Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 16

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848-
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck
Number of Pages: 1318

USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania > Part 16

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

1885, Aug.

Miller S. Allen.

The first lawyers who practiced at Montrose were from outside of the county, mostly from Wilkes-Barre. These itinerant lawyers fol- lowed the judges around on horseback, and naturally the Wilkes-Barre lawyers, who had probably many clients among the people of the new county, that they had gained while Susque- hanna was under the jurisdiction of Luzerne, were the first to come here. Ebenezer Bowman, David Scott, Garrick Mallery, Nathan Palmer, Putnam Catlin and Henry Wilson were ad- mitted the first term, in January, 1813. The adjoining counties of Bradford and Wayne also furnished some of these itinerants-many of them became men of renown, high in the councils of the nation as legislators or as Supreme Court and presiding judges. Horace Williston, of Athens, Bradford County, practiced here for many years. The members of Susquehanna

HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

directors of the county, asking them, upon his own responsibility, to attend a convention of school directors at the court-house for the pur- pose of consulting together upon the best method of advancing the school interests. He often made addresses at agricultural fairs at home and elsewhere. In 1856 he delivered an address before the New York State Agricultural Society, at its sixteenth annual fair. He took his stand in favor of the true dignity of labor, and said : " I can never consent that the non-producing class shall claim in any respect a superiority over those who rise in the morning of every day to daily toil, ' who work laboring with their own hands.'" In his earlier days he was colonel of a regiment of militia, and he had the best-drilled regiment in the division. In politics he pur- sned the course which suited his convictions. In early life he was a Democrat, and was defeated as a candidate of that party for Congress in 1836. In the conflict between Jackson and Adams he took sides with Mr. Clay and remained a Whig until the formation of the Republican party. He was a friend of General Scott, and went to Washington to see him when the War of the Rebellion began. Jannary 5, 1861, he wrote to Hon. Jeremiah Black, Secretary of State, as- suring him that the people " demanded bold, strong and decided measures in sustaining the Constitution, the laws and the Union against all aggression." He was appointed, in connection with Colonel Swaim and Judge Swan, of Ohio, to visit Washington in May, 1861, and present the views of the "Nine War Governors," who held a meeting at Cleveland, Ohio, and sent as- surances to Lincoln of their support and co-opcra- tion. Judge Jessup was zealous in his support of the government during the war. He was also an advocate of temperance. In fact, every good cause seemed to find in him an earnest and able advocate. His scholarship was recognized by Hamilton College, in 1848, by conferring upon him the degree of LL.D. He was a ruling elder and Sunday-school superintendent in Mon- trose Presbyterian Church for a great many years, where his "glowing arguments and pa- thetic appeals fitly supplemented the pastor's sermons." His life and character influenced the community where he lived in a marked de-

gree. He was widely known and highly hon- ored in his church ; was vice-president of the A. B. C. F. M., and cheerfully gave up two of his sons as foreign missionarics. In July, 1820, he married Amanda Harris, of Long Island, and they had a family of eleven children,-among them Jane R., wife of Col. J. B. Salisbury, of New York; Mary G., wife of F. B. Chandler, of Montrose; Harriet A., wife of Isaac L. Post, of Scranton ; Hon. William H. Jessup; Rev. Henry H. Jessup, D. D., professor in the theo- logical seminary at Beirut ; and Rev. Samuel Jessup, who has charge of the printing depart- ment at Beirut ; Fannie M .; George A., vice- president of the Scranton City Bank; Phobe Ann, deceased, first wife of Judge Alfred Hand, and Huntting C. Jessup, Esq. Judge William Jessnp died at Montrose, September 11, 1868, aged seventy-one. His wife died June 13, 1883, in the eighty-fifth year of her age.

HON. DAVID WILMOT, author of the " Wil- mot Proviso," was a native of Bethany, Wayne County, where he was born in 1814. His father, Randall Wilmot, settled in Dimock township from Bethany about 1832, where he kept a store for some time, but subsequently removed to the shore of Elk Lake, and after- wards left the county. David Wilmot in early life evinced a great love for books, and, with the aids obtained from the library at Woodburne, became well-read in many of its most valuable volumes, and especially verscd in those advoca- ting anti-slavery principles. He read law at Wilkes-Barre, was admitted to practice, and subsequently settled at Towanda, Pa. In 1844 he received the unanimous nomination of the Democracy of the Twelfth Congressional Dis- trict, comprised of Bradford, Tioga and Sus- quehanna Counties, afterwards known as the " Wilmot District," and was chosen by a large majority. In the Twenty-ninth Congress, which met in December, 1845, was consum- mated the annexation of Texas, and the " Wil- mot Proviso" provided that in any territory acquired from Mexico "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of the territory, except for crime, etc." Mr. Wilmot was returned to Congress by a unanimous nomination and re-election in 1846,

THE BENCH AND BAR.

the slavery question not entering into the can- vass. In 1850, having received the nomina- tion from his party, the pro-slavery branch of the Democracy set about defeating his return to Congress, whereupon Mr. Wilmot at once offered to give way to any man who should be chosen that would represent the principles for which he had so long and earnestly labored, and, accordingly, Hon. Galnsha A. Grow, of Susquehanna County, was named, accepted and elected. Under the provisions of the amend- ment to the Constitution making the judiciary elective, Mr. Wilmot was chosen president judge of the judicial district comprised of Bradford and Susquehanna Counties in 1851, and presided on the bench until 1857, when he resigned, and became the candidate of the Re- publican party for Governor. He was defeated by William F. Packer, through the treachery of the Conservative and Know-Nothing leaders, and was restored to his place on the bench, by appointment, in place of Judge Bullock, who had been appointed to fill the vacancy caused by his resignation. Judge Wilmot was re- elected to fill the place, and served until he was elected to the United States Senate, where he took his seat on March 18, 1861, thereby filling the vacancy caused by the selection of Gen. Simon Cameron, by President Lincoln, to be Secretary of War. At the conclusion of his Senatorial term he was appointed by President Lincoln a judge of the Court of Claims, which office he held up to the time of his death, March 16, 1868. David Wilmot obtained a world-wide reputation by his historic " Wilmot Proviso," and honored the district that he rep- resented. He believed in tariff for revenne, and made powerful speeches in advocacy of that doctrine in Congress. He was fearless and outspoken in his opposition to the extension of slavery in the Territories, and by his powerful and persuasive eloquence on the stump carried the district with him, changing it from a strong Democratic to a Republican district, which Hon. G. A. Grow represented with credit to himself and the district for a number of terms, carrying out the views of Mr. Wilmot.

HON. FARRIS B. STREETER was born in Harford township September 24, 1819. His

father, Dr. Joseph B. Streeter, a native of Con- necticut, settled in the township in 1812, where he practiced medicine nearly half a century and died at an advanced age. Farris B. was next to the eldest of six children and was educated at the district school, Harford Academy (an institution then just opened by Preston Rich- ardson) and at Clinton Liberal Institute, Clin- ton, N. Y. After teaching at Harford Academy for about one year he commenced reading law with Hon. George W. Woodward, of Wilkes- Barre, and finished his course with Davis Dimock, at Montrose, and-was admitted to the Susquehanna County bar at April term, 1841, where he continued the practice of law until his appointment as judge. He won his way to honorable distinction as a lawyer in competition with some of the niost eminent men who have graced the profession in the county.

He was appointed district attorney by the Governor in 1843 and held the office until 1847. In the fall of 1848 he was elected State Senator from the district composed of Bradford, Susque- hanna and Wayne, and served one term of three years. In the summer of 1853 he was appointed solicitor of the treasury, at Washington, by President Pierce, which position he resigned at the beginning of Buchanan's administration. Disapproving of the repeal of the Missouri Conipromise and the whole policy of the adminis- tration in its dealings with Kansas, he severed his connection with the Democratic party and became a Republican. In March, 1865, on the resignation of Judge Mercur, Governor Curtin appointed him president judge of the Thirteenth District, composed of Bradford and Susquehanna, and he was elected the following fall for a full term. After Susquehanna County became a separate judicial district (the Thirty- fourth) he was clected president judge thereof in the fall of 1875 for the term of ten years. . He resigned August 14, 1877, to take effect the 20th inst., but before the expiration of that time, Sunday, August 19th, death closed his earthly career.

In all the relations of life he was an amiable and accomplished man, of tender sensibilities and a kind heart. Modest and unassuming in deportment, he was firm and unyielding in the

HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

discharge of duty and in the maintenance of his natural convictions. Cautious and safe as an adviser, fluent and entertaining as a speaker, calm, candid and forcible as an advocate, he commanded the confidence of the jury and enlisted the attention of the court. In a reso- lution drafted by a committee composed of W. H. Jessup, Franklin Frazer, J. B. McCollum, W. W. Watson and E. L. Blakeslee his charac- ter as a judge is summarized in the following resolution :

"That in the discharge of his official duties his well-considered decisions were the result of an im- partial and thorough investigation ; always cautious, he was slow to act when he feared injustice might be done, and in acts of discretion ever ready to follow the leadings of the moral sense of the community ; affable and courteous, he still always maintained a true dignity, and while justice was ever administered with firmness, it was so kindly done as to impress all that it was for the highest good."

His only child, Harry Streeter, is a practicing lawyer at Towanda, Bradford County, Pa.

PAUL DUDLEY MORROW, son of John Morrow, a farmer who settled at Wilmot, Bradford County, in 1823, was born February 17, 1828. He attended the common schools, and was a teacher for two winters. In 1846 he entered Harford Academy, where he prepared for college. He entered Hamilton College in 1848, from which he graduated in 1852. Hav- ing read law in the senior year under Professor Dwight, he entered the law-office of Ulysses Mercur, at Towanda, and was admitted to the bar September term, 1853. He was elected district attorney of Bradford County in 1856, and appointed additional law judge of the Thirteenth District, which was composed of Bradford and Susquehanna Counties, March 1, 1870. He was elected to the same office the following fall for ten years. After the new Constitution went into effect, in 1874, Bradford and Susquehanna becoming separate judicial districts, Judge Morrow remained in Bradford and Judge F. B. Streeter resided here. In 1879 Hamilton College conferred the degree of LL.D. on Judge Morrow. In 1880 he was re-elected president judge of Bradford. He occasionally comes to Montrose to try causes in which Judge McCollum is interested.

HON. WILLIAM H. JESSUP, son of Hon. William Jessup, was born at Montrose Feb- ruary, 1830, and was graduated at Yale Col- lege in the class of 1849. He came home and entered as a law student in his father's office. The year following his graduation he taught the Montrose Academy, and was admitted to the bar November 17, 1851. His father took him into partnership, under the firm-name of William & William H. Jessup. Judge Jes- sup had a wide reputation and an extensive practice in Susquehanna, Bradford, Wayne, Pike and Wyoming Counties. William H. first had charge of the Pike County practice. From this time he gradually took charge of his father's practice, and has been retained in im- portant cases in a number of the adjoining counties. His father was counsel for several railroad companies, and he is counsel for the Erie Railway, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, Delaware and Hudson Canal Company and Montrose Railway, besides hold- ing several important trusts, the most exten- sive of which is the trusteeship of the Joseph Fellows estate. August 7, 1863, he was ap- pointed assessor of the Twelfth Internal Reve- nue District, comprising Luzerne and Susque- hanna Counties, to succeed his father, who had resigned, having been appointed by Lincoln the year previous. He held this office until 1865, when Andrew Johnson appointed A. J. Gerrit- son to succeed him. May 11, 1871, Governor Geary commissioned him major-general of the Tenth Division of the National Guard of Pennsylvania, comprising the counties of Sus- quehanna and Wayne. Upon the death of Judge Streeter, which occurred in August, 1877, General Jessup was appointed presiding judge of the Thirty-fourth District, a position which he held for about sixteen months, until January, 1879. After his successor was chosen he immediately resumed law practice in connec- tion with his brother, Huntting C. Jessup, Esq. January 1, 1885, he established a law-office in Scranton in partnership with Isaac J. Post, which continued until Mr. Post died, July 10, 1885. He then associated his son, William H. Jessup, Jr., and Horace C. Hand in partnership with him. He has an extensive corporation

Eng. by AH Ritchie

THE BENCH AND BAR.

and general practice in Lackawanna County ; also at Montrose, where his family still reside. Judge Jessup is an able lawyer, studious, and a good speaker. He is a man of restless energy and force ; one of those nervous organizations whose mind can never remain idle. In manner brusque and business-like, he impresses you as one who has no time to waste on the common foibles of life. He is a good corporation law- yer and special pleader. He prepares his cases with care, using great diligence in legal re- search. During the trial of a cause he is alert and ready with objections to his opponents' questionings; still, he is straightforward in pre- senting a case, trying it upon its merits, without recourse to politic allusions to matters outside of the main issue for the purpose of prejudicing the jury. He does not become all things to all men in order to win the jury, but relies wholly upon the soundness of his legal positions, which he fortifies by an extensive array of precedents and the justness of his cause, which he presents with frankness and candor. These qualities of Judge Jessup impel his contemporaries to admit that he is one of the fairest men at the bar to try a case against, as there is no danger of any side-issue that does not pertain to the case, or jury-fixing at his hands. Mr. Jessup is an active member of the Presbyterian Church and Sunday-school at Montrose, and is esteemed as a conscientious Christian man. He married Sarah W. Jay, of Belvidere, New Jersey. Their children are Lillie, wife of Albert Lei- senring, William H. Jessup, Jr., Mary, George, Louisa and Ann.

HON. J. BREWSTER MCCOLLUM was born in Bridgewater township September 28, 1832. He worked on the farm and attended district school until he was seventeen. He attended Harford Academy more or less from 1849 to 1853, and subsequently the State National Law School at Poughkeepsie, where he graduated with the degree of LL.B. He returned to Montrose and read law with R. B. Little, Esq., and was admitted to the bar at August term, 1853. He immediately went to Geneva, the county scat of Kane County, Ill., and entered the law-office of Wm. B. Plato, an old practi- tioner, under a salary, where he remained about 6

one year. He returned to Montrose in 1856, and in August of that year, in company with A. J. Gerritson, purchased the Montrose Dem- ocrat. They conducted the paper until January 1, 1858, when McCollum sold his interest to Gerritson. He then formed a partnership with Nahum Newton in law practice, which lasted about two years. He next formed a partner- ship with Daniel W. Searle, which continued until Mr. Searle entered the army, in August, 1862. Mr. McCollum had an office over Dessauer's store at that time, and continued alone until November, 1867, when he formed a partnership with Albert Chamberlain, which continued until January 1, 1871, when Cham- berlain removed to Scranton to act as internal revenue collector. J. B. McCollum then as- sociated his brother, A. H. McCollum, with himself, which partnership was dissolved when the former was elected presiding judge of the Thirty-fourth District, composed of Susque- hanna County. Mr. McCollum took an active interest in politics when a young man, and acted as chairman of the County Committee and occasionally made speeches in the interest of the Democratic party. In 1859 he was the Demo- cratic candidate for district attorney. In 1861 he was nominated for State Representative, and in 1870 he was also nominated for Congress from Luzerne and Susquehanna, but, there be- ing a large Republican majority to overcome, he was defeated in each case. In 1877 he was nominated for presiding judge, and, notwith- standing the county is largely Republican, he was elected by one thousand two hundred and forty majority. Judge McCollum's practice as a lawyer had a steady growth until he was elevated to the bench. While in active practice he gave careful and conscientious attention to all matters that were placed in his hands. He pre- pared his cases carefully and tried them well. His arguments were concise and pointed ; sometimes, when pressed in a forensic contest, he was some- what sarcastic, but never without provocation. He impressed the jury with his candor by ad- mitting many facts in his opponent's favor, but he reasoned logically and contended earnestly for the main issue. Judge McCollum has a pro- found knowledge of the law, a discriminating

HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

judgment and an equitable disposition-qualities which make him an exceedingly fair and im- partial judge. In his charges to the jury he states the law clearly, comments upon the evi- dence fairly, and leaves the question of fact to the jury without indicating his opinion. These equitable qualities of mind command the respect and confidence of the Montrose bar and the gen- eral public, not only at home, but in other counties where he has been called upon to pre- side. When Judge McCollum first took his seat on the bench the trial-list docket was loaded down with cases and the court business was about two years behind. The cases have been disposed of and causes can now be heard in a reasonable time. Judge McCollum is affable and courteous to all without affectation ; young and old alike find him a pleasant and companionable man. The confidence of the bar in his decisions is well shown by the fact that only twelve writs of error to the Supreme Court have been taken from Susquehanna County during the eight years that he has pre- sided, and the Supreme Court have reversed his decisions only twice in this district during that time. He married Mary Jane, daughter of Daniel Searle, and has two sons-Searle and Charles.

CHARLES CATLIN, son of Putnam Catlin, Esq., was admitted to practice in Susquehanna County in April, 1814, from Luzerne County, and became a resident a few years later. He built the house on the corner, across from the court-house, where Mr. Webb lives. He adver- tised lands for sale and did some business for several years, and finally went up to Buffalo or Rochester, and here we lose track of him. Charles Catlin, Almon H. Read, Benjamin T. Case and the artist, George Catlin, were the first resident lawyers. Probably George resided with his father a short time here, but his inclinations soon led him into the wilds of America in search of savages as subjects for his pencil and brush. James Catlin, the other brother, was a printer at Montrose a short time. Putnam Catlin, the father, was a lawyer, and in 1787-88, when Luzerne County Courts were organized, he was the attorney-general's deputy for Luzerne. He was also admitted here in 1813, but it does not

appear that he ever practised law in Susque- hanna County. He was cashier of the Silver Lake Bank when it was first organized, treas- urer of the Milford and Owego Turnpike for seven or eight years, agent for the Wallace lands, and, generally speaking, a prominent man in the early affairs of the county. His wife was Polly Sutton, a daughter of one of the early Wyoming Valley settlers.

BENJAMIN T. CASE, son of Captain Benja- min Case, was born in Newburg, N. Y., about 1786. He was educated at Newburg Academy, and read law in the same office with William H. Seward and Martin Van Buren, and was admitted to the bar when he was only about twenty years of age. He came to Great Bend with his father in 1808. After a few years his father removed to Warren, Pa., where Benja- min T. married Anna Coburn, and returned to Susquehanna County and located at Montrose in 1816. May 5, 1817, he was admitted to the Montrose bar, and was one of the first resident attorneys in the place. Mr. Case was a surveyor also, and was employed by Henry Drinker, Dr. Rose, Mr. Cope and other large land-holders to look after their real estate interests in Sus- quehanna County. He soon became one of the best land lawyers in this part of the State, and had a better knowledge of land titles than any other man in the county. He was secretary of the Owego Turnpike Company for some time, and tried to correct the route and not run the road over all the high hills, but the road was too well established to admit of much change. Mr. Case had an extraordinary memory, and could quote a page of law after reading it once. He was a man of rough exterior, and did not attempt to make an impression by any rhetorical flourish or high-sounding eloquence; yet he was a man of more feeling than appeared on the surface. He was very accurate as a con- veyancer, taking great care to leave no defect in the title. He was a man of ability, and some- what eccentric. He died in 1862, aged seventy- six. He had four sons and two daughters. The sons were William, Charles, Frederick and Ben- jamin, all of whom are now dead.

HON. FRANKLIN LUSK was born in the State of New York in 1803, and was graduated

THE BENCH AND BAR.

at Union College. Daniel S. Dickinson and he read law together in the same office. About 1828 he came to Montrose, and finding it neces- sary to do something to supply his pressing needs, he taught in the Montrose Academy two winters. January 31, 1831, he was admitted to the Susquehanna County bar, and that same year he married Jane A. Niven. Their only son is William D. Lusk, Esq. In 1840 Col. Lusk represented his district in the Legislature. He was colonel of militia for a number of years. He took Ralph B. Little into partner- ship at Montrose, under firm-name of Lusk & Little. He also had an extensive practice at Honesdale, in Wayne County, which he con- ducted in connection with F. M. Crane, Esq., then a young man, under firm-name of Lusk & Little. He was one of the best scholars at the bar, and a fine orator on the stump or before a jury. He was a man of fine presence and ex- ceedingly brilliant and effective before a jury. He was forceful and aggressive, storming the argumentative barriers of his opponents, carry- ing the war into their own camp regardless of consequences. These qualities rendered him successful as an advocate. During the last few years of his life he lived on a farm at Great Bend. He died in February, 1853, and was buried in the family burying-ground on his farm.

HON. DAVIS DIMOCK, JR., son of Elder Dimock, was born September 17, 1801, and educated at the Susquehanna County Academy. He read law with Benjamin T. Case, Esq., while he was editor of the Susquehanna Regis- ter, and was admitted to the bar in 1833. He was appointed county treasurer in 1834, and was elected to Congress in 1840, and died be- fore his term expired, in January, 1842, when he was just in the prime of manhood, being but thirty-eight years of age. Mr. Bidlack, in the House, and Mr. Buchanan, in the Senate, paid tributes to his wortlı. Mr. Buchanan said " that he acted well his part in all the relations of life. His judgment was excellent, and un- der its dictates his course through life was steady, honest and consistent." He married Lydia M. Ward, and left four daughters,- Sarah, wife of D. R. Lathrop; Anna, wife of

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 16

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848- Publication date: 1887 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck Number of Pages: 1318

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848-
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck
Number of Pages: 1318