Overview
Court documents, briefs, and manuscripts pertaining to various cases in Massachusetts Superior and Supreme Judicial Courts.
Dates
- Creation: 1876 - 1897
Conditions Governing Access
Access to these papers is governed by the rules and regulations of the Harvard Law School Library. This collection is open to the public, but is housed off-site at Harvard Depository and requires 2 business-day advance notice for retrieval. Consult the Special Collections staff for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
The Harvard Law School Library holds copyright on some, but not all, of the material in our collections. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be directed to the Special Collections staff. Researchers who obtain permission to publish from the Harvard Law School Library are also responsible for identifying and contacting the persons or organizations who hold copyright.
Extent
1 collection (2 Paige boxes; 8 vol.)The collection consists of eight volumes of briefs, court documents, and inlaid manuscripts from attorney William A. Gaston's practice in the Boston firm of Gaston and Whitney.
Most documents pertain to cases in the Massachusetts Superior Court and the Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth. The cases span across the breadth of Gaston's general practice and include controversies in tort, contract, and bankruptcy law in the Boston area.
Historical/Biographical Information
Gaston, William Alexander
b. May 1, 1859, Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts
Son of William Gaston [(1820-1894): Democratic mayor of Boston (1871-72) and governor of Massachusetts (1875-76)]
A.B., Harvard University, 1880
Studied law at Harvard Law School (class of 1882, no degree) and at his father's Boston firm of Gaston & Whitney, a law office in civil and general practice "too well known to need any special description" ( Bench and Bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1895 ed.)
Admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1883
Partner, Gaston & Whitney, 1883
Assistant adjutant-general for Governor Russell
Director, Manufacturers' National Bank
m. Mary D. Lockwood, Apr. 9, 1892
Reorganized firm as Gaston & Snow (later Gaston, Snow, Saltonstall & Hunt), c. 1895
Failed run for governor of Massachusetts, 1903
Author, The Problems of Peace; A Study of the Essential Needs of Massachusetts During the Reconstruction Period, ca. 1918.
Failed run for U.S. Senate, 1922
d. July 17, 1927, Barre, Worcester County Massachusetts,
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquired by the Harvard Law Library October 7, 1927 in a gift of nine volumes from Gaston, Snow, Saltonstall and Hunt.
Processing Information
Processed by Jennifer Carter, 2004.
Topical
Subject
- Massachusetts. Supreme Judicial Court (Organization)
- Title
- Gaston, William Alexander. Briefs, 1876-1897. Finding Aid
- Author
- Harvard Law School LibraryCambridge, MA 02138
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- law00149
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard Law School Library, Historical & Special Collections Repository
Harvard Law School Library's Historical & Special Collections (HSC) collects, preserves, and makes available research materials for the study of the law and legal history. HSC holds over 8,000 linear feet of manuscripts, over 100,000 rare books, and more than 70,000 visual images.
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