USA > Iowa > Wright County > History of Wright County, Iowa, its peoples, industries and institutions > Part 14
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Mrs. Diggle did not accompany her husband's remains to Sioux Falls, but went to lowa Falls with the Ford troupe, and still pursued her part as an attractive, handsome actress. Later on, she was arrested at Tama City and brought back to Eagle Grove and from that city was taken to Clarion, on a change of venue, and was charged with the crime of murdering her
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husband. The grand jury, which was then in session, found an indictment against her. A former grand jury had hurriedly heard the case, and dis- missed it without finding a bill against her.
It was in June when she was arrested at Tama City, and the trial came off in December, commencing the 17th and continuing until the 25th of that month. As was developed later, the first grand jury had not found an indictment against her for the reason they did not believe she was guilty and did not wish to put the county to so much expense as a trial would cause. After eight days of trial in the district court, the verdict of the jury was "Not guilty." The jury was composed of the following gentle- men : A. M. Plumley, D. L. Miller, Frank Knuths, R. C. Morse. Fred Boisner, N. W. Owens, Theodore Weigand, Lewis Nelson, J. Lieuwen, C. W. 1till, James Williams and August Brandis.
In preparing for the trial of this noted case, the attorneys for the de- fense made a test case of the effects to be produced from mixing morphine with beer and drinking it. In so doing, it was related that ex-Judge D. D. Chase, of Webster City, drank of beer so mixed, and the result was that it produced a stupor which caused much aların, and came near costing him his life.
Thus, in brief, was the case of the State of Iowa vs. Bertha Diggle. At the close of the protracted trial, and even to this day, the opinion of the citizens of this county is divided. Her character was traced from a girl of five summers, when a Sunday school scholar in Philadelphia, down to the day of her trial, and nothing would indicate that she was that type of a woman who would commit such a deed. Probably nothing this side of eternity will solve the question as to who killed George Diggle.
This made the fifth murder case ( so called) that ever stained the pages of Wright county's court records, and, like all others, save the first- that of Odenheimer in the early sixties-the accused was acquitted.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE BAR OF WRIGHT COUNTY.
Under our system of government the good lawyer must always be prominent, for he is one of the forces which move and control society. No profession is brought so intimately in connection with the daily life of the people. Public confidence has generally been reposed in the legal profession. It has always been the defender of popular rights and the support of good government. Our laws are a reflex of the policy and manners of the age in which we live and their proper application to the wants and needs of society rests largely with the legal profession. Contrary to the generally conceived opinion, the average lawyer works hard, lives well and dies poor. His capital is his ability and individuality, neither of which he can be- queath to his successors. His work is in the present. He is a man of today and, unless he has left his impress in other fields of activity, is generally forgotten by the public, even the evidences of his work disappeaar and, in the end. he is remembered only by his associates at the bar.
The bar of Wright county has numbered among its members some who have acquired eminence in their profession and have been an honor to the county and to the state. For several years after the organization of the county, the principal legal business was attended to by lawyers outside of the county. Eldora, Marshalltown, Webster City and Fort Dodge furnished their quota of trial lawyers. Col. Peter Hepburn and Timothy Brown, of Marshalltown; H. I .. Huff, J. D. Thompson and John Porter, of Eldora; James Skinner, D. D. Chase, N. B. Hyatt, Col. Charles A. Clark, Miracle & Kamrar, of Webster City; J. S. Duncomb, of Fort Dodge, and others, came to Wright county to try the cases. The terms of court were short and. not unfrequently, court adjourned for a day to luit prairie chickens. As the county increased in population and the towns grew in size and business proportions, more lawyers settled in the county and from the year 1880 the legal business has been done by local attorneys.
So far as accessible, sketches are given of the members of the local bar who have practiced before the courts of the county. The following is
(II)
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a list of the attorneys who have from time to time practiced in the county : John L. Morse, A. R. Ladd, W. T. R. Humphrey, N. F. Weber, C. F. Peterson, C. M. Nagle, I. E. Nagle, C. J. Nagle, F. C. Hartshorn, Il. L. Votaw, H. A. Stowe, D. T. Banman, J. D. Dennison, L. N. Archerd, J. . 1. Rogers, G. R. Hill, M. F. Birdsall, Edward Overbaugh, Z. C. Bradshaw, E. W. Eskridge, John Jamison, W. E. Bullard, E. P. Ripley, J. M. Berry, F. M. Williams, R. H. Whipple, J. C. Fenninger, R. E. Train, R. W. Birdsall, J. W. Hillyard, W. N. Barkey, S. M. Huyck, J. C. Cook, C. O. Bailey, Lyman Moats, J. C. Moats, F. W. Pillsbury, Aaron Yearons, J. G. Mccullough, D. C. Filkins, Sylvester Flynn, J. W. Henneberry, Eugene Schaffter, J. W. McGrath, Eugene Bryan, B. P. Birdsall, B. P. Entrikin.
Prominent among the early lawyers of Wright county was John L. Morse, of Belmond. He came from Michigan and located at Belmond in the spring of 1866. He was born in Cortland county, New York, May 13. 1815. At seventeen years of age he moved to Oakland county, Michigan, where he grew to manhood. Prior to coming to Iowa, Judge Morse served as a member of the Michigan State Legislature and as probate judge of lonia county. In 1868 he was elected county judge of Wright county and served one year and in the capacity of county auditor by virtue of said office. In 1870 he was elected county auditor and held that office until January 1, 1876. He represented the district composed of Hamilton, Wright and Hum- boldt counties in the sixteenth General Assembly. Judge Morse commenced the practice in this county in 1869, and continued actively engaged in it for sixteen years.
N. F. Weber, of Clarion, was born in Iowa county, Wisconsin, January 15, 1849, of German parentage. When a child he had the misfortune to lose his right arm, but notwithstanding this disability, he struggled hard and bravely and acquired an education. When a boy of fifteen he served as a page in the Wisconsin Legislature. He came to Iowa in 1866 and taught school in Winneshick and Howard counties. He read law in the office of Judge Cooley, of Decorah, and was admitted to the bar in October, 1871. Mr. Weber came to Wright county in 1871 and was thereafter elected to the office of county superintendent of schools for two years and county auditor for four years. From 1878 to 1880 he was engaged in partnership with C. F. Peterson and from 1880 to 1884 with C. M. Nagle. He also represented the thirty-seventh senatorial district, comprising the counties of Webster, Hamilton and Wright, in the Iowa Senate for the four years commencing January 1, 1886. Mr. Webster was an influential
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and active member of the bar, well liked by all his associates and held the confidence of the court and of his clients. He was an important factor in the social and commercial life of Clarion and died mourned by all.
Andrew R. Ladd, the present county attorney of Wright county, is the oldest resident practitioner at the bar of the county. He located at Clarion in 1872 and has been in constant practice ever since said date. Mr. Ladd was born at Shullsburg, Wisconsin, September 8, 1846. He had barely completed his primary education when he responded to the nation's call and enlisted as a private in the Thirtieth Wisconsin Infantry, serving two years. Hle read law at Shullsburg and was admitted to the bar at Darlington, Wis- consin, in the year 1868. From the time of his location at Clarion Mr. Ladd has been an active and prominent member of the bar of the county and enjoys the confidence of the people, who have twice elected him to the office of county attorney. He has also served as mayor of Clarion and held other places of trust and confidence. Mr. Ladd is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic post at Clarion; a Knight Templar of Mt. Lebanon Commandery, at Clarion; a member of lowa Consistory, Scottish Rite, at Cedar Rapids, Za-Ga-Zig Temple of the Mystic Shrine, at Des Moines. He is still actively engaged in practice, being the senior member of the firm of Ladd & Rogers, and is loved and respected by all his fellow members of the bar.
William T. R. Humphrey has been a member of the Wright county bar since 1874. He was born in Scott county, Iowa, February 5, 1845. Ilis parents, Robert and Jane ( Robinson) Humphrey, were natives, respectively. of Virginia and Ohio and settled in Scott county in 1839. Mr. Humphrey served in the Civil War in Company I, Forty-fourth Regiment, Iowa In- fantry. After the war he taught school for a time, read law in the office of Cook & Cook, of Davenport, Iowa, and was admitted to the bar in 1872. lle located at Clarion in 1874 and has remained here all the time since, with the exception of two years, when he resided at Des Moines. Mr. Humphrey was the first county attorney of Wright county, serving in that capacity in the years 1887 and 1888. He was also a member of the twentieth General Assembly, serving in the House as representative from the district composed of Wright and Humboldt counties, and has held other offices of a local character. Mr. Humphrey was well versed in the law and an carnest advo- cate. Ile was engaged as counsel in many important cases, among which was the Diggle murder case, tried in 1888. For the past few years he has not been actively engaged in the practice. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and a Mason.
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Corydon M. Nagle has been a resident member of the Wright county bar since January, 1881. Ile is a native of the Hawkeye state, having been born in Delaware county, October 8, 1844, and was educated in the public schools and at the Upper Iowa University at Fayette. He was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1868 at Elkader, Iowa, and in the following year lo- cated and commenced practice at Alden, Iowa. He rose rapidly in the pro- fession and soon became a prominent member of the bar in Hardin and adjoining counties. He also becanie a recognized factor in the politics of Hardin county and was called by the people to serve as a member of the board of supervisors for two terms and represented the county in the eigh- teenth General Assembly of Iowa. In January, 1881, Mr. Nagle moved to Clarion and became associated with N. F. Weber, under the firm name of Nagle & Weber. He at once rose to the leadership of the Wright county bar, a position he has maintained and still retains. The firm of Nagle & Weber was dissolved in December, 1884, and Mr. Nagle associated hin- self with B. P. Birdsall, under the firm name of Nagle & Birdsall. This partnership continued until Mr. Birdsall's elevation to the district bench, January 1, 1894. Upon the retirement of Mr. Birdsall from the firm, Mir. Nagle formed a co-partnership with his son, Irvin E. Nagle, under the firm name of Nagle & Nagle, which continued until the death of the son, which occurred in March. 1909. Mr. Nagle then associated with him his son, C. J. Nagle, and the firm name continued unchanged. A history of the bar of Wright county without Mr. Nagle would be like the play of "Ham- let," with "Hamlet" left out, for he has been engaged as counsel in prac- tically every case of importance tried in the county in the last thirty-four years. Mr. Nagle did not rise to eminence at the bar from native genius, but by unremitting labor. He was born and reared upon a farm, where were laid those habits of industry, economy and labor which have been characteristic of his life's work. Mr. Nagle has always had the confidence of the courts and secured the lasting respect of his fellow associates at the bar. His ability as a lawyer is attested by the many important cases in which his name appears as counsel in the supreme court of the state. While he made no specialty of the criminal law, the firm of Nagle & Birdsall suc- cessfully defended in three murder cases tried in Wright county between 1884 and 1894, namely the case of State vs. A. R. Harris, charged with the murder of one Koken; State vs. Bertha Diggle, charged with murdering her husband by poisoning, and State vs. S. G. Palmer, charged with the murder of William J. Mills. Of the many civil cases in which Mr. Nagle
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has been engaged, the most important, perhaps, was the case of Fort vs. Colby, in which he represented the plaintiff. He was successful in the liti- gation and secured for his client property aggregating nearly a quarter of a million dollars in value. Mr. Nagle has declined all political preferment, but has nevertheless become a potent factor in county, congressional, district and state politics. He is a man of pure character, of rare legal ability and attainment, a gentleman and a scholar, ever faithful to his clients and to himself, and he has made and will leave an impression upon the bar of this county which years will not efface.
Benjamin P. Birdsall was born at Weyauwega, Waupaca county, Wis- consin, October 26, 1858. He moved to lowa with his parents in the spring of 1871, was educated in the public school at Alden, Hardin county, and attended the State University at Iowa City. He read law with C. M. Nagle, at Akden, and was admitted to the bar at Ilampton in March, 1878. He practiced law at Alden until December, 1884. when he moved to Clarion and entered into partnership with Hon. C. M. Nagle, which lasted until Mr. Birdsall went upon the bench, January 1, 1894. The firm of Nagle & Birdsall became prominent and was engaged in much important litigation in central and northern Iowa. Mr. Birdsall was elected one of the judges of the eleventh judicial district of Iowa in the fall of 1893 and entered upon his duties January 1, 1894. The district was then composed of Mar- shall, Story, Boone, Webster, Hamilton, Hardin, Franklin and Wright coun- ties. He remained on the district bench seven years, resigning in 1901 on account of ill health. He resumed the practice of law at Clarion with his son, M. F. Birdsall, which firm is still engaged in active practice and has a large clientege. When Col. D. B. Henderson declined the nomination for Congress in the third congressional district of lowa, in August, 1902, Judge Birdsall was selected by the Republicans of the district as their stand- ard bearer and entered the lists against ex-Governor Horace Boies, the Democratie nominee. He defeated Boies by over five thousand majority and became a member of the fifty-eighth Congress; he was unanimously re-nominated to the fifty-ninth and sixtieth Congresses and elected by large majorities. While a member of Congress, Judge Birdsall served as a men- ber of the committee on judiciary, elections, merchant marine and rivers and harbors. He voluntarily retired from public life in 1909 and is now devoting his time, in conjunction with his son, to the practice of his pro- fession.
Frank W. Pillsbury was a native of Maine, born in 1845. and moved
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to Livingston county, Illinois, when ten years of age. He read law at Pontiac, Illinois, with his father, Judge N. J. Pillsbury, and was admitted to the bar on October 17, 1869. He located at Union, Hardin county, in 1874; moved to Eldora in 1882, and engaged in partnership with H. L. Huff; located at Eagle Grove in 1886, and became a member of the firm of Pillsbury, Moats & Moats; moved to Sioux Falls and was mayor of that city two terms. . He was an able trial lawyer.
Charles F. Peterson, of Clarion, has been a member of the Wright county bar since 1878. He was born in Jefferson county, New York, Sep- tember 3, 1856, and came to Iowa with his parents, who settled on a farm in Vernon township, Wright county, in the year 1869. He attended the high school at Alden and later the State University at Iowa City. He is a graduate of the law department of that institution, of the class of 1878, which numbered among its members the present governor of Iowa, George W. Clark, and others who have since been prominent in the affairs of state. Mr. Peterson was married shortly after his graduation and came to Clarion, entering into partnership with N. F. Weber in the practice of law. This connection lasted one year, when Mr. Peterson was elected to the office of county superintendent of schools. At the expiration of his term of office, he resumed the practice with A. R. Ladd, under the firm name of Ladd & Peterson, which continued several years. Subsequently he was associated with W. T. R. Humphrey, under the firm name of Peterson & Humphrey, and he is now a member of the firm of Peterson, McGrath & Archerd. Mr. Peterson is a successful lawyer and has always been a prominent and in- fluential member of the Wright county bar. He is known as an able coun- sellor and skillful advocate and has been engaged in many important cases. He served as county attorney of Wright county two terms and has for several years been the legal adviser of the board of supervisors in all drainage proceedings, on which subject he has become recognized as an authority. Mr. Peterson has also been influential in county and state poli- tics and served with distinction in the thirty-third General Assembly as state senator from the thirty-seventh district, comprising the counties of Hamilton, Hardin and Wright. He held the office of county surveyor of Wright county two terms and has served in other positions of trust.
John W. MeGrath, of Eagle Grove, recognized as one of the ablest attorneys in this section of the state, became a member of the Wright county bar in the year 1887. He was born on a farm near Round Grove, Whiteside county, Illinois, November 30, 1861, and was educated in the
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common schools and the Valparaiso Normal School, Valparaiso, Indiana. He received his legal education in the law department of the State Uni- versity of Iowa and was admitted to the bar at lowa City in June, 1887. He located at Eagle Grove in the same year and has continuously resided there since. Mr. McGrath served as county attorney of Wright county for two terms, commencing January 1, 1894, and ending January 1, 1898. In this capacity he served with fidelity and marked distinction. He has applied himself assiduously to the practice of his profession and declined all other political preferment not in line with it. His splendid legal at- tainments and integrity of character have won for him the confidence of all the people and the respect and admiration of the courts and the bar. He is a member of the firm of Peterson, McGrath & Archerd and MeGrath & Archerd, who conduct their business both at Eagle Grove and Clarion. Mr. McGrath has a large clientele also in Humboldt and Webster counties.
Sylvester Flynn, of Eagle Grove, has been a member of the Wright county bar since January 22, 1896, when he located at Eagle Grove. Ile was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, September 22, 1869, and, when he was a small boy, his parents removed to Butler county, Iowa. He was educated in the public school, the Iowa State Teachers' College at Cedar Falls, and the State University of Iowa City, graduating from the law de- partment on June 12, 1895. Mr. Flynn was appointed county attorney for Wright county, October 1, 1902, to fill a vacancy created by the resigna- tion of J. C. Fenninger ; he was elected to the office in 1902 and re-elected in 1905, serving continuously in the office until January 1, 1907. Con- scientious and fearless in the discharge of his duties, he became a terror to all evil-doers. Mr. Flynn enjoys a large practice in Wright and ad- joining counties and in the federal and supreme courts, and is one of the strong and influential members of the bar.
James W. Henneberry, of Eagle Grove, was born at Elora, Canada, coming to Iowa with his parents, who located at Webster City, when he was a child. He was educated in the common school and admitted to the bar in 1897. Mr. Henneberry located and commenced his practice at Eagle Grove, March 1, 1800. He held the office of city clerk of Eagle Grove in 1895, and was city attorney for 1905 and 1906. He is a lawyer of excel- lent ability and a strong and eloquent advocate, has given much attention to the criminal practice and has been engaged in many important cases in the state. He possesses a rare faculty of marshalling the evidence and facts in a case and the power to present them forcibly to the court or jury.
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Willard Norton Barkey, of Dows, located in Wright county on Sep- tember 17, 1914. He was born at Iowa Falls, Iowa, March 17, 1889, edu- cated at Iowa Falls public schools and Drake University at Des Moines, and was admitted to the bar at Des Moines, June 6, 1914.
Eugene Schaffter, of Eagle Grove, was born at Lynchburg, Virginia, September 3, 1864. When a young man, he removed with his parents to Paxton, Illinois. He was educated in the common schools and at the Colle- giate Institute at Paxton, Illinois. He has been a resident of Wright county for about thirty years. He was admitted to the bar at Des Moines, Oc- tober 5, 1887, but did not engage in active practice until later. He has held the office of city attorney of Eagle Grove since 1912, and is now acting in that capacity. Mr. Schaffter is a man of exceptionally fine literary taste and ability, having written several articles of merit. He has traveled ex- tensively in Europe and enjoys a wide acquaintance. Is well known in Ma- sonic circles throughout the state. He enjoys the fullest confidence of his brother members of the bar, of his clients and of the court, and has built up an extensive and lucrative practice.
George Raymond Hill, member of the firm of Berry & Hill, of Clarion and Belmond, was born at Woodburn, lowa, November 7. 1888. Ile was educated at Drake University, Des Moines, and was admitted to the bar on June 3, 1910, at Des Moines. On January 1, 1912, he, with J. M. Berry, established a law office at Belmond and later, on March 1, 1914. opened an office at Clarion, to which place Mr. Hill removed. They now conduct their business both at Belmond and Clarion, Mr. Hill having charge at the latter place. Mr. Hill is a man of excellent legal talent and a growing member of the bar of Wright county.
John Milton Berry, a member of the firm of Berry & Hill, became a member of the Wright county bar on January . 1, 1912. In connection with G. R. Hill, they established an office at Belmond, where Mr. Berry still resides. He was born in Clark county, South Dakota, educated in the public school, had one year of college education and three years in law school, and was admitted to the bar at Des Moines, lowa, June 3. 1910. He is one of the prominent and rising young attorneys of the bar.
Corydon J. Nagle, a member of the firm of Nagle & Nagle, was born at Clarion, Iowa, December 7, 1884. He was educated in the high school at Clarion and in the law department of Drake University at Des Moines, being admitted to the bar at Des Moines, Iowa, in 1909. He became als- sociated with his father, Hon. C. M. Nagle, in the year 1900. The firm
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of Nagle & Nagle is well known throughout northern lowa and is con- stantly engaged in important htigation. Mr. Nagle is a growing member of the Wright county bar and gives promise of being an important factor in its future welfare.
M. F. Birdsall, of the firm of Birdsall & Birdsall, was born at Alden, lowa, July 10, 1880, and, with his parents, moved to Clarion in 1884. Hle is a graduate of the Clarion high school and of the law department of the State University at Iowa City, of the class of 1900. He commenced practice at Clarion with his father, B. P. Birdsall, in 1901 and, upon the latter's election to Congress in 1903, took sole charge of the business of the firm. He has been active in politics and is well and favorably known throughout the county. The firm of Birdsall & Birdsall, of which he is a member, has an extensive practice in Wright and adjoining counties. Mr. Birdsall is an active and efficient trial lawyer and enjoys the confidence of the people and courts. He is recognized as one of the coming lawyers of this section of the state. lle is at present city attorney of the city of Clarion, which office he has now held for two successive terms.
Leslie N. Archerd is a native of lowa and was born in Marshall county on August 11, 1884. Ile was educated at the Eagle Grove high school and Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, lowa. He was admitted to the bar at Des Moines, lowa, October 6, 1905, and located at Eagle Grove at once. Mr. Archerd served as city attorney of Eagle Grove, for the years 1907 and 1908, and as county attorney for two terms, commencing January 1. IQII, and ending January 1, 1915. After his re-election to the office of county attorney, Mr. Archerd moved to Clarion, where he has since re- sided. The firm of McGrath & Archerd, consisting of Leslie N. Archerd and J. W. MeGrath, was formed several years ago and since Mr. Archerd located at Clarion the membership of the firm has been increased by the addition of C. F. Peterson, the firm now being Peterson, MeGrath & Archerd, Mr. MeGrath remaining a resident of Eagle Grove and the Clarion business being under the immediate direction of Mr. Archerd. In his capacity as county attorney Mr. Archerd was an active, fearless and successful prove- cutor of all public offenders and secured the confidence and approval of the people. He has risen rapidly in the profession and is now recognized as one of the ablest lawyers at the county bar.
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