The twentieth century bench and bar of Pennsylvania, volume I, Part 17

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago, H. C. Cooper, jr., bro. & co.
Number of Pages: 1102

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his birthplace. After reaching the proper age he began an academie course at Elders Ridge academy, from which he was gradu- ated in due course of time with the honors of his class. Upon completing his academ- ic course he began the study of law in the of- fice of Major W. A. Stokes, then a eele- brated lawyer and counsel for the Pennsyl- vania Railroad company at Greensburg, Pa. Soon afterwards Major Stokes went into the army, and Mr. Logan entered the office of Hon. Harrison P. Laird. Under this pre- ceptorship he finished his studies, and was admitted to the bar in May, 1863.

With such lawyers as Henry D. Foster and Edgar Cowan in active practice in the courts in a rural eounty, the field for young effort was not inviting. Mr. Logan, how- ever, immediately gained a prominent place at the bar.

In 1868, when Henry D. Foster contested the scat of Hon. John Covode in the Nation- al House of Representatives, Mr. Logan was counsel for the respondent, and eondueted the defence with sueh skill as to greatly extend his reputation. In 1870 he was ap- pointed local solicitor for the Pennsylvania Railroad company at Greensburg. That corporation was at that time involved in some important litigation, of which the new solicitor assumed charge. Among the suits was the celebrated case of John Snodgrass and Israel Painter, contractors, for furnish- ingthe Union army with beeves, who elaimed that the railroad company had overcharged them a large amount on their shipments of cattle. The case was referred to arbitra- tion. The arbitrators appointed were Judge Buffington, of Armstrong eounty : Judge J. K. Ewing, Hon. James Veach and Hon. Dan- iel Kane, of Fayette county, and Hon. Hugh Weir, of Indiana county, representing the best legal talent in Western Pennsylvania. Eminent lawyers were retained by the plaintiffs, and a stubborn fight was made. Mr. Logan substantially won the case,

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In 1871 Judge Buffington resigned, leav- ing a vacancy on the bench. The governor selected Mr. Logan for the position. He was at that time thirty-one years of age, and was perhaps the youngest judge on the common pleas bench, and presided over the largest judicial district, both in population and area, in the state. The following year he was unanimously nominated by his party for the full term of ten years. The Demo- cratic candidate was Hon. Silas M. Clark, a resident of Indiana county, who subse- quently became one of the justices of the supreme court of the state. Judge Clark was very popular and widely known in the district, but Judge Logan was elected by the usual majority. His judicial career was em- inently successful. When he came upon the beneh a lawless elass had for some time in- fested the coal regions of Armstrong county, and was growing dominant. By vigorous and fearless administration of the criminal law Judge Logan restored authority, and brought the county back to quiet and good order.

In 1875 occurred what were known as the Italian riots in Westmoreland county. A large number of persons, some of them prom- inent in the county, were concerned in fo- menting disturbance, which resulted in the daylight slaughter of four Italian miners. The judge did not halt or wait for others to move in the enforcement of the law. He ealled the grand jury together and sub- mitted the faets to them. A number of in- dictments were immediately found. The moral effect of this energetic course was long felt in the county.

He served on the beneh until 1879, when he resigned to accept the position with the Pennsylvania Railroad company, as their assistant general solicitor, and was shortly afterwards promoted to the office of general solicitor.

During his service on the beneh Judge Logan won an enviable reputation as a

judge. Prompt and vigorous in the dis. patch of business, the work of the court was pressed forward and the interest of the peo- ple promoted. He was courteous bnt firm, severe but dignified, and enjoyed the fullest confidence of the bar, and the respect and esteem of the publie. His judicial opinions, when orally delivered, were clear, concise and to the point, and when written, forceful. lucid and admirable in every respect. Upon luis retirement the people were unanimous in expressions of regret at the loss of his val- nable services on the bench.

An adequate sketch of his career during the last ten years is not possible without considering with more detail than is here practicable the functions of the legal de- partment of a great and growing railroad corporation. Railroad and corporation law demands for is successful prosecution, from the practical side to-day, the same high order of talent in the lawyer that the law of real property demanded of its successful practitioners during its formative period, and which constitutional law as a branch of jurisprudence, has required in all times. And, indeed, railroad law has so much to do with constitutional law that, to be a great railroad lawyer, a man must also be a great constitutional lawyer.

Judge Logan's connection with the litiga- tion of the Pennsylvania Railroad company and its more than one hundred associated corporations has been intimate and direct, and much of the suecess with which it has inet has been also his success. In the famous suit which Attorney General Cassidy brought against the Pennsylvania Railroad company and other lines a few years ago, known as the South Penn Equity Proceed- ings, he took a prominent part. The cases of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company vs. Lippincott and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company vs. Marchant, known as the Fil- bert Street Extension cases, were argued by counsel and decided by the court upon

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grounds which he suggested. Those eases which were deeided in 1887 and 1888, and are already leading eases in the law, estab- lished that the property of a railroad eorpo- ration is governed by the same rules as to liabilities in its user as that of individuals. It deelared that the Pennsylvania Railroad company was not liable for the depreciation of real estate values on the north side of Fil- bert street ineidentally eaused by the law- ful operation of its trains on its own prop- erty on the south side. The declaration of this principle, it is needless to say, was worth a great deal to corporations throughout the state. At least fifty suits for damages against the Pennsylvania Railroad company fell with the deeisions in which it was an- nouneed.

Sinee the formation of the Inter-State Commeree Commission Judge Logan largely represented the corporation in the eontested cases before the commission, as well as in many eonferenees with the commission. In. the line of official duty he has been brought in eontaet with the mnost distinguished law- yers from all seetions of the country, and his reputation as a lawyer has not suffered by the eontaet.

Judge Logan's duties required general supervision of all the litigation of the eom- pany and the lines it leased or eontrolled east of Pittsburgh, and immediate adviee and conferenee with the chief executive and department offieers in eonneetion with the important administrative eonduet of eorpo- rate affairs. He had, therefore, use for all the legal attainments of his lifetime, as well as the habits of industry which he early ae- quired.

He was married April 13, 1871, to a daughter of Hon. A. G. Marehand, who is written of elsewhere in these pages. With his wife and children he lived comfortably at Bala, on the Sehuylkill valley braneh of the Pennsylvania railroad, just beyond the limits of Fairmount Park.

In 1888 the faculty of Washington and Jefferson eollege, at Washington, Pa., one of the most noted and conservative educational institutions of the country, conferred on him the honorary degree of doctor of laws. He died October 29, 1902.

Judge James A. Hunter .- Immediately upon the resignation of Judge Logan, in 1879, Governor Henry M. Hoyt appointed Hon. James A. Hunter to the Westmoreland county beneh, his eommission being dated July 12, 1879. At that time Westmoreland county was strongly Democratic, and even Judge Hunter's most ardent friends seareely entertained any hope of his election. He, however, aeeepted the commission and assumed the duties of the office at onee. Later on in the year he was nominated by the Republican party as their candidate for judge, against Arehibald A. Stewart, who had been previously nominated by the Demo- crats. The election eanie on and proved to be a very bitter one. Many old line Demo- erats were dissatisfied with the nomination of Mr. Stewart. The Republicans took ad- vantage of this disaffeetion in the Demo- eratie party, with the result that in the November election Judge Hunter was vie- torious, having more than a thousand ma- jority over Mr. Stewart, and therefore filled the office by virtue of his appointment and his eleetion from July 12, 1879, to January 1, 1890.

Judge Hunter was born in Laneaster eoun- ty, Pa., April 18, 1835, his father having been a native of Londonderry, Ireland. He received a common sehool edueation, was afterwards a school teacher, read law with James Todd, of the Westmoreland bar, who had been formerly a Philadelphia lawyer and attorney general of the commonwealth under Governor Rittner. Judge Hunter was admitted to the bar in 1858 and prae- ticed law almost continuously until he went on the beneh. Ile was register in bank- ruptey under the United States bankrupt

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law in 1867, which position he resigned to become a member of the Legislature for the session of 1869. Very early after his admis- sion to the bar he made for himself a reputa- tion as a publie speaker second to no one at the bar, and he was always greatly sought for to address all kinds of meetings, partic- ularly Republican meetings, where, as a stump speaker, he had few equals.

After Judge Hunter's retirement from the, bench he resumed the practice of the law. He was never a man of strong constitution, and in 1893 was taken sick with pneumonia and died June 13, after a few days' illness, and was buried at Greensburg.

Judge Hunter's term of office finished up exactly one hundred years of courts with judges learned in the law, as was provided for in the constitution of 1790. He was the ninth judge in a century, though Judges Roberts and Knox served short terms, and Burrell and Logan both resigned.

A desultory glanee at the advancements made in the administration of justice will show the most casual observer that they have done their work faithfully and well. A century has wrought great changes in the county. As has been seen, the early judges presided over a number of counties, never less than three. During these years the judges journeyed on horseback from one county to another, and the more prominent lawyers rode the cireuit with them. It was not infrequent in those days that litigants stood at the courthouse steps and employed their attorneys perhaps but a few minutes before their cause was called for trial.

For long years in Greensburg the sheriff of the county, after the ancient English cus- tom, collected a body of mounted men who rode out to meet the coming judge and es- cort him into the village. This custom was kept up until the early fifties, passing away with railroad building, after which the judges no longer arrived on horseback.

By the constitution of 1790 the judges

were appointed for life. This provision oh- tained until 1838, when a new constitution changed the term only, making it for ten vears instead of for life. In 1850 the consti- tution was amended so as to make the office an elective one, the term remaining the same. This amendment was ingrafted in the constitution of 1873 and still prevails.

Since 1874 Westmoreland county has been a separate judicial district, gaining this by virtue of the "new constitution" adopted in 1873. Since then we have had no associate judges on the bench.

PART III.

EMINENT LAWYERS OF THE PAST.

Major John B. Alexander .- There is but one name, leading all others, with which to head this list, and that is John B. Alexander. He was born in Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pa., and was admitted to the Westmoreland bar in December, 1804. After that, during his long lifetime, he was always one of its most prominent and active members, and in his later years there is little doubt but that he stood at the very head of the profession in ‹ Western Pennsylvania.

Mr. Alexander was highly educated, hav- ing received a thorough collegiate education in the early days of the last century, when elassical attainments were regarded at their true value and had not been proscribed by the modern, so-called educational reformers. He was, moreover, a lifelong student, eon- fining himself to the law, the Greek and Latin languages and to Shakespeare, to the exclusion of nearly everything else. With the writings of the great dramatist, he was so familiar that he quoted them almost un- consciously when addressing a court or a jury. From this source he undoubtedly gathered much of his renowned strength as an advocate.

On only two occasions did he allow his mind to be drawn from his chosen profession.

1/3 Alexander

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The first was in the war of 1812, during which he collected a company of volunteers, was elected its captain and served with credit under Gen. William Henry Harrison. The company was named the "Greensburg Rifles." When his company entered the service a battalion was formed by uniting it with several other companies, and Alex- ander was elected major. Thus he received the military title by which he was known during the rest of his life. This was, of course, in his younger days, when he had not yet risen to the highest place in his profes- sion. He had been brought up in the town of Carlisle, where the United States had long maintained a barracks, and though evincing no special military predilections, he always commanded his company in a rich and gaudy uniform, which was made none the less showy by his majestic person. He expended large sums of money from his own purse on equipments and horses.

His military services were largely in the Northwestern territory. His battalion cap- tured a six-pound cannon of great weight, made, as its inscription indicates, by the Spaniards in the eighteenth century. At the close of the war Major Alexander brought this prize to Greensburg, and it is yet a valued possession of his nephew, Gen. Richard Coulter.

In 1824 the major and his company turned out to do honors to La Fayette on the occasion of the patriotic Frenchman's visit to Greensburg.

It is said that his fondness for military display, acquired in his youth, became a weakness in his old age, and that as he grew older he was easily flattered on that point. His military reputation, however, had a sub- stantial foundation. Some years after the war, when Sanford was acting in Pittsburgh in the roll of "Jim Crow," it was discovered by the actor that Alexander was in the audi- ence, he being there in attendance upon the supreme court. The ready actor drew the

attention of the audience to Alexander by improvising the following :

"Old General Harrison, He was a big commander ; And the next big hero there Was Major Alexander."

Of course a compliment of this kind was received by uproarious applause by the Pittsburgh people, and the major was high- ly gratificd.

At one time he fought a duel with a man named Mason, of Uniontown, Fayette coun- ty, but neither combatant was wounded. Both desired a second fire, but the seconds interfered and prevented it.

The second occasion which drew him from the practice of the law was his election to the general assembly. In 1834 this county was represented in the general assembly by James Findlay, who was appointed secretary of the commonwealth by Governor Wolf. Findlay himself was a very brilliant man, and the people, with one accord, wishing to send a man to fill his place who would not discredit his high standing, selected Alex- ander. He was not a successful representa- tive. As may be supposed, so eminent a lawyer as he was entirely out of his element when in the State Legislature. There he had to measure swords with men in small matters who were much beneath him. His great powers were not called into requisition and before the session was over he left the Legislature in disgust, mounted his horse, "Somerset," which he had ridden from Westmoreland county to Harrisburg, and came home. He characterized the Legis- lature in language more emphatic than ele- gant. After that he took no part whatever in politics until 1840, when his "Old Com- mander" was a candidate for the presidency. He presided that year at a Harrison meet- ing in Greensburg, but was infirm with age, and died but a short time after Harrison's

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election. Alexander was always an uncom- promising old line Whig in politics.

It is doubtless fair to say that prior to 1850 he had no equal at the Westmoreland bar. Richard Coulter, it is true, though a younger man, was superior in eloquence to Alexander; and in his exhaustive reading and in his general knowledge, Alexander W. Foster may have been quite his equal, but in the give and take of the trials at the bar, in the preparation of papers and in all that goes to make a truly great lawyer, Alexander had at all events no superior. Once when complimented upon his legal knowledge as having come naturally to him, he replied : "Oh, no; I owe it all to hard study; I arise early in the morning and study while others are in bed;" a habit which he retained even in his old age. There is a tradition of him that he read Black- stone once a year. At one time he was counsel in a very heavy land title case which was to be tried in the United States supreme court, and against him was em- ployed the celebrated William Wirt, of Bal- timore. In his argument before this high court the Westmoreland lawyer showed such knowledge of the law and such general abil- ity that he astonished the bar and the court. At the conclusion of his argument he was complimented by Wirt, and by Daniel Web- ster, also, who was present, and who ex- pressed in his grandest way his admiration of the manner in which Alexander had han- dled the case and of his exposition of the law. This must not appear remarkable, for perhaps in the abstruse land law of Pennsylvania Alexander was superior to either Wirt or Webster.

A few years ago an old gentleman, now dead, told the writer that when a boy in the early "thirties" he saw Major Alexander take a drink in the present Fisher house, which those with him said was to stimulate him for an address he was to deliver that afternoon in a very important trial. Hold-

ing up the glass, showing the liquid scarec- ly concealed by his hand, he said, "Four fingers, gentlemen, and for every finger the old judge gets an hour this afternoon."

Shortly before that, when Webster re- plied to Hayne, as he was passing down the Senate chamber, Clayton said to him: "Are you loaded, Mr. Webster ?" Glancing an- grily at Vice President Calhoun and hold- ing up his hand, he said, "Four fingers." It was a pioneer hunter's expression, meaning a heavy charge of powder, a load for big game.

John B. Alexander was a son of John Al- cxander, who was of Scotch-Irish extraction and who was born in Cumberland county. His wife was a Miss Smith, also of Cumber- land county. They had no children. Two of his sisters, however, were married in Westmoreland county, the one to Hon. Joseph H. Kuhns, the other to Eli Coulter, the father of Gen. Richard Coulter.

In personal appearance Mr. Alexander was about five feet ten inches tall and weighed about two hundred and forty pounds. His residence in Greensburg was a large brick house on Main street, diag- onally across the street from the Methodist church, where the Zimmerman house now stands. Indeed, the Zimmerman house is but an enlargement of his old residence, the main front and side walls of the present structure being those of Alexander's home. In the latter years of his life he lived south of Greensburg on a farm, where he greatly amused himself by agriculture and horti- culture and by raising superior breeds of cattle and poultry. The engraving of Major Alexander given in these pages is from an oil painting made about the close of the war of 1812, and now in possession of General Coulter.

Alexander W. Foster was the son of Wil- liam Foster, of Chester county, and was born in 1771. He was admitted to the Phil- adelphia bar, having read law with Edward

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Bird, Esq., in 1793. In 1796 his family moved from Chester county to Meadville, Crawford county. Here he practiced law for a number of years and achieved an en- viable reputation in his profession. So wide was his fame that his practice frequent- ly took him to most of the counties between Pittsburgh and Erie. In 1812 he was re- tained in a Westmoreland case, and he so favorably impressed some of his clients and was so favorably impressed with the town and the community that he removed to Greensburg, thereafter becoming a citizen of Westmoreland county and a member of the Westmoreland bar. He very rapidly at- tained a large practice and was undoubted- ly one of the best lawyers in the profession. The trio, Alexander, Foster and Coulter, had no superiors in Western Pennsylvania. He did not possess the impassioned and florid eloquence of Richard Coulter, nor the great legal erudition of Alexander, but his professional attainments were said to have been more extensive than those of the for- mer, and as a trial lawyer, particularly in the cross examination of witnesses, he had more ability than the latter. Although in- ferior to Alexander in an argument before the court, he was superior to him before a jury, where he was nearly, if not quite, equal to Coulter.

Foster had a kind, genial disposition and his office was for many years said to be the best place in Greensburg to read law. He often conferred with his students, put ques- tions to them, argued with them, examined them and held in his office a sort of "moot" court. Several of his students who arose to distinction in the law in after years attrib- uted a great part of their success to him, and one at least has said that he learned more law orally from Foster than he learned by reading his books. Of course he excelled in any branch of the profession, but in the cross-examination of witnesses he was prob- ably seen at his best. It is said that he

could, better than any member of the bar of his day, expose the falsehood or fraud of an evilly disposed witness, and that he could do this in a mild, genteel way which neverthe- less forced attention or moved to laughter. His kindly nature precluded the possibility of his being genuinely sarcastic, yet when necessary he could be extremely severe. He excelled also in his command of language and in the marshalling of his ideas. He could most suitably express his thoughts without halting, without error, and appar- ently without effort. Most of his arguments were copiously illustrated with amusing anecdotes, some of which he seems, like Lin- coln, to have invented for the occasion. Many of these stories are fresh and inter- esting when read or repeated even to-day. Socially he was always a leader, being very fond of company, and he moreover had great conversational powers.

Mr. Foster, like Alexander, delighted in agriculture. He wrote articles on the prac- tical application of chemistry to farming and delivered many orations at public gath- erings and at county fairs in Greensburg, a practice that was then in vogue throughout all the counties of the statc.

In 1820 and 1822 he was the Federalist candidate for Congress in the district which was then composed of Westmoreland, Indi- ana, Armstrong and Jefferson counties, but he was defeated in each case because he was on the unpopular side, though in 1820, in the strong Democratic county of Westinore- land, he obtained a small majority. After the breaking up of the Federalist party he became an Anti-Mason, and when that po- litical party collapsed he became a Whig, and so remained until his death.

In person he was of medium size and weight, rather inclined to leanness than to corpulency, was of the nervo-bilious tem- perament and his complexion sallow, with a tendency to pallor. He was greatly ad- dicted to smoking, a cigar being his con-

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stant companion, and for his own use he had hot houses built and grew Spanish tobacco. He was the uncle of Henry D. Foster, who will be spoken of hereafter and who later arose to great eminence at this bar.

James Findlay was born in 1801, in Franklin county. He was educated at Princeton college and read law in Harris- burg with Francis R. Shunk, his father hav- ing in the meantime removed from Franklin county to Dauphin county. For the first year or two after being admitted to the bar he practiced in York county, but without great success, and in 1824 removed to Greensburg and was admitted to the bar August 23, of that year. This was a good location for him. The legal business of Westmoreland county in that day was abundant. Lawyers from Pittsburgh and other counties frequently attended the courts in Westmoreland county. His nat- ural talents, fine education and thorough - training in the law soon placed him at the head of his profession. Very soon after he came to Westmoreland county he was made prosecuting attorney and was filling that of- fice when James Evans was tried for mur- der in 1830. This murder case is perhaps, all things being considered, the most noted one ever tried in Westmoreland county. Findlay was a Democrat. General Jackson was president of the United States and Wolf, a Democrat, was governor of Penn- sylvania. Thus his party was in power both in the state and nation, and perhaps the political side of life looked more rosy to him than the more rugged life of a practic- ing lawyer. At all events he entered pol- itics and in 1831, 1832 and 1833 he was elected to the Legislature. In the latter year Samuel McLean, who was secretary of the commonwealth, was elected to the United States Senate. Such was the repu- tation of James Findlay, though only thirty- two years old, that Governor Wolf at once tendered him the place of secretary of the

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The twentieth century bench and bar of Pennsylvania, volume I, Part 17

Author: Publication date: 1903 Publisher: Chicago, H. C. Cooper, jr., bro. & co. Number of Pages: 1102

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago, H. C. Cooper, jr., bro. & co.
Number of Pages: 1102