USA > Iowa > Calhoun County > Past and present of Calhoun County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress, and achievement, Volume I > Part 25
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PRESBYTERIANS
On October 13, 1875, a committee from the Fort Dodge Presby- tery visited Pomeroy for the purpose of organizing a church. This committee consisted of Rev. E. H. Avery, Rev. B. Benn and Elder Woolsey Wells. A meeting was held in the schoolhouse and the First Presbyterian Church of Pomeroy was instituted, with George Wallace as the ruling elder. The charter members were: George and Cassandra Wallace, Mrs. Elizabeth Walker, Isaae and Harriet War- ner, R. C. and Lucy A. Stewart, Hiram and Mary A. Wallace. The building ereeted by this congregation was blown down by the tornado of July 6, 1893. The insurance company paid the church $520 and other funds were collected for a new house of worship, which eost $3,200. It was dedieated on February 25, 1894, and a new parsonage
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was built a little later. In the spring of 1915 Rev. Edward Lowe was pastor.
The First Presbyterian Church of Lake City was organized on January 16, 1881, by Rev. A. K. Baird, a synodical missionary, with the following members: J. S. Mccrary, Mary R. Mccrary, E. J. Kennedy, Mary A. Blanchfield, Jennie E. Johnston, Mrs. E. A. Mc- Crary, Robert M. and Mary A. Dixon. A. H. and Jane Grant. J. S. McCrary and A. H. Grant were chosen ruling elders. Rev. S. W. Stophlet, then a student in college, preached for the new church during his summer vacation and in June, 1882, was installed as the first regu- lar pastor. A Sunday school was organized in June, 1887, with W. C. Hungerford as superintendent and J. M. Toliver as teacher of, the Bible class and both these men still held their positions in the spring of 1915. The church was incorporated on December 5, 1895, with J. B. George, A. B. Roberts, C. M. Parsons, D. W. Reed, Philip Andrews and Henry Clements as the first board of trustees. This congregation has a substantial frame house of worship and is in a prosperous condition.
Revs. H. N. Payne and S. W. Stophlet organized the First Pres- byterian Church of Lohrville on October 22, 1882. When the old building once occupied by S. G. Crawford's bank was torn down in the spring of 1915 an old subscription list was found, bearing date of April 9, 1883, in which $880 was subscribed for the purpose of building a Presbyterian Church. On May 16, 1883, the society was legally incorporated with Charles H. Wise, Samuel G. Crawford, J. M. Stephens and Gussie Robertson as trustees. That summer a frame house of worship was erected, which is still used by the church.
In May, 1883, Rev. T. L. Bailey and Rev. S. W. Stophlet organ- ized the First Presbyterian Church of Rockwell City with sixteen charter members and Adam Docksteader as ruling elder. In 1886 a frame church edifice was erected at a cost of $4,500 and in 1890 a manse was built on the lot adjoining the church. The society had pre- viously filed articles of incorporation on May 19, 1894, with W. H. Shaw, Rollin Burch, James H. Ballagh, Frank Rice and R. C. Pat- terson as the first trustees. The present magnificent church building was erected in 1913 at a cost of $25,000 and is considered the finest church edifice in the county. The old frame house was sold to B. E. Stonebraker, who converted it into two modern residences.
Bethany Presbyterian Church was incorporated on April 9, 1900, by D. J. Wright, James Keary and John Harrison as trustees. No definite location was named in the articles of incorporation, but the
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church was in Elm Grove Township. On February 28, 1902, it was reorganized as the Elm Grove Presbyterian Church and the trustees then elected were: John J. Hawthorne, Mrs. Cora Puffer, Mrs. Lillie Logsdon and Alexander Hatton. No church building was ever erected by this society, the meetings being held in the schoolhouses.
THE BAPTISTS
The first church of this denomination in Calhoun County was organized at Lake City. It was incorporated on May 29, 1882, as the "First Regular Baptist Church of Lake City," with David Fox, E. D. Williams, Larkin Williams, G. G. F. Harris and N. R. Hutchinson as the first board of trustees, under whose direction a frame church building was ereeted. The church had been organized some time before that, however, and meetings had been held in rented quarters.
In 1880 Rev. D. Robinson and Rev. J. W. Thompson, two Baptist ministers, held a series of evangelistie meetings in Logan and Lake Creek townships and a number united with the church. The converts were first received into the church at Lake City, but on June 25, 1880, a number withdrew from that congregation and organized the First Baptist Church of Rockwell City. From 1887 to 1893 this church held services only at irregular intervals. Then a revival came and Rev. William Pearce was installed as permanent pastor. The society was incorporated on August 9, 1895, with J. H. Gregg, E. W. Burch, F. E. Blackman, R. W. Murphey and A. T. Bowers as trustees. The old schoolhouse was purchased soon after the incorporation, but the building was not dedicated as a church until September 17, 1899, when the church was free from debt. This house is still used by the society.
On May 11, 1882, a meeting was held at Lohrville for the purpose of organizing a Baptist Church. A majority of those present voted to incorporate as "The First Baptist Church of Union," and II. J. Bolander, J. D. Parker and W. Holmes were elected trustees. Arti- eles of incorporation were filed with the county recorder on May 16. 1882. These artieles were signed by the trustees, A. S. Catlin, Na- thaniel Owens and O. S. Martin. A frame church was built soon afterward and for several years the congregation flourished. Then reverses came. Some of the leading members died, others moved away, the meetings were discontinued and the building once occupied by the Baptists of Lohrville as a house of worship is now used as a motion picture theater.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. ROCKWELL CITY
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METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, ROCKWELL CITY
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The youngest Baptist Church in the county is the First Baptist Church of Pomeroy, which was incorporated on March 23, 1901. The first board of trustees was composed of G. W. Randlett, A. D. Parker, C. W. Alexander and William MeNames. Those who signed the arti- cles of incorporation in addition to the trustees were: Lulu M. Baker, Mrs. J. A. Davy, Mrs. A. D. Parker, William Knudson, E. E. Hatch, Millie Alexander, M. J. Bruin, L. T. Alexander, Miss Essie Parker, Benjamin Olson, Sarah MeNames, Edna Davy, Jeannette Feeck and Mrs. Atkinson.
MISCELLANEOUS CHURCHES
Among the pioneers of Williams Township was James Rigby, a believer in the doctrines of the Seventh Day Adventists. IIe organ- ized a society of thirty-six members and meetings were held in the schoolhouses known as Kennedy's and Mayo's for some time. No church was ever built and the society finally went down. So far as can be learned, the only organization of this church is the one located at Lake City. It was organized some years ago and purchased the build- ing formerly occupied by the Methodists in Lake Creek Township and removed it to Lake City.
The United Brethren Church of Lake City was incorporated on August 2. 1890, with H. D. Loekard, C. C. Fahan, W. A. Yetter, William Wieks and Levi Cook. This society has a neat frame house of worship one square north of the northeast corner of the public square. on the lot where the first sehoolhouse in Lake City formerly stood. There is also a United Brethren Church at Yetter-the only church in Ehn Grove Township.
C. E. Osborn, O. S. Connor and T. Ball, as trustees, filed articles of incorporation of the Free Methodist Church of Garfield Town- ship with the county reeorder on March 16, 1892. A frame house of worship was afterward built near Lytton. This society is sometimes called the "Pleasant Hill Church."
On May 27, 1892, the Swedish Mission Union of Calhoun County was incorporated "to teach the religion of Jesus Christ and the gospel of the Holy Bible." The incorporators were: Oliver Tall, chairman : S. Johnson, reeorder: A. G. Blomberg, treasurer: V. Johnson, J. A. Peterson and Gust Linder, trustees.
GENERAL COMMENT
In the foregoing the purpose has been to show in a general way the church development of Calhoun County, and no effort has been
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made to go into details regarding the various religious organizations. Of the fifty or more church societies in the county at the present time, a large majority are out of debt, or at least are not burdened with debt, and are well supported by their members. Most of the early set- tlers of the county were men and women who had been brought up "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" in their old homes "back East." They brought with them their reverence for their religion and have sought to perpetuate the principles in which they believe. Few counties in the Union have a more law-abiding, order-loving, God-fearing people than Calhoun, and much of this sentiment is due to the teachings of the church.
CHAPTER XVI THE BENCH AND BAR
PROVINCE OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT-PURPOSE OF THE COURTS-THE LAWYER AS A CITIZEN-EARLY JUDGES IN CALHOUN COUNTY-THE FIRST JURY-HISTORY OF THE DISTRICT COURT-CIRCUIT COURT- THE BAR-PIONEER LAWYERS-RESIDENT ATTORNEYS IN 1915- NOTED TRIALS- THE WILCOX HOMICIDE-THE PRATT CASE-STATE VS. BROWN.
Someone once said that the history of a country could be written from its laws. This is true in a measure, for in the legislation of a nation are reflected the character of the people, their hopes and ambi- tions, their ideals and purposes. Much of the historoy of every civi- lized country or community centers about its laws and the manner in which they are enforced. "To establish justice" was written into the Federal Constitution by the founders of the American Republic as one of the primary and paramount purposes of civil government. The founders of the republic also showed their wisdom in dividing the functions of government into three departments-legislative, executive and judicial-the first to enact, the second to enforce, and the third to interpret the nation's laws. States have copied this sys- tem, so that in every state there is a legislature to pass laws, a supreme and subordinate courts to declare their meaning, and a governor as the chief exccutive officer, whose duty it is to see that the laws are fairly and impartially enforced.
"To establish justice!" To establish a system of courts, in which the safety of person and the rights of property shall be securely safe- guarded! The law is therefore a jealous profession. It demands of the attorney at the bar and the judge on the bench alike a careful, conscientious effort to interpret rightly the laws of the land; to bring about the punishment of wrong: to secure the administration of jus- tice-"speedy, substantial, efficient, equitable and economical."
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Within recent years some eaustie criticisms have been passed upon the courts for their delays, and a great deal has been said in the columns of the public press about "judicial reform." Doubtless some of these eriticisms are founded upon reason, but should the entire judiciary system be condemned beeause here or there some man eleeted to a judgeship has failed to measure up to the proper standard, or some lawyer has adopted the tacties of the shyster or pettifogger? There was one Judas among the twelve chosen apostles. Concerning this tendency to criticize the courts, one of the justices of the Ohio Supreme Court said recently :
"A reasonable amount of eritieism is good for a publie offieer- even a judge. It keeps reminding him that, after all, he is only a public servant ; that he must give an account of his stewardship, as to his efficiency, the same as any other servant; that the same tests applied to private servants in private business should be equally applied to publie servants in public business whether executives, legis- lators or judges-at least, this is the public view. Would it not be more wholesome if more public offieers, especially judges, took the same view?"
It should be horne in mind, however, that a large majority of the judges in the various courts of the country have been men whose character was ahove reproach, and some of the greatest men in our national history were lawyers. John Marshall, one of the carly chief justices of the United States Supreme Court, was a man whose legal opinions are still quoted with respect and reverenee by the profession, and whose reputation as a eitizen is revered by the American people at large. Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston and James Mon- roe, who negotiated the Louisiana Purchase, that gave to the United States all the vast domain between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, were all lawyers. Thomas M. Cooley, the great interpreter of the American Constitution: Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, Salmon P. Chase, and a host of others who might be mentioned, were men whose patriotism and love of jus- tice eannot be questioned. And last, but not least, stands Abraham Lineoln, self-educated and self-reliant, whose consummate taet and statesmanship saved the Union from disruption.
Fortunately for the people of Calhoun County, the judges that have presided over her District and Circuit Courts have been men of character, free from charges of venality or corruption, and justice has generally been administered in such a manner that eritieism of the court has been unnecessary.
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When Calhoun County was created by the Legislature in 1851 it was placed in the Fifth Judicial District, but no provisions were made for holding court, for the reason that at that time there was not a single white inhabitant in the county. The first judge to exercise his authority over Calhoun County was Cave J. McFarland, who was elected to the bench in the Fifth Judicial Distriet in 1834, the same year the first settlements were made in the county. And his only action relating to the county, of which there is any record, was the appointment of the three commissioners in the fall of 1855 to locate the county seat.
Judge McFarland was a man of considerable legal ability and one of many peculiarities. He wore a long, flowing beard of which he was inordinately fond. He was also an enthusiastic democrat. On one occasion, while attending a democratic convention at Burlington, a newspaper correspondent referred to the judge's whiskers in a rather laconic manner, and suggested that his brain might have been stronger had not so much of the nourishment taken into his system gone to whiskers. The judge immediately started on the hunt for that reporter, but the latter, concluding no doubt that "Diseretion is the better part of valor," could not be found. McFarland's greatest weakness was his fondness for liquor. A story is told to the effect that, in one of the southern counties of the state, the judge appointed MeFarland to examine a candidate for admission to the bar. The candidate, probably knowing something of the examiner's appetite, was equipped with a flask of "good, old Bourbon," and MeFarland promptly reported to the court that the young man was fully quali- fied to practice law "in this or any other court in the state." He retired from the bench in 1856, became more dissipated in his habits, and died in poverty.
The time set for holding the first court in Calhoun County was in September, 1857. When that time arrived there were no cases on the docket and the term was postponed. After three such adjournments a session of the District Court was convened at Lake City in June, 1859, with Judge Asahel W. Hubbard presiding.
Judge Hubbard was born at Haddam, Conn., January 18, 1819, and was reared on a farm, receiving such elementary education as the common schools of his native state afforded. After reaching his majority he went to Indiana and studied law at Rushville in that state. In 1847 he was elected to represent his district in the Indiana State Senate and served in that capacity for four years. Hearing good reports of Iowa, he located at Sioux City in 1857 and the next Vol. 1-17
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year was elected judge of the Fourth Judicial Distriet, which had just been established by the Legislature, and which included all Northwestern Iowa. He served on the bench for four years and in 1862 was nominated by the republican party for representative in Congress from the Sixth lowa District, which included nearly one- third of the counties in the state. He was elected and served in Con- gress for six years, during which he was active in securing the enaet- ment of laws to encourage railroad building in Iowa. Upon retiring from Congress he was one of the founders of the First National Bank of Sioux City and his death occurred in that city on September 22, 1879.
The first jury ever impaneled in Calhoun County was composed of George Bunting, N. R. Hutchinson, R. M. Lumpkin, Charles Hammond, Roma Maranville, Moses Sherman, Thomas Fletcher, John McCoy, Alford White, John Brady, Richard Bunting and Benjamin Borders. These "twelve good men and true" were called upon at the June term in 1859 to try five cases that were on the docket. In the case of David Frazier vs. H. W. Smith a verdiet was returned for the defendant: Moses Sherman and Jonathan H. Manlove were plaintiff's in cases against James Easley and won their suits; the jury found a verdiet for the plaintiff in the suit of Peter Smith vs. M. West. and the case of N. McCoy vs. John and N. Higgins was con- tinued. At this first term of the District Court James Reynolds was sheriff and H. II. Hutchinson, clerk.
Calhoun County was then one of the twenty-two counties that formed the Fourth Judicial Distriet, which was created by the act of March 20, 1858. When Judge Hubbard was elected to Congress in 1862, he was succeeded on the bench by Isaac Pendleton, of Wood- bury County, who served as judge until 1867, when he was succeeded by Henry Ford, of Harrison County. Not much can be learned eon- cerning either Judge Pendleton or Judge Ford.
In 1876 the General Assembly created the Fourteenth Judicial District, in which Calhoun County was placed. E. R. Duffie was elected judge in the new district and remained on the bench until 1884. Judge Duflie was a man of fine legal attainments and his deci- sions were always based upon the fundamental principles of justice. After serving on the bench for seven years he removed to Omaha, Nebraska, where he was elected judge of the District Court and later was one of the commissioners appointed to relieve the con- gested docket of the Nebraska Supreme Court.
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Lot Thomas, of Storm Lake, was elected as the successor of Judge Duffie in 1885, but at the succeeding session of the Legislature the state was redistricted for judicial purposes and Judge Thomas' jurisdiction over Calhoun County came to an end. Under the act of April 10, 1886. the counties of Calhoun, Carroll. Crawford, Greene, Ida and Sac were formed into the Sixteenth Judicial District, which was given two judges. James P. Conner, of Crawford County, and J. II. Macomber, of Ida, were elected the first judges of the new dis- triet and assumed their duties at the beginning of the year 1877. Judge Macomber had previously served two years-1885-86-as judge of the Circuit Court, and Judge Conner's ability in legal mat- ters is well known. When J. P. Dolliver resigned his seat in the lower house of Congress in the fall of 1900, to become United States senator, Judge Conner was elected to the vacancy and continued in Congress until March 3, 1909.
Judges Conner and Macomber were succeeded in 1891 by George W. Painc, of Carroll, and Charles D. Goldsmith, of Sac City. The former was a "hard-headed" lawyer of the olden type, largely self- educated, possessed of a fine perception of legal points and a judge that was hard to confuse. Judge Goldsmith was a man of fair ability, but during his one term he was not called upon to decide any case in which intricate points of law were involved. He was defeated by S. MI. Elwood in 1894 and at the same election Zala A. Church, of Greene County, was chosen to succeed Judge Paine.
Prior to his election as district judge, S. M. Elwood had been engaged for several years in the practice of law at Sac City and occu- pied a high place at the bar. As a judge he was popular both with the lawyers and the general public and at the close of his first term he was re-elected. Judge Church was also a good judge and was con- tinued on the bench until 1911. During the time he was upon the bench he was called upon to try several important cases and but very few of his decisions were ever reversed by higher courts upon appeal. He was an orator of more than ordinary ability and delivered the principal address at the dedication of the Rockwell City Public Li- brary in June, 1909.
Frank M. Powers, of Carroll, succeeded Judge Elwood in 1903. HIe evidently gave good satisfaction in his judicial capacity, as he was retained on the bench until 1914, when E. C. Albert, of Greene County, was elected as his successor. Judge Albert held his first term of court in Calhoun County beginning on Monday, April 19, 1915.
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At the election in 1910 Marion E. Hutchison, of Lake City, was elected to succeed Judge Church and is still on the bench. He is the only judge of the District Court ever elected from Calhoun County and is now the senior judge of the district, Judge Albert being his associate on the beneh.
THE CIRCUIT COURT
The General Assembly in 1868 divided the State of Iowa into two circuits, in each of which was established a Circuit Court. Cal- houn County was at that time in the Fourth Judicial District, which was made a part of the Second Cireuit. Jared M. Snyder, of Hum- boldt County, was elected the first eireuit judge, taking his place upon the beneh in January, 1869. When Calhoun County was placed in the Fourteenth Judicial District in 1876 it was at the same time and by the same aet made a part of the First Cireuit and John N. Weaver, of Kossuth County, was elected circuit judge. He eon- tinued on the bench until 1885, when he was succeeded by J. H. Ma- comber, of Ida County, who continued in office until the Circuit Court was abolished by the act of April 10, 1886. That act also divided the state into eighteen judicial distriets and Calhoun County since that time has formed part of the Sixteenth Distriet, as already noted.
THE BAR
Ebenezer Comstock, the first white man to settle in Calhoun County, is probably entitled to the distinction of being the first law- ver. He was elected prosecuting attorney at the first election ever held in the county, on the first Monday in August, 1855. His term of office expired before the first session of the District Court was held in the county and there is no record that he ever tried a case or ever appeared in court. ITis election to the office of prosecuting attorney doubtless constituted the greater part of his legal career.
In the early days attorneys were in the habit of "riding the cir- cuit." Taking a clean shirt and a few law books in a pair of old- fashioned saddle-bags, they would follow the judge from one county seat to another, hoping to pick up a client or two after their arrival. Of evenings, after the day's work was done, the judge and the law- yers would gather around the stove in the office of the hotel. or sit on the porch if the weather was warm, and "swap yarns" coneerning their court experiences. The layman who was admitted to these
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gatherings enjoyed a "feast of reason and a flow of soul," and not infrequently there was also a flow of spirits of the sort that both cheers and inebriates. But next morning the judge assumed his dig- nity and the lawyers appeared in court apparently oblivious of all that had occurred the evening before.
One of the pioneer lawyers of Northwestern Iowa, and one who sometimes appeared in court in Calhoun County, was John F. Dun- combe, of Fort Dodge. He represented the distriet of which Cal- houn County was a part in both the house and senate of the Iowa General Assembly and was one of the first men to develop the coal deposits in the vicinity of Fort Dodge. He was also interested in building railroads and was a lawyer of excellent ability. His death occurred at Fort Dodge in 1902.
D. D. Miracle, of Webster City, was another lawyer who was well known throughout the northwestern part of the state in the ante- bellum days and for some years after the Civil war. He was em- ployed by the Board of Supervisors of Calhoun County in 1868 to proseeute the suit against the American Emigrant Company for possession of the swamp lands, but the snit was ordered dismissed by a succeeding board.
The lawyers who praetieed in the courts in Calhoun County at a later date were Capt. Joseph A. O. Yeoman and Jonathan P. Dolli- ver. Captain Yeoman was born in Ohio in 1842. He enlisted as a private in the First Ohio Cavalry and by sneeessive promotions rose to the rank of captain. He commanded the picked body of eavalry that was sent in pursuit of Jefferson Davis at the eonelusion of the war and received a reward of $3,000 from the government for his gallant leadership on that occasion. After the war he entered the law school at Albany, N. Y., and in 1867 he was admitted to the bar. In that year he located at Fort Dodge and frequently appeared in eourt in Calhoun County. Prior to 1874 he was a republican, but in that year he became a demoerat and in 1888 ran against J. P. Dolliver for Congress. The joint diseussion between these two men is said to have been one of the most brilliant political debates ever conducted in Iowa. Captain Yeoman died on November 17, 1900, while on a visit to his old home in Ohio.
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