USA > Indiana > Courts and lawyers of Indiana, Volume III > Part 53
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JOHN OVERMYER.
John Overmyer, attorney-at-law at North Vernon, Indiana, former "speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives and for many years one of the most prominent figures in the political life of this state, is a native of Ohio, born in Pickaway county November 18, 1844, son of George and Harriet (Camp) Overmyer, both of whom were born in that same state. He comes of Revolutionary stock. His great-great grandfather, John George Overmyer, served as a captain with the Pennsylvania troops in the army of George Washington. His grand- father, John Overmyer, was a soldier in the army of William Henry Har- rison in his northwestern campaign in 1812. He was but four years old when his parents came to Indiana in 1849 and settled in Jackson county. There he attended the district schools and a select school at Reddington, and in September, 1863, entered old Asbury (now DePauw) University, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in June, 1867, receiving his Master's degree in 1870, having delivered the master's oration for his class.
Upon leaving the university in 1867, Mr. Overmyer entered the law school at Indianapolis, of which the Hon. S. E. Perkins at that time
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was dean, and had the advantage of study in the office of Morton, Mar- tindale & Tarkington, and in the office of Ray, Gordon & March, thus hav- ing had the advantage in his youth of association with Oliver P. Morton, Elijah B. Martindale, John S. Tarkington, Martin M. Ray, Jonathan W. Gordon and Walter March, among the leaders of the bar in this state in that day. During the campaign of 1866 Mr. Overmyer made many friends in Jennings county by his effective "stumping" of that county, and fol- lowing his admission to the bar in March, 1868, located for the practice of his profession at North Vernon, where he ever since has made his home. Upon locating at North Vernon, Mr. Overmyer formed a partner- ship with John Carney, under the firm name of Overmyer & Carney, which continued until 1870, in which year he formed a partnership with his brother, David Overmyer, which continued until 1875, after which he practiced alone until 1SS5, when he and Frank E. Little formed a partnership, which continued until 1900, after which Mr. Overmyer prac- ticed alone until his practical retirement from practice in 1909.
From the days of his youth Mr. Overmyer has been active in the po- litical life of Indiana. Though his father was a Democrat, he early dis- played an inclination toward the principles of the Republican party and in a Fourth of July oration at Seymour in 1865 revealed his leanings in that direction. During the campaign of 1866 he worked for the Repub- licans in Jennings, Jackson, Bartholomew and Decatur counties and in 1868 was elected representative in the Legislature from Jennings county, though he had not been one year a resident of that county at the time he was nominated for the office by the Republicans. He served during the- memorable session of the General Assembly in 1869 and the special ses- sion of that year; was renominated by the Republicans in 1870, but failed? of election ; campaigned for Grant in 1872; served as reading clerk of the Senate in the sessions of 1872-73; was principal secretary of the Senate in the two sessions of 1875; in 1876 was re-elected to the House of Reresentatives and, was elected speaker of the House for the two ses- sions following; was re-elected to the House in 1878 and was Republican caucus nominee for speaker at both the regular and special sessions of 1879. Mr. Overmyer was chairman of the Republican committee for . his home county in 1876 and for his home district in 1878 and 1886, and was chairman of the Republican state committee in 1882-1884, and in 1SSS was a delegate to the Republican national convention at Chicago and supported Benjamin Harrison. In 1892 Mr. Overmyer sup- ported the tariff-reform program of the Democratic party and stumped the state for Cleveland; in 1894 was a member of the Indiana Demo- cratic state executive committee and stumped the state; was a delegate to the Democratic national convention in 1896 and supported Governor Claude Matthews for the presidency ; in 1900 held the proxy of John G. Shanklin, national committeeman, in the Democratic national convention at Kansas City. Since 1900 Mr. Overmyer has been an ardent supporter of Theodore Roosevelt; voted for Roosevelt in 1904; for Taft in 1908; for Roosevelt in 1912 and in 1916 was one of the latter's most ardent pre-
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convention champions in Indiana, and supported Hughes and Fairbanks in the campaign for election. Mr. Overmyer has traveled extensively over the United States and in Cuba, Mexico, Canada and Central America. He is affiliated with the college fraternity Beta Theta Pi. On October 30, 1870, John Overmyer was united in marriage to his college sweetheart, Mary F. Sherfey, of Greencastle, Indiana, and to this union three children were born, Florence, who married Albert B. Cutter and lives at Los Angeles, California; Mary, who died at the age of six years, and Isabel, who, since the death of her mother on July 18, 1891, has been presiding over her father's 'household.
WILLIAM A. KITTINGER.
William A. Kittinger, of Anderson, was born near Richmond, Wayne county, Indiana, October 17, 1849. His father, John Smith, was a native of Germany, while his mother, Delilah Lusk, was a native of Virginia. William A. Smith, the subject of this sketch, was left an orphan at the age of three, and was adopted by William L. Kittinger, whose name he took. He grew up in Henry county, Indiana, where his foster-father had moved in 1855, receiving his elementary training in the public schools of that county. He began teaching at the age of eighteen, teaching during the winter and working on the farm in summer. He became a licensed preacher in the Christian church. He read law with E. B. Goodykuntz, of Anderson, Indiana, and on August 2, 1872, was admitted to the bar. After a short stay in Bolivia, Missouri, he began the active practice in Anderson, where he has since been located. From 1880 until 1884 he was prosecutor; in 1890, state senator; elected again in 1904; re-elected in 1908. In 1886 he became a partner of L. M. Schwinn.
Mr. Kittinger is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner. On Sep- tember 9, 1874, he was married to Martha E. Kunneke, of Columbus Grove, Ohio, and they are the parents of three children living: Theodore, Les- lie T., and Helen M.
ERNEST T. BROWN.
Ernest T. Brown, of Indianapolis, a member of the bar of Indiana since . 1902 and at present member of the firm of Brown & Brown, with offices in the Indiana Trust building at Indianapolis, is a native of Indiana, born at New Bethel, in Marion county, October 20, 1881, son of Henry J. and Flora (Schooley) Brown, both of whom were born in that same county. Upon completing the course in the grade schools of New Bethel he entered the preparatory department of Butler College and later took a special course of three years in that college, after which, in 1900, he spent a year "roughing it" in Colorado, working on railroads and in the mines. Upon his return home he entered the Indiana Law School and was graduated from that institution in 1902, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In that same year he was admitted to the bar, but instead of engaging in .
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the practice of his profession at that time, spent a year traveling for dif- ferent concerns, at the end of which period he was employed in the law office of Levi P. Harlan as janitor, stenographer and clerk and was thus engaged during the years 1903-06, after which he opened an office of his own and has ever since been actively engaged in the practice of law. In 1907 he formed a partnership with his uncle, under the title of Brown & Brown, with present offices in suite 201-3 Indiana Trust building. Mr. Brown also is actively engaged in farming and makes his home at Wana- maker, old New Bethel, a pleasant suburb of Indianapolis. Mr. Brown is a Democrat and in 1908 served his party as chairman of the Democratic central committee of Marion county and in 1912-14 served efficiently as county attorney. He is a member of the Indiana Democratic Club ; was a member of the Democratic state executive committee during one campaign ; is a member of the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce and is a Royal Arch and Scottish Rite Mason, a Knight Templar and a noble of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. On Septem- ber 13, 1901, Ernest T. Brown was united in marriage to Ruth McClung, of Rochester, Indiana, and to this union four children have been born, one son and three daughters.
JAMES LORENZO WORDEN.
In the memorial annals of the bench and bar of Indiana, there are few names that occupy a higher position than that of the late Hon. James Lorenzo Worden, former judge of the Tenth Indiana circuit and for many years a justice of the Indiana Supreme court, whose death occurred at his home in Ft. Wayne on June 10, 1884. Judge Worden was a native of Massachusetts and an intellectual product of the schools of Ohio, but Indiana reaped the benefit of his mature powers, he having been a resident of this state, lawyer and judge, for forty years. James L. Worden was born in Sandisfield, Massachusetts, May 10, 1819, and in 1827, when eight years of age, moved with his widowed mother to Portage county, Ohio, where he grew up on a farm. In 1838 he entered the law office of Thomas L. Straight, at Cincinnati, and after a studious course under that able pre- ceptor was admitted to the bar, at Lancaster, Ohio, in 1841. He opened an office for the practice of his profession at Tiffin, Ohio, and was engaged in practice there until 1844, in which year he came to Indiana, locating at Columbia City, whence, in 1846, he moved to Albion and thence, in 1849. to Ft. Wayne, where he made his home the rest of his life. From the very beginning of his practice at Ft. Wayne, Judge Worden occupied a prominent position among his confreres of the bar of the Allen Circuit Court. He served as prosecutor for the Tenth judicial circuit from August 28, 1851, to October 12, 1852, and on August 15, 1855, was appointed judge of the Tenth judicial circuit and presently was elected to succeed himself for the regular six-year term, but before the expiration of that term resigned to accept the position of justice of the Indiana Supreme court, to which he was appointed January 16, 1858, by Governor Willard. In the succeeding campaign Judge
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Worden was the nominee of the Democratic party for justice of the Supreme court from his district and was elected to succeed himself. In 1870 he was elected for another full term and was re-elected in 1876, serving until December 1, 1882, thus having had a continuous service of more than twenty-five years as a member of the state's highest court. His death oc- curred about eighteen months after his retirement from the supreme bench and he was succeeded in the practice at Ft. Wayne by his son, Charles H. Worden, who is still living in that city and a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume.
DEWITT Q. CHAPPELL.
DeWitt Q. Chappell, of Evansville, was born in Pike county, Indiana, on the 22d day of January, 1861, son of Alexander L. and Laura F. Chap- pell. His ancestors were from Virginia and the Carolinas. He was edu- cated in the best schools of his state and during his vacations, he worked on his father's farm, and, like many other lawyers, he taught school as a means of reaching his chosen profession. During his preparation for the bar, he read and studied the masters in the law, and now possesses one of the largest private law libraries in southern Indiana. He began the practice of the law at Petersburg, Indiana, and later, in 1896, moved to Evansville, Indiana, where he has since resided. He was in partnership with the late Hon. Francis B. Posey for about twelve years. He is counsel for a number of companies and business associations, and as such has been entrusted with their legal affairs in a number of states. Mr. Chappell is a member of the Vanderburgh Bar Association; both a York-Rite and a Scottish-Rite Mason, a Noble of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Mystic Shrine, and in politics, a Democrat.
On May 22, 1889, he married Anna F. Summerville, of Vincennes, In- diana, and to this union has been born one child, DeWitt Chappell, Jr., who is now engaged in the practice of law with his father, at Evansville.
WILLIAM HEROD.
William Herod, a former member of Congress from the Third Indiana district, a former member of the Indiana General Assembly and for years a practicing attorney at Columbus, Indiana, where his death occurred in 1871, was a native of Kentucky, born in Bourbon county, on March 31, 1801, son of William Herod. Early turning his attention to the law, the younger William Herod pursued a course of study under the Hon. Edward Armstrong, at Burlington, Kentucky, and was there licensed to practice. In 1824 he came to Indiana and located at Columbus, where he opened a law office and where he spent the rest of his life. He was a Whig and his first public office was that of prosecuting attorney for the Fifth judicial district. In 1836 he was elected to Congress to fill the vacancy created by the death of Congressman Kinnard and in the ensuing regular election was re-elected. He also served several terms as a member of the Indiana Legislature, serving in both House and Senate, and in 1859
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was elected clerk of the Bartholomew Circuit court, serving for four years. William Herod was twice married. His first wife, who was Mrs. Cassandra Knight, a daughter of Brig .- Gen. John Wingate, bore him two sons, Edward A., who became a resident of Chicago, and William W., who became a lawyer and died in Indianapolis, leaving a son, his law partner, William P., who is still engaged in practice in that city. Mr. Herod's second wife, who was Rhoda W. Ferris, member of an old family in Dearborn county, bore him one son, who engaged in banking at Columbus.
FRANKLIN McCRAY.
Franklin McCray, former judge of the Criminal court of Marion county and a member of the bar at Indianapolis since 1883, is a native of Indiana, born on a farm in Wayne township, Marion county, March 30, 1855, son of Aaron and Caroline (Bridgeford) McCray, both of whom were born in Fayette county, this state, and whose respective parents had settled in Marion county in the early thirties. Aaron McCray was for years a member of the board of county commissioners of Marion county. Upon completing the course in the public schools, Franklin McCray en- tered Valparaiso University and afterward was graduated from Denison University at Granville, Ohio. He then taught school for five winters, meanwhile studying law in the office of Byfield & Howland at Indianapo- lis, and in 1883 was admitted to the bar and began practice at Indian- apolis. He presently was appointed assistant prosecuting attorney, and in 1894 was elected judge of the Criminal court and served in that capacity until 1898, since which time he has been engaged in general practice, with present offices at 159 East Market street. On November 21, 1888, Judge McCray was united in marriage to Clara W. Pugh, of Peru, Indiana, who died within fifteen months after their marriage, and on October 11, 1893, he was married to Kate E. Lampred, daughter of William and Sarah Lampred, of Plainfield, Indiana, who came from England in 1881.
JOHN H. ELLIS.
John H. Ellis, deceased, was born in August, 1817, in Greene county, Ohio, and was the son of Henry and Charity (Harper) Ellis, both of whom were of English descent. John H. Ellis was reared to manhood in Greene county, Ohio, and early in life became a carpenter and joiner. He removed to Delaware county, Indiana, in 1838, and there became an expert archi- tect, contractor and builder. In 1841 he was married to Phoebe Kirkpat- rick, daughter of John and Susanna (Lane) Kirkpatrick, and granddaugh- ter of Robert Lane, a Revolutionary soldier of Clark county, Ohio. Ten children, of whom eight lived to maturity, were born to this marriage; Frank H., now judge of the Delaware Circuit court; Mrs. Mary Jane Wood, Elizabeth, Samuel Martin, Mrs. Susan Cooper, Mrs. Samantha Dean, John R., of Chicago, and Mrs. Martha Ivins, of Muncie.
John H. Ellis took up the study of law in 1856 in Muncie, and immedi- ately thereafter engaged in the practice. He practiced law until the break-
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ing out of the Civil War, when he recruited Company B, Eighty-fourth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which was mustered into service on September 3, 1862. Capt. John Ellis was killed in the battle of Chicka- mauga, September 20, 1863, in a charge on the rebel works. He was suc- ceeded in his command by his son, Judge Ellis.
Capt. John H. Ellis was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics was a Republican.
JESSE J. M. LA FOLLETTE.
Jesse J. M. La Follette, professor of law in Indiana University, was born in Jay county, Indiana, September 12, 1845. He enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Thirty-Ninth Indiana Infantry, in May, 1864, and was mustered out in October of the same year. He studied law in the office of Watson & Monks at Winchester, Indiana, and was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1873 and located at Portland, Indiana, to prac- tice. In 1886 he was elected mayor of Portland, served one term and de- clined a renomination. He early began to take an interest in politics and was chairman of the Republican central committee of Jay county in 1876. In 1892 he was a candidate for presidential elector in the Eleventh congressional district. In 1894 he was elected to the state Senate; on August 1, 1897, he was appointed assistant United States district attor- ney for Indiana and served until December 31, 1907. In January, 1908, he became a member of the law faculty of Indiana University, a position which he still retains.
During his years of general practice he was engaged in most of the important cases in Jay county and frequently had cases in adjacent coun- ties. While connected with the District court he assisted in the prosecu- tion of the president and cashier of the Elkhart National Bank, and of Walter Brown, for aiding and abetting them in wrecking the bank. He was employed by the English government in the celebrated Lynchehaun extradition case, the defense being conducted by Ferdinand Winters, Henry Spaan and A. C. Harris.
Professor La Follette was married on September 18, 1875, to Annie Wells.
WILLIAM WIRT HEROD.
The late William Wirt Herod, of Indianapolis, former member of the Indiana General Assembly and for many years a practicing attorney at Indianapolis, was born at Columbus, this state, February 8, 1835, son of William and Cassandra (Wingate) Herod, the former a native of Ken- tucky and the latter a daughter of Brig .- Gen. John Wingate. The elder William Herod for years was a lawyer at Columbus and had also served the state as a member of the Legislature. After a course of reading in his father's law office, William W. Herod entered the Law School at Louisville, from which he was graduated in 1861. In that same year he was admitted to the bar and began practice in his native town as a partner of Col.
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Simeon Stansifer. Two years later he formed a partnership with his father which continued until the latter's death in 1871, after which he entered into partnership with Ferdinand Winters, under the firm name of Herod & Winters. In 1875 that firm moved its offices to Indianapolis and continued in practice there until its dissolution in 1883, after which Mr. Herod maintained his office alone until 1880, when he took into partner- ship with him his son, William P. Herod, and that connection continued until the death of the elder Herod, since which time William P. Herod has continued his practice alone, with present offices at 2-3 Aetna building. Will- iam W. Herod was a Republican and in 1866 was nominated by the Re- publicans of Bartholomew county for the state Senate; in 1872 was the party's nominee for Congress from the Third Indiana district and in 1878 was elected representative to the Legislature from Marion county and in 1891 was his party's nominee for mayor of Indianapolis. On June 20, 1861, William W. Herod was united in marriage to Susan C. Rogers, of Bryants Station, Kentucky, and to that union four children were born, William P., now practicing law at Indianapolis; Joseph R., who became connected with the United States diplomatic service; Elizabeth, who mar- ried Frank M. Baldwin, and Lucy.
ERNEST W. BRADFORD.
Ernest W. Bradford, of the legal firm of Bradford & Doolittle, In- dianapolis, was born at Mattamkeag, Maine, May 23, 1862, the son of Charles Gamaliel and Mary (Prentiss) Bradford. He is a direct descend- ant, seventh generation, from Governor William Bradford, of Plymouth Colony, and by maternal ancestry is a descendant of Valentine Prentiss, one of the early settlers of Massachusetts. Mr. Bradford was left an orphan at the age of five, and lived with a cousin at Winslow, Maine, until seventeen years of age, since which time he has depended wholly upon his own resources. He graduated from Oak Grove Seminary at Vassalboro, Maine, in 1882, immediately following which he went to In- dianapolis, Indiana, and entered the office of an elder brother, Chester Bradford, who was then established in the patent law practice in that city. He entered the Central Law School of Indiana in the fall of 1882, and graduated in April, 1883, completing a two-year course in one year. He was admitted to the bar of the Supreme court of Indiana, the courts of Marion county, the United States Circuit court for the Seventh dis- trict and the United States District court for the district of Indiana in April, 1883, a month prior to his twenty-first birthday. He continued in his brother's employ, specializing in patent and trademark law. In 1886 he went to Washington, D. C., and opened a branch office. In the fall of 1887 he returned to Indianapolis and became a full partner in the firm of C. & E. W. Bradford. This partnership continued until 1893, when E. W. Bradford sold his interest in the firm to his brother and established an office in Washington, D. C., for the practice of patent and trademark law on his own account, and also continued as the Washington representative of the Indianapolis office. After the death of his brother,
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in April, 1911, he resumed practice in Indianapolis and associated with Henry P. Doolittle in the business under the firm name of Bradford & Doo- little, with offices in Washington and Indianapolis. Mr. Bradford is a past president of the American Patent Law Association, having been twice elected to the presidency of that organization. He is also secretary of the section of patent, trademark and copyright law of the American Bar Association, having been three times elected to that office.
Mr. Bradford is a Mason and an Odd Fellow, having attained the rank of past grand master, past grand patriarch and past grand repre- sentative, and at the present time is a representative from the District of Columbia in the sovereign grand lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and a member of some of its most important committees. He is also serving as secretary of the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the District of Columbia, which office he has held for a number of years. He is a Republican in politics, and a charter member of the Columbia Club of Indianapolis. He is unmarried.
THOMAS S. WICKWIRE.
Thomas S. Wickwire was born at Angola, Indiana, January 30, 1854. He was one of seven children born to George W. and Rebecca (Hanna) Wickwire. The father was an extensive land owner and later a banker in Angola, where his death occurred in 1883. Thomas S. Wickwire received his elementary education in the public schools of Angola, afterwards becoming a student in DePauw University, Green- castle, Indiana, graduating from the law department in 1892, and has since been engaged in the active practice of his profession at Angola, Indiana. From 1904 to 1908 he represented the counties of DeKalb and Steuben in the State Senate. In 1908 he was a delegate to the Republican national convention. He is a member of the Steuben County Bar Association and a Knight of Pythias, Knight Templar and Scottish- Rite Mason. He is a Republican in politics. He was married to Martha Wiese, of Vanwert, Ohio, in 1884. Both are members of the Methodist church.
CYRUS F. MCNUTT.
Cyrus F. McNutt was born on a farm in Johnson county, Indiana, July 29, 1837. He is a son of John and Mahala (Hensley) McNutt, pioneer Hoosiers. He took full advantage of the short district schools of the time and at the age of nineteen entered Franklin College, but the death of his father compelled him to drop out. In 1859 he studied in the law department of Northwestern College and was admitted to the bar in 1860. He practiced till 1862 at Franklin and then moved to Martinsville. In 1874 he became a professor of law in Indiana Univer- sity, where he served till 1877. He then located in Terre Haute, where he practiced till 1896, when he moved to California, continuing active practice till his death, May 31, 1912. From 1879 to 1887 he was county
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attorney of Vigo county ; from 1890 to 1894 he was Superior Judge of Vigo county. In 1872 he made the race for Congress in the Indian- apolis district on the Democratic ticket, but was defeated. In 1858 he married Elizabeth S. Finley, of Red Oak, Ohio. They had two sons, John Gilbert and Finley A., both lawyers. The wife died in 1861. In June, 1863, he married Eliza Gordon Craig. They had three children, two of whom died young.
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