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Cane

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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This cane was presented to one of Greenfield, Massachusetts', longest-serving lawyers on his retirement in 1903. Samuel Lamb was born in Guilford, Vermont, in October, 1821, the son of a Baptist minister and farmer. He was a good student, and taught school for four years after completing his own formal education. In 1843, Lamb came to Greenfield and began reading law in the offices of Whiting Griswold. Two years later, Lamb began writing for one of the local newspapers, the Franklin Democrat. In 1848, he became editor and proprietor. Lamb was typical of early lawyers in that he became a lawyer without going to college. Throughout the 1700s and 1800s lawyers in training read law in an established law office for several years. At some point, they were then given an oral examination by other lawyers, who would then either accept or reject their application "to the bar." Lamb passed the bar in 1850. He practiced in Greenfield for more than fifty years. A pillar of the community, he was involved in a number of other business and service interests, including serving as president of the Franklin Savings Institution. Much beloved in the town, he died in 1908.

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