USA > Pennsylvania > The twentieth century bench and bar of Pennsylvania, volume I > Part 44
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David Hays was the son of Sheriff Hays, of Venango eounty, and one of Clarion's ear- liest lawyers. He had his office with James Campbell, in the building on the site oeeu- pied by Brown's barber shop. "Davy" Hays was talented, witty, and of a lively and amiable disposition, a universal favor- ite. His career here was a short one.
He departed for Mercer, Pa., in the spring of 1842, and died there. His death was has- tened by his convivial habits, which over- mastered him after he left Clarion.
John B. Butler hailed from Butler county, where he had been engaged in journalism. His talents seemed better fitted for the sane- tum than the bar. A nervous, impetuous habit, which often overreached itself, marred work which required cireumspection and was a great hindranee in his forensic carcer. After some years he went to Pitts- burgh, where he edited a Know-Nothing paper, and after, by a marvelous transfor- mation, beeame a Catholic. He had served as a major during the rebellion, and is now living at the Fortress Monroe soldiers' home. Mr. Butler while here resided in a hewed log house, now the residenee of William Cra- mer; lawyers were well contented with log houses then.
Alfred Gilmore was a brother of Samuel A. Gilmore, of Butler, an attorney of high repute. Alfred was appointed the first dis- triet attorney here, and while considerably lower than his brother in the legal seale, was a lawyer of fair ability and pretty good practice. His manner was rather pompous and pedantic. After remaining here five or six years, he returned to Butler, and finally settled in Philadelphia, where at last ae- counts he was still living. He was a mem- ber of the firm of Gilmore & Thompson, who displayed their shingle at the present of- fiee of Squire Sweeney, then new, freshly painted with white, and presenting a very neat appearanee.
David W. Foster was a citizen of Kittan- ning, Pa., and on his arrival here was al- ready past the meridian of life. He was originally a cabinetmaker, and, having been prothonotary's clerk at Kittanning, eame here to aet in the same capacity, and to open the records of the county. He had improved his spare time by the study of law and was admitted here in February, 1841, but contin-
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ued to assist the clerk of the courts while pursuing his profession in that office. Al- though a mediocre lawyer, he acquired a re- spectable practice, especially as a collector. Mr. Foster remained in Clarion till his death in 1849.
Jesse G. Clark, the son of William Clark, of the Forest (now the Loomis House), cn- tered the bar here, but remained but a short time before returning with his father to Brookville.
John L. Thompson was a young attorney from Lancaster, "a thin, spare man with light hair," and a fluent talker. He had not abided long enough in Clarion county to warrant a further estimate, leaving in the spring of 1842.
Thomas Sutton, originally of Indiana, Pa., was one of the few among Clarion's early legal lights who achieved a pronounced suc- cess-a success due to his high personal character and real professional merit. In ar- gument he was fair, but as a business attor- ney he excelled. Mr. Sutton practiced alone. He died, aged about forty, in 1853, leaving a wife and two children.
George W. Lathy was an advocate of some . experience when he cast his lines in Clarion. He came from Northumberland, Pa. Lathy was an effective jury lawyer, but his indo- lent disposition led him to rely too much on his forensic powers, and the neglect of the minutiae of preparation. In March, 1871, he removed to Erie as a field where his talents would have wider scope, a step which proved an unfortunate one. He is now liv- ing in Philadelphia, though not engaged in practice. Mr. Lathy while in Clarion mar- ried a daughter of Edward Derby, the builder of the first court house. A large family was the result of this union. In the latter part of his career here he took his oldest son, William E., in partnership with him.
Thomas M. Jolly was attracted to the new seat of justice from Norristown, Montgom-
ery county, and at his arrival here was pretty well advanced in life. He had served in the war of 1812 when a mere boy, and was present at the siege of Fort McHenry. He always bore the title of General Jolly. Jolly was a man of ordinary attainments in the profession, and laid great stress on techni- calities. He was addicted to the convivial glass, a fault common to several of the early sprigs of the law. General Jolly removed back to his native county in 1845. He had a family of three children.
George W. Carskadden, formerly of Clin- ton county, came in 1843, with a host of rec- omnendations which the event did not bear out. He is to be classed with the many other ephemera, remaining scarcely a year.
Some of the early members of the bar of Clarion county might be compared to the at- torney spoken of by Judge Woodward at a recent meeting of the Pennsylvania Bar As- sociation. He told of an attorney of his bar of shady reputation. He finally became a member of the Episcopal church; and, ac- cording to the ordinances of that church, came up on a certain Monday to be con- firmed. However, the other members of the bar soon found out that this was only con- firmation ni si.
James Campbell .- As the foregoing quota- tion from the history of Clarion county is taken largely if not wholly from the autobi- ography of Hon. James Campbell, now de- ceased, it modestly omits any reference to Mr. Campbell. Of all those early members of the bar, James Campbell won the greatest distinction. He was eminently successful, both professionally and in a business way, and lived to a good old age. He died August 3, 1892. James Campbell was born in Kish- acoquillas Valley, Cumberland (now Mif- flin) county, Pa., on the 25th of July, 1813, and named after an uncle, James Campbell, who was drowned in the Chemung river, New York. James Campbell was a puny, sickly child, but gradually grew into a
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healthy, stirring boy. Attired in home-made clothes and home-spun linen, he learned the Shorter Catechism, attended school in the winter, and the Presbyterian church on Sun- day. At an early age he began the study of Latin and Greck. In 1832 he went to Jeffer- son college, Canonsburg, Pa., where he grad- uated in the class of 1837. After graduation he read law in his native county with E. L. . Benedict, and was there admitted to the bar in 1840. In the same year he came to the new town of Clarion. Although Janies Campbell shared the gloom which settled over the territory of Clarion county, so far as the practice of law was concerned, he was one of the first to acquire remunerative busi- ness, and was the counsel for one of the parties to the first suit tried in the new county. James Campbell was a man of great patience and perseverance. In 1847 he mar- ried Nancy J. Halleck, daughter of Rev. J. K. Halleck, and raised a family of five chil- dren. In the fall of 1861, without solicitation on his part, he was made an independent candidate for president judge of the Eight- eenth judicial district, then composed of the counties of Mercer, Venango, Clarion, Jef- ferson, and Forest, and was clected by a handsome majority. This was a large and laborious district, Venango county at that time being the center of the oil development, which occasioned a vast increase of popu- lation, and much litigation. Judge Campbell held as high as thirty-two weeks of court in a year, traveling hundreds of miles by stage coach between the various county seats of his district. Judge Campbell prospered with the growth of the town and the county, and ever identified himself with the best inter- ests of the community. Judge Campbell took an active part in establishing at Clarion the Clarion State normal school. He was president of the board of trustees until his death.
When Judge Campbell went on the bench the oil business was at full tide in Venango
county. Much litigation sprung up out of the oil business, and Judge Campbell was required to pass upon new and novel ques- tions. We think it appropriate here to refer to one case, not only on account of the com- plicated questions, but the magnitude of the interests involved. The case we refer to is Funk v. Haldeman et al., reported in 53 Pa. 229. In the court below, Funk filed a bill against Haldeman et al praying for an injunction to restrain the defendants from interfering with complainants working of certain valuable oil tracts leased, as plaintiff alleged, to him. The defendants alleged a forfeiture by sub-letting. Judge Campbell granted a special injunction. The defend- ants filed a cross bill, alleging that plaintiff had forfeited his right by subletting, and after answers filed to the original bill, a cross bill and testimony taken, the case was heard before Hon. Isaac G. Gordon, who de- livered the opinion dismissing the original bill and declaring a forfeiture as averred in the cross bill. By a change in the judicial districts, Venango county was legislated out of Judge Campbell's district, and Judge Gordon appointed to preside in the new dis- trict, including the county of Venango. The case involved upwards of nine million dol- lars. An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court, and Judge Gordon's decree was re- versed and Judge Campbell's reinstated. The plaintiffs were represented by Messrs. R. Biddle Roberts, Thomas M. Marshall, Eli K. Price, Hon. Walter H. Lowrie, and F. Car- roll Brewster, and the appellees by Messrs. C. Heydrick, E. T. Backus, and George R. Snowden. The appellees' counsel argued that the admiration of the appellant's coun- sel for the opinion delivered by Judge Camp- bell had led them into error. The case cov- ers twenty pages in the report.
Soon after the oil development commenced in Clarion county many interesting oil cases came before the court of this district, and one of the most noted cases is that of Alli-
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son and Evans' Appeal, reported in 77 Pa. 221. Judge Campbell was concerned as counsel in the case. The controversy in this case arose over "a protection" to a lease. Of course, no one but an oil man would know what a protection means. In both the cases referred to, cuts of the lcases are printed in the reports.
Returning to the early history of the bar, we find that by the spring of 1841 the resi- dent lawyers numbered thirteen, but nearly all the business was in the hands of older practitioners residing in adjoining counties -such men as Buffington of Armstrong, Howe and Snowden of Franklin, and the Purviances and Ayres of Butler. Many of the young and resident attorneys became discouraged contending against such odds, and did not long hold their ground. Those who stayed owed their success to industry, genuine worth and the courage which tided them over their dark and unproductive days.
The winter of 1840-41 was a particularly dark and gloomy period for these first legal luminaries. The place was isolated in the midst of a forest, everything was in an in- choate state. Even the surroundings had a depressing effect ; unfinished and unpainted houses, muddy streets met the view at every point. By 1845 the resident attorneys suc- ceeded in getting into their hands practi- cally all the legal business. The principal litigation at that time was ejectment. Re- ferring again to the "Clarion County His- tory," we quote :
"The first civil case and first jury trial in Clarion county was Samuel Adams v. Wil- liam Chambers; trespass, an appeal from the docket of Thomas B. Meager, Esq., of Shippenville, Pa. Campbell appeared for the plaintiff and Johnson & Lathy for the defendant. The first Criminal Court was taken up in May following. The first case was the Commonwealth against Thomas Mc- Camant, indicted for selling liquor without
license. McCamant plead guilty and was sentenced to pay one dollar and the costs of prosecution. The second criminal case was tried at the same court. This was Commnon- wealth against Jacob Wilkes, who was charged by John Wilkes with 'unlawfully, wilfully, and mahciously, and mischievously, did burn, set fire to, waste. and destroy shingle nails, a tin spoon, a cup and plate, two calico frocks, of the value of fifteen dol- lars.' The defendant was acquitted because 'he was insane at the time of the offence committed.' "'
The second term of court, February, 1841, was held in the upper story of the jail; and the court continued to be held there until the completion of the new court house in the winter of 1842, the prothonotary living in a small house in the public square just commissioners conducted the affairs of the county in a temporary shanty on the south- east corner of the public square.
As soon as the jail was finished, Sheriff Hasson put a deputy in by the name of Spcer. Specr was something of a charac- ter, but not very bright. In those days when everybody was poor and money was scarce, it was a common thing for the sheriff, when he got a fieri facias, to levy upon the personal property and take a bond with se- curity for the production of the same at the court house on the return day of the writ. This was a device to give the defendant time. It was not expected that the money would be paid or the goods delivered, but at the next term that an alias writ would be across the street from the court house. The issued. Sheriff Speer, as he was called, gen- erally sympathized with the defendant, and was very liberal in taking bonds because it made more fees. At one time he had a writ against a man across the river, and as the defendant had no personal property, Speer levied on a hundred acres of land and took his bond for the delivery of the same at the
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court house on the first day of the next term. This was for a long time a standing joke on Speer.
Ilon. C. Myers continued as associate judge, being reappointed in 1846, and served to 1850, when he was elected to the State Senate, and James B. Lawson took his place. Charles Evans was also reappointed and died in office in 1849. Robert P. McClay was appointed to fill the vacancy. McClay died in 1850, and James Ross took his place until 1851. At the expiration of the term of Judge MeCalmont, Joseph Buffington was appointed judge by Governor Johnson. Judge Buffington held his first termn in Sep- tember, 1849. Judge Buffington was a na- tive of Westchester, Pa., and was admitted to practice in Butler county in 1826, and afterwards went to Kittanning. In 1843 he was elected to Congress as a Whig. He soon took a place in the front rank as a lawyer and public citizen. As a judge he was up- right and capable. In 1850 a law was passed providing for the cleetion of judges by the people. John C. Knox, a Democratic candi- date, was chosen over Buffington, and took office in 1851. After his retirement from this district, Buffington was elected presi- dent judge of the Tenth district, embracing Westmoreland, Indiana, and Armstrong counties. He completed the term and was again re-elected and resigned in 1871, on account of failing health. He died Febru- ary 3, 1872, full of years and honor, and en- joying the deserved esteem of his fellow- citizens.
John Colvin Knox was born November 4, 1820, at Knoxville, Tioga county, Pa. He received no schooling after his fourteenth year, and was emphatically a self-educated man, but the strain of his unaided intellect told sadly on him in later years. As presi- dent judge of this district he was excelled by none. In 1853 JJudge Knox was promoted to the supreme bench, which position he re- signed in 1857, to be attorney general under
Governor Packer; afterwards he became a member of the firm of Knox & Webster, in Philadelphia. Shortly afterwards softening of the brain set in, and he died in a hospital in Philadelphia.
Judge Knox was succeeded as judge of the Eighteenth judicial district by John Swayze. McCalmont. The eldest son of Alex- ander MeCalmont was elected judge of the Eighteenth district in 1853. He resided in Clarion till 1856. (See sketch in Venango county.)
Glennin W. Schofield, of Warren, Pa., was appointed in September, 1861, to fill the va- cancy occasioned by Judge MeCalmont's resignation. Judge Schofield held but one term of court, being the September term of 1861. (See sketch in Warren county.)
The associate judges with Judge MeCal- mont were William Curll and D. B. Long, the latter becoming prothonotary in 1855. To these associates succeeded Peter Clover and Jacob Kahle, who served until 1861, and these in turn were succeeded in 1861 by Thomas Stewart and John McCall, who both served out their terms. In 1866 Hugh Ma- guire and John Keating were elected associ- ates. James Sweeney and Alexander McCall were chosen associate judges in 1871. Chris- tian Brinker and James Sweeny were elected in 1876 and served until 1881. Isaac Clover and Charles Weaver were elected to succeed Sweeny and Brinker as associates in 1881. Judge Clover died in office in 1883. R. D. Newell was appointed in his place, but before the next election the operation of the constitution abolishing the office of associate judge in counties which are entire districts went into effect. Charles Weaver served out his term and was Clarion county's last asso- ciate judge.
Between 1844 and 1862, what is called the second generation of lawyers came on the seene. These were Amos Myers, J. S. Me- Calmont, William L. Corbett, William Shaw, James Boggs, Robert Sutton, W. W. Barr,
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James B. Knox, C. L. Lamberton, B. J. Reid, David Lawson, and Theophilus S. Wilson. Of these the only one who still resides and practices here is David Lawson. B. J. Reid, although living in Pittsburgh, generally at- tends the courts.
Amos Myers was the eldest son of Hon. Christian Myers; born at Clarion Furnace; graduated at Allegheny college, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1846, shortly after be- coming of age; his preceptor was James Campbell. Not long after his admission he formed a partnership with MeCalmont. He was elected as a Republican to Congress in 1862, and soon after left the law, and en- tered the Baptist ministry. Mr. Myers was a man of considerable legal talent, of sprightly wit, and a ready speaker, but was quite deaf.
Hon. William L. Corbett, generally known as Judge Corbett in the neighborhood in which he resided, was born on the 12th day of February, A. D. 1826, in Clarion town- ship, Clarion county, Pa. The home of his parents, Isaac and Margaret Corbett, stood on the side of the old Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike, about a mile east of Clarion borough. He received his middle name, Lucas, after the family of his mother. His ancestors were among the original set- tlers of Clarion county, and had been united by the marriage of his grandfather, William Corbett, with the Clovers, a family equally as large. The grandparents, William and Sarah Corbett, were the progenitors of that very large connection at present residing in northwestern Pennsylvania. At the carly age of fourteen years William lost his father, and, being the only child, was left the sole support of his widowed mother. She and her son had been left a farm of considerable size, and, as was frequently the case in that day, it was accompanied by a scarcity of money. This resulted in many a sacrifice and denial, and furnished Judge Corbett that early training which was the common
inheritance of men of his time. His boyhood was mostly consumed by assisting in the management of the farm, and in attendance on the neighborhood schools. As soon as the Clarion academy was erected and opencd, on the site of the present public school build- ing in Clarion borough, William was entered as a pupil. and attended its sessions until he was about eighteen years of age.
When Clarion was located as the county seat of the new county, then created and named Clarion county, and the ground was broken for its first public buildings in 1840, William was residing with his mother in the old homestead. His education was finished with his course at the academy. The carliest recollections of Judge Corbett, by those who knew him, show him to have been a taciturn, thoughtful boy. Thrown at a very early pe- riod on his own resources, life seemed made up of the sternest realities-in itself a hard but earnest struggle. And to these early ex- periences is to be attributed the develop- ment of that spirit of independence, indomi- itable courage and unswerving loyalty to the principles of right and truth which charac- terized his entire life. In comparison withi the advantages of the schools of to-day, one must recognize that Judge Corbett's educa- tion up to this point was very limited. Un- doubtedly as a boy and young man his at- tention was attracted to the legal controver- sies of the county scat, for in that early day great interest was manifested in the legal battles of the courts, and the respective abilities of the different attorneys by the people of the surrounding country. In the eighteenth year of his age William regis- tered as a law student in the office of D. W. Foster, an attorney of Clarion, and as a stu- dent read in this gentleman's office. One of his associates has said: "His mind ran so strong in the direction of his legal studies that it was not very long until he knew more law than his preceptor did; and such was his proficiency that an exception was made
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. in his favor, the rules of court were sus- pended so that he could be, as he was, ad- mitted to the bar before he was of full age." This was on February 2, 1847. He was a elose student, and in the early days of his student life, and even up to the time he was forty years old, he pored over the text-books of the masters of the law into the morning hours. As a young man his elose application was varied with an oceasional trip down the Clarion river on a metal boat, to obtain money with which to buy books.
Before he was at the bar two years he was appointed deputy attorney general for Clar- ion county, and served in that eapacity until the fall of 1850. By study and elose atten- tion to business he soon aequired a reputa- tion and a good praetiee at the bar. The law as a profession he regarded as a highly hon- orable and responsible one, and in it he took a just pride. It is unmistakable that Judge Corbett was born to be a lawyer. He ae- quired a mastery of legal scienee so rapidly and so thoroughly that in a very short time, for a young man, he arose to the front rank in the profession. His peculiar physieal ap- pearanee made him well known to every one in Clarion county. Every one that ever at- tended eourt, and caught sight of him onee, would ever know him. Massive. rugged and robust, in motion slow, in speech sonorous and deliberate, grave in aspect, serious in demeanor, of antique and heroic mold, he, in heated debate, seemed the inearnation of foree and energy and power. In the trial of eases in court, he was a leader in Clarion and adjoining counties for many years. For forty years he oceupied the position as the leading trial lawyer in cases before those courts. He was uniformly and thoroughly a lawyer. Everything that came under his ob- servation was considered and treated in a lawyerlike manner. If it was making an improvement, erecting a house, or making preparation for an outing to hunt or fish, every need and want was considered and
provided for in the most practical way. Preparation was the secret of Judge Cor- bett's suecess. There were few questions that he read or heard inquired of relating to his profession that did not receive immediate deliberation and examination. Very fre- quently what was considered general knowl- edge with him was the result of study in an- tieipation of being ealled upon for an ex- pression of his opinion. In the trial of cases Judge Corbett gave himself up more com- pletely to this principle of life. From his introduction into a ease he commenced a eritieal analysis of it in all its phases. A page was immediately set apart in his brief book, and when the day for trial came there was a record of the points likely to arise, and the authorities relating to the same. In his adviee to one younger at the bar, who ex- pressed regret of the manner a trial of a ease embarrassed him, he said that the best eure for nervousness under such circumstanees was thorough preparation.
Judge Corbett in early life was a Whig in polities, but in 1854 he attached himself to the Democratie party, and on several occa- sions was chosen delegate to county and state conventions. In 1868 he was a dele- gate to the Democratie national convention that nominated Horatio Seymour for presi- dent. In 1872 he was elected delegate-at- large to the state constitutional eonvention, and served on its most important eommit- tees. In this distinguished body he met the leading lawyers and public men of that pe- riod in Pennsylvania, and his ability and eharaeter became known throughout the state, and the friendships formed with its leaders were cherished throughout life. In 1876 he was elected a member of the State Senate of Pennsylvania, and served two years. Here his ability as a lawyer was at once recognized, and he was assigned to the most responsible committees. This term in the Senate was characterized by a spirited discussion on anti-discrimination and pipe
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