USA > New Jersey > Atlantic County > Atlantic City > The Daily union history of Atlantic City and County, New Jersey : containing sketches of the past and present of Atlantic City and County > Part 3
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The grave is that of George S. West. of the little church may sti son of George and Amy West, who brick vaults holding the m was born May 7, 1806, and who died ced West family, inscribed as follows:
September 5, 1829. The large marble slab had been torn from the grave- as if with a crowbar and had broken -
into four pieces as it struck the ground. This provided easy access to the brick foundation. the mortar of which had worked loose with age. There is ample evidence that some of 'he bricks had then heen knocked Use and taken away.
1
Son of Geo
Son of Georghe graveyard had been abandoned years and is all grown up with ess and shrubbery, not been visible Fom the River road, which runs be- ween English Creek and May's Land- ing. Directly in front of the graves, which are clustered together and bear faded stones that show that the oceu- pants of the graves were placed there nearly a century ago or about the time of the War of 1812, and that the ruins are that of the old Catawba Church, nothing being visible now but the rem- nais of a sturdy foundation.
WHOLE FAMILY POISONED.
Along side of the desecrated grave of George S. West are the graves of his father. mother and brother, alll hav- ng the same kind of a tombstone. It s a singular fact, known from the in- AMycription on the tombstones, that each hember of the family died in the same ear, 1829, and within a few weeks of ach other, as if the household had een stricken down with some malady r plague. There is a story told that he entire family had been' poisoned by relative for their money in the days hen fortunes were made in charcoal May's Landing. It is said that the urderer was ap desperado who lived ke a prince on his ill-gotten gains ht afterwards had died in a Penn- ivanin prison, where he had been ntenold for netty theft
JOSEPH A. BARSTOW.
37
THE WEST FAMILY.
Thomas Biddle West, died May 17, 1826, aged 14 years, after fifty hours' illness. Joe was the only survivor, and was of course in full charge of the estate. He lived in extravagant style, kept four dun mules and a mulatto driver, and made tours of the State in a manner to attract at- tention. He took with him silk bedclothing for his personal use at whatever hotel he might lodge for the night. He was a surveyor of lands and an expert in looking up titles. He would set up claims to lands which he as a lawyer could contest in the courts or settle for cash to help him continue his extravagant habits of living.
His estate was finally sold by the sheriff on fore- closure of claims against him. West was at one time convicted of forgery of the records in the office of the clerk of Burlington County and was sentenced to im- prisonment for five years. He was released before the expiration of his term. He had a beautiful Christian woman for a wife, Miss Huldah, daughter of one Charles Stewart, of Philadelphia. He is said to have CATAWBA CHURCH. led a domestic career no more creditable than his other doings. He finally left New Jersey and spent his last days in his native State. None of his relatives are now living.
CATAWBA GRAVES.
WILLIAM B. LOUDENSLAGER.
Atlantic County Bar.
HE BAR of Atlantic County is in reality a creation of quite modern times. . 1 record of its early history would necessarily include that of the county in general, extending back to a time when Atlantic City was not, as it is now, center and chief source of litigation in our courts; and beyond that to a period when Atlantic City, as a settlement boasting a name, was hardly in existence.
To go back to the birth of our county is not a great stride, as it was only in 1837 that it was formed by cutting off the easterly half of Gloucester County. At that time the population of the county was about eight thousand, and the amount of litigation correspondingly small. Then a railroad was a novelty, and only one line, that of the old Camden & Amboy, was in operation in the State. The only regular means of conveyance to the county capital was the stage coach line running from Absecon through Bargaintown and Mays Landing to Camden. On the first day of court the judges, lawyers, suitors and witnesses congregated at the court house from all sections of the county, traveling by stage-coach or wagon, or even on foot or horseback.
The first session of court in the new county was the Court of Quarter Ses- sions of the Peace, held by six justices of the peace, viz: Joseph Garwood, Joseph Endicott, Daniel Baker, Benjamin Weatherby, John Godfrey and Jesse H. Bowen. At that time this court was composed of the justices of the peace of the county, or any three of them. The court was held at Mays Landing on July 25, 1837, at the hotel of Capt. John Pennington, a prominent character in the early history of the county, and the grandfather of present Law Judge Endicott, former Judge Thompson, Dr. B. C. Pennington and County Clerk Scott. This hotel con- tinned to serve as a court house for several terms, and the old church building then standing on the main street, near the site of the present church, was also pressed into service on one or two occasions. The first session held in the new court house, which is the one still used, was at the December Term, 1838.
At the second term, held October 17, 1837, Chief Justice Joseph W. Horn- blower presided, and, together with the same six justices of the peace, held a session of Oyer and Terminer and General Jail Delivery. In the first criminal cases John Moore White, attorney-general, and Robert K. Matlock, of Wood- bury, appeared for the State as prosecutors. Mr. White afterwards became a Justice of the Supreme Court and held the circuit in this county for two years, in 1839 and 1840.
(39)
HON. WILSON SENSEMAN.
41
THE ATLANTIC COUNTY BAR.
In the early years of the county's history the members of the bar of neigh- boring counties were prominent in the courts. In fact, for a short time after the formation of the county all the litigation was conducted by them, as Atlantic County had no resident lawyer. Among the prominent visitors of that period were Thomas P. Carpenter, of Camden, who was afterwards appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court and held the Atlantic Circuit from 1845 to 1852; Abraham Browning, of Camden, who afterwards became attorney general and who officiated on several occasions as prosecutor of the pleas; John T. Nixon, of Bridgeton, who was afterwards appointed Justice of the United States District Court; Lucius Q. C. Elmer, of Bridgeton, who later became a Justice of the Supreme Court and held the Atlantic Circuit from 1852 to 1859, and from 1862 to 1869; Robert K. Matlock and William N. Jeffers, of Woodbury: Jeremiah Sloan, of Mt. Holly; and John B. Harrison, of Woodbury, who was the first regular prosecutor of the pleas.
The first resident member of the bar in the county was Elias B. Caldwell. of Newark. He first appeared in the courts in 1837, shortly afterward located at the county seat and remained there until he died, in December, 1847. He built and lived in a house immediately opposite the court house, where he also had his office. While sick in bed he accidentally set fire to the curtains and inhaled the flames, as a result of which he died in a few days.
Joseph E. Potts, of Trenton, appeared in the courts about the same time, and shortly after Caldwell he also took up his residence in Mays Landing and practiced there for a number of years. About 1854 he obtained a clerkship in the Treasury Department at Washington, D. C., and resided there until his death, which occurred a few years ago. He served as County Clerk from 1845 to 1850.
About the year 1840, Robert B. Glover, of Woodbury, took up his residence at the county capital and practiced there until about 1854. He then gave up the practice of law and removed to Camden, where he died, about 1856.
Another lawyer of the same period was Francis J. Brognard, of MIt. Holly. He removed to Mays Landing about 1842, and lived and had his office in a building next to that of Mr. Caldwell. He remained in Mays Landing for seven or eight years and then removed to Jersey City, where he shortly afterwards died. He served as prosecutor from 1846 to 1850.
After the death of Caldwell and the removal of Brognard, George S. Wood- hull moved to the county seat from Freehold on March 5, 1850. In a few months he was appointed prosecutor of the pleas, which office he held until 1865, and during the same period also served as prosecutor of Cape May County for two terms. He was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court in 1866. His actual residence in the county, however, continued only until 1861, when he removed to Camden and opened an office there.
The first native of the county to represent the profession in its courts as a resident lawyer was William W. Thompson, of Mays Landing, the father of ex- Judge Joseph Thompson. He read law with Judge Woodhull in Mays Landing, and was admitted to the bar at the February Term, 1852, and practiced there
JUDGE ENOCH CORDERY.
43
THE ATLANTIC COUNTY BAR.
until his death, which occurred in November, 1865. From 1861 to 1865 he was the only lawyer residing in the county.
The next native lawyer after Mr. Thompson was Joseph E. P. Abbott, of Mays Landing, a namesake of Joseph E. Potts, who studied law with Judge Woodhull. He was admitted to the bar at the November Term, 1865, and the next month located in his native town, where he has continued to the present day. On the day immediately preceding Mr. Abbott's settlement at Mays Land- ing, Mr. Thompson suddenly died, and Mr. Abbott bought his office fixtures and library, and took up his practice in the same office; so that up to that time, not even for a single day could the county boast of two native lawyers. Mr. Abbott is now the oldest practitioner in the county, and bears the appellation of "The Father of the Atlantic County Bar." He is the present Prosecutor of the Pleas, having been appointed by Governor Voorhees in 1808, succeeding Samuel E. Perry.
Next after Mr. Abbott came Lewis Humphreys, of Mays Landing, who was admitted at the June Term, 1870, and located at Absecon immediately. He studied law under J. E. P. Abbott. After remaining in Absecon several years he removed to Mays Landing, where he continued to reside and practice until his death, in 1878.
Alexander H. Sharp, of Salem, came to this county about 1869, and opened an office at Egg Harbor City, and was shortly afterwards appointed Prosecutor of Pleas, to fill the unexpired term of Alfred Hugg, who had resigned. He served until 1871, removing to Mays Landing shortly before the expiration of his term. He remained at the county seat for two or three years, and then removed to Absecon. While there he had a branch office in Atlantic City on Atlantic avenue, where Myers' Union Market now stands, at which he spent some days in each week. During this period Hon. John J. Gardner, our present Congressman, read law under his instruction for some time. For a portion of the period be- tween 1871 and 1878 he gave up the practice of law, and resided at Estellville, near Mays Landing, where he conducted a glass factory. He next removed to Mays Landing, and was again appointed Prosecutor in 1878, and continued in office until 1883. Shortly after this appointment he returned to Absecon to live, and resumed his Atlantic City office. At the expiration of his term he went to Philadelphia, and thence removed to the West.
The next was William Moore, of Mays Landing, a student from the office of Alden C. Scovel, of Camden, who was admitted at the November Term, 1873. He took up the practice of law at once at the county seat and remained there until his death, on November 17, 1889.
In 1876, Harry L. Slape came from Woodstown to the county seat and opened an office and remained there about two years. He then removed to Atlantic City and began practice in an office in the Champion House, on Virginia avenue, on the site of the present Allen Building, the same office afterwards occupied by Samuel D. Hoffman. Mr. Slape was the City's first resident lawyer,
THOMAS J. DICKERSON.
45
THE ATLANTIC COUNTY BAR.
and served as Mayor in 1880-1881, and also as City Solicitor for a number of years. He died May 27, 1887.
The second member of the bar to take up a residence here was Major George T. Ingham, of Salem. He read law in the office of Clement H. Sinnickson, now County Judge of Salem, was admitted to the bar in 1880, and in August of the same year came to this city and opened an office in the City Hall.
Following Major Ingham came Joseph Thompson, of Mays Landing. He served his clerkship in the offices of Alden C. Scovel, of Camden, and William Moore, of Mays Landing, and was admitted to the bar at the June Term, 1878, at the same time with Charles T. Abbott, a graduate from the office of his brother, Joseph, in Mays Landing. Mr. Thompson practiced law in his native place from that time until the fall of 1880, when he opened an office in this city, at 1208 Atlantic avenue. He served as prosecutor from 1883 to 1893, and as county judge from 1893 to 1898. He was elected Mayor of Atlantic City in the spring of 1898, and a short time afterwards was appointed a member of the State Board of Taxation.
At the February Term, 1881, were admitted to the bar two students from Atlantic County-August Stephany, of Egg Harbor City, and Samuel D. Hoff- man, of Mays Landing. They both read law with William Moore at the county seat. Immediately on his admission Mr. Stephany located in this city in an office adjoining Keuhnle's Hotel, where he had for several years previously car- ried on a real estate business, coming here certain days in the week. On January I, 1884, Mr. Stephany entered into partnership with Mr. Slape, in offices on the second floor of the building next to the Mansion House, at ILIO Atlantic avenue. They continued together until Mr. Slape's death. After that Mr. Stephany con- tinued in practice until his death, on June 9, 1898, being joined a few years previous by his son Robert as partner.
Samuel D. Hoffman, Mr. Stephany's classmate, remained in Mays Landing a few months after admission, and in the same year came to this city and formed a partnership with Joseph Thompson. Their office at that time was in the City Hall. The partnership continued until 1883, since which time Mr. Hoffman has had an office by himself, in the Champion House. Mr. Hoffman has been active in political life, having served the city as City School Superintendent in 1885, Alderman in 1884, Mayor for several terms, 1886 to 1892, and represented the county as Assemblyman in 1892, and State Senator 1893 to 1898. In 1896 he was appointed County School Superintendent.
The next Lawyer of Atlantic City was Allen B. Endicott, of Mays Landing, the present law judge, who was admitted at the June Term, 1880. He read law with J. E. P. Abbott and also with Peter L. Voorhees, of Camden, and graduated from the law department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1879. After ad- mission he located in his native village and remained there about three years. On the 28th of April, 1883, he came to Atlantic City and succeeded Mr. Hoff- man in partnership with Mr. Thompson, continuing with him until 1887. Their office at that time was in the building on Atlantic avenue, standing on the site of the present Mensing Block.
ALOIS SCHAUFLER.
47
THE ATLANTIC COUNTY BAR.
Samuel E. Perry, of Hunterdon County, came here in 1883, and opened an office in the building at the corner of Indiana and Atlantic avenues, a portion of which is now occupied by Griscom's Market. He had formerly practiced in Con- necticut and also in his native county. He was appointed prosecutor in 1893 and served until 1898.
From that time on the City had a firmly established legal fraternity, and students began to graduate from the local offices and other members to immigrate from other sections with increasing frequency, until at the present time the bar of the City is represented by thirty-four lawyers, mostly young, active and enter- prising men.
From the period of the 80's the city with its almost miraculous growth began to be an inviting field for the new disciples of Blackstone. The growth and ex- pansion of the town, the accretions of land on the ocean front, the formation of land and improvement companies, the extension of streets and railroad lines, all contributed to the creation of the inevitable disputes as to land titles. The in- creasing values of building lots, with inches as valuable as were the acres of other decades, made every owner careful of his property rights. The errors and mis- conceptions in municipal legislation incident to providing for the needs and de- mands of a rapidly growing city became such as to require constant legal aid in straightening the tangles. The commercial transactions involved in the busi- ness of entertaining hundreds of thousands of visitors entailed the preparation of countless legal papers, and the natural outgrowth was controversies of endless variety.
While the absence of the great trusts and corporations of the larger cities, with their weighty litigation, precludes our practitioners from the princely in- comes of their legal advisers, and while the field of practice is yet too limited for the development of specialists in the legal profession, yet there is an interesting diversity of work that comes to the hands of the Atlantic City lawyer that many localities do not afford, which serves to keep him constantly bright in every department of practice, and makes monotony impossible.
IMPORTANT TRIALS.
Among the important civil cases that have been tried in the courts of the county was that of Andrew K. Hay vs. John L. McKnight, an action involving title to large tracts of land in the county. The plaintiff was represented by Joseph P. Bradley, who was afterwards Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and the defendant by Abraham Browning. The case was tried in 1865, and the trial lasted three weeks.
Another important case involving title to land was that of David S. Black- man and others against Absalom Doughty and others, tried in 1877. For the plaintiffs appeared David J. Pancoast, while Peter L. Voorhees and Abraham Browning represented the defendants.
JOHN E. MEHRER.
49
IMPORTANT TRIALS.
In December, 1882, was tried a famous case generally known as the "Storm Tide Line Case." Nominally the suit was between the Camden & Atlantic Land Company and Edwin Lippincott, and involved directly the title to a tract of beach front seven hundred by one hundred and fifty feet, a part of the Haddon Hall property; but as an extensive tract of property in that neighborhood was held under a similar title, chiefly by the defendant and Charles Evans, of the Sea- side, the determination of the suit settled all these titles. The value of the land involved was at that time in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and to-day, of course, is still greater, it being now one of the most valuable portions of the city.
In 1856 the land company sold Thomas Mills a tract of land east of North Carolina avenue, bounded by Pacific avenue on the north, and extending south "a distance of three hundred and twenty feet, be the same more or less, to storm tide mark of the Atlantic Ocean; thence along said storm tide mark, on a course of northeast, for a distance of one hundred and fifty feet, be the same more or less, to the west side of a twenty feet wide street." etc. Title descended from Miles to Lippincott.
Between 1856 and 1880, when suit was brought, the beach had "built up" by accretions of sand, for a distance of some twelve hundred feet. The land com- pany brought suit in ejectment, claiming title to all the accretions, on the theory that the "storm tide mark." as it existed when the grant was made, was a definite and fixed boundary; that this line was different from ordinary high water line, to which their original title extended. thus leaving in them a strip of beach to which title to any accretions would attach.
The defendant resisted on the principle that the line was variable, and that the boundary followed the changing line, thus giving the accretions to the grantee.
After a number of postponements, trial was begun before Judge Alfred Reed. and a struck jury at Mays Landing on December 12, 1882, and occupied nine days. The plaintiff was represented by Cortlandt Parker, Barker Gummere, Wil- liam Moore, and Alexander H. Sharp. For the defendant appeared Peter L. Voor- hees, Frederick Voorhees. Samuel H. Grey and Thompson & Endicott.
A special verdict was taken. the jury finding answers to fourteen separate questions of fact, and the record submitted to the Supreme Court for judgment. Judge Reed stated in his charge that there was not found in the books of this or any other country a case which had the same features or was exactly analogous.
The case was argued at the June Term of the Supreme Court, 1883. and at November Term an able and exhaustive opinion was rendered by Justice Depue (reported in 16 Vroom, 405). in which he sustained the defendant's title to the accretions. A portion of his language was as follows:
"In grants of lands lying along the seashore. the parties act with knowledge of the variety of changes to which all parts of the shore are subject. The grantee, by such a boundary, takes a frechold that shifts with the changes that take place, and is obliged to accept the situation of his boundary by the gradual changes to which the shore is subject. He is subject to loss by the same means that may add to his territory; and as he is without remedy for his loss, so is he entitled to 1
JOHN BAKER ADAMS.
51
IMPORTANT TRIALS.
the gain which may arise from alluvial formations, and he will, in such case, hold by the same boundary, including the accumulated soil.
"A grant of lands with a boundary 'along storm-tide mark of the Atlantic ocean,' will leave in the grantor that space of the beach which lies between the ordinary high water and the fast land, and is washed over by unusual tides so frequently as to be waste and unprofitable for use; but the title of the grantce will advance or recede as the line of storm-tide changes from time to time.
"The object the company had in view in adopting in its conveyance such a boundary for lands lying along the sea is apparent. It was a company formed for the purpose of building a city, as a place of summer resort. The use of the strip of waste land lying between the fast shore and ordinary high water for a prom- enade, or for boating and bathing, by residents in the city, and persons who might resort there for pleasure or health, would add greatly to the success of the en- terprise. The company seems to have exercised some control in that respect over the beach. Mr. Richards, the president of the company, says that it was a uni- versal assurance given verbally to purchasers of lots, that they should have the privilege of putting bath-houses on the beach for bathing purposes.
"We think that, under the description in the Miles deed, the seaward boundary was on the line of the storm-tide, as that line was advanced towards the ocean by alluvial deposits. The proof is that, at the time this suit was brought, the line of the storm-tides was considerably seaward of the lands in controversy, and consequently the defendant has the legal title to the premises in dispute."
In consequence of an error of the jury in answering one of the questions, judgment was not ordered, but a new trial was granted. This, however, was not followed up, but a non-suit was afterwards granted the defendant. An amicable settlement was afterwards made concerning the strip between storm-tide and high water line, which it was decided the land company still owned, and this ended one of the most novel as well as important land suits ever tried in Atlantic or any other county.
Among the important criminal cases tried in our courts was that of The State against Louis Waldenberger, tried at the December Term, 1860. The defendant, who lived near Egg Harbor City, was indicted for poisoning his child by means of pounded glass and sulphur matches, and was convicted and sen- tenced to be hanged; but on March 6, 1861, his sentence was commuted by Gov- ernor Olden to imprisonment for life. He served eighteen years in the State prison, when finally his wife on her death bed confessed that she had committed the act for which he was sentenced. His case had been before the Board of Pardons for ten years or more, but he was finally pardoned,-the first case in the State of pardon of a life prisoner. This was the first conviction of first degree murder in the county. The prosecutor was George C. Woodhull, afterwards Supreme Court Justice, assisted by William W. Thompson.
The next first degree conviction was that of John Hill and John Fullen, who,
WILLIAM M. POLLARD, M.D.
IMPORTANT TRIALS.
together with Isaac Dayton, were charged with murdering an old man named George Chislett, at Elwood, for his money. Ilill and Fullen were tried together at the September Term. 1876, and convicted. Albert II. Slape, prosecutor. ap- peared for the State, and his brother, Harry L. Slape, defended,-his first case in the county. Hill and Fullen were hanged on October 7, 1876,-the first hang- ing in the county. Dayton was tried separately, convicted of murder in the second degree and sentenced to twenty years in State Prison. The valuables which the victim was supposed to carry, and for which the crime was committed, turned out to be an old pocketbook containing one cent, which articles are still preserved in the County Clerk's office.
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