USA > Pennsylvania > Northumberland County > History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania > Part 28
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THE BENCH AND BAR.
received an academic education at a classical academy taught by the Rev. Samuel S. Shedden. His professional preparation was begun at Milton under James Pollock and completed in Union county, Pennsylvania, under Absa- lom Swineford. He was admitted to the bar at New Berlin, then the county seat of Union county, in August, 1848, and was in active practice at Selins- grove, Pennsylvania, from 1849 to 1858, when he removed to Sunbury: Mr. Hill has enjoyed an extensive and lucrative practice.
Andrew J. Guffy was born near Turbutville in this county, May 31, 1823, son of Andrew and Eleanor (Armstrong) Guffy, and grandson of Alexander Guffy, who settled upon the site of McEwensville at an early date in the history of this county and died, July 15, 1816, the father of seven children, of whom Andrew was born on the 13th of August, 1792, and died on the 28th of June, 1879. Mr. Guffy studied law with James Pollock of Milton and attended the law school of Washington McCartney at Easton, Pennsyl- vania, where he was the classmate of Henry Green, a justice of the Supreme court of Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county, August 6, 1849, and has since resided at McEwensville and Watson- town. He is a proficient surveyor and is probably better known as such than as a lawyer.
The foregoing biographical sketches relate to members of the bar of North- umberland county who were admitted prior to 1850. The following is a list of resident attorneys in that year, with residences and dates of admission in this county: Samuel Hepburn, Milton; Hugh Bellas, Sunbury, 1803; James Pleasants, Sunbury, April 21, 1831; Charles Pleasants, Sunbury, April 16, 1832; John F. Wolfinger, Milton, August 20, 1832; James Pollock, Milton, November 5, 1833; Henry B. Masser, Sunbury, November 5, 1833; John Porter, Milton, April 9, 1840; William I. Greenough, Sunbury, August 2, 1842; Charles J. Bruner, Sunbury, January 3, 1843; William L. Dewart, Sunbury, January 3, 1843; Charles W. Tharp, Milton, November 7, 1843; David Taggart, Northumberland, November 7, 1843; William C. Lawson, Milton, April 1, 1844; John B. Packer, Sunbury, August 6, 1844; Henry Donnel, Sunbury, January 4, 1848; Andrew J. Guffy, McEwensville, August 6, 1849; Charles Augustus Kutz, Milton; William M. Rockefeller, Sunbury, August 6, 1850; M. L. Shindel, Sunbury, August 6, 1850.
The present number of resident attorneys is seventy-three. In the follow- ing list the date given is that of admission to the local bar :-
Sunbury .- Henry B. Masser, November 5, 1833; William I. Greenough, August 2, 1842; John B. Packer, August 6, 1844; George Hill, January 1, 1849; Solomon B. Boyer, August 5, 1858; Samuel J. Packer, 2d, April 4, 1860; Simon P. Wolverton, April 8, 1862; Lloyd T. Rohrbach, March 10, 1863; George W. Zeigler, January 5, 1864; J. W. Cake, January 3, 1866; Truman H. Purdy, 1866; William A. Sober, August, 1867; Andrew N. Brice, January, 1870; J. A. Cake, 1870; James H. McDevitt, August 5, 1873; Lewis
258
HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Dewart, August 11, 1874; John J. Reimensnyder, March 14, 1876; Clinton R. Savidge, January 15, 1877; George B. Reimensnyder, August 6, 1877; E. W. Greenough, March 11, 1878; Charles M. Clement, March 11, 1878; J. Nevin Hill, March 11, 1878; Martin L. Snyder, September 17, 1880; Harold M. McClure, June 28, 1881; George H. Neff, June 28, 1881; Charles W. Rockefeller, May 15, 1884; William P. Hilbush, October 6, 1884; Walter Shipman, December 4, 1884; Charles B. Witmer, February 19, 1887; J. Howard Rockefeller, June 27, 1887; James C. Packer, September 5, 1887; William C. Farnsworth, September 5, 1887; Charles D. Gibson, September 2, 1889; J. R. Kauffman, Jr., September 2, 1889; William J. Sanders, Sep- tember 3, 1890.
Milton .- Charles W. Tharp, November 7, 1843; William C. Lawson, April 1, 1844; Frank Bound, 1853; P. L. Hackenberg, 1861; John McCleery, January 5, 1864; Edmund Davis; Thomas Swenk, Jr., March 14, 1876; William C. Miller, March 14, 1876; O. B. Nagle, March 13, 1877; Clarence G. Voris, October 3, 1877; Frank Chamberlin, December 15, 1880; W. H. Hackenberg, February 9, 1881; A. S. Hottenstein, June 28, 1881; Samuel T. Swartz, September 6, 1881.
Shamokin .- U. F. John, August 4, 1863; W. H. M. Oram, August 7, 1865; Addison G. Marr, August, 1867; George W. Ryon, March 26, 1869; Samuel Heckert, March 11, 1874; Peter A. Mahon, August 10, 1874; William W. Ryon, March 11, 1878; John P. Helfenstein, July 14, 1883; J. W. Gillespie, July 12, 1886; J. Q. Adams, November 27, 1886; W. E. Zimmerman, No- vember 27, 1886; Clarence F. Huth, November 27, 1886; D. W. Shipman, April 14, 1890; W. H. Unger, September 2, 1890.
Watsontown .- Andrew J. Guffy, August 6, 1849; W. Field Shay, August 3, 1875; Lorenzo Everett.
Mt. Carmel .- W. B. Faust, June 8, 1877; Voris Anten, September 6, 1881; L. S. Walter, September 2, 1889.
Turbutville .- George W. Hower.
Montandon .- Robert M. Cummings, August 3, 1859.
Riverside .- H. M. Hinckley, August 4, 1875.
Northumberland. J. H. Vincent.
Biographies of many of the present resident attorneys of the county are given in the biographical department of this work.
In addition to those mentioned, the following attorneys have also resided in Northumberland county prior to their death or removal therefrom: John Barker, mentioned in Fithian's journal as a resident of Northumberland in 1775; John W. Hunter, Sunbury, admitted, January. 1798; Charles Maus, Sunbury, April, 1800; Owen Foulk, Sunbury; William G. Forrest, Sunbury, November 25, 1801; Alem Marr, Milton, November 23, 1809; William Irwin, Sunbury, November 29, 1810; John S. Haines, Northumberland, August 29, 1815; Robert C. Hall, Sunbury, August 25, 1820; Charles A. Bradford,
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THE BENCH AND BAR.
Sunbury, June 15, 1824; John B. Boyd, Northumberland, April 20, 1825; George W. Lathey, Northumberland, August 17, 1831; Robert McGuigan, Mil- ton, November 10, 1837; Hopewell Cox, Northumberland, August 7, 1838; Will- iam J. Martin, Sunbury, August 3, 1841; George A. Frick, Northumberland, January 2, 1844; J. Woods Brown, Milton, April 7, 1851; James Cameron, Milton, August 4, 1851; James W. Naille, Sunbury, August 4, 1851; John Youngman, Sunbury, August 6, 1851; Horatio J. Wolverton, Sunbury, Jan- uary 6, 1852; Spencer M. Kase, Shamokin, January 2, 1854; William L. Scott, Shamokin; John Kay Clement, Sunbury; Paul Cornyn, Sunbury; A. Jordan Rockefeller, Sunbury, November 3, 1857; S. P. Malick, Sunbury, February 23, 1858; Harris Painter, Sunbury, April 4, 1860; Leffert H. Kase, Sunbury, March 7, 1865; Cornelius A. Reimensnyder, Sunbury, March 19, 1867; James K. Davis, Jr., Sunbury, August 6, 1867; Thomas H. B. Kase, Sunbury, June 12, 1871; William C. Packer, Sunbury, November 5, 1872; Jefferson M. John, Mt. Carmel, January 6, 1874; William P. With- ington, Shamokin, August 4, 1874; Marks B. Priestley, Northumberland, Jan- uary 2, 1877; E. H. Painter, Turbutville, December 4, 1882; E. Sherman Follmer, Watsontown, September 6, 1886.
THE SUPREME COURT.
In 1806, " for the more convenient establishment of the Supreme court," the State was divided into two districts, the Eastern and the Western, North- umberland county being included in the former. The Middle district, com- posed of the counties of York, Adams, Dauphin, Cumberland, Franklin, Huntingdon, Mifflin, Northumberland, Luzerne, Lycoming, Centre, Clear- field, Mckean, Potter, and Tioga as originally constituted, was erected by the act of April 10, 1807. By the terms of this act, the justices were required to hold one term annually at Sunbury for the Middle district, com- mencing on the first Monday in July and continuing two weeks if necessary; and it was made the duty of the prothonotaries of the Eastern and Western districts to make out a docket of causes entered from the territory embraced in the new district, such causes pending and undetermined after the 1st of May, 1808, to be removed thereto and continued in the same manner as if they had originated therein. The first session of the Supreme court for the Middle district of Pennsylvania was accordingly held at the court house on the public square in Sunbury on the first Monday in July, 1808, Chief Justice Tilghman presiding.
The Northern district, to which the counties of Northumberland, Luzerne, Lycoming, Bradford, Mckean, Potter, Tioga, Susquehanna, Columbia, and Union were originally assigned, was erected by the act of April 14, 1834. Sunbury continued to be the place at which the sessions of the court were held, but the composition of the district frequently changed, at first by the addition of new territory but latterly by the transfer of one county after
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HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
another to other districts, until only Northumberland, Montour, and Colum- bia remained in the Northern. The justices were strongly in favor of hold- ing the sessions of the court at Philadelphia for the whole State, but meas- ures with that object in view, although frequently introduced in the legislature, were invariably defeated by the combined opposition of the western and middle counties. The influence of the justices was not entirely unavailing, however, as is shown by the gradual dismemberment of the Northern district and the acquiescence with which attorneys and litigants usually permitted an adjournment of their causes to Philadelphia or Harris- burg at the suggestion of the court. Finally, at the term for 1863, all the causes were adjourned to other points, with the concurrence of counsel; and, while it is not probable that this was deliberately planned by the justices as a final adjournment of the court for the Northern district, such it ultimately proved. This action of the court received legislative confirmation in the act of May 5, 1871, providing that " causes from said Northern district shall be heard at such time and place as the judges of the Supreme court may assign." Under this arrangement the district continued to sustain a nominal existence for some years. By a subsequent extension of its discretionary powers, the court was authorized to designate the district from which writs should issue for the different counties, and by virtue of this power the counties of the Northern district were transferred to the Eastern, thus abolishing the former in every essential respect.
The chief justices who presided over the sessions of the Supreme court at Sunbury were William Tilghman, John Bannister Gibson, Jeremiah S. Black, Ellis Lewis, and Walter H. Lowrie. Among the prothonotaries were George A. Frick, commissioned, October 6, 1812; John L. Finney, commis- sioned, January 11, 1813; Alexander Jordan, commissioned, December 22, 1826, January 25, 1830, and January 21, 1833; Charles Pleasants, who was commissioned on the 2d of February, 1836, and held the office many years, and J. A. J. Cummings, the last incumbent, who was appointed in 1865. Many cases involving important legal principles were here tried and deter- mined; distinguished lawyers from all parts of the State attended the sessions, which thus became occasions of far more than local interest and importance.
261
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
CHAPTER VI.
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
LIST OF SUNBURY PHYSICIANS, BY DR. R. H. AWL-BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PHYSI- CIANS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY-MEDICAL SOCIETIES-ROSTER OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
T HE following is a list of Sunbury physicians, furnished by Dr. R. H. Awl and arranged as nearly as possible in the order in which they began to practice in this community: William Plunket, Francis Allison, James Davidson, Solomon Markley, Joseph Thomson, Peter Kraut, William West- hoven, John Philip Jacob Becker, C. H. Bailey, Isaac Cushman, George Slough, John Y. Kennedy, Peter Grahl, William T. Morris, John B. Price, William A. Robins, Joseph Robins, Edmund O'Neill, Bonham R. Gearhart, James Teas, Doctor Robinson, M. A. Rodrigue, John W. Peale, Doctor John- son, David T. Trites, Landis Price, Robert H. Awl, Jacob B. Masser, D. W. Shindel, George B. Weiser, Charles Weiser, Doctor Hughes, Doctor Dodge, Doctor Arthur, Doctor Sechler, Doctor Cameron, Hiram Long, John G. Markle, Joseph Eyster, John S. Angle, John Updegraff, John F. Caslow, A. C. Wheat, H. M. Essick, William P. Smith, F. L. Haupt, A. C. Clark, H. H. Malick, A. K. Savidge, W. W. Moody, Charles M. Martin, G. W. Furey, F. B. Masser, Albert S. Cummings, P. H. Renn, D. E. Lenker, F. B. Richtstine, F. E. Drumheller, Elijah Orser, and Doctor Walters. Much of the informa- tion embodied in the following sketches of Sunbury physicians has also been obtained, directly or indirectly, through Doctor Awl.
William Plunket, the first resident doctor of Northumberland county,* was a native of Ireland. In personal appearance he is described as a man of large stature, great muscular development, and powerful strength, while an imperious disposition was among his distinguishing mental traits. This is attested by several occurrences in his career which yet retain a place in the traditions of this locality. On one occasion, with several boon compan- ions, he was engaged in some hilarious proceedings at an Irish inn; the adjoining room was occupied by an English nobleman, who had a curious and valuable watch, which he sent to Plunket with a wager that he could not tell the time by it; that gentleman coolly put it in his pocket, and sent a
* This statement is, perhaps, susceptible of some modification. as Doctors Jolin Morgan, Jolin Bond, and Thomas Wiggins were successively stationed at Fort Augusta as surgeons to the garrison. Plunket was an officer in the Augusta regiment and probably arrived at Shamokin as early as Doctor Morgan, although it does not appear that he was employed in a professional capacity.
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HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
message to the Englishman to the effect that he should call upon him in person if he wished to know the time. This he never did, evidently out of respect to Plunket's well known physicial prowess, and the latter, it is said, retained the watch to the end of his life. At a later date he became involved in an assault upon an English officer, in which the latter sustained severe bodily injuries; although disguised, Plunket was recognized by his stature, and, in imminent danger of arrest, was smuggled on board a vessel in a bar- rel or hogshead. Thus he came to America, and located at Carlisle, Cum- berland county, Pennsylvania, then the western limit of civilization. There he resided during the French and Indian war, in which he served as lieuten- ant and surgeon, receiving for his services a grant of several hundred acres on the West Branch of the Susquehanna, to which he gave the name of " Soldier's Retreat;" it was situated along the river above Chillisquaque creek; he was residing thereon as early as 1772, as evidenced by the fact that his improvements are mentioned in the return of a road in that year. He was commissioned a justice for Northumberland county on the 24th of March, 1772, and officiated as presiding justice throughout the colonial period. In January, 1775, he was a representative from Northumberland county in the Provincial Convention at Philadelphia, and in December of that year he led an expedition to Wyoming. During the struggle for American independ- ence he remained neutral (through fear of forfeiting his title to Irish estates, it is said), and does not thereafter appear in the public affairs of the county.
While a resident of Carlisle Doctor Plunket married Esther, daughter of John Harris, of Harris's Ferry, father of John Harris, the founder of Harris- burg. They were the parents of four daughters, of whom Elizabeth, born in 1755, married Samuel Maclay, associate judge of Northumberland county and United States Senator; Isabella, born in 1760, married William Bell, of Elizabethtown, New Jersey; Margaret, who became the wife of Isaac Rich- ardson, removed to Wayne county, New York; and Esther, who married Colonel Robert Baxter, a British officer, died about a year after marriage. The Doctor resided for some years in the Maclay house at Sunbury, where, after the death of his wife, Betty. Wiley was his housekeeper. His office, subsequently occupied by E. Greenough and David Rockefeller, occupied the site of E. W. Greenough's residence on Front street, Sunbury. He became totally blind in the later years of his life, when a rope was stretched from his residence to his office so that he could still go back and forth without aid. As shown by his will, which is dated, January 3, 1791, and proved, May 25, 1791, he died in the spring of that year, and is buried in an unmarked grave in the Sunbury cemetery. Dr. R. H. Awl is in possession of one of his med- ical works, "Synopsis Medicinae, or a Summary View of the whole Practice of Physick," by John Allen, M. D., F. R. S., printed at London in 1749.
Solomon Markley was born at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he obtained a limited literary education and read medicine with Doctor Luther. His
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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
further professional studies were pursued at Philadelphia, and his practice was begun at Sunbury, where he resided at the brick house on Front street now occupied by Miss Kate Black; as early as 1795 he started a drug store in the hallway of this building. In 1801 he was appointed county commissioner to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Abraham Mckinney; he was elected to this office in 1802, and served'three years. He remained at Sun- bury until his death, January 1, 1813, in the forty-third year of his age, and is buried in the old Northumberland cemetery. Doctor Markley married Margaret Hinderliter, of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, and they were the parents of six children.
John Philip Jacob Becker was born at Bornich, (Rheinfels), Germany. By the financial assistance of his oldest brother he was enabled to obtain a thorough medical education, and after completing his professional prepara- tion he entered the German army as field surgeon under General Münchau- sen, from whom he received an honorable discharge at the expiration of seven years and six months' continuous service. Subsequently he sailed for America, landing at Brooklyn, New York, in 1783. He practiced at Allen- town, Lehigh county, and Kutztown, Berks county, Pennsylvania, until May, 1807, when he removed to Upper Augusta township, Northumberland coun- ty, and located on the farm now (1890) occupied by Alfred Beckley, two miles east of Sunbury. Here he resumed the practice of his profession, and is remembered as a successful physician, widely known and well liked. He died on the 30th of April, 1813, at the age of sixty-four years, and was buried with Masonic honors in the old Sunbury cemetery. He married Elizabeth Dimmick of the vicinity of Philadelphia in 1795 and they were the parents of eight children, three sons and five daughters; two of the latter still survive: Mrs. Harriet Martin, one of the oldest residents of Sunbury, and Miss Louisa Becker, of Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania.
C. H. Bailey was a Virginian by birth, highly educated and considered a first-class physician. He located at Sunbury early in his professional career, but the length of his stay is not known. Thence he removed succes- sively to Troy, Lincoln county, Missouri, and Smithland, Kentucky, after which he entered the United States Army as surgeon, and was stationed at Pensacola, Florida, in 1852; nothing is known regarding his personal his- tory after that date.
John Kennedy was born at Northumberland, Pennsylvania, and practiced at Sunbury until 1823, when he removed to Shelbyville, Shelby county, Indiana, where he resided the remainder of his life.
William Thomas Morris practiced at Sunbury many years. He had previously served as surgeon in the United States Navy, and was a physi- cian of experience and ability. Doctor Morris was born at Frederick, Mary- land, January 8, 1783, and died at that place in December, 1834. He mar- ried Mary, daughter of Thomas and Deborah Grant, of Sunbury; she died
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HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
on the 2d of April, 1842, leaving two children: Ann C., who was born at Sunbury, January 14, 1810, married Albert G. Bradford, of Elmira, New York, and died at Philadelphia, September 24, 1886; and Dr. Thomas G., who was born on the 11th of January, 1818, practiced medicine at Liver- pool, Perry county, Pennsylvania, many years, and died at that place, March 28, 1887. As Doctor Morris's marriage occurred at Sunbury on the 27th of November, 1807, it is evident that his practice began at that place early in the present century.
John Beatty Price was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, in 1801, and died in 1843. He was educated at Princeton College, read medicine with Doctor Johnston at Whitehouse, New Jersey, and began practice at Pepack, a small village in his native county, having attended a course of lectures at the University of Pennsylvania and obtained a diploma from the New Jersey board of medical examiners. In 1824 he removed to Sunbury, where he was in active practice until his death. Doctor Price married Re- becca, daughter of Reuben Guild, who was murdered near Bellefonte, Penn- sylvania, and was the father of five children, one of whom is Nathan Leander Price, M. D., of Port Carbon, Pennsylvania.
William Robins was born at Sunbury in 1804, eldest son of Aaron and Rebecca (Richardson) Robins, and received an academic education at North- umberland under Robert Cooper Grier. At the age of eighteen years he began the study of medicine with Dr. John Kennedy, and subsequently attended the University of Pennsylvania. He began practice at Sunbury shortly after attaining his majority, and continued in successful practice at that place eighteen years. The remainder of his life was passed at Miners- ville, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, where he died in December, 1863. Doctor Robins was three times married, and was the father of seven children.
Bonham R. Gearhart was born in Rush township, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, March 18, 1811, son of George and Achsah (Runyan) Gearhart. He was educated at an academy at Danville, read medicine with Dr. Harmon Gearhart, of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, graduated from Jeffer- son Medical College in 1834, and began practice at Sunbury immediately thereafter, remaining two years. After this he was successively located at several points in Montour and Columbia counties, and was at Turbutville, Northumberland county, from 1839 to 1844, when he removed to Danville; there he was a leading physician until his death, May 9, 1855. His widow and six sons survive him and reside at Danville.
David Tranor Trites was born in Ridley township, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, March 8, 1812. In his early manhood he taught school at Sunbury, where he began the study of medicine with Dr. J. W. Peale in 1839, graduating from Jefferson Medical College in 1842. He returned to Sunbury and began the practice of his profession, but remained only a few years. Subsequently he was located at Georgetown, Northumberland county,
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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
Pennsylvania, Chesapeake City, Cecil county, Maryland, Surrey county, Vir- ginia, Philadelphia, and Manayunk, Pennsylvania, dying at the latter place in 1887. Two children survived him, one of whom was the late W. B. Trites, M. D., of Manayunk.
Robert Harris Awl was born in Augusta township, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, December 27, 1819, son of Samuel and Mary (Maclay) Awl. He was educated at the common schools, read medicine with Dr. J. W. Peale, graduated from Pennsylvania Medical College in 1842, and imme- diately entered upon the practice of his profession. He was located at Gratz- town and Halifax, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, until 1845, when he re- moved to Columbus, Ohio; there he was soon afterward appointed assistant physician to the State lunatic asylum and retained that position three years, resigning on account of ill health. He located at Sunbury in 1849, and con- tinued in the steady enjoyment of a lucrative practice until his retirement from the active duties of the profession. Between 1855 and 1888 inclusive he was for fourteen years the regular physician to the Northumberland county prison.
Jacob B. Masser was born at Sunbury, July 17, 1820, son of Henry Mas- ser. He obtained his literary education under private tuition, graduated from Jefferson Medical College in 1841, and at once began practice at Sun- bury, where he was one of its most prominent and worthy physicians until his death, September 10, 1876.
George B. Weiser was born at Sunbury in 1820, a son of Judge George Weiser and a descendant of Conrad Weiser, the famous Indian agent and interpreter. He read medicine with Dr. William H. Magill, of Danville, and graduated from Jefferson Medical College in 1842 with high honors. He practiced at Spring Mills, Georgetown, Selinsgrove, Sunbury, and Millers- burg, Pennsylvania, successively, and died at Millersburg on the 7th of Octo- ber, 1887.
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