The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-05-04

COntlnuel from ISL page.
a deceased lawyer, and the other is
"a good, square meal.
"If you will indulge me for a
moment, l desire at this time to say a
word in the nature Of a personal
explanation
II am presiding here tonight by
the selection and courtesy of my
brethren who have so kindly con-
ferred upon me this great honor ard
privilege. Surely it is not because
of my present standing at the bar,
because for some years past l have
been serving another mistress than
the law, and one equally as jealous,
and which has made me far more
familiar with a printers case than l
am with The rule in Shelly's case. ,
But l am grateful to still be recog-
nized as one of the fraternity, and l
accept my task with pleasure. If in
the performance of my duties shall
cast a gloom over this assemblage
to such all extent as to give YOU a
chill, please bear in mind that be-
fore the session is ended there is an
abundance of hot air in reserve
which will be TUNED loose at the
proper time, and which, l hope,
will be sufficient to counteract any
frosty effects which my inefficiency
may have produced.
The banquet of sixteen years
ago to which l have alluded, was
given by the Bar in honor of a man
of blessed memory, upon his retire
ment from the Bench, after a service
of twenty seven years. 1t is sing
ular coincidence that at that time he
had been lawyer TOR fifty-six years.
The POSTMASTER and leading spirit
Of that occasion was the gentleman
in whose honor we meet tonight to
commemorate the fact that he has
completed a service of ffty-six
years at the Bar, and to celebrate
the ffftyseventh anniversary of his
admission as an attorney. at.law.
"We are here tonight to show
our esteem for man who for all
those years has been lawyer in this
community, and who is still in act
i've practice, and in the full possess
ion of mental and physical vigor,
though he has almost reached the age
OF four score years, Col. John G.
Freeze. He was admitted to the
Bar on the 10Th day Of April, IS4S.
For many years he was an acknow-
ledged leader i'll his profession.
Scarcely case Of any importance
was tried in our courts in which he
was not concerned on one side or
the other. His contemporaries were
Hurley and Comfy and Baldy and
Clark and Jackson and Buckslew and
many other legal giants Of those
days, all Of whom have made their
last arguments, settled their final
accounts, and passed beyond the
dark river. In that period there
was much litigation concerning land
titles, involving large sums of
money, esq eeijally titles to coal lands
in the lovei e.nnel of the county, and
IN many OF We Col. Freeze was
one of the leading counsel. Such
suits are scarcely heard of here now,
the titles having been fully estab-
lished.
In the Mollie Mcguire trial of
Hester, Tully and McHugh, in 1877
Col. Freeze was one of the counsel
for the defendants. This trial,
which lasted three weeks, was the
most important murder trial that
ever occurred in this county, and
one of the causes celebre' of the
state. Many new points Of homi
eide law and evidence were ruled.
and affirmed by the Supreme Court.
o. the fifteen lawyers who were con-
cerned on both sides of that case,
only four are living, and they are
Col. Freeze, Hon. S. P. Wolverton,
OF Sunbury, John M. Clark, who
was then District Attorney, and my
self. Franklin B. Gowen Frank
lin P. Hughes, Charles r. Buck
alew, John w. Ryan, Charles B.
Brockway, William Bryson, Linn
Bartholomew. Warren J. Buckalew
and the others have passeo away.
"A large lumber of cases argued
by Col Freeze in the Supreme