USA > Indiana > Courts and lawyers of Indiana, Volume I > Part 15
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
In this list of lawyer-politicians who became lieutenant- governors there is not a lawyer of the first rank. They were men of average ability and poor legal training. The law to them was largely an opening for a political career. They were
83
THE CIRCUIT RIDERS
not all, or perhaps any of them, bad men, but it would be un- just to measure the bar of that time by their abilities. While the great lawyers of the former list were as a rule good poli- ticians, they left the bar reluctantly and many of them, after a season in politics, returned to the court room gladly. But neither politics nor the law was very lucrative in those days and it frequently took a combination of the two to produce a living.
The same general statements may be made concerning the minor state officials who were elected by the General Assembly. Of the seven secretaries of state covering the period from 1816 to 1852, all were circuit-riding lawyers except one.
In the General Assembly the lawyers controlled. It has been shown above that of the presiding officers over the Senate all but one were lawyers who had made their reputation on circuit, and he was driven by their opposition to resign.
A study of the speakers shows a still more remarkable control. The first speaker was Isaac Blackford, the dean of the Indiana judiciary. At the time (1816), he was President Judge of the First circuit. During the year (September 10, 1817) he was elected to the Supreme bench and held that place as long as the 1816 Constitution lasted.
Amos Lane, who presided over the House in 1817, was from the Lawrenceburg bar of the Third circuit. He rode with the famous band that accompanied Judge Eggleston from the Ohio river to Fort Wayne over the circuit. His popularity carried him into Congress (1833-37). He stood in the front ranks of the first generation of Indiana lawyers-the genera- tion with eelskin queues and beaver hats.
Williamson Dunn succeeded Lane as speaker and presided over two sessions. He was for six years (1846-52) Probate Judge of the Jefferson county court. Though not a lawyer of the first rank, his business kept him in the company of lawyers all his life.
William Graham succeeded Dunn as speaker and presided over the fifth session-1820-21. He was born on the sea, but lived in Kentucky from 1782 to 1811, when he came to Indiana and located at Vallonia. He read law and was soon admitted to the Jackson county bar, before which and other bars of the
84
COURTS AND LAWYERS OF INDIANA
circuit he practiced over forty years. He sat in the Constitu- tional convention, in the territorial and state Legislatures, and in the twenty-fifth Congress (1837-39). He was a rugged pioneer of the old school-a follower of Clay.
General W. Johnston presided in 1822. He was one of the first lawyers to practice in Indiana, having come from Vir- ginia to Vincennes in 1783. He was the first attorney ad- mitted to the Vincennes bar. As advocate at the bar or President Judge on the bench he was a familiar figure from Putnam county to Posey and from Parke to Clark. He died in 1833 at Vincennes. He never forgot his dignity and aristo- cratic training. In his early days he always appended the word "Gentleman" after signing his name. Though not the equal in law of his famous contemporaries, Samuel Judah and John Law, he was an honored attorney for forty years.
Stephen C. Stevens, who presided over the House in 1825, was at first a member of the Brookville bar, where, with his mother, he had settled in 1812. He was wounded in the Battle of New Orleans, where he had gone on a flatboat. He began practice about 1816. A few years later he removed to Vevay, then an important commercial town. He was a representative from Switzerland county in 1825. Soon after this date, per- haps about 1830, he removed to Madison, then the most im- portant business town in the state. Ray appointed him to the Supreme court, where he served from 1831 to 1836. His reputation as a lawyer rests on his practice at the bar. His special field was commercial law, in which for many years he did a larger business than any other attorney in the state. In 1852 he lost his fortune on a railroad scheme. He died, November 7, 1870, a pauper.
Isaac Howk, who was speaker in 1828 and again in 1830, was an attorney at the Clark county bar in 1816. He rode the Second circuit with Isaac Naylor, Davis Floyd, Jonathan Jennings, Capt. Henry Hurst, John H. Thompson and their contemporaries. He died suddenly in Indianapolis in 1833. His son, George V. Howk, sat on the state Supreme bench from 1877 to 1889.
Caleb B. Smith was speaker during the two sessions of 1835 and 1836. He read law in the office of O. H. Smith, of Con-
.
85
THE CIRCUIT RIDERS
nersville. Under such a master he became one of the leading attorneys in the eastern part of the state. He was a rapid speaker, active and passionate. As an advocate before the jury and speaker on the stump he was the equal of his con- temporaries on the circuit. Some of these were David Kilgore, Charles Test, Oliver P. Morton, Joseph C. Eggleston and David Wallace. Besides being one of the most successful advocates on the circuit, he found time to serve his people in the Legis- lature, three terms in Congress (1843-49), a term in Lincoln's cabinet, candidate for presidential elector in 1856, President of the Republican national convention of 1860 and Federal Judge of the Indiana district. He was born in Boston, April 16, 1808, and died in Indianapolis, January 7, 1864.
Thomas J. Evans, speaker in 1837 and 1838, was admitted to the Warren county bar in 1831, together with Joseph Tal- man and Isaac Pearson. Edward A. Hannegan, David Wal- lace, Isaac Naylor, Tilghman Howard and Moses Cox were some of his contemporaries. He rode the circuit under Judge John R. Porter, the latter being almost as widely known as a circuit Judge as Miles Eggleston.
Samuel Judah was speaker during the session of 1840. Perhaps no better advocate appeared before the early courts of Indiana than Mr. Judah. He was one of the earliest of the second generation of lawyers. The veterans of the old school were still thick on the circuit when, in 1818, he was admitted to the bar at Vincennes. He was born in 1798 in New York City and graduated from Rutgers in 1816. He prepared for his admission to the bar in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In his practice he combined the learning of a Judge, the skill of an attorney, and the originality of a genius. His name as attorney is connected with some of the most important law suits of the first half century of our history. He sat in the Legislature for four sessions. Besides this, he always took an active part in politics, though never an effective stump speaker. He died in Vincennes in 1869.
The list might be continued, but enough has been given to show the high regard in which the circuit lawyers were held by the members of the House of Representatives. A closer study of the membership of the Legislature will also make
86
COURTS AND LAWYERS OF INDIANA
it plain why the House chose so many of its presiding officers from the ranks of the lawyers.
To begin with, there were no less than sixty-three Judges on the different Indiana circuits during the period (1816-52) under discussion. This number includes the Special Judges appointed by the governor to hold court until the General Assembly convened, a majority of whom were later elected. Of these Judges, at least thirty served at various times in the Legislature. Their combined services aggregated at least seventy-seven terms. Judges could not hold the two offices at the same time, but attorneys found it very convenient to sit in the sessions of the General Assembly. In fact, in order to accommodate these lawyers, the Circuit court sessions did not commence in the spring until after the General Assembly adjourned. A list of the members for almost any session will show that a majority were lawyers.
A wider study of the national field offers still more con- vincing proof of the efficiency of this training school for the public service. Of the ninety-three terms served by Indiana congressmen during the period from 1816 to 1851, at least seventy-five were served by lawyers who learned their first lessons in public life on circuits.
During the first six years following the admission of the state Indiana was entitled to but one representative. That one was William Hendricks, of the Madison bar, previously noticed. In 1821 Indiana was apportioned three representa, tives. William Prince, Judge of the First circuit and a mem- ber of the Princeton bar, was elected from the First district. He died before his term was out and his place was filled by Jacob Call, of the Vincennes bar. He was a native of Ken- tucky and one of the first lawyers admitted to the Indiana bar. For a time (1817-18) he served as Circuit Judge of the First circuit. Jonathan Jennings, already noticed, of the Charles- town bar, served from the Second district during the next six years, till intemperance wrecked his magnificent physique and sent him before his time to a drunkard's grave.
John Test, of the Third district and the Third circuit, made up the list of representatives for 1823-25. Judge Test had succeeded Jesse Holman (December 16, 1816), on the bench
Elkhart
To
St. Joseph
TO Allen
To St. Joseph
To Elkhart
To St. Joseph
Alien
To Lass!
To Carroll
Cass
To Warren
1
Carrolla
Miami Reservation
Grant
Dela! To ware ; Randolph.
Warren
Clinton
Delaware
5
Fountain
Montgomery
Boone
Hamilton
Madison
6
Henry
Vermillion
Parke
Marion
Hancock
Putnam
Hendricks
Rush
Fay ette
Union
Morgan
Franklin
Vigo
Clay
4
Owent
Bartholomew
Monroe
Sullivan
Ripley
Grene
Jennings
Jackson
Lawrence
Switzer- 'land
Daviess
Jefferson
Knox
Scott-
.Washington
Orange.
Clark
Duboie
Pike
Floyd
Gibeon
Crawford
Perry
Warrick
Posey
Van- der- burgh
Spencer
Harrison
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS OF INDIANA IN 1833.
By Ernest V. Shockley.
Wayne
Shelby
Johnson
Decatur
.Dearborn
Martin
Randolph
Tippecanoe
To
To Grant
Elkhart
87
THE CIRCUIT RIDERS
of the Third circuit when the latter went on the Supreme bench, and served till January 2, 1819, when Alexander Meek succeeded him. He was a member of the famous old Franklin bar when General Noble and James Brown Ray were in their heydey. He was a native of Salem, New Jersey,-a state that furnished Indiana a number of able lawyers in the first decade of its history. After many years of practice, he removed to Mobile, Alabama, but soon returned to Indiana and died on October 9, 1849, at Cambridge City. He served in Congress from 1823 to 1827 and again from 1829 to 1831.
Judge Thomas H. Blake, of the Vigo bar, succeeded Jacob Call in the First district, 1827-29, a sketch of whom has already been given. His place in Congress was taken by Ratliff Boone, of Boonville, who served till 1839-four con- secutive terms.
Oliver H. Smith, prince of circuit riders, and one of the most interesting characters in early Indiana history, defeated Test in the Third district in 1827. He was born near Trenton, New Jersey, October 23, 1794, and came to Indiana in 1817. He began practice at once in Connersville, riding the circuit with Judge Eggleston from Vevay to Fort Wayne. From 1822 until his death, March 19, 1859, at Indianapolis, he was continuously in public life. At the bar and in politics he was a leader. A noted company of young attorneys read law in his office. No one in the state, perhaps, enjoyed a wider ac- quaintance. His "Early Indiana Trials and Sketches," written for the Indianapolis Journal a short time before his death, is the best picture of the old times which has been preserved.
In 1833 the state was redistricted to accommodate the seven representatives to which it was entitled. Boone, Ewing and Carr, representing the First, Second and Third districts, were not lawyers, but the other four were.
George S. Kinnard, a young lawyer of the Indianapolis bar, was elected from the Sixth. In the two or three years he had practiced he had made a good impression on the people. He was a good scholar, a keen, fluent speaker and more than a match for any of his opponents with his pen. He lost his life in a steamboat explosion at the beginning of his second term.
Edward A. Hannegan made his first appearance in Con-
88
COURTS AND LAWYERS OF INDIANA
gress in 1833. He had practiced law in the western counties of Indiana. He was an Ohioan by birth, but came to Indiana while a young man. He first located at Vincennes, but, find- ing the legal business pretty well pre-empted, went to Coving- ton where he soon made himself famous. Like his successor and imitator, D. W. Voorhees, he was invincible before a jury. No one on the circuit, though the circuit then contained at least four speakers of the first rate in the state, equaled him. Like many men of superior power, he realized it himself and assumed a patronizing air toward his admirers and an air of superiority toward his equals that was not congenial to every- body. He soon had a powerful personal rival in Joseph A. Wright, another lawyer of this circuit. He served from 1833 to 1837 in the House and from 1843 to 1849 in the Senate, succeeding in the Senate the famous lawyer, O. H. Smith.
The year 1837 saw five circuit riders added to the delega- tion, William Graham, the patriarch of the Brownstown bar, went up from the Third. George H. Dunn, a solid, undemon- strative attorney from the old Lawrenceburg bar, went from the Fourth. He was not a brilliant lawyer and had to rely on the justice of his case and the weight of his evidence for success, though in presenting a logical argument he possessed considerable ability.
James H. Rariden went up from the Fifth. He was a Ken- tuckian by birth and an attorney from Centerville, Wayne county, by choice. He was one of the most widely known trial lawyers in the state. He rode the old Whitewater circuit when it reached from one end of the state to the other. O. H. Smith says, "For years he was my circuit companion ; we rode through the wilderness together, ate together, slept together, and were just as near one man as two could be. He was a strong common-sense man, always ready at retort." He was not a gifted man, though a very successful attorney. When speaking of the old-fashioned attorney who rode the circuit, swam the streams, lived at the taverns, aided honestly and powerfully in administering justice and raising the general social and moral standards, three men come into mind as typical-O. H. Smith, James Rariden and David Kilgore. Each through a long public career played a highly respectable part
1
89
THE CIRCUIT RIDERS
and to the end proved absolutely incorruptible. Abler but no safer men ever served our state or, through it, the nation. History is unable to give them their measure. Their even way is so often crossed and shaded by the brilliance of some evanes- cent genius that flits athwart their course that attention is constantly distracted. They were soldiers of progress in the quiet march of the ages. Rariden died in Cambridge City in 1857, preceding Smith only a year or two, but preceding Kil- gore a full score of years.
William Herod went up the same year, 1837, from the Sixth district. He was an attorney of the Bartholomew county bar, where he had practiced under Judges Wick and Morris. He was a plain, blunt man who spoke without orna- ment and to the point. A greater contrast could hardly be imagined than that between him and George Kinnard, whom he succeeded.
Albert S. White went up from the new Seventh district. He was a New Yorker by birth and a graduate of Union College. He commenced the practice of law at Lafayette in 1829. He neglected his law practice for politics. After a term in the House, he was chosen, in 1839, to succeed John Tipton in the United States Senate. He was a man of average ability and a ready, though not an eloquent, speaker. He was born in Blooming Grove, New York, October 24, 1803, and died in Stockwell, Indiana, September 24, 1864.
In the delegation of 1839 came two new Indiana lawyers, Judge W. W. Wick, from the Indianapolis bar, as a representa- tive of the Sixth district, and Gen. Tilghman A. Howard, of the Parke county bar, from the Seventh district.
Judge William Watson Wick was a good representative of the old Circuit court. He was born in Canonsburg, Penn- sylvania, February 23, 1796, studied medicine and then read law. He began practice at Connersville in 1820. Five years later he was secretary of the Senate. The Legislature twice elected him Circuit Judge and once a prosecutor. The voters sent him to Congress three terms (1839-41 and 1845-49) ; and President Pierce appointed him postmaster of Indianapolis in 1853. He was a man of average ability, but of exceptional political skill. He died in Franklin, May 16, 1868.
90
COURTS AND LAWYERS OF INDIANA
Tilghman A. Howard seems to have deserved more at the hands of his constituents than he ever received. He was born in South Carolina, November 14, 1797. He was admitted to the bar in Tennessee, where he practiced some time and also served in the state Legislature. He came to Indiana about 1830 and was appointed United States district attorney by Jackson. He was warm, almost violent, in his likes and dis- likes-a fact which perhaps explains his lack of higher politi- cal preferment in Indiana. He was a lawyer of wide and honest reputation. Before a jury and on the stump he ranked with the best of his day. He belonged to the old school of morals and conduct. His hot temper kept him a goodly num- ber of enemies, many of whom were of his own party and some of them members at the same bar with him. He died in Texas, August 16, 1844, where he had been sent as charge d'affaires.
Of the Indiana delegation to Congress elected in 1840, all were new men but one. George H. Proffit alone withstood the storm of 1840, and he was a Whig. The new men were all circuit-riding lawyers.
Col. Richard W. Thompson, of the Terre Haute bar, repre- sented the Second district. He was a Virginian by birth, having been born in Culpeper county in 1809. He began prac- ticing law in Bedford in 1834, being elected to the Legislature the same year. He has perhaps the distinction of having practiced law before the bar of the Indiana courts as long as any other man, though others devoted their attention to that work more unreservedly. He was in the practice of his pro- fession till his death in 1900, a period of sixty-four years. He
was a successful, though not a great, lawyer, and the same may be said of him as a speaker. He was an old-fashioned Virginia gentleman, always pleasing, never harsh; calm, serene and dignified. He could continue a political debate for two or three days and neither wear out his subject nor his audience. His friends delighted to honor him. He was known in all parts of the state and his acquaintances were always his friends. During the last sixty years of his life he was in active politics and much of the time holding responsible public positions, ranging from state legislator to cabinet member.
Joseph L. White, the second man on this new delegation,
91
THE CIRCUIT RIDERS
was from the Madison bar and represented the Third district. He was born in Cherry Valley, New York. After practicing a short time on the Madison circuit, he went to Congress (1841- 43), after which he settled down in New York City to prac- tice his profession. Later he went into business, and died on January 12, 1861.
James H. Cravens, the third member, was from the Ripley county bar and represented the Fourth district. He was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, August 2, 1802, and came to Madison, Indiana, in 1829. He soon moved to Versailles, where he divided his time between politics and the law. He was a Free Soiler and later made a race for governor on that ticket. He died in Osgood, December 4, 1876.
Andrew Kennedy, the fourth new member of the 1841 delegation, was from the Connersville bar and took the place of Rariden from the Fifth district. He was born at Dayton, Ohio, July 24, 1810, and was admitted to the bar in 1830. He held various positions and in 1847 was a candidate for United States senator, with good prospects of success, when he was stricken with smallpox, from which he died in Indianapolis, December 31, 1847. Although a young man, his career gave great promise. He was a man of exceptional ability. Experi- ence would certainly have given him a sure position both in law and statesmanship.
David Wallace, who went up from the Indianapolis bar and the Sixth district, has already been mentioned.
Henry S. Lane, the sixth, last and ablest of this delegation, went up from the Crawfordsville bar to represent the Seventh district. He was born in Montgomery county, Kentucky, Feb- ruary 24, 1811, and began the practice of law at Crawfords- ville in 1835. He finished Howard's term in Congress and was elected for a full term. Mr. Lane was not so favorably known as a lawyer as he was as a politician, though in the law he was far above the ordinary. At the opening of the Civil War he was the most popular man in the state. His services at the bar extended over a long period-1835 to 1881-during which he was favorably known throughout the state and nation. He was a special friend and counselor of Lincoln. He was elected governor of the state in 1860, but resigned Jan-
92
COURTS AND LAWYERS OF INDIANA
uary 16, 1861, to go to the United States Senate, where he remained for six years.
Of the ten members of the congressional delegation of 1843 at least six were circuit riders. The congressional act of February 8, 1842, had given Indiana ten representatives in Congress. Thomas J. Henley, Caleb B. Smith, Joseph A. Wright and Andrew Kennedy have been noticed.
John Pettit was a new member from Indiana at this time. He went up from the Lafayette bar to represent the Eighth district, serving three continuous terms. He was born in Sacketts Harbor, New York, June 24, 1807, and appeared be- fore the Lafayette bar in 1838. Before going to Congress he served as district attorney for the United States. Later he sat in the Constitutional convention of 1850-51, in the United States Senate (1853-55), as a Chief Justice of Kansas and on the Indiana Supreme bench (1871-77). He was a short, heavy man, rather prosaic in his address, but what he said carried weight. He represented a turning point in the law. He depended more for his success at the bar on a knowledge of the law and the production of evidence than on eloquence before the jury. He was an infidel and usually took delight in advertising the fact. While it had no appreciable influence on his public or professional career, it raised up a number of bitter critics who have tended to minimize his reputation in later years.
Samuel C. Sample, the honored Judge of the South Bend circuit, and one of the greatest lawyers of the northern part of the state, went up from South Bend to represent the Ninth district. He was born in Maryland and came with his father's family to Connersville about 1824. He read law under O. H. Smith and settled at South Bend in 1833. He was soon elected prosecuting attorney and two years later (1836) went on the Circuit bench, a position he occupied till 1843, when elected to Congress. He was a hard worker and ranked with the best Judges then on the bench. As in the case of Kennedy, death claimed him just as he was reaching the period of greatest power and just when the people were realizing his value. He was president of the South Bend branch bank when he died.
At the election of 1845 seven of the ten congressmen suc-
93
THE CIRCUIT RIDERS
ceeded themselves-all lawyers but two. Of the new ones, Judge W. W. Wick, already mentioned, took the place of Will- iam J. Brown in the Fifth district.
Edward W. McGaughey, from the Parke county bar, went up from the Seventh district, defeating his fellow member of the bar, Joseph A. Wright. He was born in Greencastle, Indiana, January 16, 1817, and was admitted to practice in 1835. He rode the circuit with Judge Porter and the eloquent band trained in his court. Hannegan, Wright, Whitcomb, Howard, Thompson, Law and Eccles were his contemporaries. In that gifted group he maintained himself in the front rank. As an advocate and stump speaker he was at his best. He died in San Francisco, August 6, 1852.
The delegation of 1847 was composed of at least eight well known circuit riders and perhaps another, William Rock- hill, of Fort Wayne, who represented the Tenth district. The previous delegation had had four members who were not lawyers, but three of these were superseded by men trained at the bar.
Judge Elisha Embree, of the Princeton bar, defeated Robert Dale Owen. A notice of Judge Embree has been given. R. W. Thompson came up from the Seventh in place of McGaughey, both well-known attorneys, and William Rock- hill took the place of Andrew Kennedy, a victim of smallpox.
Of the new men in this delegation, by far the most famous was George Grundy Dunn, who took the place of Dr. John W. Davis from the Sixth district. Mr. Dunn was in many re- spects the most gifted man at the Indiana bar of this period. O. H. Smith, who knew him well, says he was one of the keen- est-minded men in the state. He placed him at the front as a lawyer. "I thought him among the strongest advocates before the jury I ever heard," continued Mr. Smith. There was a fiery glow about his speech that burned away all obstacles and left the minds of his auditors clear and convinced. He had far more than the ordinary education of lawyers of his day, which he used for the texture of his speech and not merely to furnish an occasional ornament. Time and place disappeared from the speaker and his listeners. His trenchant logic left his adversary without defense unless he had carefully fortified
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.