USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume I > Part 4
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Senator Penrose has had but a short service in the United States Senate, but in the few months during which he has sat in the highest legislative body of the nation, he has taken a position of prominence that gives full promise of a long and useful public career. Politically his influence is wide-felt in the city of Phila- delphia, and he has a strong personal following-loyal and true to him as a leader-which plays an important part in the nomi- nating conventions of the Republican party.
JAMES P. STERRETT.
HERE is probably no higher evidence of the progress T made by Pennsylvania during the past century than the superiority of the legal branch of its adminis- tration. Throughout the world of law, Pennsylva- nia is renowned for its forensic orators, its judicial luminaries and the greatness of its Bench. From time to time during the century this Commonwealth has given to the country some of the most brilliant men who have ever served in the various mechanical and professional fields, and none of these have been more eminent than the leaders at the Bar. The Bench of Pennsylvania is to-day greater than it has ever been, and among its incumbents are legal authorities who possess such brilliant talents that they might well shine as leaders in any field as well as that of the law; but their identification with Pennsylvania's progress is chiefly in their legal capacity. The brightest ray of the luminous judicial body of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is by time and custom centred in the Chief Justice, and the pres- ent incumbent of the office, James P. Sterrett, is entirely worthy of that honor, both by reason of his record as a member of the Bar, and his worth as a jurist of the foremost rank.
JAMES P. STERRETT, eldest son of Robert and Margaret Pat- terson Sterrett, was born in Tuscarora Valley, near Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, November 7, 1822. Both his pater- nal and maternal ancestors were descendants of Scotch-Irish who emigrated from the province of Ulster, Ireland, early in the last century, and settled in Lancaster, Bucks and Cumberland counties, Pennsylvania. James P. Sterrett received his preliminary education in the public and select schools of the neighborhood, during work-
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ing seasons assisting his father on the farm. He was prepared for college in Tuscarora Academy, at Academia, Pennsylvania, and was graduated from Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1845. During his senior year he served as Tutor, and the year following as Principal of the Preparatory Department of his Alma Mater. In June, 1846, he resigned the latter position in order that his undivided attention might be given to the study of law. Having made some progress therein under the direction of an experienced preceptor, he further prosecuted his studies in the Law Depart- ment of the University of Virginia in 1847 and 1848. In May of the latter year he was licensed to practice in that State; and in September of the same year he was admitted to the courts of his native county on his Virginia license.
Early in 1849 he located in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and there commenced the practice of his profession in partnership with Thomas H. Baird. On the retirement of Judge Baird, in March, 1850, his college friend, John P. Penney (afterwards a member of the State Senate and its President in 1864), formed a co-partner- ship with Judge Sterrett, which continued successfully for nearly twelve years. In 1861 he was appointed, with others, a commission to revise the revenue laws of the Commonwealth; and while engaged in that work, on January 4, 1862, he was appointed President of the Fifth Judicial District (Allegheny County, Penn- sylvania) to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of William B. McClure. In October of that year he was re-elected for the full term of ten years. In 1872 Mr. Sterrett and one of his col- leagues, Edwin H. Stowe, were re-nominated by their party, endorsed by the Democrats and unanimously elected to succeed themselves. On February 26, 1877, while serving his second term as President Judge, he was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Justice Henry W. Williams, and the following year he was nominated and elected to the same office for the term of twenty-one years; and, on the resignation of Chief Justice Paxson, February 21, 1893, he was commissioned as Chief Justice of the Court for the residue of his term, which will expire on the first Monday of January, 1900.
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With the exception of about twenty years, during which he served as School Director in the cities of Allegheny and Pitts- burg, and Trustee of his Alma Mater and other educational institutions, Judge Sterrett has never held any official position other than those mentioned. In 1847 the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon Judge Sterrett by Jefferson College. In 1882 the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by Lafayette College, and in 1895 the same honorary degree was conferred by the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia.
Judge Sterrett was married May 29, 1850, to Miss Jane Isabel, daughter of William H. and Mary A. Patterson, of Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, by whom he had one son and three daughters. His wife died September 27, 1860, and their son died May 18, 1864, both in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
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HENRY GREEN.
A S indications of the progress which has marked the history of Pennsylvania during the past twenty- five years, that chapter which deals with the Bench and Bar of the Commonwealth affords many strik- ing instances. Judge Henry Green, of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, who was appointed by Governor Hoyt in 1879, has figured largely in the administration of legal affairs, and was one of the first members of that political body which is now designated as the Republican Party. From 1856 until the present time, he has been one of the foremost in the ranks of progressive Pennsylvanians.
HENRY GREEN was born in Greenwich Township, Warren County, New Jersey, about two miles from Easton, on the 29th day of August, 1828. In 1840, when twelve years of age, he entered the school of Rev. John Vanderser, in Easton, where he applied himself very studiously. In July, 1842, he entered the prepara- tory department of Lafayette College, at Easton, and in November following joined the Freshman Class of that year. As a young man, Judge Green was very studiously inclined, and he entered into the spirit of his work with much ambition. Pursuing the regular collegiate course, he graduated in 1846. The same year, in November, he entered the law school of Professor Washington McCartney, who was subsequently, in 1851, elected president judge of the district. While in Professor McCartney's school Judge Green was one of the most active students, and completed his study of the law in September, 1849, when he was admitted to the Bar. He entered the legal profession blessed with good health and a vigorous temperament, and endowed with many natural abilities,
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and with all the intellectual facilities which a splendid education could give. It was natural, therefore, that he should meet with success. He opened an office and practiced law at Easton, and, in 1851, entered the office of Hon. Andrew H. Reeder, to assist him in the conduct of his business. In 1854 Mr. Reeder was appointed Governor of Kansas, and Mr. Green succeeded him in his practice, which had by that time assumed very encouraging proportions. Upon the return of Governor Reeder, in 1857, Judge Green formed a partnership with him in the practice of the law, contin- uing in that relation until Governor Reeder's death, which occurred in July, 1864. Subsequently, Judge Green continued in practice until he was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl- vania, on September 29, 1879, by Governor Hoyt, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Judge Warren J. Woodward. Judge Green here demonstrated that he was eminently fitted for an office of such great trust, and his natural abilities and legal learning came into such play, that within a few months he had firmly established his reputation as one of the brightest of the younger members of the judiciary. In February of the following year, the State Republican Committee made nominations for November election in 1880, and Judge Green was unanimously selected a candidate for the Bench, receiving that honor by accla- mation. He was elected in November, and took his official seat on January 1, 1881, for the full term of twenty-one years. His term of office will not expire until the first Monday of January, 1902, and this distinguished Pennsylvanian bids fair to enjoy, in still greater measure, the confidence and esteem of the entire Com- monwealth during the years to come. His record up to date has been an unending series of brilliant decisions and wise opinions, in all of which he has demonstrated his intellectual and practical fitness for the Supreme Bench. Some of the more notable opin- ions written by him are the following: Dissenting opinion in Commonwealth vs. Gloucester Steam Ferry Company, 98 Pa., 105, which was subsequently sustained and approved by the Supreme Court of the United States ; Lane's appeal on the liability of stockholders of insolvent corporations, 105 Pa., 47; Yardley vs.
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Cuthbertson, 108 Pa., 395; Miskey's Appeal, 107 Pa., 611; Ham vs. Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, dissenting opinion, 155 Pa., 548; Hoover vs. Pennsylvania Railroad Company, 156 Pa., 220. All of these have been quoted frequently as precedents and author- ity. Judge Green, while at the Bar, was concerned in many very important cases. A few of these are referred to: The Delaware Division Canal Company vs. McKeen ; Porter's Appeal ; Fulmer's Appeal; the Monroe Snider Life Insurance cases .; Packer vs. Noble, Hammett & Company. In the last-named case Judge Green was the leading counsel for the plaintiff, who gained a signal victory. Several million dollars were involved in controversy.
In 1873 Judge Green was chosen a member of the Constitu- tional Convention, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resigna- tion of Hon. Samuel M. Dimmick, delegate-at-large, upon the latter's appointment to the office of Attorney-General of the Com- monwealth. In matters political, Judge Green has always been a staunch Republican, and his counsels to the party have ever been full of wisdom and practical benefit. He was a delegate to the First National Convention, that which nominated Fremont and Dayton, at Philadelphia, in 1856. From that time on, he has fig- ured largely in affairs of higher importance in the party of pro- tection. He was a member of the State Executive Committee in 1856, and took an active part in political affairs during that and the years immediately succeeding. However, when his professional duties became so serious as to require all his time and attention, he retired from active participation in the political affairs of his party, being content to exhibit his interest in its welfare more by advice than active co-operation. Judge Green's success on the Bench was but the natural outcome of his success at the Bar, for, prior to his appointment as Judge of the Supreme Court, he enjoyed a large and highly remunerative practice, which continued uninterrupted until his recognition as a jurist by Governor Hoyt.
In 1853 Judge Green was married. His wife is still living, and they have had four children, all of whom are living and have families.
HENRY WARREN WILLIAMS.
T HE courageous spirit of enterprise, the progressive temperament, and the sturdy mental and physical health of the Scotch-Irish race in the State of Penn- sylvania are attributes which stamp to-day many of its most prominent men. In the making of the history of the Commonwealth, this vigorous stock has figured as an important factor, and the long list of prominent men, which is enrolled in the history of the State, includes many who have sprung from this parentage.
Judge Henry W. Williams is one of the decendants of a Scotch- Irish family which early settled here, and the history of his career points out, in an unmistakable manner, his possession of these qualities, which are commonly supposed to be the heritage of those who spring from the Scotch-Irish. His studious habits and close application, combined with his innate ability, have resulted in his accession to a position of leadership in the legal profession of the country.
HENRY WARREN WILLIAMS, born in Harford, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, on July 30, 1830, was the eldest of seven sons. His father was Peter Williams, who came from near Nor- wich, Connecticut, moving into Pennsylvania in 1818. His mother was Sophia Guernsey, who came from a well known family. The son, Henry, received his early education at the village school at Harford, and then attended the Franklin Academy, also in Har- ford. He made up his mind when quite a young man that the profession of law was the one best suited to his abilities, and he determined to educate himself with a view to entering the rank of those in service at the Bar. Upon coming of age, he left home 38
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and went to Wellsboro, Tioga County, Pennsylvania, in May, 1852, and studied law. After a careful course of study, he was admitted to the Bar in 1854, and continued in practice until May, 1865, a period of more than eleven years, during which he was identified conspicuously with some of the most notable cases in the old Fourth Judicial District. His exhaustive knowledge of the statutes, his natural ability for handling knotty law problems, and his untiring and ambitious purpose to succeed in his chosen profes- sion, made him a prominent figure at the bar, and he was appointed Additional Law Judge of the Fourth Judiciary District in March, 1865.
He speedily manifested his fitness for the important post to which he had been appointed, and, in November of the same year, was permanently elected to that office. In 1870 he was chosen President Judge of the Fourth District, and for ten years remained in that capacity on the Bench, his decisions being handed down and followed as models of judicial acumen and logical reasoning. In 1880 he was re-elected to the same office, for by that time his reputation as one of the leading Judges of Pennsylvania had been fully established. In September, 1887, Judge Williams was appointed to the Supreme Bench of Pennsylvania, and was elected to that Court in November, being commissioned for twenty-one years from the Ist of January, 1888, which will extend his term of admin- istration well into the Twentieth Century. Judge Williams' superior qualities as a presiding Judge, and his large experience on the Bench, eminently entitle him to a foremost position in the courts of law, and when the new century dawns it will undoubtedly find him, should his health continue in its present sturdiness, one of the greatest makers of legal history.
In 1875 Judge Williams was appointed a member of the Con- stitutional Committee to revise the new Constitution, then recently adopted, and in that capacity he served the interests of his State with considerable distinction and without compensation. He is at the present time Vice-President of the Philadelphia Sabbath Asso- ciation and of the Scotch-Irish Society of Pennsylvania. Judge Williams is also a member and Elder of the Presbyterian Church. I .- 4.
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Coming of a family included among the most prominent of the Scotch-Irish race in the Keystone State, he naturally takes con- siderable interest in the affairs of the Scotch-Irish Society, and he is one of the most valued members of that association, as his election to the Vice-Presidency attests. The Judge is also a well- known Freemason, and is active in the affairs of the Masonic organization.
On May 1, 1856, Judge Williams was married to Sarah E. Nichols, of Wellsboro. They have two children, Charles N. and Virginia O. Williams. Judge Williams is a man of domestic habits, and, while highly esteemed and liked in his community, he is not very much given to the pursuits of social life. His chief interests to-day are found in the work of the court of last resort in Pennsylvania, first and foremost. He is also active in church work and in works of charity, while at the same time dis- playing not a little interest in the affairs of such societies as those with which he is connected. Judge Williams, as a citizen and as a high judicial authority, thoroughly represents in his own indi- viduality that spirit of enterprise and progress which has, during the century, been such an important factor in the advancement of the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
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J. BREWSTER MCCOLLUM.
HE Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is justly famed for the leaders it has given to Bar and Bench, and among the brightest men of the country who have participated in the making of legal history are those whose birth has been on Pennsylvania soil. Judge J. Brewster McCollum is one of the most famous expound- ers of the law, not alone in the State of Pennsylvania, but in the entire country, and during the past twenty years he has figured largely in the making of the legal history of the State. The law has been his one occupation and constant study, and that he is generally accorded a leading place upon the Bench is due no less to his indefatigable study and close attention than to his nat- urally able mind.
J. BREWSTER MCCOLLUM was born, on the 28th of September, 1832, in Bridgewater, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, and he has resided in this State the greater part of his life ever since. His father's name was Hugh and his mother's maiden name was Polly Ann Brewster. His father was of Scotch parentage, and united in his temperament were many of the most desirable traits of that sturdy race. Judge McCollum's maternal ancestors settled in Sus- quehanna County in 1807, whence they had removed from New England. His maternal grandparents were born in Massachusetts. Judge McCollum's early schooling was received in the district school, which he attended at odd times when he could be spared from work on the farm, until he was seventeen years old. After that he spent three years at the Franklin Academy, where he received a thorough education and developed many of those men- tal qualities of which he has since given evidence in a most thor-
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ough manner. The young man felt imbued with a desire to enter the legal profession, and, with this purpose in view, he entered a law school in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he spent one year in active study. Leaving this institution he entered the office of Lawyer R. B. Little, where he applied himself very studiously for a term of two years, at the end of which time he had thoroughly mastered the intricacies of the statutes. He was admitted to the Bar of Susquehanna County in August, 1855. He felt that a practical experience in other fields than that for which he was professionally fitted might be beneficial to him, and, as the oppor- tunity for a young man with plenty of determination was not lack- ing, he entered the newspaper world as editor and publisher of the Montrose Democrat, which he conducted from August, 1856, to January 1, 1858. After that he engaged in the practice of his profession with every prospect of success and already blessed with a reputation for uprightness, honorable ambition and full ability to pursue the course his progressive temperament had mapped out for him. So marked was his success at the Bar that he speedily rose to a position of eminence in his community, and it was but the natural outcome of both his ability and ambition that he should be recognized for higher honors than those usually enjoyed by the practitioner at the Bar. He was elected President Judge of the Thirty-fourth District after a long career in the courts in the year 1878. The present Judge of that district was Judge McCollum's law partner from 1860 to 1862. Judge McCollum's brother, A. H. McCollum, was his law partner from 1870 to 1877, and he is still in practice at Montrose. All through Judge McCollum's career as a lawyer he has won many friendships and enjoyed the esteem and honor of all with whom he came in professional contact. His . election to the Bench was generally recognized as a fitting honor in every respect and a thoroughly deserving promotion from the ranks of the barristers. Since his incumbency on the Bench, Judge McCollum has demonstrated his worthiness for the trust imposed in him, upon innumerable occasions and in many ways.
Judge J. Brewster McCollum is a thoroughly representative type of the practical and earnest jurist. He has never been con-
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nected with any corporation or business, nor has he ever been engaged in any other enterprise save that entailed in the practice of his profession, excepting during his brief newspaper career. Further than this, Judge McCollum never was elected to any pub- lic office prior to his election as President Judge of the Thirty- fourth District in 1878. In 1888 Judge McCollum was elected to the Supreme Court, upon which Bench he to-day serves with honor. To his chosen profession and the just and complete per- formance of his many official duties he gives all his time, and they constitute his entire interests.
On December 9, 1862, Judge McCollum was married to Mary Jane Searle, of Montrose, Pennsylvania, an estimable lady of excel- lent connection, whom Judge McCollum had known for quite a long time. They have had two sons, Searle and Charles. The latter died in October, 1891, and the former is a lawyer now in practice at Montrose. Judge McCollum takes a vast interest in all matters pertaining to the law and its most advanced administra- tion, and he is to-day numbered among the leading lights of the American judiciary.
JAMES T. MITCHELL.
IT may be truly said that no greater honor can be visited upon a citizen of any State than his elec- tion to so high an office as that of Justice of the Supreme Court, for not alone does this imply the faith of the people in the man, but it is a tribute to his intellectual gifts, his integrity and his fitness for an office holding greater human interest, probably, than any other in the power of the State to grant. From the days of our earliest jurists until the present time, the records of the Supreme Court of Penn- sylvania abound with instances of remarkable judicial sagacity and brilliant lore and learning. To be numbered among so brilliant a galaxy, therefore, is to be crowned with a laurel that will never wither. That Judge James T. Mitchell deserved a place upon this roll, the people of the Commonwealth have long since testified.
JAMES TYNDALE MITCHELL, was born in Belleville, St. Clair County, Illinois, November 9, 1834, at the home of his grand- father, James Mitchell, Chief Burgess of the town, a close per- sonal friend of Henry Clay and a prominent Whig. The family had moved from western Virginia in 1823, after the failure to abolish slavery in that State, in which movement Rev. Edward Mitchell, the Judge's great-grandfather, was prominently identified. At the age of seven, James T. Mitchell was sent to Philadelphia to be educated under the care of his maternal grandmother, and he was placed in the school of Dr. Samuel Jones, brother of Judge Joel Jones, Mayor of Philadelphia. He was subsequently sent to the Central High School, whence he graduated at the head of his class in 1852. He then entered Harvard College, graduating with high rank in 1855. Among his classmates were such distin-
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guished men as Rev. Phillips Brooks; General Francis C. Bar- low, of New York; Professor Alexander Agassiz; Theodore Ly- man, of Boston; Professor James K. Hosmer, of Washington Uni- versity ; Robert Treat Paine; Franklin B. Sanborn and many others. Upon his return to Philadelphia he studied law in the office of George W. Biddle, also attending the lectures at the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the Bar, November 10, 1857, and, in 1859, was made Assistant City Solicitor under the late Charles E. Lex, serving until 1862.
He was one of the earliest members of the Union League ; he served in the militia during the emergencies of 1862 and 1863, and is a member of the military order of the Loyal Legion and of the Sons of the Revolution and an honorary member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati. Upon the expiration of his term as Assistant City Solicitor, Judge Mitchell resumed gen- eral practice. In 1868 he was counsel in the famous contested election cases. In the year 1871 he was elected to the District Court to succeed George M. Stroud, and on the re-organization of the Courts under the present constitution he was transferred to the Court of Common Pleas, No. 2, to which office he was unani- mously re-elected in 1881. In May, 1888, Judge Mitchell received the nomination of the Republican State Convention for Justice of the Supreme Court and was elected, in the following November, by a majority of nearly eighty thousand, his fellow Philadelphians testifying to their confidence in him by running him three thou- sand ahead of even the Presidential ticket. He took his place on the Bench, January 7, 1889.
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