ether Shepley, then a practicing attorney of Saco, shortly to be appointed on the Supreme Bench of the State and later to receive the welldeserved honor of Chief Justice of the same court, Mr. Clifford selected Newfield as his place of residence. Before leaving the home of his father, he had provided him-

» Portland, Maine, Argus, January 17, 1831.

self with what credentials he thought necessary. Among the earUest of his papers are found the following:

This certifies that the bearer, Mr. Nathan Clifford has been a student at law in my office for the term of five years — During all of which time he has been diligent and attentive to his studies and sustained a good moral character —

Rumney, May 20, 1827.

JOSIAH QUINCY.

The undersigned being well acquainted with Mr. Nathan Clifford, a young gentleman who has recently finished his legal studies and wishes to locate himself in order to practice his profession beg leave to recommend him to the notice and esteem of those who may need his services or be able to assist him.

Mr. Clifford has ever sustained a good moral character and from many displays of his professional skill and abilities which have fallen under our observation we doubt not that he is well read in his profession and has talent sufficient to make himself eminently useful and highly respectable.

Wentworth June 2nd 1827.

Thomas Whipple, Jr.

Caleb Keith Samuel Burns

It may be of interest to the reader to know that Wentworth, N. H., is a town bounded by Rumney on the east and Orford on the west. It was incorporated by Gov. Benning Wentworth in 1766, and contains about six square miles. Rumney was chartered in 1767, so that the two villages were of practically the same age. ' Diligent search has not disclosed the identity of the three men whose names appear at the bottom of the second certificate, though a Thomas Jefferson Whipple read law in Josiah Quincy's office, a few years later than did Mr.

^History of New Hampshire, pp. 281, 286, by John N. McClintock, Boston, B. B. Russell, 1888.

Clifford. It is possible he was the son of the signer of the reference. '

In 1827 the means of transportation were very meagre, and in the case of Nathan Clifford were confined to the two strong legs with which nature had amply endowed him. Family tradition tells of his long walk from Rumney to Newfield with all his worldly goods done up in a pocket handkerchief and suspended from a stick over his shoulder. Whether or not this be true, it is pleasant to speculate on the state of mind of the youth, realizing, probably, that he had good brains in his head, and knowing full well he had no money in his pocket, as he tramped his solitary way over the New Hampshire country roads, in the year of grace 1827. Had he had a true vision of the future, would he have been any happier? "The thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts," and it takes no great imagination to believe that his were very long and very practical, as hour after hour he trudged on, now resting for a bite to eat, now talking with a farmer as he passed through the more settled districts, sleeping, doubtless, at times by the roadside, and always possessed with the one determined resolve to succeed.

Upon his arrival in Newfield he went at once to the house of Captain James Ayer. The Ayers of Newfield were very numerous. Family tradition again has it that he lived in the home of Captain James Ayer, while it is known that he had an office in the house of Dr. James Ayer, the two men being distant cousins.^ What gained the young man such ready access to the leading family of the town must be left largely to conjecture. It should, however, be noted that Captain Ayer was possessed of a very beautiful daughter, aged sixteen, at the date of Mr. Clifford's arrival in the town, and that in less than a year from the

' Bench and Bar of New Hampshire, by C. H. Bell.

» Dr. James Ayer, In Mentor iam, privately printed, 1892.

advent of the stranger into the Ayer homestead, the daughter, Hannah, and Mr. Clifford were united in marriage, March 20, 1 828. She was but seventeen years of age.

This wedding, the fruition of a romance so suddenly commenced, was the beginning of a joint life of helpfulness and understanding which continued for fifty-three years. Mrs. Clifford was constantly with her husband except when the cares of a young family prevented her from accompanying him. Theirs was an example of the kind of matrimonial alliance which lays the foundation of a society based upon the sacredness of home, the proper rearing of children, and the thoughtful and sincere recognition of the responsibilities which such a union entails.

By an act of the legislature of the State of Maine passed February 25, 1825, any person who had been licensed to practice law in the highest court of any other State, where the qualifications required for admission were equal to her own, was entitled to apply for membership in the bar of the former. As New Hampshire came under such a description, Mr. Clifford was enabled at once to claim the right of entrance into the legal fraternity of his adopted home. In consequence of early acquired habits of reflective study and a strong memory of remarkable accuracy, the young lawyer had brought with him into his newly chosen field of endeavor a substantial fund of knowledge, together with a capacity trained to apply this learning to the questions arising out of the affairs of men. Therefore he made his way to the confidence and esteem of the people among whom he lived, soon finding himself engaged in a fair sized and increasing business.

His marriage, doubtless, helped him toward the acquisition of a respectable practice. His father-in-law. Captain Ayer, was one of the leading citizens of the town. Elisha Ayer, father of Captain Ayer, had purchased from various owners a large tract on both sides of the Little Ossipee, and had thus become the chief landed proprietor in that section. The son was, therefore, a person of great influence and high position. The care and management of a property of such dimensions must have rendered the advice and efforts of an attorney most necessary. It is easy to imagine that many important family matters were turned over to the son-in-law. Such a nucleus brought him other clients, and the presence among the Clifford papers of a number of old deeds is evidence of a large real estate practice.

Mr. Clifford was early led toward a political life. His upbringing had turned him toward the party of the people rather than that of the Federalists or their successors. Therefore it is not surprising that in the campaign of 1828 in which Andrew Jackson ran for the presidency, Mr. Clifford should have been an ardent Jackson supporter. He must have been a most convincing advocate, because, although at the time of his coming to Newfield in 1827 there were scarcely a score of Democrats in the town, he was, in 1830, elected to the legislature on the Democratic ticket by a large majority. Such success should be considered along with the fact that in the Maine election of 1828, Jackson received only 13,927 electoral votes against 20,773, for Adams. '

It is said that Captain Ayer, who apparently was a conservative, tendered his son-in-law a position on the legislative ticket of the older party, which offer was refused. This, however, cannot be verified. It is, nevertheless, a story indicative of the young man's character. He had now reached a point in life where the first difficulties had been overcome. He had educated himself in his chosen profession. He had felt himself in possession of sufficient means to warrant the assumption of the responsibilities of

» See Files of Portland, Me., Eastern Argus of this period, especially Jan. 9, 1829.

a family. He had become respected and esteemed in the community of his adoption, and now he dared to tell his fellow townsmen that the majority of them were following the wrong political standard bearer ; that the future of the country demanded the government of the party of youth and fresh ideals, that of the people rather than of the wealthier, conservative class; dared, to the extent of rejecting the political preferment proffered by one of the leaders of the already dying, though still hearty, aristocracy, and one who was united to him in the relationship of father-in-law.

The selection of his political affiliation was like all other important steps taken by Mr. Clifford during his lifetime. It was irrevocable. A choice once made, after long deliberation, was final. Through all the vicissitudes of the career of the Democratic Party for the next sixty years, Mr. Clifford was its loyal and unwavering supporter. He believed that the good of the nation was best served by his allegiance to the faith of his youth. To this he was always true. Whatever might be said of his judgment, no question can ever be raised as to the absolute sincerity of his belief or the honesty of his convictions.

CHAPTER II Representative to Legislature

In order to understand the political situation at the date of Mr. Clifford's election to the state legislature, one should refresh one's recollection with a brief survey of the trend for the forty years preceding. It will then be understood that there were at this period in the embryonic stage those forces which were to govern the history of political parties in America for the next fifty years. While it is difficult to assign any particular time to the beginning of tendencies, still it is fairly accurate to say that during the twenties there began to show above the horizon the threatening clouds of secession and nullification, which though dispelled for brief intervals, continued to darken the sky till it was cleared finally by the Civil War.

It will be remembered that the Federalist Party had gone down to signal defeat and virtual death after the one term of John Adams in the presidential chair. Various causes had contributed to this event, but the chief reason was, doubtless, the fact that the adoption of the Constitution had been the work of a minority of the people. The best brains, the wealth and the aristocracy of the land, forming a party which believed in strong central government (when they were in office) had by sheer firmness of purpose and no little manipulation, forced their ideas upon a somewhat unwilling country.' This group, or the Federalists as they became to be called, im-

' Life of John Marshall by Albert J. Beveridge, vol. i., pages 356 and 391. See also account of Adoption of Oanstitution in vol. i. of same.

mediately assumed the reins of power which the ratification of their designs had placed in their hands. Their aim was to preserve the country against the evils of divided sovereignty such as had existed since the Declaration of Independence. The central authority must be supreme. They had very little sympathy with the rank and file except in the way of ruling them and doing it well. Thus they immediately came into opposition to those who liked as little restraint as possible and with the theory that the United States was merely a confederation, each member of which was sovereign.

Jefferson, seeing the opportunity for building out of these elements of discontent a party of the common people as distinguished from the gentility, early began to construct the machine which was soon to make him the most powerful man in America. Taking advantage of all the weaknesses of his opponents, using every body of men which for any reason was against the "old regime," combining the doctrine of states' rights with his natural theoretical love of individual freedom, he wielded an influence which reached to all parts of the country and extended to the most remote settlements.' The Sage of Monticello was indeed the idol of the masses. Thus came about the fall of the FederaHsts.

Their principles, however, survived. For the next ninety years, the beliefs of men as to the rights and powers of the national and state governments in their relation to each other were to form the bases for the platforms of parties. There was always to be a group favoring a wide extension of the authority of the former, and opposed to it a faction advocating what came to be called strict construction of the Constitution. Whatever issue of importance might arise at any election, it could be traced back

' Thomas Jefferson by John T. Morse, Jr., pages 115-117, American Statesmen Series.

to this divergence of opinion. Whether it were slavery, the tariff, the bank or the distribution of public monies, we see the champions aligning themselves according to their faith in the central as distinguished from local supremacy.

But in the last analysis the general government must be stronger than that of its component parts, if it is to succeed. There can be but one head. So one sees in American history the curious phenomena of parties elected to power on a platform of peoples' rights and individual freedom (which was but another way of expressing local or state liberty), gradually falling away from this theory, till a fresh cry of despotism is raised, and a full tide of democracy wafts into control a different set of rulers. To maintain the proper balance between these two opposing beliefs is, and always has been, the task of the American statesman.

Thus it happened that through the administration of Madison and Monroe, the trend of policy, silent and often unconscious, was toward that of the former aristocratic government. Power makes for conservatism, and whatever the avowed purpose of a party, it is sure to come to a conviction that its aims, being right, must be carried out.

When we arrive at the election of John Quincy Adams we find ourselves confronted by a true Federalist under a different name . ^ The times were ripe for another overturn . The country had been growing. The great additions of territory had more than doubled the area of the United States. Vast tracts of unoccupied land called to the adventurous to improve it. Gradually but irresistibly the frontier crept farther and farther from the Atlantic. Emigration increased, yet the new lands absorbed all the influx, while calling for more. The West was becoming a factor. Its inhabitants were of the sort who had little in