Biographical Sketch of Hon. J. Smith FUTHEY (1893); Chester County, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by John Morris . *********************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: Printing this file within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** Source: "Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsyl- vania, comprising a historical sketch of the county," by Samuel T. Wiley and edited by Winfield Scott Garner, Gresham Publishing Company, Phila- delphia, PA, 1893, pp. 767-8. "HON. J. SMITH FUTHEY, author and jurist, and who served as president judge of the Fifteenth judicial district of Pennsylvania from 1879 until his death in 1888, was a son of Hon. Robert and Margaret (Parkinson) Futhey, and was born in Chester county, this State. He was of Scotch- Irish descent, and an interesting history of the old and honorable Futhey family, of which he was a member, will be found in the biographical sketch of R. Agnew Futhey, which commences on page 313 of this work. "J. Smith Futhey was reared in his native county, received a good educa- tion, and after reading law was admitted to the bar of Chester county on February 7, 1843. He practiced his profession successfully until February 24, 1879, when he was appointed by Gov. Henry M. Hoyt as judge of the Fifteenth judicial district, to fill out the unexpired time of Judge Butler, who had resigned. In November, 1879, Judge Futhey was elected by the people for a full term of ten years, there being no opposing candi- date. He died in 1888, while on the bench. He presided with ability and fairness over the courts of his county, and left behind him a record of ability and integrity. Judge Futhey and Gilbert Cope where the authors of the interesting and valuable 'History of Chester County' that was published by L. H. Everets in 1881."