A historical sketch of Johnson county, Indiana, Part 9

Author: Banta, D. D. (David Demaree), 1833-1896
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, J.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 186


USA > Indiana > Johnson County > A historical sketch of Johnson county, Indiana > Part 9


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tem, was the " Woodruff Will Case," which involved title to about $50,000 worth of property, and this case occupied only three days in the trial, and that was thought to have been a very long time. In that justly celebrated case of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, vs Edward C. Wilkinson and others, tried at Herrods- burg, Ky., in 1839, forty witnesses were examined and several speeches were made by counsel to the jury, among which counsel may be mentioned the names of Sargent S. Prentiss, Benja- min Hardin and Judge Rowan, and only six days were consumed in the entire trial.


Up to about 1830, there was not a resident lawyer in the county. Daniel B. Wick, the Judge's brother, Harvey Gregg, Philip Sweetser, Hiram Brown, Calvin Fletcher, William Quarles, John H. Bradley, William Herrod and some other lawyers who " rode the circuit " in those primitive days, attended the courts here and looked after the interests of the few litigants of the county.


About that time (1830), a lawyer located in Franklin by the the name of Winchell. Where he was from or whither he went is not now remembered. His name is not found in the old rec- ords, and but for the fact that he was the first lawyer to locate in the county, his name would not now be mentioned.


During the last days of August, 1831, Fabius Maximus Finch, a beardless boy, fresh from the law office of Judge Wick, came to Franklin and announced himself as a lawyer of the place. He was born in Livingston County, N. Y., in 1811, and when three years of age, his father, John Finch, moved to Ham- ilton County, Ohio, where he remained till 1818, when he moved to Hamilton County, Ind. John Finch had a large family of children, and their educational advantages were necessarily lim- ited. His son Fabius M. attended the common schools of the neighborhood, as did his brothers, but he made such headway with his studies that his father, who had become an Associate Judge of his county, was not displeased when he learned of the boy's purpose of studying law. In 1827, being at the time about sixteen years old, he went to Indianapolis and entered the law office of his brother-in-law, Judge Wick, and commenced reading. After going through the prescribed course, he was examined and admitted to the bar, and. in 1831, being a little over twenty years old, he came to Franklin and opened an office.


There was not much for a lawyer to do in Franklin in those days at the legitimate practice of the law. There was not only little to do, but the people were poor and had but little money with which to pay for legal business. It was a prevailing cus-


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tom for lawyers to take the promissory notes of their clients for services rendered, and the non-resident lawyers generally ex- changed such of their notes as had any exchangeable value with the merchants of the county where the payers lived, for dry goods and even groceries. It was no uncommon thing in the early day to see Hiram Brown, Philip Sweetser and other lawyers riding out of Franklin with calicoes, muslins, jeans and other articles tied to their saddles, the product of such exchanges.


When Finch came to the town, Samuel Herriott was Clerk of the Circuit Court, and kept his office in a little room in the rear of his storeroom, standing on the northwest corner of the square. His records were very much behind, and it coming to his knowledge that Finch wrote a good hand, he at once made him his Deputy.


William Shaffer, an honest old carpenter, who could make a wooden pin better than he could a quill pen, was at the same time County Recorder, and he too sought the young man's help, and, between the Clerk's office and the Recorder's, Finch found profitable employment, profitable to himself, we may hope, and certainly profitable to the people of Johnson County, for the rec- ords made by him are among the best that have ever been made in the county.


After some time, Pierson Murphy, a physician of the town, was elected to the office of School Commissioner, and, appointing Finch as his Deputy, he discharged the duties of that office.


For many years after Johnson County was organized, the Whigs held the better county offices, and Fabius M. Finch being a Whig, the office-holders quite naturally gave him their counte- nance and support.


But he did not make himself known to the people as a Dep- uty Clerk or Deputy Recorder only. He had a higher ambition, and that was to be known as a lawyer, and he succeeded. Clients came to him one by one, and his business so increased, and he managed it in such a manner as to make himself known and felt as one among the best lawyers in the circuit.


In 1839, he was elected as a Whig candidate to the Legisla- ture and served during the twenty-fourth session. In 1842, Judge Morrison, having resigned his office as Circuit Judge, Gov. Bigger appointed Fabius M. Finch to the place, and he served until the ensuing election.


At the close of his term, he returned to the practice of the law, and followed it with profit to himself and clients up to 1859, when he was a candidate for Circuit Judge before the peo- ple against his old preceptor, Judge Wick, and was elected. He



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served his full term on the bench, but before its close he moved to Indianapolis, and ceased to be an active member of the John - son bar. He is still in active practice in that city in connection with his son, John A. Finch.


In 1832 or 1833, William O. Ross moved to the town and opened a law office, but he did not remain long. It is remem- bered that he got some business, but he had a large family, and his fees falling short of their support, he moved away in a year or two. Nothing more is known of him.


The third lawyer to locate in Franklin and the second to stay, was Gilderoy Hicks. He was born in Rutland, Vt .. Jan. 3. 1804, and when he was quite young. his father moved to Onon- daga, N. Y., and, after a few years, he moved to Marietta. Ohio. where he remained two years. after which he moved again, and this time landed at Patriot, in Switzerland County, Ind. There he opened a farm, and Gilderoy did his share of the farm work, In the common schools he received the rudiments of an English education, and no better schools were ever opened to him. He followed teaching for a time during the winter seasons during his early manhood, and, owing to his naturally weak constitu- tion and a natural love for books, he entered the law office of John Dumont, of Vevay, a noted lawyer of the early day, and pre- parel himself for the practice of the law.


In 1828, he married, and in 1833, he moved to Franklin, where he spent the remainder of his days.


Mr. Hicks was in humble circumstances when he came, and had a young and growing family to support during the early years of his life, and, when we remember the sparseness of busi- ness, and, above all, the insignificant fees he charged for his services, it is a matter of wonder as to how he managed to main- tain himself and gain a permanent foothold. The necessaries of life, it is true, could be had at extremely low prices in that early day in comparison to the present, and it is to this circumstance, like all other lawyers of that early day, he owed his ability to make his living, more than to the lucrative character of his practice.


Gilderoy Hicks adhered to the faith of the Whig party, as did his professional brother, Finch, but the latter, as we have seen, received the aid and influence of Samuel Herriott and, gen- erally, of the other leading Whig men of the town and county. To this circumstance Finch owed his early success more than to any other.


In the early days, George King was the leading Democratic citizen of the town, and quite a rivalry existed between him and


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Samuel Herriott. In addition to carrying on the business of farming, he was selling town lots, was merchandising, and, at one time, Postmaster. Controversies requiring the interposition of the courts were liable to arise at any time between the two men, and the advent of a second lawyer was a welcome one to King. Hicks at once received his countenance and support, and, although a Whig, he received far more than a full share of the Democratic patronage of the county. To this circumstance he owed his early success.


It would be of little interest to compile tables of cases show- ing the limited and light character of the legal business trans- acted in Johnson County from its organization up to 1850. There was, of course, growth, but it was barely appreciable. During all of that time, lawyers managed to live, but while farmers and others, no more prudent than they, were not only supporting their families, they were at the same time clearing out their farms and becoming wealthy men through the enhanced price of their lands. It was not so with the early lawyers. The large majority died poor, and, of the few who accumulated property, it was through fortunate investments of legacies left by their fathers, or of such small sums as were saved from scanty fees.


Gilderoy Hicks had some elements of character which are sometimes fortunate elements to the man who aspires to political life. He was eminently an even-tempered man, was conciliatory in his views, and was careful to give offense to no man. He was a Whig, as we have seen, but his business and even social affilia- tions were, by force of circumstances, Democratic. And so, when, in 1848, he announced himself as a candidate for the Legislature, although his party was largely in the minority, yet he received enough Democratic votes to elect him by a plurality of thirty- nine votes over Dr. James Ritchey, the Democratic nominee.


But, though successful as a Whig candidate, he failed to give satisfaction to his party. In a letter addressed " To the citizens of Johnson County," and printed in the Franklin Examiner of the 8th of June, 1847, he speaks with some bitterness of the " wide-spread reports " concerning his political opinions. An effort was made that year, he says in his communication, " by many persons of both political parties," to bring him out as a can- didate for re-election to the Legislature, but upon his declara- tion that he " would vote for a Democrat to the United States Senate if elected," he was given to understand that his " Whig friends were not pleased." But they seem to have questioned him further, and "in reply to which," he says, " I expressed ignorance as to Whig policy ; " and in turn he questioned his


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questioners by asking them "whether a United States Bank, a highly protective tariff, and a distribution, under present circum- stances, were desirable ?" The answer came, "as he half-sus- pected it would," that " Whig policy was opposition to Democratic policy." The next day, he says, that he " found himself reported far and wide as having turned Democrat," and before he closes his address he admits, with some indirectness, the report to be true, and winds up by declining to be a candidate " to avoid the charge of venality."


At the next Democratic County Convention, Mr. Hicks made a profession of Democratic faith, and was formally received into the membership of that party. And he was not neglected by his new party associates after his change. In 1848, he was nom- inated for the Legislature and elected over Hume Sturgeon, who ran as an independent candidate, receiving 993 votes to Stur- geon's 264. In 1849, he was again nominated, and elected over Dr. John McCorkle by 460 majority. In 1851, he was nom- inated for the Senate, and elected over J. B. Hart, an Indepen- dent Democrat, by 792 majority ; and with the close of his Sen- atorial term his official life ceased. On the rise of the Know- Nothing party, he cast his fortunes with it, and when the Repub- lican came into existence he went with it.


In 1850, in company with Robert Hamilton, he ventured into a land speculation which resulted in great profit to him. In 1846, he and John Beard, Sr., had bought land of George King, and laid off an addition to the town, and the venture had brought him $2,000, and with this money as his contribution to the joint enterprise, he and Hamilton purchased a tract of fifty-five acres, at $100 per acre, and out of the tract they platted Additions 8, 9 and 10, and from the sale of the lots, Hicks realized a little over $11,000.


In 1857, his health failed, and he retired from the practice of his profession and from all active business, and on December 23 of that year, he died. In his religious views he was a Uni- versalist.


Gilderoy Hicks was not a well-read lawyer nor was he a skillful practitioner. But he was, nevertheless, a useful and successful lawyer. He knew wherein he was lacking as a lawyer better than any one else, and, like the careful, prudent man that he was, he was slow to advise a client into doubtful litigation. He ever hes- itated to lead the charge for a belligerent client, and was always ready to consider terms of compromise. He seldom undertook the management of an intricate cause without having assistance. Some of those who knew him best ascribe to him the assumption


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of a humility which he did not feel ; but we are inclined to think they misjudge him. He was not a "humble " man in the offens- ive sense of that word, but he lacked confidence in himself and habitually put a low estimate on his own ability. He did not affect much learning ; he did not pretend to be skillful in the management of causes ; he did not claim to have power over juries ; but he knew from experience that he could persuade men into the compromise of their difficulties and save his clients from loss more easily than he could by a legal fight in the court room, and so he adopted that as his rule of professional life.


It is said of Hicks that he could " never look a man in the face and charge him a fee ;" and there was probably some reason for the saying. But it was due, no doubt, to the distrust of him- self. He never rated his own services as high as his clients did. He would write a deed or a mortgage or a contract for 25 cents. He would make a guardian's or an administrator's report for $1, and sometimes charge no more than 50 cents. He would ride to the outermost parts of the county and attend to a trial before a Justice for $5, and sometimes for $3. He would prosecute a cause in the Circuit Court for $5, and sometimes for less.


But it must not be thought that Hicks was powerless in the court room. When his cause came to trial, he utilized his very weaknesses. He was quiet and deliberate in his movements; he never became excited ; his language was smooth and conciliatory, and he nearly always managed to impress upon the jury that he stood in need of their sympathy. While not coming up to the level of a good speaker, he was nevertheless a shrewd one. He talked to his juries ; he talked soberly and quietly, and he talked ingeniously. He was adroit in stating to the jury what the opposite side conceived to be the strong point in his case in such a manner as the jury would conclude that it had no merit.


Gilderoy Hicks was a just man himself, and quick to see where the wrong lay between two contending neighbors, and always ready to point out to them the line of right, and help them to it. And, indeed, he relied more on what seemed to him to be the fair thing between man and man than upon his judg- ment of the law applicable to their cause.


And the people believed in him. A large clientage accepted Hicks' suggestions of right as the final arbitraments of their dis- putes. And they had the utmost confidence in his integrity. He was the friend of the widow and the orphan, and was very frequently trusted with the settlement, as administrator, of im- portant estates in the county, and, so far as the writer has heard, no hint of unfair dealing was ever charged against him.


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Gilderoy Hicks was a very attentive man to his business. He was constant in his attendance at his office. He never went abroad to practice his profession. Among strangers he would have been at a disadvantage, and he knew it. He was not only attentive to business, but he was careful to see that he had it. A woman, or even a child, entering the court room alone, with the anxious business look of one in an unaccustomed place, was very apt to be accosted by Hicks, and that in such a quiet, persuasive manner, that if there was any business to be had, Hicks was quite sure to get the benefit of it.


In December, 1839, a lawyer by the name of Newman came to Franklin, and announced his intention of making this his perma- nent home. He was from Lebanon, Ohio, was educated at the Miami University, and studied law in the Hon. Thomas Corwin's office. Newman, whose Christian name is forgotten, was a man of pleasing manners, rather good looking, dressed well. was a good speaker, and, but for his intemperate habits. might have become a successful lawyer. He failed, however, to get the confid- ence of the people, and in about eighteen months he went to Edinburg, where he remained a short time, since which there is no account of him.


In the month of February, 1841, Robert Mc Kinney came to Franklin, and entered the arena as a lawyer. He was born in Brown County, Ohio, and was educated at Hanover College, in Indiana. Up to that time, he was the best educated lawyer in the county. He was a man of a good deal of talent, but he made the fatal mistake of attempting the practice without sufficient preparation, and when business came to him he sometimes found himself at a great loss to know how to manage it. Robert Mckinney's personal appearance was against him. He was tall, raw- boned, long-necked, slouchy, and had broad, projecting teeth. In his dress he was noticeably old-fashioned, and he lacked that suavity of manner so essential to the formation of acquaintances in an agricultural community.


In the fall of 1841, he was married. but he soon found that his business failed to bring a living for himself and wife. And then he became discouraged. There was a county library in the town at the time ; and, in his strait, he took to this library and, it is said, read every book in it. In the fall of 1844, his wife returned to her father, and he went to Greenwood, where he taught a school. The following spring he moved to Nauvoo, the seat of the Mor- mon hierarchy in Illinois. But no greater success attended his efforts at the law in his new home than had in his old. He wrote a very interesting and instructive account of the Mormons,


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however, which was published in an Eastern review, and which is still quoted as an authority on the Mormon question. He has long since been dead.


About 1843, Royal S. Hicks, a nephew of Gilderoy Hicks, was admitted to the bar. But he practiced so little as to scarcely have identified himself as a lawyer of the county. He wrote an excellent hand, and was long a Deputy in the Clerk's Office, and held the place by appointment for several months after the death of Capt. Allen. He was familiarly known as "Boss " Hicks, for the reason that he "bossed " it over the Clerk's office for so long a time.


In 1852, he was elected by the Democrats to the State Legis- lature, and after he had served his term he moved to Spencer County, where he has ever since resided.


In March, 1847, Gabriel M. Overstreet, a resident of the town, was admitted to the Johnson County bar. Mr. Overstreet was born in Oldham County, Ky., on the 21st day of May, 1819. His father, Samuel Overstreet, was a farmer in moderate cir- cumstances, and, in 1834, he moved to Indiana, and his son, then in his sixteenth year, came with him.


The family settled in the country, about three miles northeast of Franklin, and young Overstreet performed his share of labor in clearing out his father's farm. During the winter, he attended the neighborhood schools, and in the summer he engaged in farm labor. When he was twenty years of age, Samuel Overstreet, who had a large family of children and was growing old, made a distribution of his property among them, and the subject of this sketch invested his share-$600-in an education. Entering the Franklin Labor Institute as a student, he spent nine months therein, and, in May, 1840, he entered the Indiana University at Bloomington and remained there for four years, when he took his degree of Bachelor of Arts.


During his collegiate life, he was compelled not only to practice the most rigid economy, but to devote his vacations to some money- making employment. One vacation he undertook a contract to clear land, for which he received the sum of $40. On leaving col- lege he entered the law office of Gilderoy Hicks, Esq., as a law student, and read law for a year. The winter of 1846-47 he at- tended law lectures at the Indiana University under Judge McDonald, and, in the spring of 1847, he was licensed to prac- tice law.


Returning to Franklin, he kept up his reading and at the same time assisted his brother, William H. Overstreet, a leading merchant of the town, in the management of his business. Hav-


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ing learned the art of surveying, he supplied himself with com- pass and chain and practiced that art to a limited extent.


In 1848, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney for the county and served in that capacity for a year.


In February, 1849, he entered into partnership with Ander- son B. Hunter, a partnership which is yet in existence, and which has been eminently successful in the practice of the law. It is the oldest legal partnership in the State.


One year after the admission of Overstreet-March, 1848- Anderson B. Hunter was admitted. Mr. Hunter was born in Oldham County, Ky., on the 1st day of October, 1826. His father, Ralsamon Hunter, emigrated to Johnson County in 1840, and settled in Hensley Township, where he subsequently died.


Anderson B. Hunter was an undersized boy as he is man, but as a boy he enjoyed fairly good health, while as a man, and especially during his later years, he has had more than the aver- age share of sickness. His undersize brought him certain priv- ileges while a boy of which he was quick to take advantage. Somewhat precocious, he showed a greater love for books than was usual for one of his years, and instead of the schoolroom being an irksome place to him, he found it to be the place of all others he loved the best. The schools of those days were none of the best, but a quick-witted and studious boy was sure to find much to study that was interesting to him at the time, and that would prove of use to him in after years.


But young Hunter did not spend all his time at school. The winter schools, lasting for three months, during the years that he was a schoolboy, were all there was of school for him. During the spring, summer and fall months he was engaged upon his father's farm. In addition to his undersize. his eyesight was de- fective, and it may well be inferred that he did not make a first- class farm hand. But, as he has been heard to say himself, " he did the best he could, and generally managed to keep pretty well up."


He was fourteen years old when his father moved from Ken- tucky, and received but one quarter's schooling after that time. For the times, he was considered quite a scholar, and, when he had reached his eighteenth year, he went to the work of teaching, as nearly all American young men have been and still are in the habit of doing. His first school was taught in a smoke-house, repaired for the purpose, in the late Burgess Waggoner's door- yard, in Nineveh Township, and for the next two years he spent the greater part of the time in the schoolroom as a teacher.


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In the spring of 1846, he made up his mind to the study of the law, and with that purpose he made arrangements for the use of Gilderoy Hicks' law books. For one year he studied in his father's house, going to recite to Mr. Hicks every fortnight.


In the spring of 1847, he left home and entered Hicks' office as a student, but he soon took sick and had to go home. In No- vember, he went to Bloomington and attended the Law School in the Indiana University, under Judges McDonald and Otto. At · the close of the law term, he was licensed to practice law in the courts of the State, and he then returned to his home where he remained till the 4th day of July, 1848, when he went back to Franklin, and has made that his home ever since.


For a time he was in the office of William Bridges, then the County Treasurer. In December, Gilderoy Hicks went to In- dianapolis to attend the Legislature, and, on the invitation of Mr. Hicks, Mr. Hunter entered his office, where he remained up to the following February when Hicks returned. Mr. Overstreet and himself rented an office together and moved into it without any thought of uniting their fortunes in a business venture. But, within a few days, the thought came to them that such a venture might prove beneficial to both, and, on the 21st of Feb- ruary, 1849, a partnership was formed which has never been dis- solved, and has been profitable to both parties to it.




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