History of Baltimore, Maryland, from its founding as a town to the current year, 1729-1898, including its early settlement and development; a description of its historic and interesting localities; political, military, civil, and religious statistcs; biographies of representative citizens, etc., etc, Part 32

Author: Shepherd, Henry Elliott, 1844-1929, ed. 4n
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: [Uniontown? Pa.] S.B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1344

USA > Maryland > Baltimore County > Baltimore City > History of Baltimore, Maryland, from its founding as a town to the current year, 1729-1898, including its early settlement and development; a description of its historic and interesting localities; political, military, civil, and religious statistcs; biographies of representative citizens, etc., etc > Part 32

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

COURTS AND JUDGES.

The Constitution of 1776 provided that all Judges as well as the Attorney General and clerks of courts "shall hold their com- missions during good behavior; removable only for misbehavior on conviction in a court of law." The Judges and Chancellor and Attorney General were appointed by the Governor, with the consent of the Ex- ecutive Council, which was composed of five persons elected by the Legislature, each having a freehold above £1,000. That Con- stitution also provided for a Court of Ap- peals, Court of Chancery, Court of Admi- ralty, and a General Court of three Judges; this latter court taking the place of the old Provincial Court. County Courts were also established under an act passed in 1778 and these were re-organized by the act of 1790, Ch. 33. Under the latter Baltimore county constituted the Third District, together with Anne Arundel and Harford counties. But the principal court of first instance up to 1805 was the General Court, which had original jurisdiction in all civil cases and throughout the State where the matter in dispute exceeded one pound currency ($2.66). It sat at Easton, Talbot county, for the Eastern Shore, and at Annapolis for the Western Shore. Witnesses and juries were summoned to the General Court from all over the State, and it was presided over by three judges wearing scarlet cloaks. Three judges of the General Court in the last century become justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, viz: Thomas Johnson, Samuel Chase (who was defended by Luther Martin when impeached) and Gabriel Duval.

The act of 1793, Ch. 57, organized a Court of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol De-

livery for the trial of crimes committed in Baltimore county. The act of 1816, Ch. 193, changed its name to Baltimore City Court and empowered it also to issue li- censes and appoint constables. The court held different terms for the transaction of county and city business. The judges of the said court were, for many years, Nicho- las Brice, William McMechen and Alexan- der Nisbet.

An amendment to the Constitution, rati- fied in 1805, abolished the General Court and divided the State into judicial districts, three judges in each district, holding ses- sions in each county, and the Court of Ap- peals was made to consist of the chief judges of the several judicial districts. Under this arrangement Baltimore and Harford coun- ties constituted the Sixth District. Joseph Hopper Nicholson, Walter Dorsey, Steven- son Archer and William Frick were suc- cessively the chief justices of this district in the order named until 1851. Sometimes all three judges of the district would sit to- gether, but more frequently they sat sepa- rately, trying different cases. The Execu- tive Council above referred to was abol- ished in 1837, and thereafter judicial ap- pointments were made by the Governor by and with the advice and consent of the Sen- ate.

Under the Constitution of 1851 the State was divided into four judicial districts, of which Baltimore City was the Third; and eight judicial circuits, of which Baltimore City was the Fifth. This Constitution sep- arated Baltimore City from Baltimore county, making each an entirely distinct po- litical organization. The Court of Appeals was made to consist of four judges, one from each judicial district. For Baltimore

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City there was provided a Court of Common Pleas with jurisdiction in cases where the amount involved was over one hundred dol- lars and did not exceed five hundred dol- lars, and in insolvency; the Superior Court, with general jurisdiction in equity and in common law cases and where the amount involved was over five hundred dollars; and a Criminal Court. The Legislature was also authorized to create an additional court. The judges were to be elected for ten years, with a salary of twenty-five hundred dol- lars, except the judge of the Criminal Court, whose salary was two thousand dol- lars. Under this Constitution John C. Le- Grand was elected judge of the Court of Appeals from Baltimore City, William Frick judge of the Superior Court, William L. Marshall judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and Henry Stump judge of the Crim- inal Court. Judge Frick died in 1855 and was succeeded by Z. Collins Lee. Upon the latter's death in 1859 Robert N. Martin be- came judge of the Superior Court. In 1869 Judge Martin was chosen as a Professor of Law in the University of Maryland. It is said that he devoted most of his time dur- ing the first session to lectures upon the case of the Nereide, to which we have re- ferred in the sketch of William Pinkney. The Circuit Court of Baltimore City was established in 1853 in pursuance of Article IV, Sec. 12, of the Constitution, and Wil- liam George Krebs was elected judge there- of. In 1861 John C. King was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas, vice Mar- shall. Judge Stump of the Criminal Court was impeached before the Legislature and removed from office in 1860 and Hugh Lenox Bond appointed judge of that court. Judge LeGrand, of the Court of Appeals,

died in Baltimore in December, 1861, at the age of forty-seven, after having earned a fine judicial reputation. He had been de- feated for re-election in that year by Silas M. Cochran, who died at the same age of forty-seven in 1866.

The Constitution of 1864, ratified in Oc- tober of that year by the small majority of three hundred and seventy-five, including the votes of soldiers in the field, made few changes in the organization of the city courts. It was provided that then judges in the city should continue to act as such until the expiration of the terms for which they were elected. In November, 1863, William Alexander was elected judge of the Circuit Court, vice Krebs.

The present Constitution was ratified in September, 1867, and made great changes in the courts. It provided for the creation of the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City, to consist of the Superior Court, the Court of Common Pleas, the Circuit Court and the Criminal Court. The judges were to be elected for a term of fifteen years and to receive a salary of thirty-five hundred dol- lars, with authority to the Mayor and City Council to add five hundred dollars per annum to each salary. The act of 1892, Ch. 388, increased these salaries to forty-five hundred dollars in addition to the municipal allowance of five hundred dollars. The judges elected in 1867 were George W. Dobbin, Robert Gilmor, Campbell W. Pink- ney, Henry F. Garey, and T. Parkin Scott, chief judge. Upon the death of Judge Scott, in 1873, George William Brown, a distinguished lawyer and citizen, was elect- ed chief judge. In 1882 the terms of all of these judges, except that of Chief Judge Brown, expired, and Charles E. Phelps, Ed-

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ward Duffy, William A. Fisher and Wil- liam A. Stewart were elected as their suc- cessors. Judge Fisher resigned in January, 1887, when J. Upshur Dennis was first ap- pointed by the Governor and subsequently elected in his place.

A new equity court, known as Circuit Court number two, was established in 1888. in pursuance of constitutional authority, and in that year and the following year D. Giraud Wright and Henry D. Harlan were elected judges, the latter in place of Chief Judge Brown, whose term had expired. Judges Duffy and Stewart both died in 1892 and Pere L. Wickes and Albert Ritchie were first appointed by the Governor and then elected in their places. In 1893 an amendment to the Constitution was adopt- ed by which the Legislature was authorized to provide for the creation of additional judges. Under different acts of Assembly, passed in pursuance thereof, John J. Dob- ler, Henry Stockbridge and George M. Sharp have been elected judges, so that the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City now con- sists of nine judges. This Constitution pro- vided for the election of one judge of the Court of Appeals from Baltimore City. James Lawrence Bartol was elected to that office in 1867, and upon his resignation in 1883 William Shepard Bryan was elected in his place.

A court house was built in Baltimore City under the provisions of an act of the Legislature passed in 1768, and this building served the city until 1809. The following description of the old court house was given by John P. Kennedy: "One of my earliest landmarks is * * the old court house. That was a famous building, which, to my first cognizance, suggested the idea of a house perched upon a great stool. It was

a large, dingy, square structure of brick, lifted upon a massive basement of stone, which was perforated by a broad arch. The buttresses on either side of the arch supplied space for the stairway which led to the hall of justice above and straddled over a pillory, whipping-post and stocks, which were sheltered under the arch as sym- bols of the power that was at work upstairs. This magisterial edifice stood precisely where the Battle Monument now stands in Calvert street. It had a notable history, that old court house. When it was first built it overlooked the town from the sum- mit of the hill some fifty feet or more above the level of the present street and stood up- on a cliff, which northward was washed at the base by Jones' Falls-in that primitive day a pretty rural stream that meandered through meadows garnished with shrub- bery and filled with browsing cattle, mak- ing a pleasant landscape from the court house windows. A new court house arose, a model of architectural magnificence to the eye of that admiring generation, only sec- ond to the National Capitol, and the old one was carted away as the rubbish of a past age. People wonder to hear that Jones' Falls ever rippled over the bed now laden with rows of comfortable dwellings and that cows once browsed upon a meadow that now produces steam engines, soap and candles and lager beer." (Tuckerman's Life of Kennedy, pp. 91-2.)

The new Court House above referred to was erected near the old one at the corner of Calvert and Lexington streets, and it was finished in 1809. Considerable additions were made to it in 1866. This, in turn, lias been carted away (1895) as the rubbish of a former generation to make room for the present marble Palace of Justice.

CHAPTER X.

HON. THOMAS YATES WALSH. BY WILLIAM M. MARINE.

Among the brilliant names that have adorned the bright galaxy of Maryland law- yers, none shine more conspicuously than the one that heads this sketch. He has left the impress of his mighty mind upon the pages that record the decisions of the cases which he tried in the Court of Appeals. If a full record were kept of the nisi prius trials, which he conducted so successfully in the law courts, an adequate judgment could be formed of his learned legal abilities. There is none, so that the forum where this genius daily appeared gives back no evidence of the power that was within him and is unable to sound his praise. Such courts never pre- serve the fame of their lawyers long after they are cold in their shrouds.

The memory of Mr. Walsh is a treasure to the few still living who knew him, and those who were his professional contem- poraries. Of the latter class by whom he was known who are living may be men- tioned Thomas Lanahan, W. F. Frick, Wil- liam Pinkney Whyte, J. M. Harris, J. C. King, A. W. Machen, C. D. McFarland, C. H. Wyatt, Charles Marshall, Amos F. Mus- selman, Luther M. Reynolds, D. M. Thomas, John H: Thomas, J. T. Morris, W. J. O'Brien, J. P. Poe, R. L. Rogers, E. Swinney, Judge A. Ritchie, Judge C. E. Phelps, J. H. Keene, Jr., C. G. Kerr, T. W. Hall and Reverdy Johnson, Jr. All of the

gentlemen named were younger than Mr. Walsh.

"Woods' Baltimore Directory, 1861," contains the names of two hundred and sev- enty lawyers, of whom those mentioned and fifteen others are survivors. The relentless increase in lawyers; the ruining of good mechanics, except in instances, is shown in the fact that the Baltimore Bar is at present composed of nine hundred members, the mills of the law schools gods continually grinding them to order.

The subject of this sketch, Thomas Yates Walsh, was born in the city of Bal- timore, during 1809. Jacob Walsh, his father, was at one time an opulent merchant, who suffered business re- verses. He participated in the battle at North Point, second lieutenant, United Maryland Artillery. He was unable to complete his son's higher course of studies who left behind in one of his speeches the record of his educational trials, which is, "that his first professional earnings were devoted to the purpose of completing his education." Having expe- rienced the need of free institutions of learn- ing, he advocated warmly the public schools.

Mr. Walsh finished his classical training at St. Mary's College, the early nursery of Baltimore's young men, and entered the of-

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fice of Robert Goodloe Harper, a fellow- student with J. H. B. Latrobe.

Mr. Walsh was admitted to the bar the 30th day of July, 1832. In the earlier years of his practice he appeared in the Criminal Court to try important cases. Sheridan was not keener-witted or quicker at repartee. Mr. Walsh was a skillful cross-examiner. He had the faculty of keeping the court and those present in good humor by his pleas- antries, when engaged in making a witness, on cross-examination, rend his chief testi- mony in shreds. Before the jury he was ir- resistible; his words had unction and his sentences were faultless. He had a logical mind which digested testimony readily; he was thoroughly educated in fundamental principles of the law; he was a rhetorician to whose speeches it was a delight to listen; they were delivered with energy and fervor, words flowing from his lips with ease and rapidity.

His personal appearance was impressive; in height he was six feet. His frame was strong and massive; classical head and feat- ures; florid complexion; his face showed in- tellectual strength; his eyes were a dark gray; forehead high and broad; he required a number eight hat. His nose was large and disposed to be acquiline; chin promi- nent and mouth expressive. He wore a full beard and mustache; their color was an iron grey. His whiskers were cropped short. When thinking his habit was to twist the end of them with his fingers, which gave their points an upward turn.

The above pen description of Mr. Walsh is the only one that can afford an idea of his personal appearance. He always re- fused to set for a picture of himself, there- fore none exists.

He possessed powerful lungs, dramatic tone of voice. When speaking his giant frame shook as he proceeded alternating from grave to gay, edged with sil- very sound. His reading had been exten- sive; familiarity with the authors enabled him always to enforce his arguments by nar- ration drawn from them. Walter Scott's works had for him irresistible charms. Shakespeare pleased his leisure hours. Macbeth, his favorite play, he could repeat from memory.

He had the courage of a lion, the gentle- ness of a child. A warmer heart in the bosom of a more magnanimous man never existed. Suffering on the part of any one pained him; want opened his pocketbook to the last penny. He was not one of that class whom Chateaubriand referred to when he said, "I find it very easy to bear with cheerful serenity the misfortunes of other people." The warmth of his nature forbade that. He was reared under the in- fluences of the Protestant Episcopal Church and believed in the doctrines of Christianity. Referring to human weakness he asserted, "We ought daily to pray, God help us." To a young friend he wrote, "I have done the best I could in all the relations of life."

In sickness or adversity his good humor never deserted him. When confined by ill- ness a bill was presented; his response was: "A sick man racked with pain day and night is entitled to plead against duns and cli- ents." Soon afterwards he sent to collect a sum of money due him, and received answer from the debtor, that he had been on a spree and had no money. Oh, he re- torted, "drunkenness is no excuse. A drunkard, unless his condition amounts to madness, is bound to meet his obligations."

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He had a nice sense of honor and practiced what he preached.

In his disposition he was affectionate and kind; companionable and entertaining; un- der the witchery of his voice the hours soon passed. He was matchless in anecdote; never rehearsing the old stale jokes of time immemorial, but the creations of his mar- velous invention.

He was a despiser of everything that was false and discarded its representatives. He was a brave man in the true sense; not aggressive, but when the occasion to assert himself arrived, his courage was awfully majestic. Upon his forehead he carried the deep imprinted mark of a Democratic brick bat which he received during an attempt to break up a Whig meeting which he was addressing.

Mr. Walsh was in active practice during the chivalric period of the Baltimore Bar. "My learned brother," when applied, was full of meaning. Friendships were endur- ing, gentility the rule and its opposite the exception. A tricky lawyer found the pro- fessional sphere uncongenial. The moral- ity was of a high order, and law was strictly a science and not a trade. Real estate agents were never members of the bar; money lenders were usually outsiders, al- though that was not exceptional, for it has always been a permissible branch of the law.

After court hours the toils of the day relaxed and social intercourse was indulged in. Such were enjoyable occasions. Then reputations for wit and story telling were made. It was at such meetings that Mr. Walsh was unapproachable in his witi- cisms. What he had to say went the rounds afterwards. First, among the members of

the bar, then in the saloons and on the street. It was a common exclamation, "Did you hear Yates Walsh's latest?" Then the story would be repeated, and in that way circulated throughout the limits of the city.

During Mr. Walsh's active professional life he was engaged in the courts of lower and higher resort. He had a large re- munerative practice. His clientage was drawn from the ranks of the prosperous citizens of Baltimore. Many have been the stories told of his wit; in that order of talent he rose superior to all other men Maryland has produced. The traditions of the bar have preserved but little of the vast amount that in his day was current.

On one occasion he was standing medi- tatively in the Court House door, after he had been unable to persuade the judge to agree with his view of a case, when an office boy asked him "which was the equity side of the court?" The answer the boy received was "the outside."

One morning he was summoned into court to try a case involving a disputed promissory note. He had failed from some cause to be ready for trial, therefore asked of the opposing counsel indulgence, which was refused. He appealed to the court for delay; this was denied. He then informed his adversary he would "avail himself of every technicality the law allowed." "All right, sir," was the reply. The jury sat im- pannelled. Flourishing the note towards them, plaintiff's attorney remarked, "I sup- pose you admit the signature." (It was customary to do so when it was not in dis- pute). "I admit nothing," was the re- sponse. The attorney had failed to pro- vide himself with a witness to prove the

Que. Fr Parler

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signature. He looked around the room, and seeing a man named Wait, after con- versing with him the attorney put him upon the stand.

"Do you know the Defendant in this case?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do you know his signature?"

"Yes, sir."

"Have you ever seen him write it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Look at the note, and say whose sig- nature is thereto attached."

"The Defendant's."

"The witness is with you, Mr. Walsh."

"I do not wish to ask him any questions."

"That is the case, Your Honor."

"Well, gentlemen, what will you do?" queried the Judge.

Mr. Walsh: "I propose to argue it, may it please Your Honor."

Plaintiff's Attorney: "Proceed, I have no desire to say anything."

Mr. Walsh: "May it please the Court and Gentlemen of the jury, this is the finest specimen of lying in wait that was ever brought to my knowledge."

The jury retired, and on returning, ren- dered a verdict in favor of the defendant.

Wait was known to several of the jurors as a professional witness, and they would not render a verdict on his unsupported tes- timony.

Mr. Walsh and Judge Worthington visit- ed York Sulphur Springs. The Judge caught cold riding in the stage coach and spent a sleepless night with the earache. In the morning Mr. Walsh entered his room and taking from the table a bottle labeled number six smiled. The suffering Judge, observing, said: "You laugh at my misfor-

tunes." "No," responded Mr. Walsh. "I beg your pardon, I have rubbed myself with number six a many a time, but I did not think it would ever come to your ears."

Mr. Walsh was a great favorite with the judges and popular with the members of the bar. He was indulgent and kind to the junior lawyers; was consulted by them as to the best methods of managing their cases. He was frequently associated with older lawyers to direct cases of importance on trial. At the close of a day's session of court, Judge Archer, accompanied him to his office, which was then in Court House Lane, a classical locality, gone from sight forever. While he was there the lowering clouds, which all day long had been threat- ening, discharged a snow storm of violence. The Judge was anxious to leave for home, having a severe cold, and not desiring to augment it, he remained trusting the sever- ity of the storm would abate. He was restless and weary; standing near the win- dow he gave evidence of his impatience by saying, "I wonder what it means, snowing in this manner? to which question Mr. Walsh made answer, "if you would be a philosopher, Judge, look out of the window and you will see the drift of it."

A young lawyer was passing along the street, whose hair was of fiery color. "There goes a smart, well-educated young man of talent and promise," said a gentle- man beside Mr. Walsh. Mr. Walsh replied, "I never before heard of a man well red out and well read in."

He was induced to run in 1840 for the First Branch of the City Council, being elected, and continuously returned up to 1846 from the Fourth ward. He served on

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committees on Police, Claims, Ways and Means and Finance.

In 1847 and 1848, he served in the Sec- ond Branch, and was assigned to the Com- mittees on Ways and Means, Police, Jail and Register's Accounts. At the end of his term, in 1848, he declined further service and positively forbade the use of his name in connection with the nomination. At that time, he resided at the northeast corner of Albemarl and Granby streets, then one of the fashionable sections of Baltimore, which has fallen from its high estate into disrepute.

At the time of Mr. Walsh's service in the Council, it was customary to send there the available representative worth and talent of the city. Frederick Pinkney, one of the best lawyers of Baltimore, and Dr. Stephen Collins, a high-toned citizen and a scien- tific physician, were members of the Coun- cil with Mr. Walsh. Pinkney was an ac- complished scholar and an excellent draughtsman, who on the back of his ordi- nances would illustrate their purport by drawings for that purpose. Dr. Collins was the brother of William H. Collins. He was a bachelor and Walsh was his sincere friend and admirer; he could not resist per- petrating upon the Doctor a joke. His method was to introduce an order of gen- eral application, which every member knew was a hit at Dr. Collins. On one occasion, he proposed a tax on bachelors for the sup- port of old maids, requiring physicians, who were bachelors, to render them medical attention without fee book charges. The ordinance was so ludicrous that the cham- ber was convulsed with laughter. Collins hotly resented the reference to himself. Walsh, who was a bachelor, hastily apolo-

gised, and said his action was inspired by his own cheerless condition and when he had finished, his apology was worse than his ordinance. He never permitted such measures to be subjects of official record; no traces of them can now be found.

Mr. Walsh, while serving in the Council, was the moving factor in city legislation. He was the author of the leading ordinances and contributed largely by them to the suc- cess of the various mayoralty administra- tions.

During his early service in the Council, General William Henry Harrison, Presi- dent-elect, passing through Baltimore, on his way to his inauguration in Washington, was waited on by a councilmanic commit- tee, desiring to honor him. Mr. Walsh, the spokesman, delivered a short address of welcome.

At this period in his life he was a mem- ber of the Vigilant Fire Company; he viewed with alarm the tendency to rowdy- ism at that day and to afford the firemen useful reading he established a library where they might while away their leisure hours.

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Author: Shepherd, Henry Elliott, 1844-1929, ed. 4n Publication date: 1898 Publisher: [Uniontown? Pa.] S.B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1344

Author: Shepherd, Henry Elliott, 1844-1929, ed. 4n
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: [Uniontown? Pa.] S.B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1344