Galbraith, John

JOHN GALBRAITH. The Penn. Galbraiths came of the Scotch-Irish stock so prominent in the early history of the commonwealth. James Galbraith, the founder of the family in this State, emigrated from the North of Ireland, and settled at Donegal, in what is now Lancaster Co., in 1712; he bought large tracts of land from Win. Penn, proprietary; his son,. James Galbraith, Jr., married, in 1735, Elizabeth Bertram, who, with her father, Rev. William Bertram, came from Edinburgh, Scotland. These people were all Presbyterians in their religious faith, and the old stone church at Donegal, where they worshiped, has in its churchyard the bones of many of the family. Jas. Galbraith, Jr., was elected Sheriff of Lancaster Co. in 1742; he was made Judge of the Common Pleas in 1745, and was for many years a Justice of the Peace; he removed to Cumberland Co, in 1760, and in 1763 was appointed Judge in that county. He took an active part in the French and Indian war in 1755—56, and during the Revolution in 1777, was appointed Colonel for Cumberland Co., being then seventy-three years of age; he was obliged, however, to resign after a twelve-months’ service, on account of his advanced years and bodily infirmities. In Egle’s history of Penn., the writer says: "The Galbraiths of Cumberland Co. all came from James Galbraith, Jr.; every one of his sons became prominent in the Revolutionary war on the side of the patriots. Bertram Galbraith, First Lieutenant in Lancaster Co., was his son, and did noble service in the cause of his country. Andrew Galbraith, another son, served with distinction as an officer in the Revolution. Chief Justice John Bannister Gibson married one of his daughters. John Galbraith, the youngest son, was a soldier of the Revolution; he was taken prisoner at the battle of Long Island, and, with many others, suffered great hardships in the British prisons in New York City. After the war he removed to Huntingdon Co., and from there to Butler Co., where he resided until his death. In the southwest corner of the old Derry Churchyard, on the line of the Lebanon Valley Railroad, at Derry Station, is a stone slab, bearing the following inscription: ‘Here lieth the remains of the Rev. Wm. Bertram, first pastor of this congregation, who departed this life ye 2d Feb., A.D. 1799, aged eighty-five years.’ Immediately beside it is another slab with this inscription: ‘Here lieth the remains of James Galbraith, who departed this life ye 23d August, 1744, aged seventy-eight years, also James Galbraith, Esq., the younger, on ye 11th June, 1787, aged eighty-three years, who dwelt beloved by all, in rational piety, modest hope and cheerful resignation." Andrew Galbraith, brother of James Galbraith, Jr., was the first Coroner of Lancaster Co. In 1730, he was appointed one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, a position he held until 1746. He was created a member of Assembly in 1730, and for eight consecutive sessions thereafter. In 1732, when a candidate for Assembly, he had a most extraordinary canvass; his wife, mounting her mare Nelly, with spurs strapped to her heels, rode out among the Scotch-Irish in Donegal and collected more than 100 voters, at whose head she rode into Lancaster Borough, where the elections were held, and in Penn Square harangued them with such effect that her husband was returned elected by two or three votes. This incident is thus referred to in a biographical sketch of Madame Patterson Bonaparte in Lippincott’s Magazine for Sept., 1877. Mrs. Patterson, Madame Bonaparte’s mother, being the grand daughter of the successful feminine electioneerer. "Mrs. Patterson came of that sturdy, independent Scotch-Irish race that has peopled Penn.’s prosperous valleys. Her grandmother, Mrs. Galbraith, was of considerable force of character, taking a prominent part in Revolutionary stir, and on one occasion traversing on horseback the then almost wilderness, to canvass votes for her husband’s election to the Assembly, which she won, whether by robust arguments or in the felicitous way of the beautiful duchess of Devonshire, is not recorded." Robert Galbraith, one of the sons of James Galbraith, Jr., was appointed Prothonotary for Bedford Co. March 21, 1777; he was also Justice for the same county. In 1778, he removed to York, and there practiced law; he was a member of the Assembly from that county, and was appointed agent to sell the confiscated estates of the Tories; he returned to Bedford Co. in 1784, and was in 1788 appointed President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Huntingdon Co.; he was an officer in the Revolution, and served with honor to himself and country. John Galbraith, the immediate subject of this sketch, son of the John Galbraith above referred to, was born at Huntingdon, Penn., in 1794. His father moved to Butler Co., this State, about the beginning of the 19th century, where the son grew up on a farm. Long before he was of age he was in charge of a school, and in due time served an apprenticeship to the printing business in the same office in Butler, where James Thompson, afterward Chief Justice, was employed. Tiring of printing he studied law with Gen. Wm. Ayres, of Butler, and was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-three or twenty-four. Soon after he married Miss Amy Ayres, daughter of Rev. Robert Ayres, an Episcopal minister, long resident at Brownsville, Penn., brother of Gen. Ayres. About the same time he moved to Franklin, Penn., where he rose rapidly, both in his profession and in popular esteem. His first official position was as a member of the Assembly, to which he was elected three times; was elected to Congress as a Democrat in 1832, 1834 and 1838, where he served on important committees and made several striking speeches. In 1837, he moved to Erie, and was ever after a resident of that city. On retiring from Congress he practiced law until the fall of 1851, when he was elected President Judge for Erie, Crawford and Warren Cos., running as Democratic candidate in a district which usually gave about 1,100 Whig majority. His death occurred on the 15th of June, 1860, before the expiration of his term. Judge Galbraith was one of the foremost men in promoting the various public enterprises that gave the first strong impulse to Erie Co.; he was the pioneer in building the railroad from Erie to the Ohio line, was the largest stockholder in the Erie & Edinboro Plank Road, and aided greatly in reviving the long projected railroad from Erie to Sunbury. One of his favorite ideas, the establishment of a reform school for youthful offenders, has been adopted by the State in the institution at Huntingdon and elsewhere. Mrs. Galbraith died in Philadelphia, March 2, 1868. Their children were William A., now President Judge of Erie Co., and Elizabeth Ann, intermarried with William S. Lane, for some time a practicing lawyer in Erie, and now in Philadelphia.