USA > Indiana > Delaware County > A twentieth century history of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 9
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The two attorneys who were granted permission to practice at the first session of the court, in May, 1828, had already achieved considerable suc- cess and later rose to prominence. Charles H. Test, son of an Indiana circuit judge during 1817-19, had begun the practice of law at Lawrence- burg in 1821 and during subsequent years practiced in many counties of the state. For a number of years subsequent to 1838 he resided in Wayne county, and finally removed to Indianapolis. He was secretary of state from 1849 to 1853. He lived to an advanced age. James Rariden, the second member of the Delaware county bar, was a native of Kentucky, and
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
studied law in Wayne county during the second decade of the century. He resided in Wayne county until his death in 1856, though practicing in the courts of the surrounding counties. He was a man of sturdy character, self-molded, genuine but with little polish, and though his education was limited his opinion was sought as frequently as that of a more brilliant man. He was a strong Whig, and was an able member of the constitu- tional convention of 1850.
The prosecuting attorney of the circuit at the time Delaware county was organized was Cyrus Finch, and it will be remembered that he was absent from the first session of court and Septimus Smith was appointed prosecutor. Death detained him from his duties at this time, for his health had begun to fail in 1826, and he died in January, 1828.
Septimus Smith was a brother of Oliver H. Smith, so prominent in the history of Delaware county. He and Cyrus Finch, both talented lawyers, had founded the Western Times at Centerville, Wayne county, about 1827, and their editorials obtained more than local recognition. Smith died of consumption during the twenties.
Following Cyrus Finch as prosecutor for the circuit came Martin M. Ray, who was admitted to practice in this county in May, 1829. He had located for practice in Wayne county that year, and continued practice there until 1845, when he moved to Indianapolis and lived till his death in 1869. A native of Kentucky, he had come to Indiana shortly after its admission to the Union, and before taking up the practice of law followed the vocations of cabinet-maker, merchant and banker. He was a brother of J. B. Ray, who was governor of Indiana at the time Delaware county was organized.
The career of Oliver H. Smith, who was admitted to practice at the November session in 1829, has touched Delaware county more intimately in other ways than in the law. It is only necessary to state here that he had practiced law in Indiana since 1820. His "Reminiscences of Early Indiana Trials and Sketches" (1858) is valuable for its numerous descrip- tions of the early courts and the anecdotes and characterizations of the prominent lawyers of the state during the first half of the century.
John S. Newman was another Wayne county lawyer who followed the circuit judge in his rounds and occasionally took a case in Muncie. He had lived in Wayne county from 1807, was admitted to the bar there in 18z8, continued in active practice until 1860, and from then until his death in 1882 lived in Indianapolis, where he was president of the Merchants National Bank.
At the time he presented his application to practice in Delaware county, Caleb B. Smith was a resident of Connersville. He was among the fore- most of Indiana's early lawyers, and having the gift of eloquence he rose
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
to high positions in public life, serving as speaker of the Indiana legislature and representing his district in Congress for six years.
In the copy of the Muncietonian, for July 15, 1837, several lawyers are among the advertisers. None of those who have been mentioned ever located in Muncie, but at the time of the above publication there were several offices near the public square where the public could consult with one learned in the law. Those advertising as lawyers under that date were : Thomas C. Anthony, with "office on Main street near the tan yard"; Joseph Anthony, residing "between Miller's tan yard and Exchange Hotel"; W. G. Renner, office "on Main street, nearly opposite clerk's office"; and Andrew Kennedy, in "Willard's brick building," corner Main and Walnut. These probably were the only lawyers residing in Muncie, but one of the best known and brightest attorneys practicing in this and neighboring courts at that time was David Kilgore, whose home was in Yorktown. Born in Harrison county, Kentucky, April 3, 1804, David Kilgore accompanied the family to Franklin county, Indiana, in 1819, and soon turned his attention to the study of the law. In April, 1830, he arrived in Delaware county, after a weary tramp across the country, carrying four law books. He taught one of the first schools in Mt. Pleasant township, bought a tract of wild land, and at the same time began practicing law. To supplement his share of the meager practice then offered in this county, he was admitted to the Henry county bar in 1832 and also probably practiced in other counties of the circuit. He was pre-eminent as a trial lawyer. His rise to prominence was rapid. In 1832 he entered the legislature as a Whig, and in 1856, just after the organization of the Republican party, he was elected speaker of the house. He was the first circuit judge to come from Delaware county. His circuit, when he was elected in 1839, comprised the counties of Randolph, Delaware, Grant, Jay, Blackford, Madison, Wells and Adams. After representing this county in the constitutional con- vention of 1851, he went to the legislature in 1855, and from there to Congress, where he was a member of the house during the years just preceding the outbreak of the war. Always successful in his profession, and acquiring a large estate, he is honored especially for his prominence in public affairs. He was best known as "Judge Kilgore," and his record on the bench during the flourishing days of the big circuit was in keeping with his achievements at a more mature period. Ile died suddenly, January 23. 1879, leaving a number of descendants in Delaware county.
Joseph Anthony served as circuit judge during 1853-58. Though a lawyer by profession, he was best known to the people of Muncie for many years as proprietor of the tavern that once stood where the Kirby House is now, and was called, part of the time at least, the Eastern Hotel. It was a two-story frame structure, and was not removed until the present
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
Kirby House was built. Mr. Anthony was a cripple, and for many years was a familiar character in the county.
T. C. Anthony is remembered as a brilliant man, an orator with natural eloquence, refined by classic learning. He practiced a few years in Muncie, but never acquired great prominence.
Only a few of the early lawyers were college-trained men. Most of them educated themselves, reading law in the office of an attorney who had already advanced to some success in practice. Probably no lawyer in Delaware county during the first two decades of its history was more influential than Andrew Kennedy, and yet he had little training for his profession and only took it up after he had tried the two occupations of farming and blacksmithing. Born at Dayton, Ohio, in 1810, he spent most of his youth on a farm, receiving a meager education, and without showing any decided bent in life. Finally, at Connersville, where he was living with a Quaker aunt, he began the reading of law under the instruc- tion of Caleb B. Smith and Samuel Parker, and was admitted to practice in 1830 and soon after came to Muncie. Besides a successful practice, according to the standards of the time and place, he became prominent in politics. He became state representative in 1835, state senator in 1838; in 1841 was the only Democrat elected from Indiana to Congress, and in 1847 was the nominee of his party (which was then dominant in the state) for United States senator. But in the smallpox scourge which caused an almost precipitate adjournment of the legislature Mr. Kennedy fell a victim, and died December 31, 1847, before the assembly had taken up his election. He had two sons, both born in Muncie. Evender C. was a brilliant soldier, later became a physician, and was noted for his literary productions. Philip A. B. Kennedy also served in the Civil war, and then followed his father's profession, finding success in practice and becoming well known in public life. Andrew Kennedy's daughter married Dr. Mil- ton James, late of Muncie.
Among other lawyers admitted to practice in the county but who did not have residence, was Jehu T. Elliott, one of Henry county's ablest lawyers. He was admitted to the bar in 1834 and from that time until his death in 1876 held numerous positions of honor and trust, serving as circuit judge from 1854 to 1864, and in the latter year was elevated to the supreme bench of the state. Altogether, he served eighteen years as circuit judge and six years on the supreme bench.
In September, 1839, Jacob B. Julian was admitted to practice in this county. He had been born in Wayne county in 1815, being left an orphan at an early age, had gained a good education by persistent effort, and at the age of twenty-four was admitted to the bar. He lived in Muncie but eight months, and after his return to Wayne county soon took rank as
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
a leading lawyer. He was president of a bank at Centerville, and after moving to Indianapolis became judge of the circuit court. His younger brother, George W. Julian, was one of the most distinguished lawyers and. political leaders that Indiana produced.
John Marshall was another attorney practicing in 1846, but nothing definite is now known of his career.
Walter March for a number of years before his death ranked as the oldest member of the Delaware county bar. He honored his position as dean by brilliant ability, a career notable by its achievements in practice and in public affairs, and a most wholesome and distinguished personal character. His fellow members of the bar, at the time of his death, voiced their appreciation of his life in resolutions from which the following sen- tences indicate his standing in his profession: "His was a positive char- acter. . . His opinions were his own. . . . As an advocate one of his chief characteristics was force and strength in argument and illus- tration. . . As counselor he was careful, discreet and thoroughly
trustworthy. Industrious, pertinacious, energetic and thorough, he well earned the distinction he achieved as a lawyer." He had been admitted to the bar at the March term of the Delaware district court in 1841, and continued in active practice until his death, March 31, 1883. In the constitutional convention of 1851 he was senatorial delegate, and soon afterward became first judge of the newly established court of common pleas. He served in the legislature, and had a large practice in all the courts. In the constitutional convention he took a chief part in simplifying the civil code, and as one of the ablest lawyers of Indiana he impressed his learning enduringly on the fundamental laws of the state.
Joseph S. Buckles, who was one of the leaders of the Democratic party in this county and who edited the Delaware County Democrat for a time in 1844, came to Muncie during the thirties, while Andrew Kennedy was one of the few lawyers then located here. He studied law in the latter's office, and was admitted to practice in 1841. Soon after resigning the editorship of the Democrat he was elected prosecuting attorney, and from 1849 to 1853 represented his district in the state senate. In 1859 he became judge of the eleventh judicial circuit, and continued on the bench two terms. He resumed practice in 1870, in partnership with John W. Ryan, who had just been admitted. He was strong as an advocate and was a natural lawyer, effective in presentation of arguments. Possessed of a tenacious memory, he absorbed knowledge without the industrious application to books demanded of others.
William Brotherton, whose death occurred in Muncie July 11, 1888, was a Virginian by birth, and was admitted to the bar in Xenia, Ohio, in 1851, at the age of twenty-five. He came to Muncie and was admitted
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
to practice in the same year, in 1855 being elected prosecuting attorney. He served in the legislature, and as a lawyer he took high rank in the county.
Thomas J. Blount, who died September 29, 1890, while still a young man, was admitted to the bar April 29, 1873. Though he had only a com- mon school education, he began a career of much promise. An injury received early in life brought misfortune to him when he was in his prime, and he died respected by bench and bar and the entire county.
Thomas J. Sample was one of the attorneys named in the "Indiana Annual Register and Pocket Manual" for 1845 as residing in this county, the other names appearing alongside of his being: A. Kennedy, Walter March, Levi L. Hunter, J. S. Buckles, Joseph Anthony, John Marshall, James H. Swaar, Warren Stewart, W. H. Withers, Joseph Underwood, J. H. Mellett, William Brady, J. H. Haynes, S. W. Harlan. Judge Sample, as he was best known, was a native of Maryland, lived for some years in Connersville and then in Yorktown, this county, where he was a merchant with O. H. Smith, and while selling goods took up the study of law. Admitted to the bar in 1842, he came to Muncie in 1843, and was engaged in practice for many years.
In the death of Carlton E. Shipley, July 31, 1905, the Delaware county bar lost its oldest member, he having been admitted to the bar fifty-three years previous to his demise. He had lived in Muncie with brief excep- tions since 1843, had been a clerk and school teacher, read law with J. S. Buckles, was one of the early district attorneys of the common pleas dis- trict, and besides practicing law with a success merited by his active and comprehensive learning, he often took part in enterprises that have become important in the county's welfare.
February 5, 1902, occurred the death of Judge Orlando J. Lotz, aged fifty-one years. His service on the circuit and appellate bench marks him as one of the most distinguished jurists of the Delaware county bar. He was the first judge of the forty-sixth judicial circuit, serving from March, 1885, until 1892, when he was elected to the appellate court, a position he . adorned until his death. His rank in his profession and as a citizen is happily summarized in the following expressions written at the time of his death. Judge Lotz was the "possessor of a good heart, a clean and vigorous intellect, an honest intent, a clean record"; was "a close reasoner, a stiff but fair fighter in party politics, a hard student of the law, a profound observer of passing events, an excellent judge."
The attorneys and law firms in Muncie in 1881 were:
Blount & Templer (Blount died in 1891).
W. Brotherton .*
* Deceased.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
.
Buckles & Ryan (J. S. Buckles dead).
WV. H. M. Cooper. R. S. Gregory. John A. Keener .*
George H. Koons.
Lotz (O. J.) & Kilgore (C. W.) (Lotz dead-Kilgore retired).
McMahan & McCulloch (McMahan dead).
C. L. Medsker.
Mellett (J. E.) & Dunn (both left years ago).
C. W. Moore .*
W. W. Orr.
T. F. Rose (retired).
J. F. Sanders .*
C. E. Shipley .*
S. D. Spooner (left here several years ago) .*
R. C. Summer (left here several years ago) .*
T. S. & J. T. Walterhouse.
L. F. Wilson (left here years ago) .*
\V. H. Younce, at Eaton .*
Ten years later, in 1891, there were many additions to the personnel of the bar. Several of those named in the preceding list had died or removed from the county or taken up other lines of business. Some thirteen still continued among the active attorneys. 'The list for 1891 follows :
A. W. Brady.
William R. Brotherton.
W. H. M. Cooper.
G. W. Cromer.
J. F. Duckwall (retired).
Ellis (Frank) & Walterhouse (J. T.).
Gregory & Silverburg (A. C.).
1 R. C. Griffith.
W. H. Hickman.
John A. Keener.
George H. Koons.
W. P. Koons.
J. G. Leffler.
C. L. Medsker.
J. F. Meredith.
C. W. Moore.
Charles Nation.
W. W. Orr. T. F. Rose.
Ryan (J. W.) & Thompson (W. A.).
J. F. Sanders. A. L. Shideler.
· Deceased.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
Spence & Cranor. G. W. Stephenson.
C. B. Templer. E. R. Templer. J. N. Templer. Rollin Warner.
J. S. Alldredge, Yorktown (retired).
Otho Dowden, Albany .* Liberty Ginn, Wheeling.
R. M. Snodgrass, Reed.
W. H. Younce, Eaton .*
In the present year ( 1907) the list of attorneys reveals many changes + and additions. Fully half of those named in 1881 have been summoned by death and their places taken by a younger generation. The rewards and activities of business and affairs have drawn not a few away from : active practice, so that some of those enrolled in the present Delaware county bar never receive a case nor prepare a brief for a client. This is one of the changes in the legal profession noted by Ambassador Bryce in a review of changes in American life since he issued his "American Com- monwealth." Lawyers are more and more drawn into business affairs, or combine business enterprise with legal practice.
The members of the legal profession of Delaware county at this time, 1907, are the following :
J. W. Baird. Claude C. Ball.
Ball (W. L.) & Needham (A. E.).
Bingham (James), White (W. F.) & Haymond (W. T.).
E. E. Botkin.
J. W. Brissey. W. R. Brotherton.
WV. H. M. Cooper.
G. W. Cromer.
C. W. Dearth. Frank Ellis.
Feely (Frank) & Redkey (H. S.).
J. M. Fitch. Walter Gray. Gray (M. H.) & Kent (F. J.).
Gregory & Lotz (W. J.).
Griffith (R. C.) & Ross (J. A.).
L. A. Guthrie. Sheldon Hickman.
W. H. Hickman.
George H. Koons.
· Deceased.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
WV. P. Koons.
J. O. Lewellen.
McClellan (F. F.) & Hensel (D. D.).
A. D. Mckinley.
Jolin Mel'hee.
J. F. Mann. Mann & Lesh ( Lincoln).
Ward Marshall.
C. L. Medsker.
J. F. Meredith.
R. W. Monroe.
H. G. Murphy.
Orr & Orr (W. W. & H. H.).
T. S. Owen.
R. W. Ross.
Ryman (W. L.) & Long (Harry).
Ryan & Ryan (J. W. & T. L.).
Shaw (F. A.) & Selleck (S. B.).
Silverburg (A. C.) & Bracken (Leonidas).
A. J. Smith.
N. N. Spence.
A. O. Stanley.
R. E. Stevenson.
C. A. Taughinbaugh.
C. B. Templer.
E. R. Templer .*
Thompson & Thompson (W. A. & W. H.).
A. M. Van Nuys.
H. E. Walk.
J. T. Walterhouse.
Rollin Warner.
O. G. Weir.
Ira Young.
A. M. Poland, Albany.
M. J. Fenwick, Daleville.
O. M. Rearick, Eaton.
Muncie Bar Association.
There have been several organizations among the lawyers of this county, though none with great permanence or vitality. In September, 1905, a meeting was held in Muncie which resulted in the formation of the Muncie Bar Association, which is now the principal organization of mem- bers of the bar in the county. Articles of incorporation for the association were recorded October 2, 1905, and Article I of the constitution names those who should be considered charter members. They are: Ralph S. Gregory, Joseph G. Leffler, Walter L. Ball, Edward M. White, William A. . Thompson, James Bingham, J. Frank Mann, George H. Koons, Frank *Deceased.
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Ellis, Frederick F. McClellan. The first set of officers were elected Febru- ary 24, 1906, namely : R. S. Gregory, president; George H. Koons, first vice president; Frank Ellis, second vice president; F. F. McClellan, secre- tary; E. M. White, treasurer. In May, 1907, the officers elected were: George H. Koons, president; A. C. Silverburg, first vice president; William W. Orr, second vice president; W. T. Haymond, secretary; Frank Ellis, treasurer.
Before the November election of 1906 the association passed resolu- tions favoring a constitutional amendment raising the requirements for admission to the bar to the same plane as the regulations safeguarding the practice of medicine and other professions. Along the line of these recom- mendations the principal objects of the association may be said to lie. In admitting members to its own ranks, it has endeavored to pass upon the qualifications of the applicants, and thus in a measure set a standard for the entire Muncie bar.
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CHAPTER IX. EARLY TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION.
The subject of means of communication has recurred again and again in this history of the settlement of the county. Ever since men began to live on the earth, the matter of getting from place to place and carrying things from place to place has been of vital importance; and the higher the development of society the more perfected become the methods of such communication. It would be impossible to conceive of our country in its present state of civilization without the facilities for movement and trans- portation which men have devised and improved during the last hundred years. It seems that the principal efforts of men are now bent upon the problems presented in the moving of material and persons from place to place. Transportation is the key to population and also to industry. Cities grow in population accordingly as they are conveniently situated with respect to transportation facilities, or as these facilities are supplied to them when needed. An agricultural district, however fertile, will be improved to the point of profitable production only when means are at hand or are provided by which the products may be readily and economically taken away to the markets. It is little wonder, therefore, in view of the import- ance of the general subject of communication, that special phases of the subject are at the present time the greatest vital issues, both economically and politically, before the American people. From this point of view the subject has only incidental pertinence to the history of Delaware county ; but in studying the general theme of communication this county affords as many concrete examples as any other. The county has had its Indian trails, its paths blazed through the woods, its primitive state and local highways, its toll roads, its free pikes, its limited water routes, its railroads, and its electric lines, each accompanying a new degree of development and marking a new era in the welfare of the people.
Before civilization introduced scientific road-making, wild animals were the markers and surveyors of roads. The narrow, deep-worn and wavering path through the woods, indicating the route of the wild animal between its lair and the spring where it quenched its thirst, was the course which the Indian, and later the white man, took in going through the woods. Thus animals were the first road makers, and blazed the way for their immediate successors, the roving Indians. The latter would naturally
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
extend and connect the trails into certain long avenues of travel across the country, which they would follow in making their pilgrimages from one hunting ground to another or for their war expeditions.
Several of these trails existed in Delaware county long before white man set his foot here. The Indian villages near Muncie, Yorktown and and on the Mississinewa were centers from which radiated numerous trails, several of which had been used so long, were so well marked, that they possessed the importance of "trunk lines" among Indian tribes and as such were widely known and used.
National Road.
After Rome had conquered a nation she made roads to that nation; so she was in easy communication with the remotest parts of her empire, and they with her. It is said that when Congress first met after the war for independence, under the new constitution, the lack of good roads was much commented upon by congressmen and citizens generally, and various schemes suggested to meet the want. The settlers of Kentucky and Tennessee on leaving Virginia had plunged into the wilderness and had followed Indian traces across the mountains to their new homes. With the acquisition of the Northwest Territory, extending the territory of the United States to the Mississippi, it was recognized that, in order to make this region an integral part of the nation, effective communication must be established between all parts. This necessity was emphasized when, owing to the absence of water communication over the mountains, the Kentucky settlements were practically isolated from the eastern states and threatened to secede from the Union because the government was about to allow Spain to close up the mouth of the Mississippi to American commerce. Before any definite steps had been taken by the government toward connecting the east and west by roads, the Louisiana purchase had widened our boundaries to the Pacific, and, with an energetic and far-seeing statesman like Jefferson as president, the matter of binding these vast areas closely together became a vital question. In the act of Congress, in 1802, by which Ohio was permitted to enter the Union, it was provided that two percent of the proceeds of the sales of the public lands within her limits should be held and applied in the construction of a public highway "from the navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic" to a point on the Ohio river and within the state of Ohio. A like provision was made in the act admitting Indiana to the Union.
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