The twentieth century bench and bar of Pennsylvania, volume I, Part 22

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

USA > Pennsylvania > The twentieth century bench and bar of Pennsylvania, volume I > Part 22

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OCHKinson

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dersridge and Sewickley academies. In 1857 he began to read law with D. H. Hagan, Esq., at Pittsburgh; further pursuing his legal studies at Yale university, he was admitted to the Westmoreland bar in November, 1859.

From his early youth he was a Democrat and took an active part in the presidential campaign of 1860, and indeed has been a prominent worker in his party ever sinee. Ile was a delegate to the national Democratie convention in 1864 and again in 1872. In the latter convention he voted, with the min- ority of his party, against the nomination of Horace Greeley. In 1863 he was nominated for the state Senate and was elected, repre- senting the counties of Westmoreland and Fayette. In the years 1871 and 1872 he was a member of the lower house of the Pennsyl- vania Legislature and in 1874 he was nom- inated by the Democratic state convention, which met in Pittsburgh, for the office of lieutenant governor, to which offiee he was eleeted and which he filled in a manner which reflected eredit upon himself, his party and his friends.

He has since been engaged in the practice of thelaw in Greensburg and has served many years as a school direetor, a position to which he has given his elosest attention. He is a gentleman of the old school, retiring in his manners, and at all times eonrteous and gen- teel.

John F. Wentling .- After writing of so many who are of Seotch-Irish extraetion, it is indeed refreshing to one of Teutonie de- scent, to come to a man whose people have not been contaminated by that boastful and arrogant British raee, but in whose veins there courses nothing but pure, unadulter- ated Pennsylvania Duteh blood. Sneh a man is John F. Wentling. He was a son of Dewalt Wentling, and was born near Irwin, Pa. Early in his life he attended the Sewickley aead- emy and the Saltsburg academy, and after- wards became a school teacher in the public

schools of this county. In 1866 he eame to Greensburg and read law with James A. Lo- gan, who afterwards went on the bench. He was admitted to the bar in May, 1868, and very soon after his admission began to try cases alone, and tried them exceedingly well, so well indeed that in a very few years he advaneed to a first-elass standing at the Westmoreland bar, and to a lucrative prae- tice. It must be remembered, too, that he came in contaet with very able men, for at that time Foster, Cowan, Marchand, Laird and other celebrated lawyers were in full practice. Ile has practiced in all the courts with equal success. There have been few im- portant homieide cases tried here in the last twenty years in which he has not been em- ployed, though it has always been his pref- erence to defend rather than to prosecute. Like all country lawyers, his services have been retained in all branches of the profes- sion. He is an able counsellor, and his nat- ural ability, coupled with his knowledge of the law, and a habit of industry that is the envy of most of the members of the bar, en- able him to advise his elients of the best pos- sible solution of legal difficulties.

During his practice but few members of the bar have more frequently appeared in the supreme court than has he. Bnt his abil- ity has shone most perhaps in the handling of a case before a jury. Here his "inother wit," his faculty of illustration, his strong originality and his knowledge of inen and their natural common-sense view of things, have all united to make him one of the most forcible jury lawyers of his generation.

While he has tried many eases for the Pennsylvania Railroad company, the Car- negie Steel company, and other large cor- porations, the bulk of his praetice has been in the interest of the individual, as against the corporation. He, however, took a lead- ing part for the defendant in one of the most celebrated cases of the state, on the question of corporate rights and the measure of dam-

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ages in coal operations. Robb vs. Carnegie (145 Pa. State 324).

In polities Mr. Wentling has always been an ardent Republican, and has been a po- tent factor in the management of the party in the county. He took a leading part in the election of Judges Logan, Hunter and McConnell, and has been consulted at all times in the affairs of his party. With all this, he has steadfastly refused to ac- cept office for himself, it being one of his proudest boasts that no man ever voted or ever will vote for him for any office.

Mr. Wentling has been more or less en- gaged in coal and land business during his life, but has never allowed such matters to, in any way, interfere with his professional duties.

James S. Moorhead, Greensburg, is the son of James and Jane Elizabeth (Sharpe) Moorhead, of Indiana, Pa. His ancestors were among the first settlers of the present county of Indiana, his great-grandfather having been captured by the Indians about 1760, and taken to Quebce, where he was exchanged for French prisoners captured by English soldiers and colonists. His maternal ancestors were related to the Sharpes in the Cumberland valley of Pennsylvania. He was born November 5, 1847, and was educated at Elder's Ridge academy, and at Washington and Jefferson college from which last insti- tution he was graduated in 1868.

Mr. Moorhead read law with the firm of Stewart & Clark of Indiana, Pa. Mr. Clark was his eousin and afterward beeame a jus- tice of the supreme court of Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the bar in Indiana in 1870, and on June 7 of the same year was ad- mitted to the Westmoreland bar and has since been steadily engaged in the practice of the law. Like most thorough lawyers, he has never turned aside from his chosen profes- sion to seek political preferment unless it be once in 1895 when he was a candidate on the Democratic state ticket for judge of the su-

perior court of Pennsylvania. Even this place was in the line of his profession, and whilst he was defeated, the state going strongly Republiean that year, his friends had the consolation of knowing that liad he been elected, he would have brought to the beneh a mind eminently qualified for that high position. He has, however, served as a school director for twelve years, and the high standing of the Greensburg schools is in no small measure due to the interest he manifested in this line of work.

Mr. Moorhead is a lawyer equally strong either before a court or jury, or in giving the counsel essential to the conduct of large business enterprises. He has tried a number of homieide cases, but his work has prin- cipally been in the more lucrative practice in the civil courts below and the supreme court of Pennsylvania. Partieularly has he tried many cases in the new branch of litigation which has come before the courts of the state in the last twenty years growing out of the oil and gas and coal industries. In the case of the Westmoreland and Cambria Natural Gas company vs. De Witt, et al. (130 Pa. State 235) Mr. Moorhead's contention that a lease for the purpose of drilling for oil or gas is in the nature of an easement with respect to the surface for the purpose of entry, examina- tion and drilling operations and that the real subject of possession by the lessee is the oil or gas obtained in the land was denied by the lower court, but was sustained by the supreme court of Pennsylvania. Of equal or possibly of greater importance from a ju- dicial point of view are the cases of Milligan vs. Dick. 107 Pa. State 259: Gumbert's Ap- peal, 110 Pa. State 496: Cunningham's Es- tate, 106 Pa. State 536; ruling cases, in all of which Mr. Moorhead was the leading counsel which may be examined by the stu- dent or practicing lawyer to advantage. Many others might be cited, but we deem these sufficient for this brief review.

HIis address in memory of the late Chicf

Imcink Edward Williams

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Justice Mercur (Pa. State Rep. 116, p. xxV) is an illustration of his style of English.

Whether his language be spoken or writ- ten, whether it be in the form of a public address or an argument before a court or a jury, it is always characterized by a finish which is far superior to that of the average lawyer. In every forum lic advocates his cause with the honesty of a philosopher, the precision of a scholar, and with a dignity becoming the announcement of a judicial mandate. There are probably members of the bar in our large cities who surpass him in the lines to which they have devoted their special attention, but we doubt whether, in the varied attainments of an all around practitioner, he has a superior cither on the bench or in the bar of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Moorhead, aside from his professional work, has found more time than most law- yers to read history, poetry and the higher grade of fiction. It is not infrequent that his addresses are adorned by classic refer- ences evoked from the ideal world by the genius of the poet or the novelist. He is yet in the vigor of his manhood and we trust has many years of useful work before hin.

Silas McCormick, one of the oldest mem- bers of the bar in active practice, was born near Irwin, Westmoreland county, Pa.

He is the son of John McCormick, Esq. (whose father came to Westmoreland county from County Tyrone, Ireland), and Esther (Sowash) McCormick, whose ancestors were French Huguenots.

The subject of this sketch was the fifth of seven brothers born of this marriage, all of whom have become distinguished for their intellectual attainments, and as substantial citizens of the county and state. This is due in a large measure to the fact that their father provided himself with a good library early in the last century, when most men were acquiring lands, and had in it one of the very few editions of Shakespeare in Westmoreland county at that time.

Silas McCormick, after attending the pub- lic schools, taught school and was subse- quently graduated from Jefferson college. He was admitted to the bar in 1868, and has con- tinuously practiced ever since. His faculty of seeing the ridiculous, and his dry, humor- ous way of depicting it, is a characteristic of Mr. McCormick that has been a source of much amusement in the bar for the last thirty years.

He is a man without ostentation, has been rather a counsellor than an advocate before the court and jury, but has always had a good practice, and has been recognized as a thorough lawyer. He is a man of good busi- ness habits, extensive and accurate scholastic attainments, and withal, a genial high-styled gentleman.

A younger brother, H. H. McCormick, was a noted member of the Allegheny county bar. Another brother, Dr. James I. McCor- mick, was a learned and celebrated phy- sician in this county, while his oldest brother Eli was one of the clearest-headed and most intelligent men in Westmoreland county.

Joseph J. Johnston is a son of William Johnston and Julia Ann (Gorgas) Johnston and was born near Pleasant Unity July 12, 1838. He began to teach school in 1855, taught in the public schools for some years and was assistant teacher in the Sewickley academy in 1859 and 1860.

Mr. Johnston began to read law with the late E. J. Keenan, Esq., at Greensburg and afterward finished his course of reading with Mr. James S. Moorhead, with whom, upon his admission to the bar, he formed a part- nership which lasted many years. For the last twelve or fifteen years he has been prac- ticing alone. His practice is almost exclu- sively an office practice; very rarely if ever does he appear in jury trials, but confines his work largely to the orphans' court, etc., in which branch of the profession he has indeed made for himself a name that any one might be proud of.

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In addition to this, he having been a school teacher himself, has taken great interest in the public schools of Pennsylvania. On March 20, 1870, he became a school director in Greensburg and filled the position by elcc- tion continuously until 1899, a term of about thirty years.

David Shaw Atkinson is descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry. His grandfather came to America and settled in Maryland more than a century ago. He is a son of Thomas Atkinson, who resided in Mount Pleasant and who was married to Elizabeth Shaw. Of his ancestry on his mother's side, David Shaw was in the Revolutionary war and was engaged at Hannastown in 1782 and in the Indian conflicts of that age. From this an- cestry Mr. Atkinson took his name. He was educated in Mount Pleasant college, where he spent four years, read law with Hon. James A. Hunter and was admitted to the bar in 1868. Shortly after his admission he was associated in business with T. J. Wed- dell, Esq., and afterward with Hon. J. R. McAfee, and still later with John M. Peoples, Esq. At present he is in partnership with William C. Peoples, Esq. He has also, al- most since his admission to the bar, been one of the owners and editors of the Tribune- Herald, a daily and weekly paper still pub- lished in Greensburg. He has not, however, allowed the newspaper business to in any way conflict with the practice of the law to which he has given his steady and undivided attention for thirty-five years, and in which he has achieved abundant success. No bet- ter indication of his standing at the bar can be given than this: "That when upon the death of Hon. H. P. Laird a few years ago, it became the duty of the Westmoreland Law association to elcet a new president, there were no two opinions in the association as to whom this honor should be given." Mr. Atkinson was unanimously elected and has since been re-elected each year.

His firm has always conducted a large gen-

eral legal business, the court business fall- ing mainly upon him. While not by any means a weak man in any branch of his pro- fession, he is doubtless at his best in the trial of a case or in an argument before a jury ; his flow of language, his quick perecp- tion of the strong points of a case, and his majestic delivery which almost approximates that of the old time orator make him a most formidable opponent in any case. He has in the last twenty years been senior counsel in more than forty homicide cases in this and other counties, and has always con- ducted them with great skill. He has also been concerned in and has successfully con- ducted a very large number of the most im- portant cases, involving the payment of large sums of money, tried in the civil courts of Westmoreland county.

Aside from his law practice he has been engaged somewhat in banking and other business, but not so as to interfere with his profession. He has been a Republican and has made stump speeches in every section of the county, in other parts of Pennsylvania and in the western states, yet, like few law- vers, he has steadily refused political prefer- ment. Time and again has a nomination which was almost equivalent to an election been offered him for high positions, but in each instance he has positively declined. There is no doubt but that he could have been in Congress or on the bench years ago, had he consented to become a candidate. His friends have reason to believe and hope that .he has yet before him many years of pro- fessional usefulness.

Dr. Frank Cowan was born on December 11, 1844, and is a son of Senator Edgar C'owan, who has been written of elsewhere. He was educated in part at Washington and Jefferson college and shortly after his father was elected to the United States Senate in 1861, he went to Washington as his secre- tary. While there he read medicine and was graduated from the Washington Medical col-

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lege. In 1865 he was admitted to the bar in Westmoreland county, and for a time prac- ticed law in Washington city, being admitted while there, to the supreme court of the United States. During the latter part of President Johnson's administration he was one of his private secretaries, and did a great deal of work in the celebrated impeachment trial of that day.

Dr. Cowan is essentially a student and scholar, there being no science, philosophy, poetry, history or literature with which he is not in some degree at least familiar. He is a complete master of several languages and in his life has found more pleasure in contributing to the literature of southwest- ern Pennsylvania than in the practice of either of his professions. His law practice has therefore not been extensive, but any one who will examine his pleadings will find that they are the work of a master mind. He is more than all this, a world traveler, having gone around the world twice. On these long trips he has broken bread with the rich and poor of every nation on the globe and has studied their habits, their his- tory and their languages as few other men living have done. Hc has been in every im- portant city in the world except Boston. No one can enjoy his entertaining conversation for an hour without concluding that he has been greatly benefited, and that, while traveling throughout the world, he has had his eyes open.

Vincent E. Williams, Greensburg, a son of David Williams, a railroad contractor, was born in Latrobe July 4, 1853. He was edu- cated in the common schools, Georgetown college and at St. Mary's college in Montreal, Canada, and is of Irish extraction.

After coming to Greensburg, in 1875, he served one year as deputy register and re- corder, and one year as deputy prothonotary. During this time he was registered as a law student with Senator Edgar Cowan. Ad- mitted to the bar in October, 1878, he be-

came a member of the firm of Hazlett & Williams, in 1886, the senior member of the firm of Williams & Griffith, and in 1893 of Williams, Sloan & Griffith.

The firm has a large corporation and gen- eral practice, divided into three departments, and conducted in a style approximating the systems found in the law offices in the large cities, and has several other attorneys em- ployed to assist it in its work. Mr. Williams is thic head of the firm and is responsible for the precision with which its work is con- ducted. He has, furthermore, done more to formulate and simplify the forms, rules and methods of procedure in the several county offices and in the courts of Westmoreland county, than any other member of the bar. His prominence as a lawyer may be best as- certained by a reference to the numerous and important cases which his firm has tried, reported in the decisions of the supreme court of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Williams is a man of fine physique, abstemious habits and good health, and has doubtless before him many years of profes- sional life. He is a man of much polish in intellectual pursuits, aside from that of his profession, and all his life has been a con- sistent member of the Roman Catholic church.

Paul Hugus Gaither, Greensburg, was born March 26, 1852, in Beaver, Pa. He is the son of Samuel and Lydia (Hugus) Gaither. Shortly after his birth his father returned to Somerset, Pa., where he had formerly re- sided, wlicre the son was reared, and where his father was engaged in the practice of the law until his death, which occurred Novem- ber 18, 1892.

Mr. Gaither read law with his father and in 1875 began the practice of his profession in Latrobe, Pa., he being at that time admit- ted to the Westmoreland county bar. In February, 1886, he located at Greensburg, becoming the junior partner of Mr. J. A. Marchand, and solicitor for the Pennsylvania

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Railroad company, This position he has held since and holds now in partnership with Mr. Cyrus E. Woods.

Mr. Gaither has long been known as one of the leading members of the bar of -West- moreland county. In his office work, his long connection with the Pennsylvania railroad, and his extensive corporation practice are sufficient warranty for his reputation for ability in that direction,

In 1895 he was a candidate for judge and stood so high in the estimation of his party that he had no opposition for the nomina- tion. He was defeated at the November elec- tion, however, the county going overwhelm- ingly Republican, but he came from the con- test with no bitterness of feeling and with his reputation and integrity unassailed.

Among the cases in which Mr. Gaither, with his various colleagues, has been engaged is that of Robb vs. Carnegie, et al. (Pa. State 145, p. 324), a case which became prominent in the courts of Pennsylvania by reason of the important legal questions involved, and which is referred to elsewhere in these pages.

Mr. Gaither is a lawyer of versatile ability, and can excel in any branch of the profes- sion which he enters. Like most country lawyers, his practice has not been exclusively in any one line. We believe, however, that he is seen at his best in the trial of a cor- porate case, when arguing questions of law to the bench or upon a review of his cause in the appellate courts. As a jury lawyer. moreover, he has shown an ability approxi- mating that of the ablest advocates of his time. He has long been a member of the Presbyterian church. He has traveled ex- tensively in Europe and Palestine, and has made many addresses in non-denomina- tional work.

The Westmoreland Law Association was organized and incorporated in 1886. Many of the founders are now dead. With not over forty members in the beginning it has grown to embrace almost the entire bar. Hon.

HI. P. Laird was its first president and was annually re-elected until his death in 1897.

The association is managed by an execu- tive committee of three members, who have very general powers of control. After the payment of its running expenses, its funds are used for the sole purpose of maintaining its library which has grown to large propor- tions. Its funds are derived from member- ship fees and annual dues paid by the mem- bers. It has commodious quarters in the courthouse adjacent to the courtrooms and has on hand for further enlargement a neat sum of money at interest. The association takes an active interest in promoting salu- tary legislation. A social feature is its an- nual banquet, which has become so enjoyable that it is anticipated each year with great interest. The death of one of its members is made the occasion of a memorial meeting at which fitting tributes are paid to the de- ceased and a record of its action is spread upon the minutes.

The association has been promotive of closer social relations among the members of the bar. It also enables the profession, in an organized capacity, to impress itself upon current legislation, while its library has sub- served the convenience of its members.

It is not our province to write of all of the members of the bar who are now in ac- tive practice. There are many whom lack of space prevents us from more than mention- ing. Quite a number there are in the har who, by professional industry and natural ability, have won places far beyond what mnight reasonably be expected from men of their age. Among these are Messrs. Head, Robbins, Sloan, Kline, Watkinshaw, Taylor, Eicher, Bell, Ogden, Beacom, Newill, Kee- nan, Peoples, McCurdy, McGeary, Kunkle, Gregg, McCormick, Crowell, Cunningham, Woods and others.

In writing of the living bench and bar we have been prompted by them as to ancestry,

HC Comer Fare & Co

Paul Hugues Gaither

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date of birth and leading facts alonc. Not one of them knows otherwise what has been written here.

The following list of attorneys made up from the common pleas and quarter sessions court records is as nearly perfect as the crude minutes of the carly courts will warrant. In some instances years elapsed without a rec- ord of the admission of a single attorney. The names of some prominent attorneys do not appear in the court list at all. Those given are known to have been admitted to practice at the Westmoreland bar.

Those who are living and now in active practice are marked with a star, and com- prise indeed a very promising list of attor- neys. Particularly is this true of the younger members of the bar. If, as we hope, in the dim future some abler pen shall take up this work again, it will doubtless be found that among them are men who are not surpassed by the ablest and brighest of those of whom we have written :

Francis Dade, admitted August 3, 1773; Michael Huffnagle, January 5, 1779; Samuel Erwin, January 5, 1779; Andrew Scott, Oc- tober, 1779 ; H. H. Brackenridge, April, 1781 ; James Berwick, April, 1781 ; David Bradford, April, 1782; Thomas Duncan, January, 1783; George Thompson, January, 1783; John Woods, January, 1784; John Young, Jan- uary, 1789; Daniel St. Clair, January, 1789; David Reddick, July 6, 1790; Jacob Nagle, October 4, 1790; Steel Sample, October 6, 1791; Henry Woods, June, 1792; David Mc- Keehan, December, 1792; Hugh Ross, Decem- ber, 1792; George Armstrong, March 11, 1793; Joseph Pentecost, March 12, 1793; Henry Purviance, March, 1794; Arthur St. Clair, June, 1794; Paul Morrow, March, 1795; Thomas Collins, June, 1795; Thomas IIeadon, December, 1795; James Morrison, December, 1795; Thomas Creigh, March, 1796; Abraham Morrison, June, 1796; Sam- uel Mehon, June, 1796: James Montgomery, December, 1796; John Lyon, June, 1797;

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The twentieth century bench and bar of Pennsylvania, volume I, Part 22

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