USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Annals of Luzerne County; a record of interesting events, traditions, and anecdotes > Part 17
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"N. B. Get up early in the morning and buy cloth for a coat.
" March 21. Rose at 6-walked out upon the bank- saw only one man up, and he, from his looks, will be down before night. At 7, went to the store opposite the ferry-found all closed and silent-perhaps this may be holy time with them-inquired if they be Jews, and this be the Passover. Walked on-saw a new white house -very handsome situation-fence all gone around it. Query-Has it not been a hard winter here? What! the printing office-O, yes-where that important agri- cultural information came from-information so complete that it had only one fault, and that the trifling one of having no application on this side of the Atlantic. Saw another store-went on, found it open and doing business -good many people in-inquire if this man does not tend his own store, and, of course, make more money. Going back, saw a man without a hat-his hair pointing to every quarter of heaven-his mouth open, and both hands working daylight through his yet closed eyelids- hope he has a large patrimony to doze over. Returned to the tavern-found a good many men come in to get their morning charge. Query-Arn't these men ashamed to let their wives and families know how much they drink ? After breakfast walked round town-at 11 o'clock went by the Academy-steeple as big as an cel-
,
.10:00
ET
ROGERS-ENG PHILA
WYOMING VALLEY HOTEL.
This splendid edifice was erected in Wilkesbarre, in 1865-6, and with furniture cost $175,000. It is loca- ted very near the center of Wyoming Valley, the grand and magnificent scenery of which can be viewed from every balcony, window, and tower. The building is airy and supplied with pure mountain water, and kept as it is by WARD & Co., in the most splendid style, it has no superior in or out of our cities.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR. LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
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BOROUGHS AND TOWNSHIPS.
basket-saw a number of great tall boys gaping, and leaning against the side of the house, and stretching as if for victory. Query-Are they preparing to stretch hemp without anything to stand on ? Heard a man talk very loud within-
" ' With what a braying noise he muttered, And thought, no doubt, hell trembled as he uttered.'
" Went on-saw things which I shall never forget- returned to my lodgings sick-evening pleasant-many people came in, and as they poured down the whiskey they drowned out the politics. Query-If they should drink less, talk less, and read more, won't they under- stand the subject better? Went up street-going by the court-house heard a stamping, like that of a livery stable in fly time-made inquiry, and found there was a danc- ing-school kept there. Mem .-
" ' He that will not work, by right, should not eat, And he that has no head may use his feet.'
" March 22. In the morning-Over! over! halloo, ferryman !
"P. S. I shall return this way."
The Allen Jack brick store-house, on Main street, was erected in 1813, and the G. M. Hollenback store and dwell- ing, on the corner of Market and River streets, in 1816.
Wilkesbarre contains 22 dry goods and grocery, and 11 exclusively grocery stores ; 12 clothing, 10 boot and shoe, and 7 drug stores ; 2 exclusively liquor, I hat and cap, 2 leather, 3 book and stationery, and 6 millinery and fancy stores ; 5 watch and jewellery, 3 saddle and harness, 5 tin and stove establishments ; 7 bakeries and confec- tioneries, 2 extensive iron founderies, 1 sash factory, 3 breweries, 4 tobacconists; 3 hardware, 2 crockery and glassware stores ; 2 planing and saw mills, and 1 flour- ing-mill; 3 banks, 2 insurance offices, 3 broker offices,
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5 restaurants, 11 hotels and taverns, 1 female seminary ; 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Protestant Epis- copal, 1 Baptist, 2 Roman Catholic, 1 German Reformed, and 1 colored Methodist Episcopal church.
The Methodist Episcopal church in Woodville, and the Lutheran church in the township, are located near the borough line, and are supported in part by members resi- dent in Wilkesbarre.
The side-walks of the town are well paved with flag- stones. The streets are lighted with gas, and the place is supplied with excellent water.
The Gas and Water Works cost each about $30,000.
The population of Wilkesbarre in 1820 was 732. In 1830 it was 1201; in 1840, 1718; and in 1850, 2723 .*
WRIGHT TOWNSHIP was formed from Hanover in 1851, and was named in honor of Col. Hendrick B. Wright, of Wilkesbarre. The first settlement was made by Conrad Wickeiser, in 1798, near where the tavern-stand of James Wright was subsequently erected. He was soon followed by Wright, who built the first saw-mill in the township, on the Wapwallopen Creek, in 1820.
The area of the township is 34 square miles, of which an eighth part only is cleared land. The country is moun- tainous, and the timber is chiefly pine and hemlock. There are S saw-mills in Wright, 5 of which are first class, costing from $5000 to $10,000 each. Lumbering is the principal employment of the inhabitants. There are 4 taverns here, but no church and no grist-mill.
* For population in 1860, see Appendix X.
CHAPTER VII.
THE JUDICIARY.
Each state must have its policies :
Kingdoms have edicts, cities have their charters ;
Even the wild outlaw in his forest walk,
Keeps yet some touch of civil discipline.
FROM the first settlement at Wyoming until 1773, the inhabitants had no authoritative code of laws, or tribunal of justice. The settlers were from the first viewed by the authorities of Pennsylvania as an intruding mob, claiming and in possession of lands to which they had no title. The proprietary government steadily issued its warrants against them, and sent her civil officers, sup- ported by bodies of armed men, to arrest them, or drive them away. The settlers did not acknowledge the laws of Pennsylvania, and were not themselves recognised by the laws of Connecticut ; consequently they were without law, and every man, in defending his person and property, trusted to his rifle and to the justice of his cause. To remedy this state of affairs, the Susquehanna Land Com- pany framed a code of laws, or articles of agreement, in 1773, to which every male inhabitant of the age of twenty- one years and upwards, was required to subscribe his name, or depart from the settlement.
This compact provided,-
1st. For the election of three committeemen or directors in each township, who should meet at least once in each
(235)
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
month, to hear and decide all disputes, and to try petty offences.
2d. The directors of the several townships were required to meet together four times a year at Wilkesbarre, consti- tuting the quarterly meeting for general business purposes, and for hearing and deciding appeals from the decisions of the township directors, except in cases where titles to land were in question, when the appeal was to be car- ried to the Susquehanna Company.
Breaches of the peace, stealing, drunkenness, swearing, gaming, idleness and the like, came under the jurisdiction of the township directors; but adulterers, burglars, and some other offenders were tried by the quarterly meeting, or supreme court.
For stealing, drunkenness, idleness, &c., the guilty were required to make public confession, and perhaps undergo punishment at the whipping-post, or in the stocks.
Adultery and burglary were punished by whipping, banishment from the settlement, and confiscation of all personal and real estate.
Counterfeiters were sent for trial to the province or jurisdiction whose coin or money had been counterfeited, and murderers were conveyed to Connecticut for trial.
There were then no regularly admitted practicing law- yers,-
"Men of great profession that could speak To every cause, and things mere contraries, Till they were hoarse again, yet all be law."
In those days there was a period in the history of a lawsuit, a stopping-place, a conclusion. The time had not yet arrived when he who was so unfortunate as to fall into the clutches of the law, must contend
-"with rejoinders, or replies, Long bills and answers stuffed with lies ;"
-
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and when the vigor of life and his substance were spent in the strife, would be compelled to say-
"For twenty years the cause was spun And then stood where it first begun."
In 1774 the Susquehanna Purchase, embracing what are now the counties of Luzerne, Wyoming, Susquehanna, and Bradford, was formed into one town, after the man- ner of New England, and called Westmoreland. It was attached to the county of Litchfield, and enjoyed all the rights and privileges of a town under the laws of Con- necticut. Having a sufficient population, it was entitled to two representatives in the General Assembly. Zebulon Butler and Nathan Denison were commissioned justices of the peace by Governor Trumbull, with power to call and preside at town-meetings, and to hear and decide certain causes; but high offences and important civil cases were to be tried before the Litchfield county courts.
In 1776 Messrs. Butler and Denison, who had been chosen to represent Westmoreland in the state Assembly, returned from Hartford, bringing the joyful intelligence that the town had been promoted to the position and dignity of a county. A dispute now arose between Wilkesbarre and Kingston, relative to the seat of justice, but the decision being finally made in favor of the former place, the first court was held in Fort Wyoming, on the river bank, about sixty rods below the present Wilkes- barre bridge. Among the names of the judges appointed and commissioned for Westmoreland, by the Governor of Connecticut, from year to year, we find those of Avery, Beach, Butler, Dana, Denison, Gore, and Franklin. Lieutenant John Jenkins was appointed the state's attor- ney, but Anderson Dana and Amos Bullock were the only professional lawyers, of whom we have any record, prior to the Indian battle in 1778. In that battle Dana,
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Bullock, and several persons who had acted as judges, were slain.
From 1779 to 1782, when the Trenton Decree put an end to the jurisdiction of Connecticut, the courts were held in Wilkesbarre Fort, erected, after the massacre, on the site of the old court-house in the public square.
In March, 1781, the court made the following regula- tion :-
" Whereas, there is no authority in this county for the assistance of those who are unable to make proper repre- sentations of their own case before the court; therefore, Resolved, That until farther or otherwise ordered, either plaintiff or defendant may be allowed liberty of counsel to lay their matters, and plead them, before the court, without having admitted or sworn attorneys."
At November Court, 1781, "Ordered, that a tax of two pence in the pound be levied, to be paid in hard money, or in specific articles," grain, &c., to be delivered and received at the county treasury at rates fixed by the court.
At the same term the court ordered that Abigail Had- den be divorced from Simeon Hadden, and the said Abigail was declared " single and unmarried."
At the December Term, 1782, "Mary Pritchard is found guilty of unnecessarily going from her place of abode, on the Lord's Day, on the 10th of November last ; therefore, Ordered, that she pay a fine of five shillings, lawful money, to the town treasury, and costs."
At the same term J. H. T. having been found guilty of stealing, the court ordered that he " receive ten stripes, well administered, on his naked back."
In 1782 D. G. W., for stealing a deerskin, valued at nineteen shillings, and not being able to pay damages or costs, was assigned by the court to two years' service to
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H. M., from whom he stole the skin, and power was given to H. M. to assign or dispose of his service for said period "to any of the subjects of the United States."
The punishment of Mary Pritchard has a deep tinge of Connecticut's Blue Laws. The enforcement of the observance of the Sabbath, to such a point of nicety, appears ridiculous to us; but, it is possible, a future generation may entertain very different views on this subject with those prevalent in our day. The increased humanity and civilization of later times have abolished the whipping-post, and those barbarous punishments which permanently marked and mutilated the bodies of persons convicted of crimes. Experience has shown that a criminal code, inordinately severe, defeats the ends of justice, for a natural sympathy arises in the breasts of jurors for one who may suffer a punishment out of pro- portion to the offence committed. One of the objects of punishment is the determent of others from the commis- sion of crime : but as the perpetration of offences against the good order of society is the result mostly of a strong evil impulse in the offenders, laws should be framed rather with reference to their moral reformation than to the infliction of physical pain.
Although Westmoreland was nominally in the county of Northumberland after 1772, yet the laws of Pennsyl- vania were utterly disregarded by the people until 1782, when the judgment of the United States Commissioners abolished the jurisdiction of Connecticut. During the next four years following the Trenton Decree, the seat of justice, for what had been known as Westmoreland, was properly Sunbury, situated about sixty miles further down the river. The formation and organization of Luzerne county, in 1786-7, may be viewed as the act of the practical mind of Benjamin Franklin, who foresaw,
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
in that plan, the effectual means for thwarting the de- signs of John Franklin, Ethan Allen, and others, an account of which we have given elsewhere.
On the 27th day of May, 1787, Timothy Pickering, James Nesbitt, Obadiah Gore, Nathan Kingsley, Benja- min Carpenter, Matthias Hollenback, and William Hooker Smith, who had been commissioned justices of the Court of Common Pleas, &c., as provided in the first constitution of this state, assembled at the house of Colonel Zebulon Butler, on the corner of Northampton and River streets, in Wilkesbarre, and proclamation being made by Lord Butler, high sheriff, for all persons to keep silence, the commissions of the county officers were read, and the oaths of office were administered by Timothy Pickering and Colonel Nathan Denison. This was the first court held for Luzerne county. The duties of prothonotary, register, and recorder, and clerk of the court, were per- formed by Timothy Pickering, who was a lawyer of fine abilities, and was otherwise eminently qualified to organize a new county in the midst of an injured and rebellious people.
Soon after the organization of the court, Roswell Wells, Ebenezer Bowman, Putnam Catlin, and William Nichols, Esqs., were admitted and sworn as attorneys at law. In 1794 the first two mentioned were the only lawyers in Luzerne county, and when, in the same year, Noah Wad- hams and Nathan Palmer, Esqs., were admitted to the bar, it was stated to the court that Messrs. Bowman and Catlin had then arranged to quit practice altogether. Daniel Stroud and John Price were admitted in 1795; Thomas Cooper in 1796; M. J. Biddle and Samuel Roberts in 1797; E. Smith, J. Wallace, and . William Prentice in 1799; George Griffin in 1800, who subse- quently removed to the city of New York, and, becoming
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eminent in his profession, received the title of LL. D. In 1802 Thomas Dyer, yet living, was admitted, and is the oldest survivor of the bar in the county .* Colonel Wash- ington Lee, who is the next oldest survivor, was admitted in 1806.
Among the practitioners at the Luzerne bar, the fol- lowing gentlemen have been promoted to judgeships in Pennsylvania : Thomas Cooper, LL. D .; Garrick Mallery, LL. D .; David Scott; Joel Jones; Luther Kidder; Oris- tus Collins ; John N. Conyngham ; George W. Woodward, LL. D., of the Supreme Court; Warren J. Woodward, and David Wilmot. Three gentlemen, first admitted to this bar, have been promoted to judgeships in other states : Ben- jamin D. Wright, Florida ; E. O. Hamlin, Minnesota ; - Parker, Wisconsin ; and Ovid F. Johnson, a lawyer of excel- lent talents, became Attorney-General of Pennsylvania.
The second court was held in September, 1787, Oba- diah Gore, president, at which the following-named persons appeared as grand jurors : Abel Pierce, foreman, Mason F. Alden, Jonah Rogers, John Hollenback, Shubal Bidlack, William Trucks, Daniel Gore, Christopher Hurlbut, Henry McCormick, Zachariah Hartsuff, Jacob Fritley, Adam Mann, William Jackson, Thomas Reed, William Hebbard, George Cooper, Elnathan Cary, James Lassley, Timothy Hopkins, John Kennedy, Andrew Wartman, and William Warner. The first indictment
presented was against John Franklin, for assault and bat- tery on Eliphalet Richards, and the grand jury found a true bill. The trial was postponed until the December Term; but scarcely had the September Term closed, when Franklin was arrested by virtue of a warrant issued by Chief Justice Mckean, for high treason, and lodged in prison in Philadelphia. This act, the particulars of which
* Thomas Dyer died in 1861.
16
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
we have given elsewhere, set the people in an uproar, and "no venires issued for December Term," say the records, " by reason of the peculiar state of the county."
At the March Term, 1788, Putnam Catlin, acting as state's attorney, first displayed his legal abilities in that capacity against T- R-, indicted for stealing chickens. Several cases of assault and battery were tried at this and the following Terms. In November, 1788, the Supreme Court convened at Wilkesbarre for the trial of Franklin, and his half-share boys. Judges Mckean and Rush were met on the Wilkesbarre Mountain, and escorted to comfortable quarters. As stated in a former chapter, Franklin's trial was postponed, and being released on bail, no further proceedings were ever instituted against him.
In 1790, after the division of the county into town- ships without regard to the townships formed under the Connecticut law, Luzerne was further divided into ten districts for the election of justices of the peace.
1st District was composed of Huntington, Salem, and Nescopeck townships, having 215 taxables, who elected Nathan Beach, Charles E. Gaylord, Jacob Bittenbender, and John T. Miller, as their first justices of the peace.
2d District, composed of Wilkesbarre, Hanover, and Newport townships, with 290 taxables, elected William Ross, Joseph Wright, James Campbell, and George Espy, the first justices.
3d District, composed of Plymouth, Kingston, and Exe- ter townships, taxables 442, elected Noah Wadhams, Jr., Peter Grubb, Lawrence Myers, Benjamin Carpenter, and Benjamin Newbury, the first justices.
4th District, with 282 taxables, embraced Pittston and Providence townships ; but the names of the first justices of the peace are not recorded.
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5th District was Tunkhannock township, whose 140 taxables elected Elisha Harding justice of the peace.
6th District was formed from Braintrim and Wyalu- sing, having 225 taxables, who elected as their justices H. D. Champion, Jonathan Stevens, and Guy Wells.
7th District, composed of Wysox and Burlington, having 274 taxables, elected Moses Coolbaugh justice of the peace.
8th District, embracing Ulster, Tioga, and Orwell townships, with 294 taxables, elected Joseph Kinney and David Paine, first justices.
9th District was Rush township, whose 103 taxables elected Isaac Hancock their first justice of the peace.
10th District, composed of Willingborough, Lanesville, and Nicholson townships, with 286 taxables, elected as its first justices John Marcy, Thomas Tiffany, and Asa Eddy.
In 1791, Zebulon Marcy was indicted by the grand jury of Luzerne county for challenging A. Atherton to fight a duel.
The Act of Assembly forming Luzerne county, named Zebulon Butler, Jonah Rogers, Simon Spaulding, Na- thaniel Landon, and John Philips, as trustees to locate and to erect a court-house and jail. This they did, on the site of the old fort in the public square in Wilkes- barre. This building was about 25 by 50 feet, constructed of hewn logs, two stories high, with outside steps leading to the court room on the second floor. The first story was used as a jail and the jailor's residence. This primi- tive temple of justice was completed in 1791, and Stephen Tuttle, whose good wife placed her cake and beer sign over the door of the first story, was appointed first jailor.
On one occasion, during the sitting of the Supreme Court, an unusual noise disturbed his Honor, Judge
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
OLD COURT-HOUSE, WILKESBARRE.
McKean, who, in a stern voice, commanded silence. The noise, however, continued, when the court sent for Mr. Tuttle, who, evidently much incensed, informed his honor that the d-d hogs had got at his corn in the garret by coming up the outside steps in the morning. Mr. Tuttle was ordered to eject the intruders forthwith. There proved to be but one hog, which rushed forth with a tremendous grunt, capsizing Mr. Tuttle, together with the gravity of the court. After a few years, it was resolved to erect a new building for the courts.
In 1801, Lawrence Myers, Eleazar Blackman, and Thomas Wright, county commissioners, procured the
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plan of a court-house, in Fredericksburg, Maryland, for which they paid $17.06. The old log court-house was removed by Joseph Hitchcock, the contractor for the con- struction of the new edifice, but it continued to be occupied by the courts until 1804, when the new building was com- pleted, and the old one was converted into the Wilkes- barre Academy. This new structure, in the form of a cross, declared by the commissioners to be " most elegant and convenient," was erected on the site of the old log court-house. Including furniture and fixtures, it cost $9356.06. There were 32} gallons of whiskey used at the raising of this building; a fact which demonstrates either the great capacity of the people of that day for ardent spirits, or else the presence of a large number of consumers.
The bell, the tones of which have quickened the pulsa- tions of the hearts of so many prisoners, of plaintiffs, and of defendants, was cast in Philadelphia, by George Hed- derly, in 1805. In the cellar of this building, at an early period, the lovers of beefsteak found a good market. Within its walls dancing was taught by exquisite pro- fessors of the art, and holy men of God proclaimed the doctrines of divine truth. For more than half a century it was used for judicial purposes. Judge Conyngham in his address, in 1856, delivered on the occasion of the laying of the corner stone of the present, the third, court- house, remarked, " Upwards of fifty years seems a long period for litigation and dispute among an active and a growing people; yet, it is believed, that the scales of Justice have been balanced as evenly within these walls as human knowledge and human frailty would allow."
The judges of the Supreme Court, who sat in this court-house and in the original log-building, were Mckean, Tilghman, Breckenridge, Smith, and Yeates. "There
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
were some ceremonies," says Judge Conyngham, in the address before quoted, "connected with the courts, now entirely abrogated, and which in fact would be annoying in the present day, which are worthy of being noted in the records of the past. At the opening of every term, the sheriff, with his staff of office, attended by the crier of the court, and frequently by several constables, waited upon the judges at their lodgings, and then conducted them in formal procession to the court-house. Judges McKean, Smith, and others, of the Supreme Court, always wore swords when they attended court-some bearing rapiers and others heavier weapons."
" In this secluded spot, the weeks of court, years since, attracted more of interest in the inhabitants than is found at present. They were decidedly, as tradition remem- bers and brings down to us, gala days, and periods of fun and frolic. The lawyers were assembled from various parts of the state, and, while business was not so burden- some and pressing as it is now, much time was afforded for amusements. It was but a day or two since, in con- versation with a lady of our town, about these bygone days, that she seemed to be young again in the liveliness and vivacity of her recollections, as she described the public and private gatherings, and especially the court ball, which was held every term in the upper room of the court-house."
Mr. Brown says of Judge Mckean, " He was rigid in the observance of the court ceremonies, jealous of his authority, and rough and overbearing in maintaining it."
Judge Breckenridge does not appear to have been so dignified as some others. In warm weather he sat in court clad in a loose gown, and in his bare feet, which he sometimes elevated on the railing over the head of the clerk.
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Some of the early judges of the Supreme Court, as well as some president judges, who administered the law in this region, appear to have been jovial fellows, not averse to whiskey, cards, and fun.
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