USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Lodge no. 61, F. and A. M., Wilkesbarr?, Pa. with a collection of masonic addresses > Part 16
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John Maxwell Nesbitt, the senior member of the firm of Nesbitt & Company, was a native of the North of Ireland, and emigrated to Philadelphia about the year 1769. Dur- ing the Revolutionary War he was a faithful coadjutor of Robert Morris in the support of public credit. He was ap- pointed Paymaster of the Pennsylvania Navy September 14th, 1775, and March 14th, 1777, he was appointed Treas- urer of the Board of War at Philadelphia.
In 1777 he joined the "Troop of Light Horse," herein- before referred to, and was a member of it for a number of years. He was the second President of the " Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick," of Philadelphia, and held the office for fifteen years. This Society was founded in 1771, and in 1792 was succeeded by the "Hibernian Society,"
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which still exists in Philadelphia. Mr. Nesbitt was one of the charter members of the " Hibernian." General Wash- ington, Governor McKean, General Wayne, and Robert Morris, Esq., were members of the two Societies. Wash- ington, in 1782, described the "Friendly Sons" as "a society distinguished for the firm adherence of its members to the glorious cause in which we are embarked."
After the Revolutionary War David H. Conyngham be- came the owner of the Pennsylvania title to certain lands in the Wyoming region. The following extract from his diary refers to a visit he made to this region, coming on horseback via Bethlehem: "Left Philadelphia July 8th, 1787, with Mr. Meredith. * Arrived at Wyoming, 123 miles, and put up at John Hollenback's. Nanticoke pleases me most, and the settlers there at present appear better advanced than any others. * Colonel Pickering came in on the 17th (Tuesday). The other Commissioners not coming made the settlers in general uneasy. * Lots in town sell for $40 to $50. Meadow lots at £3 per acre. Lots of 300 acres, £200 to £275."
In Claypoole's Daily Advertiser, Philadelphia, October 25th, 1796, there appeared the following item in the column devoted to "Shipping Intelligence :" "In the America (Captain Ewing, Hamburg, 27 days) came ten passengers. Among them is L. P. B. Orleans, eldest son of the ci-devant Egalité, and distinguished in the French Revolution as a Lieutenant General at the battle of Jamappes and the final flight of the celebrated Dumouriez." The " L. P. B. Orleans" referred to was the Duke of Orleans, afterwards King Louis Philippe of France, who had sought the shores of America in compliance with the requirements of the French Direct- ory, and out of regard to his mother's wishes. The ship America was owned by Conyngham & Nesbitt, and when the Duke landed he was invited by Mr. Conyngham to lodge at his house on Front street, which he did for several
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weeks, and then established himself in a house on Spruce street, ncar Third .* February 6th, 1797, the Duke was joined by his brothers, the Duke de Montpensier and the Count de Beaujolais, after their release from three years' imprisonment at Marseilles. In the following June the three exiles set out on horseback for Luzerne county, Penn'a.t
David H. Conyngham was a Trustee of the College of Philadelphia, and afterwards of the University of Pennsyl- vania, from 1790 to 1813. He died at Philadelphia March 5th, 1834. He had married, December 4th, 1779, Mary West, of Philadelphia, who bore him ten children-five daughters and five sons.
JOHN NESBITT CONYNGHAM, the subject of this sketch, was the youngest child, and was born in Philadelphia, December 17th, 1798. He received his academic edu- cation at Mount Airy Institute and the public Academy in Germantown, near Philadelphia, and in 1817 graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with high honors. Imme- diately after receiving his degree he commenced the study of the law with the Hon. Joseph R. Ingersoll, of Phila- delphia, and was admitted to practice in the Courts of that city in February, 1820. Of an ardent and sanguine temper- ament, he was unwilling to wait the slow progress to eminence in his native city at a time when the Bar was lustrous with some of its brightest legal lights, and so he resolved to remove to Wilkesbarré, then a town of only a few hundred inhabitants, but the centre of influence, social and civil, for all Northern Pennsylvania.
The Wyoming Valley was settled by some of the most intelligent people who came into Pennsylvania,-certainly
* Watson, in his "Annals of Philadelphia " (Vol. I., p. 555, Ed. of 1884), says the Duke of Orleans " arrived in Philadelphia about the year 1790." That statement is, of course, erroneous.
¡ Vide note on page 41, ante.
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by the most heroic, gallant, and patriotic men that ever lived in any part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The people of the Valley, from their earliest history, paid more attention than the people of any other portion of the State-outside of the large towns-to the cultivation of their intellects and their manners. The first schools of any im- portance established in the State, outside of Philadelphia, were in the Valley of Wyoming.
Hither, then, to the almost frontier town of Wilkesbarré, came the young Philadelphia lawyer in March, 1820, and on the 3d of the following month was admitted to the Bar of Luzerne county. At that time the Luzerne Bar had a reputation for learning and talents second to none in the State. Rosewell Welles, Ebenezer Bowman, Garrick Mal- lery, Thomas Dyer, and George Denison, who resided here, were all men of a high order of legal ability. And then there were other gentlemen of high professional attainments who were in the habit of attending the Courts here-Hon. Thomas Duncan, afterwards a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, David Watts, of Carlisle, and John Ross, of Easton. Hon. David Scott-" a man of stern integrity and iron will, upright in the administration of justice, and fearless in the discharge of his official duties "-was Presi- dent Judge of the Judicial District comprising Luzerne county.
At the time of his coming here Mr. Conyngham's figure was tall but spare, his face ruddy and finely chiselled, his manners easy and graceful, and his whole bearing full of that unselfish kindness which is so magnetic in drawing to itself the love and confidence of all who come within the area of its attraction.
During the first two years of his residence here his pros- pects as to success were exceedingly doubtful. There were many struggles and trials. He had had but very little ex- perience and practice in the law, and particularly as to pro-
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ceedings before Justices of the Peace, about which he was more generally consulted ; and he was thus compelled to trust to his own judgment and his own resources. He had, however, full time for reflection, as the visits of clients were in those days few and far between. In later life Judge Conyngham, in speaking of the experiences of those early days, said : "I landed here and burned my boats. There was no return, and I made up my mind to work hard, early and late; to ride the circuit with or without a brief, and to use every effort to obtain position." He acknowledged, however, that sometimes his heart failed him, but his reso- lution was strengthened by whispers around that "the slim, tall, and pale Philadelphian would not hold out in his country life."
He found it was the habit to ride the circuit, and he plunged at once into the fullness of the labor and fatigue thereof. Without business in the commencement, he attend- ed in succession the Courts of the counties of Luzerne, Pike, Wayne, Susquehanna, and Bradford. He started out as a Wilkesbarré lawyer, and soon found that among the people the reputation of a Wilkesbarré lawyer was that he must know everything. He was thus called upon imme- diately to learn self-dependence, to trust to his own knowl- edge, and to use every means of self-improvement in his power. The best means of this self-improvement in the Bar was by steady and constant attendance at the Courts during their hours of session, and personal attention to the various questions arising in every trial. The evenings at the houses of sojourn were usually passed with the other law- yers, and these gatherings became a sort of moot Court in review of the proceedings of the previous day. Libraries in several of the counties were very small, and a traveling lawyer upon the circuit was obliged to keep his own stock of knowledge always ready for use. The offices at home furnished the means of replenishing the stock.
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As early as the fourth year after he commenced practice Mr. Conyngham may be said to have had as good a posi- tion at the Luzerne Bar as any one, save Garrick Mallery.
The operations of the Philadelphia Branch Bank at Wilkesbarré ceased January Ist, 1821, and Joseph McCoy, Esq.,* the former cashier, was appointed agent to collect outstanding debts. Mr. McCoy having died, Mr. Conyng- ham was, in September, 1828, appointed to close up the affairs of the bank in this locality, with discretionary powers to do what he should think best under the circumstances. The debt to the bank lay like a mill-stone about the necks of the people, paralyzed industry, and, connected with the low prices of grain and other farm products, almost de- stroyed hope.
As before remarked (see page 164, ante), this bank was the first institution of the kind which the people here ever had among them. Many of the farmers and mechanics thought that there was offered a fine chance for them to make their fortunes, and consequently they ran to the bank for money almost without knowing to what uses they were
* JOSEPH McCOY was a native of Philadelphia, where he was born in 1791. He received a good education, and soon after arriving at the age of twenty-one years was chosen a Representative from Phila- delphia to the State Legislature, in which capacity he acquitted him- self with much credit.
Possessing a constitution naturally feeble, he was induced in 1818 to accept the situation of Cashier in the Branch Bank at Wilkesbarré, and to remove into the country for the benefit of his health.
Soon after coming to Wilkesbarré he wrote " The Frontier Maid, or a Tale of Wyoming," a poem in five cantos, which was published in 1819 by Steuben Butler and Samuel Maffet, Wilkesbarré. He was the author of other literary productions-poetical and prose.
His affable manners, obliging disposition, and cultivated tastes endeared him to the people of the county.
He was initiated a member of LODGE 61 January 20th, 1823.
He died at Wilkesbarré March 21st, 1824, and his remains were interred, with the honors of Masonry, in St. Stephen's church-yard.
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to appropriate it. Strange inconsistency! as if a whole country could get rich by a bank. Many of the men who had obtained discounts had failed in business, and their en- dorsers or guarantors, who were mostly the farmers of the county, had become liable to the bank.
" Many of these endorsers were soldiers of the Revolution, and several of them had survived the terrible massacre of Wyoming. These old veterans being thus threatened with impending ruin, the whole community was in sympathy with them. It was in his capacity as agent and attorney for the bank that John N. Conyngham made that fame and reputation for benevolence and kind-heartedness, that estab- lished his reputation in the county. He gave these old veterans time, indulged them in their misfortunes, and saved most of them from total and absolute ruin. And they re- membered these acts of generosity, and their children after them did also. And he acted in good faith to the bank, which, in addition to his fees, presented him a set of silver as a token of the satisfactory manner in which he had dis- charged the trust confided to him." He served as attorney and agent for the bank until 1833.
He was a man of remarkable industry. He would annu- ally devote a week or ten days to visiting his father in Phila- delphia, and this was the extent of his pastime. He labored incessantly. Col. H. B. Wright, in a communication printed in The Luzerne Legal Register in 1877, said : " He [Judge Conyngham] was a great reader (of law, I mean) ; he had every decision at his tongue's end. He prided himself on this, and he has told me time and again that he attributed all his success to his industry. He was too modest a man to admit that he had enough of natural ability to reach the position he knew he enjoyed as a lawyer. I have known Judge Conyngham, when in the height of his practice, to devote a half day or more to the preparation of an elaborate opinion, and accept a fee of five dollars! I have oftener
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seen him charge three dollars than five. During all the time I was a student in his office, the price of preparing and writing a deed for the conveyance of land was always one dollar and a quarter, and this included the examination of the docket as to liens. I always wondered why the extra quarter of a dollar was added ! "
Mr. Conyngham maintained a commanding position at the Bar until the year 1837. In that year the celebrated trial of the Commonwealth vs. "Red" John Gilligan, " Black" John Gilligan, et al., occurred at Wilkesbarré. The defendants, six in number, had been indicted for the murder of George McComb, a skilled mechanic employed in the construction of dam No. 4 in the Lehigh river, about three miles below White Haven. The prisoners were defend- ed by Luther Kidder, John N. Conyngham, and Hendrick B. Wright, Esqs. In conducting the defense in this trial Mr. Conyngham broke down. He made in it the best speech of his life. His violent effort brought on; at the close of the trial, a bronchial affection from which he never entirely recovered. He was laid aside with this attack for more than a year, most of the time confined to his house. He never appeared in Court again as an advocate. He had just reached the point for which he had been long striving- to stand in the forefront of the Bar of Northern Pennsylvania, when his bright hopes seemed blighted, and he was appointed to sickness and to silence.
" The delicate state of his health was, of course, matter of deep regret to the Bench, the Bar, and the people. All remedies failed to restore him, and the common voice was that he must go upon the Bench ; and there he went, with a reputation for ability, legal learning, and honesty of pur- pose, all of which he most faithfully sustained." In March, 1839, he was appointed by Gov. David R. Porter (who was not of the same school of politics as himself) to the presi- dency of the 13th Judicial District of Pennsylvania, then one
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of the largest districts in the state, and comprising the counties of Susquehanna, Bradford, Tioga, Potter, and Mckean. The first session of his Court was held in Tioga.
By Act of April 13th, 1840, Luzerne county was attached to the 1 3th District, and Susquehanna county was transferred to the IIth District, then presided over by the Hon. William Jessup, of Montrose, Susquehanna county. By this transfer Judges Conyngham and Jessup were enabled to live at their respective places of abode within their districts. Judge Conyngham took his seat upon the Bench of Luzerne county at April Term, 1841. His commission expired in 1849, and he was not reappointed, as the then Governor of Pennsyl- vania was a Whig, and Judge Conyngham was a Democrat ; but in the Fall of 1851, under the amended Constitution, he was unanimously elected to the presidency of the 11th Ju- dicial District, then composed of Luzerne, Wyoming, Mon- tour, and Columbia counties. These last three counties were in 1853 and 1856 transferred to other districts, leaving Luzerne to constitute the IIth District.
In October, 1861, Judge Conyngham was re-elected Presi- dent Judge of the Luzerne District, on the Union and Democratic tickets.
On the 18th of June, 1870, he informed his fellow-citizens, through the press, of his resignation of the office which he had held for twenty-nine years. He said :
Advancing years and some physical infirmity, clearly perceived by myself in times of official labors, admonishing me of my inability to attend to official duty as I would desire to do, have led me to the determination to deliver back to you, through the proper chan- nel, the trust which, in my younger days, you committed to my charge. I retire from you, however, only officially.
It is my comfort and my pride that, though hereafter determined to remain in a private station, I intend to live, and hope to die, a citizen of old Luzerne-a county in which I have resided upwards of fifty years, the period of my professional and judicial life. * *
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I trust and hope you will obtain an abler judge, though I feel in my conscience that you will not acquire one who will more faithfully and laboriously strive to do his duty.
I separate, officially, with deep and abiding regret from a people who have so often, by the expression of their wishes, and the indorse- ment of my course, sustained me in my official position, and with feelings which no language can express, from my friend and brother the learned Additional Law Judge [Edmund L. Dana] elected by you, and from my other brethren on the Bench, and from the Bar, to whose friendship, forbearance, and consideration I owe so much, with each and all of whom I have ever maintained the kindest relations, and for whom I have so strong a regard."
The members of the Luzerne Bar, desiring to express their kind feelings towards Judge Conyngham, tendered him a banquet, which took place at the Wyoming Valley Hotel, Wilkesbarré, on the evening of August 4th, 1870. Eighty-two members of the Bar and invited guests were present, and the Hon. H. B. Wright presided. During the evening a very handsome silver tea service was presented to the honored Judge, in behalf of the company present, as the lasting evidence of their personal and official regards. It is not often that such a tribute is paid to a Judge. It was the first instance of the kind in Pennsylvania.
Judge Conyngham was succeeded on the Bench by the Hon. Garrick M. Harding .*
From May, 1827, to May, 1828, and from May, 1834, to May, 1837, Judge Conyngham was Burgess of Wilkesbarré
* GARRICK M. HARDING was born at Exeter, Luzerne county, Penn'a, July 12th, 1830. His ancestors were among the earliest settlers of the Wyoming Valley, and two of the family were slaugh- tered in the massacre of July, 1778.
He was educated at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Penn'a, and grad- uated therefrom in the class of 1848. He studied law at Wilkesbarré under the Hon. Henry M. Fuller, and was admitted to the Bar of Luzerne county on the 5th of August, 1850.
In the Fall of 1858 he was elected District Attorney of Luzerne county on the Republican ticket, and served in that office for three
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borough, and in 1849 and 1850 he was President of the Borough Council. He was a member of the first Board of Directors of the Wyoming Bank (now the Wyoming Na- tional) of Wilkesbarré, organized in November, 1829.
In 1850 he was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Luzerne county ; was chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, and took an active part in the several important questions then before the Legislature. Among other matters he advocated the then proposed amendment to the Constitution, taking the appointment of Judges from the Executive and giving the selection to the votes of the people.
In 1850 he was prominently mentioned in connection with the Democratic nomination for Governor of the State.
In 1855 the " Hollenback Cemetery Association of Wilkes- barré " was organized, and Judge Conyngham was elected a member of the first Board of Managers. He continued in the Board as long as he lived, and at the time of his death was President of it.
In 1821 Judge Conyngham was elected a vestryman of St. Stephen's P. E. Church, Wilkesbarré. In October, 1826,
years. As an advocate he achieved great success, and for a number of years stood without an equal at the Luzerne Bar.
In 1870, on the fortieth anniversary of his birth, he was appointed by Governor Geary to succeed Judge Conyngham as President Judge of the 11th Judicial District. In the ensuing Fall he was nominated by the Republican party for the same position. His Democratic com- petitor was the Hon. George W. Woodward, ex-Chief Justice of Penn- sylvania, whom he defeated by a majority of 2,365 votes.
After nine years and a half of service, and with another year of his term unexpired, Judge Harding decided to leave the Bench and return to the Bar. He therefore tendered his resignation, which took effect December 31st, 1879.
He is now residing in Wilkesbarré, but being possessed of ample means he is not paying much attention to the practice of law.
He was initiated a member of LODGE 61 July 10th, 1854.
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he was elected a lay deputy from St. Stephen's parish to the Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Pennsylvania. In 1844 he was nominated and elected by the Convention a Deputy to the General Convention, and in the following October he took his seat in that body at Cincinnati. Subsequently, with but a single exception, he was returned to the General Convention at every session. In the Diocesan Convention he was one of the most promising and influential members; was placed on many important committees, and was highly respected for his earnestness and sterling talents. In the General Convention, a body composed of four clergymen and four laymen from each Diocese, and meeting every third year in order to legislate on matters involving the interests of the whole Church in the United States, he early attained an active and prominent position. In 1862 he was placed on the most important of all committees of the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, that known as the Committee on Canons. His lay colleagues were Murray Hoffman, Esq., of New York, Judge Chambers of Maryland, the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop of Massachusetts, the Hon. Hamilton Fish of New York, and other gentlemen of equal ability and promi- nence. He brought into the body the same calm, deliberate, impartial judgment which gave him reputation in the civil courts. His suggestions were always listened to with respect and deference. He was recognized as one of the leaders of the Low Church party of his Church in the United States.
In October, 1868, he was elected President of the Ameri- can Church Missionary Society, one of the most important organizations in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and having its central office in New York City. "In this office," said the Rev. Dr. Tyng, " his presence has brought com- manding dignity to the fulfillment of his duties, his eminent christian character has added veneration and respect to his
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position, and his decided evangelical judgments and expres- sions have enhanced the confidence with which its operations have been regarded."
Judge Conyngham was initiated a member of LODGE 61 July 3d, 1826,-Bro. Andrew Beaumont being Worshipful Master. "Bros. Garrick Mallery, G. M. Hollenback, and John W. Robinson were appointed his guardians and instructors." He served as Senior Warden of the Lodge from December, 1826, to December, 1827, and as Worshipful Master from December, 1827, to December, 1831. He continued an active and influential member of the Lodge until its Warrant was vacated in 1837.
A short time after the re-organization of "61 " in January, 1 844, a committee was appointed from the Lodge to wait on Judge Conyngham and formally request him to re-unite with the Lodge as an active member. With many expres- sions of regret he declined the solicitation, on the ground that, being President Judge of the courts in a district where there were then many men who had been anti-Masons, his enemies might construe his active connection with the Lodge against him.
Notwithstanding the fact that he did not again affiliate with the Lodge as an active member, he continued for the remainder of his life a firm and earnest supporter of our Ancient and Honorable Fraternity. He met with LODGE 61 and other Lodges on numerous occasions, and performed in public and in private valuable services for the Craft.
Among these services were the addresses which he de- livered on Masonic occasions .*
On the 20th of February, 1871, owing to the serious illness of his eldest son-Lieut. Col. John B. Conyngham, of the 24th U. S. Infantry-at Fort Clark, Texas, Judge
* Vide pages 114 and 121, ante, and Chapter VI., post.
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Conyngham, accompanied by his second son, William L., started for Texas to bring home the dying son and brother.
On their way, at Magnolia, Miss., Thursday, February 23d, Judge Conyngham, in attempting to leave the train, was run over by the cars, and both of his legs were crushed below the knees. Willing hands and kind hearts were present to render all the assistance possible, and he was gently carried to the Central Hotel where two physicians examined his wounds. His mind was not in the least affected ; he inquired about his wounds, asked his son to be calm, thanked the men who had been with him from the time of his injury for their great kindness to him, and was often heard praying.
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