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 22
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"It is indeed evident from that part of your oath which enjoins on you to make 'true presentment as well of all such matters and things as shall be given you in charge as those you shall know to be pre- sentable here.' There is, however, a class of offences deeply sub- versive of public virtue and morals, which does not fall within your province, the correction of which, nevertheless, is vitally important. I allude to open and public drunkenness, profaneness, and breach of the Sabbath. Indeed these crimes are for the most part the parents of all others. By our laws their punishment is entrusted to 'all Judges, Justices of the Peace, and Aldermen of the city of Philadelphia,' who are to proceed against the offenders in a summary manner.
"One might suppose the promptness with which punishment would of course follow the crime, that any of these offences would be ex- tremely rare; but it unfortunately happens that private prosecutions are infinitely more rare, and the magistrate, rather than meet the in- dignation of the culprit, and the odium of the unthinking and profli- gate, for the most part suffers these offences to pass without any punishment at all.
"I am disposed to think that if this class of offences, like all others, were presentable by a Grand Jury, they would more certainly meet their due punishment than they do at present, and be more effectually repressed.
" Those which respect public wrongs, or crimes and misdemeanors, become at this time the peculiar objects of your attention, and it is the office of the Court to give you all the information and assistance in their power, to enable you to discharge the present important service beneficially to the public."
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[The remainder of the charge consisted of definitions of the several crimes and the punishments annexed to them. ]
In December, 1813, Judge Gibson purchased from George Chahoon for $1400 a house and lot (now No. 40) on North- ampton street, Wilkesbarré, and to this new home he brought his wife, whom he had married but a short time before. She was Sarah W. Galbraith, daughter of Major Andrew Galbraith, who had been a gallant officer in the Revolutionary Army and had been taken prisoner on Long Island. He was a resident of Cumberland county, and his daughter was a lady of fine accomplishments and amiable disposition.
At that time Wilkesbarré was a town of about 1,000 in- habitants, and Luzerne county had a population of 20,000 souls.
Judge Gibson came among the people of Wyoming while the prejudices of the State rested heavily upon this portion of Pennsylvania, because of the long and aggravated con- troversy that had existed between the Connecticut settlers and the Pennamites. His appointment was, therefore, most auspicious to the citizens of the Wyoming region, as placing their destinies in the hands of one whose views soared above any low or narrow-minded prejudice. He came among these people as a stranger imbued with liberal sentiments. Conforming to their customs, which at that time were marked with some peculiarities, and sympathizing and harmonizing with them, he contributed much toward socializing Wyoming with other portions of Pennsylvania. He soon greatly endeared himself to his neighbors and to all who came in contact with him. His manners were re- markable for their simplicity, warmth, frankness, and gen- erosity. There never was a man more free from affectation and pretension of every sort. His tempers were eminently social, and among all classes of society he was ever greeted as a welcome guest. The following editorial concerning him
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appeared in the Wilkesbarré Gleaner of November 5th, 1813:
"Our new Judge is acquiring an enviable popularity among us. Patient to hear, quick to perceive, prompt to decide-uniting to the decision of the magistrate the suavity of the gentleman, business pro- gresses pleasantly and rapidly, and those who witness the proceedings of the court cannot fail to commend him."
In the hours of relaxation from the exercise of official duties, and his law and literary reading, he took great pleasure in company with his friend, Jacob Cist, in visiting the different portions of the Valley to note its geological structure, particularly the extent and position of the an- thracite coal deposits, then just beginning to emerge into importance; and also in visiting the remains of the old Indian fortifications and burial grounds. In one of these excursions to Plains township they found a medal bearing on one side the impress of King George I., and the date 1714-the year in which he began his reign-and on the other side the likeness of an Indian Chief. This medal is now preserved in the collection of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, Wilkesbarré.
Judge Breckenridge,* one of the Associate Judges of the
* HUGH HENRY BRECKENRIDGE was one of the most extraordinary men that perhaps ever occupied a seat upon the Bench of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Born in Scotland in 1748, he came to this country at the age of five years. He was educated at Princeton College, from which he grad- uated in 1774. He was admitted to the Bar in 1780, and in 1799 he was appointed to a position on the Supreme Bench.
He was a man of considerable genius and humor, as his " Modern Chivalry" and "Law Miscellany" abundantly prove. But his eccen- tricities were at times so great as almost to amount to insanity. Upon one occasion when he and Judge Yeates had, as usual, taken their seats at the opposite ends of the Bench, before the arrival of the Chief Justice Judge Yeates was employed in eating an apple, and probably from his difficulty in masticating it was making more noise than was agreeable. Judge Breckenridge, who was a nervous man,
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Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, having died June 26th, 1816, on the very next day Governor Snyder appointed Judge Gibson to the vacant seat on the Supreme Bench, and `in the Fall of 1816 the Judge removed with his family to Carlisle, where he continued to make his home for the re- mainder of his life.
His departure from Wilkesbarré was regarded with emo- tions of pleasure and regret. All were glad at the occur- rence of an event so propitious to him personally, and yet all were sorry to part with him both as a Judge and a citi- zen. His sojourn in the Wyoming Valley produced there deep and abiding impressions of respect for his commanding talents and social virtues.
He delivered his first opinion in the Supreme Court in the case of the Commonwealth vs. Halloway (2 Sergeant & Rawle, 305), which decided that birth in Pennsylvania gave freedom to the child of a slave who had absconded from another State before she became pregnant.
Chief Justice Tilghman* having died April 30th, 1827, on the 18th of the following month Judge Gibson was
bore the annoyance for a long time with some signs of impatience, until at length, being unable to endure it any longer, he turned petu- lantly to his learned brother and exclaimed: "I think, Sir, you once informed me that you had been to London, visited Westminster, and saw Lord Mansfield on the Bench."
"Yes, sir," said Judge Yeates, "I had that honor."
" Pray, sir," was the tart reply, "did you ever see his Lordship munch a pippin on the Bench?" This ended the colloquy.
* WILLIAM TILGHMAN was born in Talbot county, Maryland, Au- gust 12th, 1756. His father, James Tilghman, was a distinguished lawyer. His maternal grandfather was Tench Francis, of Philadel- phia, Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 1741 to 1755, one of the most eminent lawyers of the Province of Pennsylvania, and a full cousin to Sir Philip Francis, the author (as now generally agreed) of the "Letters of Junius."
In 1762 Mr. Tilghman removed with his family to Philadelphia, where he became a student in the Philadelphia College, from which
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appointed by Governor Shulze to fill the vacancy. From that period, conscious of responsibilities and bearing in mind the high judicial standard established by his prede- cessors, he appeared to devote all his great powers to the fulfillment of the duties of his vocation.
When he first went on the Bench, he was scarcely pre- pared for his mission. Those who went with him and after him were as thoroughly furnished as they could be for the
he subsequently graduated. In February, 1772, he began the study of law with Benjamin Chew, afterwards Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. From 1776 to 1793 he resided in Maryland, and then returned to Philadelphia and began the practice of law.
On the 3d of March, 1801, he was appointed by President Adams Chief Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Pennsylvania District. This appointment was the last act of the administration of John Adams, and Judge Tilghman was one of the "midnight judges," as they were called ; but it may be truly said that very few mid-day judges ever surpassed him in the lustre of his official fame. In the year after its enactment, the law which erected this Court was repealed, and the Judges who had received their commissions during good be- havior, were deprived of their offices without the imputation of a fault.
Judge Tilghman was appointed President Judge of the Courts of the First District of Pennsylvania July 31st, 1805, and February 25th, 1806, he succeeded Edward Shippen as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. From the time he took his seat on the Bench at March Term, 1806, for the space of more than ten years, he delivered an opinion in every case but five, the arguments in four of which he was prevented from hearing by sickness, and in one by domestic affliction ; and in more than two hundred and fifty cases he either pronounced the judgment of the Court, or his brethren concurred in his opinion and reasons without comment.
He presided in the Supreme Court with his accustomed dignity and tact until April, 1827, on the 30th of which month he died.
His character as a Judge was a combination of some of the finest elements that have been united in that office. His moral qualities were of the highest order. His manners in society were unusually attractive, and he merited by his public services and private virtues the respect and affection of his countrymen.
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work they had to do, but, when his powers unfolded them- selves, all saw them so plainly that no man or set of men afterwards could pretend to be his equal without becoming ridiculous. Competition gave up the contest, and rivalry conceded to him an undisputed prominence. Most of his associates fairly earned a high character and are justly en- titled to their share of distinction, and we detract nothing from them when we give his due to him.
"He, above the rest In shape and gesture proudly eminent, Stood like a tower."
By the adoption of the amended Constitution of the Com- monwealth in 1838 the tenure of office of Judges of the Su- preme Court was limited to fifteen years, and the commis- sions of the then Judges were to expire at intervals of three years, in the order of seniority, from the Ist of January, 1839. On the 19th of November, 1838, Chief Justice Gib- son resigned his office and was at once reappointed by Governor Ritner. Thus, under the new law, Judge Gibson, instead of being subject to the shortest term-three years -- would hold the longest-fifteen. At the election in October, 1838, Governor Ritner had, as the candidate of the Whig and anti-Masonic parties for re-election to the office of Governor, been defeated by David R. Porter, the nominee of the Democratic party. It was charged that as the tenure of the judicial office held by Judge Gibson would expire by limitation during the succeeding adminis- tration, the resignation and subsequent appointment and commission for a full term was intended to, and did in effect, deprive Governor Porter of the right and power to fill the vacancy. For his action in this matter Judge Gibson re- ceived much censure from the Democratic party of his county and State.
In the year 1850 the principle of an elective judiciary was engrafted on the Constitution of Pennsylvania (the heav-
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iest curse which ever fell upon its people), and it became necessary to choose a full Bench of Justices of the Supreme Court under this Constitutional amendment. Judge Gibson was one of the candidates placed in nomination by the Demo- cratic party. Considerable opposition was manifested to his nomination, because of the episode of 1838, heretofore referred to. A few weeks prior to the meeting of the Dem- ocratic Nominating Convention a prominent lawyer of Cum- berland county, Penn'a, was at the State Capital, where he met ex-Gov. David R. Porter and Judge Richard Coulter, a prominent Whig, who spoke earnestly in favor of the nomination of Chief Justice Gibson by the coming Demo- cratic Convention, and urged the Cumberland lawyer to assist in the election of delegates from his county to the Convention favorable to Gibson. In response to this it was urged that there was much opposition to Judge Gibson in Cumberland county, based upon the epi- sode of 1838, which deprived Mr. Porter, as the incoming Governor of the State, of the right to fill the office of Chief Justice by appointment at the proper time. In reply to this, to the surprise of his hearers, ex-Governor Porter said: "If Judge Gibson had only waited a few weeks there would have been no necessity for his resignation, for I would have reappointed him to the Supreme Bench." At the conclu- sion of the interview both Porter and Coulter said to their friend : "Go home and do all you can for the old chief." The strong affection of the legal profession for Judge Gib- son, and its earnest support throughout the State, saved him at the Convention and gave him the nomination (by a majority of only two votes) and subsequent election.
The other Judges elected at this time with Judge Gibson to form the Supreme Court were, the Honorables Jeremiah S. Black, Ellis Lewis, Walter H. Lowrie, and Richard Coulter, all of them men who adorned the Bench to which they were then elevated. In the lottery which determined
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the matter for that first Bench of Judges chosen by the peo- ple of Pennsylvania at the polls, Judge Black drew the short term and became Chief Justice, and Judge Gibson drew the nine years' term.
From 1816 to 1829 Judge Gibson was a member of the Board of Trustees of Dickinson College, and from 1824 to 1829 President of the Board.
He received the degree of Doctor of Laws from the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania in 1839, and subsequently the same degree was conferred upon him by Harvard University.
He was Vice President of the Pennsylvania Historical Society from 1825 to 1835.
A short time after taking his seat on the Supreme Bench he was solicited by a committee from the Democratic party to suffer himself to be placed in nomination for the office of Governor of Pennsylvania, but he promptly declined the honor.
Judge Gibson was an ardent Free Mason, having been initiated into the Fraternity in Lodge No. 43, Lancaster, Penn'a, in 1811, and raised to the degree of a Master Mason on December 30th of that year. He withdrew his mem- bership from the Lodge March 11th, 1812, and upon be- coming settled in his new home at Wilkesbarré, he hastened to affiliate with LODGE No. 61. He was admitted to mem- bership March 24th, 1814, and continued to be a member in good standing until the Warrant of the Lodge was "vacated" in 1837. He served as Worshipful Master of the Lodge in 1815 and again in 1816.
The records show that during his residence in Wilkes- barré his attendance at the meetings of the Lodge was very regular, both as officer and member. His intercourse with the Brethren was always graced by great kindness and courtesy. His wit and humor, his cheerful laugh, and his brilliant conversational powers, enlivened and made joyous the Lodge meetings.
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After his elevation to the Bench of the Supreme Court he represented LODGE 61 for several years in the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.
At the Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge held December 3d, 1821, Brother Gibson was present and was elected Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master. After his election the question was raised as to whether or not he was a member of the Grand Lodge and entitled to hold the office for which he had been chosen; whereupon a committee was appointed "to inquire whether Brother Gibson is or is not a member of this Grand Lodge." At an adjourned Grand Quarterly Communication held Decem- ber 17th, 1821, the committee, through its chairman, Brother the Hon. George M. Dallas, reported "that from December, 1817, to the present, Brother Past Master John B. Gibson has neither been returned as a member of LODGE No. 61, nor has he for any cause or in any manner been dismissed, or resigned from said Lodge." The committee stated that the returns from LODGE 61 for a number of years were very irregular and incomplete. That they, the com- mittee, had received from Brother Gibson a statement of his connection with, and relation to, LODGE 61, and they were satisfied that he was a member in good standing of said Lodge and of the Grand Lodge. The following resolution was then adopted: "Resolved, That Bro. John B. Gibson, Past Master of LODGE 61, is now a member of this Right Worshipful Grand Lodge." On December 27th, he was installed into office.
In December, 1822, he was again elected and installed Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master for the ensuing Masonic year.
December Ist, 1823, he was elected, and December 27th installed, R. W. Grand Master. One of his first appoint- ments was that of Brother the Hon. James Buchanan, of Lodge No. 43 of Lancaster, to be District Deputy Grand
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Master for the counties of Lancaster, Lebanon, and York.
It was during the Grand Mastership of Judge Gibson that General La Fayette visited Philadelphia on his tour through the States. September 6th, 1824, the Grand Lodge appointed a committee, of which Grand Master Gibson was a mem- ber, to inquire whether or not General La Fayette was an Ancient York Mason. The inquiries of the committee re- sulting satisfactorily, the Free Masons of Philadelphia entertained their distinguished foreign Brother at a grand banquet held in Masonic Hall, Philadelphia, October 2d, 1824; and at an Extra Grand Communication of the Grand Lodge he was made an honorary member of the same, with all the rights and privileges pertaining.
Brother Gibson declined a re-election as Grand Master in December, 1824, his judicial duties not permitting him to give the time and attention to the affairs of Masonry that they deserved. He was a strong adherent of our ancient landmarks, whilst he frowned upon innovators and impostors ; and he served with great acceptability as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, a body which has ever been very jealous to preserve unimpared the customs, usages, and landmarks of our fathers, and to guard the Ancient York Rite as we received it. The Grand Lodge of Penn- sylvania has been exceedingly fortunate in the selection of its Grand Masters for their intelligence, their zeal and devo- tion to the interests of the Craft; but, in intelligence and ability, Brother Gibson surpassed all who preceded or fol- lowed him in this responsible station. When such a light has gone down so gloriously in the West after shining so beautifully in the East, the occurrence demands a fitting notice among the archives of our Fraternity, that the name and fame of our departed Brother may become a part and parcel of our history.
The following named were contemporaries of Brother Gibson in the Grand Lodge, and were active and zealous
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Masons at that time and for many years thereafter: Hon. GEORGE M. DALLAS, LL. D., Vice President of the United States from 1845 to 1849, United States Minister to Russia in 1838, and to England in 1856, Grand Master of Masons of Pennsylvania in 1835 ; Hon. JOSIAH RANDALL, an emi- nent lawyer of Philadelphia, and father of Hon. Samuel J. Randall lately Speaker of the National House of Repre- sentatives, Grand Master of Masons from 1822 to 1823; Hon. JAMES BUCHANAN, LL. D., President of the United States from 1857 to 1861 ; STEPHEN GIRARD, who, dying in 1831, bequeathed to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania the sum of $30,000 for a Charity Fund, and to the city of Phila- delphia an immense property for the founding and support of Girard College; Hon. JAMES M. PORTER, LL. D., of Easton, Penn'a, President Judge of the 12th Judicial District of Pennsylvania from 1839 to 1840, and of the 22d District from 1853 to 1855, Secretary of War under President Tyler ; Hon. JOHN M. READ, for many years a Judge of the Su- preme Court of Pennsylvania and for two years Chief Just- ice, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania from 1832 to 1834, and Grand Master in 1837 and 1838; Hon. JOSEPH R. CHANDLER, for many years editor of The United States Gazette, Philadelphia, and in 1858 United States Minister to Naples, Italy, Grand Master of Pennsyl- vania in 1841 and 1842; Hon. FRANCIS R. SHUNK, Governor of Pennsylvania from 1845 to 1848; Hon. SAMUEL H. PER- KINS, a well known lawyer of Philadelphia, Grand Master of Pennsylvania in 1839 and 1840.
Judge Gibson was a man of large proportions-a giant both in physique and intellect. He was six feet and four inches in height, with a muscular, well-proportioned frame, indicative of strength and energy, and a countenance full of intellect, sprightliness, and benevolence, and, of course, eminently handsome. Until the day of his death, although his bearing was mild and unostentatious, so striking was
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his personal appearance that few persons to whom he was unknown could have passed him by in the street without remark. His body and his mind were both fashioned in the same mighty mould.
He was not what would be called a polished modern gentleman ; that is, a man in whom tlie arts of society had suspended, if not extinguished, the charms of nature. With sufficient amenity and courtesy, his great value consisted in the generous outpourings of the heart in defiance of those conventional restraints which station and official life would seem to impose upon ordinary men. He was sincere, but never ostentatious. No man ever heard him speak of his own virtues, and no one ever heard him decry the virtues of others.
In his social intercourse he had this admirable and remarkable quality-he rarely spoke on the subject of the law, or, to use a common expression, he did not " talk shop." Poetry, music, and painting were his themes and his great delight, and for a good joke or an agreeable and harmless story, very often at his own expense, no man was his superior.
He was esteemed by all who knew him for his generous qualities of heart, convivial parts, and graceful urbanity of manners. In private life, in his home and social relations, his character and career were adorned in an eminent degree by those virtues which endear a man to his family and society. Indulgent, kind, and gentle to his family, chival- rous and steadfast in his friendships, he was never forgetful of or ungrateful for a service, however small. He despised meanness and trickery, and woe betide the lawyer or the man who displayed either in his presence.
He was a man of cultivated and elegant tastes, and had a natural love for art and literature, which was improved by more than ordinary cultivation. He possessed peculiar skill in drawing and sketching, and his taste also extended to painting, concerning which he was regarded as a competent critic. When a student at Dickinson College he painted
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the scenery and directed the stage arrangements for theat- rical exhibitions given by the college students at the United States barracks in Carlisle. He could at any time sketch by a few dashes of his pen admirable likenesses both of men and things. Many a dull speaker at the Bar, who was en- couraged by the energy with which the Judge's pen moved, might have found on his notes little more than a most ex- cellent representation of the speaker's face. Occasionally, on his forgetting to destroy such efforts, they were passed around the Bar to the amusement of all except the sketcher and the sketched.
During the time that he practiced at the Carlisle Bar he was known rather as a fine musical connoisseur and art critic than as a successful lawyer. It has been said that as an amateur musician he was, perhaps, unequalled in the United States. Law and music are not generally supposed to have much affinity for each other, but in this case there was an exception to the rule. Many of the older inhabitants of Carlisle remembered young Gibson as walking in the street carrying with him his favorite musical instrument. When clients knocked at his front door the sound was fre- quently overcome by the strains which proceeded from a violin in the hidden recesses of the office. His love of music never abated, and for many years after he attained judicial office he often entertained and diverted himself and his friends with the music of his violin. Frequently, when alone in his study, in the midst of most profound mental efforts in the preparation of an opinion in some important law case, when confronted with an unusually knotty point of law he would get up from his books and papers, take down his violin, and rest and refresh his mind with " a concourse of sweet sounds." This done he would return to his work, and the tangled skein would be quickly unraveled and the Judge's mind cleared of doubts. Upon one occasion, when, as Chief Justice, he was presiding at a Superior Court in
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