Joshua Atherton
Joshua Atherton (June 20, 1737 – April 3, 1809), was a lawyer and early anti-slavery campaigner in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He served as Attorney General of New Hampshire. In later years he was also commissioner for the United States direct tax. Early life and education He was the son of Col. Peter Atherton and Experience Wright. He was named after his grandfather; Joshua Atherton (b. May 13, 1656, d. 1721) a soldier in King Philip's War, under Captain Daniel Henchman (1623-1685) of Boston, who settled at Still River, Massachusetts in 1687, then part of Lancaster, Massachusetts and became a farmer and a tanner. His father was a blacksmith by trade, a farmer, magistrate and politician. Atherton attended local schools in Worcester County, Massachusetts and was tutored by the clergy. He was brought up to be farmer and was expected to follow his father's footsteps and enter the lucrative blacksmithing trade. However Atherton was a sickly boy and was not considered suited to heavy labor. Instead he sought an education, tutored younger children in order to pay towards college, running a local school in order to save for the tuition fees. At the age of 21, Atherton went on to study law under James Putnam at Harvard College, graduating in 1762, alongside Francis Dana and Elbridge Gerry. His younger brother Israel (1741-1822), did not share his passion for politics, choosing to study medicine at Harvard College and graduated that same year. Career After completing his term in the chambers of James Putnam, Atherton, after being admitted to the bar in Worcester, Massachusetts opened his first law practice in Petersham, Massachusetts, in 1765. Atherton was also a teacher at the time. Atherton then decided to move to the Province of New Hampshire, moving to Litchfield, New Hampshire, then settled in Merrimack where he established a law practice from 1765 to 1773. Under his tutelage was William Gordon, his future son in law, William Coleman and William Plumer. He moved to Amherst, became a farmer and was elected as the Register of Probate in Hillsborough County in 1773. The onset of the American Revolution Atherton was victimized for his loyalist sympathies, however minor. He had been known for hosting a prominent Loyalists and often found an angry mob at his doorstep. His memoirs reveal that he did not initially believe the patriotic cause could ever succeed. He had established strong friendships with British officials. As a law man, he sympathetic to the Tory cause, and maintaining a status quo. He witnessed what he perceived to be treasonous acts, and chose not to participate in patriotic plans for fear of a breakdown in the rule of law. It was a time when those like Atherton, with some loyalist sympathies, had to decide whether to stay or leave the town. Many of his peers had to make hard choices. He likely choose to stay for economic reasons. In doing so, his daily life was subject to scrutiny and often he expressed safety concerns with