History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 27

Author: Mathews, Alfred, 1852-1904. 4n
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co.
Number of Pages: 1438

USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 27
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 27
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 27

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

By act of April 12, 1840, taking effect from and after the 1st of the following January, Luzerne was transferred from the Eleventh Dis- trict to the Thirteenth, and Susquehanna from the Thirteenth to the Eleventh. Hon. John

N. Conyngham then presided in the Thirteenth, and by this transposition the residences of Judges Jessup and Conyngham were placed within their respective districts.

During Judge Jessup's term the county-seat was removed from Bethany to Honesdale. The act for this purpose was approved February 15, 1841. The erection of public buildings occupied upward of two years, and the first court was held in Honesdale September 4, 1843.

By act of April 10, 1844, Monroe was detached from the Eleventh, and united with Carbon and Schuylkill to form the Twenty- first District ; leaving the Eleventh composed of Susquehanna, Wayne and Pike.

By act of April 5, 1849, Wayne, Pike, Monroe and Carbon were erected into the Twenty-second District, and the Governor was required to appoint a president judge for the new district. Governor Johnston thereupon appointed Hon. Nathaniel B. Eldred to this position, his commission bearing date April 6, 1849.

In 1850 a Constitutional amendment was adopted, making the judiciary elective; fixing the term of president judge at ten years from the first Monday of December following the election, and that of associate judge at five years; and vacating the commissions of all judges holding by appointment on the first Monday of December, 1851.

At the first election, held in October, 1851, Judge Eldred was chosen president judge of the Twenty-second District without opposition. In April, 1853, he resigned, to accept the appoint- ment of naval officer in the Philadelphia cus- tom-house.

A succession of contests for the judgeship followed, carried on mainly within the lines of the Democratic party, to which all the competi- tion belonged, which was not set at rest until the general election in 1855.

For the appointment to fill the vacancy caused by Judge Eldred's resignation, the most promi- nent candidate was Win. H. Dimmick, of Wayne. Wm. Bigler was then Governor. In 1846, when Mr. Bigler and Mr. Dimmick were members of the State Senate, Mr. Bigler was

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

the Democratic cauens nominee for Speaker. Mr. Dimmick affected to support him, but finally united with other disaffected Democrats and accomplished his defeat. This circumstance was recalled when, seven years later, Mr. Dim- mick became an applicant for an appointment in the gift of Mr. Bigler. A brother of Mr. Dimmick, also-Milo M. Dimmick, of Monroc -came forward as a candidate. Giving as the reason for his action an unwillingness to decide between the two brothers, the Governor, April 29, 1853, appointed his personal friend, George R. Barrett, a comparatively young lawyer of his own (Clearfield) county. The appointment was received most ungraciously, the prevailing sentiment being in favor of the selection of a judge from among the bar of the district. Per- sonally, however, Judge Barrett made a very favorable impression, and during the year laid the foundation of a popularity that bore fruit later.

As the election approached, the opposition ' on the part of leading Democrats led Judge Barrett to announce his purpose not to be a candidate. At the County Conventions Wayne declared for Wm. H. Dimmiek, while Pike, Monroe and Carbon pronounced in favor of his brother, Milo M. Dimmick. There was, however, a formidable opposition to the latter throughout the district, and his opponents in- troduced James M. Porter, of Easton, as a candidate. September 20th the "regular" Democratic Judicial Conference met at Strouds- bnrg, and nominated Milo M. Dimmick. On the same day, another Judicial Conference was held in the same town, by representatives of the elements in Wayne, Pike and Monroe, hostile to Mr. Dimmick, at which Mr, Porter was nominated. At the polls Mr. Dimmick re- ceived a majority of 465 in Carbon and 185 in Monroe; but the scale was turned in favor of his competitor by a majority of 966 in Wayne and 28 in Pike, giving Mr. Porter the election by a majority of 344.

In the spring of 1855, an attack of paralysis having unfitted him for the further discharge of his official duties, Judge Porter resigned. To fill the vacancy, Gov. Pollock, March 23, 1855, commissioned Hon. Thomas S. Bell, of Chester

County, formerly a justice of the Supreme Court. Though Judge Bell was a distinguished jurist, and Hon. George W. Woodward, then a justice of the Supreme Court and a leading Democrat, vouched for his fealty to the Demo- cratic party, his appointment was, for local reasons, qnite as unacceptable as that of Judge Barrett had been.

Early in August, 1855, Judge Barrett an- nounced himself as a candidate for the judge- ship. In the Judicial Conference he was nominated by the votes of Wayne, Monroe and Carbon. Judge Bell received the vote of Pike, and was soon afterward led to declare himself an independent candidate. He received, how- ever, but a slender support, and Judge Barrett was elected by a majority of about three thou- sand. It was nincteen years before another contest for the office took place at the polls.

In 1865 Judge Barrett was re-elected, without opposition. He had, however, never removed his family from Clearfield, and, thongh claiming a nominal residence in Carbon County, to meet the requirements of the law, he seldom spent more time within the district than was necessary for the discharge of his official duties. This created much dissatisfaction, and, upon receiving the re-nomination in 1865, he declared his in- tention of complying with the law by taking up his residence in the district. He never did this, however; and his attachment to his home in Clearfield proved so strong that, rather than abandon it, he at length resigned the judgeship. This occurred early in 1870, and he was at once re-commissioned to fill the vacancy caused by his own resignation, until the election of his successor.

In September, 1870, Samuel S. Dreher, of Stroudsburg, was nominated by the Democratic Judicial Conference. The Republicans, also, supported him, and he was elected without opposition.

In 1873, the Constitutional Convention hav- ing adopted, in the article on the judiciary, a provision making separate judicial districts of counties having a population of forty thousand, and the population of Wayne and Pike being somewhat in excess of this number, the project of erecting these two counties into a separate

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WAYNE COUNTY.

district was broached. But Judge Dreher was held in such high esteem, and the uncertainty as to who might succeed him was such, that this measure at first received little support. At the December Term of court in Wayne, however, Judge Dreher, calling the members of the bar informally together, assured them that he should not view it as in any sense a reflection on him- self should they desire a division of the district, and expressed his wish that they should feel no constraint on the subject, so far as it might affect him. The new Constitution was soon afterward adopted, and by the judicial appor- tionment act of April 9, 1874, Wayne and Pike were erected into the Twenty-second District, and Monroe and Carbon into the Forty-third. Judge Dreher decided to remain in the Forty- third, and accordingly retained the president judgeship of that district, as provided by the Constitution. The president judgeship of the Twenty-second District should then have been filled by appointment until the beginning of the new judicial term, which the new Constitution had fixed at ten years from the first Monday of January. But the bar was divided on the sub- ject, and several candidates were presented. Unwilling to make a selection among them, Governor Hartranft made no appointment, and Judge Dreher continued to perform the duties of the office until the close of the judicial year.

In 1874 another contest for the judgeship arose, which was conducted mainly on party lines. The Democrats of the district were unable to unite on a candidate; Hon. Wm. H. Dimmick (the younger) being presented by Wayne, and Hon. Daniel M. Van Auken by Pike, and each county insisting on the nomina- tion of its candidate. During the deadlock between the two counties, Hon. Frederick M. Crane, a Democrat, of Wayne, entered the field as an independent candidate, with a large sup- port, chiefly from his own party. Meantime the Republicans of both counties nominated Charles P. Waller, of Wayne. On the 13th of October, just three weeks previous to the elec- tion, Mr. Dimmick withdrew, and the Demo- cratic Judicial Conference thereupon nominated Mr. Van Auken as the candidate of the party. The contest being thus between three candidates,

Mr. Waller received a plurality of the votes cast, and was duly commissioned for the ensu- ing term.

The vote in the district was as follows:

Waller.

Crane.

Van Auken.

Wayne

2377

1770

530

Pike

204

406

716

2581

2176

1246

Judge Waller died August 18, 1882. August 28, 1882, Gov. Hoyt commissioned Hon. Henry M. Seely to fill the vacancy ; the Republican members of the bar having united in recom- mending him, while the Democratic members, . for the most part, declined to act in the matter. The vacancy having occurred within three months of the general election in October fol- lowing, Judge Seely was commissioned until the first Monday of January, 1884.

In 1883 the Republicans of the district opened the canvass by nominating Judge Seely by acclamation. The Democrats again encoun- tered the difficulty they had experienced in 1874, Wayne presenting George S. Purdy, and Pike again declaring in favor of Hon. Daniel M. Van Auken. The result was a split in the Judicial Conference; both candidates remained in the field, and Judge Seely was elected by a plurality of the votes cast.

The vote in the district was as follows:

Seely.

Purdy.

Van Auken.

Wayne

...

2694

2820

124

Pike

516

129

865

3210

2949

989

THE ASSOCIATE JUDGES .- March 22, 1798, Gov. Mifflin commissioned Samuel Preston "to be one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas in and for the said county of Wayne; hereby giving and granting unto you, as first Associate Judge, full right and title to have and execute all and singular the powers, jurisdictions and authorities, and to receive and enjoy all and singular the lawful emoluments of a Judge of the said court," ctc. The Governor also commissioned John Ryerson, Samuel C. Seely and John Biddis, on the same day and in the same form, except that their powers were given and granted unto them as

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

" second," "third" and "fourth " associate judges, respectively, in the order named.

The commissions of their successors, for forty years, were in the same form, except that the powers of each were given and granted to him "as Associate Judge," no designation as to seniority being necessary. Since the Constitu- tional revision of 1838 the ineumbent of the office has been commissioned simply "to be Associate Judge " of the court, etc.

March 30, 1803, Judge Ryerson was removed from office by Gov. Mckean, and March 31, 1803, Richard' Brodhead was commissioned in his place.

May 13, 1803, Judge Seely resigned, and on the same day was admitted to practice as an attorney. No appointment of a successor was made.

Some time subsequent to February Term, 1804, Judge Preston resigned ; and April 3, 1804, Gov. Mckean commissioned John Brink as his successor.

Upon the retirement of Judge Preston, and the appointment of Judge Brink, all three of the associate judges were residents of Milford or its vicinity.

Judge Preston, after leaving the bench, souglit to become a member of the bar, but was less successful than his late associate, Judge Seely. May 8, 1805, a motion for his admission as "an attorney to the Barr" was made by George Griffin, and a committee was appointed to ex- amine him. The next day, "on report of said committee, the Court delay further proccedings until the next term." So far as the record shows, the matter ended here.

In 1806, some time subsequent to February Term, Judge Biddis died. The act of February 24, 1806, having provided for reducing the number of associate judges to two, by prohib- iting appointments beyond that number, his death left no vacancy to be filled.

Judges Brodhcad and Brink continued in office until the act erecting Pike County took effect, October 1, 1814, when, as they resided in Milford, they became residents of the new county. They occupied the bench in Wayne, for the last time, at Angust Term, 1814.

October 14, 1814, Gov. Snyder commissioned

Samuel Stanton, of Mt. Pleasant, and Abisha Woodward, of Bethany, associate judges of Wayne County ; and at the same time commis- sioned John Coolbaugh, of Middle Smithfield, and Daniel W. Dingman, of Delaware, associ- ate judges of Pike.

October 18, 1815, Judge Stanton resigned. November 17, 1815, Governor Snyder commis- sioned Moses Thomas, of Damascus, as his suc- cessor. Judge Thomas remained in office for nearly twenty-five years.

November 27, 1829, Judge Woodward died. December 7, 1829, Governor Shulze commis- sioned Isaac Dimmick, of Dyberry, as his successor.

. In October, 1833, Judge Dimmick resigned. October 31, 1833, Governor Wolf commissioned James Manning, of Bethany, as his successor.

By the classification of associate judges, made by the act of June 20, 1839, as required by the amended Constitution of 1838, the term of Judge Thomas expired February 27, 1840, and that of Judge Manning, February 27, 1842. Governor Porter commissioned Moses Tyler, of Damascus, February 27, 1840, and Virgil Grennell, of Clinton, February 27, 1842, as the successors of the retiring judges.

March 11, 1845, Governor Shunk commis- sioned Oliver Hamlin, of Honesdale, to succeed Judge Tyler; and July 22, 1847, he re-com- missioned Judge Grennell.

In February, 1848, Judge Grennell resigned. February 9, 1848, Governor Shunk commis- sioned James Mumford, of Preston, as his successor.

March 12, 1850, Governor Johnston commis- sioned Paul S. Preston, of Buckingham, a son of the first Judge Preston, to succeed Judge Hamlin, whose term had expired. After hold- ing the office for about a year, Judge Preston resigned. March 18, 1851, Governor Johnston commissioned John Torrey, of Honesdale, as Judge Preston's successor ; Judge Torrey's com- mission, by the Constitutional amendment of 1850, expiring on the first Monday of Decem- ber, 1851.

The first election under the Constitutional amendment making the judiciary elective was held in October, 1851. The associate judges

147

WAYNE COUNTY.

then ehosen were Judge Mumford and Thomas H. R. Tracy, their terms commencing on the first Monday of December following.

May 5, 1856, Judge Tracy died. May 15, 1856, Governor Pollock commissioned Francis B. Penniman, of Honesdale, as his successor, until the first Monday of December following. The term of Judge Mumford expiring at the same time, James R. Dickson, of Honesdale, and Phineas Howe, of Sterling, were chosen at the October election, in 1856, for the ensuing terms.

In the autumn of 1860, Judge Howe resigned, his resignation taking effect December 1st. Dr. Rodney Harmes, of Mount Pleasant, was ap- pointed his successor, and commissioned by Governor Packer until the first Monday of December, 1861. The term of Judge Dickson expiring at the same time, Butler Hamlin, of Salem, and Wm. R. McLaury, of Texas, were chosen at the election in October, 1861, for the ensuing terms.

In October, 1866, Phineas Arnold, of Promp- ton, and Isaiah Snyder, of Honesdale, were elected for the terms commencing on the first Monday of December following.

In October, 1871, Judge Arnold was re- elected. At the same time Friend B. Moss, of Salem, was elected, but he declined to serve. Governor Geary thereupon commissioned Dr. Otis Avery, of Honesdale, as his successor, until the first Monday of December, 1872.

Judge Arnold died January 19, 1872. Jan. 27, 1872, Governor Geary commissioned Fred- erick W. Farnham, of White Mills, as his successor, until the first Monday of the follow- ing December.

At the election in October, 1872, Judge Avery and John O'Neill, of Honesdale, were chosen for the ensuing terms. January 16, 1876, Judge O'Neill died. January 27, 1876, Gov- ernor Hartranft appointed Henry Wilson, of Honesdale, as his successor, and, pursuant to the Constitution of 1873, Judge Wilson was commissioned until the first Monday of January, 1877.

In November, 1876, Giles Greene, of Salem, was chosen for the ensuing term.

In November, 1877, Judge Avery was re- elected.

In November, 1881, Michael Brown, of Honesdale, was elected.

In November, 1882, Lorenzo Grambs, of Honesdale, was elected. In May, 1884, in consequence of ill health, he tendered his resig- nation, to take effect June 1st. June 18, 1884, Governor Pattison commissioned Elisha P. Strong, of Starucca, his successor, until the first Monday of January, 1885. At the election in November, 1884, Judge Strong was chosen for the ensuing term.

TERMS OF COURT .- Since the judicial organ- ization of the county frequent changes have been made in the times for holding the courts, and the terms have been fixed in every month of the year except June and July.

At the present time the terms commence on the first Mondays of March, May, October and December, and continue for two weeks, unless otherwise ordered. Since the beginning of the present year (1886) the grand jury has met on the Monday next preceding the term.

The second Monday of each month in which a regular term does not occur is designated as a motion day, at which the argument list is usually taken up, motions are heard and other matters requiring action by the court at that time are disposed of.

THE BAR .- Among the records of the first court held in Wayne County, the beginning of the bar is thus set forth :

"September 10, 1798, on motion of Daniel Stroud, Esq., stating to the Court that he liad been admitted to practice as an attorney of the courts in Northampton, and such being known by the Court here, he is admitted and affirmed an attorney of this court."

Mr. Stroud then moved the admission of John Ross and William A. Patterson, of the North- ampton bar. Mr. Ross was accordingly "admit- ted and affirmed," while Mr. Patterson was "admitted and sworn." Mr. Patterson then moved the admission of Job S. Halstead, of the Northampton bar, and Mr. Halstead was "ad- mitted and sworn."

At December Term, 1798, five attorneys were admitted to practice, and at February Term, 1799, three. Thenceforth admissions became less frequent. There was one at September

a f

148

WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

Term, 1799, and one at December Term follow- ing. During the succeeding three years there was one annually ; in 1803, there were three; in 1804, none; in 1805, onc. Some degree of caution appears to have been exercised in the admission of applicants ; for at February Term, 1805, Jesse Brush, as the record shows, was "admitted on motion and argument"; and at May Term following, the application of Judge Preston for admission as an attorney, after his resignation from the bench, was unsuccessful, notwithstanding the precedent in the admission of Judge Seely two years earlier. From the beginning of 1806 until the close of 1811 there were eight admissions, and but one thereafter until 1816. In the latter year there were three; in 1817, four; and thenceforward scarcely a year passed without the admission of one or more attorneys.

Dan Dimmick was the first attorney who made his home in the new county. He was a native of Connecticut; read law and was admit- ted to practice in that State; was admitted to the bar of Wayne in 1802, and commenced practice in Milford.

Most of those admitted prior to the erection of Pike were non-residents. Whether any of them had pursued their studies for the bar within the county cannot now be ascertained. The early records, in some instances, show admission "on examination and report of committee;" but this is no certain indication that the person admitted was a resident student, since attorneys from other States were subjected to some form of examination. The first to prepare for the bar within the present limits of Wayne County was Thomas Fuller, admitted in 1826. During the next fifteen years three more-Wm. H. Dimmick, Charles K. Silkman and Milton Dimmick-studied for the profession in Wayne, but only the first-named remained to practice.

Though the requirements for admission were nominally sufficient, it is impossible to say how high, during this period, the standard was practically maintained. Enough appears of record, however, to show that admission, after the prescribed period of study, was not always of course. Mr. Silkman, after studying from January, 1834, to April, 1836, was recommended

by the examining committee-consisting of Amzi Fuller, George W. Woodward and Ebenezer Kingsbury-"to pursue a further course of reading previous to his admission." On his next application, in November, 1837, the committee, referring to their previous re- port, added: "The applicant having complied with their recommendation, they now believe him to be sufficiently grounded in the principles of the law to entitle him to admission, and recommend him accordingly." He was there- upon admitted, November 21, 1837.

With the removal of the county-seat to Honesdale a rapid increase in the number of resident students began; and for forty-five years thereafter the admission of those who had studied for the profession within the county proceeded at an average rate of about one and a quarter annually.

Of the two hundred and thirty-four attorneys on the court roll, but little more than one-third ever resided within the present limits of the county. Of the non-residents, some half-score habitually practiced in the courts of Wayne for a decade or more after Pike was detached, and a few for a longer period; others attended irregularly ; while the larger number appeared only on the occasion of their admission. Of those having a residence in the county, a score, or thereabouts, failing of success at the bar, found other employment, or were so largely engaged in other pursuits as to be little more than nominally members of the profession. A still larger number, having completed their preparation and been admitted, went elsewhere to begin professional life, or, having commenced practice, sooner or later found the prospect of success unsatisfactory and removed from the county. Of those who continued to follow the profession in the county, eleven died while in practice, three retired after long terms of pro- fessional labor, three became president judges, and twenty are still at the bar, more or less actively engaged in practice.

Non-Resident Attorneys .- Among the lead- ing non-resident attorneys, whose practice ante- dated the division of the county, were Daniel Stroud, Samuel Sitgreaves, George Wolf, John Ross and Hugh Ross, of Northampton; Dan

149

WAYNE COUNTY.

Dimmick and Edward Mott, of Pike; and Roswell Wells and Garrick Mallery, of Lu- zerne. Among those admitted to the bar of Wayne within a decade after the erection of Pike, were Charles Catlin, of Susquehanna, and George Dennison, Oristus Collins and John N. Conyngham, of Luzerne. Among those of a later day, were George W. Woodward, Hendrick B. Wright, Luther Kidder, Warren J. Woodward and Henry M. Fuller, of Luzerne; and Franklin Lusk, Joseph T. Richards and Wm. Jessup, of Susquehanna. Of these, George Wolf subsequently became Governor of the State; Messrs. Mallery, Collins, Conyngham, Kidder and Jessup, president judges; George W. Woodward and Warren J. Woodward, president judges, and the former also chief justice and the latter a justice of the Supreme Court.

Resident Attorneys .- Milford having been designated as the place at which the courts should be held, pending the selection of a county-seat, it was naturally the point at which the bar of the new county began to establish itself. Neither the transfer of the courts to Wilsonville nor the removal of the seat of justice to Bethany made any immediate change in this respect. Not one of the attorneys ad- mitted to the bar prior to the erection of Pike County made his residence in the territory now composing Wayne. Sanford Clark, admitted at Milford in 1799, did, indeed, remove to Mount Pleasant within two years after the county was divided; but on changing his resi- dence he abandoned the profession, and took up the occupations of inn-keeper and farmer. His last appearance of record was September 18, 1816. Henee, though a resident of the county and an attorney, he was not a resident attorney. It was not until eleven years after the first court was held at Bethany-and two years after Milford was placed in another county, by the erection of Pike-that members of the bar began to make their homes within the present limits of Wayne, for the purpose of practicing law.

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History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 27

Author: Mathews, Alfred, 1852-1904. 4n Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co. Number of Pages: 1438

Author: Mathews, Alfred, 1852-1904. 4n
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co.
Number of Pages: 1438