Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/96

 66

COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

and George Porter o f Center county, Jam es Carson o f Philadelphia, and Ebcnezcr Grccnough of Sunbury. Judge Thomas Duncan and Judge Charles Huston came here from Center county to attend court. T hey were lK>th afterw ards members of the Supreme court. William G. H urley, o f Bloomsburg, Jam es Pleasants o f Catawissa, .Alexander Jordan and Charles G. Donnel. o f Sunbury. attended court in Danville regularly. J u d g e E i. u s Ix w t s, who succeeded to the bench in 1833, w as a native of Lewisburg, P a. H e began life as a printer, subsequently occupied the editorial chair, studied law. and w as admitted to the bar at the age of twentyfive. T w o years later he w as appointed dep­ uty attorney general fo r Lycoming county; in 1832 w as elected to the l.cgislatu re; in 18 33 was appointed attorney general fo r the Commonwealth, and the same year appointed as successor to Judge Chapman. A fte r ten years o f service here he w as transferred to the Second district/ later elevated to the S u ­ preme court, in 18 5 1. and became chief justice >n 1855. Subsequently he was appointt^ one o f a committee o f three to revise the criminal code. H e died March 19. 18 7 1. C r a k l e s G. D o n n e l, of Northumber­ land county, was appointed to the vacancy on the bench of the Eighth district Ja n. 14, 1843. and held his first term in A pril o f that year. H e died the following year, before he could accomplish his work, but held high in the respect and esteem o f those who had known him and admired his attainments. J udge J o seph B. A n t u o n v, who suec e ^ c d to the bench in 1844, w as the first to hold court at Bloomsburg after the removal of the county seal from Danville. H is first session there w&s held in Jan uary. 1848- Judge Anthony was a native o f Williamsport. In 18 30 he was elected to the State Senate, and in 1834 to Congress, and reelected two years later. In 1843 he was appointed judge of the court fo r the adjustment of the Nichol­ son claims, and in M arch. 1844. to the bench of the Eighth judicial circuit. H e died in 18 5!, nine months before the expiration o f his term. J u t x i E Ta m e s P o u j j c k w as bom in Milton and studied law under Judge Anthony. He graduated from Princeton and w as admitted to the bar in 1833. T w o years later he was appointed district attorney, and in 1844 was elected to Congress from the Thirteenth dis­ trict. In 18 5 1 he was appointed to the bench to succeed Ju d ge Anthony, and hcW the place until the judges were made elective, in 18 51,

when he refused to be a candidate. In 1854 he was elected governor; in i860 appointed a d e li^ t e to the peace congress at W ashington; in i86t appointed director of the mint at Philadelphia; resigning the office under the administration o f Johnson, he was reappointed by Grant in 1869, held the position until 1882, and w as then made collector o f internal rev­ enue. He is the originator of the motto on American coins, " In God W e T ru st." H e died A pril 19, 1890. J o h n N e s b i t C o n y n g h a m succeeded Ju d ge Pollock on the bench in 18 5 1.- H e went upon the bench of the Luzerne district in 1839 by appointment of the governor, and when Columbia was put in that district Ju d ge Conyngham became the president judge here, and so continued until the formation of the Tw enty-sixth district, in 1856, composed of Columbia, SuDivan and W yoming counties, which took Columbia out 01 his jurisdiction. H e was one o f Pennsylvania’s most eminent jurists, and presided in the Luzerne district fo r thirty years, until 1 8 ^, when he resigned. In 18 7 1 he met with a railroad accident which resulted in his death. H e w as beloved and respected by all who knew him. W a r b e n j. W o o d w a r d was appointed judge in M ay, 1856, and in October following w as elected for a term o f ten years. H e served until December, 18 6 1, when he resigned to accept election as president judge o f Berks county, and moved to Reading. A t the expira­ tion o f thi.s term he was reelected for a second, and served until 1874. when he was e le c t^ a justice of the Supreme court, which position he occupied until his death, in 1879. Tudgc W oodward w as bom in Bethany, W ayne county, and received an academic education in W ilkes-Barre. H e taught school, leanicd the printer’s trade, and later studied law a t W ilkes-Barre, where he became the leader of the bar. He w as a hard student, a conscien­ tious and upright judge, and a man o f intel­ lectual power. H e was considered one of the ablest Supreme justices o f his time. A a r o n K. P e c r h a m w as appointed to fill the uncxpircd term o f Judge W oodward, D e ­ cember. 18 6 1, after which he declined to b e a candidate for election to the position, an d resumed his practice at Tunkhannock, w h ere he remained until his death. W il l ia m E i. w f j. l w as elected president judge of the Twcnty-.sixth district in 1862, a c ­ cepting the nomination at (he request o f a co m ­ mittee of the bar. H e had no opposition a t the first election, and none at the time o f h is reclection in 1872. In M ay, 1874, W yom in g