George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives

John Calvin Dodge papers,
1831-1911 (bulk 1843-1896)

2 linear feet.

Catalog Number: M46

Agency History / Biographical Note:
John Calvin Dodge, son of Isaac and Rachel (Ring) Dodge, was born on November 6, 1810, in Newcastle, Maine. The youngest of eight children, he graduated from Bowdoin in 1834, taking high rank in his class. He was not permitted to participate in active exercise with his classmates, however, due to an illness falsely diagnosed as an "organic disease of the heart."

After graduation Dodge taught school in Eastport, Maine (1834-1836), after which he relocated to Andover, Massachusetts, to work as a civil engineer for the Boston and Maine Railroad. In 1837, he entered the office of the Honorable Peleg Sprague, Judge of U.S. District Court, and studied law.

Dodge opened his first law office in Nobleboro, Maine (1839-1842), later returning to Massachusetts to practice in Boston (1842-1885). His speciality was representing shipmasters, and he came to rank among the foremost admiralty lawyers in the country. Dodge was also active in the municipal affairs of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was prominent in the formation of the Freedom Soil Party. He returned to the Whig Party, however, when the Freedom Soil Party coalesced with the Democratic Party.

Dodge served in the Massachusetts Legislature in 1857 and in the State Senate in 1862, and he joined the Cambridge Reserve Guards during the Civil War. Dodge received an LL.D. (honorary Doctor of Laws) from Bowdoin in 1875, and was a member of the Board of Overseers from 1872-88.

He married Lucy Sherman of Edgecomb, Maine, on May 15, 1843; they had three sons, all members of the law firm of John C. Dodge & Sons of Boston. He died on July 17, 1890 at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Scope and Content:
The collection contains documentation of 28 maritime cases (1858-1911), handled by Dodge. Also included are legal correspondence (1831-1907; personal correspondence (1827-1880); autobiographical material (1880); images (1800-1854); and ephemera (1795-1899).

Cite as: John Calvin Dodge Papers, George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library.
Access Restrictions: None.