USA > Pennsylvania > The twentieth century bench and bar of Pennsylvania, volume II > Part 10
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"Mr. Post has a comprehensive knowl- edge of the law, and in the trial of a ease he is collected and self-possessed. No member of the Susquehanna county bar, past or pres- ent, has exeelled him as an orator, and but few have equaled him in his influence with juries. His mind is logical and his reason- ing powers remarkably clear and strong. He has been the trusted, confidential legal ad- viser of many of the most prominent and successful business men in the county, be- cause of his rare business sagaeity. In deal- ing with his elients, he is always candid, and invariably favors settlements where they are possible ; and. so far as his influence can be consistently exerted. diseourages litiga- tion."
In his political views, Mr. Post was a Whig, as were his forefathers, casting his first presidential vote for Henry Clay, of whom he was an ardent admirer; but on Clay's defeat, became a Demoerat, and has sinee affiliated with that party.
On April 22, 1845, Mr. Post was married to Lucy J. Hatch, who died in November, 1877, aged fifty years.
He married for his second wife Mrs. Har- riett Blossom, who died in 1883. His present wife is Mrs. Eliza T. Post, who was the widow of Isaae J. Post, formerly a leading lawyer in the eity of Scranton, Pa.
Mr. Post is the oldest living member of the Susquehanna eounty bar. and has the respect and admiration of the beneh and bar, as well as of the eitizens of the community in whiel lie resides.
F. I. Lott, one of the prominent and influ- ential citizens of Montrose now praetieing law at the bar of Susquehanna county, was one of the men who devoted the opening
years of his manhood to the service of his country during the Civil war. He enlisted at Scranton, Pa., in May, 1863, in company F, Thirtieth Pennsylvania Volunteer in- fantry, at the time of the threatened in- vasion of the state. He was honorably dis- charged at Harrisburg in July, 1863, after which he returned to his home in Montrose.
Mr. Lott was born in Lenox township, Sus- quehanna county, September 25, 1848. After attending the sehools of Lenox for some time, he beeame a student in the normal at Waymart, Wayne county, Pennsylvania, for two years, and afterwards spent one year at the Mansfield state normal school. He first taught sehool in Wayne county; and later followed that profession in Lenox and Clif- ford townships, Susquehanna county.
In 1874 he commeneed reading law at Montrose with Littles & Blakeslee, and the following year was admitted to the bar, and since April, 1876, has sucessfully engaged in the practice of his chosen profession.
His fellow eitizens, recognizing his ability. elected lim justice of the peace in 1878, and district attorney in 1880, and to tlie last named position he was re-eleeted in 1886. His retention to office plainly indicates that his official duties were always most capably and satisfactorily performed.
Mr. Lott has also served as counsel for the county commissioners for the past fifteen years.
His able discharge of duty has attracted to him a good elientage and has established his reputation for mental force and fertility and thorough knowledge of the law, com- bined with a persistence and determination that would brook no failure.
Mr. Lott was united in marriage with Miss Helen Warner in 1878, and to them has been born one child, Emily.
Politieally, Mr. Lott is an active member of the Republican party: He is quite promi- nent socially, especially in Masonie eircles, and is a member of Warren lodge, No. 140,
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SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY
F. & A. M .; Warren chapter, No. 180, R. A. M .: and Great Bend commandery, No. 27, K. T.
Andrew B. Smith, ex-burgess of Montrose, and one of the leading attorneys of the Sus- quehanna eounty bar, is a man of enterpris- ing spirit, good business judgment, thor- oughly equipped for the practice of law, and one of the substantial and progressive citi- zens of Montrose.
Mr. Smith was born November 30, 1857, at New Milford, Susquehanna county, Penn- sylvania, a son of Andrew B. and Helen L. Smith.
· His education was acquired in the public schools of New Milford and at the Centen- ary Collegiate institute, of Hackettstown, N. J.
Choosing the law for his profession, in 1878 he entered the law office of J. B. & A. H. McCollum, at Montrose, as a student, and after the elevation of the senior member of that firm to the beneh of Susquehanna coun- ty, he concluded his studies with the new firm of McCollum & Watson. He was ad- mitted to the bar at the November term of eourt, 1880, and afterwards took a two years' eourse in the law department of the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, from which he graduated in 1882.
Returning to Montrose, he engaged in the practice of his profession alone until May, 1883, when he beeame the junior member of the law firm of MeCollum, Searle & Smith. This partnership continued until June, 1889, when D. W. Searle, of the firm was elected president judge of the Susquehanna county courts, and since that time Mr. Smith has continued as a member of the law firm of McCollum & Smith.
In politics Mr. Smith is a Republican, and has rendered much valuable service to his party.
In 1898 he was elected burgess of Mont- rose for three years.
As a lawyer Mr. Smith is a faithful, ener- getic and industrious worker.
October 10, 1883, he was married to Lil- lian E. Carlisle, of Great Bend, Pa., and to them have been born two children, Florenec and Andrew C.
Harland A. Denny, a son of Jacob and Rhoda Denny, was born in Equinuk, Wayne county, Pennsylvania, May 9, 1867.
He was edueated at Keystone academy, at Factoryville, Pa., and also at Bucknell uni- versity, where he spent two years, and then discontinued his studies to take up the pro- fession of law, and entered the law office of MeCollum & Smith, at Montrose, and eon- tinued with them until his admission to the bar in August, 1893.
While still young in his profession, Mr. Denny has acquired a reputation as being a thorough, eareful and painstaking attorney, and by reason of his genial manner and so- cial disposition, has gained many warm friends and stauneh supporters.
Mr. Denny is the secretary of the town couneil of Montrose, also secretary of the Susquehanna County Legal association, and a prominent member of the Odd Fellows lodge.
On November 2, 1893, he was married to Miss Rose Jones, of Lake Ariel, Wayne county, Pennsylvania.
Miller S. Allen, a prominent member of the Susquehanna eounty bar, and former distriet attorney of Susquehanna eounty, was born at Stevensburg, Morris eounty, New Jersey, on the 14th day of December, 1854. He obtained his education at the academy, at Hackettstown, N. J., the Mont- rose academy, and through private instrue- tion. Desiring to follow the practice of law as a profession, he entered the office of Lit- tle & Blakeslee, as a student, and was ad- mitted to practice at the April term of court in 1879, and immediately entered upon the practice of his chosen profession, and by his
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF PENNSYLVANIA
industry, energy and close application to business, soon won his way to the front and a good elientage, and has been connected with many of the prominent criminal and civil eases of the county.
In polities Mr. Allen is a Democrat, and in the fall of 1889 was elected district attorney of his county by a large majority, which of- fice he has filled with credit to himself and honor to his constituents, establishing for himself a reputation as a well-read and thor- oughly equipped lawyer.
In 1896 he was elected a delegate to the Democratie national convention at Chieago, Ill., which nominated Bryan for president.
He has served as chairman of the Demo- cratie county committee for a number of years, and has always shown himself to be a thorough and eonsistent Democrat, and one of the party's most prominent workers.
He has also been eleeted as a member of the town council and has served as a mem- ber of the board of health.
In May, 1883, Mr. Allen was married to Miss Charlotte C. Thomson, of Owego, N. Y., and to them have been born four children, Stewart M., Marian, Philip G. and Law- rence D.
Elbert L. Blakeslee, M. D., late a resident of Montrose, was for upwards of twenty years one of the foremost lawyers of the Susquehanna county bar.
Dr. Blakeslee was born May 15, 1843, at Dimock, Pa., a son of Hiram and Amanda Blakeslee.
As a boy our subject attended the district school of his neighborhood, and the Hart- ford and Montrose academies.
The firing on Fort Sumter called out his patriotism. Dropping his studies, he enlisted becoming a private in Company HI, Fourth Pennsylvania Reserves. His military service. while not a long one, was an honorable one. and he was discharged December 31. 1862. with the rank of corporal,
In 1865 he was graduated from the med- ical departmentof the University of Miehigan at Ann Arbor, receiving the degree of M. D. After three years of practice at Brooklyn, Pa., he found the profession not suited to his tastes, and returned to Ann Arbor, en- tering the law department of the university. After engaging in the study of law there for one year, he came to Montrose and furthered his studies under R. B. Little and Hon. L. F. Fitch, and was admitted to the bar in 1869, and from that time until his death, in 1893, was aetively en- gaged in the practice at Montrose and was retained in most of the important cases tried before the eourts of Susquehanna county.
In 1874 he prosecuted and seeured the convietion of O'Mara and Irving, indieted for murder in the first degree.
In 1880 he defended John McCormiek, charged with the murder of William Mc- Donough, and in that same year defended Fred Warren, eonvieted of murder in the second degree. In 1886 he defended Judson Tiffany, indicted for the murder of Samuel Hocum by shooting. At the first trial Mr. Tiffany was convicted of murder in the see- ond degree, but the case was taken to the supreme court, a new trial granted, at which the prisoner was aequitted.
Mr. Blakeslee won for himself a reputa tion as a eriminal lawyer second to none in Susquehanna county, if equaled by any.
He was a man of culture and poetic in- spiration, of generous nature and sympathy, and threw his whole soul into the cause in which he was enlisted. He was cloquent and impressive in argument, active and ever alert in the examination of witnesses: and. in faet, a veritable legal genius.
Dr. Blakeslee was united in marriage with Mary E. Little (daughter of Ralph B. Little, Sr.), of Montrose, who with one son, Elbert, survives him.
675
BUCKS COUNTY
BUCKS COUNTY
BY RICHARD B. TWISS
Differing from the thought and practice of modern times, it was not the custom, nor was it considered necessary, in the provin- cial days, for those who administered justice in the courts to be learned in the law. Law- vers were held in awe by the plain mannered folk and legal technicalities were feared and shunned.
Under the beneficent influence of the teachings and example of William Penn, the sentiment that peace and good will among men were principal ends to be sought, wide- ly prevailed. The peacemaker ranked high in the social and civic life of the community, while the disturber of the peace, as the law- yers were sometimes regarded, was not in- frequently placed under the ban of public · censure and distrust.
Among the people of plain habits and whose laws were equally plain and simple, the only requisites and qualifications of those who presided as justices in the courts, were thought to be sound judgment, fair- minded and ordinary common sense. In time, all this, of course, changed. The plain habits and simple needs of the plain folk gave place to the larger wants of growing communities. With increasing wealth and growing interests came larger responsibili- ties and a corresponding nced of stricter laws to regulate the inner course and deal- ings of men with their fellows, and like need of men trained and skilled in legal lore and practice to administer the affairs of the courts.
The history of courts in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, can be traced back to the year 1683. when the first judicial body was organ-
ized, comprising five justices, none of whom were learned or practiced in the law, but who were ordinary laymen of sound and discreet minds, able to deal fairly and do justice between man and man. Theirs was much of the nature of paternal authority in a community, and during the early history of the province, was ample to meet all needs. and the beneficent influence and happy re- sults of the system fully attested the clear foresight and wisdom of its promoters and supporters.
To further engender and promote the feeling of good will and friendliness in the community, three persons known as common peacemakers were chosen yearly in each precinct, their duties being indicated by the title of their office. These peacemakers were appointed by the court which selected for the year 1685 in Bucks county, Joshua Hoopes, Henry Paxson and Jonathan Scaife, as shown by records still preserved.
Originally there was the Quarter Sessions Court presided over by the justices which seems to have had jurisdiction in all matters till the year 1707, when a Common Pleas Court was organized, and from the time this court began its work, separate records of their proceedings were kept, but unfortun- ately for the historian, some of them had not been preserved.
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Matters relating to land titles and trans- fers played an important part in a court of record in the early days and frequent men- tion is made of the acknowledgment of decds in open court, the minutes disclosing many records of such instruments. At a later day, lawyers acting as attorneys for
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF PENNSYLVANIA
the respective parties to a land transfer, performed this work and delivered the decds, and till the year 1715 was it required that a decd should be acknowledged before justices of the peace.
Violators of the laws were sternly and oftentimes harshly dealt with, and a common practice which with some interruptions and modification pervailed till near the middle of the nineteenth century, was to imprison persons for debt. The use of the pillory was frequent, and that of the whipping post was general in cases of petty misdemeanors, and was applied to both men and women; while under a law enacted in 1718, for murder, manslaughter, treason, rape, robbery, sod- omy, burglary, arson, mayhem, witch- craft and other like crimes, the death pen- alty was inflicted. The prejudice which prevailed against lawyers in the early days led to the custom of having a suitor who was not able to present his own case before the court, engage a friend to do it for him. This led to abuses more intolerable than the pres- ence of lawyers, and gradually the preju- dice against those who had made the study and practice of law a profession, was over- come and their presence in court found to be a help, even a necessity, rather than a hindrance. Among others who appeared before the courts of Bucks county in provin- cial days may be found the names of David Lloyd, of Philadelphia; William Looker, Henry Waddy, Hugh Marsh, William Nic- ols, John Moore and George Lowther, all prior to the year 1705. Lowther was attor- ney general in 1705, and the commissioner of the first deputy attorney general of Bucks county ; Thomas Clark, bore the date June 8, 1708. The practice of admitting lawyers into courts, began in Philadelphia in 1710, and in 1715 authority was given them to practice in all courts throughout the prov- ince. The court dockets of the times show the names of many lawyers who practiced in Bucks county, some of them residents
there and others in Philadelphia. Many of these attained distinction and their names grace the honor roll of the county. One of these, Joseph Growden, served many years in the provincial council, represented Bucks county in the General Assembly thirteen terms, cight of which he was speaker of that body, served in the provincial court in 1690, and 1706 took his place on the Supreme bench.
Andrew Hamilton, eminent not only as a lawyer, but also as a statesman, and an ad- vocate and defender of liberty, was a native Scotchman who settled at Philadelphia where he won a prominent place at the bar. He became an attorney general of the prov- ince in 1717, and three years later was clected to the provincial council where he served four years. From 1727 till 1739 he was almost continuously a member of the general assembly, representing Bucks coun- ty. and being speaker of the body much of the time. He died in 1741.
Others who frequently appeared in court prior to 1750 were Nathan Watson, William Pierce, G. H. Sherwood, Thomas Biles, John . Emerson, Isaac Pennington, John Baker, Thomas Bowes, William Fry, John Grohock. During the next decade, the records reveal the frequent appearances of John Ross, Ben- jamin Price, Joseph Galloway, John Muland and Benjamin Chew, while a little later ap- pear those of Jonathan Sargent, Phineas Bond, Jared Ingersoll, J. F. Mifflin, and many more of like repute and high standing.
Prior to the general judiciary enactment of 1850 under which the office of judge was made elective, the judges were appointed and held the office indefinitely. This applied to the president judge as well as his asso- ciates.
Henry Wynkoop was appointed in 1759 the first president judge of Bucks county. IIe was not only an able jurist, but also was distinguished as a member of the first Con- gress and one of the makers of the Declara-
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BUCKS COUNTY
tion of Independence. ,Judge Wynkoop re- signed after serving as president judge thirty years. He died in 1816 at the age of seventy-nine.
John Barclay became president judge in 1789, and was followed by Mr. Bird Wilson who presided over the courts of the seventh judicial district twelve years, resigning in 1818 and entering the gospel ministry. His father, James Wilson, served in the first con- tinental Congress in 1775, and later served on the United States Supreme beneh under appointment of President Washington.
From 1818 till 1830 the courts of the dis- triet were presided over by John Ross, after- wards a member of the state Supreme Court, and following him, John Fox filled that office during the decade from 1830 to 1840, having previously served as deputy attorney gen- eral.
Thomas Burnside, who succeeded Judge Fox, presided until 1845, when he was pro- moted to the Supreme beneh. (See sketeh in Centre county.)
The last appointee to this offiee was David Krause, who served as president from Feb- ruary 3, 1845, till the Judicial Act of 1850, making the office eleetive, became operative. Under the new law, after an exciting eontest in which Daniel M. Smyser and Henry Chap- man were aetive participants, the former was elected to the office, served the full term and in 1861 resumed his professional work.
Henry Chapman, who was elected as his sueeessor, began his practice in 1825, after- wards served as a member of state senate and in Congress, and for four years was president judge of the Chester and Delaware county courts. During his ineumbency of the office, Henry P. Ross, in 1869, was elected additional judge. He was a natural sueces- sor to the office of president judge on the retirement of Judge Chapman in 1871, and the office of additional judge made vacant by his promotion, was filled by Mr. Arthur G. Olmstead, who, together with Judges
Chapman and Ross, oeeupied the beneh of Bucks county at the opening of the court in February, 1872. Judge Ross, after retir- ing from the Bueks eounty beneh in 1881, was elected to the same office in Montgom- ery county.
Judge Olmstead, a lawyer of scholarly at- tainments and an able jurist, was frail in health, and at the end of his first term of court, relinquished his position on the beneh and was followed by Mr. Stokes L. Roberts, a man eminently qualified by education and experience for the high office. Admitted to the bar in 1832, he, a few years later, was sent to the general assembly of the state, and in 1841 was appointed deputy attorney general. He practiced his profession with eminent sueeess, but, like his predecessor, was unable, by reason of the condition of his health, to endure the severe strain of his official duties, and resigned the office, to be succeeded in 1873 by Mr. Richard Watson, who, the following year was elected for a term of ten years.
Judge Richard Watson was a deep thinker, a profound scholar, and a clear and logi- cal reasoner. His knowledge of the law was extensive; his ability to read men and rightly judge their motives great, and his career on the bench was marked by the eor- reetness of his opinions.
Harman Yerkes, the next succeeding pres- ident judge is eminent as a lawyer and jurist, and one of the leading men of Bucks eounty. Admitted to the bar in 1865, he rapidly rose in his profession and soon be- came widely known as a skillful trial law- yer and advocate, being especially noted for his remarkable suceess in criminal praetice. He took an active interest in political mat- ters in the earlier years of his practice, and besides serving as deputy attorney general. represented his district in the state senate two terms. His career on the bench has been marked with dignity and characterized by sound discretion, good judgment, and ex-
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF PENNSYLVANIA
tensive knowledge of the law. He is one of the leading members, and an officer of the state bar association, and a man whose up- right and honorable dealings command uni- versal respect.
Without disparagement to any of those whose names are enrolled on the list of Bucks county's famous bar, mention of all of whom would be impossible, the following ' may be especially named, to-wit:
Abraham Chapman; whose professional career extended from 1790 to his decease in 1856, and who is remembered as one of the brilliant legal lights of his time; Charles E. Dubois, the celebrated criminal lawyer, who began his professional career in 1820, and won a lasting name as a skillful advocate; Elcazer T. McDowell, who acheived popu- larity and success, and won his way to the hearts of the people; Thomas Ross, who be- gan his legal career in 1829, and by his native abilities took an influential place at the bar and in national affairs, serving as attorney general, member of Congress and other offices of honor and trust; Caleb E. Wright, who was born in 1812, began his professional career in 1833, and for forty years was an active and influential incmber of the Bucks county bar. From 1853 to 1876 he lived at Wilkesbarre, ranking among the leading lawyers there, and thence went to Doylestown. Another who made his way from a lowly condition to a position of cmi- nence and influence at the bar and in the councils of state, was Mr. George Lear. A native of Bucks county, he spent his boy- hood on a farm receiving his preliminary education in the district schools, afterwards
teaching school for several years. He re- ceived his carly legal training under Mr. Elcazer T. McDowell, beginning his law study at the age of twenty-five, and entered on his professional career in 1844. He soon took a prominent place at the bar and took an active interest in political matters. Bc- sides serving as deputy attorney general under appointment in 1848, he afterwards held numerous other important offices of trust, and in 1875 became attorney general of the state, and served with distinction. adding new luster to his already honored name. His decease occurred in 1885.
Edward M. Paxson is still another who made his way in the face of many difficulties to an honored place at the bar and on the bench. In his early life, he was engaged in journalism. He studied law under the direction of Mr. Henry Chapman, and began practice on his admission to the bar in 1850. Going from Philadelphia two years later, he attained an honorable place among his professional brethren and continued in ac- tive practice until his appointment as suc- cessor to Judge Brewster to the court of Common Pleas in 1869, to which office he was, a few months later, elected for a term of ten years. After serving there five years, he was elected one of the justices of the Su- preme Court where he made a most worthy record.
Such are a few of the men, the list of whom might be extended indefinitely, who have wrought well, and the influence of whose lives and examples must long remain as a worthy monument to their genius and manly character.
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LANCASTER COUNTY
679
LANCASTER COUNTY
BY RICHARD B. TWISS
Laneaster county was organized as a sep- arate division of the province of Pennsyl- vania in 1729. Its territorial limits were altered from time to time, but sinee 1813, when Lebanon county was formed, its boundaries have remained unehanged.
Early in the history of the province, pro- vision was made for the establishment of eourts and the appointment or election of judges. And after the general assembly of Mareh 27, 1713, provided, among other things "That justiees of the court of Quar- ter Sessions of the peace in each eounty of this provinee or so many of them as are or shall be from time to time enabled to hold those eourts, shall have full power, and are hereby empowered, in the same week that they are or shall be directed, to hold the same courts, or at sueh times as they shall see oeeasion to hold and keep eourt of record in each of the said counties, which shall be styled 'The Orphans' Court.'" The pur- pose of this eourt was to administer estates of deeeased persons. Another law, enacted in 1722, provided "That there shall be a eom- petent number of justices in every of the said counties, nominated and authorized by the governor or lieutenant governor, for the time being, by eommission under the broad seal of this provinee, which said justiees, or any three of them, shall and may hold the said general sessions of the peace and goal delivery according to law, and effectually as any ,justiee of the peaee, justices of the assize, justiee of oyer and terminer or of goal delivery may or can do." In the same act it was provided : "That a competent number of persons shall be commissioned by the gov-
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