USA > Pennsylvania > Butler County > History of Butler County, Pennsylvania. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 12
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Charles Craven Sullivan was for a long period one of the ablest advocates of the bar of his county. We are under many obligations to a mem- ber of the- extensive Sullivan family for the fol- lowing brief sketch of their family record; it is in the handwriting of Lient. Aaron Sullivan, who fought so bravely and fell so heroically while do- ing duty in the war of 1861, and presented by him to an aunt, now deceased. The record is as follows:
Peter O. Sullivan located in Northumberland County. Va., about the year 1700; married a lady named Craven; his children were named John, Moses, Charles and Elizabeth. Charles married Jemima Reeve, in the beginning of the year 1757: his chil dren were John, born January 29, 1758; Charles, March 27, 1760; Elizabeth, April 16, 1762: James. September 24, 1765: Anne, died a young infant, all born in Northumberland, on the Wecondia River, near Chesapeake Bay. Charles, the eldest, died March 27. 1767.
Susanna, daughter of Thomas and Margaret John ston, was born in Chester County. Penn .. October 29. 1764. Charles Sullivan and Susanna Johnston were married in Chester County, Penn .. in the year 1755. Their children were Moses, born at William Long's place, near the head of Saw Mill Run, about tive miles from Pittsburgh, October 9. 1756: Aaron, born in Allegheny Conuty, September 4. 17SS; Thomas. born in Allegheny County. February 26, 1791: John,
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
born in Allegheny County June 19, 1798; James, born in Allegheny County, at the place called Han son's Mills, one mile from Noblestown, March S. 1795; Margaret, born at " May's place," near the line between Allegheny and Washington Counties, about five miles north of Canonsburg, March 29, 1797; Jemima, born on the " Partnership Farm," about seven miles northwest of the town of Butler, October 20, 1800: Elizabeth, born on the " Partnership Farm " December 11. 1802: William, born on the " Partner. ship Farm " December 5, 1804; Charles Craven, born on the " Partnership Farm" March 10, 1807: Susan na, born on the " Partnership Farm " September 6. [809: Charles C. Sullivan, Sr. died January 12. 1813: Susanna Sullivan, Sr., died July 7. 1534. Moses Sullivan died May 21, 1839.
We have given this record as the best anthority upon the subject upon which it treats, and also as an evidence of the care with which this family have pre- served their family history.
It is worthy of note that Charles C. Sullivan, Sr .. made the acquaintance of Miss Johnston, who after- ward became his wife, while he was serving under Washington during that terrible winter so famons in Revolutionary history. Few have not read the suffer. ings of Valley Forge. They were afterward married by Bishop Asbury, of the M. E. Church.
The subject of this notice, after obtaining a lib eral education in home institutions within the county. finally graduated at Jefferson College. He read law with Gen. Ayres, and was admitted to the bar in 1830, as is inferred from an examination of the record. His name is first found on the docket in the following case:
ROBERT SCOTT AND JOHN CHRISTY. ENES. OF REV. JOHN MOPHERRON. VS. JAMES MARTIN.
Bredin, Sullivan Ayres, Attys.
AAppeal from Abram Brinken by PIT., cost $1.05. Entered Jany. 1. 1831.
Apres appears &c. & pleads mid tial ree, set off, pay'nt. with leave do -Rep, hab tal ree, -non solvit issue &r.
TAX PAID.
John MeQuistian. $ 4 00
Jas Mccurdy 1 00
F. McBride. 2 00
Defts bill. 11 92
Atty.
Bro S.
Bro D.
July 16, 1832. parties appear and amicably agree to refer all matters in variance in this case to John MeQuistian, Francis MeBride and James Medardy Esque .. to meet at the house of Wm. Beatty in Butler on Monday the 13th day of Ang next. at 2 o'clock P. M. on whose report or that of a majority Judet is to be entered (1 copy)
Jany 1st 1833 report filed finding for Deft ninety seven ets. Exceptions filed 9th Jany 1833.
Exceptions disapproved Ith May 1833 and Judet (Special Court)
On examining the transcript from the Justice upon which this proceeding was had, it was found to be as follows, omitting the statement of the case:
Dre 21th 1821 summons case under $100.
Amicable action and on hearing the parties Judgment in favor of PHIL's for seventeen dollars and eighteen cents-
Credit as per Clark MePherrins Reed for SG-Feb 12- 1830.
Feb 12th 1830 Sei Fa issued to James Glenn, 28th Ang 1890 to appear Ed Sept 180-Then continued to the 231 Oc1 1530-Then continued to the 27th inst Def't met as sum- moned. James MeCurdy sworn on part of PHf. and after hearing the proofs I continued this case to the 11th day of Dee next under my own Judgment.
Dec 11th 1830 Judet in favor of Delt James Martin for forty two cents.
Der 3d 1830 the PFIF appeals to the Court of Common Pleas of Butler County.
I certify the foregoing to be a true transcript of a Judg- ment rendered by me from which the plaintiff's have appealed. Witness my hand and scal this 29th Dec 1830. AABM BRINKER [ Scal].
It is deemed of sufficient interest to let it be seen how important (?) much of the litigation is upon which professional men are required to spend the knowledge they have acquired at a cost of time, money and mental exertion. Here was a case origi- nating in a small indebtedness of $11. The defendant alleged he had paid it in the lifetime of the original creditor. The exeentors refused to believe this, and had a Sei Fa issned to revive this judgment. After a lengthy deliberation, the Squire gives judgment for defendant for 12 conts, From this the plaintiff's ap. pral: it is finally referred to arbitrators, and they. after giving it their best attention, render an award for defendant for 77 cents.
This case commenced in 1824: it is concluded in 1833. Two lawyers had charge of plaintiffs' inter ests and one had charge of those of defendant. Over -2% of cost had accumulated, exclusive of counsel fees.
It was deemed advisable to give this piece of legal history in connection with the introduction of a legal student to his profession. If the pernsal of it shall tend to induce cantion on approaching litigation, it will not have been written or read in vain.
It is not to be supposed that any of the distin- gnished gentlemen whose names appear on the mar. gin of the Common Pleas record as attorneys in the case over advised the proseention of this senseless litigation. But still, its ontcome should teach young men of the profession that they ought frequently to discourage, rather than encourage, litigation.
Mr. Sullivan soon took rank as an able advocate and sound lawyer. He was a man of strong will (a quality so fully developed in his nophew, Judge Me ('andless). He soon acquired a good practice and finally became one of the leading lights of the Butler bar a bar long noted for the ability and character
Elefanten
John . V. Quer iamer
AT
57
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
of its members. Like S. A. Purviance, he practiced in many of the adjoining counties; he had a great re- gard for the " name and fame " of his native county, and would never allow any aspersion to be cast upon it in his presence, without rendering a prompt and canstic reproof to the unfortunate individual who ventured any disparaging remarks about the land so prolific with " buckwheat and rabbit hams," as Butler County at this early day was alleged to be.
Mr. Sullivan was elected to the State Senate in 1841, and was re-elected in 1844, serving six years in that body with great acceptability. He was the an- thor of much legislation during his Senatorial career, some of which still remains on our statute books. During this time, he gained a State reputation. he occupying a somewhat similar relation to the Legis. lation of the country that. Senator Bnekelow did at a later day. Had it not been that his party (Whig) was in the minority during his vigorous days, he would have occupied a still broader field of useful- hess. As a mark of distinction. Sullivan County was called for him.
While the subject of this notice was a Whig in politics, he was by no means one of the " Regulation Pattern." In other words, he thonght for himself. From his youth up, he sympathized strongly with the oppressed African. He was much pleased with the nomination of Gen. Scott by the Whigs over Fill- more, in 1852, regarding it as a great victory for the anti-slavery cause. He took a deep interest in that campaign, and was much disappointed at its outcome - the election of Pierce. Such an one naturally took with the Republican movement.
When in 1856. Jacob Mechling, Jr., occupied a place on the Republican ticket as a candidate for As- sociate Jndge, his son (Thompson Mechling), then in the army, being a West Pointer and stationed in the Sonth, wrote home a reproving letter, reminding his father that when he left home, "Charlie Sullivan and Clark McPherron were the only Abolitionists in the connty." Young Mechling had little knowledge of the great change that had taken place in publie sen- timent. His father, with the rest of the ticket, was elected by a good majority, and no one rejoiced more heartily than did Mr. Sullivan.
Nor did the convictions of his youth and early manhood weaken in after life. During the summer and fall of 1859, his interest in national affairs seemed rather to increase. He was satisfied that a great national crisis was imminent, and his great anxiety was that the Republican party would stand up conrageonsly for the right. During the winter of 1859-60, he frequently disenssed national affairs; he believed a civil war was approaching, and talked to the young men of his acquaintance on the subject of
their dnty in such an emergency. He looked with great interest on the National Republican Conven tion. But. alas ! disease came, and he was called away from the conflicts then approaching.
Born of Christian parents, he received from them a thorough moral education. Ile died as he lived, a professor of that religion which had taught him so forcibly his anty. both to his fellow-men and his God. He died on the 27th day of February, 1560, leaving a widow and five children and a handsome estate. the result of a life of honorable professional labor.
John Nelson Parviance, one of the oldest practi- tioners of the present bar, was born in Butler Septem ber 27. 1810. His father was John Porviance, Esq., of whom a sketch has been already given in this chapter. and his mother was Annalana (Anderson) Parviance. the daughter of Rev. Samuel Anderson, of the Pres- byterian Church of Baltimore and Frederick City. Ma. Mr. Purviance and his wife came to Butler from Washington County. Penn., and were among the car liest settlers of the borongh. In 1814, the family ro turned to Washington County, and, the Imsband and father dying there, in 1820, Mrs. Porviance and her children shortly afterward came back to Butler.
The youth of the subject of our sketch was this divided between the Washington County home and the place which he was destined to make his life res- idence. He obtained a good edneation in the com mon subscription schools and in the old Butler Acad- emy, studying both the English branches and Latin in the latter, under Messrs. Scott and Sharon, who were fine classical scholars. When abont sixteen years of age. he clerked for a short period in the store of Joseph M. Fox, Esq., on the Clarion River, within a few miles of Parker's Landing. When seventeen or eighteen years of age. he began elerking for the County Commissioners, and he labored in that capac ity for about three years. During the same time. he read law with Judge John Bradin, beginning in 1829. He was admitted to practice in the spring term of the Court of Quarter Sessions in 1832. Soon after he. was appointed by Chief Justice Ellis Lewis as Dep- uty Attorney General for Butler County, an office equivalent to that of the present District Attorney- ship On the expiration of his first term. he was re appointed by George M. Dallas, and he held the office altogether about five years. Subsequently he fol lowed the practice of his profession with his brother. Sammel A. Purviance, and also with Judge Sammel 1. Gilmore. AAbont the same time, he served several years as School Director. When Mr. Purviance was a young man, great interest was taken in military matters. He was a member of the Butler Blues, and. as early as 1531. elected their Captain. Three or =
HHISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
four years later. he was chosen as Major of the bat talion. and. in ISIB. elected Major General of the Military Division of Militia and Volunteers, composed of the counties of Butter, Beaver and Mercer. The title thus gained has clung to him through life. In the spring of ISE5. Gov. Francis R. Shank appointed Mr. Porviance as Auditor General of the State, which office he held until May, 1851. He was also Eschoa tor General of the State. Commissioner of the Sink ing Fund, and member of the Board of Property, The esteem in which Gen. Purviance was held at this time is well illustrated, and the ability with which his office was administered set forth by a communication which appeared in the Lancasterian shortly after his term as Anditor General expired:
" We cannot permit so good and true a public offi cer to leave the service of the commonwealth without doing some justice to his conduct and character, otti- cially and private. Gen. Purviance was called by (tov. Shunk, six years since, to fill this important and laborious station, which requires, it is well known, industry, talent and purity of the highest order. Claims against and for the commonwealth, to hundreds of thousands of dollars, annually came before him for adjustment and settlement, whilst the finances of the State were peculiarly under the supervision of his department. We can truly say that he was active. industrious. talented, untiring and indefatigable: that no public officer in the State or nation performed the same amount of labor. bore the fatigue or sur- mounted the same difficulties. Always at his post, mild, courteous, yet firm and determined, he adjudi- cated the various claims for and against the State with a fairness, honesty, talent and impartiality that commanded universal respect. Through him, thon- sands of dollars due the commonwealth for years be- fore have been collected and paid into the treasury; and throughout his whole publie service he has dis- played talouts of a high order. purity of the noblest kind. and a devotion to the public welfare and the duties of his station seldom attained or equaled. "
In 1851. Mr. Parviance was a candidate for the office of President Judge of the Seventeenth Judicial District, composed of the counties of Beaver, Butler and Moreer. He received his party vote. but was de. feated by Hon. Daniel Aguew. From this time until IS61. he was principally engrossed by the practice of his profession. his son John being associated with him in a partnership for soveral years. Very soon after coming home from Harrisburg, he was elected President of the Butler & Allegheny Plank Road Company, and held that responsible position during nearly the entire period occupied in constructing the road, which was the first of the kind in Butler Coun- ty. When the war of the rebellion broke ont. he
raised a company of about one hundred men, of which he was elected Captain. The company was instored into the service in April. 1861. as Company Il of the Thirteenth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. of which Mr. Parviance was duly elected Lieutenant Colonel. He served with the company and regiment nutil they were mastered ont. In 1867. the subject of our sketch was again called from the practice of law to official life, being nominated by Chief Justice Chase for Register in Bankruptcy for the Congres- sional District composed of Armstrong and Butler Counties, and that part of Allegheny County which embraces the city of the same name. He was com- missioned by the late Hon. Wilson MeCandless United States District Judge. In 1872. Mr. Porviance was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention which framed the constitution of 1874. He repre- sented the district composed of Beaver. Butler and Washington Counties. He served ereditably to him- self and acceptably to his constituents as a member of that body. composed of the abtest men of the State. He was on the committee on executive department, and, on returning from the constitutional convention, he resumed his law practice, which he followed, uninterrupted by other duties of importance, until the 1st of February, ISSO, when he began his labors as Receiver of the First National Bank of Butler, to which position he had been appointed on the 13th of January preceding by the Comptroller of the Currency. Mr. Purviance, as lawyer, as public offi- cial and as a man, has ever commanded the unquali. fied respect of all with whom he has been in associa- tion. His action, alike in public and in private affairs, has ever seemed to be dictated by duty, and he has been regarded as uniformly conscientious and consistent. As a citizen, he has been public-spirited, and always takon a deep interest in measures tending to material improvement and moral well-being. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, and has been for forty years one of its Vestrymen and its Secre- tary, and also for several years a Warden. Polit. ically, he was originally a Democrat. but became a Republican at the time of the Kansas and Nebraska slave law controversy. Mr. Purviance was married, by Rev. Isaiah Niblock. September 3. 1833, to Miss Eliza Jane, daughter of Robert and An Potts. of Pittsburgh. Their children are Annalana, Mrs. E. Ferrero: John, who read law with his father. grad. nated from Jefferson College in August. 1855, and was admitted to practice as an attorney in Septem- ber. 1555: Emmeline, wife of Dr. A. M. Neyman; George, now the physician and surgeon in charge of the L'uited States Marine Hospital at Boston, Mass. ; and Francis Shank, an attorney at law. located at Pittsburgh.
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IHISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
William Timblin was born in Center Township, Batler County, March 7, 1814. He spent some time at Meadville (Allegheny) College, and was afterward a graduate of Washington College. He studied law under Hon. S. A. Porviance, and was admitted to the practice in 1841. He possessed more than ordinary ability. He soon secured an extensive practice, con- fining himself strictly to his profession. He died on the 14th of November, 1856, from congestion of the lungs, while yet in his early prime.
Edward M. Bredin was born in Carlisle, Penn .. on the 9th day of December, ISI9. Ho was the son of James Brodin, and nephew of Judge Bredin, the e] der, and cousin to the present Judge of that name He was educated at Dickinson College, studied law with Judge Bredin, and was admitted to the bar in the year 1839. He had a fine legal mind, was a close student. and soon became prominent as a counselor. He was especially fond of practice in courts of equity. When acting in concert with other counsel. the prep- aration of important papers was mostly referred to him. He was quite familiar with the forms in equity practice, and with pleadings generally at common law. He is yet connected with the profession, but not so active as formerly.
In politics, he was a ,Jacksonian Democrat. Indeed. ho seems to be one of those who have unyielding faith in the final triumph of his party. He has often been honored by marks of party confidence. Once he was the candidate of his party for President Judge of the district in which he practiced, receiving the hearty support of his party. but, with it. suffering defeat.
Few men are more familiar with the personal char- acter of public men than he. It is most enjoyable to hear him, when in the humor, entertain his friends with anecdotes of some of the representative men of all parties. In this field he is perfectly at home.
Alexander M. McBride was a native of Middlesex Township. Butler County. He was a young man of considerable culture and talent. He was admitted to the bar on the 15th of September, 1841.
Alfred Gilmore, a son of John Gilmore and brother to the Judge, was born in Butler, Penn .: was educated at Washington College, graduating in the class of 1833. He read law under his brother, and was admitted to the bar in 1836. He practiced law in Butler until 1848, when he was elected to Congress: he was re-elected in 1850. He afterward removed from Butler, and now resides in Lenox, Mass.
Of this family, father and sons, it may be said they exercised a large influence in the community in which they figured so conspicuously. While that party had a national existence, up to the time of his death the father acted with the Whigs, while his sons were as devotedly Democratic in their politics.
Jonathan Ayres, brother to Gen. Ayres, read law with his brother, and was admitted on the 11th of June, 1838. Ho afterward practiced his profession in Lawrence County, Penn.
William Haslett was admitted to the bar on the 12th of December, 1537. He afterward became a journalist.
Judge Ebenezer MeJunkin, one of the foremost members of the Butler bar (and with a reputation by no means confined to it). is the descendant of one of the pioneer families of the county. His father, David MeJunkin, was a native of County Donegal. Ireland. and came to this country with his parents' family shortly after the Revolutionary war. They soon found a location in Allegheny County, and David. on arriving at manhood. or soon after, in the year 1796. came into what is now Conter Township, Butler County, and took up a tract of land by " settler's right." He remained there until about 1830, when he removed to Slippery rock Township, where he carried on for many years the Mt. Etna Iron Works. He married a Miss Elizabeth Moore (whose father was a sturdy Scotch pioneer of Franklin Township). and reared a family of nine children -three dangh- ters and six sons. Of these sons, the subject of our sketch was the youngest. He was born March 25. 1819. His good Presbyterian parents brought him up as well as the conditions of the time would admit, and his early years were occupied in attending the primi tive schools of the neighborhood, and in working upon the home farm, and in the Mt. Etna Iron Works, in Slippery-rock Township. for many years owned by his father. It was determined. however, that he should have a more advanced edneation than was at- tainable at home, and he attended Jefferson College. of Washington. Penn .. from which he graduated in September. 1841. Then he came to Butler and read law under the late Charles C. Sullivan, Esq. He was admitted to practice in September, 1543, and made slow but sure advancement in his profession. His worthiness for the place led to his appointment. in 1838, as Deputy Attorney General for his county (an office equivalent to the present District Attorney- ship). In 1860, Mr. MeJunkin was elected a delegate to the National Republican Convention which met at Chicago. He was on the electoral ticket in Pennsyl vania in 1864, and cast his vote for Lincoln. He represented the Twenty- third Distriet in the Forty second and Forty-third Congresses, being elected in the years 1870 and 1572. Being elected Judge in the Seventeenth District in 1874. he resigned his seat in the House of Representatives, and, returning home. went upon the bench the first Monday in January, 1875. for a term of ten years.
Judge MeJunkin was married, in Ists, to Jane,
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
daughter of the late Judge John Bredin, who died in 1851.
John Graham was another member of the Butler bar whose character and legal attainments added luis- ter to its well-earned fame. He was born in Butler County in August. 1821, and was at an early age left an orphan, having nothing but his own industry to rely on for a living. He possessed more than ordi- mary intelligence. In 1838, he apprenticed himself to S. C. Stewart, Esq., who was then carrying on cab- inet-making in Butler. After his apprenticeship was completed, he acted for a time as Deputy Sheriff of his native county, and then, in company with a friend. he made a trip to the Southwest with a view to a new location. But, not finding things particularly encour- aging, he returned to Butler, and for a time attended the academy there. under the care of Rev. William White. In 1842, he commenced the study of the law with Sammuel Gilmore, Esq., afterward Judge Gilmore. He was admitted to practice law in 1844. In 1845, Mr. Graham married Catherine, youngest daughter of James Bredin, of Carlisle. He turned all his en- ergies to the vigilant pursuit of his profession, and soon rose to the front rank among a class of associates that had made a reputation for themselves and for the bar to which, they belonged. He never sought busi- ness in the criminal side of the court, but in the Common Pleas he was quite at home. His forensic talent was not of the highest order. He was a fair public speaker. But his clear judgment and strict integrity in his profession commanded the confidence of the court and the respect of his fellows. He was a constant and consistent member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. a leader in its Sabbath school and a laborer in every good work. In politics, Mr. Gra- ham was a Democrat, but he was no slave to party. In the internal convulsions that disturbed that party during the latter part of Buchanan's administration, he took an active part with the Douglas wing of the party, stontly denouncing the nsurpations and cor- raptions of that administration. He died too soon to witness its final overthrow, but his influence and ex- ample had a powerful effect on the action of the party long after he had passed away.
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