{{Short description|American judge and historian (1820–1888)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = J. Smith Futhey | office = Presiding Judge of the Chester County Court of Common Pleas | term_start = March 1, 1879 | term_end = November 26, 1888 | predecessor = William Butler | successor = William Bell Waddell | birth_name = John Smith Futhey | birth_date = {{birth date|1820|09|03}} | birth_place = West Chester, Pennsylvania, US | death_date = {{death date and age|1888|11|26|1820|09|03}} | death_place = West Chester, Pennsylvania, US | occupation = Judge, lawyer, historian | resting_place = Oaklands Cemetery | image = J. Smith Futhey (1820–1888), Pennsylvania state judge and historian (cropped).jpg }}
'''J. Smith Futhey''' (September 3, 1820 – November 26, 1888) was an American historian and presiding judge of the 15th judicial district comprising Chester County, Pennsylvania, from 1879 until his death.
== Life and career == Futhey was born and raised in West Chester, Pennsylvania, eldest of five children born to Margaret (née Parkinson) and Robert Futhey. The family was of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Futhey's great-grandfather, Samuel Futhey, held three enslaved people as of 1780. His cousins included state legislator Samuel Futhey Dale.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Futhey |first=John Smith |url=http://archive.org/details/cu31924005813518 |title=History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with Genealogical and Biographical Sketches |last2=Cope |first2=Gilbert |date=1881 |publisher=L. H. Everts |location=Philadelphia |pages=558–560 |language=en-US |url-access= |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
Futhey studied law briefly at Dickinson College,<ref name=":3" /> read law, and gained admittance to the Chester County bar on February 7, 1843.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Garner |first=Winfield Scott |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100759969 |title=Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Comprising a Historical Sketch of the County Together with More Than Five Hundred Biographical Sketches of the Prominent Men and Leading Citizens of the County |last2=Wiley |first2=Samuel T. |date=1893 |publisher=Gresham Publishing Company |location=Philadelphia |pages=767 |language=en-US |via=HathiTrust}}</ref> He practiced law for decades and became "one of the most distinguished men in Chester County." He served as president of the Penn Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Chester County in the 1870s and served as a founding director of the National Bank of Chester County in 1864.<ref name=":1" />
In February 1879, William Butler resigned as presiding judge of the Chester County Court of Common Pleas to accept an appointment to the federal bench. On February 27, 1879, Governor Henry M. Hoyt appointed Futhey to fill the remainder of Butler's term. In November 1879, Futhey was elected to a full ten-year term without opposition.<ref name=":1" /> He was the district's sole judge for most of his time in office, and his death was blamed on overwork. He died in office on November 26, 1888. William Bell Waddell was appointed on December 4 to finish his term.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Thomson |first=W[ilmer] W. |url=http://archive.org/details/chestercountyits00thoms |title=Chester County and Its People |publisher=The Union History Company |year=1898 |location=Chicago |pages=527–528, 532, 535 |language=en-US |via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=http://archive.org/details/bub_gb_2UsVAAAAYAAJ |title=West Chester, Past and Present: Centennial Souvenir with Celebration Proceedings |publisher=Daily Local News |year=1899 |pages=7, 49, 51 |language=en-US |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> The county bar eulogized his integrity, industry, and benevolence.<ref name=":2" />
His remains were interred in Oaklands Cemetery outside West Chester. Pallbearers include William Butler, William Bell Waddell, Washington Townsend, and many other local dignitaries and elected officials.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1888-12-01 |title=Funeral of the Late Judge Futhey |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/lancaster-new-era-funeral-of-the-late-ju/144072983/ |access-date=2024-03-25 |work=Lancaster New Era |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
== Publications == Futhey was an enthusiastic and competent amateur historian, and with Gilbert Cope, he authored ''History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with Genealogical and Biographical Sketches'' (Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1881). "It is to him [Futhey] that the people of Chester County, as well as historians generally, are mainly indebted for information in regard to the early history of the county in all its varied lines," wrote Wilmer W. Thomson in 1898.<ref name=":2" /> In 1899, the ''Daily Local News'' described the monograph as "one of the most valuable works ever produced within the county."<ref name=":0" /> Writing in ''Pennsylvania History'' in 1972, Harry Whipkey remarked that Futhey and Cope's book "has long been a valuable tool for genealogists, researchers and historians interested in the early history of Chester County."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Whipkey |first=Harry E. |date=1972 |title=News and Comment |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27771995 |journal=Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=116 |issn=0031-4528 |jstor=27771995}}</ref>
With his friend William Darlington, Futhey published "Notae Cestrienses," consisting of commentaries about notable people from Chester County, in the form of a column in a local newspaper.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sharpless |first=William T. |date=1932 |title=Dr. William Darlington, Physician and Botanist |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41609222 |journal=Bartonia |issue=14 |pages=12–13 |issn=0198-7356 |jstor=41609222 |jstor-access=free}}</ref> His other publications include "History of Upper Octorara Presbyterian Church" (1870), "History of Educational Institutions of Chester County" (1877), and "Historical Address on the 100th Anniversary of the Paoli Massacre" (1878).<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |url=https://www.cga.ct.gov/hco/books/Memorial_Biographies_of_New_England_Hist-vol-viii_1907.pdf |title=Memorial Biographies of the New-England Historic Genealogical Society, 1880–1889 |publisher=New England Historic Genealogical Society |year=1907 |volume=8 |location=Boston |pages=368 |language=en-US |access-date=2024-03-24}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{commons category-inline}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Futhey, J. Smith}} Category:1820 births Category:1888 deaths Category:19th-century American historians Category:19th-century Pennsylvania state court judges Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent Category:Burials at Oaklands Cemetery Category:Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas Category:Historians of Pennsylvania Category:Historians from Pennsylvania Category:Pennsylvania lawyers Category:People from Chester County, Pennsylvania Category:People from West Chester, Pennsylvania