Bell's History of Northumberland Co PA: Chapter V - Part II: THE BENCH
AND BAR
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Transcribed from Bell's History of Northumberland County Pennsylvania.
CHAPTER V - PART II
Pages 213 - 260.
THE BENCH AND BAR
THE BENCH - ROSTER OF JUSTICES - BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PRESENT
JUDGES - ASSOCIATE JUDGES THE BAR OF THE PAST AND PRESENT - THE SUPREME
COURT.
THE BENCH.
Justices from 1772 to 1790.- The following justices were
Commissioned for Northumberland county under the provincial regime.-
William Plunket, March 24, 1772. Benjamin Weiser, March 24, 1772.
Turbutt Francis, March 24, 1772. William Patterson, 1773.
Samuel Hunter, March 24, 1772. Michael Troy, 1773.
James Potter, March 24, 1772. John Fleming, 1773.
William Maclay, March 24, 1772. Samuel Maclay, July 29, 1775.
Caleb Graydon, March 24, 1772. John Simpson, July 29, 1775.
Benjamin Allison, March 24, 1772. Robert Robb, July 29, 1775.
Robert Moodie, March 24, 1772. Evan Owen, July 29, 1775.
John Lowdon, March 24, 1772. John Weitzel, July 29, 1775.
Thomas Lemon, March 24, 1772. Henry Antes, July 29, 1775.
Ellis Hughes, March 24, 1772.
The following justices were appointed by the Provincial Convention
of 1776, which exercised the function of a provisional State government;
(as there is a hiatus in the minutes of the court from May, 1776, to
November, 1777,* it can not be positively stated that they transacted
any legal business):-
Samuel Hunter, September 3, 1776. Benjamin Weiser, September 3, 1776.
James Potter, September 3, 1776. John Fleming, September 3, 1776.
William Maclay, September 3, 1776. Henry Antes, September 3,1776.
Robert Moodie, September 3, 1776. John Simpson, September 3, 1776.
John Lowdon, September 3, 1776.
Under the constitution of 1776 the following justices were
commissioned for the term of seven years:-
Thomas Hewitt (President), John Livingston, June 9, 1777.
June 9, 1777 William Maclay, June 11, 1777.
Samuel Hunter, June 9, 1777. David Harris, September 14, 1777.
Robert Crawford, June 9, 1777. Frederick Antes (President),
John Weitzel, June 9, 1777. November 18, 1780.
Robert Martin, June 9, 1777. Laurence Keene, January 19, 1784.
Michael Troy, June 9, 1777. Alexander Patterson, May 24, 1784.
Samuel Allen, June 9, 1777. William Maclay, January 24, 1785.
John Aurand, June 9, 1777. William Shaw, January 24, 1785.
William Shaw, June 9, 1777. William Irwin, January 27, 1785.
_______________________________________________________________________
*On the 25th of August, 1775, the justices addressed a memorial to
the Supreme Executive Council, representing "That this being the Second
court at which no State's attorney appeared, many persons have been
admitted to halt who ought to have been tried ......... that the long
suspension of Justice In this county from February, 1776, to November,
1777, had rendered the people licentious enough, and a further delay of
executing the taws must lead them to lengths perhaps too difficult to he
recalled; that even tipping houses, the notorious promoters of vice and
Immorality and audacious opponents to law and order, remain unpunished."
etc.- Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. VII pp. 72-73.
END OF PAGE 213
Simon Snyder, January 27, 1785. John Simpson, March 10, 1787.
Samuel Wallis, March 1, 1785. Samuel Weiser, October 30, 1787.
Robert Fleming, March 1, 1785. Christian Gettig, November 2, 1787.
William Montgomery (President), Joseph Jacob Wallis, November 2,
April 7, 1785. 1787
John Kelly, August 2, 1785. George Hughes, February 26, 1788.
Abraham Piatt, January 21, 1786. John Weitzel, June 19, 1789.
Xli Mead, July 14, 1786. William Hepburn, July 2, 1789.
William Cooke, October 3, 1786. Jasper Ewing, July 29, 1789.
The foregoing list is based principally upon that given in Volume IIId
of the Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series. It is not entirely
complete, however, as the local records show that David McKinney and
Matthew Smith officiated as justices in 1780 and John Buyers in 1783-86;
the latter frequently presided in the quarter sessions.
President Judges. -During the colonial period the presiding justice
was chosen by his colleagues, and does not appear to have enjoyed any
particular distinguishing title. Section VIth of a law passed on the
28th of January, 1777, for the organization of the courts under the
constitution of 1776, provided "That the president and Council shall
appoint one of the justices in each respective county to preside in the
respective courts, and in his absence the justices who shall attend the
court shall choose one of themselves president for the time being."
The title of "president of the courts" appears in the constitution
of 1790; it was superseded in popular usage by that of "president judge"
within a comparatively brief period, and the latter occurs in the
constitution of 1873. Under these various titles the succession in
Northumberland county has been as follows:-
William Plunket, 1772-76. Ellis Lewis, 1833-43.
Thomas Hewitt, 1777-80. Charles G. Donnel, 1843-44.
Frederick Antes, 1780-85. Joseph B. Anthony, 1844-51.
William Montgomery, 1785-91. James Pollock, 1851.
Jacob Rush, 1791-1806. Alexander Jordan, 1851-71.
Thomas Cooper, 1806-11. William M. Rockefeller, 1871,
Seth Chapman, 1811-33. present incumbent
Though not required to be learned in the law, the presiding justice
during the colonial period and under the constitution of 1776 was
usually a man of larger intelligence than his colleagues, and was
expected to be present at every session of the court, while attendance
on their part was largely optional. In the transactions of the early
courts of this county there was little opportunity for the exercise of
legal acumen or the application of forensic erudition, and a bench of
this kind, composed entirely of laymen, was well adapted to the people
and the times. Deliberative judgment, fairness of purpose, and integrity
of action were sufficient qualifications in the members of the court
END OF PAGE 214
at the period when local litigation did not yet embrace the perplexing
questions relating to land tenure, corporations, and kindred matters
that engage the attention of the courts so largely at the present day.
William Plunket presided over the county courts under the colonial
regime. He was a physician by education and profession, and a
biographical sketch occurs in the chapter on the Medical Profession in
this work. Of the twelve justices commissioned on the 24th of March,
1772, he was probably the only one who had personal knowledge of the
methods of procedure in the English courts, and on that account was
probably chosen to preside. In administering the criminal law, his
sentences were characterized by great severity. He presided over the
courts for the last time at May sessions, 1776.
Thomas Hewitt, the first president of the courts under the
constitution of 1776, resided in Chillisquaque township, where a tract
of three hundred eight acres was surveyed to him in pursuance of warrant
dated June 12, 1773. It is probable that he continued to reside there
for some years; in 1789 he was assessed with three hundred acres of land
and a grist and saw mill, and was, with a single exception, the largest
tax-payer in the township. In 1772 he was one of the first county
commissioners, and held that office several years; in 1776 he was
elected to the Assembly; on the 8th of July in that year he was one of
the judges at an election held at George McCandlish's for members of the
Constitutional Convention; he was a member of the Committee of Safety in
1776-77; and on the 9th of June, 1777, he was appointed a justice of the
courts, over which he presided from November in that year until 1780.
Frederick Antes was from Philadelphia county, which he represented
in the Provincial Conferences of June, 1775 and June, 1776. The date and
circumstances of his settlement in Northumberland county are not known,
but on the 18th of November, 1780, he was commissioned as president of
the Courts, and it is fair to presume that he had resided in the county
for some time prior to that date. In the same year he was appointed
commissioner to receive forage and supplies at Sunbury and Wyoming. In
February, 1782, he became treasurer of the county, which office he
filled almost continuously until 1801. He was elected to the Assembly in
1784, 1785, and 1786. His residence was at Northumberland; Priestley
mentions him in his "Memoirs," referring especially to his mechanical
ingenuity in assisting him to devise apparatus for his chemical
experiments. He died at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, September 20, 1801.*
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*The following obituary appeared in Kennedy's Gazette: "Died at
Lancaster on Sunday, the 20th of September, in the seventy-third year of
his age, Frederick Antes, treasurer of this county: and on Monday his
remains were interred in the Presbyterian burial ground of that place.
In him his wife has lost a good husband, his children an indulgent
parent, and the public a very useful member of society. Previous to his
decease he was one of the two persons who had undertaken to clear the
river Susquehanna."
On the 11th of June, 1796, as ascertained from the same paper, Miss
Catherine, daughter of Colonel Frederick Antes, married Simon Snyder, of
Selinsgrove, who was Governor of Pennsylvania from 1808 to 1817.
END OF PAGE 215
William Montgomery was one of the most prominent citizens of old
Northumberland county, whether his military, political, or business
career be considered. Born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, August 3,
1736, he entered public life as a delegate to the Provincial Conventions
of January and June, 1775, serving also in the Conference of June, 1776.
He was colonel of the Fourth battalion of Chester county militia, which
he commanded at the battle of Long Island in 1776 and during the march
across New Jersey, after which it became part of the "flying camp." In
1774 he purchased a tract of land at the mouth of Mahoning creek,
embracing the site of Danville, Montour county, Pennsylvania, and
removed thereto in 1777. He was elected to the Assembly in 1779, 1780,
1781, and 1782, and became a member of the Council of Censors in 1783.
In 1784 the Assembly elected him to Congress, but he resigned in the
following year, and on the 7th of April, 1785, was commissioned as
president of the courts of Northumberland county, retiring from this
office in 1791. September 27, 1785, he was appointed one of two
commissioners to lay off part of the purchase of 1784 into districts;
June 24, 1785, member of a commission for the improvement of the
Susquehanna; April 18, 1785, deputy surveyor; July 28, 1787, member of a
commission for adjusting the claims of Connecticut settlers in
Pennsylvania, and, July 18, 1801, associate judge of Northumberland
county, serving until the erection of Columbia in 1818. In 1790 he was
elected to the first Senate of Pennsylvania. He was a pioneer in the
establishment of mills and factories and the opening of roads, and was
identified with nearly every project of his day for the development of
central Pennsylvania. He died at Danville, May 1, 1816, and is buried in
the cemetery at that place.
Jacob Rush was the first judge for Northumberland county, "learned
in the law." He was born in Byberry township, Philadelphia county,
Pennsylvania, in 1746, and was a descendant of John Rush, a captain in
Cromwell's army, who immigrated to America in 1683. The death of his
father in 1753 left him an orphan at the age of seven years, but a
moderate inheritance enabled him to obtain a liberal education; in 1765
he graduated at Princeton, where he was a classmate of the Rev. James
Waddell, the blind clergyman to whose eloquence Attorney General Wirt
renders such a flattering tribute in his "British Spy." He was in active
service in several campaigns of the Revolutionary war. In September,
1777, he was admitted to the bar at Philadelphia, where he rose rapidly
in his profession and early reached the favorable notice of leading men
of the day through the influence of his brother, Dr. Benjamin Rush, a
signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was a member of the
Provincial Convention held at Philadelphia in January, 1775, and
represented Philadelphia county in the Assembly in 1779-80. On the 26th
of February, 1784, he was commissioned a justice of the Supreme court of
Pennsylvania; he also served as a member of the high court of errors and
appeals prior to the adoption of the consti-
END OF PAGE 216
Page 217 contains a portrait of William M. Rockefeller.
Page 218 is blank.
tution of 1790. In 1791 he was appointed president of the courts of the
Third judicial district (composed of the counties of Northumberland,
Northampton, Berks, and Luzerne as erected by the act of April 13,
1791), and presided over the quarter sessions at Sunbury for the first
time, November 21, 1791. To this position he brought a judicial
experience probably unequaled by that of any of his successors upon
their accession to the bench. He continued to perform the duties of his
extensive district (which, in 1801, embraced Lycoming and Wayne counties
in addition to those mentioned) until January 1, 1806, when he was
commissioned president judge of the court of common pleas for
Philadelphia county. In this position he remained until his death,
January 5, 1820.
David Paul Brown, a practicing attorney of Philadelphia county
forty years and author of "The Forum," gives his estimate of Judge Rush
in the following language:-
He was a man of great ability, and great firmness and decision of
character. He was also an eloquent man. Perhaps there are few specimens
of judicial eloquence more impressive than those which he delivered
during his occupation of the bench. An accurate idea of his style may
readily be formed from an extract from his charge to the grand jury in
1808, and his sentence pronounced upon Richard Smith for the murder of
Corson in 1816. We refer as much to the high moral tone of his
productions as to their literary and intellectual power .........Some of
his early literary essays were ascribed to Franklin, and for their
terseness and clearness were worthy of him. .........Judge Rush's
charges to the jury generally and his legal decisions were marked by
soundness of principle and closeness of reason. Having been a judge of
the Supreme court and of the high court of errors and appeals, he never
appeared to be satisfied with his position in the common pleas; yet, his
uprightness of conduct and unquestionable abilities always secured to
him the respect and confidence, if not the attachment, of his
associates, the members of the bar, and the entire community. He was one
of the gentlemen of the old school, plain in his attire, unobtrusive in
his deportment, but, while observant of his duties toward others, never
forgetful of the respect to which he himself was justly entitled.
As an author his works include: "Resolves in Committee Chamber,
December 6, 1774" (Philadelphia, 1774); "Charges on Moral and Religious
Subjects"(1803);" Character of Christ" (1806); and "Christian Baptism"
(1819). In Reed and Dickinson's controversy regarding the character of
Benedict Arnold, he espoused the cause of the latter. A novel, "Kelroy,"
was written by his daughter, Rebecca (Philadelphia, 1812). His name is
perpetuated in local geographical nomenclature as the designation of one
of the most important townships of Northumberland county.
Thomas Cooper was commissioned president judge of the Eighth
district (to which Northumberland, Luzerne, and Lycoming counties were
assigned by the act of February 24, 1806), March 1, 1806. He was a
native of England, born at London in 1759 and educated at the University
of Oxford. He also studied medicine and law, and, as evidenced by his
after pursuits, made chemistry a subject of special attention. In this
his investigations doubtless
END OF PAGE 219
derived inspiration from his acquaintance with Doctor Priestley. Cooper
was a resident of Manchester, England, in 1789, when, according to
Binns's "Recollections," he went to Paris as the colleague of Watts, the
inventor of the steam engine, to represent the Manchester Philosophical
Society in the French Convention. His reply to Burke's "Reflections on
the French Revolution" brought him into collision with the authorities;
considerations of personal safety led him to seek a residence in
America, and, with others similarly circumstances, among whom was the
son of Doctor Priestley, he planned "a large settlement for the friends
of liberty in general near the head of the Susquehanna in
Pennsylvania."* In 1793 he removed to the United States;† although the
proposed settlement was abandoned, the project brought him to
Northumberland, and there he resided during his subsequent connection
with affairs in this county. At November sessions, 1795, on motion of
Daniel Smith, he was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county.
Stewart Pearce says that he was a man of learning, and "in advance of
the age in his knowledge of minerals and geology. He carried with him a
hammer and acids, breaking rocks and testing their mineral qualities,
and was supposed by some ignorant persons to be, on that account,
impaired in intellect. He was the firm friend of freedom, and his bold
pen caused his imprisonment under the Alien and Sedition laws. After his
liberation Governor McKean appointed him one of the commissioners to
carry into effect the Compromising law of 1799 and its supplements. To
his energetic action were due the quiet and harmony that speedily ensued
in this long troubled and unhappy country."‡ His personal appearance
and professional characteristics were thus described by Charles Miner in
1800 "Short, rotund figure, stooping forward; has a florid, high,
English countenance and complexion. His forte is, to seize two or three
strong points and present them forcibly to the court and jury. He never
wearies by long speeches; never uses a word, or an illustration; or an
argument that is not to the purpose; a man of extraordinary endowments
and of most distinguished genius."§
On the 16th of July, 1803, he was commissioned deputy attorney
general for Northumberland county, and took the oath of office on the
following 22d of August. Less than three years later, a change in the
boundaries of the district having resulted in the transfer of Judge Rush
to Philadelphia, he was elevated to the bench, and presided at Sunbury
for the first time at April sessions, 1806. Although ultra-democratic in
his views and thoroughly in sympathy with the institutions of this
country, he had been accustomed to the severe formality of the English
courts, and, unfortunately for himself,
__________________________________________________________________
*Vide Priestley's "Memoirs," quoted in the history of
Northumberland in this work.
†Thomas Cooper was naturalized as an American citizen before Judge
Bush at Sunbury in November, 1795, when he stated under oath that he had
resided in the United States two years and in the State of Pennsylvania
one year. Vide Appearance docket of Northumberland county, No. 84
November sessions, 1795, and No. 1 July session's, 1818.
‡Annals of Luzerne county, p.248.
§Linn's Annals of Buffalo Valley, p.324.
END OF PAGE 220
attempted to introduce and enforce regulations of which the public
sentiment of that day did not approve. Doubtless there were ample
grounds for a movement in the direction of better order in the court
room. Judge Rush is represented as a man of mild disposition, naturally
disposed to regard disorderly conduct as the result of ignorance rather
than the expression of willful contumacy; moreover he suffered from an
affection which, on one occasion, prevented him from occupying the bench
for some months, and afterward affected his hearing, so that he was not
cognizant of much of the disorder that may have occurred in the court
room. Judge Cooper inaugurated his administration by requiring a better
observance of order during the sessions of the court, and a more prompt
performance of duty on the part of its servants. In this he encountered
opposition which it was not the part of a man of his temperament to
allay; the feeling thus engendered found expression in a number of
memorials to the legislature, charging him with official misconduct and
praying for an investigation. Ten memorials of this character were
presented in the House of Representatives on the 21st of February, 1811,
by Samuel Satterlee, the member from Lycoming, and a score or more by
the members from Northumberland and Luzerne within the following month.
They were referred to a committee of nine members, among whom were
Messrs. Satterlee, of Lycoming; Irwin, of Northumberland, and Gibson, of
Cumberland, afterward chief justice of the State. E. Greenough, of
Sunbury, appeared as counsel for the petitioners, and Thomas Duncan, of
Carlisle, afterward a justice of the Supreme court, represented Judge
Cooper. Thirteen days were required in taking testimony; a large number
of witnesses were examined, among whom were many leading citizens and
prominent attorneys for the Commonwealth; Judge Cooper's three
associates in Northumberland county - Montgomery, Macpherson, and Wilson
- appeared in his behalf, and uniformly testified to his efficiency and
impartiality. The committee submitted the following report on the 23d of
March, 1811:-
Fully impressed with the importance of the duty assigned them, they
have diligently attended to the evidence adduced in support of the
accusations and in vindication of the accused, keeping at once in view
the propriety of affording no countenance to unfounded suggestions and
the solemn obligation of the legislature as the constitutional guardian
of the rights and liberties of the people to repel every invasion of
those rights; keeping in view the necessity of protecting those who
faithfully discharge the trust confided to them in the exercise of just
and legal authority, and of defending the citizens from those approaches
toward arbitrary power which the official situation of president judge
of a court of justice affords such facility in making, your committee
have deduced from the evidence the following conclusions, to wit:-
First.- That he fined and imprisoned John Hannah for wearing his
hat in the court house of Northumberland county - the said Hannah then
standing outside of the bar and jury box and making no disturbance - and
this without any inquiry into Hannah's conscientious objections.
Second.- That he fined and imprisoned three respectable citizens,
viz.: William Hartman, Matthias Heller, and John Brown, hastily,
arbitrarily, without any inquiry, and without sufficient cause.
END OF PAGE 221
Third- That he fined John Dreisbach unjustly and arbitrarily.
Fourth.- That he fined Nehemiah Hutton, hastily, without sufficient
cause or hearing.
Fifth.- That he arbitrarily and precipitately fined and imprisoned
Stephen Hollister for a mere whisper, and in an insulting and
overbearing manner refused to hear his defense.
Sixth.- That he improperly exercised the powers of a justice of the
peace under the law respecting roads and bridges, and fined Anderson
Dana, a supervisor of the highways, fifteen dollars in an arbitrary and
passionate manner, after which he ordered the fine to be deposited in
the hands of a third person, with orders to restore the same on certain
conditions.
Seventh.- That he sentenced a boy between fourteen and seventeen
years of age to one year's imprisonment for horse stealing, and
afterward added two years to the term of his imprisonment without any
evidence, on the suggestion and pretense of teaching the boy a trade.
Eighth.- Your committee also report, that it appears that prior to
the 17th of November, 1807, he entered into an agreement with the then
prothonotary and other officers of the court of common pleas of
Northumberland county and with George Langs to purchase at sheriff's
sale a tract of land called Limestone Lick, the property of Josiah
Galbraith, levied upon by an execution issued out of the said court; and
that the said tract was accordingly purchased on the day last mentioned
by the said George Langs for their joint benefit, part of which tract is
now held by the said Thomas Cooper under that sale. This conduct your
committee do not assert to be a violation of any positive statute; but
they do consider, that if the president of a court be suffered to make
himself interested in a matter depending before him, he must either
deprive the public of those services which he is bound to render, or
adjudicate in his own cause, and the danger to the pure and impartial
administration of justice is immediate and alarming.
Your committee from the premises are of opinion, that the official
conduct of the said president judge has been arbitrary, unjust, and
precipitate, contrary to sound polity, and dangerous to the pure
administration of justice. They therefore submit the following
resolution:-
Resolved, That a committee be appointed to draft an address to the
Governor for the removal of Thomas Cooper, Esquire, from the office of
president judge of the courts in the Eighth judicial district of
Pennsylvania.
The Judge and his counsel appeared before the House during the
consideration of the report, March 26, 1811; on the following day the
question was put to a vote, when the resolution accompanying the report
was carried by a majority of fifty-three in a total vote of ninety-
three. The four members from Northumberland: John Murray, Jared Irwin,
Frederick Evans, and Leonard Rupert, with John Forster and Samuel
Satterlee of Lycoming, voted in the affirmative; Thomas Graham and
Benjamin Dorrance, from Luzerne, the remaining county in the district
voted in the negative. An address to the Governor was reported on the
same day (March 27, 1811); it states that the Judge had "in several
instances arbitrarily, precipitately, and unjustly fined and imprisoned
individuals for causes trivial and insufficient, without affording them
an opportunity of being heard, and has committed many other acts of
official misconduct and abuse of authority." The following significant
utterance reflects the judgment of the legislature upon the whole
END OF PAGE 222
matter: "Although charity forbids us to declare that the acts aforesaid
have been committed from motives or intention willfully corrupt and
criminal, yet, such has been his official conduct as to destroy public
confidence in his decisions, and by which his usefulness is (if not
totally) very much diminished in the district in which he presides, and
affords sufficient cause of his removal."
On the 28th of March, 1811, the address to the Governor was
transmitted to the Senate for concurrence. Cooper wrote a letter to the
Speaker, strongly protesting against its consideration. He took the
ground that the offenses charged were either "capable of being explained
or justified, where the facts are admitted, or of being contradicted by
testimony where the facts are deemed." Such charges might, he averred,
furnish ground for impeachment under the constitution, but not for
removal by address, being of a class "perfectly distinguishable from
those reasonable causes of removal contemplated by the constitution
which are not impeachable because they imply no misconduct." It does
not appear that any action whatever was taken on this letter, and on the
30th of March, 1811, the Speaker signed the address. It was at once
presented to the Governor, who, on the 2d of April, 1811, informed the
Senate that he had issued a supersedeas deposing the Judge from his
office. He subsequently wrote a pamphlet in vindication of his cause,
but no copy has come to the knowledge of the writer; the defense made
before the legislative committee is given in Linn's Annals of Buffalo
Valley, pp. 393-396.
It does not appear that Mr. Cooper continued to reside in
Northumberland county any length of time after this. Within a brief
period he accepted the professorship of chemistry in Dickinson College,
Carlisle, Pennsylvania; in 1816 was elected to a similar position in the
University of Pennsylvania and took up his residence at Philadelphia, of
which Binns speaks at some length in his "Recollections." His next
position was that of professor of chemistry in the College of South
Carolina, at Columbia, of which institution he became president. After
his retirement he collated and revised the statute laws of the State
under the auspices of the legislature; he was also the author of a
translation of Justinian's "Institutes." His talents and the important
position he occupied commanded considerable influence at the South, and
he is generally credited with having originated and encouraged some of
the political dogmas which entered into the doctrine of secession. His
death occurred in May, 1840.
Seth Chapman, the next president judge of the courts of
Northumberland county, filled that position longer than any other of its
incumbents. He was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, January 23, 1771,
a descendant of John Chapman, who emigrated from Yorkshire, England, in
1684, and built the first house in Wrightstown township, then the
northern limit of the lands purchased by Markham from the Indians.
Nothing is known of his education or legal preparation He was admitted
to the bar of Bucks county in
END OF PAGE 223
1791, and was therefore a lawyer of twenty years' experience at the time
of his elevation to the bench. On the 11th of July, 1811, he was
commissioned president judge of the Eighth judicial district, then
composed of the counties of Northumberland, Luzerne, and Lycoming, and
on the 25th of the same month took the affirmation necessary to a due
performance of his duties. As the law required a judge to reside within
the limits of his district, he removed to Northumberland and made that
place his residence the remainder of his life. The house he occupied was
originally erected by Dr. Joseph Priestley and still stands on North
Way, one of the most interesting landmarks of the county.
In temperament Judge Chapman was the antipodes of his predecessor;
and, if the authoritative manner of the latter was the source of his
unpopularity, the individual who succeeded him ought to have been one of
the most popular jurists in Pennsylvania. For a time there is reason to
believe that he was popular. Cautious and deliberate in speech and
action, deferential and courteous in intercourse with his lay
associates, and evidently desirous of obtaining the good will of his
constituents, he gave attorneys and litigants the widest latitude in the
presentation of causes, a policy which coincided well with his
disposition and seems to have commanded general approbation at first.
Although his abilities were not of the highest order,* his legal
qualifications were sufficient for the requirements of the position at
that period, and had he adopted a more energetic policy in the discharge
of his duties his retirement from the bench might have occurred under
circumstances more creditable to his reputation than the event
ultimately proved. A large number of cases awaiting trial accumulated on
the dockets of the several counties and increase in population resulted
in a corresponding addition to the volume of legal business,
notwithstanding which, the Judge became even more dilatory with
advancing years, and at length popular discontent culminated in his
impeachment by the House of Representatives at the session of 1826.
The charges specified in the articles of impeachment were, that he
had directed Jacob Farrow to be arrested and imprisoned without any
complaint against him and without lawful cause, at Sunbury, in August,
1824; that, contrary to the express provisions of the law, he had
reversed a judgment of Christian Miller, a justice of the peace, and set
aside an execution issued thereon although the required period, twenty
days, had expired; that, in a case tried in Northumberland county at
June term, 1813, he had filed in writing his opinion and charge to the
jury, which differed from that orally delivered; and that he had
manifested an undue partiality and favoritism to suitors. In answer to
these allegations the respondent replied, that Farrow had made
___________________________________________________________________
*Stewart Pearce (Annals of Luzerne county, p.249) says of him: "He
could not be reckoned a talented man, and was a judge of inferior
abilities." By a change in the composition of the districts, Chapman was
succeeded on the bench of Luzerne County by John Bannister Gibson in
1813. Possibly his abilities were underestimated by comparison with
those of his distinguished successor.
END OF PAGE 224
an assault upon the prothonotary, which was both breach of the peace and
contempt of court, and was accordingly committed; that in the reversal
of Justice Miller's decision the defendant was a minor, and hence the
judgment was not valid in the first instance; that the written charge
and opinion in the case specified harmonized with the notes of his
verbal charge; while the charge of impartiality was met with a general
denial, and a voluminous explanation of the instances cited. The trial
before the Senate began on the 7th of February, 1826, the Judge being
represented by Samuel Douglas and George Fisher as counsel. Many
witnesses were examined, and after eleven days' proceedings the
respondent was acquitted, February 18, 1826, on all the articles of
impeachment exhibited against him by the House of Representatives.
He continued upon the bench seven years after this. Unfortunately,
his administration was still distinguished by vacillation and delay, and
in 1833 petitions from various parts of the district were presented to
the Senate, praying for his removal or the appointment of an additional
law judge. These were referred to a committee composed of Messrs.
Hopkins, of Columbia; Packer, of Northumberland; Petrikin, of Lycoming;
Livingston, and Miller. An investigation was instituted, the Judge being
represented by James Merrill and Alexander Jordan and the Commonwealth
by E. Greenough and James Armstrong. The complaints, in the language of
the committee, "may be comprehended in a general allegation of want of
sufficient energy and capacity to discharge his duties with reasonable
dispatch, promptitude, and accuracy." Regarding the character of the
Judge, the report states that "no evidence was given in any manner to
impeach his character for integrity, either as a man or judge; but, on
the contrary, many witnesses concurred in expressing their opinions that
he is an honest man. His character, therefore, in this point of view,
appears unexceptionable." Their conclusion, however, was, that "for some
years past age and bodily infirmities, and as a natural consequence the
failure in some degree of his mental powers, have rendered him unable to
discharge his official duties with reasonable facility, accuracy, and
promptitude." At this stage in the investigation the committee deemed
proper to intimate their conclusions to the Judge, which elicited the
following communication:
Harrisburg, March 11, 1883.
GENTLEMEN: I have for some time past had an intention to resign my
office as soon as I could make such pecuniary arrangements as would be
necessary to enable me to do justice to my family; these arrangements
can not conveniently be made before October next. I now inform the
committee that I have fulfilled that intention, and have deposited my
resignation with the Governor, to take effect from the 10th day of
October next. This course might have been taken sooner; but it could not
be thought of while it was believed any charge of want of integrity
could be brought against me. SETH CHAPMAN.
To The Honorable
The Committee of the Senate.
END OF PAGE 225
The investigation was forthwith suspended, and the Judge retired to
private life. He continued to reside at Northumberland until his death,
December 4, 1835, and is buried in the cemetery at that place.
Ellis Lewis was commissioned president judge of the counties of
Northumberland, Lycoming, Union, and Columbia, which then composed the
Eighth judicial district, October 14, 1833, and took the oath of office
on the following 4th of November. He was born at Lewisberry, a borough
of Newberry township, York county, Pennsylvania, situated near the
center of Redland valley and about ten miles south of Harrisburg. This
locality was early settled by Welsh Friends from Chester county, among
whom were the Lewis family, a descendant of which, Major Eli Lewis,
founded the borough that bears his name in 1798. He was a man of
enterprise and consequence; in 1783 he owned nearly a thousand acres in
Redland valley, and in 1791 he established the first newspaper at the
present State capitol, the Harrisburg Advertiser. Ellis Lewis was his
son, and was born, May 16, 1798. His father died in 1807, and the son
seems to have been left with but limited means. He was apprenticed to
John Wyeth, publisher of the Oracle of Dauphin and Harrisburg Advertiser
(successor to the paper founded by his father), but found his position
so unpleasant that he ran away and was advertised by Wyeth, in the usual
manner. His further acquisition of the printing trade was pursued at New
York and Baltimore; and, having completed his apprenticeship, he
published the Lycoming Gazette at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 1819-20
in partnership with I. K. Torbert. There he read law with Espy Vanhorn,
and in September, 1822, was admitted to the bar. Two years later he was
admitted at Harrisburg, but the extent of his professional work at that
place can not be accurately stated. About this time he held the office
of district attorney in Tioga county, residing at Wellsboro. Thence he
removed to Towanda, Bradford county, from which he was elected to the
legislature in 1832. In this position his ability and talents attracted
the attention of Governor Wolf, by whom he was commissioned attorney
general of the State, January 29,1833. In the autumn of the same year he
succeeded Judge Chapman as president of the Eighth judicial district,
continuing in this office until 1843, when he was appointed to a similar
position in the Second district (Lancaster county). In October, 1851, he
was elected judge of the Supreme court of Pennsylvania, and in November,
1854, became chief justice. In 1857 he declined the unanimous nomination
of the Democratic party for re-election to the Supreme bench, and
retired to private life. He was appointed a member of the commission for
the revision of the criminal code of Pennsylvania in the following year.
In the interim of his employment as a printer at New York and Baltimore
he had studied medicine at Lewisberry, and the knowledge of medical
jurisprudence thus derived secured for him the honorary degree of LL. D.
from the Philadelphia College of Medicine. He also received the degree
of LL. D. from Transylvania University, Lexington,
END OF PAGE 226
Kentucky, and Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania. He was the
author of an "Abridgment of the Criminal Law of the United States," and
a frequent contributor to the periodical literature of the day. His
death occurred at Philadelphia, March 19, 1871.
Judge Lewis's long judicial career of twenty-four years was begun
in the courts of the Eighth district. He came to the bench at an earlier
age than any other president judge of Northumberland county; and, while
this placed him in sympathy with the younger members of the bar, his
character and bearing as a lawyer were such as to command the respect of
all. A close student and a profound logician, he was not influenced much
by mere oratory; he was quick to detect the introduction of irrelevant
testimony, and equally resolute in requiring promptness and brevity on
the part of witnesses and attorneys. As a judge his manner was firm,
decisive, courteous, and dignified. His temperament was ambitious and
aspiring, and this led him to seek the highest measure of success in
everything he undertook; but his ability was equal to his ambition, and
in every position to which he attained his services were alike honorable
to himself and valuable to the public.
Charles G. Donnel was commissioned president judge of the Eighth
district (then composed of the counties of Northumberland, Lycoming, and
Columbia), January 14, 1843, and took the oath of office two days later.
He was born, March 14, 1801, at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, son of Henry
and Margaret (Gobin) Donnel; his education was obtained at the
Northumberland Academy, then under the principalship of Robert Cooper
Grier, subsequently a justice of the United States Supreme court, after
which he read law with Ebenezer Greenough, and was admitted to the bar
of Northumberland county at April sessions, 1822. He became deputy
attorney general in 1829, serving four years, and in this position, as
well as in his general practice as an attorney, gave evidence of legal
knowledge and abilities of a high order. His judicial incumbency was
terminated but little more than a year after his appointment by his
death, March 16, 1844. He resided at Sunbury, and his widow is now
living in that borough at an advanced age.
Joseph B. Anthony was born at Philadelphia, June 19, 1795, and
educated at Princeton, New Jersey. While engaged in teaching in the
academy at Milton, he read law with Samuel Hepburn and was admitted to
the bar of Northumberland county, November 26, l817. After spending a
year in Ohio he located at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he was
admitted to practice in 1818 and resided until his death. He was elected
to the State Senate in 1830, and four years later to Congress, to which
he was re-elected in 1836 by a large majority. In 1843 he was appointed
one of the judges of the court for the adjustment of the Nicholson land
claims in Pennsylvania, and in the following year succeeded Judge Donnel
as president judge of the Eighth district, performing the judicial
functions with general acceptability until his death, January 10, 1851.
He was a man of fine mental endow-
END OF PAGE 227
ments, not the least of which was a remarkable mathematical faculty. His
perceptive faculties, no less than his reasoning powers, were also of a
high order, and enabled him to grasp the difficulties of a complicated
question and present it lucidly and succinctly. In social intercourse
his conversation was enlivened by brilliant flashes of wit and a
profusion of humorous anecdotes and observations, which made him a
general favorite among those with whom he came in contact. These
qualities also entered into his professional work as an attorney, and
after he became judge a witty or humorous remark from the bench
frequently relieved the tedium of the session. His judicial opinions and
decisions were generally regarded as sound and impartial.
James Pollock, who probably reached higher political position than
any other native of Northumberland county, was the last judge to preside
ever her courts by appointment of the Governor. He was born at Milton,
September 11, 1810, son of William and Sarah (Wilson) Pollock, natives
of Chester county, Pennsylvania, and of Irish extraction. His education
was begun at the common schools of Milton with Joseph B. Anthony as his
first teacher, and continued at the academy of the Rev. David
Kirkpatrick, where he prepared for the Junior year at Princeton, from
which he graduated in 1831 with the highest honors of his class. He then
began the study of law under Samuel Hepburn, of Milton, and was admitted
to the bar of Northumberland county on the 5th of November, 1833. He
opened an office at Milton in April, 1834; two years later he was
appointed deputy attorney general for the county, serving in this
position until 1839. In 1844 he was elected to Congress from the
Thirteenth Pennsylvania district as the Whig candidate; he was twice re-
elected, serving in the XXVIIIth Congress on the committee on claims, in
the XXIXth on the committee on territories, and in the XXXth as a member
of the ways and means committee. On the 23d of June, 1848, he introduced
a resolution for the appointment of a committee to report upon the
advisability and feasibility of building a transcontinental railway,
and, as chairman of the committee so appointed, made the first favorable
official report on this subject. On the 16th of January, 1851, within a
brief period after the conclusion of his third congressional term he was
commissioned as president judge of the Eighth judicial district (then
composed of the counties of Northumberland, Lycoming, Columbia,
Sullivan, and Montour), his judicial incumbency expiring, by the terms
of his commission on the 1st of December, 1851, after which he resumed
the practice of law. In 1854 he was the candidate of the Whig and "Know-
Nothing" parties for Governor, and was elected by a majority of thirty-
seven thousand over his principal competitor, William Bigler, the
Democratic candidate. He was inducted into office in January, 1855, and
served the term of three years; among the measures of importance during
his administration were the inauguration of a policy of retrenchment in
the fiscal affairs of the Commonwealth, the sale of the main line of the
public works, the passage of laws designed to
END OF PAGE 228
promote the efficiency of the public school system, and the adoption of
measures by which the suspension of specie payments by banks chartered
in the State was legalized during the crisis of 1857. In 1861 he was a
member of the Peace Conference which assembled at Washington and
presented the Crittenden compromise measures to the consideration of
Congress; and in May of that year he was appointed by President Lincoln
director of the United States mint at Philadelphia. He retired from this
office in 1866, but was reinstated by President Grant in 1869, and in
1873 became superintendent of that institution. The legend, "In God we
trust," was originally suggested by him for the national currency. In
1879 he was appointed naval officer at Philadelphia, and held that
office four years; his last official position was that of Federal chief
supervisor of elections, to which he was appointed in 1886. He died at
Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, April 19, 1890, and his remains were interred
in the Milton cemetery.
In personal appearance Governor Pollock was of commanding figure
and somewhat above the average height, with dark eyes and hair, smooth-
shaven face, and a countenance expressive of intelligence and benignity.
In religious affiliation he was a Presbyterian, and was for some years
president of the board of trustees of the College of New Jersey at
Princeton, by which the honorary degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him
in 1855. As an attorney he was a better advocate than counselor; he was
in regular practice in the courts of Northumberland county from 1833
until 1844, and at intervals in his official career after that date.
While his judicial incumbency was the shortest in the history of the
county, it was long enough to secure for his abilities in this position
an ample recognition. He was an eloquent speaker, graceful, persuasive,
and convincing, and possessed remarkable tact in gaining the sympathy
and approval of his hearers. Strong conscientiousness was a prominent
element in his character, and, while his official acts were at times
subjected to violent criticism, the honesty of his intentions was
conceded even by his most determined opponents.
Alexander Jordan was elected in October, 1851, as president judge
in the counties of Northumberland, Lycoming, Centre, and Clinton, then
composing the Eighth judicial district Judge Jordan was born at
Jaysburg, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania (now a part of the city of
Williamsport), May 19, 1798, son of Samuel and Rosanna (McClester)
Jordan. His father was a boatman and pilot by occupation, and is
mentioned by Tunison Coryell as one of the first to introduce sails in
the navigation of the Susquehanna. About the year 1802 the family
removed to Milton, where the future judge was brought up and enjoyed
such educational advantages as the local schools afforded. During the
war of 1812 he accompanied the militia in their march across the State
to Meadville, Crawford county, as deputy commissary, and was absent
several weeks. After a clerkship of several years in a store at Milton,
he entered the employ of Hugh Bellas, prothonotary of
END OF PAGE 229
the county, as deputy clerk. During this connection he began the study
of law under Mr. Bellas, but, having a natural inclination for
mechanical pursuits and but limited time to devote to his studies, they
were continued rather irregularly for some time. He served as deputy
prothonotary under George W. Brown and Andrew Albright, Mr. Bellas's
successors, and was at length admitted to the bar, April 19, 1820, after
an examination by Messrs. Hepburn, Hall, and Bradford. He immediately
opened an office at Sunbury, and rose rapidly in his profession, for
which his preparation had been exceptionally thorough. He was a diligent
student, and much of his success was due to the careful manner in which
his cases were invariably prepared. When addressing the court or jury
his language was concise and to the point, and, while not ornate in
style, his arguments were often eloquent. In 1826 he was commissioned
prothonotary of the Supreme court for the Middle district, a position
which brought him into contact with the leading jurists of the State and
doubtless had a strong influence in determining his future career. When
the judiciary became elective in Pennsylvania and the choice of judges
was transferred from the executive to the people, his high professional
standing and recognized qualifications for the bench, no less than the
fact that he was nominated by the dominant political party (the
Democratic) in the district secured his election by a large popular
majority. He took the oath of office on the 28th of November, 1851; at
the expiration of his first term he was re-elected,* and served until
1871, a period of twenty years.
Many complicated questions affecting large personal and property
interests, and involving principles not theretofore considered, arose
during Judge Jordan's incumbency; in these important cases his decisions
have stood the severest scrutiny and will be an enduring evidence of his
ability as a jurist. He was endowed in a remarkable degree with the
logical faculty, while his analytical powers - keen, incisive and
accurate - grasped at once the essential points in an argument,
dismembered of all irrelevant matter. To him the law was an intricate
science, and its study was quite as much a source of intellectual
gratification as a professional duty. His intercourse with members of
the bar was characterized by uniform courtesy, and his rulings were so
given as to leave no unpleasant feelings; to the younger members his
manner and words were kind, considerate, and encouraging.
"A professor of the Christian religion, seeking to regulate his
public and private conduct in strict conformity with the Christian
faith, and to exemplify, by justice and diligence, the harmony of
religious principles and professions with the diversified, important,
and dignified duties of a citizen, a lawyer, and a judge," he was for
many years an elder in the Presbyterian church of Sunbury and
superintendent of its Sunday school. Judge Jordan was twice married, in
1820 to Mary, daughter of Daniel Harley, and after her death to Hannah
Rittenhouse, formerly of Philadelphia, now residing in Sunbury at
____________________________________________________________________
*The counties of Northumberland, Montour, and Lycoming constituted
the district in 1861.
END OF PAGE 230
an advanced age. He died on the 5th of October, 1878, and is buried in
the Sunbury cemetery.
William M. Rockefeller, who succeeded Judge Jordan in 1871, was
born at Sunbury, August 18, 1830. His great-grandfather, Godfrey
Rockefeller, emigrated from New Jersey to the site of Snydertown in this
county in 1789; his father, David Rockefeller, a native of Rush township
and a surveyor by profession, was engaged in the active duties of that
occupation throughout Northumberland and adjoining counties for a period
of nearly half a century. The Judge was brought up in his native county,
attended the public schools and the academy at Sunbury, and before
attaining his majority was successively employed at school teaching,
surveying, and clerking. His professional preparation was begun in the
office of John B. Packer and continued under Alexander Jordan when Mr.
Packer's election to the legislature rendered his transfer to another
preceptor necessary. On the 6th of August, 1850, twelve days in advance
of his twentieth birthday, he was admitted to the bar of Northumberland
county; he began the practice of his profession at Minersville,
Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, whence he returned to Sunbury within a
brief period, and has since resided at that borough. On the 9th of
September, 1871, he was nominated for the judgeship by conferrees from
the two counties composing the Eighth judicial district, John B. Packer
and William C. Lawson representing Northumberland and Joshua W. Comly
and Isaac X. Grier, Montour. He was elected in the following October by
a decisive popular majority, and took the oath of office on the 4th of
December, 1871. In 1881 he was re-elected from the Eighth district
(composed of the county of Northumberland individually), and his second
term is now (1891) approaching its termination.
As a lawyer, Judge Rockefeller was painstaking and laborious; in
the presentation of a case to the court or jury his style was closely
logical and argumentative, evidencing thorough research and earnest
investigation. The judgeship was, therefore, a position for which he was
abundantly qualified by natural endowments and unremitting application
to the duties of his profession. For a score of years he had been
actively engaged in the practice of law, and was thoroughly familiar
with the class of litigation peculiar to the courts of Northumberland
county, particularly the trial of actions of ejectment brought for the
settlement and location of the disputed boundaries of conflicting
surveys, and in a large number of the cases of this kind adjudicated in
the county he had been professionally concerned. Thoroughly familiar
with the fundamental principles of jurisprudence, his legal learning and
personal integrity commanded the confidence no less than the respect of
his colleagues at the bar and his constituents throughout the district,
and he came to the bench with the disposition as well as the ability to
"hold the scales of justice with an even hand." Of the manner in which
the people of the county have regarded his administration, his re-
election is sufficient indication.
END OF PAGE 231
In the criminal calendar the most important cases tried by Judge
Rockefeller have been the homicides committed during the Mollie Maguire
conspiracy. In the civil list ejectment cases resulting from disputed
land titles have been the most important. As a member of the commission
by which the Metzger-Bentley contest for the judgeship in Lycoming
county was recently decided, the Judge has also been concerned in the
solution of intricate legal questions outside the ordinary field of
judicial cognizance.
Associate Judges - Article Vth of the constitution of 1790 provided
for the appointment by the Governor of "not fewer than three nor more
than four judges" in each county, who, during their continuance in
office, should reside therein. An act was passed by the legislature,
April 13, 1791, to carry this article into effect and organize the
judiciary under its requirements; by the terms of this act, the new
system went into operation on the 31st of August, 1791. The first
legislation affecting the number of associate judges was the act of
April 1, 1803, which provided that in any county thereafter organized
and in case of vacancy in any existing county, "the number of the judges
in the said county where such vacancy shall happen shall be reduced, and
there shall be no more than three associate judges in the said county,
and the office so become vacant shall hereafter be abolished." The
number was still further reduced by the act of February 24, 1806,
providing that "if any vacancy should hereafter happen in any county at
present organized, ....... the Governor shall not supply the same,
unless the number of associates be thereby reduced to less than two."
There were four associate judges in Northumberland county from 1792 to
1804, three from 1804 to 1813, and two after the latter date. They were
appointed for life under the constitution of 1790; the amendments of
1838 reduced the term of office to five years, and made the concurrence
of the Senate necessary to the nomination of the Governor; in 1850
amendments were adopted by which the judiciary became elective; and the
constitution of 1873 declares that, "the office of associate judge, not
learned in the law, is abolished in counties forming separate districts;
but the several associate judges in office when this constitution shall
be adopted shall serve for their unexpired terms."
The following is a list of associate judges:-*
John Macpherson, 1791-1813. Andrew Albright, 1813-18.
Thomas Strawbridge, 1791-98. Jacob Gearhart, 1814-39.
William Wilson, 1792-1813. Henry Shaffer, 1818-33.
Samuel Maclay, 1792-95. Peter Martz, 1833-34.
William Cooke, 1796-1804. George Weiser, 1834-42.
James Strawbridge, 1799. John Montgomery, 1839-50.
William Montgomery, 1801-13. George C. Welker, 1842-51.
_______________________________________________________________________
*William Montgomery and Joseph Wallis were commissioned as
associate Judges, August 17, 1791; but as both resigned without entering
upon the duties of the office (so far as shown by the court minutes), it
has not been deemed proper to include their names in this list.
END OF PAGE 232
John F. Dentler, 1851-56 Abraham Shipman, l861-71.
George Weiser, 1851-56. Isaac Beidelspach, 1866-69.
William Turner, 1856-66. George C. Welker, 1871-74.
Casper Scholl, 1856-61. Joseph Nicely, 1869-75.
John Macpherson resided in that part of the original territory of
Northumberland county now embraced in Union township, Union county.
Nothing is known concerning his early life and education. He served in
the American navy during the early years of the Revolution as a
midshipman on the frigate Randolph, commanded by Captain Nicholas
Biddle, and was wounded in action with the True Briton, a twenty-gun
ship, which was captured and taken into Charleston harbor. On the 10th
of September, 1777, Captain Biddle granted him a permit to leave the
Randolph, on account of incapacity for further service, and he joined
the Northampton Privateer, ultimately returning to Northumberland
county, where he purchased property at Winfield, Union county. In
consideration of his services he was granted a monthly pension of
seventeen shillings, six pence, from the date of his discharge, by the
orphans' court at June sessions, 1786. In 1785 he filled the position of
clerk to the county commissioners. He was commissioned as associate
judge, August 17, 1791, and served in that capacity until the erection
of Union county in 1813 placed him beyond the limits of Northumberland.
The records show that he attended the sessions of the court with almost
undeviating regularity, and, with other associates, frequently conducted
the sessions in the absence of the president judge. His death occurred
on the 2d of August, 1827.
Thomas Strawbridge was a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania,
where he was reared and learned the trade of tanner. He entered public
life in 1776 as a delegate from Chester county to the convention which
framed the first constitution of the State. His military career began in
May of that year, when the Committee of Safety for his native county
appointed him captain. He received a commission as sub-lieutenant,
October 16, 1777, subsequently rising to the rank of colonel, and was
detailed to superintend the manufacture of arms during the closing years
of the war. He married Margaret Montgomery, a sister of General William
Montgomery, and, doubtless through the influence of the latter, removed
to that part of the original area of Chillisquaque township,
Northumberland county, now embraced in Liberty township, Montour county,
about the year 1784. There he established a tannery, one of the first
north of Harrisburg, and engaged extensively in farming; for some years
he was the largest tax-payer in Chillisquaque township. On the 17th of
August, 1791, he was commissioned as associate judge for Northumberland
county, serving continuously until his retirement in 1798. He died at
the age of eighty-two, September 13, 1813. The name of James Strawbridge
appears as an associate judge at several terms in the year 1799, but
nothing definite concerning his appointment or personal history has been
learned.
END OF PAGE 233
William Wilson was a native of the North of Ireland and immigrated
to Northumberland county at an early period in her history. When the
Revolutionary struggle became imminent, it was resolved by Congress to
enlist six companies of riflemen in Pennsylvania for one year's service;
in one of these companies, Captain John Lowdon's, which formed part of
Colonel William Thompson's Rifle Battalion, William Wilson enlisted as
third lieutenant, and was promoted to second lieutenant, January 4,
1776. He re-enlisted in Captain James Parr's company of the First
regiment (commanded by Colonel Edward Hand); of this company he was
second lieutenant until September 25, 1776, when he became first
lieutenant; on the 2d of March, 1777, he was promoted to captain, and
was in active service with his command until 1783. At the battle of
Monmouth, June 28, 1778, he captured the colors of the Royal Grenadiers
and the sword of Colonel Monckbon; the former was frequently brought
into requisition in patriotic demonstrations in Northumberland county in
subsequent years; the sword was presented by Captain Wilson to General
Wayne and by the latter to the Marquis Lafayette, by whom it was borne
through the French Revolution and his imprisonment at Olmutz, and, on
the occasion of his visit to the United States in 1824, returned to a
son of Judge Wilson through Captain Hunter.* At the close of the war he
engaged in business at Northumberland in partnership with Captain John
Boyd; they also erected Chillisquaque mills, to which reference is made
in the history of the township of that name. On the 20th of May, 1784,
he was commissioned as county lieutenant; in 1787 he was chosen as a
delegate from Northumberland county in the convention by which
Pennsylvania ratified the Federal constitution; in 1789 he represented
the county in the Supreme Executive Council of the State; and on the
13th of January, 1792, he was commissioned as associate judge, serving
in that capacity until his death in 1818. A Federalist in politics and
an ardent supporter of the national administration during the Whiskey
insurrection, he did not, perhaps, enjoy the popularity to which his
public services justly entitled him, but posterity will honor him none
the less because his convictions did not harmonize with the general
trend of public sentiment in this locality at that time.
Samuel Maclay was born in Lurgan township, Franklin county,
Pennsylvania, June 17, 1741, son of Charles Maclay, a native of County
Antrim, Ireland, and descendant of Charles Maclay, Baron Fingal. His
first active work in life was performed in 1767-68 as assistant deputy
surveyor to his brother, William Maclay, whom he also assisted in 1769
in surveying the lands in Buffalo valley appropriated to the officers in
the French and Indian war. He also did considerable surveying in Mifflin
county. As a result of his experience on the frontier he became an
expert marksman, and on one occasion demonstrated his superior skill in
rifle practice in a contest with Logan, the Mingo. He made his residence
in Buffalo valley as early as
____________________________________________________________________
*Linn's Annals of Buffalo Valley, pp. 161-162.
END OF PAGE 234
Page 235 contains a portrait of Simon P. Wolverton.
Page 236 is blank.
1775, when his name appears upon the assessment list as the owner of
twenty-five acres of land, two horses, two cows, one slave, and one
servant, and in that year he was commissioned a justice of the peace for
Northumberland county. As lieutenant colonel of a battalion of
associators he attended the Lancaster convention, July 4, 1776, and
participated in the organization of the State militia. He was
commissioned as associate judge, February 23, 1792, and served until his
resignation, December 17, 1795. His legislative services began in 1787,
when he was elected member of Assembly from Northumberland county; he
was re-elected in 1788 and 1789, and also returned to the House of
Representatives in 1790, 1791, and 1797. In 1798 he was elected to the
State Senate, and re-elected in 1802 upon the expiration of his term; he
was Speaker of that body from December 2, 1801, to March 16, 1803, and
resigned his seat on the 2d of September, 1803, having been elected
United States Senator from Pennsylvania, December 14,1802. He continued
in the latter position until January 4, 1809, when he resigned. In 1795-
96 he was a member of the national House of Representatives. A man of
large intelligence, sound judgment, and fine social qualities, he
enjoyed unbounded personal popularity, and received the almost unanimous
endorsement of his fellow citizens whenever he appeared as a candidate
for office. He filled important public positions continuously during a
period of nearly a quarter of a century, and is justly regarded as one
of the most important characters in the political history of the county.
He died on the 5th of October, 1811, and is buried in Buffalo valley.
William Cooke was born in Donegal township, Lancaster county,
Pennsylvania. He was among the pioneers of Northumberland county, of
which he was the first elected sheriff, serving in that office from 1772
to 1775. He represented Mahoning township in the Committee of Safety
which organized at the house of Richard Malone on the 8th of February,
1776. On the preceding day, at a meeting of the officers and
committeemen of the lower division of the county, he had been elected
lieutenant colonel of the battalion, and thus early in the Revolutionary
struggle was called upon to assume the responsibilities of military
leadership. He was a delegate to the Provincial Conferences of June,
1775, and June, 1776, and to the Constitutional Convention of 1776. On
the 2d of October, 1776, he was commissioned colonel of the Twelfth
Pennsylvania regiment of the Continental Line, which was so reduced in
numbers at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown that its officers
and men were assigned to other commands or mustered out of the service.
In 1781, 1782, and 1783 Colonel Cooke was elected to the Assembly; on
the 3d of October, 1786, he was commissioned a justice of the courts of
Northumberland county, and on the 19th of January, 1796, he became
associate judge, serving in that office until his death in April, 1804.
Howell's map of 1792 locates his residence in Point township near the
North Branch above Northumberland.
END OF PAGE 237
Andrew Albright was born on the 28th of February, 1770; in 1798 he
engaged in hotel keeping at Lewisburg, Union county, Pennsylvania (then
Northumberland), where he at once became popular and entered into
politics. He was sheriff of the county, 1803-06; member of the House of
Representatives, 1809-10; county treasurer, 1812-13; associate judge
(commissioned, September 7, 1813; qualified, October 12, 1813), 1813-18;
prothonotary, 1819-21; he was elected to the State Senate from the
district composed of Northumberland and Union counties in 1822, and died
on the 26th of November in that year. After his election as sheriff he
resided at Sunbury the remainder of his life.
Jacob Gearhart was of German origin, a son of Jacob Gearhart, who
emigrated from New Jersey in 1790 and purchased large tracts of land in
Rush township, Northumberland county; part of this land is now the
residence of Mrs. I. H. Torrence, granddaughter of Judge Gearhart. The
Judge was a farmer by occupation, but possessed intelligence and
education far above the average in that calling. In politics he was a
Jacksonian Democrat; a meeting was once held at his house by Simon
Cameron, whom Jackson had requested to secure the Pennsylvania influence
in favor of the nomination of Martin Van Buren. He was a pioneer
Methodist, and frequently entertained Rev. Francis Asbury, the first
bishop of that church in the United States. He was commissioned as
associate judge, January 10, 1814, as successor to Judge Montgomery, and
served until 1839, when he resigned, his official incumbency having
continued longer than that of any other associate judge in this county.
He died, August 2, 1841, and is buried in Mount Vernon cemetery.
Gearhart township is so named in honor of this family.
Henry Shaffer succeeded Andrew Albright; he was commissioned, March
25, 1818, qualified, April 3, 1818, and served until his death, March 1,
1833. He was for many years proprietor of a hotel that occupied the site
of the Neff House in Sunbury. His son, Solomon Shaffer, was register and
recorder of the county, 1830-36.
Peter Martz succeeded Judge Shaffer. He was commissioned, April 12,
1833, qualified on the following day, and served a little more than a
year.
George Weiser was born at Tulpehocken, Berks county, Pennsylvania;
he was reared in Union county, whither his parents removed in his
childhood, and learned the trade of tanner, which he pursued for many
years at Sunbury. He was county treasurer several terms; July 8, 1834,
he was commissioned as associate judge, succeeding Peter Martz, and
served until 1842; he died on the 2d of July, 1857.
John Montgomery succeeded Judge Gearhart. He was first
commissioned, July 19, 1839, and took the oath of office, August 5,
1839; on the 20th of March, 1840, he was re-commissioned, and served
until the office became elective under the amendment of 1850. He was a
member of the well known Montgomery family of Paradise, born on the 26th
of July, 1792, and died, March 17, 1866.
END OF PAGE 238
George C. Welker was twice associate judge; he was first
commissioned, March 5, 1842, and again in 1847, serving until 1851; in
1871 he was elected, succeeding Judge Shipman, and served until his
death, March 18, 1874. Judge Welker was a merchant tailor at Sunbury for
many years, and in the latter part of his life general agent for the
Lycoming Insurance Company. He was the only one of the later associate
judges who presided in the absence of the president judge.
John F. Dentler was elected in 1851 as successor to Judge
Montgomery, and served one term (five years). He was born at Carlisle,
Pennsylvania, came to the northern part of Northumberland county when a
young man, and engaged in farming, but later in life entered mercantile
pursuits at McEwensville, where he died, January 5, 1859, at the age of
fifty-four.
George Weiser was born at Fisher's Ferry, Lower Augusta township,
Northumberland county, in 1792, great-grandson of Conrad Weiser, a
prominent character in the early history of this county. He was elected
in 1851, succeeding Judge Welker, and served five years. He also held
the office of county treasurer and was justice of the peace at Sunbury
many years. During the war of 1812 he was a private in Captain Snyder's
company, and later in life became colonel of militia. He died in 1877.
William Turner was elected in 1856, re-elected in 1861, and served
ten years. He was a farmer of Lewis township in the extreme northeastern
part of the county.
Casper Scholl was a resident of Shamokin, where he died, November
8, 1874, at the age of sixty-five. He was elected in 1856 and served one
term.
Abraham Shipman was born in Lower Augusta township, March 6, 1810,
and was successively employed as lumberman, surveyor, farmer, and
miller. He also held the positions of justice of the peace, county
auditor, county surveyor, and associate judge; to the last named he was
elected in 1861, re-elected in 1866, and served ten years. He died on
the 8th of August, 1878.
Isaac Beidelspach was born at Mohringen, Wurtemberg, Germany,
October 21, 1822, and came to America in 1832. He was a farmer, and
resided in Point township. In 1866 he was elected associate judge,
serving until his death, July 15, 1869.
Joseph Nicely, the last associate judge of Northumberland county,
was commissioned, August 4, 1869, to the vacancy occasioned by the death
of Judge Beidelspach, and appeared upon the bench for the first time on
the 9th of the same month. He was re-commissioned, December 15, 1869, to
serve until the first Monday in December, 1870; having been elected he
was again commissioned, November 9, 1870, and continued in office until
the 30th of November, 1875. He was a farmer, residing in Delaware
township, where he died, December 11, 1877, at the age of seventy.
END OF PAGE 239
THE BAR
The judiciary act of 1722 provided that "a competent number of
persons of an honest disposition and learned in the law" should be
admitted by the justices of the respective counties to practice as
attorneys. It does not appear that any special regulations were
formulated in Northumberland county until May sessions, 1783, when the
following "Rules for the Admission of Attorneys in this Court" were
adopted:-
That no person be hereafter admitted to practice as an attorney or
counselor in this court unless he shall have served a regular clerkship
to some practicing attorney or counselor of known abilities for the term
of three years, and be of full age at the time of his admission; nor
even then, unless he be certified by two gentlemen of the bar, to be
appointed by the court for that purpose, that on a full and impartial
examination such person appears to be well grounded in the principles of
the law and acquainted with the practice; and if he has regularly
studied as aforesaid in any other county in this State, he shall not be
admitted to practice in this court as an attorney or counselor unless he
be first admitted in such county where he so studied, [and] produces to
the court a certificate under the seal of the said court of his
admission, or certified by some attorney who was present at his
admission. Provided always, that in case of a person applying to be
admitted who shall not have engaged in the study of the law till after
his coming to the age of twenty-one years, if it shall appear that such
person has applied himself closely to his studies under the direction of
some gentleman of the bar for the term of two years, and is a person of
fair character, and certified to be well qualified as aforesaid, he may
be admitted.
It is further ruled that no person now residing and inhabiting
within the United States of America shall be admitted an attorney of
this court who has not taken the oath or affirmation of allegiance and
fidelity to some one of the said States within the time and in the
manner prescribed by the laws of the said States respectively, and that
no person coming into this State from and after the first day of March
next (except attorneys originally admitted and sworn in one of the
United States of America, having resided there for two years after such
admission and examination here) shall be admitted to practice as an
attorney or counselor within this court until he shall have taken the
oath or affirmation of allegiance and fidelity to this Commonwealth, and
produced an authentic certificate of his having been admitted as such in
the country from whence he came, and undergone a regular examination
here as aforesaid, and also resided two years within this State next
before his application for admission.
The requirements for admission have changed materially from those
prescribed in 1783; the applicant is now subjected to a preliminary and
a final examination under a regularly constituted board of examiners,
and admission here usually insures the successful candidate creditable
standing in any other county of the State.
The practice of the law was attended with many disadvantages in the
interior counties of Pennsylvania for some years after the organization
of Northumberland county. The country was sparsely settled, the people
were poor, and fees correspondingly small, so that lawyers were almost
compelled to practice in a number of counties in order to derive a
livelihood from the profession. A number of attorneys usually rode
together from one county seat to another, carrying their legal papers
and a few necessary law books in a
END OF PAGE 240
sack across the saddle. George A. Snyder thus describes this itinerancy
and the nature of the early litigation:
Each lawyer kept his saddle horse. The Lancaster, York, and
Carlisle lawyers met at Harrisburg; when that court terminated, they
came to Sunbury; then to Williamsport and Wilkesbarre. As their numbers
were recruited at each county town, they formed a considerable troop of
cavalry on entering the two last places.
The nature and character of the law business were then different
from what they are at present. Almost all the important actions were
ejectments upon disputed original titles. The number of witnesses was
very great, the means of traveling scanty, the district large, so that
much allowance had to be made for failure of attendance. The causes
were, therefore, frequently continued, so that they usually stood upon
the trial list several years before they could be acted upon; this,
added to the dilatory habits always prevalent in frontier settlements,
produced that leisurely, time-wasting habit of doing business, which,
until lately, characterized our county courts.*
The following attorneys were admitted to the bar of Northumberland
county from its organization in 1772 to the year 1800: James Wilson,
May, 1772; Robert Magaw, May, 1772; Edward Burd, May, 1772; George
North, May, 1772; Christian Huck, May, 1772; James Potts, May, 1772;
Andrew Robison, May, 1772; Charles Stedman, May, 1772; Thomas Hartley,
August, 1772; Casper Weitzel, August, 1772; Andrew Ross, August, 1772;
James Whitehead, August, 1772; James A. Wilson, November, 1773; Francis
Johnson, May, 1774; David Grier, May, 1774; William Prince Gibbs, May,
1776; William Lawrence Blair, 1776; Stephen Chambers, August, 1778;
Collinson Read, November, 1778; John Vannost, November, 1778; John
Hubley, November, 1780; James Hamilton, May, 1781; Thomas Duncan, May,
1783; Jasper Yeates, August, 1784; John Clark, 1785; John W. Kittera,
1785; John Reily, 1785; John Andre Hanna, February, 786; Charles Smith,
February, 1786; John Joseph Henry, May, 1786; Jacob Hubley, May, 1786;
William Richardson Atlee, November, 1786; George Eckert, February, 1787:
William Graydon, May, 1787; James Scull, May, 1787; Galbreath Patterson,
August, 1787; David M. Keechan, November, 1789; Marks John Biddle,
November, 1789; Jonathan Walker, May, 1790; David Watts, November, 1790;
Samuel Young, Jr., February, 1791; Robert Duncan, May, 1791; Daniel
Levy, May, 1791; Charles Hall, May, 1791; John Kidd, August, 1791;
Thomas B. Dick, August, 1795; Putnam Catlin, August, 1795; Robert
Whitehill, August, 1795; John Price, August, 1795; Thomas Cooper,
November, 1795; Jesse Moore, August, 1796; Charles Hartley, November,
1796; James Gilchrist, January, 1797; John W. Hunter, January, 1798; E.
W. Hale, April, 1798; Robert Irwin, August, 1798; Enoch Smith, August,
1798; John Wallis, August, 1798; Frederick Smith, November, 1798;
William Wilson Laird, August, 1799.
Of the itinerant lawyers who practiced at Sunbury during the early
years of the county's history the most distinguished was James Wilson,
whose name appears first among the attorneys admitted at May term, 1772.
______________________________________________________________________
*Linn's Annals of Buffalo Valley, pp. 363-364.
END OF PAGE 241
He was a member of the Continental Congress, a signer of the Declaration
of Independence, one of the first justices of the United States Supreme
court, and the incumbent of various other positions of honor and
responsibility. Robert Magaw, whose name appears second, was colonel of
the Sixth Pennsylvania regiment during the Revolution. Edward Burd
appeared as deputy attorney general, and probably acted in that capacity
until the close of the colonial period. He was subsequently prothonotary
to the Supreme court. Of George North no personal data have been
obtained. Christian Huck was the Tory Captain Huck mentioned in the
memoirs of Alexander Graydon and Richard Henry Lee. The three other
attorneys present at the first court of common pleas - James Potts,
Andrew Robinson, and Charles Stedman - were admitted after examination.
Casper Weitzel was the first resident practicing attorney of
Northumberland county. Born at Lancaster in 1748, he was admitted to the
bar of that county in 1769, and in August, 1772, at Sunbury, where the
early records show that he received a large share of the legal business.
His talents and patriotism were early recognized: he was a member of the
Provincial Convention of January, 1775, from Northumberland county; on
the 7th of February, 1776, he was elected first major of the battalion
of the lower division of the county; on the 9th of March, 1776, he was
appointed captain of a company recruited by himself at Sunbury, which
was attached to Colonel Samuel Miles's regiment and suffered serious
loss at the battle of Long Island in August, 1776. He died at Sunbury in
1782.
Stephen Chambers is mentioned by Fithian in his journal of July 20,
1775, as "a lawyer - serious, civil, and sociable." His name appears on
the continuance docket of the common pleas as early as February, 1774,
but no record of his formal admission at that date has been discovered.
He was admitted at August sessions, 1778, but this was not necessarily
the first time, as attorneys who had been admitted under the colonial
dispensation were usually required to take the oath necessary to the
performance of professional duties under the State government. Chambers
was born in the North of Ireland and came to Pennsylvania at an early
age. As he was admitted to the bar in Lancaster, Philadelphia, York, and
Carlisle later than at Sunbury, it is reasonable to presume that his
professional career was begun at the latter place and that it was also
his residence. If this inference is correct, he was one of the first
resident attorneys in the county. He was the first Worshipful Master of
Lodge No. 22, F. & A.M., of Sunbury, at its institution in 1779. It is
probable that he removed to Lancaster shortly after this, as he was
elected a member of the Council of Censors from that county in 1783. He
was also a delegate to the Pennsylvania convention by which the Federal
constitution was ratified. He died at Lancaster on the 16th of May,
1789, from wounds received in a duel with Dr. Jacob Rieger on Monday,
the 11th of that month. In the early years of the Revolution he was
END OF PAGE 242
captain in the Twelfth Pennsylvania regiment of the Continental Line,
promoted from first lieutenant in 1777.
Charles Smith, well known to the legal fraternity of Pennsylvania
as the compiler of "Smith's Laws," was born at Philadelphia, March 4,
1765, son of the Rev. William Smith, D. D., founder and provost of
Washington College, Charleston, Maryland, from which the son received
the degree of A. B. at its first commencement, March 14, 1783. He
studied law with his brother, William M. Smith, at Easton, Pennsylvania,
and was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county at February
sessions, 1786, on motion of Thomas Duncan and after examination by him
and Stephen Chambers. He forthwith opened an office at Sunbury, where
his industry and talents at once gained him a place in the confidence of
the public. As the colleague of Simon Snyder he represented
Northumberland county in the convention by which the constitution of
1790 was prepared. As was customary in those days, he accompanied the
president judges of central and western Pennsylvania on their circuits,
and, as cases involving the principles of land tenure constituted the
most important class of litigation at that time, his opportunities for
the study of this important subject were exceptional. That his knowledge
was comprehensive and accurate is evident from the note which comprises
several hundred pages of one of the volumes of his "Laws " virtually a
treatise on the land laws of the State, while similarly exhaustive
annotations on the subject of criminal law, etc. show that his
proficiency was not confined to any particular department of legal
knowledge. He married a daughter of Jasper Yeates, associate justice of
the Supreme court of Pennsylvania; shortly after this event he removed
from Sunbury to Lancaster, and was elected to both branches of the
legislature from that county. In 1819 he was appointed president judge
of the Cumberland - Franklin - Adams district, from which he resigned in
the following year to accept the president judgeship in the Lancaster
district court. In 1824 he removed to Philadelphia, where he died in
1840.
Thomas Duncan and David Watts - the former admitted at Sunbury at
May sessions, 1783, the latter at November sessions, 1790 - were from
Carlisle. "Mr. Watts was of rough exterior, careless of his dress, and
by no means choice in his language. He seemed generally to be not at all
reluctant to say what he thought, without regard to the feelings of the
objects of his remarks. Mr. Duncan, on the contrary, was a man of
polished manner, neat and careful in dress, and never rude or wantonly
disrespectful to others. They were the rival practitioners at Carlisle.
I have heard of an anecdote which somewhat illustrates their respective
characters. On one occasion in court, when Mr. Watts was annoyed by a
remark of Mr. Duncan, he said: 'You little (using some offensive
expression), I could put you in my pocket' 'Then,' said Mr. Duncan,
'you would have more law in your pocket than ever you had in your
head'"* Justice Hugh Henry Bracken-
_______________________________________________________________________
*George W. Harris's Reminiscences of the Dauphin County Bar.
END OF PAGE 243
ridge says of Watts that he "was possessed of a powerful mind, and was
the most vehement speaker I ever heard. He seized his subject with an
Herculean grasp, at the same time throwing his Herculean body and limbs
into attitudes which would have delighted a painter or sculptor. He was
a singular instance of the union of great strength of mind with bodily
powers equally wonderful." He describes Duncan as "a very small man,
with a large but well formed head," who "perused Coke upon Littleton as
a recreation, and read more books of reports than a young lady reads new
novels." "Mr. Duncan reasoned with admirable clearness and method on all
legal subjects, and at the same time displayed great knowledge of human
nature in examination of witnesses and in his addresses to the jury. Mr.
Watts selected merely the strong points of his case, and labored them
with an earnestness and zeal approaching to fury; and perhaps his
forcible manner sometimes produced a more certain effect than that of
the subtle and wily advocate opposed to him." There was scarcely a case
of importance at Sunbury during the period that these gentlemen "rode
the circuit" upon which they were not retained upon opposite sides,
either independently or in connection with members of the local bar, and
the collision of such antithetical characters produced a mass of curious
incidents, some of which are still preserved, and circulate at the bar
in the hours of forensic leisure. Mr. Duncan was appointed a justice of
the Supreme court in 1817; Mr. Watts was the father of Frederick Watts,
president judge in Cumberland county from 1848 to 1851.
Jonathan Hoge Walker, probably the earliest resident attorney of
Northumberland, was born in East Pennsboro township, Cumberland county,
Pennsylvania, in 1756. He was of English descent; William Walker, his
grandfather, was a captain under the Duke of Marlborough in the wars of
Queen Anne, and John Hoge, his mother's father, was the founder of
Hogestown, Cumberland county. Graduating at Dickinson College, Carlisle,
in the class of 1787 (which also numbered David Watts and the Rev. John
Bryson among its members), he studied law under Stephen Duncan, and at
May sessions, 1790, was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county.
Here he was one of the few resident attorneys, and within a few years
secured a fairly lucrative practice. He was appointed president judge of
the Fourth judicial district in April, 1806, and removed to Bellefonte,
Centre county; his judicial administration was such as to command the
confidence and approval of the public generally, and when, in 1806,
Governor Snyder suggested his transfer to the Eighth district, the
people protested en masse and induced him to remain. In 1818 he was
appointed by President Monroe as judge of the United States court for
the Western district of Pennsylvania, created by act of Congress in May
of that year, and occupied this position until his death in 1824. His
distinguished son, Robert J. Walker, United States Senator from
Mississippi, elected in 1835, and Secretary of the Treasury under
President Polk, was born
END OF PAGE 244
at Northumberland in 1801, and probably rose to as high political
position as any other native of Northumberland county.
Daniel Levy was admitted at May term, 1791. He was a son of Aaron
Levy, founder of Aaronsburg, Centre county, Pennsylvania, and a great
land speculator. It is probable that the care of his father's estate
received a large share of his professional attention. George A. Snyder
says that he "outlived all the old lawyers, as they were popularly
called, except Mr. Bellas. He was a conceited man, active as a cat, an
insatiable dancer, and a hard fighter. he had considerable science as a
boxer, and, although not large or strong, his skill, joined to his
prodigious activity, made him quite formidable. His vanity and fondness
for dress made him a capital butt and subject of jokes for his fellow
members of the bar."* He was prothonotary of Northumberland county from
1800 to 1809. After a residence of more than half a century at Sunbury
and a connection with the bar of the county extending over a similar
period, he died on the 12th of May, 1844.
Charles Hall was born in 1767 and read law with Thomas Hartley at
York, Pennsylvania; he was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county
at May sessions, 1791. "He was rather above the common height, stout in
person, of ruddy complexion, smooth, handsome face, of gentlemanly
appearance and manners, of a highly reputable character, and of
considerable ability in his profession.† He married Elizabeth Coleman,
daughter of the wealthy iron manufacturer of Cornwall, Lebanon county,
Pennsylvania, who presented her with extensive and valuable lands at
Muncy, Lycoming county, still known as "Hall's Farms." Mr. Hall erected
the large and substantial brick building at the northeast corner of
Market and Front streets, Sunbury, the most imposing private residence
of that borough at the time it was built. He died at Philadelphia in
January, 1821, at the age of fifty-three.
Evan Rice Evans was a practicing attorney at Sunbury prior to 1800,
but the date of his admission has not been ascertained. Charles Miner
describes him as "a heavy, stout gentleman, with a large head and florid
complexion. His delivery, rapid; his words crowd upon each other as
sometimes to choke utterance. He talks good sense, why should he not?
His head has more law in it than half a modern library. He is a powerful
advocate. with a good fee and an intricate case."‡ His death occurred
in 1811.
Jesse Moore was admitted at August sessions, 1796. He was a native
of Montgomery county; while practicing law at Sunbury he was appointed
president judge of the Sixth judicial district, composed of a group of
counties in the northwestern part of the State, and performed the duties
of that position until his death, December 21, 1824, in the fifty-ninth
year of his age. He is described as a well educated man, a diligent
student, and a good lawyer, discreet, upright, and impartial in his
judicial opinions and decisions.
__________________________________________________________________
*Linn'S Annals of Buffalo Valley, p. 385.
†George W. Harris's Reminiscences of the Dauphin County Bar.
‡Linn's Annals of Buffalo Valley, pp. 323-324.
END OF PAGE 245
He was elected to the legislature from Northumberland county in 1801 and
re-elected in the following year.
Daniel Smith, a native of New Jersey and a graduate of Princeton in
the class of 1787, studied law in that State and began the practice of
his profession in Northumberland county about the year 1795. He resided
upon a fine farm on the southern limits of Milton, and may properly be
regarded as the pioneer lawyer of that borough. It is the uniform
testimony of those who have written about him that he was an eloquent
speaker. George A. Snyder pronounced him "the only lawyer of the
district who could he called eloquent in a high sense."* Charles Miner
describes him as "a tall, delicate looking gentleman, always elegantly
dressed. He turns pale and actually trembles as he rises to speak. You
are interested by such exceeding modesty, and half fear he will not he
able to go on. His voice breaks sweetly on the ear, and words of
persuasive wisdom begin to flow, and now pour along in a rapid
torrent."† Tunison Coryell says that "he was eminent as a lawyer, was
considered one of the most eloquent speakers at the bar, and was engaged
in all important cases then in the counties of Northumberland, Lycoming,
and Luzerne."‡ Coryell states that Smith delivered the address in the
old German church at Sunbury in 1799 on the occasion of the memorial
exercises in honor of President Washington, when the entire audience was
moved to tears by the power of his eloquence. His death occurred at
Milton on the 6th of April, 1810; he was then in the forty-fifth year of
his age and the full vigor of his powers.
Enoch Smith was a brother to Daniel, though not his equal in
professional ability. He was admitted to the bar at August sessions,
1798, and practiced at Sunbury until his death, February 9, 1817.
Samuel Roberts, who qualified as deputy attorney general for
Northumberland county, July 16, l800, resided at Sunbury, and practiced
in the courts to some extent prior to that date, was born in
Philadelphia, September 8, 1763, and admitted to the bar of that city in
1793. On the 30th of April, 1803, he was commissioned president judge of
the Fifth district, composed of the counties of Allegheny, Westmoreland,
Fayette, and Washington, and held the office until his death in 1820.
Samuel Hepburn was a son of James Hepburn, an early and prominent
merchant of Northumberland. After obtaining a classical education at
Princeton College and graduating from that institution he studied law
under Jonathan Hoge Walker at Northumberland, and was admitted to the
bar about 1800. He then located at Milton, where he was the second
resident lawyer; in 1856 he removed to Lock Haven, where he died at the
advanced age of eighty-four, October 16, 1865. He was a man of small
stature and spare physique, pleasant and genial in society, and highly
esteemed where-
________________________________________________________________________
*Linn's Annals of Buffalo Valley, p.365.
†Ibid. p, 323.
‡Reminiscences of Early Times and Events, pp. 32-33.
END OF PAGE 246
ever known. He was a close student, and prepared his cases thoroughly.
As a public speaker his manner was agreeable, and in addressing the
court or jury he could state a case with such clearness as to carry
conviction without the aid of rhetorical embellishment.
Hugh Bellas was born near Belfast, Ireland, April 26, 1780, and
came to America at the age of nine years with his father, George Bellas,
who settled in Fishing Creek township, Northumberland county,
Pennsylvania. There he grew to manhood, and, as the family was in
straitened circumstances, enjoyed but meager educational advantages. At
the age of sixteen, having evinced a disposition to engage in other
pursuits than farming, he entered the store of his uncle at
Philadelphia. On the 12th of September, 1796, he was indentured to
Robert Irwin, merchant, of Northumberland, with whom he was employed
until he attained his majority. During this period he formed the
acquaintance of the Rev. Joseph Priestley, whose writings he transcribed
for the press, receiving in return for his services the loan of books
for a prescribed course of reading. As a clerk he so far enjoyed the
confidence of his employer as to be placed in charge of a branch store
at Danville; and at the close of his apprenticeship he engaged in
merchandising at Northumberland several years. His legal studies were
begun under Jonathan Walker, and continued in the intervals of his
employment as clerk and merchant. About the year 1803 he applied at
Bellefonte for admission to the bar, but encountered the most determined
opposition from the lawyers of the district, who were almost unanimously
Federalists while the young applicant was an active Democrat. They based
their objection upon the fact that he had not actually studied in the
office of Mr. Walker, but in a store; by the advice of his preceptor,
Mr. Bellas renewed his application at Sunbury, retaining Daniel Smith in
his interest. The examination was of the most rigid character, but he
passed the ordeal successfully and was duly admitted. Simon Snyder was
present on this occasion, and the bearing of the young lawyer, as well
as his evident ability, impressed him most favorably.*
Thus embarked upon his professional career, he brought to his work
the same unflagging energy and indomitable spirit that characterized his
early struggles. He was appointed prothonotary of Northumberland county
in 1809, and served until 1818. In the course of his long career at the
bar he was connected with some of the most protracted litigation in this
part of the State. Governor Snyder retained him in the famous Isle of
Que cases, begun at Sunbury in 1804 and ended at New Berlin in 1824; the
case of Mann vs. Wilson, in which proceedings were first instituted at
May term, 1814, and which was not finally adjudicated by the Supreme
Court until 1850, was also continued during this long period by his
persistence and tact. Although the active participant in many an
acrimonious legal and political contest he enjoyed in his old age the
universal esteem and respect of his colleagues at
______________________________________________________________________
*Linn's Annals of Buffalo valley, pp. 365-367.
END OF PAGE 247
the bar, and died at Sunbury, October 26, 1863, one of the last
survivors of the bar of Northumberland county in the first decade of the
present century.
E. G. Bradford, "from all accounts, a lawyer of very considerable
ability," was "a tall, heavy, portly man of a commanding appearance," as
described by John F. Wolfinger.* He was prosecuting attorney for
Northumberland county from April, 1809, to January, 1821, from January
to April, 1824, and probably also from 1806 to 1809, from which it is
evident that his professional career in this county began early in the
present century. He resided at Sunbury in the substantial brick building
on Market Street that is now the residence of Samuel J. Packer, 2d.
After leaving this county he removed to York, Pennsylvania, and died of
apoplexy at Pottsville, May 17, 1836, in the sixty-second year of his
age.
Ebenezer Greenough was born in Massachusetts, December 11, 1788. He
graduated from Harvard University in 1804, and came to Pennsylvania
within a short time thereafter; immediately upon his arrival at
Wilkesbarre he accepted the principalship of the academy at that place,
and during his connection with this institution began the study of law
with Ebenezer Bowmman. In the latter part of 1806 he came to Sunbury,
completed his professional preparation under Charles Hall, and was
admitted to the bar of Northumberland county, January 19, 1808. Endowed
with intellectual qualities of a high order, his educational advantages
had been superior to those of the generality of lawyers at that day, and
his ability in the profession placed him within a few years at the head
of the local bar, a position which was successfully maintained until his
death, December 25,1847. Thoroughly familiar with the land laws of
Pennsylvania, he particularly excelled in the trial of ejectment cases
for the determination of titles under conflicting surveys; and, while he
was concerned in nearly every important case of this nature in
Northumberland and the adjoining counties of Pennsylvania during the
period of his professional career, he did not confine himself to this
particular class of litigation, but was as frequently employed and
equally successful in civil and criminal cases of a general character.
In argument he was clear, logical, and forcible, and in the later years
of his life frequently assisted attorneys from other counties in the
Northern district in the presentation of their cases before the Supreme
court. His self-possession was remarkable; in the most exciting
controversy he remained calm and collected, and never permitted his
attention to be distracted from what he regarded as the essential
principles involved in a cause. He possessed great skill in cross
examination, and seldom failed to elicit the testimony desired from the
most obstinate and recalcitrant witnesses. In addressing a jury he
invariably appealed to the judgment rather then the feelings, and so
simple, plane, and methodical was his manner of presenting a ease that
his position could scarcely be misapprehended. He was a Whig in
politics, and was elected to
_________________________________________________________________
*Northumberland County Legal News, Volume I. No. 3.
END OF PAGE 248
the legislature in 1831; with this exception he never occupied official
position, but devoted his entire attention to the duties of his
profession, in which he attained conspicuous and deserved success.
Daniel Scudder was a native of New Jersey; in 1815 he came to
Milton, read law with Samuel Hepburn at the same time as Joseph B.
Anthony, and was admitted to the bar at Sunbury on the 26th of November,
1817. He married the daughter of Daniel Smith, who inherited the fine
farm of her father just below Milton, and there they resided some years.
In 1821 he was elected to the legislature; in 1824-27 inclusive he was
again returned, and was active in advocating the construction of canals
in central Pennsylvania. He assumed office as deputy attorney general
for Northumberland county at August sessions, 1828, and filled that
position until his death in January of the following year.
James Hepburn was a son of one of the early merchants of
Northumberland and brother to Samuel Hepburn, of Milton. He was admitted
to the bar at Sunbury on the 19th of August, 1819, and began the
practice of law at Northumberland, where he was president of the bank
and bridge company and otherwise prominent in business affairs. Thence
he removed successively to Baltimore and Philadelphia; at the former
city he was president of the Tidewater Canal Company, and during his
residence at the latter he seems to have given more attention to his
profession than at any time during his previous career. Governor Pollock
appointed him State reporter, and the first one hundred eighty-two pages
of I Casey (Pennsylvania State Reports, Volume XXV) were compiled by
him, with the exception of three cases. Not long after his appointment
to this position he died at Philadelphia, December 25, 1855.
Samuel J. Packer was born in Howard township, Centre county,
Pennsylvania, March 23, 1799. He received his education at a local
school of the Society of Friends, under the superintendence of his
father, and learned the trade of printer at Bellefonte. Subsequently he
was engaged in a journalistic capacity at Harrisburg, where he reported
the proceedings of the legislature and formed the acquaintance of Simon
Cameron, between whom and himself a warm friendship always thereafter
existed. In 1820 he came to Sunbury and established the Publick
Inquirer, which advocated the re-election of Governor Findlay and was
continued several years. During this period he engaged in the study of
the law under Hugh Bellas, and was admitted to the bar of Northumberland
county on the 23d of August, 1823. He at once entered upon the practice
of his profession at Sunbury, and by assiduous attention to its duties
early attained a leading position among the members of the bar.
Thoroughness and care in the preparation of his causes and a closely
argumentative style uniformly characterized his work. As a public
speaker, particularly upon political occasions, he attained considerable
distinction, and possessed in large measure the faculty of converting
others to his views.
END OF PAGE 249
From the time he came to Northumberland county until his death, Mr.
Packer was a prominent figure in her political history. On the 27th of
January, 1824, he was commissioned as prothonotary, holding that office
until 1829, and on the 20th of April in the latter year he was inducted
into office as deputy attorney general, serving until the following
November. In 1830 he was elected to the State Senate for the term of
four years, and, although one of the youngest members of that body, he
took a leading part in the discussion of many of the public measures
which received its consideration. His legislative incumbency was marked
by great activity, especially in supporting enterprises designed to
promote the development of the material resources of the State, of which
the Danville and Pottsville railroad was the most important in the
district he represented. Its construction from Sunbury to the Shamokin
coal field was the direct result of measures introduced by him in the
Senate and passed by the legislature through his influence. As chairman
of a special committee on the coal fields of Pennsylvania, he prepared
the first legislative report ever promulgated upon that subject. This
report is able and exhaustive, and relates to both the anthracite and
bituminous regions. It treats of the origin and development of the
mining industry and its vital relation to manufacturing and commercial
interests in general, the location and extent of the different coal
fields, the facilities of transportation enjoyed by each, and the
limitations and restrictions which the legislature might with propriety
impose upon the corporate powers and privileges of railroad, mining, and
navigation companies. The report possesses great value, not only as a
compilation of facts relating to the history and condition of the coal
trade and of the inexhaustible mineral resources of the State, but also
as an expression of conclusions and convictions derived from a thorough
study of the great legal and economic questions involved.
In 1834 Mr. Packer was the Whig candidate for Congress from the
district embracing Northumberland county, but died on the 20th of
October in that year at the early age of thirty-five.
Joshua Wright Comly, who was admitted to the bar of Northumberland
county on the 17th of November, 1830, and has survived all the officers
of the court and attorneys of this bar at that date, was born at
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 16, 1810, son of Charles and Sarah
(Wright) Comly, and a descendant of Henry Comly, an English Friend, who
immigrated to Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1682. He was reared in the
Quaker faith, attended the local schools and the College of New Jersey
at Princeton, and in 1827 began the study of law at Milton under Samuel
Hepburn. After his admission to the bar he located at Orwigsburg,
Schuylkill county, but subsequently removed to Danville, where he has
since resided, although his practice for some years embraced many of the
most important cases in Northumberland county. In 1851 he was the Whig
candidate for judge of the Supreme court.
END OF PAGE 250
James Pleasants, born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 11,
1809, received his education principally under the Rev. David
Kirkpatrick at Milton, read law with Hugh Bellas, and was admitted to
the bar of Northumberland county, April 21, 1831. He located at
Catawissa, Columbia county, Pennsylvania, within a short time
thereafter, but was frequently concerned in important cases in
Northumberland county, either individually or as assistant to his
brother, Charles Pleasants; about the year 1850 he located at Sunbury,
but removed to Radnor, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, some six years
later, and there he died, September 5, 1874. In Mr. Wolfinger's
"Reminiscences," he is described as "a tall, slim man, of a very
pleasant countenance and social disposition," who "spoke and argued his
cases before the court and jury with considerable ability.* Defective
hearing interfered greatly with the discharge of his professional
duties.
Charles Pleasants, brother to James, was born at Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, March 31, 1807; he also attended Kirkpatrick's academy at
Milton, but read law under James Hepburn, of Northumberland, and was
admitted to the bar at Sunbury on the 16th of April, 1832. He married a
daughter of Hugh Bellas, with whom he was frequently associated in
professional work. On the 2d of February, 1836, he was commissioned as
prothonotary of the Supreme court for the Northern district, then
composed of the counties of Northumberland, Luzerne, Lycoming, Bradford,
McKean, Potter, Tioga, Susquehanna, Columbia, and Union, and held that
position until his resignation twenty-nine years later. He died at
Radnor, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, May 24, 1865.
John F. Wolfinger was born at Frosty Valley, Montour county,
Pennsylvania, and educated under the Rev. David Kirkpatrick at Milton.
He studied law at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, with Joseph B. Anthony as
his preceptor, and was admitted to the bar of Lycoming county, August
31, 1830. In April 1832, he opened an office at Milton, and on the 20th
of August in that year was admitted to practice in the several courts of
Northumberland county, on motion of Samuel Hepburn. In 1833 he was
appointed prosecuting attorney for this county by George M. Dallas,
attorney general of the State, and at the expiration of his term the
court continued him in that office until his successor was regularly
appointed. With the exception of the criminal cases in which he was
concerned as deputy attorney general, Mr. Wolfinger confined his
attention exclusively to civil actions, collections, and orphans' court
business, in which he enjoyed a fairly lucrative practice until the
outbreak of the civil war; at that time he virtually retired from the
active duties of the profession, devoting his time to local historical
research and literary pursuits. His contributions to the Miltonian on
various subjects connected with local history, and his "Recollections of
the Bar of the Counties of Northumberland, Lycoming, Union, and
Columbia," published in the North-
____________________________________________________________________
*Northumberland County Legal News vol. I. No. 6.
END OF PAGE 251
umberland County Legal News, are among the more important of his
productions. He died at Milton, January 13, 1891.
Henry B. Masser was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county,
November 5, 1833, and is the oldest resident lawyer of Sunbury. He was
born at that place, August 17, 1809, educated at the local schools, and
studied law with Alexander Jordan. In 1839 he was appointed deputy
attorney general for the county, and served in that office six years
with credit and ability. In September, 1840, he established the Sunbury
American, and as editor and publisher of this paper he was prominently
identified with the public affairs of the county during a period of
twenty-nine years. Mr. Masser has also been interested in various
business enterprises; he now lives in retirement at Sunbury at an
advanced age.
Charles W. Hegins was born at Sunbury, August 15, 1812. He received
his education at the Northumberland Academy, studied law under Charles
G. Donnel, and was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county,
November 5, 1833. At that date and for some time previously he had been
employed in the office of the prothonotary at Sunbury; there he opened
an office and continued in successful practice until 1851, when he was
elected president judge of Schuylkill county. He was re-elected at the
expiration of his first term, and served until his death, July 2,1862. A
man of fine discriminating mind and judicial temperament, he was an
excellent lawyer and an able judge. In 1838 he was elected to the
legislature from Northumberland county and re-elected in the following
year.
William I. Greenough was born at Sunbury, May 27,1821, son of
Ebenezer Greenough. After attending the academy of his native town and
similar institutions at Danville and Wilkesbarre he entered Princeton
College, graduating in 1839; his father was his law preceptor, and on
the 2d of August, 1842, he was admitted to the bar of Northumberland
county. Mr. Greenough has been concerned in the trial of many of the
most important cases at this bar. In presenting a cause to the court he
follows closely in the footsteps of his father; his arguments are terse
and logical, confined entirely to the matter at issue, and calculated to
convince rather than persuade. He is, however, a better counselor than
advocate; for some years past he has been selected as master in chancery
in many of the leading cases of this county, a recognition of his
judicial qualifications no less than a compliment to his sound
deliberative judgment.
Charles J. Bruner was educated at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, studied
law under Alexander Jordan, and was admitted to the bar of
Northumberland county, January 3, 1843. He at once opened an office at
Sunbury, where he was associated with William L. Dewart for a time. As
captain of Company F, Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, he led the first
detachment of troops from Northumberland county at the outbreak of the
civil war. Subsequently he was appointed internal revenue collector for
the Fourteenth Pennsylvania
END OF PAGE 252
Page 253 contains a portrait of Truman H. Purdy
Page 254 is blank.
district by President Grant, and retained that office fourteen years.
Captain Bruner was born at Sunbury, November 17, 1820, and died on the
15th of March, 1885.
William L. Dewart was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county,
January 3, 1843; his law preceptor was Charles G. Donnel. He was born at
Sunbury, June 21, 1820, educated at Dickinson College, Carlisle,
Pennsylvania, and the College of New Jersey at Princeton, graduating
from the latter in 1839. He was a prominent figure in political affairs,
and was several times a member of Democratic national conventions; in
1856 he was elected to Congress. His death occurred on the 19th of
April, 1888.
Charles W. Tharp was born at Milton, December 25, 1818, son of
James and Phebe (Vincent) Tharp. He was educated at the schools of his
native town and at Lewisburg, read law at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, with
Curtin & Blanchard, and was admitted to the bar of Northumberland
county, November 7, 1843. He resides at Milton. He was the last deputy
attorney general appointed for Northumberland county, serving in that
office from 1848 to 1850; in 1853 he was elected district attorney and
served until 1856. He was elected to the legislature in 1865 and 1866.
David Taggart read law with Ebenezer Greenough and was admitted to
the bar of Northumberland county, November 7, 1843. In 1854 he was
elected to the State Senate, and served as Speaker of that body; he was
also president of the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society at one
time. During the civil war he entered the service of the war department
of the national government as paymaster, and was stationed in this
capacity at different points throughout the country for some years
thereafter. He possessed rare gifts as a public speaker, and was
frequently called upon to deliver addresses on the occasion of patriotic
or anniversary celebrations. He was born, May 28, 1822, and died on the
30th of June, 1888.
William C. Lawson was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, December
3, 1817. He was educated under the Rev. David Kirkpatrick at Milton and
at Delaware College, Newark, Delaware, graduating from the latter
institution in 1838, after which he began the study of law under J. F.
Linn at Lewisburg, Union county, completing his professional preparation
with Judge John Reed, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he was admitted
to the bar in 1840. He began the practice of his profession in
Greenville, Mercer county, Pennsylvania, but removed to Milton in 1843
and was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county, April 1, 1844. He
has since resided at Milton, and was in active practice until 1880. Mr.
Lawson has been president of the Milton National Bank and of the
institution from which it evolved since July 1860.
John B. Packer was born at Sunbury, March 21, 1824, a son of Samuel
J. Packer. His education was obtained principally at the Sunbury
Academy, then recently established and under the charge of Cale Pelton
and Frederick
END OF PAGE 255
Lebrun, both classical scholars of thorough culture and great ability as
teachers. From 1839 to 1842 he was a member of a corps of engineers
employed by the State in the survey and construction of her public
improvements. In 1842 he entered upon the study of the law with Ebenezer
Greenough, and was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county on the
6th of August, 1844. In the following year he was appointed deputy
attorney general, serving in that office three years, and from the
commencement of his professional career he has occupied a prominent
position at the bar, not only of his native county, but elsewhere
throughout the State and before the Supreme court. In addressing the
court or jury his style is lucid, logical, and argumentative, and as a
public speaker he is forcible and eloquent. In the litigation resulting
from contested land titles and in railroad and other causes there has
scarcely been a case of any importance in this county with which he has
not been professionally connected. In 1851 he was one of the organizers
of the Susquehanna Railroad Company (since merged into the Northern
Central), and has ever since been counsel for that corporation; for some
years past he has acted in a similar capacity for the Philadelphia and
Erie, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna and Bloomsburg, and other railroad
companies, and has also been concerned as counsel in the sale and
reorganization of the Zerbe Valley, Shamokin Valley and Pottsville, and
other railroad properties.
Mr. Packer was elected to the legislature in 1849, re-elected in
1850, and served upon important committees in both sessions. He was a
tariff Democrat at that time, but has been actively identified with the
Republican party since 1856. In 1868 he was elected to Congress from the
Fourteenth Pennsylvania district (in which Northumberland county was
embraced), and served by re-election from 1869 to 1877, having been
returned on each occasion by a majority largely in excess of his party
vote in the several counties composing the district. In the XLIst
Congress he was a member of the committee on banking and currency; in
the XLIId, chairman of the committee on railways and canals; in the
XLIIId, chairman of the committee on post-offices and post-roads, and in
the XLIVth, member of the committee on foreign affairs.
As president of the Bank of Northumberland from 1857 until it was
merged into the First National Bank of Sunbury, and of the latter
institution since its organization, Mr. Packer has sustained an
important relation to local financial affairs; this connection has not,
however, been permitted to withdraw his attention from the practice of
his profession, and it is upon his services in public life, his eminent
legal attainments, and marked success as a lawyer that his reputation is
principally founded.
George Hill was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county,
January 1, 1849, and has been a resident practicing attorney of Sunbury
since 1858. He was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, August 8,
1821, and
END OF PAGE 256
received an academic education at a classical academy taught by the Rev.
Samuel S. Shedden. His professional preparation was begun at Milton
under James Pollock and completed in Union county, Pennsylvania, under
Absalom Swineford. He was admitted to the bar at New Berlin, then the
county seat of Union county, in August, 1848, and was in active practice
at Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, from 1849 to 1858, when he removed to
Sunbury. Mr. Hill has enjoyed an extensive and lucrative practice.
Andrew J. Guffy was born near Turbutville in this county, May 31,
1823, son of Andrew and Eleanor (Armstrong) Gully, and grandson of
Alexander Guffy, who settled upon the site of McEwensville at an early
date in the history of this county and died, July 15, 1816, the father
of seven children; of whom Andrew was born on the 13th of August, 1792,
and died on the 28th of June, 1879. Mr. Guffy studied law with James
Pollock of Milton and attended the law school of Washington McCartney at
Easton, Pennsylvania, where he was the classmate of Henry Green, a
justice of the Supreme court of Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the bar
of Northumberland county, August 6, 1849, and has since resided at
McEwensville and Watsontown. He is a proficient surveyor and is probably
better known as such than as a lawyer.
The foregoing biographical sketches relate to members of the bar of
Northumberland county who were admitted prior to 1850. The following is
a list of resident attorneys in that year, with residences and dates of
admission in this county: Samuel Hepburn, Milton; Hugh Bellas, Sunbury,
1803; James Pleasants, Sunbury, April 21, 1831; Charles Pleasants,
Sunbury, April 16, 1832; John F. Wolfinger, Milton, August 20, 1832;
James Pollock, Milton, November 5, 1833; Henry B. Masser, Sunbury,
November 5, 1833; John Porter, Milton, April 9, 1840; William I.
Greenough, Sunbury, August 2, 1842; Charles J. Bruner, Sunbury, January
3, 1843; William L. Dewart, Sunbury, January 3, 1843; Charles W. Tharp,
Milton, November 7, 1843; David Taggart, Northumberland, November 7,
1843; William C. Lawson, Milton, April 1, 1844; John B. Packer, Sunbury,
August 6, 1844; Henry Donnel, Sunbury, January 4, 1848; Andrew J. Gully,
McEwensville, August 6, 1849; Charles Augustus Kutz, Milton; William M.
Rockefeller, Sunbury, August 6, 1850; M. L. Shindel, Sunbury, August 6,
1850.
The present number of resident attorneys is seventy-three. In the
following list the date given is that of admission to the local bar:-
Sunbury.- Henry B. Masser, November 5, 1833; William L Greenough,
August 2, 1842; John B. Packer, August 6, 1844; George Hill, January 1,
1849; Solomon B. Boyer, August 5, 1858; Samuel J. Packer, 2d, April 4,
1860; Simon P. Wolverton, April 8, 1862; Lloyd T. Rohrbach, March 10,
1863; George W. Zeigler, January 5, 1864; J. W. Cake, January 3, 1866;
Truman R. Purdy, 1866; William A. Sober, August, 1867; Andrew N. Brice,
January, 1870; J. A. Cake, 1870; James H. McDevitt, August 5,1873; Lewis
END OF PAGE 257
Dewart, August 11, 1874; John J. Reimensnyder, March 14, 1876; Clinton
R. Savidge, January 15, 1877; George B. Reimensnyder, August 6, 1877; E.
W. Greenough, March 11,1878; Charles M. Clement, March 11, 1878; J.
Nevin Hill, March 11, 1878; Martin L. Snyder, September 17, 1880; Harold
M. McClure, June 28, 1881; George R. Neff, June 28, 1881; Charles W.
Rockefeller, May 15, 1884; William P. Hilbush, October 6, 1884; Walter
Shipman, December 4, 1884; Charles B. Witmer, February 19, 1887; J.
Howard Rockefeller, June 27, 1887; James C. Packer, September 5, 1887;
William C. Farnsworth, September 5, 1887; Charles D. Gibson, September
2, 1889; J. B. Kauffman, Jr., September 2, 1889; William J. Sanders,
September 3, 1890.
Milton.- Charles W. Tharp, November 7, 1843; William C. Lawson,
April 1, 1844; Frank Bound, 1853; P. L. Hackenberg, 1861; John McCleery,
January 5, 1864; Edmund Davis; Thomas Swank, Jr., March 14, 1876;
William C. Miller, March 14, 1876; O. B. Nagle, March 13, 1877; Clarence
G. Voris, October 3, 1877; Frank Chamberlin, December 15, 1880; W. H.
Hackenberg, February 9, 1881; A. S. Hottenstein, June 28, 1881; Samuel
T. Swartz, September 6, 1881.
Shamokin.- U. F. John, August 4, 1863; W. H. M. Oram, August 7,
1865; Addison G. Marr, August, 1867; George W. Ryon, March 26, 1869;
Samuel Heckert, March 11,1874; Peter A. Mahon, August 10, 1874; William
W. Ryon, March 11, 1878; John P. Helfenstein, July 14, 1883; J. W.
Gillespie, July 12, 1886; J. Q. Adams, November 27, 1886; W. E.
Zimmerman, November 27, 1886; Clarence F. Huth, November 27,1886; D. W.
Shipman April 14, 1890; W. H. Unger, September 2, 1890.
Watsontown.- Andrew J. Gully, August 6, 1849; W. Field Shay, August
3, 1875; Lorenzo Everett.
Mt. Carmel.- W. B. Faust, June 8, 1877; Voris Auten, September 6,
1881; L. S. Walter, September 2, 1889.
Turbutville.- George W. Hower.
Montandon.- Robert M. Cummings, August 3, 1859.
Riverside.- H. M. Hinckley, August 4, 1875.
Northumberland.- J. H. Vincent.
Biographies of many of the present president attorneys of the
county are given in the biographical department of this work.
In addition to those mentioned, the following attorneys have also
resided in Northumberland county prior to their death or removal
therefrom: John Barker, mentioned in Fithian's journal as a resident of
Northumberland in 1775; John W. Hunter, Sunbury, admitted, January,
1798; Charles Maus, Sunbury, April, 1800; Owen Foulk, Sunbury; William
G. Forrest, Sunbury, November 25, 1801; Alem Marr, Milton, November 23,
1809; William Irwin, Sunbury, November 29, 1810; John S. Haines,
Northumberland, August 29, 1815; Robert O. Hall; Sunbury, August 25,
1820; Charles A. Bradford,
END OF PAGE 258
Sunbury, June 15, 1824; John B. Boyd, Northumberland, April 20, 1825;
George W. Lathey, Northumberland, August 17,1831; Robert McGuigan,
Milton, November 10,1837; Hopewell Cox, Northumberland, August 7,1838;
William J. Martin, Sunbury, August 3, 1841; George A. Frick,
Northumberland, January 2, 1844; J. Woods Brown, Milton, April 7, 1851;
James Cameron, Milton, August 4, 1851; James W. Naille, Sunbury, August
4, 1851; John Youngman, Sunbury, August 6, 1851; Horatio J. Wolverton,
Sunbury, January 6, 1852; Spencer M. Kase, Shamokin, January 2, 1854;
William L. Scott, Shamokin; John Kay Clement, Sunbury; Paul Cornyn,
Sunbury; A. Jordan Rockefeller, Sunbury, November 3, 1857; S. P. Malick,
Sunbury, February 23, 1858; Harris Painter, Sunbury, April 4, 1860;
Leffert H. Kase, Sunbury, March 7, 1865; Cornelius A. Reimensnyder,
Sunbury, March 19, 1867; James K. Davis, Jr., Sunbury, August 6, 1867;
Thomas H. B. Kase, Sunbury, June 12, 1871; William C. Packer, Sunbury,
November 5, 1872; Jefferson M. John, Mt. Carmel, January 6, 1874;
William P. Withington, Shamokin, August 4, 1874; Marks B. Priestley,
Northumberland, January 2, 1877; E. H. Painter, Turbutville, December 4,
1882; E. Sherman Follmer, Watsontown, September 6, 1886.
THE SUPREME COURT.
In 1806, "for the more convenient establishment of the Supreme
court," the State was divided into two districts, the Eastern and the
Western, Northumberland county being included in the former. The Middle
district, composed of the counties of York, Adams, Dauphin, Cumberland,
Franklin, Huntingdon, Mifflin, Northumberland, Luzerne, Lycoming,
Centre, Clearfield, McKean, Potter, and Tioga as originally constituted,
was erected by the act of April 10, 1807. By the terms of this act, the
justices were required to hold one term annually at Sunbury for the
Middle district, commencing on the first Monday in July and continuing
two weeks if necessary; and it was made the duty of the prothonotaries
of the Eastern and Western districts to make out a docket of causes
entered from the territory embraced in the new district, such causes
pending and undetermined after the 1st of May, 1808, to be removed
thereto and continued in the same manner as if they had originated
therein. The first session of the Supreme court for the Middle district
of Pennsylvania was accordingly held at the court house on the public
square in Sunbury on the first Monday in July, 1808, Chief Justice
Tilghman presiding.
The Northern district, to which the counties of Northumberland,
Luzerne, Lycoming, Bradford, McKean, Potter, Tioga, Susquehanna,
Columbia, and Union were originally assigned, was erected by the act of
April 14, 1834. Sunbury continued to be the place at which the sessions
of the court were held, but the composition of the district frequently
changed, at first by the addition of new territory but latterly by the
transfer of one county after
END OF PAGE 259
another to other districts, until only Northumberland, Montour, and
Columbia remained in the Northern. The justices were strongly in favor
of holding the sessions of the court at Philadelphia for the whole
State, but measures with that object in view, although frequently
introduced in the legislature, were invariably defeated by the combined
opposition of the western and middle counties. The influence of the
justices was not entirely unavailing, however, as is shown by the
gradual dismemberment of the Northern district and the acquiescence with
which attorneys and litigants usually permitted an adjournment of their
causes to Philadelphia or Harrisburg at the suggestion of the court.
Finally, at the term for 1863, all the causes were adjourned to other
points, with the concurrence of counsel; and, while it is not probable
that this was deliberately planned by the justices as a final
adjournment of the court for the Northern district, such it ultimately
proved. This action of the court received legislative confirmation in
the act of May 5, 1871, providing that "causes from said Northern
district shall be heard at such time and place as the judges of the
Supreme court may assign." Under this arrangement the district continued
to sustain a nominal existence for some years. By a subsequent extension
of its discretionary powers, the court was authorized to designate the
district from which writs should issue for the different counties, and
by virtue of this power the counties of the Northern district were
transferred to the Eastern, thus abolishing the former in every
essential respect.
The chief justices who presided over the sessions of the Supreme
Court at Sunbury were William Tilghman, John Bannister Gibson, Jeremiah
S. Black, Ellis Lewis, and Walter H. Lowrie. Among the prothonotaries
were George A. Frick, commissioned, October 6, 1812; John L. Finney,
commissioned, January 11, 1813; Alexander Jordan, commissioned, December
22, 1826, January 25, 1830, and January 21, 1833; Charles Pleasants, who
was commissioned on the 2d of February, 1836, and held the office many
years, and J. A. J. Cummings, the last incumbent, who was appointed in
1865. Many cases involving important legal principles were here tried
and determined; distinguished lawyers from all parts of the State
attended the sessions, which thus became occasions of far more than
local interest and importance.
END OF PAGE 260 and Chapter V.