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A large part of the judicial history of York County, is inseparably associated with the
career of Hon. Robert J. Fisher, who, for more than thirty years presided over its courts.
On the 4th day of November 1828, when twenty-two years of age, he was admitted to practice
in the several courts of York County. He had received a thorough legal education, at the
Yale Law School, New Haven, Conn., and in the office of his father, a widely known and
honored attorney of Harrisburg. For twenty-three years he worked diligently at the bar,
attaching to himself by his integrity and ability a large clientage and a host of friends.
In 1851, he was elected to the bench of the Nineteenth Judicial District, composed then of
the counties of York and Adams. Being twice re-elected (1861 and 1871), he was, until
1875, the only law judge of the two counties, accomplishing a vast amount of labor, and
rendering with promptness and widely recognized learning, decisions which have commanded
general re!
spect. His rulings have almost universally been upheld by the appellate tribunals, and
his opinions have been quoted as an authority, in this and other States, with more
frequency than those of almost any other contemporaneous nisi prius judge. Although an
earnest Democrat, during his official career, he carefully abstained from all connection
with politics. Judge Fisher possessed, in an unusual degree, the rare ability of viewing a
question impartially and deciding on principle unaffected by prejudice or fear.
Particularly was this characteristic strikingly illustrated in his course during the
Rebellion. Now that the intense excitement and intolerant partisanship of the time have
passed away, his undeviating adherence to the established principles of the common law,
appears most admirable. Though a decided and uncompromising Unionist, he was,
nevertheless, determined in his opposition to every unwarrantable encroachment of the
military upon the civil power. When passion an!
d fear deprived others of their judgment, he seems never to have lost
his cool discretion, either in the presence of Federal soldiers or rebel invaders. On one
occasion, a citizen had been illegally arrested by the military authorities at the
hospital on the commons, and a writ of habeas corpus was taken out in his behalf. Upon its
return, the prisoner was brought into court by a squad of soldiers with fixed bayonets.
That show of force, however, failed to affect the action of the Court. Promptly he
required the soldiers to recognize civil authority, saying that as citizens they had a
right to be there, but as armed men they must withdraw. After a hearing the prisoner was
released. At the time of the Confederate occupation of York, in 1863, the rebel commander
sent to Judge Fisher for the keys of the court house. He replied that he did not have
them, and that the commissioners were the only legal custodians of the public buildings;
upon another summons being sent, however, he went with the messenger and found that the
soldiers had in some way !
obtained admission to the prothonotary’s office and were preparing to destroy the records
there deposited. As the chief judicial magistrate of the county, he warmly expostulated
against the destruction of these valuable evidences, the loss of which would be
irremediable. The General, at first said it would only be just retaliation for the
depredations of the northern armies in the South, but after a long discussion, the judge
compelled him to acknowledge the unlawfulness of all such acts of useless plunder, and
persuaded him to withdraw his men. The records and valuable documents of the county were
thus saved by the coolness and firmness of the venerable judge. There are several other
occasions, which many citizens recall during those turbulent times, when he showed like
remarkable courage, facing mobs with fearless dignity, and with unusual mildness, but at
the same time unusual determination, maintaining order and insisting upon the supremacy of
the civil law. Jud!
ge Fisher comes of one of the oldest and most respectable families of
the State. Born in Harrisburg, May 6, 1806, he is the son of George Fisher, Esq., and Ann
Shipper, daughter of Robert Strettell Jones of Burlington, N.J. He was baptized Robert
Strettell Jones Fisher, but dropped the second name early in life. His maternal
grandfather was a member of the New Jersey Legislature, and secretary of the Committee of
Safety in 1776. His great grandfather, Isaac Jones, was twice mayor of Philadelphia (1767
and 1768), and a member of the common council in 1764. His great great grandfather Fisher
was one of the original company of Quakers, who came from England with William Penn, in
1682, and who laid out the city of Philadelphia. His grandfather, George Fisher, received
from his father a large tract of land in Dauphin County, upon which he laid out the
borough of Middletown. Judge Fisher was twice married, and in the quiet scenes of domestic
life he always experienced great satisfaction. His first wife, Catharine , daughter of
Horatio Gates Jameson,!
M. D., became the mother of eight children, and died in 1850. In 1853 he married Mary
Sophia, daughter of Ebenezer Cadwell of Northbridge, Mass., who bore him two children. His
eldest son, George Fisher, Esq., is a well established member of the York County bar, and
his other son, Robert J. Fisher, Jr., having been for several years connected with the
patent office, is now one of the three examiners-in-chief. In matters of religion, Judge
Fisher has always been eminently catholic. From childhood, his associations have been
largely with the Protestant Episcopal denominations, although particularly charitable
toward those of different faith and order, and a frequent attendant at their services. In
1870, he became a communicant member of St. John’s Church in York, has been for many years
a vestryman, and was the first chancellor of the diocese of central Pennsylvania.
Taken from the book, “History of York County, Illustrated 1886” by John Gibson, Historical
Editor