Nathan A. Tufts

Nathan A. Tufts (April 15, 1879 – November 8, 1952) was an American attorney and politician who served as a District Attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts from 1917 to 1921. He was removed from office and disbarred for misconduct in office.

Nathan A. Tufts
District Attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts
In office
1917–1921
Preceded byWilliam J. Corcoran
Succeeded byEndicott Peabody Saltonstall
Member of the Massachusetts Senate for the 5th Middlesex District
In office
1915–1916
Preceded byGeorge P. Drury
Succeeded byCharles Sumner Smith
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office
1910–1914
Personal details
BornApril 15, 1879
Fitchburg, Massachusetts
DiedNovember 8, 1952 (aged 73)
Pitman, New Jersey
Political partyRepublican
Alma materBrown University
Boston University Law School
OccupationLawyer
Politician
Hotel Manager

Early life

Tufts was born on April 15, 1879 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. He graduated from Brown University in 1900 and Boston University Law School in 1903.[1] He was admitted to the bar in 1903 and opened a law office in Waltham, Massachusetts.[2]

Tufts was a noted football player at Fitchburg High School and Brown.[2] From 1907 to 1909 he was the head football coach at Waltham High School.[3][4] He was replaced in 1910 by the school's athletic director, Harry A. Dame.[5] Tufts also served for many years as a referee for college football games.[6]

In 1909 he served as legal counsel for Hattie Le Blanc, a 16-year-old Acadian maid from West Arichat, Nova Scotia accused of murdering her employer, Clarence F. Glover of East Cambridge. Le Blanc was found not guilty.[7][8]

Political career

Tufts began his political career in 1907 as a member of the Waltham Board of Alderman. From 1910 to 1914 he was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he served as chairman of the committees on engrossed bills and legal affairs. From 1915 to 1916 he represented the Fifth Middlesex District in the Massachusetts Senate. He served as chairman of the Senate taxation committee and the special legislative taxation committee.[1]

In 1916, Tufts was elected District Attorney for Middlesex County, Massachusetts. During his tenure as DA, Tufts personally obtained evidence that led to the conviction of the unsolved murder of a child. He also obtained the convictions of Francisco Feci for the murder of Louis Fred Soulia, Frank S. Ramey for the assault of Mildred Wanamaker, and Charles S. Whittemore, Louis "Poco" Bennett, and Charles Mortalli for their roles in the armed robbery of the Everett General Electric Plant's payroll. During World War I he was active in seizing Communist literature. He was reelected in 1919.[2]

Removal from office

On January 19, 1921, Massachusetts Attorney General J. Weston Allen released a report accusing Tufts of falsely reporting the city of escaped murder Herman L. Barney's surrender because Barney wanted to conceal this information so that those who had aided him while he was in hiding could not be prosecuted. Tufts, Allen alleged, agreed to this to further his own political career, which included a possible campaign for Governor of Massachusetts.[9] He later accused Tufts and attorneys Daniel H. Coakley and William J. Corcoran of extorting money from Paramount Studio executives (including Adolph Zukor, Jesse L. Lasky, and Hiram Abrams) who attended a party at Mishawum Manor, a Woburn, Massachusetts brothel.[10][11] On May 26, Allen petitioned the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court for Tufts' removal.[12] He accused Tufts of 32 allegations of malfensance, misfeasance, and nonfensance.[13] It was the first time since 1861 (when Suffolk County District Attorney George W. Cooley was committed to an asylum) that the Attorney General had peitioned for the removal of a district attorney from office.[14] Tufts hired Melvin Johnson to serve as his counsel during the proccedings. Tufts accused Allen of political animosity over his support for another candidate in the previous election and his opposition to legislation supported by Allen.[15] He claimed that the large amount of money he deposited in his bank around the time of the alleged extortation was a gift from his dying father.[16] On October 1, 1921, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found Tufts guilty of misconduct or breach of duty in the Barney, Mishawum Manor, and a number of other cases and removed him from office.[17] He received notice of the court's decision while refereeing a football game between Princeton and Swarthmore College.[18] On June 19, 1922 he was disbarred.[19]

Later life

Following his disbarment, Tufts moved to New York City. In 1932 he entered the hotel business. At various times he managed the Hotel Taft, Hotel Victoria, and the George Washington Hotel. He retired in December 1951 and died on November 8, 1952 at his home in Pitman, New Jersey.[2][20]

References
  1. A Souvenir of Massachusetts Legislators 1916
  2. "Tufts, 73, Dies; Ousted Lawyer, District Attorney". The Boston Daily Globe. November 10, 1952.
  3. "Squad is Out for Practice". The Boston Daily Globe. September 11, 1907.
  4. "Accepts Waltham Bearth". The Boston Daily Globe. August 4, 1909.
  5. "School Football Season to be Ushered in Saturday". The Boston Daily Globe. September 12, 1910.
  6. "Yale Names Officials". The New York Times. September 26, 1916.
  7. "Held for Glover Murder". The New York Times. December 9, 1909.
  8. Carberry, John W. (December 15, 1910). "Hattie Le Blanc Found Not Guilty". The Boston Daily Globe.
  9. "Allen Denounces Tufts for Conduct in Barney Case". The Boston Daily Globe. January 20, 1921.
  10. O'Neill, Gerald (2012). Rogues and Redeemers: When Politics Was King in Irish Boston. Crown/Archetype. pp. 100–113.
  11. "Accused in Woburn Case". The New York Times. November 8, 1921.
  12. "Allen Asks That Court Oust Tufts". The Boston Daily Globe. May 24, 1921.
  13. "Tufts' Defense Will Be "Political Animosity"". The Boston Daily Globe. May 28, 1921.
  14. Thayer, Lucien H. (July 10, 1921). "Supreme Court Itself Will Be the Jury in Unique Tufts Case". The Boston Daily Globe.
  15. "Tufts to Make Bitter Fight". The Boston Daily Globe. May 28, 1921.
  16. "Tufts' Mother Saw Father Give Money". The Boston Daily Globe. August 10, 1921.
  17. "Supeme Court Removes Tufts". The Boston Daily Globe. October 2, 1921.
  18. Miller, Neil (1910). Banned in Boston: The Watch and Ward Society's Crusade against Books, Burlesque, and the Social Evil. Beacon Press. pp. 114–118.
  19. "Nathan A. Tufts is Disbarred". The Boston Daily Globe. June 20, 1922.
  20. "Nathan A. Tufts". The New York Times. November 10, 1952.
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