Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/216

 CIIOATE.

CHOULES.

to the state legislature as a representative, and in 1827 as a senator. He was chosen as a repre- sentative in Congress in 1830, and distinguished himself by a brilliant speech in the 22d Congress on the tariff. He was re-elected in 1832 to the 23d Congress, but resigned his seat at the close of the first session and renioved to Boston, where he devoted himself to his profession, and acquired a reputation as an eloquent, powerful and success- ful advocate. When in 1841 Daniel Webster accepted the portfolio of state in President Harrison's cabinet, Mr. Choate was elected to fill the seat he had vacated in the senate, and he made several brilliant speeches, notably those on the tariff, the Oregon boundary, the fiscal bank- bill, the Smithsonian institution, and the annex- ation of Texas. At the close of the term Mr. Webster was returned to the senate, and Mr. Choate once more resumed the practice of his jjrofession. He went to Europe in 1850, and dur- ing his brief tour in England and on the conti- nent a most forcible impression was made upon his mind by his observation of the characteristics of the older civilizations of the world, and, in his comparison of these with those of the newer, he saw the perils that were likely to follow a disrup- tion of the union existing between the states. In his earnest desire to avoid sucli disrujjtion wdll be found the key to his whole later life, and his last public utterance was an oration in behalf of an undivided nation. In 1852 he was a dele- gate to the Whig national convention at Balti- more, and there urged tlie nomination of Daniel Webster for the presidency. He was a delegate to the state convention of 1853, and took an important part in revising the constitution of Massachusetts. In 1856 he supported the Demo- cratic national ticket, and made some speeches in the interest of Buchanan and Breckinridge. Busy as was his life he yet devoted a portion of each day to the study of literature, history, and philosophy, and it was this habit, together with his tenacious memory, which made him one of the most scholarly of public men. He was especially fond of Greek literature, and was only restrained from writing a history of Greece by seeing the early volume of Grote's great work. He contemplated a visit to Europe in 1859, and had proceeded as far as Halifax when his health failed so utterly that his son, who accompanied him, decided to return home, and while resting at the lodgings he had temporarily taken he died suddenly. Among his most famous speeches will always be named : the eulogy on President Har- rison (1841) ; an address upon the anniversary of the landing of the pilgrims (1843) ; a eulogy on Daniel Webstei (1853) ; an address at the dedica- tion of the Peabody institution in Danvers (1854) ; an oration before the young men's Democratic

club of Boston (1858) ; two addresses before the law -school at Cambridge, Mass., and two lectures before the Mercantile library association of Bos- ton ; but no adequate idea of his wonderful ora- tory can be obtained from reading his speeches. His works, with a memoir, published in two vol- umes, was prepared by Samuel Gilman Brown (1862). He died in Halifax, N. S., July 13, 1859.

CHOATE, Rufus, .soldier, was born in Boston, Mass., May 14, 1834; son of Rufus and Helen (Olcott) Choate. He was graduated at Amherst in 1855, was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1858, and practised his profession until the open- ing of the civil war. He joined the 2d Massachu- setts regiment as 2d lieutenant, was present at Winchester, Cedar Mountain and Antietam. He was promoted to a captaincy, and in the autumn of 1862 was compelled to resign because of ill- health. He died in Dorchester, Mass., Jan. 15, 1866.

CHOATE, William Gardner, jurist, was born at Salem, Mass. , Aug. 30, 1830 ; son of George and Margaret Manning (Hodges) Choate, and brother of Joseph Hodges Choate. He was graduated at Harvard college in 1852, and from the Harvard law school in 1854. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1855, and practised in Dan- vers and Salem, Mass. In 1856 he went to New York and became a partner in the law fii-m of Prichard, Choate & Smith. In 1878 he was ap- pointed by President Hayes district judge for the southern district of New York, and was sworn in by his predecessor, the Hon. Samuel Blatch- ford, who had been appointed circuit judge, and to whom he in turn administered the oath of office. His written opinions while in this office are to be found in the 10th vol. of " Benedict's Admiralty Reports," in the 17th, 18th and 19th vols, of Bankruptcy Register, and in the first nine volumes of the Federal Reports. He re- signed his judgeship in 1881, and resumed prac- tice as a member of the firm of Shipman, Barlow, Laroque and Choate. He served as president of Harvard club from 1872 to 1874. In 1860 Harvard college conferred upon him the degree of A.M.

CHOULES, John Overton, clergyman, was born in Bristol, England, Feb. 5, 1801; of parents who were Wesleyans, and who died when he was twelve years old. He was educated by an uncle, a wealthy merchant; entered the Baptist theo- logical college at Bristol in 1822, and settled in America in 1824, where he was principal of an academy at Red Hook, N. Y., and supplied sev- eral Baptist churches in the vicinity. He was ordained pastor of the Second Baptist church in Newport, R. I., Sept. 27, 1827. He became pas- tor of the First Baptist church in New Bedford, Mass., in 1833; of the church at Buffalo, N. Y., 1836 ; of the Sixth street church. New York city,