History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 67

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 875

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JAMES M. STRODE, faintly connected with Chicago in those earlier years, first as a circuit-riding attorney, then as State Senator, 1832 to 1836, with residence still at Galena, and then more closely from 1836 to 1840 as Register of the land-office here, and afterward as member of the Chicago Bar and Prosecuting Attorney

until 1848, belongs as such to a somewhat later period than 1837, when he was properly a Government official and not a practicing lawyer. Professionally he belonged about equally to the Bars of Jo Daviess, Cook, and Mc- Henry counties, successively.

ALBERT GREENE LEARY, who is thought to have been a native of Maryland, is first heard of in this sec- tion through the Chicago American of August 15, 1835, as a lawyer at Ottawa, implying that he must have been admitted to the Bar in some other State, as he is not enrolled in Illinois until March 2, 1837. He must have soon removed to Chicago or Cook County, as he was elected to represent the latter in the State Legislature on the repudiation ticket in 1836. On the 19th of Novem- ber he notified his law customers to call on J. Y. Scam- mon during his own absence in the East, whence he re- turned in time for the first session of the Tenth General Assembly, at Vandalia, December 5, 1836, at which he or his friends in his behalf tried to procure his election as State's Attorney, but he was rejected in March, 1837, as ineligible, being a member of the General Assembly. At the close of the short extra session in July, he re- turned to practice in Chicago and advertised location August 16, 1837, but does not seem to have exercised much influence or made any impression on the public mind as a member of the Bar. In 1839, he lost his books and papers by fire. In 1840 he was again elected to the Legislaturc. The second session of the Twelfth General Assembly of Illinois closed March 1, 1841, and Mr. Leary again turned his attention to law, advertising as commissioner for Maryland April 9. He is again advertised as a lawyer in February, 1842, May 21, 1845, the death of his infant child at St. Louis is noticed in the Chicago Democrat ; and his own of yellow fever at New Orleans, over eight years later, in the Chicago Weekly Democrat of August 27, 1853. He had mar- ried a niece of President Tyler, and their associations are judged to have been mainly Southern.

MAHLON DICKERSON OGDEN was born June 14, 1811, at Walton on the Delaware, in Delaware County, N. Y., where his father had settled about 1792. He was named for Malilon Dickerson, United States Senator and Governor of New Jersey, with whom the father had been associated in early life. Young Ogden was edu- cated in the district school, and later at Trinity College, Geneva, N. Y., where he graduated about 1832. Soon afterward he removed to Columbia, Ohio, where he studied law under the future Justice Swayne until 1836, when he was admitted to the Bar. Meanwhile his elder brother, William B., had formed in Chicago the nucleus of a large business in real estate, as the representative of the American Land Company, of Frederick and Arthur Bronson and other Eastern investors in Chicago lots and Illinois lands, Hither Mahlon D. proceeded on a visit, and deciding to make it his future home, re- turned to Columbus, where he was married to Miss Kasson, and went back to Chicago in the spring of 1837, to settle. In accordance with an agreement formed at his previous visit he now entered into part- nership with I. N. Arnold; and was admitted to the Bar of Illinois December 11, 1837. Mr. Ogden never had much to do with the court business of Arnold & Ogden, his taste running more in the line of office work, and especially to real estate, and disputed titles. For ten years the firm had charge of the law relations and legal papers of the business managed by William B. Ogden and later by Ogden & Jones. He resided in the old officers' quarters in Fort Dearborn for a few years after his arrival here, houses being still scarce ; but removed about 1839 to the corner of Dearborn Avenue and On-

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tario Street, where he had built the home he occupied for twenty years. In 1841 he was elected Probate Judge or, as then styled, Justice of the Probate Court, and held the office for four years, acceptably to the general public. In 1845 he was elected Alderman of the Sixth Ward. In 1847 the partnership with Mr. Arnold was dissolved. Mr. Ogden became directly and exclusively identified with the business of his brother, and in 1849 obtained a partnership interest in the firm of Ogden, Jones & C'o. In 1851 Mrs. Ogden died, leaving two children, Charles C., now a resident of Little Rock, Ark., and Mrs. Will- iam E. Strong, of this city. In 1856 the firm of Ogden, Jones & Co. became Ogden, Fleetwood & Co., invok. ing no other change than the replacing of Jones by Fleetwood. hut 1856 Mr. Ogden married Miss Frances Sheldon, a daughter of General Sheldon, a former resi- dent of Delaware County, N. Y., but at this time of Janes- ville, Wis. In 1859 he erected on the block north of Wash- ington Square, the residence which afterward became historic as the only building that escaped destruction on the North Side within the range of the great fire. In 1868, the firm was changed to Ogden, Sheldon & Co, in which he and Edwin Il, Sheldon were general partners. and William B. Ogden was a special partner until his death. In 1871, in common with nearly all large owners of real estate in Chicago, he sustained heavy loss in the great fire. In 1872 he was elected Alderman in what was called "the strong " Common Council, he and other members of which had been induced to become candi- dates in opposition to a corrupt ring then in control of the city. The two years' public service thus rendered was the only deviation from private business be allowed himself since 1846. In his original profession he made very little money, but as soon as he went into business he grew rapidly rich. The shrinkage in real estate value which succeeded the panic of 1873, some outside ventures in Ohio manufactures, and the too free use of his credit to certain financial institutions of the city forced him, in 1878, to put his estate into liquidation. The city mansion, already referred to, passed out of his hands, and what had been for some years his summer residence at Elmhurst became the comfortable but much less pretentious home of himself and family. Here he died, February 13. 1880, of pneumonia, after a short illness, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. Mrs. Ogden and her three children, a daughter and two sons, be- sides the two children by his first wife, survive him. Mr. Ogden was a man of fine personal appearance, but of a delicate constitution, which his excellent habits so fostered that he reached almost the rounded term of three score years and ten. Of a firmness that was akin to obstinacy, of perfect integrity and truthfulness, and possessed of a most delicate sense of honesty, his char- acter was above reproach. In religion, he was a faithful attendant at the services of the Episcopal Church of St. James for forty years before 1877, when he became a regular member. His fame is of the business, rather than the professional or public order. With the few exceptions mentioned, he took no part in public affairs or great public enterprises. His life was of the quiet, useful and industrious type. Possesscd of a pleasing address, good conversational pow- ers and a genial temperament, he made hosts of friends. The enhanced value of Chicago realty since his estate was put in liquidation has resulted in giving his heirs a goodly inheritance, reinforced as it has been by their share of the larger estate of their uncle.

EDWARD G. RYAN, born in Ireland in 1810, and an immigrant to this country before he was of age, arrived in Chicago in 1836, and advertised as a lawyer as early as December to, of that year, though his name does not appear on the list of the Supreme Court until the 31st of that month, when he was present at its session in Vandalia on some Chicago law-suits. He formed a partnership with Henry Moore June 1, 1837, but the firm of Moore & Ryan was short-lived, the senior mem- ber leaving Chicago in 1838 for his health. Among other activities in 1837, Mr. Ryan took a decided stand against a movement of embarrassed debtors for the suspension of the Municipal Court of Chicago. One of the most earnest advocates of suspension, James Curtiss, having stated at a public meeting that he had

given up his law practice because unwilling to harass the impoverished people, Mr. Ryan exclaimed, " It is very apocryphal whether Mr. Curtiss has abandoned his practice, or his practice has abandoned him." After the separation from Henry Moore, Mr. Ryan became associated with Hugh 'T. Dickey, under the style of Ryan & Dickey, which was dissolved January 27, 1840. Mr. Ryan now turned his attention to journalism, be- coming editor of the Tribune, the first number of which appeared April 4. 1840, and which he freely used in the conflict of the Chicago Bar with Judge Pearson, Being of an irascible disposition, Mr. Ryan made many enemies, which he seemed to regard as proof of intel- lectual prowess. Being also of a combative turn of mind. and withal full of an overweening self-esteem, he seemed to delight in persistent efforts to impress others with an equal appreciation of his assumed superiority. In 1842 he removed to Racine, and thenceforth his history belongs to Wisconsin, where he rose to eminence, becoming Chief Justice in 1874. because of his ac- knowledged probity and ability, notwithstanding the extreme unpopularity of his political views ten years before. He died October 19, 1880, reaching within twenty-five days of threescore years and ten.

PATRICK BALLINGALI., often assigned to this pe- riod, was then a student with Spring & Goodrich, and became a member of the Chicago Bar only after his return from DuPage County in 1843.

HUGH T. DICKEY is also similarly mentioned, al- though not a resident until 1838.

NORMAN B. JUDD, an arrival of 1836, and partner with Caton as early as August, 1837, became very prominent, about the period of the Civi! War, when he achieved a national reputation,

GEORGE MANIERRE, an arrival of 1835, and Deputy Clerk of the Circuit Court and law student in 1836. was not admitted to the Bar until July 15, 1839, and belongs therefore to a somewhat later period.

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THE BENCH AND BAR.

GEORGE W. MEEKER, a partner of Manierre, was like him a student in 1837, and admitted to the Bar half a year after him, December 16, 1839.

THOMAS HOVNE, also an arrival of 1837, and often spoken of as a member of the Bar of that year, was not admitted to practice until December 16, 1839, and then attained eminence.

COURTS OF CHICAGO, 1837 TO 1844 .- By the act of February 4, 1837. a new circuit was established. It included Cook County, and was numbered the Seventh. For its Judge, John Pearson, of Danville, an obscure lawyer, admitted to the Bar December 5. 1833, was chosen by the Legislature. The selection proved very distasteful to the lawyers of Chicago. Hon. Thomas Hoyne, despite his judicial candor, writing of this event, more than a generation later, reflects a feeling of disap- pointment that at the time must have been intense. Judge Pearson, he says, " was known to be incompetent for the position, and to be sadly wanting in the qualities which make a good judge. Ilis appointment had con- sequently been unpopular with the Chicago Bar from the beginning. The Democratic party was in power in the State, and John Pearson was a Democrat-he was a poor lawyer and an industrious office-seeker."

The spring term in 1837 was opened May 22, by Judge Pearson, with seven hundred cases on the docket. Before his arrival he had promulgated an elaborate. burdensome and perhaps somewhat arbitrary system of rules for the guidance of lawyers transacting business in his court, which did not tend to smooth the way to a favorable reception of himself, his methods, or his deci- sions by the Chicago Bar. But the urgency of impa- tient clients and the heavy docket rendered the dispatch of business a paramount object, and the indulgence of resentful feelings by either party to the impending con- flict would have given an undesirable advantage to the opposite side. Thus both terms of the year 1837 passed withont an outburst. In 1838, this sustained forbear- ance and self-restraint on both sides promised to estab- lish a reconciliation, or at least a modus vivendi, which if not cordial would be mutually respectful, and the organ of the Whigs rather pointedly and encouragingly noted these indications.

But the sectional jealousy and political antagonism that had unhappily been set in motion by the appoint. ment of Judge Pearson, even more than his alleged incompetency, would not suffer the accomplishment of so desirable a result, amil the suppressed quarrel found vent in 1839. The spring term had been held, and the docket had again hecome so burdened by reason of the discontinuance of the Municipal Court that he an- nounced an extra term of the Circuit Court for the second Monday in, May. It was at that special term, as related farther on, that the issue between the Bench and the Bar of Chicago took shape. Meanwhile two new courts had been created for Chicago by its charter of March 4. 1837.

THE FIRST MAYOR'S COURT .- Section 6S of the city charter provided, " That the Mayor * * * shall have the same jurisdiction within the limits of said city * * * as the Justices of the Peace, upon his conforming to the requirements * * * regulating the office of the Jus- tice of the Peace."

THE MUNICIPAL COURT .- It was by the establish- ment of this court more especially that relief was sought to be given to the administration of justice in Chicago. The accumulation of untried cases on the docket of the Circuit Court of Cook County, and the delay in civil suits. which amounted almost to a denial of justice, owing to the urgency and legal preference of criminal cases, had

rendered imperative some additional provision. The Constitution of 1818, in its Bill of Rights, Article VIII, Section 12, had provided against such a state of things in words which admirably summarized the fundamental purpose of laws and courts : " Every person within this State ought to find a certain remedy in the laws for all injuries or wrongs which he may receive in his per- son, property or character, he ought to obtain right and justice freely, and without being obliged to purchase it, completely and without denial, promptly and without delay. conformably to the laws."

Sections 69 to Sz of the charter are concerned with this court, the chief provisions being that it should have jurisdiction concurrent with the Circuit Court, in all matters, civil or criminal, arising within the city where either party is a resident. It should be hekl by one Judge, to be appointed by the General Assembly, commissioned by the Governor, to hold office during good behavior, and to be paid by the Common Council. Ilis salary and the other expenses of his court were to be paid out of the docket fees, which were to be col- lected by the clerk and turned over to the City 'Treasurer. The clerk was to be appointed by the Judge; the jurors to be chosen by the Common Council, and summoned by the High Constable. His functions as an officer of this court within the city were the same as those of Sheriffs in their respective counties, and he was to be elected by the people, like other city officers, at the annual election. It was a court of record, with a seal, and its process was directed to the High Constable ex- cept where a defendant resided outside the city limits, when it was directed to the Sheriff. Its judgments had the same liens on real and personal estate as those of the Circuit Court, and all appeals from the Mayor or any other Justice of the Peace were to be taken to next Circuit or Municipal Court whose term came first. All rules not specially laid down were to conform to those of the Circuit Court, and all appeals to the Supreme Court were to be carried up in the same way as from the Circuit Court.

By a short supplementary act of July 21, 1837, it was further provided that "its Judge shall possess all and singular the powers, and he is hereby required to perform all judicial duties appertaining to the office of the Circuit Courts of this State, and to issue all such writs and process as is, or may hereafter, by statutory provisions, be made issuable from the Circuit Courts of this State."

For this Court, Hon. Thomas Ford, who had re- signed as Judge of the Sixth Circuit in February, was selected by the Legislature. He had been Prosecuting Attorney in the Fifth Circuit, and Judge of the Sixth, when each successively included Cook County, and was favorably regarded by the Chicago Bar. He had ac- quired the reputation of being an excellent lawyer ; and as a judge was a terror to evil-doers, while as a man he was a warm and devoted friend, or an equally bitter enemy. As a citizen and politician he belonged to the dominant Democratic party, but was too broad to be a partisan, and when Governor, 1842 to 1846, did not hesitate to break loose from the unwisdom of repudia- tion and stay laws, or to espouse, support and urge with all the influence of his position every measure calculated to build up the shattered credit of the State.

The terins of the Municipal Conrt began with every alternate month, and it was virtually in perpetual ses- sion. An attempt was made by the politicians to pre- vent the opening of this court, the circumstances of which are thus narrated by the late Hon. Thomas Hoyne ;

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HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY.

" It was a court of superior or general jurisdiction within the city. It was to be held that winter 1837-38 for the first time. It was a time of great pecuniary distress, and all obligations created during the specula- tive times were just maturing and unpaid, and there was no money to pay them. The dockets were crowded in both the Circuit and Municipal Courts, and something must be done. Some of the debtors resolved that no conrt should be held ; a public meeting was called to prevent it. It was hekl at the New York House, a frame building on the north side of Lake Street, near Wells. It was held at even- ing in a long, low dining room lighted only by tallow candles. The chair was occupied by a State Senator, Peter Pruyne; James Curtiss, nominally a lawyer, but more of a Democratic politician, who had, practically, abandoned his profession, was active. But the princi- pal advocate of suspension of the courts was a Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, Theophilus W. Smith. Upon the other side were Collins, Butterfield, Ryan, Scammon, Spring, Goodrich, M. D. Ogden, Arnold and others ; and among them the Hon. William B. Ogden, the Mayor of the city, who was subsequently admitted to the Bar of this State February 6, 1841. We will count him in for he did manly service at that meeting in sustaining the law and its regular administration, and in repudiating and denouncing any interference with the courts. He was a noble, generous man, whose hand was seen in all public works. The battle was bitterly fought. It was shown by the opponents of courts that it meant ruin if they should be held, and judgments rendered against the debtors; that $2.000.000 were then in suit against citizens which was equivalent to a sum of $500 against every man, woman and child in Chi- cago. What was to be done ? . No one was to be bene- fited," Curtiss said, 'but lawyers,' and he left that pro- fession some time before. Then Ryan, a man of mus- cular frame, eyes large, wide open, as great lights in his luminous intellect, great as he ever was in debate, but then active, and in his wrath, like Mirabeau, 'fierce as ten furies and terrible as hell,' when he rose to the full height of his great argument, pointing to Curtiss, asked that hody of debtors if that was the kind of a lawyer they expected to save them. If so, it had long been a question whether he had left the profession of law, or the law had left him ; but of one thing they could be sure-that if he succeeded in his present unlawful at- tempt, he Ryan would guarantee them justice, and the sooner the law discharged that obligation the better it would be for the community. Butterfield, tall in stat- ure, stern of countenance, denounced the Judge of the Supreme Court who could descend from that lofty seat of a sovereign people majestic as the law, to take a seat with an assassin and murderer of the law like Judge Lynch. Others followed ; but the good sense of the meeting laid the resolutions on the table, and the courts were held, as they have been ever since."

But the end was pot yet; and the contest was trans- ferred to the Legislature. The court was too dispatch- ful, and debtors found that scarcely had their obliga- tions matured before a judgment and execution were secured in the ever-sitting Municipal Court of Chicago. After only fifteen months of active usefulness, it was legislated out of existence, February 15, 1839, and all its business turned over to the Circuit Court which it had, as intended, so effectually relieved until a supposed political necessity demanded its repeal at the hands of the dominant party. Ten days later Judge Ford was commissioned as Judge of the Ninth Circuit.

ATTEMPT TO IMPEACH JUDGE PEARSON .- The in- creased burden thrown on his shoulders by the dises. tablishment of the Municipal Court had led Judge Pear- son to hold the extra term in May, previously mentioned. It was at this special term that the dissidence between the Bench and Bar of Chicago became irreconcilable. by the refusal of the Judge to sign a bill of exceptions made by J. Y. Scammon, defendant's lawyer, in Phillips as. Bristol. The Court unfortunately regarded the ex- ceptions as inspired by a desire to embarrass and antag. onize him, rather than an honest defense. In this he was doubtless deceived by his prejudices. The case was appealed by Mr. Scammon, and in virtue of a mo- tion made by him before the Supreme Court, some weeks later, an alternative mandamus was granted com- manding Judge Pearson to sign the bill of exceptions referred to, or show cause at next term of Supreme Court why he did not.

November 11. 1839, as the protracted fall term of the Circuit Court was drawing to an end, Justin Butter- field, whose co-operation had been secured by Mr. Scam- mon, arose in his place, holding two papers, and, as the affidavit of the clerk, dated November 23. ileclared: "With marked politeness of manner handed one paper to the Judge, saying that it was a bill of exceptions in the case of Phillips rs. Bristol, tried at a former term. The Judge said, " I did not sign that bill of exceptions,' to which Mr. Butterfield graciously replied, ' I am aware of that, sir, but here' presenting the other paper , 'is a writ of mandamus from the Supreme Court of this State commanding you to sign it." The Judge held the paper toward Mr. Butterfield, saying, Take it away, sir; ' to which he replied, ' It is directed to you, sir, and I will leave it with you; I have discharged my duty in serving it, and I will leave it with you.' It was at this point," continued Mr. Hoyne,* " that the Court turned to me, as clerk, and said, " Mr. Clerk, enter a fine of twenty dollars against Mr. Butterfield," and then he threw the papers-the bill of exceptions and writ of mandamus-on the floor in front of the desk. He con- tinued, looking at Butterfield, ' What do you mean, sir ?' It was now that Butterfield, raising his voice, hitherto restrained, fired the first gun of what was to be a cam- paign. 'I mean, sir, to proceed against you by attach- ment, if you do not obey that writ.' The Judge, reply- ing. cried out, 'Sit down, sir ! Sit down, sir !' and to me. saying. 'Proceed with the record.'

" The record was read, the fine of twenty dollars entered up against Butterfield, and the court adjourned. The Judge was descending the Bench, and proceeding to pass through the Bar, when all the lawyers jumped to their fect; while Butterfield promptly marched up to Pearson, saying. 'Sir, you now have disgraced that Bench long enough, Sit down, sir, and let me beg you to immediately attend a meeting of this Bar, to be held instanter, in which we are about to try your case, and rid ourselves and the people, once for all, of your in- competency and ignorance !' The Judge left, but the Bar prepared an impeachment and that winter a long trial followed the presentation of articles before the House of Representatives at Springfield, where all the eloquence of the Bar was invoked, with that of others, to impeach Judge Pearson; but the House, which was largely composed of his political friends, refused to give the impeachers a hearing.

" He, however, never recovered from the effects of this attack and prosecution. The party paraded him as a martyr, and it was said that he had achieved a triumph

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History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 67

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas Number of Pages: 875

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 875