The twentieth century bench and bar of Pennsylvania, volume I, Part 81

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

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Alphonsus Walsh was born in Pottsville, August 16, 1854, received his education in the public and private schools of Sullivan county, and in 1878 began the study of law in the office of Thompson & Collins at Du- shore, and was admitted to the bar in Sep- tember, 1884.

For the above sketeh, written by Thomas J. Ingham, we are indebted to the history of Sullivan county by the Lewis Publishing Co., in 1899.

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THE BENCH AND BAR OF PENNSYLVANIA

MONROE COUNTY

BY S. HOLMES

The legal history of the county of Monroe commences on the 1st day of September, 1836. An act of the legislature approved, April 1, 1836, crected this county out of portions of the adjoining counties of North- ampton and Pike, annexed it to the eleventh judicial district, and provided for the hold- ing of courts in said county on the third Mondays of February, May, September and December, in each and every year, to con- tinue one week at each term, if necessary; the first court to be held on the third Mon- day of December then next. Section 2 of said act provided that "the inhabitants of said county of Monroe, from and after the first day of September next, shall be entitled . to, and at all times thereafter have all and singular courts, jurisdictions. offices, rights and privileges to which other counties of this state are entitled by the constitution and. laws of this Commonwealth." The house at which the courts were held, until a court house was erected in said county, was to be designated by the county commissioners : and all suits and cases pending and undeter- mined in the several courts of Northampton and Pike counties on the first day of Septem- ber then next, where both parties. to such suit should be at the time resident in said county of Monroe, should be transferred to the respective courts of Monroe county.

The act further provided a mode for fix- ing the site of the court house, jail and public offices. The qualified voters of the new county were to assemble on the first day of July, at the several places appointed for holding the general elections in said county, after twenty days previous to public

notice, and vote by ballot for a site for, said public buildings ;- a majority of the whole number of votes being necessary to deter- mine the site. If at the first election, no site should have a majority of the whole, then a second election was to be held on the 26th of July.

At the first election, there were three sites in the competition, viz: Stroudsburg, Kel- lersville, in the central western portion of the county, and Dutotsburg, now known as Delaware Water Gap. The new county was, at that time, largely a wilderness, and sparsely populated : but it possessed its full share of keen sighted business men, fully alive to the advantages accruing from the location of the county buildings on their own or contiguous land, each well provided with his quota of retainers,-like a feudal baron of old,-and each fully determined, if bal- lots could prevail, to win a victory for his chosen site.

With partisanship thus highly inflamed, and,-must we say it,-unscrupulous, it is not strange, perhaps, that at the first elec- tion, there was a full vote out ; in fact it might be said to be very full. But as neither site had a majority of the whole number of votes, a second election became necessary, which was duly held at the time appointed. At this election, Dutotsburg having retired as a cand- idate, the contest was narrowed down be- tween Stroudsburg and Kellersville. The result of this election was so remarkable, that it has furnished food for gossip for four generations. If the citizens had, with com- mendable zeal, all turned out to vote at the first election, what must be thought of the

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MONROE COUNTY

self denying spirit which actually achieved an increase of forty per cent at the second election ? So remarkably an increase of pop- ulation in twenty-six days, is hardly ex- celled, as an example of practical politics, in the most vigorous and devious ward elec- tions of modern times. And yet this was in the year 1836, in the backwoods of Pen- sylvania. Verily

"One touch of nature makes us all akin." However, Stroudsburg won.

At the time of the organization of the county, Hon. David Scott, was the president judge of the eleventh judicial district, and as snel presided over the first court held in the county, which was convened at Stronds- burg, December 19, 1836. He was assisted by his lay associates, Jacob Brown and John T. Bell.

There was no attorney resident in the county at this time; but at the first court, there were numerous admissions of attor- nies from Northampton county, and one from Pike. Many of these gentlemen of the bar afterwards became distinguished in public life. James M. Porter, afterwards judge : Peter Ihrie, Hopewell Hepburn, Andrew H. Reeder, afterwards appointed Territorial Governor of Kansas; Horace E. Wolfe, Rich- ard Brodhead, Jr., afterwards United States senator; Newton D. Strong, William Davis, Peter Wyckoff and Alex. E. Brown. Also Milo M. Dimmick, then a young attorney re- cently admitted in Pike county. Mr. Dim- mick and Mr. Davis soon thereafter became residents of Stroudsburg, and for some years constituted the local bar.

The legal business of the new county can- not be said to have been of a nature or ex- tent, calculated to encourage a wild rush, on the part of the disciples of Blackstone, to the Monroe Eldorado. The act requiring the transfer of cases from the dockets of Northampton and Pike counties being eom- plied with, resulted in docketing in Monroe county a solitary case, which certainly de-

serves a place in history. The Appearance Docket entry is as follows:

John Murphy V. Jacob Goer. Hepburn for pltff. H. E. Wolfe for deft.

Summons case Issued Aug. 2, 1834. Narr. filed Aug. 15, 1835.

Rule to plead filed Aug. 21, 1835.

Aug. 24, 1835, Deft. pleads. Not Guilty, and Issue.

The case was afterwards settled.

In the course of the next twenty years, there were many changes in bench and bar, as well as in the life, character and habits of the people. Judge Scott was succeeded during these years by Judges Win. II. Jessup, Nathaniel B. Eldred, Thomas A. Bell, James H. Porter and George R. Barnett.

Changes in the bar were: Mr. Dimmick, after serving two terms in Congress from Monroe, removed to Mauch Chunk, Carbon county, leaving his Monroe practice to his pupil, that brilliant young lawyer, and after- wards well known and universally beloved advocate and judge, Samuel S. Dreher. James H. Walton, a scion of an old family of Quaker stock had also forged to the front as a lawyer and politician. A little later he was appointed treasurer of the Unit- ed States mint at Philadelphia, by President Buchanan, and left the county.

William K. Haviland a student under Wal- ton succeeded him in his practice for a few years, but at the outbreak of the civil war, he received a commission as captain and won distinction at the front. Charlton Burnett, a life long resident of Stroudsburg, and still although advanced in years, an active citi- zen therein, had also at the time of which I speak, won distinction as a lawyer and poli- tician. Ile has since served two terms in the state senate. Mr. Davis, of whom I have already spoken, was at this time, and for many years thereafter, the nestor of the bar. Abont this time the writer first became ac- (painted with Stroudsburg and the county of Monroe; and later, essayed to place his tal-

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low dip along side of the electric luminaries above mentioned.

Judge Geo. R. Barrett was succeeded on the bench in 1870 by Samuel S. Dreher, that eminent jurist, also a native of Stroudsburg, whose character and sterling worth are at- tested in some degree by his being thrice elected to this high and responsible office, without opposition ; first as president judge of the old 22d district, composed of the four counties of Monroe, Carbon, Pike and Wayne; and then of the new 43rd district composed of Monroe and Carbon. Alas! he died in the first third of his term, and the bench of Pennsylvania lost, in his death, one of its most distinguished ornaments, and hu- manity lost as kindly and loyal a heart and mind as ever existed.

John B. Storm was another favorite son of Monroe, and for nearly two score years a distinguished member of the bar, four times elected to Congress, and once appointed president judge, to fill a vacancy. He died in Angust 1901.

Charles A. Wikoff. A prominent place in the list of the distinguished and heroic dead, mist be given to the writer's early friend and fellow student, General Charles Wikoff, the hero .. and martyr of Santiago's bloody field, who died leading his brigade into ac- tion on that fateful morning. Mr. Wikoff was a relative and student of William Davis, and about prepared for admission to the bar, at the outbreak of the civil war in 1861. With the firing of the first gun upon Fort Sumpter, he abandoned his books, returned to his home in Easton, and enlisted as a private in the first company organized. As a lieutenant he lost an eye at the battle of Shiloh, but remained in the service until the close of the war, and then received a com- mission in the regular army. He left behind him a record for high endeavor and sterling patriotism that is unsurpassed.

Given in the order of seniority. the present

roll of attorneys of Monroe county, contains the following names :

Charlton Burnett, who has been alluded to before in these pages.

Stephen Holmes, born in Maine, May 16, 1836. Educated in the public schools of his native town, Alfred; and at Limerick and Yarmouth academies. Came to Pennsyl- vania in 1855, and located permanently in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1858. En- tered as a student in the office of Judge S. S. Dreher, then a practicing attorney, in the fall of that year, and was admitted to prac- tice in the courts of Monroe county in Dec- ember, 1860. Was elected district attorney in the fall of 1863, and re-elected in 1866 and again in 1869. Has been engaged in general practice in his own and neighboring coun- ties, and in Supreme Court since.

David S. Lee, born in Monroe county, Pa .. August 19. 1840, educated in the public schools of Stroudsburg, and taught school for a number of years. October 16, 1862, enlisted in the army, was Orderly Sergeant of Company H, One Hundred Seventy-sixth regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. Honor- ably discharged by expiration of term of service, October 17, 1863. Read law under Hon. M. M. Dimmick at Mauch Chunk, and Hon. C. Burnett at Stroudsburg. Admitted to the bar of Monroe county. February 28. 1867. In 1872, elected district attorney, and twice re-elected. In 1898 elected to the state senate.

Charles B. Staples, born in Monroe county. November 24, 1853. Educated in common and select schools. and Dickinson college. where he graduated in 1874. Studied law nnder Wm. Davis, Esq., at Strondsburg, and was admitted to practice May 26, 1876. In 1880, was a delegate to the national Demo- cratic Convention held at Cincinnati, and in 1882, was a member of the Democratic State Central Committee. In 1885 he was ap- pointed collector of internal revenue for the

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MONROE COUNTY

Twelfth Pennsylvania distriet. On expira- tion of his term he engaged in general prae- tice at Stroudsburg, Pa.

Joseph H. Shull, born in Northampton county, Aug. 17, 1848, was educated in the public schools and at Lafayette College ; studied medieine and received his diploma as a praetieing physician; located in Stroudsburg about 1875, and, while practic- ing as a physician, read law under Hon. C. Burnett, and was admitted to the bar May 31, 1878. He has taken an active interest in polities and in business, besides practicing both professions; was elected to the state Senate in 1886.

Henry J. Kotz, born in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, Mareh 4, 1846, re- eeived an academie education at the Mora- vian Sehool at Nazareth, Pa., and afterwards graduated at Eastman Commereial College. He studied law under IIon. J. B. Storm and was admitted to the bar December 16, 1879.

Rogers L. Burnett, son of IIon. Charlton Burnett above mentioned, was born in Stroudsburg, Pa., October 25, 1856; edueated at United States Military Academy at West Point, to which he was appointed in 1874, by Hon. J. B. Storm, then a member of Congress, representing this distriet. After leaving West Point he read law with his father and was admitted to praetiee Feb. 28, 1882. He has been distriet attorney, and in 1898 and again in 1900 was elected to the House of Representatives in the Legislature of Pennsylvania.

John B. Williams, born in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, June 21, 1854, was edueated in the publie schools and in the State Normal Sehool at Trenton, N. J. He eommeneed life as a sehool teacher, was then bookkeeper and correspondent for a manufacturing eoneern for a number of years, and finally studied law under A. A. Dinsmore, Esq., at Strouds- burg, Pa .; was admitted to praetiee Deeem- · ber 11, 1884. For several terms he has been distriet attorney.

Cicero Gearhart, a native of Monroe eoun- ty, Pennsylvania, and educated at Franklin and Marshall College, Laneaster, Pa., read law under A. A. Dinsmore, Esq., at Strouds- burg, Pa., and was admitted to the bar Oct. 2, 1885. Ile is the present district attorney of Monroe county.

A. Raiguel Brittain is a native of Monroe county, Pennsylvania, and a son of N. S. Brit- tain, Esq., formerly of Tobyhanna Mills, now eashier of the Monroe County National Bank at East Stroudsburg. A. R. Brittain received a good common sehool and academie educa- tion, read law under Stephen Holmes, Esq., and was admitted to the bar May 28, 1886. At present he is praetieing at East Strouds- burg, Pa., and is a solieitor for that prosper- ous borough.

Wilton A. Erdman, a native of Monroe county, was edueated in the publie sehools and at the Seminary at York, Pa .; studied law under Hon. J. B. Storm, and was admit- ted to the bar Mareh 1, 1888. He is a mem- ber of the firm of Staples & Erdman.

Stewart S. Shafer, a native of Monroe eounty, is a son of former Prothonotary Alonzo B. Shafer. He gained a good work- ing knowledge of the praetieal side of law as assistant to his father and deputy pro- thonotary. He afterwards studied law under Hon. J. B. Storm and was admitted to prac- tiee May 23, 1892.

Frank B. Holmes, son of Stephen Holmes, Esq., was born June 20, 1868, edueated in the publie sehools and under private tutors. He learned the printer's trade. Entered Lafay- ette College at Easton in elass of 1891, and graduated with the elass; studied law in the office of his father and was admitted to the bar September 26, 1892.

A. Mitchell Palmer, a native of Monroe county, and son of Samuel B. Palmer, was edueated in the publie schools and graduated from Swarthmore College. He studied law under Hon. J. B. Storm and was admitted to the bar September 26, 1893; beeame the jun-

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THE BENCH AND BAR OF PENNSYLVANIA

ior member of the firm of Storm & Palmer, which continued until the death of Mr. Storm in 1901. He has sinee continued business at the same offiee, which he purchased.

William B. Eilenberger and Harvey Huffman are placed together for the sake of a little variety, and because they, as young and pushing attorneys, have founded the very sueeessful law firm of Eilenberger & Huffman. They were admitted to the bar respectively September, 1894, and Septem- ber, 1895. Mr. Huffman served three years as commissioners' elerk, and Mr. Eilenberger

the same term as deputy eounty treasurer, after which the present law partnership was formed.

Claud C. Shull and Samuel E. Shull, sons of Hon. J. H. Shull, above mentioned, were admitted to the bar respectively in the years 1897 and 1900. At present they are members of the law firm of Shull & Shull, composed of the father and two sons.

William A. Shafer is a son of County Sur- veyor George G. Shafer. He was born in the eounty, and admitted to the bar Deeember 11, 1899; is notary publie.

SCHUYLKILL COUNTY

565

SCHUYLKILL COUNTY

BY A. W. SCHALCK AND HON. D. C. HENNING

The county of Schuylkill was created by an Act of Assembly passed March 1, 1811. P. L. 1810-11, p. 61, Law Book XII, page 283, and found in Vol. 5 of Smith's Laws of Pennsylvania, on page 201, entitled “An Act for erecting part of the counties of Berks and Northampton into a separate county."

The new county was formed of seven townships of Berks county, to wit, Bruns- wick, Schuylkill, Manheim, Norwegian, Upper Mahantongo, Lower Mahantongo, and Pine Grove, and the townships of West Penn and Rush from Northampton county, and was named Schuylkill county.

The third Monday of the following De- cember was fixed for opening the courts of the new county at the house of Abraham Reiffsnyder, in the township of West Bruns- wick, and to be held there until a court house shall be erected in and for said county.

The governor to appoint three men as a commission to fix upon a proper and con- venient site for the court house, prison and county offices of the new county, as near the center as the situation thercof will admit, and to make report thercof to the governor, whereupon the county commission- ers are to take assurances in behalf of the county of the ground so selected for the purpose of erecting thereon such court house. jail and other buildings.

Associate judges were also provided for by said act, and the courts to hold quarterly sessions, "said court of Quarter Sessions to sit four days at each sitting, if there be oc- casion, and no longer." The county to be- long to the Third district, then consisting of

the counties of Berks, Northampton and Wayne, and the president judge of the courts of Common Pleas within said district to be the president judge of the courts of Schuylkill county.

The act passed March 3, 1818, P. L. 1817-18, p. 130, Law Book XVI, page 542, 7 Smith's Laws, page 59, extends the territory of Schuylkill county by adding thereto parts of Columbia and Luzerne counties, according to certain lines and courses and distances, and erecting the territory thus annexed into a township to be called Union township- Columbia county having itself but recently been carved out of Northumberland county. Sec 6 Smith's Laws, page 46.

A supplement to the act of March 1, 1811, passed April 2, 1811, P. L. 1810-11, p. 220, Law Book No. XII, page 451, 5 Smith's Laws, 263, required the associate judges first appointed to take their oaths of office before the prothonotary of Berks county.

On January 17, 1812, P. L. 1811-12, p. 18, a further supplement was passed, recorded in Law Book XII, page 534, and found in 5 Smith's Laws, page 284, directing the sheriff, jailor or prison keeper of the county of Schuylkill to deliver to the sheriff or prison keeper of Berks county for safe cus- tody all such prisoners as may come into their charge, until the erection and comple- tion of the jail of Schuylkill county, or until duly discharged, etc.

On January 28, 1813, a further supplement was passed, P. L. 1812-13, p. 55, Law Book XIII, page 322 (sec Vol. 6 of Smith's Laws. page 15), authorizing the sheriff of Schuyl- kill county to receive back from the sheriff

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THE BENCH AND BAR OF PENNSYLVANIA

of Berks county all prisoners then in his custody and amenable to the courts of Schuylkill county, the county jail being now erected. This act also authorized the court of Quarter Sessions of Schuylkill county to continue one week, and divided the county into six districts for the appointment of justices of the peace.

The act of May 5, 1832, P. L. 511, divided the county into sixteen districts for the com- missioning of that number of justices of the peace in said county. Subsequent acts made various changes in re-districting the county for the appointment of justices of the peace.

The act of April 10, 1844, P. L. 235, es- tablished the Twenty-first Judicial District of the counties of Schuylkill, Carbon and Monroe, and provided for the appointment of a president judge for said district. This act also fixed the sessions of the courts of this county for the first Mondays of March, June, September and December, to continue three weeks if necessary.

On April 18, 1844, P. L. 309, a supplement to the last act was approved, further regu- lating the practice and procedure in the new judicial district.

The act of April 5, 1849, P. L. 367, takes Carbon and Monroe counties out of the Twenty-first Judicial District and creates them, together with Wayne and Pike, into the Twenty-second district. So the Twenty- first Judicial District consisted of the county of Schuylkill alone, and thus it has continued up to the present time. Said act continues the sessions of the courts of Schuylkill county for the first Mondays in March, June, September and December, to continue four weeks.

The public house of Abraham Reiffsnyder, referred to in the original act, was located in the town of Orwigsburg, in West Bruns- wick township, which was laid out by Peter Orwig in 1796, but which was then (in 1811) still a small town, and was not even incor- porated as a borough until March 12, 1813.

The first court was held and organized agreeably to the provisions of the original act at said tavern, and the cellar of this tavern was for a while used as the jail or place for the commitment and custody of prisoners, who were fastened by staples to a ring in a stump or post.

The commission appointed by the gov- crnor to fix a location for the court house, jail, etc., reported in favor of Orwigsburg as the county seat, this town being at that time the center of population of Schuylkill county, which was then only about six thou- sand, only the lower portion of the county being then fairly well inhabited, and almost the entire territory now known as the north- ern portion of Schuylkill county being then still a wilderness and comparatively unin- habited.

The court house in Orwigsburg was com- pleted at a cost of $5,000, and given over to the public use, including the various county offices therein, in the spring of 1816, but was subsequently extended in the rear for office purposes. The county jail stood back of this court house, and was thirty- two feet square, and afterwards lengthened to seventy-five feet.

In course of time the town of Pottsville, which was in 1811 still unknown, not having been laid out by John Pott until the year 1816 (or thereabouts), had grown to be a borough of large proportions and of consid- erable importance, and the coal fields of Schuylkill county were being rapidly devel- oped; in consequence of which the popula- tion in the central parts of the county, and also in the northern and eastern portions, increased very rapidly, numbering in 1847 over fifty thousand, the census of 1850 show- ing 60,713 inhabitants. It became apparent that the borough of Orwigsburg was no longer the center of population, traffic or business of Schuylkill county, and, having no railroad facilities whatever, the convenience and welfare of the people of the county re-

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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY

quired a change of location of the county seat to Pottsville, which had grown to be a town of over seventy-five hundred inhabit- ants, and had become the railroad center of the county.

So we find an act approved March 13, 1847, P. L. 330, entitled "An Act concerning the removal of the seat of justice of the eounty of Sehyulkill from Orwigsburg to the borough of Pottsville." This aet pro- vides for an election to be held by the voters of the county "upon the question of the removal of their seat of justiee from Orwigs- burg to the borough of Pottsville." The tickets to be voted to be labeled "Seat of Justiee" and contain the words "For Potts- ville" to be voted by those who favorcd the change, and the words "For Orwigsburg" to be voted by those opposed to the change. If upon the return of the said election it shall appear that a majority of the votes have been given in favor of Pottsville, then the following seetions of this aet shall be of full foree and effeet, otherwise to be null and void.

The aet then requires the citizens of Potts- ville to ereet at their own expense within three years from and after sueh eleetion, in the borough of Pottsville, suitable buildings of briek or stone for a court house, and the different offiees for the safe-keeping of the county records, under the direction of the county commissioners, who are to receive a conveyanee of the ground so seleeted upon which these buildings are to be erected. The commissioners are then to ereet a prison or jail of briek or stone in the borough of Pottsville, also within three years after sueh eleetion, and thereupon the seat of justiec to be removed from Orwigsburg to Pottsville.

After that the county commissioners are to grant and convey to the borough of Orwigsburg the court house and other publie buildings and grounds in Orwigsburg, in trust, ete., as an academy and seminary of learning for the education of the youth.

Section 3 provides for the taking and col- leeting of subscriptions for the erection of the court house and public buildings in Pottsville.

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The twentieth century bench and bar of Pennsylvania, volume I, Part 81

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