History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 76

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There are persons still living who saw the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, of that day, with Roger B. Taney as the chief of the one, and John Bannister Gibson as the chief of the other, and they all invariably bear testimony to the fact that no one of them inspired more respect, by personal appear- ance or deportment, than the Hon. John Young. An excellent portrait of him was painted by the cele- brated artist Gilbert Stuart, the painter of the famous portrait of Washington known as the Stuart picture. This portrait of Judge Young corroborates all that has been said of his personal appearance. It is now the property of his grandson, Frank Y. Clopper, Esq., who has also one of his grandmother's, the wife of Judge Young, also painted by Stuart. They are both fine examples of Stuart's best work, and are with justice highly prized by their fortunate possessor.1

JUDGE THOMAS WHITE.

Immediately upon the resignation of Judge Young, Thomas White, Eaq., of Indians County, was com- missioned president judge of the Tenth Judicial District, composed of the counties of Westmoreland,

his request the valedictory was furnished to the poble. It has nover till now appeared in any book. It is a fair meapie of the judge's style, and we insert it in behalf of those who still veeerste his memory. Mr. Johnston replied in the following remarks:

" The grand jury have unanimously called upon me, as their foreman, to express their high estimation of your tarviess, impartiality, and to- tegrity, and to say that you have their warm wishes, thet poco and happiness may attend your retirement from public Ha, and cleo thet a copy of your excellent valedictory address be feraisbed for publication.

"For myself, who have been long acquainted with you in private life, and intimately connected with the court in coveral ministerial cepect- ties, I cordially unite with my fellow graad jarers in their foollegs and wishes, and heartily join in their solicitation.

" To the Hon. JOHN YOUNG, president of the Tenth Judicial District: "The grand jury, whom you have made the medium of offrening your fellow-citizens of Westmoreland County for the last time, among whom you have been long respected and beloved, and over whom you have presided in your official capacity for more then thirty years with impartiality and dignity, respectfully request a cegy of your czeellent address for publication.

" GREENSBURG, NOV. 23, 1836."

ADDRESS.

" GENTLEMEN :

" Before I conclude, permit me to take this opportunity of announcing my intention to retire from public life en the rising of the presset court. During thirty years as president of the Tenth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, which for about the half of that period comprehended Somerset, together with the four counties of Westmoreland, Armstrong, Indiana, and Cambria, it has been my study to discharge the daties of my office according to the best of my judgment without respect of either persons or parties. Neither ambition noe emclement could have induced me to accept of it. No efforts were med en my part to attala one attended with so much labor as well as responsibility as it was and has been. It was committed to me by the then Governor (MeKean), whose character for independence of mind and high legel talento is justly entitled to respectful commemoration.

" That in various instances I have erred I am well aware. Such is the frailty of human nature, and of all civil institutions and laws, open- ing a wide field for construction, with the uncertainty and occasionally the confliction of evidence, every human tribunal connet but bo more or less fallible. From the very scope of the duties incumbent ca me to afford satisfaction to every person was impracticable. Nor have I ever attempted to please any, or to court what is wewally called popularity. which in the administration of justice would have been contrary to Sacred Writ, as well as sound reason. By this course I have last nothing in the good opinion of the intelligent and impartial portion of the public, although it may have occasionally excited umbrage. Protected, as I gratefully acknowledge to have been, by the Divine Provideare, the ebullitions of calumny (to which all holding public trusts are liable) have done me no real harin. I cheerfully take this occasion to declare that I cherish the Christian duty of forgiving all that may bere fa- tended any. I shall always remember the general faver of my fellow citizens for little short of half a century since my abode among them. My best wishes for their individual welfare and that of the community at large shall never be wanting.

"Let us, gentlemen, ever bear in mind that we must sooner or later be accountable for the due exercise of all our faculties. Liberty tes been bestowed for beneficial ends. When abused it becomes & more cloak to licentiousness, and is generally accompanied by the contemps of piety and virtue. This abuse leads to anarchy, the worst species of tyranny, followed by the overthrow of all genuine Mberty. It ought, therefore, to be under the guidance of sound reason, and regulated by Divine Revelation, the fountains of all wisdom and intelligence,- ' the light and the life of men.'

" I conclude with the best wishes for all my fellow-creatures, tade- pendent of external distinctions. We are all the children of one commen Father, who causes the sun of His love and the rays of His wisdom to ' shine upon all."

1 Judge Young retired from the bench at the end of November term, 1836. On that occasion he delivered a valedictory address to the grand jury. Alexander Johnston, Esq., was the foreman of the jury, and at

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Indiana, Armstrong, and Cambria. His commission was dated the 13th of December, 1836. On February the 20th, 1837, his commission was read in the Greens- burg courts, when he took his seat on the bench here. He presided in these courts until the beginning of 1847, when J. M. Burrell, Esq., was appointed and commissioned his successor. Thomas White studied law in the office of the celebrated jurisconsult, Wil- liam Rawle, in Philadelphia, and in 1821 commenced the practice of law at Indiana. He was then aged about twenty-one years. He soon obtained a good practice. He was also agent of George Clymer, who owned a large quantity of land in Indiana County, and particularly about the town of Indiana. He presided over the courts of this judicial district from 1836 to 1846. Early in the Rebellion he served as one of, the commissioners in what was called the. "Peace Convention," which met at Washington. He was of medium height ; in manner polite and affable, but dignified. He took a great interest in agricul- ture, and was one of the projectors and supporters of the Indiana Agricultural Society, one of the most successful associations of the kind in the State. He died on the 23d of July, 1866, aged sixty-seven.

JUDGE BURRELL AND JUDGE KNOX.

On the 27th of February, 1847, Judge White's term as judge of the Tenth Judicial District expired, and on that day Governor Shunk nominated Jeremiah M. Burrell, an attorney of the Greensburg bar, to the Sen- ate for the vacancy. The Senate not confirming the nomination, the Governor then sent in the names of Mr. Gilmore and Mr. McCandles, but the Whig Senate refused to confirm any other than Judge White, the late incumbent. The Governor, however, would send no other names in; went beyond any precedent exist- ing in the history of the State growing out of a disa- greement of the two co-ordinate powers to fill such a vacancy, and early in 1847 commissioned Mr. Burrell.

The question whether the Governor had power to fill the vacancy, and which arose upon the contem- plation of the Governor to commission Mr. Burrell, was amply discussed. There had been only two legal expositions of parallel cases under the Constitution of the United States, which in the clause prescribing the method of supplying certain vacancies was iden- tical with the Constitution of Pennsylvania. These expositions and opinions had been given by Mr. Wirt and by Mr. Taney, attorneys-general of the United States. These legal views were all the legal prece- dents, although there had been at least three actual precedents set by Presidents identical with this case. Upon the opinion based upon the authorities cited, the Governor unhesitatingly filled the commission.

The record of the Common Pleas Court has this minute :

"Monday morning, 24th May, A.D. 1847. Jeremiah M. Burrell, Esq., appeared on the bench and presented his commission from the Governor of Pennsylvania,

dated 27th March, 1847, appointing him president judge of the Tenth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, composed of the counties of Cambria, Indiana, Arm- strong, and Westmoreland, which being read, the courts were opened at eleven o'clock; Hons. John Moorhead and James Bell, associate judges, being also on the bench."

Jeremiah Murry Burrell was born near Murrysville, in Westmoreland County. His father was a Dr. Bur- rell, a native of Dauphin County, Pa., and his mother was a daughter of Gen. Murry, one of the founders of Murrysville. He was an only son. His parents were wealthy, and he received a liberal education. He was prepared for college by a learned Scotchman, Thomas Will, at the Greensburg Academy, and fin- ished his education at Jefferson College, Cannons- burg, Pa. He studied law with the Hon. Richard Coulter, afterwards one of the Supreme judges of the State, and opened a law-office in Greensburg after his admission to the bar on the 14th of July, 1885. Some time about 1839 he bought the Pennsylvania Argus, and became its editor. He was an active politician, and he secured the paper for political pur- poses. He made the paper even more Democratic than it had been. In the hot political campaign of 1840 he established his name as a writer of high ability, and made a State reputation for the paper. Some of his articles on political topics were copied in other papers all over the Union. Horace Greeley in the Log Cabin, on the side of the opposition, took issue with some of the articles, and gave them still wider circulation by replying to them in the fulminating style which later made him one of the most celebrated political journalists of the age. In the campaign of 1844 he was one of the most efficient . speakers and writers in the State in behalf of Col. Polk, his political friends pitting him against such men as Thomas Williams, who was afterwards selected by Congress to deliver the eulogium upon Abraham Lincoln. He was subsequently elected to the State Assembly. Here he soon distinguished himself, and there was a heated rivalry between him and Thomas Burnside, Jr., a son of Judge Burnside of the Supreme Court, and a son-in-law of Simon Cameron, then a Democrat, for the position of leader of the Democratic party in the House. In this competition Burrell was victorious, and it is admitted by both friends and political opponents that he was the ablest partisan and the most eminent orator in the Pennsylvania Legislature.

At that time in Pennsylvania the nominations for the judiciary were made by the Governor and con- firmed by the Senate, and a vacancy occurring in Burrell's district, the Governor sent in his name to the Senate for president judge. After.a contest he was, as we have before said, rejected in that body through political motives and probably through some per- sonal dislikes. It was deemed expedient .to vacate this appointment, which being done, John C. Knox,

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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

of Tioga, was appointed, confirmed by the Senate, and commissioned in his stead.

Judge John C. Knox presided for the first time in the Westmoreland courts at May term, 1848. The minutes contain the following entry :

" At 11 o'clock A.M., 22d May, 1848, the Court met. John C. Knox, of Tioga County, appeared in court, and was conducted to the Bench by Judge Burrell, when the commission of the said John C. Knox from the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsyl., ap- pointing him President Judge of the Tenth Judicial District of Penna., composed of the counties of West- moreland, Cambria, Indiana, and Armstrong, dated the 11th day of April, 1848, was read."

When the courts opened Judge Burrell then prac- ticed before Judge Knox.

In 1850 the constitution of the State was amended so as to place the election of the judges in the hands of the people. Judge Burrell was nominated by his party and easily elected.

Then for November the 17th, 1851, is this minute: " Immediately After adjournment the Members of the Bar met in the Court-House, for the purpose of giving J. C. Knox a complimentary dinner. H. D. Foster, Faq., was called to the chair, and H. Byers Kuhns was appointed secretary. On motion, J. M. Burrell, W. A. Stokes, and Alexander Mckinney ap- pointed a committee to select the place and make all necessary arrangements."

In the year 1851, Judge Knox was elected judge for the counties of Venango, Clarion, Jefferson, and Forrest.1 In 1858 he was appointed to the Supreme

1 " MONDAY, NOV. 17, 1961.

"TO THE HOW. J. O. Knox :

"Brz,-The members of the Bar of Westmoreland County, destrous to express on your retirement from the Beach of this District their feel- ings of warms attachment for the courtesy which you have uniformly chowa them, their admiration of your ability, their appreciation of your professional learning, their confidence in your integrity, and their high sense of these private virtues and legal accomplishments which bare gives them, daring year Presidency in this District, a delightful friend, and bave secured to the people an administration of Justice speedy, certain, and impartial.

"We destre you ever to rely on our kindly sentimenta. Among De you will always be welcomed as an old and sacred friend; absent from we we shall regard with deep interest your future course, and hope that it will be prosperous and happy.

" To testify to these feelings, we respectfully request your acceptance of . Public Dinner at such time as mey suit your convenience.

"With much respect, your friends,

"H. D. Foster.

Jes. C. Clarke.

John Armstrong.

Jos. H. Kubne.

H. Byers Kuhns. Jac. Turney.

J. M. Barrell.

H. C. Marchand. R. Coulter.

Edgar Cowas.

Jes. M. Carpenter.

Wm. A. Cook.

Will. A. Stokes.

J. F. Wooda.

Alex. M'Kinney.

W. H. Markle.

8. B. M'Cormick.

T. J. Barclay.

Jno. Armstrong, Jr.

Ang. Drum.

Wm. J. Williams."

H. P. Laird.

G. W. Clark.

" TUESDAY, NOV. 18, 1851.

"TO THE MEMBERS OF THE BAR OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY:

"GENTLEMEN,-Your kind note of invitation to a public dinner bas just been presented to me, and a perusal of its contents has afforded me the most lively satisfaction.

"It is to me a source of great pleasure to learn that you approve of the manner in which I have performed the duties of my office during the time that I have presided in your county. And I amsure you, gentle-

Bench to the vacancy caused by the death of Penn- sylvania's most eminent jurist, Hon. John Bannister Gibson. He resigned from this position to become attorney-general under Governor Pollock, and in 1861 be went to Philadelphia to practice law with David Webster. He soon after became afflicted with soften- ing of the brain; and was sent to the asylum, and is now (1882) an insane inmate of the State Insane Asylum at Norristown.

On the morning of Feb. 16, 1852, the new commis- sions of J. M. Burrell, president judge, and of James Bell and David Cook, associate judges, being read, court opened. Judge Burrell acted as judge in this district until 1855, when he was appointed judge of the District Court of the United States for Kanses, then one of the Territories.

Judge Burrell's wife was Miss Anna Richardson, a woman of great beauty in her youth, of liberal so- complishments, and of handsome fortune. He left a family of a widow and several children. In re- ligion his family were Old-School Presbyterian. He was a man of taste and refinement, and what he did he did well. He built a fine house at Greensburg for a residence, and its excellent location, tasteful grounds, and convenient appartenances are duly appreciated by its present owner and occupant. He had a well- selected library, and played with singular. skill upon the violin. He had splendid social qualities, but a delicate constitution. From the first as a judge he created a favorable impression in every court in which he presided, and gave general satisfaction.

Judge Kimmell, of Somerset, and Judge Agnew, afterwards Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, presided in these courts at sundry times in the adjudication of causes in which Judge Burrell was disqualified dur- ing his tenure of office.

.JOSEPH BUFFINGTON,

for many years president judge of the district of which Westmoreland County was a part (the " old Tenth"), was born in the town of West Chester, Chester Co., Pa., on the 27th day of November, 1808, and died at Kittanning on the 8d day of February, 1872. Tho ancestors of Judge Buffington were Friends or Qua- kers, who left the county of Middlesex, England, and

men, that, so far as the intention is concerned, you de me no more them justice. As to acts, I am conscious that your partiality hes induced you "to bestow commendatione by no means deserved.

"To you, as members of the Bar, I am under obligations that I can only repay by keeping them in constant remembrance. Coming amongst you a stranger, I was received as a familiar friend, and in our intercourse, professional and personal, I have been treated in the kindest member. I am proud of your good opinion, and hope over to retain it, and although our oficial relation is about to be covered, my carmest wish is that the tie that connects us as men and metabers of the same noble profession may never be weakened or destroyed.

" I cannot forego the pleasure of meeting you at the festive board, and therefore accept your invitation, and name Friday evening of this week as the most convenient time.

" With sentiments of high regard,

" I remain, gentlemen, truly your friend,

"Jeas O. Knox."

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came to the Province of Pennsylvania shortly before the proprietary, and settled near Chadd's Ford, in Chester County, near the site of the battle of the Brandywine, where his grandfather, Jonathan Buf- fington, had a grist-mill during the Revolution. His father, Ephraim Buffington, kept a hotel at West Chester, at a tavern stand known as "The White Hall," a venerable hostelry, and celebrated through that region for many years. It was here that the subject of this sketch was born and lived until his tenth year, when his father, in hopes of bettering his fortunes in the West, left West Chester, came over the mountains, and settled. at Pine Creek, about five miles above Pittsburgh, on the Allegheny River. It was during this journey that the travelers passed through Greensburg, and it was at the old Rohrer House (afterwards the McQuaide House, and for many years his favorite stopping-place), that Judge Buffington first saw a soft-coal fire. When about eighteen years of. age he entered the Western Uni- versity at Pittsburgh, then under the charge of Dr. Bruce, at which place he also enjoyed the instructions of the venerable Dr. Joseph Stockton. After pur- suing a liberal course of studies he went to Butler, Pa., and for some time prior to studying law he edited a weekly paper, called the Butler Repository, and in company with Samuel A. Purviance, after- wards a well-known attorney of Allegheny County and attorney-general of the Commonwealth, he en- gaged in keeping a small grocery-store. Soon after- wards he entered as student-at-law the office of Gen. William Ayres, at that time one of the most cele- brated lawyers in Western Pennsylvania, under whose careful training he laid a thorough foundation for his chosen life-work. During his student life he married Miss Catharine Mechling, a daughter of Hon. Jacob Mechling, a prominent politician of that region, and for many years a member of the House of Representatives and Senate of Pennsylvania. Mr. Mechling was originally a native of Westmoreland County, and was married to Miss Drum, an aunt of Hon. Augustus Drum, M.C. from Westmoreland, of Gen. Richard Drum, U.S.A., and of Maj. Simon Drum, who was killed in the Mexican war.

In the month of July, 1826, he was admitted to practice in Butler County, and in the Supreme Court on Sept. 10, 1828. He remained at the Butler bar for about a year, but finding at length that the business was largely absorbed by the older and more expe- rienced practitioners, he determined to seek some new field of labor, and finally settled upon Armstrong County, to which place he removed and settled at Kittanning, where he resided continuously until his death. Here his industry, integrity, and close appli- cation soon brought him to the front of the bar, and although the first years of his professional dife were ones of hardship and narrow means, yet in a few years he was in possession of a practice that absorbed all his time and afforded a good income.

From coming to manhood Judge Buffington took a strong interest in politics. At the inception of the anti-Masonic party in 1831, or thereabouts, he became one of its members, and served as one of the delegates to the National Convention of that body which met at Baltimore in 1832 and nominated William Wirt for the Presidency. During those years he was sev- eral times nominated for the position of State senator or member of the House of Representatives, but with- out success, his party being largely in the minority.

In 1840 he joined the Whig party, taking an active part in the election of Gen. Harrison, and serving as one of the Presidential electors on the Whig ticket.

During the years that intervened from his coming to Kittanning until 1848, Judge Buffington was closely engaged in the line of his profession. Patient, labo- rious, and attentive, full of zeal and energy for his clients' causes, he had acquired an extensive practice. He was constantly in attendance upon the courts of Clarion, Jefferson, Armstrong, and Indiana, and his services were often in demand in other counties. He was connected in all the important land trials of that region, and his knowledge of this intricate branch of the law was thorough and exhaustive. Said one of his life-long friends, "To speak of Judge Buffington's career as a lawyer would be a history of the judicial contests in this section of the State for more than a quarter of a century. He had a large practice in Armstrong, Jefferson, Clarion, and Indiana Coun- ties, the courts of which counties he regularly at- tended. It was my pleasure to be with him, either as assisting or opposing counsel, in many of these counties. It may not be forgotten that in those early times in the judicial history of middle Western Penn- sylvania the bar constituted a kind of peripatetic as- sociation, all and each contributing his share to the social enjoyments of the occasion, and to the instruc- tion of the unlearned in law, of the obligations which were imposed upon them. These unions at different places created necessarily many happy reminiscences. But, like the schoolmaster of the village, 'the very spot where once they triumphed is forgot.'

" It cannot be forgotten or denied that Judge Buf- fington was a conscientious, fair-dealing, and upright lawyer. He had imbibed so largely of the privileges and excellencies of the profession, knew so much of it and the rightful manner of pursuing it, that to him chicanery was fraud; technicality, folly ; and injus- tice a crime."

In the fall of 1843, Judge Buffington was elected a member of Congress as the Whig candidate in the dis- trict composed of the counties of Armstrong, Butler, Clearfield, and Indiana, his competitor being Dr. Lo- rain, of Clearfield County. In 1844 he was re-elected, his competitor being Mr. McKennan, of Indiana County. During his service in the House he acted with the Whigs in all important measures, among others voting against the admission of Texas on the ground of opposition to the extension of slave territory.

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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

His fellow-townsman and warm personal friend, Hon. W. F. Johnston, having been elected Governor, he appointed Judge Buffington, in 1849, to the posi- tion of president judge of the Eighteenth Judicial District, composed of the counties of Clarion, Elk, Jefferson, and Venango. This position he held until 1851, when he was defeated in the judicial election by Hon. John. C. Knox, the district being largely Democratic.

In 1852 he was nominated by the Whig State Con- vention for the judgeship of the Supreme Court. In the general overthrow of the Whig party that re- sulted in the defeat of Gen. Scott for the Presidency that year, Judge Buffington was defeated, his com- petitor being the late Chief Justice Woodward, of Luzerne County.

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History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 76

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: