NHBA's lineage extends back to county bar chapters such as New Hampshire's Grafton County Bar Association which in 1793 examined candidates for admission to the bar; a statewide meeting of New Hampshire bar members occurred in 1788 [REF].
In 1873, a special act of the Legislature established "The Bar Association of the State of New Hampshire" as a voluntary membership organization, making it the oldest statewide bar organization in the United States [REF].