USA > Iowa > Appanoose County > Past and present of Appanoose County, Iowa : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. I > Part 28
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"Be it ordered that J. J. Jackson be allowed to select of the unsoldt lots to the amount of his contract, though not to exceed one reserved lot.
"Be it ordered that Jesse Wood be allowed to select unsold lots to the amount of his contract, though not to exceed two reserved lots, the board to hold the so selected lots in reserve until the respective jobs be finished.
"October 2. 1848-G. W. Perkins was appointed agent to let a job to make window shutters and procure a lock and key for the door of the courthouse.
"May IS. 1840-Jesse Wood was allowed $119.50 for work done on court- house to be paid in town lots. James Hughes was employed to make window shutter- and stair banisters, and fix them up in workmanlike manner for Sin. to be done the first Monday in July. 1849."
At the dedication of the new courthouse in 1994, 1. C. Mechem, now the dean of the Appanoose county bar, who was on the program at the time, gave an interesting sketch of the former courthouses. He said in part :
The first place for holding court that we can obtain any knowledge of was V11-18
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in the store of 'Squire Wadlington. The April term of the district court of 1848 was held there. The building was on the west side of the public square. on the lot now occupied by the Wooden Bank. The jury deliberated in James Hughes' blacksmith shop close by.
In 1847 the commissioners, consisting of George W. Perkins, Ephraim Sears and Jesse Wood, commenced the erection of the first courthouse. The build- ing was located at the southeast corner of the public square and was constructed of logs. The main building was 24x20 feet, one and a half stories high, with two small rooms of one story on each side, was completed and ready for use in the spring of 1848 and cost about $500. The building was occupied for hold- ing court about eight years, after which court was held in the old Methodist and Presbyterian churches until near the year 1864.
In the year 1860 the county commissioners were instructed to erect a new building to be constructed of brick, to be two stories high, with basement. The first floor to be used for county offices and the second for court and jury rooms. The contract was let to Callen & Pearson, who completed their work in 1864, at a cost of $23,000. The brick used in the construction of the building was burned on the public square near where the band stand is located. The funds for the payment of the building were obtained from the sale of swamp lands belonging to Appanoose county. In 1891 this building was condemned by the board of supervisors as being unsafe, after which they removed the upper story, then roofed over the first story, in which the county offices remained until the building was torn down and removed during the winter of 1903. Bids had been advertised for the sale and removal of the old courthouse and on Saturday, January 10, the bids were opened. . }mong those who set a price on the struc- ture were the following :
C. R. Inman $200.00
Burkland & Manson 1 50.00
William Wilkes, Sr. 102.62
1. S. Lane 100.00
Elton Eikelberry 100.00
Davison & McCoy 55.00
1. W. White
50.00
The bid of W. H. Triggs was not even considered, as that gentleman desired not only the building as a gift but demanded in addition $735 for wrecking and taking it away. The successful bidder was C. R. Inman, who got all there was of the old landmark excepting the corner stone, which was reserved by the county executives.
XEW COURTHOUSE
The old courthouse had served its purpose long before giving way to a new one. Once. on account of its unsafe condition. it had been partially dismantled and the remnant patched up as a make-shift. The building became inadequate, unsanitary and an eye-sore to at least that section of the county, whose people were compelled to face its disreputable exterior from day to day, and strenuous efforts were made to bring the property owners and taxpayers of the county to consent to the building of a new one. The question of issuing bonds for the payment of a new courthouse was submitted to the people, but a preponderance
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of the sentiment was time and again antagonistic to the proposition and it failed of fruition until the November election of 1902. when a majority of 881 votes was cast in favor of the board of commissioners issuing $75,000 in bonds. In February, 1903, the contract for the building was let to William Peatman, then a citizen of Centerville, the amount of his bid being $09,900; and, with plumbing, lighting. frescoing, furniture and other necessary appurtenances, the new tem- ple of justice was turned over to the county in the early fall of 1904, having cost the sum of $00,000.
On Monday, September 12, 1904. the beautiful courthouse was dedicated and a vast number of people were edified and entertained by the ceremonies and by those who took an important part in their completion. Judge Horace E. Deemer, chief justice of the supreme court of lowa, delivered the principal address. He was followed by Judge Robert Sloan, Judge C. W. Vermilion, Judge T. M. Fee, General A. J. Baker and Hon. C. R. Porter. Rev. J. D. Vannoy, pastor of the Baptist church, delivered an invocation, and L. C. Mechem extended the address of welcome. Of peculiar interest to the spectators was the presence of "Uncle Jack" Perjue, first sheriff of the county; Judge S. M. Moore, first county recorder, and William Crow, a pioneer of 1843.
EXTERIOR APPEARANCE OF THE BUILDING
The courthouse rises majestically in the center of the park, with each of its four faces turned to one of the main thoroughfares of the city. The building is of stone veneer, tile roof and massive tower rising from the center, in which has been placed, through the generosity of J. R. Wooden, a clock of fine work- manship which, from its four dials the time of day or night can be seen from a great distance. Electricity illuminates the clock's faces at night.
THE INTERIOR
On the interior the wainscoting is of marble, the walls are beautifully frescoed and the floors laid with encaustic tile. Red oak was selected for the woodwork and the stair railings are of grilled iron work.
On the first floor are the sheriff's, superintendent of schools' and surveyor's offices; a room for the Grand Army of the Republic's headquarters, janitor's working and storerooms, a woman's rest and toilet rooms, vault room for the storage of records, etc., and men's toilet room.
The second floor is devoted to the auditor's, recorder's, treasurer's, clerk of the courts' and supervisors rooms, and the third story has the beautiful court room, with its five hundred opera chairs; also the county attorney's, jury's, witnesses and bailiff's rooms. Rooms have also been provided for the law library and the sitting judge.
JAII.S
Shortly after the county had been organized disorder and misdemeanors crept in, so that the question came before the board of commissioners for the building of a place to confine persons who had made themselves amenable to
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the law and liable to imprisonment. But the project hung in abeyance for some time, partly because the county could not afford the expense and also for the reason that complaints and convictions on criminal charges were infrequent. The county managed to do without a jail until 1855, but in that year a small stone building was put up and given the name of county jail, but it was so inadequate for the purpose that when it had a tenant of any importance to the law, guards were necessary to keep the prisoner in confinement. In 1866. to give an instance of the jail's inefficiency, one Lockhart, awaiting trial for horse- stealing. easily effected his escape. After this, prisoners were kept in the Ottumwa jail at the expense of the county.
Sending prisoners to Ottumwa and bringing them back when needed, became monotonous and expensive. So that, on June 8, 1871, the board of supervisors gave the contract to Jacob Shaw, Thomas Wentworth and William Ames & Company to build a jail, the dimensions of which were to be 42x42 feet. The building was erected on the west side of North Main street and was constructed of stone and brick, the outer walls being of the latter material. The cells were of iron and, when the structure was completed, the cost amounted to about $10,000. In 1904, the building was remodeled, new steel cells replacing the old ones. The cost of the improvement was $5.000. However, the Appanoose county jail has nothing about its exterior to draw forth any encomiums. Its architecture is of a vintage not known to professional designers and when the grade of North Main street was established the building got a black eye, so to speak. by being left in a hole, four or five feet below the level of the thorough- fare.
CHAPTER XVI
THE NEW COURTHOUSE DEDICATED-ADDRESS BY JUDGE ROBERT SLOW-"THE BENCH"BY C. W. VERMILION-"THE BAR" BY JUDGE T. M. FEE-"UNCLE JACK" PERJUE, FIRST SHERIFF, TELLS OF THE EARLY DAYS OF THE COURTS AND LAWYERS.
DEDICATION ADDRESS
By Robert Sloan, Presiding Judge
Gentlemen of the Appanoose County Bar: It affords me great pleasure to be with you on this occasion, and to take part in the dedication of your new courthouse to the transaction of public business and this room to the admin- istration of justice and the enforcement of law. The people of this county are to be congratulated upon the success which has crowned their efforts to secure better facilities for the transaction of public business.
The building is excellent in design, elegant in construction, beautiful in appearance and is evidently strong and durable, and will doubtless prove both comfortable and convenient for the uses for which it is designed. It is the visible home of local government and at the same time a reminder of that power, emanating from the people which secures to the individual citizen the enjoyment of life, liberty and property. It has been well said that this is "a government of the people for the people by the people."
The constitution which they adopted creates each department of the gov- ernment and defines and limits the powers therein conferred. The people choose from their number their own officers: There is no display in the exercise of the powers conferred upon them by these officers, but there is behind them the entire power of the state to enforce obedience to the mandates of the law. While the power of the state is exercised by officers selected therefor, it must be borne in mind that every duty imposed upon them, and all the authority con- ferred upon them, is regulated by law and must be discharged according to law. The officer is just as much bound by the law and governed by it, as the citizen and cannot substitute his own will therefor. he he the highest or lowest officer of the state. It is this fact more than aught else that prevents tyranny and oppression. But for this fact a government of the people may become just as tyrannical and oppressive as any other.
The work of enacting these laws is entrusted to the legislature but it lies with the courts to interpret and apply them and direct their enforcement, and this duty should be discharged wisely, justly, fearlessly and impartially. It is to this duty and this work that this court room is dedicated The duty is
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unchanging. We soon pass away, others will take our places, but this duty will remain as binding upon our successors, as upon it. No duty is more sacred. Faithful adherence to it, throughout the land, will keep this government the best the world has ever known, and make its citizens free, happy and contented. We need not contemplate the evils that would result from a disregard of this duty. We may, with confidence, hope that the people will be ever watchful of their liberties and quickly resent any efforts to diminish them, or disregard the safeguards with which they have surrounded them. From them came the power which created this great commonwealth, by them it has been so wisely and ben- eficently exercised that it has made lowa one of the happiest, freest and best states of the Union; and we may safely trust and justly hope that her citizens will be as faithful in the future as they have been in the past in the cause for good government.
The people of this county decided by their votes that this building should be erected. the officers charged with that duty have faithfully fulfilled their wishes, and the money will come from them to pay for it. By so doing it has became their property devoted and dedicated to the work for which they designed it, and we again congratulate them upon its beauty, elegance, and evident dura- bility. It is the act of the people, more than aught we can say, that dedicates this building to the transaction of public business, and this room to the work of administering and enforcing the law. Divine wisdom alone would prevent mis- takes and errors in the judgments of the courts and verdicts of the juries, which will be rendered and returned in this room, in the future deliberations of the court that will be held therein, but let us hope that its walls may never witness a judgment rendered or verdict returned which is knowingly wrong. To this end, the efforts of both the bench and the bar should be united. While the lawyer should put forth his best efforts in behalf of his clients, he should never resort to unfair or unwarranted means to win success, nor should the judge tolerate it.
I feel that I ought not to conclude these remarks without at least a brief reference to the members of the bar of this county who were present at the first term of court held by me in this county, more than thirty-one years ago, and whose lips are now silent in death. The names of Joshua Miller, Amos Harris, W. F. Vermilion, J. A. Elliott. George D). Porter, Harvey Tannehill and Francis Marion Drake are indelibly impressed upon the early history of this county and the development of its resources. 1 bear glad testimony to their ability as lawyers, their worth as men, and their fidelity to duty, and reckon their friendship as among the most valued treasures of my life. You do well on this occasion to place on record a history of the bar of this county, of which these men were such important members and contributed so much to its luster and renown. Their example we may well emulate and their virtues com- memorate.
THE BENCH
By C. H. Vermilion
The first session of a court of record in Appanoose county was held Sep- tember 17, 1847. The county at this time was a part of the third judicial dis-
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trict and the court was presided over by Cyrus Olney, district judge, whose home was in Jefferson county.
A local history records that the first action taken by the court was in rela- tion to the bondsmen of one who had been held upon a charge of larceny and had failed to appear. The first judgment was for thirty-two cents, the result of the trial of an appeal case. It is perhaps worthy of note also that among the actions begun at this term was one for divorce-since which time that form of action has not been permitted to fall into disuse.
At that time there were but four judicial districts in the state but in 1849 a new district, the fifth, was organized, which included the county and the terri- tory westward to the Missouri river and northward as far as Marshall, Story and Boone counties.
Judge William McKay, of Polk county, was elected in this district in April, 1849.
In February, 1853, the state was redistricted and the ninth district organized, consisting of Appanoose and the counties lying to the north and west.
John S. Townsend presided in this district from its organization until the state was again redistricted under the constitution of 1857. At that time the county became a part of the second district, which included the same territory belonging to the present district except that of Wayne county was included while Jefferson was not. Judge Townsend was reelected in the second district in 1858. lle was the first of the judges whose length of service was sufficient for him to exert any appreciable influence on the community. He went upon the bench when but twenty-nine years old and during the years of his service established the judiciary in the respect and confidence of a frontier community.
The unwritten history of the courts of Appanoose county-that preserved in the traditions of the bar and the stories of the old settlers-begins with Judge Townsend's court.
Upon his retirement he resumed the practice at Albia and before his death in 1892 had witnessed the gradual expansion of the frontier court he had held into the present system.
In 1862 Judge Henry 11. Trimble, then of Bloomfield, now of Keokuk, was elected, as the successor of Judge Townsend. After four years of distinguished service upon the bench, Judge Trimble returned to the practice, where for almost forty years he has been known as one of the great lawyers of the state.
He was followed by Judge Harvey Tannehill, of this county, who was elected in 1866 and remained on the bench one term of four years. Upon his retire- ment he entered the practice here, where he was actively engaged till 1803. when he removed to Arkansas.
Judge Tannehill possessed a natural dignity of carriage and manner that must have made his appearance on the bench that of the ideal judge. In the way of his profession his character and methods of thought were accurately portrayed by his appearance. As a man, however, and beneath the cloak of his dignity and reserve, he had the kindliest of natures. His private life was marked by a temperance, serenity and self control that are not often witnessed. Though the end of his days came among new friends and surroundings, his ashes rest here where the active years of his hie were spent
In 1871 Judge Morris J. Williams, of Ottumwa, succeeded Judge Tanne-
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hill and presided with distinguished ability for four years. Ile was followed by Judge Joseph C. Knapp, of Van Buren county. Tradition throughout the district abounds with stories of Judge Knapp. Among the laity he became famous for the gruffness and vigor of his rulings and in the profession for the soundness and certainty of his opinions upon the law.
Judge Edward L. Burton, of Ottumwa, who presided during the eight years following Judge Knapp's retirement in 1878, was another strong character who was noted not only for the dignity and order of his court but as well for the ability displayed in his work on the bench.
In 1868 the legislature had created a circuit court, each district being divided into two circuits, with one judge to each. Appanoose county was in the second circuit of the district.
The first circuit judge was Henry L. Dashiell, of Albia, who presided for four years, beginning with 1869. None of his successors have, I believe, equaled the industry of Judge Dashiell. If my recollection of stories heard at the parental fireside is to be relied upon he began court at 7 o'clock in the morning and adjourned for the day at 10 o'clock at night. This great industry was prompted however, by a lofty sense of duty and was made possible only by a correspond- ingly great legal ability.
An interesting incident-for it was scarcely more-of the history of the courts of those days was the creation and the abolition of the general term.
When creating the circuit court the legislature had provided that the district judge and two circuit judges should hold from two to four general terms in the district each year and that all appeals should be heard in the first instance by the general term.
The general term was abolished by the next legislature in 1870, its downfall brought about, it is said, by the rage of unsuccessful appellant, who charged. no doubt falsely. that it perpetuated rather than corrected the errors of its mem- bers, whose judgments were reviewed.
In 1872 the circuit courts were reorganized, the circuit courts being made coextensive with the districts and with but one judge to each district.
From then till the close of 1880 the circuit court of this district was pre- sided over by Judge Robert Sloan, who had occupied the bench in the first circuit for the previous term.
Judge H. C. Traverse, of Bloomfield, went upon the circuit bench in 1881. remaining until the abolition of the court.
In 1884 provision was made for an additional circuit judge for the second district and to this position Judge Dell Stuart, of Chariton, was elected in that vear.
Two years later the circuit court was abolished and the state redistricted. the changes taking effect in January, 1887.
The second district as at present constituted-with the addition of Henry county which was subsequently detached-was provided with three judges.
These places were filled by the election in 1886 of Judges Traverse and Stuart of the circuit bench and Judge Charles D. Leggett. of Fairfield. Judge Stuart resigned in 1800 to reenter the practice on the Pacific coast and Judge Burton was called from the bar to fill the vacancy. The election in that year
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resulted in the choice of Judge Burton, Judge W. I. Babb, of Mount Pleasant. and the reelection of Judge Traverse.
Before the end of this term Judge Burton suffered a stroke of paralysis which incapacitated him for further labor, and which, after a lingering illness, caused his death. The second period of Judge Burton's service upon the bench added much to an already enviable reputation. Few judges have been able to exert a more lasting influence upon both bar and bench than Judge Burton.
In 1892 the legislature made provision for an additional judge in the district and the position was filled until the ensuing election by the appointment of Judge Joseph C. Mitchell, then of Chariton, later a resident of Ottumwa.
Judge W. D. Tisdale, of Ottumwa, was chosen at the election, however, and served until the close of 1804. In that year were elected Judge T. M. Fee, the dean of the Appanoose county bar ; Judge Sloan, who thus resumed the judicial function he had laid aside fourteen years before; Judge M. A. Roberts, of Ottumwa, and Judge Frank W. Eichelberger, of Bloomfield.
The reelection of all of these gentlemen in 1898 and again in 1902. except Judge Fee, who had meanwhile voluntarily returned to the practice, is a greater tribute to their ability and fitness than any mere words of praise.
It will be observed that this 12th day of September, 1904. is within five days of the fifty-seventh anniversary of the opening of the courts in the county.
This beautiful building we have met to dedicate, in comparison with the log store building where that first term was convened in 1847, is typical of the progress, growth and prosperity of the county.
Naturally, the business of the courts has increased with the population, the accumulation of wealth and the growth and development of diversified indus- tries. This increased business has, however, not been in exact proportion to the changed condition- in these respects.
The 048 people residing in Appanoove county in 1847. possessing wealth amounting to less than $25,000, had more business before Judge Olney's first term than an equal number of people living a vastly more complete life have in the courts today.
One term of perhaps a week was held in that year, while now with a popu- lation nearly thirty times as great, holding two hundred times as much property as then, but twenty-eight weeks of court are held in each year. So that con- trary to a popular belief the business of the courts has not kept pace with either the growth of population, the increase of wealth or the diversification of occu- pation.
THE BAR, WILAT IT IS, AND SHOULD B.
By Judge T. M. Fcc
I congratulate the members of the bar of AAppanoose county in their good for- tune of this day, that they stand in this truly magnificent building. erected by the splendid people of Appanoose county, wherein the business pertaining to the whole people may be transacted, and as a depository of the records and their treasure .- the store house of the present and the future. But above all. as especially interesting to the bar, the lawyers, by which they are more directly benefited as a class, I congratulate you for your good fortune in having this
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splendid court room erected as and for a temple of justice, in which to spend so many of our hours of arduous labor, rather than as it has been in the past, especially since we were deprived of the old court room. No better proof exists of the enterprise and intelligence of the citizens of a county, state or city, than their public buildings, schoolhouses, churches, libraries and court- houses, and 1 am glad to know that this building, with its finishings and furnish- ings, reflects the character and enterprise of the citizens of our own county.
I came to this city when the first rough little frame courthouse stood about where A. E. Wooden's clothing store now is, and the one replaced by this mag- nificent courthouse was then under construction.
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