USA > Illinois > Ford County > History of Ford County, Illinois : from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. I > Part 23
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Petit Jurors-Charles Cloyes, Benjamin Ferris, Patrick Torpey, Isaac Hall, John R. Lewis, Henry Atwood, L. W. Hlenckle, John Swinford, Dennis IIapper, Francis Meharry, John Richardson, Charles Wall, Milton Wineland, Seth T. Simons, Archibald Mckinney, Jacob Titus, William Reed, Harmon Strayer, Jacob Tanner, Jacob Henry, Frederick T. Putt, William Pollock, Paul W. Cooley and A. E. Scovill.
The court was in session four days.
John R. Lewis, Esq., member of the petit jury, in his "History of the Pan Handle," speaks of this term of court as follows :
"The charge to the grand jury was made by the judge himself, who also administered the oaths. In his charge, the judge urged them to do their whole duty as men and jurors, and as they were just starting in a new county to be careful and see that all depredations committed in their neighborhood were presented to the jury and returned to the court. The judge said, 'rid your neighborhood of all petty thieves and lawbreakers, and return them to this court.'
"There were not many cases on the common law docket. A few chancery cases came up and were argued before the court.
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"Ilon: David Brier, of Bloomington, defended the location selected by the county commissioners for the courthouse. After carefully listening to both sides, the court gave his opinion in the matter. In doing so, he complimented County Judge David Patton, saying he had been acquainted with him a num- ber of years, and that his opinions as a lawyer were considered carefully made and well taken, but in this case the court must differ with him.
"One criminal case was tried at this term of court. It was on a change of venne from Vermilion county, where a man had stolen a kit of fish weigh- ing fifty pounds from the railway depot at Danville. In this trial, three of the jury were from the Pan Handle. The prisoner was very ably defended by an attorney from Danville. The defense set up was that the value of the fish stolen was less than five dollars, and introduced witnesses to prove that this was the fact. One of these, Mr. Barnhouse, of Prairie City, swore that a kit of fish, such as the one stolen, was sold in his town for from four and a half dollars to four dollars and seventy-five cents. In the cross-examination. States Attorney W. H. Lamon brought out that the witness knew nothing of the value of fish in Danville, and as Danville was the place from which the fish was stolen, the Danville price must be that at which it was valued. In his charge to the jury, Judge Davis said if they found that the prisoner was guilty, and that the fish stolen was valued at five dollars or over, the penalty was not less than one nor more than five years in the penitentiary. After a short consultation, the jury returned a verdict of guilty, and set the penalty at one year in the penitentiary.
"The whole business of the court was carried on more like a general school of instruction to a class of students than anything else that the writer can compare it to. A local attorney, Mr. Morse, who had a client, and wished to get a continuance of his case, had prepared an affidavit setting forth the reasons for not being ready for trial. In the affidavit there was some very strong language used in behalf of his client, to which Judge Davis listened as long as he could, but, after a little, exclaimed, 'Tut, tut, tut, young man. you should never get your client to swear to any such thing as that. Never allow your clients to perjure themselves. It is the duty of an attorney to keep his client out of trouble, and not get him into it.' "
Prior to the formation of the fourteenth judicial circuit, in 1874, the dis- triet had been so large that the judges could not give the necessary time to our county to dispose of the business. Since that date, the business has been kept well in hand, it being the frequent custom when cases could not otherwise be disposed of, to hold night sessions.
PAXTON CANNING CO.
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Judge Tipton, of Bloomington, at one time to clear the docket of long pending cases, made a custom of holding court until near midnight, and some- times even later, or rather earlier.
Our judges have all been men of integrity and filled their positions with credit to themselves and satisfaction to the people.
As an illustration of the confidence of the bar and litigants in the court, there was one term when a full week passed in the trial of causes, and in only one case was a jury called; in all the others by agreement, jury was waived, and trial had before the court.
One of the most aggravated murders committed thus far in the history of our county was that of Robert A. Miller. Ile was a farmer, well advanced in life, of quiet, kindly disposition. loved by his neighbors, respected by all and without a single enemy as far as he knew. For many years he had lived on his farm in the north part of Wall township, some seven miles northwest of Paxton.
On the early morning of October 7. 1875, he took his cows to water to a well, some little distance from the house by the edge of a cornfield. A nephew of Miller, Willis Conn, a single man some twenty years of age, who lived near Rantoul, had the afternoon of the day before come to Paxton and bought a revolver. After testing it. he procured sufficient lunch for his supper and breakfast, and then went to a vacant house in the neighborhood of Robert A. Miller, where he spent the night. Very early in the morning, he had come doin to his uncle's, and had concealed himself in the corn just near this well, close to where he knew his victim would pass in watering his stock. When his uncle had come near enough to gratify his murderous desire. he fired the shot with deadly certainty. the ball entering the right side and penetrating near the heart.
His uncle fell mortally wounded; but not satisfied with this Conn rushed up to the fallen body, and, putting the weapon close to the head of his victim, fired the second shot, and immediately disappeared. As soon as the neigh- bors received the alarm, and gathered in sufficient numbers, search was at once begun for the murderer, and a messenger sent to the sheriff at Paxton. On receiving word of the tragedy, warrant was issued, and Sheriff Lyman started for the scene.
About a mile out of town, he met a man afoot, who told him he was the party he was looking for, and that he had shot Unele Bobby Miller, and gave himself up. Conn was at once taken into custody, put in jail, and held to await his trial.
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Circuit court sat in December, when he was indicted, and his trial began December 9, 1875, and lasted four days. A. Sample, states attorney. was assisted by M. H. Cloud in the prosecution, and the prisoner was represented by M. B. Thomson, of Urbana, Illinois. No trouble was experienced in impan- eling a jury. The ground of defense was insanity, which was most persistently presented by defendant's counsel. The fact and circumstances of the killing were not disputed. A number of physicians of reputation testified as to the mental condition of the prisoner. Some to the effect that he was wholly irre- sponsible for his acts, and others that, while at times this might be true, vet that he had the power to distinguish between right and wrong, and if so, was responsible.
The law in regard to insanity as a defense for crime was laid down by the court to the jury in two instructions, which were as follows:
"The court instructs the jury for the people that the complete possession of reason is not essential to constitute the legal responsibility of the offender, and although the jury may believe from the evidence that at the time of the act the person was not of sound mind; yet, if the jury believe from the evi- dence beyond a reasonable doubt that the prisoner had the power to distinguish right from wrong, and to adhere to the right and avoid the wrong as applied to the particular act charged, then he is responsible to the law for his act.
"The jury are instructed for the defendant, that if they believe from the evidence in the case that at the time of the killing that said defendant was insane, and that though they may believe he had some idea of right and wrong; yet if the jury believe from all the evidence that the defendant was driven to said act by an irresponsible insane impulse which he was on account of such insanity unable to control, then, and in that case, there would be no such intent to commit erime charged, and in that case the jury should find the defendant not guilty."
The prisoner was found guilty and sentenced to the penitentiary for twenty years. His conduct and appearance during the trial tended strongly to prove that he was not in his right mind. He sat heedless during the inves- tigation, showing neither concern nor fear, and save when the verdict was read in open court, did he seem to realize the terrible punishment before him. IIe was promptly sentenced and taken to Joliet, but only lived to serve about two years of his time.
On December 19, 1878, Joseph Borowiek, living in the southern part of Sullivant township, the head of a family of Polanders, was shot and mortally wounded. Investigation developed the fact that they had procured a large
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quantity of liquor and taken it home, when himself and family had indulged very freely in its use.
The old gentleman, while in this condition, as was his wont, undertook the task of whipping his wife. In the progress of the trouble, his stepson, Maik Borowiek, became involved, and, as was supposed, in defense of his mother, fired the shot which caused the killing.
Maik was at once arrested, sent to jail, indicted at the April and tried at the August term of circuit court, 1879, his Honor, Judge Reeves presiding. A. Sample, state's attorney, prosecuted, and Judge Tipton, of Bloomington, defended the prisoner.
The trial was beset with many difficulties. The chief witnesses were Poles and Bohemians, and being unable to speak our language, had to be ques- tioned through an interpreter. The best interpreter that could be obtained was, in many instances, unable to make the witness fully understand the ques- tions of the lawyers, or obtain an intelligent answer. The evidence was entirely circumstantial, and that not the strongest class. The weather was extremely hot, the defendant and his mother appeared largely indifferent to the progress of the trial, and the public took but little interest in the case.
The trial lasted three days, and a verdict of guilty of manslaughter was rendered, and Maik Borowick was sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of five years-five days to be spent in solitary confinement and the residue at hard labor. While the prisoner manifested no great anxiety in his trial, when it was over and he understood that his punishment was imprisonment and not hanging, he seemed very highly pleased.
A trial that attracted a great deal of public interest was that of The Peo- ple vs Abram G. Hendryx.
On April 26, 1880, in Padua township, MeLean county, Illinois, Henry Stovenour and Frank Bailey were killed, and Hendryx was on May 5 indicted by the grand jury of MeLean county for committing the offense. On the peti- tion of the defendant, change of venue was granted to Ford county, where trial was had at the December term of circuit court, 1880, his Honor, Judge Reeves, presiding.
The case was very hotly contested, the people being represented by States Attorney Porter, of MeLean, and Cook, of Ford county, and General Schenck, of Indiana. Messrs. Tipton & Ryan, of Bloomington, and John R. Kinnear, of Paxton, appearing for the defendant.
The trial lasted eleven days, while over two hundred witnesses were in attendance from MeLean county. Great interest was manifested by the pub-
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lie, and crowds filled the courtroom during the progress of the trial. The plea relied on by prisoner's counsel to secure acquittal was that of self-defense, which was urged with great ingenuity and persisteney in the selection of the jury and during the progress of the trial. An entire day was occupied by counsel in presenting the ease to the jury. The trial was concluded late in the afternoon, and the jury then retired. After being out about three hours, a verdiet of "not guilty" was returned, and the prisoner was discharged. The costs in this case to MeLean county were several thousand dollars, and to Ford county not a few hundred.
The following gentlemen sat on the jury in this case : Ira W. Hand, James Boyd, Charles A. Cook, Joseph Bushnell, William H. Crowe, Fred Potts, Frank P. Newhart, James F. Ellis, Jacob Snider, John Clayton, Isaac Palmer and E. Atwood.
A homicide which our circuit court was called upon to investigate was that of Abram Thorp. He was a young man and unmarried. He had lived in the vicinity of Paxton, near Trickel's Grove. On Sabbath morning, Sep- tember 30, 1883, his dead body was found lying on the sawdust in Larkin's ice-house, located in the alley in the rear of the St. Elmo Restaurant. He had apparently been killed by a severe blow on his head.
James Ryan was at once suspected and arrested. At the coroner's inquest it was shown that Ryan and Thorp had a difficulty the night previous, during which Thorp had severely bitten Ryan's lip; that both men were more or less intoxicated, and that early Sabbath morning Ryan had said in substance that "he had got even with Abe."
On this and other evidence he was held for the grand jury, and was indicted in December, but obtained a continuance until the April term, 1884, when his trial was had. The case was called and jury selected on Tuesday the 8th, and verdict was rendered on the following Saturday. Some thirty witnesses were sworn on behalf the people and about the same number for the defense. A. Sample was associated with F. L. Cook, states attorney, in the prosecution, which was most vigorous.
The prisoner being unable to employ counsel, his honor, Judge Reeves, at the term at which indictment was found, assigned as his attorneys E. C. Gray and Judge Tipton, who were assisted on the trial by J. II. Moffett. The plea of Ryan was "not guilty." The evidence, though wholly circumstan- tial, satisfied the jury beyond doubt of the defendant's guilt. The jury retired on Friday afternoon, and Saturday morning returned their verdict, which was :
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"We, the jury find the defendant guilty, and fix the term of his imprisonment in the penitentiary at thirty-three years."
Great local interest was shown in the trial, and when the arguments of counsel were made the courtroom was filled to its utmost capacity.
COUNTY OFFICIALS.
COUNTY JUDGE.
David Patton, from June 1859 to December, 1873; Hngh P. Beach, 1873- 86; Milton H. Cloud, 1886-90; Alex MeElroy. 1890-1904; II. H. Kerr, 1904- 1908.
COUNTY CLERK.
Nathan Simons. 1859, until his death, August 29, 1865; John I. Simons, August 31, 1865, to December, 1865; James S. Frederick, 1865-73; Merton Dunlap, 1873-1892; William B. Flora, 1892-1908.
COUNTY TREASURER.
Daniel C. Stoner, June. 1859, to November, 1859; John P. Day, Novem- ber, 1859-65; James P. Button, 1865, to March 22, 1866; John P. Day, March, 1866-69; Leonard Pierpont. 1869-73; James D. Kilgore, 1873. to September, 1874: John B. Shaw, September, 1874-86; Nils Dahlgren, 1886-1890; Oscar V. Ilohngram, 1890-1892; N. W. Peterson, 1892-1896; T. J. Sower, 1896-1900; Tim Ross, 1900-1904; Thomas Crowe, 1904-1908.
CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT.
Samuel L. Day, 1859-64; James F. Hall, 1864-68; Levi A. Dodd. 1868-72; Weaver White, 1872-76; Augustus M. Daggett, 1876-80; Weaver White, 1880- 84; John F. G. Helmer, 1884-1888; Oscar II. Wylie, 1892-1896; Thomas D. Thompson, 1896-1908.
STATES ATTORNEY.
Previous to 1872 the district of the states attorney was coextensive with that of the circiut judge but by an act passed in 1872 each county elected a states
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attorney. The names of the gentlemen who served as states attorney at the various sessions of our circuit courts up to 1872. are: Ward II. Lamon, Ver- milion county; J. G. Cannon, of Douglas county; and M. B. Thompson, of Champaign county.
Under the election by counties, the list for Ford is as follows :
Alfred Sample. 1872-80; France L. Cook. 1880-88; A. L. Phillips, 1892- 1902; L. A. Cranston, 1902-1908.
SHERIFF.
Howard Case, 1859-60; James D. Hall, 1860-62; Edward L. Gill, 1862-64; William Snyder, 1864-66: Mark Parsons, April 9, 1866, to November 14, 1866; Thomas E. Barnhonse. 1866-68; S. L. Edgar, 1868-70; Edward L. Gill, 1870- 74; Samuel B. Lyman, 1874-82; James W. Ramsay, 1882-86; Benjamin F. Mason, 1886-90; James R. Rezner. 1890-94; B. F. Mason, 1894-98; Tim Ross, 1898-1902; Thomas Crowe, 1902-06; John II. Nelson, 1906-08.
COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
William W. Blanchard, 1859-63; Robert MeCracken, 1863-65; J. B. Ran- dolph, 1865-67; W. C. LeFevre, 1867-69; James Brown, 1869-71; William L. Conrow, 1871-73; Robert N. Gorsuch, 1873-77; Daniel H. Armstrong, 1877, to February, 1879; Samuel A. Armstrong, March, 1879, to September, 1882; John M. Hanley, September, 1882, to December. 1882; Franz G. Lohman. 1882-90; Edward A. Gardener, 1890-1906; H. M. Rudolph, 1906-08.
SURVEYOR.
James W. Campbell, 1859-61; Jonathan Covalt, 1861-63; John F. Stoner, 1863-69; Henry J. Howe, 1869-75; Henry MeCulloch. 1875-79; Charles B. Ellis, 1879-83; John R. Lewis, 1884, 1888, 1900; C. R. Helmer, 1900-1908.
CORONER.
Wheeler Bentley, 1859-62; John II. Evans, 1862-66; Wheeler Bentley, 1866-67; D. R. Francis, 1867-68; F. F. Fuller, 1868-70; George B. Walker, 1870-72; John S. Bodwell, 1872-74; John F. G. Helmer, 1874-78; John C. Cul- ver, 1878-80; Charles Bradley, 1880-82; Hiram W. Barney, 1882-86; E. B. Perry, 1886-1888; W. A. Bieket, 1888-1892; W. A. Hutchison, 1900-1908.
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JUDGES OF CIRCUIT COURT FOR ELEVENTH CIRCUIT, FROM 1877 TO 1908.
Owen T. Reeves, Bloomington; Nathaniel J. Pillsbury, Pontiac; Franklin Blades, Watseka; Alfred Sample, Paxton; Thomas F. Tipton, Bloomington ; Charles R. Starr, Kankakee; Colestin D. Myers, Bloomington; George W. Pat- ton, Pontiac; John H. Moffett, Paxton; Thomas M. Harris, Lincoln.
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
By the act of January 31, 1861, the representation was fixed at twenty-five senators and eighty-five representatives. Ford county was placed in the ninth senatorial district and the forty-second representative district. This being the first appointment since the organization of Ford, the county was represented for the two preceding years in the senate by Thomas A. Marshall, of Coles, and in the house of representatives for the same time by Samuel G. Craig, of Ver- milion. The ninth senatorial district included the counties of Coles, Douglas, Champaign, Ford, Iroquois, Vermilion. Colonel Charles Bogardus repre- sented Ford county in the senate, from 1888 to 1899.
Ford county was represented in the lower house by Charles Bogardus, from 1884 to 1888; John A. Montelius, 1901 to 1903; A. L. Phillips, 1905 to 1907.
THE FIRST COURTHOUSE.
When the new county of Ford was organized, a great and pressing want was a suitable place for holding court, rooms for county officers and a jail. There had been considerable discussion as to the proper site for the county buildings, and some propositions were presented to the county court in regard thereto. Ilowever, on the 16th day of January, 1860, the question was defi- nitely settled by an order entered in the county court providing for the loca- tion of the courthouse and jail on the site where the present one now stands.
In June of the same year, an agreement was entered into for the erection of the courthouse; the county judge and associate justices representing the county, and James F. Hall being the contractor.
The original cost as provided in the contract was fixed at eleven thousand dollars but the plans being afterward somewhat changed and enlarged permission was granted by a vote of the people, April, 1861, to add four thousand dollars to the first amount. In December, 1861, an additional contract was made
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with Mr. Hall, and the total price increased to sixteen thousand dollars, the additional cost being for excavation of the basement, grading the yard and construction of outbuildings.
On February 13. 1862. the building was accepted by the board of super- visors, and a county order issued to Mr. Hall for two thousand eight hundred and ninety dollars. The records are not very clear as to this sum, the writer being under the impression that this was the balance still unpaid on the six- teen thousand dollars, until assured by parties conversant with the facts that this last payment was for additional improvements not named in the contracts. This would bring the total cost of the courthouse, as it then stood, up to eighteen thousand eight hundred and ninety dollars. The explanation for these additions to the original contract price is made "that the original plan was found unsatisfactory, and that it was thought best to make the change at that time rather than after the work was completed under the first contract." Nothing appears to the contrary but that the supervisors and others represent- ing the county acted wisely in this regard. Bonds were issued for sixteen thousand dollars, bearing interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum.
The courthouse as first built, contained on the first or ground floor offices for the county elerk, circuit clerk, and sheriff, rooms for the jailer and family and cells for the prisoners. The second floor contained court and jury rooms.
After completion of the jail, the cells in the courthouse were removed. and in their stead the circuit clerk's office was fitted up. The county clerk occupied the room formerly used by the jailer. In March, 1875. a contract was entered into with William Daniels for building fire-proof vaults at the west end of the courthouse, and other improvements, including the fitting up of the clerk's offices as already mentioned. The total cost of the same was two thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine dollars and eighty cents. The court- house was of ample size to meet the wants of our county for many years.
SHERIFF'S RESIDENCE AND JAIL.
At a session of the board of supervisors. May, 1871, a committee, consist- ing of Supervisors C. E. Henderson, William Noel and James Il. Flagg, was appointed, with instructions "to examine into the matter of building a new jail or to repair the old one so as to be capable of holding prisoners, and for that purpose they are hereby authorized to go abroad and examine such jails as in their judgment will be suitable."
FORD COUNTY INFIRMARY, PAXTON
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At the meeting of the board in June, the committee reported, as the result of their labors, a plan for a county jail. The board accepted the report and decided in favor of erecting a sheriff's residence and a jail. The plan pre- sented by the committee was followed.
The board again met in July of the same year, and appropriated twenty thousand dollars for the erection of the buildings named and directed the county clerk to issue county orders from time to time as directed by the build- ing committee, but not to exceed the sum of fifteen thousand dollars. The orders were to bear interest at ten per cent per annum.
Six-tenths of the county tax collected each year was set apart to meet the payment of these county orders. Messrs. Henderson, Noel and Flagg were placed in charge of the work on behalf of the county.
In September, 1871, the board made an additional appropriation of twelve thousand dollars. "for the completion of the sheriff's residence and jail, said orders to bear interest at ten per cent per annum, six thousand dollars to be paid in five years, and six thousand dollars in ten years." The total cost of these buildings, not including discounts on county orders, was something more than twenty-eight thousand dollars. This is ascertained by the orders issued and estimating discounts on the same, there being no funds in the county treasury at the time.
THE NEW COURTHOUSE.
The old courthouse was a scene of many interesting things in the history of the county. Many men, who afterward became distinguished citizens of the nation, took part in the varied litigation conducted in its courtrooms. Among these may be mentioned, Ex-Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court David Davis, now dead; Hon. J. G. Cannon, speaker of the national house of representatives; and in the early days states attorney of the distriet then including Ford county.
In December, 1905, a decision was reached by the board of supervisors to remodel the old courthouse. At the following January meeting the sum to be expended for the work was fixed at fifty-five thousand dollars. The plans for the practically new structure were awarded to Joseph W. Rover, of Urbana, Illinois, and he was employed as architect. John Iehl, H. A. McClure and J. P. Glass were named as the first building committee.
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