The twentieth century bench and bar of Pennsylvania, volume I, Part 43

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

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Warren J. Woodward, whose sketeh ap- pears in Berks eounty, was appointed presi- dent judge of the Twenty-sixth judicial dis- triet. composed of Columbia, Sullivan and Wyoming counties, and served by appoint- ment and eleetion from July, 1856, to De- cember, 1861.

Aaron Kingsley Peckham was the second ehild of Kingsley Peekham and Hannah Retta Rounds, and was born at Bristol, Bris- tol county, Rhode Island, October 15, 1815. His father was a farmer and while residing in Rhode Island made a bare competenee for himself and family. He removed to Penn- sylvania in 1829 and settled in Columbia,

Bradford county. In 1838 he entered his name as a student-at-law in the office of John C. Adams of the Towanda bar, and was ad- mitted to practice in 1842. After the eree- tion of Wyoming from part of Luzerne county, he took up his residenee in Tunk- hannock and settled down to the practice of his profession. In 1845 he formed a part- nership with Col. Elhanan Smith, which con- tinued about three years.

In 1860 the Hon. Warren J. Woodward, the then presiding judge of the Twenty- sixth judicial district, was elected president judge of the Twenty-third distriet, compris- ing the county of Berks, and surrendered his commission as presiding judge of the Twenty-sixth. Governor Andrew G. Curtin commissioned A. K. Peckham, Esq., to fill the vaeaney in the fall of 1861. In the fall of 1862 William Elwell, then a member of the Bradford county bar, was nominated by the Demoerats and eoneurred in by the Re- publicans for president judge of the Twenty- sixth distriet, eomprising Columbia, Sulli- van and Wyoming counties. Judge Peck- ham deelined to be a eandidate. Upon De- eember 1, 1862, his commission expired, and he resumed his praetice at Tunkhannock, continuing there until the time of his death, March 22, 1865.

Judge Peckham married Jane A. P. Man- ville, at Towanda, February 21. 1845. She died at Tunkhannock the 5th day of July, 1855. By her he left one daughter, Mrs. N. P. Hicks, who resides at Towanda, Pa. He married Jane E. Knowles at Chittenango, N. Y., November 24, 1858. By her he left one daughter, residing with her mother at Chittenango.

William Elwell was born at Athens, Brad- ford county, Pennsylvania, October 9, 1808. He received a good English education at the Athens academy. At the age of nine- teen he was an assistant under Chief Engi- neer Randall in running exploring lines on both sides of the Susquehanna river for the

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location of a canal from the New York state line southward. After leaving the engineer corps he taught school for three years, and then commenced the study of the law in the office of Horace Williston, Esq., and was ad- mitted to the bar in February, 1833.

He was a member of the Legislature in 1842 and 1843, and at his first session was chairman of the judiciary committee, among the members of which were men who after- ward attained great distinction, notably Judge Sharswood, Judge Gamble, Judge Barrett, Hendrick B. Wright and Thaddeus Stevens, and of whom he was in every re- spect the equal. As chairman of the judi- ciary committee he prepared and reported the bill to abolish imprisonment for debt, which, with a single change, stands now as originally reported. In 1844 he declined a nomination for Congress, but in 1866 he yielded to the demands of his party, the Democratic, and accepted the nomination in the Thirteenth district. He ran far ahead of his ticket, but was not elected. In 1862 he was elected president judge of the Twenty- sixth judicial district, composed of the coun- ties of Cohunbia, Sullivan and Wyoming, no candidate being named against him; and upon the expiration of his term, in 1872, he was re-elected without a dissenting vote. In May, 1874, Wyoming and Sullivan were created the Forty-fourth judicial district, and Montour county was added to Columbia, the district still remaining the Twenty- sixth.

In April, 1871, Judge Elwell was chosen umpire to settle the difficulties between the operators and the miners in the anthracite coal regions, and his impartial judgment was accepted by all parties as a just and equitable solution of the troubles. On the expiration of his second term as president judge of the Twenty-sixth district, the bar of the district unanimously, and without dis- tinction of party, requested him to accept a third term, to which he consented; and the

political convention of the Democratic and Republican party respectively, following the lead of the bar, nominated him to the office for the election of 1882. He was then again unanimously chosen.

It is believed that Judge Elwell held more special courts than any judge upon the bench during his incumbency ; and in order to have the advantage of his legal learning and ability many important cases have been certified to Columbia county and tried be- fore him. Among the many notable cases which he has tried are the Williamsport Bond case, Fisher against the City of Phila- delphia, Tryon and Dull against Munson, and the celebrated Cameron will case from Union county, each involving the rights of parties to the amount of hundreds of thou- sands of dollars, and in all of which his opinions were affirmed by the Supreme Court. On the appeal in the Will case, after elaborate argument by eminent counsel for the appellant, the decision was affirmed, the Supreme Court adopting the opinion of the court below as the opinion of that court.

The Mollie Maguire cases, growing out of the murder of Alexander W. Rea, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court, of itself forms a volume of 1,021 pages, and estab- lishes many important questions on the law of homicide, was tried before him.

Judge Elwell resigned from the bench, July 28, 1888. On that occasion the mem- bers of the bar of the Twenty-sixth district tendered to him a banquet, which was ar- ranged to be held at the Exchange hotel in Bloomsburg on Friday, October 19, 1888. It was attended by a large number of the most distinguished lawyers in the state; and in opening the post prandial proceedings, Col- onel Freeze, the toastmaster, remarking on the important cases tried before the honored guest, said: "I have seen as advocates be- fore him in our court the most distinguished lawyers of the state; I may be allowed to name on this occasion, Judge Jeremiah S.

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Black, Judge George W. Woodward, Judge John W. Maynard, Hon. Franklin B. Gowen, Gov. Henry M. Hoyt, Judge Edward Owen Parry, Judge F. Carroll Brewster, Hon. Francis W. Hughes, Mr. Attorney General Palmer, with many other gifted and able men."

Upon his election to the bench in 1862, Judge Elwell removed to Bloomsburg, where he resided until his death. His name during these years was often eanvassed for the Supreme Court beneh and also for the office of governor of the commonwealth, but he uniformly deelined to authorize a can- vass in his favor, not deeming it consonant with judicial propriety.

Judge Ehvell was a member of the Epis- copal church, having been confirmed by Bishop Howe. He was appointed on the Bi- Centennial committee by Governor Hoyt in 1881, but his official duties prevented him from taking any active part. In 1868 he was elected a trustee of the Bloomsburg State Normal sehool, and in 1873, president of the board, and was always warmly interested in its suceess.

Judge Elwell was twice married. His first wife was Miss Clamana Shaw, by whom he had four children. His second wife was a daughter of Col. Ebenezer Thayer, by whom he had six children. He died at Bloomsburg, October 15, 1895, leaving a wife and six children surviving.

Elijah Redmond Ikeler was born in Green- wood township, Columbia county, February 27, 1838. The great-grandparents of Judge Ikeler were Germans, who came to America shortly before the Revolutionary war and settled in Belvidere, N. J. His grandfather, Andrew Ikeler, came from New Jersey on horseback, and, locating in Greenwood town- ship, founded the family in this eounty. In his early youth Judge Ikeler received little educational training, until, when about six- teen years of age, he attended the Green- wood seminary, located at Millville, then the

leading school of the county. Subsequently he learned the trade of a miller at Millville, and still later purchased the plant and prop- erty of the former owner, and conducted the business very suceessfully until 1865. In that year he moved to Bloomsburg and reg- istered as a law student in the office of John G. Freeze, Esq., and was admitted to the bar of Columbia eounty in May, 1867. While at Millville and during the years of his prepa- ration for the law, he took an active interest in the exeiting politieal issues of that time, and upon coming to Bloomsburg in 1865, purchased a newspaper ealled the "Columbia Demoerat," which he consolidated with the "Star of the North" and renamed the paper "The Demoerat and Star." However, as the time for his admission to the bar ap- proached, he retired from the newspaper business in order to devote his undivided attention to his profession. Mr. İkeler's natural eapacity and aptitude for the law were so conspicuous that in 1869 he was eleeted distriet attorney for the county, and served in that eapacity during the first of the famous "Mollie Maguire" trials. The presiding judge was Elwell and the counsel for the commonwealth were District Attor- ney Ikeler, Robert F. Clark, C. R. Buekalew, Edward H. Baldy and Linn Bartholomew; for the defense, John W. Ryon. S. P. Wol- verton, John G. Freeze, George E. Elwell and C. B. Brockway. The prisoners put up- on trial were John Duffy, Thomas Donohue and Michael Prior, who were all acquitted, and as to Patriek Hester a nolle prosequi was entered. After the elose of his term as distriet attorney, Mr. Ikeler's attention was entirely given to the praetiee of his profes- sion. For sixteen years he continued at the bar, and sueeeeded in building up a large and luerative praetiee. In February, 1885, he formed a partnership with a former stu- dent, now Ex-judge Grant Herring, under the firm name of Ikeler & Herring. As a lawyer he was especially strong on the crim-

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inal side of the court, and in his advocacy of canses before a jury was exceptionally successful. In 1888, the term of Hon. Wil- liam Elwell as judge of the several courts of the Twelfth judicial district of Pennsyl- vania having expired, the subject of this sketch was elected to that position in the fall of the same year. For over nine years Judge Ikeler presided in the courts of this district, and in 1898 was again a candidate for the Democratic nomination to that office, but before any nomination was or could be made, Judge Ikeler was suddenly stricken by an attack of heart failure, and after an illness of one week, died at his home in Bloomsburg on August 1, 1898.

On March 23, 1863, Judge Ikeler was mar- ried to Miss Helena Armstrong, a daughter of Ephraim Armstrong, of Bloomsburg, and as a result of the marriage there were born two sons, Frank Ikeler and Fred Ikeler, who now compose the law firm of Ikeler & Ikeler, in their native town.

Grant Herring was born at Centreville, Columbia county, Pennsylvania, May 19, 1862; he lived in Shenandoah, Schuylkill county, from 1864 to 1876; then moved to Bloomsburg and prepared for college at the Bloomsburg State Normal school; he gradu- ated in the classical course, June, 1879; entercd Lafayette college, September, 1879, graduating thercfrom June, 1883; read law with E. R. Ikeler, of Bloomsburg, and was admitted to the bar on February 1, 1885. He was elected to the Senate of Pennsylvania, in the Twenty-fourth senatorial district for four years, November 4, 1890; served in the extra session called by Governor Pattison in 1893; was delegate-at-large from Pennsyl- vania. to the Democratic national convention in 1892, which nominated Grover Cleveland ; was an earnest advocate of sound money at the Democratic state convention at Allen- town, Pa., in 1896; and later at the Demo- cratic national convention at Chicago in 1896, of which he was also a member; was

appointed collector of internal revenue for the Twelfth district of Pennsylvania, assum- ing the duties of office on February 3, 1894; was appointed trustee of the Bloomsburg State Normal school by the state superin- tendent in 1893, 1895, and again in 1898; was appointed trustee of the State hospital for injured persons at Fountain Springs, Pa., June 7, 1898, in which capacity he is still acting. He was appointed judge of the Twenty-sixth judicial district, August 10, 1898, and was appointed one of three judges to determine a contested judicial election in Schuylkill county, August 18, 1898. Mr. Herring resumed the practice of his profes- sion in January, 1899.

Robert R. Little, of Bloomsburg, is one of the foremost and influential men of his sec- tion of Pennsylvania, born on May 30, 1852, at Berwick, in Columbia county, to Ephraim H. and Eliza Scybert Little. He has passed his life in his native county, where he is universally known and honored. His father, who was a native of New York state, was a successful lawyer, and at an early day set- tled at Berwick, in Columbia county, and continued in the active practice of his pro- fession until a few years before his decease in 1900. Robert's mother was a native of Pennsylvania. His grandfather, George Little, who removed from New York, his native state, and settled in Pennsylvania at an early day, was a son of Ephraim Little, who was a captain in the navy during the Revolutionary war.

After completing his studies in the com- mon schools, Robert attended and in 1871 was graduated from the State Normal school at Bloomsburg, being a member of the second class graduated from that institution. He afterwards attended Rochester university, and finished his classical studies at Hamilton college, Clinton, N. Y. Among his class- mates at the Pennsylvania State Normal school were Hon. John M. Gorman, Judge

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George W. Bartch, of the Supreme Court of Utah, Mr. G. T. Ailman and Dr. Shilly, all of whom were in attendance at the thirtieth anniversary meeting of the class in 1871.

After leaving college, young Little entered his father's office at Bloomsburg as a law student, and in September, 1874, passed his examination and was admitted to the bar. He at once began practice as a partner with his father under the firm name of E. H. & R. R. Little, and so continued until his father's retirement front active practice in 1885. Their practice, general in character, was quite extensive and embraced a wide range of important cases in the state courts. As a trial lawyer, our subject had a consid- erable experience and became widely known .

for his success in this branch of his profes- sion.

Mr. Little continued his practice until the fall of 1898, when he was elected to the Common Pleas bench on the Democratic ticket. Though not a politician in the ordi- nary sense of that term, he has always been somewhat active in the affairs of his party, and been honored with numerous positions of responsibility and trust.

In 1876 he was elected district attorney and three years later was re-elected to the same office, serving in all two full terms. He served three terms as a member of the Bloomsburg school board, and is also trustce of the State Normal school.

Judge Little is a member of the Masonic order, also is connected with other social and fraternal organizations.

On October 15, 1878, Mr. Little married, at Bloomsburg, Miss Deborah T. Tustin, daughter of the Rev. J. P. Tustin, a Baptist minister, and who was, for a number of years, cashier of the First National bank of Bloomsburg. There have been born to Judge and Mrs. Little seven children, of whom two sons and one daughter survive, the rest hav- ing died in infancy. Judge Little with his family are connected with the Baptist de-

nomination, and all are active in church and benevolent work.

Henry M. Hinckley .- On the resignation of Judge William Elwell from the Common Pleas of the Twenty-sixth district, Governor Beaver, on the 31st of July, 1888, commis- sioned Henry M. Hinckley, one of the junior bar of Danville, Montour county, to be presi- dent judge. Judge Hinckley is the son of Joel and Theodosia Hinckley and was born in Harrisburg, Pa., June 2, 1850. He attend- ed the public schools of the city, but was privately prepared for college, and graduat- ed from Princeton in 1874. He studied law with Isaac X. Grier and was admitted to the bar in Danville, Pa., in May, 1875. He served as president judge from July 31, 1888, until January 7, 1889. He had practiced under his predecessor, and bore himself on the bench with dignity and urbanity. The uni- versal expression of the bar was compli- mentary to his diligence and his learning. On the expiration of his term of office, he returned to the practice of his profession in Danville, where he still enjoys a large and lucrative professional business.

John Gosse Harman, son of Peter S. and Rebecca (Freeze) Harman, was born at Bloomsburg, Columbia county, Pennsylvania, March 16, 1873. His father was a foundry- man, machinist and carbuilder by occupa- tion, and was a prominent thirty-second de- gree Mason. He died at Bloomsburg in 1899. John was educated in the public schools and at the Bloomsburg State Normal school, graduating from the last named in- stitution in 1891. He later registered as student in the law office of Col. John G. Freeze, and was admitted to the Columbia county bar May 7, 1894. He immediately commenced practice in partnership with his preceptor under the firm name of Freeze & Harman, which alliance still continues. Their practice has been general in character, embracing all branches of the civil and crim- inal code, and from the amount of the im-

R. R. LITTLE.

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portant litigation in which the firm has been engaged, bespeaks of the esteem in which they are held in the county.

Mr. Harman has taken an active part in the affairs of the Democratic party, doing efficient work as speaker in the campaigns. In 1895 he was appointed district attorney to fill the unexpired term of Thomas B. Haulcy, and has been twice re-elected. He is the youngest district attorney the county ever had, taking the office when but twenty- three years old. At Bloomsburg, in 1893, he was married to Miss May Sherwood, daugh- ter of Mr. H. G. Sherwood, a prominent and prosperous business man of that place. They are both members of the Episcopal church, in the affairs of which Mrs. Harman is an active worker.

William Chrisman, Bloomsburg, son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Essick) Chrisman, was born at Pottsville, Pa., in 1854, and at an carly age removed to Montour county, and soon afterwards to Columbia county. He spent the early years of his life on a farm, and each day after his labors were over, he was to be found pouring over his books, determined to secure an education. Hc at- tended the public schools during the winter months, and began teaching at the age of 17 years, graduating from the Bloomsburg

State Normal school in 1877 and afterwards taking an extended course in the classics, and for a number of years taught in the Bloomsburg schools.

Mr. Chrisman studied law at Bloomsburg and was admitted to the Columbia county bar in 1882; the same year he was elected town treasurer and served three years. In 1888 he was elected school director and served as treasurer of the board during his term. In 1890 he was appointed district attorney by the court, filling an unexpired term, and was then elected for a full term of three years. He has been actively engaged in the general practice of his profession and has been identified with a large number of important cases, both civil and criminal.

A Democrat in politics, Mr. Chrisman was chosen chairman of the Democratic county committee in 1888, acting in that capacity for five years; he was also elected to the legislature and re-elected for the second term.

Our subject's parents and grandparents were originally from Chester county, Penn- sylvania. His grandfather, Boltzer Essick, served as a soldier in the war of 1812, and his great grandfather, John Essick, was a captain in the Revolutionary war under Washington.

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CLARION COUNTY

BY JAMES T. MAFFETT

The Eighteenth Judicial District of Penn- sylvania is composed of the county of Clar- ion. The county was erected out of parts of Venango and Armstrong counties, by act ap- proved the eleventh day of March, A. D. 1839. At and before the organization of Clarion county, its territory was sparsely settled, but the inconvenience of getting to the county seats of Venango and Armstrong counties started an agitation for the erec- tion of a new county, which finally resulted in the creation of Clarion county. By the or- ganic act, the county was attached to the Sixth district, then consisting of the coun- ties of Erie, Venango, and Crawford; but before any court was held, the organic act was changed (May 21, 1840), and the county of Clarion added to the Eighteenth judicial district, then composed of the counties of Potter, Mckean and Jefferson. Alexander McCalmont was president judge, and Chris- tian Myers and Charles Evans associate judges of the new county.

Judge Alexander McCalmont was past middle life when he came to preside over the courts of Clarion county. He was a na- tive of Center county, and died at Franklin, Pa., August 10, 1857. His parents came to reside in Franklin in 1803. Judge McCal- mont was a man of limited education, but by self-application became proficient enough to teach school. He had been successively commissioner, treasurer, recorder, sheriff and justice of the peace in Venango county. He was admitted to the bar about 1828. Al- though somewhat eccentric, Judge McCal- mont commanded respect by his magisterial learning and ability. When appointed judge

for the new county, he brought his family and library with him.

The associate judges were prominent citi- zens. Myers was an extensive iron manu- facturer, and Evans had represented Arm- strong county in the Assembly, and was ac- tive in securing the erection of the new county of Clarion.

The first court held in Clarion county convened November 4, 1840, on the first Monday in the month, and was held in a pri- vate residence. At this session no business was done except to initiate the new judge and officers, and to qualify the attorneys. The first sheriff was James Hasson, and the first prothonotary, Dr. Goe. Uncle Jacob Zieg- ler, the then prothonotary of Butler county, was brought over to teach the new officers how to put on their official robes, and to see the court inaugurated with becoming dig- nity. The new court attracted many citizens to the county seat. Many attorneys came . from Venango, Butler and Armstrong coun- ties. Fortunately for that court, the weather was mild, although in November, as there were no means of heating the room. About twenty-five lawyers were sworn in on that day.

Jacob K. Boyd was the first resident law- yer in Clarion county, having come to the county seat in 1840. Soon after this came D. B. Hays, John B. Butler, Jacques W. Johnson, Alfred Gilmore, and James Camp- bell. These were all admitted at the first session of the court. In February, 1841, D. W. Foster, John L. Thompson, Thomas Sut- ton, and George W. Lathy were admitted. Later in the same year came Thomas M.

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Jolly. Our data as to these early times we glean from the "History of Clarion County," published in 1887, practically all of which was compiled from the autobiog- raphy of Hon. James Campbell, deceased, one of the early attorneys mentioned. From this history we quote: "It is fitting here to give a brief sketeh of these pioncers in the legal field of Clarion. The great majority of them have passed away. Their names are yet familiar and their traits yet fresh in the memory of a very few; to others they are dim figures in the long retrospect, and with the end of the present generation they would be entirely forgotten, did not the kindly pen of the historian reseue their fame from this threatened oblivion."

Jacob K. Boyd was from Butler county, and brought his family with him to a new house he had ereeted. He was an illiterate man, and failed to gain any standing at the bar. He remained only three or four years, and returned to Butler county. Of his sub- sequent career nothing is known.

Jacques W. Johnson was the second of the series. He was a young lawyer, born in Dauphin eounty, who had removed to Clar- ion county, from Carlisle. Of a mereurial temperament, and a flippant tongue, he laeked solidity, and therefore obtained no subsequent success. Shortly after eoming, he entered into partnership with George W. Lathy, and they opened the first office in Clarion, where Dr. Ross's office now stands, with the legend, "Johnson & Lathy, Attor- neys-at-Law," in bright gilt letters on the door. Johnson married an eastern lady, and, about 1845, left Clarion eounty.

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The twentieth century bench and bar of Pennsylvania, volume I, Part 43

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