USA > Illinois > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson County, Illinois > Part 20
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Scott answered, "No."
" Were you out doors?" asked Tanner.
" No, sah."
" Were you under the bed?"
" No, sah."
" Were you in the loft?"
" No. sah."
" Were you under the floor?"
" No, sah."
" Were you in the chimney !"
" No, sah."
Tanner, now thinking he had him fast: " Well. sir, if you were not in the bouse, out doors, under the bed, in the loft, under the floor nor in the chimney, where were you, sir? Now, answer me that, sir; " and he drew down his eyebrows and closed his eyes, as was his custom when he thought he had his man fast, and paused for the answer.
The answer came with promptness: "I was a-standing in the door, sah; that's whar I was, sah."
It is needless to say that the examination proceeded no further.
Judge Tanner was a profound lawyer ; well read in all the books. In practice, as well as on the bench, he went to the bottom of every case presented. He brought to his aid an intelligent industry, that made him a better lawyer at the end of each year than he was at the beginning. To young men just entering the profession, he was most kind; he always had words of encouragement for them. It was the good fortune of the writer to study law with the Judge, and no man was ever kinder to a student; he always had a good word. To his client he was honest and just. If the client did not have a case, the Judge did not hesitate to tell him so; and fre- quently has he lost clients because he did not advise success; but his principle and theory was that if the client did not have a case, to frankly tell him so.
On the bench he was most painstaking. He sifted every case aud brought to the front the equities. Of unimpeachable integ- rity, a purer man never sat in judgment.
"A judge-a man so learned So full of equity, so noble, so notable;
In the process of life so innocent;
In the management of his office so incorrupt;
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
In the passages of rights so wise; in Affection of his country so religious; In all his services to the State so Fortunate and exploring, as envy Itself cannot accuse, or malice vitiate."
Judge G. W. Wall, at present member of the Appellate Court and its presiding officer, was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, April 22, 1839; came with his family to Illinois in the latter part of 1839 and located in Perry Coun- ty, where he grew to manhood. For a time was a student at McKendree College, but graduated at the Michigan University in 1858. He read law with C. I. Simons, in Cairo, and afterward graduated at the Cin- cinnati Law School in 1859, and was at once admitted to the bar. In 1866, he was a member of the law firm of Mulkey, Wall & Wheeler, of Cairo, which continued for many years, and until he was elected Judge of the Circuit Court. He was attorney for the Illi- nois Central Railroad, and while thus acting a good story is told of him. He was called npon to attend a case at Effingham for the railroad, which had been sued by a citizen for the value of stock killed by defendants' train. The venerable and ever ready O. B. Ficklin was prosecuting the company, to- gether with some other attorney whose name is not now remembered. The evidence was heard, and counsel went to the jury. The plaintiff's case was opened by Ficklin's asso- ciate, who indulged in considerable bunkum and bombast about giant corporations, etc. After he closed, Wall replied for the defense, and during the course of his remarks com- pared the gentleman who had preceded him to Dickens' famous character of " Sergeant Buzfuz." and, as he thought, completely an- nihilated the gentleman, and left nothing to be done but for the jury to return a verdict for the defendant, and thus closed his case.
It was now time for Ficklin to make the closing argument for the plaintiff, and after
speaking to the testimony and the law, he concluded in the following vein of pathetic and injured innocence:
"And now, gentlemen of the jury, it be- comes my painful duty to reply to the malig- nant and uncalled for attack upon one of the best men this country ever produced; a man who has long since slept with his fathers, and upon whose character no man, until to- day, has dared to cast the shadow of suspic- ion. I alludo, gentlemen of the jury, to the attack of my young friend Wall upon the memory of that good and kind man, Sergeant Buzfuz. Gentlemen, it was not, perhaps, your privilege, as it was mine, to have known him personally. I remember him well, in the early and trying times of this country. He first assisted to cut out the roads through this county. He was the early pioneer; who was ever ready and willing, with honest heart and active hand, to aid a friend or brother in distress. In fact, gentlemen of the jury, there are few men, living or dead, that this country owes more to than it does to my old friend Ser geant Buzfnz. It is true, gentle- men, that he was somewhat uncouth and blunt in his way, but his every action, I assure yon, was prompted by a noble and honest motive. He was not blessed with the brill- iant and accomplished education of my young friend. He, gentlemen of the jury, wore no starched shirt, or ยท fine neckties; he was humble and retired. In his leather leg- gins and hunting shirt he went about the country, not as a representative of a rich rail- road monopoly, but as an humble citizen do- ing good to his fellow-mau. His bones have long since moldered into dust ; the sod grows green over his grave; his work is done, and he is gone from among us to return no more forever; and I was surprised to hear his just and amiable character attacked in the man- ner it has been upon this occasion; and it is
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
impossible for me, his last remaining friend, to permit it to go by unnoticed. And to you, sir [turning to Wall, who was by this time completely dumb-founded], I say, no better man ever lived than he whom you have so unjustly abused. Youth, sir, should have more respect for the men who have made life pleasant for those who come after them, than to assail their character in the manner you have done;" and thus he continued until his close, with great earnestness and the utmost apparent sincerity. At its close, the jury could hardly wait until they could write their verdict for the full amount of damages claimed by the plaintiff, and, it is said, so worked up were they that Wall had difficulty in escaping personal violence.
In 1862, Judge Wall was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention; in 1864, he was State's Attorney for the Third Judi- cial Circuit, and in 1870 was again a member of the Constitutional Convention.
In August, 1877, he was elected Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit, which position he still holds. In September, 1877, he was assigned to the Appellate Court for the Fourth District, and has so remained to the present time. As a Judge, he is clear, con- cise and sound, of unimpeachable integrity; and for ability and legal learning he takes front rank in the State's judiciary. Yet, it is said, he has never referred in a disparag ing manner to any of the early settlers since he made the acquaintance of Judge Ficklin.
Hon. Thomas S. Casey, one of the Circuit Judges of this judicial district, and also one of the Appellate Judges, was born in Jeffer- son County, Ill., April 6, 1832, and is a son of Gov. Zadok Casey. He was educated at McKendree College, Lebanon, Ill., and after completing his allotted course of studies and securing the degree of Master of Arts, he applied himself to the study of law under
the preceptorship of Hugh B. Montgomery, with whom he remained as a student for three years. At the expiration of that time, he was (in 1854) admitted to ;the bar. In 1860. he was elected State's Attorney for the Twelfth Judicial District, having, up to this time, been engaged in the practice of his profession. In 1864, he was re-elected to the same position. In 1862, he entered the army of the United States as Colonel of the One Hundred and Tenth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served during the succeeding eleven months. He participated in the battle of Stone River, and took part, also, in many other minor engagements. On his return from the field, he resumed his pro- fessional labors, and until 1868 filled the position of States Attorney. In 1870, he was elected to the Lower House of the Leg. islature, and while a member of that body delivered a powerful free-trade speech, which is noted as being the first speech of its kind ever delivered in the Legislature of Illinois. In 1872, he was elected to the State Senate, and served for four years. In 1879, he was elected one of the Judges of the Second Judicial Circuit Court, and immediately thereafter was, by the Supreme Court, as- signed to duty as one of the Judges of the Appellate Court of the Fourth District; which positions he still holds. In politics, he has always been an "Ironside Democrat." He was married, in October, 1861, to Matilda S. Moran, of Springfield, Ill.
Judge Edwin Beecher, one of the Judges of this circuit, was born in Herkimer County, N. Y., September 11, 1819. He received a collegiate education, and, in September, 1837, removed to Licking County, Ohio; and at Lancaster, Ohio, he read law with the Hon. Henry Stansbury. In 1844, he settled in Fairfield, Wayne Co., Ill., and entered at once upon the duties of his profession. At
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
that time, there was but one lawyer, a Mr. Ward, in the county, and he died the spring after Judge Beecher's arrival. Judge Beecher at once took a front rank in the profession, and in 1846 was elected Probate Justice of Wayne County. He was elected Judge of the Circuit Court for this circuit in 1855, and held the office for six years. In 1860, he edited the second edition of Breeze's Reports, and made the volume more valuable by additional notes and citations. He was appointed Paymaster in the United States Army in November. 1862, and continued as such until 1869.
Judge Beecher has always been regarded as a profound lawyer and a wise counselor; he made an excellent Judge-and in what- ever position he has been called, he has dis- charged the duties required of him faith- fully and honestly He is still residing at Fairfield, where he first settled, and although he is now in his sixty-fourth year, he is hale and vigorous, and enjoying a lucrative practice.
Circuit Court .- The first term of Circuit Court held in this county was convened on the 8th day of October, A. D. 1819, with William Wilson as Judge; Joel Pace, Clerk; Lewis Watkins, Sheriff, and Frederick Adolphus Hubbard, Prosecuting Attorney.
The grand jury, after a laborious session of about two hours in the woods north of the public square, about where the livery stable of Walker & Pattison now stands, returned two indictments, one against William Casey and one against Lewis Watkins, Sheriff, both for assault and battery. Watkins confessed the soft impeachment, aud a fine of $2 and costs was imposed.
May term, 1820, Wilson presided and Henry Eddy was appointed Prosecuting At . torney for the term. Two civil cases appeared on the docket, both dismissed by plaintiff,
six indictments for assault and battery and five for selling liquors without a license, from which we gather that the early settlers came here with the impression that a good knock-down was a luxury to be sought after by those who would have distinction linger around their names. This sentiment, accom- panied with a bit of the " elixir of life," or "corn juice," as it may have then been called, was well calculated to make things interest- ing and not a few sore heads.
At the October term, 1820, Hon. Thomas C. Brown presided. At this term an indict- ment was returned against Ferdinand Herrin for counterfeiting, and for the first time the county found itself in need of a jail; but none was at hand, and the prisoner was taken to the White County Jail, from whence he proceeded to make his escape, but after a while he was recaptured and lodged in jail at Old Covington, Washingon County, where he remained until the June term of the court, 1821, Judge Joseph Phillips presiding. On the 19th day of June, 1821, Herrin was placed on trial, and as it was the most im- portant criminal trial that had been called, considerable interest was manifested, and after due legal forms, a jury was called and testimony heard. After due and careful con- sideration, the jury returned a verdict of guilty, and the court immediately proceeded to pronounce the following sentence: " It is therefore considered by the court that the defendant pay a tine to the people of the county aforesaid in the sum of $20 and costs of this prosecution, and that he be whipped thirty-nine stripes on his bare back, which the Sheriff of the county is ordered to in - flict at, half past 6 o'clock this evening, and it is further ordered that he be com- mitted until fine and costs are paid." Speedy justice, indeed! It was the first time an opportunity had presented itself to give
IMcarpenter
1188 11 THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
to the citizens a practical illustration of the "terrors of the law," and it could not be lost. The whipping part was executed at the ap- pointed hour, and considering the number of inhabitants in the county at that time, no larger number of the fair daughters and stal- wart sons of Jefferson County were ever gathered together. He was committed under the order of the court, but wages being low and payments poor in jail, he did not accu- mulate very rapidly, and after awhile he was released and the fine and costs are still unpaid. A little management in the way of gate fees might have paid it, but it was a free show.
At the November term, 1822, Hon. Thomas Reynolds presided and William Wood sued John M. Pace for false imprisonment. Par- ties not being ready. the cause was continued until the May term, 1823, at which term the Hon. John Reynolds presided. The case of Woods against Pace was called and tried by jury, and the following verdict returned: " We the jury find damages in favor of plaintiff $38.37} in paper of this State." Judgment was accordingly rendered.
October term, 1823, Thomas Reynolds presided and for the first and only time in the history of the county, the Grand Jury adjourned without finding any indictments. Peace and good will seems to have reigned throughout the entire county.
At the May and October terms, 1824, Thomas Reynolds presided. In April. 1825, James Hall was upon the bench; Oc- tober, 1825, James Wattles wore the title and James Hall was here again in April and October, 1826.
March, 1827, court opened with Thomas Brown on the bench. The grand jury at this time in hunting for violators of the law, discovered that Joel Pace, the Clerk of the court, had been a little pugnacious, and they
returned a bill against him for assault and battery. Defendant first thought the indict- ment was bad and entered his motion to quash. The court, however, was inclined to be satisfied, and overruled the motion. Defend- ant by this time came to the conclusion that he was not guilty, and so entered his plea and called for a jury. A jury came, and after full investigation of the case, came to the conclusion that the defendant was again mistaken in his plea, and returned a verdict of guilty as charged, whereupon defendant was required to contribute the sum of $1 to the school fund and also to pay the costs of the prosecution.
Judge Brown continued to hold the courts until the March term, 1835.
In March, 1835, Alex F. Grant came to the bench.
March and August terms, 1836, Jeptha Hardin presided. About this time Judge Hardin's brother-in-law killed a man, and the Judge resigned his seat to prosecute him, and in doing so said he would rather be the owner of a tnb mnill in Kentucky than a Cir- cuit Judge in Illinois.
After Hardin came Scates, who held court from 1837 to 1846.
At the August term, 1838, Downing Baugh was indicted for retailing clocks without having first obtained a license therefor. Defendant entered his plea of not guilty. as inferred from the following order entered in the case: "Now on this day came the peo- ple by Marshall, State's Attorney, and the de- fendant in his own proper person, and the said defendant for plea says he is not guilty and for trial puts himself upon the country and State's Attorney does the like, whereup- on let a jury come, and thereupon a jury came, to wit: James Montgomery, Samuel Cummins, John R. Allen, Joseph Dorrel, Granville Jones, James Bennett, John Dol-
5
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
son, William R. Little and Uriah Wither - spoon, who being elected, tried and sworn, well and truly to try the issues joined, upon their oaths do say, we, the jury, tind the defendant guilty. It is considered by the court that the plaintiff recover of the defend- ant the sum of $5 and costs of this proceed- ings."
We conclude that the proceedings had in this case did not materially affect the de- fendant's popularity. because he was after- ward made Judge of the Circuit Court.
With this one exception, nothing of spe- cial interest seems to have come before the court until the April term, 1841, when the first indictment for murder was returned into court against Rollin Bradley, charging him with killing and murdering one Elijah P. King. Nothing was done at this term in the case except to recognize the witnesses and continue. The witnesses were Robert A. D. Wilbanks, father of the present Clerk of the Appellate Court; William H. Short, John Browning, James W. Garrison, Nathan Kirk, A. D. W. Williams, Elijah Piper, George Black, Bershall Black and James A. Hamilton.
At the special November term, 1841, the case was called and the trial entered upon. But in order that the case may be fully un- derstood, we will give the circumstances of the killing as we have gathered them from a history of the county by Dr. A. Clark John- son, published in the Free Press a few years ago:
1
Elijah P. King, the victim, lived near the east side of Elk Prairie. Bradley lived on the west side, was an industrious man, kept a barrel of whisky, and was gaining property as rapidly as was common in that day. He was, however, always a determined and dangerous man.
King came to Bradley's for some whisky;
before he left a quarrel arose, and Kiug, be- ing a large, stout man, and rather anxious for a fight, took a chair, knocked Bradley down, and gave him a very severe beating, and, leaving him, got on his horse and went home. Wesley Hicks came in a few minutes afterward, and finding Bradley insensible and the floor all bespattered with blood, pro- nounced him a murdered man, But by the help of Hicks' dressing and good attention, he was able to be up next day and swore he would kill King on sight.
The next morning King concluded he would go to Bradley's and make friends with him and get some more whisky. When he rode up, Bradley met him with his gun. King said, " Bradley, you are not going to shoot me, are you ?" Bradley replied, " Yes, by -, I am." King dismounted on the opposite side of his horse, exclaiming, " For God's sake don't shoot me." Bradley stepped around the horse, placed the gun to King's side, fired, and King died in a few minntes. Bradley then fled. He was, how- ever, captured, indicted, and trial set for the special November term, 1841. Scates was on the bench; Willis Allen was Prosecuting Attorney; Henry Eddy, W. J. Gatewood. S. G. Hicks and E. Jones represented the de- fense. After an examination of about fifty men, a jury was impaneled, consisting of Coleman Smith, W. M. Fuller, J. H. Wat- son, S. B. Shelton, B. McConnell, Jesse Phillips, D. Baugh, John Holt, D. McLaugh- lin, Joel Smith, Edward Owens and W. Gib- berson. The examination of witnesses began on November 30, and December 7, the argu- ment opened, continuing until December 8, when the case went to the jury. In a short time, however, the jury returned a verdict of guilty.
Motion for new trial and arrest of judg- ment being overruled, the court pronounced
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
sentence of death on Bradley and fixed the 3d day of January, 1842, between the hours of 12 and 2 o'clock, for his execution. Judge Scates is said to have evinced considerable feeling, but Bradley listened with much in- difference and at the conclusion, got up and took a drink of water as if nothing had hap- pened.
A gallows was erected somewhere near where the machine shop now stands, and every arrangement made for the execution; but Bradley had friends, and they were not idle. A petition was at once circulated, ask- ing for his pardon. Bluford Hayes took it to Springfield, obtained the pardon and re- turned just in time to disappoint one of the largest crowds that ever assembled in the county, many of them leaving mad and hot at their disappointment.
Thus we give the history of the first mur- der ever committed in this county, and the only one where the sentence of death was passed.
Judge Scates was on the bench from 1837 until 1846, when the Hon. William A. Den- ning was elected, and continued to hold court until the election of Judge Marshall in 1851, when he resigned, and Downing Baugh was appointed to fill the vacancy. Edwin Beecher followed Baugh in 1855, and in 1861 Marshall came back. remained until February, 1865, when he again resigned to accept a seat in Congress, and James M. Pollock was elected and served until 1872, when he was succeded by T. B. Tanner, and in 1878 he gave way to Thomas S. Casey, the present incumbent. Thus have we given a brief sketch of the Circuit Court.
William Wilson was born in Loudoun County, Va., in 1795. At eighteen, be studied law with Hon. John Cook, a lawyer of much prominence at the Virginia bar and who was afterward Minister to the court of
France. In 1817, young Wilson came West in search of fame and success. He settled near Carmi, White County. In 1818, he was a candidate for Judge of the Supreme Court before the Legislature, but was de- feated by six votes; but within less than one year he was appointed to a vacancy and served as Justice, when he was made Chief Justice, then in his twenty-ninth year. He was not a politician in any sense of the word; he did that which he conceived to be his duty regardless of consequences, and this trait, together with some considera- ble legal knowledge and ability, kept him on the Supreme Bench for thirty years. His composition was clear, distinct and to the point. He possessed an analytical mind; his judgment as a lawyer was discriminating and sound, and npon the bench his learning and impartiality commanded respect, while his own dignified deportment inspired decor- um in others. He was greatly esteemed by the members of the bar.
In politics, Judge Wilson was a Whig. He was an amiable and accomplished gentle- man in his private life, with manners en- gaging and friendship strong. His hospi- tality was of the " Old Virginia " order, and during his summer vacations he almost al- ways had many friends and men of distinc- tion visit him at his home on the banks of the Little Wabash near Carmi.
With the re-organization of the judicial system of the State in 1848, Judge Wilson retired to private life. He died April 29, 1857, at his home near Carmi, in his sixty- third year, one-half of his life having been spent npon the bench of the highest court of his State.
Samuel S. Marshall, a native of Illinois, has spent his whole life in this State. He was born in Gallatin County, near Shawnee- town, on the 12th day of March, 1821, and
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there grew to manhood. during which time he obtained a fair education. He entered the law office of Henry Eddy. of Shawneetown. one of the thien prominent lawyers of the State. In 1844, Judge Marshall was admit- ted to the bar, and shortly after located at McLeansboro, where he still [resides. and began the practice of his profession. He was not long permitted to remain in private life. He already began to develop traits of character and ability which pronounced a leader, and in 1846 he was elected to the Legislature, where he at once took a front rank in the councils of the State. During his term as a member of the Legislature, he was elected by that body Prosecuting Attor- ney of this judicial circuit, then comprising the counties of Jefferson, Marion. Hamilton, Franklin, Williamson, Jackson, Union. Alexander, Pulaski, Massac, Pope, Hardin, Gallatin and Saline, fourteen in all, extend- ing from what is now the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad to the southern boundary of the State at Cairo; and from the Ohio River on the east to the Mississippi on the west. In those days, it will be remembered that no railroads were in this county, and the trav- eling accommodations were not as good as at present. The court and bar " rode the cir cuit" from county to county, sometimes in a stage, sometimes in a wagon, then on horse- back and again on foot, with a rail on their shoulder to pry the stage out of the next mud hole. Those were trying times on the bar, and yet many pleasures were had that are not to-day enjoyed: telling stories and crack- ing jokes was the pastime on the way. At court. four or five would be stowed away in a small room at the best hotel, which was nothing to speak of. But whisky was cheap, and the trials were bravely endured. For two years Judge Marshall "rode the circuit" in this manner as Prosecuting Attorney, on
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