History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 124

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

Reference is due to the distinguished members of the bar who early fought their way to a just recogni- tion of their services against long-existing prejudices, -men who made the city and county of Philadelphia a centre of legal learning, and rendered it possible for a free people to choose a judiciary thoroughly accomplished and skillful in the administration of public justice. Justices of the peace who were merchants and farmers by occupation sat uneasily upon the judicial bench in the presence of such men as Andrew Hamilton, Robert Assheton, Benjamin Chew, James Wilson, George Ross, John Moland, John Dickinson, Joseph Reed, Jared Ingersoll, James Dallas, Nicholas Waln, William Lewis, Richard Peters, Hugh H. Brackenbridge. William Rawle and John Sergeant. These men were contemporaries in an honorable profession and devotees to an exact science. They were giants in the arena of legal conflict. They left a lasting impression upon the age in which they lived, and fixed a standard of attainment and integrity for the profession of law commensurate with the grave responsibilities imposed by its obligations, trusts and confidences.

We have already referred to Hamilton.

ROBERT ASSHETON was a relative of William Penn. He was educated for the legal profession and ad- mitted to the bar of England, and subsequently came to Philadelphia in the year 1699. He was immedi- ately appointed prothonotary of the city and county of Philadelphia by the proprietor. He also held the office of town clerk in 1701, and aided in drafting the charter for the city during that year. He was made recorder in 1708. It seems to have been the policy of Penn, while excluding lawyers from the judicial office, to have them placed in the offices connected with the several courts, where they could be con- veniently consulted, and where they were useful in keeping proper records of judicial proceedings. The advent of Assheton resulted in improved forms of legal proceedings, and David Paul Brown, in his " Forum," says, "The indictments drawn by Assheton are entirely scientific ; and, indeed, all the proceedings of the officers, or the court proceedings (I mean only clerical), appear in general to be good." He was

The defense of Zenger did not hurt Hamilton in England so as to hinder his receiving a commission, two years afterward, as judge of the Vice- Admiralty Court. We say this because appointments to that court seem to have been made by commission directly from the crown. But the reputation of the appointee was well known to the home government, and that was, that zealous as he was in tho defense of every right of his clients, he was faithful to the demands of every office he had held or might hold. lle resigned all other offices except this, and retired from it only a short time before his death, which occurred in 1741. The argu- ment given in favor of the appointment by the crown to the Vice-Admi- ralty is thus stated by David Paul Brown in his " Forum :" " We may infer this, both from the nature of the jurisdiction and from the fact that even in early times they appear to have belonged to the Church of Eng- land : for the only two whom we know to have been judges wero wardens of Christ Church in this city " (Philadelphia). One of the earliest of these was William Assheton, who died in September, 1723, at the early age of thirty-three, being at that time the rector's warden .- " Hist. of Phila.," Scharf and Westcott.

prothonotary of the Supreme Court from 1722 to 1726, and was also master in Chancery. He died in 1727.

BENJAMIN CHEW was a student in the office of An- drew IIamilton. When he reached the age of nineteen his preceptor died. A few months later he was sent to England, where he entered the Middle Temple. In 1743, after a full course of study, he returned to this country, and at once entered upon the practice of law at Dover, Del. In 1754 he came to Philadelphia. The year following he was appointed attorney-general for the province. The same year he was elected a member of the Provincial Council. He resigned the office of attorney-general in 1769 and continued an active practitioner until 1774, when he became chief justice of the Supreme Court of the State. In 1791 he was appointed judge and president of the High Court of Errors and Appeals, in which office he remained until 1808, when this tribunal was abol- ished. He died in 1810.

JAMES WILSON studied law under John Dickin- son, and was admitted to the bar of Philadelphia County in 1767. He was the first law professor of the University of Pennsylvania, appointed in 1790. In connection with Chief Justice Mckean, he wrote "Commentaries on the United States Constitution," published in London. He died in 1798.

GEORGE Ross was admitted to the bar in 1750. He was prominent in public affairs, and was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was the first judge of the Court of Admiralty, commissioned by the Continental Congress April 6, 1777. He presided in this office until the time of his death, July 14, 1779.

JOHN DICKINSON entered upon the study of law in Philadelphia about 1852, in the office of John Moland. Subsequently he spent three years in London in the completion of his studies; then, returning, he com- menced the practice of his profession in the lower counties, but soon settled in Philadelphia County, and was elected to the Assembly in 1762. He became a member of the Supreme Executive Council in 1780, and was president of that body in 1782. He died February 14, 1808.

JOSEPH REED was admitted to the bar at Philadel- phia in 1763. Not satisfied with the attainments ac- quired as a graduate of Princeton College and his subsequent study under Hon. Richard Stockton, he spent two years at the Middle Temple, London, and returning in 1765, he rapidly rose to eminence. He was appointed Secretary of State for the colonies in 1772, and became a conspicuous character during the Revolution. He declined the office of chief jus- tice of the Supreme Court in 1777. He was elected president of the Supreme Council in 1778, and presided for three years with marked ability. His connection with the judiciary was by virtne of this office, which made him ex-officio president of the High

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Court of Errors and Appeals.1 He died March 5, | Mr. Dallas had a fondness for literary pursuits, and 1785, in the forty-fourth year of his age.

JARED INGERSOLL, a Connecticut youth, was a student in the office of Reed. After his admission to the bar he spent several years in Europe in the further prosecution of his studies and in observations of the practice of the courts of the continent. Upon his return to Philadelphia he devoted himself to practice, and as early as 1797 was retained in the impeachment trial of United States Senator Wil- liam Blunt, of Tennessee. He was appointed attor- ney-general of Pennsylvania by Governor Snyder in 1811, and held the position through the trying period of the war of 1812, and resigned in 1816. He was appointed judge of the District Court for the city and county of Philadelphia in 1820, and died while in office, October 31, 1822.

ALEXANDER JAMES DALLAS was of Scotch origin. Thrown upon his owu resources at the age of fifteen, he soon after began the study of law in London. Before concluding his studies he embarked in mercan- tile pursuits, and found his way to the West Indies. At the age of twenty-one he married Arabella Marice, daughter of Major George Smith, of the British army, and in 1783 arrived in Philadelphia, where he con- eluded to settle. He registered as a student of law, and two years later, 1785, was admitted to practice.

1 The High Court of Errors and Appeals was established by act of February 28, 1780, to hear appeals from the Supreme Court, the Register's Court and the Court of Admiralty ; it was abolished by act of February 24, 1806. The judges were to be the president of the Supreme Executive Coun- cil, the judges of the Supreme Court, and three persons of known integrity and ability to be commissioned for seven years, and five or more to form a quorum. By the art of April 13, 1791, aretion 17, the judges of the Supreme Court, the president judges of the several Courts of Common Pleas of the five judicial districts and three other persons of known legal abilities were constituted a lligh Court of Errors and Appeals, to hear appeals from the Supreme Court and the Register's Court. ("Read's Digest,"1 70, article 23, section 17 ; in this Digest will be found many acts relating to the courts from the act of May 22, 1722, to 1800.) By an act of September 30, 1791, a president judge was to be appointed by the Governor of the commonwealth.

LIST OF JUNGES .- Joseph Reed, commissioned November 20, 1580 ; Thomas MeKean, commissioned November 20, 1780; William Augustus Atlee, commissioned November 20, 1780; John Evans, commissioned No- vember 20, 1780 : George Bryan, commissioned November 20, 1780 ; James Smith, commissioned November 20, 1780 ; Henry Wyukoop, commissioned November 29, 1780; Francis Hopkinson, commissioned November 20, 1780; William Muore, commissioned November 14, 1781 ; John Dickin- son, commissioned November 7, 1782 ; James Bayard, commissioned March 18, 1783 ; Samuel Miles, commissioned April 7, 17>3 ; Jacob Rush, commissioned February 26, 1784; Edward Shippen, commissioned Sep- tember 16, 1784 ; Benjamin Franklin, commissioned October 18, 1785; Thomas MitHin, commissioned November 5, 17×8 ; William Bradford, Jr., register.

Reorganized nudler art of April 13, 1791 .- Benjamin Chew (president), appointed September 30, 1791 ; Thomas MeKean, appointed April 13, 17!1; Elward Shippen, appointed April 13, 1791; Jasper Yeates, ap- pointed April 13. 1791 ; William Bradford, appointed August 20, 1791 ; James Bidille, appointed September 1, 1791 ; William Augustus Atlee, ap- pointed September 1, 1791 : Jacob Rush, appointed September 1, 1791 ; .James Bildle, appointed September 1, 1791 ; Mexander Addison, ap- pointed September 1, 1791 ; John Joseph Henry, appointed November, 1793; Thomas Smith, appointed January 31, 17:4; John D. Coxe, ap- pointed April 6, 1797 ; Hugh Henry Brackenridge, appointed December 18, 1799 ; William Tilghman, appointed Inly 31, 1805 ; Edward Burd, register.

during his early career devoted some portion of his time with Francis Hopkinson, in the management of the Columbian Magazine. Later he published " Re- ports of Pennsylvania Cases."? These cases were among the first reported, and are to this day referred. to as authority in our courts of law. He served as secretary of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, declined the proffered appointment of Attorney- General of the United States, was subsequently ap- pointed Secretary of the Treasury of the national government, and in' 1815 acted as Secretary of War. Returning to Philadelphia in 1816, he there resumed the practice of law. David Paul Brown says : " Mr. Dallas was a man of the most fascinating and courtly manners. He dressed with great taste, ordinarily in a suit ofolive-brown, with small clothes and top-hoots ; he had an abundance of hair, which he always wore powdered and gathered into a bag-cue." His biog- rapher says of him : " If he had not been a lawyer, he would have been a great statesman ; and if he had not been a statesman, he would have been one of the greatest lawyers of the age." He died January 16, 1817.

NICHOLAS WALY came to the bar in Philadelphia County in 1763, under the most flattering auspices. He, too, finished his professional studies at the capital city of the mother-country. Returning to the province, he early took rank with the most learned and success- ful men at the bar, but after many years arduous la- bor he suddenly resolved to retire. His reason for abandoning the promising position which he at the time enjoyed is in doubt, and a recent writer" on the subject says, " Whether Mr. Waln was a man of un- commonly acute sensibilities, or had not fully under- stood the merits of the cause that led to the action, or felt that in his too eager pursuit he had been derelict to the duty that binds all lawyers never to overstep the limits of justice when pleading the cause of clients, cannot now be determined. It was after he had been at the bar for some years that, having been struck with contrition in conseqence of his assistance in a case in which he thought his client had unjustly wron

" These cases not only emtained the judgments and arguments before the Supreme t'ourt, but many cases disposed of before the Revolution. They carried the reports from 1790-when the first volume was pub- lished-to 1807. They contained decisions of the Supreme Court, Iligb Court of Errors and Appeals, and of the fourts of ('onnon Pleas and of the I'nited States in Pennsylvania. Mr. Dallas soon became prominent in politics. He was appointed secretary of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania January 19, 1791, and held that office until April 28, 1801. At this time he was appointed by Mr. JJefferson attorney of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and was appointed in July of the same year, by Governor McKean, recorder of the city of Philadel- phia. He resigned the latter office in 1802, but he held the office of district attorney until 1813, when he was succeeded by Richard Peters, Jr. In Ortober, 1814, he was appointed Secretary of the Treasury of the I'nited States, and on the 13th of March, 1815, also assumed the duties of the Secretary of War, which, together with those of the Secretary of the Treasury, he discharged until he resigned, in November, 1816, and returned to the practice of his profession.

3 Scharf, " History of Philadelphia."

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the cause, he withdrew from the practice of the law and subsequently devoted his life and energies to the ser- vice of religion as a preacher of the Society of Friends."

WILLIAM LEWIS furnishes one of the earliest and most notable examples of the self-made lawyers of the colonial period. He was born in Chester County in the year 1751. In his boyhood days he happened to be in Philadelphia, and while there visited the courts during an important trial, and heard several of the leading lawyers speak for and in defense of their clients. He was charmed with their eloquence and display of learning. He resolved on the spot to be- come a lawyer ; to this end he at once entered upon a course of self-culture, and registered himself as a stu- dent of Nicholas Waln, Esq. Keenly sensible of his want of preparation, and the unfavorable contrast of manners and habits of life suggested by his awkward ways among those who enjoyed all the advantages of wealth, education and cultured society, he was far from being happy. The impulse of the boy in the court-room, quickened by daily intercourse with the profession, became a determination of the rugged man. His very boldness won for him the respect of his fel- low-students, while his industry and application en- abled him in due time to meet the expectations of his conscientious preceptor, and his triumph was com- plete when duly admitted to the bar. If Mr. Lewis was wauting in the polished manners and refined tastes so common among the professional men of the period, the loss was fully compensated by his splendid energy and force of character. Ile differed from most of his contemporaries in being indifferent to the blandish- ments of public or political life. Ile addressed him- self exclusively to his duties as a lawyer, and soon be- came eminent in the profession. He became a partner of Mr. Waln before his retirement, and re- tained the clientage of the office after that event. Wit, humor and sarcasm were powerful weapons with him, but he employed them only for a specific purpose and parted with them with an air of absolute indifference after serving his will. Lewis made a specialty of commercial law, and he was among the most sue- cessful in this important branch of the profession. An illustration of his character occurs in connection with the life of Robert Morris, who was among the best informed of merchants in his day. Morris and Lewis were guests at a dinner-party. The former was an attentive listener to Lewis in discussing the com- mercial relations between this country and Europe. Upon rising from the table, Morris observed to the company, in a manner intended as compli- mentary, that "Mr. Lewis seemed as familiar with commercial affairs as if he had been in a counting- house all his life." " Let me tell you, sir," said Lewis, "that a competent lawyer knows everything that a merchant does and a great deal more." His frankness was characteristic of the man. He re- lates of himself an experience with Alexander

Hamilton, which occurred in the trial of an im- portant case in New York. He had courteously given a brief statement of his case and his author- ities to Mr. Hamilton, who had been called into the case unexpectedly by reason of Chancellor Kent's sudden illness. Mr. Lewis says, " He thanked me, left me, and in an hour afterward we met in court and the argument at once proceeded. I spoke for several hours. The judges seemed con- vinced and I was perfectly satisfied with them and myself. During the argument Mr. Hamilton took no notes, sometimes fixed his penetrating eyes upon me, and sometimes walked the chamber, appar- ently deeply interested, but exhibiting no anxiety. When I finished he took the floor, and, to my amaze- ment, he acknowledged all my points and denied none of my authorities, but assumed a position which had never entered my mind, to the support of which directing all his great powers, in one-fourth of the time employed by me, he not only satisfied the court, but convinced me that i was utterly wrong. In short, after my time and toil and confidence, I was beaten, shamefully beaten." While there is much to commend and admire in the life and experience of the " self-made man" of the past and present, it is per- haps fortunate that he is the exception and not the rule in the class or sphere in which he is occasionally found. It seems almost impossible for men who have risen to eminence without those facilities enjoyed by most others who are no higher than them- selves not to overrate their own unaided efforts and imagine that had they enjoyed advantages equal to others more fortunately situated they would have risen above the rest of mankind.

To the distinguished names mentioned we should add those of Richard Peters, Hugh Henry Bracken- bridge, William Rawle and John Sergeant as among the lawyers who established the standard of profes- sional responsibility and fidelity of the bar in Phila- delphia County, and who faithfully served our fore- fathers prior to the formation of Montgomery County, and some' of whom practiced in Montgomery County since the time of its organization. The character of the early judiciary in the province is sufficiently in- dicated by these observations upon the rise of the bar to show the great change that time has wrought. It is proper to add that after a careful examination of the history of the times during which judges were appointed without reference to their legal attain- ments, men of high character for honesty and in- tegrity were selected, and, in some instances, the ineumbents exerted themselves to acquire useful knowledge in preparing to discharge their duties with more than ordinary credit to themselves and the office they filled. This was notably the case with Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, who was president

1 Among the appearances in the Common Pleas dockets of Montgomery County prior to 1790 we find the names of Chew, Ross, Ingersoll, Kawle and Sergeant.

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judge of the first courts established in Montgomery County.

The following-named persons, all of whom were in commission as justices of the peace for the county of Philadelphia, and residing in that portion which fell within the boundaries of the new county, were des- ignated by the Supreme Executive Council to open and hold the first courts in Montgomery County :

James Morris, date of commission unknown.

John Richards, conmissioned 1784. Henry Sheetz, commissioned 17>4. William Dean, commissioned 1783. Justice Muhlenberg presided.

The first court was held in Norriton township the 28th day of December, 1784, in the barn on the " Barley Sheaf" Hotel property. now owned by Ben- jamin Baker, located on the Germantown turnpike a short distance northwest of Hartranft Station, on the Stony Creek Railroad. The hotel was kept at that time by John Shannon. Traditionary accounts 1 de- seribe the event as of unusual interest and the attend- ance as very large. Preparation for the occasion was in progress for several days. The barn was cleared of its unsightly furniture, hay and straw were neatly packed away, cobwebs were brushed from overhead and the oaken floor was swept clean for the novel occupancy.

The Judiciary .- The first presiding judge in Montgomery County was Frederick A. Muhlenberg. who served from December 28, 1784, until the Sept- ember term, 1785, when he was succeeded by James Morris, who was succeeded in the order of seniority among the five justices who constituted the court at the date of its organization. Judge Morris served until 1789. It is clear that for the first five years. 1784 to 1789, the courts in this county were presided over by judges unlearned in the law. Under the Constitution of 1790 the executive department of the State was vested in the office of Governor, and early in 1701 the first Governor elect, Thomas MitHin, com- missioned James Biddle judge of the courts of Mont- gomery County.

Judge Biddle served until 1797, when he was sue- ceeded by Judge John D. Coxe, who filled the office till 1805, when he was succeeded by William Tilgh- man.

By the act of April 13, 1791, in order to carry into effect the provisions of the Constitution of 1790 establishing Courts of Common Pleas, the State was divided into five judicial districts, the city and county of Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery and Delaware constituting the First District, and a president judge learned in the law was to be appointed for each dis- triet, and not fewer than three nor morethan four other persons appointed in each county as judges, which, said president and judges were empowered to execute the powers, jurisdictions and authorities of the Court of

Commou Pleas, Courts of Oyer and Terminer, and General Gaol Delivery, Orphans' Courts and Courts of Quarter Sessions of the Peace, agreeably to the laws and constitution of the commonwealth. It would seem that the act above referred to is the first of the kind passed in this State requiring judges to be learned in the law. William Tilghman, LL. D., appointed president judge by Govenor Thomas Mckean in 1805, occupied the bench for one year in Montgomery County. He was born August 12, 1756. He studied law with Benjamin Chew. His family were originally from Maryland, but had resided in Philadelphia for several years prior to the Revolution, and upon the opening of hostilities returned to that State. There William remained in comparative retire- ment during the struggle, pursuing his studies. Hle returned to Philadelphia about 1790 and entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1793 he married Margaret Elizabeth, daughter of James Allen, son of William Allen, chief justice of Pennsylvania, who was the son-in-law of Andrew Hamilton, and was said to be the wealthiest man in the province at that time. The first judicial office to which he was appointed was that of the United States Circuit Court. He was nominated by President John Adams in 1801, and by the political opponents of Mr. Adams' administra- tion was called one of the "Midnight Judges."? The violent opposition of President Jefferson to the act of Congress reorganizing the United States Courts, under which Tilghman received his first appointment, induced its repeal and, of course, the retirement of those in office under its provisions. His appointment to the bench in the First Judicial District in the State followed in 1805, upon the resignation of Judge Coxe,

" Thompson Westcott, author of the "History of Philadelphia," is quoted by John Hill Martin, in a note to the latter's " Bench and Bar," as having (in the Sunday Dispatch, October 8, 1876) this following account. of the " Midnight Judges" : "John Adams, while President, toward the end of his tertn, seriously urged a reorganization of the Federal judiciary. The Circuit Courts were held by the judges of the Supreme Court, but the business was increased so minch that the appointment of additional judges was considered necesary. On the 13th of February, 1801, an act was passed reducing the number of the judges of the Supreme Court to five whenever a vacancy occurred, and released those judge- from all circuit duty. The number of l'uited States District Courts was increased to twenty-three, and the districts were arranged in six circuits, each cir- cuit with three judges. The result was to create sixteen new judges, besides attorney-, clerks, marshals and other officers. As it was near the end of Adams' term, and as Jefferson was elected four days after the act was passed, it was supposed that the President would allow his succesor to make the appointments, but he did nothing of the surt. fle sent to the Senate, on the 18th, the names of Charles Lec, of the District of Colmbia ; Jared Ingersoll, of Pennsylvania; Richard Bassett, of Delaware ; William Griffith, of New Jersey ; Eghert Benson, of Now York : Oliver Wolcott, of Connecticut : Samuel Hitchcock, of Vermont ; Philip Barton Key, of Maryland ; John Davis, of Massachusetts; Jarob Rend, of South Carolina ; Elijah Paine, of Vermont ; Kay Greene, of Rhode Island ; John Sitgreaves, of North Carolina; Joseph Clay, of Georgia : William McClurg, of Kentucky ; and William H. Ilill, of North Carolina.

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History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 124

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1534

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534