USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including > Part 18
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Samuel Porter Johnson, of Warren, Pennsylvania, a native of Venango county, and son of Reverend Robert Johnson, was born in Scrubgrass township, Venango county, January 13, 1809. He graduated at Jefferson College in the class of 1830, and assumed charge of an academy at Dan- ville, Montour county (then Columbia), where he studied law under the direction of Robert C. Grier, afterward justice of the United States supreme court. November 3; 1833, he was admitted to the bar at Sunbury, North- umberland county. In January, 1834, he located at Franklin, removing to
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Warren in September following. He is a good lawyer, shrewd in the man- agement of cases, strong and forcible in his appeals to a jury, though not an eloquent speaker. His manners at times have been considered harsh and severe, and opposing counsel have always found him a formidable antag- onist, one who watches carefully every advantage, but without resorting to anything savoring of disreputable practices. His legal career is eminently honorable and successful; during his residence in Franklin, and since his removal, he has been the trusted attorney in many leading and complicated cases. Judge Johnson was elected to the bench in 1860, and served one term. He is still in the vigorous prosecution of the law at Warren.
Thomas S. Espy came to Franklin from Crawford county early in the thir- ties, and is remembered as one of the prominent lawyers of the county. He was a strong, vigorous thinker, possessed excellent judgment in all mat- ters pertaining to his profession, and as an advocate was logical and forcible, but lacked somewhat the faculty of illustration. He was retained as coun- sel in many of the most important cases in the district, and in his relations with other members of the legal fraternity was kind and courteous, and at all times endeavored to sustain the honor and dignity of his calling. He abandoned a large and lucrative practice in 1844, and emigrated to Iowa, where he now resides.
William Stewart was born in Mercer, Mercer county, Pennsylvania, on the 16th day of September, 1810. He had an academic education, and having read law with Judge Banks, was admitted to the bar in 1832. He first opened a law office in Brookville, Jefferson county, where he remained but a short time, removing thence to Franklin, Venango county, where he remained for two years, and thence to Mercer, where he formed a partner- ship with the late John J. Pearson. During his long, brilliant, and active . public career he filled the office of state senator, and represented the district composed of Mercer, Lawrence, Beaver, and Butler counties in the thirty- fourth and thirty-fifth congresses of the United States. As an attorney and jurist Mr. Stewart ranked high among his associates, and his native ability, comprehensive mind, and active temperament, supplemented by his courteous and dignified bearing toward the court and his brethren of the bar, soon placed him at the head of his profession. Always zealous of his honor and conscientious in the discharge of his professional duties, his promise once pledged to his opponent was regarded sacred. As a citizen he was public spirited and benevolent, earnestly patriotic and uncompromisingly devoted to the perpetuity and unity of his country. He died in Mercer on the 17th day of October, 1876.
Jonathan Ayres, who was admitted to the Venango bar prior to the year 1840, was first known in Franklin as a journalist, having published the Dem- ocrat some time before engaging in the legal business. He read law while editing the paper, and after his admission to the bar succeeded in building up
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a fairly lucrative practice, although he never became distinguished in any particular branch of the profession. Quiet and unobtrusive in manners, he was nevertheless very decided in his opinions, a fact which sometimes inter- fered very materially with his success as a practitioner. He left Franklin early in the forties, moving to New Castle, where he continued the practice for some years.
James Stroble Myers, one of the ablest jurists of western Pennsylvania, and familiarly known as Colonel Myers, was a descendant of Frederick Myers, who fled from his native country, Saxony, during the religious per- secution of the seventeenth century and settled in Switzerland. George Myers, son of Frederick, came to America in 1745 and settled on Gunpow- der river, in Maryland, about thirty miles from the city of Baltimore. August 20, 1754, in York county, Pennsylvania, he married Elizabeth Singery, who bore him two children, one of whom, Henry Myers, father of James S., was born in Maryland in the month of August, 1761. Henry Myers served in the war for American independence, and was married on the 25th day of March, 1783, to Miss Mary Stroble, whose birth occurred December 10th, 1766. About the year 1806 Mr. Myers moved to the west- ern part of Pennsylvania, and settled in Richland township, Venango (now a part of Clarion) county, where he engaged in the milling business, which he carried on for a number of years. He was also a civil engineer, and was employed at different times in an early day in surveying lands in Venango and neighboring counties. His death occurred on the 24th of June, 1849. Mrs. Myers preceded her husband to the grave, dying December 29, 1835.
James S. Myers, the youngest of a family of thirteen children, was born on the 9th day of June, 1813. He remained with his parents until January 12, 1828, at which time he came to Franklin, his father having indentured him to Nathaniel Cary to learn the tailor's trade. After becoming profi- cient in that calling, he worked three years as a journeyman tailor at Brownsville, Blairsville, and other places in the western part of the state, and in 1832 located in Franklin, opening a shop on Thirteenth street, near Liberty, where he carried on a successful business for some years. On the 8th of April, 1834, he married Miss Emily Bunnell, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Davis) Bunnell. It was at this period that Mr. Myers devel- oped those qualities of energy, application, and systematic endeavor which were the foundation of his subsequent success in life. Owing to the lack of educational facilities at that time he had been obliged to start out in the world with a limited knowledge of books, and with no capital save a stout heart and strong physical constitution, and the mother-wit and common sense inherited from his parentage. While attending the demands of his shop he laid out a course for his future which seemed hedged with difficul- ties, but which he resolutely carried out. Although carrying on his shop and already married, with a growing family, he decided to become a lawyer.
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To this end he divided his time, giving eight hours each day to work in the shop, eight hours to study, and eight hours to rest. In order to acquire the requisite knowledge of Latin, he continued to take lessons in that language, reciting to the principal of the old Franklin Academy.
In 1838 the workman-student found himself sufficiently equipped with solid acquirements to relinquish his business and enter as a regular student in the law office of James Thompson, then the leading lawyer of this place, and afterward chief justice of the state. Applying himself closely to his task, often studying fourteen hours a day, Mr. Myers passed examination and was duly admitted to the bar on the 21st day of November, 1840, and on the 22nd of September, 1845, was admitted to practice in the supreme court of Pennsylvania.
Previous to his admission to the Venango bar, from 1836 to 1839, he had been collector for the French Creek canal, a position obtained through the interposition of Thaddeus Stevens, between whom and Mr. Myers a friendly and political sympathy always existed.
The year of his admission Mr. Myers entered into a partnership with his preceptor, John W. Howe, which lasted until 1849, when Mr. Howe retired from the firm, having been elected the previous year to represent the Ve- nango district in congress. In 1850 the late F. D. Kinnear became a part- ner and until the dissolution of the partnership in 1868, this firm was prom- inent in the law business in this part of the state. Mr. Myers continued the successful practice of his profession until about 1873, when he retired from court business, though he frequently gave counsel and assistance in difficult cases for several years later.
Few members of the Venango bar possessed in so marked a degree all the elements of the successful jurist as Mr. Myers. A strong, vigorous, and naturally fine legal mind, strengthened by a profound knowledge of Black- stone, and well versed in the principles of his profession, made him an author- ity on all intricate and technical points of law; and, recognized as such, he was frequently consulted, not only by members of the bar but by judges on the bench as well. His written opinions were couched in the most vigorous English with no useless verbiage, and as an advocate he was clear, forcible, and logical rather than ornate and eloquent. Slow in arriving at conclu- sions and careful in probing to the bottom all questions and cases submitted . to his consideration, his opinions were always well fortified with proper au- thorities, tenaciously adhered to, and seldom relinquished. Mr. Myers had positive political convictions, and for many years was a leading anti-slavery Whig, and later a firm adherent of the Republican party. He took an active part in the campaigns of 1849 and 1850, spoke for Scott in 1852, and in 1856 he was the Republican candidate for congress in what was known as the "wild cat district," making the race against a hopelessly large Dem- ocratic majority, which he succeeded in greatly reducing.
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As a citizen Mr. Myers was public spirited and progressive, always alive to the interests of the city, with whose welfare his thirty-eight years of pro- fessional life was so closely identified. In his religious convictions he ad- hered to the creed of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was a member of that denomination until his death, which occurred in Franklin on the 20th day of October, 1885. His wife is still living, having reached the ripe old age of seventy-three years. The following are the names of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Myers, viz. : Samuel B., attorney, of Franklin; James P. (deceased); Emily, deceased wife of John H. Lee; Frank (deceased); Lauretta, wife of J. D. Chadwick, attorney, of Franklin; Ella (deceased); James B., in the auditor general's office at Harrisburg; Wilbur F., physi- cian at Edenburg, Clarion county, and Charles A., a lawyer of Franklin.
Edwin C. Wilson, of Steubenville, Ohio, came to Venango county in 1840 and was admitted to the bar November 25th of the same year. He read law in his native state and had practiced for some years before his removal to Franklin. Soon after his admission to the Venango bar he effected a co- partnership with Judge John S. McCalmont, with whom he practiced some time, and later moved to Erie, thence to Philadelphia, in which city his death occurred. Mr. Wilson won recognition among the legal gentlemen of this county more by his oratory and skill in the examination of witnesses than by a profound knowledge of the profession.
N. R. Bushnell, one of the oldest members of the Venango bar now liv- ing, is a native of Trumbull county, Ohio, and son of Daniel and Polly Bushnell. He was born August 24, 1817, read law in the office of John Hutchins, of Warren, Ohio, and was admitted to the practice in Venango county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1843. For some years he enjoyed a fairly remunerative business, but in 1861 retired from the profession and engaged in other pursuits. He is now spending the evening of an honorable life in his quiet and retired home in Franklin.
Judge John S. McCalmont, now of Washington city, where he is still prosecuting the duties of his profession, may be classed as one of the early attorneys of Franklin, where he studied law and was admitted to practice November 25, 1844. As Mr. McCalmont is one of the lawyers who have filled the judgeship in this district, a sketch of him will be found in that connection.
Robert S. McCormick, who, excepting Mr. Bushnell, is the oldest living member of the local bar, was born in Franklin on the 14th day of August, 1822, and is a son of Dominic and Elizabeth (Kinnear) McCormick. He re- ceived his literary training in the schools of the town and having early mani- fested a decided taste for the legal profession, entered upon a course of reading in 1843 under the instruction of Howe & Myers, in whose office he remained until his admission to the bar on the 27th day of August, 1845. He began the practice of his profession in partnership with James K. Kerr,
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with whom he was associated for some years, and later served as district at- torney, the duties of which office he discharged in a manner creditable to himself and satisfactory to all concerned. After practicing continuously until 1866 Mr. McCormick was elected associate judge of Venango county and served as such until 1871, taking an active interest in the meantime in the municipal affairs of Franklin. He prepared the city charter, was in- strumental in securing its adoption, and since 1881 has been serving as city attorney. Mr. McCormick has always been a close observer and careful stu- dent. He is a sound lawyer, and though now in his sixty-eighth year is still actively engaged in the duties of his profession. He was married in June, 1846, to Julia A., daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Dubbs, who has borne him three children: Norman H., Clinton, and W. F., all of whom were members of the Venango bar.
Samuel Riddle was born in Scrubgrass township, Venango county, on the 4th day of August, 1821, read law in Franklin with James R. Snowden, and was admitted to the bar some time in the forties. He was a man of good mind, well versed in the principles of his profession, and excelled more as an office lawyer than an advocate. His practice, confined principally to civil business, was fair, and had not his career been terminated by an early death, he doubtless would have made an enviable record in the profession. He died in Franklin on the 28th day of May, 1853.
Francis D. Kinnear was a native of Franklin, born December 2, 1821, and a son of William Kinnear, a pioneer of Venango county. In August, 1843, he began his law studies under Thomas S. Espy, and a few months after entered the office of Howe & Myers. He was admitted to practice August 27, 1845, and continued in the active duties of the profession throughout the balance of his life. He was also connected with the early banking interests of Franklin, as president of the Venango Bank. Pos- sessing a shrewd, well-balanced mind, and being an indefatigable worker, his peculiar strength lay in his thorough preparation of all cases intrusted to his charge. He was a man of singular ingenuity in the profession, a diligent student, and while confining his attention to no particular phrase of the law, succeeded best in litigation growing out of land titles, real estate, and other business in which technical points were conspicuous feat- ures. He died in Franklin, July 4, 1885.
General Alfred B. McCalmont, for many years a leading lawyer of Franklin, was a son of Judge Alexander McCalmont, and was born in Venango county on the 28th day of April, 1825. He was for one term a student in Allegheny College, later attended Dickinson College, from which institution he graduated in 1844, and immediately thereafter began the study of law at Franklin, in the office of his father, at that time president judge of the eighteenth judicial district. May 25th, 1847, he was admitted to the bar, and immediately after located in Pittsburgh, where his brilliant
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oratory soon won for him a fair share of practice. In 1853 he became asso- ciated with T. J. Keenan in the newspaper business in that city, and in 1855 was appointed prothonotary of the supreme court of Pennsylvania. He resigned this position in May, 1858, to accept an appointment in the office of Jeremiah S. Black, who was at the time attorney general of the United States in the cabinet of James Buchanan. Subsequently he was appointed assistant attorney general, the duties of which he discharged dur- ing the continuance of that administration, and then returned to his home in Franklin and resumed the practice of law, in partnership with the late James K. Kerr. In 1862 he entered the army, as lieutenant colonel of the One Hundred and Forty-Second regiment, Pennsylvania volunteers, and in the fall of 1864 became colonel of the Two Hundred and Eighth regiment, by way of indirect promotion. He served during the remainder of the war, commanded a brigade in the assault upon Petersburg, and in recognition of his gallantry in this and other bloody engagements, received from the secretary of war the brevet rank of brigadier general. On retiring from the service he again resumed the practice of his profession in Franklin, and con- tinued the same until his death, which occurred on the 7th day of May, 1874. General McCalmont will always be remembered as one of the brill- iant lawyers and gallant soldiers of Venango county. He possessed in a marked degree the elements of the orator, and was at his best before the jury, where his appeals in behalf of his client were frequently powerful and eloquent.
He was married April 25, 1853, to Miss Sarah F. Evans, of Pittsburgh. Three children were born of this union, viz .: Lydia C., deceased wife of Thomas McGough, attorney of Franklin; Sarah L., wife of W. U. Lewis- son, of Boston, and Robert, a lawyer of Franklin.
General McCalmont can justly be classed among the prominent leaders of the Democratic party in this section of the state, and was its choice for congress from this district in 1868. In 1872 he was the choice of the Democracy of western Pennsylvania for the gubernatorial nomination, which, however, fell to Charles R. Buckalew. He was a very social gentleman, whole-souled and generous to a fault, and was one of the most admired and popular lawyers of the Venango bar.
S. P. McCalmont is one of the oldest lawyers now practicing in the courts of Venango county, where he commenced his legal career nearly forty- three years ago. He is a native of Sugar Creek township, Venango county, born September 12, 1823, and a son of John McCalmont, who came to this county with his parents in 1803. His education was limited to the country subscription schools of his boyhood days and a few months at college. He read law with McCalmont & Wilson, and was admitted to the bar November 25, 1847. He went to California in April, 1850, and spent three years on the Pacific slope. Returning to Franklin he resumed practice at this bar,
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and has here since steadfastly remained at the post of his professional duties. In 1855 he was elected on the Republican ticket to the legislature, and twice re-elected. In 1874 he assisted in organizing the Prohibition party in Venango county, and is to-day one of the leading Prohibitionists in west- ern Pennsylvania.
Contemporary with General McCalmont was his law partner, Colonel James K. Kerr, who studied for his profession under the able instruction of David Derickson, of Meadville, and became a member of the Venango bar on the 24th of May, 1848. Mr. Kerr was essentially a lawyer, and as such early took high rank among the successful attorneys of Venango county, and in time became one of the well known jurists in the western part of the state. He was a man of fine presence, charming manners, ready and quick at repartee, a capital story teller, and one of the most eloquent and mag- netic speakers in western Pennsylvania. His fine social qualities made him popular with all classes of people, and his well known abilities in his pro- fession made him the trusted attorney in much of the litigation of the county during the period of his residence in Franklin, Mr. Kerr was a native of Crawford county, born in the city of Titusville. He married in Franklin Eliza Jane McCormick, sister of Robert S. McCormick, who died at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1889. In 1861 he entered the army as major of the Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and after an honorable career as a soldier resigned on account of failing health. After a few more years' practice at the Venango bar he removed to Pittsburgh, where he died February 28, 1876.
William H. Lamberton, of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, where he had prepared himself for the legal profession, became a resident of Franklin some time in the forties, and a few years later was elected to the office of district attorney. His knowledge of the law, while not profound, was quite thorough, and as a practitioner he enjoyed the reputation of being honest, reliable, and upright in his dealings with clients-traits which won him a fair share of the legal business. He died in Franklin, May 21, 1869, aged forty-nine years.
L. D. Rodgers was admitted to the bar on the 24th day of February, 1851, and after practicing a short time thereafter, removed to Brookville, but subsequently returned to Franklin and resumed practice, Mr. Rodgers was a fluent talker, and did a fair business during his residence in this county.
Charles Raymond read law in Franklin, and was admitted to the bar February 24, 1851. He practiced to a limited extent in the courts of Ve- nango, and afterward located in Minnesota, thence returned to Franklin, where his death subsequently occurred.
Thompson Allison, a fair lawyer and at one time district attorney, was also admitted to the bar in February, 1851, and practiced in the courts of Venango and other counties until his death several years later. He was a
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man of good mind and excellent character, possessed a fair knowledge of the law, and in his practice was looked upon as an impartial lawyer and reliable counsellor.
Samuel Plumer, since 1869 president of the First National Bank of Franklin, has been a member of the bar for nearly thirty-eight years. He was born in Franklin April 2, 1830, and is the eldest son of the late Arnold Plumer. He received his primary education in Franklin, afterward attend- ing the academy at Jamestown, New York, two years, and also two years at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania. He read law with Judge Alexander McCalmont, was admitted to the bar July 7, 1852, and imme- diately formed a partnership with Edwin C. Wilson. The firm of Wilson & Plumer lasted three years, and in the autumn of 1855 Mr. Plumer went to Minnesota, where he continued to practice until the spring of 1857, when he was appointed by President Buchanan register of the land office for southern Minnesota, and served in that capacity until the accession of Lin- coln to the presidency, when he was removed to make place for a supporter of the latter administration. Returning to Franklin he became associated in the practice of the law with James K. Kerr, and he continued to prose- cute the duties of his profession until his father's death in 1869, when he was elected president of the First National Bank and has ever since filled that position and devoted his whole attention to its affairs. Mr. Plumer has been twice married, and has two sons: L. M., a lawyer of Pittsburgh, and A. G., connected with the banking house of Jamison & Company, of Philadelphia. Politically Mr. Plumer has always been a stanch supporter of the Democratic party and is one of the best known business men of his native city.
Henry W. Lamberton, a brother of William H. Lamberton, was ad- mitted to practice November 22, 1852. He enjoyed a fair practice and was a careful, painstaking lawyer. After a few years he removed to Minnesota, where he now resides.
Robert Riddle read law with his brother Samuel and was admitted to practice January 24, 1853. After a short stay at Franklin he removed to Kansas.
Christopher Heydrick, one of the oldest and most prominent members of the present bar, was born in French Creek township, Venango county, May 19, 1830, the oldest son of Charles H. Heydrick, an early settler of French Creek. He was reared upon the old homestead in that town- ship, was educated in the public schools, at Grand River Institute, Ohio, and at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the last mentioned institution in 1852. He read law in Kentucky, was there licensed to practice, and was admitted to the Venango bar on the 27th of January, 1854. Mr. Heydrick immediately commenced practice at Frank- lin, and for the past thirty-six years has practiced extensively in the courts
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of Venango, Mercer, Crawford, Warren, McKean, Forest, Clarion, and But- ler counties, and in the circuit court of the United States for the western district of Pennsylvania, also in the supreme court of the state.
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