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 8
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JOHN NESBIT CONYNGHAM.
eral wealth, he was an able and enterprising mover. From 1824 to 1838 he was one of the trustees of the Wilkes-Barre Academy. As a judge he was the recipient of countless encomiums, and when he resigned his president judgeship the whole bar of Luzerne county testified to his rare abilities, while sixteen judges gave in writing their deliberate judgments concerning his char- acter and talents. For thirty years he was president judge of Luzerne county, for fifty years a vestryman in St. Stephen's church in this city, and was, since 1826, the representative of that church in the diocesan convention of Pennsylvania. At the time of his death he was president of the Wilkes-Barre Tract Society, of the Luzerne County Bible Society, and of the Ameri- can Church Missionary Society of New York. He was also vice . president of the American Sunday School Union, and of the insti- tution for the deaf and dumb of Philadelphia. His death resulted from an accident. While on his way to Texas to bring home Colonel J. B. Conyngham, an invalid son, he fell on the railroad track at Magnolia, Mississippi, and the wheels of a passenger car passing over both of his legs they were so terribly crushed and mutilated that he died within two hours from the time of the accident. This occurred on the evening of February 23, 1871. The township of Conyngham in this county and the Conyngham public school on St. Clement street, in this city, were named after Judge Conyngham. From May, 1827, to May, 1828, and from May, 1834, to May, 1837, Judge Conyngham was burgess of the borough of Wilkes-Barre, and in 1849 and 1850 he was pres- ident of the borough council. He was a member of the first board of directors of the Wyoming (national) bank, organized in November, 1829. Hon. H. B. Wright, at our request, a few years ago, wrote an article on Judge Conyngham for the Luzerne Legal Register. We here reproduce the greater part of that article.
"When Judge Conyngham was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, it had a reputation for learning and talent that it has probably not had in the last twenty years. While it is not our purpose to make an unfavorable comparison with the Luzerne bar of 1820 and any subsequent period, it will be frankly admit - ted that there was at that time a professional array of unusual talent. Rosewell Welles, Ebenezer Bowman, Garrick Mallery,
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JOHN NESBIT CONYNGHAM.
and George Denison were all men of a high order of legal ability who resided here. And then there were other gentlemen of high professional attainments who were in the habit of attending the courts here. Among these were Judge Duncan, afterwards placed on the supreme bench of the state; David Watts, of Car- lisle; John Ross, of Easton ; Alem Marr, of Danville; and William Cox Ellis, of Lycoming. These men, from the adjoining counties, with the home talent, fully their equal, made an array of legal ability that had position equal to that in any part of the state, not excepting Philadelphia, which claimed the ascendancy in legal lore and learning over any other bar in the United States. David Scott, a man honored and respected, then held the com- mission of judge of the Common Pleas-a man of stern integrity and iron will ; upright in the administration of justice, and fear- less in the discharge of his official duties; determined and posi- tive, but just in his decisions, and merciful in his sentences. Such was the bench and such was the bar of the county of Luzerne when Judge Conyngham came to this town to make his permanent abode, and enter the conflict, with this array of talent occupying the arena. Under ordinary circumstances this would seem to have been a hopeless adventure. But he had untiring industry and perseverance, temperate habits, extraordi- nary ambition to master his profession, and this, with a fine com- manding personal appearance, and a remarkably gentle and agreeable manner, with a high order of intellect, enabled him to enter the tournament with every prospect of success. I have it from his own mouth, that in the first two years of his residence here, his prospects were exceedingly doubtful as to success. 'But,' said he, 'I landed here, and burned my boats; there was no return, and I made up my mind to work hard, early and late ; to ride the circuit with or without a brief, and to use every effort to obtain position ; and, amidst toil and energy, I achieved my purpose. And it was during these early years of incessant read- ing, and attending the courts during the entire session, practice or no practice, that I learned the science of the law, and the mode of conducting a cause. For never had pupil more intelli- gent masters, and I profited by it all. I made my point, and established my reputation.' As early as the fourth year after he commenced practice, he may be said to have had as good a po- sition at the bar as any one, save Garrick Mallery. While Judge Mallery was at the bar, during the years I am speaking of, he was the acknowledged head. No one questioned this. Not far from this date (say 1824), the branch bank established in this town by the old Philadelphia bank suspended business here. The business of the people in this valley did not require a bank, and
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JOHN NESBIT CONYNGHAM.
so the agency was closed. A large amount of money (that is, for those times) had been loaned out, and the endorsers, mostly composed of the farmers of the county, had become liable, and there was much commotion, and great fears were apprehended. To have closed up these surety matters suddenly would have ruined the best men of the county. Many of the men who had obtained discounts on the strength of their endorsements had failed, and the load came home to the guarantors. John P. Arndt, a merchant, residing and doing business where E. P. Darling's house stands, on River street, and Henry Buckingham, of Kings- ton, were among the noted failures of that time. There was a general feeling of despondency throughout the entire valley. Many of these endorsers were soldiers of the revolution, and sev- eral of them had survived the terrible massacre of Wyoming. These old veterans being thus threatened with impending ruin, the whole community was in sympathy with them. These facts were represented to the bank in Philadelphia, and John N. Conyngham was deputed agent and attorney for the bank, with discretionary power to do what he should think best, under the circumstances. It was in his capacity as agent of the bank that he made that fame and reputation for benevolence and kind- heartedness that established his reputation in the county. He gave these old veterans time, indulged them in their misfortunes, and saved most of them from total and absolute ruin. And they remembered these acts of generosity, and their children after them did also. And he acted in good faith to the bank, which, in ad- dition to his fees, presented him a set of silver as a token of the satisfactory manner in which he had discharged the trust con- fided to him. The just and merited influence thus acquired in the bank agency, his habits of industry, his acknowledged ability and gentlemanly deportment, all combining, placed him at the head of his profession, though not yet thirty years of age. But what was of more account, his high position as a man of integrity, and possessing all the amiable qualities which decorate the indi- vidual character, and which he had fully exhibited in closing the bank affairs, gave him a firm and unquestioned stand, high up among` his fellow men. Another reason for his success at the bar arose from the fact that most of the gentlemen in the adjoin- ing counties gradually relinquished their practice, and the field was left open to a comparatively few members. In 1828, when the writer of this notice entered the office of Judge Conyngham as a student, with the late Ovid F. Johnson, afterwards attorney general of the state, the legal business of the county was almost exclusively in the hands of Garrick. Mallery, George Denison, John N. Conyngham, Oristus Collins, and James McClintock.
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JOHN NESBIT CONYNGHAM.
The late Chief Justice Woodward was a student at that time in Judge Mallery's office. During the ensuing five years George . Denison died, and Mr. Mallery was commissioned by Governor Wolf president judge of the Northampton district. These occur- rences gave Judge Conyngham the choice of selecting which side he chose of every cause upon the list. He was the absolute and acknowledged head of the bar. And yet, with all these advan- tages, I doubt if he realized two thousand dollars a year in fees. The counsel fees then, compared with the practice now, were probably not an eighth of what they are now. And to see the energy and zeal that these lawyers manifested in the preparation and trial of causes is almost marvelous. The amount in contro- versy mattered not. As much hard labor would be bestowed in ·the trial of an issue involving fifty dollars, on an appeal from a justice of the peace, as is expended at the present time on a trial involving a million. In the former case the fee might have been ten dollars, in the latter ten thousand. The pioneers of the law made the practice of the law their business. They knew nothing. about outside speculations. They worked for a moderate sub- sistence, and with that they were satisfied. I have known Judge Conyngham, when in the height of his practice, to devote a half day or more to the preparation of an elaborate opinion, and accept a fee of. five dollars! I have oftener seen him charge three dol- lars than five. During all the time I was a student in his office, the price of preparing and writing a deed for the conveyance of land was always one dollar and a quarter, and this included the examination of the docket as to liens. I always wondered why the extra quarter of a dollar was added ! Judge Conyngham was a man of remarkable industry. He was always at his post. He would annually devote a week or ten days to visit his father in Philadelphia. This was the extent of his pastime. He labored incessantly. He was a great reader (of law, I mean); he had every decision at his tongue's end. He prided himself on this ; and he told me time and again that he attributed all his success to his industry. He was too modest a man to admit that he had · enough of natural ability to reach the position he knew he en- joyed as a lawyer. His power at the bar was with the jury. . No man had more weight and influence than he had over the twelve. He was more verbose than most successful advocates. It was repetition, however, which sprang from a desire to leave no doubt upon the minds of the jury. He had a very fine flow of language. At times, it reached a high order of eloquence. He spoke flu- ently and he spoke well. Added to his remarkably fine person -standing six feet, erect, and graceful in all his motions-his verdict was always sure, if the evidence warranted it, and son-
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JOHN NESBIT CONYNGHAM.
times the verdict came in his favor when it should not. The modulation of his voice was excellent. It was always a pleasure to listen to him. His plea was solid argument ; he did not have the gift of satire or repartee. He had more force with the jury than the court. I do not mean by this that he had less force with the court than his most talented colleagues, but that he had a greater influence than they with the jury. This commanding position at the bar Judge Conyngham maintained to about the year 1837. I think it was in that year in which the celebrated trial of the Commonwealth v. the Gilligans and others occurred. The prisoners were indicted for the murder of McComb, a short distance below White Haven, at the time of the construction of the Lehigh slack water navigation. The prisoners were defended by Judge Conyngham, the late Judge Kidder, and the writer of this notice. The evidence was circumstantial, and a strong effort was made to convict. This elicited a corresponding effort on the part of the defence. Two of them were convicted of murder in the first degree, the other three of the lower grades of homi- cide. The two convicted of murder in the first degree were awarded a new trial on the ground of the admission of irrel- evant testimony. On the second trial they were acquitted- wrongfully, I fear. The sentiment in Luzerne at that time was against capital punishment. It was hard to convict ; but trials for homicide were rare. In conducting the defence in the Gilli- gan trial-that is, the first one; in the second he was unable to participate-Judge Conyngham broke down. He made in it the best speech of his life. He overdid the matter. At the close of the trial his violent effort brought on a bronchial affection of the throat, from which he never entirely recovered. He was confined with this attack for more than a year. He recovered so far as to be able to discharge thirty years' service on the bench. But he never appeared in court as an advocate after the Gilligan trial. He may have been there occasionally, but he had made his last great effort with the jury. And the counsel whose voice had echoed in the courts for nearly twenty years had now ceased ; and, in that capacity, forever. This state of his health was, of course, matter of deep regret to the bench, the bar, and the peo- ple. All remedies failed to restore him, and the common voice was, that he must go upon the bench, and there he went, with a reputation for ability, legal learning, and honesty of purpose, all of which he most faithfully sustained. And thus much of the man, as a member of the bar. We may say, in conclusion, in this par- ticular, that as a practitioner he was an example of integrity of purpose. True in every sense to his client; just to his op- ponents ; open and candid to the court; truthful at all times ;
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JOHN NESBIT CONYNGHAM.
a model as a practitioner ; and with a name unblemished. We now come to speak of him as a judge. In this capacity, for some thirty long years, he presided in our courts ; and his name is a synonym with all that is good which pertains to that high office. He was commissioned a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1839, in the Bradford and Susquehanna district. In 1841, by an exchange between him and Judge Jessup, under sanc- tion of law, Judge Conyngham came upon the Luzerne bench, and Judge Jessup took the place of Judge Conyngham in the Bradford and Susquehanna district. And from the April term, 1841, up to his resignation in 1870, with the exception of the years of 1850 and 1851, he remained upon the Luzerne bench. During this long time, almost a third of a century, he maintained a high position as a man of much legal learn- ing, and a purity of character that was not surpassed by any of his cotemporaries. I may not do better in the delineation of his judicial life than by a reference to the opinions of some of the best legal minds of the state. Upon the occasion of his resigna- tion, in 1870, many learned men in the law were invited to par- ticipate at the banquet given him. In their responses, I refer to some of the opinions of some of them. Mr. Justice Sharswood, of the Supreme Court of this state, says : 'It would afford me the sincerest pleasure to unite in doing honor to one who has done so much honor to the bench and the profession. To unsuspected purity of purpose, he has joined the greatest fidelity and the most eminent legal learning and ability. It will be a blessing to the bar and people of Luzerne if this mantle should fall on his suc- cessor.' Mr. Chief Justice Thompson writes : 'To a faithful and able judge, such as yours has been, the tribute of respect you propose on his retirement is graceful and proper; and in this instance will sincerely mark the respect the bar must feel towards one on whom devotion to duty and justice in discharging it, was to all most distinctly apparent.' The late Chief Justice Wood- ward says: 'No tribute to a public servant was ever better de- served than that which you propose to tender to Judge Conyng- ham. He has executed for a long time and with great fidelity one of the most difficult and responsible offices in the govern- ment; the office upon which, more than upon all others, depend the safety and the happiness of the great and rapidly growing community of Luzerne county. And to official fidelity, Judge Conyngham has added the sanction of a good life. In morals and manners he has been in all times a good man.' Chief Justice Agnew remarks : 'I cannot forbear adding my testimony to that of others, of the high character Judge Conyngham has always borne as a man and as a jurist.' My limits forbid giving
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JOHN NESBIT CONYNGHAM.
any further extracts from the learned men of the state on the bench and in the profession, who wrote complimentary letters in response to the committee; upon the occasion of the banquet. But of the great number received, they are all in the same tone and character with those from which I have made the foregoing extracts. It is the compliment of the living to the living. Un- strained because these evidences confer a just and proper tribute. They all come from the heart, and they are the frank and un- biassed opinions of his cotemporaries; they are modestly and truthfully written. The praises of these persons, judges and lawyers, are in keeping with the opinions of the whole population of this county. It is not the learned judge and able lawyer that is portrayed; but, along with it, comes those other conceded qualifications which constitute the moral and upright man, as well as the learned judge. And without this there is much wanting in establishing the status of the 'model' man. He who has held in his hands the balances of justice for nearly a third of a century, and escaped the tongue of malice and scandal, must needs be a most notable man. It is one case in a thousand. We are not aware of an unfavorable criticism or a charge of biassed judgment made against this man in his long occupation of the bench. That he was pure, and just, and upright, during all this time, is, in our judgment, the unanimous opinion of all our people. It may be, that as a judge, he put more faith in the opinions of others than in his own ; but who shall say that this is a fault ? Lord Bacon, in his celebrated picture of a good judge, says that 'The judge is a man of ability, drawing his learning out of his books, and not out of his brain.' But then he says further : 'He has right under- standing of justice, depending not so much on reading other men's writings, as upon the goodness of his own natural reason and meditation.' He well remarks, however : 'He is a man of integ- rity, of well regulated passions, beyond the influence, either of anger, by which he may be incapable of judging ; or of hope, either of money or worldly advancement, by which he may de- cide unjustly ; or of fear, either of the censure of others, which is cowardice ; or of giving pain, when it ought to be given, which is improper compassion. He is just both in private and public, quick in apprehension, slow in anger. He is cautious in his judgment, not forming a hasty opinion; not tenacious in retaining an opinion, when formed; and never ashamed of being wiser to - day than yesterday. He hears what is spoken, not who speaks, whether it be the president or a pauper, a friend or a foe.' How admirably do these definitions of the judicial character apply to the gentleman of whom we are writing. We give but a part of that world-renowned description of Lord Bacon, in describing
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JOHN NESBIT CONYNGHAM.
the judge, but enough for our purpose. The crowning feature of Judge Conyngham was the confidence the profession placed in his ruling. They were aware that his decisions were not the result of an inconsiderate conclusion. They knew that the rule of law adopted was the conclusion deduced from authority, or from close consideration, most generally the former. For his industry was wonderful; and the moment the legal questions were raised in a cause he was incessant in his labors in finding out the established principle that should govern the case. Dur- ing an adjournment of court he would frequently go without his meal, spending the whole time in his library, that he might be ready at the assembling of the court to meet the questions that the case presented. Labor seemed to be a pleasure to him. He was proud of his reputation as a judge. He disliked to be reversed; and his great desire was that he should be sustained by the court of review, and it was very seldom that he was reversed. Therefore, no labor was too much for him to perform. When he was in the midst of a trial he was lost to everything else ; his mind was on that, and that alone. Hurrying, with his head down, absorbed in his own reflections, in passing from his own office to the court, he would scarcely notice any one. He had the law in his head, and this he was nursing, to the exclusion of everything else. Never was man more devoted to his occu- pation, and never did man have a more earnest desire to administer the law correctly and in all its purity. Thus, with his research and his well balanced mind, and his scrupulous desire to administer justice, he could not be otherwise than a most excellent judge, and such he was. Of the long list of distinguished jurists of Pennsylvania, I do not think that among them all was there an instance where any one performed more labor, or had a greater desire to do even and exact justice, than Judge Conyngham. . There have been, undoubtedly, among them men of greater legal capacity and breadth of intellect than he possessed, but he was the peer of any of them in integrity of purpose, and a desire to do what was right. When he retired from the bench he left it with an unsoiled reputation. The ermine was as spotless when he laid it aside as when it was placed upon his shoulders. And the wish and prayer of those who survive him should be, that his example as lawyer, judge, citizen, and christian may be the theme of imitation."
(For further particulars concerning the Conyngham family, see page 203.) He married December 17, 1823, Ruth Ann Butler, the daughter of General Lord Butler (See page 335). His family numbered seven children of which six grew to manhood-Col-
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BENJAMIN DRAKE WRIGHT.
onel John Butler Conyngham, William Lord Conyngham, Thomas Conyngham, Major Charles Miner Conyngham, Mary, who mar- ried Charles Parrish, of this city, and Anna, who married Right Rev. William Bacon Stevens, D. D., LL. D., Bishop of Pennsylva- nia. The University of Pennsylvania in 1869, conferred the degree of LL. D. on Judge Conyngham. Redmond Conyngham, a brother of Judge Conyngham, was a native of Philadelphia and a graduate of the College of New Jersey, at Princeton. He inherited from his paternal grandfather an estate of two thousand pounds per annum in the county of Donegal, Ireland, where he spent several years of his early life. Whilst in Ireland he was the companion of Curran, Grattan, and other bright intellects of Hibernian soil. Amongst the most brilliant of these was his cousin, William Con- yngham Plunkett, afterwards lord chancellor of Ireland, and who was named after Mr. Conyngham's ancester. Mr. Conyngham lived many years in this county, and in 1815 represented Luzerne county in the state legislature. In 1820 he was elected a state senator. His district was composed of the counties of Colum- bia, Luzerne, Northumberland, Union, and Susquehanna. In the same year he laid out the village named by him Dundaff, in Susquehanna county, in honor of his friend, Lord Dundaff, of Scotland. The village of Conyngham, in Sugarloaf township, in this county, was named in honor of Mr. Conyngham, where he resided for many years. He subsequently removed to Lancas- ter, Pa., where he spent the balance of his days. He married Elizabeth, a daughter of Judge Yeates, of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and died June 16, 1846, aged 65 years.
BENJAMIN DRAKE WRIGHT.
Benjamin Drake Wright was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., April 7, 1820. He was born in this city January 23, 1799. He was the second son of William Wright, who probably emigrated from Ireland with his brother, Thomas Wright, about 1663. He served through the revolutionary war, and when peace
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CHESTER BUTLER.
was declared he removed to Wrightsville, in this county, now the borough of Miners Mills, where his brother Thomas resided. He was a schoolmaster, and at one time lived at the corner of Union and North Main streets, in this city, where his relative, Thomas Wright Miner, M. D., resided, and where he died. The wife of William Wright was Sarah Ann Osborne, a Quakeress. They had four sons-Major Thomas Wright, U. S. A .; J. J. B. Wright, a surgeon in the United States army, who died at Carlisle, Pa .; William Wright, who resided at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin; and Benjamin Drake Wright. One daughter married Benjamin Drake, and another, Job Barton, the father of the late Samuel M. Barton, postmaster of this city. In his early manhood Benja- min Drake Wright removed to Florida. He was an alderman of Pensacola, Fla., subsequently mayor of the city, and also collec- tor of the port. He was United States district attorney of Flor- ida, under the territorial government, judge of the United States court of Florida, and chief justice of the Supreme Court of the state of Florida. He married, February 23, 1826, Josephine de la Rua, daughter of John de la Rua, granddaughter of Francisco de la Rua, a native of Madrid, Spain. The latter's wife was Josefa de la Rua, a native of Canary Islands. Mr. and Mrs. Wright had a family of eight children, six sons and two daugh- ters, of whom three survive, Laura -- wife of A. T. Yniestra ; George Wright and Henry T. Wright. Benjamin D. Wright died April 28, 1875.
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