Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 13

Author: Runk, J.M. & Co
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chambersburg, Pa.
Number of Pages: 1482

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Hon. William Killen, first chief justice of "The Delaware State," and first chancellor of of the State of Delaware, was born in the north of Ireland in 1722, probably of Scotch-Irish parentage. In 1737, at the age of fifteen, he emigrated to Philadelphia and became an inmate in the household, in Kentcounty, Dela- ware, of Samuel Dickinson, father of Gov. John Dickinson, of Revolutionary fame. There, by industry and diligence, he acquired his preliminary education, became deputy sur- veyor of Kent county, under the proprietary government, and subsequently a member of the bar in good standing and practice.

In 1753, when he had reached the mature age of thirty-one, he married Rebecca Allee, by whom he had two sons who died without issue, and three daughters, one of whom became the wife of Hon. Willard Hall, United States Judge for the district of Delaware, and another of Jacob Stout, who was appointed an associate judge of Delaware. He was commissioned June 6, 1777, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court under Delaware's first State Constitu- tion of 1776, and held the office until 1793. When equity jurisdiction was separated from the law courts, under the State Constitution of 1792, he was appointed the first chancellor of Delaware in October, 1793. Little is known of his judicial career, either as chief justice or chancellor, as there are no private notes or offi- cial reports of adjudicated cases during his

early period. He resigned as chancellor in 1801, and died at Dover, Delaware, October 5, 1808, in the eighty-second year of his age.

Hon. George Read, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware under the Constitution of 1792, was the eldest son of Col. John Read, who was descended from an old county family of position in England, and emi- grated from Dublin, Ireland, to Maryland. He was born in Cecil county, Maryland, in 1733; admitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1753, and began the practice of law in 1754 at New Castle, Delaware, where he afterward; resided throughout life. Although, unlike MeKean and Rodney, he voted against the De- claration of Independence because he then deemed its immediate adoption premature and injudicious, yet he subsequently signed and steadfastly supported it. While more conser- vative than the vehement MeKean and the ar- dent Rodney, he proved no less loyal to his country's cause. Among his contemporaries, his conspicuous career in Delaware of long,

useful and varied public service was probably unrivalled. He was attorney general under the Crown, 1764-74; member of the Delaware Assembly, 1765-75; member of the Conti- mental Congress, 1774-77; signer of the Decla- ration of Independence, president of the State, 1777; judge of admiralty 1782; member of convention which framed the Federal Consti- tution in 1787, and United States Senator, 1789-93, which position he resigned to become chief justice of the Supreme Court of Dela- ware. He held the latter office from Septem- ber 30, 1793, until his death, September 21, 1798.

As his remarkable carcer discloses, he was an earnest patriot, an eminent statesman, and a distinguished judge. He assumed the office of chief justice amid the difficulties and con- fusion which followed the Revolution, having been selected and induced to accept the office because of his pre-eminent qualifications for the discharge of its perplexing and laborious duties. He proved equal to his trust, for he was esteemed and honored as an able and up- right judge, and his decisions were regarded by the judges and lawyers of his time as of the highest authority.

Regarding him his biographer observes: "Applause at the bar did not in him generate vanity, success in his political life ambition,

STATE OF DELAWARE

nor the dignity of the bench dogmatism. As a lawyer, a patriot, a statesman, and a judge he was alike unpretending, consistent, and im- partial. In person he was above the middle size, erect and dignified in his demeanor."

Chief Justice Read's long life of public use- fulness was terminated by a sudden and short illness. He died at his home in New Castle and was buried near the eastern wall of Im- manuel Church in that city.

His successor was Kensey Johns, Sr., who, after thirty-two years of service as Chief Jus- tice of the Supreme Court, became chancellor of the State. Thereupon he was succeeded by Ilon. Samuel M. Harrington as Chief Justice, who also subsequently became chancellor, as hereinafter appears.

Hon. Richard Bassett, first Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas under the Consti- tution of 1792, was born on Bohemia Manor, Maryland, in 1745, read law under Judge Goldsborough, of that state, and became a very prominent citizen of Delaware. His daughter married James Ashton Bayard, Sr., of Delaware, one of the most gifted law- vers and statesmen of his day. Mr. Bassett filled many honorable publie positions. He was a member of the Council of Safety in 1776; captain of the Dover Light Horse, un- der Washington, in 1777; member of the Delaware Constitutional Conventions of 1776 and 1792; member of the Convention which framed the Federal Constitution, and United States Senator from 1789 to 1793. He was appointed, September 6, 1793, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and resigned this office upon his election as Governor of Delaware, in January, 1799. In 1801 he re- signed the latter position upon his appoint- ment by President Adams to the position of United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit. He died in 1815 at Bohemia Manor, where he was buried beside his distinguished son-in-law, James A. Bayard, who died the same month.

HIon. James Booth, Sr., who succeeded Hon. Richard Bassett as chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas, was born at New Castle, Delaware, February 6, 1753. Al- though not a member of the bar, he had great aptitude for the law, which, in connection with a sound judgment, diligent study, and long experience of the courts and public affairs, en- alled him to discharge his judicial duties dur-

ing his long career upon the bench in a highly creditable and acceptable manner. He was largely influential in his public and private re- lations, and a Federalist in politics. Prior to his appointment, January 28, 1799, as Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, he was secretary of the Delaware constitutional con- ventions of 1776 and 1792; naval officer, 1777; marshal, 1778; secretary of state, 1778-97, under Governors Caesar A. Rodney, John Dickinson, Joshua Clayton, and Gun- ning Bedford; and presidential elector in 1808. His stature, features, and figure were very prepossessing, and his dress and manner those of an old-school gentleman. He con- tinued on the bench for nearly thirty years, until his death at New Castle, February 3, 1828, when Thomas Clayton was appointed in his stead.

HIon. Thomas Clayton, the last chief jus- tice of the Court of Common Pleas under the Constitution of 1792, and the first chief jus- tice of Delaware under that of 1831, was the son of Governor Joshua Clayton, M. D., of Delaware, and was born in July, 1777. Hav- ing received a classical education he read law under Nicholas Ridgely, at Dover, and was admitted to the Delaware bar in 1799. His career, both at the bar and in public life, was notably successful. In 1808 he was appoint- ed secretary of state; in 1811 attorney gen- eral of Delaware; in 1814, was elected to Con- gress; andin 1824 became United States Sena- tor, vice Caesar A. Rodney, resigned. In 1828 he was appointed chief justice of the old Court of Connon Pleas, and served as such until January 18, 1832, when he was commissioned chief justice of the state un- der the new Constitution of 1831. He re- signed this office in 1837, upon his re-election to the United States Senate; he continued to represent the state in that body until 1848, when he retired from public life, and became a resident of New Castle, where he died, sud- denly, in 1854.

Chief Justice Clayton's endowments were of the solid and not the showy sort. He was thoroughly versed in the principles of the law, and grasped the vital points of a case with sur- prising quickness and vigor. His words were few, but masterly in force and point. He ranks pre-eminent among those who have filled the office of Chief Justice, and has left to sur- vive him a judicial reputation which has hard-

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

ly been equaled, and never surpassed, by any incumbent of the Delaware bench.

Hon. John M. Clayton was the son of James Clayton, and nephew of Dr. Joshua Clayton, Chief Executive of Delaware under the Con- stitution of 1776 and 1792. He was born in Sussex county, Delaware, in 1796; graduated from Yale with the highest honors, was a law student under his cousin, Chief Justice Thomas Clayton, and at the Litchfield, Con- necticut, Law School; was admitted to the Delaware bar in 1819, and was secretary of state from 1826 to 1828. In the Jackson- Adams contest of 1828 he led the Adams party in Delaware to victory, was rewarded by election to the United States Senate, and entered that body at the early age of thirty- two. Even among such renowned colleagues as Webster, Clay, Benton, and Calhoun, Mr. Clayton immediately took a leading part, and soon rose to commanding prominence as a na- tional leader. IIe was re-elected to the Senate in 1835, and further elected thereto in 1845, and again in 1853. After General Taylor's election as President, in 1848, Mr. Clayton be- came United States Secretary of State, and during his term negotiated the celebrated Clayton-Bulwer treaty with Great Britain.

During his national career he was pre-emi- nent among those who participated in all the great public measures of that period. In 1837, desiring to retire from political life, he resigned from the Senate, and Chief Justice Thomas Clayton succeeded him. Thereupon he was induced to accept the vacant chief jus- ticeship of the State, which position he held during only three years. No man in Dela- ware, excepting James A. Bayard, Sr., had ever before possessed such a combination of great intellectual forces, and had such a re- markable career as John M. Clayton. His course upon the bench, though short, was suf- ficient to exhibit him as a thoroughly-equip- ped lawyer and jurist. From his judgments there was never a writ of error. He retired from the bench, and subequently re-entered the Senate, of which he died a member in No- vember, 1856.

IIon. Richard H. Bayard came of a notable and historie family distinguished for heredi- tary ability. The family began its famous career in Delaware with the elder James A. Bavard, who negotiated the treaty of Ghent, and was worthily represented by his late dis-

tinguished grandson, Thomas F. Bayard, Am- bassador to Great Britain. Richard 11. Bay- ard was the unele of the latter and the eldest son of the former. His mother was the daughter of Richard Bassett, chief justice and governor, and his wife the granddaughter of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, a Maryland signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Richard 11. Bayard was born in Wilming- ton, Delaware, September 23, 1796; graduated from Princeton in 1814; admitted to the bar in 1818; first mayor of Wilmington in 1832, and United States Senator 1836-39. Hle was chief justice of Delaware from September 19, 1839, until March, 1841; he then re-enter- ed the Senate, where he remained until suc- ceeded by John M. Clayton, in 1843. From 1850-53 he served as United States Minister to Belgium. Richard HI. Bayard died in Phila- delphia in 1868. He was a man of courtly appearance and polished manners, with a large measure of the ability inherent in his race, but his brief term upon the bench afforded very little opportunity for the display of his judi- cial qualities.

Hon. James Booth, Jr., was the son of James Booth, Sr., chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas from 1799 to 1828, and was born at New Castle, Delaware, November 21, 1789; graduated from Princeton, studied law at Litchfield, Connecticut, and was admitted to the Delaware bar in 1812. He married the sister of Hon. James Rogers, attorney gen- eral of Delaware. After a long and success- ful law practice, upon the resignation of Chief Justice Richard H. Bayard, he became his suc- cessor, March 12, 1841, and, until his death, March 20, 1855, discharged his judicial duties with a degree of ability, integrity, dignity and urbanity which secured both publie respect and personal regard of an enduring character.

Hon. Edward Woodward Gilpin, the sixth chief justice under the Constitution of 1831, was born in Wilmington, Delaware, July 13, 1803. Having first received a practical busi- ness training, he studied law thoroughly in his native city, under United States Senator John Wales; was admitted to the bar in 1827, and through many years of extensive practice dis- tingnished himself as one of its foremost mem- bers. In 1840 he became attorney general of the State, and for ten years discharged the duties of the office with conspicuous vigor and success. In 1857, as the general choice of the

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STATE OF DELAWARE

bar and people, Edward W. Gilpin was ap- pointed chief justice of the State. For near- ly twenty years he presided over the civil and criminal courts, and as a member of the Court of Errors and Appeals; and it is generally con- ceded that, when all his various judicial quali- fications are considered, he has been, in most respects, without a superior on the Delaware bench. " He was a man of positive character, resolute, diligent and masterly in every re- speet. Although highly intellectual, he was at all times thoroughly practical. During his long service on the bench, his integrity of character, his judicial and practical qualities, and his potential personality won for him the regard and homage of the bar, jurors and gen- eral public in a greater degree, perhaps, than had ever been enjoyed by any of his predeces- sors, save, perhaps, Chief Justice Thomas Clayton. Judge Gilpin was stricken on the bench, at Dover, with angina pectoris, and died April 29, 1876, as his brave spirit would have wished, in the actual discharge of the duties of his office.

Ilon. Joseph P. Comegys, the third son of Gov. Cornelius P. Comegys, was born at Cher- bourg, the family seat, in Kent county, Dela- ware, December 23, 1813. He received a thorough classical education, read law under Hon. John M. Clayton, then United States Senator, and was admitted to the bar in 1835. Two years thereafter he was married to Miss Douglass, the niece of Mr. Clayton, and from that time resided in Dover, Delaware, where for more than forty years he practiced his pro- fession with great reputation and profit. As a leading Whig he was appointed by the Gov- ernor, in 1856, United States Senator, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hon. John M. Clayton. In 1855 he was commissioned Associate Judge for the State, but declined the appointment. In 1876, upon the death of Chief Justice Gilpin, he was appointed his successor, and filled the position until his death in 1893, in his eightieth year.

Hon. Alfred P. Robinson, the son of Alfred P. Robinson, Sr., attorney-at-law, and the grandson of Judge Peter Robinson, was born in Sussex county, Delaware, February 17, 1842, and admitted to the bar in 1863. Pos- sessing a fine legal mind, which he had im- proved by diligent study of the law and by extensive general reading and experience, he acquired a Inerative practice and became the

recognized leader of the bar of his county. Hle was deputy attorney general of the State from 1874 to 1879, was a delegate from Dela- ware to the Democratic National Convention in 1884, and was appointed by the governor in 1891 as one of the State commissioners on uniform legislation among the several States. He was appointed, January 26, 1893, chief justice of the State, to succeed Hon. Joseph P. Comegys, deceased. His reputation at the bar gave promise of an exceptionally useful vareer upon the bench; and this expectation was shown to be warranted by the very able discharge of his duties during the brief month of his judicial service. Unhappily his onnor- tunities for a conspicuously creditable judicial career were terminated by his sudden and un- timely death from heart failure, March 1, 1893, in his home at Georgetown, a few hours after he had adjourned the term at Wilming- ton.

CHANCELLORS.

Hon. Nicholas Ridgely, the successor of HIon. William Killen, the first chancellor of Delaware, already described among the chief justices, belonged to a family of public and social prominence which for many successive generations in Delaware has furnished judges and lawyers of marked ability. He was the eldest son of Judge Charles Greensburg Ridgely, an accomplished physician of Kent county, Delaware, and the son of Judge Nich- olas Ridgely, who was born in Maryland in 1694, and settled in Delaware in 1732-the grandson of Col. Henry Ridgely, who emi- grated from Devonshire, England, to Anne Arundel county, Maryland, 1659, and there became colonel of militia, member of Assen- bly and Council, colonial justice, &c. Chan- cellor Ridgely was born at Dover, Delaware, September 30, 1762, read law under Judge Robert Goldsborough, at Cambridge, Mary- land, and was admitted to the Delaware bar at New Castle in 1787. IIe carly attained a conspicuous standing at the bar, even among such distinguished members as the elder James A. Bavard, Caesar A. Rodney and Nicholas Van Dyke, Jr. In 1791 he was appointed attorney general of the State, and held the office for ten years. He was a leading mem- ber of the State Constitutional Convention of 1292 and thereafter was repeatedly cleeted a

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

member of the General Assembly, and drafted the principal legislation required by the changes wrought by the Revolution and the recently adopted Constitution.

In 1802, the Orphans' Court jurisdiction was transferred from the Court of Common Pleas to the chancellor by an amendment to the Constitution of 1792, effected mainly by Chancellor Ridgely's influence. He thereby became sole judge of the Orphans' Court. In December, 1801, Chancellor Killen resigned his office and Mr. Ridgely was appointed to succeed him. Prior to his appointment there had been very little business in the Court of Chancery, and there were but few precedents for his guidance. The entire course of equity procedure and practice was yet to be regulated and established under the newly-created Court of Chancery. To this task he devoted himself in his methodical way with untiring vigor and industry. The rules of court, forms of practice, and general principles adopted by him are still in use, and he is justly considered the founder of the chancery jurisprudence in Delaware.

During the thirty years that he was chan- cellor he carefully took notes and preserved his opinions in all the important cases adjudi- cated by him. In appearance Chancellor Ridgely was of medium height and robust form, with a resonant voice and a remarkably expressive countenance. Although he lived until 1830, he still adhered to the manners and garb of the olden times. Altogether he was a striking figure and a commanding character, and he was regarded with the highest respect for his sterling worth, both as judge and citi- zen. Towards the close of his life he suffered from ill health, although he sturdily dis- charged his judicial duties to the end. He died April 1, 1830, of heart disease, within a half hour after he had adjourned his court at Georgetown, and was buried in the Episcopal churchyard at Dover.

Hon. Kensey Johns, Sr., the last Chancellor under the Constitution of 1792, was born June 14, 1759, at West River, Anne Arundel county, Maryland, and came of Welsh ances- tors long settled in that state. ITe read law under Samuel Chase, of Maryland, afterwards a judge of the United States Supreme Court, and completed his studies under George Read, subsequently chief justice, at New Castle, Delaware, and there, after his admission to the

bar in 1783, became a lawyer of repute and prominence. He was a member of the con- vention which framed the State Constitution of 1792; was appointed by Governor Clayton, in 1794, United States Senator in lieu of George Read, resigned; was commissioned Associate Judge of the Delaware Supreme Court in 1796, and Chief Justice thereof upon the death of Judge Read in 1798.

Judge Johns came upon the bench, like Judge Read, during a period wherein many questions remained unsettled, owing to the Revolution and the changes caused by the recent revision of the Constitution and statutes of the State. Being admirably qualified for this arduous task by his legal learning and ex- perience, he discharged the duties of his re- sponsible position with rare judgment and im- partiality, and with general approval, for more than thirty years. After the death of Chan- cellor Ridgely in 1830, he was appointed in his stead, but, upon the adoption of the Consti- tution of 1831, he retired from the office of Chancellor in 1832, and was succeeded by his son, Kensey Johns, Jr., who filled the position ably for over twenty-five years. He died in his ninetieth year in full possession of his men- tal faculties.

HIon. Konsey Johns, Jr., the first chancel- Jor under the Constitution of 1831, was born in New Castle, Delaware, in 1791, and gradu- ated from Princeton College in 1810. He read law with his maternal uncle, Nicholas Van Dyke, Esq., completed his studies in the law school at Litchfield, Connecticut, and was admitted to the bar at New Castle in 1813. After pursuing a successful practice of the law for several years, he was, in 1828, elected to Congress to fill the vacancy in the house caused by the election of the Hon. Louis Me- Lane to the Senate.

After retiring from Congress he resumed his law practice, but, upon his father's retire- ment from the chancellorship, was appointed to that position January 18, 1832. During his long term of judicial service many questions of importance were decided by him; yet his judgments were usually correct, and where appealed from were almost uniformly affirm- ed, thus attesting his ability and learning as a well-equipped equity judge. Like his prede- cessor, Chancellor Ridgely, he died almost in the performance of his judicial duty, on March 28, 1857, at New Castle, having that

STATE OF DELAWARE

day returned to his home after closing the term of court in Sussex county.

Hon. Samuel M. Harrington is notable in the judicial annals of Delaware as having been Chief Justice of the Supreme Court under the Constitution of 1292, and Chief Justice and also Chancellor of the state under that of 1831. He was born in Dover, Delaware, in 1803, and was graduated from Washington College, Maryland, in 1823, with the first honors of his class. He was admitted to the bar at Dover in 1826, and became secretary of state in 1828, and again in 1830.

In 1830, at the early age of twenty-seven, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Su- preme Court of Delaware, and, upon its abo- lition by the Constitution of 1831, became one of the Associate Judges of the State. In 1855 he became Chief Justice of the State, upon the death of Chief Justice Booth, and filled that office until May 4, 1857, when he was appointed chancellor to succeed Kensey Johns, Jr., deccased, which position he held until his death, November 28, 1865.

Judge Harrington, in connection with Jo- seph P. Comegys and Daniel M. Bates, Esqs., assisted to prepare and publish the Revised Code of 1852. Ile was the first official ro- porter of the judicial decisions in the State, and discharged this duty with rare perspicuity, conciseness, and precision. His five volumes of Reports extend from 1832 to 1855. ITis life was one of constant mental activity, tire- less industry, and exceptional public useful- ness. As has been truly said of him by a distinguished jurist, "Without any extraor- dinary advantages of social or political influ- ences, a career so remarkable could have been accomplished only by the manifestation of un- usual merit."

IIon. Daniel Moore Bates, born at Laurel, Delaware, January 28, 1821, was the son of Rev. Jacob Moore, and upon the death of his father, was adopted by Hon. Martin W. Bates, of Dover, Delaware, and given the surname of Bates, by act of Assembly. He was gradu- ated from Dickinson College, Pennsylvania, in 1839; admitted to the Delaware bar in 1843, and rose rapidly to prominence as an acknowledged leader of his profession. He was by nature a student of the law. His mind was highly analytical, very subtile, and much inclined to extreme refinements in its legal processes. He had unusual powers of mental

concentration, was a rapid worker, and a pa- tient, painstaking and exhaustive investigator of the most abtruse legal problems.

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Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 13

Author: Runk, J.M. & Co Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chambersburg, Pa. Number of Pages: 1482

Author: Runk, J.M. & Co
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chambersburg, Pa.
Number of Pages: 1482