Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-04

Photograph by Rice.
| telligent, learned. cultured and ablest fur
lists who ever occupied a seat on any
| bench.
| Alexander Burton Hagner was born in
| this city July ID. 1926 and consequently
| is more than 76 years of age. Although he
has been eligible since he reached the age
| Of seventy, for retirement at his own vo
| lition and on full pay for life. he has con-
tinued to discharge his arduous duties
| without interruption and with a vigor equal
| to that of many men much younger JUS
| tice Hagner comes of a distinguished fam
| lily, being the seventh son of Peter Hagner,
who was born in Philadelphia. Pa, October
| 1, 1772. and who died in this city July 49,
| 1850 Peter Hagner was appointed by
President Monroe, in March, 1917. third au-
| ditor of the Treasury. that appointment
being the first to that office. 1t is pointed
out that Peter Hagner was continuously
in the public service for fifty-seven years,
dating from the establishment Of the gov
eminent of the United States.
Justice HagnerS mother was Frances
| Randall, who was married to Peter Hagner
| in 1905. She was a daughter of John Ran
| dali. an officer of the revolutionary war,
who was appointed by General Washing
| ton as the first collector of the port of An
| napolis. Md. Justice Hagner's mother died
May ID. 1863 at the age of seventy-seven
years.
written by the venerable Thomas Richie,
mention was made of Peter Hagner upon
his resignation from the public service, as
follows;
mo government could ever boast of a
more able, honest and efficient officer. He
has been worth more than his weight in
gold to his country. He has been a model
of what a public servant should be, and
hereafter no higher compliment can be paid
to a public officer than to say of him
similar to what was said in Athens Of Ars-
tides the just-he was virtuous as Peter
Hagner."
Counsel In Important Cases.
The present justice. Alexander Burton
Hagner. after attending private schools in
Washington and Georgetown, was grad
uated at Princeton College in 1916. He read
law in the Office of his uncle, Alexander
Randall, in Annapolis. Md. and entered in
a legal co-partnership with him in that
place. which continued until 1876, when Mr..
Randall retired from practice and his son,
]. Writ Randall. took his place. Early in
| 1879 Alexander B. Hagner was appointed an
associate justice Of the Supreme Court OF
| the District of Columbia and returned to
| this city to reside.
During the course of his practice in the
| court of appeals court of chancery and cir
| cult court of several countries of Mary
| land, and before committees of the national
| and state legislatures, Mr.. Hagner was
| employed in many important cases. among
which were the mandamus cases of Mar
| shall against Harwood, deciding the title
| to the office of state librarian; Magruder
against Swami, and Gwinn against Groome,
| presenting the question whether the writ Of
mandamus should issue against the gov
ernor of the state; the adjutant generals
case of McBlair against Bond. ard the in
| junction case Of Gilbert against Arnold
which involved the rival claims of the
Methodist Church North and the Methodist
Church South to the property Of the Meth
odist Society in Maryland.
Among the important criminal cases in
which he appeared for the defense were the
prosecutions against Mrs Elizabeth G,
Wharton for the murder Of Gen. Ketchum
by poisoning, and for the attempt to poison
Eugene Van Ness
He was frequently counsel for the de-
Tense in courts-martial. and was judge ad-
vOcate of the naval court of inquiry I'm
1850, of which Commodore Morris was
president. to investigate the conduct of
Commander Hunter In the capture of AL
varado, and of the naval general court in
1876 at San Francisco for the trial of Pay
Inspector Spalding.
Served as Special Judge.
Under the constitution Of Maryland of
1854 he acted as special judge for several
years in Prince Georges county in large
number of cases in which the regular judge
was disqualified to sit. He was attorney
and director of the Farmers National Bank
of Annapolis trustee of St. Johns College,
member OF the city corporation and con-
of his neighborhood.
Politically Mr.. Hagner was a wig, and
as such he was elected to the legislature of
Maryland, in 1854 and was appointed chair
man of the committee of ways and means
In 1860 he was one of the presidential cleo
tors for Bell and Everett.
He was married in 1853 to Louisa Harri-
son, daughter Of the late Randolph Harri-
son of Elk Hill. Goochlapd county, Va
During his service of more than twenty
four years as an associate justice of the
Supreme Court of the District of Columbia,
Justice Hagner has presided at important
trials and hearings almost without number
Two instances are Of special interest. He
District Supreme Court sitting in General
Term. in the famous Potomac fats case.
The opinion was considered to be most
exhaustive and scholarly effort. It held
that the absolute transfer by the original
proprietors to the government of all the
title in the streets necessarily carried with
1t all riparian rights In streets running
along the river bank, as well as at the
terminj Of those streets that abutted on
the Supreme Court OF the United States.
In the other case referred to Justice Hag-
ner prepared what Is clasSed as most
able opinion OF the Court In General Term
By it the court determined the southern
boundary OF the District OF Columbia. The
opinion was to the effect that the Alex
andria Canal. Railroad and Bridge Com
pany was liable to taxation. including that
part OF the bridge extending as far as high
held that the whole bed Of the Potomac
river. with all the islands therein up to
high water mark on the Virginia Shore are
within the explicit terms OF the MARYLAND