Edward Dexter Sohier
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Edward Dexter Sohier (1810–1888) was an American lawyer who defended
John White Webster John White Webster (May 20, 1793 – August 30, 1850) was an American professor of chemistry and geology at Harvard Medical College. In 1850, he was convicted of murder in the Parkman–Webster murder case and hanged. Biography Born in Bos ...
in a murder trial in 1850.


Early days

Edward Dexter Sohier was the son of William Davies Sohier and Elizabeth Amory (Dexter) Sohier and was born in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, on April 24, 1810. He graduated at
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
in 1829 and was admitted to the
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
bar in October, 1832.


Career

In 1838, Sohier formed a partnership with Charles A. Welch, which continued until his death. He was remembered as a profound lawyer, full of resources, forcible in argument, sharp in repartee and conscientious in his management of cases, ''"as witty as
Sydney Smith Sydney Smith (3 June 1771 – 22 February 1845) was an English wit, writer, and Anglican cleric. Besides his energetic parochial work, he was known for his writing and philosophy, founding the ''Edinburgh Review'', lecturing at the Royal Inst ...
and more agreeable."'' At a meeting of the Suffolk bar to pay tribute to his memory, the presiding officer, Edward Bangs, said, ''"As a lawyer he stood among the first; as a man, his courtesy, his honesty, his untarnished honor, the severe strictness of his integrity, made him remarkable, even among associates abounding in such virtues."'' He married, February 16, 1836, Hannah Louis Amory, and died November 23, 1888.


Webster trial

He is best known for being the junior counsel with Pliny T. Merrick in the
Parkman–Webster murder case After Boston businessman George Parkman disappeared in November 1849, his dismembered and partially burned body was found in the laboratory of John White Webster, John Webster, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, Harvard Medical College; Webster ...
(1850). Sohier and Merrick lost the case and Webster was hanged, but Sohier's and Webster's detailed notes from the case survive at the
Massachusetts Historical Society The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and is located at 1154 Boylston Street ...
, providing insight into the conduct of the defendant, the trial and the actions of his counsel not available elsewhere. One historian characterized Sohier's appearance in 1850 at the Webster trial as
''...striking. Of medium build, his gray moustache and long sideburns framed his semi-bald, handsome head. The wrinkles between and above his white eyebrows gave indication of the seriousness of this man who was the founder of ... one of Boston's most prestigious and probably oldest firms.''
Quiet by nature, fastidiously ethical and courteous to the court, Sohier was essentially a
civil Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...
or
commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...
lawyer, a fiduciary rather than a
criminal defense lawyer A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the Defense (legal), defense of individuals and companies charged with Criminal law, criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while other ...
. It is unusual that in 1850 he defended in a trial which at that time was the most sensational murder trial in America's history.Robert Sullivan, The Disappearance of Dr. Parkman (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1971), p.55


References


Archives and records


Sohier and Welch records
at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School {{DEFAULTSORT:Sohier, Edward Dexter 1810 births 1888 deaths Harvard University alumni Lawyers from Boston 19th-century American lawyers