History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 78

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor
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When the case came on to be heard the negro was brought into court. A more pitiable appeal to a sen- sitive mind of our generation could not well be made than did this despised, friendless negro. But at that day a negro was regarded even in Pennsylvania as more a beast than a man. Popular prejudice was

against him, and this popular prejudice was ineti- gated and then influenced by all arts and all argu- ments. The character of the prosecutor was lost sight of in the wide spread opinion of the guilt of the prisoner.

Mr. Alexander was designated by the court to take the cause of the defense. Among the first questions raised was the question of the competency of the prosecutor to testify. The question was one of the greatest importance in the trial of the cause, as her testimony was necessary for a conviction. To gain this position and allow the testimony both Conway and Coulter spoke, and doing so they addressed much of their discourse to the jury and to the audience, although towards the judge. They argued the point with ability and eloquence. A latitude was given the argument unknown in ordinary trials, for it was more than an ordinary trial. The court-house was filled with people, and the audience was in sympathy with the orators. Coulter acquitted himself with more than ordinary satisfaction. He displayed the highest gifts of the orator. In his peroration he addressed himself to the subject of his eloquent labor, and drew all eyes and all hearty to the girl as she sat there within the bar. She alone was unmoved, and there was something in her half-idiotic look which with the words and manner of the counsel drew all hearts to her in pity, so that the cause of the girl was made the cause of the people. The advocate had, from the pathetic and tragic rendition of his story, the bench, the jury, the audience, many of the bar, and even the prisoner in tears, and it was evident that if the point had been at the ruling of those who heard him their sympathy would have carried all before it.

Mr. Alexander then rose to take exception at the court ruling for the admission of the testimony of the prosecutor in the case under reason of the law. He said that he had never, as counsel, been spoken to by the negro; that he cared nothing for him, whether he was white or black ; nor did he wish to extenuate his guilt if he were guilty; but that he desired to see the law vindicated. He then examined the condition of the girl. Where the counsel for the prosecution had raised pity he raised doubt; and where the one had appealed to sympathy the other appealed to reason. Those who listened soon began to perceive from the evidences of their own senses that the poor girl was but a demented creature, whose ideas of discriminating right and wrong were vague, and whose notions of female chastity were still vaguer; and so the accused and the accuser stood on the same ground.

But the counsel for the prisoner did not stop at this. He lost sight of his client in the magnitude of the cause. He brought to his case his stored-up learning of the common law, he recalled old judicial decisions, quoted black-letter authority from the law-Latin and Norman-French text-books of the Middle Ages, marshaled together all the maxims of the common law bearing on the capacity and the incapacity of

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witnesses to testify, drew the legal distinction of idiocy, lunacy, and dementia, and brought the court from the fountain sources of legal wisdom down through a long series of English decisions to a modern date, and examining into the law of evidence as it was recognized in Pennsylvania, he applied his argu- ment to the case in hand; and in the end ruled the court by quoting a recent decision of the president judge, where, in a similar case, the testimony of the main witness had been rejected. To the astonishment of the bystanders, who had expected that the prisoner would go to the penitentiary to serve out in solitary confinement the rest of his days, Tom Morgan walked out of the court-house a free man.

As most everything connected with the life of such a distinguished man has some interest, we shall now have something to say on the family relations, the per- sonal appearance, and the habits of Maj. Alexander.

His ancestors were Scotch-Irish, and they had emi- . grated to this country before the Revolution. His father, Peter Alexander, was born in Cumberland County, Pa. The family were Whigs and patriots during the war of the Revolution. The wife of John B. was a Miss Smith, of Cumberland County, a sister of the wife of Dr. Postlethwaite. He had no chil- dren. Two of his sisters married in Westmoreland; one was married to Joseph Kuhns, Esq., and the other to Eli Coulter, Esq., the father of Gen. Richard Coulter and Alexander Coulter, Esq., of Greensburg. His wife survived him, and on her death the property went to the collateral heirs. Besides two sisters he had two brothers, Samuel Alexander, who was a lead- ing lawyer of the Carlisle, Cumberland County, bar, and Thomas Alexander, who once lived with his brother in Greensburg, and who was never married.

In personal appearance he was a large, fat man. His height was about five feet ten inches, and his weight about the year 1884 must have been about two hundred and forty pounds. Of his personal appear- ance there is one thing which has been remarked by all those who remember him. He had a most re- markable head, and a description of it may not be uninteresting to the students of phrenology. It was unusually large, but not well rounded. It was elon- gated from the occiput to the sinciput, that is to say, it was inordinately long from the hind part of the skull to the forehead, and in this direction it was dis- proportionate to the height. It was large and promi- nent in front of the ears, extended far behind them, but was not developed in proportion above the ears. It seemed-from this description and judging scien- tifically-to be deficient in veneration and the moral sentiments.

In the vigor of his life and manhood he had been well formed and muscular, but in his old age he had become very corpulent. His nose was large and straight, and his complexion between fair and florid. In his younger years he was undoubtedly a good- looking man, but the exposure of an active campaign,

and careless and unwatched habits in eating and drinking had in time made his skin and features rough. Yet even in his old age when in good humor he had a pleasant and genial smile, and when he chose his manners were polished and genteel. In company with women no man could be more gentle and good-humored. His rudeness belonged in great part to the times and the society around him.

Alexander rose the year round at the break of day, studied his cases, answered his letters, and did the heavy part of his business before breakfast. When his business did not absorb his attention he read in some law-book. After breakfast he visited the offices and taverns, and chatted with clients and acquaint -. ances. Although he kept a sideboard with liquors for callers, he treated at the taverns. He was no churl, and was popular with inn-keepers and drinking men. Although he has had, among a certain class, a reputa- tion for using blackguard expressions, yet he never descended to relate obscene stories or retail low gossip. In warm weather he slept in the afternoon, and had the habit of reading his favorite author in bed at night.

In business transactions the integrity of Alexander was inflexible. He was never known to do a dis- honest or dishonorable action. No man could say that he ever defrauded him of a dollar. His hand- some fortune was all gained by honorable professional toil. In his marital relation he was a pattern. No lady in the days of chivalry was ever treated with more attention and courtesy than Mrs. Alexander. His character was really an elevated one, and it was only when the " times were out of joint" that he was, as he was commonly reported, rude, overbearing, or quarrelsome.

He resided for years in a large brick house on Main Street, diagonal to the Methodist Church. This house with many alterations is now and has long been used for hotel purposes, and during the civil war obtained the name of the "Richmond House." His law-office was in the same building. Some time between 1830 and 1840 he removed to the township. Then both his residence and law-office were in a house half a mile southwest of the borough. Every business day he rode into town on a beautiful sorrel horse with a silvery mane and tail, called "Somerset." He employed and amused himself in agriculture and horticulture, and in the improvement of the breed of cattle and poultry. The culture of the fields became with him quite a hobby, and with all the modesty of his profession he always main- tained that his apples, hogs, turkeys, and chickens were the best in Westmoreland.1

1 ACTION OF THE COURT ON THE DEATH OF JOHN B. ALEX- ANDER, ESQ. May term, 1840.

From the Record for Saturday morning, May 23, 1840:

The court being in session, the Hon. Richard Coulter rose and an- nounced to the court the death of John Byers Alexander, Enq., the eldest brother of this bar.

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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

ALEXANDER WILLIAM FOSTER.

Alexander William Foster was the son of Rev. William Foster, pastor of Octorara Church, in Bads- bury township, Chester County, Pa., and was born October, 1771. He studied law under Edward Burd, Esq., in Philadelphia, and became a member of the bar in 1798. In 1796 the Foster family removed from Chester County to Meadville, in Crawford County. In the same year he was employed as agent and law- yer by the Holland Land Company. He soon ac- quired such a reputation in his profession that his practice extended from Pittsburgh to Erie. In 1812 he was retained to go to, Greensburg to try a cause, and he so favorably impressed some litigants with his conducting of the case that he was retained by a number of suitors. He thereupon, instead of remov- ing to Pittsburgh to locate permanently, as he had in- tended, settled in Greensburg, where he remained and practiced law until 1881, a period of nearly twenty years.

Upon settling 'Lere he soon obtained a first-class practice, which, after the manner of the time, extended to the counties of Indiana and Armstrong. He was considered one of the best of his profession in this judicial district, and along with Coulter and Alexander formed the trio of leading lawyers at the bar of West- moreland.

A personal friend has thus described some of his professional characteristics. Mr. Foster did not pos- sees the impassioned and florid eloquence of Richard Coulter, or the legal profundity of John B. Alexander, but his professional attainments were said to have been more extensive than those of the former, and he had a mental acumen and a power of extorting truth from witnesses beyond the ability of the latter. But if his oratorical powers were not splendid, yet he had great copiousness of language, and with a fluency without error or hesitation could express his ideas in words suitable to the subject. The fault of his ora- tory was that it was not concise and chaste, but in-

That the members of the bar unanimously desire the ordinary bus- ness of the court be suspended for this day, that they may pay a merited and just tribute of respect to the memory of their deceased brother, and have an opportunity of attending his funeral :- Mr. Coulter maid it was customary to give testimonials of respect to the memories of die- tinguisbed members of the bar by a suspension of the business on so- count of their decense, and he felt unmingled pleasure in offering to the court the full and entire concurrence of all the members of the bar in that practice. He said the brethren of the bar all acknowledged their Indebtedness to Maj. Alezsader for the many advantages they individu- ally and collectively derived from their intercourse at the bar with him. They recollected his vigorone intellect, which seized with a giant's grip every cause in which he was professionally engaged; they recollected many pemenges of pleasant professional intercourse with the deceased, and now when he was removed from among them they desire to bear to his memory the token of respect which was accorded by the profes- sion to their eminent brethren. He therefore moved the court to ad- journ over this day.

Par curiaus. We have pleasure in announcing to you our cordial ap- proval of the practice suggested, and sincerely join with the members of the bar in their merited tribute to the memory of the deceased. The court then adjourned.

clined to verbosity. If Foster was not profoundly learned in the law like Alexander, yet he was a well- read lawyer, and could always use, like ready change, all his legal information. Although inferior to Alex- ander before the court, he was superior before a jury. Here on an average he was equal to Coulter. He could not so readily move to wrath and tears, but could always expose knavery, detect fraud, and try to attain the truth in such a way as to force attention, excite mirth, and move to laughter. He had too much of the milk of human kindness in his bosom to be bitterly sarcastic, but his speeches were often enlivened with humor and anecdote.

Mr. Foster was of a kindly, genial disposition, fond of company and conversation. His.office was said to have been the best ever in Greensburg for the study of the law. While other lawyers were reserved, taci- turn, and often overbearing and supercilions, Foster was affable, courteous, and fond of communicating in- formation. He frequently conferred with his students, put cases to them, and held in his office a kind of moot court. It was reported of several of Foster's students who rose to distinction in their profession that they learned more law orally from him than they had ever got by reading his books. Among his stu- dents were John Riddell, of Erie, Thomas Struthers, of Warren County, and Calvin Mason, of Fayette County, who in 1818 fought a duel with pistols with John B. Alexander. He practiced' in Philadelphia, and died in that city. John F. Beaver also learned in the office of Mr. Foster all that legal chicanery which, added to his natural shrewdness, caused him to be considered the acutest attorney in the district, and it was in his office where Henry D. Foster, his nephew, got his law, upon whom the mantle of his uncle de- scended.

Mr. Foster delighted in the subjects of agriculture, horticulture, and engineering; wrote many articles on the practical applicability of chemistry to farm- ing, and delivered many orations at the county fairs, then held at Greensburg.

In 1820 and 1822 he was the Federalist candidate for Congress in the district composed of Westmoreland, Indiana, Armstrong, and Jefferson Counties. He was twice defeated because he was on the unpopular side. In 1820, in the strong Democratic county of West- moreland, he obtained a small majority. After the dissolution of the Federalist party he became an anti- Mason, and after the collapse of that party he became a Whig.

In person he was of middle size and weight, rather inclined to leanness than corpulency. His face was good, but it ordinarily wore a mild, amiable, and rather melancholy expression. His temperament was nervo-bilious, and his complexion sallow, with a ten- dency to pallor .. He was greatly addicted to smoking. The cigar was his constant companion, and it was probably for his own use that he had hot-houses for the growth and cultivation of Spanish tobacco.

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THE HANGING OF EVANS.

No event in the history of the county was so much talked of and so long remembered as the hanging of Joseph Evans for murder in 1830.

From an old copy of The Republican, dated 23d April, 1830, we briefly abstract the statement of the condemned man, made six days previous to his exe- cution, which took place on Tuesday, 20th April, 1830, on a hill east of the town, and between the Southwest Railway and the Main Street, and was witnessed by several thousand people, who had gath- ered on the hillsides from far and near to see the law commit murder.

Evans at the time of his execution was scarcely twenty-two years of age. He was even then some- what wild, having been engaged repeatedly in fights, and in tarring and feathering and riding on a rail a man who had been guilty of beating his wife, clean- ing out a house of ill fame, riding on a rail, shaving the heads, and tarring and feathering two married men there caught, and breaking the jaw of a son of one of these men for inquiring into the matter, burn- ing down another house of ill fame for two dollars, shaving the mane and tail of the horse of a Methodist preacher, and "lathering" the preacher so that he was laid up for two weeks. He assisted in riding on a rail and tarring and feathering a man and a woman who were cohabiting together in violation of the com- mandments, and in a manner which did violence to Evans' moral principles.

These little extravaganzas gave zest to his life in his travels, and finally he landed in Derry township, where, one Sunday evening, he got into a dispute with Cissler about stealing a pair of shoes, but over a pint of apple brandy they became good friends.

The night before Christmas he amused himself by whistling the "Boyne Water," and was rewarded for his music by a vigorous attack from three gentlemen who did not fancy the tune; but it seems he was able to cope successfully with all three, and from this appears to date the real trouble which resulted in his acci- dentally taking the life of Cissler, and in consequence thereof losing his own.

On the morning before New Year he and others amused and regaled themselves with cards and whiskey, and finally a quarrel ensued, whereupon sev- eral of the party fell on Evans (who does not seem to have been a favorite) to beat him. He seized the fire- shovel and swung it back and forth to keep them off, when Cissler, who was not in the melée, came up to stop the fight, and accidentally received a blow on the forehead from the shovel, and fell back upon a large iron kettle. He breathed only a few times, but never spoke.

Evans made no effort to escape; but when a large crowd had gathered, and attempted to tie him, he resisted so violently that they desisted and kept out of his reach. He then took the rope and tied his legs, when the crowd beat and abused him con- 21

siderably, upon which he got himself loose, and "slashed" around indiscriminately.

After the inquest he was taken to Bairdstown, before Esquire Scott, and on the 2d of January, 1830, was lodged in jail in this place, and on the 18th of February, 1830, he was tried and found "guilty of murder in the first degree."

In his comments upon portions of the evidence he is very severe, and alleges that it contains not one word of truth.

At the execution he was perfectly calm, and re- marked to the sheriff, on surveying the assembled multitude, that " there were not so many people pres- ent as he had seen at such places." During the whole time from the time he left the jail, following the cart which contained his coffin, until the drop fell there was no sign of weakness or trepidation. Indeed, at the last moment he handed to some one on the plat- form below a drum, which he had used for a seat while the preparations were being perfected to launch him into eternity.

At the scaffold the people, estimated to number seven or eight thousand, were addressed by Revs. Laird, Hacke, and Steck, and, at request of Evans, a hymn was sung. He addressed the crowd, warning them against the vices of which he had been guilty, asserting the injustice done him by some of the wit- nesses, but forgiving all as he hoped for forgiveness. He seemed to be entirely resigned to his fate, and manifested no desire to live.

This, with the two executions at Hannastown at a very early period, when that place was the county-seat, were the only ones that had taken place in this county until a generation after ; and now, after fifty years, it is the general judgment that the conviction and execution of Joseph Evans was more the result of clamor and prejudice, with also a considerable amount of false swearing, than from any regard for justice.

JAMES FINDLAY, EsQ .- At the time of the trial of Evans the prosecuting attorney was James Findlay. The result showed that he only did his duty too well for justice and humanity, and it is a matter of regret that he could not have been retained for the defense of the unfortunate prisoner.

At that time the bar of Greensburg possessed high character and great ability. It was dignified by the profound legal erudition of John B. Alexander, resplendent with the florid eloquence of Richard Coulter, adorned by the extensive attainments and enlivened by the wit and humor of Alexander Foster. Other gentlemen of talent contributed to elevate the character of the profession by mathematical knowl- edge, and rapid and accurate habits of business, so that the bar of Westmoreland was second to none outside of Philadelphia.

Prominent among these gentlemen-primus inter pares-was James Findlay, Esq. The mention of his name in the Evans trial suggested the idea that a

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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

brief biographical sketch would be an appropriate and respectful contribution to the memory of one so worthy that he deserved a monument.

Although James Findlay possessed the undoubted ability to make a permanent reputation, yet he was so careless of future fame that he did nothing to per- petuate his memory with posterity. He " never wrote a book, built a house, planted a tree, or begot a child." For more than a generation his body has been mould- ering in the clay of a cemetery.

James Findlay, Esq., was born in 1801, on a farm that belonged to his father, about three miles from Mercersburg, in Franklin County. It was situated about one-half mile from the Presbyterian Church of West Conococheague, of which Dr. John King was pastor, by whom James Findlay was baptized. By the way, the reputation of Dr. King has extended far beyond the Alleghenies, and his memory is still held in respect, by many, to the spiritual wants of whose ancestors this gentleman had administered.

In the fall of 1813, and in the twelfth year of James Findlay's agt, his father removed his family to Har- risburg, which had become the seat of State govern- ment. James Findlay resided at Harrisburg, and was a pupil at the best school in town until 1820, when he was matriculated at Princeton College, which was then regarded as one of the best institutions of learn- ing in the United States, and whereat his brother Archibald and other relations had graduated.

William Findlay had lived in a style of old-fash- ioned hospitality at Harrisburg, and in consequence of stringency in his pecuniary affairs he could not afford to keep James at Princeton until he graduated. He was forced to leave his alma mater and return to Harrisburg, where he became a student of law in the office of Francis R. Shunk, who was married to his only sister, who afterwards became so well known as the matronly lady that with such ease and dignity presided over the hospitality of the executive mansion at Harrisburg.

After his admission to the bar by the Court of Com- mon Pleas of Dauphin County, James Findlay opened a law-office at York, in Eastern Pennsylvania. But York was an old county, her land titles well settled, and the litigation comparatively unimportant. So Mr. Findlay removed to Westmoreland County. On motion of George Armstrong, Esq. was admitted to the bar of Greensburg, Aug. 28 A.D. 1824

Greensburg was a good location for Mr. Findlay. The legal business was abundant and remunerative. Lawyers from Pittsburgh and other counties attended the courts of Westmoreland. The natural talents, liberal education, and thorough legal training of Mr. Findlay would soon have placed him at the head of his profession. In politics he had open to him a primrose path to honor and emolument.

Upon his location in Greensburg he received the appointment of prosecuting attorney, the duties of which he discharged with integrity and ability. Dur-

ing his term of office there was no composition of felony, and no escape of wealthy criminals by flaws in indictments.

The name of Findlay was identified with Democ- racy, Gen. Jackson had been elected President of the United States, and Wolf Governor of Pennsyl- vania. And so nation, State, district, and county were all in the hands of Mr. Findlay's political friends. To the public coffers his name was an "open sesame." Had James Findlay been ambitious of political distinction he needed but remain in West- moreland and adhere to his party, and every round of the political ladder was accessible to his footsteps. He could early have attained any position ever held by his worthy and honored father.

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History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 78

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

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