USA > Iowa > Wright County > History of Wright County, Iowa, its peoples, industries and institutions > Part 13
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The Rowan Record was established in February, 1899, as a six-column folio paper, and continued until about the middle of October. 1907, when it was suspended under the administration of Miss Kirkpatrick.
The Clarion Republican was established by C. M. White as an opposi- tion to the Monitor, about 1881, and suspended in June, 1884.
The Clarion Clipper was formerly the Wright County Democrat and was sold last as the Democrat to Will A. Monroe, of Dows, who had worked on the Trayor Clipper, of Tama county, hence its present name, Clipper. Mr. Monroe changed the name from Democrat and continued its publication till
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his death, after which, for several years it was conducted by his widow, who sold on June 1, 1910, to the present proprietor, 11. M. Guy. The Clipper is an independent Republican newspaper, replete with much good local news and general information for home and fireside-a clean journal. Mr. Guy has greatly improved the paper, both editorially and mechanically. In March, 1915, he moved his plant to his new two-story brick building on the south side of Main street, near the court house. This structure is provided with office rooms on the second floor, which are leased to profes- sional men, while the basement and first floor are occupied by the printing establishment, which includes a fine Century power printing press and mod- ern jobbers, all run by electric motors. The building is twenty-two by sev- enty-four feet. ground dimensions.
THE STYLE OF EARLY EDITORS.
To show the character of journalism a third of a century and more ago, and the nature of the personal references sometimes indulged in by brother editors, the following, by Frank Gates, of the Belmond Herald, con- cerning "Deacon" Hathaway, of the Wright County Monitor, is quoted :
Under the heading of "You Fool," the Herald man said: "That poor miserable fool, Deacon Hathaway, makes us out a terrible coward in the last Monitor. Deacon, do you remember the time we helped to screen you from an outraged Belmonder, by placing you in a coal house, and putting Mckay over you as guard, with a brace of revolvers and knives? Have you forgotten the time you came to Belmond and disguised yourself by appearing in an old lady's attire, for fear some of our people whom you had slandered would mob you, and, on being detected, how you got through the back door of a hotel and hid yourself in Jack Brooks' hen coop, remaining there three days and subsisting on the filth of the fowls? And if it had not been for your corpulent friend from Clarion, you would have been there yet. We are perfectly willing to admit our cowardice, but when we crawl out of anything we try to use all the honor of a coward. We don't tell a lie and then tell another bigger one to crawl out of it. You poor monkey- headed idiot, you are not responsible for what you do say."
PUBLISHING UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
Concerning the publication of the first newspapers in Goldfield. it has been related of Ingersoll, of the Wright County Free Press, that he, with a
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partner, had a hard row to hoe and soon let the paper go down, and he him- self enlisted in the Union army. For some reason to us unknown, the Lib- erty (Goldfield) people had acquired a grudge against the paper and the "knuckles" of the old-fashioned hand-press were spirited away in the dark- ness of night and never turned up until the whole outfit had been moved to Ft. Dodge. So ended the first attempt to establish and run a newspaper in Wright county.
On March 16. 1881. in the Monitor, at Clarion, appeared the follow- ing: "During fifteen years of experience publishing a paper in Wright county, last week was the first time we were caught out of supplies to issue our paper and we were compelled to issue a seven-by-nine sheet as a substi- tute. This week the sheet is the same size, our 'inwards' being in some snow drift between here and Webster City. It's a case in which cussin' won't reach, so we ask our patrons to grin and bear it."
THIE "OLD LOVEJOY PRESS."
Belmond journalism was for many years noted for having connected with it the old Owen Lovejoy printing press, which was used by that radi- cal abolitionist, at Alton, Illinois, in the days just before the Civil War, when he was a thorn in the side of all slavery advocates. It was the radical position he took editorially that caused his enemies to throw his printing office, including his hand press, into the waters of the Mississippi river at Alton, where it remained some time, but was finally fished out and set to work again. Frank Gates, former owner of the Belmond Herald, many years since took the trouble to look up the history and chain of owners of this press, which was then being used weekly by him at Belmond. His account states that after it was recovered from the river at Alton, Illinois, it was taken to Howard county, Iowa, by D. B. Meade, who ran the Cresco Plain Dealer on it. He, needing a larger press, sold it to George E. Frost, of Clear Lake, Cerro Gordo county, and he used it to print his Mirror on. Later it was sold to the Clear Lake Observer, whose owner sold it to the Belmond Herald in 1872. Frank Gates, of that paper, soll it to the Libby Prison commission, at Chicago, for one hundred dollars, as an anti-slavery relic. In the old prison at Chicago, which had been removed from Rich- mond, Virginia, this press was viewed by hundreds of thousands of people.
The reader will doubtless peruse with interest the following advertise- ment of the family weekly paper so well known to all early settlers in Wright county-the Webster City Freeman, formerly the property of Hon.
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Charles Aldrich, and then styled the Hamilton Freeman. This advertise- ment appeared on the title page of Stevenson's booklet history of Wright county, in 1870, when the paper had a very large circulation in this county : "WEBSTER CITY FREEMAN. A thirty-two-column weekly newspaper, published at Webster City, the county seat of Hamilton county, Iowa. Established in 1856, circulates generally throughout northwestern Iowa. Devoted to the dissemination of PURE REPUBLICANISM and to the advance- ment of the local and material interests of Hamilton and Wright counties and the Northwest generally. It is permanently established, and is one of the MOST DESIRABLE ADVERTISING MEDIUMS in all this region of the country. Terms: $2.00 per year in advance. J. D. Hunter, editor and proprietor. Webster City, Iowa."
CHAPTER XIII.
WRIGIIT COUNTY COURTS AND JUDGES.
When Wright county was first organized, it was under the jurisdiction of the courts of the Polk county district, with Judge Cave J. McFarland as presiding judge. However, he never attended a court here, as the county was soon placed in another district, known as the thirteenth judicial district, composed of Franklin, Butler, Grundy, Hamilton, Hardin, Marshall, Story and Wright counties, to which Webster county was added in 1858. McFar- land is remembered as the odd judge who had nicknames for many of the attorneys who practiced at his courts. For example, he called James W. Wood, "Old Timber," and Lieutenant-Governor Eastman, "Old Spot," be- cause of his smallpox-marked face. On one occasion, while "Old Timber" was addressing the court, an ass walked up near one of the windows and set up a terrible bray. The judge turned around quickly to Mr. Wood and cried out. "Sit down, Okl Timber, sit down; one at a time, if you please." He was born in Knox county, Ohio, and came to Lee county, lowa, in 1844. For many years his home was at Boone, lowa, where he died in April, 1860.
While holding court at Homer ( then in Webster county, but now in Hamilton county ), it was customary for the attorneys and Judge McFar- land to take frequent recesses, during which they all repaired to a shady nook, beneath a large tree, and there quenched their thirst by drinking whisky from a bright tin cup, which was filled- from a tin pail provided by the court for that purpose. On one occasion, the eccentric judge had taken a little too freely and, as he started toward the log court room, some- one, thinking he might adjourn court, reminded him that it was thundering and looked like a bad storm. The Judge replied, "God rules in the heavens, but Judge McFarland rules in the courts of earth-proceed with the testi- mony."
The first term of district court held at Liberty, in Wright county, was in May, 1858, with Judge A. D. Thompson presiding. But little business was transacted at that term. It is related that the judge was taken from the Iowa river to Liberty by means of an ox-wagon conveyance.
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Judge Thompson was born near Fredonia, New York. He taught school when a young man and, during his leisure hours, read law and was admitted to the bar. Ile had to make his own way through life and was not possessed of a strong constitution. In May, 1854, he came to lowa and, after stopping a while at Marietta, Marshall county, he walked up to Eklora and hung out his law shingle and commenced the practice of law. He was immediately elected prosecuting attorney, and in 1855 was elected county judge. In 1857 he was the independent candidate for district judge and was elected, though he was a Democrat and the district was largely Repub- lican. Ile sought a second term, but the excitement over the famous Dred Scott slavery case defeated him for a second term. He was defeated by llon. John Porter, of Eldora, a Republican. Judge Thompson then formed a partnership with Hon. 11. 1. Huff, at Eldora. In 1861, he entered the army, where he made an enviable record. After the war he supported Hor- ace Greeley for President, being one of the lowa delegates to the national convention and also on the committee from this state to notify Mr. Greeley of his nomination. In 1874 he closed his law office at Eldora and removed to San Francisco.
By the constitution of 1857. Franklin, Wright and other countries. were constituted the eleventh judicial district. Hon. John Porter, who suc- ceeded Judge Thompson, was born in Pennsylvania in 1828. His youth was spent in milling and farming, while during the winters he attended school. He chose law and was admitted to the bar, locating in Indiana. In 1856 he moved to Mason City, lowa, from which place he was elected judge in 1858, resigning from the bench in 1865. He then formed a part- nership with Hon. W. J. Moir, of Eldora, which continued until about 1880. He then entered railroad building and constructed what is known as the "Slippery Elm" railroad, between Eldora Junction and Mden. He contemplated building it through to Forest City, by the way of Dows, Rowan and Belmond, and procured practically all the right of way, but the road was only completed as far as Alden and is now owned by the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company. About ten years ago Judge Porter. with his son, engaged in the construction of a large irrigation project in Idaho for the government. He died in 1913 and was buried at Eldora, lowa. He was an able lawyer and a strong factor in the upbuilding of this section of Iowa.
The next judge in this district was Hon. Daniel D. Chase, of Webster City, a native of New York state. He was the father of our present state
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senator, D. C. Chase, of Hamilton county. He was reared on his father's farm and remained there till seventeen years of age, then shifted for him- self. He obtained an academic education and taught several years, while completing his law studies, he having determined to become a lawyer. Ile was admitted to the bar in January, 1856, and in August, 1858, settled in Webster City, lowa. He came without capital, but. after a hard struggle, he finally worked up a large law business and was made prosecuting at- torney. Upon the resignation of Judge Porter, he was appointed by Gov- ernor Stone to finish Porter's term, and was twice elected to the office of district judge for this district. He was a man of many virtues; was pure in character; an honest, safe counselor and made hosts of friends, both in and out of his profession. He was delegate-at-large to the convention that nominated Lincoln for President for a second term. He resumed his prac- . tice, took his only child, D. C. Chase, in as a partner and practiced until his death, in the nineties. His was a noble manhood, full of activities and good deeds. He drove over the bleak prairies of Wright county many times to attend court at Clarion, before the days of railroads here. He was quite a favorite among the members of the bar of this district; was witty, wise and ever just in his decisions in court.
In the autumn of 1874, Hon. Isaac J. Mitchell, of Boone, was elected to succeed Judge Chase, in the eleventh judicial district. He was a native of Ohio, born in 1827. He taught school in Indiana three years. While preparing to teach he worked on a farm at two dollars a week, and in this way purchased text-books. He read law, attended what was then Asbury University, but his health failed and he left for lowa, locating in Boons- boro, Boone county, in 1855. He finished reading law in 1858, and was admitted to the bar, opened his law office and became a first-class attorney. lle was a member of the state Senate and held numerous other offices. Though never a strong man physically, he had a bright mind, was pure. and true to his every conviction and ruled on the bench with great im- partiality and justice, fearing nor favoring none. He has long since been numbered among the dead. Peace to his ashes.
Following Judge Mitchell, came Hon. J. W. Mckenzie, of Hampton. who was elected over H. E. J. Boardman, of Marshalltown, in the fall of 1878. He was compelled to resign on account of his health, which had been seriously impaired by the hardships and wounds received while in the Union army during the Civil War, in which conflict he bore a conspicuous part. especially in the attack on Allatoona, Georgia. He was the soldier and
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color-bearer who held the flag on high in the signal corps department when Sherman signaled to him, "Hold the fort, for I am coming. Where is Corse?" The message was given to Corse, who replied: "Tell Sherman I am here and we can hold the fort." From this incident came the well- known gospel song, "Hold the Fort."
It should be added, that Mckenzie, who had charge of a squad of men, asked for a volunteer to take the flag up the heights for signaling purpose; but one man replied, "I will not volunteer, but if commanded to. I will go," whereupon Mckenzie seized the flag and hurried to the heights among heavy shot and shell, thus endangering his life. The words of a writer from his home town ( Hampton ) after his death, stated, "Other citizens of Hampton may become more distinguished than he and achieve greater notoriety and even popularity, as the world goes, but no one will ever hold a stronger place in the hearts of our people and of all who know him than J. W. Me- Kenzie." He died, after, as he remarked, "Only waiting for the end to come," in 1882.
Upon the death of Judge Mckenzie, Hon. H. C. Henderson, of Mar- shalltown, was appointed by the governor to fill out the unexpired term, and was that fall elected as judge, serving as a splendid justice for a period of years, and then resumed his law practice at Marshalltown, from which city he removed. to Bowlder, Colorado, where he engaged in law practice. The Judge was a good scholar, a man of deep convictions, a radical Re- publican of the prohibition type, who never let any stone go unturned to punish the violators of the liquor laws. He also succeeded well as a plat- form orator and lecturer on religious and other topics. At one time, in his youth, he held a clerkship in Washington, D. C., where he gathered many good stories and jokes on public men. He could interest a crowd of lawyers by the hour in reciting these funny incidents, including some on the famous Webster, who was then in Congress. By birth, the Judge was a Virginian, but was reared in Kentucky.
At that time more judges were supplied the district, and D. D. Miracle, of Webster City, who had served as circuit judge until the abolishment of that office, in 1887, was elected as district court judge for this district. serving till called by death, in July. 1888. Judge Miracle was truly one of God's noblemen. He was born in Canada in 1840. In his youth, the family removed to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where he taught school in Lawrence Uni- versity. He entered the law department of the Michigan University, and finished his law studies in Oshkosh, being admitted to the practice in 1864.
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The following May he located in Webster City, Iowa. He became asso- ciated with R. N. Woodworth in real estate, carrying on both branches suc- cessfully. On . August 1, 1870, he took as his law partner Hon. J. I .. Kamrar and this association continued till his election to the circuit bench in 1880. He was circuit judge, then district judge, and in both positions he proved to be the right man in the right place. He was in the true sense a self-made man, having, by his own energy and untiring industry, forged his way to the front rank among the barristers and judges of the lowa courts. He was a friend to the oppressed and never turned his ear from the wants of the unfortunate and needy in his community.
It was the design to give in this chapter personal sketches of only the deceased members of the bench for this county, hence only the list of the remaining judges who have served in this judicial district will follow those already noted above.
Following Judge Miracle, came Hon. John L. Stevens, of Ames, who had been a successful prosecutor in this district for a number of years.
Hon. S. W., Weaver, of lowa Falls, was elected in 1886 and served twelve years, when he was elevated to the supreme bench of lowa. Ile is a native of New York state, born in 1845, was admitted to the bar in Buffalo, New York, in 1868, and same direct to Iowa, locating at Iowa Falls. Hon. D. R. Hindman, of Boone, was elected in 1888 and served until 1898. Hon. Norman B. Ilyatt, of Webster City, was appointed by Governor Boies, to fill the unexpired term of one of the judges, serving in 1803. Hon. B. P. Birdsall, of Clarion, who was elected judge in 1893, and who served seven years, resigned in 1901 on account of ill health. In 1902, he was elected to a seat in Congress, serving three terms, when he declined to be re- nominated. Hon. J. R. Whitaker, of Boone, was elected in 1899, serving eight years. Hon. W. S. Kenyon ( now United States Senator ) was elected in 1800, served two years and then resigned. Ilon. J. H. Richard, of Web- ster .City, was elected in 1901, and served four years. Hon. C. G. Lee, of Ames, was elected in 1907. and served until 1914, when he resigned to become nominee for governor of Iowa, but was defeated. Hon. C. E. Mlbrook, of Eldora, was elected in 1908. Hon. W. D. Evans, of Hamp- ton, was elected in 1903, and served six years. Hon. Robert M. Wright, of Ft. Dodge, was elected in 1906, and is serving at the present time ( 1915).
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.
THE CIRCUIT JUDGES.
Samuel L. Rose, of Hamilton county, was elected in the fall of 1868 as the first circuit judge. lle was a native of New York state, born in 1818. In early life he taught school, having for one of his pupils the noted writer and traveler, Bayard Taylor. He then studied medicine, but left that for law and was admitted to the bar in 1841. He practiced in his native state till 1850, then moved to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, where he soon rose to a position of eminence, giving a part of his time to railroad enter- prises. He was at one time president of the Milwaukee & Western Rail- road Company. In 1862 he located at Ft. Dodge, lowa, later selecting as his home a beautiful tract of land in Rose . Grove township, in eastern Hamilton county. He had served as judge in Wisconsin, hence was known to all pioneers in this district as "Judge" Rose, long before he was elected as circuit judge of this district. He was a member of the Wisconsin Legis- lature, serving two terms in each house. Ile aided in founding Wayland University, Wisconsin, and was its president for a number of years. He served as circuit judge in this district (Wright county included) for four years and was succeeded by Hon. J. H. Bradley, of Marshalltown, who had been district attorney.
Judge J. H. Bradley was elected to the circuit bench of this district in the fall of 1872, entering upon his duties in January, 1873. He was re-elected in 1876, his second term ending in January, 1881. He made an able and impartial judicial officer and was generally esteemed by both the bar and the people. For several years previous he had been prosecuting attorney for the district, and his qualifications were therefore well-known to all. After a few years he removed to Chicago, where he was engaged in his profession.
The only other judge on the circuit bench for Wright county was D. D. Miracle, of Webster City, who was elected to succeed Judge Bradley in the fall of 1880. A sketch of Judge Miracle will be found in the account of the district judges. He was a resident of Webster City, and a brother-in- law of Judge D. D. Chase. He was the third and last circuit judge.
COUNTY COURT.
In 1851, by an act of the General Assembly, county courts were estab- lished and the office of county judge created. By the same act the office of
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probate judge was abolished, as were also the offices of county commis- sioners, the duties of the commissioners and probate judges devolving upon the county judge. Wright county, not being organized until 1855, never had a probate judge nor any county commissioners. The first county judge was David Dean, of Liberty, who started the first county machinery going, and served two years, being succeeded by Judge Joseph T. Calder, who served four years and five months. Then followed S. B. Hewett. Harry Luic was elected in 1863 and served four years and was followed by Judge John L. Morse, who was the last of the county judges in this county.
AN INTERESTING CASE.
Among the interesting criminal cases tried in Wright county, and one in which none of the parties interested or accused resided in the county, was case No. 154 of the criminal docket of the December term of district court, in 1888. So much interest was attached to this case that the large newspapers, of Chicago, Des Moines and many other cities, sent a staff of reporters to give the evidence to their readers from day to day, as the trial proceeded. It was tried before Hon. D. H. Hindman, and the county attorney was W. T. R. Humphrey, who was assisted in the prosecution by Attorneys A. R. Ladd and ex-Judge J. C. Cook, while the defense employed Messrs. Nagle & Birdsall, ex-Judge D. D. Chase and U. S. G. Cherry, the latter being a young lawyer from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The case commenced on December 17, 1888, and lasted until the 25th of that month.
In brief, it may be stated that the case was one in which a woman was charged with poisoning her husband with morphine mixed in beer and given him to drink, and from which effects he died at the boarding place where he was stopping in Clarion, on May 244th the year in which the trial was had. The accused woman was Mrs. Bertha Diggle, wife of a barber of Sioux Falls, but at the time spoken of she was traveling as an actress for the well-known Ford Dramatic Company, playing under the stage name of "Jessie Leland." She had previously been associated with the Andrews Opera Company, and up to that time had been considered a good woman, in every sense of the word. The Ford troupe were playing in Clarion for a week's stand, and the husband of Mrs. Diggle came to the town and was trying to induce the wife to go home, forsake the stage life and care for her six-months-old babe at Sioux Falls. It appears that she had about concluided to do so, or at least told him so.
On the afternoon of May 24. the man and wife were in their room at
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the residence of Mrs. S. Overacker, then standing on the corner where now stands the residence of Banker Young. The two had two bottles of beer in their room and, as the evidence showed, Mrs. Diggle had purchased fifty cents' worth of morphine at the Hamilton drug store, in Clarion, and the same had been deposited in the beer which Mr. Diggle drank and which proved fatal to him. In buying the morphine, Mrs. Diggle asked Druggist Hamilton, when he was selling her the drug, if what he gave for fifty cents was sufficient to kill a man if all taken at once, adding that she was subject to headaches and took it for that purpose, but that it would not be necessary for him to divide the amount she was purchasing into eight-grain doses, as she could do that herself. Soon after returning to her room the husband drank the beer and it was not long before she made an errand to a near-by water closet, in which was later on, discovered the package in which she bought the morphine, as was proven by the druggist's label, which was marked "poison" and which he had sold her in good faith. This was sworn to by the druggist. It was not long before the husband was taken violently ill and a Doctor Marietta, a local physician, was called, and soon pronounced it a case of poisoning. About four hours after taking the beer, he died. The wife at once stated that it was a case of suicide and "took on" at a fearful rate. A coroner's inquest was had over the deceased man's remains. Their verdict was that he had come to his death from taking a morphine poison, administered by "some person unknown" to them. The coroner's jury was composed of Messrs. Hiram Simons, J. R. Lockwood and W. W. Gates. For the time being the case was dropped. The sentiment in the community of Clarion was divided, some believing it to have been a case of suicide, while others declared it was murder. The local newspaper editors took different sides, and thus excitement was at a high pitch. County Attorney Humphrey, in the clear line of his official duty, kept collecting evidence and searching for the bottle that had been purchased at Hamilton's drug store, which was discovered as above narrated. The remains of George Diggle had been sent to Sioux Falls for burial, but the contents of the stomach were officially analyzed and it was found that morphine was there in suffi- cient quantity to have killed the man.
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