History of Hardin county, Iowa, together with sketches of its towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 37

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Springfield IL : Union Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1002

USA > Iowa > Hardin County > History of Hardin county, Iowa, together with sketches of its towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 37

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this the sheriff was soundly berated by the prisoner's attorney, and as much com- plimented by the District Attorney, Hon. M. D. O'Connill.

On Saturday, February 28, 1880, S. B. Wentworth, better known as "Bony " Wentworth, had been drinking heavily at a saloon in Gifford. Returning to his home, he began abnsing his sister-in-law, the wife of Augustus Wentworth, the two brothers, with their families, living in a double house with a door communicating between the two parts. Wentworth threatened to kill, or, in his own language, "send them both to hell"-Mrs. Went- worth and her son Edgar Orborne, a son by a former husband. Believing their lives to be in danger, young Osborne picked np a hatchet and struck Wentworth on the head, felling him to the floor. The old man got up, staggered into his own room, and had his wonnd dressed. He continued to walk about the house and yard until the Tuesday following. On Friday he died. A coroner's jury was empannelled, the evidence of Mrs. Went- worth and others heard, and the jury returned a verdict that death was caused by his being struck with an instrument in the hands of Osborne, but it was done in self-defense, believing himself and mother were in great danger. About one year and a half afterwards, Osborne was in- ' dicted for murder by the grand jury. The case was called at the November term, a jury empannelled, and Osborne tried. The trial lasted five days, resulting in the ac- quittal of the prisoner. Henry L. Huff was for the prosecution, and William J. Moir for the defense.

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HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.

H. C. Henderson, the present judge of the Eleventh Judicial District, is a native of Virginia, and comes of a family who were quite prominent in that commonwealth. His father was an old-line whig and quite intimate with Henry Clay, John Bell, and other noted politicians of that school. The family, or a portion of it, moved to Illinois at an early day; one of the members of it having since attained a national reputation -Thomas J. Henderson, Colonel of one of- the Illinois regiments during the rebellion, and subsequently a member of Congress from that State. While residing in Illi- nois, H. C. read law and was admitted to the Bar. For several years he practiced his profession in Rock Island in that State, from which place he removed to Iowa about 1856, locating in Marshalltown. Here he gained a large practice and quite a reputation throughout the State, as a lawyer and as a politician. He is also a Radical Prohibitionists. On the death of Judge Mckenzie, he was appointed by the Governor of the State, to fill the vacancy on the bench in this district. The posi- tion he has filled in a satisfactory manner, so much so as to secure him the nomina- tion for the full term, beginning January 1, 1883. Of his election there can be no doubt.

Judge Mckenzie' was compelled to resign on account of ill health, and died shortly afterwards. From the Franklin County Recorder, under date January 18, 1882, the following scetch of the judge is taken:

" Judge Mckenzie is dead. After a lingering illness, which he bore with ex- traordinary fortitude, he peacefully

'breathed his last at half past four o'clock last Sunday morning, January 15th.

James Wheeler Mckenzie was the son of Roderick and Rachel Mckenzie, and was born in Wyandotte county, Ohio, July 2, 1843. His early life was spent on a farm, with such early schooling as the dis- trict schools could afford. He early manifested a taste for reading and in- tellectual pursuits however, and the out- break of the war found him well educated and well informed for his age. His first enlistment was in a regiment known as the "Squirrel Hunters," which were called into service to protect the southern border of Ohio, but this service was of short dura- tion, and in March, 1864, he enlisted in the Signal corps as a private. At this time he was, and had been for about two years, a. student at the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware in that State. He was assigned to duty in the department of the Ten- nessee, and most of the time until the close of the war he was on duty at the corps headquarters, commanded by Logan, McPherson and Howard. He was an eye witness of the death of Gen. McPherson in 1864, and narrowly escaped capture at that time. While at ' Altoona, October 5, 1864, when that place was attacked by the rebels under Gen. French, he was on duty with a detachment of Signal men, and acting as Sergeant, but in reality only a private; the occurrence took place which has passed into history and song under the title of "Hold the Fort!" One of the other signal men undertook to flag the message, and to do so had to stand upon the parapet in full range of the enemy's guns, and he failed to perform the task; when Mckenzie himself jumping upon the

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parapet, completed the message, and for bravery on this occasion he was mentioned in General Order No 47, from the Bureau of the Signal Corps, Nov. 30, 1864, as fol- lows:

"For coolness, bravery and good behavior under fire, during an attack of the enemy on Altoona, Georgia, October 5, 1864."

In the summer of 1865 he was mustered out of service, and after one term spent at Oberlin College, he taught school during the winter of '65 and '66, and commenced 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 Tp., in this country, in the spring of 1867, so that he spent the sum- mer 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.

The first year or two was not encourag- ing to him. He lacked the pushing for- ward and self-sufficient manner that brings many young lawyers to the front, especially in the west; but he was during all this time a close student, and finally it began to be known that this pale-faced, quiet young man was a well-read lawyer, a safe counselor, and above all, an honest, upright man. From about the first of the year 1870, his practice steadily increased until, when at his nomination for District Judge, he stood confessedly at the head of the Bar in Franklin county. He was never an office seeker, although he was for three

years President of the school board of the Independent District of Hampton, and in 1876 was a delegate to the National Convention at Cincinnati, that nominated Hayes. July 10, 1878, he was nominated for District Judge for the Eleventh Judicial District at the convention held at Fort Dodge, and was elected at the Octo- ber election following, by a majority of 2,336 over Hon. H. E. J. Boardman, a well-known and popular lawyer, which was 480 ahead of the State Republican ticket in the district. In January follow- ing he assumed the duties of his office, and from that time until failing health com- pelled his resignation, he discharged the duties of the office with industry and fidelity, and showed a rare adaptation to the position. In fact he possessed in perfec- tion the qualities that go to make a good judge, and if his life and health had been spared, he would have made for himself a bright record as a judge, and achieved distinction on the bench.

Judge Mckenzie was, while eminently a just man, also a kind-hearted and philan- thropic one, and public-spirited and liberal even beyond his means.

He was a member of the M. E. Church, and met death without a doubt as to the future.

In December, 1871, he was married to Miss Delia Hemingway, of Ann Arbor, Mich., and she remains with four chil- dren, a boy and three girls, to mourn the loss of the kind husband and father. About a year ago he was taken with bleeding at the lungs, but continued to discharge his duties until March, when he became so much worse that he came home and took to his bed. He recovered

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sufficiently to take a trip to Tennessee in May, going from thence to Michigan, where he spent the summer, and then re- turned home, having abandoned all hope, and, as he said himself, "Only waiting for the end." From that time he gradually grew weaker and weaker, until when death did come to him it must have come as a relief.

Other citizens of Hampton may become more distinguished than him, and achieve greater notoriety, and even popularity as the world goes, but no one will ever hold a stronger plare in the hearts of our peo- ple and of all who knew him, than J. W. Mckenzie."

In reference to the incident on which the song of "Hold the Fort" is based, an attorney of Hampton, an intimate friend of the judge, furnishes the following:

"I had been especially intimate with him for many years. Not one word had ever fallen from his lips relative to this matter, to my knowledge. One day, learn- ing incidentally from another of nis con- nection with 'Hold the Fort, for I am coming,' I took occasion soon to ask him about it. He seemed at first reluctant to tell me, but I pressed him, and this is sub- stantially his own account of it. After describing the situation of the armies at Altoona and Kenesaw, he said:

""'Gen. Sherman's signal corps had been trying to send dispatches from Kenesaw to Gen. Corse We could read the dis- patches with our telescope, but could not receive or answer them back, because the rebel shots were so thick. The rebels had also a lot of sharpshooters posted watching our squad, and every time a man would show himself, they would pick him off.

At this time, Gen. Corse came up and said, addressing the signal corps: 'Who is in command here?' Our captain was absent, and I was in charge of the squad, and I replied, 'I am, sir.' The General then asked if a message could be sent to Gen. Sherman in answer to his, 'To hold the fort, for he was coming,' just read. I re- plied that 'it could be if it was absolutely necessary.' Gen. Corse then wrote out the message and handed it to me. It read as follows:

"'To General Sherman:

"'I am short a cheek bone and one ear, but can whip hell out of them yet.

GEN. CORSE '"

"'I took it and my signal flag and called for a volunteer from my little squad. No man responded. I then offered the flag staff to each man, and asked him if he would volunteer, and each declined. I then thought I would detail one, but my brother Tom was in the squad, and the thought struck me if I detailed another than him, they would say at once, 'par- tiality.' If I detailed him, and he was shot, I could never forgive myself; and it seemed like certain death to any one to undertake it. At this moment of hesita- tion, the General, seeing no man going for- ward, said to me firmly, 'Lieutenant, I thought you said this message could be sent?' I replied, 'It can,' and without further delay I mounted the signal station and commenced sending the message, ex- pecting every moment to be shot. The flag was about eighteen feet long, and the wind was blowing some, and I found it very hard work, and felt as though I must give out before I was done. At this mo- ment, when it seemed I could stand it no

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HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.

longer, a stranger, not a member of the signal corps, came up behind me, put his arms around me and along my arms, took hold of the flag staff, and, standing behind me, helped me to wave the answer back to Sherman. I do not think I could have sent the whole message without help or rest.'

"This is the simple story as told by him- self to me, as near as I can recollect it, word for word, and my recollection of it is very clear, as it made a strong impres- sion upon my mind. Having the power to command others to face death, he re- fused to command, and faced it himself."

CIRCUIT COURT.

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 election in November, 1868, and every four years thereafter, a Circuit Judge shall be elected. Four terms of court were provided per 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 trans- ferred to the Circuit Court, which was also to have concurrent jurisdiction with the District Court in all civil actions at - law, and exclusive jurisdiction of all ap- peals and writs of error from justices' courts, mayors' courts, and all other in- ferior tribunals either in civil or criminal cases.

Hardin county, together with the coun- ties of Hamilton, Webster, Wright, Frank- lin, Marshall, Story and Boone, were

made the second circuit of the Eleventh Judicial District.

Samuel L Rose, of Hamilton county, was the first Circuit Judge. He was elected in the fall of 1868. Samuel L. Rose was born in Augusta, Oneida county, New York, on the 19th of December, 1818. His father was Dr. Nathaniel Rose, and one of the ancestors of his mother (whose maiden name was Abigal Knowles) came over in the Mayflower. The paternal grandfather of Samuel was a victim of the Indian massacre at Wyoming, Pennsyl- vania. The early years of young Rose were spent in schools, he entering Augusta Academy at an early age, and remaining in it until he was eighteen, excepting one winter, when, at the age of sixteen, he taught school at Kennett, Chester county, Pa. Among his pupils that season were Bayard Taylor and Mr. Wickersham, since State Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion in Pennsylvania. Mr. Rose began the study of medicine before leaving the academy, but at nineteen abandoned it for the study of the law, reading at first with Judge Beardsley, of Utica, and then with Hon. Timothy Jenkins, of Oneida. He was admitted to the Bar in 1841, and practiced in his native town until 1850. During the last named year he moved to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, where he rose to eminence as a lawyer, he giving, mean- while, part of his time to railroad matters. In December, 1857, he removed to Mil- waukee, where he engaged more exten- sively in railroading, and was at one time President of the Milwaukee and Western Railway Company. In 1862 he crossed the Mississippi, balting one year at Fort Dodge, Iowa, and then locating at Rose

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Grove, in the adjoining county of Hamil- ton, fifteen miles from the county seat, where he now has one of the lovliest homes in this part of the State.

A farm life has long been his choice. He has six hundred acres under improve- ment, and raises a great deal of fruit

Mr. Rose was elected judge of Dodge county, Wisconsin, before he was a voter in that State, and served until 1856 when he resigned. He was a member of the Wisconsin Legislature four years, two in each .house, and was one of the most prominent men in that body. Mr. Rose was the first postmaster at Rose Grove, and held the office six years. He was .chair- man of the Board of county Supervisors for six years. While a resident of Wis- consin, he was a part of the time very active in educational matters. He aided in founding Mayland University, at Beaver Dam, and was the first President of its Board of trustees. For six years he was one of the regents of the University of Wisconsin . Mr Rose belongs to the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders. He was a Democrat of free soil proclivities until 1856, since which date he has been a Republican.

As a Judge, Mr. Rose gave satisfaction to the Bar and public. He served the full term of four years.

J. H. Bradley was the successor of Judge Rose, and was elected in the fall of 1872, entering upon the discharge of his duties in January, 1873. The first term at which he presided in Hardin county, was in February of that year. He was re- elected in 1876, and served his second term, ending January, 1881. Judge Bradley made an able and impartial judi-

cial officer, and was generally esteemed by Bar and people. For several years pre- vious he had been prosecuting attorney for the district, and his qualifications were therefore well known by all.

D. D Miracle was elected successor of Judge Bradley in the fall of 1880. His first term in Hardin county was in May, 1881. His qualifications as a judge are undisputed.

· COUNTY COURT.

In 1851 by an act of the General Assem- bly, county courts were established and the office of County Judge created. By the same act the office of Probate Judge was abolished, as were also the offices of County Commissioners; the duties of the Commissoners and Probate Judge devolv- ing upon the County Judge. The county of Hardin not being organized until 1853, it had no Probate Judges or County Com- missioners. The first County Judge was Alexander Smith, one of the first settlers of the county. Upon Judge Smith de- volved the duty of perfecting the organi- zation of the county, dividing it into town- ships and such other work as necessary to perfect a system of county government. Judge Smith was succeeded in 1857 by J. W. Jones, who, in turn, was succeded by Maynard F. Stilcs in 1859. J. H. Cusack was elected in 1859, and served until 1861. During his terin the office of. Board of Supervisors was created, which relieved the judge of much of the business that had heretoforc developed upon him. In 1861 Ellis Parker was elected judge, and served until the office was abolished, Jannary 1, 1869.

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HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.

CHAPTER VI.

THE BAR OF HARDIN COUNTY.

There is no subject connected with the history of the county of more general interest than a faithful record of its Bar. In reviewing the history of the Bar, it must be borne in mind that as the pros- perity and well-being of every community depends upon the wise interpretation as well as upon the judicious framing of its laws, therefore it must follow that a record of the members of the Bar must form no unimportant part in the county's history. Upon a few principles of natural justice is erected the whole superstructure of civil law, tending to relieve the wants and meet the desires of all alike. The business of the lawyer is not to make the laws, but to apply them to the daily affairs of men. But the interests of men are diversified, and where so many interests and counter interests are to be protected and adjusted, to the lawyer and the judge are presented many interesting and complex problems.

Change is everywhere imminent. The laws of yesterday do not meet the wants and necessities of the people of to-day, for the old relations do not exist. New and satisfactory laws must be established. The discoveries in the arts and sciences, the inventions of new contrivances for labor, the enlargement of industrial pur- suits, and the increase and developement of commerce, are without precedence, and

the science of law must keep pace with them all; nay, it must even forecast the event, and so frame its laws as will most adequately subserve the wants and provide for the necessities of the new conditions. Hence, the lawyer is a man of to-day. The exigencies he must meet are those of his own time. His capital is his ability and his individuality. He cannot bequeath to his successors the characteristics that dis- tinguished him, and at his going, as a gen- eral thing, the very evidences of his work disappear.

Anthony Thornton, President of . the Illinois State Bar Association, in 1878, in an address before the association, thus speaks of the lawyer: "In the American State the great and good lawyer must always be prominent, for he is one of the forces which move and control society. Public confidence has generally been re- posed in the legal profession. It has ever been the defender of popular rights, the champion of freedom, regulated by law, the firm support of good government. In times of danger it has stood like a rock and breasted the mad passions of the hour, and firmly resisted tumult and faction. No political preferment, no mere place, can add to the power or increase the honor which belong to the pure and educated lawyer. The fame of Mansfield and Mar-

Helluff

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HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.

shall and Story, can never die. 'Time's iron feet can print no ruin-trace' upon their character. Their learning and lumin- ous exposition of our jurisprudence will always light our pathway. It is our duty to preserve the prestige of the profession. The past, at least, is secure; the present and future summon us to action. With the progress of society and the increase of population, wealth and trade, varied inter- ests arise, and novel questions requiring more thought confront us. A disregard of the law has been developed, crime meets us unabashed, and corruption stands unmasked in the high places of the land. It is no fancy picture that the law has, to some extent, lost its authority, and it is only the shade of that which once was great. . Hence, new duties are imposed, and a firmer courage is required. * The exaltation of the profession is a duty enjoined upon us. It is a debt which only death can discharge. Lord Bacon has said: 'Every man is a debtor to his profession; from the which, as men of course do seek to receive countenance and profit, so ought they of duty to endeavor themselves, by way of amends, to be a help and ornament thereto.' Every lawyer is a debtor to his profession. If worthy, it gives him an honorable character and high postion. The lawyer should prize and love his profes- sion. He should value its past renown, and cherish the memory of great men whose gigantic shadows walk by us still. He should love it for the intrinsic worth and innate truth of the fundamental truthis. which adorn it."

The Bar of Hardin county has numbered among its members some who have been an honor not only to the county, but to the

State and Nation as well. So far as the material was accessible sketches are given of each attorney who has practiced before the courts of the county. None are omit- ted intentionally, and of some, more would gladly have been said if more were known of the parties by those now living in the county .

Among those who have practiced before the courts of Hardin county, and who have been resident lawyers, were James D. Thompson, John N. Fairchild, Henry L. Huff, John F. Brown, J. S. Gaulding, Allen Greer, William J. Moir, Enoch W. Eastman, John Porter, Josephus Eastman, M. P. Rosecrans, M. W. Anderson, O. W. Garrison, S. A. Reed, J. H. Scales, W. V. Alien, A. Pratt Roberts, Fred. Gilman, John S. Roberts, Daniel .Eiler, William A. Greer, C. A. Albrook, J. F. Hardin, George W. Ward, W. S. Preston, John C. McBride, James W. Wood, E. M. Fink- bone, - - Cassiday, W. N. Davidson, L. H. Evans, C. M. Nagle, J. C. Adam3, B. S. Baker, - - Raymond, George L. Griggs, T. H. Milner, William Hall, A. C. Murphy, Hiram Button, J. C. Waldron.

James Danforth Thompson, born Sep- tember 19 1832, near Fredonia, Chatauqua county, New York, is the second son of Capt. Isaac K. and Emily D. Thompson, natives respectively of Massachusetts and Vermont, descendants of English fore- fathers, who settled in New England be- fore the Revolution. He lived with his parents on a farm, attending the common school, and afterwards the academy in Fredonia, New York, till seventeen years of age, when he went to Niagara county and taught his first school. During that

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winter his father was accidently killed, 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 following winter in Laona, a town near Fredonia, and 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 temperament, such close applica- tion told seriously on his health, 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 com- pletely 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, being free from it two weeks in succession. In the spring of A. D. 1854, he came to Iowa, having passed one year in Kentucky and one in Ohio, engaged in railroading, both in constructing and engineering; arrived at Marietta, the county seat of Marshall county, on the 24th day of May, meeting there Hon. Delas Arnold, an old friend and school-mate, his only acquaintance in the State. After remaining in Marshall a few wecks, he concluded to make Hardin county his home, and on the evening of the 15th day 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. He was elected

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History of Hardin county, Iowa, together with sketches of its towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 37

Author: Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Springfield IL : Union Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1002

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Springfield IL : Union Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1002