Western Pennsylvania Genealogy
Compiled by Douglas H. Lusher


Family Group Record



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Hon. Jackson Boggs and Phebe Isabella Mosgrove




Husband Hon. Jackson Boggs 1 2

           Born: 7 Apr 1818 - Plum Twp, Allegheny Co, PA 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 19 Apr 1879 4
         Buried: 


         Father: David Chambers Boggs (1783-1856) 2 5
         Mother: Mary McKee (      -      ) 2 3


       Marriage: 



Wife Phebe Isabella Mosgrove 6

            AKA: Phoebe J. Mosgrove 4
           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Aft 1883
         Buried: 


         Father: John Mosgrove, Esq. (      -      ) 6 7
         Mother: Mary Gillespie (      -      ) 6 8




Children
1 F Anna Jane Boggs 4

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 
         Spouse: Norwood G. Pinney (      -      ) 4
           Marr: 4 Nov 1867 4


2 F Isabel Boggs 9

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 
         Spouse: Withington Reynolds (1844-1911) 10
           Marr: 12 Feb 1873 11



General Notes: Husband - Hon. Jackson Boggs


He was brought up in Plum township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, where his father was an old resident, and he continued to own his father's farm there until his death. In 1839, when twenty-one years old, he came to Kittanning, and engaged in school teaching in East Franklin township. In 1840 he commenced to teach school in Kittanning, and there in 1841 took up the study of law under Darwin Phelps, Esq., later a member of Congress. He also read with Judge Joseph Buffington, then of the Armstrong district, being admitted to the bar in 1843. Soon afterward he formed a professional partnership with the late J. R. Calhoun, then a member of the Legislature, and he continued to be actively engaged in general practice until elected judge, attaining in time a position among the foremost attorneys of western Pennsylvania. Upon the adoption of the new constitution Armstrong County was made a separate judicial district, having been detached from the jurisdiction of Judge Moreland, who lived in Westmoreland county, and in the contest following the formation of the new district Mr. Boggs became the Democratic candidate for the judgeship. Up to this time he had always taken an active interest in politics, but had never been a candidate for any office. He was elected by a large majority after one of the most hotly contested campaigns ever carried on in the county, and in January, 1875, entered upon the duties of the office. As president judge he endeavored to discharge his responsibilities conscientiously, regardless of consequences, and his success may be best judged by the statement that in more than four years of his administration he had but two decisions reversed by the Supreme court. In fact, it was almost a hobby of his to be so cautious in his decisions as to insure himself against reversal by that court, and he was exceedingly careful, painstaking and industrious in following the workings of every case which came before him, his exertions sometimes seeming almost superhuman. In the administration of criminal cases he was always lenient and merciful, often surprising the accused and convicted victim with an unexpectedly light sentence. His errors, if any, were in this direction-always on the side of mercy. As may be inferred, he was remarkably kind and tender-hearted, easily moved by appeals of distress, and the miseries of want and affliction deeply affected his sympathetic nature. Thus he gained so strong a hold upon popular feeling that he came to be regarded as the poor man's friend, a fact which accounted for his frequent successes with juries, with whom his power as an advocate was conceded.
Judge Boggs was compared to both Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. One writer said of him: "The lately elected Democratic Judge Jackson Boggs was on the bench, and every seat in the room outside the lawyers' railing was filled. Judge Boggs looks like the pictures of old Jackson; a great high forehead, pointy at each side, hair standing straight up like bristles. He has unmistakably a fine face, or rather a strong face, one well calculated to impress you as that of a self-reliant man, yet unbending when spoken to and as affable as ever Lincoln was. He was without doubt a man of great intellectual power and who loved good principle."
As a citizen Judge Boggs was esteemed and respected by all who knew him. A distinguished member of the Armstrong County bar and of the legal profession in western Pennsylvania, his name was highly honored at a meeting of the bar called for the purpose of making arrangements to attend his funeral, Edward S. Golden, who presided, addressing the members of the bar thus: "I have known Judge Boggs long and well. He was my school teacher in early life, and for many years my fellow member of the bar, and of late the presiding judge of the county. No man ever possessed more energy, industry and courage. He was true to duty in every relation in life. True as a lawyer, as a judge and citizen, and more true and affectionate as a husband and father. What a lesson is found to us in his death! Especially to me it comes with many sad memories. My contemporaries, Calhoon, Cantwell, Donnelly, Finney, Crawford, and many others, are all gone and I am alone as their representative with you, many of you my students and professional children; and upon you I must lean, as the sun of my professional life 'casts its shadows far in the east.' Our lessons of this kind are many. May they show us the importance of forgetting animosities and troubles, and of living better and higher lives."
Agreeable to a request from the members of the family it was resolved that the members of the bar would attend the funeral in a body with suitable badges of mourning. Hon. J. V. Painter, E. S. Golden, J. E. Brown, F. Mechling, H. N. Lee, J. B. Neale, G. C. Orr and J. A. McCullough were appointed as pall bearers.
Judge Boggs was prominently mentioned as the Democratic candidate for governor at the Pittsburgh convention. A number of the delegates to that convention were, in fact, instructed for him, among them being the delegates of his own and adjoining counties. He did not make an active canvass for the nomination, however, preferring for the time, at least, to attend to the duties of the office he then filled.
The Judge's taste for agricultural pursuits, acquired in his early life, never left him, and after residing in Kittanning until 1871 he moved onto his farm in East Franklin township, this county, residing there until his death. It was a matter of pride that he could refer to it as the best conditioned and best cultivated farm in the county. [HAC 1914, 318]

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Sources


1 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 317.

2 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 1122.

3 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 318.

4 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 319.

5 Robert Walter Smith, Esq., History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Waterman, Watkins, & Co., 1883), Pg 620
.

6 Robert Walter Smith, Esq., History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Waterman, Watkins, & Co., 1883), Pg 593.

7 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 319, 369, 561.

8 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 369.

9 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 319, 369.

10 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 319, 369, 372.

11 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 372.


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