Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Nineteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania, Part 13

Author: Wiley, Samuel T. , Esq., editor
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Press of York Daily
Number of Pages: 612

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favor of a severance from the mother coun- try, he desired it when he received definite instructions from his constituents. In 1776 he was a colonel in the Revolution. From 1779 to 1784 he held the position of Advo- cate General for the French nation, to draw plans for the regulation of the intercourse of that country with the United States. He was, at this time, director of the Bank of North America.

He was one of the formost members of the Convention of 1787, which formed the Constitution of the United States. "Of the fifty-five delegates," says Prof. McMaster in his History of the People of the United States, "he was undoubtedly the best pre- pared by deep and systematic study of the science of government for the work which lay before him." The Marquis de Chas- tellux, himself no mean student, had been struck with the wide range of his erudition, and had spoken in high terms of his li- brary. "There," said he, "are all our best writers on law and jurisprudence. The works of President Montesquieu and Chan- cellor D'Aguesseau hold the first rank among them, and he makes them his daily study" (Travels of the Marquis de Chas- tellux in North America). This learning Wilson liad, in times past, turned to excel- lent use, and he now became one of the most active members of the convention. "None, with the exception of Gouverneur Morris," says McMaster, "was so often on his feet during the debates or spoke more to the purpose." By this time Wilson had removed from Carlisle and lived in Phila- delphia, where he became the acknowledged leader of that bar. He was appointed, un- der the Federal Constitution, one of the first judges of the Supreme Court of the United States by President Washington, holding that position until death. He was professor of law in the legal college of the University of Philadelphia, received the de-

NINETEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.

gree of LL. D., and delivered a course of lectures on jurisprudence which were pub- lished. He died August 26, 1798, aged fifty-six.

Col. Robert Magaw was another practi- tioner at our bar at he outbreak of the Revolution. He was an Irishman by birth and resided in Carlisle. In 1774 he was one of the delegates from this county to the Provincial Convention at Philadelphia, which met for the purpose of concerting measures to call a general congress of dele- gates from all the colonies. He served in the Revolution as colonel of the Fifth Penn- sylvania Battalion. He was in command at Fort Washington (Manhattan Island), and when threatened by General Howe with extremities if the fort should have to be carried by assault, replied that such threats were unworthy of a British officer and that he (Magaw) would defend it to the last ex- tremity. After a gallant defense, which drew forth the admiration of General Washington, who witnessed a part of it from the opposite side of the Hudson, he was compelled to surrender to superior forces, (Nov. 16, 1776) was taken prisoner and held for four years. He was released in October, 1780, when, with two others, he was exchanged for Major Gen. De Reidesel. He had a large practice prior to the Revolution, and was a member of the Assembly in 1781-2. He died in Carlisle January 7th, 1790.

The name of Jasper Yeates appears upon our records as early as 1763, and for a per- iod of twenty-one years (to 1784) he was a practitioner at our bar. He resided in Lan- caster. He was an excellent lawyer, a fine classical scholar, and practiced over a large territory in the eastern counties of the State, until his appointment (in 1791) by Governor Mifflin as one of the associate justices of the Supreme Court, which posi- tion he held until his death in 1817. In

appearance he was tall, portly, with a hand- some countenance, florid complexion and blue eyes. He was the compiler of the early Pennsylvania reports which bear his name.

George Stevenson (LL. D.) was another prominent practitioner at the bar in 1776. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1718, educated at Trinity College, and emigrated to America about the middle of the cen- tury. He was appointed Deputy Surveyor General under Nicholas Scull for the three lower counties on the Delaware, then known as the territories of Pennsylvania, which William Penn obtained from the Duke of York in 1682. He afterwards re- moved to York and was appointed a justice under George II, in 1755. In 1769 he moved to Carlisle and at once became a leading member of the bar. He married the widow of Thomas Cookson, a distin- guished lawyer of Lancaster, who, in con- nection with Nicholas Scull laid out the town of Carlisle in 1751. Mr. Stevenson died in Carlisle in 1783.

Capt. John Steel was a prominent mem- ber of our bar in 1776. Admitted, on mo- tion of Robt. Magaw, only three years pre- viously, he had already attained to a large practice, (April 1773). We find him having a large practice again from 1782 to 1785, shortly after which his name disappears from the records. He was the son of Rev. John Steel, known as the "Fighting Parson," (from his participation in the French-In- dian War,) and was born at Carlisle, July 15th, 1774. John Steel led a company of men from Carlisle and joined Washington after he liad crossed the Delaware. He married Agnes Moore, a daughter of James Moore, the Elder, of Cumberland county, a great-great-grandfather, upon the ma- terial side, of the writer.

Col. Thomas Hartley read law in York under Samuel Johnston and commenced to

BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA.

practice in 1769. He appears as a practi- tioner at our bar from April 1771 to 1797. In 1774 he was elected to the Provincial meeting of deputies at Philadelphia. In the succeeding year he was a member of the Provincial Convention. In the beginning of the war he became a colonel in the Revo- lution. He served in 1778 in the Indian war on the West Branch of the Susque- hanna and in the same year was elected a member of the Legislature from York county. In 1787 he was a member of the State Convention which adopted the Fed- eral Constitution. In 1788 he was elected to Congress and served for a period of twelve years. He was an excellent lawyer, a pleasant speaker, and had a large practice. He died in York, December 21st, 1800, aged 52 years.

These were some of the men who prac- ticed at our bar in the memorable year 1776, men who by their services in the field and in the courts and the halls of Legislation helped to lay firm and deep the foundations of the government which we enjoy.

From the period of the Revolution to the adoption of the State Constitution, in 1790, the courts were presided over by justices who were appointed by the Supreme Exe- cutive Council. Owing to the adoption of the Declaration and the necessity of tak- ing a new the oath, most of the attorneys were re-admitted in 1778. Among these were Jasper Yeates, James Smith, James Wilson, Edward Burd and David Grier. Thomas Hartley was re-admited in July of the succeeding year. James Hamilton, who afterwards became the fourth Presi- dent Judge under the constitution, was ad- mitted to practice upon the motion of Col. Thomas Hartley in April, 1781.

Among the names of those who prac- ticed during this period between the Revo- lution and the adoption of the constitution of 1790, are the following:

Hon. Edward Shippen was admitted to our bar in Oct., 1778. He was the son of Edward Shippen, the Elder, the founder of Shippensburg, and was born Feb. 16, 1729. In 1748 he was sent to England to be edu- cated at the Inns of Court. In 1771 he was a member of the "Proprietary and Gover- nor's Council." He afterwards rose rap- idly and become Chief Justice of Pennsyl- vania. He was the father of the wife of General Benedict Arnold. During the Revolution his sympathies were with Eng- land, but owing to the purity of his charac- ter and the impartiality with which he dis- charged his official duties, the government restored him to the bench. His name ap- pears upon our records as late as 1800.

Hon. Thomas Duncan, LL. D., was ad- mitted to the bar in 1781, when he was twenty-one years of age. He was of Scotch- Irish ancestry, born in Carlisle in 1760, ed- ucated under Dr. Ramsey, the historian, and studied law under Hon. Jasper Yeates, then one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. On his admission to the bar he returned to his native place and began the practice of law. His rise was rapid, and in less than ten years he was the acknowledged leader of his profession in the midland counties of the State, and for nearly thirty years he continued to hold this eminent position. He had, during this period, perhaps the largest practice of any lawyer in Pennsylvania outside of Philadel- phia. In 1817 he was appointed by Gover- nor Snyder to the bench of the Supreme Court, in place of his instructor, Judge Yeates, deceased. He shortly after re- moved to Philadelphia, where he continued to reside until his death, Nov. 16th, 1827.

During the ten years he sat upon the bench, associated with Gibson and Tilgh- man, he contributed largely to our stock of judicial opinions, and the reports contain abundant memorials of his industry and

NINETEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.

third Vol. of "Sergeant & Rawle" and end with the seventeenth volume of the same series.

For years before the beginning of the present century and under five of the judges after the adoption of the first Constitution, namely. Smith, Riddle, Henry, Hamilton and Charles Smith, Thomas Duncan prac- ticed at the bar of Cumberland county. At the bar he was distinguished by acuteness of discernment, promptness of decision, an accurate knowledge of character and a ready recourse to the rich stores of his own mind and memory. He was an excellent land and criminal law lawyer, and was par- ticularly strong in the technicalities of spe- cial pleading .* He was enthusiastically de- voted to his profession, indefatigable and zealous, and practiced over a large portion of the State. In appearance he was about five feet six inches high, of small, delicate frame, rather reserved in manners, had rather a shrill voice, wore powder in his hair, knee breeches and buckles, and was very neat and particular in his dress. Upon his monument in the old grave-yard in Car- lisle there is an eloquent panegyric, which, we have been informed, was from the pen of Judge Gibson.

James Armstrong Wilson, whose name appears after the Revolution as a practi- tioner at our bar was the son of Thomas Wilson, of Carlisle, one of the earlier pro- vincial justices. James A. Wilson was edu- cated at Princeton and was graduated about 1771. He studied law with Richard Stock- ton and was admitted to the bar at Easton. He was admitted to our bar on motion of James Wilson in April 1774 and practiced for ten years. He was a major in the Revo- lution. He died in Carlisle March 17, 1788, aged 36 years. "In him," says an obituary notice in Kline's Carlisle Gazette, "the

country has lost a distinguished and inflex- ible patriot."

Among others who practiced at this time was Stephen Chambers (from about 1783) who was from Lancaster and a brother-in- law of John Joseph Henry, who was after- wards appointed Judge of our judicial dis- trict in 1800. There was also John Clark, from York, (1784 and after) who had been a major in the Revolution; a large man, of fine personal appearance, witty, and the de- light of the lawyers who traveled upon the circuit in that day. There was Ross Thompson who had practiced in other courts, admitted in 1784, but who died young. Another, John Andrew Hanna (1785) settled in Harrisburg at about the time of the formation of Dauphin county. He was a son-in-law and executor of John Harris, the founder of Harrisburg. He was elected to Congress from his district in 1797 and served until his death in 1805. There was Ralph Bowie, of York, admitted to our bar in October, 1785, who practiced considerably in our courts from 1798 till after 1800. He was a Scotchman by birth and had probably been admitted to the bar in his native country. He was a well read lawyer and much sought after in important cases of ejectment. He was of fine personal appearance, courtly and dignified in man- ner, and neat and particular in dress. He powdered his hair, wore short clothes in the fashion of the day and had social quali- ties of the most attractive character. The writer was told, some years ago, by the then oldest living member of our bar, that Mr. Bowie was connected in some way with the Gordon Riots in London.

Of James Hamilton, James Riddle, Charles Smith, John Joseph Henry, Thomas Smith, all of whom practiced at this period but became judges subsequently, we will speak later.

Two prominent members of the bar were

* See Col. Porter's remarks in Essay on Gibson.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA.

admitted in 1790, Thomas Creigh and David Watts. The former was the son of Hon. John Creigh, who emigrated from Ireland and settled in Carlisle in 1761. John Creigh was an early justice and one of the nine representatives who signed the first Declaration, June 24, 1776, for the colony of Pennsylvania. Thomas Creigh was born in Carlisle August 16th, 1769. He graduated in the second class which left Dickinson College in 1788. He prob- ably studied law under Thomas Duncan, upon whose motion he was admitted. He died in Carlisle, October, 1809. He was a brother-in-law of Samuel Alexander, Esq., of Carlisle, and of Hon. John Ken- nedy, of the Supreme Court.

David Watts, one of the strongest mem- bers of the early bar, son of Frederick Watts, who was a member of the early Provincial Council, was born in Cumber- land county, October 29th, 1764. He grad- uated in the first class which left the then unpretentious halls of Dickinson College in 1787. He afterwards read law in Phil- adelphia under the eminent jurist and ad- vocate, William Lewis, LL. D., and was admitted to our bar in October, 1790. He soon acquired an immense practice, and became the acknowledged rival of Thomas Duncan, who had been for years the recog- nized leader on this circuit. He had been in the Revolution and in the Whiskey In- surrection, on the side of law and order, in 1794. He was a man of Herculean frame, had a strong, powerful voice, was a forci- ble and impassioned speaker, who gener- ally selected only the strong points of his case and labored upon them with an earn- estness and zeal which approached to fury .* He was the father of the late Hon. Fred-

erick Watts. He died September 25th, 1819.

We have given a brief sketch of our Bar from the earliest times down to the Con- stitution of 1790, when, in the following year, Thomas Smith, the first President Judge of our Judicial District, appears upon the Bench.

From the adoption of this first constitu- tion until the present, the judges who have presided over our courts are as follows:

Thontas Smith, 1791; James Riddle, 1794; John Joseph Henry, 1800; James Hamilton, 1806; Charles Smith, 1819; John Reed, 1820; Samuel Hepburn, 1838; Frederick Watts, 1848; James H. Graham, 1851; Benjamin F. Jenkins, 1871; Martin C. Herman, 1875; Wilbur F. Sadler, 1885; Edward W. Biddle, 1895.

Hon. Thomas Smith first appeared upon the Bench in October term, 1791. He re- sided in Carlisle. He had been a deputy surveyor under the government and thus became well acquainted with the land sys- tem in Pennsylvania, then in progress of formation. He was accounted a good common law lawyer and did a considerable business. He was commissioned Presi- dent Judge by Governor Mifflin on Aug. 25th, 1791. He continued in that posi- tion until his appointment as an associate judge of the Supreme Court on the 3Ist of January, 1794. He was a small man, rather reserved in manner, and of not very social proclivities. He died at an ad- vanced age in the year 1809.

Owing to the necessity of being resworn under the new Constitution the following attorneys "having taken the oath pre- scribed by law," were readmitted at this term of court: James Riddle, Andrew Dun- lap, of Franklin; Thomas Hartley, of York, David Watts, Thomas Nesbitt, Ralph Bowie, Thomas Duncan, Thos. Creigh, Robt. Duncan, James Hamilton and others.

* See Brackenridge's Recollections, where is given a fine word portrait of the contrasting per- sonal appearance and mental characteristics of Watts and Duncan.

NINETEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.

Hon. James Riddle first appears upon the Bench in April term, 1794. He was born in Adams county, graduated at Princeton, and read law at York. He was about thirty years of age when admit- ted to the bar. He had a large practice until his appointment as President Judge of this Judicial District by Gov. Mifflin in Feb. 179 -. He was well read in science, literature and law, a good advocate and very successful with the jury. He was a tall man, broad shouldered and lusty, with a noble face and profile and pleasing man- ner. He was an ardent Federalist, and, owing to the strong partisan feeling which existed, he resigned his position as judge and returned to the practice of law. He died in Chambersburg about 1837.

John Joseph Henry, the third President Judge of our Judicial District, was from Lancaster, and was born about the year 1758. He was appointed in 1800. He had previously been the first President Judge of Dauphin county, commissioned 1793. He was, as a youth, in the Revolu- tion and the expedition against Quebec, under General Benedict Arnold. He was taken prisoner at Quebec. He was a large man, probably over six feet in height. He died in Lancaster in 1810.

And now we have arrived at the dawn of a new century. A change had come or was coming upon us, and many of the old forms and customs of Colonial days were passing away. The Continental dress, the powdered queue, the dignified ceremon- ials of the courts, and the refined manners of the gentlemen of the old regime were then becoming a mat- ter more of memory than of observation. Judge Henry was on the Bench. Watts and Duncan were unquestionably the lead- ing lawyers. They were engaged proba- bly in more than one half of the cases which were tried and were always upon

opposite sides. Hamilton came later, six years afterwards to be upon the Bench. There was also Charles Smith, who was to succeed Hamilton; Bowie, of York, and Shippen, of Lancaster, with their queues and Continental knee breeches, and the Duncan brothers, James and Samuel, and Thomas Creigh, all of them engaged in active practice at our bar in the beginning of the century. At this time the lawyers still traveled upon the circuit, and circuit courts were held also, as will be seen by the following entry: "Circuit Court held at Carlisle for the County of Cumberland, this 4th day of May, 1801, before Hon. Jasper Yeates and Hon. Hugh Henry Brackenridge, justices of the Supreme Court.

The most important admission to the bar under Henry was that of John Bannister Gibson, who was to become afterwards Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. He was ad- mitted on motion of his instructor, Thomas Duncan, Esq., at the March term 1803, hav- ing studied law under his direction for the space of two years after having arrived at the age of twenty-one. Ralph Bowie, Chas. Smith and William Brown were his com- mittee of examination. Gibson was then aged 23, having been born on November 8th, 1780. He was graduated from Dickinson College in the class of 1798. From 1805 to 1812 he seems to have had a fair legal prac- tice in Cumberland county, particularly when we consider that the field was then "occupied by such men as Duncan, Watts, Bowie, of York, and Smith of Lancaster, who, at the time of which we speak, had but few equals in the State."* His reputation, however, at this period, was not that of dili- gence in his profession, and it is probable that at this time he had no great liking for it. In 1810 he was elected by the Demo-

* Porter's Essay on Gibson.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA.

cratic party of Cumberland county to the House of Representatives, and, upon the expiration of his term, in 1812, he was appointed President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the Eleventh Judicial District, composed of the counties of Tio- ga, Bradford, Susquehanna and Luzerne. Upon the death of Judge Brackenridge in 1816 Judge Gibson was appointed by Gov- ernor Snyder, Associate Justice of the Su- preme Court, where, if Tilghman was the Nestor, Gibson became the Ulysses of the Bench. This appointment seems to have awakened his intellect and stimulated his ambition. He became more devoted to study and seems to have resolved to make himself master of law as a science. Coke, particularly, seems to have been his favor- ite author, and his quaint, forcible and condensed style, together with the sever- ity of his logic, seem to have had no small influence in the development of Gibson's mind, and in implanting there the seeds of that love for the English Common Law which was afterwards everywhere so con- spicuous in his writings.

Upon the death of Judge Tilghman, Gib- son was appointed his successor as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl- vania, commissioned 18th of May, 1827. From this time forward, says Col. A. Por- ter, in his admirable essay, the gradual and uniform progress of his mind may be traced in his opinions with a certainty and satis- faction which are perhaps not offered in the case of any other judge known to our annals. His original style, compared to that in which he now began to write, was like the sinews of a growing lad compared to the well knit muscles of a man. No one who has carefully studied his opinions can have failed to remark the increased power and pith which distinguished them from this time forward." In the language of Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, "he lived to an

advanced age, his knowledge increasing with increasing years, while his great intel- lect remained unimpaired."

His opinions were among the earliest American decisions to be recognized in the courts of Westminster, England. It has been said of them that they can be "picked out from others like gold coin from among copper." He was for more than half of a long life an associate or chief justice upon the bench, and his opinions extend through no less than seventy volumes of our re- ports,* an imperishable monument to his Lancaster. He removed to Philadelphia, 1853 in the seventy-third year of his age. Upon the marble monument erected over his remains in the grave-yard at Carlisle is the following beautiful inscription from the pen of the late Hon. Jeremiah S. Black:

In the various knowledge Which, forms the perfect SCHOLAR He had no superior. Independent, upright and able, He had all the highest qualities of a great JUDGE.

In the difficult science of Jurisprudence, He mastered every Department,

Discussed almost every question, and Touched no subject which he did not adorn. He won in early manhood

And retained to the close of a long life The AFFECTION of his brethren on the Bench,

The RESPECT of the Bar And the CONFIDENCE of the people.

Judge Gibson was a man of large propor- tions, a giant both in physique and intel- lect. He was considerably over six feet in heiglit, with a muscular, well proportioned frame, indicative of strength and energy, and a countenance expressing strong char- acter and manly beauty. "His face," says

* From 2 Sargeant & Rawle to 7 Harris.

NINETEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.

David Paul Brown,* "was full of intel- lect, sprightliness and benevolence, and, of course, eminently handsome; his manners were remarkable for their simplicity, warmth, frankness and generosity. There never was a man more free from affectation or pretension of every sort." "Until the day of his death," says Porter, "although his bearing was mild and unostentatious, so striking was his personal appearance that few persons to whom he was unknown, could have passed him by in the street without remark."

Of his wide learning, in language and literature, and in other sciences than law, we have not space to speak, and we must refer the reader to the able tributes of men like Judge Black and Thaddeus Stevens and to the more lengthy biographical no- tices of this great judge, of whom, as yet, no sufficient biography exists.

Alas! said the brilliant Rufus Choate, re- alizing the evanescent character of a law- yer's fame, "there is no immortality, but a book." But the learned Grotius, who had written many books seeing still deeper, that fame was but a postponed oblivion, ex- claimed when dying, "Behold, I have con- sumed my life with laborious trifling." He had not done so, nor did Gibson, whose auto-biography at least is clearly written in the history of the growth and development of the Common Law in Pennsylvania.

Others admitted under Judge Henry were-George Metzger, born 1782, gradu- ated at Dickinson College 1798; read law with David Watts and was admitted March 1805. He served as prosecuting attorney and as member of Legislature in 1813-14. He died in Carlisle June 10th, 1879. He was the founder of Metzger Female Col- lege. Andrew Carothers, born in Cumber- land county, about 1778; read law with

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Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Nineteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania, Part 13

Author: Wiley, Samuel T. , Esq., editor Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Press of York Daily Number of Pages: 612

Author: Wiley, Samuel T. , Esq., editor
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Press of York Daily
Number of Pages: 612