USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Nineteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania > Part 14
USA > Pennsylvania > Adams County > Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Nineteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania > Part 14
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David Watts; admitted to the bar in 1805. Among his pupils were the late Hon. Fred- erick Watts and Hon. James H. Graham. "He became," says Judge Watts, "an ex- cellent practical and learned lawyer, and very soon took a high place at the bar of Cumberland county, which at that time ranked amongst its members some of the best lawyers of the State. Watts, Duncan, Alexander and Mahan were at different times his competitors, and amongst these he acquired a large and lucrative practice, which continued through his whole life. Mr. Carothers was remarkable for his ami- ability of temper, his purity of character, his unlimited disposition of charity and his love of justice." He died July 26th, 1836, aged 58 years.
James Hamilton, the fourth judge under the constitution, appears upon the bench in 1806. He was an Irishman by birth, who was admitted to the bar in his native coun- try, and emigrated to America before the Revolution. He was well educated, large, very fat, very eccentric, very social, very dignified as a judge and very indifferent as to his personal appearance. He was con- sidered an excellent lawyer and tolerable speaker.
"Judge Hamilton," says Brackenridge in his Recollections, "was a learned and ele- gant lawyer, remarkably slow and impres- sive, and in his charges to the jury too minute. He had received his edu- cation in Dublin. Among the younger members of the bar," continues he, "Mr. Gibson, now Chief Justice of the State, was the most conspicuous. He even then had a high reputation for the clearness of his judgment and the superiority of his taste."
Hamilton was admitted in 1781, had held the office of Deputy Attorney General at the bar, and was appointed by Governor Snyder to the bench in 1806, in which posi-
** The Forum,
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tion he continued until his death in 1819, aged 77 years.
He was in the habit of having the tip- staves attend him when he walked from his residence to the court. Watts and Duncan were still leaders of the bar under Hamil- ton. Watts came to the bar somewhat later than Duncan, but both had been ad- mitted, and the latter had practiced, under the justices prior to the Constitution; but from that time (1790) both were leaders of the bar under the first five judges who pre- sided after the Constitution, until the ap- pointment of Duncan to the Supreme Bench in 1817. David Watts died two years after.
There is a legend to the effect that a cer- tain act, which can be found in the Pamph- let Laws of Pennsylvania, (1810, p.136) for- bidding the citation of English precedents subsequent to 1776, was passed at the insti- gation of Judge Hamilton in order to get rid of the multitudinous authorities with which Mr. Duncan was wont to confess his judgment.
Among the prominent attorneys who practiced for many years at our bar, who were admitted under Hamilton, was Isaac Brown Parker, March 1806, on motion of Charles Smith, Esq. Mr. Parker had read law under James Hamilton just previous to the time of his appointment to the bench. His committee were Ralph Bowie, Charles Smith and James Duncan, Esqs. He was a gentleman of wealth and refinement and a prominent lawyer of his day. Alexander Mahan, who had graduated at Dickinson College (1805) and who had read law under Thomas Duncan, was admitted August 1808, Gibson, the elder Watts and Car- others being his committee. He was ad- mitted to Perry county bar in 1821, and was, says Judge Junkin, "a man of great oratorical power,"* Hon. William Ramsey * Sketch of Perry County Bar, by Hon. B. F. Junkin.
was admitted same date. He was Prothono- tary for many years and a prominent Dem- ocrat politician, (from 1827 to 1831) in the latter year of which he died. He began practice at the bar in 1827.
James Hamilton, Jr., born in Carlisle October 16, 1793; graduated from Dickin- son College in 1812, read law under Isaac B. Parker, was admitted while his father was upon the bench, (April 1816). Being in affluent circumstances he practiced but lit- tle at the bar, and died June 23, 1873.
John Williamson, brother-in-law of Hon. Samuel Hepburn, with whom he was for a long time associated, born in this county Sept. 14, 1789, graduated from Dickinson College (1809), read law under Martin Luther of Baltimore, Md., (the "Federal bull dog" and counsel of Aaron Burr) and was admitted to this bar in August 1811. He was a very learned lawyer as a counselor. He died in Philadelphia September 10, I870.
John Duncan Mahan, who was admitted under Hamilton in April 1817, was born in 1814, and read law under the instruction of his uncle, Thomas Duncan. He became a leader of the Carlisle Bar at a brilliant period, until, in 1833, he removed to Pitts- burg and became a prominent member of the bar of that city, where he died July 3, 1861. He was a man of rare endow- ments. "He had" says Judge McClure, of Pittsburg, "the gift, the power and the grace of the orator, and in addressing the passions, the sympathies and the peculiari- ties of men he seldom made mistakes. His every gesture was graceful, his style of elo- quence was the proper word in the proper place for the occasion, and his voice was music." He was affable in temper, bril- liant in conversation, and was among the leaders of our bar under Hamilton, Smith and Reed, at a time when it had strong
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men by whom his strength was tested and his talents tried .*
An unknown writer speaking of his re- miniscences of the bar at about this period says, "John D. Mahan was its bright parti- cular star, young, graceful, eloquent, and with a jury irrisistable. Equal to him in general ability, and superior, perhaps, in le- gal acumen, was his contemporary and ri- val, Samuel Alexander. Then there was the vehement Andrew Carothers, and young Frederick Watts, just admitted in time to reap the advantages of his father's reputation and create an enduring one of his own. And George Metzger, with his treble voice and hand on his side, amusing the court and spectators with his not over- ly delicate facetiae. And there was William Ramsey, with his queue, a man of many clients and the sine qua non of the Demo- cratic party."
Hon. Charles Smith was appointed to succeed Hamilton as the fifth President Judge of our Judicial District in the year 1819. He was born at Philadelphia March 4, 1765, graduated at first commencement of Washington College, Md., of which his father was founder and provost. He read law with his brother, Wm. Moore Smith, at Easton, Pa. He was a colleague of Simon Snyder in the convention which framed the first Constitution of Pennsyl- vania, and was a distinguished member of that talented body of men. Although dif- fering from Mr. Snyder in politics, they were, for more than thirty years, firm friends, and when Snyder became Gover- nor of the State for three successive terms, Mr. Smith was the confidential advisor in many important matters. Mr. Smith mar- ried in 1719, a daughter of Jasper Yeates, one of the Supreme Court judges of the
State. In the circuit he was associated with such men as Duncan, the elder Watts, Charles Hall, John Woods, James Hamil- ton and a host of luminaries of the Middle Bar. He was a great land lawyer and in trials of ejectment at the bar (then of fre- quent occurrence) his learning was best displayed. He is the author of the book known as "Smith's Laws of Pennsylvania," where the land law of the State was ex- haustively treated. When appointed judge in 1819, this district was composed of the counties of Cumberland and Franklin. Judge Smith shortly afterwards became the first presiding judge of the District Court at Lancaster. He removed to Philadelphia, where he died in 1841, aged 75 years.
Hon. John Reed, LL. D., appears upon the Bench in 1820. He was born in York, now Adams county, in 1786, read law un- der Wm. Maxwell, of Gettysburg, was ad- mitted to the bar and practiced for some years in Westmoreland county. In 1815 he was elected to the State Senate, and on July 10th, 1820, was commissioned by Gov- ernor Finley, President Judge of the Ninth Judicial District, then composed of the counties of Cumberland, Adams and Perry. When in 1838, by a change in the Consti- tution, his commission expired, he re- sumed his practice at the bar, and contin- ued it until his death, which occurred at Carlisle, January 19th, 1850. In 1839 the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by Washington College, Pa. In 1833 the new board of trustees of Dickin- son College established a professorship of law, and Judge Reed was elected to fill that department. Many who graduated at the Law School then formed, became eminent afterwards and occupied high po- litical and judicial positions. Judge Reed, we may mention, was the author of three volumes known as the Pennsylvania Blackstone.
* For full tribute of Judge McClure see earlier history of the Bar, by Bennett Bellman in Dr. Wing's History of Cumberland County.
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At this period the Bar was particularly strong. The Elder Watts was dead and Duncan was upon the Supreme Bench. But among the practitioners of that day were such men as Carothers, Alexander, Mahan, Ramsey, Williamson, Metzger, William M. Biddle and Isaac Brown Parker; while among those admitted under him who were afterwards to attain emi- nence on the bench or at the bar, were such men as Charles B. Penrose, Hugh Gaullagher, Frederick Watts, Wm. M. Biddle, James H. Graham, Samuel Hep- , burn, William Sterrett Ramsey, S. Dunlap Adair and John Brown Parker, a galaxy of names which has not since been equaled.
Gen. Samuel Alexander was born in Car- lisle September 20, 1792; graduated from Dickinson College (1812), read law at Greensburg, with his brother, Maj. John B. Alexander, and became a prominent lawyer in that part of the State. He set- tled in Carlisle and began practice here at about 1818, and soon acquired a prominent position. He was a strong advocate, elo- quent, with large command of language and was a master of invective. In this he had no equal at the bar, and in the exami- nation of witnesses also, he had no super- ior. He died in Carlisle in July, 1845 aged 52 years.
From the late Hon. Lemuel Todd, who was a pupil of Mr. Alexander, we learned that Mr. Alexander was possessed of a ten- acious memory and seldom forgot a case which he had once read. That he was possessed of great tact and an intuitive quickness of perception. That in the man- agement of a case he was apt, watchful and ingenius, so that if driven from one posi- tion he was, like a skillful general, always quick to seize another, and that, in this re- spect, his talents only brightened amid diffi- culties, and shone forth the more resplend- ant as the battle became more hopeless.
Hugh Gaullagher, a practitioner of the bar under Reed, read law with Hon. Rich- ard Coulter, of Greensburg, and shortly after his admission commenced the prac- tice of law at Carlisle. This was about 1824, from which time he continued to practice until about the middle of the cen- tury. He died in Carlisle, April 14, 1856. He was an Irishman by birth, eccentric, long limbed, awkward in his gait, and in his delivery had the Irish brogue, but lie was popular, affable, instructive in conver- sation, and well read, particularly in his- tory and in the elements of his profession. He possessed inherent humor and a line of fun, had a large circle of friends, and was among the number of the old lawyers who were fond of a dinner and a song. He was strong as a counselor, fond of the old cases, and would rather quote an opinion by my Lord Hale or Mansfield than the latest delivered by our courts Governor Porter at one time thought very seriously of appointing him judge of this district, but was deterred from so doing on account of his nationality. This has been told to the writer by one to whom Governor Por- ter himself communicated the fact.
Hon. Charles B. Penrose, born near Philadelphia, October 6th, 1798, read law with Samuel Ewing, of Philadelphia, and immediately moved to Carlisle. He soon acquired a prominent position at the bar. He was elected to the State Senate in 1833 and on the expiration of his term was re- elected. He soon achieved distinction among the men of ability who were then chosen to fill this office. In 1841 he was appointed by President Harrison solicitor of the treasury, which position he held un- til the close of President Tyler's adminis- tration. After practicing in Carlisle he settled in Lancaster, then in Philadelphia, successfully pursuing liis profession, and. in 1856, was again elected as a reform can-
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didate, to the State Senate, during which term he died of pneumonia at Harrisburg, April 6th, 1857. In appearance Mr. Pen- rose was slightly above the medium height, with white hair and a fine intellectual cast of countenance. In his character he was unselfish, benevolent, and earnest in what- ever he undertook to accomplish; his man- ners polished and courteous, and in short, those of a gentleman.
William M. Biddle was another brilliant practitioner who was admitted under Reed. He was born in Philadelphia July 3, 1801. He was a great-great-grandson of Nicholas Scull, Surveyor General of the Province of Pennsylvania from 1748 to 1761, who, by direction of Governor Hamilton laid out the town of Carlisle in 1753. His father, William Biddle, was a first cousin to Nicholas Biddle, the celebrated financier. William M. Biddle read law in Reading with his brother-in-law, Samuel Baird, Esq., and shortly after his admission to the bar, in 1826, he moved to Carlisle, where another brother-in-law, Charles B. Penrose, who had recently opened a law office there and was then rising into a good practice, resided. Mr. Biddle soon ac- quired a large practice and took a high position at the bar, which he retained until his death-a period of nearly thirty years. He died in Philadelphia February 28th, 1855. He was not only a genial gentleman, and able lawyer, but was endowed with a large fund of wit, which combined with his high moral and intellectual qualities made him a leader at the bar at a time when inany brilliant men were among its mem- bers.
Hon. Charles McClure was admitted to the bar under Reed in 1826. He was born in Carlisle, graduated from Dickinson Col- lege and afterwards became a member of Congress, and still later, 1843-45, Secre- tary of State of Pennsylvania. He was a
son-in-law of Chief Justice Gibson. He did not practice extensively at the bar. He removed to Pittsburg, where he died in I846.
Hon. William Sterrett Ramsey was one of the most promising practitioners ad- mitted under Reed. He was born in Car- lisle June 16th, 1810. He went to Dickin- son College and in 1829 was sent to Europe to complete his education, and to repair, by change of scene, an already debilitated constitution. In the same year he was ap- pointed by our minister to St. James (Hon- Lewis McLane), an attache to the American Legation. He visited Sir Walter Scott at Abbottsford to whom he bore letters from Washington Irving.
After the Revolution of the three days, July 1830, he was sent with dispatches to France, and spent much of his time, while there, in the hotel of General Lafayette, and in his saloons met many of the celebrated men of that period. In 1831 he returned to Carlisle and began the study of law under his father, William Ramsey. He continued his studies under Andrew Carothers, was admitted to the bar in 1833, and in 1838 was elected as a Democrat to Congress and at the expiration of his term was re-elected. He was at the time the youngest member of Congress in the House. He died, be- fore being qualified a second time. by his own hand, in Barnum's Hotel, Baltimore, Md., October 22d, 1840, aged only thirty years. Sic transit gloria. Most of the above facts are taken from an obituary no- tice supposed to have been written by his friend, James Buchanan, later, President of the United States.
S. Dunlap Adair was another of the bril- liant lawyers admitted under Reed (in Jan. 1835) and who practiced for a period of fifteen years. While a youth he attended the classical school of Joseph Casey, Sr., the father of Hon. Joseph Casey (of Casey
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Report renown) at Newville, Pa., and was among the brightest of his pupils. He was apt as a Latin scholar and later acquired a knowledge of other (modern) languages. He was well read in English literature. He studied law under Hon. Frederick Watts and soon after his admission was appoint- ed Deputy Attorney General for the county. He was a candidate of his party, when Wm. Ramsey, the younger, was elected. In stature below medium height, delicately formed, near-sighted, he had a chaste, clear style and was a pleasant speaker. He was, with William M. Biddle, James H. Graham and William M. McClintock, of Philadel- phia, counsel for Rev. Dr. McClintock in the anti-slavery riots which occurred in Carlisle in the spring of 1847. He died in Carlisle September 23d, 1850.
John Brown Parker, Esq., son of Isaac B. Parker, is the last whom we shall men- tion of the practitioners admitted under Reed. Born in Carlisle, October 5th, 1816, he was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1834; read law with Hon. Frederick Watts for the period of one year, completing his course of study in the Dick- inson College law school under Judge Reed, and was admitted to practice in April 1838. He was for some years associated in practice with his preceptor, Judge Watts. His large means rendered the practice of law unnecessary and he retired about 1865 and moved to Philadelphia where he re- sided for some years. He died in Carlisle, where he had again made his home, in the summer of 1888. A thorough gentleman and a fine classical (and particularly Hora- cean) scholar he is still remembered by the older members of the bar as one who was equally distinguished for his uniform cour- tesy, gentlemanly urbanity and unpreten- tious but real literary attainments.
During the time when Judge Reed was upon the bench, Hon. John Kennedy, who
had studied law under the Elder Hamilton and had been admitted under Riddle in 1798, was appointed to the bench of the Su- preme Court in 1830. He was born in Cumberland county in June 1774; gradu- ated from Dickinson College in 1795, and after his admission to this bar moved to a northern district where he became the com- peer of men like James Ross, John Lyon, Parker Campbell, and others scarcely less distinguished. He remained upon the bench until his death, August 26th, 1846. He was buried in the old grave-yard at Carlisle.
Among those who did not practice at all or for any length of time at the Carlisle bar, who were admitted under Reed, but who attained to eminence elsewhere were Hon. Wm. B. McClure, of Carlisle, who be- came judge of the common pleas and court of quarter sessions at Pittsburg, from 1850 to 1861, in which latter year he died; An- drew Galbreath Miller, LL. D., a student of Carothers, appointed by President Van Buren, judge in the territory of Wisconsin and afterwards by President Polk, a United States judge of that State; Benjamin Mc- Intyre, of Bloomfield, who read with Chas. B. Penrose; Samuel McCroskey, who turn- ing to theology, became Bishop of Michi- gan; Hon. Henry M. Watts, afterwards of Philadelphia, appointed by President Johnston, minister to the court of Austria; Hon. Andrew Parker, a pupil of Carothers who moved to Mifflintown, and became a member of Congress. Then there was Hon. Charles McClure, of Carlisle, student of John D. Mahan, who became a member of Congress and in 1843-5, Secretary of the State of Pennsylvania; Hon. James X. Mc- Lanahan, student of Carothers, who be- came a member of Congress (1849-53); the learned Dr. Wm. N. Nevin, professor of ancient languages, and late of English lit- erature and Belles Lettres in Franklin and
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Marshall college. Lemuel G. Branden- berry, who practiced here for a time, but was appointed by President Taylor one of the first territorial judges of Utah; Hon. John P. Hobert (examined and admitted August 10, 1836,) who was auditor general under Governor Ritner; Hon. Andrew G. Curtin, (examined by Williamson, Gaul- lagher and James H. Graham) who was war governor of Pennsylvania; Rev. Dr. Alfred Nevin, LL. D., (same date and committee as Curtin, Jan. 1847); the venerable Hon- Francis W. Hughs, Secretary of the Com- monwealth under Gov. Bigler, (still within the recollection of the writer wearing his white hair in a powdered queue); Hon. Joseph Casey, who read law with Lemuel G. Brandenberry, and who became a mem- ber of Congress, (1849-51), chief justice of of the court of claims at Washington, and reporter of the Supreme court of Pennsyl- vania (1855-60), in the volumes which bear lıis name.
Hon. Samuel Hepburn, the seventh Pres- ident-Judge, was the successor of Judge Reed, and first appeared upon the bench in April 1839. He was born in 1807 in Wil- liamsport, Pa., at which place he began the study of law under James Armstrong, who was afterwards a Judge on the Supreme Bench. He completed his legal studies at Dickinson College under Reed, and was admitted to the bar of Cumberland county in November 1834. He was appointed ad- junct professor of law in the law school un- der Judge Reed, and before he had been at the bar five years he was appointed by Governor Porter President Judge of the Ninth Judicial District, then embracing Cumberland, Perry and Juniata. He was at this time the youngest judge in Penn- sylvania, to whom a President Judge's commission had been ever offered. Among important cases the McClintock trial took place while he was upon the bench. After
the expiration of his term he resumed the practice of law in Carlisle, where he still resides. The degree of LL. D. was con- ferred upon him by Washington College, Pa.
The most prominent practitioners ad- mitted under Judge Hepburn were J. Ellis Bonham, Lemuel Todd, Wm. H. Miller, Benjamin F. Junkin, Wm. Penrose. Of these J. Ellis Bonham was born in Hunterdon Co., N. J., March 31st 1816; was graduated from Jefferson College, Pa .; studied law at Dickinson College under Reed, and was admitted to the bar in August 1839. He was soon appointed Deputy Attorney Gen- eral of the county-a position which he filled with conspicuous ability. His legal, literary and political reading and attain- ments were extensive. In 1851 he was elected to the Legislature, and during his term was the acknowledged leader of the House as Hon. Charles R. Buckalew was of tlie Sen- ate. After the expiration of his term he was nominated for Congress and although he was in a district largely Democratic, eminently fitted for the position and had himself, great influence in the political or- ganization to which he belonged, he was defeated by the sudden birth of the Know- Nothing party. He died shortly after, of congestion of the lungs, March 19th, 1855, before his talents had reached their prime, after having been at the bar for fifteen years, and before he had attained the age of forty.
In appearance Mr. Bonham was rather under than above the medium height. He was of nervous, sanguine temperament with a countenance that was scholarly and refined. As an advocate he was eminently a graceful and polished speaker, attractive in his manner, with a poetic imagination and chaste and polished dic- tion.
Hon. Lemuel Todd was born at Carlisle
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July 29th, 1817; was graduated from Dick- inson College in the class of 1839; read law under General Samuel Alexander and was admitted to practice in August, 1841. He was a partner of General Alexander until the time of his death in 1843. He was elected to Congress from the Eighteenth District on the Know-Nothing ticket as against J. Ellis Bonham on the Demo- cratic, in 1854, and was elected Congress- man-at-Large in 1875. He was chairman of the first State Committee of the Know- Nothing party in 1855-56 and delegate to its first and only National Convention in February 1856. In this year he presided over the Union State Convention (not yet known as "Republican") and in the suc- ceeding year was chairman of the first Re- publican State Committee. He ran as a candidate for Governor in 1857, being sec- ond on the list of 13 candidates, David Wilmot being nominated. He ran as a candidate again in 1860 but withdrew in favor of Andrew G. Curtin. He was tem- porary chairman of the State Convention at Harrisburg in 1883, and had presided over the State Conventions of the Republi- can party that nominated David Wilmot for Governor, at Harrisburg; at Pittsburg that nominated Gov. Curtin and at Phila- delphia that advocated for President, Gen. Grant. He practiced continuously at the bar except for a period during the late war, a portion of which time he acted as in- spector general of Pennsylvania troops un- der Governor Curtin. He died in Carlisle May IIth, 1891. General Todd was a fear- less and eloquent advocate, and as an ora- tor he was in his prime and later years a peerless leader of the bar, whether in the court, upon the stump or before some pub- lic convention or assembly.
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