USA > Pennsylvania > The twentieth century bench and bar of Pennsylvania, volume II > Part 5
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1828.
Frederiek A. Reybold, John Wayne Ash- . mead, William C. Brown, John H. Bradley. Mr. Ashmead was for a long time a resident of Delaware county. He was for eight years deputy attorney general of Pennsylvania, for Philadelphia, and was the United States distriet attorney for the Eastern distriet of Pennsylvania when Daniel Webster was see- retary of state under the administrations of Presidents Taylor and Fillmore. Mr. Ash- mead later oceupied a high position among the most distinguished advocates and law- yers of the city of New York.
1829.
David J. Desmond, James A. Donath, Levi Hollingsworth, P. Frazer Smith, Robert E. Hannum. Mr. Hannum was deputy attorney general in 1833. Mr. Hannum belonged to a well-known family prominent in our Revolu- tionary history and sinee. He was a man well thought of in the community and en- joyed a large practice. He lived to a great age.
1830.
Peter Hill Engle. John C. Daniel, Andrew . T. Smith.
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DELAWARE COUNTY'
1831.
George L. Ashmead, John C. Nippes, Charles C. Rawn, Thomas W. Morris, John Rutter, Robert B. Dodson.
1832.
Thomas R. Newbold.
1834.
David H. Mulvaney, Joseph Hemphill, Jr. Mr. Hemphill, although a Chester countyan, practiced largely in Delaware county. His son, Joseph Hemphill, is now president judge of the courts of Chester county, and is often called upon to try causes in Delaware county.
1835.
Horatio Hubbell, Samuel F. Reed.
1836.
Daniel Mclaughlin, Joseph Williams.
1837.
Horatio G. Worrall, William M. Tilghman, John Hanna, William W. Kcating, Henry J. Williams, John Friedley, Thomas M. Jolly. Mr. Friedley represented the district com- posed of Delaware and Montgomery coun- ties in the Congress of the United States about 1850.
1838.
John B. Steregere, William E. Whitman, John D. Pierce, Saunder Lewis. P. Frazee Smith was deputy attorney general in 1839 for Delaware county.
1840.
Frederick E. Hayes, Elihu D. Farr, John M. Broomall (see account of the president judges of Delaware county), Uriah V. Pen- nypacker, Christopher Fallon. Mr. Broom- all was appointed deputy attorney general for Delaware county in 1848.
1841.
B. F. Pyle, Isaac D. Serrill, Charles B. Heacock, Addison May, Garrick Mallery.
1842.
Paul B. Carter, James Mason, Lewis A. Scott, Mortimer R. Talbot. We have no ac- count of Mr. Talbot practicing law. He was an Episcopal clergyman, and during the later years of his life was a chaplain in the United States navy.
1843.
John M. Simmes, William P. Foulke (sec 1813), Henry Chester, William R. Dickin- son, J. Smith Futhey, Matthew A. Stanley, Edward Hopper. Mr. Futhey, though a Chester countyan, had a practice in Dela- ware county. IIc was noted for his histor- ical researches. Late in life he became one of the law judges of Chester county.
1844.
Samuel Hood, Thomas H. Speakman. Mr. Speakman is the oldest living member of the bar of Delaware county (1903). IIc was ap- pointed deputy attorney general of the coun- ty in 1850.
1845.
Jesse M. Griffith, Ashbel Green, Robert Frazer, W. W. Hubbell, R. Rundle Smith, Samuel B. Thomas. Robert Frazer was ap- pointed deputy attorney general in 1845. Mr. Thomas died at a comparatively carly age at a time when there seemed every promise of a brilliant carcer at the bar and in poli- tics.
1846.
John A. Gilmore, Nathaniel B. Brown, William F. Boon, Robert M. Lca, Nathaniel B. Holland. Marshall Sprogell, Samuel A. Black.
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF PENNSYLVANIA
1847.
Robert MeCay, George Palmer, James A. Hackleton, Henry B. Edwards. About 1850 Mr. MeCay received the appointment of dis- triet attorney for Delaware county, but shortly afterwards resigned and entered upon mercantile pursuits in which he be- came successful.
1848.
George W. 'Ormsby, John Banks, Joseph R. Morris, William Butler, Gilbert R. Fox, Henry Friedley, Enoch Taylor, Thomas H. Maddock, Charles D. Manley, Ezra Levis. Mr. Morris died at the early age of thirty- five, but not before he had achieved a rep- utation as a brilliant lawyer. Judge Butler, as he afterwards became, was one of those Chester county lawyers who held a large practice in Delaware county. His son, Will- iam Butler, is also one of the judges of the Chester county bench, and Thomas S. But- ler, his cousin, is now (1903) member of Congress from this district, and was also at one time one of the law judges of Chester County. George T. Butler, another son of the first Judge Butler, is now a practicing . attorney in Delaware county. In 1850 Mr. Manley was appointed deputy attorney gen- eral for Delaware county. He was prominent in the councils of the Democratic party, and in 1858 was its candidate for Congress from this district. This was a very exciting con- test. John M. Broomall was the Republican candidate, and John Hickman the Anti-Le- compton candidate, so-called on account of his opposition to the policy of James Bu- chanan's administration, which favored the admission of the state of Kansas under what was called the Lecompton Constitution. Mr. Hickman, though running as an independent candidate, was elected by a large plurality. He afterwards became a Republican, and as such was elected to Congress again in 1860.
1849.
Paschall. Woodward, William Hollings- head, John Markland.
1850.
Robert Alsop, John Fairlamb Roberts, Thomas Greenback, Jesse Bishop, John H. Robb, John Titus, Joseph R. Dickinson. Mr. Bishop was elected district attorney of the county in 1854.
1851.
Thomas Leiper, George Norton, Thomas J. Clayton. (See account of the president judges of Delaware county.)
1852.
Francis Darlington, James M. Goodman. William B. Waddell (Mr. Waddell became one of the Law Judges of Chester county- his native county), Benjamin A. Mitchell.
1853.
A. Lewis Smith, at this time (1903), fifty years since his admission. Mr. Smith is actively engaged in the conduct of a large practice at the bar in Delaware county as well as in the city of Philadelphia. His father, Dr. George Smith, wrote a history of Delaware county, which is considered to be an authority on all the subjects treated in it.
Edward Olmstead, J. William Biddle, Wil- liam Vodges, Robert S. Paschall.
1856.
. Edward A. Price, William Nicholson, Rob- ert D. Chalfant, John W. Stokes. Mr. Price was elected district attorney on the Repub- lican ticket in 1857, polling the largest major- ity on the ticket. He afterwards represented Delaware county in the general assembly of the state, declining a re-election on account of his increasing law business, which was also
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DELAWARE COUNTY
more congenial to his tastes. His name has often been urged for the judiciary.
1857.
James Otterson, Peter Wychoff, Andrew Zane, John Hibberd. (Mr. Hibberd was elected district attorney of Delaware county in 1860 and filled the offiee with marked ability. Of late ycars he has withdrawn from the practice of law, living a retired life. Mr. Hibberd is noted as a student and as an original thinker.)
Samuel Simpson, M. J. Miteheson, George E. Darlington. Mr. Darlington is the son of Hon. Edward Darlington and comes of a family that has been productive of lawyers and judges. He was elected district attor- ney of Delaware county in 1869, serving three years. From the time of his admission to the bar until the present time (1903) he has been actively and successfully engaged in the practice of his profession. He is now president of the law association of tlie- county.
1859.
Jacob F. Byrnes, John P. O'Neal, William Ward. William Ward, one of the brightest lawyers of the Delaware county bar, at an early age became conspicuous in the affairs of the county. He received his education in Girard college, Philadelphia, and upon grad- uating learned the printing business with the late Hon. Y. S. Walter in the office of the Delaware County Republiean at Chester, and though he remained there but a short time before taking up the study of the law, he had imbibed a liking for newspaper business, with the result that throughout his subse- quent life he was an adept in making use of newspapers to control and manipulate public opinion and sentiment, not only politically, but in the line of his practice as a lawyer, and in real estate speeulation, in which he was largely engaged. He was admitted to the bar in 1859, and almost at once took a
leading position among the lawyers. He be- came very active in politics, and soon exer- cised a controlling influenee in his neighbor- hood, and finally throughout the county of Delaware, and his influence reached over into Chester county. Ile was for many years the solicitor for Chester and a member of the city council, and in 1876 he was elected to Congress from the distriet composed of the counties of Delaware and Chester, con- tinuing to hold his seat for six years, when he gave way to a Chester county man in con- sequence of a rule to oseillate the member from one eounty to the other every six and eight years respectively. Mr. Ward was a very industrious and useful member of Con- gress and exceedingly wateliful of the inter- ests of his constituents. As a lawyer he was very resourceful and quick to avail himself of the mistakes of an opponent, but he was a fair fighter and would take no mean ad- vantage. He was the mover in the organiza- tion of the Chester Creek Railroad, the Clies- ter & Delaware River Railroad and other lo- cal railroads and until he died was the coun- sel in Delaware county for the Pennsylvania Railroad and conducted all of its litigation with marked ability. His manner was pleas- ing and attractive, causing him to become a favorite with juries, in popular assemblies and with the people he came in contaet with generally. As a consequence he was in great demand as a speaker on all public occasions, and as an after-dinner orator he was reek- oned among the best, certainly among the best of the lawyers of Delaware county.
Smedley Darlington of West Chester, Chester county, followed as member of Con- gress from Chester county soon after Mr. Ward retired from the position. Though others had essayed the task, it fell to the lot of Mr. Darlington to successfully pilot a bill through Congress making an appropriation for the purchase of a site and for the con- struction of a postoffice building in the city of Chester in Delaware county. In conse-
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF PENNSYLVANIA
quence of Mr. Darlington's successful work in this matter, the people of Chester felt grateful, of eourse, to him for aeeomplishing what they had so long desired, and what had hitherto been unaeeomplished, though stren- uous efforts had for a long time been made for its aeeomplishment. To show their grati- tude and appreciation of his sueeessful work, they tendered him a banquet in the City of Chester, to which were invited quite a num- ber of the prominent men of West Chester (Mr. Darlington's home).
Now, West Chester, being the county seat of a farming eounty, is populated to a great extent by lawyers, professors and other liter- ary and educated people, ineluding the fam- ilies of the retired farmers, who, having saved up some money, have taken up their residenee in that borough, and ean afford to live a life of eomparative leisure, and have naturally the time to eultivate their minds with the aeeumulated lore of the ages. Therefore, while there are a few industrial establishments in West Chester, it is more noted for its trend toward scientific. philo- sophie and literary eulture.
On the contrary, the eity of Chester, being full of ship yards, rolling mills, steel works, iron, eotton and woolen and other mills and industrial establishments, did not, at that time at least, profess to contain a very large number of people, comparatively, who may be said to belong to the leisure, cultured, seientifie or literary classes. And if the peo- ple of Chester had been asked about these things they would have admitted them, in a general way, of course, hoping and trying to improve themselves all the time, when they might be a little better fixed finaneially and therefore have more leisure time to devote to study. Nevertheless, they would hardly be expected to relish being told by others that they were unedueated, hardfisted, greasy mne- . chanies. Therefore, when, on the occasion of this banquet, one of the West Chester ora- tors accentuated this idea of the great learn-
ing of the people up at West Chester and compared them with the hard-working, grimy people of Chester, the Chester people felt they should be courteous enough not to resent this way of putting the matter; but, as the evening wore on and speech after speech had been made on the same lines by nearly all the West Chester orators, who seemed to eomplaeently assume that every one admitted that West Chester was a een- ter of learning, while Chester was a eenter of industry, and no Chester orator had said anything to eause the West Chester men to ehange their tune, the Chester people began to feel uneasy and restless in their chairs, as though they were only considered a set of boors, brought in to listen to the large bloeks of aeeumulated wisdom which were being ex- hibited by the enlightened sons of the mod- ern Athens, as West Chester was sometimes ealled.
Up to this time William Ward had not · been heard from, and when he was at last ealled upon to speak, all of the Chester rep- resentatives rested their hope of eseaping from the disagreeable dilemma in which they seemed to be placed, in what Mr. Ward should say; for each one's eountenanee seemed to say to his neighbor: "If Ward cannot save us we are lost."
Mr. Ward arose, and after congratulating the people, and especially Congressman Dar- lington on the sueeessful accomplishment of the work all Chester had so mueh at heart, he said: "It is true that Chester is a place noted for its industrial establishments, for its hard-fisted sons of toil, whose blackened faees and grimy hands as they emerge from the shipyards, the mills and the workshops, attest in no uneertain tones that they main- tain themselves and their families by the sweat of their brows, and therefore have not the time to burnish and brighten their minds with the elassie lore of Homer, of Cicero and of Virgil." And he said it was true that when their eyes were turned in the direction
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DELAWARE COUNTY
of West Chester they could not fail to be- come impressed with the profound learning and erudition of her citizens. "Why," said Mr. Ward, "if a man should at any time go out into the streets of West Chester and should shy a brick through the air it would be impossible for him to miss hitting a D. D., an M. D., or an A. B., or an LL. D. or an A. M. or an A. S. S." What Mr. Ward said after that nobody remembers, but Chester was herself again and West Chester's learn- ing and erudition took a back seat.
Joseph R. T. Coates. Major Coates, soon after being admitted to the bar, entered the army with the Pennsylvania reserves, where he made a brilliant record as a soldier. He afterwards became mayor of the city of Chester.
O. Flagg Bullard. Mr. Bullard held the office of Prothonotary of the courts of Dela- ware county, and afterwards represented the county in the general assembly of the state for several terms.
Francis M. Brooke, H. Ryland Warriner. Mr. Brooke was elected district attorney of Delware county in 1863. He held the office for some time, when he resigned, devoting himself to mercantile pursuits, in which he was eminently successful.
1860.
John S. Newlin, Nathan S. Sharpless, John C. Laycock, John H. Brinton, John E. Shaw.
1861.
A. V. Parsons. 1862.
William T. Haines, David M. JJohnson. Mr. Johnson was elected district attorney for Delaware county in 1872 on the Republican ticket, the Democrats declining to nominate any candidate against him. In 1881 he was elected to the city council of the city of Ches- ter, serving until 1889, when he declined a re-election. He is still (1903) engaged in the practice of his profession, with his son, Da-
vid M. Johnson, Jr., who is also a member of the bar.
1863.
Wayne Mac Veagh. Mr. Mae Veagh is a Chester county boy, but his practice got over 'into Delaware county, long before he en- tered upon his distinguished career. Both as an orator and a lawyer he is universally ad- mitted to be in the front rank.
John B. Hinkson. Mr. Hinkson, during his life, enjoyed a large practice at the bar of Delaware county. Though not disposed to be a politician, he was elected to the city council of Chester and afterwards elected mayor of the same city, in each case over- coming an adverse majority against his party. He also received the nomination of his party for the state senate and for presi- dent judge of Delaware county.
James Barton, Jr. Mr. Barton is a man of fine capacity and education, but he pre- ferred to go into other avocations than the law. He was a member of the city council of Chester and afterwards he was elected mayor of the city, being the first candidate who was able to defeat Dr. J. L. Forwood, who held that office for several terms.
1864.
William B. Broomall. Chester county, at an early period, had a number of lawyers of such commanding ability as to practically keep out eminent practitioners from other counties; indeed, her lawyers seemed to swarm over into Delaware county, where William Darlington. Joseph J. Lewis, Wil- liam Butler, Joseph Hemphill and others, a brilliant galaxy, were often seen in the Dela- ware county courts for about ten years after the courthouse was removed in 1850 from the old town of Chester to the new county seat at Media. John M. Broomall of Delaware county and Edward Darlington of the same county would generally be found on one side or the other in the forensic contests with these brilliant Chester countians; but along
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF PENNSYLVANIA
about 1860, and ever sinee, a new crop of lawyers has grown up in Delaware county capable of taking care of both sides of any controversy, so that it is now a rare thing to hear an eminent lawyer from outside Dela- ware county pleading any of the causes in her courts. Among those who are now de- ecased who have occupied a conspicuous po- sition at the bar sinee the early sixties, in ad- dition to John M. Broomall and Edward Darlington may be mentioned, Samuel B. Thomas, William H. Dickinson, William Ward, John B. Hinkson, Joseph R. Morris, Charles D. Manley, Ezra Levis and Robert E. Hannum. Among those now living and in active practice are William B. Broomall (above mentioned), son of Judge Jolin M. Broomall, and who, like his father in his day, is admittedly the leading member of the bar, and perhaps the best all-round lawyer that Delaware county has produced. There is a tradition that he was the best all-round seholar at Haverford college, and, contrary to the generality of such cases, he is main- taining his early reputation. The man near- est to him in power at the bar to-day, and who is very often pitted against him, is Oli- ver B. Dickinson. These men are very dis- similar in temperament. Broomall is the em- bodiment of method and logie, while Dick- inson is keen as a rapier, and if you under- take to predict what he is going to do next you will probably afterwards admit you were a false prophet. When these two make a law argument before the judge the other at- torneys generally remain in court to be charmed and instructed.
1868.
George M. Pardoe, Orlando Harvey. Mr. Ilarvey held the office of eity solicitor for the city of Chester for a continuous period of twenty years. He was also the solieitor for the borough of South Chester before its in- corporation into the city of Chester.
William H. Dickinson, Mr. Dickinson was
elected the first recorder of the city of Ches- ter in 1878. He showed marked ability as a lawyer, but his health failing, he died March 24, 1883. Had he lived, it was the general opinion that he would have achieved a rank second to none in the profession. He was an elder brother of O. B. Dickinson.
1869.
William J. Harvey, Henry C. Howard. Mr. Howard was for several years president of the Delaware County Trust Company.
Perry M. Washabaugh. Mr. Washabaugh is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Military college, and for many years he occupied a prominent position as colonel of the Sixthi Regiment of State Guards.
1870.
Samuel Emlen, W. W. Montgomery. Mr. Emlen was a bright young man, but died in early life.
1872.
James Vincent Maginn, John V. Mc- Geoghegan.
Carroll S. Tyson, V. Gilpin Robinson. James Vincent Maginn, John V. McGeoghe- ban. Mr. Robinson was elected district attor- ney of Delaware county in 1875, holding the offiee for six years. He is very effective before juries ; one of his most notable eases is what is known as the Robinson will case, where he and his eolleague, Horace P. Green, sueeeed- ed in overturning a will involving nearly a million dollars of property ..
1873.
Edward H. Hall. Mr. Hall is noted for his ready knowledge of law, and his opinions are as much respeeted by his fellow members of the bar as they are by his clients.
David F. Rose. Mr. Rose is a graduate of IIaverford eollege, possessing a highly culti- vated mind, and he is particularly distin- guished for his remarkable memory of facts and people.
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DELAWARE COUNTY
George M. Booth. Mr. Booth is president of the First National Bank of Chester, to which he gives elose attention, as well as to a large law practice. Mr. Booth's capacity for work seems to be almost unlimited.
1874.
William H. Calcy.
1875.
Henry Graham Ashmcad, George W. Bliss, John T. Reynolds, John V. Riee, Alfred Driver. Mr. Ashmcad is a son of John Wayne Ashmead, and a great-grand- son of Henry Hale Graham, the first president judge appointed to preside over the eourts of Delaware county. Mr. Ashmead is not now practieing law, but is devoting him- self to literature, for which he possesses marked talents. He is a recognized authority on historieal subjects. During President Cleveland's first term Mr. Ashmead was post- master of the city of Chester.
George B. Lindsay. To Mr. Lindsay may be given the credit for the first development of street passenger ear travel in the city of Chester. Mr. Lindsay has traveled over the world a good deal, and, being a fine eonver- sationalist, is necessarily very entertaining to his friends and acquaintances.
1876.
Alfred Tyson, Henry M. Fussell, John F. Young, Weldon B. Heyburn.
Mr. Heyburn belongs to the numerous Hey- burn family of Delaware county. He re- moved some years ago to Idaho, where he be- eame a judge, and reeently (January, 1903) he has been elceted to represent that state in the United States Senate.
1877.
Henry Pleasants, Jr., William B. Houston, John B. Hannum, Jolın M. Broomall, Jr., Ed- mund Jones.
Mr. Hannum was elected district attorney of Delaware county in 1887, holding the of-
fiec for six years. He is now (1903) the counsel for the Pennsylvania Railroad in Delaware county. Mr. Hannum showed fine capacity when distriet attorney, being al- ways able to hold his own against any com- bination of legal talent against him.
1878.
Townsend E. Levis, Patrick Bradley, Wil- liam S. Sykes, J. Newton Shanafelt.
Mr. Shanafelt has held the office of record- er for the eity of Chester. This is a judicial office.
S. Grafton David, Truxton Beale. Mr. Beale is a son of the late General Edward F. Beale. Mr. Beale himself has held several prominent positions in the diplomatic ser- vicc of the United States.
David Garrett. Mr. Garrett was elected recorder of the city of Chester in 1881. He died in August of the same year.
Oliver B. Diekinson. (Mention has already been made of Mr. Dickinson on previous page.)
1879.
Ward R. Bliss. Mr. Bliss, besides being engaged in an active practice at the bar, con- tinued for several years as editor of the Dela- warc County Republican. He is still the ed- itor of the Weekly Reporter, a legal publi- cation, and he has represented Delaware county in the general assembly of the state for the past ten years. He is recognized as an able member of the legislature.
Oliver C. McClure. Mr. McClure was a bright young lawyer, who died in early man- hood.
Horace P. Green, Gernett Pendleton, W. Ross Brown, N. H. Strong, James S. Cum- mins.
Mr. Pendleton is a graceful and logical public speaker and one of the most scholarly members of the bar.
1880.
Jesse M. Baker, Mr. Baker held the office
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF PENNSYLVANIA
of district attorney of Delaware county from 1881 to 1887. Ile now holds a commission in the regular army of the United States.
Ellwood Wilson, Jr., Edward W. Magill, John B. Booth, Benjamin N. Lehman, John B. Robinson.
Mr. Robinson has represented Delaware county at various times in both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature, and has also represented the district composed of the counties of Delaware and Chester in the House of Representatives at Washington. He is now (1903) United States marshal for the eastern district of Pennsylvania.
1881.
Garret E. Smedley, George Caldwell John- son.
1882.
Henry L. Broomall, Harwell A. Cloud, John W. Shortlidge.
1883.
Isaac Johnson. Mr. Johnson is now presi- dent judge of the several courts of Delaware county. (See sketches of the Judiciary.)
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