USA > Iowa > Polk County > Des Moines > Des Moines, the pioneer of municipal progress and reform of the middle West, together with the history of Polk County, Iowa, the largest, most populous and most prosperous county in the state of Iowa; Volume I > Part 69
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At the adjourned meeting J. C. Hume moved that the pending question of amending the present system of selecting jurors be referred to the standing committee on Law Reform, "that committee to report at a called meeting for the purpose of considering the report, it being the sense of said association that there are defects in the present system, and that the same 'ought to be amended, or changed to the end that the character of jurors and juries be improved ;'" it also being the sense of the association "that jurors ought not to be selected by a commission named or appointed, directly or indirectly, by the court in which said jurors are to sit."
The motion was declared to be out of order. Mr. Hume then moved the adoption of his resolutions as a substitute for all previous motions and resolu- tions. A general discussion ensued. On roll-call, the Hume substitute carried by a vote of 46 to 37. On motion of Mr. Hume, Governor Cummins was invited to appear at a meeting of the association and give his views on the matter before that body.
The annual meeting and banquet on February 5, 1907, was attended by about a hundred members and several invited guests. The officers elected for the ensuing year were: President, James P. Hewitt; vice presidents, A. L. Hager and John L. Read; secretary, R. J. Bannister; corresponding secretary, Ward F. Henry ; treasurer, Charles S. Wilcox. Judge Deemer of the supreme court, Attorney General Byers, and Judge Robinson, of the board of control made interesting after-dinner speeches.
Jury Reform.
Mr. Henry, from the committee on Law Reform, made report, as directed, on changes in the laws relative to impanneling and drawing grand and petit jurors. The members were agreed to the following (in substance) :
First -- That the present statutes should be more rigidly enforced, and that they should be changed "by increasing the provisions as to eligibility of persons to serve as jurors, so as to secure the highest possible grade of intelligence and integrity."
Second-That a commission should be created, to make up lists of jurors, including provision for a hearing at the request of any person not found upon such lists of eligibles, or at the instance of any one complaining of a person whose name is upon the list-with the right of appeal to the district court in either case.
A provision was recommended giving the commission power to strike one in ten names from such list peremptorily -- with a privilege accorded any of the ten to be heard by the commission, and, on appeal, by the district court, for the purpose of being restored to the lists.
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The committee recommended that the same individual be not permitted to serve more than once in two years.
As safeguards for the drawing of names from boxes in the final selection of the jury panels, the committee recommended the use of cubes or balls with num- bers thereon corresponding with the number of names on the entire jury lists,- the balls or cubes mixing better than paper slips.
On the question of approval of the general points suggested in the report, there was a round of five-minute speeches. The resolution of approval was adopted.
At an executive committee meeting February 7, the president named Howard J. Clark, W. L. Read, W. H. Baily, H. F. Dale and C. L. Nourse as the com- mittee to confer with Governor Cummins in relation to the drafting of a jury drawing bill to be presented to the legislature.
The customary annual banquet of the association was over-shadowed by the death of one of the most loved and respected veterans of the Des Moines bench and bar, Gen. Josiah L. Given. A special meeting was held February 5, 1908, and it was arranged that the members meet at the court house and proceed in a body to the church in which the funeral services were held. A committee consisting of Judge Cole, Crom Bowen and J. B. Weaver, Jr., was appointed to draft and present in court resolutions of respect and regard. As a mark of respect to the deceased the banquet was postponed to the 17th of February.
The banquet and annual meeting was held at the Grant Club on the 17th of February. The officers chosen for 1908 were: President, W. L. Read; vice presidents, A. L. Hager and John M. Read; secretary, R. J. Bannister ; corresponding secretary, Ward C. Henry ; treasurer, C. S. Wilcox. The com- mittee on Law Reform was instructed to investigate the question as to the ad- visability of having a superior court in Des Moines. The evening was rounded out with ten-minute speeches by E. B. Evans, C. L. Nourse, William H. Mc- Henry, James C. Davis and J. B. Weaver, Jr.
A special bar meeting was held October 28, the occasion being the recent death of Judge Charles A. Bishop and that of Maj. Charles Mackenzie. Com- mittees were appointed to draft suitable resolutions.
At a special meeting held later, Chairman Parrish read the Bishop resolu- tions, which were adopted. Remarks were made by Messrs. Carr, Powell, Dudley and McHenry. James F. Hewitt read the resolutions in tribute to Major Mackenzie.
A banquet in honor of Senator-elect A. B. Cummins, a charter member and an ex-president, and one of the association's most interested and active mem- bers, was held November 28, at the Golf and Country Club. There was a large attendance. James B. Weaver, Jr., served as toastmaster and the following was the program of toasts and responses: "Cummins, the Lawyer,"-George H. Carr; "Our United Congratulations and Good-Wishes,"-A. L. Hager; "The Office and the Man,"-Nathaniel E. Coffin; "New Relations in Public Service" -James C. Davis. Frederick W. Lehman, of St. Louis, now Solicitor-General of the U. S. Department of Justice, drew a pleasing picture of the Des Moines Bar of a quarter-century ago, and, taking Mr. Davis's somewhat conservative conclusions as a starting-point, gave his own advanced views on certain ques- tions of the day. Senator Cummins was the recipient of many hearty congratula- tions, to all of which he responded with evident appreciation.
The death of Lemuel Kinkead occasioned a special session January 4, 1909. The chair appointed a committee to prepare appropriate resolutions, which reso- lutions were duly presented to the courts.
The annual meeting of 1909 was held at the Grant Club February 5, preceded by the annual banquet. Alva L. Hager was unanimously chosen president ; John Vol. I-32
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L. Read and A. A. Mclaughlin, vice presidents ; Robert J. Bannister, secretary ; Charles S. Wilcox, treasurer ; C. A. Hartman, corresponding secretary.
After the banquet, Judges Evans and Deemer of the supreme bench, were called out and briefly responded.
The regular program of the evening was: "The Polk County Bar, a Compari- son," C. A. Dudley ; "The Brotherhood of the Bar," H. H. Stipp; "Some Belated Thoughts from a Gentleman of Leisure," Carroll Wright; "The Function of the Lawyer in Relation to the Law's Growth," James M. Parsons.
At a special meeting held December 4, 1909, a resolution was unanimously adopted strongly endorsing Justice Horace E. Deemer for the vacant seat on the supreme bench of the United States, and urging the judge's appointment. The resolution was forwarded to President Taft.
The annual meeting of the association for 1910 was held at the Elks Club House on the evening of January 27, and was preceded by a banquet. Judge James A. Howe took early opportunity to announce that he would not be a can- didate for re-election to the district judgeship. A resolution was carried expres- sive of the regard and appreciation of the Des Moines bar for U. S. Circuit Clerk E. R. Mason, who "after thirty-five years of continuous and efficient service" had signified his intention to resign. Another resolution was offered and referred to the executive committee, favoring the combination of the offices of clerk of the cir- cuit and district courts of the United States for the Southern District of Iowa and recommending the appointment of William C. McArthur for the combined office. Mr. McArthur was afterwards appointed to the dual position.
The officers elected for the year were : president, John M. Read; vice presi- dents, A. A. Mclaughlin and Crom Bowen ; secretary, John L. Gillespie ; treasurer, Casper Schenck.
Judge Prouty offered a resolution which was accepted, expressive of the general regret that Judge Howe was about to retire from the bench, and of the bar's keen appreciation of the judge's fairness and ability.
The banquet closed with several toasts and responses as follows: "Law," Charles L. Powell; "Common Interests in Law," W. C. Strock; "Some Comments on the Practice," W. G. Harvison ; "State and Federal Procedure," Jerry B. Sulli- van. Judge Cole and Frederick M. Hubbell were called out and made brief ad- dresses.
At a meeting held March 12, 1910, President Read was instructed to appoint committees in preparation for the forthcoming meeting of the State Bar Associa- tion, in Des Moines, June 23-24.
At a meeting on May 4, 1910, committees were appointed to prepare resolutions on the death of Col. P. Gad Bryan, one of the last of the old-time lawyers and pub- lic men. Colonel Bryan had years before, retired from general practice and at the time of his death was a resident of Des Moines.
The death of Judge Balliet was similarly recognized by the appointment of com- mittees to present memorial resolutions to the courts.
The sudden death of J. K. Macomber, an active member of the association, was also the subject of resolutions. It was arranged, at a meeting on the 4th of May, that the members individually attend the funeral, and send a suitable floral offer- ing. A sad mistake had been made by a local paper in publishing misinformation as to the cause of Mr. Macomber's death. A committee was appointed to wait on the editors and request a correction of the error. The editors readily complied with the request, keenly deploring the reporter's statement.
On June 29, 1910, the association met in the Portrait Gallery of the His- torical Building for the presentation of the portrait of Judge Bishop to the His- torical Department. Vice President Mclaughlin made the presentation speech, and Justice Scott M. Ladd, on behalf of the department, delivered an address accepting the portrait from the association.
The death of William H. Baily called the members together May 12, 1910, when arrangements were made to attend the funeral in a body, and to send suit-
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able floral offerings. Resolutions were duly presented and were supplemented by addresses by the committeemen.
A meeting of the association was held September 15, when resolutions were read and adopted in memory of Col. P. Gad Bryan, Judge S. F. Balliet, J. K. Macomber and W. H. Baily.
The annual banquet was held at the Elks' Club room January 5, 1911. The annual election resulted in the election of the following officers : president, A. A. Mclaughlin; vice president, Crom Bowen ; second vice president, C. A. Dud- ley; secretary, John L. Gillespie; treasurer, Casper Schenk. Mr. Read, the re- tiring president, addressed the association on "The Elevation of the Morals and Ethics of the Legal Profession." O. M. Brockett spoke to the theme, "Contingent Fees and Legal Ethics."
Horatio T. Dale, from the committee on Law Reform, made a report recom- mending certain changes in the practice. The report provoking general discussion.
On motion the committee on law reform for 1911, consisting of Messrs. Dale, Earle, Parrish, Nourse (C. L.) and Miller (W. E.) was appointed a legislative committee, to consider the recommendations made and to draft such bills as they might deem advisable and introduce the same in the 34th General Assembly.
At a special meeting held March II, it was resolved that, the Governor hav- ing approved the act creating an additional judge of Polk county, it was desirable that the association make known to the Governor its preference for the position created. In conformity with the resolution a ballot was taken in which 125 votes were cast, resulting in the selection of Earl F. Mills by 41 votes. The action of the association was duly presented to Governor Carroll, who soon thereafter ap- pointed James P. Hewitt-an appointment entirely acceptable to the bar, though the appointee was not in the list of candidates for the bar endorsement.
Here the record of the Des Moines Bar Association closes, to be renewed, at the latest, soon after the ushering in of the new year 1912-and possibly be- fore. It points to the solemn old moral-the brevity of life. During the sixteen years covered by the record, the number of deaths which have occurred within its membership is startlingly large. In glancing over the minutes, one cannot help being impressed with the dual fitness of the association to the needs of its era, --- in passing on from one generation to the next the ethics of a noble pro- fession, and in suitably honoring the members of that profession as one by one they enter into their rest.
CHAPTER V.
INCIDENTS AND EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF DES MOINES.
With the advent of the Supreme Court of Iowa at the new State Capital in December, 1857, began a new era in the history of Iowa jurisprudence. The change from the then centrally located old Capital to the frontier town in the in- terior anticipated by several years the westward course of empire. It was with the utmost difficulty that the members of the bar in the older portion of the State conformed to the necessity put upon them by the premature change.
The difference between "then" and "now" is best illustrated by descriptions left by pioneers of the Fifties. Hon. James O. Crosby, of Garnavillo, Iowa, in a chapter of reminiscences read before the State Bar Association in Mason City in 1898, describes his journey to the Capital City to attend this first term of the supreme court held in Des Moines in December, 1857. Assembled in the old capitol, then occupying the site of the soldiers' monument, he found Chief Justice George G. Wright and the Associate Justices William G. Woodward and L. D. Stockton, and Samuel A. Rice, attorney general, and Lewis Kinsey, clerk. He says : "December was a soft month, and the mud extended from Garnavillo to Des Moines. In company with Elijah Odell I started by Frink & Walker's stage line to attend that court and submit our cases. The journey took five days and we rode all nights except a stop at Dubuque and another at Iowa City. The kindly reception the judges gave us made us forget for the time the fatigue of the journey. There was the cordiality peculiar to a new country. We pro- cured entertainment at the Grout House, kept by a Mr. Marsh.
"The C. R. I. & P. railroad was completed from Davenport to Iowa City, and we returned home via Chicago and Prairie du Chien. After the railway was completed to Des Moines, our quickest and easiest route to the capital was by Chicago. The general assembly at its next session made it unnecessary to go to Des Moines for our Supreme Court business."
Hon. T. B. Perry, of Albia, in an interesting paper in the Annals of Iowa describes the attempt of Judge Mason and himself to attend the first meeting of the new state board of education. Senator Perry writes: "Judge Mason under- took to make the trip from Keokuk to Des Moines via steamboat on the Des Moines river. I was at Ottumwa when the "Badger State" hove in sight, on which he was a passenger. This was the afternoon of Saturday, the 4th day of December, 1858. A cold wind was blowing from the northwest, and the boat stopped only a few minutes, and passed up the river ; but it was not able to as- cend higher than Eddyville, when it landed its passengers, unloaded its cargo, and at once returned down the river to escape the threatened 'freeze up.' Judge Mason completed his journey from Eddyville by stage-coach, and I from Ottumwa in the same way."
The members of the bar in Des Moines in 1862, as published at the time were : J. S. Polk, P. M. Casady, William and Harvey Phillips, C. C. Cole, John C. Turk, C. C. Nourse, J. M. St. John, M. D. & W. H. McHenry, D. O. Finch, George W. Clark, T. E. Brown, S. Sibley, E. J. Ingersoll, Curtis Bates, W. W. William- son, S. V. White, Barlow Granger, John Mitchell, Thomas F. Withrow, Seward Smith, Giles H. Turner, John Jack, Jr., J. M. Elwood, W. J. Gatling, J. M. Walker, F. C. D. Mckay, A. Y. Hull.
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JUDGE L. G. KINNE
C. A. BISHOP
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The death of General Crocker, a distinguished member of the Des Moines bar, on the 26th of August 1865, was a source of deep sorrow to the members of the bar. On the evening of August 31, resolutions prepared by a committee were read and adopted. These referred to the General as "a distinguished member of the legal profession, a jurist of high attainments, of irreproachable character, of ardent devotion to his profession and an honor to the bar of the state."
The local Bar sustained another loss on the 14th of October, '65, in the death of Judge John H. Gray. It was said of him that he had fallen a sacrifice to his devotion to duty. "Had he been more careful of himself and less scrupulous in his determination to do all which his onerous position imposed upon him," his life might have been prolonged.
Late in October of the same year occurred the death of John-F. Seeley, a young and promising attorney of the Polk county bar. At the meeting of the bar President Polk appointed Messrs. Sibley, Smith, St. John, Orwig, Stewart and Chester pall-bearers at the funeral on the 28th.
The appointment of C. C. Nourse to the district judgeship, made vacant by the death of Judge Gray, brought to the bench in November, 1865, a. man of large experience and rare ability.
Early in December, a meeting of the Des Moines Bar was held in honor of General Crocker, Judge Gray and J. F. Seeley, Esq. Resolutions were spread upon the records of the court, and Judge Nourse delivered an address eminently fitting the occasion.
John R. Barcroft, of Ohio, the Judge Barcroft of a later time, became a citi- zen of Des Moines in December, 1865, and was cordially welcomed by the local bar.
In 1892, Judge Woolson was strongly commended by members of the bar for his after-course in the case of the acquitted millionaire, J. C. Newton, vice presi- dent and general manager of the Des Moines & Kansas City railroad, who had been charged with conspiring to defraud the government, by padding the mails carried by his road. After his acquittal, May 26, Newton gave the jury that acquitted him a sumptuous banquet. Next morning the Judge gave Newton and the jury a severe reprimand, declaring that, such a precedent established, it would soon be well-nigh impossible for a poor man to get justice. He summarily dis- charged the jury, saying he could not ask any litigant to take them as jurors after their highly improper conduct.
The Bar Association submitted to the Supreme Court, May 26, a set of reso- lutions adopted February 4, bearing testimony to the worth and ability of the late Thomas F. Withrow, who for thirty-five years had resided in Des Moines, and whose departure for Chicago a few years prior to his death (to accept the position of general solicitor for the Rock Island road) was keenly felt by his many friends of the Des Moines bar.
The death of Thomas S. Wright, eldest son of Judge Wright, in a hospital in New York, July 26, 1894, was the sad message sent by R. B. Cable on the 27th. The loss of this gifted and generally loved and respected man was a sad blow to the family and to many near and dear friends. The deceased was general solici- tor for the Rock Island system, and had quietly and unobtrusively impressed his individuality and his legal ability upon the railroad world. He was nearing his fiftieth year when the end came. In his career in Des Moines he had been asso- ciated with several of the city's best lawyers, Messrs. Withrow, Gatch, Reynolds, Cummins, his eminent father, Judge George G. Wright; and his younger brother, Carroll C. Wright, at present the Iowa solicitor for the Rock Island. The testi- mony of those who knew him most intimately was remarkably strong. Colonel Gatch spoke of him as "modest and unassuming, but at the same time very self- reliant," and of his life as "one that his friends could regard with entire satis- faction." George F. Henry bore testimony that "not the least element in his suc- cess as a lawyer-and he was in the very front rank of railroad attorneys in the country-was his high character and standing as a man." W. E. Odell, formerly
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of McGregor, said that his irreproachable life and his high rank as a lawyer was known not only to his friends here but to lawyers in remote parts of the state.
The State Bar Association in the Seventies had been allowed to die, and in 1895 there was a resurrection. The event occurred in Des Moines on June 27 of that year. The first president of the association was Judge L. G. Kinne and the first treasurer was George F. Henry, both of Des Moines. A resurrection banquet was held at the Savery hotel, in the course of which Judge Nourse responded to the toast, "The Early Judiciary of Iowa," in the course of which he emphasized the point that the bar should sustain fearless judges, recalling by way of illustration the hanging of Howard by a mob in Des Moines, some twenty years before. Judge Kinne, toastmaster, told a characteristic story de- veloping the fact that Judge Wright-and not Judge Deemer -- as was generally supposed,-was the youngest man ever elected to the Supreme Bench of Iowa. In the list of members of the association, are the names of fifty-eight Polk county attorneys, not a few of whom were members of the pioneer association.
At the meeting of the association in Davenport, in '96, Judge H. S. Winslow, chairman of the committee on legal biography devoted his report entirely to the decease of the Hon. George G. Wright, which occurred January 1I, 1896. With- in the membership of the association no death has occurred which has occasioned such general sorrow. In his report Judge Winslow said :
"When a life that has been for many years a continual illustration of the best conception of humanity, goes out, there is nothing but good that may be said.
"The faults incident to our common human nature Judge Wright had,
but in this case, if so, they are swallowed up in and hidden by his goodness, amiability and extraordinary kindness of heart, and are now forgotten in the brighter light of the memory of his genial, companionable ways, and his constant effort to encourage, lift up and support all with whom he came into contact.
"He loved his chosen profession and was true to its demands, diligent, perse- vering, successful. He did not confine himself alone to this work. In the large- ness of his grasp, in the greatness of his intellect, in the activity of a wonderful brain power, he found time to give attention to the affairs of the public. ยท Every impulse in his nature went out toward the young in their efforts to reach the goal of success, and at all times he was ready to encourage, help and sus- tain them, in the struggles of life. This trait, which was largely developed in his life work, was confined to no profession, class or condition. A kindly word, a cordial welcome, a genial cheery smile, he always had for each and for all. Such a man could not help being great."
The dissolution of the widely known firm of Cummins & Wright, one of the oldest and best-known law firms in the state, occurred August 1, 1896. The firm was organized in 1868, with Judge Wright at its head. In its time there had been associated with it a galaxy of brilliant lawyers. Besides the judge there were, at different times, John S. Runnells, Thomas S. Wright, Col. C. H. Gatch, Thomas F. Withrow. The firm of which Cummins & Wright, the lineal descend- ent, originated in 1868 as Withrow & Wright. In 1870, Mr. Withrow retired to take the place of general solicitor for the Rock Island road, and the firm became Gatch, Wright and Runnells. In a few years it became Wright, Gatch & Wright --- Judge Wright having resigned from the bench and returned to practice. In '78 it became Wright & Wright-including the father and his two sons. In '81, A. B. Cummins entered the firm, the firm name being Cummins & Wright. In '86, J. P. Hewitt, the Judge Hewitt of the present time, entered the firm-though his name did not appear. The dissolution was followed by the organization of the firm of Wright, Hewitt & Wright, --- the junior member of the firm, Mr. Craig T. Wright, son of Thomas S. Wright, deceased.
Two deaths occurred in Des Moines in 1897 which were greatly deplored by the legal fraternity and by many friends throughout the state.
JUDGE G. G. WRIGHT
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The death of W. A. Park, at the early age of 45. Born in Indiana, a farmer's son near Indianola, a law student with Bryan & Seevers and later in Michigan university, he began the practice of law in Des Moines in 1880. He soon formed a partnership with the now famous lawyer, F. W. Lehman. On Mr. Lehman's removal to St. Louis, he formed a partnership with W. E. Odell, and later with C. A. Balreich, now of Denver. Mr. Park's legal career covered sixteen suc- cessful years.
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