Cadwalader's Cases: Being Decisions of the Hon. John Cadwalader, Judge of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Between the Years 1858 and 1879, Volume 2
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
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Cadwalader's Cases: Being Decisions of the Hon. John Cadwalader, Judge of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Between the Years 1858 and 1879, Volume 1
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
John Cadwalader was a lawyer and judge from Pennsylvania.
Background
John Cadwalader was born on April 1, 1805; descended from John Cadwalader, who came from Pembroke, Wales, toward the close of the seventeenth century, settled in Philadelphia, and died there in 1734. Thomas Cadwalader, of the third generation from John, was a lawyer in Philadelphia and later acted as land agent for the Penns and other owners of extensive interests in Pennsylvania. He married Mary, daughter of Col. Clement Biddle, Washington's friend, and their son John was born at Philadelphia.
Education
John was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1821, and then entered the law office of Horace Binney, at the same time assisting his father in the management of the Penn estates.
Career
He was admitted to the bar September 30, 1825, while still a minor, and commenced practise in Philadelphia. His father was able to influence much important business and John very quickly acquired a large practise, particularly in matters involving the law of real property, in which he became recognized as an expert. In this connection he prepared a history of the title of William Penn's family to their large estates in America. In 1830 he was retained as counsel by the Bank of the United States, and acted as such throughout the extensive and prolonged litigation arising out of its failure. He became vice-provost of the Law Academy of Philadelphia in 1833, continuing as such for twenty years.
As an advocate he had early acquired a prominent position through his thorough preparation and exhaustive study of his briefs, and this trait, combined with a forceful style and remarkably wide knowledge of law in general, gave him a professional prestige second to none. Among the many important cases in which he appeared were the "Cloth Cases" in 1839 perhaps the most important proceedings ever instituted by the revenue department in which he was specially retained by the attorney-general in behalf of the United States. Another was the Girard Will case, where he was associated with Daniel Webster. During the riots of 1844 he raised and commanded a company of city militia. His interests were wide, and he was an active supporter of all schemes which had for their object the improvement of conditions in Philadelphia. He was leader of the movement advocating the consolidation of the city with the surrounding incorporated districts into one municipal corporation, which was carried into effect in 1854. Always a strong constitutional Democrat, he was in 1854 nominated for the office of city solicitor, but was defeated. In the same year, however, he was elected congressional representative for the fifth district by a narrow majority after a bitter contest, and took a leading part in the deliberations of the House during his term but did not seek reelection. He was appointed by President Buchanan judge of the United States district court for the eastern district of Pennsylvania, April 24, 1858, and retained this position till his death. His tenure of office coincided with the Civil War and Reconstruction periods, and many difficult questions incident thereto came before him for adjudication.
Coming to the bench with a wide experience acquired at the bar, and equipped with a knowledge of law in respect of which he "had no contemporary superior, " his opinions on difficult or novel points were brilliant, though he had a tendency to over-elaboration. In matters involving no new principles, however, he frequently delivered extempore judgments, a practise which had been seldom adopted in the United States courts up to that time. Counsel frequently found it difficult to present an argument before him owing to his habit of constantly intervening, but this failing was attributed to his innate fairness and scrupulous anxiety to render absolute justice.
"In admiralty proceedings he availed himself of the expert assistance of a retired shipmaster, nautical nomenclature being to him an absolutely sealed book, altogether beyond his ability to master".
He died in Philadelphia, January 26, 1879.
In 1907 appeared Cadwalader's Cases (2 vols. ), comprising his judicial opinions on questions of prize and belligerency arising during the Civil War, together with decisions in admiralty, in equity and at common law, between 1858 and 1879. This work, prepared by his son, included an introductory sketch of the judge's life, and reproduced the proceedings in the circuit court and at the meeting of the Philadelphia Bar on the occasion of his death.
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
Membership
He was a member of the U. S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 5th district.
Connections
He was twice married: (1) in 1825 to Mary, daughter of Horace Binney, who died in 1831; (2) in 1833 to Henrietta Maria, daughter of Charles Nicoll Bancker of Philadelphia.