USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Annals of Luzerne County; a record of interesting events, traditions, and anecdotes > Part 18
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The pioneer judges and lawyers were not blessed with the facilities and conveniences which surround those of the present day. They had no comfortable offices with their easy chairs, and shelves groaning under the weight of hundreds of volumes. No spring carriages or railroad cars bore them swiftly and without fatigue from one county to another. They carried their law in their heads, and their libraries in a pair of saddle-bags holding half a bushel, and the lawyers generally met their clients for the first time at the court-house door. Judge Jessup, in his address delivered at the inauguration of the new court-house, in January, 1859, says, that he well remem- bered " when the court set out from Wilkesbarre, followed by the bar on horseback, through Cobb's Gap, Wayne, Pike, and Susquehanna counties, bringing up at Bradford county."
John Brown, Esq., an early resident of Berwick, Co- lumbia county, informed the author that he kept a house of entertainment in that place, at an early day, and that the judges of the Supreme Court always lodged with him over night, on their way up the river to hold court at Wilkesbarre. The tavern was a low log-building, and occupied the ground where Mr. Bowman's store now stands. "The Judges," said he, "were sociable clever fellows, and could eat as much rye bread as any set of men I ever saw. I gave them good straw beds to sleep on, and put their horses in a shed adjoining the back part of the house, and when they were in bed they could hear their horses eating their corn, for there was nothing
248
ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
but a log wall between the feed trough and their sleeping- place."
The president judges, who sat on our bench, are Judges Rush, Cooper, Chapman, Gibson, Burnside, Scott, Jessup, and Conyngham. From 1787 to 1791, the courts of the county were held by justices before mentioned. After the adoption of the constitution of 1790, Jacob Rush, commissioned as president judge, held his first court here, December Term, 1791. He continued to preside until 1806. He was succeeded by Thomas Cooper, who held his first court, August Term, 1806. Mr. Cooper was born in England in 1759. He had been a practicing attorney in Luzerne before his appointment as judge. He was a man of learning, and of a sprightly imagina- tion. He was in advance of the age, in his knowledge of minerals and of geology. He carried with him a hammer and acids, breaking rocks and testing their mineral quali- ties, and was supposed by some ignorant persons to be, on that account, impaired in intellect. He was the firm friend of freedom, and his bold pen caused his imprison- ment under the Alien and Sedition Laws. After his libera- tion, Governor Mckean appointed him one of the com- missioners to carry into effect the Compromising Law of 1799 and its supplements. To his energetic action were due the quiet and harmony that speedily ensued in this long troubled and unhappy country. He was sometimes exceedingly stern and severe as a judge. On one occa- sion a gentleman named Croup, seated in the court-house, leaned over and whispered something in the car of Ste- phen Hollister, constable of Kingston. For this trivial act Judge Cooper sent them both to jail for several hours. The next week Mr. Hollister published a communication, over his own signature, in the " Federalist," in which he denounced Judge Cooper as an English tyrant, and called
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on the people to unite against him, to secure his removal and the appointment of an American judge. He was impeached for tyranny, and wrote a pamphlet in his de- fence. He died in South Carolina in 1839.
Seth Chapman was commissioned to take the place of Mr. Cooper, and held his first court, August Term, 1811. 'Judge Chapman resided in the town of Northumberland. During the holding of the courts in Luzerne he boarded at some private house in preference to a tavern, but by no means despised whiskey, as was evidenced by the atmosphere of his room. He could not be reckoned a talented man, and was a judge of inferior abilities. Years after he had ceased to preside in Luzerne he was im- peached, and resigned his judgeship rather than risk the exposure and issue of a trial.
In 1813, John Bannister Gibson followed Judge Chap- man, and held his first court here, July Term of that year. This eminent judge was a Pennsylvanian by birth, born November 8th, 1780. After presiding here with great ability for three years, he was elevated to the Supreme Bench of the state in 1816, where he maintained his position and high reputation until his death on the 3d of May, 1853.
Thomas Burnside succeeded Judge Gibson, at the August Term of 1816. Judge Burnside was also finally elevated to the Supreme Bench.
David Scott held his first court here, August Term, 1818. He was a native of Connecticut, born in 1782. He came to Wilkesbarre when a young man, and studied law. He possessed a naturally strong and active mind. He was a good lawyer, a good judge, and an exemplary citizen. He eventually became so deaf as to be unable to discharge the duties of his office. He died in 1839.
William Jessup was commissioned, and held his first
250
ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
court, August Term, 1838. Judge Jessup is a native of Long Island, state of New York. He went to Montrose soon after the organization of Susquehanna county, and commenced the practice of law. He is a good lawyer, and an able judge. When on the bench he despatched business with admirable promptness and facility.
John N. Conyngham succeeded Judge Jessup at the. April Term of 1841. Judge Conyngham, the present incumbent, is a native of Philadelphia, and came to Wilkesbarre when a young man, and commenced the practice of law. It is said that his decisions stand the test of the Supreme Court better than those of any other judge in the state.
Judge Scott was a member of a Christian church, as are also Judges Jessup and Conyngham. These latter gentlemen are active and among the foremost in benevo- lent and philanthropic enterprises. They are ever found throwing the moral influence of their exemplary charac- ters on the side of religion, and in favor of the best interests of their fellow-men.
Matthias Hollenback, who had been made one of the justices for holding court in 1787, was appointed associate judge under the Constitution of 1790, and sat in that capacity until 1829, a period of 42 years. Jesse Fell occupied the position of associate judge from 1798 until 1830, when he was succeeded by General William S. Ross.
Matthias Hollenback was also the first treasurer, and was succeeded by Abel Yarington in 1789. .
Jonathan Fitch was the first sheriff under Connecticut jurisdiction for the county of Westmoreland. Lord Butler was first sheriff for the county of Luzerne. Among the gentlemen who occupied this office in the early his- tory of the county, we find the names of John Franklin,
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William Slocum, Ezekiel Hyde, Arnold Colt, Thomas Wheeler, Jacob Hart, Benjamin Dorrance, Jabez Hyde, Jr., Elijah Shoemaker, Stephen Vanloon, Isaac Bowman, Jonathan Bulkely, Napthali Hurlbut, and Oliver Helme.
In addition to the names of the eminent lawyers, already mentioned as practitioners at the Luzerne bar, we may add Thomas Graham, W. D. Nicholson, John Evans, T. B. Overton, Charles Catlin, T. B. Miner, H. King, Lewis Hepburn, James Bowman, James McClintock, Benjamin D. Wright, Samuel Bowman, and Lewis Paine.
.......
LUZERNE COUNTY JAIL.
The present jail was commenced in 1802, and com- pleted at a cost of $5846.43. The stone fire-proof build- ing for the public offices, which stood in the square adjoin- ing the court-house, was commenced in 1809, and com- pleted in 1812, and, with the jail-yard wall, cost about $8500. The total cost of these buildings, together with the court-house, amounted to nearly the sum of $24,000.
252
ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
NEW COURT-HOUSE, WILKESBARRE.
This was paid by a population not exceeding 11,000 in 1800, or 19,000 in 1810, and when the wealth of the county was but a small fraction of what it is now.
In 1855, a bill authorizing the erection of a new court- house passed the General Assembly, and became a law. August 12th, 1856, on invitation of the commissioners of Luzerne county, Lodge No. 61 Free and Accepted Ancient York Masons laid the corner-stone of the third court- house in the public square in Wilkesbarre. Hon. John N. Conyngham was selected and invited by the lodge to deliver an address on the occasion. The committee of arrangements, appointed by the lodge, made every pre- paration to secure a general attendance of the citizens of the county. After prayer by the chaplain of the day,
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Rev. Dr. George Peck, the ceremony of laying the stone was gone through with.
There was deposited in the stone, a copy of the Holy Bible; an American dollar and its parts; lists of the names of members of the several lodges of masons in the county ; list of names of the county officers ; list of names of members of the bench and bar; list of names of the municipal officers of the borough of Wilkesbarre; a copy of each paper published in the county ; a copy of Judge Conyngham's address.
A large concourse of citizens, together with a number of ladies, were in attendance to witness the proceedings. The ceremonies were closed with prayer by the Rev. Mr. Hickock.
The main building, appropriated to county offices, is 100 feet in front by 55 feet in depth. The court-room is 75 by 50 feet, and the rear building, occupied by the judges, lawyers, and juries' rooms, is 65 by 30 feet. The tower is 118 feet in height. The cost of this structure, including furniture, was about $85,000. The style of architecture is the Romanesque, an order invented in later ages in imitation of the Roman. The architect was Mr. J. C. Wells, of New York, but the building was erected under the immediate superintendence of Mr. D. A. Fell. It is regarded as a substantial and commodious fire-proof edifice. It was commenced and pushed forward almost to completion under the energetic administration of Benjamin F. Pfouts, William A. Tubbs, and Silas Dodson, Esquires, county commissioners.
The jail, already mentioned as having being commenced in 1802, does not comport either in plan or system with the enlightenment of the age, nor with the elegance and commodious character of the new court-house.
The Pennsylvania prison system has been endorsed
254
ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
and approved, not only by other states of the Republic, but by inspectors sent hither by European governments, as being the best in the world. It has been adopted by Lancaster, Chester, Dauphin, and other counties, and has in no case disappointed public expectation. Our old jail is now overflowing with idle prisoners, crowded together in small and unhealthy apartments, and supported exclu- sively from the treasury of the county. It would be economy, it would be sound policy, to erect a prison on a large scale, having in view the rapidly-increasing wealth and population of the county, and to adopt the improved system of discipline. Each prisoner would then occupy a separate and well-ventilated room or cell, and have his daily labor, whereby he would become a producer instead of an idle consumer.
EXECUTIONS.
The first sentence of death, followed by execution, within the limits of what is now Luzerne county, occurred under military law. Lawrence Miller and Michael Rose- bury induced men to desert from General Sullivan's army, then lying at Easton. They were tories, and were arrested ; and the army having in the mean time marched to Wyoming, they were tried here by court martial, and condemned to be hanged. A gallows was erected on the river bank at Wilkesbarre, and on the 1st of July, 1779, the two criminals, placed in a cart with their coffins, were borne to the place of execution. Rosebury had manifested no concern whatever during his trial, and subsequently had utterly disregarded the instructions and admonitions of his spiritual advisers, the chaplains of the army. He exhibited the same callousness and indifference on the gallows, and died with firmness in the presence of the whole army. Miller, on the other hand, had a wife and
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a numerous family of children. He had shown deep con- trition for his offense, and his respectful and sorrowful air on his trial had propitiated the favor of his judges, who had recommended him to mercy. His former good conduct also spoke loudly in his favor, and he had listened to and profited by the spiritual advice of the chaplains. Fifteen minutes had elapsed since Rosebury was swung off, and the executioner was advancing to adjust the rope about the neck of the unhappy Miller, when General Sul- livan announced his pardon. This sudden and unexpected turn in his fate was too much for Miller's nerves. He fainted ; but recovering, he took his place in the ranks, and ever after proved an obedient and faithful soldier.
At the August Term of 1829, Judge Scott sentenced to death Henry Keck, who had shot and killed his father about a half a mile below Wilkesbarre. Henry's mother viewed the killing as a family affair, which concerned nobody but themselves, and expressed surprise when the officers of the law came to arrest her son. He was, how- ever, pardoned by Governor Shultz. This was considered an act of unbecoming and improper clemency, and excited great indignation among the people. Keck and the governor were both hanged and burnt in effigy in the public square at Wilkesbarre. After conveying the straw- criminals in a cart through the streets, with caps ready to be drawn over their faces and with ropes about their necks, Cuff Hicks, the executioner, proceeded to discharge his duty in these words : "Henry Keck and Mr. Gobernor Shultz, you hab just two and a half minutes to stay on dis earth, and if you hab anything to say, say it now, or eber after hold your peace." The effigies were suspended by their necks in the presence of a great multitude of people. Keck afterwards became insane, and wandered about the country from place to place.
256
ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
Daniel Gilligan was waylaid and murdered below Wilkesbarre by James Cadden. Cadden had his trial and was found guilty at the August Term of 1848. He received his sentence from the lips of Judge Conyngham, and was executed in the jail-yard on Friday, March 2d, 1849, William Koons being sheriff. Throughout the period of his imprisonment and trial down to the moment of his execution, he spoke but seldom, and practiced a studied reserve of manner. A few moments before his death, his spiritual adviser, at his instance, thanked the officers of justice for their kindness and attention; and warned all young men against bad associates and the use of ardent spirits. This was the first execution under the laws of Pennsylvania since the organization of Luzerne county.
At April Term, 1853, Reese Evans was tried and con- vieted of murder in the first degree. He was sentenced to death by Judge Conyngham, and was executed in the jail-yard, G. W. Palmer being sheriff, on Friday, Sep- tember 9th, 1853. Evans was a young Welshman about twenty years of age, who had induced Lewis Reese, a Jew, residing in Wilkesbarre, to accompany him to Kingston under pretence of procuring money there, to pay the Jew for clothing purchased of him. While crossing the fields, on the Kingston flats, he shot Reese with a pistol in the back part of his head; then plunder- ing the pockets of his victim, whom he left dead on the ground, he fled. When his death-warrant was read to him a few weeks before his execution, he trembled, and covering his face with his hands, sank sobbing on the floor. During his imprisonment, his sister frequently visited him, and on one occasion brought a basket which she set down by the door of her brother's cell. By per- mission of the jailor, Evans walked out with his sister in
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the jail-yard, and on his return, as he passed the basket, he took out a bundle from it. The bundle contained a female dress in which the prisoner intended to escape; but its discovery by the jailor extinguished the last hope of the unhappy youth. In his confession he stated he had committed several robberies, and attributed his awful end to his keeping late hours and bad company.
James Quinn took the life of Mahala Wiggins, by dashing out her brains with an axe, near the Nanticoke dam, as they were passing down the canal in a boat. He escaped, but was arrested in the West, and conveyed to the Wilkesbarre jail. He was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death by Judge Conyngham, at the January Term of 1854. The same year, on Friday, the 21st of April, Abraham Drum being sheriff, he was executed in the jail-yard. When his death-warrant was read, he manifested considerable excitement, but soon regained his usual composure. He did not believe in a future state of rewards and punishments. He ran up the steps to the platform of the gallows, and surveyed the rope with a degree of self-possession and calmness which astonished every beholder. A physician, utterly astounded at such perfect composure, approached the prisoner a few moments before his execution, and placing his fingers on his pulse, found it beating with amazing rapidity, and giving evi- dence of intense excitement. The exterior appeared calm, but within there was a raging tumult of emotion.
William Muller killed George Mathias, in his own house, on the Easton and Wilkesbarre Turnpike, a few miles from Wilkesbarre. The instrument used in the commission of the crime was a hatchet, and the murderer concealed the body of his victim in the well. He was tried and found guilty at the January Term of 1858, Judge Conyngham presiding, and was executed in the jail-
17
258
ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
yard on Friday, April 30th, of the same year, Jasper B. Stark being sheriff. He ascended the steps leading to the scaffold with a quick but self-possessed movement, and addressed those present, for several minutes, in the Ger- man language. His address was then read in English by his spiritual adviser. The young man expressed his faith in the merits of the Redeemer, and warned all who heard him against rum and vicious companions. It is said he believed that the physicians could restore him to life after the hanging, provided his neck was not broken. The fall, however, rent the vertebræ of his spinal column nearly two inches asunder.
Since 1836, there has been a large influx of a mixed population, consequent on the development of the mineral resources of the county. Crime and litigation have in- creased accordingly, during the last quarter of a century. Civil suits have increased to hundreds, while Common- wealth costs have grown from an average of $300 per annum, prior to 1836, to $1000, the average since that year.
The number of deeds and mortgages recorded since the organization of the county is 48,823. The largest num- ber of deeds and mortgages recorded in any one year is 2257, which was done by Charles Hays, Esq., Recorder, and his clerks in 1856. The number of executions, issued from 1787 to the close of August Term, 1859, is 37,084. The largest number issued in any one year (1857) is 1979.
The number of judgments entered, since the formation of the Judgment Docket, in 1827, is 46, 124. The largest number entered in any one year (1858) is 3855.
In 1859, Luzerne was constituted one, the 11th, Judi- cial District, having 4 Courts of Oyer and Terminer, &c., annually, besides 6 Courts of Common Pleas. In addi .
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tion, by the Act incorporating the city of Carbondale, the President Judge of the district is made Recorder of that city, and required to hold Recorder's Court. Moreover, there are from 2 to 4 special courts annually held in the county.
COURT-HOUSE, CARBONDALE.
From 1787 to 1800, the average annual expenditures of the county were $3600. From 1800 to 1810, during which the second public buildings were erected, the ave- rage was $7200 annually. From 1810 to 1820, without Bradford and Susquehanna counties, the average was $9000, but it must be borne in mind that a portion of the debt incurred in the construction of the county buildings was paid during this decade. From 1820 to 1830, the average was $7800 a year. From 1830 to 1842, when Wyoming county was stricken off, the annual expendi- tures averaged $12,500. From 1843 to 1865, inclusive, the expenditures have been as follows :-
260
ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
For 1843
$ 9,863.90
For 1855
$11,990.70
1844
10,278.07
1856
43,094.23
1845
13,091.19
1857
29,536.11
1846
14,669.36
1858
33,685.00
1847
14,551.83
1859
35,936.77
1848
14,050.07}
1860
28,921.76
1849
12,419.87
1861
31,768.77
1850
13,148.05
1862
40,828.93
1851
12,172.37
1863
37,101.76
1852
12,645.50
1864
30,140.00
1853
15,106.22
1865
28,983.56
1854
12,022.76
In 1801 the valuation of property in Luzerne for tax- able purposes amounted to $767,643, and in 1809 to $1,050,700. In 1845, without Bradford, Susquehanna, and Wyoming counties, the valuation was $4,825,081, and in 1857 it was $7,779,301; in 1865, $10,500,000. The state tax has increased since 1845 from $13,000 to $25,000, being about $1.20 for each taxable inhabitant.
The following table shows the number of persons, and the term of years for which they were sentenced to the Penitentiary by the courts of our county, from 1787 to 1860, together with the crimes for which they were pun- ished. The total number of offenders is 167, of which 119 were tried and found guilty since 1836.
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THE JUDICIARY.
CRIMES.
NUMBER OF CRIMINALS.
TERM OF YEARS.
Murder in the 2d degree,
18
1
15
1
12
2
10
1
9
3
8
2
6
1
5
2
4
-
Total,
15
Manslaughter,
2
2
Highway Robbery,
1
7
1
5
1
1
Burglary,
3
7
2
3
1
1}
2
1
Larceny,
.
99
varying from 1 to 6
Passing counterfeit money,
11
1 to 7
Forgery,
10
10
Bigamy,
1
10-12
1
1}
Receiving stolen goods,
2
2
Conspiracy, .
1
2
Perjury, 66
1
1
1
1 in county jail
Assault and Battery with intent to kill, .
5
varying from 1 to 3
In possession of counterfeit money, &c.,
1
3
Misdemeanor,
3
varying from 2 to 5
Rape, .
1
21
1
3
1
1
3
167
8
99
11
1 to 5
2
2
1
2
5
1
3
2
3
CHAPTER VIII.
EDUCATION.
The clouds may drop down titles and estates, Wealth may seek us-but wisdom must be sought. YOUNG'S NIGHT THOUGHTS.
THE Susquehanna Company, appreciating the advan- tages of education, appropriated about 500 acres of land in each township, as a basis for the establishment and support of schools among the first settlers. The com- pany also appropriated several thousand acres of land, in the eastern portion of their purchase, for the benefit of the Indian school of Dr. Wheelock, in Connecticut, at which several Delaware Indians, and the celebrated Mohawk chief, Brant, were educated. This school was the foundation of Dartmouth College, of which Dr. Whee- lock was the first president.
These facts evince the deep interest felt by the com- pany in the education not only of the whites, but also of the red men of the forest.
Prior to 1773, no organized effort had been made by the early inhabitants for the establishment of schools among them ; but in that year, by a vote of the town, a tax of three pence on a pound was levied for the support of a free school in each township. In the following year, the first school committee, consisting of Captain Lazarus Stewart and fifteen others, was appointed with power to erect school-houses and to employ teachers.
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EDUCATION.
Some of their teachers were men of ability, learned, energetic, and faithful in discharge of their duties. Others, it would appear, are described in the character of Ichabod Crane, as given in the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The Yankee schoolmaster generally " boarded around" among the patrons of his school, attended all the quiltings and singing-schools, sometimes neglected his scholars, did not neglect the girls, and was usually devoted to one in particular. At some of his stopping-places he fared sumptuously, at most places he had to put up with " pot luck," while at a few places his sides and jaws ex- hibited a decided collapse at the close of the boarding week. The early schoolmasters were a very useful, but poorly remunerated class of the people. We do not learn that any of them ever received land for their services, as did some of the " orthodox ministers of the gospel." After the jurisdiction of Connecticut and the Susquehanna Com- pany ceased, several of the school tracts of land were leased for a term of years. Finally, nearly, if not all the tracts were sold, and the proceeds added to the township funds, under the authority of a legislative enactment of this state.
The constitution, or laws of every state in the Union, provide, to a greater or less extent, for educating the rising generation. Pennsylvania, though late in her movements in this direction, has, nevertheless, advanced steadily in her course, until her system of education is equaled by few, and surpassed by no other among civilized men. The incipient steps of our system were the laws of 1809 and 1824, which provided for educating poor children at the public expense. From 1824 to 1833, when the free school system was introduced, Luzerne county expended $3509 for this purpose. This appears like a small sum for educating the poor during a
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