USA > Maryland > Talbot County > History of Talbot county, Maryland, 1661-1861, Volume I > Part 40
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In memory of the great and important services rendered to his country by His Excellency John Dickinson, Esquire, President of the Supreme Executive Council of this Commonwealth, and because of his very liberal endowment of £5,000.
He was President of the Board of Trustees for life, 1783-1808. In the execution of his office of Governor, he was, ex-officio, a member of the Board of Property. In 1784 he was elected the fourth honorary member of the General Society of the Cincinnati [he was the first one so honored from Penna]. He was chairman of the Constitutional and Commercial Commission which met in Annapolis, Md., in Sept., 1786, and as chairman signed the letter to Congress recommending the calling of a Federal Constitutional Convention. Of this body which met in Philadelphia in May, 1787, he was a member from Delaware, and took no small part in the framing of that body. The manner of electing U. S. Senators was his proposition. He supported the adoption of the Con- stitution by three very able letters, under the nom-de-plume of Fabius. He was a member of the Delaware Constitutional Convention in 1792, and wielded an overshadowing influence in that body. This was his last public service, and after an active political life of just thirty years (1762-'92) he retired to private life. In 1797 he wrote his second series of "Fabian Letters," fourteen in number, on the subject of the troubles between France and the United States. In one of these letters he styles Christianity "the divine religion of our blessed Savior." Of Mr. Dickinson's ability as a writer, the following tribute from the lips of the great Earl of Chatham (Pitt) bears ample testimony.
When your Lordships have perused the papers transmitted to us from America, [1st and 2nd Petitions], when you consider the dignity, the firmness and the wisdom with which the Americans have acted, you cannot but respect their cause. History, my Lords, has been my favorite study, and in the celebrated writings of antiquity, have I often
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admired the patriotism of Greece and Rome; but, my Lords, I must declare and avow, that in the master States of the world, I know not the people or the Senate, who in such a complication of difficult cir- cumstances, can stand in preference to the delegates of America, assem- bled in Philadelphia. I trust, it is obvious to your Lordships, that all attempts to impose servitude upon such men, to establish despotism over such a mighty continental nation, must be vain.
Of his personal appearance John Adams says:
he is a shadow; tall, but slender as a reed; one would think, at first sight, he could not live a month, yet upon a more attentive inspection, he looks as if the springs of life were strong enough for many years.
The late William T. Read thus speaks of Mr. Dickinson in his old age:
When I was a mere boy, Mr. Dickinson was my father's guest for a few days, during the trial of a suit in which I think he was defendant, my father being his counsel. I have a vivid impression of the man- tall and spare, his hair white as snow, his garb uniting with the severe simplicity of his sect, a neatness and elegance peculiarly in keeping with it, and his manner, beautiful emanations of the great Christian principle of love, with the gentleness and affectionateness which, what- ever be the cause, the Friends, or at least individuals of them, exhibit more than others, combining the politeness of a man of the world, familiar with society in its most polished forms, and with conventional canons of behavior. Truly he lives in my memory as the realization of my beau ideal of a gentleman.
Of his course in life the words of his speak for himself. Said he to a friend:
Two rules I have laid down for myself throughout this contest, to which I have continually adhered, and still design to adhere. First, on all occasions when I am called upon as a trustee for my countrymen, to deliberate on questions important to their happiness, disdaining all personal advantages to be derived from a suppression of my real senti- ments, and defying all dangers to be risked by a declaration of them, openly to avow them; and secondly after thus discharging this duty, whenever the public resolutions are taken, to regard them, though opposite to my opinion, as sacred, because they lead to public measures, in which the common weal must be interested, and to join in supporting them as heartily as if my voice had been given for them. If the present day is too warm for me to be calmly judged, I can credit my country for justice, some years hence.
Portraits of Mr. Dickinson are in existence, painted by Peale and Trum- bull. He married, July 19, 1770, Mary, youngest daughter of Hon. Isaac Norris the younger, for many years speaker of the Penna. Assembly
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[1735-'56]. They had two daughters, Sarah Norris and Maria, the latter the wife of A. C. Logan, of Shuton, Phila. county, now represented by his grandson, Albanus Charles Logan, of Phila. His youngest son, John Dickinson Logan, M.D., died in Baltimore in 1877, leaving an only son, Algernon Sidney Logan, of Phila.
John Dickinson died at Wilmington, Del., on Saturday, Feb. 14, 1808, aged 75 years, 3 months and 1 day. He was buried in the Friends' burying ground at Wilmington. No headstone marks his grave. Con- gress wore mourning for him thirty days. His political writings were pub- lished in two volumes at Wilmington in 1801. At the annual meeting of the Society of Fort St. Davids held in Philadelphia at their club rooms on the banks of the Schuylkill, in response to the toast, "John Dickinson, the Farmer of Pennsylvania," the orator replied:
This shadow, rather than man; slender as a reed; pale as ashes; this great writer, has been suffered to elapse almost into oblivion. Yet it was in him God first lighted the fires of the Revolution; his letters first made the cause of the Colonies heard before the Throne of Great Britain; and it is his name, and his only, that is associated with Jeffer- son's as the writer of the first official assertion of grievances, which preceded the great "Declaration." His words were the battle cries of the Revolution, on these grounds they gave evidence of their power. Although gentle blood ran through the veins of the peaceful inmates of Fort St. David, and their meats were set before them on heraldic plates, and the flag of English George floated o'er their house, yet Dickinson's words swept through its hewn logs like a storm-the flag went down- they answered his appeal with the sword. Here he might be fitly hon- ored as he was in his day and generation. The historic troop, four of whom have been governors of Schuylkill, and the bar of Philadelphia, of which he was so honored a representative, might unite and place upon these grounds his monumental stone; and the words once written in his honor might well be graven thereon: Pro Patria, John Dickinson of Philadelphia, the author of the "Farmers Letters.' Ita quique eveniat, ut de republica meruit.
The learned Samuel Miller, D.D., Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government in Princeton Theological Seminary, 1813-'49, in dedicating to Mr. Dickinson his great work, entitled "A Brief Retro- spect of the Eighteenth Century," says:
I know not to whom I can dedicate such a work as this with more propriety than to an elegant scholar, a comprehensive observer of a large portion of the century attempted to be reviewed, a master of so many of its literary and scientific improvements, a conspicuous actor in so many of its memorable and important transactions, an able and eloquent defender of his country's rights, and a munificent patron of American literature.
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HON. WILLIAM TILGHMAN
Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
1756-1827
"Cum receditur a litera, judex transit in legislatorem."
" Pessima tyrannis lex in equuleo."
-BACON's Antitheta.
Emigrating in 1660 from Kent in old England to Maryland, Richard Tilghman, "chirurgion" settled first upon Canterbury manor, in Bailey's Neck of what is now the county of Talbot, and then at the Hermitage upon Chester river, in what is now the county of Queen Anne. He be- came the founder in America of the most respectable family which bears his name, and which was most worthily represented as well as greatly illus- trated by that member who makes the subject of this biographical sketch. The son of this first Richard, the immigrant, was succeeded in the owner- ship of the Hermitage by his son of the same name, a gentleman who held many positions of honor under the propretary and royal governments in this province, having been a member of the governor's council, one of the justices of the provincial court, chancellor and keeper of the great seal of Maryland. He had a large family, and one of the sons was James Tilghman, Esquire, who removing from Maryland to Philadelphia be- came the attorney general for the proprietary of Pennsylvania, a mem- ber of the provincial council, and Secretary of the Land office, which department of the government "by the accuracy of his mind and the steadiness of his purpose, he brought into a system as much remarked for order and equity as, from its early defects, it threatened to be other- wise." This office he resigned upon the outbreak of the revolutionary troubles, he being a loyalist, and returned to his native state, making Chestertown, in Kent county, his home, where he died. He was the father of six sons, several of whom rose to distinction. One of these was William Tilghman, the subject of this sketch, who was born at Fausley, near Easton, in Talbot county, Maryland, then the residence of his father, on the 12th of Aug. 1756. His father removing to Philadelphia in 1762, it was there he received his academic education. He was entered at the Academy of that city and thence he passed into the college which subse- quently became known as the University of Pennsylvania, and from which he received his degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts, and at a late day, when he had arisen to eminence, the degree of Doctor of Laws. He had for his teachers such capable men as Beveridge, Wallis, Davidson, Smith
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and Allison. Under their tuition, which with the last named continued after he had passed out of the school, he became very proficient in the Latin and Greek languages, the literature of which, but more especially of the latter, was his delight throughout his life. In 1772 he began the study of law under Benjamin Chew, Esq., afterwards the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He remained in his office until 1776, when he accompanied his father to Chestertown, and there under his direction continued his studies, until 1783, when he was admitted to practice in the courts of Maryland. In this interval he desired to pros- ecute his studies in England, and requested his brother, Lieutenant Col. Tilghman, then at headquarters, that he would secure for him a pass to that country from the commander in chief. This request was refused for reasons that commend themselves to every patriotic and honorable mind, and that were entirely satisfactory to the applicant. He entered upon the practice of his profession at Chestertown, and soon began to take a part in politics, which at that time engaged the best minds, and purest characters of the State. He was elected to a seat in the house of Delegates from Kent county for three years in succession, 1788, 1789 and 1790. In 1791 he was chosen one of the Senators for the Eastern Shore, the other members for that section in the 4th Senate, being William Perry, William Hindman, Edward Lloyd, Esqs., all of Talbot County and Gustavus A. Scott, Esq., of Dorchester county. During the time Mr. Tilghman served in the General Assembly of Mary- land, many of those measures of early legislation were perfected which proved so salutary to the State, and particularly may be instanced, the change in the judicial system of the county courts which was made in 1790, and changes in the constitution and jurisdiction of other courts. In this legislation he participated. In national or general politics, he was an earnest advocate of the adoption of the Federal Constitution, and was a member of the Convention of Maryland, which in April, 1788, adopted that great charter, as he was also a member of the Legis- latures which framed measures for carrying it into practical operation. In the year 1789 he had the honor of being chosen one of the electors for the State of Maryland to choose the first President of the United States, and of casting his vote for Washington. But politics, except as the science of Government, were never congenial with his tastes and habits. The contentions of parties, even before he resigned his place in the Senate, had already begun to betray that violence which a few years later blazed out with an intensity not since surpassed, and gentlemen already began to show a reluctance to participate in them. After Mr.
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Tilghman assumed judicial duties, he was scrupulous in his abstinence from any expression of political sentiments further than was declared by the regular deposit of his vote, which was generally in support of the Federalists.
He resigned his seat in the Senate of Maryland in 1793. Having married Margaret, the daughter of James Allen, Esq., for whom Allen- town, Pa., was named, of Philadelphia, he again made that city, the place of his residence, and there commenced the practice of his pro- fession. As an advocate he was held in great respect by the courts, the bar and the community. His law arguments are said to have been remarkable for
the distinctness with which he presented his case, and for the perspicu- ity and accuracy with which his legal references were made to sustain it. But the force of his intellect resided in his judgment.
This quality of his mind directed attention to him as one eminently fitted for the judicial station, and accordingly in 1801, he was appointed by President Adams Chief Justice of the Circuit Court of the United States for the circuit embracing the city of Philadelphia. But this position he held for but a brief season, for a year after the organization of this court, it was abolished by law, and the judges were deprived of their places. Mr. Tilghman returned to his profession which he con- tinued to practice with such success as his conceded abilities and probity entitled him to win, until the year 1805, when he was again raised to the bench, by being appointed presiding Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the first district of Pennsylvania. In this position he remained but a few months, for Governor McKean, appreciating his qualifications, commissioned him Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to succeed Judge Shippen, who from the infirmities of years had been com- pelled to retire. This appointment had been tendered to Mr. Edward Tilghman, a native of Queen Anne's county, but then a distinguished lawyer of Philadelphia; but he declined in favor of his kinsman, being better assured of his fitness for the judicial station than of his own, eminent as he was at the bar. Chief Justice Tilghman retained his seat on the bench until a few months previous to his death. Horace Binney of the Bar of Philadelphia, his eulogist and one every way capable of estimating his qualities as a Judge, speaks of Judge Tilghman's con- scientious industry-conscientious as distinguished from the industry of mere habit, or the industry of reward, even when the reward is repu- tation. He examined every case that came before him and prepared
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every decision he rendered with great care, lest injustice might be done to an individual, or some wrong precedent be established. The number of his decisions pronounced during his service of twenty-one years on the bench, great as it is, is not the measure of his labors. He is said to have venerated the law, and above all the fundamental common law. "Judicial legislation," that is to say, the practice of some honest Judges of changing the clear meaning of the law into something which they think should be the law, he is said to have "abhorred or dreaded as an implication of his conscience. His judgments were distinguished for perspicacity, precision and singleness. They were remarkable for their admirable common sense, and their adaptation to the common understanding. But that quality which most exalted them was the ardent love of justice that ran through them all. Law was his master; he yielded implicit obedience to its behests. Justice was the object of his affections; he defended law with the devotion of a lover. The occa- sions were rare when he did not bring law and justice into harmonious cooperation. His opinions were not burthened with authorities, indeed he was sparing of references, not through poverty of such resources, but from his ability to select and preserve in memory only those that estab- lished principles of law and to dismiss from his mind the vast mass which was of no value and that added nothing to his legal treasures. Even the great weight of his own authority which few would have disputed, was never used as a substitute for the weight of reason, but he delivered his opinions without self assertion. The language of these opinions was in keeping with their character; it was transparent without involution, parenthesis or complication, the language of earnestness and honest conviction.
The same writer, whose estimate of Judge Tilghman the above is but a brief and imperfect abstract, says:
If ever the labors of a judge approach the merit of discovery, it is when he reforms or brings to light what had a previous existence, but had been perverted or obscured. Judge Tilghman certainly reinstated a statute of indispensable use, and which was imperceptibly giving way to judicial legislation, the statute of Limitations in actions of assumpsit.
This same authority attributes to him the merit of having led the way to the great work improving the large rivers of Pennsylvania, by defining the claims of riparian owners, contrary to the generally received opinions as to those claims. But it is said this most important service was the "thorough incorporation of the principles of scientific equity with the
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law of Pennsylvania" a service which however valuable to that estate, need not be enlarged upon in this memoir. His knowledge of the penal law was quite as accurate and extensive as of the other departments, but was not so often called, by reason of his office, into requisition. In this connection it may be mentioned as illustrating his fine sensibility and sympathy for those suffering under criminal accusation that
it was invariably effort, without regard to his own health, to finish a capital case at one sitting, if any portion of the night would suffice for that object, in order to terminate as soon as possible the harrowing solicitude which a protracted trial brings to the unhappy prisoner. He never pronounced the sentence of death without severe pain; in the first instance it was the occasion of anguish.
His education had been the best the country afforded, and a mind naturally receptive and finely if not robustly organized, was thus made appreciative of the best literature of the ancient languages and of his own tongue. He continued through life to indulge his tastes for polite letters, while avoiding any pretense to harmony. While shunning the use of quotation, lest it might seem he was pretending a degree of knowl- edge he did not possess and as savoring of pedantry, he was in the fre- quent habit of repeating to himself, in an undertone some apposite pas- sage from the Latin, particularly of Horace, his favorite author and companion, suggested by the occasion. Later in life he acquired a fondness for philosophic, or what is now called scientific speculation and inquiry. He became a member of the American Philosophical Society, of which after being for some time one of the vice presidents, he became president in 1824. It was while holding the place of vice presi- dent of this body he delivered a eulogium upon Doctor Carper Wistar, the late president of the society. He was the first president of the Atheneum library society of Philadelphia. He was also one of the vice presidents of the society for the promotion of agriculture, and in 1820 by invitation, he delivered an address before this body, which was published by its order. This address and the eulogium of Dr. Wistar, are the only known products of his pen that have survived him, except the vast body of judicial decisions which are on record. The same clearness, directness and simplicity of style which characterize his opinions delivered from the bench, are to be found in these two addresses, which also reveal the character of the author. Judge Tilghman was long a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsyl- vania and his deep interest in education was shown by his regular and constant attendance upon the meetings of this Board.
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The manners of Judge Tilghman when upon the bench were such as not only to command the respect, but to win the affection of the mem- bers of the bar, and officers of the court. This natural dignity so befitted his position that there was no need of the assumption of an official demeanor: while his constant and uniform kindness and courtesy con- ciliated all who came within his sphere of influence. He was never known to have yielded, under the many provocations to which he, like all judicial officers, was subjected, to even momentary lapses of temper. When off the bench he was retiring and reserved, not from hauteur or moroseness, but from a sensitiveness of feeling and a conscientious duty which he owed to his position. He avoided all occasions for the expression of opinions on matters of public interest and he was scrupulous to shun positions where an unguarded word might affect individual interests he was appointed to guard. Great kindliness marked his intercourse with his fellowmen, and his benevolence was shown by his frequent but unostentatious charities: while his humanity was especially exhibited by his emancipating all his slaves, of whom he had many, long before his death. His life was singularly pure, in act and word. No one of his contemporaries could remember to have heard, in the most unrestrained conversation, one word or allusion to offend the most fastidious delicacy. His piety was sincere, as was exemplified by a simple, modest and blameless life. He was long a vestryman and warden under the pastorate of his friend Bishop White, of sacred memory.
Judge Tilghman continued to exercise his judicial functions up to within a few months of his death, which occurred April 29, 1827. He lies buried in Philadelphia, and has left no descendants. His eulogist, so often quoted in this memoir says of him:
It will be long, very long, before we shall open our eyes upon a wiser judge, a sounder lawyer, a riper scholar, a purer man, or a truer gentle- man.
National Gazette, Phila., May 3, 1827.
DIED
At midnight, on Sunday, the 29th of April, the Hon. WILLIAM TILGHMAN, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, in the 71st year of his age.
The Reverend the Clergy, the Honorable the Judiciary, the Members of the Bar, the members of the several Societies to which the deceased belonged, and his friends in general, are particularly invited to attend the Funeral, which will take place on Wednesday afternoon next, at 4 o'clock, from his late residence, in Walnut above Ninth street.
At a Meeting of the Bar of Philadelphia, held on Monday, the 30th ult., in the Supreme Court Room, immediately after the adjournment
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of the several courts, on the public announcement of the death of the Hon. WILLIAM TILGHMAN, late Chief Justice of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
On motion of William Rawle, Esq., it was unanimously Resolved, That, feeling the deepest regret for the loss that has been sustained, not only by the profession of the law, but by this state, and these United States, in the death of a man so eminent for his learning, talents, and usefulness in the discharge of every official function, and so endeared to all by his amiable deportment and personal virtues, as the late Chief Justice Tilghman, the Bar of Philadelphia will wear the usual badge of mourning for sixty days, and will, as a body, attend his funeral.
It was Resolved, also, That a Committee, consisting of the chairman and secretary of this meeting, Mr. Rawle, Mr. Condy, and Mr. Chaun- cey, be appointed to communicate to the surviving relatives of the de- ceased, the sympathy of the Bar in the affliction of his family, their reverence for his memory, and sorrow for his death.
It was further Resolved, That the members of the Bar will cause their office window shutters to be bowed until after the funeral.
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