IC-NRLF 
 
 SB Sfl3 SMI 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 OF THK 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 OIKT OK 
 
 Received c^x-d^- 
 
 Accession No. / 4^-4^ & & Class No. 
 
Richardson, William Adams; a Sketch of 
 the Life and Public Services of by 
 Frank Warren Hackett: Washington, 
 1898. 
 
 This book is presented to your Library 
 by the Estate of the late William Adams 
 Richardson. 
 
 Kindly notify 
 
 CHAUNCEY CRAVEN HACKETT, 
 1418 M Street, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 of its receipt. 
 
OF THB 
 
 TJNIVERSITY 
 
A SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND 
 PUBLIC SERVICES 
 
 OF 
 
 WILLIAM ADAMS RICHARDSON 
 
 BY 
 FRANK WARREN HACKETT 
 
 privately 
 
 Of THB 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 1898 
 

 COPYRIGHT, 1898, 
 
 BY 
 
 FRANK WARREN HACKETT. 
 
 PRESS OF H. L. MCQUEEN, 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. WILLIAM ADAMS RICHARDSON. 
 SKETCH OF LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 
 
 1-145 
 
 II. APPENDIX. 
 
 i. MEETING OF THE BAR OF THE COUKT OF 
 
 CLAIMS iii-xxxix 
 
 REMARKS OF 
 
 WILLIAM A. MAURY iv-x 
 
 BELVA A. LOCKWOOD xi 
 
 JOHN W. DOUGLASS xii-xiii 
 
 JOHN B. COTTON xiv-xxii 
 
 GEORGE A. KING xxiii-xxvi 
 
 JOHN C. CHANEY xxvii-xxix 
 
 WILLIAM B. KING xxx-xxxv 
 
 CHARLES B. HOWRY xxxvi-xxxix 
 
 ii. PROCEEDINGS OF THE COURT. 
 REMARKS OF 
 ASSISTANT ATTORNEY - GENERAL 
 
 JOSHUA ERIC DODGE ..... xl-xlii 
 
 MR. GEORGE S. BOUTWELL . . . xliii-1 
 
 JUDGE WELDON 1-lvii 
 
in. REPORT OF THE METHOD ADOPTED BY 
 ASSISTANT SECRETARY RICHARDSON, 
 AT LONDON, TO KEEP SAFE THE 
 MONEY RECEIVED FROM SALE OF THE 
 FUNDED LOAN Iviii-lxix 
 
 iv. DEGREES, COMMISSIONS, ETC., HELD BY 
 
 WILLIAM ADAMS RICHARDSON . . . Ixx-lxxv 
 
 V. A PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE 
 PUBLISHED WRITINGS OF WlLLIAM 
 
 ADAMS RICHARDSON Ixxvi-lxxviii 
 
 III. INDEX OF NAMES. 
 
To THE READER. 
 
 It was my good fortune to make the acquaintance of 
 William Adams Richardson upwards of thirty years ago, 
 when both of us were living at Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
 He was then judge of probate and insolvency for Middle 
 sex county, while I had but recently opened a law office 
 in Boston. For a brief season we met daily at the table 
 of the famous boarding house kept by Miss Upham, on 
 Kirkland street, near the college. 
 
 Early in 1873 my removal to Washington, where I 
 have ever since practiced my profession, afforded me an 
 opportunity, which I was glad to improve, of continuing 
 our acquaintance. Though his junior by many years, I 
 was honored by being to a certain extent admitted to the 
 confidence of his friendship. The better I came to know 
 the man, the more highly I esteemed him. 
 
 Shortly after Judge Richardson s death one of the ex 
 ecutors of his will placed in my hands a letter addressed 
 to myself. The Judge had written it without date. In 
 modest terms he had expressed a wish that I might pre 
 pare a sketch of his life, to be printed and copies distrib 
 uted to friends, and to various public libraries. This office 
 I have cheerfully accepted, solicitous only that his true 
 proportions may be made to appear, and the leading fea 
 tures of his important public service be adequately set 
 forth. 
 
Upon the whole record of his achievements I am of 
 the deliberate conviction that Richardson was an abler 
 and a more valuable public official than has been com 
 monly supposed. The reader who shall peruse the nar 
 rative particularly if he weigh the testimony of the bar 
 and of the court given in the proceedings as printed in 
 the Appendix is already in a fair way, I believe, to 
 reach a like conclusion. 
 
 Judge Richardson loved the truth, and despised any 
 thing that savored of pretense. I have tried to tell a 
 plain, straightforward story of his remarkably useful life, 
 knowing that he himself would have wished the facts, 
 precisely as they occurred, presented with simplicity and 
 candor. 
 
 FRANK WARREN HACKETP. 
 CRAIGHFEN, 
 
 NEW CASTLE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, 
 SO September, 1898. 
 
 ri 
 
SKETCH OF LIFE 
 
WILLIAM ADAMS RICHARDSON 
 
 OF THE tier of towns that stretch along the 
 New Hampshire line, in Middlesex County, 
 Massachusetts, all of them attractive in the 
 season of summer, none is fairer than little 
 Tyngsborough. With fields well tilled and 
 comfortable dwellings, pleasantly shaded, her 
 territory, cut in two as it is by the broad arid 
 placid stream of the Merrimack, presents to the 
 traveller at well-nigh every turn a picture of 
 rural delight. 
 
 She has the name of Tyngsborough all to her 
 self. Not another spot on the globe is so entitled. 
 A part of " Dunstable Plantation " it used to be, 
 when land was cheaper and towns bigger. One 
 Edward Tyng, it seems, born in the mother 
 country, about 1600, had married Mary Sears, 
 who, tradition says, came from Dunstable, 
 England. He emigrated to Boston where he rose 
 to be a person of consequence, after which, 
 stimulated by your true Englishman s craving for 
 broad acres, he spied out a tract of some three or 
 four thousand overlooking the Merrimack at this 
 
beautiful site, and made it his own. Hither he 
 removed and had descendants. "Dunstable" is 
 said to have been named in 1673 in compliment 
 to Mistress Mary Tyng; while it was left to later 
 somebodies to bestow the oddity of the surname 
 upon the modest borough carved out of a grander 
 domain.* 
 
 As in duty bound her local historian sounds 
 Tyngsborough s praises, the starting place, he 
 tells us, of boys who grew to be distinguished ; 
 and, truth to say, for so small a place there has 
 been a deal of happening there that the world 
 ought more or less to keep in mind, notably 
 in the way of births. 
 
 Among these who going out of this quiet town 
 have gained worldly success and honors, no one 
 has reached higher distinction than WILLIAM 
 ADAMS RICHARDSON, born at Tyngsborough, 2 
 November, 1821, who became Secretary of the 
 Treasury; and who, when he died at Washington, 
 19 October, 1896, was Chief Justice of the Court 
 of Claims of the United States. 
 
 The writer is about to attempt to outline the 
 main features of the busy and exceptionabh 7 
 useful life of this eminent public servant, well 
 
 *" Their great-grand-daughter, Madam Sarah Tyng Winslow, nearly a 
 century and a quarter later, became the benefactress of a portion of the 
 plantation, and in honor of her family name the new town in 1809 was 
 christened Tyngsborough." MS. letter of J. Franklin Bancroft, of 
 borough, 30 August, 1898. 
 
aware that perhaps little more need be done than 
 to recount the numerous stations of trust and 
 responsibility to which, one after another, he 
 was summoned, and tell without embellishment 
 with what measure of fidelity he filled each of 
 them in turn. 
 
 It may be said of William Adams Richardson 
 that he was fortunate of descent. He could carry 
 up his line through generations of strong and 
 worthy ancestors of English breeding; men 
 whose highest aim it was to live a useful life. 
 The earliest known progenitor on the father s 
 side was Ezekiel Richardson, who, with his wife 
 Susanna, became a member of the church gath 
 ered at Charlestown, in Massachusetts Bay, 27 
 August, 1630. As yet it has not come to light 
 from what part of the kingdom Ezekiel Richardson 
 emigrated, but the conjecture is not altogether 
 without foundation that his home was in one of 
 the southern counties. There is in fact scant room 
 for doubt that the ship which brought him to 
 these shores was one of the fleet bringing over 
 the company under the leadership of Wirithrop, 
 in the spring of 1630. It is of record that 
 Ezekiel Richardson was admitted as a freeman 
 18 May, 1631. 
 
 Sundry entries in the records of Charlestown 
 testify that Ezekiel Richardson must have been 
 a man of more than ordinary capacity. His 
 
 x< 
 
 f OF THE 
 
 ItTNIVERSITY 
 
landed possessions, as recorded in 1638, were 
 extensive; in fact, be ranks among the largest 
 owners, while his brothers Samuel and Thomas 
 follow close upon him in the same year, their 
 holdings being of nearly as many acres.* The 
 general court appointed him constable at 
 Charlestown in 1633. Later he was chosen 
 selectman, and sent as a deputy to the general 
 court. 
 
 The most noteworthy entry in the colony 
 records referring to the Eichardsons is that tell 
 ing of his attitude towards the Reverend John 
 Wheelwright, the faithful and zealous minister, 
 who afterwards left Massachusetts and founded 
 Exeter, in New Hampshire. This godly man 
 was a connection by marriage of Mistress Anne 
 Hutchinson. The religious views of Mistress 
 Hutchinson, it will be remembered, threw the 
 community of Boston Bay into agitation ; and in 
 the controversy that fiercely raged over the doc 
 trine of antinomianism Wheelwright did not 
 hesitate to take sides with her. These views 
 were in reality approved by a large proportion of 
 the members of the Boston church, though the 
 Puritan authorities held them in abhorrence. 
 With unsparing rigor the general court caused 
 to be made known its disapproval of such sedi- 
 
 * Report of Record Commissioners containing Charlestown land records 
 1638-1802 (2nd edition) Boston, 1883 pp. 3, 4, and 5, 
 
tious teachings as that of Mistress Hutchinson; 
 and straightway passed sentence upon the clergy 
 man who had lent support to her obnoxious 
 sentiments. 
 
 The current of popular feeling, however, set 
 strongly in Wheelwright s favor, and many of 
 the best people, as well as " the humblest artisans 
 and day-laborers," hastened to come forward and 
 sign their names to a petition of remonstrance in 
 his behalf. This occurred in March, 1637. The 
 names of the remonstrants are preserved. Ten 
 persons likewise are designated upon the record, 
 who having subscribed the document had later 
 the comfort of seeing their names erased " on 
 acknowledgment of their sin in subscribing it." 
 Among the ten names we find that of Ezekiel 
 Richardson, who thus escaped being disarmed ; to 
 say nothing of other and worse penalties which 
 a facing of the disapproval of the magistrates 
 would have brought upon him. A modern 
 writer remarks, naively enough, of Ezekiel Rich 
 ardson s conduct : " It is creditable to his mem 
 ory that he was willing to abandon an enterprise 
 in which he had conscientiously but unwisely 
 embarked." * 
 
 The two younger brothers just mentioned, 
 Samuel and Thomas, it is thought came to New 
 
 * The Richardson Memorial, by John Adams Vinton, (Portland, 187G) p. 
 33 a genealogical work to which the present writer is much indebted. 
 
England in 1636, six years later than Ezekiel. 
 We find the record of land assigned to the three 
 brothers 30 April, 1637, on " Misticke side and 
 above the Pond," that is to say, in what is now 
 Maiden. Four years afterward (1641) the three 
 Richardsons, in company with six other persons, 
 founded the town of Woburn, not far from 
 Charlestown. The brothers lived near each other 
 in the same street, which, because it had been 
 continuously occupied by their posterity for years, 
 long since gained the name of " Richardson s 
 Row." The row formed a portion of Washington 
 street in what is now the town of Winchester. 
 Ezekiel Richardson played a conspicuous part in 
 the public affairs of the community he had helped 
 to establish. He was named, with two others 
 (who were deacons in the church) " to end small 
 causes under twenty shillings." 
 
 After a life of much stir and activity, though 
 apparently not prolonged beyond five and forty 
 years, he died at Woburn, 21 October, 1647. His 
 will is on file in Boston. The inventory of his 
 estate amounts to a total of one hundred and 
 ninety pounds. 
 
 The second son of Ezekiel and Susanna Rich 
 ardson was Josiah, baptized at Charlestown, 7 
 November, 1635. He was married June, 1659, at 
 Concord, to Remembrance Underwood of that 
 town. He thereupon removed with his brother 
 
7 
 
 James to Chelmsford, a town pleasantly seated on 
 the south side of the Merrimack. Here Josiah 
 Richardson promptly came to the front as a 
 man of enterprise and a leading citizen. Joining 
 with two others he built the first saw-mill of 
 the town. He was chosen constable and town 
 clerk, as well as selectman ; and the military 
 company elected him captain, no empty honor in 
 those days of threatened trouble with a savage 
 foe. From the record in the Middlesex county 
 registry of a conveyance executed by two of 
 Eliot s Indians, dated 19 January, 1688, we learn 
 that Captain Josiah Richardson once owned that 
 portion of the territory on which now stand 
 nearly all of the large manufactories of the city of 
 Lowell. It may not be advisable for us at this 
 late date to probe too deeply into the nature of 
 the consideration recited as supporting this deed. 
 According to the language of the record, the 
 Indians conveyed the land for " ye love we bear 
 for ye beforesaid Josiah." 
 
 This latter ancestor had an elder son, also of 
 the name of Josiah, who was born at Chelmsford, 
 18 May, 1665. He likewise attained to military 
 honors, enjoying the title of lieutenant. On 
 14 December, 1687, Josiah Richardson married 
 Mercy Parish of Dunstable, a town at that time 
 in Massachusetts, now Nashua in New Hampshire. 
 Though not advanced to so many or so high 
 
8 
 
 honors as his father, Lieutenant Josiah appears 
 to have reached a prominence in public affairs 
 somewhat similar to that of both father and 
 grandfather. He was called by the people of 
 Chelmsford to the office of selectman, and like 
 wise to that of town clerk. He led the quiet life 
 of a farmer near Concord river. He appears to 
 have been fairly well provided with what in those 
 days must have proved a prime requisite for 
 carrying on a farm, namely, children. Accord 
 ing to the records, Josiah and Mercy Richardson 
 were blessed with four sons and two daughters, 
 all born at Chelmsford. Of these the youngest, 
 William, first saw the light of day 19 September, 
 1701. 
 
 It was the fortune of William Richardson to 
 carry on a farm, like his ancestors. Upon reach 
 ing the age of twenty-one, he was married to 
 Elizabeth Colburn, of Dracut, a town near the 
 present city of Lowell. He settled in what later 
 became Pelham, New Hampshire, which territory 
 having originally formed a portion of the town 
 of Dracut, in Massachusetts, found itself in 1741 
 across the line as a part of another state. Pelham 
 was incorporated as a town in 1746, and in 1751 
 had its meeting house, and a minister to whom 
 was voted, in addition to his salary, " twenty-five 
 cords of fire-wood annually." 
 
 Here William Richardson passed an uneventful 
 
life, except that there fell to him the family inher 
 itance of a military title, for he served as captain 
 in the militia for many years. The people of 
 Pelham sent him to represent them in the general 
 court. He lived to a good, old age, long enough, 
 in fact, to have heard the opening guns of the 
 Revolution. His death occurred at Pelham some 
 time later than the early part of 1776; his 
 will dated the 1st of April that year, having 
 been proved on the 7th of November following. 
 William and Elizabeth Richardson had nine 
 children, the youngest of whom was Daniel, born 
 in Pelham, 1749. He was the grandfather of the 
 subject of this sketch. 
 
 Arrangements appear to have been made to 
 confer upon Daniel Richardson the advantages of 
 a college education. To this end his father sent 
 him to Dracut (not far, to be sure) in order that 
 he might recite Latin to the Reverend Mr. Davis 
 of that town. How faithfully the young man 
 pursued his studies we are not informed, but he 
 improved the opportunity there, it seems, to fall 
 in love with Sarah Merchant,* a daughter of 
 William Merchant of Boston. Mrs. Merchant, 
 her mother, was Abigail Hutchinson, a sister of 
 Governor Hutchinson. Miss Merchant favored her 
 
 * Sarah Merchant was the oldest of several orphan children. Care of 
 her had been committed to her uncle, Mr. Dennie, of Boston, a brother 
 of her mother. Being a single man, he sent Sarah at the age of eighteen 
 to board and be educatedwith the family of Reverend Mr. Davis of Dracut. 
 Mrs. Richardson is said to have been a woman of great ability and energy. 
 
10 
 
 suitor, and the result was an early marriage, on 
 26 January, 1773. Their union had the effect to 
 change entirely the course of Daniel Richardson s 
 life, for instead of going to college, he betook 
 himself to tilling the soil, living in Pelham on a 
 farm, a part of which belonged to his father. 
 
 Daniel, as might be expected, had inherited 
 the Richardson taste for military service. In 
 those stirring times, it was not uncommon for the 
 farmer to be transformed at short notice into the 
 soldier. Daniel Richardson shouldered his musket, 
 and did his share of service in the revolutionary 
 war. He enlisted 1 January, 1777, in the First 
 New Hampshire Regiment, Colonel Joseph Cilley, 
 and served until 5 January, 1780.* Mention is 
 made of his having fought in the battle of Mon- 
 mouth, 28 June, 1778. In the following summer 
 he was of the expedition led by General Sullivan 
 into the Indian country, in the western part of 
 the state of New York. Upon returning home he 
 became captain of a military company in New 
 Hampshire. 
 
 Everything that we learn of Daniel Richardson 
 stamps him as a man of firm character, and 
 worthy of the marked respect in which he 
 appears to have been held by his neighbors. He 
 lived to the ripe age of eighty-four, and died at 
 
 * History of the First New Hampshire Regiment in the War of the Revolu 
 tion, by Frederick Kiddcr, Albany, 1868. 
 
11 
 
 Pelham 23 May, 1833. His children were three 
 sons, all born in Pelham; William Merchant, 
 born 4 January, 1774; Samuel Mather, born 12 
 February, 1776 ; Daniel, born 19 January, 1783. 
 
 Of these sons the eldest, William Merchant 
 Richardson, achieved an honorable distinction as 
 chief justice of New Hampshire. He was grad 
 uated from Harvard College, in the class of 1797, 
 with Horace Binney, Daniel Appleton White and 
 John Collins Warren as classmates. For a season 
 he was preceptor at Groton Academy. Studying 
 law with Samuel Dana, of Groton, he later became 
 a partner of that distinguished man. The people 
 sent Mr. Richardson as representative to Con 
 gress from the Groton district in 1811, to fill a 
 vacancy. He shortly afterwards resigned his 
 seat in Congress and removed to New Hamp 
 shire, where he was made United States attorney, 
 with his office at Portsmouth. Such remarkable 
 ability did he display from the beginning that 
 on the reorganization of the courts in 1816, 
 
 Governor Plumer sent in his name to be chief 
 
 
 
 justice of the highest court of the state, and he was 
 unanimously confirmed, in spite of the intensity 
 with which party spirit raged at that season. 
 This high office Chief Justice Richardson filled 
 until his death, for a period of twenty-two years, 
 to the great satisfaction of the bar and the people 
 of the state. 
 
12 
 
 When the new chief justice came to the bench, 
 there were no published reports of adjudicated 
 cases. He at once set about to remedy the defect. 
 He introduced a number of improvements in the 
 methods of practice. To the end that stability 
 and harmony might be insured in the adminis 
 tration of inferior judicial offices, he prepared 
 manuals respectively for justices of the peace, 
 sheriffs and town officers, containing all needful 
 forms and directions. In a word/the chief justice 
 to the last proved himself to be a man of original 
 ideas, with plenty of courage and energy to put 
 them into operation. 
 
 The ability and remarkable activity that he 
 evinced in this elevated position gained for Wil 
 liam Merchant Richardson a reputation which is 
 to-day one of the cherished possessions of the 
 people of New Hampshire. It has lately been 
 said of him by a writer well qualified to express 
 an opinion that, with the exception of Judge 
 Jeremiah Smith, perhaps no occupant of the 
 judicial bench has done so much as he to shape 
 the jurisprudence of that state.* 
 
 Chief Justice Richardson is to be remembered 
 as a man of greater attainments than those of a 
 mere lawyer. In various directions he may be 
 styled a man of learning. He maintained through 
 
 * Bench and Bar of New Hampshire, by Charles Henry Bell, Boston, 
 1892, p. 72. 
 
13 
 
 life a familiarity with the classics; and in a com 
 munity where such accomplishments were by no 
 means frequent, he had become admirably well 
 versed in French, Italian and Spanish. Of botany 
 he knew much ; and he was something too of a 
 musician. Indeed, there were exhibited in Chief 
 Justice Richardson unusual intellectual powers 
 coupled with a deep-settled determination to be 
 useful by mastering thoroughly the subject in 
 hand, qualities destined to shine forth at a later 
 day in the person of his nephew, the late chief 
 justice of the Court of Claims. 
 
 Of General Samuel M. Richardson, the second 
 son, it may be briefly noted that he lived in Pelham, 
 where he achieved prominence as an active and 
 public-spirited citizen. For twelve years he was 
 sent as representative to the general court; he 
 became a state senator, and served in the war of 
 1812 as a major in the army. He likewise 
 enjoyed the rank of brigadier-general of the 
 militia. General Richardson died at Pelham, 11 
 March, 1858, leaving a handsome estate, a portion 
 of which he gave to charity. Of this will his 
 nephews, Daniel S. Richardson and William A. 
 Richardson, then both of Lowell, were executors 
 and trustees. 
 
 The third son, Daniel, father of the subject of 
 this sketch, if less conspicuous than his brothers, 
 was a man of like strength of character and of 
 
14 
 
 much native ability. He studied law at Groton, in 
 the office of Samuel Dana, at the time his brother, 
 William Merchant Richardson, was Mr. Dana s 
 law partner. 
 
 Upon admission to the bar young Richardson 
 selected as the scene of his future professional 
 triumphs the retired town of Tyngsborough , 
 eight miles from Lowell, and twenty-five from 
 Boston. The choice was certainly a modest one, 
 for Tyngsborough though an attractive place of 
 residence was not populous, nor had it showed 
 signs of ever becoming such. It was almost 
 exclusively an agricultural community. There 
 were a saw and grist mill, and a small water- 
 power shop, but they did not much disturb the 
 quiet of the village. A stage from Amherst, 
 New Hampshire, to Boston, passed through the 
 town, and the Middlesex canal company -had a 
 wharf here and these were the chief activities. 
 
 But young Richardson doubtless knew his lim 
 itations. He was at any rate resolute and fond 
 of work. He exhibited traits of business that 
 soon attracted the notice of the neighborhood, 
 and before long clients had found their way to 
 the country law office.* Indeed, if we may credit 
 
 * " His law office was situated in the store of the village merchant, 
 that kind that kept cod-fish, silk, N. E. rum, and thread all on one shelf. 
 The post-office was in the store. There were two other lawyers in town 
 at that time, Charles Butterfield, (Harvard, 1820) brother of his first wife ; 
 and John Farwell, though neither of them practiced very much." MS, 
 letter oj J. Franklin Bancroft, 21 August, 1898. 
 
15 
 
 the statement of a former sheriff of Middlesex (and 
 nobody watches young lawyers more sharply than 
 the sheriff), Daniel Richardson at the opening of 
 the term of court used to enter more suits than 
 any other lawyer in the county. 
 
 Mr. Richardson was one of that class of prac 
 titioners who can readily turn a hand to the 
 performance of some useful or profitable duty not 
 altogether within the strict line of the profession. 
 He was made postmaster of the town; and he 
 must have distributed the mail to general sat 
 isfaction since he held the appointment for the 
 long period of thirty-five years. Of course, such 
 a man found his way into the general court; 
 and he went there as a whig representative of the 
 town. He was elected state senator for two or 
 three terms, and he occupied from time to time 
 town offices of trust and responsibility.* 
 
 His was a life that knew no idle moments. At 
 the age of fifty -nine years Daniel Richardson died 
 at Tyngsborough, 12 February, 1842, respected 
 and lamented by all who knew him. The first 
 wife of Daniel Richardson was Betsey Butterfield, 
 daughter of Asa and Abiah (Coburn) Butterfield of 
 Tyngsborough, to whom he was married 10 May, 
 1810. She died young without issue. In April, 
 
 * " He owned several houses in the middle of the town, and was what 
 was called in those days well to do. "Ibid. 
 
16 
 
 1816, he was married to Mary,* second daughter 
 of William and Mary (Roby) Adams of Chelms- 
 ford. Of this marriage there were two children, 
 both born at Tyngsborough, Daniel Samuel, born 
 1 December, 1816, and William Adams, the sub 
 ject of this sketch, born 2 November, 1821. 
 Says Mr. Bancroft : 
 
 When Daniel Richardson came to Tyngsborough he 
 rented one-half of a house near the centre on the Dunstable 
 road. This house was large, square and substantial, with 
 " brick ends." It stood a little back from the road on a slight 
 eminence commanding a fine view of a handsome sheet of 
 water, with the wooded hills of the Tyng farm bounding the 
 horizon to the south ; nearer hills shut off the view and cold 
 winds on the west, north and east. It was in this house that 
 the Judge took his first gasp of New England weather in 1821. 
 
 *Mary (Adams) Richardson, the mother of the chief justice of the 
 Court of Claims, was herself descended from Ezekiel, the first settler. Her 
 father, William Adams, was a son of William and Elizabeth (Richardson) 
 Adams of Chelmsford, Elizabeth Richardson being descended from John, 
 Josiah and Ezekiel. Mary (Adams) Richardson s mother was Mary Roby, 
 daughter of William and Hannah (Lund) Roby of Dunstable, now 
 Nashua, New Hampshire. William Roby was a second lieutenant in a 
 New Hampshire regiment at Bunker Hill, and afterwards first lieutenant 
 in Col. Bedell s (N. H.) regiment, was taken prisoner in Canada and died 
 in the service. William Adams, the maternal grandfather of the chief 
 justice, was descended from Henry Adams, who came from Braintree in 
 Essex, it is thought in 1634, and settled in that part of Braintree which 
 is now Quincy, Massachusetts, the line being Henry, Samuel, Joseph, 
 Benjamin, William. He was born at Chelmsford 30 April, 1762, and died 
 there 25 December, 1843. When a lad of fifteen he enlisted as a revolu 
 tionary soldier, and served for six months. Then he enlisted again and 
 served for eight months. In a family record, written by him in mature life, 
 he says : 
 
 " While I was in service at West Point, I witnessed the execution of 
 Major Andre, which made so lasting an impression on my mind that it is 
 with tender and melancholy feelings that I look back upon that time." 
 
 He was a revolutionary pensioner. 
 
17 
 
 Later in life " the Squire " moved into the village and occupied 
 a house built by Mr. Adams, his father-in-law, who also owned 
 the store, and perhaps kept it.* 
 
 When William was between three and four 
 years of age, 1 August, 1825, his mother died. In 
 November of the year following, his father was 
 married to Hannah Adams, sister of the late 
 wife, being the fourth daughter of the same 
 parents. The only child of this marriage was 
 George Francis Richardson, born 6 December, 
 1829 (Harvard, 1850), a prominent and able 
 lawyer of Lowell, and a former mayor of that 
 city. 
 
 Fortunately the child was not suffered to feel 
 the absence of a mother s devotion, for a sister 
 of his mother, as we see, had come into the 
 household to bestow upon him care and nurture. 
 Of William s boyhood few incidents have been 
 preserved; and we are left to conclude that it 
 resembled that of most New England lads brought 
 up under discipline strict, yet kindly, in families 
 of worth and refinement, f 
 
 *MS. letter of J. Franklin Bancroft, ante. 
 
 f Since this was written Mr. J. Franklin Bancroft, of Tyngsborough, 
 has kindly favored the writer with a few particulars that afford us a 
 glimpse of what sort of a youngster William Richardson must have been. 
 The subtle flavor of Mr. Bancroft s style ought not to be spoiled by any 
 attempt at editing : 
 
 " You ask me what kind of a boy the Judge was. I put the question 
 in the same words to Mr. J. T. Lund, a very close friend of the Judge s 
 
 in their school days. The answer was forcible, if not elegant A d 
 
 good one. 
 
 " Everybody says he was a real New England live Yankee boy. Thor- 
 
18 
 
 Though not an expert at out-of-door sports, he 
 was fond of skating, as what boy is not who has 
 ever tasted the joys of a New England winter. 
 One of his favorite occupations was to stuff birds. 
 He must have been somewhat of a self-reliant 
 youth. It is known at least that he early showed 
 a disposition to be careful of the pennies that 
 were given him, or that came in the way of earn 
 ings. A more trivial fact related of him is to the 
 effect that when in common with other boys and 
 girls he attended singing school, and took part in 
 the exercises, the master would point at young 
 Richardson and remark : " There is discord 
 right there." 
 
 oughly reliable, good disposition, good-hearted, always ready to help 
 those in trouble, full of life and the devil, but nothing vicious in his 
 make-up, he was open, frank and always ready to lead or follow, as the 
 crowd desired. With this character it can be easily seen that he investi 
 gated the ins and outs of the land and water around his home. 
 
 " He was exceedingly popular in school among his classmates, and 
 was liked by everybody, great and small. . . . 
 
 " That even as a boy he would not be coerced is shown by a little in 
 cident related to me by Mr. W. B. Cummings, better known as Uncle 
 Brooks, that happened when the Judge was ten or twelve years old. 
 Even in those days the boys played ball, and the principal game was 
 always played on Fast day, in the old field. 
 
 "At this time preparations had been concluded at a singing school 
 one evening, when a great lout of a bully, who worked in a shop out of the 
 center of the town, declared his intention of taking a hand in the game. 
 The boys not liking him objected, and William told him squarely that 
 they wouldn t have him. This brought out the bully, and he catching 
 William by the throat, threw him across a settee, and attempted to choke 
 him into acquiescence, but no amount of choking could change his an 
 swer, and A T o was all he could get. Uncle Brooks thought it his duty to 
 interfere at this point, and he says, I took the bully by the top end and 
 fired him down stairs, telling him if he showed his face on the ball-field 
 I would drown him. "Ibid,. 
 
19 
 
 At a tender age he was put at a primary school. 
 Before he was eleven years old his father sent him 
 away from home to study at Pinkerton Academy, 
 where his brother Daniel had been educated, in 
 the attractive town of Derry, in New Hampshire, 
 not far from the Massachusetts line. The distance 
 from Tyngsborough was some thirty miles or so, 
 which meant a long way off, at a period when 
 travel had to be accomplished by stage or by 
 vehicle. The school, composed of about eighty 
 boys, under the charge of Abel F. Hildreth 
 (Harvard, 1818), an instructor of more than ordi 
 nary talent, appears to have been in a flourishing 
 condition. Dr. Hildreth had earned for the 
 academy a high reputation during his adminis 
 tration from 1819 to 1846.* 
 
 A more wholesome place could hardly have 
 been selected than Derry a town built up by 
 sturdy and independent families of Scotch-Irish 
 descent, whose children to this day are noted for 
 thrift and prosperity. 
 
 The name of William Adams Richardson first 
 
 * " He was a singularly successful teacher, and while he lived and la 
 bored here he made his institution second to none other in New England. 
 Daniel S. Richardson, 12 September, 1861, Semi-Centennial Anniver 
 sary of Pinkerton Academy (Concord, 1866), p. 55. 
 
 Judge Richardson writing a letter of regret from Boston, 31 August, 
 I860, shows his practical turn of mind by saying : "I wish the trustees 
 Avould follow the example of other academies and print a catalogue of all 
 the graduates of the institution, with their present residences, etc. Such 
 catalogues are very interesting and are the best advertisements which can 
 be printed and circulated," (Ibid., p. 106.) 
 
20 
 
 appears upon the list of the academy students 
 for the school year 1833-1834, which began in 
 August; and it is also found recorded for the two 
 following years. Says John C. Chase, of Derry: 
 
 Among those who were at the academy at the same time 
 with Richardson who have been heard from in after life I find 
 the names of John M. Pinkerton, who at his death, some fif 
 teen years ago, gave his estate, amounting to about $150,000, 
 to the institution that had been founded and endowed by his 
 father and uncle ; Nathaniel G. White, for many years presi 
 dent of the Boston & Maine Railroad j Aaron F. Stevens, of 
 Nashua, a member of Congress ; Joseph B. Walker, of Con 
 cord ; Edwin F. French, brother of Henry F. French, late of 
 Washington ; Judge Samuel F. Humphrey, of Bangor, Maine. 
 There are only two pupils of his time now resident in town, 
 and they have no recollection of him. * 
 
 In the summer of 1833, a tremendous stir was 
 created throughout New England hy the visit 
 of Andrew Jackson, then President of the United 
 States. The chief magistrate had not the facil 
 ities for going about the country that are now so 
 common, and Jackson was cordially hated by most 
 of his political opponents, whose sole idea of him 
 had been derived from their party newspapers. 
 At all events, it was for many people a great priv 
 ilege to get a sight of " Old Hickory." Upon his 
 reaching Cambridge, Harvard College, it will be 
 recalled, conferred upon him the degree of doctor 
 of laws, the only honorary degree given that 
 year. It so happened that William Richardson, 
 
 *MS. letter, 21 July, 1897, 
 
21 
 
 then a boy of eleven years, was at home from 
 school, probably upon a vacation, at the time of 
 the coming of the President. The following inci 
 dent is related of General Jackson s journey : 
 
 The course of the presidential party toward Nashua was 
 that generally travelled, on the south side of the Merrimack 
 river. "While passing through Tyngsborough a boy came out 
 upon an eminence which commanded a fair view of the Pres 
 ident and his companions. He had in his hand a fowling- 
 piece, having been out hunting that morning without a 
 thought, however, of the possibility of coming upon the lion 
 which he so suddenly confronted. When the President s 
 barouche came opposite, the lad snatched off his cap, swung it 
 in the air, and gave three as vigorous " hurrahs " as his small 
 voice would permit, at the same time discharging his gun. 
 Observing the act of the boy, the President removed his 
 hat and bowed with as much formality as he would have 
 done had there been a regiment before him. The boy who 
 was favored with this consideration was the Honorable 
 William A. Richardson, a native of the town, late Secretary 
 of the Treasury of the United States.* 
 
 After William Richardson had attained to 
 man s estate few persons of discernment could 
 have talked with him without instantly perceiv 
 ing that from boyhood he must have acquired 
 and exercised the habits of a student. The pres 
 ence of this trait, however, is not to be left to 
 inference. Among sundry papers labelled and 
 laid away by the late chief justice for preser 
 vation, is one yellow with age, and bearing an 
 
 * From a paper read before the Old Residents Historical Society ot 
 Lowell, in 1875, by Mr. Z, E. Stone, entitled "The Visit of President 
 Jackson to Lowell in June, 1833." The paper is printed in the published 
 " Contributions" of that society, Vol. II, p. 132. 
 
22 
 
 inscription in his handwriting, " This is the first 
 letter I ever received. W. A. R." Any young 
 man might well have prized it. The sheet ap 
 pears to have been originally sealed with a wafer. 
 It is addressed, " Master Wm. A. Richardson, 
 Derry, N. H., Pr. politeness of your father." The 
 
 letter reads thus : 
 
 TYNGSBORO, June 4th, 1834- 
 Mr. WILLIAM A. RICHARDSON, 
 
 My resected young friend, 
 
 I am happy for the present opportunity to write to one with 
 whom I have had so many hours of pleasure and delight. 
 Your good nature, high spirit, lively turn, all serve to raise 
 you above those of your mates in my estimation. Always 
 ready to oblige you can not but demand the obligation and 
 esteem of others. Always happy and cheerful you shed much 
 happiness and good feeling around you. 
 
 I am happy to learn that you continue to maintain 
 abroad the same cheerfulness as at home. Prompt to obey 
 your teacher, and never caught in mischievous or low bred 
 company. 
 
 I am happy to learn likewise that you are determined to 
 embrace the advice of your parents and make the best of your 
 new superior advantages. In so doing you will make yourself 
 wise and honourable in after life not only on your own account 
 but by gratifying the wishes and expectations of your parents. 
 
 I remain sir with much esteem, very respectfully yours, 
 
 SAML. ELLIOT.* 
 
 In haste 
 
 Please write when you have an opportunity. 
 
 *" Popularly known as Deacon Elliot, though he had no con 
 nection with the church. He was the village store-keeper, and kept the 
 store in which was the post-office. He was a member of the school com 
 mittee, well educated himself, a friend of education, always encouraging 
 the pupils to hitch their wagon to a star. He removed from hereto 
 Elmira, N. Y., and died shortly after." MS. letter of J. Franklin Bancroft, 
 21 August, 1898. 
 
23 
 
 Master Richardson was then in his thirteenth 
 year. How fragrant even to this hour the act of 
 writing and sending that letter. The boy never 
 forgot the day that it had been put into his hand. 
 " This is the first letter I ever received." Kind 
 and considerate friend, your text, after the fashion 
 of the day, may be a little stilted, but your 
 honest and well-timed praise found its way to a 
 boy s heart. Who can say that it did not mightily 
 help him to become " wise and honourable in 
 after life." Truly, a word spoken in due season, 
 how good is it. 
 
 Before the summer of 1837 had closed, the 
 schoolboy now advanced to his sixteenth year, 
 was transferred to new quarters, in order to com 
 plete the course of study required for admission 
 to Harvard College. The academy at Groton, 
 Massachusetts, besides that the town was nearer 
 home, held out peculiar advantages, both of an 
 educational and of asocial character; and accord 
 ingly young Richardson was entered there as a 
 student. Groton is a delightful town ; and we 
 know, from his later utterances, that it must have 
 been to him a scene of almost unalloyed enjoy 
 ment. At that date about a hundred scholars, 
 nearly equally divided between boys and girls, 
 attended the academy. Mr. Horace Herrick, a 
 recent graduate from Dartmouth College, was the 
 preceptor, assisted by Miss Clarissa Butler. 
 
24 
 
 The institution known as " The Groton Acad 
 emy," a name borne from its foundation, main 
 tained a deservedly high repute throughout that 
 part of the country. After Richardson had left 
 it, the name was changed, in 1846, to " The 
 Lawrence Academy," in recognition of the muni 
 ficence of the Lawrences, of Boston, natives of 
 Groton, who in their gifts to this institution of 
 learning signalized, as they had done in numer 
 ous other instances, the noble uses to which wealth 
 can be applied. 
 
 When young Richardson began his studies at 
 Groton, the railroad, it is to be remembered, had 
 not yet come in to change the relative importance 
 of New England towns. Seated upon the direct 
 line of travel, the main street of the village pre 
 sented a busy scene of passing wagons and stage 
 coaches, while the taverns were centres of no little 
 activity and bustle. Indeed the life and stir of 
 a Groton tavern must have wrought a deep im 
 pression upon the student mind, to judge from 
 what may be found in a book of reminiscences of 
 the academy, published in 1893, at the date of its 
 hundredth anniversary. 
 
 Says Judge Richardson : 
 
 The most prominent and conspicuous in the town were 
 the stage drivers and tavern keepers ; I remember well Mr. 
 Joseph Hoar, who kept one of the village inns, The Central 
 House, and who was always with an unlighted stump of a 
 cigar in his mouth. I used to wonder who smoked all the 
 
25 
 
 cigars from which he had so many stumps, for he was never 
 seen with a lighted cigar, and I think he never smoked nor 
 drank. 
 
 Then there was Thomas 0. Staples, proprietor of the line 
 of stages from Boston to Keene, with its famous Concord 
 coaches, a man of splendid physique and a distinguished 
 driver. His wife, too, could handle the reins nearly as well 
 as her husband and occasionally she drove the coach and six 
 from Boston to Groton, to the admiration and astonishment 
 of everybody who saw or knew her. 
 
 Judge Richardson was one of the active pro 
 moters of a celebration by the alumni at Groton 
 in 1854. He was the leading spirit also in car 
 rying forward to a successful result a similar 
 celebration of the two anniversaries, that of 1883 
 and that of 1893. His heart ever warmed to the 
 scenes of his boyhood, nor could any one have 
 enjoyed more keenly the pleasure of meeting old 
 classmates ; while they in like manner when they 
 have occasion to write or speak of him do so in 
 very affectionate terms. 
 
 One of the pleasing incidents of his life at 
 Groton is described by him as the festival of the 
 crowning of the king and queen of May on the 
 first day of May, 1839. He writes of it 1 May, 
 1893, exactly fifty-four years later: "After a 
 march up the street to the fields where the wild 
 flowers could be gathered, the boys and girls 
 returned. Then a girl placed upon the head of a 
 boy a wreath of flowers, while young Richardson 
 placed on the head of a girl a similar wreath." 
 
26 
 
 The Judge mentions the pleasing fact that after 
 fifty-four years had passed all four were then living 
 and in good health. It may be added here 
 that he was in the habit in later years of sending 
 his family to Groton for the summer, and of 
 going there himself for such vacations as he 
 could be persuaded to take. 
 
 Richardson was admitted to the freshman class 
 of Harvard College in the summer of 1839, and 
 was graduated in 1843. Of the sixty-nine who 
 took degrees, thirty were living at the fiftieth an 
 niversary of their graduation. Among the more 
 prominent members of the class there may be 
 mentioned Charles A. Dana, of the New York Sun; 
 Octavius B. Frothingham, Unitarian minister and 
 writer; Arthur B. Fuller, chaplain of the sixteenth 
 Massachusetts regiment, who died at Fredericks- 
 burg, Virginia, in 1862; Thomas Hill (a life-long 
 friend of the subject of this sketch) afterward 
 (1861-8) president of Harvard College; John W. 
 Kingman, territorial governor of Wyoming; John 
 Lowell, United States circuit judge ; Charles C. 
 Perkins, widely known as a writer upon art ; Hor 
 ace Binney Sargent, of Boston; E. Carleton 
 Sprague, a leader of the Buffalo Bar; Eben F. 
 Stone, of Newburyport, a lawyer, active at the 
 bar of Essex and in the state legislature, later a 
 member of Congress ; and Alexander W. Thayer, 
 musical author and critic. 
 
27 
 
 Richardson s chum throughout the four years 
 course was William Henry Adams, of North 
 Chelmsford, who was with him at Groton acad 
 emy. He died in 1845. 
 
 It does not appear that Richardson made any 
 special mark in college.* He was quiet in his 
 ways, and studious, but disinclined to struggle 
 for honors, either of the college or of the class. 
 Some time after graduation his classmates elected 
 him class secretary, a post of honor which he held 
 for many years and until his death. It is hardly 
 necessary to add that he performed the duties of 
 the office, which called for no inconsiderable labor 
 on his part, with a scrupulous care and prompti 
 tude. Upon the occasion of the fiftieth anni 
 versary (1893) it was Chief Justice Richardson, 
 their secretary, whom the class had selected to 
 speak for them at the commencement dinner. 
 
 His successor as class secretary writes : 
 
 I saw little of him in our college life. ... In 1883, he 
 prepared and distributed a " Memorabilia " pamphlet of the 
 class for the meeting that year, and issued a similar report of 
 the class meeting in 1893. 
 
 The lines of our lives have not brought us in contact since 
 graduating, except casually. He was a painstaking and per 
 sistent laborer where interested. He certainly was ambitious 
 to leave a good record. t 
 
 *One of his classmates, since (1898) deceased, John A Loring, a 
 lawyer of Boston, informed the writer that Richardson in his freshman 
 year began to work upon the reyised statutes of Massachusetts, and that 
 probably no other living person than Mr. L. knew of the fact. 
 
 t MS. letter, 14 August, 1897, of Thomas B. Hall, secretary of the Class 
 of 43. 
 
28 
 
 Another classmate, who has since died, said of 
 him : 
 
 I should be pleased to give you any facts in regard to 
 my classmate Richardson which might be interesting to his 
 friends, but he was a retiring man and had but few intimates, 
 and I do not know that I was among the number, though our 
 relations were perfectly friendly. He went to Cambridge to 
 study, and he studied conscientiously ; was what in those days 
 was called a " dig"; always prepared with his task, rather by 
 dint of hard work than by facility of acquisition. I doubt 
 if Sargent, who graduated our first scholar, ever devoted the 
 time to study that Richardson did. 
 
 I do not ever remember seeing him engaged in any game, 
 either athletic or intellectual. He wrote a small, crabbed, 
 school-boy hand. 
 
 " Richardson," said Professor Johnson, one day, looking 
 over one of his themes in the presence of the class, " Richard 
 son, I don t think your handwriting is just the thing for 
 elegant literature." A trifling incident that survives nearly 
 fifty-five years, while so many things that are worth remem 
 bering, have escaped and are forgotten.* 
 
 This well-meant criticism from the professor 
 may not have been without its effect, for in later 
 years his handwriting could not be said to have 
 given cause for complaint. Indeed it had become 
 a good, legible hand, plain but strong, well suited 
 to the purposes of one who worked in a study 
 and wrote much for the printer. 
 
 Although Mr. Richardson may not have been 
 conspicuous among his classmates, or taken high 
 rank as a scholar, it is evident that he had im 
 bibed at Cambridge a deep and abiding affection 
 
 * MS. letter of John J. Russell, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 20 July, 1897. 
 
29 
 
 for Harvard College. His life as an undergrad 
 uate was we may be sure a pleasant one, seeing as 
 we do so many tokens that his college associations 
 were in after life dear to him. He was loyal to 
 the best traditions of Harvard. For twelve years 
 (1863-1875) he served as a member of the board 
 of overseers, elected for the first term of six years 
 by the legislature, and for the second term by the 
 alumni. 
 
 At this post his labors were constant, and at all 
 times well directed. Upon removal to Wash 
 ington, he remitted nothing of his vigilance in 
 watching every change proposed at Harvard, of 
 which it is to be said that more than one perhaps 
 owed its first impulse to some suggestion from 
 him. By means of active correspondence he 
 sought to help forward plans for broadening and 
 strengthening the institution in various direc 
 tions. Few friends of the university whether of 
 its official family, or outside, had bestowed more 
 elaborate thought upon the legal relations of the 
 college, its charter and its property rights, as well 
 as upon various questions which arose from time 
 to time in respect to the need of organic changes 
 in the administration of its affairs. 
 
 Subjects of historic interest, pertaining to the 
 college, or her graduates, also occupied largely 
 Mr. Richardson s attention. He prepared and 
 published a list of the alumni who had held high 
 
30 
 
 public position, state or federal, data of percep 
 tible value, as attested by similar lists from 
 other universities, the work of compilers who 
 followed his footsteps. He was one of the earliest 
 promoters of the plan of taking the election of 
 overseers out of the control of the legislature, 
 and entrusting it to the hands of the alumni. 
 Nor did matters of minor concern escape his eye, 
 wherever an actual improvement could reason 
 ably be counted upon. He appears to have been 
 the first graduate to advocate earnestly the print 
 ing of the Quinquennial in English, and he lived 
 to see the change effected. 
 
 Immediately upon being graduated, Richard 
 son began a course of reading at the law office 
 of his brother Daniel, at Lowell. For a while 
 also he studied in the offices, at Boston, of Fuller 
 and Andrew, the junior partner being John A. 
 Andrew, afterwards the famous war governor of 
 Massachusetts. After 4 March, 1845, he entered 
 the Harvard law school, whose professors were 
 Joseph Story (who died in September following), 
 and Simon Greenleaf. Here he remained for 
 eighteen months, taking the degree of bachelor of 
 laws at the end of that period, according to the 
 easy requirements then in force. Upon motion 
 of Mr. Andrew, who was six years his senior in 
 the profession, Mr. Richardson was admitted to 
 the Suffolk bar 8 July, 1846. On the next day, 
 
31 
 
 at Lowell, his partnership with his brother, 
 Daniel S. Richardson (Harvard, 1836), was an 
 nounced, and he was to be found at his desk, 
 ready to serve a client. The alliance was in the 
 nature of a fortunate opening for the younger 
 member of the firm, since his brother, a lawyer 
 of fine abilities and a man of lovable character, 
 had not only established himself in a lucrative 
 and growing practice, but had come to be ex 
 tremely popular with the bar. 
 
 Well educated, eager for work, modest, and 
 with slight taste for public speaking, certainly 
 with no inclination for facing a jury, one may 
 conceive what kind of practice fell to the junior 
 member of the firm. What with making collec 
 tions, drawing leases and deeds, looking up titles, 
 attending to the probate of wills and the admin 
 istration of estates, young Richardson, pains 
 taking and methodical to the utmost, had no 
 reason to complain of his prospects. 
 
 After three years of practice, the future chief 
 justice, it appears, felt equal to supporting a wife. 
 He was married 29 October, 1849, to Anna Maria 
 Marston, daughter of Jonathan and Sarah (Holt) 
 Marston, of Machiasport, Maine.* The union 
 
 * Their only child, Isabella Anna, was bom in Lowell on 21st Decem 
 ber, 1850; died at Washington, D. C., 4 April, 1898. She was married 
 23 November, 1876, to Alexander F. Magruder, passed assistant surgeon 
 United States navy, son of the late Dr. Magruder, of Georgetown, D. C., 
 and a descendant, on his mother s side, of the Fitzhugh family, of Vir - 
 ginia. They had three children : William Richardson Magruder, born in 
 
32 
 
 proved to be most happy in every respect. Mrs. 
 Richardson possessed qualities of both person 
 and mind that fitted her to be, in the best sense 
 of the word, a helpmate. Whether in their quiet 
 home life at Lowell, or at a later period when 
 called upon to meet social obligations at Washing 
 ton, as the wife of a member of the cabinet, or of the 
 chief justice of the Court of Claims, she was always 
 equal to her duties. Handsome and accom 
 plished, Mrs. Richardson s cordial manner of wel 
 coming the visitor, together with her animated 
 and genuine interest in the welfare of those 
 around her, won for her a large circle of friends, 
 and redounded greatly to the advantage of her 
 husband. 
 
 The conduct of a man thus occupied with his 
 own affairs is watched, and, if he is seen to be 
 diligent and faithful, he is wanted before long for 
 this or that minor public position. In 1849, Mr. 
 Richardson was elected to the common council of 
 the city of Lowell. Again elected in 1853 and 
 1854, he was made president of the board. The 
 circumstance is interesting, and perhaps is without 
 a parallel in our municipal history, that three 
 
 Washington, D. C., 20 December, 1878; died in Groton, Massachusetts, 
 1883 ; Alexander Richardson Magruder, born in Nice, France, while his 
 father was stationed there on duty, 17 January, 1883 ; Isabella Richardson 
 Magruder, born in Washington, I). C., 20 April, 1886. 
 
 Dr. Magrudcr was retired as full surgeon. He went upon the active 
 list, however, at the breaking out of the Spanish war, and served at the 
 marine headquarters, Washington. 
 
33 
 
 brothers [Daniel S., William A., and George F.] 
 should each in turn have held this honorable 
 position. Meanwhile, he had been made (1846- 
 1850) judge advocate of a division of the militia 
 with the rank of major ; while Governor Briggs 
 later appointed him an aide-de-camp with the 
 rank of lieutenant colonel, a gold-laced position 
 which brings a young man into wider notice. 
 The trustees of the Lowell Five Cent Savings 
 Bank elected him one of their number; and he 
 served for several years on the finance committee 
 of that institution. 
 
 He had been early chosen a director of the 
 Appleton Bank. Subsequently, he resigned that 
 position in order to accept the presidency of the 
 Wamesit Bank, afterwards the Wamesit National 
 Bank, which office he held until 1867, when he 
 returned to the Appleton, that had meanwhile 
 become the Appleton National Bank. With this 
 institution he continued as director until his 
 appointment as Secretary of the Treasury, when 
 he resigned the office and sold out his stock. His 
 experience in the management of these banks, and 
 of the savings bank previously named, developed 
 a sagacity and acuteness that served him in good 
 stead when called upon subsequently to deal with 
 the vast business of the treasury of the United 
 States. 
 
 At a somewhat later period he was chosen 
 
34 
 
 president of the Middlesex Mechanic s Associ 
 ation, an honor in itself the more to be valued 
 because it gave him opportunity to assist in the 
 reorganization of that important body. This 
 office he rilled for two years. 
 
 In May, 1855, Mr. Richardson it seems made 
 his first venture as an author, or let us rather 
 say, compiler. With the sanction, and perhaps 
 at the instance of the bank commissioners of the 
 state, he prepared and published a handy volume 
 upon the banking laws of Massachusetts, being a 
 compilation of the statutes relating to banks and 
 savings institutions, with notes of decisions, etc. 
 The modest little book, which doubtless served a 
 useful purpose in its day and is now chiefly note 
 worthy as a model of arrangement and indexing, 
 was published at Lowell and Boston. 
 
 Employments such as these had no effect to 
 divert him from a punctual and devoted attention 
 to the wants of his clients. Whatever else Judge 
 Richardson may have been, he always remained 
 the lawyer, with a liking for the application of 
 legal principles to the daily concerns of life. The 
 prospect of litigation did not attract him ; where 
 he found pleasure was in facilitating the prompt 
 and safe transaction of the every-day business 
 affairs of those who sought his professional aid. 
 Here he was getting an admirable training when 
 a summons to engage in work of larger scope 
 
35 
 
 came to him most unexpectedly, though it found 
 him, we may believe, prepared fairly well for 
 the task. 
 
 The tendency of state legislatures to make 
 changes at every session in the statutes, whether 
 by way of repeal or amendment, or by bringing 
 forward entirely new provisions of law, has be 
 come proverbial ; and Massachusetts, it must be 
 confessed, at no period of her political history 
 furnishes an exception to the rule. By this time 
 the statute law of the commonwealth had grown 
 into an unwieldy mass, so that particular provis 
 ions were difficult of ascertainment, and when 
 found, were fruitful of perplexities. The only 
 remedy was revision. Already the governor had 
 appointed commissioners to determine upon a plan 
 in accordance with which the revision might best 
 be accomplished. Upon a report from them the 
 legislature, 16 February, 1855, passed a resolution 
 empowering the governor to appoint three com 
 missioners to consolidate and rearrange the stat 
 utes, with authority to 
 
 Omit redundant enactments and those which may have 
 ceased to have effect or influence on existing rights ; to reject 
 superfluous words, and to condense into as concise and compre 
 hensive a form, as is consistent with a full and clear expression 
 of the legislature, all circuitous, tautological and ambiguous 
 phraseology ; to suggest any mistakes, omissions, inconsist 
 encies and imperfections which may appear in the laws to be 
 consolidated and arranged, and the manner in which they 
 may be corrected, supplied and amended. 
 
36 
 
 These terms indicate to what lengths the re 
 sponsibility extended and how broad a discretion 
 was to be reposed in the commission. Governor 
 Gardner, on the 9th of March following, named 
 for the office Joel Parker, of Cambridge, Royal 
 professor of law at Harvard and formerly chief 
 justice of New Hampshire ; William A. Richard 
 son, of Lowell; and Andrew A. Richmond, of 
 Adams.* 
 
 The appointees accepted the office and entered 
 at once upon the work, although Mr. Richmond s 
 health prevented his taking an active part therein. 
 A disproportionate share consequently fell upon 
 Mr. Richardson. But the junior commissioner 
 felt no discouragement at what confronted him ; 
 on the contrary the work laid out was exactly to 
 his taste ; and he bent himself with unflagging 
 energy to go through the body of the statutes so 
 
 * As illustrating the truth that chance sometimes has much to do with 
 a young man s opportunity for advancement, the following remarks once 
 made by the chief justice as to how he happened to be appointed to this 
 important office, at the age of thirty-four, may not inappropriately rind 
 room here : "I do not. think that the governor (Henry J. Gardner) had 
 ever heard of me, until some one, a senator, suggested my name as a 
 candidate. I came very near not getting that appointment. When the 
 senator first mentioned my name the governor said he had just settled 
 upon the list of names, and it was too late to make a change in it. There 
 were three commissioners. A few days afterwards the governor sent for 
 the senator, and asked more about me, saying that after all he might make 
 a change in the list ; and he did so, and I was named as one. When the 
 appointments came out afterward, I learned in course of time that be 
 tween the first and second interview with the senator, the governor had 
 some trouble with one of the three he had selected, a man from Newton, 
 a warm personal friend up to that time, and on that account had struck 
 bis name off the list and substituted mine." 
 
37 
 
 as to have a report ready by the autumn of 1858. 
 Of course, such an undertaking was to the last 
 degree laborious. Indeed, considering how much 
 there was for a single man to do, it must always 
 remain a marvel that the volume, which ulti 
 mately grew out of the work of the commission, 
 proved so admirable in plan, and so faultless in 
 execution. The volume referred to is the General 
 Statutes of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 
 of 1860, embodied in an act passed 28 December, 
 1859. 
 
 The duty of editing and superintending the 
 printing of the statutes, forming as they do a 
 book of upwards of eleven hundred pages, was 
 entrusted to William A. Richardson and George 
 P. Sanger. Circumstances obliged them to send 
 the sheets to the printer under a pressure of some 
 haste, but the completed volume shows no sign of 
 it. They prefixed the constitution of the United 
 States and that of Massachusetts, furnished chapter 
 headings in detail, and supplied to the text, both 
 of the constitutions and of the statutes, copious 
 notes, citations and cross-references. To this they 
 added a glossary and an index, the latter having 
 the merit of accuracy and fulness. 
 
 While praise is unquestionably due to Judge 
 Sanger for his share of the undertaking, no one 
 who knows the requirements of such a task, and 
 who besides has seen what Judge Richardson 
 
at a later period accomplished in his revision 
 of the statutes of the United States, will be at 
 a loss to determine what proportion of the de 
 sign is to be credited to him. Unlike previous 
 revisions, many of which went little further than 
 to rearrange the several enactments, the report 
 made by Messrs. Parker and Richardson amounted 
 to a re-writing of nearly the whole body of the 
 statute law.* In several instances they changed 
 the language of the statutes, especially under the 
 head of criminal law. Notwithstanding some 
 opposition in the legislature, every one of these 
 changes was approved, and most of them after 
 wards justified themselves as being of practical 
 value. 
 
 It was a subject of pride with Chief Justice 
 Richardson that in his younger days the honor 
 should have been his of taking part in this 
 severe and protracted labor of revision; and 
 that the volume in the preparation of which he 
 applied himself with so much ardor, had stood 
 the test of time and proved to be substantially, if 
 not literally, free from error. 
 
 * One day during the early sessions of the board, Judge Parker, the 
 chairman, handed to Mr. Richardson a chapter drawn up informally and 
 told him to take it up and see what he could do with it. This was said 
 at the State House in Boston. Mr. Richardson took the manuscript that 
 night to Lowell, twenty-five miles away, and sat up all night working 
 upon it. The next morning he brought it back to Boston compressed into 
 about three pages. It was adopted and printed as he had written it, and 
 ever since has formed a chapter in the statutes as revised. 
 
39 
 
 Some one has well said of it : " The amount of 
 labor, patient study and legal skill required in 
 mastering so much complication, and bringing 
 the mass into harmonious order, may be imagined 
 by all ; but its successful accomplishment can only 
 be appreciated by an experienced legal mind." 
 
 Judge Richardson continued to edit and super 
 intend the issue of an annual volume of the Mas 
 sachusetts statutes for a period of twenty-two years. 
 The stereotype plates of the General Statutes of 
 1860 were destroyed by the great fire at Boston 
 in 1872. Pursuant to an act of the legislature he 
 edited, in conjunction with Judge Sanger, a new 
 edition in 1873, as well as a supplementary vol 
 ume of legislative enactments since 1860. This 
 last-named labor was accomplished, it should be 
 stated, at a time when the editor-in-chief was at 
 Washington, immersed in the business of the 
 Treasury Department. 
 
 Later achievements in the line of statutory 
 revision may conveniently be noted here. It is 
 doubtful whether there can be named a lawyer in 
 successful practice, or a judge upon the bench 
 who has ever exhibited a willingness, nay, let 
 it rather be termed a desire, comparable to that 
 of Chief Justice Richardson, to undergo the 
 drudgery of bringing into orderly and systematic 
 arrangement the vast material of the statute law. 
 To begin with, it is a species of unmitigated 
 
40 
 
 toil that only a select few would think of under 
 taking. Without reckoning a conception of the 
 plan as a whole, the almost endless detail which 
 is of necessity involved, exacts of one an amount 
 of manual labor that would deter most men from 
 thinking of taking upon themselves this burden, 
 even with competent assistance. 
 
 An ability to carry along in the memory the 
 meaning, not to say the precise wording, of an 
 enactment, with a view of fitting to it a note or 
 reference, or the disconnected terms of some other 
 statute, is a gift rarely possessed. But Chief Justice 
 Richardson had this gift; and, what is more, he 
 had an unerring perception of where a line of 
 text belonged. Pie was endowed, too, with an 
 instinct, one is almost tempted to call it genius, 
 for indexing. Besides, he has more than once 
 displayed a rare judgment in the difficult art of 
 book-making. He knew exactly how to arrange 
 printed material in dress and collocation so as 
 to wear the most attractive look of which it is 
 capable ; while the system of catch-lines and mar 
 ginal annotations that he employed, and to a large 
 extent originated, is such that he who has fre 
 quent occasion to use the volume, almost conceives 
 a friendly feeling for the author. 
 
 Soon after the passage of the revised statutes of 
 the United States (1874) it became a daily habit 
 with Judge Richardson to watch the legislation of 
 
41 
 
 Congress while in session, and to enter references 
 thereto upon his note-book. This work he kept 
 up for the rest of his life because he liked it. It 
 is safe to say that probably no one in the United 
 States at any day during this period had in hand 
 such a thorough knowledge of the exact condition 
 of the federal statute law as Judge Richardson. 
 With the progress of time these annotations grew to 
 be of large volume, and correspondingly valuable. 
 The collection was unique. Nobody else appa 
 rently had thought to do the like. Congress, when 
 made aware of its existence, took steps to provide 
 for its official publication. Acts were passed 
 directing that the statutes of the United States 
 should be printed with the annotations of Judge 
 Richardson, and under his direction, and that the 
 work should be stereotyped. 
 
 Owing to his forethought and his persistent 
 labor, day after day, the bar is now enabled to con 
 sult in a very convenient form, supplements of 
 the revised statutes of the United States from 1874 
 to 1895. Moreover, this admirable plan of publi 
 cation once adopted has now 7 apparently become 
 the settled policy of Congress. The work, it is 
 true, meets the eye of but a limited number 
 of people. The world at large knows and cares 
 little about it ; still, lawyers, judges, legislators 
 and public officials turn to these volumes witli 
 more or less frequency ; and, it may truthfully 
 
42 
 
 be added, always with satisfaction. It is difficult 
 to see in what particular the plan, as devised 
 by Chief Justice Richardson, can be improved 
 upon. Although the work is destined in time to 
 be supplanted, a new compilation must perforce 
 follow the lines of the old. For this reason 
 " Richardson s Supplements" are likely to remain 
 a monument to the honor of him who con 
 ceived a well-nigh faultless plan of bringing to 
 the public a knowledge of the provisions of the 
 federal statutes. 
 
 In the spring of 1856 Judge Samuel Phillips 
 Prescott Fay (Harvard, 1793) resigned the office 
 of judge of probate for Middlesex county ; an 
 office which he had held since 1821, for a period 
 of nearly thirty-five years. Governor Gardner 
 appointed Mr. Richardson, 7 April, 1856, to fill 
 the vacancy. The choice met the general consent 
 and approval of the bar. The new incumbent, 
 already favorably known to the governor by his 
 labors upon the commission to revise the statutes, 
 had demonstrated satisfactorily to the people of 
 Lowell and the county in general that he was pecu 
 liarly well suited to the position. The change 
 from office practice to a seat upon the bench was, 
 we may believe, very acceptable to the incoming 
 judge. He was glad to be thus honored in his 
 own county, and he welcomed the multiplied and 
 arduous duties that awaited him. 
 
43 
 
 A judge of probate, it need hardly be explained, 
 ought to know a good deal more than the rules 
 of law governing the administration of estates. 
 He not only sits to act upon petitions and decide 
 controversies, but people resort to him daily, "the 
 widow and the orphan," for advice and counsel. A 
 selfish man, or one of stern demeanor, would not 
 be tolerated there ; an impulsive, tender-hearted 
 judge, lacking in firmness, would be equally out 
 of place. Happily Judge Richardson possessed 
 just the qualities needed for a successful admin 
 istration of the office.* 
 
 * Governor Frederick T. Greenhalge, who, before entering into public 
 life had reached distinction as a lawyer at Lowell, said at a memorial 
 meeting of the bar upon the occasion of the death of George M. Brooks : 
 " Judge Brooks succeeded a most remarkable man, singularly adapted to 
 the work of the probate court Judge William A. Richardson and yet 
 no one ever fulfilled with more success, with more conscious exactness to 
 law, fact, sympathy and efficacy of action, the work assigned him than 
 Judge Brooks." 
 
 Says A. V. Lynde (November, 1897) a prominent practitioner and one 
 of the oldest lawyers at the Middlesex bar: "Richardson was the best 
 judge of probate they ever had in Massachusetts. His power of despatch 
 ing business was tremendous. There was a case in which George P. Burn- 
 ham (who had gained local notoriety during the Shanghai chicken 
 craze), was a party. The question was whether a sum of $10,000 should be 
 allowed in a probate account. On one side was Butler, Rockwood Hoar, 
 Brooks and other strong counsel. I had as an associate Theodore H. 
 Sweetser. We had more than forty hearings before Judge Richardson, he 
 not intimating in the least what his opinion would be. At the last hear 
 ing, upon the close of the argument, Richardson said, I shall not allow 
 this claim, adjourned court, and took his hat and left the court hoxise. " 
 
 Mr. Lynde spoke of talking one day with Judge Richardson about his 
 method of disposing of cases rapidly. The judge said he preferred in pro 
 bate hearings to give an immediate opinion. "Are you not sometimes 
 wrong?" asked Mr. Lynde. "Oh, yes," replied the judge, "I suppose 
 that sometimes I decide wrong, but in the majority of cases, I think my 
 first impressions are right ; and then it is best to get through them 
 quickly, or cases would consume too much time in argument." 
 
44 
 
 The judge was a critical observer of the means 
 employed in the administration of judicial affairs. 
 He studied practice closely. He believed in ex 
 tending, where it could safely be done, the field 
 into which his court should enter. He was not 
 a man content to settle down into old-fashioned 
 ways of doing business, when after careful inspec 
 tion he had once satisfied himself that a method 
 could be improved. Accordingly his busy inge 
 nuity conceived a plan of enlarging the jurisdic 
 tion of the probate court ; and he was largely 
 instrumental in securing action by the legislature 
 conferring upon that tribunal concurrent juris 
 diction with that of the supreme court, in the 
 construction of wills and the administration of 
 estates. To his wisely directed influence it is 
 due that the probate court in Massachusetts has 
 acquired an exclusive original jurisdiction over 
 many subjects that formerly it did not enjoy. 
 
 It was left also to Judge Richardson to propose 
 to his fellow judges of probate a scheme of uni 
 formity in the matter of practice. He had seen 
 that each one of the fourteen counties had its 
 own forms, which had been followed since the 
 days of the Revolution. The blanks in use 
 varied with each court, and there was an absence 
 of uniformity in almost every particular. Each 
 judge was naturally inclined to treat the settled 
 forms of his own court as the best to be devised ; 
 
45 
 
 and the young Middlesex official who urged the 
 benefits of regularity and uniformity had to en 
 counter a weighty opposition. Many of the older 
 practitioners likewise were conservative,and viewed 
 any proposed modification with scant favor. 
 
 But the earnestness and persistency of the 
 advocate for reform prevailed; the judges met, 
 and upon his motion named a committee to re 
 vise the probate blanks and make them uniform 
 throughout the state. They selected Richardson, 
 of course, together with Judges John Wells and 
 Samuel F. Lyman, both of them new to the bench, 
 though the latter had been a register of probate 
 for many years. Having started the project, 
 Judge Richardson, as generally happens in such 
 cases, was allowed by his associates to go ahead 
 and do all the work, which he did, and what 
 is more, did it gratuitously. We may gather 
 from the following memorandum of the judge 
 himself what must have been the nature of the 
 undertaking, a task much more onerous, it 
 will be observed, than perhaps would at first 
 have been suspected : 
 
 Two judges, both older than myself, were put on the com 
 mittee and I, who alone had experience in the probate court, 
 was added. My associates were both from the western part of 
 the state, and we were all three far separate, so that we could 
 not meet for consultation. 
 
 I made an arrangement with the state printer in Boston to 
 print the blanks, in expectation that the counties would take 
 their respective shares, for we had no money at our disposal 
 
46 
 
 for the expenses. Of course, the whole labor fell upon me, 
 who alone had an office in Boston, and was familiar with the 
 practice of the probate courts, and had started the scheme 
 myself. I had already formed my opinions as to the blanks 
 generally. Up to that time each of the fourteen counties had 
 its own system and its own blanks, and they had been diverg 
 ing from each other for two hundred years or so. Of course, 
 there was very little similarity, none except such as the 
 statutes required or suggested. 
 
 The very first set of blanks that I had printed and sent to 
 each of the judges, raised opposition from two counties ; all the 
 others were quite satisfied. One of my associates resigned from 
 the committee, saying that he could not agree to such radical 
 changes of forms which were older than the constitution of the 
 state. The other associate made no objection, and I rarely 
 saw him. Once in a great while, when in Boston from one of 
 the extreme western counties, he came into my office, but he 
 had no opportunity to do anything, and being a new man 
 without experience in court, he had no suggestions to make. 
 
 I \vorked over these blanks for more than a year. When 
 completed I took them to Chief Justice Bigelow of the supreme 
 court, who w r as a friend of mine, for adoption by that court, in 
 accordance with a provision of the statutes which had been in 
 force for a quarter of a century without any action taken. 
 Bigelow adopted, or rather approved them at once, and for the 
 court ordered them [11 April, 1861] to be adopted in all the 
 counties. One county, Essex, still manifested hostility and 
 came into the plan with great reluctance. Bigelow, who was 
 constantly inquiring, whenever we met, as to how I was getting 
 on, told me that if the judge in Essex did not adopt the forms, 
 he would issue a mandamus to show cause, and would compel 
 him to adopt them. But I did not want to press matters, and 
 they finally got into use even there. 
 
 Some years afterwards (nearly twenty years), the supreme 
 court held that the forms as thus adopted were part of the law 
 of the state, and could not be changed but by that court, as 
 they were so ordered to be adopted. (Baxter v. Blood, 128 
 Mass. 543.) 
 
47 
 
 The principal advantages gained were and are, absolute 
 uniformity of forms in the whole fourteen counties. In the 
 blanks themselves some matters may be mentioned as among 
 the most important changes : Stating the exact date of 
 the death of the decedents. Before, no date was given. 
 Naming all the heirs and next of kin, with the place of resi 
 dence, and the husbands of married women. In these partic 
 ulars the probate records of Massachusetts will in time prove 
 a mine for exploration by the genealogists. 
 
 The judge had occupied the office scarcely 
 two years when the legislature effected a radical 
 change in the system of the probate courts by 
 consolidating them with the courts of insolvency, 
 and creating a court of probate and insolvency, of 
 which Judge Richardson was made a judge for 
 Middlesex. The real object in view was to bring 
 about, by act of the legislature, the removal of 
 Edward Greely Loring (Harvard, 1831), judge of 
 probate for Suffolk county, a man of ability and of 
 the highest integrity. As a matter of fact Judge 
 Loring was removed from office by Governor 
 Banks, 19 March, 1858, upon a supersedeas, in 
 compliance with the address of the legislature.* 
 
 * Loring was, however, not long deprived of judicial honors. A va 
 cancy having recently occurred on the bench of the Court of Claims at 
 Washington, through the death of Chief Justice Gilchrist, of New Hamp 
 shire, the President named Loring to be a judge of that court, and he was 
 confirmed 6 May, 1858. In this capacity he served the country honorably 
 and well. He relinquished his seat, after having passed the age limit, 
 in 1877. Alike on the bench or in retirement, the judge Avas a man of 
 charming personality, a raconteur of the very highest order. He, with 
 his wife and daughters, each brilliant and witty, rendered the Loring 
 home, on K street, a centre of social delight, unsurpassed elsewhere at 
 the Capital. 
 
48 
 
 Judge Loring held the office likewise of com 
 missioner of the circuit court of the United 
 States, and in his capacity as such had rendered 
 a decision which had the effect to return Anthony 
 Burns to his owner under the fugitive slave law, 
 a decision the circumstances of which created 
 intense excitement in Massachusetts, and have 
 heen to this day held in remembrance as forming 
 one of the dramatic preludes to the war for the 
 Union. The action of the commissioner, though 
 in obedience to the plain dictates of the law, and 
 governed by the purest motives on his part, was 
 bitterly resented by the people. 
 
 Because he had discharged his duty Judge Lor 
 ing suffered an odium as profound as it was unjust. 
 The newspapers poured upon him a stream of vio 
 lent denunciation. Wendell Phillips, the orator 
 without a peer, stirred the people almost as never 
 before, with words of scornful acrimony and fiery 
 wrath. Every abolitionist had wrought himself, 
 and a good many of his neighbors, up to the 
 highest pitch of resentful indignation. Some 
 safety-valve had to be supplied for so tremen 
 dous a pressure of explosive material ; and from 
 all over the state came a stern demand for the 
 removal of the offending judge. 
 
 The legislature passed an address to the gov 
 ernor, asking that Judge Loring be removed, in 
 accordance with the constitution of Massachu- 
 
49 
 
 setts, which provides that any judge may be 
 removed by the governor upon the address of 
 both houses of the legislature. Governor Henry 
 J. Gardner, who it seems was a conservative man, 
 refused to execute the will of the legislature, as 
 he had a right to do. He believed that Loring 
 had done nothing more than he was bound to 
 do under the law; and that this act he had per 
 formed not in the capacity of a judge of probate, 
 but as a United States commissioner, over whose 
 conduct in office the state had no control what 
 ever. The governor, therefore, declined to take 
 action. 
 
 The members of the legislature, who had been 
 elected in the autumn of 1857, came together in 
 January, 1858, fresh from the excited people, and 
 burning with vengeance against Loring, whose 
 removal they were determined to accomplish. 
 They meant to make an example of him. No 
 matter what might stand in the way, they were 
 bound to have his official head taken off. 
 
 But a respectable number of men in the legis 
 lature and outside entertained more conserva 
 tive views ; while sympathizing with the feeling 
 against Loring, they were not willing to have 
 him removed by address. Circumstances favored 
 them at least in one respect. There were in 
 each county a judge of probate and a judge of 
 insolvency. Those favoring a moderate course 
 
50 
 
 conceived the idea of uniting the two offices, and 
 having but one judge in each county, under the 
 pretence, that while one judge could do all the 
 business, the expense of two courts, or of two 
 judges, would thus be reduced ; and moreover, 
 that by raising the salary of a single judge above 
 the sum then paid to each of the two, the people 
 would secure a better class of judges. The real 
 object, of course, was to remove all the judges, 
 among whom would be the obnoxious Loring, at 
 whom alone the scheme was aimed. 
 
 This proposal, ingenious though it was, by no 
 means appeased the members bent upon ven 
 geance. They announced themselves disposed to 
 agree to the new plan of abolishing and consol 
 idating the courts, but they demanded that the 
 address for Loring s removal should be first passed. 
 The chairman of the committee upon the consoli 
 dation scheme, Eben F. Stone, of Newburyport (a 
 classmate of Judge Richardson), sent out circulars 
 to the judges asking their views. They all replied 
 opposing the scheme, with the single exception of 
 Richardson. Seeing that the result must come, 
 and could by no possibility be avoided, Judge 
 Richardson had discreetly made up his mind to 
 accept the inevitable. Instead of opposing the 
 plan, therefore, his reply suggested what seemed 
 to him the best way to accomplish its purpose. 
 It was not to disturb the two courts of probate 
 
51 
 
 and of insolvency, but to abolish the offices of 
 the judges, and then provide for the appointment 
 of one judge of probate and insolvency in each 
 county, who should ex-officio be judge of both 
 courts. By this method of procedure the business 
 of the two courts would be kept entirely separate. 
 To be sure, a question of the constitutionality of 
 the project at once presented itself; and while 
 to many of those who had considered the subject 
 it appeared to be a matter of more or less doubt, 
 Judge Kichardson, always extremely cautious 
 when projecting the draft of a statute, himself 
 felt confident upon that point, and so assured the 
 committee. 
 
 The plan thus recommended by Judge Rich 
 ardson was finally adopted. A bill drawn up 
 by Chairman Stone was reported, abolishing the 
 offices of judge of probate and judge of insolvency 
 in each county, and establishing the office of 
 judge of probate and insolvency. This bill and 
 the address to the governor stood upon the leg 
 islative calendar at the same time. The friends 
 of the two measures had each determined to get 
 their own bill up first, for neither wanted to 
 vote against the other; besides, if the consoli 
 dation bill should first pass, the address would be 
 useless. 
 
 The remainder of the narrative may be told in 
 Judge Richardson s own words : 
 
52 
 
 The address was a little ahead, came to a vote and was 
 passed. After much debate, the consolidation bill then came 
 up and went through without opposition. This turned out of 
 office twenty-seven judges, two in each of thirteen counties, 
 and one judge of probate in the very small county of Dukes, 
 where he had done the business of both offices for some years. 
 Then came the appointments, which were announced a month 
 or two afterwards. Banks was governor, and he promptly 
 removed Loring, though he had been opposed to that way of 
 getting rid of him. Still he found it necessary to accede to 
 public opinion, unlike his predecessor, Governor Gardner, 
 who had refused to do so the year before. 
 
 I had not voted for Banks at the preceding election, and 
 he knew it. I voted for Gardner, who had twice honored me 
 with appointments, although I had not voted for him at his 
 first election. I belonged to the old whig party, and followed 
 its fortunes until it expired with the defeat of Governor Wash- 
 burn, in 1854, by the election of Governor Gardner. Parties 
 were in a transition state, and men voted as they pleased 
 without much reference to party ties, except the Democrats, 
 who never faltered. There seemed little chance for me at the 
 hands of Governor Banks. But when the appointments were 
 announced I was named judge of probate and insolvency for 
 Middlesex. Of the twenty-seven judges only four were 
 re-appointed, two probate and two insolvency judges, and 
 nine new men were brought out. I was one of the fortunate 
 few. 
 
 For the more convenient prosecution of busi 
 ness, Judge Richardson, in 1860, removed his law 
 office from Lowell to Boston, and took up a resi 
 dence in Cambridge. Here for nearly ten years 
 he pursued the even tenor of his way, regular 
 and punctual in attendance at court, where, free 
 from distractions, he dispatched each day s busi 
 ness with ease and rapidity. One might say of 
 
53 
 
 him that he was " content, because all things 
 were to his liking." 
 
 At this point a word or two may be permitted 
 with regard to the political and religious tenets 
 of the subject of this sketch. Judge Richardson 
 was originally (as his father had been before him) 
 a whig, and by natural transition he became a 
 republican. In saying this, the writer is not 
 unmindful of that small fraction of the whig 
 party in Massachusetts, pro-slavery in sentiment, 
 who, after the death of Webster and the disrup 
 tion of the whig party, found themselves in the 
 democratic camp. Judge Richardson was not a 
 partisan, but he held firm political convictions, 
 and gave his unswerving adherence to the doc 
 trines of the republican faith. Regardful of the 
 proprieties of the bench, however, he abstained 
 from mingling in party politics. When the 
 rebellion came, it found him intensely loyal to 
 the cause of the Union, and in fullest sympathy 
 with the public utterances and acts of Abraham 
 Lincoln. 
 
 It used to be good-naturedly said of Judge 
 Story, that so fixed were his views upon religious 
 subjects, and so hearty his belief in his own 
 church, that, with rare exuberance of spirit, 
 whenever he met a stranger and the conversa 
 tion reverted to the topic of religion, he, unless 
 informed to the contrary, took it for granted 
 
54 
 
 that his companion was a Unitarian. Judge 
 Richardson did not go to this length. Indeed, he 
 rarely discussed the subject of any man s belief, 
 or of attendance upon public worship. He was 
 a Unitarian, and at Washington was an active 
 and valued member of a church of that denomi 
 nation, where he was esteemed as a man of good 
 works, as well as of liberal belief.* It may be said 
 of Judge Richardson that alike in politics and 
 religion, he entertained decided views, but he 
 enjoyed them in serenity, and with no desire to 
 impose them upon others. 
 
 The career of the American lawyer who sticks 
 to his profession is for the most part uneventful ; 
 and the life we have had under review has thus 
 far flowed with a smooth current. The labor of 
 the bench proving to his taste Judge Richardson 
 had reason to look forward in the ordinary course 
 of events to a long continuance in office. But 
 fate had willed it otherwise. Without previous 
 warning, he who above others felt himself bound 
 by strong ties to home and familiar scenes, was 
 called upon to put off the judicial robe and enter 
 into a field of public service, of a character wholly 
 different from that to which he had hitherto been 
 accustomed. 
 
 When General Grant had taken the oath of 
 
 * All Souls , of which for many years he was a trustee. One of the 
 most beautiful windows of stained glass in the country is that in memory 
 of Mrs. Richardson, placed in that church in 1881, by her husband. 
 
55 
 
 office for his first term as President of the United 
 States, he treated the country, it may be recalled, 
 to a genuine surprise by sending to the Senate 
 the name of A. T. Stewart, of New York, to be 
 Secretary of the Treasury. Hardly had the news 
 of the President s choice gone to the country, 
 when somebody discovered that Mr. Stewart, 
 being in trade, was disqualified under the law. 
 Withdrawing the nomination, the President sub 
 stituted a name at the announcement of which 
 the people were as much gratified as they had 
 before been astonished. Notwithstanding that he 
 had already taken one member of the cabinet 
 from Massachusetts, the President honored that 
 state still further by selecting for the treasury, 
 George Sewall Bout well, one of the ablest of 
 a distinguished line of statesmen sent by the 
 Commonwealth to Congress, or elevated to the 
 position of her chief magistracy. It is enough to 
 say of Governor Boutwell that the reputation 
 earned by his long and varied public service, 
 gave assurance to the country that the grave 
 question of our financial policy, the problem of 
 the hour, would be wisely solved by him, a 
 confidence indeed that subsequent events amply 
 sustained. 
 
 A resident of Groton since 1835, Boutwell had 
 been from that date a warm personal friend of 
 Judge Richardson. That he accepted the Treas- 
 
56 
 
 ury, yielding after a brief time only for delibera 
 tion, was in part because his mind had reverted 
 to his friend on the bench in Middlesex, as the 
 man of all others that he wanted for assistant 
 secretary. President Grant had, as it were, im 
 pressed Governor Boutwell into service, and the 
 latter in turn literally reached out for the Massa 
 chusetts judge to come to his help. The first 
 intimation to Judge Richardson that he was 
 needed reached him in the shape of a telegram 
 from the new Secretary of the Treasury, asking if 
 he would accept the office of assistant secretary. 
 He hastened to Washington, and after a protracted 
 consultation between the two friends, his consent, 
 most reluctantly yielded, was given to take the 
 position for the time being. This occurred near 
 the end of March, 1869. 
 
 Meanwhile a vacancy happening on the bench 
 of the superior court of the state, Governor Claf- 
 lin, unwilling that the services of such a man 
 should be lost to Massachusetts, tendered the 
 appointment to Judge Richardson. The honor 
 was declined, upon the earnest protest of the Sec 
 retary of the Treasury, although the Governor had 
 proceeded so far as to make out the commission. 
 
 The post of assistant secretary of the Treasury, 
 at the head of a force of officers and clerks which 
 numbered in Washington alone nearly twenty- 
 two hundred persons, was, it may well be imag- 
 
57 
 
 ined, no sinecure. It offered a certainty of hard 
 work, to be kept up without cessation. This 
 prospect, however, rather attracted Judge Rich 
 ardson than otherwise. That his duty, as it 
 seemed to him, plainly lay at home, accounts for 
 the extreme reluctance which marked his tarry 
 ing at Washington. As a matter of fact, while 
 day after day went by, he attempted more than 
 once to resign, but his repeated resignations were 
 disregarded. Meanwhile, he retained the office 
 of judge of probate and insolvency of Middlesex, 
 expecting before long to be at home in Cambridge. 
 The unusual character of his entry upon ad 
 ministrative duties at Washington is noted here 
 in order that the reader may the more completely 
 enter into the spirit of generosity and friendship 
 with which Secretary Boutwell alludes to this 
 interesting period of their joint career. In an 
 address of mingled force and feeling, delivered 
 before the Court of Claims, upon the occasion of 
 the proceedings in memory of the Chief Justice, 
 the distinguished ex-Secretary, having dwelt upon 
 the reluctance of his friend to come to Washing 
 ton, observes : 
 
 After a delay of several months, he yielded to my impor 
 tunities, but against his own inclinations, and thus entered a 
 larger field of public service. 
 
 In the three and a half years of our association, he contrib 
 uted largely to whatever of success was attained during my 
 administration of the Treasury Department.* 
 
 *Appendix, post, p. xlv. 
 
58 
 
 It will thus be seen that in consenting to take 
 upon himself the burden of an office, new to his 
 experience, the assistant was admitted to the 
 fullest confidence of his chief. The two rejoiced 
 not only in the harmony of a close friendship, but 
 in the growth that comes from daily contact of 
 one superior mind with another while dealing 
 with subjects of large concern, and breathing the 
 free atmosphere of high, intellectual endeavor. 
 
 Whatever diversity of opinion may prevail as 
 to the wisdom of the policy adopted by Secretary 
 Chase of issuing paper money to carry on the 
 war, it gave birth at least to one chapter of our 
 financial history that excites nothing but admir 
 ation. The resolve of the people to maintain at 
 the highest possible standard the credit of the 
 United States, while bearing the burden of an 
 enormous war debt, won for them the respect of 
 the world. It is of course impossible to ascribe 
 to any one man, or set of men, the credit for this 
 sound public sentiment; yet there were leaders of 
 political thought to whom special honor is due 
 for advancing and unflinchingly maintaining 
 correct and hopeful views, whence came the im 
 petus that ended in legislation appropriate to this 
 desired end. Of these eminent men no one stands 
 deservedly higher in public esteem than George 
 S. Boutwell. 
 
 The debt of the United States when largest 
 
59 
 
 (1 March, 1866) stood at the enormous figures of 
 $2,707,856,000.22. Such was the legacy left to 
 the American people by the war for the Union. 
 The original legal-tender act, in its title, was an 
 authority for " the issue of notes and the redemp 
 tion and funding thereof," and it provided for 
 the funding of the floating debt of the United 
 States. It required that duties on imported goods 
 should be paid in coin, and that such coin should 
 be set apart as a special fund, first for the pay 
 ment in coin of the interest on the bonds and 
 notes of the United States ; and next for the pur 
 chase or payment of one per centum of the entire 
 debt of the United States, to be made within each 
 fiscal year after the 1st of July, 1862, this to be set 
 apart as a sinking fund, and the interest thereon, 
 in a like manner, to be applied to the purchase or 
 payment of the public debt as the Secretary 
 of the Treasury should direct. While war was 
 flagrant, the government struggling for existence 
 was still borrowing money to pay old loans, and 
 creating new ones, so that no steps were taken to 
 establish a sinking fund as such. Coin in the 
 Treasury, however, was allowed to accumulate to 
 the amount of about $100,000,000. 
 
 President Grant in his inaugural address, 4 
 March, 1869, employed this significant language : 
 
 A great debt has been contracted in securing to us and to 
 our posterity the Union. The payment of this, principal and 
 
interest, as well as the return to a specie basis, as soon as it 
 can be accomplished without material detriment to the labor 
 classes, or to the country at large, must be provided for. 
 
 A prompt yet safely conducted reduction of the 
 public debt* was the key-note of Secretary Bout- 
 well s administration. To this end with a firm 
 and inflexible purpose he bent his energies. He 
 meant that not a single item of taxation should 
 be prematurely given up, but that the country 
 should practice economy and devote every dollar 
 it could save to the payment of its bonds. He set 
 at once to work to begin the creation of an actual 
 sinking fund, in literal compliance with the law 
 of Congress, hitherto neglected. He proposed a 
 plan for funding the national debt which Con 
 gress sanctioned and embodied in the important 
 legislation of 14 July, 1870, enabling the Secretary 
 to fund in new securities at a lower rate of interest, 
 that part of the national debt represented by five- 
 twenty bonds, f 
 
 Although to one looking back upon its suc 
 cessful execution, the plan may now appear per 
 fectly simple and easy, it in truth represented 
 at the time the result of anxious thought, a 
 courageous faith, and the exercise of sound 
 judgment. Gold, at that period, it should be 
 
 *The public debt, 1 March, 1869, was $2,525,463,200.01, a reduction of 
 about $180,000,000 from the highest point it had ever reached. 
 
 f So-called because redeemable at the pleasure of the United States 
 after five years, and payable twenty years from date. They were first issued 
 in 1862 ; and they bore six per cent, interest, payable semi-annually. 
 
61 
 
 remembered, still commanded a premium; and 
 there were many who insisted that resumption of 
 specie payments could not be accomplished, and 
 that it was only a delusion to believe that the 
 war debt of the United States would ever be 
 extinguished. 
 
 Now that the policy of the government had 
 taken shape, it remained for the Secretary of the 
 Treasury to accomplish the business of disposing 
 of the new five per cents. This was a task of no 
 little magnitude. The previous season, owing to 
 the Franco-Prussian war, was unfavorable for 
 placing a loan of the United States abroad ; and 
 that branch of the work had to be temporarily 
 deferred. Meanwhile, at the request of the Sec 
 retary, the amount of the five per cents had 
 been increased by Congress from $200,000,000 
 to $500,000,000, and a discretion had been con 
 ferred upon him to make the interest payable 
 quarter-yearly. The assistant secretary entered 
 zealously into the spirit of the enterprise. He 
 was active in letter writing and in personal con 
 ference with leading bankers and capitalists, 
 where he displayed a thorough knowledge of the 
 needs of the government, and of the capacity of 
 private individuals, firms and corporations to take 
 the loan, and showed likewise a keen insight into 
 the practical workings of the money market. As 
 illustrating with what clearness of vision he sur- 
 
62 
 
 veyed the situation, the following extract may be 
 cited, from a letter of his to the Secretary of the 
 Treasury, 17 March, 1871, reporting the result of 
 an interview on that day in New York city with 
 certain prominent bankers : 
 
 I can see the reason they want me here, which I did not 
 understand at first. They are all deeply engaged in other 
 matters ; they can not be got together unless it is to meet some 
 body ; and when they do get together they are all in a hurry 
 to get away, and all talk at the same time, and they want 
 some one to bring order out of the chaos of their discussions 
 and to sum up the general conclusions, which I have done as 
 well as I am able. As you take up the matter where I leave 
 off I trust you will not think their conclusions were reached 
 at once and were discussed afterwards. I think it is a decided 
 advantage that you can consider these propositions from an 
 entirely different standpoint from that of the parties who 
 discussed them, and from that of myself who heard them 
 discussed. 
 
 The Secretary had caused public announcement 
 to be made in February, 1871, that on the 6th 
 of March following books would be opened in this 
 country and in Europe for subscriptions, the first 
 preference being given to subscribers for the five 
 per cents. By the first of August nearly sixty -six 
 millions had been taken, chiefly by the national 
 banks, leaving one hundred and thirty-four mil 
 lions to be disposed of in Europe, with such 
 added subscriptions at home as might reasonably 
 be counted upon at that advanced stage of the 
 business. 
 
 The banking house of Jay Cooke & Company, 
 
63 
 
 confident of their ability to place the loan, had 
 undertaken to obtain subscriptions for this large 
 amount, the bonds to be delivered on the first day 
 of December, 1871. The house was not however 
 an agent of the government under any specified 
 authority. Upon making subscriptions each sub 
 scriber was to pay down five per cent, on the sum, 
 which amount was to be applied to the payment 
 of the principal of the bonds when the same were 
 delivered; if the subscriber was disinclined to take 
 the bonds, the five per cent, became forfeited to 
 the banking firm. 
 
 At that season, it should be understood, the 
 house of Jay Cooke & Company was a strong one, 
 full of resources. Their energy practically brought 
 about the result at which they had aimed, namely, 
 a disposition of the whole of the remaining amount 
 of the five per cents, almost all of which was 
 placed abroad. The new bonds had to be shipped 
 to London, and could be delivered to Jay Cooke 
 & Company there upon payment by them in gold, 
 or by delivery of an equal amount of five-twenties, 
 both sets of bonds being reckoned at their respec 
 tive par values. 
 
 The tremendous responsibility of handling 
 these new bonds rested upon Secretary Boutwell. 
 Of course, he had to trust somebody with their 
 actual custody and delivery in a foreign country. 
 The one man whom he knew that he could rely 
 
64 
 
 upon to discharge efficiently this duty was close 
 at hand. He selected the assistant secretary, 
 though a temporary absence of that officer from 
 his post would be severely felt at the Treasury. 
 
 Another duty not less grave, and one that re 
 quired for its successful performance much tact 
 and delicacy, was to examine the ground, both in 
 England and upon the continent, with reference 
 to negotiating a similar loan at four and a-half 
 per cent. It is no exaggeration to say that for 
 this office, at the period named, no one of a fit 
 ness superior to Judge Richardson could have 
 been suggested. 
 
 Plans were concluded for the safe transporta 
 tion to London of the new securities, and for the 
 redemption thereby of the five-twenties for which 
 a call had been issued. A clerical force having 
 been specially selected and arrangements com 
 pleted for their transportation, Assistant Secre 
 tary Richardson, accompanied by Mr. J. P. Bige- 
 low, chief of the loan division, sailed from New 
 York on the 14th of June. They went directly 
 through to London. 
 
 Upon arrival, the assistant secretary lost no 
 time in securing proper quarters. His object 
 was to occupy rooms in close proximity to the 
 banks, and yet wholly apart from any banking- 
 house. Quarters were finally obtained at 41 Lom 
 bard street, in the City, a locality that may be 
 
65 
 
 described as the actual financial centre of the world. 
 Here the clerks, provided with ledgers and other 
 conveniences for keeping accounts and carrying 
 on, under proper checks, the business of issuing 
 bonds, and buying and cancelling bonds that had 
 been redeemed, were ready to work out the de 
 tails of the important transaction for which they 
 had been brought across the water. It was to all 
 intents and purposes a branch of the Treasury of 
 the United States, opened at London. 
 
 The new bonds were in condition for shipment, 
 and were sent from the Treasury on the first of 
 September. Three clerks, in whom the depart 
 ment imposed a more than usual confidence, were 
 given charge of a safe containing the bonds, whose 
 value ran up into the millions. These men were 
 armed. Not for one moment from the time the 
 safe left the Treasury building in Washington 
 (except while in the "strong room" of a Cunard 
 steamer) until it was delivered to Assistant Sec 
 retary Richardson in person, at the branch office 
 in London was the precious object out of the 
 sight of at least two of these government officials. 
 Similar precautions were observed in shipping 
 home the bonds which were received in exchange ; 
 and in fact whenever it became necessary to take 
 securities across the ocean. 
 
 The Treasury Department could know only in 
 a general way how large was the volume of the 
 
66 
 
 coupon bonds of the United States held in Europe. 
 What amount was owned in England, what in 
 Germany and what in Holland, it was impossible 
 to determine. Besides, it was not easy to get 
 word to holders that their bonds had been called, 
 and it resulted that while a very large proportion 
 quickly reached London for redemption, much 
 remained outstanding. On 17 September, 1871, 
 the assistant secretary of the Treasury had in his 
 possession at London $30,000,000 of the new five 
 per cent, bonds. 
 
 His first action was to sell outright a portion 
 of them, for which he received gold. This gold 
 he placed on deposit in the Bank of England,* 
 and with it he was ready to pay such holders of 
 5-20 s as preferred to receive in exchange money 
 rather than new bonds. The amount called was 
 $100,000,000, and interest ceased 1 December, 
 1871. From a report of the Secretary of the 
 Treasury of that date we learn that the depart 
 ment had in its possession 1 December, 1871, 
 more than $80,000,000 of the bonds. Of these, 
 $17,000,000 had been paid in coin, while the 
 
 * Not a little difficulty was experienced by him in arranging this de 
 posit so as to conform to the rules of the Bank of England, and at the 
 same time render it possible for him to draw out the money upon his own 
 check. The solution of this problem will be found described in a report 
 from Assistant Secretary Richardson to Secretary Boutwell, which is 
 printed in the Appendix, post. At one time there was on the books of the 
 Bank standing to the credit of the assistant secretary more money than 
 had ever been on deposit to the credit of any one man since the Bank 
 was created. 
 
67 
 
 remainder had been received on deposit in ex 
 change for five per cents. 
 
 The business once set in operation went on 
 with a considerable degree of regularity. The 
 clerks worked willingly, sometimes far beyond 
 the usual office hours. The supply of bonds for 
 redemption, as already intimated, varied in 
 amount so that at some seasons the work to be 
 accomplished was greater than at others. 
 
 The mission entrusted to Assistant Secretary 
 Richardson, as we have seen, was such as to test 
 his ability not only as an executive officer, but as 
 a diplomat, so to speak, in finance. To distribute 
 by safe and expeditious process an enormous 
 amount of public securities already bespoken, 
 constitutes in itself a work that few men are 
 qualified to prosecute. But to go further, and 
 while engrossed in this work to watch closely the 
 field of European finance, with a view of placing 
 most advantageously another loan at a lower rate 
 of interest ; to measure the capacities, and to over 
 come the prejudices of the great bankers of Eng 
 land and of the Continent, this indeed was to tax 
 the powers of the most astute and experienced 
 leader in public financial affairs. Herein Judge 
 Richardson displayed talent of a rare order. At 
 each step he proved himself alert, keenly observant, 
 and to a remarkable degree sagacious. 
 
 He appears to have sought from the beginning 
 
68 
 
 by all available means to enlarge the circle of 
 persons abroad who were really influential, and 
 whom it was desirable to acquaint with the 
 nature of our securities. His methods were far- 
 sighted. He labored to inculcate a belief in the 
 stability of our government, and in the certainty 
 that our indebtedness would be paid dollar for 
 dollar. Above all he kept steadily in view the 
 fact that, with credit improving, we could borrow 
 at a lower rate of interest. He contrived to meet 
 in person and talk with the heads of the great 
 banking houses. At these interviews, his atti 
 tude was that of a man having something to sell, 
 which the prospective customer wanted to get as 
 cheaply as possible. It was a prime requisite 
 that the official representing the United States 
 should be able to feel sure of his ground, by 
 reason of his complete apprehension of the 
 financial situation. So far as one may ascertain, 
 from papers, official and otherwise, bearing upon 
 the subject, this requirement was amply met. 
 
 The reader ought to be reminded that although 
 the United States, from the clay that the war 
 closed, had caused it to be made known that 
 their obligations would be paid dollar for dollar, 
 and had in proof of good faith gone on diminish 
 ing the amount of the indebtedness, still so vast- 
 was the total that the credit abroad of the 
 government, while in the main good, was by 
 
69 
 
 some banking firms held under suspicion. The 
 financial editor of the Times, for example, did not 
 hesitate to inform the representative of the 
 Treasury that, for his part, he did not consider 
 as quite safe the loan of any country governed 
 by universal suffrage. One of the great money 
 kings, whose name if disclosed would be recog 
 nized the world over, though proffering social 
 advances, and treating the assistant secretary 
 with all proper respect, could scarcely conceal 
 from him a profound sense of hostility to the 
 loan. Not only this, the members of his banking- 
 house were actually discouraging investors from 
 purchasing our new bonds. The house, it seems, 
 was then devoting much attention to the French 
 loan, and Judge Richardson was favored with 
 the remark, " Of course, everybody would prefer 
 a French bond to an American one at the same 
 price." 
 
 Nor had the treaty of Washington, with its 
 avowed purpose of healing enmities between 
 England and America and of bringing the two 
 countries into closer accord, the effect in the 
 slightest to render our securities popular among 
 the banks and the investors of London. One 
 reason why money lenders in England were not 
 disposed to look with favor upon large purchases 
 of United States securities was because of the 
 great losses suffered by many who, eager for large 
 
70 
 
 dividends, had invested in the Erie railroad. 
 This corporation, it will be remembered, through 
 the management of Fisk and Gould, had brought 
 into public notice abroad the uncertainty, to say 
 the least, of investments in an American bonded 
 debt. Government bonds of the United States 
 suffered because Englishmen had lost money 
 which they had put into the securities of a 
 private American corporation. 
 
 These facts are laid before the reader in order 
 that he may possess a proper sense of the obstacles 
 with which Judge Richardson had to contend. 
 After having exchanged views with the represen 
 tatives of the great houses in London, he visited, 
 on a like errand, Amsterdam, Frank fort-on-the- 
 Main, Hamburg, and Paris. At each of these 
 cities, in his capacity as representative of the 
 Government of the United States, he met the 
 leading men who controlled financial operations, 
 and talked with them in explanation of what 
 the United States expected to accomplish. He 
 appears to have acquired a wholesome respect 
 for Dutch bankers, esteeming their capacities as 
 much in advance of those of the heads of the 
 great banking houses in London. He frequently 
 dined out, and was the recipient of numerous 
 social attentions, quietly taking the measure 
 all the while of the men whom he met, and 
 their power to control large sums of money. Of 
 
71 
 
 one of these bankers, for instance, he remarks, "I 
 was with him a good deal, dined with him, and 
 talked much about our bonds and investments 
 generally. Socially, I liked him very much, but 
 financially, I found him of no account whatever." 
 
 Then, too, he noted and made due allowance 
 for the inevitable jealousies and heated rivalry 
 that his presence in Europe upon such a mission 
 could not but engender. To add to his respon 
 sibilities, there were one or two Americans, of 
 foreign birth, with whom he had to deal, indi 
 viduals who affected to know precisely how fund 
 ing operations should be carried on, and who 
 were free in their criticism of the policy of the 
 administration. These men took pains to have 
 it understood that they were foreign correspond 
 ents of influential journals in the United States. 
 In what Judge Richardson said, and still more 
 in what he omitted to say, to all such persons, it 
 is known that he acted with admirable tact and 
 discretion. 
 
 His reports, both official and private, to the 
 Secretary of the Treasury show that he was 
 easily master of the situation. He counted upon 
 returning home, where he much wished to be ; 
 but there was more for him to do, and conse 
 quently his return was, with his cheerful assent, 
 postponed until spring. He speaks of meeting 
 persons of character and standing almost daily 
 
72 
 
 who desired to talk with him in relation to our 
 national debt, the new loan and the resources of 
 the country, as well as the policy of the admin 
 istration. To all who sought it he could furnish 
 information, in full detail, better perhaps than 
 any other man who might have been sent abroad. 
 He says : 
 
 I am sowing the seeds, the fruits of which to some small 
 extent are seen and will continue to be seen more and more 
 in the increased popularity of our new loan, at reduced rates 
 of interest, among the investors of England. 
 
 The governor of the Bank of England, for ex 
 ample, after expressing the greatest admiration 
 for the policy of the United States, in regularly 
 and largely reducing the national debt, admitted 
 to the assistant secretary that 
 
 Until lately he had always thought that the debt could 
 not be reduced, but it had been shown that the resources of 
 the country were so enormous, and the determination of the 
 nation to pay the debt so fixed and settled, we should now be 
 able to borrow money at four per cent. 
 
 In acquainting the Secretary of the Treasury 
 with the circumstances of this interview, the judge 
 adds shrewdly : 
 
 I can not help believing that the fact of your having some 
 three millions pounds sterling here in London, for which the 
 government appears to have no immediate use, has con 
 tributed no little in the mind of the governor and the directors 
 of the Bank of England, and others who know it, to strengthen 
 the credit of the United States in this great metropolis. 
 
73 
 
 We pass over the details of his stay to mention 
 one occurrence of striking import. There are 
 many now living who can recall vividly the 
 intense excitement that seized upon the English 
 press and people over the prospect of "the indi 
 rect claims" for the depredations of the Confed 
 erate cruisers being made the subject of action 
 by the tribunal at Geneva, under the treaty of 
 Washington. Perhaps no single event in recent 
 British political history, of interest to Americans, 
 is more striking than the suddenness and depth 
 of the popular feeling in England which threat 
 ened to wreck the treaty and postpone the settle 
 ment of the Alabama claims. 
 
 Judge Richardson went through this tempest 
 with calmness and with a perfectly clear vision. 
 He did not in the least degree misconceive the 
 impression made upon the English people of all 
 classes of society, or exaggerate its importance. 
 Writing in February, 1872, he says : 
 
 It is astonishing what a scare this case has made in 
 England. People are fearfully alarmed lest there should be 
 war. All hopes of any further negotiations of the funded 
 loan until this scare is over must be abandoned, but it 
 enables me to buy old bonds. I have bought largely for 
 delivery by the middle of February, and I think by the 
 middle of March, if not sooner, I shall have invested all the 
 money I shall have received. The last million of bonds sent 
 over will not be sold unless there is a great change in public 
 sentiment. 
 
74 
 
 One of the first results of the fright at the 
 spectre of the indirect claims was, as the judge 
 remarks, to send down, in the London market, 
 the price of our bonds. It would be interesting 
 to know, if some genius at figures were to work 
 out the problem, how much was saved to the 
 United States Treasury by this depreciation for 
 the time being in our securities. 
 
 Assistant Secretary Richardson did not return 
 home until early in the spring of 1872, reaching 
 New York in the "China" of the Cunard line, 
 and bringing home the books and official 
 records. The last instalment of $12,000,000 of 
 retired bonds arrived in New York about the 
 same time by another steamer. The system 
 which he had established was continued; and 
 the way once opened the work was kept up with 
 more or less fluctuation, according to the course 
 of events, tending to advance or depress the 
 market price at London of the securities of the 
 United States. 
 
 An interesting outcome of the successful plac 
 ing of this loan was the complete change of tone 
 that ensued on the part of English bankers. 
 The very individuals who had expressed in such 
 positive terms their conviction of the precarious 
 nature of the securities of the United States were 
 now entertaining an entirely different opinion. 
 An animated demand for the bonds began to 
 
75 
 
 spring up in every direction. The power and 
 the perfect good faith of the United States had 
 been most satisfactorily demonstrated. No small 
 share in this success may, with propriety, be 
 credited, and indeed ought to be credited, to 
 the faithful services of the quiet, modest repre 
 sentative of the Treasury, whom Secretary Bout- 
 well had sent abroad. From that time onward 
 no difficulty whatever has been experienced in 
 Europe in disposing of any portion of our public 
 loan. 
 
 Immediately after arriving at Washington, he 
 resigned his probate judgeship, thus settling for 
 the time being at least, the question of his stay 
 at the Capital. In a letter 11 April, 1872, to the 
 governor of Massachusetts (Washburn), he says : 
 
 With great attachment for the county of my birth, and the 
 people among whom I have always lived, my own preference 
 has been and still is, to remain in the position in Massachu 
 setts which I have held so many years ; but on returning to 
 Washington at this time, I have been induced, contrary to my 
 own inclination, to continue for some time longer as assistant 
 secretary of the Treasury ; and now, having decided upon 
 that course, I prefer to forward to you my resignation. 
 
 The retention of a judicial office during so 
 long a period of absence from the State was, to 
 say the least, somewhat out of the usual course. 
 It is however readily explained. When dis 
 patched abroad he had been given to understand 
 that his labors would be required there for a 
 
76 
 
 brief season only. He looked forward to a speedy 
 accomplishment of the object of the mission, and 
 a return to his home at Cambridge, where offi 
 cial labors were so much to his taste. But upon 
 his reaching Washington, he was persuaded that 
 the familiarity he had now acquired of the work 
 ings of the Treasury Department, and the invalu 
 able experience gained by his stay in Europe 
 combined to make it his plain duty to remain at 
 the post of assistant secretary. 
 
 In the campaign of 1872, the Republicans 
 stood as a unit in their determination to nomi 
 nate President Grant for a second term. They 
 selected as candidate for vice-president, Henry 
 Wilson, at that time senator from Massachusetts. 
 The election of Grant and Wilson by an unpre 
 cedented majority showed how strong was the 
 hold of the Republican party upon the country, 
 and how great was the confidence of the people 
 in the integrity and wisdom of General Grant. 
 Soon after the election it became apparent that 
 Massachusetts would send Secretary Boutwell 
 to the Senate for Wilson s unexpired term. 
 Knowledge of this purpose evoked a curiosity 
 more than usually active as to who should suc 
 ceed to the Treasury. Those who had closely 
 watched the current of events, and who knew 
 how firm was the President in his friendships, 
 had no great difficulty in determining for them- 
 
77 
 
 selves who was the man that he had in mind. 
 It was a well-known trait of General Grant, 
 exhibited both in his military and civil career, 
 that he attached himself warmly to his intimates, 
 and that he stood by a friend with admirable con 
 stancy. Already the President had come to know 
 and highly esteem Assistant Secretary Richardson. 
 The names of Governor Morgan and of Messrs. 
 Cisco and Clews, were brought forward by the 
 press of New York city as those of whom one 
 was likely to receive the appointment. It is 
 doubtful, however, whether the President ever 
 conceived the idea of appointing any other per 
 son than Richardson, who was in fact appointed 
 17 March, 1873.* 
 
 Many bankers, capitalists and business men of 
 New York city were very urgent in their com 
 mendation of one or more of the gentlemen 
 named, for the reason that what had come to be 
 known as the " Boutwell policy " was not entirely 
 to their liking. There existed more or less dis 
 trust of the secretary, on the ground that he 
 took too lax a view of the power of the Pres 
 ident to issue treasury notes up to the limit of 
 $400,000,000. While it was wholly without 
 foundation, there was yet a belief that Secretary 
 
 *The Cabinet consisted as follows : 
 
 Hamilton Fish, State; William W. Belknap, War; William A. Rich 
 ardson, Treasury; George M. Robeson, Navy; John J. Creswell, Post Office; 
 Columbus Delano, Interior ; George H. Williams, Attorney General. 
 
78 
 
 Boutwell, and those who thought with him, were 
 too partial to paper money. Such a feeling 
 could but add to the insistence with which the 
 names of New York candidates were brought 
 forward and urged upon the President. 
 
 We have just seen how reluctant was the sub 
 ject of this sketch to lay down judicial office, 
 and apply himself to national administrative 
 work. The same considerations of duty that 
 determined him to forego his own choice and 
 remain at Washington, were not without their 
 force when the question of promotion to be Sec 
 retary of the Treasury presented itself. That the 
 honor and the prestige of the high office carried 
 great weight with Judge Richardson, it is idle to 
 deny. Nor should it be intimated that the offer 
 of a seat in the cabinet found him other than 
 willing to accept the distinction. It deserves to be 
 said, however, that the place was not sought by 
 him, nor was it taken as a reward of ambition. 
 
 President Grant liked Secretary Richardson; 
 and the appointment brought with it the mingled 
 pleasure of a promotion for public service well 
 rendered, and a token of personal friendship and 
 esteem. The condition of the public finances at 
 this particular time must have gone far to influ 
 ence the new secretary in his decision to remain 
 at Washington. At a later day, speaking of the 
 period of his accession to the Treasury, he char- 
 
79 
 
 acterized the situation as being " the worst time 
 in the worst condition of things that ever existed 
 under any secretary." 
 
 He had been identified, as we have seen, with 
 the successful conduct of funding operations 
 abroad; and as these were to be continued, he 
 must to some extent have felt an obligation 
 (when so invited) to remain at the side of the 
 President until that great work had been carried 
 nearer to completion. Again, it is to be observed 
 that Judge Richardson had some prescience of the 
 financial trouble that lay ahead, a consciousness 
 that appealed to him to stand by the President, 
 and vindicate the soundness of the plans which 
 Secretary Boutwell with the aid of his assistant 
 secretary had set in operation. In a letter to 
 Boutwell, President Grant had said (and the 
 country was glad to hear it) that with the 
 new Secretary of the Treasury there would be 
 " no departure " from the financial policy of 
 his predecessor. There was a certain sense of 
 relief in the assurance that a man of exper 
 ience and a close friend of Secretary Boutwell 
 was to continue at the head of the Treasury. 
 Still, it should be added that in certain quarters 
 the promotion met with no little opposition and 
 criticism. There were those who, while freely 
 admitting that the assistant secretary had admir 
 ably done his part, were apprehensive that a 
 
80 
 
 like measure of success might not attend his 
 elevation to a post, exacting in its many grave 
 duties, and compelling him to take upon himself 
 the entire responsibility. 
 
 Much has been written of the radical social 
 changes wrought by the war for the Union. 
 Prominent among these changes, and one per 
 haps the most to be deplored, may be reckoned 
 an increasing love of display, extending in some 
 instances to a lavish and therefore vulgar 
 expenditure of wealth. So far as such a 
 tendency to deterioration in national character 
 was to be attributed to the disturbing influence 
 of the sudden acquisition of large fortunes in war 
 times, it has no doubt, in fact, been checked by a 
 return to peace, as well as by the good sense of 
 the American people. A lingering effect of this 
 false estimate of the uses of money was per 
 ceptible, however, at the Capital for many years 
 after the war had closed. 
 
 The assertion had come to be frequently made, 
 and in some quarters acquiesced in, that a 
 cabinet officer ought to spend the greater part of 
 his salary in social entertainment. The amount 
 of salary at present paid to a ca,binet officer, it 
 must be admitted, is none too large; in fact one 
 may well doubt whether it be sufficient for aproper 
 discharge of the duties of the position. At all 
 events, it is very generally understood that a pub- 
 
81 
 
 lie man can ill afford to take a seat in the cabinet, 
 without having at least a respectable income of 
 his own be} T ond what the salary yields. 
 
 Secretary Richardson, though not wealthy, 
 met in a generous spirit all the social obligations 
 of his official rank and station. While not spe 
 cially fond of society, he did not fail to recognize the 
 advantage to the administration of entertaining 
 upon the scale that had become customary, and 
 that in one sense the world had a right to expect. 
 He took a large and handsome house on H street 
 between Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets known 
 as the " Kennedy house," and celebrated in years 
 gone by for its scenes of hospitality. Here 
 Mrs. Richardson and her daughter welcomed the 
 visitor, and won for the secretary the reputation 
 of possessing one of the most attractive homes in 
 Washington. 
 
 A commendable trait of him, the events of 
 whose public life we are rapidly passing in re 
 view, was his modest and unaffected bearing in 
 office, and his abstention from seeking popular 
 applause. Of course Secretary Richardson had a 
 desire to stand well in public esteem what right- 
 minded servant of the people has not? but he 
 spurned everything like notoriety, and did nothing 
 consciously from a motive of attracting favorable 
 attention. When he could, he preferred to do 
 his work quietly and unobserved, letting the 
 
82 
 
 public learn that the work was accomplished as 
 their first intimation that he had been engaged 
 in doing it. 
 
 An instance of his carrying through to success 
 a highly important undertaking, and yet dispens 
 ing with any "flourish of trumpets" about it, is 
 seen in the circumstances attending the method, 
 originated and carried out by him, to effect the 
 payment by Great Britain of the fifteen and a half 
 millions of dollars in gold coin that she was obliged 
 to pay by the terms of the award, in 1872, of the 
 Geneva Tribunal. The plan was happily con. 
 ceived. The whole business was most creditable to 
 the secretary, yet he treated it as a simple matter 
 that came along in the routine of work, and said 
 nothing about it until ten years later, when he 
 was asked to write out a narrative of the transac 
 tion as an event of historic interest. 
 
 The money, which would weigh twenty-eight 
 and a half tons in coin, by the terms of the 
 treat}^ had to be paid within a year from the 
 third of September, 1872. Naturally the expecta 
 tion of moving so large a sum from London to 
 New York caused anxiety among business men 
 and bankers, lest a financial disturbance, created 
 thereby, might seriously affect and disturb ex 
 change and business relations generally between 
 this country and Europe. To effect a pay 
 ment quietly and almost without observation 
 
83 
 
 was a task peculiarly congenial to Secretary 
 Richardson. He adopted and successfully put 
 into operation the following ingenious method of 
 transferring this extraordinarily large sum without 
 danger and without disturbing in the slightest 
 degree the business interests of the two countries. 
 
 As we are already aware, the Treasury Depart 
 ment at this period was engaged in the business 
 of calling in for redemption the six per cent, 
 bonds of the United States, and paying therefor 
 with the proceeds of the sale of the five per cent, 
 bonds of the funded loan under the act of July 
 4, 1870. The agency instituted at London for 
 this purpose had been in successful operation, 
 and the work was being prosecuted without the 
 least difficulty or disturbance. 
 
 The Secretary of the Treasury availed himself 
 of the existence of this office in London to effect 
 the payment of the fifteen and a half millions in 
 gold coin. He called on the 6th of June, 1873, 
 for the redemption of twenty millions of 5-20 six 
 per cent, bonds of the loan of 1862. But fifteen 
 and a half millions of this were required, but 
 experience had shown that a certain percentage 
 of the amount called for did not respond, owing 
 to the fact that holders lacking the information, 
 or for some other reason, would defer action until 
 long after the maturity of the call. 
 
 Nearly all the coupon bonds of this loan of 
 
84 
 
 1862 were held in Europe, and could be pur 
 chased in the London market. Accompanying 
 the issue of the call were instructions, which were 
 forwarded to the Treasury agents in London, that 
 if parties desired to deposit at the agency called 
 bonds or matured coupons (practically the same 
 as coin) to the credit of persons in the United 
 States, to be applied in payment of money pay 
 able to the United States, on or after the time of 
 the maturity of the call of that date, the agents 
 might receive such bonds or coupons, telegraph 
 ing from time to time the amount and the names 
 of the parties to whose credit they had been 
 deposited. The agents were then to cancel and 
 forward to the Treasury Department at Washing 
 ton, just as soon as possible, such bonds and cou 
 pons as they should receive. They were directed 
 not to mingle in any way the account of these 
 bonds and coupons with the receipt of those in 
 connection with their funding operations. The 
 amounts payable on account of such deposits were 
 to be accounted for and settled by the Treasury 
 of the United States at Washington. 
 
 It will be seen that these specific instructions 
 had in mind the receipt and cancellation of at 
 least fifteen millions and a half of bonds, for the 
 purpose of paying the Geneva award money. 
 
 At the same time the parties who were under 
 stood to be employed by the British government 
 
85 
 
 to make this transfer, and the public likewise, 
 were notified of these instructions. As early as 
 June, therefore, certain parties began to buy 
 called bonds and matured coupons, and turn 
 them over to the United States Treasury agents 
 in London. Before the date for the payment of 
 the award, these parties had deposited in the 
 Treasury of the United States, either directly or 
 through the London agency, the whole fifteen 
 and a half million dollars. They had taken 
 coin certificates in different sums from time to 
 time as they made the deposits, instead of draw 
 ing the coin from the Treasury in payment. 
 
 All these certificates were returned and can 
 celled 9 September, 1873, and one coin certificate 
 for the full amount of fifteen and a half million 
 dollars was issued to the depositors and made 
 payable to their order. They were Drexel, 
 Morgan & Company, Morton, Bliss & Company, 
 and Jay Cooke & Company. These bankers en 
 dorsed the certificate "to the joint order of H. 
 B. M. Minister, or Charge-d Affaires at Washing 
 ton, and Acting Consul-General at New York." 
 These officials, Sir Edward Thornton, then min 
 ister, and Mr. Archibald, consul-general, endorsed 
 the certificate to the order of Hamilton Fish, Sec 
 retary of State. Mr. Fish added his endorsement, 
 " Pay to the order of Honorable William A. Rich 
 ardson, Secretary of the Treasury." 
 
86 
 
 The Secretary of the Treasury, upon receiving 
 this certificate, proceeded to carry out the provis 
 ions of the act of 3 March, 1873, providing that 
 as soon as the money should be paid it should be 
 used to redeem, as far as it might, the public 
 debt ; for the amount of the debt so redeemed, 
 the act said, should be invested in the five per 
 cent, registered bonds of the United States, to be 
 subject to the future disposition of Congress. 
 
 Secretary Richardson, accordingly, issued to 
 the Secretary of State one five per cent, registered 
 bond of the funded loan, for fifteen millions and 
 a half of dollars. Of course, there was no en 
 graved bond for that amount that could be used. 
 In order, however, to carry out the purposes of 
 the act in harmony with the issues of registered 
 bonds generally, the Secretary had a special de 
 sign made of a bond, elegantly written, with suit 
 able ornamentation and border. It followed the 
 system of numbering and was registered as Bond 
 No. 1 of that denomination.* 
 
 " Thus you see," says the chief justice, writing of this trans 
 action in 1882, " that the whole business was done without the 
 payment of actual coin into the Treasury. The bonds and 
 coupons in Europe were bought up with money paid there, 
 not by the United States Government, and together with 
 those deposited here, were redeemed without the payment of 
 
 * Credit for this fine piece of work is due to Edwin B. MacGrotty, a 
 clerk in the division of loans and currency, who was an expert penman. 
 Mr. MacGrotty to-day (September, 1898) is in the division of book-keeping 
 and warrants of the Treasury. 
 
87 
 
 money, but by the issue of coin certificates, which were paid 
 or redeemed in a bond of the funded loan. 
 
 " The transaction was carried on so gradually, extending 
 over a period of three months, that its effect upon exchange 
 or business was too insignificant to attract notice of any kind, 
 if indeed it had any effect whatever one way or the other." 
 
 The panic of 1873 will long be remembered. 
 Bankers and merchants one after another failed, 
 and the business of the country received a shock 
 from which it took years to recover. The crisis 
 was inevitable. Corporations, firms and indi 
 viduals had gone heavily in debt. Speculation 
 was at its height. Although securities of almost 
 every description enjoyed a high nominal value, a 
 protracted course of over-trading had brought 
 business generally into a condition of imminent 
 peril. The crash came. A season of fright 
 ensued when all eyes were turned to the Presi 
 dent and the Secretary of the Treasury. Help 
 was implored of them. Their response was 
 just what it should have been a calm, judicious 
 announcement, based upon a strict adherence to 
 law. The events of that momentous period, as 
 may well be imagined, form a most striking 
 chapter in the public experiences of Secretary 
 Richardson. 
 
 On Thursday, 18 September, 1873, the banking 
 house of Jay Cooke & Company, of Philadelphia, 
 which had become closely identified with the 
 Northern Pacific Railroad, suddenly suspended. 
 
Immediately the First National Bank of Wash 
 ington shut its doors, and other financial institu 
 tions intimately connected with Jay Cooke & 
 Company, in various parts of the country, did 
 the like. The news spread like wildfire, and 
 universal disaster was threatened. In this emer 
 gency the weak and failing bankers and business 
 men looked for aid to the Treasury of the United 
 States. This was the place above all others where 
 they never should have looked, for the Treasury 
 had its full share of burdens to preserve the 
 public credit in the general crash. But the sen 
 timent in New York city was very strong that 
 somehow the government ought to come to the 
 rescue. Many of the bankers there knew Presi 
 dent Grant personally, and some of them were 
 his warm friends. 
 
 The cry was that the Secretary should at once 
 issue the reserve, and by this means ease the 
 money market. At that time there was in the 
 Treasury a reserve fund of forty-four millions 
 of United States Treasury notes, or " greenbacks," 
 as they were popularly called. The total amount 
 that Congress had authorized to be issued was 
 four hundred millions. The law had required the 
 Secretary to retire this amount from circulation 
 gradually. The process of retiring had been 
 entered upon, when by a later act Congress had 
 stopped it, leaving three hundred and fifty-six 
 
89 
 
 millions in circulation. The forty-four millions 
 difference, received and cancelled at the Treasury, 
 was the subject of an almost endless contention 
 as to whether the Secretary of the Treasury 
 had the authority under the law as it then 
 stood to re-issue it or any part of it. Secretary 
 Boutwell conceived that such power existed, and 
 Judge Richardson was of a like opinion. The 
 latter while assistant secretary had furnished 
 Senator Conkling of New York with a paper set 
 ting forth, in clear and cogent terms, the argu 
 ment in favor of the power, under date of 21 
 January, 1873.* 
 
 The President, naturally sympathetic and 
 warm-hearted, was inclined at first to grant what 
 was besought of him by those whom he had 
 been taught to regard as sound and far-seeing in 
 matters of finance. At that particular time the 
 President was taking a vacation at Long Branch, 
 not far from New York city. The Secretary of 
 the Treasury had remained at his post in Wash 
 ington. Meanwhile as the news of successive 
 failures came over the wires, the excitement in 
 creased in volume, and more and more urgent 
 grew the appeal for help from the public funds. 
 
 The Secretary knew well enough that even if 
 he had an undisputed power to issue at once the 
 
 * A financial journal in New York city, that gave Secretary Richard 
 son advice as to the management of the Treasury, spoke of him as "the 
 expositor of inflation." 
 
00 
 
 entire reserve, it would be only adding fuel to 
 the flames, while crippling the Department, and 
 bringing it to actual repudiation ; since a halt 
 would have to be called after a while in pa} ? ing 
 the indebtedness of the government, as soon as 
 the reserve should have been exhausted. The 
 debts coming in for payment would inevitably 
 exceed the revenue to be depended on for meet 
 ing the public obligations. 
 
 We may pause here for a moment to view the 
 condition of the national finances as respects the 
 means at hand to sustain the public credit. 
 
 When Secretary Richardson came into office 
 (March, 1873,) the reserve of forty -four millions 
 in greenbacks had been drawn upon to the extent 
 of two millions, or more. The first thing he did 
 was to "take in sail and strengthen the reserve."* 
 By so doing, he had succeeded at the time the 
 panic came upon the country in accumulating 
 about fifteen millions of dollars. 
 
 The situation abroad with reference to United 
 States securities should also be borne in mind. 
 
 *The reason for this precaution lay in the condition of our imports. 
 For some years they had exceeded the value of our exports by several 
 millions of dollars. Plainly the country was getting into debt, and to all 
 debtors there must come a time of settlement and payment or a failure. 
 One or the other, so reasoned the Secretary, is always inevitable. When 
 the bureau of statistics had completed their tables for the year ending 30 
 June, 1873, Judge Richardson took the figures to President Grant and 
 pointed out to him the impending danger. He explained to the President 
 the plan upon which he was acting in order to strengthen the Treasury 
 by accumulations of money. As to this the President and Secretary were 
 in entire accord. 
 
91 
 
 The Department, as we know, had a force of clerks 
 in London engaged in carrying on the business 
 of buying and selling bonds. Had it been tele 
 graphed to London that the Treasury, unable to 
 meet the ordinary obligations of the government, 
 had stopped payment, there would have been a 
 panic in London in United States bonds and the 
 credit of the government would have suffered. 
 It was due to the prudent management of the 
 Secretary of the Treasury that there was not the 
 least sign of excitement in London, and that our 
 bonds maintained their former price, the credit of 
 the government being in no wise impaired. 
 
 It seems that the pressure was great on both 
 sides of the question of issuing the reserve. On 
 one side, the administration was beset not to issue 
 any more greenbacks, and to stop payment if 
 necessary. On the other side, there were frantic 
 calls for the President and Secretary of the Treas 
 ury to put forth the whole reserve. Both of these 
 demands, Secretary Richardson resisted, and was 
 sustained therein by the President, though (it 
 must be added) not without great efforts and 
 much argument on the part of the Secretary of 
 the Treasury.* 
 
 * The following incident illustrates the courage of Secretary Richard 
 son, and the good sense of General Grant. Upon one occasion the Presi 
 dent telegraphed the Secretary from Long Branch to issue a large quantity 
 of the reserve, and buy bonds and give notes the next morning, he himself 
 starting for Washington that night. On arriving the next morning the 
 President found that his Secretary had not obeyed the order. Going at 
 
92 
 
 On Saturday, 20 September, the President tel 
 egraphed to Secretary Richardson from Long- 
 Branch, to meet him the next morning in New 
 York city at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. The Sec 
 retary himself, at the office of the telegraph com 
 pany in Washington, on Friday night at half 
 past eleven o clock, had written and sent a tele 
 gram to the sub-treasurer at New York, author 
 izing him to purchase $10,000,000 of bonds on 
 Saturday. Arriving in New York early Sunday 
 morning, the Secretary drove to the Fifth Avenue 
 Hotel. Before taking breakfast, he went to the 
 President s room and spent an hour with him, 
 going over the situation, and pointing out the 
 position of the department. 
 
 He took the ground that the Treasury must be 
 kept strong for the sake of its own credit, and so as 
 to be able to afford relief to the country after the 
 panic was over; that a decision must be had at 
 what amount to limit the bond purchase; that, 
 with the concurrence of the President, he would 
 limit the amount to $12,000,000, and stop there. 
 Should all the banks suspend by agreement, then 
 
 once to the White House, the Secretary explained the necessity of keeping 
 the Treasury strong and out of the whirlpool. A few words sufficed to 
 explain why the order had not been obeyed. The President expressed 
 his entire satisfaction that the Secretary had acted as he did. 
 
 Indeed, it may be said here that throughout his term of office Secretary 
 Richardson enjoyed the fullest confidence of the President, who did noth 
 ing contrary to his advice. President Grant once said to Secretary Morrill, 
 who at a later date had taken the Treasury, that he (the President) had 
 never made a mistake when he had followed the advice of Secretary 
 Richardson. 
 
93 
 
 he would at once stop purchasing. He assured 
 the President that it was their duty at all hazards 
 to keep the department out of the panic. He 
 pointed out the condition of affairs in London, 
 and the effect upon our bonds should it become 
 known there that the department was in any 
 way unable to meet its obligations by reason of 
 having expended its store of ready money. The 
 reader must know that in 1873, the prospect of an 
 ultimate payment of the national debt was not 
 at all what it now is. There were very many 
 persons, both in the United States and in Europe, 
 who believed that in the end our bonds would 
 not be paid. These and similar perils the Secre 
 tary pointed out to the President, who quickly 
 grasped the situation. 
 
 Arrangements had been made for the interview 
 with the President on the part of the bankers and 
 business men. Ten o clock was fixed upon as the 
 hour. They had come to the hotel in great num 
 bers. It was Sunday, but the hotel was crowded, 
 and so were the streets in the neighborhood. A 
 prominent republican senator, one of the foremost 
 statesmen of the country, was there, as a guest 
 of the hotel, and to judge from competent testi 
 mony he was the most frightened man on the 
 premises. He seemed to be bewildered, and 
 really knew not what to do. 
 
 Reverdy Johnson was also present, consulted 
 
94 
 
 by the bankers, whom he furnished with a legal 
 opinion, taking the curious ground that under 
 the law, the President and Secretary had no 
 power to issue the greenbacks, but that if he 
 were in the President s place, he would feel it his 
 duty to issue them; and that in his opinion the 
 country would sustain the President in so doing.* 
 
 At the appointed hour, the President and the 
 Secretary took their seats at a table in one of the 
 large parlors, and the bankers, with others, came 
 in. Among those present were Commodore Van- 
 derbilt, Henry Clews, the Seligmans, George P. 
 Opdycke, Isaac H. Bailey, William Orton of the 
 Western Union Telegraph Company, William L. 
 Scott, Robert Lenox Kennedy, H. B. Claflin and 
 Mr. Vail, of the Bank of Commerce. 
 
 The excitement ran high. Many speeches were 
 
 *" The President without doubt is without legal power to issue any 
 portion of the forty million reserve. He says as much as that himself; 
 and on meeting me in the corridor asked my opinion about it. I told 
 him there was no legal warranty, but if I were in his place and deemed 
 that the exigency demanded such a measure, I would surely order it. 
 This has become a national calamity. To-morrow, unless relief is given, 
 all the city banks will suspend. The result would be a general suspen 
 sion throughout the country, and a prostration unequalled even by the 
 catastrophe of 1857. The President coincided with me, and I am to write 
 him a letter on this subject at five o clock." Reported interview imth Rev- 
 erdy Johnson New York Tribune, 22 September, 1873. 
 
 It also appears that he advised that the sub-Treasury law had been 
 repealed, though it is not clear what use could be made of that fact. The 
 bankruptcy law had attached to it a schedule of repealed acts and amongst 
 them was the sub-Treasury act as well as other important acts. This was 
 a mistake clearly arising from an intention to repeal some parts of that 
 act, and had always so been regarded. From a memorandum of Chief Jus 
 tice Richardson. 
 
95 
 
 made, some of them almost violent in tone, call 
 ing upon the President at once to issue the 
 whole forty-four millions reserve. The speakers 
 said if the panic were not stopped, we should see 
 the worst mob in New York the next day that 
 had ever been known in that city ; that already 
 the streets were full of men, and in the morning 
 the situation would be worse. 
 
 It seemed to have occurred to no one to point 
 out how the reserve could be issued, or to desig 
 nate the manner in which it could be put into 
 circulation. The President sat perfectly calm. 
 At last he said that anything to be submitted to 
 him must be in writing, so that he could know 
 exactly what they thought should be done. 
 
 The result of the interview was that a com 
 mittee was formed, who retired for delibera 
 tion. An hour or two later, they had agreed to 
 request that the Treasury Department would lend 
 $20,000,000 to the banks, upon the receipt of 
 clearing-house certificates, with a promise of more 
 money, if necessary. This proposition was sub 
 mitted in a writing, signed by firms and indi 
 viduals, representing a large amount of money. 
 
 As affording an insight into the purposes of this 
 historic interview, it may be helpful to append 
 the text of this application to President Grant. 
 It bore date " New York, September 21st, 1872," 
 and read as follows : 
 
96 
 
 The undersigned do respectfully represent to the President 
 that, in the present situation of affairs, a financial deadlock 
 will inevitably occur to-morrow unless relief be afforded by 
 the government. 
 
 They respectfully suggest that no measure of relief will be 
 adequate that does not place at the service of the city banks, 
 twenty millions in greenbacks. 
 
 They respectfully petition the President to authorize the 
 Assistant Treasurer to receive from the city bunks, clearing 
 house certificates, secured by ample collaterals and for which 
 certificates all the city banks are jointly and severally respon 
 sible, and to issue to the banks in exchange therefor, green 
 backs to the extent if necessary of twenty millions on such 
 terms as to issue and redemption as may be satisfactory to the 
 Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 The undersigned deprecate any intention of soliciting a 
 violation of the law. They believe that the above measure of 
 relief is in strict accordance with the spirit of existing statutes 
 and they are quite satisfied that it is indispensable to avert a 
 crisis which would wreck the country to its centre. 
 
 The undersigned are firmly persuaded that this action 
 on the part of the government would restore confidence 
 immediately. 
 
 H. B. CLAFLIN & Co. PEAKE, OPDYCKE & Co. 
 
 ANTHONY & HALL. FRED BUTTERFIELD & Co. 
 
 HOYT, SPRAGUK & Co. P. VANVOLKENBURGH & Co. 
 
 WHITTEMOKE,PEET,POST&CO. J. M. BUNDY, " Evening Mail. 
 PAYNE, GOODWIN & Co. WM. L. SCOTT, Prest. 2 Nat., 
 
 GEO. CECIL & Co., Logansport, Erie, Pa. 
 
 Indiana. GOODWIN & Co. 
 
 D. & A. KINGSLAND & BUTTON. A. BOODY, Prest. 
 GEO. W. PERKINS, Cashier. 
 HARPER & BROS., Franklin Square. S. L. B. 
 
 Fifty additional firms of the highest standing in the mer 
 cantile community were here and agreed to sign this paper, 
 but so much delay was made in preparation that they have 
 dispersed. Petitions have been sent to them to sign and ten 
 thousand names can easily be obtained for signature. 
 
97 
 
 Of course, as every one now perceives, there 
 could have been but one reply given to such a 
 request. The President could act only within the 
 law ; and there was absolutely no law that by 
 any stretch of construction could be held to have 
 converted the Treasury Department into a loan 
 institution.* Such was the answer. 
 
 Several years after this occurrence the chief 
 justice wrote out, somewhat hurriedly, a few notes 
 of what had taken place, meaning to revise them 
 at his leisure; but that leisure seems never to 
 have arrived. These notes have been freely used 
 by the present writer. What follows, however, 
 is ex-Secretary Richardson s own language. The 
 incident related has never before been made pub- 
 
 * Secretary Fish, writing from his country place, Garrison s, Putnam 
 County, New York, under date of 22 September, 1873, to Secretary 
 Richardson, says : 
 
 " I congratulate you, for I believe that the decision of Sunday will 
 prove a step in the resumption of specie payments, which, I think, should 
 be the object and the great financial feature of General Grant s second 
 term, as the reduction of the debt was of the first. * * * I hope that it 
 may be your lot to accomplish the restoration in value of the promises of 
 the government with gold. You have a nation s thanks." 
 
 Writing to him again, on the 26th of the same month, Mr. Fish 
 remarks : 
 
 " * * * I assure you that nothing that the President has ever done 
 seems to give more satisfaction than the decision which you and he 
 reached on Sunday last. I hear from everyone, except those interested 
 in speculative stocks or bonds, one universal approval of the heroic 
 action of the President and Secretary of the Treasury, and but one 
 expression of hope that you will adhere to the policy of non-expansion. 
 It may be a severe remedy, but severe cases require severe remedies. 
 * * * I agree with Henry Wilson in urging you to stand like a rock. 
 
 Hoping to see you on Tuesday and in the meantime ready to do what 
 I can to aid and sustain your act, I am, very faithfully yours." 
 
lie; and it therefore seems allowable to print 
 the roughly drafted outline as it stands. 
 
 Before their departure, the leading speakers had urged that 
 the President and Secretary should go into Wall street the 
 next morning, and be at the office of the Sub-Treasury, ready 
 to do whatever was necessary. They stated that we should 
 find the street crowded and the excitement intense. To this 
 the President at once assented, without much consideration, 
 but desiring to do all that was possible for the unfortunate 
 men who were involved in the impending ruin. We had 
 agreed to dine that evening at the Union Club where a large 
 number of gentlemen were to be assembled. 
 
 When the room was cleared, I locked the door to keep out 
 intruders, and with President Grant all alone, I said to him, 
 substantially : 
 
 " Mr. President, the first thing now for us to determine is 
 where we shall be to-morrow." 
 
 " Oh," said he, " I agreed that we would be at the Sub- 
 Treasury in Wall street to-morrow to take such action as 
 might seem necessary." 
 
 To this I replied " That is just the place where we ought 
 not to be, according to my view. The District of Columbia is 
 made by the Constitution the seat of government, and the 
 statute provides that all offices attached to the seat of govern 
 ment shall be exercised in the District of Columbia. In times 
 of local excitement there is the place for public officers to be, 
 away from the influence of frenzied people, and out of the 
 reach of the mob. 
 
 " This panic was not brought on by anything done by the 
 officers of the government, and nothing they can do will stop 
 it. The merchants and business men of New York have 
 caused the whole trouble; they have speculated, got over 
 whelmingly in debt, and are in deep water to which there is 
 no bottom for them. The banks have all been encouraging 
 them in their wild career and the bubble has burst. The 
 banks have gotten them into this difficulty, for without the 
 
99 
 
 banks they could not have borrowed much money, and the 
 banks alone can furnish the only relief to be attained. This 
 is a case for action on the part of the banks and must be left 
 to them to take care of. 
 
 "All we can do is to preserve the credit of the government 
 by keeping its finances out of the panic. This can be justi 
 fied before the people, and no other course ever can be. 
 Besides, while the country everywhere is affected somewhat 
 by this panic, there is no excitement except here in New 
 York. The people of the West and elsewhere are calm and 
 collected, and are looking to this city for every kind of 
 demonstration. If there is to be a mob, here it will be, and 
 the President and Secretary of the Treasury should be as far 
 away from it as possible. 
 
 " What will the people outside of New York think and say 
 if it be reported in newspapers to-morrow that the President 
 and Secretary of the Treasury are in the midst of the mob in 
 Wall street, at the Sub-Treasury, watching and awaiting 
 results. 
 
 " Moreover, just as long as these men look to the United 
 States Treasury for help, just so long they will do nothing to 
 help themselves. They will hope and expect the Treasury 
 to do everything for them, and it can do nothing whatever. 
 The very fact of your being in Wall street will attract the 
 crowd, and add to the chances of a mob ; and the rest of the 
 country will behold with amazement that the President and 
 Secretary of the Treasury, have left Washington and have, as 
 they will think, joined hands with the money power of Wall 
 street, of which the people are all jealous. 
 
 " My opinion is that our place in a condition like this is 
 in Washington, aloof from excitement and where we can take 
 a broader and cooler view of the situation. That is the place 
 which the wise framers of the Constitution intended should 
 be the quiet abiding place of public officers in times of local 
 troubles ; and if the public find we are there, they will feel 
 great confidence and entire safety in the situation. If we are 
 op Wall street, they will be filled with apprehension and fear 
 
100 
 
 at what may happen. In my opinion we ought to go to 
 Washington to-night and keep away from Wall street and 
 this excitement." 
 
 The President was convinced and agreed at once to my 
 suggestion. 
 
 I unlocked the door, the President called Babcock (his 
 private secretary) and told him the change in program that 
 we had agreed upon, but charged him not to tell of it until 
 after the great dinner that evening. Finally it was arranged 
 that Babcock should have carriages at the Union Club house, 
 and the President and I should slip out from the dinner 
 separately, so as not to be observed and go directly to Wash 
 ington. This plan was carried out, and the next morning we 
 were at our posts at the seat of government. 
 
 Before the morning papers went to press our movements 
 were known, and our whereabouts was announced in the 
 first edition, and all New York knew in the early morning 
 where we were. The result was that there was no further 
 excitement, Wall street was as quiet as Sunday and no crowds 
 filled the streets anywhere. The Tribune announced in large 
 letters, " The panic over," and President Grant returned to 
 Long Branch. 
 
 No intelligent student of our political history 
 will now be found to question the wisdom of the 
 Secretary s advice. Of the good sense exhibited 
 by General Grant it may be said that it is pre 
 cisely what would have been expected of him in 
 the circumstances. 
 
 The firm stand taken by the President and 
 his Secretary worked an immediate result. The 
 banks, finding that the government declined to 
 identify itself with the panic, and resort to strange 
 and unheard of measures in an effort to restore 
 
101 
 
 confidence, took the only practical course open 
 to them. They issued clearing-house certificates, 
 and so contributed largely to allay excitement, 
 and bring around again a normal state of the 
 money market. While the panic was not entirely 
 over, for it was temporarily renewed, the Treasury 
 Department kept at its legitimate business and 
 bought such bonds as were offered the only 
 lawful method of taking money from its vaults 
 and putting it into circulation. 
 
 On 24 September, the Secretary at Washington 
 telegraphed to the President at Long Branch as 
 follows : 
 
 If the panic continues unabated to-day, we must decide 
 at what amount to limit bond purchases. The Treasury must 
 be kept strong for the sake of its own credit, and to afford 
 relief to the country after the panic is over. If you concur, 
 I would limit the amount to about twelve millions and stop 
 there ; and if all the banks suspend by agreement, I would 
 stop at once. I don t think it is well to undertake to furnish 
 from the Treasury all the money that frenzied people may 
 call for. 
 
 As might be expected, President Grant ap 
 proved of this sensible view ; and Secretary 
 Richardson pursued calmly his accustomed path, 
 and thus " kept the Treasury Department out of 
 the panic." 
 
 The requests, amounting almost to importu 
 nities upon the Secretary, to do something out of 
 the usual course, with a view to relieving the 
 
102 
 
 strain upon the money market, were however 
 kept up, notwithstanding the plain language of 
 the reply already given. The president of the 
 New York Produce Exchange, under date 30 
 September, 1873, urged a plan divided into two 
 heads : First, that currency be immediately issued 
 to banks or bankers upon satisfactory evidence 
 that gold had been placed upon special deposit in 
 the Bank of England in London, upon the credit 
 of their correspondent there, to be used wholly for 
 the purchase of bills of exchange. Second, that 
 the President of the United States and the Sec 
 retary of the Treasury are respectfully requested 
 to order the immediate prepayment of the out 
 standing loan of the United States, due January 
 1, 1874. 
 
 That such a proposition as the first request 
 should be considered possible to be entertained 
 by the President seems at this length of time 
 strange indeed. A prompt answer was re 
 turned that to embark in such a scheme 
 would involve the government in the business 
 of importing and speculating in gold. It was 
 entirely out of the question ; nor was it possible 
 under the law to comply with the second request. 
 
 Through all these trying, hours the President, 
 in a manner most creditable to him, upheld the 
 hands of his Secretary of the Treasury. The 
 country was fortunate in having these two men 
 
103 
 
 at the head of affairs, for had a mis-step been 
 taken it is fearful to contemplate how disastrous 
 a wreck would have been made of the credit of 
 the government. As it was, the firm conduct of 
 the administration added a chapter to our public 
 financial history that can always be regarded 
 with a just pride by the American people. 
 
 The annual report to Congress of the Secretary 
 of the Treasury 1 December, 1873, is a business 
 like document, that bears the impress of having 
 been written by a practical man of affairs. Each 
 important topic in turn is treated with good sense, 
 the facts clearly stated, and the course of admin 
 istration set forth in concise terms. Let any one 
 to-day read this state paper with deliberation 
 and he will be forward to acknowledge that the 
 author approves himself equal to the discharge of 
 the great trust committed to his keeping. There 
 are exhibited here a broad and comprehensive 
 grasp of public questions, sound reasoning and 
 a conception of duty adequate to the situation. 
 The report when critically examined distinctly 
 enhances Secretary Richardson s reputation. 
 
 While he was assistant secretary, it may be 
 noted that Judge Richardson, busy as he was, 
 found time to prepare and publish a book of 
 special value to all persons interested in a busi 
 ness way in the public loan. It was entitled 
 " Practical Information concerning the Public 
 
104 
 
 Debt of the United States, with the National 
 Banking Laws for Banks, Bankers, Brokers, Bank 
 Directors and Investors." Though professing to 
 be nothing else than a compendium of the stat 
 utes upon the subject, it really contained not a 
 little original matter in elucidation of the law. 
 The volume made a timely appearance. Its chief 
 excellence consisted in the arrangement of the 
 various provisions of the statute law, and the 
 means afforded, including an index, for speedy 
 reference. It was designed to be a " handy book." 
 Possibly its use by bankers in Europe was not 
 left out of contemplation, the subject then (1872) 
 being of extraordinary interest abroad as well as 
 at home. A second edition of this useful publi 
 cation was issued in 1873, when the author had 
 become Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 During his term of office at the head of the 
 Treasury, Secretary Richardson received a flatter 
 ing offer to become a member of a great banking 
 house in London. The offer, though tempting 
 from a pecuniary point of view, he did not care 
 to accept. An opportunity presenting itself, 
 however, for his going upon the bench of a 
 United States Court for life, he resigned the office 
 of Secretary and was made a judge of the Court 
 of Claims. His name for the new position went 
 to the Senate on the same day with that of Ben 
 jamin H. Bristow, of Kentucky, as his successor 
 
105 
 
 in the Treasury. Both nominations were speedily 
 confirmed by the Senate, 4 June, 1874. 
 
 The Court of Claims, as its name indicates, is a 
 tribunal in which claims against the United States 
 may be submitted to the decision of judges. It 
 was established by the act of Congress of 25 Feb 
 ruary, 1855, which provided for the appointment 
 of three judges, tp hold their offices during good 
 behavior.* The jurisdiction of the court is con 
 fined to alleged obligations growing out of con 
 tracts. It does not deal with torts, except where 
 Congress by special act refers a matter such, for 
 example, as a collision in which a public vessel 
 is charged as having been in fault, to the deter 
 mination of the court. 
 
 The United States admits its liability to be 
 sued, and prescribes how this shall be done. The 
 Court of Claims has no jury, the court being 
 judges of the fact as well as of law. As originally 
 designed, the tribunal amounted to little more 
 than a special committee of Congress; for it was 
 the duty of the court to report to Congress, at 
 the commencement of each session, and at the 
 commencement of each month of the session, all 
 cases upon which they had finally acted, together 
 
 * Judge Richardson contributed to the March, 1882, number of the 
 Southern Law Review an interesting article describing the origin and 
 growth of the court. This he expanded three years afterward into a 
 pamphlet, entitled " History, Jurisdiction and Practice of the Court of 
 Claims," a valuable piece of work, the source of much that the writer 
 here presents, in relation to the subject. 
 
106 
 
 with the material facts and their opinion, with 
 the reasons of the opinion. The court also was 
 required to prepare a bill in cases which received 
 their favorable decision. 
 
 These requirements were the cause of so many 
 delays that Congress later radically changed 
 the organic act creating the court. By statute, 
 3 March, 1863, two judges were added, and 
 an appeal given to the Supreme Court of the 
 United States. The judgments of the court were 
 to be paid out of any appropriation made for the 
 payment of private claims. This desirable change 
 had the effect to add to the importance of the court; 
 and since that period it has dealt with a volume 
 of business that year by year exhibits a steady 
 increase. 
 
 At the time Judge Richardson took his seat 
 upon the bench, Charles D. Drake, of Missouri, 
 was chief justice; and Edward G. Loring, of 
 Massachusetts, Ebenezer Peck, of Illinois, and 
 Charles C. Nott,* of New York, were the other 
 members of the court. 
 
 * During Richardson s occupancy of this bench his associates other 
 than those named in the text have been J. C. Bancroft Davis, of New 
 York (Harvard, 1840), 1877-1881 and 1882-1883 ; William H. Hunt, of Lou 
 isiana, 1878-1881 ; Glcnni W. Schofield, of Pennsylvania, 1881-1891 ; Law 
 rence Weldon, of Illinois, 1883; John Davis, of the District of Columbia, 
 1885; Stanton J. Peelle, 1892. 
 
 Upon the death of Chief Justice Richardson, Judge Nott was nomi 
 nated and confirmed as chief justice of the court. The vacancy thus 
 created in the number of judges was filled by the appointment of the 
 Honorable Charles B. Howry, of Mississippi. 
 
107 
 
 The court sat in rooms at the Capitol. In 
 1879, the space thus occupied being needed by 
 Congress, the court was provided with larger and 
 more convenient rooms in the building known 
 as the Department of Justice, opposite to the 
 north front of the Treasury, where it has ever 
 since held its sessions. 
 
 From time to time Congress has committed to 
 this tribunal certain subjects of controversy other 
 than those falling within the strict language of 
 the original act. One branch of jurisdiction, for 
 example, involving a great many cases, and de 
 volving an immense amount of labor upon the 
 judges, is that of the French Spoliation Claims. 
 The bar of the court is composed for the most 
 part of lawyers resident at Washington ; but cases 
 of importance bring from time to time prominent 
 lawyers of other cities before the court as of coun 
 sel for claimants. 
 
 A special assistant attorney general is charged 
 with the duty of defending the United States in 
 suits prosecuted in the Court of Claims. This 
 official has assistants to aid him, who are also 
 law officers of the government. While many 
 cases involve questions of fact only, and others 
 bring forward points of law of no general interest, 
 it may be remarked that a great majority of the 
 contested cases present features that are highly 
 interesting, both in respect of the facts and the 
 
108 
 
 principles of law involved. Occasionally, a law 
 question of very great importance comes on for 
 argument. 
 
 A judge of this court, therefore, is not infre 
 quently called upon to exercise the best powers 
 of his mind in solving legal problems. While 
 its business in the main lacks somewhat of that 
 variety in subject matter and principles of law 
 which abounds in common law courts, it yet em 
 braces subjects of inquiry that are calculated to 
 improve and strengthen the mind of the judges 
 who deal with them. Sometimes a test case arises 
 of novel impression, that is not only difficult of 
 determination, but is highly important as govern 
 ing the disposition of very large sums of money. 
 
 The new judge had reached fifty-two years of 
 age when he took a seat upon the bench, destined 
 to be for twenty-two years the scene of his con 
 tinuous labor, and of his most pronounced intel 
 lectual triumphs. Here was his true sphere of 
 action. If there can ever be an instance where a 
 man of conceded ability and of unlimited capacity 
 for work has found at last, after a varied experi 
 ence, the one station exactly suited alike to his 
 powers and his taste, surely the elevation of Judge 
 Richardson to the bench of the Court of Claims 
 furnishes that instance. The judicial gift that 
 was his by nature he had made the most of in 
 early manhood and his strength undoubtedly 
 
109 
 
 lay in achievements of that character. With a 
 mind developed by a course of training in na 
 tional executive duties, rich in practical results, 
 not least of which is to be reckoned the widening 
 influence of foreign travel, he now returned to 
 the field illumined by "the gladsome light of 
 jurisprudence." It was an accession that obvi 
 ously strengthened the court. 
 
 To be sure the present tribunal differed alto 
 gether from that in which he had gained his 
 Massachusetts experience ; but the points of dif 
 ference were very largely comprehended in a 
 knowledge of the practical workings and traditions 
 of that great department of the government of 
 which he had made himself so complete a master. 
 The new judge went diligently to work. With 
 what facility and exactness he performed the duties 
 of the position may be seen upon consulting the 
 opinions of the court, delivered by him and 
 printed in the reports, from the tenth to the thirty- 
 fifth volume, inclusive. 
 
 Engaged in congenial labors and blest with 
 continued good health, the judge s prospect for the 
 future was bright and unclouded. The sessions 
 of the court were such as to permit a long ab 
 sence from Washington during the summer vaca 
 tion. Early in the season of 1875 the judge with 
 Mrs. Richardson and their daughter started to 
 make a tour around the world. When President 
 
110 
 
 Grant learned of the project he signified his at 
 tachment to his friend by sending him a letter of 
 introduction, under his own hand, to our officials 
 abroad, commending Judge Richardson and his 
 family to their kind attentions. The journey was 
 a delightful one. The party went through Japan, 
 into China, returning by way of Saigon (in Cochin 
 China), Singapore, Ceylon, Aden, the Red Sea, 
 and so through the Suez Canal and Egypt, and 
 thence to more familiar points in Europe. The 
 Judge hurried home to take up his duties at the 
 court, leaving his wife and daughter at Paris, to 
 pass the winter. 
 
 Late in the year Mrs. Richardson was taken ill 
 with what developed later into an incurable disease. 
 She was tenderly cared for by her daughter, yet in 
 spite of all that the best medical skill and nursing 
 could do the malady proved fatal. Mrs. Richard 
 son died at Paris, 26 March, 1876. The young 
 daughter bore up bravely, and alone made the 
 voyage home with the remains of her dear mother. 
 
 The force of the blow to the devoted husband 
 may not be a subject of estimation here. One 
 might almost pronounce it a. cruel thing that she 
 should have been taken away at a time when he 
 could not reach her bedside for even a last look of 
 recognition. The chapter of their union in hap 
 piness unalloyed was closed. The lonely survivor 
 turned to his studies and to his daily labor for 
 
OF THB 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
Ill 
 
 companionship ; while the daughter took her place 
 at the head of the household. Not long afterward 
 Miss Richardson became the wife of Doctor Ma- 
 gruder of the Navy, and the young couple lived 
 with the Judge. To provide for their comfort, 
 quite as much as for his own, he built a commo 
 dious house at the northeast corner of H and 
 Seventeenth streets, where he lived (and the 
 Magruders with him) to the end of his life. 
 
 In addition to his other occupations he accepted 
 a professorship in the Law School of Georgetown 
 College in 1879, and delivered law lectures there 
 regularly until his resignation in the summer of 
 1894, when the faculty of that institution by 
 unanimous vote elected him emeritus professor. 
 In announcing to him their action, under date of 
 28 June, 1894, the faculty express their very 
 deep and grateful sense of his " most valuable 
 services as professor, extending over so long a 
 period of years, almost indeed from, the very in 
 ception of the school." The chair that he filled 
 was that of statutory law and legal maxims. He 
 was greatly liked by the students, for his lectures 
 were practical, and delivered in a style capable 
 of being readily understood. 
 
 Between the months of April and September, 
 1878, Judge Richardson expended his spare mo 
 ments in one of those incidental occupations of 
 which he was so fond. With an industry that is 
 
112 
 
 truly marvelous, considering the nature of his 
 other engagements, he prepared in this interval, 
 for the second edition of the Revised Statutes of 
 the United States, a complete index that took the 
 shape of two hundred and thirty pages, closely 
 printed in double columns. This engrossing 
 labor he was willing to enter upon for reasons dis 
 closed only since his death, which are interesting 
 to the public and highly creditable to the two 
 men chiefly concerned. 
 
 His life-long friend, Governor Boutwell,it seems, 
 had been appointed, under an act of Congress, 
 2 March, 1877, a commissioner to prepare and 
 publish a new edition of the first volume of the 
 Revised Statutes, the first edition not having 
 proved satisfactory. When the Governor had 
 completed his labors, and had in hand the manu 
 script ready for the printer, Congress passed a 
 supplementary act, approved 19 April, 1878, 
 requiring the commissioner to revise and perfect 
 the index to the new edition. This formidable 
 task, so entirely distinct from the duties of an 
 editor, the distinguished commissioner shrank 
 from undertaking. He knew, however, that Judge 
 Richardson could perform this work if any man 
 could, and he accordingly betook himself to his 
 friend for help. 
 
 The Judge has left on record a statement of the 
 circumstances in which he found it his duty to 
 
113 
 
 come forward and take upon himself the burden 
 of this great responsibility. He says : 
 
 Governor Boutwell cametorne and said that he had never 
 done such work and did not feel like undertaking it, and rather 
 than do so he would resign, and would resign unless I would 
 assist him. I told him that I would not assist, because an In 
 dex must generally be the work of one mind ; that two men 
 could not cut wood at the same time with one axe. The 
 result was that he said I must make the Index and I agreed 
 to do it. 
 
 And I did make it, myself, wrote out in manuscript every 
 word and figure in the Index to the Second Edition of the 
 Revised Statutes of the United States. Boutwell wanted to 
 state the fact in his preface, but I objected to his mentioning 
 my name. However he does make a nameless allusion to the 
 fact. How well the work was done it must itself tell. 
 
 To make it well required a thorough knowledge of the stat 
 utes themselves, which I had, for I had for several years an 
 notated my own copy. The trouble with the first Index was 
 that the maker used unimportant words found in the text, or 
 words which did not convey the whole idea the substance, 
 without regard to the subject matter. I adopted a different plan. 
 I used words which expressed the meaning and sense of the 
 section, whether they were used in the text of the Revision 
 or not ; as, for instance, under " Auditors " I included the 
 Commissioner of the General Land Office, and under 
 " Comptrollers " I included the Sixth Auditor (Comptroller 
 for the Post Office) and the Commissioner of Customs (who is 
 auditor only and nothing else, for the customs business, and 
 should have been designated as Third Comptroller). And so 
 on through the whole Index, I was governed by meaning 
 rather than by words. Governor Boutwell read the proof 
 with me. 
 
 Of the execution of the work it is enough to 
 say that the index remains a model of its kind. 
 
114 
 
 At the earliest moment when it was permitted to 
 the survivor to break silence, he took occasion to 
 make the facts public and gratefully accord to his 
 departed friend the credit due to protracted and 
 unselfish labor. After commending the plan 
 adopted by Judge Richardson, and explaining to 
 what extent his handiwork applied, Governor 
 Boutwell feelingly adds, u The death of Judge 
 Richardson gives me the only opportunity that 
 was possible of placing the honor of the index, 
 which must mean something with the profession, 
 to the credit of his name and memory.* 
 
 For a period of nearly eleven years Judge 
 Richardson did his duty faithfully as a judge of 
 the Court of Claims. Upon the retirement of 
 Chief Justice Drake (who had reached his seventy- 
 fourth year) President Arthur sent to the Senate 
 the names of William A. Richardson to be chief 
 
 * Appendix, post, p. xlviii. 
 
 All the more praise is due to Judge Richardson for this achievement, 
 because he was perfectly well aware how little is the gain to a man s rep 
 utation from the faithful performance of work like this. Indeed, he has 
 said of index-making that, " most persons would not regard it as exhibit 
 ing a high order of merit." A man who is an index-maker and nothing 
 else may be said to aim low, even though he succeed in making an ad 
 mirable piece of work. Where such labor is performed, however, out of 
 friendship, at intervals of time that by other men is made a period of 
 leisure, its successful results awaken a grateful sense of obligation, no less 
 than unstinted admiration for the unselfish motive that accompanies 
 it. In view of the superiority of Judge Richardson s work, and the 
 pleasing circumstances in which it was executed, his modest unwilling 
 ness, as now revealed, to be known as its author, affords us a phase of his 
 character which his friends may justly admire. 
 
115 
 
 justice of the Court of Claims, and John Davis 
 (then assistant secretary of state) to be a judge 
 of the court. * The nominations, which were 
 regarded with almost universal favor, were 
 promptly confirmed, 20 January, 1885. The 
 rules of the Senate were suspended that notice of 
 the confirmation of the chief justice might be 
 given immediately to the President and he was 
 sworn in the next day, 21 January. 
 
 Though the honor of a promotion had been 
 fairly earned, the new chief justice seems to have 
 determined by his administration of the office to 
 demonstrate that no mistake had been commit 
 ted in entrusting added responsibilities to his 
 hands. He knew perfectly the opportunities of 
 the position, and he set about to improve them 
 to the utmost. In this praiseworthy endeavor he 
 met, it is no exaggeration to say, with complete 
 and enduring success. 
 
 In a presiding justice, personal qualities count 
 far more than in an associate member of a bench. 
 The chief justice is the executive of the court. 
 
 * The conjunction of the names of Drake and Davis serves to recall 
 the following slight incident : The writer had the pleasure of moving the 
 admission of Mr. John Davis, then a young lawyer, to the bar of the 
 Court of Claims. The court sat at that time in rooms at the Capitol. 
 Chief Justice Drake looked through his glasses, and said with a grim 
 smile : "John Davis ! That is an honored name in this Capitol." The 
 allusion was to " Honest John Davis," once a Senator from Massachusetts, 
 the grandfather of his namesake, the present accomplished and able 
 judge of the court. 
 
116 
 
 Business feels bis touch instantly. It lags, or it goes 
 speedily forward, according as he is wanting, or 
 is well equipped in the qualities needful for the 
 control of affairs. The chief is the spokesman of 
 the court; the official medium of communication 
 between bench and bar. Much one is tempted 
 to say all depends upon his manners and breed 
 ing. If considerate and courteous, it is well ; if 
 irritable and fussy, it is deplorably ill. 
 
 Lawyers who practiced in the Court of Claims 
 were of one mind as to the qualifications of Judge 
 Richardson to succeed to the post of chief justice. 
 They united in saying that he proved himself 
 everything that a presiding justice should be, 
 courteous, patient, ready to make due allowance 
 for shortcomings of counsel, yet withal prompt, 
 firm and insistent upon getting speedily to the real 
 point at issue. He evinced a wonderful power of 
 dispatching business. At the same time he dis 
 played and it is something more than tact that 
 nameless quality which encourages counsel to do 
 their best, and yet can convey a suggestion 
 sometimes an urgent command even without 
 wounding the pride of the most sensitive recipient. 
 You felt, while in his presence, that both court 
 and counsel were working to their utmost, and 
 yet there was no friction, no haste. The record 
 of what the court accomplished during the eleven 
 years or more that he presided over it, is to a 
 
117 
 
 measurable degree an honorable testimonial to 
 his efficiency.* 
 
 A great deal of work is done by the Chief 
 Justice of the Court of Claims in chambers. Of 
 this it was justly said at the bar meeting held in 
 his memory: 
 
 The executive duties necessary to such a court, largely 
 carried on in chambers and imperfectly appreciated by us as 
 members of the bar, increasing with the years of the court, 
 were enormous, but always met with a patience, a careful 
 consideration, of which we have little conception.! 
 
 His thoughts were daily with the court. He 
 studied to strengthen it and enlarge its sphere of 
 action. One of his many vigils was to keep close 
 watch upon Congress that they should take no 
 untoward step in legislating with regard to a 
 tribunal which they had created, the workings of 
 which might readily be a subject of misconception. 
 The enlarged jurisdiction of the court in later 
 years is to be traced to him, yet he was scrupulous 
 to guard against a radical change in its organiza 
 tion. In view of these and other like considera 
 tions, the reader ma} 7 understand how engrossed 
 
 * A gentleman who had practiced before the court during the entire 
 period that Judge Richai dson was upon the bench says of him : "He 
 was a splendid administrative officer. Nobody dispatched business so 
 rapidly and so well. He was considerate of the comfort and convenience 
 of the bar. If he saw a lawyer sitting within the bar, and he thought him 
 to be waiting for the coming on of a case that he knew would not be 
 reached, he would send down a note to him. This was his invariable 
 custom. The bar all liked him." 
 
 t Appendix, p. xix. 
 
118 
 
 was the active mind of the chief justice alike in 
 the trial of causes, and in thoughts for the welfare, 
 growth and permanence of the court itself. 
 
 It was a habit of the chief justice to bestow a 
 good deal of care upon his opinions ; and as a 
 result, besides being well reasoned, they are favor 
 able specimens of a good judicial style. He rarely 
 employed his pen in other fields than that of 
 law; what little he accomplished beyond opin 
 ions and articles upon legal subjects, was chiefly 
 confined to papers of an historical character. 
 
 As early as 1857 he was elected a resident 
 member of the New England Historic Genea 
 logical Society of Boston; and he was made an 
 honorary member in 1873. In January of that 
 year he was chosen an honorary vice-president of 
 the society, and thereafter was elected annually 
 to that office for a period of fifteen years. He 
 had pursued investigations into the early history 
 of his native town of Tyngsborough, and pub 
 lished a valuable article on that topic in the 
 Lowell Daily Courier of 4 April, 1881. Upon one 
 of his visits to England he made researches in 
 aid of this local history, and he succeeded in 
 bringing to light several interesting facts, that 
 enabled him to correct errors in the statements 
 of earlier writers. This modest undertaking was 
 much to his taste. It is further to be observed 
 that he contributed several articles to the New 
 
England Historical and Genealogical Register of 
 considerable importance.* 
 
 Proof sheets of one of these historical papers 
 reached the house of the chief justice in Wash 
 ington during his last illness, too late, however, 
 to be submitted to his revision. The article in 
 question was entitled, "The Government of Har 
 vard College, Past and Present." It appeared 
 in the January number of the Register, following 
 his death. The same painstaking application 
 appears here as in his earlier work. In order 
 to prepare it he had consulted records, legis 
 lative and collegiate, covering a period from 
 1636 to the present day; and he has succeeded 
 in producing an article which takes rank as au 
 thority upon a subject of which little has here 
 tofore been accurately known. In a letter which 
 he had sent with the manuscript to the editor, he 
 observes : 
 
 The length of the article is entirely out of proportion to the 
 time I have devoted to it. To condense a mass of matter 
 which I have had to examine, into a short readable article on 
 the salient points of the subject, has cost me much trouble 
 and research. 
 
 I am the last survivor of those who were members of the 
 board of overseers by the election of both the legislature and 
 the graduates of the college. Of those who were members in 
 1863, when I was first elected, there are but two others still 
 living. 
 
 * See bibliographical note in Appendix, post, pp. Ixxvi, Ixxvii. 
 
120 
 
 The society of which he had been an honored 
 member was not unmindful of the worth of such 
 labor as his in the chosen field of early New Eng 
 land annals. The language of the following 
 extract from resolutions adopted upon learning 
 of his death denotes, it may confidently be be 
 lieved, something beyond the ordinary express 
 ion of regret upon like occasions : 
 
 His interest in the future of the society was constant and 
 generous. During his long connection with the society he was 
 a frequent contributor to the pages of the Register. The death 
 of Chief Justice Eichardson is a public national loss, and this 
 society, as only an inadequate expression of its regard for his 
 services in behalf of accurate historical knowledge and good 
 learning, adopts the following resolutions : 
 
 Resolved, That this society is deeply impressed with the 
 value of the work and influence of Chief Justice Richardson 
 in behalf of the objects for which it was formed. 
 
 Resolved, That his death is a special loss to the society and 
 to historical students in general.* 
 
 Fortunately for the chief justice he had in 
 herited an unusually good constitution. All his 
 life he had been a temperate man and regular in 
 his habits. As a reward, his health was for the 
 most part vigorous, giving promise of length of 
 years ; but there can be no doubt that he put to 
 a severe strain his power of endurance, by taxing 
 himself with laborious application day after day. 
 
 * Proceedings of New England Historic Genealogical Society, upon the 
 death of the Honorable William Adams Richardson (1897). 
 
121 
 
 Not content to labor through the hours usually 
 allotted to that purpose, he borrowed of time 
 needed for sleep. He rose very early in the 
 morning and went immediately to work. A 
 large part of what was done by him upon the 
 statutes he accomplished before breakfast. 
 
 His daily morning appearance at the consulta 
 tion room of the court was an example of punc 
 tuality. Here he busied himself with scarcely 
 a pause, unless when actually compelled by the 
 presence of some one to turn away from the rou 
 tine work in hand. During his period of three 
 and twenty years upon the bench in the Court of 
 Claims he never once missed a day in his attend 
 ance upon the sessions of the court, with the 
 single exception of a week s confinement at home 
 owing to an injury to his hand a really remark 
 able instance of devotion to duty. 
 
 To even the mildest form of mental diversion 
 he remained a complete stranger. Unlike most 
 men, he cared nothing whatever for light read 
 ing, or for amusements such as billiards or a game 
 of cards. It appears as though he had estimated 
 the precise amount of time that he could devote 
 to his chosen work, and that in so doing, he had 
 purposely left no room for those moments of re 
 pose and recreation so needful in the daily rou 
 tine of life. 
 
 His exercise was chiefly walking. He did not 
 
122 
 
 take the vacations that others allowed themselves. 
 Several times he went abroad in the summer (in 
 1893 he had crossed the Atlantic nineteen times) ; 
 but upon these trips he was not idle; and his 
 brain frequently was not permitted to rest while 
 away from the desk. One might almost say that 
 he had sat as judge at a trial of himself, had 
 convicted the prisoner, and had sentenced himself 
 to hard labor for life. 
 
 That such an unceasing stretch of work vio 
 lated the laws of health can not be denied; and 
 the chief justice sooner or later had to pay the 
 penalty. When he had reached the allotted term 
 of three score and ten, there was, it is true, no 
 perceptible diminution of vigor in his walk and 
 bearing. " He is one of those genial, sunny 
 men," some one had earlier written of him, "upon 
 whom time makes no impression." But not long 
 after passing that milestone slight signs indicated 
 that his many years were beginning to tell 
 upon him. Still, he was constant in attendance 
 upon his duties, and as ready apparently to go 
 forward with the regular burden as ever. 
 
 In the summer of 1896, his friends were not 
 blind to an admonition that his strength was 
 somewhat abating. About a year before while 
 in England he had a stroke of paralysis, from 
 which he recovered by the best of nursing, so as 
 to return home and resume his place upon the 
 
123 
 
 bench. The fact of this warning was not gener 
 ally known, but those close to him held it con 
 stantly in rnind and could not but be aware that 
 his days of continuous labor were numbered. 
 The end, however, came more swiftly than they 
 had counted upon. 
 
 It so happened that the court had taken its 
 usual adjournment in the summer to meet on 
 the morning of Monday, 19 October. There is a 
 certain melancholy interest in noting that on the 
 very morning appointed for the court to assemble 
 for the new term, the chief justice passed away. 
 He died at his residence in Washington, on H 
 street northwest, at the northeast corner of 18th 
 street, about nine o clock on the morning of that 
 Monday. He had been ill for about two weeks; 
 and yet, until shortly before his death, no appre 
 hension had been entertained of a fatal result. 
 
 His daughter, Mrs. Magruder, her husband, 
 and their two children were living with him 
 at the time of his illness, and were present to wit 
 ness how peaceful was the end.* The funeral 
 services were simple, as he would have wished. 
 They took place at All Souls (Unitarian) church, 
 on the afternoon of Wednesday, 21 October. The 
 pallbearers were J. C. Bancroft Davis, Lawrence 
 Weldon, John Davis, Stanton J. Peelle, Frank W. 
 
 * Mrs. Magruder, his only child, did not long survive him. She died 
 at Washington, 4 April, 1898. 
 
124 
 
 Hackett, George A. King, William A. Maury and 
 Joseph J. McCammon. 
 
 The Reverend E. Bradford Leavitt, who but 
 shortly before had been settled as minister to this 
 church , conducted the services. His brief remarks 
 were in perfect keeping with the occasion. He 
 spoke of the long continuance in high public 
 position of him whose body they were about to 
 commit to the grave ; and dwelt upon his toler 
 ance and his faithfulness as a member of the 
 church. The body was taken to the beautiful 
 cemetery of Oak Hill (Georgetown), Washington, 
 and laid beside that of his wife. " Man goeth forth 
 to his work and to his labour until the evening." 
 
 A meeting of the bar of the Court of Claims 
 was held in the courtroom on the forenoon of 
 Friday, 20 November, 1896. Few lawyers of 
 those accustomed to practice before the court were 
 absent. A spontaneity and genuineness of feeling, 
 that could not be misunderstood, pervaded the 
 proceedings. The resolutions of the meeting, 
 together with the remarks of those who paid their 
 tribute of respect by speaking of the late chief 
 justice, were far more interesting and impressive 
 than is usual at such times. 
 
 The same is true of the occasion when the 
 court received the report of the resolutions of 
 the bar on Monday, 23 November. The Honor 
 able Charles C. Nott presided, and there sat with 
 
125 
 
 the judges the Honorable J. C. Bancroft Davis, 
 formerly a judge of the Court of Claims, and. 
 the Honorable Martin F. Morris, associate jus 
 tice of the Court of Appeals of the District of 
 Columbia. Mr. Justice Morris, besides being 
 an intimate friend, had for many years been 
 associated with the chief justice as a professor 
 in the law school of Georgetown University. 
 Mr. Assistant Attorney General Joshua E. 
 Dodge offered the resolutions to the court in a 
 few words happily expressed. He was followed 
 by Mr. George S. Boutwell, who by vote of the 
 bar meeting had been requested to second the 
 resolutions. Allusion is elsewhere made in these 
 pages to certain features of Governor Boutwell s 
 tribute. Aside from the faithful portraiture that 
 it affords, this brief address is worthy of special 
 commendation for its undoubted literary merit. 
 The Honorable Lawrence Weldon responded on 
 behalf of the court. A single sentence will indi 
 cate with what discernment Judge Weldon had 
 studied the mental characteristics of his chief. 
 
 He was highly educated in the perfect discipline of his 
 mind, being enabled because of such discipline to bestow 
 upon any subject of investigation the undivided and pro 
 longed thought of his whole being; and that in the end is the 
 perfection of education. 
 
 The event, one of the most important in the 
 history of the court, was particularly grateful to 
 
126 
 
 the friends of Chief Justice Richardson and to 
 the bar.* 
 
 The senior judge became chief justice; a new 
 judge took his seat upon the bench, and the bus 
 iness of the court went on. But there were those 
 about the court room, judge, clerk, bailiff or 
 faithful messenger alike, who missed the figure 
 and the kindly greetings of one who for well-nigh 
 a quarter of a century had found here his happi 
 ness in daily toil. The traditions of the bar, 
 already settling down upon the name and mem 
 ory of the late chief justice, will deal gently with 
 his faults, and speak in no uncertain tone of his 
 diligence and his unswerving fidelity to duty. 
 
 * At a meeting of the Harvard Club of Washingtou resolutions were 
 passed, speaking in fitting terms of the loss of one of its most distinguished 
 members. The chief justice, with all his ardent love for the College, 
 could seldom be prevailed upon to attend the annual dinner of the Har 
 vard Club. He did come once or twice when the club was young and 
 struggling, but his aversion to large dinners was enough to keep him 
 away regularly, notwithstanding the fact that he remained in hearty 
 sympathy with the purposes of the organization. 
 
 The graduates of Dartmouth College at Washington had a warm 
 regard for Chief Justice Eichardson, an adopted son, (for he received 
 the honorary degree of LL.D. from that institution in 1886) as is shown by 
 the following extract from the record of the proceedings at the annual 
 meeting of the Alumni Association, held at the Raleigh on the evening 
 of 19 January, 1897. On motion of S. R. Bond, Esquire, this resolution 
 was unanimously adopted : 
 
 "In all the positions which he held he was distinguished for inde 
 fatigable industry, high conception of duty and incorruptible integrity, 
 and the result of his labors will remain of lasting service to his fellow- 
 men. 
 
 "It is appropriate that at this first meeting of the association since his 
 death, in consideration of his affiliation with ; our alma mater, we should 
 commemorate his distinguished life and services, and recognize the loss 
 sustained in his decease, 
 
127 
 
 HAVING THUS hastily surveyed the leading feat 
 ures of the ever busy life of the subject of our 
 sketch, let us for a moment contemplate such traits 
 of character as appear chiefly to have guided his 
 conduct, and for the most part to account for the 
 measure of success or failure justly to be accorded 
 him. 
 
 These pages, it must be confessed, are fairly 
 open to the criticism that stress has again and 
 again been laid upon the fact that Chief Justice 
 Richardson loved work. An intense love of work, 
 however, and it is not a hasty conclusion to say 
 so, is really the key-note to his character. He 
 was to the last degree utilitarian. Born on a 
 rugged soil, where generations had gained a sub 
 sistence only by the exercise of an indomitable 
 energy, young Richardson from the first came 
 under an inspiration to dedicate himself to toil in 
 any direction where he could see that his labor 
 would produce a good result. His mind was 
 eminently practical. He had no idea whatever 
 of what it is to "dwell in a world apart." He 
 found himself in this working-day world at a very 
 busy season, among people tireless and inventive; 
 and his thoughts became engrossed in the hard- 
 headed New England business of earning a com 
 petence, and making himself meanwhile of use 
 
128 
 
 and value to the community around him. Such 
 were his aspirations. 
 
 Keeping in sight the predominating, not to say 
 absorbing, influence of this idea of life s duty, let 
 us examine what Judge Richardson accomplished 
 respectively as lawyer, statesman and judge; and 
 ascertain, if we may, what rank should be accorded 
 to him among his fellows. 
 
 When a career has ended, we ask, was it a suc 
 cess? Though men differ widely in their estimate 
 of what standard should be applied as the one 
 true measure of success, yet they generally admit 
 the life of him to have been successful in a certain 
 sense, who, judged by the standard fixed by 
 himself, has fairly attained the ends for which he 
 has striven. 
 
 Judge Richardson started to make his own way 
 in life with a plentiful stock of "common sense." 
 He saw things as they were, and indulged in no 
 vagaries. He meant to be a lawyer, as his father 
 had been before him ; and he studied hard to fit 
 himself for the profession. He was a singularly 
 modest man; in fact, had his nature been a little 
 more aggressive, he doubtless would have im 
 pressed a sense of his real abilities more deeply 
 upon those with whom he mingled. This mod 
 esty of his, amounting in some circumstances 
 almost to timidity, probably accounts for the fact 
 that he took no part in the contests of the bar, 
 
129 
 
 where ready, off-hand speaking was required. 
 His preference, as we have seen, was from the 
 first for office practice. 
 
 He has himself well expressed the estimate in 
 which in his opinion a talent for public speaking 
 or forensic oratory should be held. That he was 
 content to yield to others the glow of triumphant 
 encounter at the bar, and felt it to be no great 
 deprivation, is apparent from the following lan 
 guage of an address delivered by him in 1869 
 to the students of the Columbian Law School, 
 Washington : 
 
 It is a mistaken notion, too often believed by young men, 
 that to be a lawyer, one must be an advocate, and therefore to 
 become successful after leaving the law schools one must be 
 an eloquent speaker. It is true that a mere advocate may 
 easily make a pecuniary fortune and gain extensive notoriety, 
 but if he is not something more his abilities thrive but for a 
 day, and he leaves little or no mark behind him. When his 
 contemporaries, who are charmed by his voice and manner 
 pass away, he is forgotten. 
 
 The real lawyer need not be an advocate, but he must be 
 a man of great acquirements and learning. He must be 
 learned in facts as well as in law. A lawyer in large practice 
 has more to do with facts than with law, and therefore the 
 more extensive his acquirements in all things which influence 
 the conduct of men, and affect the material interest of the 
 world, in the history of the past and in the passing events 
 of the present, the more certain and great will be his success. 
 
 He mastered legal principles after close study ; 
 and since he gained his knowledge only by 
 long-continued application, he held it tenaciously, 
 
130 
 
 and was always prepared to apply it to a case in 
 hand. He may be said to have been a good 
 lawyer, who had in him many of the elements 
 that go to make up the great lawyer. It is safe to 
 assert that no man in his day had acquired a 
 wider or more thorough knowledge of the statute 
 law than Chief Justice Richardson. From his 
 experience in this branch of learning he came to 
 possess great aptitude in construing the language 
 of enactments so as best to express the legislative 
 will. He also grew to be an expert draftsman, 
 whose precision and accuracy could always be 
 depended upon. 
 
 The following practical hints in dealing with 
 the subject of drafting or revising statute law 
 attest the truth of this statement. They are set 
 forth in a paper drawn up by him and entitled 
 " Some suggestions for revising the statutes formed 
 after long and extensive experience and obser 
 vation " : 
 
 1. Never use the two words "the said" together. Either 
 one is sufficient. 
 
 2. Avoid too frequent use of " any." The same idea may be 
 often better expressed by " a " or " an." 
 
 3. In statutes relating to crimes and offenses, instead of 
 the formula, " If any person shall falsely make," etc., say 
 "Whoever falsely makes," etc.; or, instead of " Any person 
 who shall steal," etc., say " Whoever steals," etc. 
 
 4. Instead of " It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of 
 Pensions" (or other officer), etc., say "The Commissioner of 
 Pensions shall" (Rev. Stat. U. S., sees. 3203, 4701, 4769, 4786, 
 
131 
 
 etc.). Instead of "The Secretary of the Interior " (or other 
 officer) " is authorized," etc., say " The Secretary of the Inter 
 ior" (or other officer) "may." (Examples Rev. Stat. U. S., 
 sees. 4776, 4777, 4778, 4780, 1704, etc.) The Revised Statutes 
 abound in such expressions. 
 
 5. Employ no provisos, but divide each long section into 
 two or more. (Rev. Stat. U. S., sec. 3173.) (It is difficult to 
 use provisos with technical accuracy. ) So with long sections 
 without provisos. (Rev. Stat. U. S., sees. 639, 641, 643.) 
 
 6. Sections embracing the same general idea with shades 
 of variations should be consolidated and rewritten. It is often 
 easier to interpret one section than to construe several har 
 moniously together. (See Rev. Stat. U. S., sees. 1763, 1765, 
 1766, which have given rise to much litigation.) 
 
 7. There are many superfluous and worse than useless 
 words in every section, which should be omitted or the sec 
 tion recast in more concise language. 
 
 8. Paragraphing is of great advantage wherever there are 
 changes in the ideas, or divisions of the subject. (See striking 
 example of the want of it in " The Compiled Statutes of the 
 District of Columbia, 1894," " Descent," sec. 1, pp. 192, 193.) 
 For example of its use see Supplement to Rev. Stat. everywhere. 
 Cases cited should be in columns and not run together as in 
 Rev. Stat. U. S., margin of sees. 629, 639, 649, 652. 
 
 9. Material changes in the language should be explained 
 in notes, pointing out the object and whether or not any 
 change in the law is intended. 
 
 10. Most of these suggestions are just as applicable to 
 drafting new 7 acts as to revising old ones, and in all law docu 
 ments, such as deeds, findings of fact, and opinions, may be 
 observed with advantage. 
 
 Judge Richardson s career upon the bench of 
 the Court of Probate and Insolvency of his native 
 state lias already been characterized as eminently 
 successful. He there dealt with a range of sub- 
 
132 
 
 jects in which he had made himself second to no 
 man, for thorough acquaintance with the law. 
 The systematic and orderly procedure of the court, 
 even the regularity with which numerous details 
 are rapidly taken up and disposed of, were to him 
 specially pleasing. In what to many minds 
 seemed a maze of complications and perplexities, 
 he saw only an opportunity for deducing order 
 and perspicuous arrangement. Though the work 
 in time got to be largely a matter of routine, the 
 Judge enjoyed it ; and one reason why he enjoyed 
 it may have been because it was left for him to 
 explain to both lawyers and laymen the real sim 
 plicity of a system, otherwise by them indiffer 
 ently well understood. 
 
 Of course the thought occurs to the reader that 
 there must inevitably be some risk of a lack of 
 breadth in a life entirely spent in work such as 
 this ; but a timely transfer to the new and untried 
 duties of an assistant secretary of the Treasury, 
 rescued Judge Richardson from any such conse 
 quences. 
 
 A man whose native bent is judicial, and who 
 has enjoyed the experience of many years training 
 upon the bench will, if suddenly transplanted to 
 an executive life, rarely make a success of the 
 new undertaking. This is eminently true of a 
 judge whose predominating tastes are those of 
 the student, rather than those of a practical man 
 
133 
 
 of affairs. Judges are aided by argument from 
 counsel, and they deal with questions that they 
 have time carefully to consider. The bench to 
 a large extent follows precedent. Its chief busi 
 ness is to ascertain what legal principles rule the 
 facts, as settled by the evidence. There are times, 
 to be sure, but they occur rarely, when a supreme 
 test is made of the courage and fearlessness of the 
 court, whether a single judge, or consisting of 
 several judges sitting in bank. The ordinary 
 experience of men in judicial position, however, 
 is not of a character to foster readiness to incur 
 responsibility. 
 
 As has already been intimated, the subject of 
 this sketch had in his makeup not quite enough 
 of that bold, aggressive and self-confident spirit, 
 which one to be a successful leader of men must 
 possess. It is indeed a rare quality. Natural 
 disposition, early training and long continuance 
 upon the bench had fitted Judge Richardson 
 rather for the quiet contemplation of the merits 
 of a legal controversy , than for rendering off-hand 
 decisions of what ought to be done in this or that 
 urgency involving large responsibilities. 
 
 When Judge Richardson came to Washington 
 it was to enter a field of public duty altogether 
 different from that to which he had been accus 
 tomed. It was an interesting work, however, and 
 although for three years he continued to regard 
 
 f UNIVERSITY 
 
134 
 
 his absence from Cambridge as a temporary one, 
 he soon began to adapt himself to the new con 
 ditions. At this post, as we have seen, he did 
 faithful service, and achieved what his friends 
 deemed a gratifying measure of success. 
 
 Later, upon being advanced to a higher office, 
 where all the responsibility rested upon his own 
 shoulders, he had to meet requirements immeas 
 urably graver. A host of questions, many of them 
 of momentous consequence, demanded instant 
 decision. He was brought face to face with many 
 perplexities, some of them growing out of the 
 action of men in high political station, who sought 
 to impress their views upon him, or have him 
 grant their personal requests. Secretary Rich 
 ardson, it must be observed, had not served in the 
 State legislature or in Congress ; and his actual 
 experience of the ins and outs of political life was 
 necessarily limited. 
 
 It would do this honest and pure-minded pub 
 lic servant a great injustice to assert that he 
 lacked the nerve to refuse point-blank a political 
 request ; or that he betrayed too ready a disposi 
 tion to yield to strong and persistent pressure. 
 Such is not the fact. But in the many emergen 
 cies requiring the quick exercise of an inflexible 
 will, and the daring to go ahead, be the conse 
 quence what it might, he felt a need which a 
 sterner and bolder nature would not perhaps have 
 
135 
 
 recognized. Ex-Secretary Boutwell, his life-long 
 friend, who knew better than any one else the 
 strong and the weak points exhibited by Judge 
 Richardson in his administration of the Treasury, 
 alludes to this phase of his character, as follows : 
 
 I have once made this remark in a public way : There is a 
 rough side to government, and there must be a quality of harsh 
 ness in those who administer governments successfully. Such 
 generalizations, even if true as rules of action, are subject to ex 
 ceptions. If it had been the fortune of Judge Richardson to 
 have served on the executive side of the government for a 
 period of years, and there had been any just cause for criticism, 
 it would have had its origin in the absence of the quality of 
 harshness in his nature.* 
 
 In advancing this statement the writer must 
 not be understood as intimating that Secretary 
 Richardson lacked anything of courage or ability 
 in the prompt decision of large questions of state, 
 such, for example, as are laid before his cabinet 
 officers by the President in the general admin 
 istration of the government. Here it is indis 
 putably the fact that Secretary Richardson mani 
 fested a clear insight, and a praiseworthy readi 
 ness to assume the fullest measure of responsibil 
 ity. It was rather in matters of importance rank 
 ing above merely minor questions of administra 
 tive routine that he was disposed to refer to pre 
 cedent, and look to the views of others around 
 him a course very natural for one whose train 
 ing had hitherto been almost exclusively judicial. 
 
 * Appendix, pp. xlvi, xlvii, post. 
 
136 
 
 There is of course a vast amount of routine work 
 going on at the Treasury of which the Secretary 
 from the nature of things can know but little, no 
 one man having time or strength to give it per 
 sonal supervision. But the head of that great 
 department, like the general in command of an 
 army, makes himself felt, so to speak, all along 
 the line. The traditions of the department are 
 to the effect that in Secretary Richardson s day 
 energy was infused into the channels of ordinary 
 business, and subordinates worked cheerfully 
 under the eye of their chief. He was popular 
 throughout the department. 
 
 Public questions of great magnitude, as has just 
 been remarked, were sure of receiving at his 
 hands prompt and wise disposal. The Secretary 
 relied upon his own unaided powers wherever 
 necessary. His cool and courageous action dur 
 ing the panic of 1873 richty entitles him to grate 
 ful remembrance as a resourceful and trustworthy 
 officer of the government. Indeed, his reputa 
 tion may be safely left to the record of service 
 rendered in that trying emergency. It is speak 
 ing within bounds to say of Secretary Richard 
 son that in his official acts his motives were pure, 
 his diligence unwearied and his judgment uni 
 formly sound. To an eminent degree faithful in 
 his great trust, he secured the affectionate esteem 
 of General Grant, and gained the respect of all who 
 
137 
 
 were closely connected with him in administer 
 ing the affairs of the government. 
 
 Says ex- Attorney-General George H. Williams, 
 the only surviving member of the cabinet of 
 which Secretary Richardson was a member : 
 
 I was favorably impressed with his executive abilities as 
 the assistant of Secretary Boutwell, and used my influence 
 with the President to secure his appointment as Mr. Boutw ell s 
 successor. Judge Richardson never said or did anything to 
 produce a sensation. His ambition was to perform his public 
 duties faithfully and honestly, without ostentation or display. 
 He was modest and unassuming, and in my judgment was not 
 current in popular estimation at his real worth. He has left 
 an enviable reputation.* 
 
 Mention has already been made of the conspic 
 uous fitness of Judge Richardson for a seat upon 
 the bench of the Court of Claims. There were 
 able lawyers on that bench during his incum 
 bency, but no one surpassed him in the possession 
 of those qualities which are specially needful to 
 command the highest measure of judicial success. 
 He was greatly respected and liked by the entire 
 bar. 
 
 It had seemed to the writer, therefore, pecu 
 liarly appropriate that the testimony of the bar 
 and court to the true position held by their de 
 ceased brother should be preserved in the form of 
 an appendix to this fragmentary sketch, in order 
 that the reader may resort to these authoritative 
 
 * MS. letter, Portland, Oregon, 19 July, 1897. 
 
138 
 
 sources, and learn with what measure of respect 
 men who knew him intimately agree in esti 
 mating his talents and acquirements. It were 
 unfitting to attempt to add anything to what is 
 there said with so much acuteness of observation 
 so much precision and integrity of expression. 
 For no one can lend ear to the utterances of that 
 occasion, and fail to he struck with their sincerity 
 of tone and their wholesome freedom from exag 
 geration. They are words of honest praise. To a 
 degree rare in like circumstances, the portrait of 
 the man is outlined with striking fidelity to the 
 form and feature of the original. It is much to 
 have deserved such a tribute; yet those who 
 knew the chief justice from the vantage ground 
 of intimate acquaintance will say that his mem 
 ory does in truth deserve it every word. 
 
 We may in a spirit of hearty approval borrow 
 the language of one of the most discriminating 
 of the speakers, who thus felicitously sums up 
 the leading characteristics that in his opinion 
 entitle the late chief justice to be classed among 
 the most eminent of American jurists : 
 
 Thus reviewing his judicial attainments, I think that with 
 out danger of undeserved eulogy we may say that the minute 
 accuracy of his knowledge, his capacity for hard work, his 
 quick apprehension of the issue of a case, his sound judgment 
 and his convincing expression of his conclusions, entitle him 
 to rank among the great lawyers of the nation.* 
 
 * Mr. William B. King, Appendix, page xxxiii, post. 
 
139 
 
 That Mr. Richardson of the Middlesex bar 
 developed into a model judge of probate, and 
 later became an excellent judge of a federal court, 
 rose to be its chief justice and administered 
 that responsible office with unparallelled skill 
 and ability, is not to be wondered at when we 
 reflect that it was the strict rule of his life that 
 when upon the bench he should never attempt 
 to be anything else than a judge. His aim was 
 single. It was with a far-seeing design that he 
 had limited to himself the scope of his exertions. 
 Within those self-imposed limits we may plainly 
 see his to have been indeed a 
 
 Life of endless toil and endeavor. 
 
 All his days he was a student of law. Aside 
 from something of current political measures, he 
 appears to have cared for little in the world 
 around him except the tribunal in which he sat, 
 and its steady growth and development in the 
 public favor. He concentrated all his powers 
 upon the judicial office. A will of iron confined 
 his efforts to that circle within which it was his 
 ambition to excel. Broad and general culture is 
 an almost necessary equipment for a judge ; and 
 the chief justice did not shut his eyes to the fact, 
 but the test he first applied to a subject was, is it 
 immediately useful? 
 
 Such a course of conduct as this, pursued year 
 after year, by a man of native ability, could 
 
140 
 
 hardly fail of its object ; and it made of William 
 Adams Richardson, if nothing else, a superb 
 master of all the varied duties of his office. So 
 complete a dedication of self to the accomplish 
 ment of one supreme end is rarely witnessed, 
 except in the lives of men who possess elements 
 of greatness. His triumph, for it was a triumph, 
 came as the reward of sheer grit and perseverance. 
 
 As might be expected, his time was engrossed 
 in the study of legal questions, leaving little 
 opportunity for the enjoyment of general litera 
 ture, or the fine arts.* The habit of persistent 
 industry in the line of his chosen occupation so 
 grew upon him that he found his happiness only 
 there. What he called relaxation took the shape 
 of labor given to the compilation of statutes, or 
 by way of indexing, or other like employment, of 
 a nature not far removed from the severer duties 
 of the judicial office. He would, for example, 
 be up at early day-light, working on the statutes, 
 and deem it a species of leisure entertainment. 
 
 This capacity and liking for work in one 
 direction is reflected in his writings most of 
 which are opinions announcing a decision of the 
 court. While his style is clearness itself, a cer 
 tain precision void of any attempt at ornament 
 
 *It could not be truthfully said of him, as it was of his class-mate 
 Sprague, that " He breathed the still air of delightful studies" ; except 
 that it was an incomparable delight to Richardson to study the intri 
 cacies of the statutes. 
 
141 
 
 or illustration reminds us that the writer is 
 rather intent upon reaching a conclusion by a 
 sound logical process, than to attract or enlighten 
 the reader. There are no allusions that indicate 
 an acquaintance with the great writers; no 
 lingering fondness for the classics; 110 glimpse of 
 a world of fancy beyond that in which men carry 
 on traffic, and disagree as to their rights. 
 
 Let it not be inferred from what is here said 
 that the subject of our remarks was uncompan 
 ionable. On the contrary, though he eschewed 
 general society and the club, he was of kindly 
 disposition, most considerate of others, tactful 
 and responsive to the friendship of his intimates, 
 and the courtesies of every-day fellowship. In 
 deed, there were few men with whom it was a 
 greater pleasure to converse. He spoke only of 
 subjects that he knew something about, and he 
 was ready to listen attentively to those who were 
 perhaps better informed than he. A good talker, 
 of animated manner and pleasing voice, he never 
 committed the mistake of being disputatious, or of 
 displaying a readiness to monopolize the con 
 versation. 
 
 One of his strong points was a tenacious 
 memory, and those who were privileged to hear 
 him talk of the judges and lawyers of the earlier 
 day knew with what relish he could tell an anec 
 dote, or illustrate a phase of character. He had 
 
142 
 
 schooled himself to be accurate, and he liked to 
 have others accurate in what they said. Not in 
 frequently he would allude to some prevailing 
 error, in popular usage, and do his part towards 
 correcting it. Himself methodical and orderly, 
 he wanted to see others careful in these respects. 
 What keenness of observation he possessed has 
 already been alluded to; it seemed as if nothing 
 could escape him.* 
 
 It was the misfortune of Chief Justice Richard 
 son that he was not a man of a large and com 
 manding presence. He was of medium height 
 and size. In mixed company his manner was 
 somewhat retiring and unobtrusive. Whether 
 this was due to innate modesty, or was the 
 result of an acquired liking for the contempla 
 tion of the stud} 7 , one may not easily divine. But 
 
 * Take, for instance, the court and bar : he used to note any peculiar 
 ity in those who practiced before him. He said of a certain member of 
 the bar that he had a habit of bringing a book down violently upon the 
 table, making a great noise. Another gentleman had a peculiarity of 
 gesture that was annoying. Said the chief justice, "He is a young 
 man of talent, arid sometimes I have thought I would speak to him about 
 it. It is a sweep of one arm, very unpleasant and ungraceful to witness." 
 "Another member of the bar," the judge continued, "has a habit of 
 rising upon his toes when he is speaking, a practice by no means pleasing 
 to the bench." So, of a writer s style: Upon one occasion somebody 
 spoke of a lawyer who constantly used the word " practically." Another 
 of the company remarked of a practitioner that he seldom went far in 
 oral argument without employing the word "thereupon." Chief Justice 
 Richardson said if the opinions of Chief Justice Bigelow of Massachusetts 
 were examined it would be found that he was much given to bringing 
 in the word " familiar." "Upon familiar principles " is a phrase fre 
 quently recurring with him. These are trivial illustrations of Chief 
 Justice Richardson s habit of noticing slight peculiarities. 
 
143 
 
 with all his acute power of observation, his tact 
 and his knowledge of human nature, he was not 
 disposed to mingle freely with others, or take a 
 prominent part in the company in which he hap 
 pened to be thrown. This trait may be consid 
 ered unfortunate, because without doubt it con 
 tributed to a public estimation of his abilities and 
 his talents that was below his deserts. Many a 
 person may have been in his company for a brief 
 season, and come away with an altogether inade 
 quate impression of his real ability. 
 
 A fair conception of how the chief justice 
 looked may be gained from the excellent engrav 
 ing by Stuart, of Boston, that faces the title page. 
 It is proper to add, however, that the photograph 
 from which it is copied, being of early date, has 
 not reproduced those lines of thought furrowing 
 the brow which, in the recollection of those who 
 knew him while he was chief justice, had im 
 parted to his looks a perceptibly greater degree 
 of intellectual force than is here portrayed. His 
 was one of those countenances that light up 
 and beam with animation, when not in repose. 
 There was something cheery about him when you 
 met him and spoke to him.* 
 
 He was a familiar figure for many years in the 
 
 * Of portraits there is one in the Treasury by Stagg (formerly of Boston) 
 and a good piece of work by Robert Hinckley, of Washington. A less sat 
 isfactory work by an Italian artist hangs in the court room of the Court 
 of Claims at Washington. 
 
144 
 
 streets of Washington on foot, for he preferred 
 walking to riding. 
 
 In his family relations he was kind and affec 
 tionate a most devoted father. To his grand 
 children he was particularly attentive. He would 
 himself buy their presents at Christmas and at 
 other times, going to great pains to select articles 
 that he knew would give them pleasure. His prac 
 tical turn of mind is evinced by the fact that he 
 left behind him a letter for his grandson, with 
 instructions that the seal shall be broken, and the 
 letter read by him, on reaching his one and twen 
 tieth birthday. 
 
 Of his friendships, it may, with truth, be said, 
 that no man prized a friend more highly, or was 
 more loyal in his attachments. The circumstance 
 that his taste withdrew him largely from general 
 society rendered him all the more sensible how 
 precious was the possession of a true friend. 
 Many of his more intimate associates he had out 
 lived. The relation between him and his hon 
 ored predecessor in the Treasury, continuing un 
 broken as it did for so many years, is beautifully 
 illustrated by the spectacle of the survivor stand 
 ing in the presence of his juniors and paying 
 tribute in words of chastened eloquence to the 
 memory of the departed. 
 
 The great statesman of England who this sum 
 mer (1898) has been laid to rest enjoins it in his 
 
145 
 
 will that no laudatory inscription be placed over 
 him. In a like spirit it would have been the 
 wish of William Adams Richardson that the 
 record of what he has accomplished, with no word 
 of praise thereon, be left to speak for him. It 
 may chance, however, that a solitary copy of 
 these pages shall escape the ravages of time, and 
 convey to some curious reader, years after all the 
 actors of this period have long been asleep, some 
 knowledge of the events recited here. If he 
 would care to learn what form of words might 
 best sum up the aspirations and the achievements 
 of him in whose memory this brief story has been 
 told, let him know the simple truth, "He was 
 content to be useful." 
 
APPENDIX 
 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE BAR 
 AND OF THE COURT 
 
. MEETING OF THE BAR. 
 
 A meeting of the Bar of the Court of Claims, 
 called by a Committee of the Bar, was held in the 
 court room, at eleven o clock of the forenoon of 
 Friday, 2oth November, 1896. The attendance 
 was unusually large. In calling the meeting to 
 order Mr. Assistant Attorney-General Dodge, speak 
 ing for the Committee, said : 
 
 Upon so impressive an event as the death of the 
 Chief Justice of the Court before which we practice, 
 especially when that event, as now, breaks an asso 
 ciation between counsel and judiciary extending 
 through the larger part of a generation, it is meet 
 and proper that we should pause in our struggles to 
 testify to each other our memories of the one who 
 has gone from among us, to note those qualities 
 which have won from us confidence and affection. 
 
 We have among us one distinguished by an in 
 timacy of association with the deceased, extra 
 ordinary in its character, an intimacy in professional 
 life, in official life and in close personal friendship, 
 which has extended through a period longer than 
 the lives of most of us. It has seemed to the Com 
 mittee, and it seems to me most eminently proper 
 that I should ask that associate in profession, fellow 
 in official life and warm personal friend of our Chief 
 Justice, to preside over us. I therefore present to 
 
iv 
 
 you the name of the Honorable George S. Bout well 
 to be the presiding officer of this meeting. 
 
 Mr. Bout well, accordingly, was chosen to preside. 
 On motion of Mr. John W. Douglass, Mr. Archibald 
 Hopkins was elected Secretary. 
 
 Upon the motion of Mr. Maury the Chairman ap 
 pointed the following gentlemen as a Committee to 
 withdraw and report such action as might seem 
 suitable : Messrs. William A. Maury, Joshua Eric 
 Dodge, John W. Douglass, W. H. Robeson, George 
 A. King, Frank W. Hackett and Alexander Porter 
 Morse. 
 
 The Committee, after having retired for a brief 
 season, returned, when Mr. Maury said : 
 
 Mr. Chairman, I am directed by the Committee 
 to make the report which I hold in my hand, and 
 which, with the permission of the meeting, I will 
 now proceed to read : 
 
 The death of Chief Justice Richardson brings to 
 mind Lord Coke s remark, adopted from Seneca, 
 with reference to the death of Littleton, that "when 
 a great, learned man (who is long in making) dieth, 
 much learning dieth with him." So true is it that 
 the parsimony which saves to earth the smallest 
 atom of our dust has no place in the realm of the 
 spiritual. It becomes, therefore, an office which we 
 owe not only to the great dead, but to ourselves, to 
 commemorate the qualities which made them great, 
 that, at least, the remembrance of those qualities 
 may not also perish from the world, and with it the 
 incentive of great examples. 
 
 The late Chief Justice was one of the strong 
 
influences which Massachusetts has contributed to 
 the Union, and which have entered largely into the 
 warp and woof of the National greatness. 
 
 Duty and usefulness were the twin stars that 
 guided his career. Under their influence his pains 
 taking, laborious diligence seemed to have no limit 
 but that of his capacity of endurance. In whatever 
 he undertook there was completeness of execution. 
 His revision of the statutes of Massachusetts, and 
 his supplemental revision of the statutes of the 
 United States, earned him general commendation ; 
 and the same fidelity of performance marked his 
 administration of the offices of Secretary and Assist 
 ant Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 But it was in the Court of Claims that his greatest 
 work was done. There he presided to the entire 
 acceptance of the bar and the public, and, if possible, 
 strengthened the hold of the Court on the general 
 confidence. 
 
 The terseness, accuracy and thoroughness of his 
 judgments proved his fitness for the judicial sta 
 tion, while his dispatch and administrative talent 
 gave him admirable efficiency as Chief Justice. 
 To sum up his character as judge, he never delayed 
 justice to any, nor did he remove a single landmark 
 of the law. 
 
 Resolved, That the Bar of the Court of Claims 
 deplore the death of Chief Justice 
 Richardson as a serious loss to the 
 National judicature; that they recog 
 nize in him an upright, able and 
 
learned Magistrate, who contributed 
 much to the establishment of justice in 
 the land, and that they hold in grate 
 ful remembrance the courtesy and 
 consideration he uniformly extended 
 to them. 
 
 That the Chairman is hereby requested 
 to furnish the Assistant Attorney- 
 General in charge of the Government s 
 business in the Court of Claims with 
 a copy of these proceedings, with the 
 request that he will present the same 
 to the Court, and move that they be 
 entered in its minutes. 
 
 That the Chairman is hereby requested 
 to transmit a copy of these proceed 
 ings to the family of the deceased, 
 with an expression of the sympathy of 
 this meeting. 
 
REMARKS OF MR. WILLIAM A. MAURY. 
 
 Mr. Chairman : Before submitting the motion, 
 which I now make, for the adoption of the Report, 
 I feel that I must allow myself the gratification of 
 saying a few words, and then give way to other 
 gentlemen who are more competent to speak of the 
 late Chief Justice. 
 
 As one who had the honor of intimate relations 
 with the Chief Justice, I can truly say that his death 
 has left a wound which time will scarcely heal. You 
 can bear me witness, Sir, that those relations, in 
 which you participated also, taught the lesson of the 
 value and the beauty of friendship with more effect 
 than what Cicero and the other moralists together 
 have written on the subject ; the difference being 
 between virtue in energy and virtue as an abstrac 
 tion. 
 
 You also, Sir, have, in common with myself, felt 
 the elevating and helpful effect of contemplating his 
 even, tranquil nature, his long-suffering patience and 
 perfect charity, his affectionate loyalty and sym 
 pathy, his refusal to harbor resentments, and his 
 uniform disposition to overcome evil with good. 
 
 But now, Sir, when anything lieth on the heart 
 to oppress it," we shall look in vain for the 
 particeps curarum to whom we have long been ac 
 customed to turn, and shall miss the grasp of his 
 vanished hand. 
 
Need I say here, in the midst of all these wit 
 nesses, that the late Chief Justice possessed admir 
 able qualities for the Bench? He was just, able, 
 learned, laborious and prompt. He worked with 
 facility, and with such energy and concentration, 
 that formidable difficulties seemed to melt away 
 before him. 
 
 But I must not omit to refer to another valuable 
 distinguishing trait, that love of accuracy which was 
 to be seen in everything he did. I was particularly 
 struck with it about a year ago, when he was pre 
 paring an article, for some periodical, on the occa 
 sionally mooted question, whether the presiding 
 judge of the Supreme Court should be styled Chief 
 Justice of the United States," or " Chief Justice of 
 the Supreme Court of the United States." A some 
 what similar question having, in late years, arisen 
 in England, with regard to the proper title of the 
 IvOrd Chief Justice there, his restless desire to get 
 to the bottom of the subject and exhaust every 
 possible source of information led him into corres 
 pondence with Lord Russell. Need I add, Sir, that, 
 by the time he completed the article, nothing re 
 mained to be said that could be said on the subject ? 
 It was this habit of accuracy that prevented him 
 from slurring over his work, and gave a satisfactory 
 completeness to whatever he did, whether it was, 
 great or small. 
 
 His experience as Secretary and Assistant Secre 
 tary of the Treasury was useful to him as a judge, 
 rendering him the better qualified to add to the mass 
 of valuable learning to be found in the Court of 
 
V 
 
 LV 
 
 Claims Reports, in connection with a large variety 
 of questions affecting the administration of the Exec 
 utive Department of the Government in its various 
 branches. 
 
 The thoroughness of his supplemental revisions 
 of the Statutes of the United States, and the marks 
 they bear of painful labor and research, intensifies 
 my regret that he did not accomplish a general 
 revision of the whole body of the written law of the 
 Federal Government. 
 
 During his last illness, his power of will supported 
 him while he was completing the index of the 
 current number of the second volume of his Supple 
 mental Revision. 
 
 Too much can not be said in his praise for under 
 taking that laborious and exacting work when age, 
 with its infirmities, had begun to tell upon him. 
 The remuneration was small, a mere pittance, and 
 the sole inducement that impelled him to put this 
 new burden on his already bending shoulders was 
 the unquenchable desire to be useful in every way 
 he could. 
 
 I trust, Sir, that you, or some other competent 
 hand, will be invited to prepare a sketch of the life 
 and labors of the late Chief Justice, to accompany 
 the next volume of the Supplemental Revision, 
 when it shall be completed, that his fellow-country 
 men may know how much they owe to this man 
 of useful toil. 
 
 The last time I saw him, which was a very few 
 days before his death, his countenance shone with 
 an extraordinary brightness, I was going to say 
 
effulgence, which I had never observed before, and 
 which I could not but think was the joyful expres 
 sion of his pure soul as the hour of its release drew 
 near. Thus we see with what cheerfulness the mor 
 tal puts on immortality who has the testimony of a 
 good conscience and is in perfect peace with all 
 the world. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, our dear friend has left an example 
 which we may hope will " reach a hand far thro all 
 years" with its lesson of "nobly to do, nobly to 
 die." 
 
xi 
 
 REMARKS OF MRS. BElyVA A. LOCKWOOD. 
 
 Mr. Chairman : I feel it a duty imposed upon me 
 to-day, to say that I cordially agree with the resolu 
 tions that have been presented, and that I heartily 
 endorse the same. I have been a member of this 
 Bar for seventeen years, and it seems very pertinent 
 that I should add my testimony to the uniform 
 courtesy, kindness, and to the justness, to the indefat 
 igable work of the Chief Justice of this Court, who 
 has always been accessible, always approachable, 
 whether on the bench or in chambers. This has 
 been particularly impressed upon my mind for the 
 reason that I have recently been requested to testify 
 to a prominent historian of Belgium and Germany, 
 as to the treatment which women receive in this 
 country from the Bench and Bar, and I then most 
 cordially testified as to their uniform courtesy. 
 
 I most heartily give my testimony to the uniform 
 kindness, to the fairness, and to the achievements 
 of Chief Justice Richardson, the late deceased. 
 
xii 
 
 REMARKS OF MR. JOHN W. DOUGLASS. 
 
 My first acquaintance with the late Chief Justice 
 was when he became the First Assistant Secretary 
 of the Treasury under Mr. Boutwell. After he had 
 succeeded to the Secretaryship, I saw him daily, as 
 my position of Commissioner of Internal Revenue 
 required constant consultation with the head of the 
 Department. 
 
 He was affable and easy to approach on business, 
 evidently being animated by the desire to do his 
 duty promptly and with an eye single to the good of 
 the public service. 
 
 If I mistake not, it was while he was Secretary 
 that the radical change in the machinery of the In 
 ternal Revenue system was inaugurated, by which 
 change some eleven or twelve hundred of the as 
 sessing officers were dispensed with, and the assess 
 ment of taxes transferred to the main office in the 
 Department. This reform in the civil service, though 
 it struck off a large number of the political friends 
 of the administration in every State of the Union, 
 had his hearty support, and the result justified his 
 interest in the movement. 
 
 When I left the Treasury Department in the spring 
 of 1874, and returned to professional occupation, 
 the Judge was on this bench. Here, also, he was al 
 ways courteous, attentive and patient ; and his labors 
 
xiii 
 
 were unremitting, as was his habit whenever and 
 at whatever employed. 
 
 I met him once while he was engaged on the digest 
 of the United States Statutes, and, in reply to my 
 inquiry, how he found time enough outside of his 
 judicial duties to perform the other work, he replied 
 that the work on the statutes was largely done be 
 tween daylight and breakfast time. While the 
 large majority of us were in bed, he was probably up 
 and busy with his additional labors. A life of well- 
 put activity, as his was, is a blessing to the country 
 that enjoys it, and a just pride and joy to associated 
 friends. 
 
 On another occasion, a little while after the Bar 
 meeting in honor of the late Chief Justice Drake, in 
 conversation with Judge Richardson about that occa 
 sion, he said rather pathetically : " Well, Douglass, 
 some of these days you will be at a meeting of the 
 kind for me. I replied, Whenever that happens, 
 Judge, the speeches and resolutions will be such that 
 your family and friends will rejoice in them." He 
 smiled and we parted soon after. 
 
 He was a good and faithful servant from first to 
 last, in every place that he held, and is now reaping 
 no doubt the promised reward. 
 
xiv 
 
 REMARKS OF MR. JOHN B. COTTON. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Brethren : Interesting and 
 instructive as it may be to review the earlier years 
 of Chief Justice Richardson, during the long period 
 in which he was judge of probate and insolvency in 
 the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and in its 
 most active and populous centre ; his part in revising 
 and editing statutes ; duties which laid the founda 
 tion for similar work in a broader and national field, 
 the fruits of which every counselor practicing in state 
 or national tribunals enjoys ; his connection with 
 that great executive department of the Government, 
 the Treasury of the United States, where he imbibed 
 a varied knowledge so essential to the right solution 
 of intricate problems in this Court it is as Justice 
 and as Chief Justice of the Court of Claims that I 
 knew him best, and in this sphere I shall speak of 
 his connection with the Bench and Bar. 
 
 I hazard nothing in saying that, of the multitude 
 of tribunals, from that of the most simple and lim 
 ited jurisdiction in the State to that of the highest in 
 the nation, there is none of which the more than 
 seventy millions of our people have so little knowl 
 edge of the character, the scope of investigation, of 
 the practice and decisions, as that of the Court of 
 Claims. 
 
XV 
 
 Its growth for almost half a century has been pre 
 eminently an evolution. So silently has this devel 
 opment been that, notwithstanding the importance 
 the Court has attained, outside a limited circle of 
 practitioners its real value is either unknown or un 
 appreciated. One of the distinctive features of our 
 federal system is that it has relations, not with States, 
 but with the citizen personally. Our English ances 
 try considered the King the "fountain of justice." 
 The ordinary tribunals were insufficient to supply in 
 many instances remedial justice, and an innate sense 
 of right found expression in the petition to the sov 
 ereign. 
 
 That could hardly be called the most perfect form 
 of government in whose constitution could not be 
 found some germ whose unfolding would give the 
 citizen a means of obtaining and enforcing rights of 
 property and contract. This he has found in the 
 Court of Claims. I am a firm believer that the time 
 will come when, by a still further evolution, torts 
 done a citizen by the Government will have a more 
 certain source of remedy than the legislative branch 
 of the Government. 
 
 This is not the occasion to trace the steps by which 
 the Government has created this tribunal. Its his 
 tory is portrayed in one of the last works of our late 
 Chief Justice. 
 
 That Chief Justice Richardson appreciated the phi 
 losophy upon which the Court of Claims is founded 
 is seen from his quotation of the words of that emi 
 nent lawyer, Charles O Conor. The Court itself, 
 he says, is the first born of a new judicial era. As 
 
a judicial tribunal, it is not only new in the instance, 
 it is also new in principle. . . . Prior to the 
 institution of this court, all rights as against the na 
 tion were imperfect in the legal sense of the term ; 
 every duty of the nation was a duty of imperfect ob 
 ligation. There was no j udicial power capable of de 
 claring either ; no private person possessed the means 
 of enforcing the one or coercing the other. . . . 
 But we are authorized to look higher than the mere 
 convenience of suitors and the dispatch of public bus 
 iness. Enlightened patriotism will contemplate 
 other and more important consequences. Caprice 
 can no longer control. Here equity, morality, honor 
 and good conscience must be practically applied to 
 the determination of claims, and the actual authority 
 of these principles over governmental action ascer 
 tained, declared and illustrated in permanent and 
 abiding forms. As step by step, in successive decis 
 ions, you shall have ascertained the duties of Gov 
 ernment towards the citizen, fixed their precise 
 limits, upon sound principles, and armed the claimant 
 with means of securing their enforcement, a code 
 will grow up giving effect to many rights not here 
 tofore practically acknowledged. 
 
 Engrossed, brethren, in what we are pleased to term 
 the practical duties of our profession, we are too apt 
 to lose sight of the fact that we best honor it by ever 
 keeping in view the equally high obligation of build 
 ing to the ideal system. 
 
 Such was the judicial organization, then and still 
 imperfectly reaching upward, to which William A. 
 Richardson was called as a Justice in 1874, and of 
 
acvn 
 
 which he became Chief Justice eleven years later. 
 His advent was in a most fortunate period of his 
 life ; not too old to have lost ambition, not too young 
 to fail to realize the importance of his position. The 
 years during which in his native State he had pre 
 sided in a court, the creation of statute rather than 
 of common law, and yet requiring a knowledge of the 
 common law for successful administration, were in 
 some respects a preparation for a court whose vital 
 breath is drawn from statutes, and yet so compre 
 hensive in its jurisdiction that one unskilled in the 
 learning and practice of the common law, can be 
 neither a useful judge nor a successful practitioner. 
 
 Judge Richardson brought to the Court something 
 quite as essential as the knowledge thus acquired; a 
 practical knowledge of structure, traditions and prac 
 tices of one of the great departments of the Govern 
 ment, as well as an acquaintance with those of all the 
 others. 
 
 He brought a "faculty of nice discrimination," 
 methodical arrangement, natural as well as acquired 
 by his already long experience in the study and com 
 pilation of statutes. I am aware how easily, on an 
 occasion like this, we can pass from the regions of 
 cold criticism to those which are warmed by our 
 affections. But I fully believe it would be difficult 
 to conceive a mind better prepared for the duties of 
 Judge of the Court of Claims than that possessed by 
 William A. Richardson, on his advent to this Bench. 
 
 My personal recollection of Judge Richardson 
 dates from the time I became an officer of this Court. 
 But my knowledge of him is founded not alone on 
 
xviii 
 
 personal intercourse. It is gained from the spirit 
 which pervades and gives tone to the decisions, the 
 practice and traditions of the Court of Claims ; for 
 it is old enough to have traditions. His influence 
 is in all of them. From these sources I am able, 
 to my own mind at least, to answer satisfactorily 
 what, in part, ought to be said of the record of his 
 life. 
 
 Predominant in Judge Richardson s life, was an 
 intense devotion to the welfare and upbuilding of 
 the Court projected to bring about those conditions 
 which I have quoted from the eloquent words of 
 Charles O Conor. So earnest was this interest, 
 that those who were fortunate enough to possess his 
 confidence, knew that at times he was apprehensive 
 that by some caprice the power that gave it birth 
 would recall its life. The apprehension was sincere 
 but unfounded. The Court of Claims may be en 
 larged to greater usefulness but not destroyed. 
 These apprehensions can only be accounted for by 
 his jealous devotion. 
 
 This devotion has been shown in other directions. 
 Where in the history of courts can we point to a 
 judge whose life was more exclusively given to a 
 single object than was Judge Richardson s ? Rarely 
 absent from his seat on the Bench, the few hours 
 each week, which in common with his brethren he 
 gave to the hearing of cases, formed but a small 
 portion of the time occupied by him in its duties. 
 Term time did not measure it. The long vacation 
 hardly knew a cessation from his labors. His opin 
 ions rendered failed fully to evidence his work. The 
 
xix 
 
 executive duties necessary to such a court, largely 
 carried on in chambers, and imperfectly appreciated 
 by us as members of the Bar, increasing with the 
 years of the Court, were enormous, but always met 
 with a patience, a careful consideration of which we 
 have little conception. For more than twenty years 
 Judge Richardson literally devoted his life to the 
 work, denying himself the pleasures which others 
 take, and when he did break away from its routine, 
 he carried w r ith him something to do which should, 
 by way of information or otherwise, redound to the 
 benefit of the Court. 
 
 Of the quality of his work, as embodied in his 
 opinions, there can be but one mind. Our views of 
 the work of a judge may be as much prejudiced by 
 favorable as by adverse judgments. Every well- 
 balanced mind will eventually settle itself aright, 
 aided by time and reflection. That so few of Judge 
 Richardson s opinions have been overruled by the 
 Supreme Court, is a deserving tribute from that 
 august body. He watched the results of review by 
 that Court, not merely upon his own opinions, but 
 those of all the members of his Court, and had a 
 pardonable pride whenever its judgments were 
 affirmed. When overruled I have on occasion 
 heard him gracefully acquiesce in the justness of the 
 decision. Judge Richardson in his written opinions 
 did not always confine himself to a mere statement 
 of the facts and law of the case. Designedly or 
 otherwise, his mind seemed naturally to regard it 
 as appropriate in many cases to give a full and com 
 plete history of a statute, or practice. The utility 
 
XX 
 
 of such a course is undoubted. The earlier reports 
 of many tribunals have been in some degree text 
 books for students of the law. That Judge Richard 
 son s opinions frequently embody his varied and 
 extensive knowledge of the history of the statutes 
 and customs of the Government, is no slight addition 
 to their worth. 
 
 How shall I speak of his relations with the Bar ? 
 On an occasion like this any past irritations between 
 the Court and the Bar, happily few here, fall into 
 merited oblivion. When it is remembered that the 
 cases of individual attorneys, few compared with 
 the aggregate number on the docket of the Court of 
 Claims, probably exceed that of any court in the 
 land, if not in the world, and that like an avalanche, 
 these cases are poured down upon this Bench, one 
 does not wonder that the late Chief Justice, who so 
 well knew how valuable was time, should early in a 
 hearing seize upon the vital points of the case and 
 urge their consideration. Such suggestions were 
 always kindly made, and no right-minded member 
 of our Bar ever had cause to resent them. Some 
 times suggestions were mirthful ; they never had a 
 malicious sting. He believed this a business Court. 
 What he desired was a clear-cut statement of the 
 law and facts relied on. 
 
 The Court of Claims is pre-eminently patient under 
 lengthy discussions. Whatever might be his view 
 of the utility of the argument, rarely did Chief 
 Justice Richardson interfere to shorten it. Our 
 minds are not always receptive in the excitement of 
 an argument, and we often fail to see the force of the 
 
XXI 
 
 Court s suggestion. Seldom in such a case did Judge 
 Richardson persist. More often he allowed us to 
 proceed according to our own notions. To be 
 satisfied that we have had a fair hearing, is a large 
 factor in ending litigation. Either designedly, or 
 from intuition, Judge Richardson acknowledged the 
 force of this idea. 
 
 He believed that no technicality should dispose of 
 a case when possibly a fuller exposition of its merits 
 would decide it otherwise. Until there was a com 
 plete exhaustion of its merits the Chief Justice was 
 unwilling to close a cause. So he frequently pointed 
 out to counsel the weakness of their position, and 
 allowed them to strengthen it, if possible. It is 
 questionable whether a closer observance of some of 
 the technical rules of common law practice would 
 not benefit the Court and parties litigant. But to 
 this Judge Richardson was opposed in theory and 
 practice. Hence his unvarying kindness to the 
 members of the Bar in all the details of business. 
 
 I would not if I could disassociate my personal 
 relations with the late Chief Justice from those 
 which were once official. I want to give my tribute 
 of grateful praise to him, when, coming into a new 
 and untried field, I ever found him ready to explain 
 the practices and theories of the Court, so different 
 from those in which I had had experience, and made 
 smooth many a path in an unknown field. 
 
 Others will speak of his varied learning on curious 
 legal topics ; of the facility with which he wrote of 
 them, and of his relations outside the Court. But 
 here I knew him best and of that I have spoken. 
 
xxii 
 
 His days were lengthened by much doing. To 
 state it as a little more than three score and ten 
 would be unfair to his memory. We have seen him, 
 brethren, in these latter days come into and go out of 
 this room, battling with ill health, yet always assid 
 uous in his duties, courteous and attentive. He has 
 departed, not because there was no more work to do, 
 but because the machinery, grown frail with years, 
 could not longer perform its functions. Our restricted 
 vision does not comprehend all he has wrought. 
 That it has been much we know. How much, no 
 one save Him whose eye is all-embracing can tell. 
 
xxiii 
 
 REMARKS OF MR. GEORGE A. KING. 
 
 My acquaintance with Chief Justice Richardson 
 did not begin till he had been many years a member 
 of the Court of Claims. Thus his judicial services 
 to his native State, as also his career in the Treasury 
 Department as Assistant Secretary, and later as Sec 
 retary, are to me but a part of the history of the 
 country, except in so far as they were brought more 
 prominently to my notice through the interesting 
 personality of the Chief Justice, and his conversation 
 about his past life while occupying these positions 
 a style of conversation which was of very frequent 
 occurrence with him, as in later years he lived much 
 in the past, and delighted to recall his busy, young 
 life, both as a judge in Massachusetts and as a finan 
 cier in one of the most critical periods of President 
 Grant s administration. 
 
 During the greater part of the time of my acquaint 
 ance with him he was the presiding officer of the 
 Court. In such a tribunal as the Court of Claims, 
 where a personal appearance of either parties or 
 witnesses is of the rarest occurrence, and where 
 the proceedings are conducted wholly between coun 
 sel and the Court, and largely in writing, there is no 
 very marked difference between the duties of the 
 Chief Justice, and those of the other members of the 
 
Court. Generally speaking, however, the Chief 
 Justice is both the presiding and the executive officer 
 of the Court As presiding officer, his personal 
 manners and bearing exercise a considerable influ 
 ence over the general tone and temper of the tribunal, 
 and may render its atmosphere an agreeable one, or 
 otherwise, to the members of the Bar practicing 
 before it. In this particular, Chief Justice Richard 
 son made his Court a decidedly pleasant one in which 
 to practice, especially for the younger or less exper 
 ienced counsel who happened to come before it. His 
 manners were uniformly suave and affable, and he 
 was always ready to bear with patience the natural 
 timidity and nervousness of counsel addressing for 
 the first time a national tribunal whose jurisprudence 
 and practice occupy so different a field from that of 
 every other in the country, whether State or National, 
 as to render experience before other courts of compar 
 atively slight value. At the same time, his remark 
 able quickness of apprehension made him impatient 
 of mere platitudes, and he was apt to insist with 
 some strictness, though it never could be called asper 
 ity, upon arguments being addressed to the precise 
 point before the Court. His own judicial opinions 
 are marked by the same characteristic. They are 
 uniformly terse and direct and generally confined to 
 the precise point involved in a case. Where anything 
 outside of this is given, it is purely for purposes of 
 illustration or analogy. But few of his opinions can, 
 like many of those in the reports of the Supreme 
 Court, be read as complete essays upon any one 
 branch of the law. Sometimes, however, as in the 
 
McKnight Case, in the i3th Volume of the Court of 
 Claims Reports, he made an exception to this rule ; 
 and in that case the most complete statement of 
 the system of Treasury accounting ever given is 
 made the basis of his opinion ; while, five years 
 later, his opinion in the Hodges Case, in the i8th 
 Court of Claims Reports, is a summary of the 
 history of the Captured and Abandoned Property 
 Act, and of the business done under it. These, 
 however, are somewhat exceptional, and in the very 
 few instances of this kind, it will be found that the 
 digressions from the exact point involved were usu 
 ally made for the purpose of putting on record his 
 torical facts which were not to be found in any 
 standard treatises or other works on the subject. As 
 more usual samples of his judicial method, I should 
 name such opinions as that in the Johnson Case, in 
 the 1 4th Volume, on the Doctrine of Presumption of 
 Regularity of Official Acts ; or the Hitchcock Case, 
 in the 2yth Volume, on the Assignment of Claims 
 against the United States. 
 
 His turn of mind was eminently practical. For 
 this reason he but rarely placed upon record a dis 
 sent from the opinion of the majority of the Court, 
 even when he had not concurred in the decision. 
 He regarded the decision when made by a competent 
 majority, as the resolution of the Court, to be made 
 the basis of action ; and which it were better not to 
 weaken by suggesting even well-founded doubts of 
 its correctness. 
 
 His mark will long remain on the jurisprudence 
 of the Court ; and he took great and just pride 
 
in the prominent part he had taken in the evolution 
 of the present system under which demands against 
 the Government are to the utmost attainable extent 
 taken out of the region of political or personal 
 favoritism and are brought as completely within 
 the domain of scientific jurisprudence as is the law 
 of real property, or of patents. 
 
 In politics he was from earliest youth a staunch 
 Whig, and an ardent Republican from the very in 
 ception of that party. The only perceptible influence 
 of his political views upon his judicial opinions is in 
 the broad and generous view which he always took 
 of the powers of the General Government. There 
 was certainly nothing sectional in the spirit of his 
 decisions, which were as just to the war claim of the 
 South, or the Indian depredation of the West, as to 
 the French Spoliation claim of his native New Eng 
 land. He regarded all citizens as alike entitled to 
 the protection of the General Government, and to 
 the fulfillment of its obligations to them, in whatever 
 part of the country they might live. 
 
 In religion he was during all his life a strict mem 
 ber of the Unitarian communion, and during his 
 residence in Washington was an active participant 
 in the work of All Souls Church, of which he w r as 
 trustee for three terms of three years each. He will 
 be specially mourned by his fellow-members of that 
 Church, where his regular attendance and hearty 
 co-operation were for so many years a contribution 
 to its welfare and advancement. 
 
REMARKS OF MR. JOHN C. CHANEY. 
 
 Chief Justice Wm. A. Richardson was among my 
 first acquaintances in Washington. He impressed 
 me from the first as a man of even temper a Judge 
 who always wanted to be right. He was an inde 
 fatigable worker, a conscientious judicial executive 
 officer. His education was supplemented with 
 abundant energy so that the business before the 
 Court went speedily on. 
 
 The members of the Bar of the Court all recog 
 nized his fairness in the methods and purposes of the 
 Court. He was jealous of the dignity of the Court, 
 which was a source of pride to the people of the 
 United States. The judicial office holds such a re 
 lation to the affairs of men that its dignity is as 
 sacred as the ermine with which the judge is clothed. 
 The Court of Claims of the United States is one of 
 the most important courts in all the land. The 
 variety of questions constantly recurring, and the 
 amounts involved in the cases brought in this court, 
 make it a great tribunal in the economy of the Gov 
 ernment. It is the people s court. 
 
 The dignity of the office held by Mr. Justice Rich 
 ardson is second only to that of the Chief Justice of 
 the Supreme Court of the United States. Judge 
 Richardson appreciated this, and in his bearing on 
 
XXWll 
 
 and off the bench there was never occasion for 
 unfavorable criticism. He liked responsibility. He 
 liked work. 
 
 Congress has for years looked to him for the com 
 pilation and revision of the statutes of the United 
 States ; and the Revised Statutes bear the impress 
 of his genius and his zeal for a convenient and ready 
 reference to the modifications of the laws inherited 
 by the country. 
 
 His learned associates all recognized his quick 
 conception of the statute law. While in legal erudi 
 tion he may have been surpassed by others who sat 
 with him in counsel, he rarely ever erred in the ap 
 plication of the law to an established statement of 
 fact. 
 
 My tribute to Justice Richardson is, that he was 
 a man of wholesome integrity and candid sociability, 
 a learned, industrious lawyer and a conscientious, 
 upright judge. The Bench and Bar have not 
 suffered by his administration of the Court s 
 business. 
 
 Now that he has been so suddenly called to his 
 reward, it will lead us all to a more kindly consid 
 eration of the labor imposed upon the Bench in its 
 search for the truth, as revealed by the laws it is 
 called upon to interpret. 
 
 I have an abiding faith in the immortality of the 
 soul. I believe that this life is the nursery where 
 the soul is prepared for transplanting in the great 
 orchard of eternity, there to go on in growth, ex 
 panding and brightening glorifying the Creator ; 
 that if the ledger-book of life shall unfold more assets 
 
XXIX 
 
 than liabilities, the world has been made better by 
 that life ; that if a man has been faithful over a few 
 things he shall be made ruler over many things. 
 
 Judge Richardson measured up to his responsibil 
 ities. The lessons of his life are useful to us, for in 
 them is the inspiration of duty well done. The 
 high position he attained is worthy of all praise and 
 is the precious heritage of his family and friends. 
 
REMARKS OK MR. WILLIAM B. KING. 
 
 The late Chief Justice Richardson said on more 
 than one occasion that he considered the work done 
 by him, which was of most value to his fellow- 
 men, to be the revision of the Statutes of Massachu 
 setts, undertaken over thirty years ago ; that this, 
 in his judgment, outweighed his services on the 
 bench of this Court. While this work, he said, had 
 received no extraordinary amount of express com 
 mendation, he had felt that it had served its purpose 
 well because almost no adverse criticisms had ever 
 been heard upon it. He thought with that acumen 
 which always distinguished his mature judgment, 
 that the failure to find fault was a higher tribute to 
 the merit of an impersonal work, such as the revision 
 of statutes, than abundantly expressed praise. The 
 correctness of this opinion is strikingly illustrated by 
 the fact that more than three hundred errors in the 
 Revised Statutes of the United States were found and 
 corrected by statute within a few years of the revis 
 ion, while many more have been pointed out but 
 never corrected. 
 
 We who are familiar with the work of the late 
 Chief Justice in this Court are not willing to accede 
 to his estimate of its value as secondary to his earlier 
 work, but would rather ascribe his opinion to the 
 essential modesty of his character, leading him to 
 depreciate the importance of the particular work in 
 which he was at the time engaged. 
 
The qualities first noticed by every observer as 
 marking his work in this Court were his great learn 
 ing in matters of administrative and statutory law, 
 his knowledge of the details of every case, and his 
 untiring industry. These were always first spoken 
 of. Yet I think that these are among the lesser dis 
 tinctions of his intellectual character. These quali 
 ties industry, knowledge of details and specialized 
 learning must be possessed by every great lawyer ; 
 yet a lawyer may have them all and not be great. 
 There are other qualities possessed by the late Chief 
 Justice that constitute the essentials of a great legal 
 mind, but his unassuming appearance and his mod 
 est manner failed to thrust upon those associated 
 with him, so prominently as otherwise might have 
 been, the fact that he had the highest qualities go 
 ing to make up a great lawyer. 
 
 Foremost among these was his ability to discern 
 the real point at issue in any case. This is the cru 
 cial test of either an advocate or a judge. A lawyer 
 may study his cases for many days, he may saturate 
 himself with erudition, he may master even the mi 
 nutest details of a controversy, but unless he pos 
 sesses that rare and unusual quality of separating 
 the chaff from the grain, of throwing aside the husk 
 and shell and reaching the kernel, of seeing clearly 
 the real point of a case, all his labor is but gathering 
 material for a greater mind to use. When we con 
 sider the swiftness with which Chief Justice Rich 
 ardson seized the issue in every case, often before 
 counsel had fully stated it ; when we recall that he 
 never allowed his mind to be diverted from it during 
 
the trial ; when we remember the courteously con 
 cealed impatience with which his mind received un 
 necessarily prolonged explanations of unimportant 
 details, we realize that his industry and learning were 
 crowned by the possession of that quality which is 
 the first in constituting a great legal mind. 
 
 And if to see the point of a case is the first legal 
 gift, to express it so as to carry conviction to others 
 is only secondary. Here indeed he was no less able. 
 
 In older days, the charm of a writer was thought 
 to be the possession of some special, yet self-conscious, 
 style. But the literary canon of the future seems to 
 be that the best use of language. is that which leaves 
 the reader unconscious of the writer and impressed 
 only with his thought. Summa ars celare artem has 
 taken the place of all other rules. It was this which 
 marked the writings of Chief Justice Richardson. 
 The first impression on reading one of his opinions 
 is intellectual conviction. The reasoning advances 
 by sure steps to a correct conclusion. A demonstra 
 tion in mathematics is the most perfect expression of 
 logical reasoning, and I think that his opinions came 
 nearer to this form than is found in the opinions of 
 any but a few, and these the greatest, judges. In 
 reading them, the mind is kept intent only upon the 
 subject, unconscious of the writer or of the style. It 
 is only after they are carefully examined that one 
 realizes the exactness and conciseness of expression, 
 and the clearness of the reasoning process by which 
 the result is reached. The appearance of effort is 
 entirely lost, yet those familiar with the methods of 
 his work know that some of these opinions were held 
 
tmder consideration and amendment for many suc 
 cessive months before reaching their final form. 
 
 United to these qualities was one of the most val 
 uable in a judge, soundness of judgment, called in 
 plain speech sometimes common sense, because 
 very uncommon. It is generally the result of the 
 action of a broadly synthetic mind upon an intimate 
 knowledge of all the facts relating to the subject. 
 This led the late Chief Justice to avoid the merely 
 technical side of every case and to see its substantial 
 justice. Therefore, while his mind moved on strictly 
 logical lines, it moved with a broad comprehension 
 of the justice underlying each case and of the rela 
 tion which the law declared in this particular case 
 bore to the whole body of law on the subject. This 
 breadth of vision prevented his judgment from being 
 led astray by technicalities and gave it that sound 
 ness which is one of its chief characteristics. 
 
 Thus reviewing his judicial attainments, I think 
 that without danger of undeserved eulogy we may 
 say that the minute accuracy of his knowledge, his 
 capacity for hard work, his quick apprehension of 
 the issue of a case, his sound judgment and his con 
 vincing expression of his conclusions, entitle him 
 to rank among the great lawyers of the nation. 
 That his work was of a highly specialized kind, 
 brought directly to the attention of but a small class 
 of his fellow-citizens, prevented his great ability 
 from receiving the wider recognition which it 
 would have had in some other tribunal, perhaps of 
 far less importance, but of greater publicity. 
 
 It is, therefore, mere justice to his memory that 
 
XXXIV 
 
 we, who know his work and appreciate his ability, 
 should here declare our estimate of his intellectual 
 character. 
 
 His kindness to the younger men at the Bar is a 
 matter which should not go unmentioned. It grew 
 with his advancing years. No young and timid 
 practitioner ever could complain of a rebuff. Youth 
 ful earnestness was always a safe-conduct to his con 
 sideration. Abilit)^ in a young man was constantly 
 recognized. I have heard him more than once 
 speak with appreciation of the efforts of the younger 
 members of the Bar and express his hope for their 
 success. Indeed, I should be wanting in due regard 
 for his memory if I failed to declare my personal 
 obligation to him for the repeated suggestions and 
 sound advice which he has often given me as to the 
 correct method of presenting cases in court. 
 
 With all the personal modesty which marked him, 
 the Chief Justice had a high opinion of the dignity 
 of this Court. One need only recall his opinion in 
 the case of Meigs, reported in the 2oth Volume of 
 the Reports of the Court (p. 187), where the Treas 
 ury Department had refused to follow the judgment 
 of this Court on a later demand of exactly the same 
 nature by the same claimant. The opinion reviewed 
 the laws and decisions governing the relations be 
 tween this Court and the Executive Departments, 
 with this conclusion : 
 
 Thus the course of legislation unmistak 
 ably indicates the intention of Congress that 
 the decisions of the Court of Claims shall be 
 guides and precedents for the executive depart- 
 
XXXV 
 
 ments in all like cases. The wisdom of such 
 legislation and of the intention of Congress 
 indicated thereby is manifest. 
 
 It was through his article on the History, Juris 
 diction and Practice of the Court of Claims that 
 more general public attention was invited to the 
 Court and to the great importance of its jurisdiction. 
 The eloquent words of Charles O Conor, quoted in 
 this article, and which have been referred to by a 
 previous speaker, give a true picture of the work of 
 the Court : 
 
 Here equity, morality, honor and good con 
 science must be practically applied to the deter 
 mination of claims, and the actual authority of 
 these principles over governmental action, 
 ascertained, declared and illustrated in perma 
 nent and abiding forms. As step by step, in 
 successive decisions, you shall have ascertained 
 the duties of government toward the citizens, 
 fixed their precise limits upon sound principles, 
 and armed the claimant with means of securing 
 their enforcement, a code will grow up giving 
 effect to many rights not heretofore practically 
 acknowledged. 
 
 For twenty-two years the life of the late Chief 
 Justice was devoted to this end, and he died at a 
 time when the ripest fruit of his mind was in this 
 form given to the benefit of his country. His fame 
 may well rest upon his services to justice in this 
 tribunal and a permanent result for good to his 
 fellow men will be found in the inestimable aid 
 rendered by him in the establishment of the law 
 controlling the relations between the citizens of the 
 United States and their government. 
 
xxxvi 
 
 REMARKS OF MR. ASSISTANT ATTORNEY- 
 GENERAL CHARLES B. HOWRY. 
 
 Mr. Chairman : We have met to commemorate 
 the life, character and services of the late Chief 
 Justice of the Court of Claims. Nothing we can 
 say can soothe " the dull, cold ear of death," but 
 the language of eulogy is the tribute which the 
 living are wont to express to the memory of the use 
 ful and the good, and those who live and follow the 
 custom of according to those gone before the proper 
 meed of praise for their actions here below thus 
 unconsciously render homage to public and private 
 virtue, and the good which death has claimed in those 
 of whom we speak. 
 
 It is fitting that the Bar should assemble to do 
 honor to the memory of Judge Richardson, not only 
 because of his usefulness as a man, but his excel 
 lence as a judge; and in assembling to honor him 
 after his labors are over, we honor ourselves and the 
 community and country he served so well. 
 
 Merely to have lived three-quarters of a century 
 signifies but little. Length of days and many years 
 come to many, and material existence to old age is 
 accorded to millions. But to have lived more than 
 three-score years and ten, to have occupied high and 
 honorable position, and to have attained prominence 
 
XXXVll 
 
 in the pursuit of useful ends and purposes, and 
 finally to have died with the respect and esteem of 
 men, signifies much and quite enough to justify 
 honor and praise from those who live. 
 
 Coming to this city three years ago, my acquaint 
 ance with Judge Richardson began at that time. 
 Thus it may be said I came to know him in the 
 evening of his days. Under these circumstances 
 others can speak of his life work and to what he 
 accomplished far better than I can, and I will not 
 sketch his career. But official relations brought 
 me in constant contact with him and with the Court 
 over which he presided, and I came to know him 
 not only as a judge, but as a man, and to appreciate 
 his many acts of official wisdom and personal kind 
 ness. Where I had a right to expect only official 
 respect and courtesy, evidences of personal regard 
 were not long wanting in my relation with Judge 
 Richardson which each recurring season strength 
 ened to such an extent I felt that in him I had 
 truly a friend. So many evidences of this good 
 will on his part were given to me from time to 
 time, I shall always esteem my relations with him 
 as one of the most pleasant memories of my official 
 relations with the Court, of which he was the pre 
 siding Judge. 
 
 We all know that men of strong individuality 
 often possess some great distinguishing traits of 
 character, which in life largely control their actions, 
 and in death becomes manifest as still the ruling 
 passion. Historians tell us that Augustus Caesar 
 died in a compliment and Tiberius in dissimulation, 
 
xxxmn 
 
 while the hand of God fell upon Vespasian in a jest. 
 Judge Richardson died at his work. He was the 
 incarnation of work. His eye was on everything 
 connected with the Court and the work of the Court, 
 and his vigilance over the details of every part of the 
 business in hand was something extraordinary. 
 
 He had great pride in his work and always seemed 
 solicitous to be right, not merely because his action 
 could be reviewed, but from an earnest desire to 
 reach just and proper conclusions. Reminding him 
 upon one occasion of L,ord Bacon s warning that 
 judges ought to remember that their office is jus 
 dicere and not jus dare, to interpret law and not to 
 make it, or give law, else it would be like the au 
 thority claimed for the church, and that no torture 
 could be worse than the torture of the laws, he was 
 quick to respond to my objections to judge-made 
 law that he hoped his opinions would lead an 
 impartial public to say that he had followed his 
 office jus dicere. 
 
 The Chief Justice had great consideration for the 
 time and convenience of others ; keen appreciation 
 of the difficulties which beset those assuming the 
 prosecution, or charged with the duty of defending 
 cases. He was ever ready to smooth the asperities 
 engendered by the heat of active practice and the 
 conflicts of the Court room. He was obliging and 
 courteous, impartial and just, attentive and vigilant, 
 cautious and careful of the rights of litigants, and 
 in his death the Court of which he was chief has 
 lost an able coadjutor, the Bar a friend, and the 
 country an upright, good and capable judge. I will 
 
XXXIX 
 
 not say more, because worthy ends and expectations 
 were attained by the late Chief Justice, and many 
 warm and close friends are here ready to speak to 
 what he did and what he was, while the splendid 
 fabric of judicial work wrought by his care and 
 patience and earnest endeavor in quest of truth will 
 stand longer than anything we can say. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Abrams the Resolutions were 
 unanimously adopted by a rising vote. 
 
 The meeting also voted that when the Resolutions 
 should be presented to the Court on Monday next, 
 the Chairman of this meeting (Mr. Boutwell) be 
 requested to second the same with such remarks as 
 he may desire to make. 
 
 MR. BOUTWKI.IV : The chair will accede to the 
 wish of the members of the Bar and will second the 
 Resolutions on Monday morning. 
 
 Thereupon, on motion of Mr. George A. King, 
 the meeting adjourned. 
 
xl 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COURT. 
 
 Monday, November 23, 1896. 
 
 Present: The Hon. CHARLES C. NOTT, 
 L,AWRENCE WEXDON, 
 JOHN DAVIS, 
 STANTON J. PEELLE, 
 
 Judges. 
 
 J. C. BANCROFT DAVIS, 
 
 Ex-Judge of the Court of Claims. 
 
 MARTIN F. MORRIS, 
 Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals 
 
 of the District of Columbia. 
 
 Mr. Assistant Attorney-General JOSHUA ERIC 
 DODGE addressed the Court as follows: 
 
 May it please the Court : At a meeting of the Bar 
 of this Court held on Friday last, November 2oth, 
 said by some of the older members to have been the 
 most representative and largely attended meeting 
 held within their memory, there were delivered 
 numerous addresses commemorative of the character 
 and services of the lately deceased Chief Justice, 
 William A. Richardson, which it is hoped will be 
 compiled in print and given permanence, either as a 
 part of a memoir of the life of their distinguished 
 
subject, or by incorporation into the next volume of 
 the Reports of the decisions. Manj r of them were 
 eloquent, and all were worthy of a place in the 
 history of the Court which he so long adorned. 
 
 The meeting also directed me to present at this 
 time the following resolutions, with a motion that 
 they be spread upon the permanent records of the 
 Court : 
 
 [Mr. Dodge, after having read the resolutions, con 
 tinued.] 
 
 These resolutions were but the crystallization of 
 the sentiments of bereavement, affection and admir 
 ation which pervaded that meeting of men, many of 
 national rank and fame, who for many years had 
 been in the contact of daily business affairs with the 
 deceased. The sudden breaking of that routine 
 forced upon each the realization that with all his 
 modesty and unobtrusiveness, there had lived among 
 us and gone from among us a man great in his 
 generation. 
 
 With such realization comes almost perforce the 
 query, ever renewed and always but imperfectly an 
 swered, What is greatness ; What qualities of mind 
 and of heart constitute it ? None can answer by a 
 generalization. We can but analyze the qualities 
 of each individual, and sometimes satisfy ourselves 
 what element of his character most led him to 
 his measure of success in life. The man who has 
 gone from among us commenced his life in an 
 obscure little hamlet among the northern hills of 
 Massachusetts, distinguished only by its name, 
 Tyngsborough, which, as Chief Justice Richardson 
 
xlii 
 
 himself discovered, is not shared by any other com 
 munity in the United States. Why did it not run 
 its course and end there among the petty but re 
 spectable duties, pleasures and affairs which make 
 up the lives of so many gentlemen of education and 
 intelligence, instead of reaching out into the gov 
 ernment and courts of his State and of his nation, 
 so that when the end comes, the great places of 
 his country are troubled, and those charged with 
 cares and duties as broad as this great country are 
 brought to pause therein and to note that one high 
 among them is no more ? 
 
 To me it seems that the great dominating force 
 in this career is an eminently practical and useful 
 one, and one which in large measure can be devel 
 oped and cultivated by all, so that this life may 
 stand out as a most useful guide to those who yet 
 have in much portion their lives before them. A 
 never-tiring, never-flagging devotion to the duties 
 cast upon him, more than anything perhaps more 
 than all things else distinguished our Chief Justice. 
 Whether the duties were great or small, to them 
 were devoted all of his excellent intellectual power, 
 all of his ready tact and sound common sense, and 
 all of his persistent industry ; and in the progress of 
 his career from his hamlet home in Tyngsborough, 
 through all the gradations to the nation s capital, 
 and the control of some of the most important affairs 
 of state, his life was a repeated fulfilment of the 
 promise that he who has been faithful over a few 
 things shall be made ruler over many things. 
 
xliii 
 
 Mr. GEORGE S. BOUTWELI, said : 
 
 May it please the Court : 
 
 As a solemn duty I second the motion that has 
 now been made that the resolutions which have been 
 adopted by the Bar of the Court of Claims, in which 
 the members have attempted to set forth their ap 
 preciation of the character and services of the late 
 Chief Justice, be placed upon the records of the 
 Court and made a part of the day s proceedings. 
 
 Before I speak of his services and standing as an 
 executive officer and a jurist, I shall avail myself of 
 the opportunity now presented, that I may recognize 
 the early, long-continued and uninterrupted friend 
 ship that subsisted between the late Chief Justice 
 and myself. 
 
 Our acquaintance began in the last half of the de 
 cennial period following the year 1830. At that time 
 neither of us had attained to his majority. William 
 Adams Richardson was a pupil in the Academy at 
 Groton, Massachusetts, and I was a clerk in a village 
 store. He entered Harvard College in 1839, and for 
 several years our ways of life diverged. Our meet 
 ings were casual only, but our friendship continued, 
 although in politics we differed until we came together 
 in the Republican party. Upon his graduation from 
 Harvard College in 1843, ^ e began the systematic 
 study of law in the city of lyOwell, which became 
 his residence for many years. 
 
xliv 
 
 During that period he was connected with the 
 government of the city, and he was also interested in 
 its institutions of finance and business ; and in the 
 relations thus formed his opinions were much re 
 garded and largely followed. 
 
 In 1856 he was appointed Judge of Probate for 
 the County of Middlesex, the county that at that 
 time was the most populous and the most important 
 county in the Commonwealth. 
 
 It was then that Judge Richardson became known 
 to the State. In a few years thereafter he received 
 the appointment of Judge of the combined Courts of 
 Probate and Insolvency for the same County. 
 
 His services in the two offices covered a period of 
 about sixteen years, and his administration, from 
 beginning to end, was free from criticism or com 
 plaint. During that period he was often called to 
 act as referee in important cases, when the parties 
 wished to avoid the delay and expense of litigation 
 in the courts. 
 
 In that same period he performed two most im 
 portant services, one for the State in the revision of 
 its laws, and the other in behalf of good learning in 
 the reformation of the Board of Overseers of Harvard 
 College. He was a member of the Commission that 
 revised the laws of the State as they appeared in the 
 year 1860. I would not be unjust to his associates 
 upon the Commission, but it was the opinion of those 
 who were most carefully instructed upon the subject, 
 that the more delicate and difficult parts of the work 
 were performed by him. To all of us, whether of 
 the Bench or of the Bar, it is known that he was 
 
xlv 
 
 ready at all times in age as in youth to assume any 
 work that was in the line of his duty, or of his pro 
 fession. He was one of three men, who, graduates 
 of the college, were instrumental in securing a 
 change of the law by which the election of the over 
 seers is vested in the alumni of the college. This 
 change has contributed materially to the prosperity 
 that has attended the college, in these last five and 
 twenty years, under the wise and efficient adminis 
 tration of President Kliot. 
 
 It was with great reluctance, and only after long 
 delay and much urging on my part, that Judge 
 Richardson consented to resign his office in Massa 
 chusetts and to accept the place of Associate Secre 
 tary of the Treasury. His office in Massachusetts 
 was an honorable office, its duties were agreeable to 
 him, he was among his early and long-tried friends, 
 and on every side he was honored and respected. 
 
 After a delay of several months he yielded to my 
 importunities, but against his own inclination, and 
 he thus entered a larger field of public service. 
 
 In the three and a half years of our association he 
 contributed largely to whatever of success was at 
 tained during my administration of the Treasury 
 Department. 
 
 I pass over all minor events and incidents, that I 
 may speak of one important service which may not 
 have been paralleled in our history, or in the history 
 of any other country. 
 
 In the year 1871, a subscription was made in I/m- 
 don for one hundred and thirty-four million of five 
 per cent. United States bonds, the transaction to 
 
xlvi 
 
 be consummated in L,ondon, the first day of Decem 
 ber of that year, and payment to be made in gold, 
 or in five-twenty six per cent, bonds. 
 
 Judge Richardson was charged with the duty of 
 making the transfer. He was assisted by a corps of 
 clerks, but the duty and the responsibility were on 
 him. The larger part of the new bonds was paid 
 for by the delivery of old five-twenty bonds, par for 
 par, but the payments in gold ran far up into the 
 millions. The gold funds were invested subsequently 
 in five-twenty bonds at par, and at the end of a few 
 months the Treasury received one hundred and 
 thirty-four million of redeemed five-twenty six per 
 cent, bonds, in exchange for the issue of one hun 
 dred and thirty-four million of five per cent, bonds. 
 
 The magnitude of this transaction may well make 
 one shudder even after the lapse of a quarter of a 
 century, and so proportionately should be our admir 
 ation over the success of its execution. His term of 
 office as Secretary of the Treasury must be measured 
 by months rather than by years, and it was too brief 
 to furnish a full view of his capacity as an executive 
 officer. His administration was marked by a wise, 
 careful attention to business, and by a judicious dis 
 charge of every duty. 
 
 I have once made this remark in a public way : 
 There is a rough side to Government, and there must 
 be a quality of harshness in those who administer 
 governments successfully. Such generalizations, 
 even if true as rules of action, are subject to excep 
 tions. If it had been the fortune of Judge Richard 
 son to have served on the executive side of the Gov- 
 
xlvii 
 
 ernment for a period of years, and there had been 
 any just cause for criticism, it would have had its 
 origin in the absence of the quality of harshness in 
 his nature. 
 
 I count it something indeed, I count it much in 
 any man s career, that he enjoyed the friendship and 
 confidence of General Grant. That was the good 
 fortune of Judge Richardson to the end of General 
 Grant s life. 
 
 General Grant spoke of his friends in a way that 
 distinguished them from other persons. With them 
 he dispensed with all appellations, whether Mr. , Col 
 onel or General. In conversations General Sherman 
 was only Sherman and Judge Richardson was 
 only Richardson. 
 
 While Judge Richardson held the office of Judge 
 in this Court, and of Chief Justice of the Court, he 
 performed other important work for which his labors 
 in Massachusetts had given him large preparation. 
 The Supplements to the Revised Statutes, which 
 were prepared by him largely and always under his 
 direction, are evidences of his painstaking industry, 
 and of his aptitude rising quite near to genius, for 
 the codification and arrangement and notation of 
 statutes, qualifications not appreciated even by the 
 members of the profession, and by the general pub 
 lic they are not considered, nor even known. If the 
 index of the Revised Statutes of 1878 has ever been 
 criticised, the criticism has not fallen under my no 
 tice. Indeed, the statement has been made that one 
 of the States of the Union required the revisers of 
 its statutes to accept as a model the index of the 
 
xlviii 
 
 Revised Statutes of the United States. The plan 
 and the organization of the plan of that index are 
 due to Judge Richardson ; and of the work, especially 
 in the arrangement, a large part was performed by 
 him. 
 
 Its volume may be realized from the fact that there 
 are about twenty-five thousand references, and that 
 there are at least three references by substantive 
 words, to every phase of legislative action. His skill 
 in the organization and arrangement of the index 
 may be best seen by reference to the reading under 
 the heading of <( Crimes." 
 
 The death of Judge Richardson gives me the only 
 opportunity that was possible of placing the honor of 
 the index, which must mean something with the pro 
 fession, to the credit of his name and memory. 
 
 The indulgence of the Court must be asked when 
 I say that it is the misfortune of the Court, now re 
 alized in the case of Judge Richardson, that it does 
 not speak in the language which is the language of 
 the courts of the country and of the English world. 
 This Court deals largely with causes arising under 
 statutes which gives the individual a right of action 
 against the United States on claims sounding in con 
 tract. It has no jurisdictions over controversies be 
 tween private parties, it has no common law juris 
 diction ; and its equity powers, as granted by recent 
 statutes, are limited, though as yet they have not 
 been fully tested. By the statutes which gave to 
 this Court a qualified jurisdiction over claims known 
 as French Spoliation Claims, questions of interna- 
 
xlix 
 
 tional law, and questions touching the value of decis 
 ions of foreign courts, were considered by the tribu 
 nal, but at the end of an experience of half a cen 
 tury it is to be said that but few of its decisions are 
 applicable as precedents, or as authorities in common 
 law or equity courts. 
 
 Hence it has happened that the bar and the judi 
 ciary of the country have been ignorant of the do 
 ings of this Court ; and hence it is that the late 
 Chief Justice did not acquire the standing as a jurist 
 that he would have reached had he had a seat in a 
 court of general jurisdiction. 
 
 These observations should not lead us to under 
 value the questions raised and the decisions rendered 
 in this Court. There are but few courts in the coun 
 try, if indeed there are any, in which the controver 
 sies are of more importance, or in which the ascer 
 tainment of the facts is more difficult. 
 
 As a summary, it is not too much to say that the 
 late Chief Justice met, and fully met, every reqire- 
 ment that is essential in a judge. In learning he 
 was fully prepared for every exigency of the bar or 
 of the bench ; he was urbane in manner and resolute 
 in his purposes ; he was considerate of the rights of 
 others and firm in the maintenance of the just au 
 thority of the Court. In fine, his judicial career is 
 without spot or blemish. It is a great tribute to be 
 able to say, and in truth to say, of an associate whose 
 career is ended, that through a period of more than 
 forty years he occupied important places in the pub 
 lic service, and constantly under the public eye, that 
 he was everywhere and always equal to the duty be- 
 
I 
 
 fore him, that he never erred to the injury of State 
 or country, and that at the end we are not tempted 
 to draw the veil of oblivion over any day of his pub 
 lic or private life. 
 
 Judge WKivDON, on behalf of the Court, re 
 sponded as follows : 
 
 Gentlemen of the Bar : The Court receives the 
 resolutions and proceedings of the Bar in relation 
 to the death of the late Chief Justice, as a just and 
 appropriate tribute to the memory of one whose ca 
 reer is well worthy of the highest appreciation of 
 public esteem. 
 
 Chief Justice Richardson had a most successful 
 and honorable public career, discharging every re 
 sponsibility and trust imposed upon him with great 
 credit to himself, and honor and profit to his country. 
 
 In his infancy the lines had fallen to him in the 
 golden medium between competency and wealth ; he 
 was not borne down by privations, nor enervated by 
 the expectancy of hereditary riches ; he did not 
 encounter the difficulty of want, nor the more 
 dangerous influence of wealth, which so often blights 
 the ambition and paralyzes the energy of youth. 
 
 At the age of twenty-one he graduated from that 
 institution, which has been from the earliest days of 
 
u 
 
 this country and is now, the pride and boast of 
 American learning. Nature had endowed him with 
 the highest and best qualifications of the student, 
 lawyer and judge industry. 
 
 In his course at Harvard College he had acquired 
 the ability of close, prolonged and intense mental 
 application, the possession of which enabled him to 
 perform with credit and discharge with success, the 
 many responsibilities which through more than half 
 a century devolved upon him. 
 
 Underlying the individual efforts which he made 
 as student, lawyer, executive officer and judge, were 
 the sterling qualities of that character which he had 
 inherited from a long line of ancestry, embodying 
 the characteristics of that noble race which developed 
 New England in all the elements that constitute a 
 great people. 
 
 He was highly educated in the perfect discipline 
 of his mind, being enabled, because of such discipline, 
 to bestow upon any subject of investigation the 
 undivided and prolonged thought of his whole being ; 
 and that, in the end, is the perfection of education. 
 Education is not necessarily scope and breadth of 
 information ; its highest and best quality is the 
 mental aptitude to investigate and understand the 
 complex questions of mind and matter. 
 
 Upon his graduation the Chief Justice chose the 
 profession of the law as the vocation of his life ; and 
 to its study and practice he brought those habits of 
 trained thought which he had acquired in the 
 discipline of the schools. 
 
 Public observation, which is not slow to discern 
 
m 
 
 aptitudes and qualifications fitting men for public 
 trust, soon conferred upon him the confidence of its 
 appreciation in his selection to revise the statutes of 
 Massachusetts, a work which he continued to do for 
 more than twenty years. He was again selected by 
 the legislature to edit the Supplement of the Statutes, 
 which he did to the satisfaction of the legislature, 
 and of a bar, the most critical of any in the United 
 States. 
 
 In 1856, he became the Judge of Probate and In 
 solvency in a county second to only one in the State 
 of Massachusetts. In the discharge of the duties of 
 that important office, he again marked his official 
 career with that ability and industry by which and 
 in which were performed the acts of his whole life, 
 as a guardian of a private or public trust. 
 
 In 1869, having declined higher judicial honors in 
 the State of Massachusetts, he became Assistant Sec 
 retary of the Treasury, his lifelong and devoted 
 friend, Governor Boutwell, being the Secretary. In 
 that capacity he went to Europe as the financial 
 agent of the United States to adjust and arrange 
 some of the most delicate and important matters 
 connected with the public credit ; and on his return 
 he became Secretary of the Treasury. In the dis 
 charge of the duties of that high office he infused 
 the spirit of that industry and purity of purpose 
 which in all the relations of life had been the marked 
 individuality of his public and private career. 
 
 He was Secretary of the Treasury during the 
 panic of 1873 ; and by conservative and able counsel, 
 the administration, in the conduct of the Treasury 
 
tm 
 
 Department, adhered to and maintained the wise 
 policy of financial integrity. 
 
 In 1874, the Chief Justice became, by the appoint 
 ment of President Grant, a Judge of this Court, in 
 which capacity he served until he became Chief 
 Justice in January, 1885. 
 
 His judicial labors on this bench commenced with 
 the tenth and ended with the thirty-first volume of 
 the reports ; and it is a melancholy and sad reflec 
 tion that the opening of the present session marked 
 the boundary of that life which has so richly con 
 tributed to the exposition of the law which defines 
 and settles the rights of the citizen and the sovereign. 
 
 It is almost useless for me to say to you, Gentle 
 men of the Bar, that during his labors the litigation 
 of this Court has been very much enlarged, embrac 
 ing within its scope the decisions of the most complex 
 questions of nearly every branch of the law and the 
 evolution of truth from the widest range of human 
 testimony. For more than twenty-two years, the 
 arduous and responsible duties of a Judge and Chief 
 Justice of this Court were discharged by him with 
 an ability and faithfulness adequate to the full re 
 quirement of the positions. 
 
 The information which he acquired while Secretary 
 of the Treasury was of great service to the Court in 
 the adjudication of cases involving questions of stat 
 utory construction applicable to that department. 
 His mind had great power of retention, and a prin 
 ciple of administrative law was recalled with ready 
 reference when it became applicable in the litigation 
 of the Court. 
 
The twenty-one volumes of the reports in which 
 may be found his opinions on the varied questions of 
 our jurisdiction are a lasting memorial to his name 
 and fame. They will remain as landmarks of the law 
 as long as our system of government endures, and this 
 forum shall be open for the adjudication of national 
 obligations. The good of his life is not "interred 
 with his bones." 
 
 During almost the entire period of his services on 
 the Bench, notwithstanding the perplexing and mani 
 fold duties of the office of Chief Justice, he performed 
 his portion of the labor incident to all the members of 
 the Court, sharing every responsibility and shrink 
 ing from no task, however burdensome. 
 
 He was most ine.thodical in the habits of his life 
 as a member of the Court, discharging the minor 
 duties of Chief Justice with the same care and atten 
 tion that he bestowed upon the higher requirements 
 of the position. In Court, as every member of the 
 Bar will attest, he was as free from judicial tyranny 
 as any judge could be, and administered the power 
 of his high trust in the kindest consideration of all. 
 
 The insolence of office sometimes manifested 
 in courts of justice found no place in what he said 
 or did in the discharge of his duty in the adminis 
 tration of the office of Chief Justice. Patience, for 
 bearance, courtesy and consideration toward all, 
 marked the lineaments of his official character. 
 
 In that beneficent economy of nature which pro 
 vides aptitudes for the necessities of the race, from 
 the rudest state of society to the highest develop 
 ments of civilization, the Chief Justice was endowed 
 
Iv 
 
 with the faculty of justice, which discerns through 
 the mazes of judicial controversy the substantial 
 rights of litigants founded upon the fundamental 
 principles of the laws. 
 
 * * * * For justice 
 
 All places a temple, and all seasons summer. 
 
 His mind was of the practical and substantial 
 mold, free from intellectual prejudice, ready to 
 change when reason dictated, uninfluenced by the 
 pride of opinion, or the dangerous and unreasonable 
 demands of consistency. 
 
 His opinions are fine specimens of judicial state 
 ment, terse in words yet comprehensive in thought, 
 saying nothing beyond the requirements of the case, 
 and enunciating the principle of the decision so 
 clearly that its authority is unquestioned. 
 
 In the branch of statutory law, the Chief Justice 
 had rare qualifications as a Judge. His knowledge 
 of that department of jurisprudence has not been 
 excelled in the history of this country. His patient 
 and unremitting power of investigation, his accurate 
 and clear conception of legal principles embodied in 
 the forms of statutory enactment, his varied expe 
 rience in the revision and construction of acts of the 
 legislature of his native State, and of the laws of Con 
 gress, conferred upon him the highest quality of 
 ability involving the correct exposition of the law 
 as founded upon the will of the legislature. 
 
 The truth of this statement is abundantly verified 
 in the many opinions delivered by him in this Court ; 
 and in the volumes of the Revised Statutes, both State 
 
Ivi 
 
 and National, which bear the imprint of his genius. 
 They are more complimentary to his memory than 
 the praise of a friendship, however fervent. 
 
 In 1880, he was selected by joint resolution of 
 Congress to prepare and edit the Supplement to 
 the Revised Statutes, a work embracing the 
 statutes general and permanent in their nature, 
 passed after the Revised Statutes, with references 
 connecting the provisions on the same subject, 
 explanatory notes, citations of judicial decisions 
 and a general index." 
 
 The work as first published extended from the 
 date the Revised Statutes went, into effect (1873) to 
 the adjournment of the Forty-sixth Congress, in 1881. 
 So useful was this work, in bringing together the 
 permanent legislation of general import, segregated 
 from the mass of private and temporary legislation 
 with which it is intermingled in the Statutes-at- 
 Large, that Congress, ten years later, provided for a 
 second edition of the work, bringing it down to date, 
 and including eighteen years of legislation, from 1874 
 to 1891, and constituting what is known as the 
 " Supplement to the Revised Statutes, Volume i, 
 Second Edition." In 1893, tne work was made a 
 continuing and permanent one, to be prepared at each 
 session of Congress. 
 
 During the summer, although wasted in form, 
 broken in health and fully conscious of the near ap 
 proach of death, he continued his labors with undi- 
 minished interest in the preparation of the present 
 volume, surrendering at last to that invincible enemy 
 which in the end conquers us all. 
 
Imi 
 
 His career was a success, filling as it did the meas 
 ure of a half century with the fruits of patient and 
 patriotic toil in the public and private relations of 
 life. 
 
 The positions which he occupied in the civil serv 
 ice are not surrounded by the glamour of popular 
 applause, but in the conservative virtue of their in 
 fluence they are most important to the success and 
 the perpetuity of that system of liberty which recog 
 nizes equality as the basis of civil and political power. 
 
 His valuable labors on the bench, in the field of 
 statutory publications, his services in the execu 
 tive branch of the government, entitle him to the 
 respect and admiration of the bar and the gratitude 
 of his country. 
 
 The Chief Justice has passed into a memory ; but 
 what he did remains. I^et us hope that his labors, 
 in common with those of the sages of the law, may 
 stand as a safe depository of the rights of individuals, 
 may calm and mitigate the struggles of parties in the 
 coining years of free institutions ; and that the voice 
 of judicial reason may conserve and preserve the land 
 marks of constitutional liberty to the latest period of 
 time. 
 
 May our history vindicate the truth that 
 
 Virtue alone outbuilds the pyramids, 
 
 Her monuments shall last when Egypt s fall. 
 
 By order of the Court the request of the Bar is 
 granted, and the Resolutions will be entered of record, 
 to endure as a lasting memorial to the memory of 
 Chief Justice WIUJAM A. RICHARDSON. 
 
 The Court thereupon adjourned for the day. 
 
IW11 
 
 REPORT OF THE METHOD ADOPTED BY 
 
 ASSISTANT SECRETARY RICHARDSON, 
 
 AT LONDON, TO KEEP SAFE THE 
 
 MONEY RECEIVED FROM SALE 
 
 OF THE FUNDED LOAN. 
 
 41 LOMBARD STREET, 
 LONDON, Jarfy 2$th, 1872. 
 Hon. GEORGE S. BOUTWEU,, 
 
 Secretary of the Treasury. 
 DEAR SIR: 
 
 It is my purpose in this letter to give you an 
 account of the way in which I have kept the money 
 arising from the sale of the Funded Loan, and the 
 manner in which it has been drawn from time to 
 time to pay for bonds purchased and redeemed. 
 
 Immediately after the first of December, 71, the 
 money began to accumulate very rapidly. Up to 
 the first of December no money whatever had been 
 received, all bonds delivered having been paid for by 
 the called bonds and coupons, or secured by deposit 
 of other bonds ; but on the second day of that 
 month nearly two and a-half millions of dollars cash 
 were paid to me ; then, on the 4th, nearly five 
 millions of dollars more; and on the 5th, above 
 three millions, and so on in different sums till the 
 present time. Of course it was wholly impracticable 
 to receive, handle, count and keep on hand such 
 
lix 
 
 large amounts of gold coin, weighing between a ton 
 and three-quarters and two tons to each million of 
 dollars. At one time my account showed more than 
 sixteen millions of dollars on hand, and to have 
 withdrawn from circulation that amount of coin 
 would have produced a panic in the lyondon market, 
 and the risk in having it hoarded in any place within 
 my reach would have been immense, especially as it 
 would soon have been known where it was. 
 
 I ascertained that there would be some difficulty 
 in keeping an official government account in the 
 Bank of Kngland, and I did not feel authorized, or 
 justified on my own judgment, in entrusting so much 
 money to any other Banking Institution in this city. 
 I found also that the Bank of Kngland never issues 
 certificates of deposit, as do our banks in the United 
 States. But it issues "post notes," which are very 
 nearly like its ordinary demand notes, but payable to 
 order and on seven days time ; thus differing only 
 in the matter of time from certificates of deposit. 
 Availing myself of this custom of the Bank of Kng 
 land, I put all the money into post notes, and locked 
 them up in one of the safes from which the bonds 
 had been taken. This I regarded as a safe method 
 of keeping the funds, and I anticipated no further 
 difficulty. 
 
 But when the Bank made its next monthly or 
 weekly return of its condition, and published it in 
 all the newspapers as usual, the attention of all the 
 financial agents, bankers, and financial writers of 
 the daily money articles in the journals was imme 
 diately attracted to the sudden increase of the post 
 
Ix 
 
 notes outstanding, and the unusually large amount 
 of them, so many times greater than had ever been 
 known before. They were immensely alarmed lest 
 the notes should come in for redemption in a few 
 days, and the coin therefor should be withdrawn 
 from London and taken to a foreign country ; and 
 lest there should be a panic on account thereof. 
 Some of the financial writers said they belonged to 
 Germany, and that they represented coin w r hich 
 must soon be transmitted to Berlin. The Bank offi 
 cers themselves, although they knew very well that 
 these notes belonged to the United States, were not 
 less alarmed because they feared that I would with 
 draw the money to send it to New York, which they 
 knew would make trouble in the London Exchange. 
 Money, which for a short time before had been at 
 the high rate of interest, for this place, of five per 
 cent., had become abundant and the people were 
 demanding of the Bank a reduction in the rate. But 
 so timid were they about these post notes that the) 7 " 
 did not change the rate till I took measures to allay 
 their fears. This I did because I thought it would 
 be injurious and prejudicial to the Funded Loan, 
 to have a panic in London, in which the market 
 price of the new loan would drop considerably below 
 par just at a time when its price and popularity were 
 gradually rising, and just as it was coming into 
 great favor with a new class of investors in England, 
 the immensely rich but timid conservatives. 
 
 I determined to open a deposit account with the 
 Bank of England, and in doing so experienced the 
 difficulties which I anticipated. I assured the offi- 
 
/on 
 cers that the money was government (U. S.) money, 
 which I did not intend, and was not instructed, to 
 take home with me; but which I should use in London 
 in redeeming bonds and coupons, and should leave 
 in the Bank on deposit unless by the peculiarity 
 of their rules I should be obliged to withdraw it. 
 They objected to taking the money as a government 
 deposit, or as an official deposit in my name, having 
 some vague idea that if they took it and opened an 
 official government account, they should be liable 
 for the appropriation of the money, unless documents 
 from the United States were filed with them taking 
 away that liability; but they could not tell me 
 exactly what documents they wanted, nor from 
 whom they must come. They did, however, agree 
 to open an account with me, and that was the best 
 I could do. In signing my name to their book I 
 added my official title, and when, some time after, I 
 came to drawing checks I signed in the same way. 
 This brought from the officers a letter, which I annex 
 hereto, saying that my deposit would be regarded as 
 a private and personal one. 
 
 What I was most anxious to provide for was the 
 power in some United States officer to draw the 
 money in case of my death, (knowing the uncer 
 tainty of life,) without the delay, expense and 
 trouble which must necessarily arise, if it stood 
 wholly to my personal credit. I asked the officers to 
 allow it to stand in your name as Secretary, and 
 mine as Assistant Secretary, jointly and severally, 
 so as to be drawn upon the several check of either, 
 and by the survivor in case of the death of either 
 
ten 
 
 one. I suggested other arrangements which would 
 have the same result, but they said their rules pre 
 vented their agreeing to my requests, that they were 
 conservative and did not like to introduce anything 
 new into their customs. 
 
 On the i5th day of January, 1872, I renewed my 
 request in writing, after having had several conver 
 sations with the officers on the subject, and received 
 an answer which, with the letter of request, is hereto 
 annexed. 
 
 In this, their most recent communication, they 
 express a willingness to enter the account in our 
 joint names as I suggested, regarding it however as 
 a personal account, and requiring that you should 
 "join in the request and concur in the conditions 
 proposed before either party can in that case draw 
 upon the account." 
 
 As I must now almost daily draw from the account 
 for money with which to pay bonds I cannot join 
 your name therein until you have sent me a written 
 compliance with the conditions which they set forth ; 
 because to do so would shut me out from the account 
 altogether for several weeks. Besides, having no 
 instructions from you on the subject, I don t know 
 that you would care to give written directions as to 
 the deposit. I know very well that, in case of my 
 sudden decease, you would be glad enough to find 
 that you could at once avail yourself of the whole 
 amount of money here on deposit, and so I should 
 have joined your name as I have stated. 
 
 Now you can do as you please. I have taken 
 every possible precaution within my power, and have 
 
Ixiii 
 
 no fear that the arrangements are insufficient to 
 protect the Government in any contingency what 
 ever. With the correspondence which has passed 
 between the officers of the Bank and myself, and our 
 conversation together, the account is sufficiently well 
 known to them as a U. S. government deposit, and 
 is fully enough stamped with that character, as I 
 intended it should be, however much they may 
 ignore it now. 
 
 But for still greater caution, I made a written 
 declaration of trust on the very day of the first 
 deposit, signed and sealed by me, declaring the 
 money and account as belonging to our Government 
 and not to me, a copy of which is hereto annexed. 
 
 I also gave written instructions to Messrs. Bige- 
 low and Prentiss to draw all the checks and how to 
 draw them and keep an account thereof. As I make 
 all my purchases through Jay Cooke, McCullough, 
 & Co., every check is in fact payable to that house, 
 so that the account is easily kept, and the transac 
 tions cannot be mingled with others, for there are no 
 others. I annex a copy of these instructions. 
 
 This, I believe, will give you a pretty correct idea 
 of the difficulties which have been presented to me 
 in the matter of taking, keeping, and paying out the 
 money arising from the sale of the bonds, and the 
 manner in which I have met them. 
 
 I may add that when the officers of the Bank were 
 satisfied that I was not to withdraw the money and 
 take it to New York, they reduced the rate of interest, 
 and there has been an easy money market ever since. 
 
 There are now on deposit more than twelve millions 
 
Ixiv 
 
 of dollars; but I hope it will be reduced very fast next 
 month. Had you not sent over the last ten millions 
 of bonds, we should have been able to close up very 
 soon. I hope now that you will make another call 
 of twenty millions at least, because I think it would 
 enable us to purchase more rapidly. 
 I annex : 
 
 1 . Copy of my declaration of trust. 
 
 2. Copy of instructions for drawing checks. 
 
 3. Copy of letter from Cashier of Bank of England, 
 
 stating that the account would be considered 
 personal. 
 
 4. Copy of my letter to the Governor of the Bank, 
 
 asking that your name might be joined, 
 of reply to last mentioned letter. 
 I am, very respectfully, 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 WIUJAM A. RICHARDSON. 
 
 [COPY] 
 
 Whereas I have this day deposited in my name as 
 Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, U. S. A., in the 
 Bank of England, Two Millions five hundred and 
 fifty thousand pounds sterling, and shall probably 
 hereafter make further deposits on the same account. 
 
 Now I hereby declare that said account and 
 deposits present and future, are official and belong 
 to the Government of the United States, and not to 
 me personally ; that the monies so deposited are the 
 proceeds of the sale of five per cent, bonds of the 
 Funded I^oan ; that whatever money I may at 
 
Ixv 
 
 any time have in said bank under said account will 
 be the property of the United States Government 
 held by me officially as Assistant Secretary of the 
 Treasury, acting under orders from the Secretary ; 
 that the same is, and will continue to be subject to 
 the draft, check, order, and control of the Secretary 
 of the Treasury independently of, and superior to my 
 authority whenever he so elects, and that upon his 
 assuming control thereof my power over the same 
 will wholly cease. In case of my decease before 
 said account is closed the money on deposit will not 
 belong to my estate, but to the Government of the 
 United States. 
 
 Witness my hand and seal. 
 
 WIUJAM A. RICHARDSON, 
 Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, U. S. 
 LONDON, ENG. [i,. s.] 
 
 December 28, 1871. 
 
 f JNO. P. BlGKU)W. 
 
 Witnesses. J 3. w. BOWKN. 
 
 I GKO. I,. WARREN. 
 
 [COPY] 
 
 41, LOMBARD ST. 
 
 LONDON, KNG., Dec. 28, 
 
 To JOHN P. BIGEIX>W, Chief of the Loan Division, 
 
 Secretary s Office, Treasury Department, U. S. A. 
 
 I have this day deposited in the Bank of England 
 
 in my name as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, 
 
 Two Million five hundred and fifty thousand pounds 
 
 sterling money belonging to the United States, re- 
 
Ixvi 
 
 ceived in payment of five per cent, bonds of the 
 Funded Loan delivered here in London. 
 
 All money hereafter received for future delivery of 
 bonds will be deposited to the same account. 
 
 Herewith I hand you a declaration of trust signed 
 by me, declaring that said account and monies belong 
 to the United States, and not to me personally, also 
 the deposit book and a book of blank checks num 
 bered from 35101 to 35150, both inclusive, received 
 from said Bank, all of which you will take into your 
 custody and carefully keep in one of the iron safes 
 sent here from the Department, in the same manner 
 as the books are kept. 
 
 This money and all the money deposited in said 
 Bank on the account aforesaid, will be drawn and 
 used only in accordance with the orders of the Secre 
 tary of the Treasury to redeem or purchase five 
 twenty bonds and matured coupons, or such other 
 and further orders as he may make in relation 
 thereto. 
 
 When money is to be drawn to pay for bonds or 
 coupons it must be drawn only by filling up a check 
 from the book of checks above referred to, and you 
 will open an account in which you will enter the 
 amount of all deposits, the number and amount of 
 each check drawn, specifying also to whom the same 
 is made payable and on what account it is drawn. 
 
 The checks will be filled up by Mr. Prentiss of the 
 Register s Office, who will place his check mark on 
 the upper left corner, and will enter the same in the 
 book. You will then carefully examine the check, 
 see that it is correctly drawn for the amount actually 
 
Ixvii 
 
 payable for bonds or coupons received, and properly 
 recorded; and you will when found correct, place 
 your check mark on the right hand upper corner 
 before the same is signed by me. All checks will be 
 signed by me with my full name as Assistant Secre 
 tary of the Treasury, as this is signed. 
 
 WIUJAM A. RICHARDSON, 
 Assistant Secretary of the 
 Treasury, U. S. A. 
 
 BANK OF ENGLAND, K. C. 
 
 ^thfarfy, 1872. 
 Hon. W. A. RICHARDSON, 
 
 Assistant Secretary of the Treasury 
 of the United States, 
 
 41 Lombard St. 
 SIR: 
 
 To preclude any possible misunderstanding here 
 after as to the character of the Drawing account 
 opened in your name, I am instructed by the Gov 
 ernors to communicate to you in writing that, in con 
 formity with the rule of the Bank, the account is 
 considered a personal one ; that the Governors have 
 admitted the words appended to your name merely 
 as an honorary designation ; and that the Bank take 
 no cognizance of, or responsibility with reference to 
 the real ownership, or intended application of the 
 sums deposited to the credit of the account. 
 I am, 
 
 Sir, 
 Your obedient Servant, 
 
 GEORGE FORBES, 
 
 Chief Cashier. 
 
Ixviii 
 
 41 LOMBARD ST. 
 
 IvONDON, ENG. 
 January 15, 1872, 
 GKORGK IVYALI,, Esq. 
 
 Governor of the Bank of England. 
 DEAR SIR: 
 
 Referring to the several conversations which I 
 have had with you, and with your principal cashier 
 Mr. Forbes, relative to the manner and form of keep 
 ing the account which I desire to have in the Bank, 
 I beg leave to renew in writing my request hereto 
 fore made to you orally, that the account of money 
 deposited by me may stand in the name of Hon. 
 George S. Boutwell, Secretary of the Treasury, U. 
 S. A., and myself, Assistant Secretary, jointly and 
 severally, so as to be subject to the several draft of 
 either, and of the survivor, in case of the death of 
 either one. 
 
 I suppose I must regard the letter of Mr. Forbes 
 to me, dated January 4, 1872, and written under 
 instructions from the Governors of the Bank as ex 
 pressing your final conclusion that the account, in 
 whatever form it may be kept, must be considered 
 a personal one. 
 
 You know my anxiety to have my deposits received 
 by the Bank and entered in such way that in case of 
 my death, the balance may be drawn at once by the 
 Secretary of the Treasury or some other Officer of 
 the Government, and although you are unwilling to 
 regard the account as an official one, I hope that on 
 further consideration you will allow it to be opened 
 
Ixix 
 
 iii the name of Mr. Boutwell and myself jointly and 
 severally as above stated. 
 I am Sir, 
 
 Your obe d t Servant, 
 
 WIUJAM A. RICHARDSON, 
 Assistant Secretary of the 
 
 United States Treasury Dept. 
 
 [COPY] 
 BANK OF ENGLAND K. C. 
 
 i jth January, 1872. 
 Hon. W. A. RICHARDSON, 
 
 Assistant Secretary of the Treasury 
 of the United States, 
 
 41, Lombard St. 
 SIR : 
 
 I am directed by the Governor to acknowledge the 
 receipt of your letter of the i5th hist., requesting 
 that the account of money deposited by you in the 
 Bank may stand in the name of the Hon. George S. 
 Boutwell, Secretary of the Treasury U. S. A., and 
 yourself, the Assistant Secretary, jointly and sev 
 erally, so as to be subject to the several draft of 
 either, and of the survivor, in case of death of either 
 one. 
 
 I am to inform you that the Bank is prepared to 
 open an account in this form, as a personal account; 
 but it is essential that Mr. Boutwell should join in 
 the request, and concur in the conditions proposed, 
 before either party can in that case dra^v upon the 
 account. I am Sir, 
 
 Your Obd t Servant, 
 GKORGK FORBKS, 
 
 Chief Cashier. 
 
XX 
 
 DEGREES, COMMISSIONS, ETC., HELD BY 
 WILLIAM ADAMS RICHARDSON. 
 
 A striking proof of the busy life led by Chief Justice 
 Richardson, is afforded by a glance at the following 
 list of honors conferred on him, of official positions 
 that he from time time held, and of the promotions 
 that he earned.* 
 
 It may attract attention that the promotion from 
 a Judge of the Court of Claims to be Chief Justice of 
 that Court was his fifth appointment as judge for 
 life, viz. : i, Judge of Probate for the County of Mid 
 dlesex, 1856; 2, Judge of Probate and Insolvency 
 for the same County, 1858 ; 3, Judge of the Superior 
 Court of Massachusetts (declined), 1869; 4, Judge of 
 the United States Court of Claims, 1874; Chief Jus 
 tice of that Court. 
 
 Perhaps in States where the elections are for a 
 short term, a judge may have had five, or even more, 
 commissions; but five life commissions must be 
 rare. 
 
 *It is proper to say that the list is taken from a rough 
 draft found among the papers of the distinguished Chief 
 Justice. That he should have taken pains to jot down these 
 statistics is eminently characteristic of the man. He liked 
 (in fact it was almost a passion with him) to arrange and 
 classify, and to present in clear and intelligible form, the 
 "upshot of the whole matter." 
 
Ixxi 
 
 COLLEGIATE. 
 
 1843. Bachelor of Arts. Harvard College. 
 1846. Bachelor of Laws. 
 
 Master of Arts. 
 1873. Doctor of Laws. Columbia University, D. C. 
 
 1 88 1. " " " Georgetown College, D. C. 
 
 1882. " " " Howard University, D. C. 
 1886. " " " Dartmouth College. 
 
 LAW. 
 
 1846. Admission to Bar in Massachusetts. 
 
 1869. Admission to Bar, Supreme Court U. S. 
 1855. Commission to revise the Statutes of Massa 
 chusetts. 
 
 1859. Act of Legislature of Mass., appointing com 
 missioners to edit the General Statutes. 
 
 1866. Commission as to laws authorizing formation 
 of corporations with limited liabilities. 
 
 1870. Commission concerning Hingham and Quincy 
 
 Turnpike and Bridges. 
 
 1880. Act of Congress authorized editing and pub 
 lishing a Supplement to the Revised Stat 
 utes of the United States. 
 
 1882. Appointment to edit Vol. 18, Court of Claims 
 Reports. 
 
 1 890. Act of Congress continuing publication of Sup 
 plement to Revised Statutes. 
 
 1893. Act of Congress continuing same annually. 
 
 POLITICAL. 
 
 1849. Member of Common Council, Lowell, Mass. 
 
Ixxii 
 
 1852. Member and President of Common Council, 
 
 Lowell, Mass. 
 
 1853. Member and President of Common Council, 
 
 Lowell, Mass. 
 
 1869. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (U. S.) 
 Acting Secretary, April 23, 1869, in absence 
 
 of Secretary. 
 
 Acting Secretary, June 8, 1869, until other 
 wise ordered. 
 
 Acting Secretary, April 16, 1869, until other 
 wise ordered. 
 
 1870. Acting Attorney-General, Sept. 8, 1870. 
 1873. Secretary of the Treasury. (U. S.) 
 
 JUDICIAL. (AU, FOR UFE.) 
 
 1856. Judge of Probate for Middlesex County, Mass. 
 Last to hold the office. 
 
 1858. Judge of Probate and Insolvency for Middle 
 sex County, Mass. First to hold the office. 
 
 1869. Associate Justice Superior Court of Massachu 
 setts (declined). 
 
 1873. Judge of Court of Claims (U. S.) 
 
 1885. Chief Justice Court of Claims (U. S.) 
 
 JUSTICE OF PEACE, ETC. 
 
 1847. Justice of the Peace for Middlesex County, 
 Mass., for seven years. 
 
 1853. Notary Public for Middlesex County, Mass., 
 
 for seven years. 
 
 1854. Justice of the Peace for Middlesex County, 
 
 Mass., for seven years. 
 
Ixxiii 
 
 1856. Justice of Peace and Quorum within all the 
 
 counties of Massachusetts for seven years. 
 1863. Same. 
 1870. 
 1877. " 
 
 MIUTIA OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 1846. Judge Advocate of Second Division with rank 
 
 of Major. 
 1850. Aid deCamp to the Commander in Chief with 
 
 the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. 
 
 SOCIETIES, ETC. 
 
 1852. Member of Middlesex Mechanics Association, 
 I/ywell, Mass. 
 
 1857. Member of New England Historic Genealogi 
 
 cal Society, Boston, Mass. 
 1863. Trustee of I^awrence Academy (Groton, Mass.) 
 
 1872. Member of Washington National Monument 
 
 Association (Washington, D. C.) 
 
 1873. Honorary Vice-President of New England 
 
 Historic Genealogical Society. 
 Honorary Member of Middlesex Mechanics 
 Association, I/well, Mass. 
 
 1874. Honorary Member of Nashua Historical So 
 
 ciety, Nashua, New Hampshire. 
 Trustee of Howard University, Washington, 
 
 D. C. 
 1 88 1. Trustee of All Souls Church, Washington, for 
 
 three years. 
 1886. Trustee of All Souls Church, Washington, for 
 
 three years. 
 
Ixxiv 
 
 1886. Fellow of American Geographical Society. 
 
 1879. Member of Royal Historical Society (London, 
 
 Rag.) 
 
 1880. Member of Society of Antiquities (Edinburgh, 
 
 Scotland.) 
 
 Honorary Member of New Hampshire Histor 
 ical Society. 
 
 1889. Corresponding member of Maine Historical 
 
 Society. 
 
 1890. Honorary and Corresponding Member of Old 
 
 Residents Historical Association (Lowell, 
 Mass.) 
 
 1891. Member of Society of the Sons of the American 
 
 Revolution (D. C.) 
 Member of Society of Sons of the Revolution 
 
 (Mass.) 
 
 1893. Honorary Member of New England Historic 
 Genealogical Society. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 1863. Overseer of Harvard College, elected for six 
 years by Legislature of Massachusetts. 
 
 1869. Overseer of Harvard College, elected by the 
 Alumni for six years. 
 
 1883. Commission to test and examine the fineness 
 and weight of coin at the several mints, 
 appointed by President Arthur. 
 
 Of many other appointments, such as Prof, of 
 Law in Georgetown University, President of Bank, 
 Director in Banks and Manufacturing Companies, 
 etc., notice was given orally only. 
 
Ixocv 
 
 MASONIC. 
 
 1853. Member of Ancient York Lodge, Lowell, 
 Mass. 
 
 1857. Member of Mount Horeb, Royal Arch Chap 
 ter, Lowell, Mass. 
 
 Member of Boston Encampment of Knights 
 Templar, Boston, Mass. 
 
 1866. Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the 
 33d Degree, etc., etc. 
 
 1882. Commission of enquiry into the condition of 
 Masonic Order abroad from Superior Coun 
 cil of Sovereign Grand Inspectors General 
 of the 33d and last degree, of Northern 
 Masonic Jurisdiction (U. S.) 
 
 PASSPORTS, ETC. 
 
 1865. Passports with numerous "vises." 
 1867. 
 
 1871. " as Assistant Secretary of the Treas 
 ury. 
 
 Bearer of Dispatches. 
 
 1875. " " Judge of Court of Claims with 
 
 letter of introduction from President Grant. 
 
 Japanese passport to travel in interior of the 
 
 country (with various documents relating 
 
 to the journey). 
 
 1890. Passport as Chief Justice Court of Claims, 
 with letter of introduction from Secretary 
 Elaine. 
 1865. Circular letter in Latin from Bishop of Boston. 
 
 Letter of presentation to the Pope. 
 1882. Circular letter to Historical Societies from 
 New England Hist. Genealogical Society, 
 Boston. 
 
Ixxvi 
 
 A PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THK PUB 
 LISHED WRITINGS OF WILLIAM 
 ADAMS RICHARDSON. 
 
 I. Banking Laws of Massachusetts : Being a com 
 pilation of all the General Statutes of the Common 
 wealth, now in force, relating to banks, banking and 
 savings institutions, with notes, references to altera 
 tions in the statutes, abstracts of decisions of the 
 Supreme Judicial Court and quotations from reports 
 of the bank commissioners. By William A. Rich 
 ardson, counsellor at law. Lowell : Merritt & Met- 
 calf; Boston: Sanborn, Carter & Bazin. 1855. 8vo. 
 pp. 82. 
 
 II. Practical Information Concerning the Public 
 Debt of the United States with the National Bank 
 ing Laws for Banks, Bankers, Brokers, Bank Direc 
 tors and Investors. By William A. Richardson, 
 Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. Washington, 
 D. C.: W. H. and O. H. Morrison, Law Publishers 
 and Booksellers. 1872. 8vo. pp. 186. [Second edi-" 
 tion was published in 1873.] 
 
 III. Annual Report of the State of the Finances to 
 the Forty-Third Congress, First Session, December 
 i, 1873, by William A. Richardson, Secretary of 
 the Treasury. Washington : Government Printing 
 Office. 1873. pp. xxxix. 
 
 IV. Letter, December 23, 1881, to Hon. John 
 Sherman, United States Senator, in relation to the 
 best method of determining controverted questions in 
 customs-revenue cases. Washington, 1881. pp. 5. 
 
Ixxmi 
 
 V. Trials in Customs-Revenue Cases. No date, 
 pp. 6. 
 
 Note. This was written by William A. Richard 
 son and adopted by Mr. Lawrence, First Comptroller 
 of the Treasury. 
 
 VI. Receipt and Investment of the Geneva Award 
 Money. Letter of William A. Richardson, June 22, 
 1882. pp. 7. Reprinted from The Geneva Award 
 Act, with notes and references to Decisions of the 
 Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims, by 
 Frank W. Hackett, of the Washington (D. C.) Bar. 
 Boston: Little, Brown, & Company. 1882. 
 
 VII. History, Jurisdiction and Practice of the 
 Court of Claims (United States) by William A. 
 Richardson, LL.D., Chief Justice of the Court. 
 Washington: Government Printing Office. 1883. 
 pp. 34. Second Edition, June, 1885. 
 
 VIII. Harvard College. Class of 1843. Memora 
 bilia. 1883. "Time conies stealing on by night 
 and day." Shakespeare. Prepared by William A. 
 Richardson, Class Secretary. Printed for the use 
 of the Class, June 27, 1883. pp. 37. 
 
 IX. Harvard College Alumni who have held the 
 Official Positions named. By William A. Richard 
 son, LL.D., Chief Justice of Court of Claims (U. S.) 
 Washington, D. C. Reprinted from the New Kng- 
 land Historical and Genealogical Register for July, 
 1887. pp. 7. 
 
 X. Report of Special Committee, on the Relief of 
 Congress from Private Legislation, to the American 
 Bar Association at its Tenth Annual Meeting, at 
 Saratoga Springs, New York, August, 1887. (Re 
 printed from the transactions of the Meeting.) Phil 
 adelphia : T. & J. W. Johnson & Co. 1887. pp. 12. 
 
 Note. On the copy found among the papers of 
 the Chief Justice, in his handwriting, is inscribed : 
 
Ixxviii 
 
 "Written for the Committee by W. A. R., who also 
 wrote the original Senate Bill. But what is erased 
 on page 6 was not by W. A. R., but was interlined 
 after he wrote the report, and is erroneous." The 
 words erased are : also of all damages by vessels 
 of the United States done by collision." 
 
 XI. Harvard College Alumni who have received 
 the Honorary Degrees named. By the Hon. William 
 A. Richardson, LL/.D., Chief Justice of the Court of 
 Claims, Washington, D. C. Reprinted from the 
 New England Historical and Genealogical Register 
 for April, 1889. pp. 12. 
 
 XII. Chief Justice of the United States, or Chief 
 Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States ? 
 By the Hon. William A. Richardson, LL.D., Chief 
 Justice of the Court of Claims, Washington, D. C. 
 The New England Historical and Genealogical Reg 
 ister, for July, 1895. pp. 4. 
 
 XIII. Harvard University. College Presidents and 
 the Election of Messrs. Quincy and Eliot. By the 
 Hon. Wm. A. Richardson, (H. U., 1843) IJLD., 
 Chief Justice Court of Claims. University Magazine, 
 Dec., 1891. Reprinted in the New England Historical 
 and Genealogical Register for January, 1895. pp. 6. 
 
 \*The list, it will be seen, does not include (i) Report 
 as Commissioner to revise the Statutes of Massachusetts ; 
 (2) Notes, etc., to General Statutes of that State, 1860; (3) 
 Notes, etc., in twenty-two annual volumes of Statutes of Mass 
 achusetts; (4) Notes, etc., to Supplements to the Revised 
 Statutes of the United States. 
 
INDEX OF NAMES 
 
INDEX OF NAMES. 
 
 Roman Numerals Refer to Pages of the APPENDIX. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Abrams xxxix 
 
 Adams, Benjamin 16 
 
 Hannah 17 
 
 Henry 16 
 
 Joseph 16 
 
 Mary 16 
 
 Samuel 16 
 
 William . 16 
 
 William Henry 27 
 
 Andre", Major 16 
 
 Andrew, John A 30 
 
 Anthony 96 
 
 Archibald 85 
 
 Arthur, Chester A 114 
 
 Babcock, O. E 100 
 
 Bailey, Isaac H 94 
 
 Bancroft, J. Franklin 2, 14, 16, 17, 22 
 
 Banks, N. P 47, 52 
 
 Bazin Ixxvi 
 
 Bedell, Timothy 16 
 
 Belknap, William W 77 
 
 Bell, Charles Henry 12 
 
 Bigelow, George Tyler 46, 142 
 
 Bigelow, John ,P 64, ixiii, Ixv 
 
 Binney, Horace 11 
 
 Bliss 85 
 
 Bond, Samuel K 126 
 
 Boody 96 
 
Boutwell, George S . . . 55, 58, 60, 63, 66, 75, 76, 78, 79, 89, 
 
 112-114, 125, 135, 137, iv, xii, 
 
 xxxix, xliii-1, Hi, Iviii, Ixviii, 
 Ixix. 
 
 Bowen, E. W Ixv 
 
 Briggs, George N 33 
 
 Bristow, Benjamin H 104 
 
 Brooks, George M 43 
 
 Uncle 18 
 
 Brown Ixxvii 
 
 Bundy,J. M 96 
 
 Burnham, George P . 43 
 
 Butler, Benjamin F 43 
 
 Clarissa 23 
 
 Butterfield, Abiah C 15 
 
 Asa 15 
 
 Charles 14 
 
 Fred 96 
 
 Carter Ixxvi 
 
 Cecil, George 96 
 
 Chancy, John C xxvii-xxix 
 
 Chase, John C 20 
 
 Salmon P 58 
 
 Cilley, Joseph 10 
 
 Cisco, John J 77 
 
 Claflin, H. B 94,96 
 
 William 56 
 
 Clews, Henry 77, 94 
 
 Coburn, Abiah 15 
 
 Colburn, Elizabeth 8 
 
 Conkling, Roscoe 89 
 
 Cooke, Jay 62, 63, 85, 87, 89, Ixiii 
 
 Cotton, John B xiv-xxii 
 
 Creswell, John J 77 
 
 Cummings, W. B 18 
 
 Dana, Charles A 26 
 
 Samuel 11, 14 
 
 Davis, John 106, 115, 123, xl 
 
 4 
 
Davis, J. C. Bancroft 106, 123, 125, xl 
 
 Rev.Mr 9 
 
 Delano, Columbus 77 
 
 Dennie, Mr 9 
 
 Dodge, Joshua E. 125, iii, iv, xl, xli 
 
 Douglass, John W iv, xii-xiii 
 
 Drake, Charles D. . 106, 114, 115, xiii 
 
 Drexel 85 
 
 Eliot, Charles W xlv, Ixxviii 
 
 Samuel 22 
 
 Farwell, John 14 
 
 Fay, Samuel Phillips Prescott 42 
 
 Fish, Hamilton 77,85,97 
 
 Fisk, James, Jr 70 
 
 Fitzhugh 31 
 
 Forbes, George Ixvii, Ixix 
 
 French, Edwin F 20 
 
 Henry F 20 
 
 Frothingham, Octavius B 26 
 
 Fuller 30 
 
 Arthur B 26 
 
 Gardner, Henry J 36, 42, 49, 52 
 
 Gilchrist, John J 47 
 
 Gould, Jay 70 
 
 Grant, U. S 54,56,59,76,78,79,90-92,95,100,101, 
 
 137, xlvii, liii, Ixxv. 
 
 Greenhalge, Frederick T. . . 43 
 
 Greenleaf, Simon 30 
 
 Hackett, Frank W 124, iv, Ixxvii 
 
 Hall 96 
 
 Thomas B 27 
 
 Harper 96 
 
 Herrick, Horace 23 
 
 Hildredth, Abel F 19 
 
 Hill, Thomas 26 
 
 Hinckley, Robert 143 
 
 Hitchcock . xxv 
 
Hoar, E. Rockwood 43 
 
 Joseph 24 
 
 Hodges xxv 
 
 Holt, Sarah 32 
 
 Hopkins, Archibald iv 
 
 Hoyt 96 
 
 Howry, Charles B 106, xxxvi-xxxix 
 
 Humphrey, Samuel F 20 
 
 Hunt, William H 106 
 
 Hutchinson, Abigail 9 
 
 Anne 4 
 
 Thomas 9 
 
 Jackson, Andrew 20, 21 
 
 Johnson xxv 
 
 Professor . . . , 28 
 
 Reverdy 93, 94 
 
 J.W Ixxvii 
 
 T Ixxvii 
 
 Kennedy 81 
 
 Robert Lenox 94 
 
 Kidder, Frederick 10 
 
 King, George A 124, iv, xxiii-xxvi, xxxix 
 
 William B 138, xxx-xxxv 
 
 Kingman, John W 26 
 
 Kingsland, A 96 
 
 D 96 
 
 Lawrence 24 
 
 William Ixxvii 
 
 Leavitt, E. Bradford 124 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham 53 
 
 Little, Charles C Ixxvii 
 
 Lockwood, Belva A. * , . xi 
 
 Loring, Edward G 47-50,52,106 
 
 John A . . .. 27 
 
 Lowell, John , 26 
 
 Lund, Hannah 16 
 
 J.T . 17 
 
 Lyall, George Ixviii 
 
Lyman, Samuel F 45 
 
 Lynde, A. V 43 
 
 MacGrotty, Edwin B * 86 
 
 Magruder, Alexander F 31,32,111 
 
 Alexander Richardson 32 
 
 Isabella Richardson 32 
 
 Isabella Anna 31, 111, 123 
 
 William Richardson 31 
 
 Marston, Anna Maria 31 
 
 Jonathan 32 
 
 Sarah Holt 31 
 
 Maury, William A 124, iv, vii-x 
 
 McCaimnon, Joseph J 124 
 
 McCullough Ixiii 
 
 McKnight xxv 
 
 Meigs xxxiv 
 
 Merchant, Sarah 9, 10 
 
 William 9 
 
 Merritt Ixxvi 
 
 Metcalf Ixxvi 
 
 Morgan 77,85 
 
 Edwin S 77 
 
 Morrill, Lot 92 
 
 Morris, Martin F 125, xl 
 
 Morrison, O. H . Ixxvi 
 
 W. H Ixxvi 
 
 Morse, Alexander Porter iv 
 
 Morton, L. P 85 
 
 Nott, Charles C 106, 124, xl 
 
 O Connor, Charles xv, xviii, xxxv 
 
 Opdycke, George P 94,96 
 
 Orton, William 94 
 
 Parish, Mercy 7 
 
 Parker, Joel 36,38 
 
 Payne 96 
 
 Peake 96 
 
 Peck, Ebenezer 106 
 
 7 
 
Peelle, Stanton J 106, 123, xl 
 
 Peet 96 
 
 Perkins, Charles C 26 
 
 George W 96 
 
 Phillips, Wendell 48 
 
 Pinkerton, John M 20 
 
 Plumer, William 11 
 
 Post 96 
 
 Prentiss Ixiii, Ixvi 
 
 Quincy, Josiah Ixxviii 
 
 Richardson, Anna M 31, 32, 81, 109, 110 
 
 Daniel 9-11, 13-16 
 
 DanielS .13,16,19,30,31,33 
 
 Elizabeth 9 
 
 Elizabeth A 16 
 
 Ezekiel 3, 5, 6 
 
 George Francis 17, 33 
 
 James 6 
 
 John 16 
 
 Josiah 6, 7, 8, 16 
 
 Mary Adam 16 
 
 Mercy 8 
 
 Samuel 4, 5 
 
 Samuel Mather 11,13 
 
 Susannah 3, 6 
 
 Thomas 4, 5 
 
 William 8, 9 
 
 William Merchant . . 8, 9, 14 
 
 Richmond, Andrew A 36, 37 
 
 Robeson, George M 77 
 
 W. H iv 
 
 Roby, Hannah 16 
 
 Mary 16 
 
 William 16 
 
 Russell, John J ......... 28 
 
 Sanborn Ixxvi 
 
 Sanger, George P 37 
 
Sargent, Horace Binney 26, 28 
 
 Schofield, Glenni W 106 
 
 Scott, William L 94,96 
 
 Sears, Mary 
 
 Seligman 
 
 Sherman, John Ixxvi 
 
 William T xlvii 
 
 Smith, Jeremiah 
 
 Sprague 96 
 
 E. Carlton 26, 140 
 
 Stagg 143 
 
 Staples, Thomas 
 
 Stevens, Aaron F 20 
 
 Stewart, A. T 55 
 
 Stone, Eben F 26, 50, 51 
 
 Z.E 21 
 
 Story, Joseph 30, 53 
 
 Stuart, F. E 143 
 
 Sullivan, John 10 
 
 Sutton, 
 
 Sweetser, Theodore H 43 
 
 Thayer, Alexander W 26 
 
 Thornton, Sir Edward 85 
 
 Tyng, Edward 1 
 
 Mary 
 
 Underwood, Remembrance 6 
 
 Vail 94 
 
 Vanderbilt, Cornelius 
 
 VanVolkenburgh, P 96 
 
 Vinton, John Adams 5 
 
 Walker, Joseph B 20 
 
 Warren, John Collins 11 
 
 George L Ixv 
 
 Washburn, Emory 52 
 
 William B 75 
 
 Webster, Daniel ... 53 
 
 Weldon, Lawrence 106, 123, 125, xl, 1-lvii 
 
Wells, John 
 Wheelwright, John 
 White, Daniel Appleton 
 
 Nathaniel G. . 
 Whittemore 
 Williams, George H 
 Wilson, Henry 
 Winslow, Sarah Tyng 
 Winthrop, John 
 
 45 
 
 4, 5 
 11 
 20 
 96 
 
 77, 137 
 
 76, 97 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
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