USA > Pennsylvania > Dauphin County > Commemorative biographical encyclopedia of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania : containing sketches of prominent and representative citizens and many of the early Scotch-Irish and German settlers. Pt. 1 > Part 75
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This case furnishes a striking illustration of Mr. Olmsted's keen legal acumen. At the beginning of the litigation there was not a lawyer in the State who agreed as to the wisdom of testing the law. The Penn-
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sylvania Railroad Company had paid into the treasury over two hundred thousand dol- lars without question, and numerous other corporations had submitted to the law with- out an effort to contest its validity. Two successive attorneys general and their depu- ties, all men of profound learning, had con- tended with great skill against Mr. Olmsted's position, which was, however, finally sus- tained by the Supreme Court.
Among the many important cases in which Mr. Olinsted was concerned was the suit brought by the Commonwealth of Penn- sylvania against the city of Philadelphia to recover a tax of cight hundred thousand dollars on account of two hundred million dollars of mortgages alleged to be held in that city which had not been returned for taxation. Mr. Olmsted took a prominent part in the argument of this case, and the claim of the State was entirely defeated.
In the case of the Commonwealth vs. West- inghouse Electric and Manufacturing Com- pany, reported in 151 Pa., 265, Mr. Olmsted established a principle of constitutional law of the widest reach and utmost importance, namcly, immunity from State taxation or control of patents or patent rights granted by the United States to inventors. This question had never before been raised and its determination has resulted in the saving of hundreds of thousands of dollars to Mr. Olmsted's clients.
The first opinion delivered by the present chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, reported in 128 U. S., 39, ivas in the case of the Commonwealth against the West- ern Union Telegraph Company for taxes upon receipts for messages crossing the State lines. In this case the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania decided against the company, but Mr. Olmsted succeeded in reversing that decision on appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, and established the prin- ciple that such business was inter-State com- merce, the right to regulate which was ex- clusively vested in Congress.
Mr. Olmsted's earlier practice was confined almost exclusively to corporation tax busi- ness, but his reputation as a profound law- yer of infinite resources became so general throughout the State that it was impossible for him to resist the importunities of clients in other branches of the law, and he was compelled to widen its scope until it em- braced corporation business of all kinds.
Among the first of his successes in this
broader field was in the case of the Com- monwealth vs. The Beech Creek Railroad Company, where the State interfered by in- junction to prevent the sale of the defendant company's stock to the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company. The injunction was dis- solved as to Mr. Olmsted's clients, but con- tinued as to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, thus preventing the deal.
In the several suits brought by the attor- ney general in 1886 to dissolve the Anthra- cite Coal Combination and Trunk Line Pool, in relation to which it was said at the time that the attorney general was attempt- ing to regulate two thousand million dollars of capital, Mr. Olmsted appeared alone as counsel for the New York Central Railroad Company, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company, Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Rail- road Company, New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad Company, the Pennsylva- nia Coal Company, Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, and as associate counsel for most of the other companies concerned in the suit. These suits were without a doubt the most important ever brought in the State. The suit against the Trunk Line Pool was abandoned because of the passage by Con- gress of the inter-State commerce law. The case against the Anthracite Coal Combina- tion was decided in favor of Mr. Olmsted's clients, the court refusing to grant the in- junction asked for by the attorney general.
Mr. Olmsted was attorney for the several defendants in the equity suit brought by the attorney general in 1891 to compel the disso- lution of what was known as the " Reading Combinc." Hc conducted the examination of the witnesses with consummate skill, but the case never reached the point of argument, owing to the voluntary abrogation of the leases by the parties themselves.
The length of this sketch forbids mention of but a very few of the many highly im- portant cases in which Mr. Olmsted has been concerned since his admission to the bar. Among his more recent victories was that achieved in establishing the constitutionality of the act of 1893, providing for controllers in place of auditors in counties having 150,000 population.
The county of Schuylkill had met with great losses through the dishonesty of her commissioners in the construction of a court
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house, owing to the fact that the auditors did not audit their accounts until the end of the year, when it was too late to make adequate recovery from the commissioners.
Luzerne county was about building a conrt house. These were the only two counties having 150,000 population which did not already have controllers. The constitution- ality of the act of 1893 was contested by the auditors and commissioners of the two counties and was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. In 1895 the Legis- lature passed another act in almost the same language. The county commissioners and the county auditors refused to obey its pro- visions. An action was again brought to test its constitutionality, and Judge Lynch, of Luzerne county, again declared it to be unconstitutional. An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court, and the two counties se- cured the services of Mr. Olmsted, who had not been concerned in either of the other cases. On argument the Supreme Court sustained the constitutionality of the act and ousted the county auditors from office. While not involving as large an amount of money as many of his other cases, this vie- tory was regarded as one of the most notable in Mr. Olinsted's remarkable career.
Among his services to the State may be mentioned the fact that Mr. Olmsted framed thic revenue act of 1874 and also the revenue aet of 1877. Both of these acts passed in the exact form in which they were prepared and both withstood all attacks that were. made upon them, being sustained by the courts in every particular. He devised the tax on the franchises of coal mining companies in see- tion 7 of the act of 1874. Previous to that time the State had taxed the anthracite coal mined by the carrying companies, which tax was believed to be rendered invalid by the new Constitution. To avoid that the tax upon the franchises of coal companies was devised and its constitutionality was sus- tained by the Supreme Court in the case of the Commonwealth vs. Kittanning Coal Company. The State derived an immense revenue from this tax until so much being found unnecessary it was repealed in 1879. He also devised the tax on gross premiums of insurance companies, found in the act of 1877, and which was sustained by the courts after combined assaults by the insurance companies, and under which the Common- wealth has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Mr. Olmsted is president and general counsel of the Beech Creek Railroad Com- pany, of the Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad Company, and of the Coudersport and Wellsboro' Railroad Company. He is a director in the Pine Creek Railroad Com- pany, the Coudersport and Pine Creek Rail- road Company, the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation, and the Commonwealth Guarantee Trust and Safe Deposit Company, of Harrisburg, as well as being largely in- terested in the various industrial enterprises of the city of Harrisburg.
As a lawyer his fame extends beyond the limits of the Commonwealth of Pennsyl- vania, and as an expert on all questions of constitutional corporate taxation he has, perhaps, no equal in the United States. His practice is as extensive as that of any lawyer in the Commonwealth, and none are consulted by as large a clientage among the corporations of the Nation. His legal argu- ments are marvels of clearness and crudi- tion. It is not too much to say that he never goes into court without being fully prepared to meet every possible point that may be raised by his adversary. He is, therefore, never surprised by any of the de- velopments of a case, and it is to this fact, as much as to any other, that he owes his remarkable success. While a master of lan- guage, he uses none of the arts of rhetoric in his arguments. He relies upon none of the tricks of the elocutionist, but depends for his vietories upon a plain, energetic ex- position of the law and a skillful marshalling of the facts.
Mr. Olmsted is unmarried, is fond of so- ciety, and is a devotee of field and aquatic sports. He is both a judge and lover of good horses, rides and drives well, and his stable contains some of the finest animals in the country. He is a frequent visitor to Europe, and has travelled extensively throughout the United States.
He has never filled any political position since his admission to the bar, except in 1879, when his party nominated him with- out his consent to fill the vacancy in select council caused by the election of C. L. Bailey as a member of the Legislature, and three successive Democratie nominees have declined to run against him ; he was elected without opposition.
Mr. Olmsted has always been a Republi can in politics, an earnest worker and a liberal contributor in the campaigns of his
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party. On September 4, 1896, the Republi- can County Convention, of Dauphin county, nominated him by acclamation as its candi- date for Congress in the district composed of the counties of Dauphin, Lebanon and Perry and upon August 11, 1896, he was nominated by the district conference. He will undoubtedly be elected, and probably by the largest majority ever given to a can- didate in the district. His qualifications for the position are ideal, and he will at once take rank among the foremost men in pub- lic life.
Such in brief is the career of one of the most remarkable members of the Pennsyl- vania bar. If his success has been extra- ordinary, it is because he brought to his profession the ambition, energy, stability, integrity and perseverance which character- ize the highest type of the American citi- zen .- W. C. F.
-Fox, JOHN E., attorney, Harrisburg, Pa., was born at Hummelstown, Dauphin county, Pa., November 27, 1861. His paternal an- cestors were English Quakers, born in Devon- shire, near Plymouth, who came to America in 1760 and settled near Germantown, Pa., until 1800. His maternal ancestors were German, and were from near Zurich, Switzer- land. John Fox, great-grandfather of John E. Fox, came to Dauphin county and settled near Hummelstown. His children were: John, afterwards sheriff of the county, George, grandfather of John E. Fox, James, Richard, Thomas, and one daughter, who married John Phillips, who about 1829 represented his district in Congress. George Fox had five sons: Richard, who lived and died at Hummelstown, John E., who lived and died at Philadelphia, James, who was a member of the Dauphin county bar and died in 1858, Abner, of Missouri, and Thomas G., of Hummelstown, who married Diana Hershey. Dr. and Mrs. Thomas G. Fox are the parents of John E.
John E. Fox was reared at Hummelstown and received his primary education there. He studied at Lafayette College, Easton, Pa., and was graduated with the class of 1885. He also received from this institution the degree of A. M. After graduation he taught the grammar school at Hummelstown for two years. He read law under Weiss & Gil- bert. He completed his education by a tour of foreign travel, and returned to Harrisburg. July 23, 1SSS, he was admitted to the Dau-
phin county bar, and he has since that time practiced law in the city, mainly in the Court of Common Pleas and in the Orphans' Court. He enjoys a large and lucrative prac- tice. In the spring of 1889 he traveled over the United States and made a personal obser- vation of his own country, in order that he might be able to intelligently compare and contrast it with foreign countries. In 1891 he made a complete circuit of the globe, solely for personal pleasure and improvement. Ile visited Italy, Egypt, Arabia, India, Siam, China and Japan, not overlooking other im- portant regions. Mr. Fox has gratified his literary and professional tastes by the collec- tion of a library hardly excelled in its tech- nical and literary treasures by any library in the city.
He is active in politics in connection with the Republican party. He served as delegate from his congressional district to the Repub- lican National Convention at Minneapolis in 1892. He is president of his college class organization and prominent in the alumni society of his college. He is interested as a stockholder in the Harrisburg Trust Com- pany, the Wilkes-Barre and Wyoming Val- ley Traction Company, Southwestern Mis- souri Electric Company, Citizens Passenger Railway Company of Harrisburg, People's Bridge Company, Harrisburg and Cornwall Turnpike Company, Mechanicsburg Electric Railway Company, Brookwood Traction Com- pany, Farmers Bank of Hummelstown, and the Chestnut Street Market Company. He has also large real estate interests in the city. Mr. Fox is a meniber of the Harrisburg Club and of the Benevolence Club. He is a sup- porter of the city library and of the Y. M. C. A. He is not married.
- BRIGHTBILL, OSCAR K., attorney-at-law, was born at Harrisburg, December 9, 1865. Ile is a son of Jacob A. and Catherine (Bender) Brightbill. His father was born in Susque- hanna township, and spent the greater part of his life in Harrisburg, where for fifteen years he held the position of register clerk in the postoffice. During the latter years of his life he was engaged as tester of steel in the Bailey iron and steel works. He died December 31, 1892, highly honored by those who knew him best, and universally re- garded as a man faithful and kind in all the relations of life. His widow still resides in Harrisburg.
Oscar K. Brightbill took the regular course
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of studies pursued in the city schools of Har- risburg, and was graduated from the high school in 1885. He was engaged for one year in the capacity of accountant in the office of H. B. Mitchell. In 1SS6 he began the study of law in the office of C. H. Berg- ner, Esq. He was admitted to the bar of Dauphin county, October 9, 1SSS, and to practice in the Supreme Court in May, 1892. He was a candidate for the office of county solicitor in 1894, but was defeated by Albert Millar, Esq. He is a member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. In politics he is a Republican. He attends the Lutheran church.
-KISTER, WILLIAM H., attorney-at-law, was born at Loganton, Clinton county, Pa., July 15, 1855, son of Jacob and Mary O. (Zellers) Kister, both born in Pennsylvania and of German ancestry. The father was born in Lehigh county, July 4, 1830; removed with his parents, when about five years old, to Clinton county, and resided near Jersey Shore about one year. He was a shoemaker and had contracts for supplying the army with shoes. Later he was engaged in the lumber business, but has lived a retired life for some years. The mother was born Sep- tember, 1834. Of their five children, four are living: William H .; Sarah, wife of Charles A. Weaver, residing at Osccola Mills, Clearfield county, Pa .; Emma F., wife of Jacob O. Berm, Osceola Mills ; James T., Pittsburgh, Pa. The father is a prominent inan in Clinton county, and has filled im- portant offices and places of trust with effi- ciency and credit.
William H. was reared to manhood in Clinton county, and received his education in the public schools of that county, complet- ing it by a collegiate course in Franklin and Marshall College, at Lancaster, from which he was graduated in the class of 1875. He opened a private school at Milton, Northum- berland county, and was later professor of Latin and rhetoric in the Collegiate Insti- tute "at Henry, Ill., and while holding this position was appointed to the superinten- dency of the city and county schools, occupy- ing both positions at the same time. In 1887 lic was elected to represent a district com- posed of Marshall and three other adjoining counties in the Illinois Legislature for two years. In ISS9 he returned to Pennsylvania and located at Harrisburg, where he was shortly after admitted to the bar, and has
since that time been engaged in a general practice. Mr. Kister was married, January 25, 1876, to Miriam Kling, daughter of Adam S. and Lucinda Kling. They have no chil- dren. Mr. Kister is a member of the Grand Lodge of F. & A. M. of Illinois, of Marshall Lodge, No. 63, of Henry, Ill., and of a com- mandery. In his political views Mr. Kister is a Democrat. He and his wife are mem- bers of the German Reformed church.
-BACKENSTOE, CLAYTON H., attorney-at-law, Ilarrisburg, Pa., was born in West Hanover township, Dauphin county, Pa. He is the eldest son of ex-county commissioner John II. Backenstoe and Mary E. Backenstoe. He attended the district schools of West Han- over township until he was nine years of age, when his parents removed to Derry township, near the village of Union Deposit, where they now reside. He was a pupil in the district school of this township until he was fifteen, when he entered Lebanon Val- ley College, where he studied for one year. For the three years ensuing he taught in the common schools, after which he re-entered Lebanon Valley College, from which he was graduated in the class of 1887. He was the orator of his class and the chief editor of the class journal.
After his graduation he at once registered as a student of law with the distinguished firm of Fleming & McCarrell, Harrisburg, Pa. The senior member of the firm, Hon. David Fleming, dying soon after this regis- tration, Mr. Backenstoe continued his studies under the direction of the junior partner, Hon. Samuel J. M. MeCarrell, whose great ability and commanding position at the bar assured him of thorough instruction and skillful guidance. In October, 1889, Mr. Backenstoe was admitted to practice in the several courts of Dauphin county, and was soon in the enjoyment of an extensive and increasing legal business, an important part of which is in the Court of Common Pleas and Orphans' Court, in the settlement of decendents' estates. He has also been con- nected, as counsel for the accused, with a number of important criminal cases ; a noted instance is the case of Andrew Undergast, charged with the murder of his wife; in this case Mr. Backenstoe was associated with J. C. Nissley, Esq., as counsel for the accused, for whom they obtained a verdiet of acquit- tal on the capital charge, the Commonwealth being forced to accept a plea of felonious
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assault and battery. Mr. Backenstoe was admitted in 1891 to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Backenstoe is among the most active young members of the Republican party, his voice being heard from the stump in every campaign, not only in the county, but also throughout the State. He has frequently served his party ably as a delegate to county and State conventions, and has been chosen as a confrere in the various congressional conferences of his district. He is financially identified with various interests of the county and State, being a stockholder in a number of financial institutions of Harris- burg. ITis growing practice is indubitably the achievement of his exceptional energy and untiring application to his work, dis- played in the painstaking and skillful preparation of his cases, and his watchful fidelity to the interests confided to his hands.
- CALDER, COL. HOWARD L., attorney-at-law, was born June 16, 1864, in the old Calder homestead, 413 Market street, Harrisburg, Pa. He is a descendant of William Calder, who settled in this city in the early days of the century and was extensively engaged as a stage line proprietor and contractor. His father, the Rev. James Calder, D. D., was well known in the affairs of our city and was prominent in educational circles, having served as president of Hillsdale College, Michigan, and the Pennsylvania State Col- lege, respectively. Howard L. received his carly education in the preparatory depart- ment of the State College and the Harrisburg high school, graduating from the latter as valedictorian in the class of 1883. He at, once entered Bucknell College and graduated as third honor man of a large elass in 1887, being awarded the prize for the senior ora- tion. The Master's oration was assigned to him by his alma mater as a recognition of his ability and standing and was acceptably delivered in 1890, the subject being "Ele- mentary Law in the College Curriculum." After completing his college course in 1887, Mr. Calder registered as a student at law with Hon. Robert Snodgrass and was admitted to the Dauphin county bar in the fall of 1889. Since his admission he has made rapid strides in his profession. His ability as a public speaker has given him great popularity among all classes and his careful application to matters entrusted to his care has estab- lished for him a substantial and growing
elientage. At the present time, in connection with A. Wilson Norris, Esq., his law partner, he represents sone of the largest estates in the city, having made a marked success in the Orphans' Court. He has served in the Pennsylvania National Guard for twelve years. Enlisting as a private he is now aide- de-camp with the rank of captain on the staff of Brig. Gen. J. P. S. Gobin. He is the pres- ent (1896) Worshipful Master of Perseverance Lodge, No. 21, F. & A. M., and is connected with other prominent civic and social organi zations.
HAIN, WILLIAM M., attorney-at-law, was born in Lower Paxton township, Dauphin county, Pa., September 9, 1863. He is a son of George and Sarah (Uhrich) Hain, the former a native of Dauphin county and still residing in Lower Paxton township, the latter a native of Lebanon county, died in Lower Paxton township, February 20, 1895. The Hain family were among the very carlies; settlers of Danphin county and Lower Pax- ton township, where the great-grandparents located in the early history of the county. The parents of William M. had born to them twelve children, eight of whom are living, namely : George, of Harrisburg; Jacob, John and David, prominent farmers of Lower Pax- ton township; William M., Edwin S., and Henry F., of Harrisburg, and Galen, for- merly attending and teaching school in Lower Paxton township, and now studying den- tistry. The grandfather. George Hain, was county commissioner of Dauphin county for many years. William M. was reared to man- hood in his native township, and received his primary education in the public schools there. He attended Muhlenberg College of Allentown, Pa., and also Lebanon Valler College at Annville, Pa. Ile was graduated from the latter institution with the class of 1888. He removed to Harrisburg and read law with Weiss & Gilbert and John A. Her- man. He was admitted to the bar of Pau- phin county in 1890, and entered at once upon the practice of his profession at this bar. He has been a notary public since 1890. He is a member of the Junior Order of American Mechanics. In politics he is a Democrat. He is a member of the Reformed church. He is a popular young man with a large clientage in both civil and criminal canses, and his prospects for a prosperous career are flattering.
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MEYERS, WILLIAM K., attorney-at-law, was born in Bedford, Bedford county, Pa., Sep- tember 27, 1867, and is the youngest son of Benjamin F. and Susan C. (Koontz) Meyers. In the spring of 1873 he removed to Harris- burg with his parents. His primary eduea- tion was received in the public schools of Harrisburg, supplemented by a thorough course in the high school, from which he was graduated with the elass of 1886, with the honor of valedictorian of the class. Imme- diately after completing his edueation in the high school he became connected with the editorial department of the Harrisburg Pa- triot. He subsequently studied law with the firm of Mumma & Shoop and was admitted to the Dauphin county bar in the spring of 1890. During the term of 1890 and 1891 he attended the law department of Yale Col- lege, New Haven, Conn., and was graduated from that institution with the class of June, 1891, receiving the degree of LL. B., and in July, 1891, began the practice of his cliosen profession in Harrisburg.
Mr. Meyers was married in Harrisburg, November 14, 1893, to Miss Mary Hunter, daughter of George W. and Mary Hunter, both deceased, and to their union has been born one child, Mary Elizabeth, born April 23, 1895.
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