USA > Iowa > Cerro Gordo County > History of Franklin and Cerro Gordo counties, Iowa and biographies of representative citizens. History of Iowa, embracing accounts of the pre-historic races > Part 20
USA > Iowa > Franklin County > History of Franklin and Cerro Gordo counties, Iowa and biographies of representative citizens. History of Iowa, embracing accounts of the pre-historic races > Part 20
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ever presided over the courts of the fifth or eleventh judicial district.
Cave J. McFarland was born at Mount Vernon, Knox Co., Ohio. He read law with John C. McNulty, clerk of the house of representatives. Ile went to Lee Co., Iowa, in 1844, and was subsequently prosecuting attorney for that county for several years, and also represented that county in the legislature. He afterwards moved to Boone county, where he was ap- pointed judge of the fifth judicial district, and was afterwards elected. He died in April 1869, at Boonesborough. Many anec- dotes are related of Judge McFarland, some of which are too good to be lost. He had nicknames for many of the attorneys who practiced before his court. James W. Wood he called Old Timber, and Gov. Eastman Old Spot, from the fact of his being marked with small-pox. On one occasion, while Old Timber was address ing the court, an ass walked up near one of the windows and set up a terrible bray. The judge quickly turned to Mr. Wood and cried ont : "Sit down, Old Timber, sit down; one at a time, if you please."
In March, 1857, the thirteenth judicial district was created, composed of the counties of Franklin, Butler, Grundy, Hamilton, Hardin, Marshall, Story and Wright; to which Webster county was added in February, 1858.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
The first term of the district court in Franklin county, as shown by the records, was held in March, 1857, at Hampton, with Hon. J. D. Thompson, judge of the thirteenth judicial district, presiding. It was a busy term, as all the cases that had been accumulating for years came up for trial. S. C. Brazzelton, was clerk of court, and Solomon Staley, county sheriff. In those days there was no district attor- ney, the work of that officer being per- formed by a county prosecuting attorney. R. F. Piatt acted in that capacity. The home attorneys beside Piatt, were W. N. Davidson, T. H. Baker and A. H. Bridge- man, all at that time residents of Maysville. The attorneys from abroad were E. W. Eastman and II. L. Huff, of Eldora ; G. G. and R. G. Reiniger of Charles City ; A. F. Brown of Cedar Falls; J. W. Wood, (Old Timber) now of Steamboat Rock, and Lee and Newton, whose residence at that time is unknown.
The first grand jurors impanelled were : Samuel Carbaugh, David G. Carbaugh, William W. Ward, W. H. Thompson, Benjamin Jones, Henry W. Smith, W. B. Freeborn, Robert Darrah, James VanHorn, Chauncey Gillett, Jacob Schideler, Lemon Armstrong, Joseph Riddle, John O. Crap- ser, S. L. Utley, R. St. Clair, J. F. Robbins, L. H. Morgan, II. P. Allen, J. A. Sim pler, I. White, D. C. Jones and Obadiah" Smith. Herman P. Allen was foreman of the grand jury, and Henry White and G. W. Thompson, were appointed bailiffs. It is presumed the jury met at the Hampton House. as Dr. J. A. Guthrie, who kept the house at that time, had a bill audited for room rent.
The first case to come up was entitled Thomas HI. Baker vs. Peter Rinehart. The case was brought from justice's court upon writ of error. After hearing argu- ments of counsel, the court sustained the error, and ordered that the judgment of the court below be reversed. The attor- neys were A. F. Brown and R. F. Piatt.
The first jury trial to come before the district court of Franklin county, was entitled Trumond Stoddard vs. Thomas H. Baker, and was tried March 1, 1858. The jury rendered a verdict of twenty dol- lars damage for the plaintiff, and an execu- tion was issued therefor.
. The first petit jury impanelled com- prised L. H. Arledge, J. E. Boyles, G. W. Eckley, James Hogan, William May, J. Haller and R. F. Quivy.
The first entry upon the judgment docket of Franklin county was dated Jan: 19, 1856. The parties were William R .. Jamison against Isaac Stover; the amount of judgment $12.123. The record states: "Execution returned for want of a suffi- cient bid April the 8th, 1856."
James D. Thompson, the first judge of the thirteenth judicial district, was born Sept. 19, 1832, near Fredonia, Chautauqua Co. N. Y., and is the second son of Capt. Isaac K. and Emily D. Thompson, natives respectively of Massachusetts and Vermont, descendents of English fore- fathers who settled in New England before the Revolution He lived with his parents on a farm, attending the common schools, and afterwards the academy in Fredonia, N. Y., till seventeen years of age, when he went to Niagara county and taught his first school. During the winter his father was accidentally killed,
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
and from that time he was left to his own unaided exertions. At the close of his school, in the spring of 1850, he returned to Fredonia, and again resumed his studies at the academy, and in his leisure hours read law, teaching again the follow- ing winter in Laona, a town near Fredonia, still continuing his law studies. In the spring he entered the law office of Hon. O. W. Johnson, of Fredonia, and at the same time recited with his class in the academy until he finished his law studies. Always of slight physical development and high nervous temperment, such close application told seriously on his healthi. Having been a sufferer from neuralgia to such an extent for three or four years as to compel him to read mostly at night, it now completely prostrated him; and for more than a year he was unable to read even the weekly newspaper, and for more than two years it stuck to him closer than a brother. Never, during all that time, was he free from it two weeks in succession. In the spring of 1854, he came to Iowa, having passed one year in Kentucky and one year in Ohio, engaged in railroading, both in constructing and engineering; arrived at Marietta, the county seat of Marshall county, on the 24th of May, meet- ing there Hon. Delos Arnold, an old friend and schoolmate, his only acquaintance in the State. After remaining at Marshall a few weeks, he concluded to make Hardin county his home, and on the evening of the 15th of June he walked into Eldora with his satchel on his back, and soon opened a law office, engaging in surveying and real estate business. Ile was elected prosecuting attorney at the next regular election, and in the summer of 1855, be-
came county judge by the resignation of Judge Alexander Smith. He was nomi- nated by the democrats for that office during the Know-Nothing excitement, but withdrew from the contest. In the fall he returned to New York and was married to Dorinda Clough, of Laona, on the 12th of September, 1855, and immediately started for Iowa. In the spring of 1857, at the request of the democracy and a few personal friends of the republican party, he consented to run for the office of judge of the district court, and though the district was largely republican, was elect- ed for the term of four years, holding the office until legislated out by the adoption of the new constitution. At the request of the Democratic Central Committee of the different counties, he announced him- self as an independent candidate for re- election; but owing to the aspiration of others then professing to belong to that party, he consented to go before a conven- tion of his party, and was nominated, re- ceiving thirty-six out of thirty-nine votes on the first ballot. The district being largely republican, and the excitement of the "Dred Scott decision" at its height, a regular nominee of a democratic convention could expect nothing but defeat, and when the contest was decided, his opponent, Hon. John Porter, had a majority of less than 300 votes. This was a time, also. . of county seat removals. Of the counties forming the district, three-fourths had, during his term of office, held elections, and in most cases the contest was carried into the district court for adjudication. While holding the office of judge, being largely interested in the town of Hamption, the county seat of Franklin county, he moved
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
there and resided a portion of the time. Returning to Eldora after the expiration of his term of office, he entered into part- nership with Hon. H. L. Huff, and con- tinned in the practice of his profession till he entered the army, in 1861; was a mem- ber of the State convention that sent dele- gates to Charleston, in 1860, and canvassed a portion of the State for Douglas in that exciting campaign; volunteered as a private in Capt. Stump's company, but withdrew by permission to assist in the organization of the Ist Iowa Cavalry; rais- ing and commanding company G of that regiment; returned to Hardin county and took an active part in the election of the fall of 1861, supporting Hon. W. J. Moir as the Union candidate against Mr. Brown, the republican nominee. After the elec- tion he returned to his regiment, and was from that time in active service with his company and battalion during the years 1861 and 1862, that battalion accompany- ing Gen. Fremont in his famous campaign to Springfield; was present commanding his squadron at the battle of Milford, in December, 1861, when, after a sharp fight, 1,300 rebels under Cols. Robinson and Magoffin surrendered to 400 men of the 1st Iowa Cavalry and fifty regulars under com- mand of Gen. J. C. Davis; a success that gave Gen. Pope prominence, and which he · utilized to its full extent. Again at Silver Creek, Howard county on Jan. 8, 1862, when the Ist Iowa and a part of Merrill's Horse defeated Poindexter. In January, 1862, having been placed in command of the cavalry stationed at Sedalia, Mo., he, with a detachment of the Ist Iowa, numbering 120 men, fell upon 800 confederates under Gen. E. W. Price, son of Gen. Sterling
Price, while crossing the Osage river at Warsaw, about 4 o'clock on the morning of the day of the battle of Fort Donelson, and succeeded in cutting off and capturing Gen. Price, Col. Dorsey and other officers, and some fifty or sixty men, 400 horses, mules, ete., for which service he received special commendation from Gen. Halleck. In April of the same year, he was ordered to Warrensburg to relieve the garrison under Major Foster, of the Missouri troops, who had been driven into the stockade, and besieged by Quantrell and Parker.
Leaving Sedalia at eleven o'lock on a rainy night, by a forced march of thir y miles, he reached Warrensburg at sunrise, with 200 men and a section of artillery, to find that Quantrell had raised the siege and decamped. So he moved out fifteen miles from Warrensburg, fell in with Col. Parker and a portion of Quan.rell's troops, and engaged in a running fight for two or three miles through the timber, killing Cap'. Griffith and four or five men and wounding as many more, captured Col. Parker and fif- teen or twenty of his troops. He was ordered to Lexington inMay, thence to Clinton. He was a member of the military commis- sion at Butler, Bates county, during the sum- mer of 1862, assuming command at Clin- ton in August for a while, but owing to an unyielding attack of neuralgia and sickness and death in his family, he re- signed in October, and returned home to remain only till his health improved, when he again returned to the army, having been commissioned major of the 8th regi- ment, Iowa Cavalry. Soon after he joined his regiment it was ordered south, and by the 1st of December reached Nashville, Tenn. During that month he was assigned
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HISTORY OF FRANKIN COUNTY.
to the command of a sub-district, under the immediate command of Gen. Gillem, with headquarters at the terminus of the Western railroad, thirty miles out from Nashville. This winter he succeeded in de- feating, killing and capturing at different times the most of the celebrated Hawkins' Scouts, and driving Col. Hawkins, their commander, into the arms of the 2d Ken- tucky Cavalry, as it was marching through the country. He was ordered to Iowa in March, 1864, in command of a detachment to escort recruits to different regiments in the department of the Tennessee. After discharging that duty, he was detailed on court martial at Nashville till Gen. Sher- man was ready to begin his march to the sea, when he was ordered to his regiment, then stationed at Cleveland, Tenn., but soon destined to move to the front, where it was continually engaged in scouting and skirmishing. One time it was thirteen days successively under fire, till the unfortu- nate raid near Rome, Ga., resulting in the capture of its colonel and most of the regi- ment, a portion only cutting its way out with Gen. Edward McCook. He was bre- veted lietenant-colonel for gallant and meritorious service. The terrible strain of such severe and continued service, the exposure and over exertions, resulted in an attack of neuralgia of the heart, so violent as to compel him to be sent to the hospital at Nashville for treatment, where he remained three nearly months with- out improvement, and until discharged, on certificate of permanant disability, by a medical board specially appointed. Arriv- ing home in the fall of 1864, broken down in health but not in spirit, he located on his farm engaging for two years in agriculture.
In 1866 he was nominated for congress by the peoples' party, and made a thorough canvass of the district, and, though running far ahead of his ticket, was defeated. In 1867 he received an appointment as pen- sion agent at DesMoines, to which place he removed, residing there till his term of office expired; then returning to Eldora in 1872, was a delegate to the democratic State convention, and was largely instru- mental in securing harmony of action be- tween that convention and that of the liberal republicans. He was also a delegate to the Baltimore convention that nomi- nated Horace Greeley for president, and was selected by his fellow delegates as the member (from Iowa) of the committee to await on Mr. Greeley, of New York, and appraise him of the choice of the conven- tion. Having performed this duty, he re- turned to Iowa and entered vigorously into the campaign that resulted so disas- trously to Mr. Greeley and democracy. Coming to the conclusion that he was not a president maker, he has from that day since religiously abstained from all con- ventions. Though a member of the grange and an active supporter of the anti-monopoly movement, he only labored as a private, refusing promotion. In 1874 Judge Thompson closed his office in El- dora, and in 1875 removed to San Fran- cisco, Cal., where he now resides.
By the constitution of 1857, Franklin county became a part of the eleventh judi- cial district, and still forms a part of that district.
John Porter, the successor of Judge Thompson, was born in Washington Co., Pa., April 14, 1828. His boy- hood life was spent in milling and
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
farming during the summer seasons, and · in attending the common schools in the winter. At the age of eighteen, he com- menced teaching district school, and for three years his time was passed altern- ately in teaching and attending school to perfect himself in the higher branches. He then entered the office of Todd, Hoff- man & Hutchins, Warren, Ohio, where he read law some years. In 1854, on his admission to the bar, he located at Ply- mouth, Ind., where he remained two years, and then removed to Mason City, Cerro Gordo Co., Iowa. He soon took high rank as a lawyer, and obtained a good practice for that day. In 1858 he was elected judge of the newly organized district, which position he occupied until he resigned, in 1866. The energy dis- played, with quick and good judgment, earned him the good will of both the bar and people of the district. Judge Porter was united in marriage with Mariam Stevens. They had one child. For several years the judge has taken great interest in railroads, and has devoted much of his time to securing roads through Hardin county. As a lawyer, he is recognized as one of the best in the State, and is an honor to the Hardin county bar.
In the fall of 1865, Judge Porter resigned and Daniel D. Chase was ap- pointed by the governor, Feb. 5, 1866. Oct. 9, 1866, he was elected by the people, and four years later, re-elected.
Daniel D. Chase was born in Canajo- harie, N. Y., July 4, 1830. Until he attained the age of seventeen he remained at the old homestead, attending the dis- trict school in the winter season, and la-
boring like other lads in rural communi- ties on the farm during the spring, sum- mer and autumn. The four ensuing years he passed at the Ames Academy and the Cazenovia Seminary, where he acquired a good academic education, and taught in the meantime to procure the necessary funds to pursue his studies. After he ceased attending the seminary, he became principal of the public schools at Cazeno- via, at the same time commencing the study of law. He was afterwards called to the charge of Woodstock Academy, successfully discharging the duties of a teacher while pursuing his legal studies. He was admitted to the bar of the State of New York at the general term of the Supreme Court, in Saratoga coun- ty, Jan. 1, 1856, and entered at once upon the practice of his profession. In August, 1858, Mr. Chase removed to Iowa, settling at Webster City, Hamilton county. He came here with no capital save that which was stored up in his brain, and an earnest determination to deserve success. Upon his arrival in the little fron- tier town which he had selected as his home, and which then contained scarcely 400 people, and the county not over 1,600, he found the small legal practice in the hands of two older lawyers, who settled there some time previously. It was many months before he secured his first retainer-a discouraging fact to a man of limited means, when the times were hard, and growing worse with every succeeding week. But he patiently bided his time, and final- ly the temperance people were forced to employ him in the prosecution of Sunday violations of the liquor law ; both of his competitors, fortunately for him, being en-
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
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gaged on the other side. The fight was a prolonged and bitter one, and it served to bring prominently to the notice of the people the fine legal ability and great force of character of the hitherto reserved and rather reticent and neglected young lawyer. This rough and tumble contest completely "westernized" him, and from this time forward he was a favored attor- ney. In the following winter he visited a number of the counties in the eleventh judicial district, becoming acquainted and securing quite an addition to his slender, legal practice. In a short time he was accorded a leading position in his profes- sion in northwestern Iowa. Noted for his purity of character, dealing fairly with his clients, and never encouraging litigation, except in cases where its necessity and justice rendered it imperative-thus mak- ing him always the safest of counselors- he rapidly won his way to a high place in the popular estimation. In the autumn of 1859, his name was prominently mentioned in connection with the position of county
judge, every delegate to the convention favoring his nomination, but he declined the proffered honor. In the ensuing year, at the republican judicial convention, he was unanimously tendered the nomination for member of the board of education, to which he was chosen in October following by a large majority. Before his term of service expired he was elected district at- torney. In 1865, a vacancy having oc- curred in the office of district judge, he was appointed to fill the vacancy by Gov- ernor Stone. He was twice nominated by acclamation and twice elected to this dis- tinguished position, and, at the close of nine years continuous service on the
bench, declined a third nomination, and retired to private life. Judge Chase was always held in the highest esteem by both the bar and the people. On his retirement from the bench, the bar of Hardin county passed a most complimentary resolution, declaring that "by his ability, efficiency and integrity in the discharge of every official duty, Judge Chase has won, and is worthy of, not only the commendation and plaudits of the bar, but of the entire people who have received the benefits of his labor." The bar of the entire district, on the last day of his court, united in present- ing him with a magnificent gold watch and chain, to purchase which they con- tributed the sum of $500. Judge Chase, in his early days, was a whig, but has acted with the republican party since its organization. He was a delegate-at-large to the national republican convention which nominated President Lincoln for his second term.
In the fall of 1874, Isaac J. Mitchell was elected judge of the eleventh judicial district. Isaac J. Mitchell is a native of .Ohio, and was born in Cincinnati on the 31st of May, 1827. While an infant his father moved to a farm in Clermont Co., Ohio, and there the son worked until he was nineteen, when he went to a high school in Laurel, Ohio, a few months, to prepare himself for a teacher. He taught in Brazil, Ind., and adjoining districts, for three years. While preparing to teach, he worked on a farm for two dollars a week, devoting the money thus earned to the purchase of textbooks. He read law while teaching in Indiana, and com- pleted his school education by attending Asbury College, Greencastle, Ind., one
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
term, when, his health giving way, he had to leave the institution. He removed to Boonesborough, Iowa, in June, 1855, and there resumed his study of law while engaged in the drug business. He fin- ished reading law early in 1858; was admitted to the bar in Boonesborough in April, and opened an office there in that year. IIe has since been in constant practice, except when in office, building up a large business and an enviable reputa- tion. He served as justice of the peace in 1857, while reading law in Boonesborough, and the next year was elected a member of the State board of education, serving two years. In 1868 he was elected State Senator for the term of four years. He was chairman of the committee on enroll- ing and agriculture, and acted on three or four other committees. He was a very useful and influential member of the Assembly. In 1874 he was elected judge of the eleventh judicial district. He was recognized as a man of great purity of character, well read in the law, with good judgment, dignity, decision of character, and other qualities that tend to make an excellent judge. He had a hard struggle in securing an education, but success crowned his efforts.
July 10, 1878, J. W. Mckenzie, of Hampton, was nominated for judge of the eleventh judicial distriet at the conven- tion held at Fort Dodge, and was elected at the October election following, by a majority of 2,336 over Hon. H. E. J. Boardman.
Judge MeKenzie was compelled to re- sign on account of ill health, and died shortly afterwards. From the Franklin County Recorder, under date Jan. 18,
1882, the following sketch of the judge is taken:
"Judge Mckenzie is dead. After a lingering illness, which he bore with extraordinary fortitude, he peacefully breathed his last at half past four o'clock last Sunday morning, January 15.
"James Wheeler MeKenzie was the son of Roderick and Rachel Mckenzie, and was born in Wyandot Co., Ohio, July 2, 1843. His early life was spent on a farm, with such early schooling as the dis- triet schools could afford. He early man- ifested a taste for reading and intellectual pursuits, however, and the outbreak of the war found him well educated and well in- formed for his age. His first enlistment was in a regiment known as the 'Squirrel Hunters,' which was called into service to protect the southern border of Ohio, but this service was of short duration, and in March, 1864, he enlisted in the Signal corps as a private. At this time he was, and had been for two years, a student at the Ohio Wesleyan University at Dela- ware, in that State. He was assigned to duty in the department of the Tennessee, and most of the time until'the close of the war he was on duty at the corps head- quarters, commanded by Logan, McPher- son and Howard. He was an eye-witness to the death of General McPherson, in 1864, and narrowly escaped capture at that time. While at Altoona, Oct. 5, 1864, when that place was attacked by the reb- els under General French, he was on duty with a detachment of signal men and act- ing as sergeant, but in reality only a pri- vate, the occurrence took place which has passed into history and song under the title of 'Hold the Fort"' For bravery on
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
this occasion Mckenzie was mentioned in General Order No. 46, from the Bureau of the Signal corps, Nov. 30, 1864, as fol- lows:
For coolness, bravery and good behavior un- der fire, during an attack of the enemy on Al- toona, Ga., Oct. 5, 1864.
In the summer of 1865, he was mustered out of service, and after one term spent at Oberlin College, he taught school dur- ing the winter of 1865-6, and com- menced the study of law in. the office of Berry Bros., at Upper Sandusky, in the spring of 1866 In the fall of that year he entered the law department of the Michigan State University, at Ann Arbor, graduating therefrom in the spring of 1868, His father had removed with his family to Richland township, in this coun- ty, in the spring of 1867, so that he spent the summer at his father's place, returning here upon his graduating in the spring, as stated above. At the spring term of the district court of that year he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice.
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