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/99

 COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES b«r, 1888. entering upon his duties in Jan uary, 1 8 ^, and serving until A u g. i, 1898, when the hand o f death w as laid upon him. H e con­ tracted a cold which resulted in pneumonia, and a fte r only a week's illness passed away. E l i j a h K. I k e l r k w as a self-made man. H is studious and industrious habits enabled him to obtain sufficient education at Green­ wood Sem inary to enter upon the study of law, which he took up a fte r being e n g a g ^ in the milling business fo r a number o f years. H e movco from M illville to Bloomsburg and registered as a taw student with Colonel Freeze in 1864. and was admitted to (he bar in M ay, 18C7. H e soon forged ahead, and be­ cam e one of the leading practitioners of the county. A s a Judge he w as patient and care­ fu l, alw ays evincing a desire to do right ac­ cording to his best Judgment. A t (he time o f his death Judge Ikeler was a candidate for renomination, his opponent being Robert R. Little— both Democrats. The county conventions o f both counties had been held, Montour county instructing its conferees f o r Ikeler, and Columbia county fo r Little. T h e death o f Judge Ikeler brought about a complication in the judicial situation, such as had probably never ^ f o r e occurred in the his­ to ry of the State. On A u g. 10, 1898, G ov­ ernor Hastings appointed Grant H erring as president judge to serve until Jan u ary, 1899. Robert R. Little was the Democratic candidate in Columbia county fo r election fo r the full term. W hat the situation w as in Montour county no one seemed to know, as Ju d ge Ike­ ler had named his conferees in that county, but they had not yet accepted. It was also doubted whether their appointment would stand a fte r his death. There were also com­ plications in the Republican party on the judgeship, Montour county havin|^ instructed fo r Jam es Scarlet and the Columbia conferees favoring Charles C. Evans, Scarlet being afterw ard s made (he nominee. ‘Appreciating (he necessity o f taking some action in the matter, a call w as issued fo r a meeting of the CoIumbLa bar on Aug. 17, 1898, which w as sicmcd thirty-eight members. T h e call stated that "impressed by the convic­ tion that the selection o f a president judge is o f transcendent importance to the public, and observing (hat (he ordinary agencies fo r the nomination o f a candidate do not in this in­ stance promise to succeed in giving to the people harmonious and desirable results, wc do agree to confer together upon the selection o f a judge who shall be competent, inde­ pendent, and impartial, who shall be free from

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faction, without friends to reward or enemies to punish, and. i f possible, wholly unconnected in position or interest with past or present con­ troversy or dispute upon the question of the judgeship, and take such action as the m ajor­ ity o f those present shall judge to be advisable, prudent, wise, and necessary, to secure or aid in securing, the selection o f a president judge." But eighteen of the signers were present at the meeting. Hon. C. R . Buckalew was chosen chairman, and a resolution was adopted fo r the appointment o f a committee, “ to act fo r and represent us in the conference which must take place and enable us to present for endorsement by the peopld o f this district a man competent and eminently fitted to serve as president ju dge." Nothing ever came of this action, however, mainly fo r the reason that no law yer from outside the district could be found who w as willing to enter the contc.st as a candidate, where there were so many local aspirants, and where he would be a com­ parative stranger. Meanwhile the fencing fo r advantage went on. On Aug. 10 M r. Little and conferees went to Exchange, Montour county, and there met the conferees appointed by Judge Ikeler, and a judicial conference was organized, resulting a fte r several ballots in M r. Little’s nomina­ tion. T lie next day the Democratic standing committee met at Danville. Ju d ge H erring claimed that the conference at Exchange was void, fo r the reason that the conferees named by Ju d ge Ikclcr had no authority to act, as it ceased when Judge Ikeler died. T he com­ mittee took this view o f it and p reced e d to name a new candidate fo r Montour county, Judge H erring being their choice. Judge H er­ ring then carried the matter to the Dauphin county court to settle the question a s to whose name should be printed on (he ballots as (he regular nominee. A fte r hearing, the court decided th.it the Exchange conference was a nullity, as the evidence showed that the Ikeler conferees had not been appointed in fact, ludgc H erring then ap p o in t^ conferees for Montour, and after several meetings H erring withdrew and Little w as unanimously nomi­ nated, and was elected in November. 1898, de­ feating Jam es Scarlet, the Republican nomi­ nee. He .served until Feb. 26. 1906. when his death occurred, a fte r a protracted illness. J u d g e R o b e r t R. L i t t l e w as bom in Ber­ wick in M ay, 1852, and was the son o f E. H. Little, who was fo r many years a prominent attorney o f Columbia county. He graduated at the Normal School in 18 7 1, and subse­ quently attended the U niversity o f Rochester,