USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 1 > Part 14
USA > Pennsylvania > Carbon County > History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 1 > Part 14
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Commissioned.
Commissioned.
Daniel Cooper ........ . Dec. 12, 1815
Daniel Fritz ...... .. Dec. 9,1831
William I1. Long .... July 3, 1821
Philip Pierson ........ May 12, 1834
Peter Cooper .. .... Ang. 13, 1821
Charles W. Wieand. April 1, 1836
Thomas Romig ....... July 29, 1831 Andrew K. Witmer. March 8, 1837
DISTRICT NO. 3, composed of the townships of Macungie and Weissenberg.
Commissioned.
Commissioned.
George Miller .... .Oct. 28, 1820
Henry Helfrich ......... Dec. 5, 1823
Jonas Seiberling ...... June 16, 1836 Lewis Larraslı ..... ... Nov. 25, 1837
Jacob Romig ..... ....... Dec. 5, 1823
Samnel Marx ... ... Dec. 26, 1823
George Christmau ...... Jan. 12, 1827 Geo. Sam'l Eisenhard.Jan. 12, 1827
DISTRICT NO. 4, composed of the townships of Lynn, Heidelberg, and Lowhill.
Commissioned.
Commissioned.
llenry Long .. May 16, 1818
Jacob Zimmerman ... Jan. 6, 1832
Andrew Shifferstein. Nov. 3, 1820
W. Fenstermacher ... May 21, 1834
Peter Hans .. ........... Aug. 13, 1821
l'eter Schneider ....... Dec. 1, 1835
John WellsApill 23, 1829
George Rex ............. June 16, 1836
John Slager, ........... Doc. 12, 182.1
Discuter No. 5, composed of' the townships of North Whitchall and South Whitehall.
Commissioned.
Commissioned.
John Siegor. Feb.
5,1816
Thomas Click. .Sept. 24, 1829
Ceorge Schener ........ Nov. 27, 1820
Henry Burkholte .. ... July 9, 1830
Anthony Murich ...... Dec. 13, 1820
George Frederick ..... May 21, 1834
Jonas Blicker ......... . Doc. 12, 1823
Solomon Grobel ....... June 6, 1836 Abraumu Troxall ..... July 15, 1826 Joseph Koblor .. .March 7, 1838 Daniel Saeger ........ .Aug. 28, 1826
John Nugle ............. April 26, 1827
COUNTY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS.
Charles W. Cooper, elected June 5, 1854 ; resigned September, 1855.
Tilglunan Good, appointed October, 1855.
Iliram II. Schwartz, olected May 4, 1857.
Tilghman Good, elected May 7, 1860; resigned May 22, 1862.
Jacob Ross, appointed July 26, 1862.
E. J. Young, elected May 24, 1863 ; re-elected May 1, 1866; re-elected May 4, 1869.
J. O. Knauss, elected May 7, 1872, and has continued In ollice to the present time.
CHAPTER IX.
THE BENCH AND BAR OF LEHIGH COUNTY.
President and Associate Judges-Biographical Sketches of Attorneys -- Dates of Admission.
WHEN the territory now constituting Lehigh County came under the jurisdiction of Northampton, on its erection in 1752, the justices of the peace were the justices of the Courts of Common Pleas, Oyer and Terminer, Quarter Sessions, and the Orphans' Court. Lewis Klotz, of Macungie township, was one of the justices of the court in that year. In 1753, Peter Troxell was elected justice of the section known as Egypta, which later in the year was erected as White- hall township. He also became a justice of the courts.
In the year 1763 a change was effected, by which the judges of the courts were commissioned from the justices of the peace. The earliest thus commissioned of whom any record exists was Henry Kooken, who was given the office in 1776. Then in successive years the appointees were as follows :
Frederick Limbach, justice of Upper Milford, 1777. Jacob Horner, justice of Heidelberg and Lowhill, 1777. Peter Kohler, justice of Whitchall, 1779. Peter Rhoads, justice of Northampton Town, 1784. Fred- erick Limbach, justice of Upper Milford, 1784. George Breinig, justice of Macungie and Weissenberg, 1786. Jacob Horner, justice of Heidelberg and Lowhill, 1787. Ludwig Stahler, justice of Upper Milford, 1788.
The Constitution of 1790 abolished the system of justices, and "a judge learned in the law" was ap- pointed as president judge with associates.
The first president judge of these conrts was Robert Porter, who had been elected to that office in the Third District (of which Lehigh became a part) in 1809. He was a native of Montgomery County, and the eldest son of Gen. Andrew Porter. Holding the first term of court in Lehigh County, Dec. 21, 1812, he con- tinued to preside over the court until 1831, when he was succeeded by the Hon. Garrick Mallory, who held his first term of court in May, 1831, and served until 1836. The Hon. John Banks became his successor, and held his first term in May of that year. He re- mained in office until 1847, when the Hon. J. Pringle Jones was commissioned, who presided over the courts until 1851. In October of that year, at the first gen- eral election for judges in the State, the Hon. Wash- ington McCartney was elected as president judge of the Third District, and held his first term in February, 1852. He continued in this position till his death, July 15, 1856. He was succeeded by his brother-in- law, the Hon. Henry D. Maxwell, who was appointed by Governor Pollock in July, 1856, and reappointed in December, 1856, and continued to discharge the duties of the office until Dec. 1, 1857.
The Hon. John K. Findlay was his successor, and held office until January, 1862. The Hon. John W. Maynard was elected president judge in October, 1862,
George S. Hunder ..... Feb. 25, 1839
John Isaac Breinig ... Oct. 20, 1838 Willoughby Togel .... Jan. 29, 1839 David Schell .March 2, 1839
52
HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
and held his first term in January, 1863, and his last September, 1867. The Hou. J. Pringle Jones again enme to the bench in January, 1868, and served one year. The Hon. A. B. Longaker was elected as presi- dent judge in October, 1868, and took his seat in Jan- uary, 1869. Ile held the position till July, 1878, when he resigned, and the Hon. Edward Harvey was ap- pointed to fill the vacancy. In October, 1878, the Hon. Edwin Albright was elected president judge of Lehigh County, then constituting the Thirty-first Dis- triet, took his seat in January, 1879, and still con- tinues to discharge the duties of the offiee.
The first court formed in Northampton County, under the Constitution of 1790, embraced as associate justices Peter Rhoads and John Mulhollen, who were commissioned Aug. 17, 1791. Peter Rhoads was again appointed in 1806 and 1809, and upon the or- ganization of Lehigh County he and Jonas Hartzell were appointed as associate justices of the newly- created court, and served until 1815. Since that time the following persons have served in that capacity :
Commissioned.
Commissioned.
John Fogel .. Sept. 9,1815
Willoughby Fogel ...... Nov. 12, 1856
Joshua Slahler. = 12, 1856 Jacob Stein .. .. Nov. 11, 1823
John F. Ruhe ..... 3, 1838
23, 1861
Joseph Saeger .......... Jan. 14, 1839
Peter Hans. .. March 26, 1840
3, 1813
Jacob Erdman 9, 1866
Reuben Guth 9, 1866
26, 1867
John F. Ruhe ....... .. March 29, 1849
Samuel J. Kistler. .July 30, 1868
Peter llaas. Nov. 10, 1851
Jacob Dillinger ...... 10, 1851
Charles Keck ......... Aug.
7,1855
David Laury . 6, 1873
The Constitution of 1874 abolished the office of as- sociate justice in certain districts, of which Lehigh County was one.
The first business in the Court of Quarter Sessions of Lehigh County at its first term (Deeember, 1812) was the admission of attorneys applying for the priv- ilege of practicing in the several courts of the county. The following were duly admitted, viz. : George Wolf, Henry Wilson, John Ross, William Mellhinny, Fran- cis B. Shaw, Frederick Smith, Charles Evans, John Ewing, Frederick J. Heller, William Spering, and Samuel Sitgreaves. Of these, only three, Henry Wil- son, John Ewing, and Frederick J. Heller, were resi- dents of Lehigh County.
Of the foregoing, Henry Wilson was a native of Harrisburg, and studied law in that place: He was a man of ability and character, and rose rapidly in the estimation of the people.
Frederick J. Heller had been admitted to the bar of Northampton County in 1797, and had been quite an active practitioner, but notwithstanding that fact little is now remembered of him.
John Ewing was another of the pioneer lawyers of Lehigh who has passed out of recollection. He lived for a number of years in the house on Hamilton Street now owned by E. J. Hart.
Jolin Evans had been admitted to practice in North- ampton County in 1803. He did a large amount of professional work in the Lehigh courts, and was re-
garded as one of the best lawyers who visited Allen- town in the olden time. His family is now scattered.
Henry King was for many years succeeding 1815 the leader of the Lehigh bar, and enjoyed the most enviable reputation throughout Eastern Pennsylvania. He was born in the town of Palmer, Hampden Co., Mass., on the 6th of July, 1790, and received the rudi- ments of his education in that region. When about fifteen years of age he became one of the few se- lect pupils of the Rev. Ezra Witter, who resided in the town of Wilbraham, Hampden Co. Under this teacher he finished his general education. In 1810 he commenced the study of law with an eminent attorney of New London, Conn., W. H. Brainerd, Esq., with whom he remained until the fall of 1812, when his studies were interrupted through the disturbed con- dition of the region, consequent upon the war with Great Britain. He removed then to Wilkesbarre, Pa., where he completed his preparation for the bar in the office of the Hon. Garrick Mallory and was ad- mitted to practice in April, 1815. It was very shortly after this that he removed to Allentown, where he was for some time the only resident lawyer, but was brought into contact with the eminent practitioners of neighboring towns, as Sitgreaves, Ross, Wolfe, Evans, Smith, and John M. Porter. In 1825 he was elected to the Senate of Pennsylvania for a term of four years, upon the expiration of which he was again elected. Before his second term expired, in 1830, he was chosen as a representative to Congress, which position he filled for four years. During his career in the Legis- lature he was most of the time at the head of several of the most important committees. He was chairman of the committee to remodel the penitentiary system of the State, and drew the bill which divided the State into districts and established the Western Peni- tentiary. The next measure with which he was identified was the well-known act of 1829 to reform the general code, in the preparation of which he was assisted by the " Prison Discipline Society" of Phila- delphia, whose favorite project it was. Joel B. Suther- land, T. J. Wharton, and Judge King, of Philadel- phia, had been appointed commissioners to. visit several of the States, and report to the Legislature from the knowledge thus gained a system for the govern- ment of the penitentiaries. After a full examination they reported in favor of the system then in vogne in New York. This was strenuously opposed by the " Prison Discipline Society," who found in Mr. King an able and effective advocate in the State Senate. After a long and severe struggle the plan now in force in Pennsylvania was adopted. Mr. King also drafted the bills under which the Arch and Walnut Street prisons in Philadelphia were removed, and Moya- mensing prison erected in their stead. So closely had he been connected with these reforms, and so active had he been in advancing them, that he gained much fame, and when the commissioners appointed by the king of Prussia to visit this country and report upon the
17, 1871
Nov. 19, 1856
Willoughby Fogel ... James Frey. 9, 1866
" 23, 1861
Jacob Dillinger ....... 14, 1:13
Peter llaas .. Feb. 28, 1818
David Laury. Nov. 5, 1868
James Frey.
.
1
1
53
THE BENCH AND BAR OF LEHIGH COUNTY.
different systems of penal correction came here, they sought him out in his qniet home at Allentown, that they might confer with him. During four years of the time Mr. King was in the Legislature he was also chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Several impor- tant laws still in force on the statute-book> of the State owe their origin to Mr. King, among them that for " recording releases for payment of legacies," for "preserving the lien of first mortgages," for "dis- tributing the proceeds of sheriff's' sales," Many other laws prepared by him were included in the revised code of Pennsylvania. In Congress, Mr. King was an active tariff man and voted for the tariff of 1832, and opposed every reduction since. Differing in this and some other matters from the administration party under Jackson, he, at the close of his second term, retired to private life. He died a few years ago,
Charles Davis, who came to Allentown only a little later than Henry King, was a man of almost equal prominence professionally, while as a citizen he had few superiors in disinterested usefulness. Mr. Davis was born in Easton, Dec. 25, 1795, and pursued his preliminary legal studies in the office of Hon. Samuel Sitgreaves, being admitted to the bar on Jan. 6, 1817. In the same year he removed to Allentown. Here he resided until 1839, following uninterruptedly his pro- fession, which developed a very extensive practice. Mr. Davis removed to Reading in 1839, and from there to Easton, his native place, in 1867. From this time until his death, which occurred quite suddenly on Jan. 19, 1873, he led a semi-retired life, but was in the full enjoyment of his faculties, and was fre- quently consulted by other members of the North- ampton bar. In speaking of Mr. Davis, Judge Max- well said, " It was worthy of remark that no attorney had ever been more diligent in the practice of his profession, nor more faithful to his clients or more interested and devoted to their interest ; that, when his clients had committed to Mr. Davis their causes and business, he devoted to their prosecution and maintenance all the powers of his vigorous mind; that Mr. Davis had not only been an able, successful, and honorable lawyer, but had in other ways also proven himself a valuable and useful citizen ; that he had always been a consistent, devoted Christian, and had, by his walk and conversation, honored his re- ligious profession." M. H. Jones, Esq., in seconding the resolutions offered by Judge Maxwell, said, " That he could indorse unto approval every word that had been said in eulogy of Mr. Davis by Judge Maxwell, and that, in seconding the resolutions, he desired to bear testimony to Mr. Davis' worth and ability as a lawyer, and as a good and upright eitizen ; that he had been a man of undoubted talent and of great legal experience, and had remained in full practice until, from increasing years and deelining health, lie had been longer unable to attend to its demands; that ' his opinions on legal questions were highly valued by ; his fellow-members of the bar, and exhibited remark- , by the way.
able clearness of mind, -this facile grasp of legal ques- tions he had retained up to the time of his death."
The resolutions referred to were as follows :
" WHEREAS, Information has been received of the death of Charles Davis, Esq, the senior member of the Bar, who was admitted as an at- toruey of this Court on the sixth day of January, 1817, practiced at this Bar for several years, afterwards removed to Allentown, in the County of Lehigh, and subsequently to Reading, in Berks County, in which last- named counties he had a large and successful practice for many years, and a few years ago returned to this his native county, where he resided at the time of his decease.
" Itesolved, That this Bar bear testimony to the high character and great worth and accurate legal knowledge of the lamented deceased. lle was over devoted to the interests of his clients ; earnest and assiduons in the faithful discharge of his duties to men and the Court, and died at an advanced age, in full Christian hope.
" Resolred, That the members of the Bar will attend the funeral of the deceased in a body, and wear the usual badge of mourning, and that an invitation be extended to the members of the Bar of Lehigh and Berks Counties to unite with us in paying this last mark of respect to the memory of the deceased.
" Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted to the widow of the deceased, aud to the Bars of Lehigh and Berks Counties, and miblished in the newspapers of this county."
Mr. Davis left a widow and one son, the Hon. J. Depuy Davis, who was State senator from Berks County.
Samuel Runk was born in Hunterdon County, N. J., Sept. 5, 1783. He received his early education at home and in its vicinity, including a knowledge of the classies and of the higher mathematics, with both of which he maintained a close familiarity to his end. Having passed over his general studies, he took up civil engineering as a specialty, and after several years spent in its theory and practice, made a trip, on foot, through Pennsylvania, and from Pittsburgh on a flat-boat, down the Ohio, in search of a future home. The diary of this journey contains numerous items of local interest, and some thrilling incidents in flat-boat navigation at that early day.
Not finding the West to suit him, he returned to Pennsylvania, and entered the law-office of Frederick Smith, at Reading, as a student, and in due time was admitted to the bar at that place, April 17, 1818, Soon after he eame to Allentown, and was admitted to the bar of Lehigh County, May 4, 1819, and thereafter continued to reside here.
When he came to this county, this on was in- tensely German. He took a leading and active part in effecting a change. At a time when Sunday-schools were an offense to a large portion of the community, he was instrumental in organizing, and became the first president, of the first " Lehigh Valley Sunday- School Association" established in this valley. The first meeting to organize an English congregation in Allentown was held at his office, and largely through his efforts became successful. He became its treasurer for a number of years.
After the public school system was adopted, he was engaged from year to year, by the directors, to make the examinations of applicants for teaching ; through these examinations many of the inexperts were dropped
54
HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
He was never an aspirant for office, and never held office, except of a purely local character. He was burgess.
As a lawyer, he was thoroughly read in the standard works of his profession. Having come to the bar when a small number only of our State reports had been published, he grew up with them, and had read tliem all, a labor rarely achieved by those now com- ing in. As a counselor, he ranked with the most reliable at the bar during his period. None surpassed him in integrity.
As an advocate, he was not a dealer in sonorous rhetorie, but sought to acquire as complete a knowl- edge as practicable of the material facts of his cases, and to present them, with the law, as concisely as consistent with clearness and accuracy, and to rely upon the intelligence and the integrity, of the court and jury, to seeure that justice which belonged to them.
He died May 21, 1848, after an illness of a few days, the result of a cold contracted at the preceding term of court. He was a good citizen and an upright lawyer. His remains repose in the dilapidated and neglected grounds of the congregation which his early efforts brought into existence.
Henry Jarrett, who began practice here in 1824, was the son of Isaac JJarrett, and was born in Macun- gie township, June 22, 1772. In 1798 he was elected justice of the peace for Macungie and Weissenberg townships. He was married to. Elizabeth Heintz, of Macungie, in 1800. He was sheriff of Northampton County in 1812, when Lehigh was set off, and a few years later studied law with a Mr. Cook and a Mr. Kaulbock, and was admitted to practice as an attor- ney of Lehigh County Nov. 29, 1824. He resided during his early married life at Millerstown and Freemansburg, but after his admission to the bar re- moved to Allentown, and lived on Water Street, on the property now owned by his daughter, Mrs. Mar- garet Reader. In 1829, Mr. Jarrett became clerk of the courts of Lehigh County. He died Nov. 4, 1830, at the age of fifty-eight years. His son Phaon was admitted to the bar of Lehigh County in September, 1835. He graduated at West Point, and became a civil engineer. The only descendants of Henry Jar- rett now living are Mrs. Angelina J. Troxell and Mrs. Margaret Reader, of Allentown, the latter at this writing being eighty-two years of age.
John S. Gibbons was a prominent attorney of about the same period as Mr. Jarrett. He was a native of New York State, born at Poughkeepsie, July 11, 1802. He removed to Philadelphia before reaching his ma- jority, and studied for his chosen profession with two prominent attorneys of that city. In 1824 he came to Allentown, and was immediately admitted to prae- tice. He followed the profession until his death, March 12, 1851, with great snecess. During the greater part of that period his office was at 531 Hamilton Street. He was a man of more than or-
dinary ability and of high character. From an obit- uary notice published in one of the local journals we quote : "Clear, calm, courteons, prudent, and prompt, he was at all times a most able advocate, a most for- midable opponent, and when roused by a case, or an opposition that was worthy of his best efforts, he was an eloquent and powerful orator. A strict observer of professional honor and courtesy himself, he frowned indignantly on the petty artifices and low chicanery that with some men pass for professional skill, and held in utter sovereign contempt both the acts and the actors of those degrading practices."
The late Hon. Samuel A. Bridges, at his death the oldest member of the Lehigh bar, was born at Col- chester, Conn., Jan. 27, 1802. He secured an aca- demic education in his native town, and graduated at Williamstown College in the year 1826. He later studied law, and in 1829 was admitted to practice in his native State. In 1830 he came to Pennsylvania, first locating at Easton, and thence going to Doyles- town. He, however, liked neither place, and soon came to Allentown, and remained here up to the time of his death,-his admission to the bar of this county occurring Feb. 1, 1830. Being a good lawyer he soon gained an extensive and lucrative practice, as well as the good will of our people. Under the administra- tion of Governor Porter he was appointed deputy at- torney-general for Lehigh County in 1837, and held the office for seven years. On the 22d day of Feb- ruary, 1848, he was elected to Congress to fill the un- expired term of Hon. John W. Hornbeek, an old-time Whig, who died soon after having taken his seat in 1847. During the session for which he was elected the Mexican war ended, and the American govern- ment having been successful, succeeded in the acqui- sition of the Territory of Texas. Many very im- portant measures were brought before Congress, and in all of which Mr. Bridges took a prominent part. He returned from Congress March 4, 1849. Lchigh and Bucks were then united as a district, and Hon. Thomas Ross, of Bucks, was elected in 1848 and 1850, and in 1852, Lehigh being then entitled to the candi- date, Mr. Bridges was again elected, serving two years, from 1853 to 1855. After the expiration of his term he again vigorously and actively pursued the practice of his profession. But after a retirement of over twenty years from official life, he in 1876 was again elected to Congress, serving two years. His Con- gressional record throughout was a good one. A man of strong convictions of mind upon all subjects, and possessed of the courage to boldly assert them at all times, it mattered not to him whether in the minority or majority, they were his views and always honestly given, and with such forensie power and strength of language as to carry great weight.
Mr. Bridges abandoned his law practice a number of years since, and lived in retirement. He had long been the leading lawyer at the bar of this county, and his practice large and highly remunerative. While
55
THE BENCH AND BAR OF LEHIGH COUNTY.
in praetiee he devoted the whole force of his life to it. He was well read, and blended the analytical with the logieal, and as an orator his style was pieturesque and powerful. His devotion to the cause of his clients was a distinguishing feature of his character. Their cause was his cause, and the energy, force, and zeal with which he eondueted all cases committed to his charge was the secret of his suceess as a lawyer. In all his business transactions he was prudent and eare- fil, prompt in the discharge of his obligations, and exaeting the same promptness from those with whom he had dealings. Socially he was a pleasant and companionable man, always having a kind word for all whom he met. He was a man of cheerful disposi- tion and of many kindnesses.
Mr. Bridges died Jan. 14, 1884. He was twiee married. His first wife was Sarah Wilson, the young- est daughter of James Wilson, a prominent and suc- eessful merchant of this eity. She was a sister to Thomas Wilson, James W. Wilson, Franeis Wilson, Mrs. Ilutter, Mrs. Saeger, and Mrs. Dr. Martin. The lady died in 1864. One child, a son, was the issue of this marriage, but he died in his infaney. His see- ond wife, Miss Martha Stopp, danghter of the late Joseph Stopp, deceased, survives him.
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