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 II, Part 23

Author: Brigham, Johnson, 1846-1936; Clarke (S.J.) Publishing Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1464

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 II > Part 23

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

ORLANDO M. BROCKETT.

In the fourteen years of his residence in Des Moines, Orlando M. Brockett has attained distinction not only as one of the strong and able members of the bar of the capital city, but also as one whose efforts in other directions have been of material benefit to Des Moines. He is a champion of good government and of the rights of the people at large, and his labors in both directions have been intensely beneficial to the city and her people.

A native of Polk county, Mr. Brockett was born near Adelphi, March II, 1858. His father, Calvin Brockett, was born in Tennessee, November 24, 1821, and arrived in Polk county in 1848, settling in what was then LaFayette, one of the principal towns in the county. He secured a patent on land from President Buchanan, and there has never been a mortgage on the property from that day to the present. In his childhood he had accompanied his parents on their removal to White county, Illinois, where he was reared upon a farm, his early experience in the work of the fields qualifying him for the conduct of important farming interests following his removal to Iowa. He was mar- ried in Effingham, Illinois, before coming to Iowa, to Miss Rowena Hall, and they had a family of five sons and five daughters, all of whom, with the ex- ception of the eldest son and daughter, were born in Polk county, while eight of the number are now living. The father, whose death occurred January 20, I9II, in his ninetieth year, was always a stanch republican, prominent in the local ranks of the party, and had held many offices, serving as magistrate and in other positions. He was highly respected for his integrity and worth, for Vol. II-10

192

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

his progressiveness and fidelity in citizenship, and for his energy and persever- ance in business. His wife passed away on the 21st of August, 1902.

In the public schools Orlando M. Brockett pursued his early education and later attended the State College at Ames. In 1879 he went to the Iowa College of Law and was graduated in 1880. He then located for practice in Carlisle, Warren county, where he spent three years and later was for one year and a half in active practice at Angus, and at the same time conducted the Angus Times. Subsequently he spent a year in Ogden, Iowa, and in the fall of 1886 was candidate for county attorney, but was defeated by two votes. At the next election he was again a candidate and defeated his former opponent by a ma- jority of four. He filled the position for one term and then refused reelection in order to become a partner in the firm of Jordan & Brockett, which relation- ship was maintained for seven years. In 1896 Mr. Brockett came to Des Moines, and for a year was associated with Major Charles Mckenzie. Subsequently he was in partnership with Cromwell Bowen for eleven years, but since 1908 has been alone in practice. He has held no offices here but served as city so- licitor of Boone. Mr. Brockett has been connected with considerable important litigation. He won distinction in connection with his work in the contempt pro- ceedings brought against Drady et al in the district court, in which he contended for the conclusiveness of the answers of contemnors unequivocally denying under oath the acts of contempt charged as not having been committed in the presence of the court, and that no issue can be joined thereon to be tried as a con- troverted question of fact. After a thorough research and argument his ad- versaries conceded that such was the correct rule established by the greater weight or authority at common law, but contended that some language found scattered throughout several sections of our statute having relation to contempts of court, when considered together, amounted to a repeal of the common law rule by implication.

To this Mr. Brockett responded that no such construction should be given to such language, and no such intent should be imputed to the legislature ; second, if it was necessary to give it such construction, and to impute such intent, that it is repugnant to some of the provisions of both the state and federal con- stitution. This contention proceeded upon the theory that the judicial depart- ment of government is created by the constitutions, and, as the implied and in- herent powers of a government department are attributable to the fundamental charter which creates such department, the power to preserve order and punish contempts of court is a constitutional power, and can neither be restricted nor enlarged by another department of the government. In contempt proceedings the courts must do all that it is necessary for them to do to preserve order and enforce respect for their authority, and in this neither the legislature nor executive branches can interfere with or restrict them; and beyond this, they cannot authorize them to go. Moreover, it has always been held that as one accused of an indirect criminal contempt has complete protection against one man power of the court by invoking the rule of the conclusiveness of his denial under oath, the proceeding is therefore not a trial, and does not violate the constitutional provisions of the right of accused persons to trial by jury, due process of law etc; that to permit the legislature to change the fundamental character of the proceeding so as to permit the court to authorize a joinder of issue with the answer and to determine upon trial and evidence as an ordinary issue of fact, would make it a proceeding in contravention of the guarantees of trial by jury, appeal and due process of law; for there is no appeal from judgments in contempt proceedings. Upon the review in the state supreme court of the acts of the district court of this county in these matters, that court filed an opinion, by the late Justice Bishop, sustaining his contention as to the conclusiveness of the answers at common law, but sustaining the contention of his adversaries that the rule had been repealed by our legislature by implica-

193

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

tion and that such action was constitutional. See Drady vs. Given, Judge, 126 lowa, 345.

The judges of the supreme court concede that their opinion attracted quite general attention from the journals of the profession throughout the country and that they quite generally condemned the conclusion of the court upon the constitutional question. This occurred in 1905. Later the question of the conclusiveness of the answers of contemnors in such cases came before the supreme court of the United States in the celebrated case of United States of America vs. Joseph F. Shipp and twenty-six others, 214 U. S., 386. 29 Supreme Court R. 637.

A prisoner who had been convicted in the courts of Chattanooga for a capital offense and against whom a death penalty had been adjudged, had pro- cured a writ to issue, under order of the supreme court, to bring the proceed- ings, in which he had been convicted into that court for the purpose of review- ing the complaint of the prisoner that in such proceedings, he had been denied some rights guaranteed by the Federal constitution; after the service of this writ the prisoner was lynched by a mob in Chattanooga. Shipp, who was the sheriff, together with twenty-six others were charged with having committed a contempt of the supreme court of the United States in abetting or participating in the lynching. The opinion of the supreme court of the United States on this particular point however, was filed at an earlier stage in ruling on the motion and may be found in 203 U. S., P. 563, 27 S. C. Rep. 165.

Notwithstanding that research and argument led adverse counsel in the Drady case to concede the rule of conclusiveness of such answers at common law, it was denied by the supreme court of the United States in the Shipp case with scant respect. After the statement of the doctrine, Mr. Justice Holmes said : "On this occasion we shall not go into the history of the notion. It may be that it was an intrusion or perversion of the canon law, as is suggested by the propounding of interrogatories and the very phrase, 'purgation by oath,' (juramentum purgatorium). If so, it is a fragment of a system of proof which does not prevail in theory or as a whole, and the reason why it has not dis- appeared perhaps may be found in the rarity with which contempts occur."

Mr. Brockett feels that this puts it into the power of the judges to try and condemn accused persons upon the evidence of others without presentation by indictment, the right of trial by jury, or appeal; and if, as contended by some on good authority and apparently on sound principle, the legislature cannot restrict the punishment, the unfortunate who happens to incur the displeasure of some irascible and eccentric judge may find that there is a form of legalized oppression and persecution in America, that it would be hard to make any- one believe could exist here.

Mr. Brockett made a very strong and logical argument before a committee of the judiciary of the house of representatives at one of the hearings on the anti-injunction legislation then being urged by the labor organizations or some of them. On that occasion he represented the Business Men's Association of Des Moines and the State Manufacturers Association of the state of Iowa.

Mr. Brockett has been admitted to practice before the United States supreme court. He is a local representative of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail- way Company, and throughout the period of his residence in Des Moines has enjoyed a large and important practice here.

Aside from his profession Mr. Brockett has done important work for the city, being a stanch advocate of municipal progress, reform, and improvement. During city elections he made many addresses in favor of the commission form of government (the Des Moines plan), confining his arguments largely to the legal aspects of the matter. His addresses were convincing and very efficacious and contributed in no small measure toward the adoption of the plan which embodying what is largely an ideal form of government has been adopted by

194

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

various other cities. In his political views Mr. Brockett has ever been a re- publican, strong and earnest in support of the principles in which he believes. In 1880 Mr. Brockett was married to Miss Ellen Mahan, a native of Carl- isle, Iowa, and they have two children: Louise, now the wife of Edward Weitz of Des Moines; and Ralph. Mr. Brockett has a very wide acquaintance in Des Moines, and enjoys the respect and confidence of his fellowmen because of his fearless advocacy of what he believes to be right and his loyal support of many progressive movements. He holds membership with the Knights of Pythias and the First Baptist church, and is interested in the welfare and up- building of both organizations.

CAPTAIN CHARLES LEACH WATROUS.

Captain Charles Leach Watrous, president of the Watrous Nursery Com- pany, has been engaged in business as a nurseryman and fruit grower of Des Moines for more than four decades and has long been numbered among the most prominent and respected residents of the city. He was born in Freetown, Cortland county, New York, on the 13th of January, 1837, his parents being Joseph and Lydia E. (Leach) Watrous, also natives of New York. The grand- parents were from New England, their ancestors having all come from old England and were among the very earliest to settle in the new land. They were patriotic men, five in direct line, having served in the war of the Revolution, and more than that number in the various wars in defense of the colonists against the Indians and French. Some came in the Mayflower. The father followed farming during his active career and died in Cortland, January 24, 1887. the mother died in Cortland, March 24, 1890.

Charles L. Watrous was reared on the farm, attending the country schools. At the age of sixteen, he began the life of a student, teaching when necessary to obtain money for further study. He taught in New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois, being present in the latter state at Freeport in 1858 at the momen- tous debate at that place between Abraham Lincoln and Senator Douglas. Standing very near and immediately in front of the platform, he was able to note every word and move. The fateful question of Mr. Lincoln, which hope- lessly divided the Democratic party and laid the foundation for his own election as president two years afterward and the great war a few months later, was one of the dramatic incidents. His first public school was the New York Cen- tral College, the first in the United States to admit both sexes and all colors on an equality. Later he attended Cortland Academy at Homer, New York, from which he was graduated in 1860 and entered the junior class of the University of Michigan the same autumn upon passing the examinations on the work of the first two years.

In the spring of 1861, the war cloud burst. The students formed companies and drilled diligently but thought little of actual war. Most of the students there were poor boys with a single absorbing ambition, to become scholars. The summer vacation was spent by some at the university for study. In harvest the farmers wanted help and the boys responded. There, one noon, came a farmer with a newspaper full of the details of that most humiliating disaster at Bull Run. That afternoon the whole face of the world changed for one. The one ambition of life. to become a scholar, was set over against duty to country. but before sunset, duty had won, once and for all. Letters were written home urging the raising of a regiment of the farmer boys used to labor and the rifle from boyhood, and offering to go home and help. One Saturday evening, a letter came, "We are going to raise a regiment. If you want to go to war, come." Monday evening.at 5:30, the student and all his university belongings were on

C. L. WATROUS

197

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

the train. Within twenty-four hours the work of enlisting a company was under way, beginning with cousins and playmates. Being chosen captain, he was in command of his company in every duty and danger until the evening of August 29, 1862, when in one of the engagements of the second Bull Run, he received three bullets and was helped to the rear. By a mistake, the line of the regiment was shortened so as to force out of place the men in the middle of the line, near the colors. The air. was full of bullets. In their confusion some began firing in the air and a panic was imminent. The Captain used every means to restore order, but it was impossible to re-form the line, from lack of space. In desperation and to save a break to the rear, he elbowed his way through the confusion and walked several yards to the front, resolved to stay there as long as he could, knowing his men would not run away from him. The grey rebel line was in plain view, kneeling a couple of hundred yards in front. Noth- ing was to be done but watch the rifles come up to a level and spit a jet of fire and smoke and listen to the sound of the bullets, which was like the sound of a hive of angry bees. The air seemed full. It surely could not last long. The setting sun swung near the horizon in plain sight and, instinctively, his gaze rested on its mellow light. One hope and question came vividly, and no other, "I wonder if 'over there,' there will be a chance to study all I want to without the trouble and pain of this poor weak body," and the prospect had no terror at all. A warm stream of blood was felt flowing down the right thigh and the thought came that it must be looked after. A glance downward showed another stream running out of the left sleeve and the wait to be killed had ended. The wound in the arm did not respond to treatment and in January, 1863, the Cap- tain was honorably discharged and mustered out of service, "On account of disability from gun-shot wounds received in battle" as the discharge recited.

In the autumn of 1863 he was able to return to the university, passing the ex- aminations in the studies of the senior year of the literary course and receiving his diploma, while carrying on the studies of the course in law, from which school he was graduated in March, 1865. In July the same year, he located at Winchester, Virginia, for the practice of his profession, assisting in the first attempt at civil rule. He served as county attorney for three years, in the meantime receiving presidential appointment as one of the United States reg- istering board to examine and administer the oath of allegiance to the United States to all persons "lately in rebellion" who met the requirements and sub- scribed to the oath.

The life of a northern man in the south immediately following the close of the war was apt to be as full of danger as of interest. One incident out of many will illustrate. In the fall of 1866, the question was under discussion whether the people of the state should adopt a new constitution, abolishing slavery and be restored to statehood, or should still remain under military rule as theretofore. Those opposing the new constitution asked the Union men to meet for discussion of the question at Newtown, which is on the road of Sher- idan's celebrated ride from Winchester to Cedar creek. The Captain was called upon first and spoke from the porch of the hotel, the audience being in the bright moonlight in front. His argument proceeded quietly until suddenly he noticed several men struggling a few feet away. At the same instant a large man, an ex-major of the rebel army, sprang before him, protecting him with his body from the struggling men. Looking over his shoulder at them, he said, "Men, be careful, do not do anything that you cannot repair and that will make us all sorry. We have invited this man here to speak. After he has finished we will answer his argument." In an instant the men separated and the speech was finished without any other disturbance. On entering the hotel it was learned that some men, drinking at the bar, had been upbraided by a woman for allowing any Yankee to live and speak there, saying her son had been killed by the Yankees during the war. They had taken drink enough to be ready for any-

198

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

thing and made a plan to go around to the front, engage in a sham fight among themselves and shoot the Yankee. A good Quaker friend drove him to Win- chester swiftly by another road without incident. This was no more than hap- pened to many Union soldiers who tried to live in the south while the embers were yet too hot. It was necessary to go armed on the streets after dark and allow no one to come up behind without careful scrutiny.

The future, there, promised nothing worth the risk, the country was dis- tracted and impoverished. In the spring of 1869, still suffering from the effects of his wounds, he felt obliged under medical advice to forego professional life and work in the open air. He came to Des Moines and, purchasing twenty acres of land soon after, began the nursery business, which he has since followed. He was the first in Des Moines to carry on the business in a commercial way, that is, by selling his products at a distance by agents and filling the orders by railroad shipments. All others had depended upon sales at the nursery. By additional purchases from time to time, he extended his nursery to the area of one hundred and forty-five acres. This, with additional land rented from time to time in the neighborhood, gave space for a large business, employing seventy-five to one hundred salesmen. He has also other pieces of property in the city.

In 1872, he became a member of the State Horticultural Society and has been an active and earnest worker in it until the present time, always taking a prom- inent part in the conduct of its affairs and having served as its president four years. As chairman of its committee on legislation in 1902, he wrote and se- cured introduction into the legislature, the pure food bill, which with minor amendments and after four years of defeat by the interests, finally became the law of the state, to our great advantage.

He became a member of the American Association of Nurserymen soon after its organization and has always been actively engaged in its various activ- ities, serving on many important committees and two terms as president.

In 1887, he became an active member of the American Pomological Society, the most influential society in the world for the study and classification of fruits, serving as chairman of its general fruit committee, then as first vice president. In 1897, he was elected president, holding the office by reelection six years and has been chairman of its executive committee ever since.

In the autumn of 1904, he was commissioned by the United States depart- ment of agriculture to visit the Philippines and other oriental countries to study horticultural conditions there and make inquiries about the introduction of cer- tain fruits into the United States. He made a report to the department of agriculture and wrote a more extended account of his observations for the American Pomological Society, which was read at its meeting in 1905. He has for many years written extensively upon horticultural subjects for various soci- eties and for newspapers. He has kept up his interest in studious affairs and has always remained an earnest reader, especially in lines relating to history, economics and the natural sciences. He has a private library of some five or six hundred carefully selected volumes containing many of the most noted books in the language. All his children have been given university training.

On the 25th of December, 1865, Captain Watrous was married to Miss So- phia Glover, a daughter of Oliver and Eliza (Trowbridge) Glover, both of whom were natives of New York. Her father, a capitalist, spent his entire life in that state, passing away in Homer, Cortland county, New York, April 18, 1886. Mrs. Glover died December 17, 1883. The Captain and Mrs. Watrous have four children: Marion Isabel, born in Homer, New York, February 2, 1869; Philip Bernard, born August 4, 1870; Edward Lacy, born August 3, 1872; and Charles Albert, born June 12, 1875, all in Des Moines, Iowa. They are married and have children, as follows: Marion Isabel Watrous to James Rowland Angell, married at Des Moines, Iowa, December 18, 1894. They

199

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

reside in Chicago, Mr. Angell being professor of psychology and dean of the faculty in Chicago University. Their children are James Waterhouse Angell, born May 20, 1898, and Marian Waterhouse Caswell Angell, born May 29, 1903. Philip Bernard Watrous married to Mary Martha Maish, September 9, 1902. Their children are Philip Maish Watrous, born April 15, 1906; Gordon Glover Watrous, born December 23, 1908; and George Maish Watrous, born February 19, 1911. Edward Lacy Watrous married to Agnes Mathilda Brunner, September 10, 1902. Charles Albert Watrous married to Cora Campbell Wol- cott, April 14, 1903. Their children are Marion Wolcott Watrous, born No- vember 25, 1905, and Charles Wolcott Watrous, born October 16, 1908. The three sons reside in Des Moines.

Captain Watrous is a republican in politics. From 1883 to 1885 he served as member of the Iowa legislature. He served several years as school director and for many years as justice of the peace in a democratic township, being reelected by political opponents without opposition. He has always been ready to take active part in works for civic betterment, having served actively on the citizens' committees that secured lower rates for gas and water. He took an active and laborious part in the work of changing the city government from the old way to the commission form. He selected and secured options on the land where the new Fort Des Moines stands and was among a few to make its establishment a success. He is a member of Crocker Post, G. A. R., a senior member of the Iowa Commandery Loyal Legion U. S. and has served as de- partment commander. He also has membership in the patriotic societies, Sons of the American Revolution, Sons of the Colonial Wars, and the Society of May- flower Descendants, and of the Grant Club and the Commercial Club of Des Moines.

JOHN JOSEPH HALLORAN.

Among the native sons of Des Moines who have made creditable records in business and professional circles is numbered John Joseph Halloran, a lawyer of ability, who in January, 1901, was called to the office of legal adviser of the board of supervisors, in which position he still continues. Moreover, he is a rec- ognized leader in republican circles, and his labors have been an element in the growth and success of the party in Polk county.

John Joseph Halloran was born in Des Moines, March 7, 1869. His father, William Halloran, a native of Ireland, was born in 1813, and on coming to the United States settled first in Le Roy, New York, being in early manhood at the time. There he married Catherine Conroy, a native of Ireland, and in the spring of 1856 they removed westward to Des Moines, where Mr. Halloran was empolyed as a laborer. He gradually advanced in business, however, and for ten years prior to his death lived retired. He was a hard-working industrious man whose life was characterized by honesty and business integrity. He num- bered among his friends all the prominent old pioneers of the city with whom he was on most cordial terms. His widow survived him and passed away in April, 1910, at the age of eighty-two years. Until 1909 she had resided con- tinuously in the house which her husband had erected in 1857, it remaining her home for more than a half century. In the family were six sons and a daughter all of whom were born in Des Moines, namely: James, now deceased; Nora, who is living in Des Moines ; M. P., also of Des Moines ; Thomas, of Nebraska ; W. A., of this city; D. C., who has passed away; and John Joseph.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 II, Part 23

Author: Brigham, Johnson, 1846-1936; Clarke (S.J.) Publishing Company, Chicago, pub Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 1464

Author: Brigham, Johnson, 1846-1936; Clarke (S.J.) Publishing Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1464