USA > Iowa > O'Brien County > History of O'Brien County, Iowa, from its organization to the present time > Part 16
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27
This grand jury reported the next day, that there was no cause for indictment. There was no petit jury at this term, and no business, except one judgment rendered. There is no intention to pursue the records of this court, but the writer thought that a review of some of the early judicial business would be of interest. The next term of the district court was held June 27, 1872-Henry Ford, judge; C. H. Lewis, district attorney; Stephen Harris, clerk, by A. H. Willets, deputy; Ed. A. Nissen, sheriff. There were no trial cases, but quite a number of judgments rendered. The regular panel of grand jury was set aside on motion of Mr. Lewis and a jury drawn from the body of the county, they were, W. Parsons, John W. Kelly, Thomas Scott, J. P. Blood, A. J. Brock, J. H. Alexander, H. C. Wheeler, J. Broser, R. G. Allen, J. S. Wagner, Horace Gilbert, August Baker, and J. G. Arbuckle. This grand jury was ordered to retire, to consider any causes for indictment, but the record is silent as to what became of them, and if the writer did not know that some of them were long since borne to their final rest, there
HON. GEORGE W. WAKEFIELD.
.
18
274
HISTORY OF O'BRIEN COUNTY, IOWA.
would be no other conclusion than they were still out deliber- ating. The most of the judgments rendered, were against O'Brien county, and this poor bedraggled defendant, was defaulted continuously, and indeed it seems there was no need of court, only to render judgments against it.
In November, 1872, on the 29th, was held a special term of court, at which three judgments were rendered against O'Brien county, aggregating $5,550. One judgment against district township of Grant, and two against district township of Waterman.
The next term was held in April in 1873. There was no grand jury, and no petit jury; several judgments were rendered, and after being in session two days, court adjourned to hold special session November 17, 1873. This session was never held, as the judge adjourned it sine die.
The next regular term was held April 16, 1874. The at- torneys in attendance so far as the records disclose were Eugene Cowles, Barrett & Allen, G. S. Robinson, D. A. W. Perkins and Kellogg & Lewis. This term was the first of this court held at Primghar, as the county seat, since the previous term, had been moved from old O'Brien. There was no business transacted at this term, except the entry of default judgments.
The next term of this court was convened March 1, 1875. Since a previous term, C. H. Lewis had been elected judge, and presided at this term. The following were the members of the grand jury: A. W. Balcom, G. W. Edwards, W. C. Butterfield, John F. Burroughs, N. S. Tobin, C. H. Moon, C. Lingenfelter, Wm. W. Johnson, H. M. Crosby, Ben. Epperson and H. G. Hammond. Mr. Hammond was elected foreman. At this term there was a petit jury, but no cases were heard by them. The names of this first petit jury in this court were as follows: Morris King, A. B. Nash, Charles Stearns, G. W. Doyle, James Magee, George Miller F. H. Reddout. These were the regular drawn panel and responded to the roll call. The rest of the panel who should have been present, but
HON, WILLIAM HUTCHINSON.
276
HISTORY OF O'BRIEN COUNTY, IOWA.
failed to respond, were: Ed Shea, A. W. Johnson, Frank Mor- fitt, Charles Parker, E. E. Robinson, George Klock and P. C. Hicks. As there were no cases to be tried, the court undoubt- edly saw no reason to send for delinquents. There is, as in a former record, no further mention of the grand jury, so that they, with members previously missing, must still be waiting to be called in. The business of this term was mostly upon questions of pleadings, and default judgments.
The first criminal case on the calendar, was at the September term of the district court, 1875. When the case was called, de- fendant failed to appear. The record is so meager that there is no record of the indictment. There were also two other crim- inal cases the same year, in both of which, defendants failed to appear. The fine first imposed in a criminal case, was upon a plea of guilty in the case of State of Iowa vs. Henry Shultz, for selling liquor contrary to law. He was fined $20 and costs, ex- cept $10 of the costs, were taxed to the plaintiff. The first jury case tried in this court, was in April, 1874, in case of Ransom Bartle vs. Wm. Lyle; D. A. W. Perkins was for the plaintiff and John Connell for defendant. We do not deem it necessary to follow the records of this court further.
CIRCUIT COURT.
The circuit court abolished some years ago, was created by the legislature in 1868, and the first term of this court was held at old O'Brien, on the 25th day of November, 1869. Judge Ad- dison Oliver, presided. H. F. Parker was clerk and John Patchen, sheriff. The first day there was no business, and court adjourned until the next day.
The next day there was no business and court adjourned again, to the day following.
The third day court convened again in the forenoon, and the entry is, "there being no business ready, court adjourned until afternoon." In the afternoon there was one judgment rendered, when it was found there was no further business, and court adjourned until the regular term. The next term
HON. FRANK R. GAYNOR.
278
HISTORY OF O'BRIEN COUNTY, IOWA.
was May 19, 1870, at which time the judge fixed the time for future terms of court, adopted certain rules of practice, sus- tained two demurrers, and adjourned. 1871 must have been a blissful year for the inhabitants of O'Brien county, as Judge Oliver in appointing commissioners of insanity, states in his order.
"It appearing that there is no practicing physician or lawyer in the county of O'Brien, it is ordered; that Dr. Butler, and C. H. Lewis, Esq., of Cherokee county, be and are hereby appointed commissioners of insanity pro tempore." The only wonder is, that the commissioners were needed, as under such a peaceful condition of society, surely there could be no insane.
The next term of the circuit court, Judge Oliver still presid- ing, was held February 24, 1871. There was only one case, in which judgment was rendered by default. This court held further terms August 25, 1871, April 12, 1872. There was the usual routine of business, principally default judgments. A jury had been called for this April, 1872, term, and when the roll was called, the only persons responding, were Hiram Hene- baugh, John Loder, L. C. Greene, N. Remington, Sydney Vicus and Oren Finch. It was stated to these jurors by the court, that there were no cases for trial, and they were dis- charged. The records of the circuit court are imperfectly written, but several terms were held following the last men- tioned, with very little business to transact. The next term where a jury was called was at the May term, 1875. The jury at this term were John Carey, J. W. Walter, R. C. Tifft, M. O'Neil, D. Harkness, G. W. Doyle, Oliver Evans, J. W. Hibbs, George Hardin, S. Hedges, Robert Jones, A. Keefer. At this term, the first jury trial in this court was had, in a case wherein William Reynolds was plaintiff, and Nash Bros., de- fendants. D. A. W. Perkins tried the case on behalf of the plaintiff, and Barrett and Allen on behalf of the defendants. The plaintiff had saved about forty bushels of wheat from the ravages of grasshoppers, and had it stored in his house during
HON. JOHN F. OLIVER.
280
HISTORY OF O'BRIEN COUNTY, IOWA.
the winter of 1874, while he was at Cherokee working to earn a living for his family. While absent, defendants by an officer seized the wheat on execution and sold it. This action was for its value, claimed as exempt. The jury quickly gave plantiff his judgment.
The circuit court was abolished in 1886 by the legislature. At the time of its abolishment, there were on the bench in that court. Hon. D. D. McCallum and Hon. George W. Wakefield. Mr. Wakefield was afterwards elected district judge. Upon the resignation of Hon. Addison Oliver in 1874, Hon. J. R. Zuver was appointed by the governor, to succeed Judge Oliver, and afterwards elected. The latter part of his term, he was unable to hold court regularly, on account of bodily infirmities. Hon. D. D. McCallum died of cancer in 1895.
Judge Hubbard was a good jurist, a gentleman and scholar. He died many years ago. Judge Ford is at Tacoma, Wash- ington. Judge Pendleton died a few years ago at Sioux City. He was one of nature's noblemen. Judge Zuver also died a few years ago. Judge Lewis is in practice at Sioux City. As a judge he was fair and impartial, and of much judicial ability. Joe Smith, in his history of Harrison county, says of him, that " he served more consecutive years on the bench than any other man in the state of Iowa, ex- cept the Hon. George W. Ruddick of Bremer county, which would indicate the fitness of the man, and the faith which they had in his integrity."
Our present judges are Hon. Frank R. Gaynor of LeMars, Hon. William Hutchinson of Orange City, Hon. John F. Oliver of Onawa, and Hon. George W. Wakefield of Sioux City.
Judge Hutchinson has been recently appointed by the Gov- ernor, but his fitness for the bench, his method of dispatching business, and his fairness and legal attainments, have already brought the encomiums of the bar, and the approval of the people.
281
HISTORY OF O'BRIEN COUNTY, IOWA.
Judge Gaynor in a quiet methodical way, performs the duties of his office, and in his administration of justice, he knows not friend nor foe. His judicial ability has long since been acknowledged, and there could not have been any higher endorsement, than that of his last nomination, when a political party, opposite to his own faith, made him their choice as a candidate, and gave him warm support, both lawyers and laymen.
Judge Wakefield sits upon the bench like a philosopher. He served three years in the army, and is an old resident of Sioux City. He aims to do justice to all, with the strictest impartiality, the highest qualities of a judge, and this coupled with a thorough know- ledge of the law, estab- lishes an eminent fitness for the duties of his of- fice.
Judge Oliver is the son of his father, and brings to the discharge of his duties, many of the father's qualifica- tions.
He has his own way of searching into the merits of a controversy, with no other intention, than to be sure that right shall prevail.
HON. SCOTT M. LADD.
Judge Oliver is frank and outspoken, and any member of the bar may be sure, if he has occasion to know it, that the presiding judge has charge of the court proceedings. His legal qualifications however, and his unquestioned integrity, have convinced the bar and the people of the district, that he is well fitted for the bench. He succeeded Hon. A. Van Wagenen.
282
HISTORY OF O'BRIEN COUNTY, IOWA.
Hon. Scott M. Ladd was in the practice of law at Sheldon, when promoted to the district bench in 1886. He served from that time until his election as a supreme court judge in 1895. He was popular with the bar of the district, and had the confidence of the people. His promotion to the supreme bench was a fitting recognition of his judicial ability, and his character as a man.
The courts and lawyers are quite a part of governmental machinery, and while the law is regarded as a science, some- thing which adjusts upon principle and precedent, the jarring elements of society, yet it is often used by some in attempting to perpetrate an injustice. A client who consults a lawyer, does not always want to know so much what the law is, but how it can be used for his particular benefit.
While law has been defined by one eminent writer as a rule of action, given by the majority which the minority are bound to obey, still, a student once in process of examination for ad- mission to the bar, upon being asked what the law was, stated, that it was that which was boldly asserted, and most plausibly maintained. The early days of the county were free from liti- gation, it was not until the removal of the county seat to Prim- ghar, that there were any trial cases, and but few of these until later on. Judge Henry Ford, who succeeded Judge Hubbard was not only a fine lawyer, but was very much of a gentleman, and had an agreeable suavity of manner as a judge. When he called the docket at a term in Primghar, and read a certain case there, some lawyer from abroad in very solemn tones, asked the court for a continuance for defendant. Judge Ford stated to him, that it would be necessary to file an affidavit, showing the grounds of continuance, and asked the lawyer if his client could make an affidavit with grounds sufficient. Ah! your honor, said the grief-stricken attorney, my client is not here, he is there, (pointing above), he is dead. The judge then stated to the lawyer if such was the case, his court had lost jurisdic- tion, and perhaps it would be necessary for him to appear before some other tribunal. During the relief period, one
283
HISTORY OF O'BRIEN COUNTY, IOWA.
Luce was charged with the theft of some flour, which was stored in Baker township school house. A large amount had been shipped in, and the committee on relief used the school building in which to place it. About a wagon load of it dis- appeared under the darkness of night, and suspicion point- ing towards Luce he was arrested. The writer was employed to defend him, and the statements he made to me, along with his honest face and church membership, impressed me that he was innocent, and a persecuted man. The evidence was only cir- cumstantial, but still it was damaging, but not convincing, es- pecially to the writer, who was sure that some other was the guilty party. Luce was acquitted, and went forth adjudged innocent of the crime. The next day he came around to settle up, and asked the writer if he would not take pay in some of that flour, as he had some of it on hand, but had little money. The reader may be sure he paid the money, for after all, the law was cheated out of the opportunity to punish a guilty man. T. H. OATES.
At another time, the writer defended a young man charged with larceny, and there being not sufficient evidence to convict, he was discharged, and having no money turned over his watch, worth about $5 as payment of the attorney fee. The writer received this in his office, and in the presence of the client laid it away in a drawer of a desk. Inside of an hour the watch was again in the pocket of the client, for the thief had actually stolen the watch from his attorney.
In 1879, some traveling man left his pocketbook in a cupola
284
HISTORY OF O'BRIEN COUNTY, IOWA.
of a caboose, on the Milwaukee road, after it reached Sanborn. He had been sitting there, and the pocketbook had worked out of his pocket and laid on the seat. The pocketbook con- tained $100 and was found by a brakeman C. H. Lewis, who threw the pocketbook away, and placed the money in the lining of his hat. When the traveling man discovered his loss, complaint was made before a justice, a warrant issued and several of the train men searched, but the money not found, until Lewis was confronted with the charge of stealing it, which he confessed to, and turned the money over, taking it from under the hat lining. Lewis was bound over to the ยท grand jury, and O'Brien county then having no jail, he was incarcerated in the Sioux county jail during the winter, and until the following March term of court.
At that term he was indicted, and having no money the writer was appointed by the court to defend him. That even- ing while we were taking a walk with Judge Lewis, the sug- gestion was made to him, that the boy having turned the money over, was a well behaved fellow with a mother to support, that the boy plead guilty and take a fine without an order of committal. The judge thought otherwise, he said that an employee of the railroad should guard strictly the property of a passenger, and instead of stealing, should restore it, and that in his opinion the boy should go to the penitentiary eighteen months.
The next morning while the writer and Charley Allen were in the court room, before the time of opening court, the boy Lewis came in with some books sent by the sheriff, Mart Shea. The writer had a talk with him, and is sure, and can- not possibly be mistaken, that he gave no intimation to the fellow, as to what he might expect, nor any suggestion as to what he had better do, but at any rate from an instinct of self perservation in all probability, the criminal was soon seen from the court house window striking across the prairie. When court opened, Mart Shea was looking for his prisoner, but he could not be found, and when the case was called for
285
HISTORY OF O'BRIEN COUNTY, IOWA.
trial, District Attorney Marsh had no one to either prosecute or convict. The writer was informed not long afterwards by Frank Tifft, that the boy came to his house in Primghar that night about II o'clock, just about famished, having laid in the tall grass during the hot day without either food or water. Frank gave the criminal a good square meal, and started him off towards Cherokee; he was never heard from afterwards.
Sometimes courts are severe, and there are cases where punishment should be light. This boy was not a thief by nature, and indeed after he found the money, he had carried it a day without using any of it, and when called upon, restored it all, and ex- W. H. BLOOM. pressed regret. He might have hid it, and denied the taking of it, and no proof could have been secured to convict him. Under such circumstances, eighteen months in the penitentiary would have been a strong sentence, although from the point of judicial determination, the sentence might have been justified.
John Connell, mentioned as one of the early lawyers of Sheldon, went out to defend a handsome young widow in Sioux county, and a reporter at the time published the fol- lowing as a part of his speech :
Gentlemen :- You may hang the ocean on a grape vine, lasso an avalanche, pin a napkin to the mouth of a volcano, skim the clouds from the sky with a teaspoon, throw salt on the tail of the American eagle, whose sleepless eye watches over the welfare of our nation, but never for a moment delude yourselves with the idea, that this young widow is guilty of the charge preferred against her."
286
HISTORY OF O'BRIEN COUNTY, IOWA.
The reporter further said, that at this stage of Mr. Connell's eloquence, the court fainted, which caused much excitement, and an officer was sent to Hull, then Pattersonville, for a doc- tor, and in the meantime the fair widow escaped.
Along in the seventies, was formed the Independant School District of Sheldon, and included in this formation were sections 31 and 32, township 97, range 42 and section 1, township 96, range 43 in Sioux county. This independent district at once made a levy for taxes of 10 mills school house fund, 20 mills contingent fund and 35 mills teacher fund. Upon these taxes being certified to the county supervisors of Sioux county, the gentlemen composing the board held up their hands in holy horror at the idea, that O'Brien county should reach over, and gobble Sioux county land for the purpose of bleeding it with taxation. It did seem a little "cheeky" but it was legally right, for the Supreme Court so decided. The original attor- neys for Sioux county were Edward Henn and Rufus Stone, both of whom have long since passed over the silent river. E. H. Hubbard of Sioux City was afterwards added as an at- torney in the case, and Perkins and Barrett appeared for the Sheldon district. The attorneys on both sides joined some- what in the bitterness of the controversy, were exceedingly facetious and did some sparring in their argument before the Supreme Court. The Sioux county attorneys pitched into the other side with this pointed language: "It is far better for plaintiff to lay hold of land in the well and honestly managed county of Sioux, where property is valuable and valuations high, rather than gather in the territory of its county, which has been . notoriously a den of thieves for these many years, where the value of property has been taxed out of existence, and where the principal industry of the inhabitants consists in the grinding out of bogus warrants and fraudulent bonds." The plaintiff replied to this as follows: "Before presenting our own reasons why the judgment of the court below should be affirmed, we must deprecate the very unprofessional manner in which appellants go out of their way, to state that plaintiff's
287
HISTORY OF O'BRIEN COUNTY, IOWA.
county is one of thieving reputation and dishonest practices; for while this may have been its early history, a reminder of it comes with very ill grace from defendant, whose period of reform has been so recent, and so brief, that they may yet be considered in a condition of uncertainty and doubtful probation, and before they parade any particular virtues of their own, or condemn any vices of their neighbors, it would be well to exhibit some proof of practical honesty by levying this tax, rather than compel plaintiffs to resort to the courts, and make them do it, by force of law."
The real conflict in the case was between the In- dependent District of Shel- don, and the Independent District of Grant in Sioux county, both of which were making a race for exist- ence and recognition. The Supreme Court held, that the Sheldon district was first in point of time, and this being so, the levy J. T. CONN. should have been made for that district, which the supervisors afterwards reluctantly did.
The case of Maud Straw excited considerable interest, and there was much indignant feeling, especially on the part of Sheldon's citizens.
Had there been undisputed evidence, pointing to the guilt of the assassin who committed the murder, the courts would have been relieved of the occasion of any long drawn out trial. Judge Lynch is a frontier tribunal, it is true, and before society had become fully organized, the desperate character who robbed, pillaged and murdered, could be dealt with in no
288
HISTORY OF O'BRIEN COUNTY, IOWA.
other way than immediate excution upon a gallows, upon the nearest tree. But even in advanced society, when a cruel heinous crime has been committed, it is hard to restrain the people from taking the law into their own hands, when the real culprit is definitely known. Maud Straw was a school girl 18 years of age. She was without parents, left an orphan some years before. She lived with her brother-in-law who married Maud's sister, and these with the children of the sister living in a small house of one room in the city of Sheldon, constituted the household.
Maud was a hard working, ambitious scholar, she was above her surroundings in aim and ambition, and while she struggled against poverty and to keep herself sufficiently clad to mingle with her associates, she kept up a brave heart, and saw through the clouds of misfortune which seemed to surround her, a rift of sunshiny success. The coming time of gradu- ation, her after life of teaching, and the opportunity of earn- ing a respectable livelihood were constantly in her mind, and in these she lived, which gave a sort of a buoyancy of appear- ance, and apparently joyful life. She was also imbued with the highest principles of chastity and virtue, the priceless boon of a woman, and she scorned the life and the conduct of a wayward vixen, who would depart from these. In the month of February, 1896, while her brother-in-law and his family were visiting in the country, she lived alone in the house, and on the morning of the next day she was found partially nude, lying across the bed. Her limbs were rigid, and her body cold in the embrace of death; she was a corpse. How long she had laid there could not be definitely de- termined. A post mortem examination was had, by direction of a coroner's jury and was performed by Dr. W. H. Meyers and Dr. Milton Daily. It was found that she had been out- raged, and the condition of the body indicated poison, and at all events it seemed to be conclusive that after the outrage, or before, she had been murdered.
No one can conceive the degraded and wicked character of
289
HISTORY OF O'BRIEN COUNTY, IOWA.
the heart of such a demon, who would rob an innocent girl of her virtue, and then take her life. Of the worst and vilest of all Gods creatures, characterized by the basest coinage of hell, there is not one more despicable than he who did the deed, and the writer fears that he will never be known, with the certainty of evidence to convict him, unless with his own ex- piring breath, he imparts the secret to the living. The coroner's jury was organized on Saturday, and continued in session until the Tuesday following. The writer was then county attorney, and being required to attend at the Sioux county district court the Monday and Tuesday following, requested the coroner's jury to remain in session, until the Wednesday fol- lowing, and expressed the opinion, that as the grand jury would be in session in about thirty days, that it would be better to continue the secret investigation of a coroner's jury until that time, as develop- ments could better be made in that way, than by a public preliminary before a justice.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.