USA > Indiana > Vanderburgh County > Evansville > A history of Evansville and Vanderburgh County, Indiana : a complete and concise account from the earliest times to the present, embracing reminiscences of the pioneers and biographical sketches of the men who have been leaders in commercial and other enterprises > Part 13
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In 1822, Associate Judge Wagnon was succeeded by William Olm- stead. Like Wagnon, Olmstead was not learned in the law, but wholly unlike him in character. He was a man who lived in the fear of do- ing wrong. In fact it has been said of him that he was so conscien- tious and sympathetic as to almost incapacitate him for the position, when it came to the decision of close questions of facts and law.
From 1825 to 1837 John M. Dunham was the colleague of Judge Olmstead, and for ability as well as conscientiousness was the peer of any man in the community. In fact he had few equals anywhere in the new country. He had a fine education and his home, a humble cottage, stood where the Blount wagon works, on Fifth and Locust streets are now located. There are those living here today who re-
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member his worth as a citizen and his brilliant career as a judge and an advocate.
His successor on the bench, John W. Lilliston, served as judge from 1839 to 1844. Lilliston was a man of very ordinary ability, and knew about as much law as a country justice who never saw a copy of the statutes of the state. He was as weak in character as in mental ability, and was a little less unscrupulous than his predecessor, Judge Wagnon.
In March, 1832, Judge Samuel Hall was commissioned by Govern- or Noah Noble as presiding judge of the fourth district. He had pre- viously lived in Princeton, Gibson county, Indiana, where he had practiced law. While he was not a brilliant lawyer, he made a good, careful judge. After quitting the bench he was elected president of the Evansville and Crawfordsville, now the Evansville and Terre Hante railroad company. He resigned the judgeship in 1835 and was succeeded by Judge Charles I. Battell, who was appointed by the governor to fill the vacancy. Battell was a resident of the town of Evansville and had only served as judge one term of court, when he formed a partnership with John Ingle, the firm name being Battell & Ingle.
At the next regular election following the resignation of Judge Hall, Elisha Embree, of Princeton, was elected judge of the fourth judicial district and 'received his commission from Governor Noah Noble, dated December 11, 1835. He was a native of Kentucky, but his parents located near Princeton in this state in 1811. He studied law with Judge Hall, whom he succeeded ou the bench. Judge Embree was a careful, firm man with decision of character, besides being well-posted in law.
He afterwards figured to a great extent in politics and was evidently successful.
In 1846 James Lockhart was commissioned to succeed Judge Em- bree as judge of the fourth judicial circuit by Governor James Whit- comb. Governor Whitcomb was the father-in-law of the ex-governor of the state, Claude Matthews, who was succeeded in January, 1897 by Governor Mount. Judge Lockhart had become one of the lead- ing lawyers of the state, and it may be said that his appointment was the beginning of a new era in the history of the judiciary of Indiana, that henceforth it required some legal ability and knowledge of the law to become a judge of the fourth judicial circuit. Judge Lockhart was slow in decision but was almost invariably right in his conclu- sions. He was an untiring worker and a close student, consequently 10
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a careful judge. He was a splendid office lawyer and a regular "book worm." He afterwards figured to a great extent in politics, and was a member of the twenty-third congress of the United States.
Alvin P. Hovey succeeded Judge Lockhart in 1851. His commis- sion was signed by Governor Joseph A. Wright, was dated in Sep- tember ot that year. The career and character of Judge Hovey are well-known to the people of this day and generation. He was an in- defatigable worker and a hard student, and besides being a splendid lawyer, he was a distinguished member of the literati. He became a poet and a scholar whose steady advance to the front rank of the foremost public men of the state, from the humble walks of life pre- sents a career worthy the emulation of the young men ot the future. He had the dignified, defiant bearing of a soldier, and yet beneath his rough and apparently haughty exterior, was a noble heart and a loving disposition that attracted men to him and won their admiration, veri- fying the old saying :
"There's many a good heart beneath a rough exterior."
His election to congress, his career in the legislative halls of the nation, and his election to the high office of governor of the state are marked periods in the political history of the country, and will be re- membered because of their remarkable features. He displayed fine qualities as a soldier in the civil war, having great courage, ready action, and commanding force.
The March term, 1852, was the first term of court held after 1819, without associate judges. In 1842, Conrad Stacer, a resident of Scott township, had succeeded John W. Lilliston. Like his predecessor he knew very little of the law, but he was a man of good character, and was conscientious in the discharge of his duties. He was the son of Frederick Stacer, one of the first settlers of the county.
In 1844, Silas Stephens succeeded Judge Olmstead. Judge Steph- ens was a man of noble attributes, who had a high conception of the duties of his office. His was one of those noble natures that is enabled to distinguish between right and wrong, and as a judge he knew no such thing as permitting the defeat of justice through the technicali- ties of the law. He was born in Kentucky in 1801, and he learned the trade of a harness maker and saddler. He came to this county in 1822, with no earthly possessions except his flint lock rifle. He soon, however, obtained a foothold in the little community, and accumulated money and property rapidly. He had not looked into a law book a dozen times up to the time he was elected to the judgeship. He was one of those men, however, whom the people in new countries
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always seek to arbitrate their differences between man and man. He was just; he was impartial; he was firm and decisive; and withal he possessed that mental acumen which enabled him to arrive at con- clusions that baffled the trickery and chicanery of the most astute lawyers. He took up the study of law as soon as elected and made one of the safest judges that ever sat upon the bench in the fourth judicial circuit.
Judge Stephens was united in marriage to Miss Julieene Evans, the daughter of General Robert M. Evans, and from this union there sprang a line of worthy offspring, who are even to this day valuable factors in our social and business life, one of whom is Silas Stephens Scantlin, a grandson, whose name perpetuates the memory of this illustrious pioneer.
The last to serve as associate judge in this circuit was William Shook, who became the successor of Judge Stacer in 1849. Judge Shook was a farmer and resided in Union township. He had been a justice of the peace in his township, and the residents had acquired the habit of calling him judge. But he was a very weak man both mentally and morally. He was in fact illiterate and very loose in his moral life. He had, however, the faculty of communing with men and ingratiating himself into their favor. He knew absolutely noth- ing about legal formulas and was ignorant of legal procedure. He possessed, however, a fair share of common sense and a disposition to do right.
Before the adoption of the constitution of the state in 1852, which contained a revised code of practice, the old forms of procedure were such as made it necessary for a practitioner aud a judge to be well posted in the practice, but notwithstanding this fact, judges were con- tinually elected and appointed who were utterly ignorant of the law and the practice. This was the condition of things all over the state of Indiaua, and is doubtless what led to the adoption of the code of 1852, which wiped out all distinction between actions at law and suits in equity and provided for one form of complaint . setting forth the facts constituting the cause of action, etc.
While this new code simplified the procedure in courts, and ren- dered it more difficult for shrewd lawyers to defeat right and justice through technicalities in the practice; it also let down the flood-gates of the forum of justice and admitted to the profession many adven- turers, who imagined they were thoroughly equipped for the prac- tice of one of the noblest professions of the world. County school teachers, farmers, who had distinguished themselves in neighboring
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debating societies and "spelling matches," country politicians, who had learned how to harangue the crowds at the cross-roads; Sunday school teachers, who had been in the habit of placing their own con- struction on passages in the bible until they imagined themselves smart; in a word, every glib-tongued ignoramus, with gab and gall, flattering himself that he was cut ont to be a lawyer, broke into the sacred precinets of the profession; and then it began to dawn upon the people that, unless they had able lawyers and level-headed men on the bench, the rights of litigants would be subverted to personal ends.
Under the code of 1852, any citizen was competent to practice law in the courts of this state, the only qualification necessary being a good moral character. Under the new code those mythical personages, "John Doe" and "Richard Roe," nominal parties as plaintiffs and de- fendants to suits at law, were consigned to oblivion, and the charm of parading under a musical and euphonious "nom de plume" in the courts of justice was no longer accorded litigants, who must now drop these stage names and play their respective parts of "heavy villian" and "persecuted victim" under the names by which they are known to the world.
The old practitioners and advocates who had become acenstomed to the use of legal mythology, which, like the expressions, "the party of the first part" and "party of the second part," was music to their ears, deprecated the new code, which broke the eveness of the musi- cal measure of the lines by the introduction of the real names of the parties to the snit.
The adoption of the new code wrought by many changes in the practice, and to the old lawyers it seemed like moving into a new state. However, while the change of form of practice in our courts was, at that time, considered a great detriment and wearisome to old lawyers, who had practically monopolized the business, it offered much encouragement to young men, who, perchance, had the collegiate edn- cation necessary to become great lawyers, yet because of the formula of pleading and intricacy of practice, were practically debarred from entering the profession under the old common law and chancery prac- tice.
Governor Joseph A. Wright commissioned Wm. E. Niblack, judge of the circuit, in April, 1854, to succeed Judge Hovey ; Judge Niblack never acquired a residence in Vanderburgh county. He resided at Dover Hill in Martin county, but was born in Dubois county. The only experience Judge Niblaek ever had in law was as a practitioner in the country courts, but he made an excellent judge. He was later
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elected to congress, and resigned his judgeship in October, 1857. He afterwards became a judge of the supreme court of Indiana.
Ballard Smith was appointed judge to fill the vacancy, by Governor A. P. Willard, October 24, 1857. Smith was a resident of Cannelton, Perry county, at the time he received his commission as judge from Governor Willard. He held but few terms of court here. He re- moved to Terre Haute, where he became a shining light of the bar.
His successor to the judgeship was M. F. Burke, who was likewise commissioned by Governor Willard in 1858. He was a thorough lawyer and a great leader of the Democracy in his district. As a judge he gave eminent satisfaction.
Judge Wm. F. Parrett received his commission as judge of the fourth judicial circuit from Governor Willard in August, 1859, and presided on the bench for ten years in succession, resigning in 1869. He had been for many years one of the brightest lights at the bar. He was a natural born orator and his style was graceful and easy. His successor was Judge David T. Laird in October, 1870, who was a resident of Rockport, Spencer county, Indiana.
Judge Laird belonged to that class of strong but uneducated men, whose redeeming features are a kindly nature, a big heart and natural ability. He never allowed a technicality to stand in his way, but brushed it aside and got right down to the meat in the case. He was not popu- lar with the lawyers because of his utter disregard of technical objec- tions raised in the course of the trial of a case.
Judge Laird was succeeded by Judge Wm. F. Parrett, March 7, 1873, who was again called to the bench by Governor Thomas A. Hendricks. For nearly sixteen years Judge Parrett wore the judicial ermine with ability and distinction. So popular was he as a judge that, although an uncompromising Democrat, the Republicans only on one or two occasions, as election time rolled around, ventured to put a man against him. The leading business meu of the whole circuit supported him and would have continued to do so to the end of his days, without respect to party politics, had he desired to remain on the bench.
Other leading lawyers in his party, however, grew impatient and thought that the judge had monopolized the bench long enough, and a quiet political move was started among the members of his own party to "shelve" him. He was pursuaded to make the race for con- gress. He yielded to the entreaties of his friends and thus uncon- sciously released all claim to a positiou of public trust, with its hand- some competency, to which he undoubtedly held an absolute title for
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life. He resigned the judgeship December 31, 1888, having been elected to congress.
In January, 1889, Judge Robert Dale Richardson was appointed by Governor Isaac P. Gray to fill the unexpired term of Judge Parrett. He was succeeded in the election of 1896, by Judge H. A. Mattison.
Judge Richardson was born in Spencer county, Indiana, January 13, 1847. He received the common-school training of most farm boys, and later pursued his studies at the State University at Bloomington, Indiana, where he was graduated from the literary and law depart- ments in 1867-68. He came to Evansville in 1868 and began the practice of law. His native strong sense and his fine legal acumen won him recognition at once at the bar as a promising young attorney. His abilities finally placed him on the bench, where some of his decisions attracted wide notice for their fairness and profoundness. As judge of the first judicial circuit he attained such popularity and favor that he was retained on the bench till after the November election in 1896, when H. A. Mattison was chosen as his successor. Judge Richardson then continned the practice of his profession.
Judge Hamilton Allen Mattison was born in South Berlin, New York, September 23, 1832. He was reared on a farm, and received instruction in the brief-termed common country schools. When nine- teen years of age he entered the New York Conference Seminary, at Charlotteville, where he pursued his studies and also acted as assist- ant teacher. He was graduated from Union college in 1860. He was principal of the Bacon Seminary, at Woodstown, New Jersey, for the next two years. In 1862 he entered the army, and was promoted regularly until he became a major, serving on the staff of Generals Alexander Hayes and N. A. Miles. He was in many hard-fought battles, was wounded three times at Chancellorsville, and twice in other fights. At the battle of the wilderness he was captured, confin- ed in many prisons, most cruelly treated, suffered untold hardships and privations, and at last, goaded to the desperate resolve of death or freedom, he and Rev. John Scamahorn escaped from Columbia, South Carolina. They began a long, perilous tramp by night, in an ene- my's country, but they at last reached Sherman's army at Savannah. After the war he was graduated from the Albany law school in 1866. Early in 1868 he came to Evansville, and became county attorney in 1870 and prosecuting attorney of the Vanderburgh county criminal court the following year. He filled other important positions, and in 1896 was elected judge of the circuit court. He is a man of singular- ly acute intellect, liberal culture, wide reading, and native geniality.
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His mind, like Henry Hallam's, is more of the order of a judge than of an advocate. In an equitable view of a matter, no one can reach a conclusion more safely or more in accordance with human experience and consciousness than he. His decisions on the bench not only prom- ise satisfaction to litigants and lawyers, but also signify that he will make a brilliant record for himself.
PROBATE COURT.
On the adoption of a condition in 1816, when Indiana territory was admitted as a state, the common pleas court was abolished and the probate court was established, with jurisdiction over all matters per- taining ao the settlement of estates. In Vanderburgh county the first probate court assembled in February, 1821, in the county clerk's office, with associate judges John McCrary and William Wagnon on the bench. By virtue of their office as associate judges, they were judges of the probate court till 1829, when G. W. Lindsay became probate judge, filling the place till August, 1835. Nathan Rowley succeeded him, serving one year. John B. Stinson served from August, 1836, to August 1841. Edward Hopkins acted pro tem during the August term, 1841. The next regular judge of this court was Thomas Horn- brook, who served from November, 1841 to February, 1846. John B. Stinson serving pro tem for August, 1846. Edward Hopkins succeeded Judge Hornbrook and filled the office from November, 1846, to August, 1850. Cadwallader M. Griffith served for the next year, and Ira P. Grainger filled the position the last year of the exist- ence of the court, which was abolished in 1852. Those who filled the position of judge proper in this court were all men of good business talent, prominent in their day, devoted to the best interests of the city and community, and while they were not lawyers, yet they were trusted for their sound judgment and unimpeachable integrity. Ac- cording to the record, they dispatched much business.
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.
The acts of 1852 created the court of common pleas. It had exclu- sive jurisdiction over estates and guardianships, and misdemeanors which did not come under justices' courts. The circuit court retained concurrent jurisdiction in most matters. The first term of this court
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was held in the first distriet in the court-house in Evansville on the first Monday in January, 1853. Hon. Conrad Baker, the eminent jurist and distinguished statesman, graced the ermine of this bench until December, 1853, having been appointed to the place and com- missioned by Governor Joseph A. Wright.
Judge Baker was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, February 12, 1817. He was educated at the Pennsylvania college at Gettysburg, and studied law in the office of Stevens & Smyser -the Stevens of this firm being the illustrions Thaddeus Stevens, a member of Lincoln's cabinet. Being admitted to the bar in 1839, he practiced his profes- sion in Gettysburg until 1841, when he came west to Evansville. Four years later he was elected to the legislature, and in 1856, with- out his knowledge, was nominated by the republican party for lieuten- ant-governor, Oliver P. Morton heading the ticket. Willard and Hammond defeated them. He was colonel of the first cavalry (Twenty-eighth Indiana regiment) and served in this command for three years. In 1863 the secretary of war sent him to Indianapolis to organize the provost marshal general's bureau.
At the expiration of his term of enlistment he was elected lieuten- ant-governor, with O. P. Morton as Governor. While Governor Morton was in Europe for his health in 1865, Governor Baker officiated in his stead and when Morton was elected to the United States senate, Mr. Baker again assumed the duties of governor. In 1868 he defeated Thomas A. Hendricks in a race for the gover- norship. On the expiration of his term of office, he became associ- ated with the law firm of Baker, Hord & Hendricks, and lived in Indianapolis during the remainder of his life. He was a man of eminent legal talents and superior executive powers, and his force of character is written in every movement of his well rounded-ont, active life.
On the bench of the court of common pleas in the first district Mr. Baker was succeeded by Asa Igleheart, who served from 1854 to December, 1858. Judge Igleheart was born December 8, 1817, in Ohio county, Kentucky, and in 1823 came to Warrick county, Indiana, with his parents. In that day, in the wild and wooded country, educational advantages were meagre, as the schools, then held in rude log cabins, were few and far between and were in session during only a few months each winter.
Judge Igleheart began the study of law on the farm, and was ad- mitted to the bar at the age of thirty-two. In 1849 he came to Evans- ville and became a member of the firm of Ingle, Wheeler & Igleheart.
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His love of the law amounted almost to a passion, and he was a close student all his life. His success was a deserved recognition of his dili- gence and application. He revised "McDonald's Treatise" for justices in Indiana; it later became known as "Igleheart's Treatise. "His work on "Pleadings and Practice" in Indiana was prepared with great labor and carefulness. Other works came from his pen, but "Pleadings and Practice was his crowning labor. He practiced in the federal court and before the supreme court of the United States.
His death occurred February 5, 1886. Judge Igleheart's was a model character; he was a student; a man of no faults; a man of his word; a man of honor, and a man of high ideals. Clearness of conception was his invaluable quality, incessant loftiness of purpose his distin- guishing trait, and breadth of view his superior faculty. He was a man just in principle, great in power of analysis, comprehensive in his application of legal principles to points in issue.
Judge Joel W. B. Moore, a citizen of Warrick county, succeeded Judge Igleheart, and occupied the bench until 1860. Judge Moore was a prominent and prosperous member of the Boonville bar. The first judicial district had been composed of Vanderburgh and Warrick counties, but at this time it was enlarged so as to include Posey and Gibson counties also. Judge Moore was succeeded in December, 1860, by Judge John Pitcher, a resident of Posey county, who was reputed to be one of the ablest lawyers in the state. His term of office ex- tended through a period of six years. Judge Andrew L. Robinson presided from 1866 to 1867. Mr. Robinson occupied the bench by appointment. Judge Morris S. Johnson presided from December, 1867, to December, 1871. Judge Johnson was a rare spirit, of fine intellect and noble heart, princely in geniality and hospitality, and notable as a barrister and judge. He was born in Morristown, New Jersey, March 15, 1817. In early life he pursued the study of law, but later devoted himself to business. In 1844 he began business in Evansville as a wholesale and retail dry goods merchant and later he revived his law studies in the office of General James E. Blythe. Success attended his law practice from the start. Judge William P. Edson, a distin- guished jurist of Posey county, wore the judicial ermine of this court from December, 1871, to September, 1872, at which time he was suc- ceeded by Judge William M. Land. Judge John B. Hanby, of Warrick county, assumed the duties of judge at the January term, 1873, and was the last to preside, the court of common pleas having been abolished by an act of the legislature on March 6, 1873. All matters pertaining to it were restored to the jurisdiction of the circuit court.
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CRIMINAL CIRCUIT COURT.
The fact that the legislature has so often created, changed, and abolished courts, is an evidence that the legal machinery has never been considered perfect. The criminal creuit court dates its existence from 1869. Vanderburgh county was constituted the twenty-eighth judicial circuit. The new court opened on the first Monday in June, 1869, with Andrew L. Robinson as judge and William P. Hargrave as prosecutor.
Judge Robinson's force of character and literary and legal attain- ments, made him a noted man in the judicial 'district. His acquaint- anee was far extended and he was a mau of great influence. His physique was large and imposing, his voice magnetic, his words truly to the point, and his learning of so high an order as to inspire con- fidence.
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