USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 52
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" The judicial fairness, kindness and legal learn- ing of ou- candidate have never been questioned. He ceased not to be a learner when, many years ago, he became a Judge. Such a thing as idleness he has never known. He burns the student's oil as abundantly as when he came to the bar, and his written opinions show great research and legal learning and patient labor. * * * In conclusion I may add that he is a gentleman, uniformly kind and obliging in manner; a benevolent man, without ostentation ; learned as a lawyer, without either pedantry or affectation; a just and incorruptible
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Judge, yet always courteous and leaning on the side of mercy; a citizen and neighbor universally loved and respected by all who know him, and in the full- est degree commanding the admiration, and enjoy- ing the confidence of all classes without reference to party lines, or political differences."
His present commission runs for twenty-one years from January 1, 1888, or until January 1, 1909, and he will become the Chief Justice of Penn- sylvania on the 1st of January, 1904.
JOHN N. CONYNGHAM.
HON. JOHN NESBITT CONYNGHAM, LL.D., distinguished during a long and useful life in the threefold capacity of Christian, citizen and jurist, and for thirty years preceding his death conspicu- ous as President-Judge, at first of the Thirteenth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, and afterwards of the Eleventh District, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., December 17, 1798, and died (the victim of an unfortunate railroad accident) at Magnolia, about one hundred miles above New Orleans, Miss., on the evening of Thursday, February 23, 1871, being then in his seventy-third year. His ancestors and relatives on both sides for many generations were people of eminent respectability and wortlı. As the name indicates, the family of Conyngham is of Scotch origin. For several generations, however, the ancestors of the Judge were domiciled in Ire- land, and ranked there among those who were the honor of the land, among them being numbered several distinguished divines and prelates of the Church of Ireland. His grandfather, Redmond Conyngham, a native of Ireland, was a highly re- spected citizen of Philadelphia, and from the records of the old Christ Church in that city, appears to have taken a prominent part in church work. His name is in the list of subscribers to a fund for build- ing a steeple and providing bells for this edifice as early as the middle of the eighteenth century, his associates in the good work having been William Bingham, Benj. Franklin, Edward Shippen, Charles Meredith, Elias Boudinot and several others, all of whom are mentioned as having " subscribed liber- ally." He was elected a vestryman and warden of this church shortly afterwards, and in 1758, when it was resolved to build another church in the south- ern part of the city, he was one of the building committee, and thus was one of the founders of St. Peters' Church, at Third and Pine streets, which was first opened for divine service September 4, 1761. He continued a member of the united par- ishes of Christ Church and St. Peters' until his
death. His son, David Hayfield Conyngham, was the father of Judge Conyngham. He was a native of the north of Ireland, where he was born about the year 1750, but came to Philadelphia very early in life. He also was a sincere Christian and was connected with and a liberal supporter of Christ Church. He took an active interest in military affairs and was one of the founders of the First Troop of City Cavalry. As a business man he stood among the wealthiest and most prominent members of the mercantile community of Philadelphia, being a partner in the firm of J. W. Nesbitt & Co., and senior member of the house of Conyngham & Nes- bitt, which in the darkest period of the Revolution, in 1780, when Washington was apprehensive that he could not keep the field with his impoverished and distressed army, nobly came forward and supplied the needed means (some five thousand pounds) for the relief of the suffering patriots. This magnifi- cent exhibition of patriotism and confidence was gracefully and gratefully acknowledged by Wash- ington and also by Robert Morris, the distinguished financier of the Revolution. The subject of this sketch received his early education under the most favorable auspices in the city of his birth. He then entered the University of Pennsylvania, and taking the full course was graduated with high honor in 1817. Selecting the law as a life profession, he en- tered the office of the Hon. Joseph R. Ingersoll of Philadelphia-of whom he was the second pupil, the first being the late Judge Petit-and under his able instruction completed his preparatory studies in a manner which secured to him the life-long affection and respect of his preceptor. He was admitted to the bar in the city of Philadelphia, February 12, 1820. Of an ardent and sanguine temperament, he concluded that it would be better for him to strike into new fields than to remain in his native city at a time when the bar was lustrous with some of the brightest lights, and he settled upon Wilkes-Barre, in the Wyoming Valley. Accordingly, in the fol- lowing month he transferred himself thither, going by stage coach. During his long and rather trying three-days journey in this conveyance, he had as his companions, among others, two persons with whom afterwards he became peculiarly associated. One of these was a young law student of about his own age, Samuel Bowman by name, who, after being ad- mitted to the bar studied for the ministry, and eventually became Assistant-Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania. The other was a young lady- the granddaughter of the old Revolutionary hero, Colonel Zebulon Butler-who a few years after be- came his wife. Having established himself at Wilkes-Barre, which was even then almost a fron-
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tier town, and being admitted to the bar of Luzerne County April 3, 1820, he threw himself with youth- ful ardor into professional work. Notwithstanding its advanced situation, geographically, the place and the neighborhood contained a number of bright pro- fessional men, and the young lawyer's task was not so easy as to render hard work superfluous. But for this he seems to have been specially fitted by nature, for he had an abundance of both health and energy, and although trained to city life, possessed the trait of adaptability in a sufficient degree to make it comparatively easy to accept the new conditions. " At that time," says a writer who knew him inti- mately, " his figure was tall but spare, his face rud- dy and finely chiselled, his manners easy and grace- ful, and his whole bearing full of that unselfishi kindness which is so magnetic in drawing to itsclf the love and confidence of all who come within the area of its attraction." To the careful training fit- ting him for the ordinary duties of his profession, the young lawyer added great energy and superior discrimination. Always an indefatigable student, he suffered no case to pass from his hands without a careful study of its principles and a thorough ex- amination of the authorities that bore upon it. His practice was scientifically conducted and success came to him slowly at first, but with increasing vol- ume each succeeding year. After a most successful career at the bar, covering nearly a score of years, during two of which he represented his district in the State Legislature, he was appointed in the spring of 1839, by Governor D. R. Porter, to the position of President-Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Dis- trict of Pennsylvania, then consisting of the Coun- ties of Susquehanna, Bradford, Tioga, Potter and Mckean. The first session of his court was held at Tioga. By an act passed April 13, 1840, Luzerne County was attached to his district and Susquehan- na was transferred to the Eleventh District-a pro- ceeding which permitted Judge Conyngham and an associate on the bench (Judge Jessup) to live at their respective places of abode, within their dis- tricts. Judge Conyngham's commission expired in 1849, but in the fall of 1851, under the amended con- stitution, he was elected to the Presidency of the Eleventh District, then composed of Luzerne, Wy- oming, Montour and Columbia Counties. In 1853, and again in 1856, changes were made in the district, which finally consisted of Luzernc County only. In 1861 he was re-elected to office. Although holding political opinions differing on many points from those promulgated by the National Administration at the date of the firing on Sumter, this act of war against the legal authority of his country aroused his patriotism, and, immediately sacrificing every
party feeling, lie addressed himself with special vigor to the preservation of the imperillcd Union. " He joined in calls for public meetings, le ad- dressed immense audiences, he headed subscription lists, he stimulated the lagging, he encouraged en- listment, and, unable to go himself, he gave all his four sons to his country, two of whom bled in its battles, and all of whom would have died if need had been, in its defense. His name and influence were all-powerful in his judicial district, and few men gave greater personal or moral support to our cause in its hour or peril, than this large-hearted and broad-minded man." Thus did he emulate the un- selfish patriotism of his noble father. Judge Conyn- gham resigned his position on the bench in July, 1870. An Additional Law Judge-the Hon. E. L. Dana-had been provided for Luzerne County, then become the third in importance in the State, but, notwithstanding this great assistance, the legal bus- iness increased to such an extent, and the duties of Judge Conyngham's office became so onerous, that he determined to resign, in order to seek in private life the repose to which fifty years of incessant and unwearied labor had richly entitled him. In laying down the official ermine, which he had worn un- spotted for almost thirty years, he said to his fellow citizens : " Advancing years and some physical in- firmity, clearly perceived by myself in times of offi- cial labors, admonishing me of my inability to attend to official duty as I would desire to do, have led me to the determination to deliver back to you, through the proper channel, the trust which in my younger days you committed to my chargc." At the same time he informed them that he had also determined to spend the remainder of his life as "a citizen of old Luzerne, a county," said he, "in which I have resided upwards of fifty years, the period of pro- fessional and judicial life." When he resigned his President-Judgeship the whole bar of Luzerne Co., as one man, rose up to do him honor. With a unanimity seldom before manifestcd, the legal pro- fession gathered at a public banquet given in his honor, and subscribed to a most elegant testimonial presented to him, as the lasting evidences of their personal and official regards. It is not often that such a tribute is paid to a Judge. It was the first instance of the kind in Pennsylvania. In its lead- ing characteristics it will ever stand out as a re- markable tribute of genuine affection to official worth. No less than sixteen Judges, from the Su- preme Court of the United States down through all the State Judiciaries, gave in writing their deliber- ate judgment of his character as a Judge. These gentlemen had entirely risen above the rivalries and jealousies of their profession, and with unprejudiced
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minds spoke out their true thoughts. The word- picture drawn was like a portrait painted by many master hands, each delineating the feature in which it excelled. One speaks of him as " the noble gen- tleman and eminent jurist," who has "long and so ably maintained the dignity of his office, and the purity of the ermine; " another as "a profound lawyer, a learned and upright Judge; " another speaks of his "unwearied and incessant labor, his perfect conscientiousness and impartiality, his world-wide learning and unexcelled ability ; " an- other says, "to the solid attainments and sound judgment of a disciplined lawyer, he united the strong sense of justice and the inflexible upright- ness of an impartial Judge." "By his retirement," says another, " the judiciary of the State loses one of its brightest ornaments." The force of these re- marks lies in the fact that they were not posthu- mous tributes, but were uttered while Judge Conyngham was living, and by Judges with whom in various relations he had been associated, and who knew and had tested his value, by all the legal stan- dards which could compute worth or measure great- ness. "From the bench and as a Judge, he was," said Bishop Stevens of Pennsylvania, " incessant in teaching and moulding the public mind. In his charges to jurors, in his decisions on questions of law, in his protecting the rights of witnesses, in his strict upholding of all the forms and processes of law, in liis sentences to the condemned, in his main- tenance of the full amenities of the bar, in the spot- lessness of his own private as well as public char- acter, he was constantly instructing the people, educating them to discharge the high duties and responsibilities which devolved upon them in all the phases and conditions of life." A legal writer of ability forcibly said of him: "In that intimate acquaintance with adjudicated cases in which he was not surpassed, if indeed he was equalled by any man in the State, and in his general knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence, and his accurate application of them to the gigantic interests of the community over which he ruled, it is the cautious phrase of criticism, rather than the unguarded lan- guage of eulogy, to say that he rivalled and bore rank amongst those great names of the earlier Penn- sylvania bench and bar of which we are so justly proud." To his other work Judge Conyngham added that of a leader of the Low Church party of the Protestant Episcopal Church, of which he was a most devoted and efficient member. He was for- mally united with St. Stephen's Church in Wilkes- Barre, of which he was a vestryman and a warden, and represented that parish for nearly thirty years in the Diocesan Conventions, first taking his seat in
a special Convention held at Philadelphia, in Octo- ber, 1826. He was also a lay delegate from his diocese to the General Convention for many years, beginning in 1850; and in that body served with distinction on the Committee on Canons, to which are referred all propositions for changes in Ecclesi- astical Law. There he met such eminent jurists as Washington Hunt; Judge Chambers of Maryland ; Judge Curtis, of the United States Supreme Court ; Judge Otis of Illinois, and the Hon. Hamilton Fish. He brought into that body the same calm, delibera- tive, impartial judgment which gave him reputation in the civil courts. On the committee named he represented a type of opinion which was not meant to be in the ascendant, but he bore his part so ably, yet so dispassionately, that he won for measures a degree of favor which a man of different tone could not have compelled; and modified obnoxious projects of law proposed by others which he could not defeat. In the fall of 1868 he became President of the American Church Missionary Society, the largest and most influential voluntary organization in the Protestant Episcopal Church, with central offices in New York, from which it directs the oper- ations of its members, both clerical and lay, in nearly every diocese, and in a field co-extensive with the domestic missionary work of that Church. Over this great society with its active press, its National work in church building, its hundred or more zeal- ous missionaries, Judge Conyngham presided with dignity and force. Speaking of his labors in this connection, the late Rev. Dr. Tyng, his friend for forty years, said : " His presence has brought com- manding dignity to the fulfillment of his duties, his eminent Christian character has added veneration and respect to his position, and his decided evangel- ical judgments and expressions have enhanced the confidence with which its operations have been re- garded." Beautiful as was the picture of his pub- lic character, that of his domestic life was even more so. He married, in 1824, Miss Ruth Ann But- ler, the daughter of General Lord Butler, and granddaughter of that distinguished Revolutionary officer, Colonel Zebulon Butler. His family num- bered seven children, of whom six grew to matur- ity. First, Col. John Butler, U. S. A .; second, Wil- liam Lord; third, Thomas; fourth, Major Charles Minor, U. S. A., 1861-5; fifth, Mary, who married Charles Parrish, of Wilkes-Barre; sixth, Anna, who married the Right Rev. William Bacon Stevens, D.D., LL.D., Bishop of Pennsylvania. As pre- viously mentioned, all four of his sons served in the Union Army during the Civil War. John B. Conyn- gham, the eldest son, born in 1827, entered the ser- vice in 1861, and remained in it until his death at
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the age of forty-four. He participated with great gallantry and efficiency in the campaigns under Mc- Clellan, Terry and Sherman, and rose to the rank of Colonel of Volunteers. He was appointed a Cap- tain in the regular army in 1867, and was active in the campaigns on the Indian frontier, winning, in 1871, the brevets of Major and Lieutenant Colonel, U. S. A., for conspicuous gallantry in the field. It was during these campaigns that his health became shattered. All efforts for the restoration of his health failed, and he died at Wilkes-Barre, May 27, 1871. It was through affection for his sick and suf- fering son that Judge Conyngham met his death. The former was lying seriously ill at Fort Clark, Texas, and it became necessary for some one of the family to go to him to assist in bringing him to his father's house, where it was hoped care and nursing would restore him to health. The Judge, accom- panied by his son William, started on this long journey, and had progressed as far as Magnolia, Miss., when, during the confusion incident to chang- ing cars at the moment of the simultaneous arrival of two trains, he was thrown from the station plat- form and severely injured. His sufferings, although intense, were borne with the most remarkable forti- tude for almost two hours, at the expiration of which, despite every attention, he died. His funeral at Wilkes-Barre was most notable, and marked, in a distinguished manner, the respect and affection in which the deceased was universally held. Although advanced in years at the time of his death, Judge Conyngham was still in excellent health, strong and hearty, and gave promise of years of usefulness to come. His death caused a profound sensation not only in the immediate section of his activities, but throughout the State and Nation, for he was in all respects one of Pennsylvania's most esteemed and worthy sons.
CHARLES DORRANCE.
COL. CHARLES DORRANCE, President of the Wyoming National Bank of Wilkes-Barre, was born on the Dorrance Homestead, at Kingston, now the borough of Dorranceton, Luzerne Co., Pa., (where he has ever since resided), January 4, 1805. The Dorrance family was one of the pioneer fami- lies of the Wyoming Valley, and through the tragic death of one its members, slain in the bloody battle and massacre of Wyoming, July 3d and 4th, 1778, is forever connected with the Revolutionary associ- ations of that beautiful and eminently historic locality. The founder of the Dorrance family in America was the Rev. Samuel Dorrance, a Scotch
Presbyterian clergyman, who arrived in this coun- try about the year 1722. He came to America from Ireland, and brought with him most satisfactory testimonials as to his character and standing, from several associations in Scotland and Ireland. Born in 1685, he had been graduated from Glasgow Uni- versity in 1709, and had been licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Dumbarton, in 1711. The people of Voluntown, Conn., invited him to preach to them from December, 1722, until the following May, and they were so well pleased with his services that they extended to him a formal call, without a dissenting voice, and agreed to give him " £60 a year for the present, and £50 in species suitable to promoting his building and settling." He was regularly or- dained October 23, 1723, and permanently estab- lished in his charge, to which he faithfully minis- tered for forty years or more. He died November 12, 1775, at the advanced age of uinety years. On the roll of his church at Voluntown appear the names of his two brothers, George and John, also that of John, jr., and of James Dorrance. This worthy clergyman married, August 1, 1726, a young lady named Elizabeth Smith, who died September 10, 1750. "The Wyoming of bloody record was mainly settled by emigrants from Connecticut, and the region known as such constituted a county under home jurisdiction to which the name West- more-land was given, as describing its relation to the mother Colony; as Connecticut under its charter from King Charles, extended from Narra- gansett Bay, on the east, to the Pacific Ocean, on the west, this Wyoming region, being embraced within its boundaries, was then considered as being an integral part of its territory. The first attempt of the Connecticut people to establish a permanent settlement was made in 1762, by the holders of what was called shares in the Susquehanna Land Company's purchase from the Six Tribes, or Na- tions, of tlie Iroquois." Nothing came of this attempt "as, during the following year, after twenty of their number had been murdered by the savages, the remainder were forced to abandon their rude huts at the mouth of Mill Creek, and return to their friends in the East, baffled but not defeated." In February, 1769, "auother advance detachment of forty emigrants from Connecticut, representing the Susquehanna Land Company, arrived in the Val- ley," and after a bloodless fight with the Pennsyl- vanian claimants of the lands temporarily aban- doned by the first party, settled down to a not altogether peaceful occupation of the lovely and fertile territory. Of this party, or those closely fol- lowing it, were John and George Dorrance, sons of the Rev. Samuel Dorrance of Voluntown. The
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first namcd, born July 12, 1733, died, unmarried, January 9, 1804. In the celebrated test case for the title to lands at Wyoming, between the Pennamites and Yankees (Van Horne's Lessee vs. Dorrance), he was the defendant. His brother George, the grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was born March 4, 1736. He became a Lieutenant-Colonel of the Militia in Wyoming, and was one of the princi- pal officers under Colonel Butler in the operations against the British and their savage allies at that point. In the battle of Wyoming, fought July 3, 1778, he took a leading part, and distinguished him- self by his bravery in the face of the enemy's fire. While riding along the line, gallantly attempting to rally his men in a fatal moment of confusion occa- sioned by their misconception of an order given by Col. Denison, who was in chief command on the left wing, he fell, severely wounded, and was taken prisoner. The following day he was brutally slain by his savage captors. As he was the highest in rank of the victims of this terrible slaughter, which cost the colony of Connecticut no less than five hundred lives, his name leads those inscribed upon the obelisk reared in the Valley, in 1843, by the descendents of the slain, in commemoration of their courage and patriotism. Lieutenant-Colonel George Dorrance was twice married. His two children by his first wife were daughters. The three by his second wife were sons. Robert, the eldest of the latter, served in the war against the Indians under Gov. St. Clair, and was killed at St. Clair's defeat, November 4, 1791. Gershom, the youngest, went back to the old home in Connecticut, where he married and had issue. The second son, Benjamin, father of the subject of this sketch, was born at Plainfield, Conn., in 1767. He spent nearly his whole life at Kingston, and it is recorded of him that "he was the most popular man of his day," in that neighborhood. He held by election several important offices, including those of County Com- missioner, High Sheriff of the County, and Member of the Legislature of the State, holding the last named position eleven terms. He was one of the founders and the first President of the Wyoming Bank at Wilkes-Barre, which was chartered by the State in 1829, and which has earned the reputation of being one of the safest and staunchest financial institutions in the country. Other offices and honors would have been thrust upon him, but he declined them. He married Nancy Buckingham, a native of Windham, Conn., who bore him three children : John, Charles and George. The following obituary notice appeared in the United States Ga- zette of Philadelphia, under date of September 6, 1837 :
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