USA > Illinois > Effingham County > History of Effingham county, Illinois > Part 18
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The array of talent on both sides, the ex- alted position of the accused, and the excite- ment and interest thereby created in politi- cal circles, gave to the trial unusual public at- traction thronghout the State. The proceed-
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ings were conducted by marked ability and learning. A great number of witnesses were examined, and much documentary evidence introduced. The argument of counsel was of the highest order, and in the final summing up for the prosecution, the Chairman of the House Committee, Mr. Mills, one of the most brilliant orators of the time, spoke for three days in a continued strain of unsurpassed eloquence.
Pending the trial, the defendant searched for scraps of paper containing scribblings of the members concerning their status upon the respective charges. Being thus advised, his counsel enjoyed peculiar advantages in the management of the defense.
The constitution required that no person thus tried should be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of all the Senators present. When the vote was finally taken, upon each article separately, twenty-two Sen- ators were present, and four absent or ex- cused. It required fifteen to convict. Twelve voted guilty on some of the charges; ten were in favor of acquittal; and as fifteen did not vote him guilty of any of the articles, he was acquitted. He retained his seat upon the Supreme bench of the State until his death, which occurred about ten years after- ward.
William Lee D. Ewing, one of the lawyers mentioned as having attended the first term of our court, was a Representative from Fay- ette and other counties from 1830 to 1832, and introduced the bill which formed this county in 1831; the county, however, as already noted, was not fully organized until 1833. In 1832, he was elected to the State Senate, which po- sition he retained until 1834. He was Pres- ident of the Senate, and for fifteen days Gov- ernor of the State, which latter occurred thus: At the August election of 1834, Gov. Rey- nolds was elected to Congress, more than a
year ahead of the time he would take his seat (as was then the law), to succeed Mr. Slade. But shortly after the election, Mr. Slade, the incumbent, died, when Gov. Reynolds was chosen to serve out his unexpired term. Ac- cordingly, he set out for Washington in No- vember of that year, to take his seat in Con- gress, and Mr. Ewing, by virtue of his office as President of the Senate, became Govern- or. Upon the meeting of the Legislature in December, he sent in his message as Acting Governor, when he was relieved from his ex- alted duties by the Governor-elect, Joseph Duncan, being sworn into office. This is the only time such a contingency has arisen in the history of the State. Mr. Ewing was a native of Kentucky, and one of the first resi- dent lawyers of Fayette County. He was a man of liberal education and tine natural en- dowments, fond of congenial company, and enjoyed all the sports of the time. He was a Colonel in the Black Hawk war; served as Prosecuting Attorney, and, as before stated, represented his district iu the Legislature and State Senate. He was for a time Indian Agent, and, by order of the United States Government, removed the Sac and Fox tribes west of the Mississippi River. From 1843 to 1846, he was Auditor of Public Accounts; represented his district in the National Con- gress, and was appointed United States Sen- ator to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Richard M. Young.
As a public-spirited citizen, Gen. Ewing was highly respected and honored among the people he so long served. He was a Demo- crat in politics, and a statesman of unswerv . ing integrity. Many of the old citizens of Effingham County remember him, and in his death recognize the loss of an upright, honor- able man and patriotic citizen.
Col. A. P. Field, another of the lawyers who attended the first term of our court, was
Galvin Mitchell
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also a native of Kentucky, and an educated and chivalrous gentleman. He first located at Jonesboro, Ill., in an early day, but sub- sequently moved to Vandalia. He was State Treasurer from 1823 to 1827, and Secretary of State from 1829 to 1840. As a politician, he had few equals and no superiors of that day. He was eminent as a criminal lawyer, and as a speaker was sparkling in wit and eloquence. He removed to St. Louis and subsequently to New Orleans, and soon be- came prominently identified with Southern politics, rising eventually to the exalted po- sition of Attorney General of Louisiana. He died in the year 1877, in the city of New Orleans.
Levi Davis, the last of the three lawyers attending the first term of court, resided at that time at Vandalia, but now lives at Alton. He was elected Auditor of State, and served from 1836 to 1841, and was prominently identified with the politics, not only of his county, but of the State, for many years.
We have given a more minute history of the first term of court than our time and space will permit us to give to each subse- quent term. A brief space will be devoted to each of the Presiding Judges, as well as to the resident lawyers and more prominent visiting lawyers, who have presided over and attended our courts.
Theophilus W. Smith, who has already re- ceived some notice in these pages, only held two terms of our Circuit Court, viz., the May term of 1833, and the May term, 1834. Judge Ford held the third term, being the May term, 1835, and the most interesting term yet held in the county.
Thomas Ford, our second Judge, was born at Uniontown, Penn., in the year 1800. His father, Robert Ford, was killed by Indians in 1802, in the mountains of Pennsylvania, and his mother was left in indigent circumstan-
ces, with a large family, mostly girls. With a view to better her condition she, in 1804, moved to Missouri, where it had been the custom of the Spanish Government to give a certain amount of land to actual settlers. But, upon her arrival in St. Louis, she found the country ceded to the United States, and that liberal policy no longer in vogue. She finally removed to Illinois and settled near Waterloo, but, the following year, moved a little closer to the Mississippi Bluffs. Here the boys received their first schooling, for which they walked three miles. The mother was a woman of superior mental endowment, joined to energy and determination of char- acter. She inculcated in her children those high-toned moral principles which distin- guished her sons in public life. The mind of Thomas gave early promise of superior attainments, with an inclination for mathe- matics. His proficiency attracted the atten- tion of the Hon. D. B. Cook, in whom young Ford found a patron and friend.
Through the advice of Mr. Cook, he turned his attention to the law. He attended Tran- sylvania University at Lexington, Ky., one term, and, on his return, alternated his law reading with teaching school. In 1829, Gov. Reynolds appointed him Prosecuting Attor- ney; in 1831, he was re-appointed by Gov. Reynolds, and afterward was four times elected Judge by the Legislature, without opposition. He was twice Judge of Chicago, and Associate Judge of the Supreme Court. While acting in the latter capacity, he was assigned to the Ninth Judicial District, and. while holding court in Ogle County, was notified of his nomination for Governor. He immediately resigned his office, accepted the nomination and entered upon the canvass, and in August was elected to the exalted po- sition.
The offices which Gov. Ford held were un-
II
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solicited. As a lawyer, he stood deservedly high, but his cast of intellect fitted him rath- er for a writer upon law than a practicing advocate in the courts. As a Judge, his opinions were sound, lucid, and an able ex- position of the law. As a man, he was plain in his demeanor; he lacked the determined boldness and decision of character requisite to fit a man for a great political leader. As an author, he deserves special consideration, in having left a legacy in the form of a history of his State-Illinois. He died November 2, 1850, at Peoria, having scarcely passed the prime of life.
At the May term of our Circuit Court in 1834, Samuel McRoberts was present, and took part in the proceedings. He was attor- ney in the case of N. Edwards, Governor, versus James M. Duncan, et al., on change of venne from Marion County.
Samuel McRoberts was the first native Illinoisan ever elevated to the position of United States Senator from this State. He was born April 12, 1799, in what is now Mon- roe County, where his father resided on a farm. He received a good education from a private tutor. At the early age of twenty, he was appointed Circuit Clerk of Monroe Coun- ty, a position which afforded him opportunity to become familiar with forms of law, and which he eagerly embraced, pursuing at the same time a most assiduous course of reading. Two years later, he entered the Law Depart- ment of Transylvania University (at Lexing- ton, Ky.), where, after three full courses of lectures, he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Law. He commenced the prac- tice of his profession in competition with such men as Kane, Reynolds, Clark, Baker, Eddy, McLean and others. In 1824, at the age of twenty-five, he was elected by the Legislature one of the five Circuit Judges. As a Judge, he firstexhibited strong partisan
bias. He had been a violent Convention ad- vocate, and now, in defiance of a release by the Legislature, he assessed a fine against Gov. Coles, for settling his emancipated slaves in Madison County without giving bond that they should not become a public charge.
In 1828, Mr. McRoberts was elected a State Senator; in 1830, he was appointed United States District Attorney for the State; in 1832, Receiver of the Public Money at the Danville Land Office; and in 1839, Solicitor for the General Land Office at Washington. On the 16th of December, 1840, he was elected United States Senator for the full term, commencing March 4, 1841. He died March 22, 1843, at Cincinnati, Ohio, on his route home from Washington, in the vigor of intellectual manhood, and at the age of forty- four years.
The third Judge of our Circuit Court was the Hon. Sidney Breese, who presided from October, 1835, to October, 1842, a period of seven years, and the longest held by one man (except Charles Emerson) since the organiza- tion of our county. Mr. Breese was born about the close of the last century, in Oneida County, N. Y. He received a thorough gen- eral and classical education from the Union College, from which he graduated with hon- ors. He had been the school-fellow of Elias Kent Kane, who was his senior. After the appointment of the latter as Secretary of State in 1818, he became associated with him as a student of law. In 1820, he essayed the practice of his profession in Jackson County, but met with failure in the presenta- tion of a case in court before a jury. Overwhelmed with mortification, he resolved, on the spur of the moment, to entirely aban- don the practice of the law, and the following year he became Postmaster at Kaskaskia. In 1822, however, he was appointed to the Cir-
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cuit Attorneyship by Gov. Bond, a position which he retained under Gov. Coles, and un- til the accession of Gov. Edwards in 1831. He prepared and published " Breese's Reports of the Supreme Court Decisions," it being the first book ever published in the State. He took part in the Black Hawk war, serving as a Major of volunteers.
Upon the establishment of the Circuit Court system in 1835, he was chosen Judge, and in 184I he was elected one of the Judges of the Supreme Court. In 1842, he was elected, for a full term, from March 4, 1843, to the United States Senate. At the expira- tion of his term, in 1850, he was elected to the Legislature and made Speaker of the Honse. In 1855, he was re-elected Circuit Judge, and, two years later, was again ele- vated to the Supreme Bench, where he re- mained until his death.
Judge Breese took an active part in the Illinois Central Railroad, a full account of which will be found in the chapter on rail- roads.
The following names appear on the docket as attorneys attending court in the county: At the October term, 1835, Thomas Brown, Sawyer & Kirkman; at the April term, 1836, Levi Davis, Kirkman, Sawyer and D. Greg- ory; at the April term, 1837, Field, Ewing, Fisk and Davis were the only attorneys in attendance, and the same attended in 1838. At the October term in 1839, A. Thornton appeared as an attorney in the case of " The People versus David Ridgway," for the de- fendant, on a change of venue from Shelby County. The following entry appears on the bar docket in the case: "Defendant found guilty and sentenced to the penitentiary one year, and one day to solitary confinement." Mr. Thornton has been a regular attendant at our courts from that time until he was elected to Congress a few years ago.
At the October term of court in 1840, the name of James Shields appears on the docket as an attorney in several cases, and in his own case in particular. At this term he made application to become a citizen of the United States. The following is a copy of the proceedings in the case:
At a Circuit Court begun and held at the court house in Ewington, in and for the county of Effing- ham, on Monday, the 19th day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty, it being the 3d Monday of said month. Pres- ent, Sidney Breese, Judge; Thomas J. Rentfro, Sheriff; and William H. Blakely, Clerk. This day personally appeared in open court, James Shields and made and filed the following declaration: James Shields being duly sworn in open court, declares on oath that he was born in the County Tyrone, in the Kingdom of Ireland, on the 17th day of May, about the year 1810; that he migrated to the United States of America while a minor, and continued to reside within the United States three years next preceding his arrival at the age of twenty-one years, and has continued to reside therein to the present time; that he is now upward of twenty-one years, and has resided upward of five years in the State of Illinois aforesaid, one of the United States; that it is his in- tention to become a citizen of the United States, and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, State or sovereignty, and particularly to the sovereign of Great Britain and Ireland. He further declares that for three years preceding the present application, it has been his bona fide intention to become a citizen of the United States.
(Signed.) JAMES SHIELDS. Subscribed and sworn to in open court, this 21st day of October, 1840. (Attest.) WILLIAM 11. BLAKELEY, Clerk of said Court.
This day personally appeared in open court, James Shields, a free white person of twenty-one years, and being duly sworn, declares on oath in open court, that he will support the Constitution of the United States, and doth absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, potentate, State or sovereignty whatever, and particularly that of Great Britain and Ireland, whereof he was born a subject; and the court being satisfied that he has fully complied with the requirements of the laws of the United
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States on the subject of naturalization, and that he has resided within the United States upward of five years, and within the State of Illinois upward of one year next preceding this application, and that during the whole of the term of his residence in the United States he has behaved as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States and is well dis- posed to the good order and happiness of the same.
It is, therefore, ordered and adjudged that the said James Shields be admitted a citizen of the United States, and he is hereby admitted as such.
James Shields, as stated in his declaration, was born in Ireland about the year 1810. He emigrated to this country in 1827, set- tling in Illinois three years later. He was sent to the Legislature from Randolph Conn- ty some seven years after settling in the State, and before he had become a natural- ized citizen. He was appointed Auditor by Gov. Carlin, and, in 1843, elected a Su- preme Judge. He presided over the Circuit Court of this county from the March term, 1844, to and including the March term, 1845, being altogether three terms. Under Presi- dent Polk, he was Commissioner of the Gen- eral Land Office at Washington. He en- tered the Mexican war, and was commis- sioned a Brigadier General. At the battle of Cerro Gordo, he was severely wounded, and was reported dead, but recovered in time to take a conspicuous part in the capture of the City of Mexico. Such was his gallantry and soldierly conduct in this campaign that the State of South Carolina voted him a handsome and costly sword. In 1849, upon his return home, he was elected to the United States Senate, but, as he had not been nine years a naturalized citizen (having been nat- uralized in October, 1840), which was re- quired by the constitution to render him eli- gible to the position, his seat was declared vacant. At a called session of the Legislat- ure, convened as soon as Shields became eli- gible, he was again elected to the United
States Senate, and served until the expira- tion of his term. Subsequently, he took up his residence in Minnesota, and in 1857 was elected from that State as United States Sen- ator, serving two years. In the late war, be- tween the States, he was a Major General in the Union armies, and did good service for the Government. At the close of the war he removed to Missouri, and was elected by the Legislature of that State to the United States Senate to fill an unexpired term of a few months. He died soon after the expiration of this latter term. having been a United States Senator from three different States.
The Court Record in 1841 shows the name of F. Foreman as an attorney, and from that time until 1846 he seems to have attended our courts regularly, and had a good practice. In 1843, the name of W. H. Underwood ap- pears upon the record as an attorney, and for a number of terms thereafter. In 1846, Bissell was present as State's Attorney; also a Mr. Hite and Lee were present as attor- neys. Wilcox likewise appeared as attorney in several cases. In 1848, Mr. Pearson's name appears, and Philip Fouke as State's Attorney. At this term also appeared A. J. Gallagher and Elam Rusk as attorneys.
Among the attorneys attending our courts from 1835 to 1842 were several who after- ward became Judges of the court, to wit: Shields, Semple and Underwood. We have already given a brief sketch of Shields, and will now devote a brief space to the two oth- ers mentioned.
Hon. James Semple was born in Kentucky. but emigrated to Illinois in an early day. In politics he was a Democrat, and was much in public life. In 1833, he was elected At- torney General of the State. He was in the Legislature for six years, four of which he was Speaker of the House, and in the mean - time the internal improvement measure was
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passed, which well-nigh bankrupted the State. In 1837. he was appointed Charge d'Affaires to New Granada; in 1842, was elected one of the Judges of the Supreme Court; in 1843, he was appointed, by Gov. Ford, United States Senator, to fill the unexpired term of Samuel McRoberts, deceased. The appoint- ment was confirmed by the Legislature, and he served until 1847. Judge Semple wrote an elaborate history of Mexico, which, how- ever, has never been published.
Judge William H. Underwood, who held our court from the May term, 1849, to the Oc- tober term, 1850, was born February 1, 1818, at Schoharie Court House, N. Y .. and in his boyhood laid the foundation to his future greatness in a good common-school educa- tion, finishing up his studies in the Schohar- ie Academy and Hudson River Seminary, spending three years in the two institutions, and graduating with a good practical educa- tion. He read law in his native place, and, upon completing his studies, he at once re- moved to Belleville, Ill., where he resided until his death, and where he was attended with marked success. In 1841, he was elect- ed State's Attorney, a position he filled so acceptably that he was re-elected in January, 1843. and in 1844 he was elected to the Low- er House of the Legislature. In 1848, he was elected Circuit Judge for six and a half years, which position he held to the end of his term, and in 1856 was elected to the State Senate for four years. In IS69, he was elect- ed a Delegate from St. Clair County to the Constitutional Convention, and was elected again to the State Senate in 1870. In 1873, he completed a work upon which he had long been engaged. viz., " Underwood's Con- strued Annotated Statutes of Illinois." The brief intervals between his official duties he devoted to the practice of his profession. His name appears often in our Supreme
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Court records as counsel in important cases. He died a few years ago, after a useful and industrious life.
Gustavus Koerner was Judge of this dis- triet from August, 1845, to June, 1848. He was born in Frankfort, Germany, November 20. 1809. His father was a well-known publisher and book-seller, and for many years was a member of the Legislature of Frankfort. His early education was received at college in his native town, and his studies completed at Munich and Heidelberg, where, in 1832, he graduated, and obtained the de- gree of LL. D. In the same year, he passed examination, and was admitted to the bar of Frankfort. In 1833, he emigrated to the United States, and proceeded at once to the West, and settled in Belleville, Ill. He im- mediately commenced the study of American law. and, after attending one term of the Law School at Lexington, Ky., then the most noted west of the Alleghenies, he was admit- ted to the bar of Illinois in 1835. He at once entered upon the active practice of his profession, and in 1845 was elected by the Legislature one of the Judges of the Su- preme Court. In 1852, he was elected Lieu- tenant Governor of Illinois on the Democrat- ic ticket. On account of the slavery ques tion, he, in 1854, became what was then known as an Anti-Nebraska Democrat. and in 1856 joined the Republican party. During the war of the rebellion, he recruited and or- ganized the Forty-third Illinois Volunteers, but was prevented from taking command of it by President Lincoln appointing him to the staff of Gen. Fremont, with the rank of Colonel. He served in that position until Fremont's retirement, when he was attached to the staff of Gen. Halleck. In March, 1862, owing to continued ill health, he re- signed, and in the following June was ap- pointed by the President Minister to Spain,
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HISTORY OF EFFINGHAM COUNTY.
which position he resigned in January, 1865. He was made one of the Electors at Large in 1868, on the Grant ticket, and in 1871 was appointed on the newly created Railroad Commission, over which he presided until his resignation, in January, 1873. He was nominated, in June, 1872, as a candidate for Governor by the Democratic party, and also by the Liberal Republican party, but failed of an election. When not engaged in offi- cial duties, he has practiced his profession vig- orously. He has also devoted much time to literary pursuits, and contributed freely to newspapers and periodicals. He is the au- thor of a volume entitled "From Spain," composed of letters on various subjects, and essays on art, etc. His productions testify to his excellence as a writer, scholar and thinker.
Justin Harlan, of Clark, was the eighth Judge who presided over the courts of our county. He came to Illinois in 1825, and lo- cated in Darwin and commenced the practice of law. He was at once recognized as one of the ablest lawyers in not only his own county, but his reputation soon extended throughout the State. He filled the office of Circuit Julge for over twenty years, and when his old friend, Lincoln, was made President, he appointed Judge Harlan Indian Ageut to the Cherokees in the Indian Territory, which position he filled faithfully and well during the remainder of Mr. Lincoln's life, He re- signed immediately after Mr. Lincoln's as- sassination, and returned to his home in Marshall County, and, although a Republic- an, and living in a Democratic county, was elected County Judge of Clark County, which position he held during a regular term of four years. He died in Kuttawa, Ky., March 12, 1879, at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. W. A. Wright, where he had been called by that daughter's sickness. He
was buried in Marshall, his home in Illinois, March 16, 1879. Judge Harlan's was a long, blameless and useful life, and no man left more sincere friends to mourn Lis death.
Charles Emerson was the ninth Judge, and held our courts from the April term, 1853, to the April term, 1862. Charles Constable was the tenth Judge, and held from the May term, 1863, to the October term, 1865. Next came H. B. Decius, from special term Jan- mary, 1866, to April term, 1873. James C. Allen followed Decius from the fall term, 1873, to March term, 1878, and after him James H. Halley held several terms of our courts. At present, William C. Jones, Thomas Casey and Chauncy S. Conger are the Judges in this district.
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