USA > Indiana > Early Indiana trials: and sketches. Reminiscences > Part 11
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He spoke of the State of Indiana; compared her condition now with what it was when he came to the State, in 1817, when she had a population of 65,000 souls; when the most of her territory was a wilderness; when her population was scattered sparsely over only a portion of the State; when the seat of government was located a hundred miles south ; when there was not a mile of turn- pike, railroad, or canal in the State; when the Indian paths were the only traveled road by the single horse and his rider; when there was no commerce in the State beyond the small retailer ; when Cincinnati was the emporium of trade for all Eastern and Central Indiana, and the people of our State, and their trade and products were tributary to the growth, wealth and prosperity of cities beyond the State. He spoke of the quality of the soil, the mineral wealth, the pure water, the healthy climate of the State. He said that the popu- lation of the State was already fully one million and a half, and would reach ten millions. That the State was yet to be one of the most densely populated of any portion of the world, that its pro- ductiveness is inexhaustible, and where the food is there will be the mouths to eat it. He compared it with Asia Minor, Palestine and Africa, and showed why it was that those countries were so sparsely populated. It was because of the sterility and barrenness of the soil, and not the unhealthiness of the climate. He contrasted Indiana now, with what she is destined to be, if the people are true to themselves. He spoke of the location of Indianapolis, in the geographical center of the State, to be for all time the seat of Government. He had seen the site of the city when it was an unbroken forest. He contrasted the village as it sprung up in the 8
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woods with the city now containing twenty-five thousand inhabitants, the spires of its twenty-seven churches pointing to the clouds, its wide streets, its public and private edifices, its colleges and semina- ries of learning, its high and graded schools, its commou ward- schools. He said if he had never done any thing else worth remember- ing, he should ever feel happy for being instrumental in establish- ing our ward-school system in the City Charter, that he viewed it as the great preservative feature in our social system, as the basis of our educational policy, that would prove a lasting blessing to the rising generation. He said much had been done in our educational and religious departments of society, and in that respect we were appreciated at home and abroad. Thousands would make Indianapolis their home now, who would not do so but for the advantages of educa- ting their children at one of our fine male and female schools, and of attending the churches of their choice.
He spoke much and at length upon the great advantages of Indianapolis, in point of location, as a commercial and manufactur- ing city. The time was when she was inland, with no prospect of rivaling the citics located on navigable waters, but that time had gone by. Propelling power of steam on land, had revolutionized the channels of Commerce, and our capital now stood at the very center of her attractions, as the hub of the wheel, with the railroad spokes pointing to the circle, including the whole field of Western produc- tion, consumption, and demand. He urged upon the citizens to feel rather thankful, than proud, of their position; that while ours was the capital of the State, every citizen of the State was interested iu her prosperity, that every other city, town, and village of the State daily contributes to the growth and prosperity of our city, and their citizens should be held, as even ourselves when among us, nor should any invidious comparisons be drawn between the growth and pros- perity of the capital and any other city in the State. We are all inter- ested in the welfare of each other. He said he had no doubt but that Indianapolis would yet be among the largest inland cities of the United States, commanding an immense inland commerce; that she is surrounded by one of the best countries on the globe, with rich mineral, coal, roek, iron, fire-clay, timber and hydraulic power inexhaustible. He pointed to the great facilities to make Indianapolis one of the first manufacturing cities of the United States. The con- centration of railroads, and consequent radiation through the Valley of the Mississippi, must give a demand equal to any supply. Ile spoke of Indianapolis being one of the best points in the United States for the first-class wholesale jobbing-houses. One or two such
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CITIZENS' MEETING AT MASONIC HALL.
houses might do a fair business, but fifty would do a hundred times as much. The whole country penetrated by our flying trains must learn that they are throwing away both time and money, by passing our wholesale dealers to visit Eastern cities ; and that time will never come until the supply here is equal to a fair demand, and the prices shall be as low as Eastern prices, with the cost of transportation from the Atlantic cities. He alluded to the importance of sustaining our city mechanics and manufacturers ; spoke strongly against the prac- tice of moneyed men refusing accommodations to struggling mechanics and manufacturers, upon good and safe security, urged the necessity of concentrated energy, and good feeling, to the common purposes of aiding in the course essential to the prosperity of the city. He spoke highly of the Board of Trade, and the course of its President and leading members, and trusted that they would be sustained in their laudable object of making Indianapolis known to the country, with the advantages of her position. He appealed to the business men of the city to establish themselves at once upon principles of the strictest integrity and faith with their customers. Let the price to the child be the price to the adult ; have but one price for the article to all. Reputation to the dealer is as valuable as to the divine. Let it once be understood that Indianapolis dealers are honest in every particular and they will draw to them the surround- ing country. The reputation of the Philadelphia merchants, for fair dealing, has thrown upon them millions of dollars that would otherwise never have reached that eity. He noticed the article that appeared in the Sentinel in the morning; said the author left his tracks behind ; he was an old fogy that never voluntarily paid a dollar toward the prosperity of the city.
Mr. S. closed by urging all to unite with the Board of Trade in the good work in which they were engaged. He was frequently applauded by the audience during the address.
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[WEDNESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 26, 1857.
EARLY CONDITION OF INDIANA.
WHILE my mind is on Indiana, the reader will excuse me for defer- ring my sketches of the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Supreme Court and other matters at Washington, to a more convenient season. And, as these sketches seem to be looked upon as a part of the history of early Indiana, while I make no such pretensions, and refer the publie to the authentic history of the State by my valued friend John B. Dillon, Esq., State historian, I may be excused for stating some matters that will be only interesting to the citizens of our State who would like to compare Indiana as she was, with Indiana as she is. I shall not even attempt the comparison, but leave the reader to make it for himself.
At the time I came to the State in March, 1817, there was not a rail- road in the United States, nor a canal west of the Alleghany mountains. The telegraph had not been discovered, fire was struck by the flint and steel, the falling spark was caught in "punk " taken from the knots of the hickory tree .- There was not a foot of turnpike road in the State, and plank roads had never been heard of; the girdled standing trees covering the cultivated fields, the shovel-plow the only cultivator, no roads west of Whitewater, not a bridge in the State; the traveling all done on horseback, the husband mounted before on the saddle, with from one to three of the youngest children in his arms-the wife, with a spread cover reaching to the tail of the horse, seated behind, with the balance of the children unable to walk in her lap. We young gentlemen retained the luxury of a single horse; not a carriage nor buggy in all the country. After some years Mr. Lovejoy brought a buggy without a top, to Connersville, from New England. I borrowed it to ride to Wayne county, but I gave up the buggy and took my horse, for fear the people would think me proud, and it would injure my election to Congress.
The finest farms around Connersville, in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, eleared, with orchards and common buildings, were 85 to $10 per aere. I bought the fine farm of one hundred and sixty aeres, adjoining Connersville, the same now the residence of my friend Hon. Samuel W. Parker, of John Adair, of Brookville, for $9 per acre, in three annual installments without interest. The brick two- story dwelling in which I lived when I was elected to Congress, in the heart of Connersville, twenty-six feet front, well finished, with back kitchen, lot 26 by 180, good stable, I bought of Sydnor Dale for $325, -which was considered a high price at the time. The excellent farm
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A BRAVE INDIAN, ETC.
over the river one mile below town, in 1828, I bought of William Den- man for $5 per acre, in payments. There was very little money in the country, and produce was equally low in proportion. I bought the finest qualities of stall-fed beef, and corn-fed hogs, for family use, at a cent and a half per pound ; corn ten cents, wheat twenty-five cents per bushel, wood delivered and cut short at the door at a dollar per cord; boarding at common houses, with lodging, from a dollar to two dollars a week, and at the very best hotels two dollars and a half. The first year I traveled the circuit, my fees fell short of two hundred dollars ; and the second, when they increased to three hundred, I felt as safe as a Stephen Girard. All my wants were supplied, I owed nothing, and had money in my pocket .- No white man had settled more than five miles west of Connersville at that time.
A BRAVE INDIAN.
THE country from Williams Creek, in Fayette, to the Wabash, one hundred and twenty-five miles, was a wilderness, in the possession of the wandering tribes of Indians. Connersville was filled with them every day. Among them was a warrior they called John, a great talker, telling the most miraculous stories of what he had done-in killing bears single-handed and without arms. I informed another Indian what John had told me. " My brother John pretty much lie -he great coward."
It so happened that John's courage was tested that night, just at twilight. The town was aroused by the cry of " bear, " and sure enough along Main street came loping on one of the largest black bears I have ever scen, pursued by a crowd of men and dogs. He had been started out of the wet, bushy prairie north of town. He came to Cross street, turned square off to the east in the direction of the river, where several of us were standing, with Indian John close by. The moment John saw him he came running to our company, greatly alarmed, crying at the top of his voice-" Bear bite hard-kill Indian quick, " and slid into our center. On came the bear .- Just before he reached us one of our company, who had a rifle, shot him in the head. He rolled over, stretched himself out with a growl and died. His hide was soon off, and next morning at breakfast the whole town was feasting on bear meat.
THE LAWYERS OF EARLY INDIANA.
OUR lawyers were what the world calls self-made men-meaning men 1 who have not had the advantages of rich fathers, and early education,
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to whom the higher seminaries and colleges were sealed books. Meu gifted by nature with strong, vigorous, clear intellects, fine health, and sound constitutions. Men who, like the newly-hatched swan, were directed by nature to their proper elements, their proper profes- sion. Few of them failed of success. Necessity urged to action. With most of them it was " root or die." In ninety-nine cases out of every hundred of the failures in the different professions and avocations in life, charged hy the world to " bad Inck, " it is nothing more nor less than the selection of a profession, avocation or business that nature never intended you for. The smallest teal, or dnck, that swims on the bosom of the Chesapeake Bay, would sink and drown in that element the best-blooded and finest game-cock that ever old Virginia produced in her most chivalrie days; while in the cockpit the teal, or duck, would be nowhere in the fight. Our counties furnished too little business for the resident attorneys ; we all looked to a circuit practice. Some rode the whole circuit, and others over but few counties.
We sometimes had a little sparring in our cases in trials, but it ended there, and we stood banded together like brothers. At the Rush Cir- cuit Conrt my friend Judge Perry bargained for a pony for twenty- five dollars, to be delivered the next day, on a credit of six months. The man came with the pony, but required security of the Judge for the twenty-five dollars. The Judge drew the note at the top of a sheet of foolscap, and signed it. I signed it; James Rariden signed it and passed it on, and on it went from lawyer to lawyer around the bar, till some twenty of us had signed it. I then handed it up to the Court, and the three judges put their names to it. Judge Perry pre- sented it to the man he had bought the pony of, but he promptly refused to receive it. " Do you think I am a fool, to let you get the Court and all the lawyers on your side ? I see you intend to cheat me out of my pony." Up he jumped and ran out of the court- house, mounted the pony and started for home at full gallop.
The great variety of trials and incidents on the circuit gave to the life of a traveling attorney an interest that we all relished exceedingly. There was none of the green-bag city monotony, no dyspepsia, no gout, no ennui, rheumatism or neuralgia : consumption was a stranger among us. An occasional jump of the toothache, relieved by the turnkey of the first doctor we came to, was the worst. All was fun, good humor, fine jokes well received, good appetites and sound sleep- ing, cheerful landlords and good-natured landladies at the head of the table. We rode first-class horses; Gen. Noble on " Wrangler," for which he gave $60; Drew on "Drew Gray," cost $70; Caswell on " Blue Dick," cost $65; Rariden on "Old Gray," cost $80; John
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DOG AND DAMAGES.
Test on " Bay Filly," cost $50; Gen. Mckinney on " MeKinney Roan," cost $45 ; David Wallace on " Ball," cost $40 ; Amos Lane on " Big Sorrel," cost $60; Judge Eggleston on " Indian Pony," cost $35; George H. Dunn on " Dancing Rabbit," cost $40; James B. - Ray on " Red Jacket," cost $60; Martin M. Ray on "John," cost - $35; William R. Morris on " Jacob," cost $50; Charles H. Test on " Archie," cost $40; John S. Newman on "Clay Bank," cost $60, and I rode " Grey Fox," that cost me $90. These were the highest prices at that day for the very best traveling horses in the country. They were trained to the cross-pole mud roads, and to swimming.
Our attorneys were ready, off-hand practitioners, seldom at fault for the occasion. Sometimes we had to meet attorneys from other States, who would fling in the Latin and technical terms with a triumphant air, but in most cases they were foiled by the quick retorts of our bar.
DOG AND DAMAGES.
ON one occasion an action on the case had been brought by a learned attorney from Ohio, by the name of Crouch, against an old widow lady -damages claimed twenty dollars. It appeared in evidence that the old lady had a beautiful daughter that the defendant was paying his suit to. One dark night the plaintiff put on his new white Irish-linen suit, fine ruffled shirt, with silk gloves, white stockings and morocco shoes ; cane in hand he stepped up to the house of the old lady and rapped at the door. At that moment a large St. Bernard dog belong- ing to the old lady sprang around the corner of the house and jumped at the lover with a growl. The young man, frightened almost out of his moroccos, left the door in an instant and ran into a large mud-hole a few rods off, of the existence of which he had no knowledge, and fell prostrate, covering himself all over with dirty water, and leaving the shape of his body in the mud.
The question before the advocates was as to the liability of the old lady for the damages done to the dandy's clothes. The learned Ohio lawyer opened for the plaintiff, and contended that the case came strictly with the principles of " Qui facit per alium, facit per se." Mr. Caswell, for the old lady, denied the position, and urged upon the Court that the case was governed by the principles of " Damnum absque injuria." The Court held the case over till morning. Judge Harlan .- " The Court is of the opinion that this is not a case of ' Qui facit per alium,' but comes within the principles of ' Damnum absque injuria,' which, if the Court understands herself, is a damnable injury; but as the old lady was in no way to blame, the judgment is given for the defendant."
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EARLY INDIANA TRIALS.
[THURSDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 3, 1857.
A POLITICAL LIBEL SUIT -- WHAT IT COSTS TO CALL A MAN A "FEDERALIST."
IN early times there was tried in the Franklin Circuit Court an action for libel, of some importance to the reading politicians of the country, and especially to those who have some recollection of the great political contest between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson for President. I call the parties to the suit, Joshua Harlan, plaintiff, and John Allen, defendant. Judge Sparks was at the time Presi- dent Judge, but was not on the bench until after the verdict was returned. The case was tried before the Associates. General James Noble was counsel for the plaintiffs, and John Test for the defendant. The declaration set out the libel at length. The only part necessary to notice here read, "' Joshua Harlan is an old federalist, ' by the publishing of which false, scandalous and defamatory libel, the plain- tiff has been brought into public disgrace, and his neighbors have since refused to have any intercourse with him." The counsel for the defendant filed a general demurrer to the declaration, insisting that the paper was not a libel, if proved; that it was not action- able to call a man a " Federalist." The Court stopped Gen. Noble, and held that they would submit the whole matter to the jury, who were the judges of the law as well as of the fact. Demurrer over- ruled; plea of " not guilty " filed, and a jury impanneled with great difficulty, after exhausting the regular panel, and setting aside some scores of talesmen for cause, upon their answer to the question dictated from the bench, " Have you formed or expressed any opinion whether it is slander to eall a man a Federalist!" The jury were sworn and put in charge of a sworn officer, with instructions by the Court to suffer no one to speak to them, nor even to talk among them- selves until they had heard the evidence and charge of the Court, as the case was one of great importance. Court met in the morning; motions dispensed with ; the court-house crowded with a deeply excited audience ; looks of compassion directed to the plaintiff, who sat by the side of Gen. Noble, his counsel, and of indignation and contempt for the defendant, who was seated by his counsel on the opposite side of the table. It was evident that the audience were all on one side, and as jurors generally sympathize with the outsiders in feelings, the result was easily anticipated. But under the rulings of the associates the ease had to be proved to the satisfaction of the jury. General Noble .- " The plaintiff's witnesses will stand up and be sworn." Some thirty rose from a long bench, looking very much like the men that
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composed Falstaff's company. Witnesses sworn. " We will examine Mr. Herndon first." Herndon a man about seventy years of age, raised in the woods of Kentucky, who came to the Territory of Indiana before the army under Gen. George Roger Clark marched upon Post Vincent, took the witness-stand. Gen Noble .- " Mr. Herndon, do you consider it libelous and slanderous to call a man a Federalist ?" " I do." " Which would you rather a man would call you, a ' Federalist' or a ' horse-thief?'" " I would shoot him if he called me one or the other," turning his eyes with much feeling on the defendant. "You have not answered the question." " I would rather be called any thing under the heavens than a Federalist." " What damages would you say the defendant should pay for this libel in calling the plaintiff a Federalist ?" " I would say a thousand dollars, at least." " Take the witness." Judge Test .- " Mr. Herndon what do you understand by a Federalist ?" " My understanding is that it means a tory, an enemy to his country." "Is that the common acceptation of the term ?" " Yes, I have never heard any other from the first settlements in Ken- tucky up to the present time." No more questions. General Noble .- " A single rebutting question ; Mr. Herndon, would you feel safe, with a Federalist by your side, to meet the Indians in a bush fight?" "I would not; I would just as soon have one of the hostile Indians with his rifle and tomahawk by my side." A moment's private whispering between the counsel. General Noble .- " May it please the Court, we have sitting there twenty-nine other witnesses that we are ready to examine ; but to save time, it is agreed by the counsel, that they will each swear to the same facts as those stated by Mr. Herndon, and that the publication of the libel is admitted." No evidence was offered for defendant. Lengthy and able speeches were made by the counsel on both sides, covering in their range the history of the General Govern- ment from its organization, with Gen. Washington at its head; the election of Mr. Jefferson over the elder Adams ; the close and exciting contest between Jefferson and Aaron Burr ; the articles of confedera- tion ; the adoption of the new Constitution ; the Cunningham corres- pondence ; the visit of the citizen Genet to the United States ; the alien, sedition and gag laws; the impeachment of Judge Chase; and the examination of Aaron Burr for treason, before Justice Marshall. The speeches closed near midnight. The jury retired. Next morning the charge was to be given. An hour before the time for opening the court the room was filled to a perfect jam. Sheriff .- " Silence in the court !" The jurors called and in the box. The Presiding Asso- ciate .- " Gentlemen of the jury, this is an important case. You are the judges of the law and the fact. This Court do not feel authorized
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to invade the province of the jury ; the whole case is with you." The jury retired to their room, and in a few minutes returned into court. Foreman .- " We find that to charge a man with being a Federalist is libelous, and we assess the damages of the plaintiff at one thousand dollars, the amount sworn to by Mr. Herndon, and would have been by the other twenty-nine witnesses that were not examined, as was admitted by the counsel." " The Court are well satisfied with your verdict, gentlemen ; you are discharged to get your dinners, as you have not yet breakfasted."
BRITISH AUTHORITIES IN INDIANA COURTS.
I SKETCH another case of high importance in the same court-names of parties immaterial. A lawyer I eall John Mattocks, Jr., one of the most learned men in early Indiana, a graduate of old Yale, with Latin, Greck, Hebrew and divers technical terms at his tongue's end, a partial acquaintance with the legal learning of the old English authors at ready command, for plaintiff, and General Noble for the defendant. The action was what lawyers call " trespass quare clausum fregit; " pleas "not guilty," and "liberum tenementum." The action was brought by the plaintiff against the defendant for entering the close of the plaintiff, cutting down a bee-tree, and carrying away the swarm of bees; damages, five dollars for the tree, and three dollars for the bees. The plaintiff was the owner of the land. The defendant was in possession under a lease that had expired, but no notice to quit had been given. The case submitted to the associate judges. The evidence was heard, and next morning the argument commenced between the learned Eastern lawyer, armed with his Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and elassical knowledge, topped off with an ornamented diploma with large red ribbons and a seal as large as the palm of the hand, and Gen. Noble, who had been raised in the backwoods, edu- cated in the winter-time and at nights, in a little fifteen-by-twenty log school-house in Kentucky, armed with a large amount of common sense. Mr. Mattocks had before him an array of the old books, Coke on Lyttleton, Blackstone's Commentaries, Jacob's Law Dictionary, Wood's Institutes, Bacon's Abridgment, Strange's Wilson's and Atkyn's Reports. Thus prepared he commenced the argument for the plaintiff with a confident air. Gen. Noble sat silent while his opponent read authority after authority, ease after case, and decision after decision, many of them directly in point against the General. His argument consumed the day, greatly annoying the Court, who understood very little of it. The next morning Gen. Noble opened
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