Sullivan-Bradford County PA Archives Biographies.....Ingham, Thomas J. 1828 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 2, 2006, 10:22 pm Author: Thomas J. Ingham (1899) THOMAS J. INGHAM was born November 25, 1828, in the then township of Asylum, county of Bradford, and state of Pennsylvania. He was the son of Thomas Ingham and Eunice Horton Ingham. His first known ancestor was Jonas Ingham, who came from England and settled in Trenton, New Jersey, about A. D. 1700. In direct descent from Jonas, was Jonathan, who resided at Big Springs, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, Jonas, who was a captain in the Revolutionary war, and afterwards a pioneer on the Wyalusing creek; Joseph, who owned a farm and mills at the mouth of Sugar Run creek in Bradford county, Pennsylvania; and Thomas, who succeeded to the farm and mills at Sugar Run, where the subject of this sketch was born. The house in which he was born was near the west bank of the Susquehanna river. The first known ancestor on his mother's side was Barnabas Horton, who came from England prior to A. D. 1640, and in that year settled in Southhold, Long Island. The father of Eunice Ingham was Major John Horton, of Terrytown, Pennsylvania, who served in the Revolutionary war. Thomas J. Ingham received his education chiefly in the common schools, but for short terms attended the Hartford Academy, and Wyoming Seminary. In early life he worked on the farm, and in the saw mill owned by his father. About the beginning of the year 1851 he came to Laporte, Sullivan county, and was employed by William Mullan to act as his deputy in the office of prothonotary, register and recorder. In addition to this work, in 1852 he was appointed clerk to the commissioners. In 1853 he was married to Caroline A. Cheney, daughter of Abel Cheney and Priscilla Washburn Cheney, born at Cortlandville, New York, February 15, 1831. In the fall of 1853 he was nominated on the Democratic ticket for the office of Prothonotary, register and recorder, and no nominations being made against him, he was elected, and discharged the duties of the office until December, 1855. In the summer of 1855 he took an active part in the organization of the Republican party in Sullivan county, and was nominated by that party as a candidate for representative. The district consisted of the counties of Susquehanna, Wyoming and Sullivan, entitled to two representatives, and at the representative conference O. G. Hemstead, of Susquehanna county, and Thomas J. Ingham were nominated as candidates of the Republican party in this district. The Democrats nominated John V. Smith of Wyoming county, and Oliver Lathrop of Susquehanna county. The two parties in the district were closely balanced. In the contest which followed Mr. Ingham ran considerably ahead of his ticket and carried Sullivan county by a plurality of one hundred and forty-nine, which gave him the largest vote of any of the candidates, and elected him. His colleague was defeated by a small plurality. He served with credit one term in the legislature, and declined to be a candidate for re-election. In the spring of 1856 he removed to Sugar Run, Bradford county, where he engaged in the mercantile business. This business not proving profitable, he entered the law office of Hon. Ulysses Mercur as a student, and was admitted to the Bradford county bar at September term, 1860. Mr. Ingham returned to Sullivan county in November, 1860, and commenced the practice of law. In the following year he was elected district attorney, and served for three years. He took an active part as a public speaker in most of the election campaigns in his own and adjoining counties. In 1865 he purchased a printing press and printing material, and assisted John T. Brewster to establish the Sullivan Free Press, a weekly newspaper published in Laporte, and became one of the editors. After a few years he withdrew his name as an editor of that paper, and, in 1872, assisted his son, Ernest V. Ingham, in establishing a campaign newspaper called the Grant Standard, and acted as one of the editors. In the fall of the same year he purchased, from John T. Brewster, the material and good will of the Sullivan Free Press. Immediately after the November election the Grant Standard was changed in name to the Press and Standard, and its publication continued by E. V. Ingham, Thomas J. Ingham still acting as associate editor. His newspaper engagements, however, at no time interfered with the active practice of his profession. The legislature, in 1874, made a change in the judicial district, and provided for the appointment of an additional law judge. In May of that year Mr. Ingham was appointed by Governor Hartraft as additional law judge - Judge Elwell being president judge in the same district. At the same session of the legislature, but later in the session, an act was passed establishing the forty-fourth judicial district, consisting of the counties of Wyoming and Sullivan, and providing for the election of president judge at the ensuing fall election. Mr. Ingham was unanimously nominated by the Republicans of both counties for president judge. Elhannan Smith, Esq., of Wyoming county, was nominated by the Democrats. There was a large Democratic majority in both counties. The election was closely contested, but Mr. Ingham having received a majority in each county, was elected. He was commissioned and served as president judge for ten years. In 1884 Judge Ingham was unanimously nominated by the Republican county conventions in both counties for re-election. The Democrats nominated John A. Sittser, Esq., of Wyoming county, as their candidate. Both counties were Democratic, with majorities ranging from three to five hundred. It was the year of the presidential election, when Blaine was the Republican candidate, and Cleveland the Democratic candidate. It proved to be what was called "a Democratic year." The majority for Cleveland in Sullivan county was 383 and he had a larger majority in Wyoming county. The judicial election was hotly contested in both counties. Judge Ingham received a majority in every election district in Sullivan county, and his majority in the county was 441. The majority for John A. Sittser, however, in Wyoming county, exceeded the majority of Judge Ingham in Sullivan county, and Mr. Sittser was elected. On retiring from the bench Judge Ingham resumed the practice of law, and had his office in Dushore for about four years. Having associated his son, F. H. Ingham, with him in the practice of law, he returned to Laporte, where he has continued to practice until this time. At the congressional election in 1886 he was solicited by many friends to accept the nomination for congress, which he declined. At that time the district was Republican, and the nomination was almost certain election. Mr. Ingham, has three sons, all living. His eldest son, Ernest V. Ingham, having learned the printer's trade, published the Grant Standard and Press and Standard for a number of years, and since that has been in business in Eaglesmere. Ellery P. Ingham, his second son, commenced the practice of law in Sullivan county. In 1889 he was appointed special deputy collector of the port of Philadelphia, and served in that position until 1892, when he was appointed United States district attorney for the eastern district of Pennsylvania, in which office he served four years. He is now engaged in the practice of law in Philadelphia. His youngest son, Frank H. Ingham, is still engaged with him in the practice of law at Laporte. As an attorney Judge Ingham ranks among the foremost in this part of the state, and his powers as an advocate have been demonstrated on many occasions. His public career has been long and honorable, and he is still recognized as one of the most prominent and influential men in this section of the country. Additional Comments: Extracted from History of Sullivan County Pennsylvania by Thomas J. Ingham Compendium of Biography The Lewis Publishing Company Chicago: 1899 This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/pafiles/ File size: 8.4 Kb