USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Families of the Wyoming Valley: biographical, genealogical and historical. Sketches of the bench and bar of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, vol. III > Part 12
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GEORGE WASHINGTON WOODWARD.
Macalester, of Philadelphia. They had no children. She sur- vives him and resides in Lexington.
The distinguished deceased was a man of the highest integrity and fidelity. No one, whether he agreed with him in sentiment or not, ever doubted his honesty of purpose, or the sincerity of his opinions. He was a man in whom could be placed universal and absolute trust ; and no man ever did his duty to his country, his God and truth more earnestly and constantly than he. He was marked for his force of character. He was an earnest man in everything-a pretender in nothing. He was an able legisla- . tive debater, and had large views on constitutional law, and was an able judicial writer on questions of a broad and comprehensive character. He was noted also as a good nisi prius judge, his charge to the jury having always great weight, there being some- thing about his presence which impressed those who first came in contact with liim. His personal appearance contributed largely to this influence over the jury, as he was a man cast in a remarkably large mould, and of massive form and strength. He understood the science and the true principles of government, and knowing them, dared to maintain them with unflinching courage in the face of calumny, detraction, and even personal peril. To his brother members of the bar, and to the bar whilst on the bench, as well as in general society, he was most urbane and courteous. He was a sincere and exemplary christian, and had strong religious tendencies, being a consistent member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and took great interest in all church matters. In his family he was remarkably affectionate, and possessed and deserved the love and veneration of his family and kindred, and the warm regard of numerous friends who were bound to him with "hooks of steel." He was strongly affected by the death of his brother ex-chief justice, Judge Thompson, when that distinguished jurist fell, literally with the harness on, while arguing an important case before the Supreme Court, Judge Woodward being on the other side. The following is from the latter's speech at the bar meeting of Judge Thompson in which Judge Woodward is describing his deceased brother : "An acute critic has said, 'Perhaps the perfection of the judicial char- acter consists in the exhibition of pure intellect divested of human
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GEORGE WASHINGTON WOODWARD.
sympathy.' And yet who would choose for his judge such a monster of perfection. He is the fortunate judge who can so conduct himself on the seat of justice, and clothe his decisions in such language, that both he who wins and he who loses his cause can unite in paying a deserved tribute to his wisdom and integrity. 'Then,' 'Now,' were his last words. And how signifi- cant ! Then he was addressing to your honors the words of wisdom his mature years, his active life, his large reading had stored away in his well furnished mind. Now, he lies a pallid corpse in your honors' presence. And this little interval, only a few minutes long, spans the space between life and death, between the active duties of a well spent life and the dread reali- . ties of eternity. When have your honors witnessed a more impressive scene-one that tells us more solemnly how near we are to death even in the heat and stir of life? 'In the midst of life we are in death.'"
The death of such a man as Judge Woodward is a national calamity. His great ability, his profound legal knowledge, his per- sonal and official integrity, his enlarged and statesmanlike views, his christian character, his undoubted patriotism, made him one of the noblest men in the union, and in all sections, north, south, east and west, his demise was deeply lamented. His life was one of spotless purity, and of him it may be truly said that his was
"One of the few, the immortal names That were not born to die."
The Supreme Court met at Harrisburg May 11, 1875, and was occupied in hearing the argument of Mclellan's Appeal, an important case from Chambersburg. Hon. A. K. McClure con- cluded the argument, and when he closed he announced the death of the late Chief Justice Woodward as follows :
"And now, may it please the court, turning from the perishable things of time which so strangely concerns us, I am charged with a painful duty. George W. Woodward is dead! From a far-off land the swift message has come unseen, like the summons of the inexorable messenger whose solemn decree it records, and a voice once most familiar in this learned court is hushed forever. In the presence of his associates and successors, mine is not the task of eulogy. His stainless judicial record, that has long been as a
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GEORGE WASHINGTON WOODWARD.
text for the profession, would make even the most eloquent praise feeble. It is well to take pause over the death of such a judge. Only a man like his fellows-mortal, fallible, and sharing the infirmities, which are a common inheritance, and living and act- ing during a period when demoralization and distrust have been widespread in both authority and people, his adornment of public station by the highest measure of intellectual power, and a purity of purpose that is confessed by friend and foe, must leave his memory green among us wherever ability and integrity are hon- ored. His life was replete with uncommon vicissitudes. Hon- ored in the outset of his career by his native state beyond any . other citizen of his years, it was but natural that he should not be exempt from the disappointments of ambition. They are the price of bright promise in the highway to distinction, and are the thorns which remain to wound the hopeful grasp as the beauty and fragrance of the flower perish. From the withered field of political preferment to which he had been called by other efforts than his own, he ever came back to himself-to his one great calling and his grandest possible triumphs ; and as judge and chicf justice for two-thirds of a generation, he has written an imperish- able record. And now, in the fulness of his days, ripe in years, and wearing the chaplet of honors that even malice would not dare to stain, he has passed away. The fitful clouds and angry tempests of prejudice and passion, which at times obscure the attributes of greatness, have long since vanished like the mists of the morning, and in the calin, bright evening-time, he that has so justly judged between man and man appears before the Great Judge of all the living. But his blameless life, his pure example, his reverenced judgments remain, and like the beautiful dream of the departed sun. that throws its halo over the countless jewels which soften the deep lines of darkness, so will his lessons of wisdom and honesty illumine the path of public and private duty for generations to come. In respect to his memory, I move that the court do now adjourn."
Chief Justice Agnew responded to Mr. McClure's address as follows :
"We have listened to the announcement of the death of Hon. George W. Woodward, a former chief justice of this court, with feelings of unusual sadness. The suddenness of the melancholy event adds greatly to our sorrow. Chief Justice Woodward took a high position on this bench, and during a full term of fifteen years was esteemed one of its brightest ornaments, for the learn- ing, ability, acuteness, and culture displayed in his judgments. It does not fall to the lot of any one of us to be always right, yet
مية
· 1164
GEORGE WASHINGTON WOODWARD.
even when he dissented from the judgment of his brethren his opinions were marked by great force, vigor of thought, and ex- cellence of style. One, I remember, was afterwards adopted, and became the ruling of the court in subsequent decisions. Being myself the only member of the present bench who sat with him, it falls to me, perhaps, more than others, to speak of him in his judicial career. In some things we differed widely, as is the case with those brought up in different schools of opinions. But I feel a great satisfaction, now that he has left the world and its exciting scenes, in declaring that, notwithstanding our differences on some great public questions, the utmost cordiality existed between us. In personal character he stood high. A man of marked qualities, he was open and free in expression, perhaps to a fault. When opposed to any public sentiment his opinions were not the less outspoken. He had little, indeed none, of that secretiveness which oftentimes attends the public career of men of less ability, and by his freedom of speech at times placed him- self at a disadvantage. My entrance to this bench in 1863 was not my first introduction or first opportunity of studying his charac- ter. We were of the same age within three months, and but twenty-eight when we met together in the constitutional reform convention of 1837. I soon had occasion to notice him as one of no common ability. A very tall, slightly sallow, and then rather thin man, when he rose to address the chair his stature, deliberate manner, clear thought, vigorous language, and logical argument were striking in one of his years, and commanded the attention of every member. He rose rapidly, and soon took a front rank with those with whom he acted within party lines. In that con- vention were such gentlemen as Charles Jared Ingersoll, James Madison Porter, James Clarke, Thomas Earle, and others who were leaders on the same side ; yet six weeks had scarcely passed away when George W. Woodward, the member from Luzerne, stood abreast with them, and became an acknowledged leader, and soon attracted to himself his party movements. Having indulged in these few personal recollections, I may now add that all my brethren unite with me in expressing our heartfelt sorrow for this sad event, which has removed an eminent jurist and dis- tinguished man from our sight forever, and from the bosom of a family which loved and revered him. It is now ordered that the announcement of Mr. McClure of the death of the Hon. George W. Woodward, a former chief justice of this court, be entered on the minutes, and that his motion be granted that we do now ad- journ, as a token of respect for his memory." For further in- formation concerning the Woodward family see page 97.
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OVID FRASER JOHNSON.
CHARLES DENISON SHOEMAKER.
Charles Denison Shoemaker was appointed an associate judge of Luzerne county, Pa., August 21, 1830. For a sketch of his family sec pages 45 and 128.
OVID FRASER JOHNSON.
Ovid Fraser Johnson, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., April 6, 1831, was the grandson of Rev. Jacob John- son, also of this city (see page 187), and the son of Jehodia Pitt Jolinson, of this city. (See page 775). O. F. Johnson was born in Wilkes-Barre March 7, 1807. . He was educated at the Wilkes- Barre Academy, and read law with John N. Conyngham. He practiced in this city from the time of his admission until the time of his marriage. On January 15, 1839, he was appointed attorney- general of Pennsylvania, which office he held until January 21, 1845. As an orator Mr. Johnson was brilliant, as a lawyer he had superior abilities and somewhat of a widely known reputation, being frequently employed to try cases in different states of the union. He had also high reputation as a political writer. He was the author of the celebrated "Governor's Letters," published during the administration of Governor Ritner, and which pur- ported to give the ludicrous side to the political characters then figuring in the politics of the state. Mr. Johnson married, July 28, 1835, Jane Alricks, of Harrisburg, Pa. She was a descendant of Pieter Alricks, son of Pieter Alricks, who had been sent in 1658 by the Dutch government with instructions for New Neth- erlands and more than probable with the intention of remaining in the new country. In March, 1659, we find him carrying on trade in the "HoreKihl." In January, 1660, D'Hinayossa ap- pointed him commander there. On September 6, 1654, New Amsterdam was captured by the English, and Governor General Stuveysant was expelled. Thirteen days after Sir Robert Carr appeared on the Delaware, and in a fortnight thereafter took the Dutch forts. The estate of Pieter Alricks was confiscated, but
1
1166
OVID FRASER JOHNSON.
some years afterwards the Dutch again obtained possession not only of the banks of the Delaware but also of Fort Amsterdam, now New York city, and held possession until the English Gov- ernor Andross arrived, and then the annals inform us, "November 10, 1674, Fort Amsterdam, New York, was this day surrendered to Governor Andross, and all the magistrates in office at the time of the Dutch coming here, to be reinstated for the Delaware river, except Pieter Alricks, he having proffered himself to the Dutch at their first coming of his own motion, and acted very violent as their chief officer ever since." Commissary Alricks subsequently swore fidelity to the English and continued his trade on the South river. In August, 1672, he was appointed bailiff for New Castle, on the Delaware ; in October, 1667, com- missioned one of its justices and re-commissioned June 7, 1680, being one of the justices in commission when the proprietary government was formed. He was a member of the first assembly of the province, 1682 and 1683, and from 1685 to 1689 served as one of the provincial councillors. In 1685 William Penn bought out the title of the Indians in a large body of land lying be- tween Philadelphia and Wilmington, extending back from the Delaware river as far as a man "can ride in two days with a horse." The first witness to this Indian deed is Pieter Alricks. He was commissioned one of the justices of the peace for the Lower Counties, April 13, 1690, and again May 2, 1693. On Septem- ber 2, 1690, he was also appointed a judge of the provincial court, serving until 1693. He probably died about that time. From him for two generations it has been found difficult to trace the full descent, save that a son of Pieter last named was probably named Pieter and his son Wessels or Weselius Alricks. The latter was born in Delaware, afterwards removed to Philadelphia, where he became quite prominent in provincial affairs, and held- several important offices. He died there, leaving a son Hermanus, born about 1730, in Philadelphia. He resided some years in his native city, but afterwards settled in Cumberland county. He was chosen the first member of the general assembly from that county, and was commissioned prothonotary of Cumberland county, and also a justice of the peace. Until his death he was a man of mark and influence in the valley west of the Susquehanna. Hermanus
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JOHN J. WURTZ.
Alricks was twice married. There was probably no issue by the first marriage. He married, second, Ann West, born 1733, in the north of Ireland; died November 21, 1791, in Donegal town- ship, Lancaster county, Pa., and is buried in the old church yard there. Hermanus Alricks died December 14, 1772, in Carlisle. James Alricks, son of Hermanus Alricks, was born December 2, 1769, at Carlisle. He received a good education in the schools of his day, and was brought up to a mercantile life. In 1791-2 he was engaged in business in Maytown, Lancaster county, and in 1814 he removed with his family from Lost Creek Valley to Harrisburg. He was a man of extensive reading, passionately fond of books, and he regarded an honest man, of fine education and refined manners, as the most remarkable object on the face of the earth. After his father's death he was raised on a farm in Donegal township, and used to say that at that period no one could get an education for want of teachers. On March 10, 1821, he was appointed clerk of the Orphans' Court and Quarter Ses- sions, serving until 1824. He subsequently served as one of the magistrates of the borough. He married, July 21, 1796, at Har- risburg, Martha Hamilton, daughter of John Hamilton and Mar- garet Alexander. These were the parents of Jane Alricks, who was born at Oakland Mills, in Lost Creek Valley, now Juniata county, Pa., who married Ovid Fraser Johnson. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson had a family of four children-Fanny Alricks, who be- came the wife of Hon. Samuel Townsend Shugert, of Bellefonte, Pa., Hannah Tanthe Johnson, Martha Alricks Johnson, and Ovid Fraser Johnson, of Philadelphia. The last named is a lawyer, and the author of "Law of Mechanics' Liens in Pennsylvania," Philadelphia, 1884. O. F. Johnson, senior, died in the city of Washington, D. C., in February, 1854.
JOHN J. WURTZ.
John J. Wurtz, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., August 2, 1831, was a descendant of Rev. Hans Conrad Wirtz, who came to this country from Zurich, Switzerland, in 1707.
1168
VOLNEY LEE MAXWELL.
He preached first at New Brunswick, N. J. He was pastor of the Egypt church, in White Hall township, Lehigh county, Pa., from 1742 to 1744. In 1747 he was the pastor of the Springfield Reformed church, in Bucks county, Pa. He removed to Rock- away, N. J., in 1751. In 1761 he removed to York, Pa., where he was pastor of the First Reformed church of that place. He died in York September 21, 1763, and is buried under the altar of the stone church, which was in process of erection during his pastorate. Dr. George Wurtz, of Montville and Boonton, N. J., was the son or grandson of Rev. Hans Conrad Wurtz. He was the father of John J. Wurtz, who was born at Longwood, N. J., February 2, ISO1. His wife was Ann Barbara Norris, of Balti- more, Md. They had three children-Henry Wirtz, George
- Wurtz, and Eliza Ann, wife of Rev. Francis Canfield. Mr. Wurtz practiced in this city, and died here November 4, 1836. -
VOLNEY LEE MAXWELL.
Volney Lee Maxwell, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., November 11, 1831, was a grandson of James Max- well, of the English navy, which he left at Halifax, N. S., long before the revolutionary war. Squire Maxwell, son of James Maxwell, was born in Warren, R. I. His wife was Phebe Rice, a native of New York. V. L. Maxwell, son of Squire Maxwell, was born in what is now Hamilton county, N. Y., June 12, 1804. He received his early education at Johnstown, N. Y., and later at the Aurora (N. Y.) Academy. In his early manhood he was a school teacher. He read law with Mr. Darlington, at West Chester, Pa., and was admitted to the Chester county bar No- vember 1, 1831. From 1832 to 1839 he was a partner of the late Judge Conyngham. He married, September 15, 1840, at Para- dise, Pa., Lydia M. Haines, a daughter of George Haines, who was a civil engineer in this city. The wife of George Haines was
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WILLIAM WURTS.
Eliza Chapman, a daughter of Captain Joseph Chapman, who located in what is now Dimock, Susquehanna county, Pa., in 1798. He was a sea captain, from Norwich, Conn., who had made fifty voyages to the West Indies. He was the grandfather of C. I. A. Chapman, of the Luzerne county bar, and also the grandfather of the late Mrs. George W. Woodward. Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell had two children, only one of whom survives- Mary O. Maxwell, wife of W. W. Lathrope, of the Lackawanna county bar. V. L. Maxwell died in this city January 4, 1873. He was at the time of his death and for seven years previous the treasurer and accounting warden of St. Stephen's Protestant Episcopal church, and for thirty-eight years had been one of its vestrymen. He was also a member of the standing committee of the diocese of central Pennsylvania, and the president of the Luzerne County Bible Society.
WILLIAM WURTS.
William Wurts, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., August 6, 1832, was born in Montville, New Jersey, Novem- ber 25, 1809. He was educated at Amherst College, and read law with his brother, John J. Wurtz, in this city. His father was George Wurts, M. D., and his mother was Abagail Pettit, a daughter of Amos Pettit. His grandfather was John Jacob Wirtz, whose wife was Sarah Grandin. William Wurts married, March 17, 1836, Lucretia Jeanette Lathrop, a daughter of Salmon La- throp and his wife Aurelia Noble. (See page 861.) Mr. and Mrs. Wurts had a family of eight children, five sons and three daughters-George Lathrop Wurts, Helen S. Wurts, Harriet L., wife of Rev. Franklin C. Jones, Theodore F. Wurts, Eliza A. Wurts, William A. Wurts, Frederick H. Wurts, and George Albert Wurts. Mr. Wurts practiced law in this city for many · years, but some years before his death, which occurred at Car- bondale, Pa., July 15, 1858, he removed to that city.
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SAMUEL FREEMAN HEADLEY.
SAMUEL FREEMAN HEADLEY.
Samuel Freeman Headley, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., April 3, 1833, was a native of Litchfield, Otsego county, N. Y., where he was born January 20, 1808. His grandfather was Isaac Headley, and his father was Sam- uel Headley, M. D., a native of Littleton, N. J. After the latter's marriage with Anna Fairchild, a daughter of Jonathan Fairchild, of Parsippany, N. J., he removed to Litchfield, N. Y. When the war of 1812 broke out he was elected surgeon of the Eighteenth Regiment New York Volunteers, and served during the war. He afterwards removed to Berwick, Pa., where he died in 1838. S. F. Headley's first tutor was Rev. Mr. Kirkpatrick, of Milton, Pa., who prepared him for Union College, at Schenectady, N. Y., where he graduated with the first honors in the class of 1831. He read law with Hon. Robert C. Grier (the father of Mrs. Doctor Mayer, of this city), at Danville, Pa., and was admitted to the bar of Columbia county in 1833. For many years Mr. Head- ley practiced in the courts of Columbia, Luzerne, Northumber- land, and other adjoining counties in this state, pleading not only the cause of the rich client, but with equal earnestness that of the poor and oppressed who had nothing wherewith to compensate him. In 1839, 1840 and 1841 he represented Luzerne county in the senate of Pennsylvania, where his distinguished ability as a debater placed him among the leaders of the demo- cratic party, to which he adhered until 1856, when he became a republican. In 1842 he was one of the commissioners to locate the county seat and public buildings of Wyoming county. Mr. Headley, while a resident of Pennsylvania, mostly resided in Berwick, but had large interests in this county, where he resided at times. In 1847 Mr. Headley and the Messrs. Wilson, of Har- risburg, erected a charcoal furnace, of water power, eight feet in the boshes, at Shickshinny, and for several years manufactured a considerable quantity of superior pig iron from the Columbia county and Newport ores, which they mixed. The charcoal iron of this furnace was sought after by the owners of foundries in
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SAMUEL FREEMAN HEADLEY.
Bradford and other counties, as being superior for stove purposes. In 1852 Messrs. Headley & Wilson sold this furnace to William Koons. He was also interested in iron works in Nescopeck town- ship. In 1854 he removed to Morristown, New Jersey, and accepted the superintendency of the Morris and Essex railroad, after which he was chosen assistant president and acting super- intendent of the New York and Erie railroad, in which position, as in all others, he fully demonstrated his ability and qualification for any position that he might accept. The strong points in his character were a sound judgment, extraordinary perception, indomitable will, and untiring industry. He despised an idler, and his whole life was an example of industry and application worthy to be imitated by the young men of our day. He died at Morristown July 25, 1865. He was celebrated as a temper- ance lecturer, and spoke very frequently for the Sabbath school, tract and bible causes. Mr. Headley married, November 28, 1832, Marie Josepha Boyd, a daughter of John Boyd, of Scotch- Irish ancestry, who was born in Chester county February 22, 1750. When the war for independence came he entered into the service, and was a member of the committee of safety in 1776. He was subsequently commissioned second lieutenant in the Twelfth Regiment of the Pennsylvania Line. He was promoted to be first lieutenant, and transferred to the Third Pennsylvania Regi- ment as captain lieutenant. Under the rearrangement of January 1, 1781, he was retired from the service, but afterwards was ap- pointed captain of a company of rangers on the frontiers, and was an excellent partisan officer. In June, 1781, while marching his men across the Allegheny mountains, he fell into an ambuscade of Indians, near the head waters of the Raystown branch of the Juniata, in Bedford county, Pa., and was made a prisoner with a number of his soldiers, and led a captive through the wilderness to Canada. One of the Indian chiefs who was instrumental in saving Captain Boyd's life, when asked why he did not put his prisoner to death, raised his eyes and pointing to the heavens said, "The Great Spirit protects him." He was confined, during his continuance in Canada, on an island in the St. Lawrence near Montreal. In the spring of 1782 an exchange of prisoners took place, and he returned to Philadelphia by water with a number of
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