Atherton, Joshua
lawyer, legislator, was born June 20, 1737, in Harvard, Mass. He was graduated at Harvard in 1762; studied law, and began practice in Petersham. Shortly afterward he removed to Litchfield, and in 1773, having been appointed register of probate in Hillsborough county, he settled in Amherst. He became a member of the convention appointed to consider the federal constitution, and opposed its adoption on account of the provisions concerning slaves and slavery. Subsequently he was elected to the New Hampshire legislature, and in 1793 he was made attorney-general of the state. He was also for a time commissioner for the United States direct tax. He died April 3, 1809, in Amherst, Mass.