USA > Illinois > Perry County > Combined history of Randolph, Monroe and Perry counties, Illinois . With illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 45
USA > Illinois > Randolph County > Combined history of Randolph, Monroe and Perry counties, Illinois . With illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 45
USA > Illinois > Monroe County > Combined history of Randolph, Monroe and Perry counties, Illinois . With illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 45
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181
HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
the enactments of 1721, the governor sat as judge, and held unrestricted power iu passing sentence.
In 1787, Messrs. Parsons, Barnum and Symmes were ap- pointed United States Judges, having jurisdiction over the Northwest Territory, with headquarters at Kaskaskia. Al- though their appointment dated from 1787, they did not arrive in Kaskaskia until 1790. Immediately after their arrival a court of common pleas was instituted, and John Edgar, of Kaskaskia, and Jean Baptiste Barbeau of Prairie du Rocl er, were appointed as Judges, each holding court in the district of his residence. Many of the old records of Randolph county attest their fairness in dealing with affairs brought to their attention.
John Edgar was a native of Ireland. As a subject of Great Britain he served in her navy, which he left during the time of the American revolution, and in 1784 took up his residence in Kaskaskia. His sound judgment, his quick- ness of perception, and great decision of character, all eon- duced to make him a popular judge.
JEAN BAPTISTE BARBEAU was a Canadian by birth, and of French parentage, and one of the founders of Prairie du Rocher. He was a very influential man in his community, and, prior to his appointment as judge, was often appealed to by neighbors as an arbitrator of petty differences.
In 1795 a reorganization of the court of common pleas took effect, and the following were appointed as judges:
John Edgar, William Morrison, Pierre Menard, Robert McMahon, George Fisher, John Beard, Robert Reynolds, Nathaniel Hull, Antoine Louvier, John Grovenier, James Finney, and Samuel Cochran.
It appears, however, that most of the work devolving upon these twelve men was done by John Edgar.
In 1809 this court was superseded by the county court, composed of jnstiees of the peace, three of whom were necessary to constitute a quorum. Their names were :
Philip Fouke, Henry Levens, William Arundel, Samuel Omelveny, John McFerren, Paul Harrelston, David Ander- son, Archibald Thompson, John Phelps, Alexander Wilson and Robert Gaston.
In 1814 this court was again changed, and the court of common pleas reinstated with members as follows :
John McFerren, William Morrison, James Finney, David Anderson, Philip Fouke, George Fisher, Archibald Thomp- son, Antoine Chenett, Miles Hotchkiss, and Pierre La Compte.
Upon the organization of Illinois Territory in 1809, a higher count, called the General Court, was established. As judges of this court, there appears from the records, the names Jesse B. Thomas, Obadiah James, Alexander Stuart, Stanley Griswold, Wm. Sprigg, John Reynolds, Daniel P. Cook and John Warnock.
In the year 1813 the territory was re-districted into three judicial districts, as set forth in the following act :
" Be it known, that under an Act of Congress, entitled ' An Act regulating and defining the duties of the United States Judges for the Territory of Illinois,' it is allotted to Jesse B. Thomas to preside in the first circuit ; to William
Sprigg to preside in the second, and to Thomas Fowler to preside in the third circuit."
In 1835 the judiciary of Illinois was remodeled and re- organized, at which time the circuit court was established. The following persons have acted in the capacity of Judges:
1835, Sidney Breese; 1843, James Shields; 1845, Gus- tavus Koerner; 1849, W. H. Underwood ; 1855, Sidney Breese; 1858, H. K. S. Omelveny; 1860, Silas L. Bryan ; 1872, Amos Watts.
Upon the reorganization of the courts of Illinois taking effect July 1, 1879, the following became the Circuit Judges of the circuit : Amos Watts, George W. Wail, William H. Snyder.
Of all the above judges only three were residents of Ran- dolph and Monroe counties. Sidney Breese and James Shields were both at one time residents of Kaskaskia, Ran- dolph county, and H. K. S. Omelveny, of Waterloo, Mon- roe county.
Sidney Brecse, born in Oneida county, New York, in 1800, after graduation from Union College in 1818 came to Illinois, and located first in Kaskaskia, where he studied law with Elias Kent Kane Hle was soon after admitted to practice. His first etforts before a jury were so very un- satisfactory to himself that he determined to quit the pro- fession forever. Friends interceded, and encouraged him to try again. In 1822 he was appointed attorney of the second ci cuit, which position he held for five years .*
James Shields, a native of Ireland, began the practice of law in Kaskaskia in 1832. l'rior to engaging in this pro- fession he taught sehool. It was during his experience in the school-room that he prosecuted the study of law. As a debater in a literary society, organized in Kaskaskia in 1833, he was said to have excelled all his fellows. In 1836-7 he represented Randolph county in the State Legislature. During the progress of the Mexican War he was appointed Brigadier-General. At the battle of Cerro Gordo he was severely wounded. In 1849 he was elected United States Senator from Illinois. He subsequently represented Minne- sota and Missouri in the same body, thus representing three different States in the Senate; a distinction never before enjoyed by political aspirants. His challenge to Abraham Lincoln to fight a duel has become historical. Lincoln, having choice of weapons, selected broadswords, Shields being a small, short armed man, while Lincoln was a tall, sinewy, long-armed man, as stout as Hereules. Shields evidently was "in for it." Friends interfered, and the duel was averted.
Shields was a warm-hearted, impulsive frishman ; a brave and gallant soldier ; an excellent judge of law; an advocate of marked ability. He died at Ottumwa, Jowa, in June, 1879.
H. K. S. Omelveny, a lawyer of marked ability, a judge of fine attainments, was a native of Monroe county. He was a self-made man, a close observer, a critical student, a man of decided judicial turn of mind. He served in the Mexican War, and in 1858 was elected Judge of the Circuit
* For a more full sketch of Judge Breese sée article en "Bench and Bar, Perry county."
182
HISTORY OF RANDOLPHI, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS
Court. In this capacity he proved his worth ; his decisions were clear, forcible, concise, and exhibited a thorough and sound knowledge of the law. In 1866 Judge Omelveny moved to Los Angeles, California, whither his reputation as an able jurist has followed him.
FORMER MEMBERS OF THE BAR, RANDOLPHI COUNTY.
The name of the first attorney to practice in the courts of Kaskaskia, so far as any record now extant shows, is that of La Buinieux, who presented a petition to the court against Richard Winston, April 29, 1872. Of his character or abilities nothing is known save that he was a man of keen, shrewd ways, and exercised considerable power among his fellows. His name subsequently occurs in many cases brought before the court from June 5, 1787, to February 15, 1788, during which time the court seems to have been pretty much in the hands of one family, as three of the five justices are named Beauvais. Of these Antoine Beauvais was the presiding justice. The first Euglish-speaking at- torney was John Rice Jones.
JOHN RICE JONES, who was born in Wales in 1759, re- ceived a classical education, studied law in England, and became a resident of Kaskaskia in 1799. Being an accom- plished scholar, a fluent speaker and skilled in the law, he acquired a great reputation among early settlers as an advo- cate. His praetice extended from Louisville and Vincennes on the south and east to the limits of the white settlements on the north and west. He had acquired some reputation as a lawyer in Philadelphia, which city he left for the West in 1787, locating first at Vincennes, Ind. As a speaker his capacity under excitement was extraordinary. His excel- lent knowledge of the French language was of great advan- tage in enabling him to transact business for the Freuch population. He never permitted himself to be idle, nor en- gaged in light or frivolous amusements. He remained in Kaskaskia, in the enjoyment of an extensive practice, until 1802, when he returned to Vincennes. In the same year he was appointed a United States Judge of Indiana Territory. He afterwards moved to St. Louis, and finally to Washing- ton county, Missouri. He was a candidate in opposition to Thomas H. Benton for the United States Senate before the first General Assembly of Missouri, but was defeated. Ile was elected by the same Legislature one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri, which office he held until bis death in 1824.
RICE JONES, the oldest son of John Rice Jones, obtained a legal education in Connecticut and located in Kaskaskia in 1806. His talents however were of that order which lead men to seek the excitement of political life in prefer- ence to the comparative quiet of a straightforward profes- sional career. This ambition led to his death. He had a difficulty with Goveruor Bond growing out of political dif- ferences. The preliminaries for a duel were arranged. The parties met upon the appointed ground, and just before the word was given to fire, Jones' pistol went off accidentally and Bond refused to fire. The matter between himself and Bond was amicably adjusted, but a controversy between Dunlap, Bond's second, and Jones grew out of it which be-
came most bitter and unrelenting. One afternoon, as Jones was standing on the side of a street engaged in conversation with a lady, Dunlap approached and shot him dead. Thus tragically was the early bar of Illinois deprived of one of its most promising members, and politics of a bright parti. cular star.
DAVID JEWITT BAKER, a native of Connecticut, came to Kaskaskia to practice law in 1818. Ile was a graduate of JIamiltou College, New York. As a lawyer he became dis- tinguished and eminent. In 1829 he was appointed United States Senator from Illinois by Governor Edwards. While in Congress he successfully carried through the measure for disposing of public lands in tracts of forty acres, a change highly beneficial to settlers. In 183, he was appointed United States Attorney for Illinois by President Jackson and was reappointed in 1837 by President Van Buren., Politically he was a pronounced advocate for the prohibition of human slavery. When it was attempted to introduce the iniquitous traffic into this State, he turned his whole power against it. For his bold utterances he was attacked in the streets of Kaskaskia by Governor Reynolds, of Missouri. The marks of the bludgeon used by Governor Reynolds on Judge Baker's head was carried by him to his dying day. Fu 1844 he moved to Alton where he continued his professional career until 1854, when he retired to enjoy a well earned quiet during the evening of life. He died August 6, 1869. Chief Justice Breese said of him in elosing an address re- counting his worth. " In a few words he was a ripe scholar, a genial gentleman, a faithful friend, a true patriot and a Christian, and well worthy of the honors this day due to his memory."
ELIAS KENT KANE commenced the practice of law in Kaskaskia in 1814. He was a man of brilliant talents, and rose to a high position among the members of the bar. He served in the State Legislature with distinguished ability ; by that body he was elected to the United States Senate. He was a member of the First Constitutional Convention of IHiuois which eonvened in Kaskaskia in July, 1818. He died in 1835 whilst a member of the United States Senate.
NATHANIEL POPE first appeared in Kaskaskia in 1804, but soon left for St. Genevieve, Missouri, where he remained until 1808, when he returned and took up his permanent residence in Ka-kaskia. Upon the organization of Ilinois as a territory in 1809, he was appointed Secretary-a posi- tion he held until 1816. In 1817 he was elected a territorial delegate to Congress and became a very influential member of that body. It was by his efforts that the northern boun- dary of the State was changed from a line running due west from the southeru part of Lake Michigan, and fixed upon latitude forty-two and a-half degrees north. Upon the ad- mission of Illinois into the Federal Union, Pope was ap- pointed judge of the United States District Court, which office he held for more than thirty years. Nature fitted him for the bench, aud he occupied the position with such ability and dignity as elevated him to a high rank among the jurists of the country. He was the father of General John Pope, who figured in our late civil war, and is memorable for having dated his military orders " From headquarters in the saddle."
183
HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MOMROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
JAMES HAGGAN came frem Kentucky to Ilinois, locating in Kaskaskia for the practice of law in 1804. He was a man of marked ability. He remained but a short time, re- turning to Kentucky, where he became a Judge of more than ordinary reputation. Simultaneously with him eame Benjamin H. Doyle and John Rector to engage in the same profession.
JOHN RECTOR'S stay in Kaskaskia was but temporary. He was one of a family of nine brothers, some of whom attained eminence as surveyors of public lands.
JAMES 'QUINN located in Kaskaskia in 1836. He was a studious pains-taking lawyer, though not a man of broad culture nor profound knowledge. At one time he was clerk of the . ireuit court of this county. Immediately after the Mexican war in which he took part he located in the terri- tory of New Mexico, where he was subsequently appointed Judge.
HUGH MURRAY lived in Kaskaskia some time before the breaking out of the Mexican war, and practiced law. He entered the army in. 1846 and subsequently went to Cali- fornia where he b came Judge of the Circuit Court.
FRANCIS B. ANDERSON, for years a school teacher, during which time he prosecuted the study of law and practiced a few years in the courts of Randolph county. He was very pre- cise in his use of language -- prided himself greatly on pro- nunciation. He was a brilliant speaker, being a fine rhetori- cian. Some years since he moved to Kansas where he is yet engaged in practice. Gov. Bissell declared of him that he had passed the best examination of any one he had ever ex- amined for admission to the bar.
JAMES L. D. MORRISON was born at Kaskaskia on the twelth of April, 1816. When sixteen years of age he was appointed midshipman in the United States navy. While confined in the naval hospital at Pensacola, Florida, he commeneed reading law. In 1836 he returned to Kaskas- kia where he was soon after admitted to the bar. He was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Mexican war, and fought with General Taylor in all his battles, from Palo Alto to Buena Vista. Hle is a man of elegant manners, and of a gallant and chivalrous nature. He has attained considerable dis- tinetion as a real-estate lawyer.
THOMAS BOND eldest son of Governor Bond, practiced law for several years in Randolph county aud when in the vigor and strength of manhood's youth and promise died in 1849.
JAMES II. WATT was a native of Tennessee and came to Randeiph county with his parents when he was quite young. Ile was brought up on a farm and had only the advantage of a common school education. During the gold fever he went to California in 1851 or 2 where he was very success- ful. After four years there he returned to his home. About the year 1856 he began the study of law in the office of C. N. Starbird and was admitted to the bar in 1857. The year following he was elected te the state Legislature where he was regarded as one of the most assiduous workers. At the elose of his term of office he applied himself exclusively to his law studies where he was known as a tireless worker and an indefatigable student. Though not brilliant he was al-
ways regarded a good judge of law and of remarkable in- tegrity he rose rapidly in his profession and stood at the head until his death which occurred in a railroad disaster at French Village, St. Clair county, in April 1873. At the time of his death he was a candidate for the ofhee ef eireuit judge of the cireuit in which he lived with every prospect of success. Mr. Watt was not a good speaker and yet he was an interesting talker, for he comprehended well every subject he undertook to discuss and always spoke to the point. He never faltered in that which he believed to be right, and never went astray in hunting after policies or seeking for popularity at the expense of justice.
Of all the attorneys ef Rand Joh county perhaps none was more conspicuous than THOMAS G. ALLEN, a native of l'hiladelphia. He came to this county in 1857 and devoted himself assiduously to his profession. A man of extraordinary industry he was in a few years possessed of rare attainments in legal learning, but from excessive study he was of a morose disposition which increased his difficulties in his march up the hill of fame. In the summer of 1861 he entered the servier of the United States as Colonel of the 80th HI. Vol. Sailing health compelled his resignation the following year. His fame as a lawyer began with his con- nectica with the celebrated Dempsey murder case. From that time he rose rapidly and stood high among lawyers of his time. He was a man of an "infinity of words," hence was ever ready with something applicable to the work in hand. He was an orator of excellent tact, and ever ready for debate. Ilis greatest strength lay in his pains-taking research, and his exact knowledge of every phase of his case. Mr. Allen left Chester for St. Louis in 1869, where he still resides.
C. N. STARBIRD came to Randolph county about 1846. He was a brilliant lawyer and had the advantages of a classical education, being a graduate of one of the best colleges of New England. His was a most propitious begin- ning and the future seemed to be promising; honor and fame seemed in easy reach. He gained popularity in a short time, being a fine orator and an attractive speaker, but his bright prospects were blighted from inordinate use of strong drink. He died in 1857.
JAMES M. RALLS was a native of Randolph county, and was often spoken of as being "the luckiest man that ever lived." He had the advantage of a liberal education. While he was quite young he was appointed clerk of the circuit court to fill a vacancy. To this office hø-was twice after- wards elected. In 1861 he was elected julge of the county court As a practitioner his success was remarkable. It seemed to an observer that success, indeed, courted his friendship, and that, too, but to betray. Possessed of a tena- cious memory, in his manners affable, he was the friend of all. Not a close student ; indeed it was said of him "that he didn't read law, he simply sat around with the boys and inhaled it." In 1870 he was elected a member of the legis- lature. Here his convivial habits obtained the mastery over him, bringing on a lingering illness, of which he died in 1879.
P. P. HAMILTON, the son of a Presbyterian clergyman,
184
HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
came to Randolph county in 1849, to engage in the practice of law. Iu 1854 he moved to Alton, and soon after engaged as a preacher of the M. E. faith.
CAPT JOHNSON, who came from Nashville, III, in 1849, was a man of brilliance-a fascinating speaker. His lega] carcer here was short, as he died in 1851.
JOHN N. HOLLOWAY, a native of Indiana, came to Ran- dolph county in 1872. The family is of English origin. He was a graduate of Asbury University. Indiana, from which institution he graduated in 1862. For some years he taught school. In 1868 he published a History of Kansas, of which State he had been for two years a resident. In 1872 he came to Chester, as principal of the public schools. In 1874 he was admitted to the bar, and soon formed a copartnership with J. Perry Johnson. He left the county under a cloud caused by his shortcomings.
J. PERRY JOHNSON was admitted to practice in 1859: located in Chester in 1861. In 1864 he was elected State's attorney for the second judicial district. He soon took rank among the able lawyers of southern Illinois. He now resides in Perryville, Missouri, where he has a large practice. As an attorney, he is clear, forcible and accurate ; and during his residence in this county had an extensive practice, and- by his genial and affable manners won hosts of friends.
In the good old times, when attorneys rode the circuit, their practice extending from Shelbyville to Cairo, and from Vincennes to the Mississippi river, many interesting expe- riences were encountered. Kaskaskia, the centre of western civilization, offered many of these episodes. To practice here came such men as Judge Breese, Gen. Semple, Joseph Gillespie, Usher F. Liuder, Governor Reynolds, Lyman Trumbull, Adam Snyder and a host of others.
As related by Gillespie, he and Linder put up, during the term in 1836, with one Deevers at Kaskaskia. It was Lin- der's first appearance at Kaskaskia. "He took a stroll about town, and soon returned with his budget of news. Amongst other items, he had discovered that our landlord had sued a man named Campbell in assault aud battery, laying his damages at 81,000, and expected a heavy ver- dict on account of having lost a portion of his ear in the skirmish. Campbell had offered Linder a small fee at a venture, which the other declined, not knowing, as he said, but that the landlord would employ him, and if he did, he would make it pay both our board bills. I liked the scheme, but told Linder that I thought Deevers had set his heart on getting Trumbull to assist Baker, his resident lawyer. But I agreed to try and get him in for Deevers. Soon after, the landlord inquired who my companion was. I pretended to be much surprised, and said, 'Is it possible you don't know Gen. Linder, the attorney general, the greatest lawyer in the State in a certain class of cases? In slander cases or in assault and battery, particularly the latter class, he has no equal ; and if you have any friend who has an assault and battery case, tell him by all means to hasten and employ Linder.' Deever did not ' bite,' however, and I told the general. 'Well,' said he, 'if he don't, I'll close with Campbell, and give Boniface h-1!' Sunday night Trum- bull drove up, and the landlord sprang to the side of his
buggy and engaged him before he could get out. I reported to Linder, and he posted off and made a bargain with Campbell.
The case was set for Wednesday, and the general bestowed his undivided attention upon his only case. He told me that upon looking into the case, he found that if the plaintiff's attorneys were not looking out sharp, he would get the advantage of them in the pleadings, and then it was the 'finest case he ever looked into.'
His opponents, having their hands full of business, fell into the error he had anticipated, and when the pleadings were made up, Linder said of the plaintiff, as Cromwell did of the Scotch army, 'The Lord hath delivered thee into my hands.' Linder said he was going to make one of the finest efforts of his life, and I believed it, in so far that I told my acquaintances, and among them Judge Pope, that there would be music in court on Wednesday. I said to him that I thought Linder would outdo himself if he could have some ladies in the audience. The judge said he would have the court room filled with them.
The day arrived ; the evidence was heard, and the ladies graced the room. Linder was in perfect trim, and when he went to the jury, the scene baffled description. My stock of language is totally inadequate to the task of giving any defi- nite idea of the circumstances. I feel like Burns, when he says :
' But here my muse her wings maun cower,
Sie flights are far beyond her power.'
Notwithstanding the fact that the merits of the case were all with the plaintiff the jury, without leaving their box, returned a verdict for the defendant. I was so dazed by the adroitness, the eloquence and the masterly ability of Linder that I was never able to remember much that he said. I think he gained the case by ridicule, by the most brilliant displays of rhetoric and by dramatic effect. It seemed to me that he had acquired absolute dominion over the jury, and that if he had called upon them to render a verdict of guilty of murder against poor Deevers, they would have done s . The jury, the audience, everybody, was convulsed with laughter, from the beginning to the end of Linder's argu- ment, but poor Deevers, and he looked very much like a man going to the gallows. Linder gave him the most terri- ble castigation man ever receivedl. Not by saying severe or harsh things about him, but by ridiculiog him beyond mea- sure. He literally laughed the case ont of court. The court adjourned upon the rendition of the verdict, and while we were going out, Deevers said to me :
'Oh God! why didn't I take your advice, and employ that man ? I would not have lost my case if I had.'
'Deevers,' said I, ' when I take the pains to give you good, disinterested advice hereafter, you will be apt to fol- low it.'
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