USA > Indiana > Biographical and historical sketches of early Indiana > Part 37
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Mr. Marshall and the late George G. Dunn loved each other like brothers. They roomed together during the session of the Legislature of 1851, both being members of the Senate. In the latter part of the session they had a difficulty, and a gentleman who witnessed their reconciliation thus describes it :
" Marshall and Dunn roomed together in 1851-2, when they were in the Senate. They had a difficulty in debate, and though they continued to occupy the same room to receive their friends, were known not to speak to each other for weeks. The Senate adjourned. Marshall was in one corner packing an old carpet- bag and crowding into it his soiled clothing. Dunn was in an- other corner crowding things into an old trunk. Neither of them spoke. Finally Marshall walked up to Dunn, held out his hand and said : 'Well, good-bye, George.' Dunn took it, and they both cried like children."
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This was Marshall to the life. He belonged to that fiery class of men who are all ablaze in their affections and their hates.
In 1851 the contest for the Legislature in Jefferson county was made upon the question of the State selling her interest in the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad. Joseph W. Chapman, a law partner of Senator Bright, was in the Legislature the year before, and opposed a bill authorizing the sale. Mr. Marshall canvassed the county in 1851 in support of candidates favoring the sale, and Senator Bright in support of those opposing it. In a speech at Ritchey's Mills, Mr. Marshall said he was sur- prised at Senator Bright's course in the canvass, as he had told him before it commenced that if he had said to him, Mr. Bright, that he, Mr. Marshall, desired Mr. Chapman's support the win- ter before, he would have seen that he got it. Mr. Bright, who was present, cried out in a loud voice : "Judge Marshall, I deny that statement." Marshall stopped a moment, and look- ing Bright straight in the eye, said, with an emphasis I shall never forget : "And I, sir, reiterate it." " We will see about it hereafter," said Mr. Bright. "As you please," replied Mr. Marshall, who then proceeded with his speech. This trouble re- sulted in a challenge and almost a duel, as will be seen further along.
In 1852 the author conducted a newspaper at Madison which supported Mr. Marshall for Congress. During the canvass he received a letter from some half dozen Quakers of Jackson county asking him to give the particulars of the difficulty be- tween Mr. Marshall and Senator Bright. They said that while anxious to vote for Mr. Marshall they could not conscientiously do so if he had ever sought the blood of a fellow man. The day I received this letter I sent Mr. Marshall a note asking him to call at my office. When he came I handed him the letter. He read it carefully, and, handing it back to me, said: "I fear we must get along without the support of our Quaker friends. You were present when the trouble between Bright and myself culminated, but it had been brewing a long time. Bright has ever been in my pathway. I never go out of a door without seeing his shadow. He prevented me from going to the Senate in 1844, and the next year beat me for the place. The day after the trouble at Ritchey's Mills, while at my home, Jonathan
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Fitch was announced. He came into my library and handed me a note from Bright. It was not a challenge, but was in- tended to provoke one. Its contents were so insulting that I became enraged, and resolved to kick Fitch out of my house. But in a moment I changed my mind. He was in my house, and, being a respectable man, I could not treat him thus. I told him Mr. Bright would either see or hear from me soon, and then he left. I studied over the matter that afternoon and even- ing, and concluded that the world was not big enough for me and Bright-that one of us must die. Next morning I came to the city, went to the hardware store of H. K. Wells & Co., and bought a bowie-knife. I put it in my pocket, and, knowing that it was Bright's custom to go for his mail at 10 o'clock, I walked up and down Second street, between the post-office and West street, from 10 to 10:30, waiting for him, but he did not appear. Had he come I should have attacked him and killed him, if I could. I knew he was always armed, so I would not be taking him at a disadvantage. I then went to my office, and wrote him a note, asking him to meet me at Louisville, on a day I named, to settle our difficulty. The day before we were to meet I told McKee Dunn what I had done, and asked him to accompany me to Louisville. He agreed to go down that even- ing on the mail-boat. I left him, and at noon took the Louis- ville packet, got off at Charlestown landing, and walked out to Charlestown. I called on Dr. Athon, told him I had chal- lenged Bright, and asked him to go on the field as my surgeon. He consented, and he and I then hunted up Captain Gibson, who agreed to serve as my second. That evening Athon, Gibson and myself went to Louisville, and next morning found Dunn at the hotel. Bright was also in the city, and negotiations
for a meeting began. Before they were completed friends in- terfered and the matter was settled." "How was it settled. Mr. Marshall?" I asked. "The particulars are not for the public. All it will ever know is contained in the card published by our friends. It was satisfactory to us, and the difficulty is ended." This is the substance of what he said, and very nearly the words he used.
Knowing that General William McKee Dunn, of Washing- on, was very near Mr. Marshall in his difficulty with Senator
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Bright, I wrote him a short time ago asking him to give me his- recollection of it. I suggested that, as the principals and every one connected with the trouble but himself were dead, there could be no impropriety in giving the facts to the public. The following is a copy of General Dunn's reply :
" WASHINGTON, January 5, 1882. " W. W. Woollen, Esq., Indianapolis, Ind .:
" DEAR SIR-I have been so occupied and distracted by vari, ous causes that I have too long delayed to answer your letter ask- ing for information about the difficulty between Senator Bright and Joe Marshall, which caused them a trip to Louisville, with a prospect of a duel. I do not think I can add much, if any- thing of consequence, to the information you already have. I can not give you dates.
" You remember when the two law offices of Marshall & Wal- ker and Dunn & Hendricks were adjoining in the Sering House. One hot day in August, I think, Mr. Marshall called me out of my office to the street. He was equipped, as he usually was when he would start out on the circuit, i. e., with an old carpet- sack, with very little in it, stuck under his arm, and his hat full of papers down over his eyes. He told me he was on his way to Louisville to meet Senator Bright, with a view of challenging him to fight a duel, unless he (Bright) qualified or retracted some statement he had made. He said he wished me to meet him the next morning at the Louisville Hotel. I told him I knew nothing about the code, did not believe in dueling, and could be of no service to him. He explained that he was going down by the Louisville and Madison packet, that he would stop at the Charlestown landing, walk out to Charlestown, and get Captain Gibson to act as his second, and all that he wanted of me was to act as an outside friend. I told him, with that under- standing I would go, as requested, hoping to be of some use in bringing about an adjustment. He immediately started on his way, and I shall never forget the appearance of that great big- headed, big-hearted man, as he walked down the street on his way, with the evident purpose of having matters brought to a satisfactory conclusion. The friends and neighbors whom he passed on the street little suspected the errand on which he was
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going. He had requested me, of course, to say nothing of the
matter. I went down to Louisville that night on the mail-boat, without having informed any one of the object of my trip. On the boat I met Senator Bright, his brother Michael, Jonathan Fitch, I think, and Charley Shrewsbury, who were of Senator Bright's party. The next morning, at the Louisville Hotel, I met Mr. Marshall and Captain Thomas W. Gibson. Senator Bright's party were at the Galt House.
"I do not remember the particulars of the correspondence that ensued between the parties belligerent. I remember that Hon. James Guthrie, afterward United States Senator and Sec- retary of the United States Treasury, seemed to be Mr. Bright's principal adviser. Judge Huntington, of the United States District Court for Indiana, happening to be in Louisville at the time, became one of Mr. Marshall's advisers. No conclusion was reached the first day, and by night rumors of a hostile meeting expected between the parties were in the air. In consequence of these rumors I went to the Galt House and took Captain Shrewsbury's room, Shrewsbury took Marshall's and Marshall took mine at the Louisville Hotel. My recollection is that a police officer visited Marshall's room that night, where he found Captain Shrewsbury, who threw him entirely off his trail. The next day we were amazed by the arrival of Rev. Samuel V. Marshall, a brother of Joe, and I had great difficulty in pre- venting him from procuring the arrest of the parties by the po- lice. You remember how Joe deceived a police officer who did not know him by pointing out his brother Sam as the Joe Mar- shall to be arrested.
"The correspondence was brought to what was accepted as a satisfactory conclusion that afternoon. It was part of the ar- rangement that the parties should return to Madison on the little packet. They shook hands when they met on the packet. but I do not think they ever spoke to each other afterward. On the arrival at Madison we landed at the depot wharf. Several of Mr. Bright's friends met him, apparently with great rejoic- ing. No one met Mr. Marshall. He walked up with me as far as my house, and then, with his old carpet-sack under his arm, he broke for his home on the hill. How grand and yet how simple he was in his tastes and ways. Yours truly,
"W. M. DUNN."
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The morning after Messrs. Marshall and Bright had settled their difficulty the following card appeared in the Louisville papers :
"The difficulty between Joseph G. Marshall, Esq., and Hon. Jesse D. Bright having been referred to us by mutual (not offi- cial ) friends, we are happy to say has been honorably adjusted, and to the mutual satisfaction of the parties.
" HENRY PIRTLE. " JAMES GUTHRIE. "ALFRED THURSTON. "W. O. BUTLER.
" Galt House, August 29, 1851."
Mr. Marshall always traveled on foot or horseback. For several years the author saw him almost every day, and never knew him to ride in a carriage. He kept one for family use, but did not use it himself. He lived on the hill just north of Madi- son, and in going to and from his home to his office he inva- riably walked. When he started out on the circuit he threw a pair of saddle-bags, containing a few articles of clothing, over his saddle and mounted his horse. He made his canvass for Governor in 1846 on horseback. The author is informed by Judge Julian that during Mr. Marshall's canvass for Governor in 1846 he came to the Judge's house and remained with him over night. He was to speak next day at a town some ten miles distant, and Judge Julian proposed taking him to the place in his carriage. He said he preferred riding his horse, and it took a good deal of persuasion to get him to take a seat in the Judge's carriage.
Mr. Marshall loved the horse and was a most excellent judge of that animal. He always rode a good one and treated it most affectionately.
Although a leading politician Mr. Marshall seldom did more on election day than deposit his ballot. I remember only two occasions when he was a worker at the polls. One of them was when General Stapp ran for the Legislature, and the other when Captain Meek was a candidate for County Treasurer. When a candidate himself he kept away from the voting place. He
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was too big and too proud a man to work for himself. He left to others the responsibility of his election or defeat.
Mr. Marshall was particularly fond of pictures. He has been known to buy a book for its pictures, and, when he had exam- ined them, to give the book away. He loved the beautiful and the true.
Mr. Marshall was a consummate actor. He knew how to " suit the action to the word, and the word to the action." In his arguments to a jury his force was not in the comparisons he made, but in the deductions he drew from his premises. In other words, he argued not by comparison, but from cause to effect. His ability to present his facts in the strongest possible manner was excelled by no man. He wasted no time in dally- ing with the graces of oratory, but at once hurled the javelins of his logic at the weakest points in his adversary's armor. He had the element of pathos. At times he would have a jury he was addressing in tears, and in a minute thereafter convulsed with laughter. He knew when to do this, and never made the mistake of provoking mirth when sadness would better serve the interests of his client.
Mr. Marshall was kind to young lawyers, but held those that aspired to be his peers to the strictest accountability. After de- murring a young attorney out of court he would graciously permit him to amend his pleadings and go on with his case. But if he got a fair advantage of Judge Sullivan, Mr. M. G. Bright, or attorneys of their standing, he would not relax his hold upon them one iota. He held them rigidly to the " bond," even though it took the " pound of flesh."
Mr. Marshall had the reputation of being an indolent man, and the reputation was a correct one. He had a habit of put- ting off labor to " a more convenient season," but in justice to him it must be said that he could do more work with less labor than any of his competitors at the bar. Indeed, he could do better work with little preparation than they could do with much study. His mind was so great that it could grasp a difficult problem in law at once, while his less able compeers could ac- complish this only by much study and labor.
Mr. Marshall was a wit as well as an orator. He often said things that were worthy of Dean Swift. They came from him,
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not as studied efforts, but as naturally as the water runs from the spring. One day, as the attorneys were gathering in the Madison Court-house previous to the opening of court, a bright boy-son of the deputy sheriff-came within the bar, when a Democratic lawyer addressed him thus : "Jeff., what's your politics ? " " I'm a Democrat, sir," answered the hopeful three-year-old. " There, gentlemen," said the lawyer, "you see that little children that know no sin are Democrats by na- ture." "Yes," said Mr. Marshall, "the Good Book tells us that we are all brought forth in sin, but through grace we are saved. We may be Democrats by nature, but through grace we become Whigs."
Again, the venerable John H. Thompson, who died in Indian- apolis a few years ago, was at one time Judge of the judicial circuit that embraced the county of Scott. Mr. Marshall had a case in this court, and introduced a witness that " surprised " him, and, desiring to destroy the force of his testimony, sought to impeach him. This was objected to by the opposing coun- sel, and Judge Thompson sustained the objection. The same day a law student applied to the Judge for license to practice, and was referred to Mr. Marshall for examination. Marshall took the young man outside the bar and spoke a few words to him, when the student left the court-room and Mr. Marshall re- sumed the seat he had just vacated. The Judge asked him if he had examined the applicant and was prepared to report. " Yes, your honor," replied the lawyer. "Your examination was a very brief one," remarked the Judge. "I only asked him a single question, your honor." "What was the question, sir?" " I asked him if a party could, under any circumstances, impeach his own witness. He said no ; and I told him to return to his books, as a man that knew no more of law than that was not fit to practice before a justice of the peace."
Sometimes Mr. Marshall was very domineering in his man- ner. He even carried this into court, and neither judge nor counsel was spared when the humor was on him. A young man was indicted in the Jefferson Circuit Court for larceny, and Mr. Marshall volunteered to defend him. The prisoner was charged with stealing a watch that was found in a room occu- pied by him in a Madison hotel. It came out in the evidence
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that the person indicted was decoyed out of the city by the Sheriff and City Marshal, and threatened with flagellation if he did not produce the watch. He confessed the stealing, and told them where the watch could be found. To this testimony Mr. Marshall objected because the confession was made under duress. Judge Courtland Cushing was on the bench, and ruled that although the confession of the prisoner could not go to the jury, yet, if they found that the watch was discovered in the prisoner's room, in the place named by him, they might infer that it was placed there by him, and would be justified in bring- ing in a verdict of guilty. To this ruling Mr. Marshall ex- cepted with much warmth. After the evidence was closed he addressed the jury in one of the ablest efforts he ever made. The adverse decision of the judge had angered him, and the " Sleeping Lion," as he was called, was aroused. He com- menced his speech by saying that the liberty of the humblest citizen in the land was as dear to him as though he was " clothed in purple and fine linen" and sat among the rulers of the land. Continuing in an excited manner, he said : "The prisoner at the bar stands charged with crime without a particle of evi- dence to sustain it. The court, in its infinite wisdom, has per- mitted testimony to go to you which should have been excluded." At this point Judge Cushing interrupted him, and said that he must be more respectful to the court. With forced calmness, for he was seething with excitement, he said : "I must confess my inability, your honor, to be more respectful than I am." " The court will teach you, then," replied the Judge in a testy manner. Folding his arms and bowing his head, he said : "Will the court commence its lessons now?" The Judge gave way to the lawyer, who remained for some time as immovable as a statue, and only relaxed his features and resumed his argu- ment when he saw that he had cowed the court. Had it been any other member of the Madison bar he would have been fined, if not imprisoned, for contempt of court. But Judge Cushing could not assert the authority necessary to maintain the dignity of his office when the transgressor was Joseph G. Marshall.
In social circles he was facetious and witty, but in public he seldom indulged in pleasantry. When he did so it was to illus- trate a point or ridicule the position of his adversary.
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No man ever questioned Mr. Marshall's integrity. He was ยท as honest in politics as in private dealings. He was conscien- tiously opposed to the use of money in elections. In 1852, when a candidate for Congress, the chairman of the Whig State Central Committee wrote him that the National Commit- tee had sent him money to be used in Mr. Marshall's district, and asking what should be done with it. Mr. Marshall replied : " Return it to Washington. The use of money in elections is both corrupt and corrupting. I shall have nothing to do with it."
In his sketches of Indiana men, Oliver H. Smith says of Mr. Marshall : "As a lawyer Mr. Marshall stood among the very first in the State. His great forte as an advocate was in the power with which he handled the facts before the jury. He seemed to forget himself in his subject, and at times I have thought him unsurpassed by any man I ever heard in im- passioned eloquence." It should be remembered that Mr. Smith had sat in the Senate of the United States, and had heard speeches from Clay, Webster and Calhoun. Colonel Abram W. Hendricks, in a recent address, thus speaks of Mr. Marshall : "He was one of the most transcendently powerful advocates that have figured at the Indiana bar. His intellect was colossal. He seemed to know the law by intuition. His logic was surrounded by a glowing atmosphere of passion. He could sweep through his subject like a tempest or crush through it like an avalanche." Colonel Hendricks had practiced at the bar with him for years, and knew whereof he spoke.
John D. Defrees, in a letter published in the Madison Courier, says that Mr. Marshall was " the Webster of Indiana."
John Lyle King, of Chicago, in a recent letter, said that Mr. Marshall "was, by odds, the greatest man Indiana ever pro- duced."
Making all due allowance for the partiality of his friends the reader must conclude that Joseph G. Marshall was a great man -the peer of any man living in Indiana in his day.
Mr. Marshall was very careless of his dress. He didn't care whether his coat fitted him or not, or whether the bow on his neck-stock was under his ear or his chin. He usually wore low shoes, and there was often quite a distance between his shoe-tops
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and the bottom of his pantaloons. He carried his papers in his hat instead of his pockets, and wore his hat pulled low down up- on his head. He had a great big head, thickly covered with sandy hair. His forehead, mouth and nose were large and prom- inent. His eyes were a light blue, and were the least expressive of his features. He stood over six feet high. His body was not symmetrical, being from his shoulders to his hips almost the same in size. It was his head and face that told you the manner of man he was. These were magnificent, and his uncouth form and careless dress served to show them to the best advantage. Had he gone to the Senate, as he should have done, he would have made a reputation equal to any one in the land. He had the ability to shine anywhere and would not have suffered by comparison with the ablest men in that body.
MICHAEL GRAHAM BRIGHT.
MICHAEL GRAHAM BRIGHT, lawyer and financier, was born at Plattsburg, N. Y .. January 16, 1803. He was a son of David J. Bright, who came with his family to Indiana in 1820, and settled at Madison, where he conducted a hat manufactory for many years. Mr. David J. Bright was a man of commanding presence and great force of character. He lived to see his sons Michael and Jesse leading and influential men, and died sud- denly, at Madison. many years ago. His son Michael studied law with the late Judge Sullivan, and became one of the first lawyers of the State. He was the last of the legal coterie which, thirty-five years ago, made the Madison bar so famous. Mar- shall and Sullivan and Stevens passed away years ago. William McKee Dunn and Abram W. Hendricks were then young men. and can hardly be considered as cotemporaneous with the legal giants we have named, but they followed close after, and did much to maintain the high character of the Madison bar. As a lawyer Mr. Bright was astute and full of expedients. He had not the logical mind of Marshall, nor was he as elegant and polished as Sullivan, nor as painstaking as Stevens, but in resources he was as fertile as any of them. His watchful eye took in the situation at a glance, and his ingenuity enabled him to make the most of it.
The county of Jefferson was, in the days of Mr. Bright's activity, Whig, as it is now Republican. Notwithstanding this fact, Mr. Bright, a Democrat, was chosen to represent it in the State Legislature. He was in no sense an office seeker. The offices he held came to him unsought. They were the free-will offerings of his neighbors and friends.
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For a time he edited a newspaper at Madison, but then, as for many years afterward, his main business was the law. In 1832 he was elected to the State Legislature, and served with distinction, but he was satisfied with one term, and did not seek a re-election. In 1844 he was elected Agent of State, and dis- charged the duties of the office with very great ability. When he entered upon his official duties he found the office in great confusion, but he soon restored it to order. At that time the State had a large suspended debt, but Mr. Bright collected a large part of it, and paid the money to the State's creditors. In- deed, his administration of the office was such as to receive the commendation of the public, and was in striking contrast with that of his predecessor. When his term expired he went back to the bar, but he was indifferent about obtaining business, and did not give his profession that care and attention he had pre- viously done.
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