HISTORY: Twentieth Century History of Clearfield County, PA, Roland D. Swoope, 1911, Chapter 11 Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja and Sally Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/ NOTE: Use this web address to access other chapters: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/1picts/swoope/swoope.htm ________________________________________________ TWENTIETH CENTURY HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS BY ROLAND D. SWOOPE, JR. PUBLISHED BY RICHMOND-ARNOLD PUBLISHING CO. F. J. Richmond, President C. R. Arnold, Secretary and Treasurer CHICAGO, ILL. CHAPTER XI THE BENCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY THE BENCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY 178 Clearfield County's Judicial Connection with Centre County Previous to 1822 - The Act of 1822 Providing for the Holding of Courts in Clearfield County - Population at That Time - Provision for Keeping Prisoners - Sketch of Hon. Charles Huston - Hon. Thomas Burnside, Hon. W. George Woodward, Hon. Robert G. White, Hon. John C. Knox, Hon. James T. Hale - The Twenty-fifth District Formed - Sketch of Hon. James Burnside - Hon. James Gamble - Judge Linn - Hon. Joseph B. McEnally - Hon. Charles A. Mayer - Act of 1874 Providing for an Additional Law Judge - Hon. John H. Orvis Appointed - Clearfield County Created a Separate Judicial District - Hon. David L. Krebs - Hon. Cyrus Gordon - Hon. Allison O. Smith. Although Clearfield county was organized by an act of the General Assembly approved March 26th, 1804, it was attached to Centre county for judicial purposes by the provisions of said act, and for all such matters it was practically a part of that county, until 1822, despite the fact that by an act approved April 4th, 1805 (Chapter 2598) the Legislature had appointed Commissioners to fix the seat of justice for the county and the same was established on the lands of Abraham Witmer at Chingleclamouche, and a town laid out and called Clearfield; yet it was not until the 29th of January, 1822, that the General Assembly passed a law making the county a part of the Fourth Judicial District and providing that the President Judge of said district should be the President Judge of the Courts of Clearfield county. Said act also provided for the holding of Courts in Clearfield county, commencing on the third Mondays of October, December and March and the first Mondays of July in each year, which courts the act wisely provided should each "continue one week if necessary" and that, in case the public business did not in the opinion of the judges of said court require the summoning of a jury to attend all the terms of Court, the Judges might dispense with juries not exceeding two terms in any one year. The act further provided that the first term of Court should be held "at the Court House now erected in Clearfield town in said county of Clearfield." At this time the county had, according to the last U. S. census, a population of 2342 and a taxable population according to the state census of 1821 of 584. No deaf and dumb persons and no slaves. The act of 1822 also made provision for the transfer to Clearfield county of all actions in which both parties were residents of Clearfield county at the time of the passing of said act, and also for the making of copies of AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS 176 all docket entries relating to such actions which with all the pleadings therein were transferred to the Prothonotary of Clearfield county from Centre county. It seems there was in 1822 no jail in Clearfield county as the act provides for the keeping of prisoners in the Centre county jail until a jail should be erected in Clearfield. Pursuant to said act of Assembly the first Court was held at Clearfield in the third Monday of October, 1822, and was presided over by Hon. Charles Huston. Charles Huston was born in Bucks County, Pa., on the 16th of January, 1771. He received his education at private schools and at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., from which institution he was graduated in the class of 1789. He taught school to maintain himself while he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in August, 1795. He first located at Williamsport, Pa., but removed to Bellefonte, Pa., in 1807 where he resided and practiced law at the time of his appointment as President Judge of the Courts of the Fourth Judicial District. Judge Huston served as President Judge of the district until 1826 when he was appointed one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the state and served as such until 1845, when he retired. His death occurred November 10th, 1849. Judge Huston was unusually well equipped to fill the important duties of the judicial office. He had the attributes of integrity, legal learning, sound understanding, and that habit of thought that enabled him to view the legal questions before him without bias or prejudice. As a judge of the Fourth judicial district he became unusually well versed in the intricacies of the land titles in the state, and after his retirement from the bench he prepared and published a valuable work, entitled "History and Nature of Original Titles of Land in the Province and State of Pennsylvania." Hon. Thomas Burnside was appointed in 1826 to succeed Judge Huston. Thomas Burnside was a native of Ireland and was born July 22, 1782. He came to this country in 1782 with his parents and his early youth was spent in Philadelphia. He read law with Hon. Robert Porter of Philadelphia and was admitted to practice in 1804 and shortly thereafter he located in Bellefonte, Pa. He took an active interest in politics and in 1811 was chosen as state senator and in 1815 was elected to Congress. In 1816 he was appointed President Judge of Luzerne County, but resigned in 1818. In 1823 he was again elected to the State Senate. He presided over the Courts of the Fourth Judicial district until 1841, when he was appointed President Judge of the Seventh Judicial district, where he served until 1845, when he was promoted to the Supreme Court of the state. He died March 25th, 1857. Judge Burnside, while an able jurist and a man of more than ordinary ability in many lines, was noted for his eccentricities, and his fondness for a joke regardless of who might suffer. Hon. George W. Woodward succeeded Judge Burnside and served a full term and was afterwards made Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the state. He was noted for his extreme courtesy and affability as well as for his legal learning and strict impartiality. He was firm and final in his decisions upon legal questions, yet because it was always believed that he was strictly just as he recognized justice, he became one of the most popular judges in the state. Judge Woodward served on the Supreme HISTORY OF CLEARFILED COUNTY 180 Court Bench until 1867, when he retired by reason of the expiration of his term. He died about 1868. Hon. Robert G. White was the next President Judge. Judge White came from Tioga County, Pa., and by reason of a change in the judicial districts that was made by the Legislature, he only served as the Judge of this county for the period of one year. Hon. John C. Knox was the successor of Judge White. He served for a few months, when he was appointed as one of the Judges of the Supreme Court. He also served a term as Attorney General of the State. In the latter years of his life his mind became impaired and he died in an asylum for the insane. Hon. James T. Hale succeeded Judge Knox as President Judge in April, 1851. Judge Hale was born in Bradford County, Pa., October 14th, 1810. He was admitted to the Bar in 1832 and located in Bellefonte in 1835. He served as President Judge until April, 1853. After his retirement from the bench he practiced law for a number of years, but devoted most of his attention to business pursuits and to the development of the lumber and coal industries in Clearfield and Centre counties and to the building of the Tyrone and Clearfield railroad. He died in April, 1865. By an act of the General Assembly approved April 9th, 1853, P. L. page 355, the counties of Centre, Clearfield and Clinton were erected into a separate judicial district to be called the Twenty-fifth District and the Governor was empowered to appoint a president judge of said district to serve until the first day of the December following the passage of said act. Governor William Bigler on the 20th of April, 1853, appointed Hon. James Burnside to be the president judge of the new district. All of the judges up to this date had been appointed by the Governors, but by reason of an amendment to the Constitution of the state, which had been submitted to and adopted by the people, all judges afterwards commissioned were elected by the voters of the state for terms of ten years in case of Common Pleas judges and fifteen years for judges of the Supreme Court. Judge Burnside was elected at the October election of 1853 without opposition and presided over the Courts of the twenty-fifth district until his death on July 1, 1859, by being thrown from a buggy in a runaway. Judge James Burnside was generally known as Judge Burnside the younger, to distinguish him from his father, Judge Thomas Burnside. James Burnside was the eldest son of Thomas Burnside and was born at Bellefonte, Pa., on February 22nd, 1807. He studied law in his father's office and was admitted to the Bar in November, 1830. In 1844 he was elected to the state Legislature and served two terms, having been re-elected in 1846. He was a man of force and a good legal education and made a fine record as a jurist. During the few months intervening between the death of Judge James Burnside and the election of Judge Linn, Hon, James Gamble presided over the Courts of the twenty-fifth district. He was an able lawyer and worthily filled the important position, but owing to the brief period of his service in this county, he did not have AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS 181 an opportunity to do much toward becoming acquainted with its people. At the October election of 1859 Samuel Linn was elected President Judge of the district and served until 1868, when he resigned. Judge Linn was born in February, 1820, and was twenty-four years of age before he commenced to prepare himself for the legal profession. He was admitted to the Bar in 1847 and practiced law in partnership with James T. Hale, until 1851, when Mr. Hale was appointed to the Bench, and Mr. Linn then formed a partnership with W. P. Wilson which continued until Judge Linn's election as president Judge. After his retirement from the bench Judge Linn practiced law until his death. Judge Linn tried many important cases in Clearfield county and some of his decisions on the questions of land titles were the foundations of stability that settled disputed lines of boundaries and interfering surveys that had proven a continual source of annoyance and litigation for years prior thereto. Hon. Joseph B. McEnally was appointed as the successor to Judge Linn in 1868 by the Governor and was the first citizen of Clearfield county to preside over the Courts of the county as president judge. Judge McEnally served until December, 1868, when he was succeeded by Charles A. Mayer, the latter having defeated Judge McEnally at the October election, at which Judge McEnally was the Republican and Charles A. Mayer the Democratic candidate. The district at that time being strongly democratic McEnally was defeated, although he polled a large complimentary vote. Judge McEnally was born in Lycoming county on January 25th, 1825. He was educated at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., having been graduated in the class of 1845. He was admitted to the Bar in 1849. Shortly after being admitted to practice he came to Clearfield county and resided there until his death which occurred at the ripe old age of eighty-five. Judge McEnally was a man of beautiful character, sterling integrity and as a land lawyer he probably had no equal in Pennsylvania. Hon. Charles A. Mayer, who succeeded Judge McEnally as president Judge, was born in York Co., Pa., December 15th, 1830. At the age of twenty-three he was admitted to the Bar of Clinton County, Pa. He served as District Attorney of Clinton county for two terms. At the expiration of his term as president judge he was again a candidate and was re-elected in 1878. After Clearfield county became a separate judicial district in 1883 Judge Mayer became by virtue of the rearrangement of judicial districts made by the Legislature, the President Judge of the new twenty-fifth district comprising the counties of Clinton, Cameron and Elk, and held that office up to the time of his death. Judge Mayer was one of the best lawyers who ever occupied the bench in this county and his decisions were seldom reversed by the appellate courts. By the act of the General Assembly approved the 9th day of April, 1874, which was passed to carry out the directions of the new state Constitution the Twenty- fifth Judicial District was entitled to an additional law judge to be appointed by the Governor to serve until such additional law judge should be elected at the next general HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY 182 election. Pursuant to the authority contained in that act, Governor Hartranft on April 10th, 1874, appointed Hon. John H. Orvis to be additional law judge of said district, and at the general election following he was elected to said office for the full term of ten years. Judge Orvis was born in Sullivan township, Tioga county, Pa., on February 24th, 1835. In February, 1856, he was admitted to the Clinton county Bar, and in December, 1862, he moved to Bellefonte, Pa. Judge Orvis resigned in 1868 and resumed the practice of the law in which he was actively and successfully engaged up to the time of his death. Judge Orvis was possessed of a fine intellect and a wonderfully retentive memory. In the trial of a case he seldom took any notes and yet when he came to charge the jury he could give every important item of testimony with exactness from his memory. His ability as a lawyer was very much against his success as a judge. He could grasp the very essence of a case, so much more quickly than the ordinary lawyer, and he was so impatient of technicalities and delays, and so anxious that right should prevail, that he sometimes ran afoul of the red tape that hedges in the legal procedure, for the purpose of preventing a too hasty judgment, but his career on the bench and as a lawyer reflected great credit upon the profession which he honored. He was particularly kind to young lawyers and it was his delight to aid and assist them wherever he could and as a consequence he made many warm friends among the junior members of the bar. In the year 1883 Clearfield county by virtue of having acquired the necessary population of over 40,000, was in obedience to the Constitution created a separate judicial district, and became entitled to elect its own president judge. The first judge to be so elected was Hon. David L. Krebs, who was the Democratic candidate for the office at the November election of 1883, but was supported by many Republicans who believed that the judicial office should be non-partisan. Judge Krebs served a full term of ten years and was a candidate for re-election, but was defeated by Hon. Cyrus Gordon, Republican, after a spirited canvass. David Luther Krebs was born in Ferguson township, Centre Co., Pa., on Oct. 5th, 1846. In the fall of 1864 he came to Clearfield county and taught school while preparing for the bar with the late Hon. William A. Wallace. About this time his elder brother was drafted to serve in the war of the Rebellion and David offered to take his place, which he did and served in the 98th Pa. Vols. until mustered out in 1865. In 1867 he returned to Centre County and read law with the late Adam Hoy and was admitted to the Centre County bar in 1869 and in June of the same year located in Clearfield, Pa. Upon the appointment by President Grant of the late Hon. H. Bucher Swoope as United States Attorney, in 1870, Judge Krebs in connection with John P. Irvin succeeded to his practice. In 1873 Judge Krebs became a partner with Hon. W. A. Wallace, which partnership continued up to the time of his election to the bench. Since the expiration of his judicial term Judge Krebs has been engaged in the practice of law at Clearfield and enjoys a large and lucrative practice and is recognized as one of the leading lawyers of the county. Hon. Cyrus Gordon, who succeeded Judge Krebs in January, 1894, served also a full term of ten years and was also a candidate for AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS 183 re-election, but was defeated by the present incumbent of the office, Hon. Allison O. Smith, after what was probably the most bitter political contest the county has ever known. Judge Gordon was born December 1, 1846, near Hecla Furnace, Centre County, Pa. He was educated at Pennsylvania State College in 1866, studied law at the law school of the Michigan University, and in 1869 was admitted to the bar of Centre County, Pa. In 1870 he removed to Clearfield and began the practice of law. In 1874 he became a partner of Hon. Thomas H. Murray and this connection continued until Judge Gordon's election to the bench. Since 1894 Judge Gordon has been engaged in the practice of law at Clearfield, and also holds the position of general counsel to the Pure Food Department of Pennsylvania. Hon. Allison O. Smith, who succeeded Judge Gordon and who is the present presiding judge of the county, assumed the duties of the office in January, 1894. Judge Smith was born October 23rd, 1857, in Montour County, Pa., was educated at the University of Pennsylvania and was admitted to the bar of Philadelphia in June, 1882, and located in Clearfield in September of that year. After Judge Gordon was elected to the bench, Judge Smith became a partner of Hon. T. H. Murray and was practicing law in connection with him when elected judge.