Fayette County PA Archives Biographies.....Ewing, Judge John Kennedy December 15, 1823 - ????
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Marta Burns marta43@juno.com September 21, 2024, 12:42 pm

Source: Gresham and Wiley, 1889: Biographical & Portrait Cyclopedia, Fayette Co, PA, page 168
Author: John H. Gresham & Samuel T. Wiley

    Judge John Kennedy Ewing, the son of Judge Nathaniel Ewing Sr, deceased,
is a worthy scion of noble stock, and a fit representative of a name that
stands untarnished.  The name of Ewing is honorably and indelibly stamped
upon the history of Pennsylvania: in the East by eminent ministers and
men of scientific knowledge; in the West by able jurists and honorable
legislators.  
    One member of this widely extended family is John Kennedy Ewing, only
child of Judge Nathaniel Ewing and Jane Kennedy Ewing, and was born at
Uniontown, Fayette county, Penna, December 15, 1823.
    He is descended from the Ewings of York county, a widely known and
connected family of ability and influence, planted in eastern
Pennsylvania prior to the War of the Revolution.  
    His grandfather, William Ewing, was born in York county, Pennsylvania,
May 19, 1769.  He was a son of George Ewing, and a nephew of the Rev Dr
John Ewing of Philadelphia.  Dr Ewing was selected on account of his
natural fitness and educational qualifications, companion and assistant
of the illustrious Rittenhouse "whose name is co-extensive with
scientific knowledge," to run the southern boundary line of Pennsylvania.
William Ewing came to Fayette county as a surveyor of lands in 1790 and
located in Luzerne township where he died in 1827.  He was a gentleman of
suave and accomplished manners, and one of the leading men in the early
settlement of the county.  
    In 1791 he married Miss Mary Conwell, a daughter of Jehu Conwell and
Elizabeth Stokely Conwell, a woman of superior mind, marked individuality
and a most devoted Presbyterian.  Their children were: Judge Nathaniel
Ewing Sr; Hon John H Ewing of Washington, Penna, born October 5, 1796;
James Ewing, born April 18, 1807, of Dunlap's Creek; Hon George Ewing,
born February 27, 1797, of Houston, Texas; Mrs Elizabeth Breading, born
July 9, 1799; Mrs Maria Veech, born August 22, 1811, of Emsworth; Mrs
Ellen J E Wallace, born January 23, 1819, of Allegheny City; Mrs Louisa
Willson, born March 8, 1802; Mrs Mary Ann Mason, born February 24, 1816,
of Muscatine, Iowa; and Caroline, born April 20, 1804, the latter dying
in infancy.  
    Judge Nathaniel Ewing Sr was born July 8, 1794, and February 14, 1874, 
he died.  He received a thorough classical education, and was graduated from
Washington College with the highest honors of his class.  He read Latin,
Greek and Hebrew with rapidity and ease.  
    Subsequent to leaving college he read law with Thomas McGiffen of
Washington, Penna, and was admitted to the Fayette county bar November
19, 1816.  In 1817 he began the practice of law and soon after became
recognized and acknowledged as one of the leading lawyers of
Pennsylvania.  February 15, 1838, Governor Ritner appointed him president
judge of the 14th Judicial District composed of Washington, Fayette and
Greene counties.  For a period of ten years he served as judge of the
district without a stain on his judicial ermine, which could not more
appropriately fit the person of anyone.
   He married Miss Jane Kennedy, second daughter of Hon John Kennedy, 
judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.  Judge Kennedy was a native of
Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, came to Fayette county as a soldier
during the Whiskey Insurrection, and so pleased with the country he
remained, and was admitted to the Uniontown bar in September, 1798.  He
was an able lawyer as well as an excellent jurist and a graduate in the
same class with Roger B Taney at Dickinson College, and died in 1846.  
Nathaniel Ewing Sr February 3, 1833, was ordained an elder in the
Presbyterian church, and for forty years was a tower of strength to the
cause of Presbyterianism.  
    Mrs Jane Ewing was an estimable woman and died at an early age in 1825.
Judge Nathaniel Ewing Sr was one of the ablest lawyers and finest jurists
of Pennsylvania.  Several times he obtained from the supreme court of the
State a reversal of their previous decisions, and on this account was
called, "the law-giver of Western Pennsylvania."
    Third in lineal descent from George Ewing of eastern Pennsylvania is
Judge John Kennedy Ewing, who received a classical education and was
graduated from Washington College in the class of 1842.  He applied
himself assiduously to the study of the law under the instructions of his
father, and was admitted to the Fayette county bar in March, 1846.  By his
diligence and ability, he soon acquired a large law practice and attained
to eminence in his profession.  In addition to having mastered the
principles of law, he was fairly conversant with legal, political and
constitutional history, and in the preparation of a case there was no
phase of it in legal or historical point of view that escaped his
attention.  He relied for success on the clear strong points of his case,
carefully studied and concisely presented.  
    In November, 1864, he was appointed president judge of the Fourteenth
Judicial District, comprising the counties of Washington, Greene and
Fayette, and served commendably until January, 1866, in filling out the
unexpired term of Judge Lindsey, who died in 1864.  Leaving the bench he
also retired from the active practice of the law, a step that he
contemplated before going on the bench on account of his impaired health.
    In 1847 he was married to Miss Ellen Willson, a woman of brilliant and
superior intelligence, and a sister of Judge A E Willson.  Her death
occurred January 4, 1884.  
    Judge Ewing during his whole life has had to contend against ill health,
but by indomitable energy, perseverance and a strong will power, he has
succeeded in accomplishing a great deal more than seemed possible for him
to do.  Leaving the bench he has been largely interested in the coal and
iron industries of Western Pennsylvania.  He went west and invested in
land, and since engaging in business has been signally successful.  He is
now the president of the National Bank of Fayette county.
   On May 4, 1846, he united with the Presbyterian church of Uniontown and
was ordained and installed as elder March 4, 1860.  He was commissioner to
the General Assembly which met in Pittsburgh in 1864 and also at Omaha in
1887, and has frequently been a delegate to synod and presbytery; and in
the session of the Uniontown church, he services have been invaluable.
Judge Ewing is modest and retiring in manner, yet he is pleasing in
address and courteous to everybody.  He possesses unusual mental vigor,
accurate and exhaustive information, entertains broad and liberal and
enlightened views, and is strong in his convictions and earnest in his
efforts.  A Presbyterian, he loves his church and takes the deepest
interest in whatever concerns his church's welfare.  There is nothing of
the bigot in his disposition.  His sympathies include all denominations,
and to all his assistance is freely given.  A man of earnest piety and
charitable disposition, his practice conforms to his professions, and his
example and counsel exert a commanding influence.  Among Fayette county's
honored sons, none stands higher at home elsewhere, wherever know for
intellectual power and purity of character than Judge Ewing.  He never
sought an office in life, yet is qualified to fill any office from
judgeship to the presidency.  

Additional Comments:
Originally submitted 2000.

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