As debtors and
witnesses were examined, I may have gained something in practice. The
Insolvent Law, amended, to be sure, has remained on the statute books
of Massachusetts to this day, and the United States Bankrupt Law was
modeled upon it. Indeed, there can never by any wide departure from
the provisions of that statute, and from its principles no departure
whatever can be made.
A leading man, and a character in the town, was Thomas A. Staples. He
was a native of the neighboring town of Shirley. He was a man of large
size, handsome figure, resolute in his purposes, and vindictive in his
enmities. His chief business was that of stage proprietor, and mail
contractor. He was always in debt, and tardy, of course, in his
payments. He was involved in lawsuits, and many of his debts were paid
upon executions. His mail contracts were so large that he sublet many
of the routes, and he was always in debt to sub-contractors. He had a
stage office in Boston for a time at the Hanover House, and after that
at No. 9 Court Street. His office was the headquarters of country
traders and others who patronized his lines of stages. In the year
1838 or later, I was in his office when Alvin Adams, the founder of the
Adams Express Company, made his first trip to New York as an express
messenger. Staples afterward stated in conversation that Adams had but
one parcel, and that he loaned him five dollars to meet his expenses.
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