Three days following all the activity in the Dover Court, on June 2, there was a lengthy article in Foster’s announcing the retirement of Judge George Frost, who would reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 (still the standard for N.H. judges) two days hence, on Thursday the 4th, after having served in that position in excess of 31 years. His realm had been designated as a “police court” until July 1, 1913, when legislation was passed creating a new system of “district” courts. Technically, that meant that Frost had lost his job, but he was immediately reappointed by the incumbent Governor, giving him one more year to serve on the bench.

The article went on to detail Frost’s long career, which we’ve covered in the past: member of the Ffrost (two “fs”) family of Durham — their home still in existence, being the location of the Three Chimneys Inn. Frost graduated from Harvard Law and intended to remain in Massachusetts, where he obtained employment and, after several years, received an appointment as a District Court judge, a position he held for several years. A serious health problem intervened, however, and he returned to Dover to recover and to be close to his and his wife’s family. At some point, he was able to resume a law practice locally and then received his appointment as Chief Judge of the Dover court. The new judge would be James McCabe, who had been serving for many years as the Clerk of the Court, Judge Frost’s right-hand man, so fully conversant with the past practices of his predecessor.

Also on the 2nd was a story out of the Somersworth Court involving a resident of that City, but the events — the rather bizarre and sad events — all occurred in Dover, involving local law enforcement and the local courts.

On May 17, two weeks previous, Jeremy O’Clair had been arraigned in the Somersworth court on a charge that he had failed to support his family, then a criminal offense. Unable to pay the amount of the bail imposed following a plea of not guilty he was committed to jail to await a hearing on the merits, even though it was apparent that he was suffering from some illness. It would appear that he was confined at the County Farm, because a week or so later the Sheriff made a call to Dover’s City Physician, John O’Doherty, who contacted the County Solicitor, who was then George T. Hughes, who filed a petition with Judge Robert Pike of the Superior Court (a Dover resident) seeking an order allowing the release of O’Clair from custody. Judge Pike approved the request and O’Clair was released on June 1. He was provided with 25 cents, which at the time would have been the streetcar fare from Dover back to Somersworth, but beyond that, he was left to his own devices on how to get from the Farm to a proper streetcar stop.

Some time after his departure that afternoon, he was discovered collapsed somewhere along the route in what was described as “a critical condition”. Dover’s Chief of Police Clark was notified. He attempted to contact a County Commissioner to arrange a transfer to the hospital, but in the meantime, someone had provided a “hayrack” and brought O’Clair to the Dover PD. From there, a call was made to a local physician, but by the time of his arrival, O’Clair was deemed “beyond all medical aid”. Cause of death was determined to be tuberculosis.

It’s a story that is not unfamiliar over the years regarding failures of the judicial system, often even when everyone concerned is acting in good faith and with the best of intentions. It has some relevance to current events as the State of N.H. is still struggling to strike a proper balance regarding the use of bail in criminal proceedings. In this case, however, chances are that O’Clair’s inability to support his family was connected to his illness, probably not employable, and obviously, no one came forward to act as surety on his behalf. Was bail even appropriate in this situation? As readers of these stories have seen (and will continue to see), bail was an almost automatic response in every case before the police/district courts where there was a plea of not guilty or a case that was to be bound over to the Grand Jury. In this case, it became obvious that O’Clair was seriously ill, and to their credit, the officials at the County level responded, to a point, by giving him his freedom but leaving him to make his own way home following his release. Not a happy ending. (Stay tuned for more on the Carson/Connors story from Part 1….)