Hon. James Allison, LL.D. and Unknown
Husband Hon. James Allison, LL.D. 1 2 3 4
Born: 4 Oct 1772 - Cecil Co, MD 2 Christened: Died: 17 Jun 1854 - Beaver, Beaver Co, PA 2 Buried:
Father: Col. James Allison ( - ) 4 5 6 Mother: Jane Bradford ( - ) 4
Marriage:
Wife Unknown
Born: Christened: Died: 1848 7 Buried:
Children
1 F Jane Allison 8 9
Born: 1808 9 Christened: Died: 30 Apr 1851 9 Buried:Spouse: Dr. Robert Cunningham (1806-1860) 8 10 Marr: 1832 - ? Beaver Co, PA 8
2 M Hon. John Allison 11 12
Born: 5 Aug 1812 - Beaver, Beaver Co, PA 1 Christened: Died: 23 Mar 1878 - Washington, D. C. 1 Buried:Spouse: Eliza Ann Adams ( - ) 1 Marr: 16 Mar 1836 1
3 M Thomas Allison 13
Born: - Pennsylvania Christened: Died: Buried:Spouse: Emily Logan ( - ) 13
4 F Sarah Allison 14
Born: - Beaver Co, PA Christened: Died: Buried:Spouse: John S. Dickey ( - ) 14
5 M William Allison 7
Born: Christened: Died: 1844 7 Buried:
General Notes: Husband - Hon. James Allison, LL.D.
He was admitted to the Bar at Mercer, Pennsylvania, May 17, 1804; was a resident of Beaver for more than half a century, and identified with all the early struggles and improvements of the town and county. He was highly educated, and known throughout his long career as a man of the highest integrity. He was a man of ability, and was from the organization of the county until his retirement from practice one of the acknowledged leaders of the bar. Chief Justice Gibson said he was "the best case lawyer in Pennsylvania." He served in Congress from 1823 to 1825, and was re-elected, but declined to serve, preferring the happiness of domestic life to the strifes of politics. [HMC 1888, 254]
He was the eldest of his father's seven sons. When at the age of seventeen, his father conceived the thought of educating him for the bar, and he became one of the number who formed the first Latin grammar class west of the Alleghenies, taught by the late David Johnson, Esq., of Beaver, whose school was opened in 1788-'89. He continued with Mr. Johnson until he had acquired a good education in the common branches, and a competent knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages. Indian depredations in 1792-'93 becoming so frequent and bold that all able to bear arms were called into service to protect the settlements, he left his studies to serve a term at the block-house opposite Yellow creek. After that he entered upon the study of the law in the office of his uncle, David Bradford, Esq., a distinguished lawyer and orator of Washington, and, after practicing in Washington a few years, removed to Beaver in 1803. Here he commenced the practice of his profession. He practiced also in the counties of Crawford, Mercer and Butler, until 1822, when he was elected to congress, and was re-elected in 1824. A distaste for political life, a great love of home and a desire to be with his family, induced him to resign his seat in congress before he entered on the duties of the second term. In politics, he was of the Washingtonian school; later in life giving his support to those measures with which the national Republican and Whig parties were identified, and which he earnestly contended were the offspring of the pure principles of the fathers of 1776. After his return from congress, in 1826, he was seldom absent from his own family circle, unless it was when on a visit to his "old homestead" in Washington county. Jefferson College at Cannonsburg conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws, which his native modesty and retiring disposition withheld from public notice.
Mr. Allison had the advantage of an early and strict religious education, which throughout his long and useful career, exerted its influence upon his principles and his conduct; but he did not make a profession of faith until late in life. The death of his son William in 1844-his partner in business, and who well filled his place, relieving him of much of his labor-was a severe stroke upon him; but the loss of his wife, in 1848, who for more than half a century had journeyed the rugged pathway with him, sharing its pleasures and its toils, prostrated him. After that time he withdrew very much from society, retiring into the privacy of his own family. Though belonging to a family of remarkable longevity, his father being seventy-seven when he died, and his grandmother over one hundred, yet he did not wish to survive the loss of his faculties and the bodily strength to serve himself.
As a lawyer he was sound and well versed in every branch, including the little studied science of special pleading, whose rules he knew well how to handle with skill and danger to his adversary. This was the result of severe study before and after his admission to the bar. Possessing a profound knowledge of his profession, a clear mind and discriminating judgment, he took high rank with the men of his generation. Even in the evening of his days, he was an opponent greatly to be feared by all, and an over-match for many. But these qualities of intellect were more than equaled by those of the heart. Emphatically a gentleman of the olden school, he bore himself with great courtesy to his fellow members, and with marked respect to the court. Kind and encouraging to the younger members of the profession, his assistance to their early efforts was remembered with gratitude. But all these personal qualities, as well as those of his intellect, were far surpassed by that higher and nobler trait-his stern, unbending integrity-which shone brightly throughout his life and won for him the title of the "honest lawyer." A strong proof of the reality of this character is found in the fact that, though for years enjoying a large practice, he accumulated no extraordinary wealth. Whilst he had enough to raise a numerous family in comfort, affording them the solid advantages of education, and some slight assistance in their early beginnings, he possessed merely what made declining years comfortable, and yet offered to those he left behind no temptation to a career of idleness or prodigality.
1 —, History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Its Past and Present (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 771.
2 —, History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Chicago: A. Warner & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 166.
3 Boyd Crumrine, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 708.
4 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 204.
5 Boyd Crumrine, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 707, 720.
6 George P. Donehoo, Pennsylvania - A History (SW) (New York, NY; Chicago, IL: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1926), Pg 122.
7 —, History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Chicago: A. Warner & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 167.
8 —, History of Butler County, Pennsylvania (R. C. Brown & Co. Publishers, 1895), Pg 1085.
9 James A. McKee, 20th Century History of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1909), Pg 931.
10 James A. McKee, 20th Century History of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1909), Pg 929, 931.
11 —, History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Its Past and Present (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 771, 804.
12 —, History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Chicago: A. Warner & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 176.
13 —, History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Chicago: A. Warner & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 618.
14
—, History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Chicago: A. Warner & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 640.
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