Biographical Sketch of Hon. Joseph HAMPHILL (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. 754-7. "HON. JOSEPH HEMPHILL, additional law judge of Chester county and an able jurist of eastern Pennsylvania, is a son of Joseph and Catharine Elizabeth (Dallett) Hemphill, and was born at West Chester, Chester county, Pennsyl- vania, September 17, 1842. The Hemphills are of Scotch-Irish descent and locate their transatlantic home in County Derry at a place twenty-five miles northeast of Londonderry, Ireland, whence Alexander, the great-great grandfather of Hon. Joseph Hemphill, came in the early part of the last century, to the township of Thornbury, Chester county, Pennsylvania. Alexander's children were: Joseph, who married Ann Wills, December 31, 1760 (Gloria Dei church). Their son Joseph, one of eight children, was an able lawyer, served as a member of the Seventh, Sixteenth, Nineteenth and Twenty-first congresses, and presided for fourteen years over the dis- trict court for the city and county of Philadelphia. The second son, James, married Elizabeth Wills, December 26, 1750, (Christ church, Phila- delphia); and a daughter married a Mr. Fox. The wives of James and Joseph were sisters, and daughters of Thomas Wills of Middletown, and his wife was Ann Hunter (widow of Christopher Penrose) and daughter of Peter Hunter, of Middletown. "James and Elizabeth (Wills) Hemphill's children were: Susannah, who married Dr. Quinn; Mary, who married a Mr. Rumford; and William, with others not traced. "William, third son of James, was an able lawyer, and was born at West Chester, December 6, 1776, and married, December 5, 1804, Ann McClellan, who was born August 15, 1787. She was the daughter of Col. Joseph Mc- Clellan (a captain in Wayne's brigade), and his wife, Keziah Parke, was a daughter of Joseph Parke and Ann Sinclair (widow of George Sinclair), the latter a daughter of Nathaniel Grubb, of Willistown. William and Ann (McClellan) Hemphill had five children: James A., Joseph, Elizabeth, who married Dr. Wilmer Worthington, and Keziah, wife of Judge Bell. "Joseph Hemphill (father) was a worthy descendant of an old and honorable family, and a prominent and distinguished member of the Chester county bar, and was a man of whom it was truthfully said that he was one who by a life of unsullied honor, incorruptible integrity, and of perseverance in whatever he deemed to be right, had won the highest regards of his fellow-citizens, and set an example worthy of imitation by the young men of southeastern Pennsylvania. He was born in West Chester, Chester county, Pennsylvania, December 7, 1807, reared in Chester county, and received a classical education under private tutors, among whom were Jonathan Gause and Joshua Hoopes of West Chester, and James W. Robbins, of Lennox, Massachusetts. He read law with his brother-in-law, Hon. Thomas S. Bell, was admitted to the bar August 3, 1829, and immediately afterward opened an office in West Chester. He studied closely, worked carefully, and in a short time rose to the front rank at the bar and gained an exten- sive practice. His career as a lawyer extended from his admission to the bar in 1829 to his death in 1870, and was characterized by quiet, resolute bearing, close attention and remarkable fairness to his opponent as well as watchful care of his client's interests. He was devoted to his pro- fession, served as deputy attorney-general for Chester county from 1839 to 1845, when he declined a re-appointment, and was nominated by the demo- crats as their candidate in 1861 for president judge of the judicial dis- trict then composed of the counties of Chester and Delaware, but the re- publican majority was too large at that time to be overcome by even the popularity of such a man as Joseph Hemphill. He was well qualified for the office, would have made an able, learned and excellent judge, and would have worn the judicial ermine with honor and distinction. "Joseph Hemphill was a democrat in politics and held a high place in the confidence of his party, who frequently honored him with nominations for the highest political offices in his county and congressional district. In financial matters he was prominent and active and at different times served as a director in the banks of West Chester. As a citizen he was prompt and faithful in the discharge of the duties of life. His loss was felt by all classes of society. He was the strength and pillar of the family circle in which he moved and the sunshine there of warm and loving hearts. He made no claim to mere forensic display, and his chief power lay in a special ability to carefully prepare and arrange his case to the best advantage in all of its details and then present his arguments in a logical and convincing manner. He possessed a voice noted for its remark- able distinctness, and when deeply interested in an important case or a subject of unusual interest, his manner of delivery was forcible, and his language was marked by purity and grammatical accuracy. He was courteous yet searching in examining witnesses, and commanded the respect of the bench and bar. On the day of his death the Chester county bar met and after deserved tributes of respect were paid to his memory by Wayne McVeagh, W. B. Waddell, Robert E. Monaghan and others, Alfred P. Reid offered the following resolutions, which were adopted: " 'Resolved, That in the death of Mr. Hemphill, the bar has lost one whose ability, acquirements and integrity adorned the profession; that in his love for and devotion to the law, and in the scrupulous exactness and cheerfulness with which he accepted all its conclusions, his uniform courtesy and fidelity to the bench and bar, his brethren had an example which they can not follow too closely; that his social qualities, urbanity and unselfish nature marked the perfect gentleman, in all the relations of life - that in this death we all feel that we have lost a friend and a brother; that his enlarged views, and the keen appreciation of the char- acter of the profession, and his unwearying efforts, both by precept and example, to keep it up to the standard he had formed of it, have been felt in our midst, where he had for forty-three years been actively engaged in its duties, and are worthy of imitation. 'That in his decease, the community has lost a useful member, who did not confine his activities to the sphere of his profession, but whose heart and hand were ever open to aid and benefit his fellow-citizens and the public interests. 'That we extend to his stricken family our sympathy and condolence in their bereavement, and as a token of honor for the man, and respect for his memory, will attend his funeral in a body.' "The directors of the First National bank of West Chester passed resolu- tions of respect to his memory, and the county press spoke in eloquent terms of upright life and useful labors of Mr. Hemphill, and of his having acquired distinction throughout the State for more than ordinary ability both as a leader in political thought and a legal practitioner. "Joseph Hemphill passed from the scenes of his earthly labors on February 11, 1870, and left a record of which, for its integrity of character, purity of purpose and intellectual clearness in the legal arena, Chester county may be justly proud. "On November 22, 1841, Mr. Hemphill married Catharine Elizabeth Dallett, daughter of Elijah and Judith Dallett, of Philadelphia, who came in the early part of the present century from England, where the Dallett family is one of the old families. Elijah Dallett was president of the Penn Township (now Penn National) bank, over which he, his eldest and his youngest sons served in succession as president for over fifty years. Joseph and Catharine Hemphill had six children: Hon. Joseph; Ella, wife of John Dallett; Elijah Dallett; Ann, who married Albin Garrett; Catharine Dallett, wife of John S. Wilson; and William. "Judge Hemphill during his boyhood days attended the private schools of West Chester, and then entered Willistown seminary at East Hampton, Massa- chusetts, to prepare for college, but when upon the eve of completing his academic course, was compelled to come home on account of sickness. In 1860 he became a student in his father's office, where he read law for three years, after which he spent one year in the law department of Har- vard college under the personal instruction of Parsons and Washburne, the well-known law writers and authors, and then was admitted to the bar on October 31, 1864. Shortly after his admission to the bar he formed a law partnership with his father which lasted until the death of the latter, in 1870. Since then he has continued to practice his profession at West Chester, having his office on the site of the office which his grandfather erected and occupied in 1801, and which his father also occupied. "On February 28, 1867, Judge Hemphill married Eliza A. Lytle, a daughter of Edward H. Lytle, a prominent citizen of Blair county. They have three children living: Lily, Joseph Jr., and William H. "In politics Judge Hemphill is a democrat. He was elected in 1872 and served as a member of the Constitutional convention of Pennsylvania of 1872-73, and in that able body his services were both conspicuous and use- ful. His valuable services in framing the present State constitution, his high standing as a lawyer and his deserved popularity in the county led the Democratic party, in 1889, to make him its candidate for additional law judge of Chester county, and in the fall of that year was elected by a majority of thirty-two votes in a district which the preceding year had given Harrison four thousand majority over Cleveland. Judge Hemphill took his seat on the bench January 6, 1890, and has discharged the duties of his responsible and important position in an impartial and most acceptable manner. Joseph Hemp hill is a man of scholarly attainments and a well- known and leading lawyer in the courts of his own and adjoining counties and in the higher courts to which his practice extended, and is a jurist of recognized ability in the grand old Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, whose jurists are the peers of those of any State in the Union."