
Pennsylvania Judicial Center Portraits
Opened in 2009 and located across the street from Pennsylvania's historic Capitol Building, the Pennsylvania Judicial Center houses offices from all three appellate courts, offices that administer the state's Unified Judicial System, and the Supreme Court's History Center. The Chief Justice's chambers display a number of portraits of former Justices.
Address
601 Commonwealth Avenue
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Opening Hours
Mon - Fri
8:00 am – 5:00 pm

​Walter H. Lowrie
Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unkown
​Chief Justice Lowrie was first admitted to the Allegheny County Bar in 1829. In 1846, Lowrie was appointed as a Judge, and he was later among the first Justice ever elected to the Supreme Court in 1851 and became Chief Justice in 1857. During the Civil War, US Marshalls seized the Jeffersonian newspaper in West Chester, a paper critical of the Federal Government. Chief Justice Lowrie presided over the trial in which the jury found the seizure unconstitutional and ordered its return to the owner. Lowrie finished his public service as the President Judge in Crawford County and died in office in 1876.

Ellis Lewis
Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unkown
Orphaned at the age of nine, Lewis worked as a printer at a newspaper founded by his father in Harrisburg. Lewis first became a judge when he was appointed President Judge of the Eighth Judicial District and later the President Judge of the Second Judicial District. After an 1850 constitutional amendment required judges be elected, Lewis was elected to the Supreme Court. That new group of Justices drew straws to determine the length of their term. Justice Ellis drew the second-shortest term at six years, with the final three years served as Chief Justice.

George W. Woodward
Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unkown
Chief Justice Woodward began his public service as the President Judge of the Fourth District in the center of the state. President Polk nominated Woodward to the US Supreme Court, however he was unable to obtain confirmation from the Senate. After his failed nomination, Woodward was appointed to fill a vacancy on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court in 1852. In 1867, Chief Justice Woodward wrote his most important decision in an appeal from an order of his fellow Justice, William Strong, that prevented railroad cars from running on Sundays. Influenced by his extensive travels in Europe, Woodward reversed Strong, finding cheap travel to the countryside was a blessing for the working class. After his time on the Supreme Court, Woodward found himself in the US House and Strong was later appointed, and confirmed, to the US Supreme Court.

James T. Mitchell
Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unkown
Mitchell attended Harvard and later studied law under a prominent Philadelphia lawyer, George W. Biddle, before being admitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1857. Mitchell was elected as a judge in Philadelphia county in 1871 and later a Justice in 1888. At the first argument after Mitchell’s early retirement in 1909, Chief Justice Fell announced the Court’s decision to appoint Mitchell as its prothonotary – a position he served in until his death five years later.

William Tilghman
Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unkown
Tilghman studied law under Chief Justice Benjamin Chew and was initially admitted to practice in Maryland. An elector of President Washington, Tilghman was later nominated by President John Adams to serve as Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He was known as the “midnight judge” because the Senate confirmed him just before midnight when John Adams’s term expired. After that court was abolished, Governor Thomas McKean, himself a former Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, appointed Tilghman as the President Judge of the First Judicial District and later as Chief Justice of Pennsylvania.

William Allen
Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unkown
William Allen studied law in England and returned to Philadelphia to manage his family’s business interests. At their own expense, he and his future father-in-law, Andrew Hamilton, bought the land upon which Independence Hall was later built. Allen was elected to the Pennsylvania House and during his service, was appointed Mayor of Philadelphia and served as a judge in four jurisdictions. His marriage to Margaret Hamilton made Allen the wealthiest man in Philadelphia and one of the most powerful. Allen was appointed Chief Justice of Pennsylvania in 1751. During his tenure, Allen founded Mr. Allen’s Town in Northampton County, later renamed Allentown. A bitter opponent of Benjamin Franklin and with sympathies to the crown, Chief Justice Allen resigned his position in 1774.

Jasper Yeates
Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Albert Rosenthal
This portrait was painted based on a miniature owned by Jasper Yeates Brinton, Esq. of Philadelphia. A native of Philadelphia Yeates studied law under Edward Shippen before moving to Lancaster to practice law. In 1791, Yeates was appointed to the Supreme Court by Pennsylvania’s first Governor, Thomas Mifflin. During his tenure, Yeates was appointed by President Washington to travel to Western Pennsylvania and help quell the Whiskey Rebellion.
Thomas Passmore, a plaintiff in a civil case before the Supreme Court, publicly posted a notice in Philadelphia that one of the defendants, among other things, was “a liar, a rascal, and a coward.” The Court ordered Passmore to apologize and, after he refused, the Court found him in contempt. In 1805, the Pennsylvania Legislature brought impeachment proceedings against Yeates, Shippen, and Thomas Smith for imposing a fine and prison term on Passmore. That impeachment attempt was unsuccessful and Yeates died in office in 1827.

Daniel Agnew
Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown
Daniel Agnew began studying law in Pittsburgh and was admitted to the Allegheny County Bar in 1829. Unable to find enough clients, Agnew moved his practice to Beaver County where he was appointed President Judge of the 17th Judicial District in 1851. Agnew became a Justice in 1863 and served his entire 15-year term.

J. Brewster McCollum
Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown
J. Brewster McCollum studied law in New York state, before being admitted to the Susquehanna County bar. He was elected the President Judge of that county in 1878 and after his ten-year term, declined to run for re-election after the opposing party nominated his brother-in-law to vie for his seat. The Republican party nominated James Mitchell and the Democrats nominated McCollum for an open seat on the Supreme Court. Before the election, Justice John Trunkey died, leaving two vacancies on the Court and both Mitchell and McCollum were elected. After drawing lots, McCollum gained seniority and became Chief Justice in 1903.

James Thompson
Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown
Admitted to practice in Erie County, James Thompson later served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and was elected Speaker in 1834. Thompson later became a judge and congressman, serving three terms. He was elected to the Supreme Court in 1857, became Chief Justice in 1867, and served until 1872. He retired to engage in private practice and unexpectedly died on Wednesday, January 28, 1874 while presenting an oral argument to the Supreme Court in Philadelphia.

Edward M. Paxson
Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown
Edward Paxson was first admitted to practice in Bucks County in 1850 and was later appointed as a judge to that county’s common pleas court in 1869. Paxson was elected to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1874 and served until 1893, when he stepped down to become the receiver of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company. Interestingly, after Paxson’s death, the Supreme Court invalidated his will on the basis that it failed to satisfy certain requirements that Paxson himself had recognized in an opinion he previously authored on behalf of the Supreme Court.

James Logan
Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown
Born in Ireland, James Logan was a confidant of William Penn and began his service in the colony serving as Penn’s secretary. He was later elected Mayor of Philadelphia and was appointed as the colony’s Chief Justice from 1731 to 1739. After his service as Chief Justice, Logan became the colony’s Governor with his most consequential effort being that of the Walking Purchase, in which 1.2 million acres of land were taken from the Lenape. Logan was a vociferous reader and his work with Benjamin Franklin helped to establish the library system in Philadelphia.

James P. Sterrett
Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown
Born in 1822 in Juniata County, Sterrett’s study of law began at Dickinson College and ended at the University of Virginia. He began his public service as the President Judge of Allegheny County. Governor Hartranft then appointed him to the Court in 1877, but lost the election later that year. Undeterred, he again ran for the Court the following year and was elected. He became the Chief Justice in 1893 and retired in 1900. Chief Justice Sterrett spent the remainder of his life in Philadelphia and died in 1901.

Benjamin Chew
Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown
Chew began his legal career representing the Penn family and practiced four blocks from Independence Hall. He opposed many of the English abuses in the colony, but also opposed declaring independence. After his elevation to Chief Justice, his failure to support the war led to his removal from the Supreme Court and detention in New Jersey. Chew returned to Philadelphia in 1778 and counseled the founding fathers during the creation of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights.