USA > Illinois > Macon County > History of Macon County, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 15
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James A. Piatt, 8
Wm. E. Nelson,
}. 1871
Win. T. Moffit,
Shaw Pease,
John H. Tyler,
1875
Samuel S. Jack,
Samuel S. Jack,
1 1876
Lawrence Weldon 1861
Jolın H. Tyler,
Geo. K Ingham,
1879
Bradford K. Durfee,
1837
W. M. Stanley,
1869
John W. Scroggs,
William F. Moffett, 1879.
James Miller,
Isaac C. Pugh,
58
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
COUNTY CLERKS.
D. McCall,
appointed in 1829
served until 1837.
HI. M. Gorin,
elected 6 1837
=
1841.
N. W. Peddecord,
1841
1847.
E. B. Hale,
1847
1851.
W. W. Oglesby,
1851
=
1857.
Samuel Rea,
1857
1865.
I. C. Pngh,
1865
1869.
II. W. Waggoner,
1869
1880.
CIRCUIT CLERKS.
D. McCall,
appointed in
1829
served until
1834.
H. M. Gorin,
elected
1834
1841.
N. W. Peddecord,
1841
1848.
William Prather,
66
=
1848
1856.
J. Q. A. Odor,
1856
1860.
W. L. Hammer,
1860
1869.
E. McClellan,
1869
1880.
SHERIFF'S OF THE COUNTY.
Wn. Warnick,
appointed in 1829
served until
1835.
John McMennamy, elected
1835
1838.
James Stevens,
1838
1840.
Wm. Warnick,
46
1840
"
1842.
Wm. Wheeler,
=
1842
1850.
Samuel Rea,
1850
1852.
Wm. Wheeler,
re-elected " 1852
=
1854.
S. M. Whitehouse,
elected «
1854
1856.
J. Q. A. Odor,
66
1856
1858.
Wm. Wheeler,
re-elected "
1858
1860.
George Goodman,
elected "
1860
1862.
John W. Bear,
1862
186-4.
A. A. Murray,
John E. Jones,
46
1866
1868.
James Travis,
1868
1870.
George M. Wood,
1870
1872.
I. D. Jennings,
1872
1876.
Martin Forstmeyer,
1876
=
1880.
COUNTY TREASURERS. B. R. Austin, appointed 1829, served until 1830
John Miller,
1830
1831
B. R. Austin,
1831
1832
James Johnson,
44
1832
1834
Joseph Hostettler,
1834
1835
Joseph Stevens,
1835
1837
J. Renshaw,
1837
resigned,
1837
D. Davis,
1837 served until 1839
Henry Snyder,
1839
1845
Thomas H. Read,
1845 resigned, 1846
George W. Powers, “
1846 served until 1848
S. C. Allen,
elected
1848
1853
I. C. Pugh,
1853
¥
1858
William Cantrell, “
1858
46 1863
Ira B. Curtis,
1863
1869
Wm. M. Boyd,
1869
1873
R. II. Park,
1873
1875
George M. Wood,
1875
1880
and is the preseut incumbent.
Coroners .- David Manlcy, elected in 1830; Samuel B. Dewees, elected 1831 ; Jacob Hornback, 1834 ; John Miller, 1836 ; Parmen- as Smallwood, 1840 ;* M. Y. Givler, 1862, and re-elected in 1864; Isaac D. Jennings, 1866; M. Y. Givler, 1870 ; Daniel Aungst, 1874; Cassidy Chenoweth, 1876 ; John Dinnecn, 1878.
County Surveyors .- James R. Austin, appointed in 1829; E. McClellan, cleeted in 1838; R. P. Wren, 1840 ; Anson Packard -; James P. Boyd, 1853 ; J. B. K. Shirrick, 1854; A. T. Risley, 1857 ; W. S. Lawrence, 1865; G. V. Loring, 1869, and is the present incumbent.
*We are unable to give all the coroners, as the records are uncertain up to 1862.
We subjoin a list of the first board of supervisors, elected in 1860 on adoption of township organization :
Hickory Point Township .. J. Y. Braden.
Anstin
James Parker.
Oakley
.G. W. Forest.
Long Creek
.John Rucker.
Maroa
Wm. Crawford.
Friends' Crcek
D. K. Wilson.
Decatur
H. B. Durfee.
"
John W. Koehler, ( Assistant.)
Niantic
J. H. Hughes.
Southı Wheatland
I. S. Boardman.
Whitmore
James Lichtenberger.
IFarristown
=
Abraham Eyman.
Mt. Zion
W. C. Myers.
South Macon
W. D. Hamilton.
Bluc Mound
16
.J. C. Armstrong.
CONCLUSION.
The history of Macon county includes only about half a century. Beginning with its birth just fifty-one years ago we have followed its upward career uutil the present (1880.) We have made men- tion of those who assisted at its formation, and have since been hon- orably connected with its history ; we have wandered together by the stream of history as, for over half a century, it has meandered through old Macon, receiving its affluents here and there, and de- positing in its banks relics of the past, which patiently, and we trust successfully, we have exhumed and brought before your vi- sion, recalling the olden time and placing it in contact with the new. Stauding on some juttiug headland, we view the panorama as it slowly passes by, uufolding the scene time has penciled thereon. Here coming up out of the misty past, is the Indian in full chase of the boundiug deer. Hc passes, and before his form dies away in the distance we see the first settlers moving forward with the slow- paced oxen, bearing their household treasures into the openings of the Sangamon. A cabin of rude logs rises ; the pioneer's axe rings through the woods, the cumbersome plow turns the furrows ; the pioucer mill rises, and a new life has taken possession of the wilder- ness, and the huuting-grouuds of the red man are no more before us, but have moved westward toward the setting sun. Another scene unfolds before us, and the rude school-house and chapcl are secn, wherein gather the children of the pioneer for instruction, even amid the solitudes of the border ; and we hear the song of thanksgiving and the voice of melody rise upon the air and blend with the song of birds and the rustle of leaves as the summer zephyrs move the foliage of the woods. The stage-coach rumbles up to the door of the log hostelry, notes of the driver's horn mak- ing merry echocs through the old parks and startliug the quail and partridge from their coverts by the wayside; houses of more pre- tentious appearance begin to dot the landscape, which is fast as- suming the aspect of a prosperous community. Church spires, sure indiees of civilization and refinement, point heavenward, as if to lift the thoughts of the dwellers of the land from the soil, wherefrom hitherto their chief substance has been drawn, to other sources of life rather than " bread alone." Another picture comes before us as the parallel bands of iron converging into one in the dim dis- tance expand into the railway track, along which thunders the cars of the several lines of road passing through the county, carrying its products to the outer world. The telegraph brings the news from the sca-board, and the days of slow-moving trade are numbered and laid to rest ; magnificent school-houses, wherein the youth are fitted for life's business, professionally or otherwise, stand before us, nion- uments to the wisdom of the founders of the system which has made them possible. Another series of scenes comes before us, an.l we
=
1864
1866.
66
=
59
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
see in dim and shadowy outline the pioneer shouldering his trusty rifle, and bidding wife and children good-by, going westward to intercept the approach of the savage before his bloody trail shall strike his own settlement. This moves on, and in its place we see the sons of these pioneers forming by squad and company and bat- talion and regiment, and going forth by hundreds, yes, thousands, to defend the flag of the country which has given them a govern- ment, under whose fostering care all these later scenes have been made accomplished facts. We look upon the serried ranks as they move forward, shoulder to shoulder, against the deadly blast of war. The cannon and musketry of traitors in arms thin their ranks, but forward they bear the colors of the Union, reflected in their blood- stains every step of the weary way from Bull Run to Appomattox. Homeward they turn when victory is secure and the Union has triumphed, their columns gaping from the havoc of shot and shell and the disease of the camp and prison-pen, and their colors rag- ged and torn, but proud and defiant as ever. One grand ovation to the living, a sad wailing requiem for the dead, and the rem- nant left of the brave thousands who went forth to do battle for the right settle back into the busy routine of the private citizen, and the war-clouds pass away and gentle Peace covers all with her wings. Well has the poet said :-
" And step by step, since time began, We see the steady gain of man !"
CHAPTER X.
THE BENCH AND BAR.
BY JAS. H. BROWNLEE, M. A.
AWYERS have in all ages formed an influential body of men, animated by the spirit and love of liberty; and the student of history finds that much of the freedom which men enjoy to-day has been won and preserved by their efforts. When bold blows were needed for the right, and against oppression, they have ever been foremost in the battle.
It was Ulpian, the Roman lawyer, who lost his life in aiding his prince to put the army below the law. D'Aguesseau, the French- man, facing an enraged king unflinchingly in behalf of his country, and recalling the noble words of his wife, "forgot that he had a family to ruin, and remembered only that he had France to save." " Coke flung the language of eighty years in the face of the first Stuart in defence of the people." Who has not heard the motto of the great Selden : "Before all things else, liberty." It was Lord Chief Justice Mansfield who declared : "Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs receive our air, that moment they are free." It was the eloquence of the great advocate, Erskine, that in " spite of the III. George made it safe to speak and print in Eng- land. "In our own country the part taken by the lawyers has been equally honorable. It was the silver-tongued eloquence of James Otis of Boston that first breathed into the colonists an heroic spirit of resistance to British oppression. The clarion voice of Henry, of Virginia, gave courage and hope for the contest. Jefferson's hand drafted the "Great Charter" of our liberties, the Declaration of Independence. John Adams was the colossal spirit of the Revolu- tion. Alexander Hamilton, it was, who "touched the dead corpse of Public Credit and caused it to spring upon its feet." In a later day, the matchless Webster expounded the Constitution to his countrymen, and gave to that great instrument the national inter- pretation. The eloquent Clay, by' his efforts to promote har-
inony between the North and the South, won the proud title of the " Great Pacificator." It was an Illinois lawyer, Abraham Lincoln, who was called to save his country from anarchy and dissolution. And the names that have conferred the greatest and most lasting glory upon this great state are those of two lawyers, Abrahan Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas.
THIE BENCII.
A glance over the list of judges, who have presided over the courts in Macon county, will show a great array of talent. The first court was held in Decatur in May, 1830, at which Samuel D. Lockwood, of the Supreme bench presided. Until 1835, the judges of the Supreme bench were required to do circuit duty. In that year a law was enacted severing the duties of Supreme and Circuit judges. Judge Lockwood presided fron 1830 until the change in the law. This distinguished jurist came to Illinois at an early period, and was a prominent actor in its history for many years. He was a man of stainless purity of character, and in ability the peer of the ablest of his associates on the bench.
Stephen T. Logan of Springfield, on the change in the law being made, was elected judge of this circuit by the legislature, and succeeded Mr. Lockwood in the circuit. He has one of the most brilliant legal intellects in the entire West, and has won a high reputation in law and politics. This county then constituted a part of the first judicial district. Thomas Ford, afterwards gover- nor of the State, at Logan's request, held the September term of 1835.
Judge Logan resigned his seat on the bench early in 1837, and William Brown of Jacksonville was appointed to the vacancy by Gov. Duncan. Judge Brown was a native of Kentucky, and a man of culture and agreeable manners, and at the time of his ele- vation to the bench was about twenty-five years of age.
He was followed on the bench by Jesse B. Thomas, for whom he held the October term of 1837. Justin Harlin held the May term for him. Judge Harlin was a large, fine-looking man of polished bearing. He was courtly and dignified, and it was a treat to a young lawyer to hear him deliver the opinion of the court. Judge Thomas was on the bench but a short time, being succeeded in his office by S. H. Treat, who presided from 1839 till the adop- tion of the new constitution in 1848. This eminent man has, during the greater part of his life, sat upon the bench. He is now the Judge of. the United States District Court at Springfield, and by his great legal learning and impartiality ornaments that high office, and his judicial ermine is free from stain.
David Davis, of Bloomington, was his successor, and presided from 1849 to 1853, inclusive. The career of Judge Davis is famil- iar to all, and is honorable to himself and his state. In all public trusts, as Judge of Circuit, as one of the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, as U. S. Senator from Ill., he has proved himself able, worthy, and high-minded. The May term of his last year in this Circuit was held for him by Charles Emmerson, who, in 1854, became his successor in office.
Charles Emmerson, the first resident lawyer of Macon county, was a native of New Hampshire. He came to Illinois in 1833; for one term attended Illinois College, and then, removing to Spring- field, began the study of law under Judge Keys. On being ad- mitted to practice he settled in Decatur, in the spring of 1834. In 1841 he married Nancy Harrell, who died in 1866. From '47 to '50 he resided in Paris, Illinois. On his return to Decatur he was elected to the legislature, and on the expiration of his term was re-elected. In June, 1853, he was elected Circuit judge, and held the office till 1867. In 1869 he was elected to the constitu-
.
60
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
tional convention. He attended the early part of the convention, but was then suffering from a severe cold, which, settling on his lungs, ended his life in April, 1870.
" As to his judicial career his memory needs no comment ; his miud was evenly balanced, and he held the seales of justice so im- partially that few dared to question the correctness of his decisions ; *
he seemed absolutely unbiased.
* His mind was broad and grasping; the intricacies of the law he could comprehend readily, and solve the most difficult questions of law and fact with scarcely a moment's reflection. He had the power of presenting his views succiuctly and iu such a way that those who heard him, in making a decision, at once acknowledged the justness and correctness of his position in the matter in question. He was charitable, modest and unaffected, and possessed not one particle of personal vanity ; he had no desire for display, and no ambition for admiration."
He was a man of the highest intellectual powers, combined with singular simplicity of deportment and dress. In his public and private life he was a worthy model for imitatiou. He loved his profession, aud honored it by his vast ability and his entire rectitude of life.
" His life was gentle ; And the elements so mixed in him That nature might stand and say to all the workl, This was a man."
He had seven children, only one of whom, Leora M., of Decatur, lives in the county which is so proud of his memory.
Judge Arthur J. Gallagher, who succeeded Judge Emmerson, on this circuit, was a native of Ireland. He came to America when a boy, and, with his relatives, first settled at Philadelphia. He soon left there, and coming west, attended for a time the Catholic College at St. Louis. On the outbreak of the Mexican war, he threw aside his books and eulisted as private in the 2d Illinois volunteers, Col. Bissel commanding. He served out his term of enlistment- one year-and participated in the battle of Buena Vista. Return- ing to the States in the spring of 1847, he began the study of law in the office of Lyman Trumbull at Belleville, Illinois. In 1848 he was admitted to practice, and opened an office in Vandalia. In 1852 he was elected to the legislature from his distriet, and was after_ wards appointed, by President Pierce, register of the U.S. Land Office at Vandalia, which position he filled until his removal to Decatur in 1856, where he soon took high rank at the bar, and rose in time to its head. He formed a co-partnership with R J. Oglesby and Sheridan Wait, and the firm had a large and lucrative practice. In 1862 he raised a compauy-of which he was made captain-for the 7th Illinois cavalry, Col. Wm. Pitt Kellogg (now Senator from Louisiana) commanding. Ill health compelled him to resign after a year's service. He married, in 1865, Miss Rachel Smith, eldest daughter of Hon. E. O. Smith. In 1867 he was elevated to the bench of the old sixteenth circuit, without opposition, serving till 1873, when he resumed practice. He died suddenly in the summer of 1879.
Judge Gallagher was a man of towering intelleet and remark- able perceptive faculties. His grasp of legal questions was intuitive, and he possessed the power of exaet and luminous statements. Thoughi not an orator, in the popular acceptation of the term, no man surpassed him in his ability to make his meaning clear to a jury on the most intricate points of law. He was peculiarly fitted for the office of judge. "He was a fair man." "-No judge ever held the scales of justice more evenly poised than he." He was honorable and upright in all relations of life, affectionate in his family, and had hosts of friends, who were drawn and bound to him, as by hooks of steel
Judge Gallagher was succeeded by C. B. Smith, of Champaign. Judge Smith is a native of Western Virginia, but was brought by his parents to Bellefontaine, Ohio, when a year old. When reach- ing early manhood he chose the legal profession, and pursued the study of law in the office, and under the tuition, of Gov. Benjamin Stantou. In 1860 he was admitted to practice and opened an office in Bellefontaine, where he remained one year. He then removed to Illinois and settled in Newton, Jasper county, where he practiced three years, at the end of which period he removed to Champaigu, where he has since resided. He enjoyed, before his elevation to the beuch, a large practice. He was elected circuit Judge in 1873, and, in 1879, was re-elected. Judge Smith is a man of fine social and conversational powers, of excellent knowledge of the law, and of untiring industry, aud worthy of his high office.
In 1877 the legislature changed the law governing circuits, (which heretofore had been single circuits) consolidating two into one, aud providing for the election of a new judge, in addition to the two holding over. One of the three judges of the circuit is selected by the Supreme court as judge of the appellate court, created by the same act, and he, in addition to his duties as appellate judge, performs circuit duty.
Judge Smith and O. L. Davis, of Danville, being judges of adjoining circuits at the time of the passage of the act above men- tioned, held over, and William E. Nelson, of Decatur, was chosen by the people as third judge of the enlarged circuit. Wm. E. Nelson was born in Sparta, White county, Tennessee, on June 4, 1824. He read law in the office of his father, and, after thorough preparation, was admitted to practice in 1844. He moved to Illi- nois in 1857, and in June of that year, settled in Decatur, where he has siuce lived. Iu 1869 he was appointed one of a commission to revise the statutes of the state, and discharged the duties of that office, until he took his seat as member of the 27th General Assembly in 1871. In August, 1877, he was elevated to the bench as one of the judges of the fourth judicial cireuit, and filled the entire terin of his office, after which he resumed the practice of his profession. Judge Nelson is a man of education, and possesses a fine command of language; of great industry and irreproachable morality. He has been a hard student and knows the law. He has a large prac- tice, and the interests of his clients are carefully guarded by him. His legal ability and uprightness have won the respect and esteem of all who know him.
The general election for the three judges in 1879 resulted in the re-election of C. B. Smith and O. L. Davis, and the election of J. W. Wilkin, of Marshall.
PROSECUTING AND COUNTY ATTORNEYS.
1830-35
John H. Pugh.
· 1836-40
.D. H. Campbell.
1840-44
Josiah Lamborn.
1844-48
John A. McDougall.
1848-52
David Campbell.
1852-56
Elam Rust.
1856-60
J. R. Eden.
1860-63
*J. P. Boyd.
1863-68
D. L. Bunn.
'1868-72
M. B. Thompson.
1872-76
C. C. McComas.
1876 --
.J. A. Buckingham.
THE BAR. NON-RESIDENT LAWYERS.
In early times, owing to an almost eutire absence of litigation, attorneys found it necessary, if they would gain support from their
* Resigned and D. L. Bunn appointed.
61
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
practice, to travel with the court from one county seat to another. The terms of the court began usually on Monday in one county and on Thursday in the adjoining county ; thus, as the courts held ordinarily but one or two days, it gave the court and attorneys ample time to ride from one county to another.
It is a mistake to suppose that the lawyers of that day were lack- ing in legal or intellectual ability. This is far from the truth. On the contrary, the bar comprised men whose names are now liousc- hold words. Abraham Lincoln, " the world's most illustrious son," who began the study of law in Macon county, and Stephen A. Douglas, " the little giant," both destined to be life-long political opponents, came regularly to Decatur in the practice of the law. Here, too, was heard the surpassingly eloquent voice of E. D. Baker, who commanded an Illinois regiment in the Mexican war, was after- wards a Senator from Oregon, and fell in his country's service at Ball's Bluff early in the great war for the Union. Then also came U. F. Linder, witty and eloquent in a marvelous degree, and won high reputation in criminal law and politics. Here, too, practiced Josialı Lamborn, at one time State's attorney for the district. An able lawyer, and in the estimation of lawyers who conducted a defence, a very dangerous prosecutor. Another lawyer who came regularly to Decatur in practice of his profession was Benjamin S. Edwards, of Sangamon, who had high legal ability and reputation. Still another was John A. McDougall, who hield the office of State's attorney from 1844 to 1847 inclusive, a man of varied and brilliant attainments. He went west and became a United States Senator from California. Still others were Leonard Swett, the friend of Lincoln, who now stands at the head of the Chicago bar ; and Hon. O. B. Ficklin, of Coles, who represented his distriet in Congress for many years ; a well-read lawyer, whose mind is a vast storehouse of recollection and anecdote of the early history of the state and of her mighty dead. Yet another was Hon. John T. Stewart, a native of Kentucky, and a lawyer of first-class ability. He ran against Douglas in 1836 for Congress, and defeated lim. William L. D. Ewing, of Vandalia, was another attendant. He was a good lawyer and a very accomplished gentleman, of fine social qualities, and of unusual grace and dignity of demeanor. Still another was Judge Horatio Vandeveer, of Christian county. He had a large practice, and inherited a vigorous and capacious intellect Judge Davis was anotlier attorney who practiced here, but of him we have spoken in anotlier section of this chapter.
FORMER RESIDENT LAWYERS.
Kirby Benedict came from the state of his nativity, Connecticut, in March, 1836, and settled in Decatur and opened a law office. He was the second resident attorney in the county, Charles Emmer- son being the first. He lived here until 1849, when he removed to Paris, Illinois. In the fall of 1853 he was appointed one of the associate justices of the territory of New Mexico, in which capacity he served for three years, when he was made chief justice, which place he held until removed by Andrew Johnson in 1866. He then engaged again in the practice of the law, and also was editor and proprietor of the New Mexico Union, until his death in 1874. He was a man of ability, and was distinguished for his fine literary taste, and for his great power as a popular orator.
George W. Powers was admitted to the bar in 1843, and died in the fall of 1848. He possessed a superior literary education, and was exceedingly polished in his bearing ; both honorable and cultured in the highest degree. He came from Mobile, Alabama, and was a inember of the Illinois Senate before he began practice.
Sheridan Wait in 1852 became a resident of Decatur, and formed a co-partnership with Charles Emmerson, and afterward with
Richard J. Oglesby. He was well read, and a very safe counsellor. He was General Oglesby's Adjutant-General during the war, and had held the office of canal commissioner. IIc died in Leadville, Colorado, and was buried in Decatur.
Col. Nathan W. Tupper was born in Washington county, New York. When about twenty years of age lie moved with his father to Wisconsin, where he taught school and engaged in farming. He read law in that state, and in 1854 removed to Decatur, where lie at once took liigli rank at the bar.
In 1862 the 116th Regiment of Illinois Volunteers were raised and mustered into the service, and Mr. Tupper was commissioned its colonel. The record of Col. Tupper's regiment, which consisted almost entirely of Macon county boys, is exceptionally brilliant ; and its gallant commander won high reputation for capability and bravery as its officer. Col. Tupper dicd of disease, induced by hard- ship and exposure, at Decatur, March 10th, 1864. Col. Tupper was a very strong, able lawyer, had no superior at the bar, and was a high-minded and honorable gentleman in all things.
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