Evening journal., 1896-12-22


iice William Killen under our first State
Constitution of 1776, none. probably of the
judges OF any of the Delaware courts had
been educated for the bar.
PRIMITIVE JUSTICE
A single instance will suffice as illustra-
tive Of both the absurd and pathetic in our
primitive administration of iustice-or
rather Injustice The Reverend Lauren
thus LolSinius, or Pastor Lock, as he was
also called. oficiated Tor many years In
ne Swedish churches on the Delaware
His wife having el0ped with an8hsr. he
broke open her abductors trunk in search
ii evidence against her paramour tt was
solsmnly adiudged, as his punishment
chat for his oifense he pay all the debts
81 the absconding wfe-stealer This
loudly violent presumption that he both
found assets and raloaiously appropriated
hem, may, perhaps be explained al
hough not iustiael upon the theory that
be- abaconding debtor, possibly, owed lha
court.
''Wheresoever the carcass is ehere will
he eagles ba gathered together" we ara
assured by Him who tempers the wind
the shorn lamb. This assurance Is con
irmed by the evidence OF the earliest tas
itate court records. Then, as now, Jason
md his Afg3nauts are found stnl in
search cf The golden fleece. Their earliest
recorded appearance ia Delaware was at
he Dutch court hell at New Casle.
March 30, 1868. Vice Director Alnchs in
letter OF that date to Governor stuy-
gesant, writes II have also TO pay Che
attorney, scheluyn. for salary earned by
/ him in the suit against the skip
per Of the ship Prlntz Mauritz." Although
extremely early in tho season, yes 1t
| seems the shearing had begun.
But the first attorney who appears of
record TO have been regularly admitted To-
the bar was Thomas spry. who was pre-
viously medical practitioner holding
land in what is now St. Georges hundred
and who was admitted In 1916 to practice
/ n the Duke Of York's courts at both New
| Castle and Upland, now Chester Whether
or net Lawyer spry was as his name in
| iicates, too over-actiye in shearng the
4 lul5e's lambs, in common with others of
4 his brethren, is only to be surmised. But
i u is rather significant that, on May 10,
I 1917. the governor ana Council passed this
| order, Resolved and ordered that plead
ng attorneys bea no longer allowed TO
| practice in ya government but for ye de-
! pending causes" Afterwards under
! Penn's government. neither lawyers nor
doctors seemed to have been very inordi-
| aateiy esteemed for Gabriel Thomas, an
| early provincial historian thus writes re.
! sarding them "Of lawyers ana physicians
{ snail say nothing because this country
| Is very peaceable and healthy; long may II
! so continue. and never have occasion foi
the Tongue OF the one or the PHI OF the
| other both equally destructive to men's
estates and lives" Yet Aesculapus and
Jason both continue to live and thrive, fol
the pill is sdll potent and the shearing
profitable.
PLACES OF JUSTICE.
The places where these primitive worth
.es, learned and unlearned in the law
practced their vocation and wherein jus
ice was administered by the worshipfu
justices. are worthy of a passing notice
Justice, i'm a simple and summary form
was dispensed to those within our pres
emit STATE limits. at first by Mlnuit and hi
successor. an Fort Christina and next b.
Governor printz. at Prntz Han on TIM
cum Island near what is nov Chester
After the founding ln 1856 Of New Am
itel. now New Castle. by eha Dutch thl
courts were held within he fort there's a.
they We're for many years afterwards un
Ter he English rule. Under the Duke o
Yorks government provision was mad
Of holding the courts mor.hiy al sef
astle and quarterly at Upland, now Ches
er. and Whorekills now Su5ssx. The Up
and court had jurisdiction 90 the sa,tlen
ID both sides OF the Chrsdana creek un
il December 3. 1878, when Stony creek
| now Quarryvile creek, was made it
limit: and afterwards, March a. 1851
Naaman's creek until the twelva-mile cir
sle was defined in 1901 The New Gas
tie courts jurisdiction extended 20 Duel
reek, and prior to 1880 undoubtedly IN
sludsd the territory on the New Jerse!
side Of the Delaware river as far a.
Salem, which was then known as on
'Easterne Shore" The WhOrekil court
from the time Of its reorganization il
1873, held jurisdiction within the regiol
now known as Sussex and Kent countle
until 1850, when Sc, Jones's court was es
-ablished for the newly-formed county o
hat name. In 1852 the countes Of Whore
KIN ami of ST. Jones were changed D.
penn to their present names Of SUISSE.
and Kent respectively.
The courts Of Whorekll Or Sussex. from
he time OF its earliest permanent settle
nent as a Dutch trading post In 1868
we're held first in the fort. next ia th
,esidencs Of one Of the justices, and late
n a suitable tavern room. until cour
house was finally built at Lewes abou
l735-4O. In 1892 new court house wa
)uit in Georgetown to which the count!
seat was then removed
The court for 81, Jones. af,erward
Kent county was first held IN the hous,
lI Edward Pack, one Of the justices. a
rowne Point, on property near the moutl
IF Jones creek, subsequently owned b.
John Dickinson Of revolutionary noe. an,
now held by his descendant. a. Sydne.
Logan. Esq. About 1890 It was trans
erred to the tavern Of James Maxwell
ln the site Of the present Dover water
works. and later to ;he court house bull
lb1ut 1857, on the site OF the present cour
louse fronting the public square IN Dover
The New Castle court seems to hav
)een held continuously wihin its for.s
r their protecting walls. from its oecu
lation by the Dutch 20 the arrival O
William Penn in l6S2 II is supposed iha
be oldes portion, being tha east wing
D