Recent Deaths.
Col. Edward P. Nettleton, late Corporation Counsel of Boston, died April 17. He was born at Chicopee Falls, Nov. 7, 1834. He graduated at Yale College in the Class of 1856, and having taught in Liberty and in Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, Va., he was in 1857 chosen principal of the high school in his native place. This position he resigned in the fall of 1858, to enter on the study of law in New York. A year later he returned to Chicopee as principal of the high school. In the autumn of 1861 he joined what was known as the Western Bay State Regiment, and on the 10th of December he was mustered in as captain of Company E, Thirty-first Regiment. Returning to Massachusetts after the war, Colonel Nettleton resumed the study of the law in Springfield and at the Harvard Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1867. January, 1869, he was appointed Assistant United States District Attorney, resigning in 1873 to engage in general practice. In 1876 he was appointed by John P. Healy Fourth Assistant City Solicitor, was promoted to Second Assistant in 1878, to First Assistant in 1879, and was elected City Solicitor in 1881, which office he resigned, in November of the same year, to accept the position of Counsel for the New York and New England Railroad. May, 1882, he was elected Corporation Counsel for the city of Boston, and left the railroad to accept that office, which he held by annual elections and appointments until, on account of failing health, he resigned it Dec. 24, 1888.
The death of William Henry Rawle removes one more of the old-fashioned, typical "Philadelphia lawyers," and those now remaining could almost be counted on the fingers of both hands.
Like Horace Binney, Eli K. Price, and Benjamin Harris Brewster, Mr. Rawle came of good family, and received his legal education in Philadelphia when the city was still the legal centre of the country.
While, perhaps, not having the national reputation of the three attorneys named, he was thoroughly learned in the law; and his published works, the first issued in 1852, have become standards on contracts and land titles.
Mr. Rawle's manners were those of the old school, and he was naturally retiring in disposition. This explains, probably, why, after being defeated for Supreme Judge in 1882, he never sought a renomination.
His integrity, ability, and legal knowledge will link his name securely with the history of the most famous period of the Philadelphia bar.
We hope in our June number to give our readers an excellent portrait and a more extended sketch of the life of this eminent lawyer.
Mr. William R. Archer, the "father of the Illinois Senate," died at his home in Pittsfield, Ill., April 13. Mr. Archer was born in Flushing, L. I., June 21, 1815. He studied law, and began practice in Illinois directly after his admission to the bar. He was at one time law partner of Stephen A. Douglas, and ranked at the top of his profession. He was a member of the constitutional conventions of Illinois in 1847 and 1870. He was the oldest member in continuous service in the State Senate, and a lifelong Democrat. One of his most notable legal achievements was the successful defence of a suit against the State of Illinois involving $3,000,000.
Col. George W. Dyer, the prominent patent lawyer, died in Washington, April 13. He was a native of Maine, and was educated at Yale and Bowdoin, being an alumnus of the last-named college. At the commencement of the war he became a member of the staff of the Governor of Maine, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Subsequently he was appointed paymaster in the army, and as such was stationed in Washington, and with the army of the Potomac from 1862 to 1869. After being mustered out of the military service he immediately resumed the practice of law, making a specialty of patents and taking a leading position in the Patent Office. He was best known for his connection with the contests over the right to the telephone, the electric light, electric railways, and other large interests. He was largely employed by Mr. Edison.
In the death of Judge Charles E. Stuart Virginia loses one of her most brilliant and capable sons. Educated at the University, a lawyer of marked ability, a smooth, graceful, and convincing speaker, he attained at an early age a prominence in public affairs that in Virginia of late years has
