USA > Pennsylvania > Cambria County > History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 16
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
Schuylkill county, or from 1876 to 1878 inclusive, the infamous criminal organization known as the Mollie Maguires was com- pletely broken up and many of its members were hung, largely as the result of a series of trials over which Judge Pershing presided. This organization had terrorized the anthracite region for several years, and its agents had committed many murders to establish its lawless authority over the coal-mining industry. At the risk of his life Judge Pershing did not hesitate to sentence to death the convicted participants in these murders who were tried before him. From the beginning to the end of these trials he displayed a degree of both physical and moral courage that had never been excelled on the bench. The trials attracted national attention. The law-abiding citizens of Schuyl- kill county, without respect to party, have never ceased to ex- press their great obligations to Judge Pershing for the courage- ous part he took in ridding the county of the Mollie Maguire terror. He had been thoroughly tested and found to be pure gold.
"Judge Pershing became a member of the First Presbyte- rian church of Johnstown when still a young man. He became a teacher in its Sunday school and was afterwards and for many years its superintendent. He was a ruling elder in the church when scarcely thirty years old, and he continued in the eldership during his residence in Johnstown. After his removal to Potts- ville he was chosen to the same office in the Second Presbyterian church of that place, and for many years he taught the Bible class in its Sunday school. He was a member of the Union Presbyterian Convention which met in Philadelphia in Novem- ber, 1867, and a member of the General Assembly of the Presby- terian church which met at Chicago in 1877, at Saratoga in 1884, at Philadelphia in 1888, and at Washington City in 1893.
"Judge Pershing was always a loyal friend of his alma mater, Jefferson College, and of the united colleges, Washington and Jefferson. From March, 1865, until June, 1877, when he resigned, he was a trustee of Washington and Jefferson College. At the laying of the cornerstone of the front part of the main college building, on October 21, 1873, Judge Pershing delivered an address. In 1900 the trustees of the college conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, an honor that he richly deserved."
169
HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
Judge James Potts was born in Butler, Pennsylvania, August 31, 1809, died in Oil City, August 6, 1891, and was buried in Grand View cemetery at Johnstown.
James Potts was the son of John Potts, a native of the north of Ireland. His mother's maiden name was Jane Karns, also of Irish, or, more properly, of Scotch-Irish, extraction. Both families were not only among the first settlers of Western Penn- sylvania, but they were also long prominent in the social, busi- ness and political affairs of that part of our State. John Potts, the father of James Potts, was a merchant and was one of the pioneer settlers of the town of Butler. He was an active and influential politician, representing Butler county in the legis- lature at a very early day, and also held the offices of county treasurer and county commissioner. Two of his sons, George and James, were also politicians from their boyhood, yet while the father was a Jeffersonian his sons were Democrats all their days. The Karns family was divided in its political allegiance. Two members of a later generation, William and Samuel D. Karns, who were brothers, were prominent in the councils of the Democratic and Whig parties respectively forty and fifty years ago.
At the age of seventeen James Potts entered Jefferson College and almost completed a four years course, for some un- avoidable reason, however, he did not graduate.
"On the 2d day of October, 1838, James Potts and his cousin, Margaret Jane Karns, were married at Pittsburg, by the Rev. James Prestly. Mrs. Potts' father's name was James Elliott Karns. During the following winter the canal commissioners under the administration of Governor David R. Porter appointed James Potts, who had first been Captain Potts and was now Major Potts, collector of tolls at Johnstown, on the main line of the public improvements of the State, succeeding Frederick Sharretts, a Whig. Soon after his appointment Major Potts visited Johnstown for the first time, and in March, 1839, when less than thirty years old, he entered upon his new duties and set up housekeeping in the official residence of the collector, at- tached to the collector's office on Canal street, now Washington street. Major Potts continued as collector of tolls for five years, or until 1844, when he was succeeded by A. W. Wasson, of Erie, who was in turn succeeded a few years later by Hon. Obed
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
Edson. of Warren. During a large part of Major Potts' term as collector he had as his clerks George Nelson Smith, Camp- bell Sheridan, and Cyrus L. Pershing. all well known to the old citizens of Johnstown.
"When Major Potts surrendered the collector's office to his successor he opened an office on Clinton street for the practice of law so far as this could be done without his having previously been admitted to the bar. He had not completed his legal stud- ies when he came to Johnstown, but when the whirligig of pol- itics threw him on his own resources he resolved not only to make Johnstown his permanent home but to rely upon the prac- tice of law for a livelihood. To comply with the court regula- tions before applying for admission to the bar he nominally became a student with Hon. Moses Canan. then the only lawyer in Johnstown, and on the 7th of October, 1846, he was formally admitted as a member of the Cambria county bar. He at once entered upon an active and lucrative practice, in which he con- tinued until advancing years and declining health caused him to virtually retire from further pleas with judges and juries and further buffeting with younger men. On June 11, 1850, when on a visit to his old home in Butler, he was admitted a member of the Butler county bar. For about three years, be- ginning with 1850, he was the senior member of the law firm of Potts & Kopelin. Abram Kopelin had studied law with Major Potts. and was a bright and promising student. He afterwards became one of the most distinguished members of the Cambria county bar. Major Potts never had any other law partner.
"As early as 1850 an active agitation had commenced in the southern part of Cambria county in favor of the establishment of a new county, with Johnstown as the county-seat, and in 1854, after the election of George S. King to the legislature, this movement. in which Mr. King earnestly sympathized, took shape in the preparation of a bill which provided for the organization of the new county. The measure failed before the legislature, but the agitation was again fiercely renewed in 1860, when Major Potts. who had from the first been one of its principal pro- moters. became the candidate for the legislature of what was known as the New County party. He was defeated after a most animated canvass, which has probably never been surpassed in intensity in Cambria county. Then the war came, but a few years after it closed the new-county movement was again re- newed with great energy, this time, however, taking the form of
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
a proposition to remove the county-seat from Ebensburg to Johnstown. In 1870 Captain H. D. Woodruff, of Johns- town, ran as a candidate for the legislature on this issue, but was defeated by a small majority. It had previously been proposed to establish at Johnstown a district court which should include within its jurisdiction Johnstown and some neighboring towns and townships. This scheme was so far successful that in 1869 it was approved in an act of the legislature and the court was duly established, the judges of the Cambria county courts officiating as judges of the district court. Subsequent legis- lation provided for the election of all district court officers by the citizens of the district, but before an election could be held the offices were filled by appointment of the governor, Major Potts being appointed president judge by Governor Geary in 1871. He was subsequently elected to this position. Several sessions of the new court were held with Judge Potts on the bench. But the court, which had at first been eagerly desired, soon fell into disfavor, because by the terms creating it it par- took too much of the character of a police court. There was much legislation concerning it and much litigation. In 1873 Judge Potts was defeated as a candidate for re-election to the judgeship by John F. Barnes.
"Soon after coming to Johnstown Major Potts took an in- terest in its military affairs. There had existed for a number of years a volunteer infantry company called the Conemaugh Guards, of which Joseph Chamberlain, John K. Shryock, and John Linton were successively captains. About 1841 a rival company was organized, called the Washington Artillerists, of which Peter Levergood, Jr., was elected captain. He was suc- ceeded by George W. Easly, and about 1842 Collector Potts was elected captain, a position which he held for many years. The name of the company had in the meantime been changed to the Washington Grays. The Grays were often on dress parade, and with the Conemaugh Guards they participated in many en- campments. Those were stirring times for a country town. Major Potts was a good drill officer. At the beginning of the Rebellion he took delight in drilling Johnstown volunteers for the Union army and in showing in many other ways his interest in military affairs. He played the drum on the 3d day of June, 1825, upon the occasion of Lafayette's reception by the people of the town of Butler, and the fifer whom he accompanied with his drum was a Revolutionary soldier named Peter Mc-
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
Kinney, who had played the fife at the battle of Bunker Hill, in 1775, just fifty years before. In our old friend we have had a link to connect the present generation with Revolutionary days.
"When he came to Johnstown in 1839 his official position and his natural tastes combined to make him active in local politics, while his wide acquaintance with the leading members of his party made him also to some extent a factor in State politics. He had opinions of his own about men and measures and expressed them freely. He was long a regular attendant at the county conventions of his party. He was a Tariff Demo- crat and the friend of Simon Cameron. He was a ready po- litical writer and liked to take part in newspaper controversies. For a few months along about 1846 he was one of the recognized editors of an independent Democratic paper published in Johns- town called the Courier; but a year or two before this, during the interregnum between his retirement from the collector's office and his entrance upon the active practice of law, he edited for one winter the Democratic organ at Harrisburg, the Argus. The Courier opposed Governor Shunk's renomination in 1847. The paper probably died in that year. In both the cases in which Major Potts assumed editorial duties he was influenced by his strong partisanship and his thoroughly unselfish devotion to his political friends.
"When the flood came on that last day of May, 1889, Judge Potts and his family were overwhelmed by the mighty rush of waters; their home on the corner of Walnut and Locust streets was destroyed in an instant; his oldest daughter, Jane, was lost, although her body was afterwards found; and the judge and his remaining children were swept down toward the now historie stone bridge, where they were rescued. In a day or two the judge and his family found a refuge with friends in Westmoreland county and afterwards with friends in Blair county ; thence going before the summer was over to Oil City, where a new home was secured, and where, away from the few old friends who survived the flood, away from the stricken town he had loved so well, worn by disease and broken in spirit, an old man in every sense, he died.
Judge John F. Barnes is a native of Johnstown. He was elected district attorney of the county, and was president judge of the District Court. When the court was abandoned he became a merchant, and is now residing at Waterford, Pennsylvania.
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
SALARIES AND COMPENSATION OF JUDGES.
During the early Colonial period it appears the judges of the supreme court and other judges were paid by a system of fees, especially so when the judges of the supreme court sat in the court of quarter sessions their fees were double those in other courts.
When the courts were reorganized under the constitution of 1790, the Act of April 13, 1791, 3 Smith, 35, provided that when the judges of the supreme court and the president judges of the court of common pleas shall sit as judges of high court of errors and appeals, they shall be entitled to six dollars for each day they shall attend.
Also, that the chief justice of the supreme court should re- ceive one thousand pounds per annum, and thirty shillings per day while on the circuit for traveling expenses; the associate judges to get six hundred pounds and thirty shillings for travel- ing expenses. The president judges received five hundred pounds, which was subsequently increased in the sum of two hundred and sixty-six and 66-100 dollars.
The Act of April 4, 1796, 3 Smith, 271, fixed the salaries of the associate judges of the supreme court, and the president judges of the court of common pleas at four hundred dollars per annum, which shall, as it provides, continue for "two years. and no longer."
In 1843 the president judges were receiving an annual salary · of sixteen hundred dollars, and the associate judges one hundred and twenty dollars. The Act of April 17, 1843, P. L. 324, directed · that judges of the supreme court thereafter appointed should receive an annual salary of eighteen hundred dollars, and the associate judges sixteen hundred dollars, each, with an ad- ditional sum of three dollars per day while they were traveling on the circuit for traveling expenses; Governor Porter refused to approve the bill but it became the law without his approval.
It appears by the Act of July 19, 1839, P. L. 630, the sa !- aries of all the judges had been increased in the sum of four hundred dollars, which would make them $2,200 and $2,000, re- spectively.
In the several acts relating to salaries or penalties, where pounds, shillings and pence are used, the English pound ster- ling of $4.86 is not meant, but the value in Pennsylvania cur- reney. The values in all the Colonies were much depreciated,
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
and little uniformity prevailed; for instance, in the New Eng- land colonies and Virginia a pound was $3.33 1/3; in New York and North Carolina, $2.50; in Georgia, $4; in New Jersey, Penn- sylvania, Delaware and Maryland it was $2.66 2/3. In Penn- sylvania a shilling was thirteen and one-third cents; a sixpence or a fip was six and two-third cents. As late as 1850 Judge Coulter, in Chapman v. Calder, 14 Pa., 358, held that forty shil- lings, or two pounds, was equal to five dollars and thirty-three cents in Pennsylvania currency, and payment could not be de- inanded in specie of the sterling value.
The common pleas judges who received five hundred pounds only got about $1,331.66 for their annual services, and other officials were recompensed at the like rate. The Colonial stand- ards were in use for a long time after the Revolutionary war; in Pennsylvania at least, until 1791.
In 1779 the values of fines, penalties and fees due officers were regulated by the price of wheat. This was found to be inconvenient, and was repealed June 21, 1781, 2 Smith, 5, and the unit of measurement was based upon gold and silver.
The Act of May 2, 1871, P. L. 247, authorized the payment of twelve dollars per day to the judge for holding court in other districts than his own.
The Act of June 4, 1883, P. L. 74, fixed the salaries of all the common pleas judges, excepting in Philadelphia, Allegheny and Dauphin counties, at four thousand dollars per annum, provid- ing, however, that when a district has over 90,000 population it shall be five thousand dollars. The Act of April 14, 1903, P. L. 175, increased this amount to six thousand dollars, and where there is but one judge he is entitled to another thousand dol- lars. In districts having less than 90,000 it is fixed at five thou- sand dollars.
Members of Cambria County Bar, January 1, 1907.
Name Residence Date of Admission
W. H. Rose.
Johnstown. 6 March. 1860.
F. A. Shoemaker Ebensburg 5 June, 1860. J. (. Easly Carrolltown 13 February, 1866.
T. W. Dick. Ebensburg 1 November, 1868. Jacob Zimmerman .Johnstown.
7 June, 1869.
Ellis G. Kerr Johnstown
3 December, 1872.
John H. Brown Johnstown 2 September, 1873.
A. V. Barker Ebensburg 4 August, 1874.
James M. Walters .. .Johnstown 5 January, 1881.
H. W. Storey. Johnstown.
14 March, 1881.
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
Name Residence
Date of Admission
M. D. Kittell. . Ebensburg
6 June, 1881.
Robert S. Murphy Johnstown. 7 June, 1883.
H. H. Myers. Ebensburg 8 January, 1884.
John M. Rose .Johnstown. 16 June, 1884.
F. J. O'Connor Johnstown
9 November, 1885.
D. E. Dufton. Johnstown 16 March, 1886.
Horace R. Rose Johnstown
5 April, 1886.
J. B. O'Connor
Johnstown
5 April, 1887.
F. P. Martin
.Johnstown
26 September. 1887.
M. B. Stephens Johnstown 19 March. 1888.
E. T. McNeelis. Johnstown
5 September, 1889.
R. E. Cresswell. Johnstown
6 January, 1890. 7 July, 1890.
William Williams Johnstown
12 January, 1891.
W. P. Reese. Johnstown
22 January. 1891. 23 March, 1892.
H. S. Endsley Johnstown
J. F. McKenrick. Ebensburg
5 September. 1892.
Harvey Roland.
Ebensburg
14 November. 1892.
William Davis. Ebensburg
10 April, 1893.
Mathiot Reade. Ebensburg
10 April, 1893.
Charles C. Greer Johnstown.
4 September, 1893.
Peter J. Little.
Ebensburg
4 September. 1893.
Daniel L. Parsons Johnstown
5 March, 1894.
Reuel Somerville. Patton.
5 March. 1894.
Thomas J. Itell. Johnstown 20 August, 1894.
John W. Kephart Ebensburg. 21 January, 1895.
J. W. Leech. .Ebensburg
7 February, 1896.
F. C. Sharbaugh ..
Ebensburg
7 February, 1896.
Charles C. Linton. . . Johnstown
7 June, 1897.
Harry Doerr .Johnstown.
7 June, 1897.
John H. Stephens Johnstown. 7 June, 1897.
Forest Rose. Johnstown.
3 July, 1899.
Percy Allen Rose .. . Johnstown
3 .July, 1899.
Bruce H. Campbell. . Johnstown
4 December, 1899.
John C. Davies Johnstown
5 March, 1900.
George C. Keim. Johnstown
5 March. 1900.
H. B. Mainhart. Johnstown 5 March, 1900.
Herman E. Baumer. Johnstown
7 March. 1900.
F. J. Hartman. Ebensburg 14 Jannary, 1901.
Philip N. Shettig .Ebensburg .14 January, 1901.
D. P. Weimer Johnstown.
8 July, 1901.
Emory H. Davis. .Ebensburg
6 January, 1902.
John E. Evans. .Ebensburg 6 January, 1902.
Charles M. Moses. Johnstown 2 February. 1904.
Walter Jones. Ebensburg. 25 October, 1904.
3 July, 1899.
W. David Lloyd.
Johnstown
J. Wallace Paul
Johnstown
4 December, 1899.
F. D. Barker.
.
.Ebensburg.
3 .July. 1899.
S. Lemon Reed. Ebensburg
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
Name Residence
Date of Admission
Alvin Sherbine. Johnstown
25 October, 1904.
Karl F. Stremel. .. Johnstown 2 January, 1905.
Charles Hasson. .
Ebensburg 13 December, 1905.
R. Edgar Leahey. .. . Johnstown.
.13 December, 1905.
Frank P. Barnhart. . Johnstown.
13 December, 1905.
George E. Wolfe. ... Johnstown.
13 December, 1905.
Tillman K. Saylor. . Johnstown
3 September, 1906.
Wm. F. Dill. Ebensburg 3 September, 1906.
Charles S. Evans. . . Ebensburg.
10 December, 1906.
William A. McGuire.Ebensburg 10 December, 1906.
Morgan W. Evans. .. Ebensburg
10 December, 1906.
Albert W. Stenger. . . Johnstown 10 December, 1906.
THE EVIL, ODDITY AND BENEFIT OF SPECIAL LEGISLATION.
Prior to the constitution of 1873 the theory prevailed that the legislature was supreme, could legislate upon all subjects and cure all kinds of ills or errors, judicial or otherwise. It granted divorces; changed the names of individuals; cured defects in title to real estate, and directed judges to act in accordance with the idea of the person who had sufficient influence to have the bill passed. It was the one great evil cured by the new con- stitution. The effect is shown in the number of pages in the pamphlet laws before and after that date; that of 1866 contained 1,366 pages, and that of 1873, 1,213 pages, and the first one after it was 1874, with 550 pages, and the largest since that date is that of 1901, with 1,013 pages.
It absolutely prevented a uniformity of the laws. For in- stance, the Act of 1 March, 1871, P. L. 151, authorized the borough of Franklin to levy a borough tax of fifteen mills for borough purposes, while on the next page (152) another special law authorized the borough of East Conemaugh to levy ten mills for the same purpose. The Little Conemaugh river divides the two boroughs.
An effort to control the court was that of 1 April, 1837, P. 1. 128, where the president judge of Fayette county had re- fused to open a judgment which the defendant complained was unjust, and in place of taking an appeal the defendant had sufficient influence with the General Assembly to enact a law directing the judge to open it and to try the fact in dispute by a jury; and provided further, that if the judge should refuse to do this, a judge of Allegheny county was authorized to hold a special court in Uniontown to give the relief desired.
The Act of May 12, 1871, P. L. 804, authorized the appoint-
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
ment of a justice of the peace in Cambria to be commissioned a notary public; provided. they should not have jurisdiction in cases arising on paper by them protested.
The lumbering business in Cambria was an important factor in the sixties and early seventies, and much complaint was made by owners of mountain land against persons who were felling the trees and hauling the logs to the streams to be floated to market; therefore, on May 15, 1871, P. L. 868, a special act was passed authorizing the trespass and even to making roads over the lands of others, which was equivalent to eminent do- main. It also provided a method for assessing the damages.
The special Act of April 3, 1869, P. L. 695, extended the jurisdiction of justices of the peace in what was then the bor- oughs of Johnstown, Conemaugh, Cambria, Millville, Prospect, East Conemaugh and Franklin, and the township of Yoder, now Lower and Upper; Taylor, now East and West Taylor; Jack- son, Richland, and Conemangh, now including Stony creek, granting that they should try certain of the lessor misdemean- ors by a jury of six, and sentence the defendant to a term in jail. They were also authorized to entertain jurisdiction in cases of surety of the peace, and for non-compliance with the judgment of the justice he could commit the prisoner to the county jail for not less than ten days nor more than six months.
THE BETSY HOLDER HOMICIDE.
Patrick and Bernard Flanagan were tried before Judge White for the murder of Betsy Holder, which occurred July 31, 1842, to October term, 1842, and both were convicted. John S. Rhey. Michael Hasson and J. F. Cox were of counsel for the defendants and George Taylor, Thomas C. McDowell and John G. Miles for the commonwealth.
While there was no doubt in the minds of the court, the jury and the witnesses for the commonwealth, that they were guilty, yet there was a strong sentiment in the county in their favor. Judge White refused a new trial, and an appeal was taken to the supreme court, reported in 7 W. & S., 415, wherein Judge White was affirmed. Pending the appeal the friends of the condemned men presented a bill in the legislature, which became a law 5 April, 1843, P. L. 168, directing that if the de- fendants presented a motion to set aside the sentence of the court and grant a new trial, and if the judge should be satisfied it should be granted, then he is authorized to make the rule
Vol. I-12
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
absolute. It further provided that if the judge sitting did not desire to hear the motion or try the case, then it should be heard before the judge of the fourth judicial district. The judges refused to act under this alleged authority. .
In the next Assembly another bill was passed, dated 4 April, 1844, P. L. 187, directing a justice of the supreme court to hold a special court of oyer and terminer in Cambria county on the fourth Thursday of April. 1844, to hear the motion to set aside the sentence of the court and grant a new trial, and if a new trial was granted that it should be held in Huntingdon county, and furthermore, that the state should pay all the expenses of the trial since April 5, 1843, provided: it should not exceed $500. On April 25, 1844, P. L. 397, another bill was passed amending the former extending the time for hearing to any day prior to July 4, 1844.
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