History of St. Clair County, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 25

Author: Brink, McDonough & Co., Philadelphia
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Brink, McDonough
Number of Pages: 530

USA > Illinois > St Clair County > History of St. Clair County, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 25

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" David J. Baker, of Kaskaskia, who was remarkably accurate as a special pleader, once filed a declaration in court, at Kaskaskia, to which Gov. Reynolds interposed a demurrer. We were all amazed at the step taken by the governor, and none half so much as Mr. Baker. After he had appeared to recover from his aston- ishment, he said that he had read law with care, and had made

HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

special pleadings his principal study, but so abundantly cautious had he been, that, even now, when he had the forms at his tongue's end, he would not venture to frame a declaration without consult- ing the precedents. He could say, without boasting, that no dc- murrer had been sustained to his pleadings for the last twenty years, but now comes forward, at this late day, one who had ven- tured upon the task of assailing the accuracy of his pleadings. But ' who,' he said, 'is this man? It is no other than Gov. Reynolds, who, of all men on earth, ought to have the least to say about accu- racy. We have all known him as a member of the legislature. We have known him as judge of the circuit and supreme courts, as member of congress and as governor of the state; and God Almighty only knows how long we shall be afflicted with him hereafter, but in every position that he has held he has been con- spicuous as a bundle of informalities.' Mr. Baker gave him a dread- ful castigation, which the governor felt acutely, but never ' let on.' Soon after Mr. Baker said to the governor in the goodness of his heart, ' Well, governor, I am afraid I was a little too severe upon you the other day.' 'Why, Mr. Baker,' replied Reynolds, ' have you been saying anything about me? I was not aware of it. I guess your speech did not amount to very much, or I would have noticed it. There is no need of apologies, Mr. Baker.'

" Another instance of how readily the governor would extricate himself from a dilemma is the following: The governor was a candidate for re-election to congress on the democratic side, and was making, as usual with men of that party, a free trade speech at Sparta, where they were interested in the 'castor-bean' business. An Englishman, named Bradshaw, who was a Whig, made a bet with some of the governor's friends that the governor did not know whether castor-beans were protected or not, and he asked the governor whether castor-beans were among the 'h'enumerated h'articles' or not. The governor did not seem to comprehend what he meant, and made some evasive and unsatisfactory reply, to which Bradshaw triumphantly cried out, 'I told you 'e did not know whether castor-beans were h'among the h'enumerated h'articles l'or not.' The governor by this time discovered what was going on, and said, 'Stop, I am like the boy who was offering a horse for sale, and some one asked him if the horse had the 'splint?' The boy scratched his head and said, 'I don't know exactly what the splint is, but I do know that if it is good for the horse, he has got it, and if it is not good for him he is devilish clear of it.' 'And that is the way with the castor-beans; if it is good for them to be among the enumerated articles, they are there; and, if not they are devilish clear of it.' The governor could make the most rambling and in- coherent remarks imaginable. On one occasion he was prosecuting some Covenanters, who were indicted at Kaskaskia for a riot, com- mitted in Sparta, in tearing down a grocery belonging to an old fellow named Turk. Judge Breese was off the bench at the time, and defending the rioters, and he referred in severe terms to the fact that the governor was prosecuting his old friends and supporters. This touched the governor in a very tender place. He denied that his prosecution of these men was any evidence of his want of friendship for them. 'For,' said he, ' gentlemen of the jury, if I should meet any of these men in heaven or in hell, I would run to greet and shake hands with them. 'But,' said he, ' they were not following in the footsteps of their illustrious predecessor, Jesus Christ, when they were tearing down Old Turk's grocery. They say they were afraid old Turk would raise a mob and tear down their churches, if they did not destroy his grocery. Why, sir, so far from poor old Turk raising a mob, he cannot raise anything. I am very much afraid he cannot raise the ten dollar fee he promised to pay me in this case. '"

"The governor was the most thorough-faced politician I ever knew. He kept a newspaper for his own use. It was the Belleville Advocate, in early days. He had a 'standing ' chairman of all his meetings ; an old gentleman, named McLemore, who always decided as the governor desired."

"The governor was never without a 'hobby.' He was for the Mexican war ; the acquisition of Texas ; ' Fifty-four Forty, or fight;' as well as the conquest of Cuba. Whenever one of these hobbies was to be set going, the governor would announce through his paper, that a meeting would take place at such and such a time, at Belleville, to consider the measure. At the appointed time, the governor would nominate Mclemore, as chairman, and would make his speech, and then call upon those present to address the meeting; and it was considered a great breach of political eti- quette not to 'chime in" with his opening remarks. Sometimes, however, the meeting would be refractory, and the governor would prorogue them. I remember a case in which the old gentleman was unable to control his meeting. He had called one to consider the propriety of taking possession of Texas. It was during the Texas revolution. The assemblage was large, and the governor, at the outset, was in 'high feather.' MeLemore took the chair, and the governor opened out in grand style, and insisted that Texas was ours, inasmuch as Spain had gotten the best of the bargain, when we traded Texas to her for Florida, which, he said, she could not have held. He contended that we needed it, and, therefore, had a valid right to take it. He wound up by offering a resolu- tion, setting forth that 'our title to Texas is indisputable.'"

"A few of us, who wanted some fun, offered an amendment to the effect, that 'this meeting is eminently qualified to decide the question of title to Texas;' which the governor violently opposed, and denounced us as traitors, and as having come there to inter- fere with and break up his meeting. We assumed that the meeting was composed of the wisest and best men in the world ; that parliamentary and diplomatic bodies were composed of ignu- ramuses, as compared with us; that every American citizen, and especially every citizen of Belleville, was endowed with wisdom ' from on high,' in reference to all political measures ; and whoever denied that palpable truth was a traitor to his country, and an enemy to mankind ; and that the fiery vengeance of the present and future generations would be poured out on their devoted beads. We drove the governor ignominiously from his own sacred ground, for the 'infallibility of the people' was his ' stock in trade,' gene- rally. We had nineteen-twentieths of the meeting with us, and carried our amendment; but Mclemore paid no attention to the proceeding. The governor moved to adjourn. Three or four feeble 'ayes' were heard. When the 'noes' were called for, they made the welkin ring; but Mclemore said, 'Weel, men, the meetin's adjourned anyhow.' Next morning the governor's paper came out with a flaming account of the meeting, and representing the reso- lution, offered by the governor, as having passed unanimously ; and saying nothing about the amendment and other proceedings. I met the old gentleman, and said to him that the account of the meeting did not square very well with the actual proceedings. He replied, 'No; you damned fellows beat me at the meeting, but I can beat you in the papers.'"

" Adam W. Snyder and Gov. Reynolds were rivals and antago- nists. It would not be going too far to say that they were in a state of chronic hostility to each other. Each .looked upon the other as being his 'evil genius,' and neither would have regarded the re- moval of the other to some other country as a very great evil. A man named Coonce once called upon Snyder, to take the necessary steps to obtain some testimony with a view to its perpetuation.

HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

Snyder never liked the drudgery of the profession, or the office- business. He loved to try a case and address a jury, which he could do with great ease to himself and splendid effect. He en- deavored to get rid of the task upon various pretexts; but Coonce was very importunate, and finally Snyder sat down to writing, and asked Coonce whose testimony he wished to take. The latter said, 'That of Gov. Reynolds.' Snyder looked up in amazement, and broke out with an exclamation, that he never heard of such folly as to go to the expense and trouble to perpetuate old Reynolds' testimony. 'Why,' said he, ' lie will never die. I have been wait- ing for him to kick the bucket for more than a quarter of a cen- tury, and his hold upon life secms now to be stronger than it was when I first knew him ; he will live forever, sir. I will not make a fool of myself by seeking to perpetuate the testimony of a man who will outlive any record in existence.'"

Adam W. Snyder, one of the most prominent of the early law- yers of St. Clair county, was born in Pennsylvania, in the year 1799. His boyhood was spent in the vicinity of Columbus, Ohio. Jesse B. Thomas had erected a carding machine at Cahokia, and finding no one in Illinois who could successfully operate it, brought out with him from Ohio young Snyder, then about eighteen years of age, who had been recommended to him as a suitable person to manage the machine. Thomas saw that Snyder was a young man of fine natural talents, took a strong liking to him, and induced him to study law. He was admitted to practice in the year 1824. He first lived at Cahokia, afterward on a farm on the Mississippi, opposite Jefferson Barracks, and in the year 1833, removed to Belle- ville. He had a strong liking for politics. He was elected twice · to represent St. Clair county in the State Senate, and in 1836 was chosen a member of Congress. In 1842 he was made the Demo- cratic candidate for governor, but died while the campaign was in progress. His election as governor was assured had he lived. Ford was substituted as a candidate, and was elected. His health had never been good after returning from serving his congressional term at Washington.

As a lawyer, Snyder was remarkable for his power over a jury. Between the jury and him there seemed to be a feeling of friendly fellowship, and the former nearly always set it down that he was right, and gave him a verdict accordingly. His speeches were always brief, pointed, and forcible. He rarely spoke more than half an hour, but that time was sufficient for him to gaiu a wonder- ful influence over the minds of the jurors. In the defence of Gen- nette, who was tried at Carlyle for the murder of O'Harnett, he spoke one hour, but this was the longest speech to a jury he was ever known to make. This was the last case in which he appeared. It may be remarked that the speeches of Gov. Ford to the court or a jury were also noted for their brevity ; their usual length was not more than fifteen minutes.

Alfred Cowles, a native of Connecticut, settled at an early date at Belleville, where he resided till Alton began to come into pro- minence as a prosperous town, when he removed to the latter place. He was a lawyer of good education and industrious habits. His natural talents were only of an ordinary character, but by close ap- plication and persistent study, he reached an honorable position in the legal profession. He was an excellent conveyancer, and tho- roughly understood pleading, but was not an elequent speaker. While at Alton, he was, for a number of years, a partner of John M. Krum, now of St. Louis. He cared nothing for politics, and his whole time was given to his profession. He subsequently removed to Oregon.

George W. Ralph, about the year 1835, was engaged in the prac- tice of the liw at Belleville. He was a native of the state of New

York. He had previously been in the mercantile business. He practiced at Belleville till 1842, or 1843. He laid out Ralph's ad- dition to Belleville. He had a great fondness for politics, to which perhaps he was better adapted than to the law.

In 1840, among the lawyers residing at Belleville were Lyman Trumbull, James Shields, James L. D. Morrison, and Gustavus Koerner. All these men attained positions of honor and impor- tance.

Lyman Trumbull, who began his career as a lawyer at Belle- ville, was born in Colchester, Connecticut, on the twelfth of Octo- ber, 1813. Obtaining a thorough education in his native state, in the year 1834, at the age of twenty-one, he went to Georgia where he engaged in teaching school, and meanwhile studied law. He was admitted to the bar in Georgia in 1836, and soon afterward came to Illinois and began the practice of the law at Belleville. He was for some time a partner of Gov. Reynolds. He soon suc- ceeded in securing a large practice. He exhibited great industry in his profession, and when he had a case, went to the bottom of it. In 1840 he was elected a member of the legislature, and in 1841 and 1842, he filled the office of secretary of state under the admin- istration of Gov. Carlin. He returned to Belleville in the spring of 1843, where he resided till 1848, when he was elected one of the justices of the supreme court of Illinois, and for five years oc- cupied a seat on the bench with distinguished ability. His subse- quent political history is well known to the people of the state. In 1854 he was elected a member of Congress. He was one of the founders of the Republican party in Illinois, and in 1855, 1861, and 1867 was chosen United States Senator.

James Shields began the practice of law at Kaskaskia, but in 1837 removed to Belleville. He was born in the county Tyrone, Ireland, in the year 1810, and came to America at the age of six- teen. Finding his way to Kaskaskia in the year 1832, he was admitted to the bar, and began the active practice of the legal pro- fession. On coming to Belleville he formed a partnership with Gustavus Koerner. In 1841 he was appointed state auditor, and two years later was chosen one of the justices of the supreme court of the state. His home was principally at Belleville till 1845, when having been appointed by President Polk, Commissioner of the Land office, he removed to Washington. On the breaking out of the Mexican war he was commissioned Brigadier-General of the United States volunteers. At the battle of Cerro Gordo he was severely wounded by a ball which passed through his lungs and body. The wound was extremely dangerous. He was reported dead, and he had the benefit of many obituary notices in the papers of the day. In 1849 he was elected United States Senator He was afterward elected United States Senator from Minnesota, and also from Missouri. He served in the Union army in West Virginia at the beginning of the rebellion, and afterward retired to a farm in Missouri, where he resided till his death, which occurred at Ot- tumwa, Iowa, on the first of June, 1879.

James L. D. Morrison was born at Kaskaskia, on the twelfth of April, 1816. In the spring of 1832, when sixteen, he was ap- pointed midshipman in the United States navy. While confined in the naval hospital at Pensacola with an attack of the rheumatism, he picked up the first volume of Blackstone, and becoming inter- ested, sent to Mobile for the necessary books, and for seven months read Blackstone and Kent assiduously. In 1836 he returned to Illinois, entered the law office of Judge Nathaniel Pope, at Kas- kaskia, and in 1837 was admitted to the bar. He removed to Belleville about 1840. He represented Monroe and St. Clair coun- ties, in both the lower and upper houses of the legislature. At the beginning of the Mexican war he raised a company in St. Clair

HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

county, which became incorporated with the Second Illinois regi- ment, of which he was Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1856 he was elected to Congress. While at Belleville he engaged in speculation and politics, as well as in the practice of the law. Since his removal to St. Louis, he has not been engaged in general practice, though he has been interested in several important land cases. As a real estate lawyer he has attained much distinction.

Robert Morrison, now chief-justice of the state of California, be- gan the practice of the law at Belleville about 1844 or 1845. He was regarded as a lawyer of much promise, and since his removal to California has attained much distinction in his profession.

Murray Morrison, brother of J. L. D. and Robert Morrison, was admitted to the bar, and began practice at Belleville. He was an eloquent speaker and an able lawyer. He went to California soon after the admission of that state into the Union, and died there.

George Trumbull, brother of Lyman Trumbull, practiced law at Nashville for several years, and was an excellent lawyer, and is now a resident of Chicago, where he is practicing with distinction.

William C. Kinney, son of Geo. Kinney, read law at Belleville, in the office of Koerner and Shields, and began practice about the year 1839. In 1848 he acted as state's attorney. He was a good speaker and a lawyer of respectable attainments, but possessed con- siderable wealth, and for that reason cared little about business. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1848, served in the legislature, and was very highly respected in 1860.

Judge William H. Underwood was born in Schoharie county, New York, February, 1818. He received his scholastic education at the Schoharie Academy and the Hudson River Seminary, and studied law in his native county. In June, 1840, came to Belle- ville and began the practice of the legal profession. In 1848 he was elected state's attorney, and was re-elected to the same posi- tion in 1843, and in 1844 was chosen a member of the legislature. He had acquired a large and remunerative practive in 1844, at which date he was elected circuit judge. He was on the bench six years. He was elected a member of the state senate in 1856, 1860, and 1870. In 1869 he was chosen a member of the conven- tion which framed the present constitution of the state, in which body he was regarded as one of the ablest men. He was an able lawyer, not only in one, but in all branches of the legal profession. Some of the elder members of the bar speak of him as the most industrious man they ever knew. His close application made him familiar with all the learning of the law. He published a revised edition of the Illinois statutes, and also a revision of the Illinois reports. To his legal attainments were added a generous and genial disposition. He died at Belleville on the twenty-third of Sep- tember, 1875.

Joseph Underwood, a brother of William H. Underwood, who practiced at the Belleville bar for some time, was a man of con- siderable talent.

NON-RESIDENT LAWYERS.

The early sessions of the courts at Belleville were usually at- tended by the leading lawyers, both of Illinois and Missouri. Among the Illinois lawyers were Elias Kent Kane, who died in 1835, while a member of the United States Senate; Daniel P. Cook, a man of brilliant mind, who died at the age of thirty-six, while in the midst of an unusually successful career; Nathaniel Pope, Thomas Reynolds, William H. Bissell, Sidney Breese, and other distinguished men. Among the lawyers from St. Louis and Missouri, who frequently made their appearance at Belleville were Thomas H. Benton, Rufus Easton, Edward Hempstead, C. S. Hempstead, Robert Wash, David Barton, Joshua Barton, John Scott, and J. W. Peck.

Of William H. Bissell, afterward governor of the state, and a frequent attendant on the sessions of the court at Belleville, the following interesting sketch is given by Joseph Gillespie in an address delivered before the Chicago Historical Society : "Bissell was born in New York in 1811, where he studied the medical pro- fession, and removed to Monroe county, Illinois. He had no fond- ness for his profession, though he had the reputation of being suc- cessful. He inclined to politics, where he displayed marked abili- ties. He was elected as a Democrat, from Monroe county, to the legislature of 1840, and was soon recognized as one of the best speakers of the House of Representatives. He was characterized by the elegance of his style and diction, and a quaint sort of satire which was very cutting and effective. An ungovernable passion soon seized him to abandon his profession, and betake himself to the law. He attended the sessions of the courts as diligently as any of the lawyers ; his mind seemed to be engrossed with all that was going on. His friends, perceiving the bent of his inclination, ad- vised him to procure Blackstone's Commentaries, and go to work. In an incredibly short space of time he was admitted to practice, and was soon appointed prosecuting attorney, and was in his ele- ment. He stood at once in the front rank as a prosecutor. He never failed to convict. It shortly came to be considered a hopeless task to defend where he was prosecuting. He was equal to any emergency."

" Bissell prosecuted for murder a man named Raney, who lived in Washington county, but was tried at Carlyle, Clinton county, and was defended by Judge Breese, in his own county, where he had boundless influence. Raney was a respectable man, and a lead- ing politician in the dominant party ; there was great room to doubt his guilt, and the court instructed strongly in his favor. He had an interesting wife and family. Breese defended him with great zeal and ability. He left no stone unturned; but after pre- senting the facts and law of the case with remarkable clearness and force, he ventured upon an appeal to the sympathies of the jury in behalf of the wife and little children of his client. It was a most powerful effort, and the by-standers all believed that he had saved his man. But not so; by his efforts to work upon the sympathies of the jury, he had opened a door which let Bissell in to play upon their feelings. This was his forte. The scene was at night; the room was dimly lighted, and wore a sepulchral air ; and such word- painting I shall never hear again as Bissell employed on that occa- sion. He turned the picture over, and portrayed the murdered man in his grave, his winding-sheet around him, his hair matted with clay, and his shroud clotted with blood, streams of crimson gore trickling still from his gaping wounds. He drew the mother and little children to the edge of the grave, where they could take a last look at the cold and clammy remains of their beloved husband and father. He depicted their agony in such heart-rending terms as to scarcely leave a dry eye in the house. He turned the tide of sympathy, and it became an irresistible torrent in behalf of the bereaved widow and offspring of the dead. The effects of the splendid efforts of Breese were all swept away."

" I realized then, to its fullest extent, the power of language in the mouth of a master over the feelings of mankind. The picture drawn by Bissell on that occasion has stamped itself indelibly on my mind. I see it in visions of the night. I hear his burning eloquence, to this day, ringing in my ears. He triumphed, and poor Raney was found guilty. . If that effort had been taken down, and could be read by us-of itself-it would have made the name of William H. Bissell immortal."

Judge Joseph Gillespie, of Edwardsville, to whose graphic pen we are indebted for the above sketch, is now one of the few sur-

HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

vivors of that band of active men who were foremost in shaping the political sentiment of the state forty years ago. He was born in New York in the year 1809, and in 1819 became a citizen of this state. He attracted the attention of Cyrus Edwards, a lawyer who had practiced with distinguished success in Kentucky and Missouri, but who had abandoned his profession on account of bad health, and retired to a farm near Edwardsville. Thinking that young Gillespie had an aptitude for the law Edwards invited him to become his student, and gave him the gratuitous use of his books. He was admitted to the bar, and in 1837 began traveling the cir- cuit under Judge Sydney Breese. He was elected to the bench of the circuit court in 1861, and served till 1873. He has been one of the leading and prominent lawyers of Illinois for many years, and made a good judge.

PRESENT MEMBERS OF THE BAR

Gustavus Koerner, now one of the oldest members of the bar at Belleville, was born at Frankfort, Germany. He studied law in the University of Jena, and was also a student at Munich and Heidelberg, and from the university at the latter place received the degree of LL.D. He was admitted to the practice of the law in Germany in the year 1832. In 1833 he came to America. He studied the common law at the law school at Lexington, Kentucky. In June, 1835, he was admitted to the bar of Illinois, and began practice at Belleville. In 1845 he was appointed by Gov. Ford to a seat on the supreme bench, to fill a vacancy occasioned by the resignation of James Shields, and shortly afterward was elected by the legislature to the same position. He served on the bench till the new constitution of 1848 effected a change in the judiciary of the state. (From 1840 till the adoption of a new constitution, the supreme court judges also presided over the circuit courts.) In 1852 Mr. Koerner was elected lieutenant-governor. In 1862 he was appointed by President Lincoln Minister to Spain. His decisions while on the bench were marked by great clearness and ability, and during his active practice at the bar has gained the reputation of one of the leading lawyers of Southern Illinois.

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History of St. Clair County, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 25

Author: Brink, McDonough & Co., Philadelphia Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : Brink, McDonough Number of Pages: 530

Author: Brink, McDonough & Co., Philadelphia
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Brink, McDonough
Number of Pages: 530