Edward Dexter Sohier (1810–1888) was a United States lawyer, best remembered for defending

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 Bo ...

in a murder trial in 1850.

Early days

Edward Dexter Sohier was the son of William Davies and Elizabeth Amory (Dexter) Sohier and was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, on April 24, 1810. He graduated at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1829 and was admitted to the

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

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. Early life and education Born in Woodford, Essex, England, Smith was the son of merchant Robert Smith (1739–1827) and Maria Olier (1750–1801), ...

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 Pliny T. Merrick (August 2, 1794 – January 31, 1867) was an American attorney and politician from Massachusetts. He served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Early life Merrick was born in Brookfield, Ma ...

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 Webster, a lecturer at Harvard Medical College; Webster was convicted of Parkman's murder and hange ...

(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 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 in Bost ...

, 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: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

lawyer, a fiduciary rather than a

criminal defense lawyer A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ...

. 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