The John A. Andrew House on Depot Street in South Windham. Haley Pal / For Lakes Region Weekly

These days if you are in need of legal services, you can pick up your phone and call the law offices of Joe Bornstein, or maybe you’d try calling “The Twos.” But back in Windham’s earliest days, it was not that easy to find an attorney at law.

The earliest residents of Windham would have probably had to make a trip to Portland (known as Falmouth at the time) to draw up a contract, start a business or sell their land.

It wasn’t until 1803 that Windham had its first lawyer come to town. His name was Joseph Pope. He arrived in Windham after graduating from Dartmouth College in 1798 and apprenticing with the law firm Pliny Merrick of Brookfield, Massachusetts. He opened an office for the practice of law on Windham Hill in 1803, and was admitted to the Cumberland bar in 1804. His Windham practice was short-lived, however. He moved to Portland in 1805, and then started a practice there.

Haley Pal, a Windham resident and active member of the Windham Historical Society, can be contacted at haleypal@aol.com.

Nineteenth-century lawyers went through a stringent process before they could practice their profession. First, they would apprentice with an established lawyer where they read legal texts and began learning the clerical duties of the trade. This period became known as “reading law.” After reading law and satisfying their mentors that they were ready, the prospective lawyers would be admitted to the local court to start the practice of law. One of the flaws with the apprenticeship system was its tendency toward nepotism, and so an alternative for the middle class was to attend an academic law school.

Some famous 19th-century institutions include Litchfield Law School in Connecticut, the University of Pennsylvania and, of course, Harvard College in Massachusetts. Thomas Amory was one of Harvard’s graduates. After graduating in 1813, he came to Maine where he read law with Col. S.A. Bradley of Fryeburg and then Gen. Samuel Fessenden of New Gloucester. He opened his first practice in Windham in 1816, and remained here until 1819, when he relocated to Portland to become one of the city’s most prominent attorneys of his day.

It wasn’t long after his departure that John Eveleth made his way to Windham. He had graduated from Bowdoin College in 1814, and also read law with Fessenden in New Gloucester. He came to Windham on Dec. 7, 1819, and promptly opened his office. He would spend the rest of his life here where he was known for being an honest man and a judicious counselor.

John Albion Andrew was a Windham native who went on to be governor of Massachusetts during the Civil War. Contributed / Haley Pal

Probably the most famous 19th-century Windham lawyer never practiced law in town, but he went on to achieve a great deal of fame in his lifetime. John Albion Andrew was born on May 31, 1818, in Windham in a white cape on Depot Street that still survives to this day. He grew up in South Windham where his father owned a successful grist mill and a grocery business. He attended Gorham Academy and later went on to Bowdoin College where he studied law. While at Bowdoin, he developed a reputation as an excellent speaker. He graduated in 1837, and then read law with Henry H. Fuller of Boston. He was admitted into the Massachusetts bar in 1840 and opened a practice of his own in Boston that year. He quickly proved he was a master of his trade and by 1867 had acquired enough wealth to move his family to the prestigious Charles Street on Beacon Hill. He achieved his first real claim to fame in 1859 following John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. Andrew, a vocal abolitionist, provided Brown legal support that gave him statewide recognition. His popularity led to his nomination for governor of Massachusetts in 1860, and he defeated the Constitutional Union Party candidate Amos A. Lawrence to win the general election that year.

While serving as governor, Andrew led the force promoting the enlistment of Black men as uniformed soldiers in the Union Army and was granted permission to raise its first Black regiment in January 1863. In 1865, he started the Massachusetts State Police, the first statewide police force in the nation. His last visit to Windham was on July 4, 1862. He delivered a moving address to the people of his hometown on Independence Day. He died in his home on Charles Street in Boston in 1867, at the age of 49.