USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and its centennial celebration, Volume I > Part 41
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Ellis N. Bigger was born in Hanover township, Washington County, Pa., in 1856, on the farm now owned by the heirs of Alexander McConnell. His parents were Thomas and Mary (Nicholson) Bigger. He was the eldest of three children, and was reared in Hanover township, Beaver County, his parents having moved over into this county while he was a boy. He attended the common schools and the Frankfort Academy, and was afterwards a teacher, first in the district schools and then in the Frankfort Academy as assistant principal. Mr. Bigger studied law with Samuel B. Wilson, Esq., and was admitted to the bar of Beaver County, June 2, 1879. He began practice with the late Frank Wilson, of the Beaver bar, in November, 1881; and in 1883 formed a partnership with Thomas Maxwell Henry, now of the Allegheny County bar, which lasted for some years thereafter. Mr. Bigger was a man of unusual literary taste and gifted as a speaker. He occupied in his time several offices of trust and honor in the borough of Beaver and the county, having served as a member of the borough council and of the school board, and he was solicitor for the county commis- sioners at the time of his death and for several years previous thereto. He died June 15, 1902, in the forty-sixth year of his age.
Louis Edwin Grim was born in Beaver, February 18, 1855, and was the son of Philip. L. and Matilda Grim. The family moved from Beaver to New Galilee when he was eight years old, and he remained there until about ten years ago. He was edu- cated in the public schools and in Washington and Jefferson College, from which institution he graduated in 1879. He read law in the office of the late Frank Wilson, and was admitted to the bar of this county, January 2, 1882. Soon afterwards he VOL. I .- 23.
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formed a partnership with the late D. S. Naugle, since whose death he pursued his practice alone. He attained such a knowl- edge of the law as to be recognized by his associates as one of the best-read attorneys at the bar of Beaver County. On No- vember 9, 1893, he was united in marriage with Miss Hallie Belle Edie, daughter of the late Rev. Joseph A. Edie and Sara A., his wife, of Beaver. Mr. Grim was a member of the Beaver United Presbyterian Church. After an illness of three weeks from typhoid fever, he died at his home in the county-seat, May 30, 190I. He is survived by his widow and one daughter, Mary Louise.
David Seeley Naugle was of German and Irish extraction, and was born in Big Beaver township, Lawrence County, Pa., May 26, 1860, the son of Rezin and Emeline (Cochran) Naugle. With his parents he came to Chippewa township, Beaver County, while quite young. He attended the common schools until 1875, and then spent two years in the academy at Darlington, Pa. Following this he attended the Beaver Seminary, and then, in 1878-79, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. To finish his training he went to the Shoemaker School of Oratory in Philadelphia, from which institution he graduated, June 18, 1882. Soon after this he entered the office of the late Samuel B. Wilson, Esq., and after pursuing the study of law the re- quired time, he was admitted to practise in the several courts of this county, May 19, 1884. Shortly after his admission to the bar he formed a partnership with the late Louis E. Grim, Esq., which continued until his death.
July 2, 1895, Mr. Naugle was united in marriage to Mary P. Fawkes of West Grove, Chester County, Pa., who, with two children, Essie and Frank, survives him. Mr. Naugle died Octo- ber 27, 1897, of tubercular meningitis, after an illness of several months. He became a good lawyer, and as a man was gener- ally respected and beloved. A committee of the bar, consisting of Winfield S. Moore, Edwin S. Weyand, William B. Cuthbert- son, Hon. Henry Hice, and W. J. Mellon, was appointed by the court to draft appropriate resolutions in reference to the death of Mr. Naugle, and reported in strong and feeling terms the testimony of his brother officers to the worth of his character and to his ability as a lawyer.
Oliver J. Dickey. Admitted 1845. Died, 1876.
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. History of Beaver County
The century gone has witnessed many changes in the life and customs of the people, and the difference is no less marked in all that belongs to legal matters. The cases that came before the early courts of the county were simple; growing out of the natural conditions of a new country in process of settlement. In the Court of Quarter Sessions, at the first term held in February, 1804, there were eight cases, six of which were for assault and battery and one for assault. In the other courts the subjects of conflict were equally simple, as, for example, this suit :
Thomas Hartshorne v. Thomas Sprott, Esq. Replevin for one sow and ten pigs, marked with a crop off the right ear and half a crop out of the under side of the left ear, of the value of $ro. Verdict for the de- fendant-a new trial, and judgment for the plaintiff for $6 damages- costs, $36.87.
Lawyers' fees were on the same scale-a fee of $5 or $10 was regarded in those early times as generous, only exceptional cases enabling the attorney to charge $50 or $100. Sometimes the early lawyer, like the early minister, or school teacher, had to take his compensation for service rendered in farm products. Found among the effects of William Clarke, Esq., of Beaver, was the following note:
Three months after date I promise to pay David Hayes, or order two dollars in merchantable wheat, rye or other trade, as will suit said David, for attending to a case of habeas corpus in which Charles Take, im- prisoned, was discharged.
July 4, 18II.
(Signed) JOB MASE.
With the increase of population and the advance along the lines of industry and business, the complexity of legal procedure has become greater and greater, until, in this profession, as in all other departments of modern life, the day of the specialist has arrived, no man being able to master all the branches of practice, and lawyers are now occasionally paid for one case more than the business of our early courts would have amounted to in a whole year.
Many interesting cases, civil and criminal, have been tried in the courts of Beaver County, of which we have not space to speak. In our hundred years of judicial history there have been between thirty and forty murder trials, two of which may be briefly mentioned: that of Nathaniel Eakin, charged with
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the murder of James Hamilton; and that of Eli F. Sheets, the only criminal ever executed in Beaver County.I
Reference to the former case is made elsewhere in this work. This was the first trial for murder in Beaver County. Briefly the facts were these: William Foulkes, early in 1792, had made a settlement north of the Ohio River, between the Little Beaver Creek and what was afterwards the site of the Salem meeting-house. He had paid the price of the land, later had made substantial improvements thereon, and had lived on the place some years, when an ejectment suit was brought against him, as similar suits were being brought against many of the actual settlers at that time by the great land companies, and William B. Irish, Deputy United States Marshal, with a posse, came to his settlement on September 23, 1807, to dis- possess him, under authority of the United States Court. Irish was accompanied by Ennion Williams, agent of the Pennsyl- vania Population Company, George Holdship,2 a justice of the peace; and James Hamilton, an actual settler who had com- promised with the land company and had become their zealous partisan. When approaching the land the marshal and his men were fired upon from an ambush, and Hamilton, crying out that he was shot, fell from his horse and in a few moments expired. The posse returned to Greersburg (now Darlington), where they made oath before John Johnston, Esq., as to the facts of the shooting. It appeared that Hamilton had been shot by mis- take, the bullet having been intended for Williams, who, on the 29th of the same month, procured the arrest of William Foulkes on a warrant charging Foulkes with designs against his life. Foulkes was released by the justice, William Clarke, Esq., on two thousand dollars bail, Abner Lacock being his surety.
I Since the above was written another execution has taken place in Beaver County, the facts in connection with which are, briefly, as follows: Two employees of the Park Fire Clay Company at Crow's Run, in New Sewickley township, named respectively, William M. Payne and Allen Austin, both colored, got into a difficulty about a dissolute white woman, May 19, 1902, when Payne drew! a revolver and shot Austin to death. Payne was arrested that night in Monaca, indicted at June term, 1902, and tried before Judge James Sharp Wilson by David K. Cooper, District Attorney for the Common- wealth, assisted by John M. Buchanan, and defended by J. F. Reed and Henry Wilson. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court, which approved the finding of the court below. The Board of Pardons was asked to interfere, but refused, and, on June 9, 1904, the prisoner was hanged in the jail yard by Howard Bliss, High Sheriff of the county.
2 The progenitor of the family of that name living in Bridgewater. He was buried in the old graveyard in Beaver and a few years ago his body was removed to the new cemetery.
Samuel B. Wilson, Esq. Admitted Nov. 18, 1850. Died, Jan. 17, 1889.
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History of Beaver County
Nathaniel Eakin, a resident of South Beaver township, was suspected of having fired the fatal shot, and on Thursday, No- vember 5, 1807, the case of "The Commonwealth against Na- thaniel Eakin, charged with the murder of James Hamilton," was formally opened. On the bench sat Samuel Roberts, with his associates, John H. Reddick, Joseph Caldwell, and David Drennan. Dr. Samuel Adams was foreman of the grand jury which had presented the indictment; and the petit jury consisted of John Reed, Robert Darragh, David Kerr, Joseph McCready, Joshua Hartshorne, Hugh McCready, Thomas Harvey, James Elliott, Nathaniel Blackmore, Abraham Lyon, Matthias Hook, and Dawson Blackmore, all well-known and respectable first resi- dents of the county. Counsel for the State was James Allison, Jr., deputy attorney general (district attorney) for the Common- wealth, assisted by John Simonson and David Hayes; for the defense, Parker Campbell, Robert Moore, and James Mountain.
The testimony showed that the prisoner had some time be- fore said that any attempt on the part of the marshal to dis- possess the actual settlers should be resisted by force, that he himself "would turn out with his gun," and that he believed that blood would be spilt. It was further shown that the night before the murder he had talked with a neighbor about their assuming a disguise by blackening their faces when the marshal came, and that two days before he had been at Foulkes's house with his gun.
The defense proved that immediately before and after the firing of the shots, one of which had killed Hamilton, the ac- cused was standing in Foulkes's peach orchard, at a point too far distant for him to have been a party to the crime; and fur- ther, that at the moment the shooting was done, his (the ac- cused's) gun was not in his hands, but was in Foulkes's house.
The charge of the court was unfavorable to the prisoner, but the jury, after a few moments' deliberation, returned a verdict of "not guilty." Without meaning to express any doubt of the justice of the finding in this particular case, we remark that it was hard to find a jury in those troublous days of ejectment suits whose sympathies could not be counted on as being on the side of the settlers as against the warrantees, the courts them- selves even, as we have elsewhere seen, showing a bias in that direction.
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The second case referred to above is of interest mainly be- cause the hanging of the criminal, Eli F. Sheets, which took place in the jail yard in Beaver, between 11.30 and noon of Friday, April 10, 1863, was the first judicial execution in Beaver County.
In March, 1862, a farmer named Sheets, living a short dis- tance from Unity, Ohio, had his barn destroyed by fire. In the barn were two large and valuable bay horses, which had been newly shod. While the débris of the burned structure was being examined the next morning, the charred remains of two horses were found, but it was observed that the shoes on their feet were much smaller than those of the bays, and this led naturally to the suspicion that the large horses had been taken out and replaced by inferior animals, and incendiarism practised to hide the theft.
Five days after the fire, Eli F. Sheets, a nephew of the Sheets whose barn had been burned, a youth about twenty years of age living near Darlington, Beaver County, rode a large bay horse over to the farm of John Ansley, near Black Hawk, and proposed to trade the bay for a colt belonging to Ansley. The trade was made, but a short time afterwards Ansley, having read an account of the fire published in a Pittsburg paper, with a description of the stolen horses, was led to suspect that the horse for which he had traded with Sheets was one of them. Several circumstances confirming his suspicion he rode to the farm on which young Sheets lived to confront him with the charge of having traded him a stolen animal. He was seen by several persons to stop at the Sheets place and to enter the house. That was the last seen of John Ansley alive.
Soon thereafter the body of Ansley, riddled with bullets, was found in a deep hollow in the woods near the home of Eli F. Sheets, with the carcass of the bay horse lying a few rods away.
Sheets was charged with the murder, arrested, and put on trial for his life at the June term of court, 1862.1 The foreman of the grand jury which found the bill of indictment was William K. Boden. The presiding judge was Daniel Agnew, soon after made Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. The
' A true bill was also found against John Fosnought who was charged with " carrying and conveying and secreting the body of John Ansley of South Beaver township on the night of Friday the 21st day of March, 1862, where he was found." Fosnought was finally discharged.
Bragdon
Edward Black Daugherty. Admitted 1860. Died, 1896.
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History of Beaver County
district attorney was John B. Young, Esq., who was assisted by Thomas Cunningham, Esq .; and the counsel for the defense were N. P. Fetterman, Esq., of Beaver, and S. L. Wadsworth, of New Lisbon, Ohio, a member of the Columbiana County, Ohio, bar, assisted by Samuel B. Wilson, Esq., of Beaver. The petit jury were Joseph Duncan, John Stevenson, John Hesson, Henry Schramm, Anthony Barrett, Joseph Boots, Samuel Nel- son, James C. Ferguson, William Gill, Benjamin Hall, John Cochran, and James H. Dungan.
The trial lasted five weeks, and on September 18th the ver- dict of the jury was rendered, finding Sheets guilty of murder in the first degree. On the following day N. P. Fetterman moved for a new trial on the following grounds:
I. Two horseshoes not given in evidence were, without the knowledge or consent of the defendant, sent out with the jury when they retired to form a verdict. 2. Verdict not sustained by law and evidence. 3. The discovery of new and material evidence. 4. James C. Ferguson, juror, while in the box, was asleep.
The motion for a new trial was overruled by the Court, and Sheets was sentenced to be hanged.
Three times after his arrest the prisoner made his escape. The first time was from Cook's Hotel in Darlington, where he was detained by the officer on the night of his arrest. He was recaptured at Wellsville, Ohio, and brought to the Beaver jail. After he was convicted, he was, on October 22d, permitted to escape from the jail by the turnkey, Daniel Dunbarington, and for five days lay concealed in the home of Mrs. Dr. R. B. (Eliza H.) Barker, within three hundred yards of the prison. Through the weakening of the turnkey his hiding-place was revealed, and he was again brought to custody. The third break for liberty was made on the day that sentence of death was passed on him. While being taken back to jail from the court-room by Sheriff Roberts and Deputy Sheriff Ledlie, he broke away, but was recaptured by the deputy near the bank of the Ohio River. Sheets was finally executed on April 10, 1863.
There was an interesting sequel to this case. Mrs. Eliza H. Barker, who had secreted Sheets in her house, together with Margaret Jones, Eliza B. Craft, Jesse Barker, and James Barker, were indicted and arrested as accessories after the fact. They
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had their case carried to the Legislature of the State, and under special legislation a change of venue was obtained, and the indictment ordered to be tried in the court of Washington County. The case was there heard before Judge Ewing, who found the indictment defective, and it was quashed. The venue was changed back to Beaver County, and a new indictment framed, but for political reasons the case never came to final trial.
The "Law Association of Beaver County" was chartered April 20, 1876. Its purpose is thus expressed :
(I) To advance learning in the law and to provide and maintain a library. (2) To promote integrity and decorum in the legal profession, and to take measures for the exclusion from the bar of unworthy mem- bers thereof. (3) To use all proper means for enforcing obedience to the law by those concerned in the administration of the business of our judicial tribunals and the officers having charge of our public records. (4) To enforce among our members courtesy and the observance of proper professional rules. (5) To make efforts to improve the law and its administration and to protect it from dangerous innovations. (6) To guard the bar and judicial tribunals, their officers and members, from the invasion of their rights and privileges, and to maintain their proper in- fluence. (7) To promote kind and useful intercourse among those con- cerned in the administration of justice. (8) To maintain the character and influence of the bar of Beaver County.
The following were the charter members: Brown B. Cham- berlin, Samuel Magaw, Joseph Ledlie, J. R. Harrah, Frank Wilson, G. L. Eberhart, Alfred S. Moore, F. H. Agnew, S. B. Wilson, W. S. Morlan, E. B. Daugherty, J. J. Wickham, Thomas Henry, H. R. Moore, James K. Piersol, John M. Buchanan, O. A. Small, N. C. Martin, and W. S. Moore. The terms of member- ship were to be: (1) Two thirds vote of the charter members. (2) The payment of ten dollars.
In this sketch of the bench and bar of the county it has been in the nature of things impossible to furnish sketches of living members. In their case we have necessarily been limited by space to notice those only who occupy higher official positions. There will, however, be found in the roll of attorneys which follows the names and dates of admission of all who have been admitted to practise in the courts of the county from their
Brandon
Hon. James S. Rutan. Admitted 1861. Died, 1892.
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organization to the present time. Many of these, of course, were residents of other counties, some appearing here but for the trial of a single case, others practising in Beaver County with more or less regularity.
ROLL OF ATTORNEYS, 1804-1904
NAMES DATE OF ADMISSION
Addison, Alexander.
February 6, 1804
Allison, James, Jr . February 6, 1804
Ayers, William February 6, 1804
Agnew, Daniel. .August 24, 1829
Allison, William. December 4, 1833
Alexander, James . June 6, 1837
Ayers, Jonathan December 4, 1844
Allison, John November 26, 1845
Alden, T. F. June 10, 1847
Appleton, George E March 23, 1849
Adams, Samuel. . June 8, 1853
Austin, Walter F June 14, 1869
Agnew, Franklin H September 2, 1872
Ambler, J. A.
June 6, 1876
Acheson, Marcus W
April 8, 1878
Baldwin, Henry
February 6, 1804
Blockson, Fisher A
May 11, 1805
Burke, Robert. August 28, 1826
Beall, Thomas E September 10, 1835
Buchanan, James W . July 11, 1843
Boyd, J. K.
November 28, 1843
Barton, John.
. June 4, 1845
Budd,
. March 10, 1846
Bradford, Charles S.
January 15, 1848
Black, Samuel W
January 14, 1850
Brady, Jasper E.
March 19, 1850
Bliss, James G.
September 14, 1853
Bakewell, William
. June 5, 1865
Brady, Freeman, Jr.
June 5, 1865
Braden, J. D ..
June 5, 1865
Buchanan, John M.
. September 2, 1872
Bowman, C. O. (Special)
June 12, 1874
Barrett, James A.
December 6, 1875
Bigger, Ellis N
. June 2, 1879
Black, Samuel James
October 9, 1882
Blair, John P. February 25, 1893
Brooks, Joshua Twing
March 3, 1893
Bonsall, Adoniram Judson
June 7, 1897
Barnett, Arthur E
November 25, 1898
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History of Beaver County
Baldwin, George Augustus. April 23, 1901
Campbell, Parker February 6, 1804
Craft, James S.
. April 9, 1821
Clarke, William B
May 21, 1827
Chew, Joseph T. . April 12, 1830
Cunningham, Thomas
March 4, 1835
Chamberlin, B. B
June 5 1837
Cunningham, Nathaniel
March 7, 1838
Cunningham, James M.
March 5, 1839
Chew, Samuel.
September 2, 1839
Cormyn, Bernard
July 11, 1843
Callan, James.
November 29, 1843
Cossett, David C.
June 10, 1847
Carmyn, Paul
July 8, 1847
Conway, James.
September 6, 1848
Clarke, Joseph B
June 9, 1849
Coyle, John
May 8, 1850
Coughey, Silas W. W.
. March 14, 1853
Cuthbertson, John
November 25, 1853
Cochran, John T.
December 28, 1853
Cunning, Hugh.
March 10, 1856
Cunningham, Joseph H
May 1, 1861
Crumrine, Boyd.
June 5, 1866
Cameron, James
.June 16, 1868
Cochran, George R.
January 18, 1871
Cunningham, James H
. July 31, 1872
Clarke, Albert H.
March 13, 1875
Carnahan, Robert B
. April 8, 1878
Coulter, J. D
March II, 1879
Cope, Roger
December 5, 188 I
Cornelius, Charles E.
October 5, 1885
Crown, Joseph.
November 21, 1885
Cuthbertson, William B
June 6, 1887
Cable, Charles W.
June 4, 1888
Clarke, Charles Edward
February 4, 1890
Cooper, David Kerr. December 17, 1889 Calhoon, Hiram Reed . January 5, 1891
Carpenter, James McFadden
September 7, 1891
Cummings, William Hodge.
.June 29, 1895
Cox, William H.
. May 3, 1897
Covert, Thomas Frank
June 27, 1902
Dunlap, James. November 6, 1805
Douglas, Samuel . August 7, 1811
Dunham, Sylvester.
.June 2, 1817
Dallas, Trevanion B January 10, 1825
Denney, William H
.April 1, 1835
Frank Wilson. Admitted 1866. Died, 1883.
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History of Beaver County
Dickey, Oliver J. November 26, 1845
Dungan, Warren S March 10, 1856
Dana, Samuel W. June 3, 1856
Daugherty, Edward B
June 4, 1860
Davenport, Samuel February 24, 1864
Davis, Jacob S. November 18, 1869
Dunlap, Joseph F . March 25, 1872
Dalzell, John.
February 18, 1884
Dunn, John H.
August 16, 1897
Darragh, Robert Weyand. April 23, 1901
Eyster, Christian S July 7, 1853
Ewing, Thomas. April 27, 1865
Eberhart, Gilbert L . June 14, 1870
Eakin, John. June Term, 1872
Emery, J. A. March 16, 1881
Elliott, John A.
. June 3, 1889
Eckert, Charles Richard.
December 5, 1894
Foster, Alexander W . February 6, 1804
Findlay, Robert. September 24, 1810
Foster, Samuel B March 26, 181I
Forward, Walter April 9, 1821
Fetterman, W. W. April 12, 1824
Fetterman, N. P June 6, 1831
Foster, John B June 1, 1840
Flanegan, F. C. November 23, 1853
Forward, Ross. . September 3, 1866
French, William Caldwell
.June 3, 1889
·Ferguson, John Scott. September 18, 1895
Funkhouser, David Ferguson
March 5, 1900
Gibson, John Bannister February 6, 1804
Gilmore, John May 7, 1804
Gormley, Samuel. . August 24, 1829
Grimshaw, William September 10, 1835
Gaither, Samuel. March 8, 1852
Gibson, Robert M . June 5, 1866
Geyer, Stephen H . April 8, 1878
Grim, Louis Edwin . January 2, 1882
Gardner, James A September 20, 1893
Hayes, David. February 6, 1804
Hazlett, Henry February 6, 1804
Hopkins, John H October 21, 1822
Horton, V. B. April 11, 1831
Hickox, Silas H March 7, 1833
Henry, Evan J.
September 3, 1839
Henry, Thomas J
March 9, 1844
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History of Beaver County
Heidelberg, E September 3, 1849
Hasbrouck, Cicero
. January 27, 1857
Hampton, John H
June 7, 1858
Hice, Henry June 6, 1859
Harper, Joseph F. September 10, 1860
Harrah, Joseph R.
March 27, 1866
Hart, George S.
June 5, 1866
Henry, Thomas
March 8, 1867
Hart, Alphonzo
March 6, 1868
Herron, D. S.
March 27, 1870
Hazen, Aaron L
.June 15, 1870
Hays, John B.
September 4, 1871
Houseman, Moses H
April 8, 1878
Henry, Thomas M.
May 15, 1882
Holt, Richard Smith
May 7, 1888
Holmes, Joseph Lincoln
October 3, 1889
Harrison, James Harvey June 3, 1891
Hice, Agnew
October 31, 1893
Hogan, James L.
March 10, 1900
Hartford, David Birt.
.June 27, 1902
Imbrie, De Lorma November 25, 1853
Imbrie, Addison M
September 2, 1878
Jennings, Obadiah. February 6, 1804
Johnston, Thomas G February 6, 1804
Jones, Isaac. .June 5, 1837
Johnston, James W January 26, 1857
Johnston, Smith N March 15, 1869
Jackson, Oscar L.
November 9, 1869
Johnston, Lawrence.
June 12, 1885
Jennings, William Kennon.
April 21, 1891
Kerr, Isaac.
February 6, 1804
King, Sampson S.
February 6, 1804
Kingston, Samuel
April 8, 1822
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