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The task of preparing a sketch of the bar of Armstrong
county is a difficult one, inasmuch as it is an old and
historic secton of the State, with many long-treasured
traditions and records, the securing of which is a work of
much difficulty and research. To properly present the
facts, and give an unbiased estimate of the character and
merits of an individual in such a manner as to show the real
man, the writer must not be guided by his own judgment
alone, but rather by the consensus of opinion of the writers
of the past or those who were acquainted personally with the
subject of the sketch.
The life work of a lawyer is different from that of
other citizens. While he digs and delves into the very
foundations of social life, while his influence has shaped
and modified civil government, while he has been the great
champion of human liberty and constitutional law, his power
has been manifested more in a general way through his
profession. When we try to measure what the lawyer has
done for the race, in the development of civilization and
good government, we are lost in admiration and amazement.
When we, however, try to trace the results to individual
effort we are surprised to see how completely, in most
cases, the life work of the individual is merged in the
great work of the profession. While we know that each
individual may have contributed something towards the
development of jurisprudence, we are impressed with the
difficulty of being able to point our finger to some
particularl effort and say: Here is Lord Mansfield,
here Patrick Henry, here Daniel Webster, here Gibson or
Black, here Marshall or Meredith, here Burrington or Golden,
here Gilpin or Neale.
This is particularly true when we study a local county
bar. While it may have produced quite a number of
thorough lawyers, it must have had its failure. From
the nature of its situation and environment, by reason of
its limited opportunities, it must have had many more
members of Splendid ability than could come to the front and
occupy positions of prominence. So in this sketch many
members deserving of greater recognition may be passed over
with scant recognition of their abilities, because
opportunity failed to open to them the door of development.
DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS.
Page 69 -
EARLY COURTS.
BAR ROSTER.
Page 70 -
BIOGRAPHICAL:
WILLIAM FREAME JOHNSTON,
the third Governor of Pennsylvania under the constitution of
1838, was born at Greensburg, Westmoreland county,
Pennsylvania, Nov. 29, 1808.
The subject of this sketch had a limited common school
and academic education, but acquired a great fund of general
information by reading and observation. He studied law
under Major J. B. Alexander, and was admitted to the
bar in May, 1829, when in his twenty-first year.
Shortly afterward he removed to Armstrong county, and here
he engaged in practice, and soon rose to a commanding
position. He was appointed by Attorney-Gen. Samuel
Douglas, and subsequently by Attorney-General Lewis,
district Attorney for Armstrong county, which office he held
until the expiration of Governor Wolf's first term.
For several years he represented the county in the
lower house of the Legislature, and in 1847 was elected a
member of the Senate from the district composed of the
counties of Armstrong, Indiana, Cambria and Clearfield.
During the period in which he was in the Legislature a
great financial crisis occurred, and the distress which
ensued was extreme. At this crisis Mr. Johnston
came forward with a proposition to issue relief notes, for
the payment or funding of which the State pledged its faith.
This he advocated with his usual energy and logical
acuteness, and though a majority of the Legislature was
politically opposed to him, it was adopted, and gave instant
relief. In 1847 Mr. Johnston was elected
president of the Senate. By a provision of the
constitution - Governor Shunk resigning on the 9th of
July because of ill health, Speaker Johnston, became
governor. In 1848 he was the Whig nominee for the
office, and was elected over Morris Longstreth, after
a very sharp and remarkably close contest. Bover
nor Johnston managed the financial affairs of teh
commonwealth during his administration in a very creditable
manner. One work of lasting and high value which he
accomplished was the publication of twenty-eight large
volumes, known as the Colonial Records and Pennsylvania
Archives, composed of important papers relating to the most
interesting period of State history. Upon retiring
from office, after failing to secure a reelection, Mr.
Johnston returned to Kittanning, engaged in the practice
of his profession, and also entered upon an active bus-
Page 71 -
iness life, at different periods being
interested in the manufacture of iron, boring for salt, the
production of oil from bituminous shales, and the refining
of petroleum. He was prominent in organizing the
Allegheny Valley Railroad Company, and was its first
president. Under his management the road was built
from Pittsburgh to Kittanning. During the War of teh
Rebellion he took an active part in organizing troops, and
superintended the construction of the defenses at
Pittsburgh. He was appointed by President Andrew
Johnson collector of the port of Philadelphia, the
duties of which office he discharged for several months, but
through the hostility of a majority of the Senate to the
President, he was rejected by that body, though ample
testimony was given that the office was faithfully and
impartially administered. He then practiced law in
Philadelphia, associating with himself Hon. George S.
Seldon of Meadville, and subsequently - some time in
1858 - returned to Kittanning. In 1871 he removed to
Pittsburgh, and he died there at the residence of Mrs.
Samuel Bailey Oct. 25, 1872.
JAMES THOMPSON who became
chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, was for
some years prior to his elevation to that office a resident
of Kittanning. He was twenty-two when he came here in
1826 to work as a printer on the old Kittanning Gazette.
Working three hours a day at his trade to sustain himself,
he studied law during the remaining time, and was admitted
to the bar at Kittanning in March, 1828. He practiced
law there for a time, and finally moved to Franklin, Pa.,
from whence he was elected chief justice.
JOSEPH BUFFINGTON, the
elder, was born in Westchester, Pa., in 1803, where his
father kept one of teh old-time taverns. At the age of
eighteen he entered Western University at Pittsburgh, and
after graduation moved to Butler county, where he edited a
weekly newspaper. He there studied law under Gen.
William Ayers, was admitted to the bar of Butler county
in 1826 and to the Supreme Court bar in 1828. Soon
thereafter he removed to Kittanning, where he gradually
built up a large practice. In 1843 he was elected to
Congress from the district composed of the counties of
Armstrong, Butler, Clearfield and Indiana counties. In
1849 he was appointed by his old friend, Governor
Johnston, to the position of president judge of the
Eighteenth Judicial district, composed then of Clarion, Elk,
Jefferson and Venango counties, holding it until 1851.
He was appointed by President Fillmore, chief justice
of Utah territory, in 1852, but declined. From 1855 to
1871 he held the office of judge of the Tenth district,
after which age compelled his retirement. He died in
Kittanning in 1872, and was interred in the cemetery on the
hill above the town. A lifelike portrait in oil of
Judge Buffington hangs over the desk in the courthouse
at Kittanning, where he so long administered justice.
JACKSON BOGGS was born in
Plum township, Allegheny county, in 1818. His early
life was spent on the home farm, and he later taught school
in Armstrong county in the simple log buildings of the time.
He studied law in the office of the Hon. Darwin Phelps
at Kittanning, and was admitted to the bar in 1843.
During the earlier years of his practice he was appointed
deputy surveyor general, and in 1874 was elected president
judge of Armstrong county, but did not serve out his term,
dying very suddenly in 1879. He assisted in the
erection of the township of Boggs, which was given his name
by enthusiastic admirers.
JOHN V. PAINTER, a son of
the loved pastor of the Presbyterian church at Kittanning,
Rev. Joseph Painter, was born in Williamsport, Pa.,
May 25, 1829, and came to Kittanning in 1834. He
graduated from Kittanning Academy and studied law in the
office of Larry S. Cantwell. He was admitted to
the bar in 1861 and appointed deputy district attorney in
1862. He was appointed president judge of the Third
Judicial district in 1874 and served for one year, but was
defeated for election to that office in the following year.
He died in 1905.
JAMES B. NEALE.
Page 72 -
WILLIS D. PATTON
HORATIO N. LEE
JOSEPH BUFFINGTON
JAMES H. McCAIN
AUSTIN CLARK
ROSS REYNOLDS
LARRY S. CANTWELL was
one of the earlier practitioners of Kittanning and Freeport,
having spent most of his life in Armstrong county. In
1861 he organized a company of three months' men, but saw
little service and resigned in the same year. He
practiced law in Kittanning until his death, about 1863.
HARRY P. BOARTS
ORR BUFFINGTON,
SAMUEL M. CROSBY,
GRAVES S. CROSBY
Page 73 -
EDWIN L. DIVELY
JOHN GILPIN
OLIVER W. GILPIN
EDWARD S. GOLDEN
HORATIO L. GOLDEN
HARRY C. GOLDEN
CHARLES E. HARRINGTON,
born in December, 1873, at Parker City, Armstrong Co., Pa.;
began study of law in June, 1906, with M. F. Leason;
was admitted to bar in June, 1908.
HARRY A. HEILMAN, born
Sept. 25, 1875, in Kittanning, Pa.; attended University of
Princeton, N. J., two years; graduated from law department
of the University of Pennsylvania in 1899, and same year was
admitted to bar of Armstrong county and to Philadelphia bar;
read law with George Stuart Patterson and John T.
Crawford, and in 1899 began active practice; from 1905
to 1909 was associated with R. A. McCullough.
ALFRED L. IVORY, born June
24, 1849, in Allegheny county, Pa.; in 1881 he began the
study of law, and in 1888 was admitted to bar of Clarion
county; he had read law with Wilson & Jenks;
practiced in Clarion county for five years, then went to New
York City, returned to Pennsylvania, locating at Pittsburgh,
and in 1900 at Ford City; in 1909 removed to Kittanning.
FLOY C.
JONES, born Jan. 28, 1870, at New
Lisbon (now Lisbon), Ohio; graduated from Washington and
Jefferson College, Washington, Pa., in 1889; read law with
W. D. Patton Esq., and was admitted to the bar
Dec. 11, 1893.|
JAMES W. KING, born
Sept. 29, 1859, in Burrell township, Armstrong Co., Pa.;
attended Thiel College Greenville, Mercer Co., Pa.; began
the study of law in 1883, under the Hon. Edward S. Golden,
and was admitted to the bar of Armstrong county in 1886.
Elected president judge of Armstrong county in 1913.
JEFFERSON R. LEASON,
born Aug. 11, 1883, at Kittanning, Pa.; took a two-year
course at Pennsylvania State College; read law with his
father, and was admitted to the Armstrong county bar in
1907; in 1909 was elected district attorney for his county.
MIRVEN F. LEASON, born in
Jefferson county, Pa.; educated at Princeton College, N. J.;
was admitted to the bar of Armstrong county in 1879, having
previously been ad-
Page 74 -
mitted to the Jefferson county bar; during 1881 and 1882 he
was district attorney of Armstrong county; he died May 29,
1909.
J. S. CALHOUN, born Feb. 8,
1854, in Wayne township; read law in Clarion county, where
he was admitted to the bar; now practicing law in the State
of Oklahoma. Practiced for a few years at Kittanning.
PHILIP SNYDER, born in
Kittanning, July 28, 1887; graduated from the Pittsburgh
School of Law; read law in the office of his father, H.
N. Snyder; admitted to the bar in December, 1910;
practices in Kittanning.
ROBERT L. RANSTON
SAMUEL B. COCHRAN,
EARL F. COCHRAN,
J. P. CULBERTSON,
EDWARD E. LAWSON,
J. Q. COCHRAN, born July 6,
1849, in Boggs township; educated at Dayton Academy and
University of Michigan; read law in the office of Charles
McCandless, Butler, Pa.; admitted to the bar in
December, 1888; practices in Apollo.
ALEXANDER M. COCHRAN,
born Dec. 15, 1879, at Apollo; graduated from University of
Michigan in 1904; read law in offices of S. B. and J. Q.
Cochran at Apollo; is now practicing civil engineering.
WILLIAM LOWRY PEART,
born in Pine township; graduated from Dayton Academy and
Iowa State University; read law in office of Hon. John
Gilpin at Kittanning; admitted to the bar in 1879;
practices in Kittanning.
BARCLAY NULTON,
WILLIAM J. CHRISTY.
RUSH FULLERTON,
JOHN W. ROHRER,
JOHN SCOTT SCHAEFFER,
Page 75 -
HARVEY N. SNYDER,
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS
WALKER, born at Sykesville, Jefferson Co., Pa., Dec. 14,
1879; for nearly three yeas attended the Washington and
Jefferson College; studied law with ex-Judge Calvin
Rayburn, and was admitted to Armstrong county bar in
May, 1903.
JOHN F. WHITWORTH
OSCAR SLOAN MARSHALL
SAMUEL H. McCAIN
REUBEN A. McCULLOUGH
CLARENCE O. MORRIS
DANIEL LEMMON NULTON,
born May 20, 1853, at Kittanning, Armstrong County; studied
at Lambeth College, and at St. John's University, at
Haddonfield, N. J.; later studied law, and in 1883 was
admitted to the bar at Kittanning, Pa.; in 1911 located at
Freeport.
JOHN S. PORTER, born in Wayne
township, Armstrong Co., Pa., Apr. 28, 1875; studied at
Franklin College, New Athens, Ohio; studied law with the
firm of Carmalt & Strong, and was admitted to
the Armstrong county bar Apr. 1, 1904, locating at
Kittanning.
CALVIN RAYBURN, born Oct.
25, 1850, in North Buffalo township, Armstrong county;
graduated from Princeton University in 1875; studied law
under Hon. George A. Jenks, and was admitted to the
bar of Jefferson county in 1879, June, and the following
November to practice in Armstrong county, when he located at
Kittanning; in 1889 was elected president judge of Armstrong
county and in 1909 was a candidate for judge of the Superior
court of the State. Died May 16, 1912.
LAURENCE S. ROBERTS, born
in Green township, Indiana Co., Pa., near Pine Flats, Nov.
9, 1875; in 1900 graduated from the law department of the
University of Michigan, and on Nov. 20, 1903, was admitted
to Armstrong county courts, and to the Supreme court on May
22, 1911; located at Leechburg.
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