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Joseph Barnes


Gender:
Male
Born:
1799
Died:
April 22, 1839
Home Town:
Lanesborough, MA
Later Residences:
Philadelphia, PA
Delaware County, PA
Biographical Notes:
Joseph Barnes was born in 1799, possibly in Lanesborough, Massachusetts. He graduated from Williams College in 1800 and attended the Litchfield Law School in 1801. Barnes was admitted to the bar first in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1805 and later in Delaware County, Pennsylvania in 1806.

From May 1809 to 1817, Barnes was the Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. In addition, he served as the Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 1800 to 1811 and acted for seventeen years, from 1818 to 1835, as the Associate Judge of the Philadelphia District Court. Barnes also acted as the Register of Wills in Philadelphia in 1824 and as the President Judge of the District Court of Philadelphia from 1826 to 1835. He died on April 22, 1839 in Philadelphia from an "inflammation of the brain".

Education
Years at LLS:
1801
Other Education:
Graduated from Williams College in 1800.

Profession / Service
Profession:
Lawyer; Political Office
Admitted To Bar:
Phildelphia, PA in 1805, and Delaware County, PA in 1806
State Posts:
Prothonotary of the Supreme Court (PA) 1809-1817
Attorney General (PA) 1800-1811
Associate Judge of the District Court in Philadelphia (PA) 1818-1835
Presiding Judge of the District Court in Philadelphia (PA) 1826-1835
Local Posts:
Register of Wills (Philadelphia, PA) 1824

help The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation.

Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School, Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1849, 4.

Litchfield County Bar Association Records, 1801, Litchfield Historical Society, Helga J. Ingraham Memorial Library.
Secondary Sources:
Durfee, D.D., Rev. Calvin. Williams Biographical Annals. Boston: Lee and Shepard Publishers, 1871.

Philadelphia Public Ledger, 25 April 1839

Poulson's Daily Advertiser, 24 April 1839

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