USA > Iowa > Marion County > History of Marion County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 29
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Knoxville Township has a number of these rural churches. One is located near the center of section 22, near the Liberty school and about half a mile south of the Andersonville mining camp; a second is situated near the Bunker Hill school, in the north side of section 35, in the southeast corner of the township, and has a cemetery in connection; Pleasant Ridge Church is located in the southwest cor- ner of section 21, near the Burr Oak school and about five miles
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southwest of Knoxville; another is situated in the northwest corner of section 28, about four miles northeast of Knoxville and near the Polk Township line; and Valley Church is situated near the Scott school, in the northwest corner of section 33, five miles south of the City of Knoxville.
Perry Township has but one church shown on the map, viz .: Pleasant Hill Church, which is a half mile south of the Jasper County line and a mile west of the eastern boundary of the township.
It is this class of churches referred to in the opening paragraph of this chapter. The men and women who founded many of them have passed away, the records have been lost or imperfectly kept, so that it is impossible to give any accurate history of them. They are of different denominations and have been attended by men and women as sincere in their convictions as those who belong to the larger churches in the towns and cities. Taken by and large, Marion County is as well supplied with churches as most counties of similar arca and population. The pioneers were, as a rule, people who be- lieved in the principles of the Christian religion, though they may have differed in their creeds, and took steps to establish churches in which their descendants might have the privilege of worshiping God "according to the dictates of their own conscience."
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CHAPTER XVII
THE BENCH AND BAR
PURPOSE OF THE COURTS-THE LAWYER AS A CITIZEN-FIRST COURTS IN IOWA-FIRST DISTRICT COURT IN MARION COUNTY-JUDGE WILLIAMS-JUDGE MCFARLAND-JUDGE STONE-CHANGES IN JUDICIAL DISTRICTS-JUDGE AYRES-THE CIRCUIT COURT-THE BAR-BRIEF SKETCHES OF EARLY LAWYERS-PRESENT-DAY ATTOR- NEYS.
In his cantata of "The Jolly Beggars," Robert Burns, the Scot- tish poet, describes a gathering of a band of vagabond characters at the house of "Poosie Nansie" for a general good time. In the course of the evening's entertainment a strolling tinker sings a song with the following refrain, in which the company join lustily :
"A fig for those by law protected, Liberty's a glorious feast ; Courts for cowards were erected, Churches built to please the priest."
There may still be some "jolly beggars" who entertain similar views regarding the courts, but the fact remains that courts were not erected for cowards-were not intended to restrict the liberties of the people, but to protect them. Liberty without law, instead of being a glorious feast, would be unbridled license; a liberty that would not recognize the rights of others, and, if such a condition could be brought about, the chances are that the "jolly beggar" would be the first one to wish for some law to protect him.
Much of the history of every civilized country centers about its laws and the manner in which they are enforced. "To establish justice" was written into the preamble of the Federal Constitution by the founders of the American Republic as one of the primary and paramount purposes of government. The forefathers also showed their wisdom when they divided the functions of government into three departments-the legislative, the executive and the judi-
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cial-the first to enact laws, the second to execute them, and the third to settle all disputes that might arise over their interpretation. States have copied this system, so that in every state of the American Union there are a Legislature to pass laws, courts to interpret them, and a governor as the chief executive officer to see that they are fairly and impartially enforced.
The law is a jealous profession. It demands of the judge on the bench and the attorney at the bar that they make every careful and conscientious effort to secure the administration of justice- "speedy and substantial, efficient, equitable and economical." Within recent years there has been much adverse criticism of the courts for their delays, and a great deal has been said in the public press about "judicial reform." Concerning this tendency to criticize our judi- cial system, one of the justices of the Ohio Supreme Court recently said :
"A reasonable amount of criticism is good for a public officer- even a judge. It keeps reminding him that, after all, he is only a public servant; that he must give account of his stewardship, as to his efficiency, the same as any other public servant; that the same tests applied to private servants in private business should be equally applied to public servants in public business, whether executives, legislators or judges-at least, that is the public view. Would it not be more wholesome if more public officers, especially judges, took the same view?"
No doubt some of the criticisms passed upon the courts, or rather on certain judges, have been founded upon reason, but should the whole judiciary system of the state or the nation be condemned as unworthy because some judge has failed to measure up to the proper standard of his high calling? Or should the legal profession be brought into general disrepute because some lawyer has adopted the tactics of the pettifogger? It should be borne in mind that some of the greatest men in our national history were lawyers. John Marshall, one of the early chief justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, was a man whose legal opinions are still quoted with reverence and respect by the profession, and his memory is revered by the American people at large. Even the courts of Eng- land have referred to his decisions as high examples of law and equity. Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and Robert R. Living- ston, who negotiated the Louisiana Purchase and gave to the United States a territory far greater than that of the original thirteen colo- nies, were all lawyers and stood high in their profession. Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, Stephen A. Douglas,
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Salmon P. Chase, and a host of others who might be mentioned, were men whose patriotism and sense of justice were unquestioned. And last, but not least, was Abraham Lincoln, self-educated and self-reliant, whose consummate tact and statesmanship, as well as his knowledge of the law, saved the Union from disruption.
When the Territory of lowa was established in 1838, Charles Mason, of Burlington, was appointed chief justice ; Thomas S. Wil- son, of Dubuque, and Joseph Williams, of Pennsylvania, associate justices of the Supreme and District courts of the territory, and these gentlemen continued to hold courts until Iowa was admitted as a state. Section 17 of the act of June 10, 1845, under which Marion County was organized, provided that the county should constitute a part of the Second Judicial District. Under this pro- vision the first term of the District Court was held in Knoxville in March, 1846. As this was the beginning of Marion County's legal history, it is deemed appropriate to give here the first entry upon the court record :
"TERRITORY OF IOWA, 2 "MARION COUNTY.
"As a District Court in and for the County of Marion, in the Territory of Iowa, begun and holden at Knoxville in said county, on the thirtieth day of March, A. D. 1846; present the Hon. Joseph Williams, judge of the Second Judicial District in and for the said territory, and Thomas Baker, for the United States, district attorney, and John B. Lash, for the United States, marshal of said territory, L. W. Babbitt, clerk of the District Court, and James M. Walters, sheriff in and for said county; whereupon said sheriff returned his venire for a grand jury on the part of the territory, and the marshal aforesaid returned into court his venire for a grand jury on the part of the United States, whereupon the following persons, to-wit, John B. Hamilton, Asa Koons, Wilson Stanley, Samuel Buffington, Ed- ward Billaps, Joseph S. West, Samuel H. Robb, Ose Matthews, James Chestnut, Andrew Stortes, John P. Glenn, John H. Bras, John Conrey, Nelson Hill, Martin Neel, Stanford Doud, Alexander May, William Carlisle, Andrew C. Sharp, David Gushway, Thomas Gregory, Benajah Williams and Lawson G. Terry, all good and law- ful men, being duly elected, impaneled, charged and sworn on the part of the United States and Territory of Iowa, retired in charge of Allen Lowe, who being duly sworn as constable in charge of said grand jury, to consider of such matters and things as may come to
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their knowledge and charge. And the sheriff aforesaid returned his venire for a petit jury, whereupon the following persons, to-wit, Robert Hamilton, Jacob C. Brown, Nathan Bass, Granville Hen- dricks, George Gillaspy, Claiborne Hall, Alfred Vertrice, John Williams, John Whitlatch, William Buffington, Matthew Ruple, Joseph Clark, Nathan Tolman, John Wise, John Miller, William Glenn, James Botkin, Moses Long, Elijah Wilcut, Reuben S. Lowrey, David Sweem, Jeremiah Gullion, Benjamin Spillman and Andrew Foster, all good and lawful men, appeared and answered to their names as petit jurors for said court.
"Ordered that the court now adjourn until 9 o'clock tomorrow morning.
"JOSEPH WILLIAMS, Judge."
From this record it will be seen that the first day of the term was devoted to the work of qualifying the grand and petit jurors, who had been selected by the county commissioners on March 2, 1846, under the provisions of an act entitled "An act to authorize the Board of County Commissioners of Marion County to select grand and petit jurors," approved January 17, 1846. Says Donnel: "As there were no jury rooms attached to the temporary building used as a courthouse, the jurors were compelled to make the best shift that circumstances allowed. The grand jury retired to the residence of Doctor Conrey, a small linn log cabin, that was also used as a boarding house; while the petit jury held their consultations in the open air, each jury being attended by a bailiff."
The term lasted but three days, in which eight cases (all on the docket) were disposed of by the court. The most important of these cases was probably the one brought by Edward H. Thomas against the County of Mahaska for attorney's fees. This case came to Marion on a change of venue, and the jury found a verdict in Mr. Thomas' favor, awarding him the sum of $325.
Little is known of Judge Williams' history prior to his coming to Iowa to assume his judicial duties. When the Territory of Iowa was divided into judicial districts by the Legislature of 1839, Judge Williams was assigned to the Second District, then composed of the counties of Louisa, Muscatine, Cedar, Johnson and Slaughter, other counties being added to the district as they were organized. He was an ardent temperance advocate and organized a number of tem- perance societies in the county seats where he held court. Besides his legal attainments, he was a good singer, a fine performer on the violin, possessed of a fund of amusing anecdote, and a ventriloquist
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of considerable ability. During this first term of the District Court, Judge Williams and most of the lawyers in attendance upon the court stopped at the boarding house of Lysander W. Babbitt. The judge, with lawyers Wright, Knapp and Olney, were furnished with beds on the first floor, while the jurors and other court attendants slept upstairs, or "in the loft," spreading blankets, coats, etc., upon the loose floor for their beds. Soon after all had retired two cats began spitting and meowing at each other as though about to engage in an encounter in the midst of those occupying the loft. All engaged in a search, but no cats were to be found and the guests returned to their improvised beds wondering what had become of the belligerent felines. Scarcely had they composed themselves to rest when two dogs commenced growling and snarling among the would-be sleepers. The laughter of the judge and the lawyers downstairs called to the mind of someone that Judge Williams was probably exercising his ventriloquial powers and was responsible for the disturbance. In this incident he proved his ability as an entertainer and all had the good sense not to take offense at the joke.
In June, 1847, Judge Williams was appointed one of the justices of the Iowa Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by the resig- nation of Charles Mason. Two years later he was nominated by the democrats for supreme judge, was elected in the fall of 1849, and continued on the bench until 1855. Some years after retiring from the bench he removed to Kansas, where he died some time in the latter '70s.
The second term of the District Court was convened on Septem- ber 21, 1846, but owing to the absence of Judge Williams was adjourned to the following day, when he put in an appearance. The court officers were the same as at the first session, with the exception that George Gillaspy had succeeded James M. Walters as sheriff. Robert D. Russell, John H. Mikesell and John Hill were all brought before the court charged with selling intoxicating liquors without the proper license, but all were acquitted.
Marion County continued in the Second Judicial District until 1847, when it was attached to the Third, and Cyrus Olney succeeded Judge Williams on the bench. Judge Olney held two terms of court at Knoxville in 1848-one in May and one in November. The records of the May term contain the first mention of a divorce case in Marion County, Homer S. Matthews asking for a divorce from his wife, Melissa Matthews. Another early divorce case was that of Mrs. Ray Alfrey against her husband, in which a decree was ob- tained for the plaintiff through her attorney, John W. Alley.
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William McKay followed Judge Olney on the bench, and held his first term of court in Knoxville, beginning on May 21, 1849. He continued on the bench until a change was made in the judicial dis- tricts by the Legislature of 1854, when Marion County was made a part of the Fifth Judicial District. P. M. Casady, of Des Moines, was elected judge, but resigned without holding a single term of court, and C. J. McFarland was appointed by Governor Grimes to fill the vacancy. He was elected judge at the next regular election and remained on the bench until 1857.
Judge McFarland was a man of striking personal appearance, with a long, flowing beard, and is said to have been one of the most eccentric men who ever occupied a judicial position in lowa. In 1856 he was a delegate to the democratic national convention. A correspondent for a St. Louis paper, in one of his reports, referred to Judge McFarland's whiskers and suggested that "their extrava- gant luxuriance exhausted such a large proportion of nutriment as to greatly impoverish the brain." This comment aroused the ire of the judge, who swore vengeance upon the correspondent, but the latter could not be found. On one occasion, when the business of the court was interrupted by the noise of a thunder storm, the judge arose to his feet and announced at the top of his voice: "Court's adjourned; the Almighty has invaded my district and there is no provision for concurrent jurisdiction. I withdraw."
Unlike his predecessor, Judge Williams, McFarland was "fond of his toddy." If a candidate for admission to the bar came before the judge with a well-filled flask he was almost certain to pass the examination. After retiring from the bench he passed the remainder of his life as a resident of Boonsboro, Iowa, indulging his dissolute habits until his death. He was succeeded on the district bench by William M. Stone, of Knoxville.
William M. Stone was born in Jefferson County, New York, October 14, 1827. When he was about six years old his parents removed to Coshocton County, Ohio. His opportunities to acquire an education were extremely limited and during his boyhood he drove team for two seasons on the Ohio Canal. At the age of seven- teen years he was apprenticed to a chair maker and while serving his apprenticeship took up the study of law. In August, 1851, he was admitted to the bar and practiced for three years at Coshocton as a partner of his old preceptor. In November, 1854, he settled at Knoxville, where he established the Knoxville Journal in October, 1855. He was the first editor in lowa to suggest a state convention for the purpose of forming a republican party in the state. That
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convention was held on February 22, 1856, and in the fall of that year Mr. Stone was a presidential elector on the Fremont and Dayton ticket. In April, 1856, he was elected judge of the Eleventh Judi- cial District, to which Marion County was then attached, and after the new state constitution went into effect in 1858 he was elected judge of the Sixth. He was serving upon the bench when Fort Sumter was fired upon, and laid aside the scales of justice to take . up the musket of a soldier. In May, 1861, he enlisted as a private, but upon the organization of Company B, Third Iowa Infantry, hc was commissioned captain. On July 6, 1861, he was promoted major of his regiment, and in August, 1862, was appointed colonel of the Twenty-second Iowa Infantry by Governor Kirkwood. He was wounded in the action at Blue Mills, Missouri, in September, 1861, and again in the assault on the Confederate works at Vicksburg in 1863. He was then in command of a brigade until the latter part of August, 1863, when he resigned. In June, 1863, while at home on furlough, recovering from the wound received at Vicksburg, he at- tended the republican state convention at Des Moines. At a mass meeting the evening preceding the convention a number of speeches were made, some of them criticising the Federal administration for its manner of conducting the war. Colonel Stone replied to these critics by saying it was no time to find fault with the actions or even mistakes of individuals when the nation was in peril; that it was the duty of every loyal citizen to overlook these mistakes and stand by the administration. That speech nominated him for governor the next day, and at the ensuing election he carried the state by a sweep- ing majority. Two years later he was reelected. In 1864, while serving as governor, he was brevetted brigadier-general for his gal- lant military services. Some years later Governor Stone removed to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where his death occurred on July 17, 1893. His remains were brought to Knoxville and buried in the Graceland Cemetery.
The next judge of the District Court was William Loughridge, who held his first term of court in Knoxville in December, 1861. He was succeeded by E. S. Sampson, whose first term in Marion County began on March 12, 1867. After serving two full terms, Judge Sampson was succeeded in 1875 by H. S. Winslow, who opened his first term of court at Knoxville on January 13, 1879.
In 1886 the Legislature established the present Fifth Judicial District, composed of the counties of Marion, Warren, Madison, Adair, Guthrie and Dallas, with three judges. Judges O. B. Ayres, of Marion; J. H. Henderson, of Warren; and A. W. Wilkinson, of
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Madison, began their official duties as judges of the new district in 1887.
Orlando B. Ayres was born in Lake County, Ohio, July 26, 1836. Some years later his parents removed to Wisconsin, and in 1851 to Illinois, where he attended school and studied law in the office of Howe & North at Kewanee. In December, 1863, he was admitted to the bar, and the following year removed to Knoxville, Iowa, where for a number of years he was a partner of William M. Stone. Judge Ayres continued on the bench until 1890, and a little later went to San Diego, California, where his death occurred on March 28, 1900. His remains were brought to Knoxville for burial.
In 1891 Judge Ayres was succeeded on the bench by James H. Applegate, of Guthrie County, who is still serving in that capacity, having been reelected at each succeeding election. In 1896 James D. Gamble, of Knoxville, succeeded Judge Henderson and continued on the bench until 1910. He is still living in Knoxville. Clarence Nichols, of Dallas County, succeeded Judge Wilkinson in 1903 and served as district judge until 1910. The judges of the District Court at the beginning of the year 1915 were: James H. Applegate, of Guthrie County ; William H. Fahey, of Dallas, and Loren N. Hays, of Marion. As already stated, Judge Applegate has been on the bench since 1891. Judges Fahey and Hays began their judicial duties in 1911. All the present judges were re-elected in 1914.
THE CIRCUIT COURT
At the legislative session of 1867-68 a law was passed establish- ing circuit courts in the state. Marion County was placed in the First Circuit. The first circuit judges were elected at the general election in November, 1868, and assumed the duties of the office on January 1, 1869. Lucien C. Blanchard, of Poweshiek County, was elected circuit judge for the Fifth district of the First Circuit and served until 1881, when he was succeeded by William R. Lewis, also of Poweshiek County. In 1885 George W. Crozier, of Knoxville, was elected circuit judge and was serving in that capacity when the court was abolished by the Legislature in 1886. The Circuit Court had no jurisdiction in criminal cases, and its work was confined chiefly to matters of a probate character.
THE BAR
While Marion County has never produced a John Marshall or a Daniel Webster, her lawyers have, as a rule, been able to hold their
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own with the attorneys of other parts of the state. The first resident lawyer in the county was John W. Alley, who came from Indiana in an early day and first settled on Lake Prairie, but afterward removed to Red Rock. Later he went to Afton, Union County, where he passed the remainder of his life. Donnel says of him: "His reputa- tion as an attorney was so good that he was constantly employed, and scarcely a case came upon trial in the Des Moines Valley, within the bounds of the county, that the colonel was not employed to pettifog for one side or the other, and such was his popularity that it was supposed that whoever was lucky enough to secure his services was pretty sure of success in spite of justice. But, like many engaged in the profession, he was not scrupulous as to the means of winning a case, especially if the case happened to be a difficult one, which was very frequent. At such times he would flatter the justice by language like this: 'Now, in addressing a gentleman of your discernment and intelligence, it is scarcely necessary to remind you,' etc., and then pro- ceed to quote the law of some other state, provided he could find none among our own statutes that could be construed favorably to his client."
In the early days of the District Court it was the custom of law- vers to "ride the circuit," traveling from one county seat to another with the judge and carrying their libraries in their saddle-bags. No matter how fierce the contests of the day might be, these lawyers would gather in the hotels in the evenings and while away the time "swapping yarns," relating their experiences, etc., and not infre- quently joining in a social "drink." Among these olden-time attor- neys the names of Olney, Knapp, Trimble, Wright and Baker stand preeminent. The last named was the district attorney at the time the first session of the District Court was held at Knoxville.
In 1846 A. B. Miller came to the county and began the practice of law. He was born at Petersburg, Pennsylvania, January 8, 1818, and in 1835 removed with his parents to Ohio. After two years in Oberlin College he began reading law with William D. Ewing, of New Lisbon, Ohio, and early in 1846 was admitted to the bar. He decided to try his fortunes in the West, and in April, 1846, settled on Lake Prairie. In 1848 he removed to Red Rock. He was elected clerk of the court in 1853 and again in 1854. During the Civil war he served as quartermaster of the Fortieth Iowa Infantry, after which he resumed the practice of his profession. His death occurred on February 24, 1896.
Joseph Brobst, the first county judge of Marion County, was born in Pennsylvania on December 16, 1793. He learned the milling
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business in early life and followed that occupation for a number of years. In 1848 he came to Marion County, and three years later was elected county judge, which office he held for four years. In 1869 he was elected county auditor. Few men in the county at that time had a more extended acquaintance than Judge Brobst. He was a public-spirited man and was always ready to take part in any move- ment for the general welfare. His death occurred on April 10, 1878.
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