USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. VII > Part 51
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In 1898 the death of the Hon. Lyman H. Bennett, Judge of the Court of Com- mon Pleas of Luzerne County, created a vacancy in that court. To fill this honor- able position Gaius Leonard Halsey, the subject of this sketch, was chosen by Governor Daniel Hastings. A contempo- rary newspaper of that date says: "Mr. Halsey's appointment to the important and honorable position is a choice than which no better could have been made from the Luzerne bar, which the newly made Judge has graced and honored for a quarter of a century. The selection is a wise one in as much as Judge Halsey is eminently fitted for the judiciary, pos- sessing in a high degree the qualities
that will make an impartial, upright and learned judge. In the profession of the law he took a prominent position while yet young at the bar, and his splendid powers as a counsellor and advocate soon brought him to the very forepart of his profession. Personally Judge Halsey is genial and good natured, his nature lib- eral, sincere and open. In every way his appointment will prove thoroughly satis- factory to the legal profession and to the public."
In the fall of 1898 Judge Halsey was nominated by both the Republican and Democratic parties for the office of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and was unanimously elected by the citizens of Luzerne county at the general election following for a period of ten years. As a judge he served with distinction and his rulings were seldom reversed by the Su- perior and Supreme Courts, the higher tribunals of the State of Pennsylvania.
On January 13, 1911, Judge Halsey was stricken with a disease that baffled the medical profession. The best doctors and eminent specialists having been called in consultation, and after a lingering illness covering a period of six weeks, he finally succumbed to the ravages of the disease on the 16th day of February, 1911, at his home in the city of Wilkes-Barre, Penn- sylvania. That Judge Halsey was highly respected by the people of Luzerne coun- ty, the community in which he resided, is particularly shown by articles that appeared in the prominent newspapers on the date of his death.
"Times-Leader :"-Judge Halsey is dead. This was the sad news that cast a gloom over the community to-day. Although it was known that the Ex-Judge was ill, few realized his dangerous condition, and the announcement of his death came as a shock to all. Gaius L. Halsey was a citizen whose loss will be most keenly felt. The people of Luzerne county, whose friend he al- ways was, will sorely miss him. As a judge of
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Luzerne county he was just, fair and impartial. His career on the bench was one of great service to the people of Luzerne county.
In the death of Gaius L. Halsey a true man passes away, one whose place among us will be most difficult to fill.
In saddened times like these, it is a consolation to know that the life that ebbed away was an exemplary one, and that whatever place Gaius L. Halsey occupied, he did his duty fearlessly and honestly, as between man and man.
"Wilkes-Barre Record:"-The death of Ex- Judge Halsey comes as a great surprise. Men- tion of his illness had appeared in the newspapers, but few people realized that his condition was so desperate. His demise removes one of the most prominent members of the Luzerne County Bar, and one who, as Judge, devoted himself honestly, ably and conscientiously to the performance of his duty. He was particularly noted for his in- dustry. He applied himself diligently to every task, and persisted until it was accomplished. He passes away high in the esteem of his fellowmen and affectionately regarded by his fellow prac- titioners.
"The Evening News:"-In the death of Judge Halsey, Luzerne county has lost a citizen of the loftiest type and the bar a member whose cultiva- tion of the highest ideals in the practice of his profession won him the respect and admiration of his associates. He was a man of rugged honesty, a lawyer of long and honorable service, and his death is a distinct loss to the community.
"Elmira Telegram :"-As a jurist, he was ever eminently fair and impartial, and notwithstanding that he had always been known as a corporation lawyer, previous to his ascension to the bench, no railroad king nor coal baron ever received more than was coming to him from him. He stood in defense of right against wrong first, last and all the time. While he entertained the most profound respect for the legal profession and its members, he never permitted any of them to in- fluence him in any way in the discharge of his duties. He did what he thought was right, irre- spective of criticism and public opinion. And he was generally always right.
Among his associates on the bench and at the bar in the County of Luzerne, his death was the occasion of great sorrow. At the meeting of the Bar Association
the day following his death, "one of the sincerest and most impressive tributes that has ever been paid to a member of the bench or bar of Luzerne county was the combined expression of nearly a score of attorneys and three of the judges in voicing their sentiments of sorrow on his death."
Hon. George S. Ferris, president judge of the county, was chosen to preside at the meeting, and when he took charge as president, in part said :
Accustomed as we have grown to be of recent years to the inroads of death, it will, nevertheless, be hard for us to think of the bench and bar of this county without the commanding figure of Judge Halsey. He was admitted as an attorney of our courts in the same year as I was, and thus belonged to the same group of lawyers-the men of the seventies.
As a judge, his high personal character, his in- herent, natural love of justice, his abhorrence of shams and of everything that smacked of dis- honesty, his unbending devotion to duty, free- dom from bias and capacity for hard work, in- vited, and when necessary compelled the respect of all with whom he had to do.
As a citizen, as lawyer, as judge, Gaius L. Hal- sel was one whose place in this community will be difficult indeed to fill, and one whose name should be written with the names of those to whose character and life work fathers direct the attention of their sons.
Judge Henry A. Fuller spoke in part as follows :
In the catalog of Judge Halsey's judicial qualifications I would lay particular emphasis upon the general virtue of punctiliousness, the most excellent virtue which a judge can possibly possess, because it embraces almost every habit needed for useful service on the bench; the habit of punctuality, which keeps every engagement at the precise time and place appointed; the habit of promptness, which transacts all business with despatch; the habit of firmness, which insists upon compliance with every rule; the habit of impartiality, which accords like treatment to every individual; the habit of exactness, which hazards no performance without full knowledge of the situation, and, best of all, the habit of square deal-
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ing, which defines action in respect to every proposition.
Judge Benjamin R. Jones spoke in part as follows :
Judge Halsey's life was a beaten path, from his home to his office and back again. To him the whole world was a stillness, with no pleasures but the simple enjoyment of his home. He lived a simple life, in all the term implies, and in the midst of his family, his cup of happiness was full to overflowing.
I would sum up his whole life in the three great precepts of Justinian : First, he was honest ; second, he hurt nobody; and third, he rendered to everyone his due.
Hon. S. J. Strauss, who was associated with Judge Halsey for many years, spoke in part as follows :
Before all things he loved his work. He loved it so well that he never neglected it. When a thing was to be done he was on the qui vive to have it done as quickly as was consistent with the purpose to do it well. He strove daily, seldom taking a vacation so that what had been entrusted to him might be accomplished and that his clients' interests might be advanced not only by complete performance, but chiefly by prompt performance. He recognized with a deep sense of responsibility the evils of the law's delay even as a practitioner, and at all times he was deter- mined so far as he could control the matter that the delays should be removed from the path along which he and his client had to walk in order to realize the protection of rights under the law. Those who knew him as a judge remember his unflinching purpose to force cases to conclusion, his impatience with excuse for delay and continu- ances.
Attorney John McGahren spoke in part as follows :
A true portrait of Judge Halsey's character showed that he was prudent in the management of his affairs, firm in his moral principles and rigidly conformed to them in his own practice. As a judge he was painstaking, industrious, prompt in the discharge of his duties, and al- though he may at times have erred in his rulings, as even the ablest judges may do, no one could ques-
tion the purity of his motives or the honesty of his convictions. Many of the notable fruits of his labors are to be found in the reported opinions rendered by him in the cases which he tried as a judge, and may be safely relied upon as pre- cedents both by the bench and bar of our State. They afford abundant proof that he honorably discharged that duty which every man owes to his profession. No one who studies these de- cisions and opinions will hesitate to believe that he was actuated by a desire to accomplish those results which learning and talents cannot fail to secure.
Attorney E. A. Lynch spoke in part as follows :
Judge Halsey was a good lawyer in every sense of the word. He was a good judge. As a judge he was dignified, impartial and conscientious and above all, in my mind what made him a good judge, he was merciful. A more considerate, kind, and tenderhearted man I never knew. I saw these essential characteristics exemplified on many occasions, but especially so while discharg- ing his judicial functions on the bench.
Hon. John T. Lenahan delivered a eulogy in part as follows :
We who knew Judge Halsey as a man, a lawyer, and a jurist, alone can appreciate his loftiness of character and true nobility of man- hood. For ten years and more he presided in these courts, administering justice in its best sense with a rigid impartiality that extorted from all classes a quantum of praise rarely accorded tribu- nals summoned to the adjustment of human dis- putes. In his public life, he typified the most cherished ideals of what a judge should be. The line of conduct he marked out for himself when first assuming the judicial robes was never de- parted from in his long career of more than ten years on the bench. Called to his position by the unanimous voice of all political parties of Lu- zerne county, he never failed to fully justify the prediction vouched for by his most enthusiastic admirers. Unyielding always to the behests of private friendships or the solicitations of selfish interestedness, he fixed the standard of his judi- cial action by an undivided and conscientious de- votion to the unsullied integrity of the law of the land. He has now passed into the legal his- tory of the county of which we are all so proud, taking equal rank with those illustrious names
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which have so long illumined the jurisprudence of our Commonwealth.
Attorney Alexander Farnham, Presi- dent of the Bar Association of Luzerne County, spoke in part as follows :
At the bar Judge Halsey was unobtrusive in the fullest sense of the word. I do not mean by this that he was backward or diffident in manner. On the contrary he had an independence of spirit and a self-reliance which shone out as conspicu- ous traits of his character, but he was never the one to obtrude his thoughts and ideas upon the attention of others. When asked he was always ready to express them in plain, terse and direct language which left no doubt of his meaning. His industry, his fidelity and his zeal in the prac- tice of his profession soon attracted to him a large and profitable clientage, and his profes- sional career was prosperous and successful.
Attorney William S. McLean, Sr., spoke in part as follows :
Judge Halsey was an industrious upright lawyer and when he was promoted to the bench he was an industrious upright judge. He always kept abreast of his work. He was not satisfied until all the work lying upon his desk was dis- posed of and it was carefully disposed of. His percentage of affirmed cases in the Appellate Courts will compare favorably with the percent- age of any of the judges of the lower courts of the Commonwealth. He was not only industri- ous and upright but he brought to his judicial work a fine intellect and a wholesome sense of justice.
Eulogies were also delivered by At- torneys James L. Lenahan, Thomas H. Atherton, P. L. Drum, Paul J. Sherwood and W. L. Butler.
A committee of the bar composed of Hon. Frank W. Wheaton, Hon. Henry W. Palmer, George R. Bedford, Esq., Hon. John T. Lenahan, John McGahren, Esq., John Q. Creveling, Esq., and Thom- as F. Farrell, Esq., were appointed as a committee on resolutions, and reported at the meeting in part as follows :
It is as a judge that Honorable G. L. Halsey won the highest and most enduring distinction, and will best be remembered by his admirers- by the bar and the great constituency whom he so ably and faithfully served in that exalted office. No man ever wore the ermine with more solemn and religious sense of the sacred trust and re- sponsibility reposed in him than did Judge Hal- sey. High and fearless integrity and inflexible honesty, impregnable alike to the assaults of the mighty and the artifices of the crafty, was the pole star of his judicial career. To do his high and sacred duty, to discharge righteously the great responsibility resting upon him, was the cardinal rule that controlled his every judicial act, and to this all else was made subsidiary. With this great central idea in mind, which from the first moment he took the oath of office to the last moment of his term, he carried out with unflinching courage and religious fidelity, he combined many other high judicial qualities.
Judge Halsey's decisions were clear, exhaustive, always expressive of his high conviction, and almost always correct. His opinions and judgments will endure as safe and sound precedents, and those of them which were appealed were nearly always sustained by the appellate courts.
Be it resolved, that in the death of the Honor- able Gaius Leonard Halsey this bar has lost one of its foremost members, a lawyer of learning, distinction and power, who embodied and upheld the best traditions and ideals of the profession, and who filled the high office of judge of the courts of this county with conspicuous ability, dignity, learning and impartiality; the commu- nity has lost a man typifying the best element of American citizenship, broad minded, intelli- gently alive to affairs in general and full of public spirit; and his bereaved family on whom the blow has most heavily fallen have lost a hus- band and father of whose unceasing love, de- votion, tenderness and pride, it were difficult and almost sacrilegious to speak, whose home was his shrine, and whose wife and children the idols of his life.
Judge Halsey was a member of the Landmark Lodge, No. 442, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, the only organization with which he was affiliated. He was the founder of the White Haven Savings Bank, and one of the original incorpo- rators of the First National Bank of Nan-
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ticoke. In the former he was a director for thirty-nine years and its president for fourteen years, and in the latter institu- tion he was a director from its incorpora- tion to the time of his death.
At the time of his death the directorate of both banks with which he was so long affiliated adopted resolutions concerning the service he had rendered them. The resolutions are as follows :
White Haven Savings Bank :- Whereas Gaius Leonard Halsey, a director of this Bank and its President since January 5, 1897, died on Thurs- day, February 16, 1911, at seven o'clock a. m .; and
Whereas Mr. Halsey was a charter Director of the Bank, having been named in the Act of In- corporation by the Legislature, approved by the Governor May 26, 1871, and continuously occu- pied that office up to the time of his death, a period of nearly forty years; and
Whereas the present prosperity of the Bank, its established confidence and high credit have been greatly promoted by the industry, support, care and ability which Mr. Halsey always gave to its management.
Therefore be it Resolved that the death of Gaius Leonard Halsey is a great loss to this institution.
Resolved, that in honor and respect for the memory of Mr. Halsey, our deceased Director and President, the Bank be draped in mourning for thirty days and that it be closed during the hour of the funeral.
First National Bank of Nanticoke :- The direc- tors of the First National Bank of Nanticoke desire to make expression of the sincere esteem in which they ever held the Honorable Gains L. Halsey, who was a most valued and efficient di- rector of the Institution from its inception until death brought the relationship to a close.
They also desire to bear witness to his rare judgment, to his high aims, to his sincerity of purpose and to his manly, upright and noble quali- ties-traits that made him a potent factor for good in all the relations of life. -
They wish to express to the bereaved family of Judge Halsey their deep and heartfelt sympathy for them in the great affliction which it is their lot to bear.
Judge Halsey was buried at White Haven in the family plot in Laurel Ceme- tery. This cemetery, one of the most beautiful in the State, was planned by him and is a monument to him.
Judge Halsey is survived by his wife, Sarah Elizabeth Halsey, daughter of John W. LeVan, of White Haven, Pennsylva- nia, whom he married April 7, 1882; and by five children: Anna Catherine Hal- sey, John Richard Halsey, Ruth Alice Halsey and Joseph Gaius Halsey, all of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and Mrs. William Hogencamp Wurts, of Hacken- sack, New Jersey; by one sister, Miss Harriet L. Halsey, of Wilkes-Barre, Penn- sylvania; and by two grandchildren: John Halsey Wurts and Louise Wurts, of Hackensack, New Jersey.
PARKHURST, Frank Ellsworth. Insurance Underwriter.
Widely known in insurance circles as a capable, conscientious underwriter, and as an experienced business man, Mr. Parkhurst, who, since 1883 has been a resident of Pennsylvania, has been the capable executive head of the Franklin Fire Insurance Company of Philadelphia since January 15, 1914. His rise has been rapid, as it is only since 1891 that he has been in any way connected with the insurance business, beginning in that year as an agent with the firm of Thomp- son Derr & Brother, general insurance agents, of Wilkes-Barre, a firm estab- lished in 1858, of which he is now the head. That he has gone so far in the quarter of a century that has since inter- vened is the best eulogy which can be written, his achievement marking him as one of the strongest men in a business in which strong men abound.
The Parkhurst family is of ancient Eng- lish origin, the name appearing as early
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as 1000 A. D., the direct ancestry being traced to the sixteenth century. Two centuries ago a colony of Parkhursts migrated from Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight (where there was a royal park called Parkhurst Forest) to Surrey, Eng- land, from which branch the American family descends. The original seat of the clan in Surrey was at "Parkhurst Manor," between Epsom and Guilford, confiscated about 1745, as tradition says, for connec- tion of its owners with the exiled Stuarts. In 1635 a Parkhurst was lord mayor of London. Bishop Parkhurst of Norwich, England, who was born in 1574, is be- lieved to have been an ancestor of George Parkhurst, the American founder of the family. The Parkhursts bore arms, granted them in the second year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth: "A shield sil- ver, cross ermine, in each quarter a buck trippant. Crest: A demi-griffin with wings addorsed in black, holding in the dexter paw a cutlass in silver, with hilt and pommel of gold. Ground of shield of all the above purple. Motto: 'The Cross Our Stay.'"
The line of descent to Frank Ellsworth Parkhurst, of Wilkes-Barre, of the tenth American generation, is through George Parkhurst, the founder, who was of Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1643; his son George (2), born in 1618, also a resident of Watertown; his son John Parkhurst, born in 1644, also of Water- town; his son Deacon John Parkhurst, born in 1671, a resident of Weston, Mas- sachusetts; his son Josiah Parkhurst, born in 1706, a resident of Weston; his son Josiah (2) Parkhurst, born in 1736, who lived in Weston, but in 1762 moved to Framingham, Massachusetts ; his son Ephraim, born in 1765, in Framingham, who there built "Parkhurst House," of which was written "it was one of the finest dwellings in the vicinity, and many
were the parties and pleasant gatherings beneath its roof ;" his son John Look Park- hurst ; his son Leonard Woods Parkhurst ; his son Frank Ellsworth Parkhurst.
Ephraim Parkhurst married, December 27, 1788, Elizabeth, daughter of Captain John Look. Their eldest son, John Look ,Parkhurst, born September 7, 1789, died in Gorham, Maine, May 20, 1850. He was a graduate of Brown College in 1812, studied theology at Andover Seminary, was licensed to preach by the Mendon Association, but devoted his life to teach- ing in the academies at Amherst, Massa- chusetts, Gilmanton, New Hampshire, and in family boarding schools in Port- land and Standish, Maine. He was well known as an educator, and the author of several text books and educational trea- tises. He married (first) Persis Goodale, of Marlboro, Massachusetts, who died January 25, 1827, at the age of thirty- four, the mother of five children. He mar- ried (second) May 7, 1827, Marcia C. Harriman, of Wicanset, Maine, who died in Gorham, Maine, February 7, 1891, the mother of six children.
Leonard Woods Parkhurst, ninth child of John Look Parkhurst, and fourth by his second wife, Marcia C. Harriman, was born in Standish, Maine, March 31, 1836. He was a farmer and later a clothing manufacturer. He married, June 7, 1860, Mary P. Knapp, of Chelsea, Massachu- setts. They were the parents of seven children : John J., born March 31, 1861, married Gertrude Nason; Frank Ells- worth, of further mention; Shirley Lin- coln, died in childhood; Ella Florence, married Frank E. Sargent ; Albert Grant, died in infancy; May Louise, married Frank E. Bridgman; Marcia, married Fred Chamberlain.
Frank Ellsworth Parkhurst, second son of Leonard Woods and Mary F. (Knapp) Parkhurst, was born at Gorham, Maine,
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October 26, 1862, there attending gram- mar and high schools. He completed his education at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, and at the age of twenty- one, in 1883, began mercantile life in Pennsylvania as manager for the Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, opening their Allentown store. He remained in Allen- town one year, successfully conducting the business there, their first in eastern Pennsylvania, then opened the Wilkes- Barre store for the same company, a busi- ness he successfully managed until 1891. He had made many friends in Wilkes- Barre in the years he had there served the public, and some of these friends coveted the services of the very capable young man who was making such a success of the Atlantic & Pacific store. Finally he resigned and accepted a position with Thompson Derr & Brother, general in- surance agents of Wilkes-Barre.
That was the turning point of his ca- reer. He rose rapidly in the esteem of his employees, and in 1901 he was ad- mitted a member of the firm, a reward for his intelligent energetic services. In 1915, on the death of Andrew F. Derr, he be- came head of the firm of Thompson Derr & Brother, which was established in 1858, and is the largest fire insurance agency in eastern Pennsylvania. For twenty years he was a member of the Underwriters Association of the Middle Department of Pennsylvania. On January 15, 1914, he was elected president of the Franklin Fire Insurance Company, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and continued as such for about two years and is still a director of that company. He is also a director of the Miner's Bank of Wilkes-Barre, and of the Sheldon Axle & Spring Company of the same city.
Mr. Parkhurst is deeply immersed in business, but not to the exclusion of the moral and religious needs of his own na-
ture, but is keenly alive to the importance of Christian work and living. While no good cause lacks his support he is par- ticularly interested in the welfare of Me- morial Presbyterian Church of Wilkes- Barre, and in the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian associations. He is an elder, trustee and treasurer of the Memorial Church, superintendent of its Sunday school, one of its strong pillars of support. He is a director of the Young Men's Christian Association, and a trus- tee of the Young Women's Christian As- sociation, a firm, faithful and generous friend to both. Genial, kindly hearted and social, he is very popular and finds en- joyment with his fellows in the out-of- doors and social enjoyments of the Wilkes-Barre Country Club. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Society. He is full of the joy of living, and one of the most approachable of men. He has a host of friends, attracted by the frank manliness of his nature, and is best be- loved where best known.
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