USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > A history of Blair county, Pennsylvania. From its earliest settlement, and more particularly from its organization, in 1846 to June 1896 > Part 12
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7
SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY.
Address of Hon. Aug. S. Landis, History of the Bar of Blair County.
It has been said that the history of a revolu- of Juniata, Freedom, Logan and Taylor have tion is often but the history of one man. Bv pro- per antithesis, it is perhaps just as true that the history of a legal bar is The history of many men.
When it is remembered that the component parts are the judges, invested with the delegated powers of the law, the attorneys and barristers who invite the application of these powers to ob- tain for suitors a resultant product called justice, the officer who records and perpetu . tes the adju- dications of the court, and that other executive department, which relentlessly enforces the law as crystalized into its peremptory mandate, many men with diversified minds give it body, etficacy and character, What they thus have done during fifty years constitutes its history for that period.
The bar of this county came into existence in the year 1846. It had been a long struggle ; tricts of the commonwealth-the Fourth judicial whether there should be a Blair county. The subject was first discussed about the year 1×33. This town was then a prosperous, growing town. It was at the head of canal navigation. It was the point of transhipment from canal to railroad transportation. It was on the only traffic thorough- fare in the state. These conditions brought many people here. The state employed many men to operate the public improvements. Large for- warding houses were erected, and their owners handied the ever-increasing freight ton nage pass. ing east and west. Large capital was embarked in this business, and in mercantile and manu- facturing enterprises Bitumi ous coal found upon the land of Samuel Lemon, near the Sum- mit, became a leading article of trade for domes- tic use and transportation. Whilst it was the only great distributing point for a neighborhood ' district attorney, but there was but little to de mand his official attention.
of largeradius, it was also the entrepot for the products of a rapidly developing territory. Its promise of a future urban population and wealth invited many from other parts, who came to share its generous and flattering fortunes.
This increased population and business neces- sarily gave rise to litigation, and applications for various purposes to the public officers and the courts. Huntingdon county, of which it was part, had its county seat at Huntingdon, which lay thirty miles away, to be reached by laborious and wearisome driving over two mountains. This inconvenience gave rise to the effort to have erected a new county, of which this busy and growing centre should be the county seat.
During the six or seven years when the subject was discussed, whilst all were favorable to the project, many were active in the work until it was finally accomplished. Among them should be named William Williams, afterward presi- dent of the Exchange bank at this place: Peier Cassidy, a well-known surveyor; Peter Hewit, Silas Moore, Ed. McGraw, John Walker, Dr. Joseph A Landis, Dr. James Coffcy, Samuel Cal- vin, William MeFarland, Joseph Dysart, George R. McFarlane, William C. McCormick James M. Bell and R. A. McMurtrie.
The necessary legislation to erect the county having failed at the first session of the legisla - ture in which a bill was presented, it was finally enacted at the session of 1846, and was approved by Governor Francis R. Shunk on the 26th of February, 1846. When the news .ame to the people of the new county there was great re- joicing, and it was a day in this county capital in which the people were buoyant with an expec- tation they felt to be assured of great future de- velopment and prosperity.
The county, under the act, took from Hunt- ingdon county the townships of Allegheny, Antis, Snyder, Tyrone, Frankstown, Blair, Huston, Woodbury, aud part of Morris. Bedford was compelled to give up North Woodbury and Greenfield townships. "Since then, the townships
been formed from other townships. The bor- oughs of the county arc Hollidaysburg, Gaysport, Martinsburg, Duncansville, Roaring Spring, Ty- rone, East Tyrone, Williamsburg, | Bellwood and Juniata. Altoona is the only incorporated city.
Thus, in 1846, a new county was added to the state's long list, with a population of some 17,000 and an area of 510 square miles. The population in 1890 was over 70,000.
It was, by the same act, made part of the Six- teenth judicial district. This district already comprised the counties of Franklin, Bedford, Somerset and Fulton. Judge Jeremiah S. Black was the president judge, and thus, by the enact- ment, he became the first judge of this county.
It is well, atso, to remark that Huntingdon county formed part of one of the original dis-
district-which embraced many of the original counties, and which was justly noted for having furnished so many able and eminent judges and lawyers in both the supreme and common pleas courts
Until the new court house should be completed court sat in the ol Methodist church building on Walnut street west of Montgomery street This was a one-story brick building perched upor the brink of a hill, thirty feet from the street The approach to it was by a broad stalrway, and for the temporary purpose was convenient and suitable. On the 27th of July, 1846, Judge Black with his associates, George R. McFarlane and Daniel McConnell, at 10 a. m. ascended the plat form, and the crier opened the court with the usual formality. Colonel John Cresswell was the
The following persons were sworn tc the bar :
LIST OF ATTORNEYS COMPOSING THE ORIGINAL BLAIR COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION.
(Members sworn in July 27, 1846.)
J. P. Anderson, Robert L. Johnstol,
Thaddeus Banks,
William J. Jacobs,
Samuel S. Blair,
Alexander King,
A. W. Benedict,
F. M. Kimmell,
David Blair,
Ephraim Banks,
J. R. Lowrie,
Samuel M. Barkley,
William Lyon,
John Brotherline,
Job Mann.
J. M. Bell,
John G. Miles,
Moses Canan,
M. D. Meyehan,
Samuel Calvin,
R. A. McMurtrie,
A. G. Curtin,
John Mower,
John Cresswell,
H. N. McAllister,
Joshua F. Cox,
A. J. Cline,
James M. Russell,
Samuel L. Russell,
William Dorris, jr.,
William M. Stewart,
David Huff,
J. S. Stewart,
John Fenlon,
John Scott, jr.,
James T. H+11,
Samuel H. Tate,
David H. Hofius,
John Williamson,
Charles H. Heyer,
A. P. Wilson,
Michael Hasson,
S. S. Wharton,
Isaac Hughes
Making forty-nine in all. On Tuesday, the 28th, three more were added: George Taylor, af- terwards president judge; Alex. Gwin and John A. Blodget; making fitty-two as the original number of the membership.
No causes were tried and the traverse jury was discharged, and the court adjourned on the 28th of July.
This only in a measure was realized, for in a few years the colossus which reared itself but a Of the court and bar as thus constituted, ex- cept five, all are dead, The judges are all dead. aud of the bar ex-Senator John Scott, Colonel William §Dorris, Hon. Titian J. Coffey, ex-assist- few miles away cist its shadow upon the new plant and chilled and checked its young life. It can, however, assume to itself one comfort-that it lives to celebrate its survival of its disap- ant attorney general of the United States, Hon. pointment, and the possession of many advan John Fenlon, ex-member of the house of repre- sentatives, and William P. Orbison, esq., alone survive; but some of these survivors are tiere to- day, and whilss I am silent as to them, they, themselves, will tell us of the past. tages, conveniences and benefits which others do not have and which keep it abreast wi h the day's civilization, socially, morally and in- tellectually
A glance at the personnel of this court and its bar in the light of their subsequent history wlil disclose a remarkable body of men. They were cducited lawyers.
They were nearly ail proficient in their
professional kuowledge and experience. The
Joseph Kemp,
T. J. Coffey,
A. J. Ogle, William P. Orbisonin.
Theodore H. Cremer,
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SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY.
same care, zeal, caution and research which the lawyer of to-day exerts, was practiced then. He strove to
attain to the same acumen and success then as now. The professional am- bition and ethics of that day are indeed made more conspicuous by the lower grade of princi- płe and tarnished acts, which too often offend the honorable lawyer of the present.
We can recall the appearance of the president judge. His massive head and intellectual face were :impressive to both acquaintance and stranger. He was the man of whom, under Dr. Johnson's conditions, it would be asked, who is le? He was learned, decided, courteous and dignified. He possessed the confidence of the bar, and during his remaining life he was the admiration of his many friends. He became a justice of the supreme court, attorney general of the United States and a delegate to the consti- tutional convention of 1873. He continued, after leaving office, to be one of the busiest and most eminent lawyers in the land. He was of counsel in the argument before the presidential commis- sion in 1877 and his effort before that tribunal ex- hibited many of his most conspicuous, as well as most valued, characteristics.
Among those who were sworn to the bar before nim on that day was one who subsequently be- came as widely known as Judge Black. Andrew G. Curtin was then but a modest lawyer in Bellefonte. His career in state politics as the great war governor of Pennsylvania, minister to Russia, delegate to the constitutional conven- tion of the state and member of congress with national fame, is now easily recalled.
These two men met during the year 1873 in Philadelphia on the floor of the convention. With no p . rtisanship, they vied in the responsi- ble task of perfecting the fundamental law of the state. Both had achieved fame, both had the respect and affection of their colleagues, and both left their impress upon the instrument which now constitutes our organic law. Both were often participants in many controversies on that floor. The writer recalls a scene of pleasur- able excitement and surprise when, in the dis- cussion of the question of legislative apportion- ment, the judge learned from his adversary that his vast learning was of no value compared to the governor's practical knowledge of men and things.
A well known figure at the bar in those days, and many years there ifter, was Mr. Miles. He was very fair in complexion, large and hand- some. His reticence gave him a dignity which he never lost. He was laborious and indefatiga- ble. His arguments were long and exhaustive. He stood at the counsel table to talk to thecourt, and sometimes stood at the witness box, requir- ing the judge to turn in that direction to face him. His voice was high and sharp and pene- trated every part of the room. His manner was earnest and convincing, and to the boyish mind the wonder was that anything more need be said. He continued in active practice for many years and died in Peoria, Ill., in 1877. leaving an honored memory.
Mr. McAllister, of Bellefonte, was an able and industrious lawyer. In professional zeal, energy and prowess he was an Ajax Telamon. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1873, and brought with him for the fulfilment of the duties of that important office, a deep sense of his own responsibility. Nothing seemed to escape his attention, and no one department of the fundamental law was less worthy of his scrutiny than another. He w · soften admonish ed by his brethren that his zeal and labors must sap even his rugged health. He succumbed before the close of the session, and was succeeded hy Samuel Całvin, whose name is likewise in this list of original attorneys.
"Sir," "I don't hear you Sir," and "repeat it Sir," uttered in intimidating tones to the aston- ished witness, was the delight of the student and young lawyer looking on somewhere in the bar. Few of the present bar know him and his pecu- liarities; but some of us here to-day, remember him as the learned lawyer, a ripe scholar in literature and the classics, and the most warm hearted and genial of gentlemen. It only re- mains to be said of him, that he was a member of the thirty-first congress in 1851, and was a follower of Henry Carey in his theories of social science. He met Mr. Carey on the floor of the convention, and a friendship sprang up between them that lasted during his remaining life. His on, Matthew Calvin, succeeded him at the bar.
Colonel McMurtrie was in this list. He was a close friend of Mr. Calvin. He was for many years the commander of the militia under the old state system, and he mustered his undisci, lined forces in the month of May for many years. He was a member of the legislature in 1863. He was long an active practitioner and stood in the bar and community as a man and lawyer of great probity and honor.
Robert L Johnston, after many years of most active practice, became the president judge of Cambria count ›. Alex. King hecame judge of the Bedford and Franklin district, as did also F. M. Kimmell. Job 'Mann was a member of the Twenty-fourth, Thirtieth and Thirty-first con- gresses and state ;treasurer. Samuel L. Russell was also in the Thirty third congress and a mem ber of the constitutional convention of 1873. A. W. Benedict, of Huntingdon, was a member of the legislature of 1863. John Cresswell
was a member of the state senate in 1857, and was
the speaker of house in 1889, and Thaddeus Banks, a member
of the legislature with Scott
John in 1862. Mr. Scott afterwards became a United States senator, and at the close of his term be- came the general solicitor of the Pennsylvania Railroad company.
Ephraim Bauks was the auditor general of the state in 1851, and an associate judge of the court of common pleas of Mifflin county. He was a man of great decision of character and of great dignity and worth. On one occasion, on the bench in the trial of a case, he differed from the president judge in his views, and, carrying his associate with him, he charged a jury over the bead of his chief.
Thaddeus Banks was long conspicuous at this bar and, during his very active carcer, was prom- inent in the most noteworthy ligitation. He was a man of fine social qualities, and of a warm and generous heart. He was the democratic candi- date for judge against Dean and Taylor in 1871, but was defeated.
Samuel S. Blair commenced a brilliant career a few years after his admission. His introduction to public notice in the celebrated case of sum- merville vs. Jackson continued him in the pub- lic eye and brought him to the front. He de- veloped into a strong and learned lawyer, and in all this part of the state he was for many years as an industrious a id able lawyer, facile prin- ceps. He was elected to the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh congresses. He was succeeded in his office by his son, Mr. Joha D. Blair.
John Williamson lived to be an octogenarian. Though he lived in Huntingdon, it was his habit for many years to visit t is court and par- ticipate in the trial of cases-mostly in the quar- ter sessions. His arguments to the jury furnish- ed the most delightful entertainment to his hearers. He was a nervous speaker, but as he progressed he was fluent and accurate. He abounded in both humor and pathos, and won for himself a popularity that loug survived his retirement from our midst.
Mr. Calvin, when elected to fill Mr. Mc Allister', M. D. Magehan, familiarly known as "Michael Dan," with his contemporary, Michacl Hasson, came to us from the Cambria var. The chair, had practically retired from professional duties, and the call to him was oppor une, and agreeable to his tastes. He had long been a , wit and fancy of those well known and excellent successful and able lawyer, and was a lawyer, in Irish gentlemen were the admiration of many indulgent friends in their day, and form the effervescent sparkle of many a story which sur- vives to this hour. its highest professional sense. Hisintegrity and honor were his most valued possessions. They were never cheapened by being bartered nor tarnished by his holding them. He tried his John A. Blodget was a frequent visitor from Bedford, where he practiced until he retired. He generally walked from Bedford, and was in his płace when court was called. He was a tall gen- tleman, dignified yet frec and social in his in- cases in the old style. There were no steno- graphers then and with scrupulous fullness, he wrote down every wor i uttered by the witness. He had no patience with the stupid witness. His
9
SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY.
tercourse. He was a man of fine literary taste and attainments. He could write a legal opin ion, or a poem, with equal ease. The ludicrous inc dents of the bar were often rendered hy this versatile gentlema , in verse, and I know of no one in all this bar of fifty years of life who was like him, and could make himself so appreciable to his fellows.
Farlane and Daniel McConnell. The latter was a man of strong mind and great practical In- telligence and enjoyed the confidence of all who knew him. Judge McFarlane was then, and had been for years, a we l-known man. He was the proprietor of a foundry and machine works in this town, and evin ed great energy and up- rightness in his business. He was engaged in many schemes of social reform and enjoyed a notoriety through all the neighboring counties. He wasgreatly loved by many, and respected by all who knew him. His untimely death-the re-
Not many years after the organization of the county, came from Bedford, David H. Hofins. His father was a German physician, and com- ing to this country as a young man, he married, and David was born and educated here, gradu- sult of an accident in hisfoundry in 1852-was ing at Franklin and Marshall college. He was, deply mourned by the entire community, and during his short life, for he died in 1859, con- inflicted upon it a loss felt for many years. cerned in nearly all the important titigation of In all the county has had nineteen associate judges. The constitution of 1873 dispen sed with them by making this county a single judicial district. his time. His erect and well apparelled form gave him an imposing appearance. He was a bache- lor, but most loyally recognized the claims of society, which then was conspicious for its re- Davis Bronke succeeded Judge McConnell in January 1848: Judge Brooke was a man of fine personal appearance and great dignity. His snow white hair was in pleasing contrast with his florid complexion. The conventional black dress of that day, admirably supplemented those evidences of his advanced age, and harmonious- ly accompanied the striking appearance of his chief, Judge Black. finement and amenities. He was the idol of the people and it was common to hear him extolled as the "model lawyer." The moment of his pass- ing came early in his career, and as blindness became from ,day to day more imminent upon the unhappy man, the writer willingly helped him in his last work till the end came. It was my sad task to pen the sketch which told of his virtues and his frailties, to close his affairs, and place the stone that now marks his resting place.
In the second year of Judge Brooke's term, there occurred a most interesting judicial inci- dent. It served to demonstrate the existence then of a cerebral or psychical influence as hypnotism is now.
One more name of the fifty-two remains to be noted, George W. Taylor. He was then 34 years of age and resident at Huntingdon. He early gave promise of the future jurist. His prosecution of the case of the Commonwealth vs. McConaughy in 1840, and the Flanigans in Cambria county in 1842, on indictments for mur- der it was customarily said, drew him from ob- scurity and established him permanently in the public estimation as a great lawyer. He suc- ceeded Judge Blick as president judge, April 5, 1849 and remained upon the bench till Novem- ber 1871. He tried many important cases and
There came to the county seat one day a man of the name of Henry Loomis, and his wife, Submit C. Loomis. They advertised to give lec- tures on mesmerism, to be illustrated anu mani. fested by exhibitions of its influence upon a sus- ceptible subject. This subject was their daugh- ter, Martha. Whilst these exhibitions were be- ing nightly given with great success, one C. J. Svkes appeared upon the scene and employed Mr. Banks and Mr. Cresswell to take out upon the allowance of Judge Brooke a writ of habeas was widely known in the state and recognized corpus, to take and restore to him his wife, by the supreme court as an able and learned Martha, who was 21 years of age, and who, by erty: he further alleged that she was, under the spell of their mesmeric influence, deprived of her free will: her affections diverted from the relator, her husband, her health, physically and men- tally, being sapped, and she herself was being sacrificed to the greed of her parents, who could not entertain their audiences without her. judge. His later years to some extent were given | her father and mother, was deprived of her lib- to agricultural pursuits and though of great learning and judicial aeumen, he was a man of plain manners and practical sense and wisdom. His prepared opinions disclosed no attempts at useless embellishment, but were simple, plain and strong. They thus furnished no rhetorical entertainment but they addressed the perception ofthe mind and left it overwhelmed with con- l'o this the respondents replied that Martha was married to Sykes in New York, but imine- diately thereatter he began to abuse her and treated her with great cruelty, so that she fled to her parents for protection, and desired to re- main with them. viction. He was a man of very social habit. In the old court house it was his dally custom to linger at the stove, or some other gathering place with MeMuririe, Calvin, Scott, Dean, Hewit and others of us around him to listen to his many stories of people and things, till, in many instances, suitors, jurors, and counsel had noted a lost half hour by the clock. But when he ascended to the bench the familiarity of the social intercourse just related was left behind and as his eye swept the bar and the crowded spaces beyond, he was again the "judge" and the dignity and the power of the law seemed to cover him as with a garment.
In closing these reminiscences of the first law- yers, I cannot omit mention of (George A. Coffey, though he was not one of the original members. He came from the ministry to the bar about 1850. He was then in the full possession of developed mental power and learning. He was gifted, unique and brilliant. He was a scholar, an ora- tor, a lawyer, though he had not the time to be- come a great lawyer. He was cultured, social and admired. His conversational powers were a dellght to all who knew him and won him a wel- come everywhere. This faculty, and it was the chief of his gifts, never seemed 10 desert him. His cordial reception of the writer at his bed- side, not many days before his death, and his pleasant, cheerful conversation though under the sad circumstances of a ratat illness, seemed to show it would ab de till the end. Ile died in Philadelphia, whither he went in 1861, to accept the appointment of United States district at- torney from President Lincoln.
The relator denied the allegations, alleging mercenary motives on the part of the Loomises and praying to be allowed the companionship of his wife. Mr. Calvin and Mr. Hofius repre- sente : the parents, and during two or three days evidence was taken before Judge Brooke. Great interest was manifested by the public; not only whether there was such a thing as mesmerism, but as to what would be done with Martha. The court house was packed with people, and public op nion and sympathy were shar, ly divided. Nearly a day was consumed in the argument of counsel, and during the entire progress of the case not a word had been uttered by the judge, and speculation Was rife as to when he would be prepare to decide the case. As soon as the last word was spoken by counsel the judge imme- diately rose to his feet, and, bowing with great dignity and with greater brevity, said, "Let Martha be discharged. The house instantly r ny with cheers, and amid the wildest excite- ment Martha and her parents were fairly car- ried from the court room, while the wifeless Sykes was left to pursue his sohtary way. It is remarkable that the record shows no hnal dis- position of this case and the writer recalls it only from memory.
The business of the court grew slowly, though thirty-four suits were brought to the first term. The first suit brought was that of Joseph and Daniel Hollen vs. Thomas Crissman. "Dcht." No. 11, July Term, 1846; but there is no record of any judgment.
Under the constitution of that date, laymen were appointed, afterwards elected, associate judges. They sat with the president judge and formed an important adjunct oft e court. The The first record of a case tried was that of first of this class of judges were George R. Mc- Matthew Miller vs. Henry Burt, assumpsit; with
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