History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 93

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards
Number of Pages: 1418

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As an advocate his knowledge was various and extensive, his judgment sound and his counsel recognized as of a high order. By his brethren of the bar his merits as a sincere friend and as an honorable practitioner were highly appreciated, and he performed all his various duties as a lawyer, a judge and a citizen with recognized promptness and acknowledged ability. As a lawyer he disdained everything like artifice or technical advantage and looked to the merits of his case alone. He seemed ever to contend for justice rather than victory ; hence his influence with the court and jury was deservedly great. In the prosecution of doubtful claims, where individuals had important 'trusts to fulfill, which they were anxious should be judiciously and faithfully managed, recourse was had with the utmost confi- dence to John Spayd, and his opinions were considered oracles upon which the most perfect reliance could be placed.

The Borough Council at the time of his death passed resolutions in commendation of his valuable services for many years as chief burgess. At a bar meeting presided over by Judge Robert Porter

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

resolutions commendatory of his life and character were adopted. Members of the Philadelphia bar held a meeting in the District Court-room, presided over by Hon. Joseph B. Mckean, and adopted resolutions relating to " John Spayd, Esq., a dis- tinguished member of the profession from Reading, who died while on a visit to Philadelphia, and in testimony of our respect for his private virtues and professional attainments, we will attend as far as the limits of this city the removal of his remains for interment at Reading."

Judge Spayd was married to Catharine Hiester, eldest daughter of Governor Joseph Hiester. Their children were Elizabeth, married to Edward B. Hubley, once a member of Congress from Schuylkill County ; John, a graduate of the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania ; Catharine B., married to John B. Brooke, a promi- nent merchant of Reading and father of Dr. John B. Brooke ; Joseph H., a member of the Berks County bar; George W., once chief burgess of Reading; Heury, who completed the medical course at the University of Pennsylvania and died one year after his graduation ; Amelia, married to Dr. Diller Luther, of Reading.

At the time of his death Judge Spayd resided in Penn Square, Reading, next house west of the Farmer's Bank.

ROBERT PORTER was the third president judge of the several courts of Berks County. He was the eldest son of General Andrew Porter and was born at Philadelphia on January 10, 1768. His father then was conducting a mathematical and an English school. When he was only eight years old the Revolution had begun in earnest and his father had enlisted to serve the United Colonies in their great struggle for independence. Toward the close of the war his father was colonel of the Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment of Artillery, and it is said that Judge Porter, when only thirteen years of age, was enlisted in one of the companies under the command of his father. At the con- clusion of the war he resumed his studies at Philadelphia, and, selecting the law as his profes- sion, he was admitted to practice on May 15, 1789. After being engaged in a successful prac- tice for twenty years, at Philadelphia, he, iu 1810, was appointed by Governor Simon Snyder to the office of president judge of the Third Judical

District which comprised the counties of Berks, Northampton and Wayne. He occupied this honorable position for the period of twenty-two years, and then, upon resigning his commission, retired to private life. He resided at Reading, on the northwest corner of Fifth and Penn Streets, during his term of office. He died on June 23, 1842, at Brookville, Pa., aged seventy-four years. Judge Porter was a man of profound learning and superior legal attainments.

GARRICK MALLERY was a native of Massachu- setts. After obtaining a good preliminary educa- tion, he entered Yale College and was graduated from that institution in the year 1809. He soon afterwards became principal of an academy at Wilksbarre, and while occupying that position engaged in the study of law, and was admitted to the bar at Wilksbarre about 1812. Being well adapted by nature to the legal profession, he added to his efficiency by diligent and well-directed study, and therefore soon acquired a practice which extended over a large portion of Northern Penn- sylvania. In 1825 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania and during his legislative career was instrumental in securing the enactment of certain bills which led to the great improvement of the North Branch region.

In 1832 Governor Wolf appointed him president judge of the Third Judicial District, then com- posed of the counties of Berks, Northampton and Lehigh, in which position he soon won fame and distinction, and presided with ability and dignity. He resigned iu 1836 and removed to Philadel- phia, where he resumed the practice of the law. About the time of his resignation the members of the bar of Berks County met March 16, 1836, and passed resolutions of regret, and tendered him a bar dinner in Reading as a token of their high appre- ciation of his ability as a judge and character as a gentleman. He replied in the kindliest terms from Easton, Pa., but owing to a press of profes- sional duties was obliged to decline the proffered honor. His experience in reference to titles to coal and unseated lands throughout the State of Pennsylvania rendered his services especially valuable to purchasers of that kind of property, and his practice thus became very extensive. During his residence in Philadelphia he was

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standing master in Chancery of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and was for many years solicitor and advisor of the Camden and Amboy, the Philadelphia and Trenton and other railroad companies.

Judge Mallery was thrice married; his last wife was a daughter of Dr. Otto, a prominent physician of Philadelphia. Hon. William Strong, lately retired from the Supreme Court of the United States, was married to his daughter.

JOHN BANKS, the fifth president judge of courts of Berks County, was born near Lewisburgh, Ju- niata County, Pa., in the year 1793. His paternal grandfather emigrated from Scotland and lived to the age of nearly one hundred years. His father being a farmer, his youth was spent mostly in as- sisting him in the arduous duties of that occupa- tion. The advantages of a liberal education, however, were not denied him. He entered upon the study of law with a well-disciplined mind, was admitted to the bar of his native county in 1819, and soon after removed to the western part of the State. He located in Mercer County and there rapidly attained eminence at the bar. Without any solicitation on his part, he was nominated and elected a representative in Congress, and twice re- elected, serving from 1831 to 1836. He won dis- tinction in Congress by his treatment of contested election cases. His patience and fairness in the investigations and hi, clearness in applying the law to the facts, made his conclusions invariably accep- table. In thespring of 1836 he vacated his seat in Congress to accept the appointment of president judge of the Third Judicial District of the State, composed of the counties of Berks, Lehigh and Northampton, the office having been tendered him by Governor Ritner. Succeeding so accom- plished a jurist as Garrick Mallery, he sustained himself in his new position under difficult circum- stances, and proved by his administration of jus- tice that he had an acquaintance with the law fully as much under control as his predecessor. He possessed a kind heart, was easy and graceful in his manners and clear in his opinions. His supe- rior qualities soon won for him the full confidence of the people. No man was ever more obliging and condescending to his juniors than he, and no man ever lived in Reading whose companionship was more highly prized by so varied a circle of

friends Having spent eleven years as president judge of the court, he resigned the position in 1847, and accepted the office of State treasurer of Pennsylvania and served one term. In 1841, while judge of the courts, he , was nominated by the Whig party for the office of Governor of Pennsylvania, but was defeated by David R Por- ter, the Democratic nominee. He was subse- quently nominated and supported by the Whig

JOHN BANKS.

members of the State Legislature, when in the minority, as their candidate for United States senator.

Upon his retirement from the bench, Judge Banks resumed the practice of the law, and soon became the acknowledged leader of the Berks County bar. He continued in his profession until his death, April 3, 1864, enjoying a very exten- sive and lucrative practice.

JOHN PRINGLE JONES was born near Newtown, in Durham township, Bucks County, in 1812, and was an only child. His father died when he was young. His mother was a Pringle and a member of an English family of great respectability in Philadelphia. She moved to her native city after the death of her husband. The education of the son, J. Pringle Jones, was acquired at Captain Partridge's Military Academy, in Middletown,

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Conn., and at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied two years and was then admitted to the senior class of the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, from which he was graduated with honor in 1831. After leaving college he studied law in the office of Charles Chauncey, Esq., and was admitted a member of the Philadelphia bar in 1834. Being a great lover of nature, he trav- eled to and wandered over the green hills of Berks County, and whilst in the county, in 1835, he de- termined to locate in Reading. He was at once received into the best society on account of his education, culture and social qualities. In 1839 he was appointed deputy attorney-general for Berks County and served in that office until 1847. During this time he was associated in the practice of law with Robert M. Barr, Esq., who was appointed, in 1845, reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court. At the expiration of the official term of Hon. John Banks as judge of the Third District, then composed of Berks, Lehigh and Northampton Counties, he was appointed by Governor Shunk to fill this honorable position. He took the oath of office March 15, 1847. By an act of the Legislature, passed in 1849, Berks County was erected into a separate judicial dis- trict, of which David F. Gordon was appointed president-judge, and Judge Jones continued to pre- side in Lehigh and Northampton Counties until 1851.

Iu 1849, Mr. Barr, the State reporter, died, and Judge Jones completed two of the " State Reports " which his former partner had left unfinished. These reports are known as " Jones' Reports." In 1851 he was elected president judge of the courts of Berks County for ten years. After the expiration of this term he devoted himself to literary pur- suits and to the management of the Charles Evans Cemetery Company, of which he was elected president.

In 1867 Judge Maynard, of the Third Judicial District, then composed of Lehigh and Northamp- ton Counties, died, and Judge Jones was appointed his successor for the unexpired term. This was the last official position he occupied. In 1871 he had an attack of paralysis. In October, 1872, he sailed for Europe, accompanied by his wife, and traveled through France, Italy, Germany and a part of Russia. He was taken sick and died in

London, on Monday, March 16, 1874. His re- mains were brought to Reading and buried in Charles Evans Cemetery.

He was married first to Annie Hiester, daughter of Dr. Isaac Hiester, of Reading, in 1840. After her death he was married, in 1851, to Catharine E. Hiester, daughter of John S. Hiester. Nature favored Judge Jones with a fine physical appear- ance and excellent mental endowments. He had a decided taste for literature, and after he retired from the bench devoted much of his time to the gratification of this taste. He was a man of ster- ling integrity and great moral worth. A marked trait was his strong attachment to his friends, of whom he had a great many in the county of Berks and also throughout Eastern Pennsylvania.

DAVID F. GORDON was born at Philadelphia on November 20, 1795. He received an excellent classical education at the University of Pennsyl- vania, and then studied law and was admitted to practice in 1816, and soon afterward gained an

DAVID F. GORDON.

enviable reputation as a member of the bar. He remained in that city until 1824, when he removed to Reading and was admitted to practice in the several courts of Berks County. He continued in active practice here for eight years, and then pur- chased from George Getz the Berks and Schuylkill

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Journal, a weekly English newspaper published at Reading, which he was well qualified to publish by reason of his learning and literary taste. He published this paper very successfully, con- ducting its editorial department with ability, until 1838, then sold it and resumed his law prac- tice. After practicing for eleven years he was ap- pointed to the office of president judge of this judicial district by Governor W. F. Johnston. Berks County had just been erected into a sepa- rate judicial district, called, in the system, the Twenty-third.

He remained ou the bench until December, 1851, retiring then by virtue of the amendment to the Constitution, under which the office of judge became elective, aud Hon. J. Pringle Jones was chosen to fill this position for ten years. Whilst holding this office he was nominated by the Whig party of the State for the office of associate justice of the Supreme Court, but his party being then in the minority, he was defeated. He was recognized as an able judge and thoroughly con- scientious in the performance of all his judicial duties. His course won for him the highest respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens. Upon retir- ing from the bench he resumed his legal practice at Reading. He died on December 27, 1859, aged sixty-four years.

As a man, he was highly esteemed for his many superior traits of character. He was buried in the Charles Evans Cemetery.

WARREN J. WOODWARD, a president judge from 1861 to 1874. (For sketch, see biographies of State Officials).

JEREMIAH HAGENMAN was born at Phoenix- ville, Chester County, Pa., on February 6, 1820. His parents were Jeremiah and Mary H. Hagen- man. He obtained a preparatory education in the schools of his native town, and at the early age of sixteen years engaged in the profession of teaching. He continued to teach some time and then removed to Reading, where he entered the public schools and prosecuted higher branches of study till he was nineteen years old. He then began the study of law, under the direction of Peter Filbert, Esq., at Reading, teaching occa- sionally whilst pursuing his legal studies, and was admitted to the bar on April 7, 1842. In the following autumn he opened an office at Reading

and soon entered upon an active practice, which he conducted very successfully for seventeen years, when he was elected additional law judge of Berks County for a period of ten years. In 1875, upon the elevation of Hon. Warren J. Woodward to the Supreme bench of the State, he was promoted to the office of president judge, and in 1879 he was re-elected for another term of ten years He is now filling this honorable position. The attorneys have always appreciated him for his courtesy on the bench, and the younger attorneys have found him

I.Hagenman

possessed of a kindly spirit and great indulgence,- two characteristics disposed to encourage them in the trial of their cases. During the past seventeen years numerous cases tried before him have been taken to the Supreme Court, but his adjudications have been generally sustained, comparatively few judgments having been reversed.

Judge Hagenman became interested in politics soon after his admission to the bar, and was promi- nently identified with the movements of the Demo- cratic party from 1850 till 1869. He attended many State Conventions as a delegate from this dis- trict ; and in 1868 he was a delegate to the Demo- cratic National Convention which assembled at New York and nominated Hon. Horatio Seymour

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSLYVANIA.

for President. In 1850 he was elected district attorney, under the act then passed creating the office, and, after serving three years, was re- elected for a second term. He was the first per- son chosen to this position and the only district attorney who filled it for six years. His adminis- tration of the duties of the office was highly satis- factory, and he was tendered a third term hy the party leaders, but he declined the honor.

The public school affairs of Reading received the earnest attention of Judge Hagenman for nearly forty years. He first became a director ahont 1846, in the Southwest Ward, and served several years. In 1858 he was elected to represent the Southeast Ward (subsequently the Third, and then the Fourth) in the School Board, and after- ward re-elected, term after term, till 1883, when he declined to serve any longer.

For twenty years he served as chairman of the High School committee. He advocated, with much success, the erection of more commodious and attractive school buildings ; and he first sug- gested the practicability of heating the buildings by heaters in the cellars. The first successful ex- periment was made in the Elm Street building, un- der his supervision as chairman of a special commit- tee. This was about 1865. Then the High School (academy) building, and next the Lerch building came to be heated in the same way. This process of heating the school-rooms is now common in all the public schools. In recognition of his valuable services the board named the " J. Hagenman School Building " after him, which is a superior brick structure, situated on Franklin, between Eighth and Ninth Streets, and was erected in 1875.

He served the county commissioners as solicitor for a number of years. About 1860 he was in- strumental in having them to allow half of the court fines to be appropriated towards establishing a Law Library for the bench and bar, in the court- honse. David L. Wenrich, Sr., one of the commis- sioners, was particularly favorable to the plan, on account of the great convenience to the judges and the attorneys in the trial of cases, and he had the board of commissioners to make an order to pay half of the fines for five years for that purpose. John S. Richards, Esq., an attorney at the bar, suggested the idea. Subsequently legislation was obtained

allowing this to be done, and a Law Library associ- ation was incorporated. Law-books multiplied in number year after year, till now the association possesses a valuable and extensive library.

In 1850 Judge Hagenman was married to Louisa A. Boyer, a daughter of George Boyer, who was a descendant of one of the first families in the county, and who was a prominent member of Trinity Lutheran congregation, having taken an active part in the erection of its church building in 1791, which is still in a good state of preser- vation. Judge Hagenman is now serving as trus- tee of Trinity Church, of which he is a consistent member. They have one son-George F. Hag- enman, Esq., a practicing attorney at the Reading har.

HENRY VAN REED was born August 31, 1821, in the northern corner of Cumru (now Spring) township, this county, on the Cacoosing Creek, near its outlet into the Tulpehocken. His grand- father, John Van Reed, settled there about the time of the Revolution, and his father was horn there in 1786. He was educated at Reading, Lit- itz, Lafayette College and Dickinson College, grad- uating from the latter institution in 1843. Upon returning home he selected the law as his profes- sion and pursned a regular course of legal study in the office of David F. Gordon, Esq., a distin- guished lawyer at Reading, and afterwards presi- dent judge of this judicial district. On April 5, 1844, he was admitted to the bar. He at once opened an office at Reading, and soon established a large and lucrative practice, which he continued for twenty years.

In 1851 he made a trip to California, visiting his brothers, James and Lewis, who had gone thither some years previously. He was engaged in the hanking business at San Francisco, with his brother James, for some months, hut preferring a residence in the eastern section of the country, he returned home in the same year.

In April, 1869, the State Legislature authorized the qualified electors of Berks County to elect at the next succeeding general election an additional law judge, whose powers and term of office were to be similar to those of the president judge. At that time the Governor, John W. Geary, was a Re- publican in politics, and, having been authorized to appoint a suitable person to act as such judge

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till one should be elected and commissioned, he, upon the flattering recommendation of a number of prominent Republicans of the county, appointed Mr. Van Reed to this position on July 13, 1869. This was a high compliment to Mr. Van Reed The appointment was given to him without any so- licitation on his part, he believing, as Judge Wood- ward had previously expressed himself, that a judge, or a man about to become a judge, should not participate in the matter of political appoint-

1875, till January 2, 1876, he filled the same office by appointment from Governor John F. Hart- ranft, to supply a vacancy caused by the promo- tion of the then incumbent to the office of presi- dent judge. He distinguished himself upon both occasions by his ability and by the promptness and impartiality with which he discharged the duties of this honorable position. His course was highly satisfactory, and his continuation on the bench was only interrupted by the great predominance of

Henry Van Reed

ments and elections. He was then a prominent attorney in active practice; and, having been an earnest Republican-though not a politician- whose views on political subjects were known and appreciated, public attention was naturally directed towards him as the person qualified to fill the po- sition. He occupied his seat on the Bench till De- cember 6, 1869, when his successor duly elected was qualified. Subsequently, from January 12, 52

Democratic sentiment in the county. Upon being retired from the bench he gradually discontinued the practice of the legal profession.

Judge Van Reed represented this district as one of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of the State of Pennsylvania, which was held in 1872 and 1873-he having been selected as the Republican delegate.

During the progress of the Civil War he was an

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

ardent supporter of the national administration in every way. His strong, patriotic feelings im- pelled him to express himself in the most positive manner in favor of prosecuting the war. When the State of Pennsylvania was threatened with an invasion by the rebels, in September, 1862, he en- listed, with a large number of the most prominent men of Reading, as a private in Company G, of the Second Regiment of the State Volunteer Mi- litia, commanded by Captain F. S. Bickley. This company was marched to and beyond the State line and engaged in performing military service for eleven days, when it was discharged. And during the terrible excitement throughout the State, owing to the battle of Gettysburg, in the beginning of July, 1863, he enlisted again in Com- pany C, Forty-second Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia, and acted as a sergeant. This regiment was composed entirely of Berks County companies, and it was under the command of Col. Charles H. Hunter, continuing in service from July 6 till August 12, 1863.

Judge Van Reed died June 30, 1885, after an illness of several years. The members of the Berks County bar held a meeting and took appropriate action upon his death. Besides highly eulogistic addresses by them upon that occasion, relating to his life and character, they passed a resolution wherein they regarded him "as one of the best types of manhood this county has developed." "His sentiments were just and his impulses noble. As a lawyer and judge he was able, conscientious and painstaking. As a man he despised sham and hypocrisy ; and he took for his own example the Christian virtues. He had the rare gift of courage equal to his convictions ; and, therefore, in public as well as in private life he acted as he believed that an honest, upright man should act, without regard to affiliations or personal consequences. He was a fortunate man in that he acquired such a position in the public attention that high places sought him though he was in a minority party."

He was married to Catharine Gernant, a daugh ter of George Gernant. She died January 13, 1883. He left two surviving children-George Van Reed and Anna Van Reed.

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History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 93

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards Number of Pages: 1418

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards
Number of Pages: 1418