DOCSLIB.ORG

George Bemis Was Born in Accused of Killing the Warden

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
George Bemis Was Born in Accused of Killing the Warden President Jefferson Davis for trea­ lishing what is regarded by many son, a position he resigned from to be the official transcription of before charges against Davis were the case. When compared with eventually dropped. the Stone Report of the trial, espe­ cially with regard to Justice Shaw's Clifford retired from law in 1867 charge lo the jury, it is considered and went to work as president to be heavily edited and some of the Boston and Providence scholars believe 'slanted' to justify Railroad. He was an Overseer of the execution of Dr. Webster. Harvard University and President of the Board where he helped in­ The design of the publication was duct two presidents of the uni­ not for profit but to vindicate the versity; James Walker in 1853 and character of our state judiciary - a Charles William Eliot in 1869. character which, you will allow me to add, was most severely drawn Although he declined many ap­ Bemis Watertown Public Library in question on the other side of the pointments abroad he did ac­ water for the insufficiency of the cept one as United States ing long imprisonments for me­ evidence to justify a conviction of Commissioner on the Fisheries nial crimes and made the subjects Webster and for the harsh and un­ under the Arbitration Treaty with of crimes and punishments the ob­ warranted charge of the judge . Great Britain, one he was unable ject of profound and phi losophical to fulftll for he died of heart dis­ study. In 1843, he and George T. George Bemis Papers, Courtesy ease in 1876. Bigelow defended Abner Rodgers, of the Massachusetts Historical an inmate at the State Penitentiary Society George Bemis was born in accused of killing the warden. The Watertown, Massachusetts in case was twice tried in the face of REPORT 1816. He passed the entrance public opinion that was extremely exam to Harvard in 1829 at the hostile. Bemis argued that Rodgers Case 0 1•' JOHN W. Webster age of 13, which he delayed enroll­ was insane and not responsible for ment for three years. He then en ­ his actions. Chief Justice Lemuel ..... tered as a sophomore in 1832 and Shaw issued an opinion that be­ graduated second in his class in came the American authority on Murder of George Parkman 1835. Bemis continued his studies insanity pleas during criminal at Harvard Law School under the prosecution. tutelage of Judge Joseph Story and Professor Simon Greenleaf until Bemis was one of the most es­ 1839 when he was admitted into teemed lawyers in Boston during the Massachusetts Bar. the 1850s and developed a prof­ itable law practice while being Mrs. Samuel Ripley, the teacher involved in many famous legal who prepared him for Harvard proceedings. said, "that her objection to George .llY Bemis was that he was too perfect." Bemis acted as co-counse l to State Attorney General John H. Clifford Bemis was an advocate for reform in the Parkman-Webster murder of the penal code in Massachusetts, case at the behest of the Parkman especially laws that allowed a de­ family for which he was paid fendant's previous convictions to $1,500. He also served as a 'quasi' extend his current sentence. He court reporter, eventually pub- often represented those undergo-.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Thomas R.R. Cobb and the Law of Negro Slavery Paul Finkelman University of Tulsa College of Law
    Roger Williams University Law Review Volume 5 | Issue 1 Article 4 Fall 1999 Thomas R.R. Cobb and the Law of Negro Slavery Paul Finkelman University of Tulsa College of Law Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.rwu.edu/rwu_LR Recommended Citation Finkelman, Paul (1999) "Thomas R.R. Cobb and the Law of Negro Slavery," Roger Williams University Law Review: Vol. 5: Iss. 1, Article 4. Available at: http://docs.rwu.edu/rwu_LR/vol5/iss1/4 This Symposia is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Roger Williams University Law Review by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Thomas R.R. Cobb and the Law of Negro Slavery Paul Finkelman* From the Revolution until the Civil War Southern intellectu- als, professionals, and politicians developed and articulated elabo- rate defenses of slavery. The most significant proslavery legal scholar was Thomas R.R. Cobb, a Georgia attorney, law professor and one-time reporter for the Georgia Supreme Court. His trea- tise, An Inquiry into the Law of Negro Slavery in the United States of America,' profoundly illustrates the way antebellum Southern lawyers and judges used their learning and talents to support slavery. Proslavery advocates, such as Cobb, emphatically insisted on the justice and morality-the essential rightness-of slavery. Cobb believed that racially based slavery was a prerequisite for a truly "republican equality"2 because only in such a system were all whites equal in status, regardless of their wealth, property, or sta- tion in life.
    [Show full text]
  • Harvard Law School's Promotional Literature, 1829-1848
    HARVARD LAW SCHOOL’S PROMOTIONAL LITERATURE, 1829-1848 A REFLECTION OF THE IDEALS AND REALITIES OF THE STORY-ASHMUN-GREENLEAF ERA Michael von der Linn† OEL PARKER, CHARLES WARREN, and later scholars attribute Harvard Law School’s renaissance in the years spanning 1829 to 1848 to the endowment provided by Nathan Dane, the sup- J port of President Josiah Quincy, and the contributions of Jo- seph Story, John Hooker Ashmun, and Simon Greenleaf.1 These were indeed the primary reasons for the school’s remarkable growth. Another, which has received little attention, was an aggres- sive promotional campaign initiated by Story in the 1830s.2 This † Michael von der Linn is the manager of the Antiquarian Book Department of The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. 1 The law school’s faculty and staff consisted of two people during this period. Story was the superintendent; Ashmun handled most of the administrative duties. They divided the teaching load fairly evenly. This arrangement continued when Greenleaf joined the faculty after Ashmun’s death in 1833. Asahel Stearns, Story’s predecessor, directed the school from its establishment in 1817 to 1829. He was the sole administrator and primary instructor, but he shared his teaching duties with Isaac Parker, who held a joint appointment with Harvard College. 2 I have found two references. Warren, who provides the quote cited in Footnote 6, devotes a paragraph to this topic. Newmyer, perhaps based on his reading of Warren, mentions it as well. Charles Warren, History of the Harvard Law School 13 GREEN BAG 2D 427 Michael von der Linn was not the first time Harvard issued marketing materials, nor was it the first or only school to use them.3 But the size of Story’s cam- paign was unprecedented.
    [Show full text]
  • Simon Greenleaf and the Case of the Stillborn Bowdoin Law School, 1850–1861
    University at Buffalo School of Law Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law Journal Articles Faculty Scholarship 12-1-2012 Piety and Profession: Simon Greenleaf and the Case of the Stillborn Bowdoin Law School, 1850–1861 Alfred S. Konefsky University at Buffalo School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/journal_articles Part of the Jurisprudence Commons, and the Legal Education Commons Recommended Citation Alfred S. Konefsky, Piety and Profession: Simon Greenleaf and the Case of the Stillborn Bowdoin Law School, 1850–1861, 85 New Eng. Q. 695 (2012). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/journal_articles/811 Originally published 85(4) The New England Quarterly 695-734 (Dec. 2012). © 2012 by The New England Quarterly. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal Articles by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Piety and Profession: Simon Greenleaf and the Case of the Stillborn Bowdoin Law School, 1850–1861 alfred s. konefsky N 1850, a small college in Brunswick, Maine, made a sur- I prising decision: it began to explore the possibility of es- tablishing a school of law. The venture was remarkable on a number of grounds, not least of which was the rather dismal record at midcentury of similarly ambitious proposals. Yale’s law school, which emerged from a private, proprietary school in the 1820s, did not grant degrees until 1843, and Yale “seriously considered dissolving the school” in 1845 and again in 1869.
    [Show full text]
  • Patti Ogden, Mastering the Lawless Science of Our Law: a Story Of
    Notre Dame Law School NDLScholarship Journal Articles Publications 1993 "Mastering the Lawless Science of Our Law": A Story of Legal Citation Indexes Patti J. Ogden Notre Dame Law School Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship Part of the Legal History Commons, and the Legal Writing and Research Commons Recommended Citation Patti J. Ogden, "Mastering the Lawless Science of Our Law": A Story of Legal Citation Indexes, 85 Law Libr. J. 1 (1993). Available at: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/118 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Publications at NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal Articles by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. "Mastering the Lawless Science of Our Law": A Story of Legal Citation Indexes* Patti Ogden** Ms. Ogden presents a history of American legal citation indexes, covering early nineteenth-century attempts, the development of modern citator systems by Frank Shepard and others, online citation systems, and the potentialfor future improvements in an essential tool of legal research. Mastering the lawless science of our law, That codeless myriad of precedent, That wilderness of single instances, Thro' which a few, by wit or fortune led, May beat a pathway out to wealth and fame. Tennyson, "Aylmer's Field" (1793) There is a considerable body of literature on the history of such legal publications as case reports, statutes, periodicals, digests, periodical indexes, and treatises. Lately, a core group of authors has begun speculating about the future of some of these publications.' Legal citators-those "useful but unloved" volumes 2-also have a history and presumably a future, but there exists little documentation or speculation about either.
    [Show full text]
  • John Warwick Montgomery
    DEFENDING THE HOPE THAT IS IN US: APOLOGETICS st ∗ FOR THE 21 CENTURY0F Prof. Dr John Warwick Montgomery I. Where We Are & Why This Is Important Christian believers concerned with defending the Faith once delivered to the saints need to recognise the unique cultural situation in which we find ourselves at the turn of the new millennium. This uniqueness stems from a combination of factors, by no means limited to increased secularism and secular self-satisfaction. The major factors are: (1) An enlargement of what Canadian sociologist Marshall McLuhan termed “the Global Village”: the exponential increase in world communications, resulting in continual, unavoidable contact between believers and unbelievers. (2) Pluralism, to an extent unknown in past ages, even during the Hellenistic period; its consequence being a multiplying of sects, religious and philosophical viewpoints, and the interpenetration of worldviews (e.g., Eastern religions transmogrified into Western “New Age” orientations). (3) Increased sophistication on the part of religionists. Examples, among many, include Scientology’s use of legal intimidation to stifle criticism of the movement, paralleling the employment of legal teams by multinational ∗ An invitational lecture at the Hope for Europe conference of the Evangelical Alliance, held in Budapest, Hungary, 27 April-1 May 2002. John Warwick Montgomery, Ph.D. (Chicago), D.Théol. (Strasbourg) is Distinguished Professor of Law and Theology and Vice-President for Academic Affairs—U.K. and Europe, Trinity College and Theological Seminary (Indiana, U.S.A.); Emeritus Professor of Law and Humanities, University of Luton (England); Barrister-at-Law, England and Wales; and Member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.
    [Show full text]
  • Simon Greenleaf, Testimony of the Evangelists
    Testimony of the Evangelists by Simon Greenleaf (1783-1853) This essay is in the public domain and may be freely copied and distributed. Greenleaf, one of the principle founders of the Harvard Law School, originally set out to disprove the biblical testimony concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was certain that a careful examination of the internal witness of the Gospels would dispel all the myths at the heart of Christianity. But this legal scholar came to the conclusion that the witnesses were reliable, and that the resurrection did in fact happen. ________________________________________ In examining the evidence of the Christian religion, it is essential to the discovery of truth that we bring to the investigation a mind freed, as far as possible, from existing prejudice, and open to conviction. There should be a readiness, on our part, to investigate with candor to follow the truth wherever it may lead us, and to submit, without reserve or objection, to all the teachings of this religion, if it be found to be of divine origin. “There is no other entrance,” says Lord Bacon, “to the kingdom of man, which is founded in the sciences, than to the kingdom of heaven, into which no one can enter but in the character of a little child.” The docility which true philosophy requires of her disciples is not a spirit of servility, or the surrender of the reason and judgment to whatsoever the teacher may inculcate; but it is a mind free from all pride of opinion, not hostile to the truth sought for, willing to pursue the inquiry, and impartiality to weigh the arguments and evidence, and to acquiesce in the judgment of right reason.
    [Show full text]
  • The Daniel R. Coquillette Rare Book Room a Law Student Collects: Simon Greenleaf and Michael Morales Spring 2009 a Guide To
    THE DANIEL R. COQUILLETTE through the school year and nary a month RARE BOOK ROOM went by when he did not purchase some Greenleaf-related item. Today, Michael occasionally goes through “acquisition A LAW STUDENT COLLECTS: withdrawals,” having already purchased every Greenleaf composition he can find for less SIMON GREENLEAF AND than a thousand dollars. MICHAEL MORALES The exhibit is broadly arranged by SPRING 2009 theme. It was curated by Michael Morales, BC Law 2009, and Karen Beck, Curator of Rare Books / Collection Development Librarian. It A GUIDE TO THE EXHIBIT will remain on view through early June 2009. Unless specified otherwise, all materials in Michael Morales is a third-year law these cases are from the collection of Michael student at Boston College. He is also Morales. completing an M.A. in Higher Education Administration at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education. Michael first became interested in collecting works by Simon Horizontal wooden case to the right of Greenleaf while working as a research the entrance door (as you face the door): assistant for Professor Daniel R. Coquillette during the summer of 2007. The summer project involved assisting Professor THE INFANCY OF THE Coquillette with his forthcoming two-volume HARVARD LAW SCHOOL history of the Harvard Law School. Michael first discovered Greenleaf while conducting background research for the project. As a DAILY NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER. member of BC Law’s Law and Religion Washington, March 8, 1838. Program, Michael was particularly interested This newspaper is displayed unfolded in some of Greenleaf’s work because it to show several interesting news items.
    [Show full text]
  • Joseph Story: the Age of Jackson
    Missouri Law Review Volume 34 Issue 3 Summer 1969 Article 1 Summer 1969 Joseph Story: The Age of Jackson Gerald T. Dunne Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Gerald T. Dunne, Joseph Story: The Age of Jackson, 34 MO. L. REV. (1969) Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol34/iss3/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at University of Missouri School of Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Missouri Law Review by an authorized editor of University of Missouri School of Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Dunne: Dunne: Joseph Story JOSEPH STORY: THE AGE OF JACKSON* GERALD T. DUNNE"* Dedication: To Bray Hammond 20 November 1886-20 July 1968 [O]ne of these rare and happy spirits who elude the traps which ensnare the rest of us; one of those finer minds, wncommitted to narrow intellectual categories, who contributed a new interpretation to American history. He is one whose "works do follow them." Reverend Paul Rahmeier, Chaplain at Dartmouth College, Memorial Service, August 26, 1968. I. Two INAUGURALS A. King Mob One Justice had been injured in an upsetting of a stagecoach, another was ill, and a third was beset by the infirmities of age. As a consequence of these and other mishaps the 1829 Term of the Supreme Court got off to a belated start. Those who sought omens might well see in such individual misfortunes the foreshadowing of an institutional adversity, and certainly nothing in the approaching inauguration of Andrew Jackson offered much comfort to the philosophy of the Marshall Court.
    [Show full text]
  • Judicial Bookshelf D
    Journal of Supreme Court History SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY WARREN E. BURGER Chief Justice 1969-1986 Journal of Supreme Court History PUBLICA TIONS COMMITTEE E. Barrett Prettyman, Jr. Chairman Donald B. Ayer Louis R. Cohen Charles Cooper Kenneth S. Geller James J. Kilpatrick Melvin I. Urofsky BOARD OF EDITORS Melvin I. U rofsky, Chairman HennanBelz Craig Joyce David O'Brien David J. Bodenhamer Laura Kalman Michael Parrish Kermit Hall MaevaMarcus Philippa Strum MANAGING EDITOR Clare Cushman CONSULTING EDITORS Kathleen Shurtleff Patricia R. Evans James J. Kilpatrick Jennifer M. Lowe DavidT.Pride Supreme Court Historical Society Board of Trustees Honorary Chairman William H. Rehnquist Honorary Trustees Harry A. Blackmun Byron R. White Chairman President DwightD.Opperman Leon Silverman Vice Presidents Vincente. Burke,lr. Frank e. Jones Dorothy Tapper Goldman E. Barrett Prettyman, Jr. Secretary Treasurer Virginia Warren Daly Sheldon S. Cohen Trustees George R. Adams KennethS. Geller Stephen W. Nealon Victor Battaglia FrankB. Gilbert Gordon O. Pehrson Helman Belz John D. Gordan III Leon Polsky Barbara A. Black Geoffreye. Hazard, Jr. Charles B. Renfrew HugoL. Black,lr. Judith Ri chards Hope Wi II iamB radford Reynolds Vera Brown Ruth lnsel John R. Ri sher, Jr. Wade Burger WilliamE. Jackson Harvey Ri shikof Patricia Dwinnell Butler Robb M. Jones WilliamP. Rogers Benjamin R. Ci viletti JamesJ. Kilpatrick Jonathan e. Rose Andrew M. Coats Peter A. Knowles Jerold S. Solovy William T. Coleman, Jr. Philip Allen Lacovara Kenneth Starr F. Elwood Davis Ralph l. Lancaster, Jr. Cathleen Douglas Stone George Didden III JeromeB. Libin Agnes N. Williams Charlton Dietz Maureen E. Mahoney W.
    [Show full text]
  • John Warwick Montgomery
    A New Approach to the Apologetic for Christ's Resurrection by Way of Wigtnore' s Juridical Analysis of Evidence John Warwick Montgomery Pree is: Philosophical and theological arguments for Christ's deity based on his miracles have not always had the convincing force expected of them. As epistemological efforts in general move more and more in a juridical direction, we apply for the first time the most sophisticated ofthese-Wigmorean analysis-to the central apologetic for the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. In my books, Human Rights and Human Dignity and Tractatus Logico-Theologicus, 1 I emphasised the shift on the part of distinguished philosophers such as Mortimer Adler and Stephen Toulmin toward a juridical approach to the solving of epistemological problems. At a recent conference at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies at the University of London, Professor David Schum of George Mason University, who instructs at the U.S. Joint Military Intelligence College, pointed to the same phenomenon in the field of military strategy: juridical argument, particularly Wigmorean argument construction, is now being employed in the analysis of potential insurgency operations and analogous tactical themes.2 The prime reason for the move toward juridical thinking in these fields is the sophistication with which lawyers must deal with evidence questions. Decisions of law can only be made once facts have been established, so lawyers and legal scholars must employ the Journal ofthe International Society of Christian Apologetics, Volume 3, Number I, 20 I 0, 13-27 14 ISCA JOURNAL most effective techniques possible in arriving at factual conclusions on which life or death may depend-and these must be sufficiently persuasive to convince the "triars of fact" (juries and judges) to arrive at just verdicts.
    [Show full text]
  • The Harvard Law School
    THE HARVARD LAW SCHOOL Louis D. Brandeis† HE MUCH-DEBATED QUESTION, whether the law school or the lawyer’s office affords the better opportunity for le- gal training, may well be considered settled. Undoubt- edly each offers advantages which the other does not pos- Tsess. All lawyers concede that a short apprenticeship in the office of a practitioner is valuable; but a thorough knowledge of legal princi- ples is essential to higher professional success, and this knowledge, which under all circumstances is difficult of acquisition, can rarely be attained except as the result of uninterrupted, systematic study, under competent guidance. For such training, the lawyer’s office seldom affords an opportunity. That this is now the prevailing opin- ion among lawyers is shown by the growth of law schools in the United States, and the introduction in England of systematic in- struction in the common law, both at the Universities and at the Inns of Court. It is but a century since the first school for instruction in the common law was founded. The Harvard Law School, the oldest of all existing institutions devoted to such education, is scarcely sev- † This article (with illustrations) first appeared at 1 GREEN BAG 10 (1889). At the time, its author was ten years out of Harvard Law School and practicing law in Boston. He had declined an offer by Professor Langdell to be an assistant professor at the school, but was the secretary of the Harvard Law School Association (whose creation he had spearheaded) and had recently been involved in the founding of the Harvard Law Review.
    [Show full text]
  • The Four Gospels from a Lawyer's Standpoint (1899)
    .....• A Scholarly Forum of Opinion Interrelating Law, Theology &: Human Rights featuring in this Inaugural Number the text of The Four Gospels from a Lawyer's Standpoint (1899) by Edmund H. Bennett, LL.D. Late Dean of The Boston University School of Law ACADEMIC YEAR 1981-82 fQLUMEI t'ooo ~ >- . A ~lication of The Simon Greenleaf School of Law, Price: (U.S.) $5.00 Orange, California andStrasbourg, France or FF 25 ...• ~ Thr Simon Greenlraf Law Rrview ~1~<' ;" 56 THE FOUR GOSPELS combined, confidently proclaim with the in• AN EXAMINATION & CRITIQUE OF spired apostle, "I know in whom I have THOMAS PAINE'S· believed;" or with that perfect and upright AGE OF REASON man of old, ,,]' know, I know, that my Re• deemer liveth. " Yes, yes, - " Jesus lives, I know full well, Naught from Him my heart can sever; Life, nor death, nor powers of Hell, Shall keep me from His side forever." Amen. by Joseph P. Gudel EDITOR'S !'\OTE: Mr. Gude! is a candidate for the degree of :Vlast('rof Arts in Christian apo!ogetks at The Simon Greenleaf School of Law. Ontll(' basis of this essay, he was awarded the School's :\Ianin Luther - John Calvin Award for excel• lence in the fidd of jurisprudenceattht'Commencernel1t exercises on May 10, 1981. -74- l -75- Joseph P. Gudel Thomas Paine was one of our country's greatest spokesman independence and his contributions to the birth of our nation hardly be minimized. As a writer he was unparalleled in his "He was extraordinarily fertile in ideas, and broad minded progressive. He was in fact a genius."l He openly advocated freedom for the United States while the members of our ontinental Congress were still hoping for a reconciliation with reat Britain.2 In January 1776his work Common Sense was published and came an overnight "best seller".
    [Show full text]