A Harvard Law Student attends the trial & renders an opinion

Arthur Machen, shown here at the age of about 40, was the son of the Secretary of the United States Senate. He was born in 1827 and lived in Virginia until he left to attend Harvard Law School. When he finished law school he decided to practice in Baltimore where his descendants remain to this day. He did so agains the advice of William H. Seward (later Lincoln's Secretary of State) who warned that "In Baltimore, he would be under the privations and inconveniences of a great city as largely as New York, and yet would be in a provincial position-- a thing to be avoided." (p. 146). Machen instead "made up my mind to settle in Baltimore. I prefer a Southern climate --Southern people-- more than all, I desire to be near home." (p. 148)

[readings from the text of his letters re: the trial and the subsequent rumor he reports]

from: Letters of Arthur W. Machen with biographical Sketch, compiled by Arthur W. Machen, Jr. (Baltimore: Privately Printed, 1917).

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Lectures, syllabus and format ŠEd Papenfuse
State Archivist
Maryland State Archives

Phone: (o) 410-260-6401
Email: edp@mdsa.net