Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 4

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 972

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JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

regarded with such confidence that he was one of the seven managers elected by the House to conduct the impeachment, and he was one of the committee elected by the managers to draw the pleadings. When Belknap resigned he was appointed to make one of the arguments on the question of the jurisdiction of the Senate to impeach after the officer had resigned, and afterwards, because of Mr. Lapham's illness, he was selected to discuss the facts. It was generally conceded that no other lawyer con- cerned in the case displayed greater acumen, penetration or comprehensive familiarity with the necessary legal knowledge.

When the subject of the distribution of the Geneva award came before the Ilouse in ma- jority and minority reports, Mr. Jenks, from the Judiciary committee, offered an amend- ment to the majority report, which was passed by the House as amended by him. His argu- ment in behalf of the report with his amend- ment involved some of the most difficult questions of international law, which he han- dlled with the utmost skill. Early in the sec- ond session of the Forty-fourth Congress he was appointed one of the committee of fifteen to investigate the conduct of elections in Louis- iana, and when he returned from the errand was appointed by the chairman of the Demo- cratic caucus one of a committee of three to represent the Democracy of the House in pre- paring, presenting and discussing the facts and the law before the electoral commission. Mr.

Jenks made the opening arguments in the cases of Louisiana and Oregon, and he received the most complimentary comments from Senators Bayard and Thurman, who were present at the trial of the first case, as well as from all who had the privilege of hearing or reading his part in the proceedings before the electoral commission.

Mr. Jenks returned to practice after retir- ing from Congress, but he was not allowed to remain in private life. On July 1, 1885, he was appointed assistant secretary of the Inte- rior, entirely without solicitation on his part. and though he held the office only a little more than a year he had intrenched himself so thoroughly in President Cleveland's admira- tion that on July 28, 1886, he nominated Mr. Jenks for appointment as solicitor general of the United States, which nomination was con- firmed by the Senate the next day without even the formality of being referred to a committee -a compliment rarely paid to anyone who had never served in that body. His private prac- tice extended into almost every branch of legal work known in Pennsylvania, and into almost

every section of the State. On May 15. 1886, he resigned as assistant secretary of the Inte- rior in order to devote himself to his duties as attorney for John E. DuBois, the wealthy Clearfield county lumberman, having made a promise to his client's uncle, John DuBois, that he would take charge of all the legal business of the nephew, and he held to his promises so conscientiously that he would not accept the solicitor generalship until Mr. DuBois had given his consent. It was given cordially, and Mr. Jenks obtained the assistance of Hon. W. P. Jenks to handle the affairs of the DuBois estate. He held the office throughout Cleve- land's administration, and was subsequently nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, as well as United States senator. He was always a loyal Democrat, and the numerous honors ex- tended to him by his party were in grateful recognition of his valuable services, and will- ing acknowledgment of his superior qualities. He made his home at Brookville, where he died Feb. 10, 190S.

Mr. Jenks was married. Jan. 3. 1860, to Mary Agnes Elizabeth Mabon, daughter of Thomas Mabon, of Brookville, and they had two children, namely: Thomas Mabon, who died in 1874, aged thirteen years ; and Emma Laura, who married Benjamin F. Shively, late United States senator from Indiana.

CADMUS Z. GORDON, of Brookville, has taken high rank among practitioners at the Jefferson county bar. where the name has been associated with legal talent and mental quali- ties of a high order for seventy years, since the late Judge Isaac Grantham Gordon, his father. settled there in 1846. His grandfather, Zac- cheus, the first of the family of whom we have record. was born in Northumberland county, l'a .. and spent the latter part of his life in Jefferson county. He was a coppersmith by trade. He married Harriet Lewis. The Gor- dons are of Scotch-Irish extraction.

ISAAC GRANTHAM GORDON was born Dec. 22, 1819. at Lewisburg, Union Co., Pa., where he spent his early life and acquired by per- sistent effort an excellent classical and scien- tific education, though his attendance was lim- ited to the common schools, with one term at the Lewisburg Academy. The restrictions of his younger years gave little promise of the high position he was destined to attain. He was only a boy when he went to learn the trade of molder, with the purpose of becoming an iron founder eventually, and it was an accident which caused him to give up this ambition, one of his feet having been seriously injured by

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

molten iron, disabling him for work of that character. With a natural taste for intellec- tual pursuits, it was not as hard for him to give up a physical for a mental occupation as it was to find proper opportunities for the exer- cise of the latter. But in its development his genius made a place for itself in the com- munity where he became established. He de- cided upon the law, and in 1839 entered the office of James M. Linn, at Lewisburg, where he studied faithfully and was admitted to the bar in Union county in April, 1843. Three months later he opened an office, locating at Curwensville, Clearfield county, where before long he formed a partnership with George R. Barrett. In 1846 he settled at Brookville. where he maintained his home during the rest of his life. During the first few years he was in partnership first with George R. Bar- rett, and afterwards with Elijah Heath, until Judge Heath's removal to Pittsburgh in 1850. It was not long before his ability received recognition, and in 1860 and 1861 he repre- sented his district in the State Legislature, Jef- ferson being included with Clearfield, Elk and McKean counties. During his second term he was chairman of the General Judiciary com- mittee. Further evidence of the confidence he inspired was shown in his appointment, in 1866. by Governor Hartranft, as presiding judge of the new judicial district formed from the coun- ties of Mercer and Venango, and taken from the Eighteenth Judicial district, to serve until an election should have occurred. On Nov. 5. 1873, he was elected a member of the Penn- sylvania Supreme court, and on July 14, 1887, became chief justice, in which capacity he served out the remainder of the fifteen-vear term for which he had been elected. until Dec. 18, 1888. Judge Gordon's decisions in every judicial capacity, and particularly in his long career in the highest judicial body of the State, are a valuable part of the court records of Pennsylvania. Ilis work shows the most painstaking attention to the spirit of the law and to the maintenance of equity in cases brought before him, as well as a comprehensive knowledge of the laws of his State and their application. During his fifteen years on the Supreme bench he was away from home much of the time, but he never relinquished his inter- est in local affairs, and his closing years were spent in the enjoyment of the home at Brook- ville, where he died Sept. 4, 1893. He is buried in the Brookville cemetery. Soon after com- ing to Brookville Judge Gordon joined the Presbyterian Church, of which his wife was also a member, and they were always among

its loyal workers and supporters, the Judge serving as elder for a number of years.

In 1847 Mr. Gordon married Mary Caroline Jenks, who was born April 26, 1829, in Punx- sutawney, and survived him over twenty years, passing away Feb. 19. 1916, at the home of her daughter Mrs. Fulton. She was buried from the Fulton home, Rev. James B. Hill, of the Brookville Presbyterian Church, conducting the services. She was interred beside her hus- band. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon began their mar- ried life in a little one-story house then stand- ing on the south side of Jefferson street, be- tween Spring alley and Franklin avenue, on Lot 71. They reared the following children : Ilelen, who married William Forster, of Lew- isburg ( she has one son, I. Gordon Forster) ; llarriet, wife of Rev. William S. Fulton, a Presbyterian minister, formerly located at Lex- ington, Ky., now of Brookville : Anna MI., wife of Rev. John M. Richmond. a Presbyterian minister, formerly of Princeton, Ky., now at Ormond, Fla. ; and Cadmus Z.

Mrs. Mary Caroline ( Jenks) Gordon was a daughter of Dr. John Wildman and Mary Dey ( Barclay) Jenks, the latter a daughter of Rev. David Barclay, he and Dr. Jenks being two of the first settlers of Punxsutawney. Mrs. Jenks was fifth in descent in direct line from Col. David Barclay, the original of "Barclay of U'ry" of Whittier's poem. Dr. Jenks was a grandson of Thomas Jenks, who was a fol- lower of William Penn, and was brought up in the doctrines of the Friends. He was a graduate of Jefferson Medical College, came from New Jersey to Pennsylvania in 1817, and for many years after was a popular physician all over the southern part of the county. ITis house was the center of a wide circle of hospi- tality. His family consisted of ten children. eight sons and two daughters, one daughter and two sons dying before reaching maturity. One son died in young manhood, on his way to California, and was buried at sea. The others lived to marry and rear families. Phineas, the second son, was the first white male child born in Punxsutawney ; William P. became the emi- nent and well known judge of this judicial dis- trict : James attained distinction as an officer in the Civil war ; George A. became a member of Congress, manager of the House of Repre- sentatives in the impeachment proceedings against Secretary Belknap of Grant's cabinet, Democratic nominee for both governor and United States senator in Pennsylvania, solicitor general during Cleveland's administration and a recognized leader among the lawyers of

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Pennsylvania. Mrs. Gordon was the last sur- vivor of the family.

Cadmus Z. Gordon was born Jan. 8, 1856, in Brookville, and received his education in the public schools, the academy at Corsica, and finishing with a course at Yale College, gradu- ating from its scientific department in 1878. His natural ability led him into the law, and he began his legal studies in the office of Jenks & Clark, completing his course in the office of Gordon & Corbet. He was admitted to the bar in September, 1880, and has been practicing continuously since. During the middle nine- ties he formed a partnership with Harry R. Wilson which continued for some time, their office being at Clarion. There are few men at the Jefferson county bar who have acquired a more creditable clientele. Mr. Gordon lias been almost exclusively devoted to his profes- sion, laboring zealously in the interests of his clients and incidentally working for the raising of legal standards, qualifications of lawyers and efficiency in court methods, all of which have undergone considerable change during his career. He is a director of the National Bank of Brookville, and a sincere supporter of local institutions tending to give his community the advantages enjoyed by progressive municipali- ties everywhere.

Mr. Gordon was married in 1887 to Kate D. Acheson, daughter of Judge Marcus W. Ache- son, of the United States Circuit court, with jurisdiction in the Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey circuit. Five children have been born to them: Prof. Marcus Acheson, Mary Jenks, Robert Bruce, Cadmus Z., Jr., and Sophia.

JUDGE JAMES H. BELL, deceased, was one of the prominent residents of Jefferson county, and it was in his honor that Bell town- ship was named when separated from Young township in 1857. More than a quarter of a century previously he had settled there, founding the settlement ever since known as Bells Mills, the importance of that com- munity depending almost wholly upon his energies. Of keen intellect and high moral principles, he possessed the superior character which entitled him to be a trusted leader, and was ever deserving of the confidence which his neighbors manifested, giving generously of time and means to advance the public welfare. His descendants generally have shown the same traits of uprightness and moral strength, as well as ability in looking after material affairs.

Judge Bell was born Oct. 2, 1800, in Walton,

N. Y., and was of Scotch-English parentage. He came with the family to western Pennsyl- vania a short time previous to 1812, they making a settlement in Armstrong county at what was then Warren (now Apollo). There growing to manhood, he was married in 1826 to Anna McConaughy, and in 1831 came to Jefferson county, purchasing a large tract of land in what was then Young township, on Mahoning creek. It was in the forest, and though like the majority of pioneers he had little or no means, by untiring perseverance he in 1833 built a saw- and gristmill, the first in that vicinity, and Bells Mills was where settlers for long distances came to obtain their flour. In 1840 he started the first store in the township, and when the postoffice was estab- lished he became the first postmaster, so con- tinuing for many years. He was a leader in the Democratic party, repeatedly serving as delegate to its various conventions. In 1853 he was appointed by Governor Bigler to the office of associate judge, to fill a vacancy, and at the ensuing election was regularly elected. His ability and fairness as a judge, and his high standing as a citizen, were ac- corded further recognition when the new township was named in his honor. He was the moving spirit in the development of the community. The first schoolhouse, the only one nearer than Punxsutawney, was erected by him and a couple of neighbors, short terms being taught by private instructors at their expense.

Judge Bell died Sept. 15, 1877, and was buried in the old cemetery at Punxsutawney, having survived his wife by eleven years, as she passed away at the age of sixty-one. She was a native of Mifflin county, and of Irish parentage. He was a member of the Baptist Church. Of the thirteen children born to this couple four died young, two sons and seven daughters surviving: John T., William E., both now deceased; Margaret, who died in 1901 ; Nancy Jane, who married John M. Jordan and now lives at Punxsutawney ; Anna, who married Robert A. Gourley, and died in 1906 at Indiana : Sarah, who died in February, 1913; Harriet, still residing on part of the old homestead : Evaline, who became the wife of August G. Winslow, and died in 1883 in Gaskill township; and Elizabeth R., wife of Milton Carlisle, residing in Curwensville, Clearfield county.

The three sisters, Margaret, Sarah and Har- riet. made their home at the old homestead until it was sold, and Harriet now occupies a neat brick dwelling which she erected in 1914,

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

on another part of the old homestead given to these three daughters by their father. While the three sisters were together they took two little motherless boys, John and Charles Wood, to bring up, giving them a home, and the former still lives with Miss Bell; he married Pearl Wineberg. and they have one daughter, Sarah Harriet.

WILLIAM P. JENKS was a man of strong character, and one of a group which did much to give a tone of vigorous uprightness to the community as it grew out of the pioneer stage. He was born May 27, 1821, being the third son of Dr. John W. Jenks. His early education was received at home, being supplemented by one year at Jefferson College shortly before that institution and Washington College were united to form the present Washington and Jefferson University. He studied law with his eldest brother. David Barclay Jenks, and was admitted to the bar Sept. 9. 1845. With the strong confidence of youth he started practice for himself, and was married on Dec. 23, 1845, to Sarah Catharine Corbet. Legal busi- ness was but scanty, however, and the first years were times of privation and struggle. To his last days he remembered the relief with which he received one of his earliest fees, a bushel of potatoes, which came to him in the first winter of his marriage. He had a fine voice and was very fond of music. His knowl- edge of this art was a great pleasure to him throughout his life, and of some service to him in the early years of his struggle. Dur- ing one winter he taught a singing school at Port Barnett, walking out to that place one evening of each week during the season. For the winter's work he received the sum of fif- teen dollars, which was a very welcome addi- tion to his legal earnings. On Dec. 8. 1845, he was appointed district attorney (deputy at- torney general ) of the county, and his prac- tice gradually extended to all the neighboring counties. In 1866 he was elected to the legis- lature from the Assembly district of Clarion and Jefferson counties. In 1871 he was elected president judge of the Eighteenth Judicial district, which at that time was composed of Clarion. Jefferson and Forest counties. Dur- ing his term the discovery of oil in the district. and the shifting of the center of oil produc- tion toward it, rendered it for a while one of the busiest and most important districts in the State. The controversy between the producers and the pipe line interests, involving, as it did. railway transportation problems and the sys- tem of secret rebates, centered there for a

time. His insistence that both sides come out into the open cost him dear personally, but, at a time when both lawyers and business men throughout the country were groping more or less blindly for a solution, it helped point the only way by which justice could be secured.

After retiring from the bench he resumed the practice of law. which he continued until old age necessitated his retirement. He died on April 25. 1902.

BERNARD VERSTINE was one of the strong and resolute men to whom success comes as a natural prerogative, and within the course of a long and signally useful life he showed his mastery of expedients and circum- stances by overcoming obstacles that obtruded in his path and by making his way forward to the goal of definite independence and pros- perity. Ile was significantly the architect of his own fortunes and fortunate it was that Brookville and Jefferson county represented the stage of his earnest and resourceful efforts. for he contributed much to civic and material progress, stood an exponent of the most loyal and liberal citizenship and ordered his life upon a high plane of personal integrity and honor, so that he was accorded by his fellow men the fullest measure of confidence and good will. Coming from his native land to America when a young man, he entered fully into the spirit of its institutions and typified the best in American citizenship. He was long one of the prominent and influential citizens of Jefferson county and a tribute to his memory consistently finds place in this history of the county.

Bernard Verstine was born at Zute, Bel- gium, on the oth of May, 1829. and passed the closing period of his life in the city of Detroit. Mich., where his death occurred on the 28th of January. 1911, his remains being brought back to his old home in Pennsylvania for inter- ment in beautiful Brookville cemetery.

Reared to manhood in Belgium, where he received good educational advantages: Mr. Verstine set forth to establish a home in the United States. His equipment was honesty of purpose, industrious habits, an alert mentality and a determination that recognized no bounds. so that he was well fortified, even though his financial resources were of most meager order at the initiation of his independent career. On the ist of September. 1849. about eight months prior to attaining his legal majority, Mr. Ver- stine, accompanied by a companion, Victor DeHau, embarked on a sailing vessel for Amer- ica. the land of promise. They landed at Philadelphia on the 24th of December. 1849.

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

after a protracted and stormy voyage across the merciless sea, and within a short time thereafter Mr. Verstine located at a place then known as New Flanders, near the present city of St. Marys, Elk county, there having been at the time a flourishing Belgian colony at that place, as the name New Flanders implied. After finding employment for a time in clear- ing land, Mr. Verstine began seriously to con- sult ways and means for advancing himself, and ere long he showed his wisdom by taking unto himself a companion.

In February, 1851, was solemnized his mar- riage to Harriet \'an Overbeck, who likewise was born in Belgium and who accompanied her parents, Charles and AAmelia Van Overbeck, from their native land to America. Mr. and Mrs. Van Overbeck eventually became citizens of Brookville, where they were known and honored for their sterling character and where they passed the closing years of their lives ; his death occurred in 1882 and she passed away in June, 1889.

In September, 1851, a few months after his marriage, Bernard Verstine came with his young wife to Brookville, and here his first work was that of carrying brick in the erection of the old "Union llotel." Later he labored Justily in the lumber woods of this section, and was finally enabled to engage in lumbering in an independent way, in Clearfield county. his timber having been sawed in the mill then operated at Brookville by the late Judge Philip Taylor. He eventually formed a partnership with Judge Taylor, and they came into control of large and valuable timber tracts in Jeffer- son county, in the development of which they realized substantial profits. Mr. Verstine also acquired a tract of timber and operated a saw- mill at Five-mile Run, and in this connection he carried forward his operations in partner- ship with a man named Delworth, of Pitts- burgh. In continuing his successful lumbering enterprises Mr. Verstine became interested in the firm of Carrier, Verstine & Klein, in which his associates were C. M. Carrier and Bernard Klein. They operated a large sawmill known as the North Fork mill, and Mr. Verstine con- tinued his active association with the business until 1891, when he removed to Detroit, Mich., in which State he had accumulated important financial interests, the same demanding his per- sonal supervision. He sold his business inter- ests in Jefferson county to his sons at the time of his removal to Michigan, and, as before noted, passed the remainder of his life in the beautiful city of Detroit, though he continued

to make frequent visits to his old home in Brookville.

Mr. Verstine entered loyally into all com- munity affairs during the long years of his residence at Brookville and did much to fur- ther the advancement of the fine little county seat, including the erection of several fine buildings. In early years he was an active and valued member of the Brookville Guards, a well disciplined military organization. He was one of the organizers of the Brookville Water Company, in July, 1883, was a member of its first board of directors, but the following year sold his stock in the company. In 1879 he was one of the organizers of the old Brookville Fair Association and took an active part in its development, as did he also in all other mat- ters pertaining to the community welfare and progress. His political allegiance was given to the Democratic party and though he had no ambition for public office or the activities of the political arena, he served with special earnestness and efficiency as a member of the borough council.

Mr. Verstine began his career without finan- cial resources or other fortuitous aid and by hiis energy, good judgment and well ordered endeavors he acquired a substantial fortune. He stood "foursquare to every wind that blows" and his name and memory shall be held in lasting honor in the county and village that long represented his home. He was kindly, generous and considerate in all things, made his life count for good in its every relation, and thus justified his being in an emphatic and benignant way.

Mr. and Mrs. Verstine became the parents of six children : Mary T. is the wife of George 1 .. Sandt, of Brookville; Caroline became the wife of Dr. William H. Mahneske, and both were residents of Pittsburgh at the time of their deaths, Dr. Mahneske having been a graduate of Heidelberg University, Germany, and a representative physician and surgeon of Pittsburgh at the time of his demise ; Henry. who has charge of his father's estate in De- troit. wedded Rebecca Heihold ; Frank L., of Brookville. is mentioned in succeeding para- graphs: Charles E. married Alice Kerstetter and lives at Detroit, where he is retired from active business; Malcolm died in Detroit, in 1913, and his remains rest beside those of his father in Brookville.

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 4

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918 Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers Number of Pages: 972

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 972