of the County of Essex, an office which could then be held by a practitioner in the Courts. Soon after this he became engaged in a controversy with Thomas Gibbons which resulted in reducing him from prosperity to almost actual poverty. The controversy originated in a rivalry between Col. Ogden and Mr. Gibbons in the steamboat business. The Legislature of New York had granted the exclusive right to Livingston and Fulton to navigate the waters of that State with steam vessels, for a term of years. Col. Ogden, in connection with Daniel Dod, started a line of steamboats between Elizabeth Town and New York. In retaliation, the Legislature of New Jersey passed a statute granting exclusive privileges to Ogden and Dod. An attempt was made to repeal the New Jersey statute and the parties appeared with their Counsel before a committee and were heard. Livingston was represented by Thomas Addis Emmet, and Ogden and Dod by Samuel L. Southard and Joseph Hopkinson. The result was that the New Jersey law was repealed, Violent disputes originated in the courts and both Legislatures were appealed to. During these controversies Thomas Gibbons appeared on the stage, in opposition to Ogden and Dod. He was a lawyer of consummate ability, a man of large means, of untiring energy, of an iron will and capable of employing means to attain an end which some honest men thought questionable. Suit after suit was brought and the controversy at last assuming a personal character, challenges passed between the parties. Colonel Ogden was dogged and persevering in his attempts to secure his rights. No aspersion. could be justly made against his character; that remained untarnished; but, in the end he was defeated after a most harassing conflict. He lost his fortune, his wife died and he never recovered the position which he formerly occupied. This same Thomas Gibbons was remarkable for wit and sarcasm, in the use of which, in cases where he appeared as Counsellor, he exceeded the most of men. At the time of one of the many controversies between him and Governor Ogden, his son-in-law, John M. Trumbull, had been subpoenaed as a witness, but had failed to appear. Gibbons, who had quarreled with Mr. Trumbull, as, in fact, with almost all the members of his family, seized the opportunity to wreak his vengeance and applied to the Supreme Court of New Jersey for an attachment for contempt. He appeared before that tribunal in support of the motion; Richard Stockton representing Mr. Trumbull, injudiciously reflected upon the character and motives of Gibbons. This opened the door for a witty and sarcastic reply. Gibbons had

become very fat and unwieldy; he requested permission from the court to remain seated, and poured out volumes of invective, which even the dignified Chief Justice Kirkpatrick and his associates, Southard and Rossell were unable to withstand. The Court, the Counsel and the spectators indulged in roars of laughter until the court room resounded with the peals. Joseph Warren Scott, then in the prime of his life and a distinguished Counsellor, left his seat and ran to a place where he was concealed from the view of the judges, danced up and down and clapping his hands, shook with uncontrollable mirth. It was some time before the dignity of the court could be restored.

In 1829, Governor Ogden was arrested for debt in New York and refusing the proffered aid of his friends, remained in confinement for several months, being finally released by an act of the Legislature providing that no Revolutionary officer or soldier should be imprisoned for debt. The law was so framed as to cover the case of Col. Ogden, and he was released. He died in 1839; his last days were solaced by his appointment to the office of Collector of Customs of Jersey City, created especially for him by act of Congress. In 1813 he was succeeded by William S. Pennington, who was followed, in 1815, by Mahlon Dickerson. The biographies of these two last named gentlemen have already appeared among the justices of the Supreme Court.

Mr. Dickerson was succeeded by Isaac H. Williamson, who held office for twelve years. He was descended from one of the oldest and most respected families in Elizabeth Town. He did not have the advantages of a collegiate education, graduating from a common school. Entering the office of his brother, Matthias Williamson, he was licensed in 1791 as an Attorney, as a Counsellor in 1796 and was made a Sergeant-at-law in 1804. He began practice in his native place, where he had many distinguished men as competitors, among whom was Aaron Ogden, twelve years his senior. Col. Ogden, in after years, speaking of the ability of the young attorney, gave him great credit. for talent and acknowledged that he was becoming a very dangerous. rival. Mr. Williamson's practice was not confined to his native County. In his day, the Attorney Generals were permitted to appoint deputies to prosecute the pleas in the different counties and young Williamson. was made Deputy for the County of Morris, which office he filled for several years with distinguished ability. He was remarkable for great accuracy in drafting indictments and other legal papers. His ability in this respect became so well-known that lawyers found it very safe

for them to use his drafts as precedents in their own practice. It is said of him that he never made a mistake in drawing any legal paper. There perhaps never was a lawyer at the bar of New Jersey more safe as an adviser than Isaac H. Williamson. His perception of legal principles seemed to be intuitive and he easily grasped the most intricate questions. He revelled in abstruse legal problems and gave up his whole mind and heart to the acquisition of legal lore. He could not be tempted from his profession to any participation in party politics and his reading outside of his profession was of such a character as would aid him in discharging the duties incumbent upon. him as Counsellor and Advocate. He read history, examined mathematics, studied political economy and abstruse sciences, but they were all used by him as aids and adjuncts in the prosecution of his legal studies. Light literature he never touched and it is doubtful whether he ever read any poetry at all. He was a very able advocate and a successful one. He was, perhaps, the profoundest jurist that ever adorned the Court of Chancery and yet his style both in speaking and writing was faulty. No scholar can read his published opinions without desiring to criticise them. He succeeded Mahlon Dickerson as Governor, in 1817. His election occurred at a time when party politics ran high and when the parties were about equally divided. He had only a majority of seven in the joint meeting that elected him Governor. His opposing candidate was Joseph McIlvaine and strange to say, it was not so much a question of fitness and ability, or even of politics, as of locality that decided his election. He was re-elected for twelve years, without serious opposition, but in 1829, the Democratic party, under the leadership of Gen. Jackson, became overwhelmingly powerful and he was obliged to give way to Peter D. Vroom. ferred the practice of law to the position of Chancellor, but no man was better equipped as an Equity Judge than Isaac H. Williamson. His salary was only about $2,000, but, in addition to this, there were some fees connected with the office, which if they had been collected, would have made the income from the office quite respectable. When Governor Williamson assumed the duties of Chancellor the business in his court was quite unimportant, but the profession soon learned that a master mind was in control and the court gradually became very busily engaged in settling disputes between suitors. Governor Williamson worked very many important changes in the practice of his court, making himself familiar with the principles governing the

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English tribunals of Equity, after which that of New Jersey was modeled and introducing these principles to the very great advantage of members of the bar and of their clients. Adequate remedies, before his time, had never been afforded to mortgagees for the foreclosure of mortgages, but he introduced a system by which full relief was given to persons holding this kind of security and the perfect method now adopted by the court to meet every exigency that might arise in suits of foreclosure, owe their origin, in many cases, to Chancellor Williamson. Unfortunately there is no book of reports of cases covering his time; this is much to be regretted, as doubtless stores of legal wisdom, suggestions and decisions with reference to the principles involved in the practice of courts of equity would be discovered in his opinions. One case in which he delivered an opinion is reported in 3d Stewart, 145. No Chancellor prior to his time ever conferred more dignity on the court or impressed himself as more deserving the respect and confidence of the community than did Isaac H. Williamson. Governor Williamson returned to the bar after his failure to be reelected Chancellor and very soon secured a lucrative practice. He was engaged in almost every important cause, on one side or the other, which was brought into the courts. In 1832, Chief Justice Ewing died and all eyes were turned to Mr. Williamson as his successor, but he declined the nomination, giving as his reason that his mind for so many years had been directed to equity jurisprudence that he feared he was unfitted to assume an office where the rules of the common law must govern.

Notwithstanding his aversion from political life, he was elected for two years to the Council from Essex County, and in 1844, became a member of the Constitutional convention, of which body he was unanimously made the President. His health failing he was unable to meet with that important body during the latter part of its sessions and died before the year closed, at the age of seventy-seven. Although he was not a graduate of any collegiate institution, Princeton conferred upon him the degree of LL.D., as a mark of respect from the trustees over whom he had presided for more than twelve years.

Governor Williamson was one of the most genial of men, his laugh was an inspiration, trilling out like a child's, full of life and soul. He was of a merry disposition and enjoyed the society of friends, loved a joke, enjoyed a song, but never lost his personal dignity. He was the life of any company and the younger members of the bar loved him for his

kindness; he never repelled them, listened to them with patience, corrected their errors and aided them by his advice and counsel. The members of the profession, in his time, were more sociable in their habits than at present; they loved to gather together; there was an esprit de corps among them and Isaac H. Williamson aided more than any other man in strengthening the bond of friendship. At the termination of Governor Williamson's last term, in 1829, the Democratic party became successful throughout the Republic and elected Gen. Jackson President of the United States. Its success in New Jersey brought new men to the front in the political arena. Williamson was one of the last of the great men of New Jersey to adhere to the Federalists and although he was recognized as eminently fitted for the office of Governor and Chancellor, and could have been reappointed in ordinary times, when party spirit was not so decided, the successful Democrats were now determined to sweep their old opponents from office and to put their own political friends into position and power.

Garret D. Wall had been known and recognized as a leading Federalist only a few years before the election of General Jackson, but he gave in his adherence to the Democratic party, acted with it and aided materially in securing its success in New Jersey. So, when the Legis. lature convened, he was elected Governor but declined. Peter D. Vroom had also acted with the Federalists but now, he too, had gone over to the Democratic party and when General Wall declined the appointment Mr. Vroom was selected and held office until 1832. By this time the Federalist party had ceased to exist and a new one arose--the Whig party. This did not succeed to the principles of the Federalists nor did it assume them. Those who favored the extinct political organization were divided in their future affiliations, some going to the Democratic and some to the Whig party. Different political principles came to the front which were recognized by the new organizations. In 1832, Samuel L. Southard was chosen by a Whig Legislature, but he only remained in office for one year. Elias P. Sealey succeeded Governor Southard, in March, 1835, for the balance of his term, which expired in the fall of that year. He was a Whig and when the Democratic party came into power, in 1833, Governor Vroom was re-elected. Mr. Sealey was of Puritan descent, his ancestors removing from Connecticut in 1698, to Cumberland County, New Jersey. His father was a prominent man in that County for several years. He was licensed in 1815 as an attorney. He was not a graduate of any college and only