USA > Pennsylvania > The twentieth century bench and bar of Pennsylvania, volume I > Part 9
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engaged in the work of self-education. In this connection I cannot do better than quote from a short article once written upon him : "The remarkable mental training which he displays is all the result of a habit of study and diseipline pursued in private without the aid of a guide or instruetor. * If * * a stranger to Mr. Bland's history were to enter a court room in which he were speak- ing to a judge or a jury, he would fancy himself listening to a man of fine native tal- ent, refined and polished in the best institu- tions of learning in the land. And yet we who are familiar with his life know that the correct learning, the eopious words, the ani- mated argument, the splendid dietion, the grace of manner, the magnetic voice-all these are acquisitions-the rich trophies of a life of incessant labor." This statement may be supplemented by saying that since his elevation to the bench Judge Bland has gone on improving himself in every particu- lar-in knowledge of the law, in acquaint- anee with literature in all its various forms, and, in that best portion of all, the gradual formation of an honorable and elevated ehar- acter, which the influenec of time well spent and a judicial career well executed so greatly help to develop. As a judge, Judge Bland evidences the same gifts both of the head and of the heart, which have been at the bottom of his success in other positions. lle is painstaking in the most trivial eases, considerate and courteous towards all ap- pearing before him, and untiring in digging out the true justice of a canse when en- tombed in a mass of facts or undigested law. In addition, he is absolutely fearless, and has given the Orphans' Court a position of re- spect and dignity in the county which no other judge could have inspired.
It is not my purpose to enter at any de- tail into the biography of the associate judges, who, though often mien of decided ability, were usually not lawyers, and there- fore played a minor part in the legal history
of the county. It must be said in justiee to these men that as a class they seemed to have been chosen with great discrimination, were well-known, substantial and representa- tive people, and often were even prominent in state or national affairs. James Diemer was an educated and public-spirited physi- cian. George Ege was the largest land owner and iron manufacturer of his time. Matthias Reichert was a congressman. Jo- seph Hiester was one of the best-known fig- ures in the early history of Pennsylvania ; he was an officer in the Revolution, a mem- ber of the General Assembly of the state, a delegate to numerous conventions, a member of Congress for several terms and finally governor of the state. Nicholas Lotz was a eolonel in the Revolutionary army., Jacob Schneider was a member of the Legislature and registrar and recorder of Berks county. Matthias S. Richards was a prominent mer- ehant and one of the organizers of the Phil- adelphia and Reading Railroad company. William Darling was an iron manufacturer and United States Commissioner to London at the World's Fair of 1851. William Ad- dams was a member of Congress and of the Legislature. John Stauffer was a teacher and member of the Legislature. William High was a member of the same body. Dan- iel Young was an ironmaster and prothono- tary of the county. George D. Stitzel is still living and enjoys the respect of the en- tire community; in agriculture, charities, railroads, and all public improvements he has been closely connected with the .develop- ment of the county, and there is probably no man so widely known and so universally esteemed. David Kutz was county eommis- sioner and prison inspector. Henry Rhoads was postmaster of Reading, school director. and journalist. George W. Bruckman was city treasurer. Daniel Buskirk was regis- trar of wills and justice of the peace. From this brief account the associate judges will be recognized as men of stand-
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF PENNSYLVANIA
ing and reputation in the county if not in the state.
There is little authentic information about the carly history of the courts and bar im- mediately after the organization of the county. At first the judges sat at private houses, and though the great bulk of the inhabitants spoke nothing but German, the proceedings and records were always in English. The oldest paper in existence in the prothonotary's office is an original writ of 1752, the beginning of which sounds strange in the ears of an American : "George the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc. To the Sheriff of the County of Berks-Greeting!" The oldest entry upon the Appearance docket is as follows :
No. 1
Capias Case John Schorb
1767 Nov. 16
Price J. Ross
vS. Abraham Moss
Sheriff Returns Cepi Covr In Custody and Comm
It would appear from the name of the defendant in the above case that the Hebrew had already made his entry into the county.
Gustav A. Endlich .- The opponent who defeated Judge Hagenman in the spirited campaign of 1889 was Gustav A. Endlich, who, being only thirty-four years of age when sworn into office, took his seat as the youngest judge upon the bench of Pennsyl- vania. His father was John Endlich, a na- tive German, who, having settled in Reading and married the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Jacob Miller (for many years pastor of Trin- ity Lutheran church), became closely iden- tified with the development of the county. In 1857 he was appointed consul at Basle, Switzerland, by President Buchanan, and for six years resided in Germany in order to give his children that benefit of a thorough foreign schooling. Gustav A. was born in Lower Alsace township in the year 1856, and after completing his elementary educa- tion in Germany, entered Princeton and
graduated there with high honor in 1875. His reputation as a student is said to be still remembered and referred to at that college. Ile studied law in the office of George F. Baer, and after admission soon became inter- ested in the compilation of law treatises, to which he devoted himself with unflagging zeal. His first production was a work upon the "Law of Building Associations," and as this was received with considerable favor by the profession, he subsequently published "The Law of Affidavits of Defense in Penn- sylvania," "The Decisions of Judge Wood- ward," "Commentaries on the Interpreta- tion of Statutes," and, in connection with Louis Richards, of the Berks county bar. "The Rights and Liabilities of Married Women in Pennsylvania." All of these works have met with general approval throughout the state, and are to-day cited as authorities both in the various common pleas courts and before and by the Supreme bench. The subjects were evidently chosen with great discrimination by the anthor, for they are upon questions which are constantly occurring in practice and upon which there are few text-books to consult. Probably the volume which is most generally useful and most constantly referred to is that upon the "Interpretation of Statutes," for though this is a subject in which ques- tions are constantly confronting the practi- tioner, there are few good treatises upon it, and none where the principles are treated with the same scientific arrangement and ex- haustive analysis as in Judge Endlich's pro- duction. These publications, together with his subsequent record as a jurist, have brought Judge Endlich into great promi- nence in the state, and he has been much sought after to deliver addresses upon legal and literary topics or to fill the vacancies of judges in other counties who were tempora- rily absent. After his first nomination Judge Endlich had an casier time even than usual with the Democratic candidate, for
S.A. Endlich
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on account of a split in the Republican party Morton Montgomery was nominated by one wing and Harrison Maltzberger by another, Judge Endlich's majority over the combined vote of both being over four thousand eight hundred. At the end of his first term Judge Endlich had opposition for the Democratic nomination in the person of John H. Rother- mel, a well-known and popular lawyer, who had been in politics for many years, and had hosts of friends throughout the county. Somewhat over half the members of the bar signed a public endorsement of Judge End- lich and many others took no part against him. His opponent, however, had a good reeord, and as the Democratic organization in the main rather favored him, Judge End- lieh had a hard fight for the renomination. His judicial record, however, was so clean, his personal eharaeter so pure, and he in- spired sueh complete confidenee in the peo- ple, that, with the aid of his wonderful pow- ers as a campaigner, he was finally success- ful, electing ninety-nine delegates to his op- ponent's forty-one. After the Democratic convention his eoarse was smooth, as he was endorsed by the Republicans, who met soon after. Judge Endlich has always been the very embodiment of a student. When read- ing law in the office of George F. Baer, while the other students were chatting together, he would be seen sitting by himself, devouring book after book, from hour to hour and from month to month, till the amount of ground which he had covered was simply enormous. He has never been a believer in the old- fashioned method of studying law-devoting yourself to Blackstone and a few other ele- mentary works and mastering them eom- pletely, but advocates the reading of a large number of books, and these essentially mod- ern, so as to view the subjeet in many lights, not in one only, and at the same time not burden yourself with a mass of obsolete mat- ter. His opinions while on the bench show the presence of these theories. There is
never any narrow view of the subjeet, but it is approached from all sides in the broad light of all principles and authorities bear- ing upon it, and is treated with an exhaus- tive analysis which makes his opinions a brief upon both sides of the question. More- over, contrary to the eustom of most deep students, espceially of the German variety, Judge Endlich is not slow either in his men- tal processes or in his rendering of decisions -burying himself in dusty volumes has not deadened his natural quiekness of percep- tion nor made him hesitate too long and rea- son "too precisely on the event" before reaching a eonelision. He has always been an indefatigable worker, his industry is eeaseless, and his energy untiring. When composing law books he would frequently stay at his offiee all night, throwing hinself on his lounge at about three o'clock in the morning, eatching a few hours' sleep, and rising again at six to continue his labors. Judge Endlich has a high idea of the ethics of the law and will not tolerate chicancry or pettifogging of any deseription. He is en- dowed with the nieest sense of honor and his judicial eareer has been as mueh marked by this trait as by the display of legal learn- ing and aeumen. In private life Judge End- lieh is an agreeable and entertaining associ- ate, and a firm and loyal friend. IIe is a skilled musician, has a talent for drawing- espceially for caricatures, many of which de- serve to be published-while his omnivorous reading and original views make his com- panionship interesting in the extreme.
The Biddle Family .- The name most prominently identified with the early legal history of Berks county is that of Biddle, a family elosely related to most public af- fairs in the making of Pennsylvania. Ed- ward Biddle was a captain in the provincial army, a member of the Assembly and of the Continental Congress, and a Revolutionary patriot of great influenee. There is a let- ter from him extant during the French and
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF PENNSYLVANIA
Indian war, describing the terror and ex- citement in Reading over a raid of the In- dians at Tulpehocken. some eighteen miles distant, and Graydon in his Memoirs quotes him as saying during the dark days of the Revolution : "The subjugation of my coun- try I deprecate as a most grievous calamity, and yet sicken at the idea of thirteen uncon- nected, petty democracies: if we are to be independent, let us, in the name of God, at once have an empire, and place Washington at the head of it"-a sentiment clearly evincing the legal attitude towards the po- litical conditions of the day in preferring a strong and orderly government to the ehanee of anarchy. The second member of this distinguished family who practiced in the Berks county courts was James Biddle, appointed judge of the First judicial dis- triet after the adoption of the Constitution of 1790. The names of Edward and James Biddle are found freely seattered over the margin of the ancient appearance dockets of the county. Marks John Biddle, son of James, was probably more widely known and had a larger practice than any lawyer of his time in the county. He came to Read- ing in 1788 and continued in practice for fifty-two years. Shortly after his retire- ment he was afflieted with blindness and con- tinued so for seven years, till his death at the age of eighty-four. He was remarkably cheerful during the long period of blindness, and, having a well-cultivated taste for lit- erature, consoled himself in these dreary years by being read to from his favorite au- thors. He was state senator, prothonotary, and for many years the local representative of the Penns. The latter capacity, as well as being himself a wealthy land-owner, gave him great prominence in the transfers of property, and his name covers many pages in the recorder's indexes at the court house .. ITis son, James D. Biddle, was also a member of the bar, but died in early manhood. Wil- liam S. Biddle, William M. Biddle, and J.
Dundas Biddle-the last mentioned being admitted in 1842 and being the "last of the Biddles"-are the other members of this fa- mous family whose names appear in the legal annals of the county.
Among the most prominent lawyers in the period from the end of the eighteenth cen- tury to about the first thirty years of the nineteenth were Frederick Smith, Levi Paw- ling, Samuel Franks, and Charles Evans.
Frederick Smith, the son of an eminent Lutheran minister, was admitted to the bar in 1795, and by his energy and ability soon built up a large practice in Reading. He also took an active part in Democratic poli- ties, was a member of the Legislature, dep- uty attorney general for Berks county, and finally judge of the Supreme Court, to which position he was appointed by Governor Schulze in 1828. While on the bench he made an excellent record for himself, but only sat for about two years, dying very suddenly at Reading when in the zenith of his career.
Levi Pawling was the son of one of the associate judges of Montgomery county, and removed thence to Reading in 1796, though he subsequently returned to his birthplace and became a prominent figure in the state. Hle was a representative in Congress and a strong Federalist. His wife was a daughter of Governor Hiester and he himself was a man of great wealth and president of the loeal bank. so that for many years he lived in magnificent style and was a great social leader.
Samuel D. Franks was the son of Colonel Isaac Franks, one of Washington's staff dur- ing the Revolution, and a relative of the fa- mous wit and beanty, Rebecca Franks, whose cleverness and repartee were the talk of those days. He himself appears to have been endowed with the same keen sense of humor as his cousin. He had a florid face and red hair, and while occupying the post of president judge of Dauphin county re- marked that he was the best "red" judge in
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BERKS COUNTY
Pennsylvania, though the law as a seienee had few eharms for him. He is said to have been a remarkably good companion, bright and clever in conversation and full of amus- ing and interesting stories. He was prothon- otary and clerk of quarter sessions, and also elerk of the House of Representatives. During the war of 1812 he was major in a regiment of volunteers from Berks and was afterwards major general of the state militia.
Charles Evans .- Marks John Biddle eon- nected the lawyers of this period with those of the age just before it, and Charles Evans connected them with the sueeeeding one. He was born at Philadelphia in 1768, of Quaker parentage, and, after receiving a good edu- eation, studied law with Benjamin Chew and two months after admission removed to Reading. In ten years after admission he "had won his rightful place in the front rank of this bar," a position which he re- tained until 1828, when he retired from active praetiee, though still occasionally ap- pearing in eourt and maintaining his stand- ing in the publie eye as an old-time leader. During his long residenee here he was prob- ably the most prominent loeal figure in Reading, and the charities of himself and of his wife, "Molly" Evans, are still held in grateful remembranee. About a year before his death, Charles Evans, having no near relatives, decided to found a cemetery for the city, and selected as the site a spot with a vista spreading around it so beautiful to the eye that the vicinity was known as An- dausia. He chose a most admirable board of trustees-the high character of which has ever since been continued-and donated to them this land and an amount of money suf- ficient for present needs, supplementing this gift by various legaeies in his will; so that in all the trustees received about $84,000, an enormous sum for those days. As a lawyer Charles Evans belonged to the severe, formal and classieally trained school of the eight- eenth century. He had not enough fire and
force to be remarkably effective before a jury, who were already beginning to tire of the rhetorieally correct and elassically turned addresses of the older style, but possessed great strength in argument to a judge and enjoyed an immense offiee praetice, where his logieal mind and practical business head generally made his adviee a safe guide. Charles Evans was the very embodiment of "a gentleman of the old school." He was over six feet in height, as straight as an arrow, and always wore a queue-many of the old inhabitants of Reading still remem- ber him walking about with stately stride and soldierly earriage, his queue bobbing along at the back of his head long after all his contemporaries had abandoned the cus- tom. IIe was, indeed, a man of marked ec- centrieities. Every morning he is said to have taken an air-bath in his baek yard with- out any elothes on, to the great diseomfiture of the neighbors, and his Whigism was so fieree that when Andrew Jackson was in office and prayers were offered in church for "the president of the United States and all others in authority," aeeording to the form of the Episeopalian serviee, Charles Evans invariably rose from his knees and stood for a few moments bolt upright, to signify his dissent from the general suppli- eation for a blessing upon sueh a degenerate Democrat. He was preeise and faultless in his dress, formal and dignified, yet at the same time eourtly and attractive in his man- ner, and a thorough aristoerat in the true sense of that word. But with all his little peculiarities, his strength of intellect, depth of heart, and integrity of soul make it pos- sible to say of him that during his career both as a lawyer and a man "he bore without abuse the grand old name of gentleman."
Before mentioning the leaders at the bar from the first third of the eentury to about the middle of it, I want to say a few words. coneerning some of the eustoms of that pe- riod. The court house stood in the eenter of
5
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF PENNSYLVANIA
Penn square facing South Fifth street, and was a substantial two-story brick building with a bell-tower and weather vane, fash- ioned on the Dutch Colonial model of the pe- riod. The second floor was divided into three compartments, used for jury rooms, but the lower floor was all in one, with the judges' bench on the north, the bar oppo- site, inclosed by a semi-circular railing and with the jury-boxes on either side, and the court-crier's high stool in the middle of the room with the prisoner's dock just under- neath. The floor was brick and the benches were on platforms each row raised a little above the other. Not only was justice dis- pensed here, but also town meetings held, and all city and some township elections conducted. The behavior of the lawyers and sometimes even of the judges was not as dignified as in the periods that preceded or succeeded the one now under discussion. The advocates' speeches were often so in- sulting or indecent that they would not be tolerated at present, and one judge is known to have used unnecessary profanity in his charge to the jury. On one occasion when the judge asked whether there was any more business to be transacted, one lawyer sprang to his feet and shouted "Manny Fornwald has not been tried" (he being a notorious personage who appeared at almost every criminal court). "There is no charge," said the judge. "No, but there ought to be!" cried the lawyer. The examination of stu- dents was somewhat of a farce. A special committee was appointed for the purpose, and, as the applicant always furnished then with a sumptuous supper, often including champagne, the chances were strongly in favor of his passing. An account of one of these examinations has come to me from the lips of one of the students. He was asked by the judge whom he preferred to compose the committee, and on naming five lawyers was advised by that gentleman to leave off one of them, because he had the reputation
of being very severe and asking difficult questions. The applicant, on the advice of another lawyer, decided to keep the objec- tionable individual on, and upon the ap- pointed evening they met at the "Golden Ball," one of the most famous hostelries in the county. The candidate was examined principally in Kent and Blackstone, the law- yer with the reputation for severity ques- tioning him upon parts of the latter which were generally omitted in prep- aration, but which he had fortunately studied. His knowledge of the subject proved satisfactory, and the meeting joy- fully adjourned to partake of cake and Ma- deira at the invitation of the successful stu- dent. The Judge departed after a few drinks, but the examining board stayed with their new brother until early in the morning, telling stories, singing songs, and indulging freely in his liberal entertainment. The "strict" examiner seemed to have laid aside some of his strictness, for he sang till his sides shook like a jelly-he was a very fat man-and treated his listeners to a song of freemasonry which began :
"King Solomon, that wise projector, And Hiram, the great architector, In masonry took delight,"
and continued for some thirty verses, each one ending with the refrain :
"Who would not be a freemason, So jovial and happy as we!"
We are not told whether the examining board appeared in court next day.
The leading members of the bar during this period were Charles Davis, Henry W. Smith, Edward P. Pearson, William Strong, Robert M. Barr, George G. Barclay, and Elijalı Dechert.
Charles Davis was a lawyer pure and simple. He cared for little outside of his pro- fession, but devoted himself so exclusively to it and was so thoroughly acquainted with all its details that he was called "the walking
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law-library." No attorney was more indus- trious or more faithful to the interests of his clients.
Henry W. Smith was the son of Frederick Smith, judge of the Supreme Court, but though his father was a man of the highest culture and refinement, the son never evi- denced the slightest desire for study, but neglected his books and played truant when- ever the opportunity offered. He was pos- sessed of naturally fine parts, however, and on falling heir to his father's immense prac- tice, beeame interested and at once threw himself into it with energy and zeal. He was never a scholarly lawyer and had no taste for literary pursuits, he was even un- couth in his manners and appearance ; but he possessed an inherent aptitude for the law, was brilliant and persuasive in his speeches, and had a canny shrewdness and quickness of perception which in the actual trial of a case made him a match for the most highly educated lawyers at the bar. These quali- ties made him a natural politician and stump speaker, and he took an active part in such affairs throughout his life. I have already mentioned his candidacy for judge on two occasions. He also ran for Congress on a combination ticket of Whigs and Democrats against Henry A. Muhlenberg in 1836, and against William Strong in 1846, but was un- successful on both occasions. He was a dele- gate to one national and to numerous state Democratic conventions.
Edward P. Pearson, the partner and brother-in-law of Smith, was his very antith- esis in every respect. Careful, painstaking, and thorough, without being in any degree brilliant, he won his success by accuracy and deliberate judgment rather than by peculiar talent for the law. He was courtly and highminded, the very soul of honor, and one judge said that he was the only lawyer who never deceived him. A combination like Smith and Pearson was an ideal partner- ship, each member possessing those qualities
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