USA > Indiana > Courts and lawyers of Indiana, Volume II > Part 35
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The first Circuit court in Jennings county convened at Ver- non on July 7, 1817, with William Prather and Chapman Denslow, Associate Justices, on the bench. This court met in an old log school house and it continued to meet there un- til a brick court house was erected in the following year. The Associate Judges from the time the county was organized until the new Constitution went into effect in 1852 were as follows :
ASSOCIATE JUDGES.
William Prather February 24, 1817.
Chapman Denslow
February 24, 1817; resigned, 1819.
Jonathan Barrett May 27, 1819, vice Chapman Denslow, resigned.
Chapman Denslow August 20, 1823: resigned, June 29.
John Winchell August 20, 1823. Removed from county, June, 1825.
Joseph Cowell August 25, 1825 (special election), vice John Winchell, removed.
Ransom Perry August 22, 1829 (special election), to serve seven years from August 20, 1823, vice Chapman Dens- low, resigned.
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Samuel Finnacle September 8, 1830, to serve seven years from Feb- ruary 24, 1831; resigned, July, 1834.
Ezra F. Pabody September 8, 1830, to serve seven years from Feb- ruary 24, 1831; resigned, June, 1834.
Richard Stott August 23, 1834, to serve seven years from Feb- ruary 24, 1831, vice Samuel Finnacle, resigned.
Daniel M. Hill August 8, 1835, to serve seven years from Feb- ruary 24, 1831, vice Ezra F. Peabody, resigned.
Robert Elliott August 12, 1837, to serve seven years from Feb- ruary 24, 1838.
John T. Johnson August 12. 1837, to serve seven years from Feb- ruary 24, 1838. Removed from connty, Septem- ber, 1843.
Jesse Whitcomb December 18, 1843, to serve seven years from Feb- ruary 24, 1838, vice John T. Johnson.
Jesse Whitcomb Angust 17, 1844, to serve seven years from Feb- ruary 24. 1845.
Samuel Read August 17. 1544, to serve seven years from Feb- ruary 24, 1845.
Riley Foster _August 18, 1851, to serve seven years from Feb- ruary 24, 1852.
Phannel Davis August 18, 1851, to serve seven years from Feb- ruary 24, 1852.
PROBATE JUDGES.
Chapman Denslow August 22. 1829; died, August, 1834.
Alanson Andrews September 3, 1834, appointed vice Chapman Dens- low (deceased), to serve until the first Monday in August, 1835.
Achilles Vawter August 8, 1835.
Ezra F. Pabody August 12, 1842.
Ezra Pabody
August 25, 1849.
COMMON PLEAS JUDGES.
Ezra Pabody 1852-56.
Jeremiah Bundy 1856-60.
Ralph Applewhite 1860; resigned. April 28, 1862.
Simon Stansifer Appointed April 28, 1862-November 1, 1862.
Beattie MeClellan 1862-64.
Jeptha D. New 1864-68.
Frank Emerson 1868-73.
DISTRICT PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS.
Jeremiah Bundy 1852-56. Alex W. Lattimore. 1856-58.
Solon Russell 1858-59.
James H. Myers Appointed January 20, 1859, resigned.
Solon Russell Appointed March 16. 1859-60.
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Lycurgus Irwin 1860-62, resigned.
Jeremiah Bundy
Appointed January 17, 1862.
Jeptha D. New 1862-64.
William L. Bane
1864-65, resigned.
John M. Kerr 1865-66.
Marion Mooney 1865-66.
Newton Croake 1866-70.
Wilson S. Swengel 1870-72.
George W. Cooper 1872-73.
PRESIDENT JUDGES.
John Test
February 1, 1817-January 2, 1819. Third circuit.
Alexander A. Meek January 2, 1819-February 2, 1819, resigned.
John Watts Appointed February 2. 1819-January 20, 1821.
Miles C. Eggleston January 20, 1821-December 31, 1821. The act of December 31, 1821, put Jennings in the Fifth.
William W. Wick Appointed February 7. 1822-January 14, 1824. The act of January 14. 1824, put Jennings in the Sec- ond.
John F. Ross. January 14, 1824-January 20, 1830. The act of January 20, 1830, put Jennings in the Third.
Miles C. Eggleston January 20, 1830-December 20, 1844.
Courtland Cushing December 20. 1844: resigned, August 9, 1850.
Alexander C. Downey __ Appointed August 9, 1850-October 12, 1852.
CIRCUIT JUDGES.
Alexander C. Downey __ October 12, 1852; resigned, August 1, 1858. First circuit.
John W. Spencer Appointed August 9, 1858-October 26, 1858.
Joseph W. Chapman October 26, 1858-October 26. 1864.
John G. Berkshire October 26. 1864-November 20, 1882. The act of March 6, 1873, put Jennings in the Sixth.
Jeptha D. New November 20, 1882-November 20, 1888.
Thomas C. Batchelor November 20, 1888-November 20, 1894.
Willard New November 20, 1894-November 20, 1906.
Francis M. Thompson November 20, 1906-November 20, 1912. The act of March 4, 1911, put Jennings in the Sixth with Ripley and Scott, where they have since remained.
Robert A. Creigmile November 20, 1912; term expires November 20, 191S.
PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS.
John Kingsbury Angust 9, 1824-August 14, 1826.
Milton Stapp August 14. 1826-December 30, 1826.
John Kingsbury December 30. 1826-December 30, 1828.
John H. Thompson December 30, 1828-January 20, 1830. The act of
January 20, 1830, put Jennings in the Third. James F. D. Lanier. January 25, 1830-January 25, 1832.
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COURTS AND LAWYERS OF INDIANA
John M. Johnson January 25, 1832-February 21, 1833, resigned.
Johu Test Appointed February 21, 1833-December 5, 1833.
Courtland Cushing December 5, 1833-December 11, 1837.
John Dumont December 11, 1837-December 15, 1841.
George Robinson December 15, 1841-May 18, 1842; died.
John Dumont
Appointed May 18, 1842-December 15, 1848.
James Y. Allison
August 16, 1851-October 12, 1852.
Robert P. Moore October 12, 1852-November 7, 1854, resigned. First
circuit.
Daniel Kelso November 7, 1854-November 7, 1856.
Francis Adkinson November 7, 1856-November 7, 1858.
George W. Richardson_November 7, 1858-November 7, 1862.
James M. Myers.
November 7, 1862-June 16, 1864, resigned.
Benjamin F. Lewis Appointed June 16, 1864-November 1, 1865.
Jolin A. Miller November 1, 1865-November 3, 1868.
John Denton
November 3, 1868-November 3, 1872.
Jolin O. Cravens.
November 3. 1872-November 3, 1878. The act of
March 6, 1873, put Jennings in the Sixth. This act transferred Cravens to the Sixth from the First.
William G. Holland November 3, 1878-November 15, 1884.
Lincoln Dixon
November 15, 1884-November 15, 1892.
Joseph H. Shea.
November 15, 1892-November 15, 1894.
F. M. Thompson November 15, 1894-November 15, 1896.
Marcus R. Connelley November 15, 1896-January 1, 1901.
Samuel B. Wells January 1, 1901-January 1, 1905.
Louis A. Lee
January 1, 1905-January 1, 1907.
John W. Davis
January 1, 1907-January 1, 1909.
Joseph W. Verbarg
January 1, 1909; term expires January 1, 1917.
The act of March 4. 1011, put Jennings in the Sixth with Ripley and Scott, where they have since remained.
JOHNSON COUNTY.
Johnson county was created by an act of the Legislature, approved by Governor William Hendricks, December 21, 1882. Oliver H. Smith, who at that time was a member of the Leg- islature, proposed the name of the county in memory of John Johnson, one of the Judges of the first Supreme court of the state. There was no opposition to the selection of the present town of Franklin for the county seat. Although the date of the contract for the erection of a new court house is uncer- tain, it was completed and ready for occupancy in March, 1824. No court, however, was held in the court house until
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March, 1825, one term having, in the meantime, been held at the house of John Smiley, near "Smiley's Mill," October 23, 1823, and one term at the house of George King in Franklin, in March, 1824. After 1825, the court met regularly at the court house on the third Monday of March and September and lasted six days if the business demanded.
In 1830 a new court house was ordered built. The build- ing cost about two thousand dollars and was considered a fine structure at that time. In August, 1848, a committee was named to procure plans and specifications for a new court house. The second court house was destroyed by fire on May 18, 1849, and immediately thereafter a new building was erected. On December 12, 1874, fire again destroyed the Johnson county court house, but in neither fire were any of the records destroyed. The next court house was a tempo- rary frame structure, built on the lot where the present city building stands. The work of building the fifth court house occupied a little more than two years, being completed in the latter part of 1881.
William W. Wick, the first President Judge of the John- son Circuit court, was a resident of Indianapolis. He came to Johnson county in the fall of 1823, and held the first court on October 16, at the cabin of John Smiley on Sugar creek. Smiley's cabin was a two-room log house, in one of which Judge Wick held court and in the other of which the grand jury met. Mrs. Smiley lay sick in the jury room and the story has been handed down that when Daniel B. Wick, prosecut- ing attorney and brother of the Judge, came into the room he pulled a bottle of whiskey from his pocket, first gallantly offering it to a sick woman and then to the jurors. The sick woman always thereafter asserted that she alone refused the treat.
Gregg and Wilson appeared as the first counsel at the bar of the Johnson Circuit court. Two years later, Gregg served as Circuit Prosecutor. Gregg was a Kentuckian by birth and had studied for the ministry under Rev. Archibald Cameron. He was able to caricature the most dignified address of the Scotch Covenanters, the unlettered sermonizing of the back- woods Baptists and the vehement appeal of the Methodists.
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COURTS AND LAWYERS OF INDIANA
Judge Wick resigned January 13, 1825, to accept the office of Secretary of State for a term of four years. He returned to Johnson county, however, at the March, 1825, term of court as counsel in a chancery case. Later he returned to the cir- cuit as Prosecuting Attorney and in 1834 was again elected to the bench of the Fifth judicial circuit. In 1835 he had changed his politics, becoming a Jackson Democrat, and on retiring from the judicial office in 1839 was elected to Con- gress on the Democratic ticket. He was a member of Con- gress for several terms and served as postmaster of Indian- apolis under the administration of Franklin Pierce. In 1849 he was again appointed Judge of the Fifth circuit and served until the new constitution went into operation. He was the first Judge of the Johnson County circuit under the new con- stitution and served until January 12, 1854. In 1859 he also occupied the bench of the circuit for a few months by ap- pointment.
When Judge Wick resigned in 1825 Governor William Hendricks appointed Bethuel F. Morris, of Indianapolis, as his successor. Judge Morris began his service on the bench of Johnson county at the March, 1825, term of court and con- tinued until September, 1834. A few months before his term expired, he resigned to accept an office in the state bank. Judge Wick returned to the bench of the Fifth judicial circuit in 1834 and served continuously until 1839.
Among the circuit-riding lawyers of this period, whose names appear frequently in the records of the Circuit court of Johnson county, are those of Judge Morris, Harvey, Gregg, Philip Sweetzer, Calvin Fletcher, W. W. Wick, James Whit- comb, William Herod and Hiram Brown. Gregg served as Circuit Prosecutor in 1825, Fletcher in 1826, Whitcomb in 1827 and 1828, and Wick in 1829 and 1830. Philip Sweet- zer, who was employed in most of the civil cases, was a native of Massachusetts and a graduate of Harvard College, where he was a classmate of Rufus Choate. He was a member of the Episcopal church and a Whig in politics. Hiram Brown, who was a man of great native ability, was one of the lead- ing lawyers of central Indiana. He was especially capable as an advocate. To the lawyers already mentioned, who prac-
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ticed before the Johnson county bar, may be added the names of James B. Ray, John Eccles, William Quarles, William Brown, John Livingston, John H. Scott, Humphrey Robinson, Thomas D. Walpole, William Sweetzer, Christian C. Nave and William J. Peaslee. Of these, Ray later served as President of the Indiana State Senate and was Governor of Indiana from 1825 to 1831. Peaslee afterward became Judge of the Fifth circuit. Up to 1830 not a lawyer had permanently located in Johnson county. In March, 1823, Fabius M. Finch was admitted to practice law at the Johnson county bar and to him belongs the honor of being the first to be admitted.
Judge William W. Wick was succeeded in office by Judge James Morrison, who began his duties as President Judge of the Johnson Circuit court in September, 1839. Judge Morrison was a native of Scotland, and after his retirement from the bench resumed the practice of law. In 1855 he was chosen Attorney-General of Indiana and afterward was Pres- ident of the Indiana State Bank.
William J. Peaslee assumed his duties as Presiding Judge of the Fifth circuit in the Johnson Circuit court on January 12, 1843, and served seven years. Judge Peaslee was a resi- dent of Shelbyville, a native of Vermont, and the son of a Quaker minister. He represented Shelby county in the Legis- lature of 1837. In 1839 and 1840 he was Circuit Prosecutor. After retiring from the bench, he lived at Shelbyville for a time and then moved to Chicago. In 1863 he moved to Davis county, Missouri, where he died in 1866.
In March, 1850, Judge Wick again took his place on the bench of the Johnson Circuit court. He served until Jan- uary, 1854, when he was succeeded by Stephen Major, who resigned in 1859, after which Wick was appointed by Gover- nor Willard to serve until a successor was elected and quali- fied.
Fabius M. Finch was elected Judge in 1859 and held the office for a term of six years. He was a native of Livingston county, New York. The family lived for a time at Conners- ville, later at Muncie and still later at Noblesville. Judge William W. Wick was a guest of the Finch family shortly after his election to the bench in 1822. He fell in love with
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COURTS AND LAWYERS OF INDIANA
and married Fabius Finch's sister, and in 1828 took Fabius to his office in Indianapolis. Judge Finch came to Franklin in 1831 and was admitted to the bar in March, 1832. When Finch came to Franklin, Samuel Herriott, who was Clerk of the Circuit court, kept his office in a little room in the rear of his storeroom. Discovering that Finch wrote a good hand, he employed him as a deputy. Judge Finch also assisted the county recorder and found profitable employment during this early period. Later Finch acted as deputy to the school commissioner. Eventually, he came to be known as one of the best lawyers in the circuit. In 1839 he was elected to the State Legislature. Near the close of his term of office as Judge, he moved to Indianapolis and formed a partnership with his son, John A. Finch, and the latter became an insurance law- yer and gained a national reputation. Judge Finch lived un- til 1900 and his remains now rest in the family tomb at Green- lawn cemetery in Franklin.
Gen. John Coburn, who succeeded Judge Finch in 1865, presided over the Johnson Circuit court for only one year when he resigned to accept nomination for Congress. On his retirement from Congress in 1875, General Coburn resided in Indianapolis for a time and then served as a member of the Supreme court of the territory of Montana. John T. Dye was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Judge Coburn.
In October, 1866, Cyrus C. Hines was elected Judge of the circuit comprising Marion, Hendricks and Johnson counties. He continued to serve until 1869, when the judicial district boundaries were changed and Andrew L. Robinson was ap- pointed (May 18, 1869) by Governor Conrad Baker as Judge of the new Twenty-eighth judicial circuit, composed of Shelby, Bartholomew, Brown and Johnson counties. Samuel P. Oyler followed Robinson and served from August, 1869, to August, 1870.
Judge Oyler, a native of Sussex county, England, had come to Indiana from New York state in 1841. In 1850 he settled in Franklin and took up the practice of law. He or- ganized the first company of volunteers in Johnson county at the breaking out of the Civil War and was chosen as captain. He was at once promoted to major and when the three months'
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campaign in Virginia ended, he returned to Franklin and re- sumed the practice of law. In 1862 he again entered the army as captain of a company in the Seventy-ninth Indiana Volun- teer Infantry and was soon promoted to the rank of a lieu- tenant-colonel. After his return from the army in 1864, he was elected to the Indiana State Senate and served until 1869. Later he served as mayor of the city of Franklin. From the close of the war until 1874, he was the senior member of the firm of Oyler & Howe, the latter being his stepson, Daniel Wait Howe, later a Judge of the Superior court of Marion county. On March 1, 1881, William A. Johnson be- came associated with Colonel Oyler under the firm name of Oyler & Johnson. The relationship continued until Johnson was elected to the bench on January 2, 1893. Colonel Oyler died in Franklin, September 6, 1898.
David D. Banta was elected to the bench of the Twenty- eighth judicial circuit in 1870, then composed of Johnson, Shelby, Bartholomew and Brown counties. The act of March 6, 1873, created the Sixteenth judicial circuit of Johnson and Shelby counties. Judge Banta, who was the first native-born son to fill that high office, served a full term of six years. He was a professor at law at the State University from 1889 un- til his death. K. M. Hord, of Shelbyville, succeeded Judge Banta in 1876. After serving two terms, he was succeeded by Leonard J. Hackney in 1888, who resigned in 1893 to become a member of the Supreme court of the state. Will- iam A. Johnson, of Franklin, was appointed to fill the vacan- cy and served a part of 1893 and 1894, being succeeded by Judge William J. Buckingham, of Franklin, on November 17, 1894. Judge Buckingham served from 1894 to 1906, when William Edward Deupree came upon the bench. In the mean- time, the Legislature of 1899 had joined Johnson and Brown counties into the Eighth judicial district. Judge Deupree's second term will expire November 13, 1918.
In 1852 Common Pleas courts were created in Indiana and these courts lasted until abolished by the act of March 6, 1873. In October, 1852, Franklin Hardin was elected the first Judge of the Johnson Court of Common Pleas. Judge Hardin was a native of Kentucky and had come with his moth-
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COURTS AND LAWYERS OF INDIANA
er to Indiana at the age of fifteen. He had served as county surveyor under appointment from Judge Wick and in 1842, 1843 and 1844, was a member of the lower house of the Gen- eral Assembly. In 1845 he was elected a member of the State Senate and was also a delegate from Johnson county to the Constitutional Convention. Judge Hardin was a delegate to the national convention which nominated Buchanan to the presidency.
George A. Buskirk, of Monroe county, succeeded Judge Hardin and, in 1864, he was succeeded by Oliver J. Glessner, of Morgan county, who later moved to Shelby county. In 1868, Thomas W. Woollen was elected but he resigned in the fall of 1870 and was succeeded by Richard L. Coffey, of Brown coun- ty, who served until the court was abolished.
After Fabius M. Finch, the next lawyer to locate in Frank- lin was Gilderoy Hicks, who came in 1833. He was a native of Rutland, Vermont. He became interested in real estate and assisted in platting several divisions of the city of Frank- lin. In 1846 he was elected a member of the State Legislature on the Whig ticket. In 1848 and 1849, he represented John- son county as a Democrat and in 1851 was elected a State Senator. He joined the Know-Nothing party at its organiza- tion and later became a Republican. He died on December 23, 1857.
John Slater, a Canadian by birth, came to Johnson county in 1840. He enlisted as a private in the Mexican War under the captaincy of David Allen. Captain Allen died in 1847 and Slater was made captain of the company. After the war, he returned to Franklin and practiced law in partnership with Fabius M. Finch, in whose office he had studied. In the com- munity where he lived, he was known as an indolent man, who never burdened himself with the labor of hunting for authorities. He trusted to luck in the trial of his cases and was more or less of a loafer all his life. In 1856 he was elected to the State Senate and after the close of his term left the state and never returned.
Gabriel Monroe Overstreet and Anderson Barnes Hunter, whose firm name of Overstreet & Hunter was a household word in Johnson county for nearly a half century, were two
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of the most prominent lawyers in the history of the county. Overstreet was a native of Kentucky, who, for a time was a student at the Manual Labor Institute of Franklin and later at the State University. He graduated from the State Uni- versity in 1844 and during the next year studied law in the office of Gilderoy Hicks. In 1848 Overstreet was elected Pros- ecuting Attorney and on February 21, 1849, the firm of Over- street & Hunter was formed. This relationship continued until the death of Hunter in 1891. Hunter was a native of Oldham county, Kentucky, who had come to Johnson county in 1840 with his father. In November, 1847, Hunter entered the senior class of the law department of the State Universi- ty. He was admitted to the bar on March 7, 1848. Hunter died on August 14, 1891, and, after his death, Overstreet be- came associated with his son, Jesse Overstreet, until the lat- ter's election to Congress. The firm of Overstreet & Oliver was then formed. After Oliver's death in 1900 Overstreet retired from active practice. He died on February 8, 1907.
After Overstreet & Hunter, the next lawyers to seek ad- mission to the bar were Duane Hicks and Jonathan H. Will- iams, both of whom were admitted to the bar at the September term, 1848. The former was a son of Gilderoy Hicks, and was educated at Franklin College. He was a soldier in the Civil War and died on September 28, 1863, at the age of thir- ty-five. Jonathan H. Williams, a soldier in the Mexican War, was county auditor from 1851 to 1855. He published the Franklin Examiner in 1852, and for two years was District Attorney of the Common Pleas court. He was killed October 19, 1864, at Cedar Creek, Virginia, while a major of the Eight- eenth Regiment in the Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Richard M. Kelly, of Edinburg, admitted to the practice in 1856, was a private in the Mexican War and a captain in the Civil War. He was a lawyer of considerable ability, but became dissi- pated and lost his standing as a lawyer.
In 1856 Jeptha D. New became a partner at Franklin of Judge Woollen, but he soon returned to Vernon, where he became prominent in the law and politics. Cyrus F. McNutt was admitted to the practice of law before the Johnson county bar in 1860. For a few months, he was a law partner of
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COURTS AND LAWYERS OF INDIANA
Judge Banta and then of Judge Woollen. Upon the death of his wife, he went to Martinsville, where he became a very suc- cessful lawyer. McNutt was professor of law in the State University from 1874 to 1877. He then located at Terre Haute. He was elected Judge of the Superior court of Vigo county in 1890.
Daniel Wait Howe, a stepson of Colonel Oyler, was a mem- ber of the Johnson county bar from the close of the war until 1872. He served as Prosecuting Attorney in 1869, and in 1872 Howe and C. Byfield, of the firm of Woollen & Byfield, moved to Indianapolis to practice law together. The part- nership was maintained in that city until Howe was elected Judge of the Superior court of Marion county.
Richard M. Johnson, a native of Bartholomew county, was educated in the law school of Washington and Lee University at Lexington, Virginia, graduating in 1871. He began the practice of law at Columbus, Indiana, but moved to Franklin in 1873 and became a partner of Judge Woollen and Jacob L. White. After a year, Judge Woollen withdrew from the firm. Johnson was a member of the Johnson county bar from 1873 to 1885, when he accepted an appointment under President Cleveland as chief clerk in the office of the auditor for the postoffice department. After Cleveland's term expired, he held various other positions in the treasury department until his death, May 21, 1902. William T. Pritchard, a native of Johnson county, was admitted to the bar in 1875. He was attorney for the Mutual Building and Loan Association. He was City Attorney of Franklin from 1891 to 1897. Jacob L. White, who was the eldest son of George B. White, entered the law office of Woollen & Byfield as a student and upon the removal of Byfield to Indianapolis, White became associated with Judge Woollen and Richard M. Johnson in the practice of law. After Judge Woollen withdrew, the firm name be- came Johnson & White and this arrangement continued until 1880, when Mr. White became the junior member of the firm of Buckingham & White. He served as prosecuting attorney of the circuit, and in 1886 and 1888 represented Johnson county in the State Legislature. He died in May, 1889, at the age of forty.
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Frederick S. Staff, a native of Henry county, Indiana, was educated at Earlham College and in the law school of the University of Michigan. After practicing law for a short time in Little Rock, Arkansas, he came in 1874 to Franklin and for a number of years was associated in the practice of law with Peter M. Dill. He was prosecuting attorney for two terms from 1882 to 1886. He died February 4, 1894.
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