USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1) > Part 20
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His successor from this county, entering in 1878, was James H. Osmer, a lawyer and a Republican, from Franklin. His early life upon a farm inured him to toil. He supple- mented early schooling by earning his way, al- ternately teaching and studying, completing in this manner a thorough college course, and securing a fine literary and classical education.
He was admitted to the bar of Venango county in 1865 and soon won a large practice in various courts, including the State Supreme court. He was a clean, strong, honest man, well versed in the history of the State and of the nation.
In 1892 Joseph C. Sibley, a prominent busi- ness man of Franklin, was elected to Congress. He entered as a Democrat, and took a leading part in the business of the House. As a speaker upon the floor he was magnetic and convincing. The people believed in him, espe- cially those who knew him best, his neighbors in Venango county, and acquaintances in the other counties of the district. These valued him, not as a partisan politician, but as a friend of the people. They esteemed character as higher than the name of a party. Their faith was eternally right. In 1898, and for the next three succeeding terms, Mr. Sibley was re- turned in this district, but during this period he was known as a Republican. The people held fast to their faith in their Congressman. They recognized his right to change his party name as a common privilege exercised by men in all ranks of public life. This could not change his disposition and the tendencies of his life. As they had known him, so he would continue, in favor of the general welfare.
All parties are right and all are wrong. Principles should govern. . Men bound by party ties or herded in party tents beyond escape, do not see principles more readily than others. The whole world to-day is thundering this truth.
At the close of his fifth term, while friends were urging him to continue in office, Mr. Sibley found that his health, which had re- quired care for years, would not permit him to remain in public life. Since he retired he has not regained the strength required for the grind of steady care. River Bridge Farm is a wise appeal for agriculture, the art sustaining all other arts.
Following Mr. Sibley from Venango county was Peter M. Speer, an Oil City lawyer, Re- publican in politics. He was elected in 1910. He is a thorough student, a college graduate, and is in touch with the classic and modern thought of the world. In his profession he is clear and incisive in apprehension of law principles, broad in comprehension of juris- prudence and trustworthy in their application to his cases. He is familiar with Venango's early history, honors the heroism in the hard- ships of the pioneers. He joins their history to the natural beauty of its setting, which he still finds in the county's scenery. In Congress
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he was true to the best interests of his con- stituents and his work was admired and com- mended by them.
Hon. Willis J. Hulings served in the House during the sessions of the Sixty-third Congress in 1913-15. He belongs to this county, his people having lived here in active parts since 1797. Patriotism is a marked characteristic of the family. General Hulings served his country during the Spanish-American war. He was made a brigadier general in recognition of his ability. His work in Congress was dom- inated by his ideal of duty. He is a ready and fluent platform speaker and has given valuable aid to the recruiting officers of the United States army.
This completes the list of the Congressmen from Venango county from the beginning. They, more than any other men, have shaped the political life of the county and determined the course of its history. Congressmen are officers of the United States. They belong to the whole country, and not simply to a part or the whole of a State. Venango has been especially fortunate in having men of a high order of intelligence and of versatile gifts. They have been able to harmonize the political life of the county with the great civic life of the country.
Up to the present time Venango county has not possessed among her sons or residents a member of the United States Senate. This honor is still part of her future. Venango was nearer the attainment of this distinction in 1845 than she has been before or since. At that time it looked probable that the county would have a member of the United States Senate. A young lawyer from Franklin came within one vote of being nominated by the Democratic party, when a nomination meant an election. This is the county's nearest ap- proach to the august Senate. The man was James Ross Snowden, not quite thirty-six years old. At the age of nineteen a college graduate and already admitted to the bar, he settled in Franklin to practice his profession. He was soon appointed deputy attorney gen- eral or district attorney as the official is now termed, entered public life, and for several terms represented the Venango district in the State legislature, serving as speaker of the House in 1842 and 1844. In 1845 he was elected State treasurer, and reelected in the following year. He possessed the confidence of all parties and was known as a person of great power and of strict integrity. In 1846 President Polk offered him the position of treasurer of the mint, with the assistant treas-
urership of the United States at Philadelphia, which he accepted. He returned to the prac- tive of his profession in 1850 and was ap- pointed solicitor of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, which place he left to accept the directorship of the United States mint, ten- dered him by President Pierce. He filled this position with satisfaction till 1861, when he was appointed prothonotary of the Supreme court of Pennsylvania. In 1873 he again took up his profession, in Philadelphia. His career shows that he was worthy of membership in the Senate of the United States. It is also an unanswerable witness of the vigor and broad out-reach of the county's political life.
DELEGATES TO NATIONAL CONVENTIONS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS
Venango has another class of men who have widened the horizon of its history by taking a direct part in the election of the executive and therefore in the control of the national administration. We refer to those who have served in the national conventions which nom- inated the president or in the colleges of electors who voted directly for him. The records are not complete. If one could search the files existing somewhere in dusty places, he could doubtless find a greater number of delegates and electors from this county than can now be named.
In 1848 Associate Judge Samuel Irwin was chosen as a presidential elector and cast his ballot for Taylor and Fillmore.
Hon. John S. McCalmont was made a mem- ber of the electoral college of this State in 1853 and voted for Franklin Pierce.
Calvin W. Gilfillan was a delegate to the convention which nominated General Grant for the presidency in 1870. He was also a member of the electoral college in 1880 and cast his ballot for Garfield and Arthur.
James H. Osmer was elected a delegate to the national Republican convention which nominated Hayes and Wheeler.
Hon. J. D. Hancock, the eminent lawyer. and lifelong student of history and finance, attended as a delegate the political convention of the "Gold Democrats" which nominated Palmer and Buckner in 1896. He believed Bryan's stand in favor of the silver standard a heresy.
Dr. Fred W. Brown was a member of the Chicago . convention which nominated Theo- dore Roosevelt in 1912.
Capt. William Hasson, of Scotch and Hugue- not ancestry. a lifelong Democrat and student
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of politics, was a delegate to the Baltimore Democratic convention which nominated Woodrow Wilson. He represented the county in the legislature ,in 1875-76, 1883-84 and 1899-1900. In 1859, soon after Drake struck oil, Mr. Hasson drilled a well on his own land and became an oil producer, and from that time to the present he has been a producer of oil practically every minute. This fact made him valuable as a representative of the men and interests of the county.
Carlyle says, "History is the essence of in-
numerable biographies." This is true. Back of the few well known representatives, whose lives illustrate a growing, changing, sometimes contradictory, political history stands a shadowy multitude touching hands through a hundred and twenty years from wilderness into civilized life. The biographies of this great host are not written, but their "essence" is well known. Each chosen leader in Ve- nango county stood for the belief of the ma- jority in his time.
CHAPTER IX COUNTY OFFICIALS
EARLY AUTHORITIES-REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS-STATE SENATORS-STATE REPRESENTA+ TIVES-PRESIDENT JUDGES-DISTRICT JUDGE-ASSOCIATE JUDGES-PROTHONOTARIES-REGIS- TERS AND RECORDERS-COUNTY COMMISSIONERS-COUNTY TREASURERS-COUNTY AUDITORS- SHERIFFS-CORONERS-COUNTY SURVEYORS-DISTRICT ATTORNEYS-JURY COMMISSIONERS -SOME EARLY TOWNSHIP OFFICIALS, 1801 TO 1828
William Penn was a feudal lord. He was a remainder of a system, perhaps necessary in more barbarous times when might made right; when only a fortress was a safe home; far back in the time when there were only spots in the world where the light shone which shall soon illuminate the whole earth, making every home a strong castle surrounded and defended by universal civilization. The feudal system rested upon the protection of the lord or king, granted for the homage of the vassal who knelt placing his hands within those of the lord and solemnly swore to be his man, his homo, and to serve him with all his resources, including life itself. Under this system civil- ization advanced, hampered. It was chained to a body of death, to ancient injustice; but even in Penn's time, and indeed with his help, some of the chains had been broken. It is probable that when Penn received the grant of forty-five thousand square miles of land in fee simple the old forms of administering the feud were dispensed with, the realities were all assumed. (Though mentioned by early writers as forty-four thousand acres, the grant really comprised over forty-five thou- sand.)
Charles II of England, the grantor, re- sembled a celebrated character of the New Testament who also assumed to give away
kingdoms. The poor devil did not own a foot of the land so freely disposed of ; but he could discharge the debt due to Penn's father, amounting to several million dollars, consider- ing purchasing powers then and now, and why not? If good came, it would be nis. . His imaginary title to this land had already led him to make gifts to several of large portions of it, leaving to the claimants a litigious, ran- corous red-handed quarrel for the next hun- dred years. In this, his resemblance to the character of that one who led the Son of Man into a high mountain is again emphasized.
EARLY AUTHORITIES
Penn's charter gave him authority to form a colony and to govern it by such laws. as should be pleasing "to a. majority of the col- onists." "The majority of the colonists" is the name of the fatal disease which at that time in England was already fastened upon the old system. Feudalism dies hard ; and some of its inherited defects yet survive. The king was once the state, the source of authority, the owner of all things, the disposer. "L'état c'est moi." ("The state, that is I",) said the great Louis : but only a little later, a change came in England by which the state IS, eternally, the consent of the majority. Penn was so
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great a personality that he could satisfy and harmonize a more diverse and discordant class of settlers than came to any other colony. His colony remained in his possession and that of his family for ninety-four years, and was the most prosperous of all the colonies at the end of that time-a record of private ownership and government unequaled in extent of territory and length of time in the world's history. Kings may have possessed such domains, but never before a private citi- zen who scorned all titles. His influence was unequaled while he lived; his example is still a compelling force. As he himself expressed it, he "yielded in circumstantials to preserve the essentials." But sooner or later, even had Penn lived a half century longer still possessing all his gifts in pristine vigor, the inevitable conflict between proprietary and people would have arisen and resulted about as it did in 1776. William Penn would have retired with all his rights preserved to him-the largest land owner, the chief citizen of the state, one of the immortals in life, as he is now in death.
This conflict became apparent soon after Penn's death. The governor as representative of the proprietaries, and the Assembly elected by the people, were at loggerheads continu- ously. Historians, who did not study the matter carefully, have generally blamed the people, claiming that their action embarrassed their own colony as well as the others, especially during the Indian wars and the Revolution. There was a principle involved, a most essen- tial one-the right of the majority to know how the taxes were to be used which they were asked to pay. The Assembly would not levy taxes except as they themselves determined the necessity and the amount. The governor, by the veto threat, sought to enlarge the amount fixed by the Assembly. The colonists were contending for their rights as Englishmen, guaranteed by Magna Charta and in the Orig- inal Frame of their own government in other words for the right of the majority to rule; the governor was trying to curtail that right. The trouble was caused by the appointee of an appointee of a foreign King, delegated authority delegated again. It did not have the sanction of Charles II's charter. It did not please the majority of the colonists. It was a struggle for liberty. The people would not surrender the right of taxation, belonging to their own representatives, into the hands of foreigners.
This contention ceased in 1776, when the colonists joined the war for Independence. At the close of the Revolution all rights of
the proprietary vested in the Commonwealth, though the colonists very generously respected the claims of Penn's heirs to all lands secured by purchase from the Indians. For a sur- prising number of years after the Revolution the power of the governor to appoint officers, even some who were to serve for life, or dur- ing good behavior, was recognized by more than one constitution of Pennsylvania. And stranger still, some of these appointees had the power of appointing other officials. This was a kind of political game which might well have been named like a puzzle picture: Find the hidden man! This remnant of the feudalistic character of Penn's charter has now happily almost disappeared. The officials who are to serve the people are now elected by the people to whom they are responsible, for limited terms. About the only exceptions are in administrative or executive offices where the duties are beyond the power of one per- son, and deputies or assistants must be ap- pointed, by the chief necessarily to secure harmony of action.
The list of Venango county officials, and of representatives in the Congress of the United States and in the legislature of Penn- sylvania, follows: Venango now forms part of the Twenty-eighth Congressional district, with Mercer, Warner, Forest and Elk countes.
REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS
1800, Albert Gallatin, Washington county ; 1801, William Hoge, Washington county ; 1803, John Hoge, Washington county ; 1804, John B. C. Lucas, Beaver county; 1805. Samuel Smith, Erie county ; 1810 (re-elected), Abner Lacock, Beaver county; 1813 (re-elected), Thomas Wilson, Erie county; 1816 (re- elected), Robert Moore, Beaver county; 1820 (re-elected), Patrick Farrelly, Crawford county ; 1826, Thomas H. Sill, Erie county, (vice Patrick Farrelly, deceased) ; 1826, Stephen Barlow, Crawford county; 1828, Thomas H. Sill, Erie county; 1830, John Banks, Mercer county; 1832 (re-elected). John Galbraith, Venango county : 1836, Arnold Plumer, Venango; 1838, John Galbraith, Erie county : 1840. Arnold Plumer, Venango county : 1842, Samuel Hays, Venango county ; 1844, William S. Garvin, Mercer county ; 1846, John W. Farrelly, Crawford county ; 1848 (re-elected), John W. Howe, Venango county ; 1852, C. B. Curtis, Warren county ; 1854, David Barclay. Jefferson county : 1856, James L. Gillis, Elk county ; 1858. Chapin Hall, Warren county; 1860,
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John Patton, Clearfield county; 1862, Amos Myers, Clarion county ; 1864, C. V. Culver, Venango county ; , 1866, Darvin A. Finney, Crawford county; 1868, S. Newton Pettis, Crawford county (vice Darvin A. Finney, deceased ) ; 1868, Calvin W. . Gilfillan, Venango county ; 1870, Samuel Griffith, Mercer county ; 1872, Hiram L. Richmond, Crawford county ; 1874, . Albert G. Egbert, Venango
county ; 1876, Lewis F. Watson, Warren
county ; 1878, John H. Osmer, Venango
county ; 1880, Lewis F. Watson, Warren
county ; 1882, Samuel M. Brainerd, Erie county ; 1884 (re-elected), William L. Scott, Erie county ; 1888, Lewis F. Watson, Warren county; 1890 (to fill vacancy), Charles W. Stone, Warren county ; 1892, Charles W. Stone, Warren county ; 1896, Charles W. Stone, War- ren county ; 1900 (re-elected), Joseph S. Sib- ley, Venango county ; 1906, Nelson P. Wheeler (re-elected), Forest county; 1910, Peter M. Speer, Venango county ; 1912, Willis J. Hul- ings, Venango county; 1914, S. H. Miller, Mercer county ; 1916, E. H. Beshlin, Warren county ; 1918, Willis J. Hulings.
STATE SENATORS
1800, John Hamilton, Washington county ; 1801, William McArthur, Crawford county ; 1809, Wilson Smith, Erie county ; 1812, Joseph Shannon, Erie county ; 1816, Henry Hurst, Crawford county; 1821, Jacob Herrington, Mercer county ; 1822, Samuel Hays, Venango county ; 1827, Eben F. Kelly ; 1835, M. Kelly ; 1839, Samuel Hays, Venango county ; 1842, William P. Wilcox ; 1845, James P. Hoover, Venango county ; 1848, J. Porter Brawley, Crawford county; 1851, John Hoye, Mercer county ; 1854, Thomas Hoge, Venango county ; 1857, Glenni W. Scofield, Warren county ; 1859, William M. Francis, Lawrence county ; 1860, James H. Robinson, Mercer county ; 1863, Thomas Hoge, Venango county ; 1866, James C. Brown, Mercer county; 1869, Har- rison Allen, Warren county ; 1872, Samuel Mc- Kinley, Lawrence county; 1874, W. S. Mc- Mullen. Venango county : 1876, Charles W. Stone, Warren county; 1878 (re-elected), J. W. Lee, Venango county ; 1886, O. C. Allen, Warren county; 1890, W. R. Crawford, Venango county ; 1894, Charles W. Shortt, Warren county; 1898, Henry H. Cummings, Warren county; 1906. Willis J. Hulings, Venango county ; 1910, Frank M. Knapp, War- ren county; 1914. Marshall Phipps, Venango county ; re-elected, 1918.
Venango and Warren counties now form the Forty-eighth Senatorial district.
STATE REPRESENTATIVES
1800, Samuel Ewalt and Thomas Morton represented the district composed of the counties of "Crawford, Allegheny, etc.," as in- dicated on the journal of the XIth House. On Dec. 1, 1801, at the first session of the XIIth House, Alexander Buchanan represented the district "composed of the counties of Craw- ford, Venango, Warren, Erie and Mercer." Buchanan was succeeded by the following : 1802, John Lytle, Jr. (re-elected 1803 and 1804); 1805, Wilson Smith (re-elected in 1806 and :1807) ; 1808, Samuel Dale and Bevan Pearson-district, Venango and Mer- cer; 1809, Samuel Dale and James Mont- gomery (re-elected 1810, 1811, 1812), same district; 1813, Samuel Hays and Jacob Her- rington, same district; 1814, David Dempsey and Jacob Herrington, same district; 1815, James Weston, Ralph Marlin and Jacob Her- rington-district, Mercer, Erie, Crawford, Warren and Venango; 1816, Samuel Hays, Ralph Marlin and Jacob Herrington-same district ; 1817, Thomas Wilson, Ralph Marlin, Samuel Hays-same district ; 1818, Jacob Her- rington, James Cochran and Joseph Hackney- same district; 1819, Wilson Smith, James Cochran and William Connely-same district ; 1820, Jacob Herrington, William Smith and William Connely-same district; 1821, David Brown, James Cochran and George Moore- same district ; 1822, James Cochran-district, Venango and Crawford; 1823 (re-elected), Samuel Hays-same district; 1825, William Foster-same district; 1826, Thomas Atkin- son-same district; 1827, George R. Espy- same district ; 1828, John Galbraith-same dis- trict; 1829, John Galbraith (re-elected 1830- 31)-district, Venango and Warren; 1832, James Thompson (re-elected in 1833-34)- same district; 1835, Hugh McClelland-same district ; 1836 (re-elected), George R. Espy- district, Venango; 1838 (re-elected), James Ross Snowden-same district ; 1840, Alexander Holeman-same district; 1841, James Ross Snowden-same district ; 1842, David B. Long. From 1843 to 1850 Venango, Jefferson and Clarion constituted a district and elected two representatives. James Ross Snowden, Robert Mitchell and William Perry were elected from Venango county during this period. In 1850, Morris Leech, Glenni W. Scofield and John W. Shugert were elected from the district
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consisting of Mercer, Warren and Venango; 1851, John W. Shugert, Joseph Y. James and L. N. McGrannahan-same district; 1852, L. N. McGrannahan, John J. Kilgore and Carter V. Kinnear-same district ; 1853, John J. Kil- gore, L. T. Parmlee, and Robert M. De France -same district ; 1854, S. P. McCalmont, Ralph Clapp and Daniel Lott-same district; 1855, S. P. McCalmont, Daniel Lott and Samuel Kerr-same district ; 1856, S. P. McCalmont, Samuel Kerr and Thomas Struthers-same district ; 1857, Thomas Struthers, William G. Rose and C. P. Ramsdell-same district ; 1858, William G. Rose and C. P. Ramsdell- district, Mercer and Venango; 1859 (re- elected), George D. Hofius and Elisha W. Davis-same district; 1861 (re-elected), M. C. Beebe and James C. Brown-same district ; 1863 (re-elected), William Burywin and Charles Koonce-same district. In 1865, Venango and Warren composed one district. During the nine years of this arrangement, the representatives elected from this county were : W. L. Whann, A. P. Duncan, J. D. McJunkin and R. D. McCreary. Since 1874 Venango has constituted a district, and John M. Dickey, J. P. Park and William Hasson were elected ; 1876, J. M. Dickey, William Gates and George E. Mapes; 1878, George E. Mapes, Samuel B. Myers, and J. L. Dewoody ; 1880, Samuel B. Myers, George E. Mapes and Willis J. Hulings ; 1882, Willis J. Hulings, William Hasson and James S. Gates; 1884, Willis J. Hulings, Goorge S. Criswell and Frank Riddle; 1886, George S. Criswell, Robert F. Glenn and O. P. Morrow; 1888, O. P. Mor- row and F. W. Hays; 1890, F. W. Hays and Henry F. James; 1892 (re-elected), Henry F. James and John L. Mattox ; 1896, Thomas McGough and Peter M. Speer : 1898, George Maloney and William Hasson ; 1900, John P. Emory and George Maloney; 1902, George W. Magee and B. H. Osborne; 1904, Bryan H. Osborne and George W. Magee; 1906, Ira A. Milliron and W. F. Whitman ; 1908, S. G. Foster and Ira A. Milliron; 1910, John A. Crumm and W. F. Whitman; 1912, William F. Whitman and Donald Glenn ; 1914, Donald Glenn and Daniel B. Goodwin ; 1916, Daniel B. Goodwin and John H. Mckinney, the latter now a volunteer in the United States army ; 1918, Frank V. Mallery, Joseph T. Foster.
PRESIDENT JUDGES
President Judges were appointed by the governor, and enjoyed a life tenure, under the constitution of 1790. In 1838, the term was
limited to ten years; and in 1851 the remains of feudalism disappeared from this office when it was made elective. Incumbents : 1791, Alex- ander Addison; 1803, Jesse Moore; 1825, Henry Shippen ; 1839, Nathaniel B. Eldred ; 1843, Gaylord Church; 1839, Alexander Mc- Calmont; 1849, Joseph Buffington, of the Eighteenth Judicial district, to which Venango was attached in 1849. John ' C. Knox was elected in 1851. John S. McCalmont, ap- pointed in 1853, was elected during the same year, and resigned in 1861, when Glenni W. Scofield was appointed. In 1861 James Camp- bell was elected; 1866, Isaac G. Gordon was appointed to the newly created Twenty- eighth Judicial district, but Judge Trunkey was elected to this district in October of the same year, and re-elected in 1876. Following his resignation in 1877, when he was appointed to a higher court, Charles E. Taylor was ap- pointed. He was elected Nov. 5, 1878, and was re-elected Nov. 6, 1888. In November, 1895, George S. Criswell was elected and re- elected in 1905 and 1915. His present term therefore, extends to 1925.
DISTRICT JUDGE
On May 18, 1839, James Thompson, of Venango county, was appointed to serve the counties of Venango, Erie, Crawford and Mer- cer and held office till May, 1845. He was a bright lawyer, and served the district created for him satisfactorily, afterwards attaining dis- tinction as Chief Justice of the Supreme court.
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