USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 26
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 26
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 26
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Sheldon Norton, appointed by Governor Findlay, February, 1818, prothonotary and clerk of court.
John K. Woodward, appointed by Governor Findlay, February, 1818, register and recorder.
Thomas Mercdith, appointed by Governor Heister, February, 1821, to all the offices.
John R. Woodward, appointed by Governor Shultz, February, 1824, prothonotary and clerk of court; died April, 1825.
James Manning, appointed by Governor Shultz, February, 1824, register and recorder.
Solomon Moore, appointed by Governor Shultz, May, 1825, prothonotary and clerk of court; reap- pointed by Governor Wolf, January, 1830, prothono- tary and clerk of court ; died December, 1831.
James Manning, appointed by Governor Wolf, January, 1830, register.
Isaac P. Olmstead, appointed by Governor Wolf, January, 1830, recorder.
George B. Wescott, appointed by Governor Wolf, January, 1832, prothionotary and clerk; reappointed by Governor Wolf, January, 1833, prothonotary, clerk and register. 16
Isaac P. Olmstead, appointed by Governor Wolf, January 1833, recorder.
Paul S. Preston, appointed by Governor Ritner, Jan- uary 1836, to all the offices.
Leonard Graves, appointed by Governor Porter, January 1839, prothonotary and clerk.
John Belknap, appointed by Governor Porter, Jan- uary, 1839, register and recorder.
(Both of these were to hold their offices until they were filled by election.)
PROTHONOTARIES .- This office became elect- ive in 1839; one person to be prothonotary and clerk of the courts, and another person to be register and recorder, and elected for three years. The subsequent prothonotaries, etc., were:
Leonard Graves, elected in 1839, died August, 1842; Abraham Swart, appointed August 11, 1842, to fill vacancy, re-elected in 1842; Philip G. Goodrich, elected in 1845; Rufus M. Grenell, elected in 1848; John McIntosh, elected in 1851 and 1854; William F. Wood, elected in 1857; John K. Jenkins, elected in 1860; Henry W. Brown, elected in 1863; William H. Ham, elected in 1866; J. J. Curtis, elected in 1869 and 1872; Charles J. Menna, elected in 1875 and 1878; E. R. Gaylord, elected in 1881 and 1884.
COMMISSIONERS.
1803
Joseph Tanner.
1804
Benj. S. Killam.
1805. Samuel Gunsalus.
1806. Daniel Dimmick
} a tie.
1808
Moses Thomas.
1809
George W. Nyce.
1813
Thomas Spangenburg.
1814 Walter Kimble. 1815. Benj. King.
1816
.George Rix.
1817
David Arnold.
1827
Jesse Dix.
1828. George Bush.
1829.
Jeremiah Bennett.
1831
Jiralı Mumford.
1836.
Jacob Faatz.
1837 John Mumford.
1840
Amory Prescott.
1841 Richard Eldred.
1842.
Phineas Howe, Jr.
1843.
Alva W. Norton.
1844. Jonathan Jones.
John S. Atkinson. 1845 ..
1846. Hiram Ledyard.
1847 Charles B. Seaman.
1847 John B. Cole.
1848. Wareham Day, full term.
For two years, Jolin B. Cole.
gre
5.)
tutiou
1790 eople
d
D.
re.
d
n.
er.
Theodore Woodbridge
138
WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES. PENNSYLVANIA.
1849 Ephraim Pullis. 1831
1850.
Ira B. Stone.
1851.
William Oliver.
William N. Fisher.
1852
1853 Ruben R. Purdy.
Jacob L. Keen.
Daniel D. Woodward. 1855
1856
Ezekiel G. Wood.
1857
Squire Whitaker.
1858
Ebenezer R. Jones.
William Hartwell.
Richard Knight.
1860
Richard Henwood.
1861
Patrick Barrett.
1862
Henry Winter.
1863
William Kimble.
1864.
1865
James Brown.
Samuel K. Vail.
1866
1867
Thomas Ferguson.
1868
Thomas Tyner.
1870
George Hittinger.
1871
James B. Eldred.
1872
Sydney N. Bushnell.
1873.
Francis A. Oppelt.
1875 ... Thomas Brown (died 1877, William
1878
John Riefler, William Holbert,
William Hartwell.
John Williams, George W. Kipp,
1881
C. T. Tegler.
1884 ... George W. Simons, John L. Sherwood, Henry Iloff.
REGISTERS AND RECORDERS .- The office of register and recorder, after it became elective in 1839, was thus filled :
1839. John Belknap.
Thomas R. Mumford.
1841
1845
H. B. Beardslee.
James R. Keen. 1848.
Curtis S. Stoddard.
1851
Curtis S. Stoddard.
1854.
William G. Arnold. 1857
William G. Arnold. 1860
1863.
Michael Regan.
Thomas Hawkey.
1866.
1869.
.A. R. Howe.
Charles Menner.
1872
Peter S. Barnes.
1875.
Francis West.
1878
CORONERS.
Jabez Rockwell.
Jonathan Jennings.
1813
1816
Matthias Keen. 1828
Benjamin F. Woodward.
Thomas Lillibridge.
1837.
.Thomas H. Bass.
1840
Jacob L. Keen.
1843.
Maitland A. Bidwell.
1846 Amzi L. Woodward.
1849. Horace Buckland. 1854
1852 Ruel Hoadley.
1855
Elkanah Patmor.
1858
Maitland A. Bidwell.
1861
George Schlager.
1859
1862 .Jacob B. Snyder, unexpired term.
James B. Eldred.
1864
Jacob C. Vetter.
1868
James B. Eldred, unexpired term.
James B. Eldred.
Jacob J. Ohmer. 1871
1872
Elkanah Patmor.
1875.
.Elkanah Patmor.
1878
Elkanalı Patmor.
1881
Elkanah Patmor.
1884
Elkanah Patmor.
AUDITORS.
Martin Boesfield.
1809
Dan Dimmick.
1813
1814
Reuben R. Purdy.
Amos Tyler.
1815.
Jirah Mumford.
1816
Rufus Greenold. 1817
Eldad Atwater.
1827.
Eliphalet Kellogg.
1828
1829
David S. West.
1836
1837
John McIntosh.
1840
William N. Fisher.
.Stephen Price.
1841
James R. Keen.
1842
1843
Edwin Foot.
1844
Oliver Stephenson.
1845.
Alson Gardner.
1846
John Lincoln.
.George A. Starkweather.
1847
William N. Fisher.
1848
1849
Charles B. Seaman.
1850
Pope Bushnell.
1851
Jackson Woodward.
1852 Rufus M. Grennell.
James R. Dickson.
1853
Daniel W. Church.
1854
1855
Ephraim W. Hamlin.
1856
.Amory Prescott, three years.
Lewis M. Sears, two years.
Silas S. Benedict.
1857
1858
Jackson Woodward, three years.
1804.
Pope Bushnell, two years.
1859
Michael Regan, three years.
Henry W. Brown, two years.
1860
Robert A. Smith
1867
1870
Ebenezer R. Jones. 1869
Oliver W. Chapman.
1874.
Holbert appointed to fill unexpired term), George Foote, Francis A. Oppelt.
.Enos Woodward.
1831
James Mumford.
139
WAYNE COUNTY.
1861 Isaac N. Chalker.
1862 Ephraim B. Kimble, full term.
James B. Eldred, one year.
1863 J. N. Wilson, three years.
B. H. Holgate, two years.
1864
Halloway L. Stephens.
1865.
Newman D. Purdy.
James Van Camp.
1866
A. B. Gammell. 1867
1868 Henry K. Stone.
1869. Anderson M. Lancaster.
Orrin A. Reed.
1870
1871
Horace Buckland.
William Weiss.
1872
1873. Andrew J. Price.
1874 .Elbert R. Jones.
1875 Eugene A. Dorflinger, Albert
R. Peck, Phineas G. Goodrich.
1878
.Phineas G. Goodrich, Albert
R. Peck, Hugh A. Lancaster.
1881
.John Gilpin, William
Stephens, John J. Whitaker.
1884 Dwight R. Atkinson, Frank P.
Kimble, George E. Moase.
CHAPTER II.
The Bench and Bar of Wayne County-A General Sketch, with Biographies.1
THE COURTS AND PRESIDENT JUDGES .- The first organization of the courts of Wayne County was made under the Constitution of 1790 and the judiciary act of April 13, 1791. The Constitution established in each county "a eonrt of common pleas, orphans' court, register's court, and a court of quarter sessions of the pcace," and required the Governor to appoint, in each county, not less than three nor more than four judges. It also required a division of the State into circuits, and the appointment, by the Governor, of a president judge of the courts in each circuit. All these judges werc to hold office during good behavior. The judiciary act divided the State into five "dis-
1 Judge Henry Wilson is, in a comprehensive sense, the author of this ample and admirable chapter. The sketches of Earl Wheeler, Wm. H. Dimmick (the elder), Samuel E. Dimmick and F. M. Crane, analytical as well as biograph- ical in character, are from the always able pen of one who knew them all intimately-Francis B. Penniman. Several other biographies have been contributed by various writers.
tricts or circuits," of which the counties of Berks, Northampton, Luzerne and Northum- berland formed the Third. It also required the Governor to appoint "a person of knowledge and integrity, skilled in the laws," in eachı district or eircuit, as president judge of the courts therein, and "a number of other proper persons, not fewer than three, nor more than four," as judges in and for each county ; and it provided that "said president and judges" should "have and execute all and singular the powers, jurisdictions and authorities of judges of the courts of common pleas, judges of the courts of oyer and terminer and general jail delivery, judges of the orphans' courts, and justices of the courts of quarter sessions of the peace, agreeably to the laws and constitution of this commonwealth."
The act of March 21, 1798, ereeting the county of Wayne out of part of Northampton, provided that the new county should have "all and singular the courts, jurisdictions, officers, rights and privileges " to which other counties were entitled under the Constitution and laws of the commonwealth. It placed the county in the Third Judicial District, made the president judge of that district the president of its courts, and provided that the courts should be held at the house occupied by George Buchanan, in Milford, until the erection of a court-house.
Hon. Jacob Rush was then president judge of the Third District, having been appointed August 13, 1791. He never sat, however, in Wayne, but for eight years after the erection of the county its courts were held by the associate judges.
By act of March 20, 1799, a Circuit Court was established, to be held in each county except. Philadelphia, by a justice of the Supreme Court, instead of the courts of Nisi Prius then held by justices of the Supreme Court. Be- sides its original jurisdiction, the Circuit Court had jurisdiction of canses, civil and criminal, removed to it from the County Courts. In March, 1809, this court was abolished.
The record shows that the first court in Wayne County was held September 10, 1798, at the house of George Buchanan (spelled also, in the record, Buckhannan and Bowhannan),
140
WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA,
in Milford, " Before Samuel Preston, John Ryerson, Samuel C. Secly and John Biddis, Esquires, Justices of the said court." The preamble and the first, second and third sections of the act erecting the county were read ; also, the commissions of the judges, respectively, in the order above named, as first, second, third and fourth associate judges, and of John Brod- head as prothonotary and clerk of the courts, recorder of deeds and register of wills. Jabez Rockwell was appointed "Cryer of the Court ;" four attorneys were admitted to the bar; and rules were adopted for the regulation of prac- tice. No venire having been issued, there was neither grand or traverse jury. Some business was transacted in the Quarter Sessions. Eight recognizances for appearance, on various charges, had been returned, one of which was forfeited and the others renewed. A place was designated for the confinement of debtors and other prison- ers. Fourteen persons were recommended to the Governor for licenses to keep public honses, and four applications therefor were rejected. A draft laying out the northern part of the connty into six townships was approved, in compliance with "a petition subscribed with twenty-five signatures." The townships were named Buckingham, Mount Pleasant, Damascus, Palmyra, Canaan and Lackawaxen. Commis- sioners were appointed to run and mark the lines, and constables and supervisors of the new townships were appointed. A vacancy in the office of constable of Middle Smithfield was filled. An order was made directing repairs on the bridge at Milford. These proceedings com- pletcd, the court adjourned September 12th.
Judge Preston was a Quaker. On the other hand, Judge Seely had been a lieutenaut in the Revolutionary army ; and his judicial commission was followed, March 24, 1798, by a commission from Governor Mifflin as " Brigadier General of the brigade composed of the militia of the county of Wayne," for the term of seven years. Thus peace and war were represented side by side on the bench when the courts of Wayne County were first opened.
Daniel Stroud, the first attorney admitted, seems to have had personal as well as profes- sional reasons for attendance. Among the
recognizances returned was one for his appear- ance to answer a charge of assault and battery on David Litch. At the next term an in- dictment was found against him; he pleaded "guilty, with a protestation, etc.," and was sentenced to pay a fine of one cent and the costs. This was the first penalty ever imposed in the criminal courts of Wayne County.
The bench, also, had its personal difficulties. The first writ of fieri facias issued out of the newly-created court was against Samucl C. Seely, the third associate judge, December 27, 1798, for a debt of fifty-two pounds.
At September Term, 1799, Samuel Preston, the first associate judge, found himself in hot water. An attempt was made to indict him, in which the prime movers were Samuel Stauntou, of Mt. Pleasant, and Thomas Shields, of Da- mascus. Their hostility grew out of the loca- tion of a road in those townships. Judge Preston, in a letter to Henry Drinker, thus describes their efforts, and the method by which they were defeated,-
"Staunton was very busy for two days. He haunted the Grand Jury incessantly, importuning them to present me to the State's attorney for a Bill, indicting me for living with a woman without being married, and for the Orphans' Court to appoint trustees to bind out my children, lest I might use them ill and they become a public charge. Several of my friends in the Grand Jury informed me, from time to time, of his pressing solicitations, and that it had no effect with the majority of them, altho' some few of his party, that I could name, were violently warm for it. He then tried to have me indicted for writing an in- famous libel, as he termed it, in which he was much nearer obtaining a presentment. It was that, in a letter which I had written on electioneering subjects, I had quoted a passage from ' Dallas' Reports,' which they said proved Mckean had condemned John Rob- erts contrary to law. I took the Book, went in among the Grand Jury, read to them the same in that as in the letter, then told them they must first indict Dal- las for publishing and Mckean for recommending its being read, before they did me ; that the duty of my office required that I should endeavor to disseminate among them a knowledge of the laws and Decisions of Courts, more especially such as were there recom- mended by the man who, for his virtue and wisdom, they had selected for Governor."
The charge of " living with a woman without being married " arose from the fact that Judge Preston and wife were married according to the
-
141
WAYNE COUNTY.
ceremony-or, rather, lack of ceremony-prac- ticed by the Quakers. The judge's brethren on the beneh, also, seem to have been involved in the crusade against him, for he adds,-
" It was a Court of Great Commotion. There was every wrong thing tried to either stigmatize or put me off the Bench. All the other three Judges attend- ed for that purpose, and they intended to have had twenty-three Grand Jurymen, in order to obtain a ma- jority of twelve against me; that I clearly foresaw. Objected to S. Staunton; he had served the Court before. John Brink and C. Jayne, Esq., the other trustees [appointed to select a county seat ], prayed to have him dismissed to join their Board. There were twenty left to serve and they divided, eleven in my favor and nine against me."
Thus the judge escaped for the time.
At December Term, 1799, Jonathan Butler, a justice of the peace, was indicted for "an assault and battery on the body of John Biddis, Esquire," the fourth associate judge, but was acquitted.
At September Term, 1800, the difficulties in which Judge Preston had become involved culminated in two indictments against him. The first charged the Quaker judge with an assault and battery on Thomas Shields. He was convicted on this, but at the 'next term a new trial was ordered. The case was then removed to the Circuit Court, and he was there convicted of an assanlt, and fined twenty dollars. The second indictment was for libels published in July, 1799, on "Thomas Mckean, Esquire, a good, peaceable and worthy citizen of the commonwealth, then Chief Justice, and now Governor thereof." In politics, Judge Preston was a Federalist and Mckean a Republican; and the alleged libels were contained in two letters written while the latter was a candidate for Governor. The first letter charged that Mckean "was born in Ireland, and is now between seventy and eighty years of age, infirm, and addicted to liquor to great excess." The second referred to the case of John Roberts (1 Dallas 39), who was tried for treason before Chief Justice Mckean in September, 1778, convicted, partly on his own confession, and executed; it declared the admission of the prisoner's confession contrary to law; and strongly opposed Mckean's election-" For, as
David said, he has blood in his shoes;" -- " Meaning," averred the indictment, "that the said Thomas had taken the life of a man un- justly." The indictment, in this case, was signed by Joseph B. Mckean, attorney-gen- eral, instead of by the deputy for the county, as was customary. At December Term, 1800, it was removed to the Circuit Court, and the defendant was held in five hundred dollars bail to appear there -- an unusually heavy recog- nizance for that day, and probably required because the offense was scandalum magnatum. Nothing more, however, appears to have been done in the case.
At December Term, 1800, "Samuel C. Seely, Esq.," the third associate judge, was indicted for "an assault and battery on the body of Abraham Mulford, Esq.," a justice of the peace; and an indictment was found against Judge Seely and Jonathan Butler for " con- spiracy against Hugh Ross, Esq.," an attorney. The latter case apparently grew out of an in- dictment for barratry preferred against Mr. Ross at the preceding term, but returned ignoramus, and was complicated by an indict- ment against Mr. Ross and Abraham Cole for conspiracy against Jonathan Butler, preferred at December Term, but returned ignorumus. Judge Seely was also indicted at February Term, 1801, for keeping a tippling-house. At May Term, 1801, he was tried on the indictment for assault and battery, and acquitted. At the same term the indictment for conspiracy was removed to the Circuit Court; and among the witnesses placed under recognizance to appear and testify against Judge Seely were his associates on the
bench, Judges Preston and Ryerson. The final result, in the case removed to the Circuit Court, does not appear. On the indictment for keeping a tippling- house, nothing was done beyond holding the defendant to bail in sixty dollars for his appearance. The difficulty between the judge and the attorney, however, would seem to have been amicably settled not long afterward, for at February Term, 1803, Mr. Ross was one of a committee that examined Judge Seely as an applicant for admission to practice as an attorney, and reported him as duly qualified, aud May 13, 1803, the judge,
142
WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.
having resigned his commission, was, on Mr. Ross' motion, admitted to the bar.
Even George Bowhanan, the man in whose house the courts were first held, did not escape trouble. In the summer of 1800 he was charged with forgery, and held to bail in sixty dollars for his appearance at the September Sessions. The matter ended, however, with the failure of the proseentor, John Brink, to appear when called.
The courts were held in Milford at September and December Terms, 1798, and February Term, 1799. By act of April 1, 1799, the place for holding them was fixed at Wilsonville, until a suitable spot for a county-seat should be selected, " within four miles of the Dyberry Forks of the Lackawaxen River," and public buildings erected. Accordingly, at May Term, 1799, the courts were held at Wilsonville, and for nearly three years they remained there. By act of April 5, 1802, they were transferred to Milford, to be held there for three years and no longer. At May Term, 1802, therefore, the courts were again held at Milford. Upon the expiration of the three years, Bethany had been finally fixed on as the county-seat and public buildings erected. The first court was held there May 6, 1805, and the court-room not being quite ready for occupancy, the court sat for that day in a front room of Major Jason Torrey's residence, the judges occupying seats placed on a carpenter's work-bench. Thus " the bench," on that occa- sion, had a literal as well as a technical meaning.
Thus far, the business of the courts, generally, was such as required a conscientious exercise of common sense, rather than high legal attain- ments, on the part of the judges. The term usually occupied from two to four days. But few civil suits were brought; the criminal matters were seldom of a serious character, the greater number of indictments being for intru- sion, forcible entry and detainer, assault and battery, petty larceny, and keeping tippling- houses ; and the more important suits were generally tried in the Circuit Court. As popu- lation increased, however, and with it litigation, the need of a law judge in the county courts became more and more apparent, and at length measures were taken to supply the want.
By act of February 24, 1806, the State was divided into ten judicial districts ; Berks, North- ampton and Wayne forming the Third. This act also provided for reducing the number of associate judges in each county to two, by leaving vacancies, beyond that number, unfilled.
March 1, 1806, Gov. Mckean commissioned Hon. John Spayd president judge of the Third District. Judge Spayd presided in Wayne, for the first time, May 12, 1806, and for the last time, at December Term, 1808.
July 6, 1809, Gov. Snyder commissioned Hon. Robert Porter president judge of the Third District. Judge Porter presided in Wayne, for the first time, September 4, 1809, and for the last time, at August Term, 1812.
By act of March 24, 1812, Bradford, Tioga, Wayne and Susquehanna Counties were erected into the Eleventh Judicial District, and the Gov- ernor was required to appoint a president judge for the district, the appointment to take effect after the second Tuesday of the following Octo- ber. Gov. Snyder, October 16, 1812, commis- sioned Hon. John B. Gibson president judge of the district. Judge Gibson presided in Wayne, for the first time, February 1, 1813, and for the'last time, at January Term, 1816. June 27, 1816, he resigned, and on the same day was commissioned by Gov. Snyder a justice of the Supreme Court.
Meantime, by act of March 12, 1813, Li- zerne was added to the Eleventh District; and by act of March 26, 1814, Pike County was erected out of the southern portion of Wayne, and placed in the same district.
June 28, 1816, Gov. Snyder commissioned Hon. Thomas Burnside president judge of the Eleventh District. Judge Burnside presided in Wayne, for the first time, August 26, 1816, and for the last time, at January Term, 1818. July 6, 1818, he resigned. More than a quarter of a century later-January 2, 1845-he was com- missioned by Gov. Shunk a justice of the Supreme Court.
By act of February 25, 1818, Susquehanna, Bradford and Tioga Connties were erccted into the Thirteenth District, from and after the first Mon- day of July following. This left the Eleventh District composed of Luzerne, Wayne and Pike.
143
WAYNE COUNTY.
July 7, 1818, Hon. David Scott was com- missioned by Governor Findlay president judge of the Eleventh District. He first pre- sided in Wayne County August 24, 1818.
No further change was made in the district for eighteen years, nor in the president judge- ship for nearly twenty years.
By act of April 1, 1836, Monroe County was erected out of portions of Northampton and Pike, and placed in the Eleventh Judicial District.
Judge Scott presided in Wayne, for the last time, at January Term, 1838.
By the revision and amendment of the Con- stitution, completed February 22, 1838, and adopted by the people at the election in October following, the terms of judges of the Supreme Court were fixed at fifteen years, of law judges of the lower courts at ten years, and of associate judges at five years; and their appointment required confirmation by the Senate.
The term of Judge Scott, by the provisions of the amended Constitution relating to judges then in commission, would expire February 27, 1839. His hearing was becoming im- paired, and he decided to anticipate the expira- tion of his term by resigning. March 17, 1838, he sent his resignation to Governor Ritner, accompanied with a request that the vacancy should be filled by the appointment of Hon. Nathaniel B. Eldred, then president judge of the Eighteenth District. The Governor promised to make this appointment, if Judge Eldred would resign from the Eighteenth early enough to be commissioned in time to hold the April term of the courts in the Eleventh Dis- trict, commencing April 2d. Receiving, how- ever, neither resignation or other communica- tion on the subject from Judge Eldred, after waiting until April 7th, the Governor on that day commissioned Hon. William Jessup, of Susquehanna County, president judge of the Eleventh District. Judge Jessup first presided in Wayne County April 16, 1838.
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