History of Newington, (Rockingham County) New Hampshire United States of America

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Biographies:

John Pickering - A Biography

John Pickering, jurist, was born at Newington, N.H., Sept. 22, 1737; son of Joshua and Mary Pickering; grandson of Thomas and Mary (Gee) Pickerin, and great-grandson of John Pickerin, a native of England, who was in Portsmouth, N.H., as early as 1633. John Pickering was graduated from Harvard, A.B., 1761, A.M., 1764, and opened a law office at Greenland, N.H., removing shortly afterward to Portsmouth. He was married to Abigail Sheafe. He was a member of the state constitutional convention in 1784, and in 1787 was elected a member of the Federal constitutional convention, but declined to serve. He was a state senator; judge of the supreme court of New Hampshire, 1790-95, serving as chief justice in 1795, and judge of the U.S. district court for New Hampshire, 1795-1804. He was impeached in 1803, and removed from office by a party vote, the charge being drunkenness and profanity on the bench, and the defence before the senate being insanity. He was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by Dartmouth in 1792. He died in Portsmouth, N.H., April 11, 1805.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor