USA > Iowa > Jackson County > History of Jackson County, Iowa; Volume I > Part 13
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Charles M. Dunbar was admitted to the bar in 1857 and kept his office in Maquoketa until his increasing deafness obliged him to retire from practice some years before his sudden death in 1903. He was the democratic candidate for attorney general in 1864, and was for several years a valuable member of the board of directors of the Iowa Agricultural College at Ames.
Noble L. Barner, and A. C. Laing both settled in Sabula in the later "fifties," but remained only a short time and then removed to other localities.
John Hilsinger opened his law office in Sabula in 1858, coming there from Cortland county, New York, where he was admitted to the bar in 1857, and where he remained until his death. In 1860 he was elected one of the first board of supervisors and continued to serve in that capacity as long as he would accept the office. In 1863 he was elected senator and served four years. He also served one term as prosecuting attorney, and was for many years treasurer of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Mr. Hilsinger was an accurate and suc- cessful business man as well as a careful and prudent lawyer, and a handsome competency rewarded his labors. He engaged in banking and gradually with- drew from the contests in the forum, which were always distasteful to him.
Early in 1859, B. F. Thomas opened a law office at Andrew, and a few years afterward escaped being elected county judge by the narrow margin of five votes. During the Civil war he engaged in collecting war claims, and procuring pensions, and by his energy and perseverance built up a larger business than any other pension lawyer in Iowa, having procured pensions for residents of every state and territory in the Union. With the removal of the county seat to Maquo- keta, he followed the records, and is still in the full tide of successful practice in partnership with his son, Charles M. Thomas.
Henry F. Severens came to Bellevue in 1857 as a teacher, but soon resigned, and entered the office of Booth and Graham as a student. He afterwards went
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY
back to Vermont, and was admitted to practice there, but within a few years returned as far west as Michigan where he has had a distinguished and prosper- ous career. He was for seventeen years a partner of Senator Burrows at Kala- mazoo, and while they were partners they were candidates for Congress, Bur- rows on the republican and Severens on the democratic ticket, but politics did not interfere with their friendship. President Cleveland appointed Mr. Severens district judge of the United States Court, and President Mckinley promoted him to the position of circuit judge of the Court of Appeals, a higher position than has been reached by any other student, or member of the bar of Jackson county.
From 1858 to 1861 there were five young fellows studying law in the various law offices in Bellevue, all of whom were afterwards admitted to the bar, Don A. Wynkoop, David Kelso, Thomas W. Darling, W. Dailey Wilson and Frank A. Bettis. Of these Wynkoop in 1861 was admitted first, and passed all the rest of his life in the practice of law in Jackson county, for many years at Bellevue, and afterward at Maquoketa, and it is believed that he tried a greater number of law suits than any other resident member of the bar. He was a man of ready speech and genial wit, and was well versed in criminal law and the law of torts, and tried all his cases with great vigor, and did not hesitate to attack anybody or anything which stood between him and success. He died very suddenly.
David Kelso was a half brother of Judge Kelso, and almost as soon as he was admitted to the bar he went with Capt. W. A. Warren, who had been appointed quartermaster in the army, as clerk, and as such rendered valuable service to his county. After the war he settled in Kansas, and in a few years became the per- sonal counsel of Jay Gould in his matters in Kansas and Colorado, which posi- tion he retained during the life of that financier. He acquired a large estate and is still living at Kansas City.
W. Dailey Wilson returned to his former home in Indiana, and was a success- ful lawyer, but retired to engage in agricultural pursuits. His modesty led him to decline a nomination for Congress when his election was assured.
Bettis also went with Capt. Warren as clerk. He, after the war, opened an office in Bellevue for a brief time but removed to Kansas, where he was partner with Kelso for a while, and is now understood to be living in Spokane.
T. W. Darling (Tom, as everybody calls him) is still a resident of Jackson county, having his office at Preston. If he had stuck to the law, he could have attained distinction, but other things had a greater attraction for him, and in consequence his abilities have not received the recognition they would otherwise have attracted. He is the only one of the quintette living in Jackson county.
In 1861 when the county seat was removed from Bellevue to Andrew, two young men came from Columbiana county, Ohio, and opened a law office in Andrew under the firm name of Brown and Hill, and also commenced making an abstract of the conveyances of record. The outbreak of the war so broke up business that Hill soon returned to Ohio, and Brown became for a time partner with J. S. Darling, but in a few months went to the war also, and neither returned to Jackson county afterward.
In the same year James C. H. Hobbs, who had been a doctor in Galena, but had abandoned it for the law, opened an office in Andrew also, but he too got the war fever and enlisted. He became a regimental surgeon and afterward brigade surgeon, and at the close of the war returned to Andrew and reopened his law office, but in a few months became a backslider, and entered the ministry of the Methodist church, and spent the remainder of his life in Illinois preaching the gospel.
Samuel S. Simpson was born in Virginia but was brought to Iowa, when an infant. He was educated at the Rock River Seminary at Mt. Morris, Illinois, and after studying law in the office of Booth and Graham, was admitted to prac- tice in 1862. He was partner with. D. A. Wynkoop for a year or two but from that time was alone save for a brief partnership with I. P. H. Cowden. He was for a while editor and proprietor of a democratic paper at Bellevue, and was
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twice elected representative in the general assembly. His family having inher- ited a large tract of land in Kansas, he removed to that state in order to protect their interests and died there.
William L. Redmond, who had been superintendent of schools in 1860 and 1861, was admitted about the same time. He became owner of the abstract which Brown and Hill had started, and completed it under circumstances that would have deterred' almost any other man. He suffered untold torture from an affection of the eyes, and his struggles with poverty for years were pathetic. In 1864 he was elected recorder and introduced a number of reforms in the conduct of that office, the effect of which is seen until the present day. He became well versed in the law of real estate and engaged in banking, first with Judge Keiso. and afterward with B. W. Seaward. His industry and application to business was intense, and with the drugs which he took to alleviate the pain in his eyes, his mind became affected, and while suffering from a hallucination was drowned in the Mississippi River.
I. P. H. Cowden was also a law student when the war broke out. Disap- pointed in not being able to enlist in the First Iowa Infantry, he went to Galena and enlisted in an Illinois regiment, and was severely injured in a railroad acci- dent on his way to the front. He recovered and served through the war and after his return was admitted to practice and formed a partnership with S. S. Simpson,' but his service in the army implanted in him the seeds of consumption and he died on the threshhold of his career. The same fate befell William Gal- loway, a native of Jackson township, who was among the first to enlist, and after the restoration of peace was admitted to the bar at Andrew, but soon after re- moved to Waterloo, where he too died of consumption resulting from his army life. These two young men laid down their lives for their country as truly as if they had perished on the field of battle.
Levi Keck was admitted early. He had been engaged in business in Andrew from the time he came to the state in 185- and in 1864 and 5 was deputy treas- urer. He became associated with Redmond in the abstract business, and is still engaged in it, first as Redmond & Keck, then Keck & House, and now as Levi Keck & Sons.
It is doubtful whether any man in the county ever put in more hours of hard work, and the wonder is how he ever found time to become the well read and accurate lawyer that he is. He served one term as prosecuting attorney, but has withstood all temptations to enter political life. His name has long been a synonym for integrity and uprightness of character, and it is a pleasure to know that his work has brought him a rich return of this world's goods, and that his conduct has won for him the esteem (not to say affection) of the whole county.
In the summer of 1861 John W. Watson came to Bellevue from Catskill, New York, where his father had been one of the judges of the Supreme Court. He had studied law in Connecticut with Governor Seymour of that state, and expected, as soon as he was admitted here, to enter into partnership with his brother-in-law, William Graham. He had been here but a short time when the war fever carried him off, and he enlisted with the Curtis Horse, which afterward became the Fifth Iowa Cavalry. He was lieutenant in Company H of that regiment, and was for a year and a half brigade inspector on the staff of General Lowe, who was the first colonel of the regiment. His company was in McCook's raid around Atlanta, where it was broken up and its commanding officer taken captive. Its first captain had been promoted major. Lieutenant Watson resigned his position on the staff of General Lowe, and took command of his company, and reorganized it and was ready for active service under Thomas when Hood attempted to capture Nashville. On the morning of De- cember 15, 1864, while in the act of giving orders for a charge he was instantly killed by a shell. He had never missed a day's service from the time of his
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enlistment, except a brief furlough when he went to Gettysburg to visit his only brother, Major M. F. Watson, who graduated at West Point the first year of the war, and lost his right leg in checking Barksdale's advance on Little Round Top. "Jack," as he was familiarly known, was the life of his company, and a universal, favorite.
In 1864 George W. Wood became a member of the firm of Booth and Graham. at Bellevue, but after about a year returned to New York and en- gaged in manufacturing and never afterward resumed the practice of law.
Alvah Wilson settled in Maquoketa and entered upon the practice of the law, but soon afterward returned to New York.
In March, 1866, Colonel Charles A. Clark was admitted to the bar on ex- amination. He had been a volunteer in a Maine Regiment and had risen to be colonel, and after the war studied law. He did not remain in Jackson county, but located first at Webster City, and from there removed to Cedar Rapids, where he is in full tide of practice, and is accounted one of the leading law- yers of the state.
Three other young men were admitted at Andrew while it was the county seat. Of these, T. E. Ellwood still remains in the county and has his office at Maquoketa. D. C. McKillip, in a few years, removed to Nebraska where he has had a successful career, and was at one time a member of the legislature of that state. M. Turney Wilkins received the appointment of secretary of Dakota when that territory was organized and his lot was henceforth cast with the people of that section.
S. Dewey Lyman had been one of the early merchants in Maquoketa. He was admitted to the bar, and continued in practice until his advancing years compelled his withdrawal. He was a careful and accurate lawyer, but de- voted himself almost exclusively to office business, and seldom took part in any trial. He died, respected by all who knew him.
S. L. Baker was admitted at Andrew. He hung out his shingle first at An- drew, then in Maquoketa and afterward at Bellevue. He removed to Dakota and thence to Alabama, having abandoned the law for real estate many years ago.
Frank Amos was badly wounded while in the army, and after he was mus- tered out, studied law and was admitted to the bar and became a partner of D. A. Fletcher. He removed from Maquoketa to Lemars in Sioux county, and died there after several years' practice.
John W. Croker was associated in practice with W. L. Redmond at Belle- vue in the early seventies but did not remain there long.
The late L. B. Dunham had been admitted to practice before settling in Maquoketa in the early "fifties," but he engaged in banking and seldom ap- peared in court. He was also a graduate of Union College, and a classmate of Judge Bradley. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention of 1864, and in 1867 was elected senator from Jackson county.
Thomas Wilber, who located in Maquoketa in "the fifties," was also a law- yer but was never actively in practice and the same may be said of his brother, the late J. Tilton Wilber, who settled in the same town some time in the sixties.
George C. Heberling was a school teacher before he enlisted in the Twenty- fourth Regiment of Iowa Infantry. At Port Gibson he was wounded, but re- covered sufficiently to serve out the term of his enlistment, and after his re- turn studied law. and was admitted to practice about 1870. In 1871 he was elected one of the representatives of Jackson county in the State Legislature, and was reelected in 1873, and was an influential member of that body. In 1874 he was chairman of the Republican State Central Committee. He after- ward was United States marshal for Iowa and the northern district of Iowa, and subsequently was claim agent of the C. M. & St. P. Railway, but returned to Sabula and engaged in practice. Increasing deafness, caused by his army wound, constrained him to retire, and he is now living at Seattle, Washington.
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Gilman L. Johnson, came from St. Lawrence county, New York, and set- tled in Maquoketa in 1870, and engaged in the practice of the law, and has been at it continuously ever since. He was first lieutenant in the One Hundred and Forty-second Regiment, New York Volunteers, and lost his right arm while in service in South Carolina. In 1881 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the Nineteenth General Assembly, and in 1883 he was elected senator for Jackson county, serving as such in the Twentieth and Twenty-first General Assemblies, and was an active and influential member. He has frequently represented the democrats of Jackson county in district and state conventions, and when the additional judge was provided for the Seventh Judicial District it was generally understood that he would be the first incum- bent, but in the inscrutable manner in which conventions are conducted, the prize went to another and the subject of this article has continued at his work as Counsel.
Allan J. House was a native of Canada but came to Maquoketa when very young. Having taught school in early manhood he was chosen county super- intendent of schools, and served in that capacity for some years. He was afterward elected county auditor. Having studied law in the meantime he was admitted to the bar, September 29, 1870, and in 1878 became a member of the firm of Keck & House. In April, 1892, the legislature having provided for an additional judge in the Seventh Judicial District, Governor Boies appointed him district judge, and his service has been so acceptable that he has been elected without opposition continuously ever since. He has won the reputation of an accurate and painstaking judge, who hears patiently, examines carefully, and decides promptly and impartially every case brought before him. On this ac- count the Democratic State Convention of 1909 nominated him for the posi- tion of supreme court judge, but he, of course, shared the fate of his party.
Walter C. Gregory came to the bar in 1876, and still continues at work at his desk and in the courtroom, which he has not allowed to be interrupted since that date by any "call of the wild" to occupy appointive positions, or to be candidate for any office, though he served as county auditor before his admis- sion, and takes a keen interest in political affairs, but beyond acting as a member of the State Central Committee, and attending republican conventions, and as a quiet but influential advisor of the trusted leaders of his party, takes no active part in politics.
Frank M. Fort was admitted to practice, and after a few years removed to Sioux City. When the boom in that city collapsed he returned to his native town, but a short time afterward located in Clinton, where he is in the full tide of practice. If there has been any member of the Jackson county bar of any wider reading of legal works the fact has not become generally known.
Jolın C. Campbell has been a resident of Bellevue ever since his admission. He has not confined himself to the practice of law but has been engaged in other enterprises, and served as justice of the peace, and for many years has been postmaster of his town.
A. L. Bartholomew came to the bar in the '70s, and still keeps his hand in, but had the good sense to engage also in a more lucrative occupation, and as manager of the State Bank of Preston has exercised a wide influence in his neighborhood.
Thomas W. Gilruth opened a law office in Maquoketa about the time the railroad made its appearance but in a few years sought "fresh fields and pas- tures new."
E. F. Richman also came to Maquoketa with the advent of the railroad, and entered upon the practice which he continued for a few years, but when his father, Hon. J. Scott Richman, returned to practice, in Muscatine, Frank also went back to his native town in partnership with him and is still in prac- tice there.
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John C. Murray, a native of Maquoketa, was admitted, June 14, 1884, after graduating at the Iowa State University Law School, and has continued in prac- tice at Maquoketa ever since, but has indulged his fancy for blooded cattle and horses by importing them and dealing largely in them, as well as in real estate.
Charles W. Farr, another native of Maquoketa, was also a graduate of the State University Law School, and was admitted, June 14, 1884, in the same class with Murray. He served one term as county attorney, and was a success- ful prosecutor. He and Murray were partners for many years.
Frank D. Kelsey was admitted in 1881. He served several terms as deputy auditor, and auditor before his admission, and also two terms as county at- torney, and has been a successful advocate.
B. F. Thomas, Jr., came to the bar and was elected justice of the peace in his first year of practice, but almost immediately removed to Omaha where he has been very successful. He served one term in the senate of Nebraska, and is now occupying the position of postmaster at Omaha, the most lucrative Fed- eral office in the state. His brother, Charles M. Thomas, was admitted not long afterward and continues in partnership with his father. He also has served as county attorney.
John E. Orr, a native of Jones county, located at Maquoketa, having formed a partnership with Mr. Stuart. After a few years they removed to the western part of the state. Mr. Orr first settled in Sioux county, where he was quite successful, but a few years ago removed to Spokane, in Washington, where fortune seems to smile on him.
Willard H. Palmer, a native of Andrew, began his career as a lawyer in one of the western counties, but returned to his former home and is now serving his second term as county attorney.
Eli Cole is a native of Bellevue where his shingle still hangs out. He has at all times divided his energies between the law, real estate and banking, and can afford to spend his winters in California.
The other, and younger members of the bar, as George S. Hilsinger, who suc- ceeded his father, the late Hon. John Hilsinger, at Sabula, in the law and in banking and to a seat in the legislature as well; Major E. C. Johnson, who com- manded a company in the Philippines and is now given over wholly to military matters; Walter Keck, who is associated with his father in the firm of Keck & Keck; Fred W. Wyatt, referee in bankruptcy ; S. D. Heide, who was formerly recorder; Mark M. Moulton, who was partner for a time with Hon. G. L. Johnson ; John W. Sagers, who holds forth at Iron Hill; B. G. Knittle; Frank Wells, of Miles; and C. W. Bennick, of Bellevue, the last comer, will all occupy a larger share in the next history of Jackson county than they do in this. The Jackson bar has always been composed for the most part of modest and hard working lawyers who averaged up well with their brethren of the other counties of the state.
The foregoing are believed to be all who have been members of the bar of Jackson county since its organization though it may be that some have been lost track of. It has been the intention to "let no guilty man escape."
MEMORABILIA.
A good many comical stories are told of the early terms of court. One oc- currence, which took place at the first term which Judge Wilson held in Belle- vue, is given on the authority of both the judge and sheriff. There was no courthouse, and it was the duty of the sheriff to provide a room for holding court. L. J. Hefly had built a frame house on Front street (still standing and used as a saloon) and Sheriff Warren persuaded him to allow the use of it for a court room, and postpone the arranging of his groceries on the shelves until the court had adjourned. So Hefly placed his boxes and barrels on one side of
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the store room, and the sheriff extemporized seats out of some planks which he borrowed, and procured some chairs and two or three tables for the judge, clerk and lawyers. He also appointed a Swede, by the name of Peterson (who after- ward fell a victim to cholera when it first visited Bellevue), as crier of the court. Very proud was Peterson of his position, and busied himself in walking around the room and occasionally shouting, "Order in Court;" exhibiting himself and enjoying his official dignity. Quite a number of the early settlers were in at- tendance, and found the plank seats rather uncomfortable, and as the case on trial the second morning involved only a dry question of law, lost interest in the proceedings, and strolled out and sat down on the river bank opposite the extempore courthouse, and engaged in the more agreeable occupation of swapping lies, and steers and shotguns. The lawyers arguing the case were Churchman, of Dubuque and Grant of Davenport, and when the former had finished his argu- ment Grant rose to reply. He had a very sharp voice, and as he always com- menced on a high key, his "Your Honor" sounded singularly like the yelp of a terrier, and the idlers on the river bank thought a dog fight was in progress in the courtroom, and rushed in pellmell to see the fun. Peterson did his best to maintain order, but as he was almost as "tall across as he was up and down" he could hardly make himself seen, much less heard. So he climbed upon Hefley's boxes, and then on a hogshead, shouting with all his lung power, "Order in Court," and stamping his foot by way of emphasis, he knocked in the head of the hogshead and let himself into molasses up to his shoulders. The court summarily adjourned, while the sheriff summoned the posse comita- tus, to rescue the submerged bailiff, and tow him up and down in the river until the current had dissolved out his superfluous sweetness.
The same judicial officers were responsible for the narration of another story about the same Churchman, who was in reality a good lawyer, which he afterward demonstrated by his career in California in the early pioneer days, but who never obeyed the injunction of Solomon, "look not upon the wine when it is red," and who was never known to decline the offer of a glass of bourbon. At one of the early terms in this county, Judge Wilson had overruled him on several questions of law which nettled him greatly. A jury case in which he appeared for the plaintiff, had progressed so far that when court adjourned at noon nothing remained but the closing argument by Churchman. During the noon recess, the defendant, who knew Churchman's failing, invited him to irrigate and succeeded in getting him on the outside of several glasses of spiritus fru- menti, and when court opened it was apparent to Judge Wilson that plaintiff's counsel was not in condition to present his case to the jury, and so took up some other business to dispose of. The counsel was probably the only person in the courtroom who was oblivious of his condition and made several announce- ments of his readiness to proceed with his argument, but the court put him off. After an hour or more he became very insistent, and Judge Wilson said, "I will not take up that case at present, for the court does not think you are in condition to properly take care of your client's interest." "Huh, perhaps the court thinks I am drunk." "Yes, Mr. Churchman, you are very drunk," said the court. With that Churchman dropped into his chair remarking, sotto voce. "First correct decison the court has made this term."
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