Charles Doe (1830 - 1896)
Born at Derry (NH); died at Rollinsford (NH).
Lawyer, jurist.
Portrait by Germaine G. Glidden, n.d.
Presented to the State, date unknown.

Charles Doe served thirty-five years on New Hampshire's highest court.

Doe transferred from Harvard College to Dartmouth College, entering Dartmouth as a sophomore in 1846 and graduating in 1849. He studied law and was admitted to the New Hampshire Bar in 1852. He commenced a law practice at Dover (NH), served as Solicitor for Strafford County, and was assistant clerk to the New Hampshire State Senate (1853/4).

Doe was appointed an associate justice to the New Hampshire Supreme Judicial Court in 1859. He served with this court until 1874, when this court was disbanded, and he was in private practice during 1874/5. The 1876 State Constitutional Convention created a new high court for the State of New Hampshire, and on July 22, 1876 Doe was named Chief Justice for the new State Supreme Court. He served in this position until his death in 1896.

Over his thirty-five years on the highest court in New Hampshire Doe had a substantial impact on the laws of the state. Supreme Court Justice Lewis W. Clark wrote of Doe:

In length of service, and in the amount of judicial labor, he [Doe] has had no superior in this state, and he has wrought himself into its judicial history and become a part of it. He has made greater changes in the practical administration of the law than any judge who preceded him.....["In Memoriam Charles Doe," The Publications of the Southern New Hampshire Bar Association, vol. II (1899), pp. 79 - 106.]

References: John P. Reid, Chief Justice: The Judicial World of Charles Doe (1967); Who Was Who in America, 1607 - 1896 (1963); "In Memoriam Charles Doe" [listed above].