Andrew Kershner SYESTER
DOCUMENTATION: Attorney General of Maryland -- Assistant Judge of the Circuit Court -- Member of the house of Delegates -- Judge of the 4th Judicial District of MD BIOGRAPHY: Andrew K. Syester (1828-1891) BIOGRAPHY: Born Andrew Kershner Syester on March 11, 1828 in BerkeleyCounty, Virginia. Son of Daniel Syester and Sarah (Moudy) Syester. Attended HagerstownAcademy, 1842-43; Marshall College, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, 1844-49, graduated1849. Studied law under Jervis Spencer, James Dixon Roman and ZachariahClaggett. Admitted to the Washington County bar, 1853. Married Catharine G. Harry(born c. 1831) on November 17, 1852. Children: Elizabeth ("Lillie;" m. FrankBaush, d. 1879), Andrew K. (born c. 1857), Nesbit (born c. 1859), Mollie K.(born c. 1863, m. Joseph Coxe), Lewis Duffield (b. 1869), and Louise D. (born c.1874). Resided on Prospect Street, Hagerstown, Washington County. Died inHagerstown, March 25, 1891. Buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Hagerstown. Syester was appointed a committee clerk of the Maryland House ofDelegates in January 1850 and served during that legislative session. He became alawyer and was a law partner of A. C. Bond of Westminster, Maryland. He was amember and speaker pro tem in the Maryland House of Delegates for Washington Countyas a member of the Whig party in 1854. He changed political parties to theAmerican or Know-Nothing party and was elected state's attorney for WashingtonCounty and served in 1854. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he again changedpolitical parties and became a Democrat. In 1867 he was a delegate for WashingtonCounty to the Constitutional Convention of Maryland, and in the following yearhe again represented Washington County in the Maryland House of Delegates. He wasalso a delegate to the 1868 Democratic National Convention. From 1871 to 1875he served as attorney general of Maryland. He last professional positionwas that of associate judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit (Allegany, Garrett and Washington counties), where he sat from 1882 to 1889, when ill healthforced his retirement. As attorney general of Maryland in 1871, Governor Oden Bowie called uponSyester to assist in the prosecution of Mrs. Elizabeth (or Ellen) G. Wharton. A resident of Baltimore, Mrs. Wharton was on trial in Annapolis in December1871 and January 1872 for the murder by tartar emetic poisoning of retiredU.S. Army General W. S. (William Scott) Ketchum and of the attempted murder bypoisoning of Mr. Eugene Van Ness, a bookkeeper for Alexander Brown and Sons. In acase that drew nation-wide attention, the prosecution presented an array of conflicting medical evidence and attempted to show a financialrelationship between Mrs. Wharton and General Ketchum in which he owed her money. The defense argued that General Ketchum died of natural causes and that thecase against Mrs. Wharton was purely circumstantial. A jury found Mrs.Wharton not guilty. For personnal research purposes only. No other use allowed, contact originator for other uses.
DOCUMENTATION: 7 Children: Andrew, Lily, John, Louisa, Lewis, Nesbitt & ? Daughter
He married Catherine Gaither Harry 15 Nov 1852 at Hagerstown, Washington County Maryland . Catherine Gaither Harry was born at Hagerstown, Washington, Maryland 8 Apr 1831 daughter of George I. Harry and Susanna Bell .
They were the parents of 6
children:
Elizabeth K. Syester
born 1853/54.
Andrew Kershner Syester, Jr.
born 28 Mar 1858.
Nesbitt Syester
born 24 Dec 1859.
Mary Kealhofer Syester
born 26 Oct 1861.
Lewis Duffield Syester
born 20 Dec 1869.
Louisa Darby Syester
born 15 May 1874.
Andrew Kershner Syester died 25 Mar 1891 .
Catherine Gaither Harry died 22 Nov 1916 at Hagerstown, Washington, Maryland .