Background
Edward Dexter Sohier was the son of William Davies and Elizabeth Amory (Dexter) Sohier and was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 24, 1810.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Edward Sohier
Edit ProfileEducation
He graduated at Harvard in 1829 and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in October, 1832.
Career
He is best known for being the junior counsel with Pliny T. Merrick in the Parkman–Webster murder case (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, 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 as
..striking.
Of medium build, his gray moustache and long sideburns framed his semi-bald, handsome head 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 or commercial lawyer, a fiduciary rather than a criminal defense lawyer
Achievements
Views
lieutenant is unusual that in 1850 he defended in a trial which at that time was the most sensational murder trial in America"s history.
