Benjamin Robbins Curtis.

Benjamin Robbins Curtis.

Monuments -- Watertown -- Massachusetts.; Historical societies -- Massachusetts -- Watertown.; Historic sites -- Watertown -- Massachusetts.; Memorials -- Watertown -- Massachusetts.; Carnes, William W. -- 1905-1991; Scott, Dred --1795-1858.; Supreme Court of the United States.; Johnson, Andrew -- 1801-1875.;

Marker near Watertown Square on MDC property, inscribed, "Across the way was the birthplace of Benjamin Robbins Curtis 1809 -- 1874, son of a New England Shipmaster and a Watertown mother. He was a strong influence in protecting American ideas of Constitutional government in time of intense political excitement. His power of clear statement made him the leading lawyer of his day. As a judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, in 1857, he wrote the famous dissenting opinion in the Dred Scott Case, a great factor in clearing Northern sentiment on the slavery issue. By his argument as Senior Counsel for President Johnson in the impeachment proceeding before the Senate in 1868, he defeated impeachment and steadied the government of the United States." Plaque stolen in 2010 and was replaced in granite in 2012. Photo by W.W. Carnes.

Carnes, William W.

2010 pre

Watertown Free Public Library

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