Doe, Charles, 1830-1896

Charles Doe was a justice on the New Hampshire Supreme Court from 1859 to 1874 and served as the chief justice from 1876 to his death in 1896. Born in Derry, N.H. in 1830, he attended prep schools, Harvard College circa 1844-45, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1849. He then attended Harvard Law School and served as an assistant senate clerk, county solicitor, and practiced law for five years before being appointed to the high court. During his time there Doe was known as a reformer who helped develop the Durham Rule for criminal insanity, allowed women in the bar, and worked against monopolistic railroads and dubious insurance companies. He also championed the development of more user-friendly docket books and worked to remove many of the ceremonial accouterments of his post.