American lawyer with a taste for authorship, born in Philadelphia, on the 10th of June 1810; the son of a publisher, he was educated for the bar, but embarked in newspaper work, publishing the Daily Commercial Intelligencer in 1832; two years later, on account of impaired health, returned to the law; judge of the criminal sessions for the city and county of Philadelphia; in 1854 elected mayor of his native city; re-appointed to his judicial position in 1856; best known for his tragedy of Aylmere, in which Edwin Forrest took the part of Jack Cade. He died in Philadelphia on the 27th of June 1858.
