USA > Iowa > Franklin County > History of Franklin County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 18
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Dr. J. B. Galer was a native of Pennsylvania, a son of George and Mary (Orr) Galer, and located at Hampton, June 1, 1870, where he began the practice of medicine. He was a graduate of Rush Medi- cal College, assistant surgeon in the Thirty-first Regiment Wiscon- sin Volunteers and a member of the County Medical Association.
Dr. J. J. Leas, of St. Louis, was considered a good physician and practiced in Hampton from 1871 until 1881. He then removed to Nebraska.
Another physician who remained here but a short time was Doc- tor Lincoln, who came from Ohio in 1871 and remained but one year.
Dr. J. H. Hutchins became a citizen of Hampton in 1873 and assiduously devoted his time to the practice of medicine in this vicinity. He was for a number of years senior member of the drug firm of Hutchins & Funk. Dr. Hutchins was a man well fortified by education and research for the duties attending the profession of his choice. He began reading medicine when twenty years of age and graduated from Rush Medical College in February, 1871. The year of his graduation he was appointed United States examining surgeon but resigned immediately prior to his removal to Hamp- ton. Here he was reappointed to the position, which he held for a long period of years. For some time Doctor Hutchins was coroner of the county. He was a skilful and successful physician. His death occurred June 23, 1912.
Probably the first person to establish himself in the homeopathic school of medics was Doctor Chappell, who hung out his shingle in Hampton in 1874. He remained until 1879 and then went to Ore- gon, Illinois.
Dr. C. E. Booth came to Hampton from Leroy, Wisconsin, in May, 1876, and entered into partnership with Dr. J. H. Hutchins. He remained but six months, however, when he returned to his old home.
Dr. O. P. Thompson opened an office in Hampton, his birth- place, in 1877. He only remained in practice here, however, about six months, when he sought another location.
Doctor Humphrey, a graduate of the Pennsylvania State Medi- cal College, at Philadelphia, located in Hampton in 1879. In 1881 he returned to Cedarville, Illinois, his old home.
Dr. J. Z. E. Funk was a graduate of Rush Medical College. He located in Hampton in 1880. He was a man of ability and thor-
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oughly conversant with the mysteries of his profession but did not remain long, soon removing to Spirit Lake, Iowa.
Dr. H. R. Floyd, of Johnson county, Iowa, hung out his shingle in Hampton in the summer of 1881. After a trial of his luck for about six months he chose Sheffield as a more useful and lucrative field of professional endeavor.
Dr. H. P. Roberts was a graduate of Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, and also of the Western Reserve Medical College, of Cleveland, Ohio. He came from Morrison, Illinois, to Hamp- ton in the spring of 1882 and opened an office.
Other physicians who have practiced in the smaller towns of Franklin county may be mentioned.
The first physician to locate in Sheffield was Dr. Mosley Can- field, who came from Marshalltown in the winter of 1873-4. He belonged to the homeopathic school and was thoroughly conversant with the principles of his profession. He had a large practice, which continued up to a short time before his death in July, 1880.
Dr. J. M. Potter was of the eclectic school of medicine and came from Faribault, Minnesota, to Sheffield, in 1875. He built up a fair practice and among the members of his profession was held in high esteem. Removing from Sheffield in 1881, Doctor Potter lo- cated at Xenia, Ohio.
Dr. C. H. Tidd began the practice of his profession in Geneva in 1871 and became very successful. He was a graduate of the Ohio Medical College in 1872 and then became an interne in the Good Samaritan Hospital at Cincinnati.
Dr. W. F. Cooper was practicing his profession in Chapin in the year 1881. He was a native of Ohio, attended the public schools, read medicine several years and began his professional career in his native state. He was a gentleman of fine appearance, easy address, rare educational attainments, and with these qualifications naturally found his way to the front rank of the medical fraternity of Franklin county.
Dr. J. S. Hurd was also practicing in Chapin about this time and Doctor Thom was at Latimer.
Dr. F. E. Cornish located at Dows in 1880. He was educated at Bennett Medical College in Chicago and practiced there four years before coming to Franklin county. About a year later Dr. J. A. Mulnix commenced the practice of medicine in Dows. He was a graduate of the Keokuk Medical College and became very suc- cessful in practice.
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FRANKLIN COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY
The first medical society of Franklin county, of which there is any record, was organized at a meeting held at Hampton by representa- tives of the profession, February 15, 1876. Those present on this occasion were: Drs. J. B. Galer, O. B. Harriman, J. I. Leas, J. H. Hutchins, C. H. Tidd and J. S. Hurd. The officers selected were : O. B. Harriman, president; C. H. Tidd, vice president; J. H. Hutchins, secretary; J. B. Galer, treasurer. This consummated the organization of the society.
The object of the society was to be the advancement of medical knowledge, the uniformity of medical ethics, the promotion of har- mony and fraternity in the medical profession, protection in the in- terests of its members, promotion of all methods adapted to the relief of the suffering and to improve the health and protect the lives of the community.
For a number of years the society held regular meetings. Then interest began to wane, and finally the organization practically went out of existence. In January, 1907, the Franklin County Medical Society was reorganized. The officials elected at that time were as follows : President, F. L. Siberts ; vice president, A. J. Hobson; sec- retary-treasurer, F. E. E. St. Clair; censors, J. H. Hutchins, J. C. Powers, W. D. Leach. Members : W. K. Long, F. E. E. St. Clair, J. C. Powers, A. J. Hobson, C. L. Hobson, L. E. Haecker, C. F. Osborne and W. R. Arthur, Hampton; F. L. Siberts, Geneva; J. L. Collins and F. Schwab, Sheffield; M. C. Rockwood, Alexander, and J. F. Martin, of Latimer.
The present officials are: President, F. E. E. St. Clair; vice president, J. L. Collins; secretary-treasurer, J. C. Powers; censors, C. F. Osborne, F. E. E. St. Clair and J. C. Powers.
Other physicians practicing in Hampton are G. A. Corning, E. S. Manatt, osteopath; H. K. Phelps and Ed. Scantlebury.
While this article was in preparation, Dr. C. L. Hobson, son of Dr. A. J. Hobson, died November 14, 1913. He was a young man of fine qualities of mind and heart and his abilities presaged a great success in the profession.
CHAPTER XIII
HONORABLE PROFESSION OF THE LAW-MEMBERS OF FRANKLIN COUNTY BAR MEN OF ABILITY-JUDGES WHO HAVE PRESIDED IN HAMPTON-PREMIER JURIES-SKETCHES OF THE EARLY LAWYERS.
Perhaps no body of men, not excepting the clergy, may exercise a greater influence for good in a community than those who follow the profession of the law, and it must be admitted that to no other body, not even to the so-called criminal classes, are committed greater possibilities for an influence for evil. What that influence shall be depends upon the character of the men who constitute the bar of the community-not merely on their ability or learning but on their character. If the standard of morality among the members of the bar is high, the whole community learns to look at questions of right and wrong from a higher plane. If the bar, consciously or unconsciously, adopts a low standard of morality, it almost inevi- tably contaminates the conscience of the community. And this is true not only in the practice of the profession itself, not only because of the influence of members of the bar as men rather than lawyers, but in the effects upon other professions and occupations to which the bar acts as a feeder. The members of the Legislature are recruited largely from the legal profession. How can legislation, designed solely for the welfare of the public, be expected from one whose honor as a lawyer has not been above suspicion? And since lawyers, outside of the Legislature, have a great influence in shaping the law, how can the people expect that influence to be exerted in their be- half when the bar itself is unworthy? Still more does the character of the bar affect the judiciary, which is supplied from its ranks. It is not always, perhaps not generally, the case that members of the bench are chosen from those lawyers who have attained the highest rank in their profession. If a judge be industrious and honest but not of great ability, of if he be able and honest, though lacking in- dustry, the rights of the litigants are not likely to suffer seriously at his hands. But there have been instances where judicial office
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was bestowed solely as a reward for political service; and while it is sometimes realized that one who has been a strenuous and not too scrupulous politician up to the moment of his elevation to the bench, has thereafter forgotten that there was such a trade as politics and has administered justice without fear or favor, the experiment is a dangerous one. No one need be surprised if in such a case the old maxim holds true: "He who buys the office of judge, must of neces- sity sell justice." Let our judges be men who are subject to other in- . fluences than those of the facts submitted to them and the law ap- plicable to those facts, let them lack that independence which is an imperative requisite to one who holds the scales of justice, let a well- founded suspicion arise that their decisions are dictated by some- thing outside of their own minds and consciences, and the confidence of the people in the maintenance of their rights through the agency of the courts is destroyed.
It has been the good fortune of the city of Hampton and the county of Franklin that the members of the bar here have been, for the most part, men of high character as well as of ability and learn- ing, so that its bar has won a high and honorable reputation through- out the rest of the state, and because of the high character of the bar it has followed that those of its members who have been ele- vated to the bench have enjoyed the confidence and respect of the public and have been honored not only in their own locality but in many cases, throughout the state and in other states.
Yet the preparation of a history of the bar, so far at least as that part of it which lies back of one's own generation is concerned, is attended with considerable difficulty. Probably few men who in their time play important parts in the community or even in the state or nation, leave so transient a reputation as lawyers do. A writer on this subject, who took for his text, "The Lawyers of Fifty Years Ago," said : "In thinking over the names of these distinguished men of whom I have been speaking, the thought has come to me how evanescent and limited is the lawyer's reputation, both in time and space. I doubt very much if a lawyer, whatever his standing, is much known to the profession outside of his own state." Those who attain high rank in the profession must realize that with rare exceptions, their names are "writ in water." One may turn over the leaves of old reports and find repeated again and again as counsel in different cases the name of some lawyer who must have been in his time a power in the courts, only to wonder if he has ever seen that name outside of the covers of the dusty reports in which it ap-
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pears. Hamilton, in the conventions, in the Federalist and in the Treasury, and Webster, in the Senate and in public orations, have perpetuated and increased the fame of Lawyers Hamilton and Web- ster; but were it not for their services outside the strict limits of their profession, one might come upon their names at this date with much the same lack of recognition as that with which one finds in a reported case the names of some counsel, great perhaps in his own time, but long since forgotten.
And there is another difficulty in preparing such a history as this, brief, and therefore necessarily limited to a few names, and that is that some may be omitted who are quite as worthy of mention as those whose names appear. It is not often that any one man stands as a lawyer head and shoulders above the other members of the pro- fession; and the same may be said of any half dozen men. In many cases the most careful measurement would fail to disclose a differ- ence of more than a fraction of an inch, if any. Lives of eminent men who have at some period been practicing lawyers, have con- tained the assertion that while they were engaged in the practice of their profession they were the "leaders of the bar," but there is almost always room for doubt as to whether the title is not a brevet bestowed by the biographer alone. Therefore the mention in this article of certain lawyers must not be taken as any disparagement of those who are not mentioned, and finally, it is to be observed that this article, so far as the bar is concerned, will treat not only of those who are past and gone, but will make mention of some of those now in the flesh.
At the time of the organization of the county the powers of the present board of supervisors were vested in the county court. The judge had entire jurisdiction in all matters which could not be properly brought before the district court, and he was to a certain extent supreme ruler in local matters. The office was the most im- portant one in the gift of the people of the county. The records of the county commence with the first session of this court, convened in Hampton, March 3, 1856, Judge J. B. Reeve presiding.
Prior to the organization of Franklin county, the territory now comprising it was made a part of the fifth judicial district. Cave J. McFarland, of Polk county, was judge of this district, but as the county was not organized he never held here a term of court. How- ever, he issued many official orders affecting Franklin county, one of which was the appointment of commissioners to locate the county seat.
Vol. 1-13
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In March, 1857, the thirteenth judicial district was created, com- posed of the counties of Franklin, Butler, Grundy, Hamilton, Har- din, Marshall, Story and Wright. Webster county was added in 1858. The records show the first district court held in Franklin county was at Hampton in March, 1857, Judge J. D. Thompson pre- siding. This was, as a matter of course, a busy term, for the reason that many matters for adjudication had been accumulating and made for a large docket. S. C. Brazzelton was clerk of the court and Solomon Staley, sheriff. There was no district attorney, but the duties of the office were performed by R. F. Piatt, who acted as prosecuting attorney for the county. The local attorneys were W. N. Davidson, T. H. Baker and A. H. Bridgeman, residents of Mays- ville. There were other attorneys who attended this court, among them being E. W. Eastman and H. L. Huff, of Eldora; G. G. and R. G. Reniger, of Charles City; A. F. Brown, of Cedar Falls; and J. W. Wood, nicknamed "Old Timber" by Judge McFarland.
The first grand jurors were Samuel Carbaugh, David G. Car- baugh, William W. Ward, W. H. Thompson, Benjamin Jones, Henry W. Smith, W. B. Freeborn, Robert Darrah, James Van Horn, Chauncey Gillett, Jacob Schidler, Lemon Armstrong, Joseph Riddle. John O. Crapser, S. L. Utley, R. St. Clair, J. F. Robbins, L. H. Morgan, H. P. Allen, J. A. Simpler, I. White, D. C. Jones and Obadiah Smith. Herman P. Allen was foreman, and Henry White and G. W. Thompson, bailiffs.
The jury met at the Hampton House, then owned by Dr. A. J. Guthrie. The first petit jury impaneled comprised in part L. H. Arledge, J. E. Boyles, G. W. Eckley, James Hogan, William May, J. Heller and R. F. Quivy.
There were no cases of any great importance before this court but quite a number of contentions at issue which called for a jury to settle them. For example, the first jury trial was in the matter of Trumond Stoddard against Thomas H. Baker, tried March I, 1858. A verdict was rendered of $20 damages for the plaintiff, and an execution was issued therefor. The first entry upon the judg- ment docket was dated January 19, 1858. The title of the case was William A. Jamison against J. R. Stover, civil action, and the amount of judgment, $12.121/2. The sheriff's return was: "Execution re- turned for want of a sufficient bid, April 8, 1856."
By an act of the General Assembly passed and approved April 3, 1868, circuit courts were established in this state and each judicial district was divided into two circuits, in each of which at the general
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election in November, 1868, and every four years thereafter a cir- cuit judge should be elected. Four terms of court were provided for each year in each county in the circuits. By this act the office of county judge was abolished and all business pertaining to that office was transferred to the circuit court, which was also to have concur- rent jurisdiction with the district court in all civil actions and ex- clusive jurisdiction in all appeals and writs of error from justice courts, higher courts and all other inferior tribunals either in civil or criminal cases. Franklin county, together with the counties of Hardin, Hamilton, Webster, Wright, Marshall, Story and Boone, was made the second circuit of the eleventh judicial district.
James D. Thompson, the first judge of the thirteenth judicial district, was a native of New York. He was raised on a farm, at- tended the common schools, spent a short time in the academy at Fredonia, New York, and then went to Niagara county, where he taught school. Returning to Fredonia to resume his studies at the academy, in his leisure hours he read law and taught school the fol- lowing winter, and then finished his reading in the office of Hon. O. W. Johnson, of Fredonia. He was admitted to the bar and came to Iowa in the spring of 1854, locating at Eldora, where he opened an office and later was elected county prosecuting attorney. In 1855, Mr. Thompson was elected county judge to fill a vacancy. He was elevated to the district court bench in the spring of 1857, and shortly thereafter removed to Hampton, where he resided a portion of the time while on the bench. Later he returned to Eldora and entered into partnership with Hon. H. L. Huff.
The successor to Judge Thompson was John Porter, a native of Pennsylvania, who received a common-school education, taught school and was admitted to the bar at Warren, Ohio. In 1856 Judge. Porter removed to Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, and in 1858, was elected judge of the newly organized district, which position he oc- cupied until his resignation in 1866. Judge Porter was full of energy and was possessed of a quick and good judgment, which earned him the approbation of the bar and people of the district.
Samuel L. Rose, of Hamilton county, was the first circuit judge- to preside over this court. He was elected in the fall of 1868. Judge. Rose was a native of New York, and spent his boyhood time in the common schools and Augusta Academy. At the age of sixteen he taught school in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and among his pupils was Bayard Taylor, the poet and minister to England. Mr. Rose began the study of medicine before leaving the academy but at nine --
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teen abandoned it for the study of law, reading at first with Judge Beardsley, of Utica, New York. In 1850, he removed to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and there rose to eminence as a lawyer. In 1862 he located at Rose Grove, Hamilton county. As a jurist, Judge Rose gave eminent satisfaction to the bar and public. He served the full term of four years.
Of the later judges who have held court in Hampton, reliance has been placed on the memory and superior discernment and judg- ment of the present nestor of the bar, John D. Hemingway, who came to Hampton in the spring of 1874 and studied law in the office of J. W. Mckenzie during that summer. In the fall he went to Iowa City, and there entered the law school of the State University, graduating the next spring. On the ist day of July, 1875, he en- tered into partnership with J. W. Mckenzie. From that time on Mr. Hemingway became familiar with the judges who have presided over the courts in this county and of course gained some information as to some of the prior judges. He says :
"When I commenced the practice, John H. Bradley, of Marshall county, was judge of the circuit court, and Daniel D. Chase, of Web- ster City, was judge of the district court. Judge Chase was a very dignified presiding judge and quite advanced in years. He was al- ways extremely courteous, especially to the younger members of the bar. His term expired in about 1874, when he retired from the bench, and not long afterwards died at his home in Webster City.
"Judge Bradley went on the bench in 1873 and continued on the circuit bench until 1880. He was considerably younger than Judge Chase. He was a general favorite with the bar and proved a fairly satisfactory judge, though he was not considered as one of the great judges of Iowa. After leaving the bench, he entered the practice at Marshalltown for a few years and then moved to Chi- cago, and so far as I know, is still in the practice in that city.
"D. D. Miracle, of Webster City, succeeded Judge Bradley as judge of the circuit court, which office he held from 1881 to 1886, at which time the circuit court was abolished. Judge Miracle was probably at that time about thirty-five years of age, a dark com- plexioned man and somewhat troubled with dyspepsia. As I recall him, he was a graduate of the law school of Michigan University. having graduated from that institution about 1868. Judge Miracle was a man of decided views, of brilliant mind, and had it not been that his health was not of the best, he probably would have proved to be one of the great jurists of Iowa. After the circuit court was abol-
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ished he became judge of the district court, which position he held during the years 1887 and 1888. After leaving the bench, he retired to practice in his home town, Webster City, but did not live many years. He was considered one of the good judges of this district.
"Isaac J. Mitchell, whose term lasted from 1873 to 1878, suc- ceeded Judge Chase to the district bench. He was a resident of Boone. Judge Mitchell was a very mild-mannered man and rather retiring in his disposition. He retired in 1878. We all considered him a very good man but not a man of more than ordinary ability in legal attainments.
"J. W. Mckenzie, of Hampton, Iowa, succeeded Judge Mitchell in 1879 and held the office until his death in 1881. Mckenzie made a very popular judge, being an especially likable man, but unfor- tunately was cut off early in his career by tuberculosis.
"Mckenzie was succeeded by Judge H. C. Henderson, of Mar- shalltown. Judge Henderson was a man of very brilliant mind. He had been for years a Methodist preacher before he took up the study of law. He held the office of judge from 1881 to 1886, when he left the bench and engaged in practice for a while at Marshall- town, Iowa; then went west. Just where he located I am not able to say.
"Up to about 1886 the district was supplied with a circuit and dis- trict court, with one judge for each. In 1886 the circuit court was abolished or merged in the district court, and Judge Miracle, who had been on the circuit bench, was transferred to the district court. We were thereafter provided with two district judges. In 1887 the judges elected were Hon. S. M. Weaver, of Iowa Falls, and the Hon. J. L. Stevens, now of Boone, at that time of Nevada, Story county. Judge Stevens held office until 1892, when he resigned. Judge Stevens had been district attorney for some years before he was elected judge and was a man above the ordinary ability. Since his resignation from the bench, he has been a prominent attorney in Boone, Iowa, and during the last election became prominent as pro- gressive candidate for Governor of Iowa.
"Judge Weaver held the office of judge until 1900 or 1901. He was probably as brilliant and versatile as any judge we ever had on the bench. He was subsequently elected to the supreme bench of the State of Iowa and is now a member of the supreme bench. Judge Stevens resigned during the time when Iowa was led by a democratic Governor, Horace Boise, of Waterloo, who appointed to the posi- tion a democrat-the Hon. N. B. Hyatt, of Webster City. Hyatt
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only held the office to the end of the term, when he was succeeded in 1893 by the Hon. Benjamin P. Birdsall, of Clarion. Judge Birdsall held the office until 1900. He was a brilliant lawyer before his election to the bench and proved to be a remarkably good judge. In 1888 the law provided for a third judge in the district and D. R. Hindman, of Boone, was elected. He held the office from 1888 to 1898. Judge Hindman was a man different from the ordinary law- yer. He always seemed to be seeking for some method by which he could help out both the litigants. He always wanted everybody to feel good and hated to see anybody punished as the result of a suit. His decisions, however, ranked fairly well with the decisions given by the other judges. He was a man well liked by everybody prac- ticing in his court, although they were not always satisfied with the result of his decisions.
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