History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 155

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1162

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a mode of abstract reasoning which attained a conclusion that was irresistible. He was subjected to a mental drill of which previously he had no conception, and not only learned perfectly well what he did learn, but acquired a consciousness of complete mastery over his acquisition. In later life he appreciated this more highly than he did while at school, and he often acknowledged his obligations to his teacher.

Mrs. Lewis was accustomed to give attention to the reading and grammar classes, and imparted to Townsend some ideas of clocution, which were' of value to bim in his subsequent career at the bar. She was a woman of a supe- rior and well-cultivated mind, sweet affability of manners, and of uncommon eloquence, and her intercourse with the pupils was of the most agreeable kind. Her kindness to Townsend, and her considerate treatment of him, so won upon him that he made it a special object to please her, and

preparing himself for some other occupation more congenial with the disposition and temper of his mind. In 1815 he removed to West Chester, and took lessons of Mr. Glass in Latin, in order the better to qualify himself for a profession. After a few months he entered the office of Isaac Darling- ton, Esq., then a leading member of the Chester County bar, and commenced the study of the law. He was a dili- gent student, read carefully and thoroughly, and Feb. 7, 1818, was admitted to practice.

For a time Mr. Haines' practice was inconsiderable. The principal part of the law business of the county was divided among a few of the elder practitioners, who were experienced and able men. For some time he was obliged to be content with a small amount of Orphans' Court business, and with defending in the criminal courts persons charged with offenses against the peace of the Common- wealth. In this latter line of practice .he soon acquired

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popularity, and it constituted a good introduction to the trial of jury cases in the Common Pleas. Towards the end of the first year after his admission to the bar he considered bis prospects sufficiently encouraging to warrant him in assuming additional responsibilities. Jan. 4, 1819, he was married to Anna Maria Derrick. She was the daughter of Philip and Sarah Derrick, the former of whom was then deceased. Her family was highly respectable, and distantly connected with his own, his grandmother and her great- grandmother being the same person, Hannah (Sharpless), the wife of Charles Ryant.

In the fall of 1822 he lost by death his brother, William Haines, then a member of the Chester County bar. He was a young man of brilliant talents and promising ex- pectations. His death was a subject not only of deep pri- vate grief, but was also a public loss. He had the family gift of versification, and was a good writer and a fine speaker.

Soon after Mr. Haines was admitted to the bar he was invited to deliver an oration on the anniversary of Ameri- can independence. He accepted the invitation, and his oration created some sensation, principally by reason of the political sentiments announced in it. Having lived in the State of Delaware immediately prior to his entering upon the study of the law, he had been for some time without a vote in Pennsylvania, under the constitution as it then ex- isted, and he had to choose to which of the two parties, Federal or Democratic, he would attach himself. He availed himself of the opportunity afforded him by the oc- casion to declare his preference for the Democracy, to the disappointment of many of his friends and associates, who were mostly of the opposite party. He voted with the Democrats that year, and steadily till the gubernatorial election of 1823, when, a division having occurred in the party, he went with the portion denominated Quids, who nominated Joseph Heister for Governor, in opposition to James Findlay, the regular party candidate. Heister was supported by the Federalists and elected, and a number of Democrats who in the struggle affiliated with their former antagonists remained with them in subsequent contests. Among these was Mr. Haines, whose personal popularity made him an important acquisition to his new friends, and in 1826 they showed their appreciation of his ability to serve them by electing him a member of the State Legis- lature. In 1827 he was re-elected.

In the Legislature his party, though strong in talent, was weak in number. Mr. Meredith, of Philadelphia, then a very young man, was a leading spirit, and fought the bat- tles of his party with an eloquence and ability that dis- tanced all rivalry. Mr. Haines co-operated cordially with him, and, though diffident and disinclined even to share the responsibility of leadership or to become in any way prom- inent, was a valuable and efficient coadjutor. During the first session they were together at the seat of the State government, he contracted with Mr. Meredith a friendship which continued without interruption as long as he lived. He was not active or laborious in committee, or forward in debate, and was indeed rather an unfrequent speaker, but when he did speak he was forcible and made a decided im- pression on the House; and he rarely failed to satisfy bis

audience that his efforts were not equal to his abilities, and that whatever power he exhibited, he had much more in reserve.

After the close of his second term in the Legislature, Mr. Haines was nominated for Congress by the Adams. party of the Congressional district of Lancaster, Chester, and Delaware Counties as successor to Mr. Miner, who de- clined being a candidate. The Adams party combined the elements of opposition to the Jackson Democracy, and was composed of the mass of the old Federal party, and such small portion of the old Democratic party as did not sym- pathize with the movement in favor of the great military chief, and was not involved in the tempest of popular en- thusiasm which was bearing him onward. The district had been for many years largely anti-Democratic, and Mr. Haines expected an easy victory ; but in this he was dis- appointed, and, contrary to general expectation, the Congres- sional Jackson ticket was elected.

This political defeat brought to Mr. Haines some change of prospect, and he began, as soon as the excitement attending the contest passed away, to give more attention to business than he had hitherto done. Gen. Barnard, who was one of the leaders of the bar, on the inauguration of Governor Shulze, in December, 1826, had been called to Harrisburg to serve as Secretary of the Commonwealth; and in December, 1827, John Duer, an old practitioner of large practice, had died. These changes in the condition of the bar opened a fine field for the younger members of the profession, and some of the more enterprising entered at once into sharp competition for the business that had been relinquished by their two elder brethren. Mr. Haines possessed a large share of public confidence, and if he had cared to exert himself, might at once have secured a sufficient accession to his practice to satisfy his wishes, even if they had been less moderate than they were; but his attention at that time being largely occupied by politics, he moved along in his profession in the easy way to which his habits inclined, and made no effort to avail himself of the advantages offered by events. Business solicited him, but the interest he took in it was not of a kind that contributed to its growth. When the tumult of the great contest for President sub- sided, disappointed and chagrined by the result, profes- sional employment became measurably a relief to him, and he engaged in practice with more earnestness than he had previously manifested. A number of cases of importance were committed to his care, and his efforts exhibited un- usual ability, and were attended by remarkable success. He had much skill in cross-examination, and seldom failed in an attempt to extort the truth from an unwilling witness. This he did, not by browbeating, for to that unmanly practice he never resorted, but by a kind and candid man- ner which appealed to the better feelings and overcame the repugnancy of the witness, and by a judicious train of questions which made the answer desired the natural se- quence to prior admission. But it was principally in ad- dressing juries that his power was displayed. He had a handsome person, a dignified and imposing presence, a voice at once strong and musical, a grave, deliberate, earnest, and forcible manner, a lively imagination, which gave him the command of appropriate images, and a comprehensive

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

grasp that enabled him to deal with facts in the style of a master. In technical knowledge he was deficient. He usually trusted to his colleague for the law of the case, and rarely attempted to argue to the court on the admissibility of evidence. As an advocate, he was strong, luminous, bril- liant, and sometimes even grand. As a mere lawyer, he was unready, subject to surprises, and never forcible in argu- ment, except after laborious preparation, to which he was averse.

At the time Mr. Haines engaged in practice, and for several years later, there was among certain members of the bar a good deal of unkind feeling, which was often openly manifested during the trial of jury cases by much asperity of personal remark, of which each in turn was the subject. But although Mr. Haines was frequently associated with counsel who seldom let slip an opportunity to sting an an- tagonist, I can remember, in the course of the twenty-cight years we practiced together, no single instance of his being involved in a personal controversy with a brother-lawyer. His demeanor was so uniformly courteous and his conduct so scrupulously fair that he provoked no resentment ; he easily made allowance for a retort causelessly severe occur- ring in the heat of argument under the impulse of tran- sient excitement, and his ready wit often enabled him to turn aside with a laugh an envenomed shaft flung at his colleague. He was sensitive withal, and if he received an insult which he deemed intentional or wanton, he was not of a disposition to pass it by unnoticed ; but he would not create a scene in court, or be provoked to become a party to an altercation by which his personal dignity or the dig- nity of the bar might be compromised.

The effort put forth by Mr. Haines to achieve distin- guished success at the bar, being out of accord with his natural dispositions, and unsustained by high aspirations, was of short duration. How long it continued I cannot say, for, from my own observation, I could not be quite sure of its actual existence, and I know of it only from himself; but it was persisted in long enough to satisfy him that a larger business was certainly within his power, and that all that was necessary on his part to obtain it was a willing- ness to devote to it the time and attention it would require. But he was destitute of that spontaneous energy that de- mands employment as a necessity, and he preferred an easy, unanxious life, with no more care than was required by a moderate practice, to larger gains and high professional position accompanied by continual toil. " I counted," said he, " the cost of the career that I saw open before me, and asked myself whether it would afford compensation for the sacrifices it would involve, and the answer was, it would not." Hence he relapsed into his old easy way, sure that his talents and experience would command employment sufficient for his needs, without the laborious diligence which higher aims would exact, and allow him a comfortable ex- emption from the corroding cares that feed on the vital forces of the intellectual and physical man when engaged in an ambitious struggle for professional eminence.

Although Mr. Haines thus declined to assume the labors and responsibilities of a leader at the bar, and voluntarily permitted it to be taken by such enterprising competitors as might have the energy and ability demanded by it, no

cause could be well manned for a severe and protracted contest without his services being brought into requisition ; and he was, therefore, almost uniformly engaged in all heavy trials where two or more counsel were employed on a side. If in these he aided but little in the discussion of mere legal points, he was at. least a powerful coadjutor where a verdict was to be wrung from the popular arm of the court by a skillful manipulation of the testimony or by eloquent appeals to sympathy. In cases of disputed bound- aries of lands, and of conflicting claims to water-rights, and in that large class of actions in which damages for in- juries to person, property, or reputation were demanded, he was in special request, as well as in those falling within the jurisdiction of the criminal courts, where the offenses charged were of great magnitude, or involved the character and standing of persons previously of good repute. He carried with him into court the same sensibilities and large- hearted sympathies which he manifested in private life. And speaking, as he was apt to do, under the sway of the emotions awakened in his own breast by circumstances of injury or misfortune, with voice, mien, tone, emphasis, and language singularly effective to reach home to the heart, it was hard for a panel of unsophisticated jurors to escape the infection of the feelings by which he was visibly im- pressed, or for opposing counsel to prevent its influence from becoming apparent in the verdict. As a jury lawyer he was very successful. For cases of abstruse law he had no taste, and he never followed any judgment or decree on error or appeal into the Supreme Court, nor did he ever make an argument in that court, though often solicited. For sharp practice, which often rewards vigilance at the expense of justice, he entertained a positive aversion, and would not resort to it, whatever the provocation. His ex- treme indulgence to others, which was the natural effect of his temper and disposition, rendered others usually indul- gent to him, and enabled him to move along with freedom in the casy way that was most agreeable to him, little anx- ious lest he should be tripped unawares by unheeding the exigency of a rule, or by the non-observance of some tech- nical requisition.

In the year 1829 the popular excitement against the institution of Freemasonry, which had previously raged with great intensity in New York, reached Pennsylvania, and an organization as an Anti-Masonic party for political purposes was effected. This new party was constituted partly of the old Federal and partly of the old Democratic party, and without political principles of its own or the pretense of them, and merely by the coherent force of hos- . tility to Masonry and ambition for power, was able to array itself in a very formidable manner against every other party. It soon obtained an ascendency in Chester County, and in the Congressional district of which the county was a part, and for several years controlled the elections. Mr. Haines was a Mason, and therefore subject to the ban of exclusion from office laid on all members of the obnoxious order. Whether the subversion of Masonry-the osten- sible object of the party-should be attained or not Mr. Haines cared nothing, for he considered the institution not of sufficient value to become the subject of an embittered contest between members of the same peaceful community,

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and he had no doubt that the excitement, if left to take its sweep without opposition, would soon expend its power and disappear. But when it assumed the character of a personal attack, as for a time it was made to do upon Masons, as men who were represented to be associated by ties which imposed obligations inconsistent with civil order and social duty, his feelings became warmly enlisted. It was in 1832, when Anti-Masonry, aspiring to the dignity of a national party, had nominated candidates for the Presi- dency, that its adherents in some parts of Pennsylvania gave to their accusations against the members of the Ma- sonic brotherhood their most offensive form, and these Mr. Haines felt himself called upon to repel. Besides anony- mous articles which he prepared for the press, he drew up a vigorous protest, which was published and widely circu- lated. It was signed by himself, by Charles Miner, Wil- liam H. Dillingham, Ziba Pyle, William Williamson, and a number of other well-known and leading citizens of Chester County.

This paper made a decided impression upon the reflective part of the community, but it inflamed excited partisans to more envenomed hostility, and Mr. Haines came to be re- garded, after Mr. Miner's removal from the county, towards the close of the year, as mainly responsible for the senti- ment which prevented a co-operation in the- district of all the opponents of the Jackson administration under Anti- Masonic leaders. An organization designated " National Republican," which had been formed soon after the inaugu- ration of Gen. Jackson, and which, under the auspices of Mr. Clay, was in vehement opposition to the administration, was maintained in this part of the State on its own inde- pendent ground. In the elections of 1833, in which there was no issue on any national question, the " National Re- publicans" in the county voted with the Democrats, and the Anti-Masons were overwhelmingly defeated ; but in the fol- lowing year, during which the anti-bank policy of the Presi- dent agitated the country, the "National Republicans" generally sustained the Anti-Masonic nominations as a pref- erable alternative, though not with a bearty cordiality. In 1835 they had no distinctive party organization in the county or district, but a larger part of them, under an invi- tation extended to them by resolutions of Anti-Masonic meetings, became associated with the Anti-Masons in the sup- port of Joseph Ritner for Governor; but Mr. Haincs, it is be- lieved, did not vote for him. Whatever others might, he de- clined to have any connection with a body of men professing as their object the disfranchisement of all Masons, on the ground of their implication in a supposed conspiracy against the supremacy of the laws, though in other respects they might agree with him. His course differing from that of many of his friends, was a subject of pretty severe animad- version, but it was consistently maintained and persisted in, and for several years he continued to hold a position with a small body of men, who were in sympathy with him, sepa- rate and apart from the two great parties that were contend- ing for the political control of the State. That body, though small in number, was sufficiently considerable to influence to some extent the result of elections, and their views and feelings could not with safety be disregarded. In 1836 the names of two of them were placed on the Demo-

cratic ticket and elected, but Mr. Haines, who was nomi- nated by the same party as delegate to the convention to amend the State constitution, was defeated by a small ma- jority. The lesson administered by that election to the Anti-Masons and Republicans, then become Whigs, who were acting with them, induced a spirit of moderation and a disposition to greater harmony.

In 1838 those who acted with Mr. Haines held a county meeting, and adopted an address and resolutions which he had prepared. The address stated that that branch of the Whig party had had no distinctive organization for several of the past years. "Leaving to others," it says, "the control of nominations and the formation of tickets, they had acquiesced in a state of things which they could not approve, and had sustained their own principles by choosing between evils. The adoption of this course induced many of our friends to join in the ranks of the Jackson party, and led the main body of the Whigs to unite with and as- sist the Anti-Masons in the election of their candidates. Either alternative required sacrifices that it was painful to make."

The resolutions proposed an arrangement with the Anti- Masons and the Whigs associated with them, by which each branch of the body thus to be consolidated should have a potential voice in the selection of candidates; and Mr. Haines was appointed to present the resolutions to the other branch of the general Whig party, which was to as- semble in county meeting the next day. This duty was performed, but the proposition did not prove acceptable and was rejected. Report of the proceeding was made to his friends, who, from their having first met for the purpose of organizing as a distinct body on Monday, were thence- forth denominated the " Monday Whigs." The " Monday Whigs" thus became recognized as a distinct body, between whom and the Anti-Masons and their Whig allies on the one hand, and the Democrats on the other, there were well- defined lines of demarkation. In order to maintain their organization it was necessary that they should have the control of a newspaper press. Mr. Haines therefore pur- chased the establishment of the American Star, which had been previously published at Coatesville, and which he re- moved to West Chester, and became its editor, and the rec- ognized leader of the " Monday Whigs." He wrote easily and well, and if success in a newspaper enterprise had been his aim, and had need of no other kind of ability than that of a ready and able writer, he might have commanded it. But his objects were special and temporary, and did not contemplate competition with other newspaper establish- ments for reputation or business, and hence he gave to the Star but an inconsiderable share of his attention. Yet his paper usually contained a large amount of editorial matter written in an attractive style, and in a tone of great moder- ation and candor. He could not be provoked to forget his dignity or self-respect under any circumstances, and he kept his columns at all times clear of personalities and of epithets of abuse, and presented his views with a calm de- corum suitable to his character. His career as an editor was a short one, but the times were warm with political controversy, and his position, to some extent, one of personal antagonism. Yet, though he wrote forcibly and earnestly,

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he could say when he had laid aside bis pen, after several years of practice, that he had alienated no friend and made no enemy.

An effort was made in 1839 to reconcile the " Monday Whigs" with their brethren in the county, then acting with the Anti Masons, but it failed, and the " Monday Whigs" retained their organization and formed their own ticket. Though able to poll rather less than five hundred votes, their separate action so operated in favor of the Democrats that the ticket of the latter was elected by upwards of twelve hundred majority. The effects of the feud thus became strikingly apparent, and the expediency of cultiva- ting more amicable relations between the different branches of the Whig party was strongly enforced. The Whigs and Anti-Masons were powerless without the aid of the " Mon- day Whigs," and it was necessary that they should be con- ciliated, or the expectation of future success be abandoned. This consideration acquired force from the fact that a Presi- dential contest of more than ordinary interest, and attended by more than ordinary excitement, was at hand. An ef- fort was then made to organize the elements of opposition to the administration, and the object was accomplished without great difficulty. The result demonstrated the im- portance of this little event. The majority for the Harri- son ticket in the State was less than the number of votes polled by the " Monday Whigs" in this county, and if they had not been conciliated, Harrison would not have been elected.

When the " Monday Whigs" became merged in the great party that elected Harrison to the Presidency, the particular vocation of the American Star was gone, and Mr. Haines disposed of his press at the first convenient opportunity.

From this time the even tenor of his professional life continued for some years without interruption. Judge Darlington had died in the year 1839, aud had been suc- ceeded by Mr. Bell, whose large practice was divided among his fellow-members of the West Chester bar. The share that fell to Mr. Haines was not considerable, merely because he was indisposed to accept the conditions which a heavy practice imposed. He still preferred his ease, accompanied by the inconveniences of a narrow income, to persistent mental labor, however sweet its promised rewards. On this point he and the public seem to have come to a pretty satisfactory understanding. While in severely contested jury trials his services were always in requisition, his chamber and Orphans' Court practice exhibited little or no visible growth.

In 1846, Mr. Haines was a candidate for nomination on the Whig Congressional ticket of the district, but failed of success by a single vote. This defeat was the result of his opposition to Anti-Masonry, which was unforgiven by the section of the united party to which he had stood opposed. Although his popularity in his native county was some- what affected by the distractions of local politics, his influ- ence and authority as a political leader were not without their proper appreciation in the wider sphere of State poli- tics. When, therefore, on the death of Francis R. Shunk, Governor of Pennsylvania, William F. Johnston became his successor, he, on the 26th day of July, 1848, tendered

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History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 155

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts Number of Pages: 1162

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1162