Benjamin Hallett

February 2, 1797 (age 65)

Osterville, Massachusetts, United States

Benjamin Hallett practised law intermittently throughout his life and was noted for a readiness to champion cases in which he could argue his favorite theory of the rights of individuals against the encroachments of governments. An avid interest in politics prevented him, however, from devoting the time and study to law necessary to win him eminence at the bar. Hallett became a political editor and a party manager, prominent in the press and omnipresent on committees, a factor ever to be felt in shaping his party’s course. Hallett was editor of the Providence Journal from 1821 to 1828, he then edited the Daily Advertiser, in 1829 supporting a movement for free suffrage. Hallett was called to Boston in 1831 to edit the Antimasonic Boston Daily Advocate. He readily established himself as the leader of radical Antimasonry in Massachusetts, and when that cause seemed ready for its demise he deliberately and skilfully steered a goodly portion of his party into the ranks of Jacksonian Democracy. For a while opposition to banks and all monopoly became his creed and he fought along these lines with the zeal characteristic of him. When the political scene shifted again, however, and the annexation of Texas became a major issue, Hallett, following the trend within his party, deserted the Van Burenites and in 1838 merged his Advocate with the Boston Post, organ of his erstwhile rivals. Thereafter party control rather than his earlier liberalism seemed to concern him. The year 1848 found him a “Hunker. ” The fifties saw him a “Doughface” steering by Southern charts. He was one of the first to support Pierce in 1852 and was rewarded by appointment as district attorney of Boston. He supported Buchanan in 1856 and wrote the Cincinnati platform. In 1860 he was ready to make further concessions to the Southern wing of the party and vigorously supported Breckinridge in the ensuing campaign. He died in September 1862 as the Civil War was demonstrating the irony of his career. Hallett published a number of his legal arguments in pamphlet form, most notable among them being The Rights of the Marshpee Indians (1834) and The Right of the People to Establish Forms of Government (1848), his defense of the legality of the Dorr government in the case of Luther vs. Borden. He also published as pamphlets a number of speeches, letters on politics, and Fourth of July orations.

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Works

book

The Remedy for Kansas. Equality of all the states in all the territories

(This volume is produced from digital images from the Corn...)

Speech of the Hon. B.F. Hallett, of Mass., at the Democratic Ratification Meeting in Waltham, Mass., Friday evening, November 2, 1855

(This reproduction was printed from a digital file created...)

The Right of the People to Establish Forms of Government: Mr. Hallett's Argument in the Rhode Island Causes, Before the Supreme Court of the United States, January 1848 (Classic Reprint)

(Present Chief Justice Taney, and Justices Wayne, Mc Lean,...)

Trial of Rev. Mr. Avery: A Full Report of the Trial of Ephraim K. Avery, Charged with the Murder of Sarah Maria Cornell : Before the Supreme Court of ... Term in Newport, Held in May, 1833 ...

(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

An oration delivered July 4th, 1836, at Palmer, in Hampden County, Massachusetts, by request of a committee of Democratic citizens of sixteen towns ... in the Eighth congressional district.

The identity of the old Hartford convention Federalists with the modern Whig, Harrison party

(This reproduction was printed from a digital file created...)

An Oration Before the Democratic Citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, at Millbury, July 4, 1839

(Leopold is delighted to publish this classic book as part...)

Benjamin Franklin Hallett

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editor lawyer politician

Background

Benjamin Hallett was born on December 2, 1797, in Osterville, Massachusetts, United States, the son of Benjamin Hallett and Abigail (Lovell) Hallett.

Education

The evangelical piety of his father, a shipmaster remembered for his sponsoring of the Bethel movement among sailors, was probably the decisive factor in the choice of Brown University, then a center of religious orthodoxy and political liberalism, as the place for young Hallett’s education. He graduated in 1816 with the stamp of a reformer on him, remained in Providence studying law, and was admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1819.

Career

Benjamin Hallett practised law intermittently throughout his life and was noted for a readiness to champion cases in which he could argue his favorite theory of the rights of individuals against the encroachments of governments.

An avid interest in politics prevented him, however, from devoting the time and study to law necessary to win him eminence at the bar. Hallett became a political editor and a party manager, prominent in the press and omnipresent on committees, a factor ever to be felt in shaping his party’s course.

Hallett was editor of the Providence Journal from 1821 to 1828, he then edited the Daily Advertiser, in 1829 supporting a movement for free suffrage.

Hallett was called to Boston in 1831 to edit the Antimasonic Boston Daily Advocate. He readily established himself as the leader of radical Antimasonry in Massachusetts, and when that cause seemed ready for its demise he deliberately and skilfully steered a goodly portion of his party into the ranks of Jacksonian Democracy. For a while opposition to banks and all monopoly became his creed and he fought along these lines with the zeal characteristic of him.

When the political scene shifted again, however, and the annexation of Texas became a major issue, Hallett, following the trend within his party, deserted the Van Burenites and in 1838 merged his Advocate with the Boston Post, organ of his erstwhile rivals. Thereafter party control rather than his earlier liberalism seemed to concern him. The year 1848 found him a “Hunker. ” The fifties saw him a “Doughface” steering by Southern charts. He was one of the first to support Pierce in 1852 and was rewarded by appointment as district attorney of Boston. He supported Buchanan in 1856 and wrote the Cincinnati platform. In 1860 he was ready to make further concessions to the Southern wing of the party and vigorously supported Breckinridge in the ensuing campaign. He died in September 1862 as the Civil War was demonstrating the irony of his career.

Hallett published a number of his legal arguments in pamphlet form, most notable among them being The Rights of the Marshpee Indians (1834) and The Right of the People to Establish Forms of Government (1848), his defense of the legality of the Dorr government in the case of Luther vs. Borden. He also published as pamphlets a number of speeches, letters on politics, and Fourth of July orations.

Achievements

Benjamin Hallett is most notable as the first chairman of the Democratic National Committee. As editor of the Providence Journal, he is credited with bringing about the reform of the state supreme court.

Works

The Remedy for Kansas. Equality of all the states in all the territories The Remedy for Kansas. Equality of all the states in all the territories

Speech of the Hon. B.F. Hallett, of Mass., at the Democratic Ratification Meeting in Waltham, Mass., Friday evening, November 2, 1855 Speech of the Hon. B.F. Hallett, of Mass., at the Democratic Ratification Meeting in Waltham, Mass., Friday evening, November 2, 1855

$The Right of the People to Establish Forms of Government: Mr. Hallett\'s Argument in the Rhode Island Causes, Before the Supreme Court of the United States, January 1848 (Classic Reprint) The Right of the People to Establish Forms of Government: Mr. Hallett\'s Argument in the Rhode Island Causes, Before the Supreme Court of the United States, January 1848 (Classic Reprint)$ Trial of Rev. Mr. Avery: A Full Report of the Trial of Ephraim K. Avery, Charged with the Murder of Sarah Maria Cornell : Before the Supreme Court of ... Term in Newport, Held in May, 1833 ... Trial of Rev. Mr. Avery: A Full Report of the Trial of Ephraim K. Avery, Charged with the Murder of Sarah Maria Cornell : Before the Supreme Court of ... Term in Newport, Held in May, 1833 ...

Trial of Rev. Mr. Avery: A Full Report of the Trial of Ephraim K. Avery, Charged with the Murder of Sarah Maria Cornell : Before the Supreme Court of ... Term in Newport, Held in May, 1833 ... Trial of Rev. Mr. Avery: A Full Report of the Trial of Ephraim K. Avery, Charged with the Murder of Sarah Maria Cornell : Before the Supreme Court of ... Term in Newport, Held in May, 1833 ...

An oration delivered July 4th, 1836, at Palmer, in Hampden County, Massachusetts, by request of a committee of Democratic citizens of sixteen towns ... in the Eighth congressional district. An oration delivered July 4th, 1836, at Palmer, in Hampden County, Massachusetts, by request of a committee of Democratic citizens of sixteen towns ... in the Eighth congressional district.

The identity of the old Hartford convention Federalists with the modern Whig, Harrison party The identity of the old Hartford convention Federalists with the modern Whig, Harrison party

An Oration Before the Democratic Citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, at Millbury, July 4, 1839 An Oration Before the Democratic Citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, at Millbury, July 4, 1839

book
- Speech of the Hon. B.F. Hallett, of Mass., at the Democratic Ratification Meeting in Waltham, Mass., Friday evening, November 2, 1855
  (This reproduction was printed from a digital file created...)
- The identity of the old Hartford convention Federalists with the modern Whig, Harrison party
  (This reproduction was printed from a digital file created...)
- Trial of Rev. Mr. Avery: A Full Report of the Trial of Ephraim K. Avery, Charged with the Murder of Sarah Maria Cornell : Before the Supreme Court of ... Term in Newport, Held in May, 1833 ...
  (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
- An Oration Before the Democratic Citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, at Millbury, July 4, 1839
  (Leopold is delighted to publish this classic book as part...)
- The Remedy for Kansas. Equality of all the states in all the territories
  (This volume is produced from digital images from the Corn...)
- The Right of the People to Establish Forms of Government: Mr. Hallett's Argument in the Rhode Island Causes, Before the Supreme Court of the United States, January 1848 (Classic Reprint)
  (Present Chief Justice Taney, and Justices Wayne, Mc Lean,...)
- An oration delivered July 4th, 1836, at Palmer, in Hampden County, Massachusetts, by request of a committee of Democratic citizens of sixteen towns ... in the Eighth congressional district.

Connections

On June 25, 1822, Benjamin Hallett married Laura Larned of Providence.

Father:: Benjamin Hallett
Mother:: Abigail (Lovell) Hallett
Spouse:: Laura (Larned) Hallett
Son:: Henry L. Hallett

References

Bench and Bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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book

The Remedy for Kansas. Equality of all the states in all the territories

Speech of the Hon. B.F. Hallett, of Mass., at the Democratic Ratification Meeting in Waltham, Mass., Friday evening, November 2, 1855

The Right of the People to Establish Forms of Government: Mr. Hallett's Argument in the Rhode Island Causes, Before the Supreme Court of the United States, January 1848 (Classic Reprint)

Trial of Rev. Mr. Avery: A Full Report of the Trial of Ephraim K. Avery, Charged with the Murder of Sarah Maria Cornell : Before the Supreme Court of ... Term in Newport, Held in May, 1833 ...

An oration delivered July 4th, 1836, at Palmer, in Hampden County, Massachusetts, by request of a committee of Democratic citizens of sixteen towns ... in the Eighth congressional district.

The identity of the old Hartford convention Federalists with the modern Whig, Harrison party

An Oration Before the Democratic Citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, at Millbury, July 4, 1839

Benjamin Franklin Hallett

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