History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Part 26

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- ed; John, J. J., 1829-
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1424

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George C. Welker was twice associate judge; he was first commissioned, March 5, 1842, and again in 1847, serving until 1851; in 1871 he was elected, succeeding Judge Shipman, and served until his death, March 18, 1874. Judge Welker was a merchant tailor at Sunbury for many years, and in the latter part of his life general agent for the Lycoming Insurance Company. He was the only one of the later associate judges who presided in the absence of the president judge.

John F. Dentler was elected in 1851 as successor to Judge Montgomery, and served one term (five years). He was born at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, came to the northern part of Northumberland county when a young man, and engaged in farming, but later in life entered mercantile pursuits at Mc- Ewensville, where he died, January 5, 1859, at the age of fifty-four.

George Weiser was born at Fisher's Ferry, Lower Augusta township, Northumberland county, in 1792, great-grandson of Conrad Weiser, a prom- inent character in the early history of this county. He was elected in 1851, succeeding Judge Welker, and served five years. He also held the office of county treasurer and was justice of the peace at Sunbury many years. Dur- ing the war of 1812 he was a private in Captain Snyder's company, and later in life became colonel of militia. He died in 1877.

William Turner was elected in 1856, re-elected in 1861, and served ten years. He was a farmer of Lewis township in the extreme northeastern part of the county.

Casper Scholl was a resident of Shamokin, where he died, November 8, 1874, at the age of sixty-five. He was elected in 1856 and served one term.

Abraham Shipman was born in Lower Augusta township, March 6, 1810, and was successively employed as lumberman, surveyor, farmer, and miller. He also held the positions of justice of the peace, county auditor, county surveyor, and associate judge; to the last named he was elected in 1861, re- elected in 1866, and served ten years. He died on the 8th of August, 1878.

Isaac Beidelspach was born at Mohringen, Wurtemberg, Germany, October 21, 1822, and came to America in 1832. He was a farmer, and resided in Point township. In 1866 he was elected associate judge, serving until his death, July 15, 1869.

Joseph Nicely, the last associate judge of Northumberland county, was commissioned, August 4, 1869, to the vacancy occasioned by the death of Judge Beidelspach, and appeared upon the bench for the first time on the 9th of the same month. He was recommissioned, December 15, 1869, to serve until the first Monday in December, 1870; having been elected he was again com- missioned, November 9, 1870, and continued in office until the 30th of November, 1875. He was a farmer, residing in Delaware township, where he died, December 11, 1877, at the age of seventy.

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HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.

THE BAR.

The judiciary act of 1722 provided that "a competent number of persons of an honest disposition and learned in the law" should be admitted by the justices of the respective counties to practice as attorneys. It does not appear that any special regulations were formulated in Northumberland county until May sessions, 1783, when the following " Rules for the Admis- sion of Attorneys in this Court" were adopted :-

That no person be hereafter admitted to practice as an attorney or counselor in this court unless he shall have served a regular clerkship to some practicing attorney or counselor of known abilities for the term of three years, and be of full age at the time of his admission; nor even then, unless he be certified by two gentlemen of the bar, to be appointed by the court for that purpose, that on a full and impartial exam- ination such person appears to he well grounded in the principles of the law and acquainted with the practice; and if he has regularly studied as aforesaid in any other county in this State, he shall not be admitted to practice in this court as an attorney or counselor unless he be first admitted in such county where he so studied, [and] produces to the court a certificate under the seal of the said court of his admission, or certified by some attorney who was present at his admission. Provided always, that in case of a person applying to be admitted who shall not have engaged in the study of the law till after his coming to the age of twenty-one years, if it shall appear that such person has applied himself closely to his studies under the direction of some gentleman of the bar for the term of two years, and is a person of fair character, and certified to be well qualified as aforesaid, he may be admitted.

It is further ruled that no person now residing and inhabiting within the United States of America shall be admitted an attorney of this court who has not taken the oath or affirmation of allegiance and fidelity to some one of the said States within the time and in the manner prescribed by the laws of the said States respectively, and that no person coming into this State from and after the first day of March next (except attorneys originally admitted and sworn in one of the United States of America, having resided there for two years after such admission and examination here) shall be admitted to practice as an attorney or counselor within this court until he shall have taken the oath or affirmation of allegiance and fidelity to this Commonwealth, and produced an authentic certificate of his having been admitted as such in the country from whence he came, and undergone a regular examination here as aforesaid, and also resided two years within this State next before his application for admission.

The requirements for admission have changed materially from those pre- scribed in 1783; the applicant is now subjected to a preliminary and a final examination under a regularly constituted board of examiners, and admission here usually insures the successful candidate creditable standing in any other county of the State.

The practice of the law was attended with many disadvantages in the interior counties of Pennsylvania for some years after the organization of Northumberland county. The country was sparsely settled, the people were poor, and fees correspondingly small, so that lawyers were almost compelled to practice in a number of counties in order to derive a livelihood from the profession. A number of attorneys usually rode together from one county seat to another, carrying their legal papers and a few necessary law books in a

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sack across the saddle. George A. Snyder thus describes this itineracy and the nature of the early litigation :--

Each lawyer kept his saddle horse. The Lancaster, York, and Carlisle lawyers met at Harrisburg; when that court terminated, they came to Sunbury; then to Williamsport and Wilkesbarre. As their numbers were recruited at each county town, they formed a considerable troop of cavalry on entering the two last places.

The nature and character of the law business were then different from what they are at present. Almost all the important actions were ejectments upon disputed original titles. The number of witnesses was very great, the means of traveling scanty, the district large, so that much allowance had to be made for failure of attend- ance. The causes were, therefore, frequently continued, so that they usually stood upon the trial list several years before they could be acted upon; this, added to the dilatory habits always prevalent in frontier settlements, produced that leisurely, time- wasting habit of doing business, which, until lately, characterized our county courts .*

The following attorneys were admitted to the bar of Northumberland county from its organization in 1772 to the year 1800: James Wilson, May, 1772; Robert Magaw, May, 1772; Edward Burd, May, 1772; George North, May, 1772; Christian Huck, May, 1772; James Potts, May, 1772; Andrew Robison, May, 1772; Charles Stedman, May, 1772; Thomas Hartley, August, 1772; Casper Weitzel, August, 1772; Andrew Ross, August, 1772; James Whitehead, August, 1772; James A. Wilson, November, 1773; Francis Johnson, May, 1774; David Grier, May, 1774; William Prince Gibbs, May, 1776; William Lawrence Blair, 1776; Stephen Chambers, August, 1778; Collinson Read, November, 1778; John Vannost, November, 1778 ;. John Hubley, November, 1780; James Hamilton, May, 1781; Thomas Duncan, May, 1783; Jasper Yeates, August, 1784; John Clark, 1785; John W. Kittera, 1785; John Reily, 1785; John Andre Hanna, February, 1786; Charles Smith, February, 1786; John Joseph Henry, May, 1786; Jacob Hubley, May, 1786; William Richardson Atlee, November, 1786; George Eckert, February, 1787: William Graydon, May, 1787; James Scull, May, 1787; Galbreath Patterson, August, 1787; David M. Keechan, November, 1789; Marks John Biddle, November, 1789; Jonathan Walker, May, 1790; David Watts, November, 1790; Samuel Young, Jr., February, 1791; Robert Duncan, May, 1791; Daniel Levy, May, 1791; Charles Hall, May, 1791; John Kidd, August, 1791; Thomas B. Dick, August, 1795; Putnam Catlin, August, 1795; Robert Whitehill, August, 1795; John Price, August, 1795; Thomas Cooper, November, 1795; Jesse Moore, August, 1796; Charles Hart- ley, November, 1796; James Gilchrist, January, 1797; John W. Hunter, January, 1798; E. W. Hale, April, 1798; Robert Irwin, August, 1798; Enoch Smith, August, 1798; John Wallis, August, 1798; Frederick Smith, Novem- ber, 1798; William Wilson Laird, August, 1799.

Of the itinerant lawyers who practiced at Sunbury during the early years of the county's history the most distinguished was James Wilson, whose name appears first among the attorneys admitted at May term, 1772.

*Linn's Annals of Buffalo Valley, pp. 363-364.

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HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.

He was a member of the Continental Congress, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, one of the first justices of the United States Supreme court, and the incumbent of various other positions of honor and responsi- bility. Robert Magaw, whose name appears second, was colonel of the Sixth Pennsylvania regiment during the Revolution. Edward Burd appeared as deputy attorney general, and probably acted in that capacity until the close of the colonial period. He was subsequently prothonotary to the Supreme court. Of George North no personal data have been obtained. Christian Huck was the Tory Captain Huck mentioned in the memoirs of Alexander Graydon and Richard Henry Lee. The three other attorneys present at the first court of common pleas-James Potts, Andrew Robison, and Charles Stedman-were admitted after examination.

Casper Weitzel was the first resident practicing attorney of Northum- berland county. Born at Lancaster in 1748, he was admitted to the bar of that county in 1769, and in August, 1772, at Sunbury, where the early rec- ords show that he received a large share of the legal business. His talents and patriotism were early recognized: he was a member of the Provincial Convention of January, 1775, from Northumberland county; on the 7th of February, 1776, he was elected first major of the battalion of the lower division of the county; on the 9th of March, 1776, he was appointed captain of a company recruited by himself at Sunbury, which was attached to Colonel Samuel Miles's regiment and suffered serious loss at the battle of Long Island in August, 1776. He died at Sunbury in 1782.

Stephen Chambers is mentioned by Fithian in his journal of July 20, 1775, as " a lawyer-serious, civil, and sociable." His name appears on the continuance docket of the common pleas as early as February, 1774, but no record of his formal admission at that date has been discovered. He was admit- ted at August sessions, 1778, but this was not necessarily the first time, as attorneys who had been admitted under the colonial dispensation were usually required to take the oath necessary to the performance of profes- sional duties under the State government. Chambers was born in the North of Ireland and came to Pennsylvania at an early age. As he was admitted to the bar in Lancaster, Philadelphia, York, and Carlisle later than at Sun- bury, it is reasonable to presume that his professional career was begun at the latter place and that it was also his residence. If this inference is cor- rect, he was one of the first resident attorneys in the county. He was the first Worshipful Master of Lodge No. 22, F. & A. M., of Sunbury, at its institution in 1779. It is probable that he removed to Lancaster shortly after this, as he was elected a member of the Council of Censors from that county in 1783. He was also a delegate to the Pennsylvania convention by which the Federal constitution was ratified. He died at Lancaster on the 16th of May, 1789, from wounds received in a duel with Dr. Jacob Rieger on Mon- day, the 11th of that month. In the early years of the Revolution he was

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captain in the Twelfth Pennsylvania regiment of the Continental Line, pro- moted from first lieutenant in 1777.

Charles Smith, well known to the legal fraternity of Pennsylvania as the compiler of "Smith's Laws," was born at Philadelphia, March 4, 1765, son of the Rev. William Smith, D. D., founder and provost of Washington Col- lege, Charleston, Maryland, from which the son received the degree of A. B. at its first commencement, March 14, 1783. He studied law with his brother, William M. Smith, at Easton, Pennsylvania, and was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county at February sessions, 1786, on motion of Thomas Duncan and after examination by him and Stephen Chambers. He forthwith opened an office at Sunbury, where his industry and talents at once gained him a place in the confidence of the public. As the colleague of Simon Snyder he represented Northumberland county in the convention by which the constitution of 1790 was prepared. As was customary in those days, he accompanied the president judges of central and western Pennsyl- vania on their circuits, and, as cases involving the principles of land tenure constituted the most important class of litigation at that time, his opportuni- ties for the study of this important subject were exceptional. That his knowledge was comprehensive and accurate is evident from the note which comprises several hundred pages of one of the volumes of his "Laws "- virtually a treatise on the land laws of the State-while similarly exhaust- ive annotations on the subject of criminal law, etc. show that his proficiency was not confined to any particular department of legal knowledge. He mar- ried a daughter of Jasper Yeates, associate justice of the Supreme court of Pennsylvania; shortly after this event he removed from Sunbury to Lancas- ter, and was elected to both branches of the legislature from that county. In 1819 he was appointed president judge of the Cumberland-Franklin- Adams district, from which he resigned in the following year to accept the president judgeship in the Lancaster district court. In 1824 he removed to Philadelphia, where he died in 1840.

Thomas Duncan and David Watts-the former admitted at Sunbury at May sessions, 1783, the latter at November sessions, 1790 -- were from Car- lisle. "Mr. Watts was of rough exterior, careless of his dress, and by no means choice in his language. He seemed generally to be not at all reluct- ant to say what he thought, without regard to the feelings of the objects of his remarks. Mr. Duncan, on the contrary, was a man of polished manner, neat and careful in dress, and never rude or wantonly disrespectful to others. They were the rival practitioners at Carlisle. I have heard of an anecdote which somewhat illustrates their respective characters. On one occasion in court, when Mr. Watts was annoyed by a remark of Mr. Duncan, he said: 'You little (using some offensive expression), I could put you in my pocket.' 'Then,' said Mr. Duncan, 'you would have more law in your pocket than ever you had in your head.'"# Justice Hugh Henry Bracken-

George W. Harris's Reminiscences of the Dauphin County Bar.

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ridge says of Watts that he "was possessed of a powerful mind, and was the most vehement speaker I ever heard. He seized his subject with an Herculean grasp, at the same time throwing his Herculean body and limbs into attitudes which would have delighted a painter or sculptor. He was a singular instance of the union of great strength of mind with bodily powers equally wonderful." He describes Duncan as "a very small man, with a large but well formed head," who "perused Coke upon Littleton as a recreation, and read more books of reports than a young lady reads new novels." "Mr. Duncan reasoned with admirable clearness and method on all legal subjects, and at the same time displayed great knowledge of human nature in examination of witnesses and in his addresses to the jury. Mr. Watts selected merely the strong points of his case, and labored them with an earnestness and zeal approaching to fury; and perhaps his forcible man- ner sometimes produced a more certain effect than that of the subtle and wily advocate opposed to him." There was scarcely a case of importance at Sunbury during the period that these gentlemen "rode the circuit" upon which they were not retained upon opposite sides, either independently or in connection with members of the local bar, and the collision of such anti- thetical characters produced a mass of curious incidents, some of which are still preserved, and circulate at the bar in the hours of forensic leisure. Mr. Duncan was appointed a justice of the Supreme court in 1817; Mr. Watts was the father of Frederick Watts, president judge in Cumberland county from 1848 to 1851.

Jonathan Hoge Walker, probably the earliest resident attorney of North- umberland, was born in East Pennsboro township, Cumberland county, Penn- sylvania, in 1756. He was of English descent; William Walker, his grandfa- ther, was a captain under the Duke of Marlborough in the wars of Queen Anne, and John Hoge, his mother's father, was the founder of Hogestown, Cumber- land county. Graduating at Dickinson College, Carlisle, in the class of 1787 (which also numbered David Watts and the Rev. John Bryson among its members), he studied law under Stephen Duncan, and at May sessions, 1790, was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county. Here he was one of the few resident attorneys, and within a few years secured a fairly lucrative practice. He was appointed president judge of the Fourth judicial district in April, 1806, and removed to Bellefonte, Centre county; his judicial admin- istration was such as to command the confidence and approval of the public generally, and when, in 1806, Governor Snyder suggested his transfer to the Eighth district, the people protested en masse and induced him to remain. In 1818 he was appointed by President Monroe as judge of the United States court for the Western district of Pennsylvania, created by act of Congress in May of that year, and occupied this position until his death in 1824. His distinguished son, Robert J. Walker, United States Senator from Mississippi, elected in 1835, and Secretary of the Treasury under President Polk, was born

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at Northumberland in 1801, and probably rose to as high political position as any other native of Northumberland county.

Daniel Levy was admitted at May term, 1791. He was a son of Aaron Levy, founder of Aaronsburg, Centre county, Pennsylvania, and a great land speculator. It is probable that the care of his father's estate received a large share of his professional attention. George A. Snyder says that he "outlived all the old lawyers, as they were popularly called, except Mr. Bellas. He was a conceited man, active as a cat, an insatiable dancer, and a hard fighter. He had considerable science as a boxer, and, although not large or strong, his skill, joined to his prodigious activity, made him quite formidable. His vanity and fondness for dress made him a capital butt and subject of jokes for his fellow members of the bar."* He was prothonotary of Northumberland county from 1800 to 1809. After a residence of more than half a century at Sunbury and a connection with the bar of the county extending over a simi- lar period, he died on the 12th of May, 1844.

Charles Hall was born in 1767 and read law with Thomas Hartley at York, Pennsylvania; he was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county at May sessions, 1791. "He was rather above the common height, stout in person, of ruddy complexion, smooth, handsome face, of gentlemanly appear- ance and manners, of a highly reputable character, and of considerable abili- ty in his profession."; He married Elizabeth Coleman, daughter of the wealthy iron manufacturer of Cornwall, Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, who presented her with extensive and valuable lands at Muncy, Lycoming county, still known as "Hall's Farms." Mr. Hall erected the large and substantial brick building at the northeast corner of Market and Front streets, Sunbury, the most imposing private residence of that borough at the time it was built. He died at Philadelphia in January, 1821, at the age of fifty-three.

Evan Rice Evans was a practicing attorney at Sunbury prior to 1800, but the date of his admission has not been ascertained. Charles Miner describes him as " a heavy, stout gentleman, with a large head and florid complexion. His delivery, rapid; his words crowd upon each other as sometimes to choke utterance. He talks good sense-why should he not? His head has more law in it than half a modern library. He is a powerful advocate, with a good fee and an intricate case."} His death occurred in 1811.

Jesse Moore was admitted at August sessions, 1796. He was a native of Montgomery county; while practicing law at Sunbury he was appointed president judge of the Sixth judicial district, composed of a group of counties in the northwestern part of the State, and performed the duties of that posi- tion until his death, December 21, 1824, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. He is described as a well educated man, a diligent student, and a good law- yer, discreet, upright, and impartial in his judicial opinions and decisions.

*Linn's Annals of Buffalo Valley, p. 385.

+George W. Harris's Reminiscences of the Dauphin County Bar.

# Linn's Annals of Buffalo Valley, pp. 323-324.

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He was elected to the legislature from Northumberland county in 1801 and re-elected in the following year.

Daniel Smith, a native of New Jersey and a graduate of Princeton in the class of 1787, studied law in that State and began the practice of his profession in Northumberland county about the year 1795. He resided upon a fine farm on the southern limits of Milton, and may properly be regarded as the pioneer lawyer of that borough. It is the uniform testimony of those who have written about him that he was an eloquent speaker. George A. Snyder pronounced him " the only lawyer of the district who could be called

eloquent in a high sense."* Charles Miner describes him as " a tall, deli- cate looking gentleman, always elegantly dressed. He turns pale and actually trembles as he rises to speak. You are interested by such exceeding modesty, and half fear he will not be able to go on. His voice breaks sweetly on the ear, and words of persuasive wisdom begin to flow, and now pour along in a rapid torrent."+ Tunison Coryell says that "he was eminent as a lawyer, was considered one of the most eloquent speakers at the bar, and was engaged in all important cases then in the counties of Northumberland, Lycoming, and Luzerne."# Coryell states that Smith delivered the address in the old German church at Sunbury in 1799 on the occasion of the memor- ial exercises in honor of President Washington, when the entire audience was moved to tears by the power of his eloquence. His death occurred at Mil- ton on the 6th of April, 1810; he was then in the forty-fifth year of his age and the full vigor of his powers.

Enoch Smith was a brother to Daniel, though not his equal in profes- sional ability. He was admitted to the bar at August sessions, 1798, and practiced at Sunbury until his death, February 9, 1817.

Samuel Roberts, who qualified as deputy attorney general for Northum- berland county, July 16, 1800, resided at Sunbury, and practiced in the courts to some extent prior to that date, was born in Philadelphia, Septem- ber 8, 1763, and admitted to the bar of that city in 1793. On the 30th of April, 1803, he was commissioned president judge of the Fifth district, composed of the counties of Allegheny, Westmoreland, Fayette, and Wash- ington, and held the office until his death in 1820.

Samuel Hepburn was a son of James Hepburn, an early and prominent merchant of Northumberland. After obtaining a classical education at Princeton College and graduating from that institution he studied law under Jonathan Hoge Walker at Northumberland, and was admitted to the bar about 1800. He then located at Milton, where he was the second resident lawyer; in 1856 he removed to Lock Haven, where he died at the advanced age of eighty-four, October 16, 1865. He was a man of small stature and spare physique, pleasant and genial in society, and highly esteemed where-

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History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Part 26

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- ed; John, J. J., 1829- Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago, Brown, Runk Number of Pages: 1424

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- ed; John, J. J., 1829-
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1424