it could scarcely be surpassed. It was attacked by the eminent counsel of the defeated parties, but after the most thorough investigation and scrutiny, it was sustained in the court below; and when it reached the Supreme Court, after an argument extending through an entire week, it was finally affirmed in a masterly opinion of nearly fifty pages in the State Reports, and every position taken by Mr. Robb was completely vindicated by the unanimous judgment of the court.
He took a keen interest in public affairs, although he never held public office, excepting for a term in city councils, where he sat as the representative from the Fifth Ward. During his term of service he showed great zeal and ability in the performance of his duties, and his determination not to accept a re-election was greatly regretted.
Mr. Robb was distinguished not alone for great intellectual ability,—his temperament was peculiarly sensitive. He recoiled from anything ignoble. His tastes were exquisitely refined.
Mr. Robb was married to Miss Sarah Thompson, the daughter of the late Chief-Justice, who survives him.
Hon. John B. D. Cogswell died at Haverhill, Mass., on June 11. He was born at Yarmouth, Mass., June, 1829; fitted for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, graduated at Dartmouth College in the Class of 1850, and read law with Governor Washburn at Worcester. He received the degree of LL.D. from Harvard Law School, and was admitted to Worcester County Bar in 1853. Soon after he opened a law office in Worcester. He was in the Legislature in 1857, and later removed to Milwaukee, Wis. In 1861 he was appointed United States District Attorney for Wisconsin. In 1870 Mr. Cogswell returned to Massachusetts and resided at Yarmouth, which he represented in the Legislature in 1871, 1872, and 1873, being a member of the Judiciary Committee of 1871, and chairman of the same committee the two following years. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention at Philadelphia which nominated Gen. U. S. Grant for President. He was a member of the Massachusetts Senate in 1877, 1878, and 1879, from the Cape District, and served as president of that body for three years. In 1880 he retired from public life, and removed to Haverhill, and had since followed literary pursuits.
Leonard Swett, the eminent Chicago lawyer, died on June 8, aged sixty-four. Mr. Swett was born at Turner, Me. He was educated at North Yarmouth Academy and at Waterville (now Colby University), but was not graduated. He read law in Portland, enlisted as a soldier in the Mexican War, and at its close in 1848 settled near Bloomington, Ill. He travelled the circuit in fourteen counties, and was an intimate friend of Abraham Lincoln and David Davis. In 1852-1861 he took an active part in politics, canvassing the State several times. In 1858, at the special request of Mr. Lincoln, he was a candidate for the Legislature on the Republican ticket, and was elected by a large majority. This is the only political office he ever held. In 1860 Mr. Swett made the nomination speech for Mr. Lincoln, and in 1888 he performed the same service for Judge Gresham. When Mr. Lincoln became President, Mr. Swett was employed in the trial of government cases, one of the most noted being that for the acquisition of the California quicksilver mines. In 1865 Mr. Swett removed to Chicago, where he was for many years one of the most prominent members of the bar. He rendered much gratuitous service to workingmen, servants, and other poor clients. In 1887 he delivered the oration at the unveiling of the statue of Lincoln in Chicago.
Hon. Charles P. Sanborn, of Concord, N. H., who died on June 3, was the son of James Sanborn, now living in that city, and was born there on Sept. 12, 1834. For three years he was a student at Yale College, but did not graduate. He read law in the office of Hon. Henry A. Bellows in Concord, and entered into practice as the junior member of the firm of which Col. John H. George and Hon. William L. Foster were the other partners. He was early successful in his profession, in which for a long time he held a high rank. From 1871 to 1880 he was city solicitor. In 1862 and 1863 he was a representative in the Legislature, and in 1875 again filled that position, and was Speaker of the House. For many years he had been clerk of the Concord & Claremont Railroad. He was greatly interested in public education, and for a long time was a member of the Union School Board. He was the compiler of the last edition of the "New Hampshire Justice and Sheriff."
