History of Cumberland and Adams counties, Pennsylvania. Containing history of the counties, their townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of Pennsylvania, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc, Part 39

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Publisher: W. Taylor
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USA > Pennsylvania > Adams County > History of Cumberland and Adams counties, Pennsylvania. Containing history of the counties, their townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of Pennsylvania, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc > Part 39
USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > History of Cumberland and Adams counties, Pennsylvania. Containing history of the counties, their townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of Pennsylvania, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc > Part 39

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Hon. Samuel Hepburn (seventh president judge), the successor of Judge Reed, first appears upon the bench in April, 1839. Judge Hepburn was born in 1807 in Williamsport, Penn., at which place he began the study of law under James Armstrong, who was afterward a judge on the supreme bench. He completed his legal studies at Dickinson College under Reed, and was admitted to the bar of Cumberland County in November, 1834. He was, at the time of his admission appointed adjunct professor of law in the Moot court of Dickinson College by Judge Reed. Before he had been at the bar five years, he was appointed by Gov. Porter, president judge of the Ninth Judicial District, then embracing Cumberland, Perry and Juniata, and he presided at times also, during his term in the civil courts of Dauphin. He was at this time the youngest judge in Pennsylvania to whom a president judge's commission had been ever offered. Among the important cases the McClintock trial took place while he was upon the bench. After the expiration of his term he resumed the practice of law in Carlisle, where he still resides. The degree of LL. D. was conferred upon Judge Hepburn by Washington College, Penn.

The most prominent practitioners admitted under Judge Hepburn were J. Ellis Bonham, Lemuel Todd, William H. Miller, Benjamin F. Junkin, Will- iam M. Penrose and Alexander Brady Sharpe,

J. Ellis Bonham, Esq., was among the ablest lawyers admitted under Judge Hepburn. He was born in Hunterdon County, N. J., March 31, 1816, graduated at Jefferson College, Penn., studied law in Dickinson College under Reed, and was admitted to the bar in August, 1839.

"He had no kindred here nor family influence. His pecuniary gains were small during the first few years of his professional career, and he had little or no aid outside of them, as his father was in moderate circumstances." He

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had not been long, however, at the bar before he was appointed deputy attor- ney .general for the county-a position which he filled with conspicious ability. He had u taste for literature and his library was large and choice. He had little fondness for the drudgery of his profession, but he had political ambition, and his political reading and knowledge were extensive. He wrote for the leading political journals of his party articles on many of the prominent ques- tions of the day. "During his term in the Legislature he was the acknowl- edged leader of the House, as the Hon. Charles R. Buckalew was of the Sen- ate; and they were not unlike in mental characteristics, and somewhat alike in personal appearance. They were decidedly the weakest men physically and the strongest mentally in either House. "

After the expiration of his term he was nominated for Congress, and although he was in a district largely Democratic, eminently fitted for the posi- tion, and bad, himself, great influence in the political organization, he was de- feated by the sudden birth of a new party. Ho died shortly afterward of congestion of the lungs, March 19, 1855.

In personal appearance Mr. Bonham was rather under than above the me- dium height, delicately formed, with light hair and complexion. He was of nervous temperament. His countenance was handsome and refined. As an advocate he was eminently a graceful and polished speaker, attractive in his manner. with a poetic imagination and chaste and polished diction. Ifis speeches, although they at times bore traces of laborious preparation, were ef- feetive, and on one occasion, we are told, many persons in the court were moved to tears.

He died before his talents had reached their prime, after having been at the bar for fifteen years and before he had attained the age of forty.

Hon. Lemuel Todd was born in Carlisle July 29, 1817. He graduated at Diekinson College in 1839, read law under Gen. Samuel Alexander and was admitted to practice in August, 1841. He was a partner of Gen. Alexander until the time of his death in 1843. Ho was elected to Congress from the Eighteenth District in 1854 on the Know-nothing ticket as against J. Ellis Bonham on the Democratie, and was elected congressman at large in 1875. He presided over the State conventions of the Republican party at Harrisburg that nominated David Wilmot for governor; at Pittsburgh that nominated Gov. Curtin; and at Philadelphia that advocated for President Gen. Grant.

Gen. Todd has practiced continuously at the bar except for a period during the late war, a portion of which time he acted as inspector-general of Penn- sylvania troops under Gov. Curtin.

William H. Miller. for more than a quarter of a century, was an act- ive practitioner at the bar of our county. He was a student of Judge Reed, and was admitted to the bar in August, 1542; William M. Biddle, S. Dunlap Adair and J. Ellis Bonham. Esqs., being his committee of examination. His initiate was difficult, but by perseverance and talent he succeeded in winning a large practice and an honorable position at the bar. As a speaker he was deliberate and dignified; as a man refined and amiable: scholarly in both his taste and in his appearance. As a lawyer he was cool and self-possessed, and with deliberate logie and tact he 'won, as a rule, the implicit confidence of a jury. He died suddenly of congestion of the brain in June. 1877.

William McF'unn Penrose, was admitted under Hepburn. He was born in Carlisle March 29, 1825; graduated with honor at Dickinson College in 1844, and was admitted to the bar in November. 1846. He was the eldest son of Hon. Charles B. Penrose. As a lawyer he was eminently successful, learned. quick and accurate in his perceptions, cogent in argument, fluent but terse as

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a speaker, he seldom failed to convince a jury. He had a keen perception of distinctions in the cases, and of the principles which underlie them, and in all questions of practice was particularly at home. He served for a time as colonel of the Sixth Regiment at the beginning of the war. He died Septem- ber 2, 1872, in the prime of life and in the midst of usefulness.

Hon. Robert M. Henderson, born near Carlisle March 11, 1827. Gradu- ated at Dickinson College in 1845. Read law under Judge Reed, and was ad- mitted to the bar in Angust, 1847. He was elected, by the Whig party, to the Legislature in 1851 and 1852. He served, by appointment in April, 1874, as additional judge of the Twelfth Judicial District, and was elected to that office in the same year. He became president judge of this district in January, 1882, resigned his position in March of the same year, and returned to his practice in Carlisle. He served as a colonel in the late war.

Alexander Brady Sharpe was born in Newton Township, Cumberland County, August 12, 1827. He graduated with honor at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1846. He read law under Robert M. Bard, Esq., of Cham- bersburg, and subsequently with Hon. Frederick Watts, of Carlisle. He was admitted to the bar in November 1848, since which time he has practiced, ex- cept during the period of the war, when he was in the service of his country, a portion of the time serving upon the staff of Gen. Ord.

Hon. Frederick Watts became judge of our courts in 1849. He was the son of David Watts, a distinguished member of the early bar, and was born in Carlisle May 9, 1801. He graduated at Dickinson College in 1819. Two years later he entered the office of Andrew Carothers, and was admitted to practice in August, 1824. He remained for a time in partnership with his pre- ceptor and acquired a lucrative practice. During a period of forty-two years from the October term, 1827, to May term, 1869, in the Supreme Court, there is no volume of reports containing cases from the middle district (except for the three years when he was upon the bench) in which his name is not found. For fifteen years he was the reporter of the decisions of that court, from 1829; three volumes, "Watts & Penrose," ten volumes "Watts Reports," and nine " Watts & Sergeant." On March 9, 1849, he was commissioned by Gov. Johnston, president judge of the Ninth Judicial District, containing the counties of Cumberland, Perry and Juniata. He retired in 1852, when the judiciary became elective, and resumed his practice, from which after a long and honorable career, he gradually withdrew in about 1860-69. In August, 1871, he was appointed and served as commissioner of agriculture under Hayes. As a man he had great force of character, sterling integrity, and, as a lawyer, ability, dignity and confidence. He had great power with a jury from their implicit confidence in him. He was always firm, self-reliant, despised quirks and quibbles, and was a model of fairness in the trial of a cause. He is still living in honorable retirement in Carlisle at an advanced age, being now the oldest surviving member of the bar.

We have now brought the history of our bar with sketches, some of them dealing with living members, down to the time when Judge Graham appears upon the bench, which is within the recollection of the youngest lawyer. For the future we must for obvious reasons satisfy ourself with briefer mention.

Hon. James H. Graham, born September 10, 1807, in West Pennsborough Township, graduated at Dickinson College in 1827, studied law under Andrew Carothers, Esq., admitted to the bar in November, 1829. In 1839, after the election of Gov. Porter, he was appointed deputy attorney-general for Cum- berland County, a position which he filled ably for six years. After the amend- ment of the Constitution making the judiciary elective, he received the nom-

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ination (Democratie) and was elected in October, 1851, president judge of the Ninth Judicial District, comprising the counties of Cumberland, Perry and Juniata. At the expiration of his term he was re-elected in IS61. serving another full term of ten years. After his retirement from the bench he re- turned again to the practice of law. He died in the fall of 1882. In 1862 his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. Perhaps the highest enlogy we can pay is to say that for more than half a century at the bar or on the bench, there was never, in the language of Judge Watts, a breath of im- putation against his character as a lawyer, or upon his honor as a judge."

Hon. Benjamin F. Junkin was admitted to the bar in August, 1844. He lived in Bloomfield and became, with the younger Melntyre, a leader of the bar of Perry County. In 1871, he was elected the tenth president judge of the Ninth Judicial District-then including the counties of Cum- berland. Perry and Juniata. He was the last of the perambulatory judges. On the redistribution of the district under the constitution of 1874, he chose Perry and Juniata, and therefore, from that period. ceased to preside over the courts in Cumberland County.

Hon. Martin C. Herman, who succeeded Hon. Benjamin Junkin as the eleventh judge of our Judicial Distriet, was born in Silver Spring Township. Cumberland County, February 14. 1841. He graduated at Dickinson College in 1862. He had registered us a student of law previous to this time with B. McIntyre & Son. Bloomfield, then with William H. Miller, of Carlisle, under whom he completed his studies. He was admitted to the bar in January, 1864. He was elected by the Democratic party president judge of the Ninth Judicial District. in 1574, taking the bench on the first Monday of January in the succeeding year, and serving for full term of ten years, and was nominated by acclamation in August, ISS4.

Hon. Wilbur F. Sadler, twelfth and last judge, was born October 14, 1840; read law under Mr. Morrison at Williamsport. and afterward in Carlisle; was admitted to the Carlisle bar in 1564. and acquired a large clientage; was elected district attorney in 1871, and. in 1884. president judge of the Ninth Judicial District of Pennsylvania.

The present members of the bar, with the dates of their admission, are as follows:

J. E. Barnitz, August, 1877; Bennett Bellman, April, 1874; Hon. F. E. Boltzhoover. April, 1864: Edward W. Biddle, April, 1873; Theodore Corn- man, 1570: Duncan M. Graham. November, 1876; John . Hays, 159; Hon. Samuel Hepburn, November, 1534: Samuel Hepburn, Jr., January. 1863: Hon. Martin C. Herman. January, 1864; Christian P. Humrich, November, 1854; W. A. Kramer. August, 1553: John B. Landis. ISS1; Stewart M. Leidich, August, 1572: W. P'enn Lloyd, April. 1865: John R. Miller, August, 1567; George Miller, January. 1573: Henry Newsham. April, 1859; Richard M. Parker, November, 1576: A. Brady Sharpe, November, 1848; William J. Shearer, January, 1552; John T. Stuart, November, 1876; Silas Stuart, April, ISSI: J. L. Shelley. August, 1875; Alexander Bache Smead: Hon. Lemuel Todd, April, 1541; William E. Trickett*, August, 1875; Joseph G. Vale, April, 1871: Hon. Frederick Watts (retired), 1829; Edward B. Watts, August, 1875; Hon. J. Marion Weakley, January, ISB]; John W. Wetzel. April. 187.1; Muh- lenburg Williams (Newville), November, IS60: Robert McCachran (New- ville), 1857.

Among the early members of our bench and bar were men who fought

*William E. Trickett, formerly professor of metaphysics in Dickinson College, and author of " Liens in Pennsylvania."

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and were distinguished in the Indian wars and in the Revolution. No less than three who practiced in our courts were signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, and two were members of the colonial convention at its inception. Three sat upon the supreme bench, one as Chief Justice, who has been justly called, in a legal sense, the "great glory of his native State." Since then many have become distinguished, in their day, on the bench, in the halls of legisla- tion, or at the bar. In its prestige the bar of Cumberland County has been equal to any in the State, and its reputation has been won in many a well con- tested battle for a period of now more than a century and a quarter, so that, whatever it may be to-day, it may well pride itself upon its past, and stand, among the younger bars of our sister commonwealths, like a Douglas bonneted, and bow down to none.

CHAPTER IX.

MEDICAL-BIOGRAPHICAL-PHYSICIANS IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY SINCE 1879-

PHYSICIANS IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY REGISTERED IN OFFICE OF PROTHO- NOTARY AT CARLISLE-CUMBERLAND COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY.

THE genesis of medical science, like that of chemistry, astronomy or gov- ernment, is necessarily slow, and attended with much of empiricism. Observations, even if correctly made, are either imperfectly recorded or not recorded at all. The common people are destitute of scientific methods of in- vestigation. Even if they were so disposed, they lack both the opportunity and the ability to note, scientifically, the nature and symptoms of disease together with their proper remedial agents.

It is not strange, therefore, that mothers and grandmothers of the olden time should insist, on applying, externally, skunk oil or goose fat for the curing of internal derangements. The day of herbs and salves as panaceas was not far removed from the period when special luck was supposed to attach to first seeing the moon over the right shoulder; when potatoes planted or shingles laid in the dark of the moon would fail to serve their purposes; when water- witches were deemed necessary to locate wells properly; and when bleeding the arm for the ailments of humanity was considered absolutely essential to health.

The superstition which sought cures in miraculous interferences in these various tricks of sleight-of-hand performances, and meaningless signs and tokens, would readily believe that the hair of the dog will cure his own bite; that the carrying, around the neck, of a spider imprisoned in a thimble will cause whooping cough to disappear; that washing the face in water formed from the first snow of the season will remove freckles; that the weather of the first three days of December will presage the weather of the three following months; that the washing of the hands in stump water will cure warts; and that if the ground hog sees his shadow on the 2d day of February, he will re- tire to his den to endure a six weeks' cold siege.

The transition from these simple superstitions of the olden times to the patent medicine cure-all remedies of the present day was an easy one. He who imagined that warts could be removed or pain alleviated by the sorcerer's pow-wow, or that skunk fat would cure pleurisy or consumption, would not be slow to believe in the curative properties of some thorougly advertised patent nos-

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trum. The statements in patent medicine circulars would receive full credence by those suffering the ills to which humanity is subject, and unknown and per- haps absolutely worthless remedies would be used assiduously until the system was thoroughly deranged. From the ravages of these patent nostrums, as well ns from the ignorance of the human system prevailing umong the masses, the medical profession had to save their patients. Everywhere people were per- ishing from a lack of knowledge of the physical organization which they were expected to preserve, and suffering humanity, racked with the pains of real or imaginary ills, was ready to seek relief in any direction. Hence the ditli- culty of placing medical science on a substantial basis in which its advocates could practice intelligently and conscientiously, and yet receive a proper reward for their labors. No class of pioneer citizens made greater sacrifices for hu- manity, or deserve stronger marks of recognition, than the genuine medical practitioners of a country. With the impetus given to the æsculapian art by their labors and sacrifices, it is safe to predict that the introduction of rudimen- tary science into the public schools, and especially the teaching of anatomy. physiology and hygiene, will finally nsher in a period when the people shall obey the laws of their being, and physicians, instead of being migratory drug stores, shall be, as the term "doctor" literally implies, teachers of health principles.

In this chapter brief sketches of most of the medical practitioners of Cum- berland County, more or less noted in their fields of labor, are given.

CARLISLE.

Among the early physicians who practiced in Carlisle before the Revolution was Dr. William Plunkett, but we know nothing more of him than that he re- sided in Carlisle and is spoken of as " a practitioner of physic in 1766."

The most noted of' all the pre-Revolutionary practitioners of medicine in Carlisle was Dr. William Irvine. He was born near Enniskillen, Ireland, in 1740; was educated at the University of Dublin, studied medicine and sur- gery, and was appointed a surgeon in the British Navy. In 1763, he immigrated to America and settled in Carlisle, where he soon acquired a high reputation and a large practice as a surgeon and physician. In 1774 he took a conspicu- ous part in the politics of Cumberland County and was appointed as a delegate to the Provincial Convention. He had a strong leaning toward a military life. and was commissioned by Congress colonel of the Sixth Batallion and was or- dered to Canada, where he was captured. He was afterward colonel of the Seventh Pennsylvania Batallion. In 1779 he was commissioned a brigadier- general and served under Wayne. In March, 1782, he was ordered to Fort Pitt. to which place he marched with a regiment to protect the northwestern frontier, then threatened with British and Indian invasion. He was engaged in allaying the trouble arising from disputed boundaries between Pennsylvania and Virginia. He was a member of the convention to form a constitution for the State of Pennsylvania, and was appointed commander-in-chief of the Pennsylvania troops to suppress the Whiskey Insurrection, and a commissioner to treat with the insurgents. Dr. Irvine married Anne Callender, the daughter of Robert Callender, of Middlesex. near Carlisle. He removed to Philadel- phia in 1801, and died in July. 1504. aged sixty-three years. He was presi- dent of the celebrated society of the Cincinnati until his death.

Another pioneer physician was Dr. Samuel Allen MeCoskry, who settled there in 1774. Others may have entered the valley in 1756. while in connee- tion with the army, but we have no record of their having been engaged in a regular practice.

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Dr. McCoskry, born in 1751, where or in what month is not known; prac- ticed medicine in Carlisle until he had achieved eminence in his profession; and died September 4, 1818, and was buried in the old Borough Cemetery in Carlisle. From the inscription on a tombstone, we gather that his first wife, Ann Susannah McCoskry, died November 12, 1792, being thirty-eight years old. Dr. McCoskry was afterward married to Alison Nisbett, daughter of the first president of Dickinson College.

Dr. Lemuel Gustine, was born in Saybrook, Conn., in the year 1749; settled in the Wyoming Valley in 1769, or thereabouts; married the daughter of one Dr. Wm. Smith, to whom one daughter, Sarah, was born.,

In the scenes attendant upon the Indian invasion and massacre in the Wyo- ming Valley, Dr. Gustine took a prominent part. He remained on the field of that bloody conflict until further resistance became useless, when, on the night following the capitulation of the "Forty Fort" to Maj. Butler, the commander of the Tory and Indian troops, with his daughter and a few friends as com- panions, he drifted down the Susquehanna to John Harris' Ferry (now Harris- burg), where he lauded, and proceeded to Carlisle. Here he commenced the practice of medicine. He married Rebecca Parker soon afterward, and be- came the father of six children. He continued the practice of his profession to within a short time before his death, which occurred October 7, 1805. He was buried in the old cemetery in Carlisle.

Dr. James Gustine, son of preceding, graduated at Dickinson College in 1798; studied medicine with his father, and afterward received the degree of M. D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He commenced practice in Natchez, Miss., returned to Carlisle; aud again went South, where he remained until his death.

Dr. Samuel Gustine, second son of Lemuel, studied medicine with his fa- ther, and went South with his brother James.

Dr. George Stevenson, son of Geo. Stevenson, LL. D. born in York, Penn., in 1759; attended classical academy at Carlisle: entered Patriot army in 1778, as first lieutenant of Chambers' regiment: served with distinction at Brandy- wine, and resigned commission to return to the aid of his family; studied medicine under Dr. McCoskry; re-entered the army as surgeon, and served un- til close, when he returned to his practice in Carlisle. He was commissioned captain of infantry in 1793; created major in following year; aided in sup- pression of famous Whiskey Insurrection in 1794, after settlement of which removed to Pittsburgh, where he commenced practice of medicine; commis- sioned major in Tenth United States Regiment, during the troubles with France; returned to practice in Pittsburgh, where he became distinguished for connection with many civil and political enterprises, in which he served in the following capacities: Trustee of Dickinson College; member first board of trustees of the Western University of Pennsylvania, member first board of directors of Branch Bank of Pennsylvania; president of United States Bank, at Pittsburgh; first director of United States Bank, at Cincinnati; and for a long time president of the city council of Pittsburgh. Dr. S. declined the presidency of the United States Bank at Cincinnati, and in 1825 removed to Wilmington, Del., where he died in 1829.

Dr. Samuel Fahnestock, a physician, practiced his profession in Carlisle, from 1800 to 1820, when he removed to Pittsburgh.

Dr. George Delap Foulke, born near Carlisle, November 12, 1780; grad- uated at Dickinson College in 1800; studied medicine under Dr. Potter, med- ical professor in the University of Maryland: married Mary Steel, daughter of Ephraim Steel, of Carlisle; practiced in Bedford. Penn., and afterward in

A De Plank

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Carlisle, where he died August 11, 1849, and was buried in the old cemetery.

Dr. George Willis Foulke, son of preceding, born in Carlisle, October 8, 1822; graduated at Dickinson College in 1845; returned to commence prac- tico in Carlisle, but died suddenly on March 5, 1550, in the springtime of his life.

Dr. Lewis W. Foulko, brother of preceding, born at Carlisle August 6, 1809; graduated ut Dickinson College in 1529; studied medicine with his father, afterward receiving degree of M. D. from University of Maryland ; commenced practice with his father at Carlisle, but afterward removed to Chillicothe, Ohio, where he continued in his profession.

Dr. James Armstrong, born at Carlisle in 1749; completed academic course at Nassau Hall, N. J .; studied medicine with Dr. John Morgan, of Philadel- phia, afterward receiving the degree of M. D. from University of Pennsyl- vania; commenced practice in Winchester, Va., but becoming discouraged, went to Europe, where he prosecuted the study of his profession in London; returned to Carlisle, where he married Mary Stevenson, daughter of a promi- nent settler; removed to Kishacoquillas Valley, from which place he was elected congressman of the Third District of Pennsylvania; held the offices of trustee of Dickinson College. trustee of the old Presbyterian Church at Carlisle, associate judge of Cumberland County, and others of trust, which he filled with credit. He returned to Carlisle to reside in the old family mansion, in which he had been born, and from which he was called to rest in the year 1828. He was buried in the old cemetery at Carlisle.

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Author: Publication date: Publisher: W. Taylor Number of Pages: 1280

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher: W. Taylor
Number of Pages: 1280