Vol. XXII.

MAY-JUNE, 1896

HOSEA MORRILL KNOWLTON.

No. 7

HOSEA MORRILL KNOWLTON was born May 20, 1847, in the town of Durham, Androscoggin County, Maine. His father, Dr. Isaac Case Knowlton, was for many years a prominent clergyman of the Universalist denomination, and received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Tufts College in 1889. His mother, Mary Smith (Wellington) Knowlton, was a descendant of Kenelm Winslow, a brother of Governor Winslow, and also of the Rev. Thomas Smith, pastor of the first church in Portland, Maine.

The boyhood of Hosea was passed in Durham, Auburn, Hampden, and Oldtown, Maine; in Keene, New Hampshire; and in South Boston and New Bedford, Massachusetts. As a result, his early education was received at several different preparatory schools, at the Bangor and Keene High Schools, and at Powers Institute, Bernardston, Massachusetts.

While in college he was class historian and salutatorian at Commencement, delivering, as was the custom in those days, an oration in Latin. He was awarded the Goddard prize for the best Latin prose translation, and also a prize for the best examination in mathematics. Although he was a very thorough student, he was by no means entirely absorbed in his books, but was a lover of all forms of outdoor sport. For two years he played centre-field on the college baseball nine, and he was also a member of the Theta Kappa Boat Club. He belongs to the Theta Delta Chi fraternity, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1893.

Many stories are told of him among those who were in college at the same time, one of which is particularly interesting. Early in his college course he and some of his friends had borrowed the college horse and were taking a ride down through the middle of Medford. There existed then much ill-feeling between the town boys and the college boys, and there had been frequent scrimmages. As they were driving through the town they came in conflict with

some Medford boys and indulged in some criminations and recriminations which tended to arouse the anger of the Medfordites. The latter finally mustered quite a force and commenced an assault. While in this perilous position the wagon broke down, and inferiority in numbers made it necessary for the collegians to effect some sort of a truce. Accordingly Knowlton, who was the readiest one of the whole party, was called upon to stand up in the rear of the wagon and deliver a speech to the Medford crowd, and this he did so effectively that the college boys were enabled to make their escape without any serious consequences.

This incident only illustrates one of the strongest points of his character, his clearness of insight, and his great ability in adapting himself quickly to any situation in which he may be thrown. He is a man of remarkable power in emergency.

After graduating, in 1867, he taught for two years, but soon decided to give this up and become a lawyer. He studied law in New Bedford with Hon. E. L. Barney, and then spent one year at the Harvard Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1870. He was settled for one year in Boston, at 42 Court Street, and then removed to New Bedford, where he has since resided.

In

He was appointed registrar in bankruptcy for the first congressional district in 1872, holding the office until the repeal, six years later, of the law making it necessary. In 1874 he was elected a member of the school committee and served for four years, and in 1877 he served as city solicitor. He was a member of the House of Representatives in 1876-77, and of the Senate in 1878-79. 1879 he was appointed District Attorney for the southern district of Massachusetts, including the counties of Bristol, Barnstable, Nantucket, and Dukes, and to this office he was five times re-appointed, holding it in all for a period of fifteen years. He was elected Attorney-General of Massachusetts in 1893, 1894, and 1895, and this office he still holds, discharging its arduous duties with an ability which has attracted attention without as well as within the Commonwealth. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of Tufts College since 1878. Although he is exceedingly busy, he always finds considerable time to devote to the wel

fare of his church. He has been treasurer of the First Universalist Society of New Bedford since 1874, and superintendent of the Sunday school since 1872. He is in constant demand as an afterdinner speaker; and although, to quote his own words, “One time is as bad as another," he rarely fails to oblige those who desire his eloquence and ready wit in social affairs.

Hosea M. Knowlton has won a distinguished place for himself in his profession, and has gained a reputation as an advocate which is not confined to any one county, but has spread over the whole State and beyond its borders.

In the trial of the Borden case his great ability was very clearly brought to light, and although the government was seriously handicapped in the trial of the cause, and a very strong sentiment had been created by the press in favor of the defendant, and although the evidence was wholly circumstantial, Mr. Knowlton made a powerful impression upon the jury, and indeed upon all those who read his argument, which was fully reported in all the papers at the time, but was, I believe, hardly so much as mentioned in the TUFTONIAN. It was an argument remarkable not only for its keen analysis of the evidence, but for its great clearness in the statement of delicate legal points, his distinction between. direct and circumstantial evidence being especially noteworthy. His manner is said by those present at the trial to have been very forcible and earnest, and it carried conviction with it to many outside of the jury.

As Attorney-General he has added to his reputation by the exercise of the very qualities of which mention has been made in referring to his college days. In all emergencies in which he has been called upon to act he has been ready, and his opinions have always been bold, straightforward, and clearly expressed. He has never hesitated to state his convictions when it was his duty to state them, whatever the trend of popular sympathy might be.

Mr. Knowlton was married in 1873 to Miss Sylvia Bassett Almy, of New Bedford. Seven children have been born of the marriage, all of whom are living, the two oldest boys being undergraduates in Tufts at the present time.

Tufts may be justly proud of an alumnus who has won so distinguished a name for himself in the community, the more so since his loyalty to his Alma Mater has been unswerving and his connection with her so close that every honor bestowed upon him belongs to her as well. Hosea Knowlton is not yet fifty years of age, and is in the full prime of his wonderful strength and ability. His station is a high one, and in it he has attained to the public confidence in a remarkable degree. But there are higher honors yet, and for such men as he the way is open.

Franklin B. Williams.

THE DARTMOUTH PLEDGING SYSTEM.

[Written by invitation for The Tuftonian.]

SEVERAL years of agitation on the subject of more advantageous methods of fraternity chinning resulted last fall in the adoption of the following chinning regulations:

I. (a) No mention of fraternities or fraternity matters of any kind shall be made by members of any of these fraternities to any student or prospective student of Dartmouth College who is not a member of one of these fraternities, before November 18 of each college year.

(b) All chinning shall cease at 11 o'clock P.M., November 19.

(c) Candidates for fraternities shall be requested to be in their rooms at 12 P.M., November 19.

2. Any pledge made before November 20 of each college year shall be considered invalid, and

Pledges made with members of the class of '99 or succeeding classes before the adoption of this agreement shall be considered invalid.

3. Any fraternity desiring to withdraw from this agreement shall do so only after giving at least six months' notice to each of the other fraternities.

[Signed by representatives of each fraternity.]

General supervision was placed in the hands of a committee, consisting of one member from each fraternity. A strong college sentiment, and watchfulness on the part of the different societies, secured a general observance of the regulations, though many intimate and otherwise unexplainable attachments were formed between Freshmen and upper classmen.