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 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48
The successor of Judge Robinson was Judge Charles H. Butterfield, who assumed the duties of the office in November; 1870, and served till June, 1872. In many ways Judge Butterfield was a prominent citizen of Evansville. His birthplace was Farmington, Maine, and the date of his birth May 17, 1834. He was graduated from Bowdoin college in 1859. He and the Hon. Thomas B. Reed, now Speaker of the National House of Representatives, were classmates. In August, 1859, he came to Evansville and entered upon his duties as principal of the high school, a position which he filled satisfactorily for three years. Then he answered the call of the government "to arms." In the field he became Lieutenant-Colonel of the Ninety-first Indiana regi- ment. After rendering valuable service in the front his regiment made the famous march with Sherman to the sea. He was in the fight at Nashville, when General Thomas crushed Hood. Colonel Butter- field returned to Evansville in July, 1865, and resumed the study of law. In 1866 he was chosen superintendent of the public schools of the city, however, he continued to persevere in the study of law as opportunity offered in the office of Hon. Conrad Baker. He was ad- mitted to the bar in December, 1865. He resigned as judge of the ยท criminal court to accept the mayoralty, an office to which he was elected on the death of Mayor William Baker. He served for nearly three years as mayor. After that he resumed his law practice in Evansville. On the adoption of the city charter in 1893, he was made judge of the police court, a position he was occupying at the time of his death on Jannary 13, 1897. He was a man of many fine personal qualities, warm-hearted and generous, quiet in disposition, forceful in
147
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
speech, careful in rendering decisions of the law, and withal possessed of fine literary culture.
Judge William P. Hargrave was elected and continued to occupy the bench of the criminal circuit court from the time of Judge Butter- field's resignation until July, 1877. Two months afterwards the bus- iness of this court was transferred to the circuit court. Mr. Hargrave was perhaps more of a student than a jurist, and his decisions as a court officer were not characterized by that excellence of learning and fine- ness of discrimination that mark a man of superior talents in this regard. His legal attainments were not profound, but he was an honest judge and a good citizen. At the expiration of his judicial term he removed from Evansville, and entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church. In this capacity he manifested peculiar politeness and grace. He was a man generous to a fault, faithful to the work of his Master all his life. All criminal causes were adjudi- cated in this court, save such as belonged to the courts of justices of of the peace.
SUPERIOR COURT.
In March, 1877, a legislative enactment created the superior court of Vanderburgh county. It has concurrent jurisdiction with the cir- cuit court except in criminal cases. Its sessions have always been held in the court-house. The first term began on the first Monday in August, 1877. Judge Azro Dyer was appointed to the bench by Gov- ernor James D. Williams, and being the choice in successive elections, he continued to serve in this important capacity until 1890. As a jurist Judge Dyer clearly demonstrated his legal acumen and the emi- nent abilities which fitted him for the bench. He was born at Rum- sey, Kentucky, March 12, 1836; His father was a native of Connect- icut, and was a leading public-spirited gentleman of Kentucky, a lawyer of long experience at the bar, and a representative and senator for his district in the general assembly at different times. Azro Dyer attended the school of Frank Griffin at Hartford, Kentucky, and later the Rochester university, New York, and was graduated from Dart- mouth college in June, 1856. After reading law with Judge J. W. Becker, he was graduated from the law school of Louisville, Ken- tucky, in March, 1858. He practiced his profession in McLean coun- ty, Kentucky, until the adoption of Evansville as his permanent place of residence in July, 1864. He was appointed judge of the superior
148
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
court in 1877, and was elected by the people three times to fill the place, each term being for four years. He represented the Indiana Bar Association at the convention of the American Bar Association, held at Saratoga, New York, in 1878. He went to the convention in company with General Benjamin Harrison (afterwards president of the United States) and Judge Mitchell (now of the supreme court of the United States.) Judge Dyer is a man of fine literary attainments, having a profound knowledge of the law, a superior sense of equity and justice and splendid executive ability. He was faithful to every trust, patient under all circumstances, prompt in business, and com- manding in his superior position. His popularity as a jurist attests not only his complaisance and social capabilities, but the impartiality and fairness of the decisions he rendered. His abilities naturally ran to conclusions of the law rather than to impleadings-that is to say, he was naturally a judge, though his abilities as a pleader at the bar were of a high order. Instinctively he apprehended the merits or demerits of a cause, and he was apt in the citation of cases to the is- sues involved.
Judge Peter Maier was elected as the successor of Judge Dyer in 1890, for the term of four years. He was born in Prussia, August 1, 1834, and came to America with his parents in his fourteenth year. Soon after this he started out in life for himself, accumulated a little money, and completed a course in the Ohio Weselyan university, from which institution he was graduated in 1858. He took a legal course in the same college, and was graduated from its law department in 1860. He at once came to Evansville and began his career as an at- torney where he has practiced law longer than any other man now he- fore the Evansville bar. Hon. Charles Denby and Judge Thomas E. Garvin are the only attorneys now living who were practicing here when he came, and they are no longer practitioners. Judge Maier was elected judge of the superior court in 1890, and was the first per- son to hold court in the present imposing court-house, which was op- ened for business in February, 1891. Judge Maier is a pleasant gen- tleman, profoundly learned in the law, and a judge of superior excel- lence.
Judge John H. Foster was elected in 1894 as the successor of Judge Maier. Judge Foster is the son of Alexander H. and Martha (Hop- kins) Foster, and was born in Evansville on January 31, 1862. He began his education in the common schools of this city, and was grad- nated from the state university at Bloomington, Indiana, iu 1882, and from the law department of the Columbian university, District of
149
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
Columbia, in 1884. He at once began the practice of his profession in his native city. He was made special examiner in the United States pension office, and at present is on the bench of the superior court,
He is filling the place with honor to himself, with earnest applica- tion of superior legal ability to his duties, and with promptness and executive power. His decisions show clearness of reasoning, a broad sense ofjustice, and an understanding of the law.
LIST OF ATTORNEYS.
As will be observed the Evansville bar has nurtured and developed some renowned men-distinguished alike for their extensive learning and great public services. A list of the attorneys is here presented as nearly complete as practicable. Some of the earlier practioners did not reside here, and only came here to conduct cases at court time. In a very few instances lawyers were admitted to try a single case. The persons admitted in 1818, two years after Indiana had become a state, and the year when this county was organized and the "seat of justice" permanently located at Evansville, were as follows: Richard Daniel, Jacob Call, John Law, Charles Dewey, William Prince, Jas. Hylliar, Willis C. Osbourne, James A. Boitr and James R. E. Goodlett. In 1819: George W. Lindsey, General W. Johnson, Elisha Roberts, Amos Clark, Charles I. Battell, Samuel Leggette, General Robert M. Evans, Samuel Hall. In 1820: David Hart and Philip Triplett. In 1821: Horace Dunham, Jacob R. Everson and James McKinney. In 1823: T. J. Evans. In 1825: John Mosely. In 1829: George W. P. Maxwell and Abner T. Ellis. In 1830: Archibald Dixon, David H. Hylliar, W. T. T. Jones and Eben D. E Edson. In 1832: James Gibbs. In 1833: James M Lockhart. In 1834: John
Taylor. In 1835: Lazarus Powell, Sr , and James G. Jones. In 1836: H G Barkwell, E. S. Terry, Elisha Embree and Thomas Towles, Jr. In 1837: Emory Kinney. In 1838: Charles Moore, Francis E. Walker, Burwell B. Sayre, Edward H. Hopkins and John Ingle, Jr. In 1839: John J. Chandler. In 1840: James Davis and George Wheelright. In 1841: Conrad Baker and James E Blythe. In 1843: Benjamin M Thomas, Alvin P. Hovey and Asa C Mills. In 1844: Samnel Peper, Lemuel Q DeBruler, John M Grimes and William Newton. In 1845: James T. Walker In 1846: Thomas F. DeBruler, Samuel R. Hammill, Hugh B Montgomery, Thomas E. Garvin, Nathaniel (' Foster and James J. Thornton. In 1847:
X
150
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
Benoni Stinson, Jr., John Eakin, H Q Wheeler and Andrew L. Robinson In 1848: James R. Harper, William A. Wandell and George H. Todd. In 1349: Asa Igleheart, William F. Parrett, Wm. S. Palmer, Lewis C. Stinson, William P. Hall and Dennison D. Car- der. In 1850: Morris S Johnson, Thomas H Brnner, Harrison S. Kiger and Clement B. Simmonson In 1851: William Bar, John R. Garvin, Brackett Mills, William K. McGrew and Alvan Johnson. In 1852: Wilson Shook, Samuel B Garrett and Theodore Venneman. 1853: Willet E Andrews In 1854: Charles Denby, James L. Allen, James McLain Hanna, G. Allison, Jas Blythe Hynes, Richard A. Clemens, Z. M. P. Carter and William A Jones. In 1855: Lloyd M. Lowe, Royal S Hicks, James S. Collins and G. W. Hardin. In 1856: William G. McDowell, Edmund B. Seymour, Marcellus Emery and Henry C. Bard. In 1857: Jacob Lunkenheimer. Before 1858: John W. Foster, M. R. Anthes, Horace Plummer and James M. Shanklin. In 1858: Alexander C. Donald and William E. Rust. In 1859: Samuel K. Leavitt, George W. Moore, Wm. H. Walker, Jr., A. T. Whittlesey, John E. Gallagher and James Reid. In 1861: George W. Merrill. In 1862: Albert Dennis, James C Denny, J. G. Shanklin, Ben Stinson, C. E. Marsh, E. E Law, George W. McBride, Peter Maier. In 1764: Azro Dyer, Robert A. Hill, Wil- liam Reavis, Napoleon B. Risinger, Andrew J. Fletcher, J. M. Shack- elford, George W. Shanklin. In 1865: Charles H. Butterfield, Charles G. Bennett, J. G. Gardner, W. P. Hargrave, S. R. Horn- brook. In 1866: Shelby Harney, William Land, Thomas L. Davis. In 1867: John Brownlee, John E. Cleland, Charles Potter, John McGrath, William G. Williamson, William H. Beadle, H. C. Gooding, George P. Peck, C. W. Molton, John C. Patterson, James F. Welburn, J. H. Beadle, J. S. Buchanan, William Harrow. In 1868: Jesse W. Walker, L. T. Harris, Calvin Taylor, James M. Hanna, Clinton Staser, J. B. Rucker, Joseph McClary, David D. Doughty, H., Clark, Patrick A. Curtis, O. F. Baker, Thomas R. Cobb, Henry W. Bippus In 1869 : R. D. Richardson, H. A. Mattison, J. E. Igle- hart, Charles H. Mann, D. B. Kumler, Moses Weil, John Schubert, Leroy Williams, James M. Warren, N. F. Malott, S. D. Dial, Luke Wood, J. G. Dailey, George W. Robertson, Curran A. DeBruler, Lee Dinkelspiel. In 1870: Arthur E. Adams, Galen L. Spencer, George K. Amory, Gaines H. Hazen, William A. Traccwell, W. Frederick Smith, William A. Porter, J. E. Williamson, Royal S. Hicks, Edwin R. Hatfield. In 1870 and 1871: W. M. Blakey, Victor Bisch Cicero Buchanan, John C. Graham, T. L. Davis, Jacob Herr, J. M.
151
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
Humphreys, Harrison R. Littell, Thomas J Mooney, William D. Mayhall In 1872-3: James W. Brown, Wm. Armstrong, William Fordham, Alexander Gilchrist, A. C. Hawkins, George L. Meddrick, Rane C. Wilkinson, Alfred C. Tanner, Fount S. Gager. In 1874 : Edwin S. Albett, Paris C. Dunning, August Brauns, R V. Hodson, George Palmer, William H. Gudgel. In 1875: W. G. Bradley, Adolph Pfafflin, A C Jones, Rudolph Kehr, Julius A. Coleman, S. E. Smith, George R. Thompson, Karl F. Thieme, M. V. B. Von Ars- dale, C H Wesseler, Bernard Wagner In 1876: Robert S. Holt,
John W. McFarland, C. H McCarer In 1877: George W. Dan- nettell, Elhanan C. Devore, Richard J. Dixon, William M. Hull, Philip W. Frey, A. N. C. Leveson Gower, Harry F., Lyon, Isaac S. Moore, Frank L. Mills. In 1878: George A. Cunningham, Morris C. Baum, Charles F. Gould, J. Erian Martin, William W. Ireland, J. G. Winfrey. In 1879: Hugo Leg- ler, James W. Wartmann,. August Pfafflin. In 1880: Duncan C. Giv- ens, Converse Clement, Thomas Hislop, S. B. Vance, Charles L. Wedding, W. R. Shakelford, W. J. Wood. In 1881: William A. Cord, R. C. Benjamin, Henry L. Minor, William Kerlman, Henry S. Slaughter, John Lenihan, Jr., Aaron W. Richards, D. B. Miller, C. S. Roberts. In 1882: Georgs S. Clifford, Theodore Landsberg, H. P. Cornick, O. W. Mitchem, Edwin Taylor, N. E. Talley. In 1883: Graham F. Denby, Thomas E. Crumbaugh, W. S. Hurst. J. F. Par- rett, Willis Charles, Daniel H. Patrick. In 1884: James L. Keith, Thomas H. Brown, Alfred H. Edwards, W. J. Vickery. In 1885: John H. Foster, John Coker, Thomas E. Garvin, Jr., Charles E. Johnson, C. B. Harris, A. J. McCutchan, A. L. Wheaton, James G. Owen. In 1887: Louis O. Rasch, J. A. Clippenger, Andrew C. Vance, John C. Briggs. In 1888: Willis Howe, John L. Craig, Walton M. Wheeler, Cyrus F. McNutt, T. S. Harrison, Joshua Jump, Andrew C. Vance, Oscar E. Wood, Findley A. MeNutt, W. C. Wil- son, Leroy M. Wade, A. C. Harris. In 1889: William E. Cale, Frank B. Posey. In 1890: Andrew J. Clark, James Kilroy, James F. Lisle, James H. Lott, James M. Lynch, William Nelson, George C. Nash, Fred Smith, Daniel H. Hughes. In 1891: G. A. Hoff, John Quinn, George B. Walker, George W. Pillow, W. Z Bennett, Thom- as W. Fuller, B. M. Cobb, Louis J. Herman, Charles Mckinney. In 1892: W. F. Freudenberg, A. W. Funkhouser, W. A. Helm, Oscar R. Holcomb, Henry Mason, Harry J. Peckinpaugh, Robert Smith. In 1893: Robert H. Smith, Henry H. Hornbrook, William M.
152
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
Copeland, Miss Tamar Althouse. In 1894: James S. Pritchett, Lewis Taylor, George K. Denton.
In 1895: Frank C. Gore. In 1896: Edward G Adank, Albert W Funkhouser, Owen Dale Richardson, Emmet Lee Richardson, E. B. Simond.
On September 27, 1894, a rule of court was adopted here that all applications for admission to the bar, unless for a temporary purpose should be referred to a committee, whose duty it should be to inquire into the character and fitness of the applicant. A favorable report of a majority of a committee of five was sufficient to admit him.
The force of this rule is observable, when it is remembered that the constitution of the state, adopted in 1852, provided that any reputable citizen might be admitted to practice as an attorney in the circuit courts. Under this provision a great many persons have been admit- ted who never formed a part of the Evansville bar proper. It is not claimed that this list is exhaustive. Many. of the names above are of attorneys who never resided in the city, and who were admitted to transact business perhaps for only the one occasion
Judge Hanby and John A. Brackenridge were citizens of Warrick county, and Eben D. Edson and John Pitcher were of Posey county. Ex-Governors Powell and Dixon and Judge Towels, of Henderson, Kentucky, were prominent practitioners in this court in an early day.
Only one lady has been admitted to practice in the courts here, and that is Miss Tamar Althouse. She is a resident of this city, and is well-versed in all that pertains to her profession. She was admitted in 1893.
PRESENT BAR.
The following list contains the names of those who are at the present practicing law in the courts of Vanderburgh county: Edward G. Adank, Louis I. Ahlering, William M. Blakey, John R. Brill, John Brownlee, Jacob S. Buchanan, De Witt Q. Chappell, Andrew J. Clark, William E. Cole, Robert M. Cox, Samuel Crumbacker, Thomas E. Crumbaugh, George A. Cunningham, James T. Cutler, Curran A. DeBruler, Graham F. Denby, George Knox Denton, Edgar Durre, Azro Dyer, Walter F. Freudenburg, Philip W. Frey, A. F. Funk- houser, A. W. Funkhouser, Thomas E. Garvin, Jr., Alexander Gil- christ, Duncan C. Givens, Frank C. Gore, Charles F. Gould, William H. Gudgel, Charles B. Harris, Lonis J. Herman, S. R. Hornbrook, Wesley S. Hurst, John E. Iglehart, William W. Ireland, Alvah John-
153
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
son, Edward E. Law, James F. Leslie, N. L. Lindsley, Elmer Q. Lock- year, H. M. Logsdou, A. J. McCutchan, Charles W. Mckinney, Peter Maier, Henry Mason, Thomas J. Mooney, George C. Nash, George W. Nexsen, James G. Owen, H. J. Peckinpaugh, Francis B. Posey, George S. Pritchett, Louis O. Rasch, William R. Reister, Emmet L. Richardson, Robert D. Richardson, Charles L. Roberts, James B. Rucker, John W. Spencer, Edwin Taylor, Isham Taylor, James T. Walker, James W. Wartmann, Charles L. Wedding, John D. Welman, W. M. Wheeler, Rane C. Wilkinson, J. E. Williamson, Jordan G. Winfrey, Oscar E. Woods.
TEMPLES OF JUSTICE.
When Colonel Hugh McGary purchased what is now the site of Evansville, on March 27, 1812, a tribe of the Shawnee Indians dwelt in a village at or near the mouth of Pigeon creek. The territorial legislature, by an act approved March 9, 1813, organized Gibson and Warrick counties, the latter county lying west of Harrison county and south of "Rector's base line," including the present counties of Perry, Spencer, Warrick, Vanderburgh and Posey. Seats of justice were established by the same legislature. On June 14, 1814, the com- missioners, selected for that purpose, chose MeGary's place as the county seat. This was so far to one side of the district, sparsely in- habited with settlers scattered all along from Harrison county to this point, that after the formation of Posey county, in the same year, the county seat was removed to Darlington, near the mouth of Little Pigeon creek, a point some thirteen miles eastward, on fractional sec- tion number seven, in township seven south, of range eight west, " the place at first selected by the commissioners appointed for the purpose by an act of the legislature at its previous session." But Mc- Gary, by liberal donation of lots and money, revived interest in his location. He was an associate judge, and his house was so popular with the president judge and attorneys that court was frequently held at his house instead of that of Daniel Rhoades, which was the court- house at Darlington. Subsequently an act of the legislature was passed to render valid judgments given under such circumstances. Then Vanderburgh county was organized in 1818, and the future of Evansville rendered quite stable. For two years afterwards the house of Hugh McGary was used as a court-room. His log cabin stood forty feet from Main street and twenty-five feet from Water street, with its end toward Water and fronting Main, looking up the 11
154
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
river. It was in the midst of a primeval grove. In front of this cabin, cornering on Main and Water streets, Hugh McGary erected, for a trading post, a two-story frame build- ing fronting on Main street. The down stairs was composed of two rooms conveniently divided by a hall. The second story was used as a residence. The early history of Vanderburgh county is closely connected with this building. A popular vote in 1819 decided to incorporate the village-29 votes for and none against. The lots that had been donated to the county were at once offered for sale, in order that funds might be seenred with which to erect public buildings. By November the county agent had realized from these sales $4,142. Definite plans for the erection of a court-house were adopted February 15, 1819, the building was at first to be located in the center of Main and Third streets, in the midst of the way. This was altered finally to the south quarter of the public square. The public square com- prised the four quarter-blocks on Main and Third streets. In June, 1818, the square was cleared, at a cost of $55.75. On the north quarter in 1820 a pound or stray-pen was erected, consisting of white-oak posts and rails, about four rods square. On the west quarter- square stood the market-house, facing Main, for many years. Behind that, on the alley, stood the brick school-house.
The new brick court-house, on the south quarter-block, was built of bricks burnt on the quarter-block diagonally across Main street, on the north, and was probably the first brick house in the town. It was a heavy looking affair, with thick walls, strong timbers, stone founda- tion three feet thick, 34x46 feet in size, two stories high, caves twenty feet from the ground, shingles heavy and scalloped, battlements at either end, painted a Spanish brown and penciled with white lead. Above there were five windows on each side and two in each end. Below was the same fenestral finish, except in place of a window there was a door in the end fronting on Main street. The lower floor was of brick, except about the bar in the end fartherest from the street, where it was composed of heavy, foot-wide, fonr-inch thick timbers. Elisha Harrison and Daniel F. Goldsmith received the contract in April, 1819, and in May, 1820, the building was ready for occupancy. The building was paid for in orders on an empty treasury, and the interest on these orders (for some of them were not paid for more than ten years afterwards), made the building more ex- pensive than it should have been under favorable circumstances. The old building still stands, now used as a place of merchandise. The county records were kept at the house of James Newman previous to
155
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
1837, when a fire-proof brick office was built, in size 18x30 feet, about twenty feet south of the court-house, for $818.50. This court-house was finished in 1833 in a better style. It was painted a deep green.
But as the county business increased, the building was insufficient for the demands, and in June, 1852, a contract was let to James Roquet, a French architect and contractor, to build a new court-house, jail and jailer's residence. The court-house was to occupy the north corner of Main and Third streets. It was to be finished by March 1, 1854, but unavoidable delays occurred. The original cost was to be about $14,000. Just before its completion, on the day before Christmas, 1855, a fire began in the lumber yard and cabinet-shop of Robert Fergus, northeast of the court-house, and destroyed the building. Some of the offices were occupied, but the records were nearly all saved. In March, 1856, a contract to rebuild was let to Francis D. Allen for $14,300. It was completed in 1857. It was a two-story brick, crowned with a dome. The main entrance led into a paved corridor, on either side of which were the offices of the auditor, clerk, sheriff, recorder and treasurer. A lofty portico at the entrance was supported by heavy columns, after the Greek style. The second floor contained the court-room, the commissioners' rooms, the jury rooms, and the judge's office.
But in time this building became too small to hold the records, ac- cumulating in mathematical progression as the population increased. In 1886 it was decided, after much discussion by the public which lasted nearly two years, to build a greater building, one that would be an honor to the people. In 1873 Union Block was purchased for $54,000 as a site for a new court-house. This was the old Wabash and Erie canal basin-bounded by Fourth and Fifth streets and Vine and Division streets. In September, 1887, the contract for the new structure was let to Charles Pearce & Co. for $379,450. The court- house, the jail and sheriff's residence, and the fixtures and furnishings of the buildings reached in the end nearly $650,000. The new court- house was completed and opened for business in February, 1891.
Various new courts had been established by law to assist the circuit court in transacting the geometrically increasing business, and places had to be secured for holding such courts. Criminal court was insti- stuted in this county in 1869. To provide a place for this court, a brick building was rented located on Locust street, between Second and Third streets, near where the Lottie hotel now stands. The building had been used for a church, and was commonly known as the Locust street Methodist church. It was first leased for a year, the lease be-
156
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
ginning May 15, 1869. The building, not having been erected for that purpose, lacked many conveniences. The county, however, pur- chased the building at public sale for the consideration of $8,000, the deed of conveyance being made by J. P. Elliott, the author, on May 10, 1870. The superior court was created as an aid to the criminal court in 1877, and thereafter this building on Locust street was also used as a superior court-room, and was so occupied until the completion of the present new court-house, where large commodious court chambers had been prepared. The postoffice was in the lower part of this Locust street building, and the city council and courts met in the rooms above.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.