Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 10

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing
Number of Pages: 1036

USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Altoona > Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens > Part 10

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When the county was formed in 1846, in my judgment the population was about 11,000. I think fully four-fifths of this was made up of first settlers and their immediate descendants. The population rapidly increased; it certainly numbers now not far from 75,000. I doubt if more than one-third of these can trace de- scent to the Germans, Scotch-Irish and Irish of the first half of the century; take away the population of Altoona and its immediate sur- roundings in Logan township, of Tyrone and Bellwood, and the last thirty years would show but little change. The greater Blair county is made up of these progressive railroad towns. True, many of their citizens are descendants of the original stock, but the larger proportion is from other counties and states, and many from beyond the seas. By their joining us they have raised our noble old county from one of the smallest to one of the greater counties in wealth, population and enterprise. In the not distant future we shall see it reach more than 100,000 in population. Its past rapid growth has been due in great degree to the growth and liberal management of that great corporation, the Pennsylvania railroad. Our material prosperity and progress in the future must depend largely on the prosperity of that enterprise. As it grows our county will grow.

But I have already wearied you in endeavor- ing to present in as concise a narrative as pos- sible a glimpse of the early physical, intellectual and religious growth of our beloved home. In it I was born and reared; with it are associated all my fondest recollections ; to its future cling all my most fervent hopes ; if any want to point to some better, some golden age in some other county or some other years, I have no sym- pathy with them, for our county and our age, I feel sure, are the best attainable.

WRITTEN SPECIALLY FOR THE SEMI-CENTEN- NIAL AND READ BY J. D. HICKS.

As from the rock that towers high, The eagle gazes toward the sky, Then spreads his wings and soars away, To bathe his plumage in the ray

That falls in freshness from the sun;

HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY

So Blair from lofty Huntingdon, Gazed upward toward Dominion's sky, And quick to see and strong to fly, Sprang upward in her liberty, And rose to glorious destiny.

For fifty years her wings she's tried, For fifty years her strength and pride Have weakened not, but stronger grown, Till through the land her power's known, And Pennsylvania's counties fair, Obeisance pay to LITTLE BLAIR.

Her rock-ribbed mountains, high and blue, Are not more strong and not more true, Than is her love for those who gave Their strong, young life our Land to save, Who heard great Lincoln's call for men, And died in field and prison-pen. Blair's heroes sleep far, far from home, Their only epitaph, "UNKNOWN!" But angels bright are sent of God To watch beside their beds of sod. Long as our mountains pierce the skies- Till God shall bid the dead arise- Ne'er let the work our heroes wrought, By children's children be forgot.

Brave "Boys in Blue," when strife was o'er, When cannon ceased to flame and roar ; When God's sweet angel whispered "Peace !" And caused the noise of war to cease ; With sunburnt face and battle scars, Beneath the dear old Stripes and Stars, Marched homeward to the hills of Blair, While shouts of welcome filled the air. These "Boys in Blue," so brave and strong, Are with us now, but not for long; For one by one they pass within The tent that has no "outward swing." The debt we owe them never can Be paid on earth by mortal man. May He who died a world to save Smile on our heroes, true and brave.

But Blair has other heroes true As those who fought in lines of blue For Freedom, and inscribed their name

High on the scroll of deathless Fame. Who, in the time of testing, stood Where duty called, and never would Their post forsake, but did their part In face of Death, like noble Sharp. God's richest blessings on him rain .

Who saved the wildly rushing train; Who bravely answered Duty's call And gave the world a second Paul.

Where robed in ermine justice stands, Her balanced scales within her hands, Blair's sons now sit in court supreme Impartially to judge between The right and wrong of every cause- Maintaining justice and her laws.

Where statesmen "clutch the golden keys To mould a mighty state's decrees-" In congress halls her sons have gone And lasting honors there have won.

In church at home and church abroad Her sons proclaim the truth of God, And heathen far beyond the sea Point to the Christ of Calvary. ' Her teachers, too, well "skilled to rule" In city or in village school, Have learning's strong foundation laid In mind of boy and mind of maid Till all her sons and daughters fair Are now the pride of "Little Blair": While some have climbed Parnassus' hill, Whose name and fame the nations fill.

Her Press so strong, so true and free, To plead for Right and Liberty; All shams expose, all truth defend; Has proved herself the People's friend. As our own mountain air is free, So let our Press forever be !

The peerless Corporation, too, Known o'er the world, as strong and true, As Johnstown Bridge, well known to fame, That stood so firm when torrents came; To all her men both kind and fair, Has brought large wealth to "Little Blair."

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In busy shops, on flying trains, With brawny-arms and giant brains, With courage true and matchless zeal, Her sons promote the Nation's weal.

For fifty years she's done so well, No mortal all her deeds may tell; While mountains pierce the ambient air, O live and flourish, glorious BLAIR ! IDA CLARKSON LEWIS. Altoona, Pa., April 13, 1896.

CHAPTER IV.

BENCH AND BAR.

Historical Reviews of the History of the Bench and Bar in Addresses of Hon. John Dean, Hon. D. J. Neff, Hon. A. S. Landis, and Hon. J. S. Black-Obituary of Judge Martin Bell -Appointment of Judge Thomas J. Baldridge-Sketches of Blair County's Six Judges.

The history of the Bench and Bar of Blair county, from its earliest beginnings up to the year 1877, was comprehensively dealt with in an historical address delivered by State Su- preme Court Justice John Dean, then judge of the Blair county courts, at the dedication of the Blair county court house which took place in that year. This history was again reviewed and further continued on the occasion of Blair county's semi-centennial celebration in 1896, in the addresses of Hon. Daniel J. Neff and Hon. Aug. S. Landis. These three addresses are here reproduced as together containing per- haps the best and fullest obtainable presenta- tion of the subject. They are supplemented by further data covering some more recent events in the history of our courts.

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. BY HON. JOHN DEAN.

President Judge of the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District.

Ladies and Gentlemen :- The morals of a people are to be found in their laws. Statutes and the decisions of courts disclose what prog- ress has been made towards the enforcement of the perfect law, "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." This is the standard aimed at by Christian people. Since the "Great Lawgiver" announced this rule of action, the efforts of His subjects to render obedience to it have, for periods, been few and

weak; at other times many and strong. How near they came to it, and how far they fell short, or how much nearer one nation or people came to it than another, is learned from the records of their courts. None have attained unto this standard ; perhaps no court ever will; still, everywhere courts are trying to reach it, and, so long as the aim is high, a greater de- gree of progress will result than if they did not strive to reach an unattainable standard. This is shown by the progress already made ; an advance so marked, even in the compara- tively short period of the last fifty years, as to be a matter of exultation to every true lawyer.

The part borne by the several courts of this county in this general "move forward" has been no insignificant one. In its beginning, and for many years afterwards, the new and delicate questions adjudicated; the efforts to give effect to that clause of our constitution which declares that-

"All courts shall be open; and every man for an injury done him, in his lands, goods, person or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law, and right and justice ad- ministered without sale, denial or delay."

Have left a clear impress on the law of the commonwealth. This has been due to the learning and ability of the lawyers of the court; to the intelligence and honesty of the jurors; but in an especial degree to the strong sense of justice, manifested in all their rulings, by

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the two eminent lawyers, Judges Black and Taylor, who first presided.

THE PRESIDENT JUDGES OF THE COURT.

While we may not concur with Judge Coul- ter in his application of the proposition the fact of the particular case, no judge ever ut- tered a more evident one than he when he said in Cadbury vs. Noion (5 Barr, 320), "The apprehension, or more properly the compre- hension of actual fraud, depends much on the moral sensibilities of the individual who con- templates the facts." This case, as my brethren will remember, was tried before Judge Wood- ward, in Clearfield county. Judge Coulter more than intimates that Woodward's moral sensibilities were such that he could not appre- hend gross fraud; and this was said of an eminently just judge, who was afterwards Chief Justice of our Supreme Court. But few lawyers will approve the correctness of the ap- plication of the proposition to that judge, on the facts, of that case ; but as a general propo- sition, applicable to every case involving the rights and liabilities of parties, every lawyer feels its force. For, whether applied to the prevention of actual fraud, to the determination of conflicting claims, to the adjustment of mu- tual rights, or the prosecution and punishment of law breakers, a just decision depends much on the "moral sensibilities of the individual who contemplates the facts." The moral sen- sibilities of these two distinguished judges (Black and Taylor), were in no wise dull. Keenly alive to the wrongs of suitors, filled with perfect hatred to all unfairness, over- reaching and unconscionable conduct, possess- ing great learning and ability, under their eyes the judgments of the court were entered.

At the time of the erection of Blair county Judge Black was the President Judge of the sixteenth Judicial District, composed of the counties of Franklin, Bedford, Somerset and Fulton, and in the act erecting the county it was provided that it should form part of this district. Thus Judge Black became our first judge.

The original act (see P. L. 1846, p. 64).

provided that the first court should be held on the fourth Monday of July, 1846. From that time up to and including March term, 1849, Judge Black presided. By this act the terms of the courts were to commence on the fourth Mondays of March, July, October and Decem. ber, but a supplement (see R. L. 1846, P. 398), directed that after the first court the summer session should commence the second Monday of June. Judge Black held twelve terms of courts, when the Legislature, by the act of 5th of April, 1849, making a general re- organization of the judicial districts of the state, declared the counties of Huntingdon, Blair and Cambria should compose the twenty- fourth Judicial District, thus detaching this county from the sixteenth, Judge Black's dis- trict.

Of Judge Black, in presence of this audi- ence, as a lawyer and a judge, I need not speak at length. Whether as advocate at the bar, presiding in the Common Pleas, Judge and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Attorney General of the United States, delegate at large to the Constitutional Convention of 1873, everywhere, he has honored himself and has re- flected honor on the people who honored him. His legal opinions and arguments are the de- light of the lawyer, for it may be said of him, as Coke said of Littleton: "He cites not many authorities, yet he holdeth no opinion but is proved and approved by these two faithful wit- nesses in matter of law, authority and reason." While his name and fame are national, we claim the distinction of saying he held our first court ; he was our first judge.

As we have seen, on the 5th of April, 1849, the twenty-fourth district was created. George Taylor, then a young but able lawyer of the Huntingdon bar, was appointed by Governor Johnston, president judge. He held his first court in this county on the second Monday of July, 1849, the summer term having been again changed back from June to July. Under this appointment he continued to hold court until October term, 1851. In the meantime the amendment to the Constitution had been adopted (called amendment of 1850), which

HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY

provided for the election of the judges of all the court; that their terms should be ten years ; that the terms of all judges then in office should expire on the first Monday of December fol- lowing the adoption of the amendment, and that the terms of those elected should com- mence at the same time. The first election after the adoption of the amendment was held in October, 1851, so that Judge Taylor's com- mission by appointment expired on the first Monday of December, 1851 ; but at the election previous, having been nominated by the Whigs, he was elected for the term of ten years. His

opponent was the Democratic candidate, Thomas P. Campbell, of Huntingdon, now of Davenport, Iowa. Judge Taylor had a ma- jority of 354 in Huntingdon county, 649 in Blair, and Campbell 499 in Cambria, making Taylor's majority in the district 504. Under this election he served his term of ten years, and at the end of it, by the unanimous request of the members of the bar of the district, he was again a candidate and was re-elected with- out opposition. At the end of this term, he ran as an independent candidate against the nominees of the Republican and Democratic parties, and failed of an election. He died of paralysis in November, 1871, in the fifty-ninth year of his age.

It seems like repeating "a tale that is told" to speak of him in presence of the bars of Huntingdon, Cambria and Blair, in whose pres- ence for twenty-two years he presided. Dur- ing all this time, but especially during the first years of his judicial life, his judgments were so just, and the opinions by which he sus- tained them so lucid and logical, that they are mile stones in the law, and models of judicial writing. In that long time his integrity was never questioned, even by disappointed lawyers or litigants. Mistaken he may have been, doubtless at times was, but he always sought to arrive at the truth-tried to hold the scales even, and if, at times, he erred, or at times was procrastinating in C. A. V. decisions, it only shows he was not perfect. Sometimes he would try the patience of suitors and coun- sel by cogitating over a difficult legal question

for months, and this one failing (or virtue as some contend), as a judge, is the only one in the years I practiced before him I ever heard complained of. A man of wonderful patience and self-command, he was of most sensitive temper, if this peculiarity were even hinted at. I remember in 1860, on the trial of an eject- ment, Laugham and wife against Stifler et al, involving the question as to whether a sale by the sheriff on execution of the life estate of the husband in the wife's hand, prior to the act 1848, would pass the wife's right of pos- session, he so forcibly impressed me with his sensitiveness on this subject that I never for- got it. I was counsel for Laugham and wife, the plaintiffs; our esteemed Chairman, Mr. Banks, was of counsel for defendant; the evi- dence was all in and facts undisputed Mr. Banks opened and argued to the court, that whatever doubt there may have been as to the regularity of such sales prior to the 24th of January, 1849, at that time the Legislature passed an act declaring all such sales good and valid. In reply I cited Gorden vs. Ingram, first grant, in which the supreme court declare (Judge Black dissenting), the act unconstitu- tional. Judge Taylor said he was not clear that case ruled the one before him, but he would reserve the point and direct a verdict for the plaintiff. I, being rather young, rose to my feet and mildly suggested that my client, Solomon Langham, had been trying for twenty years to get his land, and therefore we would like 'His Honor' to decide the point nowe, as it was very inconvenient to wait longer. In an instant, in the most emphatic manner, he brought his fist down on the bench and in a loud tone said: "I will decide this point when I am ready and when I please, and will not be driven by any lawyer." Startled by his tone, manner and expression, confused and not a little frightened, I sat down. Not aware be- fore that of his extreme sensitiveness, I could not gather my thoughts sufficiently to make the. proper apology and disclaimer; but my kind hearted antagonist, Mr. Banks, who was older and knew "many things" I did not, see- ing my discomfiture, but not rejoicing thereat.

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rose and said that the opposite counsel had no intention of saying anything insulting, nor of even intimating any want of promptness in the court's decisions upon reserved points, but, as he well knew, I had a very pestering client, of whom, doubtless, I was anxious to be re- lieved by a decision one way or the other. In a moment the storm was over and the atmos- phere calm and bright. The judge announced he would take the papers and decide the point as soon as he got home. He decided it in about three years by entering judgment in my favor on the verdict. It was his one failing- one to which our profession seems peculiarly prone-the one possessed in a marked degree, by one of the greatest judges of this or any other commonwealth, the late Judge King of Philadelphia. But in the long years Judge Taylor sat on this bench how seldom, compara- tively, was there any exhibition of this in- firmity. With patience inexhaustible, he sat pleasantly through the most tedious trials, seemingly only anxious that all the law and evidence bearing on the issue should be care- fully heard and considered. He would pa- tiently bear, but would not be pressed to a hurried decision. And woe be unto the verdant young lawyer who attempted to press him! The older ones never tried it. But when we look over the records of his twenty- two years' work on the bench of this court, when we see his judgments and opinions il- luminating these records with the clear, pure light of mercy, goodness and truth, the little blot dropped there by his own infirmity is scarcely visible. "He delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him."

I was elected judge in 1871 and have been in office five years and six months.

ASSOCIATE JUDGES.

The first associate judges of the court were George R. McFarlane and Daniel Mc- Connell, democrats appointed by Governor Shunk the 8th day of June, 1846, to hold un- til the next session of the senate of Penn- sylvania. Judge McFarlane was re-appoint-

ed and confirmed by the senate on March IIth, 1847. The other vacancy was filled by the appointment of Davis Brooke on the 28th of January, 1848. James Gardner was appointed April 10, 1851, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Judge Mc- Farlane and was elected for the full term the following October, with Levi Slingluff of Martinsburg. Both resigned before the ex- piration of their terms. These are about the only examples of resignation by judges within my knowledge. James D. Rea, dem- ocrat, was appointed to fill the vacancy oc- casioned by the resignation of Judge Gard- ner on the 25th of July, 1854, and James L. Gwin to fill that occasioned by the resigna- tion of Judge Slingluff in March, 1855. Judges Rea and Gwin held office until Octo- ber, 1855, when David Caldwell and John Penn Jones were elected, each for the full term of five years ; in 1860 Adam Moses and Samuel Dean were elected; in 1865 Judge Moses was re-elected with B. F. Rose of Altoona; in 1870 George W. Patton and Joseph Irwin were elected; and in 1875 the present associates, Charles J. Mann and Samuel Smith. With the exceptions of Judges McFarlane, McConnell, Brooke, ap- pointed by Governor Shunk, and Judge Rea, appointed by Governor Bigler, all of these officers have been whigs or republicans .- Whatever may have been their politics, it has been the united testimony of the bar that, one and all, they performed faithfully and impartially their duty. Of those dead, honor and respect followed them during life ; of those living, no blot touches their in- tegrity. They have the respect and good wishes of a profession which learns as no other one does, to appreciate unblemished official life.

LAWYERS.

From the 4th Monday, 27th day of July, 1846, until the 30th of April, 1877, the last term of court, exactly 200 lawyers have been sworn to the bar. Of these only 72 have been resident within the county. On the

HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY

first day of the court, 27th of July, 1846, there were forty-eight admissions, commencing with Hon. Moses Gana, of Cambria county, and ending with Andrew G., afterward Gov- ernor Curtin, of Centre county ; and during that term of the court there were fifty-one admissions. Out of these, however, there were only twelve resident of the county and they all in Hollidaysburg, Calvin Cline, J. M. Bell, Kemp, Coffey, Brotherline, Lowrie T. Banks, Cresswell, Blair, McMurtie, Ho- fius. At October term following, Robert Wallace, father of the present United States Senator Wallace, was admitted and opened an office. Major Williams was admitted the December following. Up to 21st of March, 1855, when I was admitted, nearly nine years after the organization of the county, only twenty-two resident practicing lawyers had been sworn to the bar, and of these eight had retired from practice or removed from the county, leaving fourteen. There are now in active practice forty-one. Among the names of those admitted from other counties who either were, or afterwards be- came, prominent in the law or in politics, I notice Ephraim Banks, father of our chair- man, auditor general of the state, Judge Alexander King, Judge Kimmell, John G. Miles, Senator Scott, Judge Hale, Governor Curtin, Francis Jordan, Charles Shaler, R. L. Johnson, John Cessna, Ross Forward, Judge Pershing. Gen. John Williamson, Judge Hall, Judge John P. Blair, Harry White, Samuel T. Brown, Charles J. Faulk- ner, and Randolph Tucker, of Virginia, Thaddeus Stevens, Judge White, Judge Pet- tis, Hon. R. M. Speer, Judge Thatcher, John M. Bailey, Thomas M. Marshall, Joshua F. Cox and a number of others. Among them was John A. Blodget, of Bedford, noted for his acquirements in general literature, his poetical tastes, and wit. There was also admitted during the first year of the court a lawyer noted in the whole profession along the Juniata valley, Mr. Isaac Fisher, of Huntingdon. In person, mind and man- ners he was peculiar. He was a member of

the Huntingdon bar, and during the first years after the organization of the county attended all the courts. In person he was huge, weighing about 300 pounds ; generally neat in dress, seldom appearing in court without gloves; of very extensive reading, with no end of research in the particular case on trial. He was the horror of the court because of his unlimited citation of authorities. Always bland and respectful, but having a secret contempt for any lower one than the supreme court, he frequently said he would rather have one or two "good exceptions" in the court below than a ver- dict. He was a thorn in the side of Judge Burnside, and was about the only lawyer he was afraid of. While a law student I was present at the trial of several cases in which he was counsel. One case between John Dougherty and Jack, Wigdon & Co., about the year 1853, was on trial. I, a student, was sitting near the counsel table, drinking in all the law I could catch. Mr. S. S. Blair and Fisher were of counsel for Dougherty. A legal question arose during the trial, which was likely to prove disastrous to Dougherty's case. Mr. Blair was on his feet, arguing the point with his usual force; the judge seemed to be against him when I heard Dougherty say somewhat excitedly to Fisher: "Why don't you say something, Mr. Fisher?" "Why, my dear sir," he re- plied, "whenever I attempt it that young man of yours takes the words right out of my mouth." He was the man who, after the jury had rendered a verdict against him, and in face of the charge of the court, moved at once for a new trial, which was instantly granted, when he turned to the jury, who had not yet left the box, and with a wave of his hand said: "You twelve lawyers can now go home!" He died about the year 1857. His last appearance was in the court at Huntingdon, on the hearing of a motion for a new trial. He always seemed to be moving for new trials. He had argued his reasons ; the court's intimations were strong against him. Mr. Fisher suggested that the

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Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 10

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872- Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing Number of Pages: 1036

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing
Number of Pages: 1036