The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1902-04-24
FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Editor Barron Kindly Contrib
utes Another Chapter on the
Early Days OF Our County.

Early Days of Our County.
EDITOR News AS you have
kindly published my former arti-
Gle, / will try to give you some
further "reminiscences of the old
en time. When begin to recall
the scenes and events of those
years they come so wildly to my
mind that it hardly seems possi-
ble that half a century has passed
away and | am now an old man
who has passed through the most
of life and will soon arrive at the
end.
The organization of the new
county and the location of the
county seat, raised high hopes
and expectations with the McCofl-
nellsburg people; it was, of course,
thought that property would be-
come more valuable, and that the
town would rapidly grow in popu-
lati n. But they were doomed to
disappointment. Iquestion if the
rise in real estate, all told, ever
amounted to the sum expended
for the public buildings; and the
addition to the population was
hardly perceptible. With the ex-
ception of an influx of lawyers to
practice at the court, a doctor or
two, the two editors of the papers,
and, perhaps, one or two new bus
mess firms, there came nothing
TO add to the business or growth
of the town. The reason was, the
towns isolation. Shut off from
the outside world by mountains
no railroad or prospect of getting
any,-kept people from coming
there to locate and do business;
and so the town remained about
the same as before, except that
we had court days, more people
came to town, and there was more
life; and the new arrivals of pro-
fessional men with their families,
added to the social life of the
town.
remember we'll the first Court
we had. 1t was held in the old
Seceder church in the south part
of the town-the building that
was later used and may be yet
by the German Reformed people.
Judge Jeremiah S. Black presid-
ed, who later became Judge of
the Supreme Court, Attorney
General of the United States, and
Secretary of State in the closing
days of Buchanan's administra-
tion. | remem Der Judge Black
as heavy set man with thick
mass of black hair crowning a.
massive head. He was an invet-
crate user of tobacco which he
chewed as if it were something
good to eat. He impressed me,
boy as | was, with his greatness
of intellect; and no one could be
in his presence without being i'm
pressed with his powerful per-
sonality. He had undou btedly
one of the greatest legal minds
this country has produced. He
came to be familiar figure, and
Ihave often seen him come sweep
ing down the pike behind his two
roans that he drove as he travel
ed from court to court.
The first associate Judges were
Hons. Samuel Robinson and Mark
Dickson do not now recall GER
tainly, who the other county Off
GERS were, but | think DanielFore
was Sheriff and L think George
Wilds was Prothonotary. After
serving a year or two Judge Black
was elected to the Supreme Court
and Judge Kimmel, his brother
in-law, was elected in his place
Judge Kimmel was elected as a
Whig, but | believe he, later in
life, became Democrat and if |
mistake not, is still living. | will
not affirm, however, that that is
due to his democracy.
The first court think was held
in January of 1851. 1t was new
thing to the town, and great
many people came to see how
courts were run, many of whom,
probably had never been in a