USA > Illinois > Jersey County > History of Jersey County, Illinois > Part 12
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CIRCUIT COURT
Judge William Thomas held the first term of circuit court in this county, in the schoolhouse at the corner of Spruce and Jefferson streets, in December, 1839, and the session was for one day only. Robert L. Hill was clerk, and the following were the grand jurors: Elijah Van Horne, foreman, William Draker, John D. Gillham, Thomas M. Hamilton, Samuel McGill, James Davis, John Corson, George Hoffman, Josiah Rhoades, John Hawkins, Henry Coonrod, Mebane Anderson, Jolm Kim- ball, George Smith, John Brown and Robert B. Robbins. The April term, 1840, was held in the Presbyterian Church, then in process of con- struction, and unplastered.
The new courthouse on the public square, being so far completed that. it could be occupied, the October term of the court was held therein. Judge Thomas held the court until the spring term, 1841, when he was succeeded by Judge Samuel Lockwood, who remained on the bench until 1849, when Judge David M. Woodson of Greene County, was elected, and was twice re-elected, holding the office until 1867, when his former law partner, Charles D. Hodges of Greene County, was elected for one term of six years. Judge Cyrus Epler of Morgan County, succeeded Judge Hodges in 1873, and by re-election remained on the bench until June. 1879. a period of twenty-four years.
Under the Act of 1877, establishing the appellate courts, it became necessary to provide additional judges of the circuit courts to be as- signed as judges of the appellate courts, of the four appellate districts of the state. The Act of June 2, 1877, was passed for the re-districting of
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the boundaries of the circuit court districts of the state, and the election of an additional judge in each of the new districts. Under this act, the old nineteenth district, consisting of the counties of DeWitt, Menard, Logan and Mason was consolidated with the eighteenth district of Cass, Morgan, Scott, Greene, Jersey and Calhoun, the new district being called the seventh. Judge Lyman Lacy was judge of the seventeenth and Judge Cyrus Epler, of the eighteenth circuits. This act of June 2, 1877, pro- vided that the sitting judges should continue till the regular election for judges, the first Monday in June, 1879, and that an additional judge should be elected in each new district, whose term was to expire on the last named date, and at that time, three judges should be elected for the regular term of six years.
Albert G. Burr of Greene County, was elected as additional judge in the seventh district, and he, with the old judges, was elected in 1879 for the full six year term. Judge Albert G. Burr died in 1882, and George W. Herdman, of Jersey County, was elected to fill the vacancy, and he with the other sitting judges, Epler and Lacy, by re-election held their offices until 1897, when the circuits of the state were again re- districted, the seventh district under this act consisting of the counties of Sangamon, Macoupin, Morgan, Greene, Jersey and Scott, and James A. Creighton of Sangamon, Robert B. Shirley of Macoupin, and Owen P. Thompson, of Morgan were elected judges in 1897, and re-elected in 1903 and 1909.
Owen P. Thompson resigned in January, 1914, and April 21, 1914, Norman L. Jones of Greene County, was elected his successor. Judge Robert B. Shirley died in 1914, and July 3, 1914, Frank W. Burton of Macoupin County was appointed his successor, and in the election in June, 1915, James A. Creighton, Norman L. Jones and Frank W. Burton were all elected for the full term of six years. In January, 1917, James A. Creighton died, and on March 22, 1917, Elbert S. Smith of Sangamon County (Republican) was elected to fill his unexpired term. The sitting judges are Norman L. Jones (Democrat), Frank W. Burton (Democrat). and Elbert S. Smith (Republican).
JUDGES OF THE PROBATE COURT
The following jurists have served as judges of the probate court for Jersey County ; from 1839 to 1918: 1839-47, Joseph F. Scott; 1847-49, J. M. Hurd; 1849-57, George E. Warren; 1857-61, Oliver P. Powell : 1861-65, Richard I. Lowe; 1865-69, Oliver P. Powell; 1869-72, J. M.
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Hurd, resigned; 1872-82, Robert A. King; 1882-87, William H. Pogue, died; 1887-90, Adams A. Goodrich ; 1890-1902, Allen M. Slaten; 1902-06, Charles S. White; 1906, 1910, Thomas F. Ferns, resigned in 1910; 1910, Hiram P. Noble, appointed to fill vacancy; 1910-16, H. W. Pogue, died November 21, 1916; 1917-18, William T. Sumner, elected to fill vacancy, April 3, 1917.
MASTERS IN CHANCERY
During his last term, Judge, Woodson appointed Robert M. Knapp as master-in-chancery. Judge Hodges followed his example by appointing M. E. Bagley as master-in-chancery during his term of office. Judge Epler had George C. Cockrell in the same office unin the March term, 1885, when Judge Herdman, presiding and representing Judges Epler and Lacy, appointed Joseph M. Page, who, by virtue of seventeen con- secutive appointments for terms of two years each, made thirty-four continuous years in the office of master-in-chancery, to the uniform satis- faction of the court, bar and litigants, transacting business with his office. This is indeed a remarkable record. The office, by its nature is judicial. The master is a deputy of the court and the office is usually filled by a member of the bar, but Mr. Page, a civilian, with no legal training, by his efficiency, integrity and uniform courtesy, for thirty- four years has discharged the complicated duties pertaining to this office so competently, that it would be difficult to fill the office with equal acceptability by another appointee.
THE BAR
The bar of Jersey County claims the most distinguished men of this part of the state, both past and present.
PIONEER ATTORNEYS
At the time of the organization of Jersey County, it had been for eighteen years, or from 1821, three years after the admission of the state into the Union, a part of Greene County. All of the courts of record and business requiring the attention of members of the bar were in Greene County.
Prior to 1821, Edwardsville had been the nearest court. Later, dur- ing the early thirties, Alton developed into quite a nucleus for the courts, and when Jersey County was established in 1839, there was very
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little business at Jerseyville for members of the bar, nor was there for several years to come. The lawyers composing the bar of Greene County during the eighteen years above referred to were as follows: A. W. Caverly ; James Turney, at one time attorney general of the state ; David M. Woodson, later for many years judge of the circuit court; and Charles D. Hodges, who was a partner of Judge Woodson, and succeeded him as circuit judge.
FIRST ATTORNEYS AT JERSEYVILLE
The first attorney to locate at Jerseyville was Martin B. Miller, who was born in 1805, in Vermont. He studied law in his native state, where he was admitted to the bar, and when he came to Illinois, he spent some time at Alton before locating at Jerseyville in 1840. Here he remained until his death, which occurred in 1874, being during the intervening time engaged in the practice of law.
James Harriot located at Jerseyville about the same time as Mr. Miller, and he was born in Somerset County, N. J. In the same year as his settlement at Jerseyville, he was appointed school commissioner of the county, and was re-elected to that office until 1847. In 1844, he was elected a representative to the General Assembly of the State from Jersey County. After his retirement from the office of school commissioner, he went to St. Louis, Mo., and still later moved to Pekin, Tazewell County, Ill., where on March 25. 1857, he was commissioned judge of the circuit court. On July 1, 1861, he was re-commissioned judge for the twenty- first district of this state. Mr. Harriot died August 2, 1869. Clark H. Goodrich, who was born in New York, located at Jerseyville in 1844, and he was one of the first states attorneys in this part of the state.
W. K. Titcomb was the next attorney to locate at Jerseyville, but in 1847 or 1848 he went to St. Louis, Mo., where he died of cholera during the epidemic of 1849.
Abner C. Hinton practiced law for a few years in Jersey County, but then removed to Greene County, where he died.
H. H. Howard came to Jerseyville in 1854, and for some years taught a school for young men in the first story of what is known as the "Sons' Hall" north of the courthouse. Later he was admitted to the bar and practiced law here for a time, and was also editor of the "Democratic Union." He was born in New York and was related to the Knapp family. Until 1865, Mr. Howard continued in practice at Jerseyville, but in that year went to Kansas and died in that state.
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Anthony L. Knapp was a native of New York, and came to Greene. County, Ill., with his father, in 1844 removing to Jerseyville. He was admitted to the bar in 1849, and practiced his profession here until 1865. After serving for one term as a member of the upper house of the State Assembly, Mr. Knapp was elected to Congress in 1861, and re-elected in 1863. In 1865, he went to Chicago, opened an office in that city, and was engaged in active practice for two years, at the expiration of which time he went to Springfield, Ill., where he located, and continued in prac- tice the remainder of his life, dying May 23, 1881.
Robert M. Knapp, a brother of Anthony L. Knapp, was born in New York in 1831. He was a son of Dr. Augustus H. Knapp, and came to Jerseyville at an early day. After attending the schools of Jerseyville, he went to the Kentucky State Military Institution at Frankfort for several years, and was admitted to the bar in 1855, practicing his profes- sion at Jerseyville until his death, June 24, 1879. In 1867, he was elected a member of the lower house of the State Assembly from Jersey County, and to the Forty-third Congress in 1872, and the Forty-fifth Congress in 1875. On December 26, 1855, he was married to Miss Fannie A. Green, a daughter of Capt. Stephen S. Green of Macoupin County, Ill.
John W. Slaten was born in Georgia in 1810, and moved with his father to Jersey County in 1829. Mr. Slaten became a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in the early thirties was ad- mitted to the bar, continuing in an active legal practice with his brother, Benjamin F. Slaten. His death occurred in 1887.
Benjamin F. Slaten was born in Madison County, Ill., in 1820, and came with his father to Jersey County in 1829. He was reared on his father's farm, and attended the local schools, after which he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in the early fifties, and he, in association with his brother, John W. Slaten, practiced his profession for many years. He was elected state's attorney of this county in 1873, and served for a term of four years. Benjamin F. Slaten was married to a daughter of Col. Josiah Askew of Elsah, and he died in his home in this county in the nineties.
George E. Warren was born in Ohio in 1817, and in the spring of 1818, his father, Dr. Thomas Warren, moved to Bristol, R. I., and there George E. Warren attended school, and the university. Dr. Warren came to Alton, Ill., in 1835, and entered a considerable amount of land in Jersey County, where he lived until his death in 1853. George E. Warren read law with Woodson & Hodges at Carrollton; and also as-
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sisted M. O. Bledsoe, a clerk of the circuit, the county and commissioners' courts. In 1837, he returned to Rhode Island, and in June of that year, he was married to Harriet S. Allen, a daughter of S. S. Allen, collector of the port of Bristol. Returning west in 1838, Mr. Warren located at Alton, where he completed his law studies, and was prepared to prac- tice law in the Illinois courts in 1839. He then settled on a farm bought for him by his father, comprising 240 acres. In 1841 he was elected a justice of the peace, and continued to hold that office until 1849, when he was elected, under the state constitution of 1848, the first county judge of Jersey County, which office he held for eight years. In January, 1862, he entered into a partnership with his son-in-law, William H. Pogue, in the practice of law at Jerseyville, and continued in that rela- tion until the election of Mr. Pogue to the office of county judge in the fall of 1883. In 1875, Judge Warren was elected mayor of the city of Jerseyville as an anti-license candidate, and in 1878, he was elected a representative from this district to the legislature. He was the oldest member of the order of Odd Fellows in the city of Jerseyville, at his death, in Jerseyville, December 23, 1891.
William H. Pogue was born at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1835, and came to Alton, in 1854, where he read law in the office of Hon. Edward Keat- ing, who was at that time attorney general of the Chicago & Alton Rail- road. In 1857, Mr. Pogue began the practice of his profession, although he was then only about twenty years of age. In 1858, he was elected, in spite of his youth, city attorney of the city of Alton, and was ap- pointed master-in-chancery of the Alton city court by Judge Henry W. Billings in 1859, and was reappointed in April, 1861. In January, 1862, he came to Jerseyville and entered into partnership with his father-in- law, Judge George E. Warren, under the firm name of Warren & Pogue, which association continued until he was elected judge of the county court in the fall of 1882, which office he held until his death in 1887.
Milton S. Littlefield came to Jerseyville in 1860, but only practiced a short time. In 1861 he was instrumental in organizing Company F, Fourteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was elected captain of that company. He never resumed his practice at Jerseyville, and has since died.
Robert A. King was born in Missouri in 1830. He was admitted to the bar in his native state. During the Civil War, he served in the Con- federate army, and in 1865 came to Jerseyville, where he entered into partnership with Edward A. Pinero. This association continued for sev- eral ycars, when George W. Herdman was admitted as a member of the
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firm, the name becoming King, Pinero & Herdman. In 1872, upon the resignation of Judge J. M. Hurd, R. A. King was appointed judge of the county court of this county, which office he held by re-election for ten years, and then removed to California. At present he is residing at Los Angeles, Cal.
James H. Comort located at Jerseyville in 1844.
ATTORNEYS OF A LATER DATE
Edward A. Pinero came to Jersey County in 1862. Later he was married to Miss. Irene Allen, a daughter of William H. Allen, with whom Mr. Pinero was associated as cashier of the Grafton Bank, of which Mr. Allen was the head. Mr. Pinero later, in company with T. J. Selby, went to Tecumseh, Neb., and practiced law for a time, after which he returned to Illinois, settling in Hardin, Calhoun County, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession. He died at Hardin.
John W. Merrill, a young attorney, practiced here for a short time in connection with Judge King, under the firm name of King & Merrill, but only remained for a brief period, and then removed from the county.
William M. Ames, after the close of the Civil War, read law with Warren & Pogue, was admitted to the bar, and became a member of the firm of Warren, Pogue & Ames. He left Jersey County in 1871, and never returned to it.
Adams A. Goodrich, a son of Henry O. Goodrich, was born at Jersey- ville in 1849. After attending the schools of Jerseyville, he was admitted to West Point. Following his graduation from that institution, he read law, and was admitted to the bar in January, 1873, and began the prac- tice of law at Jerseyville in connection with the firm of Hodges & Burr of Carrollton. After serving for several terms as city attorney of Jerseyville, in 1878, he was elected state's attorney and re-elected to that office in 1880 and 1884. In 1887 he was elected county judge to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William H. Pogue. In 1889, Mr. Goodrich opened an office at Chicago, where he continued the practice of his profession, later entering into a partnership under the name of Goodrich, Bradley & Vincent. He suffered a stroke of paralysis several years ago, and never recovered from it, dying at Jerseyville in May, 1918.
William M. Jackson was born in Tennessee in 1845, and came to Jersey County in 1875. In 1876 he was elected state's attorney, but
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resigned in the fall of 1878, and later removed from the county, and died in Colorado.
Thomas J. Selby was born in Ohio in 1840, and came to Illinois in 1860. For a number of years he was engaged in teaching school. In 1864 he was elected sheriff of Jersey County, and then was elected county clerk, holding the latter office from 1869 to 1877, inclusively, and he also served as mayor of Jerseyville. During the latter part of his period of service as county clerk, Mr. Selby was admitted to the bar, and he and E. A. Pinero removed to Tecumseh, Neb., where they were engaged in a legal practice. Returning from Nebraska, Mr. Selby located in Calhoun County, Ill., in 1890, and remained in active practice there until his death in 1916. He was elected state's attorney of Calhoun County several terms, and held that office at the time of his death. In 1900, he was elected a member of the Fifty-seventh Congress, from the sixteenth congressional district, to serve from 1901 to 1903.
Joseph S. Car was born at St. Louis, Mo., in 1832, and came to Illinois in 1869, locating first at Kane, Greene County, but in 1883 he came to Jerseyville, where he practiced his profession until his death in 1906. He was a prominent member of the Odd Fellows, and was past Noble Grand of the state in that order.
James F. Greathouse was born in Pike County, Ill., in 1839, and after studying law, practiced his profession there for a great many years. In 1862. he entered Company I, Ninety-ninth Illinois Volunteer In- fantry. Leaving Pike County for East St. Louis, Ill., in 1880, he spent two years there, and then came to Jerseyville, where he remained until 1890, removing in that year to Hardin,' Calhoun County, Ill., where he still resides.
Orville A. Snedeker was born at Jerseyville, June 1, 1848, a son of Isaac and Caroline (Sunderland) Snedeker. His early education was obtained in the schools of Jerseyville, Shurtleff College and Bryant & Stratton's Business College. He studied law in the office of R. A. King, and was admitted to the bar in 1871. On August 12, 1873, he was married to Miss Emma Dalzell of Philadelphia, Pa. In February, 1874. Mr. Snedeker formed a partnership with O. B. Hamilton for the practice of law, under the firmn name of Snedeker & Hamilton. That association continued for nine years, when the partnership was dissolved by Mr. Snedeker's retirement from the firm. In 1892, he was elected to the State Assembly as a member from the Forty-seventh District, and re-elected in 1894. He died September 4, 1897, leaving surviving him his widow,
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Mrs. Emma (Dalzell) Snedeker, and his children, Isaac D. and Frank S. He left a large and valuable estate.
Harry Warren Pogue was born at Jerseyville, a son of Judge Williamn H. Pogue. He was graduated from the Jerseyville high school in 1882, and commenced reading law with his grandfather, George E. Warren, and his father, Judge William H. Pogue, in that same year. In 1886, he was admitted to the bar, and in the fall of 1887, was elected state's at- torney, upon the resignation of Judge A. A. Goodrich from that office. Mr. Pogue was re-elected to that office for nine years, or until 1896. In 1910, he was elected county judge, and re-elected in 1914, dying while holding that office, in November, 1915.
Theodore S. Chapman was born in Illinois in 1849. He attended Madison University at Hamilton, N. Y., and returning to Illinois in 1870, he taught the Hamilton Primary School at Otterville for the terms of 1871 and 1872. Later, he located at Jerseyville, and was admitted to the bar in December, 1874. On December 31, 1874, he was married to Miss Sarah Landon. From then until his death, in December, 1914, Mr. Chap- man resided at Jerseyville. He was elected to the lower house of the State Assembly in 1884, and to the upper house in 1886, being the only Republican senator that has ever represented this district in the state legislature. Mr. Chapman continued in practice at Jerseyville until his death, and he became very prominent there, being instrumental in secur- ing the adoption of the present system of administration of the George Washington Educational Fund, under decree of the Jersey County cir- cuit court, limiting the income from that fund to the purpose of assisting colored persons from Illinois to a college education. He was treasurer and clerk of that fund from 1880 to 1890, when he resigned the office of treasurer, and was appointed a trustee, acting as president of the fund from that time until his death, and was succeeded in that office by his son, Harry L. Chapman. He, in co-operation with Judge A. M. Slaten, pur- chased the banking outfit of M. E. Bagley's bank, and secured the charter for the Jersey State Bank, which was opened for business in Jerseyville. Mr. Chapman continued its president until his death.
Otis D. Leach was born at Jerseyville, October 4, 1860. After being ยท graduated from the Jerseyville high school in 1880, he was engaged in teaching school until the fall of 1886, when he was elected county super- intendent of schools for a term of four years. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1890, when he formed a partnership with O. B. Hamilton under the firm name of Hamilton & Leach. Later he was ap-
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pointed attorney in the claims department of the Chicago & Alton Rail- road, and moved to St. Louis, Mo., where he now resides.
Edward J. Vaughn was born in Jersey County, and was graduated from the Jerseyville high school in the class of 1888. After studying law, he was admitted to the bar in January, 1890. From 1894 to 1896, in- clusively, he was a law partner of T. S. Chapman, and during 1895 and 1896, he was city attorney of Jerseyville. Subsequently he moved to East St. Louis, Ill., where he practiced his profession, but in 1916 he moved to Los Angeles, Cal., where he now resides.
Jolin J. Hughes was graduated from the Jerseyville high school, and then studied law at the Northwestern University law school at Chicago. On March 26, 1895, he was admitted to the bar, and coming to Jersey- ville in 1896, he opened an office and was engaged in practice here for several years, but then removed from the county.
Charles N. Noble was born in Jersey County, and was graduated from the Jerseyville high school in the class of 1892. Two years later, he was admitted to the bar, and for a short time thereafter was engaged in the practice of law at Jerseyville, but then removed to St. Louis, Mo., and still later to Webster Groves, Mo., where he now resides."
Eugene Hale, after being admitted to the bar, was elected city at- torney of Jerseyville in 1897, and held that office for two years when he removed to St. Louis, Mo., where he now resides.
H. P. Noble was born in Jersey County, and was graduated from the Jerseyville high school in the class of 1894. He then studied law, and , was admitted to the bar in November, 1896. Mr. Noble occupies the same office formerly used by Senator Chapman. He was elected city attorney of Jerseyville April 16, 1901, for a term of two years. In August, 1910, he was appointed by Governor Deneen to fill the unexpired term of county judge, the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Thomas F. Ferns and held that office until December of that year, when he was succeeded by Judge H. W. Pogue.
George M. Seago was born in Jersey County, and graduated from the Jerseyville high school. After being admitted to the bar in 1894, he was elected city attorney of Jerseyville several terms, and then in 1900, he was elected state's attorney, and re-elected to that office in 1904, serv- ing eight years. Since 1894, he has been secretary of the Jerseyville Building & Loan Association.
Leighton E. Brown was born in Iowa, later moving to Kansas, and for several years he served as county clerk of Mead County. In 1892, he moved to East St. Louis, Ill., and practiced law there for two years, and
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then came to Jerseyville, becoming a member of the firm of Hamilton & Brown. In 1896 he went to Iowa, and there he still resides.
Thomas F. Ferns was born in Jersey County, Ill., July 27, 1862. He was graduated from the Jerseyville high school on May 16, 1882, and from the St. Louis Law School in May, 1885. In the spring of 1885, he was admitted to practice law in Illinois. Mr. Ferns was elected city at- torney of Jerseyville, and held that office for three consecutive terms until 1891, and he was elected for three consecutive terms to the State Assembly. On June 26, 1895, Mr. Ferns was married to Miss Elizabeth White of Springfield, Ill. He owns the former Isaac Snedeker farm of 240 acres adjoining the city of Jerseyville. In 1906, he was elected county judge of Jersey County, but before the expiration of his term, he resigned and moved to Springfield, Ill., and entered upon the practice of his profession, and there he still resides. In the spring of 1915, he was appointed master-in-chancery of Sangamon County. Judge Ferns en- tered into partnership with W. T. Sumner, and continued with him for several years after he removed to Springfield.
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