Native and Resident Lawyers. 333 



1839. He spent some time in teaching, and in 1841, when Hon. 

 Solomon Lincoln was appointed United States marshal, he suc- 

 ceeded to his law office in Hingham. In 1847 he was elected 

 a representative to the General Court. After the adjournment 

 of the General Court his bodily health was impaired and his mind 

 diseased. On his recovery he went to Colorado, having a brother 

 in Denver. He located upon a claim which he had taken up about 

 forty miles from Denver, under the shadow of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. On Sept. 4, 1868, Mr. Lincoln was binding oats in his 

 field, with another man, when three Indians appeared. His man 

 ran for the house, but Mr. Lincoln would not run. The Indians 

 broke down the fence and rode up to him. One of them attacked 

 him with a sabre and the other two fired upon him, killing him 

 instantly. 



Levi Lincoln [II. 466] was the son of Enoch and Rachel 

 (Fearing) Lincoln, and was born in Hingham, May 15, 1749. His 

 father was a farmer and a man of decided opinions, frequently 

 appointed on important committees of the town during the Revo- 

 lution, and a representative to the General Court. He was a man 

 of limited means, and not wishing to give to one of his children 

 advantages he could not offer to all, he placed his son Levi, at the 

 usual age, as an apprentice to an ironsmith. The son soon 

 manifested a love of literary pursuits, and devoted much of his time 

 to the study of Greek and Latin, in which he was assisted by Mr. 

 Joseph Lewis, a teacher for many years in Hingham, and also by 

 Dr. Gay, his minister. With his fondness for books it is not 

 strange that he soon acquired a distaste for his occupation. " His 

 books were his companions day and night. He generally ap- 

 peared as if in deep thought, and by some was considered reserved 

 and distant in his manners." 



He soon abandoned his trade, and after six months' preparation 

 he entered Harvard College, where he was graduated in 1772. 

 After graduation he studied law with Hawley, and commenced 

 practice in Worcester, Mass., in 1775. ' He rapidly rose to a dis- 

 tinguished position at the bar, and was the acknowledged head of 

 his profession in Worcester County. 



He was appointed clerk of the Court of Common Pleas in 1775, 

 and in 1776, judge of probate for Worcester County. In 1781 he 

 was elected a delegate to Congress under the Confederation, and in 

 1787 he was re-appointed a delegate, but declined the office. In 

 1797 he was State senator, and in 1800 he was chosen to repre- 

 sent the Worcester district in Congress. He took his seat March 

 4, 1801, and the next day was appointed, by President Jefferson, 

 jittorney-general of the United States. He resigned in 1805. 

 He discharged the duties of secretary of state, under President 

 Jefferson, until the arrival of Mr. Madison in Washington. He 

 had the affection and esteem of Mr. Jefferson in a great degree, 

 and received from him a warm tribute to his character and abili- 

 ties on leaving the Cabinet. In 1807 Mr. Lincoln was elected 



