USA > Iowa > Taylor County > History of Taylor County, Iowa; from the earliest historic times to 1910, biographical sketches of some prominent citizens > Part 16
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"A decision of a court having authority to make the same is as much the law of the land as a statute can be ; and until the same is reversed in a legal way and constitutional manner, should be respected and obeyed. He who creates a dis- respect for the courts of our country is doing an irreparable injury by shaking the confidence of the people in the faithful administration of justice. While the courts themselves should not only be pure, but should be above suspicion, and should avoid the least shadow of party or personal bias. They should also be respected and sustained by that confidence which, alone, can enable them to suc- cessfully perform the important function for which they were instituted, to mete out justice between man and man, protect the innocent, and punish the guilty. But your special attention is called to your duty in regard to all county officers. Gentlemen, let your inquiry into your county affairs and the manner in which your officers have performed their duties, be strict, thorough and uncompromis- ing, hold them to a strict account of their stewardship and this court will give you all the assistance in its power to enable you faithfully to perform this, as well as every other part of your duty. Pursue these investigations, gentlemen, with diligence, not urged thereto by a spirit of persecution or party prejudice, or personal ill-will, and not deterred therefrom by favor, fear or personal friend- ship. Give to all complaints against your public agents a patient hearing ; and let all come here with these complaints, if any they have, or hereafter hold their peace, and now, gentlemen, remember that the position you occupy is one of vast importance to your county, and to the entire state. Interests as dear as life, as personal liberty, and on the right of property, depend upon your action. It is for you to say whether the law shall be maintained and enforced and its violators receive the reward they merit; whether human life and the person of the citizen shall be safe under its protecting care ; whether the rights of property shall be inviolate and the sovereignty of the law maintained and order secured within your county ; or whether the law shall be trampled upon with impunity, every principle of justice and good order outraged, and the violator, with un-
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blushing front and in open defiance of all law, go unwhipped of justice. And, gentlemen, is the oath you have taken a mere form, a judicial farce, a solemn mockery before high heaven, or is it binding upon your conscience, imposing the highest obligation under which the human being can act in the discharge of im- portant duties, to himself, to his country and to his God. Acting, then, in view of these high and solemn responsibilities, enforced by an oath administered by the authority of law, in the temple of justice, to the searcher of all hearts. I cannot doubt but that you will so act as to redeem this, your solemn pledge, maintain the dignity of the law, secure its supremacy, and give a sense of security to the citizen in all his rights of person and property within your county."
Judge Sears always appeared to be dignified and equal to any emergency that might arise. He felt that the suffrage of his constituency called him to exe- cute justice upon the guilty, and to protect the rights and liberty of others. The following incident may serve to illustrate this feature of his character, and the fidelity he exercised as a judge.
Hon. L. Lingenfelter, a prominent attorney and politican of Fremont county, is authority for it, and it is given in his reminiscences of the early court of the district : "I recollect of a very exciting time in his court in this county in 1859. In 1857 the new constitution of Iowa provided that a negro might testify the same and another person in all courts of judicature, federal or state. Under its provisions as the statute made thereunder, it happened, at the September term of the district court for 1859, there were three free blacks; to-wit: Green Garner, Henry Garner and Thomas Reed, subpoenaed, and were in attendance to testify in a certain case against some parties who were wealthy, respectable and influential. When the case came on for trial the courthouse was crowded with men full of excitement, who were intent upon interruption should these witnesses be put upon the stand. Threats were audibly made against the lawyers, the parties interested, the witnesses, the officers of the court, and even against the court itself, should they attempt to testify. But Judge Sears quailed not, he was firm, fearless and unmoved. He called upon the sheriff to bid the spectators to be seated and be quiet, stating that they should have a good opportunity to hear all the evidence; that what was now transpiring was something new, to be sure, but it was now the law, and he hoped no man who loved the enforcement of the law would see it violated. This had a good effect. The witnesses were sworn, testified, and subjected to a cross examination, and then retired without molestation, and no one either injured or insulted."
The successor to Judge Sears was James G. Day. He graduated from the law school of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1857, and came to western Iowa in the same year. He served as judge of the district court with distinguished ability for two terms, and afterward became one of the judges of the supreme court of the state, in which capacity he served eighteen years. He was succeeded by Judge J. W. McDill.
The subsequent district and circuit judges of this district are named and their tenure of office given under the chapter on elections. Nearly all of them have been men worthy of the office and usually served as long as they wished. The bar here has numbered among its members several attorneys who have achieved success in their profession and have been honored in a political way. The Hon ..
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J. P. Flick, for two terms district attorney was afterward elected to the lower house of congress for two terms. In both offices he served his constituents with distinguished ability. He is still a member of the bar here and enjoys a large practice. Only a few months ago he was appointed postmaster here to succeed J. J. Clark. One of the oldest members of the bar here is the Hon. L. T. McCoun. He has long enjoyed a reputation of being the best criminal lawyer in southwest Iowa, and his record fully justifies this opinion. A history of the legal battles he has participated in would fill several volumes like this. Mr. McCoun has rep- resented the county in the state legislature, and has also served as county at- torney. Lyman Evans, a member of the bar here in the '70s and 'Sos was state representative thirty years ago. He removed to California several years ago, and has achieved success in his profession in that state. Hon. G. L. Finn, for many years a member of the Bedford bar, was a successful lawyer, and served his county in the state legislature, in both senate and lower house. He spends. most of his time now in Oklahoma, but he has extensive interests here yet, being one of the largest landholders in the country. Charles Thomas, who but recently removed from the county to Oregon, practiced law here for many years. Mr. Thomas had a good practice and was highly esteemed. He was a candidate for county attorney two or three times but was defeated, owing to the fact that he was a democrat and had a big majority to overcome and was always unfor- tunate enough to be pitted against a strong candidate on the other ticket.
Mark Atkinson had a good practice and was the first county attorney. He removed to Oklahoma a few years ago, where he had poor health, which gradu- ally enfeebled his mind until he was taken to a hospital for the insane for treat- ment. It is authoritatively reported here that he is hopelessly insane and his general health failing rapidly. W. E. Miller, and W. M. Jackson, for a long time partners in a law office here, enjoyed an extensive practice. Both were county attorneys and W. E. Miller was appointed district judge by Governor Cummins, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Tedford. Mr. Miller has removed to Des Moines where he is established with a leading law firm.
J. B. Dun, four terms county attorney, was located in Lenox until his elec- tion. He has since left the county. Attorney Johnson, for years the legal luminary of Lenox, enjoyed a good practice, but he has sought fresh fields. Lenox is now served by attorney J. R. Locke who has been a member of the bar here but a short time. W. E. Crum is one of the veterans of the Bedford bar. He is associated now with W. E. Crum, Jr., and H. P. Jaqua. Bruce Flick, asso- ciated with his father, J. P. Flick, is a young attorney of great promise. He has shown great ability in several important cases, and his friends predict that he will build up a reputation equal to that of his distinguished father. Frank Wis- dom, for a few years Blockton's attorney, is now a resident of Bedford and a member of the bar here.
M. R. Brant began his legal career here and served a term as county at- torney. R. T. Burrell, removed here from Gravity and is associated with L. T. McCoun. W. W. Palmer, for several years a teacher in the schools of Gravity and Conway, was admitted to the bar here and practiced in the courts here for a short time. He afterward removed to Dakota to engage in the practice of law,
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HISTORY OF TAYLOR COUNTY
but has since been in the employ of the government in that state in some depart- ment of the Federal land office. E. A. Pace, for several years has practiced in the courts here. Ile is a resident of New Market. T. M. Dougherty, the present county attorney, is also a resident of New Market, where he has conducted a law office in connection with a banking business. J. R. Plummer for several years has practiced in Clearfield.
Attorneys of this court who will be remembered by the older citizens were Seg- mour Hall, who practiced here more than forty years ago; Vinton G. Holliday ; Joseph A. Hughes, at one time probate judge before that office was abolished ; N. B. Moore, who afterward removed to Clarinda; Colonel George W. Friedley, who practiced here until the breaking out of the war in 1861. Hans Grimes and Pat O. Day, two woung men when they came here thirty-six years ago. Both went from here to Nebraska, where they built up a successful practice and were honored politically. Grimes married Miss Mary McCracken, a Bedford girl, daughter of Thomas McCracken. James W. Whiffin, one of the attorneys of the early '70s, is now a resident of Kansas City, where he has accumulated quite a fortune. J. L. Brown, who practiced here twenty years ago, went to Oklahoma City, in the boom days, and is reported to have grown rich in the practice of his profession. Henry Mohler, son of L. Mohler, an early settler, practiced here for several years. He is now in Kansas City. Martin Lucy was here a short time. O. Fenno, whose name appears elsewhere as a county officer. Colonel John H. Jolly ; Major Hedrick; B. V. Leonard; L. N. Lewis, father of Bedford's present mayor, F. N. Lewis; Robert Hays; L. J. Jones, was admitted to the bar here and practiced in the courts. He afterward removed to Kansas City where until about a year ago he was employed by a loan company. He went from there to California, for his health, where he died recently.
G. B. Haddock and son should have been mentioned earlier as they are mem- bers of the bar here at the present time. The elder member of the firm has been a resident of Bedford many years and the firm has an extensive practice. J. B. Evans; Charles H. Finn, brother of Hon. G. L. Finn; James S. Jackson, now of Villisca; Levi Dunlavey, brother of Dr. Dunlavey here; W. M. Jackson; John Hale; L. G. Parker ; Lunk K. Pratt, who removed to Kansas, where he be- came a district judge ; Robert Elliott ; and T. V. Shoup. There may be some names omitted but the list is as complete as could be made from the memory of our oldest settlers.
Much could be written of the legal battles that have occurred in the county between legal lights of the bar here, but the county has had but few criminal cases. Four or five trials for murder being all we had in more than half a cen- tury. The case of Knouse killing Griffith was mentioned in the chapter on Clayton township. The famous Brice case came up in 1865, just after the war. It appears from the evidence in the case that one James Mullen of Sidney, Fre- mont county, was about to start to Eddyville, Iowa, which was then the western terminus of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad. Two men, J. Brice and J. J. Crans secured passage with him. Brice and Crans were strangers in Sidney and claimed to be going farther east. The party started from Sidney the first or second of January, 1865. About April 1, 1865, the body of a man was found one and one-half miles north of where the postoffice Guss is now located.
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S S. Patch, now a resident of Bedford, lived in Nodaway township at that time, and reported the matter to the coroner. Papers on the person of the murdered man disclosed his identity, his relatives were soon located and search for the supposed murders, Brice and Crans began. In the latter part of April they were arrested in Lewiston, Illinois. They were brought back to Bedford for trial. From property found in their possession, which competent witnesses iden- tified as Mullin's, and from the evidence of citizens of Sidney, besides the mur- dered man's relative, who positively identified them as the men who started with Mullen, and the evidence of William Glassgow, of Dallas township, with whom they stayed all night, and who identified the body as well as the murderers, the grand jury had no trouble in bringing in an indictment of murder, which they did at the September term of court, 1865.
The case came up for trial at the December term. Both men plead not quilty to the indictment and the case went to trial. Crans weakened and turned state's evidence. Brice was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to be hanged. Crans was sent to the penitentiary for seven years.
While Brice was held pending the execution of his sentence, there being no county jail he was guarded in the court room of the old courthouse and the sheriff took him to the hotel for meals. The hotel was about on the present site of the present hotel Garland and was run by C. M. Steele. One evening after the prisoner had been in to supper, his guard being a little careless, Brice sprung into a buggy standing in front of the hotel door and made his escape. He drove down the river and a short distance out of town he left the rig and took to the timber skirting the river. A posse, headed by the sheriff, pursued and located him. When discovered Brice jumped into the river. When Ezekiel Rose ap- proached the bank, Brice, who had been supplied with a revolver, fired upon him, wounding him in the left breast. The sheriff then fired at him but Brice dived and was not hurt. When he came up he tried to shoot the sheriff but having a powder and ball revolver, in diving the powder became wet and his weapon failed to discharge, whereupon he promptly surrendered and was brought back to town. Shortly after, while under guard in the court room, the prisoner escaped, the guards claiming to be chloroformed. It was supposed the drug was smuggled in in a cake sent the prisoner by some sentimental lady. No one accepted the story, but Brice was gone, and his whereabouts were never discovered.
In 1879, a man named Kennedy was on a spree in the town of Lenox and George and William Hartzell who were peace officers arrested him. Kennedy resisted and was struck with a "billy" by William Hartzell and instantly killed. On the trial of William Hartzell, the jury brought in a verdict of murder in the first degree. He was given a penitentiary sentence of one year by the judge. The case was appealed and the supreme court reversed the decision and remanded the case for retrial. Before it came up for trial, however, the case was dis- missed. George Hartzell was acquitted.
One of the most dastardly murders ever committed in the county occurred in 1887. Emmett Reed and a companion had been working on the Great West- ern railroad, then being built, and on November 2, 1887, started north together. Reed had a span of horses, a span of mules, a wagon and three sets of harness,
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in fact owned the entire outfit. Foster simply traveling with him. They camped near Skinner's bridge, north of Blockton. Here Reed was murdered and his body and trunk sunk in the river. November 6th, Reed's trunk was discovered floating in the river and the parties, Richard Ballow being one of them, pulled it ashore and noticed that it had been weighted with the evident intention of sink- ing it. This aroused their suspicions and they investigated further and found Reed's body. Foster was traced with the teams through Bedford, on through Page county to Nebraska City, where he was captured and brought back to Bedford, where at the trial he was found guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced to hang. The case was carried to the supreme court where the de- cision of the lower court was reversed and the case remanded for new trial. At the second trial the jury found the prisoner guilty of murder in the first de- gree with a recommendation to the court of imprisonment for life. He is now serving his sentence. Two years ago he tried to obtain a pardon but failed.
The evidence on which Foster was convicted was purely circumstantial, but it was strong, not a link in the chain being missing. The last and most recent criminal case in the county was that of I. M. Hendrickson of Blockton who shot John Woodside, inflicting wounds from which he died in a few hours. The difficulty between the two men grew out of domestic difficulties, which finally ended in a tragedy. Hendrickson was indicted at the December term of court, 1905, and was tried at the February term, 1906. From the evidence the jury considered the killing justifiable and brought in a verdict for acquittal.
TOWNSHIPS AND TOWNS.
In the chapter entitled "Township Organization," a brief sketch is given of the township system, in which its origin is shown to have been in Massa- chusetts as far back as 1635. As there noted in several of the states, including New York and Michigan, the township system is quite independent in its organization and functions-as independent of the county as the county is of the state. They collect their own revenue ; provide for their own schools ; take care of their own in- digent ; make and keep in repair their own roads, bridges, etc. Where this system prevails it works well and is more in consonance with our general form of govern- ment. The closer civic affairs are brought to the people the more interest they take in them, the better they understand them, and the safer they are from the encroach- ments of the few, who too often seek, and do control them to their own advantage and not infrequently to the detriment of the people.
It will be observed that the growth of the various townships of the county since their organization, as shown in the chapter on "Township Organization," preceding, and of which this is really a continuation, has been rapid and pros- perous. From the wild prairie of a few years ago, over which the deer, buffalo and Indian roamed, beautiful farms, with modern improvements have been made. Great fields of grain and domestic grasses, fine herds of horses, cattle, hogs and sheep greet the eye on every hand and bespeak the prosperity of the county.
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HISTORY OF TAYLOR COUNTY
JACKSON TOWNSHIP.
Jackson township, named for one of the popular presidents of our country, is in some respects the most noted township in the county. As stated elsewhere, up to 1851 it included all of Taylor county. The first settlement was in Jack- son township.
The first settlers were Matthew Hindman and Isaac Guyll. Hindman located on section 8 and Guyll on section 14. They came in 1843, seven years before the present state line was surveyed, in 1844, when, so far as known, these two families were the only ones in the county. Jesse Guyll and Martha Hindman, were married at the home of Matthew Hindman, the bride's father. Later in this year, a son was born to James H. and Melissa Burge, and he was given the name of William Thomas Burge. There is some controversy as to this child being the first white child born in the county, some claiming that Henry Parker, son of Stephen Parker, should have that distinction. The writer has no means of knowing, except from the statement of early settlers themselves, and as to time, there could be but little difference in the ages of the two. Pasetta Guyll was the first girl baby to visit the township or the county. Alexander Guyll, was the first to die, his death occurring in 1844. These early settlers were sick at times and needed the attention of a physician, and the nearest one was Dr. Torrance of Maryville, Missouri, who ministered to the physical ailments of these people.
At Matthew Hindman's home was held the first religious services. Alexander Spencer, of the Methodist church was the preacher.
In 1845, the first schoolhouse was built on section 15. It was of logs, plas- tered with mud. It was built by the settlers themselves without public aid. The first school was taught this same year, 1845, by Smith Kauble. He had fifteen pupils and his compensation was two dollars and fifty cents for each pupil for three months. That is, he taught three months for thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents. Of course it is understood this money was raised by subscription. In fact for several years after, the only schools in the county were subscription schools.
The next schoolhouse was built near Daniel Hoover's. It was built in 1855 and was a more pretentious affair, costing two hundred and fifty dollars.
John C. Meehan, who till lives on his farm in Clayton township, was the second teacher to instruct the youth of Jackson township. William Hind- man, who lives in West Bedford, was one of the early teachers of the township and he also has the distinction of being the first county clerk. The township is now divided into four school districts, with independent organization. The buildings are substantial, well located and well kept. Following is the last report taken from the superintendent's books :
FOREST GROVE.
Value of school building .$500.00
Value of apparatus 55.00
Number of pupils enrolled 22
Average daily attendance
15
Number of volumes in library
56
Paid teachers since last report
$280.00
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HISTORY OF TAYLOR COUNTY
LIBERTY.
Value of school building
$700.00
Value of apparatus 50.00
Number of pupils enrolled 20
Average daily attendance I3
Number of volumes in library I5
Paid teachers since last report. .$295.00
PLEASANT GROVE.
Value of school building $1000.00
Value of apparatus 25.00
Number of pupils enrolled 27
Average daily attendance 21
Number volumes in library
79
Paid teachers since last report
$ 190.00
SCIENCE RIDGE.
Value of school building $1000.00
Value of apparatus $100.00
Number of pupils enrolled 36
Average daily attendance 25
Number of volumes in library
I02
Paid teachers since last report. .$340.00
When the Hindmans and Guylls first came to the county their nearest neigh- bors were in Missouri, fifteen miles distant. One or two more families came in a few months later, so that they were not entirely isolated from civilized peo- ple. The necessaries of life they did not raise or obtain from hunting and trap- ping were brought from St. Joseph, Missouri, seventy-five miles away, over path- less prairies and unbridged streams.
James Gartside located in Jackson township in 1850, and was prominent in county affairs until his death in 1877.
Isaac Dowis, for a time, lived in Jackson township, later removing to a farm, where he lived until his death, several years ago, a short distance south of the present state line. Mr. Dowis will be remembered as the defendant in the first criminal action brought in the county. The action was brought by John Hayden for assault. George Lorrison, who is still living, came to the township in 1857 and settled on the farm where he lived until his removal to Bedford, a few years ago.
John W. Wood settled on section 17 in 1855, and lived there nearly forty years, when he removed to Kansas. He paid a visit to Taylor county a few months ago, and is active as many men much younger. Mr. Wood was quite prominent in the county as a fine fruit grower and was active in horticultural matters, urging settlers to put out orchards. His activity is no doubt responsible in a large meas- ure for the many fine orchards to be found over the county.
Daniel Hoover came to the township in 1834 and settled on section 9. He was a large land holder and prominent as stock raiser and in county affairs. For many years he has resided in California.
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