USA > Iowa > Clinton County > Wolfe's history of Clinton County, Iowa, Volume 1 > Part 20
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The type found in the greater representatives of this profession, such as Gladstone, of England, and the local lights that have lighted up the pathway to a higher, better civilization in our own country, as Webster, Everett, Choate, Tom Marshall, Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas and the more modern-day at- torneys who have shaped the affairs of our national ship of state, in con- stitutional matters, even from Jefferson, Hamilton and Washington's day, to this, the opening of the twentieth century.
But few of our eminent statesmen have been found outside the legal pro- fession. The day has long since passed when this profession is looked upon as one of trickery and dishonesty-in fact, educated persons in all the past centuries have recognized this as among the useful and honorable callings. For be it remembered that most of the laws of this and all progressive nations have been but the reflex of the Law handed down by Moses, as the one given under inspiration from Him who is ruler over all mankind.
To accommodate the lawyers in attendance at court at De Witt, Clinton county, in early times, Hon. James D. Bourne used to relate that all the spare beds in the community were collected and taken to his house, he then being a bachelor, and Black Bill, of Camanche, was employed to do the chamber work, and that the lawyers, among whom were Judge Grant, John P. and Ed. Cook,
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Charles Weston, United States district attorneys, and Fisher, a noted wag of Davenport ; Judge Thomas S. Wilson, Gen. James Wilson and T. Crawford, of Dubuque; Ralph P. Lowe, afterward governor, the Starrs of Burlington, Judge William E. Leffingwell, and old Joe Knox, a noted Illinois lawyer, were all thus lodged by him without charge. The evenings were passed in telling amusing stories, and in scientific discussions, to the profit and enjoyment of all.
An amusing story is told of a trial in De Witt, in which Judge "Leff" (W. E. Leffingwell) was the central figure. It was during the preliminary examination of one Grabell, charged with murder, before Colonel Evans, as magistrate. One Burge, a fussy lawyer of De Witt, was prosecutor, and "Leff," then a young man, was attorney for the defendant. During the ex- amination, which lasted all night, Burge would at inopportune times jump up and interrupt the proceedings. After he had been told to sit down several times, without effect, by Colonel Evans, "Leff," losing all patience, got up and said, that, being an officer of the court, it was his duty to see its orders en- forced, that if the prosecutor did not obey the order of the court and sit down, he would knock him down. After looking over "Leff's" muscular six-foot frame, he concluded that discretion. was the better part of valor, sat down and allowed the examination to proceed without further interruption.
JUDGES OF THE DISTRICT COURT.
The second judicial district, territory of Iowa, Hon. Thomas S. Wilson, in 1840-1845 comprised the counties of Jackson, Scott, Dubuque and Clayton. Clinton was attached to Scott for judicial purposes.
Third judicial district, territory of Iowa, Hon. Thomas S. Wilson, 1846. This district comprised the same territory as the former.
Second judicial district, state of Iowa, Hon. James Grant, 1847-1851 ; Hon. Thomas S. Wilson, 1852. This district comprised the counties of Mus- catine, Scott, Cedar, Clinton, Jackson, Jones, Dubuque, Delaware and Clay- ton, and the counties north and west of Delaware and Clayton attached to Clayton for judicial purposes.
Eighth judicial district, Hon. William E. Leffingwell, 1852; Hon. John B. Booth, 1854; Hon. William H. Tuthill, 1855-1856. This district com- prised the counties of Scott, Clinton and Jackson.
Fourteenth judicial district, Hon. Gilbert C. R. Mitchell, 1857 (re- signed ) ; Hon. A. H. Bennett (appointed), 1857-1858. This district com- prised the counties of Scott, Clinton and Jackson.
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Seventh judicial district, Hon. John F. Dillon, 1858-1863; Hon. J. Scott Richman, 1863-1872; Hon. W. F. Brannan, 1872-1876; Hon. W. I. Hayes, 1876. This district comprised the counties of Muscatine, Scott, Clinton and Jackson.
The judiciary of Iowa was established under a state government in 1847 and for the judicial districts in which Clinton county has been situated, at different periods in its history, the following have served as judges :
1847-1852-James Grant. 1887-1898-Charles M. Waterman.
1853-1854-W. E. Leffingwell. 1887-1888-A. J. Leffingwell.
1854-1855-John B. Booth. 1889-1891-Andrew Howat.
1855-1857-William H. Tuthill.
1891-1904-P. B. Wolfe.
1857-G. C. R. Mitchell. 1897 and present incumbent, James W. Bollinger.
1857-1858-A. H. Bennett. 1858-1863-John F. Dillon.
1904 and present incumbent, A. P. Barker.
1902 to present time, A. J. House.
1875-1876-Walter I. Hayes.
1903 to present time, D. V. Jackson.
1887-John N. Rogers.
Concerning these judges, it may be said that all were wise, considerate judges and impartial men in administering the law. The following brief notices have been gleaned from various sources, and will give the reader an idea of the personale of some of the men who have sat on the bench during the passing years of the county's history :
John F. Dillon was born in Montgomery county, New York, December 25, 1831. In 1838 his parents removed to Davenport, then a village in the frontier territory of Iowa. Here John F. attended the common schools, and at seventeen began to study medicine with Dr. E. S. Barrows. Later he at- tended medical lectures at the Keokuk Medical College, but gave up medicine to study law, entered the office of John P. Cook, and was admitted to the bar in 1852. Shortly after he was elected prosecuting attorney, and rose rapidly in his profession, in 1858 being elected judge of the seventh district. He served with distinction four years, and was nominated in 1863 by the Repub- licans for judge of the supreme court, was elected, and became chief justice in 1868. . In 1869 he was re-elected, but before qualifying was appointed by President Grant United States circuit judge for the eighth circuit. In 1869 he was made lecturer on legal jurisprudence in the State University of Iowa, and in 1879 resigned his circuit judgeship (a life appointment) to remove to
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1863-1872-J. Scott Richman.
1872-1875-W. F. Brannan.
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New York City, where he had been chosen professor of real estate and equity jurisprudence of the law department of Columbia College. In 1891-2 he was lecturer on municipal law in Yale University. In 1892 he was chosen presi- dent of the American Bar Association. For many years during his stay in New York he had charge of the legal business of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, the Western Union Telegraph Company and the Manhattan Ele- vated Railroad Company.
While in Iowa Judge Dillon was the founder and editor of the Central Law Journal, was the author of a "Digest of the Decisions of the Supreme Court of Iowa," and of five volumes of "United States Circuit Court Re- ports;" of a "Commentary on the Law of Municipal Corporations," published in 1872, which ran through many editions; of "Removal of Causes from State Courts to Federal Courts," passing likewise through several editions, first pub- lished in 1875. His "Laws and Jurisprudence of England and America," a series of lectures delivered before Yale University, were then published in Boston in 1895. His works have had a large sale in this country, where they have been recognized as standard authority, and some editions were published in London. He also wrote many pamphlets on legal and historical affairs, and a memorial volume in memory of the death of his wife and daughter at sea in July, 1898. His wife was the daughter of Hon. Hiram Price, member of Congress from the second Iowa district. He was born in poverty and obscurity, but with great intellectual powers and much energy, and by work and force of character, lifted himself to the heights of the American bar.
A. J. Leffingwell, son of William Leffingwell, was born at Sag Harbor, Long Island Sound, New York, in 1832. His parents moved to Muscatine county, Iowa, in 1839. He attended the common schools, and then took a course in Iowa State College. When nineteen he became clerk in a drug store, and was engaged in that business and others until 1859, when he entered the law office of Henry O'Conner at Muscatine, and was admitted to the bar in 1861, when he became the partner of Mr. O'Conner, his former instructor, continuing with him until 1867, when he formed a partnership with his brother, William E. Leffingwell, with whom he continued until 1874. He was elected judge of the circuit court, north division of the seventh judicial district, in 1884, and served as such until 1886, when that court was abolished. In 1886 he was elected judge of the district court and served until his death in December, 1887.
William F. Brannan was born in Washington, D. C., September 14, 1824, and in the national capital he grew to young manhood. His early education was as a student in McLeod's Academy, and at the age of sixteen he became
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an apprentice in the Globe printing office. In 1846 he was admitted to the bar, and at the same time purchased one-half interest in the Hagerstown Mail, printed at Hagerstown, Maryland, which dual occupation, editor and lawyer, he continued until 1853, when he was appointed auditor of the court of chancery. In May, 1855, he located in Muscatine and from that time until his death, on February 12, 1910, he was a resident of that city.
Judge Brannan was elected the first county superintendent of the schools of Muscatine county, and as such he organized the school system of that county. In 1858 he was appointed trustee of the University of Iowa, and he was the first to inaugurate the movement for co-education. In 1868 he was a delegate to the Democratic national convention, and again in 1884 to the convention which nominated Grover Cleveland in Chicago. Upon the resig- nation of Judge Richman from the district bench in 1872, at a meeting of the attorneys of the district held in Davenport, Judge Brannan was unanimously recommended as his successor. In 1874 he was elected for a full term, but resigned before the expiration of his term, entering into the active practice of law at Muscatine. In 1886 he was elected as district judge and served in that position until January 1, 1903, being elected without any opposition in 1890, 1894, 1898. Not only was he liked for his service upon the bench, but also on account of his marked ability as a lawyer and as a student of law. He was a man possessed of remarkable memory and it served him well, be- cause it enabled him to recall cases that he had read, and to refer the members of the bar, not only to the substance of the case, but to the title, book and page in which it could be found. The opinions rendered by him as district judge were favorably commented upon by the supreme court time and again. He was universally liked by the members of the bar, and more especially by his associates upon the bench, who had labored with him for a number of years, and who had become bound to him by the strongest ties of admiration, for his high, judicial and legal ability; and affection, for the simple, rugged and true heart. In all soberness and truth, it may be said by one who was for a num- ber of years his associate upon the bench, that no more conscientious and high minded judge than William F. Brannan ever sat upon the bench. His char- acter was transparently pure and honest. He was a man of many parts. His mind was as broad as the position which he won, both as a lawyer and a jurist, was commanding. For years his office had been adjacent to the old Musca- tine News, and he wrote the principal editorials for that paper. He also wrote, for a Chicago paper, a series of articles on life in Washington, in Jackson's time. He was able to recall and tell anecdotes of Andrew Jackson, of Web- ster, of Clay, of Calhoun, and the other intellectual giants of that day. It
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was indeed a pleasure to be able to spend an evening or a day in his company, and be entertained by stories of those times and of those men.
Speaking of him, the supreme court says: "We have carefully examined the charge to the jury in all its parts, and desire to say that we have rarely seen its equal in clearness of expression, and as a plain, concise and correct exposition of the law as applied to the issues and the facts as disclosed in the evidence."
James Grant was born in Halifax county, North Carolina, December 12, 1812. He entered college at fourteen, and graduated at eighteen, taught school in Raleigh for three years, then went to Chicago and opened a law office in 1834. He was appointed prosecuting attorney for the sixth district, and in 1838 removed to Davenport, Iowa, settling on a farm near the village. In 1841 he was elected to the Legislature from Scott county, and in 1844 a delegate to the first constitutional convention, and took active part in the framing of this constitution, which was rejected. In 1846 he was a member of the second convention, and was the author of the Bill of Rights in this instrument, which was accepted. In 1847 he was elected judge of the district court, serving five years. In 1852 he was returned to the Legislature, and was chosen speaker of the House. His law library was one of the best in the West and had been gradually acquired from the time when he started in the profession. He became a great lawyer and was employed in some of the most important land and bond cases in the West. In one railroad case he won for his clients a million dollars, and received as a fee one hundred thousand dollars. In politics he was a Democrat.
Walter I. Hayes was born in Marshall, Michigan, December 9, 1841. He began to read law at the age of nineteen in the offices of Hughes & Woolley, at Marshall, and graduated from the law department of Michigan University in 1863, and the following year became a member of the firm of Hughes, Woolley & Hayes. In 1866 he came to Clinton, Iowa, to become a partner of Adjutant-General N. B. Baker. Three times he was elected city solicitor of Clinton, and when General Baker removed to Des Moines he practiced a short time alone, and then went into partnership with Judge George B. Young. In 1875 he was appointed by Governor Carpenter to fill out the unexpired term of Judge Brannan, in the seventh judicial district, and was elected in 1878, continuing in office until 1887. He had been United States commissioner for the eastern district of Michigan from 1864 until coming to Iowa, and was United States commissioner for Iowa from 1867 until he went upon the bench. One noted decision rendered by Judge Hayes was that declaring the prohibitory amendment to the constitution to be void.
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This decision the supreme court sustained upon appeal. In 1876 he was a candidate for supreme judge on the Democratic ticket. In 1886 he was elected representative in Congress from the second district, and was three times re-elected, serving until 1895. He was a strong supporter of the Hen- nepin canal. He served at the extra session of the twenty-sixth General As- sembly, which enacted the new code. The Democratic party in Iowa con- sidered him as one of their strongest leaders. He died on March 14, 1901.
Jacob Scott Richman was born at Somerset, Ohio, on March 11, 1820. He studied law at Knoxville, Illinois, and in 1839 came to Cedar county, Iowa, and was admitted to the bar at Rochester, then the county seat. In 1840 he removed to Muscatine and entered into partnership with S. C. Hastings. In 1846 he was a member of the convention which framed the constitution under which Iowa became a state. In 1848 he served as chief clerk of the House of Representatives. In October, 1863, was appointed judge of the district court, where he served until 1870, when he resigned and returned to the prac- tice of law. He died in Muscatine at the ripe old age of eighty-nine.
Charles M. Waterman was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, January 5, 1847. He received his education in the public schools and in a private acad- emy. In 1854 he came to Iowa and studied law. His first office was that of city attorney of Davenport. In 1877 he was elected to the House of the seventeenth General Assembly on the Republican ticket. June 28, 1887, he was appointed judge of the seventh judicial district, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge John H. Rogers. He was elected for a full term that year, and was re-elected in 1890 and 1894. In November, 1897, he was elected judge of the supreme court on the Republican ticket, from which court he resigned to become a member of the firm of Lane & Waterman, of which firm he is at present a member.
Gilbert C. R. Mitchell was born in Dandridge, Jefferson county, Tennes- see, on the 3d day of December, 1803. He graduated from the college of Greenville in the fall of 1822, and was admitted to the practice of law in Ala- bama in 1825. In the spring of 1835 he emigrated to Davenport, then a part of the territory of Michigan, and exercised the then invaluable privilege of a squatter on the public lands, by building a log cabin on what is now a part of Davenport. He afterwards obtained title to the land under the pre-emption law of the United States. He settled in Iowa before there were any courts, and when the country was governed by squatter jurisdiction, and for many years the most exaltant jurisdiction tribunal, at whose altar he served in the administering of justice, was a "claim committee," a self created tribunal among the pioneers to which all disputes as to claim on public lands were sub-
(14)
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mitted and from whose judgment there was no appeal. Judge Mitchell out- lived the courts of "claim committee" of Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa Ter- ritories and was regarded as a young man when Iowa become a state. He was a member of the Territorial Legislature in 1843, was candidate for Congress in 1846, was elected mayor of the city of Davenport in 1856, and judge of the district court in 1857. He died in Davenport in 1866.
A. P. Barker was born in Chicago, Illinois, December 15, 1854, and came with his parents to Clinton county in 1869. He was educated in the public schools at Camanche, and the Iowa State College, from which he graduated in 1876. He read law in the office of Hon. A. R. Cotton for two years, and was admitted to the bar in 1879. He spent a time in the offices of Judge Young and Major Bailey, and in 1889 he entered into a partnership with Major Bailey, which continued until the Major's death. After that he formed a partnership with R. B. McCoy and later the firm of Barker Ellis & McCoy were formed.
Upon the resignation of Judge Wolfe, he was appointed by Governor Cummings, judge of the district court, September 1, 1904. He has twice been elected to that position, and is now one of the judges of the seventh judicial district.
James W. Bollinger was born in Geneseo, Illinois, April 10, 1867. He was educated in the public schools of Davenport and the Iowa State Univers- ity, and graduated in 1880 as Bachelor of Arts, in 1889 as Bachelor of Laws, and in 1893 as Master of Arts. He read law in the office of Cook & Dodge, and in 1889 was admitted to the practice. Upon the resignation of Judge Waterman on his election as judge of the supreme court in 1897, James W. Bollinger, on the recommendation of the bar of the district, was appointed to fill the vacancy, since which time he has been elected to and held that office. He is recognized throughout the state as one of the ablest men upon the district bench, and is an active member of the Davenport Commercial Club and State Bar Association, of which association he was the first secretary, and was president of the same in 1908.
William E. Leffingwell located at De Witt in 1845. He resided in the state for several years previous; later removed to Lyons and from there to Chicago and practiced in Chicago until his death. He was one of the most noted orators the state ever had. He was a member of the first General As- sembly, in the House, and in the Senate of the third and fourth General As- semblies. In 1853-54 he was district judge. In 1861 he enlisted and was captain of Company B, First Iowa Cavalry.
A. J. House, judge of the district court of Iowa, was born January 12,
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1847, in Scotland, Ontario, Canada. He was educated at Maquoketa and Iowa City, Iowa. In 1872-73 he was county superintendent; in 1874-77 was county auditor; and subsequently attained success in the practice of law at Maquoketa, Iowa. Since 1892 he has been judge of the district court of Iowa in the seventh district for the counties of Clinton, Jackson, Muscatine and Scott, and resides in Maquoketa, Iowa. In 1908 he was a candidate on the Democratic state ticket for judge of the supreme court.
Douglas V. Jackson, judge district court of Iowa, was born November 17, 1859, in Muscatine, Iowa. He was educated in his native city and gradu- ated from the Northwestern University of Evanston, Illinois, and from the law department of the State University of Iowa. He soon attained success in the practice of law at Muscatine, Iowa, and has been county attorney of Muscatine county, Iowa. During the Spanish-American war he was colonel of the Fiftieth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He is now judge of the district court of the seventh judicial district of Iowa, and resides in Muscatine, Iowa.
John B. Booth was born at Hamptonburg, Orange county, New York, on the first day of June, 1792. Having received an academic education at Mont- gomery Academy, he commenced the study of law and was admitted to the bar shortly after he attained his majority. He was for a number of years judge of the court of common pleas in New York. In 1851 he removed to Iowa and located at Bellevue, where he continued to reside until his death. In 1854 he was appointed by Governor Hempstead district judge of the seventh district to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Judge Leffingwell. After serving one year, he resigned and resumed the practice of law, which he continued until his death, on the 18th day of February, 1869. He was interested in the Erie railroad and was for many years one of its most active directors. He was a careful student, a close reasoner, and sifted thoroughly every case that was presented to him. If on an examination, he was satisfied he should not succeed, no pecuniary inducement would tempt him to undertake to prosecute or defend such a case, but if once satisfied that his cause was just, he entered into the prosecution or defense with a zeal that never flagged.
When he came to the bar, Spencer was chief justice, Kent, chancellor of the state of New York; John Marshall, chief justice of the supreme court of the United States; Wirt and Pinkney in the zenith of their fame, while Web- ster, Taney, McLean and Miller were unknown beyond the sphere of their personal acquaintance.
Andrew Howit was born in Scotland and came to this country about the
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year 1865. He settled upon a farm in Berlin township. The first season after he had his small grain in the stacks, a tornado struck his buildings and stacks, scattering his entire year's work to the four corners of the earth. This made the embryo farmer conclude that he would seek some other vocation. He abandoned his farm, came to De Witt and engaged in work, hauling wood and delivering it to the housekeepers in said town. Some one suggested to him that he had better study law. The idea so impressed itself upon him, that he went to the office of John C. Polley, and asked the privilege of becoming a student. Judge Polley looked him over, heard his request, and as he spoke with a strong Scottish brogue, advised him to give up the idea of ever becom- ing a lawyer, at the same time telling him that he could take Kent's Com- mentaries and read them if he wished. He took the books to his room, at such times as he could get off from his duty as a hauler and deliverer of wood. He actually devoured them. Eventually he went to Ann Harbor and took a course of lectures at the University of Michigan and was admitted to the bar in February of 1871. Returning to De Witt, he commenced the practice of his profession, and shortly after became a member of the firm of Merrill & Howit. It was not long until the young Scotchman was recognized as a man of remarkable ability and success in the trial of causes. His intuition was keen and his wit was incisive. He was engaged in defending a young man who was charged with passing counterfeit coin. The trial was before Judge Shires and a jury. The United States attorney asked the young man to describe the coin, and among other questions he said to him, "Did you see the Goddess of Liberty on it." As quick as a flash Judge Howit was on his feet, and said, "Your honor, your honor, that is what he wants to see now, the Goddess of Liberty." The expression struck the Judge in such a way, that he withdrew the case from the jury, and as the defendant was a young man, nothing more than a boy, Judge Shires discharged him, after a severe reprimand.
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