Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 24

Author: Babcock, Charles A.
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1) > Part 24

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

county officials, and the hostility thus engen- dered produced such a condition of affairs that on March 1, 1895, he resigned his judicial office and retired to private life. His death occurred on Feb. 19, 1901.

GEORGE S. CRISWELL was appointed to suc- ceed Judge Taylor and has occupied the bench ever since, having been elected in November, 1895, and re-elected in 1905 and again in 1915, the whole constituting a length of service which has never been equaled in the judicial history of this county-evidence of the posi- tion enjoyed by this gentleman in the public esteem. Judge Criswell is a native of Venango county and was admitted to its bar Sept. 30, 1875. During his practice he represented the county very acceptably two terms in the State legislature, serving during his last term as chair- man of the committee on General Judiciary.

DISTRICT COURT

By act of March 23, 1839, a temporary court, limited to five years' duration, was established for the relief of the courts of Common Pleas of Erie, Crawford and Venango counties, afterward extended to Mercer and Warren counties, to be styled the District court of the respective counties, and of this court James Thompson was the first and only judge.

THE BAR

In an earlier portion of this chapter there was given a list of the more prominent mem- bers of the Venango bar in what has been de- scribed as its pioneer days. So great a num- ber of men have practiced at this bar in the more than a century of time during which courts have held their sessions here as to pre- clude the possibility of mentioning any but those who have attained more than common distinction. Sketches of the lives and profes- sional careers of many others may be found in the court records of commemorative action taken by the bar in consequence of their deaths, and there have been pamphlets and other pub- lications issued from time to time, giving biographical details as to groups or individuals, to all of which reference is invited for fuller information.

It has often been said. and truly. that the fame of a lawyer seldom survives the recol- lection of his contemporaries. This is because of the attributes which make him eminent in his profession : the thorough preparation of his cases; the knowledge of legal principles and familiarity with the rules of evidence; the

Digitized by Google

108

VENANGO COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

clear, cogent, convincing argument ; the mag- netism that commands the attention and sways the minds of jurors ; all these qualities are ex- pended in their exercise and use; the dry rec- ords of the court give no hint of their force and the reminiscences of those who witnessed their display are seldom interesting to a later generation. There are few, indeed, who, like Erskine and Choate, possess these gifts and acquirements in such a remarkable degree as to make their names luminous as barristers long after their voices are silent. It is far more often the case that the lawyer must attain to a seat on the bench, or perform some meritorious public service, or participate in momentous af- fairs, or be in some other way notable, before his personality can impress itself upon the his- tory of his time, and for one or other of these reasons there have been some of the local lawyers who have escaped oblivion.

DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

The name of John W. Hunter stands at the head of the long roll of attorneys practicing in the courts of Venango county since the 16th day of December, 1805. That he was accorded the distinction of being the first lawyer ad- mitted to the bar of this county, and that ap- parently on the court's own motion, when four others, two of whom had already made their mark, were present waiting to be admitted, and were then admitted upon his motion, seems significant of more than the social qualities that made him a general favorite. All ac- counts agree that the president judge was an educated lawyer, ceremonious, punctilious, and always jealous of the honor and dignity of the bar, and therefore would not be likely upon such an occasion to give precedence to any but the ablest, the most learned and most worthy of the candidates. Upon the evidence that has survived the century it seems safe to conclude that Mr. Hunter stood deservedly high before his convivial tastes acquired the mastery of him, led him into habits of dissipation, and ended his career after a few years of success- ful practice.

Alexander W. Foster, the second man ad- mitted to the Venango bar, appears to have had his full share of the practice in this and other western counties, judging from the great num- ber of cases argued by him in the Supreme court of the State, his cases being found in every volume of reports from 3 Yeates to 7 Watts, both inclusive. He had been admitted to the bar of Beaver county in 1804 with sev- eral others, including Alexander Addison and

John Bannister Gibson. He had the further distinction of having fought a duel with an army officer, Maj. Roger Alden, the scene of the combat being a point on the bank of French creek one mile east of Meadville. Major Alden fell at the first fire, his leg being shattered be- low the knee. A canoe served as an ambulance to convey the wounded man to town. Alden was lame from this wound until his death at West Point in 1836.

Ralph Marlin, another of that first class that was admitted Dec. 16, 1805, was a skillful sur- veyor as well as lawyer and was employed by the Holland Land Company to make a resur- vey of their lands north and west of the Ohio, Allegheny and Conewango creek. More than sixty years ago marks of his resurveys were accepted by the old surveyors of that time as evidence of the location of Holland Land Com- pany warrants when marks of original loca- tions could not be found. During the war of 1812 he received the commission of major in the regular army; was a member of the legislature from 1815 until 1818, and returned to his home in the eastern part of the State in 1826.

James G. Heron, admitted June 17, 1806, appears to have been the wealthiest of the early lawyers. He had been an officer in the Revolu- tionary war, and came to Franklin in 1800 with his family and five servants. His earliest assessment charges him with ten lots, among the most valuable to-day in the city, and a tract of four hundred acres of land in the county, and the inventory of his personal estate filed in the register's office after his death, which occurred Dec. 29, 1809, shows him to have been the owner of two slaves. He does not appear to have had any considerable practice, being one of the associate judges from a date shortly after the organization of the courts until his death.

Henry Baldwin, admitted March 17, 1807, was the only member of the Venango bar to attain the bench of the most powerful court in the world. He was born in New Haven, Conn., Feb. 14, 1780, graduated from Yale College. and in 1830 received from his alma mater the degree of Doctor of Laws. It was a pleasant recollection to him in after years that as a boy he drove a cart for James Hillhouse in planting the famous elms of New Haven. He read law with Alexander J. Dallas, a distin- guished lawyer of Philadelphia, and then at- torney general, and was admitted in that city. His reason for removing to this part of the State cannot be given, but it is sufficient to say that he "rode the circuit," as the phrase

Digitized by Google

109

VENANGO COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

then ran, over many of the western counties by his son, Col. James Ross Thompson, of Erie, for a number of years, during which he became at a bar dinner in Franklin some years ago. One of Judge Thompson's clients at that time was Cornplanter or O'Bail, the chieftain of the Seneca Indians, one of the tribes of the Six Nations, and this old Indian would never speak the English language, but always re- quired the services of an interpreter in his communication with the palefaces. On one occasion he came to Franklin to consult his attorney in regard to some litigation concern- ing an island in the Allegheny river. The in- terpreter that he brought with him this time proved to be very unskillful in the use of Eng- lish, and his muddling finally caused the old chief to indignantly exclaim, "Damn such in- terpretation, anyway." noted for the extent of his learning and the ability with which he prepared his cases. He was elected to Congress in 1816, and was twice reelected. In 1830 he was appointed by Presi- dent Andrew Jackson to the Supreme court of the United States to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Bushrod Washington. Lawyers who care to form their own estimate of Baldwin as an appellate judge will find his opinions reported in 3 Peters to 2 Howard, U. S. R. Although his duties at Washington, and as ex-officio president of the Circuit court for Pennsylvania, required his absence the greater part of the time, he made his home at Meadville, where he built a fine villa now or lately owned by Mr. William Reynolds, which, with its ample grounds, has long been one of the ornaments of that city. He died at Phila- delphia, April 21, 1844.

Another notable name is that of James Thompson, one of the great lawyers who have given character to the Pennsylvania bar. He was born Oct. 6, 1806, in Butler county, this State. For some reason the date of his admis- sion to the bar can not be ascertained, but there is record evidence that he was practicing law in Venango county as early as 1826, when he could not have been twenty-one years of age, and that his practice rapidly increased thereafter. Twice elected to the legislature, he served during his last term as speaker of the House of Representatives, and was a member of the Twenty-ninth and Thirty-first Con- gresses. In 1839, as has been mentioned in the section of this chapter dealing with the bench, he was made judge of a temporary court established for the relief of the courts of Common Pleas. In 1842 he removed from Franklin to Erie. After serving two more terms as a member of Congress, he was, in 1857. elected a justice of the Supreme court of Pennsylvania, for the then term of fifteen years, during the last four of which he was Chief Justice. He then returned to the bar. but not for long, for he was stricken by death on Jan. 29, 1872, in the ripeness of years but in the full possession of all his great faculties. and while arguing a cause before the court of which he had been the Chief Justice less than a month before. Some of the leading mem- bers of the Philadelphia bar voiced the senti- ment of the entire bar of Pennsylvania re- specting this great man by their utterances on the morning after his death, which are printed in 72 Pennsylvania State Reports. An anec- dote of his practice in Franklin was related

James Ross Snowden came of an old Penn- sylvania family, was educated at Dickinson College, and subsequently came to Franklin, where he was admitted to the bar in 1830. He was for a time deputy attorney general or dis- trict attorney and seems to have acquired a fair share of the practice in the civil courts, but public life had a stronger attraction for him than had the law. In 1842 and 1844 he was speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and in 1845 State treasurer. In 1846 he was appointed treasurer of the United States Mint, and later President Pierce appointed him director of the Mint, which office he held until 1861. During his incum- bency of this office he made a study of numis- matics and wrote a treatise on the subject which won for him from Washington and Jefferson College the degree of Doctor of Laws. From 1861 until 1873 he was prothono- tary of the Supreme court for the Eastern dis- trict, and he died in Philadelphia in 1878. He has the distinction of being the champion office-holder of the Venango bar, but there was never a blemish upon his character nor a sus- picion of malfeasance in his long official career.

The record for hard work in winning the palm appears to belong to James Stroble Myers. He was of pure German blood, but his father served in the Revolutionary war, being himself of American birth James was born in Venango county, and at the age of fifteen was "indentured" to Nathaniel Cary of Frank- lin, "to learn the art and mystery of a tailor." For several years he toiled away as appren- tice. as journeyman and as "boss tailor." Hav- ing in the meantime married, he then conceived the idea of becoming a lawyer, and with this purpose he set himself to the study of Latin, with the private assistance of Rev. Mr. Snow- den. the principal of the Franklin Academy,

Digitized by

Google

110

VENANGO COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

so systematizing his time, according to his the constitution of Pennsylvania. In these own statement, as to give eight hours to the tailor shop, eight hours to study and eight to sleep. In 1838 he began the study of the law in the office of James Thompson, after- ward Chief Justice, and was admitted to the bar Nov. 22, 1840. As might have been ex- pected from the thoroughness of his prepara- tion and his tremendous capacity for work, he became known as a very good lawyer and was conceded to be one of the leaders of the bar. Mr. Myers died Oct. 20, 1885.

One who, although an able lawyer, was des- tined to attain his greatest efficiency and repu- tation as a soldier, was Alfred B. McCalmont, who was born in Franklin April 28, 1825, and was admitted to the bar May 25, 1847. He was the son of Alexander McCalmont and brother of John S. McCalmont, both of whom occupied and adorned the bench of their respective times. He practiced law and engaged in jour- nalism in Pittsburgh, served as prothonotary of the Supreme court for the Western district. and for three years was assistant to Jeremiah S. Black, then attorney general of the United States. In 1862 he recruited a company of volunteers and served in the Army of the Po- tomac until the end of the Civil war, rising by successive promotions to the rank of colonel of the 208th Pennsylvania. In the assault upon Petersburg he commanded a brigade, and for his gallantry in that action was breveted brigadier general. At the conclusion of the war General McCalmont returned to Franklin and resumed the practice of the law. He died May 7, 1874, survived by his son, Robert Mc- Calmont, Esq., who is himself a member of the bar, but is at present the postmaster of Frank- lin.

Samuel C. T. Dodd never held public office. judicial or otherwise, his great celebrity being due entirely to his remarkable ability as an office lawyer, which won him not only national but international fame. He was born in Frank- lin Feb. 20, 1836, and was admitted to the Venango bar at August term, 1859. During the first ten years of his practice he made but slow progress, and the modest and unassuming manner which was his lifelong characteristic caused many people to regard him, in his youth, as unambitious and even indolent. But the great lawyer was only incubating and develop- ing the gifts which were destined to receive recognition in the fullness of time. He first attracted attention by a series of articles ap- pearing in a local newspaper about the time of the passage of the Act of April 11, 1872, pro- viding for a convention to revise or amend

writings he took strong ground in favor of such revision of the organic law as should for- ever prohibit discrimination by carrying cor- porations in favor of or against any person or place. In consequence of the publication of these articles Mr. Dodd was elected as a delegate to the authorized convention, but when that body assembled he found that while a majority of its members were in favor of abolishing the evil of discrimina- tion, they were completely at sea as to the remedy that ought to be provided. Added to the ordinary difficulties of such a situa- tion was the presence of certain very able men who were members of the convention in the railway interests, and who, with other arguments, held up that palladium of "vested rights," the Dartmouth College case, so effec- tively that the forces of constitutional reform began to melt away. It was then that the ob- scure lawyer from Venango manifested the wonderful acumen that was his, by quietly in- troducing the provisions that are now found in Article XVII of the present constitution, making salutary regulations for the govern- ment of common carriers, forbidding discrim- ination, and limiting their powers, but all with- out reference to the untouchable "vested rights." The sting for them, however, lay in Section 10, which runs thus :

No railroad, canal, or other transportation com- pany, in existence at the time of the adoption of this article. shall have the benefit of any future legislation, by general or special laws, except on con- dition of complete acceptance of all the provisions of this article.

That his foresight was correct has been long amply demonstrated, for since the adoption of the above by the convention and the people, the large carrying companies of the Common- wealth which theretofore in many respects were not subject to legislative control have been compelled by the demands of their in- creased traffic and business to seek further legislative aid. and, as a requisite, to accept the provisions of Article XVII, thereby placing themselves under the general law and becom- ing subject to its control.

In 1873 an incident of his practice brought him into contact with the agents of the Stand- ard Oil Company. which led to his employ- ment in the business of that corporation in western Pennsylvania. His ability soon be- came so manifest to the officials that he was offered and accepted the post of general coun- sel to the Standard Oil Company, which re-

Digitized by Google

111

VENANGO COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

quired his removal in 1881 to New York. That city was his abiding place for many years, dur- ing which his growth as a lawyer was very marked, he directing the legal affairs of the great corporation not only in the United States but in foreign countries as well. But little of this was known to the general public, which, for the most part, was only aware of Mr. Dodd as the author of the famous "Trust Agree- ment," a remarkable document that was the model of the many similar ones that followed in various lines of business. Mr. Dodd died Jan. 30, 1907, at his winter home in Pinehurst, N. C., and his remains were brought home to his native Franklin and there interred.

It is appropriate that the next distinguished lawyer to be mentioned here should be Christo- pher Heydrick, for the reason that it is he who had the credit of suggesting to Mr. Dodd the constitutional means by which the corporations with vested rights under legislative charters were brought under the operation of the gen- eral law of the State. The original draft of the paper written by him, embodying the sub- stance of what was afterward expressed in Article XVII of the revised constitution, is said to be still in existence. Mr. Heydrick was born in French Creek township, Venango county. on May 19, 1830. After graduating from Allegheny College he removed to Ken- tucky, where he began the study of the law and after two years was admitted to the bar in that State, but soon thereafter returned to this county and was admitted to the bar in Frank- lin, where he continued to reside during the remainder of his lifetime. His father, Charles H. Heydrick, was a very able surveyor and served for several terms in the office of county surveyor, being often assisted by his son Christopher, who, under his instruction, ac- quired great skill in both drafting and field work. In 1857 Mr. Heydrick, in cooperation with Hon. Richard Irwin, made a detailed map of Venango county which became and has con- tinued to be the standard map of this county. The discovery of petroleum in 1859 and its development into a great industry gave scope to Judge Heydrick's abilities and acquirements, which soon came to be appreciated, and his reputation grew until he was rated as far to the front among Pennsylvania lawyers. In 1801 he was appointed by Governor Pattison to fill a vacancy on the bench of the Supreme court, in which he served very acceptably for one year. He was nominated by his party for the full term of twenty-one years, but that party being greatly in the minority in the State, he was defeated at the ensuing election and re-

turned to the practice of his profession, in which he continued until about a year before his death, which occurred Oct. 9, 1914, at the advanced age of eighty-four years.

Of the more recent leaders and fathers of the bar the most prominent have been J. H. Osmer, Isaac Ash and James Denton Hancock, of whom the first two are now deceased, and the last named is the senior living member. Sketches of the lives of Mr. Osmer and Mr. Hancock can be found in the biographical sec- tion of this history.

The list of district attorneys appears in the chapter on County Officials.

LIST OF PRESENT MEMBERS

To speak in praise of any of the living, how- ever much some of them may deserve such commendation, might not only prove embar- rassing to the modesty that should always ac- company true worth, but might, also, be unfair to others of perhaps equal merit. We shall confine ourselves, therefore, to the following list of the present members of the Venango bar :

HON. GEORGE S. CRISWELL, Presiding Judge, Admitted 1875

When

Name and Address

Admitted

J. D. Hancock, Franklin.

1865

T. J. Mckean, Butler. .1867

Samuel D. Irwin, Tionesta 1868

Hon. F. W. Hays, Oil City

1870

R. G. Lamberton, Franklin

1871

John A. Wilson, Franklin. 1874

H. McSweeney, Oil City. 1876

Samuel Grumbine, Titusville 1878

Hon. R. F. Glenn, Franklin. 1879

E. H. Lamberton, Erie.

1881

J. S. Carmichael, Franklin.

1881

Hon. B. H. Osborne, Franklin

1881

Robert McCalmont, Franklin.

1881

George A. Chase, Titusville. 1883

Hon. W. H. Forbes, Franklin. 1883

W. J. Breene, Oil City. 1883

Harley W. Fisher, Oil City 1884

S. P. Anderson, Rocky Grove.

188.4

C. W. Benedict, Titusville 1886

Edward E. Hughes, Franklin 1886

T. F. Ritchie, Tionesta. 1887

Millard Scheide, Franklin 1888

W. D. Doyle, Franklin. .. 1889

Hon. J. L. Mattox, Oil City 1889

Hon. P. M. Speer, Oil City 1880

Eugene Mackey, Pittsburgh. 1889

William Orr, Rouseville. 1890

Archibald R. Osmer, Franklin 1891

A. E. Middleton, Emlenton. 1891

Hon. M. L. Phipps, Franklin 1892

Newton F. Osmer, Franklin. 1893

William B. Griffen, Franklin 1893

R. N. Speer. Franklin. 1893

John L. McBride, Franklin 1895

Digitized by Google

112

VENANGO COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

When Admitted

When

Name and Address

Name and Address Admitted

William M. Parker, Oil City

.1895

Hon. Donald Glenn, Franklin.

. 1909

Judson D. Trax, Oil City .. 1895

Thomas J. Callanan, Oil City . 1909

Peter A. Wilbert, Oil City 1895

Sydney A. Schwartz, Titusville. 1909

John M. McGill, Oil City. 1896

A. B. Jobson, Franklin. . 1909

Clan Crawford, Franklin. . 1909

William J. Sirdevan, Titusville. . 1910

Elisha W. Criswell, Franklin .. 19II

Thomas C. Cochran, Mercer

1911

L. J. Roess, Oil City. 1899

J. L. Nesbit, Franklin. 1899

C. M. Shawkey, Warren

.1911

D. B. McCalmont, Franklin . 1900

. 1901

E. C. Breene, Oil City. . 1901

Joseph W. Barr, Oil City . 1002

James R. Gahan, Titusville ..

. 1913

Q. D. Hastings, Franklin 1904

George S. Criswell, Jr., Franklin. . 1914

A. J. Byles, Titusville .. 1906

A. C. Brown, Tionesta. .1916

Theodore Clulow, Franklin

. 1906

James H. Courtney, Oil City

1916

W. F. Moyar, Oil City.

1906

Daniel J. Skelly, Oil City ...

. 1917

E. S. McAlevy, Oil City.

. 1906

Paul Stuart Speer, Oil City. . 1917

Lee A. McCracken, Oil City

. 1909

Theodore L. Wilson, Clarion 1917

CHAPTER XII

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION (By William A. Nicholson, M. D.)

EARLY PRACTITIONERS-PERSONAL MENTION OF WELL KNOWN PRACTITIONERS-ROSTER OF VENANGO COUNTY PHYSICIANS TO PRESENT TIME-VENANGO COUNTY PHYSICIANS IN MILI- TARY SERVICE DURING THE WORLD WAR

The history of medical practice in Venango county covers a period of about one and a quarter centuries, taking its inception in the early days of pioneer settlement, when herbal- ism as practiced by the grandmothers met the needs of ailing flesh, with the rare advent of some transient doctor connected with military or surveying expeditions sent by the govern- ment to quell an Indian uprising or map the course of streams or sectional boundaries. On some equally rare occasion a physician was brought from a distant Eastern town, neces- sitating a hazardous journey by horseback, as the customary manner of travel, often requir- ing days to accomplish.

EARLY PRACTITIONERS

The Venango County Medical Society was organized May 8, 1867, at Franklin, under in- structions from the Pennsylvania State Medi- cal Society, with the following named officers : President, Dr. Buckland Gillett : vice president, Dr. S. Gustine Snowden ; secretary, Dr. Walter S. Welsh : treasurer. Dr. S. S. Porter ; censors, Dr. S. G. Snowden. Dr. J. R. Arters, Dr. D. C. Galbraith; state delegate, Dr. Robert Craw- ford.

From the archives of this institution, and especially from a compilation submitted by Dr. Edwin W. Moore, its secretary for thirty- five years, supplemented from sources and data, some of whose very mustiness admon- ishes us of passing time, prompting us to record while we may those established and deducible events linked with the personal and professional history of Venango county physi- cians, we learn : That one Dr. T. G. Symonds, of unrecorded antecedents or subsequent place of continuance, was the first physician to hang out his shingle at Franklin, near the conclud- ing years of the eighteenth century. He was succeeded by Dr. Thomas Smith, of whom it is chronicled. "He was skilled and eccentric."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 24

Author: Babcock, Charles A. Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Babcock, Charles A.
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages: