The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, Vol. 1, No. 3, July 1847

by Various

HON. NATHAN WESTON OF AUGUSTA, ME.

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.