JOHN WESTON, from whom the subject of this memoir is the fourth in
descent, came from Buckinghamshire in England to this country, in
1644, at the age of 13. After residing a few years in Salem, he
purchased a tract of land in what is now South Reading, Ms., to
which he removed, and where he spent the residue of his days. He
died in 1723; being more than 90 years of age. It is noted on his
gravestone, that he was one of the founders of the church in Reading.
A part of his estate remained in the hands of his posterity for over
one hundred years. Stephen, his son, was a pious, industrious, and
respectable man. He had a farm in Reading, where he died in 1753, at
the age of 88.
Stephen, his son, became the owner of a farm in Wilmington, Ms. He
was a leading man there, distinguished for his piety, and was for
many years Deacon of the church in that town, where he died in 1776,
in his 81st year. Nathan, his fifth son, was born at Wilmington, in
1740. He married Elisabeth, the mother of the subject of this Memoir.
She was the daughter of Samuel Bancroft, Esq., of Reading, who
represented that town for many years in the General Court, and sister
of the late Rev. Dr. Bancroft of Worcester. He (Nathan) removed to
that part of Hallowell which is now Augusta, in Maine, then a part
of Massachusetts, in 1781. He was for several years in the State
government of Massachusetts, being, at different times, a member of
the House, Senate, and Council of that Commonwealth. He died in 1832,
at the advanced age of nearly 93 years.
NATHAN WESTON, his son and the subject of this Memoir, was born
at Hallowell, now Augusta, July 27, 1782. He pursued his studies,
preparatory to his entering college, at Hallowell Academy, under the
direction of the late Preceptor Moody. He was graduated at Dartmouth
College, in 1803. He went immediately into the study of the law.
After reading a few months with Benjamin Whitwell, Esq., of Augusta,
he entered the office of George Blake, Esq., Attorney for the
United States, for the Massachusetts District, at Boston, where he
prosecuted his studies, until his admission to the bar, in the county
of Suffolk, in July, 1806.
He soon after opened an office at Augusta, but in March,
1807, removed to New Gloucester, in the county of Cumberland,
where he continued in full practice in his profession three
years, representing that town in 1808, in the General Court of
Massachusetts. In June, 1809, he married Paulina B., daughter of the
Hon. Daniel Cony, and returned to Augusta, in March, 1810, where he
now (1847) resides. He continued the practice of the law until the
fall of 1811, when he was made Chief-Justice of the Circuit Court
of Common Pleas for the Second Eastern Circuit of Massachusetts, in
which he continued to officiate until the separation of Maine, in
1820. He then became one of the Judges of the Supreme Judicial Court,
and in October, 1834, he was appointed Chief-Justice of that State,
which office he held till October, 1841, when his term of office
expired. In 1831, the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred
upon him at Dartmouth College, and afterwards at Waterville and
Bowdoin Colleges, Maine.
In February, 1825, at a general meeting of the members of both houses
of the Legislature, then sitting in Portland, without distinction
of party, he was with great unanimity nominated for the office of
Governor, but preferring to remain on the bench, he declined the
nomination.
Judge Weston has four sons; Nathan, Daniel Cony, who married Mary
C. North, granddaughter of the late General William North of New
York, George Melville, and Charles. The first three were educated
at Bowdoin College, and are now in the practice of law; one in
Augusta, one in Orono, and one in Vassalborough, in Maine. His third
son, George Melville, is Attorney for the State for the county of
Kennebec. Charles, his fourth son, has been a midshipman in the Navy
of the United States. Of his daughters, Paulina Cony died in 1820,
aged two years. Two survive, namely, Catharine Martin and Louisa
Matilda.
Chief-Justice Weston is not known as the author of any published
work, beyond an occasional oration or address, in his younger days;
but the decisions of the Supreme Court of Maine, now extended to
about twenty volumes, are filled with legal opinions drawn by him,
which will remain a monument of his learning and industry.