Henry Schell Hagert ; (May 2, 1826 – December 18, 1885) was an American lawyer who served as

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for 12 years over four terms between 1856 and 1881.

Biography

Hagert was born on May 2, 1826, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He graduated from Central High School in 1842 and studied law under Charles Gilpin. He was admitted to the bar on May 8, 1847, and worked as solicitor for the Board of Guardians of the Poor of Philadelphia. His work caught the attention of Philadelphia district attorney

William Bradford Reed William Bradford Reed (June 30, 1806 – February 18, 1876) was an American attorney, politician, diplomat, academic and journalist from Pennsylvania. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1834 to 1835. He wa ...

and after the consolidation of the city in 1854, he was appointed assistant city solicitor. He served as prosecuting attorney in the trial of Frank Kelly for the murder of

Octavius Catto Octavius Valentine Catto (February 22, 1839 – October 10, 1871) was an educator, intellectual, and civil rights activist in Philadelphia. He became principal of male students at the Institute for Colored Youth, where he had also been educated. ...

in which the jury acquitted Kelly. Hagert served as district attorney in 1856–1857, 1868–1871, 1875–1878, and 1878–1881. He was especially distinguished as a ''

nisi prius ''Nisi prius'' () (Latin: "unless before") is a historical term in English law. In the 19th century, it came to be used to denote generally all legal actions tried before judges of the King's Bench Division and in the early twentieth century for ac ...

'' lawyer. He was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1875. He died of

Bright's Disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied b ...

in Philadelphia on December 18, 1885 and was interred in

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1836, it was the second major rural cemetery in the United States after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery is ...

Legacy

As a young man he contributed prose and poetry to literary journals. After his death, a volume of his poems, with a memoir by Charles Augustus Lagen, was published. Schell Street and Hagert Street in Philadelphia were named in his honor.

Citations

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hagert, Henry Schell 1826 births 1885 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American poets Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni District Attorneys of Philadelphia Lawyers from Philadelphia Members of the American Philosophical Society Poets from Pennsylvania