USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and its centennial celebration, Volume I > Part 39
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63
1 The following is the minute in reference to his case:
" PIGEON CREEK, Dec. 20, 1785 .- The Presbytery met according to adjournment. Ubi post preces sederunt, the Rev. Messrs. James Finley, &c. The Presbytery was opened by Mr. Addison, a candidate from Scotland, with a sermon from Romans v. 10. The committee appointed to examine such ministers and candidates as may come into our bounds is continued.
" Mr. Alexander Addison, a candidate from the Presbytery of Aberlowe in Scotland, having produced a copy of his licensure, and a certificate of his good deportment from said Presbytery, and having also applied to this Presbytery to be taken under our care, the Presbytery proceeded to make some inquiries of him, in order to their having clearness
Hon. Thomas Henry. 1781-1849.
333
History of Beaver County
leave to supply the church at Washington, granted the previous year, was extended "until the next meeting of Synod," but he seems to have grown weary of "the law's delay " in ecclesiastical courts, for, registering with David Redick, Esq., he was admitted to the bar of Washington County in March, 1787.
Judge Addison attained the first rank in the legal profession, and was universally esteemed as an upright and incorruptible jurist, and a man profoundly learned both in the law and in letters. He was politically a Federalist and an ardent friend of Washington and Adams, standing fearlessly on the side of the Government in the troublous days during and succeeding the Whisky Insurrection. This course made him some bitter ene- mies, among them Hugh Henry Brackenridge and John B. Lucas, the latter of whom, through the incoming of Jefferson's adminis- tration, was appointed an associate judge of Allegheny County, July 17, 1800. Lucas at once set himself to oppose Judge Addison, and several times attempted to charge grand and petit juries in opposition to him and when Addison instructed the juries to dis- regard the remarks of his subordinate, the latter complained of his being arbitrary and tyrannical. With the aid of Addison's political opponents Lucas finally succeeded in causing him to be impeached before the Senate of Pennsylvania, and in one of the most shamefully partisan trials that disgraces the records of any age or nation, he was found guilty as charged, the sentence of the Senate as passed on January 27, 1803, reading as follows:
That Alexander Addison, President of the several courts of Common Pleas, in the fifth District of this State shall be, and he hereby is, removed from his office of President aforesaid; and also is disqualified to hold and exercise the office of Judge in any court of law within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Judge Addison died at Pittsburg, where he then resided, on November 24, 1807, four years after his impeachment, at the
for said purpose; but, after conversing with him at some length, did not obtain the satisfac- tion desired; and, therefore, cannot agree to receive him as a candidate under their care, without some limitation: yet, as some things appear very agreeable in Mr. Addison, they are not without hopes of obtaining such satisfaction, and therefore permit him to preach in our bounds until the next meeting of Presbytery. Application was made from the town of Washington for the stated labors of Mr. Addison until our next meeting, and also for a member to moderate a call for him. The Presbytery agree that Mr. Addison's labors be allowed statedly, until our next meeting, to the town of Washington; but as the moderating, in drawing up a call, does not consist with a minute of Synod on this subject, we cannot at present make the appointment."-(Old Redstone, p. 339.)
1 His enemies had previously applied to the Supreme Court to file an indictment against him for a misdemeanor in office. The Supreme Court dismissed the application; saying that the papers did not show an indictable offense (4 Dallas, R. 225).
334
History of Beaver County
early age of forty-seven, his death doubtless hastened by the dastard conduct of his enemies. He was buried in the church- yard of the First Presbyterian Church, Pittsburg, and on the slab which covers his grave was placed the following inscription, prepared by the Hon. James Ross:
In memory of Alexander Addison, who died on the 24th day of Novem- ber, 1807. In this great and good man, prominent powers of mind were happily united with the most precious attainments of science; an ac- complished classic scholar, profoundly skilled in jurisprudence, combining purity of taste with the cogency of reason. His talents as an author, an advocate and a judge were universally admired and revered. In the latter character, which he sustained for twelve years, he was a luminous expositor of the law, prompt, correct, impartial and decisive; in dis- patch of business never surpassed, and from his judgements there never was an appeal. These splendid ornaments of the mind were accompanied by a heart without disguise, constant and ardent in its friendships and generous to the full measure of its means. Beneficent and charitable to the unfortunates, ever ready without reward to defend the oppressed, a tender husband and an affectionate father, he left a widow and eight children to mourn over his premature grave.
We are not, as a rule, disposed to trust implicitly to the testimony of epitaphs, but a cloud of witnesses could be sum- moned to corroborate this one as bearing true testimony con- cerning the character and worth of its subject, and so mournful was the fate of this good man that we feel justified in giving it space here. The sentence by which it was sought to rob him of
That good fame Without which Glory 's but a tavern song
still stands upon the records of the Senate; it can no longer harm him against whom it was fulminated, but it is a blot that should, for the honor of the Commonwealth, be formally wiped out.
Thomas Collins, whose name is second on the roll of attorneys admitted at our first term of court, was an Allegheny County attor- ney, and one of the ablest men of its bar, to which he was admitted on motion of Hugh H. Brackenridge, December 3, 1794. He was born in Dublin in 1774 and was educated at Trinity College, that city. He studied law under Marks Biddle, Esq., in Reading, Berks County, Pa., and was admitted to the bar of that county in 1794. The same year he came to Pittsburg. Collins was
.
Agnew Duff.
John Nesbit.
335
History of Beaver County
generally looked upon as a rival of Hugh H. Brackenridge, though he was not so erratic as that celebrated character. He frequently practised in the Beaver County courts. Collins township, now a part of Pittsburg, was named after him. So- cially he stood high and had two daughters, both passing fair and intelligent, and both of whom married judges, one Wilson McCandless and the other William B. McClure. He died in Butler whither he had removed, late in his legal career, but still in the prime of life, February 17, 1814.
Steele Semple, third on the list, was one of the legal giants of the Pittsburg bar in the early days, though little of his history has been preserved. He has been classed in ability as a lawyer with such men as Walter Forward and Henry Baldwin. His specialty was land cases and ejectment suits, which made up a large part of the business of the lawyers of that period. Semple was noted for his forensic eloquence and his knowledge of the classics.
Alexander W. Foster, at one time a member of the bar at Greensburg, later removed to Pittsburg, where he died in March, 1843. He was admitted on motion of Steele Semple, Esq., to the bar of Allegheny County, December Sessions, 1798. He was an able lawyer, and like Steele Semple, was prominent in land cases. In 1804, the year of his admission to the Beaver County courts, he fought a duel with Major Roger Alden near Meadville, Pa., wounding his antagonist. On the occasion of Foster's death the Pittsburg bar adopted resolutions, in which they referred to his "long career at the bar as distinguished by profound and varied learning, and endeared by the many virtues of his private life."
John Bannister Gibson, LL.D., was one of the greatest lawyers and jurists that Pennsylvania has ever produced. He was born in Shearman's Valley, Pa., November 8, 1780, the son of Lieu- tenant-Colonel George Gibson,' a Revolutionary officer who fell
1 The father of John Bannister Gibson, then Captain, afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel, George Gibson, with Lieutenant William Linn, engaged in the hazardous and successful exploit of descending the Ohio and Mississippi rivers from Pittsburg to New Orleans (then under Spanish dominion), and purchasing a large quantity of powder, part of which was taken by Gibson, by sea, to Philadelphia. and part by Linn in flat-boats to Pittsburg, the journey of the latter taking seven months to Wheeling. This powder was a great boon to the Americans. From the portion brought to Pittsburg Colonel George Rogers Clark drew his supply, in the spring of 1778, for his famous expedition to the Illinois country.
336
History of Beaver County
in General Arthur St. Clair's disastrous campaign against the Maumee Confederacy, in 1791, and the nephew of Colonel, afterwards General, John Gibson, who was at one time (1781) in command of the Western Department, succeeding General Brodhead.
Gibson's early life was connected with Cumberland County, Pa. He was educated at Dickinson College, Carlisle, studied law with Thomas Duncan, Esq., and was admitted to the bar of Cumberland County in 1803. After a short period of practice at that bar, he came to Beaver, and as the record shows, was enrolled on the list of attorneys entitled to practise there. He remained but a short time at Beaver, and gave no particular dis- covery of his great talents while there. He seems never to have looked upon his stay in Beaver with much affection. The story goes that on one occasion when he was advanced in life he was speaking to some friends of his career and gave his age as sixty- two. "But," said one, "you were twenty-four when you went to Beaver, and you were there several years." "My God!" exclaimed the old Chief, "you are not going to charge me with that I hope." His practice at Beaver was small and principally in petty cases, of one of which there is an interesting memorandum in the records, as follows:
Elias Milor vs James Magaw, issue summons, wherefore with force and arm, he the said James Magaw, on the said Elias Milor an assault did make at the county aforesaid, and him did there beat, wound and evilly treat and other wrongs to him did to the great damage of the said Elias and against the peace.
(Signed) ELIAS MILOR.
To David Johnson, prothonotary.
The bearer says he has not money enough about him to pay for the writ, but if you don't think to trust him I will be accountable for the price of it.
(Signed) JOHN B. GIBSON.
It is not a matter of record whether the future chief justice was out of pocket or not by this transaction.
John Bannister Gibson was a big man, both in body and brain. He was over six feet in height, strongly built and strong in features, with a face full of character and intelligence as may be seen in his portrait on the opposite page. It is said that he was nick-named "Horse-head Gibson," on account of the height of his head. Mr. Gibson was very fond of the violin, and report says that
Joseph Irvin. Associate Judge of the County of Beaver.
337
History of Beaver County
he studied out some of his ablest decisions while drawing forth its sweet strains.
From Beaver Gibson removed first to Hagerstown and after- wards to Carlisle. He now began to take a prominent place in the political and legal world. In 1810 he was sent to the Assembly, and re-elected several times. In July, 1813, he was appointed president judge of the Eleventh Judicial District and three years later an associate judge of the Supreme Court. In 1827 he was appointed the successor of Chief Justice Tilghman in that court and retained his position until 1851, when by a change in the State Constitution, the judiciary became elective. He was then elected by the people an associate justice of the same court, but even in a subordinate position, "his great learn- ing, venerable character and overshadowing reputation still made him," says Judge Black, "the only Chief whom the hearts of the people would know." He remained in this position until his last illness prevented his further employment in public duties. His death occurred in Philadelphia, May 3, 1853.
Sampson Smith King. Of this attorney we know only that he was admitted to the bar of Allegheny County March 26, 1801, on motion of Cunningham S. Sample.
Obadiah Jennings, whose name is on the roll of attorneys given above, was one of the group of Washington County lawyers who came to this country to practise. He was born in the neigh- borhood of Baskingridge, N. J., December 13, 1778. Coming to Washington County, Pa., he was educated at the Canonsburg Academy, and studied law with John Simonson, who was from the same State. He began practice at Steubenville, Ohio, and remained there until 1811, when he returned to Washington. Shortly afterwards he forsook the law for the study of theology and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Ohio in 1816. He received the degree of D.D. a little while before his death, which occurred at Nashville, Tenn., January 12, 1832.
William Wilkins, whose name follows on the roll, has already been spoken of in this chapter.
H. Haslet. Beyond the record of his admission to the Alle- gheny County bar, September 27, 1803, we have been unable to learn anything of this lawyer.
VOL. 1 .- 22
338
History of Beaver County
James Allison, Jr., was born in Cecil County, Maryland, October 4, 1772. His father, Colonel James Allison, removed to what is now Washington County, Pa., in 1774, where at seventeen years of age, the son entered the first Latin grammar class established west of the mountains and taught by David Johnson, who later became a teacher in the academy in Beaver, and the first prothonotary of Beaver County.
After some service in the Indian warfare, he entered the pro- fession of law, having studied in the office of his uncle, David Bradford, at Washington, Pa., and in 1803, came to Beaver. He practised in the several courts of the district until 1822, when he was elected to Congress. He was re-elected in 1824, but so strong was his dislike of political strife and his love of a domestic life that he declined to serve, and resigned his seat before the term began. Mr. Allison has left behind him a tradition of high legal attainments, classic taste, and learning, and especially of a pure, honest, and loving heart. For fifty years his name was associated with all the best things in the social and public life of the town and county of Beaver. He died in Beaver, June 17, 1854. Edward J. Allison, Esq., cashier of the First National Bank of Beaver, is his grandson, and the only male descendant of the name now remaining in the county.
John Simonson was originally from New Jersey, and came to Washington, Pa., where he was admitted to the roll of attorneys in January, 1796. He bore the reputation of good character and ability in his profession. He died in Steubenville, Ohio, December 2, 1809, at thirty-six years of age.
David Redick was a man of mark in western Pennsylvania. He was a son of John Redick, who was a native of Ireland. His mother was Rachel, daughter of John Hoge, who was a native of New Jersey and the son of William Hoge, a Scotchman. David was born about 1745 in East Pennsborough township, then in Lancaster, now Cumberland County, Pa., nine miles west of Harrisburg, where the village of Hogestown now is. He studied law at Carlisle, and married his cousin, Ann Hoge, a daughter of Jonathan Hoge, the brother of David Hoge, the proprietor of what is now Washington, Pa. In 1788, he was chosen vice- president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania,
William Cairns. Associate Judge of the County of Beaver,
John Scott. Associate Judge of the County of Beaver,
339
History of Beaver County
and was a delegate from Washington County to the Constitu- tional Convention of 1790. He was appointed prothonotary of that county in 1791. He took a prominent part on the side of the Government in the Whisky Insurrection, and was one of the commissioners who visited President Washington when at Carlisle with the army, in order to make a report to him con- cerning the state of affairs in the disturbed counties. He died at Washington, Pa., September 28, 1805, about twenty months after his admission to practice in the Beaver County courts.1
Parker Campbell was born in Carlisle, Pa., in 1768, and was admitted to the roll of Washington County attorneys in 1794. March 2, 1795, he was admitted to the bar of Allegheny County. He practised there, in Beaver, and in all the adjoining counties until his death, which occurred in Washington, Pa., July 26, 1824. Tradition ranks him as the most distinguished lawyer of this region at that time.
David Hayes was born about the year 1766 or 1767, and died in North Beaver township, this county, October 29, 1821. He was esteemed a good citizen and lawyer, and practised for some years at the bar of Beaver County. He was a brother-in- law of Associate Judge Joseph Hemphill, who married his sister.
Thomas G. Johnston. We have learned nothing more of him than that he was admitted to the bar of Allegheny County September 3, 1799.
Henry Baldwin was a native of New Haven, Conn .; born January 14, 1780, and graduated from Yale College in 1797. In 1830 he received from his Alma Mater the degree of Doctor of Laws. He studied law in Philadelphia with Alexander J. Dallas,
1 Prophecy is always a dangerous business-for the reputation of the prophet. Redick had a small opinion of the worth of the Allegheny reservation, the 3000 acres reserved to the use of the State, opposite Fort Pitt, where the city of Allegheny now stands. In a letter to President Benjamin Franklin and the Supreme Executive Council of February 19, 1788, he says:
" On Tuesday last I went with several other gentlemen to fix on the spot for laying out the town opposite Pittsburgh, and at the same time took a general view of the track, and finds it far inferior to expectations, although I thought I had been no stranger to it. There is some pretty low ground on the rivers Ohio and Alleghenia, but there is but a small pro- portion of dry land which appears anyway valuable, either for timber or soil; but especially for soil it abounds with high hills, deep hollows, almost inaccessible to a surveyor. I am of opinion that if the inhabitants of the moon are capable of receiving the same advantages from the earth which we do from their world, I say if it be so. this same far-famed track of land would afford a variety of beautiful lunar spots, not unworthy the eye of a philoso- pher.
"I cannot think that ten acre lots on such pitts and hills will profitably meet with pur- chasers, unless like a pig in a poke, it be kept out of view."- (Penna. Arch., vol. xi., p. 244.)
340
History of Beaver County
and was admitted to the bar in that city. In 1800 he removed to Meadville, Pa., and took part in the organization of the first court of Crawford County. In 1801 he located for the practice of his profession in Pittsburg, being admitted to the bar of Alle- gheny County April 30th of that year. In 1804, as we have seen, he was entered on the roll of those first admitted to practise in the several courts of this county. He was elected from the dis- trict including Allegheny County to the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Congresses, resigning in 1822. In Congress he was a strong advocate of a high tariff to protect domestic manu- factures. In the contest between Mr. Adams and General Jack- son in 1828, he was a warm supporter of the latter. Upon the election of Jackson to the presidency he became an applicant for the position of Secretary of the Treasury, but failing in that he was in 1830 appointed a member of the Supreme Court of the United States.
In 1842 he returned to Meadville, where he resided until his death, which occurred on April 21, 1844, while he was attending court in Philadelphia. Judge Baldwin was a man of great physical and mental powers, having few superiors on the bench. He was very popular, and won triumphs as a politician and as an orator. He was also largely interested in some of the great business enterprises of his day. Baldwin was one of the "three mighty men" of Beaver County's first court, Wilkins and Gibson being the other two. His library was the finest in the West, composed of all the English and American Reports, many of the former being in black letter.
Isaac Kerr was admitted to the bar of Washington County in August, 1800, and to that of Allegheny County, December 25, 1800, on motion of Parker Campbell, which would indicate that he belonged to Washington. We can learn nothing further of him.
James Mountain was born in 1771, in the north of Ireland, and was a typical product of the sod. His petition to be made a naturalized citizen of the United States was presented to the Circuit Court for Washington County, Pa., November 7, 1801. He was entered on the roll of attorneys in that county in the same year, having studied law and been admitted to the bar in his native country. The fame of his eloquence, wit, and humor
Joseph C. Wilson, Associate Judge of the County of Beaver.
34I
History of Beaver County
still remains at the bar of Washington County. In 1796 he was teaching in the Canonsburg Academy, at Canonsburg, Pa., and is said to have been of large classical attainments.1 After his admission at Washington he went to Pittsburg to practise, and died there September 13, 1813, when only forty-two years of age. He was buried in the graveyard of the First Presbyterian Church of that city. A son, Algernon S. Mountain, was after- wards a well known attorney in the same city. The father did considerable business at the Beaver County bar, and was counsel for the defense of James Bell in one of the first murder trials of the county.
Robert Moore was one of those signing the roll of first at- torneys admitted to practise at Beaver, and was one of the most eminent for learning and ability among the lawyers who located there. He was the grandfather of the attorneys Winfield S. Moore and Alfred S. Moore, of Beaver. He remained in Beaver from 1803 until the time of his death, which occurred on the 14th of January, 1831, when he was fifty-four years of age. At the following April term, Judge Shaler, on leaving the bench, de- livered a glowing tribute to his memory. At a meeting of the bar, of which James Allison, Jr., was chairman, and William B. Clarke, Secretary, fitting testimonial to his worth and ability was given in remarks from members of the bar and the adoption of resolutions of respect.
The title of General was given to Robert Moore, and was probably obtained during his services in the War of 1812. He was a member from Beaver County of the Fifteenth and Six- teenth Congresses. General Moore was born on a farm four miles southwest of Washington, Pa. Part of his early education was obtained at Doctor John McMillan's Log Cabin College, out of which grew Jefferson College at Canonsburg, Pa.
1 On the 28th of April, 1796, James Mountain and David Johnson (Beaver County's first prothonotary) were employed by the trustees of the academy (afterwards Jefferson College) at Canonsburg, Pa., to teach the Greek and Latin languages, commencing on the 2d of May, 1796, at a salary, each, of ninety pounds a year. In an advertisement of the trustees of the academy, published in the Western Telegraphe and Washington Advertiser, dated June 9, 1796, is the following concerning these gentlemen:
"The characteristics and literary accomplishments of Messrs. Johnson and Mountain are too well-known in this county to need any recommendations. Mr. Mountain is a young gentleman from Ireland, who, after he had finished his education, has been in the habit of teaching for several years, and has such an accurate knowledge of the Latin and Greek authors, of their references to antiquities, and such a perspicuous easy manner of communi- cating his ideas, and, withal, is so attentive to the duties of his station, as render him everyway capable of filling the office of tutor with respectability and profit."
342
History of Beaver County
William Ayres was a first rate lawyer, and noted for his wit and learning. On motion of Cunningham Sample, Esq., he was admitted to the bar of Allegheny County at December Sessions, 1798. He was a resident of Butler, to which place he came from the southeastern part of the State. In his practice in Butler County he had a large share in the land cases and eject- ment suits, which made the principal part of the legal business of that period. He was elected a member of and sat in the Constitutional Convention of 1837. Ayres was a man of fine presence and courtly manners. He lived a bachelor and died at an advanced age.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.