Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 17

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

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William L. Cox ; Frances, wife of Charles. Gee, of Chicago ; and Victoria A. Dimock, of Washington.

JOHN H. DIMOCK, son of Elder Dimock, was born October 30, 1815, and was educated at Susquehanna Academy. While at Harris- burg, as principal of the academy, he com- menced reading law. He also read with his brother, Davis, at Montrose, where he was admitted to the bar August 19, 1844. He was the first elected district attorney in 1850. He became a land speculator in the West, and died at Chicago.

ALMON HEATH READ1 was born at Shel- burne, Vermont, June 12, 1790. He remained at home with his father, working on the farm, until seventeen years of age. He then entered Williams College, Massachusetts, and graduated in 1811. During his collegiate course, on one of his visits home, he gave his views on politi- cal affairs, favoring a Democratic policy ; and his father, a stern old Whig, threatened that unless he gave up his Democratic notions, he would take him from college and set him to work on the farm. It appears, however, that after his graduation he studied law for two years in Albany, where his political notions were not disturbed.

In 1814 he was drafted into the military service, just before the battle of Plattsburg, and arrived there the day after the battle; his company was disbanded, and thus suddenly ended his military carcer.

Soon after, he left his home in Vermont, on horseback, with a pair of saddle-bags and a few dollars in his pocket, for the State of Ohio -- then the far West-where he expected to settle. But, on reaching Mott's tavern, on the old New- burg turnpike, in New Milford township, the roads were nearly impassable, the mud being knce deep to the horse. He learned that one of his young associates, Col. Wm. C. Turrell, had settled a few miles south of Montrose, and he concluded to turn aside from his route and spend a few days with him, hoping the roads would im-

1 Ile was often called the "honest lawyer, " from the fact that he was never known to engage in a case for a client unless he honestly thought him in the right ; and always discouraged the petty litigation so preva- lent at the present day.

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

prove, and that he might then proceed on his journey.

On reaching Montrose, which was then a new county-seat-the first court having been held the year previous-he was prevailed upon to re- main, and was offered the position of clerk to the county commissioners. He applied for ad- mission to the bar of Susquehanna County; but the only settled (?) lawyer then in practice here objected, as he had not pursued the requisite course of study in accordance with the rules of Pennsylvania courts. He was therefore com- pelled to enter his name as a student in the office of Judge Scott, of Wilkes-Barre. Very soon after, the objection was withdrawn, and he became a regular practitioner.

In 1816 Mr. Read married Miss Eliza Cooper, of Southampton, Long Island, and then settled permanently in Montrose, where he prosecuted his profession1 (at the same time holding the office of county clerk from January 1, 1815, to January 1, 1820), and becanie much interested in the progress and growth of the town. He took a lively interest in the estab- lishment of the academy, and later, when the temperance movement was first agitated, he be- came one of its warmest supporters.

It does not appear that he took any promi- nent part in politics until about 1827, when he was elected as Representative.

In 1828 he was not a candidate, but was elected in 1829, '30, '31 and '32.

In 1833 he was elected State Senator and served for four years. He was soon after elect- ed State treasurer, which office he held one year, and was then elected a member of the conven- tion to revise the Constitution of Pennsylvania. He took a prominent part in this convention. After its close the chairs occupied by the mem- bers were sold at public auction. The one used by Mr. Read was sold for fourteen dollars (be- ing the first choice), and the remaining one hundred and thirty-one seats for prices varying from three to ten dollars.

Soon after he accepted an invitation of the citizens of Erie County to a banquet at Erie, and they there presented him with a beautiful oak

cane, having upon it six silver plates bearing the following inscription :

" Presented by the Democratic citizens of Erie County, to Almon H. Read, for his distinguish- ed services in the Convention to reform the Con- stitution of Pennsylvania.

"Commodore O. H. Perry's Victory, Lake Erie, September 11, A.D. 1813.

"' We have met the enemy and they are ours.'

"Taken from the Flag-ship Lawrence, August 4, A.D. 1883."

His name was sent by Gov. Porter to the Senate as president judge of one of the west- ern judicial districts of the State ; but the Senate being equally divided between the Demo- crats and Whigs, the vote was a tie, and his nomination was not confirmed.

In March, 1842, he was elected to Congress to fill the unexpired term of Hon. Davis Dimock, Jr .; and in the fall of 1842 he was re-elected for the years 1843 and 1844. In October, 1843, his wife died, after a short illness ; and soon afterwards, whilst on his way to Washington, he took a severe cold, which terminated in con- sumption, and which, during that session, pre- vented him to a great extent from participating in its deliberations. Even his political enemies esteemed lıim a pure legislator.

During his sickness at Washington, in order to show his regret at having been a politician, he said to his son : " Never accept an office from the people. I have always been successful whenever my name came before the electors, for fifteen years, never having been defeated, and all I have ever received as compensation is this (holding up his Erie cane), and a few newspaper puffs ; leaving my family in a far different position from that which they probably would have held had I pursued my profession." He died June 3, 1844 in the fifty-fourth year of his age. Mr. Read was a Democrat of the old school, as opposed to the Whig party.

RALPH B. LITTLE, Esq., was born January 21, 1816, in Delaware County, N. Y. When he was about eight years old his parents moved to Bethany, then the county-seat of Wayne. He made the most of the limited opportunities which that small town then afforded for obtain-

1 Blackman's " History."

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ing an education. He studied Latin and Greek under the instructions of Rev. Alexander Campbell, the Presbyterian clergyman of the place, and the natural sciences under Dr. Strong. When about eighteen he commenced to read law with Earl Wheeler, at Bethany, and subse- quently removed to Montrose with his parents and entered the law-office of B. T. Case, Esq., where he continued his law studies and was

and untiring and persevering industry as a student he became an able advocate at the bar and a formidable opponent. What he deemed right in law, politics, or anything else, he had the undaunted courage to stand up and advocate or defend, regardless of denunciation or opposi- tion from any source ; and men of prudence took issue with him with caution, and those who lacked care in their contests with him were

R. B. Little

admitted to the bar of Susquehanna County November 23, 1836. Mr. Little was studious in early life, a habit which continued throughout his career. His great ambition was to achieve success as a lawyer, and he bent all his energies to the accomplishment of that object. During his entire brilliant legal carcer he made and kept at hand a short memorandum of all the decisions of the Supreme Court of this State, commencing with 1st Binney and ending with 28th Smith. Mr. Little was endowed by nature with a superior intellect, and by the practice of strictly moral and temperate habits

doomed to disaster and defeat. As a speaker his style, in the use of language, was rich, without ornament, natural, bold and concise, with a wonderful facility in the selection of the fittest words to express every shade of thought. His memory was a perfect store- house of legal authorities, which, with his easy and vigorous style of elocution, made him an advocate of uncommon power, whether before courts or juries. He was the leader of the bar in his time, at Montrose, and commanded the attention of the Supreme Court whenever lie advocated a case before them. With all his

HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

peculiar gifts, there was one of which he himself seemed scarcely conscious, which was not always a source of gratification even to his friends. This was an aptitude for indulgence, upon occasions of sharp and heated controversy, in a vein of sarcasm so keen as to inspire resentment, yet so adroit as to render resentment powerless for reprisals. Naturally enough, some sores so created were slow to heal ; but this sarcastic method was only used under the spur of excite- ment in his professional zeal. Socially, his manner was eminently kindly and agreeable- sometimes thoughtful and pre-occupied, but never offensive.

During the first few years of his manhood he acted with the so-called Liberty party-when that party failed to put a ticket in the field he generally voted with the Democratic party ; and during the last fifteen years of his life he was an active and leading member of the Demo- cratic party, not as an office-seeker, but from principle. He was the choice of the Democ- racy of Susquehanna County for Congress in 1868, and was the candidate of that party for presiding judge against F. B. Streeter. Mr. Little was at first a member of the Baptist Church, and during the last years of his life he was a Methodist. His pastor said of him : " Both in the Baptist and Methodist Church, he was granted license to preach as occasion might afford or demand, which permit he improved quite frequently to the edification and profit of the people. His religion was not in name or mere profession. In this, as in everything else, he manifested a distaste for mere assump- tion or announcement. He sought the reliable, the assurance in his own experience, and he prized it in others. The ostentatious and ex- ternal to him were secondary. The real spirit was all in all. Modest, retiring, humble him- self, he was attracted by the same in others." In his family Mr. Little was the same pure and sincere man as in all the other relations of life. In 1840 he married Phila Ann, one of the daughters of David Post, of Montrose, who sur- vived him about one year. Their children are George P., David and one daughter-Mary- wife of Dr. E. L. Blakeslee, all residents of Montrose.

George Little, father of Ralph B. Little, married Mary Estabrook and was the ancestor of the several families of that name now re- siding in the counties of Susquehanna, Brad- ford, Wyoming and Columbia, and also of one located in Illinois ; George H., the eldest son, having located at Leraysville, Ralph B. at Mon- trose, William E. at Joliet, Ill., Robert R. at Tunkhannock, Ephraim H. at Bloomsburg, and Mary E., widow of S. S. Grover, deceased, now resides in Florida. Ralph B. Little died January 26, 1877, aged sixty-one years.

HON. PHILIP FRASER, son of Dr. Charles Fraser, was born, January 27, 1814, at Mont- rose. He was graduated from Union College in 1836. He read law with William Jessup, and was admitted to the bar of Susquehanna County in 1837. He removed to Florida in 1841, and married a Spanish lady there. During the War of the Rebellion the Federal fleet came there, and the Unionists in the vicinity held a meeting, expressing their sentiments in favor of the Union. The fleet sailed away, and Mr. Fraser and some others found it prudent to leave the South for a time. He purchased a place at Elizabeth, N. J., which his family still own. President Lincoln appointed him judge of the United States Court for the Eastern District of Florida in 1862, a position which he held until he died, July 26, 1876. He came to Montrose on a visit, and died at his old home. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church of Elizabeth, N. J., where he was bur- ied. He wrote some poetry. One poem, en- titled "Evermore," though written two years before his death, was, by a singular coincidence, published at the time of his death, and was considered as being almost prophetic of his death.

HON. FRANKLIN FRASER was born at Montrose April 23, 1819. He was graduated at Union College, and read law with William Jessup, and was admitted to Susquehanna County bar in April, 1842. He was a man of varied information. There was hardly any subject, no matter how obscure, that he did not know something about it. He was a better office lawyer than before the court and juries. He was slow in forming an opinion, but when

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once formed he hield to it with tenacity to the end. He went to Florida to assist his brother, and became register in bankruptcy, and finally became one of the three Supreme Court judges of the State. He resigned and returned to Montrose, and died suddenly November 10, 1879, just as he was preparing a case for court. He married Jane B. Clark, of Elmira, and had one daughter, Fannie, a school-teacher.

JOSEPH T. RICHARDS, son of Daniel and Lydia Richards, read law with William Jessup, and was admitted to the bar May 8, 1838. He practiced law at Montrose for about twelve years, in partnership with B. S. Bentley a por- tion of the time. He was a well-read lawyer, and accurate in office-work. He went to Cali- fornia for his health, by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Here he contracted a fever. He partly regained his health, and formed a part- nership with Judge John H. McKune, a former student of Bentley's. The partnership had been in existence only two weeks when they were burned out in the great fire that occurred at Sacramento, escaping only with his life, in his night-clothes. The exposure and excitement inci- dent to this calamity soon terminated his life. He died in 1852. His wife was Anna M., daugh- ter of Benjamin Sayre. His son, J. T. Rich- ards, read law with W. A. Crossmon, and was admitted to the bar Nov. 11, 1872. He prac- ticed law at Philadelphia, and was connected with the fast mail service for a number of years. He died recently. Lieut. Benjamin S. Richards is a naval officer, and was present at the great earthquake at St. Thomas Island, when the ship was set on beam's end.

HON. WILLAM J. TURRELL was born March 13, 1814, in Litchfield County, Conn. He came to Montrose with his parents in the spring of 1816, and learned the trade of saddle and harness-maker with his father, William Turrell, working at that business until he reached his majority. He is remembered as a young man of correct habits, and possessing excellent men- tal endowments. After attaining the age of twenty-one he entered the office of Rev. A. L. Post as a law student, and while thus engaged he became a Christian and united with the Baptist Church, of which he remained an earn-

est and faithful member until his decease, Au- gust 31, 1881. After being admitted to the bar he became the law partner of Mr. Post, and continued a member of this law-firm until Mr. Post gave up the law for the Gospel minis- try, when he assumed control of the whole business. His business was done in a quiet, unostentatious way, but it led generally to suc- cess and finally to a competence. In 1862 he was elected Republican State Senator without opposition, to represent the Fourteenth District, then comprising Bradford, Wyoming and Sus- quehanna Counties. He took an active part in the councils of the common wealth, and through those trying years of her history acquitted him- self nobly and well. His kindness to soldiers and their families is still gratefully remembered by many. In 1865, the last year of his term as Senator, he was chosen Speaker of that body, -an honorable position and at that time a very important one, as the Speaker of the Senate would then have been called to be Governor had that office become vacant. He was a mem- ber of the convention to amend the State Con- stitution, which met December 27, 1873, and served through the long session of one hundred and eight days, taking a very active part and addressing the convention on important ques- tions about one hundred and fifty times. When called upon to preside as master in Chancery his work ranked with the best and gave general acceptance. He was president of the Legal Association of Susquehanna County and also of the First National Bank from their organiza- tion.

He married, March 20, 1854, Miss Huldah Van Valkenburgh, of New York City. Rec- ollections of their happy home life will long remain with those who have shared it. On Monday, September 5th, following his death, while court was in session, appropriate resolu- tions were introduced by Hon. William H. Jessup and passed relative to this honored member of the Susquehanna bar, and the fol- lowing are extracts from remarks made on that occasion :

By Hon. William H. Jessup :

"Mr. Turrell was the oldest member of the bar-a man of unsullied character, a man of fine legal at-

HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

tainments, a man wise as a counselor and faithful as a friend. There are many of the young members of the bar who will look back to him almost as a father. His wise counsels, his constant encouragement and his earnest wishes for their advancement and pros- perity will be gratefully remembered by them. He was a lawyer, while not in full practice before the courts, who possessed a practice well kuown to many of us in the capacity of advisory counsel in many important cases and upon many important questions, and for many years he enjoyed that confidence of the court which made him almost invariably an auditor where legal questions complicated and difficult were likely to arise. And I may say that his decisions as an auditor have been, perhaps, as seldom reversed as those of any other member of the bar who has occu- pied such a responsible position before the court.

By Hon. J. Brewster McCollum :

"In boyhood, manhood and in ripe age he so con- ducted himself that he secured and retained the es- teem and confidence of the people. In the positions of public trust to which he was called he acquitted himself creditably, and was recognized as a faithful and efficient representative and defender of the inter- ests committed to his care. The record of his official life is without stain. For nearly forty-three years he was a resident and practicing member of the Susque- hanua County bar, and in his intercourse with his professional brethren he was ever courteous, obliging and honorable. He was in many respects a model lawyer,-true to his client, to the court and to his own sense of duty and honor. He was a conscien- tious and safe counselor. I think he did not enjoy the strife and excitement of jury trials, that he rather shunned than sought a litigating practice; but he seemed to take pleasure in the discussion of legal questions, and his law arguments were clear, exhaus- tive and convincing. In all that concerned the wel- fare of the legal profession, its dignity and honor, he manifested a lively interest, and his efforts and his influence were always favorable to its elevation and its advancement. . "

By William M. Post, Esq. :

" It is with no unmeaning words and formal phrase, and I but express the sentiment of all my brethren of the bar, when I say that William J. Turrell was no ordinary man. The architect of his own fortunes and success in life, he carried out and achieved for himself a career of which any of us might be proud. Few men of our county have been so widely known -none more honored and respected-none would be more missed and mourned by all the people of our county. His magnificent physique-his stately, al- most majestic form-and noble manhood attracted attention and commanded admiration wherever he appeared. His manners were characterized by dig-

nity without arrogance-were elegant and courtly without being insincere. His friends and acquaint- ances ever found him an affable, genial, good-hearted companion. He appreciated wit and humor, but while he had a hearty laugh for the mirthful, his soul was full of tenderness, and he had ever a tear of pity for misfortune and misery. His culture, knowledge of the world, his acquaintance with men and things from study, travel and observation, were extensive and varied-while his tastes were more than ordinar- ily exact and refined. From early youth he . turned away from the temptations and vices over which so many promising young men have stumbled and fallen, and his moral character and conduct have ever been free from reproach and stain. . In the early part of his career he was somewhat ardent in politics, and more than once was a successful can- didate for political honors; but although true to his own convictions, he was liberal towards those with whom he differed, and was never a place-hunter, a 'trimmer' or a demagogue. His religious opinions and principles, like every other element in his nature, were decided and firm, but he was charitable and tol- erant towards all. "

HON. BENJAMIN SPEESE BENTLEY was borne in Cairo, Greene County, N. Y. His early boyhood was spent under the shadow of the beautiful Catskill Mountains, where his an- cestors had lived for many years. A rise in the Catskill Creek produced the greatest flood ever known before or since, and carried away the iron-works of his father. Being discour- aged by his great loss, he decided to move to Pennsylvania with his little family. Benjamin received his education at the seminary in Ham- ilton, N. Y. He returned to Montrose and taught the academy from 1833 to 1836, and subsequently read law with Hon. William Jessup, and was admitted to the bar February 5, 1839. He worked his way to the front and practiced law at Montrose until October, 1866, when he located in Williamsport, Pa. He was appointed president judge of Lycoming County after it had been constituted the Twenty-ninth Judicial District, which position he held nearly a year, and came within a few hundred votes of defeating Judge Gamble in the face of a strong. Democratic majority and the admitted personal strength of his competitor. In August, 1878, he was appointed president judge of the new district of Lackawanna County, serving until January, 1880. He was twice married and left

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I. F. F tetes

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a widow. His first wife was a sister of Hon. L. F. Fitch. Of his four children, three sur- vived him-Mrs. Geo. G. Waller, of Hones- dale, Pa .; B. Stuart Bentley, Esq., of Williams- port; and P. W. Bentley, a druggist of the same place. His second son, Geo. F. Bentley, Esq., died in Honesdale, Pa., October 4, 1881, of whom it was said " that death does not destroy, but catches, crystallizes and makes permanent the character of a good man, leaving it a priceless bequest to society."

Judge Bentley was a gentleman of culture, one of the brightest and best men that ever practiced law in Susquehanna County ; a lawyer of fine attainments, he always took great in- terest in public affairs, and was a frequent con- tributor to the press upon political, religious, educational and other subjects. As a husband and father, citizen and lawyer, there are living witnesses to his worth in all these relations. For many years he was a member of the Pres- byterian Church and gave much attention to church and Sunday-school work. Kindness was one of his great characteristics. He was affable and courteous in manner, sincere and truth-loving. One, in speaking of him, said " that he was pre-eminent in his grasp of the equities of the cases he tried, and presented them with a master hand to the court and jury." Another said, " Judge Bentley, in his long pro- fessional life, exemplified that great fact that a man may be a true Christian and a great lawyer." He rose in the respeet of the people as a true Christian, letting his light shine wherever he went. Another says, " From the bench he administered the law witli authority, and we all remember with what firmness and impartiality he per- formed his judicial duties, and with what gen- tleness he ruled against us when he knew we were wrong. He was a sound lawyer, a righteous judge, a kind and indulgent husband and father, a warm friend, a useful citizen and a good man." Another said to the members of the bar, "The daily beauty of his life was almost like a continual benediction." He died March 6, 1882, at Williamsport, aged seventy- three. The daily papers announced the death of " the eminent jurist." " Let me die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his."

SAMUEL BUEL MULFORD, son of S. S. Mulford, was born at Montrose, Dec. 9, 1821. He read law with Hon. William Jessup and was admitted to the Susquehanna County bar Aug. 19, 1844. After this he entered Yale College in the class with his cousin, Wm. H. Jessup, and was graduated in 1849. The Cal- ifornia excitement was then at its height, and he went to the Isthmus of Panama, which he crossed, having to wait three months for trans- portation to California. He located at Marys- ville and practiced his profession with success until he died, September-6, 1863. He was a popular stump-speaker and a brilliant lawyer. He was announced for a political speech just before he was taken with the fever whichi re- sulted in his death.

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Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 17

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