Each conference room in our headquarters is named for a dignitary in the Westmoreland County legal community. Thank you to The Hon. Daniel J. Ackerman who chose the names and provided the biographical information.
The Addison Room: Alexander Addison (1759–1807)
Prior to 1790, the judiciary of the commonwealth consisted primarily of public-spirited laymen. The Pennsylvania Constitution of that year provided that each judicial district would have a president judge who was a professional lawyer or learned in the law. The first such president judge here was Alexander Addison, who presided over an area which encompassed four present-day counties: Westmoreland, Allegheny, Washington, and Fayette. Addison’s elevation to the bench in 1791 coincided with Congress imposing a tax on distilled spirits, which gave rise to the Whiskey Rebellion—an uprising of local indignation which melted in the face of 13,000 troops dispatched to the area by President Washington. Judge Addison, who corresponded with the president, shared his views—a courageous and locally unpopular stance which led to Addison’s politically motivated impeachment in 1803.
The Coulter Room: Richard Coulter (1827–1908)
One of Coulter’s eulogists at the memorial service held for him at our Courthouse noted, “Nature had molded him for deeds of daring and courage.” A lifelong resident of Greensburg, Richard Coulter practiced law here for twelve years before the outbreak of the Civil War. He entered the service of the Union Army as a captain of Company I of the Pennsylvania Eleventh Regiment in 1861, and was under fire in 28 major battles, including Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Appomattox. At the war’s end, he left the service as a major-general, bearing three wounds from Confederate fire. “Fighting Dick Coulter” then returned to his law practice and assorted business interests which included a prominent stake in the Keystone Coal and Coke Company, and president of the First National Bank.
The Geary Room: John White Geary (1819–1873)
Born near Mt. Pleasant, Geary was educated at Jefferson College in civil engineering and law, two disciplines which would serve him well in his later careers in the military and politics. He became an engineer and superintendant of the Allegheny Portage Railroad, and would obtain prominence as a military officer in both the Mexican and Civil wars, where he would suffer a total of ten battlefield wounds. In between these conflicts, he was appointed postmaster of San Francisco, and then, at age 33, was elected the city’s first mayor; followed by a presidential appointment as governor of the Territory of Kansas at a time when strife between pro- and anti-slavery factions fought each other in a preamble to the Civil War. In that national conflict, he would rise to the rank of brigadier-general in the Union Army, and play a significant role in the battles at Cedar Mountain, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain, and Atlanta. After the war, Geary served as a two-term governor of Pennsylvania from 1867 to 1873, and died three weeks after leaving office, at age 54.
The St. Clair Room: Arthur St. Clair (1736–1818)
While he was Westmoreland County’s first prothonotary, clerk of the orphans’ court, register of wills, and recorder of deeds, and later a magistrate, St. Clair is best remembered as a statesman and soldier. A young British officer during the French & Indian War who subsequently served with distinction as a brigadier general in Washington’s army in the Revolution, he played a pivotal role in that army’s victory at Trenton. Later, he served as President of the Continental Congress, and Governor of the Northwest Territory. In the latter post he led an ill-fated force in an attempt to subjugate the native tribes of the area, and at the Battle of the Wabash in 1791 suffered the greatest defeat of an American army ever inflicted by Native American warriors. Having exhausted his own funds in support of these engagements—without reimbursement—he died in poverty. His remains are interred in St. Clair Park directly opposite our offices.
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